She looked up as a young man approached the "Count" and called him "Grandpa". She frowned, because as far as she had ever heard, the man never had any visitors and had no living relatives. She looked at the Count to see if there was any alarm, confusion or recognition upon the old gents face. She was always on the lookout for scam artists with these elderly folks. It was so easy to confuse them and to take advantage of them. She frowned again at the confusion upon the old mans face as he looked over at the stranger.
 "Excuse me Sir. I wasn't aware Mr. Thomas had any living relatives. The only one I've ever heard him speak of even in the vaguest manner was some godfather he once knew as a kid. He rarely even mentions him either. I'm afraid his memory isn't what it used to be."
 She carefully backed Lady up so her small rubber-bootied hooves didn't step on the strangers toes. Minx crouched upon the small mare's back and gave the young man a piercing glance then looked at Moon with glance that seemed to be speaking.
 She frowned even more fiercely then and stared almost rudely at the young man. That Minx was cautious about the man spoke loads, because Minx liked nearly everyone.
 "Excuse me again, but do you have some form of ID? How are you related to Mr. Thomas? I mean, anyone can walk in off the street and claim some relationship and not be a relative or a friend. I'm afraid if you think Mr. Thomas has any money, you're mistaken. Just so you know."
 She was protective and fond of the elderly people here. Even the cantankerous ones. Those needed love even more than the sweet-natured ones, no matter how gruff or abrasive they tried to act.
 Minx jumped from the horses back to land in the Count's lap, where he turned around twice then curled up into a tight ball, kneading his leg with soft paws, purring loudly to reassure the elderly man.

With her careful and defensive inspection of the man claiming to be Mr. Thomas' grandson, she noticed that he seemed quite charming, was dressed rather well, and that he had a gun of some kind slung under his left armpit, concealed by the sport coat he wore.

"Oh, sorry," Malcolm said apologetically, taking notice of the witness who might just ruin everything... smart, insightful... it couldn't get much worse.

Time to sell it.

"I'm Thomas MacTaggert," he said throwing out the code name, telling Caprese that everything was under control, part of a test of the older man's mental faculties. He ran down the dossier list from the file, "Mr. Gage has three children, my uncle Marco, my other uncle Peter, and my mother, Celia. Mommy Mary, his wife, passed away, like twenty years ago or so. I was a kid. Anyway, all his kids are alive and he's got something like a dozen grand kids."

"Uncle Peter lives in California and Marco moved home to Genoa, Italy to take over the family winery or something like that when Grandpa Tommy's brother died. My mom and dad live in Seattle."

"The way my mom told it to me when I got old enough to hear it, Grandpa got really depressed when Mommy Mary died, and became really antisocial. He was already upset with my mom for marrying a Scot. Anyway, he removed himself from everything having to do with us."

"I work in Northern Virginia, and mom asked me to come check on him because she thinks she's psychic and she got worried about him. So I'm here on this glorious Sunday to make sure Grandpa Tommy still hates us all."

Turning his attention back to the aging mobster, Malcolm asked, "So how the hell are you doin' Grandpa?"
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 03:23, Thu 12 Jan 2012.

   Moonchild and Malcolm scrutinize one another, actually looking at each other for the first time.  And slowly both become aware of a strange, but powerful, connection between them.  Looking into each others' faces, they see a reflection of themselves, and the secret that both share.  Both now realize that they are alike in one important respect.  They have seen things, experienced things, that no one else can possibly understand.  They know this with a certainty that defies any and all logic.

   Mr Gage shakes slightly, as he stares at his 'grandson' with watery eyes that seem vacant and unaware.  Then, returning from whatever place his mind had wandered, his eyes light up in recognition and his wrinkled mouth slips downwards, into a scowl.

