1491/Log 1491

Log 1491
Date of Scene:	16 July 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Booster Gold, Animal Man, Blue Beetle (Kord), Dragonfly (Arazello)

Booster Gold has posed:
Hidden, in a corner of Hoboken! Tucked away among the side streets, where petty purse snatchers vie with wild organ grinders after curfew! It's a dirty city; a crime-laden one (except for this six block area, which a pack of deviant Catholic grandmothers went on a murderous ladel-swinging spree and drove all the criminals back home).

It's here, in this dark, grim, slightly-upscale segment of the inner city that the SECRET HEADQUARTERS of the SUPERBUDDIES can be found! It's difficult to find, to protect their secrets; instead of going UP the stairs to Gold-Kord Demolition, Extermination, and Movers (Lic. Notaries), a person of sufficient derring-do must go LEFT. Around the Dumpster of Refuse! Through the driveup of Fate! And into the ATTACHED GARAGE OF CONVENIENCE!

The Blue Kordmobile (An F250 passenger van painted ultramarine blue) is parked on the sidewalk; 'Kord Janitorial Services' is still visible as a faded watermark where the decals weren't properly removed before painting over them.

The Attached Garage Door is propped open; 'TED AND BOOSTER'S BAR & GRILL' is over the entrance in a big, bold, kind of crappy looking font.

"Didn't we order /six/ pizzas? And where are the little meaty things, with the-- you know, the white mean, and you dip them--?" Booster asks Ted, making a dipping motion with his hands as the delivery guy putters away. Booster's wearing cuffed, skinny highwater jeans and an obnoxiously loud pink polo shirt, with the collar turned up, and big slotted sunglasses that cover his eyes. And boat shoes.

"You know, the... man, that little bird, that went extinct," he frowns, looking around for help.

Animal Man has posed:
Buddy Baker crosses his arms over his chest, "There are a lot of little birds that went extinct. Several hundred species variants, actually, just off the top of my head,' he says. "I'm not sure which, if any of them, might be relevant to pizza or dipping, especially since I will not be partaking in your rampant flesh consumption," he says.

He, of course, got a soy-cheese pizza, with a whole wheat crust, along with mushrooms and peppers. He's been idly munching on sunflower seeds previously as he sets his vegan pie aside.

"Not that I'm trying to guilt you. It's your own consciences that have to live with the psychic toll you're taking on the planet's ecosystem. Far be it from me to preach, I gave that up a long time ago," he says, kicking up his feet.

Blue Beetle (Kord) has posed:
"Booster," the Blue Beetle says with a groan of exhaustion, pinching his nose, "I don't know how many times I have to tell you this. It's not delivery. It's DiGiorno. So this is all we have, unless you want to make another trip to the grocery store. But they were ALL. OUT. earlier."

He gestures to the 'delivery guy'. "I mean, that's Samir. He lives less than a block away! He just had a working oven and was willing to cook these pies for $5!" Beetle's expression falls.

"Wait," he says, eyes growing wide. "Did ... did you pay him the same amount you'd pay a delivery driver?"

Blue Beetle swallows a giant lump in his throat and hits the back of his head against the nearest wall. "That was the last of the seed money!"

Dragonfly (Arazello) has posed:

    Dragonfly pinches the bridge of her nose as she leans against the wall in one corner.
    "Passenger pigeon?" she suggests 'helpfully'. "Mauritian duck? New Zealand quail? Eskimo curlew? Mascarene coot?"
    She looks down at the stack of pizzas. "There's one in there with pinapple and anchovies, right?" she asks, going two-for-one on the "OMG WTF!?" list, setting aside the handful of seeds Buddy dropped in her hand on arrival.
    "You know, I'd contribute, but ..." She makes an elaborate show of patting down her outfit. "No pockets."

Booster Gold has posed:
"Wh- well, yeah," Booster stammers, at Ted's sudden vehemence and then his facepalming reaction to the action. "What? It's normally, like, ten bucks each from Domino's! And I gotta TIP the guy, right?" he asks, spreading his hands at the others in supplication.

He narrows his eyes at Buddy. Then he removes his glasses, just so Buddy can /see/ him narrowing his eyes. "Man, don't start that vegan-whole-grain-goodness deal with me," he tells Buddy, jerking a thumb at his chest. "I'm /from/ the future. I ain't going back to eating synthmeat again if I can get the real thing," he says. "I don't care if it's bad for the environment!"

He looks at Dragonfly too ,as she starts rattling off a list of improbable fowl, nonplussed; he spreads his hands at her lack of helpfulness.

"It's the-- people call them nuggets?" he asks helpfully, making a dipping motion again.

