Fantasy Villified

[PauciloquentPumpkin]

Springfield. A beautiful, sprawling city, full of varied lifestyles. Everything from the crowded city life to the flatlands for farming, as far as the eye could see. Society was equally beautiful. Or, at least, on the surface.

The hero society worked relentlessly to keep up it's image. Only those that looked the part, had the right personality and powers, were allowed to join. Despite appearances, those with powers that did not fit their elitest standards were looked down upon, by heroes and the rest of society. Heroes bullied, threatened, and even beat those that didn't fit in.

There is a group that resisted them though. They didn't have a name, they weren't so self-centered. They had a loose leadership structure. Their leaders were often the ones on the front lines, doing what needed to be done for the group.

The resistance consisted of a wide variety of people. From regular and powered people who were downtrodden, beaten down by society, those those that were simply rejected, to those that had everything and could fit in easily, but saw the injustice and joined to help.

Cameron, Leslie, Fran and Scry were four such leaders. They were out on a mission with a few other members. Leslie had already directed the others to keep and eye out and scout the area so they can stay informed, and nearby if they were needed.

Leslie spoke to the three other leaders. He had a booming voice, one that commanded respect. He never wanted to be a leader, but his personality naturally lead him down that path. His voice lowered, "We're going to try for stealth, but expect a fight. Me and Cameron will take point. Scry is here to help us identify the gear, Fran, you'll protect her. Cam and myself will take point." Leslie looked around with a questioning gaze, checking to see if everyone understood the plan. Fran simply returned a warm smile, her hair in a wad around her feet.

 

[Playinghooky]

Cameron grinned back at the group and flashed a thumbs up, if he had nervous energy it was hidden behind the smile. Only one person could look him in the eyes and know he was a little anxious for this heist to be a success.

“This place is practically a ghost town anyways, no heroes care about this district anymore.” Cameron kept his voice low, but perhaps added a little too much forced confidence.

Scry rolled her eyes at the statement and pulled out a little hand held device, “Well it’s now or wait until another convenient low security time we could get in which could be in -” She trailed off, glancing quickly at the screen of her device, “three months.”

Cameron sighed, tugging on his ear in irritation. “I know time is of the essence, we’ve just never pulled something like this on a hero outpost before.”

“A nearly defunct one.” Scry corrected, “Just like you said, the area here has mostly been abandoned by the kinds of people heroes work for, so this base has low security already. Coupled with the rally that’s happening the next district over, a lot of the better and higher ranking heroes are out there to help.”

This meant that the people they could potentially run into would just be low level threats. Cameron blew out a puff of air and adjusted the beanie over his head again so his green hair wouldn’t be noticeable. “Okay, then I’m ready. No questions here.” He smiled more genuinely at Leslie and gestured before him, “After you, I’ll follow your lead.”

Scry looked at Fran with another eyeroll, “These two, why do we go anywhere with them?”

 

[PauciloquentPumpkin]

Fran gave a girlish giggle at Scry's remark, "Because they are men." Fran giggled once more, her shoulders rattled at her own delight. She was completely relaxed, never one to know fear, she was ready to go, excited to see the layout of the facility.

Leslie gave Fran a scolding eye roll, teasing the woman. The sun was beginning to set, leaving the sky on fire, a beautiful contrast to the dark work they were about to set out on. Leslie let his eyes linger on Fran. He knew Scry's powers didn't lend to fighting as much as the others, so having Fran protect her was the right choice, but he so desperately wanted Fran to protect Cameron instead. As if to silently reiterate that though, Leslie gave a loving squeeze of Cam's shoulder before signaling them to move out.

Leslie let his hand fall from Cam's shoulder as he made for a side entrance to the building. One of two entrances. Not many options, but it was better than the front entrance. Once they approached the door he motioned to Cam. Though Leslie had some fighting prowess, Cameron had more strength than he did, thanks to his useful ability.

 

[Playinghooky]

Cam nodded, sizing up the door as he approached it and then knelt. “I’m going to try picking the lock first, if it’s too tough then I can just bust it open.” He murmured, pressing his finger to the keyhole. Cameron took a deep breath, already he missed the gentle pressure of Leslie’s hand on his shoulder, but there would be plenty of time for tender moments afterwards. With a steady exhale, he closed his eyes and his index finger began to ripple as he pushed it into the lock. It became less solid and he felt it filling the keyhole.

