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

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

Post by Michuru »

SHREWSBURY (Tamati, Violet; NPCs: Abe, Augustus, Herta, Joseph, Shelby)
"Mira? She couldn't be behind something like this. How could she?"

"Mira, the girl living with the statutory rapist who is actively trying to destroy the life of one of our classmates?" Herta seemed to realize suddenly that she was talking about Shelby's father and flashed her a look that was as close to apologetic as the sociopath could muster. "Sorry."

Shelby could only frown at that. She was more the aware of the situation unfolding at the school: Viktor DeGallow was employing the full force of his family's funds in securing custody of his daughter--Shelby's infant doppelganger. Family law was hardly Kasamir's mother's area of expertise, but she had recommended a decent attorney to defend the Nelson family in the impending courtroom battle. Still, the rumors were that there would be no contest: the DeGallows were going to win, and Shelby the Younger would be spirited away to Spain.

"I'm just saying, this is the same person who caused the entire situation with Durendal that saw a handful of students transferred to the Tokyo school, right? The same one who then went blasting off on her own on some kind of suicide mission to take on MI18 by herself?" Augustus raised an eyebrow at that and looked to Violet to confirm. "Yeah, it would be so out of character for Mira to do anything so reckless."

“We don’t know who knows what with all this,” Tamati said. “We found the killer and now we need to find whoever set them off. So, do we try and set up a meeting with this Nemesis using the email or head to Vienna?”

Violet shook her head. “I don’t want to warn Nemesis that we’re onto him. We’ll send Joseph off to Tokyo and then find someone who can track those emails.”

“Fair enough,” Tamati said. “I hear Tokyo is nice this time of year. So the plan is to find out who Nemesis is and then stop them. After that, who did these experiments in the first place, right?”

Violet looked at the ground and shook her head slowly. “We can’t stop them,” she said, “it was fifteen years ago.”

“Yeah, what we are dealing with started fifteen years ago,” Tamati said, “but for all we know the person doing the experiments back then could still be carrying out something similar right now.”

Shelby sighed. “We can cross that bridge when we come to it,” she said. “Clearly, Nemesis knows things—maybe he was someone who worked on these experiments all those years ago and is airing out his conscience? Point being, if we find Nemesis, we may find more information on the people behind this.”

VALENCIA (Kas, Lex, Martin; NPCs: Beatrice, Buddy, Fiore, Rusty)
With the pregnant woman bound and secured, Martin made his way back into the butcher's shop. Lex and Buddy were standing watch over her. Beatrice was looking for the Kiriakis brothers' father. Kas and Fiore were scouting the area, looking for any sign of the Nephilim. Rusty... Rusty, he hadn't seen in some time...

Martin found an open door. Rusty was standing inside, staring at his father. The man was dead and hanging from his ankles, bleeding into a bucket. The Frenchman remembered reading once about the slaughter process: after an animal had been bleed, the skin was removed, the head was taken. The body was split and eviscerated before being quartered and hung in a freezer.

He moved to steer the boy away, but Rusty simply stood, staring at his father. He would not be moved.

Martin stepped into the other room and radioed Kas. He didn't give specifics--in case Buddy was listening in--but asked the teen to return to the building. Kas was quick about it, and once Martin had explained the situation, Kas promised to get the boys' father down and covered.

Next, Martin sought out the older Kiriakis brother. Pulling Buddy aside, Martin allowed his uniform's cowl to melt away--letting him meet the older teen face-to-face. "Buddy, zere is no easy way to say zis. Your fazer is dead."

Rusty looked away somberly. "I should call my mother," he said softly.

Martin hoped that could wait. "Rusty needs you to be strong right now." When he saw Kas return from other room, Martin led Buddy to Rusty. Older brother took younger brother in his arms and sobbed softly.

Rusty showed no reaction.

"I vant to find this man," Kas growled as he watched the scene. The New Vindicators had seen their share of horrors. Martin's mind went to all of the times he had been summoned to heal his classmates: he had been instrumental in keeping the entire Marceau family alive; he had been called back to the school after Mike's castration... He thought on those he had not been able to save: Alina, Cornelis, Eve... maybe even Gaspar...

Sometimes it seemed that any resistance only tilled the soil, and death was intent on harvest.

"This man," Kas vowed, "doesn't get to hurt anyone else."

Martin wasn't sure what more he could do to find him: Domingo left no trail, signalling to Martin that he had indeed some sort of teleportation ability. Instead, he made his way through the man's shop. The meat he had been cutting was human, as was much of what he had in his stores. Different people--at least sixteen that Martin could count.

"I haf a theory," Kas said darkly. "This man's powers... They haf something to do with the cannibalism."

It made enough sense to Martin: Domingo's powerset was so erratic, and the trigger appeared to be him eating more of his homemade jerky. Was that it? Did Domingo gain the powers of whomever's flesh he devoured? If that we the case, there was some solace in that they had just dealt a major blow to him: they had his stores, and he had only what he had on him.

After some time, Martin had made his way back to Lex. The American had gotten some information from the pregnant woman: her name was Mena—short for Ximena—but she hadn’t given him a surname. She claimed to be one of Domingo’s wives… plural. He had more than one. From the sound of it, Domingo was a cult leader who had convinced several women that it would be an honor to carry their god’s child.

That was all Lex was getting from her now: crazy talk. Mena was a Neo-Sapien who could manifest fire wings, but Domingo was the god of Neo-Sapiens—an entity who could do almost anything and would create a kingdom for them all where humans and heretics alike would worship them.

