Winbarry No More, Part 2 |
Summary: | An explosion at Winbarry estates has the students from Coral Springs rushing to help. This crew runs into a long-lost (and rather violent) Unit member. |
Date: | 2019-04-02 |
Related: | Happens in-tandem with this log. At another part of the wrecked grounds. |
NPCs: | Various. |
Scene Runner: | Akheilos, Isis |
Winbarry Estate (Back patio area.)
Tue Apr 02, 2019
DESTROYED
This old Georgian/Colonial mansion is in a current state of repair. Being structurally sound, it's not at it's former prettiness….yet.. New paint helps, but anyone that knows houses can see it's still in desperate need of a new roof.
The grounds have recently been serviced. Nothing fancy, but the grass is cut, weeds have been pulled and the trees are not growing wild any longer., Large trees are sprinkled around the 13 acre estate. The back yard is expansive, an over grown garden with paths that have been long covered up and statues that have claimed by vines. Seems the gardener has not gotten to the backyard just yet. The entire estate is surrounded by a wrought iron fence. A pea-gravel driveway leads to a newer garage building.
It is a spring evening. The weather is warm and fair.
===
At 7pm EST an urgent message is sent to the school. An explosion of undetermined originals has blasted Winbarry Estates, the location of the school last year. Help is needed. Staff will immediately gather as many volunteers as possible and head out. The Teachers are dealing with police, the students are asked to start looking for survivors.
Any students not on school grounds will be sent a text message with the same information to go over to the Estates and help. But also to be cautious.
Anyone at Winbarry has been blown up. They are buried in the rubble and need to be rescued.
The building itself is no longer a building. There's several walls still standing, but most is rubble. Sirens and lights from the police echo on the remains.
—
It's thanks to the strong stuff that can be mined forth from her Dark fae half-lineage that Callisto doesn't lose it, upon seeing what's left of Winbarry. As the group alights upon the destruction of the estate, her guts churn with distress and rage. She's there now in her team uniform and colors, hair pulled back into a harried, low knot at the nape of her neck. Stress pours off of her in waves but at-a-glance Callisto looks restrained.. unless you look at her eyes.
When the volunteers are given the green light to approach the rubble, Callisto will do so immediately and make her way around to the back patio to begin the task of searching for survivors. Their — (Pulse, Inferno, Felicia, AT) — faces flash in her mind's eye, one by one.. please, please let there be survivors.
—
Gabrielle only came back from her accidental banishment halfway through last year so she didn't spend as much time as most at Winbarry. And most of that time was spent in the back patio, either dancing or training.
Because of this when she arrives, completely out of the blue and without warning, she does so in the back patio, her quantum field causing a shower of dust and small pieces of debris as its all shoved out of the way to make space for her. And it takes her moment to process what's going on, even after having been forewarned.
—
Brier feels genuine dread set in at the sight of the estate. The worry on the hippie's normally overly cheerful expression is enough to be unsettling, but this…the wreckage. It was a whole other level of upsetting. Knowing his friend is bound to be an internal mess of emotions, he sticks by Callisto. Reaching out to give her hand a reassuring squeeze quickly as they reach the back patio, he just looks to her "We'll find them…they're tough. They are okay." He tries to reassure her, despite the more somber serious tone to his voice and then he would follow her lead with where to start searching.
—
<FS3> Felicia rolls Density Manipulation: Good Success.
Acrid smoke and dust still fill the air as the students and other rescue workers arrive on the scene. Whatever caused the explosion had to have been manmade, few natural causes of this kind of destruction wouldn't cause fire. And there are no fires, just a lot of smoke.
—
"… this.." Callisto begins stiffly, the moment Brier joins her. He knows her well. Her gaze is not only upset but absolutely guilt ridden.. to the point of mortification. ".. my fault.." She croaks, all of her grace and fluting tones to her voice gone. It's actually an ugly sound that come from her.. grief.
She uttered the word 'Winbarry' to Daxton when he had her in a chokehold. He's been absorbed by an organization that can create biological weapons.. of course they could trace the location of an old estate by name. Callisto wants to puke. She waves the dense, acrid smoke from her face and jolts at Gabby's appearance. She studies the smaller girl for a moment as if seeing her for the first time (not true, Calli is just addled) and the fey girl kneels to begin pushing some crumbled facade out of the way.
