Night Of The Red Moon

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Dusty
Member

To see a Keeper is not an easy thing, especially one who does not wish to be seen.

Posts: 211

Night Of The Red Moon Jul 4, 2022 0:49:03 GMT

Post by Dusty on Jul 4, 2022 0:49:03 GMT

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It was a cold night in NYC, clouds in the sky. It was the city that never slept and people roamed around the streets. As they did, they would hear sirens ringing out; police sirens before the car itself sped past, going towards central park. Someone had caused a mighty fuss there, a dim red glow being seen and lights cutting out around buildings. A power surge? Whatever it was had garnered major attention from the police as a fair amount of them made their way towards Central Park; making onlookers turn their head with interest.

Those who might be magically inclined, or even spiritually touched would feel something in the air. A darkness much like a demon's aura. And it was getting stronger; more dense. It felt crushing the closer to the park one got - so off putting that the officers arriving at the scene would feel uncomfortable. As they did arrive, what they saw could only be described as *evil*. Eyes on the ground saw as a shining red light had beamed down onto the middle of the Park, a small staging ground being made where the light had hit. Looking up was like looking into the eye of the storm, as the Moon glowed a dim red and shined down on everyone below.

There was a group of people with masks dressed up in the middle of the park, chanting as blue wisps whizzed around the area, moving towards the middle of them as they prayed and prayed to something. There was a priest in regal clothes, leading them as a shimmering amount of energy covered them all.

In the middle of them, something was coming - a silhouette of a person could be seen forming with each wisp of energy arriving to feel themselves into the silhouette. Whatever it was, it seemed unnatural as the area around the silhouette wobbled - as if reality was being wobbled around like a piece of paper.

“The Destroyer cometh! She comes to take this den of villainy and sin down with her!”

The head priest chanted, aiming his staff at one of the police cars and firing a shot - causing it to get ripped apart. A warning shot to not get close - the punishment being death if they do.

---

OOC:

Yes this is happening.
- I’m pretty sure anyone in NYC will notice to be honest.
- Cult Of Some Destroyer is trying to summon her; cops are in a standstill.
- This won’t be a long thread so feel free to throw someone street level or something into the mix.

Last Edit: Jul 4, 2022 0:52:58 GMT by Dusty

Subject 16

The Painter

---

Agency Of Supernatural Acquisitions

Paperbag Fill
Member

Posts: 361

Night Of The Red Moon Jul 4, 2022 3:35:13 GMT

Post by Paperbag Fill on Jul 4, 2022 3:35:13 GMT

Sensational

"So 'stonished."

All hairs on his arms, back, and legs stood up. It was right in the middle of him changing too as he slid on his blue jacket over his grey store-bought Legend of Zelda logo t-shirt. Mask was off, tucked away under the white beanie cap covering blonde hair as green eyes darted back and forth across the alley. Nothing here. It must have been farther away, perhaps a block or two away. And it had to happen just when he finished changing.

No way he was changing back. It was late. If anyone saw what he wore, it would be rather difficult due to the night, even with the bright lights of the city providing beacons through the darkness. Only he and the odd metahuman would have any sort of organic or in-built nightvision. The chances of people discovering he wore $20 t-shirts would be slim.

His hand tugged as his scarlet mask slipped out of his beanie and past his freckled face, covering his head and part of his neck completely.

His approach was silent, much like his arachnid-kin. All it took was to remove his sneakers and leapfrog off of each tree with nary a sound. Only when leaping one last time and rolling on the ground before crouching on his knee and foot did he slip them back on. The police would be surrounding the area and all sides would be taken.

Good thing Drew knew a thing or two about stealth. Especially when he had a cheat code or two to help him along the way. That and having someone on the inside had its perks. No one ever looked up. Not once. It made things so much simpler as he closed in. This would be the difficult part as getting out into the open with these cultists would not exactly be the most well-received play by any side.

Time to turn on the charm. Or chatterbox. Or jukebox. Take your pick.

Raising his arms up with the sleeves pulled down away from his forearms and keeping the talons in his finger sheathed so they look like normal fingers, the spectacular Andrew Watson made his debut. Or rather Sensational did. White lenses with black frames did not move, remaining emotionless. That little aspect did not last long.

"Okay, guys. I don't think you thought this through. Did you prepare snacks? A soft futon? Maybe some warm or cold drinks? Seriously, you invite a foreign being from another dimension, I think they expect a little more hospitality than some damp, dirty park. And your dark cloaks are going to freak them the hell out along with the scary sticks."

A pause as his head tilted from left to right, moving and scanning all that was assembled. He did not have the patience for this. These people were probably in their 30s to 40s if not older, bought their magic sticks off Ebay, and have a bone to pick with the world because they were living in their mom's basement, divorced unhappily, or in an unhappy marriage or some variation of these situations. If they removed their cloaks and turned out to be happy and standup citizens, Andrew would have been too surprised for words, and too tired to speak on top of that. The words coming out were his brain were from fumes and loathing at the situation as he devised his tactics. Careful planning was now already in the making. All he had to do was keep talking, keep walking forward with his hands up, and not let anyone else get a word in edgewise.

"So I'm going to become your cult leader! We're going to revamp your image. Make sure this Destroyer has a nice and stable home environment. We'll be the cult she'll be proud of! That and you all sort of need someone to bail you out of this cop situation."

A shrug followed.

"So I call for a change in leadership."

