Archive Mutants & Masterminds: The Magisterium - [1-Interlude] Reunion

[Fahrenheit]

"Who's Horus?" Mary wanted to know, a trifle timidly as Fahrenheit was still putting out a tangible aura of menace, at least to her perhaps oversensitive sensibilities. She grasped that Lamia was the fire-woman's mother, but hadn't noticed her reaction to Tengri.

The menacing Novus looked down at Mary and hesitated for a moment. Her anger was still saturating the air around her but she lowered her voice a little trying to sound... friendly, if that was even remotely possible to her.

“Horus... is an old friend of mine. He... was the leader of our armies when we fought against the uprising infidels.”, Fahrenheit looked at the large Bird-like Mutant Tengri and nodded at him.

“He reminds me of him. His pride and serenity are both traits I valued much... but he is not him. I think...”, there was a brief moment of confusion on Fahrenheits face, as if she was struggling with her memories. Her eyes burned with intensive fire increasing the heat around her by another few degrees.

Suddenly her attention shifted again to where the Portal was staring at that spot impatiently.

“When will she return! I demand an answer!”

[SalmonMax]

"It's okay," Mary said, imitating the tones the doctors had used when she got mad to try to soothe her. "I'm sure she'll be back soon. Besides, if you go through, then he'll be able to copy your powers and then someone could get hurt. Right now they're safe. And we can use this time to get to know each other a little."

She took a deep breath. The fire woman was terrifying, but she'd MUCH rather have her as a friend than an enemy. This was how friends were made.

"So...I'm Mary. And I've pretty much lived in just one place my whole life until David and his friends came and gave me a chance to leave. I'm still learning all the things the scientists never taught me." She smiles timidly. "Sometimes it feels like I'll never catch up."

[Dawn OOC]

Matt grinned at Grav, then added, “I just have another thought. Rebekka is silver-tongued and she might get further talking to them than I would. Anything that might help, ya know?”

Now he focused on Foresight, giving her another scan to be sure she didn’t have two chips in her. When he was sure she only had the one, he said, “I’ll need you to lay down so you’re really still, in your stomach. It’s in your back, okay?”

“Yes. Okay.” Foresight somehow looked paler than she had a moment ago. Carefully, she laid down, then reached out and took the unconscious Martha’s hand.

“Sorry about this.” Matt swallowed and cleaned his scapel again—not that he was worried about contamination. “You might not know this, but you have a great opportunity here.” The strange-featured mutant turned her head to look at him. “You have the chance to pick your own name. Most people get stuck with what their parents gave them.”

Foresight looked curious. “What are parents?” Matt blinked, shocked, and she asked, “Why do you look sad?”

“Oh, I’m not as much sad as pissed.” Matt’s voice heated a touch, but he tried to keep it level as he spoke. “Parents are the people that raised you—no, not the assholes you just left behind but the people who really raised you. Cared for you, changed your diapers, held you and rocked you and… shit… I shouldn’t have to explain this to you.” As her expression crumpled in confusion, he shook his head. “Nah, it ain’t your fault. I shouldn’t have to explain it because every kid should know what it means to be raised by at least one loving adult.”

“Why do I need to change my name?” Foresight chose to change the subject, since it was upsetting Matt.

“I guess you don’t. But that’s not really a name. It’s a designation, like they were naming a thing and not a person. ‘Foresight’ isn’t really a name, it’s a noun. They applied it to you instead of a name. ‘Matt’ is a name, so’s ‘Randall’.” Matt sighed. “I was trying to distract you, not confuse you. I guess this might have been a bit too much information.”

“It’s okay. I have to learn stuff, right Randall?” Foresight looked to him; there wasn’t so much trust as need in her eyes. She needed someone to advise her in this strange, wide world and he was the one who had brought her into it.

---

“I’m Strike.” Using his codename made him feel like he had a measure of control. Despite that, Henry was barely holding himself together, and Lamia could hear the warble in his voice as he said, “Please don’t touch me. I don’t like it.” The doctors were always touching him, and Mom said he could ask them to stop. They didn’t always stop, but sometimes it helped.

“She’s going to help you.” Ty-ty managed a smile for the other boy. “I’m gonna help you too. Are you hungry or thirsty?”

Henry shook his head quickly. “All I want is to go home, before—” He cut his words short.

“Before they hurt your family, right?” The girl’s brown eyes were sympathetic and sad.

“Wait, how… why do you say that? I didn’t say anything about that!”

Ty-ty shrugged. “DEHA’s playbook is pretty limited. And when I don’t know, I just think of the worst possible thing that someone could do and guess that’s it. It hasn’t failed me yet.”

