Log:A visit to Mother Gothel

2014/12/13 Annie Frankie Grimm Matt Pendragon 1

Elvis' Diner

It's the late lunch lull. The diner has a few patrons about. Some college students in a study session. Some contractors on a break. And Grimm in a booth for four, seated so she's facing the door, but her visual attention is on the teary eyed woman in her early thirties.

Matt comes into the diner, it's Saturday, and he has a party to go to tonight, the one that crash is throwing, he's df

Matt comes into the diner, it's Saturday, and he has a party to go to tonight, the one that crash, his dress is quite adventurous for him. He is wearing blue jeans, and a striped black and red t shirt. Entering, he looks for a table. He notices the woman, then Grimm, and unceremoniously goes to Grimm table and sits. without preemption he blurts out "Sorry...."

Grimm, rude rival that she is, just says to the crying woman in front of her. "Ignore him. He's just my intern. Please, continue." Her attention is devoted to the woman, and Grimm looks surprising compassionate towards her. To Matt, she violates his mind again, telepathically reaching out. But she doesn't go deep. Just skimming the surface to communicate secretly. He hears Grimm's voice in the back of his mind. A whisper. <>

The woman is clutching a photo of a young boy, maybe ten or twelve at the oldest. "The...the cops say they're out of leads. Nuh-nobody saw who took him. I spent all my money on private investigators trying to find him. I...I don't have much money left to give you--"

Grimm interrupts the woman by holding up her hand. "Adam should've told you when he sent you to me; I do this gratis. Let me see the picture...and tell me where you last saw him."

Matt tries to think back, ((Sorry for the rude shick the other night, don't know what's going on but I'll help if I can))

Telepathic message from Grimm to Matt: << <<"What rude shick?" Grimm's voice sounds clueless and distracted.>> >>

The woman slides the children's photo along the table to Grimm, and even Matt can see. It's a school photo of a young boy with sandy blonde hair and slightly crooked teeth, but it's grinning big and wide. "I...I was dropping him off at karate practice," the woman sniffles and dabs her eyes with a napkin. "When I went to pick him up, he wasn't there. Someone should've seen him. Seen what happened. But they didn't. It's like he just vanished...all they found was his phone with GPS two blocks away."

Grimm picks up the photo and studies it carefully. "Hmm...do you have his phone with you?"

Matt sits silently listening, ((nevermind...not important I guess))

The woman nods and pulls out a phone with a protective case. It seems unbroken and in tact as she hands it to Grimm. Grimm looks it over, turns it in her hands as she studies it intensely, then closes her eyes as if trying to sense something. "Okay, I've got what I need," she says as she opens her eyes and hands back the phone. "I have your number. I'll keep you up to date on the investigation. Just tell me the address of the martial arts studio so I can begin."

The woman looks up with eyes wide in surprise. "It's on Main Street in Downtown. Thank you. Please, please find David for me," she starts to break down. "Please excuse me," she gasps between sobs and gets up, leaving the diner.

Matt stands up and walks to the woman, he takes his hand from his pocket and gives her a large nugget of gold, "Take this to a jeweler and sell it. Keep it." ha smiles, "No strings."

The woman's eyes well with more tears as Matt hands her the golden nugget. "Th-thank you, young man," she says in disbelief and gratitude. She throws her arms around him in a big hug and cries a little more, still sad, but grateful for the help in a tragic time.

Matt returns the hug, "It's ok...really.." he seem embarrassed by the hug, but says, "She'll figure it out." he let's her go and steps back...

The woman nods wordlessly. Crying, but smiling. She turns and steps out of the diner and into the wintery cold outdoors. Grimm watches and sips her coffee thoughtfully.

Matt walks back over to Grimm..."You have a lead from that?"

Grimm slides some cash on the table top and gets up from her seat. "I got a 'scent' to follow, you could say. C'mon, hot stuff, we've got a kid to find. And I got some weird vibes off that phone." Of course, when she says hot stuff, she's thinking of his flame powers and an insulting nickname.

Matt nods, "you know it..." speaking in reference to the nickname. "after you Gabs"

It's a short, brisk walk from the diner to the cobbled streets of scenic Old Town. Grimm turns onto Main Street with her hands in her pockets and looks around, spotting the Martial Arts studio up ahead. "Alright, let's see if I can pick up on that missing kid's trail," she murmurs to Matt, who is accompanying her.

Matt points.."see that?" he's not sure if she can or not, but he sees traces of magic...

Frankie Ghostfist just happens to be headed toward a building near the martial arts studio, flipping through a real estate brochure as she goes. She idly hums tuneless little ditty as she strolls, considering that brochure quite seriously.

Grimm's attention is to the martial arts studio, but she can feel a familiar form approaching. Her gaze shifts towards the approaching gumshoe and she raises a hand in a casual wave. "Heeey, Frankieeee," she greets.

About a second before Grimm's hand and voice rise in salutation, Frankie's head pops up and swivels about until her hazel eyes focus on Grimm. There is a chance that Frankie smelled Grimm - curse you Tracking Smell! - since Frankie is upwind of the dynamic duo. She waves back, making her way toward Grimm and Matt before she replies, "Hey. What's up, you two?"

Matt looks up, oh its Frankie....he doesn't say anything, just raising a hand to wave. She called him kid about 72 times the last time they met, he's not overly fond of her, but he doesn't not care for her...she just sorta brusque, and that rubs his British sensibilities the wrong way...he's so refined and reserved...

Grimm slips her hands back into her pockets. "Doing a holiday freebie. Woman looking for her missing kid. Last spotted going to their martial arts lesson," she jerks her chin towards the martial arts studio.

"Missing kid, huh?" Frankie looks distant and thoughtful for a few moments. Her gaze flickers down to her brochure and then back up at Grimm and Matt. Cocking her head to one side, the gumshoe inquires, "You mind if I tag along? Just in case you run into something weird."

