Earth Victoriana: The Brit Machine (IC) (GM)

[Heritage]

Grim was halfway to the face of big Ben when her little thingamabob went nutso on her, which made it a bit harder to fly, not that hauling around her portrait was helping, of course. With a wistful sigh, she turned and started heading for the Cross and Bow.

Ah well, I'm sure I'll come back to London someday...

Flitting through the freezing gusts, she landed behind the pub and resumed her normal size and her period appearance, this time getting it right with a hat precariously pinned to a elaborate hairdo, tweed mutton-sleeved jacket, and a sensible winter skirt. Over one large shoulder was the strap of her leather mapcase. From the sound of it, a Salvation Army band was playing in front of the pub, but upon rounding the corner she spotted Edge in his Sherlock Holmes duds with a colorful foursome in tow.

Alright, now I've seen everything. :roll:

The faeling eagerly wave a primly-gloved hand as she approached the group. "Hi guys! Edge, who are your musical friends?"

[Supercape]

GM

"Hi pretty lady!" said Paul, plucking away at his double bass, inbetween singing the national anthem.

"Wow, she is really something!" exclaimed John, nudging Edge. "Deep, like. She looks foreign, like. From the east?" he asked, whilst strumming his guitar and harmonising with Paul.

"The east is deep, guys. I keep telling you we should go there. " answered George, playing a more intricate ditty on his ornate guitar, that looked somewhat foreign itself.

Richard hit a cymbal "I'm going to be a Starr!"

[trollthumper]

Cannonade ducked into a back alley; when he was sure no one was watching, he took to the roofs and got across London. I hope that helped, he thought to himself. I mean, it did help, right? I showed 'em that Ludd was high on his own anger and low on actual ideas, I gave 'em a rough idea to organize, and showed 'em that just leaping at the bit won't help. Just hope they put it to good use...

[Supercape]

GM

With a wave of her hand, Miss Wells greeted Cannonade and Grimalkin and eagerly took the copper tubes from them. After inserting them into her difference engine and studying the readouts for a while, she furrowed her brow.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the centre of the temperature drop seems to be coming from Kew Gardens of all places. Most peculiar, and indeed dangerous, as this is currently the site of a major social gathering of London's finest aristocracy and landed gentry. Its going on right now..."

She collapsed slightly. "I don't have a ticket!"

[Aoiroo]

Greeting Grim and Cannonade's arrival with a wave she finished off her gin before focusing on the machine and Ms. Wells. Kew Gardens did sound like an upscale place and a large social gathering would be pretty troublesome, the last part did sort of make half laugh,

"You travelled to another dimension to grab some ice, picked up four of the stranger strangers you'll find, and sent them to every corner of london with little tubes of copper all so you could save you're home from experiencing a second ice age and you honestly think that just because you don't have a ticket doesn't mean we're not going to finish this."

Reaching over her shoulders she pulled off her gloves and cardigen and then grabbed her sketch pad and began to scribbled,

"Suppose we go, in slightly nicer attire. If it's really as big an event as you say who will notice five crashers, even if we're stopped at the door we have someone who can just summon up a bag of whatever precious metal he feels like to bribe our way in. Even if we do get found under these circumstances, there probably isn't anyone attending this thing that could really throw us out even if they tried."

Glancing at her watch she looked up at Ms. Wells,

"It seems to me the only real question is how much time we have to fix whatever it is that's wrong before this whole place becomes a giant britcicle."

[Supercape]

Ms. Wells fiddled with a few dials on her brass plated difference engine. A few puffs of steam and smoke complimented the chugging cogs inside. "The temperature is dropping extremely rapidly. Exponentially. In a few hours, London will be frozen. Tomorrow... it will be worse than the Ice Age. And its spreading. In a week's time, the whole of England will be lifeless..."

"We have to stop this now. I have no idea how far this will spread. England? The world? The universe? For all I know, it could spread to all universes. Its impossible to say, the calculations just break down. "

[trollthumper]

"Yeah, at this point, I don't think they'll mind if we crash the party," Cannonade said, "and if they do, well, I don't really care. So, what's the best way in? Any idea of the layout? Places this machine might be hiding, if the guy's even bothering to hide it?"

[Aoiroo]

"A machine causing this much damage would probably have to be rather large. It'd be pretty hard to hide if it was, and at such a large event it could very well be a large centerpiece or decoration."

As she finished sketching she started to tap her pencil onto the pad,

"Anyway, time is of the essence, so whats the fastest any of you guys can get around normally. Grimalkin can fly, but it'd be rather uncomfortable if she had to carry all of us, especially if we want to bring the Beatles along for the ride."

Carrie half glanced at the musical group Edge had bribed to come along for this little adventure. Given, she was only slightly more qualified for this sort of thing then themselves and no one in the immediate group (except maybe Ms. Wells) even knew it.

[Supercape]

"Well, we need to get there as fast as possible. We can discussing getting in en route, or even when we get there. " said Ms. Wells in her normal practical manner.

