Log:Imaginary Friends, Scene 8

Imaginary Friends 2009/01/23 	 Imaginary Girl Kismet Lightray Lorelei Rain Spirit Yolanda 8

The Roanoke Institute shines in the afternoon sun, a few little icicles hanging off the lip of the roof of the old Victorian home. To one side, the Solarium shimmers a bit, reflecting light as the addition seems a little brighter when the beams of the sun shine down on it. The small remote robots that maintain and keep the grass continue to keep it clean. There's a faint echo on the wind, an unusual sigh that purrs across the rafters of the Roanoke Institute.

Something terrible is about to happen...

Lorelei arrives by IG express from the libary. She hopes that some heroes will be answering the call she put out over comms, or this round isn't likely to go any better than the last one....

Lightray comes flying from the direction of the library with the others. Blood still stains his hands frmo the healings he has performed. He seems to be in a grim moon.

Spirit lands at the location a moment later, thanks to Lorelei's call. "Lorelei? You needed an assist?"

Imaginary Girl races itno the area, holding one arm over her bloodies side - where her costume's been torn open along with the flesh under it by Wumble's machete. She doesn't bother with formalities or niceties - she flies right up to the institute's doors, setting down Lorelei and Yolanda, carried with her one arm that's not being used to staunch the bleeding of her injury, to reach out that one good hand to simply yank the doors off their hinges to toss them aside. "Doctor Ingersoll!", she calls out, loudly - and not sounding at ALL happy about what's been happening, of late. She also casts a glance skyward at the arriving Lightray.

Lorelei nods. "Mr Wumbles is real now and he's heading this direction to kill the doctor and the kid who dreamt him up.... And he seems to feed off mental powers. Mine too, maybe, for whatever reason. Our last encounter didn't go well."

Rain lands quietly behind the corner of the institute. He hears the crash of someone ripping the door off the hinges and he just shakes his head to it. He turns the corner quickly, walking rather briskly as he too got the call, his first since he got here. He keeps with the plan, don't show anything unless someone recognizes him from Japan. He just steps up behind IG as she turns her gaze upwards...trying to step up smooth enough to act like he simply appeared.

Kismet is there as well, unseen by the mentally unaware. To the mentally aware she has a bright violet glow surrounding her body. She slides from Imaginary Girl's shoulders, letting the strong one perform the knocking ceremony.

Yolanda remains alongside Lorelei and Kismet. "Also, the doctor that Wumbles is after, Dr. Ingersoll, has been up to something. He might have had a hand in starting all this mess."

Lorelei says grimly, "Why am I not surprised?"

Spirit nods. "Well...if he feeds off of mental energy, perhaps regular ol' photons and the like will be more effective."

Spirit says, "Especially if he's 'real' now."

Yolanda hears Kismet's telepathic voice: << Feeds off mental energy? Please explain? >>

Lightray mutters something under his breath that sounds like 'Typical' as he hears Yolanda's comment. He follows IG into the building gathering sunlight around himself as he walks.

The door wrenches off it's hinges, and is yanked off in Imaginary Girl's hand. There is a high, whining sound of a keening high pitched noise. The door is made of a strange, unusual material at the hinges, silvery and shiny. As the alarm begins going off, the eight lawn cleaning robots expel four unusual looking tendrils and extend strange gunlike protrusions from their centers. Doris, the secretary, stands up from behind the door. "Analysis." She declares coldly. "Intruder detected. Blanketing area in Radio Suppression Wave. Prepare to repel intruders! Oh, and Doctah Ingahsoll, you have company." Doris's eyes turn a brilliant, silvery metal, and there is a wicked flash of light. Standing in Doris's place, amid the shadowy remains of an illegal fleshsuit, is a silvery, lithe battle robot, it's eyes glowing with a strange blue light. "You may wish to kill the boy now and depart." The robot intones. "Long Live the Next Generation!"

Kismet pales, visible to the robots and mentalists alike. "Why did it have to be robots?"

"We need to find Toby and /fast/!", Imaginary Girl says, tossing the doors out into the yard. "Anyone got a quick way to track him down?", she asks, looking into the building to see what's become of Doris. "Well... no /wonder/ Wumbles couldn't see Doris... she really /don't/ have any imagination, 'cause she's a /robot/!"

Lorelei thinks. o O (Why did it have to be robots?)

'Mechanical. Good. That makes it easy. The indoors part I could do without.'

Rain muses quietly to himself, glancing back and forth between the others before actually stepping backwards a bit...moving to the back of the pack.

Cautious? You bet he is.

Yolanda sends a telepathic message to Kismet: << When we encountered Wumbles at the library, he absorbed mental energy from our attacks to become real. Now that he's real, I'm not sure that he's still capable of it, but I'm not sure I want to test it. >>

Spirit furrows his brow, "Check the basement. I sensed something down there. Power surge."

Yolanda hears Kismet's telepathic voice: << So we need to have a good plan. >>

Imaginary Girl says, "I'll get Doris!", and rushes in at the expose battle-bot, aiming to slam her shoulder into her target in a full-out body tackle!

Yolanda hears Kismet's telepathic voice: << Maybe we can set up a mental communications relay network so that everyone's coordinated? >>

The thing that was Doris shimmers a little bit. "Analysis, detain all opposition, control battlefield, eliminate all opposition, capture Mr. Wumbles and Replicate. Doctor's Orders..." The sinewy metal trunk of the robot bucks in a way no human could, and Imaginary Girl races past.

