8757/A dark fairytale

A dark fairytale
Date of Scene:	21 November 2021
Location:	Central Park
Synopsis:	Megan is assisted by the Outsiders in rescuing young witches who have been kidnapped and drained by Spider Monsters!
Cast of Characters:	Megan Gwynn, Phoebe Beacon, Conner Kent, Tim Drake, Bart Allen

---

Megan Gwynn has posed:
There have been rumours, strange rumours of late. Rumours that circulated largely around the magical community but trickled over into other jurisdictions. Over the last couple of weeks, a large number of girls in the local community had gone missing, and they all had one thing in common: a talent for magic. There had been hushed murmurings of shadowy creatures involved in the disappearances, of something, or indeed somethings, dark and hideous and frightening, hiding somewhere in Central Park, luring unsuspecting witches away down a dark and lonely path, feeding and perhaps even killing them. But sometimes it's hard to separate fact from fantasy.

One thing is certain, six girls had gone missing right here in Central Park and another one was about to join them.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Teenage girls with a talent for magic is something near and dear to Phoebe's heart. She was wearing a knee-length coat with a big hood, walking with her hands in her pockets. Sometimes it's hard to separate the fact from fantasy, sure, but all the whispers and rumours must have some source of truth, which means there's some source of trouble.

    So, one teenage girl with a talent for magic whose aura is leaking out like a sieve, boots tapping along the dark paths -- Bait.

    She had an earpiece in one ear, and a earbud in the other.

    "Right about now is where I would probably take out a pendelum. I think the only one I have in my bag is rose quartz though."

Conner Kent has posed:
And since this is New York, Conner is working as Phoebe's shadow. Currently half a mile above, which is not shadow-like distance, but it works when one has super-speed and enhanced vision.

"A pendulum? Is that useful to find girls? Asking for a friend," offers Conner, keeping close watch on Phoebe despite the distance because she seems to be -so- very prone to be kidnapped.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Camped out on a fire escape, on the corner of a building that gives an excellent view of Central park beyond, Tim is keeping an eye on Phoebe too. He's leaning back, nursing a bottle of (root) beer and messing around on his phone to give the vaguest appearance of a reason to be loitering about in the chilly November air.

    "Hinge exists," comes Tim's answer to the question Conner definitely wasn't asking him. He has a cap pulled low over his forehead, shading his eyes as his gaze flits from stranger to stranger on the street. "Didn't someone make a superhero dating app last year?"

    And because, unlike Conner, Tim's eyesight is only slightly above 20/20 average, he's also hacked his way into whatever security cameras he can find in the area. Which is what he's actually looking at, on his phone.

    Not dating apps! No need for those.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
As the heroes traverse further into the park, they will find themselves eventually in a thickly wooded area.. Well Phoebe will at any rate. She might also pick up a distinct trail of magic. Tim might not see anything odd in the cameras, not yet anyway. Perhaps this particular area is just too dark and well shrouded for cameras to penetrate. There are a lot of hidden places in this expansive park Afterall. Conner will find his view also blocked by thick trees and shrubbery, although that is not usually a problem for super vision, night vision and x-ray vision.

This neck of the woods is quiet, maybe a little too quiet. There are no birds chirping in the trees, no rabbits flitting in the underbrush. It's as if they are deliberately avoiding this place, as if they know what lurks here.

And then it all happens at once. A monstrous, predatory screech, followed by the scream of a girl, maybe twenty yards north of Phoebe's location. Tim will see a large, shadowy insectoid-like form flitting across a nearby security camera, before whatever it is crashes into the camera, taking it off-line.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Channel your Will into the pendelum and if you're attuned you can use it to find anything, ask questions, detect magic -- but yeah. Cloak and Dater is probably way easier to use to get a date, Boy Blue." Phoebe sounds amused, though even-voiced over the com. Phoebe pauses a moment, her eyes narrowed as she turns into the too-quiet brush, slipping through the underbrush as she narrows her eyes, listening -- when that scream splits the night. She leaps over a fallen log, running towards the sound. Sparks appear in her palm as she makes her approach, and she sends upwards a bolt of light into the sky -- a Beacon by any other name, marking her position clearly as she slips her domino onto her face. Best to have a HUD and not have to rely on her tired eyes!

Conner Kent has posed:
Contrarily to what everyone seems to think, Conner has not X-ray vision. Perhaps he will develop it with time, but most likely it is an ability that failed to make it through the miraculous genetic mixture of human and Kryptonian DNA that allowed his existence.

