4155/The Mutant Kidnappings: Ghost Walk

The Mutant Kidnappings: Ghost Walk
Date of Scene:	27 March 2018
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Nolan and Wanda investigate a haunted Cathedral. Best date ever?
Cast of Characters:	Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, Deadwatch
Tinyplot:	Mutant Kidnappings

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Iron Man has posed:
Two pieces of evidence came together to lead here, in the pursuit of a mutant that 'summons ghosts', and is wanted by the police--and others, for various reasons, it seems.

The first piece of evidence? Well, that one was easy. Easy for an Avenger, anyway. Tony Stark provides. Addresses, visuals, anything they could want. Blueprints of buildings? Sure. But none of that is useful to the thing that they are here for, which has eluded all of Tony's various tracking and gizmos. Sure, they've seen the suspect. But the ghosts that are supposed to be around? No. It's just some residentials. In particular, an apartment at the back of one of the seminaries. So what?

It is the second piece of evidence that brings more light onto the subject. The Cathedral had some quiet reports, starting that morning, of soft, transparent spirits moving around nearby. Some of the other seminaries as well had the same thing, there were murmers of spirits at unrest. It has affected many of the religious attendees, to various degrees. They are concerned, but keeping things quiet. But something is wrong, tonight.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda.. is not herself tonight. Not quite. She's on edge. Perhaps not enough that most would notice, but Nolan has insight others don't. And most of his insights like to chatter at him about things. It's subtle, whatever it is - like she's hearing something in the distance and trying to decipher what it's saying. Or like she's got a bruise that she notices every time she takes a step. That sort of thing. Nothing to really put a finger upon it.

"It is that I'm sorry," Wanda apologizes to Nolan. "But Tony, he did seem so insistent, and when he said that there were ghosts.." She smiles, almost shyly at the crippled man. "I know. Perhaps it was foolish. I did not ask more."

What she means is she likes having excuses to drop in on the man, and since she'd made no current headway on the stolen artifacts, this was as good a reason as any other. And much happier than scolding him for mixing pills and booze.

"We look, and then if there is nothing we maybe go to have the drink?"

Deadwatch has posed:
Nolan Voight limps alongside Wanda, the sound of his leg-brace's stirrup striking the sidewalk in counterpoint to his fore-arm crutch sharply. Unlike her, Nolan is completely being himself, which at the moment is sort of grumpy considering she talked him into coming to Manhattan. It's hard to be TOO grumpy, since he /is/ walking alongside Wanda, this sense of being part of.. well.. something even something so new rather exhilarating. But.. C'mon, it's /Manhattan/. And no Gothamite enjoys Manhattan, unless they are some clown-painted supervillain taking a vacation. Which he isn't.

"Well what else could you ask him?" he asks her back as they close in on their destination. "I mean, this Tony guy... Is /he/ someone that deals with the supernatural often. Doesn't sound like it... Most guys I know named Tony are usually pretty thick-necked, wear pinstripes and have all the same middle name.. 'The'.. Like Tony the Squirrel or Tony the Shark.." of course, he hasn't drawn the conclusion that this Tony is Tony /Stark/..

He then frowns slightly. "If there is nothig to do I want more then a drink.. I hear they have some great restaurants around her.." because of the crippled ex-convict has /any/ non-inebriating vices it is /good/ food.. Weird for a man who ate nothing but prison food for over a decade.. or maybe it's not surprising.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda's pace accomodates for Nolan's, but it's not such an obvious thing as pity might be. She merely walks with a casual regard for their surroundings, and takes her time. Much slower and it would be a thing, but at this pace it's clear she expects he should be able to keep up, just as he knows if he couldn't she would slow down without a word being spoken. It would merely be their new pace.

"No, the Tony, he is.. well, is all the words about himself, really. But it is not so bad. He is smart and has the monies. But I do not think he is happy all the time. More like he wants people to think he is happy. He.."

She stops, much like a video paused in time while the viewer checks out a detail on the screen. And much as she's paused mid-sentence, when it is /just/ shy of being an awkward silence, she speaks again, picking up from where she stopped as though she hadn't paused at all.

