[STORY THREAD] Manifest Destiny

[SalmonMax]

Deezy, as gifted as she was in the noggin, was sporting a body dangerously close to Human 1.0. This wasn't lost on her though, and her MARS rig had some compensating elements in it. Firstly, a system that detected incoming energy by measuring 'precursor' cues in the environment, and could generate counteracting pulses automatically. This system could stop bullets in their tracks, but there were limits to the protection it could offer.

 

The second line was simpler and more nuanced. An exceedingly high bandwidth connection to Deezy's own neurology. This meant that while wearing the suit, her brain and nervous system were controlling it directly; not pulling it along with her arms and legs. In fact, most of the time she was actually 'dragging' her body along while the machinery did the actual work of moving her. This was important, because Deezy's brain was a LOT faster than her parasympathetic nerves and muscle response. And the suit much stronger and faster than her body was as well, to take advantage of that mental speed.

 

So the instant she realized something was going wrong, she did the mental equivalent of hitting a 'panic switch' in the MARS, at which point it operated independently to catapult itself, and Deezy along with it, quite some distance away. Far enough, so Deezy had hoped when programing the routine, to escape the worst of a blast.

 

Spoiler

First roll is for Absorption; 1 success on that which reduces the opposing attack successes.

 

Second roll is a Defense attempt using the MARS rig's Mega-Dex of 3. Rolled 6 successes, plus another 2 successes per Scale for M-Dex 3...which I believe is 6 (assuming scale 1 is 'neutral). Total of 12 successes then, plus the 1 from absorption.

1. Dice MaidenBOT — 02/13/2023 9:09 AM

   SalmonMax Request: [7d10] Roll: [9, 5, 3, 3, 3, 2, 1] Result: 26
2. 

   SalmonMax — 02/13/2023 9:09 AM

   Haha, aw man.
3. SalmonMax used

   /roll

   

   Dice MaidenBOT — 02/13/2023 10:39 AM

   SalmonMax Request: [7d10] Roll: [10, 8, 8, 8, 7, 4, 1] Result: 46

1.  

[Asarasa]

The sheer effrontery! 

It hadn't taken Sean long to take if for granted that she was undisputed glamorous grandmistress of Gravity. Sure, she'd heard and read the snide, hyperbolic comments about gravity control being the only reason she could stand upright. But the truth was, gravity manipulation was as inherent, as instinctive, and as effortless to her as breathing. She was almost as likely to float or fly as take a step across the ground. She had more finesse and precision with Gravitokinesis than she did with her hands. Sleeping and fucking in Zero-G felt as natural to her as doing the same on a plush mattress with silk sheets.

So, when another dared to use gravity against her and her allies, Sean didn't feel fear - she didn't really feel fear as normal people did - she felt insulted and irritated. Centrepoint believed she could exert more intense force, believed she could manipulate gravity over a wider area, but not so strong over a more discreet area. She had been been focusing for a single, devastating strike, but now how to alter that incredible potential to mitigate the Mech's weapon.

Gravity Manipulation came so easy and natural to Sean, she very rarely felt the need to push herself beyond her limits. But she had already done so once today. She did so again, and screamed, feeling the strain ripple through her as she pushed herself once more. Luminous lavender eyes speckled with points of blue-white quantum fire darkened to an incandescent neon purple. Singular pulchritude sharpened, subtly grew even more unearthly and exaggerated, tightening by an inch here, swelling or lengthening by an inch there, metallic rose-gold hair unspooling to her knees as a grew a mirror-like finish.

Sean fumbled in mid-air, back arched and hands fisted as she strove the counter the fundamental force she considered her purview used against her and her friends.

 

Spoiler

Maxing out Roll
Asarasa Request: [5d10t7e10] Roll: [8, 6, 5, 4, 1] Result: 1 success. Accepting a second point of Flux for another success.

2 successes used to add the Area Tag to Gravitokinesis. 2 points of Flux added, for a total of 3

Using Quantum Strike tag of Gravitokinesis to counter the apparent Quantum Strike Gravity power of the Mech, hopefully with Area 1, she can encompass her and her friends.
Asarasa Request: [10d10t7e10] Roll: [10, 8, 8, 6, 4, 4, 3, 3, 2, 1], [2] Result: 3 successes, Scale 5 power

Resistance roll (Stamina)
Asarasa Request: [4d10t7e10] Roll: [4, 4, 3, 2] Result: 0 successes. Quantum Field provides Scale 5 armor with a rating of Quantum/2 (so, 2), along with the Impervious, Hard 1, and Soft (2) tags.