The proper authorities arrived not long after and went to work at gathering all of the evidence: the stores of jerky Domingo had left behind. Martin had initially saw it as an upset to Domingo, but if Mena could be believed, Domingo might have other safehouses tended by other women. There had to be a way to find them—to locate him before someone else was hurt…

VIENNA (Otso)
Once he was back at the school, Otso checked the bushes. He was careful in all his actions: if 3 had been here, there was no telling what else he could have left: a camera in a tree or a bug under a bench… Still, 3 had discerned the nature of Otso’s powers from his codename. Transforming into a bear, Otso gave the air a sniff and had an unfamiliar scent—a scent he’d encountered twice before now: once, at the home of the woman with the knife, and earlier today at the Rodriguez house.

This had to be 3’s scent.

He looked through the bushes and found a plastic bag. Inside was a revolver and a note. “For Ursa”, it read.

VIENNA, KATHOLISCHE KIRCHE
The last few months had been rough for their family: less than a week before her daughter was supposed to come home for the summer, she suddenly appeared in the family room, holding hands with a white boy neither Mary Ramos nor her husband, Miguel, had ever seen before.

Lucia spoke to them in their native Spanish: <<”We don’t have much time,”>> she insisted with all of the urgency in the world. <<”Grab whatever you can carry and let’s go.”>>

Mary immediately went to grab the family photos. Her husband was full of questions: <<”What’s going on? Who is this boy? What are you doing here? Does this have something to do with the darkness?”>> Not an hour before Lucia’s arrival, they had been plunged into absolute darkness. Even after the light had returned, they had no explanation for the odd phenomenon.

Lucia simply urged them to gather their things. She helped them bag what they could—family photos, passports, some clothes… The boy Lucia had brought him put a hand on Miguel’s shoulder; his other hand was on Lucia. Lucia reached over to take her mother’s hand. Suddenly, they were not in their home. They were in a room full of other people they didn’t know.

Mary saw a frog person and a boy with insect eyes and gave a scream. Lucia tried to calm her down as the boy left their side. He took someone else’s hand—some other girl—and the pair vanished. Suddenly, another boy appeared; there was a boy with him—a boy and another family. <<”What is going on?”>> Miguel demanded.

They found out that they were no longer in Mexico… or the year 2026. They were in Vienna and is was 2008. Mary tried to remember where she would have been in 2008: she would have been 16-years-old and living with her grandmother in Altamira. She would have been a high school student—maybe just about to meet Miguel. She was close to a year from giving birth to Lucia.

That had ate at Mary for weeks. She never considered her daughter a mistake—never regretting having her—but she had wondered what her life could have been like if she hadn’t gotten pregnant and married the first man she had ever kissed. She loved Miguel and was sure he loved her—even a decade ago when he slept with Alejandra Garcia, she had not doubted that he loved her. Still… she couldn’t help but wonder how different things could be, and there was a temptation to call herself and warn her of what was coming.

Part of the welcome kit they had been given included a mobile phone. One night, Mary had taken it and gone for a walk through the camp. It had taken a lot to convinced Miguel to let her go. Last night, one of the other refugees had been attacked outside their trailer. Miguel feared it would happen again and had forbade Lucia from coming to visit them here. He hadn’t allowed Mary to go out on her own, but she lied and told him that she was going with some of the women from church.

She dialed an old number and her grandmother answered. Lord, but she hadn’t heard the woman’s voice in seven years. That brought tears. She wanted to explain it all to the woman. She wanted to tell her how much she loved her and hear her say it back, but she knew that would only complicate things. What if the woman failed to believe her? <<”Is Mary there?”>> she asked.

<<”She’s out with her friends. Can I take a message for her?”>>

She wanted to yell at her younger self—to tell her that she should be soaking up as much time with her abuela as she could—but it was futile. <<”No, I’ll try again later. God bless you.”>>

She wavered whenever she had a chance to call again. Maybe she should leave it—let her other self build a family. Then Miguel and Mary were summoned to the school. A doctor there—a therapist who had been talking to the other refugee children—said that Lucia was having trouble with everything that had happened. It wasn’t just that they were on a new world: months ago, her best-friend had been murdered.

Mary hadn’t even known. Lucia had never told her about Josie’s death.

Now, the girl was having trouble sleeping. She wasn’t eating. She had lost twelve pounds since the move to this world. Mary urged her to come to church with them. Miguel and Mary had found a nearby church they were happy with. A few of the other refugees were going there. “Someone from your school goes there—the girl with the colored skin?”

Lucia didn’t respond. She just stared off vacantly.

As Miguel began looking for work—determined to move out of the camp—he insisted his wife not stay there by herself. Violence was becoming more commonplace. The denizens of this world didn’t appreciate the refugees’ presence here, and some of the refugees had taken to robbing, raping, and attacking each other. The camp wasn’t safe, so Mary began spending more and more time with her daughter. Sometimes she invited other young people from church; once the father took them to lunch.

It had taken months to wear her down, but Lucia had finally gave in. Mary Ramos looked to her left and smiled. To her, it didn’t matter that her daughter looked disgruntled; it didn’t matter than she was more focused on her phone than the priest’s sermon… Lucia was here.

The doors opened behind them with a bang and Mary turned around. A small force of men was spilling into the sanctuary—all garbed in Amy Bedford masks, dark green coveralls, and sporting white armbands. “Wir wollen niemanden verletzen!” one of the man thundered.

Another demanded, “Gib uns den speeb!”

Even after three months in Vienna, she still had not mastered the language, but she recognized one word: speeb. They were here for a Neo-Sapien.

That was something else that took getting used to. In their world, these sort of things were problems of the past. President Bedford had changed things—helped to usher in a world that accepted people like her daughter and husband. To see these men wear that woman’s face as they committed acts of terror stung almost as much as seeing her daughter rise to face them.

“Get out,” Lucia hissed as she slipped out into the aisle.

