10701/Friday Night's All Right For...

Friday Night's All Right For...
Date of Scene:	11 January 2020
Location:	Den and Study, Avengers Mansio
Synopsis:	Plots to find missing friends continue. Targets are laid. Doughnuts are power.
Cast of Characters:	Wasp (van Dyne), Scarlet Witch, Spider-Woman (Drew)
Tinyplot:	Surviving Infinity

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Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Mysticism is pretty far from Janet's strong suite. Even a lot of science, to be fair, though she has a passing understanding of how her own abilities work. But what Wanda does-- and Strange, and others-- is an alchemy all its own. All Janet can do is sit and watch.

"Anything?" she inquires a bit tersely. For the fifth time in half an hour. The Den's been silenced for the little ritual Wanda's attempting, and the trappings of her own style of magic have been set out to aide the spell she's attempting.

"Because it's been like, half an hour," she adds a beat later. "Maybe we should wait for Dr. Strange to get back from wherever he's at. This is sort of his bag, isn't it? Finding people? Little wizardly spells like that? You're our big guns."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
If mysticism isn't Wanda's stock in trade, she better put out resumes on LinkedIn and get something like an internship fast. Qualifications include putting up with speedster brother, pithy quotes, invoking terror in adults as necessary. Fortunately that hellaciously long apprenticeship with an Atlantean sorceress for the better part of her life counts. It counts very well.

True to her nature, the young woman has set up white beeswax candles in a circle around her mostly to give the room a gentle glow in the dark of December. For ambiance or an arcane touch is a hard thing to determine, but the reality is that so much of this magic proves internal in focus, there isn't much to see except for the constant elegant rubescent motes floating in the air of their own accord. They might be comforting, reminders of the art lending a pomegranate cast to the floor and walls. Here she floats while sitting in lotus-form position.

"JARVIS provided print outs of several portals. The key is starting with one and walking it back. I could arbitrarily start trying to leap into strange places but then we're a home delivery service. Also, they might have mystical safeguards of their own set up and the last thing I want to do is trigger the Sybalt Order's attention," the witch explains. Her eyes gleam the same shade as her magic, and she stares into the void of a vast distance. "Sounds an awful lot like 'sibyl' to me, and the sibyls of old were one and all diviners, voices of the gods. Even if they are false gods, we might find they bite back."

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"Oh great, that's all we need now. Space aliens who are also in touch with space gods. This is going to turn into some epic throwdown between Asgard and God knows who," Janet complains. She shifts her weight from one foot to the other; the candlelight is almost wholly absorbed by her black jumpsuit's fabric, which exposes only her hands and face. It gives her an otherworldly look, quite inadvertently; a little gleam of orange against burnished gold armor segments on her chest plays with the illusion of non-depth even more.

"I'm about at the point where I'm *ready* to start jumping in portals." Janet moves to her desk and the open container of White Claw; she dumps a disposable shot of vodka into it, adds two pills, shakes once and starts drinking the swill down with no regard for the taste. It's probably pretty dreadful.

The shadows make her cheekbones look a little on the gaunt side. Probably because she's been living off that vile concotion and virtually no sleep for most of a week.

"Were the Sibyls bad guys, then?" It's something to talk about. "How would she be caught up with 'em-- from what Loki told me, the Sybalt Order is a military arm of Khunda. Do you think maybe she went rogue?"

Scarlet Witch has posed:
"Sibyls traditionally served as the oracles to Apollo, the god of the son. They would speak the will of the gods, but that will could be inviolate. You might not like what they had to say, but listen you did. The Romans held their law tables sacred, whereas the most famous of them ruled at Delphi." A lesson of history? Not wasting time on that, in truth. "So I would expect them to be cryptic, full of themselves, and probably servants who think they are exalted if I had to jump to any conclusions. It could be an unrelated connection. That said, Loki might have a grain of truth in the telling and certainly more knowledge in general than I on faraway military factions."

Another of those motes swirls, burning out in a blackened ember that falls to the floor. Being magic, no ashes are left. It joins another in a procession of dying constellations, and she inclines her head with fixed consideration. Wanda's usually animated features remain slightly distant and taut. The drawer closing makes her jump slightly.

"I wouldn't advise jumping in blind. It inevitably ends badly. Send Pietro through to do a quick survey if you absolutely must live on that impulse," she advises softly. "At least I can yank him back if trouble transpires."

The spell swivels and burns through her hands; she raises them together and stitches the delicate gestures to keep a divination tightening. "From the footage of the party, it seems she had an attitude. Demanding. Expected immediate compliance, yes? Any leads there?"

