Post by Francesca Oto on Oct 19, 2014 8:34:38 GMT -5
Day light shone bright through this section of the underground. It shone turquoise, reflecting against the grey concrete of the tunnel walls with the occasional glimmer from a metal pipe. Tank kept walking, like she had done tirelessly the past five days. All the excitement from meeting Mr Hero had long washed away. An intersection. That made the mutant girl pause. She was looking around now. Pulse. Her star shifted towards the greens, then gave out a blinding flash of light. Fran's eyes didn't squint, but instead took in the extra information lurking further down each tunnel.
She remained immobile, rooted to the ground like a tree. A very heavy, ugly, spherical tree. She had to stay focused. Which way to go? Her eyes darted from one tunnel to the other, looking for something. This one. The left one leads to the metro. I've had enough of those. She gave out another pulse of light. Her eyes confirmed the metallic box with a thunderbolt on it. Then the mutant girl walked the other way.
I am getting somewhere. Tank had to tell herself that. It was the only thought that kept the young mutant sane as she spent 72 lonely hours in the New York underground system. At least I figured out that much. The tunnel became smoother. Then it just stopped, a metallic wall intercepting the path. Tank stepped closer. There was a door. She gave it a shake, to no avail. Locked. Her sun colored turquoise again. Whatever. Her plasma engulfed the door. Inside her star, she could feel the old fashioned key lock. A carefully placed burst of heat, and the door swung open. Tank walked through, then turned around to seal the door shut again by melting the frame. Just in case there was a reason for the lock.
She now found herself in a metallic cylinder. Sewers again. And water may pump through at any time in this one. She didn't care. Her star could withstand some water pressure. Another pulse of light to figure out left from right. Left. It seemed more damaged, which meant less human activity. Tank started walking again, her plasma cocoon following her around as usual.
An hour later, and Tank reached the end of the cylinder. No door this time though. Just fresh air. The windy night air of New York, at the very edge of the ocean. Drat. Tank shook her head. Another dead end for her. She was about to turn around again -clearly uncomfortable at the idea of going outside- when something caught her attention. A star. Fran hadn't seen them in a long time. Her own turned a soothing, warm orange. There weren't many of her siblings -this was the New York sky after all-, but each of the lonely little balls of plasma was also reflected on the water's edge. Like distant twins.
Tank yearned to stay and watch. But this was the night. She was very noticeable at night. Even staying here, at the edge of the tunnel, was not a good idea. I need mass to hide me. A lot of mass for the heavy mutant. The stars twinkled on the ocean reflection, inviting her to come. Water... What had they told her at the institute? The ocean. They had theorized that she could hide in it. She could definitely survive underwater. They had tested that in the pool. She didn't need to breath. The water was translucent, but if she went deep enough it would shield her signature.
"Anything but being underground." Tank muttered. She edged closer towards the water. It felt silly, but she was kind of scared of jumping down, diving into the unknown mass of darkness. So silly She could survive much tougher falls. Heck, she could survive a lot of things. Why be scared of a bit of darkness? As she edged closer, her mellow color reflected against the surface. She tip-toed, trying to see her own reflection. Just a dark shape in a bloody ball of red. At that thought, her star shifted to the greens. It was still way too bright to stay that way in the open air.
Jump. Tank did something she hadn't done in years. She took a big gulp ofair plasma. Then she made the leap. Within moments she was flailing awkwardly in the air, her body barely a few inches in the water. What the? She stared down at her feet. They were struggling to find any hold. They just floated in her plasma. She exhaled, returning to her eternally breathless state. Her star was partly in the water. Density... Physics lessons came back to her. Things that people had explained to her, extra classes related to her powers. Density is key. This was the Archimedes force. Her sphere of air-density plasma was like a giant balloon. It was just not dense enough to sink. She was just floating at the surface of the ocean. I need to go heavy. Tank could do that.
The star compressed and gained in mass. As she did that, Tank started dropping fast. Soon she was just sinking like a stone. At some point, she hit rock bottom. Great. Now to move forward That felt clumsy again. Her feet were having trouble competing with the denser medium down here. Even though her star always felt light to her -even when it weighted tons- the water surrounding it felt heavy to her human legs.
She pushed a few meters before giving up. Am I stuck? No, she could always float back up again. She could also stop halfway. If my density is middling. She could control her density to match that of water. Tank's mood lightened up, her star shifting towards the yellows ever so slightly. Soon she found herself in mid-airwater. This. This is like flying! A wonderful feeling for someone who was still being called 'massive' at school. And then she could move forward using her plasmokinesis, rather than those weak human legs. With her powers not having to hold her star from the ground -Archimedes doing the job- that left her with a lot of plasmokinesis to direct elsewhere.
