3766/What the Hey

What the Hey
Date of Scene:	10 October 2020
Location:	A condemned apartment building on the upper West Side.
Synopsis:	Blue Beetle... caught in a Downward Spiral?
Cast of Characters:	Ted Kord, Spiral

---

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord listens in on police calls. Not exactly legal but often helpful. When the police began tearing their hair out over a series of 911 calls from a deserted building, with the phone lines and power disconnected no less, he finally decided to take a look. He half believes the cops are messing with him but, he's watched a lot of trashy Paranormal exposes on cable lately. Part him wants to experience something bizarre.

You would think Ted would know how his wishes work out by now... give Tigra or Huntress a call, pop in a movie and see what happens. Nope. Ted drops down on the roof, the Bug hovering under an artificial cloud cover. His BB Gun out. He hits the roof lightly, works on the door's lock for a moment or two and slips in with more aplomb than some would credit him with. His goggles switch to night vision mode.

Spiral has posed:
Strange is gone, and he invited Spiral into the Sanctum Santorum. And then, for some myterious reason, there was a rave, in which she was invited - and had the chance to leaf through a few books.

See, Spiral might not like Mojo but being banished from the Wildways annoys her. There's nothing more she enjoys than dancing in the chaos between dimensions, and now she can't do it! And never mind the other fun things she could do. These things often require a little bit of setup.

For some reason this building is odd, designed by some forgotten cultist in the early 20th century to include a few odd extras - cores of pure selenium embedded in the walls, mostly dormant enchantments placed upon the building, that sort of thing - and that book did mention it, so Spiral came to investigate, reactivate things, and try some Magic.

As this city is full of nosy people and weird spatial effects - feeling like things have slowed down, or sped up, that distances have extended or reduced - causes some mild panic and occasional police calls as the citizens of New York are probably experienced in this sort of thing.

It's actually an old occult shop with an apartment above it for the owner to live in - and she brought a couple of bodyguards so her dancing is undisturbed, some goons she cyborged up last week. Two young hoodlums, chatting to each other over a beer, glinting with excess metallic muscle, as people do.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord goes down the stairs like a shadow. His goggles shine so faintly in the dark. He listens intently as he proceeds down each floor and wishes he hadn't watched that American Horror Story with the Hotel. With luck it's just a wannabe theme criminal. It's probably another wannabe. That's all he gets these days.

He used to be Justice League.

He used to... matter. It's sad but his workers, many of whom love and would take a bullet for him don't give him the pleasure beating up Major Disaster or Manga Kan did. Maybe things would be different if he'd found that damned scarab that gave the original Blue Beetle real power. He was just a guy in a costume with some gadgets. Doomsday proved that.

Then he hears some noise below and stops and watches. Some kind of shop below... a lobby.

Spiral has posed:
"Whaddaya think she's doing down there?".
"Dancin'. She's a dancer.".
"Dancing?".
"Sure. I seen her do it, she hardly ever stops. Didn't you see her do that when you met her?".
"Oh thats what all the tiptoeing around was?".
"Not a fan, I guess. It's probably why she wanted a place with a big basement.".
"...Why?".
"Magic. Havn't you noticed? Like, walk across to the door over there.".
Sound of walking later... "I don't notice nothing.".
"Enh, it's been coming and going.".

A pause, and then, "So... we been here a while. You wanna go check on her?".
"You first, buddy.".

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord decides to show himself. Magic? With these two involved? Pfft. Probably more like So You Think You Can Dance. Also he doesn't like the idea of some poor defenseless female around these two voyeurs. Woman dancers have frail little bodies. Not one to start out aggressive he comes down the stairs, arms folded but still holding the fabulous BB Gun.

"Evening fellas. You been crank calling the cops? That could land you in some trouble... same as barging in on a lady who wants to be left alone."He waits for the reaction.

Spiral has posed:
Hey, technically those extra muscles have been grafted on partly magically, so maybe they do have magic in a sense. There's an older one, who looks like a mercenary or private eye sort, with a big coat on who looks grizzled and like he's seen it all, and a younger one, who looks more like your run of the mill petty criminal / gang member.

