Inside 70: Surprisingly Pleasant

[bc56]

Cormorant House

The handprint, when pressed, slides into the table surface. With a whirring sound, the wall beside the table suddenly folds backwards, revealing a dark spiral staircase leading both upwards and downwards.

The lamp has no oil in it, but it looks long dry, not recently used. The burn marks are faded from time, despite a fire appearing there mere minutes ago.

Scitech Labs

"No, but I can take a look." Not all supers know each other, but this one tries to be acquainted with as many others as possible. And she encourages people to join the field. She walks over to the starry woman and sits down next to her, removing her helmet to reveal a pretty face framed by shoulder-length brown hair. "Hey. You doing all right?"

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

[Plaza Park Dungeon]

>> Beth: Examine skellington

[Hattish Thing]

[Scitech Labs]

With a nod, the officer returns to the front of the building.

The girl, meanwhile, seems distracted. She's staring into a cup of hot cocoa held in her hands, a vacant expression upon her cherubic face. Once Jade speaks up, the girl blinks once or twice before turning her head towards her. A few seconds pass before she utters a somewhat simplistic response. "Oh, um. Y-yeah, I'm okay." The voice in her head lashes out, then. "Idiot girl. To wear victory as a shackle is a fool's burden."

She turns away from Jade, shutting her eyes in an attempt to silence the unheard voice. "I don't think I know you?"

"I'm, um. Well, my name is Naomi."

[bc56]

If it doesn't seem unwelcome, Jade will rest a hand on Naomi's shoulder. "I'm Jade." Seems they're using real names. She's trying to put on a sisterly air, but she's never been a sister, so it's probably a little subpar. "Is there anything you want to talk about?" Some people just need to vent. Jade knows the feeling.

[Hattish Thing]

[Scitech Labs]

Naomi does not recoil from her touch, but its clear she's not particularly used to it. Even when she was a regular human being, physical touch often made her uncomfortable. So much so that she found it difficult to maintain romantic relationships over periods of time. For now, she does not complain - she appreciated the warmth that Jade's touch provided. "That's a nice name. Like, um - the gemstone."

Her flesh feels cold to the touch, save for her golden markings. Those, strangely enough, are quite warm.

She continues, still quite dazed. "Would be cool if you were a Taurus."

[Purple Eagle]

[Red Zone Lab]

Felandria will return to what might be a humorous sight. The police are arriving, starting to lead the victims out to safety, with another detective coordinating them on sweeping the area... and there stands Rosie, leaning against a wall and sleeping.

"Huh?" She transitions quickly from sleepiness to fully awake, and smiles once Fel reveals what she's found. "By golly, I've never had an immovable rod before! Can I have them? You can give me one of yours so we'll both have one of each pair!" She suggests.

"Come, we should go outside and let these guys do their jobs." She nods a greeting to the other detective, a gruff-looking dwarven man, who smiles and nods back. The dwarf notices how Fel and Rosie interact with each other, nods and gives a thumbs-up, then continues what he's doing. "I already told him what to expect, and I expect I'll have a report to write up later. Even if we didn't catch her, we did a good job rescuing these poor people."

[Hodgepodge Street - Rainy Gardens]

Rosie lets her talk, then replies after Billie admits she's not read her old work in years. "Nonetheless, I feel it would be interesting to read them... for both of us." That assumes that 'somewhere' means 'somewhere accessible to her', of course. This woman's good at holding her cards to her chest, never revealing more than necessary. Perhaps that'll change as they get to know each other more. While she's interested in this topic, she lets it change, even initiating the topic change.

"Bladed weapons, blunt weapons, guns and dials, to be precise." She clarifies, her turn to reminisce about the past. She's a little girl again, already as tall as her mom and playing with dolls, when her father - whom she inherited her height from - appears. She'd glomp him, hear his tales of adventure and watch him work when he did. "After the incident, I went with him to our world for training, and got to see him work more often. These days, he operates out of a shop in this city." Selling world-specific weapons that either are hard to find or just plain impossible to get anywhere else has made him a wealthy man.

