Mav takes a look at his text and gives his phone a weird look.  He texts back "OK. I'll attempt to deal with it. If I do not call you back in 10 minutes, then something has happened to me."

Maverick turns to address the crowd. "People! This statue IS the coach! Watch his eyes!"

He goes to wave a hand near the coach and says, "Follow my hand so that they'll see..."

People listened, and watched. The Rich Man paused in serving the line to look back towards where Maverick was with focused attention.

The statue did not cooperate, holding his eyes as still he could while Maverick's hand waved in front of him.

Maverick looks to see the wizard is staring at him. He thinks about how he's going to take care of this, but at the moment, the forward approach isn't working because the Rich Man is keeping the statue from cooperating.

Soooo... he gives the statue a suspicious glare, then walks off, looking for a corner to disappear behind. Then shrugs. "Maybe I was seeing things?" he remarks offhandedly.

Based off what he knows about Rodger, Mav still isn't 100% sure if this is one of those cases of people who have certain rules to their "game" or whatnot. But he may as well treat it as such; Rule #1) You can't simply tell people what's going on.

Unless the Rich Man specifically kept tabs on where Mav went, the boy looks for where is another good hiding place in the gym to re-collect his thoughts.

Some people laugh at Maverick. One suggests that you try harder when doing psychology experiments. Others just go back to their own thing, and the Rich Man watched Maverick for a few more seconds before turning back to the front of the counter and cheerfully getting back to work serving ice cream.

Unfortunately, a gym typically used for sporting events such as basketball and wrestling isn't the greatest place to seek hiding places in. There's under the stands, or behind that cabinet, or... no, climbing up the wall to hide on top of the scoreboard screen wouldn't work.

A college age catgirl cosplaying as a Jedi walks in, lightsabers discreetly tucked away on her belt.  (( This, only not jumping out at you: http://timothius.deviantart.co...ars-framed-659857665  ))

She's wearing a wireless headset around her neck, from which is playing Weird Al's "My Own Eyes."  The girl, Mittens by name if anyone was paying very close attention to the Para scene 5 years ago, seems preoccupied with the stack of forms in her hands and grumbles about paperwork as she gets into the line.

"So unfair that I have to go through this silly diploma business.  The very initials tell of just how B.S. a B.S. is.

"Um... I'll have whatever doesn't give people flashbacks to high school," she asks of the person serving the noms without looking up from the papers, apparently having mistaken this for the cafeteria.

The clown with the Rich Man raised a painted (?) eyebrow at that. "Please don't cut in front of other people, Miss. Also... is chocolate even safe for you?" he asked, mindful of her feline appearance. His voice was a cultured one, speaking in the bass range rather than the falsetto many clowns adopted as part of their childish characters. A voice that may seem rather familiar if you've taken classes in chemistry or physics.

"'Chocolate?!'" Mittens echoes in surprise, looking up from the forms.

She stares in slack-jaw shock at what she sees.  Why is a clown with a bass voice serving ice cream in a gym?  How did she mistake the gym for the cafeteria?  What's with the darksider wearing a Riddler / Scrooge McDuck hybrid outfit?  What would his Darth name be?  Darth Denarius?  Why should chocolate be... Oh.  Hah.  Very funny.

Mittens' look of shock turns to a big smile.  "Thanks for your concern, but I assure you that I'm fine with partaking in Chocolate of all kinds.  Maybe college won't be so bad if chocolate is involved.  Sorry 'bout cutting.  I... nevermind."

She backs away to get in line at the proper place, having somehow completely missed the boy that should be very familiar to her.

While filling out forms in line she sings along to Weird Al,

"With my own eyes
I see things that'd drive a normal man insane
Wish I could disconnect my brain
From my own eyes."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:29, Thu 13 July 2017.

Bleachers are almost always a great hiding place. And if he gets found, well, what kid DOESN'T enjoy hiding under bleachers for its own sake? (Heck, Mav still enjoys hiding inside clothing racks at the clothing store)

But what's best about bleachers is being able to view others easily without others viewing you easily.

Speaking of, he spots Mittens. No mistaking a catgirl with jedi outfit. Hoping her number hasn't changed and that she has her phone with her, Maverick texts her with "Welcome back to Earth. Stay in line for now. Careful about the chocolate; it used to be the coach of the gym."

He pulls out his binoculars and watches for a moment. He's mostly focused on the Rich Man, the clown, and what is around them (such as what all is on their person, if there is a fire extinguisher near them, a ventilation shaft, or even what material their tables are made of)

@Maverick

There's no ventilation shaft anywhere close to them, and the nearest fire extinguisher is on the wall by the door people are coming in through. The front counter is on small wheels, parked with the aid of a couple of weights holding them still, and the counter itself might be plastic or might be plywood under a thin coating. From what you'd seen while behind the counter, there wasn't any visible technology or runes underneath.

