BP, Phone Home (Nicole, Sam, Kubi)

A heroes job is never done. Nicole knew this, but yet... Couldn't she just have one break? She has work to do. Write-ups she needs to recheck for the 8th time over with the data and with a spellchecker. Which, led her to where she was currently, asleep at her desk. The living room blanket wrapped over her shoulders by her roommate, Avery, who's sitting on the couch looking over legal documents. The image is a rather well descriptor for the things that go on within this small apartment-- a lot of work, a lot of sleep. It's a pretty quiet place, outside the cities own beeping and screeching. Soft snoring accompanied the flipping of pages as Avery lets out the softest sigh-- she should really wake up Nicole and get her into a proper bed, but then she'll just end up working even longer. She supposes uncomfortable sleep is better than no sleep. With this in mind, she leaves her like-minded roommate be, serious eyes sharp.

Just as she starts to get invested-- her eyes are drawn to something bright moving in the corner of her eye. She blinks harshly for a moment, seeing the phantasmal glowing gem resting right above her roommate's nose. Slowly, Avery closes her book, her lips pursed. Sure-- she's played blind to some of the weird things Nicole's involved in, but this feels like something that needs to be addressed. She'll just address it in a way that sounds less like she has a clue. Nicole will be fine, she's... Hopeful. Part of her wonders if she should try throwing something at the thing-- but not with her or Nicole this close, actually. ... She'll just wake up her probably a superhero roommate, instead.

As Nicole's eyes flutter open, she quickly falls backwards and just about off her chair, letting out a sharp yell. "Holy fucking-- oh my GOD-- I-- What???? WHAT????" She quickly scoots off the now fallen chair, rubbing her head and standing up. "Uhm. A-Avery. How long has this been here?" She looks to her roommate wide-eyed, who's focus is still on the entity. "I woke you up as soon as I noticed it." Nicole calms down a bit as her roommate mentions it. "Well, uh-- I'm gonna-- oof, hold on, let me get on a jacket, you just-- maybe? Uh? Book a hotel for the night? I don't know what's going on. I'm gonna go figure it out, o-okay? I'll text you once I have a clue." Nicole starts rambling, making effort to avoid anything coming from the little phantasmal gem as she worked to get something assembled together. Not enough time to get her full outfit, but she can bring her utility belt. And a coat. and shoes. She'll brush her hair along the way. She quickly puts the belt on over her PJ's, and then the jacket over that. Rushing around the small little apartment, Nicole finally gets as close to ready as she can. "Okay, seriously though-- you need to get out of here, maybe, Ave." Nicole pauses at the door, furrowing her brows.

"I'll be fine. Are you sure you will be, though?" Avery comments idly, as she flicks through her phone, tapping on it on occasion. "I can find somewhere to stay for the both of us. I'll text you the details. Tell me if anything goes south. I'll call police. Turn on your location." With that, Avery and Nicole head out, each heading their different ways-- one heading the opposite direction of the light, and Nicole heading towards.

Her late night run throughout the city was a mess. Ignoring the sharp calls from the city as she ran out in coat and PJ's, running her hand through her hair at every unavoidable red light. Jesus, she should really prepare herself more for stuff like this, especially now that she's an ECLIPSE member. The groggy and spooked gal pants heavily, as she finally arrives. "Fuck." The harsh words that come under her breath as she finally looks up to see what the hell's going on. Okay, first guess-- what's the biggest thing that's happened to her or involved her in weird stuff like this? The bird or ECLIPSE stuff? Is this? But-- she's still such a new member she doubts that'd make any sense, so... But, then, on the other hand, the Ibong Adarna has never had abilities like this. Still, though, she steels herself for anything, her hand on the compacted staff within her utility belt. She does, however, make note of the two other similar lines. The thought of this being ECLIPSE related is more likely, then? She's the only one she knows aligned with Adarna. Or maybe the other lines do other things? There's about a thousand unanswered questions that she can't answer quick enough with a just woken up brain.

