Mutants & Masterminds: The Indigo Children - Chapter 2: Sorting it All Out

[Cole Mulvaney]

Cole Motions to Ramani while the others are there trying to pick the lock. "Come on."

"We're going to go scout around for another way in."

(Taking 20 on a search check with proper amount of time)

[jameson (ST)]

Randy nodded to the tigers and headed off to the car to locate the tire iron. It wouldn't be perfect but maybe it would work. Rodney meanwhile was still fiddling with the deadbolt. The door lock had popped with but a pull of the trigger on his lock pick gun but deadbolts required that the locking bar be physically moved by the key and the lock pick gun would not stand up to that kind of torque without breaking.

Cole and Ramani started off to circle the building. They were half way around on the launch for the boats when they saw on of the overhead doors appeared to be partially open at the bottom. If it wasn't rusted in place or somehow jammed they might be able to force it upwards and open.

Penny stood by Rodney watching out as he worked at the lock and watching Randy as he walked back toward the car. She found the place creepy and combined with the cool breeze off the water she had goosebumps all over. She wasn't prepared for the hair on the back of her neck to rise as she heard the word, "Hungry."

[z-Penny Mann]

"Um... guys?" Penny said, her eyes going wide with fear. "Maybe we should rethink our approach, get a couple dozen hamburgers, or maybe some raw meat..."

She looked at them all looking blankly at her. "What? After that creepy groan, don't you think that we should all get something to abate that hunger? Maybe we'll get a chance to talk to it if we bring some food with us. You know... instead of it going after us." She looked around at the uncomprehending expressions on everyone's faces. "What?"

[Rodney]

Rodney looks up from his perplexing work.

"What are you going on about Girl? What voices? The only voice I've been hearing is my own cussing and, well, Randy over there humming that jingle over and over again."

"Besides," he wiggles his Big Bat Ears, "I've got big, sensetive ears. I think I would have heard something like a voice, don't you?"

[jameson (ST)]

Randy, coming back from the car with a tire iron twirling in his hand suddenly stops humming and turns red. "Sorry, didn't realize you could hear me." He holds up the tire iron, one end is a socket wrench for taking the nuts off the tire and the other is a square peg used to operate the jack. "I don't think this is gonna work by the way. What's this about voices? You scared Penny? Hearing the ghost of the missing teenager?"

[z-Penny Mann]

Penny glared at Rodney. "Don't call me 'girl'. It's derogatory," she said.

She leveled that glare on Randy. "And it wasn't a teenager's voice. It was big and it said 'Hungry'. So it's more likely to be whatever made the teenager disappear."

She glanced at Rodney again. "And I did hear it."

[jameson (ST)]

Randy glanced at Rodney and then back at Penny. "Sure you did PenPen, and Rodney there is just a normal kid with a skin rash. Come on its not funny to joke around, this place is bad juju." He looked at Rodney and offered the tire iron, "Think this will help?"

[z-Penny Mann]

"I'm not joking!" Penny snapped, crossing her arms and looking put-out. "You're right, this isn't a place for joking, and I know what I heard!"

[Rodney]

In a calm voice,

"Penny, I don't think you are joking. I think you did hear something since you say you did. I'm a talking Man-Bat after all. Whose to say, but I think it was in your head. Not that you are crazy, but maybe you picked up on something that wasn't a normal sound. Every heard something like this before?"

In a quieter, shamed tone,

"Sorry for calling you girl. Sometimes that's how I see normal people and well, its uncomfortable."

He was never going to finish the lock this way.

[z-Penny Mann]

Penny stepped forward and put her arms around Rodney. "It's okay. I'm really tense, too," she sighed, hugging the man-bat. As Randy's eyebrows popped up, she rolled her eyes and looked at him. "If you want a hug, ask."

"Uh," Randy sputtered as Penny turned back to Rodney.

"If you didn't hear it... I dunno. C'mon... let's get that door open." She stepped back and smiled at the mutant bat.

[Cole Mulvaney]

Cole nodded to Ramani and motioned for her to follow him back and watch their backs.

He lead her back to the others. "If that doesn't work, We may have found another way in."

[Ramani]

Ramani quietly nodded acknowledging Cole's order keeping an eye out to their back.

She was glad he always managed to find a way to keep them together. She felt lost without him in the world of men and that was a feeling she didn't like at all. Maybe she could pick up a scent that gave away another entrance?

