6435/Magicking Magic Kingdom

Magicking Magic Kingdom
Date of Scene:	03 June 2021
Location:	Magic Kingdom at Disneyworld
Synopsis:	Scott and Tigra team up to deal with an ominous Spiral at Disneyworld, fending off the threat with Dole Whips and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. The Avengers hard at work once more.
Cast of Characters:	Scott Lang, Greer Grant, Spiral

---

Scott Lang has posed:
     "Sweetie I'm sorry, I know I was gone a long time, please how can I make it..."

     "Disney."

     "Cassie be reasonable, Daddy just got back from space I can't just..."

     "Disney."

     "No look we are not going to..."

     Father and daughter stepped onto Main Street, U.S.A.,, both with their Mickey Mouse caps firmly in place. For all his protests it wasn't like Scott DIDN'T enjoy the Magic Kingdom, so long as he tried not to think about all the other stuff he still needed to take care of. Music and the murmurs of the large crowd fill the air along with the scent of fried foods. Cassie tugs at his hand with a constant, "Daddy, Daddy, this way, come ON we need to hurry, I wanna see the pirates, and the Tiki room, and the Jungle Cruise, and we gotta meet Elsa and..." the list growing ever larger as Scott allows himself to be pulled by the enthusiastic six year old towards Adventureland.

     "Alright, slow down Sweetpea, we'll have time for everything I promise," vows Scott as he looks around their colorful surroundings with a smile. Finally he could relax after what had seemed like months in the far reaches of the galaxy dealing with weirdness, just let the Disney Magic take hold of him and his wallet.

Greer Grant has posed:
    "What's the deal with - Okay. Fine. Fine FINE!" A loud woman says, raising her voice with a sound of annoyance as she shuffles over to a gift shop near by and points at the people frowing at her and shaking their heads. Tigra is in the gift shop for what couldn't be more than thirty seconds. Stepping back out, she wears the black mouse ears on her red hair, with the Minnie bow tie off center. She wears a large black STAR WARS t-shirt over her traditional bikini, and a pair of sweat pants with Maleficent written down the side, and her stripped tail swishing this way and that with fury as she walks out and pops the tag off her shirt with a bit of sass as her tongue is aimed at the workers of the park who told her to cover up.

    Tigra rolls her green eyes and then moves over to stand in Main Street, U.S.A. in the middle and holds her hands out wide and grins like a child as she seems to quickly forget about the fifty bucks she casually had to drop on clothes and a silly hat.

Spiral has posed:
Disney Magic rises... surges... and flows!

Which externally feels for a moment like nothing more than an unusually cool breeze that stirs some dropped napkins and other miscellaneous garbage that the elite and carefully staged Cast Members haven't been able to get to. But what is interfering with the flow of Disney Magic?

A door opens. Two or three strange little things - like grey hoops with centerpieces - flit out, hovering around. They could be more colorful, but they are charming enough, moving like dragonflies. There is a brief conversation from within the door - 'I'm not supposed to be here?' 'no!' 'Why not?' 'Because-' 'shhhhhhhhhhhh what do I /need/ to be here.'

'something like this?'

'Easily enough. Goodbye, minion!'

A subtle thump.

Out comes a gray-haired woman. Who, of course, Scott would immediately recognize - for even without her imperious helmet, and even if in a black-and-gray bodystocking instead of her war-suit, there are some very distinct aspects of SPIRAL that catch the eye. The eyes. The hair.

The arms.

"Welcome to the showcase, vertebrates and inverts," Spiral narrates to nobody in particular. "We're coming at you live from the closest thing to home -- Walt Disney's World, here in sunny Florida. If you're not familiar, darlings, Florida's that dangling prepuce that the United States of America waggles at the rest of the world, and it's as hot and steamy as it could ever be, back home. Ah! Smell that air... rich with promise, and the scent of popcorn. Why don't we go for a walk?"

Spiral walks forwards. This creates a moderate degree of befuddlement on the part of the locals, some cell phone cameras, and some urgent conversation:

'Good costume'
'who is she?'
'cruella?' 'is she from onea those video games?'

Spiral raises one hand to princess-wave as she strides forwards. "Here we are in Main Street USA - a synthetic approximation of a past built on the bones of previous societies! Doesn't it fill you with nostalgia, you slugs? Plug in the chemosensors - sugary trash, just like mother used to make."

