Log:A Collector of More Than Coins, Scene 2

A Collector of More Than Coins 2007/11/08 	 Chalk Cheese Vitalis Jennifer and Jessica Rachel Maria Bauer 2

Rachel is at the Zoo wandering around checking out the animals at the moment she is at the canine exhibit day dreaming as she watches the wolves they have there

The canine exhibit is rather more interesting than it used to be, with the addition of the Big Bad Wolf, not to mention the addition of a couple of domestic dogs with superpowers. What other zoo has the facilities to keep such animals?

Jennifer and Jessica are strolling around the zoo escorting a bunch of young children, three of them ranged from about six to maybe twelve years of age, two girls and an older boy. The all have icecreams and sodas.

Rachel smiles watching them as she leans on the railing.

Galen strolls along the zoo, looking at the animals. He stands in front of a sign, explaining the exhibit.

Rachel isn't the only person to be interested in the canine exhibit. The big wolf is one of the zoo's main attractions now, and even the dogs have their admirers too. One woman in particular is standing by their force-field reinforced cage and talking to them.

Rachel looks at the lady and listens in as this could be interesting

Galen reaches the wolf exhibit and looks in. He looks around for the history of the animals.

It's not all that interesting. Mostly, she just seems to be asking them how they are, like she knew them. They don't act much like they know her, though.

Jennifer nods as the girls point to the wolf and start leading the children over in that direction.

The sign by the big wolf is interesting, if not very informative. Apparently this sort of wolf comes from a different universe entirely!

Galen shakes his head,. o O (Foreign species, very disruptive.)

Galen turns and looks over at the woman talking to the dogs. He moves closer to, and says, "Hello there, are you familiar with these animals?"

"Umm - no, not really, uh, why do you ask?" She seems a bit nervous.

Galen shrugs and says, "It just seems you and those animals come from the same universe, or dimension."

Rachel follows the gaze of the woman who was talking with the animals. As she follows her gaze any one watching flare would notice the air rippling around her as if from heat (popping on force field)

Jessica and Jennifer bring the children to the safety rail around the cage, smiling as the kids 'Oh' and 'Ah' at the wolf.

Rachel gives the twins a quick wave and nods her head towards the wolf exibit with that oh so familiar, looks like trouble, grin of Rachel's

The woman glances between Galen and the twins. And says, "Crap". And grabbing the bars of a cage and stretching like a rubber band suddenly catapults herself away!

Jennifer gets a sudden nervous chill down her spine on seeing Rachel. It's not that she dislikes Rachel, but wherever Rachel is trouble is sure to be following close behind.

Galen glances over and says, "What did I say?" then shrugs.

Rachel looks back at the canine exibit after watching the woman shoot away "Looks like my talent has kicked in again

Galen looks over and says, "Pardon, uhmmm." as he looks over Rachel.

Jessica watches the woman catapult herself away. "Weird!"

Rachel looks back at galen distracted by him for a moment "Flare,"

Galen nods and says, "Flare? Where?" then looks around

Rachel says, "That would be me sir"

Jennifer looks pensive as she tries to remember. There's something she heard about that woman, she's almost sure of it. If only her memory was better.

Rachel starts cursing as she looks off into the distance as she lowers her self towards the ground before blasting of towards where the woman went. Before she gets to far she says "It always seems to follow me, huh?"

Galen nods and says, "Oh, hello, nice to meet you." then waves, "Uhmm, what is with people running off today."

Jessica and Jennifer slips off their long coats and force armor harnesses. Just in case, she draps one over the boy's shoulders and gathers the younger girls closer together so the other force armor harness covers both of them.

Rachel sees below her the woman being held by a giant chalk-white hand, issuing from a man of similar colour. His companion, another woman, addresses him. "Damn it, a flamer. You take care of her - I'll take care of little miss bouncy here."

Rachel thinks. o O (Oh this is gonna suck.....)

Amplitude is about to join your location.

The white hand disappears (though the woman he held has been visibly drained of colour) and the cheese-woman wraps herself around her.

Rachel seeing she probably can't take chalk decides to do the wise thing. She flies strait at cheese trying to fly into and through her and grab the rubber girl and get out of there.

Cheese, half covering the woman, pulls her aside at the last moment, by the narrowest of margins.

Rachel curses as she misses and yells out "YO I got BADDIES!!"