One of the men trained a gun on her. Mary screamed. Lucia didn’t move but the man’s sleeve suddenly caught fire. In a panic he fired and Lucia went down.

Mary screamed and shot from the pew. She collapsed to the ground beside her daughter. Lucia’s eyes were opened—staring off at something unseen. She’d been shot in the chest. She was dead before she hit the ground.

As Mary cried for her daughter, Miguel moved to avenge her. He rose up and commanded flames to devour the other men. One fell. One fled. Others began firing wildly into the already panicked church.

Mary wrapped her arms around Lucia and pulled her close. As she sobbed into her daughter’s shoulder, she felt something stirring between them. Curious, she pulled back and looked down at the bullet wound. She watched as something shifted under her shirt. Putting a hand on her daughter’s stomach, she felt something small moving there.

Suddenly, Lucia’s eyes opened and she began ravenously drinking in the air. Mary held her daughter tightly, muttering her thanks to God for sparing her daughter. With the gunmen down, her husband came to them—astonished to see Lucia not only alive but unharmed. Indeed, Mary felt at her daughter’s shirt and found the bullet that had felled her.

Lucia looked down her shirt and was stunned to find the absence of a bullet wound. “It’s a miracle!” Mary exclaimed. “Thank you, Jesus!”

“I don’t understand,” the teenage girl said, “why didn’t I die? I felt it… I felt it go in… I thought…”

“Shh!” Mary insisted. “God gave you a gift, Lucia! You are here for a purpose!” A purpose. Her daughter had a purpose.

Like that, Mary was thankful she couldn’t warn her younger self of the things to come…
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EnigmaticOne
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #25 - Jeopardy! (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by EnigmaticOne »

Imago
HP: 3

Jack, leading the team, was giving the summary, but Dennis' mind was halfway elsewhere. While less than pleased that 3 had been given knowledge of his power-set, he understood why they had did it. And if nothing else, this was why he'd been keeping his conjuration magic under wraps. 3 clearly planned everything out in advance and kept himself at great lengths away from the scenes and watching via cameras, which his psionic illusions couldn't fool.

The other issue was what Puck/Robyn had been saying. Unfortunately, it wasn't looking like a fae understood human morality - and Dennis could only hope she got his practical warning about how everyone would react to love potion mayhem like that.

Maybe he should just bite the bullet, visit Beatrice after this and yank in the elephant into the room.
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Flynnarrel
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #27: The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Flynnarrel »

After getting genetic samples from the 16 victims he started comparing them to one another looking for family ties or other similar genetic markers. He'd compare them to the mental database of DNA he'd gathered from the refugees and in his works trying to map genomes. It had always frustrated him that the Nephilim didn't bear genetic links to one another given that they were all half-siblings at least. Martin had to conclude that Fallen Angels, when they adopted new visages, rewrote their genetic codes even down to their spermazoa. This was annoyingly NOT based in the laws of science. He could take on new looks but that was manipulation of surface cells structures. Jack could change his whole body around but that was because his DNA had built-in malleability and a near-infinite database to choose from. Who knows how Fallen Angels worked!?

Martin agreed with Kasimir's theory that cannibalism played a role in Domingo's power but wanted to find some basis for ho his victims were chosen. Why go after the elder Greek man in particular? Did he need the ability of shrinking for some reason? Did his power only work on the flesh of Men? (that may be easy to determine from the DNA of his victims) Greeks? (that would be possible but more difficult to determine just off of DNA samples).

He envisioned the army of Elle's bequeathed him by his parents in that mental landscape of his pouring over the massive volumes of samples performing the requested analysis. This would take some doing.

In any event, they had an opponent with access to teleportation abilities and a veritable arsenal of powers for him here. After the scene was documented Martin tainted the prepared and drying jerky with a compound that would cause violent nausea and in repeated exposure, death, before letting the authorities take the jerky away. Domingo would be in for a surprise if he tried to use those victim's again. Martin had no authority to make local law enforcement release the Greek citizen's body on the spot, but Martin would ask school administration for their assistance. There was also the small matter of them all being in Spain illegally.

Even with the woman in proper custody Martin could not call this mission a success. His after-mission reports would be somber.

He'd apologize profusely and extend sympathies to his Greek classmates and he would thank his teammates for all of their assistance, commiserating their failure.
"Something pithy this way comes."
Michuru
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #27: The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Michuru »

VALENCIA
Kas’ theory had merit: Domingo needed the jerky for something; he seemed to acquire a new power every time he ate some… but there had to be something more to it…

Domingo was a Nephilim who wielded blue hellfire. So was Buddy and Rusty’s father, according to their debriefing. Was that it? No, there was no scientific way of proving the samples were all half-siblings, but was that it? Did Domingo get the powers of half-siblings he ate?

How did someone even discover a power like that?

As he feared, there was no real marker that connected any of Domingo’s victims, but he did find a link to someone else… One of the samples—the jerky Domingo had made—matched a refugee he had encountered: Brandon Hanley was a college freshman who used Ritalin to focus his ADHD. He had no abilities themselves, but Martin remembered him telling him that his grandfather did: “He could create blue flames,” he had told the Frenchman, “and use them to change his appearance. His eyes would still glow, but otherwise, he’d look just like someone else…”

He never got Brandon’s grandfather’s name: the youth was still mourning the rest of his family—no doubt none of them had been in New York when Abe, Eric, and their mothers began trying to save as many people from their world as they could. Still, with a name, he could check it against any missing person reports and potentially identify at least one of Domingo’s victims…

VIENNA
The headmaster had given Lex a pass for the rest of the day: given all that he had just been through, he had been excused from his classes indefinitely—he could return when he wanted, but with the caveat of meetings with Doctor Yavorshak.

