6174/Stoned

Stoned
Date of Scene:	10 May 2021
Location:	Union Square Park
Synopsis:	Roland is attacked by a rock. Wally delivers a vase. The boulder is beaten.
Cast of Characters:	Roland Livingston, Wally West

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Roland Livingston has posed:
It's a slightly overcast day, but overall it's pretty decent weather. The temperature is moderate, there's a breeze going and the green stuff counteracts a lot of the worsre city smells. All in all, it's a pleasant spot.

People are out doing their thing, looking at the statues, going on walks or runs, chit-chatting with one another. That is, until a rather large being appears in the sky. It's a winged stone beast, about eight feel tall with a twelve foot wingspan. And horns and claws, too. Lots of teeth, as well. Beady little glowing red eyes. Whatever it is, it does not look very friendly.

Roland just happens to be at the park, relaxing on a bench and people watching as he awaits a delivery from his favorite delivery service. When he hears someone gasp and point at the sky he follows the direction their finger goes in to see the strange stone figure. Muttering quietly to himself, Roland turns and dashes towards his Bentley SUV, pulling his key fob out to pop the vehicle's trunk.

The big boulder of a figure lands nearby and bellows, "Roland Livingston, I presume?" There's a laugh at the lame joke. "You will come with me or I will stomp you into paste, puny human."

Roland yanks a sword from his trunk and turns to face the monster, "I'm afraid you'll need to make an appointment, sir."

Wally West has posed:
Doing deliveries gets into a rhythm when you do it enough.

Get the order, look up the location, hit the open water, get in, pick up, look up the destination, hit the water, return because the customer remembered something, get back out onto the water, get lost, look up the destination again, ask for directions via a friend who speaks the language over speaker phone, deliver, repeat.

All in all it is definately a living. Today Wally is delivering to New York. He /might/ not need a translator for Newyorker, but he at least knows his way around. Also its in Union Square Park, so its a pretty big target, all things considered.

This time there is a complication in the form of a big stone creature staring at Roland.

"Is this one of your customers?"

Super speed does let you see more things at more angles, but it often is in the form of silent still images, because sound and motion take time to become apparent. Eventually Wally is able to detect that some sort of animosity might exist and that Flash Superhero might be more needed than Flash Delivery Man. Hopefully he can put down this dog sized vase somewhere before he starts having to work on his juggling.

"If this is typical, you might need to fire your customer service." Serious, Wally, Serious. "Sir, is this stoney fellow disturbing you?" Serious and goofy. A perfect representation of the Wally West experience.

Roland Livingston has posed:
"I'm afraid I don't know who this person happens to be," Roland says to Wally as he moves away from his expensive vehicle in order to give himself more room to maneuver. "Someone seems to think sending a large stone creature to pick me up is the way to get my attention. I typically respond better to hand written letter, they show someone truly cares."

"If you think you're going to stop me, Rocky, from taking you to see the boss then you're crazy, you limey bastard," the gargoyle growls menacingly. Then he turns to look over towards Wally and barks at him, "Get out of here, spandex. I've got business to attend to."

With another glance to Wally the young Englishman says, "If you wouldn't mind setting that thing in the trunk of my vehicle I'll attempt to negotiate with this..." Then Rocky launches himself at Roland, claws outstretched. The scholar of the arcane is quite nimble, however, and manages to get himself out of the way. Once on Rocky's side he swings his sword, which chips off a few flakes of stone from the side of Rocky's neck but ultimately does not cause much damage.

Wally West has posed:
Phew, somewhere to put this. "Someone apparently has a unique idea of what a good pick-up line is." The vase is now belted into the rear seat.

"Rocky the rock man. Very creative. If someone else gave you that name, I think they are taking you for granite." The urge to make an 'I coulda been a contenduh' joke is nearly irresistable.

He has been called 'spandex' before, but he gets the impression that the gargoyle might actually think he is named spandex. He imagines that would make sense to a stone creature named 'rocky'.

"First of all concrete, this is not spandex, its a complex ablative ceramic ..." A stream of very technical material science terms stream from his lips. "... With nano polymer backing. Second of all, I am The Flash (TM)." The ability to include a TM in his speach without using those words is a talent that he has invested a great deal in.

Oh yeah, there is fighting going on. Unfortunately its a week day, so he won't be able to borrow a jackhammer on short notice, so he is going to have to get medival with a pick... That does raise a question that he supposes he should ask Roland. "Does this thing count as alive? I don't wanna be killing a sentient creature."

He does have other options of course, The old excavate-and-set-in-concrete approach works with a lot of things that are resistant to punching. Hopefully he can find some construction lime somewhere that doesn't have a line.

Roland Livingston has posed:
"The Flash has a metal helmet, non-polymer guy," Rocky says to the Flash as his super sharp claws miss Roland narrowly and chew up the concrete on the ground. "Stop moving, Livingston, or face the wrath of living stone!" His wrath seems mighty indeed, though its not long before the Englishman's longsword takes a chunk out of the gargoyle's massive snout.

