ic Glitter and Gold

[Supercape]

Cap Cosmos

 

How long indeed? I am mightily tempted for NOW! but....patience is a virtue!

 

Especially when a woman had a gun pointed to her head. 

 

"Its a good point, Sir" he said to the gunman, a little more stiffly. "A point well made and I am sure heeded. No need to hold the gun quite the close, I should say. A slip of the finger, and you lose a bargaining chip. Plus, as soon as you start shooting, the games over. Nobody wins" he said, bluntly. He needed to show a few teeth, and make the point. 

 

"I'm sure you got this all under control, though. Escape plans, contingencies, and what to do if someone tries to escape, or a medical emergency. Or, unless you want this place to start smelling bad, lavatory breaks...." he said, planting the seeds....

[RocketLord]

GM

 

Seeds were planted, and indeed growing. Despite the lead gunman being masked, Buddy could almost tell that he was frowning under the mask. "Are you for real?" 

 

But yes, it did indeed appear that Buddy Brand was for real. Tricia could not help but let out a loud "Ha!" before promptly being forced into her seat once again. 

 

"One hour. Its one hour, then we're gone, if everything works as it should, and you can't keep it in for one hour!?" The leader of the gunmen had clearly not thought about something like this.

[Supercape]

Cap Cosmos

 

Buddy couldn't help but smile inside. The leader was tilted. And hadn't though this through. 

 

"Hey, I can. But you have several dozen people here. Anxious, scared people. Some of them drunk. You think you aren't going to be smelling something soon?" he proposed. 

 

"And I'm guessing its going to be more than hour. Even if people pay up, you need an exit strategy, and in an hours time this place is going to be surrounded by SWAT, and probably some capes. You need hostages, I guess. Or you have some magic teleport ray or something?" he shrugged. 

 

He didn't want to needle the man too much. 

 

"Just tell us what you want us to do...best plan now before it gets ugly...."

[RocketLord]

GM

 

"Maybe we do, Mr. Brand." The leader replied, at least trying to regain some of his composure, even if it was to mixed results.

 

Almost as if on cue, the woman sitting next to Buddy let out a loud burp, her voice more than a bit slurred as she voiced her displeasure. The table in front of her were almost filled with empty glasses. "Not feelin' sooo good... Imma need the bathroom." She moved a bit, trying to stand, while the leader looked on. Buddy could almost see the panic in his eyes. Then she felt into her seat again. "Gonna be sick."

 

That seemed to hit the mark, at least, and the leader pointed towards one of the men, then at Buddy. "Fine! You want to help, go help! Take her to the bathroom, help her with... whatever she's gonna do!" And he pointed at other gunman. "And you! Keep watching them! Don't let them out of your sight for a moment!"

[Supercape]

Cap Cosmos

 

"Sure, happy to help. Just don't shoot! I'm allergic to bullets!" said Buddy, warm heartedly. Whether it helped or not, he had a tendency to make asine quips every know and again. 

 

He gently helped the woman up, making sure she didn't fall. "Take it easy ma'am. We will be fine, just fine" he said, although he had to concede the evidence pointed to uncertainty on this matter. Still, a little bit of unreasonable optimism didn't do any harm, he figured. 

 

He lead her into the restroom, inquiring about her symptoms on the way. "Don't throw up on my shoes!" he joked as he walked with her. 

 

He was waiting for a moment alone with the Gunman following them. Ready to sock him one!

[RocketLord]

GM

 

"Shut up, and just go." The gunman that had been assigned to keep an eye on Buddy and the woman clearly didn't like his job. 

 

The woman was brunette, her hair cut in a short pixie cut. She wore some makeup, but nothing even near the same degree as Tricia Thorne. Unlike Tricia, she was wearing a black suit, with a shirt dress shirt and black tie. Very formal looking, really. Still, she stumbled and slurred a bit as Buddy helped her. She was maybe in her late 20'es or early 30'es. "Miss, not ma'am," she countered, through slurred words, as he led her on, and into the bathroom. Once inside, she hurried towards the sink. The sounds she were making were far from pleasant, and the gunman looked to the side, while still trying to keep his eye on Buddy.

 

The bathroom itself was, to put it simply, huge and showing Tricia's wealth off. A large bath rub, white with what appeared to be golden legs supporting it. A small family could probably fit in it. A very nice ceramic toilet and sinks, with inlaid golden patterns. The mirrors over the sink was huge, easily letting Buddy see the gunman behind them.