   "Ehhhh, Tommy!  You come ah to see if you old ah Nonno ees a dead ah yet?  Or maybe you need ah something from me eh?  Ees always ah the same.  No one even ah remembers if I'm ah still alive, unless ah you wanta something!  Why you come Tommy eh?  Whadda you want?"  He pets the docile Minx with one withered hand as he watches Tommy.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:27, Tue 10 Jan 2012.

 She backed away further, nodded to Mr. Thomas then walked over to the nurses desk, Lady following along behind. Minx didn't budge though. She spoke with the nurse at the nurses station for awhile then took her phone out of her pocket to answer it. She spoke for a moment as she turned to look toward Mr. Thomas and Minx. She glanced down at her screen then closed the phone and put it back in her pocket. Meanwhile the nurse moved off to pick up the phone and make a phone call.
 She sighed and took out a comb and started combing out a tangle of mane before leading Lady over to another group of men. She spoke to them softly then had Lady do some of her tricks before letting them pet her and fuss over her.

"Awww, crap..." Malcolm breathed as he noticed the girl for the first time. His mind was racing this was the first one he could see since he could See. And, did he get this assignment because of her, or was this random. And if this were random, how many like him, like her, out there must there be for him to bump into her at random...

And worse, she'd seen it too. She backed away with that look on her face. It was a good look for her, he had to admit, but that was beside the point.

He would have to talk with her; there was so much he didn't understand.

But her distance opened things up when Grandpa Tommy came around.

"I don't need anything, Grandpa. Just checkin' in," Malcolm started. Then got a hushed, serious tone and looked the mobster straight in the eye, "Mom heard that you were runnin' your mouth off, and tryin' ta make trouble. Are you ok?"

But his thoughts stayed with the tall, brown-haired girl. He had to make sure she didn't leave.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:07, Tue 10 Jan 2012.

 She finished with the men, but suggested they go outside to the gazebo shortly because she was going to have her other animals put on a show for them if they would like that.
 "Come on out, Ben and Misty and all the others are out there. They will be serving cake and ice cream too I think, afterwards."
 She lead Lady off down the hallway, the bells on Lady's tail jingling softly with every step. Lady was nearly prancing after all the fuss the men had made over her, she was a pretty mare and knew it! Such extroverted creatures were popular with the old folks and with kids as well.

"Aww, crap..." Malcolm breathed as he watched the brown-haired girl move down the hallway, away from him... He knew he needed to gather more intel, and to do that, he needed proximity to the target.

"Let's go outside Grandpa Tommy. I gotta go courtin' a girl." There was no reason not to use the excuse the old man (and everyone else) would assume no matter what excuse Malcolm came up with. It was the best cover he could think of. He's a guy, guy's are pigs... perfect.

   The orderlies and some of the nurses helped all of the residents who wanted to go outside to see the show.  Most did, as it was one of the more exciting things that had happened in the old home in quite some time.  Soon the lounge was almost empty, the last of the chattering, jabbering, mumbling, and whooping dying away as the front door closed behind them.  A few of the more infirm residents, who had no desire to watch, or who were unable, or unwilling to venture outside, were wheeled back to their rooms with little fanfare.

   As Moonchild leads her talented mare, and her would be audience, out towards the gazebo, she spies the police car, parked at an angle in the parking lot.  Three police officers exit the vehicle and begin to walk in her direction.  They are all dressed for a cold January day, all wearing their standard issue jackets, and leaning forwards into the wind as they walk.  As they come closer, Moonchild can see that one is an older man, with salt and pepper hair sticking out from under his cap, and a matching moustache.  His partners are younger, one man and one woman, perhaps half the older officer's age.
   The police speak briefly with the Director of the Broad Oaks, Eugenia Crawford, then they walk all walk over to Moonchild.

   "Ma'am, my understanding is that you were the one who alerted the nursing assistant...Constance, to the issue with your 'guest' today?"  Asked the older officer, not waiting for the Director to explain. "We would like you to accompany us back inside to identify the man and then we'll take things from that point.  We'd prefer not to endanger Mr Gage, who is apparently still inside with the man claiming to be his Grandson.  We would prefer to do this discreetly, you can understand I'm sure."


