ic New Age Mythology (IC)

[Poncho]

Early April, 2024

 

Freedom Central Library

 

It was a nice day in New Jersey, and in part because of that, Michael and Carmen had left Claremont after class to go have a date. A date that they both promised would not be about superheroing, would not involve alien invasions, or being trapped in time bubbles, or teenage delinquents, or any of that.

 

Michael had picked up sandwiches from Stan's Super Heroes; the local place's habit of naming sandwiches after supers had obviously always fascinated their biggest fan, and he wasn't ashamed to admit that he hoped that some day he would have a sandwich 'of his own', so to speak. But he was currently eating one named for Velocity as he and Carmen sat under the stone sphinx named April on the stairs to the building. It was decently populated, but not enough to make Carmen uncomfortable, which gave the two enough privacy to sit quietly and eat together while enjoying the day.

 

The actual Library itself was fairly busy today; they had announced an interesting exhibit of several of the first recorded written versions of many famous tall tales, in addition to oral counterparts spoken by historical researchers. Banners across the front of the heavy granite building in the City Center announced readings of the original stories of Paul Bunyan, Mike Fink, Johnny Appleseed, and more. Michael had some interest in those stories- they were, to him at least, somewhat of the precursors of modern Superheroes-, and he'd picked up several copies of collections of the tales earlier in the day, resting next to him as him and Carmen sat on the stairs. Michael was not talking about superheroing, or studying, or anything like that, at least at the moment. He was simply leaning against the base of the sphinx statue and enjoying his time with Carmen, and talking about more interesting, teenager things. That included the yo-yo that his brother had gotten bored with no long after obtaining, that he was now practicing with.

 

"Honestly, I'm not very good with this thing." he said as he threw the yo-yo out and let it roll back into his hand. "I've watched some Youtube videos and people can do crazy stuff with them. Have you ever used one?"

[MoonSimply]

It felt like it had been a long time since the two of them had gotten to have a date together or outing, at the least without some form of interruption one way or another. So, to be able to go out with Michael without any sort of interruption spoiling it was a relaxing affair, even if it was to a public venue. A dinner date after school a sandwich place by the library, a simple and easy sort of date that cost nothing other than the price of decent priced hero themed sandwiches, and not a single alien invasion or time anomaly in sight as well.

 

Carmen had ordered something that was called the Johnny Rocket, a sort of tuna sandwich with lettuce and tomato, alongside some sort of pepper relish that was rather to her own liking. The were-cat girl would even manage on this date between the two would not pick off the vegetables that were on it, a habit that she was told by the school counselor and her pediatrician to try and change. A slow and simple thing that she was working to fix over time, told that it would keep herself fit and active in her rather athletic lifestyle. A simple and easy meal in peace that she would have with her boyfriend, all comfortably out of the way of most prying eyes as to give them a bit of privacy under the shadow of the stone sphinx.

 

Idly biting into it as they stood together, Carmen would watch him play with the yo-yo, "Only a little. I can't do any tricks, but I can make it work for a while. Think one kid would always get in trouble back home using it like a flail."

[Poncho]

(Golden Star Post)

 

"A flail...Huh." he rolled it forward. "You could like...wrap it around people's legs or something too, right? Trip them up." he pondered. "I mean this thing is all energy, right? So maybe I could manipulate it." he looked at it again and then laughed. "Ah! Whatever! I'm trying to not think about that stuff." He said bashfully, shaking his head as if to move on to the conversation and focus on something else.

"School's almost over for the year, do you have any plans over the summer? Maybe if my family heads out on vacation somewhere you can come with us? Maybe somewhere out in the Midwest or something, they're still deciding. Or maybe Canada." He offered to her casually. "If you think your guardians would be okay with it, at least."