"..not a person who knows the ghosts. He is all the computers and the business. He likes the toys. Ghosts are too real for him."

Still looking thoughtful, Wanda points just off in the distance where the Cathedral sits, a squat and unpleasant thing with spires that are fat bottomed and poke up like a rising maw of teeth. "I think that is it. Not so much the beautiful. But we go and look, and then we will find a place nice to eat?"

Cheeks flushing prettily as it occurs to her some might even call that a date.

Deadwatch has posed:
During their walk, Nolan seems to sometimes wobble or lumber, as if he is suddenly stepping around some things or someones.. but there is no one there. He will even, sometimes, offer a murmur to the empty spot he stepped around. This may get him a few stares from /normal/ citizens they pass but Nolan doesn't care or seem to notice. Why would he? he's limping along with a very attractive woman, after all. Screw what other people think about his 'eccentricites'.

"Smart /and/ loaded? Add in handsome and I may get a little jealous.." he half jests.. and half a jest it is, since.. he isn't very used to being in a relationship.. He doesn't know the limits of humour. He has a lot of self confidence in many things.. This isn't one of them. And if she has loaded intelligent and handsome gentleman friends...

He of course catches the pause, but he puts it off to her trying to find the right words to describe this Tony as well as putting them into English which is not her first language.. "So wait.. He's a nerd?" he asks. "He's a rich smart tech start-up nerd who discovered he couldn't buy happiness with his money and overcompensates for his loneliness by buying the best toys? Sounds like a winner to me.." he says, dryly...

As they draw up on the church, he stares at the squat building with eyes that see much more than most. Where some see grey brick worn by age, he sees.. more. Like all of the old churches in Manhattan, this one has been here literally for a few centuries, and it emanates those centuries of faith.. The building glows in The Dark, it's spiritual energy casting it's unseen light on it's neighbors, building it up in ways that normals can't see but sometimes can feel.

"Oh, it's /quite/ beautiful, actually, but not as..." he stops and flushes a bit, realizing he was going to say something silly... He clears his throat.

"Yeah, lets go look..." he mumbles, embarrased.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
"Making the toys," Wanda corrects. "Though is it still making if you do have to buy the company first?"

She seems truly perplexed by the logistics and ethics of that one, though she comes to a much different conclusion than the query she started out with.

"He is not so handsome as Thor, I do not know. Thor, he is all the women because he is the god and I think that makes them.. how do you say stupid for a boy?"

Wanda shrugs, then laughs. "He is who my sister said I should not be with for practice. Maybe he would be all the selfish too. Maybe I would be the selfish if I did make all the boys stupid."

When Nolan tells her the church is beautiful, she stops, full on in the street, much to the chagrin of the man who nearly bangs into her back. He'd been trying to walk and read his newspaper - some ill advised version of minding his own business given the fact that Nolan wasn't ever going to go more quickly, and Wanda? Well, she's Wanda.

"See, now you can not do that. If it is beautiful, then you show it to me with your eyes that I understand."

And if Nolan understands anything about women at all he might recognize that for all her gentle nature at the moment, Wanda has become as immovable as a stone pillar pending his telling her what he sees. Or, more to the point, how he sees it.

Iron Man has posed:
There's something going on outside in the western parking area next to the seminary directly next to the Catheral. It's more apparent as they approach. There is an older woman, probably seventy, sitting on a bench with a few people clustered around her, obviously comforting the sobbing lady. She holds a tan and salmon toned scarf to her face, shaking her head slowly, thin fingers clutching weakly.

About ten feet away two men, well dressed, are discussing it in low voices, gesturing pointedly at the Cathedral.

Deadwatch has posed:
Nolan Voight flushes a bit more now, his freckled cheeks burning as she off handedly speaks about Thor and... practice, whether it happened or, as she said, it didn't because her sister warned her. "Yeah well.. That's Thor for you, right?" he quips. "He's a fuckin' walking and talking romance novel cover slash shampoo commercial model.." he mutters, self conciously sliding the fingers of the hand NOT clutching his crutch through his unruly mop of red hair.

