New Vindicators Academy of Europe #30: Allegory of Prudence (M&M 2E - IC)

For all of your Play-By-Post games.
Shock
Posts: 2978
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:27 pm
Location: Connecticut USA

Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #28: The Garden of Earthly Delights (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Shock »

Violet Lear
HP: 1
Condition: Fatigued


"How about instead you just admit you wanted to have a bit of a laugh with us, tell us where to find Randy and then we'll call it even?"
User avatar
Arkrite
Posts: 3828
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 9:16 pm
Location: Canada

Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #27: The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Arkrite »

Alex "Current" Murphy
HP: 3 CND: Normal

"You threw it back in his face when he offered," Lex turned his attention back to Steven, "And you didn't hang around to see how much that hurt him."

"So don't blame me, just show up and ask if you can join in. I'll eat my guitar if he says no."
Michuru
Posts: 739
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:26 pm
Location: Illinois

Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #28: The Garden of Earthly Delights (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Michuru »

NVAE, CAFETERIA (Dennis, Jack, Martin, Otso, Tamati, Violet; NPCs: Benedikt, Derryl-731, Doug, Herta, J.R., Kas, Kelly, Kira, Larrikin, Lexus, Mickie, Newton, Nicole, Rebecca, Rose)
Robyn turned back to Martin and grinned fiendishly. "Good luck saving Randy on your own."

“Wait, you know about Randy's uncle and that loon he's worried about?"

“Duh,” Robyn said as Dennis said, "Of course Puck knows. It was one of the other issues I discussed with the Aurelius. And considering that it's quite possible that McKinnon is not only a rogue Aurelii, but an Aesir like you, 'a loon' is rather discounting the threat, Jack."

"Not meaning to be dismissive, just a bit nicer than what I'd rather call McKinnon." Jack clarified. "Didn't know you'd shared that with the Aurelius, but considering how busy we've been lately it's understandable stuff slipping like that."

Newton fixed Robyn with a level stare. “Where are the O’Shaes, Puck?”

“I really shouldn’t meddle. It’s clear how much you lot don’t like it when I do that...”

"It's the lack of warning we really didn't like," Dennis observed. "Please. If you mend, we will pardon: Give me your hands, if we be friends, And Robin shall restore amends."

Robyn stared at the reached out hand, then looked up to Dennis. "Oh, you're good. Really good. I should be taking notes from you."

"I want to help," Tamati offered, "and Robyn, anything else you can share with us would be appreciated."

"How about instead you just admit you wanted to have a bit of a laugh with us, tell us where to find Randy and then we'll call it even?"

Robyn smiled sweetly at Violet. "Well, when you put it like that..." She looked back to Martin. "Apology accepted, Frenchie. Let's get this business with the Murphys taken care of, and then I'll tell you where Seamus is."

CRUX SAFEHOUSE (Lex; NPCs: Steven)
"You threw it back in his face when he offered... and you didn't hang around to see how much that hurt him. So don't blame me, just show up and ask if you can join in. I'll eat my guitar if he says no."

"I asked him years ago--the night Ed put that stupid thing on my face! I wanted to learn how to stand up for myself and he said no! He always did! God, you don't get it, do you? You never saw how differently he treated you..."

FEBRUARY 27, 2008
It wasn’t often that it rained in Bakersfield—much less stormed like this. The news was that a Neo-Sapien was behind it: someone only a few years older than Steve was using her powers to manipulate the environment, calling down torrential storms in an area that averaged seven inches of rain annually.

There was a small part of Steve that wanted to meet her. Sure, his dad said she was dangerous and he was rooting for the Vindicators to “do the right thing”: “Kid like that’s just too dangerous,” the Murphy patriarch said. “If they lock her up, who’s to say she can’t just bring a gee-dee hurricane and free every ess-oh-bee on Alcatraz?”

Of course, his mother—ever the bleeding heart—disagreed with her husband. They were like night and day. Sometimes, their youngest son had no clue how the two had ever ended up together. “You don’t know what life was like for her,” the woman argued. “She could have been abused, or maybe she can’t control her powers.”

“Better for everyone is she were put down then.”

“What if that was your child? What if one of our boys were in her shoes?”

“We don’t have to worry about that,” Roger Murphy laughed. “One of us would have to be an NS for one of the boys to be one!”

That made Steve sad. He knew it was impossible. His parents were all-too human. They didn’t go on adventures in foreign countries, dodging fireballs and lightning bolts thrown from the outstretched hands of whatever maniacal villain threatened the safety of the world this week. They didn’t fly through the air; they weren’t bulletproof; they weren’t superfast.

