Log:Dead Men Walking

Recommissioned 2020/08/03 	 Grimm Korkoro Imaginary Girl Porter Blockbuster

6

Sandy Bottoms Island

Grimm sits along the rocky shore along in the dark, staring out over the bay as she struggles with the things going on in her life. She picks up a smooth rock. Dark energy surrounds it and she hurls it out over the water to send it skipping.

The Island is home to a lot of oddball things. Today, it's the lighthouse that had Judith's attention. She doesn't really do the -mask- thing because.. it's not realistically possible with her origin. But she -does- wear bluejeans over a one piece leotard type outfit as she strides out of the lighthouse.

She says back over her shoulder, "I mostly represent Harrisburg, but I -will- bring your concerns to the council." to someone inside the building she just existed.

For her part, Imaginry Girl's flying along -- on patrol as she pretty much always is -- and taking a bit of a loop out of the city to fly over the island itself, because it's a part of her city, of course! She's flying at a fairly leisurely pace, as well, about fifty feet up, and doing nothing to try to keep herself from being seen.

Up in the sky!

It's a bird!

It's a plane!

It's... well, if it's a plane it's doing a terrible job, really. It looks to be losing altitude as it closes on the island. It's also getting bigger! Which... isn't really saying all that much, as it is pretty tiny. This makes exactly what it is hard to tell for most. Though Magda, Grimm, and Imaginary Girl are all pretty sure it isn't a plane.

Grimm looks up and squints at the tiny thing that's losing altitude. Not a plane. With a flicker, Gabrielle's suddenly on her feet. Dark energy surrounds her, seeps out from some internal well of power as she prepares to play catch.

Far behind the tiny (and becoming less tiny) black speck is a smaller black-and-cyan speck, seeming to become incrementally closer to the first one as the pair of them get closer. Whether the second will catch the first before touchdown is a question that's open for debate.

Imaginary Girl pauses to hover in the air for a bit... then flies over to put herself directly in the incoming object's path, as best she can guesstimate it. There, she hovers, hands on her hips... and, as it closes, she lifts one hand in a 'stop' gesture -- and just hovers, keeping that hand out like that.

And yet, it's evening out and in the darkness Judith has no real ability to perceive any such falling thing. Obliviously, she turns to start walking away from the Lighthouse, and begins a loping trot which eats up the ground until she passes the position where Grimm was located....

Fortunately for all humans, Blockbuster is just flying back to what has become something of a home. She pauses, floating in the air overhead on a pillar of crystalline white-blue light. Looking down at the Judith moving across the beach, Blockbuster lifts a hand and forces a number of points of light to start orbiting her person so that a big, fat, 8m radius sphere of light emanates from the Blockbuster floating in the air over Sandy Bottom Island.

. o O ( What is with all of the traffic around the island tonight? )

Grimm squints at the secondary object, trying to make out what they are. She raises a brow as the heavy hitters run past an act as a human stop sign. "Yeah, I'm sure that'll convince them," she says of Imaginary Girl's action.

"If whoever it is doesn't want to stop and talk, then I stop trying to talk", Imaginary Girl says, simply -- and remains as she is, holding up her 'stop' gesture.

As the only person here who seems to have no idea what is happening, Judith suddenly has spinning glowy motes spinning around her. She skids to a stop and lifts her hands in a defensive stance. "Come on out!" She calls out, apparently not groking the idea that this isn't some sort of attack. After all, strange lights out of nowhere spinning about her is not usually the most friendly approach.

Grimm mutters, "It kind of looks more like they're falling."

Closer. Almost. Nearly there... and...

The incoming object winds up a bit short of those prepping, and just long of the one chasing. Which means it doesn't land on anyone as it impacts the sand with an earth-ignoring... THWIMP.

When the kicked up sand clears, an armored figure is visible, crouched on one knee in a perfect landing! And the knee is even still intact! It... he? (the armor certainly looks masculine, if just from lack of feminine traits) stands.

This shows that the landing isn't the only thing coming up short: despite the bulk of the armor, the figure is still at least a full helm or so below two meters tall.

Across the unbroad chestplate are four large markings:

X

III

It's possibly it had to be word-wrapped. On the other hand, the three Is on the abdomen neatly separate and border a six-pack in relief on the armor.

Grimm winces at the impact. "I thought you were going to catch--!" she starts to complain as she vanishes and reappears closer to the impact. Just in time to see the dust clear and the person landed fine. "Uh. Ah...." she starts backpedalling.

Hark! There is a THWIMP in the earth! And Blockbster is the sun!

