No.4707[Last 50 Posts]
>An explosion rocks a barren rocky field as a monstrous being walks across it, menacingly laughing as it causes destruction, its voice sounding odd - as if run through a filter with itself. As the monster finishes laughing, a woman appears in the field, running towards the creature acrobatically, making sure to cartwheel and flip several times before jumping up and kicking the creature.
“Take that!”
>Standing on a hill overlooking the dueling pair, a hooded figure gestures towards the ground where the monster fell down.
“Not so fast, American Ranger! You may be strong, but you have no answer to this! Sacred Staff, make my monster grow!”
>The figure holds a staff and holds in the air, a black energy coursing out from the staff and hitting the ground where the monster was, causing the ground to shake and crack, the dust from which obscures the area enough for the monster to grow to a giant size, dwarfing the surroundings.
>Struggling to keep her balance for a moment, the blonde woman, American Ranger, steps back and does an acrobatic backflip, landing and looking upwards.
“That’s a big mama jama. . .”
>American Ranger shifts her pose to one more suited for fighting. . .
“Wait! American Ranger, don’t forget-”
>American Ranger brings up a hand to the side of her head, as if activating a communicator in her ear.
“Of course, you’re right, Chancy! How do you beat a giant?”
>American Ranger brings her hand down, positioning her arms so they’re in a cross, her next line overlaying with the disembodied voice.
“-with another giant, of course! Lady Liberty, grant me strength!”
>American Ranger begins to flash with a bright light, each time the light dies down revealing her to be larger and larger - until she stands at a similar size to the monster.
“You may be powerful, Baron, but you’ll never win, because you don’t understand. . .”
>American Ranger winds up her fist.
“. . .responsibility!”
>American Ranger’s fist fires forward, hitting the monster across the jaw.
No.4708
>>4707>Date: November 10th, 2017>Location: Tomorrow Arena, Philadelphia
>The Tomorrow Arena takes up a prominent location within the city of Philadelphia, having once been a football stadium, the arena has more recently been purchased by the Tomorrow Corporation and converted into a state of the art concert arena - a purpose that it serves regularly, at a price.
>As a new cold November night descends on the city, the Arena serves its purpose once more, this time for a colourful female J-Rock band, its frontwoman being a small Japanese woman with black hair that has been dyed with several stripes of different colours.
>In the rafters of the arena, above the band and the cheering crowd, a pair of people have nestled themselves within a small little alcove where they can watch over the main room of the arena.“I ain’t seein’ why we need to be ‘ere.”
“Boss’s got good intel saying it’s gonna get attacked by some anti-Meta losers, and local law enforcement doesn’t care, seems pretty simple to me.”
“The band’s made up of us?”
“Pretty famously so.”
“Oh. Never much cared for Asian stuff.”
“Let me guess, you like the blues.”
“Yeah.”
>The man sighs and chuckles.“Don’t let anyone tell you that you’re a fake Cajun, Raine. . . hang on. . .”
>The man follows a line with his finger, ending on what looks like a security guard.“. . .he wasn’t there earlier, and his shirt’s all messed up like he put it on in a hurry - think he’s really part of security?”
>The woman pulls the goggles on her head over her eyes and adjusts a ring on them, zooming in on the man.“Ain’t ever seen a more obvious fake.”
>Changing her angle, the woman jumps down into the venue below, her tongue extending out of her mouth and hooking onto part of the gantry above, causing the woman to swing around and land on the side of it, sticking to it with her hands and feet.
>Still keeping her hunched posture, the woman starts crawling along the side of the gantry - remaining suspended above the crowd through a combination of her adhesive strength and wrapping around the bars of the structure.
>Remaining in the original perch, the man sighs, unclipping the bow from his back and nocking an arrow onto the string.“Cover you? Sure, of course I can, no need to ask. . .”
>Tracking the woman’s movements, the man adjusts his aim from her, to the man from before, noticing that the man is slowly taking a gun from his belt. Doing some quick calculations in his head, the man aims the bow at the “security guard”.“
Khara. . . sorry, Raine.”
>The man pulls back on the bow, the arrow within it glowing with a pink energy as he does, and releases it in the direction of the “security guard”, the trail of the arrow being obvious as it leaves a brief afterimage.
>As the arrow hits the guard, it explodes in an impressive burst of energy, sending the arena into chaos. No.4709
>>4708>The gantry at the top of the arena shakes in response to the explosion, with several sections falling down loose - including the one the woman was holding onto.
>As she falls, the woman kicks herself off the falling metal, throwing out her tongue again to grab the metal before jerking her head to throw it off to the side, the momentum being enough to cause it to ram itself into the wall - cracks forming up and down it around the impact point.While the act itself leads to no harm, it does cause further chaos as the crowd starts to panic, their path being somewhat guided by the efforts of the security team to evacuate them out.
>As the dust settles, the woman lands on the stage in front of the performing act, settling herself into a crouched and hunched posture. As her tongue finishes fully retracting, she gives the act a small wave.“Bonsoir, mes amis. . .”
>With the dust settled, more men, these ones clearly not members of security but still armed nonetheless, start to filter through the new hole created from the explosion, and the woman tilts her head.“. . .time for yous to run.”
>The woman leaps up into the air in the direction of the militia, grabbing the one leading the pack with her tongue and pulling him up to her fast enough to position him below herself before kicking him back towards the other with enough force to cause an audible crack as hits another - leaving both crumpled on the ground as their comrades aim their weapons up at the woman.
>With a smug “heh”, the woman swings around, landing in the middle of the men and kicking one in the head, his neck breaking with a crack.
>Still in his perch, the man with the bow tries to get a clear shot at any of the militiamen, but brings the bow down as he fails to.“Hey Khalid, things don’t look too great, huh?”
>The man, Khalid, jumps a little as he’s joined by another man who balances on the edge of the spot precariously.“No public names when we’re out on a mission, remember Trace?”
“Oh, right. . . right. . . still, things don’t look too great, right?”
“You could say that. . .”
>From another entrance, more armed men start filtering in the room.“Great. . . think you can. . .”
>Trace touches Khalid, and the man finds himself on the stage.“. . .get me down there. . . thanks, I need you to go check on the band, if you could.”
“Sure thing.”
>Trace gives Khalid a little mock salute then disappears in a burst of bright blue energy, several “afterimages” appearing in the direction he was going.
>Throwing his bow to the side, Khalid takes out a set of cards from his belt and fans them out as the militia starts to gather around him.“Now, gentlemen, shall we dance?”
No.4710
>>4709>With a grin, Khalid charges up one of the cards with the same energy as the arrow and throws it at one of the militiamen, the card exploding on impact.
>Anticipating the next move from the men, Khalid does a spin, firing off several cards as he does, each one hitting a different man, all while ducking to avoid the first volley of firing from the men’s guns.
>As soon as the volley ends, Khalid runs forward, jumping up into the air to kick one of the militiamen and use him as a stepping stone to get further up, from where he can fire off more cards, hitting all of the ones except the one he kicked - who he quietly finishes off with a throwing knife from his belt.
>Dusting himself off quickly, Khalid looks around to see if any reinforcements have arrived, only for the woman to land right in front of him with a thud.“And you call me a showoff. . .”
>Khalid shrugs.“What can I say? I’m a performer.”
