17849/Why can't the bad guys be in Hawaii

Why can't the bad guys be in Hawaii
Date of Scene:	05 May 2024
Location:	Roof - Renovated Theatre - The Roost
Synopsis:	Tonight Outsiders weekend movies include talking about cyborg gangs possibly hidding in Tijuana. Field trip soon
Cast of Characters:	Conner Kent, Kiden Nixon, Laura Kinney, Rose Wilson

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Conner Kent has posed:
Most weekends the Outsiders find an afternoon or evening for movie watching at Tim's theatre, free food and catching up. Unless an ongoing mission prevents them, or regular life (for those who do that) calls, or alien invasions, those really spoil the weekends. Unsurprisingly, attendance is irregular.

And Conner is not supposed to be here, because college exam season is ending and it is his last semester. But look, grades are not going to change much no matter what, and his courses the past months have been mostly projects and papers, little they can quiz him about.

He left the girls pick the movies today, because he had a couple of emails pending, and usually he is the one doing it. By now he is pretty sure someone secretly hates his choices and is plotting his demise. So, he has the laptop and seems to be doing some reading, someone (else) should probably get the popcorn started.

Kiden Nixon has posed:
Kiden has volunteered to handle the popcorn! Mostly because her suggestions for movies tend to be irreverent comedies like Mel Brooks or parodies (not always mutually exclusive!). Recognizing that most people don't want to watch those kinds of movies all the time, she lets Rose and Laura duke it out over the movie choice while she traipses into the kitchen to start the popcorn.

Real popcorn too, the kind you shuffle around on the burner, not the 'toss in the microwave' kind. She also has some butter melting to be added to the popcorn along with some shakeables (salt, seasoned salt, parmesan cheese, etc.) ready to go! Calling back, Kiden starts getting drink orders from the trio, "Hey! What do you guys want to drink? Soda, beer, water, hard liquor?"

Laura Kinney has posed:
Laura is always plotting the demise of everyone she knows. It's just one of those things. Ruthless training so ingrained it's practically a hobby by now. Buuut she's unlikely to be actively running any of those plans. Especially not involving academic achievements.

So if someone is after Conner... Well don't look at her!

Her input on the movie choice was as detailed & informative as usual. In that she gave as little input into the decision as possible. Not it you choose Rose! Not her exact words. But certainly her hope. Recommending movies means she has to know enough about them to know movies to suggest!

It seems like her main reason for being here, culinary busy aside, is less about the movies and more about cleaning what are probably gun parts. The super power of effective time management and multi-tasking! The parts in question seem extremely clean already, but evidently they don't pass some important threshold because every now and again she sniffs them and scowls.

"Did you know they originally tried make movies on vinyl?" she muses aloud. "As for drinks I am good with whatever. Alcohol is basically a soft drink for me anyway." Unless Kiden happens to have a few gallons of the kind of alcohol more frequently used to fuel vehicles with anyway...

Rose Wilson has posed:
Things may be changing in Rose's life beyond having taken up a nomadic couple of months. Training abroad, dipping back into habits both questionable and certainly bad, getting into things she should probably be trying to avoid...

Then there's this lot. If there's one thing she knows it's that turning one's back on family is never so easy. Even if you do happen to shoot at them a little along the way. Life is complicated, okay?

It might come as a complete surprise when she simply shows up back at the Roost after another lengthy absence, though then again the others might be getting used to her being flaky on these things. Today sees her in ripped up and faded blue jeans, running shoes, a red shirt with a skull and crossbones printed across the chest, and an almost equally ratty lightweight denim coat. And an eye patch. And an attitude problem. Some things haven't changed at all.

And would you look at that, she's back in time to be stuck picking the movie! A hand slides down the front of her face with a sigh then copies its counterpart by settling onto a hip. "Already had a Wickathon..." she mutters. "Dinos. People like dinos, don't they" she considers while hooking a fingertip onto the case of a Jurassic World movie. Which one? She has no idea. They all watch the same.

"Whatever. If they didn't want blood and screaming they wouldn't have let me pick the flick."

Movie selected, she doesn't hand it off so much as flick it Frisbee-style toward Connor with an absent "Catch." Then to Kiden, "Beer!" Then to Laura she doesn't say anything, she just picks up the lower part of a pistol she's been working on. Because it's there. And she wants to be a brat.

