Avenger Assembled Posted January 14, 2012 Author Posted January 14, 2012 Fleur's flower carried them easily enough to Freedom City's busy Department of Child Services, a sadly busy place in most major metropolitan areas and certainly no easier for the approaching holiday season. The various bureaucrats in their small cubicles looked tired and overworked, just like most people in their profession. Only the various child posters on the walls; some of them obvious artwork, others PSAs both somber and cheerful, were an indicator that this particular office dealt especially with children. The arrival of three superheroes was something of a novelty, of course, quickly bringing them to the attention of Mr. Blackwell, the office's director. "Rayford? He's been away on leave for the last week," said Blackwell worriedly, looking with concern at all the supers. He could deal with children in crisis steadily enough, but this was something new and alarming. "He's had such a bad time of it with his daughter's health these last few months, I insisted he take additional time off to be with her. He's such a hard worker, always there to help out with our powered cases." Evidently he hadn't heard about the attack from Madame Zero just yet. Rayford's cubicle turned out to be sparsely decorated, with a single family picture in a child's craft frame of macaroni and glitter on the wall: a smiling bearded man in a suit and tie, with a cheerful-looking red-haired girl on his lap. "He doesn't talk much about his personal life, but I know her condition's hit him hard. She's had to leave school, but he's always on the phone with her whenever his work allows."
Electra Posted January 17, 2012 Posted January 17, 2012 "Oh, that's such a shame," Fleur murmured sympathetically, looking at the picture of the little girl on the desk. "It's so hard to have a family member sick. Do you know what's wrong with her?" Even as she spoke, she was looking around at the layout of the office and the cubicles. If the caseworker were distracted or absent lately, it might not be too difficult for someone motivated to sneak in any get at his computer. "Has someone else picked up his caseload while he's gone? The matter we're dealing with is actually very urgent, so if we could speak to someone who knows about the case, it would be very helpful."
Airon Posted January 20, 2012 Posted January 20, 2012 The framed family picture moved something inside Weaver. It was his first case where the enemy wasn't just a madman trying to get rich quick. "I... I'm really bad with technology" confessed to his fellow heroes "but I think" he went out the cubicle and quickly checked the monitors in the adjacent workplaces “yes, it seems that this camera, the red one on the screen’s right, isn’t found in other cubicles.†He got closer to inspect it and waved his hand in front of it “and it’s very warm. More hot than warm, actually.†“Did he used it to check on his daughter and to communicate with her while working?†he asked Mr. Blackwell “Or maybe... did you ever see anything like it in relation to a more tech-savvy criminal?†asked then in a whisper, this time talking to his partners in crime-fighting.
Supercape Posted January 20, 2012 Posted January 20, 2012 Rene scratched his head and peered and the device through his glasses that perched on his nose. "This thing?" he pointed, extending an old finger right at the camera. "Camera's? Pffft They are an insult to art! ze work of ze ameteur" "Pffft!" he added again for good measure, before turning his gaze to the desk, the floor, and then his fellow heroes. "This is what those detectives call a clue, Non?" he queried. It certainly seemed suspicious, although he knew as much about internet camera's as he did about particle physics. In other words, very little indeed. "I would very much like Monsieur Rayford to explain to me ze workings of this, would you not agree? I think we should make every effort to meet him..."
Avenger Assembled Posted January 23, 2012 Author Posted January 23, 2012 A quick inquiry revealed that while most of Rayford's files had gone to other agents, a small sheaf of files (including the "Baby I" adoption that represented Madame Zero's child) had gone missing! By now very alarmed, Mr. Blackwell turned to Rayford's computer, only to have another mystery unfold as only a weird warping of color passed over the computer monitor. "My God...the entire drive's been wiped! There were years of files on here!" said Blackwell, looking deeply alarmed at the sight of the dead computer, his hand over his mouth. "If not for our paper backups...which Rayford may have taken home with him, if he thought we were working with the electronic files." Blackwell's dark face had paled noticeably; he was obviously deeply chagrined at what had happened. "I will certainly look into this..."
