ic Hot Shot

[olopi]

“That does sound like a plan. This way we cover both avenues at the same time, we should be able to strike before any other groups that are interested. I should be able to get the mask without too many issues if it’s still at a police station, hopefully. Zyte may even help with that one …”

 

Being the one to interact directly with the mask (likely), was something that Cass would insist on for the moment. He still didn’t exactly trust Armitage and there was a chance he was just playing with Bonfire and that he’d just run off with the mask at the first good opportunity. It wasn’t likely, but at this point Cass had learned to incorporate those thoughts into what little planning he did.

 

“Oh, Zyte shouldn’t be too big an issue. A bit of storycrafting, a bit of mischief, and I’ll have him where he’s needed. I’ve got some plans, no worries.”

 

He didn’t. He’d deal with it as it came up, but he had some ideas of what might work….

[Supercape]

GM

 

And but a few moments later, outside the ship, at the docks!

 

"Hey! Look who it is!" grinned Ztye, reflexively pointing his camera away from Chill Pill (who looked rather dejected), onto Bonfire. 

 

"We were awesome! We found nothing! Awesome, huh?" asked Zyte, not letting the complete absence of anything awesome detract him from his assessment of such as absence as, in fact, awesome. 

 

Chill Pill was trying to ignore the various sailors and loaders pointing at him. His confidence was wilting by the picosecond. 

 

"This isn't, you know, quite what I thought being a superhero would be like. Are you sure this is good for my image?" he asked Zyte. 

 

"Sure, sure! Mingling with the people of Freedom City! Shows your human side!" said Zyte, keenly. "Trust me!"

 

Chill Pill didn't look very trusting. And he gave a grimace towards the new Hot Shot, Bonfire, who (by his estimation) was stealing the show.

 

"What did you find? Anything awesome?" Zyte asked Bonfire, filming every second. 

[olopi]

Cass flew up to one of the roofs, reappeared, walked over to the edge and called down to the other two, before floating back down in his smoke form. He looked towards the camera, making sure he was fairly close, as he began to speak.

 

“Well, being a hero is 90% research. You spend so much time figuring out the situation that when it actually comes around you’re glad some action’s happening. It’s part of what makes the action fun, if it was nothing but fighting that’d get boring. “

 

“I didn’t find a lot, but I made some more calls to harder to reach sources and people that don’t like being mentioned. Didn’t offer up a ton, but I got a few things from people that are trustworthy enough. Probably. “

 

“So as I mentioned the ship that brought the mask to FC is in the harbour here. It’s actually pretty close, I saw it while pacing around the roof. I’m not sure it’s worth investigating at the moment though, because there’s something much more urgent on hand. “

 

“This is where production gives you an ad break or a musical intermission but continuing on: The Mask is Eldritch in nature. Not sure what that means specifically, but there’s some people out there that are very interested in getting it. No matter the cost. So I’m not sure it’s safe with the police. But enough about me, what do you suggest we do in this situation?”

[Supercape]

GM

 

"90%" moped Chill Pill. "Really? Gosh darn it. That's pretty dull...."

 

"Never mind that! We can reframe it! How Superhero's do a regular, dull job! All for YOU!" said Zyte in a snap, his mercurial mind finding another angle straight away. 

 

"Eldritch, though, I like it!" said Zyte, keenly. "Proper Eldritch, I hope? Not like that grumpy old fool pretender Rene? What a charlatan! Calls himself an artist. PUH-LEEZ shoot me if I ever get like him!" he said, rolling his eyes. 

 

"This, we can shoot! Maybe even add in some special FX to...ahh...heighten the reality...." he pondered. He quickly rewound the camera and deleted the previous three seconds. 

 

"So, we have to persuade the police that this is a highly dangerous artifact and we need to film it. I mean, make sure it is safe. By handing it over. And maybe filming it when we accidentally on purpose unleash its power and it creates something horrible and we shoot you....you both....acting heroic?"

[olopi]

“Yep. That’s why you actually see turnover, people that aren’t in it because they love doing it usually don’t last long. I know there’s some that say that they don’t do research, but my experience is different. “

 

Regarding the comment about doing a dull job, Bonfire just shrugged. He wasn’t gonna argue with Zyte for no reason as of yet. But it totally wasn’t a dull job at any point, researching was fun. It was the natural curiosity that many up and coming heroes missed. And besides, whenever he said that, he didn’t include heroes that just seemed to be magnets for strange situations, something not entirely uncommon.

 

Zye mentioning SFX was a lot more concerning, however. At that point, Bonfire’s hand went into his pocket, hitting the record button he’d specifically gotten for his phone. It would probably come in useful. All the while, he responded to try and get the attention towards his face, not his hand.