Steven looked down at the belt buckle his nana had gotten him. A year before she died, she bought a belt buckle for both of her grandsons: Alex got Superman and Steve got Batman. That inspired him, somewhat. Batman didn’t have any superpowers, but he was still a superhero. Steve wanted to be like him.

In the service, his father had boxed. Steve asked him to teach him how to, but the man brushed it off. “You don’t need to learn that,” he had said. He said it again when Steve begged his parents to enroll him in karate and again, when that jujutsu dojo opened up next to Juan Ton’s—the Mexican-Chinese fusion place.

Steve turned the page of his comic book—Detective Comics #841—and leaned closer to the candle, so that he could see better. Doing so drew his father’s attention: “You ain’t got anything better to do?” the man asked.

“Honey, don’t read that now,” his mother said. “The light’s no good. It’ll hurt your eyes. Why don’t you go play your video games?”

Steve shrugged. “My SP is out of juice.” The storm resulted in their neighborhood blacking out. Other areas had power restored, but they had been warned it could be as early as next week before their side of town was up and running.

His father rolled his eyes. “Why can’t you be more like Alex? You don’t see him with his face buried in that dumb thing.”

Alex was in their room, strumming away on his guitar. Alex was the perfect child, in their father’s eyes. Strong, tough, tons of friends, smart—he had practically built a new computer after his father somehow destroyed yet another one.

The man pushed himself out of his chair and snatched up a flashlight. “I gotta use the head,” he said as he stomped off towards the bathroom.

“If you’re bored, maybe we could play a board game. If you want to run out to the garage and pick one out, I’ll play with you.”

Steve forced a smile. Most of what they had were leftovers from when he and Alex were much, much smaller. Candyland and Hi-Ho Cherrio just didn’t appeal to him—not when he was on the cusp of graduating from junior high. Still, there was Battleship, and that was halfway tolerable. With a shrug, he got up and started shuffling towards the breezeway.

He passed by the bathroom and found the door ajar. The light from the flashlight was reflecting off of the mirror, showing Steve his father, holding his Gameboy Advance SP. Before he could puzzle on what the man was doing with it, he watched as his father plugged the charge into the back of the device and the prongs inside his mouth.

A light kicked on on the side of the device. It was charging. His father was charging his SP with his mouth.

His father was a Neo-Sapien, Steve realized.

Steve could be a Neo-Sapien.

FEBRUARY 28, 2008
He knew better than to outright ask his father for the truth. The man didn’t talk to him about his time in the armed forces or his fights as a boxer. He barely said a word about his childhood to the boy—why would he open up about a secret he had apparently been keeping from the entire family? Still, Steve had figured out some of it: whatever his abilities were, they were related to electricity. That made so much make sense: how many different devices had his father inexplicably killed? The running joke was that the man couldn’t be allowed to get on the family computer; too many of them had been fried under his watch. He was also responsible for killing two microwaves, a coffee maker, and the DVD player. Maybe he was drawing the juice from the machines, stockpiling it to power others? Or maybe his body built up its own electricity and sometimes he accidentally overloaded a device?

Steve started there. That was the safer route to test. He left his iPod Shuffle on all night under his bed and when it was dead, he plugged it in and stuck the other end into his mouth. He held the button down with all his might, but it never turned on. He tried pinching the connector between his thumb and index finger, but that proved equally futile. His every attempt to charge the device himself resulted in nothing.

He went to the library and got every book on Neo-Sapiens he could find. Some weren’t helpful: most were about the history of the Vindicators; one was about court cases involving Neo-Sapiens… One was by a geneticist, who theorized where the first Neo-Sapiens had come from. There he found a chapter that dug deep into how their powers manifested. “Most Neo-Sapiens manifest their powers out of necessity,” he read. “In times of great stress, adrenaline surges and causes a Neo-Sapien’s powers to manifest and protect them from the perceived threat to the whole.”

That was it. That’s what he was missing. He had to put himself in some sort of danger… He looked down and to the wall near him. There was an electrical outlet. He could just go over and stick something in it—electrocute himself. Part of him wished that Alex was here: Alex was smart and would be able to tell him if that would kill a person or not.

Feeling as though he needed more information, Steve put the books away and got back onto his bike. He passed by trucks working to restore downed powerlines and considered trying that. If he wasn’t sure if sticking a pen into an outlet would kill him or not, he felt like grabbing a powerline was definitely overkill.

Steve opened the front door and called out for his mom. When she didn’t answer, he took in a deep breath. His parents weren’t home. No one was home. No one was here to stop him.

He tossed his backpack in a chair at the kitchen table and stole the toaster from the counter. He plugged it into the wall beside him and rummaged through a drawer for a butter knife. It wasn’t directly going into the outlet—maybe that would protect him?

