"The MCB is the Monster Control Bureau. It is the U.S. government agency which is in charge of dealing with serious supernatural threats as well as supervising the issuance of PUFF bounties. They also make sure that such things do not become public knowledge and are very ruthless about it. The German bureau, as you might imagine, has a long winded, latched together title which I will not bother to teach you. You would neither be able to remember it nor pronounce it anyway. It's just our MCB. PUFF is perpetual unearthly forces fund. It's the source of bounties for private organizations to collect from when they eliminate supernatural threats. The one in the U.S. was established in the late 19th century by president Roosevelt. On the continent, they were generally a matter of royal grants. "
"I know you're old enough to understand what's going on, so I won't try to do that thing where grown ups pretend you don't know a thing. Is there anything I, or we, can do for you? I mean, you know, other than get you home."
The girl pulls her nose from where it has hidden in the crook of her elbow, turning to Gemma. No, you don't have to burn them, too. Just burn me. I'm the one who did it. I was outside the per-im-eter. It was my fault. Just burn me up and don't hurt my mom or dad.
Gemma looks a little alarmed at that.
"Burn them? No, we aren't going to burn them! Who the heck told you something like that? I don't care what perimeters you were out of, no one is getting burned. I'll tell you a secret, me AND Cooper are both scared of fire. But wait-- really who told you they were gonna burn your parents?"
"Man, the government really loves their acronyms. Tell you what I'll never understand, though, is the perpetual unearthly forces fund. How're they unearthly? Some of the things that get bounties put on them have been on the planet longer than our species." Cooper shakes his head in disbelief as he draws a hand up to his forehead. In one smooth, practiced motion, he tugs his hat up and runs a hand through his hair before settling the former back down again.
"I dunno. How'd you get into the bounty hunting business, anyway? You ex-military? Some kinda crazy special ops guy?"
Hailey's brow furrows listening to Maddie talk about burning of her parents or her. "Gemma's right, I can tell you that I'm pretty scared of fire too, unless it's in a barbecue or fireplace." She smiles a bit, trying to let the girl feel a bit more at ease, or at least as much as she could. "I tell you what, how about we make a deal. If you can help us figure out a bit about this mystery by answering Gemma's questions, I'll see if I can make you your very own charm to help against fire? That sound fair?"
She smiles a tiny, tiny, bit, and says, "I dont' really understand. You guys look like bad guys, but you talk like good guys. Are you really going to take me home? I will answer questions if you will take me home. Ask away."
Hans, being rather showered in blood, tries to avoid getting the attention of the little one and won't speak to her.
Annurian scratches the back of his head. I look like a bad guy?, he thinks, looking at her with a mix of confusion and piety. Finally he speaks.
Where's your home? Who are your parents?
Although he can cross her information with what was told to him before by the organization, he's mostly curious to hear how she'd answer that.
"The only reason we are here is to take you home," Gemma assured the girl. "Wait, we look like bad gu--- nevermind." A quick glance back to Hans made her not ask about how the girl got her own opinions of their merry band of heroes. Between him and the guy who had been on fire not to long ago, she didn't need to ask.
"Right, so, lets start with the basics. Are you hurt in any way? Did they do anything to you?"
Gemma keeps her attention on the girl, in part to ensure she doesn't miss a word of what she says, and also to avoid looking at the fire they were studiously avoiding as best they could.
As she gets answers, she asks more questions, making sure not to rush the girl, and skips over questions she seems uncomfortable with. Well, more uncomfortable than she already seems, anyways. She keeps the tone conversational to keep it from seeming like an interrogation.
"How many people did you see while you were taken? Did you know any of them?"
"Did anyone try to talk to you? What about? Did they ask anything that seemed odd?"
"Did you happen to overhear anything you thought you shouldn't?"
"What's the first thing you're going to do when you get home?"
"Are you hungry? Because I'm starving. if we both whine, we can probably make them stop for some drive-thru on the way home."
Seeing the way everyone keeps eyeing him he mutters "I really need to bring a package of baby wipes along on these missions. "
Where is your home? Who are your parents?
"I live at 103 Peg Shop Rd, Keene, NH 03431. My Mom is Margaret Vanderbeek Collins and my Dad is Arthur Collins.
I’m not hurt, I’m fine. They said that if my Grandpere would do what they said that they would let me go home, and if not I was going to grow up in a hole. I thought it was like Penny from The Rescuers, which I watched on Netflix when I was sick one day."
"How many people did you see while you were taken? Did you know any of them?"