—
Gabrielle starts to examine the remnants of the house more closely, leaving Brier and Callisto to process the situation in their own time. Yes, Gabby considers some of the people living at the estate to actually be friends but thanks to her shyness she's not so close to any of them that her grief over the possibilities needs to much managing. Finally she settles for yelling out for survivors, "THIS IS GABRIELLE HARTMAN! IF YOU'RE TRAPPED AND CAN HEAR THIS YELL OUT! WE CAN'T START MOVING THINGS WITHOUT AN EXPERT BUT I MIGHT BE ABLE TO TELEPORT TO YOU AND GET YOU OUT!" She stops for a moment and gets as close to the main mountain of debris as she can without risking shifting things around to see if she can hear anyone responding to her.
—
Brier quickly looks to Callisto at her self accusation "No. Don't say that. None of this is your fault." Still, he knew she was upset and didn't want to push her and make it worse. So he lets her go over to start at one area of rubble. "I'll check over here…" Walking over to another area of rubble, but still nearby to Callisto he notices Gabrielle when she shouts out and then falls quiet to listen for any sound of response or cries for help. His eyes just scan the rubble and surrounding areas…looking for any signs of movement or life.
—
<FS3> Gabrielle rolls Alertness: Good Success.
<FS3> Brier rolls Alertness: Success.
As the trio of Gabrielle, Calli and Brier start to sift through the rubble, movement can easily be seen. Anyone familiar with Afterthought and their powers would recognize the shadowy tentacles slithering up from the rubble shortly followed by rubble being sent flying in all directions as the teen titan commonly known as Felicia sizes up. But what is really out of place is the ground starting to shake intermittently. Shake, pause, shake, pause, shake pause, then the thumping sound is heard that matches the rhythm
—
Good thing there's no empaths present; the concealed agony in the girl's heart would be as acrid as the smoke. Deft fingers paw at the accessible rubble, pushing aside and moving that which her body can handle. Then she pauses; movement.. in the rubble. With a cry Callisto will thrust her body forth to try assisting either one of them out of the mess. She is so deep in her grief that she hardly notices the shaking of the ground. Her hands claw at the presence of the tentacles.. when Felicia sizes up it's by pure luck that Callisto isn't struck by the thrown rubble. Should the androgynous member of (what Calli sees as) the true Unit 23 break through the rubble, Callisto will reach for them. "Afterthought! Felicia!" Their presence distracts her from the peculiar shaky staccato.
—
Gabrielle backpedals away from the rubble as things start to shift. Last thing anyone wants is part of the rescue team needing rescue too. When she sees Callisto dash in she tries her best to get her to back away, "Callisto! The whole thing is super unstable! Can't you feel it vibrating? Back away, if they need it I can teleport them over to us!" Not that that's a great option. Anyone that's teleported with Gabby before knows its a stomach churning experience, leaving most people useless for anything other than barfing for at least a few minutes.
—
Brier looks over as the rubble is sent flying, ducking down out of the way of debris before standing up and starting over in that direction. However, at Gabrielle's warning he lofts a brow, looking between all of those gathered before getting down on his knees and feeling the earth with both hands. "What…is that?" He says out loud, but mostly to himself as he tries to feel a source or direction it is coming from.
—
Felicia had heard the shouting as she followed AT's tentacles to the surface, thankfully that let her know where they were so she didn't burst out under their feet. She seems unhurt but its dark so its hard to say for sure, "Afterthought is buried in the kitchen. She was able to lead me out but she is trapped." she points to where AT's shadowy tentacles still wave.
The shaking gets more intense and then it seems to stop for a few seconds as does the thudding noise…but then the source is suddenly upon them having dropped from above. The ground shakes violently once more, shifting rubble, as a hulking red brute of a person lands between the group and where AT is trapped.
—
Gabby means well, and Callisto's best judgement has been obscured by crippling grief and upset. Even as she is eased back the faerie murmurs worriedly: "Afterthought—" .. After who ..?