Cameron opened his eyes again and then willed his finger into a lockpick shape. The solidifying process didn’t take long, but always felt a little weird. And then the real work of picking the lock began. It was a little easier to do when you could feel the pins directly, and in no time he was turning the lock and pulling his little pick shaped finger from it.

“Door’s open.” Cam beamed, the flesh of his finger moving and expanding back into the digit it used to be.

“Excellent, you can open doors.” Scry said in the quietest deadpan, “That’s still kinda weird looking when you do that, man.” she motioned to his finger.

Cameron ignored her and turned the knob, shouldering the door open slowly and craning his head around before he opened it all the way. The side door opened into a hallway lit with long yellowing lights. No one was around for now. He held the door, motioning for the rest to file in before he closed it with care.

Scry brushed her dark bangs out of her eyes, her cool expression fixed firmly in place though her heart pounded. She hadn’t been on the front line before, and this was a heady mix of exciting and dangerous for her. She trusted Fran would keep her safe – half of her could probably blast them all away anyways with all the tech she had – although she had never worked this closely with the woman.

Fran would have to let her take a peek at some of those cybernetics sometime, perhaps see if Scry could augment them even further. She filed away this thought for after they had grabbed the radio gear, and let her eyes instead slide over Fran’s set up once more to bolster her courage.

“This is gonna be a cakewalk.” Scry whispered.

 

[PauciloquentPumpkin]

"It may be weird, but just imagine what he could do in the bedroom." Leslie's playful, teasing voice offered the rebuttal to Scry's comment, giving a smirk as he did.

Once the group is inside Leslie let his four specters split from him. They looked exactly like him, though looked ethereal, a deep shade of blue with a dim, dull glow that didn't give off any light. The specters floated away in an eerie manner as they began exploring.

Scry's appreciative scanning eyes did not go unnoticed by Fran, who returned a smile. Not sure how Scry felt being at the forefront of things with everyone, she figured she would attempt to console her, in case she was nervous. "Harm does not come to those I protect." Fran's gentle voice urged calmness as she gave a wink and stepped closer to Scry. Since her hair defends her automatically, she needs to be close to what she protects. It's a way she learned to trick her hair into defending others, as it'll think Fran is being attacked, and move to defend against the attack.

The plan was simple. Locate the tech, which, thanks to Leslie's powers, wouldn't be hard. Determine which pieces would be useful, which is where Scry comes in handy. And Fran for protection, and Cam to beat the enemy senseless. Leslie gives a smile as he brings up the rear of the group, moving along with them. So far they haven't been detected, though noises could be heard from several directions.

 

[Playinghooky]

Scry stiffened a little at the closeness, having to take a moment to relax her shoulders. She knew the basics of how Fran’s power worked, so she would have to be close to be safe. “I’ll hold you to that.” she nodded, the corner of her mouth pulling up into a lopsided smile. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder why she had never taken anyone up on the offer to learn how to fight. Another question to be filed away for later.

Cam glanced behind him, past Scry and Fran back to Leslie. One of his specters had just breezed soundlessly by him and the rest began to fan out in different directions. A good plan, but another reason to worry for his boyfriend as well. If any of the specters were caught that would raise the alarm. They could take care of themselves, but if they were overpowered, that could leave Leslie in a bind as well. Cameron made a mental note to keep a close eye on Les throughout this little excursion.

Falling back to be abreast with Leslie, Cameron bumped their shoulders together, “Where to, Fearless Leader?”

 

[PauciloquentPumpkin]

Leslie welcomed the warm sensation of Cameron's shoulder against his arm. Leslie was a little taller, so he looked down a little when he replied, giving a warm smile, "There are people ahead and to the right, so we'll be going to the left." Leslie's gaze became hazy as he focused on his specters, leaving a pause lingering in the air, a bad habit of his. "Scratch that. I'm bringing company."

Leslie's eyes refocused, looking to the group as if to say oops, accompanied with a lazy shrug. He let the silly grin linger as they prepared to ambush their prey. "He seems to think he's seeing a ghost. His curiosity will lead him to us, where we can ambush him. His skin is really shiny. I wonder what his ability is." Leslie cocked his head slightly, the questioning look on his face confirmed his curiosity.

Fran gave a quiet giggle at Leslie's ability to get caught, yet still turn it into a positive. She gave Scry a reassuring smile. Her warm voice cut through the tension in the air, "Don't worry, I won't let them touch a single hair on your head." She gave a few pats to the top of Scry's head like a mother reassuring a child. Then she let out a giggle at her own teasing.

