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

[z-Penny Mann]

"Ramani," Penny said, her voice careful and calm. "Please understand, Randy was joking. He's sorry he upset Cole." She turned to look at Randy, and casually stepped between him and the confused tigress. "You should apologize to Cole," she told him, holding up a hand when he started to protest. "Not for Cole's sake, for your own," and she looked meaningfully at Ramini.

Right, so because his girlfriend is a fuckin' tiger, he gets to get away with having no sense of humor? That's bullshit. If she were in a zoo where she belonged... "Sorry, Cole," Randy said tensely. "I was just kidding around."

"I heard that," Penny said softly, her voice angry.

"Good," he grunted sourly. If she can't behave like a civilized animal, then she should be locked up. Don't give me that face, PenPen... we're animals too. Just a different kind. "How about working on giving others privacy?"

"I'm working on it," Penny said, her throat tightening.

"So, yeah, anyway... Plan?" Randy said to the others.

"Since it does seem to be hungry for food," Penny said quickly, nodding to Rodney in answer to his question, "we should all have some food with us. Whomever's leading should have the most, of course. And no, I don't know why this is happening to me."

[Rodney]

"Alternatively, I could stake out some food along the river's edge and we can wait for him or her to show up. Otherwise, putting food on us may be seen as seasoning the main course."

Rodney wasn't prone to trust this monster and was a little surprised that others did.

"How about I lay out some food then pop that lock? Waiting around for something to happen isn't going to get us anywhere."

[Cole Mulvaney]

"Okay, so you can read thoughts indiscriminately. That can't be fun."

He looks around and then at Randy. "Forget it, it's in the past."

"Rodney, go ahead and go drop some of the food around back you can't miss the open door. I'll get this one opened. When you get back you can follow us in."

He takes the bag of meat in his hand and doles some out to everyone but Rodney then hands Rodney the bag. He looks to Ramani. "Don't eat it, it's to give to whatever's in here. e'll try diplomacy first."

[z-Penny Mann]

"That, Rodney, is the best idea I've heard tonight," Penny said, smiling. Her smile faded as she was handed some raw hamburger. "Ech... ground meat is so disgusting."

"Says the future doctor," Randy said right after thinking it.

"Putting someone back together is different than messing with ground beef," Penny said, her voice hard with irritation.

"Sure," Randy said - and what he thought was best ignored.

[Rodney]

"You think it feels weird, you should hear how it sounds when you run your fingers through it. It's positively eerie."

Rodney grabs up the bag and goes to put his plan in motion. He flies over, finds good points with water access to drop off some of the delicious smelly meat, plops down hurriedly and drops some off. He does this bobbing approach several times until he runs out. He also tries to keep the deposits within sight of the others waiting beside the school so they can at least see what's going on.

[Ramani]

The big tigress relaxed immediately understanding that things were ok and probably just a missunderstanding. She imagined that a lot could be missunderstood between humans and mutants like herself. She considered Penny and Randy as close friends and was very fond of them.

Ramani looked back to Cole and nodded to him. She helped laying out the bait and waited for their next move keeping an watchful eye to their surrounding.

[Cole Mulvaney]

Cole using his free hand slashes open the door, breaking it down once Rodney had finished placing the meat.

[jameson (ST)]

They placed the ground beef out around the building and Cole, with a final blow, shattered the door inward. The frightened scream was both audible and mental for Penny, and she felt overwhelmed by the fear being transmitted to her. The inside of the building stunk but nothing as bad as Rodney had experienced before. It was extremely dark and Randy fumbled for the flashlight before he could get it on, sweeping the beam about the interior. There were a few abandoned boat hulls, and various large tools for working on such. Refuse littered the floor and in one corner there was piled up a mound of what looked like old mattresses. Something small pulled a pile of tattered blankets up over itself in an effort to conceal its presence from the intruders.

[Cole Mulvaney]

"We don't mean you any harm. We heard reports that there were others like us here. We just want to talk. Don't be affraid." Cole spoke in his most calming voice, with no threat in his body language.

Click to reveal..

Diplomacy roll

(10:00:35) ChatBot: (Cole) rolls 1d20 and gets 20. +7= 27

[Rodney]

Rodney looked in by hangind down from the exterior roof overhang.

"Shoot, it looks like a baby! Awww crap! That really messes things up. I bet the Mur ... thing we are looking for has a young."

Why does God shit on my parade?

[z-Penny Mann]

"Oh," Penny said softly, even as Randy said, "Oh, no. She's that that save the world look on her face."

Crouching, Penny edged closer and tossed a bit of meat toward the little form. "It's ok," she said soothingly. "We won't hurt you. It's ok to come on out. We have some hamburger for you."

Click to reveal..

