A Dragon's Tail (Part 2)

Monday 7th November, Thulia's Workroom, Plane of Fire

Happy that Thulia is so happy after her day with Morgana.

Thulia blushed a little. "Well, she also told me it was because I was so beautiful and sexy, and as long as they just looked, to realise she thought I was too, and she wasn't going to let any of them annoy me."

Bruce smirked openly "Told you she'd like the dress!"

If Morgana was following anime tropes she would have had a nose bleed upon seeing Thulia in that dress.

 FedHex, a good one. And a part for a new weapon for her combat-form, I can't wait to see the finished weapon. Dwarven-smithed steel, she is paying for high-quality. Time-share on her computer for the Academy and this was payment, they got a bargain imo. Whoa, this is going to be some weapon.

While made of the same crystal as her wizard's staff, this one wasn't as thick, and was polished to a smooth cylinder. He could see some gold-coloured runes and spells inside it, but only a few - nothing like the thick multiplexed layers of inbuilt spells her usual staff contained.

Most impressive.

 She calls all that nothing much, she definitely sounds like a devisor to me.

Bruce decided not to comment on what she considered simple and basic additions. Where Thulia was concerned, that usually led to peering into large smoking holes in the ground.

Okay, she would fit in with the workshop kids just fine, eep. All very good reasons for making this spear and using the sword only when absolutely needed, well-thought and reasoned.

Wednesday 9th November, A secret meeting room, somewhere on the Plane of Fire.
(yes, it's still a secret!)

*facepalms* Traditions need to be adapted to changing times, imo. Boy, they got a lot of data on Whateley fairly fast.

"We aim to embed some of our children into Earth society to give them a good understanding of human attitudes and their current views from an inside perspective. Of course, the ideal sociological solution would be younger children, but we can hardly do that to our youngsters. Thulia is a teenager, she's demonstrated she's mature enough to take care of herself in most situations she's likely to encounter, and still young enough to absorb the human cultural experience."

They wish for their children to learn about Earth society first-hand, oh boy, this might not have the desired effect they are hoping for.

 Arranging for Thulia to go to Whateley Academy, why do I see increased hijinks in the future?

"Canada, actually owes some favours to our people. It's a cold country, and help given to deal with some of their ice and cold monsters over the years have been appreciated. We've been in contact, and they are happy to arrange for the necessary paperwork for the girl."

I wonder if any of those ice and cold monsters are famous or well-known in mythology. At least this group has looked at all the details before going ahead with this plan, now to find out how Thulia or her parents think of all this.

Thursday Nov 10th, Plane of Fire, The Home of Thulia's parents

Thulia thinks she is in trouble, the Order of the Flame, so that is who they are.

Acolyte Grenstxaripotx

I don't even want to try and pronounce that name.

One of the greatest causes of conflict between powers is the misunderstanding of the aims and culture on each side. There is a regrettable tendency to assume the other side has the same aims and ideas that we do, and when this is not the case, conflict can happen even when neither side wants it to. These mistakes also cause problems with things like mutual trade, areas of concern, all sorts of matters."

So sending children to learn about humans and human society is all in the name of preventing such misunderstandings, and potential conflict, that makes sense. *facepalms* Mutants are individuals, their aims and drives are each as different as another human, trying to narrow them down is a futile task.

 Thulia is very adept at keeping her emotions in check, not screaming yes right then and there.

Finally, she had got her thoughts in order. Now to arrange things so she could do what she wanted to do anyway!

Bwahaha, perfect reaction. No spying, she can pull out at any time if she chooses to, and schooling in dealing with humans, Earth culture and technology, and magic, Thulia is going to have a lot of fun at Whateley.

"There is some evidence that you might be a mutant yourself, in the human sense of the word."

She blinked. Twice. She knew there were oddities in her genetic background, with the mix of entities involved it was hardly surprising, but she hadn't spotted what the humans described as the markers for mutation. However her genome - even allowing for the obvious fact she was only 1/8th human - could have expressed things differently, it was hardly standard. She wished for a moment she had a few months to examine the possibility, it would be a fascinating experiment.

