4945/Meeting of the Mold

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Meeting of the Mold
Date of Scene: 17 July 2018
Location: Unknown
Synopsis: Superman, Spider Woman and Flash strategize about mushroom monsters.
Cast of Characters: Flash, Superman, Spider-Woman (Drew)
Tinyplot: Germination


Flash has posed:
    Superman, Flash, and Spider-Woman made a loose plan to meet at near SHIELD safehouse in southeast Italy. It is a beautiful day: brisk, clear skies. It is late morning, a Tuesday. Naturally, Spider-Woman can't expose where the safehouse is, but the balcony of a nearby hotel is an appropriate meeting spot, with narrow vantage points such that it should be reasonably safe for a quick meeting of those in capes and masks. The balcony itself is broad, with a few potted plants: the suite doors of the hotel open, the curtains patterned with flowing ivory diamonds that fade down towards the bottom, filtering light into the comfortable room behind. If Spider-Woman has to wait, it certainly could be a worse location.

Superman has posed:
Kal drops out of supersonic speeds at a safe distance and takes a moment to orient himself. He sees his destination and drifts down out of the sky to land quickly and quietly on the balcony. Kal walks inside the suite, out of view from any prying eyes, and looks in.

"Good morning," he says when he spots Jessica. "I hope you haven't been waiting long."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
    Jessica makes herself rather at home in the posh room. There's a plate of crisp waffles on the table, fresh strawberries, and whipped cream. She hopes the guys are late enough they don't even catch her. But if they do? It's a guilty indulgence that is well-worth being caught. Beside her plate on the table is a stack of paperwork with all the known data on this outcropping. For now, she dines.
    "Good morning," comes the polite voice of Superman from behind her. Jessica flails, and her fork flies out of her hand and clatters to the floor.

"Oh....H-hi!" Jessica is scrambling under the table for her fork. "Uh...Have a nice trip, Superman?"

Superman has posed:
Kal walks over, politely not seeming to notice Jessica's flail or anything untoward. He walks over to the table to join her.

"Kal, please," he says as he takes a seat, as if faintly embarassed by his own moniker. There is a faint smell of smoke lingering around him that Jessica picks up easily.

"It was a short trip, thanks. I was in Hanover this morning. This a very nice suite," he comments. "SHIELD treats you well."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
    "I think they wanted to impress /you/," Jess laughs. "Room service is amazing, though...Feel free to order anything you want. SHIELD is footing the bill." She smiles sweetly.

Flash has posed:
"This place is always confusing," Flash suddenly says from the side of the balcony, in a flare of curtain and soft crackle of electricity. He ran up the wall and hopped the balcony edge: simple enough. He has a map in his right hand of Italy streets, semi-crumpled, on top of a tech device. The map is, in a way, far more useful, because the device just can't track where he is unless he stops and waits for it. The words aren't an excuse, really: more just a statement. He has a shoulder bag the size of a laptop with him, and strips it off as he enters, putting it down nonchalantly on one of the chairs near the balcony's entry. He's dressed in his usual red and gold, but with an extra addition: heavier, armored-looking black-soled knee-high black boots instead of his normal ones, similar to cleats; there's metal on the bottoms, it makes a heavy sound on the floor until he hits carpet. It looks a little bit like he robbed Batman just before a soccer game.

"Ooh! Second breakfast...?" Flash says with a little hopeful lift in his voice, distracted by the food, and strolls over. He doesn't just grab any, though; that would be very rude. He just looks. "Late Dinner? Time zones hurt. Hi, Kal. Jess."

Superman has posed:
Kal laughs. "I'm almost always impressed with SHIELD, nice rooms or not."

At the sound of Flash's voice, Kal looks over.

"Good to see you, Flash. Ms. Drew was just saying to order whatever you like," Kal says with a smile. "But don't bankrupt SHIELD."

Kal considers Flash for a moment then cocks his head slightly. "How do you run in those boots?"

