15741/Witches Duel

Witches Duel
Date of Scene:	06 September 2023
Location:	Suburbs of Metropolis
Synopsis:	Two wicked witches duel over rights to a name. Heroes stop them before everyone in the area is made into chickens. And the names don't sound remotely like one another!
Cast of Characters:	Monet St. Croix, Samuel Guthrie, Franklin Richards, Joshua Foley, Jinx, Phoebe Beacon, Diana Prince

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Monet St. Croix has posed:
Metropolis Retirement Castle -- Currently having Tenth Anniversary Party
    "In my day, we had to look up both ways before crossing the street!" An old, cantankerous man would yell at another.
    "Well in my day, we had to look down both ways because the streets didn't even go up!"
    The two old men going to take out their false teeth to start to try and gum up one another.
    The building gum war is interrupted as a woman in a green bodysuit was slammed through one end of the Retirement Castle by another woman in a green bodysuit - admittedly with dark purple hair.
    "Say my name PROPERLY, witch!" The demigoddess would land, spiraling up a series of mystical circlets in the air, buzzing like a swarm of bees.

    The woman she was facing off with (the one i the green bodysuit with the black hair) would go to slam up to her feet. "No, because you have it wrong in the first place!" Her hands in front of her as they would glow with some sort of innate energy accompanied by a **PING** as something of high technology enhanced them.

    Meanwhile, the two old men had gone to a full on brawl uncaring of the rest of the world. "Up both ways!" "Down both ways!"

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie has came to Metropolis to drop some things off for a friend. He figured he would take time to see the city so is walking along when he hears the sound of combat from a nearby building, so starts to head over to see whats going on.

Franklin Richards has posed:
Franklin sighed, "If you two don't behave, then neither of you is getting pudding tonight," as he pointed an accusatory finger at the two old men. He sighed as he heard the impact but didn't look back just yet. He was wearing normal clothing with a blue volunteer vest, trying to break up the old man fight without hurting either of the men. He grabbed onto the back of their collars for now. As parts of the building fell around them, they seemed to bounce off a shield that appeared around the three, deflecting the debris.

Franklin stopped and pointed, "I wonder what their issue is. Sounds like someone has naming issues. Believe me, it's a serious thing. It took me forever for them to stop calling me 'Powerhouse,'" he yelled up at the demigoddess lady. "I feel your pain. Heck with those who can't get names right!" He gave a thumbs up before returning to the issue at hand-the two men who, despite the chaos, were already starting to argue again.

Franklin sighed, "I am too young for this."

Joshua Foley has posed:
Joshua had been out skateboarding, running errands for Nettie Crow. His messenger bag is currently empty, having finished his last delivery for the day with the crash of debris on the street causes him to put the skateboard into a kickflip. Catching the skateboard in mid-air and tucking it under his arm. "Everyone okay?" he asks those around him, ready to lend medical aid if needed.

Jinx has posed:
The bike needed to be ridden. It's a beat up old thing with runes carved in to its body. A useful shielding spell that requires a minor blood sacrifice to recharge. She hasn'd used it in a year though. But vehicles need their wheels stretched to keep them running - so she's been going on a cruise around the city.

Metropolis was never high on her list of places to live. What with the Super-types and Titans here half the time. Not a great place to do crime. But now that she was a Titan herself the city was growing on her. Far less rain than Gotham just across the bay.

Stopped at a traffic light she feels a strange pull on her insides, and then a push. A shudder runs up and down her spine as magic is casually being tossed about somewhere nearby. The light goes green and she turns down the street, zipping past some cars trying to seek out the source of this uncomfortable feeling.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    High amounts of magic in a place that, classically, doesn't like a lot of magic is bound to attract attention. Phoebe was already nursing tiredness from an earlier event, but now?

    Pink wings close and she comes to a rest on the top of a building, her eyes going wide as she skids to a stop on the building. She's in her Balm gear presently -- dark gray combat pants, a compression top and hood with a simple domino.

    "This -- seems really, really we--"

    And then the woman slams into the nursing home and she gives a soft "oh... well... that's bad."

Diana Prince has posed:
As it so happens, Diana is on top of the Daily Planet building in downtown Metropolis. She's meeting with a few members of the Planet, including Lois Lane. They're discussing upcoming plans at the Atlantic Starport to help the nations of the world build toward their plans for establishing a Moon Colony. It is all the rage, so to speak, in recent years as the site has been chosen, and the countries involved in the project are building their resources to begin the foundational work through the recently established Atlantic port, Earth's first official Starport.

