New Vindicators Academy of Europe #30: Allegory of Prudence (M&M 2E - IC)

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Flynnarrel
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #29: The Son of Man (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Flynnarrel »

Fluxx shifts one of his ear canals to Drifter's bracelet so he can listen to their progress.

"Nozing else from me." If no one else speaks up he'll recommend they go.
"Something pithy this way comes."
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Tattooedman
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #29: The Son of Man (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Tattooedman »

Greystone:
[Jack Rexroth]
HP: 1
LP: 2

Jack moved next to the Drifter while the two Martins talked. "Exactly how much do you trust this other-Martin to behave himself? We've already seen he's wound up tighter than a cheap watch, and let's be honest - this kind of stuff tends to be all kinds of stressful. He's bound to have....problems." Jack said quietly, Martin might have a great nose but his hearing was normal. "Don't hesitate to call for the back up team is all I'm saying."
Jabroniville wrote: Tue Jul 13, 2021 11:45 pm
LOl- "The Tattooed Man"? What kind of ABSOLUTE DILDO would refer to himself as "The Tattooed Man" :P!?!
Shock
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #29: The Son of Man (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Shock »

Violet Lear (on the phone)
HP: 4


"Of course I trust you." Violet felt her anxiety melting. "I hope you get here soon."
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #29: The Son of Man (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Shock »

Violet Lear (wreck room)
HP: 4


"I'm ready." Violet made sure the Martin bracelet was touching none of her skin. Not that she didn't trust him. It was just icky.
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #26 - The Persistence of Memory (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by McGuffin »

Ursa
HP: 1
Cnd: Fine


Otso idly fiddled with the Martin-bracelet, wondering whether they'd ever be able to trust more conventional communication methods again with the enemies they were making. He shook his head when the call for 'any more questions' came. He was as ready as he was gonna be.
Otso Karell/Ursa, student at the New Vindicators Academy Europe.
Kriv of Clan Myastan, Dragonborn Noble Paladin in On the Road.
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #29: The Son of Man (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Gilliam »

Tamati "Taheka" Stevens
HP: 2
Condition: Normal

Tamati didn't have anything to ask so just stayed quiet wondering if there was anything else like ice that his powers could also move, not to say he wasn't paying attention to the conversation he just had something else on his mind.
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #29: The Son of Man (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Michuru »

Previously...
For months, the New Vindicators had known of a clandestine prison for the worst criminals: Pandora. Ultimately, Jack Rexroth infiltrated Pandora and learned that it was a scheme orchestrated by Argus, a killer robot built by another dimension's version of one of their classmates. Banding together with their counterparts in two other dimensions, they succeeded at stopping Argus' world-destroying forces, the Armada--albeit at a cost: one of the dimensions was sacrificed to temporally trap the Elpis.

Before crashing Oubliette-731, some teleporters native to that world worked to evacuate their school, as well as the family of the students and faculty. With whatever time they had left, they teleported to theTimes Square of their world and opened a doorway to evacuate as many civilians as they could. Thousands of people migrated from New York of 2026 to Vienna of 2009, creating a refugee crisis. While the world is becoming more tolerant of Neo-Sapiens following the Vindicators defeat of the Aeolian Nation in Chicago, many balk at the thought of these refugees from another world.

Among those now stranded in this world are Abe Chobanian and Lucia Ramos. Abe was one of the four responsible for the migrant crisis the city now faces, employing his ability to distort spacial topography--a gift he inherited from his mother, Gabrielle Chobanian (neé Farouk), who did not return from their home dimension prior to its collapse. Before the Armada's arrival on their world, Lucia was struggling with depression in the aftermath of her best friend's murder. Suffering PTSD following the destruction of her home world, Lucia stood up to some anti-refugee terrorists and was slain... only to return to life.

Another refugee, Tamati Stevens, hails from a different dimension--one that is still in existence, but again separate from this world. He now aims to return to his home world where, unbeknownst to him and his new friends, one of their own presently resides: Gaspar Zorrilla e Higueras.