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"I the have room service app on my phone. Order whatever you guys want!" She tosses her phone to Flash, and moves to stand next to Kal, looking at Flash's boots. She doesn't say anything quite yet, but she smells the smoke on Kal, and makes a nonchalant (or at least halfwaychalant) gesture of sniffing him. "You smell...like..." She leans in close and sniffs more chalantly than even before.

Flash has posed:
"Slowly. Well. Comparatively. I'm the only one who notices. But I did a test, running over the 'melt your limbs' stuff that's under the mushrooms, and it burned just a little. I tested these, far less burning. So we're going to grin and bear it, even if they're not my good runners with the positive enforced tread," Flash explains, looking down at his feet and lifting one up and angling it, to show the difference. He catches the phone neatly of course, and skims things, obviously placing an order.

Flash then leans in to sniff also, though with a slight smirk at Kal. "Marshmellows?" He suggests.

Superman has posed:
"No such luck. It was a fire at Leine-Center Mall in Hanover. Sorry about the smell," he says apologetically. Kal examines the boots from where he is then sits back and wraps his cape around him a bit. "I hope the new boots hold up, they'll be useful. Sounds like we have quite a mess out there to sort out. Any new information about what's happening?"

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
    "Kal, don't ever apologize for something like that. You were doing a good thing. The mall...was everyone all right? What happened?"
    But Jessica knows all too well that it's easier said than done. She feels like she should apologize to people like Kal and Clark all the time for her particular "scent," even if she can't smell it herself.

Flash has posed:
Flash pounces on Kal's question, but doesn't talk fast. In fact, he'll delay to make sure about the mall people, as well. But then he'll roll. "I have some. I took a walk," Flash says, tone positive. He unrolls his crumpled map, realizes it is not a map of southeast Europe and immediately fetches the correct one from his bag in a blink. Jessica's phone reappears in her possession. Flash unfolds the new onto the table next to Jessica's materials, a green sharpie in his other hand. There's a series of marks on his map, like a spreading green disease; two patches are very heavy with circles and re-circling.

"So. This was me doing it manually, not high tech, sorry for the lack of amazing visuals, but it's up to date as of, what, four minutes ago," Flash apologizes. "I counted twenty-eight over in this zone clustered around a big one. And a spine-chilling eighty over on this zone," Flash shows the line of the clustered blobs with the capped pen.

He flips the pen, catching it instantly. "We also have the new tech. The, um, ice swords from the Titans, and the toxin capsules from Batman and Iron man. I haven't tried it. Just read the reports." Flash wags the pen in the air, as if checking off things mentally down a quick list.

Superman has posed:
"Some kind of terror attack, anti-immigrant terror group, I think. They started some fires, but thank God it all worked out. The emergency crews in Hanover were incredible," he explains.

He gives Flash his full attention, listening attentively. His brow creases when Flash describes the largest concentration, but his expression brightens again at the mention of their new tools. "That sounds like progress, to me."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
    Jessica nods, as there is a distinctly patterned rap at the door, and Jessica approaches it with her phone in hand. Holding the phone up as if taking a picture of the door, the words "Target Secure" appear on her phone, as it senses the Bluetooth chip she slipped into the waiter's pocket when he brought the waffles. She opens the door, allows him to wheel in a cart of dishes, and tips him on his way out. Food's here, guys."
    "How effective are these toxin capsules?" Jessica asks. "I've seen the big freeze in all sorts of action, but not those."

Flash has posed:
"Hi! That looks great," Flash overwhelms the surprised waiter. Then suddenly pulls a little translation book in a blur. "Sembra fantastico, grazie!" Flash adapts from his little book.

He browses the food when the waiter leaves, answering Kal: "I'm not really the authority on that," Flash answers of the capsules, casting a look to Kal to see if he knows any more about it. "The report was Batman figured out something and then Stark weaponized it. We're supposed to use it on the underpart that burned my boots." There's a brief little flinch on the 'weaponize' word. Flash sighs, but continues on.

