Supercape

GM And so, back at the Gold Star Nursing Home... The shattered glass had been swept up. The place looked as good as new, which was, lamentably, not very good. It appeared a few days had passed. Such was the quantum nature of time when forced through paradoxical dimensional lensing. Or some such effect. It was now dusk, and the hot, sticky air was hotter, and predictably more sticky. The low sun cast long shadows and amber light with its own beauty. And all was quiet. And, it seemed after a moments inquiry at the nursing home. Mr. Altman Jnr had taken Mr. Altman Snr out for a trip...to Bloom Studios...

No problems - for now, whilst in the base that will probably be irrelevant but Ill think about whether that could be a complication on return?

GM "I think she is more subtle than that" pondered Zyte. "She operates with words, laws, and manipulation. I don't doubt that if push comes to shove she would stab you in the back with a sharpened cucumber. But make no mistake..." He paused. "Look, I know I am great. You might think that's an idle boast, but I have a natural talent honed by hard work. Top honours in film and business degrees. I can hack....I mean program, I can film, I can play the social media like a maestro" Michelle did not disagree. Zyte was a young prodigy. "But look, Violet Bloom scares me. She is as smart as me and brutal with it. Plus she has thirty, forty years of experience, money, and contacts behind her. I wouldn't want her as an enemy. Because she is cautious, but doesn't forget..." he wiped his brow. "That said, if you can take her down, you will be the toast of Hollywood...she isn't exactly popular. Just influential..." "I doubt she will make a direct move. She has something else up her sleeve. We will be dealing with the chess pieces she plays with, not the player herself..."

GM "Hmmm...sounds like a plan" nodded Zyte, stroking his dyed red goatee. "Although...out of town dosen't sound like drama!" he said, sparkling his hands. He looked slightly disappointed, mulling over the best story and script. "I've never heard of Bloom actually hurting anyone..." he added. "But the smokin' wheels have" added Zane!, almost ashamed. "Those guys have a bad rep. Not sure if they are linked to Bloom though..." "She does like to keep her hands bleached clean" conceded Zyte. "And she is very good at it..."

GM "Hey, you could be a star, darling!" said Zyte, enthusiastically, with jazz hands to accompany. It was not entirely clear if he was being serious or sardonic, or, as very probably the case with Zyte, both. At the same time. To the max. "Look, I can make you a star. In anyway you want. And I am an artist. The Queen of Cruel is a businesswoman who will chew you up and spit you. Spit you out of both ends. With a side salad of bile and destitution!" he said, bitterness creeping into his voice for the first time. "So don't go there. My bet, I...I mean we. Hey, teamwork right!...we have a better story with a kind of gestalt multi-lens realty docu-drama. Unfolding between your eyes. I mean.yes! yes! tears...laughter...joy...regret!" he span around, imploring the heavens to rain yet more inspiration on him. "I can get some stock footage of you contemplating the echoes of history in a solemn post in the desert of solitude! You can do a bit of acting, yes? Just strike an intellectual pose, cry a bit, gaze into the distance..." he said, zooming his hands across the horizon. "And...yeah...whatever you have planned, I'll film it all, my old buddy!" he said, clapping his arm around Hyperactive.

GM "Whoa!" Zane! looked pretty impressed. Michelle did too, but was taken up with observing rather than commenting. "What a place! The light! The shadows! The distilled awesome!" sang Zyte, spinning around, arms alternatively akimbo to hug the universe, and brought together to form a frame. "You could have told us about this before! We could interview you here!" he said, doing a little dance of joy. "Energy drinks would be awesome, dude!" said Zane! giving a dopey thumbs up and a dopey smile. "I'm good" said Zyte, who had enough energy all the time, it seemed. "So, what did the queen of cruel say to you? Any scoops?"

ok in this case, feel free to make the scene cut and describe the base!

GM Zyte nodded. "This town is crawling with everything. Goons, tramps, spies, even amazon women with sharpened cucumbers" he conceded. "Its a horrible and delightful mess" He powered down his camera and waited for a ride. "I'd better bring my glamorous assistant though! She oozes awesome!" he said with a thumbs up and a wink at Michelle, who turned away and rolled her eyes to the heavens. "Sure Zyte. Awesome!" she sighed. Zyte quiffed back his spiky red hair in preparation. "Lets go, Mr Whizz!" he smiled at Hyperactive.