One of Gaspar's closest friends is currently dealing with his own problems. Though he came out of the war with the Armada armed with an mp3 player full of music from other dimensions, Lex Murphy also lost three months of time. Upon his return to his native dimension, he discovered his family extended: his grandson from another timeline, along with said grandson's estranged girlfriend and son, have taken up residence in this world, as has his own girlfriend's daughter from another parallel timeline. These young people were accepted into his family by his father, much to the chagrin of Lex's mother and brother. He soon found out, thanks to the machinations of Puck, that his mother was a mole acting on behalf of Crux, a terrorist group devoted to capturing and sterilizing Neo-Sapiens. His brother, meanwhile, revealed that despite appearances, he does not hate Neo-Sapiens, but envies them:  the only thing Stephen Murphy yearns more than super-powers is his father's love. Lex attempted to dissuade the younger Murphy, saying of powers, "They make you stupid because you got a goddamn hammer, and suddenly every problem in the world is a nail waiting for its comeuppance."

One such hammer on the loose is Black Ice, a member of the Armada left on this world. An older, ruthless version of the school's own Violet Lear, Black Ice inexplicably possesses some sort of teleportation ability. Though she disappeared from the heroes' radar after murdering Violet's best friend, Eve, she recently resurfaced to execute a French politician on live television.

Also in the wind is Domingo, a Nephilim first encountered in Romania when Jack helped Vlad and Herta attack their adopted father. In the scuffle, they met the Spaniard, who recognized Iosef, another Nephilim, as his brother. Saying he was too small to go with him, he asked them to protect the young boy until he was bigger. Martin encountered Domingo next while investigating the disappearance of Buddy and Rusty Kiriakis' father--also a Nephilim. The trail led to Domingo's butcher shop where Martin discovered Domingo's power grants him the abilities of his siblings after consuming their flesh. Domingo has been murdering Nephilim and turning them into jerky.

On an arcane front, several players are gathering power. Though the teens were able to rescue a classmate, Randy O'Shae, from his father, Robor is obsessed with becoming a god and employs a ritual to increase his power--one that requires him to sacrifice a blood relative each time he performs it. With only Randy and his brother Kenny still alive, Robor will rest at nothing to locate them.

They were aided in this by the arrival of the Drifter, a young woman who is dragged through time and space by a mysterious artifact known as the Astrolabe. When first met, the Drifter took a small group of heroes to Oubliette-1127, where Neo-Sapiens are bred into noble families creating imperial houses of super-powered rulers. Normally, her arrival heralds her taking the teens to a world to save it; this time, she has brought one to save this world: another Martin Curie, one devoid of our Martin's sense of humanity, to help stop Reynard.

Reynard, the villain who has united France's criminal world under him in the wake of Durendal's downfall, has struck at a politician. Security footage shows him working with a twin of Tatjana, Martin's girlfriend. Martin discovered that this is a clone of Tatjana engineered by his late mother and liberated from one of her secret labs in France. Knowing Reynard has her, Martin dreads what other of his mother's creations the man may possess...
NVAE Setting - VP: 5
Michuru
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #29: The Son of Man (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Michuru »

ALPHA (Fluxx, Greystone, Imago, Shiver; NPCs: Fach, Magnitude)
Fluxx navigated the floor of his mother's lab with inexplicable familiarity. He had never been here before, but he knew his way around. It was unnerving. Was it some sort of remnant of having bonded briefly with Entier or just from knowing how the entity operated? His eidetic memory certainly would have told him where she kept things--how she liked things ordered--but this was something else... It was like a crippling sense of deja vu.

"What's in this?" Magnitude asked, knocking on a large, glass cylinder. Inside was nothing but fluid. Fluid, and some dangling components: wires and tubes and a breathing apparatus that swayed lazily in the thick compound. It was some sort of status chamber those who could see realized... and it was one of many...

