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Panic! At The Museum
A Host of Christmas Past
Being a solo play with Abraham Cadavra, Honeybee, and Demiangel. While Devil’s Night took place on Halloween, and A Mastermind Affair happened early in the Christmas season, the events of A Host of Christmas Past take place almost at Christmas. The structure and events come from Fainting Goat Games’ Panic! At The Museum by Chuck Rice. Because I’m interpolating and changing a lot, expect more rambling than usual.
Chapter 1: The Past Is Present
“Why would a place called Plains View give us an award?” asked Bill. “The town doesn’t even have a website. Only found ones for the churches and something called the Plains View Public Museum. I can’t even believe a place called Plains View has a museum.” Bill — Demiangel — took off his sunglasses and scanned the airport crowd. “Abe, I thought you said there’d be a ride.”
“There’s supposed to be,” said Abe as he adjusted his overnight bag on his shoulder. “Maybe at the luggage carousels.”
“I expected terrorists on the plane—” said Lauren, also called Honeybee.
“—Planes,” said Bill. “I swear the last one was a biplane.”
“—Something, anyway. Like, this award is to get us out of town.”
“No one needs to give us an award to get us out of town. We’ve lost our headquarters,” pointed out Abe. “Yeah, I know it’s dodgy that they’re giving an award to us, of all people. Especially—” He paused, and then started again. “They’re paying for lodging. They say.” He started forward, blending into the crowd. He was holding the letter that had brought them here.
“I haven’t even been on the team that long. I shouldn’t be part of the award,” said Bill, as he struggled to keep up.
Lauren shrank down and flew ahead; she snatched the letter while Bill scooped up her carry-on.
“Hey!” said Abe. “Give that back!”
Lauren was already back at her bag and full size, scanning the letter. “Enough mystery. What is the award for, anyway?”
Bill said, “If you’re going to stand still, move over. You’re blocking the flow of traffic. People are staring.”
“Oh-em-gee,” said Lauren. “They’re staring at Abe.” She looked at Abe. “This is your home town? Like, in the Midwest?”
“Shhh,” said Abe. He looked around. “It’s probably a trap. I hope it’s a trap.”
“I figured one of the coasts, or Fairyland, or something. Your dad was a fairy, right? Oh, we need to see everything,” Lauren exclaimed.
“If we had a headquarters, I would not have said yes,” said Abe. “And seeing everything will take a whole ten minutes.”
“Oh…your high school,” Lauren said. “Will they have a reunion?”
“We’re invited to a dinner,” said Abe dejectedly. “We, uh, we have tickets.”
Lauren squealed with delight. “You are a man of mystery no more.”
Abe said, “High school was hell. And I’ve been to Hell, so I know.”
“It’ll be fine,” said Lauren. “Not every day you get an honored son award.”
“There’s our ride!” said Bill. He pointed to an old black man in a suit, who was holding a sign that said Uncanny Justice.
Lauren tried to reassure Abe. “Maybe he’ll turn into a robot and try and kill us.”
“No,” said Abe. “Worse luck.”
They reached the old man, who said, “Dr. Wyatt William Wainwright.” He looked at Abe and said, “Well?”
Despondent, Abe said, “Hello, grandfather.”
#
“Oh, the mayor will want to have her picture taken with you. All of you. That will tick off your mother some. She’s busy, I’m afraid.”
“Of course,” said Abe. “Christmas.”
Wainwright steered the car onto the highway. The edge of the road held mounds of dirty snow. The airport was still in a rural area but it was only minutes before the edge of town appeared, as a succession of strip malls lined the road.
“Your mother?” Lauren said. She was enjoying this a great deal.
“My daughter is the librarian. She only got her Master’s though, and Abraham doesn’t even have—”
“I know, grandfather. I’m still three courses short.” Behind him, Abe could hear Lauren stifle a giggle.
Wainwright shook his head, then changed lanes. “Well, three courses. Even a podunk college should offer those. After all, I’m—”
“The Wachsmuth Chair, I know.” Abe was polite but managed to sound like a petulant teenager.
Lauren sat up. “Crinoids?”
Wainwright smiled. “You know about Wachsmuth?”
“A tiny bit. I had a paleontological overview but they glossed over the Ordovician in favour of the Mesozoic. Had to make it interesting for us physicists.”
Wainwright’s smile lessened slightly when she said ‘physicist.’ “Who was your professor?”
“For that? Garret Springer.”
“Hmph. Solid enough. He’d do a reasonable overview. Bit prone to speculative thinking.” Lauren felt that Professor Springer had just been chastised.
Bill said, “How long have you lived in Plains View, sir?”
“Took a position at the museum fifty years ago, just after Abraham’s mother was born.” He pulled into a parking lot. “Abraham, this is not some scheme of your mother’s. In fact, it is mine. I suggested that you get the honor, because I think there is something that warrants investigation.”
Abe sat up straight. Lauren and Bill leaned forward.
“This happened against my advice, because they seem to think that the Wachsmuth Chair is largely ceremonial now. Just because they passed me over for the directorship—”
“Grandfather?” said Abe.
“You’re quite right; there might not be time to discuss this after the mayor and your mother get their hooks into you. And Director Crosby, although that—”
“Grandfather.” Abe was tapping his fingers now.
Wainwright hmphed. “The museum has hired a metahuman to bring fossil dinosaurs back to life. Crosby claims that he simply wants to study locomotion, vocalizations, and behaviors. First, it’s hardly rigorous. Who knows what will be introduced by this metahuman power? Second, I think it’s the worst idea since the Cretaceous Park movies.”
Bill started, “Don’t you mean—”
“The Tyrannosaurus rex is a Cretaceous fossil.” Bill grinned as he shut up. “Crosby claims that there is no way that the dinosaurs could escape, but I wouldn’t trust him to restrain a Glyptocrinus.”