Sure: Where is it and whose coming?

GM "You are right. Zyte would tell you. It's hardly a secret" replied Violet. "Altman Junior makes people nervous. Explosive temper. Zoning out. Cold and blank, or like an infernal stew of fury. You have met him. You must have seen it" "Unproven charges of violence, battery, harassment on top. Not enough to get him imprisoned, or convicted. Enough that nobody wants him on set. Not even me. Yet..." "All of this is..well, perhaps not common knowledge. But you don't have to scratch the surface very far to find this out. And Zyte knows most of the workings of this town. Most. More than I would like, to be honest, but fortunately not everything" she smiled enigmatically. "As to why I want his father. I would like Altman to work for me, but not as he is now. He needs a push. If I just let him work for me as he is, I am afraid his value is minimal. Man with muscles and C+ in acting. Probably less than minimal given the havoc he would cause on set" "But I suspect you have meddling on your mind. I hope not, for your sake. But I am a cautious and determined woman. I don't think I should tell you more. Spoilers!" she said, opening the Limosine door and inviting him to leave. "I do hope you have a pleasant day. I look forward to seeing what you and Zyte produce from your inteviews with the Altmans! Maybe they will let you in on a secret or two, hmmm?"

The Red Rat "You are admirably loyal" she said, kindly, as she put him in a choke hold. A few seconds of struggle and she let him slip, unconscious, to the floor. So, unarmed and lost. At least it seemed she was not captured. But she was in the dark. Like the months of blindness in those dim Soviet Laboratories. She clenched her fists and cracked her knuckles. Be prepared for anything she told herself. Especially getting kicked in the head again. That would hurt. Her body and her pride. Cautiously, she crept forward, heading towards the throbbing music...

GM "Crisis?" asked Bloom. "Hmmm...." she wondered. "Things will have to be more subtle then. We don't want a crisis, do we?" "As for Altmann, I am sure he would love to work for me. But he has been blacklisted, and for good reason. As he is now, unmolded, he is nothing but an deranged mediocre actor with little going for him other than his muscles. Which, in all fairness, are impressive. If he gave up acting and went into body building or athletics as a career he would, no doubt, be extremely successful. But, like so many fools, it is not his hearts desire. His father filled him with notions of golden Hollywood leading men. And that is what he wants, beyond anything..." She pressed her forehead. "As he is, he is of no use. But I have my eye on him for other reasons. He has much potential" she said, before looking up at Hyperactive. "Perhaps you should take him to the Parrot then. Carve your own little piece of righteousness, with Zyte on the camera? That was Zyte's plan, yes?"

GM "His son is more than a half rate actor" Bloom studied Hyperactive carefully. "And there are more ways to twist him than the Parrot. Adam Altman is a broken man from a broken father. His mind is gone, quite gone. But if I have my way with him, I can give him want he desires, what everyone desires if they are being truly honest with themselves. Fame! Idolisation! The intoxication of worship!" "And let me be clear, just as I can rise, I can crush too. If you don't have the Parrot for me, if you don't want a job, then you are of no use to me. But get in my way, and the media world will paint you in a dim and vile light..."

GM "Haha! Yes, Sugar Foxx. Some aspiring actress with a knack for regeneration. Great for low budget action flicks. Broken bones, torn arteries, or, in the scene coming up, I believe she is being impaled with a giant sharpened cucumber" she explained, laughing at the prospect. "A couple of minutes and she is back on her feet. We are working her up to be a star. Although it is, I admit, a half-baked measure. How I wish she could act" she muttered, drumming her nails on the seat of her chair. "So, if you won't play ball....hmmm....I'm disappointed, of course, but it was a long shot. The Parrot, however, is another matter. He is a tool of manipulation in my hands. I need him to persuade his son to be my..ahahaha...employee..." she explained. "So where is he? The Parrot? I am sure he can be persuaded to help. He can't like rotting in his own nursing home. It would be doing him a favour really. I can make him comfortable..."