The Rich Man is dressed as previously described, although his diamond-headed cane is at the moment resting atop the soft serve machine while he uses both hands to work. The clown is at least 6 feet tall, plus a couple of inches, and chubby. He has dark hair, a dapper mustache turned up at the ends beneath his red nose, and a long ponytail, while his costume seems to suggest a banker or millionaire; another wealth-oriented character to go with The Rich Man's own theme. Other than the cane, nothing resembling a weapon is visible, and the clown has the only phone (in his vest pocket) of the pair.

Mittens takes out her phone, reads a message, and looks surprised.

"How the heck..?"

She glances around as if looking for someone or something.  She then types a reply, puts the phone away, and gives a concerned look at the whole ice cream setup.  Especially where the chocolate is coming from.

@Mittens

The chocolate appears to be supplied, in a sluggish, fragrant flow, from a tall, opaque (from this side) rectangular device just off to the side of the soft serve machine (with room for the tray to dip into in-between).

Mav texts Mittens back. Then begins writing notes on a piece of note paper*.

Maverick then goes back to watching the Rich Man. He carefully aims his phone, zooms to get a decent picture of the Rich Man and the clown.

*For reference, what is on the note paper: oil, fog horn, rubber ducky, a pillow, realistic toy snake, fake blood, a pair of panties.

In reply to Maverick Sargas (msg # 63):

Neither of the pair appears to be aware that they are being photographed, but the picture that is taken shares the impression of evil, Evil, EVIL that The Rich Man radiates, albeit rather weaker.

Still flummoxed by this bizarre situation, Mittens replies to Mav's text with a


She puts on her space pirate eye-patch, (https://s-media-cache-ak0.pini...f11a605433855ee4.jpg) using it to hide her "sight beyond sight" trick of creating a tiny floating portal to peek through.  (An especially observant person might notice a peeking eye inspecting the heating element of the coach-melting rig.)  Depending on whether it is powered by electricity or propane or whatever, Mits discreetly reaches through a portal in her magician's hat to cut off that which is powering the heating element one way or another.  (Unless, of course, it is somehow immune to mundane tools such as wire cutters or crimping pliers.)

Mits then takes a pictures of Evil McEvil and Sir Clown Gentleman and does a google reverse image search to see if they've popped up in the news before.  Then, when Weird Al's "Eat It" starts playing over her headset, she looks kinda disgusted and she switches over to...  um...

"What the heck is an appropriate song for, 'Riddler McDuck serving melted choco-coach to unsuspecting collegiates that doesn't encourage them to 'Eat It?'"

Her semi-intelligent music player ques up "Chocolate Rain."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:03, Tue 18 July 2017.

The heating element proves to be electrical, and not super-tech or even complicated. It looks like it could well have been put together from a hardware supply store. As long as your tool is insulated so that you don't get electrocuted, cutting the power will be simpler than cracking a peanut for you, Mittens.

A reverse image search finds plenty on the evil-radiating dude, and a number of lesser matches for the clown. Identification of the evil-doer is that he is "The Rich Man" one of the forms of Rodger-Ra the Ever-Wicked, a real-life version of cartoon supervillain Mumm-Ra the Everliving of Thundercats fame. The clown is one of his henchmen, err, henchclowns as it seems that Rodger-Ra's minions are almost always either clowns or demons.

Maverick considers what order he wants to do this in. From what he heard, everything should turn out alright in the end, but Maverick still wants to make sure there is as much damage control as possible.

He sends a text to the police office. It sure is a nice thing he has been going there so often for the past several years to socialize and share doughnuts with them (During the school year, he visits them every weekday since they are only a slight detour on his way home from school).

The text reads: "Rodger Eskin is at the Weston State University's gym. The coach has been turned into a chocolate statue and is slowly melting. Rodger is using that melting chocolate as the topping to the ice cream he is serving. I am currently attempting to rescue the coach and hope to persuade Rodger to stop with as little chaos as possible. Currently working with Parahuman friend of mine: Mittens."

He texts Mittens again.

Maverick then presses record on his audio recording device, sneaks out from his hiding spot, and heads over to Rodger, approaching from beside the line to bypass it entirely (He isn't cutting in line, just walking outside of the border for it). He is now not making any attempt to hide himself, but is locking eyes with Rodger with a look of curiosity on his face.

"Ohmygosh!" Mittens gasps when she reads the news, "You're famous!"