Animal Man has posed:
Buddy Baker has never been sure how seriously he takes Booster's "I'm from the future" spiel, but isn't going to be argumentative with his friends. Well, not when they're so good at being argumentative themselves. "I'm just pointing things out, like I said, it's your choice to make, man," he says.

He settles back to eat his own pizza, chewing on the leathery-but-still-tasty texture of the crust as he stretches out, "Don't get so stressed about the money, Ted, we'll figure it out. Can't let material things get in the way of fighting the good fight, right?"

Blue Beetle (Kord) has posed:
The Beetle turns around and begins hitting his forehead on the wall for several moments before composing himself.

"Buddy," he asks, "could you do me a favor and summon the strength of a gorilla and just slap this moron to death for me?"

Ted slumps in a chair. "What have I done with my life? I'm a successful inventor! I'm an entrepreneur! And yet I'm sitting here with three lose--"

He pauses and offers a sheepish grin.

"Uh, ha! ha!, that is, I'm here with three loyal comrades," Beetle continues, coughing loudly. "I'm so very lucky. Lucky..." He trails off wistfully.

Dragonfly (Arazello) has posed:
    "Chicken? Chicken nuggets," Dragonfly prompts. "Chickens aren't extinct. Also chicken nuggets aren't made from chicken as such. They're made from chicken slurry that's been compressed and shaped. I'd rather eat Buddy's soy cheese crap over those."
    She smiles at Buddy. "No offense."
    Ted's little outburst causes the removal of sunglasses, the blank, multifaceted eyes staring (presumably) at him.
    "I'm partner in an aerospace firm and a noted engineer working on advanced propulsion," she says pointedly. "You're not the only one with regrets."
    Pause.
    Realization what that sounded like.
    "I don't mean this, here," she says placatingly to Booster. "I mean, my life got super-stupid complicated. Those regrets."
    He's probably dumb enough to believe that's what she meant, right?

Booster Gold has posed:
Booster is the sort to normally pick a fight, but if there's one thing that his his feels in the nardledanglers, it's the sight of Ted being really upset. Guilt flashes over his features, and he shoves his hands in his pockets.

"I... sheesh, I'm sorry, Ted," he mutters, looking chagrined. "I didn't know. I thought he was doing a delivery thing, and ..." He glances over at Buddy, the living incarnation of Chill, and then looks to Nancy and her muttered, barely contained remonstrations and the waspish snap to her voice.

"Hey, c'mon guys," Booster says, clapping his hands once, then twice. "C'mon! We're SUPERHEROES. We've been knocked down, but as the great poet Chumbawumba says, 'We get up again!" He goes around with a pizza box, offering a slive to everyone (even Buddy, redundant though it is).

"We're not getting blown up, we're not getting shot, angry supervillains aren't knocking down our front door-- it's all uphill from here, baby!"

He moves to Ted. "Ted, c'mon man, I'm sorry. And I know I get the money thing backwards, the currrency conversions screw my math up."

Animal Man has posed:
Buddy Baker pipes up, "Oh, I've got plenty of regrets! Ex-girlfriends. My second EP, _Paleolithic Butter Rum Blues_. The *cough* cult," he says, taking a sip from his lemonade for a moment. "The numerous times I've channeled avians and accidentally laid an egg. Really, you'd think I'd get the hang of that one over time," he says.

"But I'm definitely not a loser, whatever you may think, Ted. I'm sorry if you're feeling down on yourself, but, if you want better self-esteem, you should probably see a therapist. Did wonders for me," he says. "Now I'm very well-adjusted. Other than the egg thing."

"Anyway, though, Booster's right. Things are going to be fine, they always are. We can do a Gofundme or something if things get really bad," he says.

Blue Beetle (Kord) has posed:
Nodding slowly, Blue Beetle sighs and leans back. "I ... I guess you're right, pal. We /are/ superheroes. I mean, we get out there every day to try and help save the world. Is that really so lame?"

The blue-costumed insect-themed crime-fighter looks to his companions, each of whom is dressed at least as garishly as he is.

"Maybe I'm just taking it out on everyone because I've hit a bit of an 'inventor's block' recently," Beetle adds, stroking his chin. "It's a heck of a competitive world out there, you know. What I need is something /genius/ to really change the game."

He frowns. "Has anyone ever thought about making a living by running a school for super-powered children? It seems like it could be incredibly lucrative, but I imagine the liability is through the /roof/ ... assuming it's run above-board."

