Log:Syphon - Funeral

2006/02/16 	 Barricade Fortitude Random Factor Silver Spider Bilbo RedWolf Quicksilver Zeal Zudares

1

There's a light rain that's started, as the funeral procession makes it's way to the cemetery. There had been a small private ceremony at a nearby church prior to coming here. The media is keeping a respectful distance, toward the edge of the cemetery, as the casket is brought toward the grave by several pall bearers. Two of whom seem to be friends of the family. One appears to be Dorian's father.

There's a fairly large crowd that's gathered, since it was made public that this was going to happen today, and here. There are various people outside the graveyard with signs of both support and derision. Most are hopeful...'Colonial Bay supports her heroes!', 'One of the Mighty has fallen!'. A few however, are along the lines of...'Good riddance to the freak!', 'Colonial Bay is safer without him!' The latter are clearly a minority, though.

Al is amongst the crowd outside the graveyard itself, looking in, holding onto the bars of the fence.

Colonial Bay Memorial Cemetery

This large area has markers of all shapes and sizes, including the modern now-a-day holographic headstones, lined up in rows across the green field of grass. Some headstones have seen their days as the wear and tear of age bites at them, whereas others newly placed markers sadly gleam like beacons into the sky. Some of the headstones date back over 250 years while others are mere days or hours old. Flowers are dispersed among the various headstones, giving respect to the memories of those who have long since passed, and to those recently departed. Off in the distance is a single small building which you can make out to be the funeral home where friends and relatives might say their final good-byes to the recently departed before they are buried within this courtyard. At night, the cemetery makes for an eerie place to be. The feeling of lost souls seems to linger nearby as if looking for a new victim to claim. A low fog appears to cling to the ground, making light wisping tendrils to curl around your legs as you walk between the grave markers that look like guardians of the graves.

Zeal Zudares: This beautiful lady of dark coloured hair and athletic build is the daughter of the famous CEO maker of laser tag equipment. Zeal stands about five foot seven inches tall and has a snake tattooen circled on her arm. Zeal is in a somber mood. She is wearing a black dress with a black veil. She has a white hankerchief which she uses to dry her tears.

Dorian's family and friends: Seated near the front of the crowd is a small group of people from out of town.

Eleven is also amongst the outside crowd. He tries to keep a low profile.

A large black truck with heavily tinted windows pulls to a halt outside the cemetry gates. Black Mamba gets out of the driver's cab and opens the rear doors. Lifting out a wheelchair in which is sitting a golden scaled Mamba he wheels her towards the gathering.

Jolt enters from Main Street.

Random Factor frowns.

Fortitude has flown back to Colonial Bay for the funeral of Syphon. Fortitude assembles near where SG members are.

The Green are also here. They arrive in an alternative fueled vehicle.

The family and friends (including the heroes) stand around in a semi-circle, with the pastor at the head of the grave. He speaks, "I'd like to thank you all for coming on the behalf of the Perrault family. I was told that Dorian would have liked a simpler ceremony, but being a public figure, that makes it difficult." He notes the new arrivals with a nod, motioning them to join the group. "But, we got the formalities out of the way, in terms of the religious nature prior to coming here. Partially for the family, and partially out of respect for Dorian's wishes in regards to Fortitude."

Fortitude blushes under his mask.

Jackie arrives on the arm of a hospital security guard. The guard stops outside the gates and Jackie hesitantly walks inside

A black hover limo finally makes it here. Out steps Zeal, Syphon's girlfriend. She is sobbing and rushes over to the ceremony. Her father just waits at the Limo with the driver.

The pastor continues, "Seeing as Dorian was an untraditional sort of man, to say the least. This will be decidedly untraditional. I would invite all of you to speak a few words, if you wish." He pauses and indicates the immediate family. "I know that Thomas has a few words, and you are all welcomed to speak after he's finished."

Alyssa moves in to be near the back of the area, paying her respects to a hero of the community.

Barricade stands next to Random Factor and Bilbo.

Bilbo follows along after Fortitude. His eyes look sunken and dark, and he is constantly shivering. Bits of his rumpled fur are singed black. Instead of his usual uniform, he is wearing a stained white lab-coat. As he waits, he reaches into one of his pockets and pops a few small round objects into his mouth and swallows. After a bit, he hops straight up high enough to see over the crowd and looks around, then another wave of gloom falls over him and he begins softly muttering, "It'll be here. . . It'll be here. Like . . a magnet. Wouldn't miss this. . ."

Fury enters from Main Street.

Twin young women in military style attire arrive by cab and join the group.

Fortitude glances at the twins and does a double take.