"When they grabbed me and threw me in a van, there were four men in the van, but I couldn’t see their faces because they had masks like on TV. Then there was also this guy, (pointing at Renfaire) who says his name is Dark Cloak, and he bossed them around. But mostly he was nice to me, and he gave me chocolate pudding from his basement. I’m not sure it was his fault really, because he would talk to someone downstairs who seemed to be bossing him."
"Did anyone try to talk to you? What about? Did they ask anything that seemed odd?"
"No one else was allowed to talk to me, and the other men mostly talked funny like they were from Eastern Europe. I know Eastern Europe because Grandpere is on a committee that makes him go there, and he was in the Crane last year to check on some things and we went."
"Did you happen to overhear anything you thought you shouldn't?"
"I heard a lot of deep singing from outside. Lots of songs like some kind of weird Spotify playlist, but all by the same low voice. And like I said there was the boss, who would sometimes yell at Mr. Dark Cloak"
"What's the first thing you're going to do when you get home?"
"I am going to check on my dog Arnold and make sure he has water, and then I am going to give Elsa a hug. Elsa is my nanny, just like in Frozen. Except no magic. But she has the hair and everything. Last year for Halloween she was Elsa and I was Anna. She is from Sweden. My Nanny is."
"Are you hungry? Because I'm starving. if we both whine, we can probably make them stop for some drive-thru on the way home."
"I would like some of those cheesy potatoes from Taco Bell, because no one would let me have them."
"I really need to bring a package of baby wipes along on these missions."
Cooper, ever the helper, tugs his hat off of his head and digs a hand deep inside of it. Deeper than should be physically possible, actually. But then again, he is a self-professed wizard, so this can hardly be too much of a surprise. After a moment, he hauls forth a few Wet Wipes and offers them out to Hans with a bemused smirk.
"Surprise! Most of being in my line of work is being prepared, so..." He trails off and gives an amiable shrug, before settling the hat back on his head again. At the child's comments regarding someone being the "big boss," he looks over to Renfaire and quirks a brow. "You want to tell me something that might help you not get outright executed? Because that's what the Wardens are gonna do, y'know."
Gemma ruffles Madeline's hair and gives her a big smile. "Oh, we are so going to Taco Bell."
She hid the concern that the girl's answers had brought up. They found two guys, but she was taken by four, then there was a boss guy... Too many bad guys in the world. Not enough good.
"You know, Cooper is actually real good at singing 'Let it Go'. Yup. I make him watch the movie all the time at home with me. He'll pretend he cant, but he can even hit the high notes," Gemma started. Casual conversation seemed best at this point. If more questions needed to be asked, surely they could be asked later when things were less stressful. As it was, they knew more now then they did before, so that was a start.
Hans, looking rather bemused takes the wipes "Thanks. ". He'll open the packs and clean up as best he can.
Hailey quirks an eyebrow at Cooper as he reaches into the hat, "Dimensional Pocket?" She pats her jacket pocket, "Handy little things, aren't they? If you've got soda water in there, it'll help him out more, especially if it's cold. Colder the better."
She turns back to Gemma and Maddie talking and gets a surprised, pleased smile on her mouth. "Smart cookie, isn't she? Maddie, do you know what they wanted your Grandpere to do?"
"Yep," Cooper replies cheerfully to Hailey as he straightens his hat on his head with the ease of long practice. "My dad always said to never leave home without one!"
"'Fraid I can't help with seltzer, though. Hadn't really expected to deal with a guy drenched in gore today, but I'll make sure I add some to the list when we get back to civilization."
Hailey gives a small crooked smile at that. "I'll make sure to throw in a change of clothes for our friend too."
The girl does not, in fact, have any knowledge of their demands on her grandfather, only that they weren't at all nice about it.
Your peculiar team skirts the fire and makes its way through the forest to the extraction point, where you find a black tactical van and a waiting Agent Fowler in dark grey fatigues. He gives you a verbal sign, and you reply with the countersign. As he recognizes you and the girl, he swipes two fingers on his right hand over the back of his left hand, and you hear a whirring sound as a barrel retracts into what appears to be some sort of communications array on the roof of the van. He ushers you into the van and climbs into the driver’s seat.
Good work, team. I assume there is no one in pursuit? And is the girl alright?
Once you reply, he puts the van into gear and accelerates onto the logging road, driving down out of the hills and by the time he gets to a state highway the girl is asleep. Fowler drives at high rates of speed, getting you back to Boston by about 3:30 A.M. He pulls into underground garage of an office building. There, you have a chance to shower or otherwise clean up before having to deal with individual debriefings. By the time you finish, it is 7:30 A.M., dawn has come to Boston, and a new day dawns.
Each of you is issued a wristband that looks like a fancy Fitbit with a text interface. They display text messages and vibrate to communicate with you, and you can trigger them to turn your voice to text for communication in the other direction.
