Impromptu Family Meeting

[strike_you_out]

Who: All residents of 726 Anderson Lane and the Deaths
What: The family reacts to the Major's threats
Where: 726 Anderson Lane
When: After the Major's meeting with Edward
Warnings: None.

Up until this point, Slugger has been a relatively well-behaved child while indoors. But presently, in the middle of a the living room, he holds a flame from a lighter beneath the wick of a firecracker. Moments later, a loud popping ruckus explodes from the living room and carries throughout the whole house, loud enough to attract the attention of any housemates and visitors residing therein. The resulting burn spot on the floor is promptly concealed beneath the corner of a rug.

Those who come to investigate the noise will find that all the curtains in the living room have been closed. Slugger is sitting on the back of a sofa, a transient smirk on his face. As others arrive, the look of amusement fades entirely and he begins to speak in a low and even voice.

 "Sorry. I needed you all here. The Major told me some things you should know."

Comments

[likescats]

Walking through the wall. Death is now in the living room.

[hintcoinplz]

[...well, after the initial heart attack, Luke comes flying into the room in a panic.]

What's going on?! Are we being attacked?! Where-

[Wait, what's going on here? What about the Major?]

[strike_you_out]

"We aren't now..." Though something about the statement seems to suggest that the possibility isn't out of the question.

[questionauthority]

[Edward's a little bit late to the party, bursting into the room with cane-sword halfway drawn. But there's no danger awaiting them. Only Death, Luke, Slugger, and the remnants of a firecracker on the floor.

His eyes narrow as he slides the sword back into its base with a harumph.]

Was that really necessary, Slugger?

[strike_you_out]

"Not necessary. Just funny."

Have a wisecracking smirk. However, it pleases him to see that Edward was on guard.

[hintcoinplz]

[Luke climbs into a nearby chair, looking kind of annoyed.]

So what's this all about anyway? What about the Major?

[Edward hinted at the Major being up to something, what with his warning for Luke to stay away and all, but he hasn't heard much since then.]

[questionauthority]

[Edward's silent for a moment, unsure exactly why Slugger's called this get-together to order. Did he overhear what had happened between the Riddler and the Major? Or has the Major done something else to Slugger? If it's to do with Edward's conversation, he'll come forward and talk. But for the time being, Edward remains silent and waits for the answer.]

[strike_you_out]

[Don't worry, Edward. You'll get your chance. Slugger intends to find out who else among them has spoke to the Major recently.]

[inthebones]

"If he didn't name some sort of mystic hocus pocus that's capable of permanently sealing him out of Mayfield, whatever he said couldn't possibly be important enough to warrant this."

Susan appears with her default expression: mildly irritated.

[strike_you_out]

Here, Slugger's face becomes very serious as he turns his attention to Susan.

"You might find it important. It involves you."

[likescats]

Well that interests him.

HOW?

[inthebones]

"I expect he finally finished his 54 step plan to tear me apart in every conceivable fashion, making him the grand champion of our ongoing passive-aggressive psuedo-philosophical slap-fights."

[strike_you_out]

"I answered one of his calls. He said he was going to attack us and that his real target is Susan."

This alone is something that bothers him greatly, but what bothers him worse is that Susan may not be the only one the Major is targeting. Now, the price for allowing himself to become attached to others is threatening to be paid. Slugger leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. There's more.

"He said he's watching us. He knows about my friends."

[hintcoinplz]

Miss Susan?

[That...surprises him. As far as Luke knows, he's only seen the two of them fight once during Christmas. And it wasn't even really a fight. So there has to be more to this story, especially if he was watching all of them now.]

Did he say why?

[inthebones]

Susan is about to remark with an eye-roll and a return to grading papers in her bedroom while sneaking in the occasional chocolate (hence her irritation) when Slugger catches her slightly off-guard.

"Your friends?"

There is a sudden shift to her attitude.

"Hm. Not even the courtesy to keep this between ourselves. I suppose I'm not surprised."

Luke's question goes ignored for the moment. Even Susan needs a few moments to think.

[questionauthority]

You should hardly be surprised, Susan. After all, you're his opponent. His one true opponent.

[Now that Slugger's broken the ice, Edward takes a step forward and begins to address her.]

He's always thought of you as such.

[strike_you_out]

When he next speaks, Slugger's tone is hardened, angry.

"He said Susan is the bigger 'prize'. He thinks she's Death."

[questionauthority]

He thinks she's a dragon.

[His eyes flicker over to Slugger.]

