13187/Ghost No Ghost

Ghost No Ghost
Date of Scene:	26 October 2022
Location:	Abandoned Amusement Park - Amusement Mile
Synopsis:	Hellboy brings in a couple experts to help him catch a ghost. Unfortunately, he forgot to bring a ghost to this ghost-hunting party.
Cast of Characters:	Hellboy, Phoebe Beacon, Mercy Thompson

---

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy stands outside of the former site of Carson's Wonderland. The demon is casing the joint, looking through the fence, taking occasional breaks standing on things on tip-toe to peek over the tall, wooden walls. There's been reports of supernatural activity in the park, and Hellboy is taking point nipping it in the bud. He's called in help, making sure both his friends know it's pro-bono, at least this time. He has ulterior motives that, like any good SHIELD agent, he's keeping to himself.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe Beacon was never one to stay away from the more unusual tasks in her hometown, and even if it's not considered 'official Bat business', she answers the call. Wearing a black hoodie and torn blue jeans, carrying a backpack full of this and that, the supernatural teenager makes her way up behind Red, looking at Hellboy with mild curiosity.

    "What, lost your entry ticket, big guy?" she asks, eyebrows rising up.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    Mercy didn't mind the drive to the other city, as she pulls up in her VW Cabriolet to where her cellphone told her the address was. She gets out in jeans and a simple tank top and a looser shirt on top of that to help hide the sidearm she has on her as well. She locks up the car and pockets her keys, turning to where the others look to be a few yards away. So she walks toward them at a relaxed pace, looking around as her senses take in all that she can. "Sorry if I was a bit late. Passed someone stuck on the side of the road in a VW bug and thought I help them out."

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy draws his pistol at the unfamiliar voice. The oversized Samaritan is brought to bear before Red lowers it. It's a human under that hoodie, he's pretty sure, but vampires are a thing, so he keeps his gun drawn. "Lady, you picked the wrong area to snoop around. Go on home.
    When Mercy arrives, Hellboy waves with his Right Hand of Doom. "Hey," he says. "Still waiting on the other participant. Plus, we got a peanut gallery," he says, thumbing toward Phoebe.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Whoa, easy there, Red--" the figure in the hoodie replies, holding her gloved hands up. "I thought all this time you'd be able to pick me outta a crowd." she replies.

    "Funny, Red." Phoebe returns, and she peels down her hoodie, taking a deep breath and exhaling. She stretches her arms over her head, the spooky bat making her way to the duo with a little more caution.

    "Couple friends fixed my voice issue."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    Mercy slows down as the gun comes out and looks over at the pair. She makes her way steadily toward them. She looks to them, and frowns some. "Okay I can't picture someone pretending to be Red here casually." She offers to Phoebe then, "I kind of remember you. We met with a group of women," being vague on purpose. "Care to say where we met and what the event was?" She will offer to Red, "she smells vaguely familiar if that helps at all." Not great to start out with cases of unknown identities.

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy's eyes go wide. "Woah!" he says. He looks over Phoebe as if trying to make sure it was her in form, not just a face-shifter. "You don't sound like I expected," he finally says. Of course, it's probably a shapeshifter. Would be just his luck. Still, she looked like Phoebe, and she did have a pretty voice, now, though, shapeshifters generally couldn't do smell, so that helps ID her. He puts his gun away, then offers a Right Fistbump of Doom. "Glad to have you around, anyway," he says. "Gonna miss the signing, though," he adds with a smirk.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "A giant kangaroo was eating my hair-wrap." Phoebe replies to Mercy with a nod, giving her finger-guns and the cheesiest wink possible. Because that was as random an answer as the question came, and she breathes out.

    She daps her left fist against the Right Fist of Doom for REd's edification.

    "So am I. Great way to end conversations I don't wanna be in." she replies, and then she looks to the fence.

    "So, the message was real vague. What're we chasing here tonight?"

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    Mercy nods her head and says, "She's right. A kanga was eating that." Mercy seems fine with this, who is /SHE/ to be one to comment about weird stuff happening in life. Mercy looks around and takes a slow long breath in. "Not picking up anything from here. Then again lots of stuff like this can hide till it is time to say boo."

Hellboy has posed:
    "Alright," Hellboy says with a nod. "I'll aim us inside, then." He walks to the gate, then pulls a set of lockpicks from his jacket, and by lockpicks, he intends to use the Samaritan on the lock. That's certainly not going to raise any suspicion or alarms or cause others to explore inside and be injured.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Sometimes it can hide. Sometimes you gotta just have the right sense for it." Phoebe counters to Mercy, and she reaches with a hand.

