5547/Astral Flux: Pawn to King 4

Astral Flux: Pawn to King 4
Date of Scene:	12 October 2018
Location:	Magic Box
Synopsis:	Khanata recruits Wiccan to the Squadron Sorcery and lays some heavy exposition. Wiccan proposes a unique solution. An ASTRAL FLUX scene.
Cast of Characters:	Derek Khanata, Wiccan
Tinyplot:	Astral Flux

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Derek Khanata has posed:
Ring. Ring. Ring. Click.

"Mister Kaplan? Hello, this is Derek Khanata, Agent of SHIELD. I was referred to you by a Mister Wong, was hoping that we could arrange a sitdown."

Wiccan has posed:
Wiccan was between classes and trying to enjoy the Autumn day when the phone rang. After the initial 'Hello?' he grew silent until he managed to snap his attention back to the call, "Wong? But I don't know any...oh." Yes, he does. "This is SHIELD? Holy crap. Uhm." There's another pause before he tries to put on his 'adult' voice, "May I ask what this is regarding?"

Derek Khanata has posed:
A dry chuckle. Static. An exhalation.

"Of course, Mister Kaplan. We're saving the world and need your help. Interested?"

Wiccan has posed:
"That's a pretty broad statement. I guess I'm not getting any details over the phone, am I?" It's basically all Billy could do not to immediately say 'Of course! Where am I going?' but he's trying to learn to be a little careful before jumping into crazy things. "Where did you want to meet?"

Derek Khanata has posed:
"I'll pick you up in fifteen. Bring your Hogwarts bag."

Click.

Fifteen minutes later, to the minute, a black '65 Impala convertible parks outside of Billy's apartment building. The driver is a gaunt, ebony-skinned man in a modern, fitted dark suit and sunglasses, cigarette tucked into the corner of his mouth.

Wiccan has posed:
"But..." Billy starts, but the line is already dead. SHIELD knows where he lives? That's just a little bit scary! Maybe Wong told them? Does Wong even know?

During that fifteen minutes, Billy actually teleports home to see if there's anything that he might actually want to bring with him, but in the end he just puts on his 'uniform' and waits to be 'picked up'. Once he sees the classic car, he steps out of the apartment building and makes his way over to the passenger's side window to give a light rap with gloved hands. "Really cool car."

Derek Khanata has posed:
The African agent gives a wide, white grin, and as the autumn light filters through the trees, his disfigurement becomes more obvious--his face is marred by extensive tribal scarification, an abstract map of dots, lines, and whorls.

"Thanks. I see you brought your Halloween getup, Mister Kaplan. I, ah," the smile turns sardonic, "had only planned to get some coffee today, give you a debrief on the situation, but I appreciate your enthusiasm."

He takes a long drag on his cigarette, studying the young hero, "C'mon, get in. You know anywhere around here with a decent smoking patio?"

Wiccan has posed:
Wiccan blinks a moment before he gives a little, "Oh. You mentioned Hogwarts bag..." well, that's easily fixed. By the time he gets into the car, he's back to wearing jeans, a t-shirt, flannel shirt, and a light jacket and scarf. "Well, there's the Magic Box and I'm pretty sure they have outdoor seating where you could probably smoke. If we could find a table furthest from the door."

Derek Khanata has posed:
"Sounds good."

The Impala zips out into traffic, the driver rolling his cigarette from one side of his mouth to the other.

"I'll cut straight to the chase, Mister Kaplan: SHIELD's putting together a dream team to knock out this Sleepwalker Plague once and for all. How 'tuned in' are you to the situation?"

Wiccan has posed:
He'll give directions if needed, but otherwise Billy will just buckle up for the ride. "Dream team? And uhm...not really? I've sort of been buried in school and studying and...extra studying..." subjects that aren't taught at Columbia. "And you can call me 'Billy'. Otherwise it feels like you're really wanting to talk to my dad."

Derek Khanata has posed:
Khanata's face is neutral as he drives, right hand loosely on the wheel, left cupping his cigarette.

