Epic M&M: Issue 4 (IC)

[Dalamar]

"Thank you, Mr. Morgan", Johan says as he is assured full co-operation. After Tynes escorts Morgan out, Johan turns to Cosmo.
"Did you not consider the fact that the Mole might not be so stupid as to leave such obvious evidence? Regardless, I have to thank you for getting me out of there."

 

[Velmont]

"Hi" Kevin reply to Nova when she gets out. He sits down and take the sticks and start to eat. "Is Jackal going better?" he ask to Li.

 

[Calinon]

Arizona - Lockheed

"Thank you, Mr. Morgan", Johan says as he is assured full co-operation. After Tynes escorts Morgan out, Johan turns to Cosmo.

"Did you not consider the fact that the Mole might not be so stupid as to leave such obvious evidence? Regardless, I have to thank you for getting me out of there."

"What. The. Hell. You told me to pick it up!" he exclaims. "Though maybe with a half ton of concrete coming down on you, you were wishing you hadn't."

And you did say for someone to pick it up... back a page

China
Kevin and Raisa

"Is Jackal going better?" he ask to Li.

"Grandfather says he will learn to control his anger," Li says. "But he frightens me, and I do not think he's a very nice person, even under the fur and claws."

Carl finally comes in.

"Hey, no Master Wen?" he asks.

"No. He is busy with Xi and X12 this morning. Once we are done, Nova and I will helping you with your training schedules," Li replies.

Carl rolls his eyes. "I don't know how much that's gonna help. I'm gonna be afraid of breaking you."

Li gets a slightly confused look on her face. "I do not think you would do that, yes?"

Nova comes back, dressed in a simple training gi, plopping down next to Li. "There, all changed. So, we all ready for some hi speed, Wen-style super secret trainin' techniques?"

X12
Xi looks at Master Wen, a bit confused, unsure of what to say. He looks distinctly uncomfortable, and perhaps a bit frightened.

"Come, sit now," Master Wen says. "You speak in confusion. Xi not know what you talking about. He not have full memory of past, like you. But maybe both know things help each other remember. So sit and organize mind, then ask questions."

Master Wen speaks his words slowly and calmly, and his frozen gesture for you to sit, along with his unwavering stare, calms you enough to get you to the table and sit. As you do, you notice Xi relax visably, as if he was ready to spring either at you, or away; you can't be certain which.

 

[Dalamar]

OoC: I think I misremembered what I wrote. I had at least three different alternates of what to put in there, and I thought I didn't put that one.
How many more screw ups like that, and Johan's Photographic Memory is a goner?

IC: "I did?"
Johan looks very confused... and scared.
"I couldn't have forgotten something like that... I never forget anything..."
His eyes dart from one to another, almost like he was suddenly surrounded by strangers. But slowly he starts to calm down.
"It must have been the concussion... Or perhaps I was angry at myself for not realising it soon enough, thus endangering us all, and I was channeling it to Cosmo..."
Now calm again, his reason pushing away the shock, Johan turns back to Cosmo.
"I am sorry for blaming you for my own mistake, I'm not sure what came over me."

 

[Velmont]

"I don't know how much that's gonna help. I'm gonna be afraid of breaking you."

"Well, it will be a good training into holding your punch and containing your emotion. It seems you need it."

"There, all changed. So, we all ready for some hi speed, Wen-style super secret trainin' techniques?"

"Ready? Yeah. Willing? My body would need another day to get back from the training of yesterday. My muscle still hurt a bit."

 

[Mordane76]

"Come, sit now," Master Wen says. "You speak in confusion. Xi not know what you talking about. He not have full memory of past, like you. But maybe both know things help each other remember. So sit and organize mind, then ask questions."

Master Wen speaks his words slowly and calmly, and his frozen gesture for you to sit, along with his unwavering stare, calms you enough to get you to the table and sit. As you do, you notice Xi relax visably, as if he was ready to spring either at you, or away; you can't be certain which.