 

“Well, from what I can tell this is pre-history eldritch. Bad stuff, the sort of thing that you don’t want out there uncontrolled. “

 

“Filming just became the third priority. Not having an artefact end the world is priority number two. Making sure it its power isn’t unleashed is priority one. Heroism isn’t about getting into situations that make you look good, its about making situations that don’t look good look good.”

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Du-ude! Filming is the first priority, the last priority, and every priority inbetween!" gasped Zyte, offended but recovering quickly. He was good at adapting. 

 

He waved his hand at the notion of anything tedious, unprofessional or problematic being an issue. 

 

"I am sure we can spin it well. Its all in the angles! And the make up, of course. Never forget the make up!" he added, with a wink. 

 

"And maybe a bit of Pre-historical Eldritch history! If we add a sound track, well we can scare the brains out of them!" he said, mulling it over. It was not, he was thinking, quite what he had in mind. But he could cut and splice with the footage he already had. 

 

"I like the tag, by the way. Making look good goody looky looky goody. Or something. We can work out the dookytails later" he said, stroking his goattee. "But I like it! See, Chill Pill? Lines, man! Its all about the lines! And the angles. And the make up. And Pre-historical Eldritch horror!" he said, counting down the one thing it was all about off from his four fingers. 

 

"So, Hot Shot, whats the plan? Ill be right behind you! Close enough to look like I was being heroic but with minimal actual danger. That's my plan!"

[olopi]

Internally, Cass was sighing just a bit. Maybe that would just be his mood for today, it certainly felt like it. Sure this was a great opportunity, but the more he got involved in it, the more he understood why Zyte hit a small niche. Nobody wanted to have somebody like him follow them around all day. Well, almost nobody apparently.

 

“No idea when it comes to eldritch history. Are there even experts for that? “

 

Perhaps that’d bring Zyte closer to Armitage. Probably not a good thing, but if it happened naturally it at least meant that it’d look alright on the footage. And as much as Cass hated to say it, that was one of the priorities, Zyte had gotten that correct. Apart from the Special Effects, those Bonfire would deal with … somehow. Mainly through the still unsigned contract, probably.

 

“Well, I’ve got an idea. Let’s head over to the police station, I’ll explain on the way…”

[Supercape]

GM

 

And so....

 

At the Police Station (or more accurately, half a block away...)

 

Zyte pulled up in his "Zyte mobile", and jumped out, eager. He had insisted on buying everyone massive steaming cups of coffee, and had got himself some chilli tofu to munch on. His Camera was ever at the ready. 

 

"Yah, so I am sure we have some proper Eldritch experts in Freedom City, you know? Like a master mage or something. Or maybe some proper academic, like Crow. But they are all stuck up dusty and dry, not like you!" he said, snapping his fingers into a thumbs up at Hot Shot. 

 

"So, here we are, Freedom City! With a moderately guarded Police Station. You know the stuff! Cells with locked up drunkards and brawlers, burnt out cynical cops eating twenty different flavours of donuts! And an evidence room full of evidence and things that might be evidence, and Eldritch Skull Masks...From Another Time, Another Land!" he whispered with faux reverence. 

[olopi]

Cass couldn’t complain about free coffee. It meant he could get extra luxurious with his order, he could be that nasty to Zyte. Dude probably deserved worse than having to pay 20 bucks for a coffee. So, with that beautiful brew in hand, Bonfire got out of the car. This was the local police station, but in all his almost three years living here, he’d only ever been here once. Which also meant he didn’t have any contacts on the inside unless there’d been some reassignment. Perhaps he’d get lucky…

 

“First things first, we just ask nicely. That sometimes works, but I’m not sure they’ll let you inside with the camera. Only one way to figure it out!”

 

Bonfire adjusted his clothing to look just a bit more professional, then strolled through the door, walking right up to the reception.

 

“Hey, I’m Bonfire. I worked with two of your officers early this morning, there was a guy rampaging around with a mask. I’ve got reason to believe that storing it here will make you the target of an attack, so I’d like to request the ability to carry it with me while I work on removing the threat, safer for all of us. Ready to sign whatever paperwork that requires, but time’s of the essence. “

 

There was a chance it’d work, and if not, at least he’d tried….

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Without a camera...why....I...I...."

 

Zyte was rarely short for words. This was a remarkable occasion that would surely be mulled over by media academics of the future. 

 

And so...inside the Police Station

 

Detective Frank Gibbons was nearing retirement and was eating donuts. You could tell he was eating donuts because firstly, there was a donut on his desk half eaten. Secondly, he had donut crumbs over his uniform, and thirdly, his magnificent portly physique was testament to a long and noble history of donut eating. 