[Supercape]

Cap Cosmos

 

Buddy had the growing feeling that there was more to this mess than met the eye. This was a strange, sloppy hostage situation and he didn't buy it. He wished he had researched the whole affair more before accepting the invite. How marvellous retrospect was. 

 

He had planned to punch out the gunman whilst the woman was ejecting her stomach. But he was not entirely sure she was actually ill, or, for that matter, drunk. She looked rather like a spy. 

 

He decided to hold off. Not for long. Maybe a second, maybe a minute. But no longer. He wanted to see what this woman would do. 

 

He held her gently, mainly to make sure she didn't faint and crack her head open. And he eyed that beautiful bath tub. It was cover if needed - but also he quite fancied ripping it from the floor and throwing it at the gunman!

 

 

[RocketLord]

GM

 

"Oh god!" The woman gasped, making more sounds like she was indeed puking, even if Buddy could clearly see that nothing was coming up. The gunman was clearly not happy with the sounds and perceived sight, turning slightly away so he wouldn't have to watch. 

 

Between heavy breaths and gasps, the woman quickly whispered. "_{Are you going to do something or what?} OH GOD! I'M NEVER DRINKING AGAIN! _{I'm not gonna fool him for long}." She kept making gagging noises, doing her best to pretend to let out everything she had eaten or drunk during the entire dinner. Whether Buddy was right about the woman or not, she was clearly more than she had first appeared, at least.

[Supercape]

Cap Cosmos

 

Well, that certainly put his mind to rest. She was acting. And perhaps not particularly well. 

 

Now, this did put Buddy in a difficult position. 

 

But, hey, difficult positions were fun!

 

Or so he told himself. 

 

He took a breath in, and steeled himself for bullets. Even high velocity rounds would do little more than sting and leave a nasty bruise, thanks to his resilient form, but they were not nice. 

 

He took a rough hold of the woman (no time for niceties in this situation!) and threw her into the bathtub. 

 

"Get down!" he yelled at her. Hoping she wasn't going to risk looking. 

 

He turned to the gunman, and sucked up the bullets. In the blink of an eye, he whipped towards him and threw a mighty punch!

[RocketLord]

GM

 

"Huh?" the woman asked, as she suddenly felt Buddy's hands on her. Then she was thrown through the air, landing in the tub with a thump and an "OW!"

 

"Huh?" the gunman asked, turning to see what was going down with Buddy and the woman yelling. All he saw was Buddy's fist flying into his face, and then he was on the floor in the bathroom.

 

The woman pulled herself up from the giant bathtub, looking rather pissed, though her expression softened when she saw the gunman on the floor. "What the hell was that? Why'd you have to throw me like that?"

[Supercape]

Cap Cosmos

 

"Bullets? Those lead things that fly really fast and are great at kiling people?" replied Buddy, rubbing his knuckles. they weren't hurt, of course, but he had to keep up appearances. "Got you some cover, and this kunckle head got distracted"

 

He shrugged his shoulders and gave a friendly smile. "Hey, it seemed a good idea at the time. Truth is, I'm pretty scared. I thought I was going to die. Maybe I wasn't thinking straight!"

 

He started searching the gunman. 

 

"Buddy Brand" he added, by way of introducing himself. "And you are?"

Edited March 29, 2019 by Supercape

[RocketLord]

GM

 

The woman paused, after climbing out from the tub. "Alright, you got a point there," she admitted. Straightening her dress, the woman moved over to lean down next to Buddy as he searched the gunman. "Just call me Betty, alright? You hit pretty well for a newsman, Buddy. You're some kind of two fisted reporter?" She was smiling brightly, revelling a bit in the victory. 

 

The gunman had a few items on him of note. A handgun, a rifle, along with extra ammunition for each. A cell phone, and not a cheap one either, connected to a bluetooth headset. Whoever had outfitted these gunmen, they had not believed in old school radios to keep them in touch, apparently. He was wearing a bulletproof vest. Nothing that could really identify him. 

 

"I'll take that one," Betty said, reaching for the handgun. "So, you got us this far. Got a plan?"

