DARK CRYSTAL Part II [Christine Tallin, aka "Crystal", has been mentally enslaved by the evil Puppet Master, then was sent to prevent another mind-controller, the young Chad Reiter, from being captured by federal agents. That mission was successful, but she now finds herself merely with a new master...] -- "No, we can't. I can only keep this up for so long, then my 'batteries' go dry. And I don't think either of us want to see that happen." She takes a moment to adjust her jacket, trying to cover her shredded costume. It had started out revealing to a ludicrous point, she doesn't even want to consider what it will be like when she changes back to flesh now. These kids obviously reached the same conclusions sooner. "They aren't cops. They're from the government, a secret organization that's trying to gather up everyone who turns up with powers. Or put them down. I've run into them before." And she should be *helping* them, or at least not working so actively against them. Damn the Puppet Master again... "And me... I'm Crystal. Don't you watch television? I'm here to keep them from getting their hands on you." <><><><><> [GM] "Oh. Okay..." Chad says. One of the kids says "Hey, she was in like this fight in New York City, with some crazy superchick with a mohawk! I remember watchin' that on TV...it was way cool! They totally fragged the s*** outta this bitch!" Chad frowns as the car abruptly spins around a corner. "Hey, drive more careful...we don't want to catch the cops attention AGAIN, do we?" he snaps. He turns back to you. "OK, you're like a superhero, with powers. Howcum you're helping me, and how'd you find me, and how'd the government find me? And what else can you do, besides bounce bullets and shoot lasers and stuff?" <><><><><> -- "I don't know how they found you, but I came after them. I'm helping because they and I don't get along. Because I don't want to see anyone else sucked into what they're up to." And because I have no choice. Can't you see the marks of another mind forcing me... or are you not paying attention? Crystal screams inside, but it's hopeless to try to say any of that. "And there isn't much else I can do. I can lift more than I can in my normal body, but only for a little while. No fancy mind tricks. I hope you're not disappointed." She smiles slightly, trying to see what sort of reaction that could get from Chad. <><><><><> [GM] "So you're like a supervillain, not a hero?" Chad says. "That's cool." He grins. "Yeah, I can use you." He could very well mean that literally. The car proceeds into an even grungier section of St. Louis. "We'll camp out at Mel's place," Chad says. It's unnerving, watching the authority he commands, with a gang of kids who are mostly much bigger and older than him. You detect more than a little fear from some of them, as well. "What are we gonna do next, Chad?" asks one. "I figure with a supervillain on my side, we can take over the neighborhood even easier than before," Chad says. "Hey, maybe I should even look for more superpeople!" "Man, that's stupid!" snaps a lanky black kid. "You keep running around with people like her, attracting all this attention, the feds'll just-" He stops in mid-sentence, and suddenly jerks his head forward, smashing his face into the window, hard enough to crack the glass. He blinks, stunned, then groans, pressing a hand to his broken nose, gushing blood, and split lips. "I told you not to call me stupid, asshole!" Chad says calmly. He looks back at you. "But maybe you got a point. I probably should move to another city, at any rate. What do you think, Crystal?" His expression is an odd mix of childish uncertainty, looking at you as a grown-up who must have answers he doesn't, and a predatory instinct beyond his years, through which you are just someone else to use. And ironically, you're beginning to wish Robert, or "Glyder", would catch up. Assuming he can do something besides become another slave of this miniature puppet master. <><><><><> -- Crystal winces at the label 'supervillain,' but perhaps her less expressive crystal features hide the emotion somewhat. "I'm not a supervillain or a superhero. If I have to be something, I'd rather still be a supermodel." She smiles thinly at the joke, then worries that the last thing she needs to point out to these boys, boys who had just survived a life-or-death combat and for whom she might have been an occasional adolescent fantasy. "I think taking over a city is the wrong direction. You've got a gift and you can do a lot, but there are people who won't stop at anything to keep our kind down. They bombed a friend of mine..." She doesn't mention that Terry had no powers at all... she doesn't feel the need to. "They used nuclear weapons on Paladin. They won't stop at anything to take you down." She tries to think what to recommend. Her mind is torn, conflicting orders from herself, Puppet Master and Chad warring to determine what she will say is best. She wants to warn him, but she knows she can't. She wants to tell him to turn himself over to the government, but she doesn't trust them any more than she does anyone else involved in this. She just doesn't know... "I think you need to get away. Someplace away from people and distractions and work out how to do what you need to do but do it right. There's a lot of people trying to stop you and they have plans, people and money. I don't think I'm enough to swing the balance toward you yet. We need to have a plan." Putting herself into his group would make her skin crawl if it wasn't cold diamond. But Chad was probably better than the Puppet Master, younger and easier to fool. And if his orders could overpower the other's... <><><><><> [GM] "Our kind? You mean there's like, someone out to get people like us, with superpowers?" Chad's eyes widen at your reference to the nuclear attack on Paladin. "You mean the government did that?" he asks. "I thought it was like, terrorists or something!" He frowns. "Well, I can mind control anyone." But he's clearly thinking...he seems bright enough to see the wisdom in your words. He also seems very stubborn, and you've already seen ample evidence that he has to be handled *very* carefully, especially if you want to convince him he's wrong about something. "OK, what direction DO you think would be the right one?" He runs his fingers along your arm, feeling your crystal surface, curiously. Impersonally. Like someone handling a new toy. "How do you eat and breathe and stuff while you're like this?" he asks. "Are you like this permanently, or can you turn back into a normal person?" As the car pulls into a garage beneath a rundown three-story apartment building, you realize this is exactly the direction you'd rather the conversation *didn't* go right now. If he has you change back to normal...Chad is *probably* too young to think of using you as anything besides a weapon. But some of the boys with him certainly aren't. <><><><><> -- "Somebody had to get the nuclear weapons in the first place. That had to take some cooperation from somebody's government. And I know everyone is afraid of us." And Crystal knows angry, greedy people like Chad and the Puppet Master are feeding on that fear, building themselves armies to conquer. She had wanted to calm the fears, to help people