Argo sees Persephone out in the bay, on an outcropping of rock, and though it's far, it's close enough to imitate. So she does so, and exerts her will over the forest spirits, and they falter, with the aid of a weave of mystical binding from Incantrix. This is merely a temporary solution, however; Persephone must still get them back under control. But in the midst of the burgeoning storm, Leshy - the voice of her teammate - can be heard, reaching out to her, offering words of comfort and support.

Without her will to guide them, and with her roiling emotions churning within her, Persephone found herself alone on this island, surrounded by swirling waters. The substance that had stuck the fish and other sea life all together was seemingly dormant, but lying atop the water - if it wound up active again, the process could start all over. And on top of that, Persephone's nature spirits began to work their will on the surroundings. Flowers started to spring up through cracks in the beachfront's sidewalk and road. The wind began to roar, buffeting the few who were still left behind and the property in the area, and stray tables and chairs began to tumble in the winds. And at the center of it all, on the island, Persephone saw it again: the water, swirling around her. In a spiral.

There is a funt noise as a harpoon is deployed, and it strikes true, spearing the moss-mass and pinning it to where it is - unable to advance on shore, and unable to full return to the sea. In rage, it lashed out, but Leverage is able to steer the sub expertly, dodging its blows. But the triumph is short-lived, as the Moss-Mass's many eyes and many mouths roar together in song, and this song is... disturbingly alien, washing over the battlefield in an almost tangible wave. It raises the hair (or the lichen) on the backs of your necks. It stirs uncomfortable memories as if they'd just happened, just now.

The seaweed is fully buoyant, and within moments, the civilian stopped panicking. He looks at Leshy. He's out of breath and still in shock, so perhaps he's still scared of Leshy - or perhaps he's still scared in general. But now he has the presence of mind to stop thrashing around. And maybe, just maybe, he's grateful.

The Moss-Mass recoiled from the mystic shield, and Incantrix was unbowed, though a little worse for wear.

The beast didn't roar so much as shriek, a hair-raising noise that stood everyone's hair on end. But Argo's sword struck true; the limb was severed, dissolving into a pile of goo, as the car was freed. The driver wasted no time, and peeled out of the area. The moss-mass turned blinking fish eyes, dozens of them, towards the one that had actually hurt it, and it slammed down with a massive limb, targeting the Incantrix.

The Incantrix focuses through the litany of magical phrases and conditionals and mental states of being, and there are so many, and again, she feels it - that tension where she may be about to lose control. But she keeps her focus, and the disc forms - somewhat unsteady at first.... ... but in the water, Persephone sees the magic forming, and directs a nature spirit to lend its flame to the focused blast. As Persephone does this, she feels the creeping sensation on the back of her neck, as microbes in the water around her are drained - and that is the least harmful thing that could happen. A small portion of her life force is now gone, and not coming back... much like the park. But it works. The beam lances down and the moss-mass reacts in horrible pain, diving under the water. For a moment, all seems calm. ... and then, it lurches up on shore. The moss reconfigures itself, and this close, it really does look like Leshy - uncomfortably so. It is a rotting mass of sea life, of all shapes and sizes, eyes blinking and staring at everyone on the shore, with an alien intelligence that cannot be fathomed. All these fish are stitched together by the moss-life that transformed Leshy, smelling of wet seaweed. It reaches out slimy fish-composed tendrils, and grabs a car - a car with a pair of occupants - and it looks like it's about to swallow it whole.

The spirits obliged, as they often did, as she and the spirits started to push the water to shore. In moments, the boat - and the people on it - were out of danger. A good thing too, because there was a large hole in the back of the boat, and it was taking on water. ... until one of the people on the boat - red-faced and panicking - leaned over the side. He looked and was dressed like he was out for a nice relaxing day of fishing, and he was gobsmacked temporarily by the sight of a superhero - but this was Halycon City, so only a moment. "My brother - he fell overboard - " He pointed, and Persephone could see that yes, not far away there was someone splashing in the water. Grabbing the man's brother could be dangerous, with the way the boat was listing - it could capsize. But he was also out there, alone and without protection...