>Looking up at the stands, the pair see that they’re empty.“Ain’t got no audience though.”
“My heart weeps. . . I wonder how Trace is doing. . .”
>As Khalid finishes his sentence, the ground in front of the pair bursts open, and Trace’s body flies up into the air, travelling faster than the dust and debris from the newly created hole.“Trace!”
>Khalid goes to rush forward, but is beaten by the woman as she leaps into the air, intercepting the other man and landing down in the stands, where she carefully places him down, quickly checking his pulse.“He’s breathin’, just a lil’ beaten up!”
>Khalid breathes a sigh of relief before rushing over to grab his bow, aiming at the newly created hole. No.4711
>>4710>From the hole, a blonde woman suddenly emerges, leaping into the air with an impressive amount of speed - especially considering the size of the sword she holds in her hands.
>A blank expression on her face, the woman lands on the ground in front of Khalid, casually surveying the area for a moment before being hit point blank by a charged arrow, the shockwave of which causes the entire room to shake and kicks up enough debris and dust to completely obscure the woman.
>Lowering his bow, Khalid carefully nocks another arrow onto it, but starts running around the dust cloud, hoping to make it to Raine and Trace, only to be stopped by an arm suddenly emerging from the dust - the collision being much like when someone hits a bar or beam.
>Stunned for a moment, Khalid falls to the ground and the woman steps forward out of the dust, standing over the man with the same blank expression - and no indication of having taken any damage from the arrow.“. . .you’re tough, good to know. . .”
>Khalid looks over in the direction of Raine and Trace, nudging his head to indicate that they should leave.“. . .wouldn’t expect one of us to be working with nutjobs like those though.”
>Khalid moves back a little bit, drawing the woman’s attention towards the bodies of the fallen militiamen.“Unless they’re not friends?”
>The woman steps forward, following Khalid, staring down at him with a blank expression, then raises her sword.“. . .not much of a talker, huh. . . I would’ve liked a talker. . .”
>The woman brings down the sword, its arc heading straight for Khalid. No.4712
>>4711>Khalid closes his eyes, bracing for impact, only to open them again as the sound of metal hitting metal, the sword that was intended for him having been sent off course after being hit by another sword with a chain attached to it, the owner of which is revealed a few seconds later as a blue-haired woman collides with the blonde woman fist first, having been propelled along the chain - the force of the strike being enough to send the blonde-woman flying back.
>Pulling the sword back to her with the chain, the blue-haired woman rests it on her shoulder for a moment and looks back at Khalid.“Need a hand?”
>Before she can get her answer, the blonde-haired woman starts to move, prompting her to jump in her direction.
>Khalid isn’t left alone for long, however, as a person with white and black hair appears in front of him.“Hey, Raine said you might need a hand?”
“Blink. . . I never thought I’d be glad to see a face so. . . punchable.”
“Rude. My face is cute, beautiful, smart, and handsome. . .”
>Blink reaches down to help lift Khalid up, the two getting a clear view of the fight between the two women.“For the record, Martha was already here, she’s been tracking this group for a while.”
“Great. . .”
>Khalid looks over at the rest of the room, seeing the metal embedded in the wall from earlier.“You think you could get me over to that?”
>Khalid points at the metal.“I think I can bring the building down on our mystery woman with it, it’ll probably be enough to at least keep her trapped, right?”
>Blink looks over at the metal, then at Khalid.“You’ll owe me for this, just because I
can teleport out of them doesn’t mean I
like being in collapsing buildings.”
>Blink grabs Khalid’s shoulder and the pair disappear. No.4713
>>4712>The pair of Meta-Humans reappear on top of the metal, positioned so they don’t need to worry about balancing themselves - unless the metal is shifted.
>Still on (what remains) of the stage, the two women remain evenly matched, prompting Blink to shift their weight a little as Khalid starts charging the metal.“Hey, you’re all good here, right?”
“Unless you’re after me firing it off now, we’re all good, why?”
“Ok then, you stick there for a moment.”
>Blink disappears and reappears behind the blonde woman, kicking down at her leg.“Hi there!”
>The blonde woman looks over her shoulder at Blink, not reacting as their foot connects with the back of her leg.“Jesus! What the fuck are they feeding you?!”
>Blink jumps back avoiding putting weight on their foot from the pain of having kicked something hard, and the blonde woman swings around to try and hit them with her sword.“Shit-”
>Blink disappears, reappearing a few meters away, and the blonde woman starts stepping towards them, only to be knocked over as Martha slams into her from behind.“You always struggled to pay attention. . .”
>Martha notices the woman’s unfocused eyes.“. . .what did he do to you?”
>The blonde woman struggles against Martha, then throws her off, causing her to skid across the stage, using her sword to slow herself down. “Blink, it’s ready!”
>Taking advantage of the brief reprieve, Blink disappears and reappears on top of the metal pole, grabbing Khalid for a moment and disappearing, reappearing again to wrap their arm around the metal before doing the maneuver one last time so that they’re over the woman.“Catch!”
>Before Blink can let go of the metal, a psionic command rings out through the room, paralysing them in the air and causing them to fall to the ground, the metal crashing to the ground by them, still charged up. No.4714
>>4713“Good word, MGE-1-3.”
>Across the room, a tall man in a lab coat stands in a doorway, patting a young girl with red hair, her eyes covered by a small mask.“MGE-2, this operation is officially called off, time to retreat.”
>The blonde woman looks up at the man, then over to Martha, then back to the man.“Unexpected. . . you should just be following the order. . . but I’ll allow it, just this once, you may finish the job, MGE-2.”
>The blonde woman nods, then starts making her way over to Martha, who picks herself up.
>Groaning and rolling over, Blink looks around the room, their vision blurry as their head rings.
>With their head ringing, Blink looks over to see the blonde woman approaching Martha, then rolls over to see the metal bar still charging up.“Wuh. . .”
>With their body screaming at them, Blink starts to try standing up, their new angle allowing them to see the man with the child.“. . .”
>Wincing, Blink holds a hand against the back of their head, bringing it in front of them to see a small pool of blood on their palm, the sight causing something to trigger in them.“N. . . no. . .”
>Not fully stood up yet, Blink disappears from where they were, reappearing right in front of where the child is, collapsing just in front of them and reaching out to touch their shoulder.“S. . . safe. . .”
>Blink and the child disappear.
>As the pair disappear, the metal bar explodes, taking out the room with everyone in it. No.4716
>Date: November 11th, 2017
>Somewhere in the British countryside.
>Madeleine sits on a bean bag in one of the few still-livable rooms of her home, her eyes closed as a set of TVs rattle on in the background.
"The attack marks the latest in a series of Meta-Human related violence, making many wonder if the time has come. . ."
"These kinds of actions are exactly the type I was speaking of when you voted me into office, and I assure you that the repercussions will be swift. . ."
"Who can blame them, really, there's just too many moving parts in the modern world, things like the internet let bad actors worm their ways into the heads of young Meta-Humans, which would be bad enough, but then we have to account for the powers. . ."
"It was like being on the set of American Ranger again, crazy, really. . ."
>Madeleine sighs, then brings a hand up to her head before opening her eyes, the bags underneath them betraying her lack of sleep.
"Blink, where are you. . ?"
>With another sigh, Madeleine stands up, picking up a remote and turning off the TVs before picking up a mug from the table that the remote was on, taking a sip out of it, grimacing, and then spitting out what she drank back into the cup.