    "Balm. You'll hear me referred to that way through the Amazons." she introduces herself, and then she leans over, around Mercy's shoulder, and eyeballs Hellboy about to blow open the gate.

    "Uh. I could. Y'know. Unlock that for you?"

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    Mercy tries to stop Red before he can fire, "Woah woah woah! Some of us have sharp ears and I'm a mechanic. I got lockpicks and the cheap gun for opening things." Sort of supporting what Phoebe was also suggesting.
    Mercy offers a hand back, "Mercy. Newby trainer there, been focusing on spear. Nice to officially meet you." Sure she has a gun on her too, but she's pretty sure the hand cannon of the Samaritan will not be subtle. She thumbs to her car, "want me to get them?"

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy doesn't fire at the lock. Instead, he smiles at Phoebe and gestures at the gate. "Knock yourself out, kid." He puts the oversized revolver away. He lets the girls argue about how to best unlock the locked gate.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe simply reaches up and pulls a couple of picks from her hood.

    "Don't leave home without them. You never know when you're going to need to get into someplace that you're not supposed to be in Gotham. 'Sides."

    She goes to take a look at the lock, and then apply her skills.

    "If you end up bringing a Bat down on us, someone's going to have to explain what you're doing here." she murmurs, and she goes to try and pick the lock.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    "Never met that guy, sure he's pretty scary but I mean. Wolves are scarier then bats and I had one as a foster father." Mercy is fine with letting Phoebe open the door for them. "So what is the story here. I mean you called me so I'm guessing you want my nose or eyes. Unless you got a car that broke down. I did bring my tools."

Hellboy has posed:
    "A bat," Hellboy says. "Not The Batman, necessarily," he continues, looking up and around. "Never know when he's around." He looks back at the lock and addresses mercy. "Well, I had a lead there was a ghost. Maybe a sneaky ghost. I figure I'd get my two best non-payroll ghost hunters on things and take the report to my bosses." He looks at Mercy. "With your permission, of course. See if I could get you girls on the payroll."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "You'd have to talk to my boss about that one. Last group I hung around with..." Phoebe begins, and the lock's tumblers fall into place, and she twists the lock.

    "... my brother said was really not healthy for my well-being." she finishes, swinging the gate open, and she grins, turning and walking backwards a couple of steps into the park.

    "Batman, at least, can be reasoned with. Some of the others aren't as patient."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    "I will happily let you know if I see any ghosts or anything." She looks a bit unsure about the talk of reports. "Do you need my name for the report or not? I mean I don't know a lot about your bosses. I'm happy to hear more though."
    Mercy looks to Phoebe and asks, "are you allowed to say which group that is? I swear there needs to be a web site with this information." She will step into the park keeping her attention around them. "Not met him. I met a few professional heroes. So any news about what this ghost has done if anything?" She looks to Phoebe as well, "I'm sorry I'm not familiar about your skills, save for lock seduction."

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy moves forward now that the lock has been 'seduced' from its place. He pushes the gate open and peers around into the darkness. "Supposed to be scaring teenagers, moving rides around, stuff like that," the demon says. He pulls a flashlight from his nebulous coat and clicks the button, shining light into the corners and dark spaces. "Here, ghostie," he says, though the sound of his voice makes it clear he doesn't actually believe that will work.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Lock seduction is an excellent phrase. I'm gonna use that one." Phoebe murmurs, and she gives a smile to Mercy.

    "I am. I just don't like to, because... uh... how I ... left." she stumbles over her words a moment, and she wrinkles her nose. "I'm a mage. And martial artist. Kinda. It's complicated." Phoebe explains to Mercy, and then turns to focus on the task at hand.

    "And you can include my callsign, but preferably not my name. I don't think my guy would like it, Red." she answers back.

    She takes a deep breath, and looks around the place.

    "I'm not sensing anything right off the -- bat." she states, and she gives a soft 'mmph' sound.

    "Not really anything beyond the ambient energies of the city around us."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    Mercy gives a small node to Phoebe about using the phrase. She doesn't remember where she heard it first and wants to focus on possible risks around here. "I can try to call out but that may be a bad move, Red. When I pay attentions to ghosts it often gives them a bit of an oomph to them." With that Mercy moves to Red's side. "Appreciate the call either way." She casually kicks a small rock along the ground softly. "You don't want to know what I'm smelling. The area is not a clean smell."