[Tengri]

“Yes”, answered Randall as he turned his attention away from Fahrenheit and her… troubling recollections and focused it on the young precog instead, “you do”.

The giant mutant came nearer to Foresight, Matt, and the unconscious Martha and dropped into an easy squat next to them. As always his features were as unreadable as his thoughts, but his voice contained notes of sympathy and kindness. “Ignorance and fear”, he said softly, “those are DEHA’s two greatest weapons. Ours are knowledge and conviction.

“You don’t have to pick a new name if you don’t want to”, Randall went on, changing topics seamlessly. “But your name should do more than simply identify you, it should hold real meaning – for you even if not for anyone else. The name ‘Randall’ means something to me because it is the name my Mother gave me when I was a child, and so it means much more to me than the codename ‘Tengri’ that DEHA gave me after I entered their custody. If ‘Foresight’ doesn’t carry as much meaning for you as my own name does for me, then perhaps you should consider choosing a new one.”

[Grav]

Chaos nodded. "Yes, I imagine she might be able to help."

[z024]

"I and Jeremy must still touch you while we lower you down. Neither of us intends to harm you or molest you." She nodded to Jeremy and the two gently but firmly lowered him back to the ground. "We make you the same offer Seeker has taken: join with us and we will try to rescue your family. The DEHA will keep them alive only as long as you are useful to them, meaning that they will live only as long as you live. They send you out on such missions regularly, it will not be long for you or them. They may die while we try to rescue them, but we are the only chance they have ever living free. The choice is yours, Strike."

"If you wish to return to the slave masters of the DEHA, we will leave you here and they will track the chip inside you. If you wish to be free, we will remove the chip and you will come with us." She sat herself next to the boy, but where she could easily keep an eye on the final (she hoped) prisoner/possible new ally just in case he woke up. "There is a little time for you to think and decide, but only a little."

[Dawn OOC]

“It was always what they called me. I don’t know that it means anything to me.” Foresight’s face scrunched a little as Matt made his first cut. “I just don’t know that any name means anything to me, save for Martha. It’s special, but that’s because Martha is special to me.”

“Yeah, it’d be less confusing if you pick something else.” Matt winced a little as Foresight made a noise of pain. “I’m workin’ as quickly as I can.”

“I’d rather you work well instead of quickly,” the odd mutant told him with a hint of a smile.

Matt’s look was momentarily startled; then he gave her a charming grin and added, “That’s actually pretty smart. I’ll try to do both.” He bent to his work again and after ten minutes or so, had the chip. “Let’s get them out of here. Tyrone jump us to the next spot, if you would.”

“Sure, we’ll reset there.” Tyrone focused on the next opening as Matt pulled Foresight to her feet.

“Everyone, grab something and get through the warp. Foresight, can you carry Martha?” When the thing mutant shook her head, Matt looked at Tengri. “You’re the only other person she knows here.”

Meanwhile, the warp opened on a vast grassy expanse with only rolling hills and sagebrush as far as the eye could see. “Let’s move!” Tyrone said.

[Tengri]

Randall nodded silently at Matt's words and stepped to the side of the unconscious mutant. Gently, he picked the young woman up, cradling her in his massive, feathered arms. He looked to Foresight and asked, "Would you please stay close to me - and to her? I think it would be best if you were near to hand, should she wake up."

And with that he began to move towards Tyrone's warp.

[Dawn OOC]

Strike didn’t think long. “I have to go back. My parents, they gave up everything for me. If they die-” His voice cracked and he felt silent. As Ty-ty gazed at him sadly, he added, “I can’t abandon them.”

“Is DEHA going to need you now? You can’t walk.” Ty-ty’s voice was gentle but firm. “Sure they aren’t going to kill your parents anyway?”

“I know they will if I stay with you guys. I might save them if I go back.” Strike told them somberly.

“We can effect a rescue-”

“No. I won’t risk it.” Strike’s expression had hardened. “They’re my parents. I have to try to save them.”

Any reply to that was cut off by the grown prisoner-or-maybe-ally groaning and rolling over on his stomach. Blearily, he lifted his head, staring at the gathered mutants. When he saw Jeremy, he cursed in another language and started to push himself to his feet. “Can’t even kill me right, can you?” he spat angrily, right before his arms gave out and he face-planted back in the sand.

---

The team piled through the warp, with Tyrone bringing up the rear and closing the warp after him. After another moment, he opened up a warp to the Temple. “Better take them home,” he told Randall. His dark eyes flickered over to the anxious Fahrenheit. “You can stay here and wait for Lamia, if you like.” He flashed her a smile. “I don’t mind keeping an eye on you.”