"Bleh. . . cold. . ."
>Putting the mug down, Madeleine rubs her eyes, then turns one of the TVs back on, flicking through the channels to see the different news reports, then stops as she gets an idea.
>Making sure she's not near anything she could knock over, Madeleine closes her eyes again, reality fading away in her perception until she's in the area that her and Orion use privately.
"Orion? Are you free? I. . . I need your help."
No.4717
>>4716>A few moments pass before Madeleine gets a response."Yeah? What's up?"
>Orion's voice comes from off to the side, where he now appears several feet away. He looks tired, clearly having just woken up."Is something wrong?"
>He lets out a yawn. No.4718
>>4717>Madeleine's own tiredness in the real world is not reflected in her appearance within the space, although her "voice" does carry a certain level of anxiousness and tiredness to it."I can't find Blink. . . and I don't mean I haven't seen them recently, I
can't find them. . . they were involved in that incident at the arena in Philadelphia and. . ."
>Madeleine "paces"."They can't be dead, right? They didn't find any bodies in the wreckage? There'd be a body if they'd died. . ."
>Madeleine shakes her head.". . .I have an idea though, I've been doing some thinking, and I think I could. . . like. . . 'read' the psionic energy of a place where something has happened recently? So I need to get into the arena to try that but I can't get in by myself and even if I could it'd probably take me too long to travel there so I need you. . ."
>Madeleine pauses for a moment."I'm making sense, right?"
No.4719
>>4718>Orion moves towards Madeleine, and puts his hands on her shoulders."You're making perfect sense. We'll find them."
>Orion takes his hands off her shoulders. "Just let me know when you're ready to go."
No.4720
>>4719"I'll be ready whenever. . ."
>Madeleine stops to think for a moment."Actually, no, give me ten minutes, then I'll be ready."
>Madeleine disappears from the space. No.4722
>>4721>True to her word, Madeleine is gone for about 10 minutes before returning to the space, her appearance having changed subtly."Right. . . I'm ready. . ."
"You don't think overdressed, do you? Or underdressed? I don't really know Philadelphia very well, I've never been - have you? No. . ."
>Madeleine takes a deep breath and holds a hand out in front of herself."I'll let work out that part, you're the expert, not me."
No.4724
>>4723>Madeleine dusts herself off, looking around to make sure there's no one who needs to be "encouraged" to forget what they just saw."If it helps, it's the first time I've done it like that too. . ."
>Madeleine offers out a handkerchief for Orion to use to wipe the sweat off with."So, how are we getting there, do we try to get a taxi or. . ?"
No.4725
>>4724>Orion accepts the handkerchief and wipes his sweat. He hands it back after then pulls out his phone. "Let me see…"
>Orion pulls out his phone and begins to open up a map."..What arena is it? This is saying there's nearly a dozen arenas here."
No.4726
>>4725"Well. . . it
was the Tomorrow Arena. . ."
>Madeleine thinks for a moment."I think it used to be a stadium as well?"
No.4727
>>4726>Orion types away for his phone and flicks through it for a moment. "We're not that far. It says it should only be a 10 minute drive, assuming traffic isn't bad."
>Orion looks at Madeleine."I could get us there faster if you want."
No.4728
>>4727"It'll probably be more than 10 minutes now. . . there's not really
a Tomorrow Arena left anymore. . ."
>Madeleine gives Orion an awkward grin."If you have a faster method and you think it'll be fine to do it, I'd rather that. . ."
No.4729
>>4728"Yeah, I have a faster way."
>Orion suddenly scoops Madeleine up, carrying her."Try not to freak out."
>Orion suddenly rockets into the air and across the sky, curving around the skyline and towards the (former) arena.
>It just a few seconds he drops from the sky and lands on his feet, skidding across the ground and stopping just outside the ruined entrance of the collapsed building. "Was that too rough? Should I have come down slower?"
>He looks at Madeleine awaiting an answer. No.4730
>>4729"What do you mea-"
>Madeleine is cut off as Orion scoops her up, having to keep her mouth closed to not scream out.
>Once the pair have landed, Madeleine looks around and closes her eyes for a moment, making sure any onlookers can't see them."That was. . . certainly something. . ."
>Catching her breath, Madeleine looks at what remains of the entrance."I think it should be in the main room. . . it's probably a bit easier to find a way through now, right?"
>Madeleine chuckles dryly. No.4731
>>4730"Yeah… maybe I should've landed slower. Sorry."
>He places Madeleined back on her feet, making sure to help her steady herself just in case she feels any dizziness.
>Afterwards he looks at the arena's collapsed entrance, noticing a small opening blocked off by yellow tape. He points it out."There's an opening."
No.4732
>>4731"How confident in your ability to hold a building up are you?"
>Madeleine walks over to the tape, kneeling down slightly to walk underneath it while she holds it up."Because there's not much building left to support what remains."
No.4734
>>4733"Glad to hear you're confident."
>Madeleine walks through the "corridor" formed by the rubble, stopping occasionally when the way is blocked by rubble, having to wait for Orion to move it aside.
>Eventually, the pair reach the collapsed, and scorched, main hall of the arena, what was once a room designed to allow people to have a clear view of the stage from as many angles as possible now being a maze of collapsed rubble."Well, here goes. . ."
>Madeleine takes a deep breath, closing her eyes and reaching out with her mind, falling silent for a few moments as she tries her new technique.
>Once she's finished, Madeleine opens her eyes, stumbling slightly as she regains her balance."They're. . . they're alive at least. . ."
>Madeleine looks over at Orion, sending over the memories she picked over for him to look over psionically."Maybe Martha knows something? She helped you out with Dreamville, right?"
No.4735
>>4734"She did, and maybe she can be a help."
>Orion looks at Madeleine. "But before that, are you okay? You're clearly exhausted and I can tell you haven't been sleeping."
No.4736
>>4735>Madeleine shakes head."I'm fine. . . I can go longer than this. . . You don't need to worry about it."
>Madeleine turns to leave the room."I'll try and see if there's any information on where Martha could be, she's probably not too far away."
No.4738
>>4737"I'm why they get into these situations. . ."
>Madeleine stops for a moment.". . .it's the least I can do."
>Madeleine starts walking out again."For them, for anyone that has something like this happen to them because of me."
No.4740
>>4739". . .thank you. You didn't have to, you could have tried to force me to sleep or something."
>Madeleine walks at a fairly slow pace, not wanting to rush and risk falling over a stray piece of rubble, then stops as she notices something, taking a detour to look over the wrecked frame advertising one of the upcoming events."Weird. . . is this a joke or something?"
>Madeleine taps the tattered poster, the top half having been ripped off in the destruction, leaving only the legs of several figures in action poses."American Ranger didn't have a character called Chancy, why are they advertising some show around an actor for that?"
No.4741
>>4740"Huh?"
>Orion turns to face the poster, not having been looking at it."Oh. Er… I don't know. I never watched it. Maybe you just forgot or something."
No.4742
>>4741"No. . ."
>Madeleine shakes her head, trying to dust off part of the poster to show the billing section.". . .he'd be pretty major, if he were like this poster is saying, I wouldn't just forget a main character in a show from when I was a kid. . ."