Dragonfly (Arazello) has posed:
    Dragonfly shakes her head and puts the glasses back on. "Look away guys," she says, "if you don't want those annoying black spots in your vision."
    5... 4... 3... 2... 1... *FLASH* *BANG*
    Nancy Arazello occupies Dragonfly's space, dressed in an almost brutally severe business outfit. Glowering and muttering she roots around in her purse and pulls out a few C-notes. She drops those on the table and closes her purse.
    "There's my contribution for now. Let me take a look at the books later and we'll work out a budget. How 'bout I do the treasurer thing here from now on?"
    She eyes Ted. "Uh... You mean like Xavier's school there?"

Booster Gold has posed:
"Oh! Yeah, I was up there last week!" Booster says, still covering his eyes-- he's well aware of Nancy's 'flashbang' move, which is not sexy, and is the reason the Beetle Van has no passenger side front seat.

"It's a stupid idea. I mean for one, you've got all these teenagers, and their hormones. And /powers/, I mean-- imagine every nerd who ever got bullied in school, except he can make your /brain/ explode when you give him a well-deserved wedgie."

He peeks, finally, and then frowns at Buddy. "Wait, you laid an egg? Like as a chicken? Doesn't that make you a chick?" he inquires of the primal avatar of the Red, and utterly missing the pun he just made.

He picks up the money Nancy drops, counting it. "See... three... hundred," he says, squinting at the letters. "Right. That's... man, I can't do the math in my head. Is that a lot?" he inquires of the others. "We usually just let the autobarts do purchasing back home," he explains. "It's weird to have money that has a /fixed/ value," he marvels.

Animal Man has posed:
Buddy Baker flickers a protective lizard eyelid over his cornea when Nancy does her thing, protecting him from the negative effects of her transformation. He's not sure transforming into a yuppie is an improvement, but he's not going to comment negatively on other people.

"Gender is a spectrum all across the animal kingdom. Take the time to google 'cloaca' one of these days," he says.

"I can put on a benefit concert, too, if need be. It's summer festival time and I have a lot of friends at a lot of state fairs, man," he says.

Blue Beetle (Kord) has posed:
"Xavier's School?" Blue Beetle asks, incredulous. "It's /nothing/ like that!"

He pauses.

"Okay, maybe it's exactly like that."

He folds his arms across his chest.

"Maybe ... no," Beetle says, raising a finger and then dropping it. "Wait, wait ... no. Wait! No." He sighs. "Oh! I've got it!"

After a moment, he continues: "Has any of us been sent to prison for a crime we didn't commit? Maybe we can help with the problems no one else can. Or will. I mean, or we could sell Buddy's eggs. But that sounds kind of gross, frankly."

Dragonfly (Arazello) has posed:
    "It's not a lot, no, Booster, but it's all the big cash I've got on hand. I'm keeping the smaller notes for now because I have things to buy."
    Nancy looks at Ted. "You mind if I do the finances here? I'll be completely ruthless, fair warning. I did most of the management at Burton engineering before Ken died. I know how to say "no" and say it often. With relish."
    Buddy gets a stare. "Doesn't having a cloaca just mean all anal all the time?" she wonders aloud. Then reddens as she realizes she spoke aloud and turns away.
    "Listen, Ted, there's a few issues for income. First, we have competition and that competition fights the good fight for free. We can't really compete with free. We need sources of income independent of the heroing. Let's face it, the competition? They're like us. They're literally all amateurs. They get their money and support from elsewhere. That's where you come in. Get your head back in the inventing game. Make stuff that we can sell. I'll do the money side of things, you do the inventing side of things. We'll just need marketing and sales after that."

Booster Gold has posed:
"Ahahahhah! Anal means /butt/," Booster says with glee, laughing at Nancy's pointed observation. He really is a giant child in some ways.

Still, Ted's sobriety chills his humor some. "I-- that's what we've /been/ doing, Ted," Booster tells his friend, spreading his hands. "We fight the bad guys other people can't wrangle! We deal with the threats that the cops won't face down!" he says, turning to address the little squad of four (three minus him) as if he were giving a pep speech to the entire offensive line.

One can almost see the Canadian flag waving patriotically behind him.

"We go where others won't! We do what others can't! The Justice League, they aren't here in the mean strees!" he declares, his voice rising, as a pack of moms push baby strollers towards their yoga class down the street.

"Sure, we don't ALWAYS get paid, but-- that's why we need merchandising! Appearance fees! Contracts!" he says. "With money, we can do MORE good, we can get MORE done. No more Digiorno! No more of the Pocket Hots!" he remarks. "We could rent a LARGER office! And do MORE good!"

