Log:8+3 = XX

2015/01/15 Bullet Ebon Star Grimm Malcolm Shadow

1

It's one of those warm January days that drives everyone from the safety of their homes to the quads of the campus. As college students the world over take a chance to show off their bodies in un-coated splendor. Watanabe and a couple of his gymnasts are handing out fliers for their next show. A couple of the girls doing some relatively safe acrobatics on the newly cleared pavement.

Yep, warm, acrobatics and all... Eden is one of the Freshmen cheerleaders, and she's out there practicing too. Sure, it's warm... for January, but that doesn't make it warm. It makes it ... less cold. So she's out there in a windbreaker and sweatpants, working on a long mat. Why a long mat you ask? I'm glad you asked that... to demonstrate, she starts at one end, gets a jogging start.. goes down into a twisting handspring that has her facing reverse, and then she continues with back handsprings for the length of the mat... her form is okay, but it could use work. Hence.. why she's working on it.

Acrobatic? Not likely. Need warm weather to dress skimpy? Not really, but with the weather being warm, Gabrielle Grimm doesn't stand out like a sore thumb. So that means sandals, black short shorts, black bikini top, and a loose crop black tee that hangs off her shoulders and shows off her midriff while she suns herself in the quad to try and get some color back into her skin, the natural way. She's got one hand resting behind her head, while the other reaches for a stick of pocky from a small red box of pocky sticks beside her. A pair of shades make it hard to tell where she's looking, but she may be...appreciating the gym team. Once she catches herself staring a bit too long, she blushes and turns her attention to the clouds drifting overhead.

Watanabe watches his girls do some of their tumbles and shakes his head, making notes of some of the things he needs to suggest to them. He walks over to where Eden is doing her flips and smiles, "Very good, you need to tuck your legs a little more, they are extending too far out and throwing your center of balance off, which limits your air time." His accent is his typical clipped Japanese origins.

Since she has just finished her series, Eden is catching her breath... which... well, takes a lot less time for her than for almost anyone else. Even without her speed active. But she nods to Watanabe, "Tuck more?" she asks. "In the upswing or downstroke?" (so sue the player, she doesn't know real gymnastic terms, her sister was the gymnast, not her!). She reaches for a bottle of water and takes a very small sip. She knows all about small intake to avoid muscle cramps and all.

The warmer weather attracts all kinds. Students displaying grace. Students sunbathing. Students admiring students doing those things. Street vendors to sell things to all the people. Floating, phantom-like humanoids wafting up through the earth of the courtyard. All kinds.

Grimm finishes off her pocky stick and reaches for another blindly without any issues. When she glances back towards the gymnasts for a second peek, she blinks. Several times. Then sits up and tips down her sunglasses to look over the rims. How did she not feel that?! Oh, right. Ghostly things tend to throw off her shadow sight. "Huh-what?" she mutters, then starts to get up to her feet.

"You'll want to pull the legs in to stomach as you rotate body upward." Watanabe begins to explain but doesn't seem to get much past that before he sees the vapory shade things appearing in the courtyard, "Students please remain calm and evacuate the quad!" His voice is loud enough to carry with the distinctive tone of someone who expects to be obeyed.

Well, say no more. Eden has grabbed her gym bag and is running (so very slowly to her perceptions) along with the other girls. However... none of them are really paying any attention to her. So... for a very very brief moment, she blurs and then she's gone. Around a corner.. she makes a quick change in less than a second... and then flickers with motion and skids to a stop in the area. "Holy vapor trails!" she calls out.

"No, no..." warbles a voice from the glowing magenta phantasm, "no need to cancel the festivities on my account..." As if reconsidering its statement, a dozen plus students, including many of the gymnasts and those in the vicinity... come to a stumbling stop.

As Malcolm would put it, Gabrielle's Grimm sense is tingling. "Definitely evil," she grumbles as her clothes change into something more concealing and decent. Her black short shorts stretch into full length jeans, and her t-shirt grows a little longer to cover her midriff. It's a t-shirt of the Misfits. Classic.