Electra Posted January 28, 2012 Posted January 28, 2012 Fleur quickly stepped forward, grabbing hold of the webcam and pulling it free of its moorings. She had to pull harder than she'd expected; it felt almost as if the camera was stuck to the computer itself with magnets. "There's no cord," she realized, looking at the strange little device. Rapping it against the table dislodged the battery pack, which didn't look like anything she'd ever seen. "I don't know who's watching us," she said grimly, "but they know we're onto them. See if you can get any data backups for this computer," she told Blackwell, then looked to the others. "We need to get to Rayford and see what he knows."
Avenger Assembled Posted February 3, 2012 Author Posted February 3, 2012 Blackwell promised to keep in touch, and the heroes made their way via plant and picture to the Rayford Johnson house. Johnson and his daughter Chloe lived in a suburban cul-de-sac in Ashton, a new development that had been left unfinished after the housing bubble had burst some years earlier. There were several vacant lots and half-built homes around, and the only occupied house was way down at the other end of the street. There was something sad about the Johnson home as they approached, the paint was peeling and the grass overgrown and dead, if not for the car in the drive and the lights on inside, the house might have looked abandoned.
Supercape Posted February 4, 2012 Posted February 4, 2012 "tsk" tutted Rene as they approached the unkempt home. "Look at this!" he said to the others "Ze overgrown garden, ze decay of the house, ze ravages of time, ze awful loneliness and despair of ze soul!" he said, with a clear voice. "It is wonderful! I must paint it!" he said, shaking a fist with passion at the universe. "*Ahem*" he coughed, becoming aware of his two partners and the situation at hand. "Later, that is..." he added "just make sure you don't disturb the picture. Keep the grass, the house, everything as it is. No big fancy powers, Non! just keep it just like that!" he said sweeping his arm over the view.
Electra Posted February 5, 2012 Posted February 5, 2012 "It's not wonderful, it's sad," Fleur countered, frowning as she walked up towards the house. "Someone who cared enough to get a nice house like this must have taken care of it once. The fact that they can't anymore is a shame." Even so, she resisted the urge to rearrange the lawn as she stepped onto the porch, just to avoid an argument. "Hopefully he's willing to talk to us. I eventually have to let Madam Zero out of my dimensional bubble, and someone is still out there watching us. We might not have much time." She pressed the bell.
Avenger Assembled Posted February 10, 2012 Author Posted February 10, 2012 Rayford opened the door partway, caught by the chain lock, only his face visible as he peered through the crack at the three heroes outside. "Who are you? What do you want?" The child welfare agent didn't look very happy to see them, especially once he recognized them as superheroes. Before the heroes could answer, a high, childish voice came from behind him. "Who is it, Daddy? Is it superheroes?" He called out his assent to someone behind them, "Let them in, Daddy! I want to see!" Rayford closed his eye for a moment, his face tight, before reluctantly unlocking the door and letting the heroes into his house. The Johnson residence was musty and unkempt, smelling like a place where things were swept under the rug rather than thrown away. Johnson himself looked shabby, with a half-week's growth of beard and clothes long-slept in, and only reluctantly did he gesture to let the heroes inside. Waiting for them, and looking much more colorful, was the smiling figure of his daughter Chloe, a perfect-looking little girl without a blonde hair out of place. "Hello!" she said with a perfect shiny smile. "I'm Chloe!"
