Brightly Polished 24 Carat Wits

[TheRedGuy]

"El Huracán. I, uh, also worked with Miracle Girl before.", Aníbal introduced himself to Terrifica. There was little time for pleasantries, however. Miracle Girl needed medical assistance, and Terrifica, whoever she was, would probably want a briefing on what transpired earlier. He wearily nodded at her suggestion and followed her outside, his steps still uncertain. In a few moments, he was at the new arrival's side, standing in front of the robbed jewelry store. The lingering drowsiness was quickly fading away. He took a deep breath, drawing the chilly December air into his lungs. It helped to clear his head. This wasn't over yet. Whoever was responsible may have gotten away, but they would track them down. The fact that the robbery was committed in such a flamboyantly exotic fashion - illusionary lions, of all things - would surely narrow it down. These weren't two-bit thugs.

 

"Okay, so...", he spoke up, "Do you want me to start from the beginning, or what?". 

Edited March 3, 2016 by TheRedGuy

[EternalPhoenix]

PC

 

Terrifica stood quietly, hands clasped behind her back. A slight breeze ruffled her longcoat. “Yes, start at the beginning. Tell me everything. Spare no detail, no matter how insignificant you think it is.” Her focused gaze seemed almost be looking through El Hurican. “Miracle Girl is quite durable. For something to be able to injure her, even slightly, is something to be concerned about. So please. Whenever you are ready.” There was an almost undetectable note of concern in her voice. Regardless of anything Anibal might have heard, this was not a heartless woman.

[TheRedGuy]

"Okay...", Aníbal replied and sighed. He spent a few moments arranging the events in his head, trying to put his feelings of frustration aside and focus on remembering as many details of the recent events as he could. 

 

"I was... patrolling, the city, looking for trouble, something I could help with.", he started recounting the tale after a brief pause, "Then I spotted someone in an alley, trying to break into a fancy jewelry store through the back entrance. I swooped down and I saw it was Miracle Girl. We... We met before, during the plane hijacking a few months back, if you recall that... Uh... So anyway, she told me the place was being robbed, there were hostages, and there were lions in there." 

 

He paused again and rubbed his forearm. The lining of his suit was ripped and it still hurt a bit, but there was no injury.

 

"We decided to split up. She went in from the front, I went in from the back, blasted the back door open and moved in. She wasn't lying, there were lions in there. Lots of them, a whole pride. Some of them were carrying jewelry in their maw. It was... strange. Very strange.", he continued, "We surprised them. A few of them ran outside through the door and around the building to the front, paid no attention to me, they just carried the jewelry. Like, what's the word... autómata? Like they were programmed or something. Two of them attacked me, Miracle Girl fought a bunch of them herself."

 

He smiled ruefully, remembering his hesitation to hurt the beautiful beasts. That proved a spectacularly stupid decision.

 

"They were tough. Real tough. Of course, I was pulling my punches, because I didn't want to hurt them too bad. I thought... I thought they were real, you know? I thought whoever did this was an animal-abusing hijo de puta and trained them to do bad things, it wasn't their fault. So yeah... One of them bit me, here... Luckily the protection held out, or I'd be getting patched up with Miracle Girl right now. Or worse...", he continued the tale, showing his forearm to Terrifica, "Things didn't go too well, so I moved back outside and took to the air, where they couldn't reach me. I managed to knock one of them out with an air blast, and she just vanished into thin air. They weren't real. Like, holograms, or illusions, I don't know what. They felt pretty damn real when they bite you, though."

 

"And then, suddenly, I felt weak. Drowsy, like I was made of lead. I just wanted to lie down and sleep for days. I couldn't stay in the air, so I landed and went back in. All the lions were gone, and I saw one person leaving the store.", his brow furrowed as he summoned the image of the girl from the depths of his memory, "A girl, she was in her teens by the looks of it, probably around my age or slightly older. She looked familiar, but I can't..."

 

A flash of recollection struck him as he finally connected the face to a name. "Horne. Skye Horne. She went missing about a week ago, it was on the news. She took one look at me and I blacked out. Next thing I remember that cop was waking me up, and you were here. That's it. That's everything I remember."

 

He looked at Terrifica with an apologetic shrug. Perhaps she at least would find some of it useful?

[Heritage]

Casey wandered back over once the paramedic let her go; the very nice lady really wanted her to take it easy and not strain herself, which actually made them both laugh. She'd done her best to field repair her costume using some suture thread and bandages, which mostly made her look like some sort of punk rock mummy. She was rotating her shoulder to test the repairs as she approached Aníbal and Terrifica.

 

"Well the medic cleared me, though she wasn't super happy about it." She frowned. "I'm still not sure how a lion that goes 'poof' was able to tear me up so good; could that have been magic?" She laughed and shook her head. "Boy, it sounds so silly when you say it out loud, doesn't it?"