He then sideglances at Wanda, and the guy who almost walked into her. "PErsonal Space, buddy.." he says and his mismatched eyes bleed black for a moment.. solid black.. The guy blinks, about to say something.. then quickly scurries off, leaving Nolan smiling as he looks back to Wanda.. His eyes now normal.. Well, as normal as having one blue eye and one amber eye can be. "You don't want to see everything I see, Wanda.." he says, then looks ahead...

He frowns as he spots the gathered group... "Wanda..."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda makes a very dismissive noise about Thor. About the entire notion of 'beautiful' men. "There was someone, yes? Favio? No.. that's like the bean. Fava. Hrm.." Then it hits her. "Fabio. He is like that, only he doesn't stay still so long. And mostly wears shirts."

She shakes her head like she can't actually figure out why 'handsome' men think taking their shirts off is part of the equation of being handsome.

When Nolan scolds the man for nearly bumping into her, a frown slides over her features. "You did not have to scare him. It is my own fault, no? Always people just.." She makes a helpless gesture to signify that somehow people just manage to avoid her. She almost never gets bumped into. Like startlingly low odds of it happening when compared to the general populace. That usually there's a reason.

And when Nolan's attention shifts from her to ahead of them, she knows that was the reason. Had they not stopped, they'd have gone much further ahead and closer to whatever it is that has Nolan frowning. "What? What is it that I do not see?"

Iron Man has posed:
The people in the parking lot don't react to the two far away over on the sidewalk. They have other things to deal with. The woman continues to be comforted, and appears to be recovering well enough to slowly be helped towards a parked blue civic. The two men who were discussing the situation seem to come to a conclusion between them, and start to head back into the cathedral. Their body language is that of being nervous.

There are no supernatural things visible floating around. Not yet, and not outside, anyway.

Deadwatch has posed:
Nolan is happy she doesn't want to speak of, or debate, why men equate being bare chested to being handsome because he knows why, for the reason he himself does NOT go bare chested. Because guys that can pull it off know it, and he knows he /can't/. Instead, he clears his throat and shrugs. "Guy needed to watch where he was going. A Real New Yorker would know that. Probably some tourist..." And he hates tourists. So much. So so much.

"And it's not what you don't see, Wanda, it's what you /are/ seeing." he tells her, motioning to teh scene ahead of them. "Crying old woman.. surrounded by people who are consoling her yet seem uncomfortable with whats going on as sincerely as they feel bad for her.. Two officious guys having a tete-et-tete looking between her and the church..." He /is/ a detective, remember.. he can put things together.. and it's not like he hasn't seen similar things before.

"Wanda.. Can you go ask her whats wrong? You'll be less intimidating.. seem more sympathetic." he motions to the guys heading for the church. "I think I am going to talk to those guys.."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda scolds Nolan, "It was not so bad. He didn't even bump into me." He was going to yell at her, though. Only.. well, if Nolan hadn't stopped that..

She should have seen it without being told, only for some reason, she didn't. It's like bits and pieces of things are just not in her vision. It's even quite questionable if what she sees is actually how the cathedral looks. Not that she'd know it. Or not that he might guess.

When she first looks over at the parking lot she sees the people, only they look to be hunched over and muttering unkindnesses. Though how she can tell that (or why she would think that) is hard to say. It isn't until Nolan says the word 'crying' that things snap into clarity for her and she *sees* the despair there.

"She is.. crying," Wanda says softly. Confused.

Deadwatch has posed:
Nolan Voight had only limped a few feet away but stops a moment to look over his shoulder at his confused looking lady friend.. He knows she is feeling off, unbalanced, but even he doesn't know just how mUCH she is off balance.. He just takes her confusion for something much more mundane.

"Yes... crying.. /outside/ a church.. People usually cry /in/ church.. So go ask her WHY she is crying.." he suggests. "Maybe it has to do with the ghost thing ToNerd was telling you about..." He then limps more quickly towards the pair of well dressed men heading back to the Church... "'Scuse me! Guys! A moment?!?"