Wait. Blockbuster pivots away from Judith to look in the direction of the mysterious masculine armored figure that has taken a knee upon the beachfront property. She cocks her head to the left and then to the right as she peers at the armored figure in confusion. Gradually Blockbuster starts drifting forward upon a pillar of crystal clear light while she maintains the motes of light orbiting her at various distances and vectors to shed brilliant light all around her.

"Like, what is with all of the old farts on my beach tonight?"

The air around her hissing with the speed of her flight through it, the black-and-cyan figure -- the brilliant blue being her power signature -- pulls up sharply some distance above the armored figure at least a score of meters above Imaginary Girl and Blockbuster, electricity flickering between her hands as her focus remains upon the armor. Tension is in every line of her body as she watches the figure below.

Grimm knows who that is up there; anyone who was at the Starguard recovery of the alien saboteurs will identify Korkoro, arcing with lightning the way she did after she'd pulled it from the starship's engines.

"Korkoro?" Gabrielle asks in surprise as she can finally make out the figure. "What's going on?" She keeps backpedaling, sensing the tension in her body and thinking this may be dangerous.

The armored figure's blank faceplate pans slightly, orienting towards the bridge and city proper. The body beneath it rotates to align as it/he begins to walk in that direction. The indivduals before, behind, or otherwise in its vicinity don't appear to be given any visible attention.

"What does Kokomo have to do with anything?"

Blockbuster looks puzzled by Grimm's outburst. She promptly goes careening off toward the armored figure that's walking away from the assemblage of super-heroines.

"Hey! Hey! Where are you going?"

"No shit, there I was," replies the black-and-silver-clad glowing-blue female figure up in the sky -- that's Korkoro -- "out past the moon because you can't get in good stargazing with it in the sky, when Mister Conversation there blew right past me at a bazillion kay pee aitch. What it's doing here, I don't know, but I sure as /hell/ am keeping an eye on it. Seeker drone, I'd /guess/."

"That thing looks familiar..." Gabrielle squints. Then her eyes widen. She stiffens a bit as something strikes her. "Oh. Shick. No, no, uhhh. We have to restrain it."

Grimm tries to use her shadow sight to sense within the armor.

Korkoro floats slowly forward, keeping pace with the armored figure. "More complete information. Now!!" she tells/orders Grimm.

The figure continues to walk, and at rather mundane speeds. It doesn't appear to be trying to outpace anyone.

"Um. I can blind it?" offers Blockbuster, confused as she floats along on her pillar of light.

"Worth a try," Gabrielle says to Blockbuster.

Blockbuster pulls some light from the air around her, hurling a ball of pale light down at the armored figure. She turns her gaze aside a moment before the ball of light impacts, detonating in a spray of dazzling sparkles and glittering lights that she hopes will slow the armored figure's advance. You know, assuming it can be blinded and/or its radio-frequency sensors can be blinded.

There is a definite reaction. The figure comes to a sudden stop.

Korkoro frowns -- fiercely. "All right," she says slowly, shaking off (or, more likely, radiating in other manners) the charge she'd built up in her flight. "That's ... information, but I'm --" She's well enough away that she isn't blinded by the effusion of light, but it's momentarily difficult to look at even so. "I need more complete information. Dead body, necromantically animated -- what else? Paragon is practically dripping with technology. Is this --" and then she realizes that X / III has stopped.

Grimm winces and puts her hand up against the light. With her eyes closed, she feels more details inside the armor. Her eyes suddenly open and she pales. "That's Porter in there!"

Grimm tries to recall what she knows. "Ummm, uhhh, umm. Paragon's tech is her armor. But her strength is actually metahuman capabilities I think. Which means...wait. How is Porter's powers not blowing up the armor? He breaks everything!"

"Bad luck," suggests Blockbuster. She gestures at the Roman numerals on the armor. Bobbing in the air, Blockbuster inquires, "Um... So. Either of you got bright ideas on how to restrain him?"

The figure's helm now pans towards Grimm. There is a new flash of light, though not quite as bright as Blockbuster's. In fact, two simultaneous flashes: one to either side of it, accompanied by the minor shockwave of displaces air.

FLASHTHWUMP

In their wake are ... two more identical figures?

"I don't know if we can if the rest of his stuff is...intact. Porter has nanites from some freak accident," Gabrielle says as tendrils start to grow out of her dark aura. They wind and twist like octopus tentacles. She blinks as there's suddenly two and her stomach drops. " < Bleep>..."

