Log:Wasp Venom, Scene 14

Wasp Venom 2013/09/23 	 Hardcase Silver Spider Regan

14

Champions Mush - Monday, September 23, 2013, 10:20 PM

Chinatown

''This district is home to Colonial Bay's large Chinese community; as much Chinese as English is seen on signs and perhaps more Mandarin is spoken. Most famous is Ming Street, curving round from Beach Street to Wharf Street, always full of tourists, especially at its northern and western end. This is practically a street market, with hawkers extolling their wares to passers-by, and signs and banners advertizing everything from fresh duck to herbal supplies, restaurants and bakeries and other businesses. The Heavenly Dragon Palace and the Buddhist temple are among the more famous sights. But perhaps true Chinatown is south and west of Ming Street, where the tourists rarely go.

With short blue and white hair, Justin Case is easy to see and she is making no effort to hide. The hotel she is staying in is not one of the nicer ones in town, but neither is it the most run down. Her time seems to be split between studying, long distance calls to friends on the hotel phone and wandering around the city. When she wanders, she tends to do so in foot, meandering around without a logical pattern, but flipping a big silver dollar frequently.

Boring. Stakeouts and tailing was boring. There was no choice, though. It was the best lead she had. Silver Spider skulks at odd angles amid the buildings, keeping an eye out for where Hardcase visits and who she sees and talks to. People who are revisited are photographed via PDA and evidence gathered. It could take days to deal with all of this.

Chinatown made this tougher. Friends in Chinatown were rare. Pride Tien Lung's goons still harbored a lot of resentment, and the new bosses didn't care much for her either. o O (This is like a wild goose chase gone mad. It's like these people already know who you are. And if that's the case, you need to lock them up in a place where they can't tell people who you are.)

Hardcase doesn't really seem to be interested in doing anything that looks like a plan. She doesn't have any friends in Colonial Bay and doesn't seem all that interested in making them. Just hanging out, *lots* of long phone calls from the downtown hotel, studying and those occasional meandering trips, that seem more intended to relieve boredom than anything else. The same pattern continues for several days, until one long trip into Chinatown is interrupted by an unexpected surprise: a tiny flash and a small pellet coats the area in darkness.

Silver Spider vaults around the pellet and keeps an eye out for trouble. o O (Darkness grenades that don't hit me? Weird. Stay focussed on the target. Keep alert. Don't get shot.) She scuttles along the wall and keeps an eye out for pellet hurling shapes, extending a webline to cross the street. o O (This could be just some idiot trying to take Silver Spider down who read too much of Knox's crap. Gotta go easy for now.)

At the appearance of the darkness, heads turn in Silver Spider's direction then people rush to get away, sensing meta powers at work. Justin, on the other hand, pauses, flips a coin, then walks toward Silver spider's destination on her side of the street

Silver Spider sticks to the wall with an annoying *thwap* sound, and looks around at the blob of darkness. o O (Okay. No harbringer of evil emerging from the stupid little object. No gumchewing mystic weirdoes below. Stay calm. Stay cool. Don't hit anyone who isn't a triad thug.)

Hardcase smirks and looks up at Silver Spider. "Am I being followed?" She asks as she flips a coin. Heads. "Is my tail sent by one of the Hive people?" Tails. "Huh, that's ... unexpected." she says more to the coin than Silver Spider.

Silver Spider blinks. o O (Weird. Have to get that coin away from her. Hopefully, it will cause a mental breakdown in an actual combat situation. She's looking at me. That's not good.) She peers at Hardcase for a moment. o O (Cover's blown, somehow. Try not to let this escalate into violence too much. Her buddy Penetrator only threatened to kill you.) "You know, talking to money is only going to get you a long stay with the men with the white coats."

Hardcase puts away the coin in the breast pocket of her denim vest. "It is kind of hard to phrase 'why' as a yes/no question too. And I'm not the one running around town in her pajamas. Care to come down before you slip and fall down?"