"Well, this is... not good." Watanabe frowns eyeing the magenta phantom and his students. "Why purple? It's like old disney cartoon where anyone wearing purple or green is evil. It is so cliche." He attempts to move closer to one of the frozen youth trying to see what could possibly be holding them all.

Moving down the stairway from the MagLev Station Rose hefts her satchel over one shoulder and finishes adjusting her scarf. The way this girl carries on she obviously thinks Virginia is part of the Yukon Territory. Once at street level she looks lefts and right to assess traffic and then moves across onto campus proper.

A beaming smile, almost like this is what she's been waiting for... and Bullet blurs into frenzied motion. People standing still, and she bursts through them at ludicrous (plaid maybe!) speed. Making mad dashes into the group and then over to an area around a corner and out of sight... one, two, three... seven, twelve trips she makes inside a second or so.... her plan, carry as many of the bystanders to safety as she can.

What was an impromptu celebration-nearly-turned-quad-faire has now become a bit of a chaotic scramble. More than it was, and more dispersing than congregating. Mostly due to the arrival of the magenta phantasmal figure, but Watanabe's shouted warning to clear the quad was also effective. Until several of them, including a large portion of Watanabe's gymnasts, stumbled to a stop.

Malcolm Gibbs WAS just sauntering across campus from a night class. He was planning on going home and getting some sleep, but the sound of chaos and the ominous glow of some sort of magenta - not yet determined to be MANgenta - figure draws the tall man's attention. Sighing - or possibly yawning - Malcolm starts jogging in that direction with his looseleaf book full of class supplies still tucked under one arm.

Rose stops abruptly in the middle of the street as she begins to assess the situation, the familiar whirring of Bullet flickering back and forth, the statue-like figures. The loud protest of a truck's blaring horn stirs her to step back a few paces and find a convenient spot to adjust her appearance.

And Bullet is also thinking quite loudly. . o o O O (Rose? Please tell me you're listening in Rose. This is creepy!)

Watanabe is trying to figure out how to prevent the magenta thing from attacking any other students... and then in a blur bullet has managed to pull all of the norms away. Okay so... now what does he do with the phantom... he really should figure out how to do a quick change one of these days.

A few seconds later the robed form of Ebon Star flutters into the early evening sky, darkened cowl surveying the quadrangle. The figures flies at its normal sedate pace, without doing anything obvious, maybe those rumours about her only super-power being flight are true?

Grimm spies Malcolm and flickers out of existence, only to reappear running next to him. "Hey, Handsome. My special senses are tingling. That glowing ghost is definitely magical, and I'm pretty sure that thing's what's triggering my other sense, because I only started feeling something evil when it showed up," she gives him a quick hello and a rundown.

The speeding Bullet blur draws some attention, especially as she blurs paused, and apparently confused, students away. All are not happy with the away-ing, but are not quick and/or strong enough to counted her actions.

"Interesting... are you not the partying type?" the form asks of her.

"Be with you in a sec!" calls out Bullet from around that corner. She had to move there to carry the people there though. "Okay, you guys, it's not safe out there." she says to the people after she sets them down there. "Stay here and stay safe, got it?"

"No!" The rescued dozen all seem to disagree with Bullet, in simultaneous agreement with each other. They are not individually as quick, strong, or gymnastic as the heroine, but those closest lunge for her to grab at arms, legs, hair, costume, or whatever they can.

A fuliginous stallated aura of dark oily droplets forms around Ebon Star as some form of defense. The starry shape pulses and rotates in a slow but erratic fashion, occasionally changing angle and direction. She doesn't say anything, focusing her attention on the creature.

"Hey, hold up. That's not cool. Don't grab that! Hey, my butt!" calls out Bullet from over there. Apparently, her savees are objecting to being saved.

"Hey there, Beautiful," starts Malcolm, though he quiets down quickly as Grimm starts providing him vital situational intel. Rubbing the back of his head with one hand, Malcolm seems to contemplate the situation whilst he jogs along and into danger. Almost as an after-thought, liquid metal starts to seep from his pores to engulf his body in its protective biometallic membrane. "Any other weird details you can share?"

