Summoner Quest (Celestial Menagerie)

Short chapter this time, it was supposed to be longer but I cut it short because I want to give you a vote on a specific plot point. I'm pretty happy with the results, I think it conveyed just the feelings I wanted. Hope you like it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, 05/31/2011 (7 AM)

My breakfast was interrupted by the Menagerie dropping a living mountain in my lap. I continued to chew through my cereals as my Minds analyzed this new partner.

He's called Methuselah and he's taller than Rex by a fair bit./Mainly because he has a miniature mountain on his back. He's quadrupedal with thick limbs, and a head that's vaguely draconic with enormous horns./Despite his mass he can burrow at great speed, and in pure strength he may be stronger than Rex./Well, Rex before he became a Tailed beast anyway.

I could definitely see some potential there, particularly against Behemoth. Would it be that crazy to try and hunt it down in his domain?

Probably. Still, it was nice though.

After an uneventful beginning of the day, it was time for me to get to work. I had an important task to do today.

Killington was a quaint little town, picturesque even. In winter it was a ski resort, and even now in spring, it makes for an excellent vacation spot if one likes hiking. There was one glaring problem, however. In front of the town hall, stood a small and ugly concrete building. From the outside one might wonder why anyone would build a building there, in the middle of the sidewalk. It was even spilling over part of the road, cutting off a lane, and over the stairs leading to the town hall. There was also the fact that bouquets, plushies, and cards were scattered on the ground next to it. As if it was a memorial.

It wasn't, because the person for which those tokens were put there wasn't dead. Oh, I did not doubt that the man in question, the former mayor, wished he was dead. Instead, he was trapped in a Gray Boy's Bubble. Constantly reliving the same period, exactly one minute, twelve seconds, and forty milliseconds. A period during which his belly was cut open and his intestines started spilling out despite his best efforts to catch them.

I could have started with someone who was suffering less. Someone who was only trapped but not in constant pain. There were a number of those bubbles, from Gray Boy's early days. Before he started torturing his victims in addition to trapping them forever.

Instead, I insist on starting with one of the worst cases. Because if I could free people from this sort of hell, then it was my duty to start with those that were suffering the most.

The building was in the process of being dismantled by a swarm of Constructio, gradually revealing the bubble inside. The light was refracted and absorbed in unique ways, leading to the characteristic gray tone of everything inside.

It was the first time I had the… privilege to see a bubble in person. I did my best to not pay too much attention to the trapped victim inside, not yet. Instead, I focus on the bubble itself, using all my esoteric senses to analyze it. Was there another solution that I hadn't considered before? While I could perceive numerous physic-breaking effects when looking at it, there was no obvious weakness that would make them easy to dispel. I did gather that the bubbles weren't permanent, they would only last for a remaining ten thousand three hundred and fifty-seven years. Small consolation for the victims to know that their suffering would last only slightly longer than the whole of human's recorded history.

"This is an abomination, Child. In all my eons of existence, I've never seen such a perversion of the Timestream." I could feel the anger and the sorrow in Kupuna Wa's voice.

Today I was accompanied by all my partners who had any abilities even tangentially related to time manipulation, with Kupuna Wa being the most obvious one.

Doc was here, glaring at everyone and everything that caught his eyes, currently equipped with Flash Man's data. Quanta was fluttering around my feet because I was curious if they could teleport in, and out, of the bubble. But that could wait until after the victim was extracted.

Binder was nearby looking at the bubble with his unique senses, with no new insight yet. Shadow was invisible behind me. At some point, I've wondered if maybe his Noble Phantasm could drag a victim from the bubble before ejecting them outside of it. I judge it to be too risky, too much chance that the victim couldn't be ejected at all.

And of course, Sifu was here. Once the victim was freed he would try to see if he could affect the bubble with seals. Could the bubble itself be sealed? Or just the victim? Could it be disrupted? If any of those options worked, it would make freeing the other victims much easier, I wouldn't need to be present for each and every one of them.

I answered Kupuna Wa with a grave tone. "Yes, it is. Hopefully today we'll be able to start correcting it."

I forced myself to look toward the figure of the mayor. He was kneeling on the ground with his bloodied hands on his belly. The expression on his face was impossible to properly decipher. A whole lot of pain, of course, anger and despair in equal measure, but also a tiny spark of hope in his eyes. He's been informed of what we would try today. Even though he couldn't control his movement, I saw a spark of recognition in his eyes when he happened to glance my way in the course of his cyclical movements. Despite the horror of the scene before me, I gave him the most encouraging smile I could. Soon.

I would schedule a session with Doctor Yamada after this, talking with someone about all this seems like a great idea right about now. Moonbeam could come too, I could introduce them that way.

With me were a few other heroes. First, was the head of the Montpelier Protectorate, Bladelord. An edgy and arrogant name for a man who was, under other circumstances, cheerful and friendly. A shaker who could generate blade-shaped projections and control them mentally. A potent ability that gave him offensive, defensive, and battlefield control options.

With him was Ursa Aurora as a representative of Legend. She was supposed to be in charge of the operation, but she deferred to me as soon as we started talking. While I was still reluctant to be put in charge of anything, in this instance I was the expert.

And finally, there was a local independent, Heatsink. An apt name, he could absorb heat over a certain radius to enhance his body. He'd been strangely emotional since we got there. I strongly suspect a familial relationship with the mayor. But I didn't pry.

An array of PRT troopers and policemen guarded the perimeter. The whole neighborhood had been evacuated. I didn't think there were any risks in the procedure but the higher-ups judged that it was prudent to put some precautions in place. Seeing that I had no reason to oppose them I didn't.

All that because Thinkers have been unable to predict what would happen. Not in the sense that they got cryptic results or hard-to-interpret ones. They simply received no results at all.

This may be in part due to my role in this. But it may not be the only factor.

In addition to the guards, medical personnel stood at the ready at the end of the street.

As the Constructio swarm worked, we watched in silence, the atmosphere didn't lend itself to talking. All in all, we didn't have to wait long, it took only a few minutes for them to finish their work. For the first time in years, the bubble containing Mister Tiller was exposed to the sun. The gruesome spectacle inside still repeats itself ad infinitum.

Ursa Aurora gave me a nod and I approached. I only stopped when I reached the limit of the bubble.

Nothing stopped me from using Ally Transformation at a distance, it may even be preferable. Out of respect, I didn't. Instead, I equipped the Eldritch Theme and stepped inside. The gasps coming from behind me were expected. Until now the bubbles proved to be unbreachable. I knelt in front of the suffering man and gently put a hand on his shoulder. The look in his eyes was heart-wrenching.

"You're getting out of here. I promise."

Right as the loop reset, I transformed him and applied the Eldritch Theme at the same time. In a blink the transformation was complete. Standing before me, was now…

[] a sizable Egg.
[] a tiny wooden gnome.
[] a cute mole.

Wordcount: 1431
Excess words: 181
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This vote won't have a huge impact on the quest but it may still have some interesting repercussions, notably on future freed victims so give it some thought.

For the roll, 160 (Banked) + 120 (Chapter) + 120 (Excess words) = 400 points.

[] Creature

[] Power

Voting will be closed Friday at 3 PM GMT

edit: I corrected a typo. Doc is equipped with Flash Man's data instead of Quick Man.