Inside 70: Surprisingly Pleasant

[WindStruck]

This was it, then! Maybe it was better this way, since if the droid had delayed, this would have been harder and harder for Solstice.

She releases the blast of force on Juan-G88, even as he begins firing rounds. The bullets are still deflected off course, if only slightly, which is enough. One bullet is quite impressively dead on center. It flattens a bit as it slows down drastically, pelting Solstice hard in the body. Ouch!

But as for the droid? It is knocked completely off its feet as it goes flying back, slamming into the wall behind it. Oh, but Solstice isn't finished yet. Using the flame wand in her other hand, she shouts something that sounds like, "Pozar!" as she begins to channel all her will into this attack. An intense ray of heat bursts from the tip of this wand, aimed right at Juan-G88. Maybe intense was an understatement. The ray was almost blinding in comparison to the dimness of the cave. Its "edges" scintillated as nitrogen and oxygen bonds (or whatever is in the air) were broken. Juan may have thought it was just a lightsaber for an instant. Until it kept coming and coming and coming...

With the amount of power Solstice was putting into this, the ray could easily achieve 10,000 degrees. Probably more if held on the same spot for a while. This was far more than enough to melt through conventional metals and slag stone into molten lava. Solstice was putting everything she had into this attack, pushing through her pain. Now she was the one slowly walking up with murderous intent. She wasn't stopping until either this thing stopped moving, or she collapsed.

[bc56]

Jade pulls the knife from the stunned Jane's grip and tosses it aside. Then she takes her pistol and melts a neat hole through the gatling gun. That should render it useless. She looks up in time to see Solstice utterly unleashing on Juan. "Whoa there!" She shouts. "He's still a person! Don't kill him!" Can she even be heard over the fighting?

[Morty]

[Slums - Cabaret]

"I'm not here for the show." Michalson is once again a picture of polite professionalism. "I have some questions about an investigation I'm pursuing. It won't take much time."

[Rebonack]

[Slums - Vacuum Shop]

"Oh, ah, well! That's quite simple. You just need to step into that chamber and I'll do the rest," the batgirl replies as she ushers doggo Hector into the chamber and ostensibly seals it behind him. "Alright! Well! Here we go!"

And then she'll slot the happy and moon stone into the machine, throw a switch and-!

Should all go well Hector the boogie will quite quickly cease to be a boogie! Rather, he'll be a pokemon! Possibly a dog-like pokemon. Or maybe something else? Who knows! It's a mystery.

Other Hector will likewise be severed from the influence of the Dreamheart. He'll just be a normal human again. Albeit a human with a pokemon partner. Now he just needs to learn the true meaning of friendship, collect a team, and become the very best like no one ever was.

Beth, meanwhile, gets a message back.

Spoiler: Text

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BridgeBldr: Oh, that's fascinating. It reminds me of some of the Devin Corporation designs. Where is it?

[Deadwood Street]

Considering how Solstice's ears are probably still ringing hearing Jade's plea is likely a no-go. Falling on deaf ears and all that.

The droid is blasted ass-over-teakettle, rolling across the stone floor and colliding with the cavern wall with a crash of metal against stone.

Then the fire starts.

Hoo boy.

The droid's armor is designed to defeat moderate blaster fire. But blasters only provide very intense heat for a relatively small span of time. Something like this, though? A beam of pure phlogiston hot enough to sublimate steel? No, it can't do anything about that. A hole is slagged clean through the machine, its edges white hot, as the stone wall behind it begins hissing and dissolving, molten quartz and gold alike oozing down onto the floor. Juan tries rolling out of the way of the beam, but this only results in a molten gouge tearing through its side and severing both of its left arms.

It flops to the cave floor, smouldering and sparking as internal components ignite from the ambient heat.

Didn't hit the head, though!

Juan could probably be repaired but wow would that be some extensive refurbishing.

