Val von Doom - Observation Window

[time_dancer]

[Not quite OOM: Last night Val did some thinking in her room...]

This afternoon it is a very different Val who sits munching on sashimi and sipping orangina. Not quite so overcome with grief, she is focused and distracted, scribbling furiously at a notepad. She knows what she has to do now but the "how to" is what's tripping her up and no matter how many plans she comes up with, it always seems to come down to one fact; she needs help.

Sighing in frustration she gives up her plans of a solo fight and begins a list; Aunt Jen, Uncle Ben, Ellen?, Enzo?

And there she stops not sure who else to draft. Maybe another piece of sashimi will help...

[Again, not quite OOM: Then, later tonight, a planning session is had.]

Comments

[slayer_fray]

Mel is sitting in the rafters, her knees hooked over a rafter, her upper body dangling upside down as she tries to make out the list. Her left hand is hanign free, her right holds a sausage roll. Somehow the scythe on her back doesn't fall out.

[time_dancer]

She writes "Will?" with a question mark before crossing it out. Then off to the side she starts another list headed "Powers" and another headed "Skills".

[slayer_fray]

Mel watches in silence for three more seconds, before she asks, "out of bar mission?"

Can she play?

[time_dancer]

She gives a startled "Eep!" before looking up with a nervous laugh.

"Umm...yeah actually. Rescue mission, or so I hope."

[slayer_fray]

"One of ours?"

Mel eventually drops down, grabbing the back of a chair and flipping herself into it so she's sitting.

You got a good roster?

[time_dancer]

"I don't think so. He's my Uncle and while one of mine comes here, I've never seen him before. You haven't fought insectoid aliens from another dimension before have you?"

[slayer_fray]

"I've fought insectoid demons from pother dimensions," she says cheerfully. "Same thing, right?"

[time_dancer]

"Close enough," Val says with a grin. "Would you be interested in helping? I can't pay much but I can offer my skills and abilities in return for something else. Plus, we'll be facing an army of the bugs...not directly hopefully. I'm hoping for a snatch and grab."

[slayer_fray]

"Hey, I'll do it for the shits and giggles," Mel says cheerfully. "Killing monsters is my extra-curric. Grabbing thins - that's my job."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Sashimi is a thoroughly unfamiliar product to Ellen, which is why she stops to have a look. Well, that and to see how Val's doing. The raw fish is a little distracting. She'll remember in a minute.

[time_dancer]

Val takes another bite before realizing she's got an audience. Turning she sees Ellen and smiles. "Hi Ellen."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Hi, Val," says Ellen. "I- Dogmeat! No!"

She lunges forward and grabs the dog by the collar as he tries to get his paws on the table for a look at the food.

"Oh, jeez. I'm so sorry. He's been like this lately..."

[time_dancer]

"That's okay," Val says with another smile and a laugh. "Maybe there's some kind of nutritional need he's missing? Like a certain vitamin or protein? This is just fish so he's welcome to some unless he's allergic?"

"Anyway, I was kind of hoping I would run into you. I think I may be able to save my uncle and I was wondering if you might be able to help me."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"I don't think he's allergic to anything," Ellen says doubtfully. "I'm not even sure what that would look like."

Then she goes very quiet, and says, "I'm listening."

[itwasjustified]

Raylan's parked at a nearby table, powering through a stack of back-logged paperwork. Over the course of three cups of coffee, he takes note the young woman's apparent frustration.

When she reaches what might be a stopping point or a stone wall, he puts down his pen, and clears his throat.

He tips his head in her direction.

"Excuse me, miss?"

[time_dancer]

"Yes?" She says around a bite of sashimi, a smile playing at her lips.

[itwasjustified]

"I don't mean to presume, but I couldn't help noticing that you seem troubled."

A beat.

"Is everything all right?"

[time_dancer]

The girl's face works a bit as she tries to figure out how to answer this. On one hand, things are great as she has an idea on how to save her uncle. On the other she has no idea what condition he's in and the grief of her having lost him in the first place still lurks.

"Sort of. I'm planning a rescue for my uncle but I'm not sure what to do exactly and I'm not sure what condition he's in."

[a1enzo]

"Hey, Val. You feeling any better?"

[time_dancer]

And speaking of...

"Totally," Val says jumping up to offer Enzo a hug. "I think I've figured out how I can save my uncle!"

[a1enzo]

Enzo is startled at sudden huggage! Also at her statement.

"You can? It's not too late?"

[time_dancer]

"I...I honestly don't know," she says a little crestfallen. "I can teleport through time and space so I was thinking I could go back to the last time my Uncle Ben saw Johnny or maybe right after would be better to avoid a paradox. A shield had closed over the gate so Uncle Ben didn't actually see Johnny die."

She shakes her head then to push back the grief. "I can even make gateways now so I can take other people and stuff with me. So, if he's still alive when I show up, I can bring him back."

[a1enzo]

"How did he die, exactly? Or... not die?"

[time_dancer]

"Well, back home, there's a lot of dimensions that are nearby. One of them is called the Negative Zone which was discovered by my step-father, Reed Richards. He still has a portal device set up in the Baxter Building which is the home of the Fantastic Four.

"Most of the native life in the Negative Zone is hostile to Earth so the portal is kept under lock and key. Some of those aliens broke the lock and opened the portal to let in an invading army. Uncle Johnny closed the gate manually from the Negative Zone side to keep that from happening.

"The last thing my Uncle Ben saw as the shield closed to seal the gate was Johnny fighting the army.

"So my plan is to go back to right when the gate sealed, on the Negative Zone side, and grab Johnny. No paradox is possible as Johnny's final condition wasn't observed...well by Ben and the kids. Who knows what the bugs saw but I'm hoping it was me kicking their collective asses."

[a1enzo]

Sounds a little like the Ghost Zone. Only considerably worse. And with... "Bugs?"