He usually fakes it with tactile telekinesis, but it doesn't work when he is flying.

His night-vision is good, though, and he can still see Phoebe fairly well. "You are no fun," he mock-grumbles to Phoebe, letting himself fall a couple hundred yards.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen was in the zoo, Bart could have been running beside Phoebe, but if someoen has good enough eyes they may have seen a blur or his lightning, so he decided tokeep busy there. "I may have another date with Madi, not sure yet we ran into one another earlier today." He fills his friends in, but then there is the scream, and he leaves the carrots he was feeding to the Zebra and is off, heading towards the scream at speed.

Tim Drake has posed:
    His perch (BIRD PUN) affords Tim an expansive view of the Park, though his attention moves back and forth between it and the security feeds he's flipping through on his phone. He lingers on the one that goes to static as it's knocked out, and then his chin jerks upwards as Phoebe's beacon lights up the sky.

    Immediately, he's on the move. Phone stowed away in his pocket, feet pounding down the stairs until he's close enough to the ground that he can safely leap over the railing and land on the sidewalk.

    It's going to take him a few moments to make it in towards Phoebe's position.

    "Not sure exactly what I just saw on the camera but it didn't look human," he says over comms, breath only slightly more rapid than normal. From his pocket he retrieves his domino mask and presses it into place against his face once he's hidden by the cover of trees.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
For some reason, evil things tended to enjoy lurking in the shadows. Maybe it was the advantage of creeping up on unsuspecting victims, or the association with darkness and evil. Whatever the case, the monstrous creature might have slipped away with its prey easily enough. But of course it's never faced the like of the Outsiders before.

As Phoebe lights the sky with an aptly named Beacon, the light reflects against the hard, chitinous exoskeleton of a massive black spider with huge pincers, and flowing red webbing spewing from its butt..From behind which, it drags a cute pink haired girl with distinctive fairy wings, who struggles helplessly in the webbing that only manages to entangle her up even more as the spider drags her along behind it.

Oh yeah, and this massive, hideous creature is only about the size of a bear. It's a baby, really.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "-- Shelob!" Phoebe barks into the com, knowing Tim will pick right up on the reference as she regards the creature with the red webbing. She grips her hands into loose fists, "One captured, teenage female with fairy wings, webbing is red, watch for magical effects." she states, and she lights up a fireball in her right hand, and lobs it at the chitinous black spider!

    "Ignatus!" Phoebe calls out, causing another ball of fiery and holy light to light up the night, seeking to keep the spider's attention on her. Big, glowy, magic girl!

Conner Kent has posed:
"I know that girl," mentions Conner, watching the flashes of light. He is now 'falling' faster than gravity would usually allow him. "She is a mutant, she lives in Westchester County," and 'Shelob' is going to get hit by a half-kryptonian meteorite in a second as he speeds down. "I really dislike spiders, guys," he mutters into the comms.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen hmms and as he hears the spiderwebs, he makes a quick side trip, heading back into the zoo. It takes him a moment , but after finding the maintenance shed, he will grab some bolt cutters, cause it is a giant spider scaled up, they will need them. So Bart comes running back up towards the scene, trying to get between girl and monster and use the bolt cutters on the webbing.

Tim Drake has posed:
    When Phoebe says the dreaded word Shelob, Tim nearly runs into a tree he's so startled. Because yes, he immediately knows what that means! But it's her follow-up, about the captured girl about to get webbed up for later snackage (so Tim assumes), that gets him moving again.

    Ugh. Ugh, spiders. Still, he breaks through the tree line in time to get a glimpse of the beast.

    Which he mentally prepared himself for. Still, he shudders at the sight of it, even as he pulls a batarang free from a holster hidden under his hoodie which he throws through the air, trying to slice through some of the webbing holding the girl hostage. Hopefully between himself and Bart, it'll be enough to free her.

    Tim's hoping she's in a good enough state to assist in the fight. Because it's a giant spider, oh god. "Too many legs," is all he mutters, voice flat. Too many.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
The spider is pretty big, and tough, but the Outsiders are nothing to scoff at. Still it'll put up a fight. It shrieks as Phoebe's fireball slams into its tough shell, followed by Connor crashing into it, burying it several feet into the ground.

