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DOWNBURST: PART I
➢ This log will cover the next three weeks of in-game time – from June 10 to June 30. This period will kick off with Kon freaking out with his friends with the Alliance HQ attack occurring soon after.
➢ Arcadia is open for business and tours, even if no one moves in. If anyone wishes to investigate Arcadia, they can feel free to – for what someone might find, please hit up the mods with any questions below.
➢ Around June 21st, Mechanima will announce that the parasitic infestation of Central City has been stopped. He’ll give credit to the efforts of Spider-Boy, Spider-Man, and Sleeper for their efforts in stopping the spread of the parasitic entity. But the quarantine is not lifted – he’ll cite the attack on the Alliance HQ as part of his reason for maintaining it. The subtext is that he doesn’t want to give Fantastic back “his” toys.
➢ During the last week – with the assumption that no one, or almost no one, has moved into Arcadia – the guards will begin bearing down on the Starfallen more obviously. Whoever’s giving them orders is antsy, and the guards are being made to act on that.
➢ What happens with (or even to) Arcadia will be decided by the playerbase. If you have any ideas, please feel free to hit us up! We’re down to hear what anyone has in mind.
➢ Fantastic’s big move will happen in the next event log on June 30th, as it will be dependent upon actions here. We’ll let you know if this date changes on mod channels.
➢ For characters seeking The Fixer, Frances, or Atomight, there will be comments below. We’ll be treating them like NPC engagement threads for the sake of ease.
➢ For any questions pertaining to this log, please hit the mod question thread below, as that is where we’ll be responding to any questions in or around this event.
It begins with Kon. On the surface, there were no obvious plans for Fantastic to take over the Alliance. On the surface, Atomight should have been allowed to continue in the same shoes, no matter how much disdain he started to receive from the public and his fellow heroes. But these plans had been in motion for a while, with Fantastic eventually being the beneficiary. When the trigger comes to set off Kon, it’s meant to show that Fantastic was the right choice all along. And wasn’t he? After all, Kon’s destruction was evidence that a stronger, firmer hand was needed. Fantastic wouldn’t showboat about it. Kon needed help.
The end result—Kon’s explosion of sorts—was proof enough. Not that Fantastic would say this. No, the Alliance leader wouldn’t let such a thing be used for publicity. That would be too much. It’s better if publicity makes itself.
Enter: the Alliance HQ in Central City. If Kon’s takedown can be passed through word of mouth, the attack on the Alliance HQ was meant to be breaking news that would get around-the-clock coverage. After all, the Alliance is meant to help metas of all stripes – Starfallen and otherwise. Fantastic even had a headline in mind: “Fantastic Stops Challenge to Alliance Authority.”
However, nothing ever goes as planned. First: a weird bodyswapping parasite arrived in Central City and forced Mechanima to place the city under quarantine. Second: it was meant to be a two-pronged attack, but Fantastic’s guy putting everything in place didn’t have the hold on his subjects that was meant to be in place.
So, the Alliance HQ attack is one Starfallen who can’t control herself: Doreen, also known as Squirrel Girl. But here, she’s known as the Felonious Fox. Taking her down is of the utmost importance – and so is figuring out what happened to her. It might not be a bad idea to ignore Mechanima’s quarantine on Central City as a whole to make that happen, lest she be forced to do something she’ll regret.
As for Fantastic? Without his two-pronged Starfallen attack to stop, he has to improvise.
ARCADIA
Within 12 hours of the attack on the Alliance HQ, Fantastic is on television making a statement:
“Hello, hello.” He flashes a smile – it’s clearly meant to disarm the audience, as seeming confident is most important in times like these. “I have been involved in an investigation for the last day about a number of Starfallen who have been engaging in duplicitous acts and have come to a troubling realization. These Starfallen have been manipulated and implanted with dangerous directives in order to bring harm to both themselves and others. Needless to say, this discovery was alarming … and worrying. The suspect is a hypnotist with no known powers.” Here, a picture of The Fixer flashes on the television. “This man is on the loose and we welcome any leads to stop him.”
With no preamble, he continues: “I hoped to make this announcement under better circumstances, but ah – better sooner than later, right? Today, I’d like to introduce you all to Arcadia.” The video cuts out to show a beautiful, state-of-the-art compound near Excelsior – which can be seen in the distance. “For months, the Starfallen have arrived in this world with little support beyond what the Alliance has provided them, and we’ve put together a project that we hope will be of great service to new and old Starfallen alike. We thank the great citizens of Excelsior for working with the Alliance in making this dream a reality.” Fantastic pauses again to smile – he attempts to exude as much warmth as possible, but he mostly just looks proud of himself.
“Now, let’s introduce you all to … Arcadia.”
Fantastic is now gone, and a video begins, flashing a logo covered in Greek olive branches: Arcadia. The subtitle? “A Place For All the Travellers of the Stars to Feel Safe.”