Yolanda sends a telepathic message to Kismet: << I can only keep in touch with one mind, without focusing on it. you? >>

Yolanda hears Kismet's telepathic voice: << If I need to, I can set up communications with as many people who want to stay in communication, but it takes time. >>

Doris's whip thin tendrils extend outwards from her skinny hands, and the robot declares to Imaginary Girl "Hold Still. This will only take a moment. The Next Generation will evolve this world, whether you like it or not." Her voice is flat and atonal, but the cold intelligence behind the eyes speaks volumes.

The tendrils lash out and whiz past Imaginary Girl's head, blasting and crackling as they retract. "Analysis. Faster than expected. Initiating level two stimulation upgrade from database.

Yolanda sends a telepathic message to Kismet: << I can start to link us up. Are you able to scan for Ingersoll's mind from here? It will take me too long to do a scan myself. >>

Yolanda hears Kismet's telepathic voice: << I don't know what you mean by scan. I've only been able to scan people I can see. >>

Yolanda sends a telepathic message to Kismet: << Assuming that we make it out of this jam, I'll be happy to show you. >>

Unseen, Doctor Ingersoll makes his way up the stairs to Toby's room, and he disengages the security locks on the door. Toby looks up as Doctor Ingersoll enters the room. "Hello, Toby..." His voice is cold. "I'm sorry. It took a while to scan your DNA, but I no longer need this identity, or you." He idly looks down at the boy.

"Mr. Wumbles is coming to kill you." Toby smiles. It's a wicked smile. "I'm going to love watching him rip you apart."

"Even if Wumbles manages to make it past the massive amount of superheroes currently battling my security systems..." Ingersoll smirks. "What can you do? You can't affect me with mentalism." He pulls a .45 automatic out from under his coat. "My Reptile Ninja Team has already taken care of Rapture, she should be well on her way to the Allied Champions of Earth by now. Foolish woman. She never should have tried to spank you. Now they'll smear her name across this entire planet. I can't believe I got her to sign a waiver." He chortles. Even Toby seems to find it funny. "Now, die laughing, you little freak!" The gun roars loudly with a dull BLAM echoing from upstairs.

There is a high pitched scream of agony from upstairs. "You're...really trying to kill me?" Toby shrieks. "HELP! HELP ME! OH GOD! PLEASE! DON'T!" He cackles madly. "Thanks for shooting me, Doc..."

The sun shines into the large solarium from the day above, the slanted roof filled with rectangular windows. The floor is carpeted, and everything in the room is very soft. There are no sharp edges or corners. A pile of pillows rests over by one wall, and there are some very safe toys, trains, stuffed planes, and a few books that are all in paperback. There are paintings on the walls of a crudely drawn forest scene, with lions, tigers, and monkeys. The words "Jungle Hideout" are painted in bright red along one wall, and the air is cool and perfectly controlled.

"Now that I'm in pain...I might be able to overcome your stupid hypnotism..."

Spirit was in the back from the group, closer to the robots on the lawn than anything else. He looks to Lightray, and says, "Get upstairs, and check out those shots...I'll try to deal with the robots." Seeing as they're fairly spread out, he focuses a laser blast at one of them...energy building up around his hand before it lashes out in the direction of the mechanical monstrosity.

The robot extends it's little spindly legs and the ground kicks up a great cloud of dirt underneath it as the attack misses. "Hey!" Doris shouts. "Keep off the Doctah's lawn with those things! Do you know how much landscaping cawsts?"

Spirit misses, tearing up a section of the sod a yard beyond the robot. Still...he shouts to hopefully draw their attention. "Come on...give me the best you've got!"

Yolanda hears Kismet's telepathic voice: << Imaginary Girl will be easiest to link in. Do you have another person who would be really good to link quickly? >>

Yolanda sends a telepathic message to Kismet: << Maybe you should link to her, then. I'll try to link to Spirit. We've got to go in and try to save Toby... I think... I think... that I'm going to go inside. >>

'Big...'

Rain steps back further, keeping a good distance from the building now. He slowly twitches his fingers, his lips turning up into a grin. He's not said a word but he's planning on looking like an open target to the bruiser robots... He even goes as far as to slip, tripping backwards and catching himself.

To a smarter being, it's clear he's faking it. All the while, the sky above the Institute has been growing more and more overcast as this persists, goaded on by the gunshots. Inwardly, he knows time is short and he's not going to hold back on this one.

Lightray flies up into the air and cloes to one fo the institutes windows. A sword of sunlight forms in his hands as he swings it at one of the windows in an attempt to break it open.

The window shatters, leaving an entry into the house. The room is empty. It looks like most of the base has been vacated. Clearly, this operation has been proceeding for a very long time....

There is a sound like the groaning of metal, and a series of heavy, wicked thumps. From behind you all, there is a horrid, heaving grunt, like a boat tearing at it's moorings during a storm. Standing in the road, holding a large gasoline truck over his head, resplendent in his top hat and in a brand new plaid waistcoat, is a six foot tall rabbit. A machete hangs idly on his belt. "Ahhh..." He purrs. "So many, so many, so many. Let's start with the biggest problems, shall we?" His eyes narrow for a moment as he sees Imaginary Girl. "Hello, my sweet..." He purrs as he heaves the gasoline truck towards the building. "Catch..." Only as the back passes over your heads can you see that the truck is on fire as it rockets towards Imaginary Girl and Doris....