>Madeleine turns from the poster to look at Orion."You probably would've loved the show, by the way, they based it on a comic series from the 60s, but a lot of the footage for it was Japanese suit actor footage. . ."
"-it didn't have any sidekick characters called Chancy though, no matter what this claims."
No.4743
>>4742"Yeah but… why would there be some random poster lying about that?"
>Orion stares at Madeleine, trying not to upset her. He thinks for a few moments on what to say."Maybe it's some kind of fan project or spin-off they made later or something. Those kinds of things happen."
No.4744
>>4743"They wouldn't be able to do an event on that scale for a fan project though, and that's the original logo for the show right there."
>Madeleine taps part of the poster."I mean, like, it's clearly not the main event here, but it's big enough to be able to book an arena, so it's official in
some way, but there wasn't a character like that, I would remember a character like that."
No.4745
>>4744"Madeleine…"
>Orion looks concerned."Maybe you're just having trouble remembering because you're stressed and tired."
No.4746
>>4745"No. I
would remember a character like that, the show only had, like, five named characters that appeared in multiple episodes."
>Madeleine steps away from the poster, letting it crumple back up again."Even if I am tired, I wouldn't forget something like that, that's a big gap."
No.4747
>>4746"…Okay."
>Orion blinks."Anyway, you were going to find Martha?"
No.4748
>>4747". . .right."
>Madeleine shakes her head for a moment, as if throwing out the train of thought from the poster."We can work out the weird poster later, Martha first. Or, well, we could do breakfast first, technically."
"Even if she's probably nearby, we'll have to wait for a bit for information to come in, so that sounds like a chance to have something nice to me. . ."
>Madeleine quickly glances over her shoulder at the poster, then brings her attention back to the matter at hand.". . .sorry, sorry, it just feels like. . . It needs to be addressed, I'm not doing it intentionally, I swear."
No.4750
>>4749"It's not like I
want to talk about it, it's just bugging me. . ."
>Madeleine grumbles as she takes Orion's hand back, the pair heading out of the remains of the building.————————————————————————————————-
>After a quick search, and a short walk, the pair manage to find a nearby coffee shop that serves (overpriced) breakfast items that has a table spare for the pair to sit at.
>Once they're sat down, Madeleine sends some messages out with her phone and places it on the table.". . .just have to wait for a fish to bite now."
No.4751
>>4750"Oh I met a guy who was half fish once. I mean it literally. He had a vertical split between his body where one half was a regular human the other half was a fish man."
"I don't think he enjoyed being a Meta-Human very much."
No.4752
>>4751>Madeleine takes a sip from her drink.". . .that sounds horrifying, please don't ever mention that again unless you have to - I don't even want to think of it."
>Madeleine puts her cup down.". . .anyway, that poster is still weird. It's bugging me."
No.4754
>>4753"Fine."
>Madeleine picks her phone up from the table, searching something from it, then waits for a few moments while the results load."See? I'm right."
>Madeleine shows the phone to Orion, which seems to say the opposite of what she's saying. No.4757
>>4756"Madeleine. I really think you need some sleep."
>Orion stops spinning his drink around, and looks Madeleine in the eyes. "You're sleep deprived. I can tell just by looking at you. And your behavior is only making it more obvious."
No.4758
>>4757"I'm sleep deprived, sure, I can admit that, I didn't get sleep last night. . ."
>Madeleine takes a sip of her drink."But I wouldn't just forget things like that if I were sleep deprived, it's not because I need sleep, there's something off."
No.4760
>>4759>Madeleine shakes her head."It's
not lack of sleep, I can. . . I can just
tell. . . it's like a
feeling. Look. . ."
>Madeleine closes her eyes for a moment, searching for memories, then sends over a load to Orion, all of them being select moments from she was a child watching the show."See? Nothing in there."
No.4761
>>4760"Okay. Well."
>Orion leans back further in his seat, looking tired."I don't know then. Maybe something altered your memories. Maybe something is messing with my own perception. Maybe we're both actually asleep right now and this is a really detailed dream."
>Orion shrugs, partially throwing his hands into the air as he does so. No.4762
>>4761"Why though? It's a kids show from the 90s, why would something do
any of those over a kids show? it just. . ."
>Madeleine shakes her head.". . .it just doesn't make any sense - and I'm pretty certain it's not a dream."
No.4763
>>4762"I don't think it's a dream either. Everything is too consistent."
>Orion looks almost stumped."Maybe this has something to do with what happened? I'm not really sure how, but maybe we missed something."
No.4764
>>4763"There's not really anything. . ."
>Madeleine thinks for a moment."The little girl, maybe? But that's just the same problem as before, Blink wouldn't have left a child alone. . ."
>Madeleine sighs."They're got a weakness for kids. Wait. . ."
>Madeleine takes her phone back and searches something up, bringing up an actor's portfolio website."The actor from the poster? That the meet and greet was for, that's another option, right?"
No.4766
>>4765"Well, no, he wouldn't necessarily have been there. . ."
>Madeleine pauses, a thought coming to mind.". . .but he
was, he obviously evacuated before things fully kicked off, but he did an interview after about it."
>As Orion spins the cup in the air, a member of the coffee shop's staff walks over and speaks to him in a quiet voice."Sorry, but we ask Meta-Human customers to not use their powers while in the store, it disturbs the other customers. . . If you continue we'll have to ask you to leave."
No.4767
>>4766>Orion stares at the employee. "I'm not making any noise, and I'm not breaking anything."
>He turns back to look at Madeleine and ignores the employee's presence."So do you think we should find him then?"
No.4768
>>4767"He might have some clues, right? He's certainly benefited from whatever this is, that looks like a deal with the devil or something if I ever saw one."
>The employee doesn't leave, despite Orion's attempt to brush them off."I'm sorry, but you're disturbing the other customers, even if it's quiet and not breaking anything."
No.4769
>>4768{"Maddie, this has nothing to do with what happened."}"Then we can go see him. Whenever you're ready."
>Orion looks at the staff member, staring right into their eyes with an annoyed expression."Maybe other customers should mind their own business."
No.4770
>>4769"Martha first, though, I doubt he'll go anywhere in the next few hours."
>Madeleine brings her cup up to her mouth, drinking as much of her drink as she can.
>The staff member takes a deep breath, preparing themselves."I'm sorry sir, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
No.4774
>>4773>The staff member looks down at the money, then at Orion, clearly conflicted about what to do before awkwardly mumbling out an apology and turning around, going to walk away until they're stopped by a lean looking man who puts a hand on their shoulder."No. . . no. . . don't let the
meta intimidate you, we've already let them ruin the arena. . ."
>The man pushes the staff member closer, standing over Orion and Madeleine so as to deliberately block out the light."You heard her, your kind aren't welcome here,
meta."
>Madeleine looks at the man, then at Orion."Come on, let's go, it's not worth it."
No.4776
>>4775>The man laughs mockingly."A meta comedian, that's a new one."
>The man goes to put a hand on Orion's shoulder."Look, meta, you were told to leave, so why don't you leave? We don't want you here."
No.4777
>>4776>Orion takes the man's hand and removes it from his shoulder."Don't touch me."
>Orion takes a drink from his cup and dismissively waves his free hand."Go somewhere else tell someone they can't ride the front seat in a bus or something. Whatever it is you people do for fun."
