Mittens Has Class
Chapter 2 - Tesla Had a Cat, You Know
**Characters and text are protected under copyright law
"As you enter the old factory, dimly lit in ambiguous places by greenish light set at strange angles, you can hear the distant rumble of some kind of machinery going. It's obviously not any of the old and derelict units littered about the filthy area, but from somewhere further off and, you think, below." Zane leaned in, looking over the top of the cardboard barrier that was his Gamemaster Screen. An intense expression spread across his face as he set the mood of the scene.
"Is Thunderstrike's 'ThunderWarning' sense activating?" Evan asked, looking just as intent.
Behind the screen, the sound of Zane rolling some dice proceeded him shaking his head. "No. He is not sensing any immediate danger to himself, at least, not yet."
Effecting a slight drawl to the words, which she used to denote that she was speaking 'in character', Chloe said. "Evah wonder why everah big, bad, wolf makes they'r den in some ol' factory shell, Thundah?" It was intended to emulate an old Mid-Atlantic dialect, ala Hildy Johnson from 'My Girl Friday'.
Changing his own pitch and cadence to suggest a gruffer and more 'manly' persona, Evan growled. "Because it's easier for trash like Professor Plague and the Black Bard to hide among all the rest of the garbage." He gave a snide sniff, pretending to look around cautiously at the imagined scene.
"Issa thinks itta 'cause dey already made ta supports lotta sparkys." Mittens had her own character, Wonderfluff, chime in. "De's widgets n' wadjits all kinda heavy-duty!" Her character was meant to be an alien creature from a highly advanced civilization, but was still trying to get the hang of 'Earth speak'. It essentially gave her freedom to make her character's dialog as goofy as she wanted.
"I suppose yah got me there, Fluff." Chloe drawled back to her, giving Mittens a little wink. "A'course, I can't say I reallah disagree with Thundah's answah, eithah."
"So, what are each of your characters doing?" Zane prompted them, trying to get them back on track of the moment.
"Givin' all thah rumblin' coming from downstahs, there must be some kindah way down." Chloe replied in character. "How 'bout we split up and try ta find a way down therah?" She looked to Zane, reverting to her normal voice. "I reach up and turn on the 'beta-ray vision' setting of my Bomber-Goggles and begin scanning for visible hidden doors, stairs, or elevators as I carefully fly around, staying low to the ground."
Mittens smiled proudly at her sister submissive, loving how much she really got into her character. She'd even styled herself in a sort of 'retro-40's' look, with back-seamed stockings, vintage-looking house dress, and a pair of t-straps. While it wasn't extremely overt, it was certainly more effort than Mittens' own jean shirts and stretched-neck tee-shirt with '+3 Kitty of Cuteness' on it.
Chloe also always tried to refer to everything she did from an 'in-game' perspective, describing the actions of using her powers, which she always used the character's name for, not the game rules terms. She said it made her feel more immersed into the scene. Amusingly, she'd noticed that Chloe's efforts to be more in character with what she did had influenced the rest of the group to be more immersive with their own actions.
Evan had begun thinking of the disadvantage offsets built into his character as personality aspects, not just a way to get more points to build powers with. Xander had become more apt to actually play out social interactions, rather than just make a skill roll to determine his effectiveness. Even Holly, who was notorious for making mostly combat-centric characters, had devoted some effort into fleshing out new, non-combat, aspects of her character to give her more interaction hooks.
There was just something memetic about Chloe, her spirit and determination usually inspiring everyone around her. Even Mittens found herself pushing herself more now that Chloe was in her life. She'd always been pretty dedicated to her chosen role in the lifestyle and her relation with her Master, but she'd found herself trying even harder to embody the aspect of a cat lately.
At least, in ways she found fun and amusing. Mittens was always a 'cat-GIRL' first and 'just' a cat, second. However, Chloe had motivated her to put more thought into ways to accentuate her feline persona. Just the other day, she'd slipped into Master's office while he was working and curled up on his feet beneath his desk to take a brief nap. It had amused him and he'd rewarded her with some very enjoyable attention for it later.
"Mittens, what is Wonderfluff doing?" Zane prompted her, drawing her away from her wondering thoughts. "Just looking around too?"
She gave a quick glance at the sheet with all her powers and statistics. "I's gonna turn on tha WonderWobble an' see what happens." She said mischievously.
Evan's head snapped towards her in alarm. "Wait, what?!" He threw his hands up melodramatically. "Mittens! That will pretty much announce to them that we're here. We're trying to surprise them, remember?"
"If we can hear a rumble of machinery from beneath what is going to be thick concrete floors to hold all this heavy equipment, then they shouldn't be able hear anything turning on up here." Mittens explained, looking to Zane to see if his expression showed agreement. Her 'WonderWobble' power caused all mechanical devices in her area to power up and activate. The power was based on notion of her character 'wobbling in place' and creating a bunch of static electricity.
Evan didn't look all that convinced. "And if it turns on security alarms too? Remember what happened when you used it in The Banker's secret vaults?"
She did remember. It had made for a much more exciting session, turning it into a madcap escape from the heart of an enemy lair. Xander's character, Mister Phantom, had been so effective at getting them to their goal undetected that the whole adventure, up to that point, had been just Xander making a series of rolls. She was pretty sure that Zane was grateful for the chance to actually enact some of the things he'd come up with for the team to face.
Of course, Evan had seen it as a major mishap, but the rest of the players, even Xander, had been glad she'd done it. In this instance though, she was pretty sure that if there were any security alarms, they'd likely already have been set off. It was Mister Phantom who was the expert at bypassing alarms and going undetected. Wonderfluff, Golden Bombshell, and Thunderstrike were the three worst characters at anything stealthy.
"Is Wonderfluff turning on the Wobble?" Zane asked her, a look in his eye that suggested he was really hoping for a 'yes'.
However, before she could answer, and likely make Zane's day, Holly bounded into the gaming area. Slinging off her backpack and dropping into an empty chair next to Mittens, she gave a sigh. "I am so sorry we're late. Xander should be here in a second, he needed to grab his stuff from his trunk."
Evan gave a dismissive wave and a quick smile. "No biggie. Finals need to take precedent. We've easily worked around you guys until you could get here." His expression returned to a frown. "Though, I think Mittens is about to get us all caught...again."
Holly gave a little chuckle. "Well, good. That will make it easier to work in Steel Maiden and Mister Phantom. We can come save you."
Evan rolled his eyes. "Or, you know, the two of you could just suddenly show up BEFORE she ruins our element of surprise. Mister Phantom is who we really needed anyway."
Holly pretended to not to hear the response, busying herself with pulling out all her gaming supplies, though a deeply amused grin betrayed her. Mittens couldn't help but grin as well at the exasperated scowl on Evan's face. If it wasn't for the fact that he usually had as much fun as the rest of the group when she caused havoc, she might feel sorry him. However, despite all his usual grousing over things, she honestly believed it was more of his way of trying to stay in character than really having a problem with it.