“Crinoid, like a water lily,” whispered Lauren to Bill.
“Yes, sir,” said Abe.
“A point in your favor, from the mayor’s standpoint, was that you could stay with us. Less expensive for the town.”
Abe swallowed. “Not at the farmhouse.”
“We are not isolated any more, young man. The suburbs have encroached, as you’d know if you ever visited.”
“Mom and I don’t... “ Abe sighed. “Yes, sir.”
“You cannot have your old room, I’m afraid, because your mother turned it into a Pilates studio; however the bunkhouse is habitable for all three of you.”
Bill settled back. “Stuff happens around superheroes. I hope you’re insured.”
“Nonsense,” said Wainwright. He edged out of the parking lot to pull onto the road...and a zombie velociraptor ran by. Four more were heading up the road.
“See? Velociraptors,” said Bill.
Dr. Wainwright turned and looked at them. “Deinonychus, actually.”
“Pardon us, sir,” Abe said. The team got out.
“Even a Glyptocrinus would be too clever for Crosby.” Wainwright shook his head.
Chapter 2: Raptor Rampage
Bill and Lauren—now as Demiangel and Honeybee—took to the air. [1] Bill manifested a spear of fire and threw it at the lead raptor, hoping to get its attention. [2] Lauren shrank and headed for the pack of four zombie dinosaurs.
They weren’t fossils animated, nor dinosaurs summoned from the past, but maybe something in between. Maybe science instead of magic.
Abe knew they had to have a corral of some kind; he thought of a spell that might work. [3]
Demiangel now had the attention of the raptor. He was confident that he was out of reach, [4] but the undead beast leapt off a car to get enough height, and its jaws grabbed Demiangel and dragged him almost to the ground before it fell off him.
“Vile abomination!” Demiangel cried out loud; for his communicator only, he said, “That drew blood.”
The other four velociraptors all roared and started for Demiangel. They moved surprisingly quickly.
A cylinder of shimmering eldritch force surrounded the pack of four velociraptors. [5] Trapped in with them, Honeybee was spending as much time avoiding them as trying to hit one with the venom sound.
Demiangel said, “If thou wish to be close, foul beast, then we shall be close!” [6] He pulled back his arm and punched — but only managed a glancing blow.
The velociraptor made a sound, like a parrot clearing its throat and ran past Demiangel to charge at the eldritch cylinder. It [7] hit and popped the wall like a soap bubble.
The other four velociraptors started running to keep pace. They made a big loop and Demiangel knew exactly where they were headed: him.
Honeybee was pacing them, too, This time she was better positioned[8] and hit the velociraptor. She moved to the next one.
Abe saw them heading for some panicked pedestrians, including a lady with a baby stroller. He re-created the eldritch wall but this time as a ramp over the pedestrians. [9]
Honeybee hit the next raptor[10] and moved on.
Demiangel took the fight to them, charging on wings of flame at the leader, the velociraptor he had been tangling with.[11] They connected with a loud roar, and the velociraptor flew back from Demiangel’s charge, flying through the air and gradually losing all semblance of life until it was just bones and wire that landed on top of the strip mall.
“One down,” said Demiangel. He remembered to add, “Varlet.”
The other four spread out so that one was coming from each side and two in front. They swiped at him with vicious claws.[12] He twisted away from one, managed to turn the second and third attacks into a glancing blow, and felt the claws of the fourth.
Abe decided he needed to slow them down.[13]
Honeybee saw one fall down; excellent. Then another. She had two more to hit, then.[14] She missed the first one.
Demiangel decided that punching was the only thing that worked.[15] He connected solidly, but the things were tough and didn’t want to fall down.
Both zombies concentrated on Demiangel. One hit; the other didn’t. The blows were painful and Demiangel knew they could whittle him down.
Abe managed to soften the ground beneath the beasts, turning it into the Plains View tar pit.[16]
“Thanks!” said Honeybee and envenomed the one that was until then unharmed.
Demiangel punched his again.
In a moment, both raptors were unconscious.
“I cannot understand why you wanted to leave such a delightful town,” said Lauren.
“Wait until you meet more people,” said Abe, moving to check on the woman with the baby stroller.
#
A big man yelled from two parking lots down. “Hey! Abe! That you?” Two children in snow suits were holding his hands.
Abe recognized him instantly. “Oh, god,” said Abe. “Martin Marshall.” He waved half-heartedly. Aside to the others, he said, “He tortured me in high school.”
“Then I have to meet him,” said Lauren and popped back to full size.
Marshall lumbered over, lifting the kids over the crusty snow between parking lots.
In the meanwhile, Bill made the wings disappear and pulled off his coat to look at it. “Ruined,” he said. He carefully put it back on; down feathers fluttered to the ground.
“Told you not to get one of those puffy down coats,” Lauren told him. “Get PowerOn clothes.”
“Can’t afford PowerOn clothes yet,” he muttered. “And too cold to go shirtless.”
“Good to see you!” Marshall trudged up to them, offered his hand. After a slight hesitation, Abe shook it. “Heck of a punch,” Marshall said to Bill. “Going to be at the dinner tonight?”
“I guess so.”
“We wouldn’t miss it,” said Lauren. She squatted down to talk to the children. “Hi. You going to be there?”
Both children were Asian, a boy and a girl. They shook their heads.
“They’re shy,” said Marshall. “We had to pick up some stuff and then we’re going to see Santa at the mall. That’ll be fun, won’t it, kids?”
Mute nods.
“Kids, I went to school with Abe here. Honest to goodness superhero. Who’d a thought?” He turned to Lauren and Bill. “Martin Marshall. Call me Marty. We were pretty hard on Abe — well, I was. Only black kid in the high school, so we were pretty low-key prejudiced to start.”