understand... Now, she was as afraid as anyone. "What we do next... That's always the hard question. Right now, I need to rest because I'm almost drained out. I can only hold so much light. But if you want me along with you, you'll need to start making plans to move. The government won't take long to find you again, and they'll come in force next time. You're going to have to move to keep ahead of them." Keep ahead, or maybe be thrown so off-guard they'll be able to snatch you with ease... Good advice and bad advice are impossible to separate now... "And yes, I can eat and drink like this, but I don't taste anything, so I prefer not to. And of course I can change back and forth. But I don't think anyone would let me claim to be just a 'normal person' when I do. After all, with a thought, I could be back to this again..." She lets a little bit of light flicker along her fingertips, glistening but not hot enough to do any damage. Just a hint for the smarter boys in Chad's puppet gang. <><><><><> [GM] It's hard to tell if any of the punks got the point...they're more entranced just by the fact that you CAN make light pulse within you. And there seems little doubt that Chad scares them more than you do. As you get out of the car, Chad says, "You better make yourself look normal, while we go upstairs, case any of the other losers who live here poke their heads out." He looks around in disgust. "Man, with powers like ours, it's about time I cleared out of this dump. It ain't like we don't have the money to get a nicer place." He looks back at you and smiles. "Now I have a respectable-lookin' adult to do things like write checks and use credit cards." <><><><><> -- "I can change back to flesh and blood, but if you think I can somehow manage to look only 'normal' you're giving me a lot more credit as an actress than I probably deserve." Chris smiles the sort of self-pleased smile she always hated in others, the sort that fits her new Crystal persona so well, then looks over her arms and exposed crystal skin, checking for fractures. Then she checks her face in the car's rear-view mirror, remembering the bullet that rebounded there. If none are found, she wraps her jacket tight, zips it up, then wishes away her crystal self, ready for the wave of minor aches and pains she'd almost started getting used to missing. "You're thinking ahead. That's good. You're right, an adult probably can help you get some things you couldn't manage with just your powers. We'll see what I can manage. But first, I'm going to need some rest. I burned up a lot of energy getting in to you then out again and I'm exhausted." <><><><><> [GM] You seem undamaged. When you transform back, you do feel fatigued, but not really sore. Bullets seem to have had less effect on you than Lucretia's fists. The other kids stare at you in earnest now. The chunky kid whistles and leers, and a general appreciative murmur circulates among them. "Weren't you that chick in a bikini who gets dumped into a giant glass of Diet Tab?" says one, dredging up one of your more embarrassing commercial appearances. "I think I had a calender of you," says another. Not at all reassuring, as you hurry upstairs, through a real dive of an apartment building, into a two-bedroom unit that looks and smells very much like it's occupied by a bunch of adolescent males. Inside, two very large, very muscular young black men are waiting. They're clearly the biggest and baddest of this bunch, and they're holding machine guns, very visibly...but they immediately approach Chad like a pair of puppy dogs. "Hey, Chad, m'man, everythin' ok?" The other one is almost panting in eagerness. "These guys cool, you need anyone straightened out?" Something about them seems...odd. They're sweating, and their eyes seem wild, slightly glazed, and there's a desperation in them, as they hover solicitiously about the young boy. They don't demonstrate fear of Chad....it's closer to devotion. Devotion that comes of obsession. "Just stand guard for now," Chad says. "Don't let anyone disturb me an'...Crystal here, 'less it's an emergency." "No problem! You got it man!" "Ain't no one gonna bug you, dude!" They glower menacingly at the rest of the gang. Chad opens the door to one bedroom, gestures for you to precede him. "Hey, when you done, any chance you let US spend some time alone with her?" one of the boys snickers. Another mutters "Ain't like he's even gonna know what to do with her..." Chad turns and gives him a chilling stare. The kid turns pale and stammers "Hey..just kiddin' Chad, a joke, y'know?" His two personal guards level their guns at the offender. "Yeah. A joke." Chad's expression is cold and frighteningly unchildlike. "Hey, maybe I should make you go swallow a pack of razor blades. Just kidding. A joke, y'know?" Chad follows you into the bedroom, and closes the door behind him. <><><><><> -- Chris shudders slightly at the atmosphere Chad surrounds himself with. He obviously abuses the gift he has in a crude, child-like parody of the cruelty the Puppet Master's own uses. The two of them are hard to compare to see which might be worse... But she gets alone, into the room, before she says anything. She makes no move to remove her jacket. "So... I guess you're going to show just what you can make me do now, right? Does it matter to you at all that I'm really not interested?" <><><><><> [GM] Chad goes and sits down on his bed, looking tired. The malevolence in his expression has dimmed somewhat. He looks at you, and says "You're scared of me, aren't you?" He brushes his hand against a stack of books sitting on the cheap wooden nightstand next to the bed. There is also a peeling dresser, made of the same cheap wood, stacks of laundry and junk food wrappers scattered around the floor, a huge, expensive, state of the art color TV console with stereo hookup and various video games attached, sitting in the corner, and an overstuffed, hideous orange chair behind you. "You should be. Grown-ups are funny, they want us to obey them and respect them 'cause they're bigger and can beat the s*** out of you if you talk back. You got nothing against using power to make people weaker than you do what you want. But if YOU'RE on the receiving end, oh yeah, it's 'Gee, you really should think about others' feelings' and 'It's WRONG for you to make someone do things against their will.' You, you're just the same way. You came running into a fight, shootin' lasers and beating people up, and you SAY it was to protect me, but how do I know what you really intended? Now things turned out differently, and you're in trouble, and you stand there shivering trying to think of a way to convince me not to abuse you. Adults, you think you're SO smart, but I know just how you think." He picks up a book- "Origins of Psychology", which looks a little advanced for his age, and has a library sticker on it. "I'm not gonna make you have sex with me. That's what you're worried about, right? Now siddown!" He says it commandingly, but without putting his power behind it. <><><><><> -- Chris doesn't bother to hide her surprise. And there's a bit of happiness in that surprise, as Chad's bitterness is a pleasant surprise. "You're right, Chad. I should have remembered that, with all the fights I had with my