As Tim and Bart work on the tough, sticky webbing, the girl gasps and sputters, struggling to get free. "Ugh, stupid spider demon.." she's pretty calm as they cut through, more annoyed than scared as she crawls out of the sticky messy webbing. "Phew, thanks!"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe hops back from Conner's decending attack, and she narrows her eyes a moment. IF this thing is one of the Darkness --

    So she lights up. light trailing down her hands to her fingertips before she summons a brilliantly shining staff of light, and looks to bring it down on the creature as Tim and Bart free the fairy-winged girl from her webby bindings!

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner is quite happy with pushing the spider a few feet down, instead of it splattering all over his leather jacket. He is slightly less happy of how much it hurt -him-. Damn magical monsters and their magical toughness.

Still, he manages to scramble back to his feet. Owowow. "Gah, is it dead? It doesn't seem I managed to break its shell. Is it a shell if it is a spider or has it to be a crab?" Beat, he really doesn't need to know. "Hey. Hello, Megan." Yes, that is a private joke, sue him.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen will start spooling the webbing onto the bolt cutters trying not to touch it, and moves around Megan, trying to untangle the girl, and says "Demon? Oh joy." He looks over to Phoebe and says "Do I need to go grab some salt, holy water?"

Tim Drake has posed:
    Another Batarang is produced, and though Tim is cringing very much obviously as he approaches, he gets right on in there to help free the girl that's been trapped in the webbing, sawing at it carefully with the sharp edge of the throwing weapon. "Spider demon?" he asks, though then he just sockets his tongue in his cheek and focuses on getting this done before said spider demon is up and moving around again.

    Here's to hoping that the magical oomph of Phoebe's fireball and the very physical oomph of Conner's... uh, bodyslam, that it's out for at least a little bit.

    "Spiders are invertebrates. They have exoskeletons," he says, and he looks up, clearly meaning to gesture towards the spider like he's transitioning into nerd-lecture mode. But then Tim sees the thing, and he gags a little, shaking his head as he gets back to sawing at the webbing.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn meeps and shivers as she dies her best to brush off the webbing. "Oooh, Soo gross. I think it drained some of my energy but not enough. Probably me for the Queen.." which means..Yeah, just a baby.

Upon seeing Connor, she giggles, fluttering towards him, "Hii, Conner..I guess I owe you again for saving my life, hmm?" but even as she talks, it's seems the spider demon is stirring, even as black gloopy stuff sores from its wounds, and chunks of it's hard exoskeleton have broken off from the attack, it's still alive, still angry as it rushes at the one nearest it with razor sharp pincers, at the same time spewing out more sticky webbing from its butt towards any who come near.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe is the one nearest. She's calm, collected, and she's braced for the attack from the magic spider as she gives a soft hiss between her teeth.

    She slips to the side, her braids rising up as she channels more of her Light, her eyes glowing as circles appear on the backs of her hands, and she fires off an additional burst of white-gold energy at the creature, as she raises her shield with its eight-pointed star and Egyptian glyphs surrounding it!

    "Stay down!" she demands of the beast, really more of a formality. She'll keep fighting it.

Conner Kent has posed:
"Ugh, it was too easy," mutters Conner. Magical giant spiders are going to rank in his list of least favourite things to fight.

On the positive side, it looks like Phoebe has some serious magic skills now. That explains all she was doing away from the Roost. "You heard the lady," he tells the spider, grabbing a nearby tree and uprooting it in a way the Central Park tree service people will never, ever approve. "Stay down!" He yells, trying to smash the spider with his oversized club.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen looks over to Robin and says "Um, I think it might be best if we stand over here and stay out of the way unless they need our help." He winces at the spider, almost feeling bad for it.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Once Megan is freed, yeah, Tim is rapidly backing up, until he's nearly climbing a tree with his desire to put as much space between the infernal arachnid and himself as possible. "It's getting back up!" he calls.

    And he's working on a very limited equip load, here, but he does find a concussive batarang in amongst the others, which he throws ol' Shelob's way.

    "Try to aim at where Conner's weakened the exoskeleton!" is said towards Phoebe. The least Tim can do is strategize!

    He's kept hold of the other batarang, the one he'd used to help saw Megan free of the webbing. Some of the webbing remains clinging to it, and Tim withdraws a specimen bag from a pocket (why did he bring that and not, like... grenades?!) which he stows the batarang in. For later chemical analysis of the sample, naturally.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
The spider shrieks as it's pummelled again, spraying more sticky webbing in every direction possible. The webbing is pretty strong, pretty sticky and this time it's not holding back, draining the energy of any who touch it..

