Project Tomorrow - A Reassembly Filler Arc

[SuperCracker]

As Ronin fought, he tried his best to keep an eye on the immediate situation. And he started to notice something. The mutates weren’t the only ones fighting. Mutants were also fighting against Project Tomorrow too… no, not Project Tomorrow… the Genoshan Senators and their staff. Was this some sort of coup? And what did the Yellow Lanterns have to do with it? There was a lot to discuss.

Before he answered Cyclops or waded into the argument with Stark, Ronin first clued everyone in. ~There’s an organized group of mutants in the crowd taking shots at Genoshan Senators, their staff, and their guards.~ Fred quickly pointed them all out, sharing with the others what he could see with his own eyes.

Telepathic conversations, when routed through a psychic as powerful as Rachel Gray, happened extremely quickly. In fact, the entire forthcoming conversation took place as Ronin’s sword followed through on the backswing of his last attack, like in slow motion.

He started with Iron Man and the Professor, adding yet another shade of blue to the conversation.

~It also could mean you don’t know what you’re talking about,~ Fred countered Iron Man. ~To say that Magneto is always our enemy really is an over-simplification. Magneto cares about the survival and advancement of mutantkind. He’s constantly concerned that we will be wiped out by humans who fear being replaced by metahumans. He is single-minded, and sometimes his single-mindedness puts us at odds… but he’s also been on our side before.

I don’t know what Magneto would stand to gain from an attack on his own country. Nor do I know why he’d ever work with the Yellow Lanterns.~

The X-Men and the Brotherhood (when it was still a thing) had such a fluid relationship. It seemed like half of the X-Men had been in the Brotherhood at one point or another. Magneto had taught at the school before. He’d led the X-Men before! It was never simple.

~King T’Challa is right. Let’s find out what’s going on before we start assigning blame.~

And someone might be able to help with that.

~Wanda, have you seen Magneto?~

And now for the easy response. To Cyclops he simply agreed, ~We’ll wrap up here then we’re on it. Everyone stay in regular contact, three of us Misfits are teleporters. We can always call an audible in you’re in trouble. That goes double for you three heading off solo.~

How very ironic he was the one giving that advice.

~Builder,~ Ronin called for him. ~Come help with this bunch that’s dogpiling Katie.~

And as he stopped using it, his sword was now held high. Time sped back up as Starsoul glowed bright white again.

“Make it rain, boss!”

SLASH!

“Storm of Swords!” the two yelled in unison. They liked their anime named attacks. This time, the mutants targeting the Senate got a nasty surprise as they were included as targets of the area effect.

Spoiler

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Perception ranged Storm of Swords against all. DC 26 for Units 2 and 5. DC 25 for Unit 1.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Well the gang of mutates that had grabbed her started punching her and trying to pin her to the ground, buuuut Katie's combat training had come a long way, and while she might not have been able to break their hold strength to strength, their attempt to pin her gave her the opportunity to slip free.

"Ha!" Katie called cheerily as she escaped. Look that was honestly one of the most physically demanding things she had ever done successfully in her career as a superhero. She was kinda excited about it, honestly.

Plans were more-or-less coming together. Katie grinned a little at the leadery types kinda stumbling over each other a bit. She elected not to touch the Magneto discussion with a ten foot pole (although she did rather think that BP was offering some eminently sensible advice).

They were making good headway. No need to be fancy. Just keep pushing on for the win. Katie started hurling blasts of sleep magic around pretty much entirely willy-nilly.

Spoiler

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Free: Metamagic to add Secondary Effect to Slumber.

Move: Meh interaction immunity.

Standard: Slumber on Unit 2, All Out Power Attack for 5, at (1d20+12)[21]. On a hit, Will ((1d20+5)[7]) DC 30 vs. Progressive Secondary Effect Sleep Damage. ASLEEP!

Current Status: 1 Bruise, -5 Defense this turn.

"HAH!" she called out again, even louder, as her barrage of sleep spells did their work. "Believe! It!"

[SuperCracker]

To the Builder, ~Or not.~

"I believe," he said with a little smirk to Katie.

[CandyLaser]

~We're not getting out of here by teleportation. We might be able to wait it out if we can get the situation under control here. Blasting through's not likely either—I haven't figured out how to take this down yet, but optic blasts and plasma bolts aren't going to cut it. Maybe if we had a Blue Lantern to supercharge Gethsemane we could do something...~

While her attempt to portal out of the force field hadn't hurt her, it still left her somewhat dazed. She couldn't be quite as mobile as she'd like as she regained her focus, but she could unleash a third volley of explosives at the remaining mutates in order to take them down.

[Starsign]

All of the sounds of talk and discussion passed through Rene's mind like a blur while he was tackling and tail whipping mutates left and right. A reptilian-man like himself, who's struggled with having voices in his head for the past year, couldn't keep up with the jumbled conversation going on in his head.

Magneto's at fault? No wait, Fred said otherwise. Oh ****, Katie's in trouble! Wait, no she's safe now? Oh nonono, too much happening! ~I'm busy!~ Rene's thoughts echo out on the mental communication as he continues slithering around, looking for people still attacking each other. Thankfully, he ran across more unconscious mutates, whose powers had been used wildly out of a mix of control and fear.

Fear

The feeling simply won't leave his mad, reptilian mind, keeping his scaly arms and legs shaking. Everything, everything feels like it's about to fall apart. And there's this never ending feeling that something is right behind him; something creeping slowly in his mind to occupy the already-numerous voices and consciousness that accompany him ever blasted day. He can even hear the Beast whispering in his mind, driving him ever onward to-

...

...

Oh, wait, he's not hearing voices. Instead it's the *POW* and *CRUNCH* of scales against flesh as he half-knowingly strikes and throws his heavy body against the remaining mutates running berserk.

Spoiler: OOC

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Alright, going after Unit 5 since that's the only one not unconscious or asleep. Rene will, again, do the usual. Power Attack +5/-5 and All-Out Attack +5/-5 on Unit 6 with Killer instinct and Primal Flurry. DC30+Multiattack Toughness on hit: (1d20+12)[23]

[Quellian-dyrae]

Katie's sleep spells sent the remaining mutates near her into slumber. Fred's assault dropped and injured mutates all over the battlefield. Those that remained were among the strongest of them, and managed to withstand Sarah's bombs, but it took pretty much all they had to give to do it. When the Builder came tearing through, none could stand against him.

