Silent Mountain (Part 1) by MaLAguA

Friday, December 23rd - 4:51pm
Berlin roads

Vic tests Day Dreamer on if she can hear his thoughts now and yes, she can. Thoughts of being with family this time of year and Leslie picks them up, she wishes she could be around her family as well. Help from the Syndicate always has some strings attached. I hope Leslie can learn to control her telepathy. This test, they better not abandon either Vic or Leslie over it.

Ouch, a van full of college freshmen, Leslie needs something to block out such noise until she can get better control over her power.

<What you do is build an imaginary lobby or waiting room just before your metaphorical house. That way, intruders will have a harder time peeking at what you think behind the door… Although, admittedly, I’m a bit rusty on it. I haven’t had real practice on that since I was nine.>

Dang, I wish Vic's mom was still around, she would be perfect as a teacher in the Psychic Arts department at Whateley.

I remember visualization lessons using telepathy from Vic's flashback/memory. At least Leslie warns Vic she might overhear his mental worrying about the future changes. Vic trusts Leslie to reveal all that to her so soon after meeting. Yikes holds secrets for half of Dickenson, Leslie might need self-defense training from what some of the individuals in that cottage would do if they knew.

This is the place, well, it certainly isn't somewhere most people would go snooping around. Eerie by design, a fitting description. Involved some danger, outdoors for at least a day, in winter in this state. A bit sadistic doesn't cover that, Vic. The rooftop is concealed enough to hide what happens there from surrounding buildings, oh boy. More time to make it to safety, I don't like how Cole phrased that!

A crew of warper and portal specialists, no wonder they can travel so fast. A portal to a landscape in the middle of the woods, is that place even in the same state? Uh, the portal is like how I thought it would be, neat. Faceplant into the snow, I hate it when the other end of the portal is off the ground just enough to be a pain. A guy, a girl, and Josh Rowles, so glad to see things are working out for him.

Huh, an anchor for the portal, another great piece of tech. Woodlands of British Colombia, and they have to make it to Silent Mountain, the villain base for this test, eep.

Friday, December 23rd - 3:15pm
Forests of British Columbia

Oh, good, had me as worried as the kids for a moment there. Empty base except for the proctor of the second part of the exercise. An entrance and elevator at the base, no mountain climbing in the winter, thank you. A sparse map to the base, and Root is the oldest so he is leading them, why do I have a bad feeling about this?

Christmas Eve and Christmas at the base, ouch, that is just cruel. Obscura is the other girl, I wonder what her powers are. Boy, she is going to be fun to deal with. *eye roll* FitTogether, Josh sure chose a unique codename. Obscura thrives in dark places, hhm. Hehe, I hope Leslie calls out any BS on the part of the others or any attempts at backstabbing that might happen.

Just how much tech stuff did Josh bring?

With a shout of victory, Josh pulled out a piece of tech that resembled a strange collar, with pieces of tech ingrained around the edge. It looked quite bulky and unwieldy… but the inner cushioned lining at least promised that it would keep a girl’s neck warm. “Here it is. From Junkerer’s workshop, a psychic field canceler.”

Oh, thank you, until she can get her telepathy under control that will help her keep her sanity. 4-5 hour battery so she can't have it on all the time, rats.

Cool, made just for her and a first prototype meaning the tech can only improve. Josh! Having those kinds of thoughts around Leslie, making her blush, you mischievous boy. Deep within the Canadian wilderness, so wildlife and crazies to worry about, this assignment keeps getting more "fun" by the minute.

Silent Mountain's history, is very interesting, but that device that cancels out all sound vibrations in the facility, yikes. Though it has to be one of the most unique set-ups for a villain I've ever heard. Josh didn't pack provisions, I wonder how many extra provisions Root packed.

Josh, Vic, and Leslie have the most to lose if they fail this assignment. Josh obviously didn't pay attention or hadn't been informed to bring camping gear. Yup, might have been too focused on something else, that sounds like him.

Friday, December 23rd - 3:54pm
British Columbia forests

Josh and Vic catching up, Josh learning about what Whateley is like in Vic's words. Super Stink Bomb incident, heh. Oof, the Ring Incident and Turkey Day Tragedy, still fallout from both incidents ongoing.

“Any armored suit? Or megazord?” Josh inquired, posing his sign for a morphing call.

I'd be surprised if an armored suit wasn't something someone was working on.