Matt shakes his head, "No problem for me, I got nothing...I'm not sure about Gabs here, but any help is welcome by me, but it's not my case, I'm just here like you."

"Oh, I can just about guarantee--" Grimm starts, then snaps her head to Matt as he calls her Gabs, her eyes narrowing slight. Then she picks up the rest of her sentence. "Something's weird about the vibe I got from something the kid left behind. I should be able to pick up the kid's trail if I take a look around."

Frankie gestures for Grimm to lead the way. She smiles a small, predatory little smile as she adds, "Lead the way, Tex. Tanto." Oooh, that darned monster hunter!

Matt nods, nonplussed by the narrowed look of Grimm, "like I said, it's her world, I'm just a scenic kid on her trail."

Grimm smirks at Matt. "Sure. Everyone needs the eye candy to make people more amenable, right?" She walks off towards the martial arts studio and opens the door to step inside, and then stops and blinks. She looks down at the floor inside, then trails her eyes along to the threshold and out again. "Huh..." she takes a few backwards steps back outside and stairs at the sidewalk. Then she spins around, searching the ground. "Hmmm..." she looks southward. "He went...that way."

Matt shrugs, "lead away Gabola.."

Frankie follows along, smirking slightly at Matt's response. She doesn't continue to verbally snipe the others, for now. Instead she squints as Grimm makes a quick change of course, nostrils flaring inquisitively as she tries to pick up on whatever it is that Grimm might be following. Alas, no dice without a scent to source.

Damned nicknames. Grimm is going to have to knock Matt down a peg or three again. Later. For now, she just grumbles a little at Matt's comment and leads the way, eyes affixed to the pavement and tracking...something. To her, she's following where the boy's shadow has passed. So many other shadows have passed along, but...none seems to accompany him. "It's like he walked off on his own. I don't see anyone taking him.." she says, puzzled.

At the next corner, turning to the east, there is a magical spot on the sidewalk. Residue of something that was there, no bigger than a nickel. Several feet further down, there's another spot....and another. Leading away from the studio. It creates a trail.

Frankie pauses, eyeballing the magical residue as she finds the trail. She pauses over one of the nickel-sized spots, crouching down to carefully inspect the pavement. There is a distinct possibility that she goes so far as to lean in and SNIFF the sidewalk in her pursuit of a thorough investigation.

Matt continues to follow then sees the nickel sized drops of magic. "is that blood?..."

"Good eye," replies Frankie, "But no. It's Fae, but there could be a physical component for me to track by scent."

Matt nods, new to the mage sight world, "Sniff away..." he is learning a few things about magic today.

"Track by scent? Good, because I've lost track of his shadow," Grimm grumbles. "Too much foot traffic."

Frankie's nostrils flare a couple of times as the gumshoe takes her time in investigating the blotch of magical residue. Straightening up, her hazel eyes narrow, and Frankie dusts herself off as her gaze scans around the area. "It smells sweet. Candy perhaps," murmurs Frankie, though one gets the impression she's not actually talking to either of you. Quietly, the gumshoe starts moving forward at a healthy clip as she does just as her Eldritch Master, Toucan Sam, perpetually instructs: JUST FOLLOW YOUR NOSE!

Grimm sees Frankie is on to something and follows the impromptu bloodhound. "There's something... Off about this," mutters Frankie. It becomes something like a mantra as she follows the scent dutifully. Her gaze keeps flicking around, searching for signs of a trap perhaps, or just verifying her location. Frankie absently rambles something to herself about magic as she moves, though she keeps coming back to concealment. "Keep alert. We might not be the only hunters involved here."

The trail leads Frankie (and by extension the others) to a residential side-street in Golden Sounds. Track housing, modern, clean, perfectly manicured lawns. It's pleasantville. For those who can't afford the luxury of Colonial Heights, this is a great place to raise a kid in the city. Frankie's trial leads up to the doorway of one such house with a white picket fence and warm lighting glowing from windows. It's just after dusk and it's growing cold outside, but the home looks very inviting.

Frankie looks around at the exterior of the house and then the neighborhood itself. She feels vaguely unclean at being here, though that could just be because hunters and Pleasantville just don't mix. The gumshoe glances over at Matt and Grimm, quirking an eyebrow. "We need to recon. Figure out what's what inside before we barge in. You two on the same page?"

Matt pauses, experience that isn't his calls from his mind..."Wait...I need to check something out...what's the name of the kid?...and the mom?"

Grimm nods with Frankie on the recon mission, then looks to Matt. "Check something out? The kid was David Urmire. Mother's name was Cynthia."

"Check what out?" echoes Frankie, squinting at Matt in the semi-darkness of the gathering dusk. Glancing over at Grimm, Frankie adds, "Do you, like, gain extra powers for operating at night?"

Grimm smiles at Frankie. "I'm powerful in brightest day, in darkest night. And...there's no one in the house," she says without looking at the building.

Matt works on his Holo to research something quickly, once he's done he looks up, "just making sure, before we do anything...crazy, we're not being duped by a false story...the kid and mother check out....so what's up?"

Thankfully, Frankie doesn't make the obvious Green Lantern jokes that are now gnawing at her player's mind. Instead, she squints at Grimm some more and replies, "Huh. That explains a lot about the postal service." Pausing a moment, Frankie glances back at the building again and absently comments, "Show off."

Matt looks at everyone, "You can see in the house? Anything we need to check out?"

"Still doesn't answer the question. If no one's home, why're all the lights on?" Grimm asks, then looks around the neighborhood. "So...the trail leads here? What's so special about this place?" Matt looks around, "um...suburban paradise?"

"Could be dozens of reasons," remarks Frankie, "Most of which I'm pretty sure we don't have time or resources to investigate."