Armed with freedom—however temporary—he was making his way out of Newton’s office only to hear his father’s voice coming from the hall: “-sandth time: there is NOTHING between us! Stephanie is just a friend!”

“I’ve seen the way you two look at each other!” his mother roared.

“I’m tired of arguing about this!” His father seemed oblivious to the audience they had gathered around them: Jack, Ellen, Dennis, Robyn, and Otso were waiting outside for their turn to debrief the headmaster. “I have never been anything BUT loyal to YOU! I’m tired of the constant accusations-”

“What, so our marriage holds you back? Have it your way!”

The mustachioed man sighed. “What are you talking about, Lily?”

“Get out.”

He was standing in the threshold of the door. “I’m working on it.”

“I mean our home. You don’t love me. You don’t love your son. Why don’t you just get out?”

Even with his back to him, Lex could see the heartache on his father’s face. “What are you saying?”

“I want a divorce.”
I'm going to wrap this session here. 1 PP for everyone. I'll get a new post up later today that will address the dangling issues like 3's gun, Dennis and Beatrice, Lex and Jack/Vlad (Lex knows they encountered Domingo before and can potentially bring new info to the table), ect.
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Michuru
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NEW VINDICATORS ACADEMY OF EUROPE #28: The Garden of Earthly Delights

Post by Michuru »

NEW VINDICATORS ACADEMY OF EUROPE #28: The Garden of Earthly Delights

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

VIENNA, NVAE
Robyn turned intangible and passed through the front door. Roger Murphy was sleeping on the couch. It had been less than a day since the shouting match at the main office—about fifteen hours had gone by since Lilian Murphy told her husband that she wanted a divorce. He hadn’t moved out just yet. No doubt the man hoped that their marriage could weather this and had simply opted to sleep on the sofa.

He needed help, and Robyn knew precisely what to do…

Making her way into the kitchen, she gazed down at the coffee pot. The water tank was filled. The alarm was set. In a few more hours, Roger would wake to the smell of fresh-brewed coffee… and Robyn had just the right flavor to give it.

“It’s not double-double,” Robyn said as she raised the flower over the tank, “but it’ll do.” With a shake, she dropped some of the flower’s pollen into the water. A fiendish smile flashed on the fey’s face. One sip of this coffee and Roger would fall hopelessly, helplessly in love with the first person he saw. It would be the same for Lillian Murphy. Over breakfast, they would rekindle their relationship. Talk of divorce would melt away, replaced only with unbridled passion.

With the deed done, Robyn ghosted through the wall again. Once Dennis saw how well she had fixed the Murphy family, he would have to concede that she was right—and being right was a feeling far greater than love.

Hours more passed and then coffee began to brew. Roger rose up and stumbled to the bathroom, bumping into his youngest son in the process. “Good morning,” the Murphy patriarch muttered.

Steven rolled his eyes. He slid past his father.

“Hey,” the youth’s father said uneasily, “this, uh… this thing with your ma and me? I’m going to fix it, okay? But… whatever happens, I just don’t want you to-”

“To blame myself?” Steven made his way to the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee. “I don’t.” He kept his back to his father. “I blame you.”

Taking a sip, Steven slipped out the door, leaving Roger feeling more powerless than he had yesterday. Even if he couldn’t fix things with Lilian, Steven was his son. That relationship was far more important to him than his marriage. He just didn’t know how to reach the boy.

He slipped into the bathroom and emptied his bladder. As he started the shower, his wife left the bedroom. She looked to the bathroom door and grimaced. She didn’t want to see him—let alone talk to him. Instead, she made her way into the kitchen and grabbed a travel mug. She poured herself a cup of coffee and walked out the door.

Roger emerged from the shower and paused in the living room, looking to the bedroom door. He approached it cautiously. He hesitated before softly knocking. “Lily, honey?” he asked. “Are you up?”

Silence answered him.

“I’m coming in.” He gave the door knob a twist and let himself in. At the sight of the empty bed, he sighed. He took some clothes from the dresser and sat down on the edge of the bed. He sat in silence for a few moments before the tears came. He buried his face in his hands and let himself sob.

Once he composed himself, he got dressed. He made his way into the kitchen. He poured himself a cup of coffee. He dropped some bread into the toaster. He ate his breakfast in silence. He checked his watch. When it was time to start the day, he rose up, rinsed his mug and plate, washed the spoon he had used to spread the jam, and left the apartment.

As he made his way across the quad, he heard footsteps behind him. Roger grabbed the door and held it open for…
First reply in the OOC thread gets to pick who Roger just saw, regardless of gender or age. Hell, I don’t even care if it’s a PC or NPC. Give me a name and Roger will be in love with them.
DENNIS
Dennis had taken his first few steps into the realm of magic… but there was another magus who concerned him: Beatrice Marceau had to have had a guide—someone had taught her how to wield arcana, as the Aurelius had him. Dennis was positive that this had to be the same person responsible for the dissolution of the Aurelius’ wards…

JACK
A psychopathic was obsessed with Otso and there wasn’t anything Jack could do about it. He didn’t know where to start or what to do. To top it off, he had his own problems: JR.

Vlad and Ellen’s son from an alternate future still didn’t seem to like the idea of his mother dating his godfather.

LEX
As he made his way to the second floor, he could hear the man talking: <<”Children—possibly from that school the others mentioned.”>>

<<”The candy boy?”>> asked the woman.

<<”Yes. His friend—the American boy—told me.”>>


There was not a doubt in his mind that Domingo had been talking about Vlad and Jack. At some point, Domingo had encountered those two. When and under what circumstances? Had they fought him? When Martin briefed Newton on their mission, the man hadn’t appeared to recognize the name. Whatever Jack and Vlad had done, Newton didn’t know about it.