The six mutants that Fred had noticed attacking the wrong people tanked his Storm of Swords with...varying degrees of ease. Clearly, these weren't weak mutants. They didn't seem particularly inclined to stick around and fight, though, five of them taking off in different directions while the sixth one just straight-up vanished.

This area was clear, but there was still fighting going on throughout the city.

~Sheesh, you're not kidding,~ Cyclops sent in response to Sarah. ~Starfire and I just hit it with our best shots and it didn't even flicker. Potence, Ronin, don't bother joining us here. Keep working on quelling the uprising, we're getting back to it too.~

~I was just with him. He went out to fight...told me to stay in the keep,~ Wanda sounded...a little frustrated when she said that. She was still kinda having to get used to the whole "stay safe while other people fight" deal. Also, yes, Magneto's residence was best described as a keep. This is Magneto, of flipping course it is.

Spoiler: OOC

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Okay, all the units are down. The traitor mutants are fleeing, although they're not so fast that the PCs couldn't catch up to them if you guys want to force a confrontation. As of now the battle's won as of round three, two rounds ahead of the target, so that will improve the overall results significantly. If you force a confrontation with the traitors, I'll keep tracking rounds and counting them against final results, since that will delay the PCs moving to deal with problems in the rest of the city, which will delay freeing up people to go to other cities, and so on.

If you don't want to chase them, I'll advance the scene.

--

Katie answered Fred with a bright grin. When Sarah said the forcefield wasn't going to be blasted down...well, far be it from Katie to doubt Sarah on anything, but just as far be it from her to turn down a request for help, so she sent, ~Well, we can give it a try at least! Looks like we're clear here so-~

Buuut Cyclops kinda beat her to the punch.

~-oh. Okay then!~ Katie called up her flying hand and...would basically just fly after Fred and back him up with whatever.

[SuperCracker]

Ronin considered going after the six he’d spotted. Sooner or later he was going to have to fight them anyway. But going after them meant leaving the city in chaos for that much longer. He took a deep breath, taking advantage of the momentary respite.

~Did you know where he went to go fight?~

Not that Ronin could take the time right now to locate him. He had other fish to fry. Picking at random one of the sources of commotion, Ronin air-walked at sonic speeds towards the Hammer Bay Mall. He arrived virtually instantaneously, ready to keep fighting.

~Potence and I will cover the mall.~

Spoiler

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Standard action to recover. Removes fatigued.

[Starsign]

Heavy, panicked breaths accompanied the sound of Rene's slithery limbs across Genosha's earth as he downs the last rioting mutate in a heavy haymaker that even Killer Croc would be jealous over. The resulting strike brings a very, very brief moment of solitude that nonetheless give the reptilian a chance to breathe. And in that moment he recalls his surroundings and looks behind him to see a large line of unconscious mutates that had been attacking others only a little earlier.

Wow, Rene... did all that? That's actually a bit terrifying. Even the strongest of heroes do not down mutates in so many numbers so quickly.

Then that emotion came back to him.

Fear.

A quick look up at the barrier, many-teethed jaw open at the ugly yellow tint. It's hideous look tend an awful ting down his cold-blooded spine. His bent, scaly legs curl up and the clawed feet crunch into the earthen dirt to keep himself from shaking. It's fine, it's fine. The mutates are down and things can get back to normal. "Alright, alright," the reptilian says quietly to himself, asking, "What would J'onn do here?" Considering the actions and courage of the Martian Manhunter may not be the smartest idea to mutter in Genosha when the once-Justice League member is now locked up in a cell halfway across the galaxy; but to Rene, J'onn was the only person to genuinely give the reptilian help and support he badly needed in a very distressing time. Besides the Misfits, J'onn is the only one Rene would count on for guidance.

Unfortunately, guidance isn't something one can offer when they exist in an entirely different solar system. So the most Rene can answer from his own question is "fly around, save heroes, keep things from falling apart," which... is pretty similar to Rene's hero work on a daily basis. So it becomes no surprise to him or anyone else that he slithers toward the Grandview Building, a gigantic apartment building constructed with stores and supplies right in it. It's one of the largest buildings Rene has seen in the city and signs of violence, like loud noises, shattered windows and a couple missing parts of the steel walls, does not go unnoticed by him.

~I'm checking over the Grandview,~ he comments on the mental communication; if anyone's able to tell his mental state through this link, they'd notice he's somewhat calmed down from a prior state of frantic madness. ~I can get a view from the top in a bit. Um, is everyone else still here?~ He's not seen anyone since the violence broke out. Surely everyone's around and helping out with how many were here earlier.

[CandyLaser]

~I'll head to Magneto's residence,~ Sarah broadcast as she, too, took flight. ~If anyone needs me, let me know. I'll be there in a blink of an eye.~ She discarded her armor, opting instead for improved mobility—and ensuring she wasn't encased in metal, if it turned out that Stark was right about Magneto's role in the current crisis. Then she opened one of her portals and flickered through it, taking her to Magneto's keep.

[Zelphas]

Gethsemane hardly seems to notice the attacks around her; she is staring up at the yellow light cloaking the sky, her left claw absently flexing. For a moment ,the red light within the indigo flares, nearly overwhelming the other color before settling back down again.

Here, Builder. Can assist, Gethsemane sends finally, spreading her wings with a snap to fly towards the Builder's stated destination.

[Quellian-dyrae]

The mall, the apartment complex, and even the capital keep were all largely the same story - mutates attacking mutants with abandon, many of the latter fleeing or cowering under the fell light of the fearforged barrier, those who were fighting back hindered by the insidious fear effect. Magneto was indeed outside the keep when Sarah arrived, although there was only a smattering of mutates still active in the area; neither Magneto nor his personal guard seemed particularly hampered by the fear, and between the lot of them the mutates that had attacked the keep hadn't stood a chance. Frankly they wouldn't have stood much chance if it were Magneto alone. It looked like they were mostly still breathing though. The ruler of Genosha cast her a single look when she appeared and then proceeded to more-or-less ignore her presence, leading his guard further into the city to help quell the uprising.

Spoiler: Sarah only, Perception DC 20, Eidetic Memory applies but this is a reactive check, so you can't alter Polymath before making it

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You do, however, recognize the one of the mutants Fred had attacked - the teleporter - among Magneto's guard, and you spot two others joining them as they move out.