➢ First off, the beginning of the video makes one thing clear: all Starfallen are welcome to visit Arcadia and take a tour as soon as they’d like. There are openings today for tours if they would like, and these tours are as safe as anyone might like.
➢ The video itself is a guided tour of Arcadia. Meant to be a permanent residence for all Starfallen, it’s a compound that has state-of-the-art technology designed to keep the Starfallen safe. The only way to enter the compound is by passing a number of randomized screenings, ensuring that no one can enter unless they pass one of these checks.
➢ Arcadia is pristine. Neither the Alliance nor the architects and engineers of Excelsior cut any corners when it came to ensuring that the location was beautiful. Most significantly, while it largely resides on a patch of cleared land outside of Excelsior, there are options to elevate Arcadia above ground should the people there need to protect it. Arcadia is able to rise up like an island in the sky to offer protection to its people.
➢ All of the homes inside Arcadia are beautiful. All of them come pre-furnished, and Starfallen will be able to pick the interior colors, types of appliances they’ll need, and any other amenities they might require. Need a hot tub? No one at Alliance HQ will be asking any questions. Have specific dietary requirements? Never worry – Arcadia will provide anything needed so that someone can live their lives as discreetly as possible.
➢ Security is important. Beyond the randomized screenings for entry, there will be guards in Arcadia around the clock to ensure that Arcadian citizens are not harmed. These guards will be armed with depowering devices should anyone attempt to attack the Starfallen, largely making it possible to neutralize their attack. Some of the guards are even shown without their gear in the video: they’re all generically attractive men and women of all stripes. If they weren’t guards, they could easily be models.
The video ends with a request: “Come and see Arcadia today. We’ll do everything we can to make this the home of your dreams.”
➢ With its introduction out there in the world, Arcadia’s doors are open! While there are scheduled tours, it doesn’t seem as if anyone will be denied entry if they want to check out the location. Visitors are provided with a guest pass for a day – unless they choose to sign up to stay before they leave. (Hint hint: there will be a lot of pressure to sign up, but no one will be forced to stay.)
➢ Arcadia is a bit like the Tardis from Doctor Who. While it doesn’t seem like it could possibly house all of those different apartments for Starfallen, it seems to be endless. Anyone who’s able to sense magic can guess that some spellwork went into this accomplishment.
➢ Should anyone visit and go off the beaten path and explore without a guide – or just wander off to “find a bathroom” and end up somewhere they shouldn’t, for example – they’ll find strange engraved symbols on the lowest level of Arcadia. Near here, there will be an additional magical residue that differs from what might be sensed throughout, as it’s much darker and insidious in nature. At the core of the compound, near a sign indicating that it’s the Mechanical Room keeping Arcadia afloat (figuratively and literally – should it need to elevate into the sky like an island), the magical residue turns into magical resonance. Something powerful is happening in there. Something dark.
➢ Guards are present throughout doing patrols, but they’ve been directed to not make contact with the Starfallen at this time. Trying to interact with them will lead to some small talk. These guards seem like your average Joes turned guards. They have families, pets, and favorite movies. They also think Fantastic is really, really cool.
➢ Even if the tours are guided, characters are largely allowed to move freely. They can visit several times before making a decision, but the pressure to sign up for a spot in Arcadia will escalate over time. No one is being held here against their will, but leaving isn’t the safest decision.
➢ Given Excelsior’s reticence toward metas and Starfallen, anyone heading into the city to get a sense of the sentiment toward Arcadia will get mixed opinions. But the people there are largely accepting of their fate. Having Arcadia nearby will mean that any dinosaur-shaped problems won’t be allowed to get out of hand. The Starfallen will surely help. The people of Excelsior will be able to explore their ideas, even if they turn into people-eating plants, and the Starfallen will help. Of course, many of the businesses in Excelsior have either been blackmailed into accepting their fate – or paid off. No one is happy, but they can see the upsides. Albeit reluctantly.
➢ As if geo-tagged, edits of the same video advertising Arcadia will appear wherever the Starfallen are, whether it’s on televisions in department stores, on ads on their social media, or elsewhere. It’s apparent that Arcadia is being pushed and it’s being pushed hard.
With the Fixer on the loose and loudly described as a danger to all Starfallen, the guards that were hired to protect Arcadia will now appear elsewhere, especially in locations where Starfallen frequent. Want to get your quadruple-shot caramel macchiato? A guard will be there, ensuring your safety. Want to see the newest multiversal pic of epic proportions with a generic and predictable ending? A guard will be buying a ticket, too. These guards are there to keep the Starfallen safe – and avoiding them will be difficult.
For a select few Starfallen, the guards won’t just be keeping an eye on them and monitoring their movement. They will be acting. In some cases, this action will be positive – but in others, it will be negative and threatening. Trying to challenge the authority of the Alliance is an unwise move when the Starfallen are at risk.
➢ For most, the guards will be an ever-present, creepy part of their lives. They won’t be immediately violent toward anyone that they’re observing, but they will be quick to act if someone tries to dodge their surveillance. Unless someone effectively goes into hiding, the guards will mysteriously be able to spot them again to “protect them.”