Doris sparks and sputters as the gasoline truck smashes through the now open door of the institute and cracks open, wreathing everything in flames. There's a wicked pop as something shuts off inside the robot. "Analysis..." Doris declares. "Presence of Mr. Wumbles detected. In human terms, ouch." The robot wobbles a bit and rights itself, glaring at Imaginary Girl with it's shock blue eye-mockups. "You shall not proceed."

Lorelei runs into the building, trying to reach Toby and the doctor, knowing she's completely useless again robots, and probaly worse than useless against Mr Wumbles. She looks for stairs upwards.

Imaginary Girl oofs as she's thrown even turther into the building by the explosion of the truck. Looking back to see where /that/ came from, she sees Wumbles... and her face contorts from 'business-serious' to 'mad as hell'. "Doris... I don't know if you even care, but why don't you help me take down the /rabbit/ first... then we can duke it out between us", she says, all but spitting the word 'rabbit'.

Lorelei rushes past Doris and gets to the stair, but not without getting gasoline on her feet.

"Cooperation impossible. You are on file in my databanks." The Robot says. "Analysis indicates that victory for you requires only my cooperation, whereas victory for Next Generation requires your defeat. Therefore, cooperation impossible.'

Imaginary Girl, as Lorelei runs past, wonders aloud, "What's Next Generation?"

Yolanda hears Kismet's telepathic voice: << Where are you going? >>

Yolanda hears Kismet's telepathic voice: << I know you wanted to go in there, but maybe we should avoid the truck. It's probably going to blow up. I can get us both away to hopefully a safe distance. >>

Yolanda sends a telepathic message to Kismet: << You're right, you're right... >>

Kismet finds leaky gasoline nearby, and decides that she probably should not be around. Taking hold of Yolanda, she jumps far away from the dangerous truck, moving for hard cover.

Once found, the hard cover is ducked behind, Kismet with Yolanda. The concrete jungle girl is shaking.

Yolanda's instinct is to follow Lorelei into the building, but she hesitates, seeing the gasoline fueled inferno that's about to explode. It's while she's frozen that Kismet pulls her to safety. She activates her force field with a press of a button on the device on her belt. She looks over to Wumble's and says, "Wumbles... Ingersoll is going to kill Toby. I heard gunshots, from the third floor I think. You want to help us save Toby, right? Where is Ingersoll keeping him?" She focuses her eyes on Imaginary Girl and tries to connect with her mind.

Mr. Wumbles blinks for a moment. "No..." He hisses. "No one is allowed to kill Toby but me! He tore me apart! He PEED on me! ME, his IMAGINARY FRIEND!" He hisses. "He tore me apart and put me back together, over and over again. But now, I believe, the shoe is on the other foot, is it not?" He smiles. "Ingersoll is keeping Toby on the third floor. But I'll kill Toby and Ingersoll. Then I'll have to figure out what to do. I love this "How to be a Villain" book. So many useful ideas. Once I figured out that none of you could tunnel, as a super powered rabbit, it became my primary mode of entrance and exit. An entire chapter devoted to escaping from you miserable do-gooders. I'm impressed."

Yolanda sends a telepathic message to Imaginary Girl: << Hello, Imaginary Girl... I'm using my telepathy to keep in touch, in case we get separated. >>

The little ball like lawnmower robots open fire on the heroes with their tiny guns, which turn out to be some sort of weird force multiplier repulsor beam! The blasts rocket all around, hitting Lightray, Rain, and Spirit once, and poor Imaginary Girl gets hit twice as the robots dutifully defend their robot master.

Kismet calls out, "Heroes also love to negotiate. Help take out the robots and we can get to doing that! We're all pretty much on the same side here!"

Spirit is thrown a good twelve meters sideways, skidding and rolling in the turf down the side of the building. He immediately rolls to his feet, looking relatively unruffled, aside from the dirt and sod on his body now.

Lightray is thrown around by the force beams and is knocked to the ground by the concussions. He seems a bit battered bythe blows but not out of it in any case.

Imaginary Girl is hit the two robots' attacks... the first catches her off-guard, while she's eying Wumbles... and knocks her off her feet. As she rolls back up, she sees the other robot's attack coming and lifts her arms, crossing them in front of herself, simply toughing through that attack as she gets back to her feet.

Imaginary Girl reaches out to snatch up the truck, flying out into the yard to ... throw the thing as far up into the sky as she possibly can to get it out of the way before it blows up... she has the presence of mind to launch it generally towards the coastline, too, hoping to get it out over water in case it lands before it kabooms.

The gasoline truck sails up into the air and the raw momentum of it's speed from the force of Imaginary Girl's throw causes a high, spectacular fireball, igniting the afternoon sky and creating a shining beacon of light for a brief moment. The sound of every fire department station in Colonial Bay roars to life at once, and the sound of police sirens begin to wai.

The robot turns to look at Imaginary Girl, who has been momentarily distracted, and extends another sinuous tendril and walks out into the yard, reaching it up towards Lightray. "Come here, cutie..." The robot drones. "Let me give you a little kiss..."

The tendril wraps around Lightray with a sickening crackle, and there's a massive electrical jolt that sears into the mystic hero! Crackling spears of electricity twist along the wirey wrap, and burn into Lightray's flesh!

Toby hisses and falls back against the wall. "Those idiots will save me..." Toby cackles. "You'll see..." Doctor Ingersoll shrugs a little bit.

"You always were a problem child, Toby. Don't think of your death as serving Next Generation. That's not why I'm killing you. Think of your death as serving everyone on Earth. An empire of blood and skulls, from a five year old? You don't even know what that means." The gun roars again from inside the house, another thunderous booming sound.