”These are your new leashes,” says the tech who fits them on you, an attractive blonde named Sharon who could be anywhere from 35 to 50. “They are as tough as we can make them, and each is customized to interfere with your abilities as little as possible. Annurian, yours has a Tungsten shell, which should be hard for even you to melt. Hans, yours flexes and stretches to accommodate size changes. Cooper, yours is shielded in minor ways, but any major mojo is going to screw it up. There are four duplicates in there for when you need back ups. Gemma, yours is fairly straightforward, all plastic and carbon fiber, no iron, and I threw in some different colored bands in case you want to coordinate with an outfit or something. Hailey, yours is, well, pretty normal, I guess.
Keep them on you at all times, try not to disintegrate them, etc. If you need a replacement or need to get in contact with us, you have our secure number and your code names.”
And then you are all unceremoniously dumped on the street. You are at 10 Causeway St, Boston, MA. It is 7:30.
Good work, team. I assume there is no one in pursuit? And is the girl alright?
"Yup. And we are going to Taco Bell. Ah-bup-bup-bup, no arguing. We. Are. Going. To. Taco. Bell. You wouldn't want to disappoint a hungry little girl anyways. And Madeline wants to go, too."
About every 20 minutes, Gemma reminds them all that they are going to Taco Bell.
~ ~ ~
Gemma, yours is fairly straightforward, all plastic and carbon fiber, no iron, and I threw in some different colored bands in case you want to coordinate with an outfit or something.
Gemma squeals with delight at the customization options. "This is awesome! Cooper, go away, don't touch mine. If you blow it out, you owe me dinner." Gemma inspects the device and shakes her wrist around. "What's it do, anyways?"
~ ~ ~
Gemma looks around, trying to orient herself to her location as she's dumped off onto the sidewalk with the others. "Rude," she grumbles as she hikes her purse up on her shoulder.
"You know, there's a yoga studio on Cambridge and Staniford. Like, five minute walk away. Team bonding? Yeah?"
Gemma's uniform of yoga pants and uggs would suggest her wardrobe is filled with the like. It probably isn't to hard to imagine her waiting in line at a Starbucks.
"Oh! And there's a Starbucks a few blocks west of that!"
Yup.
Cue travel montage including trip to Taco Bell.
7:30 am
Now in the streets of Boston, Annurian touches his "leash", a little sad and confused.
Well, I wouldn't want to melt it anyway. - he says, jokingly, before giving a smile to the others - ... I have no money in me, Gemma - but wouldn't mind the walk anyway!
He looks just like a hobo, and the type of person the baristas would push away of their Starbucks. Yet, he was probably the sweetest old man in the city.
Good work, team. I assume there is no one in pursuit? And is the girl alright?
Cooper waits for Gemma to finish declaring their intent to go visit Taco Bell, before he pipes up. "Yeah, we're all set. But we did make a friend along the way. You, uhh. I mean, I don't know what your policy is on magical lawbreakers, but I've got some people I need to report him to. Unless you're going to up and disappear him or something." He has no qualms about letting the agents take Renfaire, but he does try to keep an eye on the man the entire drive back. If only so that he can punch him in the mouth if he tries any more spellcasting.
”These are your new leashes,”
When they get back and get a chance to clean themselves up, he joins the others and frowns down to the odd Fitbit. "Leashes" has some connotations that he is not particularly thrilled about, but he keeps those thoughts to himself. As he draws a hand up to scratch at his chin thoughtfully, he comments, "Yeah, that's fine. I'll see what I can do to add to what you guys have done. This thing isn't gonna get fried if I grab the remote from across the couch, is it?"
And then you are all unceremoniously dumped on the street.
Later, when they are dropped off on the street, Cooper twists from side to side to stretch his back. He gives a brief wince before straightening up again with a grumpy glance around. "They could've at least dropped us a little closer to where we parked. Well, whatever. I'm feeling Starbucks more than yoga right about now, anyway."
With a look toward Annurian, he has a thought and reaches out to clap the old man on the shoulder with a tired smile. "Well, fortunately, it sounds like Gemma is buying. Listen, you got a place to stay in town? You look like you haven't shaved in years, bud, and we've got a couch if you need it."
Of course, your participation here is voluntary, Cooper, so use it as you will. It will handle minor magics.
With regards to Renfaire, Agent Fowler says: "We will convey whatever you say in your debrief and hand him over to the Wardens if that is the appropriate measure."
"We will convey whatever you say in your debrief and hand him over to the Wardens if that is the appropriate measure."
"Yeah," Cooper replies with a thoughtful nod as he peers over to Renfaire. "They'll get in touch with me if you mention my name somewhere in there, anyway. Thanks for taking care of the legwork for me."
