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[Mutants & Masterminds / DC Adventures] Freedomverse Issue #1 "Black & White"
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<blockquote data-quote="Shayuri" data-source="post: 7127891" data-attributes="member: 4936"><p><em>Close your eyes. Think of nothing.</em></p><p></p><p>Sandra sat on her bed in her room in the dormitory area of the Lighthouse, legs crossed with a large leathery tome spread in her lap. Thinking of nothing. Except that thought itself was more than nothing, which negated the entire point of the exercise...</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #FFA07A">"You're not centering!"</span> snapped an irritable voice from the book. A gruff, older man's voice that fluttered the pages.</p><p></p><p>Her eyes popped open and she glared down into the columns of strange runes and sigils emblazoned in the book. </p><p></p><p><span style="color: #DDA0DD">"Yes, and you scolding me is definitely solving that problem."</span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #FFA07A">"Nngh. Any apprentice in my day who'd shown a tenth the lip you've shown me..."</span></p><p></p><p>They were interrupted by a buzz from the little dresser stand by the bed. Sandra leaned over to get a look at its screen and saw 'MOM' flashing there. Her heart sank. She needed to be getting her act together, coming up with a good litany of half-truths and lies about her 'ongoing studies' and 'internship program.' Right now, she just didn't have it in her.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #FFA07A">"It's no wonder you can't quiet your mind,"</span> the book grumped. <span style="color: #FFA07A">"Every few minutes something distracts you. Learning the Art takes years of study and practice. You can't do it living minute to minute!"</span></p><p></p><p>Sandra scowled and sat back. <span style="color: #DDA0DD">"The pace of communication's increased since the day we sent messages by horse or pigeon, okay? And that...has its upside and its downside."</span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #FFA07A">"When I suggested secluding yourself in a forgotten tower, I meant in a way no one could talk to you. Ideally they wouldn't even know you're alive. Solitude and isolation...they are essential..."</span></p><p></p><p>Abruptly a feeling that Sandra always associated with having cool water dumped down the back of her shirt came over her. Everything seemed to get a little quieter, and Pseudo's calm mental voice shivered in her mind like something she's heard a few minutes ago but was only just now remembering.</p><p></p><p><em><strong>There is an emergency in Freedom City. Please report to the Command Deck ASAP.</strong></em></p><p></p><p>Her heart leapt in her chest; excitement and fear. The Grimoire in her hands immediately sensed the change in her and interrupted his rant to ask curiously,<span style="color: #FFA07A"> "What is wrong, child?"</span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #DDA0DD">"They need us."</span></p><p></p><p>She got to her feet and with a looping gesture and a murmured set of syllables summoned her 'costume.' A construct of magic and light, shaped aorund her to change her appearance rather thoroughly. Gone was the straight black hair that hung down to just past her shoulders, and the slightly too-big glasses on a face she always thought was pretty nondescript. As Hex she was pretty; with windswept hair of glossy raven with an electric magenta stripe. Her hoody went from blah grey to a tighter black and indigo, with pink-purple whorls describing the Third Tier of the Celestial Ladder for those who knew enough magic to recognize it. Her jeans that always seemed hopelessly baggy on her became a short skirt with an ornamental belt, and mesh tights. It was daring and the kind of look she'd never be able to pull off herself.</p><p></p><p>[sblock=The Heroic Hex!][ATTACH]84740[/ATTACH][/sblock]</p><p></p><p>Magic made a lot of things possible.</p><p></p><p>The Grimoire 'hmphed,' and Sandra...no, Hex...looked down at it.<span style="color: #FFA07A"> "Show them your power,"</span> he suggested with grim satisfaction. <span style="color: #FFA07A">"Take the Thunder Road."