His forearms tensed as the built-in spider spigots in his arms and wrists fired a strand of webbing each from his right and left arms. Their target? The silly little staff the head honcho was using to blow up cop cars. As soon as the silk escaped from the pressurized insides of his arms, the twin lines would travel faster than any arrow could travel, faster than any human could react. If attached to the stick of death and destruction, Andrew would simply wrap his hands around his silk lines and tug them back to his chest with the strength necessary to send the stick his way and into his waiting hands.

And after that? If he had the stick, the first thing he would do is point the wooden weapon at the cultists. Not so fun when someone had a gun trained on you, was it? Or magic stick in this case. He sure hoped they got the message that he was plenty ready to use the thing, assuming Andrew did not fumble and drop the thing.

Or had missed his shots and hit someone in the face and groin with his speeding webbing. That would be bad too.

Last Edit: Jul 4, 2022 8:21:22 GMT by Paperbag Fill

Katpride
Senior Member

Where's your sense of whimsy?

Posts: 655

Night Of The Red Moon Jul 4, 2022 21:25:37 GMT

Post by Katpride on Jul 4, 2022 21:25:37 GMT

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On cool, cloudy nights, there’s nothing quite as refreshing as drifting amid the clouds. Aquamarine closes the glowing voids that pass as her eyes and drifts in the darkness, listening to the buzz of the city below. To onlookers, she’s nothing more than another cloud, albeit a little more closely clustered than her vaporous brethren.

The sirens don’t alarm them, not at first. Sirens are common in the city, especially at night when people are just trying to get some shut-eye. Seems like every other night, sirens will roar outside their perpetually open windows. You get used to it.

The light, though, now that catches her attention. Her first thought is a concert gone wrong, which would be fun to watch if nothing else. She breaks away from the slow wind-drift motion of the other clouds and follows the police cars to the action.

Their mistake is very nearly realized too late, as some external force starts to pull on their loosely clustered atoms. Aqua scoots themself away before they can be caught up in the vortex, and snaps into a liquid form that’s a little less likely to get scattered and vacuumed into nothing.

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The watery form of Aquamarine swirls around the circle in a curious motion, dropping a light rain of mist over the heads of the chanters but not daring to breach within their enclosure. The water doesn’t do much, as it’s just water, but it might add a little ambiance to the whole “dark and spooky” thing they’ve got going on.

Oho, a hero! Aqua almost didn’t notice him walk up. Sound doesn’t travel exactly the same through water, so they have to mentally tweak that until they can hear his voice without it sounding like he’s speaking from the bottom of a well. Much better.

The water that composes her body is lightly tinged with blue, and it’s with the same unstoppable motion as a river that she separates from her orbit of the circle and snakes over to swirl around and behind the spidery hero. The water solidifies into an ice-sculpture rendition of her normal appearance, even her clothes rendered in icy blue. The only pops of color are the purple and pink bands around her right wrist, which are on display as she materializes, aiming to rest her hands on his shoulders as she brightly asks,

“Can I be your second in command?”

Lark | Spork | Adelyn | Venus

Dusty
Member

To see a Keeper is not an easy thing, especially one who does not wish to be seen.

Posts: 211

Night Of The Red Moon Jul 5, 2022 12:22:56 GMT

Post by Dusty on Jul 5, 2022 12:22:56 GMT

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As the Cultists chanted and chimed, their voices getting louder and louder - the form in the circle becoming more prevalent and a lot more visible. Now that there were eyes on the ground, they could see what was forming - a humanoid with horns coming out of their forehead. They started to take shape as the head priest smiled; then frowning as someone had come to interrupt their ritual. He would ignore the hero talking, the water falling from the sky - it was nearly finished! Nearly complete!

“You’re a fool if you think you can stop this now! Even with our downfalls, she comes no matter what now!”

He yelled, his staff being stolen from him - making him chuckle as it was pointed back at him. As Andrew pointed the staff back at the Priest, the magic would fizzle out and just… Die, pretty much. The priest laughed, before pointing a finger at the Spider-Hero - a beam of light appearing at his finger tip as he walked in front of his congregation and laughed!

As he did, the rest of the cultists did the same thing; pointing their fingers at Andrew - before the head priest spoke.

“...Do you know what a catalyst is, Spider?”

Before the group of cultists started firing beams of light at the hero - not as powerful as destroying cars, but deadly beams that would cut through branches and wood. It seemed there were four people shooting beams, and if the Spider-Hero had the reflexes; it shouldn’t be too hard to miss it.

While they focused on the Spider, the figure behind them started forming fully - their face being seen and they would fall onto their knees. As more wisps of energy entered their back, more of their form could be seen. They would slowly stand back up, wobbling on their legs while looking very confused.

More seconds passed as slowly it was revealed to be a woman, with spectral horns coming from her head. Her skin was covered in a hard carapace, her body and face looking incredibly demonic. Some parts of her body didn’t have carapace or any demonic tones to them. They just looked human, more importantly her face did. She would look around, trying to leave the circle - before a force field prevented her from doing so.

This… Woman, was the destroyer? She looked like a confused lost demon lady more than a destroyer.

Subject 16

The Painter

---

Agency Of Supernatural Acquisitions

Paperbag Fill
Member

Posts: 361

Night Of The Red Moon Jul 5, 2022 17:46:25 GMT

Post by Paperbag Fill on Jul 5, 2022 17:46:25 GMT

Sensational

"So 'stonished."