Scott Lang has posed:
"KITTY!" comes the excited cry of Cassie who stops and points. "Daddy it, it's...I don't know that one," Cassie finally admits with a tiny frown on her face and brow furrowed as she wracks her brain for the right movie or show that Tigra must be from.

"Greer? What are you..." is as far as Scott gets alas as he stares at the freshly Disneyfied Tigra before an even bigger distraction comes along. All Scott can do is stare and listen to the monologue alongside Cassie who seems less shocked than her father. They were in Disney Cassie reasoned, anything was possible and besides.

"I think that's Ursula. She changed all her tentacles to arms," the six year old intones while Scott just lets out a sigh and kneels down.

"Alright Sweetpea, just, here's thirty bucks, go in the shop over there and stay there till we're done," Cassie eyes lighting up at the cash and dutifully dashing into the nearest souvenir store. His daughter momentarily distracted Scott looks back to Greer. "Keep the loon from hurting anyone a moment will you? I gotta change," Scott asks, pulling a case from his pocket and popping it open, a shrunken Ant-Man suit inside. That done, he beelines for the nearest restroom like someone who ate one too many Disney churros before Space Mountain.

Greer Grant has posed:
    Tigra turns her head as someone shouts KITTY, that's usually a child excited to see her, usually, so she turns to face Cassie and Scott with a lift of her eyebrow and a grin tugging at the corner of her lips.

    "Ah, Scott an-..." Tigra stops and turns around as she spots Scott's face, that's enough for the slightly seasoned Avenger to turn around and ... wow, someone that's much more out of place than she is.

    It doesn't take Tigra long to understand that something's wrong, especially following the lead of Scott. "Got it. And please be quick." Tigra notes before she turns around, and takes a step down Main Street, U.S.A. into Spiral's path and spreads her feet, primes her hands back like she's seen Big Green do a time or two and she opens her mouth, showing off her fangs and she roars a primal sort of terrifying roar of her namesake, trying to get Spiral to stop being so creepy and then asks, "What're you doing here?"

Spiral has posed:
Spiral has not yet gone on the warpath. She does not have swords in evidence. Those floating-hoop things are circulating, like supporting drones, but they're just... there. You can get something similar at the store - if you can find a store - for a hundred bucks.

Except those make sounds and these ones don't, but nevertheless!

The roar makes her grimace faintly, even as the floating-hoops turn to face towards Tigra, moving to circle round her, to flank her, and--

"Look at this, the pretty kitty has come out to say hello. Now if you encounter creatures like this, my dear lumps, you have to be sure that they know you're friendly."

Spiral advances towards Tigra then, turning slightly to-- extend one of her cybernetic hands forwards, held loosely, so the back of the hand can be, if desired, smelled. Spiral has a look on her face that suggests she knows exactly what she's doing.

"I'm experimenting with long-form travel simulations," Spiral says. "Are you familiar? I suppose you aren't. It's a new field... *experience*, combined with everything. Hours long video tracks. *Slow viewing*. Isn't that exciting? It's actually incredibly boring," Spiral concludes. "Unless you're on drugs, or Norwegian."

("Later in this series, if the Avengers don't cut us off, we'll VISIT Norway - in Walt Disney's hall of trophies.")

"Do you live here? Are you a DISNEY VACATION CLUB MEMBER?" Spiral asks then, still with that cruel little smile on her face. "If so, I and the viewing audience would aaaabsoooolluuuutely delight in--"

Spiral claps her hands, in a short chorus, since there's at least three claps going on here.

"A tour."

Scott Lang has posed:
The men's restroom door flies open and as heroically as one can exit a bathroom Scott does, his helmet still down and adjusting his gloves with fidgets of the wrist. Cassie for her part is trying on plastic bracelets. The crowds meanwhile have pulled back to a respectable distance, most people fully thinking this is some sort of show.

"Is that...Deadpool?"

"No I think it's Ant-Man, Hank Pym. And the other is Cheetah."

"Oh they must have some hero show starting up soon, well that's fun!"

The people part aside to let Scott enter for his part of the 'stage' show while more pictures are taken and he grimaces at both the confusion Spiral naturally brings and the fact there are a lot of people around. Not to mention it's Disneyworld. He couldn't be going giant around here easily. Meanwhile Disney security is also starting to show up, some dressed in black jackets and red ties, others less identifiable dressed as other tourists if not for the way they keep speaking into their collars. Disney had its own jail on premises, their security less rent-a-cop than most places such as this, but for now they're hanging back unsure themselves.