Quantum Pool: 25, Flux: 3

 

[Nina]

Centerpoint strained and grappled with the gravitic force emitted by the giant robot, something was wrong about it, it was gravity but it didn't feel right, didn't taste right. She strained, veins pulsing at her temples. Seconds extended to infinity but she held the gravitic force that would have crushed her friends long enough for them to get out of the danger zone!

 

Apex, unaffected by the gravitic force whip-lashing around the automaton, tore deeper into the machine. the thing lurched and reeled as she began ripping into vital mechanisms until she came to the heart of the machine.

 

There amid torn the wires and sputtering circuits was a mirrored capsule or slug, shaped like and egg, with the broad side down. the thing was roughly twice the size of a man and was cradle at the center of the robot in some sort of cage.

 

Outside the robot, Ryan and Deezy had escaped the violence of the gravity storm and both saw the second smaller robot land and drop to all fours it's limbs gripping the earth holding it in place against the wildly fluctuating gravity.

[Exile_Jeane]

"You look expensive."

 

Apex let the words hang there for a heartbeat, exhaling in grim satisfaction at a task very nearly done, the all-too-human reflex to exalt at a downed nemesis with deathblow readied. She was splattered with various lubricants and splinters of metal stuck in her hair. A thought struck her, inspired by the sci-fi war nightmare titan she had battled through spoiling her victorious serenity, the ugly emotion rippling across her face. If this thing was powered by some sort of tortured innocent in a tank, she was going to doubly Have Words with it's makers, God have mercy on their souls for she would not.

 

And with that, the blonde juggernaut set onto the final act of violence, pushing forward to drive her fingers into the mirrored metal of the egg, ready to end her part of this clash and regroup with her allies.

 

Spoiler

Athletics+STR

Exile_Jeane Request: [9d10] Roll: [9, 9, 9, 6, 5, 3, 2, 2, 1]

So, three successes Plus whatever extra successes  for Scale 5.

   

[Shameless]

For all his practice, certain random elements were in play here that could put even someone as skilled as Ryan off his game.   As he moved to blast the smaller robot, there was a momentary sense of wrongness, just before he launched his attack, and the gathered energy seemed to flow back through him, painfully.  "Arrrghhh"  he groaned, it had happened before, a misfire of his abilities, but it was rare.   The same glow that had wreathed his hands now wreathed his whole body, and still he remained upright.   It had hurt, but done no physical damage.  Still he wasn't entirely sure he should try that again.   "Goddammit."  

 

Spoiler

Ryan botched, so he gains a point of flux.

 

[Nina]

Apex's fingers had barley made contact when the egg disintegrated. It wasn't a blast nor an implosion. The egg simply came apart into millions of perfect bits which all floated momentarily before swirling away into nothingness...

 

A burst of Gravitic energy pulsed... it wasn't gravity it was beyond gravity...Time stopped.

 

Ryan's attack had coincided with the dissolution of the egg with serious consequences.

 

Time stopped.

 

A wormhole opened above the smaller humanoid robot and sucked it in, along with the power Ryan was employing and the nova himself. Both vanished into the tunnel!

 

Time resumed!

 

The robot teetered and fell apart leaving a jumble of wreckage with Apex standing in the middle a befuddled look on her face. The wreckage looked as if it had been sitting at the bottom of the lake when there had been water still here. Sitting for a couple of hundred years, it was deteriorated, rusted, ruined.

 

In the distance the sound of approaching helicopters grew.

 

Spoiler

direct questions to my pm on discord please.

 

[Shameless]

-----Elswhere-----

Ryan hadn't felt Nauseated since the Storm.  He did now, and that was telling.   Whatever had happened, well it certainly wasn't what passed for normal, and his brain kicked into overdrive.  He recalled the backlash, and the wormhole.   He was alive, so now he had to figure out where he was, so he could find his way home.  Still he was concerned for his friends, and quietly spoke.   "I really hope the others are okay."   

As he looked around, he took in the room he found himself in.  It was aseptic, and obviously a clean room of sorts.  There was a strangely futuristic, yet retro theme to the decor, complete with glowing floor tiles.   The humanoid robot was there, and while he was more than willing to finish the fight, it wasn't moving, simply there, humming.   If it moved in a threatening manner, he'd have to handle it, but until then, it wasn't a threat.
 

The walls were devoid of symbol and script, which annoyed him slightly.   The doors at both ends of the room opened suddenly, and he found himself surrounded by a dozen soldiers.   Their uniforms looked very similar to 1950's American Army Infantry kit, and even their rifles, all of which were aimed at him, looked to be up-calibered M-1's.   Unless they were serious quantum tech, they'd be nothing more than spitwads against his quantum infused flesh.   He could still easily feel the flow of quantum energy, so that was good, though he wasn't sure exactly how his powers would work wherever here actually was.
 