No.4778
>>4777>Madeleine looks around the room, then whispers to Orion."He's not alone. . ."
>The man grabs Orion's wrist as he waves his free hand."I'm doing a public service here, you're harassing this poor barista, I'm making sure you don't, am I gonna need to teach you a lesson,
meta?"
No.4779
>>4778>Orion stares at the man. He grabs a hold of the man's hand, and squeezes it hard enough to shatter bone as he removes it from his wrist.
>He gets up from his seat, and then shoves the man to the floor. Orion looks at the barista."Sorry. I wasn't trying to cause a big scene."
>Omnius hands the barista another $100"C'mon Maddie."
No.4780
>>4779>The man yells out in pain as the bones in his hand audibly shatters."Fucking- get them!"
>With his non-broken hand, the man gestures at some other men in the coffee shop, who start to muscle their way across the shop.
>The barista looks down at the extra money, and starts to back away before being briefly being stopped by Madeleine, who hands her a scrap of paper."My advice? Quit this job and phone that number later, I'll make sure you'll get enough to not need another dead-end job like this, ok?"
>Turning back to Orion, Madeleine sighs."Yeah, let's go."
No.4782
>A cartoon American Ranger does a power pose, grinning, then punches through the fourth wall, stepping out from the video player she was standing in.
"American Ranger ended nearly 20 years ago, but, golly, going by all your comments, you wouldn't think it."
>American Ranger steps downwards, the page scrolling as she does until she reaches a comment section.
"So we figured, why not read a few?"
>American Ranger grabs onto a comment, ripping it from the page and turning around to read it.
"Aw, this one's sweet. . . 'I used to be a big fan of the show as a kid, and as a parent, I get to introduce it to my kids, my son's a big fan of Chancy, and watching the show again reminds me of what it was like when I was his age'. . . I'm glad to hear it. . ."
>American Ranger carefully puts the comment back, the words glowing for a moment as she pats it to make sure it's safe before taking out another comment.
"'I recently started rewatching the show, and every time I see it, it makes me forget any troubles I have in my life'. . . well, I'm sorry to hear that things are bad, but I'm glad that the shining spirit of freedom and justice still makes you feel safe. . ."
>American Ranger continues reading through comments, many of them having a similar theme to the first two, but eventually comes to a stopping point.
"Ah, looks like time's up, but before I go, I want you to all remember - whoever you are, whether you're a kid young or old, never let anyone tell you you're too old to believe in the American Ranger."
>American Ranger does a casual salute, and the video ends.
No.4783
>>4781>Madeleine follows Orion out of the store, not dignifying the men with any engagement.
>After several minutes of walking, the pair end up in a small wooded park, where a nervous looking man notices them and approaches."O-oh, hi. . . are you the ones looking for. . . the woman?"
>Madeleine takes a moment to process what the man is asking, then nods."We are."
"A-and you said you could get Omnius to sign my fanart?"
>Madeleine looks at Orion."I think we could arrange that, right?"
No.4784
>>4783>Orion stares at the man, almost startled at the man's request. "Oh. Er… yeah definitely. If anyone can get him to do that, it'd be us."
>He leans over and whispers to Madeleine."
I didn't know people liked me that much."
No.4785
>>4784>Madeleine whispers back."This guy's a bit of a nerd. . ."
>As she finishes her whispered comment, the man adjusts a taped together pair of glasses."And I'm sure he'll agree to it with his good friend here asking for it."
"O-oh, nice. . . what's he like? Do you know his shoe size? I'm trying to recreate his costume and I want the shoes to be the right size if I can."
>Madeleine coughs politely."O-oh yeah. . . the woman. . . well, me and a few others were in the sewers last night. . . for studying purposes! I swear!"
>When it's clear that the pair don't care, the man continues.". . .anyway, we were going to a spot we usually like to visit and we saw a woman who looked like what you were looking for: tall, blue hair, she looked like she'd crawled out of a fire or something, all her clothes were dusty. . ."
"That does sound like the right person - and where is this usual spot?"
"Oh right, yeah, here, I'll send you a map pin. . ."
>The man takes out his phone and holds it out for Madeleine to take the map data from. As she does, he looks at Orion."Do you know what brand of deodorant Omnius uses?"
No.4786
>>4785"Er… no?"
>Orion looks really confused."Do you know what brand of deodorant your friends use?"
No.4787
>>4786"I don't have many friends. . ."
>The man looks sad."That's a shame, though, I was hoping to get it as accurate as I could. . ."
>Madeleine hands the man his phone back, and looks up at Orion."Well, we should probably get going, but we'll make sure to get that art printed and signed for you, make sure to send where you want it posting to, ok?"
>Before the man can reply, Madeleine nudges Orion to start walking away, not wanting a prolonged conversation. No.4788
>>4787"Yup."
>Orion turns and begins to walk away with Madeleine. He waits until they're a considerable distance from the man, before finally speaking up again."What the hell was that? Who even was that guy? I didn't know I had some… fan that you knew."
No.4789
>>4788"He's a student at the University of Pennsylvania. . . I didn't know him, someone I know just caught wind of his story and mentioned he's a fan. . ."
>Madeleine scoffs, trying to hold in laughter."Maybe we should look at putting Omnius on lunchboxes."
No.4790
>>4789>Orion smiles at the idea."…I don't think most parents would let their kids buy a lunch box of an "illegal danger to society and property"."
>He glances in Madeleine's direction. "But hey. You never know."
No.4791
>>4790"You never know, people do like electing war criminals."
>Madeleine manages to hold the laughter in, just in time for someone to walk past her and stop."Hey, nice American Ranger hair, cool."
>Blinking, Madeleine looks at the person."Thanks. . . but it's my natural hair. . ."
>Before she can finish her sentence, the person is gone."That was weird, right?"
No.4792
>>4791>Orion furrows his brow."Yeah. That was really weird."
>He scratches his head. "Madeleine, there's something really strange going on. And it's all connected to that American Ranger show."
>He looks at Madeleine."I don't like any of this."
No.4793
>>4792"That's what I've been saying! Although that one was particularly weird, it was like he didn't even know that natural blondes exist, plus. . ."
>Madeleine runs a finger through a few lengths of her hair."He didn't even notice my highlights, she never had anything close to blue highlights in the show. . ."
>Madeleine stops running her finger through her hair and coughs, trying to move on from the comment."Anyway, it's like he had a completely different idea of common sense."
No.4794
>>4793"No comment on me though. So I guess he thinks natural blonde men still exist."
>Orion furrows his brow."Weird."
>He lingers on the thought for a few moments, before snapping back into reality."We should start heading to that spot the guy gave us. The sooner the better."
No.4795
>>4794"Probably more to do with the fact that the show didn't have any blonde guys in the main cast - and I doubt he remembers every random background extra."
>Madeleine shrugs."Still very weird though, even if it's a little vindicating."
"But yeah, let's head off. . ."
No.4796
>>4795>Some time later, after a slight trek through the city, and a small detour into the sewers, the pair arrive in the location that the man pointed out to them, a hidden little corner underground that was likely a maintenance room of some kind originally, now abandoned by whoever the original owners were.
>Looking around briefly, Madeleine sighs."Well, I can see why that guy and his friends liked the place, it's a perfect hiding spot when you need some. . . privacy from the law. . ."
>Quietly, Madeleine adds:". . .and it doesn't smell as much as the rest of the sewers."
