Snippet #2776043

Devon looked on as Wendigo introduced himself and quickly thereafter made great use of his powers to create a reconnaissance bird high in the sky. It seemed he localised Tangle pretty quickly with it, but from his reaction after another name was called out by the bracelet it seemed he had seen something quite distressing. Perhaps related to the massive impact he had heard just a moment earlier. He held a separate conversation with the bracelet as he informed the rest of the group of Tangles position, 2.5 streets away. Given the shape of the city blocks around this part, ignoring the alleyways, that meant Tangle was about 500-600 feet out plenty of room for them to maneuver in.

Devon hadn’t quite followed the secondary conversation, but he clearly heard a voice saying ”Help. Trapped. Hurry? Probably not a lot of air.” coming from the bracelet. It seemed someone Wendigo knew was trapped in some sort of sticky situation. For a moment he looked at the panicked demeanor of the eldritch horror trying to figure out what to do while Devon decided on a game plan. It seemed he had his priorities lopsided quite a bit, deciding to help those nearby before the ones in a critical situation, oxygen deprivation can kill quite quickly.

Devon walked up to Wendigo, attempting to block his path. “Change of plans, we’re going to have to split up.” He said aimed at the group as a whole, he paused for a second before addressing Wendigo directly. “You said you could carry me as a mount, how about you make some room for me and we go save your friend.” He then looked at the girl nestled behind the antlers. The girl stared back but said nothing. ”I really don’t like the idea of it, but if we are going to go somewhere out where Tangle can reach we might need to rely on that power of yours. Would you mind helping us out?”

The situation rapidly went through a few transitions, the battlefield and priorities quickly adapting as it all unfolded. Hush had formulated a general blanket plan to help out endangered capes, but as soon as an actual emergency came up, that seemed to go out the window. At first, she’d been planning on using the intel about Tangle to inform their next movements, maybe even make use of the vision provided by Wendigo’s… Um… ‘Pet’ to locate the injured. What she hadn’t expected was the personal distress on behalf of the large ink creature, and the fact that the source seemed to be at the top of a large building. Capes that survived that laser blast? Something about a dome? Immediately, the giant thing seemed to be panicking, and that wasn’t going to do any of them any good. With how he was acting, even if she hadn’t intended to make a move to assist those individuals, she doubted he would’ve listened to her.

Thankfully, she didn’t have to make any such call, Freischütz stepping in to take the leadership position and direct them. It was hard to imagine they were all still in a lot of danger themselves, and although she’d initially been concerned about taking the smaller child with them, the fact that she had managed to fry one of those plant monsters that had approached with such ease revealed that she certainly wasn’t helpless. Grimacing inside her mask as she watched Wendigo do his thing and devour the monster that’d interrupted their huddle, Hush decided there’d been enough talk for the moment. If they were splitting up, now was the time to get to it.

“So, two teams for now. You three will move to help out Sah-heh-kuh, while we’ll see about finding other incapacitated in the area. I can only make portals one way, so you’ll need to call me or find your own way to rendezvous with us once you’ve saved them.” Hush elaborated some more on her abilities, taking a moment to shut her eyes as she summoned up her blade. Given the height of Jericho, she needed to make the portal a bit larger than normal, so she had to lengthen the sword to accommodate - Not something she was used to doing, but easy enough. Fixing her sight on the edge of the roof, Hush made one clean vertical slash, and the shimmering portal opened, the exit faintly visible from where they were and leading straight onto the roof. Standing just to the side of it, Hush nodded for them to move when they were ready.

”If you need anything, call and we’ll do what we can.” Hush lifted her arm that held the band, examining it. Hopefully using it was as easy as Wendigo made it out to be. ”Open channel to the nearest four capes. Track position and vitals.” The device was silent a moment, then made a faint ding sound. Hopefully that meant it was working, and she’d connected their group of five for now.