“Low-key?”
“Okay, maybe more than that, but you were also kinda weird— Well, you were, Abe, don’t deny it. Always telling us stories about your missing dad. I kept waiting for the girlfriend in Canada. —Yes, sweetie?” he said to the shorter child after she tugged on his coat. “You can talk to her, it’s okay.”
“I like your hair,” the girl, almost inaudibly.
“Thank you. I like your boots. Very sparkly.” That was too much interaction for the girl; she hid behind her father. Lauren stood up.
“Anyway, I hope we’ve left some of that behind,” said Marshall. “Sorry for being a jerk. Hope I see you tonight; I’d like you to meet my wife, Emily.”
“I don’t remember an Emily…?”
“Oh, she’s not local. Her maiden name was Cho.” He picked up the girl, and started trudging back to his car.
“He seems to have grown up,” said Lauren.
“Hmm,” said Abe.
Dr. Wainwright pulled into the parking lot. “I called Crosby and told him where his Deinonychus fossils are.” He chuckled.
Chapter 3: Be Rude To Your School
Lauren claimed the single bedroom in the bunkhouse, so Abe and Bill had to share the double. Bill had borrowed a needle and thread and was trying to repair his coat; Abe was brewing tea. There was a knock at the door.
Lauren looked at Abe.
“Well, it’s not my mother,” Abe said. “ She wouldn’t knock in her own house.”
While he crossed to the door, she asked, “What is it with you and your mom? She’s the one who married a faerie duke.”
“We didn’t....agree on stuff.” He opened the door and a flash went off. Bill stood up, suddenly ready for action; Lauren shrank down…but it was a photographer and a well-dressed woman in her fifties.
“Abraham!” She reached forward to hug Abe, who stepped back instead.
“Come in, Mayor Hinks. I’ll introduce you to the others.” He turned to the others. “This is the mayor of Plains View, Frances Hinks. These are Honeybee and Demiangel.”
She shook their hands. The photographer took pictures, and said, “That will be on the Herald website and, if I’m there in less than fifteen minutes, the print copy.”
“Best scoot, then,” said the mayor.
Abe said to Bill and Lauren, “He could wait ten minutes and still make it there in time.”
“We have grown, Abraham. He’ll be hard pressed to make it to the Herald’s new office.” She called after the photographer: “I didn’t say it, but speed!” She turned back. “He’ll be fine. No, no tea for me, darlings, we’ll have the presentation tomorrow at two at the Town Hall.”
“Why are you telling us? Why not just send a car?”
“Because you’re superheroes , darlings. Something will come up, like the velociraptors, so better you know where and when you should be. I don’t want to send a car and pay the driver weekend rates while he twiddles his thumbs. At least I know it won’t be more velociraptors; Dr. Crosby assures me he has that security hole patched.”
“Do you believe him?” asked Abe.
“Of course. Your grandfather has corrupted you, Abraham! I’ll see you tomorrow at two. Goodbye, darlings!” She blew them all kisses and left.
Lauren, Bill, and Abe looked at each other and exhaled.
The door opened again, and Mayor Hinks popped her head in. “Something is happening at the high school. You should get there. Hurry!”
#
Half the high school was demolished by the time they got there. It was already dark. Honeybee did a quick search to see if the villain were still around, but no.
Abe said, “This is the time of year for basketball tournaments, and it looks like the gym was destroyed. Check there first. Demiangel, we might need you on rescue. Honeybee, we need to check for people injured. You can get through small spaces.”
“Got it. Demiangel, there’s a wall over here that looks bad,” said Honeybee.
Demiangel held it up while Honeybee dove into the wreckage. She heard a heartbeat and wormed through large chunks of concrete, wishing she could get even smaller.
“I’ve got…one. Older man, a custodian by outfit.” Honeybee could see astral forms, which often let her know if someone’s spirit was still in the body. “Sir? Can you hear me?”
“Dino… DInosaur.”
“Good to know, thanks. You’re what’s important right now. We’ve got to get you out. What’s your name?”
“Cletus.”
“Okay, Cletus. Can you cover your ears?”
The man drew in a shaky breath. “Yeah.”
“Do it.” Honeybee considered how to approach. If she blasted from him out, sure she’d miss <>him but she could cause a landslide as rubble shifted. Instead, she backed out until she was under the top layer. She fired once, and the rubble shook itself to dust. <>Six more layers to go, she thought.
In the meantime, Abe had fashioned a crude dowsing stick but this one would find people, not water. [17] He convinced the fire warden to let him wander around the wreckage, but he found nothing. Miraculously for a Friday evening, the school had been nearly empty.
Once they got a jack in place to support the wall and ceiling, Demiangel could help move rubble as well.
Cletus was sent to the hospital.
“We’re lucky no one else was hurt.”
“I think the villain was trying to avoid injuries. The games were last night and there’s supposed to be the Christmas dance tomorrow.”
“But why the high school?” asked Demiangel. “Why not a bank or the Town Hall?”
“I’d guess high school was hell for someone else,” said Honeybee. She led them to the football field, currently covered in snow.
Demiangel formed his wings so that he and Abe could see. Stamped into the snow was <>The past is not dead.
#
“Dr. Crosby, we just want to know the name of the meta who brought the dinosaurs back.”
“She’s not answering her phone. It’s very disconcerting—” Crosby was about the age of Abe’s mother. He seemed distracted, constantly looking at his phone.
“Her name, Dr. Crosby?”
“She, uh, goes by Half-Past. Apparently people are after her. I gather that’s common with you.”
Abe swore. Dr. Crosby raised his eyebrows. “That’s a bit more, uh, <>hip than I expected.”