Chalk stretches out his hand and the giant white hand appears again. "I apologise for this, but I'm afraid this is too important to allow you to interfere. If you leave peaceably, I won't hurt you." It doesn't stop him from grabbing for Rachel with the big hand.

"I'll give you two choices - leave or I'll duck you in the closest pond."

Rachel is caught very easily and starts letting out a stream of curses and a few threats to bite him and a few more to maim his man hood then after the inital surprise she asks "What in the bloody are you grabbing her for. What the  has she done or will do."

Jennifer tells the children to run back to the entrance gates of the zoo. Then she and Jessica start moving towards the site where Rachel has, no surprise to anyone, found trouble.

"I'm afraid my employer wouldn't be well pleased if I divulged that."

Galen looks over and decides to head over to the action. A golden aura suddenly surrounds him, then he transforms into an energy, steaming towards the action.

Jennifer glances back to make sure the children are doing as they have been told and they have activated the force armor protection.

Cheese still engulfing the woman, extends long cheese-stringy legs and makes a bolt for it.

Jennifer and Jessica continue moving forward, covering most of the way in Jennifer's case. Jessica hands back a little and slips a hand into a pocket to pull out a small silvery sphere. "Hey! You want to tell me what's going on before I flatten you?" Jennifer calls out to Chalk.

"I doubt you can do that," says Chalk. "But I am a reasonable man. If you wish to talk, let us talk." He nonetheless raises what is presumably a force field about himself.

Rachel is still cursing. She finally realizes he isn't gonna put her down and it looks like she is gonna follow through on that threat of biting him as her head ignites into blue flames and the air around her ripples with even more heat and she bites down.

Jennifer says, "How about starting with some introductions? I'm Jennifer. That's my sister Jessica behind me with the grenade. Who are you? Who is your departing friend and who is that woman she's grabbed?"

"Please, no grenades. I've seen too many people harmed unnecessarily with them. As for my name - well, I have been called several things, many of them unpleasant. My Christian name is Charles, but my nom de guerre, such as is it, is Chalk. My companion may be known to you as Cheese. The woman's name, is, I believe, Maria Bauer."

Galen looks over and again, transforms, shooting across the ground closer to Chalk.

Galen reappears and says, "What is going on here? Everyone flying around and such chaos. This is a zoo, you are scaring the animals, and the children."

"My apologies." Chalk lowers Rachel to the ground, still holding her, to make sure that she's out of sight of children or animals that may be frightened.

Rachel starts simmering down and actually gets quite before "Could you put me down, you made your point I have no chance in a fight against you"

Jennifer and Jessica move closer, "Who didn't answer my question. Oh, and how about letting Flare go?" "In a little while. She seems a bit hot-headed, and I'm not sure how fast she can fly. I don't really want to see Cheese toasted."

Jennifer says, "Okay, that's one name. Who has she got grabbed?""

"As I said, Maria Bauer. At least, I believe so."

Jennifer frowns, "Maria Bauer..? Can't say the name rings any bells. And your friend Cheese is a long way away from Wisconsin. So what brings you two to this city?"

"A substantial paycheck. And yes, she hasn't been back to Wisconsin in a long time. We live in Canada now."

Rachel growls some her annoying spot in this and tries to flick him off before her feet fully ignite into flame burning the ground as she tries to jet out of his grip

Jennifer sighs, "Mercenaries then. Still that leaves me wondering who hired you, except you're not going to tell me that. And why you grabbed Bauer?"

Chalk turns to Rachel. "I warn you, if you pursue Cheese, you will regret it."

Rachel shoots off out of Chalk's hand glad she took this moment to chill and try to catch him off guard, she then turns towards the direction cheese started heading off towards at full speed.

"You need not concern yourself with Miss Bauer - excuse me." Chalk turns to gesture toward Rachel....

Jessica primes the grenade already in her hand and tosses it casually into the hex in front of Chalk.

Landing in the area immediately in front of Chalk the granade detonates in a blinding flash of light.

Chalk says something in an unknown language and encases himself in a chalk-white shell.

Jennifer says, "I'm afraid I have to be interested in Ms Bauer. For some reason she seems to have the same abilities as a firend and I'd like to know why."

Jessica shouts after Rachel, "Be careful with the flames. Remember there's kids and innocents around."

"Ah, so you know her secret then? Well, it probably can do little harm in telling you that that is my employer's interest too."