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda's eyes fly open wide. Wider! Widest! A true note of panic mingling with the confusion. "Why would I talk to her? I do not know her? It is how do you say it, rude to mind the other people's business. And she is crying."

As though he hadn't noticed that tidbit.

Of course, if she doesn't start walking she'll be left behind - which is an irony of sorts: the cripple leaving her behind. But for some reason it's clear that the idea of the old woman crying is uncomfortable to Wanda. And not just because the woman is upset.

Those bruises of before? They're like little cuts now. Stings she can feel like someone is pouring alcohol over them the closer she gets to the parkinglot.

Her steps make his former ones look positively jaunty.

Iron Man has posed:
The men jump at the call to them, and one looks around as if confused. They really had been focused on something else. However, they are friendly sorts, clearly working at the church in some capacity. "Errr- of course. Yes, sir?" one of them politely answers Nolan. The other is mostly staring at the church, as if it might move and he doesn't want it to, say, creep up behind him.

The crying woman has finally been helped into the car. The doors close, and the car begins to leave. Some of those who were comforting her stare at each other, then at the cathedral.

Deadwatch has posed:
Nolan Voight limps right up to the pair, huffing and puffing when he comes to a stop. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a battered wallet which he flips open as he mutters something under his breath.. arcane and eldritch words.. What is a blank card taped to the inside of the wallet instead appears to be an identification card /and/ a silver badge.. a badge showing the cross and with the words "Societas Spiritus Sancti" on it.. the name of an obscure order within the Catholic Church that investigates Spiritual Phenomenom... And his name on the identification card being Vicar John Peter-Paul...

"Sorry to intrude but the Office of the Archdiocese of New York just receieved some strange but vague reports on our callboard about something strange happening here.. I was sent to verify...?"

So he is pretending to be a ranking, if low ranking, member of the church... and an official investigator.. lieing to members OF the church... Yeah, he's going to hell...

Scarlet Witch has posed:
As long as Wanda's steps carry her towards the crying woman, she does that odd, stilted walking that seems to be her heading towards the church by taking angles. Always moving away from the crying woman. And when the woman is helped into the car, and the car begins to drive away, Wanda seems to lighten, standing up taller - at least on the spiritual side - her steps no longer that lurching gait that looks ever so strangely graceful as she does it.

By the time she reaches Nolan's side, she's calm and peaceful again. Her expression bearing something of the Madonna about it. All lines and weariness smoothed away, leaving only a peaceful gaze, and the feeling about her that the air is somehow fresher. More spring-like. There's a floral scent that lingers near her for a moment before drifting away, taking with it that feeling of spring, and slowly she is nothing more than a placcid young woman standing there with her hands folded together, owning the one patch of sunlight that touches the ground where all else around her the parkinglot is strewn with late afternoon shadows.

Iron Man has posed:
The two men don't /want/ to disbelieve. It's clear. They are so happy to have somebody else deal with whatever it is, that they don't even try to question it. "Welcome, Vicar Peter-Paul," one of them says, eagerly, relief flowing into his features. He looked older from worry, but the man cannot be more than in his twenties, at the most. His compatriot is older, but still similarly relieved. His heavy mustache just masks the smile.

"Please, I can show you. I... couldn't believe my own eyes at first. We do not know what this /means/." The other man looks at Wanda far more skeptically, but doesn't comment. "I'll show you to the chamber and the ajoining exterior area. It is often used for weddings," the man describes quickly. "Fortunately there was not one today."

Deadwatch has posed:
Sadly, It appears that Wanda was not able to question the woman but he does note as she returns to stand beside him that she seems.. More jaunty.. Maybe she got something off the woman after all, though he doesn't know how.. He would gave to ask her later what was up. Instead he returns his look to the two men and nods.