Billie's next words bring Rosie back to the present. "My condolences." She says sympathetically. She can't relate to losing a parent, seeing as both of hers are still alive... but she's lost people in the force. Friends who joined up when she did that aren't here today. Thus, she can on some level relate to the feeling of loss. She considers asking to see the saber, but thinks better of it. If Billie hasn't taken it out of its case, she either hadn't moved on, or wished to keep the memento as pristine as possible. Is it her place to infringe on that?

On the topic of vigilantes, the tall woman looks back, nodding as she absorbs the pearls of wisdom this woman dispenses. Billie has a way with words that makes her easy to listen to. "I know that, all too well... I just wish they'd not make our already complicated job even more so..." She exhales. "... but the nature of the world means that'd continue to be a problem. All we can do is our very best." She looks at the other woman with a small smile that says she's glad she's getting to know Billie.

[Streets - near a net cafe]

"You read manuals?" After a short pause, she smiles. "So do I, a habit I picked up as a young girl. Being a cyberneticist, my father had books and manuals, and I would read them when I had the time." Svetlana reminisces with a gentle smile. "Perhaps I shall print a manual for you as well." She might not look it, but Svetlana's quite the nerd.

"My hobbies are reading, figure skating, martial arts training, cybernetics and fashion." She sighs and looks at her now-outstretched hand. "I enjoyed going to spas, once. As amazing as this body is, taking it to a spa is useless."

"So, which manuals have you read, recently?" Back to lighter topics.

[Aimless Shenanigans]

The way Eao responds is a bit appalling, but Zabbaiel remembers what Zee said about not all empyreans being good, as such.

"I don't know about you both, but celestials are guardians of the world, and there are no angel-rank celestials around. I'll do it myself." Zabb says, then zips around at lightspeed, rearranging the furniture, starting with the heavy stuff and working his way down to the documents. He even uses his powers to sweep the dust and debris, piling it up in the corner.

The mortals can do the rest, but no doubt they'd be thankful that someone took the time to lessen their workload.

That wasn't so hard now, girls, was it?

Once he's done, he returns to kid form, though with his second pair of wings still out. "There are more important things in life than gaining power, but let's go." Easy for him to say, he has all his powers already and all he needs is practice.

[bc56]

Scitech Labs

"Sorry. I'm an Aquarius." Jade chuckles. She doesn't actually put any stock into astrological signs, but she's at least passingly familiar. She looks back towards the police vehicles. "You do this often?" Superhero stuff, she means.

Aimless Shenanigans

Eao twists back to human form as well, but chooses to appear as an adult. She feels like she needs to keep Asher in check, or he'll keep helping out everyone they come across, and slowing the group down. "Fine. C'mon Lapis! We need to start the tutorial!"

[Hattish Thing]

[Scitech Labs]

Naomi frowns, glancing back down into her mug of hot cocoa. "Oh, sorry. That's still cool, though." Her drink was getting colder, soon it'd be entirely inedible. She just didn't have the stomach for it, not yet. Not after what had happened. "I'm a Pisces; February twenty-two." The younger woman's response is quiet, her tone distant.

With a dreamy expression upon her face, Naomi dips a finger into her cocoa, absently stirring it.
"When I can. I was just close by, you know?" She shrugs, attempting to play things down. "She thinks she's better than us."

She looks up to Jade, now. "I think I've seen you on the news." She had. "Let us crush her skull, squeeze her little eyes into jelly."

---

[Hodgepodge Street - Rainy Gardens]

Ms. Bansford furrows her brow at Rosie's suggestion. "Nah. Nothing in those pages for me, now." Whatever satisfaction there was to be had in digging up her old journals would no doubt pale before the heartache which would follow. It was too easy to miss the person she once was. With a solemn look upon her face, she explains her position further. "I don't mourn over what was, not ever." This discussion of the past has put her in a somewhat introspective state of mind. "It's all too easy to dwell on what was, in the face of what might be." She digs her heel into the mud, finding some comfort in feeling the earth give way beneath her.