Andrew's eyes darted around. There was movement, vibrations through the air that were not caused by the magic or the men chanting. His shoulders stiffened as he pointed the staff forward. There! A mist was moving towards him! No, rather, a rush of water! Was this magic? His attempt to spin around and face whatever water magic or water demon they had summoned to fight him would shortly stop as a pair of ice cold hands found his shoulders not a moment later.

Now, his formidable exodermal skin and body provided him quite the resistance to the cold and heat. That and he was wearing a jacket and shirt on top of that. The sudden chill, however, found itself cutting through the clothing. Enough that the spooky appearance of a pair of hands finding his shoulders were accentuated to a point where he let out a good yelp.

"Whoa yeagh blarga!"

Not his most eloquent statement as his entire body jumped and skittered to the side, backpedaling a few feet away from the ice girl. His body shivered starting with his torso and arms, even lifting his heels off the ground for a second as his legs and feet shivered before settling back on the ground and glancing at the girl. This person was a girl, right? Figure and all being the most key evidence for his eyes and brain? What did it matter right now, there were cultists and a creature being summoned. Priorities, Andrew! His hands clutched the stick as it creaked slightly under the staring and immediately wielded the fancy piece of wood towards the stranger. A moment broke his almost caveman-like routine as Andrew took in her statement.

"Uh, yeah? Sure?!" Sensational coughed into one closed fist before straightening and setting his shoulders, "Of course! I mean, no one else is volunteering, so nice to meet you, trusty second-in-command!"

Was this person friend or foe? Well, whatever he might say, it would be much better to not antagonize her and having to fight on two fronts. With that in mind, he turned the stick away from the sudden interloper and back to the cultists. Speaking of fronts, was the head priest talking to them? Something about being too late to stop this? Where had he heard that before? Oh, right! That's what every bad guy said to him ever.

"Yeah, yeah. Now let's wrap this- Ohcomeon!"

His patented sixth sense began tapdancing on his skull and mind with new fervor as his eyes honed in on each and every finger began to heat up with visible heat! Sensational crouched his legs before leaping diagonally, trying to close the distance between the priests and himself while also dodging whatever it was! A flash of heat passed! Several in fact! The streaks of red traveled quickly over and past the side of him, with only one being close enough he could lamost feel it singing off his hairs through the fabric of his jacket! Lazers! Bad! Hot! Fast! Flashy! Small! Baby lazers!

You've got to be kidding me!

Alright, no more Mr. Friendly Neighborhood Sensational. Andrew bent his legs and placed one hand on the ground, almost akin to a sprinter's stance if his legs were not bent to look like he was playing leapfrog. Grass and dirt dug up as his shoes found the traction needed for this maneuver.

"You ever heard of a bat-alyst?!"

Not his finest witticism, but humor was not his strongest point especially when dealing with a life-and-death situation on his hands. Blood pressure built up and muscles coiled before all sprung loose and released raw kinetic power, sending him as a leaping blur straight for the priests! Well, one in particular as Andrew swung the staff back, like a baseball bat, while in midair and before landing as his arms let loose and went for the home run strike against the head cultist. Not enough to kill the man but certainly enough to knock him out if the blow connected! If not, it would certainly crack against the forcefield they had around that horned girl instead, and snap that stick into two worthless pieces of wood! Whatever length of the staff left in his hand would be tossed spinning at the head of the closest cultist to him. That would leave a nice bruise. Andrew smirked.

"Now you know!"

His lenses glanced inside the forcefield. A fraction of moment to get a better look at what he was dealing with. A demon, if he judged by the horns. As good a guess as any.

"Hang on! I'm gonna get you out of there!"

Why did he say that? Old habit, he figured as his neck and head turned side to side, left to right, and able to get a headcount of the cultists surrounding him. This was not the brightest idea, jumping straight into the middle of this mess. Well, at least they would not shoot him now, right? They weren't stupid enough to go weapons-free when they might hit each other, right?

Right?

Last Edit: Jul 5, 2022 20:04:35 GMT by Paperbag Fill

Katpride
Senior Member

Where's your sense of whimsy?

Posts: 655

Night Of The Red Moon Jul 5, 2022 20:26:54 GMT

Post by Katpride on Jul 5, 2022 20:26:54 GMT

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There are the faint sounds of ice cracking and the unmistakable crunch of snow as Aqua moves, clapping a hand around her stomach and doubling over with laughter. Yeagh blarga, where does he even come up with this stuff? She falls back onto the grass as the first laser fires, though it’s less of a dodge and more of a happy coincidence. Her laugh is free and unharried by the current circumstances, and it takes a moment before she manages to take a deep enough breath to collect herself long enough to throw a mocking salute in spider-boy’s direction.

“Hail and well met.” They wink. The newly crowned trusty second-in-command gives one final amused breath before dissolving back into water and getting to it.

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As the lasers are fired, branches fall from the trees. Aqua is there in the next moment, watery hands reaching out to brush against the debris. As they touch, the branches melt into water that joins their one-person floating current. They rush about the field, building their ammo, before turning bright-eyed attention to the destroyed police car. Ohhh, yes. That’ll do perfectly.

The blue-tinted water of the helpful presence sweeps over the demolished car, and it too joins the water swirling around her, doubling the size of her aquatic resources. A few of the officers shoot at her, but the bullets pass harmlessly through the water before being converted as well.

