3964/The Wings Beneath Our Winds

The Wings Beneath Our Winds
Date of Scene:	26 February 2018
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Every Team Needs A Flying Person, Right?
Cast of Characters:	87, Brick, Stardust, Kian t'Kaeh

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Vorpal (87) has posed:
    No matter where you go, there you are.
    These are the immortal words of Roseanne Roseannadanna, which prove all too adequate tonight for Tommy Hunter.  It seemed like only yesterday he had left Titan Tower for many important, multi-layered and deep reasons.  All of which were, basically, so as not to have to run into his 'ex', pretty much.
    And yet, however, here we has.  Sitting at the edge of the roof, legs dangling over the void while he took in the sight.
    "It's like moving in circles.  Very wide circles," the Cheshire cat muses to himself, sipping on the last remains of his soda.

Brick has posed:
    Wherever you go, there you are.  Those are also the immortal words of Buckaroo Banzai.  DOCTOR Buckaroo Banzai, actually.  An arguably imaginary character who definitely exists in at least one sheaf of universes, and has a car that's even better than the one owned by Doc Brown.  And he's Brick's role model, although Brick hasn't tried to go through solid matter by way of the eighth dimension because here, that wouldn't work, you really only need to rotate six dimensionally and that isn't really going THROUGH the solid matter, more AROUND it.
    "It is.  I think it's a bird.  It's not a plane or a frog.  I checked."

Stardust has posed:
A Few Hours Earlier…
    While finishing a pizza with Rayner and Raven at the Titans tower, Colette thumbs idly through the huge stack of mail that has been dumped on a table, all unopened and unanswered.  Hopefully someone's paying the bills, but Colette isn't really too interested in that.  She is however interested to find a small package addressed to "Stardust, Brick and Robin", with postage paid from Turkey.  It's an easy guess what that's about.  Not waiting for the others, she opens it and reads the letter inside.

Ten Minutes Later
    Colette leans against a wall in the lobby of the tower, speaking on a phone.  "So yeah.  Some guy called uh…" she glances down at the letter.  "Tarek Dushey.  Apparently he'll explain everything.  But the upshot is that Irmah thinks we need someone else who can fly.  How about… oh, the guy from… when there were all the ravens?  Good plan.  Think you can find him?  We should meet… no, I can't find him.  Probably off doing Bat-things.  Okay.  Sure, yeah I know it.  See you there!

Now
    Stardust drops silently out of the night sky and lands behind Vorpal.  Not too close, she knows how jumpy cats are.  "Stop chasing your tail then, kitty cat," she tells him with a smirk.  "So.  Any luck?"

Kian t'Kaeh has posed:
    Speaking of moving in circles, this is what Kian is doing, in the air, high above.  It's what he does: fly.
    A flash of color catches his hawk-like eyesight, coaxing him to spiral downwards; it isn't long before he is able to identify it as Vorpal, and he smiles and breaks into a sharp dive, then pulls up along the face of the building.  He knows nothing about cats and jumpiness; his intent is to pop up the face of the building Vorpal is sitting at and say hi.
    Which is exactly what he does, shooting up along the building and as he crests the roof, pulls into a tight backwards loop, and then into a hover a few meters in front of the cat. "Kié, Vorpal!  I haven't seen you in a while!"

Vorpal (87) has posed:
    "Heh," Vorpal gives Colette a smirk, "Chasing tail is what got me into trouble in the firsts time."  He turns over to look at Brick, not having a lot of time to look puzzled as Colette asks her question.
    "Not exactly.  I left a message at the last place where I knew he was staying at, but that is no guarant-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
    Vorpal startled is certainly a sight to see.  As Kian flies up the building and gives the Cheshire cat a fright to turn his fur white, Tommy manages to go from a sitting position to a crouch, to backwards leap in less than a heartbeat.  And then through a rabbit hole that deposits him on the opposite corner of the Tower.
    "......!" comes the near squeak from a distance, as Vorpal recovers everything but his voice from that fright.