The interview is casual, friendly even, but Diana does have her JLA communications link feeding updates in to her ear. she gets informed of something happening, and she's quietly observing it while the conversation continues at the base of the giant Daily Planet sphere that gently turns, glinting in the daylight.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
The grumpy old men are barely separated from trying to hit one another with their dentures by Franklin. I'ts a thankless job as they try to start gumming him to death as well as they start to yell about Sasparilla and Alkaseltzer and threaten him and/or one another with exposure to Castor Oyl (long suffering brother of Olive).
    Joshua goes to poke his head in just in time to see the two women in green facing off with one another. The one with purple hair would sneer, "You can't even be bothered to /pronounce/ it right, Wretch." Her hands glowing with magical energy.
    "You get so worked up when you pronounce it /wrong/, Witch!" The one wiht the black hair would far too cheerfully quip back.
    For Jinx outside, it's really hard to miss a magic signature like that - sort of like trying to have a polite discussion over one's favorite Star Trek Captain on the Internet - Kirk or Picard. Some things one can't get away from (it's totally Picard).
    THe one with the purple hair would sneer at Franklin, "Little boys should be not heard nor seen. But since you've already inflicted your presence upon us.." Circe's eyes would glow right as Franklin's mouth would vanish right off his face!
    Sersi would chant, "Oooh! What did the little boy do to you?" Even as she would take her hands up in the air, and there would be a FLASH as those two sets of dentures that the old men were gumming away at one another would turn over into dozens and dozens of small razor blades, flying through the air at Circe!
    "You seem like you're trying tos have it a little close!"
    Phoebe is likely able to get the best view from her position high up of the duo of witchy, b*tchy women.

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie will make sure he calls this in when he sees whats going on. He will then go to one of the nurses stations flashing his NYC badge and tells them "They need to work on getting the other patients and residents away from the chaos.

Joshua Foley has posed:
Actually, the best Star Trek captain is now Pike.

As Joshua pokes his head in and sees the chaos that is going around, he really really wants to just retreat. But when Sam speaks up, the mutant bites on the inside of his jaw and ventures within, helping to start guide older patients out of the field of fire.

Jinx has posed:
The brakes on her bike screech and clearly need help as she comes to a stop out front of the nursing home. She lifts up her sunglasses and peers at the magical auras and power slinging around. She can't even see the culprits yet. But it's big magic to do relatively small things. That's never a good sign.

Stand down, taps on her T-comms, << "Hey.. uh.. Jinx here. There's two magical heavy weights at some nursing home. This could go pretty badly pretty quickly. I'm not sure if Raven is awake or not but.. yeah. Well. I'm going to go check it out so you know - just doing that 'team' thing we've been talking about by letting you know. Cheerio " >>

Face scrunched up. This is really a bad idea. Old Jinx would just give them space and watch on with amusement. But that's not what she's legally obligated to do any more. She walks on in to the building.

Franklin Richards has posed:
Franklin sighed, his mouth disappearing. After a few taps to confirm it, he breathed out through his nose in frustration. He would frown, but since he didn't have a mouth, that proved difficult. Placing his hands on the two men, he put them to sleep to avoid further complications. Shaking his head, he shifted his attention to the task at hand.

Scanning his surroundings, he finally found what he was looking for. He reached down and picked up a set of dentures, letting out a muffled chuckle, which he couldn't properly express without a mouth.

Turning away from the now two sleeping men, he closed his hands around the fake teeth, and blue light shone from his fingers. He looked up at Circe and tossed the dentures into the air. A bit of spittle still attached flew out as they hovered in the air. They floated towards the witch lady, attempting to avoid direct fire as he used a finger to direct their movement. Franklin's voice came out from the floating teeth as they rose and fell as if speaking, "Hey! Why did you do that?" The teeth continued to move, "I mean, it isn't like I called you a total witch or something. Also, why are you fighting? Who are you, by the way?" The questions fired out one after the other in an irritatingly fast fashion.

He almost felt sorry for the witch lady, but she did use magic on him so he felt he had the right to irritate her just a little bit, though he couldn't smile about it as his mouth was gone. He would have to fix that in a bit, but for now he was focused on making the teeth ask more, and more questions in a quick fire method.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe just sets her jaw, and her electronics-altered voice comes over the local coms <<This is Balm... they appear to be fighting over a Name.>> she replies, and she concentrates.

    THe rose-pink of her wings appears again, and the young mage takes to the air, turning around as she decends to another, closer-by building.

    "This is bad, this is bad, way over my grade --" she mutters, and she seeks to interrupt the witches, bringing up her own shield with her circle between them.

    "LADIES. A MOMENT OF YOUR TIME?" she calls out, the lazily spinning, eight-pointed star with the Egyptian heiroglyphs turning.

    "What the *Heck*?"

Diana Prince has posed:
The situation with the fight continues to get fed to Diana's earpiece with slow drips of information from the JLA monitoring system, and those using open comms. She continues to address some of the questions coming to her from the small gaggle of reporters, and continues to offer them soft responses, pleasant facial expressions, and even a soft bit of laughter from a little joke that Lois Lane makes.

But when things seem to be boiling over, Diana has to abruptly interrupt the questions, and offer a bit of a exit explanation. It's vague, but she doesn't linger to elaborate. Instead, the Princess of Themyscira turns to the helicopter pad atop the Daily Planet building's roof, and she moves with a fluid grace up the staircase to the brightly marked aircraft landing zone. There, the Invisible Jet shimmers as it becomes very visible, with its rear gangplank open and waiting for the Princess. She paces up it with a bit of haste to her step, and the Jet is soon to quietly ascend in to the air...