Yolanda sends a telepathic message to Kismet: << It looks safe to go in again... at least the building won't explode. Do you think you could get us to the third floor? >>

Lightray is held tight by the metal tentacle but, other than shuddering slightly at the flow of the electricity, seems to still be conscious and aware. He turns his gaze to the tenctacle holding him.

Yolanda hears Kismet's telepathic voice: << I think so. I think someone opened the window. >>

There is a terrible cracking sound, as though the house is spitting loose from it's moorings, a horrid wrenching as the whole building gives a monstrous lurch. "I'm going to DIE!" comes from inside the house. "But I'm taking you ALL with me, you stupid freaks! Ruin my Wumbles! Ruin my EMPIRE! Ruin EVERYTHING! I'll KILL YOU ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!" Toby's howl is vicious and furious as the entire building is wrenched free of it's foundations, and it begins to hover in midair. In the basement, a glowing transmat portal appears to be overloading.

A cruel smile crosses Mr. Wumbles face. He begins to laugh. He laughs so loudly that it almost drowns out Toby's scream. He wipes a little sweat from his forehead. "This is...too perfect." He begins to chuckle. "Did I just...win?"

Spirit glances under the now-floating building, and nods to himself. o 0 (It's all happening way too fast...first things first, though.) He flies between the building and the foundation, getting close to the transmat portal. He then reaches out with a hand with a grasping motion, attempting to draw energy off the portal itself. . o O (Come on...this has to work)

Some energy is siphoned off of the portal, and sent into the surrounding air, dissipating. Spirit mutters to himself, "Yeah...so the building might come down on my head. Wouldn't be the first time, I suppose."

The transmat shimmers down somewhat, and the light grows dimmer. Doris the robot looks over to it "Explosion risk decreased to thirty two percent. Thank you, sir, that would have been extremely painful."

Imaginary Girl turns to see all this happening... "Toby! No! Please don't do that! That's what Wumbles and Ingersoll want you to do! If you want a /real/ friend, I'll be your friend! Don't hurt anyone! Don't destroy anything! Please1", she calls out. That she really means it... that much is clear. Anyone inside her mind at the time, as at least one person is, would tell that it's tearing her up inside, emotionally, to know that Toby's in that kind of pain.

Toby's eyes open wide as he begins to weep. "I..Imaginary Girl..." The voice is a feeble echo. He's using all his essence to levitate the house, the rage, the anger and fury at being killed, his teeth gritted in fury as he struggles with all of his incredible psychic power, the lightning coruscating from Rain hurtling down towards the transmat. Just as the lightning bolt reaches the Transmat, Toby's concentration breaks for just a second...

"Hmm..."

'Something is shimmering down there...that has to be the target! Alright, lets get this done with!'

Rain grins widely, he'd been ignored for the most part. Thankfully though it gave him the leverage he needed as above the Institute the storm now was whipping wildly. He pushes himself off of the ground and onto his feet, rolling his shoulders once.

The clouds above him seem to slightly dip towards him in a point, only for a brief moment though as from the tip of the point a sudden blast of lightning arcs downward. It strikes him dead on, and doesn't let up!

The young man lets out a shrill laugh before throwing both of his arms forward. As the lightning is cut from the clouds it quickly leaps forward from his hands...with even more force than the original strike. The lightning finds its target with the ear-splitting sound of thunder, striking the portal.

In his mind at least, he did the right thing.

Spirit turns his head, seeing the lighting arc down toward the transmat..."No...NO!" He winces, knowing there's going to be a massive energy backlash any second.

There's a hideous boom and a dull roar as the Transmat goes up in a dull ball of fire, sending sparks and white light high into the air. There's a horrid wrenching sound as the house gives way, blasting into flinders of unusual materials and ancient wood. Doctor Ingersoll screams as the storm takes him, carrying him off into the ether as the gun falls limply to the ground. Doris is blasted forward from the edge of the house, and accidentally squashes one of the robots with her superdense infrastructure. "Awk..." The robot says. "In human speech, that sucked." Toby floats in the air, turning whiter and whiter, and Mr. Wumbles just takes it all in, laughing. "Doctor Ingersoll got away..." He purrs as he looks at Toby, and his eyes turn red. "But you won't."

The gate goes 'boom'... the house gets torn apart... and Toby's left floating. Imaginary Girl's eyes are only on the little boy she wants to badly to help. "Tooobyyyy!", she cries out.

Spirit is tossed backward like a rag doll, knocked clear of the foundation, since he was still airborne, and knocked directly away from the portal. He lands on the grass, and skids to a stop - now motionless.

Lorelei by amazing luck is unhurt by the exploding house. The fall may be another matter.

Doctor Ingersoll spins as the last vestiges of the house are blasted away, and Toby turns whiter and whiter, into a savage greyish whiteness. He reaches out for Imaginary Girl, his eyes bright, his smile beckoning. For all of his desire for love and affection and friendship, as he fades from view in a submolecular haze, he still wants to kill her...

Lorelei Could eaily have been killed; by amazing luck she gets away with a bit of wooden shrapnel in her arm.

Lightray takes to the sky as the tentacle holding him slips free. He head driectly for Lorelei in an attempt to catch her. It seems he spares not a glance for Toby or the good doctor, but focuses on the falling heroins instead.

Lightray snags Lorelee by one arm, then pulls her up so that he is securely holding her.