mother. And I'm not going to act like I know better, because I don't. But if you really want to know why I was there tonight..." Her expression hardens, her smile narrowing to a firm line. "You're going to have to make me talk." <><><><><> [GM] Chad scowls at you, his temper rising again. "What, is that a dare or something? Don't piss me off, lady! If I have to MAKE you talk, I'll show you just what else I can make you do." He seems to get agitated very easily when challenged. You've met men a little like him before, especially in Hollywood. Men who have a lot of power by virtue of their position, who know it's just a quirk that they're in control of people who are bigger and better than them....so they have to reassure themselves constantly, by reminding everyone else who's in charge at every opportunity. From the way he treats his gang, there seems little doubt he'll give you a demonstration of what he can make you do, at the slightest provocation. How unpleasant a demonstration, you'd hate to guess. His casual violent displays of control may be an insecure little boy's attempt to keep the "big kids" respectful of him (he obviously has made the classic mistake of assuming fear equals respect)...or they might be a sociopathic child's means of entertaining himself. Or both. <><><><><> -- "I'm sure you could make me do a lot of things I'd never even consider doing otherwise." She knows that because she already *is* doing things she would never consider doing, because of the Puppet Master. And Chad is just a junior-sized version of the same thing, a child's energy and ego instead of the elder's purposeful cruelty. Their powers were similar, but could she even hope they would somehow be able to cancel each other...? "But if you don't make me talk, I can't." <><><><><> [GM] Chad's eyes narrow further. "You CAN'T talk? What do you mean?" You feel his mind close on yours again, more forcefully this time, his irritation making his crude manipulation even more tangible than before. Your body actually jerks as he seizes control of you, and says "OK, you want me to MAKE you talk...." And another grip, stronger but unfelt until now, writhes in your brain and severs Chad's hold on you. **Very clever, Miss Tallin** says the Puppet Master. Chad jumps in startlement, and stares at you with renewed malice...and a touch of fear. His mental assault lashes out at you again, slamming through your thoughts and scrambling whatever volition you were beginning to muster. Then the Puppet Master counterattacks. It is a truly unique, and extremely unpleasant, experience to have a telepathic battle raging inside your mind. You're a helpless spectator as you feel Chad trying to assert control over your neural pathways again. The Puppet Master doesn't directly contest him...instead, he allows Chad to control you for an instant, then delves into your mind and severs those contacts, while strengthening his own....which you now realize were there all along, just so inobtrusive neither you nor Chad could feel them. The Puppet Master has been here, in your mind, all along. He let Chad take control of you, but now, with surgical precision, he counters Chad's control attempts. Chad screams for help, while his mental assault changes from an attempt to control you to a brutal mental bludgeon, which the Puppet Master shields you from just a little...enough to keep you conscious, but enough leaks through the Puppet Master's deflection to give you a headache the likes of which you've never experienced before. Stars dance in your vision as you slump in the chair, gasping in pain. Chad finally seems to realize that it's not you fighting him. You feel his mental presence turning, trying to strike at the Puppet Master directly. But the Puppet Master isn't there...Chad strikes at empty ether. The more experienced telepath merely reinforces his control of you, and you feel Chad's presence in your mind become weaker and weaker, as he's forced out. You have to blink tears out of your eyes, as the pain recedes (not entirely, though), and you regain focus. **Collect the boy and bring him out front** the Puppet Master commands. **I'm afraid I can't allow you to injure him, however much you might like to. But you may give him a spanking if you wish.** His laughter echoes malevolently. Chad is still yelling, and heading for the door, which is next to you. <><><><><> -- Her head throbs, her body should be sluggish and slow, but it reacts to orders not hers quickly. Damn him. He predicted every bit of this and was waiting for it. Damn him. She shifts to crystal, her solid form proof against any attempt by Chad to protest, and she reaches to snatch him. She expects he'll be dizzy after the battle over who would pull her strings and easy to corral. Damn them both. They pulled her back and forth like children fighting over a toy. No. Like a child and an adult fighting over a toy, one-sided always and that side looking all the more infantile and selfish for taking part in the contest. She kicks the door open, since she can't kick either Chad or the absent (except in mind) Puppet Master and then strides into the room outside. Her body glistens where it is exposed, bleeding out light energy as a warning. Don't make me fight, don't make me have to... She speaks to them all as she tries to cross the room quickly. "Chad and I are going for a little walk. You don't want to try to stop us, do you?" <><><><><> [GM] "LET GO OF ME YOU F***ING BITCH!" Chad screams. His mental attacks continue to hammer at you, but the Puppet Master, now fully in control again, deflects most of the pain. Most of it. Chad flails and kicks and even tries jabbing his fingers into your eyes...all futile. "I swear to God if you don't lemme go I'm gonna have you crawling on your hands an' knees in a back alley giving blow jobs to street bums!" he snarls. But the rage is mixed with a growing portion of fear...clearly, he's become used to having complete control of everyone around him. Losing that control is sending the boy into a panic. As you slam open the door, you see that there's no need to face off against Chad's gang. They're all lying slumped on the floor or in chairs, apparently asleep. Robert, still in his "Glider" costume, is standing in the center of the room, arms folded. You can't see the smirk beneath his mask, but you're sure it's there. "Did you miss me, cherie?" he asks. Chad stares at him. "KILL THIS BITCH! MAKE HER LET ME GO!" Robert shivers for a moment, but the result of Chad's struggle for control has the same result as with you. Robert laughs. "I'm afraid not, young man." He walks closer, and a blade pops out of his wrist-sheath. He points it at Chad's face. "Now, please calm down. You're a very obnoxious young man, and I'm sorely tempted to hurt you, so behave yourself." Chad turns pale, and his struggles become feeble and half- hearted. "Who the hell are you?" he whimpers. Robert's masked visage turns to you. "Well, would you like to carry this bundle of joy back to Monsieur, or shall I? Oh, I know. You can hold him on your lap. I'll drive." He throws his head back and laughs, as he starts for the door. "Non, actually there is a van waiting for us downstairs. Come along, ma belle, toute suite." "Someone else," Chad whispers. "Someone else is already