He put a slice of bread in. If anyone came in, he could simply say it was stuck and he was trying to get it out. As he shoved the lever down, he picked up the knife. He slowly moved it towards one of the slots, watching as the coils inside turned red. He licked his lips and fought through the hesitation. He had to know. He had to see if he was a Neo-Sapien, like his father.

Maybe then the man would actually love him.

He almost made contact when his brother walked into the room. “What the hell are you doing!?!” Alex roared. He dropped his can of Coke and rushed at the younger Murphy. He moved to grab the toaster and knife from Steve’s hand. The screwdriver dropped inside. Sparks showered out. A jolt knocked Steve back, but Alex was still standing…

For several seconds, sparks continued to fly out of the toaster, but Alex endured it. He started to move—he tugged at the toaster and the cord was liberated from the outlet. He dropped the toaster to the floor of the kitchen. He stood over Steve—electricity crackling around his hands. “Stevie,” he said. Energy sparked inside of his mouth. His eyes were glowing as he blinked. “Stevie, go get mom.”

FEBRUARY 28, 2008
“How could our son be a Neo-Sapien?” Lillian thundered.

“I don’t know, dear.”

“I’m not a Neo-Sapien! You’re not a Neo-Sapien!”

“No.”

“That’s impossible, then! If Alex is one, don’t one of us have to be one?”

He had no clue how his father responded. Steve couldn’t see them—only hear them. He was sitting in the hallway, around the corner, listening to his parents argue over his brother’s newfound abilities. He looked down at the belt buckle his nana had gotten him. Alex was Superman—the one with the powers—and he was Batman—the one without. Did she know? Was this her way of telling them?

“Maybe it was my cousin,” his father finally said.

“I never cheated on you-”

“I mean! I mean… you know… when we went to him? Jesus, Lillian, you remember… We had been trying and we couldn’t—I couldn’t—so my mom suggested we go see him in New York.”

“I remember. He gave you that drug…”

“And we had Alex. Baby, I don’t know… What if there was something in that?”

Steve knew his father was lying. He knew he was a Neo-Sapien. Still, the notion of a drug that could give someone superpowers was alluring. If it gave his father his powers, maybe it could give Steve his?

Such a prospect made him sloppy. He scooted and bumped the shelf in the hall, causing one of his mother’s candles to rattle on its holder. Silence came from the living room, and then… “Boys?” his father called.

Steve stood up and walked into the other room. “Sorry,” he muttered sheepishly.

“Honey,” Lillian said, “you and your brother shouldn’t-”

“Alex left.”

His father looked furious. “What?”

“He… he said not to tell you… He went to Q’s…”

“Dammit,” his father growled. He got up from his chair and reached into his pockets for his knees. “Call the Quellhorsts, Lilly. The other kids’ folks, too. If Lex is there, you tell them to tell him to be ready for me to pick him up.”

The man slammed the door behind him and Steve frowned. “Is Alex in trouble?” he asked his mother.

The woman sighed and rubbed the back of her neck worriedly. “No,” she said. “We’re just worried about him. It’s not easy for people like Alex, honey. He may not really understand that right now. People… fear what they don’t understand. I know to Alex, this is very cool, but… there’s no telling how other people will react. If he tells Frank or his parents, they might think that Alex is too dangerous. What if he doesn’t know how to control his powers? What if he accidentally hurts someone? If word gets out about what your brother is, other people may not like someone like him living so close to them.

“People might break out windows or spray things on our door. They might harass us when we go to the store, or the store might just refuse to let us shop there. Alex isn’t in any trouble. He just…” She took a deep breath. “He needs to understand that he has to be careful from now on. We can’t have the wrong people knowing what he is.”

MARCH 19, 2008
“What the hell were you thinking!?!” their fathered roared at Alex. “Someone could have seen-”

“I was wearing a mask!”

“Oh, you were wearing a mask! You were wearing a stupid Halloween mask! Why didn’t you say so, Alex!?! That instantly just makes all of this better!”

“No one saw-”

“Your friends saw!”

“The guys aren’t going to tell anyone! C’mon!”

“You! Outran! A gee-dee car! I—were the hell did you boys even get that?”

“It was a junker. I got it going.”

“Yeah?” Their father’s anger was momentarily displaced. As usual, he was impressed by his eldest. If only Alex had joined the football team instead of pursuing gymnastics, Roger Murphy would have considered Alex the perfect son.

The man shook his head. “Alex, son… You’ve got to stop doing shit like this. We’ve been over it…”

“Dad, I’m not just showing off, okay?” Alex reached into his back pocket and pulled out a beaten up memo pad. “We needed the car because I couldn’t get my hands on a radar gun. I’m trying to figure out what my top speed is. Once we got the car up to 55, I took off and I got past it, so… faster than that. If the car hits 60, it starts shaking—the tires aren’t that good on it. I know I’m faster, though. I just…” He took a deep breath. “I can’t move all-out like that for long. I get tired, but I can pull electricity out of things to kind of fuel me.”