Brick has posed:
    "Told you it was a bird," Brick says, sitting up from where he'd been lying on his back watching the night-ish sky.  No city truly has a night sky.  Not unless there's been a massive power-outage.
    No, he's not startled or particularly worried about Vorpal's skittishness.  The boy's a cat, it comes with instincts.  He's wondering, though, about the oddness of the timing, because getting that letter today, that's some serious synchronicity.
    "Appears we have immanent birdguy. Kie, Kian," Brick says.  Has he ever talked with the bird?  A bit.  Enough to learn greetings.
    A friendly *PING!* is heard from somewhere about his waist.  Maire Boit says hello.

Stardust has posed:
    "And I went to all that trouble to not startle the cat.  Clearly I was wasting my time."  Colette gives a theatrical shrug.  "Anyone bring a ball of yarn we can distract him with and tempt him back over here?"  She steps over to the edge of the building, in front of Kian, and waves at him.
    "Hey!" Colette calls out.  "Kian.  Stop hovering and come join us.  Have you met Brick?  This is Brick.  Hi Brick."  She takes a few steps back from the edge, giving Kian room to make a safe landing.  "We've got uh… a proposal for you."  She stops suddenly, turns and looks at Brick, then at Vorpal.  "Uh.  I mean I suppose I should explain to the others too.  But yeah, come on over.  We may have a mission."

Kian t'Kaeh has posed:
    "Ái, c'Rhys'yw!"  Kian touches down on the edge of the building.  "I am so sorry, Vorpal," he calls across the building, "I forget you can't sense me coming like they could at home.  I didn't mean to startle you like that."
    He bows slightly to Brick and Colette.  "Kié!  I have not seen you for a while, either.  I trust you are well?"
    And then Colette's remarks sink in.  "Proposal?  Mission?" he asks, a little warily.

Vorpal (87) has posed:
    Vorpal makes his way back to the group slowly, mostly because he has to drag what's left of his dignity with him all the way there, too, and it's rather heavy.
    "It's okay, Kian, don't worry about it.  I didn't really need all nine of my lives, anyways."
    As he approaches, he lets Colette do the overture.  Why, precisely, he doesn't quite know.  Brick should be the one mentioning the mission, because he was the closest thing to a diplomat that there was between the three of them.  Vorpal was quite the opposite.  Whatever that was.

Brick has posed:
    OH NO, you're not sticking ME with that chore, I have a PhD and two on the way, I am a giant NERD so I am not going to be the diplomat, is what Brick would say if he could read Vorpal's mind.  He can't but he suspects something like that, so he glares for no apparent reason anyway.
    "We need someone who can fly.  I can skate on air currents but not very fast and I fall off if the thermocline becomes too mushy," Brick (fails to) explains.
    *Ping.  Ping.* Maire Boit tells him, because really, he's just being lazy AND obscure.

Stardust has posed:
    Colette is far closer to being a diplomat than Vorpal knows.  She may not have mentioned that because she doesn't really talk about her private life, but she's actually the daughter of a diplomat and has spent quite a bit of time in embassies.
    "So basically," Colette begins her explanation to Kian, "We met… there was… Well it started with those weapons.  I was doing… well, to cut a long story short, uh… Vorpal will explain later."  Her eyes flick towards the returning cat as she dumps the complex part of the explanation onto him.  "But the upshot of it is, we've been given some intel about a place where some bad stuff is happening.  And we've been advised that it's a place where being able to fly would be very useful and we should get another flier on the team.  You in or not?"
    Apparently diplomacy isn't hereditary.
    "Also I got this."  Colette holds out what looks like a cell phone to show Vorpal and Brick.  It's got a logo on it that reads "Kuvvet", a brand you wouldn't have to be an alien to be unfamiliar with, unless you were from Turkey.  "Sultan Irmah has sent someone over to their offices in New York as a liaison.  We can get him through this."

Kian t'Kaeh has posed:
    Kian blinks at Colette.  "I can fly, obviously, yes," Kian says to Brick, though still looking at Colette.  "I don't understand, is it a place you need to be able to fly to get around, or a place you need to be able to fly to get to?  I don't know if I'm in, because I really don't know what I'm asked to be in for…."

Vorpal (87) has posed:
    "A little of both, maybe?" Vorpal says, unhelpfully, looking to Colette for direction, and to Brick because he's there, pretty much.  "You don't need to worry too much about the breaking and entering part, because Brick can break, and I'm good at entering, but neither of us is very good at flying."