But this time Megan is prepared, rising up in the air, ducking and darting out of the way of the deadly projectiles. In come more powerful assaults from Phoebe and Connor, churning up a cloud of dust as they pummel the creature's tough shell..

For a moment it lays still and it seems they've defeated it this time..But again it snarls and climbs to its feet, a faint red glow surrounding it this time. Megan's eyes narrow on the creature, "It's regenerating somehow.." and while Phoebe is aligned with the light, Megan has a shard of darkness in her..Like attracts like right? She peers intently at the demon, honing in on a spot under its belly and points. "Right there, I can sense powerful dark magic, it must have some sorta regenerative core. Aim for there and it can't regenerate again.."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe is, indeed, aligned with a most ancient light.

    So she focuses, she breathes out, and she brings her hands up and across to shield from the webbing again, before she manifests the full circles on the backs of her hands again. There's a briefly uttered spell, and then she brings her staff back into being, and leaps down to impale the staff through the indicated spot, her eyes aglow and probably too much magic crackling around her hands.

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner is not really aiming much. It is a tree! Probably better than his fists against a magical being. And yeah, it goes down, but then regenerates. And then it starts shooting webs everywhere, his tree gets completely entangled on them. He is keeping it between the spider and himself. He is still trying to pull it free when Phoebe attacks.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen will run around blocking as much of the webbing as he can with the bolt cutters, and gaining speed as he does. Well the thing wants energy, lets see how it does, if you have a bit of earth (tree) Fire, and lightning (speed force that is). He runs to a force and slams the lightning back along the webs toward the creature.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Oh, hey. There's a glowing weak spot? Tim can help with that--one of the things he does have on him is his grappel gun, which is an uncomfortably heavy and awkward weight against his lower back rather than its usual position against his hip. But he pulls it free, and fires it off, aimed at a weak spot in the spider-demon's cracked carapace rather than a fortified piece of architecture for Tim to swing off of.

    And instead of allowing it to pull him along, Tim ducks around a nearby stout tree so that the braided high-tensile steel cord snakes around its trunk, and then puts his foot up against the tree. One deep breath, and then with all of his admittedly completely human strength, Tim pulls. If he can drag the spider up even a few inches to give Phoebe a clearer shot, then it's better than nothing!

Megan Gwynn has posed:
As the heroes home in on the glowing red mark on the spider demon's underbelly, it shrieks and writhes, and this time it does not regenerate..Instead it...Seems to implode, shrivelling up on itself, it's legs curled underneath it as it falls to the ground, dead. "Phew.." Megan steps over its body, as if making sure it's really dead, then pulls out her glowing pink dagger from seemingly her chest, dipping it in do,e of the monster's ichor which causes it to flare red. "Thanks everyone..But there are more nearby, more girls taken away. I was out here looking for my friend when I was attacked.lBut I think I can track them with this..I kinda have something of a dark magic compass in my dagger. But I can't do it alone. There are probably tons more just like that..Will you help me?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe glances to Megan, raising her eyebrows in what looks like mild confusion as the young fairy dips the dagger, and she looks down to the ichor, and gives a nod, as she takes a breath.

    "There's a good chance we're not too far from the nest. It doesn't look like this one's molted very much -- so we should be prepared for some larger and possibly more experienced -- and more dangerous -- giant spiders." she confirms quietly, looking to Tim, Bart, and Conner, and then back to Pixie, keeping her hood down. "You can count me in, at least."

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner is trying to pull his hands off the web-covered trunk. Eww, spiders. But he heard what Megan is saying with mild disbelief. "Uh, a nest of giant spiders in the middle of New York?"

It sounds like something out of Gotham, seriously. Nevertheless... "of course we will help. I want a big fly-swatter, though." Because spiders. And magic, he doesn't do well with magic.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen looks over to Phoebe for his cue on this one as she is the one who knows about magic. "Ok, what do we need, fire, salt, lots of cans of Raid?"

Tim Drake has posed:
    From where Tim has just popped the line free from his grapple gun, he says "And this is why I don't like New York!" As if giant spiders is not a thing that would happen (and in fact has happened, more than once) in Gotham.

    He steps over just as Megan is requesting their help, and after a quick glance between the assembled Outsiders, it seems they're all in. "You can count on us."