(ooc:If I need to make a roll just tell me and I add it later on)

[jameson (ST)]

Cole and Ramani return to the others in short order where they find the three apparently arguing about something Penny claims to have heard. As they approach the argument seems to end and Randy moves toward the door with a tire iron in hand looking as though he is going to try and force the door open. He stops as he sees the tigers. "Hey, I think we can force the door open. Did you find anything?"

[Cole Mulvaney]

"We found much the same around back. One of the bay doors on the boat Launch seems to be wedged open. Ramani and I could probably force it open together."

He nods. "What about you guys?"

[Rodney]

"Go ahead and bust the door. I'll be at this til Christmas at this rate."

He hopped aside and waited for those more burly than is skin-an-bones self to move things along. He vowed silently to increase his capacity to work locks and other such devices so that he wouldnt' feel so useless.

[jameson (ST)]

Randy shrugs and steps forward trying to find the best spot to try and use the tire iron for leverage to force the door. He puts his shoulder into the door and tries to jam the iron between the door and frame. After a minute of it he stopped, "This isn't going to work, the end is too blunt to get between the door and frame. I think maybe we should try that other door you two found, Cole." He looks at the door then shrugs, "Or I guess we could just bust the thing down. Not like anybody is gonna hear us. What do you guys think?"

[z-Penny Mann]

Penny jumped and demanded, "Did you hear that?"

"What?" Randy asked, his voice harsh with surprise.

"I heard something say, 'Noise. Hungry. Food?' I heard it, I know I did!" Penny said, her hazel wide behind her glasses. "Whatever is in there knows we're here and it's decided to check and see if we're on the menu!"

[Rodney]

Anything's possible.

"Everyone, why don't we move away from the water's edge."

Rodney hop-flys back.

"We might give it some time and go back at the boat house in say ... an hour. Next time I can stealth up and I'm sure I can take it. It will take some time."

"Seems the safest course of action since it will try to fight us in the water - not somewhere we need to be."

[Cole Mulvaney]

Cole looks at the door and nods. "I should be able to break this down. Can try at any rate."

Click to reveal..

attack check on the door

(10:44:36) ChatBot: (Cole) rolls 1d20 and gets 9. 9+6=15

[jameson (ST)]

Cole lashed out at the door, his claws raking through the wood, tearing off chunks and splinters. Cracked and peeling paint fell away as the door shook in its frame. Blow after blow he rained down on the door, the wood cracked and broke under the relentless fusillade of blows. "This seems kinda ... well, not a very good way to avoid attention," Randy's voice had an edge of fear laced with resignation as he realized that it no longer mattered, the deed was done, the noise could not be taken back.

[Cole Mulvaney]

Cole sighed. "Then Rodney, you fly Penny and Randy to the roof and see if there's a way in topside. Ramani and I will act as a distraction if nothing else."

[Ramani]

Ramani nodded at Cole and prepared herself for trouble. She’d preferred the direct approach but fighting the supposed beast in its territory and wellknown turf wasn’t a good idea in general. Didn’t someone suggest talking to it first?

[z-Penny Mann]

"You know, splitting up doesn't work in real life, either," Penny said softly. "Why don't we all go to the roof and see if there's another way in; then the door itself can serve as a distraction."

"Not a bad idea," Randy admitted. "And no offense, last fall, going to the roof alone didn't work too well for Rodney. Pen's gotten better, but she's still no combatant."

[jameson (ST)]

"Actually, this isn't a big building. Rodney, why don't you just take a quick look and see if there is anything up there." Rodney nodded and took off, wings flapping as he gained altitude. He circled a few times and then came back down, landing in a skid next to the others. He shook his head. "Just a plain roof right? Like a house?" Randy asked. Rodney nodded in agreement. "Ok well either we destroy this door, which we seem to be doing already, or we check the other door. At this point I think that whatever was inside probably knows we're here."

[Cole Mulvaney]

Cole grunts and continues tearing down the door. "Then it's better to fight on land than around by the docks where there's water."

[z-Penny Mann]

"Oh, god... Cole, stop!" Penny shouted. She actually stepped forward and caught his shoulder. "There's more than one. Stop looking at me like I'm crazy - I may be crazy but I'm also right! I'm hearing a baby, and it's calling to its mother. We need bigger weapons. Like a nuke." She was almost crying from the stress of this back and forth and 'hearing' strange voices.

