Capes In Space! (IC)

[Supercape]

GM

It wasn't long before the roads of Freedom City gave way to the roads winding through Wharton Forest. The main roads became side roads, the side roads became walkways, the walkways became tracks, and the tracks became...

Yes, Push had driven right into the heart of Wharton Forest, and had got completely lost.

[Flare Knight]

Confused as he was about everything going on, Pirate Powerhouse was still wise enough to try and get a hold of Supercape when the two reached the middle of the forest. "Mr. Supercape, we are here now. Can you pinpoint where the Captain Kraken's ship is? I can't see it." He explained, squinting his eyes and attempting to see the space vessel. "You can't see it, can you, Mr. Push?" He asked his compatriot, tugging on his hat.

[Supercape]

"Ah yes!" came Supercape's voice, crackling with static over the commlink.

"There you are..."

A long pause...

"Thats not, um... exactly north by north west is it..."

Another pause.

"Right. Well, if you two chaps could perhaps speed along as I give you directions that would be awfully decent of you. And...er... I do mean speed. Really, really speed. "

[Quinn]

"Of course I know which way I'm going! This way's just...a shortcut!"

I have no idea which way I'm going...

He wrenched the bike over yet another set of bumps in this now very troublesome trail, wincing as he heard the groaning of the engine. The bike wasn't built for this kind of road...Quinn gritted his teeth as Powerhouse just blurted out his name, so much for subtlety.

"Still...err...let's have those directions anyway. Just to make sure your scanner is...working. Yeah, let's go with that."

[Supercape]

"Consider me your friendly sat nav!" replied Supercape.

And progressively more desperate one at that he thought, eyeing the peculiar anomaly.

And so he proceeded, in a precise, well enunciated tone, giving his directionally-challenged partner the route.

"Left... bear right... no... the other right. That's right. No, not right again. Left. Thats ri... Thats good... stay there..."

[Quinn]

When Supercape said "Stop there", Push parked the bike, before turning to look at Powerhouse.

"Powerhouse, you cool to walk from here? Or...jump or fly or...well, whatever it is you do? The bike can't take much more of these trails, I built it for city streets and highways."

He motioned at the trail ahead, filled with potholes and bumps. If he had to, he might be able to maneuver it over them...but he really didn't want to take the risk of blowing out a tire or screwing up the suspension.

[Lone Star]

Kid Cthulhu happened to be flying overhead, his nightmarish wings extended, looking like some kind of monstrous bird of prey. Other superheroes! Cool! Truth be told, KC was rather bored this afternoon, and decided to take a flight. He circled down, and landed next to the pair. "Hello, chums!" He was quite a sight to see, his green skin and scales, and facial tentacles. His costume was heroic, no doubt, but had a certain Lovecraftian flair. Namely, the Elder Sign as his insignia. "What kind of adventures are we getting into?"

[Flare Knight]

Staring at the potholes for a minute, Powerhouse shrugged and slowly extricated himself from the bike, staying carefully balanced. "Would be better to jump." He said, looking into the sky. Then a creature from his nightmares, fueled with the gnashing of teeth and the screams of the damned...probably. This being Powerhouse, he just waved. I mean, he hadn't attacked, so this guy was obviously a good guy. It was a bit strange how his mind worked, but he also called him a 'chum', which was either an insult meaning something to do with fish or buddy, depending on if he was British or something else, but hey, people always deserved trust if they didn't start a greeting by blasting at you.

"Well, I'm Piratehouse, and this is Piratush. We are currently riding through the forest at the behest of a man who I can only hear in my cellphone to take an invisible Spaceship from a guy named Captain Kraken to fly into space so that we can rescue him from a time-space anomaly. I don't know what a pirate is other then what my friend Piratush said, but apparently they kill people and we are going after their captain, whose name is Kraken which makes me assume he's probably a bit squidish, and might look a little like you. Then we ran into you. Now that I say all that and think about it, it sounds really, really strange. You want to help?" He explained, then asked. looking at his Cellphone again. "Mr. Cape, I think there's someone that can fly with us now, and I forgot to mention, but I can jump really high. Maybe we can find the ship if we jump and fly really high and you kinda point us in the right direction and we just kind of fall on it?" he asked, tugging on his Piratey sash and feeling a bit strange at doing it.

[Supercape]

Supercapes voice came through the cellphone with a large burst of static that was too loud for comfort.

"Sorry about that" he replied "the anomaly is now realising the odd pulse of radiation. Counting down, so to speak. So yes, by all means to try and proceed with all due haste. Drive, fly, or jump. Hop to it!"

I do hope they get a move on... he thought to himself, fighting down his frustration.

[Quinn]

Push shook his head, hopping off the bike and rolling it behind a tree, covering it with some handy branches and brush.