The best magic, sometimes, is not actual magic, per se, but other's people's belief... Being an ex-con he knows this and was betting on it to help bolster his subterfuge. He flips his badge shut and pockets it, giving the guys his best smile. "Yes yes, please show us where whatever happened transpired.. Oh, and this is my assistant, Sister Anne-Margaret.." he introduces her as they follow.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
It's like someone else takes over. Where she had been placcid and calm, gazing on serenely, now she is a deeper, darker thing, her lips pursing into a displeased line, as the one man deigns to give her a disbelieving look. A staccato tsk of sound escapes those pursed lips, and where none had been before - or so it seemed - a small notebook is in Wanda's hand, a pen in the other that she uses to scribble some notes, giving the men that same disproving look again.

One gets the sudden impression that Nolan is the good cop of the pair. It's really a fightningly chilly prospect to consider.

Iron Man has posed:
"Of course. I'm... Robert Hanlen, and this is Steven Wicks," He introduces himself and his cohort quickly. He'll lead the way, but slow down if necessary for Nolan, with a polite smile. "It's here.... and to the left," he describes. While he is doing this, some of the other people that had been comforting the lady move roughly into the front of the cathedral, but don't seem interested in going inside.

They are led inside, which is extremely empty, even considering the time of day, which is not close to any activities. A hallway. Some larger rooms towards teh back, that Robert peeks into but doesn't linger. "And here we are... but on down that way, and outside," Robert provides, fearfully now. He doesn't want to escort them, really, but probably would if pressed. He doesn't seem to be a courageous sort, but possibly also easy to bully if they tried.

"I'm going to close up on the other side," Steven says, and makes a retreat. Hastily.

There is a sense in here, to the sensitive, of some kind of mental pressure. Like a soft press of a headache, subtle and quiet.

Deadwatch has posed:
Nolan Voight shivers a bit as his more.. extra sensory perceptions pick up on Wanda's slipping between.. moods? Roles? AGain, it is something he will need to talk to her about, and soon, but... Right now is not the time. REally REALLY not the time.. He is a Sorcerer /and/ Psychic impersonating a Catholic Official

Oh, and it's Friday during Lent and he ate a hamburger earlier...

HEEEELLLLLLLLLLL!!!

The spiritual energy of the church appears to him like faint breezes of light which he can see they eddies in.. Churches are usually devoid of ghosts since theytend to passover to one after life or another pretty damned quickly here by teh shere force of spiritual momentum. But there /are/ spirits.. And the few he passes, amorphous invibile shadows of light that seem to stare at him.. Not malevolently, though..

He ignores them..

He looks at the direction Robert gave them.. and nods slowly. "Okay then.. You go do that. Me and Sister Anne-Margaret will take a look.. Just remember.." he smiles at Robert and Steven, "Father CHurch doesn't need any undue rumours about this... So we were not here.." he reminds them.. Then nods to Wanda. "Shall we?"

Scarlet Witch has posed:
There's some annoying little gnat of a presence trying to push it's way into Wanda's airspace. That's really what she notices most of all. This incessant mind-numbing little hum of a buzz running through her head, and a feel not unlike a wet blanket pressing down all around her. Only without the wet. Or the blanket.

Really she hasn't time for this. Or the patience.

Nolan can feel it. She doens't move her arm, but the feeling is like a grand sweeping gesture of one. Dismissive and irritated all at once. And where the pressure retreats from her, Wanda pushes the presence and being of herself to fill that space.

Really, it's only a matter of a couple of feet around her, but the smugness of woman would suggest she'd single handedly banished some demonic annoyance to the pits of hell and resealed the crack it had crawled through. Her point had been made and it left her, for the moment, blessedly free of the buzz.

If only she could remove the phantom crawl of skin. Or the prickle and sting that was returning where the old woman's cry had left her feeling cut. Like papercuts brushing along the nap of fabric. Not enough to cry out in pain, but enough to be constantly aware the not all is well and unable to quit fix the matter.

"I do believe so." Wanda's answer to Nolan is a succint one. Chin lifted, and that smugness playing across her features, she's ready to follow him now. "Lead on. I'm we'll find it's nothing more than a hoax like all the other claims of apparitions."

