capitalh | [OPEN]

Who: Ben Tennyson and YOU
Where: All over LA
When: Today (March 21st), late afternoon to evening
What: A new resident of Los Angeles decides to get more acquainted with his surroundings - and starts working to get involved in the superhero community.
Warnings: Some violence/child being threatened

Settling into their new home took the Tennysons a lot longer than expected - and Ben ended up so busy as a result that he apparently completely missed out on a chance to punch cyborgs. It doesn't occur to him that that may be for the best.

Of course, the moment he's got some free time, he sets about getting more familiar with the area - as far as he's concerned, living in a huge city like this is a dream come true, especially considering all the inevitable opportunities for crime-fighting.

Late Afternoon

[1]After school, Ben is inexorably drawn to comic book stores and arcades, where he is apparently determined to use all his allowance at once. He will chat with anyone who's interested, though he's only likely to actually approach someone if they happen to catch his eye in some way, either through an unusual appearance or if he suspects they're up to something illegal (though he may give them a by if the illegal activity in question is something he considers 'deserved' or just).

If he finds he can't stop a crime as a human (or if he just really wants to get back at someone because he's eleven), he may duck around a corner to transform.

Evening

[2]He's expected to be home before eight, but he's willing to cut it a little close - after all, evening and night are prime criminal-punching times. He's going to be sticking to the shadows as much as possible now, transforming at a moment's notice if necessary.

[3]He may get bored at some point, in which case he'll probably spend some time just flying around as Heatblast, actively seeking out trouble (more actively than he already was, that is).

Whether he's a human or an alien at the moment, Ben will be DELIGHTED to talk to any superheroes he may encounter, and will go to great lengths to do so.

[OOC: If you have a specific scenario in mind, contact me; if not, then just list the number of your preferred situation in the subject line!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Signless's gaze follows him to his watch - and he notes the same symbol he had seen on the chest of that fire creature. He jumps to some conclusions. He makes a grab for Ben's wrists with his blood aura, scowling, intending to bind the child's movements.

"That device. What is it?" He's clearly not in the practice of playing games.

"Hey! Let me go-" Once again, it doesn't take him long to realize he can't get out of this. Great.

"I don't know!" Technically the truth; he has no idea where the watch came from or what it is. "And even if I did, I sure wouldn't tell you!"

He stares at him, his eyes cold and piercing.

"Would you prefer to die here?"

Any immediate response Ben may have had dies in his throat. He can't go alien, he can't run away, and nobody even knows he's here - heck, he made sure that nobody knew he was there. He's trapped and he knows it. This is not how he had pictured tonight going.

"...all I know is that it's from space, it's on my wrist, and I can use it to turn into an alien." He doesn't mention that there are actually six aliens available on there; he's kind of in the habit of trying not to show his hand all at once. Even if that doesn't do him much good at the moment.

He feels like this is going in a pretty familiar direction, though. "Look, I don't know what you want with me-" Because you never bothered to tell me, "-but I can tell you there's no point in trying to take the watch. Trust me, people have tried." So many people have tried. He could swear he spent half the summer fighting people who were trying.

"What's stopping me from taking it?" he asks, coming closer. A pool of the blood rises up to form something like an arm, ended in a set of blade like claws. "There are defensive measures?"

"Yes," he snaps, glancing briefly at the claws then continuing to talk, more rapidly now. "It does this energy burst thing if anyone tries to grab it and I don't want them to, I've seen it happen! And it's stuck on anyway, so even if you could touch it, it's not gonna come off!"

He stops coming closer at that, instead letting the claw construct size things up for him. The claws move closer to the boy's wrist, their points just barely touching the watch's surface.

Ben flinches away from the claws; as they come into contact with the watch, the face flashes briefly, giving a warning hum and a brief, largely harmless snap of electricity.

Concerns dismissed, he's just going to try to tear the watch off with those claws, Ben's warnings be damned. First he's going to try to break the watch's strap instead of his arm, but he doesn't seem all that fussed.

The imminent threat of damage draws a stronger response; energy crackles around the surface of the watch for a moment, then releases in an explosion of electricity and force, trying to push the claws away.

Ben yelps at the sting of the energy against his skin as much as at the way the strap pulls at the flesh underneath it, but he hopes that maybe the defense response will be enough to deter his attacker.

His expression is blank at the resistance coming from the defense system. He pushes for a few more moments, before the claws pull back, and condense into a single, thicker blade. If the technology won't yield, the flesh probably will.

Matilda had only shown up a little bit ago. She was but a tiny, barely noticeable speck in the night sky, garbed entirely in black as she was. She has no idea what is going on, but the sight of an adult troll wielding some sort of blade against a defenseless kid was enough for her.

But she also knew trolls were dangerous. Some of them had strange powers, and this was clearly one of them. Yet after seeing what she had, and knowing what would probably happen if she left Matilda couldn't just do nothing.

She couldn't hesitate on this, so without another thought she took a mental hold on that cloak of his, forcing it to wrap around his head and then lifted him straight up.

Ben has no idea what's going on; he knows that he didn't do that, so he can only guess that someone is helping him, but he can't tell where they are...

Whatever just happened, he can't afford not to take this chance; with the troll distracted, he feels his arms being released from the red liquid, and the moment he hits the ground, he rolls to his feet and runs.

Of course, he can't leave completely just yet, his curiosity wouldn't allow that... So he runs a few steps down the fire escape, just enough to get him more-or-less out of sight from the rooftop, and peers over the edge. Hopefully this will not turn out to be a horrible idea.

Signless growls viciously at his cloak being pulled, and whips it off over his head before it can drag him anywhere, leaving him with his bodysuit beneath. He snarls something in Alternian, scanning the area psionically for the ebb and wane of emotions.

He feels a spec in the sky, where there really shouldn't be anyway, and hurls a dagger of blood in its direction.

Matilda only just barely manages to dodge the dagger that would have ended her life. Well, now that she had successfully distracted him, Matilda needed to figure out a way to keep herself safe.

One thing was certain staying still wouldn't accomplish anything, so despite how much she mind was telling her to just turn tail and run Matilda swooped in, looking once more picking that cloak he tossed aside in an attempt to wind it around him.

Her priority was making sure that other kid had gotten away--she hadn't seen where he had gotten to. Must have tried to make his mistake, but Matilda would try to buy him time wherever he was.

Unfortunately Ben isn't really prone to escaping when he has the chance if there's anything interesting going on; he's been watching everything that's happened with wide eyes, and now - wait how old is that kid, she's tiny!

Instinctively, he grips the edge of the building, casting a glance at the watch, which is, of course, still in the red. Crud.

That probably won't stop him from scrambling up there to try and help if need be, though.

[OPEN]

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