Despite being built for a woman with four smartfluid limbs bonded with her spinal column, the sub was very easy to pilot once she got the hang of it, and in moments, she was out in Halcyon City Bay. Somewhat primitive holo-tech gave her a bearing on a Big Blob composed of unknown matter - presumably the moss-mass - and a smaller blob of similar matter. There was also a boat that was relatively close to the melee that had stopped moving, that the hologram labeled a viable target of opportunity. The sub also had torpedoes, and enough room to seat many more people than her, if it came down to it...

A combination of Kitsune's very convincing illusion and Argo's firsthand knowledge of the superhero's posture, demeanor and mannerisms helped sell the illusion to everyone present; the crowds of people remembered their better angels and started to resume a more orderly evacuation. The owner of Don't Falafel waved to Akhiro to get inside the truck, as he prepared to start the engine and get off the beach. Kitsune's younger brother obliged, hopping in the back - a little eagerly, but it was the first time he'd been in a food truck.

The roar of Leshy, combined with the display of power, succeeded; it froze in place, unsure of what to make of this newcomer on the scene... the newcomer that was so much like it. And so, it was no longer advancing on the waterfront. However, there was an unintended side effect: Leshy emerging from the underground and charging at the monster caused everyone on the street to panic, because while this was Halcyon City and people here were used to giant weird monsters, there was a giant monster from far away and then there was one that ran right by you. Any kind of orderly evacuation was out the window. People in their cars were starting to move and then stopping as people crossed in front of them. Horns and tempers blared. Someone could get hurt, or worse, at any second. And in the middle of it all - as frightened as anyone - Kitsune saw the familiar face of her brother, Akihiro Satsu, stuck in the crowd...

Shortly after the message went through, Elaine got another one on her personal phone. It was an unknown sender, but she knew, deep in her heart, who it was. The message read: Dear Azavizvedeva; Soon – or already, if your side of the game is not completely incompetent – you will hear about a very large, difficult-to-ignore undersea presence. Because we care for you, despite this quaint rebellious phase, we will give you a warning: stay out of it. Let those fools you think are your friends handle it, or not handle it. It is part of a very complicated plan, and if you interfere with our plans, well: we don't want to escalate things, but since when do parents always get what they want? Hugs and kisses, Dads You have little difficulty making your way to Halcyon City; there's a montage page full of panels of you suiting up and getting ready. You get out there and there are crowds already, people pointing cellphone cameras out to sea, because something is definitely moving around in the water out there. There is, as Kitsune wanted, a food truck… … and then, the thing in the bay rears up, and begins to approach the shores. It looks like a tangled mass of saltwater fish of all varieties – bass, salmon and species not native to Halcyon City's waters – and it's all tied together with some very, very familiar looking moss and algae tendrils. The people in the bay area live in Halcyon City and this is not their first giant monster – they immediately run out of the area, some helping others into cars or onto a freshly pulled up city bus. But if it beelines for the shore, it could make things very ugly, very quickly.

Amanda walked up to the front of the building, noticing a couple of dancers doing some stretches outside. In the foyer, there were some posters being hung up, including a new one: a "potential superhuman aptitude test." These were a dime a dozen and mostly scams, but this one looked like it was sponsored by Vitek, which was a pretty reputable company… Melinda and Jonni stared at each other for long moments, the slight tang of chronal displacement having long since faded… Agnes shrugged. "The workaholics show up early to check books out for the whole semester, and there's never enough because of the silly ebook licensing program, and they need to reserve study rooms and don't trust that they're reserved online so they need to do it in person… yeah. Madhouse." Leshy bid his farewells to his young friends, and trudged off into the woods, having already plotted a path out to Dr. Stantler's. It was a roundabout way, but it would let him pass unseen… "Ooooooh-kayyy," said the potential mugging victim, as Kitsune vanished. "Feh. Superheroes." Sachiko basked in the glory of a prank gone perfectly a good deed done, and then… Everyone's communicators beeped. The communicators were small, handheld devices, ultrathin and with very long battery lives, designed for reliability and concealability more than anything. They did have the option to change the default ringer to whatever the user needed – anything from their favorite musical to a very quiet vibrate to even, for more committed superhero, subcutaneous speakers and microphones. The message was from Athena, and read: Something big moving in Halcyon City Bay Might be nothing but might want to make sure it's nothing CALL IF YOU NEED HELP