Paying the Pied Pythoness (Part 5) by MaLAguA

Friday, January 21st - 9:23pm
Whitman Cottage - Room 247

Caro is in a panic because the Puck plushie is missing. All that searching and nothing, no wonder she is in a panic. Darn it, she just has to lose her temper and lash out at Marlene for throwing the snowball in the first place. Hopefully camera feed can pick up Mew taking the plushie. Crap, Alvina and her posse need detention for targeting Caro like this.

Mrs. Savage shows up and already discerns that the missing item is part of what is needed to break the curse. Ouch, having to see how she was acting from the outside, at least the video doesn't have audio. Good, the video shows when the plushie was lost and where it was after the incident. It caught Mew taking the plushie and slinking off, yay. Good, Mrs. Savage already confirms it isn't Shisa.

Heh, Caro thinks Mew is a random cat. Marlene comforts Caro and already has a plan to create a spell to track down the plushie. The mead heist is going to be tough enough without Caro being distracted by worrying about the missing plushie. Too bad they can't go to Imp and have her approach Whiskey with a deal, give her some of the mead in exchange for leaving their little establishment alone. Chris and Sofia to help chase down Mew. This is going to be a wacky chase.

Saturday, January 22nd - 8:54am
Poe Cottage

Aww, Chris is upset Caro lost the Puck plushie she gifted her. Ack, Chris! Don't remind Gwen of her role in this mission. Peter, just because other people are dating doesn't mean you have to as well.

“I don’t know if I’m the ideal practice subject. The other thing that worries me is that thing about him being an unregistered empath or telepath, or something? Like, nudging people into making bad bets, I think?””

Whoa, keeping that kind of power from the power testers and especially the staff can get you into serious trouble when you are finally caught.

Oh boy, talking about Peter and Dereck Seaver just has to show up. Rats, Dereck wants to spoil Gwen, but it would mess up the mission if she were busy. Seesh, a few days at most of not chatting, and he gets this clingy. Dereck has issues. Dereck, if you had used that word for how Caro looked earlier in the week, your relationship with Gwen would be on thin ice. Ugh, Dereck, they are helping a friend, and you just try to insert yourself without even asking because you want to spend time with your girlfriend; not cool.

Dereck, forcing Gwen to answer by demanding, is not a good look. Ugh, this is why they didn't want Dereck to know. I knew he would overact.

Dereck stepped up. “How is this different from you cheating on me?” Though she was much stronger, Gwen would have taken a step back were it not for Chris placing herself in between.

“For one, she hasn’t cheated on you yet!” Chris nudged Dereck to back away. “For second, she’s just going to have a friendly chat.”

Dereck, at this rate, Gwen is going to break up with you for being too controlling. Stealing from criminals for a good cause, and he considers that scumbag behaviour, I can't stand his inflexible attitude.

Oh, good, he won't tell anyone what they are doing.

“For someone who appeared to be in the B-rank villain track? Is it worth it to tarnish the paragon-like reputation you have?” When he noticed that he was getting some frowns from Chris and Gwen, he quickly corrected. “I worry about Caro’s situation. But this can’t be the best solution, right?”

Like I said before, you are on the verge of completely ruining your relationship with Gwen, Dereck. Darn, he actually was on board with going with Gwen as a couple to get some of the mead, but the group already thought of that approach. Ping to spoof the cameras, at least that is one less obstacle.

*facepalms* Dereck, any plan that sounds like a bad episode of a telenovela is to be avoided at all costs. It falls under the "Don't use a plan from a sitcom" rule. Time to rush off for more prep for the job; at least this means Dereck won't stumble in and ruin it by accident.

Saturday, January 22nd - 5:07pm
Basement 2nd level, Caro’s lab, fringe of the Tangle

Hhm, I hope Will and his crew haven't changed up when they do their after-school activities since Sofia hung with them. Makeup by Sofia to enhance Gwen's natural beauty; Peter is going to be tongue-tied at first. Chris, anyone who sees you in that combat suit is going to be in awe. Dang, Sofia's clothes are perfect for a shapeshifter. Gwen might just have the hardest part of either mission. Oh boy, Marlene has found the general area of the tunnels Mew is in. I hope Mew doesn't lead them too much of a chase.