Grimm nods a bit as she becomes outlined by a dark field. "Yeah. He floated up through the earth, so he may be partly immaterial, and he's exerting some sort of mental force over the other students." She looks towards the glowing magenta figure and squints a bit. "Hmm...this stinks of necromancy..."

Watanabe needs a chance to get out of view so he can pull on his mask. Glancing around to make sure no one is paying attention to him he fades from view, a slim line around him marking his shape for all but the most discerning. While invisible he pulls his mask out of his sweater jacket and then down his head. Beginning to shed his gym clothes into a nearby bush.

The collegiate cat fight in the alley continues, to a degree. The grabbees now grab for the grabbing Bullet, though they are nowhere near rapid enough to do more than annoy her.

Ebon Star stops approaching, hovering in the air, her robe whipping in the chill late winter breeze. From her darkened cowl a distorted voice emerges. "Our opponent is a magical construct who uses powers of the mind. It could be a reanimated spirit, it may therefore be in service of its creator who may regard it as disposable."

Forge jogs to a halt just outside of the quad proper. He looks over at Ebon Star, nodding a bit at her words though the metal man asides to Grimm, "Does that mean anything to you?"

The magenta form yaws, rotating its front towards the other hovering figure. "Oh, how interesting. So there is a mind amongst the lot of you... Tell me, have you overcome any of the numerous limitations of your worthless flesh?" An arm lifts to point towards Ebon Star to seek an answer. The force that reaches for her is mentally-directed, but very physical and substantial.

Grimm looks back to Forge and shrugs. "I just said what she said. But that last part of commentary probably means we could cut loose on it if we wanted to. It's just a puppet made of magic. But it sounds sentient. Like someone's soul brought back from the other side. But...still evil."

The projected force ruffles Ebon's cape inside her rotating field, but nothing more.

"Huh. I think I like it better when you explain this magic stuff," comments Forge to Grimm, still in an aside. He waves over at Rose and calls, "No offense!"

The metal man rubs his chin thoughtfully, eyeballing the magenta phantasm seriously as he considers options. Forge cocks his head to one side, clearly giving this situation all due consideration. After all, how does one expect Forge, of all people, to clobber an energy monster? It's simply not a thing he is well renown as doing, is it?

Now in Ninja garb Shadow advances on the phantasm his the blue energy of his ki forming into the shape of a sai that slices the air far in advance of where the magenta shade is. Missing it by considerable portions.

Ebon Star looks unphased as the creature takes aim, trusting to the might of her defensive magics and inherent agility as she floats there, unmoving, and the creature's eldritch blast rips past. There is a brief pause before she comments. "You're a wonderful ambassador, how I wish I too could be defiled in the grave and dragged back into the corporal world to do th bidding of an insane diaolist and never ever eat pastry ever again. What's the down side?"

Gabrielle chuckles at Malcolm's compliments. "I think that's just because you're biased," she winks at Forge. Just before she winks out! She flickers into appearance with a soft hissing sound some fifteen meters ahead closer to the magenta ghost. "Who'd have thought, evil hot pink colored necromancy ghosts probably get a better wrap than I do just because they're pretty." She draws back her hand and thrusts it forward as a stream of black shadowy energy blasts forth at the ghostly figure.

The thrust of darkness blasts through its magenta-ness. It doesn't offer much resistance (though it does offer some), and is distorted momentarily by the passage. The floating one remains floating where it was, though Grimm did gain its attention.

Ebon Star maintains her position, hovering while surrounded by the cloud of tenebrous droplets that coalesce and split in a slow but steady ripple. Raising her right hand she points a finger and nothing really obvious happens.

Nothing obvious continues to happen.

It would appear that the persistent rumours that Ebon Star's only ability is flight are entirely well founded.

Shadow readjusts his mask so that he can actually see out of it, and then his fingers shifting he forms dual wakisashis that he slices in toward the construct.