Before he could ask either of them about it, he’d watched his parents’ very public, very awkward breakup. His mother was demanding a divorce. His father had been devastated. He hadn’t said a word—just slunk off to lick his wounds.

Kirstie had been quick to comfort him, even though she was still dealing with her own personal drama. Her father was still trapped in the Astral Plane and she was still avoiding her daughter from an alternate reality.

It was thoughts like these that kept him from sleeping. Instead, he just laid there, while Kirstie used him as a body pillow. Her leg was hooked around his; his head was on his chest; her arm was across him and hanging over the edge of his twin-sized bed.

The alarm she’d set on her phone went off. Girls weren’t supposed to be in the boys’ dorm building, much less spending the night here. Determined not to get caught, Kirstie made it a point to wake up early and sneak back to her own room.

She climbed over him and hastily dressed. “I need to start bringing clothes with me,” she grumbled. “Okay, I’ll run back to my room, get dressed, and meet you for breakie?” She stole a smooch before she made her way to the door. “See you soon, Sexy Lexy.”

KIRSTIE
Kirstie slipped into the hall as quietly as she could, only to hear a door shutting down the hall. She looked towards the den mother’s apartment—towards Lex’s parents’ apartment. There, standing in the hall, she saw Steven—Lex’s brother. “H-hi,” she said nervously.

Steven laid eyes on her and smiled slyly. “Hey there, gorgeous.”

MARTIN
It was far easier for Martin to sneak into the girls’ dorms than it was for Tatjana to sneak into the boys’. Martin could turn into a backpack or simply phase through solid matter or slither past the languid security or turn into one of the female residents… There were many ways for Martin to spend the night with his girlfriend.

After returning from Spain, he had gone to the camp. Brandon Hanley had moved out. He had been accepted at TU Wein. It wasn’t a long trip, and Martin needed the time to consider their next move. According to Lex, Domingo and Mena had been talking about a candy boy and his American friend—Vlad and Jack. How were they involved in this? What was the best way to approach them?

Before long, Martin had met with Brandon. It had been months since they’d last met. Brandon was acclimating nicely to his new life here. He had a home, a part-time job, was seeing a doctor and a therapist, and had started dating a boy he met in a support group. He was doing well, and Martin was careful not to drag him into the darkness he found encroaching towards them…

Brandon told him about his grandfather: Peter Rynsburger, a Dutchman whose youngest daughter—Brandon’s mother—had gone to college in America. After looking into it, Martin discovered that Peter had last been missing since February of this year. He simply hadn’t come home from work one night. Martin pointed local authorities towards Valencia. It would be a sad conclusion to the case, but at least his family would have closure.

Martin considered the implications of this revelation: Domingo had killed a man from Greece and the Netherlands, but appeared to be based out of Spain. There was no telling how big of a range he had, or how he was even locating other children of Leviathan. He could cast a wide net and look into all missing person cases across Europe, but there was no telling how many dead ends he would encounter.

He needed a way to focus his search…

The alarm went off and Tatjana sighed. “Today’s the day,” she said sadly. Martin knew exactly what she meant: today was the first day of the custody battle over Shelby.

OTSO
A gun. 3 had left him a gun. A loaded six-shooter revolver. Why? What did the psychopath expect him to do with it? Odds were he would demand Otso kill someone… but with what leverage? Everyone that 3 targeted, he had kidnapped a loved one first.

”Oh, and say hi to that girlfriend of yours, Ursa! Let her know I’ll see her soon.”

Beatrice. The son of a bitch was coming for Beatrice…

TAMATI
“I thought my dimension was messed up,” Shelby admitted, “but this…” She was still trying to wrap her head around what they had seen: a government agency torturing infants in an attempt to bring out their powers. “What do we do if they’re still doing this?”

They went through the rest of the day, only for Shelby to call it an early night. The next morning was going to be rough for her, though: her parents were going to be going to court over her—or rather, her younger self. Given the complexity of her identity, Shelby’s grandfather had asked her to not come to the courthouse. Instead, Shelby had been sentenced to a day of classes and stress over how things were going.

VIOLET
Enrolling Joseph in the Tokyo school meant they had to take the situation before the administration. As soon as this became obvious, Herta removed herself from the conversation. According to her tracking device, she had spent the night at the school. If it became known that she had been in England, she was going to be in serious trouble…

After being up all night, Violet and the others had to attend class. Several students were missing: Beatrice, Dennis, Robyn, Rusty, Jack, Kas, Martin, Lex, Otso, Ellen, Buddy… By the end of the day, the rumors were circulating that Buddy and Rusty’s father was dead.

It was a sobering reminder that her mother was still far from safe. Nemesis was determined to bring the woman down. They had stopped Joseph—would this person move on to someone else now?
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EnigmaticOne
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #25 - Jeopardy! (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by EnigmaticOne »

Imago
HP: 3

Time to get this over with, Dennis decided. He was going to find Beatrice and have that talk. Right away. Otso... as long as he handled this right, Otso shouldn't get too upset.
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McGuffin
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #26 - The Persistence of Memory (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by McGuffin »

Ursa
HP: 1
Cnd: Fine


Otso felt his breath catch in his throat as he fumbled for his phone. Three was coming for Beatrice and he had to reach her, whatever else she was doing be damned.

He stood in his room, holding the gun in one shaking hand while the other clasped his ringing phone as he tried desperately to reach his girlfriend.
Otso Karell/Ursa, student at the New Vindicators Academy Europe.
Kriv of Clan Myastan, Dragonborn Noble Paladin in On the Road.
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Arkrite
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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: 1 CND: Normal

How did you spend your summer?

Well, I spent my entire summer trapped with a pile of rotting corpses on a dead planet, came home to discover everybody thought I was dead, my best friend is gone friend is gone forever, my relationship with my girlfriend is in flux, the one with one x, I fought a crazy cannibal cult leader who murdered my classmate's dad. Oh, and my parents are going to get a divorce.