 

[Playinghooky]

“You’ve got an eye for trouble,” Cam winked at Leslie, wasting no time in pressing his fists together like he was about to serve a volleyball. Once again, his hands rippled and melted into each other, becoming smoother and wider, and very mallet like. “He won’t know what hit him.”

Cameron stepped stealthily forward to the front of the group, closer to the corner the unsuspecting hero would be rounding any minute, and strained his ears for footsteps.

Scry held her breath, she didn’t mean to, but things were going to get very real in just one swing of Cameron’s hammerfists, and one possible concussion would be delivered. Or there could be a number of things that went wrong. She didn’t want to think about that. Instead, she shuffled just a tiniest bit closer to Fran, and she nearly linked arms. As though that would have helped. Scry huffed out a shaky laugh, “You’ve got this.”

Whether she had meant it for herself, Fran, or Cameron, was unclear, and it didn’t seem to matter right then anyways. As the specter breezed right by Cam once more, followed shortly by a gawking silver-skinned hero. Cameron swung the mallet in an upwards motion, socking the hero right in the gut.

“Huurrrkkk” the sound of air leaving lungs left the hero’s mouth as he doubled over, clutching his stomach, eyes wide in surprise.

 

[PauciloquentPumpkin]

The silver man crumpled to the floor, but had his wits about him enough to activate his power. A bright light emenated from the man, filling the area with blinding light. The temperature rose slightly, but otherwise nothing seemed to happen. Leslie knew two other heroes were alerted by the light thanks to his forward scouting specters.

Fran closed her eyes, reaching a hand out delicately to keep track of Scry, but showed no distress. Even if she were asleep or unconscious her hair would protect her. It's lead to an unhealthy lack of fear, but her presence was also great for keeping otheds calm. Leslie closed his eyes as well, but could still see through his specters. The one that led the silver man earlier turned back, ready to engage.

Leslie's specter launched itself at the enemy, engaging in a quick exchange of martial blows that neatly helped the man take a long nap. The light quickly died down, and the temperature returned back to normal. Leslie alerted the others, letting them know two more were coming. A large fella with hardened skin, and the other one was a shape-shifter. He knew when he saw him change into a falcon to speed down the hallway. This inadvertently left the area free for Leslie's other specters to roam, keeping only one with him to fight the oncoming foes.

Leslie gave Cam a look, he hated fighting, but knew what had to be done for the good of the group, their family, unrelated by blood, back home. Fran, as casual as ever, showed no signs of worry or stress. She might as well have been out for a stroll. She twirled her hair in her hand playfully, humming a slow, calming tune as she waited for the enemy to arrive, making sure to keep Scry close.

 

[Playinghooky]

Cameron, having been closest to the silver hero along with the specter had also born the brunt of the heat that emanated from him. He backed away with a hiss a wave of heat rolled over him and his arms while the specter dispatched him. Thankful Les was watching out for him, Cam quickly took inventory, the burst of high temperature had made him a little soft in the arms, but that would sort itself out shortly as the hallway cooled down while the silver hero was unconscious.

Cameron glanced back over his shoulder, tossing a wave of his hammer hand and a wink back at the rest of the group. “Two more like these should be no problem.”

“Show off.” Scry muttered, her sarcasm drowned out by the scream of a hawk as it banked hard around the corner, and put it’s talons forward. They raked across the arm Cam threw up to protect his face. Scry’s eyes widened and she reached quickly to take Fran’s hand.

Cam grit his teeth, his shirt and arm being torn into by the hawk before it swooped back up again. The gashes wouldn’t have been so deep if he hadn’t already been a little ‘melty’. Once the hawk swooped up he let the injured arm droop, changing it’s consistency to melt his hands back into shape. This time, he lengthened his fingers, they began to narrow into hard points.

 

[PauciloquentPumpkin]

The two new enemies seemed to have a bit of coordination. As soon as Cameron prepared to attack the shapeshifter, he changed targets. Not a moment later the hard skinned hero made his entrance, barreling through the specter effortlessly as he made his way towards Cameron.

Fran, with a calmness, as if there wasn't chaos around her, ignored what was going on and turned to Scry. With a warm smile and gentle voice she soothed Scry, "No worries, I'll protect you." At the very same moment the hawk dove towards them. Without taking her attention off of Scry her hair jumped into action, putting up a barrier the hawk couldn't get through.