[z024]

Lamia let out a long sigh. "It is a foolish decision, child, but it must be your decision. If you want to save them, we are your - and their - best option. Think on how you can save anyone like you are now, and what your current masters will do when you are of no use to them now. Will they even bother to wait and see if you would recover?"

Now that the boy was laid down again, she moved over to the larger man. She helped him turn over and brushed the sand from his face so he could see her. "We do not have long now, I am thinking, so this must be swift. Do you desire freedom? If so, we will remove the chip inside you and help you avoid the DEHA. You can come with us or go your own way, but you must decide these things quickly. If the DEHA has your family, we will attempt to rescue them, but we cannot guarantee anything other than the chance to follow your own will instead of playing lap dog to inferior masters." Her tone was a tad harsher than she intended, her irritation with Strike's obstinate foolishness pushing through in her voice.

"If you wish to remain a slave, we will leave you here and your masters will find you soon enough." She wasn't entirely sure how that actually worked, but she trusted Matt and Tyrone that it would be true. If not, the island had enough food and water for the two mutants to live indefinitely If they were clever, they might even be able to find a way to leave the island, but so far she doubted it.

Persuasion

Strike: Malachite *rolls* 1d20: 11+5: 16

Tempest: Malachite *rolls* 1d20: 8+5: 13

[Jeremy]

Jeremy shook his head a little as Lamia made her hard-line remarks to the two on the ground. That seemed a bit too harsh a line here. And he'd been Strike's age once... so he understood. Jeremy sat down, legs crossed in the sand between Tempest and Strike, but had a more sympathetic gaze.

"Kill you? Now why on Earth, would I want to do that... sorry, I didn't get your name earlier."

"Tempest." The storm-controlling mutant groused.

"Tempest, ok. Why would I want to kill you? I mean," Jeremy took a breath and looked sadly at Tempest. "I saw it in your eyes. The exhaustion, the depression. You never wanted to do what the DEHA franchise makes you do, and you die a little inside every day. What if that changed? What if you had a cause you could fight for, that you believed in? That had true meaning? We're offering you that. You can see with your own eyes how oppressed our kind is. We need those who will fight for freedom. We need heroes."

Jeremy then turned his upper body a tad to look at Strike. "As for your predicament, Strike... I understand your parents mean a lot to you. But Lamia is right. Your parents only have value to your captors as leverage against you. If you return, broken and so badly injured, do you really think they'll keep you alive? And that means your parents die too. Even if they miraculously spare you and family, you're back to square one. They're still hostages for your obedience. Yeah, the outlook are pretty grim either way for Mom and Dad. But here's the sixty-billion dollar question. These are the people who have forced you into slavery and hold your parents hostage. We are offering the possibility of freedom, and the chance, if slim, that your parents can be free too. Do you trust us enough to give us a shot, or do would you prefer to take your chances with the dubious idea that DEHA might be... merciful?"

OOC

Persuasion... take 10 total of 23.

[Tengri]

Randall’s bird-like head nodded silently at Tyrone, and then he turned his attention back towards Foresight. “Come with me”, he said and, with Martha still cradled in his massive arms, started down the path that would lead them home.

Yes, I know! I think this post is pathetically small too, but I couldn't for the life of me think of anything else to put here. Sorry!

[Fahrenheit]

Fahrenheit was torn between demanding answers and wanting to speak to her mother at once and staying close to those she felt familiar with, namely Tengri - or Horus, as she preferred to call him.

So once the huge bird-like Mutant moved she practically paralleled his movement following him without asking for permission and leaving the young blonde man behind who was just talking to her.

She had no idea who Foresight was and what her role in this odd meeting of Mutants she had but she also felt it wasn't up to her to decide and know - at least not right now. She was used to live by a "need-to-know" basis and if Horus was entrusted with her, the young woman was surely in good hands.

[Dawn OOC]

Tempest looked like he’d been struck in the face. “Heroes?” he said, his voice soft and disbelieving. But the aching hope in his voice was painful.

“Or gods.” Lamia’s remark was unhelpful.

Ty-ty quickly added, “Or whatever you want.” The child knelt next to the Brazilian, her expression almost shining with the conviction of her beliefs. “You’ll be free.”

Tempest stared at her and then started to cry. It wasn’t a few tears but great heaving sobs which left him struggling to breathe. Ty-ty didn’t look surprised or uncomfortable, she just put her hand on his shoulder and looked to the adults to help.

Strike spoke as Tempest cried. “I can’t leave them, no matter what DEHA will do.” The young man was pale and looked afraid, but he insisted, “I’d rather my parents be alive and in DEHA custody than dead.”

---

Tengri carried the girl into the Temple, choosing one of the rooms that they’d set aside for new mutants. Foresight slipped in after her, sitting next to the faux human and taking her hand. “Thank you,” the strange-looking mutant said to the bird-man. “I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, and it’s rather wonderful.”