"You've got it, Bill. This is going to take some exposition, so settle in."

The African goes quiet as he makes a left turn. A saxophone can be faintly heard from the car speakers.

"There's a powerful psychic presence that goes by the moniker 'Shadow King' operating in the Astral Plane, used to be a sociopathic telepath named Amahl Farouk before he was murdered for his dirty deeds. Evil bastard was too tough to stay dead, consciousness stuck around after the body expired. He's tussled with the X-people before, but he's taken the Marquis du Sade bit worldwide thanks to a recent upgrade."

Wiccan has posed:
"Yeah, from what I've read, that can happen...the 'not going to the final resting place' thing..." Billy offers but quiets to hear the rest. "Have you talked to Doctor Strange? I mean, he's pretty incredible on the Astral Plane..." He's along for the ride and some coffee after all.

Derek Khanata has posed:
Khanata laughs and claps Billy on the shoulder once.

"Why do you think I'm here? Strange is a hard man to track down, I'm afraid, so we're getting the best of the rest. From what I hear, you've got unlimited power, theoretically. Guess we're going to test that theory out."

The African shakes his head, a wry grin on his face, as they pull up in front of the Magic Box.

"Cute. Okay, where was I? Ah, so this Shadow King obtained a cosmic artifact known as an Infinity Gem, the 'Mind Gem', which dramatically expanded his already-formidable powers--supposedly, well, infinite psychic juice."

"When that fungal biocomputer from outer space was dealt with by the Avengers and the JLA, Farouk used this mind-gem to port the remains to the Astral Plane."

"Bast, what a weird job."

Wiccan has posed:
"I do?" That's news to him! Billy blinks a couple of times before falling quiet again to listen. "So...you're getting people to go to the Astral Plane to...beat him up? Take this 'Mind Gem' away? Who else are you asking?" Because it seems like a pretty heavy-duty job! "Do...did they tell you that damage done in the Astral Plane can kill you in the...Reality?"

Derek Khanata has posed:
"Not quite, Bill."

The odd pair step into the occult bookstore/coffee shop, a heavy patchouli odor in the sea of earth tones, fuzzy sweaters and center-part haircuts. Khanata seems unimpressed, but says nothing as he orders his coffee. Once the arrangements are made and a patio table found, he continues. "The astral biocomputer is the means through which Farouk is able to control these sleepwalkers on a mass scale--they're all connected via a server in Mexico, and there's a team already organized to knock it out. That should free those 'infected', but doesn't get to the root of the problem."

"That's where you come in."

Wiccan has posed:
Wiccan orders his own fancy, hipster coffee and settles at the table with Khanata, sipping and listening. "An Astral bio computer. That's...kind of fascinating. And scary. Kind of Matrix-y..." but he blinks when he's mentioned again. "Just me? Didn't you say a 'team'? Or are you using 'you' in the plural?"

Derek Khanata has posed:
"Don't worry, kid. We're putting together a team, but you're likely to have a starring role. We've got two of the X-family's starting lineup, Psylocke and Phoenix, and I've heard back from one of the Avengers: Scarlet Witch."

Khanata smirks at that, but doesn't comment as he continues, "The plan is simple: as a psychic entity, Farouk is basically a spirit being. Magic-users summon and bind spirits all the time. We get a few of you big guns together, you call up this Shadow King and bind him to a suitable vessel while the X-paths keep steady pressure on him. Once bound to a vessel, we toss it into another dimension."

"It all sounds easy, but I imagine it'll be a tough nut to crack. I need folks like you to assess the situation and determine the plan's viability. You up for it?"

Wiccan has posed:
Wiccan's eyebrows lift as Scarlet Witch is mentioned but he doesn't comment further yet. But then, at the question, he asks, "Do you think that binding him is going to be better than going into the Astral plane and fighting him there? I mean, it's dangerous for us out here...but it should also be considered, because if we are able to summon him and bind him, if he escapes those binding, he's just going there anyhow. Also...do we have any physical possessions or hair or something like that to try and summon him -with-? He might be able to resist." Maybe that answers part of Khanata's question. "I'm certainly happy to try."