Blue blades pass through the magenta one as Shadow expertly targets the spaces between the many tiny particles that make up its form.

"Darkness... how droll," Ninth comments. A likely reference to Grimm, though it continues to 'face' Ebon Star. "The void is so much deeper in one's own mind. Allow me to show you..." Nothing much obvious happens, save to Grimm and Ebon Star.

Grimm staggers a few steps back, her arms dropping limply to her sides. She just stares blankly ahead with wide eyes as she gets a glimpse of the Void, feeling crushed by an overwhelming sense of nothingness.

Forge regards the proceedings quite seriously, eyes darting this way and that as he absorbs what he assumes to be the passing of metal blow-by-blow between all of the mentalists in the area. He flexes his hands, metal thickening across his knuckles even as the metal man starts to move with quick, quiet purpose. What he's doing is anybody's guess, but Forge does appear to be trying to get behind cover.

Ebon Star offers no obvious reaction as Grimm is visibly staggered by the attack. Instead she simply points again. If the creature or the on-lookers are fans of witty banter she apparently thinks it best to frustrate them thought her thoughts are racing. <>

She now receives some feedback on its defenses. Her mental energy affects it... in a manner similar to shooting an elephant with a very small gun. It stings and is felt, but the effect is negligible.

"It seems I was mistaken. Is that all you can do? Your flesh makes you weak." Ninth attempts to demonstrate this, as it once more engages Ebon Star in a pointing contest. Since flesh is perceived as s weakness, that is what is targeted, rather than her mind. Why attack a foe at their strongest point?

Once more, her attire ruffles lightly, and she can feel a physical force upon her, but nothing appreciable.

Ebon Star lowers her finger and drifts with surprising speed to one side of the projected blast. <<For an eldritch abomination from beyond the grave you're really quite gregarious." The distorted voice rings over the battle field.

Grimm blinks a few times as she comes back to reality, her eyes suddenly regaining focus. She sucks in a breath and shakes off the unnatural, dreadful sensation.

With her wits returned, Gabrielle flickers out of existence, only to reappear hovering a few meters directly above the magenta specter. A huge black tendril akin to an octopus', slick and inky, stretches out from the field surrounding her, whirling over her head a few times before flicking sharply at the ghostly figure much like a whip.

The force slams it into the ground at it's "feet," deforming it some before it recovers to lie upon the ground.

The tendril draws back into Gabrielle's field. "Hey, it's physical! That means you can slug this guy!" she yells out to someone in particular as she hovers a few meters above Ninth, whom she just pounded into the ground like a railroad spike with a giant inky shadow tentacle. Malcolm is stealthily approaching. Ebon Star floats there doing nothing but pointing as usual. Shadow has fled the scene.

Ebon Star and the creature have exchange pleasantries and finger pointing though neither seems to have had any noticeable effect on the other. Grimm has recovered from being temporarily dazed by a mental attack and has knocked the creature off its feet and far away. Forge is being sneaky and stealthing toward the bad guy while keeping to cover.

Zipping out from behind cover, Bullet calls out, "R.. er.. Ebon!" And she lifts a hand and taps a temple with her index finger. It's her... get in my head! gesture. Then she eyes Ninth from about twenty meters distant... narrowing her eyes and waiting for... iiiinformation!

Bullet takes a recovery.

.oO(Wow! That looks like it hurrrrrrr~urt!)

Forge resists the urge to sympathetically flinch for Ninth. Instead, having apparently reached some heretofore unknown rally point, the metal coating Forge's legs warps and twists into the image of compressing industrial springs. Crouching dynamically, Forge abruptly looses the tension in his springs to send himself hurtling across the quad toward Ninth's location.

In air, Forge thrusts his left hand out to one side as liquid metal starts to flow down his arm and stretch out from the palm of his hand. Forge's fingers grip the forming shaft of solidifying metal as its end balloons in mass and size. By the time Forge lands alongside Ninth's impact crater, Forge wields his sledgehammer again. With a simple twist of his body, Forge swings the weapon up and around to further hammer home the point that Forge is a real steel drivin' man!