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

   Thomas Gage, once Capo di tutti Capi, rises unsteadily to his feet, gripping the  handles of his walker for dear life.  He looks into Malcolm s eyes, his expression one of helplessness that is almost heart breaking.  Trembling, he stumbles forwards grabbing onto the younger man's shirt, their eyes meeting.  For a fleeting moment, the old man's eyes are sharp and lucid, and wild with desperation:

   "I don't wanna go out ah side!  Whoever you are, I'm ah begging you, HELP ME, please...get this monster out..." he gasps.  Then his eyes roll back behind his eyelids and he collapses in Malcolm's arms.

"Aww crap!" Malcolm said as the old mobster crumpled into his arms. Easing the man to the floor, he called out, "Orderly! something's wrong! Nurse!" It was only then that he noticed the room was empty except for him and the old mobster.

Knowing to the weirdness that had recently come to his life, and especially since he'd run into the girl just moments ago, Malcolm was not unused to taking strange things people said at face value, so he looked at collapsed human with his Sight... there might be a monster in there. He took the time that the two of them were alone to do what he'd just months before learned to do.

"What the hell's going on with you, Thomas Gage..." Malcolm said, calmly in the crisis and perhaps a little cynically as he cast his gaze on the older man.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:53, Fri 13 Jan 2012.

 She looked up as the policemen came up to her and started speaking to her. She was disconcerted at seeing three of them, because they usually traveled in pairs or as single officers.
 When she noticed the strangeness of the one officers gaze, she stumbled a step or two then reached up to rub her forehead. These strange visual effects and the headaches were getting worse. She sighed and rubbed her forehead once more. No more putting it off, she was going to have to see an eye doctor, or maybe a neurologist. She didn't like that idea at all, but she couldn't risk there was something really wrong.
"I'm sorry...what? Oh, he's the gentleman in the lounge sitting on the blue sofa. Has a cat in his lap. Just let me hand my pony over to my helper and I will show you the man with a gun. I hope they have the room cleared out now. I didn't want anyone to get hurt, so I told them I'd put on a show out here. At least it's not too cold today."

   Stepping back inside, in the company of the trio of police, Moonchild finds the place empty.  It appeared that the nursing assistants and the Director had done an admirable job of clearing the place.  In the main lounge, 'Tommy' is kneeling down, bending over the prone form of Thomas Gage.  The older cop looks to his companions and they both nod.  The female officer turns and walks back towards the door and quickly locks it and draws the curtains on the windows.

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

   Looking at the old Mobster, Malcolm is surprised to see an almost lost look upon the once hardened Don's face.  No longer the iron hard, indomitable crime lord he once was, he looks for all the world, like a small child, desperate and afraid, begging for help.  Thomas Gage seems, in that moment, tired and vulnerable, and very much alone.
   Without warning, another image appears to Malcolm, as his searching eyes probe the man's wizened face.  A different face, something strange and disturbingly  inhuman, with an enlarged cranium, cold black eyes, and sharp angular features flashes in Malcolm's head, as if the old man's visage was merely an overstretched mask.
   Then Thomas rises, a rather jerky movement, like a marionette being jerked back to its feet by the Master Puppeteer.  He stands glaring at Malcolm, and the eyes that the startled F.B.I. agent sees are not human now, but the black frigid marbles he saw before.
   "You have always been clever, Malcolm," he says, but the voice of the old man is now echoed by a SECOND voice, a high pitched, arrogant tone that eerily follows the first. "And I have hated you for it!  Now that I know what you, and your female friend Moonchild are, you will finally be more than a thorn in my side...you will be USEFUL!"
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:12, Sat 14 Jan 2012.