"Sorry about my friend, kid. Name's Push, and this here's Powerhouse. Guy named Supercape's stuck somewhere up near Pluto, and unfortunately the only comms he could reach were ours. This Captain Kraken guy's apparently landed nearby, so we're heading in to con him outta his ship and pull off a rescue. Though with you around, we might have a better chance...you got a name?"

He tapped his earcomm, hand-waving although Supercape couldn't see it.

"Relax, Cape, we'll be out there as fast as we can, but we've still got time to negotiate. If time does gets critical, we'll go in guns blazing, but I don't want to risk damaging the ship if we can avoid it."

[Supercape]

"Very sensible" replied the crackling voice of Supercape. "Diplomacy would be the best option. Failing that, deception. I'm sure Kraken is a thoroughly reasonable fellow if you could just sit down with him, have a cup of tea and watch some cricket. "

He thought for a moment "besides which, going in with blazing guns near starship engines may not be so wise. "

He thought for another moment. "And also... does anyone of you know how to pilot a starship? if not, you will need to use some subterfuge or charm"

[Lone Star]

Push shook his head, hopping off the bike and rolling it behind a tree, covering it with some handy branches and brush.

"Sorry about my friend, kid. Name's Push, and this here's Powerhouse. Guy named Supercape's stuck somewhere up near Pluto, and unfortunately the only comms he could reach were ours. This Captain Kraken guy's apparently landed nearby, so we're heading in to con him outta his ship and pull off a rescue. Though with you around, we might have a better chance...you got a name?"

"They call me Kid Cthulhu. For reasons obvious. No time to go into details about my secret origin." He tilted his head to the side, and his squamous tentacles flexed for a moment. "Kraken. A not unfamiliar name. Space pirate, right? We're going to be making diplomacy with a space pirate?" He nodded his head. "Well. If all else fails, guns blazing works too."

[Quinn]

Push nodded, kicking the jets into gear and jumping up to hover in the air. He tapped his commlink, looking into the sky.

"Right. Supercape, we've hooked up with another hero, calls himself Kid Cthulhu. We'll be approaching Kraken's ship by flight and then on foot when we get close, you got exact co-ordinates on that squid-faced jerk's (no offense, Kid) interstellar conveyance?"

[Flare Knight]

Grinning happily at his plan being accepted, Pirate Powerhouse squatted down, extending one leg, then the other, then twisted his back, getting himself limber. "Alright. So then, Diplomacy, then, hopefully, we can get him to pilot us up there. If not, maybe they have an Auto-pilot, like a lot of planes do these days. Then again, it's probably in Kraken-ese and we can't read it." He said, then grinned. He grew silent as Pirate Push inquired into the location of exactly where the Space Pirate was, then, when he finished, turned to the tentacled man with a grin. "It's nice to meet you Mr. Kid, I'm glad for the assistance in helping us save Mr. Cape, I was unsure if we could take our Captain Kraken by ourselves, you see." he said, waiting for his next instructions, then blinked as he thought of something. "Why are you 'Kid' Cthullu? I mean, the other guy is Captain Kraken, and he apparently looks like you, or something, so what's the difference?" He asked, confused.

[Supercape]

"Righty ho, chaps" piped up Supercape over the intercom.

"By my estimates, the Bucanneer is about 22 miles north of your current location. I can fine tune your position when you get a bit closer. There is a clearing in the forest as it starts to spread out, and thats where it has parked - under its stealth field. "

"Hop, skip, and jump! and good luck! I'm counting on you chaps!"

[Quinn]

Push nodded as he motioned to the others to get moving.

"Plan's simple. Kraken's a big-time space pirate, so we're going to approach him on that level. Look fearsome and real piratey, and I'm going to fool him into thinking there's some big treasure on Pluto. It's a wild-goose chase, of course, but he doesn't know that. If that works, we'll have our ride, savvy? Now, once we arrive, we'll give him a spot somewhere on the planet to dig, pick up Supercape, bushwhack and lock up the Cappy in his own brig when he comes back from the 'treasure hunt' (he said that one in fingerquotes) then it's back home in time for tea and crumpets. And I can finish my lunch."

He pointed in the direction Supercape had described, looking at the other two with a wide grin.

"Let's get moving. Time's a premium, and we gotta get back here before he becomes a crispy-fried cape. Oh, and if you got commlinks, better link 'em up now while we've got the chance, too."

And with that, he aimed in that direction and started moving. Speedily, but not so fast the two couldn't see or keep up with him.

[Supercape]

"That's the spirit... and direction... chaps!" crackled Supercape's voice.

Soon enough, with a little redirection, they came to the clearing he had mentioned. At casual glance, little could be noticed. However, tell-tale burn marks on the grass could be made out, and there was a slight smell of ozone in the air.

"You should be right on top of the Buccaneer" said Supercape "the stealth field is up, but it should be pretty obvious where it is".