Saturday, January 22nd - 5:25pm
Basement 2nd level, Caro’s lab

Gwen left alone as she waits for Gwen and the other member of the heist crew. Nope, Gwen, it isn't one of the Secret Squirrels, though he is one of Imp's art students. She was a former introvert and became friends with so many, living the dream. It isn't evil; not everything is good or evil, there are shades of gray. Ack! All those starts for conversation were bad. Good lord, Grimma, if she is behind this curse, really did a number on Caro.

Yes, it would be Vic. The universe isn't going to let you two avoid each other for long. Vic, you are going to have to tell Gwen what is going on with you after this mission is over. Or just blurt it right out.

“Because we’re no longer in the same grade!” Vic snapped. “We’re totally different from what we used to be. On different paths, now. I’m becoming more of an outcast than we both thought you were going to be.”

“That’s not true!” Gwen stammered. “You’re not an outcast.”

“Come on. You don’t really think that. I’m a runaway on the short trip to non-humanity.” Vic frowned. “I kinda hoped I wouldn’t have to have this conversation with you until much later… if at all.”

“You would’ve had to do it. We’re family.”

“We’re stepfamily. I didn’t want to because I knew this would happen either way.”

Okay, someone needs to smack Vic with the clue-by-four already, and make him realize Gwen is part of his family.

Vic, at least, isn't selfish, wanting to help Caro stop or even reverse her changes. Now back to the job at hand. Gwen needs to distract Peter, and Caro just found out that Vic can establish a mental link so they can all remain in communication.

“Convinced some girls from Melville to invite Giselle and Trevor out for dinner. They were more interested in the idea of early access to some of the mead, so that didn’t take much nudging. I also asked Mr. Kim to distract Will about assignments.”

Caro is going to have so many favors owed after this is over. Heh, Vic having been to Crossby's club before and at least knowing some of the layout will be a big help.

“It was by accident. Just last week, I happened to be walking along the tunnels when I ran into them while they were doing the remodeling. They were having issues with a broken faucet, so I offered to help. After that, I just hung around helping them move furniture in and out. This was before I knew about the whole bootleg whiskey stuff.” He appeared to say it just to cover himself from Gwen’s judging glare.

With the kind of things Vic keeps stumbling upon, I'm starting to wonder if his spirit is somehow attracting Vic to unusual situations and individuals like a weirdness magnet. Never tell someone like Crossby you need something; it never ends with a price that is fair for you. Those wrecked rooms are going to be an issue for Crossby and his crew eventually.

Saturday, January 22nd - 5:36pm
Tunnels - The tangle, Third level

Chris, don't start with that bit. 3rd level of the Tangle, shit! Chris got to the fifth level and got out with patience and luck. She is nuts! A spell on her eyes to track the cat. When Mew starts using their powers to escape, that might get disorienting. Glowing eyes are optional when enchanting her eyes, heh. Yes, Chris is right, Mew is far from a normal cat.

Those kinds of things are in the Tangle; they need to really keep students out of there. Distortion anomaly, crap! I hate the Tangle; it is like a dungeon designed by a sadistic GM that can rearrange itself. And in both directions, they just can't catch a break. Seesh, I swear they could rent out the Tangle for the most daring of horror or bizarre science fiction movie producers. Darn it! A wall blocks the way back. Um, if there were 'missing students' in the Tangle, I think they would have sealed off all ways leading into it by now if it were possible. Stuck until another distortion event, man, the Tangle is worse than usual today.

Saturday, January 22nd - 5:46pm
Tunnels- Near Whiskey’s bar, Third level

Everyone is in place, and Gwen is about to go in, Peter is outside on the couch normally used for waiting customers. Gwen has to distract Peter for a minute while Vic picks the lock, oh boy. A fight between the Capes and Bohemians, eep, I hope they can avoid that. A soundproof field in the threshold; a good way to hide a loud club from security.

Aww, the 'got lost on the way to the Crystal Hall' bit worked on Peter. Invites him to dinner with her, but he has to hold the fort until the others get back. Darn it, loyalty to his friends is a good thing, but right now it hurts our cause. An elevator into the tunnels from Emerson, but is a bit of a secret, hhm. Ack! Gwen has to say that about her relationship with Dereck. This mission sucks. Pew, Vic, and Caro are in.