[z024]

Lamia placed a hand on Tempest's other shoulder, a gentle squeeze her only real acknowledgement of his tears. He needed space to cry, in her opinion, and she would give it. Her look at Strike was a mix of sad experience and exasperated parent. "You are not leaving them, you are choosing not to rescue them. You have no leverage with the DEHA. They hold you captive through your parents, and no doubt are doing the same to your parents with you. Your parents will die, this day or another, in DEHA's hands. That is certain if you return to them. You are trading the chance for freedom for all of you for the thin illusion of security. It is a foolish choice, but that is the point. It is a choice."

In truth, her heart was pounding at the thought of returning the injured boy to such handlers as she had known, but if she had offered him the choice. Matt would not accept a prisoner, and she was loathe to take up the same mantle of jailer as DEHA was. The pangs of adrenaline and old wounds still shot through her body and soul, though, each time the boy insisted on remaining a slave for the sake of his parents. What parent could truly wish such a fate on their child?

She nodded to Ty-ty, her expression tight. "Contact Matt and Tyrone, please. It is time to go home."

Persuasion Assist Roll

Malachite *rolls* 1d20: 7+5: 12

Jer has a +2 circumstance modifier for his next Persuasion roll.

[Jeremy]

Jeremy looked at Strike quietly. "Would it be what they want, though?" It wasn't much effort in his voice, Jeremy faced the unpalatable fact that the kid wasn't going. He rose up off the sand, and looked to Tempest. "Guessing you are coming though?"

A double dissent from both of them would be frustrating. But Jeremy thought he'd gotten his man, or at least one of them.

Final Persuasion Roll

5+15 = 20... it's a fail. Stupid kid. Who needs em?

[Dawn OOC]

Tempest couldn’t speak. He managed a nod to Jeremy’s question, though, and started to rise to his feet. Ty-ty helped him rise, then drew out her phone. “Tyrone? Yeah. We’re ready. Uh huh. Yep!” Smiling, she hung up the hefty satellite phone—then moved behind Strike and hit him expertly in the back of the head. With a groan, the boy collapsed into unconsciousness. Ty-ty clipped the phone to her waistband and shoved his hands under his arms. “Lamia, grab his legs. Carefully.”

“But… Matt said…” Jeremy replied, even as Lamia moved to help him.

“Since when have adults let kids call the shots?” Ty-ty snorted and shook her head. “Seriously, you won’t let us drink or drive, but you will let us decide to keep ourselves slaves? Just keep him unconscious until we get Home, then they’ll have to keep him there until we move bases so he can’t tell DEHA where Home is. David will let him go when its safe, but until then you have time to convince him that we’re the good guys.”

“Don’t you think he’ll blame us if DEHA kills his parents?” Jeremy asked, tilting his head.

“DEHA’s the one pulling the trigger not us. He’ll have to understand that, but at least now he has a chance to grow up safe and free.”

[z024]

Lamia gave the independently-minded young woman a single nod of agreement, but knelt down pick Strike up at entirely in her arms. "It is better, this way. Too much pressure on his lower back and the damage could be permanent."

She lifted him in slow, careful movements, her steps heel-to-toe to keep her strides smooth. The small black nothingness formed not far from them and expanded into a wormhole connecting to Brazil and home on the other side. Tyrone had thankfully set the portal outside the temple and a small knot of tension eased from Lamia's muscles. Her steps quickly covered the distance to her small stone house - also moving her quickly away from questions and accusations that might be coming from any of David's followers.

She laid Strike down gently on her bed, turning him onto his stomach and moving pillows and blankets to keep him positioned in the center of the bed in case he shifted or flailed about when he woke. She needed herbs and thin needles and a dozen other things to tend to the boy, but those would take time to gather, make herself, or see if another in the temple could make them for her. She felt along his spine again, taking advantage of his unconsciousness to get a better feel for the depth of his injury, and waited for the heated questions and angry retorts she expected from David and his men.

Treatment Roll

Malachite *rolls* 1d20: 18+15: 33

[Grav]

Chaos watched what unfolded with complete disinterest. The children weren't her problem. She had enough already sharing her head as it was. Instead she moved into the background, collecting herself, and how she'd bring up what she wanted done.

She'd have to be abit circumspect in her approach lest a battle between them all erupt serving no one. Matt was embroiled in the current goings on, and would be of no use to her now. When children got involved, all other concerns became secondary.

Pathetic.

Sometimes they were excellent little engines of chaos, but other times they were needy little things that got in the way. Her own Mercurial moods were showing, as she had shown some concern herself, and now wished only to see what would be done, done.