[WindStruck]

Juan tried to roll out of the way, though Solstice was, of course, able to redirect her ray at him, whichever way he moved. It was for hardly a second more, however. Somehow, she implicitly knew that the metal man was toast, as the bindings of the words she had spoken earlier released.

That extra power was gone, and her will was depleted. The ray Solstice had manifested sputtered out. Solstice didn't feel well at all, now. Too much power was spent far too quickly.

Solstice staggered a bit, trying her damnest to not fall on the rails. No! Just a little more...

The Fae swayed to the side, hand catching herself against the crystalline walls, grasping.

Ah, this pile of broken quartz crystals looks nice and comfy...

...

[bc56]

Jade rushes back to the site of the blast to see the scorched wreck of Juan and the unconscious form of Solstice. She checks both for signs of life. Huh. Looks like they both lived. But Juan isn't going to be doing anything anytime soon. The next step is to check on the other three, primarily Sidewinder Sam and Tiny Tim. She knows Jane is still alive.

[Deathkeeper]

[Slums- Vacuums]

Having all the horrible esoteric energy and shadowstuff ripped out of you and transmuted into matter and atoms and flesh and fur should probably have been a rather traumatic thing.
But Hector can't say that he remembers much of it very well. He just remembers it feeling unpleasantly warm,
With a hiss of steam the door opens, revealing-!

A very tiny black and red fox.
He barks and saunters daintily back to the group.

[Rebonack]

[Deadwood Street]

Tiny Tim is breathing heavily as if in a deep sleep.

Must have been blasted with some elfshot. That's do such things to people.

Jane is swearing unsteadily, so she's probably fine.

As for Sam...

Well.

The giant snake is pinned to the wall with an arrow, hanging as limply as a dejected party streamer. He isn't moving at all. Nor does it look like he's breathing.

In the event that Jade tries to get closer for an inspection, the snake will lash out with lightning speed and try to bite her! Wow what a jerk. It should be kept in mind that Sam is literally a giant poisonous snake so getting bit would almost invariably be lethal. Maybe don't get bit.

But in good news it looks like Sam is still alive!

Yay!

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

[Slums - Vacuum Shop]

BG: some kind of transmogrifier for fey
BG: it looks like the idea is to turn a barghest into uh
BG: a regular monster I guess
BG: right now it's possessing this guy's shadow
BG: and it has to eat mortal fear or something and it would rather not so it agreed to try this out

Beth goes ahead and sends her shots of the Hector Scenario from earlier as a Before picture.

BG: heh, I guess it was pretty dumb of me to just automatically assume you had something to do with it
BG: the person who built it said she had a collaborator who sent the design
BG: oh hey it worked

As Shadow Hector has already gone ahead with the procedure, she sends an After picture of the little guy as well.

[WindStruck]

Solstice is still out. She'd likely be this way for a while. Her wand lays a few inches from her limp hand.

The crystals actually aren't all that ideal to be laying on, as can be imagined, either. But maybe the discomfort they cause could eventually cause her to rouse a bit sooner (while feeling all the worse).

[bc56]

The snake lunges. Jade jumps back, startled. Then she punches the snake in the face. "Aaah!" She pulls her pistol out and fires a few inaccurate shots. "Don't scare me like that!"

[Rebonack]

[Deadwood Street]

Jade has avoided being bitten and has done a pretty good job of smacking Sam in the gob.

While Solstice takes a nice nap.

Or...

Maybe a not so nice nap.

At this point our heroes should be able to round up the desperadoes and...

Hey.

How were they planning on getting them back to the jail, anyway?


[Slums - Vacuum Shop]

"Success!" the batgirl shouts! She seems pretty enthused about this whole thing, pumping her arms in the air.

And then... kind of... self consciously lowers them again.

"I mean, uh, I knew that would work."

Definitely.

Beth's phone, meanwhile, buzzes back at her.