The Oasis does have a nice ring to it. Darn, Will secured the mead for tonight. Rats, no tour of the place for Gwen. Darn it, he really won't leave that door to show Gwen another way out besides the Emerson elevator. Now Gwen is stuck until Will and the other idiot show up, arrgh.

<Ah, she was an ugly duckling pre-manifestation, right?> Caro said.

<Her power was social invisibility. A bit geeky, a bit nerdy, very shy,> Vic answered, with a tinge of humor about him. While Gwen appreciated he was covering her, she really would’ve preferred if he’d been a bit more flattering.

Ouch, that sounds like me.

Peter, saying you like a particular type of movie just because you think a girl will, then changing your answer when she doesn't agree, makes you appear wishy-washy.

What would it be like to agree and give him a chance? To go out? She hadn’t been out with any guy apart from Dereck, how different would it be…

And that’s when she began to wonder if Peter was using his low level projective empathy on her. Of course, there was no way to tell as Sofia had mentioned that it was either weak or very subtle… but it was enough to put her on edge.

Peter needs to be reported to the Psychic Ethics Committee. Will's family is from Berlin. Why do I get a bad vibe from this news?

Seesh, she needs to use the bathroom, and he directs her to one in that kind of shape. Peter is no gentleman. Hehe, get him to move by making him think someone snuck into the boy's bathroom. If a rat that big was down in the tunnels, they would get the students out there and maintenance in to deal with it. At least it worked, so Vic and Caro got inside.

Saturday, January 22nd - 5:56pm
Tunnels - The tangle, Third level

Bwahaha, I love Chris and her silly narration. 20 minutes and Marlene has only been gone 10, yet Chris thought it had been 17 hours, what an imagination. Boy, those are some adaptations Chris's body got. Yeah, that sounds like a ventilation system. The kitten-cloak is interesting, I wonder if past use of it by her mother affected Marlene having cat-based GSD now.

Marlene found a way out, but Sofia has to take cat form to use it, and her clothes don't shift with her. Chris is still shy about girls stripping in front of her; the former guy needs some help with that issue. Marlene! Having Chris take on the ratcatcher curse temporarily so she can take on car form to escape, I hope there will be no long-term side effects from this.

“And this is safe, right?”

“Should be,” Marlene assured.

“And you can remove it later, right?”

“I feel confident about it. If not, we have the magical arts department to ask for help.” Marlene said.

Okay, I was wrong. Chris is about to take the biggest risk on this mission. Ack! Now Chris has to strip since her clothes won't change with her.

No need to be shy, because the next part will be weird. What a pep talk, Marlene. Chris pets Sofia, who is in cat form. That is some way to describe a curse taking hold within Chris. Like a werewolf in a horror movie, eep. Feels weird every time for Marlene, I see why she doesn't use that cloak more often.

“My mom dabbled… but we learned most of it from my grandma. She kept a very detailed book of the paranormal things in her life. And then there were some classes I took here, because of the whole ‘witch’ theme I seem to lean towards,” Marlene said.

Marlene has an interesting family.

Chris is a cat, can still speak, and is adorable in how she is reacting. Cats, only 2nd in flexibility to ferrets. Marlene's transformation is faster and not painful-sounding. Crap, they have to escape by going to the level below.

Saturday, January 22nd - 6:02pm
Inside Whiskey crew’s bar

Through the first door, now onto the 2nd for the storeroom. The grate that connects the hallway to the kitchen is too small for Caro, dang. Not trouble, darn it, I hate complications on a mission.

Saturday, January 22nd - 6:20pm
Tunnels - The tangle, fourth level

The tunnels underneath Whateley Academy were a mystery to many, spiraling themselves deeper and deeper into the underground, establishing different environments that appeared out of touch with the world above–but at the same time many had been prepared in some way or form, appearing transited or even occupied.

But in the Tangle’s space, the world warped itself around the dark influence nested within, the whatever that distorted the physical space and led to bizarre sights the deeper one went. It even populated the space with its own denizens.

Seriously, I'm surprised a group of kids who decided to go LARPing down in the Tangle haven't disappeared. Ack! Chris has her own clothes in front of her; luckily, she hasn't gotten lost on the way down. Arrgghg, a slope that was slight changed to a greater incline, I hate the Tangle.