Thwarted, the hawk was far from over. He quickly shifted to a massive grizzly bear. A bear of a bear. He was massive, taking up nearly the whole hallway, and ferocious looking. He let out a gruesome roar, challenging all, as he raised a massive paw, intent on ending lives with a single swipe. But alas, like the hawk, Fran's hair thwarted the attack. The hair wrapped smartly around the bear's paw, bracing against the wall, easily stopping all yhe power the bear had.

Fran gave Scry another warm smile to out her at ease as the behemoth bear raged behind her. She turned around to face the bear. Even with her robotic arm she didn't think she could do anything to injure the bear, so she simply giggled and booped his nose. Her plan was to keep it angry and distracted.

Meanwhile Leslie had launched himself towards the front to tend to Cameron, though his attention quickly shifted as the bear of a man came barreling through his specter. He simply would not let him through to Cam. Leslie masterfully leaped forward, and with all of his momentum, launched a kick at his foes knees. He knew he wouldn't win a strength contest, but size and strength weren't all that important in a fight anyways.

While the specter near the group recovered to join the fight, the three others scoured the building. They would quickly find several rooms with equipment for them to explore later. After that, they began making their way back to Leslie. The building was run down, though there was a single room that was different. A large, open cube of a room. It had pure white walls, and bright lights left no shadows. It had expensive looking equipment, and the gear they needed was among them, suspected Leslie.

 

[Playinghooky]

The hulking hero took the kick to the knees with a grunt and his momentum carried him to the ground where he scrambled to get up quickly. Cameron used this opportunity to slash his newly formed claws down the hero’s back, The fabric of his suit ripped, but his skin remained untouched.

“You can’t pierce me with those,” the hero laughed and swung his arm out, knocking Cam’s feet out from under him. Cameron’s head smacked hard against the dingy floor, and he briefly saw stars. By the time his vision cleared, the hero had rolled away and onto his feet a short distance away, sizing up Leslie and his specter.

“Who are you punks?” The hero asked, his tone commanding and level even as he prepared for another attack.

Scry’s eyes widened to about the size of saucers as she watched the bear struggle against Fran’s hair. She knew there was probably a way to calculate just how strong Fran’s hair was, but even the thought of doing those calculations left her nearly breathless with awe. “Damn.” She shuddered and cast her gaze quickly between the two fights happening.

 

[PauciloquentPumpkin]

Leslie moved to restrain the large man. Even with superior leverage, the man was so strong it made it difficult. He managed to get the man's arms locked behind his back, but Leslie couldn't keep the man still. His specter rushed to check up on Cameron in the meantime. Leslie's specters could speak, so it gingerly placed a hand on Cameron's face to see if he was OK.

The shapeshifter had grown increasingly frustrated, unable to deal with Fran's hair. He finally decided to give up on brute strength and shifted to a snake. A vibrant red and yellow snake, highly venomous. He figured the slender body could quickly strike past, faster than the hair could react. Luckily he was very wrong. The moment the snake struck, the hair was already moving to block. This made it easy for Fran to launch a quick jab, knocking the small foe out cold.

As calm as ever, Fran turned to Scry, "Well, that was easy. Let's go help the others." She gave a quick peace sign, quickly celebrating their victory before grabbing Scry by the wrist and tugging her along towards the last remaining enemy, whether Scry wanted to go or not. Keeping her close was still the best way to protect her.

Fran lacked any formal martial training, but she could still punch and kick hard with her metal limbs, making her right side considerably stronger than her left. She had made her way to Leslie, who was struggling to detain the hardened man, and brazzenly punched him in the face as hard as she could. The man didn't even flinch, but his nose started to bleed.

Fran cocked her head to the side and frowned. She turned to Scry for a casual conversation while the other two struggled, "You think that hurt him?" Leslie couldn't help but laugh at Fran, causing him to partially lose his grip, giving the man a little more freedom.

 

[Playinghooky]

“I’m alright,” Cam assured the specter, “just dazed for a second.” he accepted the hand up and assessed the fight. The large hero had an arm free and used it to elbow Leslie in the gut. Anger flashed dangerously in Cameron’s eyes and he held out his hand to the specter, fingers already returning to normal. “Stretch my arm a bit, we’ll loop it around his neck and choke him out, this guy needs to take a nap!” he growled.