"I am crazy," she said fervently, "but I'm right." If I'm crazy I don't have brain cancer, too.

[Cole Mulvaney]

Cole stopped. Penny normally didn't raise her voice to him, Ramani perhaps but not him. "Alright." How can you hear this, know this when the three of us hear with far superior hearing hear nothing Penny? What exactly are you hearing?"

[Rodney]

"I'm not hearing anything I would confuse with speech on my end. It has to be some other kind of sense then."

Rodney looks around,

"How's that door coming along and Randy, could you go out and get us some burgers or something to act as bait?"

[Ramani]

Ramani was visibly confused by what was going on and concerned about Penny’s state of mind. She looked at Cole following the conversation with the same disbelief he voiced. If Penny was going crazy she would be really sad and disappointed. She was one of the humans she really liked and losing a friend was still new terrain for her.

“Are you feeling ok?”, asked Ramani with honest concern.

[z-Penny Mann]

“Yes, I feel fine, no I’m clearly not,” Penny said, near tears. “But I’m still right.”

“Yeah, I’ll get some burgers. Penny c’mon,” Randy ordered, his tone allowing no argument as he grabbed her hand and pulled her back toward the car. “We’ll be right back.”

They didn’t say anything on the walk back to the car, but as Penny started to climb in, he stopped her by pulling her into a hug. “Hey, I don’t know what’s going on, you’re the smart one, but whatever’s going on, whatever’s buggin’ you, I’m here. Doesn’t matter what it is, I’ll be here for you, Pen,” Randy murmured into her hair.

Penny hugged him tightly, her eyes squeezing shut as she struggled to hold back her tears. Her mother’s illness was amplifying her own fears about her health and mental well-being, and Randy’s comfort was a balm. Even if she was smart enough to know that he couldn’t really do anything to help her, she was still relieved that he’d said that. “Thanks,” she whispered.

“Alright, let’s get some meat,” he said, kissing her on the forehead and releasing her.

“Sure,” she said. And then he muttered, “Too bad she’s not going after my man-meat.”

Penny stared at him, her jaw dropping. He had moved to the other side of the car before he realized she hadn’t moved. “What’s wrong?”

“I… nothing,” she said, because a horrible suspicion was slowly working its way into her brain. She got into the car and put it in drive, easing carefully back onto the road. As Randy directed her to a nearby full-service Walmart, Penny tested her theory. “Do me a favor, Randy. Think of a number between one and ten and don’t tell me about it.”

“Uh, okay, sure. Four. Got it.”

“It’s four,” Penny said, feeling her throat start to close up.

“Yeah, it was,” he said, nodding. “What’s up with the numbers game?”

“Again, but a number between one and one thousand.”

“Uh… seven hundred eleven. Got it.”

“It’s seven hundred and eleven,” Penny told him, panic clear in her voice. “Think of a movie – not Tropic Thunder.” That was his favorite movie.

“Tropic Thunder… Tropic Thunder. Now I can’t think of anything by that, Pen.” He was looking closely at her. “What the hell is going on?”

“I think I do have brain cancer,” Penny said, near tears, “and I think it’s given me the ability to read minds.”

“Penny… cancer doesn’t do that,” Randy said, shaking his head. “That’s really stupid.”

“It might be stupid, but it’s true,” she snapped.

“I… you are reading my mind! Stop thinking about sex with her. Stop thinking about sex with her! White wall! Blank white wall… she has that sexy white underwear…”

“Stop that!” Penny snapped. “That’s gross.”

“I can’t help it!” Randy said, his eyes wide. “As shocking as it seems, I can’t stop thinking. Especially about how nice you’d feel pressed naked against me.”

“Oh, god.” Penny pulled into the Walmart and took the first parking spot she found. Putting it into park, she leaned her head against the wheel. “This is a nightmare.”

[jameson (ST)]

Randy got out as the engine died and closed the door. Penny could hear his thoughts as plain as day, Mickey Mantle: .298 Batting, 536 Homers, 1509 RBIs. Ted Williams: .344 carreer batting, 521 homers, 1839 RBIs ... He knocked on the glass and Penny jumped, "Hey you coming?"