This accomplished, Aqua turns their newly formed river back to the battlefield, rushing through the ranks of masked figures. Whatever they touch gets added to the current, be that masks or clothing. They leave the cultists their dignity, but shirts are fair game when they’re trying to summon some poor lady in the middle of a public park. The rush of water may be enough to knock some of them off their feet, and if left in it long enough they may well start to drown.

Oh well, that’s not really her problem. She leaves the hero alone to do his work and sets down before the forcefield, one hand still raised to direct the rest of the water, the not-her but now-hers part of it, around the field, knocking people down and sweeping them up without care as she tests whether the forcefield will allow non-solid mass through. If it does, she’ll step through as casually as one might enter a grocery store.

“Heyyyyy there, miss Destroyer. What can I do for ya?”

Lark | Spork | Adelyn | Venus

Dusty
Member

To see a Keeper is not an easy thing, especially one who does not wish to be seen.

Posts: 211

Night Of The Red Moon Jul 5, 2022 21:03:22 GMT

Post by Dusty on Jul 5, 2022 21:03:22 GMT

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The cultists would blink at the speed of the two heroes (?) would move around, the head cultist bracing himself as the staff was swung - him moving his hand up to block it. In confusion, the Cultists stopped firing as their hoods fell down and showed all their faces. They blinked and waved their arms around as they were covered in water from Aqua moving. As he goes to block, there is a crack as the staff snaps in half and a yellow energy escapes the staff - and the cultist's hood falls. A plain faced man, really; but there was horror on his face as she stumbled out of the way and held his arm from the damage from being stuck. He stumbled to the ground, the other cultists shooting towards the forcefield. One poor cultist however gets brained by the stick, and falls to the ground - leaving three standing and firing towards the Spider-Hero and hitting the forcefield. Cracks started to form in it as they did and the head cultist waved his hands in distress!

“Stop! Stop! She’s not binded! She’ll-”

The cracks allowed Aqua to enter the field, and the demon lady just stared at her. In confusion really as she looked around her surroundings. Curiosity lined her face - lost and confused. It was a puzzling face. She looked at Aqua, blinking and speaking.

“Î̵̧ ̴̼̍d̶̤͐o̶̦͊ṉ̶͒'̶̺̔ṯ̷̕ ̷̺͝k̷̫̍n̸̙͝õ̴ͅw̷̘̍?̶̙̐”

She answered honestly, blinking at all the insanity happening. The language she spoke felt… Overlaid with another, barely english and barely understandable. She would just look at the cracks and ran her hand over it.The girl didn’t understand. The Cultists stopped firin, stepping back scared of the girl in the field. After a few moments, her fist punched the field and it shattered with explosive pressure. It swept out, the field shattering like glass as the head cultist looked terrified now.

“SHE’LL DESTROY US ALL! YOU FOOLS!”

The girl stepped out, blinking as energy swarmed around her. As she stepped out, her form would fade - revealing a normal girl with horns. No carapace, no demonic look apart from her crooked horns coming from her head. Just an average girl who blinked and scratched her head.

“...Nah? Why?”

She asked very simply, staring at everyone around her as all the cultists aimed their beams at her - but not firing. They were scared. While this girl just looked utterly lost.

“Where I?”

Subject 16

The Painter

---

Agency Of Supernatural Acquisitions

Paperbag Fill
Member

Posts: 361

Night Of The Red Moon Jul 5, 2022 22:26:27 GMT

Post by Paperbag Fill on Jul 5, 2022 22:26:27 GMT

Sensational

"So 'stonished."

With the stick gone and no time for fire back at the cultists currently deciding it was time to be weapons-free, Andrew did what any reasonable wallcrawler would do.

Crawl.

Crawl like his life depended on it (which it did) as his limbs grasped and scrambled up the forcefield as lasers struck where he had been not moments before. His senses felt a rush of air and vibration below him. Water. He had dodged a certain water current traveling the group's way moments before before looking down in confirmation. Waves crashed and swallowed cultists, forcing them to fall over and be rendered useless in the pursuit against, well, himself Sensational. What a weird water phenomenon, he would think if Andrew didn't already suspect who was behind it. Well, he supposed he would have to give his second-in-command a raise for the assist. Maybe a milkshake? A burger?

Sitting atop the forcefield, Andrew readied to start firing webbing back. With all these cultists too busy with the waterworks or fearing to hit the forcefield, he could make his shots and make them count. This all could be wrapped up within a minute at most. That was before his eyes widened as he felt a sense of dread wash over him. He looked down, noticing that the field was still under him so why was he-?

"Whoa!"

A gasp escaped his lips as he cursed himself for not listening to his other senses more often. Still, as the field shattered and became akin to glass shards dissipating away, the acrobatic arachnid landed on his feet, crouching his legs as both hands also struck the ground and remained there. The top of his fingertips and balls and toes of his feet kept him balanced as he landed next to the water girl and the demon, destroyer . . . female? Looks like she had a question too.

"Prospect Park. Somewhere in Long Meadows, I think. I'd show you around, but, if you'd just give me one second . . . "

Leaping over the two females of their merry band of misfits, Sensational pirouetted in mid air, spinning like a trained ballerina as he fired webbing towards the injured head cultist. With the man on the ground and a hurt arm, Andrew doubted the man could make a reasonable stand on top of being simply too slow to react for such rapid silk lines heading his way. A couple nets for the torso to keep the man wrapped up and ready for the police with one last touch being a wad of webbing covering the man's mouth, sealing him from issuing any more orders to his men. That was the plan, anyway. Even if the man broke free or perhaps stopped the webbing, it would just make Andrew switch strategies and try and clock the man across the head.