The mutates were a non-trivial chunk of the Genoshan population. Had this uprising happened without such powerful supers present, it could have led to a civil war that killed tens of thousands and lasted for months. Even with them, Genosha wasn't exactly tiny and the mutates weren't exactly mundane mooks. With the majority of Genosha's own mutants cowed or routing, thousands might have died before the attack was halted.

But these weren't just powerful supers. These were heroes. And as they fought their way through the hordes of mind-controlled mutates, they brought comfort and hope to the mutants under attack. As they fought on, more and more mutants seemed able to overcome their fear, to wield their powers to defend themselves, to get to safety, or to fight back.

Country-wide, the battle lasted maybe an hour or so. Hammer Bay was deemed clear within the first fifteen minutes. The death toll was minimal, almost miraculously so considering the scale of the attack. The Battle of Genosha had ended, in a resounding victory.

Spoiler

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Everybody take a Hero Point. In addition, since you cleared the field so fast, the battle lasted for minimal time and with minimal deaths on either side. Since you won two rounds faster than the target, you get +2 to the Readiness Meter, and downtime actions after this episode will get two boosts, one to Protect Innocence and one to Spread Peace.

But the Siege of Genosha had just begun.

A little over a third of the mutates had been knocked out, captured, or otherwise disabled in the fighting. The rest had retreated, but not routed. The yellow dome did not dissipate, the country was still sealed in. Professor X had discerned that whoever was controlling the mutates was doing so from outside the dome, but it had gone up before he could pin down any information about who it was or how they were doing it.

While the battle itself had only lasted about an hour, the aftermath was another matter. Mutates had to be secured so they couldn't be forced to hurt anyone, and while of course Genosha had prison facilities capable of containing mutants, they weren't nearly equipped for these sort of numbers. It didn't help that there was a non-trivial number of mutants who weren't exactly mollified by the fact that the attackers had been psychically influenced. While deaths were minimal, there were plenty of injuries that needed tending, some urgently. Structures had been damaged or destroyed in the power-to-power fighting, and people who had lost homes needed somewhere to stay. And all of it was happening beneath the constant putrid glow of the yellow Lantern light, a glow that became only more unnervingly pervasive as the sun set.

Nerves, needless to say, were on edge.

And while the main assault had been put down, the fighting wasn't entirely over. Small skirmishes and guerrilla raids occured almost hourly as the day wore on. Worse still, there seemed to be assassins skulking amidst the chaos. Over the course of the day, three Genoshan Senators turned up, murdered by means of various powers.

There was also a series of quiet deaths among the Genoshan military, and even among two members of Magneto's personal guard. But these were not caused by an eclectic assortment of random powers. No, these particular deaths all had a telltale similarity, and one that left many of the X-Men unnerved and dispirited when they saw it.

All of these dead were marked by long slashes or deep puncture wounds, the cuts more-than-surgically fine and unimpeded by whatever physical armor or power-heightened resilience the victims may have possessed, always in evenly-spaced rows of three.

--

It was about an hour after sunset that Captain Britain made a general call to the heroes over the mental link, requesting everyone gather back at the Hammer Bay pier, to put a plan of action together. The heroes gathered in short time, most of them weary from the day's trials and exertions. Thoughts clearly weighed heavily on everyone's minds, but nobody...quite seemed to know how best to start things off.

Spoiler: OOC

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Pretty much all of the heroes have gathered, so if you guys want to talk with anyone specific or anything the opportunity is open. Alternately, if ya'll want to take the lead on working out a plan feel free.

--

Katie had gone into today fully expecting to be tired by the end of it.

But not this tired, and not for this reason.

She had gone around throwing buffs (and the occasional attack spell, for practice if nothing else) throughout the battle. She had paced herself pretty well, not wanting to burn out energy that would be required over an extended battle. The battle...had actually turned out to only be modestly extended, so you know, that was good. But then came the aftermath.

Katie had basically been spending the time since then healing. Just going to wherever the injured were and doing what she could. Sometimes she got lucky and there were some mutants there with healing powers who she could buff up. Sometimes there weren't, or there were just too many injured.

Healing was tiring. Spell for spell it was probably the most draining magic she could wield. Sure, for hero work, that wasn't much of a hard limit. She had plenty enough power to heal her team any time they needed it. But for this sort of healing, curing injuries on a war scale, it sapped her strength like nothing else. She had to stop frequently to rest.

Katie did her best to maintain discipline, to make sure she didn't push her power too far. She'd yet have need of it, and regardless, the math was simple. She might be able to heal three hundred people over the course of the day if she rationed and rested frequently. If she just blew everything she had healing as many as she could as fast as she could, she'd manage maybe thirty or so.

By the time she had regrouped with the rest of the heroes, she had actually managed just over two-hundred. Discipline was hard when there was a person bleeding out in front of you. Sarah had said that based on her readings in the Lotus Breaker she had more energy than she thought she did. Katie had tried, she had tried really really hard to believe that, to believe her way through whatever (made-up!) limitation she was imposing on herself so she could tap into that deeper reserve of power and heal more people! But it didn't work. It was hard to believe you had more energy when you were so tiiirrreeed...

Katie still spent the drip of energy it would take to prestidigitation the blood off of her hands and clothes as she arrived. She felt a little guilty about wasting even such a tiny mote of energy, but she reminded herself that Zach was kinda squeamish about blood and decided that was totally a good enough excuse to justify it.

She cased about for Rene when she got there, and once either she saw him or he arrived, she headed over his way. She knew he struggled with stuff like this, and that yellow fear light stuff couldn't be helping matters (frankly it was starting to wear on her after six or however many it had been hours of it). "Hey," she said when she reached him, giving him a hug. "How you holding up?"

[SuperCracker]

The battle lasted for an hour and eight minutes. Ronin stayed fighting for the entire hour and eight minutes. Eveywhere there was a cluster of rampaging mutates, Ronin would fly to at super-speed and fling himself at the attackers. He slammed and cut and kicked and just fought.

Rachel and Professor X, having a direct connection to his mind, would feel the drive. Save everyone. Fight. Fight. Fight. Fight.

Whenever one area was safe, he would just keep going to the next. It started in the Capitol then expanded to other cities. He could move from one to another with ease, widening his radius of responsibility. He kept fighting until he lost the ability to sustain SSJ2 and even further beyond that.