Brick has posed:
    "As I mentioned, I fall off," Brick amplifies.  "Air is really treacherous.  Anime lies."
    The reason they might need a flyer… that's got Brick extrapolating, and he lacks information because he didn't get to read the whole letter, just that little bit he spotted as he was crossing the room.
    "Hey, why DO we need a flyer?  What's this bad stuff and where is it?"

Stardust has posed:
    "It's a place you need to fly to get around," Colette clarifies.  "It's on top of a mountain.  There are a bunch of different buildings on different peaks."  She pulls out a heavily folded printout of a photo of the area.  It's very rough terrain, with many columns and spires of rock.  Built onto the tops of several of the columns are a cluster of rather ancient looking monastic buildings.  Several of them have rope bridges connecting them, but it's hard to imagine how a race of people who can't fly would build such a place.
    "There's apparently a secret evil laboratory there.  We can get a full briefing from this Tarak guy, but basically it's somewhere that needs smashing up."  Colette pauses a moment, then corrects herself.  "Um.  Not literally, the buildings are kind of historical monuments.  It's in Europe, Brick.  The Carpathians.  The Secret Mystical Order of Whatsit guys have been watching this place for hundreds of years, apparently.  And recently some guys showed up and are trying to do evil science there."

Kian t'Kaeh has posed:
    Kian gazes at the picture, eyes widening.  "Ooo.  That's the nearest thing to a normal home I've seen on this world."  Of course, rough terrain is meaningless to him, when he can flit from peak to peak at will.  He looks up with some difficulty—he keeps glancing back to the picture—and asks, "What are they doing there that needs to be stopped?  I can't see how science can be evil.  I can see how people can put science to evil uses."

Vorpal (87) has posed:
    "Stardust speaks in very colorful language.  By evil science, she means 'science that is to be put towards evil uses.' It's kind of a verbal shorthand to say short sentences instead of very long ones because the meaning is understood."
    The cat leans on Brick, because he is current designated leaning post, which is a good thing—because it is different from being designated scratch post.  "Once you've hanged out with Dusty long enough, you get used to how she speaks.  Just like she's totally gotten used to how I think."  Maybe.

Brick has posed:
    "What I want to know is how they got those bridges strung," Brick says, looking at the pictures and the distances, "because really, that's a lot of rope and it looks really difficult.  Although, I suppose, kites might work."
    *ping*
    "No, they didn't use evil science, Maire, you're… doing really well with the new humor algorithm."

Stardust has posed:
    "Don't make me get out the red dot, Vorp.  Anyway, science can totally be evil," Colette argues.  "If it's science that can only be put to evil uses, then it's evil science.  Everyone knows about evil science, right?"  She turns to the other two for support.  "It's what mad scientists do.  This definitely counts.  They're trying to make super-zombies.  Super-zombies would be bad even if it didn't take killing someone to make one."
    Colette frowns in puzzlement when Brick asks how the bridges are strung.  Good question.  She takes another look at the photo, studying it carefully.  "You'd think it would be too windy for accurate kite-flying.  Maybe they have like two guys climbing two peaks at the same time, holding each end of the rope?  Or maybe they got someone who can fly to do it for them.  Hmm.  You know, I bet the construction industry would pay serious money to someone with super powers…."  She gives her head a quick shake and puts the photo away.  "Anyway, that's the story, Kian.  We'll get a full briefing before we go.  But in theory, you with us? We could use you along, otherwise I'm the only flier."

Kian t'Kaeh has posed:
    "Oh, running those bridges would be eas… uh.  Never mind," Kian says, remembering that flying is not normal on this world.
    He looks back at the picture.  "I don't know.  What do you need me for, other than being able to fly there?  That can't be all of it.  I mean, I could conceivably only bring one of you with me, and it would probably have to be Vorpal."

Vorpal (87) has posed:
    "Well, to be our all-around team-mate, of course.  I mean, remember how well you can bang-bang with that energy stuff you do?  I can't do that, for example.  Sure, we need your wing, but you're also a complement in other areas.  What do you say?"
    Vorpal smirks, "I'll throw in a swimsuit calendar of Brick, autographed by him."  Pause.  "He hasn't released one yet, but I'm sure we can convince him to schedule a photoshoot for the cause."
    Getting serious now, he also adds "And we do suspect that if it's major mad science at work, stopping it will be beneficial to many, many people.  And that's the right thing to do, yes?"
    He may be trying to do Puss In Boots eyes, subtly.  Just in case they are effective with birds.