➢ Engaging with the guards violently will lead to problems. At this stage, they’ve been directed to only act in extreme circumstances – attacking them counts as extreme. These guards have been equipped with teleporters, enhanced speed and strength, as well as immensely powerful power inhibitors that depower any Starfallen within a five-foot radius.
➢ For a handful of Starfallen, their actions will be marked as threatening without provocation: Mark Bryant, Bart Allen, Heron, and Huvrye Tirvio. Since they pose a threat to the ability of the Alliance to protect all Starfallen, the guards will seek them out and attempt to apprehend them. Should they be successful, the Alliance will release a statement to the media about how some troublesome Starfallen have been stopped for the greater good. How these interactions go is up to the players themselves – the guards do not have to be successful.
➢ One Starfallen in particular, Ken Kaneki, will be approached by a guard without her mask as she offers him a place in Arcadia. The Alliance has noticed that he seems to be having a hard time adjusting to his new world and they’re here to help. The guard in question has no idea about why Kaneki might require additional assistance, but will promise that all of his needs will be met. If they’d like to talk in a more casual setting – including with her imposing armor off – she’s happy to go change. (Of course, the armor can be reapplied at the touch of a button, but she won’t be telling Kaneki that.)
➢ When the guards first appear, they will largely be omnipresent and creepy, but harmless otherwise. As the weeks go on, however, the guards will get antsy and will be hovering closer. Engaging with them at this stage is likely to cause an altercation – with the guard insisting at some point that the Starfallen may need to be brought into custody “for their own safety.” These altercations will only begin near the end of the period this log covers.
➢ Any captured Starfallen will be briefly imprisoned in Excelsior before being offered a spot in Arcadia. Jailbreaks and escapes are welcomed and encouraged.
no subject
Luckily, his stupid plan isn't a total crapshoot. The guards are gearing up to tell Gojo off for also trash talking them, but they're distracted by the red blast of energy suddenly coming their way. They tense up but don't move - apparently counting on the power nullification to take care of it. It does, and it leaves them thoroughly pissed off.
Accelerator just stares. What the hell was that? Magic? If it was some scientific phenomena he likely would've recognized it, so for now he settles some magic.
The guards are yelling at Gojo that he gets one chance to get down and surrender peacefully, otherwise one of them is coming up there. Apparently they're smart enough to recognize that the rickety balcony doesn't look particularly safe, but still have a way to transport themselves upwards if necessary.
Accelerator quietly notes the distance the energy dissipated. He doesn't need his esper powers to be an accurate judge of distance, and that thing looked like it was fine when it was being fired off, but as soon as it hit five feet it was stopped. Five foot, that should be workable.
Hand-to-hand combat, though, that is not. His mouth twitches and his answer is blunt. "It's dogshit." No point in beating around the bush, right now he's going to be at his strongest at a distance. "But it looks like their radial limit is five feet," he replies casually. "That isn't very much."
If he can get five feet away, these shitheads are doomed.
One of said shitheads, getting very worked up now, snaps at the two of them to quit having a conversation while they're being arrested, damnit! Accelerator just does the petulant teenager thing and rolls his eyes.
no subject
As for fighting here—it's been a while since he's fought hand to hand, and he's had his cursed technique since practically birth (well, he's had it since birth, but manifesting it is a different matter altogether). Knowing that his cursed energy—a very thing that is practically imbued in his person—is at risk worries him, but he doesn't need to win. He just needs to endure and get within five feet again to stock back up. That shouldn't be difficult, right?
One thing that Gojo noticed upon getting here is that this world is caught up in superheroes and saving people and villains. It's all oddly black or white in its makeup, and it doesn't align with his view of the world as a whole. Back home, no one is a hero or a villain. They're either a Jujutsu sorcerer or a curse user: two sides of what could ultimately be the same coin. By definition, there isn't a wide berth between them, and they're both just as likely to die. Gojo's selfish view of the world developed because of this—as well as a hope to change things with a powerful set of allies by his side, people unlikely to be destroyed by the Jujutsu world. Things are different here. The rule sets aren't the same. It changes the rules of engagement.
"Guess I just need to take care of this for now. Five feet, right?" Another stretch. He doesn't wait for Accelerator to confirm before he drops down in a limber movement, floating in the air for half a second—this is purely to show off—before he lands before the guards, turning quickly to slam a fist into a part of their armor that looks a touch more exposed.
(As for restating the "five feet" part, some part of him wants the kid to feel heard. He's not a great teacher, but he has ... the occasional tool ... that he'll pull out.)
His movements are slower than he'd like. He feels exposed. But it's just what needs to be done.
He'll buy this kid five feet (or more) and then get the hell out of here. This is a battle that's gotta be lost to win the war, and all those clichés.
no subject
And hey, he's listening to him. That isn't something he's come across very often here, where people are more inclined to treating him like some kid.