Derek Khanata has posed:
"That's the spirit, kid. Farouk's already half in the bag."

A wry grin and a sip of coffee.

"From what the WAND boys tell me, the Astral's a minefield right now. Hopefully eliminating that server will fix things, but we're anticipating heavy turbulence in the aftermath, at the very least. We need to bring the Shadow King onto our turf. As long as you can hold him in some sort of vessel for a couple minutes, Reed Richards has whipped up a portal gun. Toss the vessel in there, cut Farouk off from his network."

"We know that he needs a physical body to inhabit to effect the real world; the sleepwalkers are part of his network, letting him work his will in the physical. That said, he's got his hooks in a number of psychics, too. We think telepaths that interacted with the fungus when it was still on our plane have the 'purest' connection, though some of them had their minds formatted, so be careful."

"If you're up for a little investigative work, I can give you the info SHIELD has on a couple suspect telepaths we haven't tracked down yet. Find them and we can determine their suitability as vessels."

Wiccan has posed:
That last bit has Billy sort of freezing mid-sip of his fancy coffee drink. "Wait. You're going to find a person...bind him to that person...and then punt that person into another dimension? When you said 'vessel', I was picturing like...an urn or a bowl or something. Not a real person! You...you can't do that! What about that person's permission? Even if they've been affected by this guy, maybe it can be reversed? That's like...murder."

Derek Khanata has posed:
Khanata studies Billy coolly for several moments, smoking.

"Bill, I'm not going to bullshit you. We had one of these telepaths on-site at the Triskelion. His mind had been entirely destroyed, just a tool for the Shadow King to play his games. When Farouk mentally assaulted an Avenger, I did what I had to do."

A long exhalation of smoke.

"I executed him, then and there. The funny thing?"

The African lowers his sunglasses to stare directly into Billy's eyes, a deadly seriousness on his face. "His spirit reached out after the fact. He thanked me, Billy. He was grateful to be released from the hell of non-existence."

An adjustment of the tie, that wry, tight, humorless smile.

"This is for real, Bill. We're talking the end of the world. You find some other suitable vessel, fine. But if you think I won't sacrifice a single brain-dead coma victim for the fate of the human race?"

A shake of the head, his face grave once more.

"You can take that shit back to the Avengers Academy."

Wiccan has posed:
Wiccan inclines his head some, "I'm not -in- the Avengers Academy. Nor am I studying at Xavier's school or anything like that. I get that it's for real, but what if that person was someone you knew or loved? Would you really just execute them?" He scowls down at his coffee, "I'll try to find another way. A person...a real person...shouldn't be sacrificed unless it's the last resort." His brows crease a little more as an idea comes to him, but...he'll have to do research.

Derek Khanata has posed:
"Yes, I would."

Khanata's face remains blank, but there's a slight upward tilt to his chin as he considers for a long moment.

"If it was my wife, to save my daughters, Wakanda, and the human race? Yes. Would it destroy me?"

The African sips from his coffee.

"Undoubtedly. But we're the people who must make those decisions."

A forced laugh and shake of the head.

"Talk to me about this again in a decade, see where you stand then. In the meantime," he stubs out the cigarette, "this should provide you plenty of motivation to find another vessel. Just be prepared to make the hard choice when the rubber hit the road. There'll likely be no second chances."

Wiccan has posed:
"If I can find something else to use," Wiccan tilts his head, "Would you guys consider it over a person?" Because he might not be finding a person for this? "Hopefully the choice won't have to be made like that, but...like I said. Last resort." He's still in.

Derek Khanata has posed:
"Sure. You find something better, I'm game. Just don't trip on the cape and kill the human race in the process."

Khanata stands and extends a hand, "It's a pleasure, Bill. Glad to have you on board."