"It's our mistrust of the future that makes it hard to give up the past." She ponders over her words as she's saying them aloud. "But I don't judge those who linger. It makes sense, really." It was not her place to judge, it never had been. "It's security, I think. There's safety in what was." With a determined look, she glances back towards Rosie. "There's nothing to guide you through what may be, no one to tell you how things will go down." She takes a deep breath, exhaling slowly as she tastes the rainy air. It was familiar to her, it reminded her of her home. "I miss what was, I feel for it. But I'd never go back." Even now, she felt the pull of nostalgia upon her bones.

Once the subject changes, she seems a little less downcast. It seemed that Rosie more or less understood what she meant. "That's the spirit. You owe it to yourself to do the best you can, always." She was not a person of half measures. In her eyes, the degree with which one commits to a decision is just as important as its nature.

Finally, she decides to broach a more personal topic. "You mentioned you've been on the force for a while."

"How do you manage, personally? Everybody's different."

[bc56]

"January 30th." Jade smiles at Naomi. "You probably have seen me there. You know, it's good that you help. Don't get discouraged. It's worth it." She thinks she knows what's going through Naomi's head. She had a similar experience early in her heroing career. She's at least partly wrong.

[Hattish Thing]

[Scitech Labs]

An almost imperceptibly small smile graces the younger woman's face. "Thanks. That means a lot to me, to be honest." Naomi looks calm when she smiles, at peace. Her watery eyes betray her, though. She's clearly quite upset about something. After a few shaky breaths, she tries to explain further. "I, um. I'm actually kinda worried."

The voice rumbles once again. "You have done this to yourself, worm." He eyes dart downwards once more. "I think I really hurt that guy, you know?"

[bc56]

"Oh." Jade's face falls. But she doesn't look displeased, just sympathetic. "That's a good feeling to have. If you hurt people without compunction, you're almost as bad as the villains you stop." She pauses to breathe, remembering her own... Incident. "Sometimes people get hurt, even if you don't want them to. Sometimes it's even your fault. But don't give up. You can always strive to do better."

[Hattish Thing]

[Scitech Labs]

At this point, Naomi gives up on her hot cocoa. With a sigh, she sets it down beside her and pulls her blanket tight around her body. "I don't think he's going to get better, though." She seems genuinely worried about that. In the moment, it feels almost like she's simply watching things happen around her - a bystander. It was easy to go on thinking that way. It's not like she ever seriously hurt anybody. This time, though? It was more than a broken hand. "And that's..." Her fault.

Even if she didn't mean for it, even if it was indirect. "Hey, can we get... out of here?"
The ambulances weren't helping her regain her composure.

"I don't care where." "You'll never leave us behind."

[Morty]

[Slums - Patton Publications]

Michalson has time for one question. This berk doesn't know who this woman was, or where she went. But maybe...

"Who was she running from?"

[bc56]

"Sure. I'll take you to my hideout. You can rest there." Jade motions Naomi towards a nearby street that heads towards the harbor. "Might want to change into plainclothes on the way, though. You have any?" Jade has some stashed not far away, in case she needs a disguise. She has caches like that scattered around the city.

[Hattish Thing]

[Scitech Labs > Jade's Lair]

Naomi ponders over the decision before her. Was she really about to trust this random stranger? She was timid by nature, and usually for good reason. Then again, Jade had been all over the news saving people. Surely someone like that could be trusted, right? Finally, she just nods. "Oh, um. I was just thinking food maybe?" She runs a hand through her fiery orange hair before glancing downwards somewhat awkwardly. "But, that's okay, too! Clothes would be... nice." She already felt foolish for not bringing a spare set. That's a really good idea. How could she have not thought about that?

Then again, her place wasn't too far. She had clothes there, for sure. "Or we could stop by my flat? It's close." She didn't want to burden Jade with anything extra. "Too late for that. You are a burden on everyone. You ruin all that you touch." She'll let the other woman make the ultimate decision though. Naomi takes a deep breath before clambering out of the ambulance, drifting down airily onto the ground. She wished she knew how to turn that off.

---

[Slums - Patton Publications]

The panhandler starts to cough uncontrollably, spitting up blood. It's not a pretty sight. This was a man that will die in this room.
If not now, then eventually. There is no alternative for him. No out. Perhaps it was fate.