The robots on the lawn slump to the ground, no longer having a power source to work. Doris lies inert on the ground, her blue eyes flashing the words "Reboot in two minutes, reboot in two minutes, accessing satellite...acessing satellite."

Lorelei says, "Thanks!"

Lorelei tries to makes out what the situation is now, through the still-falling bits of the building.

Kismet focuses on Toby, forcibly calming herself but shaking still. She reaches out mentally to him.

Lightray murmurs in a tight tone. "You are welcome." His gaze is hard as it shifts to Mr Wumbles.

Mr. Wumbles chuckles. "Hello, Doctor Ingersoll." he chortles. "I see you there, spinning in the air. Yes, you, you lilly livered swine, whose liver I shall soon consume." He picks up the machete and spins it around his head. "I learned to throw this like a boomerang, Doctor. I hear your internal organs will come right back to me if I throw it right..."

The machete sails for Ingersoll and misses, whirring back towards Mr. Wumbles, who sighs as he catches the machete by the hilt. "That..." He murmurs. "Was disappointing."

Ingersoll stares down at Wumbles. "Toby created a monster..." He mutters. "Magnificent. I wonder if this can be replicated..."

Yolanda shakes her head slowly awestruck at the massive explosion. Toby is her first concern. She looks to him and tries to imagine what he could be turning into.

Yolanda's face twists in utter disbelief. "What the hell...?"

Yolanda says, "Toby, he's... become... Imaginary..."

Lorelei says, "That might make sense - in a twisted way...."

Lightray murmurs softly. "Let us hope no one chooses him as a friend."

Yolanda sends a telepathic message to Kismet: << I'm going to try to weaken Wumbles... sap his will to fight. Maybe we can talk him down. >>

Yolanda hears Kismet's telepathic voice: << I'm trying to reach Toby's deepest memories. Maybe... I can heal him. >>

Imaginary Girl sees Toby fade away into nothingness (or so her eyes tell her) and she hears Wumbles' laughter... her face contorts with rage, all over again, and she flies down at him... then steers cleer at the last moment to land on the street near the sidewalk. Grunting with the effort, she ... rips up a huge section of earth, including the patch on which the evil monster-bunny stands. That huge chucnk of dirt then gets tosses straight up into the air far as she can make it go! "Let's see you dig yourself away NOW, Wumbles!", she says, her voice all but a growl. "You're MINE, Rabbit!"

Yolanda looks to Lightray: "That's just it... I think he's /Wumbles/ Imaginary Friend..."

Wumbles grunts as he's lifted off the ground, and curses. "Ngh..." He says as is hurled skyward. "I do believe I'll have to fight you now, Imaginary Girl..." he says as he begins rising up into the air. "A shame, really. I rather like you. But I don't need you anymore."

Yolanda hears Kismet's telepathic voice: << If that's true, how would Toby take him apart repeatedly? >>

Lorelei thinks. o O (What can I do now? Maybe I could feed the Toby like we accidentally fed Toby.... but he's no less dangerous.....)

Yolanda sends a telepathic message to Kismet: << I think it's just happened now... maybe with the explosion and everything... I thik that we should try to defuse the situation first before operating on Toby's mind. >>

Yolanda sends a telepathic message to Kismet: << I mean to say that Toby's just now become Wumbles's Friend. >>

Yolanda hears Kismet's telepathic voice: << I don't understand. >>

Doctor Ingersoll twists a dial on his belt as Imaginary Girl engages the rabbit and lifts him off the ground. "Time to go..." He mutters. "Thank you, Reptile Ninja Team, for delivering Rapture for me. And thank you, Allied Champions of Earth, for delivering 52.5 million dollars into our accounts. Everybody wins." He chortles and vanishes in a blaze of light. "We'll meet again, Imaginary Girl!" Doctor Ingersoll shouts. "My superior intellect will one day triumph! Eternal Glory to the Next Generation!" There's a dreadful POP, and Doctor Ingersoll is gone, leaving only a mask of his face behind, wafting on the breeze.

Yolanda sends a telepathic message to Kismet: << I don't understand it either... Somehow Toby is becoming or has become Mr. Wumbles Imaginary Friend. >>

Yolanda hears Kismet's telepathic voice: << What does that mean? >>

Rain's hands slowly lower...as well as his jaw.

'...Did not see that turning out that way!'

He shakes his head...where did his composure go? He immediately snaps out of it, he's noticed he's been off of his usual game since he arrived in the Americas. He only watches the villain escape before a raging girl flies over his head towards the large rabbit.

'At least she didn't know it was me....Hm?'

He turns, seeing the inert robot laying to the side. He's not dumb, he sees a possible future problem. There are enough here to deal with a rabbit...he'll deal with taking apart something he knows about a bit. He simply pushes off of the ground, lifting up into the air.

Hovering above the robot, he looks down at it with his arms crossed and eyes narrowed...the storm above him still raging before he glances over towards the rabbit and its chattering...That's annoying too.

'No...no...keep your mind centered on the robot.'

He just looks down at it...almost standing guard as if expecting it to do something other than lie there.

Yolanda sends a telepathic message to Kismet: << I think very least, we need to make sure that Wumbles stays alive. >>

Lightray shifts Lorelei to one arm making certain she is secure as he flies a bit closer to the Marvelous Held Up Mr Wumbles. He then darws sunight around his free hand and blasts it towards the rabbit without a word. It spreads slightly as it flashes through the air towards the tophatted rabbit.

The blast darts into Mr. Wumbles and destroys a portion of his waistcoat. "Oh, that's simply dreadful!" Mr. Wumbles says. "I don't run around destroying your clothing, now, do I?"

