16300/Paint Patrol

Paint Patrol
Date of Scene:	10 November 2023
Location:	Alley Way, Gotham City
Synopsis:	The Doom Patrol seek out some street art but they find the Vectra Corporation taking an unnatural interest in some living art. Paint guns saved the day. Gar was on loan, hopefully the fees aren't too expensive for his help.
Cast of Characters:	Casey Brinke, Kay Challis, Gar Logan

---

Casey Brinke has posed:
Was it easy to convince people to leave the mansion? no. Chief did the heavy lifting. Somehow he got them all moving. It seemed having someone eager to drive helped greatly and Casey was always eager to drive or fly anything. Even if it was a broken down beat up bus.

What she had expected to see was a sign of reality incursion by her father. Instead what should have been a simple alley way with some street art on the wall was now barricaded by a paramilitary group with a symbol on their arm reading 'Vectra'.

Casey's face looks perturbed. Parked across the street from the guarded alley way in question she still has her hands on the wheels. "Who are Vectra?" Perhaps the locals of the early 21st century will know. They aren't part of her historical knowledge.

Kay Challis has posed:
    Chief seems like a smart guy. Maybe those weirdos actually /are/ a superteam? It's hard to be sure. The manor hadn't really given any indication of it (though Casey has not yet seen the sub-basement, which actually looks like a superhero place rather than a slightly run-down old house), but chief had seemed knowledgeable, and had at least claimed to have detected a spate of recent reality incursions lately. For reasons that are unclear they seem to have been related to comic books; the Doom Patrol is already aware that there's a comic book supervillain attempting to convince people who live in the real world that he's one of them. It's possible that's actually who Casey is looking for two, but that's not very clear.

    Cliff, Larry, Rita and Steve had gone to do the responsible thing. The adult stuff, that involves talking to people. They're investigating a small comicbook publishing house and a comic store. Casey had been sent off with Jane to chase up a lead that Caulder had not given much credence to at the time, but they'd arrived and found armed guards present, Rita had suggested the newcomer and the least stable of the unstable team needed a hand. The others would take a while to get there, but she knows someone who lives just across the Delaware bay and can fly.

    "I... I'm sorry miss, I don't know, really," Jane says earnestly. And in a British accent. "I never heard o' them, I didn't. I'd t-tell if I did, I promise. Sorry".

    The Jane sitting hunkered down on the back seat of the bus and not making eye contact is probably not Jane. Casey's beginning to see that this is a thing. "W-we should wait, miss. Mister Logan will know w-what to do."

Gar Logan has posed:
Garfield Logan's come along way since the early Doom Patrol days. At least, his early days. He was rather demanding when it came to wanting in when he was right around the start of his teenage years, and while that time was short compared to how long he's been a Titan, you never forget your first kiss.

So to speak.

On occasion, he's pitched in since then when Caulder, The Chief, needed it. Details weren't the most in-depth, but he's been known to be pretty creative when it's time for a little improv.

Circling overhead, he spots a familiar sight, and descends until he's rapping at one of the windows as a green woodpecker. Upon being let in, he turns to his usual self, clad in his current Titans uniform instead of the black and purple from years before.

"So you're still using the old short bus, huh? I'm a little surprised this thing even runs, still." This, to Crazy Jane. Then, his head angles toward one side at Casey, a partly-gloved hand offered. "Garfield Logan, otherwise known as Beast Boy of the Titans, at your service. Janey and I, we go back a ways. And who do I have the pleasure of meeting? This the new kid?"

Eyeing the alley, he adds, "What's up with those dorks? Never seen anyone guarding an alley like that before."

Casey Brinke has posed:
"Okay ... sorry I didn't get your name." Casey has figured out this is not Jane. Nor was the one who painted her looking up at the sky. "We will wait for Mister Logan." Chief did say he was sending someone to help. She suspects the Chief doesn't actually trust her yet. None of them do. That's okay - she'll win them over.

A wood pecker that turns in to a person. Casey is delighted! Casey rises up from the drivers seat and takes Gar's hand with gusto. "Space Case, hero from stars and the future, an absolute delight to meet you Garfield Logan aka Beast Boy."

She leans in and covers her mouth like a stage whisper, "My real name is Casey Brinke. But it doesn't matter too much because I won't be born for a long time yet."

A crinkle of the corners of her eyes as she smiles and then looks back out at the two Vectra guards casually pacing back and forth in front of a metal fence. There's no way to see inside. She looks up at the cat walks above and says, "I'm not sure. I've never heard of Vectra and they were not part of my mission statement when I came back to the past. But they look like they're up to no good."