Thomas stands up, and looks around at the crowd. "I...want to thank you all for coming. It means a lot to know that he had this many friends. After the accident he had when he was overseas, we were worried. He was so...angry. We did our best to support him, despite being worried about what would happen to him." He starts to tear up a little, and then smiles, "We were worried that he wouldn't have a life. A real life, after the accident. But he managed to not have a 'normal' life...I'd say it was extraordinary, and I'm very proud of him. I just...wish I could have had a chance to tell him that before he was gone." He chokes back a little..."We...well, those of us who knew him prior to the accident..." He motions to his wife, and the two people with her, "...we owe those of you who were his friends here, a debt of gratitude. For helping make his life richer in the process. Thank you." With that, he sits back down...

The pastor nods to Thomas..."Those of you who wish to speak may say a few words. Normally, I'd have a microphone for you...but it'd get shorted out in this rain." The light rain continues to come down...the ground level starting to get a little foggy.

Jolt is here, she's standing a bit away from the crowd, though she doesn't seem to be crying or nothing because she didn't know him all that well, but she did seem a little quiet and sad and came to listen. Of course she has an aversion to speaking to crowds formally, she usually screws up and embarrasses herself, she'll leave that to people who are better at it.

Zeal is still sobbing and the Green start going up to the front. It seems like they want to speak.

The pastor nods to the Green. "Go ahead."

The Green is composed of Sequoia, Shitake, Rose, Lumber Jack, Tornado Bill, Babe, Ginseng, Mud Dauber, and Old Faithful.

All of the Green line up before the audience. There are two new members that others may not have seen before. Mud Dauber, former member of the Stingers is there. Also an old man dressed in blue. The old man goes up to speak. "Greetings all. This is truly a sad day. We, the green, knew Dorian as Syphon. He was a fighter for the people and the community. Even though our group had our differences we had one thing in common. That was the safety of the public and the continual fight to end the dangers of nuclear power, research, and technology. Syphon was vital at protests and was a leader. He helped public awareness about the dangers of Nuclear weapons, and waste. We are honored to have fought with and work with Dorian Perrault and we will miss him dearly. He was a great man."

After that the Green went back to their seats.

The pastor nods, raising his eyebrows a little at the Green's comments, but doesn't editorialize. "Anyone else?"

A sobbing Zeal Zudares tries to make her way up to the front..

She's waved forward by the preacher.

When moves forward towards the front as well to wait her turn after Zeal.

Zeal is sobbing, almost uncontrollably at times. After some moments she finally composes her self and starts to speak. "Dorian and I .. we met some years ago.. at the Best of the Best tournament. While others saw a monster, I saw the beauty inside of him. He was a kind and loving man. We shared many great memories together.. but not enough.. " The woman starts to cry again and wipes away a few tears. "He saved me from the Stingers..." Zeal's voice starts to grow strong as she angrily stares down Mud Dauber. The former stinger has no heart to look Zeal in the eye and looks away. "He risked his all for me and for all of you. And finally..." The woman starts to break down. "Finally my family was looking forward for us to be together.. forever.. " Zeal really starts crying now and is unable to continue...

The pastor pats Zeal on the back, and motions for When to come forward.

Zeal takes her time to get back to her seat, crying the whole way.

When...When hesitates, one of the friends that came with the family gets up, and moves to the front. The one who's in the Army. "I just thought I'd relate a story from our college days. I knew him when he was working on his bachelor's. Anyway...there was a point where he was sick with pneumonia...for three weeks. He kept slogging through, trying to go to classes. Through sheer force of will, he managed to get through it, and still pass for the term. But, we ended up calling him 'Gramps', because he would keep getting winded climbing a single set of stairs." He chuckles quietly. "I was always impressed by his perseverance. The reminder of that time helped me through Basic. There were things about him that I wished were true for me...but they're too long to list here. We'd be here FAR too long." He chuckles again. "Anyway...my heart goes out to all of you that fight the good fight every day here." With that, he sits back down, nodding to the other gentleman that he's sitting with.

Eleven glances at all the people here. He kept Avenger at home. That noisy thing would have ruined it for the mourners.

The pastor smiles, and motions to the crowd..."Please...don't be shy, folks. You mostly run around in tights, or some kind of equivalent...and you're afraid of public speaking?" He chuckles quietly, and it's a little infectious...a number of people chuckle at the idea, especially among the media.

Black Mamba takes a step forward and looks at the pastor.

Barricade looks over to Random Factor and whispers, "Should SG have something to say? He was a member.."

The pastor nods to Black Mamba. "Go ahead."

