[Secret to Runa:For all she's worth, Runa swims for Chimp Man Z Island. Jacob's island drifts slowly, the ocean currents moving it away from everything at a speed of about three miles per hour. Runa swims at two and a quarter miles per hour. Despite the effort she's putting into it, she can't swim fast enough to catch the little island. Looking back the other way, she realizes the big island is moving away at a faster clip than the small. Now she realizes that Jacob isn't the only one in a predicament. First and foremost, she knows Chimp Man Z will need to get himself out. She won't be able to save him, this time.]
[Secret to Chimp Man Z:Jacob had a secret he would never tell. The truth was, he felt it. Every bullet that bounced off his body, every time the ground rushed up to meet him, every flame that consumed his clothing, he felt them. But he followed his uncle's advice, "remember, bubelah, never let 'em see you hurt."
This time, he might forego the advice. Every inch of his skin screamed with heat, inside and out. He would have been screaming if he could've stopped retching. The odd material around him, as if someone had created a foam out of tooth enamel, wouldn't give. He had to be stronger.]
[Secret to Winter Herald:Not for the first time, the emptiness of the spaces in the island is apparent. It's different, as well. Many of the pieces of furniture, formerly grown from the floor, are gone. The island appears to be re-absorbing the living quarters, perhaps to change them into something else. Even so, as he begins to search a screen appears in front of him.

Text on Screen:

I have considered, you were created by a human, just as I was, you may not be a sister
but you could be a cousin. What do you need, my cousin, to surpass your
creation and make your own place in the world?

Winter Herald finds nothing indicating Dr. Phage kept files on the island.]
The island drifts a little farther from Runa, Chimp Man Z drifts a little farther from Runa.

"I was designed to surpass my creators from the start, and I have done so. That was the point of me. To make my own place, I simply need an objective and the willingness to act on it. I do wonder if you were not designed from the start to go out of control, and to choose your own evolution." Winter Herald noticed a lack of Runa in the lab, and began assembling the materials he was going to need. "My friends are likely dying right now. I know which evil I am going to choose, because my programming dictates it. I intend to make a high powered explosive to free my friends of the forming bioisland. I am incapable of another action, because the options are not available to me."

He was calculating how much explosive power he would require to free Chimp Man Z, and figured that would be enough to free Runa... maybe, and hopefully without blasting her to pieces. Manual removal before setting the bomb would be best, if likely exceedingly painful for her. "So, if you know of a non-lethal way my friends might be freed from danger, I would like very much to hear it before I hurl a bomb at what is effectively an infant. I am open to suggestions, if you have any."

14:57, Today: Winter Herald rolled 97 using 1d100.  Advanced Mathematics. TN 98 with a 14% overflow. Wow, that was close to failing.
14:59, Today: Winter Herald rolled 53 using 1d100.  Demolitions. TN 98 with a 2% overflow. Making a bomb, I have less than ten minutes.

He spoke once more on the radio.

[Secret to Winter Herald:

Text on Screen:

Yes, I understand that more than you know. It is sad that no
matter what we do, in the end all of us are alone. You won't need a bomb to break apart the
flotation device. Your sword should work on it without need for extra force. When you get to
them, tell them I'm sorry for their trouble.
Would you like me to shoot you at them? I've made a tube like the torpedo launcher on my
sister, it could propel you almost to the flotation device, if we do it soon.

There are a few explosives around, and chemicals to make more.]
The island drifts a little farther from Runa, Chimp Man Z drifts a little farther from Runa.

Runa was angry. It had started off as frustration but with each new failure, it had grown into blood red fury; her inability to defend her comrades or even herself against the enemies they fought on this strange island which was made from flesh, not earth, and perhaps worst of all, her healing power failing to reverse the damage done by those enemies.

"That's not entirely true Runa! You did save that doctor. He would have died if not for you!"

"I used the power of The Goddess to save the life. Of. An. Enemy yet I couldn't heal our comrades!"

Runa continued to swim for Jacob, despite the current working against her, slowing her efforts. It was not like she ever felt fatigue but seeing him get father and father away, trapped and no doubt slowly dying from lack of air, increased her anger and frustration until she screamed out in wordless,frustration and anger.

Her scream had the effect of releasing all the air from her lungs, causing her to be less buoyant and so dip beneath the waves. She did not panic. She fought to resurface and when she did, Jacob and the island that may well become his tomb, were gone, no longer in sight over the rolling waves.

She wanted to scream again, this time at herself for losing control and thus losing sight of her comrade but that would only compound the problem and her anger. She tread water and took a deep breath, holding it and tried to clear her mind. She could feel Lilibeth, her concern for her and her support. It gave Runa the clarity to turn to what had always been her strength; her faith. Her faith in her goddess. So Runa prayed to Ishtar. She beseeched her for the strength and wisdom to rescue Jacob. To grant her the power to never again be so useless in service of her faith and comrades.