    Though Tim immediately whips out his phone and sets up a Bat-delivery of an actual costume. He might be wearing a layer of armor underneath his hoodie, but it's not the same kind of protection the full Red Robin getup provides. And, uh, he really doesn't want any ichor or energy-depleting webbing touching him.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn frowns and nods, "Yeaaah, it's a bit odd, which is why I think it's connected to the tentacle demon I fought a few weeks ago. I think someone opened a magic circle and things are slipping out from the never never.," she sighs, "It's pretty scary but it makes sense. Just gotta find the source." she smiles, turning around to regard her rescuers and nods, "Thanks! I'm Megan by the way.." she'll wait only briefly for introductions before starting to move again, using her dagger as a beacon, leading them into even darker, creepier areas of the woods..

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe glances back to Tim, and introduces herself simply as "Balm." before looking to Conner and Bart, and she brings her left hand out, closing her eyes, and she opens one eye to concentrate, and then goes to follow behind Megan.

    "So things are slipping out through the magic circle, or was the magic circle the cause of a rift?" she questions Megan as they walk. "Do you happen to have a way to close a rift if that's the case?" she follows up with a very mild tone of voice, as if she's asking about the weather. She seems non-pulsed by the whole giant spiders.

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner, on the other hand, seems rather annoyed by giant spiders. Or maybe because he failed to notice giant spiders in his city. Not, it is just creepy spiders. He is not going to look at Spiderman the same again.

"You said Never Never and not hell? So are they demons or just magical spiders?" Or is there any difference? Conner shouldn't ask about things he really doesn't want to know, really.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen hmmms and since no one told him what to get he is off, and is back a moment latter in costume, with a backpack on that makes some jangeling noises as he walks. He looks over to the Pixie, and says "You can call me Impulse." He tells the young woman. He messes with the pack a moment so it is quiet when he moves.

Tim Drake has posed:
    "Red Robin," Tim adds, to the introductions. He lets Phoebe lead the questioning, given her wider breadth of knowledge on the subject. His arms fold over his chest, and subtly, he leans over to nudge at Conner with his elbow. Because magic. One of the Superfam's few kryptonites... you know, aside for actual kryptonite. "If you need to stay back and let us handle the close-up fighting," and yes, he's grimacing as he offers to get up in the faces (such as they are) of these spider demons, here, Tim is aware of how awful it's going to be, "We'll make sure they don't try to turn you into a super battery."

    At least, that's what he's gathered these creatures do, from what's been said so far. And he's hoping it's through means other than stabbing its fangs into someone and slurping.

    And at that thought, Tim's shoulders cringe up to his chin and he shudders.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn glances to Balm and nods, honing in on her magical aptitude..Really it's hard to miss a brilliant shining beacon like her. "Hmm I'm not too sure really.I'm more of an amateur magic user honestly. I had hoped to get help from the Night Brigade after I stumbled on them during a raid of a haunted house, but have had no luck in contacting them since.."

she sighs. "I'm not sure I could close it myself, not without help. I expect the amount of energy it took to open a rift like that would be as powerful as the energy needed to close it. Oh the basic principle should be easy enough, it's just gathering enough energy that would be tricky, I'd wager."

To Conner she smirks and shrugs, "Nah, these are from the never never, see that one we just fought is already dissipating.." it's true, the spider is already melting away in the form of some slimy glowy stuff that soon vanishes out of sight. "Ectoplasm..They're not unholy creatures from hell, I dont think..But then there are some theories that one can get to hell from the nevernever, I'm not entirely sure, I need to do more research..Or find someone more experienced in this sorta thing, but Mr Constantine has been a real pain to find lately.."she nods and smiles to Impulse and Red Robin, "Nice to meet you. And what about you, Conner, got a code name?" she smiles and winks at him, "Magic or no, you know how to handle yourself around them, it seems, just aim for the glowy bit on their bellies."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Well. Incidentally you've stumbled into another one. If the rift needs to be closed, I could give a crack at it." she gives a smile, and offers her hand.

    And at the mention of Constantine's name, Phoebe's face goes a bit blank.

    "Yes. Well. Constantine has had a bit of a time, with his actually being gone for longer than the past... six months." Phoebe states with all the spiciness of a particularly bland serving of mashed potatoes. "So I don't beleive he would recall meeting your acquaintence."

    She hikes her backpack higher.

    "In which case, I should definitely be able to close the rift."

Conner Kent has posed:
"I'll be fine, my tactile telekinesis works a hundred percent against magic," points out Conner. "I really don't like spiders, though," he adds in a lower tone.

