Riverside 20: Another day, another disaster

[Shadowcaller]

[Ilpholinside]

"The draachi would need one of your 'boats' as well I suspect. Perhaps it's better if we meet up in the section of Inside where you keep those. We can discuss our options there before we set off for the island itself." Cerabella suggests.

[Tracking Rattatas - Ruby & Fade, Holly]

How is Fade getting into position? Is he floating, shadow-jumping or something similar?
Since the rats are moving along the ledge and if he would want to attack them he would have to get on to the same ledge and as Holly is already on it he would have to move past her to be able to stop the rats from attacking her which isn't easy on this small ledge.

Any humanoid-sized person walking along it would have to press themselves against the cave wall and scoot themselves along it or risk fall into the water below.

The rats, being smaller, don't have that kind of problem and can move at full speed.
Even if Fade can float or in any other way be on the ledge without needing to press himself against it the rats aren't easy to hit with a sword. The weapon was made with humanoid opponents in mind after all and the rats simply run past his guard to get into their personal space. They're not making any effort of attacking the upper parts of their body, quite satisfied with simply sinking their long fangs into their legs.
They could kick them away, but that also would make them risk lose balance and fall into the lake which still haven't done anything beyond giving away that ominous feeling of danger.

Whatever is down there seems to be taking it sweet time.

---

Jaahlyn will nod and put away the flask before turning to Fade. "I shouldn't get on while you're stuck there, oh being of shadow. I cannot hurt those rats either way." Looks like she might be stuck there waiting with Ruby. More people stuck in the same place on the ledge probably wouldn't be ideal though.

[Earl of Purple]

Tracking Rats Flicker, Archera & Mysterious Stranger That Archera Doesn't Know, Certainly Not

"OK, let's dismantle the explosives and find another way out of this hole. Finding out where the mutants came from is probably good, too, but not what I'm paid for." In fact, all she's paid for is to kill the rats and hand their tails to KABAL, not deal with mutants or explosives. And hopefully Spewer's not going to worry too much, either.

[Reinholdt]

[Ilpholinside]

"I see. Meet at Inside it is. I guess I'll look for a bigger boat. Or a second one. How many did you sense?" Ilpholin asks, not sure if the angel would know such specifics or if it was just a general 'some'.

[5a Violista]

[Tracking Rattatas - Ruby & Fade, Holly]

Obviously, whatever in the water is just waiting for one of them to fall into the water.
Either that, or it's sleeping, or hunting, or on vacation.

Luckily!
Unlike what Holly was wearing before her magical girl outfit change, she's now wearing tall boots. So the rats are no longer biting into her bare skin.
Unfortunately,
they can still bite through eventually. Sure, the first several don't bite through to her ankles, but then she starts

Carlie inches forward, but is making very little progress.
She sighs.
And looks down at the water. Please don't be a fairy. Anything but a fairy.

Then, the rats finally do manage to bite through her boot. Ow!
She swings a kick to push them away from crowding that now-exposed area.
She falls into the lake.

Splash

[Gullara]

Tracking Rats Archera, Flicker, Mysterious Stranger That Isn't Irena Probably

"The rats went pretty crazy, attempted to jump down here but the other two dealt with that I think. But that's why I even came down here in the first place. Figured something was going down." Not-Irena explains. She has no idea what the other two are doing but it looks like they decided to stay back.

"But we could either have them throw down a rope or find whatever made those people like that." That's of course of assuming they weren't born that way? Though considering they looked otherwise normal besides the mutations it might be a more recent phenomena. "I mean, it's pretty obvious those people weren't responsible for the rats. Something or someone else is." She seems even more determined now to investigate for whatever reason.

Tracking Rats Flicker, Archera & Mysterious Stranger That Archera Doesn't Know, Certainly Not

"OK, let's dismantle the explosives and find another way out of this hole. Finding out where the mutants came from is probably good, too, but not what I'm paid for." In fact, all she's paid for is to kill the rats and hand their tails to KABAL, not deal with mutants or explosives. And hopefully Spewer's not going to worry too much, either.

