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Mud helps Snapdragon to her feet and stays put next to Skull face. It took him awhile to get here, and he would prefer to attempt to take those bullets than anyone else.
As Mud helps Snapdragon up, his hormones slam his heart rate up 40 beats per minute, Snap looks like she stepped out of some celestial chorus and stepped down to earth. Her features, oddly plantlike, are perfectly balanced, just enough off balance for real beauty.
Hotaru purses her lips, "Fine, calling 911. What do I tell them? Clipped by motorcycle or bus? I'll call the your whiskey tango foxtrot after." she calls over once more, as she moves into position to see what Violet was so excited about... then winced. "Motorcycle it is." she says as she's climbing back onto the conveyor belt to get closer once more.
Unrelated... how many frequencies -can- Hotaru talk on at the same time?
"I'm not a dryad," Snapdragon groans, standing up, "Your mom's a dryad"
And then her mind starts kicking back into gear, and she resumes her usual conversational belligerence. "Right, no. Whip, don't you dare call the feds on this. They take Red Skull here in, he already knows way, way too much about us."
While she speaks, she attempts to talk a little bit slower, moving under the hole in the roof to gather sunlight and hopefully shake off her bruises. "Whip!" she shouts, " You're the field medic. Bandage the man already, while we talk."
"Here's how this goes. I've never met you, Skullface, and you don't know me. You don't want to deal with Kid Icarus over there, that's fine. But you're going to listen to me. You're surrounded. I wager I could grab those guns faster than they fall, what with my vines, and hold onto them long enough through the pain for the big guys to knock you unconscious. Then we put the guns back in your hands and tie you up."
"You'll say that plan will never work, for some reason. It might not work, or you might lie. But let's not both take that risk."
"So here's my thoughts. We were called in to deal with what we were told was an extremely dangerous criminal situation. But you've proven much more friendly than any supervillain I'd expect. If you can reassure us—all of us—that whatever malice you're planning isn't likely to kill or cripple any civilians, we'll take your offer and let you go."
"No, I don't expect you to hand over Snowjob—the agreement's been broken, as you say—but we'll need a bit of goodwill to not keep tangling up in your business. Maybe send the guy into a blind alley, or give us a lead on how to take him down. Because we're not going to just let him walk away."
Janice glowers at Whip and the others as she finishes up, shifting her face lines to appear more human and more authoritative.
"Also," she adds as an afterthought, "You're a f***ing weirdo, Mr. Skullface. This "demon" s*** is something else."
Hotaru wasn't angry. She was belligerent as well. Whip's request was sort of... ridiculous. Call the feds, tell them to come here, then leave her alone with the guy who is talking about ruining everything, just by letting go of his weapons. That sounded like something that would play out terribly.
While she waits for a reply to her comments, she whispers to Violet, in her mediocre high-school Chinese, "读我的心" ("Read my mind")
::Don't tell Mr. Skull but he's just given us a major advantage. It's pretty important that we track the ambulance Pulse just called, but not let on in any way that that's what we're about to do. Maybe find out who the EMTs work, track their radio, or I'll just tail the thing myself.
Once he's in recovery, I can be any doctor in the hospital, any cop in the city come to ask him follow-up questions about the suspicious circumstances of his injury. But I've also seen Celerity and Skullface now and I'm good enough with makeup to look exactly like what one of them would if they were incognito, maybe with a trenchcoat and sunglasses. And I've heard their voices which means I can imitate them at least a little.
One henchman who didn't get away means we can interrogate him later, one way or another. Maybe even you read him while I ask hard questions to make him think the bad thoughts. But keep an eye out for that ambulance.::
One signal, to do more she'd need adders.