 She took in the situation in a glance, saw the strange things the police were doing, and was sure something was NOT RIGHT! She thought she saw something weird with Mr. Gage too. At that moment, on pure instinct, she raced to the wall and pulled the fire alarm, then dived form cover behind a sofa.

OOC: I know what this thing is, but Malcolm doesn't (seeing as he's only had one real brush with the paranormal) and that was watching a man disappear into thin air when his abilities first showed themselves... and there have been no mentors. So what I'm doing below may be dumb and ignorant, Malcolm is ignorant.

Feelings of bewilderment and a sense of vertigo swept over Malcolm as the thing he'd Seen, the thing that was controlling Caprese somehow, mocked and threatened him. He was not Fox Mulder; he didn't know how to fight this.

The blare of the fire alarm klaxon snapped him back into the moment with clanging clarity. In that instant, Malcolm processed want was going on around him... the local police acting against standard procedure, the girl diving for cover, the threat from the creature he was kneeling next to...

His battle-honed predatory nature took over; there'd be no bluff and bluster here.

He drew his service pistol and his ID badge. "Malcolm Laurence, FBI!" he announced with all the authority he could muster. "Nobody move!"

OOC: If anybody moves, Malcolm will fire... he's outnumbered, and he has no idea what the moral character of this body-snatcher thing is nor what's going on with the cops.

   The thing that looked like Thomas Gage laughed, a dry croaking laugh edged with a cold and malicious glee.  It was not a pleasant sound.

   "You truly imagine your primitive weapon will frighten me, Malcolm Laurence?" he asked, clearly amused by Malcolm's attempt to intimidate them.  He glanced towards the sofa where Moonchild was hiding.  Apparently something seemed to dampen his pleasure, his mouth closing quickly, think lips twisting in a dark scowl.
  "Enough of this.  The human authorities will be here soon, now they've been alerted.  Capture them both and quickly.  I want them alive, wounded if necessary, but still living!"

OOC: Malcolm Laurence rolled 10 using 1d10+2. Initiative. (it's actually a 13 because I forgot the +3 from the pistol)

Malcolm will try to kneel on Gage to keep the old man immobile, firing carefully and deliberately at one of the fake cops.

OCC: Attack a fake cop (if there's one 10' away or less, that's Point Blank Range for a pistol, if not, I'll fire at whoever's closest). If they come at me, I'll wait until Point Blank before executing a Special Ranged Attack Rule Thing. 1 level of Aiming and 3 levels of Defense for a total of 15 To Hit (or 17 if it's Point Blank) and -3 Armor vs everyone. Damage will be 2d8-3.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:25, Sun 15 Jan 2012.

 Whatever was going on, she did NOT like the sound of it! And what had happened to Mr. Gage? If she believed in that kind of crap, she'd almost swear he was possessed. But she didn't believe in that. Maybe he had multiple personality disorder. He sure didn't sound like the usual befuddled Mr. Gage!

   Responding to Thomas Gage's commands, the cops go into action.  They draw their pistols, odd looking long barreled weapons that do not resemble anything Moonchild or Malcolm have seen.  The Old Cop guards the door while the lady cop covers the man cop who strides forward and pushes aside the couch, looking for Moonchild.  They are slow to respond, however, and both Malcolm and Moonchild may act before them.

OOC: 14:53, Today: LoC rolled 4 using 1d10-1. Cop one, two and three init corrected.
Old cop movement to the door, attack draws weapon.  Lady cop moves, following man cop.  Man cop moving to sofa, pushing it aside, action drawing weapon.

14:57, Today: LoC rolled 10 using 1d10+1. Thomas Gage Init.

The old mobster, however looks up at Malcolm as he tries to pin him down with his knees.  Suddenly Malcolm's head begins to swim as he feels something odd...

OOC: Luck Roll please Malcolm:)
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:59, Mon 16 Jan 2012.

The strange assault on Malcolm's mind destroyed his equilibrium as he took aim at the fake, male cop who was going after the animal-show girl. His three carefully trained shots rang out, but went just wide of the mark. "Aww, crap..."