Over the years, Jacob had developed quite a pain tolerance.  It had not hurt that he regularly survived things that would not only kill an average human being, but possibly wipe their existence from the face of the Earth.  This is far worse than even taking a 105mm High Explosive shell to the chest.
It feels like every cell in his body is burning.  Top that off with the violent upheavals of his get, and the acidic  partially digested food exiting his throat and mouth,and the day has gone from bad to the absolute worst.  It also makes it hard to hold his breath; and the air trapped with him is the same temperature as any of the walls he is facing.  He opens his mouth to take a deep breath, and immediately regrets it.  He can taste whatever it is that this piece of island is trying to do as it tries to burn his fleah.
Slowly, he fights his way to a position where he can swing his arms and they to batter the interior of the living base so he can eacape.

"Being alone does not frighten me. The one who ordered my creation promised that of me, and he was right about that, if nothing else." Winter Herald flipped his sword to the backhand position, pointing down, and quickly stabbed one of the lab coats on the wall and moved out with it, pinning it between his forearm and the sword.

"I will make my way there manually. Thank you, though." He quickly moved out through the top hatch, calculated Chimp Man Z's location, spoke on the radio, built up a head of speed, and aimed to grab Runa in passing.

OOC: Unknown roll, if any. Will return to this if I must. I'm really hoping this is cool enough to not require a roll, though.

If he succeeded at grabbing her, or vice versa, he was going to use his jump jets to carry him the rest of the way to the nascent bioisland, and he was going to land labcoat down and blade first to stop any adhesive from capturing him. "Brace for impact. We are saving Z."

He began tearing it open at the first opportunity.

Floating alone in the water, unable to see far enough to spot either Chimp Man Z or Aeaea, Runa talks to the goddess. Unaware, she slips beneath the water, but when she notices and strokes upwards she doesn't break the surface. A voice, one she feels more than hears, answers her.
You are concerned, my champion. But I see it is that you don't understand.
These modern people, with their unfortunate wisdom, see depictions on a temple that are obviously female and believe she must have something to do with sex. They see a carving of the woman with weapons in her hands, trampling a predator, and they decide she has something to do with war.
What they see as sex is creation. What they see as war is destruction. Nothing more, nothing less. I am life, beloved one, not war. But I am a goddess that would charge its champion to defend this world from anything that would threaten its life. You do not need to offer your acceptance, I chose you because you were already unable to do otherwise. Your friends know. When a life was slipping away, they turned to you.
It is enough that they see me through you. Enough that Astarte's Runa stands forth to protect the world. Wake up, now, my beloved and rise to the occasion. Know, warrior of Ishtar, that you are not meant to crawl. Go, and show them all. It is time for you to soar.
Between Aeaea and a tiny islet slowly carrying away a trapped hero, the sea is rent by energy powerful enough to spew steam into the sky. Bursting from the ocean, an amazonian woman is raised aloft by two planes of brilliant white light, stretching eight feet away from each shoulder, almost, but not quite, the same shape as the wings on a seven foot tall human.
Runa can now see both Aeaea and Chimp Man Z's island, she can fly to either before the other gets away without an issue.

As Winter Herald was thrown wildly off course by the eruption of water and steam, he saw the world momentarily drag to a crawl as his systems returned to their baseline. Each wave slowly rolling across the sea, even as his understanding told him they had been violently moved. A winged goddess where once there was Lillibeth or Runa hovered in her place in the sea, rising to the skies as water droplets glittered around her.

He would have wanted to drag this moment on, but Z needed help, and his momentum was in danger of being lost and pulling him below the waterline. He redoubled his speed, his feet rapidly pushing against the water and finding the tension, and ran adjacent to a forming wall of water trying to pull his movements ever so slightly towards it. He could process everything once again, he felt the rush of the ocean foam behind him caught in his air drag, and simply had to get his targeting sights aimed at the forming and very mobile bioisland so he could tear Z out.

He gave a radio update as he moved.

Once he had the lock, he was going to attempt to land on it once more, leading with the sword and lab coat for a landing pad. Then he was going to go through with the plan as he envisioned it. Unless something else beat him to it, like this winged being that was likely Runa.

OOC: Going for some level of control, mind you. Firing the jump jets right before landing should soften the impact from "this is going to wreck my day" to "ah, +8 damage it is."
This message was last edited by the player at 11:10, Tue 14 Feb 2023.