Scry had allowed herself to be pulled towards the raging combatant, astounded by the force of Fran’s punch, and even more surprised the hero was still standing and struggling. “I wonder how his power works, to take a hit like that without flinching.” She mused. Fran’s carefree attitude seemed to be quelling her fears now, especially after seeing how impenetrable her defenses were. Without thinking she pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of the scene, the flash going off and glaring off the walls and tiled floor.

“Sorry, I forgot the flash was on!” Scry called, blinking the spots out of her eyes and squeezing Fran’s human hand, to assure herself she was still nearby.

 

[PauciloquentPumpkin]

The soundless specter obeyed Cameron. It grabbed Cam's arm and began pulling while making its way towards the hardened man. Meanwhile Leslie was recoiling from the blow to the elbow. He had a well conditioned body, but his foe clearly had super human strength. He needed a moment to catch his breathe as the man turned to confront Fran, looking more angry than hurt.

A deep, rumbling voice emiited from his throat. It sounded unnatural, "What are you doing here?" His question was met with another hard punch from Fran. Once more it seemed to hardly effect him. Scry's flash was blinding in the dimly lit hallway, affecting everyone around. Fran simply closed her one eye, her cybernetic eye was unaffected.

As the hero tried to rub his eyes clear, Fran punched him once more, noticing Cameron and one of Leslie's specters approaching from behind. This time their foe grunted angrily, as if he was feeling the pain. Though it's possible he was just growing frustrated. Fran wasn't sure.

Scry had grabbed Fran's hand. She turned around, ignoring the large man as he angrily tried to punch his way through the barrier of hair. She squeezed Scry's hand reassuringly, figuring she may be worried. With a smile she said, "No worries hun, I won't let anything harm you."

 

[Playinghooky]

“You know, I was a little skeptical at first, but I think I believe you now.” Scry nodded, watching Fran’s hair move autonomously to protect them- to Protect Fran, really, that she was so close to her was the only reason Scry remained untouched by all the chaos around them. “Do you wanna get coffee sometime?” She looked back at Fran’s face, realizing how dumb that sounded at this moment and flustering. “Uh, I’d like to take a look at your specs- er, your tech.”

The casual conversation the ladies were having seemed to enrage the hero, who could not break Fran’s defenses no matter how hard he tried. That was all the distraction needed for Cameron and the specter to draw nearer with Cam’s stretched out arm. It looked a little disturbing, especially when he wiggled his fingers to tap on the specter’s hand and signal that it was time for their plan to initiate.

Cam grabbed his noodle arm and swung it around the big hero’s neck, “Alright, give me a hand!” He called to the specter, catching his own hand and wrapping the rest of the elongated arm around his thick neck and he began to squeeze like a boa constrictor.

Of course the hulking man wouldn’t take this without a fight, as he began to grab at Cameron’s arm and attempted to throw him off. “Go… Down…” Cam grunted. With his free hand he punched the hero in the ribs over and over. It was like hitting solid concrete, and he would feel sore after, but the large hero’s movements finally seemed to be slowing down, becoming sloppy as air oxygen was kept from getting to his brain.

The hero fell to his knees and then slackened in Cameron’s grasp and he loosened his grip around the neck. “Damn, that was tough.” he sighed.

 

[PauciloquentPumpkin]

Fran was considered one of the leaders, but she didn't have any real responsibilities. People just tended to look up to her. She was also their best defense. She would often be assigned to protect valuable assets. In this instance, Scry.

Fran gave a girlish giggle at Scry's sudden, unexpected request for coffee. She gave another giggle at Scry's reasoning. Without skipping a beat Fran replied, "Would this be a date?" A teasing tone in her voice, "Of course, Sydney." came her reply, not even waiting for Scry to answer. Despite most people calling her Scry, Fran always used people's names. A pleased smile crept along her face, entirely ignoring the ensuing chaos going on behind her.

The hero had finally fallen. A specter and Cameron worked to choke the man to unconsciousness. The battle was finally over. Leslie rose to his feet, recovered, and surveyed the situation. "I found several rooms that likely contain what we need. Scry, this is where you shine." Leslie had planned on taking them to the strange, out of place room first. He gave Cameron a look as if asking if he were OK, knowing there wasn't time for idle chitchat. Well, except for Fran and Scry apparently. Though neither one is much of a fighter.