Lauren said, “Description?”
“Female, mid thirties at a guess. About your age, Abraham. Tall, thin, pale, almost ghost-like. Translucent. I didn’t ask, but she volunteered that it was from her powers. Black hair but pale translucent eyebrows. Glasses...well, goggles. Far sighted.”
“With that translucency, I guess we don’t need to ask about weight.”
“I would never notice,” said Dr. Crosby haughtily. Abe sighed. The cool paleontologists don’t work in Plains View.
“Of course you wouldn’t,” said Abe. “I’m sure it was for a burner phone, but could you give us her number? Thanks.”
They turned to leave. Before he went out the door, Demiangel said, “A hint: No one has used ‘hip’ non-medically and without irony for thirty years, maybe more.”
#
“Why now?” asked Abe back at the bunkhouse. They were still expected at the dinner, and he was suiting up. “Why not last year or next year? Is it Christmas? Is it that she just got her powers? Is it us?”
Bill tried again to tie his tie. “Do we have clip-on ties?”
Lauren came out of her room. “Bathroom’s mine! Still have to do my face. He said she’s about your age, Abe. Classmate who needed thick glasses and got mistreated?” The door shut.
Abe sighed and went over to the bookshelf. “I hid my senior yearbook here when I left home. Maybe it’s still—” He took the atlas down from the shelf and opened it. The contents were cut out and inside was a yearbook.
“You damaged a book to hide your yearbook?” Bill made another stab at his bow tie.
“A tenant did that; I just took advantage and hid this instead of grass. Pretend you’re tying your shoes—it’s the same knot, really.”
“Is this stuff PowerOn?”
“No; Stillman’s Rentals. Fortunately you’re big because all his other stock was rented for this. Don’t fly.” Abe was paging quickly through the yearbook. He stopped and put his finger on a picture. “Heh. Julia Abercrombie.”
Bill craned his head over. “She’s not wearing glasses.”
“Not a suspect. I sort of dated her in senior year. Except her father said she shouldn’t date no darkie.” He looked up. “Not his exact wording. Julie was okay, though she listened to her dad.” He finished the seniors and started on the juniors.
Lauren came out. She framed her face. “Ta-daa!”
“You look like you’re not wearing makeup,” said Bill.
“Which takes a lot of work,” she said. “Obviously Half-Past didn’t have powers then,” and she evened out the loops on Bill’s tie. “Unless you just missed mentioning you had a translucent girl at school.”
“I did not. She must not have got powers here,” said Abe. “Man, some of these people I don’t even remember.”
“Maybe she found a crashed alien spacecraft in the woods,” Bill pointed out.
“We know that person,” said Lauren. “Wasn’t her.”
“Christine Smith,” Abe said. He pointed at an empty square. “I remember the glasses, but I didn’t hang with her. We were different years. I remember she tried to get a science club started at one point but…Plains View High didn’t have much unless you were into tractors, sports, or cheerleading.”
“There’s no picture,” Lauren pointed out.
“She was away that day. I was gone by the time she graduated. I remember she was supposed to be smart, and I remember gangly and glasses and dark hair.”
“Would your mother know?” asked Lauren quietly.
“Sure; smart means library in this town. But she won’t answer the phone for me. I’ll ask around at the dinner.”
Their ride arrived. Abe looked at the two. “You’re not wearing PowerOn,” he said to Bill. “So no wings. Lauren?”
“I’ll shrink out of the dress, but the bodysuit under it is PowerOn.” She smiled. “Learned my lesson long ago.”
Chapter 4: The Dead Will Dance
There were maybe a hundred, almost everyone who had been at the high school during Abe’s time, despite when they graduated. A few old staff members had shown up, too: anyone over fifty was former staff. About a dozen were in tuxes and gowns; most of the rest were in Sunday suits and dresses (though one was in an inherited powder-blue leisure suit) and the remaining few were in clean jeans and overalls. Young wait staff moved among the guests with drinks and tip jars for re-building the school.
Abe met a few former teachers and then got cornered by Mr. Hawthorne, who had started as principal before Abe’s mother started there, and only retired five years ago. “I have managed to convince the Plains View Historical Society to put up a plaque, though that of course cannot rectify—”
“Of course,” said Abe. He looked around for escape.
“I have the wording of the plaque here,” said Mr. Hawthorne. “If you’d like—”
“Of course,” said Abe, and took the paper. He saw Marty standing there with a woman, and said, “Excuse me. Classmate.”
Mr. Hawthorne nodded.
Marty introduced his wife, Emily. She said, “I heard you were very nice to our kids.”
“They seem like good kids,” Abe said.
Emily brightened. “They are!” She glanced at Marty. “Though at some point I wouldn’t mind if you have tips about surviving when you’re not considered a local.”
“You’re a local!” Marty told her.
“No, sweetie. You are.” To Abe she said, “Not for me, for the girls.”
“They’re local! They were born here!” insisted Marty.
Both Abe and Emily looked at him. Finally Abe said, “I was born here. Would you consider me a local?”
Marty had the grace to look abashed. “At least we’re honouring you now. Plus all the money goes to rebuilding the high school.”
“True. Hey, do you remember a girl, Christina Smith? She would have been a year or two behind me.”
“Smith? No. But Mary Bailey would know. She was Mary Ephraim, she married Tom Bailey.”
Then Frances Connor-now-Miller asked Abe for an autograph, and then Kirsten Shaw, who indicated she was freshly divorced. Abe glanced around. Someone was hitting on Lauren but he didn’t recognize the man, and there was already a line for Bill’s autograph (all former football players, like Marty). He saw Julia Abercrombie (<>very pregnant!) but she didn’t approach him, and others kept him busy.