Brier lowers to touch the earth and Callisto's are still held raptly by the emergence of shadow tentacles and Felicia—Felicia..!! Callisto doesn't know the girl well but she knows her as: one of Daxton's best friends and a being of great strength. Cerulean eyes, maddened by something, dart to the teen titan: "A-are you… tell me…"
Too bad.. she's cut off by the arrival of big bad ugly. Red, to boot. Red can't mean anything good especially when applied to a Hulk. Callisto is singularly determined to rescue AT and she pulls back, tries to muster her focus. If it means besting this creature, they will! They must!
—
Advantages of having a teleporter in the group, its really hard to stop them from getting where they want to go. As usual, Gabby's shyness is completely gone when she's put in a high stress situation so it only takes a second to size up the giant brute and then she's yelling again, "Felicia, is the kitchen still an open room?" As soon as she gets a yes from the older girl there's a *pop* of imploding air and the only thing left where Gabrielle was is a flash of light, about as bright as a good camera flash.
Down in the kitchen it takes Gabrielle a moment to get Afterthought to understand what's happening, since they have never met. But Gabby doesn't really wait for approval to teleport Afterthought out. All it takes is a hand shake and they are both back in the estate's back plot, as far away from the red brute as possible without leaving Callisto, Felicia, and Brier alone. While Afterthought is recovering from the effects of traveling with Gabby, the blue-haired girl draws the rapiers strapped at her back and walks up to join her classmates, current and past.
—
Brier stands up slowly as the Red Hulk himself drops down from the sky and lands in front of them. "Whoa…" As he stands he looks around, grabbing a piece of rubble and holding it by his side. Because well what else was he going to do!? "Look dude. We don't want any trouble. So just…jump back in the sky and…fly away okay?" Maybe he was panicking. Maybe he was trying to buy time for the others to help the Unit. Maybe he was counting how many hippie pieces this red giant could break him into!
—
After the question from Gabrielle is answered the teen titan turns to Calli. Felicia has a certain reputation in the group, its not much different than the one she had at school, she doesn't do serious very well, especially in serious situations. So when Calli is stammering at her she throws out a few suggestions as to what she can possibly be, all of them a bit silly and/or egotistical, "I'm fine." she finishes off as the large, red, hulking dude lands behind them causing her to quickly spin on her feet to face him. It's been years since Daxton's rescue but she remembers it all quite vividly. Pair that with what she has learned from Dax and the others…"Burden." she may even sound a bit surprised, which is a feat for her.
The hulking brute peers at the group and grunts at them "No. Find Unit. Take." he says in a deep, gravely voice as he looks at the group and then off to where Gabrielle has dropped Afterthought.
—
<FS3> Opposed Roll — Callisto=Psychic Vs Big Red Nasty=2
< Callisto: Good Success Big Red Nasty: Success
< Net Result: Callisto wins - Marginal Victory
The willowy fey is about to unleash all manner of psychic hell upon the red brute until—-
His voice. That name.
"Burden?" Callisto whispers to herself, near-imperceptible. She backs instinctively toward Brier as he proves to be a touchstone of calm for her, but her eyes are trained upon the red hulk. She acts without thinking.. no matter what the name 'Burden' means to her. However, it's like a jolt.. not prolonged. Mostly to distract the red hulk known as Burden (Daxton spoke of him and Felica straight-up recognizes him!
Therefore, as Callisto stands poised to inflict the wrath of her mother's favored attack upon the hulk — searing pain, the psychic accosting of nerves and the attempt to push a target into a maelstrom of pain — … he falters. She can't hurt 'Burden'; she can't. She tries to distract the red brute for a few seconds, in order for others (especially Felicia) to act accordingly.
—
<FS3> Gabrielle rolls Teleport: Good Success.
<FS3> Gabrielle rolls Physical Vs 7: Good Success.
Gabrielle has never seen nor heard of Burden. But she's had enough experience with the bruisers at this point to know she can do about the same thing as Callisto, help distract and confuse him. A *pop* and flash marks her disappearance for her to silently reappear behind and slightly above Burden, swords trying to stab down into the big, red bruiser's deltoids, one on each side of his head.
—
Brier gladly accepts Callisto coming over to join him, watching her reaction to Burden. Then, as Gabrielle straight up attacks him the hippie blinks. "Uh…are we sure that's the right course of action to take? He's big…and from everything I've read and seen…we wouldn't like him when he's angry. I'm pretty sure THAT'S going to make him angry!" He looks over to Callisto then "He said find Unit. Take. He's trying to capture them? What do we do? We still need to make sure there aren't others trapped out here too." The Hippie's brain was kind of on over drive right now. He wasn't exactly used to situations like this. Okay so he wasn't used to situations like this at ALL.