Frankie rubs her chin thoughtfully, hazel eyes fixed on the house as she considers it. Shifting her weight, the gumshoe starts to pace in front of the fence line. Glancing over at Matt and Grimm, she intones, "We go inside. Quietly. Before the neighbors notice."

Grimm nods and followings along behind Grimm, letting the more experienced gumshoe show her the ropes.

Matt nods, he doesn't exhibit any powers, he just opens the fence and walks to the front door and waits for the others

A monster hunter, an elemental avatar, and the mistress of the dark walk into a residential area...

Specifically, a residential side-street in Golden Sounds. Track housing, modern, clean, perfectly manicured lawns. It's pleasantville. For those who can't afford the luxury of Colonial Heights, this is a great place to raise a kid in the city. Frankie, Matt, and Grimm are walking towards the front door of a house with a white picket fence and warm lighting glowing from windows. It's just after dusk and it's growing cold outside, but the home looks very inviting.

"Or we could go in the front door," mutters Frankie as Matt heads straight to the front door. She shrugs and follows him up there, Grimm likely in tow behind her, rolling her shoulders a few times. The gumshoe reaches into an interior pocket of her suit coat and produces a small leather case as she approaches the door. Quickly and efficiently, Frankie selects a pair of tools from the case and sets to picking the lock.

Residential areas don't tend to see much in the way of armored knights on horseback these days. However, today is not turning out to be a normal day. Snowmane ends up grazing on the grass out front of a house that needs the lawn mowed as Pendragon holds her cellphone out to check the Google Maps app. "The Lady said that it was less than ten miles from the bay... in this direction." she mutters... to Snowmane, or to Arthur. Who knows. Ironically, Snowmane might better with technology than Arthur. There's a humorous thought.

"Ah, I think we go that way." she adds as she looks up and in the distance, -barely- perceives some magical energy. With the three of you over there, it's not much of a stretch that someone who can see such energy would catch on. "Okay then." she adds as she waits a few seconds for Snowmane to finish his current bite of tasty tasty grass, and then says, "Alright, time to get moving." and yep, it's a walk... not a trot, not a gallop. Apparently, she wasn't feeling much in the way of urgency. But the horse will be meandering along... as unstealthy as a horse with iron shoes can be on pavement...

Frankie pauses her lockpicking after all of a second. She takes a step back from the door, looks at Gabrielle and Matt for a few seconds, and then looks at the door again. Backing away slowly, Frankie comments, "I'm going to get a better set of picks. You two try not to get arrested."

Grimm blinks and looks at Frankie as she surrenders on the door and gives them an odd look. "What's up?" she asks quietly. "Tricky lock?"

Frankie makes an obscure hand gesture as she replies to Grimm. It looks almost like Frankie drew a G in the air. "Yeah. Tricky lock. I'll go get a better set of picks. You two try not to get arrested." Weird how she keeps emphasizing that statement. Almost like she's trying to communicate in code or something.

Matt keeps his eyes peeled for anything unusual....woman on a horse counts..."uh...ladies..." he says quietly. .

Clop... clop... clop... subtlety? What's that? The King (or queen) is less about being sneaky, and more about being the right place at the right time. Now, subtlety in a battle plan.. that is something she knows. But... being inobvious when it comes to approaching a magic aura... uh... huh?

Pendragon is barely even holding the reins as she plods along on the... humongous horse. We're talking like 25 hands tall... 1 hand is 4 inches, so... 100 inches, at the shoulder. That's eight feet, four inches, at the -shoulder-. Sneaky? Huh?

Grimm cocks a pierced brow at Frankie. Then nods slowly, but still seems unsure. She realizes something else is intended, and she's still trying to figure that one out. Then she looks in the direction of the woman and the horse and now conspicuous that must look. "Ohh...shick," she mutters as if recognizing the woman and seeming nervous. She gives Matt a look as if to communicate something.

Frankie turns as the sound of ironclad hooves on pavement and Matt's warning click gears together in her brain. She turns around and goggles at Pendragon on Snowmane. "Aaaaand comfort zone obliterated." The gumshoe resists the urge to just facepalm, instead letting out a long suffering sigh and glances Heavenward.

Saturday. That means there's no school to ditch. Annie /was/ babysitting a certain Hunny, but he managed to ditch her, instead. Now she's wandering the neighborhood, looking around for where he might've gotten lost.

Grimm smirks a little at Frankie. "Touched you counted me in your comfort zone," she murmurs in amusement.

"Not quite what I meant," replies Frankie to Grimm. She looks over at Pendragon again, eyebrows quirked, and all motion in one direction or another halted. "I don't suppose you're a really late delivery from Pony Express, are you?"

Annie mutters quietly to herself as she comes out of an alley between little white picket fenced houses. Wherever he went, it totes wasn't here. She can't really picture him coming to visit the Cleavers. When a horse trots by, her mood suddenly shifts. Ooh! That's askew, and askew is mega less boring than things were. She follows, curiosity piqued and brows peaked.

Lifting a brow beneath the crown-bedecked forehead... Pendragon looks to Frankie. As she does that, Snowmane, the horse... honkin' bigass horse, turns his head and just kinda glares at Frankie. "I'd be careful. He's not fond of being called... pony." She grins though and lifts her gaze about the area, "Something important going on? This is an impressive gathering of power."

Matt purses his lips...."were just visiting a friend..."

Grimm glances at Matt's smooth excuse. Meanwhile, she's feeling out the house. Whilst staring at Matt. Her expression becomes one of interested curiosity at what her shadow sight tells her. But of course, since her physical attention is on Matt, her expression is mis-aimed.

Annie hears a familiar voice. Not the from horse's mouth, but good enough. She steps out from behind the other end of the horse. "Hiya, Matt! How's junk? What're you up to?"

Matt turns suddenly hearing Annie voice...geez Annie!.. "What up Annie? junks dozy, just visiting a friend..." he says looking at all the attention... ((Something bads gonna happen )) he thinks...