The day for Sam had been relatively boring. Easy. Uneventful. The kind of day that just sort of built up an energy in Sam that just made him want to get out there and actually do stuff. He managed to stop a purse thief, rescued a cat from a tree, and stop a drunken brawl at a nearby tavern, but...none of it actually sated this energy that had built up inside of him and there was no sign of anything happening to change that. With a heavy regret, Sam decided to just call it a night there, turn in to bed, wait for tomorrow, and just hope there was something to do. Of course, he didn't want anyone to get hurt, but would it really be so much to ask to have something interesting go on in this city? Either way, he went back to the alleyway where he made his base and threw open the lid to his dumpster, hopping into it.

He had slept for an hour? Maybe two? Before he was suddenly awoken by a shimmering. A bright light that pierced the cracks of the lid to his dumpster. Still a bit sleepy he popped up and pushed the lid of the dumpster up and then he saw it. The purple crysta-BANG! The lid of the dumpster had fallen back down, slamming Sam on the top of the head and bringing him back down to the sheet covered floor of the dumpster. He laid there for a few moments, his hurt pride mainly keeping him down. Once he finally worked up enough energy to get back up, he threw open the lid of the dumpster again, this time making sure it wouldn't come back down and looked towards the crystal.

"Huh...what are you?" Sam said, admiring the pretty crystal from the safety of his dumpster. He hopped over the edge of it and got a closer look. It sure was beautiful. He wondered how much it was worth. "Let's see..." He looked up at the sky, then around the alleyway, his eyes fixing on the light that shone from it. "Alright. A trail? That's interesting." He patted the crystal, like how someone would pat another person on the back. "You sure are interesting. Let's see what ya got for me, eh?" He grinned brightly. While this was strange and something to be taken seriously, he was pretty excited, especially after his boring day. It was something to do to say the least! He could finally burn off all that energy he had worked up before, and on top of that, he felt...even more so energetic. There was something more to this, a feeling that gave him more of a kick to his step.

He hopped back into his dumpster, put on his grey jacket, and grabbed that...strange sword that had fallen from the portal a few days ago. He was still weirded out by it, nothing had ever fallen through the portal before, and there was something about it that made him felt uneasy, but...it might be better to have it with him. He had got to practice a little bit with it and see what it could...and if this was a serious matter than he would probably need the blade...as much as he didn't want to need it. He attached the seethe to his belt and hopped back out. "Alright, Crystal! I'm ready for whatever you have in store for me!"

Using a portal, he went out into the street and looked around for the light. It was a pretty clear trail. It seemed to go off pretty far too and...hold on. Using another portal Sam brought himself to the top of an abandoned building, maybe two stories? Three stories tall? And looked at the light. It almost looked like it was heading out to the island. That was a bit of a way off, but...it might be worth the adventure out there. He stretched his arms up and let them fall to his side. "Maybe I should call back up?" He asked himself, a bit unsure. He wasn't good at figuring things out, but...at the same time. He didn't want to miss out. But he had now...so...hm...he thought a bit more on this and then, after a few moments nodded to himself. "I'll at least scout it out. See what info I get about this. Plus..." He looked to the street, then back further into the city. Other people for sure saw this. It would be reported soon and other heroes would arrive on the scene. He had to be there to support them in any way he could. He was outclassed by probably all of them, but he at least wanted to offer his support in any way he could.

Now! With enough reason to go forward, Sam followed the light, using his portals to get there even quicker. It exhausted him a bit, but he had a surprising amount of energy tonight. He felt like he could do this all day! At the rate he was going with his portals, he'd be there in no time! With a smile on his face, he was ready for whatever was making this light.

The rock formations continued to glow even brighter as the three individuals met on Roosevelt Island. Their presence seemed to embolden the gems, forcing the rocks to produce more light and to hum louder and louder. A ring of light lept out from the gems and encircled the group. From outside of the ring, the crystals, people, and lightshow were no longer visible; it was as if they had ceased to exist to the world. This was unbeknownst to the group, as everything beyond them still appeared the same. In addition, they were virtually prisoners of the ring, though again they had no reason to know this unless they attempted to flee. Should they do so, they would find that there was an attraction between themselves and the crystals, requiring great force to break free-difficult but not impossible. They were not negatively impacted though-quite the contrary, if they were to touch the lights they would be rejuvenated and freed of any flesh-related burdens, as the portal porter had already experienced.