She points to the fire escapes, "Perhaps we can sneak past them. Or following your lead if you think we should neutralise them we can fight our way in." Her hands plant on her hips. She looks ready for action in her space-age jumpsuit. "As you're the senior hero on this mission and Jane is.. uh... busy; I'll follow your lead. After all, you can't go wrong with Green." She says that last bit like it's some known slogan.

Kay Challis has posed:
    "S-sorry mister Garfield," Jane says, looking up at him for a brief moment before casting her eyes downwards again. The accent and speech patterns are distinctive, and this is one of of Jane's not so rare personalities, so Gar will recognize at once that Currently Jane is 'Penny', and the fact that she actually went so far as to *look in his direction briefly* probably counts as a warm greeting by her standards. The one thing Gar knows about Penny is that she's terminally shy. "I'm sure Chief w-would get us a new omnibus if he thought it was needed. It's n-not my place to question, and he does look after us proper, he does."

    She glances out the window across the street to where the Vectra guards have the alleyway barricaded, then shuffles across the rear seat to the opposite side of the bus, pressing herself up against the wall and making herself look small.

    "I... I don't fink they want us going in there, miss. Maybe we should just go back t-to the manor. It would be rude to disturb them, miss."

Gar Logan has posed:
Beast Boy waves it all off, though he lifts a brow at the 'cape name' Casey gives him. "Space Case? Yeah, I have a feeling you'll fit right in. But first things first. What are we looking for, anything specific? Or just anything unusual? I have a nose for that kind of thing."

Which he says after briefly turning into a proboscis monkey.

Staying that way for a few seconds longer, he shakes his head toward Jane. Indeed, he has enough of a memory of her most common 'identities' that this one stands out enough. "Nah, Penny. We've all come this far already. Can't just give up too soon. Let me scout the area out real quick and see what we can do about sneaking."

Now he flows from monkey back to woodpecker, adding, "Nice slogan, too. I might use that. Now just make yourselves comfy and I'll be right back."

Off he goes again, and they can see him disappear around one side of the buildings that meet at the alley.

Casey Brinke has posed:
Casey takes a knee before Jane and glances down at her knees so as not to force eye contact. "It's okay if you'd rather stay in the bus. We won't be long- and I promise we will try our very best not to start any trouble." A small nod is given. Casey is a woman of her word.

Rising back up she nods to Gar, "I will return to the future once my mission is complete. My father is attempting to return from the dead in to the past to spread the Torminox virus here where there are no defences. This world and countless others would fall within days."

"The Chief thinks my mission and the Doom Patrol's current mission may be related. Though, his is about comic books so I'm not quite sure I see how the pieces fit together. Perhaps this alley way will shed some light on the subject."

She watches as Gar turns back in to a bird and flies away. Hands returning to hips, "Hm. A real go getter that one." She nods to Jane and says, "I too will be right back Penny." She exits the van and dashes across the street as a car honks at her for getting in the way.

Out of line of sight of the Vectra guards she looks up at a balcony above and with a push from her artificial leg she leaps up two stories and lands somehow with a roll and up on to one knee. She climbs her way around the side of the building and on to the fire escapes.

The Vectra set up is a strange one. Desks with laptops and only one scientist. There are no guards on the inside and the scientist with his Vectra branded lab coat seems to be talking to some art on the wall. The art is still fresh compared to the other images around it. It appears to be the image of an alien man with grey skin and a wicked snarl. The futuristic version of Vigo the Despised from Ghostbusters II if you will.

Kay Challis has posed:
    Jane -- or Penny as it is right now -- nods her head in agreement when Casey lays out what's going to happen, but that doesn't mean she /actually/ agrees. She follows Casey to the door of the bus, standing there wringing her hands with worry. She looks in the direction woodpecker Gar flew off, then her eyes follow Casey's approach for a few moments before deciding that she shouldn't risk drawing attention to Casey by watching her.

    She hops indecisively from foot to foot and a faint whimper escapes her lips. She starts to step down from the bus, then has second thoughts and steps back up, clutching tightly to the driver's seat. "Oh dear oh dear oh deary me," she mutters to herself. "Whatever s-shall I do? They c-could get h-hurt! Or s-someone could get upset! Oh please..."

    It's all too much for Penny, torn between not wanting to make a fuss about anything and not wanting her friends to be in danger. Eventually though she does come to a decision, and steps out of the bus. Hunched over and with her eyes fixed on the ground she shuffles cautiously towards the barricade, avoiding even the slightest danger of making eye contact with the Vectra guards.