Black Mamba steps forward to the graveside. "It may surprise many of you to hear me speaking today. But it's a sign of the true greatness of the man we are gathered here in remembrance of that he was able to transcend issues such as my irregular activities and find a common purpose in protecting the innocent from violent crime from harm. I am intensely proud to have been a friend of Syphon. I shall miss him deeply. We are all much are poorer today for his absence. I urge those gathered here who have been his companions in the fight for justice to carry on his work. Let Syphon's stand against the evil that lurks in our city become a burning torch that his friends will continue to carry forwards."

When steps forward and quietly speaks. She does not have much to say. "Syphon was the first other hero that I actually met. He was a quiet and gentle sort and I respected him. He was never less than a perfect gentleman and fully dedicated to his career and hero as well. I will miss the occasional battles with him at my side even if they were rare. The rescue of Zeal was the last time I fought with him and it was something I will remember for a long time."

When adds, "He might not have allowed anyone to touch his physically, but instead he touched hearts with warmth."

Quicksilver slips into the cemetery over a wall, rather than try to go through the group of protestors. He stays a distance away, watching and listening to the ceremonies.

Al takes a deep breath, and walks off, having seen what he wanted to.

Al leaves Colonial Bay Memorial Cemetery and enters Main Street.

The pastor nods with a smile..."Anyone else?"

RedWolf moves forward to speak briefly. "He was like a father to me. I loved him. I..." She chokes up and hurries back into the crowd.

Eleven eyes the man walking off. Suspicious.. Jack will have to keep an eye on him. Eleven follows Al.

Eleven leaves Colonial Bay Memorial Cemetery and enters Main Street.

Bilbo looks around nervously, wringing his paws.

RedWolf: This youngish woman is clearly some kind of agent. She is wearing a military style costume, tight fitting red cloth with black trim and silver buttons. There are no unit patches or insigna on the costume but it's easy to see where such were attached before being removed. A metallic link harness is fastened around her torso. At her waist is a wide utility belt holding various small tools and gadgets. She carries a crystalline device in her right hand, roughly the shape and size of a large goose's egg.

She wears soft leather boots, protecting her feet while also allowing silent movement, her hands are bare and uncovered. She has short curly flame-red hair and hazel green eyes which peer alertly from the red domino mask covering most of her upper face. Her build is slim, athletic, and her movements feline in smoothness.

Barricade whispers to Bilbo, "We need to say something.."

Barricade grabs Bilbo and Random and the trio of SG members make their way up (if Bilbo and Random Allows..)

The pastor looks at Barricade..."Go ahead...you look like you have something to add."

Bilbo looks startled as Barricade grabs hold of him. It isn't often he's caught by surprise. But he lets himself be dragged over.

Barricade is very nervous and he stands in the middle of the Starguard Trio. "Ahem.. Um.. Syphon was a member of the Starguard Gamma briefly. I was not a member of the team at the time, but I have heard stories of his valor and heroism. We, the members of Starguard Salute the life and heroics of Dorian Perrault." Barricade then looks over to Bilbo and motions with his head to the crowd. He whispers to Bilbo, "Tell them something that he did..."

Bilbo looks panic-stricken as suddenly all the eyes are on him. . . His eyes droop to focus resolutely on a nearby holographic grave-stone as he begins uncontrollably twitching. "Syphon was, um, a great guy. He fought all sorts of nasty supervillains and . . . . No . . This is wrong!" He shakes his head violently, "We should be all teaming together to help him, not . . . not mourning over his shell. I'm the only one who say what happened who understands high-energy physics! He didn't die, he . . hatched. But . . but. . . it was too soon. We have to put him back together before its too late. He's energy now. Don't you people understand? He can still be saved!" He looks around frantically for support among the crowd.

Alyssa slips out after this and works her way quickly through the protestors to her van and gets and heads into the back.

Barricade quickly interrupts Bilbo, "We all miss him greatly, as you can see, we all wish he was here with us." Barricade quickly takes Bilbo back down along with Random Factor.

Barricade thinks. o O (Whew... That was close. Not too embarrassing I hope.)

Barricade nudges Random Factor. "Amigo.. thanks for leaving us out in the cold.."

Quicksilver just leans against a tree, off to the side, watching and listening, giving somewhat of a silent tribute.

Barricade pats Bilbo, "You did good."

Dorian's mother starts to cry a bit at Bilbo's remarks. Her husband consoles her.

Bilbo shoulders droop as he sighs to Barricade, "No one believes me . . ."

Barricade whispers to Bilbo, "Just give it some time.."

RedWolf feels angry that someone may be mocking the fureral by dressing up like Syphon. She'd go and 'talk' to whoever it is except she doesn't want to make a disturbance.

Most of the crowd just seems to silently listen to Bilbo, staring at him like he's a crackpot.

Zeal is still crying...

