"Two flyers in one day? They're getting way too common."
"It's worse," the commander informs them, "South Karlsland got hit with three at once. We're taking Lytee's express and sleeping there. You can sit out if you absolutely need to, but Freya's still recovering so we could use you as a comms relay."
"No, I'll come. I just reserve the right to complain about it."
The 42nd United Forces Witch Wing takes off and assembles into a perfect synchronized formation as Lytee charges her teleport power.
...This is not South Karlsland wilderness.
[note: halfway through this thread I created a unique account for Grendyne. Do not be alarmed by the change in account. -Rockeye]
She spends a while getting a feel for the power, firing at range, firing in quick succession, finding the minimum force of mana required to make one count as 'down'. It should hopefully be a good benchmark for safely taking down humans. The dummies fall over and report 'unconscious appx. 15 minutes' in most cases. When a stunbolt just clips them, it merely interferes with their coordination for a few seconds before the effect fades.
The stunbolts come out in a sort of off-yellow color and mesh very, very well with her guided-projectiles power. She can weave them around barriers in complex paths, or fire a dozen at once and leave them all seeking their target individually. Both of these tricks are pretty draining, though.
Overall, they're the best nonlethal takedown Gren's ever seen or used, and she has detailed notes to justify this assessment when she reports back to the desk people.
"Power synergy is awesome."
The PRT is always glad to have more designedly nonlethal combat powers on side; it's pretty much the ideal. The fact that hers is an especially good one is even better.
The touristy places are way too expensive for the relatively small allowance they're letting her use. She finds stores in a less fancy part of town. She's in a decidedly less fancy part of town when she takes a wrong turn on her way back, still carrying a bunch of plastic bags.
The victim doesn't see the person watching from a nearby roof. Dark costume, mask and cloak, and weapons.
She goes blurry - not hidden exactly, but indistinct, hard to look directly at. And she runs forward and slaps a stunbolt into each of the three attackers, moves the knives safely out of the way from impaling anything on their way down, and tosses a stunbolt at the shadowy figure overseeing the crime for good measure, not bothering to guide it, seeing how they'll react. She doesn't even drop her bags.
They drop. All except the person on the roof, who sees it coming and dodges. The cape jumps down, fires a crossbow at Gren, and turns insubstantial right before hitting the ground. With her fall slowed, she lands safely and charges at her attacker.
This power is a bit tricky, but she can already tell that her opponent is not exactly physical. She can have a dozen stunbolts, from enough different angles to make dodging impractical, anyway.
The cape sees some of her bolts coming. Enough to not try dodging. She turns into something like smoke again, and keeps charging as the bolts fly through her.
And she's surprised when they affect her. Most of them hit, and even if a single hit doesn't stun her that was plenty. She goes down.
And now she has four unconscious people, one with powers, and one terrified civilian to deal with. She stays 'blurred' even though it's building up to a headache, tells the woman, "Better clear out," and pulls out the phone PRT gave her.
"Citrine Mage here. I have four unconscious criminals in front of me. Ran into three guys with knives holding someone down while out shopping, with some cape just standing there watching from above. Knocked the criminals down, tried to knock the cape out, she tried to attack me before I got her. They'll stay down for about half an hour. Not entirely sure where I am or what to do with them, though, please advise."
"We'll have a Protectorate member there shortly, and a containment van to pick them up. Stay on-site, it'll be just a few minutes. Describe the villain?"
"Black clothes, crossbow, insubstantiality, tranq darts... Wait a minute. This is Shadow Stalker? Uh. She's a Ward, right, why would she just watch three guys about to rape someone? I feel like I'm justified in moving first, right, I thought she was a villain."
"You're sure she was just watching? That's a serious allegation if it's Shadow Stalker. How long did you see her watching?"
"She was watching for about twenty seconds before I got close enough to down them without giving them time to react. Long enough for them to start stripping the victim and put the knife on her throat. No blood. She might have been waiting for an opportunity to strike, I'm not familiar enough with how she operates to tell if that's plausible."
You should have one of the Protectorate heroes approaching your location now."
It's Dauntless. His boots are crackling with energy, which quiets down as he stops moving superhumanly fast until they're glowing no brighter than his spear and shield. "Citrine Mage. You...captured...Shadow Stalker?"
She gets enough of a hold on it to start preparing a charge by the time she finishes her spiel.
...She drops the blurriness to hold on to that, though. "Got a spare mask? Most powers, I can't keep them up forever."
I don't have a mask on me, but you're dressed as a civilian. Do you need one?"
As a PRT van pulls up, Dauntless picks up Shadow Stalker. "Crossbow bolts." He taps the tip of one with his finger. "Sharp ones, not tranquilizers. Definitely not something she should be using."
She picks up one of the three criminals in a shoulder carry and follows as Dauntless hauls Shadow Stalker to the van.
"You mean to improve your steelwing? Better equipment is always better."
She keeps staring at him. "It's tricky, though, I'll probably lose my hold on your power before I have a charge unless you stay near me for the twenty hours. I'm gonna try my damnedest to keep this power, but it doesn't always work. It'd help if we patrolled together or something."
He's started to get unnerved by the staring. (Not daunted, of course. Never that.) "They can probably arrange that."
"I would be stronger for it, I'd appreciate it a whole lot. Sorry about the staring. It helps with the copying. I can give it a rest if you want."
Shadow Stalker will wake up about halfway there, faster than Gren was expecting.
You! Who even are you, and why am I the one in handcuffs?" She moves her wrists through them, having gotten the point.
Pause. "You recovered from the stun faster than I was expecting. Probably 'cause you're a cape. I'll have to keep that in mind in the future."