Masks 2

Tlaloc waved back to Theraea, then looked to Aura.

"Oh all right," he said quietly to Maria, then looked away pretending he hadn't been approached by her.

"I need to hit up more Omnicorp operations where we can steal more of their mages. Do you know what they do to their magical assets? they keep them in a constant state of dream distortion, sleep deprivation, hypnotic therapy to ensure they're never sure whether they're experiencing real life or not, so they cant even risk voicing dissent in any way. One was able to distinguish reality from fiction because she has a specific recurring dream, the rest had to be knocked out of their funk with a god-dream. I dont know if you guys know another, non-invasive way of trying to convince these guys what is reality and whats a dream?"

And then with the fall of six more empty cans of nacho cheese, bouncing down the landing pad like tumbleweeds in the wind, came ace pilot Richard "The Big Cheese" Max, top pilot of the resistance and hero to all who knew him. With the incredible power to pilot any craft with cans of processed 'nacho cheese', Richard was capable of flying missions into dangerous territories where fuel stops were infeasible. His flight suit, bearing the badges of the resistance and a large embroidered cheese wedge patch, drew tight against his muscled physique. His eyes, the color of which were a mystery, were hidden behind a pair of custom aviators, modified to resemble the shape and color of cheddar cheese wheels. His strong jaw supported the weight of a formidable handle-bar mustache, and as he removed his flight helmet, his swiss-colored locks flew down into the wind.

"People of the resistance," he spoke in a meltingly-smooth voice, "I'm here to help ya'll Monterey Jack up the Omnicorp."

"How was I supposed to know we were supposed to just walk in, I thought we'd be, I dunno, guided in by guards through secret passages or somethin'! I figured this whole meetin'd be takin' place in some spooky castle!"

A somewhat tall, lean person ambled down the the cargo ramp. He was dressed in a slightly-off attire popular in the rodeo scenes of the 90s: worn jeans, long sleeved red-and-black plaid, black cowboy hat, boots, and a bolo tie. But details betrayed his age and more trendy tastes. For starters, the jeans were red, the buttons on the shirt had LEDs in them, the bolo tie was made from metallic fibers, the rims on the side of the hat were bent up perpendicularly, and both hat and boots had decorative metallic accents. This was Textro fashion, a retro fashion trend that was popular among Texas' teens to twenties youth.

His bolo tie and belt buckle were silver, with a jet black star set in the center of both. On his belt were three holstered guns, and a worn messenger bag hung off his back. He sported a slight five o'clock shadow, black stubble shading his chin, and the naturally tan skin of his hands and face looked a little dirty. His brown eyes darted about, taking in the details around him.

Following him directly was a person with gold, slightly metallic skin. They had platinum hair tied back into a ponytail and striking purple eyes. They wore mostly un-notable civilian clothes, with the exception of their shirt, which had a large, badly-artifacted image of a horse on it, with "HOARSE" written in multicolored, glittered letters. They were completely unarmed.

Equally unarmed was the person after them, an unassuming man with short blondish-tan hair, grey eyes, and a happy smile. He was dressed less like 'resistance fighter' and more like 'boring accountant.' His shirt was, however, covered with various smiley face and happy emoji pins. He waved to whoever happened to look his way. And sometimes even to people who didn't. He just seemed happy to be here.

Next to them was a woman in all black, sporting an imposing black duster, large tricorne hat, and a large black leather, silver-accented rifle case on her back. The only thing clashing somewhat with the severe classy goth aesthetic she had was her t-shirt, which sported an anime girl with hyper-realistic bleeding eyes, with the name "SANGUINE SONICA" underneath. Anyone in the know would recognize that as being a Vocaloid Death Punk band.

Following her, there was a ginger man who appeared to be in his early twenties. He wore completely regular black sports gear, with a sports hoodie on top of it. A quiver and bow hung off his back, and from under his hood he quietly observed everyone with sharp green eyes.