Spoiler: Text

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>BridgeBldr: That's kind of strange but alright. Hopefully it didn't turn them into a pokemon that eats fear?
>BridgeBldr: Well, Devin Corporation had a machine meant to turn humans into pokemon, or at least to combine them somehow. It was based on teleportation technology.
>BridgeBldr: It was used for, well, some pretty negative things in my home world.
>BridgeBldr: This definitely isn't my work, though. I'm glad the technology is being used for something positive.

[bc56]

Jade spends some time gathering up the fallen villains and Solstice. She takes the outlaws and ties them to the horses, with Tim resting against two, and Juan's head slung across her back. Solstice laid on a pile of old tarps and blankets to sleep just inside the entrance to the cave. Jade waits for the crooks and the archer to reawaken.

[Deathkeeper]

[Slums- Vacuums]

Hector scowls.
”You could have just said you weren’t sure.” He says grumpily. At least until Hector walks over and gives him a good pet on the head, sending his tail aflutter.
Some things you just can’t get out of someone. He is, after all, still a canid.

[WindStruck]

Solstice had a rather troubled slumber, though one wouldn't know by outward appearances. It was nice and thoughtful for Jade to let her lie on something other than hard, pointy crystals. Eventually she awakened groggily, a little dazed and confused for a moment, until she remembered what had happened just before she collapsed.

She sat up and looked around, finding herself near the mouth of the cave. She also noticed Jade and her handiwork. Solstice nodded to Jade, then stretched a bit and winced, like there was a crick in her neck.

"You've done a fine job, Jade," Solstice said. She closed her eyes again, rested her head on a raised knee, and took some deep breaths. The sun was getting lower in the sky. It was definitely late afternoon now. It would soon be evening.

"I hope the criminals haven't been giving you trouble while I was.. unconscious?" The word 'asleep' just wouldn't have been right...

[bc56]

"You did well too. You alright?" Jade replies. "Nope, no trouble. Six outlaws, captured alive. Well, technically. You really did a number on Juan. I'm shocked you didn't kill him." She gestures to the severed robot head lying on the ground nearby. That probably raises some questions for a person unfamiliar with robots. Juan certainly seems dead.

[WindStruck]

"I, um.. No..." Solstice answers, weakly shaking her head again. "I do not feel particularly well." She was still sitting on the tarps and blankets.

Huh, six outlaws? Solstice blinked and tried to count again. Hmm, she only counted four.

"Who is Juan?"

[bc56]

"Juan-G-88." Jade gestures at the head. "Saw him on one of the wanted posters." She stands up and will help Solstice up if she needs it. "Can you make it back to town?"

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

[Slums Vacuums]

"Congratulations, doctor," Beth says reassuringly. "Wait, did we ever ask your name? I'm Beth."

She then finds herself awkwardly staring at her phone for a bit. Somehow her brain had skipped over the exact reason she immediately thought of Geneva here.

Spoiler: Chatlog

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BG: yeah
BG: but still, yikes
BG: that would be a problem in the wrong hands
BG: now that you mention it I should probably ask
BG: have you ever heard of the watchers?

She crouches down to get a better look at the cutified shadow. "So, how are you feeling? Hungry? Dizzy?"

[WindStruck]

Solstice manages to stand, shakily at first. "I think I could make it back. Although..." She peers around a little confused. "I am not sure if I know the way."

She looks at the severed metallic head of the droid. "That thing? You.. are calling the machine by a name?"

[bc56]

"I know the way back." Jade seems a little put off by the suggestion that Juan is not a person. "He is a person. You heard him talking, right?" She shrugs. "Despite you melting his chassis to bits, he's still alive in here," she taps the robot head, "So we did it. The whole gang, captured alive. Just need to head back and collect the bounties.

[5a Violista]

[Tiffany - Nightclub]

It's not so loud that you can't hear people, but it's still loud enough that you need to shout.

"Huh?!" Tiffany says.
She turns her body so she's now dancing with the elf. "Blaze of Snow is still pretty new!" she responds. "Not very popular yet! More people be here later tonight when Synthetic Sparks scheduled!" She drops some words to be heard better.