The pastor coughs a bit, as it's gotten very quiet. "Anyone else like to speak?"

Celestra flies forward to get to the podium then. "Syphon was one of the heroes that I most respected. He was one of the few that I would invite to join me and help me out. I trusted him at my back completely." She does not have much to say and she said it before pulling back.

The pastor nods to Celestra. "Anyone else?"

Random Factor nods.

Random Factor comes back forward and clears his throat.

The pastor nods to Random Factor.

Bilbo's head droops even further. No one believed him. No one offered to help . . . Such a burden for a little monkey.

Random Factor says, "I had the privilage of knowing Dorian as both a man, and as a hero. He was they type of hero the rest of us aspire to be. Always there, in times of trouble to lend a hand, no matter how large or how small. He never once said "It's not my problem, but did everything in his considerable power to do move Heaven and Earth to always change things for the better.""

Random Factor says, "We were saddened when he left Starguard, but he was still always there when we needed him. We will always consider him one of us. His legacy will always be remembered, and in his honor, Starguard will fund a new pysics chair at CBSU."

Random Factor walks back down, stopping to greet the family.

The parents both shake RF's hands, thanking him.

The pastor nods as Random Factor finishes, and as no one is immediately forthcoming to speak further, he motions to the pall bearers...who lift the casket, and lower it into the grave. The preacher then continues to speak quietly..."We give him back to the earth...ashes to ashes...dust to dust..." The two friends of Dorian's from college set about shoveling the dirt, and Dorian's father, Thomas, addresses the crowd. "Again, thank you all for coming. In lieu of flowers, or cards to us...we would ask that you donate to the American Cancer Research Institute. God bless you all. Thank you."

The pastor then smiles, "That's the end of the official ceremony." As he says this..the two friends finish the shovelling. "Feel free to stay, and talk. I'm sure there is plenty to talk about."

The pastor chuckles. "I guess it was a little informal, but he'd have wanted it that way."

Blitzkrieg doesn't say a word, but salutes, then lifts into the air high above and streaks out and then back again, in as if a flow-over in military custom.

Barricade whispers to Bilbo, "Biblo, you just need some time to figure out the whole thing. If it doesn't work, then the people's hopes will be crushed. So Right now, just keep it low. Once you got it all worked out then, everyone will be happy."

Bilbo sighs and bobs his heads, but doesn't look much more chipper.

Barricade smiles to Random Factor, clearly relieved that he finished strong for SG.

RedWolf makes her way over to Bilbo with her twin beside her. "Hello, Bilbo. I'll help." she says quietly. "What can I do?"

Quicksilver gives a salute of his own and then moves back towards the wall he came over and slips over it again, in quietly and out the same..

Quicksilver leaves Colonial Bay Memorial Cemetery and enters Main Street.

The family and college friends make their way out together, after paying their respects one last time. The media is all over them as they leave, but they make it through the crowd without too much problem.

Random Factor kneels next to Bilbo as if to straighten out his lapel and whispers: "We all hope your Bilbo, and you know we have your Starguard's full support, but you have to remember a couple of things right now. First, you're operating on a theory. We have no proff. And second, I know human emotions and customs are still a little new to you, but even if your right, right now, we just have to take a moment to grieve. Especially his family."

Barricade smiles to Red and Green Wolf. "Greetings ladies."

Bilbo slowly nods his head as Random speaks, "But . . . they might have helped maybe. I'm just one monkey . . ." He looks over at Redwolf, mildly confused, "Um . . . you humans sure grow up fast. . . Er. Maybe you can help . . . "

Fortitude says hello to other heroes in the area. He goes by to say hello to Wasp and to talk to the grown up girls before parting...

RedWolf and GreenWolf smile back ar Barricade. "Hi. It's a terrible business isn't it."

Barricade nods to Red and Green Wolf. "It is .. it is indeed.."

RedWolf and GreenWolf break off from talking to Barricade for a minute to hug and kiss Fortitude, promising to go and visit him soon.

Fortitude is amazed at the girl's um sudden maturity. He asks them. "How are you doing? How is Steel? My you girls grew up in a flash.."

Bilbo sighs, "It'll be very tricky to fix everything . . . Recombining Wasp looks like it'll be a major problem . . . and I don't think the human twin wants to be super anymore."

RedWolf Mum's doing great. She's been promoted to Colonel. But I'm not allowed to talk about that.

Silver Spider enters from Main Street.

Zeal is at the gravesite still sobbing. She lays a laurel of flows on the site after the burial.

Fortitude nods and hopes the girls will find time to visit soon. He tells them how great it is on the west coast. Still thinking they are little girls he promises to take them to Disneyland sometime.