The mustachioed man dropped into his seat. He didn’t say a word. He just looked at Alex with the same glimmer in his eyes he never showed Steve.

“Big fuckin’ deal,” Steve muttered.

Their father rounded on his youngest with a fury that Steve was becoming all too familiar with lately. “You watch your mouth under this roof, mister.”

Steve rolled his eyes.

“Don’t give me that look! You go-”

“Go where?” Steve asked. “My room?” He gestured to his things—cluttering up the living room. “We’re in it. Or did you forget that you moved me out here so that Alex could have his own room?”

“We did it for your protection,” the man growled. “Alex is still learning to control his powers! What if something happened in the night-?”

“Then kick Alex out and let me have the room!” Steve snapped.

“You want your own room?” Alex asked. “You can have it! I’ll go live with the Contrerases! Jose’s mom and dad actually like Neo-Sapiens!”

“No one in this house has a problem with Neo-Sapiens!” his father roared.

Steve raised his hand. “I do.”

The older Murphy men expertly ignored Steve. That was the true Neo-Sapien power Roger Murphy had passed on: the ability to ignore Steve. “Mom barely says a word to me!”

“Your mother is-”

“She’s afraid of me!”

“She’s afraid for you!”

“God! Why can’t you both just admit that I scare you, huh?” Alex stood up and brought his hand up in front of his face. Electricity arced between his fingertips. “This scares you! You’re all so nervous around me, like you think I’m going to start blasting at you! I’m still me, dad! I’m not some fucking monster!”

“I know, son. I know, but…” He froze. He didn’t know what to say. “It’s complicated, Alex.”

“So uncomplicate things!”

“We’re trying. Your mother and I are trying.”

“Try harder,” Alex said before stomping off to his room.

Steve rolled his eyes and unpaused his game. His father rose up and marched towards him. He reached down and took the SP away. “Hey!”

“You know better’n to use language like that in my house.” He snapped the clamshell device and dropped it on his table. “No video games for a week.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it.”

“You wanna go for a month?”

“Alex goes off with his friends to out run cars or do target practice with his lightning hands and you don’t do jack shit to him, but all I do is exercise my Second Amendment rights-”

“First.”

“Huh?”

“First Amendment is free speech, Stevie. Second is the right to bare arms. Also, the First Amendment protects you from the government telling you what you can and can’t say—not your mom and dad.”

Steve glared at him. “What about Alex?”

Their father groaned. “What about him?”

“He cussed and you didn’t say shit to him. Why is it me, though? Why am I the only one who gets in trouble for it?”

“Son, I-”

“No!” Steve shouted. “I’m sick of it! You always treat him better! You let him get away with everything! I hate it! I hate it! I hate him and I hate you!”

An exasperated Roger Murphy opened his mouth to say something, when the door opened to reveal his wife, a trail of dried blood running from the gash on her forehead and down her left side. Immediately the man ran to her. “Lilly, what happened?”

“I-I ran into M-Mary Alcaraz at Kash’s and I went over to say hi. She… She spit on me. She started screaming about h-how her n-n-nephew was killed by a Neo…”

Roger wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. “She started screaming at me. Nuh-n-next thing I k-knew… someone threw a soda bottle… Then someone threw a rock…” She sobbed into her husband’s chest. “Someone knows about Alex.”

MAY 29, 2008
Mister Estes came into his fourth period classroom and scanned the students before settling on him. “Steven Murphy?” he asked. “Your parents are here to pick you up.”

Steve looked to the clock and then back to the vice-principal. It was bizarre. The only time in his life he could ever remember getting picked up early was when he was in second grade and his father’s mother had passed away. He didn’t question it, though: Steve simply shoved his notebook into his backpack and unceremoniously followed the man back to the main office.

Sure enough, his father was there, pacing back and forth.

“Who died?” Steve asked.

The man shot his son with a glare. “Not funny,” he growled. “Come on. Your mom is waiting.”

They passed through the doors and his father was keeping a quick pace. “Walk faster,” he said as they crossed the parking lot.

“Why?” Steve asked. “What’s going on?”

“We don’t really have time for questions,” the big man said. “Just move, Steve. Now.”

Steve’s curiosity was peaked, but he knew better than to keep pushing the man’s buttons when he looked so tense. He threw his backpack into the car ahead of him and climbed in. As his mother shifted from the driver’s seat to the passenger seat, letting her husband take the wheel, Steve noticed a duffle bag filled with his clothes. “You’re not seriously sending me to that freaking school, are you?” Since Alex—or Lex, as he now preferred to be called—had manifested his powers, Steve’s actions had earned him threats of military school on no less than seventeen occasions.

