4483/A Cat and a Unicorn

A Cat and a Unicorn
Date of Scene:	24 December 2020
Location:	Suicide Slum - New Troy
Synopsis:	Vorpal meets a Unicorn protecting a child from a gang of thugs
Cast of Characters:	Winslow Schott, Terry O'Neil

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Winslow Schott has posed:
It has been a couple of weeks since Winslow Schott placed his lime-green dome over the Suicide Slum. Since that time no one has been able to make contact with the mad toymaker. However, he seemed to keep his promise of children coming and going as they pleased. Ever since the first night, five more children have left the dome, all of them escorted out gently by either one of Schott's Unicorns, or, more recently, by what appeared to be a huge stag covered in war paint, all characters from Schott's former toyline, My Precious Unicorn. When questioned, the children would be surprisingly tight-lipped about what they saw inside, often insisting that "Uncle Schott" told them to keep it a surprise, lest he take away their Christmas Presents, which were often very complex, but harmless toys the children carried out with them when leaving the dome.

However, crime around the dome was still a problem, maybe proving Schott right a little about shielding the children from the scum of society. Tonight was a beautiful, cloudless winter's night. The stars and moon seemed to illuminate the sky. In the distance Schott dome stood, still glowing it's festive green light, almost like a night-light in the dark. This peaceful night time is suddenly disrupted by a child's scream, then, oddly enough, by the sounds of a man crying in pain and, even more worryingly, by the sounds of a bone being broken.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
The Cheshire Cat has been patrolling the area around the dome intermittently since it appeared. Attempts to Rabbit Hole inside failed because, apparently, there were people on the internet who seeemed to side with Schott and, somehow, managed to (temporarily, at least) hack or overload most local street-view navigation apps. Without knowing what the area looks like, Vorpal can't Rabbit Hole in.

Tonight, the cat is perched on the arm of a street light, looking around for things that might give him a clue. He had not thought about trying to just walk through the dome because- who /does/ that, right? His musings are interrupted by the scream, however. Ears swivel, pupils dilate, and the cat tries to ascertain the direction of the scream.

Normally, he'd be able to run in that direction, but his sprained ankle forbids most high-grade acrobatic movement, so instead he uses his Rabbit Hole to leap across the space, towards where he thinks the source of the sound is coming from- there's a child in danger!

Winslow Schott has posed:
As you teleport to the sounds of the screaming, you would suddenly find yourself in a dark alleyway near the northwest side of the dome. As you appear, you hear the sounds of men yelling, groans of pain, and, most distressingly, a child crying. If you were to get closer, what you see would be amongst the strangest, and most brutal, images of your carrer as a hero. First, you would notice three men lying down on the ground, groaning in pain, one of them with a badly bent arm. Next, you would see five more men, each of them armed with a type of melee weapon. Finally, there was what the men appeared to be trying to attack, which was probably one of the most bizarre things you could ever see.

It was a large, scarlet colored, male Unicorn stallion with a black and red mane and fierce looking ruby eyes. It's head and front appeared to be covered in a type of armor and you could swear you could hear it growling in rage. It's wings, which appeared worn and scarred from previous battles were flared out angrily as it eyes the thugs with a blood-thirsty glare. Behind the Unicorn's wings however, you could see the frightened form of a male child, shaking with fear and letting out a few sobs. It was quite obvious what was happening, the Unicorn was trying to protect the child from these thugs, but what did the thugs want with the child?

Suddenly, one of the men, a tall, skinny African-American man wearing a hoodie and clutching a lead pipe suddenly charged the Unicorn and swung hard at it's head. The pipe collided with the Unicorn's helmet with a might clang, and the unicorn's head jerked back slightly, before suddenly jerking back into place with a angered, violent snarl. Suddenly, the unicorn learched forward and bit the man's arm. The man screamed out in pain, before suddenly being cut-off by a forehoof to the gut, which caused him to double over in pain. Suddenly, the Unicorn swung another forehoof to the man's head, causing him to fly into the wall and slam into it hard, knocking him out. Suddenly, you could hear footsteps rushing towards you, and see a short, Caucasian thug wearing a long-sleeved shirt and sunglasses charging you, swinging a plank of wood at you as he did.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
    The Cheshire cat narrows his eyes.

