4850/Return Of The Shredder: Marionette Maker

From Heroes Assemble MUSH
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Return Of The Shredder: Marionette Maker
Date of Scene: 24 January 2021
Location: Studio 13
Synopsis: The vessel for shredder's soul is contracted out by an unwitting partnership between Toyman and one of his old friends.
Cast of Characters: Shredder, Winslow Schott




Shredder has posed:
     Studio 13, the place where all the magic had happened those many years ago. It had seen better days, far better and been revitalized and changed over completely ten thousand times over since she was last here.

     The place had grown a lot since then too, expanded to over three times the size it was when it was just a few rows of cubicles stacked inside of a repurposed warehouse. The tiny brunette ran her comb one last time before placing her hair back into a bun once again.

     "Well this is the third worst idea you've had this month." She sighed to herself before digging around in her pockets for a few moments and pulling out a metal case to feed her addiction. Reaching deep within she pulled out a plastic wrapped stick of cherry pez and kicked one into her mouth past the candy apple red lipstick.

     She stood in at just over five foot on the dot with a freckle covered face and wore a simple no frills business suit. Her hair was done up in twin buns and her dark green eyes looked across the studio lot before turning down towards her MPU wristwatch, and her own reflection.

     She tucked away the stack of pez into its metal case as the Metropolis air washed over her, and tucked the case right back into her pocket. Her simple pink business suit held a little pirate ship pin on the lapel with a soldier walking the plank over and over.

Winslow Schott has posed:
To say that Winslow Percival Schott was flabbergasted was nothing. It had been years since Maria Dawes and Schott had last met each other in that little Studio in Metropolis. Studio 13, Schott's former home away from home, and where Schott first major success as a toymaker had come true. My Precious Unicorn, or MPU was Schott's and Dawes' brainchild, and one Schott held close to his heart, why else would he build intelligent robotic copies of the show's villains and heroes. After Schott had left Henderson Toys, he left the project in Maria's capable hands, even giving her lessons on how to build some of his wonderous toys before leaving. Then, everything went to hell and Schott's life was changed forever, all thanks to Dunhill and Lex Luthor. Ever since then, Schott heard nothing from Maria Dawes, until now. To say her message, which was mailed to him, was unexpected, was an understatement. But, if his old partner wanted to see him again, who was he to say no.

Schott looked sad as he walked through Studio 13. So much has changed over the years, too bad he couldn't be around to see it. To be honest, he was quite proud of Maria and how he handled their brainchild, she truly cared for even after all of these years. As he continued to walk to through the studio, a hint of a smile creeped on the old Toymaker's face as he remembered all the good times they two have had while creating their masterpiece, if only things were different. Eventually, Schott paused, his mouth gaping in surprise when he saw Maria Dawes familiar figure staring at a watch, her back turned to him. Schott then cleared his throat and said in a very familiar British accent,

"M-Maria Dawes?"

If Maria were to turn around she would see her old partner, Winslow Percival Schott, or the Toyman as he was now known as. He was dressed in a green turtleneck sweater, blue jeans, and brown loafers. His bifocal glasses seemingly glowed in the moonlight as he stared at her with a mix of surprise, grief, and a bit of happiness.

Shredder has posed:
     Maria turned her attention on the spot spinning on the balls of her high heeled shoes. She almost looked a bit surprised to see him actually show up. The words escape her for a few moments as the petite woman looks in his direction taking a few steps closer past the faded 'We've moved!' sign giving directions to the new studio.

     "Last I checked that was still my name." She can't help but give a smile and a bit of a chuckle, obviously at least a little nervous having been unable to avoid hearing the news of what the man before her had done time and time again to the city.

    "I was thinking about trading it in for a new one but you know those things lose their value once you get off the lot." Her smile falls to a bit more of a smirk. "So I guess I'm just stuck being boring little old me."

     Her own glasses are bright pink to match her suit with little studs of the various characters she's worked on over the years even outside of MPU. "Tough gig, but I'll manage somehow."

