Issue 11DT: Quite the Menagerie

[Will Stanton]

Will, dressed in normal clothes, for once, sat in the meeting room set up at The Point. Debriefing was important, and he was still kicking himself for not being able to go there.

He had a bunch of folders and files, many of them handwritten, open in front of him as he waited.

((No rush on this one, just setting it up))

[Nailah Weaver]

Nailah, wearing an improvised top, walks in and finds a place to sit down in the back.

[Nick Varkan]

Nick entered and took a seat, wearing an intact jacket over his regular clothes.

[Rachel O'Brien]

Rachel came in and took a seat at the table.

[Chloe Grant]

Followed, soon after, by a less toothy and feathery Chloe.

[Ryan Gabriel]

Ryan, as usual, sat up in the front, though he still was looking worn and... not quite at full strength yet.

[Trev Anderson]

Trev had one hell of a hangover, and looked about as bad as he felt as he walked into the briefing, a small tablet in his hand and a stylus tucked behind his ear.

[Melody Martens]

Melody smirked at Trev's appearance as she took a seat. She hadn't been on the mission proper so that the campus wasn't totally unguarded, but wanted to get caught up.

[Will Stanton]

((Assume everyone has shown up who is going to show up))

"Alright, I'm going to go ahead and get started.

First of all -- fantastic job. Really, really well done. It takes a hell of a lot to get everyone back in one piece, and I'm proud of everyone we sent out.

I understand the serum produced by Dr. Bowen is beginning to work, although it will take some time to fully restore all the physiological changes. Thank God for small favors, aye?

The Rhino has been transferred to the holding cells on Muir Island while awaiting deportation back to the United States, which I'm sure our friendly neighborhood wall crawler will be so looking forward to."

[Ryan Gabriel]

"What about Vulture?" Ryan asked, almost absently.

[Will Stanton]

"Vulture doesn't have any outstanding warrants, for once, so he's in a hospital. He also doesn't have a valid visa, so we're sending him back, too."

[Nick Varkan]

"And Grizzly?" Nick asked.

[Will Stanton]

"Grizzly, too. And Toto, and John Boy, and Harpo, and Winken, Blinken, and Nod," Will laughed. "It appears that no permanent harm was done to any of them, although we'll wait and make sure the treatments work all the way before we put this to bed."

"They're not our problem, anyway."

[Melody Martens]

"What about our disintegrating hunter? Any leads on his way too cool for him tech, or where he might be? Or did he actually bite it?" Melody asked, flipping through the notes on the mission on a tablet.

[Will Stanton]

"I believe Rachel had something on that, yes?" Will said, looking over to where Rachel was seated.

[Rachel O'Brien]

"Yeah." Rachel said "I was in his mind when he vanished, and I'm positive that he isn't dead. He was escaping, and then he wasn't there. If he'd died, I would have felt it."

[Will Stanton]

"The soot and black smoke that Renko reported also points to that, but Rachel, I suppose, would know better than anyone."

[Melody Martens]

"Bastard..." she grumbled. "Least we'll have the satisfaction of caving his face in with our fists when we get him next time."

[Nick Varkan]

"Get in line sister," Nick responded, eager to finish where they had left off.

[Nailah Weaver]

"I'm fairly certain you'll get your chance. It's also interesting to see that apparently he doesn't even need any drugs to cause this kind of behavior." Nailah speaks up from the back, glancing back and forth between melody and Nick.

[Will Stanton]

Will cleared his throat.

"Trust me when I say we have men looking out for him. But teleportation isn't exactly in his normal wheelhouse. Nor are electronic shock collars."

[Melody Martens]

Melody smirked back at Nailah. "Anyone that cooks up a scheme like him and kidnaps our friends, and a kid deserves whatever pounding he gets from us."

[Rachel O'Brien]

"What about the logo that was on the boxes?" Rachel asked "any leads there?"

[Ryan Gabriel]

"Logo on the boxes? Sorry, I missed that part, I was a little psychotic at the time..."

[Will Stanton]

Will brought something up on the view screen -- the black, stylized, sunburst.

"There are a few of us here who already know what this is, I'm afraid, and it's not good news."

[Ryan Gabriel]

Ryan frowned, and... kept silent.

[Will Stanton]

"This is the logo for a group known as Black Air. Officially, they were disbanded by the British government years ago. They specialize in covert operations, and one of their operatives was on campus for an extended period of time this summer.

We don't know what they want, or how long they've been observing us yet."

[Nick Varkan]

"The sick fucks that kidnapped you? This just keeps getting better..." Nick grumbled.

[Will Stanton]

"Those would be the sick fucks in question.

Their original mission was to collect unusual artifacts -- for weapon design. They've been replaced, officially, by the W.H.O. and MI-13, and do not exist anymore.

Yeah. Right."