 

"Yes...what can I do for you?" he asked, his eyes glazed. 

 

"A superhero, is it? Yes, how interesting, yes, yes" he yawned and pulled out a pen and paper. 

 

"What's up this time? Doctor Otaku created a giant four armed robot woman?" he said, trying to pull himself into some semblance of feigned interest. 

 

Zyte came rushing in, apparently without his camera. He looked uncomfortable, like a kid having his security blanket torn away. 

 

"What happened, did I miss anything?"

 

"Oh great. Its Zyte Guyst...." sighed Detective Gibbons, despairing of his day. 

[olopi]

At this point Cass wondered just who on the planet didn’t know (of) Zyte. Because it really felt like he’d missed out, which was a strange and unusual feeling. Either way, it meant that there was another potential roadblock, once more caused by Zyte.

 

Sigh

 

He couldn’t let himself get distracted though, if he managed this then everything else would become much easier.

 

“Anyways … Well, from what I’ve gathered so far that Mask is an ancient eldritch artefact with significant powers when used properly. As in, blow up a city block levels of significant at least, probably more. Currently I know of … three separate parties that know of the mask and that it’s stored here, and by what info I have, all of them are likely to turn to violent means to get it. “

 

“If I, publically, get if off your back that means you don’t have to deal with people attempting to get the mask at any cost. I can take the heat and lead them somewhere I can work together with your guys and the people up at AEGIS to set up some sort of honeypot. We arrest all of them, you don’t have to deal with that and I can even commend you personally in the interviews afterwards.”

[Supercape]

GM

 

That got Gibbons attention. He almost dropped his donut. 

 

"What? Level a city block?" he gasped. "That's serious!" he said, as if this insight was a marvel of deductive reasoning. 

 

"And you say somebody want to steal it! Very serious!" he added, refining his wisdom on the matter. 

 

The thought of commendation was most pleasing. 

 

"Let me take you to it!"

 

And so, followed as ever by Zyte Guyst...

 

There it was, safely locked up with a variety of guns, drugs, stolen goods and a bottle of cologne (for some reason). 

 

The officer in charge of lock up was caressing it, enthralled. She was a middle aged lady of hard mind and hard body, committed to her job, but with that creeping sense of burn out splintering her commitment. 

 

"Vaquez!" blurted Gibbons. "Put that back! Its dangerous!"

 

Vasquez looked back, someone glazed of spirit. 

 

"But...its beautiful!" she replied. "And lovely!...so strong!" she said. 

 

And behind the Iron bars of the lock up, she started to put it on...

 

"Damn, why didn't you let me bring my camera!" complained Zyte...bringing out his mobile phone....

 

 

[olopi]

That was easier than expected so far. A bit too easy almost, but maybe the talking about the potential destruction helped. People, especially the police, didn’t like destruction, it turned out. Bonfire followed the officer, keeping pace (not that difficult).

 

Seeing the evidence room was interesting. Cass actually hadn’t been in one before, it had never come up, as surprising as that was now that he thought about it more. And then, it happened. It turned out that “time is of the essence” wasn’t him exaggerating. Would’ve been great had he known that before, obviously. He sprang into action immediately, unable to contain himself.

 

M############K

 

Immediately he ran forwards, towards the officer. “PHONE!” The bars didn’t matter, he was already fully smoke by the time he arrived there. He simply ran forward, attempting to re-solidify his hand just in time to snatch the mask out of her hand. It wasn’t the first time he did something like that, but his track record wasn’t amazing…

 

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Phone! You got it!" said Zyte. His fingers and eyes could handle a phone camera quicker than a super speedster on zoom. And he was catching the whole thing. 

 

Bonfire whipped in through the bars and swiped the mask from Vazquez, who looked crestfallen. Even, for a moment, angry. But then she seemed to deflate somewhat, her trance balloon popped by fear. 

 

As for Bonfire, for a moment he felt the whispers of longing in his fingers. For a moment, he felt the lingering urge to plant the bony skull over his face. But it subsided as quickly as it emerged. There were the faintest whispers, if he strained. The mask was a corrupting influence if one held it, but it would take time to erode his psyche. 

 

"Bravo! Got it!" applauded Zyte, quite happy with the proceedings. 

 

"But...you know. We really need to get Chill Pill in on this. He wants to be a hero, you know. I got you stealing all the limelight..." he added, considering the broader picture. 

 

"And we better call AEGIS and get this thing in some proper facility!" added Gibbons, rather frightened. "Man, I need a donut!"