[MoonSimply]

"I've been thinking about making something myself like that, a bola. I think it would work a lot better in order to deal with stuff at range, besides, I don't need to claw every single bad guy out there, don't I?" she says after a few moments, thinking about some of the concepts she was working on in a class for building such tools and equipment. To say it was a class was overselling it as it was more like a small workshop that she had signed up for offered by some teacher that had spare time on their hands. Bolas, smoke bombs, even a nifty rope thing she had thoughts of working on that were from finished in the slightest.

 

Carmen would get the message that Micheal didn't want to continue and so did so, wiping her face with a napkin and avoiding any sort of bad habit with her cleanliness after she finished eating. The young woman was growing smarter about her habits, growing up as one could call it that as she discards the sandwich wrappings in a dumpster with a light toss, "I think they would be fine with-it Michael. The pastor and rest of the church think I can relatively keep care of my own," she says while holding to his arm.

[Poncho]

(Golden Star Post)

 

"Bolas could be interesting...It'd help lock people up. I've been working on that a bit myself; ranged options, not bolas necessarily. Like...laser beams or something." He said, smiling. "I could see you cutting an inspiring figure, wrapping up goons in bolas and being like 'No one can escape my claws!' or something like that." He didn't want to talk heroing, but he did love talking up Carmen, so for that at least, he was very pro talking about how cool Carmen was. But he didn't at all mind switching to something else and sighing happily as he finished his sandwich and wiped his own mouth to lean back against the pillar, and partially onto her. He was quite comfortable at this point.

 

"That would be great, then. We'll bring you along, introduce you to my parents. Everything will go a-okay. Just a nice, relaxing vacation, I think." he said. "Then after that you'll be a senior...almost ready to go on to the rest of your life. Won't that be interesting." He thought about it for a bit. "Well, I'm sure no matter how it goes, it'll be good for you and you'll excel." he nodded. "...I should go to church with you on Sunday. I know I usually go with my Mom, but still, it'd be appropriate, I think."

Edited June 2 by Poncho

[MoonSimply]

Michael would make Carmen laugh at that sort of idea, "That's soo cheesy... maybe I could do it though in the right place?" she says in response. Him talking her up made her feel confident and secure, Micheal giving the werecat a needed boost whenever he talked her up or was near her definitely made rather a difference in her life, as if Micheal was the perfect good luck charm and confidence booster. In a way, Carmen wished she could be a bit more like he was.

 

"That'll be nice. Have you ever attended a Catholic mass?" Carmen would ask him as she moved close to him, holding on to one of his hands, curious what they'd do now after finishing their meal together. Fuzzy and soft. Even if she gave a slight appearance of a sort of wild child, Carmen seemed to keep care of herself, especially with all the hair and fur. In fact, over the past few months her dark black head of hair had grown out purposely, now reaching to right to the middle of her back, "I've been talking to a few professors and Patriot. I'm thinking I could get something to do with some government office work. I can't really tell yet. I'll have to do all the independent life transition work when I hit 21."

Edited May 16 by MoonSimply

[Poncho]

(Golden Star Post)

 

"No, Protestant only. Mom's family has been W.A.S.P.s for as far as they go. But I still go every weekend with Mom. So it's not like I'm not keeping up with my faith." he said as he closed his eyes. "So it'll be interesting to see the differences at least; maybe I'll think Martin Luther is full of crap or something." he laughed. He squeezed her hand tighter and enjoyed the soft feeling of her fur. He was enjoying it, and enjoying spending time with her. He liked Carmen for the effort she put into things. He didn't have to expend much effort in a lot of ways that other people did; he got to skate by on being the right gender and the right race and having a pretty face. He always kept himself aware of that, but it wasn't something he talked about to people either. He had conflicting feelings.

 

"You're not going to college? I guess that's fair...the Patriot could probably get you a good Government Job, a lot of those have nice pensions too. If you do end up wanting it or needing it, I'll help you work on any applications or the like you need...I don't actually know what paperwork comes with that transition though, I'd have to do some research on it." He said. It wasn't something that seemed like he had an issue with it, just something he didn't know about at that point.