“We’re going to Mexico,” his mother said.

That raised one of Steve’s eyebrows. “Why?” he asked. “Why now? School’s not out for another week.” He looked around the car as they continued to drive. “Where’s Lex?”

His mother broke down crying.

Steve feared the worst had happened: someone—afraid of what Lex could do—had killed him. “What the hell happened?” he demanded.

“Your brother is fine,” his father said. “We’re going to see him.”

“He’s in Mexico?”

The man shook his head. “The less you know, the better. Lex was sent away. He’s fine. I gave him a go-bag and some money… and my jacket. I told him he’ll give it back when we meet up with him.”

“They came for him, didn’t they?”

His father nodded. Steve sunk back into the seat. “Holy fuck.”

No one said anything about his language.

Suddenly, Steve jumped forward. He unzipped the bag and began pulling out the clothes his parents had grabbed him. All of it was old—things he hadn’t worn in forever. “What’s this?” he asked.

“Your go-bag,” Roger said. “I packed it a while back. I packed one for all of us, in case…”

“We have to go back to the house!”

“Stevie, we can’t.”

“I have to go back to the house!”

“Son, we can’t ever go back. They’ll be… Someone will be watching it.”

“The belt buckle nana gave me is back there! I have to have it! I can’t leave!”

“We’ll get you a new one!”

“Nana gave it to me! I need it! I have to-!”

“STEVEN ANDREW MURPHY! Now is not the time to worry about some goddamn belt buckle! The government came after your brother! That friend of his is in jail for trying to buy him some time! Your mother and I had to… We had to give up everything to get him out of the country, and now it’s our turn to do the same!”

The gravity of the situation was setting in: he was never going to see his friend again. Brett’s parents told him that he couldn’t hang out with Steve anymore—that Steve’s brother was too dangerous—but Brett didn’t care. They still talked during recess… even though no one else would associate with him. He couldn’t call Brett—his parents would never let them speak. He was never going to see his friend again.

He was never going to see his home again. He had $215 saved up and stashed inside of the Candyland box in the garage that he was never going to spend. He was never going to finish Golden Sun. He was never going to wear his belt buckle.

SEPTEMBER 29, 2008
It had been four months since he’d seen his brother. Four months since the family fled the States for Mexico. Four months of his father working as a mechanic and his mother waiting tables. It had been four months since they started saving up for new identities, new passports, and passage to Europe.

It had been four months since their lives had been turned upside down because of Lex’s stupid need to show off for his friends. One of them had to have told someone. If Steve had to guess, his money was on Ed. He always hated Ed. Steven didn’t like spiders. Ed had a pet tarantula. One day, he brought it over. He sat on Steven’s chest and put the spider on his face. Steven screamed and cried as it crawled over him. It made its way to his mouth and he kicked and flailed for fear it was going to go inside of him and lay eggs in his belly.

God, he hated Ed.

Mexico wasn’t so bad. No one here knew he had a freak for a brother. No one here treated him badly. He spent as little time as he could in the cramped apartment the family shared. He spent the bulk of his time with Maria, the first girl who had ever let him feel her up—under the shirt, over the bra—and hopefully let him do more soon.

“Where are you going?” his father asked as he went to leave.

“Maria and I are going to see a movie,” he said. It didn’t matter which one. He didn’t expect to be watching it.

“We have a meeting with someone who can help us get to Europe.”

Steven rolled his eyes. “Have fun.”

“You’re coming too. This woman says she wants to meet all of us.”

“Why do I have to go?”

“Because this woman says-”

“Not to the meeting,” Steven said. “Europe. I can… You can just leave me here.” He looked away from his parents and their baffled expressions. “It’s not like either of you want me anyway.”

“Steven…” There was a warning sound in his father’s tone. “You are coming to this meeting and we are going to Europe. We are going to be reunited with your brother. We are going to be a family again.”

Steven said nothing—he simply went with them to the restaurant. There, they spotted a woman about his parents’ age—maybe a year or two younger. She was tall and thin and had long dark hair pulled into a tail in back. With her was a young girl about Steven’s age. She was cute, but looked just as miserable and pissed off as he was.

“Roger, Lillian,” the woman said, shaking each of their hands in turn, “this is my apprentice, Herta. Herta, these are the Murphys and their son, Steven.”

Steven didn’t have to force a smile at Herta. He liked her. She was skinny and flatter than Maria, and she had short hair, but she was cute in her own way. Maybe it was that she gave off an attitude that simply resonated with him.

“Steven, this is the woman who is going to help us. This is Tabitha Rexroth.”

“As I told her parents over the phone, I represent an organization called Laputa.”