The reporters are left to merely watch as Wonder Woman once more disappears within the artistically attractive looking jet, it's elegant aesthetics vanishing as it shimmers back in to its cloaked state. The reporters begin to check their phones to see what situation might be breaking out in the city, or beyond...

Monet St. Croix has posed:
The dentires flipped by Franklin would launch through the air, going to try and take some bites out of Circe's twin peaks. "AMusing, boy. From you I sense power and potential.. Yet with litlte initiative in using it or care. That can do so much and yet does so little. With so much waste that will only ever taste a life of mundanity and ordinariness and shall never amount to anything." The dentures would fade away into the air, like alka-selzter pellets as they would disintegrate.
    Phoebe goes to land in over DRAMATICALLY as Sersi goes to look over at her and breaks out into applause, "Nice! But you need to do it again!" Her hands flash over and Balm goes backwards! Not through the air, but through her flip and landing as if in slow motion. Sersi goes to spin her forwards a little bit, then back. "Some small adjustments would make it a lot better!" Even as the heiroglyphs upon her magic star would no doubt keep themselves glowing.
    Circe's attention snaps over at the arrival of Jinx. "Within you you have much malice.. But so little care to inflict upon it. Misery yields to pettiness which imparts nothing beyond minimal chaos. So much potential, so much wasted. This era seems consistently disappointing. So many with power that Olympus itself would shudder at.. Instead acting like little children play acting being gods."
    Sam and Joshua are able to start to rapidly guide people away over as Circe goes to speak to the crowd. "NO one will be going anywhere until this tete a tete is resolved. When we admit that the name is MINE." The walls shimmer, then foaming over and then hardening over in a massive bubble surrounding the entire Metropolis Retirement Castle, aesbestos and all!
    One o fthe women over by Sam yells out, "Hey, I'm missing Matlock!" She goes to throw a slipper over at Sersi. Said slipper goes to hold still in midair..
    Sersi chimes, "Rude." Her hands would flash over as the woman that had thrown it would then glow over.. "Strutting about, whining, thinking you're important!" Then the woman is shrinking down, turning into a gecko. "Much better."
    For Diana, in the city of Metropolis there is a giant.. Bubble.. That has formed around a retirement community/assisted living/place where kids dump their parents at and flee, never to return. Said bubble is pushing /everything/ around in several blocks away like a child picking up a toy shovel at hte beach and moving things off.

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie frowns and will move to scoop the geko up and into a basin, luckily not a bed pan. He hands it to a nurse "Keep an eye on her." He walks over to the bubble to bang a hand on it for a moment, trying to judge how strong a field it is

Joshua Foley has posed:
"Oh man, oh man... It's going to be okay, when this is done, they'll turn you back." He hopes as he speaks into the basin to the turned gecko. He really really hopes.

A name? This is all over a name?! Joshua grunts in a non-commital fashion before he looks to the two women. "Could you two keep the henpecking to each other and not everyone else!"

Jinx has posed:
<< "Fighting over a name? what does that even mean? .... also who are you?" >> She eyes her T-comm suspiciously for a moment. Perhaps she should have read the manual on cross-team communications after all. Well, not much to be done about that now as she rounds the corner and is faced with the two green clad sorceresses of old.

There's a guy here with no mouth - well that's unusual. Is he meant to be like that? a quick glance confirms no - there's haphazardly slapped on magic over him. A little tug here and there will undo it.

But she doesn't get that far yet. Not when Circe just smacks her to the core with simply words let alone magic. "I... damn..." Never before has she been told she was never evil -enough-. Nope, everyone has been constantly telling her about the good she has inside. So much so she's been believing it.

But to have it confirmed just how powerful she _could_ be if she simply /let it go/ has her slightly slack jawed. That's quite the compliment from the likes of Circe. Still there's a lot to be said about learning the finesse of magic. Beating everything with a hammer is all well and good when she's got her feet firmly planted on the ground. But in the nursing home? better she stick with the more delicate arts.

"Hold still...," she says with a conflicted expression on her face as she looks over Franklin. If the legends are true then may be Circe has no beef with her. But she might after this... a smalls wish of her hand and she unravels the spell upon his face to restore his mouth.

She scowls at Joshua's language, "Dude. Could you not antagonise the magical goddesses for one second??"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Balm is dramatically sent backwards. Her whole body reverse, and she retains her landing point on the higher building before she gives a soft 'ooooh, that tingles's.

    <<Time dilation and reversal, and yeah, you should leave antagonizing the magical goddesses to the professionals. When you get as old as they are you get bored. Not looking forward to that.>> Balm comes over the comms again, and she erases the fancy flip, drawing her sheilds back up as she looks between the two witches of some serious renown.

    "Have you two considered having an arbiter before you draw the attention of someone like Zatanna or Shazam out this way? I know I'm a hard stand-in for Superman --" she states, trying to contain the worst of the damages as she flits about, shields spinning as she forms them in different places. Her shoulder creaks a little as she gives a soft gasp, then turns around and emits a pulse of bright white magic to try and distract the two while the others move civilians around!