"I was thinking between us, though, we could clear out one of these big patches. Or even all of them." Flash: Optimistic. "Before there's war on that border that spills out from just fungus. I have some ideas, but. What do you think?" The last is aimed at both of them, though mostly deferring to his team leader, Kal.

Superman has posed:
Kal rests one arm on the table near him and taps the table thoughtfully with one finger. "That seems ambitious, Central Park needed a larger team. What would your plan be?" He asks curiously, neither endorsing nor rejecting the idea. Flash often thought as fast as he moved, so it was always worth hearing him out.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"I'm with Kal on this one. If we have a feasible plan, I'm totally in, but we /have/ to be safe about it," Jess agrees as she remembers her waffles, and shovels a fork full of waffle, strawberries, and cream into her mouth. Her optimism over the size of her mouth seems to have been somewhat overinvested, as she ends up hurriedly licking cream from her lips and searching for her napkin, which went under the table with the last fork.

Flash has posed:
"Right, I watched that footage. You were great, by the way," Flash compliments Kal quickly, without any hint of sarcasm. He does think so. "Once the mushroom part was hit with whatever that tech was, that was the core of the problem, right? So we just need to get the stalks." Flash fetches the napkin in less than a blink, passing it to Jess, continuing.

"If the toxin works: couldn't I just dart in there and place it, while you hold attention? Jess webs and slices anything stray, Kal freeze-breaths groups? I mean. I know *I* am usually the distraction.... and I can still do that. Sonic booms seem to make them act weird. You know I'm okay with being the carrot."

Superman has posed:
Kal looks faintly embarassed by the praise. "You might have something there," he says with a nod. "You can be in and out with a device to destroy the stalk before it can react. The trick would be getting the devices to go off as soon as possible after you drop them."

Kal thinks some more. "It's a different approach to fighting the mushrooms. Without the stalk, would there even be a fight left? Would the creatures just stop?" Kal looks to Jessica. "Did your friend in Mexico say anything about that?"

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica looks thoughtful for a moment, then nods slowly, remembering. "He said that the brain, so to speak, is central, and that it controls the creatures. Therefore, if the creatures are no longer receiving the signals to forage, they don't. If you control the mind, you control the whole thing. And if the stalk is destroyed, I can only assume that the creatures would act as they do when they move outside the range of the stalk...they wander aimlessly."

Sitting back in her chair, she gratefully wipes her mouth with the retrieved napkin to get anything she missed. "My only concern is that I can only assume these minds are universal. If another stalk is within range, they might just automatically listen to that one instead."

Flash has posed:
@emit "I brought one of each of the weapons. Just one, since it's easy to fetch more. We have the super-cold slicer blade hand to hand combat isn't really my thing, but maybe Jess wanted one." Flash snares his bag and upends it on the table on top of his map. A bag of trail mix, a strange tech-looking short sword, a gun that looks a lot like a flare gun, and a metal box fall out. He shows the gun next. "So these cartridges from the box fit in here." He opens the top and shows the large empty cylinder. "I don't know what the range is. I think they have to be fired to activate. It looks like it triggers something on this cartridge, then after a bit it releases what's in it. There's tech I don't understand here, just guessing. In any case, I'm fast but I still have to wait for the gun to actually fire, so I'd have to time that right. Pull trigger, then do a driveby. Should be fine." Speedster problems: when you are faster than the /gun you are firing/.

"So we get them all," Flash says, deadpan, to Jessica's final statement, with an appropriate pose with the flaregun, sort of James Bond. "Pew pew."

Superman has posed:
"Wander aimlessly... So we would need people on hand to corral them and get any civilans out of harm's way," Kal muses, re-covering exactly the ground Flash already had. One is always playing catch up with speedsters. "You're right, this could work. We'll need some smaller test sites to try the tactics out before hitting anything big. Would help us get our timing down, whether we use the new toxin or Stark's drone devices. What do you think, Ms. Drew?"