Skull chuckles. "I seriously doubt you could last long enough for anyone to punch me, let along tie me up, if you grabbed both of them. I do agree it is 'something else' however. I am not the one who interfered in your business, nor did I break our agreement. I am not a villain, nor am I a hero. I am a man who is payed to do certain things that are not legal. I cannot give you any assurances. I can assure you my time in this city is done, my employer was specific that if we had any further trouble with you, I was to abort the operation at hand and leave town. I suspect that 'Plan B' will be much more likely to get people injured. Celerity would have ensured no one came to permanent harm while I was performing my job. You should really consider what you're doing, you're playing in things you don't understand... a chaotic element that causes makes things worse."
He looks at his watch. "We have perhaps, 20 minutes before the police show up from the explosions. I have no further need nor want to fight you, my people, at least those you didn't injure, are away and safe. My employer has another job for me, fortunately he doesn't blame me for the intervention of those such as yourself. My association with Mr. Snowjob is done now that the job is cancelled. I have no idea where he is going or what he is doing, I'm afraid. This is not me attempting to 'snow' you over him." He chuckles softly. "I truly do not know. We are, how do you say it, at a standoff. You are certain you could defeat me. I am certain enough that while you probably could, with your numbers, that you could not do so fast enough to keep something much worse than me from happening if I drop my weapons. Stalemate. Since my next assignment involves leaving this state, and does not involve your icy obsession, I propose we all leave here immediately."
He looks around. "If any of you are looking for work, I might have some in the future, if you are interested. You'd need to develop a more... realistic... view of how the world works, but I believe I've proven that my word is good." He does not seem to include Whip in the offer.
While she waits for a reply to her comments, she whispers to Violet, in her mediocre high-school Chinese, "读我的心" ("Read my mind")** spoiler omitted **
Violet blinks as she attempts to stop the hemorrhaging on Captain Cohort, The Incredible Bleeding Man.
F* me running, finally someone who thinks at normal speed around here, Violet replies to Snapdragon's soliloquy.
That's a good plan. I like that plan. I support this plan. And I know just the place to get hold of some scrubs and medical ID badges.
Violet grits her teeth and tears a long strip off of her scarf, binding the wounds of the downed thug as best she can. It's not much, and its a waste of a three hundred dollar scarf, but it will have to do for now.
"We need to find a way to get him out of this building safely," she says to the room. "There's bound to be an investigation into the building and the damage to the warehouse... but we don't need to be a part of it."
To Snapdragon and Mud: "Can one of you get him out of here safely?"
"And where the hell is Rocket?"
Snapdragon shakes her head. "Less than 20 minutes. Got an ambulance to meet in maybe five. So I'll keep talking fast."
"You already know our response to that offer. We're not quite on the same side here—I just have a lot more tolerance for you than the military. Maybe we don't need to here about 'Plan B', but we do quite a bit of research into suspicious murders, so... keep things as clean as you can, or we might have trouble in the future."
Over a twelve-second span that has already begun, Janice shrinks into a more normal humanoid form, her "unnatural beauty" beginning to fade away to normal human beauty. The form is one chosen somewhat at random—a tall woman, in her 40s, with a still-attractive face tinged by stress lines and a certain severe expression. In place of clothing, she wears strategically-placed leaves. "I'll need to gather my clothes from a nearby alley..." and her voice grows dramatic, "Help, you have to help him! He was crossing the street, but it was dark, and there was nobody else around, so I called 9-1-1 and the sooner we wrap this up the quicker I get this guy to that ambulance."
As she turns to Mr. Skull, she does her best to stand effortlessly, hiding the fact that her strength is still only that of a weaker-than-average human.
"Right, and all recovered on our end. Don't mistake ignorance for lack of strength. Let's finish up. If you don't have contact with Snowjob, we can work with that. Do you have a name, a photo, or just fingerprints and DNA? A P.O. box for his checks, or a place he prefers to meet? Don't want to sound like a broken record here, but we have resources you don't, and any bit of information would be useful in making sure my team has something to do next."
And a thoughtful face, "And, oh yeah, do you have a way of cleaning up DNA here? I don't know if that's an issue, but it doesn't hurt to ask."