Diana Prince has posed:
Wonder Woman lands on top of the magical dome. Her armored boots slam down upon it, and with a flex of her muscular thighs, she stands up to her full height... her eyes down upon the shimmering magic blocking her from entering the situation that is unfolding below. A neutral expression adorns her facial features, her long dark hair flowing around her otherwise bare shoulders in the late afternoon wind. She simply stands there, atop the bowl of energy encasing this facility.

Her hands ball up in to fists, not out of anger, but out of preparation.

Wonder Woman takes one testing step forward, then raises her right leg up, and slams her foot down upon the magical barrier! She's testing it herself now, as her right hand reaches for the golden coiled lasso hanging from the leather harness against her right hip...

Franklin Richards has posed:
Franklin raised an eyebrow at the teeth changing into something else, realizing it had taken quite some energy. He sighed once more, this time exhaling through his nose, deciding he'd had enough of having no mouth. He raised a hand, contemplating how to reverse the situation, but Jinx came through for him, restoring his mouth.

With his mouth restored, he pointed at the passed-out old men, lifting them into the air with an unseen force and depositing them in front of Joshua. As he stretched his jaw, he smiled at Jinx and said, "Thanks. I thought I was going to have to learn sign language," chuckling a bit. He had already learned sign language during his upbringing, just one of the many languages he had acquired as the son of the world's smartest man.

Looking up at Circe, Franklin continued, "You know, if you want to talk about potential sometime, I might have some free time... maybe dinner?" He grinned at her but quickly added, holding his hands up defensively, "Hey! I'm just saying, no need to get upset about it! Sheesh." Franklin had a knack for getting himself into trouble with the more formidable personalities. He sighed and looked back at Jinx, saying, "It's probably just a bad time to ask," though he shrugged, still willing to take a shot.

Glancing over at Jinx, he introduced himself, "Franklin, apparently the lazy one, if you ask the angry one up there. Pleased to meet you, and thanks." He gave her a small smile and added, "I don't know, I think he's funny," referring to Joshua. Then he raised his voice so Circe could hear, "Some people just don't have a sense of humor," and chuckled a bit.

He looked over at the lady who had been turned into a gecko and asked, "I wonder if she watched Life of Brian I mean it is close to a newt right? Anyway, do you think you can fix them too? I'll make sure they don't mess with you. I'm a bit stronger than I look, but you're right, I hate using it." Franklin explained his willingness to assist if she wanted to help.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
The field gives a bubble, boil, and bounce. It's like trying to whack a hand over into bubble wrap. But it also sucks up Sam's entire hand over within it until he takes it out. like he was pressing his palm through something made entirely of lard. Just like slitting it through goo in and out. The Nurse looks down at the gecko, "Ewww.." As Sam hands it over for safekeeping. Looking like she was about to say something more.. Then looking over at Jinx wide eyed as Jinx would give Franklin a mouth again.

Joshua goes to snap over at Circe, "Since you seem adventurous, boy.. Then let me show you the truth of the matter." Around Joshua, there's a *PWOOSH* as Joshua is turned over to a chicken. A rooster, as a matter of fact. Then surrounding him are a crowd of hens that have murder in their.. Giblets? And would start pursuing him with intent to peck him.

To death.

Sersi goes to call out to Balm, "They need to remember thier place. This is a personal affront!" Even as Phoebe goes to free herself of the small loop over that she had been put in as Sersi goes to cluck her tongue.

And Diana goes to stomp her foot through as the dome jeggles like jello! And there she goes slamming through dramatically!

Circe sneers, "Amazon, do not interfere in an affair of a /goddess/."

Sersi would ahem, "GODDESS!? You're a DEMIGODDESS at best!" That has several of those golden bands in the air going to snap down over upon Sersi, wrapping her all over and going to constrict brutally! The flash of light thrown up and over by Phoebe managing to distract the two enough for Diana to make in her arrival, Jinx to manage to fix Franklin, and..

Most importantly, the rational adult to arrive on the scene! She's able to contain the worst of the backlash - the two are extremely powerful and dangerous - for now, they were holding themselves back over to whimsy.

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie frowns a bit as he knows he could get through the wall, but would be messy, he does see if there is residue on his arm and if it smells. Seeing Josh getting Chicken-a-fied, he moves to scoop him up and protect him. Sam has made enough fried chicken in his life he can protect one.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
And Franklin's flirting over with her has Circe's eyes flash. "Little human, do not insert yourself into the affairs of your betters." Even as her hand goes to glow, as she attempts to just try to shrink Franklin down over to pint-size! Attempting to use her powers to put him over at more of an Ant Man level of standing! The three and a half inch tall action figure that presuming she does would flip him through the air towards one of the others to possibly catch! OR for him to just be able to block it - his cosmic powers were incredibly formidable.

Joshua Foley has posed:
Way to cock things up, Joshua.

He makes up a hiccup of a noise, but the next thing that he realizes is that he has a much shorter field of vision, and is very much feathered.

Unfortunately, he also quickly is living through the same scenario as Link when he attacks a cucoo too many times as the swarm of hens rush him.

