Space Safari: Fulcrum, Gossamer, and the Giant Beast

[Supercape]

"You can create radiation? That could come in handy actually. If we can't sedate it easily, you may be able to 'tickle' it into moving out of those icy hills. Generate some radiation that it can snack on and lead it out onto this open plain. Give us a lot more maneuverability."

"Radioactive breadcrumbs?" said Supercape, absently mindenly reaching out to scractch his chin and banging his head on the bubble that enclosed it.

"I can do that" he said, reaching out with a magnificent stretch of his arm and furrowing his brow.

Nothing visible happened at all.

"There!" he said, all smiles. "Pretty impressive, hmm? The mighty power of the atom at my finger tips!"

The Icy wastes looked no different whatsoever. A chilly wind blew a fine snow across the surface.

"I know its pretty powerful, but no use against the beast... except as food, as you say. But I can certainly lay the trap, if you point me to the direction. "

[Heritage]

"There!" he said, all smiles. "Pretty impressive, hmm? The mighty power of the atom at my finger tips!"

Estelle raised an elegant eyebrow but otherwise did not comment. "Well, it might be best if we lure the creature towards somewhat higher ground, if any exists." She formed her hair into a large lariat. "If I was above it, I could throw this around its neck and pull myself in closer to the face; my hair is extremely strong, so it should be hard for it to throw me clear."

[Dariusprime]

Fulcrum looked at Supercape's hand with a deadpan expression. Beyond a slight tingle of her cosmic senses, nothing registered on her senses. Which of course was normal for standard forms of radiation, she reminded herself. Idly she wondered if Supercape was making a joke.

Instead, Fulcrum nodded to the two and replied, "Okay, I'll have a look for larger mountain ranges or canyons. First, let me test the spear."

To whit she took off in a flash and sped her way toward the behemoth. Gripping the spear in both hands, she came at it from behind, banking sharply to stab it in the neck, just at the back of the jawline. In addition to her normal strength, the spear faced straight forward thus using the momentum of her movement to increase the force.

Just as quickly as she poke the beast, the flying heroine was gone. The 'little' form zigged-and-zagged among the rocks, trying to lose the beast's attention. Only then did she circle back behind it, observe the injection site and the condition of the spear.

That was one big creature!

[Supercape]

GM

The Beasts hide must have been a couple of inches thick, and had the consistency of boiled leather. And that was just to reach the hard slabs of muscle underneath.

Fulcrum's speed and power hand sunk the harpoon right into the beast, up to the hilt, and drawn it out again. It looked like the creature had barely noticed the pinprick. The poor harpoon had, of course, and had crumpled like a twig under the pressure.

If the creature was affected by the drug, it didn't seem to notice. As potent as it was, the beast was either simply to large, or to alien to be affected.

The harpoon's crumpled tip was wet with a blue-red blood and traces of hide and flesh.

[Dariusprime]

Fulcrum blinked as she examined the harpoon. While she wasn't entirely surprised, she thought maybe, just maybe, the needle would have survived more than one injection. Oh well, time to see if the creature was affected by the tranquilizer. Which momentarily did not appear to be the case. Blast.

After watching for a full minute, Fulcrum zipped back to her companions. The spear, blood and tissue samples now quite frozen, was presented to Supercape. Upon which she shook her head and said, "Not a thing. That hide is something else. The entire syringe injected, but the creature doesn't even seem affected. Does the drug have a delayed response?"

Her mind raced over the possibilities. Honestly, just wrestling the thing appeared more-and-more likely. Not really any more viable but then again she'd faced worse. Maybe.

[Heritage]

"Not a thing. That hide is something else. The entire syringe injected, but the creature doesn't even seem affected. Does the drug have a delayed response?"

Estelle snorted. "At that size, it could take a while to affect it, but my gut tells me we won't be so lucky. On the other hand, we now have tissue samples to work with; may I?" She gingerly took the harpoon with both hands while two hair tendrils began to unpack some portable analytical equipment; the rest of her hair formed itself into a sort of igloo to offer some protection for the elements as the chemist hunkered down on the ground.

"Once I have a better idea how this creature lives, I should be able to make a much more effective tranquilizer."

[Supercape]

Supercape looked on as Gossamer got to work on the sample. She took her time at this point.

Whilst they had field equipment, he twice had to pop back to the Lab and bring back suitable chemicals and equipment for Gossamer to both examine the tissue and fine tune the drug. This time, it was specifically adapted to target at the subcellular metabolic level.

Supercape himself new enough biochemistry to understand, and even help to a limited fashion, but he knew his place was very much that of a Su chef as Gossamer whipped up her gourmet course. And that of taxi service of course.

"Well done" he congratulated his lab-mate as she finished up with her masterpiece.

"The creatures metabolism is very, errr, exotic. But stuff enough of that into it, and it shall fall..." he said. "In the mean time, I shall started configuring this blasted teleportation disc, see if I can set up a local area here which can handle transporting such a massive creature. "

[Heritage]

Glowing with satisfaction, Estelle held up the vial of fluid as she ditched the igloo look and tucked her hair back in place. "There, that should have a bit more kick!" She took her own harpoon and swapped out the cartridge before handing it over to Mona. "I still think you stand the best of penetrating its hide; my tentacles are strong, but I think your greater mass and aerial velocity provide more power."