"Someone was in there," Fach said.

Fluxx wanted to correct her. "Someone was grown in there." His mother had suggested possibly cloning Tatjana--"fixing her", as she had suggested. Martin Morel had offered to alter her as well: redheads were more susceptible to cancer, he had said; he could improve her metabolism and help her be at her ideal weight... Looking at the security footage from the attack at Le Cordon Bleu, the Tatjana clone had black hair. The Other Martin had gotten his ideas from his mother, no doubt, and Entire had likely changed the clone's hair colour to improve her.

Clones. Looking at the tanks, he knew his mother had manufactured more than one copy of his girlfriend. These tanks were empty. Reynard had more than one. It was no information he quickly shared with the other teams. There was a possibility Reynard commanded an army of Fach clones and everyone needed to be prepared.

"Martin," Fach said, snapping him back to reality. She was standing at a computer, looking down at the screen. "Any chance you know your mother's password?"

He did not. His mother was far from stupid. Her password wasn't about to be the title of a book he'd spot on a shelf above the monitor. It was more likely to be "h$Y836-G94EEt^-F$88Fjok" than it was "RAMSES". Still, she was a single entity divided among multiple bodies who lacked a hive mind. There had to be a way of sharing access across her forms. Fluxx scanned the desk and spotted the biometic scanner.

Entier didn't have fingerprints, but she did have an ability and sensibilities that he shared. He looked up into a mirror, saw the symbol on his uniform, and made his glove vanish to reveal bare skin. He turned his hand over and made his own fingerprints vanish. In their place was a single symbol--one both he and his mother regarded highly. It was a gamble, but he pressed that symbol onto the scanner and watched as the computer screen changed to his mother's desktop.

Entier was organized. Her projects were organized into one large file with several subfolders. Thinking like his mother, it was easy to navigate her system. His eyes swam over project names--some he recognized, like the engines she had developed for Laputa--both those that kept the city aloft and those that powered the small aircraft they employed--or the containment suit Felsic still employed to spare her from being nude every time she reverted back from her lava form.

Fluxx took a flash drive out of his side and inserted it. As her files were copied, he opened a file on cloning, only two see five separate branches: "Avery", "Eugene", "Martin", "Seth", and "Tatjana".  Whomever Avery, Eugene, and Seth were would have to wait. Martin opened the file on Tatjana.

He quickly read his mother's notes on the attempt to clone Tatjana. It was her fifth time cloning a human and she seemed confident in her process. She was planning to make a perfect version of Tatjana--one that could be used to control Captain Nelson, on behalf of Erudite. More troublesome, it was suggested that, if need be, Laputa could dispose of the real Tatjana and use a clone to infiltrate the school.

Entier had made five clones, but had never awoken them, citing Martin's attachment to the original. It didn't seem as though these had been made for him, but rather for Laputa's purposes. Further, it seemed his mother was reluctant to deploy them out of her love for him. "The existence of the clones may upset Martin. If their appearance cannot be modified, termination may be required."

Fluxx moved to update the other teams that there were five clones in total when Tatjana opened another file. A video began to play.

"Joyeux anniversaire
Heureux anniversaire
Tous nos vœux sont sincères
Pour ton anniversaire
Tes amis aujourd’hui
Se sont tous réunis
Ton bonheur on l’espère
Pour ton anniversaire!"

Fluxx watched as he blew out the candles on his cake. All eighteen of them. He stood in front of his mother's computer, watching moments from a life he had never lived. He had copied the files--he could have looked at them later--but here and now, with the answers in front of him, he was enchanted. He opened the next file and watched his own autopsy.

Martin Curie was dead.

Martin Curie was a Neo-Sapien who had been adopted by Entier. She had split herself into other entities--Jeanette, Basil, and Elle--in an attempt to simulate a normal family for the boy. They lived in the south of France, in a small village. Word got out about what the Curies actually were and a mob came to the lab. They attacked it. Martin died. Entier escaped, but refused to give up on the young man.