You're a gadgeteer and/or devisor, Thulia. Just waiting until she gets to the powers testing,, Thulia might be less enthused after a day of that.

 So Thulia won't be an agent for the Order of the Flame, at least for now. No specific tasks while at Whateley, that is for the best, no telling how the staff would react.

There were several reasons why Thulia had been selected, and while of course nothing might come of the ones not discussed, it would be best if the girl and her family knew nothing of them yet.

Bad idea, those kinds of secrets tend to blow up in your face.

Saturday, Nov 12th, Whateley Academy, Headmaster's Study.

Agent Smith of the DPA talking about a proposal for Mazarin, Ms. Grimes, and others present, hhm. Ah, so they are having the DPA do the talking to Whateley about Thulia attending. Ms. Grimes already suspects who Smith is talking about at the part-dragon comment.

 And the file confirms what Grimes already knows, revealing about Thulia's visit to Whateley with Morgana the other day. Thulia isn't in the same class as Sara Waite, do they mean power-wise, entity classification, or something else? Good analysis and observation of Thulia, she might cause trouble with her experiments, but that is due to her need to create new things. Modifying BITs, desperate kids don't research all the past cases of how that has gone wrong.

Monday Nov 14th, Plane of Fire, Thulia's Home

D'oh! No using the portal to arrive at Whateley, there goes the fun of quick travel. Arrggh, paperwork, and documents to sort out. Another shopping trip and this time with more funds, they are going to need some help carting all their loot. Admit to being a dragon, that might get that idiot demon hunter off her back, but it would probably get someone else trying to prove themself by killing a dragon. Firedrake, that is going to draw some attention, still a cool last name.

Monday 14th Nov, Whateley Academy, Headmaster's Office

Jeanne McDonald, why has she been called to see both of them, does it have to do with Thulia? Escort Thulia to Ottowa, introduce her to Whateley and start to familiarise her, that seems easy enough. Thulia is used to her own dimensions bureaucracy, not Earth's and definitely not the MCO, anything to help her feel less stressed is a good thing.

 Aww, she didn't get to see Thulia on her visit, just pictures some of the boys of the Commonwealth club took. Shoot, no full MID for Morgana plus the need to keep her safe from agents of the Cult means no long car trip with her girlfriend. Why do I get the feeling this won't be a simple trip?

Tuesday, Nov 15th, Plane of Fire, Thulia's Home

Having to figure out what to take and not to take to a boarding school, *starts to hear Mission: Impossible music*. Having to leave behind that much magic stuff, I hope her new weapon gets taken. Boy, when Thulia shows up and says she is going to Whateley I would want some high-level gadgeteer-tested noise-canceling headphones for the squee bomb.

 A good way to keep Bruce in the loop, plus Tanau as well through him. Oh, nvm, she has a magic mirror to call her parents and Tanau.

Wednesday, Nov 16th, A Portal outside Ottowa, Canada.

November in Ottowa, I would love to be able to warm myself up by drawing on fire at will. Jeanne is going to be shocked by more than just the warmth Thulia is putting out. Paperwork here, paperwork back at Whateley, bureaucracy will drive you nuts if you let it. Placed in Dickinson and Thulia wants to be in Poe with Morgana, aww. Good idea, Jeanne, a coat instead of Thulia radiating heat and drawing attention.

 From the sound of it, they were there for hours dealing with paperwork and getting documents, a nightmare scenario. A diplomatic escort driver, they are making sure nothing happens to Thulia. Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, whoa.

"That sound's good. Uh.. what's a drive-through?"

"Oh boy..."

So much to learn about human culture.

Wednesday, Nov 16th, Apparently abandoned Warehouse somewhere east of Windsor, Quebec.

Pale Wendigo, Loup-Garou, using a blizzard as cover for a bank robbery, I hope they don't live up to their namesakes as man-eaters/cannibals. The boys, refresh them, just what kind of minions do they have?

For himself, he was more than happy to play with any locals who got too close, he enjoyed what his powers could do to them, but first things first - if the robbery went smoothly then he might indulge himself a little.