Vic has a feeling Laura isn't Josh's type, that is an understatement. Boy, Root is good at navigating by compass, who knew? Almost no signal on his cellphone, oh boy, that is when you need a satellite phone while out in the wilderness. Ouch, placed into a workshop by the Syndicate and the owner doesn't want much to do with Josh.

“Junkerer?” Josh inquired, looking around as if to check if Root was listening to them. “Well… the guy is this human-sized fantasy dwarf with a rather mean face about him that only seems to have one setting: pissed off. He also curses like Gordon Ramsay, and just as loud… But I do think I’m winning him over… even though we don’t talk that much.”

They placed him with someone like that, good grief, set Josh on hard mode from the start.

At least things are improved at the workshop for Josh, what kind of creations has he made for himself? Work, sleep, and school, he needs to socialize more. The sudden callout for Day Dreamer by Root gets Josh curious if all Whateley students go by codenames and get told Leslie's real name.

Ah, pick a camping spot for the night and don't want to risk dangerous animals being in the vicinity, wise idea. Obscura introduces herself and asks what Whateley is like, and I don't like her response on what it is like. Oh god, she calls baselines 'muggles' and she goes to a regular school while hiding her powers. Raffina, cute name. Oh brother, the way she talked to Josh and Vic about showing her different things, was she trying to flirt and get them on her side?

Friday, December 23rd - 6:49 pm
British Columbia forests - campsite

Good grief, you don't travel until someone trips in the dark, you set up camp as it starts to get dark so you can see what you are doing and the surrounding area. Good find on the ideal location though. Root's magic on a fir tree, impressive. *facepalms* Josh missed what the trip was about and forgot all those things, he is lucky to have a good friend to help him out.

Cole saw this coming and had Root pack two tents, okay, I'm starting to wonder what Cole's powers are. Root sleeping outside, the girls in one tent, Vic and Josh in the other. A laser pointer with adjustable intensity, not bad for a quick kitbash with limited supplies. Vic, Josh, and Raffina are sent to get firewood and Raffina says she could do this alone, good grief.

Friday, December 23rd - 7:17pm
Vancouver Syndicate Safehouse 3C

Ah, so that is Cole's job. I like the Syndicate's rules for city criminals.

Today’s rulebreaker was a criminal group that, according to a whistleblower, was thinking of bombing the local heroes in a public event.

Good grief, this is a stunt even the majority of villains in Marvel and DC won't pull, it is suicide by heroes.

Dang, that was an easy job, most of them were reasonable after Cole showed up and scolded them. TV on and news of the event Cole saved.

It reminded him of times when he and Oscar watched superheroes and villains in their youth. They had been partial to the martial arts types.

There needs to be more martial arts types in mainstream comics.

A call to Lightning on Silent Mountain and he is preparing things for when the kids arrive, it has been 4 hours since Cole left them. Censer is there, helping with maintenance and they had to evict the previous tenants. Skip on rent to the Syndicate, some villains are either arrogant or stupid to pull that. Conductive floors and facing someone named Lightning, I would surrender on the spot.

“A bunch of gold and silver ingots. A set of big bones that I think he was planning to sell to some sort of geneticist. Some old pieces of armor and paintings.”

Please say the big bones aren't someone planning to pull a Jurassic Park. Oh, good, Day Dreamer is getting off easy.

“Good… Then… Obscura is getting an obstacle course. Her father didn’t have a particular reason. He just wanted her out of home for the holidays and for her to learn some manners.”

So, she is a rich girl and her father is at the end of his rope in trying to teach her manners, at least from what I can infer.

FitTogether's test is perfect for his power set.

“And for TideStriker and Root, they’ll be facing down Censer and then me in combat.”

Cole stopped. “Facing both you and Censer in combat? Two units of the Syndicate? One of them is just a freshman.”

“Well, there are some rules to tip things in his favor. He would need to land three hits and remain conscious to pass. Success against both of us is needed to be given a passing grade…”

They are stacking the odds against Vic, he is going to end up tapping into the spirit's power and changing more because of this. I do not like Laureate, his description, he would push the Syndicate in a direction that would have superheroes working harder than ever to take them down if he had his way.

Even Lightning thinks the test is unfair, I hope Cole confronts Laureate about this. Crap, putting Censer in that position, what the hell are the higher-ups at the Syndicate thinking? Trying to disqualify both of them is too far. Too weak for the brawler track, they don't get what training can bring out in an individual.