Blue hues overtook the color of the lights, casting out all other shades present in the environment. It was as if an artist had taken a paintbrush and flung it indiscriminately over the area. The swirling lights and the humming reached a fever pitch, to a degree that any animal or person with suprahuman senses would have been debilitated. If one was still able to hear, and listened closely enough, they would have been able to make out a voice, or perhaps voices, emanating from the center gem. Without any apparent provocation, the commotion would take a sudden shift. A bolt of what appeared to be lighting shot from the heavens and struck the center gem, but harmed nothing nearby. Following this burst, the rocks would float up and bond together, making a vaguely humanoid shape.

The lights commenced their swirl and rapidly smashed into the rocks, and a portal opened behind them. With a flash the gems vanished, and in their place stood a tall, almost humanly proportioned individual, cloaked in what could be related to an unnatural form of ancient sherwani. His skin was a shimmery blue, and he emitted a barely visible aura of the same tincture. Clasping his hands together, the blue man slowly spun around in the air, taking in his surroundings. A look of obvious delight came across his face, as he took notice of the entourage that had gathered to greet him.

A voice would floor their minds, speaking in a tongue that, while alien to this planet, would automatically translate itself into images and feelings more familiar to the other party in a secondary fashion (that is, they would hear the original language, but understand it in their own terms). The hulking man-beast reacted to this by blocking his mind off from the newcomer-a puzzling ability, but not a huge problem. While the floating individual could have merely continued the conversation with the other two only, he did not want to be rude, and moreover there was a simple solution. With a cursory glance over the minds of the individuals present (a skimming manner, similar to flipping through a magazine to get a gist of the color scheme rather than actually reading). From this he learned enough vocabulary in their languages that he could properly communicate with them.

"The transportation system grows more complex the further the distance travelled is, and to be completely honest with you all that is the longest trip I have ever made from Zaminaranimaz. Your solar system is rather secluded in the grand scheme of the multiverse-I don't know how you all manage to live all the way out here without being ever-so-lonely!"

The alien man realized he had not yet made an introduction, so he gestured toward himself.

  Greetings, friends. I am Taladorous, Blue Prince of the Marid, Wielder of the Eternal Flame, Guardian of the Good, Protector of the Pure, Vanguard of the Virtuous, Savior of the Stars and Those That Inhabit Them. I have come to Aarde-4820 to study and help your planet. I seek to both learn from the species of this planet and to share what knowledge that I have, in order to promote moral and educational growth. It is a pleasure to make your acquantainces, Samuel Grayson and Nicole Avifana."

Taladorous turned toward the man-beast.

"I'm afraid I did not catch your name. What is it that you call yourself, my friend?"

Oh-- Sam! She blinks as she notices the other from afar, giving a slight awkward smile. You know, she really should have expected someone else would be showing up. She should, at least, be glad that it's Sam who's currently here. If things get dicey she knows he'll have both of their backs. Her kind, but tired expression turns a smidge more frustrated when Kubi arrives in all his Kubi glory-- more notably, spraying dirt and grass all over her from the impact of the jump. Needless to say, the sleepy hero doesn't look amused in the slightest, the awkward but polite expression turning much more sour.

"Mmmh. Hello." Is all she can offer, idly wiping her clothing down with a heavy sigh. Really, really-- was way too early for this. She'd like to be back in bed, please. "Yes-- obviously." Her attempts to be cold but polite fall short this early in the morning, and instead end up more pissy than she'd like to reveal herself to be to Kubi. "And-- his name is Sam. He's a meta, too, yes. It would make sense that that's the case--we all have some variation or level of ability, and, uh-- I might be wrong on this, but..." Her words aren't as fast currently, a bit slowed from the previous lull of sleep. "We're all ECLIPSE related. I wouldn't be surprised if this was some sort of show of dominance by a villain, or-- I doubt it, a second test--? Running through the options, but be on your--"Nicole starts, beginning to pull out her phone to contact a higher up within ECLIPSE ranking to address the subject, when...

That bullshit happens. Nicole's jaw drops, her brows furrow, and she takes like five steps back, beginning to crouch, expecting some sort of explosion when the rocks start slamming against one another. Looking up, she slowly begins to stand as the... Alien, thing, comes in. Well, first off-- some sort of location tracking/guiding ability, or perhaps that was technology? She feels like it was too weirdly ethereal to be technology, but...

Well.