controlling both of you." <><><><><> -Crystal>- Crystal ignores Robert's jibes, that having been something she hadn't missed one bit during her all too brief 'escape'. She simply holds Chad tightly, ignoring his struggling since he can't hurt her Crystal body except in the mind and he isn't likely to stop that. "Very good, Chad. Now maybe you can start thinking about what 'someone else' is going to do to you." She walks toward the door without even turning to her 'partner'. "Let's get out of here, Robert." <><><><><> [GM] One of the Puppet Master's sullen blond goons is waiting in a van downstairs. Chad tries to control him too, and Robert's hand lashes out in a blur, smacking Chad across the mouth. Even as hateful as the boy is, it makes you wince to see a grown man striking a child like that. "I'm telling you this for your own good, boy....you'd do well to learn to mind your manners very quickly, because the man we're taking you to, he is not so tolerant and patient as the lovely Miss Tallen and myself." Chad huddles against himself and shivers on the drive back. "You were being tracked all along, of course," Robert says. "You didn't really think the Puppet Master was going to let you accidentally escape, did you? He was there, using his powers to hamper the federal agents and facilitate your escape. I flew overhead. I WAS going to swoop down on them as soon as they stopped the car, but he told me to wait." Robert peels his mask off, and smiles at you. "I suppose he was curious to see what Chad would do with you." <><><><><> -Crystal>- "I suppose he was." She sits in the van, her jacket wrapped tight around her, still protected in her crystal body. She was being used all along. She was never anywhere close to on her own and even her attempt at rebellion was carefully choreographed, doomed before it began. She was trapped, indefinitely, by this monster. But she sits, stock still, and keeps her feelings from her faceted features. She won't give Robert the pleasure of seeing her hopelessness. <><><><><> [GM] The rest of the drive back to the Puppet Master's penthouse is quiet. Robert pulls out a cigarette and begins smoking. Chad tries to withdraw into himself, glowering at both of you. At least his mental attacks have stopped. The Puppet Master is waiting, as you and Robert bring Chad in. Robert pushes Chad forward, so the boy stumbles, before jumping to his feet. He stares hard at the older man, trying to look belligerent but mostly looking scared. "So, you've got powers like mine," Chad says. "I guess you're stronger 'cause you're older. Well big deal. I'll get older too. Unless you kill me, but if you wanted to kill me, you could've just had your crystal bimbo or the cheap Wolverine clone do it." The older man looks at him with a cool expression, then smiles, then laughs. "Very good, child. You are a very bright young man, aren't you? Yes, you're quite right, you are more useful to me alive than dead. And I am stronger than you because I am older. You have great power, but no idea how to use it." His eyes sparkle. "I can teach you." Chad stands, in his defensive posture, trying to size up the tall Russian. The Puppet Master continues. "I think there is one thing we should be perfectly clear on, though." Chad screams, clutches his head, and falls to his knees, then curls up on the ground. The Puppet Master shows no sign of doing anything, merely keeps speaking, calmly. "*I* am the master here. You are, IF you learn your lessons well, and continue to be useful to me, a pupil. You will do everything exactly as I tell you, without question. I expect, youthful impertinence being what it is, that you will make several more attempts to resist my authority, regardless of what threats I hold over you. I will tolerate a certain amount of rebelliousness, since it is the only way you will learn the futility of trying to match your unhoned mental faculties against mine. But rest assured, each lesson will be successively harsher and more painful than the last. I trust not many such lessons will be required. My patience is not infinite." Chad whimpers. The Puppet Master looks at you. "Miss Tallin...get the boy cleaned up, and calmed down. I will be waiting for you both in the study." He turns away. "I prefer that my suboordinates learn to cooperate without my constant supervision. So if you decide to abuse one another, I will not intervene. I will, however, not be pleased should one of you inflict permanent damage on the other." He looks at Robert. "Mr. Gaulliere, you are dismissed for now." Robert nods, with a mock salute. The Puppet Master strides out of the room. Robert looks down at Chad disdainfully, then at you. "Need any help, cherie? You don't seem like the motherly type." He laughs, and draws on his cigarette again. "Poor kid...just learned one of life's harder lessons. No matter how bad you be, there's always someone badder." <><><><><> -- "I wouldn't be too sure that is the lesson," Crystal says, still in her diamond-like body, unwilling to shift from it now. The jacket only provides so much by way of modesty. "But you're right. Taking care of children isn't a genetic trait and I can't say I'm looking forward to it." She almost found herself smiling, but then remembered who it was she was talking to. "If you can get started, I'd like to change into something a little less destroyed." She also wanted a chance to get away from this, even if just for a minute. She knew it would only be an illusion of not being part, but she needs that illusion, needs any hint of hope. After tonight, there was so little left... <><><><><> [GM] "Ah, you look good in 'destroyed' clothing, Miss Tallin," he says, in mock imitation of the Puppet Master. He nods. "Go ahead, change into something softer and more appealing to the eye, I take care of the kid. You know, you should maybe think about being nicer to me. After all, I have more autonomy than you. You're still a pawn. I'm maybe a rook or a knight." He laughs. "When we all just playing pieces, you need all the help you can get, non?" He pulls Chad roughly to his feet as you leave the room. <><><><><> -- "Only if you think your only choice is playing the game." She turns and walks quickly to the room she was given, knowing her bravado looked as hollow as it was. She was a pawn, and Robert was right. But she had to keep fighting, somehow. He had made her kill, and if she goes along with him, lets him win, then it is Christine Tallin who killed that man in fact, not just in appearance. And she won't have that. She closes her door behind her and strips off, first the jacket, then her crystal body, then the shreds of the ridiculous costume she'd been forced into. She could use a shower and her heart begs a chance to let the pent frustrations free, but she hasn't the time for either. She chokes back tears and quickly dresses herself in simple, casual clothes from those Tyler had chosen, ignoring her purchases from earlier [assuming they have even arrived here by some means]. And she studies herself in the mirror, taking a moment to take in her new look, her cropped, blackened hair and nervous eyes. Would she be able to stand or would she break? Could anyone stand up to this? Tyler had seemed strong enough when they'd met in New York, but she had