Collaborative Fiction (Anyone): Silent Enemies

Timebender, not being innately magical, has no way to know when the spell to aid in controlling the damage takes effect.  He simply uses his own powers to maintain the eclipse, focusing with increasingly great effort, until he finally collapses from exhaustion, not knowing whether he bought enough time or failed.

"It is as I thought.", said Krystal.

"Shadow, your chi training has only partially activated your meta-gene... It must be your decision, of course, but I recommend suppressing the factor that currently blocks it's full activation."

"Shannon, you do carry the meta-gene, but also have the blocking factor..."

It will be up to each of you to decide whether to suppress the blocking factor, the meta-gene itself, or neither... I can tell you that having a fully active meta-gena will protect you in this particular crisis, but the decision must be yours.", she informed the pair.

Shannon glanced at Greg, and he nodded once.  She asked, "Will this mean we will gain powers, and what powers might we get?"

"The meta-gene performs a single function in the genome.  It allows the organism, in this case, each of you, to process Morphon particles into usable energy forms. The Morphons saturate every person, plant, and animal on Earth, but those without an active meta-gene cannot process them into usable energy.  Activating the gene will allow you each to do so, and will prevent the current situation from affecting you."

"As to what powers, if any, you may get... each case has presented differently.  I did help developed the testing procedures which determine if there are active powers, their type, and their extent.", Krystal concluded.

"I suggest you take a moment and think this through carefully.  Ultimately this decision may affect your entire future existence."

    Shannon and Greg looked at each other, they both smiled though with his mask you couldn't see it.  Shannon answered for them.  "Unblock our meta-genes.  I've always wanted powers that would assist me on missions and Silent Shadow could do more."

    "It could be that it only enhances traits you already have," Krystal cautioned.  "It could give you abilities you find of little use or even a hindrance."

    "I've always wanted powers," Shannon stated.  She was beaming with excitement.

    "If it will help in the current situation, then the risk is worth it," Silent Shadow signed and bowed before Krystal.

    "Very well, I'll get started," Krystal said as she pulled out some equipment.

Krystal spent a few hours preparing their treatments.  The genes producing the blocking factor also regulated certain other bodily functions, which she had to take care not to disrupt.

Krystal prepared an injection for each of them, and told them to get some sleep, or at least meditate for several hours, and to hit a signal button if there was any discomfort or startling developments during their rest.

Near daylight, she woke each, took a 'finger-stick' sample, and allowed them to return to resting.

Shadow rose from his meditation.  He felt somehow different, though he had not the words to describe exactly how he differed from the previous day.  He joined Krystal in the lab. Shannon had not arrived yet, which was unexpected.  Out of the corner of his vision, he noticed that the 'lighting' was somehow wrong.

There was a pronounced 'thump' by the lab table, and Shannon 'popped' into view, rubbing her fingers as if she had bruised them slightly.

"That was very good for a first attempt, Shannon, but you'll need to developed a sense of your bodies' position while 'cloaked'... it takes practice, and also your lighting was off just a bit... Hello, Shadow...", Krystal said.

   Greg clapped for his sister gaining the power of invisibility.  So he decided to try his powers.  He went shadow form.  Nothing new there.  He used his shadow teleport.  Nothing new there.  He created a field of darkness.  Rather than the ten cubic feet he normally did it filled the room.  That was new.  

    He felt something different.  His hands manifested shadow shuriken.  He threw them at a target and went threw anything that got in the way and hit the target.  That was different and useful.  

    He then manifested a ninjato of shadow.  He tried that out and was impressed by how it could cut.  This one did not just pass through anything but its target.  It was as if he were using the one he carried.  It just disappeared afterward.

    He could also see in total darkness.  Not just night vision, dark vision.  He went and wrote these things down for Krystal.  He thanked her by bowing.

*All the evil plans laid out so far are coming to frutition and now Dr. Fulcrum and ViXen begin the next part of their master's campaign of chaos and terror. They have been given a very rare type of a certain kind of mysterious artifact designed to nullify magical beings so they can not use magical powers or abilities as well as being able to drain magic from said beings. As well they have been given equally rare knowledge: a mental layout of the Ice Ray Academy where their next targets are at.

"So uh Dr F?" ViXen asks with a little bit of fear. "Exactly how are we supposed to confront not one but two 'goddess' type power level beings without them even knowing we are coming. From what I have been reading on what is known about these two, Aphrael in question is supposed to know everything ever written down and Sehanine is a goddess of the moon and illusions. In addition to those known characteristics, aren't goddesses supposed to be as powerful or even more powerful then the Mythics everyone was seeking knowledge on in the past few years since everyone awoke in this universe and world? I may be strong and fast and crazy thanks to you and our boss, but I also have a healthy respect for staying alive too."