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

As the two Claremont students were discussing the future and their ongoing existence, something strange was happening all across the library.

It started with ruffling books. In the library it started in the middle of the exhibit. Old pages under glass cases fluttering in the wind that didn't exist in the middle of the library. Mumbling and wind started. Then the effect started to spread. Rustling through the library, then out into the wild.

 

From inside of Michael's bookbag, something popped the zipper from the inside out. A burly looking man crawled out, only the size of a man's palm, but looking as rough as a trip down the Mississippi and back, a rough beard, an oarsman's tattered outfit. He scrambled out of the backpack and let out a woop, swinging his pint sized arms too and fro.

 

"Lookie here, ya galoots, I'm Mike Fink, and if you're wanting a brawl, I'm the boy for it."

 

Across the rest of the stairs, similar things were acting up; pint-sized versions of the pictures in books harassing the people that had borrowed the books in question. A tiny John Henry, a minuscule Paul Bunyan, a petite Davey Crockett and more.

[MoonSimply]

"A what?" Carmen would respond, thinking that his mother was some sort of monster creature or something and that he had for a moment descended from one. Was her boyfriend in fact partially some sort of bug creature, waiting to devour her and her fellow students. That was foolish of course and quickly she threw such a thought out as he squeezed her hand softly. It didn't matter whom he was or what she was as Carmen saw him as her Michael, and he couldn't be more perfect in any other way for her as she attempted to push forward, closing her eyes and steeling her nerves for a kiss as she pushed herself up to meet him. He was taller than Carmen, pushing up on her tip toes to meet his lips.

 

Then, without any warning trouble appeared as a tiny man appeared from out of Michaels backpack to interrupt the two of them, "¡Qué mierda!" she lets out as this breaks any sort of attempt she was trying to make, now rather annoyed.

 

"What's the big deal?" she says, a bit of venom as she her catlike eyes narrowed down on this creature. It looked cartoonish in nature. Strangely proportioned and small. It wasn't natural and only meant for the two of them that they had walked right into more trouble.

 

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

"That's right! Fightin' Mike Fink!" the little bushy bearded man said, cracking his knuckles. "I'm the snapping turtle! Six Foot Three oarsman, and I can out-run, out-hop, out-jump, throw-down, drag-out and lick any man in the country, and that includes you, you little rapscallion." He said, suddenly raising his dukes at Carmen and Michael. Then he grinned. "Alright, we're out of here gang!" he called to the other tiny creatures, and a palmtop John Henry, Mike Fink, and a slightly bigger Paul Bunyan- plus his Babe the Big Blue Ox- quickly fled down the stairs causing havoc, smashing cars and knocking over fire hydrants. They may have been very tiny, but they were clearly pretty strong, maybe as strong as the Claremont students themselves, as they caused havoc.

 

Meanwhile, a librarian looking young woman ran out of the library itself, her dark hair bobbing in a ponytail as she dashed down the stairs holding a strange looking book. She was chasing what appeared to be a cartoon William Tell, who was shooting arrows seemingly at random.

 

"Come baaaaack! Wait! I didn't want this to happen!" The nerd looking girl yelled as she tripped and fell down the stairs with a thud, sending the book flying. But the four cartoony book characters had fled into the city proper

[Poncho]

(Golden Star Post)

 

Almost a kiss. They had gotten so close, and then his book came alive and spewed out a...cartoony Mike Fink. He had no idea what was going on anymore. But he wanted to echo Carmen's own frustrations.

"You gotta be kidding me..." he said, keeping a hand on Carmen's hip as he watched the fairy tale heroes appear with loud, annoying antics, then flee into the city. He truly had no idea what was going on, and he just had to stare in confusion and befuddlement as they fled.

 

"What...is...happening." he finally managed to say once all the creatures had dispersed into the city and he finally realized what had just happened while he was staring. Then when the librarian screamed and ran down the stairs, then tripped and fell, he looked at her, then at Carmen. "...I get the feeling we're about to have some homework to do, Carmen." he mumbled to her, before moving towards the collapsed woman.