Penny's Diplomacy roll: 5+6 = 11 (15, if it's attracted to her, plus any bonuses for meaty bribes)

1d20=6

[jameson (ST)]

The creature peered above the blankets and the group could see its elongated head ending it what seemed like nothing more than teeth. The light was dim and as Randy brought the flashlight to bear the thing shot off like a sprinter. Across the ruined building it moved with the speed and confidence of a resident and was under the overhead door before even the tigers could react. "Crap, that was ... arrgh!" Randy finally just growled. He swung the light around the room, but aside from long forgotten boating equipment in much need of repair and a whole lot of discarded bones there was little here. Then, as if in response to Randy they heard a little growling roar from outside, beyond the overhead door.

[z-Penny Mann]

Frowning, Penny jumped at the growl. She swallowed hard and knelt next to a stack of bones. She began to poke through them, looking for specific markers that would denote species. She also found herself searching them for teeth marks.

Click to reveal..

Penny's medicine roll: 10 + 8 = 18

1d20=10

[Cole Mulvaney]

Cole growls. "Dammit." So much for that tactic." He looks to Ramani and then back to the door. "Be ready. Whatever this thing is it's probably bigger than us."

[Ramani]

Ramani assumed a crouching position next to Cole ready for combat. Her claws extended she concentrated on whatever would appear in her sight. This time she'd wait for the others to make her move instead of pouncing right into the action.

She learned her lessons - it only took some time for her to adapt.

[jameson (ST)]

Penny found numerous bones of small animals that she couldn't recognize, more still of animals like cats and dogs. Plenty more of fish. There were thankfully no bones that she recognized as human. "What're we doing here, the thing is gone, we should go," Randy sounded nervous again, it was hard to find the fright from his voice when he was faced with a charnel house of sorts.

[z-Penny Mann]

"There are no human remains here," Penny announcing, standing up and clapping her hands together to knock off loose dirt. She wondered if this thing was really responsible for the death of Rodney's father.

[Rodney]

Rodney was still quietly damning fate when he heard Penny's words.

"Not the same creature. I tell you, the other one was much bigger by it's wake in the water and it came here. Let's keep using the food as bait. We can't give up now," he pleaded.

[Cole Mulvaney]

Cole nodded to Rodney, then Randy. "We'll stay. However if this thing is that bad then we will leave. All of us."

[jameson (ST)]

Randy rolled his eyes and shook his head, "Fine, we'll stay but what the hell are we doing? We just gonna stand here and wait 'till it comes back with Mommy? Standing around in here seems a little stupid don'cha think?" He looked around nervously, "Ain't nothing worth seeing in here and I don' wanna be stuck in 'ere when dat thing comes back." Penny had to restrain a small shocked smile as Randy's accent got worse the more nervous he was.

[Ramani]

Ramani didn't like waiting. Cole and her could try to track the creature but then they'd have to leave the group. It looked like no one was agreeing to that. She looked at Randy and Penny sighing briefly before she put her attention back to the cave. If something was coming from there she'd make sure to be the first to notice.

(ooc: taking 10 or 20 on my notice check if possible)

[Cole Mulvaney]

He smiles. "No I wasn't planning on just standing around, well not all of us at any rate."

"I want you and Penny to get somewhere out of sight. You're going to be my eyes. I can't watch every entrance. If you see her come in then shout it out. With any luck the Gator can't jump. Ramani and I have a much stronger scent so it's harder for us to hide. Even So... " He looks to Ramani "...I want you to find a good place to hide, I'll serve as bait. Rodney I want you on the ceiling prepared to drop on this thing's back if it comes after me."

[Rodney]

Rodney ground his teeth. He had been so close. He wasnt' fool enough to think he could have taken a creature that had devoured his father, but ...

"We need to go back and figure out a plan to trap this thing. Now that we know were it lives, we can plan to figure it out, right?"

Sigh.

"Let's get out of here. It's beaten feet and we don't have all night."

[Ramani]

Ramani acknowledged Cole's order to find a good place to hide with a low growl. Her body tensed with anticipation and she actually hoped the creature would show up so she could release that tension by unleashing her fury on it.

She heard Rodney's words but discarded them as unimportant - he wasn't the pack leader for her, that was Cole.

(ooc: Ramani will take 10 for a Stealth check. Her mod is +10)

[Cole Mulvaney]

Cole looked to Rodney, his eyes showing suprise that he'd back out now.

He looked to Penny and Randy. "What do you both think? Do we handle this now, or do we pull out and try again with the others present and a better plan?"

There was no doubt in his voice, he was sure of himself, and he had faith in his friends to do their parts. That said he also would do as they wanted, and if the collective desire was to leave then they would. He knew Ramani would back him whatever he did and that made him smile. He could always count on her, and that did make things easier.

[z-Penny Mann]

"We could go get a digital recorder with night vision and motion detection, set it up in the corner," Penny said, trying not to hear Rodney's disappointment or Cole's surety of purpose. "We can observe their habits, or see if they move because we found them. What do you guys think?"

[jameson (ST)]

Randy shook his head, "I think this is crazy. We don't even know what this thing is. There's nothing in here that points to it easting people, you said so yourself Penny." Randy shrugged and handed the flashlight to Penny, "I'm gonna go take a leak. I'll be back in a minute." He walked out toward the car and the campus leaving the others inside the stinking boathouse.