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"Bitchy star slut shows up, picks a fight, Steve answers the dropped glove. I think that's not even the first time that's happend this fiscal /year/," Janet tells Wanda.

But the questions are good ones and they're provoking a pragmatic line of thought. And distracting Janet from the wheeling fretfulness that's irrationally turned into bittier irritation with almost all parties proximate, involved, or who get name-dropped in her vicinity.

It's been a tough few days.

"But the Avengers have a reputation as being some of the heavy hitters. The League does okay, but they're mostly solo acts. We roll as a unit. If you wanted to show up and drop a challenge, that'd be Superman, right? Just the normal dick-waving?"

"But if someone wanted to see what Earthlings are made of..." She flicks a thumbnail against her front tooth. Never a nibbler, but a compromise stress reaction. It's definitely chipping her nail polish. "So maybe this whole thing is a test to see how we react collectively. What resources we can bring to bear."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
One of the candles sparks and flares, dancing around on its wick. Wanda seems untroubled, for the white tapers arranged in a definite circle are far enough away and widely spaced to avoid causing any real trouble to her or burning down the mansion. Nothing like a homecoming to a giant pile of ash and torched timbers. "Of course he would," she murmurs, a smile turning her full mouth up. "He would not be Steve Rogers otherwise. Even I remember, growing up, the tales of him fighting back against the aggressors who oppressed my people and country." An unspoken figure in a cloak and helmet might walk between those words, but her fondness remains unchanged all the same.

She gives Janet all the time she can muster to walk down those pathways of thought and probability, the latter being innate to her. Buoyed up another six inches in the air, she breathes in deep and holds the sustaining breath as the spell bubbles away through her veins, surrounding her hair in a halo plunged to the shades of the very best wines purloined from Burgundy.

A musing noise escapes her throat. "When confronting a force of unknown strength, poke it. Find out whether they will turn over at the show of force, which is what happened. Then remove the commanders to leave it without a head. How many times in history have we watched that happen? Your reasoning is sound. Put them in disarray taking away the tacticians and leadership. What this alien did not necessarily count on is how the rest of us train for independence and leadership together." No references to hydra heads, no way.

"Thus the need for stealth and secrecy on my part. Magic is already a difficult thing to approximate. Some cultures suppress all reference to it, some wipe it out, and some drink it with their morning toast," she replies, not moving a great deal. Stress settles on her differently, but neither is it Pietro lost to those stars. History doesn't speak of what happens when the auburn-haired sorceress really loses her temper or her grip for a reason. "I agree. We should not show our hand fully. Let them think this inflicted a grave blow and while they gloat, we exfiltrate our people. If we can."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"I brought donuts!" Jessica carols as she steps inside, determined to put something that resembles food into Janet at some point in this process. The thing is, her understanding of a lot of social norms is a little skewed, but she's definitely picked up that providing food during times of stress is an appropriate way to show she cares.

And if she gets to eat some donuts in the process too, well, that's a win-win, right?

"I mean. I've got other resources, but I feel like the donuts are the most important right now." She glances between Janet and the floating Wanda, taking in the scene. "So no news, huh?"

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet glances up at Jessica when the raven-haired beauty enters. A smile flashes; strained, but grateful to see her. She stops nibbling her thumbnail and folds her arms across her stomach again, and resumes her near-silent pacing.

"You are just all over the map," Janet chivvies Jessica. "Yesterday it was take out from Emiglio's, and they don't even *do* takeout. Now it's doughnuts. You have culinary ADD."

She picks up a plain doughnut, breaks it carefully into quarters, and takes one arc section in her fingers. "Wanda's got me thinking," Janet explains, and gestures at the witch for Jess' benefit. "This whole thing-- it's big, it's flamboyant. It's meant to provoke us and see how react. If we /can/ react," she clarifies. "Honestly, this is a Tony-level maneuver if I'd ever seen one. If we were the ones who'd gotten kidnapped, can you even imagine?" she asks the other women, dryly. "Tony's ego and Steve's White Knight impulse on the same horse? Thank god we've got some self-restraint."