[Philip Memorial Library]

"Oh. Well, I hope you find him."

"Can't remember if I already said this or not, but I've only been here a few days," Minerva says.
"If you don't go out, what do you normally do, then?" he asks. "Besides -" he gestures at the binder and work "-writing, of course."

[WindStruck]

"Yes.. I did," Solstice says with a slight nod of agreement. In fact, she even remembered trying to talk to it....

Was it.. speaking in Spanish??

"Right.. you may lead the way back. And I will keep an eye on these criminals from behind, then."

The two heroes set off again leading five horses and bringing five outlaws back to the town of Deadwood and to Justice. The pace is slow and steady, to again, account for both heroes on foot, including an unsteady Fae.

It wasn't long, however, until Simon Seyz had woke up. The man looked about malevolently, twisting his neck about and sneered. Then he set his eyes on Solstice. His eyes narrowed for a bit and he began chuckling to himself.

Solstice looked at the man with some confusion and worry, then over at Jade who was.. for now, none the wiser of what was going on. Then the man opened his mouth, and Solstice felt a chill run down her spine.

"Simon Says.. untie me."

Solstice had no idea what was going on.. but her body seemed to be moving on its own. Her hands began to work at the knots restraining the criminal to his horse.

With some terror rising in her voice, Solstice cried, "J-.. Jade!"

[Hattish Thing]

[Slums - Cabaret]

The slit stops halfway closed. There's a long, drawn out sigh.

Why did this stuff always seem to happen on his shift? Just once, he'd like a quiet day at work.

"You've gotta be screwing me," he mutters. The man at the other side of the door runs his fingers through his hair. "Well, I'm gonna need to see a badge."

"Unless this is, er... narcotics related. Then I'll need a warrant, flatfoot." He sneers.

---

[Grey Zone - Museum Street Backalley]

Detective Bansford nods as new information comes in.

"Wire fences," she repeats. Had this simply been an accident of some sort? "That's certainly new."

She continues to jot notes down in her small journal. "What's the company's name, and can we schedule a meeting with a floor representative?" Billie didn't want to speak with some executive, she wanted to hear the opinions of the men and women who built the wire. Then there's some mention of surviving children, albeit draconic one. She doesn't put much stock in this theory. "Are contact cards available for them?"

Billie doubts reaching the dragon's surviving family members would be necessary.

Dragons didn't kill with wire fences, after all.

---

[Naomi's Lair]

This time, Naomi accepts the hug with much enthusiasm.

She was having a rough go of things, even now. She just wanted to go home.

Had she made sure to feed her cat? Maybe there was some hard lemonade left. Naomi wanted to think about anything else but what might be wrong with her. Her thoughts are drawn back to the present once Jade mentions friends. "Wait, others? Like you, like. You know them?"

---

[Cormorant House]

At this, Billie's watery eyes narrow.

"I'm sorry," she spits, "but I don't have time to teach you how to be a decent person."

She continues, her tone cold and unforgiving. "This woman had a name, and a family - a husband. You met him." The detective looks over at Magdalene with an expression of unfiltered disgust. Her gray eyes dart across the teenager's form, seemingly unimpressed with the person she was turning out to be. "For his sake, she deserves a proper burial."

"Furthermore," she bites, "what you're proposing is a crime." With any luck, this information would spark some respect for the dead in Magdalene.

Billie rather suspects that's unlikely, though. "Gods." At this, she'll start to haul the bodies out.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

[Philip Memorial Library]

"Hm. Thanks," Leslie says. She adjusts her glasses again and takes a deep breath to stop herself from breaking down further. "So! Um, what I've been doing. I mentioned that something happened that put my skills in high demand, right? Well, that thing was a big werewolf outbreak. I got a job with one of the corps based in Skyside, working on lycanthropy treatments."