*****

Wally had made it halfway to the boathouse when somebody exited the building. Wally's eyes grew wide as he recognized Penny's boyfriend, or maybe he was her friend who was a boy. Wally bound over to the young man and Randy turned around as he heard the kangaroo's approach, "Wally? Damn you nearly scared the piss out of me. Hey, umm, speaking of which I need to take a leak, the others are inside the boathouse trying to decide what ... actually I don't know what they're trying to decide. Back in a few." He turned and trotted off, his urgency apparent in his odd gait.

[SalmonMax]

"Sure, sure," Wally jovially says to Randy as he hobbles off. "Hope it all comes out all right in the end."

Snickering to himself, the kangaroo made short little baby hops over to the boat house and opened the door.

"It's me, Randy," he said with a tone of affected shock. "Christ, look at me! I've turned into a bleeding kangaroo! Who would have thought a gent could step out for a little relief, and mutate into a flaming kangaroo? It's bizarre is what it is."

[Rodney]

Rodney looks at Wally for a second trying to figure things out.

"Wally," Rodney hisses. "There's some horrible river monster here that ate my dad and we've spooked its spawn out of this boat house. It could still be around."

He pauses for a moment then,

"What are you doing here anyway? This is a bit off your turf."

[SalmonMax]

Wally looks comically surprised for a moment, then breaks into a wide grin...or what passes for one on his marsupial face.

"Horrible river monster! Right! That's what I'm looking for too! It struck down at a local sewer...spitty outty...thing back there, and I was just sort of tracking it back along the river when I saw you guys. Course, I didn't know it was you then, but..."

Then Rodney's words sink in, and he pauses.

"Wait, ate your dad? What, seriously? It ate your dad? Mate, that's just wrong." He punches one forepaw into his other. "We'll find this thing, mate, no worries. We'll find it, and then I'll hold it down so you can get some well-deserved payback."

[Cole Mulvaney]

The group seemed somewhat split, and now Wally was here. "We're debating on staying here and ealing with it or leaving and coming back with a better plan. "What do you think Wally?"

[Ramani]

Ramani slowly came back out of her hiding place and resumed her position next to Cole. She was all ears and eyes as she watched Wally curiosity having gotten the better of her when he said he was Randy. But she could still smell Randy and the Kangaroo-man smelled awefully much like Wally... which he turned out to be in the end.

She wasn't sure what to think of it but by the way Wally was talking and smiling she assumed it must've been something funny. Her tail whipped from side to side indicating her general curiosity. The large tigress smiled and waited for their next move. She didn't like waiting but the situation wasn't as tense as she thought. It looked like their prey was not here.

[jameson (ST)]

Randy came back, a second flashlight in his free hand and a Galactic Gulp in the other. "So, what's the deal? We gonna try and capture the mommy and the baby monsters?" He took a sip from the cup and looked at the other mutants, "I mean we still don't have a plan for when or if we do capture them right? Hey Wally what are you doing here anyways, seems an odd coincidence?"

[SalmonMax]

Wally nods at Randy, then says to Cole, "I'm on the same case as you, seems like...just got the word from a different source. Seems to me though right now we need to concentrate on just finding the bugger. Hard to make plans when you don't even know what you're planning to do."

He taps a forefinger into his palm.

"So first we find it. That'll tell us what it is, and what it's doing. Then we work out how we want to approach it. Then we do that. Shouldn't be too hard."

[z-Penny Mann]

"Hello? Can I get a yes or no on my idea?" She glanced Wally. "I wanted to get a camera and tape this area and see what we learn. And no one's said they don't like it yet, so maybe we're going to do it."

[SalmonMax]

"Camera!" Wally enthuses, bobbing his head. "Good idea, sure. I haven't got one myself, but if you do then...well...I mean, how long does one of those record for though? I thought it was just a few hours."

[Cole Mulvaney]

Cole nods. "I know where we can get at least one. I'm sure my parents have access to that in their fields of study. We'll do that and get abit more information and hopefully a good view of this thing before we go toe to toe with it."

"We should get out of here now though, before the mother comes back."

[Rodney]

"Yeah, let's get out of here for now," Rodney says defeatedly. "My Dad always said, bring the right tools for the trade, or the raid. I guess we need more tools ... and more night time."

"I think I can help set up the camera, if necessary," he adds with a little more grit.

He looks out into the East River,

This isn't over by a long shot Beast. I'll see Justice done and Vengeance for my Father.

[jameson (ST)]

"Ok, so now we're wildlife photographers ... some of us in the most literal sense I guess!" Randy smiled at his joke, "Well no point standing around here debating things. Unless somebody has a camera or three handy I suspect we need to regroup and come back tomorrow yes?"

[Cole Mulvaney]

Cole nods and heads for the door, stopping only a moment to see if Ramani follows before heading for the car. "Let's call it a night. I'll check with my parents and get the equipment we need."