When it was over, he stood there for a moment, amidst the unconscious piles of mutates around him, and almost didn’t know what to do. Starsoul prodded him verbally and it snapped Fred back into focus.

Afterwards he did what he could to help. He sternly warned against further violence to the defeated mutates, going so far as to unsheathe an inch of his sword to back down a particularly ruffled mutant.

------

Things seemed okay, and he even had a plan to bring down the barrier. Then he received word of the assassinations. Of Logan. His heart sank. Whoever was controlling the mutates was also controlling him… which means Ronin, in all likelihood, would have to fight the man who helped raise him.

Ronin excused himself from his duties and air-walked his way up to the top of a highrise. He took his sword and set it down in front of him and knelt. He closed his eyes and steadied his breathing. Ronin gave his magical batteries time to recharge at the same time he communed with the spirits of this place.

“Show me Wolverine,” Fred whispered in a far-away tone.

And the outcome of that we’ll see about later! Needless to say, he kept what he found out of the mental link, because Fred.

------

When he was finished, he answered Brian Braddock’s call. When he arrived, he stood there for a moment, waiting to see if anyone else would start with the planning… when no one did, he jumped in. Best not to waste time.

“We need to get through the barrier and strike back. I might be able to do that, but 1) this is going to sound ridiculous to most of you; and 2) it’s going to require everyone in this country.”

Ronin unsheathed his sword, the white blade shining despite the yellow glare of the barrier. “I wield magic. Not like Potence, though. What I wield is fueled by Hope and Belief. Everything I can do, barring training and physical strength, is a result of channeling that magic.

I have an attack that gathers Hope and Belief and supercharges my sword.

The Yellow Lanterns use Fear. Maybe Hope can beat Fear.”

He pointed at the barrier with his free hand. “Sarah Saturn said that thing is going to require incredible energy to destroy it. What I can normally gather in the middle of a fight isn’t going to cut it,” literally. “I’m going to need it from everyone in Genosha. Everyone. And it can’t be tepid… they have to believe that the barrier can come down.”

And before Tony could finish saying it, Fred said, “Yes it’s like Tinkerbell.”

Addressing everyone. “If we can manage things here. Make people feel confident and less afraid. I think if we can be big enough heroes, we can do it. Then we reach out with one of the two world-class psychics we have with us and ask them to believe. I think we'll have all the power we need to cut the barrier.”

He left out anything about Wolverine. On purpose.

[Starsign]

How much time passed?

Rene had been throwing his weight around, often quite literally, punching and whacking mutates that had gone mad under mind control. It was a rather laughable display of the reptilian's potential, for he had been trained in the Snake Style of martial arts. Though his clawed hands are perhaps too sharp to swing and stab around mutates; it's goddamn impossible to tell who are the super-durable ones among the bodies he'd been knocking out. Instead, each prey crumple to the concussions and blunt trauma of his scaled fists and tail.

He recalls a thick breeze of air at one point, hissing loudly on top of a roof. A mad, great cry giving out with a trail of unconscious mutates putting Ronin's knocked-out body count to shame. It's this point where he vividly remembers what happened since. Heavy breathing slows down to "mere" worry under a barrier of fear. The atmosphere of horror, while lacking to the sheer terror of cosmic horrors Rene's seen before, still leave him in an overly dreadful, uncomfortable mood.

---

Compared to a lot of other heroes here, Rene is downcast as they all try to formulate some plan to get this barrier down. The effects of the barrier still wear on his mental state. The Misfits are here, all the other heroes are here but the atmosphere of the area feel so overwhelming. Katie's hug, while comforting, is not a panacea. "I'll live," he says quietly. His scaly voice almost completely eclipsed by the sounds of the other heroes around them. "It's just... unnerving. We don't even know who we're facing." Sure, it's easy to assume that a Yellow Lantern is behind the barrier; but what about the mind control? What about the riots? There's too much they don't know.

The reptilian returns Katie's hug, finding her Doctor Doom-esque battlesuit rather warm to the touch compared to his cold-blooded body. The reptilian, hunched over, walks up to Ronin as the latter proposes his own plan. "Um, one question," Rene speaks up. "How do we know whoever did this can't just throw the barrier back up?" Rene isn't going to try and question the idea of fighting fear with hope. something beyond the mind of a once-typical human sent through horror after horror. But the reptilian is more concerned on who caused this and how it can be prevented again. "Shouldn't we first make sure this can't just happen again? I think there's enough speedsters and fliers to cover most of the country." With the violence, for now, calmed down, there should be an opportunity to spread out and cover as much ground as possible.

...That's a sane plan, right?

[SuperCracker]

How do we know they won't throw the barrier back up?

"Because we'll kill them before they can."

[Starsign]

Rene's body freezes, shudders clearly, then, perhaps out of panic, impulse, and general lack of thought dares open his many-teethed mouth to ask:

"And you're asking us to put our hopes in a murderer?"

[SuperCracker]

Fred gave Builder a flat look, seemingly unbothered.

"If a warrior kills an enemy intent on killing him or others, that's not murder. The Yellow Lanterns are such an enemy, but on an even broader scale.

We're getting away from the point. When the barrier comes down, attack them and incapacitate them such that they cannot put up another barrier."

[Zelphas]

Gethsemane has spent much of her time healing, going from place to place and giving as much help as she can. Taking her normal tack on matters between Heroes, she hangs back and observes, letting them formulate their own plan which she will follow...

Until things seem to be growing more heated. "Hope to beat fear is solid formula; standard practice amongst Lanterns," Gethsemane interjects quietly. "Question about scope, however. Perhaps would be simpler, easier to punch hole through the barrier using Hope as shield, instead of bludgeoning entire barrier down with Hope attack. Allied force outside of shield would be smaller, but their movements less noticeable; possible a surgical strike could drop barrier rather than overwhelming attack."

[CandyLaser]

Sarah spent the battle coordinating, leading lightning strikes to break up knots of resistance as well as disrupting whatever command and control they managed to assemble. Her predictive abilities came in handy as well; more than once, the opposing forces thought they had the advantage of surprise only to walk into an ambush.

-----

By the time everyone was gathered, Sarah had already built a half-dozen drones; they were flying around, restoring the damage to Genosha and its infrastructure.