Silver Spider makes her way across the field, looking around at the gathered people. She is holding a large clipboard and still wearing a slightly mauled labcoat. She looks out of sorts, and not very superheroic. There is a nasty stain where someone threw a tomato at her coat, and she looks over to the Mambas, eyes narrowed.

The green are sipping water and talking amongst themselves.

Some valet is holding an umbrella up to cover Zeal from the rain.

Barricade looks around and says to Random Factor, "Ok.. what is our next step?"

Black Mamba walks over to Silver Spider, "Today, let's have a truce. Syphon was a friend of mine. We may have been on opposite sides of the fence but that didn't stop us being friends. Let's not make a disturbance here."

Fortitude says hello to Wasp, "Jackie! How are you doing? I see that you got back to normal size!"

Jackie smiles a little vaguely at Fortitude, "Oh, hello. Do I know you? I'm sorry, my memory is a bit weak at the moment."

A few new protestors show up...with signs like, "Starguard is the enemy!" "Fascistguard!", etc.

Silver Spider begins walking over to Random Factor, and takes a position in quiet silence, staring at the sobbing Zeal, and says softly "Sorry I'm late. I was working on the Wasp thing and I overclocked myself..." She then turns to Barricade and clenches her fist, not saying a word as Mamba approaches. After he opens his mouth, she whispers. "You didn't deserve a friend like him..." She grits her teeth. "Be grateful I have more respect for the dead than you such that you even thought that needed to be said..."

[To Barricade] Random Factor says, "Just a moment." Then he crosses to pay his respects to Zeal. "If there's anything we can do..."

Fortitude blinks. "Jackie.. Did something happen? I'm Fortitude. I'm a friend of yours.."

Bilbo sighs and scampers over to Fortitude and tugs on his arm.

Zeal turns her head to look at Random Factor and the other heroes. "Just.. give me some time alone.. "

Fortitude looks down to Bilbo. "hello Bilbo... What's up?"

Barricade nods to Random Factor and remains standing there looking around, being alert and stuff.

Bilbo quietly whispers up to Fortitude, "Thats the human twin. The Stingers split Wasp in two. This one is almost completely human. The other twin got almost all the alien and mutant DNA."

Jackie nods. "Hello Fortitude. Yes, I've lost a lot of my memories. It's all been very strange lately. The doctors have been telling me I used to be a superhero too but I can't remember it."

Random Factor nods. "Of course." He pats her hand and glances over to Wasp, and seeing she's talking to Fortitude crosses back to Barricade.

Silver Spider's head turns towards the protestors. "Oh, man..." She says as she watches them. "Someone get those guys out of here quietly before someone does something stupid and this place turns into a riot."

Barricade stands attention to Random Factor. "Sir, there are protestors outside..."

Silver Spider's head turns towards Black Mamba. "Not you." She says firmly.

Fortitude nods sadly to Bilbo and then tells Jackie, "Oh.. I hope you recover soon. Is there anything I can do to help?"

The pro-hero supporters seem to outnumber the anti-Syphon and anti-Starguard protestors...but it's starting to get a little heated. There's a little pushing that starts to occur between the two groups.

Silver Spider turns and looks to Barricade. "Do me a favor, Barricade. Keep an eye on those guys. If shoving starts, put a wall between them and let the cops do the rest?"

Jackie shrugs. "I don't think so. I suppose the doctors are working on my case but really I feel okay. I just want to b=get back to my nursing duties and medical studies."

Barricade nods to Silver Spider. "That sounds reasonable."

Random Factor nods to Barricade. "As much as it galls me that they would sully this occasion in an attempt to mock, or deride... it's their right. And the police are here. If they need help we'll step in. If not, it's not in our jurisdiction, and frankly, would be a public relations nightmare."

The police do start to turn up in a little more force, and the people outside the cemetery calm down, at least for the time being. But it's clear that it's still fairly volatile out there.

Celestra flies down to land between the pro syphon and anti-starguard/anti syphon and then does her best to generate her hologram of a wall between the two to ket them seperated.

Fortitude reaches into his belt and pulls out a small mini-pda. "Here. I can give you my PDA number.. If you want to talk about the past.. I'm always free for that.. Jackie.. no rush, ok? I know you will be well soon."

Bilbo nods slowly, "Good good. So, the residual alien DNA hasn't started re-asserting?"

The appearance of Celestra between the two groups also helps to calm them down. They seperate, grudgingly.

Jackie nods and takes the mini-PDA. "Thank you. The only thing I regret is losing memories of people who obviously were my friends. I hope I get those memroies back at least."