Josh-chicken flaps his wings, flying away from Sam, landing on a nearby table, as the chickens continue to swarm and hack at him -- his mutation starts to kick in, his feathers turning a bright golden color as he starts to immediately heal from any attack that is laid upon him, the healing factor kicked into overdrive.

Jinx has posed:
Jinx looks horrified as the first nonsense out of Franklin's mouth is more wise cracks at the expenses of the two very powerful women. She looks over at Joshua turning in to a rooster and then throws up her hands. "You know what. Fuck it." She's starting to get angry - at the men.

"You think you can just disrespect any woman you like any time you like then you can enjoy the consequences. These women can teach you a lesson about it while the majority just have to grin and bare it. Have you learnt nothing from the #metoo movement??? Huh?!"

"Show some damned respect for a change." Her hands balled up in to fists, she wasn't even aware of the pink energy licking over them, her magic broiling to life as she feels some of that same anger at the world that made her such a formidable villainess returns. "I work side by side with Titans, men and women, and not -one- of them would make a wise crack like that. They know how to be respectful. And hell if I haven't given them all plenty of reason to be pissed at me but they ..."

She pauses as her anger starts to diminish, "Are patient and kind and caring with me." Unlike everyone else in her life until the moment she became their ward.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Diana's here -- oh that's good news. Balm hitches her breath.

    All right. They want a fight for their betters?

    A soft Latin phrase is uttered, and Phoebe's dampening tattoo is powered down. It's the same effect as once upon a time when two Saiyans arrived on Earth to find someone there with a memable power level.

    HEr eyes glow rose-gold, and when she flicks down her hand, she's weilding a brilliant staff as letters in curving Heirmetic trace down her left cheek.

    "Let's dance.

    HEr wings fold, and Balm puts herself between the building and the powerful witches, the glow erupting from behind her domino as she forms a bigger, brighter shield, and charges forward towards the two witches alike in name and countence and bitchiness.

    "Let's danse arcane!"

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana doesn't offer any initial reaction upon gliding through the magical barrier and in to the playfield. She just lands upon the lawn, her eyes locked upon the situation as it unfolds before her. She watches Phoebe engaging with the two magic casters, and she moves with a simple step, gaging their reaction to Phoebe's moves.

"Whatever this is all in regards to," Diana does then speak, "It comes to and end here and now. There is no reason for any of this to be happening. Cease, and leave now, or be taken in to my custody." She states, her hands now gripping the golden lasso in front of her lap, its divine twine beginning to glow with an inner power all of its own.

Franklin Richards has posed:
Franklin sighed and shrugged, "Hey, even evil people need friends. Why can't one enjoy time with people who are different?" he asked, a bit confused as she brought up things beyond his intentions. "You don't know me. You shouldn't make assumptions. I find people like her interesting because they do what they want, unlike us who have limits." He turned and put a hand up, and blue light shone out towards Circe, unraveling the spell before it could hit him. He frowned a bit and added, "Do you mind not interrupting me again? I've had quite enough of that," before sighing and taking a breath.

"Thank you for helping me. I'm sorry if you thought it's improper, but life is too short to hold grudges over a simple spat like this," he said, waving his hand towards the wrecked building. He stepped away from Jinx, shaking his head, not wanting to explain further as he needed to help Joshua. He grumbled to himself but said nothing else until he reached Sam.

"Can I hold him for a minute? I can help," he offered.

If the chicken was handed to him, Franklin focused on the situation. Thankful that Diana was there to distract them, he concentrated on fixing the chicken issue. He couldn't undo magic, but since it happened recently, he reversed time to before Sam was a chicken, attempting to return the man to his previous state and hold him there until proper magic could be used to reverse the spell. It was a temporary fix, but it should hold.

As blue energy emanated from him and the air around him wavered like heat waves, the seconds ticked back in a small area around him. The grass that had been trampled rearranged itself, the broken street mended as it was before. Franklin found himself holding a fully grown man in his arms. He looked down at Joshua, his eyes still glowing a slight blue as he addressed him sternly, "You have twenty-four hours to fix this, or you'll become a chicken again. Got it?" After the exertion of power, Franklin was forced to put the man down, the weight taking a toll on him.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Sam is able to rapidly extract Joshua over from being henpecked. Even as Josh goes to keep on fluffing out feathers as fast as they can beak on him. Sam is able to quickly scatter them away and keep his friend safe! At least until he can get his feathers ruffled as the hens go to then charge over towards the nurse that Sam had given the gecko over to! The nurse goes to drop the.. Bowl that had the old woman that had thrown her slipper currently in the form of a gecko, dropping it twoards the ground.. Then as one of the hens goes to notice that ther'es something very, very tasty there.

Sersi goes to break into appaluse, "That was very, very impassioned ,and firm! You should all take heed of what she said! For if you do not then SHE will be the one to turn you into things." As opposed to, say, either goddess. Even as Sersi goes to snap her head around whimsically. "Oooh, hello!" Waving over at the arrival of Diana. Even while under her directive, every single bit of cutlery over on the tables would snap up and over to attention like some sort of Nutcracker dance. "You're making this very fun!" Hundreds of pieces of semi-plastic silverwear go to pop up into the air, buzzing around like bees. And as Phoebe goes to make her challenge, the cutlery goes to flash up into the air as a peppy beat starts to play from /somewhere/. "No, not that." The music is shunted from the system, as something less peppy plays. "It's not the same.." She goes to quickly search through the crowd. "You."