"Hope is an excellent weapon against yellow emotional energy. It's what Blue Lanterns wield. I made contact with Saint Walker a while back as part of Project Tomorrow, but unfortunately this shield prevents me from bringing him in. I haven't yet tried to contact him, so I don't know if the shield will stop it. I also don't know if it's transdimensional. If not, I might be able to get out by flipping to an alternate universe, then returning. That's always risky; there's a reason I stopped calling in my alternate reality selves every time something comes up.

I agree with Gethsemane as well. The downside of barriers like this is that they need to be strong everywhere. We can concentrate our strength in one place and breach there. I'm sure I can build a device to focus Ronin's power, especially with Katie's help. My understanding of magical theory is second to none, but I'm not a magus. Sarah-33 is, but again, I can't exactly bring her in."

[Starsign]

Rene steps back on his clawed feet after his prior outburst, finding himself taken aback at his own words and Ronin's response. It was hard to say why now Rene had reacted as such; perhaps the fear of this area settled in his mind worse than usual. This is neither the time nor the place for him to throw out sudden questions or accusations that no one really needs at this time.

Rene shakily nods his reptilian head at both Gethsemane and Sarah. When it comes down to it, the reptilian is perhaps not the best person to suggest ideas. He's a lot better at building stuff... and knocking stuff down, if his long line of unconscious mutates was anything to go by.

[SuperCracker]

He responded to Gethsemane and Sarah Saturn each. “You misunderstand. I’m not talking about trying to bring every inch of the barrier down. One focused strike, enough to give us an opening to get our forces through and take the fight to them.”

And to Sarah Saturn, Starsoul replied. “Focusing his strength ain’t the issue. I’m made to do that. I think it’s gatherin’ the magic that’s gonna be harder.”

“So maybe make something like… an magical lightning rod?”

[CandyLaser]

"Katie?" Sarah looked to her teammate. "As I said, I understand the theory, but I don't work with magic directly. I believe I can construct something with the appropriate shape and materials but I'll need some assistance to ensure it's functioning correctly. It would help if we could find or synthesize some orichalcum as well..."

[Quellian-dyrae]

Katie watched the thankfully brief moment of conflict between Fred and Rene with tense body language and a sort of deer-in-headlights look on her face. Fortunately Gethsemane and Sarah redirected the conversation and the matter passed by quickly. For her part, she had been too busy stumbling over a way to intervene that didn't appear to be choosing sides to so much as say a word before the matter was settled.

"Yeah," she answered Sarah, nodding as she considered. "I can help with that.
Um, let's see...I think what we'll really need, more than focusing Fred's power specifically, is taking the power coming in and making it something he can effectively use, right? So like, if Rachel and Xavier set up the whole telepathic linkup, and that lets the people of Genosha send their hope and belief - their emotional energy - through them to Fred. And the way his magic works, that'll definitely give him a big power boost. But he'd only be taking in the power of the belief itself, I think? So with a device that can capture all the energy passing through the link, we should be able to amplify the effect, if we can process it into a form that Fred can use." Katie had never mentioned it, but she was mildly jealous of how Fred's magic was empowered by belief. Belief was a critical part of her magic too, but it was a limiting factor, not a power boost - she couldn't do things because she believed she could or because people believed in her, the belief was just another prerequisite.

--

Spoiler: Ronin

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The vision of the future comes to you with surprising clarity, though even in this your powers don't give you everything - they don't show you the events that lead up to this future state. But you clearly the scene as Magneto swoops down to land before Colossus. You don't hear the words said, but Colossus regards him with confrontational body language and speaks with an angry expression on his face - though he doesn't appear hostile. (Granted, that may just be because as good as Piotr is, he is Colossus and this is Magneto and that fight only ends one way.) Magneto, for his part, replies with an air of imperious self-assurance. So, you know, maybe they're discussing the weather or something. With Magneto that doesn't exactly tell you much.

It's about a minute into their conversation when Logan lunges out of the shadows, going for Magneto bare-handed. And the look on his face...

You can tell at a glance that, while he may or may not be in control of his own actions, he is absolutely not under the influence of a Yellow Lantern. Logan looks angrier than you've ever seen him before. More dangerously angry, too. There are often times where intense anger gets described as "feral", "primal". And Logan's berserker rages definitely take on such characteristics...perhaps even more than most. But to your spirit-enhanced perceptions, Logan's anger here is utterly, painfully, terrifyingly human.

Animals can rage, and they can lash out, and they can kill.

It takes a human to commit murder. And the look on Logan's face is one of more-than-murderous fury. It is the look of a man who wishes to see his victim dead. Not in the blind rage of an animal. Not to stop them from doing something horrible. Not out of self defense. Not even as a matter of justice. Vengeance? Perhaps, but not as most people would think it. Not in some hope of closure, of vindictive satisfaction for answering a wrong done. If such things matter at all they are entirely secondary to the goal, the ultimate end, of killing the victim.

And Logan looks entirely willing to put down anyone who gets in his way.

Magneto and Colossus spin to face him. Colossus takes on his metallic form on instinct as a threat presents itself. Magneto, of course, scoffs at Logan and gives a contemptuously regal gesture, brushing him aside like a fly and foiling his attack. He clenches his hand, in a manner you've seen before, clearly binding Wolverine's adamantium skeleton with his peerless ferrokinesis, to render him immobile and helpless. He begins speaking - sorry, monologuing - until something impossible happens.

Wolverine. Moves.

He stakes a step forward, a little haltingly. Magneto blinks. Wolverine takes another step. Magneto reaches out with his left hand, clenching it into a claw. Wolverine takes two more steps, less haltingly this time. His claws come out.

They are glowing with crimson light, and they are...different. Marked. The virtually-indestructible adamantium has been etched with symbols.

You can see the inscriptions . . . and then again, you can't . . .

Snow, and horror, and wolves.

Wolverine opens his mouth for what you realize is the first time since the vision began. Instead of normal white bone, it is filled with gleaming, sharpened adamantium as the Wolverine flashes a fearsome smile.

A smile with far too many teeth . . .

Wolverine charges. There's a rippling pulse as Magneto's power over him is sundered, as for the first time in ages the Master of Magnetism fails to control the metal before him.

Magneto floats back as metallic objects come flying from all around to defend him, the look on his face one who has officially had enough and is ready to put down a feral dog. A steel girder flies at Wolverine and is shredded and cast aside with a single swipe of his claws.