seemed like the perfect puppet, spinning clever lies and not offering any hint of a warning. Could she have done differently? She has to believe she could and hope she won't be tested. She swallows back her frustration again and heads back from her room, to get a better look at the rest of her prison. <><><><><> [GM] Chad is standing again, wiping his nose, but the belligerent glare has returned. He slaps Robert's hand away and sneers at you. "Ok, let's go see the high an' mighty bastard," Chad says. "At least you're just as big a sucker as me." Robert laughs, as the two of you leave the room. Approaching the door to the study, Chad mutters "That's what you meant, I had to make you talk, right? You were hoping I could break his control over you." He smiles sarcastically. "And I guess then you figured it would be a cinch to break free from me, 'cause I'm just a little kid." <><><><><> -- "If that is what you'd rather believe, Chad. But I thought it was a last attempt to warn you. For all the good that would have done." Chris can't look at the boy she was used as bait to trap. Because he is, in part, right. Because perhaps by not meeting his eyes, he won't see everything in her head. Because she hates having to admit to such a complete failure. "For either of us." And after that final, quiet phrase, Chris pauses to collect herself as best she can, closing her eyes and taking a final deep breath to at least tamp back the dread and then she leads the way into the study. <><><><><> [GM] The elderly man is sitting behind a fine oak desk. The study is lined with bookshelves, but surprisingly few books, and the impression you get is that they haven't been here long. You notice many of them have covers lettered in Cyrillic alphabet. Some seem to be works of literature, but there are a number that look more like scholarly journals, and atlases. He is staring distantly into space, seated in a plush armchair, his fingers wrapped lightly around the stem of a glass of cognac. At first he seems to take no notice of either of you. Chad stands in front of the desk, arms folded, glowering, but shifts uneasily as the Puppet Master doesn't deign to say anything, or even glance at the boy, or at you. "He's in la-la land," Chad whispers. "High an' mighty mind-controller's goin' senile-" The Puppet Master's eyes focus again, and he looks at Chad with a dark smile. "Not at all, young man." Chad tries not to swallow too hard, while the senior telepath pours himself some more cognac from a bottle on the corner of the desk. "Care to indulge, Miss Tallin? No, I suppose not." He takes a sip. "You really need to learn some respect for your elders, Mister Reiter," he continues. "Yeah, 'respect for my elders', translated as 'I'm gonna beat your ass until you do what I say'" Chad sneers. "Ah, what a sad and tragic life you've had, young man." The Puppet Master shakes his head sympathetically. "You see, Miss Tallin, how young people grow up, directionless and with no moral character, when not raised properly?" He gestures to Chad. "Sit down. Both of you." His voice has that commanding edge again. Chad obeys reluctantly, sitting down next to you. "Mister Reiter...you have great telepathic potential, but you've learned only the crudest forms of menta manipulation," he says. "There is a great deal I can teach you." "I know what I need to know," Chad mutters. "You know how to seize motor control of unprotected people, and to a certain extent, override their volitional instincts as well," the Puppet Master says. "You have no idea how to insinuate yourself into someone's mind and make subtle alterations in their psychological composition. You have learned nothing about reading thoughts, transmitting noncompulsory messages, manipulating the locuses of emotive control-" "Man, I don't even understand half those words!" Chad says. "Don't interrupt me!" the Puppet Master snaps. Chad sits up straight, startled. The man glares at Chad for a moment, then relaxes slightly. "Yes, I can see your education is woefully deficient." "I can see you like showin' off big words," Chad shoots back. The Puppet Master gives him a long, silent stare, though from the way Chad's face drains of color, you suspect it's silent only on the audial level. Finally, he speaks out loud again. "I will teach you things. Gradually. We will develop an understanding along the way." He looks at you. "This is not to say that you won't be serving a useful purpose immediately, both of you. Tomorrow....I will be moving my current base of operations. I have various tasks you will perform to help accomplish that mission. However, Miss Tallin, I want it understood....from this point forward, your purpose in life is Mister Reiter. You will accompany him wherever he goes-" "'zat mean she follows me into the bathroom?" Chad cuts in. The Puppet Master gives him another lethal warning glare, before continuing, "You will see to it that he has whatever he needs, so long as I approve, you will ensure his well-being." "Oh boy, you an' me, Babe!" Chad grins at you in his best imitation of an adult leer, elbowing you in the side. But he's still shaken, and young, and his attempt to mimic lecherousness- to your relief- comes off very unconvincing. The Puppet Master is obviously not one with a great deal of patience for children. He sighs, watching Chad's antics with a dour expression. "Rest assured, young man, we will be...communicating...at great length, as to the role she will play from your point of view. First and foremost, she is to protect you from harm. You will both be dealing with other metahumans, and sometimes, your mental powers may be insufficient to ensure your safety." Chad slumps back in his seat. "Yeah, great. Who protects me from you?" The Puppet Master smiles. "You are dismissed for now, Miss Tallin. Stay in the townhouse. You may watch television, or read, if you wish. Or play chess with Mister Gaulliere." He chuckles. "But no phone calls." <><><><><> -- Chris is silent during the part of the audience she is allowed to attend, not responding to the Puppet Master's jibes at all, simply sitting at his order and watching him with level, cold eyes. His order isn't unexpected, not since his last order to her. As if she knows how to look after a teenager just because she's a woman. She hadn't chosen not to have a child just because it would take her away from her work for too long or because it would be too much work to get back into shape afterwards. It was because she strongly suspected... no, more than that. Because she *knew* she didn't have what it took to be a parent. She'd never even had a good example what a real, caring parent was like except in movies. But maybe she would be able to do some good. Chad would need someone other than Robert and... Even a clumsy pseudo-mother had to be better than either of them in trying to help the angry boy into something more than he was now. Not that she had to like the role. In fact, just because he wanted her to do it was enough of a reason to dislike the idea. "I thought I was going to be the cover girl for a national 'coalition,' not a den mother. Or did you already give up on all the ideas you had that duplicate spout on television? I already told you I don't like what you're doing or being part of it, and you