Unfortunately for the guard, having souped up armour doesn't mean his skills in combat increase. He's hit and sent stumbling backwards onto his ass. It's clear that he's relying on the enhanced strength and speed the armour provides rather than his own experience and knowledge, since his response is to take far too long to get over the shock and scramble to his feet. That, and he's a little daunted fighting some guy who treats gravity like a suggestion rather than a rule. He's ready to fight back though, closing in on Gojo to try and knock him out with whatever punches he can land.
So between a scrawny kid who has only been able to trash talk thus far, and an adult who can actually fight and is putting up a visible challenge despite being at a disadvantage, the second guard's choice is clear. He grumbles under his breath and shoves Accelerator aside, letting go of him and moving in to assist his colleague. His thought process is very clear: a two-on-one fight shouldn't take long, and then they can take both Starfallen into custody. This guy's a lot more aggressive than the other guard too, so together they're going to put up a challenge.
Accelerator nearly falls flat on his face when he's pushed away. With his crutch still retracted into the arm cuff he's relying solely on his own legs to stand, and that isn't ideal when he can't control the vectors of his limbs. He stumbles, taking the opportunity to back away from the fight - five feet, it's all he needs -
- And as his ability returns, he stops right next to a dumpster.
"...."
He taps the corner of it, launching it upwards into the air, and a few seconds later there's a full dumpster coming straight down towards the two guards and Gojo, if he isn't quick enough to get out of the way. It's mostly a test - that weird energy-magic-whatever blast dissipated, but how about a perfectly normal 500 lb metal box being dropped down on their nullification field by gravity?
(Spoilers: that thing ain't stopping.)
no subject
Actually, that's perfect commentary. But rewind a bit first.
Two on one isn't great for someone who's used to being nearly impossible to even touch unless he allows for it, but he's trained enough kids in combat to hold his own. He isn't always the best teacher, but he went through the training, too. It was necessary. That training built up his battle intelligence just enough that two heavy goons in too much armor can't take him down quickly. A prolonged fight would be bad, but he isn't planning on letting this become one of those.
Gojo takes a few blows before the trash can comes running, and by time it's flying toward them, he has both a bloody nose and a bloody mouth. He wipes the back of his mouth with his hand and doesn't look at it as it comes away with blood—the sign of someone who's been left bloodier in the past. (Much bloodier.) Instead, he just looks a bit crazed, the blood itself having smeared across his chin.
He's about to go in to crush one of the guy's knees when he hears the trash bin coming. The very large bin. He can't see it, not without his powers active, but he manages to dodge out of the way, slamming into the nearby wall of the building with the aforementioned balcony as he sees it land on both of them.
"Whoa, no wonder you can't throw a punch!" he calls to Accelerator, kicking the metal box as he eases around it. He dramatically plugs his nose as he steps forward, prancing away from the power inhibitors until he's free of them. He begins to feel the cursed energy flow back into him bit by bit, and his lip—which was cut—heals up on the fly.
He quirks a thumb back at the two. "Looks like we know how to deal with them, but I can't always throw something that large at someone. What I've got is more spatial." His arms wave around him. No, he has no problem sharing this.
"Anyway, let's get outta here to a safe distance ... waaay more than five feet ... and—do we wanna see if anyone comes looking for them? Or are they just disposable?" It's a lot of talking. Gojo loves to talk. (Loves the sound of his voice, honestly.)
no subject
There's a groan coming from underneath the dumpster, the kind that says the guards aren't dead (likely due to their protective armour) but aren't getting up anytime soon.
Those are all good questions. Accelerator stands there silently, weighing their options. Well... not so much weighing their options, as his eyes travel over to a nearby parked SUV. The murderous look on his face screams he's debating dropping the vehicle on the guards too, to make absolutely sure they don't get up. Honestly, he'd really like to kill both of those bastards right now....
... But what good would that do? Maybe if it was only him here he'd do it, but he isn't alone. For all he knows this guy might try to stop him from killing them, or he might be right about more guards looking for them. More idiots showing up means an escalating situation, and if they have nullification powers too then his vector manipulation won't be reliable. If a full-on fight were to start in the middle of the city, that's a lot of potential for uninvolved people becoming collateral damage. Things could turn really, really bad really fast. So as much as he'd like to indulge himself and permanently remove the threat those two guards pose, he should do the reasonable, logical, practical thing. It rankles him and he turns away, adjusting his grip on his grocery bag and shoving his free hand into the pocket of his jeans.
"Tche. Might as well see if any backup comes for them," he replies, irritated. "And what the hell do you mean by 'spatial'?"
Accelerator is guessing he means some kind of ability, or whatever was helping him balance on that balcony earlier and throw that red blast. It might also explain the weird blindfold, too. He wants to know more about all of that.