    Is she going to make a diversion, to attract the guards' attention to her to give Gar and Case an opening? If so, she's not doing a very good job, as the guards aren't paying her any attention.

    In fact they go on not paying her any attention when she gets right up to the barricades, quietly says "S-so sorry, don't mind me sir, I'll be quiet as a mouse, I p-promise," and starts to slip through the barricades. The guards pay her not the slightest attention; apparently she's just as invisible to them as she tries to be. Nor does the scientist talking to the street art pay any attention when she walks to where he stands and stands right next to him. She stands with her hands clasped together in front of her, head bowed, glancing up under her eyebrows at the mural. "P-please don't mind me sir, sorry. I won't disturb you I p-promise," she tells the scientist, who seems to take her at her word. Or is perhaps just oblivious to her presence.

Gar Logan has posed:
It takes a couple minutes once Beast Boy is gone. There's a fire escape ladder here, a dumpster bin there, another point of entry or two that could let them sneak around without trouble. Might even be able to simply enter an adjacent building and take the stairs up to the roof.

Flying back around to the gray bus, he sounds excited. "Okay, so we've got a few options and..you're...not....here. Great. Awesome. Juuuuust perfect."

If you've never seen a woodpecker's shoulders slump, you're missing out. Space Case and Crazy Jane definitely missed out.

Then, it's hard to tell if the banging of his head against the nearest telephone pole is just a woodpecker doing woodpecker things, or frustration being let out.

If things are as dangerous as Casey says regarding some virus from the future, they can't afford to waste time. Stealth or the direct approach?

Nothing else to do but go forward. Shelving his initial plan, he crosses the street as a basic but green (of course) cat, announcing his presence to the two guards with a clear, "Meow."

Casey Brinke has posed:
Penny is the first to see something interesting - two large paint guns aimed at the painting with wires leading to a big red button on the table. An emergency button. The scientist pauses only for a moment in conversation with the painting who seems partly emerged.

"You wish to form an alliance, Vectra and Torminox. This is agreeable," says Torminox himself. Casey's face drops when she hears that voice though. And so she hero drops down in to the alley way in front of the scientist.

"No one talk to him, look at him, or acknowledge him. Allowing my father entry in to this reality will doom us all," she says matter of factly with her arms spread out wide. She double takes seeing Penny there.

"Well if it isn't Space Case. Come to save the day - again."

Casey puts her fingers in to her ears, "La la la I can't hear you. You don't exist. You're just a painting on a wall."

Kay Challis has posed:
    "M...Miranda used to say that p-paintings were as real as anything, miss," Penny tells Case. Who probably can't hear her due to the fingers in the ears. "Poor Miranda. It d-didn't do her no good, did it. Nuffin' did really in the end." She backs away from the likely confrontation that she assumes will occur now that Casey has put in appearance. The scientist might start shouting, and she doesn't like it when people shout.

    Penny finds a nice comforting shadow to stand in, and looks at the button on the table. She traces the wires with her eyes, looping down and then up again. She follows one wire to the paint gun, and studies it with some curiosity. She raises a finger to the nozzle, tapping it lightly, then studying the dab of paint on her finger tip for a moment before wiping it off on her sleeve. Then she follows the wire back to the button and studies that for a few moments before looking up at the talking mural.

    Penny clasps her hands together and stands by the table demurely, waiting to see what will happen next.

Gar Logan has posed:
With the three of them on the job, probably chaos in one form or another. Vorpal isn't the only Titan strange things tend to happen around, and in case anyone forgot, Beast Boy /did/ get his start with the Doom Patrol.

The Vectra guards both look down and don't seem to know quite what to do with a green cat. By the time they glance at each other, he darts on by. "Smell ya later, losers."

Speeding along, he comes quickly upon the wall painting that certainly /does/ remind him of a particular movie, leading him to stop and stare. "Whoa, do all evil living paintings look ugly as hell, or is it just me? And oh, hey, there you are! I told you guys I'd be right back!"

The terrible trio, reunited for the first time!

Something /else/ that isn't lost on him are those paint guns, hooked up to..whatever it is they are. Returning to his lovable costumed self, he reaches for one and doesn't hesitate to nudge the scientist out of the way if need be. "Yo, dude! It's like real-life Splatoon! I've always wanted to try painting!"

So, he points it right at Mr. Torminox. "Who should I be? Picasso? Monet? Dali? Rembrandt?"

