4393/Mystery in Space: A Moment of Utter Darkness and Cold

Mystery in Space: A Moment of Utter Darkness and Cold
Date of Scene:	13 December 2020
Location:	An unknown planet under twin suns.
Synopsis:	Hank and company find a broken people living under a loaded gun.
Cast of Characters:	Hank Pym, Scott Lang, Nadia Pym-van Dyne, Vivian Vision

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Hank Pym has posed:
An unknown planet, under twin setting suns. Hank and his party guests face a pack of alien predators...

Meanwhile: stately Pym Manor. Late partygoers will find it deserted, a weird electronic hiss coming from the basement and several very agitated giant ants milling about. What can this mean?

//Master gone! Mistress gone!// //Yes.// //Protect the Queen!// //Quiet someone approaches.//

Scott Lang has posed:
"Guys? Hello? Hank? ...say nothing if you want me to keep your weedtrimmer! Damn he really isn't here," surmises Scott who walks into the Pym Manor with a tupperware filled with pasta salad. There was a small baggie on top filled with electronic detritus labled 'computer chips' as well he meant to give to Vivian as a gag but the lack of anyone around was, disconcerting to say the least. One of the ants began nudging at his leg, soon leading Scott downstairs. Weird machine still humming with power, a smell of burnt ozone in the air. He was no super genius scientist but he knew well enough how to check the security cameras and see the group disappear in a flash of light from the basement. No ash, they weren't disintegrated, which meant they went somewhere.

"Yeah, I'm the irresponsible one," mutters Scott as he reaches in his pocket and unshrinks his Ant-Man suit. A few minutes later he's back and changed. Changing the suit took no time, finding a cooler and filling it with snacks and sandwiches had as he takes a seat near the microphone and lets out a sigh as he snaps his helmet into place and takes a deep breath before leaning over to grab it. What to say? "Beam me up Scotty," he calls into the mic, waiting to see if it worked.

Hank Pym has posed:
There is a flash of blinding light. A moment of utter darkness and cold and...

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
When we last left our Heroes and Heroines in space, they had just woken up on a strange planet in what appears to be a binary star system. While they were still getting their bearings and surveying the apparently grassy landscape, four tiger-sized great cats with long horns jutting from their foreheads had began padding up to them.

Nadia takes a step back in surprise at the sudden approach of the very large felines with their long horns before she lets out a squeal of delight, "Unicorn cats?! This planet has unicorn cats, oh my god Viv, Unicorn cats! Please don't eat us unicorn kitties!" The last is directed at the animals themselves, though just the same she warms up the energy blasters mounted in her gauntlets to be ready to fend off an attack.

Vivian Vision has posed:
From the moment the group began to awaken in this strange place Vivian has been running diagnostic checks. Checking energy consumption before and after, reviewing her power levels and comparing against what she thinks it should be to establish how long the transport process took. As well as a whole suite of environmental checks. Breakdown of the air, chewing some grass and soil (yum) to allow her to study the chemical make-up.

Of course for the most part it looks like she's been standing around looking bored. Which in a way she is. Without the internet there are only so many things to keep her processing power used up.

The approach of large feline-esque alien lifeforms doesn't cause any immediate reaction. They might not be hostile after all! Still to account for the very real possibility they are not about to initiate friendly first contact procedings she takes a few steps closer. Just in case.

"I do not think your team-mates will let you keep a pet at the Tower." she points out with a shrug. "I had hoped they would not be hostile but..."

She fires a warning blast of energy from her eyes into the ground between the advancing Uni-cats and the group. Nothing but than a flash of heat and a small fire but who knows perhap they're afraid of fire!

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym is about to grow to hopefully scare the animals away. About being the operative word. there is a blinding flash of light though and a familiar form drops through the air. It doesn't fall very far. There is a loud >clang< as the person's metal helmet connects with Hank's head and the founding Avenger is dropped like a poleaxed grad student.

The flash of light, Vivian's laser burst and Nadia's glee (being cat like they flee those interested in them, this is a Universal constant) combine to put the pride to flight.

Hank moans, "C'mon, we said no throwing lab equipment, hon..."

Scott Lang has posed:
For better or worse Scott had always had a very good resistance to undergoing strange phenomena, able to take the stresses of shrinking and growing better than some of the true originals of the art. Apparently that also applied to galactic teleportation as Scott maintains consciousness, crashing onto Hank with cooler in hand and headbutt to the skull. Still it was disorienting, Scott failing to even notice his boss as he stands up, letting the helmet fold back so he can rub at the bridge of his nose before taking a look about.