Entier cloned him. She cloned Martin and in an effort to protect him, she modified him to give him abilities similar to her own.

"I don't think you understand what you're asking," said the man with the Scottish accent in the last video. "He'll have no memories of his own."

"Zey'll be 'is memories," Entier said softly, standing beside a tank housing Martin--maybe a year younger than he was now. Fluxx looked to the time stamp. This was recorded last August--a month before he arrived at the New Vindicators Academy. "Just not zis version of 'im. Martin deserves a chance at 'appiness. Go into my mind and give 'im ze memories I 'ave of 'im. It should simulate a life--a 'istory for 'im."

Fluxx tried to think of an early memory that was his and his alone--a time when he played with friends or was by himself. Every memory from his early years involved his mother, father, or sister. They were borrowed from them--downloaded into his subconscious. If the original Martin had any memories of his biological family, they were lost to him in this form.

The video cut away and was replaced by Jeanette Curie, staring in the camera, hours after the last one. "'ello, Martin," she said. "I 'ope you never see zis. I 'ope you never 'ave to find out what I did. I am so very, very sorry for failing you as a parent--for not being able to protect you as I should. I will, zough. Zere are some people--Laputa--who want to make ze world a better place for people like you. I will do whatever I can to 'elp make zat 'appen--to make sure you 'ave a world where you can be 'oomever you want to be--love 'oo you want to love.

"I was created in a lab in ze states--an attempt to clone a man's dead wife. I escaped. I zought myself a monster... and zen one day I met you. You gave my life meaning. You made me 'ole. You made me complete."

Suddenly, Fluxx understood why she took the name 'Entier'.

"I failed you--ze only person in zis world 'oo 'as ever mattered to me in ze slightest--but I will give you everything you needed. A second chance at life and a world worzy of your presence in it. You are such an amazing boy, and I want you to 'ave ze life you deserve. I 'ope you enjoy your new life at zis school, Martin. Make good friends. Meet a pretty girl. Or a boy." Jeanette smiled. "No judgment. Just be happy and do amazing things.

"If you're watching zis, zen something 'as likely 'appened to me. You should not be alone, my boy." There was a moment's hesitation, and then: "Zirty-one Route Capon, St.-Tropez.

"I love you, my son."

The video ended and everyone was silent. The quiet was broken by Hubris' voice cutting across the communications channel: "Martin! You never said anything about your mother having a goddamn dragon!"
I had the next few scenes done, but wanted to provide a break to allow Fluxx and those who just witnessed this a chance to react before the next one.
NVAE Setting - VP: 5
Flynnarrel
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #29: The Son of Man (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Flynnarrel »

Fluxx

The French teen was lost in his thoughts. He wasn't an offshoot of Entier but an augmented clone of Martin - a copy still, but one based in biological roots; homo superium rather than homo humunculi, the phrase he'd coined for his parents and Elle - or maybe he was more a hybrid now after absorbing the masses of his parents, a feat made possible by Jeannette's tampering. The otherworld Martin was still the original - AN original, anyway, if not this world's.

But no, he was an original too, he reminded himself. The platypus was no less unique for being an amazing amalgam. Perhaps his own feelings of 'otherness' was a manifestation of an undiagnosed Asperger's Disorder or perhaps it was normal teenaged ennui. Either way, it was the thought equivalent of a cancerous cell and he had to fight the infection of it whenever it surfaced. He resolved to be better about that.

Martin knew Entier loved him. That was never in doubt. The expression of their love was always morally dubious, but never the intensity of it. And he missed them. Fluxx found himself humming the tune of 'Cat's in a Cradle', the song he'd bastardized for a musical number while ensorcelled by the little alphabet guy. He still missed them and loved them, despite being the agent of their molecular disassemblage.

