elseworldexiles | No Good at this Detective Thing

Sarah has returned to the hotel room with a freshly bought notebook and pens. As annoying as writing with one hand is, she's doing her best to piece what they know together and make some sense of it all.
Fighting giant robots in an endless guerilla war? Sure.
Take on the insane sorceror supreme of some insane dimension? Great.
Fight a vampire queen over a savaged landscape? Can do.
Battle not one, but two of the Hulk's most powerful incarnations? Best not repeated, but done without hesitation.

Play amateur detective? She's way out of her depth.

She's jotted down that she knows Peter was on the mob beat.
She notes that he was roughed up badly, literally beaten to death... that takes some doing.
She notes what she knows of the Lensherrs and Summers -
Lensherrs: conservative. Absorbed the Inhumans media empire. Known members - Magneto, Quicksilver, Crystal... presumably Polaris and/or Scarlet Witch. Alleged Mobsters with great lawyers.
Summers: aggressive business people. Very different style than Lensherrs. High tech profile. Known members - presumably Cyclops and Havok. Others?

After that she starts drawing a blank. Her notes getting a little more haphazard.

Families considering a merger. Mention of other parties who might be opposed to the deal?
Who else is involved?
Major figures in other worlds... Xavier, Forge, Angel, Storm, Jean Grey?
Any remaining Inhumans?

Then she tosses it onto the table, glancing at it in frustration now and then.

"Which brings me no closer to any fatal loins or Peter's killer." she sighs.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

When did they add a small boy to the roster?
She blinks, then blinks again, but manages a smile. Given the way people have shown up and all with this crew, best to roll with it.
"Trying to figure out what some bad guys are doing. I have a lot of little bits of information that I'm trying to put into something useful. Hi, I'm Sarah... you are?"

"Irving." He tries standing on his toes, then looks at her arm. His eyes get wider. "You're the one I wasn't s'posed to pester. They said you weren't feelin' good. How'd you hurt your arm?"

She's never been around children. All the kids on Battleworld were within a couple years of each other. Even so, she does her best to not put him off, and tries to keep up with the questions and comments.
"Oh, that's ok. I was resting... doing a little better now. A really bad man hurt my arm and chest. The burns on my face are my fault... but they'll heal."

"Didja get too close to the stove? Mama said I wasn't s'posed to do that 'cause I'd get burned, and I asked her how come I could get burned if I'm a chip off the ol' rock. That's what Papa always says. But Mama said I wasn't s'posed to and Papa said I had to listen to Mama." He rocks back on his heels. "Do you like Buzz Starman?"

A shake of her head. "No, I don't think a stove could hurt me... I stay away from them mostly because I'm a terrible cook."
Then she commits the cardinal sin. "I'm sorry, I've never heard of Buzz Starman."

Irving takes a step back, shock written all over his gray face. "You haven't?" Then he comes to a sudden realization, and says, very generously, "That's okay. You're a girl. Girls don't gotta know Buzz Starman." He hesitates for a moment, groping for the next thing to say, then blurts out, "I betcha like that Tulip show. Suzy likes that, and she's a girl."

Just then, Morph returns, practically bursting in the door and singing the Buzz Starman theme song. He's carrying several bundles, as well.

"Hey, there, Irv! I got some stuff for ya. Sarah, how's the busted wing?"

Instantly Irving races over to see him. "Lemme see! Lemme see!"

Sarah looks dumbfounded at the response. Tulip show? Buzz Starman?
For once, and only once to date, she's really happy to see Morph.

"Doing better, trying not to push it. So... Irving... where'd you pick him up?" she asks, trying to get back on track, then realizing she left him hanging, and searches for a response to the kid, feeling like somehow she shouldn't be ignoring him.
"Uhm... I never... really watched TV. Buzz Starman or the Tulip Show."
Not that it matters, since he seems to find Morph much more interesting... for the best.

Morph grins, and pulls out the clothes, first. Always gotta save the best for last, with kids. At least there's a set of Buzz Starman pajamas.

"I picked you up some stuff to wear.."

Then he set out another bag - of toys, including a replica of the one he found a piece of on Irving's lawn.

".. and a few things to play with, I suppose."

He looks up to Sarah. "Old Irv here was hanging out on a roof, where his parents told him to hide if there was trouble. We left'em a good message, and brought him here where it's comfier."

Ok, now she's confused. They're taking in mutant kids hanging around now?
"His parents? Something I should know?"

Irving immediately seizes the official Buzz Starman spaceship with real working lights and starts zooming around the hotel suite. With the toy held aloft in one hand, he begins to act out an epic space battle, complete with "pow! pow!" noises.

Morph chuckles.

"And here I figured he'd go for the clothes.."

He looks back to Sarah.

"His dad was friends with a guy named Gorgon, of the Inhuman family. Trouble happened, and his folks are missing."

There's an odd, intentional emphasis on the last word.

"I'm doing detective work to find'em."

"Oh, I almost forgot. I found this for you, Irv."

He sets the Buzz Starman nightlight on the table nearby.

"May need a new bulb, but we'll get it working."

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Sarah nods. "Gorgon of the Inhumans, right. Crystal's... let's see, how did that whole royal family thing work? Black Bolt is married to Medusa, who's Crystal's older sister... well, never mind." A pause as she considers this.

"Though most of the Inhumans are, erm, missing. When Crystal married Quicksilver, Pietro here, I'd guess, the Lensherr's took over their media empire. But then if you're tracking friends of Gorgon's, bet you already knew all that."

"--to all who would disturb the peace of the galaxy!" Irving proclaims, striking his best heroic pose. "Huh?" Returning from his epic space battle, he trots over, spaceship still in hand, and looks at the nightlight on the table. "Golly," he whispers. He snuffles, rubs the back of his free hand across his eyes, then suddenly hugs Morph. "Thank you," he whispers. "I'm gonna go put it in my room now."

No Good at this Detective Thing

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