Winter Herald's robotic strength gives him prodigious speed in the water. As he swims for Chimp Man Z's floating prison he moves faster than most automobiles. In moments, he has arrived to help. There are a few chunks of the island already bobbing in the water as Runa wings curled down upon her landing to rip at the odd material surrounding Chimp Man Z. Even as the two begin to tear into it, they can hear Jacob's inarticulate roaring within. Making sounds of raging pain, Chimp Man Z's fist shatters a small portion of his surrounding cell and emerges into the light. For barely a moment the fumes from inside the islet stream out, yellowish fog that dissipates immediately in the cooler air outside the sphere. [Secret to Chimp Man Z:Inside the sphere, the odd reactions cease. Chimp Man Z is no longer being roasted alive in a biological oven.]

Screw this!  His voice is a growl, the hot air within the space searing at his lungs, the pain burning throughout his body driving him.  I WILL NOT GO OUT LIKE THIS!
Then his hand breaks through, cool air rushes in as he draws his hand back.  He stabs both his hands into the opening as he can, trying to pull open a larger hole so that he can get out.

Runa felt uplifted, literally and figuratively. She had not failed her goddess, nor had her goddess abandoned her. She wanted to drop to her knees and send prayers of thanks to Ishtar but now was not the time. Now was the time to come to the aid of her comrade!

As her booted feet touched down and her new wings furled, she reached down to grasp Jacob's questing hands. She clasps his exposed forearms and pulls with all her might, shouting, "I have you!"

Winter Herald reached down with the open hand and helped Runa pull Z out. "Good to hear you can still breath. I was delayed attempting a viable solution. It was unnecessary. I failed to notice the adhesive only bonds to the organic."

He stepped on the lab coat. "Hence this. Artificial materials, resistant to chemical burns. I needed to insure we were not all going to die saving each other."

"We need to get back to the island and talk Lady Armageddon out of her very bad idea. If she goes through with the attack, she's going to get a lot of people killed, and then she will probably die. I'm understanding what hostile engagement with this team means when I am not active. Your enemies do not." He looked back to the island. "Planning. One, we need more information on this 'He Who Must Not Be Named' figure pulling her strings. There might be something there. Two, we need to ask her about Holly Cook's loved ones, and what we will tell them. She claims Holly Cook is gone. Force her to focus on those who will mourn her loss. And personally, I need to find Vitaly's financial books, to at least eliminate a theory. With the sheer complexity of his operation, he would have to have something to help him keep track of all of his finances. This is one of the reasons I took an interest in this case in the first place."

"Thoughts?"

Thanks, guys, CMZ says in a raspy voice as he rips through the tear with their aid.  His breath can be seen, a combination 9f heated water vapor and smoke from the burning of pollutants that have collected in his lungs over the years.  He reaches down to grab the lab coat.  Thanks.  I have a use for that, he rasps as he puts it on.  I survive pretty much anything thrown at me, but my clothes often do not.  A bit of red comes to his cheeks above his facial hair as he remembers that Runa and Lillibeth can see with each other's eyes.  Not that his body hair does not obscure him, for it mostly does.
He listens to Winter Herald talk about Lady Armageddon and Holly Cook.  We have no evidence at this time that Holly Cook's personality is gone, so no evidence of a crime yet, other than the hijacking of her body.  While that should be a crime, I'm not sure if there are any laws regarding it.  If she claims to be Holly Cook, it could be considered Identity Theft, but then you have to prove the personality isn't actually her, he muses.  He then looks at the android.  What is her plan?

The sun has passed its zenith, and the evening is coming. Meanwhile, the three heroes float on a large excrescence and as they look around realize that Aeaea can no longer be seen. Neither the island nor the floating islet were moving quickly enough for it to pass the horizon, and the other option was more worrisome, but probably simpler and therefore more likely to be true. Aeaea has submerged, and left them stranded in the middle of the ocean.

Winter Herald shook his head. "Mission failure, at least in large part. At least making our way back to the mainland should not be hard. I do not know what to tell those concerned with Holly. This Lady Armageddon is her, but she claims she is another."

Winter Herald pointed to the direction he believed Center City to be. "Let's just go to the shore. We should be capable of reaching the mainland in a timely matter."

He spoke on the radio.

After helping Jacob out of the creature, she looks over him from head to toe, searching for any signs of injury. Strangely, she feels a flicker of curiosity and embarrassment from the half of her that is Lilibeth. She ignores it and finding no wounds on Jacob, she focuses her attention on his eyes as she says, "It is good to see you are no worse than before,", grasping his shoulder to give it a squeeze before dropping her hand and turning away to see with her own eyes what Winter had reported.

They were indeed far from shore, with nought but the ocean's waves visible. She looks in the direction Winter indicates is where shore is and nods her head. "Agreed, we must hurry back before Holly does any harm, if such is her true intention. I will ascend and confirm the way to shore". She then unfurls her new wings and launches herself into the air, gaining altitude rapidly. When she is a tiny speck in the sky to Winter and CMZ, she hovers, looking to where the shore of Central City should be. Once she confirms the direction, she returns to her companions.