There's a roar as he forms four miniature whirlwinds attached to his back, using them to fly up to a nearby rooftop. Far enough away that they won't likely be spotted, but close enough to keep an eye on the guards. It's a very dramatic and unnecessary way of getting up to a roof, but he doesn't care, he likes the tornadoes.
no subject
"I control all space around me. There is probably some physicist or mathematician who could put it into better words, but ..." He waves a hand to wave off a further explanation. He understands the math behind it, but he's also living with it. His inherent understanding trumps that, especially since it's not like Jutjutsu sorcerers are likely to be found in universities.
"I'd tell you more, but no one here seems to know a thing about cursed energy. It's not surprising outside of Japan, but I'm surprised that with all these powers going around that someone else hasn't turned up with it." Cursed user or Jujutsu sorcerer. Two sides of the same coin. "That's not what you're using, either." That last bit isn't a question.
Even with the blood smeared on his face, he seems to be a bit more grounded when it comes to explaining something. That's because he's holding in the urge to say this kid made himself into a helicopter. He wants to know how, buuuut he can wait for follow up questions before he leans into his own curiosity.
Besides, he's gotta keep an eye out below still. Just in case.
no subject
He's seen teleportation in this world. Leo can teleport. But this method closely resembled esper teleportation - instantaneous, soundless movement - and he's reminded of a certain Level 4 teleporter whom he punched out one night at the request of one little girl.
He mentally shakes those thoughts out of his head and focuses on the explanation he's given, which is... not much of an explanation at all. It raises more questions than answers, and as someone whose ability lies firmly on the scientific, mathematical side of things, he's a little dumbfounded.
"... You're using some kind of energy for spatial warping and you can't even explain it with math or physics?" If this were anyone else they'd probably be going "H - how?!" right now. Accelerator refrains, instead trying to pick out his next words. Thankfully, that comes pretty easily.
"I'm an esper. I'm psychic. My type of esper operates on scientific principles, but I've never heard of cursed energy before. What is it?" He asks, reaching up to hit the switch on his choker. The light changes from red to green and he wobbles a little, since the cane part of his crutch is still retracted into the cuff on his arm. There's the brief temptation to just reach out and try grabbing the vectors of this supposed cursed energy, but he has no clue what'll happen and he doesn't want to cause a scene.
Nah, instead he's going shakily sit down at the edge of the roof. Setting his grocery bag full of canned coffee down, he pulls one out to open it and start drinking. He isn't really paying attention to the guards back over on the street, he's more interested in this energy nonsense.
no subject
He scoops up a can of coffee for himself—nope, not asking for it—and cracks it open before he settles in beside Accelerator. Some part of him is curious about this kid's disability and what may have come of it, but he's seen enough bad things happened to sorcerers that he knows it sometimes comes with the gig. Just because he has the ability to use reversed cursed technique doesn't mean everyone does. Besides, there's also Mechamaru. Could be a thing like that—a trade off for power.
"Cursed energy is the manifestation of negative thoughts such as grief, fear, anger all channeled into an energy source. Like I said, manipulation of it tends to be central to Japan and Japan alone for whatever reason, so I wasn't surprised to see it missing here. My cursed energy is limitless." His lips twist and he looks down. "Usually. Whatever those guys were working with wiped me out! Completely! Haven't felt that way since ..." He takes a sip of his coffee and puckers his lips. Maybe not the greatest thing in the world, but he'll take his not-at-all stolen coffee. "Well! I can't remember." Was there a time when Gojo Satoru wasn't the strongest?
"But scientific principles. Very interesting. Does that mean that something had to awaken it in you, or were you born with it?" Inherited technique or otherwise? Yes, he actually loves talking shop about this stuff.
¹ Besides, Gege Akutami once had an actual mathematician review his work for his explanation of Gojo's powers, only to learn that his write up made no sense because no one can really divide by zero even with a special power. Because that was, in fact, part of the explanation. The end result being that while there is an in-Jujutsu-Kaisen-world bullshit explanation for Gojo's powers, it doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Gege tried. Kind of.
no subject
Ugh. He compromises, settling for a pointed glare and making a mental note that he is now owed one (1) coffee at some future date. This is not something he'll forget, no sir.
At any rate, their discussion is kind of sort of more important than one can of coffee, and he doesn't want to divert the topic away from powers. This cursed energy stuff is new to him, but from that explanation it sounds like some abstract crap that's somehow converted into actual, legitimate energy. Why it's central to Japan is strange, but maybe it's some cultural thing that makes it more likely to manifest, or something....
Whatever, minor detail that doesn't matter since they're in the United States right now.
He's been sipping his coffee this whole time silently, raising an eyebrow at that remark about the fight. At the question, he sighs. "Where I'm from espers are manufactured in a lab. A person goes through a bunch of medical procedures that fuck with their brain and body, and causes them to disassociate permanently from proper reality and develop their own Personal Reality. By doing the right mathematical calculations they can use their Personal Reality to interfere with proper reality on a quantum scale by ignoring the Uncertainty Principle."
