Reading the morning edition you see:

CRIME ON THE RISE!

Snake Men to Blame!?

(insert badly drawn artist's rendition of a snake man)

Cats reported missing in record numbers, Local Man claims this means an earthquake is imminent.

The Mystery Times always gives you more - Exclusive Stories Inside!

Having finished his shift at the Stark medical lab, one of the free labs set up by Pepper Potts as part of the Stark charities to assist the people of New York, Travis was sitting at a table outside of the Schawarma King sipping a cup of strong coffee and enjoying some of the delicious baba ghanoush as he read the day's Mystery Times.

Hmmm, these seem incredibly unlikely..especially as dogs are traditionally those beasts bothered by earthquakes.  Besides, New York sits upon a massive basalt and granite dome, even should there be an earthquake, little will happen...unless, it was not to be a natural quake.

A young black man sat on a bench in Central Park, leaning back with one foot on the bench. He was wearing a burnt orange hoodie and basketball shorts, his low top sneakers had seen better days. He was sipping from a large soda cup from Schawarma King and watching the world go by.

"I'm just asking if you have ever seen a snake man?"
"No, I haven't. Maybe they're hiding in the sewers and abandoned subway tunnels, with the alligators."
"I can tell you're being sarcastic."
"Heh. What's the obsession with snake men anyway? It's just a stupid tabloid."
"They could be aliens."
"Sure they could. Oh. Did you know any?"
"Not really, but there are are aliens you know."
"Now you're the one being sarcastic."
"Heehee."

He took a long slurp of the straw, staring in the direction of a couple walking along the path, staring at a map and looking around.

"Tourists? I wonder of it's their honeymoon."
"Too old. Maybe they just came to the city after dropping their kid off at Columbia."
"Aww, that's sweet."
"But it's not them. It's the guy checking them out."
"You mean, besides us?"
"You are really catching on to this sarcasm thing."
"Heehee."
"Look."
"I see him. Yeah, he is giving them the look. I wonder what he's thinking..."

Jason Samuels frowns at the headlines. Dumb kid left the neighbor's paper at his door again. Rising crime, sensational stories... Snake Men? Amused, he decides to keep the paper. After a quick shower and shave, Jason scoops up an apple and hits the street, trusty costume bundled in a slung pack. He skims the article itself for more clues about these 'Snake Men.'

A man in his late teens or early twenties looks out over the terrace of his penthouse apartment at the sprawling vista of Central Park below him.  Dad bought it a few years ago because mom loved Billy Joel, it was going to be a surprise but they...  The coffee he was holding explodes and the liquid spins off in multiple directions but not a drop actually touches him.

For a while the young man stares at his hand, around which a vortex of dark purple energy swirls.  Then he concentrates and the energy fades away.  "Dammit Nate, keep yourself together." he mutters to himself.  Wiping some coffee off the Mystery Times he looks over the headlines of snake men, earth quakes, missing cats and the like.

Promising himself to do some more practice patrols tonight, he turns away from the view and takes takes the elevator down to street level.  With is coffee ruined and not really feeling like ordering in, he will head over to Schawarma King across the park and get some food.

A bit of a walk later he passes a young black man in an orange hoodie that seemed to have the same idea as him.  Moments later he finds himself sitting down at a table with his order.

Possibly Nate's apartment https://www.manhattanscout.com...looking-central-park
This message was last edited by the player at 22:14, Fri 12 June 2015.

A young (looking) woman sat on the couch in her boyfriend's apartment idly flicking through the morning paper while using her tail to flick the cat away from the half full pizza box containing breakfast. Six hundred years of being a demon had left her with suprisingly few domestic skills and with Bryan away on a stakeout cold pizza it had to be.

She'd actually been looking for the classifieds, seeking employment opportunities now that she was mortal(ish) but one red hand paused before turning the page. The words 'snake men', 'earthquake' and even cats caught her eyes. With her free hand she took a drag of her cigarette as she studied the picture.

"Awesome. Wonder if my old co-workers are involved or if these are freelances?" Devilgirl's voice was excited and, for reasons unknown even to her, had a slight Irish accent.

She exhaled the cigarette smoke (from her ears) and eagerly read on...

Looking further into the news:

SNAKEMEN!

Multiple witnesses claim to have seen a half-snake half man slither into a storm drain near 31st and Cressent outside Kelly's Bar and Grill at 2am.  Local man says "It was wearing a white lab coat, and it just squeezed through the grate.  It was disgusting and scary."  It was described as very large and scary with shiny green scales.  Kell, the owner of the bar & grill is concerned the snakeman will drive away customers and has called for hunting it down.  Is there more than one snakeman?  What are their intentions?  Are they behind the disappearance of cats?  Will they be entering our homes through the toilets?

We talked to Herpetologist (snake scientist) Dr. Eve Slitherins.  Dr. Slitherins says it was probably a normal python, someone's illegal pet that was released when it got too big, and happened to have a lab coat, just like the giant python found in central park last year.  She says it could be large enough to eat cats, but snakes generally only eat somewhere between one meal a week to one a year, and couldn't account for more than very small percentage of cats.  She also says not to worry, it poses no threat to adult humans, and it will most likely die off in the winter if not captured.

---------------------------

LOCAL MAN SAYS MISSING CATS INDICATE IMMINENT EARTHQUAKE!


