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Collaborators is the sixth episode of season 7, The Unsleeping City: Chapter II.
Recap[]
"JJ, apprentice wizard of the Gramercy Occult Society, is busy putting up a brand new set of runes, given that the other ones were mysteriously erased. JJ has got one last shot. He's got advantage on the roll, but at the end of this round, he needs to hit that 17 or higher to hit the DC 25 Arcana check. Oh, God, JJ's got to do it. And again, it's possible this is just like, JJ, won't lose the spell, he'll have to start over from scratch. So, that's the situation you guys are in right now."
"[...] We descend back into the Manhattan entrance of the Holland Tunnel, where the apprentice wizard JJ is currently invisible. I believe he has invisible, Death Warded, Enhanced Ability, Pass Without Trace, Protection from Evil and Good, and Sanctuary all on this dude. Buzzing with some of the most powerful magic in New York. As the rest of the heroes of New York do their best to keep JJ alive and safe long enough to complete this spell."
"Cody has just decapitated a siege devil with the Questing Blade that has chosen him as most worthy. Ricky just healed himself in the back of a Tesla with Ox. Sofia is just crushing the Jersey Devil’s jaw with elbows increasingly soaked through with blood. Bam, bam. As Pete, the tips of his fingers covered in frost from absolutely obliterating an entire swath of devils a moment before. As Iga flies over the railing, engaged with the swarm devils up above."
Synopsis[]
Continuing the events of Trouble at the Tunnel. Apprentice Wizard of the Gramercy Occult Society, JJ Jacobs, has only one more chance to put runes up at the Holland Tunnel to stop the devils from entering New York City before the spell fails and he must start from the beginning, giving the devils more time to overwhelm the Dream Team and possibly enter the city.
JJ has been heavily buffed and warded by the team. He currently is invisible with individual members of the team having cast the following spells on him: Death Ward, Pass Without Trace, Sanctuary, Protection from Evil and Good, and Enhance Ability. Currently buzzing with some of the most powerful magic in New York, the team needs to keep him alive and well.
Kingston Brown, currently in control of a Tesla by way of the Remote Access spell, summons it to his position. He enters the driver’s side and drives over to Cody Walsh, healing him, but not before two swarm devils latch onto the roof of the Tesla. Pete Conlan decides to protect JJ and casts Cone of Cold on the devils back towards the Holland Tunnel, killing all four swarm devils in the area of effect, but leaving alive the much stronger siege devils. Ricky Matsui, upset about Cody “Night Angel” Walsh’s new ownership of the Questing Blade (now dubbed the “Thirsting Blade” by Cody, because he claims it “thirsts for blood”) and now in ownership of the Peasant Sword (which was given to him from Cody after the visit to the Lisowski Box) smites the siege devil in front of him, killing it. He then approaches the Jersey Devil and brutally attacks it. Iga Lisowski continues to fly through the air on what appear to be fake theatrical wires and takes out two of the swarm demons near Cody. Cody, now in ownership of the Questing/Thirsting Blade, approaches the Jersey Devil and attacks it with such vigor that he officially decapitates it. A flame erupts from the neck of the Jersey Devil and enters into the chest of Cody with Bazathrax. The devils become furious at the death of their leader and begin desperately attacking the dream team, attacking Sofia Lee and Ricky. Sofia kills a swarm devil. On JJ’s turn Pete uses a last minute Bend Luck to help. Unfortunately, JJ does not succeed to put up the final rune the first time, but Iga uses a luck point, it doesn’t work again, she uses her third luck point, and JJ still fails. Ricky decides to use his final luck point, and JJ fails once more. This means that JJ must start the whole spell again from scratch.
Cody finishes absorbing the power of the Jersey Devil and feels a strange level of responsibility and power. He turns towards the hundreds of devils on the bridge headed towards New York City and puts on a brave face. He tells them that he’s just killed their leader, and he’s their new leader now, and that one day he will call upon them to save the Queens Center Mall, but they need to go back to Jersey today. The army of devils all stop and look at Cody. They one at a time begin to bow at Cody Walsh on one knee. They then turn around and begin to walk away.
As the gang begins to regroup after the battle, Cody thanks the members of the team for saving him throughout the battle. Ricky pulls Sofia aside for a moment. He admits to her that he’s having a hard time accepting that Cody now owns the Questing Blade and has been so obnoxious about it. Sofia says that she understands, and was hoping for Ricky to receive the blade too, but is hopeful for the future of Cody. A few minutes pass as they begin cleaning up the Holland Tunnel. JJ finished putting the runes up as they begin pulsating. Esther Sinclair arrives, soaking wet after doing her work under the bridge. She notices that Ricky is upset and he tells her about the Questing Blade. Esther recommends that Ricky go ahead of them to the Gramercy Occult Society, and he agrees, leaving quickly.
After Ricky leaves, they finish the cleanup on the bridge while Esther and Sofia catch up on the situation with him. JJ and Cody bond about being new members of the Unsleeping City. Then they all go home.