"Alright, alright everyone it's OK, Scott's here to save ya, and..." the pause seemingly made for dramatic effect as he lifts the cooler up, "I brought sandwiches." Only then does Hank's slurred words seem to catch his ear as Scott looks down. What was the rule about people with a concussion? Grab their hand and help them stand up quickly hopefully cause that's what Scott does. "C'mon Hank, on your feet. Hon," he makes sure to add with a wry grin.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia frowns at the unicorn cats flee, "Viv you scared them! Poor Unicorn cats."

It is only after the distraction of the unicorn cats has passed that she finally turns around to see what that odd thunk was behind her only to find the post collision Hank and Scott. "Dad are you okay?!"

She then blinks a few times as her mind processes two people both wearing the Ant-Man suit, "Is this planet doing dopplegangers now? Is that what this is?"

But then the doppleganger is announcing themselves as 'Scott' and they have Sandwiches. Nadia has seen some incredibly weird things in her life, or even in the past few months, but this is still really weird. "Who are you?" Nadia demands, looking Scott up and down, "And why are you wearing my Dad's suit? Also what kind of sandwiches?"

Vivian Vision has posed:
"It was preferable to scare them compared to the risk of harm befalling them in a conflict," Vivian points out. "They likely considered you all to be food. And without any understanding of how durable they are I could not safely disable them." She frowns. "I suppose we could have captured one to provide Miss Danielson with sustainance..."

She glances back when Scott suddenly falls through a hole in space.

"That would be Mister Lang." She doesn't sigh but there is a pause. "Which indicates the portal connection could still exist? Did anyone have any scanning equipment running which might have picked up a useful signature?"

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym comes to fairly quickly. It's a job skill. "Scott... you saved us! Brilliant! WHo's going to recall us? Tony? T'Challa? DOn't tell me you got Richards... you came banging in here with no one manning the device?! I'll ****ing kill you. Come here! Get over here and die like a man! Two ****ing weeks I was being tortured before Nadia got those lputs off their ***es and convinced them I was missing! Come here Scott! Of all the ****ed up **** ups in a **** ************!" Hank wobbles a little and has to sit down.

"Nadia, my love, may I present Scott Lang, the new Ant-Man. I don't think I spoke of him. I don't like swearing in front of you."

He falls back, looks at the stars starting to appear. "Centauri system for sure. I think that's Sol."

Scott Lang has posed:
Scott was new but not that new, he knew well enough how to stay out of Hank's reach when he was mad, something made easier by his current injured state, waiting till he runs out of steam before Scott stops and opens the cooler. "Hey Nadia. Yeah like your Dad said, heard a lot about you! I'm the guy who stole his suit and then he decided to bring me on-board after. Viv, looking shiny as ever. Hank heads up," Scott having already tossed a baggie at the downed professor, a turkey and cheese sandwich smacking atop Hank's face as he tries to get their astrological bearings. Another one is lobbed underhand to Nadia, and even the joke back of 'chips' is chucked at Vivian before Scott sets the cooler down and begins removing bottled waters and sodas.

"So anyway, yeah I didn't exactly call for anyone else to come run the equipment. It looked like communication equipment, I figured something dragged you all here, not that it launched you...anyway not to worry, Cassie knows where I went, if I'm not back in time to relieve the babysitter THEY'LL call for help." Scott seems strangely relaxed about being trapped on the alien planet at the moment as he takes a bite of his own sandwich, removing paper plates and starting to spoon out pasta salad to go with.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
At first Nadia is blinking in surprise, that is a long string of expletives coming out of her father's mouth and not all of it seems quite coherent to her. But then she just kind of stares at Scott for a moment, "You /stole/ his suit." Before her attention shifts to Hank, "He /stole/ your suit?" Brain error, does not compute, "And you were just like okay you can be Ant-Man now?!" The normally happy go lucky girl seems rather incredulous at this explanation.

One hand darts out to snatch the sandwich out of the air, seemingly independent of the rest of her thought processes as her eyes remain intent on Scott and Hank, showcasing some pretty frightening reflexes.

"Nobody is eating the Unicorn kitties." She adds after a moment.