Several of the people in the crowd of elderly are suddenly transformed into a mariachi band. And start to play 'Shake, Shake, Senora'.

As she goes to meet the charge of Balm with all of thsoe pieces of cutlery whizz-banging around over and wildly ricocheting - with razor sharp edges that could cleave at the near molecular level!

Sersi goes to call out to Balm, "They need to remember thier place. This is a personal affront!" Even as Phoebe goes to free herself of the small loop over that she had been put in as Sersi goes to cluck her tongue.

Circe gives her full attention over to Franklin, even with the chaos with Balm charging at Sersi. "With all that power wasted on something so simple, so banal. To make, to unmake.." Then she would pff. "And used for something so pedestrian. That one's feet would stomp upon. Yes, that is fitting for you."

Joshua Foley has posed:
When Joshua is transformed back into his human form through the manipulation of time, he lands on the ground with a thud. The formerly pale young man's skin is now a brilliant golden hue. "Twenty-four hours..." It's a good thing he knows a really powerful witch.

Maybe Nettie could reverse the curse. But it will probably come with a lecture about not taunting dragons for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

But he also knows that the flipside of his healing powers is death powers, and he is almost, almost tempted to use them.

Jinx has posed:
Jinx has spent a fair bit of time with Donna of late. Doing work, missions, training. Just learning about life from a completely different perspective. It's kind of uncanny valley for her to see Wonder Woman and not see that ever so slightly snarky expression on her face that Donna would have.

But if there's one thing she's learnt working with Troia its who her friends actually are. What a friend really should be. Her slightly annoyed look at Franklin fades as she turns around to face Circe and Sersi as they pull some Q-level nonsense to add zest to the moment in the form of music.

"Yeah. Okay. You two weren't actually that upset with each other. You just felt like breaking something. I get that mood. I understand it. Sometimes you just need to smash up something beautiful to make yourself feel better. But you don't get to do that when your powers can unmake the world."

All that energy that belt up crackles between her hands as she lifts them up. Wind picks up around her and then she pushes it seemingly toward Phoebe, only for it to twirl about and gather up all that shrapnel and push it aside leaving the way clear for her and Wonder Woman to do their thang.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    The sheild bash to eject them didn't work, and now there's a bunch of cutlery flying about her. She shrinks her shield down around her to midigate some of the damage, though the wounds on her face heal almost as quickly as they come. Phoebe truly is a Beacon at this moment as she moves through the halls -- and as the sharpnel moves about and clears the way, Balm gives a thankful smile to Jinx, and a small wave of a hand.

    "Honestly, this sort of behavior seems pretty much below you two. I mean, mariachi bands and fighting in a geriatrics unit?" she motions about "Wouldn't it have been better and more fitting to fight over a sinking island in the Agean sea with like, the clash of some magnetism overhead?" she asks with frustration. "Putting mortal people in danger due to a spat seems so minor... then again --" she considers.

    "Which of you is Cerci and Which is Saucy again?"

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana stands tall on the green lawn before the retirement community, a gust of wind ruffling her dark hair as she deftly sidesteps flying plastic knives and forks launched by the two capable magic casters. Her lasso whips through the air, attempting to ensnare them, its golden glow contrasting with the unusual chaos of the battle.

With each move, Diana calculates her steps, determined to bring an end to this mystic skirmish, as the others aid in hopefully providing some distraction to give her a window of opportunity to twirl the lasso around one, if not both of the women, the goal being to ensnare and prevent further magical mayhem.

Franklin Richards has posed:
He looked up at Circe with a small smile and said, "You say that, but why are we here again? Look at all the power you're throwing around. Despite what others may think, if you just had someone to talk to, this might not have even needed to happen." He glanced at the others. "With this much strength, we could feed a small country. But here we are, fighting over nothing. Others may think I was joking, but I am serious. If you need someone to rant at instead of all this, I seriously will listen." He reiterated his offer, remaining seated and watching.

As he observed the same story playing out again, he wondered if there was ever an end to it. Thanks to the quick work of the others, this dispute didn't result in anyone getting hurt or worse, so it wasn't too late. He looked at Joshua with a smile, reaching out to tap him lightly on the back of the leg. "It's okay. Don't be like them," he said softly with a smile, acknowledging the strong temptation to act aggressively in the heat of the moment. "I get it, but we shouldn't act in anger. It's what led to this nonsense to begin with." He tried to explain, hoping to calm Joshua down a bit.

Pointing at the others who were still fighting, he added, "I wish there was an easy answer, but I do know we can't lose ourselves in finding it."

