Side Show: Heroes React To Madcap Museum

--- Beau Ryder (AKA Puck) ---

He danced a few of his cards across his fingers as he waited with his boots on the table, content to let things play out until the person on the other side was ready to talk.

On said other side of things, the teenage pair of Terra and Cora were looking far less content, the pair squirming as they waited for a berating that he was not planning on giving to them. (Hence why I’m here and not Jess.)

He glanced at his wife’s mentee, the girl’s frustration apparent for all the world to see, before glancing at his own mentee trying to look as small as possible.

Figuring that neither of them were going to start this conversation, and noticing someone waiting outside of the room, he went ahead and flexed one of his fingers while the girls were distracted by his card trick.

On the table a nearby remote clicked and began playing the footage of the museum from a couple of days ago on a screen against the back wall of the room

From beneath his hat he watched as a teenage cartoon ran around the museum causing havoc, harassing the guards, and causing general mischief in spite of being -or perhaps because he was- a 2D figure in a 3D world.

Despite not saying anything, he knew both girls were watching the video far more intently than he was as he watched the pair arrive just after the kid stole a gun that was not accounted for in the recovered goods. (But given how it’s a Madness artifact…)

Puck honestly pitied the kid if he was stupid enough to keep the thing on him. (Dead or not, last thing anyone wants is a Cheshire’s attention.)

Things played out with the girls confronting the kid, and while there was no audio due to some recording laws spawned by Watergate, even without their reports he could tell that Cora had started a banter with the kid to try and get something out of him. (Just like I taught her.)

Of course, things escalated as they tended to with teenagers before everyone started fighting, and flirting based on Cora’s blush and general sense of embarrassment, before escalating even further. (I am terrified of the day Stella becomes a teenager.)

The fact that she had her first crush was bad enough.

He couldn’t help but let out a smile as he watched the kid spit out a fish and slap Terra with it before putting on a pair of glasses and trying to convince the girls he was someone else. (Always fun to watch someone’s power flop.)

The smile dimmed at how fast Terra went to using a whip around the kid’s throat, even if he did know her spell had a specific safety limit to keep it from hurting anyone it still felt a little too much for him. (Heroes are supposed to represent hope not law.)

If he didn’t know how much work she put into all of her community service programs, he’d honestly think the girl a better fit for Sanctuary all things considered. (Then again she’d probably strain even worse under all their rules until she made Agent.)

Things of course escalated yet again when the boy with a noose around his neck had his summons put a knife to Cora’s, and while the girl with a constant kinetic shield wasn’t particularly phased her partner wasn’t so cool or calm.

Under normal circumstances he might’ve gotten on to her for using so much force, but the fact that the kid took all of it and kept on going underlined the fact that (he’s definitely got a bruiser rating.) Which made him an exception to the usual restraint rules given how much force it would take to take him down.

And of course this opinion had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the kid’s fluid dash was extremely distinct or that a similar 2D figure was on the recordings of his spar that had been making the rounds to his wife’s immense amusement.

(Besides the fact that she’s wincing so much tells me she knows she screwed up.)

Cora -true good hero that she is- tried to deescalate things, which everyone was luckily amenable to especially as the kid let a few details slip as he apparently proclaimed one of the Barons -a group he was only passingly familiar with- his grandfather. Something that was currently being investigated given how after so long all of the Barons had been named and the Bones still being around somewhere. (I’ll have to summon the Baron’s Last Call at some point.)

That was always fun.

Since he wasn’t really watching the video, he vaguely caught sight of the figure appearing behind the kid. One that wouldn’t reappear if he tried to watch it on subsequent runs, which is why he knew the girls’ faces were scrunching up in confusion.

(Might need to give them both a lesson on Madness if this kid ‘s a user like I think.) He’d picked up bits of it during their fight in Tru Grit’s pit, but this all but confirmed it. (Especially given how things with an artifact of the Cheshire might escalate things.)

He really wanted to talk to the kid about that.

What followed was of course the running fight between all of the kids, with Terra pulling out all the stops -short of burning the building down- to try and stop him. Though Cora’s worsening blush when she watched the kid appear in front of her, did make him wonder if he needed to have a talk with his mentee about seducing supervillains. (Then again I should probably have Jess give her that talk.)

She was the expert after all.

The footage continued bouncing through the museum, staying focused on the cartoon kid before the kid stumbled out into a line of police and Sanctuary. (Kid really shouldn’t have stalled for so long.)

Not that it proved much of a hindrance with the way he dragged Cora into more banter before talking with the attendant who should really sue the museum over getting left in a villain attack. No matter how low of a threat.

Honestly, if he didn’t know better he might actually believe the kid had everything under control rather than making it up as he went. (Can’t bullshit a bullshitter after all.)

Stolen story; please report.

Of course, he wasn’t going to tell the girls any of this, instead viewing it as a lesson for next time.

(Speaking of…) He went ahead and pulled his boots off the table before turning off the screen since apparently the best part of this little show wasn’t caught on the museum’s cameras, and Sanctuary was being a little jurisdictional bitch about their camera footage. (Fuck the police indeed.)

He looked between both girls, letting his senses roam a bit as he went ahead and checked their emotional states. Nothing too invasive, but enough that he could tell they were both feeling a mix of shame and frustration (that just won’t do.)

“Alright, so… what did we learn today?” He asked, before tilting his head. “Or the other day at least.”

The girls were silent for a moment, before Cora -more used to him- spoke up. “I shouldn’t get so caught up in banter that I lose control of the conversation.”

“You shouldn’t, but by maintaining a dialogue you were able to get him to deescalate and stall for enough time for Terra to catch up.” Or that was how he was going to present it to buy her a little more credit. “The kid was clearly a talker, so that’s something you can exploit if we can help you maintain better control of the tempo. Trust me, even I would have a bit of trouble keeping up with a fast talker like him.”