He glances at Megan when he asks him, trying to remember their conversation months ago. "I am Superboy," he offers. He probably forgot to introduce himself. "We better get moving, people to rescue and all that. Besides, now we know where to hit them, it is going to be easier, right?"

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen looks over to the others and is quiet for a moment, and then asks "How many girls are missing do we know? He asks, he will pull out a flash light and offers some chips to the others.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Tim nods, slowly. "Right. Attack their weak spot for massive damage." His head tips to one side, slowly, to observe the spider starting to goopify in the crater Conner's impact with it made in the ground. Surreptitiously, Tim checks the specimen bag with the batarang coated in webbing to see if a similar disappearing act is happening there as well.

    "You and me both," he says, just as quietly back to Conner. Then he spends a long moment considering the bag of chips Bart offers, before shaking his head. Because you can't eat just one!

    Then he steps forward, companionably bumping his shoulder against Phoebe. "Lead the way," he says to Megan. "We'll do whatever we can to help."

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn arches a curious brow at Phoebe, and gets the feeling that Constantine is a sensitive topic for her. "Oh..? You know him then.." she frowns and nods. Best to avoid the subject for now. Maybe this girl can help. "Thanks, I appreciate it. Between the two of us I'm sure we'll be able and find and seal the rift!"

She smiles cheerfully as she skips along, arching a brow at Conner, "Ooh? Then you have nothing to worry about. They're just spiders, I mean you're freaking Superboy! That's awesome!" she beams, no way these spiders stand a chance, not with all these powerful allies. "Hmm, there were five missing last I checked, but we'll find em and save em no prob--"

Her eyes widen as her beacon leads her to a clearing in the forest. And a large hole in the ground, partially by leaves and twigs which she pushes aside. And swallows. "Down there..Oh no...I hate closed in spaces.." but it really can't be helped. No way is she turning back now!

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I do. I helped found the Night Brigade." she explains quietly to Megan, and then Tim companionably taps against her shoulder. Her expression softens a little bit, and she gives a nod.

    Phoebe glances down into the hole, and she looks back to Megan.

    "Just keep breathing." she offers as a quiet encouragement to them all, and then she moves some of the sticks aside with one foot, peers down into the hole -- and then no way around it. She just hops down into the hole, lighting up the way.

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner looks at the hole on the ground warily. Too warily, as Phoebe jumps in first. "Hey, wait," he says, flying after the magician girl, "going first is my job, y'know?"

And usually he would be eager to take the point, but man, giant magical spiders have a way to ruin a day. This time he is keeping close to Phoebe for the magical support, not just to protect her.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen shrugs a bit and gives them a moment to not be under him, and steps into the hole with a wave trying to be Wily E Coyote, but he starts to fall before looking down. He holds up a sign "See ya down below."

Tim Drake has posed:
    And that leaves Tim. Tim, who does not want to go down into that hole. He looks over at Megan, and then with a deep, deep sigh, he nods.

    One foot forward. Then the next. Then there's no ground underneath his feet and he's falling too.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn blinks at Phoebe, "Oh yeah? Well, maybe you can help me then.." she laughs nervously then as she flies into the hole after a moment's hesitation, using her dagger to light the way. Fortunately for non flyers, it's not too deep a drop, and the earth is soft and forgiving on the knees.

And since she's the one with the magic compass and the dagger to light the way, she takes point, leading the others through the tunnels. Mostly it's just one big tunnel with several smaller ones branching out in every other direction. But she keeps them on path, grateful for Phoebe's much brighter light, because there's one thing worse than giant magical spiders and traversing underground. And that's fighting them in complete darkness.

They travel in silence for perhaps another 15 minutes before they make it to a wide open underground cavern of sorts. It's more rocky here, lots of big boulders and roots to hide behind. There are lots of huge spiders - about six in total - crawling around here, tending to five girls wrapped up in cocoons and hanging from the walls. One of the girls, recently brought in, cries and whimpers and struggles as the spiders chitter around her, paying her cries for help no need. They clearly don't speak English.

But then there's a loud, thundering noise as something even bigger, the size nearly of an elephant arrives, I die time their work. "Well done my children.." she screeches in a hideous animalistic voice. Momma's home, and she's hungry, already tearing open the wrappings on one of the girls and she starts to drain her of magic, "Once I've fed on their magic, I shall feed on their carcasses. Then finally I shall, have gathered enough energy to give birth to even more spiders!" she giggles gleefully.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    And even if it was unforgiving -- Phoebe's got fixes for that. She lands, tucks, rolls, and her hood is down, showing the poodle-puffs of her dark, coily hair, her palms out and low, shining with palm-fulls of brilliant light to illuminate -- and as Megan comes down, leading the way, she follows behind the pink glow of Megan's dagger, ready to bring her shields up at a moment's word.