Winslow Schott has posed:
Toyman smiles gently at Maria's joke. After all of these years the woman hasn't yet last her sense of humor. As she walked closer, Schott's eyes widen upon seeing the suit with the studs Maria was clad in. Every single one of them was shaped to resemble a character from Maria's past, even the ones she and Schott created together. Schott's eyes briefly turn mournful as he looks up at Maria, and sighs deeply. He then says,

" It's been too long my dear, too long. I only wish thing's could've been more different."

Schott's voice had a bit of a sob to it as he said this, as if he were ready to burst into tears at any moment. Suddenly, he clears his throat while tugging at his sweater. He tehn says,

"Why have you decided to contact me now my dear, after all of these years apart?"

Shredder has posed:
     She looks down towards the ground for a long moment before simply saying. "If you would have stayed..." She trails off shaking the notion and what she was about to say next out of her mind completely. She looks genuinely teary eyed herself for a moment. "You always brightened up the office Winslow"

     She reaches into her pocket and pulls out that metal tin popping back another cherry pez into her mouth yet again to feed her addiction. "You remember my nephew right?" She offers looking up towards him with a bit of an even sadder expression. She seems hard pressed to get the words out. "He was in an accident last week and..." She trails off holding one hand up to her mouth. She pulls back out that metal container popping another pez into her mouth.

     "His daughter was the only survivor, and she's not going to make it." She looks back over towards the ground.

Winslow Schott has posed:
"Ahh yes, young William, I remember making him a Prince Gallant toy for his birthday. He's married now isn't he?"

Schott's warm smile is quickly replaced by a shocked look upon hearing of the accident. His face then turns into one of utter sadness and grief upon hearing of the fate of the family, and of their younger daughter. Suddenly, Schott starts to fully sob as he suddenly embraces his old friend gently, still crying. Schott, while still sobbing, still manages to choke out,

"Oh God. Oh God. William didn't deserve this, He didn't."

Shredder has posed:
     Maria had been holding it together fairly well up till this moment. She was a strong woman who had been through a lot of tough times in recent years and this was no different. But she wasn't made of stone.

     She finally can't take it and breaks down into tears herself. It's not a Hollywood cry, not a pretty cry. No she's sobbing open and uncontrollably as well something she'd been holding in for days now as was required for someone in her position at a major media empire.

     She heaves and sobs as she leans on his shoulder hugging her once good friend right back. The two had been through so much together, had seen so much and even if they had drifted apart as friends there was still too much history to deny even with what he had become.

     All her big words she was working up the courage to say all the things she had thought of are gone from her mind as she just stands there commiserating through tears in the lot of the old studio.

     There's no faking this kind of deep rooted sorrow, no magic words that can dredge it up from the heart. But it pours out for some time.

     The faded images of old seasons of MPU look down on their twin creators in silence happy faces bleached by the sun as the place had sat between real-estate brokers for some time. In this part of town there was no possibility of squatters moving in, but in this economy there wasn't exactly a bustling line of people looking to buy it up and move in either.

     For a time there's only sobs that fill the air.

Winslow Schott has posed:
Winslow's grip on his old friend tightened as she began to sob, which made Schott cry even harder. This wasn't far! It wasn't! How could people like Lex Luthor have all the luck when people like Maria, those who truly cared, suffer. As Schott continued to hold Maria, he looks around at the old studio, so many memories came flooding back. As the now silent images of the old MPU figures stared down happily at the their two creators, Schott could've sworn he saw a couple of his character's faces suddenly morph into ones of angusih and sadness, as if they wanted to comfort their creators, but had no way of doing so. Whether this way real or just a delusion was unknown to Schott, and he didn't really care anymore to ask. He looks down at his old friend and sighs heavily before saying,

"If there is anything I can do for you, anything at all. Please, let me known. I can't stand to see you like this, after all we been through."

Shredder has posed:
     "I don't." Maria starts through sobs. "I don't want you to." She wipes her face, her makeup completely ruined. She looks a ragged mess. There's bags under her eyes from late nights at the office spent working to the bone to make for tight deadlines on multiple shows. Her complexion has faded somewhat with time and the shear stress of the day to day job that was once the light of her life.

