The Chromatic Witch, Ep 2: The Power of Green

[Yoruichi-san]

Gritting her teeth tightly, the girl pushed herself up off the ground. Sweat beaded near her temples and dripped down the side of her face and off her nose onto the linoleum below. Ninety-nine, she counted, then took a deep breath and lowered herself back down.

Her arms trembled with the exertion as she pushed up once again. There came a knock at the door. The girl allowed herself to collapse onto the floor. “Come in,” she said, catching her breath.

A lean, clean-cut young man with dark brown entered, carrying a tray. When he saw her, he frowned. “Shouldn’t you be resting?”

The girl shook her head. “I must be strong.” Her tone was tired, but steadied by conviction. “Besides, this might be my last chance to...” Her voice trailed off as a sad look came into her eyes.

The young man bit his lip. “You know,” he began after a moment, “you don’t have to go through with this. It’s not too late...”

The girl shook her head resolutely. “No, I have to do this.”

“Your family hasn’t cashed the check yet, you can still back out and simply return the money...”

“That’s not what...I mean...” The girl let out a long sigh. “I have to this, because I have to do this. This is who I am, who I want to be, who I can finally choose to be. This is my opportunity to truly be me, my only opportunity. There is nothing for me here, but there...”

The young man looked as if he wanted to say more, but he seemed to struggle inside. Finally, his shoulders fell and he capitulated. “Alright, I’ll leave you to it then.” He set the tray down on a nearby table. “You should eat it before it gets cold.”

The Chromatic Witch

EPISODE 2:

The Power of Green

“In brightest day, in blackest night,

No evil shall escape my sight

Let those who worship evil's might,

Beware my power, Green Lantern's light!!!”

The Green Lantern Oath

Warmed by the effusive sunlight streaming in through his window, Orin yawned and pulled himself out of his bed. Through his mind flitted fragments of last night’s dreams, memories of picnics at the park, splashing in the lake, and playing with his dog spot, who had met such an unfortunate end, and other scenes which were already beginning to fade.

As he yawned off the last remnants of drowsiness, an envelope icon popped up in his field of vision. “You have one new message. Read?” an automated voice asked.

“Yes,” he replied, and words began scrawling themselves in his view:

The Green Gateway has been found. All agents please be ready to depart by 0800 hours. Meet in the hangar.

Orin couldn’t keep the boyish grin off his face. The hanger...that means we’re taking the...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The blades of grass cowered, oppressed by the streamlines around the landing jet. Its sleek obsidian-hued surface gleamed cooly under the hot sun. After its elegant contours finally slid to a stop, the hatch door on its side lowered, allowing the energetic agents to exit.

They shuffled out, greeting the scene with huge grins plastered upon their faces. To one side stood a forest whose luxurious green foliage shimmered in the bright sun. On the other side was a green sea of grass as far as the eye could see.

“According to the readings, we’re at the Gateway.” Wraith commented, his brows furrowed.

The agents exchanged perplexed looks. “But there’s nothing here but nature...”

“All you need is nature and will,” an unfamiliar voice said. All the agents turned abruptly towards it.

A handsome dark haired young man in a fitted black and green costume stood in front of them, surveying them with marked interest.

“Kyle Rayner, I expected as much,” Father’s voice murmured over the neuro-link.

“Are you an agent of the Chromatic Witch?” Orin asked, his hand inching towards his phaser.

The young man smiled. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” As he spoke, he held up a fist towards them, from which a green beam of light shot out, expanding as it approached. It surrounded the group and formed into a translucent green box.

In the middle of one side of the box were some transcribed some characters:

GP1.doc

In the middle of the opposite side was an image:

GP2.doc

Wraith put his hand up to the translucent green wall and felt its resistance. “Looks like we’re going to have to figure out how to get out of here.”

The young man smiled and nodded. “If you do, I’ll be waiting.” Then he turned and disappeared into the forest.

[Yoruichi-san]

An ambitious Agent OmegaScales provided the final push that allowed the agents to make it to the top. Agent Flamebirde placed the key in the lock and it turned with a very satisfying click. Grinning excitedly, he pushed the hatch up and raised his head and shoulders above the opening. Closing his eyes, he allowed the warm, welcoming sunlight to drench his skin. Then he opened his eyes, and...