****

Just quickly as Penny exploded Randy had dragged her to the car and they were gone. The tigers and Rodney were left in the abandoned college in the dark of night with only the sound of the waves on the shore.

[Cole Mulvaney]

Cole stood there a moment and then looked to the others.. "We need to go topside. I don't want to be caught out in the open exposed like this." He looked up.

"Perhaps we should wait for them on the roof. We'll be safe up there."

Without another word he leaps up into the air, his claws popping out and sticking into the wall. as he clims up the rest of the way onto the roof.

[z-Penny Mann]

It was surreal in the Walmart - and noisy. This late in the evening, there weren't that many people, but to Penny, they were all talking at once. One guy was worrying about whether his dog was tearing his house apart while he was out, while another woman appeared to be imagining a horrific scene - it took Penny a couple of minutes to realize she was writing a scene for a horror novel. The din was so 'loud' that she couldn't hear Randy clearly anymore.

"Let's get out of here," she said to Randy, her eyes wide. They loaded up on several packages of cheap hamburger and hurried through the checkout. The salesclerk was so bored that her mind was silent, which Penny was thankful for.

Back outside, it was just back to Randy's recitation of sports statistics. "What am I going to do?" she asked as she climbed into the car.

"You able to shut it off, or ignore it? So that I don't have to monitor what I think about you anymore."

"I'm working on it," she said. She was able to recognize when someone was speaking, because there was a kind of echo as she heard their audible and mental statements.

"If I can help-"

"Just keep up the statistics," Penny said quickly. She smiled at him and added, "They keep me from getting distracted so I can focus on blocking it out."

[Rodney]

Rodney made it to the room in a few graceful beats of his wings then waited on the others. While they climbed, he moved around scanning the surroundings for any sign of trouble.

[jameson (ST)]

The trip took half an hour during which time Randy ran out of baseball statistics and ended up counting by twos to three thousand and fifty eight. By the time Penny parked the car back at the college she was getting sick and tired of Randy's counting. The drive gave her time to reflect on both the sudden onset of her apparent mind reading and the sudden revelation of Randy's feelings towards her. Despite the noise from Randy's head the ride was uncomfortably silent.

As they walked down to the boat house Randy suddenly stopped and burst out laughing. He pointed toward the roof of the building, still laughing loudly as he watched the two tigers peering down over the edge of the roof and Rodney pacing about the peak of the building. "Hey guys! You get chased up on the roof by a big dog? Kitty can't get down?" He actually stopped and doubled over for a moment laughing so hard.

[Cole Mulvaney]

Cole growled. but knew better than to simply jump down. Instead he climbed down waiting for Ramani to join him and then made his way to the humans. "We felt it was less conspicuous."

You're luckly I consider you a friend or I'd be tempted to show you why a dog doesn't come close to scaring me. The only outward sign of his anger was a slight cracking of his knuckes as his paws curled into what passes for a fist and then uncurled.

"Let's finish this."

[z-Penny Mann]

"Randy, don't be a jerk," Penny said, walking past him.

"I'm not being a jerk."

"Yes you are," she said, despite hearing no echo, and knowing that he'd thought that, not said it.

"Stop that!" he said aloud, then started to count in his head again.

"So we figured out what I was 'hearing'," Penny told the gathered mutants. "I'm picking up thoughts now. That's right... I'm a mind reader. Yay me."

[Rodney]

"Mind Reader? You don't think being around us infected you with some kind of mutagene, do you?"

He fluttered on down beside here thinking,

*Does this mean whatever is out there was broadcasting hunger thought? And if so, then is it hungry for us?*

and then he said it.

[jameson (ST)]

Randy held up the bag with the meat inside. "Well if it is hungry then we got dinner. If not ... I dunno. Say what exactly is the plan here anyways?"

[Ramani]

Ramani looked confused back and forth between the kids and Cole. She sensed that Cole wasn't amused by what Randy just had said but unfortunately she didn't catch on what it was. She jumped down next to him remaining crouched like a large elegant cat and her eyes fixed Randy with deadly precision. The young Tigress was ready to pounce him if necessary and she growled lowly exposing some of her teeth.

Still there was confusion that made her hesitate. She liked Randy and he was Penny's friend. Penny could clearly "read" that confusion which was less worded and more a series of pictures that flooded Ramani's mind. The Tigress didn't want to hurt him. She didn't want to disappoint Penny.