     She's an absolute wreck but she manages to get ahold of herself enough to say. "You going alone is what got you into trouble." She breaks away from him, wiping her tears once more as she looks to her old friend. "This time we work together."

     There's a genuine purity to her words as she looks towards him, a childlike innocence that can't be bought, borrowed or stolen. "Let's work together to make her last" She can barely say the words without breaking into more tears. "Let's make her last days worth living, I can't stand the thought of her being alone in that hospital."

     Her hair is a ragged mess as well by now as she speaks. "I'm working so much time at the new studio that I can't be there for her but I thought if we put our heads together we could let her see her father one last time before she goes, just to tell her how much he loved her."

Winslow Schott has posed:
Winslow, at first, looks shocked when Maria is seemingly denying his offer for help. Then, she brings up how going alone brought Schott nothing but trouble in the first place. As Schott thought back to the past, he realized Maria might've had a point. Schott then hears Maria's suggestion of working together to make the dying girl's final days comfortable, and to show that her Father still loved her, wherever he was. Suddenly, a small smile formed on Schott's chubby face and he snapped his fingers to get Maria's attention. The look on Schott's face was a calming, pleasant one, one that Maria used to see all the time back when they were partners, though there was still a hint of sadness in his eyes. He suddenly says,

"I may have an idea my dear. Do you have a picture of William, a recent one?"

Shredder has posed:
     Maria reaches into her pocket pulling out a simple enough off brand android phone. Surprisingly it's not a Lex Phone or even a Stark Phone. No it's one of those buy online and shove your own sim card into instead. Looks like she modified it herself to look more like the phone in her own show: Robotic Highschool Days. It had always been a show she was passionate about but no one else seemed to ever share that passion with her.

     She swipes through the overly complex lockout pattern on her phone and through a few files on the spot before bringing up a picture of William from just a few days before the accident with his little daughter on one knee. "This was the last picture we got before their trip to the Themepark"

Winslow Schott has posed:
Winslow nodded and studied the picture very carefully, dully noting that her phone is based off of a concept for a TV show that Maria was very passionate about, even back then. Schott then hummed to himself a bit, as if he were thinking up something, before suddenly snapping a finger. He then says,

"My dear, I propose we let this little one see her Father one last time. I am a skilled roboticist, I can easily build a duplicate of her Father, one so life-like it would look like a real person. I will then send this wonderous robot to the poor little lady and give her the comfort she deserves."

Shredder has posed:
     "Winslow." She pauses for a small moment feeling a bit of hope. "Whatever they say I know you're still good deep down." She places a single hand up onto the man's shoulder letting it rest there for a long moment.

     "When I saw all the reports I thought." She pauses for a long moment. "I'm glad to see some parts of you haven't changed." She moves in for another hug being able to see that friend she had thought lost forever for one brief moment longer.

     It felt like a weight off of her shoulders allowing the woman to just stand a little straighter and question if maybe not everything they said about him on TV was true. Maybe there was still some hope deep down inside for her old lost friend.

Winslow Schott has posed:
Schott smiles lightly at Maria's comment and returns her hug, a wide smile on his face. He then clears his throat and says once again,

"I-I never meant to become this Maria, I didn't. The world can be a cruel, horrid place, one that tramples on the innocent and corrupts everything else. I-I only wish things could've been different."

Suddenly, he tightens his grip on you and whispers in a shaky voice,

"I promise you this. With King Flare as my witness I will make this robot for you, and that little girl will have the peace she deserves, I swear it." He then gives Maria another hug.

Shredder has posed:
     Maria looks up to Winslow for a long moment as if unsure of what to say. Finally after a moment of hugging onto her old friend she offers."I trust you completely."

     Far above in the shadows unscene a lone figure watches. Bathed in the darkest midnight only two white glowing eyes pierce the blackest veil as they speak with a smile. "Never make a promise you can't keep Schott-Toryo" Shifting in the darkness. "You will regret it every time."

     The figure that had been watching the whole time fades back into the shadows along with their cadre of Foot Clan ninjas. A soft breeze flowing through the open air studio.