After him was someone who resembled the first new arrival, dressed in similar textro fashion, but in many ways opposite the other. Whereas the other's clothers were black and red, this man's clothes were shades of white and blue. Whereas the first man preferred silver accents, this one preferred gunmetal grey. Whereas the first man had black stars set in his tie clasp and belt buckle, this one had opalescent whites. Over his white and blue plaid shirt he wore a light tan, faux leather vest, upon which was pinned a sheriff's badge. On the other side of the vest was an embroidered badge of a coyote seizing a knife in its mouth. Unlike his counterpart, this man bore no guns, but did, upon even the lightest inspection, appear to carry many, many knives, including a katana on his back, which had a traditionally wrapped handle but was clearly made of modern materials, a large bowie knife on his belt, and a slightly smaller knife next to it that... Appeared to have a vape stick built into the handle? He took off his hat coolly, showing off his hair, which has half-shaved into a buzz cut, and half pulled back into a ponytail, but otherwise didn't seem too interested in his surroundings.

Following close behind him was a hulk of a man, wearing what was once a fashionable heavy hooded jacket that had the arms ripped forcefully off of it. But the reason for that should be apparent as once saw the large, gold-painted prosthetic arms he was sporting. Underneath, he wore a fishnet shirt, showing that despite having prosthetics he was still incredibly muscular, and a pair of ripped camo shorts, with a nice pair of sneakers. Painted on the back of his jacket, in bronze spray paint, was the name "THE BRONZE BOZ." From underneath the fur-lined hood and a mane of green dreads he watched the swordsman ahead of him closely, but with an air of concern for a friend who was doing something risky. Occasionally, he'd bring up a holographic display from his forearm and check what appeared to be complex statistics and diagnostics related to his arms. Likely a nervous habit.

Finally, bringing up the rear, an older man with grey hair, hidden under a grey cowboy hat. He wore a gaudy long-sleeved shirt patterned to look like the Texan flag, a pair of regular blue jeans, and some plain brown cowboy boots that had seen plenty of wear. While this man looked out of his prime, he was still armed, with revolvers on his belt, which sported a painted steel buckle that depicted a star with the words "COME AND TAKE IT" beneath it.

The first man, the one in red and black, looked for someone to wave down so he could figure out where they all should go. The one in blue didn't even wait for that, just walking confidently ahead, his prosthetically-armed companion following close behind.

"Oh? I'd love to hear more about what the Aby---TLALOC?!" There was a moment milliseconds before that shocked outburst where the image of Lux appeared to simply freeze--her mouth, for example, did not move at all when she said 'Tlaloc', and it remained perfectly still for a few seconds before merging back into the live-feed, as it were, of a still entirely composed looking Lux, taking a sip of her drink.

Tlaloc, as he tried to figure out the situation Maria had put him in, was abruptly bombarded with golden text messages directly on his eyeballs, invisible to the rest of the room.

<TLALOC, HOLY SHIT>
<I KNOW YOU'RE DOING MARIAS THING RN>
<BUT COME SPILL THE DEETS RIGHT AFTERWARDS>
<GODDAMN>

"Right. So. Abyss? Mm. Sounds, very cool? What is that." She sounded a little distracted.

Desmond noticed Tlaloc eventually as well.

Desmond looked visibly confused.

"Wait... Coyote how...?"

Emily materialized in front of Sam and his posse, giving them all hugs and welcoming them to the Volts Compound!

"So glad to meet all of you!" she said, with Sam noticing ANOTHER Emily pop up and hug Jim much to his annoyance!

And then she promptly highlighted all their rooms for them if they wanted to drop off their things. All the food and drinks were free, and they could make themselves at home.

***

Tlaloc blinked as his name was shouted, causing him to glance over at Lex before his vision was filled with text. He blinked several times at this before shaking his head quickly and looking back to Aura. Then he looked away from Aura, remembering the exercise he was helping with!

***

Elizabeth thought about it.

"Well, if you could find a telepath, they could definitely help," Elizabeth told him.

Theraea's eyes drifted for a moment toward the huge approaching gaggle of weirdos in the distance. What a fucking crew, that one.

"Oh, it's, um, that's what we call the quasi-infinite void outside of permanent reality. Permanent reality meaning, like... universes and pocket dimensions and stuff. When I said I'd only been on the planet for six months, that's also how long I've been in the universe." Her eyes flicked toward Tlaloc as she noticed Lux staring. "...Oh, you know Tlaloc?"

