event 001

[equi_nox]

[ Those at the top of Lux Spire may notice things creeping in the shade of plants. These shadows are tiny, reaching the size of rats and no bigger, but take all shapes and formations. Small they may be, but fearless and curious: some of them might snicker and whisper amongst themselves as you pass, while others skitter away underfoot. They seem unwilling to go near the fountain.

Elsewhere, the shadows may reach the size of a cat, and are a little more aggressive. The darkness doesn't seem to be taking kindly to this new cure introduced to the city, and while not ready to launch a full scale attack, they seem to be causing a nuisance to the local citizens in retaliation. As annoyed as they are, these people don't seem too happy to see newcomers - though no one will explain why. ]

Comments

It's fine, I thought something must have been up to drag you away for such an amount of time :P

[mechanacet]

[Daniel smiles and matches her grip. Releasing her hand after a firm handshake] Indeed! It's a pleasure to meet you two as well. I'll try not to annoy him then.

[Daniel inclines his head in a respectful nod at the two trolls. He then gestures to Cam, who is still atop his shoulder.] And this is Cam. He thought climbing the tower would be quick and easy. He wasn't the one doing the walking, now was he?

I believed it would take you less time than it did.

It took double your estimate! [Daniel then sighs and shakes his head, looking exasperated.] Either way, I'm here now.

Wait... [Daniel briefly goes silent, thinking for a moment] Didn't you climb it as well?

bette -> daniel -> eridan cycle until karkat confirms he's still here? ;v;

[whitescientist]

[ Eridan scours the newcomer with a testy look and then props his hands on his hips. ]

We all climbed it. Pretty sure. Unless someone can fly an' didn't tell me.

[ ... he peers over at the edge of the building, without getting closer. ] Speakin' of. What if that's the trick? I need theories to work with or this ain't gonna be scientific.

Sorry...here finally.

[quadrantguru]

Do we really need to jump to science Eridan? Bro, come on that didn't work before and we both know for a fact even if you won't admit it that it won't work now.

[He narrows his gaze, shifting uncomfortably. His gaze looks towards the newcomer.]

...Great...another idiot to add to the party.

[hawkfire]

Nope. I can't fly. But I can glide? [She points to the compact bronze metallic pack on the back of her uniform.]

Comes in handy when trying to reach high places.

But no, I don't think whatever our gift is, it's superjumping.

[She snaps her fingers a couple of times. A few quick small snaps.] Can't figure out what else it might be.

Someone's gonna need to snap Daniel out of it, otherwise he's gonna be useless :P

[mechanacet]

[Daniel quirks an eyebrow at the comment from the short angry grey guy-- Karkat, he remembers, before deciding to let it slide. He looks stressed and there's no need to make things worse when they've only just met.

Daniel turns to Eridan first] Well, a lot of the powers some of my friends back home had were either inherited or based off their personality in some way. Maybe it works something like that?

[At Bette's revelation, he changes gears completely, moving to get a closer look at the pack] Ooooh! That makes sense! What's it made of, to fold up so small yet still have the strength to carry a human while remaining lightweight? Maybe... Wait! No... Hmmm... [He begins to pack about, muttering at high speed under his breath as he tries to work on this new line of thought]

hi guys it's monster time! if anyone wants to use this as a powers opportunity feel free :^)

[whitescientist]

Personality?

[ As he starts talking, there's a shuffle from some garden plants nearby. He doesn't seem to notice, but they're finally being stalked. ]

What, like Kar got the gift of Troll Hulkin' out? That'd be the day, let me tell you. An' I don't think a gadget what you already had with you counts. No, I think-

[ He frowns at Daniel and waves a hand at him scoldingly. ] Hey. Are you listenin'? ...Ugh. This is goin' nowhere. All o' you need to-

[ A slightly oversized shadow rat barrels into the back of his legs. He goes keeling over backwards with a startled yelp. ]

Back from my trip!

[quadrantguru]

[Karkat was about to say something. Surely he was about to comment on Eridan's ridiculous comment and also mention something about personality and how it pertains to these perceived powers, but then Eridan fell.

Karkat's first instinct is to run over to him, but luckily that instinct is burried deep down somewhere. Instead he laughs.]

Hey buddy, did you trip on air...what was that acrobatic stunt.

