[closed]

[minded]

Date & Time: November 15th, late afternoon
Location: The Hold and around
Characters: M'gann ([Bad username or unknown identity: m'gann]) & Superboy (minded)
Summary: Continuing from here; Wolf's gone off and they're on a mission to find him
Warnings: n/a?

[ Now that he's up the air with her Conner turns his head in one direction, picking through the sounds he picks up with his super-hearing. Voices, laughter, cautious murmuring. None of which belongs to Sphere's high-frequency chattering. He faces his ear in the other direction, eyes lowering as he listens. Silence, further out gives him the sounds of animals and birds in the wilderness. None of which are familiar to the sounds of Wolf.

His brows knit and his lips slowly twist in a frown. ]

Straight for now. I can't pick up either of them.

Comments

[mgann]

[She looks back at him, a troubled look spreading across her face when he says her name.]

That's the problem, isn't it?

[minded]

No, it's... it's not that. I'm sure we'll come across them eventually.

[mgann]

Conner...? [Her attention is mostly on him, though she is keeping an eye peeled for their quarry.]

[minded]

[ Not meeting her gaze. ] I was thinking-- [ And Connner cuts himself off, head swinging sharply to the right, eyes darting over the thick foliage below. He holds his breath and concentrates to listen. ]

There! I hear her! [ His arm extends, he points in that direction. Sphere's speaking. It's faint, weak. Something's not right. ]

[mgann]

[M'gann immediately turns to face the direction he's pointing, sending them both moving there faster than before.]

About how far out?

[minded]

You'll know. I'll tell you when. Just head for that forest bit over there.

[ Just hang on, we're coming. ]

[mgann]

On it. [Moving fasterrrrrr]

[minded]

[ Suddenly all technological chatter ceases. There's something large moving through the towering trees, the tops swaying dangerously. It's moving fast.

This is one of those times where Conner actually wishes they were still linked. ]

Wait!

[ Even if M'gann's in charge of the flying he still throws out an arm as if to get her to stop them. Conner strains to listen, but what's the point of super-hearing when the vicious bellow of a beast echos loudly? Colorful birds fly upwards and scatter in alarmed squawking. ]

[mgann]

[They jerk to a stall at his shout, and she turns back to him, tense with widened eyes.]

What is that?!

[minded]

[ Conner doesn't take his eyes off of whatever is moving through the forest. ]

I don't know. But whatever it is, Sphere's down there and it's not looking good.

[mgann]

Then we'll do maneuver sixty-eight.

[M'gann's already reaching back to put her hood up.]

[minded]

Ready whenever you are.

[ After this he's going to make sure he keeps Wolf within hearing distance. ]

[mgann]

Down in three... two... [And her hold on him releases, sending him hurtling towards the trees and thing below.

Meanwhile M'gann's already in camouflage mode, moving quietly towards the other side of the area. And whether he likes it or not, Conner's getting a mental link.]

{Let me know what you find.}

[minded]

{Warn me the next time you do that!}

[ Because hey-- YOU KIND OF NEED PERMISSION TO GO INTO HIS HEAD NOW, M'GANN, RECON MISSION OR NOT. ]

[ Down, down, down he drops, short hairs flapping wildly above his head with the wind. He braces for the impact as the treetops rush to meet him, grunting and caring little for the branches that scratch his cheeks and arms and snag and tear at his shirt. A thick branch might have brutally knocked his arm but Conner pushes past the sharp twinge, the ground forming a decent sized crater where he lands abruptly, crouched down.

The rustling trees and movement stop, leaving the branches and leaves to sway until slowing to a full stop. There's nothing but silence save for his heartbeat hammering against his ribcage. ]

{It's quiet. Too quiet. I'm going in.}

[ And Conner begins to cautiously move towards what seems like the thickest portion. ]

[mgann]

[The martian ignores the demand for warning, not even acknowledging it as she descends into the trees on the opposite side of the thicket. She floats quietly, skillfully, through the trees, keeping an eye out for Sphere or Wolf or whatever that thing could have been. No feet on the ground means no noise or tracks for her to be followed by. That's what Conner was for. While he draws the attention with loud, destructive movements, she serves as the secretive one, gathering information discreetly.]

{I'm already in. There's nothing but destruction so far. It's a clear trail made by whatever it was. I'll keep looking for Sphere or Wolf.}

[minded]

[ Conner doesn't reply. He's mentally grumbling to himself about the unexpected intrusion, a mental barrier up to block her from going any further than she needs to. Going forward is all that they can do, the path of destruction laid out before them. He breaks into a run, hopping over moss-covered logs, leaping over large uprooted trees, shoving snapped branches out of his way as he goes along.

A pitiful warble catches his attention and he skids to a stop, dirt spraying and scattering out in front of him. ]

...Sphere? [ He's whispering, and to his own ears the call of her name is loud. She doesn't respond so he tries again, this time a pitch higher. ] Sphere?

{You got anything up there? I think she's close.}

[ It doesn't make sense, why is it so quiet? he wonders to himself; whether she can slip past that barrier and hear the thoughts for herself... ]

[mgann]

{I found a trail, it looks like one of hers. Give me a few moments to follow it.}

[M'gann senses the barrier, doing nothing to test it. There's no need at the moment, and the last thing they need right now is more hostility.