Edited March 17, 2016 by Heritage

[EternalPhoenix]

Terrifica listened to El Hurican’s story quite carefully. The look in her eyes was that of one who wasn’t quite seeing at the moment. However, Miracle Girl’s arrival at the end snapped her out of it. Or rather, she snapped herself out of it to participate in social activity instead of thinking. “Not at all, Miracle Girl. There’s a quote I’m quite fond of. Once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” She glanced at the two young heroes. “If the two of you are up to it, I’ll need you to speak with the Steinburg family, in the West End. I’ll provide the address. Their daughter Corinne disappeared on the same day as Miss Horne. I’ll be speaking with the friends and associates of Doctor Maureen Quinn, who did the same. Something isn’t right here, and I intend to find out what.”

[Heritage]

Casey had heard that quote before; wasn't it in an old Star Trek movie? She wasn't too keen on facing magical stuff, especially since she knew so little about it, but she would see this thing through until the end, because Casey Blankenship was not, and never would be, a quiter.

 

"Sure, I can do that." She looked down at the remains of her costume. "Uh, any chance I could swing by my dorm first? I'd rather not be, you know, half-naked if I have to fight someone again. I have a few spare costumes back there. "

[TheRedGuy]

Aníbal's eyes widened under his goggles as Terrifica mentioned the other disappearances. That many people disappearing at the same time, all of them women or girls... Something very strange indeed was going on here, and it was probably not a coincidence. He didn't relish the idea of bothering people who must have gone through a lot of anguish already with sensitive questions about their daughter's disappearance, but if it helped get a lead on the case, it was worth a shot. 

 

"Alright... I suppose we could.", he replied, and nodded as Miracle Girl asked if she could get changed. Her outfit was busted up far worse than his. "Probably a good idea. If we're going to trouble these poor people, the least we can do is look presentable." 

[EternalPhoenix]

PC

 

Terrifica smiled impishly at her erstwhile protégé. “Don’t be ridiculous, Miracle Girl. How can we look like we’re doing our jobs properly without a bit of battle damage? I think that EMT thinks you’re working very hard for us all.” She afforded herself a small laugh and then got serious again. “I tease, of course. There are a few hours left in the day and you’re a fast flier. You can do as you please, if it won’t affect your studies. A good night’s rest is vital, you know.” Her smile was a knowing one. “Shall we meet after all that in front of Claremont Academy at eight?” Terrifica was many things, but slow on the uptake was not one of them. Two teen heroes in this city? Yeah, they went to Claremont. Or the headmistress’s allies would soon have them there. Ms. Summers, despite appearances, was not a woman to be trifled with.

[TheRedGuy]

He flinched when Terrifica casually mentioned Claremont, but quickly regained his composure. She was certainly one of the people in the know, and it was easy to assume two teenage superheroes were affiliated with the school, or at least had been in the past. Meeting up there seemed like a good idea, although he was still uncomfortable with visiting the missing girl's parents. They'd be there in the evening, and most people would probably not appreciate being bothered at so late an hour. Still, he was sure he could gently persuade them into cooperating, if need arose. 

 

"OK. Meet you all there.", Aníbal agreed. A gust of wind propelled him upwards, levitating him about 20 feet above the fray. "Adiós!".

 

He nodded a farewell to the two superheroines and gave a small salute to the cops at work near the robbed jewelry store before flying off, carried by the wind currents.

[Heritage]

"Great! I'll meet you guys there!"

 

Holding the tattered remains of her costume around her as she flew, Casey made her way back to her dorm, careful to give El Hurican a wide berth out of respect for his secret identity. Once she was inside, she was back into blur mode, rapidly showering and changing her dressings. She was about to put on her replacement costume when her eyes fell on her beloved hard copy of the Encyclopedia Britanica, all thirty-two volumes on their custom-made shelf. Standing in her bathrobe, hair still damp as she gnawed on a thumbnail, her eyes flicked to her alarm clock and she shrugged.

 

"What the heck; I've got time."

 

She gave herself a little crash course on magic, with side trips into anthropology, theology, psychology and Freedom City history; the pages fluttered at blinding speed she as cross-referenced at a speed that most researchers would envy. At length, she came to an abrupt stop, visions of pentagrams and voodoo dolls dancing in her head as she rubbed her eyes.

 

"Wow; that was trippy!"

 

She turned the various ideas and concepts over in her head as she suited up; more than likely it wouldn't all stick, but if even one or two bits proved to be useful, it would be worth it.

 

At the appointed time, she was floating just inside the gate to the school; she wasn't exactly sure where Terrifica meant by 'in front', but figuredon't this was as good a guess as any.

[EternalPhoenix]

PC

 

By the front gate was literally where Terrifica was parked. Though it was nighttime, and the shadows were deep. She’d spent the past few hours at home. Nothing like dinner with the family. Then she’d ridden back, parked in front of the gate, and started rereading War & Peace. From memory. The grounds were quite quiet, being long after dark in late December. So she heard the young heroine long before she bothered to look and see her. “Miracle Girl. There’s no need to hover. How are your injuries? Feeling fit again?”