scarlet_discord | For lastvoyages Twenty-sixth Hex (video+spam for library)

[private to Nathan Hendricks]
[Wanda has taken to emblazoning her artfully shredded summer t-shirts with various legends on them in permanent ink. Today's T-shirt states in broad strokes: FUCK MY LIFE. That about covers it. Her expression is cold, closed and tired.]

Yeah, uh...between my deadbeat ex showing back up, and the latest serenade by Ned Flanders With Fangs, I think I'm gonna need that second prescription we were talking about.

[Not to mention the after effects of having to stop a rampaging werewolf, warden a Warden, and cover up a murder. But she's never bringing that up.]

...badly.

[spam for Library]
[She gets claustrophobic sometimes. It's the result of growing up in a goddamn cell; sometimes she has to leave her room for a while just to prove to herself that she can. So even though she really doesn't want to deal with most people right now, she finally emerges. After doing lunch shift, eating, and feeding and running her dog, she takes a long shower, then changes and proceeds with hair still damp to the library.]

[There, she gathers together several books on real and fictional magic, and starts looking through them for more ideas. If the real limit of her power is her imagination, then it's time to think bigger. She takes notes as she pages through, a look of cold determination on her face.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

megamind

[ Second person to bring up being 'beholden' to evil, as it were. Megamind doesn't like it, but he doesn't say anything about it just yet. ]

[ He's way more interested in the fact that her fingers glow. ]

That's novel. How does it work?

From:

scarlet_discord

"Well, in my world humans are taking an evolutionary jump. Kind of piecemeal; some kids are born mutants, some are not. We have a lot of genetic variation. Some look completely human, some are furry, some have scales, some are different colors. I can pass for human...but I don't try. I'm proud of my heritage.

"Each mutant has a genetic gift of some kind. Mine is the ability to manipulate magic without circles or incantations or any of that stuff. I use them sometimes, like a hacker falling back on standard programs, but mostly I do my own thing.

"And since leather's damn expensive, I thought I'd offer."

From:

megamind

Hand crafted leather.

[ He sighs, running his fingers over the mantle. It's a wonder he didn't put his eye out with the spikes, but hey. ]

Custom made, hand-crafted, the works. The cape's a tatter of it's former glory. Minion really outdid himself. But he has no powers-- just immense skill. I certainly don't have magical powers, either.

[ But they're still super awesome, and she better not forget it. ]

I am Megamind, magical girl. Give me your name?

From:

scarlet_discord

You had a sidekick? Sweet. [She stands up and walks around the desk to him, and starts using her finger to zip up the slashes and "redraw" the broken spikes.]

Megamind, huh? Good codename. I'm called the Scarlet Witch, but Wanda's fine.

What's your opinion of this place so far?

From:

megamind

[ Wanda is the first person he doesn't want to throttle on the ship. She's helpful, she's a little bit bad -- and she might be properly moldable into a make-do Minion. No one can really replace his Minion, but still. Good help is hard to find. ]

In the vernacular? It sucks. This isn't even a proper prison. I mean, I've been here a day and nobody's gotten shanked.

[ He's been in the prison system a long time. ]

Scarlet Witch. Eh, one syllable too long. Not enough alliteration. Wanda will work.

So what are you reading up on? [ He tilts his head, and then adds ] Don't forget the cloak; that thing was hand sewn.

From:

scarlet_discord

Yeah, I was locked up early myself, and I gotta tell you, if there weren't considerable differences I would have exploded by now. Murders average one or two a week, depending on what's going on. Sometimes things get so bad that the Infirmary fills up with people Death Tolling. Which sucks, but at least they get to come back.

[She gestures to the stack of books.] I came to the realization the other day that technically I don't have to be trained in actual magic, I just have to draw inspiration from different sources and come up with stuff on my own. So right now I am reading the awesome but very bleak Manga, Fullmetal Alchemist.

Oh no, I won't forget the cloak. There's a tradition to be maintained. [She brushes her fingers over the rags, which start to lengthen and knit together.]

There we go.

From:

megamind

Did you say "ccme back"?

[ Information he didn't have. Wanda was very useful, and her own track record complimented his own. He smirked a little, and then add. ]

Well, dear, nobody's been in prison as long as I have, from as young as I have.

So what's your plan on getting out of this dump?

From:

scarlet_discord

Yeah, I did. Has no one given you the rundown of this place? I swear. Chromie tries, she made an orientation post on the Net, but so many of these Wardens just can't be bothered.

[She sits back down.]

Death here is impermanent. Inmates can be called back by Wardens and Wardens pop back alive after like an hour. After that you feel really sick and crappy for about a week.

[She frowns. She actually doesn't like the idea of some guy being dumped in a cage as a little kid, because how could he have done anything to deserve that?] Well, I can't argue that, but I can relate. My captivity was from the age of eight on. Technically it hasn't really ended yet.

[His last question makes her expression darken further. She lowers her voice.] Either get around his insane Catch 22 requirements so I can graduate, or continue building and training my powers until I'm strong enough to challenge the Admiral directly. There are some really all-right people here, but that guy...needs to be put in his place.