Steven almost choked. Since arriving in Mexico, his Spanish had steadily gotten better. It almost sounded like she said her company was named “The Whore”.

“Our mission is to help make the world a better place for people like your brother. We strive towards tolerance of his kind, and push for a tomorrow where families aren’t broken up over things like what’s currently unfolding in the States. Still, while we can’t just change everyone’s minds overnight, we can try to ease some of the suffering such temperaments cause. With our help, we can have you three in Vienna tomorrow.”

“Vienna?” asked Steven. His parents had never told him where Lex had gone, for fear of what might happen if they were every caught and questioned. “What’s in Vienna?”

“A school, for people like him.” Tabitha motioned to Herta. “Like us.”

“You’re kidding me,” Steven growled. “All this time, we’ve been out here and he’s been kicking back at some school for speebs?”

Herta shot him a glare. His father smacked him in the back of the head. “We don’t use that word, Steven Andrew.”

“Why?” he asked. “Because Lex is one? Because you’re one?”

His mother reacted with shock and looked across the table to her husband.

“Oh, come on. Don’t tell me you’re that stupid, mom. Do the math: if it takes one speeb to make a speeb, and you weren’t one…”

“I just… I thought the drugs…”

“I’ve seen him. He can power devices with his body. Probably half the other shit Lex can do too.” Steven slumped back into his seat. “This is fantastic. Just fuckin’ great. Thanks to dad and Lex, I had to completely abandon my life back home. I started over down here and finally found something that makes me happy, and now you want me to just… what? Leave it all over again?

“So what happens when we get to Vienna, huh? I don’t speak Austrian! How am I supposed to make friends? How am I going to understand what they’re saying at school? Do either of you actually care? Do you care at all how fucking miserable I’m going to be there?”

He shot out of his seat, determined to leave. His father’s was faster though—and stronger. He grabbed Steven and shoved him back down into his chair. “It’s going to be hard on all of us, buster. We’re a family though—whatever you think—and we’ll be there for each other. We’ll get each other through this.”

“No!” Steven roared. “I don’t want to leave! I don’t want to go! I don’t care about stupid my stupid speeb brother and his stupid speeb school! I just want a normal life! I want friends and girlfriend and to not have to worry about soldiers kicking in the door and coming for us because my old man is a fucking freak!”

When the tears came, he threw his head forward. He didn’t want them to see him cry. He didn’t want to show them any sort of weakness. “I hate you,” he told them. “I hate you all so much.”

NOW
"Even before you got your powers, you were his favorite! You were so freaking smart! He used to brag you up constantly! His Alex built a computer! His Alex fixed the DVD player! His Alex, His Alex, HIS ALEX! He never bragged up his little C student, though! Not the one who was so pitifully average... It was the same with the guitar! He goes on and on about how talented his boy is! Boy! Singular!

"And the friends? You had Q and Ricky and Jose and... and that piece of shit Ed... How many times did dad go out and play football with you guys, huh? I had whole one friend--Brett--and dad used to make fun of him.

"Did you know that I had a girlfriend in Mexico? They made me leave without even saying goodbye to her, so that we could be captured on some stupid flying island, because of you. They never met her. I told them about her, but they didn't care. Dad never asked about her or said anything... but Kirstie? Oh, he won't shut up about her! Hell, Doug isn't even his goddamn kid, but he gushes on and on about Nicole!

"That day with the toaster? I wasn't trying to get the bread out, dumbass. I was trying to get powers. I thought... I thought if I had powers--if I got dad's powers..." Steven started to cry. "I wanted to be his son, too! You were his boy, Lex! I was just the other one... I just wanted something that would make him notice me! Something that he could be proud of! I didn't get to be fucking special though, did I? Instead, you took the toaster and you got to be even more special! He always would have done anything for you and then he gave up everything for you! They quit their jobs and lost the house and everything they ever had was to get you safely out of the country! And me? I just had to keep losing shit...

"So when they open that door open there? When they come for us? Don't fucking worry about me. Use your powers and fight your way through them, and if I get electrocuted? Oh well. Not like dad will care. You? Doug? Nate? Kirstie, Nicole, Rose... Oh, he cares about all of them, but not me. NOT HIS OWN GODDAMN SON! Not the one who's been a disappointment to him from day one..."

Steven pulled his knees into his chest and sobbed. "Why couldn't it have been me?" he asked. "You already had everything else. Why couldn't I get the powers?

"Why couldn't I be Superman?"
NVAE Setting - VP: 5
Flynnarrel
Posts: 6802
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 5:23 pm

Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #28: The Garden of Earthly Delights (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Flynnarrel »

Martin scowled. He’d intentionally stayed silent when the subject of Randy came up. He’d not been personally involved with any of that and didn’t know enough of the details to contribute in any meaningful way. Not for the first time he wished there was a newsletter just to track the various issues with international and domestic terrorists, criminal individuals, and unresolved issues the students of this school were dealing with.