Conner Kent has posed:
"Bart likes dinos," comments Conner, his eyes glued to the screen, but he still manages to catch the DVD. Tim still has those? Or maybe it comes from Rose's secret stash of secret... things. One never knows.

He doesn't like movie dinos much, because he has seen the real thing, and because special effects aren't convincing to Kryptonian senses. He liked them more before they developed so much.

He sighs. "Guys, I just got a report from Sam Makoa," pause to see if they remember who he is. Probably not! "FBI guy I met in Hawaii way back, we keep in touch. It is about Gila and the cyborg gangers. You are not going to like it."

Kiden Nixon has posed:
"Beer it is! And I'm good with dinos! Long as it's not like.. Land Before Time dinos. That shit had WAY too many sequels. There's like 8 of those movies, and somehow those dinosaurs never get any older." Kiden is slowly moving the popcorn back and forth across the burners so they cook evenly. The popping kernels starting to pick up speed, crackling along faster and faster into the tastiest of savory treats! She flicks a glance over her shoulder towards the others.

Lifting a brow at Conner, she calls back, "Let me guess... we kicked all the ass and they won't ever show their faces again, right? Bad news is that we're out those bad guys to hunt down." She chuckles before turning back to the popcorn, pulling each one off the burner before it can burn, turning the stovetop off as she starts emptying popcorn into bowls. A small ceramic pitcher meant for cream holds the melted butter, the shakeables are put onto a tray with the pitcher and the bowls, and she makes her way out into the common area again. "Are we going to Hawaii to chase them? Because that doesn't seem like terrible news. I could do with some sun and beach and surf. Bikinis and coconut drinks."

Setting the tray down near the sofa, she disappears briefly before setting down a bucket of ice bristling with longneck beer bottles that she absolutely didn't have with her a moment ago. Yay mutant powers! Kiden leans a hip against the back of the couch and watches Laura with her guns, then over to Conner, "Hey, you gonna come watch this movie?"

Laura Kinney has posed:
The thing about dinosaurs. Is that Laura was turned into one once. Not that this is something she brings up often. It's both weird and weirdly anticlimactic when she describes it. Evil mutant, savage lands, situation resolved favourably. Which, as she's not currently a terrible lizard, is perhaps a big spoiler for the tale.

It's probably more interesting reading about in her Outsiders file. Or getting Gabby to tell the story. At least once she's back from doing her own adventure things.

"So long as they aren't creating blubbery cannibal zombie like beings it can't be /that/ bad," she points out. Idly sniffing the gun parts and scowling again. "If we're absolutely forced to fight crime in Hawaii I think somehow we'll all cope. It is a tough job but if someone will to have a speedboat chase or two... Well we do the jobs other heroes can't don't we?"

She doesn't tan. So sunbathing is out. But that's not to say she's immune to the temptations of a glorious beach and drinks with little paper umbrellas in.

She accepts the beer with a nod. Leaving off on the popcorn for now. Buttery popcorn and guns being oiled not a great mix.

Rose Wilson has posed:
DVDs, Blu-Rays, sure they could have picked from some manner of streaming service but then what would Rose have on hand to throw at Connor? Laura might get snikty if she used one of those gun pieces.

Then again, considering how that one blue eye is now watching Connor, it /could/ be because she wants to see if he knows how to work the disc player... Change input, adjust volume, find the other remote, so complicated!

Except he's going on about some Makoa Report, prompting an eye-roll so extreme as to get her head involved. Not that the name itself rings a bell but it's distracting her from her moment of fun.

"If it means we get to spend time in Hawaii I will take back one third of my irritation."

Cyborgs don't even bleed right! What a drag. She unceremoniously drops back into an open seat and makes with the sprawling like an unwanted house guest. "There's a lot of things I don't like but you're gonna tell us anyway, so go and tell us while I daydream about pina coladas."

At least there's popcorn. Fresh, enticing, /really good/ smelling popcorn. And beer! It sure helps take the sting out of what Connor is gearing up to be Bad News. In fact, she's going to get a head start on one of those beers. Thanks, Kiden!

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner closes the laptop and smirks to Kiden. "Almost... I mean, if you fancy a trip to Tijuana. Halfway to Hawaii, roughly. It has a beach." He is not sure if he is in a movie mood now, but he stands up to grab a soda can.