After several moments of quiet contemplation, Frankie alights upon a solution to her woes. She takes a step back, away from Snowmane, and says, "Oh. Well then. Maybe I'll just head that way so I don't make a bigger enemy of your horse than... He... Uh. Already is?"

Frankie keeps backing up, waiting until attention is off of her so she can skulk into the darkness. There's more than one way to stealthily infiltrate a suburban homestead!

"Friend? There ain't no crash party in there, is there?" Annie looks at the house again, and it's neighbors, eventually getting back to Matt. She seems doubtful, and looks to Grimm and her eyeing Matt heavily. A blonde brow quirks. "Or are you two totes planning to make your own?"

Grimm blinks and looks to Annie. "Who, Maltida and me? No, hot stuff here is just along for the fun of it."

Well, Pendragon -does- tend to help others do stealth by drawing the attention from others. She inclines her head and looks quietly about. Snowmane's eyes follow Frankie... yeah, he's smart. Smarter than the average person. "Hey, she didn't really know better. It's okay Snowmane." And yeah, Snowmane is quite a he... he snorts and turns his eyes from Frankie. . . back towards Matt. "Well, I've come to the belief that there is very little coincidence when it comes to confluences of magical power."

Matt locks eyes with grimm and says casually, "oh I bet you wish you knew what I was thinking Gabs."

Three houses down, Frankie tries to turn left. She instead trips over an errant in-ground sprinkler head that is presently above ground before crashing into the picket fence. Frankie muttergrumblecursemuttergrumbles down the way as she recovers herself.

Grimm glances back at Matt with a smirk. "Oh, I know exactly what you're thinking, Matty. There's only one thing on guys' minds."

"Actually, for the most part.. two things." mutters Pendragon as she turns her gaze towards Grimm. "They usually are a matched pair though."

Telepathic message from Grimm to Matt: << But forget about sex for one second. David's trail leads here, and we're bringing attention to ourselves. And...this ist he girl who wanted to have 'a talk' with me. >>

You hear Matt's voice inside your head: << wasn't thinking sex you pervert. I think we need to get away from here and cone back later...maybe we can split up and you go pop inside. >>

Matt sighs. "He's not home, we should just go."

Annie laughs. "Masses are totes easy to figure out. Especially the scenic ones."

Telepathic message from Grimm to Matt: << C'mon, you're a guy. I can hear that noisy mental chatter in the background constantly. Anyway, the house is empty. Getting in is a cinch for me. But if someone IS monitoring this place, they know we're here. Walking around and doubling back won't really fix that. >>

You hear Matt's voice inside your head: << I will distract you go in... >>

Telepathic message from Grimm to Matt: << Got it. I'll unlock the door from the inside. >>

Matt turns to Annie, "Oh zip it Annie. I'm clean as a whistle compared to you..." he says starting to walk back towards the sidewalk....

Matt looks at the giant of a horse, "How many hands is your girl there?" he asks the weird female knight. ...

Since everyone seems pre-occupied with Matt's dirty dude-thoughts and whether or not Grimm knows what those thoughts are, Frankie moves down another house and slinks into the welcoming embrace of the night. The monster hunter skulks low and quiet along a fence line until she gets into the back yard. From there, Frankie starts making her way back toward that house and its own rear entryway.

"About twenty five." remarks Pendragon as she swings a leg around and slides down off the massive horse. As she hits the ground, she reaches into a pouch and pulls out a sugar cube, which is held out to the large Percheron. The horse snags it gently with his lips before crunching happily. "You are a sugar junkie." She says to him. "You keep it up and you'll need to go on a diet." she says as she reaches and scruffs his jawline. Then she looks back to Matt and shrugs. "And -HIS- name is Snowmane."

Matt raises a hand in the air and what looks like a serpent made of light appears coiled in his hand, then another one made of water appears, "I wonder if I can do this...Think your pony can take a zing? and you..." he says to Annie, "I think it's you who needs a cold shower." Thus saying, the serpent of light crackles with energy and the water serpent uncool and shoots off in their direction.

"You mean lame, Matt," Annie winks at him. "Not clean." Then she giggles as he guesses wrong. "You're in trouble if you can't tell the fems from the masses..."

There's a sliding glass door that leads into the house.

With the chaos from Matt's sudden attack, Grimm vanishes in a swirl of hissing darkness to escape the onslaught.

Frankie skulks around the back of the house. She eyes the sliding glass door suspiciously as she considers her options. Looking up, Frankie inquisitively looks for possible second story windows left ajar or something of the like.

And... Snowmane rears up... his 'voice', if he had one... screeching in a very horsey Battle cry. "Oh shit." mutters Pendragon as Snow begins what can only be called... a charge... towards Matt. Yeah, he's intending to try to bowl the guy over and then do the usual... foreleg multismash!

Meanwhile... Pendragon is just stunned. She's never seen someone who she thought might be ... if not a friend, at least not an enemy... provoke her steed that way.

Annie gets blasted with uncoiling water serpentines like a firehose. She's left bruised, but mostly soaking wet. It's the second part that really pisses her off, since her hair and white 'fit are now a mess. "What the frack, Matt?!" Even as the bruises already begin to fade, a quartet of tentacles sprout from her back and she starts stomping towards him.

No windows are left open, but Frankie can see inside the lit house easily. It's pristine. Like a house staged for a showing. Oh, and Grimm just appeared inside in a swirling mass of shadows. While the sounds of chaos can be heard out front. Stealth. Subtlety. Right.

For appearance's sake, it should be noted that when the attack struck Snowmane, his form became outlined in a hazy, mostly translucent shimmer of golden chain armoring. Yeah, Avalon rocks.

Oh look. Grimm just appeared inside. Frankie sighs and plows her face into one of her palms. The gumshoe stalks right on up and pulls on the sliding glass door. It's presumably open for her to just waltz right on into the house's pristine, shiny interior.