Airon Posted February 11, 2012 Posted February 11, 2012 “We are investigating on a rather sensitive case, Mr. Johnson†said Weaver as soon as the door opened “and we believe you could be of help...†He was interrupted by the smiling daughter noticing them. The sharp contrast between the perfectly neat and tidy young girl and the decaying structure of the house gave Weaver an uncomfortable shiver down his spine. He felt like there was something not quite right. Hoping that his mask wouldn’t scare her, he kneeled near her, produced from under his costume a velvet band and without touching, it, only by using his powers, he tied it up into a very beautiful and elaborate ribbon and deposed it on Chloe’s hair. "Here's a present for you, Chloe!" he hoped his smile could be guessed under the scarf. If she’s ok, that’s a useless but nice gesture. Weaver thought but let’s see how she reacts… "Now about that investigation..." Weaver looked at Fleur, who was certainly a more reknown and less threatening sight that his hooded figure, inviting her to grab the reins of the talk.
Avenger Assembled Posted February 21, 2012 Author Posted February 21, 2012 Chloe eyed the ribbon uncertainly, reaching up to pat it as if checking for booby traps. When she didn't see anything amiss, she gave Weaver a big, too-perfect smile that made her father visibly blanch. "Gee, thanks, mister! That's an awfully good trick!" She beamed up at Weaver, just a little too plastic for a girl in her situation. "I don't get a lot of visitors," she said with a sad look like an unhappy Shirley Temple as she looked up at her father, "so I sure am glad to see you!" "How can I help?" replied Rayford to the heroes, tearing his gaze away from Chloe by sheer force of will. "I've...I've been away, and most of my case files are with other agents..." He looked scared, running his fingers through his stubble, and couldn't quite meet their eyes.
Supercape Posted February 21, 2012 Posted February 21, 2012 Rene nodded sagely. "Oui Monsieur, there is no need to be alarmed!" replied Rene, bowing slightly and pulling out his mystic paintbrush. Peeking slightly behind Rayford he continued his platitudes whilst weaving his magic with his brush in one hand. "We are only here in passing, it iz not such a serious matter! why, look at how healthy and happy the child is! such gay abandon, such childhood innocence! ah! what would an old man like myself give for a day with such freedom from cares, non? Such a loss is the coming of age!" He twittered on politely, making innocuous statements about the child and the weather. In the meantime, a vague misty ink formed between them, in lurid purple. Is there somebody watching? Said the smoke, for an instant, before evaporating to the winds.
Avenger Assembled Posted February 26, 2012 Author Posted February 26, 2012 Rayford's eyes widened at the sight of Rene's message, and involuntarily he shot a glance down towards his daughter. He didn't say a word, but his meaning was obvious to all the heroes. For her part, her eyebrows narrowed suspiciously at the look on his face, and she turned her gaze back at the heroes with a new look of suspicion in her eyes. She hadn't seen the message, that was for certain, but she still seemed wise to the idea that something suspicious was up. Though she let her father talk, she stepped back behind him, where she could watch all of their conversations. "I, uh, have just had a really hard time, is all, with everything that's been...happening." The civil servant ran his hands through his hair, tension, pain, and not a little fear clear on his face now that his daughter couldn't see it clearly. "Tell me why you're here?" he said, his voice almost a plea.
Electra Posted February 28, 2012 Posted February 28, 2012 "We were hoping to consult with you about a case you were involved in, Mr. Johnson," Fleur said pleasantly, her face revealing nothing but good cheer. "I don't believe it's actually anything interesting, but even superheroes sometimes get boring homework." She sighed for that sad reality, then looked over to Chloe. "I would hate to think of bothering the two of you, but it should only take a few minutes. Maybe Chloe and I could play a little hooky while the boys discuss paperwork. Would you like to visit my home, Chloe?" she asked with a friendly smile. "I have flowers so big that we could sit on one and have a picnic."
Avenger Assembled Posted February 29, 2012 Author Posted February 29, 2012 There was the risk that using her powers might make it easier for Madame Zero to escape, of course, but so far the icy villainess hadn't pushed the boundaries of her prison yet, at least as far as Fleur could tell without going in there to investigate. "Hmmm," said the little girl, calculation on her smooth face. "All right, as long as it's just for a few minutes," she said with a white-teethed smile. "My daddy can get into really big trouble if I'm not around to watch him," Chloe added with a girlish giggle and win for the benefit of the others as she took Fleur's hand, her fingers a little cold in the flower heroine's touch. When they disappeared, a pale-faced Johnson looked at the others, his eyes popped wide at the sight. "They're...they're really gone...wow. I can't believe it!" he exclaimed, then studied the others nervously. "So you guys are real heroes?" he asked hopefully. "What case are we talking about?"
