3e: Earth-47: The New Guardians Reboot (IC)

[Neo-Paladin]

---Elsewhere---

The portal leads the heroes onto a flat, polished surface floating in absolute blackness. It is a round disk, maybe a 100 ft. in diameter inscribed with runes that ooze age. Around its edges, numerous tall-arched portals stand, shimmering against the utter void outside.
Both of you feel a presence closing in on you, almost smothering you, before withdrawing. Lovecraft, however, seems unfazed, apparently used to the sensation.
" Stand back a bit", he says, spreading his arms and beginning to chant.
IA IA! Tawit al Umr! IA Ghn'keh at al'akhat Y'thleiyy! Yog-Sothot w'xray klngu arrat! Tawit al Umr!

You both feel the buildup of power that is not wholly of this universe, an otherworldy might pressing in on you, similar to what you felt before but somewhat...mollified, somewhat more...distant.

A robed figure appears before Lovecraft, a giant in a brown cloak, its face hidden beneath a hood, dark light seeping from underneath it.

What is your desire, Keymaster?

Its voice seeps into your mind like desert storms on a world long dried out, the wind removing dunes from secrets too terrible to contemplate...

Lovecraft turns to you. " Tell him everything you know about the incident and he will find the pages."

[Shock]

Trissa
HP: 1 LP: 0

Falafel. Trissa rolled her eyes. "You do understand that you're still a prisoner right? Perhaps, if you could tell us something about Morticus that might help us to negotiate his cooperation, we could get you something other than prison food."

[EPIC]

Valkyrie

Valkyrie frowns at Trissa. "He's already been more helpful, and I already said I would see what I could do. I'm not going to go back on my word."

She does however turn back towards the Brit. "But if you could help us with that, I'd be very appreciative."

[Neo-Paladin]

---Prison---

The Brit simply shrugs. " I don't know that much about him. His real name is supposedly Aaron Thennison. And getting his cooperation will be...difficult. The man is an utter and complete psychopath. His tattoos give him power and a great deal of pleasure whenever he harms someone else. I was just in this for the fighting. But he...he enjoyed the whole thing. And, as far as I know, he never had any trauma or tragedy to justify this."

[EPIC]

Valkyrie

"Sounds like your method of questioning might be more effective on that one Trissa."

[Evolución]

Hazid seems unfazed by the events, either he is not impressed or his stoicism is impervious. He gives a step forward and clearly explains all he knows about the robbery and the Necronomicon. Once finished, he gives a flourished bow and steps back again.

[Neo-Paladin]

---Museum security---

" That sounds...awful. But I remember that monster...it was all over the news the other day." Hensley nods. " You've been lucky that the Guardians have found you. They are...were the best we've had." A shadow crosses over her face as she says this. Of course, to any hero-worshipper the death of the Guardians must have been traumatic, to say the least.
" Is...is there anything else I could do?"

" You could leave." The electronically amplified voice echoes from a dark corner from which a shape now emerges. A soft crackling sound announces the deactivation of a cloaking field, revealing a tall, armored figure.
The head/helmet is shaped like a snarling wolf while other snarling wolf's heads adorn the shoulder and knee guards. A long black cape trails from beneath his shoulders. The entire armor is the colour of blackened iron and shaped to look antiquated, like medieval knight's armor. But the soft whirring of servos that accompany every single motion show that this is powered high-tech device.

" Kerberos..." Hensley's voice trails off as she pales and begins to stammer, caught between fear and awe...

Hensley is truly what she seems to be. A young woman face to face with a true superhero on the global scale for probably the first time.

[Zen_Gypsy]

Apex / Jack Vandal
Hero Points: One.
Condition: Protective ...

"Oh shi ..." Jack shook himself, looked up at the hovering wolf's head armor. Kerebos was a good man, if stern, but the deaths of the original Guardians had shaken some of the aloof demeanor, and something had happened to the man. "Officer, would you please go find Timber Wolf and explain the current situation."

Puny human gonna need Apex for dis.

Jack stepped forward, it looked odd, the short, wiry form of the man interposing himself between the fearsome visage of Kerberos and the obviously concerned officer. Until something began to shift under the small mans hoodie, his muscles, bulging and reshaping themselves, accompanied by the snap and grating of bone against bone, and in an instant the huge twelve foot tall grey skinned monster known as Apex stood between Kerebos and the police officer, wearing the shreds of Jack's clothing.