>Noticing a corner off to the side, Madeleine carefully approaches it, only to be stopped as a heavy sword flies through the air in front of her and embeds itself into the wall.
>A few moments after the sword's impact, a familiar voice comes from around the corner."Whoever it is. . . go away."
No.4797
>>4796>Orion immediately steps between Madeleine and the source of the sword. He's clearly upset at what just happened."Hey, no need to take someone's fucking head off just because you want left alone."
>He starts to step around the corner towards the source of the voice."It's Orion. Remember me?"
No.4798
>>4797"Oh. . ."
>The sword is tugged back through a chain attached to it, and drags across the floor and behind the corner."Go away."
"I just need to ask a few questions. . ."
"Go away."
>From the angle he's standing at, Orion can see the familiar form of Martha, looking the same as she did in the amusement park, albeit much worse for wear - having clearly not gotten out of the explosion intact. No.4799
>>4798>Orion looks at Madeleine. "Just a moment Maddie."
>Orion turns back to Martha."What are you doing just squatting in the sewers? You need to see a doctor or something."
>Orion's eyes move across, studying Martha's visible wounds. No.4800
>>4799>Madeleine looks at Orion for a moment, going to say something, but relents."Right. . ."
>Martha finishes bringing the sword to herself."Resting so I can head out to somewhere where I
can 'see a doctor'."
>Martha puts the sword on her back, wincing slightly."We don't all have the luxury of being able to go by official means like you do, you know. . ."
>Martha walks away for a moment, searching in a box in the alcove, and takes out a bandage, applying it to one of her wounds as she continues."Some of us are considered guilty of crimes by association - now go away."
No.4801
>>4800>Orion looks annoyed."You think I'm just going to dump you at a hospital or something? I know a handful of people that can help without doing anything official."
>Orion watches as Martha fishes out the bandages."…What happened at that stadium? Who did this?"
No.4802
>>4801>Martha rips the bandage with her teeth, tightening it with a wince."I don't know, you could, I can't exactly trust you and you can't exactly trust me."
>Confirming the bandage is tight enough, Martha puts the roll to the side."That's the way things work, right? I'll find my own way when I can."
>With a sigh, Martha sits down on a box."I told you to go away, this isn't a guest house. . . will you go away if I tell you what I know?"
No.4803
>>4802"I don't like politicking and scheming. You can trust me."
>Orion watches as Martha sits."Fine. Tell us what you know and we'll leave."
>He steps out from between the girls, satisfied that Madeleine is safe. No.4804
>>4803"That's easy to say, not so easy to keep to."
>With Orion no longer blocking the way, Madeleine steps forward."Thank you, Martha, we won't be long - I've already seen what happened."
>Martha raises an eyebrow at the comment, but otherwise keeps quiet."I just need to know a few things: Who were the militia? Who was the scientist? Who was the woman you were fighting - and the child as well? And do you know where Blink went?"
>Martha thinks for a moment, then shrugs."I thought your friend went back to you. I don't know who the child was, nor the scientist. That woman's identity is a private matter, and the militia belonged to a group called the Witchfinders, they hunt down Meta-Humans because they're convinced they're the spawn of Satan - I was hunting them for personal reasons."
>Martha looks at the pair."Satisfied?"
No.4805
>>4804"Clearly you didn't learn much about me the last time we met."
>Orion grumbles to himself in annoyance. He then looks at Madeleine expectantly. "Well? What now?"
No.4806
>>4805>Martha looks over the two, watching Madeleine's for a moment, then adds:"I doubt that kid's the only one they've got, but I have no leads you can follow - he might have more recent info."
>Martha points at Orion."I doubt it, though, it's been a long time since Ken Thompson was involved with them. Outside of that, I've got nothing. . ."
>Martha sighs.". . .makes me feel as useless as Chancy is sometimes."
>Madeleine visibly reacts to the last comment."Wait, what?"
"What?"
"That last thing."
"I was just saying it makes me feel a bit useless, that's all."
". . .right."
>Madeleine nudges Orion."Orion, I think we need to leave, it's happening again. We need to get to the bottom of whatever this. . . thing is."
No.4807
>>4806>Orion looks at Martha."Reach out if you ever decide to stop squatting in a sewer and acting like I'm going to have you arrested."
>He takes Madeleine's hand and turns to walk away, lowering his voice while speaking with her."Why is it all focused on this Chancy character? What's the point of making people think some bumbling sidekick exists?"
No.4808
>>4807". . .good luck in your search."
>Martha comments as the pair leave her behind.
>Keeping up pace with Orion, Madeleine maintains her previous volume."I'm not sure. . . maybe it's. . . leverage or something? Like it needs something for people to latch onto to make it's way in?"
". . .if it's something that needs to make its way in, that is. Why it's doing that through a kids show from the 90s I don't know though."
No.4810
>>4809"Well. . ."
>Madeleine sighs.". . .there's no leads on Blink now, so we've just got to wait until something comes up, I guess."
>Madeleine takes out her phone, bringing up the information from earlier."Want to look into this actor, then? He's based not far from here."
No.4812
>>4811"Off we go then, time to visit an actor - hope you brought your autograph book."
—————————————————-
>After another journey, the pair find themselves outside a small office building, the sun starting to set behind them with just the right angle to provide enough light to read the names on the buzzer by the main entrance.
>Reading through them, Madeleine presses one, and the buzzer rings for a few moments before someone picks it up."This is Shooter's Stars, how can we help you today?"
"Hi, we have an appointment with Raymond Allen, it should be under Cox - I know we're a little late but I was hoping he'd still be available."
>The familiar sound of keyboard tapping can be heard through the low quality microphone of the buzzer, and then the device makes a noise to indicate that the door is unlocked."He's still available, if you'd like to come up, we'll set you up in one of the meeting rooms."
>Opening the door, Madeleine steps through, holding it open long enough for Orion follow her, and heads upstairs, eventually being placed in a small meeting room.
>As the pair wait, Madeleine taps her fingers."Do you think he knows what's happening? Or do you think he's another victim of it?"
No.4813
>>4812>Orion scratches his head, trying to think. "Either he's responsible for it, or…"
>Orion looks almost baffled by his own thought for a moment."…Or maybe he's not real either. Whether or not that's literal, I have no idea."
No.4814
>>4813>Madeleine nods."It's certainly a convenient situation for him, going from nothing to the hot topic pretty much overnight. . ."
>Madeleine trails off as a man with brown hair in a suit steps into the room."Ah. . ."
>Madeleine stands up and offers out a hand for the man to shake."You must be Mr Allen, my name's Erika Xavier, and this is. . ."
>Madeleine indicates to Orion."Well, I'll let him introduce himself. I just wanted to say before we start that I'm a big fan of your work back in the 90s, I know you were technically a child actor then, but you still held yourself well."
>The man, Raymond Allen, looks confused for a moment as he processes everything that was said to him, but then smiles."Thank you, it's always nice to meet a fan, especially when they're interested in funding my projects."
"Of course of course, now, but first, I'll let my associate ask a few questions, we don't want it to just be us speaking after all."
>Madeleine chuckles and the man joins in awkwardly."Yeah. . ."
No.4815
>>4814>Orion stares at the man, taking a moment to study him. He takes note of his brief confusion, then extends a hand to shake. "Mark."
