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Mutants & Masterminds: Future Imperfect - A Nightmare before Christmas (Simon and Savannah)


Joani

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There are parts of Las Vegas that no one really ever gets to see. Parts that even mutants who were trying to hide avoided. Simon and Savannah didn't really know about that, they were just seeking shelter and some time to gather some food and then see how to move on. So far Las Vegas has been kind to them. The local homeless shelter served warm food every tuesday and friday and had warm blankets and even some shoes for those in demand.

The two young mutants had found an old abandoned warehouse where they already managed to make themselves comfortable. It looked like this years Christmas would be a merry one for a change.

Simon was about to fetch something downstairs, a present he had ceremoniously planned to get for his sister. It was tough thinking something up without letting her know. They shared almost every thought, knew what they dreamt and feared. For most of the time they were like one. Simon's plan seemed to be adding up though and as far as he knew his sister had no idea.

When Berta, the local "good spirit" showed up with a package he kindly asked her to stow it somewhere on the main floor of the warehouse without him knowing where. He wanted his surprise to be perfect.

Berta was about to leave when she reached out for Simon's hand. "I know about you two, I know you're mutants but don't worry. There were some men asking for a boy and a girl just a day ago. Creepy men, you know. They were dressed like hudlums but no one had seen them before. I thought you might want to know... I didn't tell them anything but... but I don't know how might have.", she gave him an apolegetic smile before she left the warehouse.

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Hell. There goes a quiet Christmas morning. Simon sighed and let down the weak barrier he'd put between him and his sister's thoughts. Jer, Berta says some suspicious goons are asking about around for two people close enough to us to be trouble. I know we were going to try to stay here through the snows, but we should probably move on, just in case. And...uh...well, you have a Christmas present hidden somewhere in the warehouse. I told Berta not to tell me where it was, so we'll have to hunt for it before we go.

Mentally he took stock of what they had at the warehouse, his sister filling in for what he couldn't see: three blankets, some fruit and ramen cups, a pillow that wasn't much thicker than the blankets, a flashlight, and some mostly burnt candles. Rats had gotten in a week or so ago and chewed through the backpacks they'd been using, taking the candy, crackers, and small bit of cheese he'd traded Jeffrey for a winter coat they'd stumbled on in a dumpster near a nicer part of town. It would have looked better for at least one of them to be in something warmer than a hoodie during the winter, but they didn't need it and Jeffrey did. Besides, they'd shared a Snickers bar and part of the cheese before the rats came, that was almost like Christmas itself.

We'll keep the 'light. Let's bundle up everything else and take it to that Catholic charity center we saw about six blocks from here. We'll need to pick up some new backpacks as soon as we can and they might have some there. He was searching the main floor of the warehouse for the present as they "spoke". It might not be a surprise now, but he'd make sure his sister had at least one present this Christmas, and not just one he made. They needed to move, but hopefully Berta's 'creepy men' hadn't gotten any solid information on their whereabouts yet. Hopefully.

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Savannah sighed, suppressing the brief spike of childish temper she felt like venting, though she couldn't completely hide her annoyance. Not only was she frustrated because this was going to spoil the small Christmas they had planned, but it also meant getting out in the snow. Snow in Las Vegas was rare, but it happened. It wasn't that the cold bothered her.. no, it was the wetness of it all. There was no escaping it.. at least not without revealing their secrets unnecessarily. No, she would have to trudge through snow - on Christmas Eve, no less - until they could find somewhere to hide out that was safe and private, so they could dry off.

It's not *fair*, Sieg. Of all the nights - don't mutant trackers have homes and families too? People they want to spend the holidays with?

Still keeping a small part of her mind walled off from her brother's, not as difficult as usual since her annoyance was doing a good job keeping his attention, she tucked something tightly up into the blanket she was rolling into a ball for travel. She had a Christmas gift for him, too - and while it was one she had made herself, it was made with her own two hands - not her powers. In fact, she'd been working on it for months, during that thirty minutes or so that she usually had to herself in the morning. Simon usually stayed up a half-hour or so later than she did.. usually reading, if he'd been able to get ahold of a book recently. Perhaps it had to do with their elemental affinities, but she'd always been more of a morning person, and he'd always been a little more of a night owl.