He'd been back seven days. Just seven days and his nightmarefuel tank was so full he might never sleep again.

Honestly he wanted to be alone. There was only one problem with that: Being alone.

Their new sleeping arrangements caused all sorts of difficulties, but there was a surprise benefit. Where he used to lay in bed, alone, his mind would go over all the horrible things that had happened, could happen, and pessimistically would happen. He would sit there a pick apart every horrible thing in his mind until he finally passed out.

Kirstie's presence ended most of those issues. Having her so close was a salve on his overactive mind, allowing him to relax without the self destructive introspection bearing down on him.

Normally.

Admittedly this was a new experience for him, but after yesterday? Even Kirstie's presence wasn't enough to let him sleep.

He lay there on the bed, pinned by his girlfriend and unable to leave. He'd worked around this by setting Drifter's MP3 player in the drawer in his nightstand. With one headphone in his far ear, and the other buried under his pillow, he idly wiggled a finger with the beat. And as he wiggled his finger the led Christmas lights he'd hung from the ceiling flickered and blinked.

As he set the white lights to flickering to a beat, he felt a subtle shift in Kirstie's phone a second before the alarm went off. The speakers powering up, he suspected. Normally he'd have been had pressed to notice the shift, but at this point in the morning, and for the hours leading up to it, all the local power usage had been pretty consistent, so the subtle shift was easier to notice.

Kirstie climbed over him and hastily dressed while Lex watched with great appreciation.

“I need to start bringing clothes with me,” she grumbled.

"Or I can sneak over to your room. You know going out the window isn't much an issue for me," Lex pointed out lazily as his eyes wandered.

“Okay, I’ll run back to my room, get dressed, and meet you for breakie?” She stole a smooch before she made her way to the door. “See you soon, Sexy Lexy.”

"Yeah. See you," Lex waved and waited until the door shut before sighing.

Well now he got what he wanted. Now he was alone.

And he wasn't happier.

Grumbling he got up and pulled on his pants. He wasn't looking forward to today. Dealing with... what ever the $*#( was going on with his parents was just going to suck. His dad had been trying, but his Mom? He swore, sat on his bed and buried his face in his hands.

His Mom hated him.

Things had never been the same after she found out he was a neo. She fought with his father in front of everybody about how he didn't love Steven. Even though Steven was an ass and spent all of his time insulting his Dad. At least Dad was trying. What had his Mom done except ignore him and complain about Steven?

That neurotic part of his mind that Martin was always complaining about wanted to blame the mind spider for it.

His body boiled with barely constrained power at the thought. If that psychic @*#( was dumb enough to mess with his family he'd make sure that she didn't make it back into British hands in one piece. He only needed her able to talk.

But that was just paranoia. Right?

He forced his powers down and took a deep breath.

The other reason was the shrink. They let everybody on the mission off the leash for as long as they needed with the caveat that they had to speak to the shrink. Somebody Lex had been avoiding like the plague since he'd gone to the school.

He hated the concept. Somebody who you were supposed to bare your soul to, tell them everything, let them in and listen to their judgement. Why? What did they offer in return besides some nonsense from a book. What did any shrink know about what he was going through? How could they?

Had they been tracked and attacked by the government? Had they been stabbed in a back alley over a coat? Had they been a pariah in the school they were trapped in while their parents were missing? Had they been targeted by terrorists, criminals and wannabe Gandelf dumbasses? Had they fought for their lives for the last year? Had they brought down a flying island? Had the watched the tower of Babylon fall from the heavens? Had they stood on the graveyard that had once been the earth?

He didn't need somebody who had no god damn idea telling him he had issues and to get over it.

Growling he got up and pulled on his shirt, and then pulled on his jacket. Wincing he shifted around an arm and felt the movement. He still felt strange after Beatrice's juicing spell.

He hid his MP3 player in the back of his desk, retrieved his flip phone and his music book. If nothing else he could work on a few songs while he was waiting for Kirstie. If nothing else he had a lot of ideas running through his head due to recent events.

"I need a god damned vacation," he muttered to himself as he headed for the door.
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #27: The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Shock »

Violet Lear
HP: 1


Violet didn't say anything else to her father after they took Joseph away. It didn't feel right sending him away to Tokyo but she could tell he wasn't going to change his mind. And she couldn't stomach trying to get any more details about the study. It was bad enough she was dreading the questions from Tamati and Shelby. That night/morning, as soon as she got back to her room, Violet sat down with her laptop and emailed each of the videos to her mother. With the last one, she attached the message "Where's mine?"

Violet sleepwalked her way to class and was not at all attentive. She took extra care to avoid catching Shelby's gaze. Her only thoughts were on how to go about finding Mira. She figured her best bet was to hope the school still had contact with alumni and could point her in the right direction. During lunch, she went to the administrative office and asked, under the guise of trying to keep in touch with a fellow Brit.
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #27: The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Tattooedman »

Greystone:
[Jack Rexroth]
HP: 5

The night before Jack left Ellen's room a lot earlier than she had wanted him to, and in all honesty a lot earlier than he'd wanted to. Seeing the Murphy's marriage break in front of their eyes had a bit to do with that, and Jack honestly felt sorry for Mister Murphy; he was a good fella in a rough spot to put it mildly.

Between that, Otso's problems with 3, the questions about Bea's magic, and what was up with Robyn, Jack had plenty on his mind. Unfortunately the American's thoughts kept going back to J.R. In some ways the other-dimensional teen knew him better than most others did, but in other ways he was a total stranger. Apparently Jack had changed very little in the world J.R. came from, though there were still some small differences, likely due to the fact that other Jack had several years more time to get over his issues with his family and relationships. Still Jack had little doubt that J.R. was done with him and Ellen. So Jack was going to try and talk with him, then move on to the other problems he had half an idea of what to do about.