The blonde chemist caught herself and winced, then laid a friendly gloved hand on Fulcrum's arm. "Sorry about the 'greater mass' comment; I was thinking in purely scientific terms, of course." She quickly packed up her gear, and then turned to the British superhero. "Thanks for all your help, Cape; you were truly indispensable."

Gossamer pointed towards the horizon, the speaker in her mask doing little to hide her giddy enthusiasm. "Shall we?"

[Supercape]

Supercape flew off to set up the radioactive Breadcrumbs. It was, he had to concede, a go idea - one that he wished he had thought of himself.

It was easy enough to spot the beast, without any super-senses. He whistled as he took in the creatures sheer size.

Picking out some key points, he flipped, shuffled, and bent some key particles in the ice, irradiating patches of ice here and there leading to a ravine between to crunches of Ice.

And, as predicted, the giant beast started lurching towards the choke point.

Supercape swept back to Gossamer and Fulcrum.

"The trap is set! he fell for it... if, that is, it is a "he".. might be a she, or something else entirely of course... anyway, its approaching between to ridges of ice. Looking good for an ambush..."

[Dariusprime]

"Very nice. Time to see how well it will work," replied Fulcrum. Taking Gossamer's harpoon, she practiced a couple of thrusts and apparently didn't interpret her comment negatively.

"Of course. No offense taken," she said in amusement. She patted Gossamer's hand.

Once Supercape returned, her role in this story came into focus. Time once more to sedate the giant beast. She nodded to Supercape's assessment of the ambush. "Good. That should work wonderfully. If you have any additional vials, or harpoons for that matter, I'd suggest having them ready in case we need another dose quickly."

Up she flew then. Leveling off high above the icy plains, she zoomed her way after the creature. The plan was exactly the same as last time: dive at the creature and use the combined momentum of her thrust and flight ability to pierce the creature's thick hide. Which is exactly what she did!

This time she approached from the other flank, bounced off its neck and retreated to a safe distance. Soon she'd know if the super-formula tranquilizer would be effective!

[Supercape]

GM

This time, the harpoon seemed to hit a weak spot, a vein, or artery, or something where the skin was weaker and whatever passed for blood or some form of circulatory system flowed.

The harpoon sank straight into the beast, as did Fulcrums arm, up to the elbow.

A sludgy, but vibrant yellow blood poured out slowly, and covered poor Fulcrums arm, and a significant part of the rest of her costume. The harpoon, or what remained of it, was lost inside the vastness of the beast.

As was the the drug.

It was not long before the beast started swaying and staggering. It was hard to say whether it was the immense force of Fulcrums harpoon, or the drug it had delivered. Quite possibly, a combination of both, but before long, the beast collapsed to the icy floor.

The ice cracked and splintered, throwing huge shards several feet in the air, and letting horribly cold water seep to the surface to be rapidly frozen.

To Fulcrums dismay, a potential hazard could be seen, the massive disruption caused by the fall had caused do much dislocation of ice, that the felled beast threatened to slip under water, to the icy depth below!

[Dariusprime]

To say Fulcrum was surprised would be something of an understatement. She'd been expecting to pierce the creature's hide with comparative ease. Nearly impaling herself inside the beast wasn't part of the bargain! Thankfully, the old "air brakes" kicked in just in time to keep her from a bigger mess.

Able to extricate herself quickly, Fulcrum retreated to examine the foul colored and even more foul smelling alien blood covering her costume. "This isn't going to wash out," she grumbled. "On the bright side, Viktor will have plenty of samples."

Once the great beast went down, she dove low to examine it. Losing the harpoon was worrisome. She was here to help the creature not kill the poor thing! The Godzilla wannabe seemed well enough, not that she really knew its vital signs. Still it seemed to be breathing, and that was a good start.

The ice did pose a serious problem however. As quickly as it was giving way, she doubted retrieving her two friends, or even signaling them, to activate the teleportation disc would be fast enough. Taking a deep breath, she flew down, grabbed the saurian's wrist (as much as possible!) and hauled it up into the air.

"And...I thought...the dragon...was heavy..."

[Heritage]

Estelle jumped up and down and clapped her hands. "Good work, Mona, well done! We bagged Godzilla!" Turning to the British hero, she pointed in Fulcrum's direction. "Can you fly me out that way? Mona might need some assistance, especially if the creature is merely woozy; hopefully I can restrain its limbs, if necessary."

She quickly slung her bag over her shoulder and stood in anticipation, eager to get a better look at their prize.

[Supercape]

Supercape puffed up his chest and stretched his neck.

"Actually my dear, please don't be insulted, but I don't think I will be able to lift you for that dis...wait! the gravity on this world is a little lighter. That should take the, err, edge off..*ahem*"

Gossamer was hardly heavy, but he had found carrying people more than short distances was a bit too much for him. He was hardly weak, and kept in good shape for a forty year old academic, but he would certainly not profess to having any particular physical power.