Still somewhat disoriented, and nauseated, he sighed, and reached up slowly to rub the bridge of his nose.   He heard multiple rounds being chambered.
 

"You know, I think we've gotten off on the wrong foot here.  Is there someone I can speak with."  His tone was almost casual.  "You guys don't really need the guns.  That's not gonna work out well for any of us."   His tone was non-threatening, but fellow soldiers could recognize their own in the way he stood.   He'd not initiate violence, but he would definitely answer in kind if they did.
 

The soldiers still looked grim and serious, put also perplexed and confused.  The doors were still open, and in walked a heavy-set officer. Judging by the insignia, he was a two-star general.  His face hid none of his amazement as he looked at Ryan, though he didn't speak either.  It was then that he heard a disembodied male voice from the loudspeaker.  "Do not hurt him.  Bring him to me." 
 

The General waved, and the guns were lowered, and a path was made.  "Follow me."
 

Ryan nodded. "I'm glad we can understand each other." He then moved to follow the general.

[Exile_Jeane]

Fingers tingling from where her fingers had gripped the egg in anticipation of rending some kind of reactor, living or otherwise, to bits, Grace dropped several stories down amidst a storm of splintering machinery and rust powder. She hit the ground with a roll and a grunt, the impact vibrating through her bones, dusty craters and bursts of rust muting the colors of her eufiber bodyglove.

 

Coughing out a mouthful of foul-tasting spit, the blonde juggernaut looked up and scanned the surrounding area. Deezy? Check. Centerpoint? Check, apparently. Other robot? No sign. Ryan? Not check. Wait. Not Check?

 

"Ryan!" she called into the open air before keying on her combead and hoping the gadget had range to reach Deezy and the others, "Where'd he go? What happened?"  

[Nina]

Suddenly the helicopters burst out of the darkness! There were four of them, two where the new replacement for the Blackhawks carrying troops and the other two were advanced versions of the Apache gunship armed with a 20mm Gatling gun much lick the ones that used to be carried by the A-10 fighters.

 

The Apaches circled like hungry buzzards while the Defiant-X toop carriers  made one circle and then hovered, one on either side of the lake bed.

 

Deezy's radio crackled, "This is Captain Neely, what is the situation?"

 

Over Chicago, Dauntless felt the Gravity chaos far away over the lake and she scanned the city below, the mobs had retreated inside and the police and fire trucks were prowling hte streets. With one more bright pulse she withdrew her light and dashed off at supersonic speed, "Hang on Sean, I'm coming!"

 

Elsewhere...

 

The General led Ryan out of the clean room followed by the soldiers and as  the doors closed Ryan glanced back and saw clean suited techniicians entering the room and swarming the robot. Then the door was shut.

 

"This way if you don't mind." The general said gesturing with his hand near Rayan's arm but not touching him. "I'm General Oakley," the general continued into  a large control room that looked like NASA might have looked in the late Nineteen Seventies or early Eighties with one wall dominates by a television monitor. Ryan noticed that everything seemed to be analog. "I'd welcome you but I really don't know if that would be appropriate."

 

They went up a short flight of metal stairs and through a door, down a corridor and through another door which led into and observation room.  This room was dark with a large window overlooking the control room they had just passed through. Inf ront of the window was an elaborate control desk at which a figure sat. Off to one side several television screens sat one which showed the clean room and the technicians working on it.

 

"Here he is sir" said Oakley, stopping just inside the door. only two of the soldiers had come into the room with them Ryan noted.

 

The figure at the desk moved, he didn't stand rather the chair backed up and turned. Ryan herd tiny motors and realized it was an electric wheelchair. The chair moved closer. 

"Ryan Hawke, I presume?"

 

The voice sounded familiar and when the chair moved into the light Ryan felt a sense of vertigo.

 

Ryan Hawke was sitting in the chair!

[Shameless]

----Elsewhere----
 

"I see what he meant."   He said quietly.   He was looking at himself, and two possibilities presented themselves immediately.     He could be in an alternate reality, where his life had been much different.  He noted this Ryan's lack of legs, though hidden by a blanket,  and could only wonder what had led to such a loss.   In the next moment, he silently wondered if this was a future where something catastrophic had happened.  Given that this Ryan looked older than he did, certainly he'd had a rougher time of things.     Ryan knew intrinsically that he himself didn't age after the storm, and that his wounds healed quite rapidly.   Perhaps his missing legs were from before that.  He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, aware of the guards there, but pressing on.  

 
"Ok, I'll ask the obvious first, because it will likely bug me until I do.  Perhaps it's impolite, but if you're like me, you prefer blunt talk to just talking around issues."   He held the gaze of his counterpart.   "You are Ryan Alexander Hawke, are you not?"