"I could hail a cab, that is, if we find any. Its a long walk. Or we could travel by river, there are probably some boats running... that will be more reliable, although a little slower, maybe an hour... an the clock is ticking" she said nervously, looking at the brass plated difference engine whirring in her hands.

[Heritage]

Grim frowned in deep thought as various suggestions are offered.

"Well I could maybe carry one person safely in flight, but it would probably be awfuly scary for said passenger."

She gnawed on her lower lip.

"So if we get a cab and, say, Prince Albert was with us, would the cabbie be able to get there any faster? Or even if we just looked like inspectors from Scotland Yard?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"Oh, uh..." Mark coughed. "I can take us anywhere we need to go, assuming my powers work that here." He snapped his fingers, there was a flare of black bubbles over his body, like a swirl of spilled ink, and he disappeared, bringing a halt to his band's playing in surprise. Before they could do more than blink, though, Mark had returned, this time carrying behind him a fluttering American flag, complete with five-foot pole, the flag flapping in the dramatic breeze that had blown up at his arrival. "Yeah. They do. Okay, Ms. Wells, I can take our entire party anywhere they need to go. Gentlemen-" He turned back to the band. "Remember that the East doesn't matter. The West doesn't matter. The music matters. People matter. Buy the world a song, and teach them how to SING!"

[Aoiroo]

"I don't think it'd be a good idea to impersonate people who may or may not exist in this world. The fact that we exist in our world is a mathmatical miracle, so them simply not existing because of slights in probability is likely, or them having died off because of certian conditions of this world that didn't exist in ours is likely too. Also, if they do exist, they might actually be attending this thing and that's just plain awkward."

Looking at Edge and his little display, she was tempted to ask where he got the flag, but decided it wasn't important. Instead she reached into her purse she reached around and pulled out a bottle of pills. She had been stupid to of forgotten to take them before the first trip, given, she had hardly gone to a different dimension before. Taking out two ginger pills she palmed then then dry swallowed them. She put her jacket and gloves back down and finished her gin.

"Alright, ready for teleportation or whatever it is you call what you just did. Ms. Wells, can that thing track the device more accurately once we get there so we don't go breaking things we shouldn't hoping it's some weather altering machine?"

[Supercape]

GM

"Yes indeed" answered Ms. Wells "well, reasonably accurate anyway. Within several metres. At that point, it will be good old fashioned eyes and ears, people. "

She nodded at Edge "if you can get us there in good time, Sir, then please do so!"

[Heritage]

Grim really didn't understand the full nature of Edge's powers; they seemed to be darn near infinite in scope, limited only by naiveté and boyish enthusiasm. That being said, she was happy he could teleport them all to this Kew Gardens place, though the presence of the Fab Four and the giant Stars and Stripes went completely against her taste for subtlety.

With a deep breath, she stepped to the young man’s side. "Uh, okay, well, take us out, Edge. Engage!"

[trollthumper]

Cannonade looked on the spectacle Edge had assembled. He knew from past experience what Edge could do... he just wasn't really aware of how eclectically he could do it. An American flag, and... are those... nah, can't be, it's a hundred years too early -- or is it? Man, alternate dimensions are a pain in the ass...

"Sooner we get there, the better," he said. "We've got an ice age to prevent, after all."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Let's melt that ice with the power of heroism!" shouted Mark, waving the flag. "Of friendship, and justice, and liberty! Let's heat things up with the burning power of America!" Even he wasn't usually quite so melodramatic, but something about the setting appealed to his inner muse. He made a gesture, and they were all encapsulated in a cloud of whirling black bubbles that sent them where they needed to go. For those used to Edge's more bizarre powers, everything was normal, but those he hadn't teleported before were struck by the distinct though irrational feeling that they hadn't moved at all, that rather the world around them was changing to put them where they needed to go!

[Supercape]

GM

Kew Gardens

Edge, Ms. Wells, Cannonade, Silhoutte, and Grim were suddenly in a massive greenhouse. It was cold, very cold, much colder than a greenhouse should be.

Guests were milling around, all dressed in high class clothes, and unfortunately all dressed up very warmly. This was clearly a very high class reception, and it was not going well. The temperature was horrible, and several guests were openly muttering about leaving. Some had taken to inebriation to "keep out the chill".

A five-piece band was playing on, providing a quaint little ditty about an infernal man, to which they implored the crowd should have some sympathy, and prayed let him introduce himself (as he was pleased to meet them).

Paul and the fabulous four had landed right beside them, and the inevitable musical collision occurred. The two bands eyed each other suspiciously.