Mud sharply inhales when he sees Snapdragon's "other" form. He had seen her that way before in New Orleans and could not get the vision of her out of his mind for weeks. It was like looking at the sun. He blinks several times and turns back to Mr. Skull.
He ignores Violet again bossing him around.
"Umm." Mud starts holding his hand up at his waist. "For those future jobs, do you have a card or something? And is your codename, like, Mr. Skull?"
The man looks from Snap to Mud, and nods. "You may call me Midnight, my true name would be complicated to explain. I'm afraid Celerity is the one who contacted him for me, she has odd friends. I can tell you that his payment was to be wired to an offshore account in the Cayman Islands. As to the DNA, Celerity laced the interior of the building with a gel that burns at 3000 degrees. I was going to ignite it on my way out."
He holsters one of his guns, and pulls from his inner jacket pocket a black and white business card. One side is white and says 'Midnight' in black letters. The other side is black and has a phone number in white letters. "Before you get excited, it's a call service in New York. They take messages for all sorts of people, dentists, doctors, lawn scapers, so please don't go bursting into their offices, they are very nice people who would not know anything." He hands the card to Mud.
Mud accepts the card and simply replies, "thanks. I'm Mud."
He tucks the card in a pocket and says, "I'm going to get your guy outside the building. How far away does he have to be in case your negotiations here go badly, Midnight?" He hops down from the catwalk, picks the guy up like a baby, and starts walking out.
As Mud picks up the stabilized merc and begins to carry him out, Pulse twitches her lips, then whispers. "Vi... should I call the government on this? Whip isn't... okay right now. Maybe she's not really catching the collateral damage and fallout of giving the government access to someone who carries a volcano around..."
"If the gel works as advertised, 10 meters should be sufficient." He stands up. "In which case, I think our business is done? If you'll excuse me, I have places to not be, and things to not do." He begins to walk off down the catwalk unless someone stops him. He keeps one gun in his hand as he does so.
Violet looks at Pulse, frowns, and shakes her head.
As Mud carries the unconscious thug out of the warehouse, Violet looks down the hole. Forcefield up, she turns to Pulse and frowns.
"I'm going in there after Rocket. If I don't come out in ninety seconds, send someone strong in after me."
"Thanks for warning us about the explosion, then. Mud, you ***hole, get back here and give us a hand."
Violet changes course, flies up to the catwalk, and offers Snapdragon a hand.
"Going up?"
Taking Snapdragon by the hand, she lifts the both of them straight up through the hole in the roof, navigating them both away from the building and back toward the bus.
"You doing okay?" she asks as they settle down on the ground outside the bus. Her face is flushed, and she's out of breath. Mustering up her trademark optimism, she smiles and manages a tired laugh.
"You know? I didn't know I could fly until today. It's... exhausting and sweaty."
Rocket comes back out of the hole, covered in frost and dust. He begins, "I was about to catch Snow and this other lady before I saw those explosives and turned tail. What's happening up here?"
Once he's been brought up to speed, he helps get folks safely out of the plant.
. . .
Rocket smiles back at Vi, "And pretty badass. Flying with your mind?
"That's cool alright. I'm glad none of us got seriously hurt, but it's a bummer that Snow got away, and that whatever nefarious work Midnight and crew are doing is still going on."
With a look of competitive pride, he adds, "And I could've beaten Celerity, I know it! I really wish she hadn't gotten away...though I suspect we'll meet them again."
After a quiet moment he adds, "I suspect Celerity's trying not to be found by us now...but in case I'm wrong maybe I should run back to base, and take a long route back. She seemed awfully good at keeping track of me. First though, can someone take a look at my face?"
He takes off his helmet, revealing bloody claw-marks across his face. "How bad is it? I'm a little shaken, honestly. Did anyone else see that demon-thing? I don't even think I believe in demons but yeesh, there's something trapped inside those guns. That's freaky."