[Tracking Rats]
Archera, Flicker, Mysterious Stranger That Isn't Irena Probably

Archera looks at Flicker a moment longer before turning her attention to the shrouded woman. If Flicker wants to stick around at this point that's up to her. Archera still isn't sure of her motivations. "Let's start with handling the explosives. Maybe we'll see something if we go down the tunnels and look around." They've yet to pass through the tunnels at a anything but a breakneck pace.

[Shadowcaller]

[Tracking Rats]
Archera, Flicker, Mysterious Stranger That Isn't Irena Probably

"What are you paid to do? Whose paying you?" Not-Irena presses.
She does seem to agree with Archera's plan though as she's letting the hero take the lead.
There are of course explosive material, mainly wire, all over the cave walls on their way back.

By now they could make a basic mental map of this place:

Spoiler: Cave Map

Show

The explosives can be found along the passage leading back to the hole they came from. The mutants have left their weapons behind so they can pick those up. Basic guns and knives. The former appearing to be rather new.
The only passages they haven't explored yet are the one the rats took when they retreated after they defused the trigger and the other passage near the hole which the mutants might have taken once they fled.

[Ilpholinside]

"I believe there were at least two dozen of them, but it was impossible to tell how many of them were warriors. I'll tell you once I know, civilians will likely just be in the way on a mission like that so we have to hope for the best." A pause. "So are we going to get to it? You find your allies and I shall find mine."

[Earl of Purple]

Tracking Rats Archera, Flicker, Someone Else

"I guess technically right now nobody. But KABAL is paying a bounty to anyone who gives them a rat tail, so that's why I'm here. To kill rats, get the tails and collect the money so I can pay off the Professor and start actually enjoying my superspeed." Not that it's really superspeed, just short-distance rapid teleportation. Flicker will walk with the others. She doesn't do it often, but it keeps them in sight and maybe there will be rats to kill and claim.

[Reinholdt]

[Ilpholinside]

"Yes. I need to finish up here." Ilpholin says, waving at the samples. Might as well set up the experiments to run while they're out and let Mister Squiggles do some real testing. "I'll meet you at the docks in a couple of hours."

[Gullara]

[Tracking Rats]
Archera, Flicker, Mysterious Stranger That Isn't Irena Probably

"What are you paid to do? Whose paying you?" Not-Irena presses.
She does seem to agree with Archera's plan though as she's letting the hero take the lead.
There are of course explosive material, mainly wire, all over the cave walls on their way back.

By now they could make a basic mental map of this place:

Spoiler: Cave Map

Show

The explosives can be found along the passage leading back to the hole they came from. The mutants have left their weapons behind so they can pick those up. Basic guns and knives. The former appearing to be rather new.
The only passages they haven't explored yet are the one the rats took when they retreated after they defused the trigger and the other passage near the hole which the mutants might have taken once they fled.

Tracking Rats Archera, Flicker, Someone Else

"I guess technically right now nobody. But KABAL is paying a bounty to anyone who gives them a rat tail, so that's why I'm here. To kill rats, get the tails and collect the money so I can pay off the Professor and start actually enjoying my superspeed." Not that it's really superspeed, just short-distance rapid teleportation. Flicker will walk with the others. She doesn't do it often, but it keeps them in sight and maybe there will be rats to kill and claim.

[Tracking Rats]
Archera, Flicker, Mysterious Stranger

Archera gives the stranger a small shrug.

"We'll start where the detonator was, follow the cords and get rid of the explosives." She leads the way back, hops across the gap and stops where the detonator was. First she looks for where the cords go. Was it just the way they came? Or did a line go down the tunnel in the other direction too? In either case she'll start by going up to one of the explosives stuck to the wall and see if she can simply pull it off.

[Shadowcaller]

[Tracking Rats]
Archera, Flicker, Mysterious Stranger

"...sounds like a plan." The stranger concurs.

Oh boy, this was going to be an argument when they got home, wasn't it?

The strangers even briefly ponders hiding out in these tunnels for a while as they search for detonators and cords. What she would do to just sink into the ground.