Scott holds one hand up, palm forward in a sort of 'stop' gesture. "Spiral, hey, listen. Everyone likes Disneyworld I get it but, we need you to tone it down alright? Lets put the frisbees away, go get a Dole Whip, hit the Haunted Mansion, do the usual alright? You don't wanna get on the Mouse's bad side here. C'mon...please?" he adds, not exactly the kind of line most other Avengers would deliver, but who would want to throw a punch in the Happiest Place on Earth?

Greer Grant has posed:
    Tigra stands up fully and looks over into the crowd and lowers her hands as she's awfully distraught, "Hey, c'mon... Cheetah has spots... these." She holds up her arm and points at her fur, "These are stripes."

    Quickly she shakes her head and waves at the crowds. "Get out of here! This isn't a - uuugh. Fine." Tigra growls as she turns to face Spiral and then circles in the air that have moved over to her.

    "Tour's been cancelled." Tigra growls as she slashes out with her claws at the nearest metal circle to try and slash through it, or at least knock it to the ground, and she takes a single step closer to Spiral with her arms held up, with her fingers splayed and ready to cut at the multi-limbed woman, but Scott's there trying to talk her down. "T-thanks..." Tigra says in a gesture towards Scott.

Spiral has posed:
Tigra's claws slash through one of the things!

It feels like-- plastic; it falls down, with a strange purple spark, but it goes 'clunk' on the ground.

"Oh, the mutancy," Spiral says. "Well played, RX-78G-2. Well played - and well fought." (More quietly, as if to herself, she says, "Did we get that? At an angle? Beats nothing. Can and clean.")

She puts a hand on her hip, holds out another hand, and forms a circle above her own head with two others, leaving the other two to fold in front of her as she says to Scott, "Frisbees, Mr. Ant? Do they look like frisbees to you? Here, why don't I --"

Pause. Spiral puts a finger to her pouty lower lip.

Her eerie eyes turn over the men in suits.

She smiles, slightly.

"Ah, but of course. I understand completely, Man Ant. No filming on the property, is it? Well, then:" All her hands slap together except the pair making a circle over her head. The ring-drones come together, forming a CERTAIN SHAPE --

Before getting caught.

"By all means."

A FEW MINUTES LATER, AT THE DOLE WHIP STAND:

"I don't have any money, just so that you know. I'm sure you both understand," Spiral says, to her adult chaperones. To the clerk, she says, "Can I ask you to hold it up for a photo? Wonderful. Look, bloat!" Spiral says --

--

"Photo's done, surrender the goods."

Scott Lang has posed:
"Greer c'mon, calm down. We don't wanna fight at DISNEY," Scott pleads even as the hot-headed cat lady makes the first strike and takes out a camera, making him wince and expecting some sort of retribution. And instead finding Spiral just happy to have something to film. He breathes out a sigh and gives up on trying to make sense of the situation or plan ahead. He was never good at those anyway and clearly that wasn't the way to deal with Spiral. Play it by ear and play it weird.

"It's Ant-Man, you know it is. And right, no filming. Lets just go, talk things over OK? Sweetpea come over and meet the nice ladies!" Scott cries out, his 6 year old immediately pushing through the legs of the crowd who begin to mutter and disperse about what a weird show this was.

At the dole whip stand, and AFTER several minutes of him and Tigra verifying they are in fact Avengers and not folks in costume to Disney security, Scott seems, oddly OK with spooning up the pineapple flavored treat, though he makes sure to position himself between the taunting Spiral and the ready to spring Tigra. Several security members maintain a loose circle some thirty feet away, while Goofy signs autographs nearby.

"So, Spiral, Tigra, didn't take you two for Disney fans..." pausing for the photo and actually smiling broadly for it while Cassie grins in the bottom edge. He was at DISNEY, he was going to have a FUN vacation dammit. "Spiral, what about are you..."

"You look funny. Is it hard having six arms? I bet it's hard sleeping. Do they fall asleep? Can I pet you Miss Kitty? Can you eat ice cream? I think cats get sick if they..."

"CASSIE."

"Sorry Daddy...please don't get sick though," the hyperactive six year old tacks on as Scott groans and thumps his head on the side of the stand.

Greer Grant has posed:
    Tigra's stance slowly loosens as he muscles relax and the tension in her seems to fade away.

    At the dole whip stand, Tigra stands to the side, and has her arms crossed as the picture is being taken of all four of them, and then at the end she rolls her eyes and tries to get herself into a kindly smile, for the kid.