Maxwell had quietly listened as everything unfolded, but a small grin started under his mask as the ‘new’ plan was adopted. Loud clicking sounds were heard as Maxwell pulled back the slides of his now cocked pistols. ”Looks like I’ll be your cover fire. Are loud noises a problem for a cape with a name like yours?” He asked jokingly. The devices on their wrists were alerted as someone’s voice came through, sounded like a young guy, going by ‘Aegis’. The Shape looked back to Hush for a second to see what her thoughts were, then held the device up to his mask.

”Aegis is it? We could use a hand or two I think. We’re in a kind of side street right now, little ways off from Tangle. Whereabouts are you now?”

Listening in as her temporary partner followed through on his earlier plan to recruit more capes, Tess politely waited for him to finish addressing Aegis before voicing herself. “Perhaps we can use these bracelets to move towards one another.” She briefly commented, before deciding to address the man about his earlier query. “Sound isn’t an issue, but if we’re going to work together, it would help if I knew what to call you.”

Maxwell chuckled slightly, realizing he hadn’t properly addressed himself to Hush, or the others. ”Ahh… Interesting point. Well, let’s keep it simple, stick with something a few others have called me. The Shape. Or just Shape if you prefer. That may roll off the tongue more easily.” There was a small smile on his face as he thought the matter over. ”Terribly vague I know. But I suppose that’s not rare for capes.” Everything he spoke was in a soft, disarming tone, very much in contrast to their situation.

It didn’t take long for Alex to respond to Whoever it was responded. He was just glad there were still people around. ” I shouldn’t be too far away now, give it take a few blocks. If you are able to head down a few blocks to the west of Tangle’s location by the large bank I’ll be able to touch down there.” He made sure his suit and helmet were still secure and sped off. He would get there in a few minutes long as he was careful about not getting spotted by Tangle or any minions.

Listening to Aegis’s response, Hush nodded, looking to Shape. “Alright, let’s make our way west and help whoever we find along the way.” As Wendigo and his entourage made his way through her portal, Hush shut her eyes, clearing her mind and letting the portal dissipate. It was time to move.

”I’ll- Yeah I- We’ll- Yeah. Yeah.” Rumbled the looming form of Jericho, his head dipping down as he nodded gratefully at Hush. His attention returned to Freischutz, his form shifting as he heaved a curious sigh. The spine of his form lengthened, rapidly rising from the gorilla slope-backed posture, to a more horizontal horse-like length and shape. The hips rose to the same height as the shoulders, as the legs became as equally thick as the forearms, with hooves instead of claws. A series of erect spines arose on the haunches, looking similar to hand-holds made of tautly pulled skin over smooth, hook shaped bones. Though the hooks were blunted at the tips, one might have otherwise thought them menacing. “Um… Just, climb on up. I’ll make a… Handle-horn-thing for you to hold on to…?”

Devon took a moment both to admire the abstract artwork in front of him and to figure out where he could sit in the least inconvenient manner for both rider and… Mount? He decided the best place would somewhere in the middle, not too far back to throw either off balance nor close enough to the head to be in striking range of the antlers, should he decide to unexpectedly turn his head. He turned to the remaining two of the group as they were about to rendezvous with their now third member. ”We’ll keep an eye out for Tangle’s position and call you through the bracelet should he move your way. Stay safe out there.”

After Devon’s speech, Wendigo waited for a while longer, staying somewhat eerily silent as he watched the rest of the conversations before he turned and moved onward. His head ducked down once more, bringing Mara and his crown of antlers towards the midway of the portal. He felt… Odd, some deep part in the back of his mind, crawled and squirmed uncomfortably. He played it off however, blinking repeatedly and slowly turning his head to and fro before narrowing his eyes on the- dented quite badly- dome of some shiny metal. His hooves clicked oddly on the surface of the building below, and as Jericho turned his attention downward, he noticed that the rooftop was metal. From edge to edge, it was pure metal.