"Remember me Kerbie? The monstrous face twisted into a grin. "You and da Guardians helped me with da aliens, so let Apex help you." The smile vanished as his massive brows furrowed, and his hands clenched. "We got dis."

[Shock]

Trissa
HP: 1 LP: 0

Trissa raised an eyebrow at Valkyrie's comment. "I don't know about that but we'll see." She turned briefly to the prison guards. "You can go easy on this one until he gives you reason not to. Now we'd like to speak with Morticus."

As they left, she spoke some more with Valkyrie. "I don't believe we'll be able to reason with this one. And certainly we won't be able to browbeat him into cooperating. I'd like to try to bait him into revealing the information we seek."

[Neo-Paladin]

---Elsewhere----

The giant listens without a sound, standing utterly unmoving, not even breathing.

Now this is known to me. Now I can show you where to go.

He points at one of the portals and its surface shimmers, a picture crystallizing. It shows a garishly-coloured van driving down a crowded highway. Behind its windowpane, three people, all wearing little but bright pants and luchador masks sit in what seems like tension-filled silence, apparently not happy about their situation....

---Prison---

For magically active miscreants, the prison has only two cells, both situated in a corridor that is inscribed with protective runes over and over, warding against any offensive magic known to man - and a few unknown to anyone but a select few scholars. One is occupied by a young, bedragged-looking girl in goth outfit, looking confused and on the verge of tears. The other contains Morticus, who is sitting in a corner, staring outside the glass wall in front of him, his face unmoving. Only when the heroines come closer does his expression change, a slight smirk appearing on his face.
" I didn't sign up for conjugal visits...", he says, chuckling....

---Museum Security----

Hensley practically flees the scene, leaving Jack and now Apex alone with Kerberos.

" Hello, Apex", the former hero says, his voice devoid of any emotion. " So, they let you into the New Guardians, hm? Good idea. The group needs a heavy hitter." He takes a step closer to the monster.
" I am not sure what I should think about Wolf out there. Given the threats you're going to face, he's much too fragile." Taking a look at the console Jack was working on, he shrugs. " Tell Jack not to bother. I already ran the video files through my computers. Got two seconds more but it simply confirms what we already know. It was the Hermanos. What a shame."

[Evolución]

"Can thou take us sere?" asks the Guardian.

[Shock]

Trissa
HP: 1 LP: 0

Trissa didn't take the obvious bait and got right to business. "Are you aware that you were set up by your employer?"

[EPIC]

Valkyrie

Valkyrie could tell already she wasn't going to like this one. "Probably for the best. You probably wouldn't be approved for them anyways."

She appraises the villain his cell, also unable to help herself from noting the girl in the other cell as well, finding it an odd sight, scanning her memory for anything that might tell her who this girl was.

Turning her attention back to the task at hand, she looks back to Morticus. "I'm sorry, that was rude. Mouth sometimes gets far ahead of my brain. I am Valkyrie with the Guardians, and I believe you've already encountered Trissa. We'd like to ask you some questions. The first one is really simple. No word games, no tricky dodging. I would like to know, will you co-operate freely?"

All in all, the Brit was pretty easy to influence, but Valkyrie had no doubt that Morticus would not be inclined by the same manner of persuasion. She already didn't like him just by the vibe he gave off.

[timothy]

TimberWolf
HP - 1
Condition - abso-freakin-lutely lovely...

As soon as he gets the message about Kerberos, he breaks into a sprint towards the nearest stairwell, his right hand reaching into one of his greatcoat's inner pockets. Once in the stairwell, he vaults the handrail into the space between the flights of stairs. As gravity begins pulling him downwards, he fires his grapnel into the roof above him. The internal winch mechanism whines as he drops as quickly ss he can to ground level.

As soon as he hits the floor, his thumb hits the detents to release the grapnel head and re-spool the line. Then he is moving towards the main entrance at his top speed, hoping to be there in case his new tesmmate needs assistance.

As he heads towards the door he slides the grapnel unit back into it's compartment. Both hands the move into the coats external pockets, coming out with his buzz-knucks in place and ready to activate.

[Neo-Paladin]

---Elsewhere---

Step through, the giant says, indicating the portal....


---- Prison----

Morticus chuckles again, shaking his head. " A set-up? As far as I'm concerned, everything went according to plan. That you and your folks showed up tipped the balance a bit but I got my share of fun."
He leans back with an exaggerated yawn. " Cooperation? Well, any man can be bought...but would either of you be willing to pay my prices?"