Infinite New Vindicators Return (M&M 2e IC)

[Horsenhero]

Ch. 7: Some Girls-

Anton-

Allegra smiles a bit as Anton trails off. "Said I was what? A horrible person? A murderer? A terrorist? Ridiculously fond of deep fried ice cream?"

She shrugged. "It's all true. I admit it. I'm not the nicest person in the world and I wouldn't have pulled this job, except Alejandra is still not quite herself after getting shot and Allison is busy elsewhere. You're new though and haven't been brainwashed yet...I hope and might be inclined to listen."

"The Network is considered terrorists it's true, but only because as super-human beings we recognize you can't jail all super-humans. Some super-humans have powers or co-conspirators who can get them out of any prison. We haven't been able to obtain the formula for Knitter, besides which...contrary to first reports the Neo-Sapien Cure doesn't appear to be permanent anyway. Sure, it causes genetic damage which can sometimes last for years, but enough individuals treated with it have re-discovered their powers that we consider it a stop-gap measure. So yeah, we sometimes kill. It's not something we enjoy."

Seeing the expression on Anton's face Allegra changed tactics. "Look, you saw Angela try to slit my throat, right? Angela did that because she knows that we know she and Valderon are drug dealers. If we know then someone at the school must know too. So why hasn't anyone done anything? If Valderon was just dealing weed, do you think a big time gang lord like the Zoo would have revealed himself...itself? Not a chance. Brazil has decriminalized marijuana possession. You get caught, it gets confiscated and you get a fine and everyone walks away."

She shakes her head and sighs. "No. That's not the case. It can't be. Why would Angela try to slit my throat over pot? The Network doesn't care about pot...or small time pot dealers. Whatever Valderon and Angela are into, it was enough to bring the wrath of an ancient...thing...down on them AND it's enough that Angela would try to kill me over. Angela and Valderon are into something bad and the Network agent in the school can't get close enough to them to figure out what it is. Our assumption is they've figured out who it is...so I'm coming to you, the new kid."

"I know the Headmaster will tell you we're the bad guys, but we're not. We're the good guys Anton and we need your help. Will you help us?"

David-

Mr. Hertzog considers what David has said carefully, then asks; "Lucrezia Borgia has no connection to the school that I'm aware of David. How could she? Certainly, if you look at her stewardship of Spoleto and Ferrara, she was a capable governor...but she died centuries before the first school was founded and even before public knowledge of your branch of humanity happened."

He stroked his beard in thought. "Rebecca saw this connection in a vision? I know the Headmaster puts great stock in the accuracy of the young ladies' prescience, but I can't help but be slightly skeptical. What did she see?"

"To the best of your knowledge that is. Perhaps I can be of greater assistance if I have a better understanding of the vision."

Francis-

At Francis' knews the Headmaster's expression went stony. "Come with me Mr. Gold. That is troubling news. You say they haven't identified the body yet? Did they give an indication as to why they think it's one of our students?"

As he asks questions Mr. Importuna jobs toward the building, heading straight for the administration offices as soon as he's in the door.

Merle & Gaspar-

It only takes a quick internet search for Merle to pull up the local news story in which Gaspar spotted Eve. Merle didn't get to know Eve hardly at all during the assault on the Armada, but the golden glow she gave off when she exerted herself he'd seen. He knew the neighborhood the club was in too. It was a bit ritzier than he normally hung out in with Lorena, but he'd had lunch at a bistro within a block or two.

[Shock]

Prehistoric (David Gordon)
HP:2->3 (because I forgot to add it earlier)

David frowned. "I've had some trouble getting clear details. There was a jewel and she mentioned 'A pearl on this Earth'." David wasn't sure why he was so hesitant to tell the truth about the jewel. Maybe it was just because he was afraid of what it might mean if Rebecca's powers kept changing. "And while in the vision, she said the phrase 'Aut Cesare, aut nihil' which turned out to be related to the Borgia family." He shuffled his feet. Senior Hertzog didn't seem like he was going to be much help. "The jewel seemed important somehow and I'm trying to figure out why."

[Arkrite]

Merle Tremblay
HP: 1 LP:1 Condition: Normal

Merle taps his finger against the table, "Hmm. Could be her. We should probably talk to the headmaster, maybe the cops might know something. I suppose we can go check it out after school ourselves if you want."

[Gilliam]

Anton "Carnudo" Villiam
HP: 2
Condition: Normal

Allegra smiles a bit as Anton trails off. "Said I was what? A horrible person? A murderer? A terrorist? Ridiculously fond of deep fried ice cream?"

"Sort of .." Any couldn't help replying "... though if you do like deep fried ice cream you can't be all bad"

For a moment Ant's attention drifted as he thought about just how you could deep fry ice cream and he really should work up the courage to talk to the cook in the kitchen about some ideas he had about the menu, overall it was good and nutritious but some of the dishes were a bit bland and wouldn't take much to spice up. Oh she was talking about knitter .. what was that?, a cure? and killing ...

