The Measure of a Hero (IC)

[Electra]

Wander watched calmly from the sidelines as the fight continued, her silence and stillness seeming to insulate her from the gang's attention. Once or twice she looked about ready to step in, but held her peace and let the boys continue on their own. She nodded approvingly as they worked together to outmaneuver the villains, then nodded again at Cobalt Templar's request. Stepping away from the wall, she maneuvered her way behind the toons, cutting off any avenue of escape.

[Griffalo]

Mercury looked at the last two standing, his hands already burning with fire, casting a sickly glow on his face.

"The two of you want to surrender quietly now?"

He made no threatening moves just yet, waiting to see what the opponents would do.

[Avenger Assembled]

Suddenly, the Model A behind them roared to life, its headlights like twin angry spots as they glared at the teen heroes. Behind the wheel, a tiny toon woman with a bobbed haircut and cigarette holder laughed as she gunned the engine. "Surrender to THIS, coppahs!" The Model-T roared to life and smashed into Wander with a huge crunch, the front end crumbling as it hit the invulnerable teen. "Aw, raspberries!" she declared from inside.

Looking uneasy at this turn of events, Lucky threw down his cutting torch and yelled "All right, all right, I quit! But I won't sing!"

[KnightDisciple]

Cobalt Templar blinked at the sudden attack by the small Model T. He couldn't help but smirk as it smashed against Wander. He outright smiled when the last member of the gang surrendered.

"Drop all weapons on your person on the ground, nice and slow. Then move over next to the others, and do the same with any weaponry they have. Then just wait."

Once these instructions were followed, CT would manifest a semi-translucent shell over the three members of the Toon Gang, with a few small openings near the top that would serve as air holes. Otherwise, it was a smooth, solid surface that should trap them rather effectively.

It shouldn't escape the notice of his companions that he still carries his conjured weapon, ready to strike at any additional threats at a moment's notice.

"As for singing, squealing, talking, or anything like that, I think we'll let the police decide if you will or won't."

[Electra]

Annoyed out of her impartial observer mode for the moment, Wander lifted the tiny car with one hand, glaring at its impetuous occupant. "That's a terrible representation of a classic car, but it's still a classic. Show some respect, for god's sake." She set it down next to the others for CT to put his cage over, then took a look around the scene. "Good job," she told her two trainees, giving them a half-smile. "That was fast and clean, good use of powers and tactics. We'll let the police take care of getting these folks back to Blackstone where they belong."

[Avenger Assembled]

The Toon Gang wasn't thrilled at being captured, of course, but a fair fight and a good beating seemed to play to their understanding of the world. Lucky even emptied his pockets before arrest, dumping out everything from a huge oversized pistol to a copy of the Toontown Gazette, circa 1935 to a card with a picture of a wood screw and baseball on it. Toons, it seemed, had ample capacity. "Lousy coppas," he muttered as they were led outside to wait for the cops. "If Mistah R were here, he'd..." He seemed to think better of what was on his mind, and clammed up.

[KnightDisciple]

Annoyed out of her impartial observer mode for the moment, Wander lifted the tiny car with one hand, glaring at its impetuous occupant. "That's a terrible representation of a classic car, but it's still a classic. Show some respect, for god's sake." She set it down next to the others for CT to put his cage over, then took a look around the scene. "Good job," she told her two trainees, giving them a half-smile. "That was fast and clean, good use of powers and tactics. We'll let the police take care of getting these folks back to Blackstone where they belong."

"Yeah. That kind of damage is five kinds of pain to repair."

If anything, Cobalt Templar seemed more annoyed by the damage to the miniature classic. It soon passed, though. Especially when Wander handed out her praise. He straightened his shoulders a bit and gave a grin to his companions.

"Yeah, went pretty well. Mercury, thanks for following my lead. You were pretty quick on the attack, too."

He turned to regard the Toon Gang.

"Wonder if Blackstone has mini-size cells?"

The Toon Gang wasn't thrilled at being captured, of course, but a fair fight and a good beating seemed to play to their understanding of the world. Lucky even emptied his pockets before arrest, dumping out everything from a huge oversized pistol to a copy of the Toontown Gazette, circa 1935 to a card with a picture of a wood screw and baseball on it. Toons, it seemed, had ample capacity. "Lousy coppas," he muttered as they were led outside to wait for the cops. "If Mistah R were here, he'd..." He seemed to think better of what was on his mind, and clammed up.

CT's eyes narrowed at the "Mistah R" comment. He took a couple steps towards Lucky and leaned over to eye level, the ethereal BAR casually set on his shoulder.