Airon Posted February 29, 2012 Posted February 29, 2012 “Yes, we are the heroes.†Weaver said it with confidence. It was the first time he had said it out loud, it felt strangely reinvigorating. “This is about Madame Zero, sir†said Weaver as soon as Fleur disappeared with the kid, keeping his voice as low as possible “She showed up the Carlton’s house this morning, very determined to kidnap – or in her own words, get back – her baby. She was... insistent about it.†“We are worried about how could she have find out the adopting couple, also because we figure this isn’t the only supervillain’s kid for whom you found a home.†Weaver’s tone was a gentle as possible, trying to calm down the very agitated man even while talking about such a sensitive matter. “We already discovered that your office was under surveillance†he told him about the camera “and now it seems you are terrified in your own home. What exactly happened to your daughter?â€
Avenger Assembled Posted March 6, 2012 Author Posted March 6, 2012 "My...my daughter?" said the agent, focusing on Weaver's words closely when that subject came up. "That, that thing wasn't my daughter!" Frightened as he was, he all but grabbed the hero by the lapels for emphasis. "They...they came and took her about six months ago, they told me she'd be in suspended animation, that she'd be safe as long as...as long as I did what they wanted." He tugged at his hair, eyes wild, as he poured out his confession. "They...they wanted genetic samples at first, samples from the super-kids I was placing. I had access to their medical records, it was easy to send DNA profiles to them. And then it was more, it was power workups, information, so they could recruit the kids when they got older..." He wiped his eyes, then gasped, "And then, finally, they wanted help finding a child so they could take him. Madame Zero's boy, with Glacier, they wanted him so they could study his powers. I couldn't do that." He shook his head. "I couldn't...I couldn't let them have any more children. So I used our records to find the number of someone with the Crime League and I told Madame Zero where her kid was. I knew she wasn't with them, and I knew she hadn't consented to an adoption, so she'd come looking if she thought her kid was being taken. thought she'd be caught by heroes and they'd protect the kid, or at least she'd take him and he wouldn't be experimented on...I...I'm so sorry, I just wanted to keep my baby girl safe! She's all I have left in the world!"
Supercape Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 Rene had seen plenty of vileness in his many years, but kidnapping a child was base even measure by the experience of centuries. "Zut aloes!" he spluttered, shaking his old fist at the world. "Barbarians! Vandals! Criminals! To rend a child from parent in such manner!" He took down his fist and cracked his knuckles - an awful sound. "ze villains will not get away with this, mark my words" he said in a more measured tone, looking at the bereft father straight in the eye. " All we have to do is locate your daughter! Do you have any of ze inclination as to her location? Perhaps my powers of divinatIon may provide a clue..."
Avenger Assembled Posted March 9, 2012 Author Posted March 9, 2012 The fear-stricken father took the heroes upstairs to what had been Chloe's room, an eerie monument to the missing girl that looked nearly untouched. There were now-yellowed pictures on the walls, books on the shelf (Chloe evidently liked Sweet Valley High and Animorphs), and a baseball glove nearby an older-style home computer. "That thing will come in here and touch her things, like an animal playing with something shiny, but it won't sleep in her bed," said Rayford, a look of disgust on his face. "It just stands there all night, looking around, and it's always there to greet me in the morning. If I don't act like its father around other people, it says they'll start experimenting on Chloe...can you find anything?" he asked, almost prayerfully.