Matt laughs, "It's just a little payback for all the cracks Annie..we're dozy ri..." but his laughter ends as a behemoth of a horse rears up and seems intent on ending him...

The back door is indeed open. And Grimm finally sees Frankie. "So -there- you are," she whispers. For all the good it does. "Matt said he was going to draw off the horse woman and that other girl. Not quite what I had in mind..."

Grimm looks back to the front door to unlock it for Matt, but that's when she notices. "Hey..."

Telepathic message from Grimm to Matt: << The front door was unlocked already. What the frak? >>

You hear Matt's voice inside your head: << ohshitohshitohshit... >>

"The doors are unlocked," supplies Frankie. She curls her hands into fists, eyes already shifting about as she waits for the other shoe to drop. "Which makes this almost certainly a trap."

And even as Snowmane rears up and comes down, hooves lashing out at Matt, Pendragon is moving forward. She reaches for the reins and does her level best to vault into the saddle where she might be able to haul the horse off of Matt...

Grimm nods slowly. "Right. A trap for us, or a trap for David? I don't feel anyone in this house, though. Is the trail still here?"

It's a huge horse, but.. the stirrups are placed strategically, and Pendragon gets into the saddle and makes it look effortless, "Whoa there." she says, yoinking back the reins. "No, no killing him... stop it Snow."

Telepathic message from Grimm to Matt: << You got things handled, right, Matilda? >>

As the hoof hits Matt, he is knocked off his feet but kicks into a flip back on his feet...."Jokes, just jokes! sheesh..." he sees the steed getting under control, but Annie might be another thing...

You hear Matt's voice inside your head: << ow! uh...oh shit...... >>

"I can't tell who the trap's for, just that it's been laid," comments Frankie. She keeps her hands balled up into fists and closes her eyes a moment, nostrils flaring as she drags in the scents within the house. It'll take her a few moments to find the scents she's looking for, no doubt.

Annie has a punchline for his joke. It's called her fist. Technically, tentacles. She sends a slew of them at him to try and snatch him up.

The kid's trail can be picked up again. It leads from the front door to a door on the left that leads into the dining room. On the far left wall is a giant full sized mirror that reaches from floor to ceiling, giving the room the illusion of being more open and airy. Along the wall the mirror is on is a doorway that leads into the kitchen. The mirror has a magical aura about it that has the same fae aura as the trail.

After several moments of sniffing around the house, Frankie seems to find the scent again. She follows it slowly and cautiously to the dining room and stops in front of the mirror. Her eyes fix on it, studying the glass and silver intensely even as her jaw clenches. Judging from her body language, mirrors are bad. "Good news, bad news time."

"You mean bad news aside from Matt getting his butt handed to him? Alright. Give it to me straight, Frankie. Good news, then bad news," Grimm sighs.

Matt sees an angry Annie coming his way, a tentacular horror if he ever saw one...he is not an anime fan boy so this does nothing for him, but is adrenaline flows and as tentacles come to grab him, he ducks dodges and weaves some how avoiding the whipping action that comes his way, "Annie! Annie! it was a joke!" holy hell, they better be doing some good in the house..

Telepathic message from Grimm to Matt: << Found Frankie. And the trail. She thinks this place is a trap. Quit horsing around and get in here. >>

Matt starts to back pedal, opens the door to the house and goes inside...

"I suggest..." mutters Pendragon as she reins in Snowmane, who is also -well- trained to respond to the rider's controls. "Not joking, by water blasting people in the future. That seemed to be a water elemental magic thing, and that... is to be taken seriously, not in jest." and then... Matt vanishes through the door. Snowmane turns his head and looks back her way with one eye while Pendragon shrugs and meets his gaze. "Don't look at me. I have no idea..."

Matt comes into the house slamming the door behind him, a hoof print on his chest, "uh...so what's the deal?!"

Grimm starts to follow Frankie into the dining room. There's a rug laid out beneath the modern dining table. "Hmm...everything's so nice and pristine in this place. It's like a neat freak lives here." She notes the place setting for one at the head of the table and steps near it. And onto the rug. Where her feet seem to suddenly stick. "Uh oh, what's--" and suddenly Grimm gets sucked down into the carpet and vanishes as she triggers the dormant magical trap.

"You better run!" Annie yells after Matt, but doesn't run after him. She just fumes a moment about her totes runed clothes and hair. After that, she takes even less a moment, her flesh rippling, to put everything back the way it was before the dousing.

Telepathic message from Grimm to Matt: << "Ohhhhh shiii--" Grimm's voice comes through, then contact with her mind is severed. >>

"Good news, I can still follow the trail," replies Frankie. She turns her head to peer over her shoulder just as Matt comes charging into the house. Rolling her eyes, Frankie continues, "The bad news is we have to go through the looking glass to follow..." Grimm gets sucked down into the carpet. "... It?"

Matt looks at Frankie...he knows when he's out classed, "Did he just get sent to...wherever?"

Once Snowmane has calmed down, Pendragon steps off once more and pats his neck twice more. "You okay?" she asks towards Annie as she draws her weapon and mists begin seeping from Snowmane's flesh. "Go play Snow. YOu earned it. Go find your girlfriend and have a picnic." Snow snorts amusedly as he disperses into mist and is then... gone.

"Same spell, different target," replies Frankie. She chews on her lower lip for a few moments before head-tossing to indicate Matt should follow her toward the mirror. "C'mon. We've got a kid to save. Lady Grimm Darque can take care of herself."

Matt frowns...."but..." he says looking at the carpet...but he remembers that she can step between dimensions on her own... he is torn, but at last he decides to follow Frankie, "good luck Grimm..." he says softly before going after Frankie..

Once that is done... weapon in hand, Pendragon reaches for the door and tries to open it herself. "If you're unharmed... perhaps you should follow, but stay behind me." she remarks as she attempts passage through the doorway.