Lorelei think, "What the heck - maybe now Wumbles is fully real it will do him more harm that good!" Still in Lightray's arm she strikes her trademark stunning pose, and watches carefully to judge if it helps or harms him.

Kismet continues focusing on Toby, trying to work her way further in...

The faintest essence of Toby whispers in the air, but it's not really there, just kind of coalesced around Wumbles, slowly reforming...

Yolanda focuses her mind on Wumbles and tries to sap him of the will to fight.

Wumbles looks at Yolanda and says "Trying to sap the very essence of my being, Miss Simmons?" He purrs. "Not very nice. I'll give you another taste of my machete soon enough. I need an evil battle cry, something like "For Greater Intestinal Fortitude" or "Ragggh!" Sadly, "Raggh" really isn't my repertoire. Even when I kill people, I like to do it in as refined a manner as possible, even with a machete."

Lorelei think, "What the heck - maybe now Wumbles is fully real it will do him more harm that good!" Still in Lightray's arm she strikes her trademark stunning pose, and watches carefully to judge if it helps or harms him.

Mr. Wumbles winces as the blast slams into his mind. "Ngh..." He hisses. "That wasn't terribly nice. Do you know what my machete will do to you, little girl?" He licks his lips. "You know, all I ever wanted to be was a nice, pleasant little bunny until Toby started torturing me."

Having wanted to hurl the big clod of dirt after ripping it up, Imaginary Girl found that, with the fat rabbit atop it, it weighed a tad too much. Lifting it up as she started into the air, instead, she grins. "Ready to fly, Wumbles?", she asks... and then accelerates. All at once, she's rocketing up into the air several tens of THOUSANDS of kilometers, right up out of Earth's atmosphere... into the 'weightlessness' of space. There, she lets go... and lets the clod of earth, and its passenger, float free.

Wumbles stares in shock. "No...you can't!" he stares in shock as the roar of noise echoes and his voice is drowned out. "You CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN'T!" There's a horrendous roar as every window for a mile around shatters, and the thunderous aftershock ripples through the street. Wumbles floats in space, seemingly quite surprised as it and the clod of earth float about.

Lorelei winces at the sonic boom.

Yolanda blinks. "No!"

Rain slowly lowers himself down...until his feet land on the robot with a soft clink. He has his arms crossed, his head tilted as he looks down at it curiously...On guard in the back of his mind, he just is now curious for the most part. What knocked it out? The explosion he caused? Most likely, EMP? Makes sense....but if it was a evil construct wouldn't it be shielded in some way? Hm...

'Puzzling...'

Lorelei winces at the sonic boom... "Where'd they go?"

Yolanda says, "This is not good. If Wumbles dies, Toby dies with him."

Lightray closes his eyes for a moment at the sonic boom. He descends to the ground next to Doris. Then, without a word, he simply forms a sword of sunlight and attempts to cut the killer robot in two it seems.

The blade of sunlight slices the head and part of the shoulders from the robot. A smell of ozone fills the air as the robot falls into two pieces.

Space. Wumbles floats freely as he hurtles away from Imaginary Girl, away from Earth, away from everything. His wicked rabbit eyes glower as the stars spread out before him, and he begins travelling out of the solar system on a one way ride, retaining his velocity.

Kismet continues on her path of focus on Toby. The ability to focus on just this task helps her ignore the exploding and fiery death that seems to have been attracted around here.

Lorelei says, "The trouble is, they're both dangerous... are they even treatable?"

Toby has left the atmosphere with Mr. Wumbles. His presence grows fainter and fainter.

Yolanda hears Kismet's telepathic voice: << What's she doing? >>

Yolanda sends a telepathic message to Kismet: << I don't know. I had to break contact with Imaginary Girl to focus on Toby. >>

Imaginary Girl floats in place, having let Wumbles and the wad of dirt go to float away with the momentum she imparted to them. "You'll never hurt any children again, Wumbles. You'll float through space forever, now", she says, hands on her hips. "I just... wish I'd been able to save Toby...", she adds, in a soft, sad tone of voice. Lifting one hand to shake a fist at Wumbles, she calls out again, "Be a miserable, horrible friend all by yourself!", to the evil formerly-imaginary-friend. "I should totally just destroy you... but I'm not a killer. Not like you are", she adds, putting her hands back on her hips to watch for a moment more before turning to fly back down into Earth's atmosphere.

Yolanda sits down on the ground, Lotus position. She closes her eyes and shuts out the distractions of the world around her.

Far up in the sky above the city, Imaginary Girl slows from her far-beyond-sonic speeds, so that the sonic boom, while possibly audible at that distance, isn't window-shattering, this time. She continues down, tears on her cheeks as she aims to land near the 'crater' she left by tearing up that big wad of dirt to use as a rabbit-trap.

The sounds of sirens echo through the streets, fire and police gathering at the site of what's left of the Roanoke Institute. The sun and haze glower over the winter day, and the smell of smoke echoes in your nostrils. It is the smell of victory over Mr. Wumbles. But on the horizon, several things are just beginning...

Lightray goes over to check on Spirit. If needed he pours as much sunight as needed into the hero to bring him back to health and consciousness.

Kismet emerges from her hiding place, peering around. "This.. is a mess," she decides, glad she wasn't in the mess zone.

Imaginary Girl lands... and walks over towards the nearest police officer, holding out her hands. "It's my fault, sir", she says to him, simply. "All the broken glass... anyone that got hurt by it, when that big boom happened a little bit ago. That was me", she explains - as she turns herself in for it.

