HANDYSPLOSION [open to multiple]

[bluesuit_handy]

Andrew is snooping, but he's not getting very far with it. The trouble with absurdly powerful, government-sanctioned entities is that getting inside the base of such an organization tends to be a bit more complicated than showing up with a forged Health and Safety ID card. Of course, he could probably get inside very easily if he simply went up to the front doors and announced himself, but somehow he doubts he'd be likely to come back out without making a grand production of escaping, and he doesn't want to be too late coming home and make James worry.

The other trouble with Romac is that they're too smart to have anything interesting going on outside. After quite a bit of loitering -- more loitering than is probably wise -- all Andrew's seen is fairly ordinary people going in and out of the building. Disgruntled at their failure to be even the least bit interesting, Andrew finally gives up in disgust and decides to walk to the rebel base in order to say hello to a few people and use their private library.

He makes it less than halfway to the park before disaster strikes. Later, Handrew will be mortally embarrassed that the crisis didn't come about because some Romac agent spotted him and decided to make trouble, or because he had to run to intercept an alien, or even because someone got it in their head to mug him. No, this disaster occurs simply because neither Andrew nor a certain speeding taxi driver happens to be looking in the right direction at the right time. As the meta-crisis steps out into the intersection of Lexington and 59th (against right of way, if he'd bothered to notice), there's a deafening screech, an impact, and Andrew quite unexpectedly shatters.

The reflex to use his power when surprised likely saves his life. Twelve tiny Andrews are scattered across the road a moment later, all of them stunned to one degree or another. As they recover and realize what's happened -- and hear the yells of a few people who saw -- they all take the same course of action:

Run.

Unfortunately, very few of them run in the same direction. There's no plan or pattern to it, and very quickly the Andrews scatter to the four winds -- or at least to the four corners of the intersection. There are a few shouts (even New Yorkers tend to notice when someone explodes next to them) and one person even stoops and tries to grab one of the four-inch-tall Andrews, but he has quite a bit of experience in running for cover.


[OOC: Let me know where you want to encounter one or more Andrews, and I will write up an explanation of how he got there. The accident occurred at E. 59th St. and Lexington Ave. (the game map might help you here), and the Andrews have gone in every direction. Some Andrews will take advantage of the nearby subway entrances; depending where he enters he could do as he intends and go northwest, or he could get on the wrong train and go northeast, which would take him past Romac housing. Really, anything is possible -- though he's trying to get to either the Rebels or the TARDIS, he could get lost in any direction, or stay stranded near the intersection. Just write a tag indicating where your character encounters an Andrew and I'll work it out (or you can PM me or ping me on AIM if you want to hammer it out together). He'll be staying in twelfths, since merging into sixths would make him a foot and a half high, meaning he'd be still too small to get around without trouble but too big to go unnoticed. There might be multiple Andrews traveling together, so let me know if you want two of them.]

UPDATE, November 14: Nine Andrews are accounted for so far. One Andrew each currently reserved for Lucy, Spike, and Topher, meaning no more Andrews are available.

Comments

[traken_master]

"Get in the cage, Andrew," the Master ordered, smirking. "You can choose a better one from there, if you're still so inclined."

[bluesuit_handy]

"You get in a bloody cage!" snaps Andrew. He's absolutely not going in there willingly.

[traken_master]

"Someday, my dear, you and the Doctor may have the privilege of seeing me once more in such a state. Not today, however," the Master gloated, giving Andrew a shove into the cage.

[bluesuit_handy]

Andrew grabbed at the doorway, missed, and stumbled as he was roughly introduced to the interior of what the Master had called his new home. The instant he'd got his balance, though, he turned on his heel and bolted back toward the door.

[traken_master]

Unfortunately for poor Andrew, the Master swiftly shut and locked the door. He smiled down at his "guest."

"Feeling any urge to cooperate, my dear Andrew?"

[bluesuit_handy]

He was already too late, but his momentum sent him crashing into the door, where he clung to the bars. Andrew glared up at the Master, mad as a wet cat. "Not in the slightest," he informed him through gritted teeth. "I made my offer, you refused it and jammed me in a cage. You're not getting anything out of me now."

[traken_master]

"Offer, my dear Andrew?" the Master asks, puzzled. "What offer have you ever made to me?"

[bluesuit_handy]

"You could have known exactly what I was and how I came to be -- if you'd agreed to let me go," replies Andrew. He really did offer, too. He might not have told the whole truth, and he would have demanded to be let loose before he delivered on his part of the deal, but odds were he really would have explained himself. Probably.

[traken_master]

"Oh, that," the Master recalled, chuckling. "Oh, I'll find that out, eventually, even without your cooperation. Really, my dear Andrew, you're a rather poor salesman, expecting me to be satisfied with such crumbs."

[bluesuit_handy]

"I'm tired of you," decides Andrew imperiously, taking refuge in audacity because the thought of what the Master could do to him terrifies him. "Go plot and laugh your evil laugh or whatever it is you do when you're not hounding me for attention."

[traken_master]

"Very well, my dear Andrew. Perhaps, you do need some time to reflect on your situation," the Master declared. "I'll leave you alone, then."

The Master clears the space around the cage, ensuring there is nothing useful nearby.

[bluesuit_handy]

"Yeah, do that," says Andrew petulantly, watching with unease as the Master does away with Plan A. Whatever. It's just a lock, and he's still got...whatever he's got in his pockets. He doesn't actually remember, but surely there will be something useful.

[traken_master]

"I think, Andrew, that I would like you to give me your jacket and empty your pockets," the Master told him.

[bluesuit_handy]

Andrew looks up sharply, tensing. "That's getting a bit personal, don't you think?" he asks warily.

[traken_master]

"Personal? Not at all. If you are like the Doctor, then you probably have something useful in your pockets. I'm merely taking precautions."

[bluesuit_handy]

"It's all been shrunk," scoffs Andrew, who has no intention of cooperating. "Nothing's going to work properly at this size."

[traken_master]

"I prefer to not take chances. You might have some or even all of the dear Doctor's ability to make do, as they say."

[bluesuit_handy]

"I'm not stripping for you," said Andrew with some finality, going to the back corner of the cage and crossing his arms.

[traken_master]

"No, my dear, of course not," the Master agrees drily. "I don't intend to strip you of all dignity."

[bluesuit_handy]

"Don't you? You've stuffed me in a hamster cage; I think we can safely say you're not taking the subtle approach on this one."

[traken_master]

"Nor do I claim to be," the Master tells him, shrugging. "I must insist upon at least your jacket, Andrew."

[bluesuit_handy]

Here, at least, Andrew can take a stand. "And what are you going to do about it?"

[traken_master]

The Master smiled coldly.

"I could run an experiment and see what effect my TCE has on you."

[bluesuit_handy]

Andrew shrank back against the bars. "I can tell you the outcome right now," he said, feeling sick, unsure if the Master really meant it.

[traken_master]

"I'm sure you think so, but, as a scientist, I prefer first hand evidence," the Master purred. "I will settle for your coat, however."