This, plus perverted appetites sounds like Pale Wendigo does live up to his namesake. Loup-Garou feeding his men some of his blood, shit, don't tell me the name isn't just a codename.

5 pm, A.des cantons-de-l'Est highway, Quebec

Yikes, caught out in the storm like this in a car, they should have been monitoring weather reports. Magog,, who names a place Magog? Thulia, flying blind in a blizzard like this even with your powers could get you killed.

Thulia looked over at the girl. "Uh..didn't you say you had cold and wind powers?" She gestured at the snow being blown against the windows. "Can't you...?"

Jeanne shook her head. "Not really, a storm has way too much energy. I could ease it off a little just around us, but that wouldn't help the road, or stop someone running into us."

So that's what her powers are, interesting.  

Thursday, Nov 17th, A small hotel in Magog

The storm is over, but Thulia is still too cold, get her some hot cocoa, stat!

 Breakfast will be a treat for Thulia. At Whateley by this afternoon, that is good time considering the storm, though I suspect there will be further delays.

Clouds of breath from the people she passes, now that is something I haven't seen in a while. Ah, the beauty of winter when you can appreciate it, glad Thulia gets to see this before arriving at Whateley. Jeanne, I can understand her outlook on all the snow and ice. iHop, I hope they have energizer specials or Thulia might ruin this poor place. =P

9 am Route 112, Magog.

Sergeant Villeneuve

Poor man has to lead the local authorities in dealing with the traffic caught in the blizzard, finally having a chance for a break, only for screams in the direction of a bridge to call them to action. And intelligent, clear plan for what they are supposed to do if superpowers are involved, nice to see common sense in local authorities and not needlessly endangering innocents.

 John Hendricks, the poor bank manager, was about to open for the day when the monsters showed up.

"High C class. Nasty customer, he doesn't seem to care about killing people, in fact, he actively enjoys it. Loup-Garou isn't quite as bad, but he doesn't care about damage when he gets going. He's also listed as high C class."

Cold comfort to those who get killed by Pale Wendigo, I would class him as higher for his willingness to kill people.

 Thulia is now hooked on pancakes as well, plus no coffee is as strong as the devisor coffee in the Whateley workshop. Drawn by the police sirens they end up finding out about the bank robbery, Jeanne has a point, robbing a bank nowadays is foolhardy and harder than simply hacking its computer system. Thulia wants to watch, Jeanne, you should have said no and left, these may be C-listers but one of them likes killing people.

Thulia nodded, her attention still avidly fixed on the robbery. This was so much better than television!

*hits head on desk*

The sergeant has to have his men fire upon gunmen taking aim at the civilians, thankfully the civilians run for it this time. Crud, this drew the ire of Loup-Garou upon the police.

CFB Airbase, Montreal Quebec

Calling in for reinforcements, I just hope they can get here in time before anyone is killed. 30 minutes to get agents and on-duty supers there, this is going to be a nailbiter, isn't it?

Magog, outside the CIBC bank building

Loup-Garou throws a Canadian Post mailbox at one of the police cars, and now Jeanne is going to get involved, oh boy. Thulia is going to help out as well despite Jeanne telling her not to. Combat leotard, and staff in hand, let's see what Thulia can do even when not fully kitted out.

 Jeanne seems fairly strong with that display of her power, though I wonder how much of it is her environment aiding her. Pierre Thompson, is this the driver, another police officer, or someone else? Jeanne, you are a Whateley Academy student, always bring your combat costume just in case. Jeanne worried about Thulia only to be saved by her mystic shield from some bullets, not all mages are squishy.

 Thulia shielding the police, just how much essence does she have this is barely a drain? Loup-Garou hates mages but targets Jeanne with a thrown motorbike instead of going after Thulia. Thulia's shield makes the motorbike bounces off, but its fuel tank explodes, and Thulia says 'oops', I hope her saying that doesn't become a habit.