Rachel dropping out of her max speed she tries a dive bomb attack to start it off when she is right above Cheese.

Galen looks at Chalk and says, "That is an interesting ability. Were you born with metahuman abilities?" then nods, "I'm curious from a professional viewpoint."

There's a slight smell of toasted cheese, and Cheese is knocked off her feet.

Rachel says, "Get up! let her go or I'll hit you again""

Cheese gets to her feet, letting the unconscious woman (wait a second - is it the same woman? She's chalk white and looks different too). "You want to play? Too bad I don't like playing with fire. She thows a fist at Rachel which leave her arm before it hits.

"They came to me later in life - not that that is anything to do with the matter at hand," says Chalk. "As for Ms. Bauer - she, or more likely a colleague of hers, has something that does not belong to him or her. My employer is interested in acquiring it."

"Leave, or I'll smother you in cheese. We'll see if you can burn then!"

Rachel is hit and flips through the air tumbling, while a bit battered she doesn't look to badly hurt "Oh so we are gonna play..."

Galen looks over and says, "Oh, who is your employer?" then glances far off.

Rachel gets up and flies at cheese lighting up to full flame this time.

"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to say. No doubt you wouldn't know him, anyway."

Galen shrugs and says, "That is true, I don't deal with the criminal world much."

Jennifer says, "You obviously knew Bauer would be here at the zoo. Do you know why she was interested in the dogs?"

Galen thinks. o O (Maybe she likes dogs...)

"I suspect the dogs are hers."

Galen looks back at the dogs, and ponders.

Cheese says, "Well then, let's play!" And launches more cheese, more widely spread, at Rachel, while the first lump of cheese rejoins her.

The cheese spreads over Rachels body, cutting off the supply of oxygen even as it burns...

Cheese fails to smother the flames, but the cheese creeps into her nose and mouth cutting off air to her lungs....

Galen looks over and says, "I better go check on the violence." and focuses to the area Flare and Cheese went.

Jennifer nods, "Be my guest."

Jessica says, "So what's the pay like for this job>"

Galen concentrates and begins his transformation for a long distance biostream.

"Enough."

Galen eventually reaches Rachel, unconscious and with her breathing blocked with cheese. Of Cheese and Maria Bauer there's no sigh.

Galen reaches down and attempts to clear out the passageways. "Hold on..." he concentrates using his abilities to yank cheese out of the orifices.

Galen waves his hand, using the lifeforce to clean out the passageways.

Galen can dislodge the cheese, no problem. Rachel coughs and breathes steadily again.

Galen says, "Slow and steady, calm now, give yourself time to take in the air."

Jennifer says, "It isn't enough to be worth the trouble if you return to this city. You get a free pass this time. Too many children and zoo visitors around. You only get one. And just in case you think I'm bluffing, think again."

Galen shakes his head, "Lucky I got here in time, else you gouda suffocated to death." then smiles, "Sorry, bad joke."

Chalk says, "I endangered no bystanders - it was your interference that did that. I never do. Maria Bauer too will be free to go once my employer has what he wants."

Jessica nods. "I know you didn't endanger bystanders. That's why you got the free pass this time. Don't push it. Alternatively we could meet up someplace quite and discuss this more energetically."

"Understand this. I do not sell my services from personal greed. My aim is no less than the liberation of my homeland. I am not, and never have been, a terrorist, not matter how my enemies have tried to paint me. I do what I do because I must. If that means coming to this city again, I shall. As always, I shall be careful. But do not cross me, because then we shall need, as you say, to discuss this more energetically. And you've seen but a fraction of my energy yet."

Jennifer says, "It's the hero thing you know. Means if you try anything here I'll be trying my best to stop you, and you haven't seen a fraction of my abilities either."

Chalk nods. "I understand. You do what you must as I do what I must."

Jessica says, "What homeland?"

"Buranda."

Jessica nods, "I'll check it out. If there's your standard reign of terror type deal... well it might just be I'd help out if you asked nicely."

"By all means, look into it. Just be sure to dig beyond the official sources. Oil is still an important enough resource that governments are inclined to overlook the excesses of other governments."

Jennifer nods. "Let's hope any further meetings will be peaceful. Now I have to go and round up the kids I was escorting."

Jessica and Jennifer head off to the gates to collect the children.

Chalk flies off leaving a chalk-white trail.