"I'm dozy," Annie shrugs as she shakes a bit of water out of her hair. "What's going on, anyhow?" She moves to follow, just to see what all the hubbub's about.

Yep, seeing what all the hubub is about. That's a good term. Pendragon steps in, sword held at the ready. "Alright, what is going on here?" She asks, scanning the room with her eyes (and her aura sight)

Frankie stands in front of a big ass mirror that glows ominously in Pendragon's aura sight. She looks at the arriving Once & Future Queen - and Annie! - and comments, "We're just going to save a little kid from someone using Fae magic. You'll want to avoid that rug," Frankie gestures at where Grimm disappeared, "It's a portal to somewhere else."

Raising a single brow, Pendragon looks to the rug. "I assume... we learned that, the hard way?" she asks.

The house is in pristine condition, like it's been prepped for an Open House show. Frankie and Matt are in the dining room in an adjacent room to the main entrance. On the far left wall is a giant full sized mirror that reaches from floor to ceiling, giving the room the illusion of being more open and airy. Along the wall the mirror is on is a doorway that leads into the kitchen. The mirror has a fae-based magical aura about it for those who have an eye for such magical auras.

The rug is now dormant again, no longer radiating magic.

 comes the voice of Arthur in Pendragon's head. She nods a bit and says, "Very well. Portal you say." She shakes her head and steps forward, reaching her free hand to touch the glass of the mirror. No guts, no glory, right?

Matt looks at Frankie, "We already lost Gabs, etc go before anything else happens!"

"Some kind of portal spells. One's a trap, the other's the door," replies Frankie. When Pendragon presses a hand to the mirror, Frankie - no pun intended - mirrors the Queen's action. She casts a sideways glance over at the teen heroes, "You two coming or you gonna keep watch on the homefront?" Damn it, brain, stop with the puns! The mirror does indeed act as a doorway, their hands going through the surface.

"In we go." mutters Pendragon and she steps forward, sword still gripped in her hand.

Matt has enough inter-dimensional experience. ..well he doesn't but he has enough knowledge...so he's in. "Annie, this isn't your deal, but there's a kid in trouble, I'm going in. you might want to stay and let Raven know..."

Annie looks around at everyone after Frankie explains the magical junk. "So make sure you pick the right one?" Matt's next after his request; he gets a smirk. "What, like I can't handle it?" She snorts. "Somebody's got to protect you..."

A strange wave of energy rolls across Matt's skin uncomfortably, "Extradimensional for sure.." he says...

"Yes, yes. Teenage drama," mutters Frankie as she sinks into the mirror up to the shoulder. The gumshoe looks over at Pendragon and jerks her head in Matt and Annie's direction before rolling her eyes. She promptly starts pressing herself into and through the mirror, now that she knows she's got back up.

Matt offers his hand to Annie, "Then let's go Annie, well be scenic duo."

Once all the heroes pass through the mirror, it feels more like they passed through a wall into the adjacent kitchen. Only it lacks the granite counters and steel brushed appliances one might expect. It's a large, homey cottage kitchen, lined with a brick flooring, wooden cabinets and a large pantry door, cottage walls, and massive wood burning oven, and a black cast iron stove stoked with wood. There's an old woman stirring a very large plot. The kitchen smells of baked sweets and savory cooking meat stew. Matt frowns, "What the hell..." he's ever so eloquent.

Mother Gothel stirs the 12 quart pot and takes a taste with her large wooden spoon. "Needs more salt and time," she says in disappointment and puts the lid on top and sets the stew to simmer. She doesn't notice the gathering of heroes behind her.

Mother Gothel

She stands at just under five feet tall. She has white hair pulled into a bun, and a very wrinkly face. She's got shrewd, black eyes and a cackly laugh when delighted. She's dressed in old grandmother clothes and a frilled apron with lots of pockets. A shawl is draped over her shoulders.

Matt steps forward. "Where's the boy Grandma?"

Annie can walk through on her own, she doesn't need Matt's help. But it sounds like somebody else needs theirs. The trip through the looking glass is very askew for her, and it takes her a second to re-orient. "This totes better not be some kind of Hansel and Gretel shick." Missing kid and first thing they see is an old lady with a giant cooking pot?

Mmmm... Fresh meat stew and fresh baked goods for dessert.

Thankfully, Matt snaps Frankie out of her olfactory reverie with his eloquence. She blinks a few times and glances around the room, eyes narrowing slightly as she considers the situation. Frankie frowns slightly as she absorbs the evidence apparent and starts trying to creep forward toward Mother Gothel. Except Matt speaks up immediately.

"Kid, we need to have a discussion about tactics and stealth," grouses Frankie to Matt.

 says Arthur in Pendragon's head. She snorts and shakes her head a bit, "Wonderful. The Old Man feels right at home in Wonderland apparently." She turns her head slowly, and studies the area.... historically it looks like she went back in time some nine hundred or so years...

Mother Gothel perks her head up and tilts it slightly, her back still to the heroes. "Guests? Oh my, oh my, food isn't ready yet. Is that a young boy I hear?" she says as she wipes her hands on her apron and grabs a platter on the counter and turns around with a wrinkled sweet smile and thick black-rimmed glasses that make her eyes seem several times larger from magnification. She holds a platter of cookies. Sugar cookies, jammie dodgers, gingerbread men. "Ohh!" she says now that she's turned around. "My, there are so many of you. I don't know if I'll have enough stew and bread to go around."

Matt is angry now, he fears the worst..."we need to find the boy..." he says aloud, "David! David can you hear me?"

Mother Gothel looks distraught. "Oh my, young man, are you missing someone? How terrible. Cookie?" she offers.

"No thanks. We are not hungry. We simply desire the child you were cooking for." says Pendragon. She inclines her head as she slowly sheathes her sword... -the- sword.