"He'd what, little man? Mess us up? Not like you lot did anything close to that. Who's "Mistah R", anyways?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"Hey!" At the suggestion he might sell the gang out, Lucky looked as offended as only a tiny cartoon gangster can, drawing himself up to his full height of not very much and looking daggers at Cobalt Templar. "I told you, I ain't no squealer! Nor stoolie, tattler, tattletale, tipster, turncoat, weasel, or whistle-blower!"

"Yeah, nor agent provocateur neither!" spat Roxie from her position tied up by the fender she'd knocked loose from the Model A when she'd unsuccessfully tried to run down Wander.

"No no, dollface, that would imply I was in bed with these coppas to begin with," Lucky corrected her, "you know, like I'd gone out with the idea that I was gonna get the Gang in trouble, maybe rat everyone out, and be gone from there."

"Oh yeah! You're so smart, Lucky!" She beamed at him, and Lucky blushed.

[Griffalo]

Mercury nodded with a smile at the compliment CT had paid him.

"Yeah, thanks." A slight pause before he realised he should probably return the compliment. "Your powers seem pretty impressive, too."

He turned to regard the Toon Gang.

"You know, you guys could go straight... but I doubt you will. Just drawn that way, huh?"

[KnightDisciple]

Cobalt Templar frowns at the stubborn nature of the Toon Gang. Their simplistic minds were rather loyal, if nothing else. He wasn't one for torture, but a few threats wouldn't be out of place. Then Mercury's words sank in. A devious smile spread across his face as the gun in his hands dissolved.

"You're right, Mercury. Maybe they are "drawn that way". But if so, maybe we can...modify the sketch a little bit?"

Suddenly, an enormous pencil was in his hands. It was as thick around as one of his legs, almost as long as he was tall, and sharpened to a fine point. He shifted it around in his arms until it was pointing at the Gang eraser-first.

"I don't figure I'd have to erase all of you or anything. Probably just a few bits, then re-draw it, and BAM, you guys sing like canaries. Don't worry, I'm really good with drawing."

He shrugged, even as he hovered the eraser over each of them in turn, as if unsure of where to start. A sign appeared behind his back, in easy view of his companions, that said "Only Threatening Them; Won't Actually Do It". It seemed he didn't want them throwing off his routine.

Suddenly, the eraser stopped over Roxie. He was looking at Ox and Lucky, eyebrow raised.

"So. Tell me about "Mistah R", hm?"

[Avenger Assembled]

Lucky's eyes widened, and he obligingly spilled the beans. "Mistah R is the big boss, see? The boss of all bosses, and-"

"QUIET YOU MUG!" Boss Moxie was awake and fighting mad, his three foot something frame knotted with rage. "Ain't nobody the boss of Boss Moxie, see! We wuz just doin' a favah for Mistah R so he'd cut us in on his action!"

"Sheesh! Okay, fine," said Lucky, beset on both sides. "You don't hafta be makin' no federal case outta it." For her part, Roxie had looked away, giving the saddest little shriek of all as she was threatened with erasure by the big bad superhero!

For his part, Ox was all injured dignity. "You know, mistah," he said with great, slow patience, "you shouldn't oughta threaten a lady to get two fellas to talk. I'd have spilled da beans if you'd smacked Lucky around some, easy." As the muscular little midget spoke, the police sirens in the distance got louder, and the cops appeared down the street.

[KnightDisciple]

Cobalt Templar stood there for a moment, seeming to contemplate their words. With a sigh, he tossed the pencil over his shoulder, where it evaporated, before turning and walking to Wander. His expression was embarrassed and helpless all at once.

"Help? Please? I've had no experience questioning guys for more than two seconds; usually, me being a big guy in glowing armor does the trick. Do you have any tips or something we can try? I'm open to suggestions right now."

[Electra]

"It's all right," Wander told Cobalt Templar, "you did fine. These guys are just kind of weird. I'll see what I can do with them, otherwise we just pass on what we know and let somebody else follow up the leads." With just the hint of a scowl on her otherwise blank face, Wander walked very deliberately over towards the toons, spinning her bat to its fullest extension, then leaning on it. "It's a little late in the game," she told them laconically, "but I don't think we've been introduced. I'm Wander, from Young Freedom. Why don't you tell me some more about Mister R, so I can concentrate on him instead of paying any more attention to you?"

[Avenger Assembled]

At Wander's approach, Ox blushed and looked away before shooting a bashful glance back at her. "Well, uh...Mistah R owns dis gentleman's club, see? Where gentlemen, and, uh, sometimes ladies, if they're into that sort of thing, they fight and people can place bets on it. And he sez to Boss Moxie," who was in the background as Ox talked, yelling up a storm, "that he'll let da Toon Gang in on some of the action if we do a little job for him at USN...US...uh, at dat building dere! Mistah R said the man in there, he don't pay, so we make him pay! For real!"