 

"Are...are you okay?" He asked, walking towards her with another glance at Carmen.

[MoonSimply]

Carmen hiss at him again as he put up his small fists. Whatever this small thing was, well, creature or character as it was from American Folklore that Michael had been reading, it had interrupted a moment of normalcy that she had valued, one that she had been waiting for some time and yet again would have to wait. Then, right before she was able to even get a little revenge on the creature it ran off and not alone either. There would be dozens of little characters it appears running off from the library, leaving her utterly confused at what had just happened.

 

"Hey... come back here!" Carmen cries out as she leaved Micheal's embrace, raising her fist in the air to yell at it and yell she did, cursing at him in her native Spanish before turning her head back to Micheal and the women that had chased after these strange creatures.

 

"You know what's going on here?"

[Poncho]

(Count as Golden Star Post)

 

"I....I don't know." The Librarian said, looking between Carmen and Michael. "I uh...I had a book. It was an old book I found at an antiques shop. It was named uh 'The Real Mythology of America'. It didn't come up in any of the searches we had, and the author was unknown. I thought I'd discovered a real, actual piece of history, a book we didn't have recorded in our systems; I did age testing on it and it came up as being a genuine antique. We bought it and brought it back here to get it restored if it needed it, but I felt...I dunno, a calling to read it before we put it away. Books are meant to be read you know? So I decided I'd read it at the exhibition inside, a little surprise reading. Everyone got really excited. And the stories didn't seem that different from the usual tellings, you could still tell who was who. I read through John Henry, Paul Bunyan, and Mike Fink...then I got to William Tell and that confused me, because William Tell isn't actually an American folk hero; he's from Switzerland. So I didn't understand why it was in there, but I was already reading it...and then the little version of him literally climbed out of the pages of the book! He shot a bunch of arrows everywhere then ran off. No one was seriously hurt but I have no idea what's going on. I just...I think this book is responsible." She said, holding out the book in question.

 

"...Okay, listen, don't worry." Michael said, taking a hold of the book. "You uh...you try to keep everyone calm here. We'll take this book to some heroes that I'm sure are coming by to investigate this, and they'll probably need this book. I'm sure someone will either being it back or put it somewhere safe." He said, looking at Carmen with the puppy dog eyes of 'can we please save the day' even as he picked up the book and flipped through it, taking a look at the art pieces in the book; each missing the main character.

[MoonSimply]

"You don't know?! That's just great, terrific even," Carmen says, crossing her arms. If they hadn't been already, the werecat would have done so by now, not looking all too pleased about another interruption. Sure, saving the day and being a hero was one thing, but getting a chance to spend some quality time was another. It was sometimes she wished they were still on that private island, away from the troubles, but even then, deep down inside her, there was a sort of excitement. The feline part of her, this instinctual feeling saw it as another challenge, a hunt for prize that was partially for the excitement of the hunt itself.

 

So, when Michael gave her that look, one that spelled his intentions to her of saving the day and helping out, earlier portents of annoyance would melt away, replaced with an enthusiasm to go along with him and discover what was going on. That and she really didn't like that Finch guy, wanting to bash him up good seeing as how he directly put an end to her plans, "I track them with its scent potentially. They all came from the book so they must shar it, or at least left traces of themselves."

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

"Yes. You're right. That makes sense." The librarian said, handing the book over to Carmen. "...Please be careful with the book. But also uh...please stop them before anything bad happens. We really don't need another Toon Gang around Freedom, and I'd never be able to forgive myself if I was part of the reason that another one popped up."

 

The book was genuinely old; leather and hide bound with a rusty brass latch. Everything the Librarian had said was correct, up to and including the fact there was no listed author. And it certainlly smelled magic, especially to one whose senses were as attuned as La Puma Negra. If they moved fast, they could definitely track them down.