“That’s the problem. Their potential lies somewhere aside from brawn.” Cole held the words in his tongue, instead opting for the answer. “It’ll be as it’ll be. All I’ll say is that they’re being undervalued.”

Root's powers could do wonders working with plants with the right training; Vic's powers haven't even started to scratch the surface of his full potential and strength yet.

Friday, December 23rd - 7:18pm
Forests of British Columbia - away from campsite

Vic has to gather firewood one-handed while holding his flashlight in the dark, yikes. Crud, they have to find Raffina who went out with no light probably due to how her powers work. Josh wants to share Vic's sleeping bag, but Vic is annoyed and says he can sleep on the tent floor, oof.

It was always like this with Josh. He always ended up not preparing, organizing or cleaning for that matter and it was always up to Vic to fix it.

I know gadgeteers and devisors can get distracted by their projects, but that is just irresponsible and rude. Great, Josh annoys him into agreeing to share the sleeping bag, he is never going to learn at this rate.

A laugh in the empty space to his right, Raffina is right there with him and she can turn invisible in the dark, can't she? A corrupted version of a video game and he wants to make a gadget to have a VR set-up to play it...that sounds like the scenario that starts several manga and anime.

And more importantly, a sound that felt akin to soft embers with flashes of pitch black or purple in the middle of the dark.

I knew it, the ability to blend into darkness and shadows, and Raffina is using it to mess with them.

A dark visage with pointed ears and sharp fangs grinning their way bore out a wicked grin that elicited a primal response.

Great, a creepy little shadow gremlin at that, fits Raffina so well.

Her skin was a dark blue color under the light that easily got itself lost in the dark. Her ears were elven looking, standing out on her head, twitching at the sounds in the surrounding. Her eyes had changed, with the whites turned pitch dark, making the blue of her irises stand out all the more. Her teeth had grown sharper with fangs at each point that almost gleamed in the night. And behind her swished a robust yet prehensile tail that ended in a sickle like protrusion.

A dark imp, she certainly has the nature of one.

Root shows up and Raffina reverts to normal, calling her alternate form a little perk of hers. On a mission she chooses to prank them, at this rate, she will fail her test and not even care. Ugh, and she got pics of them being scared, what a B. Root, this group is okay, it is Raffina who is the problem that needs to be sorted out.

Friday, December 23rd - 10:59 pm
British Columbia forests - Campfire

In part of Canada in winter, of course, it is cold. They should have been informed to pack for extreme winter weather. Military-style rations or MREs can be good especially when you are hungry. 5 shifts of 2 hours each for lookout duty, why do I worry when it comes to Raffina's turn?

Lookout duty, boring until it isn't, you hope it remains boring. Aww, thoughts back to his childhood home with his mom and her friends. The 'what ifs' will drag you down over time, Vic. Worrying about the future is just going to make you waste the time you have now to enjoy life before things change too much. Vic, you got one of the rare spirits that are sapient, it is just recovering from long dormancy. Vic, being different won't ruin everything else if you don't let it.

Root's turn for lookout and he has never had any training in magic, even more impressive for what he is capable of with it already then. Raffina has third watch, uh oh. At long last Vic can get some sleep, I hope some emergency or threat doesn't jolt him awake from a dream message from his spirit that would answer some questions for him.

Vic and Leslie certainly seem to be getting along after a slightly rough start. If both of them stay with the Syndicate, they might end up getting paired together as operatives.

Speaking of those two, I wouldn't be surprised if the Silent Mountain dampeners cause them less problems than the rest of the group.

Josh does seem like the stereotypical tech track mutant, sorely needing someone to help keep him on track. And I don't think Junker is filling that role.

Given her attitude, I have the vague impression that Raffina may be the member of the group who is least likely to pass her testing. She also seems to have less at stake, though I can't see her father being particularly happy with such an outcome. She seems to be the sort that gives red banders a bad name.

Tidestriker and Root will definitely have their work cut out for them in the combat trials. I think Tidestriker may be in a slightly better position than it appears on first blush to Cole, though I could see burnout being a distinct possibility. If he does go into burnout, I suspect the integration will likely be forced. Also on the positive side is that Vic does have a possible safety net (in the form of his family) to fall back on if he fails his trial. Funding to return to Whateley will likely be tight, but I could see it being possible.

Why can I see Raffina taking her watch less than seriously and using it to pull a few pranks? Murphy being Murphy, that'll probably also be the time when something goes down if it's going to happen.