He manages to squeeze out a few words. "A man... her... boss, I think..."
"With the... awful... mustache..."

[bc56]

"If you prefer, we can do that. I'll just have to make a short stop along the way." Jade doesn't mention the floating. But does she look a little jealous? That floating is cool. She stands and brushes her hair away from her face. "Lead the way. I'll tell you when I need to stop for a minute."

[Hattish Thing]

[Scitech Labs > Naomi's Flat]

Once she's on her feet, Naomi stumbles somewhat. "Nrnh." By now, she's not particularly used to walking about. "Yeah, um. Where to? Just so I know." Then, she gets an idea! One that would make things way easier for everyone! "Oh, hey - actually? I could also just... fly us there." She offers a small smile towards Jade before taking a deep breath, closing her eyes in the process. As she does so, wings of swirling starstuff appear at her back. The wings were her favorite part. They made her feel pretty, like a fairy - a rare opportunity for someone as awkwardly built as her.

She'll offer a hand to Jade, somewhat more comfortable than before. "It's really fun, actually." She shrugs, trying not to make too big of a deal out of it. "It's kind of the only fun part, really."

The voice does not approve. "The gifts of infinite worlds, wasted."

[bc56]

Jade watches the unfurling wings with awe. "That'd be great! If it's not trouble." Flight is one of the things she hasn't been able to work out for her suit. The best she can do are rocket jumps, which are still pretty fun. "What makes the rest not fun?"

[Earl of Purple]

Sunlight Gardens

"Well, that's good. Less good about the bridesmaids. Hey, Prumathe. How're you thinking with the wedding?" Samantha grins at him, and he looks a bit put out.
"I'm thinking more along the lines of thinking about that after the proposal. I want that to be special, first of all. And I've got it... some of the way planned. Best man and speeches and invites and what not can come after, hopefully." He knows Sekhmet will say yes, he still touches the wooden table as he speaks the last sentence.

[Hattish Thing]

[Scitech Labs > Naomi's Flat]

Naomi shakes her head, clearly unbothered. "Hey, nah. It's no trouble. I promise." There's a small smile there, though her eyes drift away from Jade's own at the earliest opportunity. Eye contact was not something she was ever particularly comfortable with, especially not now. When she asks about the rest of her powers, Naomi becomes somewhat wary. This was not something she was wanting to talk about. "Oh, you know. It's just really freeing, I guess." Hm, maybe she was onto something. "Everything else feels like a responsibility." That was it. Wings were an escape. The rest? Not so much.

"Here, I'll show you. Just, um. Sorry if this is weird?" At that, she'll attempt to wrap an arm around Jade, securing her close. This was the first time she'd flown with a passenger beside her. Safety was a concern. "Hang on to the belt, okay?" As they prepare to fly, Jade will likely notice just how toned Naomi is.

Although her shoulders aren't particularly broad, her arms are muscular.
Her lower body is significantly more powerful, with wide hips and impressive leg muscles hidden beneath a layer of fat.

Naomi had been an athlete once, and it shows. "Okay, you ready?"

[5a Violista]

[Near a Net Cafe]

"Yeah, you already mentioned that," Marin says.

Anyway. Cybernetics: that sounds fun! Also figure skating kinda sounds interesting. "Martial arts isn't really my thing." And, to be honest, Marin kind-of finds reading to be boring, even though she does it so much. Or maybe because she does it so much.

So, she answers the question: "Um...I've read one for a car, one for a lawnmower, and a hand crank and a well pump one. The car one was the most interesting."

[bc56]

Sunlight Gardens

Sekhmet looks a bit sheepish when Prumathe says he wants to wait until after the proposal. "I'm sorry, I, uh, can't stop thinking about it sometimes. Uh, especially when we're together." She's already got so much planned. In addition to the bridesmaids she plans to request, she knows who she's going to ask to make her wedding dress and what she wants that to look like.

Scitech Labs > Naomi's Flat

Jade wraps her own arm around Naomi. Unlike the winged woman, she does not look like she was ever much of an athlete. She has the figure of a comic book superheroine. At least her costume is much more sensible. "I'm ready when you are."