Okay, so, firstly-- it's way too fucking early for this. Nicole's tense expression hints at the amount of time and attention she has for this, which is just about zero. However, as a hero, she understands the importance of at least trying to be diplomatic and to be fair in this situation. If this is to be believed, which, honestly-- literally everything that just happened is pretty damning evidence, figuring out his stance is important. Even, if, admittedly, there's that one intense part of her scientific self that wants to understand just about everything on how his abilities work, she will instead take a deep breath and focus on the objective. Greatful that she still has her phone on her, she'll keep one hand on it incase she needs to call the other ECLIPSE agents, should this guy prove to be bad news.

However, the present is the present. She looks to the blue, iridescent being, a bit struck with silence as the words find themselves hard to come out-- but eventually she gets it through. She takes a breath, calming herself. "It's nice to meet you, too. His name is-- Grizzly." If he wants to guard his name, he has a very fair and valid reason to. She would have if she had the ability, honestly. However, she assumes he has some sort of mind reading ability, but-- for whatever reason, wasn't probing them to find anything but language? Moral ethics, maybe? That would certainly be a relief. She keeps herself at caution, her own posture raising a bit as if to feel a bit more capable and serious in her PJs.

"Let's have this conversation not out in public. Maintaining the peace, after all. Sam-- how hard would it be for you to get us to the ISO? I'd like to make sure we get there as fast as possible. Or, uh-- Grizzly-- if you know any places where we could have a private conversation with, this, ahm... Individual...?" She asks, not keeping her eyes off of the alien. She's at least going to try to be polite, but she won't just accept an easy 'I'm friends.' At the very least, she'd like to be in a space where they can dictate and own the place a little more. Keeping him in a private space away from potential destruction or even worse, potential hostages is important-- no matter what side he's on. She sure hopes he's another good guy.

Once Sam saw Nicole he waved brightly at her, far too brightly for anyone this early in the morning, but he was still bursting with energy. She looked tired, and moreover...she wasn't wearing a jacket. He started to take off his to give to her, but was stopped by the sudden impact of...a huge mass? No, wait...it was a person? A huge person. A person who called him a "fucko". Sam didn't very much care for that. He wiped the dirt that had splattered onto his jacket off and took a few steps forward towards Kubi, but stopped immediately once he saw it. The outfit that Kubi was wearing. Sam was really into heroes and powers and everything that came with it, but...that outfit looked ridiculous. Sam snerked, doing his best to hold back a full on laugh.

He managed to hold it down for the most part and straightened himself. Still grinning he waved at Kubi, nodding in agreement with Nicole. "Yeah, the name's Sam! It's a pleasure to meet you! That was a really awesome landing, man! A little dirty, but really impressive!" And it was! Sam meant that! While Kubi's outfit was outrageous, Sam could tell that this man meant business and was a force to reckoned with. "What's your na-"

Sam was cut off by the sudden light show and the arrival of...Taladorb....Tala-la...Taladorous? That was a tricky name, Sam would need to think of some way to shorten that if this being really was peaceful. He looked cool! That was for sure! He liked the whole landing and arrival, it was super impressive, almost as impressive as Kubi's crash landing, which Sam also really appreciated. Things were getting interesting, which is just what he needed to finish off his day! However...Sam wasn't a big fan of that whole...mind reading thing? Or telepathy? Or whatever they call it, he didn't really know. It was a breach of privacy, it just didn't feel right. It was a violation to some degree. Of course...it did say it was friendly and it didn't attack them yet, that usually meant friend, at least in Sam's experience. For now Sam would trust him! Taladorous seemed to have good intentions, so Sam would play it by ear for now.

As Nicole began to talk and even address Sam himself, he realized he had nearly forgotten something! Opening a gateway in front himself and behind Nicole, Sam removed his jacket, stuck his hands through the portal and placed it on her shoulders, of course it was cold without his jacket, but he'd be fine for now. She looked like she needed it more. Before bringing his hands through the portal, he'd give her a thumbs. Once his hands were through he looked back to Taladorous. "I could open portals to the ISO, it might take a bit and there would be some points we'd be in the open, not many, but a few." He opened a gateway in front of him, the connecting point a good...forty feet away. It was a bit straining, but he could manage it.