Korkoro lifts her head slightly. "Will he get better?" she asks Grimm. "I understand he is ... uniquely odd; if he is dead, will he get better?"

"Yeah, he can get better. Or at least free. He's being controlled against his will," Grimm explains, then looks at the other two. "How ...did....no. Did that Mechaneer guy get access to other Porters in other dimensions and convert them, too??"

"I'm... Gonna go get the cavalry."

Blockbuster pirouettes in the air and goes sailing across the island. In her wake is heard, "TAG! YOU'RE IIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"

Blockbuster is not connected.

"That," says Korkoro with surprising mildness -- or perhaps focus -- "would actually be ideal." She ascends a bit more, and then her bodysuit ripples out into a vast, meters-wide cloak, the ripples of which are /not/ being caused by the wind. "If you have technology," she suggests, "keep it a goodly distance from it." And with that, she begins to go to work.

"Just my phone, but I can't afford to replace it!" Grimm teleports a distance back, wishing she had backed it up recently.

The middle of the trio of Thirteens resumes his/its walking towards the city. The other two remain, faceplates paning to Korkoro and Grimm, respectively. It seems the one may have recovered from BB's sparkling personality...

...or perhaps not, as he walks through a family picnic. A pie is stepped in. A portable grill overturned. The beach blanket snags on his leg and begings to be dragged away. He seems oblivious.

Grimm doesn't want to hurt Porter. She's done enough of that already. So she tries to focus on his mind to shut him down. Nightmares are awful, but at least it won't leave a mark.

The grimmest nightmares seem to have some effect. There is a sound. A muffled one. A squeak? Though it could simply be metal on metal as the one's helm recoils slightly. It could also be from the other unit's helm snapping around to look at Grimm, before it starts running towards her. As one unit passes the other, the stationary one rapidly turns to grab the other and add to its momentum by... flinging it at Grimm?!?!

Grimm's senses the dimensional signatures. Her hands curl up into fists. "Those...those are Porters from other dimensions. I even know that other one," she points to one of them, anger and a hint of pain in her voice. Just before her eyes widen as one Porter throws the other at her. "Okay, I was wrong! They were given super strength!" she yelps.

Grimm likes hugs on occassion, right? Though.. this is less like a Porter hug and more a metal-clad Porter body-check. After the momentum is transfered, the flingee FLASHTHWUMPs... and re-appears adjacent to its counterpart.

Grimm gets the wind knocked out of her as she's body checked. She curls up and continues to bounces along the rocky beach, sliding to a halt several meters away. She's landed face down and groans as the dark, protective field around her vanishes.

Korkoro reaches out to telekinetically redirect the thrown thing ... but finds herself off-kilter (zombies? really?) and misses the deflection. Seeing the thing teleport back into place makes her frown, and flex her fingers. "All right, then." She visually checks the progress of the original Porter.

The OP continues his walk to the bridge, finally reaching it. The remaining two both swivel faceplates to now regard Korkoro now the Grimm is temporarily indisposed eating sand.

Grimm lets out a sudden gasp as she sucks air back into her winded lungs, squirming a little.

Korkoro floats somewhat higher, her cloak rippling around her as it begins to reconfigure.

Grimm manages to shake off the blow, but she's not in great shape. She definitely can't take another hit like that. She climbs to her feet, sand stuck to her in places. She sways a bit, and with some focus, she's wreathed in dark energy again.

Korkoro makes a couple of gestures, and Grimm's phone goes 'beedle-beedle-beep!' Or, you know, whatever sound it makes when it's recieving a call from a 'Dr. Magda Tatyana Gutzu, MD, PhD, yadda yadda effin' professora with all the books 'n' shit'.

It's the ringtone Gabrielle uses for meta contacts, so she knows it's urgent. She risks taking her phone out of her pocket to answer.

Thirteen (at least one of them) appears to study Korkoro and her rippling cloak. Eye-lights suddenly appear in the otherwise blank faceplate, sparking to life in a deep crimson. Said cloak then begins to ripple more wildly. Random air current? Electro-magnetic surge? Perhaps a shunt... or simply generally ionizing the air to alter its conductivity and thus EM properties.

"You really should get an earbud for combat," comes Korkoro's voice. "These are transmitting a signal. Odds that they're receiving a controlling signal?"

"I don't have time to get my earphones on. And odds are...good? From what I understand, his wife was controlled until some heroes broke her...somehow?" Gabrielle offers.

Korkoro beats on her dice.