Of course, your participation here is voluntary, Cooper, so use it as you will. It will handle minor magics.
He grunts at the mention of "minor magics" and gives a slow nod. The thing looks to be shielded fairly well, but there is only so much mundane technology can do to combat the toll magic takes. Still, that does not mean that measures cannot be taken somewhere along the line to make up for it. "Huh. A few spare...leashes would be great. Just in case. Hailey'll probably need the same."
We will work up some extras for Hailey.
"I will be getting back to my place. Evidently you have a means to contact me. " as he slips the 'leash' on. He will then flag down a cab and give his home address. Hopefully the cabby with assume he came from a slaughterhouse rather than the sight of a mass murder.
Gemma looks a little disappointed as Hans tries to bail out of their communal coffee date, but turns to the rest hopefully.
"So... coffee then? Most definitely my treat."
I'll do a bit of research.
"Awww, come on, big guy. I was really hoping to be able to get to know you better over coffee," Cooper says with an idle smirk, clearly enjoying the opportunity to poke fun. More often than not, he only has Gemma to trade barbs with and she has far too much ammunition on him. "I guess we'll just have to tell him what a great time we had later, huh? Make him sad he missed it." He does not even wait for Hans to get in the cab before saying this in a stage whisper to the others.
Without waiting to see if anyone follows her, Gemma starts heading south down Staniford Street, muttering over her Google Maps app and how Cooper always ruins it.
Annurian followed Cooper and Gemma, never asking himself if the two wanted some "alone time". He didn't particularly have the social skills to notice this kind of thing anyway... Humans were strange sometimes. Besides, he liked the taste of coffee.
Cooper knows better than to try to peek over at Gemma's smart phone when she is trying to find their way somewhere. By this point, he has fried more than his fair share of her electronics and has no desire to add to the heaping pile. For the moment, he contents himself with following along beside her with at least one of their bizarre group in tow. What they must have looked like to people on the street, he has no idea. Perhaps a few twenty-somethings that have elected to take in a homeless man, if he has to guess.
Gemma continues leading Annurian and Cooper along the roads. It's a little further than she may have made it sound, but not by much.
"So, Anny, tell me about yourself. I already know too much about Cooper. Most of it's boring. You know, except the parts with me in them. Those parts are great."
Hailey smiles at Maddie falling asleep, and adds in support for taking the girl to Taco Bell. "After all she's been through, she deserves a treat."
Hailey looks at the 'leash' distastefully, muttering, "Not how I thought it would be, working for the authorities..." She fidgets with her things, once they're dumped off, trying to get her bearings on where she might have parked her ride. After she realizes that the others have started to move towards the Starbucks, she hustles to catch up.
Hailey looks down at the device again, and remarks to Cooper, "Want to take bets on how long these things last?"
Cooper gives a bemused snort and shakes his head as he peeks down at the leash in thought. "Yeah, not so much. I'm not big on gambling in the first place, but these things aren't likely to last out the week."
He shakes the leash on his wrist a bit before settling his jacket sleeve over the bracelet again. They had said that light magic use would not interfere with the device, but he has his doubts. "Light magic use" tends to be fairly relative. It would be like trying to fireproof a house against both a candle and the surface of the sun. "Especially because that place is run by the government. Don't they usually go for whatever's offered by the lowest bidder? This thing probably won't even stand up to making potions."
Hans makes his way uptown to his townhouse in Beacon Hill. The quaint old town comforts him, gas lamps, small shops, the smell of the river nearby. The place is only 400 years old, but it is as close to home as he can find.
So you live in a place where everybody knows your name says the cabbie, mistaking Hans for a tourist. The townhouse is only blocks away from the original Cheers, like in the TV show. The cabbie chuckles to himself and pulls up in front of the townhouse.
Hans steps out of the cab, paying his bill and looking about defensively, automatically assessing the area. He moves up his stairs and into the entryway, the door closing behind him. As he relaxes, his werewolf senses prick. Someone is in the house.
A voice echoes down the entry hall, "Impressive physique sir. I'm guessing you are the one who turned my Sasquatch into confetti."
Behind the voice, a thick red mist swirls down the hall, enveloping Hans.
.
You see news reports of a mauling by animal of a person near Massachusetts General hospital. As there has been no reports of animals escaped from the Zoo, and the fact that wolves have been extinct in this area for generations, you feel something to be amiss.
You call Hans to get the gang back together, but only get his voicemail. Repeatedly.
It is not a full moon, so that can't be it.
The city is getting into a panic as the reports keep coming of sightings of what seems to be a very large wolf particularly around Boston Commons.