Thankfully they aren't spread much further than they've already been. They will find some explosives set up in the tunnel leading away in the other direction of the hole they came down from but they don't seem to go any deeper than that. As for removing them, they will likely have to cut them down with knives or similar tools as they've been securely fastened to the rocks by several layers of duct tape and bolts. At least one of the mutants seemed to know what they were doing at least as this looked done by someone with experience.

They don't need to be too worried about accidentally setting off the bombs either as these were controlled explosives that needed a detonator to set off. Otherwise they were quite safe to handle.

"So, uh, I happen to know that all these people should be dead." The stranger declares once they're almost done while gesturing towards the mutant leader who still have barely moved from the spot. "They're all homeless or were at least. Pretty sure they were't mutated before they 'died' though. Just regular folks."

[Earl of Purple]

Tracking Rats Archera, Flicker, Irena

Flicker lacks the knowledge to disable the explosives, but she does have plenty of knives to use.

"So some scientist moved in from Skyside. I've tried to keep atop of all the biologists and mutagenicists, though. And I'm not familiar with any who turn people into rat hybrids." She thinks a few moments, but can't think of any off the top of her head. Maybe she should take a blood sample for Professor Payne, though. He might be interested in a sample for his own research. Now, how to collect one without the superheroes noticing...

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

[Westside: Rakdosbucks]

The wheels on Wanessa's suitcase make a rhythmic *clack, clack, clack* as she pulls it down the sidewalk. She looks up from her paper directions. Her phone's IPS doesn't work out here, so she had to come here all the way from the Riftline station. It took about five pages worth of directions, with some notes in the margins about bus lines and border crossings.

The light of an artificial sun still hangs eerily in the sky. Well, eerily to her. Intellectually, she knows how this works: it's not the sun, so it's ultimately harmless to her. Her old vampire clique gathered here sometimes for that exact reason. Yet, after years of avoiding the day, it now creeps her out. Oh well. She'll be inside with something else to think about soon enough.

She finally reaches her destination: A square restaurant storefront with a red awning shaped like a demon mask, heavily stylized to reflect its friendly purpose. Through the windows on one side she can see tables of patrons with books and coffee cups in hand; in the other, a display case of pastries with whimsical circus- or wrestling-themed nicknames. Registers, dispensers, and a low-tech karaoke set up fill out the shop.

Rakdosbucks! A spun-off division of an ancient guild dedicated to entertainment. A speakeasy-cafe chain where students and creatives gather to energize, unwind, and collaborate. Also the drinks have potions and drugs in them sometimes. If local ordinances permit. Officially.

They received a new vim-concentrating brewing machine last week, but they apparently can't get it to work at all. Based on the limited information Wanessa could get from the one assistant manager who came to report the problem in person, it could be anything from user error to having to re-enchant the whole thing. Since the rest of the department is always complaining that she never takes her turn in the field - even though she totally does - this mission is all hers.

She proceeds inside, flashes her badge to get behind the counter, and starts her examination of the complex copper coffee contraption. She checks the bean hoppers, the levers, every moving part visible from the outside as she tries to figure out the problem. It sure looks like a pain!

[Hattish Thing]

[Westside: Rakdosbucks]

There's a woman sat at the coffee bar, head lowered to stare into a tall mug of coffee.

She's wrapped tightly within a form fitting, navy blue reefer coat. A wide brimmed hat rests at an angle atop her head.

Her large hands are concealed beneath a layer of black leather, and stockings race up her muscular legs before vanishing beneath her coat. It's clear that she'd been smoking, for several cigarette butts rest within an ashtray to her right. Her skin is dark, the shade of the earth itself. Her chestnut hair is shoulder length and traditionally cut. Although likely only in her late thirties, she's graying slightly.

This is one of several locations she often heads to in order to relax. It was quiet here, and the city spoke to her within these walls.

She stays quiet, at least until her peaceful musings are interrupted by the noise of a clattering machine.

A brow is raised. Without looking over, she speaks.

"You've got to be gentle with it."

--

Spoiler: Art

Show

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

[Rakdosbucks]

The rattling of the machine pauses. A woman slowly rises from behind the counter to investigate the comment. Straight brown hair in a loose bob surrounds an exceedingly pale complexion on an otherwise healthy face. A badge with the company logo hangs from a red satin shirt that already has its share of stains.