[Aoiroo]

Somewhat corny before monologue aside, it was one heck of a smooth teleportation, probably the smoothest she'd ever experienced because there was not one complaint from her stomach. Which was good, because it was colder here then anywhere else she had been. She pulled her coat a little tighter around herself as she look around the room. It certianly looked like a rather elegant shindig, taking a quick walk around though it seemed that everyone was feeling the cold, and in certian places it was much colder then others. Feeling a chill that raised goosebumps on her exposed face she found herself looking at soldiers in distinctly Russian clothing centered around some other people she couldn't really see above the rest of the crowd. She looked back to her companions for a second,

"Is it just me, or are the Russians in fur at the center of this chill?"

[Heritage]

"Is it just me, or are the Russians in fur at the center of this chill?"

Grim followed Carrie's eyeline to the fur-clad Russkies. "Well considering that I can actually feel this cold, yeah, it does seem to be centered on our Slavic pals." She squinted over at them. "Hmm, old dude looks pretty sick; I've heard those Russian royals weren't a very healthy bunch."

Suddenly her eyes got big, like she was hoping to run into a rock star. "Hey, do you think we'll get to meet Rasputin? That would be cool!" Then she actually thought about what she's read about the Mad Monk. "And also terrfiying..." :shock:

[Supercape]

GM

Ms. Wells pointed her copper plated analytical engine at the group of Russians, her teeth beginning to chatter as she did so.

"The temperature drop is almost certainly coming from that group" she said, her breath condensing with every word. "Lord! its getting colder every minute!"

Indeed, as she spoke, one of the ushers called out, in a distressed tone of voice

"Ladies and Gentlemen, due to the unprecedented weather we are experiencing locally, we have, for your safety, to disband the evening and urge you all to seek appropriate warm shelter. Our apologies".

There were various mumblings from the crowd, a few "outrageous" and "who does he think he is?" type comments of the upper class attendees, but even amongst them, everyone sounded damned relieved to be getting out of the freezing conditions.

The young Russian gave a smile that was more like a sneer.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Gentlemen," said Edge with a nod to his accompaniment and a gesture at the band, "I trust you can outmatch those fellows. As for me..." He hmmed for a moment and realized that luckily, he happened to speak Russian! It was a good thing he'd paid so much attention in Russian class the week before, he reflected. He approached the group of Russians, his deerstalker's cape flapping in the breeze behind him, and pointed at the Russian in the wheelchair, opting at the last second to translate his Russian after each sentence for the benefit of his English-speaking allies.

"" He found himself singing along with the rising tide of music coming from behind him. "

[Supercape]

GM

The Young Russian aristocrat turned to edge, his sneer turning more foul by the minute.

""

As the guests start to file out of the Freezing greenhouse, the young man pulls out a large bronze handgun, and slowly wind's it up. Steam briefly emits from its chamber as he does so.

""

He spat at Edge, becoming more furious with every word "We trusted the King to send us aid to fight the red traitors, but none came! my poor father, the famous Rasputin, nearly died at the hands of the rebel dogs!"

"It was only fortune that allowed me to save him, and he lives only as half the man he was. But half is enough! For in the aftermath of that battle, from the sky, came a most curious substance. A substance that allowed me to rebuild my father and will allow me to plunge England into Ice!!!"

With another evil cackle, he tore open his fathers ornamental shirt. The man was indeed, only half a man. His chest was a mess of wires, bronze, and cog wheels, all straining to keep his chest breathing.

And in the centre of the steampunk cyborg, a very familiar object...

...a vial of pure freezonium!

[trollthumper]

Rasputin? Cannonade thought to himself. But that was the early 20th century! How could --

Then again... I got brought here by a woman in H.G. Wells' Time Machine, ended up taking down Ned Ludd and his robot sock puppet, and experienced the chamber orchestra version of the Stones. I just give the **** up. It's another dimension. It doesn't have to explain anything.

So he simply raised his fists and waited to pound on the frosty Russians.

[Avenger Assembled]

That was a little much even for Mark. But he took a deep breath, thought about his own absent father, and said, "You may think you can buy your father's love with carnage and strife! But that's no way for a son to live, giving Dad half a life! Because what you need is love! All you need is love!" Behind him the music swelled as a wall of speakers grew up from behind him like a metastasizing sound system. "All you need is love...your dad just needs some heat! Or you'll end up on the street!" Getting into the rhythm, he gestured to the crowd. "Dads were made for loving you! You weren't made for using him as a weapon to freeze the British Empire!"

[Supercape]

GM

The blue white half dead man in the wheel chair gave a feeble croak "love? love?" he muttered, his wits clearly addled.

He fixed Mark with an evil glare. His wits may have been addled, and his body a hairs breadth from expiry, but behind his eyes was a will that was forged of metal a thousand times harder than diamond, and blended with a madness and malevolence that was plain to see.

"This is my love!" he whispered, as the Siberian winds whipped around the dead leaves of Kew Gardens.

For all the half dead Russians words, however, the fates conspired against him. The initial cold winds that blasted from him threw up those very same dead leaved that leapt and tumbled straight back to him, and ended up covering his chest and the freezonium. The chill in the air instantly lessened to a mild summer's day, to the relief of the remaining guests.