Nova Chroma has entered the group chat.

[nashiranpcs]

Who: Nautis and the group chat
What: Announcing the awakening of Nova Chroma!
When: July 17
Where: Any electronic device on your person

> So the hideout's been getting pretty cozy lately, what with all these new Knights awakening left and right. It's starting to feel like a proper home base!
> And you know what they say: when it rains, it pours!
> And after the rain, you get a beautiful rainbow in the sky (oﾉ･ω･)ﾉ★ミ
> Well, we've got a beautiful rainbow now too!
> Your gray and dreary days are over! You can put those umbrellas away ^_^
Nova Chroma has been added to the group chat.
> Please join me all in a big hearty welcome for...Nova Chroma!!!
> That's right, standing ovation!!
> Now if she isn't just the cutest little darned thing I've seen transform on this whole planet, I'll eat my own video card.
> Funny, though, I remember her being a lot older...
> You know, if the Abyss had only had the decency to wait a few years before starting on Earth, then we could have had a team of unstoppable legal adults.
> Tragically, the median age of this team has just dropped back below the legal age of majority.
> Well, I guess life's just funny like that! ^_^
> Anyway, you all should go meet and greet and mingle in the base! It's getting pretty...crafty in there!
> (˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧

NOTE: I won't be responding as Nautis for bandwidth reasons (much as I would love to), but please feel free to use this post for related group chat/text post shenanigans. Go wild!

Comments

[theriflespiral]

[Nova Neos looks at the state of the base.]

[it's honestly all-too familiar-- the bric-a-brac, the hands-on projects, the dozen little side hustles.]

[If it weren't for the fact that Chroma's obviously younger than 18, Neos would wonder if her mother had somehow joined the Nova Knights.]

Ah. ... Hello?

[... Might as well keep a weather eye out while she takes a glance at her shrine to the Dancer.]

[craft_ionista]

“HELLO!”

There’s a small *crash* as Nova Chroma topples out of the back of a storage closet. There’s not a whole lot in there, but what little there was is now mostly in a jumble on the floor as Chroma excitedly rummaged through it all… looking for what? Hassalean artifacts? Useful tools? Craft supplies? Really, just looking for the sake of looking. What untold secrets might the secret hideout hold???

Discarded on nearby surfaces are the supplies she brought to the hideout - a big bag of yarn and knitting projects, a stack of sketchbooks with an assortment of colorful markers and sticker sheets, and her backpack, which is festooned with an array of keychains and virtual pets.

Unconcerned with the mess she’s making of the console room, she scrambles to her feet and bounces toward Neos.

“Hi! I’m Mabel!”
A nearby screen lights briefly with a nonverbal chime from Nautis - the equivalent of nudging Chroma with an elbow.
“Oops! Haha. I mean… Nova Chroma!!” She delivers this last with a “heroic” pose - both fists on her hips, chest puffed out, brow furrowed seriously. Her Nova Knight uniform doesn’t include a cape, but if it did, it really should be fluttering dramatically.

[theriflespiral]

There's a single moment where she stops, and drops into stance, and looks ready to punt a child. Then the moment passes as Mabel-- Chroma-- introduces herself and Neos's heart breaks in real time.

This girl can't be much older than she was when--

No time to think about that. She pauses and thinks about how to respond for just long enough for it to be awkward. "Welcome, Chroma, to our ranks, and well met. I am Neos, for so long as we're here or..."

The thought of Mabel being in the field hurts to even think about. Even Mikhail thought he was safe in the steel foundry. "Or in the field."

[craft_ionista]

“Neos!! Nice to meet you!” She narrows her eyes, nodding seriously. “In the field. Of course.”
Neos seems like the serious type, so Chroma is doing her best to match that energy and make a good first impression. Nautis implied that most of the others are older, though Neos doesn’t exactly look like a grown-up. Mabel can keep up with older teens! Definitely! Piece of cake.
“So… how long have you been a Nova Knight?

[theriflespiral]

She sits down, heavily, on the couch, pulls close a chess table, begins to set up the game, more because she doesn't know any other kid-friendly ways to interact than across a gameboard, at least, not and not tick off Nautis-- she's pretty sure doing floor exercise in the lounge would start the passive aggression. "Since this whole thing started, back in April."

She hums and turns the board so she's playing black. "How much do you remember?"

[craft_ionista]

Displaying some maturity, Mabel starts re-stacking the contents of the storage closet and putting it back, a little haphazardly but approximately in the same arrangement in which she found it.

"Remember? Oh, about being a Nova Knight? Weeellll, in my dream we were all fighting together, against the Abyss! And it was super cool! But... we weren't exactly winning." She hesitates. The overwhelming feeling of her past self's dying wish seems maybe a little personal to share right away. And honestly, the 'you have awakened to your magical destiny and are part of a superhero team' situation in the waking world kind of overshadowed the weird dark dream, and she hasn't thought about it much further than that. "Why? Is there more to the whole mysterious destiny thing? Nautis didn't really answer a lot of my questions."