"Oh yeah, that is NOT happening!" he says, and adopts a defensive posture as if he were to try to engage with the man swinging the plank of wood.

Instead, he waits until the very last moment to open a Rabbit Hole to intercept the plank swinging, its twin opening up behind Vorpal's attacker in the Cheshire cat's trademark 'Stop Hitting Yourself!' defensive deflection. If the hit lands on the thug's head, the cat will dismiss the Rabbit Hole and follow through with a haymarker to the chin in case the man is still conscious.

"That was /very/ rude! You don't bring a plank to a tea party!"

Winslow Schott has posed:
The Man gets nailed on the head by his own wooden plank, causing him to collapse to the ground hard. Then, the haymaker crashes into his jaw, finally knocking him out. As the man collapses onto the ground, you suddenly hear the sounds of gasping and chocking coming from the Unicorn. If you were to turn around, you would see the Unicorn glaring murderously at something. If you were to look up you would see another one of the thugs being levitated up in the air by an unknown force. If you were to look at the unicorn's horn, you would see that it was glowing. You would then see the child behind the Unicorn sitting down, his eyes widened with fear as he observed what appeared to be a pocket knife on the ground in front of him. So, the thug had decided to make a grab for the kid when his protectors were busy eh?

Suddenly, the Unicorn lets out a savage growl as it suddenly launched the thug into the final one, causing them to crash violently into the wall, knocking them both out. The Unicorn's head suddenly jerks towards you and, with a light growl starts to approach you, it's wings flared out aggressively, it's eyes angry, but with a slight hint of curiosity, and it's armor seemingly glowing in the moonlight.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
The Cheshire cat narrows his eyes, realizing that he is under threat, and with diminished physical capability. By now it is very clear that this must be a Schott creation, knowing that Schott himself would never harm a child nor suffer one to be harmed. The cat slowly takes a few steps back, hands up to his chest to show that he is unarmed. "Easy there, boy... I am no threat to you," he says to the Unicorn.

Then again, would it believe him? He was an upright feline, and clearly capable of defending himself with strange powers. If Schott had programmed him with his profile, then he might have him listed as a Titan and therefore an opponent.

He frowns for a second. Schott did not usually harm children, or even those who straddled the line, those who were not yet adult. Was Schott aware that he was a teenager himself? Felines, after all, didn't get visible acne, and cats were /always/ contrary, so teenage rebellion was a constant state for them. How could Schott know, unless he had been paying attention to the news of his outing himself publicly... and due to all the planning that took to get the dome going, Vorpal was betting on it being a 'no.'

"Let's not do anything hasty here."

Winslow Schott has posed:
The Unicorn pauses and looks at you, it's untrusting eyes staring at you intently, as if getting a good, long, look at your face. Suddenly, it moves... away from you and towards the still sobbing child. It looks down with a surprise look of sadness, before glaring angrily again at the thugs around him, especially at the one with the broken arm from earlier. It lets out another snarl as it suddenly gallops towards the man and hits him in the head with a forehoof, plunging him into unconsciousness and giving him a very nasty cut on the head in the process. As the man laid there bleeding, the Unicorn gallops back up to the child and, no doubt much to your surprise, wraps it's forhoofs around him in a hug.

The child wraps his arms around his neck and starts to cry a bit harder, as this is happening, the Unicorn glances up at you and says in a very stern, battler-hardened, and gravelly voice,

"Art thou a threat to this child like these villains? If so, thou wilt suffer their fate cat. Or worse!" This last bit is added in with a stomp of it's back hoofs on a pair of discarded sunglasses, which shatter on impact.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Vorpal is taken aback at the Renfaire manner of the mechanical creature, but he is at least gratified that he was correct abut its nature- protective of the child, it seemed content to not attack as long as no threat came his way. The key, then, was to not to act in a way that arlarmed it.

Affecting a slow bow, avoiding sudden movements, the Cheshire cat says- "Rest assured, I am no threat to to thee or those in thy care. I am Vorpal, the Cheshire Cat, known far and wide lo these centuries as an ally of children everywhere. Why, 'twas I who gave valuable advice to Alice Liddell- which she chose to disregard as her own inconvenience. But still..."

He slowly straightens up. "If thou wilst allow me to summon the local constabulary and give notice of these knaves' sorry state, that they may be carried away and judged with the full brunt of the law?"