He stayed quiet yet Robyn had brought the conversation back to him. He wondered why but Martin didn’t have time to figure it out now.

He forwarded all the relevant information from both his phone and Wolf’s phone to Dr. Newton’s school email for distribution to proper authorities.

He tasked Herta to scouring the School for any affected individuals that left the cafeteria before the group got there.

He instructed J.R., Lexus, and Rose to oversee the collection and destruction of every scrap and crumb of infected food. Martin recommends fire. He makes it clear that he doesn’t think the magic drug would be potent for long, but the destruction of the food was a good precaution.

Jack, Dennis, Tamati, Violet, Otso and Beatrice, with Kas for group transport (did I miss any PCs?) along with Martin will head first to Wolf’s house then follow Beatrice’s tracking to the safehouse they took Lex.
"Something pithy this way comes."
Michuru
Posts: 739
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:26 pm
Location: Illinois

Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #28: The Garden of Earthly Delights (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Michuru »

VIENNA, WOLF’S HOUSE (Fluxx, Greystone, Imago, Shiver, Taheka, Ursa; NPCs: Kirstie, Magnitude, Puck, Vestige)
As they neared Wolf's, they spotted the scene of an accident. There was a van with the front in crushed. Not far off, a bodybag was being loaded up. Someone was dead. Before anyone could say anything, Puck addressed their unspoken concerns: “Don’t worry,” she said, “it isn’t anyone you know.”

Police had formed a line to keep the public back. They could have marched forward—identified themselves and announced to those present that this was more than a car accident. “Dennis,” Puck said, “can you make us invisible—or Martin at the very least? His talents are the ones most pressing here.”

Sure enough, Dennis was able to get Martin through the throng. Soon enough, Martin had the information he needed: two people were injured—one male, one female—and a man was dead. He had been a passenger in the van—thrown through the windshield upon impact.

It was not Lex.

The other man had been severely beaten. He had sustained several blows to the head, in addition to the trauma inflicted upon impact.

The female was Kirstie. She was unconscious, but stable. At his touch, Martin found almost nothing wrong with her. If anything, she was simply exhausted.

It was Beatrice who was able to explain why: “She and Lex were walking down ze street,” one of the mages in their entourage explained. “She turned around… Ze van was coming towards zem. She pushed Lex out of the way and she… she just stood zere. Ze van ‘it ‘er, but it didn’t ‘it ‘er… Just before it reached ‘er, it just sort of…” She seemed confused, looking at the front of the van. “It just sort of crashed into nothing.”

It had to have been Kirstie’s powers. Whether she knew or not that this would happen remained unknown, but there was no mistake that the stress of her powers reflecting that much inertia towards a source must have taken a lot out of her. “Ze van stopped zere and Kirstie went flying zat way.” Beatrice pointed down the street. “A man went wiz ‘er—zrough ze windshield…”

“What happened to Lex?” Kas asked.

“‘E got up and went to Kirstie. Zen he went to ze van.” Beatrice followed his trail to the sidedoor and examined something only she could see. “Lex attacked a man ‘ere. Someone jumped ‘im from behind. ‘E gave him a…” She struggled for the word. “…sédatif?”

“Sedative,” her boyfriend said.

Beatrice nodded. “‘E and ze driver carried Lex away.”

“Where?” asked Kas.

Beatrice led them across a few lawns and around the corner. It quickly became apparent that she was leading them where they had intended to go from the start: she was taking them to Wolf’s house.

“Zey carried ‘im inside… but a car also came out. I cannot tell which ‘happened first.”
NVAE Setting - VP: 5
EnigmaticOne
Posts: 1050
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2016 5:02 am
Location: Massachusetts

Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #25 - Jeopardy! (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by EnigmaticOne »

Imago
HP: 6

"Can you follow that car?" Dennis asked. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Wolf arrested for the kidnapping and attempted castration? Or for that kidnapping and mob trafficking thing? Even if Crux connections sprung him, I doubt they'd leave a possibly wanted man around in his house. Probably took him to the same place they took Lex."
Games
Imago in New Vindicators Academy of Europe
Flynnarrel
Posts: 6802
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 5:23 pm

Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #28: The Garden of Earthly Delights (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Flynnarrel »

Martin would likewise communicate all of this to Newton so he could have people retrieve an exhausted Kirsty.