Silver Spider facepalms. "Oh, man." She takes a deep breath. "That...might have started just what we're trying to avoid." She turns and looks at Bilbo. "No, I've isolated most of the factors, but this is the sort of stuff that really requires a careful, slow analysis. We're messing about with the human genome here. One false step and it's nanovirus, plague, or big explosion."

Fortitude gives Wasp a hug and then says goodbye to the twins give them hugs as well. He has to get back to the west coast and his flight leaves shortly. So.. off he goes..

Bilbo ponders a bit, then replies to Spider, "Well, we do know that the DNA of the mosquito-twin absorbs the residual alien DNA in the human twin when they come into contact. . ."

Celestra continues to generate her hologram all to keep them apart though thy can hear each other.

Barricade nods in agreement with Bilbo. "We have made progress."

When turns and moves to leave and vanishes.

Silver Spider turns to Bilbo. "Yes, I'm already working on that." She says. "I'm trying to see if I can build a genemap so that we can isolate the radioactive wasp DNA from the creature and use it to reinject Jackie. But one, she'd have to agree, and two, I'm trying to build a model that allows her to shrink and grow at will, and let me tell you, the concepts behind this aren't easy at all."

Silver Spider says, "Plus, it only solves the physical part of the equation. It does nothing for the fact that she's suffering from severe memory loss."

The various protestors continue for a little while...another fifteen minutes or so. Then the rain starts to come down a little harder...and their signs start to streak and run...and they start to pack it in for today.

Barricade says, "Jackie seems to be more interested in being a nurse and getting her memories back so we are focusing on those issues, Silver Spider."

Bilbo ponders a bit, "Um. Wouldn't just injecting her with some of her twin's DNA do the trick? The alien DNA appears highly aggressive, so it'd absorb and incorporate the human twin's DNA into itself. There would be a problem with the excess Mosquito DNA, I imagine . . . Maybe that portion could be extracted first."

Silver Spider turns to Barricade. "I completely understand this, Barricade. Rome wasn't built in a day. But building these models is important. I know you don't do this very often, but you really need to learn something about women. They change their mind. A lot." SHe winks an eyeslit. "Bilbo, that's the entire purpose of the genemap. You don't pull a stunt like this until you know what you're looking at. You can't just put DNA in a centrifuge and pray it's properly filtered."

Barricade looks up as the rains starts to batter down on them. He raises a guantlet and forms a small barrier that protects the chatting heroes from the rain.

Bilbo nods slowly, "This sort of thing is outside my field, really."

Silver Spider turns to Bilbo. "Well, fortunately for is, it is my field." She says. "One of them anyway."

Silver Spider's eyes turn to look at Golden Mamba for a moment, and then looks over to Black Mamba. "So that's her?" She says for a moment. "Not what I expected."

The twins move closer to the chatting heroes to take advantage of the rain shielding barrier.

Golden Mamba

This heavily muscled female humaniod has the golden scaly skin and flickering forked tongue of a snake. She is about 5ft 10" tall although its hard to be sure since she in confined to a wheelchair. Her eyes are circular in shape like a snake's and she has no external ears. She wears a dark blue dress and has a blanket wrapped around her legs.

Barricade moves to cover Jackie from the rain or expand his barrier to cover her as well.

Barricade waves with his free hand to the wolfguard twins and motions them to come over.

Black Mamba asks ASilverSpider curiously, "What did you expect?"

The protestors have dispersed...and the media is now packing up, leaving the heroes (and a villain or two) to discuss things in the rain on their own.

The green seem to enjoy the rain and they just stand around chatting with each other.

Random Factor says, "As far as that goes... we don't even know EXACTLY what the twin is. It was feeding off of her. For all we know, her powers and even perhaps her memories may come back on their own now that she's stopped "sucking them out of her". Remember how DarkWasp looked at Syphon. She remembered him. She couldn't if she didn't have Jackies memories. I'd love to have Psiren take a look at her, but I'm a bit afraid to ask. Jackie was terrified of mentalists, and if she still has those fears I don't want her to retreat back into herself."

Barricade mentions to Random Factor, "We still need to interrogate this second Wasp and the Stingers in custody. We could find out some information from them."

Bilbo considers things carefully for a moment, "Um. Did anyone trying to talk to the Mosquito-Wasp yet?"

Silver Spider turns to Black Mamba quietly. "I didn't expect someone who looked like that. For one thing, I expected a guy from the news reports. For another, she looks familiar in an uncomfortable way..." She turns to look at Barricade. "I tried speaking to Wasp II. It doesn't really communicate so much as hiss and act cranky."

Barricade nods to Silver Spider, "We need to give them a couple of days to recuperate. Not only do we need to speak with Dark Wasp, but the Stingers as well. Especially Dragonfly and Damselfly."