Then, he looked at the two and Diana approaching them and sighed, realizing things might get a lot worse. "For now, what do you say we do another check for people? This might get a little loud now that the heavy hitters are here," he chuckled a bit. "To think this all could have been solved with a simple conversation... What a waste." He noted as he pushed himself up to help do what he suggested, making sure there were no civilians wrapped up in whatever was about to come next.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
As Joshua is freed, and just looks like he's gotten a fresh dander, he's in a place where he can deal with any casualties - and that gecko probably is glad it's just missing a tail. But he can hopefully corral the cascading cavalcade of chickens - or he can see if they are, in fact, deliscious with ketchup and BBQ sauce. Given there was a minotaur they could make it a full on steakhouse,e ven!

As Circe would float through the air magestically while facing Jinx, "And that is where I beg to differ, little one. I /can/ unmake the world. And I see no reason why not to. And rebuild it in my own image." Apparently her amusement with Jinx had run it's course now. "When I'm done here with the ancient upstart I'll continue on with you."

Sersi would look bemused over at Phoebe, "Oh, we fight wherever we must. There are a great many fights in sinking islands collapsing on down to the great abyss and Neptune's realm! But there has not yet been so far one in such a tropical locationa s of here!" Even as Phoebe would go to rationally counter her.

"These people have such uninteresting, short lives. Here we are, making htem a part of our tale. Chaos and whimsy, glory and calamity. We are giving them roles." Implied in her story (and Circe's)!

The lasso goes to WHISH through the air, going to yank Circe over to face Sersi as the two would be pressed in. "We have to stop meeting this way." Sersi would give a kiss over on the nose of Circe, even as the demigoddess would HOWL. The room shaking, the bubble about the complex exploding.

Even as Circe would phase through the lasso, and Sersi would teleport out of it. But for those few moments, the two were separated and there was no attack on the other one.. For those few moments.

Joshua Foley has posed:
Joshua was just about to rush one of the witches and go full-on black to try to kill her when he feels the tap to the back of his leg. He turns and looks to Franklin, taking in the words from the young man.

Finally, he grits his teeth and pushes past the dark thoughts. Instead, he turns his attention to the wounded and hurt. Moving along the ground and sliding down over an elderly patient that is having a really hard time and he lays hands on him. "Hold on..." he mutters, closing his eyes as he moves to use his powers on someone else, something he hasn't totally grasped yet.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "They are infinitely more interesting because of their empathy--" Balm speaks out, her words echoing as she brings her left hand up. Brilliant white and rose-gold by turns, she grips her fingers in her hand tightly, and brings it down to the floor -- which trails like lightning, forking off ever so slightly along the floor to catch Sersi's feet as she finishes her teleportation.

    "Stay in Place and trouble no more." her voice echoes, and she is telegraphic A Whole Lotta Magic (TM)

Jinx has posed:
Jinx lets out a small laugh of her own amusement at Circe's threat. "Yeah. You could do that. Remake the world in your image. But that'd never do would it? you're the best - if you make the world the best then what are you.. mediocre? the norm? booooring."

"I may have fangirled over you when I was young but I see it clearly now. You're worried people won't remember you - gotta shake things up a bit to bring the awe and wonder back in to peoples lives so you stay relevant."

"... a couple of years ago I'd have been at your side in a heart beat excited to bring the world to its kneels but.. nah.. I figured out that ruling the world is boring. Got me a new gig and a better understanding from the one who gave me this power."

"Ya might of heard of her. I know Wonder Woman sure has. The name's Gaia..." The pink becomes brighter and brighter until its searing like white, her eyes glowing too as she rises up in to the air with a gust of wind.

"Shit I'm only 27 years old. I can't imagine how much I'll know about magic when I'm your age. But I sure as shit won't be wagglin' my ovaries at an old peoples home looking for cheap thrills. The new guarde is in town and we're here to stay. So why don't ya lot just shuv on off."

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana's lasso arcs through the ethereal forms of the magical women casters, their insubstantial figures leaving the rope empty-handed. With a graceful leap, Diana lands beside the bewildered senior citizens, now inexplicably transformed into a mariachi band.

Wonder Woman twirls the lasso in the air with a swift flourish before lunging toward Circe, her forearms crossed, ready to strike with the formidable bracers of submission, trying to time her attack in coordination with Phoebe's own.

It doesn't seem like Diana is really here to talk.

Franklin Richards has posed:
Placing a hand on Joshua's shoulder, Franklin spoke lightly and nodded to reassure him, knowing it was tough. "You are stronger than an immortal witch," he admitted. Franklin understood the challenge of setting aside anger to do the right thing, and he didn't tell Joshua that he was also protecting them from the waves of magic and debris that were flying around as others unleashed their powerful attacks. While things may fly around, they bounced off a protective field surrounding them, keeping them safe.

Franklin could have attacked the others, maybe even battered them if he tried, but he believed that wasn't the answer. All the two would learn from such an encounter was that next time, they should choose a place where they couldn't be interrupted. It was a cycle that would play out endlessly, and even if he were to stop it all, people would complain about him taking away their free will. So instead, he focused on changing one life at a time and hoped it would be enough.

He took the time to move people with his telekinesis closer to the two of them, allowing them to share the protection. Keeping up with Joshua's pace, he knew he didn't have the energy to rewind everything that had happened, so prevention was key. Buildings could be repaired, and people could be healed, as long as no lives were lost.

