The silence o the park answered her, but as she reached for the bottle which was just out of reach, her arm *stretched*!!!

"Aah!" An uncharacteristically loud yelp escaped Fiona as she felt a bizarre sensation in her forearm and it stretched like rubber, allowing her to pick up the water bottle that had rolled a few inches out of reach. Once she had grabbed the bottle and pulled her arm back, it sprang back into shape... but something had happened, there was no denying it. Was this the strange man's doing? Had he changed her? This was truly and utterly bizarre.

But there was a voice in the back of Fiona's mind that now started whispering to her, and that was her scientific curiosity. What had the man said? A mystery, an enigma. This demanded investigation! Back home, paranormals were quite rare; Fiona had never seen one in person, and now she suddenly was one, it seemed! Maybe this was just a dream, but this was a chance she couldn't pass up. While staying seated, she reached up with her arm, trying to grab one of the thick branches hanging several feet above her.

  She found her arm stretching again, and she grasped the branch she'd aimed for.

Fiona's eyes grew wide. Her arm was stretched out like a rubber band! It looked just as utterly strange as it felt, and a little silly as well - like she was a living cartoon character. In an attempt to see how far she could go, she slung her arm around the branch and back to herself, which she managed easily, then did the same with her other arm. As she tried to reel them in, however, she couldn't get them loose, and instead of pulling them back in, she went flying into the treetop, pulled up by her own rubbery arms!

  Which left her with the quandry of figuring out how to get DOWN, now that she was tangled up in a park treetop!

Strangely enough, crashing into the branches didn't hurt at all - her body simply bent around them. It wasn't just her arms - all of her was like rubber now! Stretched and tangled between branches, Fiona felt like a human Gordian knot, and slowly began working on untying herself. Other than elongating, her new state also allowed her limbs to bend in ways that were normally impossible if you had bones. It wasn't easy to get the hang of this new range of movement, but this here was learning on the job, so to speak.

Slowly, carefully, she began untying one arm, then the other... then one leg, then the other... all the while her neck stretched and bent to allow her to see what she was doing. It was almost frightening how rapidly she was getting used to this, she thought to herself.

  Once she was all untangled, she sort of fell down to the ground and bounced!

Once again, fascinatingly enough, the impact didn't hurt at all, or injure Fiona in any way. She stood up and dusted herself off, looking herself over. Nothing! Just a few minor rips and tears in her clothes, that was all.

She needed to experiment and investigate this further, she knew that much. But this was probably not the right place - one thing she certainly didn't want was everyone watching her as she tried out what she could do. She grabbed her backpack, her book and the rest of her food and went on her way.

--> To Hospital

Maverick entered the park. He doesn't really stick out since he's just some kid with a backpack, like the other kids that might meander around here. The boy walks off to a tree, making sure people aren't watching him, and then climbs the rather climbable tree. Once he's found a good spot on the tree where most people aren't going to see him, Maverick pulls out a pair of goggles and relaxes, keeping an eye on the friend he had come along.

Post Funeral

  Matt wasn't exactly a swift arrival compared to portal hoppers.  More so when you've taken the time to change out of funeral wear and back into something more street casual.  Harder than deciding wardrobe was deciding what face to wears, such as it were when it comes to holograms.  The eventual choice was to go without hologram, and without face, wandering with Ballcap tilted down and hoodie pulled up into the park.

  His considerations of not standing out were of course, pointless when there was a catgirl with a sandwich board.  Matt walks over and comes to a stop by Mittens.  His first instinct is to stare pointedly at the 'Looking For Emo-Man' sign and say 'Well... *censored* you then'.  But he's trying to be less of an asshole this go around the mortal coil.

  "Leftover from a poetry slam?  But I forgot my black turtleneck and beret."
This message was last edited by the player at 11:36, Wed 08 Aug 2012.

Lack of any name exchanges during the phone conversation, Maverick included, left Mittens grasping at straws for how to find the "Emo Man" - the closest thing to a name exchanged.  "Looking for the owner of the cell 410-817-2153" would be breaking her personal policy against giving out phone numbers without permission and "Looking for the witness of Matt Matthews murder" is made of fail.