And then some guy in a weird suit turns up. That usually means existential trouble, specially as he's got a weird gun that probably turns them inside out or something.

They both straighten up, putting down the beers they got, and try and decide who scares them more. The older one at least puts in a token effort. "Not making any crank calls here, friend... uh. Whatcha here for? Someone called the cops? Not much to rob here." he notes, looking around the old shop that they are in. Some bookcases falling apart, a few probably unreadable mouldy books on them. A counter, which looks too fragile for them to risk sitting on it. Yet another door headed into the back, and a boarded up shop front.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord considers a moment. The reasonable demeanor of the older man is improbable but they aren't attacking. He considers a moment. How would they make phone calls anyway from here?

He raises an eyebrow. "Tell you what... practicing 'magic' or dancing isn't illegal. Though technically you are trespassing... so am I. Let me see this lady and make sure everything is good and I'll leave and you leave. I can do that. I'm not a cop, just a concerned citizen." The gun stays in his hand. "I'mma go downstairs and no shenanigans cause, this baby will make you sing show tunes!" He starts moving towards the door to the shop's basement, keeping his eyes on the other two men.

Spiral has posed:
"I wouldn't... enh, never mind." the older guy says as Ted Kord just wanders by, intent on nosing around. In fact, he looks at the younger one, and mutters, "Grab your beer, lets get out of here.". Whatever happens next there's nothing good happening to them from lingering.

There's a set of steps going down into the basement - pretty sturdy ones too, brick walls, the works. There's the sound of what sounds like a television set to static from down below, but the more interesting factoid is that while the staircase doesn't seem that long, for some reason, when he's making his way down progress seems to be... limited.
It looks like it's 20 steps. But in reality it seems more like its 100, theres a lot of walking, and not much going down, though maybe persistence is all that is needed.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord keeps walking, slowly realizing he's encountering something out of the normal. Like pushing against a wall of ballistic gelatin. It sets the back of his neck tingling, the scar on the back of his scalp itches furiously and for a moment he thinks of running but no. The Blue Beetle did run from Doomsday. He won't run now.

Technically Doomsday grabbed him from behind. Slammed his head against an oil pipe. Repeatedly. This was the same sort of feeling. The creature was taking so long to kill him. He realized later it was sadism. The protracted time was from endorphins in his brain.

Maybe endorphins are magical. they do let you see Heaven.

"... Hello? Miss? I'm the Blue Beetle. I saw those rough customers upstairs and just wanted to make sure you're okay. Hello..."

Spiral has posed:
Spiral isn't as bad as Doomsday at least. But thats a low bar!

The basement is almost as big in length and breadth as the entire building they are under. Before Spiral got here it was a bare room but no longer - she's ripped out some of the cables connected to the magical antenna that this building is, and they are lying across the floor in a spiral pattern. Off to one side, an ancient cathode ray TV sits there, tuned to static, and illuminating the room dimly in its white glow.

Spiral herself is dancing around the room, feet treading daintily between the cables, apparently not in danger of tripping on one of them, as the TV flickers and hisses behind her, occasionally shapes forming in the static. But not the shapes she wants, apparently, as she mutters something disapproving, and tries to dance all the faster, causing the shapes to twist and shift some more.

But Ted wasn't sneaking at all, so she suddenly stops dancing, to whirl around when she hears his voice. "Who are you?" she hisses, drawing her swords.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord thinks she just beat him to the question.

"I'm the Blue Beetle. I thought I was going to keep those oafs from assaulting you or worse, silly me. Why don't you put those swords back in the scabbard and I'll holster my gun and we can continue to speak politely. I wasn't trying to startle you. I come in peace." Wasn't planing on fighting the goddess Kali either. Or whatever. He tries a smile and says, "You dance very nicely."

Spiral has posed:
"You interrupted me just as a number of interdimensional loci were aligning!" Spiral tells him, unamused, as she advances on him with those swords. "What did I tell my hirelings upstairs? No interruptions!".

But just about then a nimbus of energy forms around the TV, sending streamers of bright blue power through the room. The screen shatters, though there's still a white static glow where it was, and a couple of arms reach through, as a tentacle faced, star headed humanoid pulls itself through.