And Colossus, hero that he is, steps forward to try to get between a man who can exert total control over his body, and one who can slice through sheet metal no less easily than human flesh.

The vision ends.

--

Spoiler: OOC

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For the record, on top of my mediocre Expertise (Comics) skill meaning I don't actually know all of who has them, I simply do not have Herod's gift for transcribing accents. The characters are speaking with the appropriate accents and/or occasional dips into different languages even though I am not actually typing it. So, you know ::sweeping handwave:: IMAGINE and stuff.

"So the plan is to unify an entire country, in the midst of essentially a civil war, behind our efforts?" Black Panther asked. The King of Wakanda sounded...not entirely skeptical, but definitely bemused.

"Oh it gets better than that," Iron Man quipped. "As much power as this barrier has to be pulling, they're not going to be able to keep it up indefinitely. I'd be shocked if its duration is measured in longer than days. So if we want to actually tear the thing down ourselves, we have to unify the entire country behind us on a time limit!" You could this for Stark though, he didn't sound doubtful as he said it. The usual level of Stark sarcasm, certainly, but his tone is definitely less "this is crazy it will never work" and more "somebody hold my beer".

"And don't forget the fear-power filling the entire country while we do it!" the Flash added with a grin.

"Not to doubt everyone's ability to do just that," Beast chimed in, "but as a simple matter of practicality, if the barrier is likely going to fall on its own, is it really to our advantage to invest the effort into punching through it, rather than to focusing on the defense of Genosha and preparation for when it comes down?"

"Oh definitely," Kitty answered, trying to look like she wasn't grinning and obviously failing. "See, because this way, all we have to do is unify an entire country behind us under a time limit during a civil war and with the fear-light everywhere. But to just let the barrier fall on its own we'd have to convince Fred to do something the easy way rather than the hard way for a change." She teased with love.

(Kitty Pryde, as it happened, was not blind, and having seen Rachel's previous "normal with extreme prejudice" routine and observed how it had gone, she had quite rationally decided to skip right to the part where everything got back to normal and if Fred wasn't on board with that then that was on him.)

"More to the point, what we lose in opportunity costs and preparation time, we make up in initiative," Captain America said. "This attack took planning, preparation, and coordination. While it's certain not impossible that some villain or another got their hands on a power source almost as big as their ego, assumed it would hold out forever, and is going to be just shocked when the barrier goes down, in all probability they know their limits and their plan was designed with them in mind. If we wait the barrier out, we have more time to spare on defense and to prepare, yes. But we're still playing on their terms. If we bring it down, they're reacting to us."

"And besides..." Supergirl had not exactly been at her most optimistic since the Ten-Second Invasion. But as she spoke, there was a flash of the old Kara Zor-El rising to the surface. "Even if it's not the most practical thing, even if it doesn't give us a tactical advantage...we do it because in helping inspire and unify the people of Genosha, we will be protecting them. Because...because the most important part of what we do as heroes isn't in the villains we defeat or even the lives we save, but in the example we set. Because we've never in our lives just hunkered down to try to defend and prepare when people are being threatened! Because we are Project Tomorrow, and when some ambiguous overpowered entity comes rolling up trying to force people to hurt each other, inspiring people to come together and stand against it is what we do!"

--

"Well, I'd say that answers that," Iron Man said.

"So, on the subject of practicalities," Captain Britain said. "What do we need for this to work? Specifically, Ronin, you say you need the entire country behind you on this. Does that include the roughly third of them that are not currently in control of their own thoughts?"

"That's not a deal-breaker," Rachel pointed out. "Even if they aren't in conscious control, they're still in there somewhere. If we can free them, awesome. Even if not, that doesn't mean we can't still reach them."

"And we are still going to need to protect people from more mutate attacks, yes? To get them behind us, we must make them safe, not merely tell them we will make them safe!"

"And for that matter, we need to put a stop to these assassinations," Cyclops added. He spoke firmly, without hesitation, but looks were passed between several of the X-Men. They knew what that meant.

"That will only be the first step," Xavier said. "The truth is, while Genosha's Senate did vote to open our borders to Project Tomorrow, it wasn't unanimously by any stretch. Magneto was firmly opposed, and there is a sizable block of Senators that voted with him. Public opinion is somewhat more broadly in your favor, but still far from totally. And Magneto will be mobilizing Genosha's military to deal with the uprising. If you work at cross paths with him, you won't unite the country behind you. You will need his support on this."

[SuperCracker]

The confrontation from Fred’s end wasn’t hot, it was cold. Make of that what you will. But, as stated before, it had passed. His body language not changing all that much.

He followed what Katie proposed. It sounded like boosting the efficiency of what was offered. It was an interesting thought, one he hadn’t considered. His magic was just part of who he was. Even without conscious effort he was constantly drawing off of the world’s imagination, belief, hope, and drive. It was just something he did. So of course he never considered making it more efficient… of calling upon something more.

Fred was surprised that Tony Stark signed on so easily. The concerns raised were all valid. Difficulty. Time pressure. And maybe it was debatable whether it was more advantageous to wait or not… but the people that Fred counted on to understand what this was about understood.

And I mean… of course Kitty understood him and his thought process. His face warmed with a smile. (He hadn’t lied before… well, not completely. It was all okay. Or at least it was now. He’s not thrilled about it. It stings. But he hadn’t tried to ice Kitty out or anything so dramatic. He just needed to do something that didn’t confuse him for a while… to enjoy a bit of certainty. That meant to throw himself into the act of being a hero. (And no, this isn’t telepathy… but it might as well be.)) Not now, but before each group parted ways to go onto their next tasks, he’d give her a hug and tell her he’s okay.

He respected anything Cap brought to the table – he was a man whose morality and judgment were unassailable… but man… Kara really brought it home. His eyes shifted from blue to gold as he watched her speak. It touched his heart. That heroic spirit was just… awesome. His eyes lingered for a momemnt even after Stark and Brian Braddock started talking. It so good to see her be more like herself.

Breaking from that thought, he spoke to answer Brian’s question. “Yes. It does include them, whether conscious or subconscious. They need help… and hopefully they still have some awareness of what’s wrong. Our mission isn’t just to save the mutants here. It’s to save everyone.”

And to Scott, Fred gave a simple response. “I’ll handle it.” Fred blamed himself for Logan’s disappearance. (Not a surprise.) He had been overtaken by one of his visions right at the moment Logan vanished.