Violet manages a cheerful tone for Rocket.
"I guess with my mind, yeah. Who knew?"
As she checks his face over, , she whispers to Rocket.
"Please don't ever hit a normal that hard ever again, baby. Okay?"
As she tends to his face with the first aid kit from the bus, she adds:
"As fast as she is, if she can sense you at a distance, she could cover the city and find you easily enough. If she's determined, she'll do it, seems to me. So I guess it doesn't matter which way you go home."
Rocket's face looks like a pit bull took a bite out of it, while a panther was sharpening it's claws on it. He took 4 out of 14 body. That's the equivalent of being mauled by a pit bull. He's in no danger of dying, but he needs to have good care taken care of him to avoid scarring. If Rocket were normal, he'd be looking at a month or so of healing, although with his hyper metabolism, it's probably a week or so.
The gun guy is in slightly worse shape, he took 6 body out of 12. That's the equivalent of breaking an arm and leg and cracking ribs, with internal injuries. Not life threatening, but it'll be a month or two of healing.
The group pulls out, taking the injured man with them. Skull leaves calmly, walking out the front door. When everyone is out, he pulls a device from his pocket, and pushes a button with his thumb.
At first nothing seems to happen, then sparks start to escape from the walls of the plant. Then molten stone and steel and concrete begins to pour out of the walls as the gel inside them ignites with enough heat to melt tempered steel in seconds.
The building doesn't so much explode as slowly melt in on itself, flames leaping up from the rubble. Within 5 minutes the building is completely destroyed, a pile of molten stone.
Whip, furious at not being obeyed by Pulse, takes off and is not seen again.
Leaving the man near a hospital, Pulse calls in his location once they are away, using his own phone.
Back at base, the group recouperates.
"***hole? Really, Snap? You seemed fine." Mud turns to face Snapdragon. "Besides, Violet wanted us to get this guy to safety." He returns to his path out of the building with the mook.
So many women giving orders. Am I the only step-and-fetch-it of this team? His teenage mind wonders.
Once all the drama had been set aside and everything dealt with she'd gather everyone that was willing back at base to figure out what was going to happen next.
"Well no one died yet at least." She wasn't very good at pep or team talks of any kind. "But with our 'leader' ditching us we'll need to figure out what's next and likely call the others and warn them about her."
"Mud, 'I'm running away, better get real far in case the rest of the team gets blown up' is an ***hole thing to say. And I'm talking through a bit of pain here."
And, later, "Whip was cracking," Snapdragon suggests, "I think she's too used to being an assassin... but, yeah. I'm going to need a *while* before I can go out in daylight, unless someone's got an electric wheelchair I can use. Maybe I should sit indoors and email some resumes. Probably going to need a job, and all that, don't plan on becoming a bum."
If Pulse was able to record anything of the encounter on to a flash drive, she will attempt to get that recording to her uncle, so that he can get it through channels to the "right people."
She writes as detailed an after-action report as she can, and sends it off to Ace through the usual channels. She includes the lack of coordination, the violation of the verbal agreement between team leaders, and the fallout that occurred. She adds links to Paricutin and Yeniseysk. Though Midnight mentioned being in Paricutin in 1994, she notes that the volcano appeared suddenly in 1943, suggesting that this "Midnight" has been around longer than the current estimate of Metahuman history.
As part of her report, she requests the assignment of a new team leader, purposely recusing herself from the role and instead volunteering for logistics and recon.
At Janice's mention of the wheelchair, she immediately orders one for next-day delivery, along with a sizeable order of high-end wigs and cosmetics.
To Snapdragon: "Just because you can shift your shape to look like anyone, doesn't mean you should all the time. Sometimes the old ways are better, especially if people can sense active power use, right?"
To Mud: "I know you don't know me, and I know we had a rough first outing... but... thank you for getting the wounded out of harm's way."