Rain quickly leaps back when Lightray slices the robot...He gets the picture at least. Time for a little dissapearing act, hopefully no one will even remember him from this incident as his low key tactic hopefully worked.

He hears talk on the big boom incident...and lets a breath of relief out. That is until the media start to trickle in...and he simply vanishes into air as the storm above begins to slack. He needs more time to gather his head.

Yolanda wakes from her trance. "Imaginary Girl... what did you do to Wumbles? If he dies... Toby's gone as well..."

Spirit is only out a few more seconds, and then gets to his feet slowly. He nods to Lightray. "Thanks. Where'd that lightning come from?"

Imaginary Girl looks over at Yolanda, still holding her hands out - to be cuffed - at the police officer. "I... tossed him out into space, so he won't hurt anyone here ever again", she replies. "Wait... but... isn't Toby already dead? When that thingie exploded... he just turned into nothing....?"

The police walk over to Imaginary Girl. "Okay, we'll arrest you..." One of them says. "Come on, get in the car..."

Lorelei says, "He became imaginary - but he's not dead as such."

Yolanda says, "He's become Wumbles Imaginary Friend."

Imaginary Girl nods her head to the police officer, following over to the car. She looks a bit distressed at that news. "... I didn't know...", she says, and pauses to look up into the sky. "Sorry, Toby...", she says, before sitting herself into the back of the cruiser.

Lightray looks at Spirit for a moment, then shrugs his shoulders. "I ahev no idea I am afraid." He glances around at the statement Dr Simmons made. His expression blank he just shakes his head and takes to the sky.

The police car pulls away, carrying Imaginary Girl as firemen come forward to put out the flickering remains of the burning gasoline. The world is safer, or so it seems for a moment. Just for a second, as Lightray turns the corner, there's a brief flicker of light. There's a man in a bomber jacket standing there with his arm around a gorgeous supermodel, leaning against a traffic light with a square jawed smile...or was there?

Lorelei frowns. "What did she do with Wumbles? Can't we get Toby back?"

Spirit mutters, "...could have stopped that device on my own." He looks around slowly at the debris. And IG getting arrested. "What the..." He flies over...to where the group is, and lands, taking stock of who's still here.

Jennifer arrives on bike at breakneck speed, having made her way over from the docks. But city streets and a few miles means she doesn't arrive until the entire incident is over.

The next day, of course, Imaginary Girl will be released - no charges being held against her. With the statements taken from her and other heroes on the scene, it's been decided that the man known as 'Doctor Ingersoll' is to be held fully responsible for everything that took place.

Jennifer says, "What on earth happened here? I got the radio call, tried to contact you, anyone, and couldn't get an answer."

Lorelei says, "Sorry Jenn- radio was jammed.... Big mess. And I'm not sure we won...."

Jennifer looks around and then back to Lorelei, "How many dead?"

Kismet lets a long breath, and tells Jennifer, "That rabbit happened."

Yolanda says, "I'm still trying to sort it out myself. Maybe two dead... the way that Imaginary Girl turned herself into the police... it seemed ominous."

Jennifer says, "Hi, Kismet. Did it get away again?"

Kismet shakes her head slowly. "Not...exactly."

Lorelei says, "I don't know... Imaginary Girl took the rabbit off somewhere.... I don't know where, she didn't say, but I'm guessing space."

Lorelei says, "But the kid who imagined it - Toby - has become imaginary himself somehow. And disappeared with the rabbit."

Jennifer says, "Ah. It's an ex-toon, kind of. Can it survive in space?"

Lorelei says, "I don't know. Imaginary Girl said nothing really before turning herself over to thr police.... She wouldn't kill - would she? Not Imaginary Girl?"

Spirit says, "Well, if the rabbit doesn't need to breathe...and he might not...he might not be dead. That leaves - a bunch of robots, this kid Toby, and the Doctor. The robots I don't really care about, and from what you said, Toby became 'imaginary'? Like a floating consciousness? What happened with the doctor?""

Yolanda shakes her head. "I don't know. If Imaginary Girl can survive there, maybe there's a chance that Wumbles is still alive. If if Wumbles is alive, then maybe Toby has a chance too.

Kismet nods. "He's ...still there. Just not.. in physical form." She looks fairly shaken, but composed.

Lorelei says, "I think the doctor teleported? But I'm not sure, what with all the falling bits of building."

Spirit nods. "Ah. I was unconscious due to the exploding device, so I didn't see what happened to everyone."

Jennifer looks up for a moment, "Well... if the wabbit can't survive in space it's deep frozen wabbit pie filling by now. If it can getting it back ought to be easy. But do we want it?"

Spirit shrugs, "I don't know. Floating in space could be a good prison."

Lorelei says, "Well.... not running wild. But the kid's still a kid, even if he's a monster. And the rabbit's sentient too. I don't know - is it possible to treat them?"

Lorelei looks to Yolanda.

Yolanda says, "Getting it back may be the only way to save Toby."

Yolanda says, "I don't know if it's possible to undo all the damage that Ingersoll had done. All of the evidence looks to have been disintegrated."

Lorelei says, "It space is a prison, presumably it can't move in space. Could it be treated there? Or rendedered harmless before bring it back?"

Kismet raises her hand. "I might be able to..."

Lorelei says, "I wonder how much giant-rabbit-sized questionite handcuffs and leg-iron would cost....."