 

Of course he could have just checked, but since he knew when someone did it to him, it would be more rude to just do it.   "Beyond that, What's the Date, Where am I, and what exactly happened before I arrived here, on your end?"

[Exile_Jeane]

On 3/8/2023 at 7:43 AM, Nina said:

Suddenly the helicopters burst out of the darkness! There were four of them, two where the new replacement for the Blackhawks carrying troops and the other two were advanced versions of the Apache gunship armed with a 20mm Gatling gun much lick the ones that used to be carried by the A-10 fighters.

 

The Apaches circled like hungry buzzards while the Defiant-X toop carriers  made one circle and then hovered, one on either side of the lake bed.

 

Deezy's radio crackled, "This is Captain Neely, what is the situation?"

 

Over Chicago, Dauntless felt the Gravity chaos far away over the lake and she scanned the city below, the mobs had retreated inside and the police and fire trucks were prowling hte streets. With one more bright pulse she withdrew her light and dashed off at supersonic speed, "Hang on Sean, I'm coming!"

 

 

 

Grace ran the back of one hand across her forehead in a futile effort to make herself more presentable, mostly achieving a further smear of clotted lubricant and rust. She looked up, eyes tracking the circle of flying death over the dry lake bed and thoughts going a mile a minute behind grey eyes like waiting storm clouds. Foe down. Calvary arrived. (Presumably.) And Deezy no doubt stripping the shattered machinery around her to so many data points. Still no response on or from Ryan though.

 

One hand was half-way up to her ear to flip channels to get said response when it belatedly crackled to life with the voice of the Chicago Three's government contact, "...is Agent Carson. Come in, please."

 

"Grace here, Agent," the blonde juggernaut responded, "Good to finally hear from you." 

 

"I was in a brief and just caught word of the attack. What happened? Is anyone hurt?"

 

Grace gave herself a moment to process those questions, eyeing the transport helos as they landed and started to disgorge troops, Army unless she missed her guess. "That's an involved question. Giant robots at the source of the blast are defeated, Sean deflected most of the blast, and the army is here to back us up. Ryan Hawke is gone though. Any idea where he is?"

 

She could picture the hurried mental note taking that took place on the other end of the link, the 'Okaaaaay' thoughts crossing Carson's mind before he responded back, "...I'll look into that. In the meantime, please cooperate. We'll have someone to you soon as we can."

 

"Will do, Agent," Grace answered, voice flat and calm, wrath defused for now by the destruction, planned or not, of the hostile robots. That had to have set the people responsible back a step.    

[SalmonMax]

"This is Captain Neely, what is the situation?"

 

"This is Deezy at the LZ and...situation is NAFU," she replied to the radio signal. "Grace covered the high points, but from the displacement profile, there's no telling where Ryan wound up, just...bein' real with you there. Good news is that he's got enough power to get back from just about anywhere too, so...we'll just have to hope he's okay enough to do that."

 

She looked around, surveying the wreckage.

 

"You know, Grace? We've got a bonkers debrief coming up."

[Nina]

On 3/8/2023 at 6:35 PM, Shameless said:

Of course he could have just checked, but since he knew when someone did it to him, it would be more rude to just do it.   "Beyond that, What's the Date, Where am I, and what exactly happened before I arrived here, on your end?"

 

The two Ryans looked at each other, one from the confines of the wheelchair the problem had put him in years ago, the other, standing calm, almost nonchalant due to his otherness caused by a similar problem. The tension in the room was from the bystanders most whom had no way of understanding what they were seeing, even Oakley, who was privy to the plan, hadn’t foreseen this unusual turn of events.

 

“We’re not alike, despite appearances, not at all.” The legless version of Hawke looked at General Oakley, “The robot?”

 

“It came through intact, Dr K is extracting the pattern now.” Oakley glanced and nodded toward standing Hawke, “How…”

 

“How the hell should I know, Oakley, Let Klatta figure it out when she’s finished doing what she’s paid for. Now clear the room.”

 

“Sir?” Oakly again glanced at standing Hawke.

 

“For pete’s sake Oakley, He is one of them, if he wanted to take us out he already would have. Now clear the room I need to talk to him and I don’t want anyone else interrupting. But Let me know as soon as Klatta is ready.”

 

Oakley and the soldiers left the room and only the two Hawkes remained.

 

Sitting Hawke rolled up closer to standing Hawke. “I would offer you a seat but as you can see there is only the one chair.”

 

Ryan outwardly calm but growing annoyed at the way his presence had been ignored. “Are you going to answer my questions?”

 

Hawke sat back in is chair and steepled his fingers. “Date wouldn’t mean anything to you really, we use different calendars. Suffice to say it is the end of the world and this is the hail Mary pass.