"A Creepy Hooded Person," Mittens says upon laying eyes on the strange person who approached her.  She takes an exaggerated defensive posture and continues, "Is this a mugging?  If so, I should warn you that this kitty can scream really loud and I'm being watched by a plain clothes police deputy."  McGruff Jr. police deputy, but still technically true.  "Or are you the droid I'm looking for using an amusing but somewhat cryptic greeting?  The one who allegedly witnessed an alleged old lady allegedly push a man off a ledge.  Yes I know my poetry is fail."

Mits puts on an awkward grin.

Maverick watches the two with his binoculars. This guy who has Matt's phone looks like your standard suspicious person. But so far, no apparent hostility. He nibbles on a granola bar, pulls out his phone and takes a picture. He has the phone muted, so there is no accompanying sound effects (And no surprise texts that give away his position).

  Matt just gives Mittens a blank stare of the sort that is just outright cheating (becaus-yeah you know this already).

  "Alleged old lady, when you put it that way it sounds like she might not even exist. Oh, right."  He offers a chitinous hand withdrawn from his pockets "Since you bothered to go to all this trouble, Hi! I'm Matt Matthias Matthews.  And if proving what an 'alleged' person did is this grating, you can probably guess why I think making a murder charge stick would be sort of hard at this point for a guy with no DNA or fingerprints anymore."

  Matt switches over to Judge Mills Lane voice, "Can you in fact, prove you are you.  Even if you can, prove you are dead smart guy."

Mittens jaw-drops when offered a monster handshake.  (( http://images.sugarscape.com/u...ditors/OMGCATBIG.jpg ))

Expecting the monster hand to have Superman level hand-crushing strength, she takes the handshake with a decoy hand.  (( http://images.clipartof.com/sm...-Out-Of-A-Sleeve.jpg ))

Sudden voice change with no apparent moving lips also throws her for a loop.  (( http://effectivecoverage.com/b...-cat-is-confused.jpg ))

"Well dang."

She returns the sandwich sign to hammerspace.  "No DNA...  You've had that tested?  Bleh.  Even if not, how does one testify to their own murder without fingerprints?  Hold on, lemme call the expert..."

She dials Mav's cell, looking like she's still in a daze.  "Ohwait.  'Grating.'  I owe you an apology, then?  Sorry for being grating.  Jeez.  Can't imagine going through...  whatever it is you've been through."

OOC: I failed to find any other picture other than the clipart of a decoy handshake, but it gets the point across.  Images!  Easier than trying to describe it with text!^TM  Also, had to look up who Judge Mills Lane was.  I guess it's a good thing that it's easy for me to stay in character for my many characters who don't watch much TV because I don't watch much myself?

Maverick just saw what he wanted to see. The suspicious guy has made Mittens shocked, hasn't done anything mean still, and Mittens even looks.. apologetic. He puts the binoculars back into his backpack, climbs down from his roost and casually makes his way over to the pair. Once he enters conversation range and the two give him notice, the little boy waves. "Hi. I'm Maverick. The boy you talked with on the phone."

  Matt shrugs, "I can see why you'd be skeptical.  Could be worse, I could have been sent to the slave mines for owning landscape paintings." He offers the fake hand back to the third catgirl he's met recently.

  "Hello Maverick." They must be handing out law degrees earlier and earlier these days.  "I hear you're the expert on how the recently deceased prove identity and events when lacking the usual biological markers."

Mittens returns the gag prop to hammerspace.  "Yes Maverick is about as OCD about law and order as his police officer dad," she answers, "So what's with the monster hand?  Not the usual results I would expect from what I heard described.  Unless 'Oh by the way Matt Matthews wasn't human when pushed in front of a moving vehicle by a human,' was simply omitted from the story.  My expectations of a bigger deal being made out of that could be completely off.  And neat voice change thing you got going there.  Presumably the hoodie is to hide an inhuman face?"