>After giving time for the man to shake his hand, Orion immediately begins."First, how are you doing? Good I hope."
>Orion continues watching the man intentively. No.4816
>>4815"Nice to meet you Mark. . . uh. . . I didn't catch your last name."
>The man awkwardly shakes Orion's hand."I'm doing good, this recent nostalgia boom has been amazing for me, to be honest."
>Raymond sits down in the last remaining chair."I saw, you had an event on in the Tomorrow Arena, well, before it fell over."
"Oh yeah, bad situation there. . ."
>The man pauses as he shivers, a shiver also running up Orion and Madeleine's spines at the exact same time, then continues.". . .but you didn't ask to see me to catch up over the news, right? You're interested in my play. . ."
>The man reaches into his suit, then frowns, patting various parts of his suit.". . .looks like I've forgotten the script, one moment. . ."
>Raymond stands up, heading to the door, and opens it, only to find the other side has changed from the small office area to an endless expanse of corridors."What the-"
No.4817
>>4816"Fucking shit."
>Orion moves towards Raymond, grabbing him by the shoulder and shoving him into the wall."Alright, what the fuck is happening? You were confused about whatever the hell is going on out there. But we know there's no character named "Chancy" for that American Whatever show."
>Orion tightens his grip on the man's shoulder. "You been working with a psion, or maybe a wizard or something?"
No.4818
>>4817>Raymond lets out a yelp as Orion shoves him into the wall."W-what are you on about? I remember playing him and everything. . . Ow ow ow!"
>Raymond lets out another yelp of pain as the grip on his shoulder is tightened.". . .I swear I remember playing him! Julie was so kind on set and. . . and. . . why can't I. . . ow! Please stop that!"
"Orion. . ."
>Madeleine stands up. ". . .I think he's telling the truth. I can tell he's not lying. . ."
>Madeleine groans.". . .we're on the Astral Plane."
"What's an Astral Plane?"
No.4819
>>4818>Orion releases his grip on the man, and takes a step back. He looks at Madeleine"Just because he's telling the truth that doesn't mean he's not responsible."
>He turns his attention back towards the man."It's the place where minds originate. Your brain is influential but not the actual source. Now answer my question from earlier. Have you been talking with any psionic Meta-Humans?"
No.4820
>>4819"Where minds. . . what. . . no, at least I don't think so. . ."
>Raymond clutches his head for a moment."Why can't I remember anything specific about-"
>Just before he can finish his question, Raymond disappears unceremoniously, and a "voice" speaks out from the surroundings, feeling more like a train of thought than anything actually vocal.Not needed here. This one doesn't want.
>Madeleine looks at Orion."You heard. . . felt? That too, right?"
No.4821
>>4820"Yeah. I did."
>Orion starts looking around the room."Whatever's there! Come on out!"
No.4822
>>4821>Orion receives no response from whatever the presence was, and Madeleine closes her eyes for a moment, reaching out as far as she can."I'm not picking up anything. . . outside of the surroundings, of course. . ."
>Madeleine opens her eyes again, and offers a hand for Orion to take.". . .at the risk of this ending up with us being eaten, or stabbed, or set on fire, or possessed, or whatever, do you want to have a look what's beyond that door? I don't think we're going to have much luck staying in here."
No.4823
>>4822>Orion takes Madeleine's hand. "Whatever's thrown at us, we'll make it through."
>He begins to lead her towards the door."Let's go have a look."
No.4824
>>4823"Once more into the breach, then. . ."
>Madeleine takes Orion's hand, and the pair step through the doorway, the door instantly shutting behind them and disappearing the moment they look away, having been replaced by more endless corridor.
>With a sigh, Madeleine looks around.". . .at least it's not actively trying to kill us yet."
No.4827
>>4826"Let's do it then."
>Orion points his attention towards the nearest wall, immediately destroying it with a massive explosion. The chunks of dust and debris quickly fizzle away, only to reveal yet another identical corridor in place of what was once a wall."What?"
>Orion stares at it in disbelief, before gritting his teeth and trying again. This time, he destroys practically the entire area around the pair, only for it to reveal more identical corridors."What the fuck!"
No.4828
>>4827>Madeleine's reaction to the situation is relatively calmer.". . .that's not a good sign, usually these things just break apart when you do that. . ."
>The presence from earlier returns:Sea-one angry, angry not good, Sea-one be calm. . .
>A door appears Remember good times, simpler times, better times.
>A door suddenly appears behind the pair, and opens with a creak.Indulge inner child.
No.4830
>>4829Sea-one no angry, angry bad. Sea-one calm.
>Madeleine looks at Orion, clearly not hearing the presence."I don't think destroying it will work. . ."
>Madeleine looks at the door.". . .it's something different, at least?"
No.4831
>>4830"I just keep hearing that annoying voice complaining about me not being calm."
> Not yet realizing that Madeleine hasn't also heard the presence, Orion gives the door a casual kick, more like a light tap with his foot to vent some frustration."I guess we just have to go through it."
No.4832
>>4831"Weird that it's so concerned about your mental state, I've never encountered a therapist on the Astral Plane. . ."
>Madeleine looks at the door.". . .still, we can go through, if you think that's for the best."
No.4833
>>4832"I'd rather not. But smashing things doesn't seem to be working either."
>He looks at Madeleine. "Come on. I guess."
>He then goes to step through the door. No.4835
>>4834>Orion looks around the room, and then down at himself."…Wha- I'm a kid?"
>He examines his hands, and then his body, before looking back around the room."Whatever you're doing, knock it off!"
>Orion grabs a near-by baseball off the ground and throws it, smashing the sole window in the tiny room. He then goes on a rampage, stomping across the room throwing and smashing whatever he can."Fix me! Take me back to Maddie!"
>He continues to stomp around the room breaking things, only to finally take notice of the television. "Why are you so focused on that stupid show!? I've never even seen it! I've-"
>With his attention finally being grabbed, he continues to stare at the screen."Huh."
No.4836
>>4835>The footage on the show continues despite Orion's protests.". . .and remember kids, it's always important to have somewhere you can call safe, somewhere you can escape to, whether that's real or imaginary. . ."
>As the show continues, Madeleine steps through the door, similarly being transformed."What. . . this thing really likes childhood, huh? It's like some big company trying to sell you nostalgia or something. . ."
>Madeleine looks at the screen.". . .it's not saying the worst things, though, that's a good lesson for kids. . ."
>At the entrance of the room, Madeleine stands, silently tapping against an invisible wall and shouting out to Orion, her words not making their way through. Before Orion can look over at the door again, it silently closes. . . No.4837
>>4836>With a brief break in the show due to the episode ending, Orion looks over and notices Madeleine standing in the room."Hey! Maddie!"
>Orion hurries towards her. "I was worried you weren't going to make it in here!"
No.4838
>>4837>Madeleine rushes over and gives Orion a hug."It was just a weird door, that's not enough to stop me. . ."
>Madeleine chuckles."Besides, what would I be if I just left you behind like that?"
—————————————————-
>Outside of the room Madeleine knocks on the door as hard as she can, stopping when it's clear "What did you do to him?! I know you can hear me!"
>The corridor is silent for a moment before the presence "speaks up" again:Sea-one was angry, this one provided escape.