"I... we.... we 'ave to get ze data analyzed. Entier would 'ave designed a failsafe into ze 5 clones - a chemical zat when exposed zey suffer cascading cellular degeneration or a frequency zat destabilizes zeir genetic make-up. My parents were always a fan of zis idea in shows and movies - Jurassic Park, Dark Angel, Robocop even. We 'ave to get zis jump drive to Newton." Fluxx says to cover the storm of emotions roiling inside him. He also resolved to check out that address. There were too many possibilities of what they could have left for him there and the range of options were near limitless and mostly bad given Entier's proclivities.

The call over comms was not surprising. Fluxx activates his mic. "Zat dragon... may be my fault, I drew a picture of one as a toddler once and called it my imaginary friend. If you feed it jelly beans and it coughs out rainbows you'll know zat my parents were psychopazic in zeir attention to detail." he relays. "Alzough I am sure you've got it covered, let us know if you'd prefer back up standing by." he says, keeping the teacher's source of power in mind and carefully wording his reply.

He looks to those assembled. "Any zoughts anyone 'as to share?"
"Something pithy this way comes."
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #27: The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by EnigmaticOne »

Imago
HP: 6

"She's a better parent than mine ever were." Imago simply said, resting a hand on Martin's shoulder. His had never been around enough to be described as terrible. Hopefully this would get Martin to drop the angst-y comparisons to the other Martin. "Is there anything else we should check for here?"
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #29: The Son of Man (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Shock »

Violet Lear
HP: 4


Violet shook her head. She had nothing to say but she knew how Martin felt. He had known he wasn't a normally born kid but to have it all laid out right in front of him had to be hurtful. When she'd learned about her own parents' manipulations of her birth, she hadn't wanted to hear from anyone about it.
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #29: The Son of Man (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Tattooedman »

Greystone:
[Jack Rexroth]
HP: 1
LP: 2

Jack kept quiet as he stood at the rear of the group. He's already known that Martin was human in the normal sense thanks to the memories of his dead clone that had gone to Pandora. But to have the truth of his life just exposed so blatantly to so many other people had to be rough and he felt a twinge of remorse for his friend.

Knowing Martin as well as he did now Jack suspected that he was probably compartmentalize this info and focusing on the task at hand. He's deal with whatever feelings this caused in private later, and Jack would offer whatever support he could then.
Jabroniville wrote: Tue Jul 13, 2021 11:45 pm
LOl- "The Tattooed Man"? What kind of ABSOLUTE DILDO would refer to himself as "The Tattooed Man" :P!?!
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #29: The Son of Man (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Flynnarrel »

Fluxx
HP:5
CND: --

Fluxx appreciated both his friends' comments and lack thereof. The Drive with critical information he offers to Jack. "We'll 'ear back from 'Ubris to see if 'e needs back-up but we need to get ze drive to our data analysts at NVAE."

"Until zen, collect any vials or papers zat look important. Do not trust labels. My parents would 'ave no need for such and anyzing zey kept a vial of would be too time consuming or not worz ze bozer to synzesize. I'm going to check in ze ventilation ducts for rooms zat are not obvious or anyzing zey might 'ave 'idden in zere."

Unless there are objections he'll ripple to his apple jello form and project his body into the ducts to look around.
"Something pithy this way comes."
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #29: The Son of Man (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Shock »

Violet Lear
HP: 4


Violet tried not to think about what might have been in any of the various containment devices around the lab. "Just be careful. Who knows what's laying around here."
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #29: The Son of Man (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Michuru »

BETA (Taheka; NPCs: Backlash, Hubris, Kiln, Pict, Puck)
They had scoured the lab for clues, only to realize the flaw in their plan: none of them knew what to look for. None of them were that science-minded--not like either of the Martins. Making their way through the lab, they eyed over everything, but understood nothing.

As their frustration built, Taheka noticed something out of place: bread. Fresh bread. Someone had been here recently. He brought it to the others attention. They gathered around and looked it over. They understood what it meant, but not the significance. "It's not just that someone was here," Puck intoned, "but that they were staying here."

"Hmm?" asked Kiln.