She almost takes a bite of the doughnut, but forgets about it as a second thought occurs to her. "Look at who she nabbed, too. Tony can't help but make the biggest dramatic scene possible. Steve is always the first one to step up. Carol and Rogue are two of our hardest-hitters. It makes *sense* that she'd yank the four of them. The rest of us--" She gestures at the trio, but the expression brings the whole Mansion in a collective wave. "I get the impression that she's not someone who sees subtlety as a useful character trait. Right?" Eyebrows lift and she looks to the two European women for some validation.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
"She is exploring the culinary landscape of New York. Hardly anywhere else can compare for variety. You might even find a place solely specializing in rat, if you tried hard enough," chides the sorceress. Her fingers crook and splay, their movements articulated like a harpist at her instrument, a pianist set to make spellbinding music. "Hello, Jessica."

This and the psell collapses on itself, a gentle folding of planes and lines of arcing magic. "A Tony-level manoeuvre suggests we ought to think like Mr. Stark. Does anyone feel like getting soaked, looking ofr a string of beautiful men, and wasting a few million quid on baubles? Is there a flashy watch that sets off a satellite array somewhere over Latveria and announces how old the self-proclaimed doctor really is?" The beginnings of a sly smirk are there, but her eyes are too strained with concern otherwise. "Subtlety is hardly her benchmark, this woman. Waltzing in to demand the leaders of the gathering to cease their activities immediately and talk to her... it smacks of supreme arrogance, the hammer instead of a scalpel."

From that tone, someone is unimpressed. She glances from Jessica to the box of doughnuts, but fails to take one for herself. Having that corset all the time probably limits her options. "Had we been kidnapped, you would have been home in a day or two. I would be kept behind for a purpose." Bait? "She took heavy hitters, too. Demoralization technique, perhaps? Looking to see if she can overwhelm us?"

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Yeah, well, you hardly touched the fancy stuff, so I figured it was time for comfort food. Plus, you know. Making sure they didn't replace you or something. No true human can turn down a donut, but you never know about those aliens. You haven't passed the test yet." Jessica smirks, but there's something a little sharper in her eyes that suggests she's not //entirely// kidding. Speaking of subtlety.

"There's a whole lot of heavy hitters on this planet," she grimaces. "Trust me, I've read their files. There's another angle on who they took, too," she points out. "One human, one mutant, one meta, and one alien-influenced. You take those four and you've got a solid sampling of what sort of threats the planet has."

Once Wanda doesn't look like she's mid-spell, she steps over to offer the donuts to her as well. Sharing is caring! "I'm thinking a little bit of that, a little bit of making a point," she nods to Wanda's last. "It's less about them hitting heavy and more about the inspiration and leadership aspect. And," she muses, "The possibility that Carol might know something, too."

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"I don't want to talk about who's on their way home and who is probably loitering around on Whore Island," Janet mutters. Seethes. Grates a little. She looks at the doughnut in her fingers and tosses it onto the paper plate on her desk, along with a lot of other food she's done little more than sniff at.

The fashionista takes a moment to comport herself, busy with the mundane task of wiping her fingers immaculately clean.

"Jess has got a point, though. That's a good genetic mix," Janet allows. "And Carol's a major asset." She mouths something under her breath, inaudible. "What she knows about the Kree alone is invaluable. We can't rule out that this whole thing was an effort to get *her*, either. Rogue's a powerhouse but tactics aren't her thing. And we know we--" she gestures, again-- "are pretty far from the top dogs in the galaxy in terms of power. What Carol has that is absolutely invauable is a lot of knowledge. About the Kree, about space, about-- Earth."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
The look at the fried ring demands a second consideration. Wanda hesitates to take one, but Jessica's enthusiasm about it overpowers the worry about too many carbs or sugar before bed. Besides, given the white-haired twin's energy consumption rate, reasonable that she herself might need just as much to sustain her own abundant use of power. So, she breaks off a piece once taken. "Thank you. I appreciate this." It may be a bit before she takes it. "She does. An important mix of people. Mm, leadership but also with that goes knowledge on several fronts. One person stolen instead of many, but opportunistic seizure while they had the opportunity."

She taps her finger against the doughnut and licks a crumb away politely. The witch doesn't follow the possibility further.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Earth and its militaries," Jess grimaces, taking a donut for herself and taking a bite as she mulls it over. "Between Steve, Tony, and Carol? Yeah, if I was planning an assault on Earth I'd pick them up just for the interrogation value. Though I probably would've nabbed someone with SHIELD clearance too, but hey. The point of being spies is not being obvious, so kudos to us, I guess."

Now that donuts have been shared and she has one for herself, she moves to "sit" at an improbable angle on the edge of the desk. The only thing that could possibly be holding her there is bioelectric cling. "That said, if they were trying to just make a point, they would have followed it up by now. Taking out leadership's a shock action. You start to lose the benefit if you give people time to recover without hitting them again. So I'm inclined to think there's something more to it."