Matt concentrates on the pot, he can feel the water in the pot, he wraps his focus around that and he tries to raise it out of the pot..

Despite Matt's calls, there is no response

Frankie stands in the middle of this, in business casual clothes, looking to be unarmed. She also looks to be distinctly unhappy with how this situation is unfolding. Rubbing her forehead with the heel of one hand, Frankie patiently waits for the other boot to drop.

The meat stew in the pot starts to raise out. Potatoes, turnips, carrots, meat chunks, a roux thickened broth, some bay leaves, and a thick ham hock slow cooked so long the meat has fallen off the bone. It smells delicious.

"Did a kid come through here?" Annie asks, looking around. She doesn't know what the old lady's up to, or if she has anything to do with this.

Mother Gothel looks disappointed at the refused treats. "Child? I'm not cooking for just one child," she announces and turns to place her platter of treats back on the counter. Which is when she spots her stew flying. "Young man, stop playing with your food!" she turns and scolds Matt.

Scowling a bit, Pendragon steps forward, hands on her hips. "Ma'am. You will cease your cooking right now and locate the children for us." she commands. "I have no time to debate this with you. It -will- be done."

Swiveling her head, Frankie leaves Granny Gothel to Pendragon, the stew to Matt, and interrogations to Annie. The gumshoe simply starts walking toward the pantry door, one of her hands starting to gather a faint blue luminescence as she moves across the kitchen.

Matt drops the stew in the pot..."ok...." as it falls Matt's hearing kicks in...he let's it all go, threatening to fall on the ground,

Matt says, "I heard it too Frankie"

Mother Gothel frowns as Frankie moves to the pantry. "Such rude guests. Coming in and demanding their supper before it's done. Be patient, my dear," she reaches into her apron's pockets and pulls out a skein of yarn, which she tosses to Frankie.

The yarn.. flies towards Frankie. Despite her moving to evade it, the sword is in hand already... it is swiped and the plane of force leading out from the sword slices through the path of the incoming attack. "Enough!" she shouts as she eliminates the threat of the attack. "This is not a discussion! You will do as you are told!" she says to the woman.

Matt is not amused he draws upon his elemental powers, a source of water is ready and available, he draws the stew back to his bidding and like earlier but with more force the liquid flies at the witch...

Mother Gothel gets drenched in hot soup and shouts like a shrieking grandmother. "You are being a very, VERY bad boy!" Stew splatters on the ground and along her apron.

Annie hears the banging from the pantry, too. "Go get the pup!" Can't have granny her throwing junk at people, so she reaches out with her tentacles. Grannies like hugs.

Mother Gothel is wrapped up in tentacles and still dunked in stew. "Young girl! Your mother should've taught you better manners! Really!" She starts to grin, wickedly so. "It's time for you to all to get ready for dinner." The large oven doors swing open and a blast of fire flies out at Matt. A meat cleaver from the knife block floats out and suddenly flings at Annie. The kitchen seems to have a life and will of its own.

Annie gets sliced some by the lying cleaver, but by the time it crosses the rest of the room, the wound is already closing. "Ziplock it, granny."

"Woman, I am not a cat. I do not respond to yarn," snarls Frankie as she dodges right and left. An action that proves unnecessary thanks to Pendragon's timely intervention. She rolls her eyes and shakes her head, getting back to her feet to resume her trench run toward The Pantry Door.

Matt took the stew away. All it did was piss her off, it's going to be a,little more up close and personal. . . "Annie hold her! I'm going to show her some TLC." Around his fists forms ice, hardened ice inches thick, and his body cools, in the warm room his body begins to steam...

Matt steps up to her allowing for the closing of space to set up his punches "I do not relish beating an old lady, but seeing as how you are not a lady..." he draws back and aims a strike under the chin...

"Ooohhh!" Mother Gothel cries out like a little old lady as she's struck, her head snapping back and her glasses flying off. "How could you?" she wails pitifully, but she proves to be a tough old bird.

Matt replies, "It's easy when you're a witch that preys on the weak..."

Annie watches Matt strife the old lady. "What kind of nup is she?" She's seen him strife the football jocks. "How could we? Like this..." She tightens up her hug.

Mother Gothel wheezes as she's squeezes by Annie, and the old woman wilts in her grasp, passing out.

Shaking her head, Pendragon strides over towards the pantry door. She reaches for the door and swings it open. That done, she glances into the room and turns to stand guard on the door, her back to it as she half-steps away to make room for passage. She gestures to Frankie and then behind her without speaking to her. "Keep alert..." she says to pretty much everyone.

Matt nods, "crash Annie, Crash. I got her, you can let her go."

"Sure, now that I did all the work..." Annie snorts at Matt, but lowers the old lady to the ground by him. She looks over to Frankie. "You get the up?"

Frankie blinks as she's beaten to the punch by Pendragon. Her player weeps that Frankie would never make the obligatory pun about Ghostfist being beaten to the punch. She jogs over toward the now open pantry and peers inside, calling back to Annie, "Working on it."

Young David is sitting in the rear of the walk-in pantry, bound by his wrists and ankles with cooking twine, an apple tied in place as a gag.

Matt makes a motion with his hands in a swirling grabbing motion draws fire from the oven and it dances as if alive and encircles the witch, holding her tight but not burning her.

When the kid is revealed, Pendragon looks back over her shoulder. She nods and says to Frankie, "Watch the door." and she sheathes the sword... she doesn't want to appear threatening to the child right now. She smiles and says soothingly. "Easy son. We are here to help you." And she steps towards him, crouching and beginning to untie him.

Frankie dutifully watches the door, which is to say that the gumshoe keeps her senses peeled for signs of danger. She keeps sweeping her gaze this way and that, on the search for signs of a trap or descending evil or what have you.

Matt looks over, "David! Your mommy sent us! We're here to take you home!"