Dinner was chicken or steak; Lauren had some problems explaining the concept of vegetarianism to them. She chose chicken and ate around it.
Then Mr. Hawthorne got up while the teenagers were still clearing dishes. “I’d like to thank you all for coming. I know this has been a difficult day for us, given the events earlier. We are fortunate that Mr. Amble was the only one in the school, and I am assured that he will make a complete recovery.”
Applause.
“I’d like to preface this with a few words.” There was a general good-natured groan. “I’ll make it brief.” [18] He glanced down at his paper. “I remember when Abraham’s mother first came to the school—”
Lauren suddenly looked concerned. “Ghosts,” she whispered over the communicator. She looked around. “Six. Nine. Maybe more.”
Abe and Bill looked but they couldn’t see anything. One of the teenagers clearing dishes coughed and held a hand to her chest as if she had heartburn. Abe was closest to her; he tensed, prepared for a medical emergency.
“—certainly showed promise—” The teenager set down the platter of plates she was holding and put her hands on Kirsten Shaw’s shoulders. Kirsten looked uncomfortable at this intrusion on her space.
Then the teenager growled and grabbed Kirsten’s ears, trying to lift her up to bite her head. [19]
“Possessed!” said Laurel over the communicator. Out of the corner of his
“You think?” asked Abe as he leapt [20] . He grabbed the possessed teenager by the arms and pulled her back. Screams suddenly erupted from the crowd as maybe a dozen people tried to bite others.
“This isn’t usual Midwest behavior?” said Bill. He was trying to get to one of them, but was hemmed in by people clustered around him for protection. [21]
“They’re innocent people, just possessed!” Abe shouted. “Get away from them, we’ll handle it. Don’t hurt them!”
With his arms busy, Abe couldn’t cast spells. “Lauren, a little help?”
“In a sec.” [22] She zapped one and he fell down.
Bill took off his jacket. [23] “Sorry about the shirt,” he called.
“What?” said Abe. Maybe if he squeezed—
Bill’s wings popped out and he rose into the air, to the nearest possessed person. [24] With one swing of his arm, he sent the man to the far side of the room, where he slumped unconscious.
“Don’t hurt him!” Abe said. He squeezed the teenager tightly, applying pressure to her neck, and she slumped unconscious.
“Spirits are possessing new bodies,” Lauren reported.
<>Well, crap, thought Abe. In the middle of the crowd that had been around Bill, there was a growl and then a set of screams. [25]
Bill found the possessed man in the crowd and lifted him up. “Abe! We need a cage!”
Lauren found the other, following the scent of blood, and tried to lift her up...but Lauren had to grab by the woman’s dress because when shrunk, Lauren couldn’t reach around her to hold anything else. The woman tumbled to the floor.
Abe began a spell [26] to create what he thought of as the Playpen Of The Damned. Once he had a place to put them, he’d make it impervious to spirits.
No one there had ever actually seen Abe perform magic before. Many of them just stopped and stared.
“Holy—” started a man.
“Maybe he wasn’t lying about his father,” said Marty.
One of the possessed people actually went to an unconscious form and started to gnaw. [27] Marty ran to the man and kicked him off the unconscious person. [28]
The giant open cage appeared in one corner of the room. Bill had been waiting and dropped the possessed eater in it.
“I’ll make it ghost-proof too. Give me a sec,” said Abe.
“While the host is conscious, the spirit seems to stay put,” said Lauren. She rammed into the one she’d held and knocked the woman flat. “Dammit. Miscalculated and now the spirit is elsewhere.” Marty made a sound. “Oh, dammit.”
Abe said, “Honeybee, get people out. Demiangel and I will collect the spirits. I can banish them once we get these people safe!” The fact that he had switched to code names meant he thought it was serious.
“Marty is—”
“I see. Demiangel, I got him. Get the one who’s hurting that woman over there.”
<>Sorry, man. [29] He pivoted and drove his foot into Marty’s midsection. Though— This is cathartic. [30] Marty responded, though, trying to slash Abe and barely connecting.
In the meantime, Lauren had grown to a foot and a half so people could see her. “Everyone to the exit, please—“ She blasted another teenager who was possessed, but at half power. [31]
Demiangel grabbed another and carried her into the Playpen of the Damned.
Abe [32] didn’t connect as well with his fist, and Marty swung on him but missed. [33] Abe hoped that was because Marty was trying, ever so slightly, not to hurt him.
Other possessed people were hitting better [34] up to “Demiangel, that one— Save that woman there! I’ve got this!”
“No, you don’t. We need the spell!” said Demiangel. [35] He plucked up Marty and carried him to the Playpen.
Abe had to admit that was true. The information made several possessed people come for him, and Abe suddenly realized that a mystic shield was going to be better for him.
“All right, people. Come and get me.” [36] He made the hand passes that summoned the shield. [37]
And they came and attacked Abe before he was finished. [38] He had long rips and tears in his arms and legs but managed to finish the spell. Oh, I could have planned that better, he thought, feeling the throbbing and burning in his limbs.
Honeybee’s voice came over the communicator. “Maybe a quarter of them. No ghosts so I think you have them all. Had to zap one and I don’t want to hit her again.”
Demiangel [39] grabbed another one and dropped him in the Playpen. “Abe, we could use a little ghost-proofing.”
Abe slowly freed himself from the hungry possessed. They couldn’t hurt him with the shield up, but they could interfere with the next spell. “Come on, guys, I’m sure you can bite better than that.” One broke away from the crowd of departing guests and headed towards him. “You too, over there.” Three in the pen, four on me, hope Bill can handle the other three.
Honeybee’s [40] voice came over the communicator. “Dammit! He kept coming and I knocked him out. [41] Look for one more because I can’t see where the spirit went.”