Landing and completing his arc, Sensational faced towards the other cultists on both feet, impacting the ground with the balls of his feet and remaining on them while keeping his arms spread away from his body yet bent and ready to move his upper limbs at a moments notice. His lenses gazed up at the men, emotionless and cold. While his attitude might have offset this usually, not such mirth could be found this time.

"Your little lightshows can't hurt any of us. We can and will beat you guys to a pulp if you don't cooperate."

Leaning forward slightly, his pose took on a more predatory stance. His eyes flickered from each individual cultist, but he could easily keep each of them in his view. A benefit of having the equivalent of eight spider eyes built into your human eyes. He could clock each and every person in his vision due to having a wider view, observe stimuli with perfect clarity during night or day at speeds no one else could even detect, and intake and process easily the multiple angles and viewpoints he saw. That was also ignoring the fact he would have a certain timeframe of being alerted to whoever would pull the trigger before they even decided to do it.

Spinnerets at the ready, Andrew pressed forward on the advantage. His eyes narrowed in on them.

"If you do work with us and the police, the worst you'll get is a couple months or community service."

A bluff. One he hoped they would buy. He had no real sway with the police nor did he have a clue as to what punishment these cult followers would receive. One or two people on the inside did not change the fact they had to do their jobs at the end of the day. Still, good thing the mask came in handy for situations like this.

"Don't look at your boss. He won't save you. He can't save you," Sensational made sure to note for all of them. It was true. Nothing would save them unless they simply stopped.

Besides, why should he fight them all when these maniacs can stand down themselves? It was easier, and he'd get to go home faster after sorting the demon girl's issue of getting back home. Still, icing on the cake wouldn't hurt in this little exchange.

"Only you can save yourselves. So do yourselves, and us, a favor and get down on the ground with your hands behind your head."

Last Edit: Jul 6, 2022 2:47:16 GMT by Paperbag Fill

Katpride
Senior Member

Where's your sense of whimsy?

Posts: 655

Night Of The Red Moon Jul 6, 2022 1:12:19 GMT

Post by Katpride on Jul 6, 2022 1:12:19 GMT

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The inside of the force field is… not that different from the outside, except that the demon woman is in here and that makes it much more interesting. Aquamarine’s aqueous form shudders all over as the woman’s jumbled speech reaches her ears, made even more delightful by the frightened shout of the guy-with-a-staff who is now the guy-without-a-staff.

Aqua follows a step behind, completely entranced by the woman who is, seemingly, from some other realm. Oh, if this is some kind of elaborate prank they’re going to be so upset. It’d be a hell of a publicity stunt, so they wouldn’t be that mad, but they’d still be miffed.

“New York, Earth, United States, the land of the living,” she offers, tacked on after spider-guy’s very specific answer. She has a feeling this demon gal isn’t gonna know what ‘Prospect Park’ is.

“Where’d you come from?” They don’t pay any mind to the spider as he goes after the cultists again, except to bring the current of water down in an almost absent motion, aiming to catch the non-lead people up in the river and spin them around in a whirlpool to keep them disoriented. Somewhere around this time, their watery form freezes over, almost a mimicry of the demon’s transformation, and they stand there in their ice-sculpture form, one hand still held up and spinning around at the same rate as the water under their command.

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Maybe after things have settled down she’ll go human again, but for now it’s safer not to. Ice doesn’t bleed, and under her instruction it doesn’t melt, though shattering is uniquely unpleasant.

After a moment, Aqua releases the whirlpool, letting anyone who got caught in it drop heavily to the ground. That shouldn’t have been enough to kill them, probably. Just knock 'em around a little. Maybe it’ll make them a little more willing to cooperate. Who knows?

“Say, you hungry? I could go for a bite.” She mentions, casual and relaxed as she steps up beside the demon and tilts her head at her. Truthfully, she doesn’t feel much external or internal input in this state, but all this exercising her powers is sure to have worked up her appetite when she can feel it again.

The water manipulator glances thoughtfully at their river, which has diminished in size from being splashed around and soaking through clothing and all that. Their shoes are somewhere in there, they think. Or maybe scattered around the area, but still within range. Hopefully. They set the river on an orbit of the area, so that the coppers don’t get any bright ideas about getting involved before they clear out.

Lark | Spork | Adelyn | Venus

Dusty
Member

To see a Keeper is not an easy thing, especially one who does not wish to be seen.

Posts: 211

Night Of The Red Moon Jul 6, 2022 17:06:09 GMT

Post by Dusty on Jul 6, 2022 17:06:09 GMT

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“Um. Sure?”

The lady answered as she watched the Cultists all yelling and getting strung up - stuck to the ground and whipped around the area. They bumped and smashed into one another, the head priest moving out of the way as the webs were shot out. He would roll and gasp and wheeze, before stepping back up and whipping his hand out.

“Destroyer! Destroy and purge this world, like the demon you-”

“Nah. Don’t wanna. Not demon.”