[olopi]

After that, Cass needed to catch his breath for just a moment. Sudden bursts of activity weren’t healthy, he could feel his lack of physical training every time situations like this happened. He held onto the mask, inspecting it a bit, but promptly holding it away further from his face when he could feel it beginning to affect him.

 

Of course it would. That much made sense, as annoying (and dangerous) as it was. Which meant that it was probably best if nobody else got a hold of this. That did include Armitage, probably. Maybe he’d be useful, but having him touch it … that sounded like a dangerous idea, all things considered. Same for Zyte, Chill Pill and Zane!

 

Which really only left one person to carry it …

Damnit

 

“Nice one. Good point, where is he anyways? “

 

“Okay, so, here’s the deal. Mask, bad. No touching, probably not looking at it, I can already feel it trying to tear me apart, fortunately it isn’t the first time something like this is happening to me. So we need to figure out where we can find an expert, ASAP. I can call some people at AEGIS, maybe they got one. “

 

He tried to walk back to Zyte, realizing soon that he was still behind bars. He turned over to Vasquez. “Hey, can you let me out real quick?”

 

“Zyte, any ideas on who we could ring up?”

[Supercape]

GM

 

Vaquez, still somewhat dull of spirit, dutifully opened up the lock room as Zyte got his mercurial mind into gear. 

 

"What? Give it to AEGIS? Well, yes, of course. That would probably be safe. But what art is safe? we have here a magnificent ancient mask of untold evil and horror! And what a great and beautiful thing it is! How could we possibly let this thing be locked away?" he pleaded. 

 

"Surely we have a duty to find out what it is first? Like some expert or something?" he asked, stroking his goatee in thought. "That would give our piece authenticity! Otherwise it might look like we were using a cheap plastic knock off and some actors" he explained. 

 

"Some proper expert. I could look into experts locally on this kind of thing, so, you know, we understand what we are dealing with?"

 

"And try to get Chill Pill doing something. He is getting a little irate, you know. I am supposed to be doing a piece on him...even if you are the hot stuff, to be honest...."

[olopi]

AEGIS did feel like the best destination for the mask. There were some other possibilities, but all of them would require some further follow-up. With AEGIS he’d just be done once it was all done, no need to make sure it was still safe.

 

“Because once this is all done I’d like to not have to worry about somebody being empowered by an eldritch horror ever few days. I’m not saying we have to hand it over immediately, but it’s the only reasonable place to keep it. “

 

“Sounds like a plan. You can figure out who we can talk to, and I ….”

 

He supposed that meant he would have to do stuff with Chill Pill. Not Zyte, who was being paid for this, but Bonfire, who at this point still didn’t have any monetary gain from the entire deal. Then again, he’d already helped avoid something horrible, so he supposed it was worth it already.

 

“I suppose I’ll try to get something going with CP. Any ideas? You just gotta stick in the background with your camera. ”

[Supercape]

GM

 

Zyte paused and stroked his goatee. 

 

"Look, I'm not a psychologist. Much. Just degree level" he explained, immodest as always. "And my studies were more on social psychology and manipula....um. Anyway, not clinical or anything. But there is something off about Chill Pill. Agitated. Anxious. Something. Not your normal hero narcisi...any way. Something off. I wanted a good show and he fitted the bill. But also I thought I could point him the right way, you know?"

 

"I am a little worried. We are showing him up. We need to get him all heroic, right? Because if he doesn't get to be Chill Pill, he will soon need a Chill Pill"

 

"Lets get back outside, see if we can't put together some footage of you both. But, look, I think we need to get him heroic and visibly heroic. I don't know how he got his powers, but I think it was drugs...."

[olopi]

...

Cass couldn’t believe it. Not all the stuff Zyte revealed about himself, that made sense. No, it was the fact that Zyte knew that Chill Pill probably wasn’t a good fit but went along with it anyways. And the fact that apparently Zyte had approached CP, not the other way around. Which … Cass supposed was a way to run a business, even if it felt a bit weird in many ways.

 

“Well, let’s point him in the right direction then. That’s your speciality, right? “

 

It was true, Bonfire was hogging the spotlight a bit. Mainly because, from what he could tell, this wasn’t CP’s strong suit. Probably more of a brawler than an investigator. Those were useful, but not in situations like these.

 

“Sure, if you have any ideas go ahead, I’ll think up a few things. “

 

Drugs, eh? Gotcha. Knew it. Not that it’ll do me much good…

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Yeah, yeah. That's totally my sort of speciality" agreed Zyte, a crack in his confidence. Not a large one, but it was there all the same. "I mean, I am trying to steer him in the right direction. But look, you came a long and sort of distracted me!"