.... but enough individuals treated with it have re-discovered their powers that we consider it a stop-gap measure. So yeah, we sometimes kill. It's not something we enjoy."

Ant thought his face was impassive but the goth girl was able to pick up that he wasn't comfortable with the thought of killing

Seeing the expression on Anton's face Allegra changed tactics. "Look, you saw Angela try to slit my throat, right? Angela did that because she knows that we know she and Valderon are drug dealers. If we know then someone at the school must know too. So why hasn't anyone done anything? If Valderon was just dealing weed, do you think a big time gang lord like the Zoo would have revealed himself...itself? Not a chance. Brazil has decriminalized marijuana possession. You get caught, it gets confiscated and you get a fine and everyone walks away."

"I know I was born here in Sao Paulo .." Ant says switching to Portuguese then switching back to English in case Allegra couldn't understand him " ... I just have never been good at tanning." Ant tried to make a small joke before running a hand through his hair.

"You're right all that over weed, pot just doesn't make sense. Guys like that catman just wouldn't waste their time with a couple of school kids even if they did have powers."

The fact that Angela had also tried to kill Allegra didn't sit well with him either though there could be more to it than he realised, he had heard of some kids at his old school who took things real personally. But it just all didn't add up.

"Honestly I am not sure but if they are involved in heavy drugs they need to be stopped. I will help you but no killing .. agreed."

[EnigmaticOne]

Cooker
HP: 1

"According to the officer on-scene, a boy, 18 years old, with a uniform under his clothing. He didn't describe it though. The uniform that is." Francis explained. "I'm still listening in case anything comes up."

[Horsenhero]

Anton-

The dark haired girl sighed at Anton's demand. "I promise we'll try not to. You can't expect me to guarantee not to defend myself or someone else if Angela or Valderon decides to resist with lethal force."

"If it turns out they're guilty that is."

Allegra furrows her brow in thought. "You know, we need help and I haven't changed my mind, but you seem like a nice guy... are you sure you're up for this?"

David-

Hertzog listens to David's description of the jewelry nodding his head in time with each detail revealed. He doesn't seem to be that attuned to David's discomfort while speaking though. Leaning back in his chair, he toys with the waxed ends of his mustache before leaning back forward.

"Aut Cesare, aut nihil is probably not important. Cesare Borgia adopted that as his personal motto and many persons have applied it to the entire family since. A pearl on this Earth is far more important, since it's how Chevalier Bayard, a French noble described Lucrezia after he'd met her during the time she governed Spoletto. Having that engraved on a piece of jewelry, would indicate it was a personal gift to Lucrezia, not a gift to the family. Now, I've never heard of such a piece being among the Borzia family relics, so perhaps it was interred with Lucrezia at Corpus Domini in Ferrara."

The more he ruminated on it, the more confident he seemed. "Yes, it makes sense...a treasured personal keepsake Lucrezia too with her to the grave. Of small consequence to the Borzia fortune as a whole, but meaningful to Lucrezia and perhaps meaningful to whatever Rebecca is seeing."

"My suggestion would be to write down or record everything you can during Rebecca's next ... experience and see if it connects to Lucrezia's internment. Perhaps a call to the European school would be in order...or even a field trip to the convent."

Francis-

The Headmaster regards Francis for a moment and snaps his fingers. "Eighteen years old? So, it's either a senior or a recent graduate. A list of current students that age should be easy enough to compile." Hitting a button on his desk phone, he says: "Ms. Salazar, I need a list of all male students currently enrolled that are 18 years old. Thank you."

Within minutes he has a short print out in his hands.

Brust, Phillip
Medeira, Arturo
Rodriguez, Roberto

Showing it to Francis, he says; "This shouldn't take long to confirm."

Just then Francis heard a cop say: Dispatch is calling the school now. I've got a picture to forward since we can't find any identification."

Merle & Gaspar-

Waiting on Gaspar.

[Gilliam]

Anton "Carnudo" Villiam
HP: 2
Condition: Normal



"That's fair" Ant agreed reluctantly, he wouldn't stop Allegra from defending herself but hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

Allegra furrows her brow in thought. "You know, we need help and I haven't changed my mind, but you seem like a nice guy... are you sure you're up for this?"

"Of course I am" Ant shot back at the perceived insult to his manhood, maybe Allegra didn't mean it the way it sounded but he had been called "a nice guy" more times than he could count.

"I mean I'm in, if they are doing drugs then they need to be stopped before anyone gets really hurt. So what next?"[/color\

[Shock]

Prehistoric (David Gordon)
HP:3

David's mind raced. How would Rebecca end up with a jewel buried with a Spanish woman hundreds of years ago? He wasn't too happy about Senior Hertzog's suggestion. "I don't know about taking her there. What if it triggered her to do something? I wouldn't want her powers to go out of control again. I could try taking notes next time and maybe make the trip myself though. Thank you for the suggestions."

David waited to see if the history teacher had anything else to say before leaving the office and heading for lunch.