If the cars had their windows open Martin should be able to catch a whiff of Lex, especially if, as Martin suspected he still had the blood of the man beaten unconscious on his hands. Martin sniffs to get a determination or whether Lex was in the car or not. He also noted the faces of the men from the van, were they the ones that were in Lex's photo?
"Something pithy this way comes."
Shock
Posts: 2978
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:27 pm
Location: Connecticut USA

Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #28: The Garden of Earthly Delights (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Shock »

Violet Lear
HP: 1
Condition: Fatigued


Violet jumped to Kirstie's side as soon as she spotted her friend. "Is she all right?"

Violet scowled at the mention of Wolf. "Both. Take your pick. He's been arrested plenty."
User avatar
Arkrite
Posts: 3828
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 9:16 pm
Location: Canada

Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #27: The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Arkrite »

Alex "Current" Murphy
HP: 3 CND: Normal

"Dad was looking for you. He noticed you took off right away," Lex said walking around the cage tapping on the wall, "He had Nate running around and he wanted us to go looking for you."

"You want him to take an interest and show pride in what you do? Problem is how can any of us know anything about you right now? I know you were hanging out with some girl in England but if I asked if you had a girlfriend you'd have been all 'fuck you, speeb',"
He rapped a few more times, "And if Dad had asked you'd have done the same."

"Yeah, it's shitty he didn't take an interest in your girlfriend. He was panicking because one of us was missing and getting the family back together was all he could think about. Doesn't make it right, but Dad isn't perfect. You're not. I'm not."

"But here's the deal, you can be mad at Dad for screwing up, or you can forgive him and actually get to spend time with him,"
He says, "You can't have both."
Flynnarrel
Posts: 6802
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 5:23 pm

Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #28: The Garden of Earthly Delights (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Flynnarrel »

Shock wrote: Tue Sep 11, 2018 8:38 pm Violet Lear
HP: 1
Condition: Fatigued


Violet jumped to Kirstie's side as soon as she spotted her friend. "Is she all right?"

Violet scowled at the mention of Wolf. "Both. Take your pick. He's been arrested plenty."
"Physically un'armed. But she passed out from exhaustion. Even ze Vindicator, Backlash, would 'ave been 'ard pressed to stop a ve'icle wiz zat much forward velocity. It might be best for ze school to collect 'er." Martin says. The inflection he uses is asking others if they concur.
"Something pithy this way comes."
McGuffin
Posts: 591
Joined: Mon Nov 07, 2016 9:43 pm

Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #26 - The Persistence of Memory (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by McGuffin »

Ursa
HP: 3
Cnd: Fine


Otso nodded in agreement with Martin. "We should call the school and let them pick her up. She's in no immediate danger, just needs rest. We should follow the car, I doubt they stuck around this close to the scene of a such an obvious incident, they must've moved Lex."
Otso Karell/Ursa, student at the New Vindicators Academy Europe.
Kriv of Clan Myastan, Dragonborn Noble Paladin in On the Road.
User avatar
Gilliam
Posts: 1170
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:28 pm
Location: New Zealand

Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #28: The Garden of Earthly Delights (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Gilliam »

Tamati "Taheka" Stevens
HP: 1
Condition: Normal


FInally some good news well sort of at least from what Martin said Kirstie was okay.

"This Wolf guy is he currently on parole or something?" Tamati wondered aloud after hearing that Wolf was in and out of prison.
McGuffin
Posts: 591
Joined: Mon Nov 07, 2016 9:43 pm

Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #26 - The Persistence of Memory (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by McGuffin »

Ursa
HP: 3
Cnd: Fine


Otso shrugged in reply to Tamati's question, turning to Violet for answers. The events with Wolf had been shocking, but as cold as it might seem, he had enough on his own plate to not pay much attention to the events after the fact.
Last edited by McGuffin on Thu Sep 13, 2018 5:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Otso Karell/Ursa, student at the New Vindicators Academy Europe.
Kriv of Clan Myastan, Dragonborn Noble Paladin in On the Road.
Shock
Posts: 2978
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:27 pm
Location: Connecticut USA

Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #28: The Garden of Earthly Delights (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Shock »

Violet Lear
HP: 1
Condition: Fatigued


Violet shrugged. "I don't know how he gets out. Bribes I guess."

"I'm not leaving until Kirstie is safe."
Flynnarrel
Posts: 6802
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 5:23 pm

Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #28: The Garden of Earthly Delights (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Flynnarrel »

"And I'd prefer not to tarry as ze men we are following 'ave a penchant for severing ze penises from Neo-Sapiens." Martin counters. "I CAN reattach, yes, but prefer not to be so intimate wiz our classmates. And if zey mangles ze member..." Martin shrugs helplessly.

"In any case, do you wish to remain 'ere, Violet, because I'd razer not wait for whatever ve'icle ze school dispatches." Martin asks, his tone clear there's no malice or judgement either way.
"Something pithy this way comes."
Post Reply