Silver Spider shakes her head. "I'm not going to place myself at a tactical disadvantage when you and your fellow goon squad members--yeah, Penetrator, remember him?-- already threatened to murder an attorney, and stupidly assaulted her martial artist girlfriend. So, where are the rest of your fellow miscreants? I'm in a good mood. We can talk this out." She shrugs. "Did you really think that word wouldn't get around after what this guy did and attract my attention?"

Hardcase steps into the darkness and starts stomping around with her combat boots. "Penetrator likes playing the hard ass. *Way* too serious for my tastes. Did somebody the attorney knows threaten to kill somebody? He's big on that whole eye for an eye thing." It takes her a while, but eventually her boot heel connects with the pellet, there is a crunch noise and the darkness dissipates. "This 'mission' thing is right up his alley."

Silver Spider blinks. "The attorney's a superpowered cases specialist. Her insurance barely covers her costs most days. She represents a lot of people. She also happens to be Regan Scorby's girlfriend, but the last time I checked, being a lesbian wasn't a crime in this country. So. Where is he, and what are you guys really up to, because quite frankly, I'm getting tired of following you around to get to a guy named "Penetrator." The whole thing just sounds dirty."

Silver Spider 

''Not eyes, but black, faded, mirrored slits stare out at the world from behind a dull midnight blue face mask, hiding the features of this costumed figure above a tight sinewy bodystocking. She is female and full-figured, the entire midnight blue torso of the suit highlighted by bright red gloves and boots. ''

''Over her left breast is a large silver spider, swinging from a line across her right breast to her shoulder. Silver lines glide from her shoulders to her gloves. ''

''A simple black belt wrapped around her waist meets at a faux ruby belt buckle, above where the leggings begin. The midnight blue legs descend down into a flare of red boots at the calf. The boots and gloves of the costume are ringed with silver, highlighting the long, agile fingers. ''

Hardcase says, "Why do you think we are here, anyway?"

Silver Spider tilts her head. "I think that you're here in a misguided attempt to destroy Hive and anything associated with it, especially the South African office, because you believe that they're bad. And while I agree with you in principle, and this does really, really look like an alien invasion, I can't let you run around my city threatening violence on ordinary citizens, engaging in home invasions, and other activities that basically could have been taken care of with a simple phone call like "Hey! Regan Scorby! You know lots of superheroes! Please help us!"

Hardcase says, "Aliens? Where did aliens come into it? All I know about is two rich ladies having a pissing contest. Some American executive hired a bunch of meta thugs - real mercenary types from what I hear - to attack some other executive's holdings in Zu. Zu executive says, "Fine. You mess up my town I mess up yours. Trash our university, we trash yours; attack our hospital, we attack yours. Must be working too: its been nearly a month and sounds like the American exec's chickened out.""

Silver Spider blinks. "Okay. So nobody really knows what's going on here. Great. Your Zu executive is apparently an evil mentalist. That's what's going on. And she's got some sort of super-survival chamber which is very weird. So, you really think that a bunch of superheroes are meta-thugs, huh? Now, there are two ways that this can go. You can tell me your side, and I can fill in the rest of the information back where Scorby is, since I happen to be a frequent trainer there, and you'll come with me, and we can chat nicely, or we do this the hard way, you get clobbered, and then you tell us where they are. They don't pay you enough to have a fight with me. So come on. I'll get you a couple sandwiches and we can talk."

Hardcase says, "How the hell would I know where they are? I don't even know where Penetrator is and he just shot at you, expecing me to be all impressed or something and hide. I got nothing to hide. Nobody here's done nothing yet. So which is it? Are you a superhero or do you beat up innocent people because they *might* do somethin?"

Silver Spider shrugs. "Well, let's try this a second time." She lets out a little whistle. "Ohh, Penetrator! I know you're out there! Come out, come out, whereever you are? Or I'm going to be mighty upset!" She shrugs. "So basically, you just admitted to being a standby terrorist. No offense, honey, but you need my help way more than I need yours."