He was kind enough to tell me as much in person.

[strike_you_out]

This puts a crease in Slugger's brow. He raises his head, eager to hear more.

"In person...?"

[hintcoinplz]

...What did he say to you, Mr. Nigma?

[Because now Edward as Luke's attention as well.]

[questionauthority]

A great many things. Most of which I'd care not to repeat.

[He leaves it at that for Luke, for now, before returning his focus to Slugger.]

As a matter of fact, he decided to pay me a visit this past weekend. In the bunker.

[strike_you_out]

Given a moment to think, Slugger believes he understands the "dragon" reference.

"He told you he's targeting Susan, though?"

[questionauthority]

He did, indeed.

[It goes unspoken, but anyone who knows how a monster like the Major likes to play war can assume that it isn't just Susan who will be targeted. Everyone around her will be.]

[bread_goes_bip]

Death hadn't made a production of arriving. Didn't even comment on the apparent new method of calling one. But now she speaks, her voice lacking most of its usual warmth. "That's low."

[strike_you_out]

"He knows about Pokey and about Ai."

Slugger mumbles, resting his chin on his hands. It hurts his head to think they could suffer because of him.

[inthebones]

The spotlight is on her. There are certain things that need to be said. Grandfather needs to be put at ease, both Deaths need to be convinced that nothing good could come out of purposefully involving himself, Luke needs to remain out of the Major's scope, and Slugger needs to be protected. Susan sighs.

"Stop sounding so betrayed, Edward. It isn't as if I wanted him; you're perfectly welcome to woo him back if you want."

The most important thing now said, she continues on.

"Well. As I see it, we have a few options. First, I stab him in the face every morning at dawn before he wakes up. Second, I move out of the house and become a hermit in the mountains, swearing off all human ties; one of you can bring me chocolates every few days.

Third, we don't make a big production out of this and everyone calms down. It's not as if I'm completely incompetent; this has been coming since we first met. Everyone involved has known it, though some of us had the roles backwards, it seems."

[hintcoinplz]

[Luke glances between Susan and the rest of the family, feeling a sense of unease.]

Maybe we ought to fortify the house somehow, or at least make it so no one can barge in here in the middle of the night.

[Though that might not help much if say, the Major decides to set the house on fire or something.]

[strike_you_out]

Obviously, very few entities could win a battle with Susan. And a human like the Major would pose no threat. However, there's another side to this that deserves more attention.

"He wants a war. Wars involve lots of people. If it was just you, it wouldn't be a war."

[likescats]

Death is watching from the sidelines.

THE THIRD THEN.

[bread_goes_bip]

"That does sound the most reasonable." She glances over at Slugger. "We need to minimize how many outsiders get dragged into this."

[strike_you_out]

Feeling bad enough about the ones he's already inadvertently dragged into it, Slugger doesn't look up.

[inthebones]

"Thank you, Grandfather." Susan turns to her children.

"I know; he's already said as much. That's why we all need to keep calm and act sensibly. Fortifying the house would be pointless. If he wants to harm you physically, it's as easy as catching you on the street. The ideal way to approach this would be to simply not care; I suspect it would irritate him more than anything else I did. But I can't expect the rest of you to be as comfortable with the possibility of getting killed as I am."

Susan pauses again.

"We don't need anything more than what we already have. Knowing that he's planning something is enough. It will be a difficult balance of keeping on your toes without allowing it to consume your life. Unfortunately, failing in either respect will mean that the Major has scored his victory.

"The galling part about being on the defensive side is that there are too many holes to plug and never enough caulk. There are ways around this - but for now, it wouldn't hurt to make sure you can get ahold of Grandfather, Didi, or I at a moments' notice. Slugger, you can manage that easily. Luke, I want to see you at least every day before school, after school, and before you go to bed at night. I'll keep an eye on your movements in the interim. Edward..."

She faces him now with an expression of vague amusement.

"I was actually just speaking with a friend of yours about this situation. But you're going to insist on taking care of yourself, I'm sure.

"As for all of your friends... I don't see him targeting them to get at you to get at me in some vaguely convoluted ladder of emotional damage. He may try something completely idiotic like kidnapping Ai and pitting Slugger against me for her safety, but that strikes me as an act of desperation. Just tell them to be generally cautious for now."

[bread_goes_bip]

"Slugger, if anything does happen, it is not your fault."

That's the easy part. Trying to minimize the damage on the other hand is... a bit trickier. "I have the most flexibility during the day to keep an eye on things other than the school."