Awww yay! How was it?

[hawkfire]

[Bette shrugs her shoulders. She's good with computers and stuff, sure, but the technical stuff, that escapes her a little. Sure, she'd somehow managed to come up with her Flamebird persona on her own, along with all of the gadgets that went along with it, but she'd relied on grapple guns. This was something entirely different. ] I honestly left the design stuff to my Uncle Jake. I just rock it and fight crime in it. But you're welcome to poke around and study it if you want. Just, you know. Don't break it. [Because clearly, Uncle Jake is not here to fix it up for her.]

[When the little shadow rat comes barrelling out, Bette starts. She's faced worse, of course, but there's something to be said for the element of surprise. She yelps out loud and points at the shadow rat. She aims her flamethrowing gauntlet at the thing and throws out a stream of fire but nothing happens to the thing.] Great. My weapons are absolutely useless.

Aaaaaand Daniel remains largely useless - What can I say? he's a largely unathletic nerd.

[mechanacet]

[Startling out of his reverie at the appearance of the shadow-rat thing, Daniel watches as Bette tries to burn it to no effect. Finely tuned combat reflexes kicking in, Daniel reaches into one of his pockets and produces a rather large spanner.

Running up to the monster as the flames die away, Daniel takes a swing... And misses.

The Rat-Monster seems to take this as a personal affront and launches itself at the poor researcher, who begins to flail at it before being thrown off his feet due to the beast's collision with his upper torso. Thankfully, the monster doesn't get a chance to bite down as it's promptly dislodged by Cam, who seems to be a much more capable fighter than their creator.

The Rat-Monster moves into a clearer part of the tower floor to make some space for itself as Cam squares up to it.

Daniel is groaning from his position on the floor, his spanner lying discarded next to him.] Owww...

[whitescientist]

[ Eridan scuffles backwards along the floor in the most undignified manner ever before scrambling to his feet. ]

That little-! Right. That's it.

[ IT IS SO ON. He's noticed weapons don't seem to be doing much, so he makes a mad lunge for the shadow rat instead. Whatever he hoped to do - perhaps throw it off the building or strangle it or something - he never gets that far. A faint, shimmery bubble-shield sort of flickers in front of his outstretched hands and he staggers to a halt in shock, staring at them. ]

... Did anyone see that. [ HELLO ERIDAN THE RAT IS STILL THERE ]

[quadrantguru]

[Karkat stumbles, back, leaping and attempting to avoid the rat. However he watches his newly found aquaintanes and stares particularly at Eridan...]

What...what was that?

[hawkfire]

No, I saw it.

[Bette's by Daniel's side now, offering him a hand up.] Is that not something you could do before? [She may seem a little nonchalant, but then she's seen people do things back home, too. Of course, she hasn't yet realized that maybe she can do something herself.]

Wanna try it on the rat-thing again, though?

[mechanacet]

[Daniel takes the hand up, staring dumbly at Eridan's hands.] I saw it too... [A grin swiftly spreads across his face as he starts to come up with ideas.

Daniel begins to talk very quickly, reeling off a sting of barely comprehensible questions while piecing together something using bits and pieces from his many pockets.

Daniel appears to be entirely unaware that his hands are acting on their own as he does so. There is a faint, almost unnoticeable shimmer around his fingers as he twists a couple of wires together.]

Quickly! How did you do that? How did it feel? What were your exact thoughts just now? Has that ever happened before? What else do you think you could do with it? What do you think it's purpose is?

[Meanwhile, Cam is attempting to wrestle with the Shadow-Rat, keeping it away from the group while they catch their wits/bearings/whatever. However, due to Cam being smaller than the Rat, it is slowly starting to push the tiny robot back.]

[whitescientist]

Wh-what? No, I couldn't do that before! I- I mean, I'd have needed a wand for that, I don't -

[ Right, yes, rat still exists. Eridan awkwardly watches it struggle with the strange little robot for a moment and then sort of shakes his hands at them both. There's a weird shimmer, but not much else. He flashes everybody a helpless and confused sort of look (especially at Daniel's questioning). ]

I don't even know what I did! That ain't normal for me, ok? So I'm blamin' this place. Someone else try somethin' on the devilbeast, quick, before it gets away. Anyone.