Words clipped and pinched with boredom.

Iron Man has posed:
"Of course not," Robert says, very hush-hush, in reply to Nolan. Err, the Vicar. They make a hasty retreat.

The pressure intensifies... but it will feel very odd. There is no /intention/ in it. There's so sense of a personality. It is a strange mental touch. Anyone unused to psychic energy wouldn't even notice it a bit. The rooms seem very vacant, otherwise. Outdoors? It's cooling outside even more. And the presence of that thing gets a bit more insistant. It feels like a strange message.

A mental message of formlessness. If they but open their minds to it.

Deadwatch has posed:
Nolan Voight has OTHER things to think about other than the odd shifts in Wanda right now.. Though even as off balance as she is, he would still have her at his back over anyone.. or in this case at his side. He follows the ebbs and flows of the pressure, like following an air current in a dark cave... But an air current he cannot only feel but see and taste and hear as well.. For him it is the full sensory experience.. and this one is definitely odd.. Not so much spiritual but definitely mental.. more like an echo....? Which, technically.. what ghosts are as well but the differences can be subtle.."

"DO you feel that?" he asks her, looking around for a definately source, following the chill. "So cold.. like a void... or not.." paradoxes are a common think for psychics.. It makes them sound more mysterious.

HE stops, right where it seems coolest, and closes his eyes for a moment.. and then opens them again.. His eyes black through and through.. "It's too disperse.. I need to attune it... bring it together.." he tells her and lifts his free hand.. Darkness pulls down his wrist and then his fingers.. then spreads through the air in a fractal pattern of shapes.. like Doctor Strange's glowing symbols but his glow black... Merging his psyhic ability with his magick.. "Attuning.... Attuning.." he repeats as he tries to sync the frequency of his ability as a medium with this echo or whatever it is... opening himself..

Because that always ends well..

Iron Man has posed:
Opening the gate to the mental pressure.... seems to do nothing. It's suddenly vanished. Or has it?

No, it will creep in along an edge. And the illusions will stir to life for Nolan. The illusions pull from the deep parts of the mind, they draw to the front of vision the shadows and perceptions of shaded, transparent things. Memories made alive.

It is all very personal. Nolan will see what Nolan expects to see ..... as the illusion fills in the gaps gently and softly. But it is not perfect.

These things made real don't have all of the true qualities. Yet usually the mind will fill in those missing holes and make it appear just as expected.

Deadwatch has posed:
Well hello there....

Whatever he is seeing makes him gasp... his breating become haggard as he grits his teeth.. caught in it's thrall.. Attuned to the psyhic residue, Nolan sees the illusion play forth like Tivo'd television show... And thats pretty accurate considering this /is/ a recording.. Drawn from his own mind.. The Illusion is all memory but has no soul.. no spirit.. That doesn't mean it doesn't /effect/ him though.. Even the fakest movies, all flash and no substance, can be over powering if one were to be watch it on an IMAX screne. And whatever is blaring into every one of his senses is.. well..

"GET.. OUT.. OF.. MY.. MIND!!" he growls, each word enunciated, getting louder. His eyes flare the opposite of light, his Aura becomes visible, a body surrounding hallow of Dark.. With a capitol D. And then suddenly that Darkness flares as he pushes the residue OUT of his mind.. It flows from his eyes like tears.. down his clothes... his arm.. into his hand.. And coaleses into a small sphere of something like hematite.. And then he falls to a knee, gasping, as the Dark fades around him.. as his eyes return to normal.. Clutching the captured psychic imprint in his hand.

Gotchya.." he croaks, in pain.

Iron Man has posed:
The piece of the awareness is captured by Nolan. And there's a sense of a bit of energy coming in to replace what was removed... and then being jerked back. Like as if sand were filling in to replace an empty spot, but then someone took their trowel and hauled everything backwards.

Something intelligent. And it's bolting. It is leaving, running. The threads of it fade out quickly.

Nolan keeps his prize, though. A sense of it.

But for now, he ain' afraid o' no Ghost!