"It's not wrong. I shouldn't distract the customers on such a nice quiet day, even though this one doesn't seem to be doing anything."

Wanessa returns to her work, muttering to herself as the does so. "There's no blockage. Of course there wouldn't be, because none of the beans ever get picked up. I should test..."

She draws some symbols with chalk on a slate coaster and applies it to whichever mechanism she's mumbling about, causing the machine to suddenly hiss and rattle as coffee beans are momentarily drawn from a hopper into some intermediate mechanism before stopping.

"...well, now there's blockage."

[Hattish Thing]

[Westside: Rakdosbucks]

Almost immediately, the woman at the coffee bar frowns.

Ms. Bansford affords Wanessa the benefit of the doubt for just a moment.

Surely, there had been a slip of the tongue. This strange, pale woman most certainly did not just address her as an "it".

With a calm, almost icy tone to her voice, the detective speaks up. "Excuse me?"

"What was that?" She narrows her eyes and turns her head.

...

...

...

"I think I misheard you."

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

[Westside: Rakdosbucks]

Now it's the tech who almost doesn't look up. "Was it listening to me? I don't suppose it matters, I didn't say anything important. But I can feel it staring at me so expectantly..."

She turns around and looks into the noir lady's cold eyes. Like, not at them, but into them, like windows. "...I see. What are its pronouns? Mine are she/her."

It's true. She even wrote them on her badge, under her printed name: Wanessa G.

[Hattish Thing]

[Westside: Rakdosbucks]

Ah, so this hadn't simply been a slip of the tongue.

There was no error here, no mistake. Just simple, straightforward bigotry.

Unfortunately, there was really only one way to deal with a situation like this. It wasn't particularly pleasant, but then, neither was being addressed as an "it" multiple times. Ms. Bansford speaks up quickly, her tone icy and authoritative. There was something about the way that she spoke that simply demanded respect. "It's you who needs to listen to me."

Her eyes narrow as she turns upon her stool in order to face Wanessa. "Women are to be addressed as "ma'am", or "miss". You know this." It was basic manners.

She continues to scold Wanessa, clearly displeased. "You should apologize."

Would she? What sort of person was she, really?

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

[Westside - Rakdosbucks]

"Ma'am doesn't actually know what I do and don't know. Technically, the world has a lot more its than it does shes or ma'ams," the pale witch mutters, staring concerned at something in the middle distance. She blinks and reestablishes eye contact. "But ma'am doesn't need my excuses. Ma'am needs an apology. Sorry."

[Hattish Thing]

[Westside - Rakdosbucks]

It's quite apparent by the orc's expression that she wasn't pleased with Wanessa's mutterings.

She remains quiet, however - deliberately so. That stern, disapproving expression of hers could stop a locomotive in its tracks.

Finally, the witch apologizes. At this, Billie's expression softens, though she's still somewhat displeased. She responds in kind after a small pause, "Thank you - now, are you having trouble, there?" She raises a brow in the direction of the coffee machine. This would have to be resolved, else the noise would continue to bother her. How was she supposed to relax with that clattering going on?

With a sigh, she'll look over the machine, "We have one of these at the station."

"It's a piece of ****", she says. Her tone is very matter of fact.

[Gullara]

[Tracking Rats]
Archera, Flicker, Mysterious Stranger

"...sounds like a plan." The stranger concurs.

Oh boy, this was going to be an argument when they got home, wasn't it?

The strangers even briefly ponders hiding out in these tunnels for a while as they search for detonators and cords. What she would do to just sink into the ground.

Thankfully they aren't spread much further than they've already been. They will find some explosives set up in the tunnel leading away in the other direction of the hole they came down from but they don't seem to go any deeper than that. As for removing them, they will likely have to cut them down with knives or similar tools as they've been securely fastened to the rocks by several layers of duct tape and bolts. At least one of the mutants seemed to know what they were doing at least as this looked done by someone with experience.

They don't need to be too worried about accidentally setting off the bombs either as these were controlled explosives that needed a detonator to set off. Otherwise they were quite safe to handle.