Matt says, "Frankie, how do we get back? and how do we shut this down?""

David sniffles and rubs his wrists once he's freed. "Y-you know my mom?" he asks Matt in wonder.

Matt nods, "I met her earlier today, she was really worried about you so she sent us to find you. are you ok?" he says loudly over to David...

"Can't we just burn the carpet after we go back through?" Annie asks about the simple, easy, shut down option.

"Magic doesn't generally work by sensible normal rules." offers Pendragon as she stands up and helps David to his feet. She'd pick him up, but doesn't want to emasculate the kid. Better to let him have some sense of dignity.

You hear Matt's voice inside your head: << Matt thinks as hard and as far as he can "if you can hear me, we found him, he's safe. I hope you are. We're headed back soon I hope, I hope we see you there..." >>

Telepathic message from Grimm to Matt: << Matt's thoughts go unanswered. >>

Matt sighs out loud. "Frankie, let's go home...Grimm is still out there too."

"Getting back is the easy part, kid," remarks Frankie to Matt. She looks over her shoulder at Pendragon and David, making a 'come on' gesture with one hand. The gumshoe makes her way back toward the wall through which everyone entered and comments, "We go back through and we dismantle the mirror. The frame itself should be what holds the enchantment for the portal spell, but I don't want to break the mirror itself until after the frame's destroyed and the enchantment unwrought. That /SHOULD/ keep Baba Yaga here from exiting this pocket dimension for a good long time."

Matt nods, "Ok...let's do this." turning to Pendragon and Annie he says "um...sorry about the zingers earlier.. I was trying to buy time for Frankie and Grimm to investigate the house...is there something I can do to make it up to buttercup?"

"Not call the giant warhorse 'Buttercup'," suggests Frankie as she takes a last look around the room.

"And what about the trap you spoke of, the rug?" asks Pendragon before she turns towards Matt. "Zingers? You launched an attack at... my friend... one that could have easily broken the bones of any normal human. One that could have broken the legs of a horse not protected by armor of Avalon, and that was a -zinger-?" she asks. "I think you need to learn a bit about scale... not to mention judgement." She says this as she walks towards the wall and then adds, "His name is Snowmane."

Matt nods, "You're a powerful hero right?...." he was pretty certain the horse could take it..."I will take that as a no then." he says walking towards the portal.

"It is not important whether or not -I- could take it. Snowmane is a horse. You need to learn restraint. An attack.. is not a zinger. It is an attack. That was assault if you want the actual terminology." says Pendragon. She shrugs and reaches for the wall. "Shall we then?" she asks.

"Don't worry, Matt," Annie smiles at Matt, "I'll come up with something." She nods with Frankie and Pendragon about getting back, which is just fine with her.

"Same deal as the mirror. Break the physical object, break the enchantment," replies Frankie, eyes focusing on that damned meat cleaver for several moments. She rubs her chin thoughtfully, flicking her gaze toward a shiny ladle for some seconds more before finally settling upon the yarn and the knitting needles sticking out of the much diminished ball where Pendragon's shockwave deflection sent it.

Frankie lets out an aggrieved groan and turns around. She presses into the portal quickly, grousing to herself all the way back to Earth. Once on the other side, Frankie moves toward the rug under the dining room table though she stays out of immediate trap range. Drawing in a deep breath, Frankie holds out one hand as she focuses her will into a burst of magical energy that sheathes her hand in fire. Reaching over, Frankie attempts to apply flame to the rug.

The rug catches fire easily enough and starts to burn away, the polyester fibers melting and shrinking to a hard plastic, turning the rug into a charred mass and breaking the enchantment on the trap.

Through the portal goes the sword woman. "David. We will get you home." she remarks. She reaches for her blade and then Frankie burns the carpet. "Perhaps some of your water could keep the fire from engulfing this house now." she says towards Matt.

David nods timidly as he peers around at all the heroes. "Thank you," he says meekly to his rescuers.

Matt nods, "Sure..." Waves his hands and a ball of water appears it grows and grows until it is sizable, and he pouts out fires before they become dangerous. "We made the promise to his mother, I will take him home."

Frankie extinguishes the wreath of flames about her hand as soon as the rug catches fire. She rolls her eyes at Pendragon's response and comments, "Oh don't be a drama queen." Her gaze shifts toward David and she smiles a warm little smile as she notes, "You were a brave kid, David. You should be proud of yourself."

Matt nods in agreement, "Very brave David."

David's eyes grow a few sizes. "Really?"

Looking to Frankie, Pendragon raises a brow. She doesn't reply there and just nods to Matt. "Thank you." she says as she heads out the door. "Make sure this young man gets home safely, yes?" she asks before she holds the sword up.. and mist begins closing in from all around.

Matt looks at Frankie, "Can you find Grimm? "

Matt nods to Pendragon, "absolutely"

"Absolutely, David. I don't know many people who could stay calm and help us rescue them like you did," replies Frankie. She smiles at David, glancing over at Pendragon's gathering exit strategy, offering a low whistle of (magical) appreciation. Straightening up, Frankie shrugs at Matt, "Dunno. She's still low on my priority list. I still have to dismantle the mirror so Greta von Hanselhunger can't make any more trips into our world. She'll probably show up by the time you get David back to his mother though."

Matt nods, a concerned look on his face..."ok...I hope so."

Matt leaved Frankie to her work, "David you ever fly with a Meta before? it's totes crash, I'll take you home now, Your mom is worried, do you know her number?"

David shakes his head, but he's wide eyed. "No, nuh uh, never. I...oh. I don't have my phone." Kids these days. He doesn't have the number memorized; it's on his cell. "But I can show you where I live!"

Matt nods,"Sweet, let's go bud." he grins he exerts some power and lifts him off the ground with some wind power, stepping outside the home he turns back once more and says "Thanks Frankie, I owe you one." then takes to the skies with David...