"I don't believe this thing is alive," Roland tells Wally as he continues slicing away at the rock monster, using the reach advantage granted to him by his blade. "It's likely a magically animated construct with a faux personality matrix overlay, sort of like a complex artificial intelligence."

Rocky responds with, "Nothin' artificial about me! I've got a soul! At least one. Big boss Gebhard had to sacrifice a bunch of people to make me properly."

"Best knock those souls free of their bonds, then," Roland replies as he goes back to whacking away at the stone monster.

Wally West has posed:
Oooh he shouldn't have done that. Implying Wally isn't the 'real' Flash really gets on his nerves. It isn't quite the same since he isn't usually compared with Jay, but it is close enough.

Grumpy dwarf mode engaged. He now has a slightly worn pickaxe in his hands, and he starts swinging at the -quick peek at a thesaurus- feldspar foe. "So like a robot. Got it. I love battling bots. Its like real violence without all the calories." His first (dozen) strikes hit the Granite Goon in the wing roots, followed by a few blows on the wrists. In his experience, the neck is a pain to dig through. -- He has a considerable amout of experience with animated statues. A bizarre expertise to be sure, but one of the perks of starting at the Supers game so young.

"A natural nincompoop as opposed to an artificial a-- you get the picture." Is magic natural? He never knows what counts as natural. "Actually probably more like a supernatural simpleton." It might be a waste of time to banter with the basalt buffoon, but at least it is fun.

it then occurs to him that perhaps Roland might want something better adapted to the task then a sword. "Is that sword suited for sculpting stone, or do you have something you want me to get for you?

Roland Livingston has posed:
As the pick slams into the base of his wings Rocky starts to freak out a bit, jumping into the air and trying to buffet the pair with those same, now precariously situated, wings, "Back off!" The stone beast swings his claws around him to try to give himself a bit of breathing room so that he can assess the situation. "I'm a highly advanced magical creature with a bunch of souls, not just a thing!" His wrists start getting wrecked, but luckily for him he's got foot claws to try chopping things up with.

Roland says, "I've got any number of weapons that might be superior for fighting this thing. An archer's warhammer with a long pick on the end would work wonders, but I believe all of mine are decorating the walls of my apartment. Perhaps a high caliber rifle with black tip rounds? I've got one locked in a case in my trunk."

Wally West has posed:
Guns aren't exactly Wally's style, but he recognizes that that isn't everyone's taste. He digs in among Roland's things in the trunk. A gun case appropriate for something that handles stone is not exactly diminutive, so he pulls out a likely looking case. If this turns out to be an electric cello or something, this could be more complicated. He supposes he could phase through the case and pull out the contents, but that seams like an invasion of privacy somehow.

"One case for you..." he presents the case to Roland. He then zips into place to resume his civic tunneling project into the diorite dastard. "And a smack down for you."

This includes a moment that is only appreciable to people who can see at superspeed, where he leaves the pick in mid air, opens up a traditional red painted luchbox and eats a sandwich, checks his watch, puts away the lunchbox and resumes swinging.

Roland Livingston has posed:
When Wally tosses him the case Roland grabs the thing and does a neat backflip to give him some distance from Rocky. He quickly opens the case and pulls out his rifle, a rather well put together piece with a few nifty attachments, "Thanks, Flash." Slapping a magazine into the weapon, Livingston quickly charges it and puts the sights on Rocky's face, opening fire. Between the two humans they're able to chip away at the stone beast rather quickly.

Rocky is now really freaking out. He does not like high caliber rounds hitting him in the face and isn't feeling that pick digging into him, either. His big wings outstretch and he beats the air with them, trying to get airborne. "I'll get you two some day! Even if I need to bring an army!"

Wally West has posed:
Perhaps Jay or Barry might have handled things a little bit differently, (Perhaps following him back to his master) but Wally is not either of them. He has just had a pick me up snack, been called 'not the real flash', and he has a pickaxe to dispatch a foe who is bismirching Rocky's good name. --It is Wally's non expert legal opinion that Stalone has grounds to sue.-- He runs up the basalt bastard's back to behead him. With a good portion of his considerable alacrity, he manages to imitate the effect of a buzz saw on cheese against the neck of the stone scoundrel.

They arrive back to earth with significant crash. "You aren't the real Rocky anyway." It might have been more impactful to say that when the creature's cranium was still connected, but it makes Wally feel better at any rate.

"Wait did we have any questions we meant to ask him? I probably should have asked that first." The pick is no longer with him as he returns to Roland's side.

Roland Livingston has posed:
When the big stone bastard crashes down, minus his head, Roland safeties his rifle and starts to put it away in its case. The sword he'd been using is pretty scarred from the experience of hitting a gargoyle, but both weapons get put back in the SUV. At the suggestion that they could have asked the monster questions the Englishman shrugs, "I think I know who sent him already. A certain vampire nemesis of mine was named as the creator. I'd love to know where he's at, but I'm just quite glad that it never sank its claws into me." He nods deeply to the flash, "Thank you for your assistance. I'll treat you to a lunch when we've got the time."