    Cassie has been TOO cute this whole time, she can't be mad.

    "You can, and yeah, just like you I can, but if I do too fast I get a brain freeze. Do you get brain freezes?" Tigra asks of Cassie and makes a few moments of chit chat, and lets the girl pet her soft arm.

    "Sprial... What're you doing out here?" Tigra asks with a look to Scott, and gives him a semi-death glare, she's allowed to like Disney without having to explain herself, right?

Spiral has posed:
Spiral obtains a Dole Whip. She eats it - two hands in accord, producing a sort of baby-ish effect as two others fold over her abdomen and the remaining two remain up in the air, curling over one to the other.

"Oh, I'm not," Spiral tells Scott. "It's as I said - do you think I was lying? If I want to manipulate you, I can do it with the truth just as easily." A pause for a bite. "This is a very familiar, very marketable place. Good for a test run. If anything goes wrong or it flops, oh well: Write it off." She shrugs, which takes a while.

And then she's being asked questions.

"It was hard to get them," she answers Cassie, "but now I like them quite a lot. Would you like extra arms, too? I assure you, sweetlet, that I sleep very well indeed."

"Hm... Miss Kitty," Spiral continues, "Your cross-examination is too ruthless. I'm here to experiment, but I promise you, entirely internal. Game recognizes game, if I can quote one of your poets - in this place, or its half-dozen outposts, why, do you think *HE* would want to pick a fight if he wasn't intend to simply buy the place out?"

Spiral smiles, which shows how many teeth she has. It's about the ordinary number.

"What about the both of you? Why are *you* here? This is a place for family memories and magic, in an insipid and reifying way! Are you forming a NEW family?" To Cassie, Spiral asks, "Is Miss Kitty your new mumsy?"

She then turns her head to look towards the not so distant form of Thunder Mountain. "Hm. Ant-Man, walk me over there."

Scott Lang has posed:
The 'yes' has barely been given before Cassie is brushing her small hand gingerly along Tigra's arm, despite being six still knowing well enough to brush a cat one way. Shaking her head in response to Tigra's own inquiry as she answers, "No, I know to be careful how fast I eat. Daddy gets them all the time though," she solemnly informs as she stops petting and goes back to her treat.

"I do n-nggh. Not," Scott grunts out, trying to subtly rub at his throbbing forehead and failing at that. It was hard to do anything subtle in a bright red suit. At least it was temperature regulated despite its long sleeves and tight fit, Orlando weather being what it was.

"Great, you're researching. Doing recon. On Disneyworld. You, you can see why that raises red flags right? Even if you're planning to open your own themepark we all know it would have deathtraps. I'm not sure I want to help you figure out the best way to turn spinning teacups into a torture device," Scott mopes a bit, trying his best to ignore the killer gaze from Tigra which made him feel mouse-sized despite not having used his suit's shrink feature at all so far.

Still, maintain relations. It was like dealing with a VIP diplomat if the diplomat was also a WMD of magic, murder, and space tech. "And no, I didn't even know Tigra was here, she is not...Cassie quit looking excited, no," Scott says, his daughter looking suddenly entranced at the idea of a kitty mom. A pout forming soon thereafter. "Tigra, please just, watch my daughter a moment. One ride OK? And then you should get out of here as I'm like 99% sure you didn't buy a ticket," Scott grumbles at Spiral, practically pushing her to Thunder Mountain.

Behind him he can hear Cassie starting, "But if you WERE another Mom for me could you cut the crusts off my peanut butter sandwiches please? And I'd pet you every day!"

Greer Grant has posed:
    Tigra starts to actually purr when Cassie brushes at her arm. "Oh, wow, you're a great petter." Tigra says with a look up off into the distance, but deciding to not think about that any longer.

    Greer swallows at her throat and looks between Scott and Spirla, but he's answering before she can get a word out and the Avenger is left holding the bag. If the bag was the other heroe's six year old daughter, but she understands and no need to hurt the kids feelings and hopes, Tigra scoops up Cassie in her arms and holds the girl before nodding once to Scott.

    Not saying it out loud, but the looks conveys that Cassie is safe, and will be no matter what. Turning to walk away slowly, Tigra's face beams for the young girl and she smiles cheerily, "We'll see, but if you're promising pets, I might come visit every day anyways... and you hate your crust too? I hate my crust. It's gross and like eating a nasty sponge." Tigra says teasingly as she walks away, the opposite direction from Thunder Mountain. Helping Scott mentally knowing that Cassie will be farther away and safe should anything happen.

