In the end, it is not the police scanner that alerts you to the brawl in progress, but a loud screech of twisting metal from an industrial park near your… patrol route, you suppose. Granted, "looking for a fight to jump in on for selfish reasons" isn't what most people think of when they hear "cape patrol route," but… well, it's probably more common than hero-types pretend it is. The whole gig is basically an adrenaline junkie's wet dream, after all.
You tap your earpiece. "Mads-" you begin.
"Once again, I'm Fox
!"
You wince. She's right, you were working off callsigns. That was sloppy of you. But right or no, you're not going to pass up such an easy opening… "I don't see what your fursona has to do with–"
"Not one more word
! That's just a coincidence!"
You raise a skeptical eyebrow (not that she can see you) and let the silence linger. She was the one who told you to stop talking, after all.
[ ] [NAME]
"...Freedom?" (Verdant Princess Freedom - a "traditional" magical girl name, or so the capybara told you. You only agreed to it because you felt a little bad for going behind the mascot's back with the fox. That's all. And the stack of
Magical Valkyrie Chronicles DVDs in your closet will go with you to your grave.)
[ ] [NAME]
"...Root?" (Root - it's not a
good name, and it's definitely not a unique one, but you couldn't think of anything else acceptable and it
is a cute bit of wordplay. Because, you know... plants, and computers, and stuff...)
[ ] [NAME]
"...Thorn?" (Thornshadow - it's definitely
edgy, but you have to admit you kind of like it. And it's not taken by anyone)
[ ] [NAME]
"...Makeshift?" (Makeshift - it doesn't have anything to do with your powers directly, and people might think you're some inventor type, but it definitely covers how you
feel about your powers. And life.)
[ ] [NAME] Something else? - Write-in, needs approval
"Yeah?" You feign ignorance.
"You didn't answer."
"You told me not to!"
"You know what I meant you little…" she grumbles, too low to make out.
"Okay, why'd you call?"
There's a loud crashing sound from the park.
"I'm at an industrial park by 13th and 42nd, there's something loud going on there. Anything on the scanner, before I check it out?"
You cross the street in a fluid motion of enhanced agility, hopping from rooftop to streetlight to streetlight. Not that there was anything in the street to stop you from walking across, but it was the principle of the thing. Nothing to do with the rush of air on your face, the feeling of
freedom from being able to go where you want. Just practice for doing it during the day if you need to.
"Hm… I heard them mentioning there was an alarm a bit ago, but they got the all-clear from on-site security after only a minute or two."
"Well…" you drop to your front, wriggling forward to the edge of the warehouse you landed gently on and taking in the sight. "...definitely not a genuine all-clear."
The industrial park is laid out as a series of warehouses surrounding a central parking lot and loading/unloading area. That was more or less what you'd expect.
The roughly pyramidal
ship parked in the center is a bit less expected. As is the wreckage of a shipping container, torn open by main force, strewn carelessly across several parking spots. A half-dozen people lie on the ground seemingly at random across the lot, some still and motionless, others clearly conscious but not up to moving, each of them wearing a purple jumpsuit with a circle-looking symbol on the chest.
Three figures remain ambulatory, however.
A woman, wearing a similar but more elaborate purple jumpsuit, this time with white accents, a large silver Omega symbol on her chest, and… some sort of crown-hat. Weird look, but that's supers for you. She's holding something in her hand, but you can't make it out at this distance.
A man, substantially larger than either of the other figures, probably a good seven or eight feet tall, wearing… well he's
wearing purple, but it's hard to make out over the strange armored growths protecting him, reminding you somewhat of a conch shell, primarily white but with purple patterns and growths coming off of it. As he drives a huge fist towards the third figure, you can see what caused the metal tearing noise, as she vanishes and his fist goes clear into the hood of the truck he had "trapped" her against.
As the woman reappears, you get a better look at her - red and white costume, clock symbol on her back - but not for long, because as he roars and smashes at her again, she vanishes again, reappearing a few feet away. You don't need to get a better look, though, because that costume you recognize.
You wriggle back, keeping yourself out of sight, and mutter a report. "Fox,
Flashback is here, fighting two capes, assuming villains, and a bunch of goons. Goons are unconscious but wearing purple jumpsuits, one villain is a woman in purple and white with a big silver omega on her back, and some big dude – pro wrestler big, not
Bulk-Up big – with some kind of… shell armor? Some sort of pyramid flying ship, too."
"That'd be… give me a second, that rings a bell…" you can hear her typing rapidly, and as you wait the woman levels the device in her hand at Flashback, shooting some sort of beam
behind her as the big guy swings. Her attempt to pre-lead Flashback doesn't work, though – Flashback flickers back, but just out of the way of the attack. Almost as if she'd seen it coming.
Despite her evasiveness, however, she wasn't able to make a dent in the shell-man with her batons, and seemed condemned to staying on the defensive.
"Alright, got it. They're the Postman Society."
"...bit aggressive for mailmen, aren't they?"
"Err. Post-Man Society. Bioconstructs, bioengineering, all carefully staying away from meta-genes to duck the Rules. Mercenary mad science types, want to transcend humanity, you know the drill. There you've got uh, Queen Omega and Murex Gamma. Omega's your standard peak human package with super brain stuff, though not the inventor type. May have some kind of light mind control, might just be really smooth. Gamma's a big brute guy, what you see is what you get, but
he can shoot paralytic shell-stuff darts at people. I don't think
he's strong enough to break your vines if you can get enough on him, but it could take a lot of them. We still don't know how tough you are, so I wouldn't recommend being punched. He can throw cars at people."
"Thanks. Knowing all that…"
[ ] [INTERVENE] Help Flashback. She's a hero, a cool one, they sound like assholes, and you'll make more of a splash this way. Plus, people liking you on your debut is good business.
- [ ] [INTERVENE] Run interference for her with distracting vines and wood walls. Help her get away - you're not sure you can actually hold someone that strong.
- [ ] [INTERVENE] Start by vining up Omega. Better to get her out of the picture now, even if she's the lesser threat.
- [ ] [INTERVENE] Start by vining up Gamma. It might not work, but it'll give Flashback some breathing room.
- [ ] [INTERVENE] Jump into the fight in person, act like you're fighting Gamma while trying to lay a trap for him with seeded vines.
- [ ] [INTERVENE] Something else?
[ ] [INTERVENE] Help the Post-Man Society. They've mercs, they've got money, that's the kind of contact that it helps to have on your good side. Also, if they're a biotech company… you could maybe get a jump-start on figuring out your powers with their help.
- [ ] [INTERVENE] See if you can get up to Omega, offer a hand in exchange for a modest fee.
- [ ] [INTERVENE] Try to skirt around the fight, gather up goons and loot and get it to their ship.
- [ ] [INTERVENE] See if you can help fight Flashback. If you can hem her in ahead of time, you think you can limit the area she can rewind within.
- [ ] [INTERVENE] Something else?
[ ] [POLICE] "Forget" to call the police. Gives you more time to work, more time to show off.
[ ] [POLICE] Call the police. Gives you an easy "out" if things go south, gets more eyes on you so news spreads faster.