 

This is the last offensive outpost left to humanity, the last defenders of the last un-tainted humans left on Earth.

 

Our Earth, not yours. Your from what Dr Klatta calls an alternate universe, not a parallel dimension but a completely self-contained Universe, similar to ours with some differences. Apparently there are a multitude of these universes and we have spent the last three years looking for the right one.”

 

“What do you mean the right one?”

 

“I mean one where a problem like ours occurred with near identical results. For us it occurred almost ten years ago. It wasn’t a storm it was a series of volcanic eruptions that shattered civilization brought the world to its knees and then the Aberrants arose. Like your Novas but twisted monsters, bent on finishing the destruction the problem started.

 

We fought them with everything we had, held our own for a while but to be honest the conclusion was forgone, it was only a matter of time.

 

The surviving population are in a few scattered underground bunkers and then we’re here preparing for the last offensive.”

 

The door Opened and Oakley stuck his head in. “Klatta’s ready sir>”

 

“Have her commence.”

 

“Klatta, that is your version of Deezy right? What is she doing?”

 

“Mr Hawke,” Hawke rolls to the observation window which lights to reveal the room where Ryan had appeared with the robot. The robot was gone now and in the center of the room was a scintillating golden egg about the size of a large man, “She is about to fight fire with fire.”

 

Elsewhere…

 

Deezy looked around, surveying the wreckage.

 

"You know, Grace? We've got a bonkers debrief coming up."

 

Grace didn’t really hear what Deezy said her fingers were still tinging from when she had touched the egg thing in the robot, She flexed her hands and shook them they were numb now.

 

She didn’t notice that Dauntless had arrived and joined with CenterPoint they had land a few feet away from her.

 

The two heroes watched their friend and partner with concern. Grace was shaking her hands , flexing her fingers which were now glowing with a scintillating golden light, just like the egg and just like the egg her fingers were coming apart then her hands and arms and then Grace …..

 

Grace was crouched down the tingling in her hand and arms was gone, but she was  disoriented, suffering from Vertigo. She was in a large room, sterile white. There was a large observation window looking down from above and in the window she could see two men watching her… both of them were Ryan Hawke!

[Shameless]

Ryan quickly assimilated the story he'd been told, and found it almost comical.   Still, he didn't laugh, these people were fighting for survival, and he had a feeling they would be his only way home, at least currently.
 

When Grace appeared in the same room he had,  He was very aware of the danger.   "You better tell your men to stand down and NOT point guns at her.  You won't like what she does if you fail to do so."
 

Ryan saw Grace look up at him, and gave her a small smile and single nod. He tried  the shortrange communicator, and faced her.   "Hey Grace, Yes, it's really me.   We aren't on our world.   Unless you're attacked, don't retaliate.  I'll get them to bring you here, and we can all sit and talk this out."   He keyed off the communicator, and looked to his counterpart.
 

"You'll want to bring her up, explain what you want from us, and maybe we can help, without you having to forcibly bring more of us to this universe."  He had turned to the other Ryan to speak.   "She'll make her own decision, as will I."

The fact that they definitely had seemed to bring them here to fight their battles, it was annoying.  What they were fighting was likely even crazier, if they had robots with those capabilities and still couldn't triumph.
 

Edited March 22, 2023 by Shameless

[Exile_Jeane]

Head throbbing but blessedly free of the tingling in her arms, Grace offered a narrow-eyed glare in the direction of the many potential entrances to the sterile bay. She didn't like this situation even less than she understood what exactly was going on. Two Ryan Hwkes? One of whom was apparently 'the' Ryan Hawke based on his voice coming over the combead. Or a doppleganger that could hack Deezy's gear. Something she was all ready to believe based on their time laser, giant robot, and her forced teleportation wherever here was. Time. She needed to buy time for her teamates and Deezy to find them and get them home. Never a bad bet in a hostage situation where the captor wasn't out and out ready to kill you on sight.

 

Hmmmf. Thoughts as to how she'd make these sociopaths pay for threatening her home, city, and if 'Ryan's' story was true, world danced through the back of her head. 

 

"I'll want a shower to go with that explanation, Ryan," she called into the empty chamber, "Soon."

 

 

[Nina]

A door opened.

 

Sitting Hawke leaned forward and mumbled, "What the hell?"

 

Back down in Transposing Chamber, Deezy stepped into the room. At least it looked like Deezy, sort of. This version looked tired and her hair was pulled back severely and she was wearing large horn rimmed glasses with very thick lenses that made her eyes look twice as large as they were. Oh and she was wearing a very modest plain dark blue dress under a white lab coat as well as sensible shoes.

 

She stopped about three feet inside and the door behind her closed. A subtle hum entered the background noise. "Fascinating. Are you the Nova called Apex?"