Or Malcolm could drive the head of his sledgehammer through a /VERY/ suspicious looking planter in Ninth's general vicinity. DOWN WITH THE PLANTER PATRIARCHY!

Ebon Star nods in Bullets direction and a moment later reaches out to establish a connection with Eden. To the casual observer nothing much seems to happen other than her raising a gloved hand to her temple. For Eden there is a sudden presence in her mind powerful but controlled.

Thinking a bit fast and loud, Bullet:. . o o O O (Ah! There you are! Advice? I punch things. Kick occasionally. But that's what I do. How do I help?!)

<> The sudden dump of advice forms smoothly in Bullet's mind.

(Ah! You're my mental defense. So watch my back!) O O o o. . thinks Bullet as she blurs into fast motion, charging towards the wraith and flashing past with a fist shooting out at the last moment. "Hi!" she announces. "You had something to say that didn't require an intact jaw?"

Bullet. . o o O O (Wait, you said stay out of sight? Crap. Gimme a sec!)

The velocity of Bullet's fist is felt, though the feedback on hitting is more akin to dragging a hand through sand or snow than hitting something truly solid. The humanoid form loses integrity and distorts before snapping back into the rough shape.

The magenta form rights itself. "An interesting connection... is your mind as quick as your flesh?" Another query to test, which it immediately does do with it's will darting out after Bullet.

(Right! On my way!) O O o o. . offers Bullet as she turns around, peeling out almost as she flashes back past the guy again, and leaves a dust swirl as she runs past Ebon Star and back around the corner. . o o O O (You said out of sight, right?) she transmits.

The form is once more stirred, but not shaken, by the Bullet passing through it.

Gabrielle teleports onto the ground a few meters from Ninth, opposite of Malcolm, so that the pair have Ninth flanked. She holds up her hand and starts molding a dark sphere in her hand. "Alright, Magic Man, let's see how well you hold up to this!" Like a dark snowball, she flings the glob of inky black at Ninth.

The globe of inky blackness englobes Ninth's head in it's void-like opaqueness.

Resisting the urge to declare his victory over the planter he previously smashed to bits, Forge twists his entire body around so he can face the now ink-/shadow-faced Ninth properly, hauling his sledgehammer out of the dirt and shattered ceramic. With little preamble at all, Forge attempts an overhand swing of his hammer this time, trying to drive Ninth into the ground like a railroad spike.

(Okay, getting out of... yargh! Rose! Brain! Ibuprofin!) O O o o. . thinks Bullet as she skids to a stop, hands reaching up to cradle her head.

Ebon Star drifts backward slightly to bring Bullet back into view and reaches out with her own mind to start unraveling the effects of the creature's mentalism. For the moment this should be simple enough but in time it will get more difficult.

Magenta man is 'swished' by the sledgehammer. It passes through and deforms him, but doesn't move him. Affected, but not especially effective.

Dropping her mental connection with Eden Ebon Star makes a powerful gripping gesture toward her friend, fingers clenching. <>

The magenta mystery man does not appreciate the psionic eviction he receives at the mind of Ebon Star. "You are still here? You should learn from your ...friend and run away quickly. As much as I'd love to help you with a demonstration, you've begun to bore me terribly. Perhaps in the future, you will all try to prove more entertaining in your failures..." It then lowers to the ground, and sinks into it, in reverse of how it arrived.

Ebon Star does not relinquish her efforts to counter the monster's power until she is certain it has ceased. "I do not think I would be very effective against that creature, it has formidable defenses." Her darkened cowl scans the area. "Does anyone require healing?"

"Oh!" calls out Bullet, "Ebon Star. Um, over here!" She blurs into sight and then back around the corner. "I had to tie up half a dozen bystanders because they were trying to attack me. Think maybe he kinda... mojo'd their brains?" she shrugs, "Think you can undo that for them?"

"Hey! We're not done with you yet, you jerk!" Grimm growls as Ninth slinks away.

Ebon drifts to the area indicated by Bullet to begin the process of tending to the innocent bystanders."