“Great,” Demiangel said. [42] He dropped another one in the Playpen. “I get the feeling I’m the only one doing work here.”
“Yeah, we’re just on the couch eating bon-bons,” said Lauren. “You found that other one yet.”
“Can’t see for the ones I’m keeping busy,” said Abe.
“Sorry for not being faster,” said Bill.
“We don’t need to be snippy with one another,” said Abe, letting one attempt to chew on his hand. “We each do what we can. Any idea where the last one is?”
“Not yet,” said Lauren.
“All the others it was pretty obvious,” said Bill as he plucked up two more. [43] “This one has to be.”
“Don’t see it. Check the stragglers from the crowd.”
“Kinda busy,” said Abe. “Demiangel?”
“Nothing,” he said.
That meant there were four remaining, three on Abe and one in an unknown place. “One thing at a time,” Abe grunted.
Demiangel [44] grabbed the last three around Abe and dropped them in the Playpen. “All yours, Abe.”
Abe [45] chanted the spell and then touched the playpen. “Okay, that’s impervious to spirits that aren’t in a host. I’ll banish these spirits.” [46]
Afterward he was helping other people back into the building. He spotted Mary. “Mary, I was trying to track down Christine Smith. Whatever happened to her?”
“She went off to university,” said Mary. “Her father would know which one.”
“That does not help.”
Mary laughed. “Didn’t you know? Christine is Dr. Crosby’s daughter. Parents divorced when she was young, her mother’s new husband adopted her so she has a different name, but he’s her dad. She came here for the last couple of years of high school.”
“So Dr. Crosby knows where she is?”
“Probably.”
“That makes some of this much clearer. Thanks.”
There was a scream and Abe looked over in time to see Julia Abercrombie fall to the floor. He ran to her. She was pale and her breathing was shallow.
“Hey, Julie. What’s wrong?”
She gasped. “Hurts so… so bad. Never had this with anyone else…”
Abe [47] had a terrible thought. “Lauren, get over here.” Lauren was suddenly there. “Check her for an extra spirit.”
“I’d know if she were possessed, Abe.”
“No, check the unborn baby. See if the baby is possessed.” If he did an exorcism and there was no possessing spirit, the baby would have no spirit. If the baby needed the exorcism and he didn’t do it, Julie would die. [48]
“Hard to tell…I think. I think there are three. The baby’s possessed, Abe.”
“Call an ambulance; I don’t know what damage the baby might have done. I’m going to exorcise now.” [49] He cast the spell.
Lauren said, “The ambulance can’t make it in time. The other injuries have already swamped them.”
Abe stood up. “Bill, carry her. Take her to safety. I’ll deal with Christine Smith.”
“I’ll carry you,” said Lauren. [50]
Chapter 5: Panic! At The Museum
Lights were on at the museum. “Can you sneak in?” asked Abe.
“It’s winter, Abe. People don’t usually leave a window open in winter—”
“That door is ajar.” The door by the loading entrance was slightly open.
“Fine. Prove me wrong,” said Lauren. She dropped him near the door and flew in. “I hear— Slip in while they’re arguing.”
Abe opened the door as little as he could and stepped in, avoiding the snow that was building up in a line by the door.
He could hear voices in the display hall. “Christine, please don’t!”
“Half-Past is what I call myself now. Yes the T. rex , but didn’t you have an apatosaurus?”
“We’re replacing the movement. Please. That janitor is going to live—”
“Good. He was nice to me, but the rest of them can die. If they had helped me get extracurriculars, I’d have gotten into a real school, one that doesn’t have ‘accidents!’”
“Christine—” Crosby began.
“The government causes those accidents, you know. To make things like me .” There was a brief pause. “Good. You got the velociraptors back. While they’re busy with the spirits, the dinosaurs will kill them!”
Abe stepped into the hall. Christine was sitting on the triceratops, but her back was to him. “We’ve dealt with the spirits, Christine. Let’s try to fix your very real problems.”
The triceratops whirled around, nimble despite its bulk. On its back, Christine looked like a skeleton wrapped in pale white jelly, dressed in a winter coat and leggings. “I thought you’d understand,” she said. “But you think I’m a freak, too.”
The undead Tyrannosaur roared and ran past them. They could hear the loading dock door rip off the hinges and the cold from outside blew over them.
“On it,” came Lauren’s voice in his ear.
“That’s not what I meant, Christine! Look, vengeance is a heavy weight. Put it down.”
“They’ve taught me at the Foundation, Abe. You need time to cast your spells, and your friends usually provide it. I’m going to make sure you don’t get it.” The triceratops charged. [51] Its horn ran across the mystic shield on his chest as he tried to get away, but the shield prevented any damage. The triceratops ran into the wall with a tremendous thud, and the drywall over the cinder block shattered.
Abe [52] nimbly managed to pull himself onto the triceratops. “Give up, Christine. I know people who might be able to help.”
#
Meanwhile, Honeybee was diving at the zombie T. rex . [53] She managed to barely hit it but her sting had no effect; it was just too big. The T. rex [54] turned and snapped at her [55] but missed.
A passing car blared its horn and Honeybee thought, Please don’t stop and help!
But they couldn’t see her in the dark, and her sonic blast was, well, sonic: obvious but not visible at night.
She dove down so she was firing up and wouldn’t hurt anyone, even if she missed. Though how she could miss, given the size of that thing... [56] It shook, absorbing her blast at full strength, then [57] snapped at her again and missed.
Thank goodness it saw me, she thought. It won’t get distracted—
A shotgun blast rang out. [58] It missed, but it drew the thing’s attention to a dirty brown pickup truck with a shotgun sticking out the driver’s side window.
Great, she thought sarcastically. If only I had the guy with the flaming wings to let people know I’m here.