"Holy ****!" he interjected, hastily ducking back into the burrow just in the nick of time, as a front of smoldering air swept over the agents. A few that managed to keep their eyes open caught a glimpse of the furious red-orange wave from whence it was emitted.

"..." Captain Wraith slowly moved his agape jaw as realization dawned on him. "You've got to be kidding me..."

Task: Defeat the enemy army, neutralize the dragon, save the Princess from the tower.

Notes: The enemy army is not drawn to scale. There are twice as many enemy soldiers as agents, they are armored, armed, and highly proficient at battle. The dragon is (more or less) drawn to scale. It is circling the tower and will attack anything more than 10 m above the ground. The dragon's scales are of a substance that cannot be cut by any substance known to man (including diamond). The tower is constructed of a substance that cannot be climbed and cannot be cut. The moat has a radius of 100 m from the tower.

Remember that agents have no specialized training (i.e. in swordplay, acrobatics, etc).

[OmegaScales]

I would like to suggest to find a way to get the army and the dragon fighting each other, though I'm not sure how to get that to happen.

Alternatively:

Can I summon a slab big enough to drop on and take out all the enemy soldiers? Or repeatedly do that until they're all taken care of?

If that would work, I also have a couple ideas on how to take care of the dragon, but I need to know how large it is first...

I'd like to hear other's thoughts on the former before deciding what to do.

[phaze]

Turn the picture upside down

As your agents are not drawn in the picture gravity can be thought of as affecting you but it does not visibly affect any of the pictures. As the princess is now at ground level she will not be attacked by the dragon. As the enemy army and Crocodile infested moat is now 300m above ground level they become targets for the dragon. The armoured enemy soldiers the dragon should make short work of however the crocodile infested moat present another challenge entirely. After the dragons flame is put out by the moat you have achieved your aims of defeat the enemy army and neutralise the dragon. Scaling the building will now be that much easier as it is no longer 300m off the ground.

[Yoruichi-san]

The creative agent phaze had some clever ideas, but unfortunately they did not follow the rules that the Witch had set forth here (and in the post after it).

The agents could guess the size of the dragon to fit within a 300 m box, judging by the scale of the tower, but any further attempts to approach it with a measuring tape would result in the measurer being promptly incinerated.

[flamebirde]

Can I summon St. George?

No, but seriously. My suggestion is to clothe one person in fire-proof armor and protect him from afar with whatever buffs we can give him. could we summon a pit for the soldiers to fall in?

EDIT: better idea! summon a giant magnet to get all the soldiers' armor and weapons!

EDIT2: catapult which throws a poison ball which explodes when it hits the dragon, creating a poison gas around the dragon.

Edited August 29, 2013 by flamebirde

[OmegaScales]

The agents could guess the size of the dragon to fit within a 300 m box, judging by the scale of the tower, but any further attempts to approach it with a measuring tape would result in the measurer being promptly incinerated.

That ends my idea of sealing it in a box.

Can I summon a large chunk of meat laced with sleeping pills? Or would the dragon just burn it to a crisp, not eating it?

I don't think there is any way to get the dragon and soldiers fighting each other, so I'll go with my second choice.

[phaze]

In that case summon an earthquake such that it causes an 11 meter high tsunami in the moat

Someone better quick summon some life-jackets...

[Yoruichi-san]

The agents floated some very creative ideas around. However, the Witch was in the details...they had to summon objects that fit into the rules of the round. For example, one agent wanted to create an earthquake, but that was not an object itself that could be created, but it was a phenomenon that could possibly be generated by creating other objects? And they had to remember that each agent could only summon one object at a time, and only objects that could be easily described in a word or two (not complex contraptions designed specifically for the task...although they could combine simple objects that different agents summoned into a complex invention if they so desired). Whatever they decided to try in the end, they had to summon it with the power of green.

[Brainy Binary]

I like to order (in priority):

Pegasus (the winged horse)

Vorpal sword

[flamebirde]

summon giant cylinder then slam it into the ground.

[Yoruichi-san]

The clever and ever resilient Agent Flamebirde summoned up a giant cylinder (made of some dense material), which fell to the ground and created a pseudo-earthquake, displacing much of the water (and crocodiles) in the moat and 0incapacitating the soldiers.