"Oh hey hello nice dog tie ok"

Sam awkwardly tried to hug back before Emily blinked away, leaving him sort of giving an awkward hug-pat to midair.

"Well... That's a greetin'."

He looked to his companions.

"Well, I didn't bring any baggage for my camping trip so... Guess I'm just... Gonna... Go hit the bar."

He KNEW he should have taken his gun cabinet.

"... Didn't even bring any swimmin' trunks..."

"Oh! If you need clothes or anything, just let me know! And if you need anything in your room, there's a room service button inside," Emily said to Sam, materializing again.

"GAH"

Sam jumped a little.

"Oh, uh, thanks. Alright. Yeah. Ya'll do laundry?"

"Yeah, he threw a kraken at me once---" She related absently, before catching up to what Theraea had said. Which seemed to shock her back into paying attention to the moth! "I'm sorry, you're from outside the multiverse?"

"If you need it, sure!" Emily said to Sam.

Sam's companions all went off to their rooms to check them out, and the stealth ship took off towards the west.

"Kind of? A little bit. I mean, I guess it depends on what you mean by multiverse! The Abyss is sort of what universes exist in, so it's sort of like... Oh! Imagine it like 'space', with all the planets and stars and stuff in it, but with universes and pocket dimensions and stuff instead. That's home!" Theraea blinked. "...What was that about a kraken?"

Sam went off to his room to change. He came out in a pair of red swim trunks, plus his cowboy hat. He went over to the bar to order a whiskey double, on the rocks. He didn't seem to be affected by walking around shirtless next to veteran heroes like Devana and Lux.

Lux's eyes went wide beneath the mask, and for the benefit of her audience there was an almost cartoonish sparkle of stars where her face was. She leaned forward and put her hands on Theraea's shoulders, the drink going to a tendril of her shroud as she stared into those bug eyes. "I want to see universe space," she said, very intensely.

And then she let go and leaned back into her more casual pose, realizing she was likely coming off too strongly. "...When you can swing it, that is. Not now, obviously. Hah."

An automated car drove in through the gate and pulled up, stopping near the entrance!

Sam proceeded to knock back his whiskey, frisbee his hat onto a chair on the other side of the pool, and then took a running leap into it.

The splash from the cannonball stopped at the edge of the pool... except for the portion that would have hit Lex, which got slightly farther before it too joined the rest.

Well he'd leave the Tlaolc question alone, Maria could answer it later.

"Well I'm going to go talk to that Red Reaper guy to talk guns." he informed the wizards before he went over to the Red Reaper to talk guns.

Esen looks to Maria.

"Thank you. I guess they'll give us a way to call people without the corps listening in huh? And uh I guess I'll introduce myself."

She goes up to Tlaloc.

"Hi. I'm Aura Green I guess that's what I'm going by now. Nice, uh, to meet you."

Esen looks nervously back to Maria, hoping she did right.

The Red Reaper was sitting on a lawn chair looking into the pool. He'd put a Hawaiian shirt on over his armor.

He eyed Desmond as he approached.

***

"Tlaloc, good to meet you," Tlaloc said to Esen, offering a handshake.

"Easy, I'm here to discuss shop is all." he said, sitting down on the side of another lawn chair. "Figured you'd be good to talk to about that."

Esen shakes Tlaloc's hand. It feels a bit unreal for her to be touching a god like that. Then again, she was pretty sure Coyote was a god too?

"Hm. Take a seat," the Red Reaper said, picking up his umbrella drink and taking a sip (using a bendy straw) from his umbrella drink. He put his feet up on a footstool.

***

Tlaloc gave her a reassuring smile.

"So, tell me about yourself," he said to her.

Desmond was already sitting down.

"Mostly its about operational matters." Desmond began. "I've been in my share of fire fights, but my plans in the future is going to involve a lot of smash and grabs, which may involve staking places out in the American outback. I was hoping you could advise me on how to work with placing caches, operating for extended periods unsupported and other things regarding weapon maintainence and ammo creation, and generally acting in a professional military capacity in a small unit. Yes we'll have access to water and the like because magic, but you know."