Hardcase shrugs, "I'm just hanging out at a hotel eating on somebody else's dime. I don't think anybody in this mess is lilly white." Again, there is a tiny flash about three feet away from Justin and a double ended nail thumps into the ground with a note attached. Justin picks up the note, reads it and yells, "You know, that was a hell of a lot more impressive the first dozen times."

Silver Spider thinks. o O (Can you see my sniper rifle now? Can you see my sniper rifle now? How about now? When I catch up with that guy, I'm going to rearrange his face. The kid is just a kid. But some jerky mercenary who keeps pulling this? This could be a serious problem.)

Silver Spider nods. "So are you up for the chat or not? No one's going to hurt you unless you make a move to hurt yourself, like Penetrator did." She shrugs. "By the way, he seems to have healed pretty quick."

Hardcase tosses the note aside and says, "Looks like I'm catching the first transmat out of here."

Silver Spider laughs. "That might not be as easy as it seems. You really are better off chatting with us first." o O (Wow. Ratting them out to Starguard really paid off.) "So. Chat and a couple of sandwiches, or spend a few days trying to figure out why you're not allowed to leave the country. Your choice."

Hardcase shrugs, "Only if you're buying."

Silver Spider laughs. "Okay. Free food it is. Let's go. If Penetrator wants to tag along, that's fine too. I can afford a few sandwiches. You might want to have him apologize to Scorby, though. She's kinda pissed."

Hardcase says, "Way i heard it, he tried to warn her about his mission and she broke his hand."

Silver Spider nods. "We'll get this all squared away. Come on. Do you want a Silver Spider ride? You do realize that there are people who would pay big bucks for me to swing them around the city on a rope. Most of them are kinda dumb, but I figured I'd make the offer."

Hardcase leaves the note on the ground alongside the smashed pellet. "Beats the bus I guess ... and I'm not sure where you'd put a set of car keys in that outfit."

Silver Spider shrugs and extends an arm. "Ready?" o O (Be prepared to get your face smashed into the ground as soon as you take her hand. Be prepared. These guys lie all the time.)

Hardcase takes Silver Spider's hand with her much thinner one. The girl is not fit. Malnourished is a better bet.

Silver Spider extends her legs and leaps into the air. "You need a better diet, kiddo. We'll start with a free meal." She extends her hand as she leaps into the air and pulls Hardcase against her. "Hang on tight! This is some rough stuff!" She swishes into the air and begins vaulting towards Steel's Gym, trying to be careful once she realizes Hardcase is kind of frail!

Inside the door is a spacious reception area. Directly opposite the entrance is a wide full length window of thick armor glass providing a gallery view into the workout area. To the east is a desk where gym staff check membership cards, schedule sessions and give out information. Next to the desk are vending machines selling snacks and chilled drinks and a jukebox. The west side of the reception area has a pair of old fashioned pinball machines and a holographic Hogan's Alley combat shooting game. Some framed Photographs, a Plaque, and the Gym Rules are hung on a wall beside the gallery window.

The central area of the reception has a half dozen tables and chairs for members who are waiting for their booked session or discussing the outcome. A short flight of stairs leads down to the massive stainless steel door of the workout room as well as doors to the restrooms and changing rooms that are equipped with showers for freshening up after an exhausting practice. An arched opening provides access to the more conventional areas of the Gym, a weight training facility, the exercise room, and a heated swimming pool.

Silver Spider enters from Bridgend.

Silver Spider walks into the gym with Hardcase slightly behind her and carrying a large bag of sandwiches. "So, let's grab a seat and chat, and we can all share what we know, and have a few sandwiches. There should be some bottled water and creepy genetically engineered superdrinks over in the dispenser there. Just take whatever you want and I'll cover it." She gestures to a nearby table.

Hardcase shrugs affecting disinterest but looks a bit green after the swing-line ride. "I'll hold off a bit," she says. "You guys realize I'm not really gonna be much help, doncha?"