Whipping Gossamer into his arms, and resisting the temptation to give her a kiss on the cheek, he took off to the skies and in a few moments had set her down by Fulcrum.

"My word, that is a rather splendid creature!" he commented "Good thing it didn't slip under the ice when it fell. Are you able to drag it back to the teleport zone?"

[Heritage]

"Actually my dear, please don't be insulted, but I don't think I will be able to lift you for that dis...wait! the gravity on this world is a little lighter. That should take the, err, edge off..*ahem*"

Estelle chuckled through her breathing mask. "Not at all. Perhaps you should engage in more physical exertion; we scientists don't always get enough in our lives, especially when we have remarkable abilities that do all the heavy lifting for us. Let me know if you'd ever like to train a bit."

"My word, that is a rather splendid creature!" he commented "Good thing it didn't slip under the ice when it fell. Are you able to drag it back to the teleport zone?"

The blonde heroine whistled appreciatively as she stared at the behemoth. "Good Lord, he's massive! Even working together, we may not be able to move him." She looked back the way the came. "I could lift him if I stayed on foot, but surely that would take hours even if we work together." She stroked her chin thoughtfully as she considered both their specimen and the powers of the three individuals present.

"Cape, I must admit I don't fully understand how your powers work, but perhaps my ignorance will allow an outsider's perspective." She indicated the unconscious creature with a nod of her head. "Do you have any ability to affect the basic properties of a thing, without altering other properties? For instance, can you reduce an objects mass without affecting its density or volume? Alternately, can you shunt mass between dimensions, placing this mountain of flesh in a sort of pocket universe we can access from another location at a later date?"

[Dariusprime]

"Hi, you two," she puffed while still lugging the great beast by one arm. She arched an eyebrow as they calmly discussed how best to handle their load. "Not quite as heavy as I imagined initially. I should manage."

And manage she did. Slowly but surely, the giantess picked up speed and drifted along with her charge. Nothing like her maximum speed of course, but then again pretty impressive considering the several-million-pound Godzilla she toted. Maybe along the lines of slow helicopter. Still faster than dragging the thing back on foot!

Who knew how long it would actually be unconscious? Knowing her luck, it probably would wake and prove that it had atomic breath like Godzilla too. Bummer!

[Supercape]

Estelle chuckled through her breathing mask. "Not at all. Perhaps you should engage in more physical exertion; we scientists don't always get enough in our lives, especially when we have remarkable abilities that do all the heavy lifting for us. Let me know if you'd ever like to train a bit."

"Oh my!" gasped Supercape, blushing slightly.

"Cape, I must admit I don't fully understand how your powers work, but perhaps my ignorance will allow an outsider's perspective." She indicated the unconscious creature with a nod of her head. "Do you have any ability to affect the basic properties of a thing, without altering other properties? For instance, can you reduce an objects mass without affecting its density or volume? Alternately, can you shunt mass between dimensions, placing this mountain of flesh in a sort of pocket universe we can access from another location at a later date?"

Supercape scratched his head at this.

"Sometimes, my dear, I don't understand them myself. It's all based on rather complicated physics... Technically I am probably the least powerful superhero there ever was, or ever will be. I can barely shift atoms around..."

He grinned.

"Its just a shift them so darned well! E=MC squared, and all that!"

He shrugged "But as for moving things like this, its out of my league. I wouldn't know where to begin. Maybe nudge around some gravitons. Never tried, I would have to go back to the drawing board on that one. But..."

He pointed at Fulcrums heroic efforts.

"...it seems I will not have to! Jolly good show my dear! Can you manage? not far to the teleport site. I have it all set up with some preliminary quantum entanglement courtesy of that splendid disc!"

[Heritage]

Gossamer nodded slowly; clearly she was no closer to understanding 'Cape's powers than she was before. "Alright, I'll...be ready to help restrain it if it comes to." She followed behind, happy for her part in the successful bagging of the beast but now in the afterglow of the capture, she felt a tiny bit useless. Oh well, they had achieved their goal and worked together well as a team, so that was all worthy of celebration. Speaking of which...

"So once we get him to our mysterious employer, what do you two say for a drink? The bar in my lab is well stocked, or we can hit a local pub, if either of you prefer."

[Supercape]

As Supercape concentrated on folding up several dimensions and cheating time and space, he gave Gossamer and Fulcrum a grin.

"A nice stiff drink sounds good to me, make it something..."

Time and space warped around him, this time bending and cracking still further as the teleportation disc hummed away. Everything around them blurred and danced in front of their eyes - and other senses too.

"...hot..." finished Supercape.

The giant beast, Fulcrum, Gossamer, and Supercape were in a spotless illuminated white room. It was beyond huge. It looked like it was a cubic kilometre. Quite possibly exactly a cubic kilometre. The temperature remained almost exactly what it was on the frozen waste like planet they had come from.

Standing in front of them, in a white suit and dark glasses was Mr. Flowers.

"Congratulations on your second successful acquisition", he said, rather flatly, but with a thin enigmatic smile. "And may I also offer my thanks to your helpful recruits. Due to your efforts, this remarkable biological specimen will have its particular genetic signature preserved and it will not be lost to this galaxy. "