Electra Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 "I'm sure your daddy will be fine for just a few minutes," Fleur assured the "little girl" carefully as they stepped out of a flower and into a sunny meadow. Far overhead, giant bees were buzzing placidly and the ground was covered in enormous flowers the size of baseball diamonds. "Sometimes daddies have to do boring things for work. When I was little, I would sometimes do other things to pass the time. Have you ever made a daisy chain?" At once, they were surrounded by bright yellow and white daisies nodding in the breeze. "I can show you, and we can make flower hats." Inside, Stesha was a ball of nerves, but she'd dealt with more than one dangerous prima donna in her life, and she was sure she projected nothing but pleasant affability.
Avenger Assembled Posted April 5, 2012 Author Posted April 5, 2012 Drawing a picture of the kidnapped girl soon enough guided Rene to her location, a location closer than they could have imagined! "She was here?! She was here the whole time!?!" Rayford pressed his fingers against the grassy, half-mown earth of his own lawn, staring down at the hibernation pod Rene's scrying ability had detected so far beneath the soil. "But how do we get her out?" he asked the heroes, looking frightened. "If what they said about the booby traps is true, one false move and she's done for!" There was the risk they might be done in by whatever traps were there, but such a threat was irrelevant to a frightened father, much less two heroes! --- 'Chloe' happily joined Fleur de Joie in making daisy chains, but away from her native environment it was increasingly obvious that the little girl was anything but. Her smiles were too perfect and came at the wrong times, her fingers were a little too cold to the touch when she and Fleur occasionally bumped into each other while they worked. When it was done, the little girl looked up at Fleur with daisies around her neck and said in a voice that wasn't sweet at all. "You know. Don't you?"
Electra Posted April 5, 2012 Posted April 5, 2012 "Yes I do," Fleur replied, her own voice quite calm, for all her fingers were tense on her own crown of flowers. "But I would like to know why. You're obviously extremely clever to have planned and pulled off something like this, so I'm sure there must have been an excellent reason for you to spend such a long time in what must have been a rather boring fashion. What is it that you hoped to gain through all of this?" Inside her head, Stesha focused on the flowers that the false Chloe wore. In an instant, those flowers could become a snare, if worst came to worst. She was gambling, though, that 'Chloe' was vain and bored enough to share some details.
Avenger Assembled Posted April 5, 2012 Author Posted April 5, 2012 "Do you have any idea how long we've been stranded on this world?" replied the 'little girl', her eyes narrowing unwholesomely as she gazed steadily at Fleur de Joie. "Watching the Unity waste its drones year after year trying to subdue a planet more powerful than all of them put together? All we wanted was a little DNA from your super-children so we could get a portal back to our own world." Her lips were curling now in a snarl as she advanced, her eyes definitely red as her voice became a chorus. "You have so many, why did you object to us using these? They were the spawn of your criminals! No one even wanted them!"
Airon Posted April 6, 2012 Posted April 6, 2012 Weaver rubbed his temples as he saw the clearly very high-tech hibernation pod. This really isn’t up my alley. And booby traps, with the little girl? I… There was something though. The girl was at least clothed, and laid on some sort of stuffed interior. He grabbed in his hand the edge of his costume, that outfit he had made so sturdy and resistant to be almost bulletproof. If only that glass wasn’t so thick… He let his power loose, trying to get them to work beyond the pod. At first, he felt nothing, but then the collar on Chloe’s shirt trembled a bit. “Ok I’m in!†he screamed, excited. He looked at his fellow hero and the terrified father. “Ok, let me explain. Mr Rayford, there’s enough fabric in there for me to work. I feel confident about this: I can protect your girl from any kind of trap.†“Monsieur DeSaens, if you could… paint a hole in that thing†he cringed I have no idea how his powers work, dollars to dimes I just said something stupid “Or try and open it somehow… I can make sure Chloe goes unharmed. We have to act quickly though, it is a very unusual procedure I’m about to make and I don’t know for how long I can keep it up. What do you say, on the count of three?â€
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