"I have the same questions as you ViXen," Dr. Fulcrum says quietly. "And this artifact is of magic and technology both beyond even of my own skills to create so I won't disagree with you that it had better work, or we might as well turn ourselves over to BADGE right now. We have to trust each other and believe our boss knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Besides goddesses are not real and stories like that are based upon legends of ancient cultures. I think we both let ourselves fail against Aphrael in the past simply because she used a Morphon or magical ability to make us perceive her as an immortal being with immense powers when truthfully she seems to be a neutral good doing heroine that hates to fight if my research on her says anything."

Using data taken by ViXen in fights vs Aphrael in the Planet X missions, a shapeshifting clone of her created from her memories to fully duplicate her.m, Dr. Fulcrum and ViXen then disguise themselves magically as Headmaster James StarRunner and his student Jenna Firemage who they both know are in the United States right now.

Accompanying the fake goddess, they begin preparations to teleport to the Academy... *

Timebender remains unconscious, slowly gathering chronal energy to replace what he used.  How long he will be out of the action is unclear, as the last time he exhausted himself this far was during the attempt to stopp the kidnappings by Krampus two years ago.

    Silent Shadow was now ready to go to the moon to fight Doctor Fulcrum and ViXen with his sister Shannon and Kyrie and Timebender.  Shannon just got a crash course in the use of her powers but it was all they had.  They had to stop this.

    He texted "TIMEBENDER AND KYRIE E LASER WE NEED TO GO TO THE MOON.  DOCTOR FULCRUM AND VIXEN ARE THERE."

    He too the time to use a BADGE transport to gather the heroes.  He also gave Timebender a Haterade  and More Fun bar for energy.

Once awakened, Timebender says, "Getting to the moon is not the problem, for me at least.  I simply displace in space to the location and in time to just before the force field went up and then move forward to the present.  No, the problem is surviving on the moon.  I am still weak, I can not easily create an environmental envelope and maintain it."

Actually, it is not that easy at all, even at full power, it requires a substantial amount of concentration to maintain a safe region is a strongly hostile environment, such as the lunar surface.  It is one reason he mostly stays on Earth, despite his powers being able to span great distances.  He would be much easier to defeat when distracted by maintaining a safe environment, especially around a group who may be going separate directions.

OOC: This story was postponed upon request due to members preferring to fight instead of write during Frosty League Wars 6.

*Since they were last spoken of, Dr. Fulcrum and ViXen have received new orders and have stayed on the moon to confront the heroes coming after them. Ulterior motives hint to each of them that they may know even less then they had originally suspected of their new boss.

"So you knew all along Dr. Fulcrum that we were not going to Ice Ray Academy and yet you let me think about our targets there until it gave me a headache! You are so evil!" ViXen held her painfully throbbing head in her hands. "Are they future targets or were they supposed to think they were targets? This is very confusing to figure out for me personally."

"Remember you are the one who asked me how we were going to take their powers. You were the one afraid to face Aphrael after the first time she beat you so easily while hunting me down. And yet how often have I stopped you from doing things not according to previous plans only for events to unfold that reveal I was right and you were confused and in error?" Dr. Fulcrum chuckled slowly. "This is why we are such a great team. You are the muscle to my mind." He shakes his head. "And the two in question are not an issue for us anymore thanks to our Master and his plan."

"Dr. F is correct," says the shapeshifter as it communicates verbally with both of them for the first time. "All this time I have been mentally draining the Academy's knowledge banks and the magic of those still there from here on the moon. "ViXen did you ever consider that by us three constantly having Aphrael and Sehanine on our minds that they would be forced to strain themselves to keep us from being in their thoughts constantly? Reverse psychology works in many ways and now they both are too physically and mentally worn out to have any further use at this time except as future test subjects again."

"Long distance magical assaults might not make sense to you both, but now everyone there is unconscious and will remain that way until I release them from the trance I hypnotically placed them under. Now then I will return to Dark Earth to give our Master this new knowledge he entrusted me to gather for him. But fear not for in my absence, he has arranged a 'bodyguard' for both of you that should be arriving now."

At that exact moment a magical portal opened around them and another besides ViXen. "Yesss you and Dr. Fulcrum both look confusssed just like the Massster told me you would be asss I left," this mysterious black silhouetted figure spoke in a form of humming English. "No need to asssk who I am. Just know that I am here to be your bodyguard until he isss ready to move to the next stage of hisss plan."

"How can we trust you?" ViXen began to ask when the figure whipped out a long black appendage with speed she only knew from feeling her clothing waving around her. "Neither of you can. You will have to take hisss word unlesss you think you can defeat thosss coming here by yourselves. Until then keep your queriesss to yourselvesss and do not try to ssscan me becaussse it will give neither of you any information about who or what I am until I am ready to give it myssself."

By now their original companion had vanished and now the three await those coming to stop them or so they think...*

Timebender has managed to locate some space suits from somewhere in time that should keep us alive on the moon.  He takes the party to the past on the lunar surface before the force field was set up and then freezes everyone our of synch with normal space-time until they reach the point where they jumped to the past, thus avoiding paradoxes.  To those already present, it will seem as if they just teleported in through the force field, which is not accurate but will make them assume we are powerful enough to do so.