She replied quite simply, looking at the head cultist who looked like his life’s work went down the drain. Based on what was happening, yeah - it was. Did he summon the wrong thing? Was he lied to?! He would grit his teeth, raising his hand and firing a beam towards the woman; fring a beam towards her in blinding speed. It would whip past the Spider, and Aqua saw it hit the girl straight on the head.

She leaned her head back from the force of the beam, stepping back a little bit before raising her head back to look back at him. Stunned, he just flopped onto the ground and started to crawl away - scampering back as the girl just walked towards him; looking incredibly annoyed by the attack. She would pick him up with ease, looking at him as her horns vanished from her head - the girl’s heterochromic eyes looking into his as she just raised a finger on her lips.

“Shh. Shh. Sleep now.”

“Sleep-?”

CRACK.

Out of no where, she headbutts him straight on - causing him to immediately lose consciousness as the now screaming cultists were tied up and being whipped around a whirlpool stared in horror. She turned to them, and pointed at the Spider-Hero and nodded.

“Listen to Spider. You did bad. Took me from home.”

She said simply as she walked back over to Aqua, all resistance from the cultists being literally died down by the girls threatening tone. She would rub her head, looking for an answer to her question.

“Me? From Tree. Big tree, middle of water. Very pretty.”

She answered, looking over at the subdued cultists before looking around. The lights and moonlight caught her attention now. She looked in bewilderment and interest, curious. She was new to a world that wasn’t really hers. So it was making her wanna walk off. But she didn’t want to walk around without friends. Not yet anyway.

“Me… The Keeper. Of Tree. Keeper.”

She replied after a while, looking at the two of them thoughtfully and just rubbing her head. Still confused on why she was here but a bit thankful these morons didn’t bind her to anything she didn’t want to do.

Subject 16

The Painter

---

Agency Of Supernatural Acquisitions

Paperbag Fill
Member

Posts: 361

Night Of The Red Moon Jul 7, 2022 23:23:00 GMT

Post by Paperbag Fill on Jul 7, 2022 23:23:00 GMT

Sensational

"So 'stonished."

Andrew's shoulders, which had been tense as he steadied himself for potential conflict, flinched slightly back as his eyes gazed through his mask's lenses. The sudden water whirl--would that be apt to say?--had taken him slightly by surprised. Not his senses of course, but he suspected the men planned a magic maneuver to overtake him rather than expect any sort of assistance. A smirk found his face as his arms went to work, aiming at the men and webbing them up.

It seems the situation was well in hand. Especially since their guest from another world, realm, or similarly otherwise had taken upon herself to take care of the head jerk that had planned this little group gathering. Andrew winced, closing on eye as he slightly raised an arm out of nothing more than instinct at the sudden crack of the horned girl's headbutt on their mutual enemy. Still, the more he thought about it, the more it felt good to not have to do something like this alone. Maybe this might be a more regular thing. After all, nobody got hurt. And New York was certainly less volatile than Millennium City by a longshot. No supervillains of the week over here at least.

Standing a little straighter, although his legs were slightly bent still out of habit, Andrew glanced over his shoulder as he gave a wave over to the demon (not demon?) girl and the talking ice sculpture, "Uh, how about I foot the bill for eating out? Considering my fantastic second-in-command did a lot of the heavy lifting here, and I'd feel awful not returning a favor."

What? He knew when someone did most of the work here. Although, he had never expected someone with water-based abilities would come to his aid. Or anyone at all. Not like there were tons of people flying about between these skyscrapers. Still, never leave a favor unrepaid, right? Firing the last few globs of webbing needed to wrap these cultists up neatly, the wallcrawling wonder slipped on a pair of his costume's gloves before heading over to the other two of this terrific team-up.

Dusting his hands off against one another, Andrew smiled under the mask, "Y'know, if more people listened to me, less people would be stolen from their homes. Including Keepers of Trees."

Raising his hand up, the spider-hero extended a fist towards the Keeper of Trees and the Aqua Girl. No hard feelings if it was not reciprocated.

"Team fist bump. We all did great. But, uh . . . "

Mimicking the Keeper girl, Andrew rubbed the back of his head with his other hand.

"How are we going to get you home? he gestured briefly to the cultists, "I don't think we can trust these idiots to get you back. You know what? Let's get you something to eat first and then we'll . . . "

Almost completing a full circle both times, his entire body and shoulders shifted from left to right while his head followed suit scanning left and right with wide eyes before settling back on looking to the group with closed eyes. He noticed the water barrier alright, but that was not the concern. It was what was past the barrier.

"Riiiight. Cops," he muttered to himself, almost tempted to rub the temples of his head if it wouldn't have messed up his mask, "They'll have questions."

No way he wanted to freak their guest out quite yet. Or ever. Today had to have been especially stressful for their new friend. He could carry the both of his new teammates out of this area, quickly too, but his mouth would keep quiet on that option unless it proved to be the only one. His gaze settled on the pair.

"Any ideas that don't involve us fighting our way out? I'm open to suggestions here."

Katpride
Senior Member

Where's your sense of whimsy?

Posts: 655

Night Of The Red Moon Jul 8, 2022 7:32:13 GMT

Post by Katpride on Jul 8, 2022 7:32:13 GMT

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“Well, if you insist. Don’t have a lot of… liquid assets on me, right now,” Aquamarine grins brightly, very pleased with their wordplay as they accept spider-guy’s offer. They keep one hand swirling the river around, but with their free hand they enthusiastically meet his proffered fistbump. Their hands are… cold as ice. Badum tish.