Spiral apparently either hasn't noticed, or intended this to happen!

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord readies his gun to send a blinding flash at Spiral. "Those mooks barely finished their beers before leaving! I didn't see any warning signs or do not interrupt, aligning chakras or Loki or Loki's chakras. Stop or I'm going to knock you on your ass... hey is that meant to happen? Look out behind you!" Ted yells poionting.

No one ever falls for *that* trick but there are certain ways things have to play out.

"Uhm a star-headed whompus is about to grab your booty! Tellin' ya, Starthulu is coming..." He nod nods.

Spiral has posed:
Spiral isn't an idiot - who does he think she is, Ronan? - so she keeps walking towards him, though a bit more carefully now there's a gun pointing at her, two of her hands twisting and glowing above her head as they form spells of her own. But she likes to get her hands dirty, so seems intent on using the sword. "Only the most second rate heroes would try a trick like /that/.". If anything it's made the easily distracted Spiral more focused on him!

Meanwhile another squid faced horror from between dimensions climbs slowly out of the the remnants of the TV behind her, the other one spreading insect like wings and looking around this place - and drawing out a bow and arrow, the arrow tip burning with an eldritch light that defies easy description.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord says, "Oh fudge!" Only he doesn't say fudge. He says the f-word. The great father of them all. Then he fires the gun. 1000 candle power, shit ton of lumens! That will blind the crazy lady with the arms and swords and the creatures coming through. So it seems a start. His goggles turn black as he pulls the trigger and the gun with a skwaaaaaark explodes with light in Spiral's eyes. He also dives to the side.

"Hah, I'm a third rate hero! Shows what you know! Bwahaha!" He switches the gun to concussion blast as he speaks, hopefully he can throw them back through the screen or...

Spiral has posed:
Oh the blue guy is like Dazzler or something. She'll have the right spell for that - next time. As it is she's blinded at least for a moment, her odd white eyes closed tight shut as she leaps to one side to avoid any further attacks from him that may follow up.

Just as well, as the arrow loosed by the creature behind her slices through the air and thoks into the wall where it hisses softly. The other starfish-squid thing draws two swords, while ANOTHER one climbs through the remnants of the TV...

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord says sorry. "That *thock* was caused by an arrow fired from *BEHIND* you, Slappy! So if you can 't see that well and want to find your way to the weird Cthulhu knockoffs, follow the arrows!" And like that he fires a rapid volley of concussion blasts at the creatures, trying to flank them.

The man has a lot on his plate. He can be forgiven for tripping on a goddam cable and going down. Another arrow hisses over his head.

"I meant to do that!"

Spiral has posed:
Well, the one climbing into this reality gets blasted and vanishes from sight. The TV mostly goes with it, but a rent in the fabric of space remains hanging in space, which shows they aren't REALLY climbing through a television after all. You never know, given Spiral...

However the other two spread out a bit, no longer with their backs to the portal, and given Ted has declared himself the main enemy, the next loosed arrow of eldritch energy is aimed at him. The one with the swords, meanwhile, heads for Spiral, who is getting up and opening her eyes again.

"Oh. Well that explains what the cult who built this place wanted.". Wrong Dimension.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord y-i-i-s as the arrow whizzes by, nearly nailing him in his blue butt. "Well thank you for the exposition, General Grievous!" He's somewhat relieved her swords are not pointed at him at least.

He must have something in his belt for this, right? He does! A cartridge about the size of a shotgun shell, an attempt to recreate Spider-Man's web fluid (see previous issues, not pulling this out of my ear or anything! Some players will just prattle on about their character carrying a Cost Co in their belts but not this people.) He sticks the cartridge into the BB Gun and readies it to fire as the creature draws another shaft of whatever it is.

Spiral has posed:
The one with the sword picked the wrong woman to have a swordfight with. They seem pretty strong, but not that fast, or skilled - and while their rubbery forms look quite tough and... eldritch... Spiral's enchanted swords turn it into calamari pretty quickly.