He shrugs. "Basically, I'm doing math that forces my shitty delusions to affect physical laws on a micro scale, which in turn causes phenomena on a macro scale."
no subject
"You remind me a lot of a student of mine! Ever tried to force the delusion of a pachinko game onto everyone around you? You should give it a try sometime, it would be a lot of fun." Hakari can do something similar—though the game itself limits how much cursed energy he can have at any given moment. Ah, he wonders what would happen if Hakari ended up here and whether his game could outright bypass those inhibitors ... He'll have to think about that later.
Gojo finishes off the coffee and raises the can up in front of him. After a moment, he uses his technique to crush it, twisting it into a little needle in mere seconds. "That's a bit of my energy at work. Well, my technique. Without the technique, it goes flat more like a pancake. Blunt force. If you're reflecting reality, does that mean you have unlimited resources?"
Right now, he's waiting to ask two questions. One: did the labwork lead to the disability? And two: what happens if he tries to reflect Gojo's massive amount of cursed energy and what would happen?
The latter is something they can't test, but he's still considering the vast possibilities. It could be useful to know down the line!
no subject
"My ability doesn't fucking work that way," he replies with a shake of his head. Pachinko? Really? Maybe if he had some kind of mental-based power, but even then that student sounds super lame.
Anyways, he puts that out of his mind in favour of the ability demonstration, sipping his own coffee quietly as he watches the can twist as if under its own volition. That looks a lot like some extremely precise telekinesis (he doubts most telekinetic espers have that much refinement with their ability), but from the explanation about cursed energy he gets there's more to it than that. The question makes him pause. Right, if energy is being used, 'resources' makes sense. "If you want to call it that. My limits aren't based on energy or strength or whatever the fuck most people have to deal with."
Giving a glance back at the street, Accelerator can see the guards coming around and beating a retreat. Since he's already used his ability once tonight he supposes it can't hurt to do a demonstration, even if it'll be a little noisy, so he downs the rest of his coffee. It's a bit silly and extra, but the blast of cursed energy from earlier and now the coffee can getting twisted up gives him an idea. Switching his choker back to esper mode (the light turning from green to red), he then closes his hand around his own empty can to crunch it down into a little ball.
"As long as I can do the mathematical calculations I can manipulate the vectors of anything that has them. Most of the time that's simple," he explains, balancing the ball on one finger before flicking it into the air casually. There's a loud boom, a shockwave, and a flash of light as the can goes rocketing away like a comet.
... Okay, making an impromptu not-quite-railgun is a lot extra.
Accelerator isn't worried about the can hitting anything, he's altered the vectors so heavily that the cheap aluminum will burn up pretty quick. He shrugs like it's no big deal and drops his hand, looking down at his open palm. "When I use my ability I've got calculations automatically running to reflect anything. Those take basically no processing power so it's pretty much subconscious. Even if I'm passed out no one can touch me." There are two exceptions, but he doesn't want to get into them. He curls his hand into a fist, sighing. "And then on top of that I can do simultaneous calculations to actively manipulate vectors, like with that coffee can. My only limit is the complexity of the math."
And he hasn't run into a case where he's failed at running them. He had bumped up against a wall when he was fixing Last Order's brain (he doubts he could do that again in this state), and his calculations hadn't been perfect when he was controlling the atmosphere of Academy City, but he still had pulled both of those instances off.
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Funny, though, how he's relying on all of them back home while he's stuck here playing politics and messing with glorified cops. It's not really the situation he wanted to find himself in.
Regardless, if a kid with this power level is here, there might be others. Like it or not, a part of Gojo has always been drawn to people on his level this way. Some people would call it the inherent loneliness of being the strongest, but in his youth, he lacked the emotional capacity to desire others to meet him on that level. No, it's not a matter of not wanting to feel alone, but feeling united in a common cause knowing you're just, frankly, the best. Simple as that. Some part of his brain was tuned to believe the value in power from a young age, and it's part of why Suguru was able to get through to him so much when they were younger. (But also why Gojo couldn't quite see what he was putting himself through.)
For now, he's not really on the hunt for others. He's curious about the case in front of him, collar and all. "Huh, and allllll of it is tied to this, huh?" He leans toward him, planting a hand firmly on his shoulder. As he does it, he can tell that Accelerator hasn't calculated properly for him as their contrasting understandings of space clash and he—for only the moment, or so he assumes—touches him. His hand raises up to Accelerator's head to ruffle it as he peers at the collar. "You know, a collar's a bit kinky! Ever considered something else, or is this all you can do?" His other hand reaches for the collar to try to tap at it, but he's wary of the power this kid has shoving him back.
There's a very real chance of that, after all!
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The only real exception has been his title, and the Sisters. The latter, because it would be selfish of him to take away their agency and choice, and the former out of some stupid desire to not have to deal with all the baggage that comes with being the strongest. But his powers? Yeah, whatever. He can explain them and then let the other person come to whatever conclusion they want. That's why he's so casual right now, though that comes to an abrupt halt very fast.