"So, uh, I happen to know that all these people should be dead." The stranger declares once they're almost done while gesturing towards the mutant leader who still have barely moved from the spot. "They're all homeless or were at least. Pretty sure they were't mutated before they 'died' though. Just regular folks."

Tracking Rats Archera, Flicker, Irena

Flicker lacks the knowledge to disable the explosives, but she does have plenty of knives to use.

"So some scientist moved in from Skyside. I've tried to keep atop of all the biologists and mutagenicists, though. And I'm not familiar with any who turn people into rat hybrids." She thinks a few moments, but can't think of any off the top of her head. Maybe she should take a blood sample for Professor Payne, though. He might be interested in a sample for his own research. Now, how to collect one without the superheroes noticing...

[Tracking Rats]
Archera, Flicker, Mysterious Stranger

Archera looks at the stranger with a confused look visible past her helmet. "What do you mean dead?" She looks at Flicker, taking in that information as well, but she's not raising the bigger questions right now.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Is that so?" Wanessa muses. "Well, if this one's anything to go by, I'm not going to argue. It's not my baby or anything."

She pulls a little extendable pointer from her suitcase and sticks it through the chute she was testing the clear it out. "The mana batteries are both charged, and no individual component seems stuck. It's as though the energy itself doesn't want to move... Is ma'am a police officer? I might have imagined her as a private investigator."

[Shadowcaller]

[Tracking Rats]
Archera, Flicker, Mysterious Stranger

The stranger stops moving and simply stares at Flicker as soon as she mentions skyside.
But they don't actually address her suggestion. Instead they turn to answer Archera's question. "As in 'disappeared'. Presumed dead, not that anyone bothered to look that closely since they were homeless. Until me that is. I came here to investigate what might have happened to them. They were some of the homeless that I mentioned disappeared around the old factory." They gesture upwards, presumably meaning the factory that was on top of the hole they entered this tunnel through. "Bet something was- is controlling them, just like the rats. They weren't bloody terrorists, something had obviously been done to them."

[Rebonack]

[Buffet Hopping]

It's sort of like bar hopping, but not. Magdalene had discovered from a few peers her age what bar hopping was. Apparently it required fake IDs since they were under-age? Whatever. That seemed dumb to her. Why the heck would you intentionally poison yourself? What if a bunch of flesh-hulks possessed by aetherials busted down the door while you couldn't see straight?

You would die. That's what.

Besides the Hart took everything she ate and drank, so it wasn't like the alcohol worked on her like it did to normies.

Dumb.

So no bar hopping for Magdalene. She's going buffet hopping instead.

See, shortly after that bungal had given her this old apartment she had discovered all you can eat buffets.

That title is absolutely a lie. It isn't all you can eat. After you've shoveled down, like, eight plates of food they usually kick you out. Then they put up a picture of you just in case you come back. So then you've gotta find a new buffet that doesn't know you're a ravenous bottomless pit.

Magdalene is straying a bit further out from her apartment on this run. All the restaurants nearby recognize her at this point. Short kid, mid teens, kinda skinny, short cropped brown hair, weirdly ruby colored eyes. Ears just a little too pointy. Teeth just a little too sharp. But hey, with all those elf people around that isn't too weird right? And always wearing her stocking cap. She's got one of the bungirl's old outfits on. The shape shifter had, like, a million changes of clothing and some of them fit pretty well. Floral button up shirt and shorts. Which is nice, since it's pretty warm today.

She can't read much. Schooling wasn't ever that high on her list of priorities what with the end of the world and everything. But she's been working on that since there are signs everywhere in Riverside. She's learned a few words. Buffet is one of them.

Six miles from home.

Buffet right there.

Greasy looking place. Smells like breaded batter and fish. Got a picture of a fish on the sign, too, so Magdalene is pretty sure she knows what they server.

With her backpack full of iron, trinkets, and a bit of currency she's picked up since her arrival, she heads into buffet number one.

[Zefir]

[Tracking Rattatas - Ruby & Fade, Holly]

fade wasn't going to the rats. He was waiting on the start of the ledge. As mentioned it is small and with Holly already in place. He watches Holly struggle with the rats and then falls. Well he did warn her. He looks down on his blade, remembering what it does. Then he turns to Holly.