"Wheeeee!" Tank yelled as she zipped past some startled fish. Going underwater may have been the single best and most exciting decision she had taken this whole week. The underwater star just kept flying through the water, unstoppable and feeling light like a feather. Until she hit a wall. What? Tank just bumped into it. Her star deformed into a half-sphere, clearly showing the limit to her movement. "What's that?" There wasn't any stone or metal or anything. Her light just shone through this imaginary wall. But she couldn't pass. Is this a magnetic wall? She didn't feel the familiar pressure to her plasma that electromagnetic waves usually sent her. Can I burn it? Vaporize it, disintegrate it, annihilate this limit to her newly found freedom
She remained immobile, rooted to the ground like a tree. A very heavy, ugly, spherical tree. She had to stay focused. Which way to go? Her eyes darted from one tunnel to the other, looking for something. This one. The left one leads to the metro. I've had enough of those. She gave out another pulse of light. Her eyes confirmed the metallic box with a thunderbolt on it. Then the mutant girl walked the other way.
I am getting somewhere. Tank had to tell herself that. It was the only thought that kept the young mutant sane as she spent 72 lonely hours in the New York underground system. At least I figured out that much. The tunnel became smoother. Then it just stopped, a metallic wall intercepting the path. Tank stepped closer. There was a door. She gave it a shake, to no avail. Locked. Her sun colored turquoise again. Whatever. Her plasma engulfed the door. Inside her star, she could feel the old fashioned key lock. A carefully placed burst of heat, and the door swung open. Tank walked through, then turned around to seal the door shut again by melting the frame. Just in case there was a reason for the lock.
She now found herself in a metallic cylinder. Sewers again. And water may pump through at any time in this one. She didn't care. Her star could withstand some water pressure. Another pulse of light to figure out left from right. Left. It seemed more damaged, which meant less human activity. Tank started walking again, her plasma cocoon following her around as usual.
An hour later, and Tank reached the end of the cylinder. No door this time though. Just fresh air. The windy night air of New York, at the very edge of the ocean. Drat. Tank shook her head. Another dead end for her. She was about to turn around again -clearly uncomfortable at the idea of going outside- when something caught her attention. A star. Fran hadn't seen them in a long time. Her own turned a soothing, warm orange. There weren't many of her siblings -this was the New York sky after all-, but each of the lonely little balls of plasma was also reflected on the water's edge. Like distant twins.
Tank yearned to stay and watch. But this was the night. She was very noticeable at night. Even staying here, at the edge of the tunnel, was not a good idea. I need mass to hide me. A lot of mass for the heavy mutant. The stars twinkled on the ocean reflection, inviting her to come. Water... What had they told her at the institute? The ocean. They had theorized that she could hide in it. She could definitely survive underwater. They had tested that in the pool. She didn't need to breath. The water was translucent, but if she went deep enough it would shield her signature.
"Anything but being underground." Tank muttered. She edged closer towards the water. It felt silly, but she was kind of scared of jumping down, diving into the unknown mass of darkness. So silly She could survive much tougher falls. Heck, she could survive a lot of things. Why be scared of a bit of darkness? As she edged closer, her mellow color reflected against the surface. She tip-toed, trying to see her own reflection. Just a dark shape in a bloody ball of red. At that thought, her star shifted to the greens. It was still way too bright to stay that way in the open air.
Jump. Tank did something she hadn't done in years. She took a big gulp of
The star compressed and gained in mass. As she did that, Tank started dropping fast. Soon she was just sinking like a stone. At some point, she hit rock bottom. Great. Now to move forward That felt clumsy again. Her feet were having trouble competing with the denser medium down here. Even though her star always felt light to her -even when it weighted tons- the water surrounding it felt heavy to her human legs.
She pushed a few meters before giving up. Am I stuck? No, she could always float back up again. She could also stop halfway. If my density is middling. She could control her density to match that of water. Tank's mood lightened up, her star shifting towards the yellows ever so slightly. Soon she found herself in mid-
"Wheeeee!" Tank yelled as she zipped past some startled fish. Going underwater may have been the single best and most exciting decision she had taken this whole week. The underwater star just kept flying through the water, unstoppable and feeling light like a feather. Until she hit a wall. What? Tank just bumped into it. Her star deformed into a half-sphere, clearly showing the limit to her movement. "What's that?" There wasn't any stone or metal or anything. Her light just shone through this imaginary wall. But she couldn't pass. Is this a magnetic wall? She didn't feel the familiar pressure to her plasma that electromagnetic waves usually sent her. Can I burn it? Vaporize it, disintegrate it, annihilate this limit to her newly found freedom