[Supercape]

Cap Cosmos

 

"Pleased to meet you, Betty" smiled Buddy, tossing aside the rifle. He passed the bulletproof vest to Betty. "Here, you better put that on"

 

It came across as chivalry, but in truth she needed it more than him. 

 

"I'm a guy whose lucky to be alive. I thought I was going to die. But I'd rather take a one in ten chance of staying alive than a certainty" he explained. "If it wasn't for you, we would be out their waiting to get shot"

 

He paused, rubbing his chin. "This all seems off to me, Betty. These guys aren't professional. They don't seem to have a coherent plan. There is something more to this than meets the eye..."

 

He cast his eye around the lavatory. "But in any case, we got to get out of this hole...." he added, looking for exits. Maybe a window or ventilation duct - that Betty could scqueeze through!

[RocketLord]

GM

 

She didn't really seem to buy it, but Betty followed along anyway, doing her best to slip on the vest. "Here," she said, handing Buddy a pair of handcuffs. "Cuff him to hte sink or something so he doesn't cause anymore trouble."

 

She nodded along, agreeing with Buddy's assessment. "Yep, its what I gathered too. They're amateurs at best, but if anything, that just makes them even more dangerous. No telling waht they will do."

 

There was no windows, but Buddy found himself looking at a ventilation duct above the middle of the room. It was somewhat wide. Wide enough for Betty to fit, at least, even if Buddy couldn't, but she was already protesting the moment she saw his gaze linger. "No no! No way, Buddy! You're not geting me to crawl through that!"

[Supercape]

Cap Cosmos

 

"What, you want to stay in here when the bullets go flying?" said Buddy, rather surprised. "I know its scary, but everything is scary right now. You should be scared!" he said. 

 

Even he was scared. Reflex, more than anything. 

 

"Its your choice" he said, stepping back a little. "But if I was small enough, I know what I would be doing. Crawl out of here, go get some help, be a hero" he explained. 

 

Hell, if it worked well (and it probably wouldn't) they might not need Captain Cosmos at all!

 

"But I don't see any other plan falling from the sky. And time is running out. They will send someone else and I'm probably not going to get so lucky next time..."

[RocketLord]

GM

 

"Have you looked at my dress?" she said, motioning down to her probably expensive dress. "What do you think this will look like if I go crawling in there?

 

She paused for a moment, frowning. "Alright. Fine. I get your point." If Betty had any secrets, she was not too keen on sharing. "But I'll need a boost. And no peeking."

 

If he complied, she would crawl up into the ventilation duct, cursing to herself all the while, in some rather colorful phrases.

[Supercape]

Cap Cosmos

 

"Sure, a boost. Don't worry, Betty, I'll be a gentleman" said Buddy, aware that the reputation of middle aged male news anchor was not exactly wonderful. And he had seen some pretty reprehensible behaviour himself. Stuff he ignored when climbing up the greasy pole to success, much to his bitterness today. He couldn't help but wonder if he would be were he was today if he had spoken up, however. 

 

Nevermind. Now was what mattered. Now he had the power to make a difference. And not get fired or killed in the process!

 

Feigning effort, he hoisted Betty up into the duct. Even before being imbued with the Cosmic Force, he was a reasonably strong man who went to the gym three times a week (or at least, tried to), and it was certainly not stretching belief that he could give Betty the boost she needed. 

 

"Now, scoot!" he told her as she climbed up. "Go get help! And wish me luck!"

[RocketLord]

GM

 

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going!" Betty shouted back at him. "I'll get help, and you make sure you don't get shot! That's the deal!" Whatever else Betty was thinking, she at least seemed to care that Buddy didn't get hurt. That was something, at least. For a short moment, Buddy could hear her climbing down the ventilation duct, before she disappeared.

 

So, he was alone with the gunman, but probably didn't have long. In fact, he could hear heavy steps approaching outside the door, along with someone shouting "Hey, what's the hold up? C'mon Jimmy, get 'em out already!"

[Supercape]

Cap Cosmos

 

Enough of this!

 

With a clench of his fists, he increased his dimensions. Five dimensions, to be precise, neatly side stepping time. His movements became a blur, and in the blink of an eye, he has pulled out his costume of unstable molecules tucked into his wallet, and had changed. 

 

He didn't know quite what to do with his civilian clothes. Mmm...that wasn't so easy. He decided to stuff them under the bath and hope he could collect them later. 