As the other one only has a bow, even though it's quite close, it notches another arrow with flaming tip and draws it back to its squiddy face, taking aim at Ted in a weird wild west High Noon.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord says, "This is what you gotta ask yourself punk, do you feel lucky?" He fires. He's not prepared for the recoil. The arrow fires and is caught up in the filmy strands of a mass of webbing. The webbing extends to entangle and snare the creature who squeaks and squeals what Ted instinctively recognizes as the worst possible profanity. He blanks and fails to disentangle the gun from the mess. So he gives it a good yank and yeets the thing right into the portal. The webbing and the cartridge are pulled free as the creature is sucked in.

Phew.

What is he forgetting?

Oh yeah stabby, crazy, magical lady.

"Stay back you multi-armed marauder! I'm warning you!" He puts on his game face, turns to face her.

Spiral has posed:
Dr Strange will be pissed if she just leaves that portal here, so she is actually back to dancing when he turns around to face her. "I see, yet another human do-gooder repulsed by my corrupted and twisted form.". She's heard it all before, but she still sneers at him as if he was a bug. Wihch... he kinda is.

While her arms are mostly twirling around her in hypnotic spiralling patterns of their own, two of them are pointed at the glowing rent where the TV once was, and it slowly begins to shrink.

"Warning me of what? You're going to ruin my dance again?" she asks him, accusing.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord puts the gun away. The portal is shrinking. "Evidently, there's nothing to warn you about. Why would I find your form corrupted and repulsive? You're incredibly graceful. There are times I wanted a couple extra hands in the machine shop but... I'd need a whole new wardrobe, costumes. May I stay and watch your dance?" He holsters his gun. Can't believe he was going all comic book on her.

Spiral has posed:
"Multi armed marauder? Slappy?" Spiral reminds with a frown. That sounds like an insult! And it only takes her own hangups to quickly turn that into corrupted and repulsive. She keeps on dancing anyway, because another thing will probably get through if she stops, and then there'll be more running and swordfighting and dancing.... meh.

When the portal finally closes, there's no light in here beyond Spiral's eyes, the purple magical glow emanating from two of her hands, and whatever light makes it down the stairs. She finally stops dancing when he holsters his gun - more or less her own equivalent.

"So, why are you here? To make sure I'm okay? To request I give you extra arms?".

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord uhms. Extra arms?

"Ah no thank you... I wouldn't make such a request of someone I just met. Besides I get into enough trouble with two arms. Yes I was going to make sure no more of those things came through and you were all right. I apologize for being insulting. I was just... when I fight I try to get people angry to make mistakes. Hmmm no, I'm not repulsed. You're an amazing being, your co-ordination and such. Can I start over?"

He walks over and extends a hand, "I'm the Blue Beetle, also known as Ted Kord."

Spiral has posed:
Spiral isn't exactly easy to flatter, but he's laying it on thick, so she grudgingly lets him shake her hand, rather than just teleporting him to the Statue of Liberty, where all heroes should go in her view. Appropriate, dramatic backdrop for the cameras, and far away from her.

"I don't think the Old Ones understand English." she points out to him regarding his strategy. "Though I do, and I am not an amazing being, I am the result of cruelty and twisted science. Blue Beetle. That doesn't sound like you're from Gotham at least. Gotham is a silly place.".

Says the Mojoworlder.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord rubs the back of his head. "I will leave you to whatever then. I think this sort of thing is above my pay grade anyway. Sorry I messed you dance up. I do that stuff a lot. Well, good night... you." He turns to ascend the steps. Dead extradimensional monster? What monster? This was all pretty bizarre. For all he knew they were constructs or something. Let the cops check on the next 9-1-1 call from here.

Spiral has posed:
Spiral laughs at his back. "The hero down on his luck, walks the streets of New York seeking to return to the big leagues? Ashamed by his performance, thinking he could and should do better.". She claps once, and then spreads her arms. "It is a classic heroes journey!". She knows a movie trope when she can shoehorn one in.

With a quick blur of dance, she appears on the staircase in front of him, and curtseys before him. "I am Spiral. Thank you for saving me.". It's a weird mix of sardonic and grudgingly genuine - she gets the whiff of outcast from him somehow, and she has some faint sympathy there. Then she leads him up the stairs, and indicates the door with her arms.

"Those useless fools." she mutters, when finding that her guardians have beat feet quite a while ago.