OOC:
Malcolm Laurence rolled 16 using 1d20. Luck Roll
Failure - His Luck Roll is 7
Malcolm Laurence rolled 18 using 1d20. To Hit
Miss - His To-Hit Roll was a 15 (or a 17 if PB, but a miss nonetheless)
This message was last edited by the player at 23:38, Mon 16 Jan 2012.

 She leaps up and bashes the man over the head with her lamp, hoping to knock him out, but he's awfully tall and she's not able to bring down a lot of force unfortunately. She still tried her best! She hopes it's enough!


16:41, Today:Moon Child rolled 6 using 1d20+1. attack.
21:08, Today: Moon Child rolled 7 using 1d6+1. damage.

This message was last edited by a game editor at 04:15, Tue 17 Jan 2012.

   The man cop staggers backwards, stunned by repeated blows from the heavy lamp.  The Lady cop screams loudly in her two toned voice, weapon out now and pointed towards Moonchild:

   "Stay where you are, human.  Your struggling only delays the inevitable.  You and your other 'potential' companions will serve the MARI'ONEK!

OOC: End of Turn 1

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

Turn 2

08:31, Today: LoC rolled 6 using 1d10+1. Thomas Gage Init.
08:31, Today: LoC rolled 7 using 1d10+1. Cop one, two and three init.

   Thomas Gage retrieves Malcolm's handcuffs and secures them around the helpless agent, who is still reeling as every sense in his body explodes from the savage  psychic assault.

   The old cop (cop 1) produces an odd metalic cylinder and proceeds to activate it by touching its surface.  It responds instantly to his commands, flashing a myriad of colours in a random pattern.  The result of this is striking, as a jagged diagonal of light appears, then widens like a someone had rent the air asunder.  Within can be seen some completely different place, as if the viewers are looking through a window to someplace off in the distance.

   The badly battered man cop (cop 2) and the lady cop (cop 3) both train their odd looking pistols on Moonchild, ready to shoot.

   OOC: Initiative please if taking any action Moonchild.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:46, Tue 17 Jan 2012.

 She throws her lamp at the battered man and grabbed a sofa cushion off the sofa and throws it at the woman, then tries to run for help!

14:20, Today: Moon Child rolled 10 using 1d10+2. init.

14:26, Today: Moon Child rolled 9 using 1d20+1. attack. woman
14:26, Today: Moon Child rolled 2 using 1d20+1. attack. man
run roll?

   OOC: You made me laugh Moonchild...hehee.  You only have one attack, but lets assume you used the more effective one...which isn't the sofa cushion :P  Roll me damage for the lamp because, even taking a penalty for throwing something not designed to be thrown, a 2 still hits:)

I'll come and update tonight:)

OOC:
And if I may jump in here with a rules thing...

She's not supposed to be adding a 1 to her attack either. The one gets added to her Physical Score, not the roll itself.

And that makes her attack roll a 1, which either disarms her opponent or does double damage!
This message was last edited by the player at 18:29, Wed 18 Jan 2012.

11:44, Today: Moon Child rolled 2 using 1d6. damage.

OOC:  You are correct, Malcolm yes, good catch.  Unfortunately I have not done as good as job as I might have in teaching this system.  We do have a few unfamiliar with it, but I have assured them it is easy to learn, and it is really, that's part of the beauty of it for me.  I don't use all the complications for combat either, which helps keep it that way.

So lets say double damage, 4 pts, which is enough to incapacitate the male cop and as he hits the floor he drops his weapon.

   The Lady Cop shoots point blank at Moon Child, releasing a shower of micro balls that burst into streams of black goo, attempting to envelop Moonchild.

OOC: Luck Roll please Moonchild:)

   Meanwhile Malcolm is lead into the glowing aperture...
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:11, Thu 19 Jan 2012.