know that's true as well as I do. But since you won't let me not be part of it, can't you at least let me know what I'm supposed to be doing more than a few minutes in advance so I can do it right? I mean, this is hardly a maternal look." She points up to her cropped, dyed hair and smiles thinly. "You're a lot more subtle than Chad, sure. But I've been used by people who didn't have the advantage of mind control and you've got as much to learn as him. Maybe more, because he at least sees how little he knows, even if he won't always admit it." Then she stands, as he suggested, and walks to the door, turning back just before she exits. "Ohh... You didn't tell me if you liked the new look or not. Am I supposed to guess you approve since you didn't stop me?" <><><><><> [GM] "Oh yes, you will still be, publically, a magnet for other metahumans," the Puppet Master says. "I believe Mr. Reiter, once his talents are properly cultivated, will be an invaluable tool in that regard." "You are welcome to share your expertise in generating a desired public image- later. As for your appearance, so long as you do not adopt too outrageous a guise, I see no need to dictate to you the length and color of your hair." <><><><><> -- "I'm overwhelmed by your trust," Chris says, her instincts overwhelming her decision to attempt to gain his trust. As if she could disguise the disgust every time he gives her an order... But she won't get any hints of what she will be forced to do next now, that is clear. And that means being anywhere except in the room with him was far, far better than being here. She turns sharply and leaves, deciding first that it would be good to explore this place, even if they are leaving it tomorrow. Robert had mentioned a prisoner, and surely there were other puppets. She had to know more, in case there was ever a chance to use the knowledge... <><><><><> [GM] The townhouse is very nicely furnished, but it doesn't have much of a "lived-in" look. This is apparently just a temporary headquarters for the Puppet Master. Aside from a few more books written in various European languages, mostly Russian (or something else that uses the Cyrillic alphabet), there is very little of interest. He apparently also doesn't keep anything of high informational value here. Robert seems to have left. On the ground floor, you find a pair of muscular, hard-looking types with disassembled machine guns spread out on the floor in front of them. They are cleaning the gun parts, while watching a football game on the television. They look up immediately when you come down the stairs, their expressions immediately turning to the predictable lustful stares. "Hello, miss," one says. "You going to keep us company?" His grin is probably what passes for 'inviting' in his mind. <><><><><> -- "Oh, no. I wouldn't want to tear you away from your guns and football. I'm just wandering..." These two are yet another example of how little difference there is between the Puppet Master and Chad. They both seem to go for the basest brutes as their troops. But that doesn't explain why he came after her... Anyway, she would have to work with these two and it might help if they kept exactly the feelings they had now, if only so they would give her a bit more attention and maybe more of an opening if one ever happens... "I'm Chris." She continues down the stairs and stops a few feet away from the men. "I guess we'll be working together, so we might as well be on a first name basis." She offers the marginally more polite Neanderthal a cover-girl smile, no feeling but enough charm he won't notice. And she pointedly avoids looking at his partner. "So, is there anything interesting around this place? I'm not much on television and the upstairs was dull beyond belief." <><><><><> [GM] "I am Kolya," the man you're addressing says, with a slightly friendlier expression. "A pleasure to meet you, Chris." He peers intently at the bolt carrier of his weapon, scrapes off a bit of carbon, and sets it down carefully. "I am afraid there probably is not much here interest you. If you are bored, maybe we think of something...?" He cocks an eyebrow at you with a smarmy smile. The other man says something to him in Russian. Kolya answers, they exchange a few more words, then Kolya says "Ivan speaks English less than me. Ah, you are one of the Colonel's ubermen, yes? A...conscript." There's a bit of sympathy in his expression, albeit overshadowed by lecherousness. <><><><><> -- "'conscript,'" Chris repeats, her smile vanishing all at once. "That's one word for it. A lot nicer than the one I'd have choosen. But yes, I am one of your Colonel's... 'supermen.'" A thought and she is Crystal, reflecting the television's glow in her shimmering form. She holds out her arms and spins slowly, practiced in showing herself for critical appraisal. "So," she continues, without changing back just yet, "is it really just you two, the Colonel, the kid, Robert and I? Don't you ever get visits from Tyler and her chameleon friend? Or anyone else?" <><><><><> [GM] Neither of them seem intimidated by your transformation, though it does surprise them a bit. Kolya smiles. "The Colonel has not seen fit to enlighten you much, obviously. Well, I'm sure he has his reasons. But no, Ivan and me, we are here, how you say, errand boys, if something comes up." He chuckles as he begins assembling his submachine gun. "Whatever the Colonel has in mind for you, Chris, it is only a small little part of his plans. And we, we obey him as we always have." Ivan speaks to Kolya in Russian again. Kolya shakes his head as he answers. They speak for another few moments, then Kolya makes a dismissive gesture and snaps something at his comrade. "I apologize, is rude to speak in front of someone when they do not understand, no? Ivan is very suspicious of you. But I am sure if the Colonel wished you not to talk to us, you would not be here." <><><><><> -- "You seem to trust his judgement, don't you? Well, I have my doubts with that kid. I think he's a lot more trouble than he'll ever be worth." Chris shifts back to flesh and blood, feeling all the more helpless in her natural self and wanting that feeling now, wanting to see hints of these two being more than puppet thugs. Had he left human feelings there or just a mask of them? "I wish I could say the same for myself... But I don't think I was any trouble at all. Just one little phone call and I opened my door to him... You know, you're right about him not being worried about me. He said I could do almost anything I wanted around here. Except make a phone call. I guess that might be him being nice or something, keeping me away from the phones up front rather than leaving me to try and then freeze one digit from finishing a number or not be able to speak or whatever..." She's letting herself ramble and the desperation creeping into her voice is far too easy to summon up. In fact, as it builds she worries she won't be able to stop it. "He won't tell me what he wants to do with me. He makes it sound like I'm going to be part of some big public show, then he uses me as a babysitter and kill..." She freezes, suddenly, in the middle of the word. Killer. She had killed that government agent, and maybe more than him. She had tried to deny it at the