The Minoru Family Summer Home | Los Angeles, California | Wednesday Afternoon Fandom Time
It was weird to see Nico's palace of a summer home all dusty and abandoned, and to be able to walk around with her sneakers on without being scolded by Mr. and Mrs. Minoru. Gert couldn't say for sure, being a teenager and all, but she was pretty sure this feeling was not unlike seeing old pictures of oneself from twenty years ago.
"Smells like old Doritos," someone muttered. Which, yeah, there was that too.
"You have no idea how many pointless cocktail parties I had to endure at this place," Gert mumbled as an aside to Bay while Victor led the way into the living room. "Never thought I'd be here again, given where the owners ended up."
Gert
Gert trailed a finger over the surprisingly dust-free desk in the Minorus' living room. "Well, this is... nice."
Creepy. Her tone made it clear that she meant it was creepy.
Bay
"I'm getting some decorating tips," Bay chimed in, going over to poke at some bookshelves. "Anything special we're looking for? 'Stopping a Kidnapping for Dummies'?"
Gert
"I kind of thought we'd get here and there'd be actual people." So far... not so much. "That, or some creepy screaming painting to stop us in our tracks in the doorway like in the mansion in Barry Plodder."
She shrugged, idly scratching Old Lace's ear while she examined a bookshelf. "I guess signs of anyone living here would be a good start?"
Bay
"Well, somebody left ... whatever this is," Bay said, picking up a magazine-sized paperback with a buxom female knight falling out of her armor on the cover. "Dungeons & Dragons '99. Looks like something my roommate would be into."
Gert
Karolina and Xavin seemed to be heading off in their own direction, while Nico and Victor stuck close to the entrance, leaving Gert, Bay and Chase by the bookcases.
"Wait, didn't Alex used to play that crap?" Gert checked, coming over to look at what Bay had found. "Maybe it's a family tradition and his dad's been reliving the glory days of bad cover art while he's been squatting here."
Victor
"Uh, guys?" Victor said suddenly. "Come check this out. There's these creepy cameras and they're watching me. That means they've probably been spying through me, see? And I'm not a mole."
That was fascinating and all, but Gert just made a noncommittal noise as she continued looking around. She'd let Nico handle the apology there.
Bay
Bay started to follow Nico, but stopped when she realized Gert wasn't moving.
"You don't want to see the Victor spycams?" she asked in a low voice.
Gert
Gert shrugged. "We can if you want," she said, not bothering to lower her voice. "I was just pretty convinced that it was something like that from the beginning. Vic wouldn't dick us over. But at least now we can all stop picking useless fights," she added, raising her voice a bit.
Bay
Bay quirked an eyebrow at her, then shrugged and joined in. "It is nice when teams actually work together."
Passive aggression was fun. Who knew?
Gert
No one was ever passive-aggressive on the island! This was a welcome opportunity to accidentally damage team unity.
Gert felt a little bad for starting something with Nico on her first trip back home in ages, but it had been a long time since she'd spent an extended period of time with Nico, whereas she'd spent the last year and a half building up a friendship with Victor. Somehow, that came first, decade-old best friendship be damned.
"And here I bet you thought my teammates and I couldn't snipe as persistently as Daphne," she muttered, paging through another one of the comics with clear distaste on her face. "Turns out I am also occasionally petty and difficult."
Bay
Bay snorted a laugh. "Petty? Difficult? You?" she asked, in mock shock. "But you're usually just sweetness and light!"
She added, "Besides, to go by Toby and Daphne, occasional passive aggression goes with the family thing. You guys are fine. I just hope we find Alex's dad soon."
Gert
Gert snorted. "Yeah, me t... hang on."
A map tumbled out of one of the books she'd been flipping through. Across the front, the title spelled out, VIVARIUM.
"Guys, I got something," Gert called as she squinted at it.
Bay
"What is it?" Bay asked, leaning over Gert's shoulder in an attempt to see.
Gert
"It looks like it goes to a backup Vivarium," Gert said. "That's the place our parents used to conduct their secret villain meetings." She smoothed out the map on a table so Bay and the rest of the team could take a look as they crowded around. "It looks like it's under the Griffith Observatory."
Everyone Else
"That must be why my parents were always going there when I was little," Karolina put in.
"Wait, those creepy meetings like the one we walked in on are supposed to involve a human sacrifice, remember?" Chase said urgently. "If he's got Molly--"
"Uh, guys?" Victor called. "We've got one more thing to worry about."
Under the pile of papers he'd just lifted was a bomb that read, "From the Pride, with love." And it was ticking.
"Everyone stay still!" Karolina yelled, and she threw up a brightly-colored pastel barrier in the shape of a dome, just in time to protect them from the blast.