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Well, if they wander aimlessly, they aren't attacking anything," Jess explains. "The problem would be whether there is another stalk within range for them to pick up signal. I can only assume if there is, then the commotion will be such that the new one will already be in attack mode by the time we finish off the first one. And in these clusters, it could start a /deadly/ chain reaction, if we aren't prepared."

Flash has posed:
Flash plunks the empty gun down and abruptly sits, starting to eat, as he'd said most of what he needed to get out. Now he can watch the other two think things over. "There's plenty of them in single patches, for a test of this. I'd rather have a test run or two before we hit Latveria's Godzilla fungus, but they get worse the longer we wait. I watched two merge. Terrifying, honestly," Flash admits between bites, drawing his teeth against his lower lip, eyes moving from Kal to Jessica.

Superman has posed:
"So, we test our idea where it's safe, somewhere we can handle the fungus ourselves. If it works, we call together a team large enough to put the plan into action across a whole cluster. Coordinate the destruction of the stalks in range. Speedsters, teleporters, magic users for delivering the toxins or Stark's devices, Kryptonians, magic users and mutants with ice powers for destroying creatures, heroes like Jessica for keeping any creatures from wandering into danger so they can be dealt with after. Someone like Thor and Storm to control the weather so any spores don't spread... It would be a very big operation."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
    Jessica Mmmm's thoughtfully and sits back up. "I feel like this plan could work, and it could work well. It may also be the single largest operation by metahumans and mutants that the world has ever seen. We need to make sure we have it down to a science. The world will not only hang in the balance. Unlike in so many situations in the past when we have been working behind the curtain, the world will be watching. Glued to television and their phones, and anything else capable of streaming footage."

Flash has posed:
"..Maybe," Flash says, hesitant, to Jess's extreme vision. "I don't want to overthink this or overbudget, etiher. All of what you said is going to take a lot of time to organize. I think we can just... Help these people. Without risking big teams and casualties. I am not suggesting at all that we be stupid, but I don't see why a quick execution squad couldn't work. I mean, I visited ALL of them this morning. Say we did hit all the mushrooms, and it's just the little ones wandering around. The tide could swing, just like that, couldn't it?"

Superman has posed:
"I'm not sure we can," Kal says. "We have to assume this won't go perfectly, they never do. So some percentage of the stalks will react and go violent, will have to be fought. How big are these stalks' creatures? Massive ones wandering aimlessly could cause a lot of harm, so if they are very big, we have to be ready to control them, too. We might handle a small cluster ourselves, but not a large one," he adds. "This might be a situation where a little slower is a lot faster. But I guess we won't know until we do our tests."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Well." Jessica declares as if it's law, "No time like the present. We have the sword and the gun thingy. I think it's time we got this plan into action."

Flash has posed:
"There was a mushroom just out of town on my way in here. Maybe eight footer. A few of the little guys. I'm going to hit it with this gun and see how fast it fires, if it works. Then at least we'll know about that piece. I'll be back," Flash says, picking up the gun and spinning it like a gunslinger. Little motion tricks are easy when you can cheat. He picks up the box of canisters, as well, opening it and loading the gun with one, feeling the weight. He hasn't left quite yet, clearly giving them a chance to talk to him before he bolts.

Superman has posed:
Kal smiles, never ceasing to be amazed at just how fast Flash moves and lives. "Take your time," he jokes.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Just be careful," Jessica urges as Flash prepares to jet. "We'll be right here. And knowing you, may not have even registered that you're gone by the time you return."

Flash has posed:
An instant of time, and a lot of thought span for Flash later due to his current quick mode, he changes his tack, and says, "Why not just come with me? I haven't actually engaged one of these things before, and both of you have." Flash adds a smile and shrug, offering the icy cutting blade to Jess. "Test that thing while we're at it." A flick of head to Kal, "Maybe the big guy can give you a ride?" Teasingly.

Superman has posed:
Kal stands and looks to Jessica. "I don't even charge, Ms. Drew."