"Get out there quick." and he heads for the ledge. If the rats come he turns his sword 90 degree so he got a wider blade and swings it around to shove the incoming rats at the water. it might look funny since he needs to be on one knee to be on their level

[Hattish Thing]

[Westside - Rakdosbucks]

Billie raises a brow as she takes in the other woman's words.

She had such a strange way of speaking, didn't she? Then again, the city is full of all sorts.

With a shrug, Ms. Bansford starts to run her gloved hands over the sides of the machine. The metal was smooth and cool, she could feel it through her gloves. She closes her eyes for a second or so, forming a mental image of its inner makings as she quietly takes in what she can. With a nod, Billie addresses the woman's question. "Close. Police detective."

"I'm with Intersection." She'll step back before taking a deep breath...

She aligns her energies.


...

...

...


Then she strikes at the side of the machine. Miraculously, it should now function.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

[Westside - Rakdosbucks]

Alongside the obvious *CLONG* the magitech coffee machine lets out a burst of red light and the wail of a distant ghost as it comes to life. Wanessa flinches and blinks.

"It worked! With a moving display, ma'am has roused the machine's lazy spirit! Perhaps this is my lucky week," Wanessa smiles, revealing the downward-pointing fangs that would readily tell the detective what she has already probably guessed about the vampire. She looks into Ma'am's eyes again. "It would seem that I am in her debt. I don't suppose she'd turn down some free drinks while she's here?"

The store's black-polo'd manager, having come over to investigate the banging, raises a finger to object, but between Wanessa's penetrating ogle and Billie's withering glare these two women are simply too intimidating. Besides, was he really sure this wasn't allowed? He retreats to the back office, and Wanessa picks out a cowblood punch for herself from a refrigerated display case.

[Hattish Thing]

[Westside - Rakdosbucks]

Ms. Bansford wasn't particularly surprised by unusual teeth.

She generally made a point out of not staring, so she wasn't going to make a deal out of it.

The woman's fangs were, however, most certainly noted. Not for any sinister reason, of course - mere habit. Vampires weren't common, but they weren't rare either. They were just as much a citizen of the city as any other, and were to be treated as such. Billie nods once the machine rattles to life before responding coolly to Wanessa, "Perhaps so. What was your name?"

The orc accepts this offer of a free beverage, and so reaches for a bottled iced coffee. She'd save it for tomorrow morning.

For now, she goes back to finishing her drink. She gestures for Wanessa to sit beside her.

She sips at her drink before muttering, "You can call me Billie."

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

[Westside - Rakdosbucks]

The lady in the red shirt closes her eyes to contemplate the name. Her eyeliner could probably use a touch-up; who knows how long it's been since she last cleaned it off. "Billie. It's good to meet her. She can call me Wanessa."

An on-duty Barista with a stylishly-torn apron looks over the gizmo as it calms down to a supernaturally-muted gurgle. "Ah, hey, does that mean we use this again now?"

"It can..." Wanessa pauses for a moment. One should hope she'd learned a lesson from all this. "...that is to say, the machine works now, so one should be able to use it without issue. One has a better ring to it."

The barista looks a bit confused about the delivery, but they did get the answer to their question so they decide to leave it alone. Wanessa twists open her punch and pulls up a stool, letting the detective appreciate the quiet as it returns to the shop.

[Hattish Thing]

[Westside - Rakdosbucks]

Billie takes note of the vampire's smudgy eyeliner. She didn't judge.

After all, it had taken her years of practice to perfect her own understated style. Her makeup was formal and elegant, but subtle.

She decides it would be rude to mention anything to Wanessa. The orc takes a sip at her coffee before responding slyly to her, "You know, I don't think you're from around here, Wanessa." She raises her brow as she glances back to the vampire. As much as she appreciated the quiet, there was something about Wanessa that intrigued her in some way.

[Earl of Purple]

Tracking Rats Archera, Flicker, Plus One

Flicker doesn't really have much to add. Homeless people went missing... In Skyside, it wasn't just the homeless. And turning up later as brainwashed mutants is pretty extreme, even for Skyside. She doesn't have much to add at the moment.