[[heavily adapted from runaways volume ii, issue 17, and once again with the help of justbeingbay. nfb/nfi/ooc-good, and be warned for [spoiler (click to open)]violence in the form of a non-graphic explosion under the cut. follows this and this. two more to go!]]
"Smells like old Doritos," someone muttered. Which, yeah, there was that too.
"You have no idea how many pointless cocktail parties I had to endure at this place," Gert mumbled as an aside to Bay while Victor led the way into the living room. "Never thought I'd be here again, given where the owners ended up."
Gert
Gert trailed a finger over the surprisingly dust-free desk in the Minorus' living room. "Well, this is... nice."
Creepy. Her tone made it clear that she meant it was creepy.
Bay
"I'm getting some decorating tips," Bay chimed in, going over to poke at some bookshelves. "Anything special we're looking for? 'Stopping a Kidnapping for Dummies'?"
Gert
"I kind of thought we'd get here and there'd be actual people." So far... not so much. "That, or some creepy screaming painting to stop us in our tracks in the doorway like in the mansion in Barry Plodder."
She shrugged, idly scratching Old Lace's ear while she examined a bookshelf. "I guess signs of anyone living here would be a good start?"
Bay
"Well, somebody left ... whatever this is," Bay said, picking up a magazine-sized paperback with a buxom female knight falling out of her armor on the cover. "Dungeons & Dragons '99. Looks like something my roommate would be into."
Gert
Karolina and Xavin seemed to be heading off in their own direction, while Nico and Victor stuck close to the entrance, leaving Gert, Bay and Chase by the bookcases.
"Wait, didn't Alex used to play that crap?" Gert checked, coming over to look at what Bay had found. "Maybe it's a family tradition and his dad's been reliving the glory days of bad cover art while he's been squatting here."
Victor
"Uh, guys?" Victor said suddenly. "Come check this out. There's these creepy cameras and they're watching me. That means they've probably been spying through me, see? And I'm not a mole."
That was fascinating and all, but Gert just made a noncommittal noise as she continued looking around. She'd let Nico handle the apology there.
Bay
Bay started to follow Nico, but stopped when she realized Gert wasn't moving.
"You don't want to see the Victor spycams?" she asked in a low voice.
Gert
Gert shrugged. "We can if you want," she said, not bothering to lower her voice. "I was just pretty convinced that it was something like that from the beginning. Vic wouldn't dick us over. But at least now we can all stop picking useless fights," she added, raising her voice a bit.
Bay
Bay quirked an eyebrow at her, then shrugged and joined in. "It is nice when teams actually work together."
Passive aggression was fun. Who knew?
Gert
No one was ever passive-aggressive on the island! This was a welcome opportunity to accidentally damage team unity.
Gert felt a little bad for starting something with Nico on her first trip back home in ages, but it had been a long time since she'd spent an extended period of time with Nico, whereas she'd spent the last year and a half building up a friendship with Victor. Somehow, that came first, decade-old best friendship be damned.
"And here I bet you thought my teammates and I couldn't snipe as persistently as Daphne," she muttered, paging through another one of the comics with clear distaste on her face. "Turns out I am also occasionally petty and difficult."
Bay
Bay snorted a laugh. "Petty? Difficult? You?" she asked, in mock shock. "But you're usually just sweetness and light!"
She added, "Besides, to go by Toby and Daphne, occasional passive aggression goes with the family thing. You guys are fine. I just hope we find Alex's dad soon."
Gert
Gert snorted. "Yeah, me t... hang on."
A map tumbled out of one of the books she'd been flipping through. Across the front, the title spelled out, VIVARIUM.
"Guys, I got something," Gert called as she squinted at it.
Bay
"What is it?" Bay asked, leaning over Gert's shoulder in an attempt to see.
Gert
"It looks like it goes to a backup Vivarium," Gert said. "That's the place our parents used to conduct their secret villain meetings." She smoothed out the map on a table so Bay and the rest of the team could take a look as they crowded around. "It looks like it's under the Griffith Observatory."
Everyone Else
"That must be why my parents were always going there when I was little," Karolina put in.
"Wait, those creepy meetings like the one we walked in on are supposed to involve a human sacrifice, remember?" Chase said urgently. "If he's got Molly--"
"Uh, guys?" Victor called. "We've got one more thing to worry about."
Under the pile of papers he'd just lifted was a bomb that read, "From the Pride, with love." And it was ticking.
"Everyone stay still!" Karolina yelled, and she threw up a brightly-colored pastel barrier in the shape of a dome, just in time to protect them from the blast.
[[heavily adapted from runaways volume ii, issue 17, and once again with the help of justbeingbay. nfb/nfi/ooc-good, and be warned for [spoiler (click to open)]violence in the form of a non-graphic explosion under the cut. follows this and this. two more to go!]]