Two days later, Sofia invites everybody to her home in Staten Island at the Monastery of the Midnight Sun to have a meeting regarding the status of magic in the city and for the Lisowski Box. Kingston and Pete, as Vox Populi and Vox Phantasma of the city receive formal invitations to Staten Island from Esther. The group also agrees to invite a few more people, like Willy.
Pete tries to invite Nod, the Grey Orphan, but is unable to make contact. He decides to visit Nod, the Sixth Borough, in his dreams that night. He notices that it’s not as bright as it usually is. He begins to realize his situation and feel increasingly isolated. Around him the world of Nod shifts. He feels led to the center of Times Square, where he has not been since the events of three years ago. He sees the colors changing around him, and realizes that he is seeing the absence of color in the form of a figure wearing a suit. A voice comes out of the speaker of his phone. The head of the figure turns towards Pete. The voice in his phone says: “Wow, look at all these dreams. Most of these will never come true. I suppose hope is kind of painful that way.” Pete breaks into a sprint towards the invisible figure and casts banishment. Pete realizes that the figure he is running towards is not a figure at all, but the absence of anything. It is a formless, massless thing that is bigger than Nod or the Sixth Borough. Pete has just accomplished the bravest feat of his entire career as the Vox Phantasma. Running towards the figure should have thrown him right in the center of its existence and caused him to die and join the former Vox Phantasmi, but due to his strength as a Sorcerer, he successfully banishes the creature, forcing it to exit Nod. Pete hears a scream coming out from the top of the Empire State Building. Pete flies and sees the Grey Orphan, terribly hurt, as if something has been feeding on them. Color returns to Nod. Pete turns back to Times Square and sees the tv screens turn back on. On those screens he sees “Gladiator. Coming to a campus near you.” And abruptly wakes up.
Kingston invites Willy. Sofia talks to Tony Simos at the Order of the Concrete Fist. He tells her about the importance of personal responsibility, and that he feels that the Vox Phantasma needs to do a better job doing more than just being a spellcaster. He also tells her that he's not quite happy with the idea of merging the Monastery with the Society, but will do what Sofia thinks is best, because she is the chosen one. He says to her "it is what it is." The mantra of the order.
Esther arrives with JJ and Ricky. Iga and Willy also arrive and they all bump into each other at the ferry. Kingston and Pete also arrive, as does Lowell Masters. The group all get on the ferry while Pete catches them up on his dream the night before. He explains to them that the fact that the Gladiator screens turned on means that somebody in the waking world just gave up on their dreams. Ricky asks JJ about his discovery at Columbia with the magical particles. JJ explains that it has to do with the physics of Space-time and the way that things can’t travel faster than light. That this particle he discovered was experiencing instances of time repeatedly at impossibly fast speeds, faster than the speed of light, but only in New York City. He also reveals that he submitted his research to Gladiator for an internship.
The group arrives at the Monastery of the Midnight Sun. They see Sofia, Cindy Wong, Nadia Chandrasekhar, Tony, and Solomon Ojukwu. Kingston is greeted by Cindy, Solomon, and Tony, the last of whom he has never met. Tony also extends condolences to Esther for the death of Alejandro Ortiz and introduces himself to Ricky. He does not introduce himself to Cody or Iga, and doesn’t even look at Pete. Sofia realizes that Tony is going to be in this meeting whether she wants him there or not.
Esther begins the official meeting. She catches everybody up on the events so far. Specifically mentioning the infernal codex found in Hot Topic at the mall, the presence of Lowell Masters, and the achievements of Cody the previous day and Pete.
Lowell exits the bathroom and begins talking about the Lisowski Chest. He has found that the changes on the exterior of the box are a chain reaction of a change of its environment. He brings out the box and once again, the image has changed to reveal Cody and Iga. Lowell explains that the appearance of the city skyline on the box is almost an evolution of the box as a reaction to fighting back against the forces of the entities that are trying to erase or change the box. All eight schools of magic are at work within the box. There are also thematic associations within the box that are legend, myth, stories, history, and time itself. It occurs to Kingston that he and Pete, as the Voxes of the city are often associated with time. Kingston recognizes good in the box. He realizes that he is associated with the present, being in charge of people who are alive and well in New York City and need to be taken care of. Pete is associated with the future, potential, and things that could be. Looking at the box, he feels that it is attached to the past. He asks Iga if there’s a possibility that the inside of the box is changing to be reflective of her ideal past rather than the Black Forest. Iga realizes that the idea of her family’s ideals changing is scary to her, since her whole family is based on tradition. Tony offers to help her protect the box, but she declines, saying she can handle herself.
Esther then asks Sofia to talk about her discoveries with the situation in the dream realm. Sofia reveals that she’s been reading much about deep dreams. She also tells them that she is alarmed there may be many monarchs of Nod, rather than just one. The scroll is stretched out over the table. It shows an anatomical drawing of the Grey Orphan including pressure points of how to defeat them should a fight occur. Sofia expresses her disdain for the diagram but she also realizes that the monastery’s relationship with the dreaming world has been pushed very far since she became the First Fist, and knows that there is a real possibility that people are unhappy with the current relationship between the two. Esther telepathically asks Pete if he wants to share his dream with the monastery- he says no.