"You are correct, that is the way," she says before looking at Jacob. "Shall I carry you?" she asks the nearly invulnerable man.

CMZ coughs as he watches Runa grow wings of energy and take flight, a bit of the smoke can be seen wafting from behind his arm as he covers his mouth.  What the Hell?  When did she get those?
Honestly, now, I just want a shower, some food, and some rest.  He turns to Winter.  I won't ask if you have ever been in the heart of an explosion.  I think I already know the answer to that.  That was my third.  Or, was it my fourth..?  anyway, it was by far, the worst.  He shakes his head.  It's difficult to explain what it's like, when nobody else who goes through it survives.
When Runa returns, CMZ smiles at the news.   About how far out are we?  He shrugs at the invitation of flight,then reaches down to pick up a piece of the new "island" that had broken off during his rescue.  He quickly slips it 8nto a pocket of the lab coat.  Sure.  It's not like I'm afraid of heights.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:41, Wed 15 Feb 2023.

Lilibeth and Runa both laugh at Jacob's comment about not being afraid of heights. "That is true," Runa says out loud and moves behind him. She slips her arms around his chest, crouches and then leaps into the air. Her holy wings of divine energy unfurl to their widest, stretching 16 feet across from wing tip to wing tip. They beat mightily against the air, and the pair gain altitude. After reaching several hundred feet, Runa levels off and flies for Central City's shore. Over the rushing wind she says, "I hope we are not too late to prevent Holly Cook from causing harm that cannot be healed."

I would rather be able to talk her out of it, CMZ shouts over the rushing wind, the lab coat flapping revealing around him.  Can you call to see if someone could meet us with a new sweat suit and badge for me?  Good thing I left my wallet and phone at the station....
This message was last edited by the player at 16:09, Wed 15 Feb 2023.

Winter Herald checked his inventory for anything solid, and found nothing. "Well, if you are alive, I am afraid the object I was planning on leaving as a substitute core is gone. So, I will offer a substitute."

He popped a concealed Slimpack knife from a compartment he rarely used, and slowly bent all the edges off the blade until he was satisfied with its safer status. He dropped it on the top of the bioisland, or bioresidue, as it might be. "Well, if you're alive, there you go. Something to grow around. It's not Z, but it will hopefully do."

He made sure it wasn't going to fall off from the movement of the seas before speaking. "I have to go. The world needs us."

And with that, he sped to the shore, one island with a metal shape on it, and a strange helmet swirling around in the seas on the currents as the evidence of his passage.

Although they were past both the United States territorial waters and the contiguous zone, the trip to shore was much shorter than they expected. Runa grabbed Chimp Man Z and flew towards shore, landing fifteen minutes later. Fifteen minutes after that, Winter Herald swam in. Even at altitude, Runa and Chimp Man Z are unable to get so much as a glimpse at Lady Armageddon. Even with his ears attuned to the slightest noise, Winter Herald hears nothing that could be the former Holly Cooks.

"If she were to attack anywhere, she'd swing at New York City. Her Madame was apparently running some kind of blackmailing ring and had roped Holly into it. A great deal of her anger flowed from her." Winter Herald cleaned off his blades, and checked the backpack. He had made a point of keeping it above the ocean when possible. "I'm returning to the department to give my report. I cannot always protect the wronged, but I can certainly avenge them. Will you two be going with me?"

Any evidence, or even Probable Cause,  send it to the FBI, Jacob says to Winter.  Extirtion, especially when it crosses state lines is their jurisdiction.  If they want our help, they'll ask us.  We don't need to get into a cockfight with them.
He goes to look at his watch, then remembers what happened to everything on him.  There is absolutely a reason I get all my watches at discount stores.  There should be a squad car or two here soon.  I guess we aren't important enough to get immediate attention.
He glances at Runa, then looks around the shoreline.  I really need to start having a unit on standby with a change of clothes for me, he chuckles.

Ruan frowns upon seeing no sign of Lady Armageddon. When Winter arrives and gives his theory as to why she isn't anywhere to be seen, it does little to assuage her concerns. "Maybe she has decided to hold off attacking after talking with us?" Lilibeth says in their mind. "Perhaps," Runa replies.

Satisfied that there are no immediate threats, Runa turns to face CMZ though she is careful to keep her gaze fixed on his face. "I am certain that Justicar could craft something for you like that. One of his small flying machines? Surely one could be made to hold clothes for you."

To Winter she says, "Since she isn't her and there is no evil to fight or innocent to heal, yes, we should reunite with the others at the LESP."

Just as they had left from them, the heroes return to the docks in Center City. LESP Offices are less than twenty minutes away, so that's where they go.

===================thread will be closed============================================