 

[Exile_Jeane]

Grace stilled as the... Not!Deezy entered the chamber, straightening and forcing herself to not bunch up her fists. If this *was* another world, she could picture no clearer designer for the weapons they had faced then a twisted reflection of her friend. Streaked with grime, clad in quantum-powered fabric patterned out of something akin to a comic book, her grey eyes gave away nothing, body still like a statue. A statue that had torn its way through a towering war machine without so much as a scratch. Her words were polite enough though, the blonde juggernaut was raised better than that. Money had always been a kind of superpower the Williams had always had, and this, no matter how strange, was just another negotiation. This had to be.  

 

"I am. And are?"

 

Not!Deezy looks wide eyed at Grace. "My god, you actually speak english," she looked up, commented to an unseen audience, "Kill the translator."

 

The hum stopped immediately "Do you still understand me?"

 

Grace refused to react to that, forcing herself to just note it for later, "I do. And again, you are?"

 

Not!Deezy shakes her head in amazement then seems to realize the question, "Oh, I'm sorry. I am Dorothy Klatta...um Dr Klatta... ah Doctor Dorothy Klatta.  I'm the one who brought you here. I'm sorry I wasn't able to ask you but we are sort of on a deadline. Sorry."

 

If this *was* a ploy... Grace's stare on the other woman, briefly interrupted by a quick flick up to the observation window, could have carved stone, voice hard and level, "You can explain while I wash the grime from your machine off, Doctor Klatta. It was *your* machine, right? And that's my Ryan Hawke up there with... Yours, I gather?"

 

Klatta looks puzzed, "Mine? Yours?"

 

She twists and looks up at the observation deck seeing the two Ryans for the first time, opening and closing her mouth several times, "Oh my."

 

The possibility this was a ploy on Doctor Klatta's part fell several tiers in the blonde juggernaut's mind.

"We have time for you to shower, Ms. Williams," The voice over the loudspeakers was a Ryans but it was theirs that Grace could see talking. "When you're done, I will explain as much as I can. Mr. Hawke will join you. Klatta get up here. Now."

 

Curiouser and curiouser Grace couldn't help but think as she moved towards the closest door with the full expectation of some sort of escort towards a shower.

[Shameless]

Ryan looked to the other Ryan, and nodded.  "Not what you expected to happen?"  He sighed, and smiled.  He felt abit guilty over it, but he was somewhat relieved that he wasn't alone here with these alternate versions of the people he knew.  Grace he knew was good to have on his side, and he resolved that if nothing else happened, he'd make sure  they both got back home safely.  There was sill far too much for them to do there."

 

"So Are Grace and I the only novas here?"

[Nina]

On 3/26/2023 at 6:27 PM, Shameless said:

"So Are Grace and I the only novas here?

 Sitting Hawke looked at Ryan and scowled. "No." He wheeled back away from the window, " Why don't you go and reassure your friend. Soldier, take mr Hawke here to where Apex is."

 

Back on our Earth...

 

Bridget Arrived as the Army was landing their first responders. She flew up to Sean and asked if she was alright, after the two talked in the air for a minute they landed by a seemingly distracted Deezy.

 

For her part Deezy was mumbling to herself walking back and forth around the bottom of the empty lake nudging wreckage with her booted foot, or picking something up and holding it in close to her face before dropping it.

 

The two costumed Novas watched a minute as the Army made a cordon and a soldier with captain’s bars on his collar stood above them waiting impatiently.

 

“Deezy,” Bridget broke the silence, “what do you have?”

 

Back on Aberrant Earth…

Grace had showered and her costume had repaired itself. She had spoken for a few minutes with Ryan and now the two of them were seated in a plain room with a table and a water cooler. The wheelchair bound Ryan Hawke rolled in followed by Dr Klatta and General Oakley. Two of them sat down and the third wheeled to one end of the table near a wall mounted television screen.

 

“As I was telling your Mr Hawke, our world and yours are very similar. Out of the hundreds Dr Klatta observed yours was the only one which had had an event like ours that spawned, what we call Aberrants and you call Novas.”

 

He picked up a boxy remote control and flicked it at the screen starting a slideshow on the screen. Images of a volcanic disaster which brought the world to a standstill. Cities drowned in Lava, Nations burned and shattered by eruptions and earthquakes, the continents actually reshaped.

 

“The disaster was the end of the world or so we thought. But our saviors were born out of that disaster. Men and women began displaying incredible abilities  Super heroes is what they were. They saved us, They were amazing, they put the world back on the road to rebuilding itself. But it didn’t last.”

 

The screen shifted to a picture Grace recognizes. Echidna.