Spiral has posed:
"No," Spiral answers Scott Lang genially enough, and she finishes off her dessert treat, having successfully introduced terrifying ideas into the mind of a small child. This cruelty sates her as certainly as a highly specific dairy treat.

After this, though, the child is kept safely away from Spiral before Spiral can tempt her with visions of being able to stay up *forever* -- and there is a queue to contend with.

And Spiral...

"That child of yours," she says. "Perhaps six or perhaps seven years, ay? By the time she's old enough for your planet's customs of pollution-riders to come to fruition for her, things will be quite different, you know." A pause as she gives a grin to someone in the line, popping a double rabbit ear behind Ant Man's head as she goes.

"There's a few steps along the way, of course," Spiral says. "But that's what happens in the end. It'll be him - or if you're not lucky, you'll have a magic planet. Where the sun is black as hair, and the mountains aren't there..."

She seemed about to sing. Instead, she says, "But it's a long-term plan, you understand, and I think it would be... unfortunate."

Her head turns. She seems meditative. She looks down, slightly, at Ant-Man, her backside resting on a railing, arms folded and gesturing and massaging the back of her neck all at the same time.

"As artificial and cloying and sculpted and manicured and managed as this place is - and as I said, I recognize the game - it's here... fenced in, here in this doomed swamp. In the worst case, fifty years or so and it will be handled. The other ones are all in risky zones, except for the one in France. And I don't think your Mouse wants to get out, does he? He's a magic-maker, an actor. Not a Lifebringer."

The boarding platform is in sight. "Do you understand me, Ant-Man? There are... things that you can't say; but when you draw what isn't there, you also outline what is. Hm?" Her eyebrows lift slightly. "We're near the end of the line. It's not long until the movement's out of our hands entirely."

"And you are quite right," she concludes. "I did not pay for a ticket."

Scott Lang has posed:
"You're trying really hard to scare me. I'm on vacation. I am here to RELAX and enjoy time with my child and instead I find myself about to share a coaster with a wackjob from Planet Dingbat instead," Scott leaning against the opposite rail and in a rare fit he actually seems upset. His gloved hands tight on the rail and he leans forward slightly, his teeth gritted.

"I KNOW the world has problems, a lot of which I can't fix, that there are things lurking out there beyond my freaking comprehension. I am doing my best that I can for my daughter to stop what I can and I'll help those who can fight the stuff I can't do their best. If you have information that will help me do that I'll listen. But if you're going to play 'mysterious dark riddles' the entire time I am out. Go peddle that crap to Dr. Strange or Batman or someone else who likes big books and deciphering."

Forward they go, the ride attendants giving them a few odd looks before ushering them into the front cart, sitting down on the barely padded benchseat while the lapbar lowers. Close now, Scott raises a finger and shakes it under Spiral's nose. "We are going on this ride, we are going to have FUN, and I don't want to hear one ominous word out of you until we're out of the exit queue. Not ONE. I am ON, VAY, CAY, SHUN, and I am paying a lot of money and I am going to enjoy myself whether you're here or not," he intones at her with all the ferocity of a separated father who is missing bonding time with his daughter. His eyes flash at Spiral a second or two longer before he sits back and suddenly his face changes back to a smile as the ride starts to push forward and crank up the first hill. "Make sure to put your hands up at the top!" he cheerily adds, his former pissed off attitude gone. He was going to have FUN dammit.

Spiral has posed:
Spiral takes it all in with an enigmatic expression. She doesn't even grimace or bare her teeth.

"Hmm... I'll keep that in mind," Spiral says, coolly, before reaching forwards to gently prod one Ant-enna back into position. BUT THEN:

Thump.

"Yes, father," Spiral answers Scott, her tone sunny.

And by God; she DOES put her hands up at the top. And in the aftermath of the descent there is a secret, something revealed in the after-the-ride photo opportunity. Yes: Spiral did the rabbit ears again. And she looked... well, her face isn't ugly but it doesn't really wear 'conventional joy' easily. But if your teenage daughter was that happy-performing, you yourself might feel you've spent your vacation money wisely.

Shortly after debarking, Spiral pivots towards the ladies' room. She does not say anything further. It would become clear - if possibly with Tigra's aid - that, well, she apparently left the same way she came: Sorcery, or stealth, or a mixture of both. There are no further images on Disney's radar of a woman like Spiral.

Perhaps it wasn't more than a rainy interval on a wonderful vacation, after all.