#
Abe was pulling himself along the triceratops, one handful of broken “flesh” at a time, trying to make sure he didn’t fall off. He hoped her powers were all about the past and not about the punching. He was almost close enough to grab her when he heard the screech, and the beak closed around his midsection, tossing him off the triceratops. [59] The mystic shield protected him from damage, but the triceratops turned while the pterosaur wheeled through the Hall of the Ancients.
I wish my grandfather had gotten the job. Then it would be harmless crinoids everywhere.
Fortunately the triceratops needed room to turn around and trample him, so he was able to roll over behind a display stand, get out of this wind.
“Where are you? I can see the past, you know, so I know where you were a second ago.” [60]
Ah. His wedding gift. When he had married Shaylah, his father had granted him power over fire. He couldn’t create fire, but if it were there, he could control it as fast as thought.
All he needed was fire.
He searched his tuxedo. There was paper in his pocket, from Mr. Hawthorne, and he [61] had a lighter. That was all he needed.
He tore the paper in two, jammed half into the display case, set it on fire. In his mind he was talking to it, telling it to grow, telling it to burn.
He heard the footsteps of the triceratops, so he sprang into view and made himself an obvious target. “Come get me, Christine.”
“I don’t have to get you. They’ll get you.”
#
Honeybee switched on her loudspeaker. “Superhero. I’ve got this. Just drive before you’re flattened.” She fired another concussive sound at the T. rex [62] and the beast fell over onto the pickup. “You okay?”
“My truck!”
“You never stop and deal with a zombie tyrannosaur. That’s a life lesson, sir.”
She spotted Bill’s flaming wings as he came closer. “Museum?” he asked over the communicator.
“Fire department will get you out, sir!” To Bill, she said, “Let’s go!”
#
“The dinosaurs are immune to heat. They’re dead, you...dummy!”
“But you’re not,” said Abe, and he flicked fire at her from the burning display stand. [63] She screamed pleasantly, but there wasn’t much actual damage...except now there was flame on her clothes, which Abe encouraged. [64]
She goaded the triceratops around for another run. Dr. Crosby yelled, “Christine, please don’t!” Maybe she paused; Abe couldn’t tell. Abe stood there as the triceratops charged, its head down, its horns aimed at Abe, [65] but he dodged at the last second.
Abe felt the wind as the triceratops rushed by. He took the moment to urge the fire on. [66]
Another bolt of fire [67] splashed against Christine’s chest, and then a bolt of sound shook her off the triceratops, [68] unconscious.
Dr. Crosby rushed to her side and started patting out flames. Abe concentrated and they went out. “She’s not a bad person,” he said.
Abe said, “She certainly didn’t start that way. And maybe we can bring her back.”
Chapter 6: Epilogue
Breakfast was around the table in the dinner nook.
“Government agents took her away,” Lauren said.
“I hope she’s okay,” Bill said. He took a homemade cookie from a tin and tasted it experimentally. It was good, so he ate it.
Abe nodded. “I thought about her, about how she must have stewed in the memory of that mistreatment.”
“Bad treatment can eat you up,” admitted Lauren.
“Julia will be okay, too.” Abe had visited her in the hospital, though she had been busy with the new baby: they’d had to deliver by Caesarian. “And Marty recognizes a little of what he did.”
“Julia is not going to forgive Christine, though,” said Bill. He took out another cookie.
“Wait twenty years. We’ll see then,” said Lauren. There was a knock at the door.
“By the way,” said Abe. “I’d like you to meet my mother, Camille Wainwright.”
“Is that where he was earlier?” asked Bill. Lauren nodded. A stately woman in a caftan came in.
She smiled at all of them. “I’m so grateful that you take care of Abraham for me.”
Abe blushed. “We still have disagreements. But we’ve agreed to talk.” He hugged his mother by the shoulders.
“I'll put on tea. I want to know about Abe as a kid,” said Lauren.
“Don’t you dare,” said Abe, but he was smiling.
“I am totally willing to throw away this newfound truce by giving them embarrassing stories,” said Camille.
Lauren pulled a chair to the table. “It’s got hours until the award ceremony. Bill, bring the cookies and sit down.”
“I hope this isn’t indelicate,” Bill said, “but I’m more interested in Abe’s father…”
Half Past
Because I didn't use the villain from the adventure but a slightly different one, here she is.
| Half-Past | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PRW | CRD | STR | INT | AWR | WIL | Sta |
| 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 12 |
| Specialties Art History, Stealth | Powers
|
|||||
Qualities
|
||||||
[1] Initiative: Abe 10, Honeybee 10, Velociraptors 9, Demiangel 7, Any normal 6
[2] He gets 6-1 vs 5, so a marginal hit. Call that Velociraptor 1, now down 2 Stamina: 8.
[3] He’s going to try to cast Constructs at level 5. Let’s not use any determination yet, and see how we do. 5+2+0 vs 5; he will have it soon, and his plan is to create a corral.
[4] Activating the quality “Clever Girl” so Prowess is increased (6+2+1)+2 vs 7: Major success. 5 Stamina damage, -4 for Damage Resistance.
[5] Let’s say the area is difficulty 3; Abe gets 5+0 vs 3, so he traps the three of them.
[6] Prowess: 6+0 vs 6. Marginal hit for 4 stamina
[7] Prowess: 6-3, damage is 6 and that makes the mystic wall come down.
[8] Prowess 6+2+2 vs 5, massive success. Affliction roll is 6+3 vs 5, so this raptor (call it 2) is down 6.
[9] Use a DP this time; don’t want to not make it.
[10] Marginal result on Raptor 2, so no apparent effect. Moderate on the other (raptor 3), so it’s down 6.