He was about to motion everyone in, but he stopped himself and looked up to Taladorous. "Hey-uh...I don't mean to be rude, buddy, and I know we want to take this somewhere private, but I gotta know..." He cleared his throat, trying his best to sound professional. "I ain't calling ya a liar and to be perfectly honest, I didn't understand a lot of the words and titles you used, but...how can we trust ya? I ain't asking for your life story and all the events that brought you here, I don't think we want to waste that much time out here. I do want to hear it, you look really cool and interesting and I would love to learn about ya, but...for now...I just want to know...you say you're good, but can you give us something more than words? Words only go so far with strangers, at least that's what my boss used to say." He ended with a bright smile, trying his best to seem friendly and hoping he didn't offend the being from outer-space who could probably kick Sam's ass. The last thing Sam wanted was to upset this cool looking person. "I know you could just all be an act, but...well, it's the best we got in this moment. So! Help us trust ya." He nodded, straightening himself out.

God. Damn. Fucking. Aliens.

It was too early for this shit, it was too dark for this shit; it was just too fucking much. He was glad for the light emitting from the Pepto-Bismo Asteroid, as he was calling it; a big ironic, considering the damned thing was going to give him an ulcer. And it didn’t help that he had to shield himself; that fucker was trying to rifle through his memories. Nope, nope, a thousand times nope; as soon as he heard - or, rather, “heard” - the voice in his head, he activated Kuma Seiri, a bear-like helmet and cloak forming over him, shrouding him in black energy. No way was he letting some … fucking Daft Punk lookin’ fuck into his mind. Nope, stopping him right there; the mask on his face almost got displaced by the force of the energy emitted from his skin, but he fixed it with a simple finger. It may look ridiculous, but at least he, y’know … looked like a hero. And by looked like a hero, he meant looked like shit.

Whatever, he tried it, doesn’t matter now. What does matter now is that Daft Punk over here was a bona fide alien. Who woulda thought it? He almost wished he had decided to go to bed. Course, there’s no guarantee he wouldn’t have been dragged into this anyway … but anyway, Nicole was right, they needed to get his outta here. The road to hell is paved with good intentions and if that were the case, Taladorous was buildin’ a freeway. He was thankful for Nicole answering with his codename; he may not have much to hide, but he wasn’t exactly comfortable with random people knowing he had powers, not with the rise of anti-meta sentiment lately. Best to operate mostly in the shadows … or at least, as much as a two and a half ton giant of a man could hide in the shadows. Still, better than blurting out his secret identity all over the world.

”Nicole is right.”

First time he had used her name, but there wasn’t time to fuck around. He watched with interested eyes as fucko - Sam, whatever, he was still some random fucko - opened a portal. Not to land, of course, oh no; Kubi barely restrained rolling his eyes. He could see the glimmer of the portal some fourty meters away; and just that seemed to wear on the young man. Nope, having him portal them away from here wasn’t going to work, it’ll probably kill the guy. Looked like it was up to Kubi. He looked around, looking for a good place. He finally settled on a small outcropping of rock that could very generously be called a mound. He frowned at Sam as the energy protecting his mind disappeared. He was loathe to do it, of course, but he had to use Kuma Ikari for this and can’t use both at once … a weakness he was working on sorting, of course.


”Look, Sammy boy has a point, but let’s keep this shit simple, right? I ain’t gonna try to swim through the water. If y’ can’ fuckin’ tell, I don’t swim, I sink. However, can’t exactly fuckin’ stay here, someone might come across us. So what I’m gonna do is punch that fuckin’ rock to smithereens. Don’t strain yourself now, Kid. Takin’ us all th’ way across town might kill ya.”

At that, brown energy suddenly swirled around his body and like a freight train he crashed into the mound, his fist sending graveling flying. It only took a few moments before a decent sized hole was carved into it, enough for all four of them to stand carefully. He cracked his neck.

”Look, it ain’ ideal, but Nicole, get on and call reinforcements, yeah? We can shelter here fer now. At least we ain’ out in the open, and we can be somewhat fuckin’ comfy while we wait for Daft Punk t’ answer our questions. Worse come t’ worse, we squish him. Now, Daft Punk, if y’ can do me a favor and jus’, like, wait in here, it’ll go a long way t’ trustin’ y’. And answer fucko’s questions, they’re good questions.”