Silver Spider nods. "I doubt they'll give us anything useful." She says. "Defeated men don't like to talk."

Bilbo looks confused, "Dark Wasp? When did we start calling her that? Shouldn't we call her, um, Bloodwasp?"

Random Factor says, "Thinking back, I don't think I've ever heard her speak, and she didn't respond when I tried to speak to her as "Syphon", Doesn't mean we won't try, or use a mentallist on her."

Barricade says, "We have our methods."

Barricade tells Bilbo, "I dont know what to call her. I've heard Blood, Mosquito, Dark, WaspII, etc etc. "

Black Mamba nods with sudden understanding. "Ah... No, this isn't the MAMBA boss guy. Silver Spider, meet Dr Tilbury, the accidental inventor of the Mamba serum. Dr Tilbury was attacked and left for dead by the person who stole her work."

Zeal gets up and leaves. The hover limo takes her to Syphon's place where she has a few belongings and also many memories.

Silver Spider turns to Black Mamba for a moment. "You're gonna have to excuse me for saying this, but may I ask Dr. Tilbury a few pointed questions?"

Bilbo's ears perk up as he hears 'Mamba Serum', he politely says to Barricade, "Excuse me a moment" then scurries over to Golden Mamba and bows, then asks, "Oooh. you invented the Mamba serum? Did you ever figure out a serum to make an animal super-intelligent like me? Are their intelligent lizards and stuff out there?"

Barricade nods to Bilbo and keeps his umbrella wall up over Jackie and the heroes nearby.

Silver Spider thinks. o O (What did you do to my grandmother, Dr. Tilbury? What did you do, you sick freak?)

Black Mamba smiles as much as his snake face can. "I doubt if I could stop you. But if Dr Tilbury has no objections it's certainly no business of mine. Would you like me to go for a walk while you talk with her?"

Silver Spider truns to Bilbo and her eyes narrow, her head turning to him like she's a different person. "Bilbo, I'm going to ask you to shut up now. I'm not going to ask again. I don't want to spoil the reverence of this event by hitting you until you require dental work."

Barricade asks Red and Green wolf about dna stuff. "You two.. have tiger DNA in you right?"

RedWolf nods, as her sister moves closer to Silver Spider and Bilbo, with the intention of protecting Bilbo is he needs it. "Yes, about 15% of us is Bengal tiger DNA, so we were told."

Barricade asks the twins, "Do you know who is the expert of this DNA stuff? That person could help wasp.."

Silver Spider turns to Black Mamba. "Yes, I think I'd like to take a walk with the doctor in private. I promise not to hurt her as long as she doesn't try to enter my mind, fry my brain, or poison me."

RedWolf looks worried. "Oh no, you don't want to have anything to do with the Master. He's evil. I mean really evil. He learned all his genetic stuff experiementing on prisoners in the big war back in the 1940's."

Bilbo eeps, then bobs his head and scurries back over to Barricade.

Black Mamba nods and releases the handles of the wheelchair. "I doubt if I could take you down, Silver Spider. But if you try to hurt Dr Tilbury we'll find out. Do I make myself clear?"

Silver Spider turns to Black Mamba and chuckles. "I don't hurt people in wheelchairs unless they gun for me first..." She says as she takes the handles of the wheelchair. "You have nothing to fear as far as that's concerned. But, you see, for you, this is new business. For me, it's old business. And I always take care of old business. So when I put the snake season posters up, Mr. Former California Pretty Boy, I know some people who are thinking about turning Hindu.' She gently, carefully begins walking away with the wheelchair. "Dr. Tilbury, I need to ask you some questions..."

Barricade pats Bilbo and nods to the twins. "Ah, I see.." To Bilbo, "Are you ok?"

Bilbo nods slowly, "I'm okay . . ."

Celestra flies off quietly.

Barricade asks Bilbo, "You wanna go back to HQ?"

Barricade nods to Joanna and Sally, "Do you think it will be alright for us to get a sample of your DNA? perhaps it will help with our research on Jackie here."

RedWolf nods, "Sure. If you can get through the skinweave I have implanted sub-dermally."

Silver Spider wheels along with Doctor Tilbury, through the cemetary, out of range of most of the others. "Dr. Tilbury, what do you know about Vibracobra, and how did you acquire this serum you were working on?" She whispers, trying to time her questions to loud noises elsewhere in the cemetary.

The green finally leave the area.

Barricade asks Jackie, "Would you like a ride back to the hospital?"

Jackie nods, "Yes, thanks you. That would be helpful."

Barricade wheels Jackie to the SG Van and takes her to the hospital. He will take bilbo back to Sg if he wishes to come along.

Bilbo pads along bside Barricade.