Edna mode had the right of it... As if it had a mind of its own (or some outside direction) Korkoro's cape flutters around to her front and about and between her arms. It ends up in a bit of a messy knot, thoughit being around her forearms and wrists makes it alot harder to untie!

The other(other?) unit XIII starts walking for Grimm. Not running, or charging, or throwing things. Just ... walking.

Meanwhile, 1 of 3 of 13 makes his/its way across the bridge.

Korkoro looks annoyed at the inadvertent 'wrap' of her hands, but when the material doesn't promptly obey her, she gets ... a little irritated.

With her cloak rippling around her, other portions of her bodysuit reconfiguring to accomodate her needs, Korkoro shifts several meters to one side and states, "Grimm, lights and radio are going off, centered on me. Get clear." And with that, the radiant energy entering her zone of control just /vanishes/. It isn't cold -- not yet -- but that ... could be a possibility. In time.

Grimm's phone shuts down as Korkoro's power brings darkness. But darkness is home to Gabrielle, and she can operate in darkest night. She teleports after the leading Unit 13 by the bridge and extends a hand. Before him, a portal opens up and a shadow tentacle snakes out of it, before winding back and flicking to knock him back the way he came.

It's a ...flea-flicker! Thirteen goes careening back off the bridge and then some, skidding to a halt not all that far from the compatriots it left behind.

The flicked unit springs back up to its feet before the trio's helms pan across the area engulfed in radio silence and darkness. This may well interfere with target acquisition as none of the three lash out at either of the heroines.

Instead, there is a series of flashes (for those who can detect them) and sounds.

FLASHTHWUMP

FLASHTHWUMP

FLASHTHWUMP

One after another, rather than simultaneously, the trio vanish.

Korkoro lifts her head to look at the city beyond, looking for the transmission she'd seen. The darkness that had blanketed the three 'Thirteens' vanishes, and after a few moments she spreads her hands as the errant portions of the suit finally obey her directives. Once that's done, she focuses herself and the cloak expands even /further/, at least ten meters across and almost as much in height, concavities like satellite dishes appearing in it as her bodysuit enhances her sensory capabilities. "C'mon, c'mon, where are you ..."

Korkoro remains floating up there for a good three or four moments, looking this way and that, but eventually floats slowly down to where Grimm is standing. "Fairly certain they didn't go into town," she tells the other. "I haven't spotted the transmission emitting from them ... though I'm fairly certain I'll be able to in the future. I'm starting to become vexed with this -- what was his name again?"

Grimm frowns. "They must've teleported quite some distance. But they're still in our dimension," she states after studying where they vanished from. She turns bodily towards Korkoro, her head the last to turn to look to her. "Porter? He's a good guy. Honest. But a villain did that to him. -Them-."

Korkoro laughs briefly. "My dear, I don't need to be convinced -- Porter has plenty of people who vouch for him, and nobody with as well-meaning improbability around them as he does could /be/ a villian. Alternate-dimensional versions, you say, hm? I think ... we need to have a talk with Paragon and the rest of that family. She needs things removed, a new body cloned -- yes, yes, illegal, but that's a matter of locale, not ethics, isn't it -- and I'm starting to think that the Mechaneer or whatever his name is ... deserves a visit. Soon."

Grimm winces a bit as she rubs her stomach where she was tackled. "Well. One of them was the worst villain ever, and is still on the loose. He held the whole world hostage. But most of the rest are good guys. I know a couple of them. And...and," she sighs and closes her eyes. "Yeah, one of those other guys was one I knew. A nice Porter who was neat, tidy, had his act together."

Her eyes open wth sudden realization. "I have to warn the others," she gasps. She looks to Korkoro. "Paragon's the only other family I know of. Leave his daugther out of this, though. She shouldn't hear about this. Paragon's...actually more like herself. She doesn't need a cloned body. If we can get Porter back, he can cast the spell he did the last time."

Korkoro smiles grimly, gesturing to lift herself -- and Grimm, if she wishes -- into the air for a high-speed transit. "Do you really think she /likes/ being vulnerable in such a fashion? To be honest, were I either of them, I would strongly consider their vulnerabilities, if this sort of thing is what can happen."

"I don't think Paragon cares or sees herself as vulnerable. She shrugs off getting holes punched through her, from the stories Porter told," Gabrielle shrugs. "I didn't think anything could kill Porter. And then she did..." Gabrielle murmurs sullenly. There's so much going on already in her life that she's uncertain what to do first for a moment. "I really need to go warn the other Porters I know. So they can warn more." Dark energy starts to swell around her as she prepares to cross dimensions. "Paragon should probably be told what happened to Porter."