At the moment, his energy is at a fairly low ebb, so how useful he will be is debatable.

    Silent Shadow thanked Timebender for the suits.  He looked to his sister as to what exactly they should do.

    Shannon carefully thought, "We need to distract Vixen and Doctor Fulcrum while someone destroys the device."  She looked to Kyrie and Silent Shadow.  "I think the three of us should distract the two villains, and if Timebender has enough in him, he destroys the device."  She looked to Timebender, "Do you think you have it in you?"

Timebender frowns thoughtfully and examines the device's temporal signature, "I am not sure, it appears to be from another timeline, my powers might not effect it directly.  I can try to find an analog from that timeline, but my Analogs do not always have the same powers as me."

He could try to effect it himself, but what the results would be is debatable.  His analogs, as he has figured out, are others who tried to help the Options Oracle in their respective universes and were granted an equivalent portion of his powers.  They could be nearly anyone, but no two are the same so far.

    Shannon was visibly disappointed, "Well, do what you can.  Timebender if you fail, We'll just have to improvise.  Call one of us over to assist."

    Silent Shadow made a shadow shuriken.  He was still surprised by the powers he had.  He knew they had to stop Doctor Fulcrum and ViXen.  Stop the normal humans of Earth from being turned into werewolves.  This plan was their only hope.  If Timebender couldn't use his powers to destroy it they would have to figure out a different way to destroy it.  Maybe he could slice it in two?

   He went into his shadow form.  Sneak attack time.

OOC: I can not have Timebender single-handedly solve the problem, as it would be unfair to other posters, thus I am playing up his limits.

Timebender may not be able to directly impact things not from this timeline, but he sends a probe of energy out into the multiverse to latch on to his analog from whatever world this came from.  He transforms into a duplicate of that person.

Wielding his mighty magical hammer endowed with Supernatural Might, Elemental power over storms, and great physical skill, he creates a tornado out of flaming plasma to distract the guardians while using the diversion to assault the force field defending the device.

*"I figured eventually that the heroesss from Prime Earth would arrive to ssstop usss but I did not think they would be ssso naive enough to actually attack the forcefield and try to dessstroy our ssscientific marvel too without even trying to fight usss firssst." Chuckling in a dark manner, Dr Fulcrum and ViXen's bodyguard whips off the clothing that up until now has hid their identity from everyone.  

"We knew that sssome of you would not hesssitate to attack usss. Even if it isss sssupposssed to be a mild dissstraction, if you want to get to Dr. Fulcrum and ViXen you will have to get through me firssst and I will not go down as easssily as the weak werewolvesss back on Earth Prime."

At the same time a dark forbidding looking portal opens before Timebender's attack can hit the machine and an even more gruesome being emerges.

"I will allow none of you mortals to stop my plans to dominate this Earth for the Legion or Dark Earth's President for Life Donald Trump. You can call me ????????? ??? ????????? and I will stop any attempts to further hinder us on the Moon. I dare you all to attack me or my minion ?????????? with your strongest attacks. We survived the EA Wave where so many did not and it only made us more stronger! Your so called morphon attributes are a joke and I will prove to you how weak you truly are."*

Timebender, though he allows his analog to run the main attack, remains present.  While "Stormhammer" uses his powers to fight the werecat, Timebender warps time, creating timeshadows to make it hard to tell who to hit, speeds up time for his analog so he can react and move like lightning, and watches the timestream to warn of impending attacks before they arrive.

He does caution his analog, "If they WANT you to attack them, it implies that a direct attack might in some way help them."

There are major limits on what kinds of whether effect can be called down on the nearly airless moon, but using his strength and hammer to cause a localized moonquake is entirely possible...

    Silent Shadow in his shadow form slid over to attack what appeared to be a Dracolich.  He needed to stop them, so he drew his ninjato and began to hack away.  He knew he wasn't much of a threat, but he was a distraction.

    Shannon went invisible and tried to get close to the werecat.  She threw a punch hoping to get him caught off guard.  

    Silent Shadow kept going into and out of his shadow form and slicing the Dracolich.  This allowed him to avoid damage while inflicting.  He hoped the others were doing well.

The werepanther?? lets out a bonechilling howl and suddenly lycanthropes of all sizes and being types appear around it. "Try your luck on my mature ssspecimensss you sssuperzero losssersss! I have been experimenting on humansss and other ssspeciesss for decadesss now and not only have I removed all known werewolf weaknesssesss I have made them ssstronger then regular onesss too just as ssstrong asss me!" The werewolves look to their Alpha. "Infect them and turn them to our evil ssside!" The werewolves growl in a huge group and slowly surround Stormhammer and Shannon.

Meanwhile ????????? uses his upgraded magic to draw them all towards the dark side of the moon while turning himself fully into the pure dark space of space itself so Silent Shadow's attack goes through but deals no damage at all but when it leaves its form it is covered in a corrosive ooze.

OOC: As per request of others, this rp will be on hiatus during the Fairy Realm Tale Rp thread.