 

Even in those few seconds, he could feel the pressure on his brain. To much information. Jumble. Associations and salience when there was none. Enough to live with...for now. But even minutes could lead to hallucinations. 

 

In a blur, he dashed out of the toilet ready to punch someone!

[RocketLord]

GM

 

Everything was happening fast, the world around Captain Cosmos becoming a slowed down jumble of information all around him. But could he truly believe what he was seeing? And just who was Betty? She had seemed scarily competent. And was Tricia Thorne trustworthy, or was she somehow in on this? Was the gunmen amateurs, or just caught off guard?

 

Right outside the toilet, a lone gunman had no time to react as a blur in costume and cape came at him. He tried to move, tried to do something, but before he could even try to react, the cosmic fist of Captain Cosmos collided with his skull, sending him to the ground with one blow.

 

And now Buddy stood alone. He could hear shouts from the ballroom. Something was happening. Were they reacting to the sounds of violence, or something else?

[Supercape]

Cap Cosmos

 

It was happening too fast. Not enough time to catch my Goddamn breath wait...I don't need to breathe...still...

 

He took a deep breath, even if he didn't need too. Slow it down...SLOW IT DOWN....

 

Now the payback for having so many dimensions. And it would get worse. He concentrated, and reduced their number. Four dimensions, bypassing space itself. Instead of a blurred echo he appeared slightly faint. 

 

With space no longer a consideration, he could hear and see through walls. And, if necessary, move through them too. The pressure on his brain was still there, but it was worth it. 

Now, whats happening....?

[RocketLord]

GM

 

"Get down on your knees now! And you two, keep going! Find out what's taking so damn long!" 

 

Buddy could hear through walls, and the voice was obviously the lead gunman. He was holding his handgun again, pointed down at an older gentlemen with an impressive black but grey moustache, who was slowly climbing to his knees. A pair of other gunmen were moving towards the Buddy's current location, and would turn around the corner to meet him in but a moment. He wouldn't have long to react. 

 

Meanwhile, the gentleman with the moustache climbed to his feet, defiantly staring down the barrel of the gunman's weapon. "I am not scared of you." His eyes were like lightning, and the lead gunman seemed to be losing his composure. And Tricia Thorne seemed even more unsure about the entire situation than before.

[Supercape]

Cap Cosmos

 

Nice moustache!

 

However stylish the facial hair, this looked pretty serious. And Trish was...odd. As before, but more so. For a moment, Cap thought about leaving the scene to play out. But no. Not when someone had a gun pointed in their face, and was in serious danger of eating led. 

 

He flew through space. Not space as one would normally conceive of it. He bypassed space. 

 

Straight through the walls he flew, and in a moment was next to the gunman. 

 

"You called, Sir?" he said, almost mockingly, and proceeded to grab the gunman in his grip of iron!

[RocketLord]

GM

 

"What the hell!?" the leader of the gunmen were clearly shocked as the caped man quite litterally flew through the wall and came straight for him. He was moving, almost impossibly fast, but the leader of the gunmen were either faster, or just plain lucky, pulling back to get his gun out of Captain Cosmos' cosmic grasp!

 

"Ha!" The gentleman with the great mustache was absolutely thrilled. "Go get 'em, kid!"

 

The leader of the gunmen looked as shocked as a masked man could, slowly taking a step back. Buddy could swear that he muttered something about this not being part of the deal before raising his gun again, pointing it straight at Buddy. "Get him!"

[Supercape]

Cap Cosmos

 

A cheerleader! of sorts. It was nice to get someone enthusiastic and not implant microchips in his brain via placebionic radiation.

 

He pushed that thought out of his brain. 'Twas madness. 

 

Or was it?

 

He was suddenly aware he didn't really know how to fight. He could bend iron girders and lift tanks. But he didn't really know how to fight, did he? And there were ten gunmen. How was he going to do this?

 

And what did "the deal" mean?

 

A flash of inspiration, and he brought back a mighty cosmic fist, holding it high. 

 

"Going down!" he shouted in a deep and what he hoped was cool voice. 

 

Then he smashed the fist down, hard, onto the floor beneath him and the lead gunman - with a force so hard it could splinter steel. With a force, he hoped that would send them both down to the floor below in a shower of dust and shattered masonry!