She hovers between the trees that the trail winds around, keeping an ear open for Sphere or anything else that might be nearby. It's eerily silent, and, like the Kryptonian, the Martian isn't fond of it one bit. This gives her a little incentive to move slightly quicker, and soon enough, she finds her quarry.]

Sphere! [Her cry is aloud, the sight of her teammate taking her by surprise.]

{Conner, I found her! She's sort of roughed up, but I think she'll be okay.}

[minded]

[ Picking up on her call as it carries through the thick bushes and trees with super-hearing, Conner stops. He looks off to where he'd heard her. ]

{Where? What's her exact location?}

[ Conner's relieved to hear that they'd found her, glad that while she might have been tossed around by whatever monster was lurking around she was still okay and the damage wasn't crippling. However he can't go anywhere until M'gann sends him some coordinates and chooses to take a couple of steps forward in what he assumes is the right direction.

All they needed to do now was figure out where Wolf had disappeared to. ]

[mgann]

[M'gann sends Conner the mental image of where she and Sphere are, up against a tall tree off in the distance maybe two or so miles. It's the best she can do at the moment, as her attention is focused on Sphere, double checking everything to make sure she's truly okay.]

{We're northeast, roughly two miles, hard to miss. Once you find her path it--}

[Then she's cut off, and Conner might be able to feel a sudden 'blow' against his mental wall as the link is severed. If he's still listening with his ears, he can hear a sharp cry from the martian.]

[minded]

[ The image comes through as vivid as ever. Conner begins to head for that direction as soon as he gets her coordinates - northeast, that's all he needed to hear to get his ass in gear. Not even five sprinting steps in and he's left abruptly staggering and in a daze, the trees and ground splitting into two distorting images. Indestructible though he may be, Conner felt like he'd just taken a hit from Superman himself to the temple.

Hearing M'gann, however, brings him out of it and Conner's shouting her name, not caring for who or what might have heard, as he pushes himself forward in a run. ]

M'gann!

[mgann]

[It shouldn't take him long to get there at all, and when he does, he'll arrive to a rather startling scene. Standing in front of a tree, behind facing Conner, is a bison. At least, that's what it appears to be overall.

It's larger than the average bison, towering well above him at roughly eight feet with length appearing to be twelve to thirteen feet. Its coat is shaggy and matted, clumped together in rough batches, almost moss green in color. (Whether that's the actual color or from actual moss is anyone's guess.) The horns are visible even from behind. They're definitely closer to a ram's horns, curling around into a fierce battering implement.

It hears Conner approach, and it turns slightly to face him, small, bright yellow eyes curious about this new arrival. From this angle, Superboy should catch a glimpse of something red and green slouched against the trunk of the tree.

Hello, Megan.]

[minded]

[ Conner skids to a stop just feet away from its tail. He stares at it taking in its height and appearance, the ridges on the horns and their thickness. There's a foul smell that accompanies the beast underneath what he can make out to only be apart of the forest around them and his upper lip curls. M'gann's nowhere to be found at first, which is pretty alarming in itself, and over top of the beast's almost deafening heartbeat hers is lost.

Now would be a great time for him to have Wolf at his side, but this beast can't be any worse than the golem he'd faced with Blue Beetle at the Arlington Nuclear Power Plant. ]

All right, ugly--

[ That's when Conner catches that glimpse from the corner of his eye. His gaze darts over to where his teammate is unconscious - what a familiar scenario, foreign planet and all! - and his hands ball into fists at the sight of her laying unmoving. So this is what had hit her; if even he had felt it through the mental link, Conner didn't want to imagine how much it had hurt her.

I have to get it away from her...

Conner throws a quick look around the area all the while throwing the large beast cautionary looks, looking for an opening. He takes a step back. ]

[mgann]

[Said large beast watches him step back, snorting in response. It seems to take him into consideration before opting to ignore him altogether instead. The tail flicks, and the creature takes a lumbering step forward towards the unconscious martian. Next to her, Sphere warbles pitifully, expressing a desire to help, despite being unable to do much, if anything at all.

M'gann stirs briefly, though she doesn't awaken or take notice of anything going on around her. Conner might feel a very tiny flicker in the mental link, perhaps an unconscious effort on her part to reconnect the two of them.]

[minded]

{M'gann...? M'gann-- open you eyes. M'gann!}

[ Conner felt it and mentally scrambles to latch onto it, onto her. He grits his teeth as he makes a futile attempt to reconnect them himself despite not even possessing the ability, his eyes darting between her immobile form and the beast.

Then without thinking he crouches to grab a rock the size of his hand, moving off to the side but sticking close to his fallen comrades. Conner aims for its side and chucks the rock at the large bison-like beast.]

Hey! Why don't you pick on somebody your own size?

i need an unconscious icon

[mgann]

[The rock makes contact with the beast's side and shatters, fragments scattering in all directions. While the action itself was rather pointless, the impact does attract its attention, and the yelling holds it. Heavy steps hit the forest floor as the mutant turns to face Conner, seemingly ignoring M'gann now. This loud thing is much more interesting.]