—
<FS3> Opposed Roll — Felicia=physical Vs Burden=7
< Felicia: Good Success Burden: Good Success
< Net Result: Felicia wins - Marginal Victory
"I'm pretty sure Burden is always angry. You must have this level," Felicia puts a hand under her chin "of anger and grumpiness to join Unit 23." she jokes, despite it being quite accurate. About the only original member that isn't grumpy is Afterthought, and probably only because AT is an empath. That kind of makes grumpiness harder. "We stop him." she answers Brier in a matter of fact tone, as if it weren't that big of a deal. She looks up at the hulking Burden who is more than twice her size "Let's dance." she says with a grin as she rushes forward, using her own immense strength to lead upward and lay a smack down on him with a fist to the jaw.
The females are a triple threat. The three attacks hitting, within seconds of each other. His hands go to his head and he lets out a roar as pain lances through his head, followed by the swords piercing his skin, its enough to drive him to a knee which certainly helps Felicia out as her steely fist meets his jaw, throwing his head back first and his body follows, crashing backwards, putting Gabrielle at risk of being smooshed.
—
"Do not kill!" Cries Callisto to nobody in particular. She sees the limits of her own strike and does not make to push the envelope. She remembers Daxton's recollections of this 'Burden' fellow; his regret. Had Burden been called 'back' much much sooner, in a manner akin to how the code word sent Daxton running? Who knows! All Callisto knows is heaven help her, this red monster must be subdued — not killed — and upon seeing Gabrielle and Felicia's strikes hit home she removes the influence of her marauding psychic mind. The pain, razing across the red hulk's nervous system like an electrical current, shall stop abruptly. Right when Felicia slams him right in the kisser!
Callisto eases back, eyes teary despite not feeling horribly upset… adrenaline rules. To Brier, she clutches his arm,"
"See to Afterthought.. go to them. Protect them ad stay at their side. I will be ok." She bids her spirit brother. She indicates the androgynous member of the Unit to Brier, as s/he deals with the teleportation sickness
—
<FS3> Gabrielle rolls Reaction: Success.
Gabrielle lands on Burden's shoulders and immediately pushes off to avoid being squooshed. It would have been a nice move except one of her swords gets caught in the big brute's muscle just long enough to send her into a spin. She lands clear of his falling body, rolling messily a few times before ending in a crouch, glaring at Burden's fallen form.
—
Brier looks to Felicia at her answer. "Right…" he just gives a nod before watching everybody go at Burden. Well almost everybody. He notices Afterthought off to the side still and has the same thought as Callisto says it. "Don't worry. I'll make sure they're safe." He wasn't sure what he'd be able to do if Burden got through, but one thing is for sure. He'd try! With everybody else joining the fray, the hippie runs over to Afterthought and approaches them, carefully offering his help to support them if needed. "Hey. Can you walk? We need to get away from…uh…well…him." He looks to Burden before back to Afterthought.
—
<FS3> Felicia rolls 5: Success.
<FS3> Opposed Roll — Burden=7 Vs Felicia=physical
< Burden: Success Felicia: Great Success
< Net Result: Felicia wins - Crushing Victory
It looks like AT is more injured than Felicia was, but AT has never claimed to be a wall. They are still in the dry heave part of the teleportation sickness, which is made worse by injuries. The way AT cradles arm and moves they may have a broken arm and cracked ribs along with scrapes and other contusions. "I think so." AT answers reaching out to Brier to get a hand up.
Hulk thrashes on the ground a moment. He isn't used to this level of pain, its a bit surprising for him really. He lumbers to his feet and with Gabrielle not in LoS and Brier and Callisto not within easy reach that leaves only Felicia to target. Lifting a meaty fist he brings it down to smash the teen titan only to let out a surprised noise as she catches the fist above her head. "No smashy-smash today Burden!"