He walks over to the balcony and waits for Jessica. If she comes over, he puts an arm around her and nods to Flash. "We'll see you there." He flexes his knees slightly, then pushes off and they are flying. He takes them in a high arc over town and lands them gently near Flash, who has no doubt accomplished more while waiting for them than most people can do in a week.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
    Jessica holds her breath as Kal takes off, holding tightly to him. It isn't the first time she has flown with Superman, but it is always a little scary at first.

Flash has posed:
Flash gives Superman a wink and a flash of thumbs up at high speed that he expects only Superman has the speed to pick up on. If only he knew sign language. The broad wink and specific grin will have to do. Even so, it's just a soft tease; Flash is never mean on purpose, particularly not with a teammate like Kal.

Flash blazed out to the location, of course, and they'll see his blur as he moves some little grazing sheep out of the way. He pauses near Superman and Jessica, with a little lamb in his arms. The lamb is totally disoriented. "baaa?" it asks, from Flash's arms. "There you are," Flash says brightly. Not like he was actually waiting, but is just happy to see them. He sets the lamb down and pulls the gun.

The mushroom is about eight or nine feet in height, with a lower puddle equal in size. There's some squidlings around. "Okay," Flash says, with a nervous breath. Why did he suggest they come watch him do this, again?

Superman has posed:
Kal clears his throat slightly at Flash's gesture and gives a slight shake of his head. He is ridiculously easy to tease.

When they arrive, Kal settles Jessica down lightly not far from the mushroom stalk. He instantly wishes he carried a cellphone with him. A picture of Flash carrying a lamb would have been priceless. But it was not meant to be. Kal nods to Flash, ready to see if the new tool will be effective.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
    But the time Kal sets her down, Jessica has her phone out, and snaps a picture of Flash holding the lamb. "Awww," she coos. "Okay..." She pulls the strange sword from the back of her belt. "All right...just in case." And she takes a more defensive stance, ready to protect them, and the lamb, if the circumstance should arise.

Flash has posed:
Flash faces the mushroom and mutters something quietly to himself. Probably just a word of encouragement. Saying he's afraid is not really accurate, but he has seen the footage and seen some heroes get mauled. He's no tank!

But he's suddenly in and the sound of the firing gun goes off with the flickering electrical strobe that Flash is when he's pacing with a bullet. He reappears with them to say, "It's in there," and stays with them to reload, then is abruptly gone again, circling to get a closer look.

The capsule was shot almost point-blank, and enters the goo. It then floats to the surface with a low thrum sound, engaging, and begins to spread out some kind of liquid into the spores. The spores react instantly, bubbling and frothing around it. The squid that were hunting around turn, and rapidly start to come back, directly towards the mushroom's injury.

Superman has posed:
"You got its attention," Kal remarks quietly, watching the mushroom's creatures react. He keeps a watchful eye on the creatures in case they realize the trio in fact the real threat. He stays still and otherwise silent.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"He long does this stuff take to work its magic?" Jess asks just barely above a whisper. She watches the squidlings cloister around the base of the stalk as the goo roils angrily.

Flash has posed:
One of the squid rushes back, and grabs the canister with its body. It drags it out a few feet before starting to turn into mush. The next squid grabs the other mushy one, and bodily hauls it out the rest of the way. The capsule sits there in the grass, still oozing toxin, out of the mushroom's range.

The mushroom itself has leaned away from the bubbling area, starting to lower itself, and the spores under it start to shift: away from the huge, burned toxin area. The thing is very clearly wounded.

The squidling orients and rushes at Superman, Jessica and the lamb suddenly, but encounters a bush on the way, and instead starts to drag the bush back to the mushroom, as if redirected. "Should we just watch? I feel like this is useful information," Flash asks from the vicinity of the lamb where he reappears, gun still at the ready.

Superman has posed:
Kal starts to take a breath as the squidling comes their way, but then relaxes and lets it out slowly when the squidling goes straight for the bush.

"Agreed," Kal says. "We need to know exactly what will happen. Where did this poison come from?"

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica concurs. "This thing seems like it /could/ be confusing commands, at this point. And further, we need to know if it can heal itself. Either on its own, or in foraging for organics."