Oh, forget I even suggested it. Gods know mutant trackers hardly qualify as real people, anyway - no doubt they have nothing better to do. I'm almost done here, did you find it yet?

She purposefully kept her thoughts pulled back from his, at least enough to keep her mind out of the details. She knew he had to have planned it carefully, but just because she knew there was a secret didn't mean she had to know what it was. She knew how hard he had to have worked in order to plan it.

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Simon finally found the rectangular package tucked inside one of the rotting cupboards that were still half-full of discarded tools and bits of metal. It was wrapped in red and green plaid wrapping paper; the shiny sparkle of the paper was almost absurd inside the derelict warehouse. He smiled, Thanks, Berta. I'll miss you.

Found it. You should probably open it now, since it'll look strange if we walk into a charity center with a wrapped gift. Meet me downstairs and we'll do that then leave? He pulled the package carefully out of the cupboard and made his way to the bottom of the concrete stairwell. They might not have a real Christmas this year, but they'd at least have a moment.

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It didn’t take long and the two young siblings had their stuff packed and were ready to leave. Savannah had even shed a tear as they left, she had really liked Berta and the thought of leaving the place made her sad and angry at the same time. It was unfair – life was unfair and living like this could barely called living at all.

Simon had his mind on the task at finding a new shelter and what he saw and heard around him didn’t find his approval. Police and fire trucks were chasing down the avenues and people seemed to run for their homes, trying to lock themselves up and shut out the madness on the streets.

They didn’t get too far when Simon saw a huge police Anti-Riot truck pulling in their street with speakers blaring to the citizen to remain calm; Mutants were supposed to cease any resistance or they would be forced to open fire on them.

What had happened? Had hell broken out? There was still time to find a hiding place before the anti-riot vehicle was too close but people would probably be searching for them... what to do?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Getting out had taken priority over opening presents, and luckily both of the packages they had were small enough to be stowed in the makeshift bags they'd put together from the less ratty blankets. This is bad. What has been going on...? Surely this isn't all just from us. We're not that important.

He pulled Savannah a little ways back into the alley they'd be coming out of and waited for the truck to pass by. No time for the charity, and I'm not sure they wouldn't turn us over just to make sure we weren't mutants. What do you want to do? We can try to sneak out of the city, take refuge in the desert for a while or something; we can try to hide. We could also try to muscle our way out, but we haven't ever really put our powers to the test like that and something already has the police riled up.

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She shifted her portion of the bundle slightly onto a shoulder, easing the weight of it. She'd picked the heavier one, knowing Simon would have to struggle with it a bit more than she would, and time was of the essence right now.

We might be able to, but I'd rather not risk it. Let's see if we can get out of the city. I'd rather go hide out in the desert or something till we know what's going on. Maybe we'll overhear something on the way out of town?

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The Twins were just making slow progress. The police was everywhere and were starting to spread out in teams of 2 to 4 to check out the buildings of the immediate vicinity. From the looks of it they were trying to chase out all possible Mutants and then slowly ´herding´ them towards the MIC. As they checked their options Savannah could make out 5 small dots in the air above them which quickly approached their position – it was hard to tell what they were since they seemed to be too small to be actual aircraft, maybe missiles?

Click to reveal..
Notice vs DC 20 to get a better description of what those 5 dots are in the air – if Savannah notifies Simon he can make a roll, too.
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Savannah's gaze flickered up as Simon's searched the ground. Then her fingertips reached down and brushed his lightly, drawing his attention without speaking.. aloud, anyway.

Hey, what's that? Up in the air - do you see it?

Click to reveal.. (Notice Roll)

Accidentally rolled twice cause I didn't understand how it worked. Ignore the second roll. Hope I did this right.

Roll: 18 +7 Modifier -20 DC = +5 PASS.

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Simon's attention had been much more on the ground units herding them than the sky; his eyes flicked upward at his sister's silent comment, but he saw nothing.

I don't. C'mon, we should get moving, either way.

Click to reveal.. (Perception Roll)
I also ended up rolling twice as I messed up the DC on the first roll. I've got the hang of it now, though, so I should be fine going forward. smile

Roll: 2 +10 Modifier -20 DC = -8 FAIL.

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