With the last of the cultists all nicely webbed up and out of the way, Aqua turns her perimeter-river into a nice watery wall between them and the cops. As an afterthought, she turns glowing eyes to the downed cultists, some of whom are still drenched through. With a gesture, the excess water rises from their clothing, collecting in the air above them. She sorts through the droplets, separating out a few here and there to draw back towards herself, but the rest join the wall.

“Leave it to the second-in-command!” They say, delighted, as they push both of their hands forward in a sudden movement. The wall of water rushes forward, splashing over the gathered officers. With a snap of their fingers, Aqua freezes the water, and with it, the people within.

“I think I should get a promotion,” she mentions, some of the tension in her shoulders dropping as she releases her control over the ice for now. She’ll unfreeze them once they’re clear. Maybe. If she’s feeling generous. “Or some really good gyro.”

The droplets they’d separated earlier drift towards them as they crook their fingers, and they brush their hand through the collected water. Two tennis shoes drop to the ground, and they wiggle bare icy toes against the damp grass.

“Know any good places nearby, spider-boy?” As she speaks, the ice composing her form seems to dissolve, or melt, or condense in some way, and by the end of her sentence she’s back in plain old human form again. She toes her shoes back on, tapping her feet against the ground to situate the sneakers.

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Woah boy, there’s the tiredness. It hits them like a wave, and they rock a little on their heels, shaking their head and reeling for a moment. It always seems like such a good idea to go all out when they’re water and don’t have to deal with the consequences, and it’s so difficult to remember that they’re still human underneath it all. Bluuuuh.

“C’mon, Ms. Keeper, let’s get you out of here before things have the chance to go off the rails again. Things love going off the rails, especially around here,” she rambles, holding a hand to her head and squinting in the dim light. “Except trains, trains love staying on the rails.”

Where were they going with this? Oh yeah. “Oh yeah, the name’s Aqua. By the way. She/they.” They gesture to the bracelets around their wrist, the pink and purple bands with indented lettering. Then they shrug, and start to lead the way through the frozen cops.

Lark | Spork | Adelyn | Venus

Dusty
Member

To see a Keeper is not an easy thing, especially one who does not wish to be seen.

Posts: 211

Night Of The Red Moon Jul 10, 2022 19:29:56 GMT

Post by Dusty on Jul 10, 2022 19:29:56 GMT

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“Mhm.”

Keeper would do the fist bump, before thinking deeply for a moment. She would look around, uncaring about the officers appearing. A troubled look on her face, it was clear as day. She would look around, before just squatting and looking at the circle that summoned her.

It was imperfect, meaning that it may have caused more than her to be summoned. She would rub her chin, waving off the spider and looking at Aqua. She would sigh, before getting back up and just shaking her head.

“No getting home. Ritual was flawed. Opened many pockets, not just this one - meaning more spirits will escape eventually. Not good. Bad trouble.”

She explained before dusting herself off. Something she’d have to deal with now, which made her head hurt a little bit. Her duty list went from ‘Make sure no Yokai left the tree’ to ‘Make sure no Yokai left the tree AND put those that have now back.’ It would stress her out a bit as her right eye glowed a dim red. She’d look around to confirm her suspicions and yes - she could see it. Her troubled look went to a stressed out one before she sighed.

As the officers were stopped, she looked at the two and just shook her head. The girl would shrug before patting her chest.

“Am hungry. Will deal with it later. Might just be helpful spirits that leave, might be a hundred Kappa. Or Tengu. Might fight for turf but will stop them eventually. Annoying.”

She explained simply, before putting her thumbs up. While she was stressed that she has work ahead of her in a world she didn’t know, it didn’t matter right now. She had time to get familiar with the area. And with the people. Hopefully there were no demons around, make problems worse. Demons, Yokai - bad mix.

There wasn’t any, right?

Right?

“Lead way. Keeper will follow.”

Subject 16

The Painter

---

Agency Of Supernatural Acquisitions

Paperbag Fill
Member

Posts: 361

Night Of The Red Moon Jul 14, 2022 2:45:15 GMT

Post by Paperbag Fill on Jul 14, 2022 2:45:15 GMT

Sensational

"So 'stonished."

Okay. To be quite forthright and honest here, Andrew had to blink a few times at what he had just saw. Then, the young man had to spend a minute rubbing one arm before scratching and rubbing the back of his head as he simply listened. Because there was no way he at all expected the cops to be up to their chests in frozen solid ice. Nor did he quite think this portal business would get so much more complicated. Multiple rifts had torn through reality and might be spilling over new creatures?

Well, wasn't that wonderful? And here he thought he could take the night off.

His arms fell to his sides as his head turned and began looking over the frozen officers, "Yeah, water girl. I know a few places."

After all, every patrol route needed somewhere one could stop at and grab a snack or quick lunch. Speaking of lunches, Keeper would be in for a treat if she so chose to grab a gyro. Especially since it seems she would be more friendly of everyone who ever decided to cross a portal, and, besides, Andrew figured his second-in-command was a gyro aficionado to help guide Keeper through the turmoil and pitfalls of gyro selection.

He smacked his lips once before blowing out a heavy sigh. Aqua, was it? She would need to unfreeze these officers once they were out. Frostbite or numb limbs were nothing to scoff at.

"Let's go. Come on," he fired a web-line, snagging his backpack from a trove of trees at a distance, before waving the two to follow him, "We gotta get going if we want to eat."