</span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #DDA0DD">"Grim...it's literally like twenty steps out my door to the elevator," </span>she protested. Grim knew by now though when her protests were real, and when they were just what she felt she ought to say.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #FFA07A">"And any place in this strange flying castle is but a recitation away. You were not born to walk, little one. Spread your wings, I say!"</span></p><p></p><p>The book flung itself open in her hands, and the pages flipped on their own until the spell he was recommending was shown.</p><p></p><p>He had a point. Why not use it? It'd be faster than taking the lift and a much more dramatic entrance.</p><p></p><p>Hex read from the book, tracing her hand to draw the sigils in the air. Swirling clouds of red and pink and violet gathered around her hands and left trails behind them as she moved them around. Arcs of lightning began snapping away from them, like tiny angry serpents.</p><p></p><p>Her hair...her real hair, not the glamour of her costume...began to lift up a little as the air around her buzzed. There was a smell, like a thunderstorm just before the first stroke of lightning.</p><p></p><p>And then there was light, and a cacophony of noise.</p><p></p><p>Sandra's room was empty.</p><p></p><p>========</p><p></p><p>An instant later, in the command center, a light breeze stirred up. Screens flickered briefly, and St Elmo's Fire blazed on the edges of metal surfaces.</p><p></p><p>With a crack of thunder that sent loose objects flying, a bolt of pink-and-purple lightning erupted down from the ceiling to the floor, leaving Hex standing there awkwardly in the midst of the consternation.</p><p></p><p>Immediately the idea of coming to the inside of a space station via magic lightning bolt seemed like an incredibly bad one. Oh hindsight...why were you never foresight?</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #DDA0DD">"Uhh..."</span> she stammered.</p><p></p><p>Grim came to her rescue with, <span style="color: #FFA07A">"Behold! She commands the very elements! Kneel down lest her wrath fall upon you!"</span></p><p></p><p>The one eye on the cover of the book closed and opened as she stared down at it in horror. A wink.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #DDA0DD">"That...is not...I didn't..."</span> Hex quickly mashed Grim against her side to muffle him and let her breath out. <span style="color: #DDA0DD">"I'm just going to sit down. I'm really sorry about that."</span></p><p></p><p>She took her seat, wishing for a spell that would make her turn invisible or something...but that was a trick she hadn't mastered.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Shayuri, post: 7127891, member: 4936"] [I]Close your eyes. Think of nothing.[/I] Sandra sat on her bed in her room in the dormitory area of the Lighthouse, legs crossed with a large leathery tome spread in her lap. Thinking of nothing. Except that thought itself was more than nothing, which negated the entire point of the exercise... [COLOR="#FFA07A"]"You're not centering!"[/COLOR] snapped an irritable voice from the book. A gruff, older man's voice that fluttered the pages. Her eyes popped open and she glared down into the columns of strange runes and sigils emblazoned in the book. [COLOR="#DDA0DD"]"Yes, and you scolding me is definitely solving that problem."[/COLOR] [COLOR="#FFA07A"]"Nngh. Any apprentice in my day who'd shown a tenth the lip you've shown me..."[/COLOR] They were interrupted by a buzz from the little dresser stand by the bed. Sandra leaned over to get a look at its screen and saw 'MOM' flashing there. Her heart sank. She needed to be getting her act together, coming up with a good litany of half-truths and lies about her 'ongoing studies' and 'internship program.' Right now, she just didn't have it in her. [COLOR="#FFA07A"]"It's no wonder you can't quiet your mind,"[/COLOR] the book grumped. [COLOR="#FFA07A"]"Every few minutes something distracts you. Learning the Art takes years of study and practice. You can't do it living minute to minute!"[/COLOR] Sandra scowled and sat back. [COLOR="#DDA0DD"]"The pace of communication's increased since the day we sent messages by horse or pigeon, okay? And that...has its upside and its downside."[/COLOR] [COLOR="#FFA07A"]"When I suggested secluding yourself in a forgotten tower, I meant in a way no one could talk to you. Ideally they wouldn't even know you're alive. Solitude and isolation...they are essential..."