Flash has posed:
"Batman," Flash promptly answers the question about where it came from. "That's a big reason why I figured it'd work." He stands to watch as well, glancing down at his gun, then back to the sequence in front of them.

The mushroom does seem in peril. Part of the top of the canopy collapses downwards. It's not doing well. The squid drags the bush in, which is eaten, and the thing appears to regain a little bit of the spore puddle size. The squid then comes back over at them a second time, foraging for easy prey. It's after the bleating lamb this time.

Superman has posed:
"He would come up with something like this," Kal says with a smile.

He strides over to the lamb ahead of the squidling. Kal scoops up the lamb and is well away from the mushroom in a moment. He keeps an eye on the other sheep to be sure the mushroom always finds the rhubarb is closer than the ruminants, so to speak.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Surely a full dose would have done it in by now," Jessica muses as she watches the horrid little tentacle demon dragging rhubarb back to the puddle. "It's a small stalk, at least by most standards. Still, it'd be good to know if this partial dose /can/ kill one of this size."

Flash has posed:
The forager goes after whatever is nearest that it can bring back and feed to the mushroom. It selects another low bush, ripping it out of the ground and bringing it back.

"Maybe. I'm going to try something." And immediately Flash darts over and flicks the canister towards the puddle with a stick, and then tosses the stick in as well. And comes back, in his blur. To watch.

The canister immediately begins to destroy another section of the mushroom's spore base, and the squid dumps the bush to rush over to try to help out. It gets there, but melts away. The whole mushroom can't escape. While they watch, the bottom froths into sludge and then dust, and the mushroom caves in, collapses into it.

"Well."

Superman has posed:
Kal's eyebrows go up at the rather dramatic effect on the mushroom. He shoots Flash an appreciative look. "You were right, Ms. Drew. A full dose is the thing... Imagine Green Arrow with that poison shooting at the creatures while those cannisters did their work on the stalks."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Well, if there's one thing we /can/ depend on, it's that Green Arrow will never miss a target," Jessica says, her brows raised in a similar fashion. "It wouldn't have a prayer of rejuvenating while the toxin did its work." She glances over to Flash. "I think your plan might just work. And work well."

Flash has posed:
"If we're limited on the poison, though, save it for the mushroom goop part. So long as the baby ones can't go help it, seems like it's a go: so, maybe freeze those? Or distract them. Catch them in a vortex. I don't know. We need a special squid-seduction flute. Do they have minds?" Flash asks, rocking on his heels once. He skitters a little bit, 'skipping frames', since he dashed off the get his phone. He raises it, takes some pictures. Zoom. Snap. Zoom. Snap. "I'm sorry you didn't get to test the blade. Do you still want to?" To Jessica.

Superman has posed:
"That would be easy enough except for the biggest ones. But Ms. Drew is right, Flash. Your plan is a good one," he grants with a smile. "We'll make some real headway now."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"I can only assume that the sword has been tested extensively, but if we wanted to see how it works, and how well, there are still enough of those little tentacled freaks rolling about." Jessica moves forward. Carefully, although the squidlings are no longer foraging, or doing anything productive at all. One has latched onto a dandelion and rolled, plucking the bright yellow blossom, and is now rolling about seemingly intoxicated with glee. Or something. "Awww..." Jessica walks all the way up to the creature and sets her feet in the grass. With one swift, downward plunge, she kabobs the squidling. "Sorry, not sorry."

Flash has posed:
Flash watches Jessica destroy the fungus mutation of horror with the blade. He watches her another long moment, but has a thumbs up and smile ready for her if she looks back at the guys. "I gave her a sharp object," Flash mentions quietly to Kal. Just observational.

Superman has posed:
"And I was so impressed with you today, right up until that moment," Kal says, nodding slowly.

Flash has posed:
Flash slow-claps for Jessica. It's especially slow, coming from Flash. And he shrugs a little bit at Superman with a wry smile. "There's still /hours/ of today left."