Feeling a bit sad that this situation had devolved into another slugfest, Franklin finally spoke up, "Save some if you can. After this, those two fighting might need some healing." He pointed out that even if they were unreasonable, they were still people. He paused for a moment to rescue a gecko from the air, pulling it away from the threats and into his hand, where he held it gently. "Sometimes it's just hard to be on the good side," he added with a light chuckle.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Magic works by imprinting bubbles upon existence. Bubbles of reality. Different reality. Whether something small, like making someone's hair look different.. Or large, like where Sersi is held in time for just a moment as Phoebe takes the bubble of temporal tethers and puts her own control of it onto the space that Sersi sits within. So the dark haired woman over alongside the purple haired one that the two had been feuding at - or playing at feuding, as Jinx had put it the entire time..

They're both held in place for just those moments as Diana goes to move to time her attack to the same instant where Phoebe has the two held down.. As Jinx's own tricky powers would flare up, as any sort of counter-spell or machination that the two would do would be undone by what Circe had so dismissively called a 'lesser' and one wasting her potential!

Franklin has secured the area as the bubble that Circe had put up was popped, repairing the damage and safeguarding the Springfie... We mean Metropolis Retirement Castle (maybew ithout the aesbestos and building code violations) to a mostly intact state as the people within are generally left safe if disoriented..

And the slam sends the two witches -through- one side and out the other as Diana times and syncs her blow just right.. And over at Franklin's feet are the two fistfighting old men from the beginning of the night's strife that he had stopped from gumming up on him.

"Up both ways!" "Down both ways!"

Joshua Foley has posed:
Nodding his thanks to Franklin, Joshua is concentrating on the healing that he can do. In the process, he's actually reversing some things, but he doesn't realize that. He has yet to grasp exactly how powerful his healing art is.

And someday, when he has a chance t study and learn -- how extraordinary it is to have the biokenesis gift that he has.

With the two witches going down, he starts to move shakily to his feet. "I should make sure they're okay." he comments dryly, closing his eyes and focusing on gathering his wits about him for whatever may be.

Jinx has posed:
It's hard to understand how to make spells that turn people in to chickens. That's some very sophisticated magic. But magic still has to go from A to B and deflecting it, unraveling it - well any chump with a fast mind and a mystical background can do that.

Her hands flourish through the air as she unravels the spells the Circe and Sersi are constructing. It seems Gaia does have a stake in this fight after all.. otherwise one of her champions, Jinx, wouldn't have stumbled across it.

"I think it might be time for you two to give it up today. You're out matched." A slightly smug look on her face as the pair are getting a bit of a beat down by Phoebe and Diana.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    And that's all from Phoebe, holding Sersi in place as Diana wrangles them, and the magic begins to be undone. She releases her circle, making sure her hood is still up, and the dark gray-clad mage allows the white circle to fade, the magic to fade from her skin, and with another uttered phrase in Latin, even her own magic output is capped, a whisper instead of a yell.

    "Wouldn't have been able to do it unless you were here to help." Balm states to Jinx, and then gives a nod to Joshua and Franklin as well. What a mess.

Franklin Richards has posed:
Franklin looked around now that the confrontation was over. He glanced at Phoebe and Diana, nodding as it seemed to have done the trick. "I know I suggested it as well, but you might want to talk to the magic people first to make sure they don't come back swinging," he offered. His part in the situation was done, and now that no one needed protection, he wanted to take a step back. Typically, when it came to cleanup and dealing with the authorities, he would discreetly slip away, not wanting to be associated with these incidents since he hadn't done the heavy lifting.

Turning his attention to the two witches, Franklin sighed and pulled out a card with the number of a helpline. He passed it to Joshua and said, "Give them this. They may not use it, but at least when they get back on their feet, they'll know it's out there." The helpline was for individuals with powers to talk about their issues and handle them without resorting to violence. While it didn't cater to immortals, there were no conditions on it, just people trying to keep the peace.

After giving the card to Joshua, Franklin nodded to the others, acknowledging their efforts in stopping the conflict despite his reservations about direct violence, even against those who deserved it. Sometimes there was simply no other way to save lives, and they had done a commendable job. He smiled a bit and turned to start leaving but couldn't resist adding a playful comment to Joshua, "Oh, and in these twenty-four hours, if you lay an egg, just ignore that," grinning to leave some mystery about whether he was joking or not.

No longer needed, he faded back into the shadows, leaving only a blue vest behind on the two sleeping old men. Franklin had a knack for finding himself in situations where things ended up a bit destroyed, and he suspected he might be "fired" from this job as well.

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana charges forward with a powerful burst of speed, her strong frame surging as she smashes into the two magic casters. With a forceful collision, she propels them through the damaged walls of the retirement community, returning them to their origin point.

Her bracers of submission serve as her formidable means of attack, and the outcome of this powerful charge remains uncertain as they are propelled backward through the shattered structure.

What is for certain though, is a number of elderly people look on in confused awe, with one woman raising a hand up from her armchair, and shouting. "Fuck yeah!" in the wake of the Amazon Princess disappearing back through the ruined structure's walls, taking with her the two strange witches with her.