Vivian Vision has posed:
Vivian Vision catches the bag out of the air, looks inside, and then blinks a few times. "Mister Lang I have no idea why you are throwing trash at me. But please refrain from doing so in the future. You should not letter our own world, never mind the implications for littering on an alien planet."

Thankfully her pants have plenty of pockets to store the box of chips in.

"I was not suggesting they would be the primary solution to your food situation. Carnivores tend to be less edible. And now you at least have a short term supply of food. I am sure this will tide you over. Especially if Mister Lang has any shrunken supplies?"

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym sits up after a few moments and removes the sandwich from his face. He splits it and tosses it to the ants. "He needed it to save his daughter. I could understand that. He figured out how to use the gear. It was just getting dusty. I gave him a chance. No good deal every goes unpunished. That's why Captain America carries a shield." He gets up and pulls a camping set up out of his pocket, then another. Literally, prepackaged in huge plastic wrap packages, tents, sleeping bags. He extracts a burning log and uses it to build a campfire. "I have no desire to find out what plant life generates toxic smoke. I can't believe I'm going to be saved by a kid. Again. No offense Nadia but a six year old." He throws the two tents out and they pop into their open shapes. "I have more emergency supplies in here when the sandwiches are gone. I'll take first watch. I know Vivian doesn't need to sleep, but I want to think a while without getting cracked in the head."

Scott Lang has posed:
Scott talks with his mouth full because of course he would, his words slurred as he nods his head at Hank. "Yeah sheesh, what ur fadder said," he gets out before swallowing, sitting on the ground with his knees curled up slightly. "I didn't just steal it cause I was a thief...I mean I did time in prison because I was a thief but, umm, we should probably talk about this another time," Scott suddenly eager to change the subject as Nadia fixes that gaze on him. He got angry looks from Hank a lot but they were like angry teacher looks. The one from Nadia was something closer to what he imagined an angry sniper would look like and he averts his own eyes to focus on the food. Sighing as his joke fails to get any sort of proper reaction from VV, as expected really.

"I brought a few more things too. I shrunk down most of the food in Hank's pantry and his fridge. And some of his sheets and blankets. Clothes...it may take a while to put everything back in order when we get back to your home I'll be honest, I just kinda grabbed whatever," Scott admits with a thoughtful frown as he starts checking pouches.

"Regardless, Cassie will notice something is wrong in a couple hours and she knows who to call for help if something is wrong. Avengers Mansion, my SHIELD contact, 911, and then my ex. In that order. We'll be fine," Scott says confidently, apparently ready to view getting transported several hundred light years away as a sight-seeing tour.

Hank Pym has posed:
The dark horizon is abruptly lit up to the North? Call it North, there's what seems to be Polaris. Sort of North. Fwoosh, a pulse of light! Fwoosh! Not very close, but surely twenty kilometers away? Yes, Vivian could pick up energy pulses, known and unknown and find that figure out fast enough. Fwoosh! Fwowowowowowoosh!

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia is listening to all of this, at first Hank's explanation seems like it might be helping, though Lang still gets some side-eye. "Ever heard of asking Mr. Lang?" It is perhaps the first time Hank has heard Nadia be anything other than sweet and nice to everyone she meets, well except for that one time when she flipped out and started breaking people.

Scott's explanation though does not seem to help matters, "Prison? You went to prison?!" She turns back to Hank, pointing at Scott, "He went to prison!" As if her father was not present to hear Lang's explanation, one might gather she has very high standards for anyone attempting to call themselves Ant-Man that isn't her father.

Scott's attempt to change the subject only seems to throw fuel on the fire, "Wait wait, you robbed our house?! Dad he robbed our house!" She continues fuming as she helps to set up camp.

And then there is a pulse of light not too far away. "What was that?!" Nadia's attention is finally distracted from Scott and his 'litany of sins', "I'll go investigate!" She volunteers, bio-synthetic wings extending from the small metal decal at the center of her back.

Vivian Vision has posed:
"If you wish to keep a close watch on the camp I will do a perimeter patrol a little further out," Vivian offers when Hank suggests taking watch first. "That way you will have thinking time and I will be able to map the surrounding terrain from above."

She does indeed have a lot of sensors, but in general they're more focused on communications and signals generated by technology than more dedicated lab & scientific equipment. Also without the internet to fall back on her knowledge is drastically limited! Alas she doesn't have the storage space for the whole of Human scientific achievement and progress.