"Now, if you remember we got the three gangs arrested, and the gang leaders died because probably their implants were programmed to kill them." That was in the previous report. "We gave the FBI the addresses of the labs where they had been turned, and they raided them. But there was nothing there but bobby traps. Six cops got injured."

And that is odd, because as far as the Outsiders knew, the gangs were planning taking over. Were they given bad intel? Nobody knows yet. "They also went after the gangs themselves. Got the crazy Satanists bagged good. Not so easy to nail the anti-mutant supremacists, since apparently they have very good lawyers and somehow the backing of some religious sect of... I dunno, they are insane. Laura maybe knows more about this. That leaves the third gang, which suddenly vanished from the Bronx. I mean... they had a lot of crap there, a lot of people, but the FBI could only find a few low rank losers that had no idea of anything."

Kiden Nixon has posed:
"Isn't Tijuana the place they tell you not to drink the water? And also like... used to be incredibly violent before undergoing massive gentrification?" She makes a face and shakes her head, "Pass. If I want good beaches without dysentery, San Diego's literally walking distance north of there. AND, San Diego has a cool zoo." Kiden sticks her tongue out at Conner before sending him a wink.

Laura's continued scowling has Kiden glancing at her and murmuring, "Do you need me to scour that for you? You keep making faces at it like it smells like the inside of Juggernaut's jockstrap." She's assuming that it's a rank smell. He's a big dude, moves around a lot, and always seems to be wearing heavy metal armor. The stank has GOT to be real.

Running her tongue over her teeth, Kiden sighs, "SO basically, even though we went to all that trouble to do something about these gangs and the weird cyborgs... the cops and feds have no damn clue what's going on with them and need us to dig more. Call Red Robin, I guess? If any of us is going to dig up what happened to them, probably going to be the technogenius that lives in the vents."

Laura Kinney has posed:
"Mexico in general is pretty dangerous as things go. At least compared to how it was historically. Increasingly violent drug cartels, kidnapping people for ransoms, and so on. The food alone makes it worth the trip though and I don't have to fly to get there," Laura muses. Probably airport security is annoying for she who has metal claws. Not that she can't fake the paperwork for it. Or indeed smuggle herself anywhere on the planet. It's just much easier with a relatively local land border. "Have we ever really looked for criminal activity in Hawaii though?"

There's a beats pause and then she adds "Once we deal with the situation in Mexico would could bill a fact finding trip there to the Outsiders credit cards. What Tim doesn't know won't hurt him..."

Kiden gets a glance. "It /does/ smell still. After I cleaned it a dozen times. You really don't want to ask why and I couldn't say for operational reasons. Normally I'd just get a new gun but this has sentimental value. Plus it legitimately killed angels so... Probably the parts will need disposing of specially to stop cults using them for /things/."

"I can check my contacts in the mutant crime fighting sphere. They don't generally share with the more public super teams." They don't always share with her to be honest. But then she does tend to just turn up, be a bad influence, and then vanish having eaten peoples food and used their autoshop to remove bullets from her vehicle.

Rose gets a shrug. "These ones mostly bled. They weren't whole body cyborgs. Except for the really important ones. Besides a little enhancement means less holding back...."

Rose Wilson has posed:
"So we've got a wayward gang to harass" is what Rose is getting out of Connor's description. "/Tijuana?/ How'd we get from the Bronx to Tijuana?" More importantly, does this mean Hawaii is out of the question? Hopes and dreams, shattered forever.

As movie night gets replaced with sitrep night Rose leans forward to snag a bowl of popcorn (no way those are going to waste!) then leans right on back, all eye on Connor as she begins her initial assault on the tasty snack.

The raspberry and resulting wink from Kiden to Connor gets the brow on Rose's remaining eye hooking upward slightly, though other than a Look between the two she doesn't say anything.

Her comment to Laura about the gun cleaning has the white haired scrapper grinning. "Keep scrubbing, I can still see the anodizing."

'These ones mostly bled.' "Then I'll mostly have a good time" she decides. "And you'll have no trouble getting your spicy food." One must take their wins where they can!

"Really though, does anyone here have to worry about kidnapping and cartels? What've those guys got that we don't if they wanna start something?"