As for Magneto, well… Fred didn’t know. “Maybe Wanda can help us get through to him.”

------------
At some point during the big meeting, likely towards the end, Fred would pull Colossus aside and talk to him alone. “Peter,” Fred said to him, “Before I came here I communed with the spirits and asked them to show me Logan. They showed me something that will likely happen in the near future. You’re confronting Magneto about something, but it doesn’t seem like it will come to blows. While you are talking to him, Logan sneaks up on the two of you and moves to attack Magneto. He’s magically enhanced. Magneto’s powers do not work on him. As Logan charges, you get in the way.”

“Peter, you are tough. Your defenses are amazing… but they won’t stop adamantium. You fighting Logan alone – since Magneto won’t be any help – is going to end badly.”

Fred produced multiple mirrors and held them out to Colossus.

“When it happens, tell me. Telepathy, commlink, yelling really loud. Smoke signals if you have to. I’ll be there as long as you keep one mirror on you. So here are some spares.” (Naturally, everyone he works with has a mirror handy anyway. Ronin-chu! I choose you!)

“He’s under some kind of influence and seems to be juiced up on magic. So we should throw our expectations out of the window.”

He lowered his hand once the mirrors were taken. And he would be highly insistent that they were taken. Not only did Fred feel responsible for stopping Logan, but he also couldn’t let Peter get hurt. He was Fred’s friend. He was very important to Kitty. He was an X-Man.

“When we get some space, we can tell the others. But I think this is something we keep in-house.”
------------
After things were over, before everyone could part and go their separate ways, Fred approached Kara. The last time he’d seen her had been here at Genosha as well when they fought the Sentinels. There hadn’t been a whole lot of time to talk, but she did save his life. Fred scratched the back of his head, ruffling some of his dark hair.

“It’s good to see you being you,” he said in an earnest compliment. He was worried about her since they first pitched Project Tomorrow. And next, since he can be hilariously bad at checking up on certain people, he transitioned into the most immediate excuse to hang out. “Do you want to team up for a bit?”

Snrk.

[Starsign]

A lot of ideas and suggestions were thrown around as Rene largely remained quiet, at least at first. Unlike many of the geniuses and experienced superheroes here, Rene was not the best at thinking up of solutions or even small methods that could lead to a solution. His mad mind couldn't fathom all the variables and roles needed to make this plan a reality. He followed Project Tomorrow just by doing what he's best at.

...Which would make for a particularly fantastic option at this point, wouldn't it?

Indeed.

Walking his clawed feet upon the soft grass, Rene approaches several of the heroes present. It was hard to make out those he recognized who weren't of the Batfamily, who, of note, Rene won't dare approach. "I can help keep others safe," he speaks up in his hasty, scaly tone. His hefty body hunches over further so that he'd not seem taller than those he's addressing; it's not exactly a sign of confidence from the reptilian who knocked out a lot of mutates earlier. "If there's spare materials, I can construct barriers, a safehouse, walls, whatever can help defend them from mutate attacks and assassinations." He looks down at his arms, athletically muscled for his cold-blooded size. "And I can fight back, if there's anyone else we need to stop." His voice lacks enthusiasm but his spirit, and willingness to speak, demonstrate what he wants to do. Not a powerhouse in the specific definition, he'll still be among the first to step up to the front lines.

Even as he keeps thinking to himself: I can regenerate. I can regenerate. I can take- I can take it.

[CandyLaser]

"I saw Magneto and his guard entering the city. I can find him again, but I'm probably not the right person to actually talk with him; diplomacy isn't one of my strong points. In any case, I need to work on the focusing device. If anyone encounters Logan, let me know and I can come assist." In her head, Sarah was already designing the device. Without access to her lab, she didn't have the parts she'd normally use—but she did have a perfect memory. Cerebro's basic design would work well as a starting point, and she'd made of study of the remnants that Sylvester had brought back with him from 2099. "Does anyone here have access to orichalcum? Or vibranium?" She couldn't help but glance at Black Panther when she said that. "Enough to make a squared circle should suffice. If not, we can work around it..." She called up a holographic display from her wrist-computer and set to work.

[Zelphas]

"Hope more powerful than it seems," Gethsemane answers softly when practicalities are mentioned. "Even small hope can foil most delicately-laid traps of fear--from experience on other end." She nods along to the suggestion of stopping the assassinations, willing to help with that or with healing the injured if she is called upon.

When Sarah mentioned a squared circle, Gethsemane's eyes lit up--a rather disturbingly literal expression given the rings of fire her irises appeared to be. "Can help with ritual aspect... if needed," she amends quickly, aware that Sarah Saturn is a certified genius and likely does not need any help with her actions.

"Representative of Indigo Lantern on Earth--can be part of team taking down Yellow Lantern," Gethsemane suggests quietly in the proceedings, but otherwise lets things go without much input from here. Still do not wish to interfere too much; let them make choices.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Cyclops appraised Ronin steadily for a moment. He wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea of Ronin having to fight the man who was basically his mentor. Flip side, it wasn't like any of them could go toe to toe with Wolverine without baggage, and leaving it to one of the other heroes was just out of the question. And end of the day, the assassinations were all taking place in Hammer Bay, and they needed to spread out their resources if they were going to get this done. "Alright," he said. "Just keep in mind, Wolverine isn't the only assassin here. Signs point to him for the attacks on Magneto's guard, but we also need to stop whoever's attacking the Senators."

At Sarah's question, there were a few bemused looks at the idea that anyone just had some super-rare, ultra-powerful metals on hand. Although she wasn't the only one who looked inquisitively at Black Panther. "I do not have any unworked vibranium with me, no." Obviously his suit - and Cap's shield, for that matter - contained and were composed of vibranium, respectively, but...well, vibranium, and all. Being indestructible was kinda its schtick, so repurposing those resources wasn't really practical. With the resources back at her lab it would have been doable, given time and effort, but not exactly practical in the field. Genosha had labs of its own, but the odds that they had the sort of resources that would be necessary were slim.

"What I'm getting from all this is that we should mainly leave the Misfits in Hammer Bay," Captain America suggested. "Maybe with a couple others for backup. We don't know where the mutates will make their next attack, so fortifying against them will only go so far. But the Builder can fortify a location for the Senate. That will also give Sarah a secure place to work, and the Misfits can defend the Senate if they come under attack, or maybe track down the assassins before it comes to that. And they can try to get Magneto on board in the meantime."