time, but now it was so clear. He rebellion, her independence, her little games, they were all a joke. If she'd kill for him, she'd do anything he told her to do. There was no use pretending. Her stream of words jumble and are lost, unspoken, and he turns even as hot, angry tears begin to form. She had been trying to see what she could learn from these two, but her act had turned all too real. There was no use playing at this. She wanted to be alone, she had to be. They were just as helpless as her, so they couldn't be any help. Chris rushes from the room back up the stairs to the room they had put her few remaining belongings in, as well as her new purchases. She ignores all of that and drops into a chair looking out the window. She sees her own features reflected over the tiny view of the world now out of her reach. The free world she couldn't return to. She leans her forehead against the cool glass and cries. <><><><><> [GM] The sun sinks, and the room grows dark. You hear some movement in the house, indications that the Puppet Master and his puppets are still acting out his schemes, but you are mercifully left alone. You don't even feel his looming presence in your mind...but then, you already know that he doesn't have to perceptible to you for him to be closely monitoring your every move. Your every thought. He seems to have more than a tiny sadistic streak. Maybe he's laughing right now, drinking up your pain and despair, reveling in his total control of your life. Then again, he could be enjoying his total control over you in another obvious way. Most men, assuming they were as soulless and amoral as the Puppet Master seems to be, wouldn't hesitate to enjoy having your body as their compliant plaything. Aside from some veiled threats of turning you over to his men, he's shown no inclination to abuse you in that way. So perhaps you are just an insignifant cog in his schemes....the destruction of your life, the unthinkable cruelty, is just an unfortunate side effect of his plans, and your anguish is beneath his notice. Neither line of thinking is very productive, or at all cheering. You don't know what time it is, or how long you've been sitting by the window, when the door opens. Chad is standing in the light. "His big high an' mightiness said to tell you to make sure I go to bed," Chad sneers. "Hell if I know why he didn't just tell you himself, in your mind. I don't need no one to tuck me in-" For just an instant, he pauses, his face reflecting uncertainty, as he notices your anguished, tear-stained face. Then the belligerent attitude falls back in place like a hand slipping into a well-worn glove. "-so if you don't mind, just sniffle quietly." He kicks off his shoes, and pulls his shirt off, and climbs into the bed next to the one on which you're sitting, wearing his stained jeans and dirty socks, and pulls the covers over his head. <><><><><> -- Nothing had resolved itself by the time Chad came back to the room. The only explanations that made any sense left her just as helpless, just as hopeless. But the boy's return reminds her that she does have things to do, she has to keep trying, as hopeless as it looks. Chad needs to be looked after, and she needs to find out what's being said about what happened on the news. If she'd been recognized. How many died... She looks at the lump in the bed that was Chad moments ago and shakes her head. She couldn't do much good for him either, between not knowing how to deal with children and the negative influence of Robert and the Puppet Master himself. He would just hide behind years of anger and stay just as hurt and bitter as he already was, and all she can really do is watch. She waits until it sounds like he actually has gone to sleep, which shouldn't take long after the day he's had (and possibly with the Puppet Master's help... can he do that as well, or are there at least *some* limits on his control?), then she slips quietly out of the room, finding a bath to clean up her face, then heading back to where she saw the television, hoping she's somewhere near the right time to find some local news... <><><><><> [GM] Kolya and Ivan are still down in the TV room. Their weapons are now assembled and sitting next to them, and as luck would have it, they are watching the evening news with interest. You see cameras outside the strip mall, showing the shattered exterior of the video game parlor. [Evening news broadcasts, nationwide] "Another alleged metahuman incident has occurred in St. Louis, Missouri, resulting in at least two dead. The incident took place at this small video game parlor in the downtown section, only eight blocks from the riverfront." Cameras show a strip mall, with the shattered exterior of a video arcade, blown apart games sitting inside behind destroyed windows and cracked and burned walls. The laundromat next it clearly suffered some collateral damage. "Federal agents were involved in an alleged attempt to capture a young metahuman who was playing video games at this popular teen hangout. According to witnesses, when the law enforcement agents moved in, some of the teenagers in the arcade produced pistols and submachine guns, and a battle broke out! Though details are sketchy, witnesses definitely saw at least one man who appeared to be flying overhead, and a glowing figure who fired what has been described as 'beams of light'- possibly lasers- into the firefight. There may have been other metahumans involved, but the St. Louis police and the FBI are both refusing to release any details of the incident at this time. NBC news has been unable to determine even *which* agency was responsible for the raid, and whether they had a warrant to attack a location known to harbor large numbers of children." "It is unclear on which side, if any, the metahumans were fighting during this incident, but several law enforcement agents and children were taken to the hospital. Some are listed in critical condition, and we have unconfirmed reports of at least two dead." "Though she was not specifically identified as being the alleged 'glowing figure' in this incident, the world of modeling was shocked today when the FBI, at a weekly press conference, announced that supermodel Christine Tallin, more recently revealed as a metahuman herself, with the adopted pseudonym 'Crystal', is now wanted for questioning, though no arrest warrant has yet been issued." [A short segment follows, showing a few photos of Christine Tallin in celebrity shoots, then a brief recap of the events surrounding her transformation into a metahuman; the two battles with Lucretia in New York, then the press conference in California, where the spot focuses on her 'temper tantrum' and intimidation of the journalists who showed up there.] "Coming later this week, on 'Dateline'; What IS the government doing about metahumans? We encountered closed doors and 'unconfirmed rumors' nearly everywhere we went, but from around the country there are reports of government agents hunting metahumans, sometimes with metahuman help themselves. Is a shadow agency operating without a charter, right here in the U.S.? And CAN we really do anything about superhuman terrorists like Deathstorm, Cyclone, and Terrarizer? So far, the only effective countermeasures against metahumans