You take the helmet and shove it into Shiver's hands, not really explaining to the group why your taking such a course of action!
"W-what? Um... A-alright..."
Says Shivers as his pale, fragile form puts on the oversized helmet!
...
Nothing seems to happen as you, Martha and Zulu watch the flustered man. You stall and bombard him with questions!
"Um... Y-yes, I feel f-fine... Y-yes, n-nothing Yes, I'm sure..."
He gives a sigh of relief as you offer to give it a go and he hands the oversized helmet over.
When you put the helmet on yourself... You feel a rush of power! You feel energized and ready, as if the universe itself want you to get moving! Its the familiar feeling of magic in your veins!
You try to reach out to Fashionbug, but despite you powers seemingly back by some miracle, you can't find her, or contact her! But... you don't think its because she isn't here... you feel almost like... its being blocked...
VV punches her fist against the ground, leaving a brilliant vermilion double-V on the ground. She then lifts her unconscious foe, assuming he weighs little more than a ton.
“Oh, it feels good to be meself again! I mean, this helmet ain’t me style, but function o’er fashion’ll do for now.”
She lowers the giant. Dragging him won’t wear her down, but she can only lift a one-ton man for so long.
With or without the big guy, VV intends to rescue her fairy and stop the mad doctor Amp. “Where to, Shivers?”
She also thinks to ask Zulu, “Ye know any healing magic? ’Cause if ye do, I don’t s’pose ye’d mind donning the help and patching me up.”
Buckley's giant chest rises and falls as you drag him away, with small snoring noises coming from him all the while.
Shivers still seems to be in chock from the entire ordeal, and jumps slightly as you address him.
"W-well... that d-depends... whats t-the plan n-now...... Ma'am?" he stutters out.
The Madam looks you up and down with an odd look. "I am psychic, not magic, remember? I'm afraid I'm not capable of you... fancy tricks."
The Vixen replies, “Best plan I got’s to head right to Dr. Amp. Unless there’s a place we can check out first, I say we boat o’er to her on the water.”
Shivers wrings his hands.
"B-boat over? I-I'm afraid the only boats are.. Mr. Naylar's boat and Madam Amp's..."
“And?”
If that question needs some explanation, VV says, “Unless Dr. Amp set deadly traps on her own boat, or none of us have a means to steal a boat, who owns what don’t concern me.
“Also, me clothing and me fairy friend may be on that boat. So if it’s docked nearby, we best head right to it.”
Shivers swallows as his eyes dart back and forth.
"Um... well... her boat is one of those new ones... t-the ones powered by coal with the big wheels? A-and n-not to mention she probably has it in the c-cove under the house... w-with the rest of her things... t-the only way in w-would be the house itself!"
The Vixen says, “Then I guess we move to the cove and just check her boat before we go in the house, unless one o’ ye’s a better plan.”
The others look at eachother, having a silent conversation and vote, each person's face in a different degree of panic and resolve.
Martha bites her lip and gives a small nod.
"Your the one who makes plans, Addy."
VV says, “Then me plan’s all we got.”
She hesitates a moment… eyes falling to Martha’s belly, which’ll beautifully inflate with life as long as…
“Martha, I just want ye to know, in case all goes south, we’re still friends. If ye need a place to stay, I’ll help ye. Whatever secrets Dr. Amp got out o’ ye don’t matter. Ye’ve a life in ye—the only fully innocent life among us all.
“I protect the innocent.”
The Vixen sets off to put those words into action…!
Martha gives a slight nod at your words and put a hand on her stomach, before leading the others behind you.
Your small group trudges across the plains, back towards the direction of the house, in mostly silence, Madam Zulu breaking it every now and then with a mutter of an observation. You move quickly, but carefully, even though you have decommissioned both Henry and Buckley, you never know what else Amp could have up her sleeve.
Surprisingly, with no trouble, you find yourself seeing the house in the distance, it's windows closed and curtains drawn. On the hillside leading past the garden and up to the manor steps something lies in the grass, large-ish and still...
The Vixen wonders if that’s her lion… zombified?
She draws closer, stealthily if she can.
The thing in the grass doesn't move as you near, and as you get closer you see that the thing is, NOT a zombified version of a childhood trauma, but something round, and black...
The Vixen edges ever closer. She communicates through her Message power .
Madame Zulu, please protect Martha if whatever this is gets the better o’ me. Whatever ye might think of her treachery and infidelity, her unborn child’s the only one among us who’s truly innocent.
And if I came off as disrespectful to ye, know that I’m sorry for that. Let’s survive this thing so ye can tell Martha’s kid stories about Grandpa Rainsford.
The old give a slight jump as you speak into her mind, but after a second you simply receive a feeling of stoic agreement.
The Vixen moves closer. Her flesh hardens.
You creep closer and closer, the round black thing making no movement or sound. An odd sense of dread seems to slowly fall around you now that you are close enough to nearly touch the thing.
You reach forward, and move the tall grass in front of it to reveal a grisly sight.
Lying on his stomach on the grass is Abbott Minkins, skin pale and eyes glassy. His cheek is pressed against the ground and his mouth open, his spectacles shattered on the ground in front of him, and his hat upside down on the grass a few feet away. His bulbous from is covered with his black dinner jacket like a blanket, something he definingly had not been wearing earlier.
No wound can be seen, though he is lying with one arm under him, and the other pudgy hand gripping a large stone.
Aw… poor guy. How could Dr. Amp murder someone so gentle, so nonthreatening?
The Vixen has a crazy idea. One that will get her close to Amp. Maybe.
She takes the jacket, drapes it over her back, and contemplates the distance to the mansion.
She also examines the now-uncovered body. Maybe Minkins found a key? A way to turn off the dampener? Fashion Bug?
With the uncovered body you can see the cause of death. The white "pajamas" you all found yourselves in is stained dark red on the back, a single bullet hole coming from his back.
Looking over his body it doesn't seem he had anything on him, other than the clothes on his back.
Looking up the hill you can see the large wooden doors of the manor, a distance of about 200 feet.
As much as she hates to do it, VV uses her power to alter her appearance. She looks similar to the rightful owner of the helmet she’s wearing!
She dons the black coat (that was used to cover the corpse), then heads straight to the mansion, hoping her magical disguise will do the trick!
You approach the mansion carefully, and are relieved to find no alarms or traps seem to go off as you approach!
"Buckley" quickly finds "himself" in front of the manor doors!
The Vixen, guised as Buckley, tries the door to the manor…
The door opens with no issue! It wasn't even locked!
You find yourself in the manor entrance way, not a single bit different then when you first entered the building, but seemingly slightly more sinister. Each portrait, mounted head, and stuffed bear seem to look at you with empty, cold, eyes...
The Vixen plays it cool. She needs to find Dr. Amp. Or better yet, her fairy! Can she feel her in here?