From:

megamind

I passed on her 'informational pamphlet'. [ He was getting more and more convinced this wasn't a prison, it was a semi-organized riot of 'well intentioned' bullies and their victims. ]

[ He doesn't talk about his childhood behind bars -- it's not a prison time contest, and if it was he'd win anyway -- and instead just nods and listens as he watches his costume reform. It's truly an impressive thing with that tall collar, vest-cloak and those amazing gloves and boots, but... utterly impractical. It's about performance, though. Impression. Being bad and looking good doing it. ]

Sounds like we need a good, old fashioned Standford Prison Riot. Zimbardo would approve, I'm sure.

From:

scarlet_discord

Welp. As she's one of the few Wardens here who actually gives a shit, maybe you should reconsider. The information is fairly helpful. Though I don't mind acquainting you with the facts. Considering that a lot of the "heroes" here have turned out to be raging douchenozzles, I'll take the company of a professional bad guy who isn't one any day.

[She shrugs.] The problem with riots here is that it's mostly people who don't deserve it who end up getting hurt. In fact, the one person who truly deserves it is the one with power over everything. At least until I train up enough that I can beat him.

From:

megamind

[ Little does she realize that Megamind is considering her uses as a temporary minion. ]

They chose a side. You shouldn't trouble yourself with worrying about the law and the lawmen. Wardens-- of any stripe-- get what's coming to them in the end.

But it seems to be a lot of people are talking about taking on the admiral... and probably should be talking to each other instead of, you know, plotting singularly. If his power is as great as suggested...

One alone may just not be bad enough to take down this impressive force!

[ Somewhere in the back of Megamind's brain, a little voice says: challenge accepted! ]

From:

scarlet_discord

Don't think that there's any unity here among the Wardens or the Inmates. Yeah, the Wardens will circle the wagons about certain crap, but everyone's fractious and argumentative and disorganized. Us and them. In general, I'm not sure that we're organized enough to even organize group action.

The other issue is that you have a lot of giant egoes around here who would bicker heavily over who got to lead the charge.

[She rubs her face and sighs.]

From:

megamind

Then you simply need to let the biggest ego think he's got control; if the biggest ego doesn't match the biggest brain, that shouldn't be a problem. [ Says the guy who is known for both ego AND brains. ] But an enterprising villain should be able to get some semblance of [shudder] teamwork out of these maroons! [ ...he means morons. ]

From:

scarlet_discord

Good point.

Unfortunately the biggest ego belongs to a man who cannon fodders everyone around him. Trust me, where alliances go, give Erik Lehnsherr a pass. Poison Ivy's unstable and hates men. Arthas, though I like him personally, is just unstable. Loki's nuts and an asshole.

Might be possible to grassroots something together with enough of the sane ones though. I do know some people. Unfortunately there's this weird thing where some of the best Inmates graduated and came back as Wardens, so I'm scouting the newcomers.

From:

megamind

[ Wanda was a veritable treasure-trove of information. Beautiful. If she could be plied well, she'd make an excellent, useful Minion. ]

I've met Poison Ivy.

I've met an Inmate-gone-Warden. They've got a very broad view of 'wrongness' on this ship, I think. [ Since it just sounded like Vasilia was mostly a jerk and not even particularly evil. She didn't try to take over a city or planet or anything! ] Which is why you have to be careful with other Inmates, and see some flip sides to Wardenhood. They're probably here to pad the conversion success rate.

From:

scarlet_discord

Maybe. I don't even know anymore. I have seen so many so called friends turn coat on me, stab me in the back and disappear that I mostly operate alone these days. Maybe the converts are all plants. Maybe it's just another layer of headgames.

I focus on improving myself bit by bit, spell by spell, practice session by practice session. He may try and keep me, but one day I will defeat him. Alone, with help, it will get done. [Okay, for a potential sidekick she does the Scary Gaze Into The Middle Distance pretty damn well.]

From:

megamind

[ Oh yeah she's a keeper. Wanda makes a find young villain; she just needs to let go of some of these vaguely moral leanings. ]

[ Not that Megamind can talk; he just calls them 'standards'. ]

Sounds like we need all the allies we can muster. I'm new here, but you seem to be well established and well informed. That's something we can use.

From:

scarlet_discord

"We", huh? All right then.

[In reality she has no intention of being used, ever again. But. This guy is just plain fun. And she suspects that right now he'll likely trust cronyism more than an invitation to hang out and be geeky.] I could use a coconspirator or two. I'm in 4-3. You have any problem with dogs?

I am. I've been here maybe fifteen months. Maybe more. I sort of lost track. I have witnessed a lot here, and dealt with a ton of problems. Some newcomers are more interesting than others, and I try to give the chosen few a decent heads-up.

From:

megamind

[ He startles a little. Another dog?! God, why do these people have animals everywhere. ]

Glad to have qualified for your Chosen Few. [ He's the best, no doubt. ] I have no experience with-- animals. My skills lie in robotics. I don't... have pets.

[ The brainbots totally do not count. ]

From:

scarlet_discord

Fozzie's a good dog, he's just gigantic. But I always warn people ahead of time.

Actually he's really heavily trained.

From:

megamind

[ Megamind is several colors of do not want and is not okay with dogs. But he shrugs his narrow shoulders, making those newly restored spikes bob. ]

I've never had pets. Their-- attraction eludes me, I suppose.

[ HE LIES, but oh well. ]

From:

scarlet_discord

He'll be happy to demonstrate his usefulness to you if you want. I trained him up since he was a puppy, and believe me, dogs are better at loyalty than most people.

But anyway, I can always crate him if he bothers you.

[She's actually considerate of people she likes.]