A few things are running through Accelerator's head in the span of less than a second.
The first is recognizing the feeling of a pressure on his shoulder, though it's brief. It's enough to make him look over, and when he does there's a hand on his head, and his hair is getting ruffled like it's no big deal at all. Like he's some average kid, instead of the monster of Academy City, the first ranked Level 5, the strongest esper. The second is, with those actions, Accelerator is picking up on the vectors: namely, the familiar ones associated with kinetic motion of Gojo's hand are getting reflected as usual, but there are distinctly unfamiliar ones that his ability has no idea what to do with. It isn't like Donnie's mystic tech, which follows rules and laws that are esoteric and strange and therefore causes his reflection to reflect unnaturally. It's more like being shoved into a class on a subject he's never encountered before, where there must be applicable natural laws and some kind of foundation that makes sense. But there's a big black hole in his knowledge, he just... doesn't have the information. He doesn't know any base formulas for it, and therefore his reflection hasn't been set up to calculate for it. So it's bypassing his reflection entirely.
That's only happened twice before in Accelerator's life, and both times involved violence. This is distinctly not that - if anything, a head pat is the opposite. It's good-natured, it's affectionate. His brain is realizing that, he's at a loss what to do with this information, so he's stunned into silence as he stares at Gojo.
It doesn't help that it's greatly contrasted with some absolute dragging with regards to his calculation assistance device. The choker style of the original one hadn't been his choice at all, but it was practical (and looked pretty punk) so he had been fine with replicating its appearance for the supercomputer from the Society.
And now it's getting called kinky, while this guy is poking at it.
Not only is that an invasion of his personal space, but there's the serious concern he might accidentally his the switch and shut the damn thing off. So Accelerator reacts in a perfectly normal way.
"Go fuck yourself, you son of a bitch!" He's suddenly turning and slamming his fist towards Gojo's face, his instinct to amplify the vectors of the movement of his hand to make up for his absolutely shitty technique. Normally that would send anyone flying straight backwards and into a nearby building, but.
Well.
He's hitting an invisible wall before he can touch him.
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"Thanks for the great demonstration set up here. You're probably wondering why that didn't work." Earlier, Accelerator had shown an extreme amount of power from a distance. Now Gojo knows that this power hasn't yet consumed the knowledge of cursed energy, or however that works. But that's not surprising, either. These things take time. He's seen similar things with Yuta before, albeit through a different medium.
"It's the Achilles and the tortoise paradox. I didn't intend for you to punch me, but it shows you everything you need to know! Mathematically, it's all about a series of infinite numbers that will never meet their goal because they've already been there. You see? Math explains it fine, but it gets tricky because of the paradox in question." He smiles widely, drawing both his arms back to cross one over the other against his chest.
"But I can explain again if needed. If you're too testy!"
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One thing about esper powers is that they can be categorized together. Multiple students have electromagnetism or aerokinesis. It's not a big deal, there might be smaller details that set them apart from each other, but overall it's the same ability. Except for Accelerator's. As far as he's aware, he's the only one who's ever been able to manipulate vectors, and he's the only one who's had some kind of barrier around himself based solely on mathematical concepts.
At first his expression is one of surprise, since he's expecting that punch (however sad it is) to land. Then, as Gojo explains why it didn't, his expression shifts just slightly to one of total shock. He knows Zeno's Paradox, sure, he learned about it in school. It's not hard to understand.
What has him stunned is that he's glancing at his hand as he turns his ability to sense vectors on himself. Since he doesn't understand the formulas behind cursed energy, he can at least verify that this guy isn't spouting bullshit by looking at the vectors of his own fist. They are indeed being halved infinitely, just like the paradox in question. The calculations his vectors are undergoing are perfectly understandable to him. It's like some variation on his own reflection, just using a different mathematical concept plugged into an unknown form of energy.
It's fucking insane. He has no idea what to do with this information. People don't just up and have an ability similar to his reflection, life doesn't work that way.
After a beat of silence, he drops his hand.
"What the fuck," is how he starts, though he realizes he should clarify. "I don't need another explanation, I could see the fucking math you were doing. Can everyone who uses this kind of energy do this?"
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Shaking him takes a lot more than that, after all. It's not impossible, but ... unlikely to happen here.
"That's not to say that there aren't others that can do some pretty amazing stuff with it, but no one's quite on my level. Just close. I just know that they wouldn't be able to approach you the same way. Well, probably." Various cursed techniques like Hakari's or Yuta's would probably give them a doorway, but they would need to fundamentally get to the point where it's possible.
"But me, well. I'm the strongest there is. There's a pretty huge gap between me and others."
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"... You've got to be joking."
I'm the strongest there is. There's a pretty huge gap between me and others.
Wow, where has he heard that before? Oh wait that's the exact kind of shit he's told people back home a million times because that's practically his entire life in a nutshell.