No drugs, no traps! Just a nasty capitalist!

GM "Oh I have done my research" retorted Violet. "I knew as soon as you hit town. Know what you have been up to. Knew where you were going to..." "I presume Zyte dragged you into this. A talented but vexatious man. He really should work for me. Unfortunately, he is not a team player. A lone wolf. A loose cannon. If I employ someone, they work for me, not for themselves" she said, her voice flecked with anger. "I also knew you had found the Parrot. Now it so happens the Parrot is an interesting character. I have no wish to harm him, poor dried up husk of man. He wont exactly shine on the camera. But he does perhaps provide leverage to other avenues" She poured him the Dr Pepper, nose wrinkling at the thought of it, and went back to her vodka. She was a heavy drinker, it seemed. "Now, darling. I am a business woman. No secret I am hard as stone too. Have to be, to make it here. And I have made it. Made a lot of money. Worked for it to. If I have a brusque side, its just so I get things done" she explained, coldly. "Zyte has one thing right. Superhero movies! The future!" She leaned forward excitedly. "Now I don't want to do it with special FX and half-heroes. Sure, Amazon Blade of Lust will make some money. Our Star, Sugar Foxx, has the chops and her little gift" she said, waving her hand dismissively. "And it will get us halfway up the ladder. But Violet Bloom goes the whole way up, and grasps the stars themselves!" she added, dramatically clutching at an imaginary star-filled sky. "What I really need is a full blown Superhero. Like you!"

The Red Rat The Rat eased the pressure a little. She believed him. "The Boss" was surely smart enough, then, to stay in the shadows, at least when it came to his name and identity. Smart. Like a spy. "Watch over you" was a little different to "Guard you". A subtle turn of phrase which might mean nothing, might mean everything, or something in between. Was she being observed even now? "So where is this mysterious Boss of yours?" she asked, relaxing the pressure. Her point had been made. She scanned the surroundings carefully, using her cybernetic eyes to take in what she could...

GM "Sure thing, buddy!" said Zyte, skillfully pocketing the phone. Anything media-related was like a musical instrument in the hands of a musical prodigy. The Limo was the biggest Limo on the market, or quite probably outside the market too. It had a refined regal purple colour, and everything was of most splendid pedigree. The air con purred almost imperceptibly, and the coolness was most pleasantly palpable relief. As far as Hyperactive could tell, they were alone. Bar the min bar. Violet poured herself a vodka. "What are you drinking? Beer?" she asked. She consulted a little screen by her arm rest. "And no recording devices or transmissions detected. A man of his word" she nodded. "And what, my handsome hero, would you like to tell me about our previous conversation?"

GM Bloom was a veteran of social warfare and did not give away a fraction of a micro-expression. "I can always make time" she said, a completely even, firm voice. "Not him though. A parasite on the face of media" she said. "Or a face on the parasite of media" quipped Zyte. Even he was nervous around Bloom, though, Hyperactive could tell. "Stuff it up your backside, you tepid prune" she snapped back. Turning back to Hyperactive, she motioned to an air-conditioned Stretch Limo. "Will you step into my office?" she asked, all politeness. "Just the two of us. And maybe the minibar? And no phones or recording devices?"

GM "What?" snarled Violet, before catching sight of Hyperactive and Zyte. She registered Zyte with an arched eyebrow, like he was some kind of curio. A pawn she might use or sacrifice. With Hyperactive though, she put her finger to her lips thoughtfully, hey eyes turning to pure calculation. "Ah! Now here is a man with a heroic jawline" she smiled, walking over to him and offering her hand. "Hyperactive, I believe. A super hero. A real superhero..." She traced her hand over an imaginary horizon, with imaginary lights and tinsel. "I can see it now...a glittering career in Hollywood! The glitz! The glamour! Films showcasing your amazing abilities and noble character!" she whispered to him. "Hey, we can do superspeed on film, right?" she asked, harshly, to one adviser. "Sure...yes...we could use one of the latest high-fpm films with a..." "Ok, you are boring me" she cut him short, before turning her attention to Hyperactive. "The world is your oyster! Do you have an agent?" she asked, with a curt glance at Zyte who looked like he was contemplating jumping in to act in that very role.