[Electra]

Wander sent one quelling glance in Boss Moxie's direction, then returned her attention to Ox. "That's very interesting," she said thoughtfully. "You say the place takes ladies who are interested in fighting? Where exactly is this club at? I might know somebody who wants to check it out." Wander wasn't much of a bluffer, but telling half truths wasn't the same as lying. Besides, Ox didn't seem to be the brightest crayon in the box anyway. "Do you know the name of the deadbeat you were supposed to be hitting up in there?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"Don't tell dat broad nuffin' about da club on da oil derrick...aw, nuts!" said Boss Moxie. "Look, it wuz a perfectly legitimate criminal operation to beat up dis computer guy, waddya call him, Mistah E!" Ox ahemed. "Uh, yeah, it's on dis old oil derrick out in the ocean. We got there with this big flashy gizmo Boss Moxie got from Miss S." "That floozie!" called Roxie. "If you see her, give her a beatin'! She tried ta put da moves on my boys!" And with that, the police arrived on the darkened corner with flashing lights and howling sirens, the officers of the law there to take the criminals away from the teen heroes.

The first officer out recognized what was going on. "The Toon Gang! We'd better get the rubber manacles for this one!"

[Griffalo]

Mercury muttered to himself. These kind of things never went according to the script.

"'Mister E', 'Miss S'... I suppose it's a bit much to hope for villains who can give you a straight answer."

He sighed as the cops jogged past to arrest the Toon Gang, then looked at the others. "What's the next step? Investigate this oil derrick?"

He looked at CT. "No offense intended, but I'm really not looking forward to getting back in that sled of yours..."

[Electra]

Wander kept an eye on the interaction between the police and the diminutive villains, making sure that the arrest wasn't going to turn into a farce, or worse, an escape. "The next step in that investigation is to take the clues and use them to find where exactly an abandoned oil derrick might be, which isn't exactly a piece of cake," she remarked. "Even then, if we manage that, we're flying blind without more clues as to who's behind the operation. What do you think?" she asked the two underclassmen, implicitly indicating that this was a test.

[KnightDisciple]

Cobalt Templar gave Mercury a flat look.

"Putting aside the fact that you were never in any true danger, if we flew to a fixed destination, I'd make it a fully enclosed construct. It was open so we could move faster and still keep our eyes open for trouble."

He manages to keep most of the irritation out of his voice. When Wander posed her question, CT paced a bit, clearly trying to organize his thoughts. Finally, he stopped and turn to face the other two.

"The Gang said they were here to shake down a guy who wouldn't pay "Mistah R". So. Why not go inside and ask about that? If there's one or more people here involved in...whatever...then it stands to reason they can help flesh our our knowledge some."

[Avenger Assembled]

A quick onceover of the building soon revealed that only a few custodians were working inside the building at this late hour. Like most people in Freedom City, said cleaning staff was eager to be helpful to the young heroes, but they knew nothing about secret gambling hells or other conspiracies. One weary janitor did have one helpful tip: "Mister E" was almost certainly Mr. Henry Ellsworth, a junior executive with a noticeable penchant for gambling and an addiction to watching the various reality shows that broadcast superhero battle In! Living! Color! and hi-def.

[KnightDisciple]

Cobalt Templar thanked the janitor for his time and information. He turned to the others, frowning.

"Alright. So we've got one lead. Who can likely give us a great deal more information, assuming he's not too nervous..."

He gives a helpless shrug, gesturing at the nigh-empty building and the night sky.

"But it's not exactly normal business hours. And even with what we know, unless the police can get a lot more out of them, we'd be on shaky ground trying to track this guy down. I mean, if he's at his home, we can't just bust in and start barking questions. Well, we could, but I don't like it. But waiting until he comes in for work is awkward, and gives "Mista R" time to go to ground. Do either of you have thoughts?"

[Electra]

"You two did a good job," Wander told both of them, "but this isn't our mission anymore. We'll give what we've got to the police, who will pass it on to someone who can use it. You're both too green for me to take you in on a major operation where there could be multiple supervillains on their own turf. There's nothing wrong or unheroic about admitting when you're not in the right position to do a job," she advised. "Way better to pass it off and let someone else get the collar than to stumble in and get yourself hurt, captured, or dead. Then you've become part of the mess that needs to be cleaned up. Catching the Toon Gang was good work, getting information from them was good work too. I think we can call this one."