Sitting down, X12 breathes a few moments, and then starts to speak. "The most vivid memories I have so far involve three others like myself -- Directive 7, Directive 9, and another whose Directive number I'm not sure of, but who should possess a horrid scar across his throat like Xi.

"My memories about Directive 7 and Directive 9 are mostly training sessions, during which I learned to harness some of my regenerative powers, and during which we were taught marksmanship, weapons, and martial combat. These sessions often involved brutal discipline and injury to other Directives. More recently, I remembered a botched assassination attempt, in which the leader came down from his vantage after other Directives failed to take down the guards... he killed a young girl in the process of taking out the primary target.

Just a few moments ago... when I came in... I saw what they did to the leader as punishment. They cut his throat -- would have let him bleed to death in front of all the Directives, if Directive 7 hadn't managed to stop them, and another Directive had not used his healing abilities to stop the bleeding. Up until now... I thought the leader was me. But now... I think the leader was you," he says, gesturing towards Xi, "and the healer was me. Unfortunately, that also means I'm the one that missed the guard during the assassination, according to what the leader remembered. After that incident, something happened, I'm not sure what... but I think they somehow used that Directive's memories as training for the other Directives... which means I don't know whose memories I'm really experiencing."

 

[Mimic]

Michelle walks over to where Sanjay is sleeping, her back to the cameras, and kicks him in the foot to waking him up. "Guys, come over here for a second," she says addressing Rebound, Straightjacket and Monica. Once everyone is together she will address them in a low voice.

"Ok, I was hoping that we could do this diplomatically but it's pretty clear to me that we are getting the brush off here. So I think it's time for a more direct approach. John you seem pretty friendly with the reciptionist, see if you can find out where they keep the back up hard copy information once the distraction starts head there and search for any info you can find."

"I'm going to find a computer terminal and try to hack into the network, I am no where near as good as Johan but I will give it a try, you can help me if you want Rebound or you can help John, your choice."

"You two are going to be the distraction," she says looking at Sanjay and Monica. "Try and keep them occupied so the rest of us can do our thing. Don't do anything too crazy and try to stick close by it's more then likely going to turn into a fire fight. Give John about 10 minutes before you start so he can get the info from the girl."

Any questions? Any suggestions? If you think this is a stupid plan, nows the time to say something.

 

[Calinon]

Arizona - Methesda

"I did?"
Johan looks very confused... and scared.
"I couldn't have forgotten something like that... I never forget anything..."
His eyes dart from one to another, almost like he was suddenly surrounded by strangers. But slowly he starts to calm down.
"It must have been the concussion... Or perhaps I was angry at myself for not realising it soon enough, thus endangering us all, and I was channeling it to Cosmo..."
Now calm again, his reason pushing away the shock, Johan turns back to Cosmo.
"I am sorry for blaming you for my own mistake, I'm not sure what came over me."

"I'd say a ton of dirt and concrete," Anna says as she rolls up beside Cosmo near the edge of the dirt and punches him in the leg. "Jerk," she says with a glare at him. Cosmo just rolls his eyes.

"Well, jeeze, next time should I leave him in the hole?" he asks with a sarcastic shake of his head.

Which of course reminds Johan that he spotted a hole leading down inside the hole in the wall created by the avalanche.

China
Kevin

"Well, it will be a good training into holding your punch and containing your emotion. It seems you need it."

"Ready? Yeah. Willing? My body would need another day to get back from the training of yesterday. My muscle still hurt a bit."

Carl just snorts in response. "I know how to pull my punches. If I didn't, X would still be lyin' out cold outside."

"Master Wen's first days are notorious for draining a person," Nova says. "You'll get a heavy workout from us and it'll seem like cake."

X12
Xi is obviously uncomfortable with your attention to his throat scar, and moreso by your description of it. Both he and Master Wen listen as you talk.