have been other metahumans. Are we helpless against this 'new breed'?" Kolya looks at you. "This was first time you were in battle?" he asks solemnly. <><><><><> -- "You saw the tape. Lucretia doesn't count as 'battle' to you? She almost killed me, twice. That was a lot worse than this." But she knows what he means, and she knows he's right. Lucretia was a psychotic individual and fighting her was fighting to survive. What she did to the government agents, what she did to their metahuman... What Lucretia did to her healed in days. What she had done (been made to do, she reminds herself, clinging to the last scrap of hope) would take much longer to recover from. Her sharp anger fades as quickly as it rose, and her voice is soft as she speaks again. "A month ago, all I cared about was being a pretty face, a good picture for the cameras. Now people are dying because of me, I'm being used as a weapon to kill people... All I wanted to do was help people, make the world better. And all I've managed to do is make it worse." She looks at Kolya with eyes that barely hold back renewed tears. "What am I supposed to do to make things right?" <><><><><> [GM] "What is right?" Kolya asks. "I have no answers for you, Chris." He reaches out and puts his hand on yours. "I cannot set you free, but there is anything else I can do?" <><><><><> -- Chris blinks at his touch, not sure how to react. Was the honestly concerned, understanding, or was his only thought the familiar lust she'd made a career out of toying with? And, just now, did she care? Or did she just need at least an illusion of comfort, at least for a moment... She smiles, a slight, frightened expression, tentative. His hand is warm and strong above hers, her eyes search his for something, anything that might show a sign of depth to his action, a hint that he really does understand... "Just... what you're doing. Please..." She raises her free hand, lightly trapping his, her fingers delicately tracing the feel of him as her mind tries to shut out everything else. <><><><><> [GM] Kolya smiles. "OK." He holds your hand, and moves to touch your cheek with the other. You find no answers in his eyes. His smile seems sincere enough, but he doesn't strike you as the most empathetic sort. Maybe a pretty female in distress just had a softening effect on him, typical for men, or maybe he's just trying to take advantage of your vulnerability. Or maybe he's in the same boat as you, as Robert hinted earlier. You don't know him at all, how can you judge? But it's the first remotely human contact you've had in what seems like forever, even if it's been only a few days. <><><><><> -- Chris leans against his hand, her cheek warm, tears beginning to drip slowly from her eyes and wet his fingers. She knew better than to trust him, to trust anyone she met here in the Puppet Master's circle of agents and thugs. But she needed someone, anyone, just for a few minutes of time with simple humanity. No words, just the simple presence of him next to her, giving her a grounding, a hint of support. If only there was some hint of a way out, some sign that freedom was possible, even only as a dim hope in the future. But her situation was hopeless, and even if she was freed, she would have to answer for what she did and her life would be over. She was trapped, forever. And Kolya was the only hint of anything other than cold inhumanity around her. She sighs lightly, snuggling her cheek against his touch. <><><><><> [GM] Kolya pulls your face gently towards his. "I do not have any pretty words to give you, Chris," he murmurs. "I am not so good at English, and I am soldier. But you are very beautiful, and is sad to see you cry so." <><><><><> -- She looks at him, wondering. Is he an free man, following the Puppet Master out of his own twisted desires or locked in some military sense of loyalty, or is he another puppet? Is this all another manipulation, of her of them both? Does any of it matter now? As she looks in her eyes, she finds herself drawn forward, so close now, her tears stopped but still glistening in the corners of her eyes. She should get away from him, now. The Puppet Master would be only to pleased to have her giving in to desperate need for human contact. Or would he be happier to have her hurt and empty, alone and helpless? Was she helping herself or hurting herself? Does any of it matter now? It takes only a small movement forward to allow her to press a kiss against Kolya's lips, even as she tries to determine if this is making a decision or simply trying to better understand his motives... <><><><><> [GM] Kolya returns the kiss enthusiastically. He's not a bad kisser, though a little aggressive. The hand that isn't on your face moves to your side, stays there though you can almost feel his stifled impulse to start roaming elsewhere. Behind Kolya, Ivan looks at the two of you scornfully, then slouches in his chair and fixes his attention on the TV screen. <><><><><> -- She is suddenly sure she shouldn't be doing this. The man is a stranger, almost totally unknown to her, a soldier for the Puppet Master who is only thinking about a beautiful woman he wants, not about a person, not about her. She is suddenly sure this is exactly what she needed. The touch of another human being, something to anchor her, to give her hope in the turbulent, collapsing world she is trapped in. She is suddenly sure that she has no idea what she should do next. But she knows that she will have to have acted before she can think this all through. Their kiss continues, Chris enjoying his strength, his forcefulness, frightened of his strength, his forcefulness. Torn between turning away and guiding him forward, she simply continues where they are, unsure how she should react and so surrendering the initiative she took by starting their kiss. <><><><><> [GM] Kolya's hand *does* start to roam, as he presses you back against the couch, still kissing you hungrily. His lips go from your mouth to your throat, as he continues taking the initiative you've relinquished to him. He seems either unconcerned, or to have forgotten completely, about his comrade. <><><><><> -- Chris finds her body racing ahead of her mind, reacting to Kolya's touch, to her own adrenaline-drenched day, by moving almost wantonly against him, seeking his hands, reveling in his fingers and lips... It has been so long, she thinks. Despite no end of offers, Chris knew it was better to be careful than not. And while her mind had not yet decided about this strange Russian, this man who may well serve her cruel master willingly, her instincts push her on like they hadn't since Pa... NO! She can't think of him, not here and now. She pushes all thought of him away, trying to keep the Puppet Master's mental hands away from him, away from... She can't even consider what he could do with that sort of 'puppet' and she can only pray it will never happen. She'd stiffened at the thought, probably enough that Kolya noticed. She has to clear her mind, fill it with other things. With the easiest thing at hand... She leans forward to whisper in his ear. "Do you want me, Kolya? Because if you tell me you want me..." She pauses to nibble at his earlobe, her hands moving to slide down his back. "Just tell me that and I'm yours..."