Esther begins speaking. She says that it seems likely that a powerful force is ebbing from deeper within dreams. She says that the group should consider an expedition. She also says that it is time to share the resources of the city. By this, she means the voxes, the Lisowski box, and the warriors who will fight for the city. She proposes a research committee to look into deep dreams under the guidance of the Vox Phantasma, bringing together the Order and the Society. Cindy stands and says that it would be the Order’s delight to bring in a golden age of collaboration. The meeting is adjourned in happiness and revelry, including Tony, who applauds.
Kingston notices that throughout the meeting, JJ had a detect magic spell up and has been sweating profusely. He approaches Tony, who is talking to JJ. Kingston tells him that he wants to check in about the collaboration. Tony tells Kingston that though it’s not how he would’ve handled things when he was young, he’s willing to make new changes. But Tony isn’t happy that they’re questioning the scrolls. Kingston gets the vibe that although Tony wasn’t lying, he was clearly putting on a face. Kingston then pulls JJ aside and tells him that they’re thankful for all he’s doing in the city and asks if he’s okay since he seemed stressed during the meeting. JJ tells him that he’s glad to be here but it’s been a lot to take in. Kingston realizes that the reason that JJ was freaking out is because earlier when he was casting detect magic, he detected something magical on Tony.
The rest of the group is still celebrating the collaboration of the monastery and the society. Pete walks up to Tony and tells him to not look at him like that again. Iga reveals to the group that during JJ and Tony’s conversation, she had sent Misiek in to listen. During their conversation, Tony asks JJ why he looked at him funny during the meeting. JJ responds by saying that there were two effects on Tony at the time. Tony tells him to be quiet, but gives him his number, and they’ll talk later.
Knowing that information, the group moves into another two weeks of downtime so that they can find out if an expedition into Nod is worth it. During this time, they all receive a message from Santa Claus (Wally Kugrich AKA Wally Claus), who is in town for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and would like to meet up. During the downtime, Ricky asks Esther to identify the Peasant’s Sword. She finds for him that he can unlock new abilities with the sword when he becomes increasingly more humble. This angers Ricky even further since he now knows that the sword has the capacity to be even stronger than the questing blade if he felt more humble, but his strong sense that he deserves the questing blade is inhibiting it.
Cody, during his downtime, decides with Pete to hang out with JJ so that the two of them can keep him on their side. Cody feels strangely, like his absorption of the infernal energy from the Jersey Devil is pulling him towards New Jersey. Cody plays video games online with JJ over this time, but the two of them never get together physically because JJ is busy at the Society. Cody also finds that his roommate, Josh, who has been unemployed for awhile, has filled out a job application for Gladiator.
Iga decides to take the chest to the Gramercy Occult Society with her daughter, Jessica, in an attempt to get her to see the other strong women in the Unsleeping City. Jessica drags her feet and begs not to go to the society. Iga realizes that Jessica has truly forgotten all about the times her mother has brought her inside the Lisowski Box as umbral energy pours out of her eyes. When Jessica demands that magic isn’t real, Orlando suddenly roars. He and Rovias introduce themselves to Jessica. She immediately changes her mind, blown away, the two of them enter into the Gramercy Occult Society. When Jessica meets Ana and Amelia, she flies around with them together, glad to have met a pair of cool young women. Esther looks to Iga and casts dispel magic on Jessica. Esther also apologizes to Madame Anastasia for insulting her when they first met.
Pete decides to go to an NA meeting and continues growing stronger in his ongoing battle with sobriety.
Kingston talks with Liz Herrera about how he may be going away to Nod for a few days. She tells him that it’s okay, and she’ll be okay while he’s gone. The next morning, Kingston talks with his mom, Victoria Brown. She tells him that the other day, somebody from Excelsior Dynamic Homes came by the building and gave her a business card. He tells her to let him know if anybody else from the company comes by the building.
Sofia tracks Tony Simos deep into the Bronx. His trail goes cold in an alleyway. Tony gets the drop on Sofia and appears right behind her. He tells her he’s finished with her hypocrisy, and if she ever tails him again, they’ll settle it old school. She tells him that she thinks that the order needs to learn better. Rather than the mantra being “It is what it is”, she believe it should be “it is what it could be”. After she says that, Tony pulls his phone out of his pocket, having recorded every word that she just said. He looks at her and vanishes into the night.
Locations[]
Characters[]
The Dream Team[]
New[]
Returning[]
Mentioned[]
- Dale Lee (†)
- Josefina Gatsby (†)
- Hans Fischer (†)
- Alejandro Ortiz (†)
- Josh Mendoza
- Lars and Brita
- Dr. Lugash Primjitzski