[MoonSimply]

Taking the book in her hands, Carmen would look over the book first, her superior sense of smell immediately detecting that it was rather aged as she flipped through pages. Age passed and soon other scents came, ones that were familiar to her to an extent, of an unearthly feel that grew a certain sense of annoyance. A magic scent that perpetuated throughout the book. Some sort of curse maybe, or perhaps a latent enchantment of a kind. It wasn't something she was really educated in but could tell the difference now with this sort of stuff by now. Whatever it was it likely was exactly what caused these cartoonish versions of folktale heroes to reality.

 

A long drag from her nostrils, closing her eyes. Carmen had their scent now, the feint lure that let her get a sense of direction for where these beings were headed towards, "Uniforms on for this? Not sure if we both have enough time?" she says. The usual was on underneath her attire, made exactly for the summer weather that she wore, save for her seemingly favorite varsity jacket she seemed to where whenever the school year was on.

[Poncho]

(Count as Golden Star Post)

 

"Definitely costumes, I'm getting the feeling this is going to be a whole thing." Michael said, frowning as he followed Carmen. "We'll have to get it sorted out quickly, before it becomes a major issue." 

It wouldn't have taken too long for the two Claremonters to get their uniforms prepped and be ready for actual superhero work. And it didn't lose the trail that Carmen had successfully found, her own magic and heightened senses helping her track these strange mystical creatures as surely as a regular puma would hunt down prey. So by following Carmen's senses, the two made their way quickly into the city.

 

The first of the creatures they found was the cartoonish version of John Henry, a 3 foot tall mimicry of the Steel Driving Man, with roped muscles and overalls, swinging two hammers like pistons as he disrupted a construction site, crushing asphalt under the hammers.

 

"...These guys aren't acting anything like the ones in the stories." Michael mumbled, frowning. "Uh...let's try to grab him before he damages anything else!" He called to Carmen, but the little creature was on the move again.

 

"Ain't no machine can do the work of a good steel driving man like me!" the little fable said as he smashed his hammer down on a cement mixer and sent wet cement spewing across the ground as he fled, breaking stuff with his hammers as he went.

[MoonSimply]

Carmen had gotten used to quickly getting her clothes off in strange out of sight places, having long used the type of attire she normally used either with her or already on her person. In this case it was already on, removing clothes and quickly stuffing them into a bag to be hid away and found later, climbing a few feet to perch it safely on an unused rooftop alongside Michaels bags. It may be hard to really say that she Carmen wasn't herself La Puma Negra, but Michael at least had some leeway. It still did feel awkward with him there, having a modesty to try and hide herself behind a dumpster as removed her casual attire, trying not to look towards him until he was done with his change as well. Carmen wondered if Patriot had this sort of thing, or there was some sort of quick-change technology that allowed one to switch or wear it without any issue or potential chance to be seen in a less than desirable situation.

 

The scent lingered still but was strong enough that La Puma Negra and Golden Star could follow using her extraordinary senses to bring them to a construction yard. Puma would point to out quickly as she saw one of their targets, "There's one of them!" she says before dashing forward, attempting to catch on to him. Knowing from experience, even if this guy was small he could likely still do plenty of damage.

 

It was then that La Puma Negra would soon have to dodge out of the way of concrete mix that was sprayed out everywhere. Reflexively, she'd use her gymnastic abilities, weaving her way through before pouncing forward with a cry, grabbing on to him, "Stay still pip squeak!"

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

As Puma got her claws around the tiny creature, the fake John Henry- or at least miniscule one- struggled, but he was caught in her grip. He was strong, but not strong enough to get away from her at this exact moment.

"Ah! Let me go, you Roogarou! I'm not going back in that book, no siree, not in a million years!" Said the diminutive disruptor, struggling against Puma's grip. The question was what to do with him now, or how to get him to stop.