He rose up from his bed, got dressed then started to reach for a pack of cigarettes that were no longer on his desk. He sighed, old habit at this point since he'd given up smoking since "dying" and coming back, still it showed that he could change things. It was with that thought that he exited his room and walked to J.R.'s and knocked on the other teen's door.
Jabroniville wrote: Tue Jul 13, 2021 11:45 pm
LOl- "The Tattooed Man"? What kind of ABSOLUTE DILDO would refer to himself as "The Tattooed Man" :P!?!
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Gilliam
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Re: NEW VINDICATORS ACADEMY OF EUROPE #28: The Garden of Earthly Delights

Post by Gilliam »

Tamati "Taheka" Stevens
HP: 1
Condition: Normal


Shelby wrote: “I thought my dimension was messed up,” Shelby admitted, “but this…” She was still trying to wrap her head around what they had seen: a government agency torturing infants in an attempt to bring out their powers. “What do we do if they’re still doing this?”
"We stop them ... hard if need be." was Tamati's unambiguous response he never thought what he had just seen on the computer screen was even possible, how could grown men and women do such a thing. He just hoped that none of them had any kids of their own as it was too creepy to contemplate that that they were capable of doing something like that to babies and then go home and hug and play with their own children.

What did frustrate Tamati was the fact he was sure that Violet knew a lot more than she was letting on or sharing and while he was all keen on confronting her Shelby had put her foot down in no uncertain terms telling him to give Violet some space for the meantime and with that look in her eyes he wasn't going to argue.

The next morning Tamati was knocking gently on Shelby's door, it was still early but his plan was to take her out for breakfast before classes and try and keep her mind off what was happening with her parents in court later that day.
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #27: The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Flynnarrel »

Martin, freed from the need for sleep, still lay next to his girlfriend, holding her throughout the night. He occupied himself by going over the case of Domingo again. Dried meat looked and smelled mostly the same; how did he the man know what specific piece imparted what powers? Finding the answers might help them build a base power profile for the Nephilim. For example, Durendahl could inherently sense powers of Neo sapiens around herself; might Domingo be able to do that for pieces of meat?
[Mich, was there any labelling system to the jerky? Did the clothes Domingo wore have many small pockets? or did the man reach in and pull out a piece from the same pocket whenever he wanted to access a new ability?]
He'd also need to ask Jack where he and Vlad may have encountered Domingo before.

At least the Children-of-Leviathan notion seemed to be panning out. (And the fact that Domingo had access to face-changing abilities [assuming he reserved some of that jerky] was not lost on Martin.) Even before morning broke Martin texted 'Harry' to warn him of a potential threat to blue-aspected nephilims. And he would have to revise his report to the Administration to include his new findings so they could spread the word to the other nations' Vindicator teams.

Tatjana's alarm broke him out of further thoughts. With solemnity he listened to the anxiety in her voice.

Martin gave Tatjana a reassuring hug. "I'm not sure 'ow I may be able to 'elp, but eef zere ees anyzing I can do, let me know."

"Would you like me zere in court?" Martin asks. He didn't know what he might be able to do but he'd be there if they wanted him.
"Something pithy this way comes."
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #27: The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Michuru »

NVAE, MAIN ENTRANCE (Roger Murphy, Stephanie Yavorshak)
As he made his way across the quad, he heard footsteps behind him. Roger grabbed the door and held it open for Doctor Yavorshak. “Good morning, Roger,” the school therapist said cordially. “I hope I’m not putting my nose where it doesn’t belong, but if you need to talk, my door is always open.”

Roger smiled roguishly at her. “Well, hopefully it isn’t always open. I mean, what if we want to do more than talk?”

Stephanie stared at him blankly. “What do you mean?” she asked.

Roger let the door closed as he descended the stairs. “I know you’re not the math teacher, but you know what you plus me plus that couch in your office equals, right?”

Stephanie began to blush. “Roger, I…” She cut off when he reached out and moved a stray strand of hair out of her face. “Roger, you’re married.”

“Not for long,” he said as he moved in to kiss the woman.

Stephanie leaned back. “Roger, this isn’t funny.”

“I’m not trying to be funny.”

“This… This really isn’t a good idea.”

“All these months, I haven’t been happy. No one knows that better than you. Lilian said she wants out. She’s stepping aside so that we can be together.”

“Roger, that wouldn’t be professional.”

“Then you’re fired. You’re not my therapist anymore.”

Stephanie shook her head. “It doesn’t work like that.”

The man gently put his fingertips under her chin and gingerly lifted her eyes to meet his. He was oblivious to how she trembled. “I want to be with someone I have a chance of happiness with.” Again, he leaned in to kiss her. The therapist turned her face, letting his lips find her cheek instead.

“Please don’t. If your children saw-”

“If they saw their father happy for once?”

She pushed him away. “You’re going through a lot right now,” she deflected. “I’ll talk to Peter about maybe counseling you from here on.”

Roger grabbed her wrist as she tried to get away. “I don’t need a therapist,” Roger said. “I need you, Stephanie.”

“E-excuse me?”

The two looked up. Roger didn’t recognize the man standing before them, but Stephanie let out a gasp. Looking at her, Roger got the impression that she had just seen a ghost. He looked back to the strange man and tried to place him. He was just shy of six feet tall and fit, even despite them looking about the same age. The lack of fat on him made Roger suck in his gut and try to stand up straight. He was clean shaven, showing off his chiseled jawline.