[Michuru]

LLUVIA / Gaspar Zorrilla e Higueras
HP: 1 / Condition: -

Gaspar grimaced. Talking to the headmaster would only slow them down--if not outright impede them. He suspected they were about to be told not to go or that they couldn't. "Never mind," Gaspar said, his voice dripping with disappointment. "You have an address I can GPS? I'll check it out on my own."

[Arkrite]

Merle Tremblay
HP: 1 LP:1 Condition: Normal

"I can drop you off within two or three blocks of the location right now if you really want," Merle offered before noting, "But it's going to be closed, Gaspar."

He lifted his phone and looked at the time before e-mailing Gaspar the address, "Maybe I'm wrong, but back home nightclubs tend to close their doors by three or four AM and don't open until five or six at night. Everybody who saw something won't be back until later tonight."

[EnigmaticOne]

Cooker
HP: 1

"The police are about to call, Headmaster. They have a photo they'll send."

[Michuru]

LLUVIA / Gaspar Zorrilla e Higueras
HP: 1 / Condition: -

Gaspar sighed. "Put yourself in my shoes. What if you were stuck in my world? What if when you woke up there, they told you Walter or Tommy were dead? Then, what if they turned up on the news?

"I get that it's closed and I won't have a lead and..." He let out a frustrated scream. "I can't just do nothing, you know? I can't... I can't just wait. I can't go to your headmaster and have him tell me that we can't look into it. I can't..." He raised his hands and then let his arms drop weakly to his sides. "I can't do this. I can't do nothing."

[Arkrite]

Merle Tremblay
HP: 1 LP:1 Condition: Normal

Merle nods, "I understand."

"I'm not trying to put off the search, if I thought she was still there I'd have opened a portal already."

"But I think this is going to be an investigation, so we should do everything we can to stack the deck in our favor," He sets his fork down, "The headmaster won't want a random neo running around right now, now while the school's reputation is hurting. I suspect he'll want to find her, and as you're the only person here that she knows I'm sure you'd be included on any search."

Merle pauses, then quirks an eyebrow, "Besides, you'd just do it anyways even if he said no, right?"

[Michuru]

LLUVIA / Gaspar Zorrilla e Higueras
HP: 1 / Condition: -

"Besides, you'd just do it anyways even if he said no, right?"

"Si, I just..." He shrugged his shoulders in defeat. "I don't know what to do. Back home, I wasn't exactly one of the big leaguers. Martin would slither under the door and find forensic evidence. Captain Awesome would turn on that detective brain and solve the case like that. Jack would turn into a bloodhound and follow a scent." He chuckled. "Mira would find whoever owned the club and threaten to tase his cojones unless he fed them information. She wouldn't do it. I mean, maybe... She's kind of unhinged..." His expression darkened. "I miss them. Even the Blue Idiot. I don't even know if they survived the whole Armada thing, you know?" He looked like he was about to start crying, but he held it back. "I didn't know Eve well, but if she's here... She's the only tie I have to my world. I don't know what to do, but if I just sit here? If I do nothing, it will drive me crazy.

"And if I do nothing and it turns out I missed the chance to do something? I'll never forgive myself."

[Horsenhero]

Anton-

Allegra nods at Anton's expressed commitment. "Bueno. I just wanted to make sure you were prepared in case this gets ugly. Drug dealing can lead to some bad places and the people involved can get desperate. You seem like a nice guy with a pretty positive outlook and I would hate to ruin that."

She smiled a small smile and raised one eyebrow. "I might be a vicious, murderous vigilante but I can still appreciate the idealists of the world. As for what now..."

She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a cellphone. "This is a burner phone. You can contact me with it, but make sure you do so only when it's important. Once you use it twice, destroy it and we'll get you a new one. We have to take precautions. There is only one number programmed into the phone and once that number is called twice, it will be disabled...just in case the authorities clone this phone. Like I said, we have to be careful."

"As for what we need of you...we only ask that you get some inkling of how Valderon and Angela are moving the drugs they sell. After the incidents with the Zoo Valderon might be looking to recruit someone with power as a bodyguard, but maybe not. Obviously getting involved with their operation would be the best way to confirm all the details, but it could also force you to engage in, or at least witness things that are plain nasty. To keep your conscience clear you might want to just find out what you can by spying on them, but there's a pretty good chance that won't be enough."

"Anyway, find out what you can then pass the information on to us. We'll take care of the dirty work."

David-

Mr. Hertzog grunts non-commitally at David's hesitance to take his advice. "Well, you know her better than I so I'll defer to your judgement. If you need to discuss this further I'm available."

"Also, if you haven't informed him already, I encourage you to apprise the Headmaster."

Francis-

Sure enough within moments the phone rings and Ms. Salazar forwards the call to Importuna's office. When the image appears on the screen of the Headmaster's laptop, Francis doesn't need to consult any directories to identify it. Francis knows this Senior. It's Arturo Medeira aka Kid Squid.

Merle & Gaspar-

I'll keep holding off until you guys finish.