"If you were just looting the lab, why bring food? It's bread--something you make things with. Someone has been living here--making sandwiches here..."

"Then we lay in wait," Hubris decided, "and lay a trap."

It was a few minutes later that the doors opened, admitting no one to the lab. No one moved from their positions--hidden about the lab. The Vindicators were hidden behind equipment and under desks, while Puck and Taheka had turned invisible and into a puddle, respectively.

Something fell from the desk Backlash was hiding under. The clatter drew Puck. The fey flew to the spot, only to see the man unconscious on the floor. Without a moment's hesitation, Puck opened a channel back to the school. Sidestep could be here with reinforcements in seconds. "Beta requesting backup."

The room began to light up and Puck turned towards the source. In the shadows crouched a dragon; flames were building in it's maw. Dropping to the ground atop Backlash, he narrowly avoiding being incinerated. "Martin!" Hubris roared as he switched channels. "You never said anything about your mother having a goddamn dragon!"

He vaulted over whatever furniture stood between him and the dragon. As he ran, he grabbed an office chair and hurled it for the beast. The dragon turned and swatted it aside with its tail. Watching it, something seemed off to Taheka: it was brushed aside, but the clatter of the chair hitting the floor came from behind the dragon. "It's not real," the New Zealander said. He knew they were going up against an illusionist. They had seen the chair deflected, but the real chair had gone through the illusory monster. "It's not real! It's an illusion!"

"Clever boy," Reynard said from behind him.

"Look out!" Kiln said. He let loose a jet of flames for the man, only to watch as another Reynard appeared behind Pict. He scanned the room: there were at least seven other copies of the man--all garbed in the same black tactical outfit and fox mask.

"Which one is the real one?" Hubris barked.

"Now," all of the Reynards said. The dragon roared and the heroes' eardrums shattered--as did every light bulb, beaker, monitor, and window in the room.

Gamma Team stepped out of thin air: Ursa and Maze led the charge, flanked by Current and Fiore. Parabola and Sidestep brought up the rear. They were saying something, but Taheka couldn't make it out--his ears were still ringing following the dragon's roar. No! That didn't make sense! The dragon was an illusion--it couldn't have broken everything in the room like that... He closed his eyes--tried to focus. Concentrate. Something else was happening here--something Reynard was obfuscating...

He opened his eyes and the dragon was gone. The copies of Reynard were gone. A quartet of Tatjanas stood in the room, boxing them in. "Attack were I go!" he screamed. He had no idea how loud he was, but hopefully the newcomers could hear him. He ran forward--towards the nearest one, and became a stream of water that spiraled around Tatjana's clone.

Current wasted no time in letting his lightning fly. Taheka jumped at the last second and let the clone take the full force of the blast. As she collapsed, he watched as Ursa charged for another clone--no doubt the Finn had figured out what he had and was letting his keen sense of smell lead him. "Two more!" he shouted. He needed a way to make them--to help the others know where they were.

Fiore ran then and grabbed at Pict, tackling him to the ground, while Maze unleashed a stream of hellfire for Hubris. Taheka feared Reynard were toying with them until he watched as Parabola and Sidestep threw themselves to the ground.

In the center of the room, Kiln unleashed an inferno from his body--spreading it out in all directions. The immolation wave flashed over his allies and caught the other clones.

All around them, the lab had caught fire.

Sidestep got to his feet and hurried to Backlash's side. Puck turned visible and flung the Vindicator over a shoulder. Sidestep pointed, Puck floated forward, and then vanished. Pict grabbed one of the clones and Kiln ran for another. Current had a third while Fiore was binding another in flora.

One-by-one, the heroes evacuated from the burning building and back to the school.