She taps a canister mounted on the back of her laptop. It looks like it could be an upgraded battery pack, but it also has a bunch of weird warning labels and some slots for small vials. "Of course, after a year they decided there wasn't any more money in it... so, now I guess I'm just a regular pharmacist. Who occasionally fills orders for special horse meth."

The speed with which she switches to excited exposition and back to self-loathing is... well, it's something. She tries to shake it off again. "So, um, what did you do? Before coming here, I mean? For work and/or for fun?"

[bc56]

Deadwood Street

"Stop. Now." Jade points her gun at Simon's head. "I'll shoot you if you try to run or if I see your mouth move again. You think you can talk faster than the speed of light?" She's serious. If she sees him try to sling more commands or to run, she'll shoot. Of course, her gun is still set on the stun setting.

Jade's Lair

"I know a bunch of heroes. We can help you." Jade releases Naomi. "I can arrange a meeting, if you'd like. Not today, but soon."

[WindStruck]

The outlaw growls, clenching his teeth, but luckily for him that didn't quite pass for looking like talking?

Meanwhile, Solstice continued to untie the knots, looking sheepishly at Jade. When she was finished, she quickly grabbed a bandana from around his neck and forced it in his mouth, tightening it. Simon really didn't look happy now and grunted what must have been obscenities at the two.

After that, he got tied up very tight again, and the two had no more issues, except for when Tiny Tim woke up. That guy had to take several shots from the stun gun to put him down again.

The sun was setting by time the two heroines got back to Deadwood proper.

Hm, now where to? Last they heard, the sheriff was missing. Right?

[bc56]

Jade reties up the gagged outlaw and heads back into town.
Once there, she shrugs. "Ask the bartender, I think. Maybe stick them in the lockup first."
She opens the door to the bar. "Hey, anyone seen the sheriff? We've got a present for him!" She shouts into the building.

[5a Violista]

[Philip Memorial Library]

Minerva listens along.
"...Skyside?" he repeats, not entirely sure what or where it is. Sounds like some providence or city or state or barrio or something, based on context.

Horse meth? Definitely sounds...weird. Probably not good. "Pharmacy does sound really useful and fun, even if it's just 'regular'."

"So I studied engineering," he says, "and did a lot of design and testing. Like, designed and built a lot of different things, but my favorite things to work on were prosthetics and medical equipment. Didn't quite start a career in it yet, but..." But...hobbies. "I had a whole lot of hobbies. Basically picked up anything and everything. Music, fencing, martial arts, hiking and camping, sports, translation, meeting people, and so on. Just...basically everything."

[WindStruck]

People peer outside before standing up in awe.

"That's Tiny Tim!" "Look, and there's Sidewinder Sam!" "And Calamity Jane!" "Someone pinch me, is that.."

More people: "That's Simon Seyz!"

Everyone pushes their way out of the saloon, surrounding Solstice, Jade, and the whole procession and making a quite the scene. Solstice looks around at everyone, a bit shyly.

"Hawt dog!" The barkeep exclaims. "Not only Simon Seyz but his whole gang? You two must really be something!"

He looks around, a stern look on his face and yells, "Alright! I know someone around here has to know where the sheriff is! Go git'em!!"

A young man runs off between the alleys of some buildings. All the while, everyone is murmuring, poking and prodding the criminals, asking Jade and Solstice too many questions at once.

"Wait a minute, where's the droid, Juan-G88?" "Thar it is, his head!"

After a few minutes of what seems like forever, the young man comes back, followed by a tall man with dark brown hair and chiseled looks and two of his deputies. One of them is also kind of tall but lanky, the other is pretty rotund.

The crowd parts so the sheriff can speak. "Well now, I could hardly believe my ears when I heard someone brought in Simon Seyz and his whole crew." The sheriff's piercing eyes look between Jade and Solstice. His gaze seems to burn into them. "You two are the ones responsible for this, aren't you? We're mighty grateful."