Hellboy has posed:
    "Yeah," Hellboy says. He puts his flashlight away after clicking it off. "I'm glad I don't have your nose, right now." He looks at Mercy, then at Phoebe. "Well, one of you should do something," he says. "I didn't think I was supposed to be the brains of the operation!" It's playfully chiding more than actually gruff; he's using a little self-depricating humor to ease the tension.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Yeah, Gotham always smells like that." Phoebe replies, though she's not one of those with that particular super-sense.

    She steps forward, and she flicks out her folding staff, pursing her lips a moment as she traces a circle in the ground, adding arching heiroglyphs to it before she breathes out.

    "Let's see if this works." she mumbles, and she closes her eyes, one hand outstretched in front of her.

    The spell she whispers is in ancient Egyptian, the tongue of her ancestors.

    Translated to Hellboy's abilities, she recites a plea to be able to feel the presence of those restless spirits, and she steps into the circle traced on the broken ground in front of her, a golden glow enveloping her worn boots as she casts about, trying to see -- or sense -- if anything was in the area. Other than Red or Mercy. She knows about those two.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    "Trust me. Not all of gotham smells like this." She rubs at her nose as Mercy looks at a pile of trash with a clear 'ew' face as they move through the area until Phoebe starts to try and get something magic going. "Umm hang on," as she tries to back away from the circle. "I... magic doesn't work right around me most times, Blam." And indeed sprit magic is especially likely to act odd in relation to Mercy given her father and stuff. She looks nervous about what ever happens with the spell. "Please don't burn her eyes out or something."

Hellboy has posed:
    Anung Un Rama, his flaming crown that hovers over his head, and even the horns he'd have if he didn't grind them down, show up to Phoebe's eyes in the light of her divination magic. He listens to Mercy for a moment, though he can't seem to think of anything reassuring to say to her. He looks back at Phoebe and inclines his head in an upnod. "See anything?" he asks.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe's eyes glow, her fingertips glowing beneath the gloves she's wearing as she stays in the protective circle that guards her.

    Mercy doesn't show. At all. And then shows up three feet to the left and about fifteen feet up making funny faces, along with the passing in and out of her vision of a furred being, padding along just upon the edges of her senses like a bad smell or a gentle tease of a joke. Phoebe appears to track the creature in and out of her vision with her left hand and her gaze, her head tilting, eyebrows rising up.

    Phoebe had never encountered a trickster before. She straightens up a moment as she sees so many Mercy-s about.

    Anung Un Rama, though, that definitely catches her attention. She breathes out in a moment's surprise. The flaming crown catching her attention.

    And then herself. The lines that course through her body, light upon light upon light.

    "... no." Balm replies. "Nothing, other than us three."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    Mercy's sigh of relief is loud in the empty park. "I'm not getting anything either Red. I mean sometimes I fail to notice something is a ghost and not still alive. But I almost always notice them. Those being nasty always seem to.... prick my senses? I can't really explain it. I'm getting nothing freaky here, save some not so nice smells. And a curiosity as to what on earth kind of drink a 'Mermaids Squirtle' was." Pointing to a sign with the name of the 'week special' there.
    She looks around at Phoebe, with her doing the odd looking around some and asks, "Everything is okay? I mean. You seemed to be looking at something."

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy groans, his shoulders slouching. "Crap." He looks around. This was all for nothing, it seems. "I should just stick to missions I'm sent on," he says. He rubs the back of his neck with the Right Hand of Doom, awkwardly. "Well," he says, hesitantly, trying to figure out a good compromise since he brought everyone out all this way. "You ladies want to go for icecream? Unless you want to check out the tunnel of love, I think that's the safest bet for everyone." He smirks, playfully. "Besides, I wouldn't want to get between Balm and her lock seduction."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Mm?" Phoebe questions, "No, no, I'm fine." she insists to Mercy, and she gives an awkward smile.

    "I got the attention of a jaguar god in the area, just had to make sure I didn't have something sneaking up behind me." Phoebe replies, and she breathes out.

    "No one stands between me and my lock seduction, Red. No one." she follows up. "Ice cream sounds great. There's a place near the coffee shop that does butter-maple ice cream and they wrap it in pancakes instead of waffle cones."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    Mercy laughs some and says, "Doubt you want to go there, Red. It smells more toilet and overused bathwater." She does however says, "Definitely game for icecream or whatever. I mean, I'm here now may as well get to know you both and hang out right?" She looks a bit unsure about the whole 'jaguar god' but she's friends with some strange folk and doesn't have a reason to sniff if Phoebe is being honest or not. "I'm fine with us moving to somewhere better for a talk. We can maybe get some spare locks at a hardware store for Balm to keep herself busy with if that's needed."