Her task completed, she follows Neos into the lounge and flops onto the couch. "Whatcha doing? Ohhh, a chessboard, huh? My brother likes chess, but I'm more of a checkers kinda gal." She reaches over and steals the white king, placing it on top of her head instead of in its place on the board. "KING ME!" She laughs at her own joke.

[theriflespiral]

... she'll admit it's a bit funny. There's a hint of a smile on her face. And yet... "I've played fairly often yes. And been told I'm not bad. Not that there weren't other games, of course. But I can't afford an arcade machine, it seems silly to carry one down here, and I think doing gymnastics challenges might be the last straw."

"... as to that, it's as expected." Well. Maybe one day she'll meet someone else who was on the front lines. "I hope you see better ones soon."

[craft_ionista]

"Awww, but the arcade is RIGHT THERE! Though I suppose they would notice if we took one of the machines. I guess we could go back out, if you wanted to play a game. Though maybe not in costume. People might look at us kind of funny." Between Chroma's head-to-toe glitter spandex, and Neos's thick marble armor, they definitely make an... interesting... pair.

[theriflespiral]

"I try to avoid the Arcade while I'm in Knight Mode. Especially after investigating a karaoke parlor while in costume. That was, by far, the most awkward thing I've ever done."

She looks Mabel dead in the eyes. "And I've had to give interviews after competitions starting from age ten."

[craft_ionista]

Mabel's eyes get huge. "Whooooaaa. Are you FAMOUS??? Are you... a PRO GAMER??????" She waves her hands in the air, suddenly overwhelmed with excitement. "I wanna be a pro gamer! Dipper would be so jealous! TEACH ME YOUR WAYS."

[theriflespiral]

"Nope," She says, though the enthusiasm is infectious. "Tae kwon do. Also chess and mathematics. There's a reason I fight barehanded."

[fibrillate]

I'm okay with not getting too crafty right now
But welcome to the team, Chroma!
I wish Nautis would stop focusing so much on the average age of the team... I don't know why it's relevant

Anyway, I'm Nova Pandora
Excited to see what you can bring to the team with a name like that :)

[parillegal]

Do you think Nautis just wants us to feel old...?

[fibrillate]

She's doing an amazing job of it if so!
At least I have some proof that she's not just singling me out anymore

I'm not even that old
25 is a normal age for people to be
Anyone born 25 years ago would agree with me

[parillegal]

I'm not even 25 yet! We're super young and fresh. I like to think I haven't even reached my peak!

isn't she like a million years older than us???

[fibrillate]

She's probably as old as she needs to be to feel like she's got the high ground
She'll get older when our median age spikes back up above 18
You know, exactly the kind of thing an evil magistrate would do ;)

[craft_ionista]

THANK YOU! Nice to meet you, Nova Pandora!!

It's okay to not feel crafty, everyone has their strengths!! But if you ever need some stickers I can hook you up

Stickers aren't crafting, they're just fun to stick on stuff!

☆.。.:*・・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆

[fibrillate]

Nice to meet you too, Chroma!
My strengths tend to lie more in gaming, as it turns out
Juuust a little different from arts and crafts
But if you want someone who can handle nearly every FPS the city can throw at them, I'm your gal-or-whatever :D

[craft_ionista]

YESSSS
I'm more into rhythm games than shooters but I also love games!
It's so cool that our hideout is attached to the arcade, right??

[fibrillate]

Ohhh, rhythm games, nice.
I don't have a ton of coordination but that hasn't stopped me from trying before.
Maybe we can have a dance-off or something? Really making the best of the arcade space we've got.
I haven't actually tried dancing off against any of the other Knights, even though I've brought it up a couple times.
Got to maintain a reputation for not chickening out!

[kneecapshot]

Hello, Nova Chroma. May I ask how old you are?

[craft_ionista]

Hello!!!

I’m 13!

I’m pretty sure that’s something I’m not really supposed to tell strangers, but since Nautis brought it up I guess it makes sense!

How old are you??

[kneecapshot]

[Thirteen years old? Jesus Christ. He's all for destiny and whatever, but he's really starting to question Nautis' judgement in regards to who she's awakening.]

I'm... much older. How are you feeling about fighting monsters?

[craft_ionista]

THOSE MONSTERS WON'T KNOW WHAT HIT 'EM!

Although I guess I don't know what will be hitting them either, because my power is for powering up other people. So mostly everyone else will be doing the hitting. And I'll be making them SPARKLY!!!!

[kneecapshot]

[Thank God for small favors, he guesses.]

That sounds perfect. I'm Nova Justicar, and I will be hitting the monsters if I have anything to say about it. If you're ever in trouble or need help, you can call me, okay?

[craft_ionista]

Got it!!!

[parillegal]

ooh, Nova Chroma!! what a cool name!!

I'm Nova Glimmer (وᵔ▿ᵔ)و hope we get along great!

[craft_ionista]

omg NOVA GLIMMER that's such a cool name!!!! °☆.。.:* it's nice to meet you!!!!

[parillegal]

YOUR name is cool too! it's great to meet you! well, it'll be better when see each other for real lol

[says the person who may or may not have walked Mabel and her friends to school today...]