"Great Aunt Nadia please do not fly off alone. We still have no idea what brought us here or if it's observing us still. Whatever that pulse was could be a distraction to lure someone away from the group." She pauses. "I do however volunteer to accompany you." Because making her decide not to go is probably more trouble than just helping out...

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym looks troubled at Nadia's words. "He says simply, everyone deserves a second chance. At least he had a good reason for what he did. What reasn did I have for what I did to Janet, or the rest of the Avengers?" He watches the girls take off and then, embiggens himself. "Oh no you don't! You aren't leaving my sight! Probably get abducted by Space Russians! Scott, follow on Baudalaire! Cozette! Come!" Hank grabs the wingless female and lifts her to his shoulders. In a moment he reaches a full thirty foot cruising size and strides off.

Scott Lang has posed:
"But I thought we were...Hank c'mon they got this! Dammit!" huffs Scott as he snaps his helmet back up into place, quickly shrinking BACK down what gear they had set up and scooping it haphazardly into a pouch before glaring at the ant. "Next party we're having at my house," he growls at the winged ant before shrinking himself and climbing aboard, flying after in hot pursuit. He taps his helmet comms, at least relieved to find those work as he tries to keep smoothing things over with Nadia. "Look Nadia, I was in a hurry, some bad people had my girl. And I got out early for good behavior, that should mean something right?!" Scott probably not helping matters at all before his eyes light up. He knew what would cheer her as the spread out foursome head north. "And hey once we stop I got something for you. You had this cute wasp plushie on your bed when I was walking by so I grabbed it too, figured you know, if you were under stress it might help you feel better and all. Cassie always loves having one of her stuffed animals around." Scott had one of her stuffed animals. He went in HER room. The convicted felon. Now she'd feel better.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia is already buzzing off towards the light when everyone decides to give chase, for a girl who patterns herself after wasps, sometimes she really does act more like a moth drawn to whatever shiny flame catches her interest in the moment.

Those wings are fast, but perhaps thankfully something Scott said causes her to pause for a moment giving the others time to catch up. In fact, Hank's talk about second chances and the part of what Scott said about bad people having his girl /might/ have won him some reprieve, except for the part that followed that.

"OH MY GOD! Dad he went into my room!" Nadia's voice explodes over the comms. "Come on Viv, let's /go/!" And with that she zooms off again in a huff at top speed, going towards the light.

Vivian Vision has posed:
"Honestly your scorn would be better directed to the entire concepts of prisons Great Aunt Nadia," Vivian points out with a shrug as she lowers her density to fly. She'll even take point if her speed allows. Better anyone shooting at the group targets her. "It's a poorly thought out system of punishment and the stigma attached with being sent there can trap entire families in a cycle of poverty and crime. While crime should not pay it should also not prevent people who wish to reform from doing so.."

She eyes the terrain ahead, having what amounts of telescopic sight with an 80x zoom, looking for danger.

"I will project a stealth camoflage field so we are harder to observe if you can all remain within a close proximity to me." And then Nadia is flying at full speed. "And transmit location data in real time so you may follow if you lose sight of us."

Hank Pym has posed:
Above the range of hills, just beyond them, the flyers quickly spot a well lit city with towers and causeways. Of more concern is the 10 meter long weapon that is otherwise similar to a hand held blaster. The weapon is flying freely, its barrel aiming for the city and sending regular pulses of destructive energy into the ground. The city is fighting back as missiles can be glimpsed exploding against the gun with no discernible effect.

Hank says, "There's something you don't see every day..." Cozette nods on his shoulder.

Scott Lang has posed:
     Buzzing up next to Hank, Scott rolls his eyes at Nadia's exclamation and keeps himself off comms this time. "Women amirite? Don't touch my stuff, stay out of my room, yadda yadda. If she weren't so cute she...right daughter, almost forgot. Look Hank do you even have an inkling of what, we're, dealing, dammit with. OK I'm gonna guess not looking at that. Hank why is there a giant flying gun? What did you bring us into?" Scott now for once sounding like the accusing one as he brings up Baudelaire to a halt and glares between Hank and then the weird flying weapon and back again. At least there was one person he could rely on as Vivian offers her defense, Scott going back on comms briefly to say, "VV, you're a good girl, and if the rest of us perish out here in space to the giant floating gun, I want you to remember that. And Nadia..." Scott pauses again for effect and grins before he starts flying at the gun. "I read your journal too," he teases. He was probably joking. Maybe.