Got licked like a salt lamp within my vicinity.

More asks yayyyyyy ily wateroydddd

Right after she fell, immediately she’d scan her surroundings, while a hand moved to adjust her voice modulator, just in case. Most of the damage to the road looks like it’s been there a while. New rubble usually has the same color of what it came from, a cleaner cut no matter how it actually broke off, sometimes a shine showing bits of the bitumen binder still intact, usually still has the scent of tar lingering around it, and a tacky texture and it lacks contamination of the other bits of the area such as dirt, weeds, or other debris that could cling to it… this didn’t look new, most of it at least. Having lost the slight sheen of the protective surface, and it looked more dull, more gray and brown on these bits showing they’ve been exposed to oxidation and UV rays, a dry appearance to it, clearly weathered. Bits had other debris clinging to them, and clearly lots of these debris were showing signs of raveling, if they weren’t already mostly broken into pieces. In the piece she was looking at- uneven layers, weeds slightly clinging to the worn withering chunk, and no distinct smell to it- clearly the more volatile components of the oil and other strongly smelling parts of it, are long evaporated. Odd.

Her visor lit up briefly as she stared at the ground- she was correct, calculated that she’s still in the same spot she was moments ago, the buildings, sky, latitude and longitude, gravitational pull.. the horizon distance sees to be fairly the same, along with triangulation cross referenced with what she could see in her line of sight, doing the quick mental math. In nautical miles, her distance to the horizon is approximately calculated by 1.17 times the square root of her eye height in feet.. everything matches up. Though it shouldn’t. This looks nothing like the Torrence she was in just moments ago. Things matched up, and perhaps that was the most perplexing bit about this. This was, and wast, Torrence.

@crimson-mantle

*Mecha Man was a couple streets over from where Fiona was standing, fighting some Red Ring goon. They've gotten stronger, somehow, despite Shroud not having the Pulse. The hero didn't know how on earth it happened, but he also didn't have the time to think about it. All that mattered to him was that he and Z-team needed to work at least thrice as much and as hard compared to what their usual was before everything started, and the fact that the citizens remain somewhat safe. As safe as he can keep them. That they haven't had fatalities in weeks, and that must mean they're doing good. It must mean that they can't stop now, can't slow down. They'll get all the time off in the world once everything is over, he'll make sure of that. For now though? He needed to focus on the villain he was up against.*

*He punched his opponent, resulting in them slamming into a wall of an abandoned building. Mecha Man knew no one was there, because this part of town was evacuated by Prism last night. Not that Red Ring could know about it, they made sure no one was watching them. Moving people to safer areas where threat was lower was their main priority, and once they figure out how to manage evacuation from the city itself, they will definitely start organizing that. Shroud is after the Astral Pulse, anyway, so citizens shouldn't concern him. Sure, baiting Mecha Man out with threatening civilians was some part of what the Red Ring was doing, but they could do without that. If anything, it should make it easier for Shroud to track him down.*

*One powerless man in a mech suit shouldn't really be any trouble for villains, yet here they are, and the hero is standing strong despite everything. He ran up to his opponent and threw them into the ground, pressing their entire body down, hard, with his mechanical arm. The villain however made themselves into liquid and managed to escape him. He was about to go chase them, but he realized that... he lost them. He decided to scout the area, just in case they were sticking around. In case they were planting a trap. The least he could do was properly chase them away. A sigh escaped the masked man as he went ahead to check the streets for any sign of literally anything.*

*That's when he saw someone standing in the middle of a destroyed road. They looked young, too young to be out there alone. It was far too dangerous of an area, honestly most of Torrence was much too dangerous for anyone to be there, especially alone. And they looked... dressed up. Ah, wannabe heroes. Those trying to help however they can, he both loved and hated them. Loved, because it gave him hope that people still believe in him and his team, and hated, because people like that tend to put themselves in danger and make his job all the more difficult. He called out to the person, voice slightly amplified by his mech suit's speaker,*