"Escape? You better not have-"
>The corridor darkens for a moment as it matches Madeleine's mood, and the presence changes as it notices something.Mule?! This one knows! This one knows! Presence was different, but is Mule! This one is such big fan! But why didn't Mule make self known?
>Madeleine's anger is temporarily defused by confusion at the presence's comments.". . .Mule?"
Mule lost memory? Ok, this one will remind!
No.4839
>>4838>The corridor shifts and turns as the door Orion went through disappears, and another door appears a fair distance away.Mule! Follow!
"No. Bring him back."
In time! In time! Mule should follow first!
>Madeleine opens her mouth to argue again, but relents after a moment of thought."Fine, I'll play by your game. . ."
>Madeline starts stepping down the corridor towards the new door, and the walls rotate around her, stopping occasionally to stabilise and show a painting, all of them depicting ruined cities and environments.This one is Mule's biggest fan, so this one tried to copy Mule. . .
>Madeleine frowns at the painting, not saying anything so as to avoid a reaction from the presence.But this one did not understand dark heart of humanity like Mule, so this one did different, this one
helped humanity. . .
>As Madeleine goes further down, the paintings change in tone, depicting societies slowly stagnating and collapsing into more ruins.This one loves children, so this one made
all children! Reality harsh and complicated, but childhood, childhood simple. . .
>Madeleine stops for a moment, looking over one of the pictures."It's escapism though, it's not healthy. Look at what's happening."
Humans saved from pain, though, like Mule wanted.
>As the comment stops, the door suddenly snaps closer, right in front of Madeleine.This one found key memory! Watch!
No.4840
>>4839>The door makes a creaking sound as it opens in front of Madeleine, leading into a small office in her home. At a desk in the centre of the room is an older man, who types away at a typewriter. As she sees it, Madeleine takes a small step back."Oh. . ."
>In front of Madeleine, another version of herself steps through the door, walking so that she's just in front of the man, who doesn't look up to greet her."You're late."
"The trains. . ."
"I didn't ask for an excuse."
". . .sorry."
"When I tell you to come home, I expect you to drop everything you are doing and return immediately."
"But-"
"No excuses, ■■■■■."
"Yes father. . ."
>The Madeleine in the office looks down sullenly."Well?"
"Sorry father?"
"Are you not going to ask why I told you to return? Or did I raise a dullard?"
"No father, why did you need to see me?"
"I've arranged a new business deal. You are to return home permanently, no more gallivanting at university."
"But-"
"No buts, ■■■■■."
"Yes father. . ."
"Good, now. . ."
>The man begins to speak again, but his words are drowned out as the Madeleine in the scene begins to focus on something else. As she does, the Madeleine in the corridor grabs the door and struggles against it for a moment before slamming it shut."No.
That is
not a 'core memory',
that is not to be seen."
>The presence seems surprised again, but then replies with an almost jovial nature.This one sees now. This is not Mule. . . this is Stronger-Mule!
No.4841
>>4840"What?"
Mule could never do it, but Stronger-Mule, Stronger-Mule did! Stronger-Mule is hero!
>As the presence "speaks", Madeleine's clothing changes to that of American Ranger."What's your obsession with that show. . . you know what,
fine."
>Madeleine clenches her fist."If you're insisting that I'm some kind of hero to you, I'll do something a hero does. . ."
>Madeleine punches the wall, causing it to crack.". . .I'll save a child in danger."
Stronger-Mule, wait!
>Madeleine punches the wall again, causing the cracks to enlarge.—————————————————-
>Within the room, the TV continues to play the show, with American Ranger fighting a villain, until an attack of hers meets with the screen, causing it to crack.
>American Ranger punches the screen again, causing it to shatter, and reaches through the TV screen to pull herself through and grab the "Madeleine" in the room. As she does, she looks at Orion."Hey, kid, this might be a bit confusing, but I need you to trust me for a moment - this isn't who you think it is. . ."
>Still keeping hold of the "Madeleine", American Ranger does a pose."I should know, I'm her."
No.4843
>>4842>American Ranger dodges the attack, having to drop "Madeleine" as she does."That's not Madeleine, Orion, I am."
>Pointing at the other "Madeleine", American Ranger scoffs."I mean, do you
really think I'd wear anything like that?"
No.4844
>>4843"Well I've never seen you dressed like this before either!"
>His eyes move back and forth between "Madeleine" and American Ranger."Wait."
>He looks at "Madeleine"."Maddie? Hello? You haven't said anything in a while."
No.4846
>>4845>Orion's eyes widen in surprise as "Madeleine" fades away. "She was a fake!"
>He looks at American Ranger with a mix of shock, and even child-like wonder. "You are the real Madeleine then!"
>Orion moves towards Madeleine, and then hugs her the best he can now being a head or two shorter than her at minimum. He looks embarrassed while doing so. No.4847
>>4846>American Ranger goes to return the hug, then changes her mind, instead moving so that it looks like she's protecting him."No offence, but you look a bit too young for me currently. . ."
>Turning to look at the door, points at it."Now, I
know you can hear me, so here's what's going to happen: I'm going to leave with Orion,
you are going to be unable to stop me - and then you are going to go back and lick your wounds."
>American Ranger is silent for a moment, waiting for something to happen, then sighs."Ugh. . . this so embarassing. . ."
>American Ranger moves her free arm up so she's pointing at the ceiling."I swear this by Lady Liberty!"
>The room suddenly flashes white, and Orion and Madeleine find themselves back in the small meeting room from before, with a very confused look Raymond Allen sitting across from them with a blank look on his face. No.4848
>>4847>Having suddenly appeared back in the meeting room at his normal age, Orion quickly pats and examines his body before letting out a sigh of relief."Finally."
>He looks at Madeleine."I feel like I'm not going to explode at the slightest inconvenience anymore. Thank you."
>He pauses for a second, then asks: "What actually happened anyway? Why'd that thing not affect you? And what was with the er… outfit?"
No.4849
>>4848>Madeleine sighs in relief when she notices she's back to her usual clothes."I'm. . . not entirely sure."
>Madeleine gives Raymond a smile, and the man walks out of the room wordlessly."I think it had me confused with someone else. It kept on calling me Mule, and insisting it was a fan - but all it showed me of this Mule was a load of destroyed worlds. . ."
>Madeleine shakes her head.". . .which isn't me, of course. Then it. . . well it saw something and decided I was 'Stronger-Mule' which meant I was a hero - which is where the costume came from."
"After that, I think it just left because of how it perceived me. . . I wouldn't really call it 'beaten' or anything like that. I essentially just sent it to its room - it was a lot like a kid, basically."
No.4850
>>4849>Orion watches as Raymond leaves the room. He thinks to himself:{
"…Huh. I wonder what's gonna happen with that guy since Chancy wasn't a real character."}
>He then looks back at Madeleine. "Well you got rid of it. And… well, you didn't look bad doing it either."
>Orion gives Madeleine a smile, but it slowly fades. "We still don't know about Blink though."
No.4851
>>4850"It still feels a bit hollow though. . ."
>Madeleine sighs."I was kind of hoping that this whole business would be some kind of plan and Blink would be there. . ."
". . .guess not, huh."
>With another sigh, Madeleine looks at the door."Hopefully something will come up soon, and I just hope they're safe, wherever they are."
>Madeleine yawns.". . .for now though, I think I need some sleep. . ."