After her reports are done, she makes an enormous bowl of macaroni and cheese, finds a bottle of wine, and retreats to the common room with a stack of incredibly bad science fiction movies.
"Ooh, I like that, Violet. I can be in disguise... under a disguise. I do have quite the training in theatrical makeup."
While recovering, Janice will spend at least a few days working on her resume and sending it out to local and county police agencies, looking for a new 9-5 forensic tech job.
"Mud, 'I'm running away, better get real far in case the rest of the team gets blown up' is an ***hole thing to say. And I'm talking through a bit of pain here."
"I've had enough of the ***hole comments. Any more, and I lose it." Mud replies coldly.
In his head screams, Look, you dumb f***king b***h, and continues in his out-loud voice, "Remember I was carrying a wounded normal in my hands? My question got Midnight to reveal the safe distance of the explosives that he had set, which would have been useful to know if you had provoked him into detonating them."
Mud shakes his head and gets up. As he leaves the room, he mumbles to himself, "where's that card from Midnight? Maybe I can get some f+@@ing respect from him."
"Right, fine, no names. But maybe don't talk loudly about selling us out in front of the bad guys? It kind of gives a bad impression."
Mud keeps walking away from the team during Janice's replies.
It's not selling them out if I can be treated with respect some where else. Mud slams the door after entering his room to punctuate his mood.
He turns on his playstation and tries to forget the team for awhile.
Mud actively avoids Janice.
At the next meal, he quietly sits next to Violet and across from Aegis. "So Violet, you can fly, too? That's cool."
After a pause, he changes the subject and continues, "Aegis, what was your conclusion of the after action meeting? How are things going to change without Whip? Do we have any other meta business in the area? I was thinking about finding a college to enroll in but wanted to know if I had the time."
Mud actively avoids Janice.
At the next meal, he quietly sits next to Violet and across from Aegis. "So Violet, you can fly, too? That's cool."
Violet nods sheepishly. "I had no idea I could do that. I suppose it makes sense, though. My barrier is telekinetic. I push things away with it. There's nothing saying I can't push myself, too, right?"
Her voice is hopeful, with a tinge of concern behind it.
To Mud: "You did pretty well out there. I mean, all things considered we were all off our game, right? But you were highly mobile and really handled the stress well. You should be proud. And I'm sorry for shouting, but we really had a badly injured man there, and my boyfriend had just had his face mauled by invisible tigers and then run down a hole without backup. Crisis mode means no time for Polite Violet. Sorry about that."
Realizing she's gone through the entire bottle of wine and still has half her bowl of mac and cheese to finish, Violet retreats to the kitchen and comes back with a mug of tea and a bottle of root beer, which she offers to Mud.
Mud accepts the root beer with a smile and thanks in reply. "I don't know about game... Yeah, Rocket really did a number on that guy, but he was a soldier or a thug. Either way, Midnight paid him to risk his life. So, he kinda deserved it and should feel lucky that he's alive and can choose another career." Mud shrugs.
"No worries about shouting. Everyone's adrenaline was spiking. I suppose I might've been calmer, because I didn't think much of that stuff could really hurt me." Mud shrugs again, which seems to be his one signal of emotion.
He actively avoids the boyfriend topic and continues, "So, what's next? Anything get discussed after I left the party?"
"Not really. At least nothing I could hear from in here. I sent my after-action report, gave my thoughts and suggestions... Came in here to push the day away and clear my head with bad movies, Kraft shells and Pinot Noir."
Violet shows Mud a small sketch pad (one of the same ones she'd been doing uniform designs on before the mission). On it is a small caricature of herself with a cartoon octopus sitting on her head.
"And I've been thinking... maybe the reason that I haven't been able to link our minds up like Ace can do... is that my way needs to be different from his. Trying to imitate him isn't being me. And I need to be me."
"After-action report? What's that? Who did you send it to? Did I need to do one?" Mud was surprised with bureaucracy. No one expects the Spanish Inquisition...