 

“That was a young woman by the name of Asosa Orou, She was one of the gifted, twenty two years old, her powers were heightened physical abilities and the ability to move the ground. She was helping redirect a river that had been shifted and was flooding much needed farm land. In the middle of working she transformed into that thing.” Hawke paused as the screen showed Echidna rampaging, destroying her home and town. “ It made straight for the capital and by the time it reached that city a group of Heroes were there waiting to confront her.” The screen stops on a picture of several people in various colorful outfits, that looked like homemade superhero costumes. Nothing Like what the Novas wore on Earth, at least not as sophisticated. One of the superpowered is Obviously Grace.

 

Hawke sets the control down. “the y fought Orou and defeated her, wrecked most of the city. That was the start. Our gifted heroes began turning into monsters. Luckily for us they fought among themselves or were fought by the remaining heroes. But in the end even the greatest of our gifted changed”

 

He reaches over and clicks the control again. The picture changes to an image of Grace but not like she looks sitting across the table. The Grace on the screen is super muscled, she is obviously larger than she is normally her visage is somehow bestial without being non hums. She is sitting on a throne made of skulls and is surrounded by other changed gifted and pure monsters.

 

“Our Version of you, Apex. She fought and won every battle against the monsters, our greatest treasure, a superwoman who could not be defeated. Then she changed too.”

Hawke looks across straight at Grace, “We brought you here to kill her.”

[Exile_Jeane]

Aberrant Earth

 

Grace stared at the pretransformation picture of Enchida for the short time it was on the screen. She'd never seen the hulking, transgressive creature as human before, just the corruptor and twister of flesh heralded by its many maddened victims until forced into the open and brought down by her allies. But this young woman... Had their Enchida been just another Kamui?

 

Her thoughts were cut short by the rest of the short, horrifying confirmation of the adage you either died a hero or lived to see yourself become the villain, the monster. Assuming they weren't lying. There was no sane reason to fake this deep personal to her own history, her concerns about the new golden glow of her blood when exerting her gifts. The line of her lips, became just that much more flattened, that much more controlled.  

 

The blonde juggernaut glanced over at her Ryan, forcing herself to be even more stoic than usual, to breath, think, and *then* speak, "Were the transformations progressive or just happen all at once? Contagious?"

 

Doctor Klatta, Not-Deezy, responded almost eagerly, "Progressive but the progression speed was variable per individual some change within days others a few years. but they all changed. Unlike your world, those who are gifted here become aberations as they grow stronger."

 

Okay. A pattern. Breath. Think. Speak. "How strong is your Grace now? What other empowered are with her now?"

 

Not-Ryan answered, his tone clinical and cutting, "This Apex, who we call Titan, is the strongest most powerful Aberrant alive. All of them that survive are hers and they worship her like a goddess."

 

Distaste rippled through her thoughts, a quick exhale through her nose. And they had decided to fish for her to resolve it before this goddess decided to wipe them out. Actually... "And what part did the giant robots have in fishing me across to your world?"

 

The resulting explanation by Doctor Klatta rambled with the true enthusiasm of an artist showing off their masterpiece.  She explained that they couldn't send organic material through the wormhole therefore she built a device that basically digitized Grace and allowed them to bring her to their universe by locking onto her data like a radio and reconstituting her here. The robot was designed to withstand anything except Apex's strength. The hope was that grace would defeat the robot and do just what she did touch the digitizer.

 

Grace did allow herself to react at this point, leaning forward, fingers steepled, eyes hard but far from unsympathetic, "And what about the attack on my home? Ryan crossing over without being killed?"

[Nina]

Klatta leaned forward but before she could say anything she saw her Hawke shake his head. "As I told you Mr Hawke," their Hawke began, "our apocalypse began several years ago in our history than yours did. Our world while similar are not exact copies of each other. There are differences in the way things developed on each world, in each universe. Suffice to say we looked for a long time before we found your world and we studied you for a long time before we committed to this course of action.

 

The Attack on your home was calculated with the utmost care. We needed to draw you to a place where we could insert the robots and conduct the operation with as little colateral damage as possible."

 

Both Ryan and Grace looked as if they were about to speak but Hawke held up his hand, "Please let me finish first. We did ask you because we had no idea if you would understand us and the robots had a finite amount of time they could function in your universe. From observation of your actions, our head psychologist Dr Faire, made educated guesses as to how you and your allies would react. Luckily she was right."

[Shameless]

"So you bring us here to fight and kill an Aberrant version of Grace herself.  I get that you're desperate, that your world is in danger.   But couldn't you have just asked us?   You watched us for awhile enough to make educated guesses regarding our reactions, so you know that I'm pretty annoyed by this Ryan."  He held up a hand, to forestall any explanation or retort.    "Fine, being annoyed and mad isn't constructive, so we're here now, and there's probably not a way home for us yet."
 