    She keeps the light around the group going, turning one palm forward and one palm backwards before she gives a muttered word, and one of the lights flicks upwards, orbiting her head about a foot above her brow and providing light to the group in total.

    She darkens the light as they come closer to the main cavern, drawing it down.

    The young women are alive, at least, and one is making noises. Phoebe flicks her left hand out, and she's got one of her long throwing knives for a weapon, her eyes narrowing.

    "Impulse, get the girls to safety behind these boulders. Megan -- think we can make her bite off more than she can chew? -- figuratively speaking?" she asks, and then makes a face.

    "Don't let her actually bite you. That would probably be bad."

Conner Kent has posed:
Seven of them and all bigger than the one before. Conner is so very unhappy. "Alright, while Bart saves the girls, I am going to make the spiders an easier target. Underground is actually good for my tactile telekinesis," he explains, letting his power flow through the earth and reach to the spiders, trying to hold them in place so they are easy targets, exposing what Megan called the regenerative cores.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen will move to get each girl in turn, putting them behind one of the boulders as Balm has said. He finds a knife in his backpack, and cuts each loose and then as all the tied ones are taken, he will move to try to get the girl that was fed on, leaving his backpack where the girl was as he grabs her and phases through the spider to get her to where he has the other girls. "I need a utility belt." He says to himself.

Tim Drake has posed:
    An off-panel delivery by a sleek, stealthy Bat-drone allows for a quick-change, and thusly Tim is fully in his Red Robin gear as he takes up the rear position of the group making their way through the tunnels. He doesn't need the lights, not with his domino mask, so it makes sense for him to be at the back. It has nothing to do with how much Tim does not want to be walking through these spider-infested tunnels.

    Probably only Conner's supersenses are enough to pick up on Tim gagging semi-regularly. Because spiders. Eugh.

    But he's got his game face on when they breach the cavern, and as Conner reaches out with his TTK to hold the spiders still, Tim dashes in. The electricity crackling off the end of his staff is bright in the gloom, and he throws one exploding batarang at the exposed regenerative core of a more distant spider just before he stabs upwards with the end of his staff into the glowing weak spot of another.

    "Take care of Big Mama, we got this!" he calls out, to their magical girl retinue.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn blinks at the giant spiders. But this is no time to be queasy. "I guess you have a point with those spiders, Conner." she smirks as she flies into the air, getting ready to follow Phoebe's lead as Conner uses his TTK to hold the smaller spiders at bay. But they're strong, struggling against his powers. But Conner is strong too..Only one manages to slip free, snarling as it rushes with razor sharp pincers towards Conner.

The other five are held fast, easy pickings for Red Robin to easily dispatch of, as his well placed batarangs cause them to implode one after the other.

Momma Spider snarls in anger as her babies fall around her. "Intruders!" she snarls, rushing towards Balm and Pixie, before she gets a face full of Pixie dust. "Huh, what?" she blinks as she suddenly finds herself in a weird musical number with crazy catchy music..And feels compelled to suddenly...Tap Dance..? She's pretty distracted right now..

Meanwhile, Impulse has more than enough time to free the girls. They seem pretty tired, most of them are unconscious, drained of energy, beaten up pretty bad from being dragged here but they're not dead..Yet.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe lobs a couple of smoke bombs with a 'popping screens' to Robin, Impulse and Superboy. "Take the high road!" she calls out to Megan, and she comes in low. Distracted spiders tapdancing are, admittedly, a new one on her, and she comes up to the side of Big Mama.

    A breathe out with another invokation of fire, and the be-domino'd mage goes to swipe at the spider queen's leg, trying to get her to turn, blind, to slide under her. This whole tapdancing thing is a bit... odd. But first thing is first -- neutralize the spiders, take care of the girls, seal the rift.

Conner Kent has posed:
Five out of six is not bad; it is not as if Conner uses his powers this way often, particularly since his super-strength became far stronger than his telekinesis. But as Robin hits the other spiders, he can let them go and gather more of his power. By the time the spider gets to him, he is ready.