*eyes bug out* Jeanne just froze Loup-Garou in a block of ice. Oh crud, Thulia's reserves steadily running down, I guess this answers that earlier question. Told not to bring her equipment as it would be inspected upon crossing the border, good grief. Villeneuve, you are a good man, worrying about the girls' safety more than you and your men.

 Thulia is going to make short work of Loup-Garou's men once she doesn't have to shield the police. Thulia knowing she is bullet-proof thanks to Morgana, I almost pity those gunmen. Firebolt! Jeanne is very skilled with her powers, those two gunmen never stood a chance. Grasping black tentacles spell, nice. Darn, 4 down, but 2 escaped into the bank. Pale Wendigo is going to be harder to beat, I suspect.

Inside the CIBC Bank

Oooo, thinking Jeanne and Thulia are just some random fools, thinking they are fools is your first mistake, Pale Wendigo.

 Avatar of a Wendigo, yikes, worse than I thought. An amulet to protect against magic, figures he would shield himself against his weakness. A distraction with snow and ice all so he can help Loup-Garou break free from his icy prison. A Psi attack to induce this desire in others is sickening. Thulia just saved some lives by stopping that Psi attack, Pale Wendigo lives up to his monstrous name and nature.

 Darn it, Loup-Garou is free and pissed. Jeanne puts up another snow flurry around herself while Thulia decides it is past time to start hurting Pale Wendigo. Darn, she draws out flames and attacks but that darn amulet just absorbs them. Thulia avoids PW's clumsy attack and he thinks he is going to toy with her, arrogant to the end it seems.

 Jeanne fighting smart as Loup-Garou seems to be losing his temper, not a good idea in a fight like this one. Leaping at an opponent who can summon winds to blast you away, how has he lasted this long without being captured? Ice spikes, brutal. Distraction by the police and a huge ice spike is something LG won't forget anytime soon.

 3rd option, I hope it isn't as risky as I suspect. *eyes nearly fall out of sockets in shock* This is her combat form, dang, now that is more like a full dragon. Idiot, you don't charge someone holding a spear like they have experience wielding a similar weapon. Bwahaha, he thinks he can slice through her spear. She gets a good hit in with her spear while PW leaves a gouge on one of her shoulder plates.

 Whoa, Thulia flying into the air and throwing the spear while making the head glow white-hot, epic. He has been given a chance to surrender, but only as a gesture. That tail of hers, armored, spined, and brutal when she does a spinning strike with it, PW never saw it coming. Shatters his protective amulet, this is gonna be good.

"Now would you like to surrender?" She casually drew a sphere of fire into her free hand his eyes following it, and finally, she saw fear in them. "I suspect you aren't fireproof..."

He has never faced a hero ready and willing to kill their opponent to end their threat I bet.

 Aww, I wanted to learn about her more powered-up form too. Rats, Loup-Garou escaped. Jeanne will have to give Thulia a crash course on Canada for her cover story. Polar Vortex, fitting for Jeanne. Oh, darn it. Thulia not having a MID yet complicates things, stupid bureaucracy! Yay, driver to the rescue. Time for them to get out of there and back on the road to Whateley.

 Thulia has to change clothes the normal way, can't plan for every contingency.

 This kind of thing doesn't happen to Jeanne often, so she isn't a trouble magnet like other Whateley students we can name.

"You're worried about a next time?"

Thulia shrugged. "Well, Morgana told me she was attacked in somewhere called Berlin a few weeks ago, now I arrive and next day we get into a fight. It does seem fairly common."

Thulia is connected to a member of the MMM, and that group is trouble magnets, thus she has become a trouble magnet herself by connection to that group.

Thulia blushed slightly. "Well, not really! I just had the spear and leotard stored because they wouldn't fit in my luggage! And the staff, well, I always have that. If I'd had my gear, the fight would have been easier." She frowned. "And I need to learn a lot more about human magic, I had to use a ton of essence and brute-force a solution. It's not elegant!"

Oh, Thulia, you have much to learn, sometimes elegant is the enemy of good enough in the spur of the moment. Oh oh, why do I feel that Jeanne might get a bookie upset at her for her bet on Thulia for the Combat Final?