"We could be the heroes that this borough-- nay, this CITY-- no, the state! The heroes that the STATE deserves!" he says, with a dramatic finger pointing skywards.

Animal Man has posed:
Buddy Baker doesn't have much to contribute to the fundraising issue largely because he's an anarcho-communist and isn't really sure he's terribly fond of the idea of personal property or fungible capital to begin with. Plus, he's always been terrible with money, spends it as soon as he gets it, usually on guitars, girls or plants, be they decorative or smokable.

He does raise a finger at Booster's rant, though, "Just so long as any sponsorships taken on are entirely ethical, with companies that won't turn out to be evil empires later on. I'm not going to just smile and wear a Roxxon emblem on my behind, with visions of oil-drowned penguins dancing in my head," he says.

"I know it's hard, but, y'know, it's being a hero. Heroing is hard or else more people would do it. Well, that and the lack of superpowers, but it's the superpowers that mean we have to be even more careful with what we do. With great power comes great...something, I don't know," he says.

Blue Beetle (Kord) has posed:
"Yes," Beetle replies as Dragonfly offers her insight.

"Yes!" Beetle cries as Booster offers his perspective.

"YES!" Beetle shouts as Buddy offers a reasonable contribution to the group's emerging business plan.

"That's /it/," he laughs, clapping his hands together. "We make our push by /becoming/ competitive! We help the average citizen see that we're always nearby, ready to crush crime. To smash it. To grind it!"

Nodding vigorously, Blue Beetle taps on the table. "We make an /app/ that helps people in danger see that we're nearby and ready to help them as needed. To reflect what we're doing to crime, I think we should name it appropriately. How does 'Grindr' sound? Appropriately powerful enough?"

Dragonfly (Arazello) has posed:
    Nancy gets visibly excited as Beetle wakes up and starts paying attention. She almost faints from it as he dreams up the hero-summoning app. She then blinks and stares at the name.
    The subsequent laughter leaves her so weak she leans against Buddy for support.
    "Ted..." she says between uncontrollable guffaws, "...you ... may... want to... Google that name!"
    She suppresses the worst of the laughter, keeping it down to the occasional giggle bubbling from underneath.
    "Name aside, though, Ted, that's a brilliant idea! I can even write the app's first version until we get enough money to hire staff."
    She turns to the gang and does her own version of a Booster Gold pep talk.
    "Look, guys, I know I can be a shrew. I know that I'm sometimes quite the acid-tongued bitch. I know that I'm on the record as saying that I'm not in any way, shape, or form affiliated with Booster Gold, and that I loathe and despise him. But ... I'M STILL HERE. And I know and understand now that what I was doing was wrong."
    She takes a breath.
    "So let me tell it to you straight. I'm with you guys. I'm with you for the long haul. I'm with you through thick and thin. And I'll throw in the work it takes to make the Superbuddies work out!"
    She steps up and gathers everybody into a group hug.
    "I love you guys."
    Beat.
    "And whoever took this opportunity to grope my ass ... move it or lose it."

Booster Gold has posed:
Booster thumbs up at Buddy. "Yeah man, and I'm all about the environment. Y'know-- big picture," he says. "But like, I don't have any superpowers. Neither does Ted," he tells Buddy. "I'm just incredibly athletically talented and good looking, and Ted--" he slings an arm over Ted's shoulders. "Ted tries hard!"

He listens to Nancy's pep talk, nodding agreement the whole time-- particularly wagging his chin at 'shrew', 'bitch', and making a face at 'Booster Gold' and 'Still here'.

But he gets in on the group hug anyway, squeezing back with all his natural athleticism, and noogieing Ted with the point of his Campbellian chin.

"Sorry Nancy," he mutters, putting his hand back where it belongs.

Animal Man has posed:
Buddy Baker joins into the group hug enthusiastically. He loves a group hug! He adds a massive, leonine purr to the affair, with enough vibrato to rumble the bones of any and all who join in the shared embrace.

"That's a good spirit! I like it!' he says. "I don't know exactly what an app is, but I'm excited because you're excited!" he says.

"And there's nothing wrong with being a shrew. Shrews are ferocious, tenacious and have some of the cutest pink footses in the world," he says.

Blue Beetle (Kord) has posed:
For his part, Blue Beetle feverishly searches the Internet for 'Grindr' and the realization of what he's proposed slowly dawns on him.

"I ... I can't look away," he says, turning his head--although not his eyes--toward his companions. "What have I done?!"

Nonetheless, he extends his arms for the group hug. "What about helping kids in need learn about the Superbuddies and their maturity? An 'adult friend finder,' if you will?" the insect-themed engineer asks idly.

1491/Log 1491

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