[Rebonack]

[Plaza Park]

Mister Skellington appears to be unhealthily underweight!

Though...

On closer inspection that isn't a skeleton at all. It feels like it is made out of some kind of resin and there are little rods in the bones to hold them together and allow them to articulate. This is one of those fake skeletons! Though more like the sort you would get from a medical supply catalog rather than a cheap Spooktober store.

Huh.

That's certainly interesting.

That cage felt a whole lot lighter than it should have, too.

As for the journal?

It appears to chronicle how this decrepit building was discovered and set up to be some kind of themed Spooktober amusement. Half escape room half haunted house. Very spooky! But then things started getting... bad. People in the area were growing abjectly miserable. Sometimes worryingly so. Eventually the project was abandoned. The only things that stuck around were the creepy pokemon they had gathered to help with the ambiance. Kids love pokemon, right?

Of course they do.

The journal mentions that everything started going down hill when someone had moved some odd rocks in the middle of the park to start setting up a fake graveyard.


[Cormorant House]

"Hey I don't think there was any oil in this lamp. Lit up on its own, though. Probably spook-st-"

Oh hey.

The wall just opened.

"Oh sweet, secret passage!" Mags says, her expression lighting up as the weird lamp is totally forgotten. She'll begin heading straight toward the passage and glancing first up then down to see if she can't see anything right away. "Stuff like this has always got, like, hidden spoils or shrines or some cool thing inside. Good find!"

Probably not any of those things you're expecting, Mags.

This place doesn't work exactly like your home world after all.


[Aimless Shenanigans ==> Outside Tutorial!]

Lightspeed?

So from the perspective of everyone else in the room everything is tidied up instantly?

Lapis wrinkles her nose as she leaves the bank.

"If you could clean things that fast why didn't you just do it instead of asking?" she inquires, puzzled by her friend's behavior.

Ah well.

"Okay we should start the tutorial away from other people that's important," Lapis says as she starts heading toward the gates of the City. To Outside!

[Deathkeeper]

Plaza Park

Wait, so this is all fake?
Yet there were real metal pointy instruments in this fake torture chamber? That sounds pretty sketchy. If he knew about Litwicks he would also have questioned the soul-sucking ghosts being there on purpose.
”We have to get to the middle of the park. That’s where some rocks got moved and made things start to go bad. Of course it’s the middle.” Where rose would it be?

[Hattish Thing]

[Cormorant House]

Detective Bansford cannot help but smile as she presses her hand against the print, pushing downwards. "Hey. I think I've found something." As something clicks into place within the table, she glances upwards towards the wall. Just as she had suspected, a large section of the material ahead had opened! "Well, would you look at that!" She takes a deep breath while closing her eyes, only to open them once she exhales. At this moment, she felt so alive. There was nothing so invigorating as discovery. She could feel it coursing through her veins; confidence and inspiration.

Now, she needed to calm down a little - this was still a dangerous place. There would be time to relish in the satisfaction of it all later on. Once Magdalene pushes through, eager to inspect the secret passage, Billie steps away. Her heels click and clack upon the rotten wood. "Okay. Don't stray far, I'm just going to have a look at the lamp really quick." It'd be foolish to leave the thing behind, after all. Not without giving it a proper inspection, first. Who knows what might be found?

And so, she'll start to look over the thing, going so far as to touch it. "I wonder what would happen if..."

She doesn't finish her sentence, instead electing to mull over possibilities in her head.

---

[Scitech Labs > Naomi's Flat]

It's clear by Naomi's sheepish expression that she's somewhat bewildered at having Jade embrace her so tightly. "Oh, you're stronger than you look! Um, hi there!" She turns her head to face the other woman, shrugging shyly before turning away. Why had she done that, her face was so close - now it was just weird! "Okay, here we go!"

She takes a deep breath before lifting off into the air. The wings are faster than they would appear. Within a moment or two, they're high above the city! It's a wonderful sensation, the cool wind dancing across their skin. The world seemed so small from up above, its troubles entirely seperate.

As they begin to soar towards the northeast, Noami asks a somewhat important question. "Hey, so! Where was your stop?"