[11] Call it a 6+0 vs 5, so moderate hit, but extra +1 for the speed. He does 9 damage, which is 5 more than he needs, and a major slam result.
[12] 7+0=7,7+1>7,7-2<7 Damage is absorbed and 1 net.
[13] Let’s try a binding spell, extra burst, turning the ground into mud. 5+5>5 Will he hit the proper area? Difficulty 5 (the CRD of the raptors); he rolls 5+1>5. So next phase, the ground will get soft and tar-like.
[14] But she ain’t doing it with an 8-5 < 6. Fortunately, the Afflictions take out the other two.
[15] Prowess 6+1 > 6, so he hits Raptor 4 for 8 stamina. No slam effect.
[16] The binding works, with one moderate success (target at -2) and one major success (target helpless).
[17] Magic spell: Detect, Ranged, Limit: Performance. Not going to roll for it; spending a Determination point instead.
[18] Lauren can see astral forms. Does she see the ghosts? Difficulty 3, if you have the appropriate kind of vision. 5+3 > 3, so massive success.
[19] Initiatives! Abe 9 Lauren 10 Bill 10 Zombies 3 Bystanders 4 Abe gets to go first this page because he was getting ready.
[20] Prowess: 3+2>3; he grabs.
[21] Other zombies attack normals 1, 5, 2, 6, 3, 2, 2, 1, -2, 2 3 succeed, one marginally.:
[22] 7 > 2 hits, and 4 > 3 for Affliction.
[23] Bill gets a Determination Point for this Trouble.
[24] Does he hit? 6-1 > 2, a massive hit and 6 > 3 slam
[25] Zombies attack: 3, 2, 2, 1, 2, 1, 5, -1, 1, 4: 3 hits, 1 of which is marginal
[26] Difficulty 5, rolls 5+2+2=9. Constructs.
[27] We assume that Lauren & Bill got the successful hitters, but the marginal one tries again. 0: miss. Other 8: 3, 3, 6, 1, 2, 2, 0, 0. Two make marginal hits, one is successful. Say the really successful one is attacking the unconscious woman.
[28] Prowess 3+2>2.
[29] He hits: 3+3>2. That’s 6 stamina. No slam effect (3+0 vs 3)
[30] Possessed attacks: one is in crate. Nine to go. 2, 1, -1, 0, 0, 4, 2, 2. One hit, & how does possessed Marty do? 3 — marginal vs Abe
[31] Coordination 5-1>2, moderate success for 3 Stamina.
[32] 3-1=2, so marginal hit.
[33] 2+0<3, Marty misses.
[34] Attacks: 0, 3, 5, -1, 3, 2, 2
[35] Does he get him? 6-2>2, so yes.
[36] Force field up; no roll needed.
[37] Seven possessed people attack, three of them attack Abe. Two hit solidly (5, 4, 1); of the other five...5, -2, 0, 4, 6. They’re getting much better, with three solid hits. No Slam effects.
[38] Will save to keep his composure and finish the spell, difficulty 6, the total damage done. 6+1>6. The spell goes off soon. Thank goodness.
[39] Prowess: 6-3>2
[40] Honeybee: Coordination 5+1>2. Hits that same one again.
[41] Does she see the spirit? 3-3<3. Nope.
[42] Prowess: 6-2 > 2.
[43] Stunts Fast Attack off his strength, activating the Trying to do Good quality. Managed to grab two possessed people. 6-3>2, 6+2>2
[44] He grabs all 3: 7, 4, 3 all > 2.
[45] Trying to get Spirit Control, Extras: Exorcism, Spirit Ward. 5+2+0 > 5. Yup.
[46] More comic book-y to dismiss all nine at once.
[47] Does Abe realize where the other one went? Difficulty 5; 5+2-2: Marginal success, but that’s good enough.
[48] Awareness check for Lauren, Difficulty 5. This is important, so she’s going to activate “Never Too Late” and spend a Determination Point. 3+0+2 is 5.
[49] We’ve switched to narrative time so he no longer has spirit control up; he’ll spend a Determination Point to get it.
[50] Between scenes, Abe gets a free recovery. He needs it.
[51] Prowess 4-1 vs 3. Marginal hit for 3 stamina, but the mystic shields absorb that. Marginal means no slam (whew)
[52] If only he had athletics. Let’s say it’s Difficulty 5 to get onto the Tyrannosaur. He’s going to spend a Determination Point to add +2 to this roll, and I think it’s Coordination rather than Strength. 5+2+1 > 5. He’s up!
[53] She manages a moderate hit (6-1+2>5), but the affliction fails (6-4>8) so massively that she’ll have to try again.
[54] I’m going to arbitrarily say it spots her. She gets a Determination Point.
[55] Prowess 5-2 < her 6+2+1
[56] Coordination 5-1+2 > 3. Major hit, no slam.
[57] Prowess 5+0<6+2+1
[58] Joe Average has grabbed the gun off the gun rack and fired...and missed. Coordination 3-3 < 3
[59] 3+1>3; arguably Abe’s Prowess was even lower while on the triceratops.
[60] That’s an Isaac Asmov thing, from “The Dead Past.” I know. But she doesn’t have the power officially, so Abe gets a determination point.
[61] Another determination point for the retcon: he should probably carry a lighter around. So he does.
[62] Easy to hit, though: Coordination 5+3+2>3.
[63] Marginal hit (5-1=4), so 2 Stamina.
[64] We’ll call it an Affliction. Cost a Determination Point to stunt that.
[65] Prowess 4-2<3. Moderate miss.
[66] He gets a marginal success on the Affliction roll, so another 2 stamina, but no slam.
[67] 6+3>4 for 4 Stamina; 4+1>4 on Stun test; one page of stun
[68] 5+2-2>4, so that’s another 6 Stamina
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