"What the hell is this? I'm having my own words thrown back at me?" Not only that, but he's hearing them in a situation that actually makes them sound legitimate and not just some third-string nobody trying to sound tough. He can't just dismiss them as some wildly inaccurate bullshit. To top it all off, everything else this asshole has said applies to himself. No other esper has his ability of vector manipulation, and he knows there have been experiments to try and mimic it like the Dark May project, but nothing ever substantial came of them. No one has ever reached close to his level. Even the #3 Level 5 couldn't. She threw her strongest attacks at him, and they were nothing.
There was a pretty huge gap between him and her.
He can't believe this.
Those questions Accelerator has thrown out are rhetorical and he's just saying them out loud at no one in particular, because he's at a total loss. In this universe he's been careful to sidestep the issue of his ranking as much as possible, but he can't right now. There's no way.
"You're the strongest? I'm the strongest. It's been that way where I'm from for fucking years."
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Unfortunately, Gojo is not that "kinder" person. Then again, kindness would probably be taken as patronizing here.
"Is that so? You've been here that long?" Gojo isn't a seasoned veteran here, but he knows that he's not from this place. So, his arrival could have changed things. It sure as hell did back home.
"But truth is, it seems like you're not the strongest anymore. Sucks, huh?" These words are callous, but he just cants his head to the side. Gojo doesn't mind there being someone very nearly on his level. It's welcomed.
"Wonder what's gonna happen if we're both vyeing for the top spot. How long will it take for you to get there?" See, totally doesn't mind. But he is still a dick about it.
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"I don't fucking know how it works here, but if we're both the strongest where we're from then whoever has that title here is probably gonna be outclassed," he adds in a matter-of-fact tone. He's only been here a few months, but he hasn't seen a whole lot of superheroes or villains that could handle him. Even with his brain injury weakening him he knows he's still up there in terms of power, and if he can't even touch Gojo, well... as much as he'd dislike admitting it, this asshole is up there, too.
"Anyways, I'm not looking to make a grab for that title here. There's no point, and that kind of attention is a pain in the ass." Understatement of the year, that kind of attention ruined his life back home. And since Last Order isn't here he doesn't see any real reason to push his image in that direction. "I know what I can do, and that's enough."
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Some might even argue that it's just him chasing down his youthful days with Suguru all over again. He wouldn't. That falls into the arena of "I repress it most of the time." And for good reason! It's why he ended up being a Gojo-in-a-Box after all.
"You have to wonder what it means that we're here now. Will challengers rise up because of our appearances?" Gojo stymies the urge to pretend that they're on a TV show, ready to launch into the "next on" sequence. "That happened with you, right? You changed the very fiber of your world."
To him, that's what being the strongest is—changing everything. Fundamentally.
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.... Yeah, he's being teased. He scowls and grumbles something under his breath (it's curses, it's a bunch of curses).
"What flowery language," he replies with a roll of his eyes, though the question does make him think a little. Change the fiber of his world? He supposes Academy City itself did that, mainly through the creation of espers, and if he's the strongest one out of all of them....
If he hasn't, then he definitely would have if he had reached Level 6. That makes him shudder inwardly. Outwardly, he shrugs. "I piss a lot of people off just by existing. I seriously can't tell you how many fucking people have tried to fight or kill me over the years, either because they had something to prove and thought they could beat me in a fight, or because some fucking organization or country or whatever thought I was a threat. Of course, none of them ever stood a chance. It was always like trying to take out a nuclear missile with a handgun."
Ugh, why is he saying all of that like it's something to be proud of? He feels gross.
"So I guess if you want to think about it in such optimistic terms, sure. I did."
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He doesn't feel responsible for it, not on that level. But he does intend to protect them.
So, he's aware of the protective instinct bubbling up inside of him. He doesn't point out that the humility wasn't entirely messing with him, not really. Only partly!
"Ah, no, my situation was different. Less active reaction, more chain reaction. Think of chemistry." That's all he'll say about it.
"But you've gotta wonder if we're the nuclear warheads that are getting these guys coming after us now. They want to round us up and put us somewhere they can keep an eye on us, but say it's for the sake of protection. Sounds like someone who feels their power slipping away to me." Yes, he's gone in a more serious direction. He can't help it.
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So for that to be the case for Gojo is fucking nuts. It's like if he really did hit Level 6, or something. The guy's really got to be on another level if he's caused that kind of change merely by existing.
Accelerator clicks his tongue and pulls his phone out, searches a bit, then pulls up Fantastic's speech about Starfallen being soldiers. He'll hand his phone over for Gojo to watch, not particularly caring about giving his phone to a near-complete stranger. The thing is pathetically devoid of life aside from what Leo and Donnie have added when they've stolen the thing, namely a bunch of photos and selfies of themselves, and their contact info (the only two contacts in the entire phone) being renamed to "coolest most raddest person I know" and "big nerd."
"I think this idiot's just being puppeteered by someone else, but he called us all soldiers. If their power's slipping away making an army of people with abilities would be a good way to get it back."