Marlene tells Sofia to bite her tail so she can get a closer look down the slope without going down. But Sofia reacts to her clothes going down, then Marlene goes down, and Chris follows down the slope. Stuck in the vent due to the grate holding out, no way to climb back up, things can't possibly get any worse. *groan* Chris is making cat-based puns. Marlene complains she is getting crushed by Chris and Sofia, but then they start to hear creaking. The vent broke off its hinges!

Chris fired a blue orb of energy and slowed their fall enough to get safely to the ground. They still have their powers in cat form! Huh, the curse made it so that she can fire it out of her mouth, so that was something new. On the 4th level, I hope Mew will be reasonable about returning the plushie. All good reasons to stay in cat forms for now.

They passed by a room with a large engine that appeared to be constantly thrumming and working nominally. A sign on the wall read ‘lower lab’s furnace: Magically insulated, DO NOT TOUCH!’ while the side held a couple of lockers and an emergency case with instructions to the side. Another was a sort of safe room that would have stashed provisions, a first aid kit, an ink ribbon, a typewriter and a phone that seemed to have a hardline to the emergency office in the upper levels.

Deliberately keeping something on this level feels like asking for trouble. Yes, run away from the weird chest, always do that, and don't get curious why it opens on its own. The fur pants trope is funny in cartoons, not when dealing with a magical item that transforms you in real life.

“We are… if there was a club, Shisa would probably claim the title of ‘cattiest’ girl in the house,” Marlene said. “Oh boy, not even sure how she would react if she were to know about what we’re doing and what we look like.”

I can just hear Shisa: "You went on a cat adventure without me! Now you owe me high-grade tuna for a month to make up for it." Crud, this situation doesn't feel like a distortion anomaly. Who else could be down there? That was creepier than anything I've ever read or seen in a movie or TV show.

“I heard about these,” Marlene said as the magic faded. “While the Tangle is mostly known for the way the world shifts, there are stories here and there. Campus staff or even students that happen to come across scary things… Ghosts, apparition, specters, creatures, spiders, magical constructs, golems, rabid bunnies, etcetera etcetera. Not exactly the prettiest things.”

“That definitely wasn’t here last time…” Chris mumbled.

“It was rare… I think, up until a couple of months ago, it was.”

It couldn’t have been… no it couldn’t, Chris thought to herself, shaking her head.

What is Chris thinking it couldn't have been? So many things it could have been, including an echo of something that happened in the past. So many parents would pull their kids from Whateley if they knew the full truth of what happens there and what resides in places there.

“An entity that only shows herself to those she seems worthy or interesting. She’s probably as benevolent as they come,” Marlene said, before adding. “Rat curse notwithstanding.”

True, I wish Caro had realized that before this whole mess happened. A presence that is giving them a sense of uneasiness. Above them, it figures Mew is on the ceiling.

In between the indirect reach of the lights a cat was plain to see. It had dark, almost blue, fur mixed with white. It stood effortlessly on the ceiling, breaking the laws of physics as it looked down at them with teal and emerald eyes. And in its mouth was the doll that they’d been looking for: Puck, held by the scruff of its neck and dangling against gravitational conventions.

This is Whateley, I don't think even in Gen 1 that Timeless's cat was normal.

Darn, Mew starts with the mist, Chris tries to hit it with her power, Marlene with hard ice projectiles, but Mew is just too agile and fast to hit. Chris gets tired from using the energy shot form of her power too much, while Marlene hits Mew with one of her snowballs. Darn it! I knew this wouldn't be easy, crashing into each other after they try to tackle Mew. No idea how to deal with Mew, and Mew hits the ground with magical energy from its tail and runs for it. It is almost like Mew triggered a distortion anomaly.

Having to run for it as the area warps and twists, they need a break already. It partially awoke the Tangle; I agree with Sofia, the Tangle sucks! Darn it! Marlene and Sofia kept up, but Chris got stuck behind a gate as the tremors finally subsided. Now Chris has to screw through the barred fence with gaps as big as her head. I hope she is enough like a cat to pull it off.

Marlene and Sofia move on ahead to keep up with Mew. That open space, the intersection between corridors, might be their only chance to catch Mew. Crud, I forgot Mew could do magic and make spell circles, the one earlier not withstanding. Mew summoned a swarm of soot rats! Easy to take out, but a pain to deal with the swarm. Yeah, easier than Caro, with Mew involved, that was never going to happen.