“I was supposed to meet with Mister Newton?” As Roger shook the offered hand, he realized the man had no accent. After months in Vienna—surrounded by faculty and students from all across Europe, it had been a while since he had met another American. “I believe he’s expecting me. My name is Dwight Kowalski.”

NVAE, GIRLS’ DORMS (Dennis; NPCs: Beatrice)
Boys weren’t allowed in the girls’ dorms, which meant the best chance of catching Beatrice away from Otso was at her room. It was a small feat for Dennis to make himself look like one of the denizens of the dorm—Robyn was the best choice. If anyone questioned Robyn about this later, she was the most likely to keep his cover.

Wearing Robyn’s guise, Dennis made his way through the dorms, only to realize that he didn’t know which room was Beatrice’s. Upon walking in, he spotted Ellen’s door—complete with a Union Jack hanging under her name. He hoped Beatrice had likewise decorated her door—that she had left something that would indicate it was her room.

Some of the doors sported nothing. Others were ambiguous: he passed a door that sported only a black and white phot of two men he didn’t recognize; another was adorned only with a cartoon giraffe. Eventually he found what he was looking for: the image of a teddy bear holding a scroll that had Beatrice’s name in glitter.

He gave a knock and waited. Beatrice opened her door with her mobile phone pressed to her face. She gave him a curious look. <“It’s Robyn,”> she said in French.

NVAE, BOYS’ DORMS (Otso)
Beatrice picked up after the second ring. “Good morning, my love,” she said cheerily. “You must be psychic; I was just zinking of you.”

They exchanged pleasantries before Beatrice cut him off. “‘Old on. Someone is at ze door.”

A few seconds passed and then, <“It’s Robyn,”> she said in French.
I feel like this is so pointless. The only difference between English and French is that she’s saying “C’est Robyn.” It’s barely noticeable, but… meh.
NVAE, FRONT QUAD (Lex; NPCs: Kirstie, Steven)
Lex stepped out of the boys’ dorms and spotted Kirstie stomping her way to the main building—Steven was hot on her heels. They were too far away to hear. That was until Kirstie rounded on her stalker and shouted, “This isn’t funny! Leave me alone, Steven!”

NVAE, MAIN OFFICE (Violet; NPCs: Lillian Murphy, Newton)
Violet arrived to find the main office unmanned. Without Missus Murphy to buzz the headmaster, Violet had no choice but to knock at the man’s door and hope for the best. The door was ajar and shifted at her touch. “Please, Missus Murphy,” she could hear the headmaster say, “this is not appropriate behavior.”

“I’m being bad?” asked Lex and Steven’s mother. There was a breathiness to her voice Violet had never heard before. “Maybe you should spank me, headmaster.”

NVAE, BOYS’ DORM (Jack; NPCs: J.R.)
A groggy J.R. opened his door, then seemed perplexed to find Jack calling on him. “The hell do you want?” he growled.

NVAE, CAFETERIA (Tamati; NPCs: Shelby)
As they made their way through the lunch line, Shelby seemed to cast her diet by the wayside. She loaded a plate with scrambled eggs heavily peppered, a small pile of bacon, a bagel with cream cheese, a sticky bun, French toast smothered in maple syrup, and two glasses of chocolate milk. She had been quiet since they had met up and shoveled in her breakfast in silence.

Tamati knew it was the stress of the custody battle making her do this. She had to feel helpless: her parents were fighting over her, but she had been told to stay out of it.

Lost in his thoughts, Tamati was startled when someone sat down next to him. It was Robyn Goodfellow, a girl who had joined the school at the start of the new year. He didn’t know her well, but rumor was she was dating Dennis, the illusionist who had taken part in the battle against the Armada.

“Eating your feelings?” Robyn asked. “Keep that up and you’ll be as fat as Helen.” She pointed to the thick senior who hailed from the dimension Jason had sacrificed.

“Do you need something?” asked an annoyed Shelby.

“I’m playing matchmaker today,” Robyn said. “Want me to use a magical potion to make your parents fall in love?”

NVAE, GIRLS’ DORMS (Martin; NPCs: Tatjana)
“Would you like me zere in court?”

Tatjana nodded glumly and squeezed the Frenchman. “Is there a way for you to do something to Viktor? Change his blood so that it says he’s on drugs, or something?”
Domingo wears cargo pants with the bags down in the pockets there. There’s no utility belt or anything like that. It should be quite baffling how he keeps it all organized.
NVAE Setting - VP: 5
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Tattooedman
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #27: The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Tattooedman »

Greystone:
[Jack Rexroth]
HP: 5
A groggy J.R. opened his door, then seemed perplexed to find Jack calling on him. “The hell do you want?” he growled.
Jack bit his lip at the greeting he received, an effort to keep his cool because turning this into an early morning argument wouldn't solve anything. "I just want to talk, sort things out between you and me."
Jabroniville wrote: Tue Jul 13, 2021 11:45 pm
LOl- "The Tattooed Man"? What kind of ABSOLUTE DILDO would refer to himself as "The Tattooed Man" :P!?!
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe #27: The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (M&M 2E - IC)

Post by Flynnarrel »

Martin had to conclude that Domingo's powers let him identify potential powers in the jerky. He'd include that in a revised report on the incident.

He took Tatjana's hand.

"Ma Cheri, zere are many various zings I can do to Viktor DeGallow. And if it came to light zat I did such it would cause worse problems for us and zem. I know zat ze prospect of 'im reducing a family zat 'as already lost so much is 'arrowing and can lead to desperation but we will 'ave to trust ze courts on zis one. Ze best we can do is show zem a united front. Show zem an aunt 'oo will support 'er sister and 'er niece to ze best of 'er ability."

"I must admit I do not understand ze decision to keep grown Shelby out of it zough. She could provide so much insight. She is family too." he says.
"Something pithy this way comes."
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