A Bloodstained Mantle

"Easy," You say, "we're going to fly out of here."

There's a short, stunned pause as Ice-Pal absorbs that, "And they'll just politely ignore the two of us? They've got guns, heck, they were actually really, really good shots with them in the last few fights I got into with them."

A causal wave dismisses those fears, "I can…" you pause, trying to phrase your next sentence in a way that isn't an admission that you can twist minds. "I can make them not notice us, make this sort of mind fog that makes them bad at noticing a real big bird flying past them."

He nods hesitantly, "Alright then I suppose, wait, you can turn into a bird, track me down, and manipulate minds? What's your power?"

A smug smile crosses your lips, "I'm a woman of many talents." In response ice cloaked wildman only shrugs, "fine, keep your secrets. I need to grab my stuff before we leave," With that he steps back inside and packs, emerging from his shelter a minute or two later with a half full backpack.

"Ok, I got everything I need," he says as he strolls back to where he started, "Let's get going."

"Great," you tell him, "But would you mind getting rid of all the ice before we start flying? you're kinda shiny and I'd rather we not draw anymore attention than we have to."

For a moment, even though you can't see the ice clad man's face every other part of his body language screams just how uncomfortable with that idea he is. Then he sighs and the ice vanishes in the blink of the eye. "Fine. But I'm bringing it back once we're away from them."

"Fair enough," You reply, "We just need to clear the search party. Now, stand back," he quickly complies and after a moment's consideration, pick out a shape suitable to you and your friend's (is he a friend? You've barely talked for five minutes) needs.

You need to be large and strong enough to carry a rider, so you grow to the size of a horse with a saddle of bone and a quartet of powerful wings alongside a few sacks of hastily generated heillum spread throughout your body. You need to be stealthy enough to pass through the gang surrounding you, so your skin turns blue as the sky and a pair of pheromone sprayers grow into place beneath your newly quadrupedal form.

All in all you judge you must make a truly odd sight by Ice-Pal's befuddled expression, a familiar thing, but still perhaps a little hurtful whenever it and its kin appear. "Come on then, get on, we don't have all day," your words, delivered in a sharper tone than you'd have preferred had you been thinking still manage to nonetheless jolt him into action.

"Ok, shapeshifting, neat." He says as he clambers up your body as carefully as he can, even if the consideration is spoiled somewhat by his clumsiness and unfamiliarity with your new form. Even still, eventually he manages it, leaning forward to look down at your still mostly human face. "Ok, I'm secured, can you tell-" you take off like a comet, paying no heed to his words after the first three left his mouth.

You ascend in an instant, pulling a shout of vulgar surprise from Ice-Pal before leveling out and spreading four sky blue wings to catch the wind. Even as both nozzles on your belly begin to bathe the area beneath you in pheromones to fog your pursuers' perception.

Ice-Pal shudders on his saddle, leaning over the side for a moment and thankfully for you both only dry heaving over your flapping wings. "I would have appreciated a warning before you took-" he pauses, interrupted again by another fit of dry heaving. "Before you took off," he finishes, "it felt like my heart stopped."

You wince, head swiveling around to look him in the eye, "Sorry, I got a little carried away."

He gives a suspicious look, "I'm going to be hearing that a lot, aren't I." It isn't a question, which kinda stings, you've got to admit. You've actually been really on the ball lately and you tell him as much as you begin to wrap around Fire and his posse, making sure to stay just close enough you can bathe them in pheromones and not an inch closer.

"I've actually been pretty on the ball lately, the city has stayed pretty much under control since Adamant… since he died, I've even got a few leads on the people who killed him, I even-" At that moment a thought occurs and you place your head in your hands. "Ah dammit, I forgot about Preston."

Your rider pauses for a moment, then the metaphorical axe comes down, "Who's Preston?"

His only answer is a groan and a shame filled mumble which he correctly interprets as, "My dog," before you take a breath, swallow a tiny bit of your shame, then continuing in a clearer voice, "He's still with the people who were babysitting him, I sorta… maybe… possibly might have forgotten to pick him up in all the chaos after we got back from the Yellowstone incident."

"I'm sorry, you forgot your dog for a week?"

"He's in good hands! And besides, I've barely been in the house lately, I probably wouldn't have been able to-"

"Ok, ok, my bad. You've clearly had some stuff going on," he says, obviously, even to your ears, conceding the point more to head off a rant than giving a real apology. Then again you don't really deserve that anyway. You haven't had the time to review your diary lately… no, that's not right and it's not fair to your dog.

You just keep forgetting. It all just keeps vanishing away into some chasm you can never ever-

"It's fine," you lie, "It just means we're going to need to take a teeny tiny de-"

You're interrupted by as ten foot wide ball of fire erupts from must be Fire's body just after you finally manage to put the search parties behind you, and a dozen men startle with the noise, the surge of adrenaline throwing off the effects of your pheromones though a dozen more scan blindly for you.

"Oh no," you say, the exclamation mirrored with eerie synchronicity by the man on your back, "Ok Cre- Chimera, what's the plan?" He asks with easy, newfound calm as ice grows across his body into a suit of shining blue-white armor. Like a man whose been in his fair share of scrapes.

As you open your mouth to answer, Fire rockets up up up into the air, eclipsing you in altitude in the space of a second before circling round to face you in a wide arc.

Meanwhile though the half the men on the ground wheel still haven't broken through the mental block the other half wheel around with almost inhuman precision you've never seen them use before.

O-O-O-O-O


Tactical Overview: things aren't great, but luckily you've got plenty of options, Fire is faster and more maneuverable than you are right now, but that'll change quickly as his, well his fire fades to be replaced with his more bestial (and land bound) state. They also probably don't know who you are, at least not for certain, but that'll change the instant you make an obvious alteration to your form. You've very glad you made your body as armored as you could before you took off.

The goons seem better drilled than anyone else you've ever met on the gang's payroll, which means you can't quite trust their guns to be normal guns or their flesh to be, well, actual flesh. The bigger problems are still Fire and whoever he brought along as backup though.

Ice-Pal himself seems unlikely to panic, but considering he legged it last time when he stopped being able to casually nullify Fire's attacks it might be best to assume he's less than exemplary in a super-fight.

What would you like to do?

[ ] Plan Here