GM A hyperactive moment later... Studio 17 Mid production of "Amazon Blade of Lust" It was a cheap film in every sense of the word. Amazons. Blades. Lust. What could go wrong? Throw in some cheap actors, directors, and even cheaper director, and it could hardly make a loss. Violet Bloom was hardly paying attention, just shouting down her phone threatening to do something involving golf clubs and not-golf balls to the poor man at the other end of the line. Two amazons walked pass her in armour that was too little and make up that was too much, followed by a man in a cheap rubber dinosaur costume. "Lazer Raptors on set! Get me those damn Lazer Raptors!" screamed the director who looked like he had inhaled too much coffee. "There she is, in all her glory!" said a slightly dizzy Zyte. Michelle was trying to stand steady and had lost her normal composure. Violet, predictably had an entourage. As for herself, she was a short, stout woman with predictably violet hair stacked up in a beehive, and expensive suit, elegant jewels and sunglasses, and a sun-weathered face that could have been anything from 40 to 70.

Flintlock "Anything else the US Government would like? A diamond-studded tea-cosy for their pepperpot, mayhap?" said Flintlock, rolling her eyes. Not smashed...easier said than done. And Sweet Jennie always itchin' to let loose the cannons! "Ectomancy! They be ghost pirates then! Harhar! Not zombies. Well, that explains it. Zombies are a good bunch, aren't ye?" she yelled at her crew. "Aharrr! So we arrr!" they chorused in agreement. "Now then, set course for London! I haven't been there for a while. It lost its charm after that night with Mr. Wilde, to be honest. Ah! what a man he was!" she swanned left and right, lost in pleasant memories. "Maybe, with enough speed and eldritch wind, we might even catch them in the open seas! Raise the sail! Lift the anchor! Thaumatize the Ectosail!" she commanded. "Thaumatize the what?" said Handsome Jack, scratching his head. "Its just showmanship...makes us look spectral and mysterious" whispered Flintlock back, kicking his shin.

The Red Rat "Really? You work for you Boss? I would never have guessed!" She twisted just slightly harder. "Come on my friend! Everyone works for their boss!" including me, the sack of bitter lard "Well done for telling me nothing at all. Whose your boss, and where can I find him? Surely you don't want to suck it up for him? Everyone's boss is a piece of dog mess gently fermenting on the pavement waiting for a prize piece of footwear. Don't tell me yours is any different!" she demanded. She leaned in close. "Come on, I'll be your best friend!"

GM Zyte looked thoughtful and awkward. "Talk to her? Yeah, I can do that. But she is fire as much as ice. And she will burn you with both" he said, fidgety. For once, he turned off his camera. "Truth is, she has a lot of money and a lot of influence. Make or break you. I tried to court her a few months ago. I am fascinated by capes, cowls, ghosts, aliens, and robots. All the usual spectacle, and all the drama underneath. Turns is she is too. But for me, media is a passion. For her, its a business. Much as I would love her financial and business backing, she didn't take to me, despite my winning personality" "I wouldn't be surprised if the calculating queen of steel actually stole my ideas. I was pitching some kind of fly on the wall multi-media documentary. Real Superheroes of Hollywood, kind of thing. She probably filed that away for use..." he pondered, looking at the broken glass and bullet cases on the street.

GM "Killing? Killing?" spluttered the stunt man. He was brave, reckless and foolish. Perfect for a stunt man. But even a man with several knocks to his head such as he could see the game was up. "We weren't going to kill anyone...we were just supposed to turn up and grab the old man. You know, the one in the wheelchair. And fire some bullets and make everyone scared" he added. It was a fair point. Kidnapping a man in a wheelchair from a nursing home hardly required firepower. "You know, create some Drama! Like in the movies!" he added. He waved at Zyte who was filming everything. "He...eyyy! This is a film, isn't it? I knew it! She wanted some hot footage!"