"Some of this, I remember too," Xi says in a raspy voice that makes it sound painful to speak with. "I remember hanging from a ceiling and being shot by those that look like us, and I remember a woman with a number seven on the back of her neck purposefully missing me. She replaced me as the target; I was forced to watch as they shot her repeatedly," he says, pausing, his eyes looking more over you, seeming distant.

"I remember being injected with poisons and contagions, only to be given antidotes moments before death. Over and over, until I was no longer affected by them. And the videos we would watch in the training halls," he says, not elaborating, pausing for a long while.

"I remember being given a mission. An assassination. Then... then I felt someone draw a blade across my throat. And heard him. The man, always cloaked and in shadow, always observing, always punishing me for the slightest failure. And always bringing bringing us back from near death with the two that could heal with their touch." His eyes regained focus again.

"In all my visions, I wished I could just die, but I knew he wouldn't let me. You or the other one of us with the 13 on his neck always were allowed to heal us. I swore I would kill you for that," he says, but he makes no indication of any hostile intent.

"But most of all, I dream of our escape. She came to us at night, the woman with the seven on her neck, like I have a three and you a twelve. She stole in and killed the guards and freed us. There was an explosion... and..." he slows, eyes closed as if he is trying to remember but can't. "And then we were outside, in a snowy forest and being chased down a road. I remember nearly being caught. An ambush by soldiers. Many of us were shot and injured. I saw seven shot and she shouted for us to run," he says.

"The rest is disjointed images I get in my dreams. Pieces of things that make no sense. It's all unclear. The only things I remember clearly are those since I woke up in a small Chinese village a year and a half ago. I wish the visions would stop. I do not want to remember more of my past. I had not had any visions for nearly seven months, until you arrived. I would be happy if it stayed that way. I will not go back to being some number, or an killing machine."

His final words are spoken with surprising vehemence, or perhaps not so surprising, given what bits and pieces you yourself know of what you've both been through.

"No memory can change who you wish to be," Master Wen says reassuringly.

New York - Methesda
"I think I'm better off as part of the distraction. After all, I look pretty harmless when I'm in bouncing form, but I'm not real good at sneaky," Rebound says.

"I'm good at distractions," Monica says with a grin, pulling a dozey Sanjay along with her. "Time to get focussed Mr. Sleepy," she says, smacking him hard on the butt to wake him up.

 

[Deva]

"Ooo, can I go too? I wanna see him. Won't be as scary in the daylight I betcha," Dara says excitedly.

"He's not some carnival side show freak to be stared at for your amusement," Raisa says evenly, unimpressed. "But I will ask him since you kinda saw him anyway."

"Grandfather says he will learn to control his anger," Li says. "But he frightens me, and I do not think he's a very nice person, even under the fur and claws."

She wrinkles her nose as she walks over to the bucket. "I'm sure this is all nutritious and good for him, but the presentation is lacking. Maybe if you stopped treating him like an animal he'd stop acting like one and wouldn't frighten you so much. Its obvious that you haven't taken the time to get to know Michael, else you'd realize there's more to him than just the Jackal. But if you're too shallow and narrow minded to see beyond the fur and claw, well then that's your trauma."

Pushing the bucket out of the main house, Raisa will head over to the dojo whether or not Dara follows. She'll rap her knuckles on the side of the door before sliding it open and pushing the bucket just inside the dojo. She pokes her head inside with a smile. "The room service around here sucks. How have you put up with it these weeks? You really should complain to management."

 

[Mimic]

New York - Methesda
"I think I'm better off as part of the distraction. After all, I look pretty harmless when I'm in bouncing form, but I'm not real good at sneaky," Rebound says.

I don't think any of us are that good at being sneaky but go where you think you think is best.

"I'm good at distractions," Monica says with a grin, pulling a dozey Sanjay along with her. "Time to get focussed Mr. Sleepy," she says, smacking him hard on the butt to wake him up.

Lets just make sure that the distraction doesn't end up on the 6:00 o'clock news. OK?