Dr Tilbury has to turn her head to see you. "I know nothing of any Vibracobra. I was working on DNA samples from an old metavillain named King Cobra. According to reports he had regeneration abilities. I was looking for the genes that gave that, and modifying mamba genes to try and duplicate the effects. I found a combination that gave super strength among other things, and reported that to the sonsper of my project. The next night I was called into the lab, attacked, my back broken, and injected with the serum so the attacker could see the result."

Silver Spider nods to Dr. Tilbury. "What happened then?" She asks seriously. "It's exactly as I thought so far. Why did they need to break your back, Dr. Tilbury? Did they tell you?"

Random Factor nods to the others. "You go ahead. I'll be along shortly."

Silver Spider wheels Dr. Tilbury along, listening carefully. o O (Poor grandma. If she knew about this, she'd never sleep ever again.) She takes a deep breath and waits for a response, wheeling along the path.

Dr Tilbury nods. "Oh, yes, the attackers, there were four of them, boasted of their smartness. They broke my back first so if the serum did what they hoped I would still be crippled and helpless."

Silver Spider's eyeslits narrow. "Go on..." She says softly. "I need to know all of it. How did you get involved with this Black Mamba character? How does he fit into the picture?"

Random Factor crosses back over to the grave-sight and just kneels there beside it.

Silver Spider's hands shake a little bit on the wheelchair as she walks, her footsteps slower and more measured. She takes another deep breath as she waits.

"The serum transformed me into the creature you see now." Dr Tilbury states bitterly. "They took the rest of the serum but I managed to bite one of them and the others fled instead of killing me as they planned. Most of what I'm going to tell you now I only found out much later from the Black Mamba I was with today. I'm told the person who organised the attack took the serum himself, and also developed weaker versions for Green and Black mambas. Then he sold the serum and exclusive rights to an area of the country for money..." She pauses for a breath.

Silver Spider nods slowly. "So that's it..." She says softly. "That's all? A bunch of cheap mercenaries assaulted you, destroyed everything my grandmother worked for, and ran off into the night to create a criminal franchise where you give up a sex life to have scales all over your body?" She leans forward and whispers. "So why are they so protective of you?"

Dr Tilbury continues, "I went into hiding. Somehow Syphon found me. I was working on a counter-serum. It seems that Syphon already knew the Black Mamba who is with me today. he had developed a counter-serum for the Black Mamba transformation, and when Syphon told him of my situation he gave Syphon the counter-serum to pass on to me. You're wrong you know. He's a criminal, yes, but I think he's also a good person. He was working with Syphon to try and destroy the MAMBA organisation."

Silver Spider shakes her head. "How do I get this counterserum?" She says softly. "My grandmother, if she's not still alive, would be turning over in her grave. For most people, this is just another supervillain threat. For me, Doctor, this is family. And mama didn't raise no girl in no cornfield, yo..."

Dr Tilbury tells Silver Spider. "Ask the Black Mamba. He gave it to Syphon to pass on to me without asking for anything in return. If you can bring yourself to be civil with him maybe he'll do the same for you. It's only temporary you should know. You have to keep using it."

Silver Spider chuckles. "Really?" She smiles. "You should have a look at my bloodwork sometime. There's about seven or eight different people in there, and it's all stable. I think I might be able to pull something off..." She says softly. "Let's hope that he's not just doing this as a ruse to mass manufacture the serum so he and his can hide among the population."

"I wanted to know something about the person I was going to be beholden unto." Dr Tilbury says, "So I checked into his activities. Did you know neither he nor any of his agents have never harmed any innocent during their crimes. That's a record few heroes can claim. I fairly sure Syphon trusted him. And I for one was prepared to trust Syphon's judgement."

Silver Spider takes the handles of the wheelchair and begins pushing the doctor back. "You remind me of her, you know..." She says softly. "You just didn't have a month in a dirty pit and the transformation's a little harsher. Be strong. Beat this thing. Make my grandmother sleep easy at night..." She begins walking back over to Black Mamba, wheeling her forward, returning to Black Mamba. "Here. Not a scratch on her. I'll be talking to you again when I have some results, Dr. Tilbury..." She says quietly.

Black Mamba leans down over Dr Tilbury, adjusting the blanket wrapped around her legs, "Are you okay?" he asks quietly, and gets a nod from her in return.

Silver Spider looks to Black Mamba. "She says I've misjudged you. I'll come talk to you on Monday. Time will tell..." She lets go of the wheelchair and begins walking away, physically shaken, padding over towards Random Factor. "Hey..." She says. "I need a hug. Bad..."

Black Mamba nods to the heroes and wheels Golden Mamba back to the van.