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"/You/ would," Janet challenges Jessica. "But this chick-- I don't think her MO is that complicated. Look, simple solutions, right?" she says, clasping her palms. "If they're doing this as an advanced attack, then Earth is already boned because Mackenzie Station and all our forward space allies didn't see it coming. We'd be on our heels if not defenseles anyway. We don't have any evidence of an invasion to bring, either."

"No." She shakes her head, pacing again. "This feels like a lone wolf thing. A test. Or a distraction. Both, even," she surmises. "She's impulsive. A little erratic. What's she do?" A hand gestures. "Stage a big fight, take a few hard hits, then see how many people she can remove from the chessboard at once. If we can get them back, we waste energy doing it and she knows we're hunting them. If we can't, then we're no real threat to her."

A thought occurs, and she wiggles an index finger near her forehead and walks briskly over to Wanda. "Wanda. Darling. Sweet /wonderful/ Wanda," she coos, and rests that index finger on the indent between Wanda's collarbone and shoulder. "We've been looking for our people this whole time. What if we took a round trying to find /her/?"
% Janet twists to look to Jessica for support; then turns those arched, inquisitive brows back to Wanda.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
"Occam's Razor," supplies the sorceress. "My brother is too fond of that. So is..." Let's not name names. Wanda puts down her doughnut for a moment. "Perhaps she is given her lead to take action, and she overstepped her bounds. Perhaps she has enough rope to hang by."

She opens an arm to Janet, in event a hug might be wanted. The fashionista has only so much energy, only so much to burn. On the other hand, there's the heart of a universe willing to offer comfort, so there might be counterbalances. "They probably would not anticipate us honing in on her as a stranger. /That/ gives me something I could work with. A visual signature ought to be enough, together with a name. Especially if that is her only name." A smirk. "We have more than that. It is a lead, after all. Has anyone contacted those outside allies? The Kree, the rest? They might have something. Especially if presented by an outside party or a strapping golden-haired king with a few questions and a hammer to back them up with."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica tilts her head, taking another bite of her donut as she chews. It's tragically unfair the way she eats. Thanks for the genetic experimentation, mom and dad. "It's got potential," she nods after a moment. "If they've actually taken them somewhere, it stands to reason they'd safeguard the prison or cells or whatever the hell it is, but they might not remember to do the same for themselves."

"I'm not really..." Pausing, she wipes a bit of sugar from the corner of her mouth with one thumb. "I'm not the //asking// people for information person. I'm more the taking information from people person. But for what it's worth, I haven't heard any general chatter, at least."

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet embraces Wanda when the hug is offered, beaming with a sincere smile for the first time in nearly a week. Jessica's offered an extended hand, fingers curled up; a clasp and a squeeze of the fingers, sensitive to the sometimes-broody woman's need for personal distance.

"Okay. We've got a /plan/," she cheers the others. "Let's get it done. Wanda, anything you need, say the word. This is priority one. I'll let Thor know that we may need him on standby-- hell, I met Princess Sif the other day. I bet she's handy with that sword, even if she's hanging out with Loki. Eeechh." Janet shudders like something cold presses against her spine.

"We'll get a strike team together. I'm gonna get on that right now. Jessica, I need you to take over in the Crisis Center for a bit. Wanda, do your thing."

Janet picks up a doughnut and bites into it. "Wow, theef ah' /reahhy/ goo'," she observes, and with a renewed pep in her step walks out of the room with a purposeful stride.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
"Let me talk to Thor at least, and see what he has found. Throwing a needle into the cosmic haystack is hardly an issue," Wanda replies softly. Having the advantage of shifting reality to suit her needs is a definite plus to the downside of an Elder Evil occasionally peering out of her eyes or assuming equally cosmic domination might be a grand idea to pursue. "Speaking with Loki comes a distant second on my agenda, though it's an option if Doctor Strange remains busy."

Her smile brightens by small degrees while Jessica ticks something off, and with her arm still curled around Janet in a protective arc, she says, "Oh, I absolutely prefer it. I would rather see everything our kidnapper has done while she is unaware, and then seize on information and initiative without being spotted. If it came down to it, I can put her out of commission for a time by throwing her in another dimension if we come to this situation again."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Take over the crisis center?" Jessica asks around a mouthful of donut, quirking a brow at Janet's departure. "Uh. Sure?" Slowly she slides a sidelong glance toward Wanda.

"Taking over the crisis center is code for sit here and make sure someone picks up the phone if news actually comes in, right?" she asks sotto voce.