[Morty]

[Slums - Patton Publications]

This poor sod is one leg in the dead book already. Should Michalson squeeze all the information out of him and leave him to die? There's probably nothing he can do to save him anyway. But there are other people who may need his help and he might be able to give it.

"Do you know where he is? Or who he is?"

[bc56]

Cormorant House
The stairs are wood, with oil lamps hanging from the wall at every landing. Neither way looks especially interesting. Downwards probably leads to the first floor, while upwards goes to the attic, judging by the way the house looked from outside.
Meanwhile, the lamp is inspected. It seems rather ordinary, coated in dust except for the places where Maggie just touched it to examine it herself.

Scitech Labs > Naomi's Flat

"This is incredible!" Jade says. To be high above the ground like this is a dream come true. She doesn't seem nearly as embarrassed about the close embrace necessary. When asked, she looks around for a second before singling out a building. "Land on the roof there." She points where she wants to go, a strip mall squashed between two medieval towers.

[Rebonack]

[Cormorant House]

Well damn.

There aren't any hidden spoils directly behind the secret passage! Who designed this stupid thing, anyway? Don't they know you're supposed to hide treasure in places like this? Feeling increasingly indignant at this dumb house, Mags begins heading up the stairs. Only half a turn, though, since the cop will probably bitch at her some more if she goes further. That lady's a pain but Mags really would rather not piss her off.

Pissing off a team mate is a good way to get backstabbed.

Not that she's afraid of a normie or anything!

She just... doesn't want to go to jail?

They have a jail, right?

"Hey that light from earlier was up in the attic yeah? We should go look up there first. Then go down. All the real creepy cultist stuff is usually in basements."

Cultists love basements. Especially cultists of Chthon. Gotta get closer to their underworld god, y'know?

[Hattish Thing]

[Scitech Labs > Naomi's Flat]

Naomi nods in response to Jade's words of praise, clearly just as pleased. For a moment, she forgets herself - lost in the euphoria of it all. She forgets the terrible, awful space creature living in her brain. She forgets how vacant that magnet guy looked as she fell, like a puppet with its strings cut. She forgets, even, the fact that her hand was sliding somewhat lower down Jade's sides. "Isn't it wonderful?! It feels like a rollercoaster every time!" She's positively beaming, up until she descends.

Once at the roof, she'll help Jade to her feet. It's only somewhat awkward, considering the placement of her hands.

"Okay, um. What's this place?" The voice flares up once again. "Nothing, for now. But soon? A grave."

---

[Cormorant House]

Hm, seems entirely ordinary. Almost too ordinary, considering what she'd seen. Rather than fixate on what might be a dead end, Detective Bansford will lift the lamp and inspect its bottom. Unless anything stands out, she'll set it back down before stepping back and snapping a picture of the table, including the lamp itself. Maintaining a visual record was always extremely important to her, as she was very much a visual investigator. She turns her back on the table just in time to frown as Magdalene heads up the staircase. Rather than immediately follow after her, Billie will kneel down beside the sliding door.

Was there some sort of trap? A nearby pressure plate? Anything that would potentially trap them inside once Billie stepped in? If not, she'll continue after Magdalene, flashlight and revolver in hand. "Good thinking, you're doing great." She didn't particularly mean that, but words of affirmation usually had more of an impact on teenagers. Her logic wasn't awful here. Credit where credit is due. "Here, let me head on first."

Billie will slowly move up the stairs, scanning the steps at every opportunity.

[bc56]

Scitech Labs > Naomi's Flat

Jade doesn't seem to mind Naomi's hand moving down her body. Or maybe she doesn't notice. Either way, she stands and shrugs. "Just a cache. I'll be back in a moment." She walks a few steps forward and suddenly disappears. Her voice floats out of the space nearby where she vanished. "Don't come in here. I'm changing." The rustle of clothing and the clacking of Jade removing her armor begin to sound.

Cormorant House

The lamp truly is entirely ordinary. Nothing weird about it. Within the secret passage, there does not seem to be a pressure plate, but there is a lever on the wall. Perhaps that's how it closes from inside.