Silver Spider shrugs. "You are actually the missing piece in this equation, I think." She says cheerily as she hops into a seat. "Yo, Scorbster! Are you around?" o O (I cannot believe I just called my fiance "scorbster." She's gonna kill me when I take this mask off.) She sets up the sandwiches out of the bag.

Hardcase pauses, suddenly wary. "Wait. You just took me straight to the maniac that broke Penetrator?"

Silver Spider waggles her eyeslits. "Look. I told you we need to talk this out. It's talking time. I'm standing right here. She's good. You're under my protection. And I have a really good reputation, unless you read all that Knox Pooley stuff. He thinks I'm evil."

Regan blinks slowly as she assesses her newly acquired cognomen. "I'm very often here." She smiles softly, her smile brightens fractionally. "Penetrator threatened my fiancee, do you think you can refrain from doing the same Miss Case? If so, we should get along famously. If you're going to threaten the lives of innocent civilians, then we're going to run into some problems. They don't seem particularly onerous conditions to me but perhaps my perspective is skewed."

Hardcase holds one hand on her heart and raises the other. "I promise to not start nothin."

Silver Spider adds. "Good. I promise not to start anything either. So, Regan here is going to start, and fill me in on my missing stuff, and you in on the rest of it, and then you can tell us your version."

Hardcase grabs a sandwich and kicks her combat boots up on a table. "How about you start by telling how much information you got that *didn't* come from an American executive with a promise of a pay raise."

Rega's head tilts. "So, we have the following information. Miss Katsumi Sato has not communicated with her superiors for several weeks. This is out of character and a source of great concern. Have you had contact with Miss Sato? Can you confirm she is sfa ena din full possession of liberty and safety?"

Hardcase takes a bite and says around a mouthful of sandwich. "Who's Miss Sato? How do you know she exists?"

Silver Spider blinks. "That's an interesting question. Certainly adds a different perspective. Who is your employer, exactly?"

Hardcase says, "The head lady in charge of the Hive branch in Zu: Kagiso Adamini."

Silver Spider nods. "Bingo. That fits."

Regan's brows lift. "Have you any evidence she doesn't exist? Her subordinate, Miss kagisa Adamini, is also not returning communication, are you going to assert that she does not exist? By your logic, provided a kdinapper is successful at keeping their victim out of sight no investigation should be undertaken?"

Hardcase says, "Who told you Adamini wasn't in charge? Way I hear it, the Colonial Bay branch of Hive is the *least* profitable one in the whole chain and the head-lady here would say *anything* to get a better gig somewhere else.""

Silver Spider blinks. "Most people would give their eyeteeth to enforce justice in a city with this many superheroes." She says congenially. "This is downright cushy compared to, say, Detroit."

Silver Spider says, "This company is weird."

Regan nods. "So, you're asserting that the less profitable branch is the less ethical and less trustworthy and that the more profitable branch is the more trustworthy. Interesting line of reasoning." Regan comments smoothly. "I have spoken to Miss Adamini's analogue here, and to her superior. I have also requested and received information that would only be available to the central office of HIVE. I deduce that they sanction Bee's investigation just as she claims."

Hardcase shrugs, "Hey, I'm just repeating what I was told. Adamini says she's the victum here and wants to pay me to come back to the states to hang out for a month on her, who am I to argue? So you actually met this boss's boss here in the states? huh. I thought all branches were set up the same."

Regan shakes her head. "You're right, I haven't met the boss here in Colonial Bay. I have spoken to someone claiming to be her. I assumed it was Bee's boss because she gave orders and Bee obeyed them. She provided information that Bee did not seem to have." Her chin lifts. "Are your orders to waste our time?" she enquires mildly.

Hardcase says, "Nope. I've just been fired."

Hardcase seems a bit smug about it too.

Silver Spider shakes her head. "It's essentially a corporate counterstrike." She says colloquially. "Did the rest of them get fired, too?"