Matching registers is important. He also gives the kid a small smile, "Everything's okay," he says, "You are safe."

And it was true. "Did any of those men hurt you?" he asks, taking into notice that the child might need medical attention.

Winslow Schott has posed:
The Unicorn looks at you intently for a long time, as if trying to see if you were lying. Suddenly, it stands up, the child now standing in-between it's forelegs as it suddenly nodded at you. It then said,

"Very well, call the authorities Cheshire Cat". Suddenly, it pauses and bows it's head lightly before saying," Since thou hast introduced thyself, it's wouldst be only honorable to introduce mineself. I am Prince Gallant, the eldest son of King Flare, Knight of the Realm, and protector of the innocent."

It says this last line while suddenly giving the child a light noogie with it's hoofs, eliciting a small giggle from the boy. The boy then looks up at Vorpal, a light smile on his face, but still fearful as he suddenly stuttered out,

N-no Mister. They didn't harm me. T-they wanted to take me somewhere, they wanted to make my Daddy suffer for "putting their boss away", and they said something about "making a fortune with da ransom".

Suddenly, the Unicorn snarls out in anger again and starts to stomp towards one of the thugs, a murderous glare in it's eyes as it draws closer. The child meanwhile, suddenly hides behind you, trembling a bit at his protector's reaction.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Vorpal limps, to interpose himself between Gallant and the thugs. "Stay thy hoof, Prince Gallant. Death is a swift end from pain and punishment- wilt thou ease such scoundrels of their much-deserved punishment, where they shall while away the decades in penury, misery and regret? Nay, let the authorities take them, ample proof shall ensure that they shall find more misery in a long life spent in captivity than the short release of death."

Putting the boss away? Policeman, or informant. This was useful to know- the father was also being targeted, which means the Cheshire Cat would need to call in some favors to have someone protected and watched, and a network of thugs to be identified. "Don't worry... what's your name? We'll get everything fixed. I'll need to know your daddy's name and where he lives, and I can have my friends keep him safe while we figure out how to get these bad men's friends behind bars."

He glances at Prince Gallant. "Is this acceptable?"

Winslow Schott has posed:
The Unicorn stops, and sighs heavily as it's head goes down, perhaps in slight shame. For a robot, Prince Gallant seemed very capable of emotions, a testament of Schott's engineering genius. It then trots back to the child and gives him an apologetic glance before rubbing his head, eliciting another small giggle. The boy then looks at you and says,

"My daddy's name is Walter Lakes, he works at the Coast Guard station down near Hobs Bay. I live with my Mom five blocks away, near Citrus Street."

The boy then does something unexpected, he walks up to you and gives you a hug while saying a simple "thank-you". Gallant meanwhile, nods and says,

"If this child trusts you, then I'll trust you to help him."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Thank you, prince Gallant," Vorpal says, patting the child softly on his head. "Are you going back into the dome? I can take him over to his mom and get one of my connections to set up surveillance to keep the family safe... " he pauses, "You'll let Schott know that the kid is safe, right? I wouldn't want him to think I did anything to put him at risk."

And then he leans over and smiles at the kid. "Hey... do you know I know Beast Boy? Would you like to meet him?" Gar was a good choice for kids- he could keep them entertained by turning into various animals, while Vorpal could call the parents and get things organized.

Winslow Schott has posed:
Prince Gallant takes one more look at you both and says,

"Yes, I shall be returning to Master Schott. No doubt he expects me back by now."

He then gives the child one more warm smile before suddenly flying off. Meanwhile, the child smiles and says,

"You know Beast Boy! Of course i'd like to meet him! He's my favorite Titan!"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Very well, Prince Gallant. Until we meet again..."

As the unicorn flies off, Vorpal quickly places a call on his phone to report the crooks, telling the police that he will make a full statement as soon as he puts the kid in the care of one of the other Titans while he tries to locate the parents.

<<Hey, Greenie. Wake up and get dressed, you've got a fan who wants to meet you at the Tower. I'll fill you in when I get there.>>

Vorpal does let out a chuckle though, "He's everyone's favorite. Including mine. But don't tell him that or he'll let it go to his head. Let's get you some ice cream and then we'll head over to the Tower and get your parents contact, sounds good?" There was an ice cream place on the way, and it would give Gar time to wake up. It always took him a bit.