Once again, another mouth opened upon his forelimb, and his voice whispered into the band. “Hey. Sahko. We’re here outside your uh… Dome. Where are y’all…?”

There was a pause, before they received a hushed, quickly spoken response that could essentially be paraphrased into: ‘Pressed against the metal, two under me, be careful.

Alex quickly learned that the bank was not going to work. Why? Well the fact that it was overgrown and nearly swarming with those walking weeds kind of made it impossible in terms of a secure locations. ”Ooookay then, plan B, meet the other capes half way.” Alex stopped his platform and lifted the bracelet, getting back to the capes he contacted before. “So don’t go too close to the bank. Place is turning into the garden party from hell. I’m just gonna come your way. If you see a guy on a blue floating disk that would be me.” Alex then sped back off and flew a little higher for a better vantage point to try and spot the supposed group of capes.

The sight of a woman standing by a portal some creature had just gone through was hard to miss. though the sounds of the Tangle fight felt a little too close for comfort. Alex made his way down towards her, making sure to fly down in front of them so he wouldn’t startle anybody. His boots hit the ground with a loud thud. ” Sup, Aegis. What’s the plan?” He was hoping someone here had a better grasp of what to do then he did.

Maxwell gave a slight nod to Aegis, the newcomer. ”Pleased to meet you in person. I’m The Shape, and this is Hush.” He said as he pointed to himself and the girl. ”And the plan at this point is to save as many lives as we can. Move street by street finding any incapacitated capes or civilians, and I suppose teleport them to a safer location?” The Shape looked over to Hush to direct his question.

“Essentially. One of my friends should be helping to set up a temporary medical centre for the injured. If we can collect a group and protect them, I should be able to help move us large distances and get them out of this battlefield.” Hush explained, looking over to Aegis. “Do you have any abilities to help with rescue? Shape will be providing me cover as I move about.” Beginning the process of heading down the street to the nearest signal, noting the large amount of rubble and the odd smattering of Tangle’s minions roaming about. Likely there were a few survivors buried under the rubble… Maybe she could cut some smaller pieces of the concrete away for them to move?

Alex nodded as Hush and the Shape gave him the rundown. Securing and rescuing sounded like the ideal plan, who knows how many people were stuck this close to the abhorrent still. When asked if he had any abilities that could help he held up his gloved hands and produced an aqua barrier bubble between them. ” I’m pretty sure it’s a form of telekinesis, but I make and shape barriers. Don’t know the limit on my range but as long as I can see something I can interact with it. Also just learned I can cut with these things a little bit ago.” He then proceeded to pick up a fairly large chunk of rubble nearby and shattered it against his body with a grunt. ” I’m also kind of durable, so I won’t need much cover. I can focus on bubbling people and keeping them out of danger, moving aside cars and debris. Long as I can see you or know where you are I can add extra cover.” Alex wrung his hands a tad nervously. Looking between Hush, the Shape, and then back at himself. He felt a bit inadequate with his very homemade suit. It really wasn’t the time to worry about presentation but he felt a bit out of place for a moment.

Maxwell made some space between himself, Hush and Aegis, and the nearby signals that indicated where the survivors were. Now Tangle’s minions were the only things in his way. ”Alright, I’ll leave you two to do what you do best. I’ll play host for our unwanted guests for now.” The Shape raised his hands in the direction of the minions, a pistol in each, but he didn’t pull the triggers. Instead, he simply stood there, quite still, as some of the minions began to move closer. Before too long though, several of the creatures began to spasm frantically, flailing about for a moment as other minions began to take notice of their comrades’ odd behaviour. The ones not spasming started to move closer to inspect the situation, but as soon as they neared them, the spasming minions began to attack those that were not. A vicious battle broke out between Tangle’s minions, with chunks of plant matter getting thrown around the area in a gory massacre. The Shape lowered his arms, but still held his pistols at the ready as he watched the fight unfold. ”Let me know when you’re both ready to move. I have this under control for now.”