Casey's posing with the fingers in the ears and all that gets a squint out of him.

Casey Brinke has posed:
As Penny, the Scientist, and Gar all pay attention to the painting his three dimensionalness seems to grow. Like an optical illusion he seems to be leaning out of the wall itself. His expression looks amused in a sinister kind of way. "Or perhaps we simply leave Vectra out of it."

Casey blinks seeing Gar and then puts her hand over the scientists eyes. "No one look! No one talk to it! You're allowing him to breach in to this reality - we have to destroy the painting before he gets too strong a grasp on the real."

She is running out of hands as the two guards enter through the gateway rushing after a talking cat. "Oh .. shoot." She drops her hand from the scientists eyes and points her hands out at the guards. Energy flashes from her fingertips and stuns the two of them. They slump together to the ground.

The scientist throws up his hands, "Yes! Yes emerge from the wall Torminox. Vectra is ready to work with you to change this world forever!"

Kay Challis has posed:
    Penny goes wide-eyed when Gar picks up the paint gun and steps up behind him. She'd probably put a hand on his shoulder if it wasn't Penny, but that would be far too forwards. "Oh n-no master Logan, that would be w-w-w-wicked!" It takes her some effort to get the word out. "Someone s-spent a long time painting that murial! I kn-know that if Jane or Miranda or The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter painted this murial they would b-be v-very upset if someone r-ruined it! P-lease don't!"

    She claps her hands together in beseeching prayer, then wrings them together. "W-we can all just go away, go h-home! Don't hurt the m-murial!"

    There is a glimmer of light that runs over Penny's features as if someone were playing a spotlight across her, and she straightens up., "Jesus fucking Christ, what the sweaty balls, Penny?" She demands, before giving Gar's shoulder a shove. "Paint the fucker already! Do I have to do fucking everything?"

    Jane, for it is clearly Jane again, steps back over to the table and slams her hand down on the button, triggering the paint guns to do their thing. "Spray the ugly gray fuck, Gar! Right in his dumb, badly-drawn cartoon face!" She steps back over next to Gar and raises both middle fingers to the portrait of Terminox. "Art criticism, bitch!" she tells it.

Gar Logan has posed:
"Neat, the ugly guy moves if you look a little differently. That's a cool effect." The scientist, no doubt aghast by this point, gawks at him and starts to at least /try/ to interfere, but Beast Boy points the paint gun at him. "Uh uh uh. I wouldn't do that if I were you. I'm feeling artsy. And it's cool, Casey-Case. I got this."

Penny gets a flat expression. "Trust me, I know what I'm doing. I was born for this moment. And a lot of others, but definitely this one."

A sense of relief washes over him when Jane retakes control as he mutters, "I was starting to wonder when you'd show up. Been a while, hasn't it?"

When Crazy Jane gives the painting the business, including the dual salute along with activating the paint guns, he adds, "Yeah, what she said."

At which point, he proceeds to blast the mural with a mess of color, turning it on the Vectra people as well after calling out, "Duck!" to the pair with him.

"Man, this must be what it felt like to be Jackson Pollock," he beams.

Casey Brinke has posed:
Casey double takes at the sudden change from Jane. That's the second time she's been up close enough to see something like that happen but the first time it's happened right in front of her eyes. It's Jane again - no longer Penny. The language is a big give away too.

The Vectra scientists clearly hoped to gain some new kind of power from this theoretical entity from beyond. How much they know about it is unclear and how well they've been negotiating with it is also unclear - but it is clear they don't trust it.

The paint guns and the emergency stop button prove it. They figured out how to shut off the painting if things got out of control. This wasn't what Vectra wanted but it is what the Doom Patrol need.

Casey turns around and looks at her father's mural being splattered with paint. She feels guilt deep to her core. She couldn't save him. She couldn't save her mother. And now his spirit haunts the past seeking to damage it too.

"I will save you father. Some how, some way, some day. I promise."

And then he is gone - just a color plotch that converges in to black covering an otherwise uninteresting brick alley wall in Gotham City. The scientist puts up his arms and says, "This is all private property of Vectra Corporation please depart. You've ruined it all already. Don't make me call the police!"

Casey huffs a moment, looks down, then turns around to look at the scientist. She lifts up her chin and then points her hand out at the laptops. Energy lashes out and fries them all. She smiles and gives the man a nod, "We won't bother you any more sir. Have a nice day!"

[ Paint it Black - https://youtu.be/DrSqSCIvKK8 ]