Conner Kent has posed:
"Yeah, Laura is right, the city has a crime scene on Gotham scale, except maybe even more murders," comments Conner, setting up the DVD and fumbling with the remote. Did she go for the oldest of all the Robin's movies? Rose is still evil!

Then he continues. "But that is where the Latin Locos have their second operations center, and Agent Makoa is quite sure they had a two-headed leadership. Or maybe a real boss and a only-for-show boss, which we beat up. They are like ten times larger than the other two gangs combined. So taking out a score of their thugs is not a lot."

And before he gets the movies started, he adds. "If you want to check this out. Well, the water might be bad, the beaches not as good as Hawaii's, but Laura says the food is good, yeah?" And the Outsiders have a stealth (bat)plane. Except as far as he knows only Tim and Hope know how to pilot it? It has been a while since their last field trip abroad!

Kiden Nixon has posed:
"Uggggggggggggggh. Fine, Tijuana, I guess. Stupid fucking gangs can't set up shop in Hawaii, no, we have to go to Murderopolis with the dysentery and spicy food that could double as paint thinner." Kiden lets out a heavy sigh and rolls over the back of the couch to flop down onto the cushions and sprawl out for the movie.

Lifting a hand to Rose's question, she offers, "Yes, yes I do. Unlike most of this team, I did not undergo intensive, lifelong training, OR get born with crazy powers. I have one trick, it's a good trick, but I'm still very much human in every other regard. I am very shootable, stabbable, kidnapable... all the 'fun' things that make being small and female a horrorfest." She pokes her head up to look at Rose, "So yes. Some of us do still have to worry about that."

Flopping back down, she offers to Laura, 'If you want me to give it the really good scrubbing, just set it aside and I'll do a major scour in No Time after the movie. Might also need to do a chemical cleanse and then oil it up after."

Laura Kinney has posed:
"I can't recall where I read it off hand but I believe the crime problem is really a result of drug criminalisation," Laura adds helpfully. Because it's clearly the sort of upbeat information which really helps movie night be fun for everyone. "With my nose I never really struggle finding good places to eat no matter where in the world I go. Assuming I'm not surviving off MRE packs that is... That's not likely to be operationally necessary I hope.."

Rose gets a shrug. "Hostages or the potential for collateral damage." Not that she minds collateral damage but if Tim walked in right now it's better if she at least pretends. She does at least agree innocent people being impacted is bad. It's operationally sloppy. Bad fieldwork.

"I'll certainly try make sure nothing on my personal list of ongoing cases needs attention. But you can never entirely control such things." Flying across the border does rather feel like cheating. Much more challenging to smuggle yourself. See new places, meet new people, crawl through a tunnel or two. It's a mini Kinney vacation. "Hawaii is so expensive due to tourism they probably can't afford the land needed for a good lair. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't go look. Thoroughly. Check all the nightclubs and bars. Legitimate business expenses."

Not that X-23 pays taxes. She doesn't even legally exist. But still it's always better to spend money that belongs to someone else. Poor Tim.

"Thanks for the offer Kiden, but I'll be fine doing it myself. Call it sentimental reasons."

Rose Wilson has posed:
Aaah, there it iiis. While Connor's struggling with the electronics Rose can't help but grin then quickly try to hide it by taking another swig of beer. It's the little things in life. Those annoying itches one just cannot quite reach.

Kiden calls out in answer to Rose's question and gets a single piece of popcorn flicked her way for her trouble. Sharing is caring. "That sucks, but you've got the rest of us watching over you. We look out for one another around here, or so I've been told."

Especially of Kiden keeps making the popcorn for movie nights!

Collateral damaaage... Eh. She holds her thoughts in again. Laura's got the right idea from another standpoint, though. "For sure Hawaii's on the red alert list. This is prime season for all of the big bads to vacation to their evil volcano lairs. Someone -- that being us -- should really do something about it. Keep the peace, or whatever" she considers prior to letting out a burp.

Buuut, sounds like Tijuana first.

Conner Kent has posed:
"No cracks at Hawaii or the crime scene there," replies Conner with a smirk. "There was a bit, like this Shark King guy and an idiot called Forearm. Also, secret evil organization with underwater base," he shrugs. He tackled all of it. "Much quieter than New York, yeah, and a hundred times better than Gotham. We should go vacationing all together at some points, I know all the good beaches."

Then he flops down on the couch for the movie. And the snacks. Mostly the snacks.