"That will free the rest of us up to defend the other cities from mutate attacks, spread the word about the plan, and do whatever else people need us to do to get Genosha through this."

--

Fred, a bit later:

"I've had fairer fights," Piotr said with a bit of a smirk when you explained your vision, taking one of the mirrors. "Perhaps then, I should be one of the people who sticks around here. If we know Wolverine will reveal himself in my presence, then that at least saves us having to find him." On the one hand, that sounded suspiciously like Colossus offering to be bait. On the other hand...the alternative might have been trying to find Wolverine when he didn't want to be found.

--

Also Fred, still somewhat later:

Kara chuckled a little, "Thanks," she said. At your question, she answered a bit playfully, "Sure, one condition," before her voice got more serious and she said, "If it comes down to fighting Wolverine, you let me help."

----

Katie listened to Kara with a gentle smile, frank respect in her eyes. Yeah, she could admit it, she wanted to grow up to be like her.

Meanwhile! Protect the Senate, find and stop two separate assassins and/or groups of assassins, one of whom was definitely in the running for the title of "most dangerous mutant on the planet", build a device to funnel emotional energy into magic from a country-spanning telepathic link (with improvised materials, no less), and convince Magneto to support them on the whole thing. Not exactly a light load that Cap had assigned - well, suggested, to be fair - to her team.

But the days when Katie would have responded to the idea that they do all that with doubt were long since past.

"I'm good with that," she said.

[Starsign]

Build and fortify a location?

The thought had crossed Rene but in truth, he didn't think of how to construct such a thing. After all, it takes a plan and materials to build anything amounting to shelter. If the senate are supposed to have a safe house, it has to be designed with the absolute best that can be offered. He gently taps a left clawed finder to his scaly snout in thought. He needs at least a moment of rationality in his mad mind this day.

To make a plan and gather materials, he needs to know the lay of the land. A builder has to find the exact best spot to construct something on if it's going to house people. So he needs to know Genosha's land well enough to find the best spot. But this is only his first day here. He needs to talk to someone who has been here longer than him. It also has to be someone available right now.

So with a brave face, or as brave as he can muster without looking like a grim-and-hungry reptilian, Rene slithers up to a certain mutant in a wheelchair who he's heard about from Fred. "Professor X?" Rene's voice is slightly shaky but resolute in his rough, scaly tone. "I need your help getting a shelter up." A bolt of greenish-yellow speed away and back, Rene returns with a crude-but-serviceable map of Hammer Bay. "Can you please help me find a suitable spot to build it?" He opens the map on the ground in front of the professor. "I also need an inventory check on what I can use to make it. Some of the materials got scattered during the fighting." Slightly heavy breaths come out through Rene's snout as he speaks, fearing the worst while focusing on the job at hand. It's much easier to focus on something like this even under a dome of fear. After all, he is The Builder; building is what he's best at. There's no better place for him to work, provided an emergency doesn't come up.

And he's always got his ear socket ready in case the Misfits need something from him. Isn't that what friends are for?

[SuperCracker]

To Cyclops, Fred nodded. “You’re right. I was able to make them out in the battle.” He sent through the telepathic link what he remembered once more, for good measure. He intended to try and track them down, but his particular target was clear.

Fred added something to Cap’s assessment of the plan. “I’m going to be passing out mirrors to everyone I can. I teleport through mirrors. I recommend that in addition to what we’re working on, those of us with teleportation or extreme super-speed work as switch-hitters in case someone gets into trouble elsewhere.”
-----
A bit later

Yeah, Fred knew he was asking Peter to be bait. When one knows the future they can either lean into it or run away. Their plan relied on that vision coming to pass. “I might not be a good match-up for him either. For all we know, the spells on his claws may have the effect of cold iron… And outfighting Logan isn’t a good option. He’ll just regenerate any blows we can land on him. And I have no real plan to deal with whatever mental influence he’s under.”

He frowned and looked out into the distance for a moment.

“But I’m working on it.”
-----
Still somewhat later.

Fred went from smiling, eager to spend time getting reacquainted with someone he cares about to looking like he’d taken a body blow. As a certain GM said, the easiest way to complicate Fred’s life if for those who care about him to act like they care about him.

“You know what, Kara. I always did like you.” Starsoul, of course, loving this.

Now Fred’s typical thought process would be to reject this condition outright, but he also kind of thought that would burn a bridge with her and he didn’t want to do that. She probably knew she had the upper hand on him here.

“Ok,” he said… and then he brought her into the loop. He explained his vision and the plan regarding Colossus. “Kara, I don’t want you trying to take the heat from Logan either. He’s being backed by magic, and that has a way of messing with your Kryptonian invulnerability.” And then, like he said to Colossus, but paraphrased here, Fred acknowledged the flaws him his plan.

Only now, with Kara having forced her way into the upcoming fight, he actually had a plan.

“I can’t deal with mental influence and I can’t keep Logan down with his regeneration. Under normal circumstances, he can’t be restrained either. As long as he can move and articulate his claws, he will just cut through any bonds placed on him. But if he can’t move his claws, then we might be able to do something.

Here’s what I propose. When the fight starts, I’ll engage Logan and keep him engaged with fighting me. Kara, you and Peter both have some of the best super-strength on Earth. If each of you could go for his arms, we can try to restrain him with something. Magneto himself might be able to wrap enough metal around Logan to incapacitate him. That would buy us some time to actually break whatever magic or psychic force has gotten to him.”

It sounded suspiciously like Fred was going to be the distraction in this plan. He would later go on to share this plan with Peter and the X-Men team as a whole, in case brighter minds had better insight.

“Look at that! Not only have you successfully forced him to accept your loyal and caring assistance, but it also made him think up an idea! Feel free to do this to him every time.”

[CandyLaser]

"Vibranium was kind of a long shot. We can do without. I'll work on it, but I'll need mages to check my work and ensure that it's generating to proper resonances." Even as she spoke, Sarah was hard at work, surrounding herself with increasingly complicated plans and displays. There was a strange sort of syncretism at work, as Sarah blending technology with occult symbols and signs drawn from a wide variety of cultures and mystic traditions. Her reference texts included both high-energy physics articles and (scanned versions of) eldritch tomes as she began sketching out her plans, talking with Katie and Gethsemane where possible to discuss what she was building.