—
<FS3> Opposed Roll — Callisto=Psychic Vs Big Red Nasty=2
< Callisto: Good Success Burden: Good Success
< Net Result: DRAW
The fey girl is still acting on the impulse to keep this red giant in fairly good shape. Hard to do when he's trying to capture other Unit members and if one does not hurt him, it's ineffectual. But she will still try, damnit. The estate is in ruins and there's still two Unit members missing… Callisto's mind is distracted and harried. Nonetheless, as Felicia holds Burden at bay, Callisto will focus again. She rallies her mind and unlike the pain-inflicting technique she used briefly, this one (Coax Sleep) is an attempt to inflict 'lights out' upon Burden in an attempt to knock him out. The downside?
Callisto has to move closer to inflict it. Better hope Felicia has a good grip!
—
<FS3> Opposed Roll — Gabrielle=Physical Vs Burden=7
< Gabrielle: Success Burden: Great Success
< Net Result: Burden wins - Solid Victory
Rapiers are not really meant for cutting but they do have an edge. And Gabrielle is actually much stronger than a normal human her size. Not Felicia strong enough by any means but plenty strong to use rapiers as cutting implements. So while Felicia has Burden in check she uncoils from her crouch and dashes and runs past Burden's back, slashing out at his hamstrings. Not killing can take many, many forms.
—
Taking in a visual assessment of AT's injuries, Brier is even more careful how he helps them up and out of the way of the fight. "Come on…they'll handle him and then we'll make sure everybody else is okay." He leads them over to wherever the closest and safe place to sit is. "Maybe we can find something to sling your arm with…what else hurts?" As he waits for the answer he looks around for something to try and make a sling with. He looks down at his jacket…that could work!
—
Felicia spends 1 luck points on Reroll!
<FS3> Opposed Roll — Felicia=physical Vs Burden=7
< Felicia: Success Burden: Good Success
< Net Result: Burden wins - Marginal Victory
<FS3> Opposed Roll — Burden=7 Vs Felicia=physical
< Burden: Good Success Felicia: Good Success
< Net Result: Felicia wins - Marginal Victory
There is a lot of gasps and pained noises as well as some limping as Brier escorts Afterthought to a safer location "Pulse and Inferno are safe, but unconscious…Daxton is here too." she shakes her head…whatever that means.
Felicia holds onto the fist as best she can as the other two make thier attacks, she tries to use that fist grab to swing him around but besides making him stagger a bit she isn't able to move him much with just the hold she has. He rips his fist from her grip and attempts to smash her again but once more she catches the fist he slams down at her.
—
Callisto spends 1 luck points on Knock out Burden!.
<FS3> Opposed Roll — Callisto=Psychic+50 Vs Burden=2
< Callisto: Good Success Burden: Success
< Net Result: Callisto wins - Solid Victory
Not strong enough. Callisto must try again.
She sees her chance, as the hulkish titan is facing off against Felicia, who is holding her own beyond measure. Between Gabrielle's efforts and Felicia's, and the knowledge of AfterThought being in Brier's care… Callisto has one more chance. Spying that moment, she wills forth her psychic skill.. and forces those energies in the direction of Burden's mind in yet one more attempt to push him into forced unconsciousness… and hopeful helplessness.
—
When Gabrielle's hamstringing tactic fails to even scratch Burden's skin and she sees Felicia struggling to hold her own, the little teleporter decides to get drastic. Dropping her swords she launches into a quick series of teleports, creating a brief stobe light effect in the area. A flash and she's gone, then she's on top of the rubble pile, specifically a piece of former wall that must weigh about 400 or so pounds. Another flash and she's about fifty feet above Burden, just in time to see him react to Callisto's latest psychic attack. A split second decision makes her flash out of sight again, reappearing about 10 feet lower and 20 feet behind Burden, dropping the section of wall harmlessly behind him. On last flash and she's back on the ground, right by her swords, panting like she just ran a marathon but watching Burden like a hawk.
—
For a few moments there is a tug-of-war going on between Burden and Felicia. She has a tight hold of his fist and he is trying to pull away with no luck. Burden brings up his other fist to swat at her when Callisto psychic attack hits him. He sways a bit, eyes rolling back in his head as he begins to fall forward very quickly right on top of the girl still holding onto his fist. As soon as he hits to ground though he suddenly shrinks into a 20 something, racially ambiguous male. "This is not how I imagined my night ending." Felicia says from under the deadweight of a much more human and very unconscious Burden.