"Would you share your thoughts and suggestions?"
"I can do costume," Janice points out, gesturing to the stylized leaves she wears as clothing in her enhanced-strength form. "The problem for me is more changing out of it, because then I'm naked."
Aegis takes a quick drink from her flask before answering Mud. "Honestly I don't know, Snap talked about having her own hide out so we'll need to figure out everyones living arrangements and with Whip running off I think we should contact Ace and warn him in case she does something that causes more problems and see what advice he has for our next move."
When Mud asks about the after-action report, Violet nods. "We're new at this, so I'm not sure if you 'need' to or not, but I'm used to doing them after spooky ops, so I guess it's habit? I sent one off to Ace. He's the closest thing to a command structure we have right now."
When asked for her thoughts and suggestions, Violet considers her mug of tea for a long moment, then giggles when The Master begins tormenting Torgo on the big screen. She looks to Mud and smiles.
"This film is terrible but I love it. Anyway, I guess... well... I've got perfect recall, so I can give a word-for-word report from what anyone in ear shot says. I don't think he'd expect that from you if you can't do that sort of thing, but I'm pretty sure anything you saw, any sorts of insights you have, observations about the bad guys... or the team? Just... be honest, state your mind, and don't pussyfoot around anything that bothers you."
Violet smirks at Janice's mention of losing her clothes when changing form. "I'm pretty sure there are a few people around here who wouldn't complain. But tomorrow when the wheelchair shows up, we'll go shopping. I know places."
At Saffron's mention of contacting Ace, Violet gives a thumbs up from her non-tea hand. "Already ahead of you. I put it in my report, but I think you should put your observations into your own, as well."
"Key word is 'stretchy,'" Janice adds. "Have you seen my tree form? We're talking Hulk proportions, and I'd rather not shred whatever I'm wearing."
Hotaru grins at Snapdragon, and nods in agreement to Violet, "really don't foresee any of the guys complaining." but manages to not pay any more attention to her than that. "Just buy some of whatever She-Hulk wears." she responds, waving a dismissive hand.
"They all had cell phones, but they stopped moving somewhere along the way." Pulse explains to everyone whenever she gets the chance, while listening to everyone else intermingle business and pleasure. "Either way, we should all write down what we did recognize about these guys... and then either add it to the main database, or create our own. Each person should write out their own perspective of what happened so that we can get a clear picture, untainted by everyone else's perspectives."
Rocket is texted in the middle of the night: It lists several wikipedia links to those things (and several related things) that Violet has - provided by a long list. It also has several links to TVTropes, Youtube Videos, and Imgur interspersed throughout.
She also follows up as Vi did, sending information to the Supers on those she recognized in the fight - The information includes - Celerity = NotSparky, at least not electromagnetic - no changes in powers when disrupted. Skull goes by Midnight, has two guns, transformed allies - made one ugly and possibly scarred, made one extremely hot - for a plant - not a dendrophile, so not positive. Dropping guns is problematic and may result in terrible things happening, apparently volcanoes and monsters. Old enough not to remember things from a century ago very well. Mission was a failure, and whatever was going on may be much, much worse now. Have a number to contact Midnight through via Mud, however.
Janice adds some tactical information to the report—none of the mercenaries had much interest in killing, and Celerity's speed seemed to come in distinct waves, with possible moments of vulnerability in between.
Mud sits quietly next to Violet watching the movie. He tries to understand why she likes it. He's the last to leave the room, since he doesn't need to sleep.
In his AAR to Ace, Mud provides his perspective which repeats much what has been sent already. Mud adds that Midnight was very professional and suggests hiring him on a full time basis. He includes his call service number.
Then, he finds a computer to start googling local universities searching for entrance requirements. He concludes that a community college might be the best place to start. Easier to build up an identity. Less risk if he misses classes or is forced to disappear. If he can put together a year of successful courses, he could try to transfer to a bigger school.