The cat population has been diminishing, an animal control employee from Scarsdale called anonymously after he noticed a marked increase in calls by owners trying to find their missing cats, and a sharp drop in the number of captures of feral cats, he called us to warn everyone that missing animals often proceed an earthquake and that he for one would be taking a leave of absence for a week.

We confirmed with our own classifieds that numbers of missing cat return rewards have skyrocketed within the last week.  We spoke with Dr. Harrold Elementus doctor of seismology at Buffalo University that reports of missing animals do usually proceed an earthquake, but usually not just cats however there are faults in the area, and an earthquake is likely to occur in the near future.  He also warns of the Yellowstone Caldera, a supervolcano that will likely wipe out all human life and shroud the earth in darkness for a thousand years has shown signs of activity.

----------------------------

CRIME ON THE RISE!

Representative Reynolds has the crime report, and it's up!  In the last month alone crime has doubled!  Reynolds is calling for tougher laws, and a crackdown on crime!  He says Current Mayor Barco must be impeached immediately and replaced, and has offered his name up as replacement. We at the Mystery times will not stand for this failure of our current Mayor and Police Commissioner and fully back Representative Reynold's call for impeachment of Barco and Reynold's bid for Mayor.  Join at the steps of the Office of the Mayor Tomorrow morning at 10 am for a protest and rally!

(OOC: Is anyone in costume at this point (Devilgirl is pretty obvious, but others?))
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:07, Fri 12 June 2015.

Jason's eyebrows raise - he had heard rumblings, but hadn't realized the protest was today. People with problems against the Commissioner meant unsolved crimes, and unsolved crimes meant work. If I hurry, Jason calculates I might just make it in time to rub elbows with the crowd. He begins a brisk jog towards the rally point.

OOC: Currently not in costume, though it is bundled in a backpack from my first post. Picture casual attire... jeans, jacket and sneakers.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:24, Fri 12 June 2015.

Devilgirl read the news with mounting excitement. Well this seemed like a much better deal than waitressing or working as an office temp. A chance to do good and maybe earn some brownie points upstairs!

The demoness stood up and brushed down her black minidress which had withstood the heat of Tartarus well enough but got weirdly crumpled after a morning lying on a mortal couch. She slipped her feet into her black high heels and moved to the bathroom to check her reflection.

Okay, lets see, horns: sharp and polished, hair: perfect, breath- she held a hand over her mouth and nose and exhaled. Her nostrils filled with a smell of brimstone and she smiled in relief. Breath perfect, earrings: fine, ears-

Devilgirl frowned and stuck her index finger into her left ear, waggling it a little experimentally. Yep definite waxy buildup. She concentrated, there was a whooshing noise and a plume of smoke and a few flickers of fire came out of her right ear. She pulled her finger out of her left ear and blew away a few lingering whisps of smoke. Who needs q-tips?

She stood back and admired herself. She was as ready as she'd ever be. Walking out of the bathroom she opened the window and stepped, manifesting her aura as she did so. Firey wings spread Devilgirl flew towards the Mayor's Office.

DARIEN

The man watching the old couple sways and looks nervously around, somehow his eyes pass over you as if you aren't there.  He approaches the old couple, he suddenly grabs the woman like a he would a buddy, and she screams weakly!  "Help!" The old man shouts at him "Get your hands off my wife, you hooligan!"

Nate finishes reading the paper and ponders a moment.  No idea what do about the snakes, cats, and earthquake.  Crime I can help with and there is a chance something could go wrong at that rally.

Putting the paper down for the next person to take advantage of, he checks his phone for someplace near the mayors office and goes out to the street and hails a cab. "Woolworth Building".

From there I can see the rally and change if I need to.

OOC Gyre has his morphic fabric suit on under his street clothes and might be able to do a spin change ... at the very least he is hard to recognize as a spinning blur surrounded in a purple vortex :)
This message was last edited by the player at 00:22, Sat 13 June 2015.

"Damn!" Darian whispered (the first vocalization he made in the past hour) as the man he had noticed moved on the couple. It happened much faster than he had expected. He stood up from the park bench, one hand in the pocket of his hoodie, the other wrapped around the oversized drink cup. He walked in the direction of the couple while reaching out to touch him mentally. What was he thinking?

17:11, Today: Darien Hooker rolled 77 using 1d100. Ranked Feat of Telepathy (WC).
Silver result.

As described earlier, Darien is just in shorts, a hoodie (t-shirt underneath), and sneakers.

This message was last edited by the player at 00:12, Sat 13 June 2015.

PROTEST OUTSIDE THE MAYOR'S OFFICE!


A couple score of septuagenarians hold signs walking in front of the Mayor's office "Stop Crime!" "Just say No!"  "Pharmacuticals are your right!" "Support Reynolds for Mayor!"  "Impeach Barco!" a handful of younger people pause in their walks to see what's up.  Two cops look bored standing near the steps.  A news van stands by.  You recognize R. Race Rasumsen, editor of Mystery Times, an ancient frail man, as he shuffles toward a  mic.  He fumbles with the mic and mutters "Newfangled contraption." as feedback that continues far too long sends most of the younger people on theirr way until someone yells several times at him to turn his hearing aid down, it's causing feedback.

DARIEN

The man's mind is weird, it feels slippery, yet Darien reads his thoughts "These chumpss have to have ssomething worth ssomthing, need money for Doctor Cobra."  He says "Hey, friendss, make a donation to worthy cause! What's you got in here?"  Grabbing the old lady's purse, while keeping his arm around her shoulder.

The old lady protests "You're hurting me!  Give him what he wants Frank!"