[MoonSimply]

While La Puma Negra could speak fluent Spanish, she had no idea what he meant by that as he spoke some French sounding word. Puma took this more like it was some sort of insult, which it likely was to an extent, keeping a hold of him with her strength with assistance from Golden Star. It smelled rank like an old and musty book, but this little caricature of the fabled character getting on her nerves with each passing moment. Easily enough, she could have easily taken this little thing and used it like a scratching post for her rather sharp claws. Restraint however won out as she kept them held down.

 

"The book, maybe we can use the book or something? Close it right on top of the fella or something like that?" she spoke, thinking about that one video game character that appeared out of that cursed console from about a week ago. 

[Poncho]

(Golden Star Post)

 

"Right. The book. Uh, hang on."

 

Michael had avoided the cement slick like Carmen, but he was far less agile and quick on his feet then her, and she had surged ahead and successfully grabbed the diminutive creature before he'd even registered where he was. It was so impressive he couldn't help but swoon a little bit at her. But he grabbed the old book and flipped through it, still being careful with the old book. "Uhh...okay. Here we go. John Henry. The Steel Driving Man, who challenged a driller machine to a race burrowing through a mountain; John Henry was said to have swung so fast he made a rainbow between his shoulder-blades, from the sweat washing off his body. He beat the driller machine, but his heart gave out not long after, having proven his point that machines just can't beat men." He thought about that for a second- was it really true, when it was just one superior man? There'd be more machines, after all-, but he put it out of his mind quickly and approached the man being held by Carmen, holding the book open at where John Henry's illustration was missing.

 

There was a loud pop and the tiny man disappeared, once more trapped in the pages of the book. It gave off a smell like sulfur and rust, enough that Michael waved his nose. "Eww, that smelt really bad." then he flipped through the pages again.

 

"Maybe they'll all be that easy...but at least it gives us an idea of what we need to do; slap them with the book, put them back in it....maybe wrap this all up. We have no idea how they'll act when we hurt them though; the Toon Gang is basically invulnerable to harm, and I wouldn't be surprised if these guys are the same...so we'll have to try to get them back in the book to deal with them permanently....for now, I guess we need to try and find the next ones...I'm sure you can do it."

[MoonSimply]

For all the supposed power of the man who could dig a hole faster than a machine, this version of him wasn't strong enough to stop Puma from holding him steady, letting Golden Star bring out the old worn book that this strange and curious being had come out from. It was just as she thought, sort of, being nothing than some perverse image directly taken from the book itself, run amok in the real world. In a sudden pop, which gave the cat girl a bit of surprise as she assumed that he'd be sucked in and not popped out of existence, falling back in a stumble.

 

"Tell me about it. What a sort of magic do you think caused these things to come out of the book?" she spoke, brushing herself off as she stood back up.

 

Puma would listen to what Star would say to her, thinking about how to track down the next one. If they had gotten one of them surely, they could get the rest of them, but if they were immune to any sort or damage, there was no telling how they'd fare. The two of them would have to move quickly and so La Puma Negra went back to attempting to sniff out with her superior feline senses, her extraordinary ability to do so helping them find one already. Closing her eyes, ignoring the mix of smells around her to just smell the old and musty book.

 

"We can do it."

[Poncho]

(Golden Star Post)

 

"...Magic, probably. Not that I know anything about magic, to be honest." he said as he helped her up, then looked through the book again. "I don't know if it came from the book or from someone who cast a spell on the book." he rubbed his nose to try and get the smell out of it, coughing a little. "So I guess the way I'd think about it is either someone cast a spell on the book, and we have to find them, or the book keeps them locked up, and reading it made them wake up? That's my best guess, I think. If we put them all back in the book, I figure we'll find out one way or the other. So...onwards we go, I suppose." He said, closing the book and floating up. "Go ahead and try to sniff them out again, I think. Hopefully the other ones haven't gotten too far. That one didn't even seem that strong, so maybe the others aren't either."