Brick has posed:
    "There is no science that can only be used for evil, Dusty.  Just people with foul, evil minds."
    This is the moment where he would smolder like Dr. Smolder Bravestone in that remade magical jungle-adventure-game-movie.  Except that Brick is not 6'6" tall and thus only Vorpal is likely to think he's smoldery.
    "Anyway, Kian, It's not the getting there, it's maneuvering around without making too much noise and stuff when mad science is afoot," Brick says.  "I mean, I could boom in at a distance and then para-glide over that way, but that's gliding, not actual flight, and when I'm powering devizes, I can't really do more than one or two, and I'll need that energy to suppress the… wait.  Swimsuit calendar?"
    *ping*
    "OK, cool.  We'll schedule that."

Stardust has posed:
    "How are you going to use super-zombies for good, Brick?"  Colette stares at him with a raised eyebrow.  "I mean, this process involves killing someone.  Right at the start, that's kinda a huge problem for any morally upright use of the technology."  She gives an eyeroll and a shake of her head, muttering something about mad scientists under her breath, before returning to the matter in hand.
    "Team-mate.  That's it," Colette agrees, doing a snappy fingers in Vorpal's direction.  "Don't worry about carrying people around, Kian.  Vorp and Brick are both great on the transport front.  But there's a lot of narrow spaces we might need to fight in, with sheer drops next to them, and the building complex covers a bunch of different peaks.  It's going to be really useful to have air support, you know?  So yeah.  I mean we could get another flier, but we know you, we've fought beside you before.  We know you're good.  Also, Vorpal doesn't want to have anyone on the team taller than himself.  So whadda you say?"

Kian t'Kaeh has posed:
    Kian blinks at Brick and Vorpal.  "What's a swimsuit?" he asks with perfect innocence.  Well, okay, to be fair, he's a birdman, not a penguinman.
    "Sheer drops and peaks are not a problem," Kian says, "but narrow spaces?"  He can't help but shudder, and his wingfeathers fuff out.  "And fighting?  I mean, I know I have used my powers aggressively, at the museum, but there was a sign from the Gods that I was meant to.  I… this is difficult.  It may help if I explain that in my language, the words for 'violence' and 'madness' are related.  I may defend myself, but I may not strike first."

Vorpal (87) has posed:
    "That's perfectly all right.  Chances are, they'll be shooting at you first," the Cheshire cat says with a reassuring grin.
    At leasts, he thinks he's being reassuring.

Brick has posed:
    "Swimsuits are what people without feathers wear to cover the culturally mandated private parts of their bodies so as not to shock antiquated puritan morals," Brick says.  Maire Boit says nothing.
    "Violence isn't necessarily going to be a thing, at least, not against people, but are you averse to destroying equipment and records?  Because that may be a thing.  Also, have you considered how to use your powers defensively?  Like, making air temporarily solid?"
    Brick knows what he would do if HE could chat with the subatomic force fields.  He'd make a force field.

Stardust has posed:
    When Kian voices his doubts, Colette's brow wrinkles as she spends a few moments thinking up an answer, letting Vorpal's reassurances and Brick's slightly less feline-psychotic approach give her time to think.  It's time for Colette's diplomatic powers to come to the fore.
    Doomed.
    "Okay…" Colette says.  She begins slowly, but starts to talk faster when she gets up a head of steam: "But when you defend yourself, you're fighting, right?  Which isn't madness, because it would be mad not to defend yourself.  You're actually trying to stop the madness.  And that's more than defending yourself.  I mean suppose someone attacks your friends, but avoids attacking you personally?  There's a greater meaning of self defence, because there's a greater meaning of self, because we're not just ourselves.  We're part of something greater.  Society.  Fighting to defend society is self defence.  Fighting to protect others is self defence, because we're all people."  She blinks a couple of times as a thought hits her.  "Defending the nest!  That can't be madness."