His mentee gave him a small smile, though his Empathy told him she clearly didn’t quite believe him. (Meaning she hasn’t seen the video. Good.)

With the metaphorical ice broken, Terra let out a sigh before admitting that, “I lost my temper and escalated things, causing more damage than I should’ve and losing control.”

“Yep, but that’s what you get for having Starlight as a mentor.” He confessed, because while he loved that woman, he was fully aware of her temper. (That sexy temper~)

He shook his head. “Either way, since he’s a Bruiser you’re not in trouble for cutting loose on him, but you are going to be learning a few restraining techniques that don’t involve wrapping a whip around someone’s throat. If you want those jokes to stop, you’re going to have to change your MO there.”

“Yeah… that’s fair.” Terra nodded with a grimace.

“Good.” He nodded back before standing up.

“That’s- that’s it?” Terra frowned in confusion even as Cora -more familiar with him- had already started getting out of her chair.

“Is it not?” He wondered, already knowing how someone who was taught by his wife would react.

“But, but- He got away!”

“He did.” He confirmed, before clarifying that “He got away from you and passed a line of both police and Sanctuary using a teleportation power that you couldn’t have caught up to without some serious training. Now if Shadow Slinger had let him get away it would be a bit different given her shadow dash. Once he broke that line -manned by other people with the same job as you- you were no longer liable for his escape.”

While Cora seemed to get what he was getting at, Terra didn’t seem satisfied with what he was saying, so elaborated. “You two stopped him from hurting anyone or stealing anything” (of value.) “As far as anyone is concerned you two did your job. If Sanctuary couldn’t keep him contained, and you two lacked the tools to catch him, no one is going to blame you.”

“But we could’ve beaten him in the museum.” The self-critical teenager tried to argue.

“Not without burning the place down. He took on both of you and you clearly tried your best to beat him. The sad fact is sometimes there are people that you can’t beat at your level or skill.” He sighed, before pulling out some of his cards and having them dance along his fingers. “Those are the times that the guild was made to deal with. While you two might not be able to catch this kid, when -and I know it’s when- he shows up again there are people in the guild who can counter him even if you can’t.”

“And if that’s still not good enough for you…” He tossed one of his cards towards Terra, more specifically one with a spell he thought she’d appreciate if she converted it from Spell Script to Will Craft. “Don’t forget there’s no reason that you can’t learn from your guildmates and learn to develop whatever you need to best the bad guys that give you trouble. All you -both of you- need to do is ask.”

With his piece said, he went ahead and left the girls to talk as he made his way out into the hall where a blonde woman in a white outfit of at least three layers was waiting while wearing a white domino mask. “How’d it go?”

“About as well as it could’ve. That girl really is too much like you.” He huffed with a shake of his head. “She’s probably going to keep beating herself up until she catches the kid.”

“Yeah, I figured as much…” Jess admitted as they started to move before the girls could find them. “I was kind of hoping with the way you talk me down you could do the same with her.”

“Heh, I can talk you down like half the time.” He reminded her, glad that there hadn’t been a ‘real’ threat in the last couple years.

“Still better odds than me.” Jess sighed, before giving him a look. “How about Cora? While she flies with me a lot, she’s still technically your mentee.”

“We work on a lot of emotional control stuff due to the whole psychic thing.” He shrugged. “She should be able to work her stuff out on her own and she knows we can talk it out if she can’t.”

“Maybe I should have Terra work with you more… disguise it as broadening her spell book?” Jess suggested, sounding a little down that

Not willing to stand for that, he told her that that plan “Could work. We could do that, while you talk to Cora about falling for dashing rogues.”

“That’s why their reports sounded off…” Jess groaned. “She was flirting with the villain.”

“Yep.” He smirked as he bumped her hip. “Figured you could give her a few tips.”

“Why did I fall for you again?” His wife glared.

“Because I was a dashing rogue and you thought you could ‘fix me’ or something like that.” He grinned as he wrapped an arm around her, before whispering, “Though I think we both know I’m the one who corrupted you.”

Jess merely rolled her eyes, but didn’t push him away as she pulled out her phone and brought up the kid's -developing- file. “You think she’ll turn him around or are you just projecting?”

“Bit of both.” He admitted. “Kid does remind me of me back in the day, showy smart ass and all. He didn’t really threaten them until Terra lost it, so he was holding back for most of their fight. The only thing that maybe worries me is the fact that he might be a legacy criminal.”

“In which case we couldn’t get him to flip.” Jess grimaced, likely thinking about the other legacy they both knew and how Tru would never disband the Mad Dogs despite only tangentially being a ‘criminal’.

“So how do you want to handle this?” He asked, since for all intents and purposes while he was in charge of scouting and first dialogue with new Deviants, she was the one in charge of deciding the overall stance given his record.

Jess stared at the screen for a moment, before eventually deciding, “Given how many new Deviants have been popping up these last few months I think we can leave this one to the kids. Like you said he was holding back, and seems to only be doing this for attention or to honor his grandfather. If anything he’ll be a good bar to get them ready for more serious threats.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” He nodded. “Worst case scenario you can always teach Cora to seduce him to the light side.”

Jess scoffed. “You sure you shouldn’t be the one doing the seducing?”

“Oh?” He smiled, leaning in until their lips were almost touching. “Because I’m better at it?”

“Well, I mean he was calling you daddy.” His wife smiled as she immediately killed the mood.

He gave her a flat look. “You’re never going to let me live that down are you.”

“It’s only going to get worse if he does join us.” Jess admitted before kissing him.

“You’re lucky I love you.” He sighed.

“No, you’re lucky I love you.” His wife corrected him.

“Yeah, I am.”