Agent Omegascales, though hesitant at first, finally decided upon summoning up a giant piece of meat which was laced with a sleeping potion Agent phaze conjured.

Having successfully dispatched the enemies on the level, the creative Agents of Sector Lambda only had one last task: to climb the tower and rescue the princess.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alright, great ideas, let's see if we can finish this episode up , the next one will be somewhat easier, puzzle wise, and maybe a little lighter hearted...or maybe not .

[flamebirde]

create a square pillow with 100 meters a side and 10 meters tall as close to the tower as possible and shout to the princess to jump to safety!

[Yoruichi-san]

“Help!” the Princess’s voice rang out from the tower. “Someone, help me, please! I was captured and imprisoned her by the evil Witch! Please, someone, save me!”

The ever intrepid and tenacious Agent Flamebirde smiled brightly and summoned up a giant pillow for the princess to land on. The copious skirt of the princess's pink gown also served as a parachute to some degree, gathering air and slowing her descent.

Kyle Rayner, Green Lantern - DEFEATED!
******************************************************************************************************

She wore an airy pink gown with a modest bodice that was amply adorned with lace and ribbon. The sunlight streaming into the tower through the window created a halo around her hair, which cascaded down around thin shoulders in golden waves. Uncertain blue eyes stared at the agents through long dark lashes.

Orin frowned. There was something strange...strangely familiar about this woman.

“It’s alright, you’re safe now,” Wraith accosted her in a reassuring tone. He slowly took a small step forward and held out his hand to her. “We’re here to rescue you.”

The Princess timorously extended a fine, porcelain skinned hand, placing it inside the Captain’s, tentatively at first. Then, encouraged by his confident, friendly grin, she clasped her delicate fingers around his and gave him a pretty, affable smile.

Abruptly an image appeared in Orin’s mind. That same porcelain face, but sheathed, with the glare of intent in those piercing eyes. “Wait,” he cried, reaching out…

...Not quickly enough. The glint of a blade peaked out from under the pink drapes of the Princess’s dress just for a second before it was plunged into his Captain’s side.

With a roar, Orin summoned up a short sword and swung it wildly at the Witch, who adeptly hopped back to dodge it. The golden-haired young man knelt down and elevated the Captain’s shoulders onto his.

The ‘Princess’ form dissolved in little squares into a green silhouette, uniformly amorphous except for that pair of intense, scrutinizing eyes. Then gradually, having expended the last of the Gateway’s power, the green form itself began to disintegrate.

“I’m alright, I’m pretty sure it missed all my vital organs,” Wraith’s voice came hoarsely as Orin helped him to his feet. Grimacing, his glance went to the Witch’s now disembodied eyes, still staring at the expression of concern on the young man’s face. For a moment, just a moment, he thought he saw something there, something he didn’t quite understand...and then they too, were gone.

He shook his head. It was nothing, must be the pain getting to him. He winced, turning to his team, then gave them the most cheerful smile he could manage. “Well done, Agents, looks like that’s another one down. Now let’s get back to the command center and celebrate!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the second floor balcony, Father serenely surveyed the revelry of the exuberant agents below. Notes of music interlaced with laughter and cheerful hollers wafted up from the tumult of faces, bodies, and refreshments. Captain Wraith glanced in his direction, caught his eye, and raised a foamy half-emptied glass in salute. Father smiled and nodded.

The great leader turned to Umi, who stood next to him, staring blankly into space as if her mind were lost in thought, or more accurately, computation. “They are developing well,” he commented, “this batch looks promising.”

Umi nodded her small silver-haired head. “Yes, I calculate a 57.8% chance of success based on the data we’ve collected so far. However, given the circumstances of the Witch, I can only calculate it a to a certainly of 73.1%.”

Father sighed, a deep rumble that seemed to reverberate in the space around them. “Yes, we must still be careful, the Witch is...unpredictable. That unpredictability is exactly what makes her so...problematic.”

The slim girl cocked her head at an angle. “Are you not attempting to counteract that unpredictability with further unpredictability?”

“Yes,” Father replied slowly, his scrutinizing gaze traveling to the carousing agents below. “That is another reason we must be careful…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Great finale, next episode should be out this weekend.