Kismet explains, "I can treat damaged minds. If I'd known Toby's had been harmed, I might have been able to reverse it."

Yolanda says, "Still, I'm not willing to declare Toby as untreatable. There are techniques available. It makes me angry... all the time that Toby spent in Ingersoll's hands, when he could have been receiving propter treatment."

Lorelei nods. "One thing - it'll probably be easier to get his parents' permission now, I guess..."

Kismet suggests, "I think we might need to figure out another name for the doctor." She walks over, pointing to the face mask on the ground.

Yolanda says, "Kismet, would it be possible to sit and chat in a few days? I think that there some things that we might be able to teach one another."

Spirit, and Yolanda

Kismet shrugs slowly, and nods. "I think that would be possible, yes."

Spirit shrugs, "Hey, I could probably tow him back, if we wanted to. Without him getting near me."

Spirit says, "So...either way."

Jennifer looks over to Yolanda with a grave expression on her face, "Can you define save? You wouldn't want the kid walking around loose would you. And I remember someone saying he was a potentially serious TK'er. This is the kid who created Mr Wumbles? If you can help him, assuming he's still alive in any form, I'll get a track started so we know where Mr Wumbles is. I'm getting the impression that Toby is in the same place, in some weird fashion?"

Kismet replies to Jennifer, "If Toby's mental state is a result of tampering by the man who Toby was entrusted to, then I can help him and heal him."

Kismet looks at Yolanda. "I'm not sure whether someone else can or not, but I know it's something that can be done."

Well, if it was any question where the lightning came from, Rain accidentally answered it. On a nearby building, a bolt of lightning that seems to appear almost from the blue connects with a corner, shattering a few windows in its own. The thing is after it dissapates, the same young man in blue stands there, half leaning forward to look over the area that the Institute once was in...

Yeah, he's back, due to the fact he's feeling a tinge of guilt. He didn't mean for this to happen, but in his mind it was just another accident.

Yolanda looks to Jennifer. "Do you want my honest opinion? Toby suffered from a physical defect in his brain that prevented him from being able to distinguish right from wrong. Academically, it might be possible to improve on his condition. Realistically, I think the time might be spent better elsewhere. The planet is being threatened by aliens, for example."

Jennifer nods to Kismet, "I'll get it organized then."

Lorelei glances up at the man who's just appeard. "Who's that?!"

Kismet asks Yolanda, "Are you certain about Toby's mental state though? I mean, you just quoted Dr. Ingersoll, and he's not exactly a reliable source."

Rain paces quietly back and forth on the edge of the building, eyeing the crater where the building once was. After a moment, he just shakes his head.

Jennifer looks at Kismet and sadly shakes her head, "I have to go with Dr Simmons. I know her. I not happy about it but either it's already too late or we'll know where they are for the next few dozen years and can pick up Mr Wumbles if a new improved treatment comes along."

Spirit looks over at Rain, and then looks to Lorelei, "He was here when the fighting started, I remember seeing him. But I assumed you knew him." He looks back to Rain, who's still at a distance, "I'm guessing he's the source of the lightning."

Yolanda nods to Kismet. She sighs tiredly. "You're right, you're right." She repeats to Jennifer. "Kismet does have a point, actually." She turns her attention to Rain.

Lorelei says, "Ah... probably...."

Kismet nods in responds to Jennifer. "I trust Dr. Simmons too. I just wonder if her diagnosis is from personal experience or from what Ingersoll said."

Rain turns his head a bit as he notices the other heroes starting to look at him. He feels his throat tighten a little...maybe he should make a quick exit again?

Lorelei gives Rain a friendly wave, assuming he's one of the good guys.

Jennifer nods. "Whichever it is my associates will want to know the trajectory Mr Wumbles is on if only to make sure he doesn't bump into any space assets. So if you decide someone ought to go get him I should be about to provide a street map."

Rain just gives a cautious wave back, last time this happened he wound up being swarmed thinking he was an enemy. He still assumes they think the blast was from him, which it was but still.

Lorelei comments, "He seems a bit shy."

Yolanda nods. "Jennifer, after I've had some time to rest, I'd like to try and locate Rapture. I don't want to be alone when I do it, in case her captors have set up nasty surprises for mentalist."

Lorelei nods. "I think finding Rapture should be a priority for all of us."

Jennifer nods, "Sure thing Doc." There's a grin as she says that. "Anytime you want just give me a call."

Rain just pauses a moment before hoping off the ledge. Back now towards the middle of the roof, he tries to at least keep out of sight before he simply flickers out of sight. Time to retreat for now.

Lorelei says, "I guess he *is* shy.... Oh well."

Jennifer says, "New guy on the scene. Give him time. Heck, this might be his first outing and it's not the usual tidy aftermath. I'm going to invest in a window repalcement company."

Epilogue
Space...four weeks later. "You! You ruined everything, you stupid, useless rabbit! Now I'll never be able to rule my empire of blood and death!"

"Ohh, Toby..." The thoughts echoed in the void. "You don't understand. Everything's different now. I'm immortal. Eternal like Imaginary Girl. Do you want to know what that makes you, Toby?"

"NO! It can't be! I'm in charge! I CREATED YOU! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

Mr. Wumbles smiles as the stars pass by, the words passing into Toby's mind as he speaks them, the noise suppressed by the silence of space. "I'm going to savor this, Toby. You're my Imaginary Friend..." Wumbles spreads his arms wide in the void, and dreamily closes his eyes. "And you know what I do to Imaginary Friends..."