Maverick says, "Forensics is a very recent tool of the law. For thousands of years before it, people were rightfully put in prison for crimes thought too mysterious to solve. Sherlock Holmes didn't need DNA to prove someone's guilt. It just helps make things even more sure. And you wouldn't be the first in history to have died, come back to life, and testified against those who murdered you. Though you're likely the first to come back looking completely different. And if you can remember the car that hit you, we can find another witness."

(OOC: All this talk of children knowing more than normal being "weird" reminds me of this 2-year-old who knew every make and model of car in the world. And my 4-year-old nephew who knows all the countries of the world and their capitals. It's not just a matter of how smart you are or what education you have, but also what interests you. :) And, of course, just watch a few episodes of "are you smarter than a 5th grader" and you'll quickly find out average kids are smarter than anyone gives them credit for.)
This message was last edited by the player at 04:35, Mon 13 Aug 2012.

  "I was significantly less vehicular homicide proof at the time, being Human was funny like that." He tilts the brim of his ballcap up, then turns his head towards Maverick.

  "Fictional characters also get away with a lot more.  Besides, 'Innocent Until Proven Guilty' only applies when it is the most annoying to the innocent, and the standards for proof have risen.  I don't think a driver who didn't even seem to know what side of the road they were on would count for much as a witness, even if they did ever catch them."

  Matt sighs,  old habits. "I appreciate the concern, but I don't think much will come out of it beyond wasting the court's time.  I'm only even talking about it because you brought it up."

"Remind me to never play poker against this guy," Mittens comments of Matt's blank face, "One wonders what happened after said vehicular homicide that resulted in your revival and metamorphosis.  While I'm inclined to share a pessimistic outlook about the ultimate outcome of an investigation and trial, I feel a strong sense of civic duty to do my utmost to track down this killer and bring her to justice.  I can't allow someone to literally get away with murder and do nothing.  I'll feel like the blood of her next victim will stain my hands too."

Maverick says in half-sad tone, "The only thing evil needs in order to win is for good to do nothing. If your afraid, that's fine. I'm just getting all the information I can so I can at least do my part. I'm sorry this all happened to you. But Mittens is right. I'm not gonna wait and see if she kills other people."

Somewhere out there, an old lady is crouching in the darkness. Waiting for her moment to strike.

"Thanks for meeting with us, by the way... how ARE you alive, anyway?"

  "It seemed more like a spur of the moment thing than 'hey, let's kill this guy who just pulled me out of traffic'...  The wallet though, yeah that had to be on purpose.  Or are you saying it would have been better if I just watched her die?  The only thing Good needs to watch Evil die is do nothing."

  That ten year old impression out of the way (real mature there Matt), he shrugs.  "Your guess is as good as mine.  Cremation just didn't stick, and no near or after death experience.  I am what I am." No, not Popeye the sailor man.

  "As it is, I'm not dead, and by their usual nature the lady in question does not have long until she is just from the clock ticking by. Is patience really a virtue I wonder?  Feels rather mean spirited in this case."

"It takes a special kind of hero to risk one's self for someone you know doesn't deserve it," Mittens answers, "It is unfortunate when such heroism is repaid with venom, but that does not diminish the heroism of the hero.  Cremation?!  How...?   Ya know...  There might be something far more sinister at work here.  If I were a mad scientist in need of human flesh to mutate, what better way to cover up missing bodies than to arrange for body snatching cadavers earmarked for cremation and have ashes put in their place.  We should mention this to the police so they can investigate the crematorium and see if they're smuggling bodies."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 02:22, Fri 17 Aug 2012.

Maverick says, "I guess you're the kind of hero who would see the same woman, recognize her, and still jump in the way of a car to rescue her, for as hard as you're trying to protect her. Well don't worry, it's not like we're trying to kill her, just get justice done. Anyway... I get the point. You don't wanna be involved. So for now, we'll talk about something else. Like if Mitten's theory is correct."

  Matt would love to refute the kid's opinion of him, but he kind of doubted his conscience would stop making him do stupid things.  "Not like I have any other ideas for why I'm standing here.  Though they would have had to go to the effort of doing a body snatch and switch within 24 hours, and cram me in my own grave afterwards.  Seems when only one family member cares about the proceedings, burial arrangements can go pretty fast."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:12, Sun 19 Aug 2012.