"Yeah, come here, ugly," he gestures with a hand and the earth under the spider explodes upwards, hitting it with several tons of force and hopefully sending it flying away.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Thankfully Tim restocked. He'd have already ran out of batarangs if he was just coming down with his streetwear and whatever he'd managed to conceal underneath it. One by one the spiders that are immobilized fall to well-aimed batarangs, and then he's struck momentarily speechless by the tap-dancing spider.

    "Am I high?" he wonders, very confused. Then he slips away, out towards the tunnel, to help Bart check on the injured but now-free captives.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
As Phoebe comes in low, knocking the tap dancing spider off her feet, Megan swoops in from up above, expertly slashing and slicing at its face and legs with her soul dagger. And, armoured or not, the spider screeches in pain as the powerful daggers slices through its armour like butter, surprisingly sharp for a cute little weapon. "Finish it!" she calls as she zips and twirls and darts about, distracting, easily avoiding its pincers and those spews of sticky webbing.

And while Phoebe is hopefully finishing off the Queen spider, the remaining babies falls easily at the combined attacks of Super boy and Red Robin. Through all of this, Impulse and Red Robin are able to spirit the victims to safety. However, because of all this intense battling, the walks are growing increasingly unsteady around them..The whole place is gonna cave in, and large chunks of earth are already falling down, blocking the entrance.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    It's easy enough to slide in under the Queen, moving low and baseball-sliding into position before Phoebe braces herself, and she brings both hands up. The circles on the back of her hands turn a brilliant, dazzling silver-white, and she emits a Light blast from her palms at the queen's weak point for MAXIMUM DAMAGE! -- and then scurries the heck out of there!

    She concentrates on her shields, holding one over her head so that rocks bounce off them.

    "-- we need an out!" she calls out. "RED! Entranced blocked!"

Conner Kent has posed:
What now? The ceiling falling on their heads? "It was a bit weird they had dug all this, I guess. <Imp, can you get everyone out?>" he asks through the comms. He is not going to get hurt by a collapsing tunnel, but the others are not so lucky.

"Come here," he says, flying to join the others, "I can shield you, we are going to need a way out, though."

Tim Drake has posed:
    It's mostly Bart that does the spiriting; Tim just checks the ladies over to make sure it's safe for them to be moved, if they need their neck or any injuries stabilized, that sort of thing. So thankfully Tim is indeed nearby when Phoebe calls out for an extraction.

    Though it takes a few moments. First, a layer of ice forms over the rubble that has covered the tunnel entrance, as Tim exhausts his supply of cryo bombs. It's temporary stability, because ice is brittle and also, you know, prone to melting, but it's something. Enough for a judicious application of force from both sides. Over comms Tim instructs the trapped group where they need to break through on their end.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
The Queen Spider screams, a hideous bestial shriek of pain as Balm blasts it with pure dazzling light from underneath, which completely incinerates it into a pile of dust. And with that, all the spiders are destroyed. But, the danger is not over yet! Impulse and Red Robin managed to spirit the victims to safety and medical attention, but now the walls are collapsing around them more rapidly, especially in the larger, more unstable cavern.

Megan is momentarily frozen in fear, but they're given a bit of respite as Tim opens an entrance..However even the escape tunnel is starting to collapse and Megan has only a short time to gather her wits about her. "Everyone stay close to me! I'll teleport us to safety.." and once she's sure everyone has done so, she focuses on her magic, still a bit exhausted from the draining spider webs and shaken up by this claustrophobic crumbling cavern.

"Si...Sihal Novarum Chintoth!" she cries. Everyone is instantly surrounded in a pink column of magical energy as she teleports them all to safety, bringing them all to the surface..And then she collapses, exhausted, still shaken up by one of her greatest fears: being buried alive..

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe keeps her own magical shields up, pushing a little harder at her own LIght to keep her team safe, the ten-foot circle with its Egyptian glyphs and eight-pointed star glowing up as she defends from falling debris -- and as Megan teleports them all out, she stumbles slightly, taking a deep breath of non-spider'd air, and then breathing out in a huff.

    "Unpleasant. So Unpleasant."

Conner Kent has posed:
"Woah, I didn't know she could do that," also, magic teleport? Not good for Kryptonians. Conner stumbles to his knees mutters a curse. "Right. I don't want to see a spider in at least a month. Not even a Spiderman."

He rubs earth and dust off his jacket and stands up. At least this time the jacket survived the fight, not even a little spider webs on it. "Anyway, lots of new powers, Balm. Pretty cool. Everyone else okay?"