A single finger quickly pointed to Aqua, turning his body and head towards her to do so, as he took a few steps forward and keep walking, the frozen grass crunching under his feet.

"Just make sure to unfreeze them once we get far enough. Cool?"

A few seconds passed before a grimace found itself under his mask. That was a bit of a pun, wasn't it? And unintentional at that. He inwardly groaned, hiding it under the mask and from his two tagalongs, before finally allowing his shoulders to droop a little. Heroes were supposed to be symbols of strength, in whatever way they could. Right now, he doubted the two would notice the lack of pep in his step or the forced approximation of it as his hands slid into his pockets and he walked with his back straight, retaining a small shadow of his casualness and cocky swagger. It broke into the occasional glance and apology to the officers as he walked past them.

The door bell tingled, singling new customers, before the masked vigilante waved his hand before speaking with the receptionist. After a few moments, in the mostly empty diner, the three would find themselves seated at a table booth. After a few moments, the three would each find themselves receiving a menu.

Andrew snapped one open before setting it on the table, tapping on the page that would have a selection of gyros, before settling back into his corner of the booth and cozying up, zipping up his jacket and crossing his arms as his head began to tilt off. No way he was ordering something. Stingy on his part, but he could grab a couple snacks once he headed home.

Blinking under the mask a few times, Andrew simply asked for cold water before settling back on the group, scratching the top front of his nose a little.

"I got this one covered. Order what you want. Uh, Keeper, if you got any questions about how to order or about the food, ask Aqua. They're the food aficionado," Andrew let that remark slip out easily enough.

Lies only hurt if they were meant to hurt. This was deflection, one that may or may not even prove true. Still, it was a deflection of responsibility as he sat in his corner, chewing on his tongue as his mind simply flipped over what had transpired earlier in the night, similar to how his eyes flipped to each person sat before him. Did he even bother introduce himself to the two before? He probably should now, although his body barely moved, lying in the corner, as his head lifted up and back, lying confidently against the corner. His tone conveyed only a slightly sarcastic yet more so amusement in his voice.

"I'm, uh, Spider-Boy. I'm really creepy and eat flies all the time. My favorite snack. I've got fangs and mandibles and eight eyes under my mask. Really ugly mess."

Introductions were nice. They helped people identify with you, see you as more human. His attention briefly turned away from them as he tapped one hands on the table while his other began fiddling with his backpack, trying to grab ahold of a few items like wallet, phone, and one other thing, before snapping his attention back to them.

Last Edit: Jul 14, 2022 2:47:20 GMT by Paperbag Fill

Katpride
Senior Member

Where's your sense of whimsy?

Posts: 655

Night Of The Red Moon Jul 23, 2022 5:29:49 GMT

Post by Katpride on Jul 23, 2022 5:29:49 GMT

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Aqua follows behind the spidery dude, sticking her hands in her pockets and adopting a nonchalant demeanor as they stroll through the freshly frozen ranks of officers. She isn’t sure how she feels about all the spirits apparently unleashed on the world, but she really couldn’t care less about how these guys get out of their icy entrapments, and as such she largely ignores the offended words and demands thrown her way. A cool glance falls across a particularly angry man with icicles in his hair, and with a hidden gesture the ice creeps higher up his neck and over his mouth.

They smile and skip forward a little to walk alongside mr. spider; the man, the myth, the person they’ve never heard of before today. His scolding words are met with a slight downturn of their smile. They sigh, but shoot him two fingerguns and concede, “Icy.”

The water manipulator doesn’t deign to mention that ‘far enough’ would be much further than her range would allow, and she stays quiet for a moment as she reaches out for the ice with the sense-feeling she can never quite put words to. As they head up the street and away from the park, just as she can feel her grip slipping away, she whistles low under her breath and sublimates the ice, turning it right from ice to vapor. Steam, to be exact, which’ll be real fun for all those frozen toesies and fingies.

Might even be hot enough to burn. Extra fun. Well, they certainly aren’t frozen anymore. And they won’t be in any shape to pursue their merry little band, so it’s a win-win all around.

Win-win-win, because now she can get some sorely needed food. Freeing demon-ladies really works up a gal’s hunger levels. She nudges Ms. Keeper as they walk into the restaurant, grinning as she offers, “If you need someone to help round up all those Kappa-cabanas and Ten-whatevers, I’m free this weekend.”

Hey, they’ve got a healthy social life. Can’t be saving the world and acting all goodie-two-shoes every day, that would get pretty old pretty quick. They slide into the booth across from the spider and glance through the menu, a wry smile briefly sliding onto their face. “Are you calling me a foodie?”

She lets that sit for a second, curious to see if he’ll scramble to deny it or not, before finishing with, “-because that’s right on the mark, but also I’m totally demoting you to third place now. Not because of the mandibles, but out of pity for those poor flies.”

Gotta keep up with the ongoing rankings. They turn to the new second, waving her over to look at the menu. Or maybe just the pictures? They aren’t sure if the Keeper can read English or not. “Gyro’s really good, it’s uh… spiced meat and stuff in pita bread.”

When the waiter comes over to take their order, she points at an item on the menu at random, looking down to see that she’s selected… “I’ll take two Super Gyros, and a Pepsi.”

They could use the caffeine, even if others might not necessarily agree with that statement.

Lark | Spork | Adelyn | Venus