NVAE (Current, Fluxx, Greystone, Imago, Shiver, Taheka, Ursa; NPCs: Ashworth, Benson, The Drifter, Fach, Fiore, Magnitude, Martin Morel, Maze, Puck, Sidestep, Stephen)
Mister Ashworth and Benson entered the war room. "Doctor Talley said that Backlash is going to be fine. Someone got the drop on him and injected him with something that knocked him for a loop. Hubris, Pict, and Kiln are giving their statements to Newton, but I wanted to check on all of you before your turns came." He cast a worried look to Fluxx. "Are you sure none of you need medical assistance?"

"I am adapting Doctor Talley's medical skills," Ashworth bragged.

Taheka shook his head. His eyes never left the four young women on the other side of the glass: each of the clones of Tatjana Nelson they had apprehended had been muzzled and restrained in a separate chamber. Taheka wasn't the only one fixated on the clones. Fach hadn't said a word since watching them being brought in. "My hearing is back to normal."

"Speak for yourself," Puck said, lounging on the air and wiggling a pinky finger inside of her ear. "I'm going to be hearing that ringing for at least a week."

"How do you interrogate someone you can't talk to?" Maze asked. "If we take those things off them, they're going to scream."

"I vote we call Emily and send Abe to go pick her up."

Sidestep rolled his eyes at Magnitude's suggestion. "I adore being your taxi service."

Shiver was noticeably quiet. They had found the lab and destroyed it. The other labs were now locked down and under guard. Four of the five clones of Tatjana had been apprehended. Reynard was still at large. Reynard still had one clone. Reynard still had whatever else he might have absconded with. None of that mattered to her, though: they had found out nothing regarding Black Ice's connection to all of this.

She had some theories: Reynard had kidnapped the daughter of a French diplomat. Hours later, Black Ice killed that diplomat. She might have been working with a rival gang. As she understood it, Reynard was working to bring the French criminal underworld under his control. It was likely that someone was resisting bending the knee to the illusionist. They may have caught wind of whatever he had been planning to do, and moved to take a potential pawn off the board.

Black Ice was working against Reynard. If she wanted to catch Black Ice, the best lead she had was Reynard. The only lead to him was the clones and Max was right: they couldn't interrogate them like a normal prisoner. They needed a telepath, and Emily was the only one they knew...

Unless her father had one in his network of contacts?

"I could go in zere and alter them," postulated the other Martin. "Take away zeir abilities, but leave zem wiz ze ability to speak."

He didn't wait for anyone's permission. He started to make his way towards the window that allowed them to look into the quartet of cells.

Benson moved to stop him. As the man reached for him, there was a flash of light. Glyphs appeared on the floor beneath them. The Astrolabe was plotting a course and it took the Drifter and Martin away--likely back to Martin's home dimension.

No sooner had they left than the door opened, revealing a wide-eyed Stephen Murphy. His eyes scanned the room and found his brother, whom he quickly made his way to. "Is it true?" he asked, hopefully. "I just heard that Martin can give people powers? Could he make me a Neo-Sapien?"

Glyphs appeared on the floor. There was a blinding flash of light that the New Vindicators were getting all too familiar with. When they could see again, there were three figures standing before them.

Greystone and Magnitude froze. So did Sidestep.

"Kas," Princess Sophie von Hobsburg said. The diminutive woman had aged a few years since they had last seen her. She had to be in her early twenties by now. "It's good to see your face."

A dark-skinned woman was kneeling beside her, holding onto the Drifter, who was bleeding out. "Please tell me there's a healer here!" Gabrielle Farouk barked.

Sidestep was shaking at the sight of his mother, significantly younger and more alive than he recalled her being.

"Your majesty," Magnitude said, slowly recovering from the shock of seeing his pretend fiance again. "I trust something is rotten in the state of Austria."

Sophie nodded. "Gabrielle's husband and sister-in-law have started a war. According to Liz, they're old friends of Jack's."

"They introduced themselves as Carlos and Carolien," Gabrielle said as Martin healed the Drifter. "They go by Locus and Anansi."

There was a flash of light and everyone was whisked away to Oubliette-1127.
Power point to everyone.
NVAE Setting - VP: 5
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