If this guy were some teen idol, politician, or actor, she could probably have controlled her outburst.  But this is something far more amazing!  So yes.  Helm-cam is go!  Though, this is using advanced alien tech mind-interface she picked up while gallivanting across the stars.  Which means it records all the senses in a full VR package.  You can pick songs in your playlist with a mere thought, too.  Takes some practice to be able to prevent it from playing that earworm song again for the dozenth time in a row, though.

"The Rich Man!  Rodger-Ra the Ever-Wicked!  How incredibly...  Aaa..."

Zoop!  Miss Adventure teleports to the rafters.  "aawesooo"

She leaps down and slam-dunks into the nearest hoop.  "oome!"

Teleports through the floor and a wall to somersault next to the guy in green and offer a handshake with a huge grin.

"How amazing that I get to meet you face-to-face!  Hello!  My name is Miss Adventure!"

Sure enough, Rodger noticed Maverick's attention from outside of the line upon him. He kept working, but met Maverick's gaze with a slightly quizzical look of his own as he wondered what the youngster was up to.

Only to get horribly distracted by a sudden attack of mis-guided adoration from a kittenish fan. "I beg your pardon?" Those hellfire-infested eyes blinked, quite surprised by this onslaught of an unexpected groupie. Not that he could reasonably accept the handshake or give autographs right now, as he'd need to wash his hands afterwards to meet hygiene standards and they didn't have a sink set up here.


OOC: GMs? Should I handle police replies too, or do one of you wish to do that?

Rodger isn't the only one. Maverick's attention is drawn to Mittens with a "wtf" look. For the moment, he is stunned for 1d4 rounds. "...nice dunk." the boy comments in a still-stunned tone.

Miss Adventure smiles bashfully.

"Mittens is a little taken aback by The Rich Man's react...ion.  Maverick?!"

Mittens stares in slack-jawed shock at what she sees.  Last time she saw him was years ago.  Shouldn't he be at least a little taller?!  Worried that she may have slipped into one of those space-time loopholes Alternate Reality Mittens warned her about, she double-checks the current date.

Mits looks up from her watch and gives a sheepish look.  "Eheh.  Pardon me.  You really look a lot like this guy in the news."

She shows him an article on her smartphone.

"Yes," The Rich Man answered Mittens dryly, "That is indeed me. However, you don't seem to have thought this meeting out very well." His gaze became unfocused as Rodger mentally went to his spell menus. He recognized the hero name Miss Adventure from the all local Paras that he'd been required to memorize. A teleporter with portals, hmm? Time to use that against her, if he could time it right.

There. He'd found the spell he wanted, and his eyes focused on the kitten in front of him once more.

Maverick reaches to cover the article and says, "It's me, Mittens."

He starts to blush, his cheeks turning red while he gets an upset look.

(Exactly like this expression: http://pm1.narvii.com/5772/7b9...1ccbaec2452cd_hq.jpg )
This message was last edited by the player at 03:08, Thu 20 July 2017.

Mits retracts the phone, turning the screen off.  If she knew what the wizard is up to, she'd likely deliberately fall for his trap because turning into Elmo and being sent to Elmo land!?  How fun is that?!  But alas, she knows not what is in store for her and does not yet have reason to teleport.  A straight jab to the face would likely be incentive enough.

"Ah!  Well...  I guess introductions are in order?  This is Maverick.  All-around awesome guy.

"You are quite correct that I did not think through this meeting, sir!  I tend to be impulsive that way.  Nevertheless, I did have a plan.  Namely, to ask as flatteringly or classic-heroically as possible what your nefarious scheme is.  Because I would loove to hear an authentic Rodger-Ra monologue!"

Sadly, among Mittens' other character flaws, is that she can be a tad over-honest.

[ Mits oft times opens small portals to access her hammerspace props.  Would the spell suck her into a small portal?  If so, awesome! ]

The Rich Man smiled, unable to hold back a chuckle. "I'm afraid that you've got me at a bad time, Miss Adventure, because I'm doing this as a favor for a friend rather than one of my own, ahem, nefarious schemes. On the other hand, you are a confirmed heroine, and my promise to the student population that I won't do any evil to them today does not protect you because of that. And on the gripping hand, I know something about your powers and I do believe that my magic can, let us say, hack your portals. I'll play fair and not send your spleen out for a jog around the campus without the rest of your entrails."

OOC: No, it won't work that way Mittens. This spell cannot suck someone in at all, nor does it enlarge the capacity of the opening cast upon. If you cannot fit through it on your own, the spell won't be able to trap you. It's a white mana spell.

Maverick looks back at Rodger and says, "If deceiving people into cannibalism by having them eat chocolate remains of their melting coach is your idea of not being evil to them, you're more twisted than your reputation gives you credit for. If not, you're a man whose promises mean nothing. Given the choice, would you prefer to be known as a man who thinks forced cannibalism isn't evil or to be known as someone whose promises are meaningless?"