[Flare Knight]

Leaping through the air gave Powerhouse massive amounts of enjoyment, as was usual, though he was a bit slower then the ones who could actually fly, he made a reasonable pace, flinging himself into the air before crashing down, then once more launching himself into the air. Even the trees in his path crashed into the dirt as he flew into them, those in his way as he hopped through them splintered into timber, and, finally, crashed into the clearing, sniffing at the air and examining the trails. "Alright, so do we just scream out for him, or do we just sit around here and wait for him to come out?" He asked Pirate Push and Kid Cthullu, scratching his hat- which would be his hair if he wasn't wearing the strange hat- and waiting to be told his next orders.

[Lone Star]

KC blinked. "I have an idea, gents." He whipped Push's hat right off of his head, and donned it in the cocky manner of a pirate. KC shouted at the top of his voice "Well, blow me down! If it ain't me long lost cousin, Captin Kraken! How you been, ye scurvy dog?" He smiled grandly, and hoped the ship didn't open fire and burn his terrible disguise to bits.

[Supercape]

"Hold on, I'm detecting a disturbance..." came Supercape's voice.

Lo and behold, a shimmering haze appeared in mid-aid, followed by the appearance of a shiny metal door that promptly opened. A long walkway, with all the appearance of a wooden plank, then proceeded to extend out several metres from the base of the door.

With a slight quiver, it came to halt - presumably it had fully extended. With another quiver, it then proceeded to lower itself to the ground, until it came to rest. The walkway now led up at a slight angle to the entrance 3 metres above ground level. The rest of the ship remained invisible.

"Looks like an invitation!" continued Supercape, only to be interrupted by the sound of the Captain himself, over speakerphone.

"Shiver me timbers! Some more pirates! and me long lost cousin, you say! come aboard come aboard!!!"

[Lone Star]

KC grinned widely. "Thank you, me matey! I bring with me my crew...we were deserted on this desolate planet." KC turned to the other two and whispered "Act like pirates. Whatever you do, just act like a pirate." He was honestly pretty surprised the Captain was fooled. But to be fair...he did look a lot like him. He boarded the spaceship with his friends, and gulped. He hoped all of them could keep the act up.

[Quinn]

Push grumbled and pulled his hand back, deciding not to snatch his hat back. He liked that hat. It had a skull and crossbones on it. Made him feel all piratey.

"Aye aye, Captain Kid-thulhu." He muttered, walking towards the gangplank and looking up, plastering a fake grin on his face under the scarf and making a wide and dramatic arm-sweep, placing his foot on the gangplank like the guy on that one brand of alcohol...Captain something-or-other.

"Glad t'see another band of true gentlemen o'fortune on this warp-blasted planet, captain! Been too long since I felt good space beneath m'feet, savvy? Arr!"

[Supercape]

"Be jolly careful" camle Supercape's voice over the intercom. "I am detecting the warp core powering up. That might be a good sign, in that he is taking off. On the other hand, he may be preparing to disintegrate you!"

The interior of the ship was decked out like a mixture of a high tech space craft and a wooden pirate schloop, complete with cutlasses, rafts, and portholes. The whole effect was both wonderful and gaudy at the same time.

Four burly, and distinctly alien pirates were waiting to greet the heroes, with blaster pistols aimed squarely at their faces.

"Cap'n wants to see you" said the leader, who looked like a first mate - if the first mate had four arms, purple skin, and the jet black eyes swivelling around what amounted to a face.

He motioned down the hall to what appeared to the brig.

[Flare Knight]

Piratehouse, stepping slowly up the ramp, spent enough time as was appropriate looking at the ship itself- not that he understood what was going on, he just new it was polite to not insult someone else's work-, and offered a compliment. "I enjoy the ship." he said, trying to make it as simple as possible to avoid, because he didn't want to show his lack of knowledge, and appeared mostly unaffected by the alien's strange looks. He did as they ordered, however, and walked down the hall towards the next area. "Thank you." He offered, as he passed by the people.

[Supercape]

GM

"Ahoy there me hearties!"

The bridge was decked out pretty much like, well, a bridge. Of a 17th Century Pirate Ship. Oh for sure, there were, concealed amongst the wood and rope various flashing lights and screens, but the overall appearance was not that of a spaceship.

Infront of the pirate heroes stood Captain Kraken himself, alongside eight of his crew, all with blasters drawn.

Captain Kraken did look something like Kid Cthullu. Green, with a face full of tentacles, and a very alien appearance. He was decked out in full captain regalia, complete with cutlass and flintlock.

"So then, you be dressed like Pirrates, but is you Pirates?" he gave them a beady look with one eye. He paced a little, and drew up to Kid Cthullu.

"And ye say ye be my long lost cousin do ye? well, ye got the looks, I give you that? but are ye just a landlubber who has no way with the stars, the compass or the cutlass?" he demanded, and drew his cutlass, giving it a fancy flourish.

"What say ye?"