Ryan sighed.  "I realize my presence is an anomaly, and I have a few ideas on that, but you chose to bring over Grace.  Is that because you believe Grace alone is powerful enough to defeat Titan?   Were you trying to get more of us?  Do you have some means of gauging the individual power of novas against each other?"
 

He nodded. "  Another important question for personal reasons for both Grace and myself, What countermeaures, if any, exist to slow or prevent the progression that causes novas to change?   This is important for Grace and I, as neither of us wants to become monsters, and I know you definitely don't want that either.  Is the working theory that we won't experience this due to being from another universe, or something similar?"   His features weren't as dark as before, but in his mind these were serious issues.  A monster at his level of power, with his abilities, not to mention a second Titan, if Grace went that way too, this world was well and truly screwed.  This was a huge risk bringing them over if they didn't have some way to help prevent the progression, or proof that it wouldn't affect them.
 

[Exile_Jeane]

Grace looked introspective and openly troubled by all this as the, well, kill order briefing continued, picturing the distorted 'Aberrant' version of herself in her mind's eye. God, what an apt word that was for this nightmare. A shattered world shattered again, it's dwindling supply of champions knowing each battle, each crisis brought them one step closer to being the next crisis that needed putting down, pushing their allies to their own damnation, one by one by one by one.

 

"Was she the last nova on your side? If she was anything like me towards the end before... before... *This* took her..," the blonde juggernaut paused, not able to complete her thought in one sentence, shoving it down down down to finish the thought, "...She'd have left a will, a last message, for anyone left after losing herself, something to give you, and now us that you've dragged us over here, an edge however slight. We're Williams, and Williams plan for the future. If I have a quarter of the emotional effect on her that I think I might, the anger I might spark just by mocking her with my existence, we'll need it, even with your counterpart's ability to toss her into orbit if I can distract her enough, Mr. Hawke."

 

She nodded at their wheelchair-bound host, adding, "And to add, do you have enough machines to keep the less powerful monsters off us as we deal with... Her?"

 

Her voice was far from the serene focus it normally was, grey eyes digesting the reality she'd probably be fighting her nightmare echo in a matter of hours with the intent to kill. She'd enjoyed not having to do that as part of her Chicago Three duties.

[Nina]

The wheelchair bound Hawke Pondered the questions then turned to their Dr Klatta. "Klatta, would you explain it to them please." It wasn't a question it was a Direction.

 

Klatta adjusted her glasses and spent a few seconds herself pondering the questions. "Our universes are alike but very different in the minutia. For instance, none of the gifted here developed any sort of long distance teleport ability and none ever displayed any sort of wormhole creation talents like you Mr Hawke. That is why we didn't foresee the way your power could interact with our wormhole technology.

 

As for why Apex." Klatta smiled at Grace, "Her abilities and that of our Titan are eerily similar. and from my...observations I surmised that only  one of your Novas with the same...um...package of abilities could defeat Titan. And that meant Ms. Williams.

 

On the more certain front. No we are most certain that you will not be under the threat of turning into monsters. Our observations show that your Nova phisiology is designed to shed the negative energies that collect that cause the Aberrations. Our gifted do not have that ability."

 

Their Hawke clears his throat, "As for support, this is our last hope. You will have our complete assistance. You're not here to fight our battle for us, your here to help us fight our battle."

 

Klatta brushed past the interruption. "And we can get you home after. All we need to do is send a connective sample back to your world and then transpose you from here to there. Something we will do even if you decide not to help us." She gives their Hawke a severe look, mirroring the one he is giving her.

[Shameless]

Titan World

Ryan nodded.  "Well at least that's going our way then."   He was glad he didn't have to worry about monsters with his abilities, that would make things so much more difficult.  "We can shed that energy yes, but it does take time.   I was more concerned if there was something in the world's environment that would cause it to accrue faster than it normally does."

He nodded.  "I'm glad you have a way to send us home when this is over.   I should note, that Deezy, Our Dr. Klatta, will likely be trying to figure out what happened to us, and how to either undo it or make the connection here.  A mystery like that, happening right before her eyes, that's going to annoy and intrigue her."  There was a certain sort of pride in his voice as he spoke about his partner.   "I imagine Sean will help, as well."

"So what does her "Army" look like then?   Do we know what her lieutenants, if she has any, are capable of?"  Ryan asked calmly.   "I don't expect a full breakdown of their abilities, but some general sense of it.   Is flight very common? Increased toughness and strength, speed?  energy manipulation?  I'd also like to see a breakdown of what you have available in terms of equipment, just to understand the support.  I understand this is your last option, so you're going to commit it all.   Having watched us, you must have some plan in mind to actually make this happen.   I'd like to hear that plan."