[/COLOR] Abruptly a feeling that Sandra always associated with having cool water dumped down the back of her shirt came over her. Everything seemed to get a little quieter, and Pseudo's calm mental voice shivered in her mind like something she's heard a few minutes ago but was only just now remembering. [I][B]There is an emergency in Freedom City. Please report to the Command Deck ASAP.[/B][/I] Her heart leapt in her chest; excitement and fear. The Grimoire in her hands immediately sensed the change in her and interrupted his rant to ask curiously,[COLOR="#FFA07A"] "What is wrong, child?"[/COLOR] [COLOR="#DDA0DD"]"They need us."[/COLOR] She got to her feet and with a looping gesture and a murmured set of syllables summoned her 'costume.' A construct of magic and light, shaped aorund her to change her appearance rather thoroughly. Gone was the straight black hair that hung down to just past her shoulders, and the slightly too-big glasses on a face she always thought was pretty nondescript. As Hex she was pretty; with windswept hair of glossy raven with an electric magenta stripe. Her hoody went from blah grey to a tighter black and indigo, with pink-purple whorls describing the Third Tier of the Celestial Ladder for those who knew enough magic to recognize it. Her jeans that always seemed hopelessly baggy on her became a short skirt with an ornamental belt, and mesh tights. It was daring and the kind of look she'd never be able to pull off herself. [sblock=The Heroic Hex!][ATTACH=CONFIG]84740._xfImport[/ATTACH][/sblock] Magic made a lot of things possible. The Grimoire 'hmphed,' and Sandra...no, Hex...looked down at it.[COLOR="#FFA07A"] "Show them your power,"[/COLOR] he suggested with grim satisfaction. [COLOR="#FFA07A"]"Take the Thunder Road."[/COLOR] [COLOR="#DDA0DD"]"Grim...it's literally like twenty steps out my door to the elevator," [/COLOR]she protested. Grim knew by now though when her protests were real, and when they were just what she felt she ought to say. [COLOR="#FFA07A"]"And any place in this strange flying castle is but a recitation away. You were not born to walk, little one. Spread your wings, I say!"[/COLOR] The book flung itself open in her hands, and the pages flipped on their own until the spell he was recommending was shown. He had a point. Why not use it? It'd be faster than taking the lift and a much more dramatic entrance. Hex read from the book, tracing her hand to draw the sigils in the air. Swirling clouds of red and pink and violet gathered around her hands and left trails behind them as she moved them around. Arcs of lightning began snapping away from them, like tiny angry serpents. Her hair...her real hair, not the glamour of her costume...began to lift up a little as the air around her buzzed. There was a smell, like a thunderstorm just before the first stroke of lightning. And then there was light, and a cacophony of noise. Sandra's room was empty. ======== An instant later, in the command center, a light breeze stirred up. Screens flickered briefly, and St Elmo's Fire blazed on the edges of metal surfaces. With a crack of thunder that sent loose objects flying, a bolt of pink-and-purple lightning erupted down from the ceiling to the floor, leaving Hex standing there awkwardly in the midst of the consternation. Immediately the idea of coming to the inside of a space station via magic lightning bolt seemed like an incredibly bad one. Oh hindsight...why were you never foresight? [COLOR="#DDA0DD"]"Uhh..."[/COLOR] she stammered. Grim came to her rescue with, [COLOR="#FFA07A"]"Behold! She commands the very elements! Kneel down lest her wrath fall upon you!"[/COLOR] The one eye on the cover of the book closed and opened as she stared down at it in horror. A wink. [COLOR="#DDA0DD"]"That...is not...I didn't..."[/COLOR] Hex quickly mashed Grim against her side to muffle him and let her breath out. [COLOR="#DDA0DD"]"I'm just going to sit down. I'm really sorry about that."[/COLOR] She took her seat, wishing for a spell that would make her turn invisible or something...but that was a trick she hadn't mastered. [/QUOTE]
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[Mutants & Masterminds / DC Adventures] Freedomverse Issue #1 "Black & White"
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