Kian t'Kaeh has posed:
    Kian blinks at Brick.  "Private parts?" he asks even more innocently.  Good luck sorting that one out.
    "I understand defending myself," Kian says.  "I just find it weird deliberately putting myself in a position where I would need to."  He adds, after a pause, and with just the faintest touch of ice, "We don't live in nests."

Vorpal (87) has posed:
    "But your society does understand the notion of helping others, right?  Well.  Sometimes, in order to help others, you end up in situations that aren't one hundred percent safe."  The cat pauses and tilts his head.  "Unless you're trying to tell me that there was never any crime on your planet?"

Brick has posed:
    "Telepaths.  Probably not so much as we have because it's easier to tell when someone's up to something.  Different kinds of crime, no doubt."
    Brick pulls a candy bar out of his backpack.  Metabolism demands so much.  So many peanuts and nougats have given their delicious lives.

Stardust has posed:
    "Private Parts is a soldier," Colette explains.  "Just like Major Embarrassment and General Confusion.  Okay, look, not literal nests.  Home.  Social grouping.  Family.  Friends.  Does not striking first mean you'd stand by while someone attacked your parents, until they actually hit you?  Of course not.  Defending those who need your help from those who plan to strike them first counts. Besides…."  Colette falls suddenly silent, frowning, then waves whatever's bothering her away with a frown.  "Besides.  Sign from the gods that you should fight alongside us, right?  When we were protecting the planet from those who wished to harm its people.  Who's to say they only intended you to do that on one day?  Surely if they told you that's the right thing to do, it doesn't suddenly stop being the right thing to do.  Um.  Excuse me a sec."
    Colette rather suddenly takes off and lands on the roof across the street.  When there she has a brief but obviously heated debate, but even the sharp-eared can't make out much of what she's hotly debating, apparently with herself.  She looks annoyed though.  After a few moments she returns.

Kian t'Kaeh has posed:
    "We don't have things like this on my world," Kian says.  "That's why I find this so hard to grasp.  No one threatens anyone else.  No one tries to harm anyone else.  We all have what we need."  He frowns.  "And I really should be leery of signs from the Gods.  If the priests and priestesses back home were to hear about it, my life would be over.  Er, not literally.  Figuratively."

Vorpal (87) has posed:
    "To add to what Starry just said, Ki… maybe the god wanted you to help defend this planet.  Maybe the sign you're looking for is how you ended up here.  Ever thought of that?"
    The Cheshire stifles a yawn, and stretches.  "I need to get to bed, I've got early class tomorrow… but think about it."  He smirks at Brick.  "And if that swimsuit calendar thing actually happens, I want first print.  Alright… I'm out, team!"  He starts gathering his things up so he can rabbit hole back to his apartment… because he may be back as an ally, but he's not staying at the Tower.  There's no telling when Gar might decide to come back from his sabbatical, and there are conversations that he is totally NOT ready for.

Brick has posed:
    *PING*
    "Yeah, well, everyone has their own way of relating to imaginary friends, Maire," Brick says.  Then he looks up as Kian talks.
    "Your world is enlightened because you are all much more aware of one another, of your essential transcendent sapience.  It isn't that way here.  Humans are better at understanding some things as a result of this, because we have to be.  You aren't in your world now, though, you're on Earth.  Think about whether you want to help us, and if you can do so without compromising your inner self."
    He nods to Colette as she returns, and then falls backwards into a Boom Tube, calling out, "Gotta run, I have experiments to perform on cadaverous things!"

Stardust has posed:
    Colette raises an eyebrow at Kian.  "Even figuratively, wouldn't that harm you?  I'm not sure you've thought this through, bird dude.  But I think you just answered yourself here.  If something happens on this world that doesn't happen on your world, the rules of your world obviously don't apply.  Different situation, different rules.  So ask yourself this.  What feels like the right thing to do?  Stopping people from hurting others, or letting them get on with it?  If you had to face your gods tomorrow and tell them you were able to save a thousand lives from evil but didn't because there was nobody trying to hurt you personally, would they think you made the right choice?"
    Colette looks back at the other two, and nods her head.  "We should get together and talk to this Tarak guy and get the full story.  Soon.  You guys take care.  And you…" she turns back to Kian.  "Think about it.  New planet, new situation, new choices are the right choices.  If you're in, let us know.  Okay?"