 

"I know! Where did this mask come from? Maybe we could hunt down and apprehend the vile sorcerer, the malign witch, the cruel warlock, who made it? Surely there is some nefarious eldritch power behind the mask that you...ah....Chill Pill can go after and freeze them or something! I can see it now! Chill Pill stranding triumphant amd majestic on a huge cube of ice and frozen within some cackling crone with warts and green skin! Yes! And if she hasn't gone warts and green skin I am sure I can rustle up some in my make up bag!" he said, eyes glazing over as he framed the shot in his hands. 

 

"So what do you say...ah...are you any good any finding cackling crones dealing in ancient black magic?"

[olopi]

Cass couldn’t understand Zyte at this point. Why did he get involved in all of this in the first place? Clearly this wasn’t his speciality, as much as he wanted to claim otherwise. Making somebody look good meant being able to do so at a moment’s notice, not having to rely on some sort of external event to even attempt doing it. And then there was the whole aspect about the Mask…

 

“Well, there’s a reason I said Ancient Eldritch Mask. Unless you happen to have a time-traveller on call, I don’t think you’ll find any creator, or anybody who even knows them. As for other mages … don’t ask me, I don’t really deal with magic. No clue. “

 

Either way, Bonfire walked out of the door, towards CP. “Okay, not sure what the next step of action is, any suggestions? “

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Hmmm, yes, point taken" admitted Zyte. "Ancient. Well, I am afraid I don't know anyone ancient. Except my accountant. He is practically a zombie" he replied. 

 

"Could we destroy it, theatrically? Like throw it into a volcano or something?" he suggested. "Or dissolve it in a pool of acid?"

 

At that moment, Bonfires phone rung. 

 

Armitage...

 

"Hello? Hello? Just checking in" said Armitage down the line. "I am with Drake, she is stalling. I do not trust her, but equally she may be without the mask" he whispered. "What news of you? Is that odious little runt Zyte disposed of?"

[olopi]

Bonfire picked up the phone and walked a few paces to the side, Zyte could probably still hear him but it looked more natural. That actually was just what Bonfire needed right now. Armitage.

 

It really wasn’t, having to talk to him while Zyte was listening in would only lead to trouble, but perhaps he could spin it around. He pretty much had to, at this point Armitage was the closest thing to a lead Cass had. From the sound of it, Drake wasn’t an immediate concern, at least.

 

“Oh hey, great to hear from you, amazing timing. Now, listen, I’m in the middle of a mission right now and just got hold of some ancient artefact, so before I get back around to your question, do you happen to know anybody I could talk to regarding this? If you do, tell them so send me a message, I’m sure your network of contacts spans far enough. Now, as for your question, I haven’t had time to get around to that yet, chasing after this thing’s meant I didn’t have much time for it yet. I have a few ideas of what we could do though, I’ll see if I can’t get them done while I figure out where I can find an expert.”

 

With that done, he turned over to Zyte real quick, who was probably listening in eagerly. “Sorry, client call, has priority. How about you go talk to Chill Pill while I work out some details here, I doubt this makes for a good recording.”

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Sure, sure. Ill deal with the numpty" sighed Zyte. "Gods know why I took Chill Pills case on. I had been trying for ages to get an angle on a Superhero reality film. Like, not easy, you know?" he groaned and his misfortune. "I just leapt at the chance when he approached me. Turns out I get the nutcase" 

 

"But Ill go see if I cant placate him. Maybe film him handing out iced pop to the kids" he sighed again, walking away. 

 

"You got yourself an expert that can handle it?" asked Gibbons, mopping his perpetually perspiring brow. "I sure would be happy to see the back of it, especially after what happened to Vasquez..."

Edited April 5, 2018 by Supercape

[olopi]

Towards Zyte, Bonfire could only shrug. He’d walked himself into a bit of a troubling situation apparently, because all Bonfire knew, there were enough heroes out there that would’ve been interested in a reality film of some sorts about them. Hell, he was one of them. He replied again while keeping his hand on the phone’s mic.

 

“Maybe you get lucky and some action’s happening around the city, just check TroubAlert. You’ve got access to that, right? There’s something happening on there almost any time of day around these parts.”

 

 Then, he turned towards Gibbons. “Yeah, I think I found somebody. I can send you an update or drop by once I’m done with this and let you know. “

 

Then, back to Armitage, this time speaking a bit more freely as there was nobody listening in right now. Unless somebody was listening in to the conversation elsewhere, which was possible…

 

“Okay. So, object acquired. What’cha got for me, any place we can meet and talk this out? Should be able to distract him once I’m in the general area.”