New Mutants: Scribblenauts - Sfumato

[x-wildchild.livejournal.com]

Molly, Sue and Johnny make their way through some art, and burn their way out, but not before Molly saves them all from poisoning and smoke inhalation with the power of her mind!


"Uh...hello? I don't think I like this very much!"

A short teenage girl dangling from a girder was quite the sight to see, had someone been high enough to see it. But she was also many stories up in the air and the ground was far below. She thought about just letting go. She wasn't squishable so it wouldn't be too bad.

The buildings looked weird, though, and the cars too. Everything was old, and shiny, and new, mostly.

Johnny tumbled through...well,he wasn't sure what he was falling through, but he was definitely falling. He stretched out his arms and stabilised himself. "Looky here," he said to himself, "I really am flying." He flapped his arms and let out a bird call. "I'm free as a bird," he sang out. The ground caught his eye. He hadn't really been paying attention to it, but there it was rushing up to meet him at an alarming rate. "Hmm," he thought, "this isn't good." He tried streamlining his body angling it to the side, perhaps he could crash into a window or something. The ground was getting pretty close. He could make out cars, and...what was that a girl hanging from a girder? "Sue?" he yelled out. "Sue I could use some help!" Wait, that wasn't Sue. No she's too small. And wearing a hat. He fell past, and a car began to fill his field of vision. "Oh no," he thought, "I can't be killed by...a Studebaker... Wait, say something cool."

"You'll never take me alive, copper," he shouted. He nodded to himself and crashed into the car.

Johnny sat up and rubbed his face. He looked at the wreckage of the car, and felt his face again. "No way," he thought, "...I'm immortal."

Molly heard the thud down below, and thought she saw someone familiar but it was hard to tell from that high up. She decided to let go, spreading her arms out like a bird. It felt kinda neat actually. She didn't have a car to land on and instead hit the sidewalk, bouncing off of it like a ball. The sudden stop made her discombobulated, though, and she sat up, rubbing her head. Then she saw him.

"Johnny? How'd you---"

"I've given up on asking how he manages to do anything," a voice noted dryly from near the two young mutants, "The amount of times he's done something that should have killed him, or at least got him into trouble and he walked away scot free," Sue shook her head, "It's like there's no justice in the world." A small quake shook a nearby pile of rubble as the girl pushed a forcefield out in the direction of the voices and a stone rolled away from the pile revealing a blue eye which blinked at the others.

As she'd fallen, Sue had instinctively shielded herself, only she hadn't counted on crashing into or bringing down half a building on top of herself. She'd been struggling to keep her wits together as the walls of rubble seemed to keep closing in on her. "So, a little help please?" the girl asked a barely controlled edge of panic in her voice as Sue struggled not to collapse into hysterics, "Only I'd really really like to get out of here now."

Johnny patted the crumpled wreck of the car. "They don't make 'em like this anymore," he said as he jumped down. He climbed up onto the remains of the building and whistled. "Wow, I thought I made an entrance, but you had to go and one up me." He began digging with his hands around Sue's eye, finally revealing her face. He stopped. "You know what, Sue? This is actually a good look for you." He quickly continued before the face became angry with him. "Umm... this might take a while, Sue."

Pulling herself to her feet, Molly dusted herself off and headed over. "I got it!" she said, her eyes flashing purple as she started to scoop bits of rubble off Sue like it were pieces of paper, tossing them aside.

"Wow, it seems really...quiet," she added, occasionally glancing around. New York wasn't normally that quiet, like, ever.

"And everything's old. "

"Now you mention it it does seem pretty unusual that no-one even came outside with all the noise we made on the way down," Sue noted distractedly as she pulled herself out of the hole Johnny and Molly had excavated. The blonde glanced around as she pulled some loose bits of debris out of her hair, "There aren't any neon signs either," she pointed out before foiling silent for a moment, "How much do you wanna bet someone magical," naming no names of course, "ended up creating super demonic magical paintings?"

"Some demon, you say? Magical paintings?" Johnny grinned brightly and rubbed his nose. "Sounds like we have some ass kicking to do!" He laughed happily and jumped off the rubble pile. He looked left and right scratching his head. "This way!" he announced to the girls and marched off down the street. "Hey! Demon! Time to come out," he yelled. "I'm gonna kick your ass!" He grinned again, beaming back at the girls. "You were right, Sue. Art's pretty cool after all. I'm having a great time!"

"This wasn't quite what I had in mind," Sue pointed out exasperatedly before grinning, "Ok so maybe this is kinda cool," Johnny always did manage to get that admission out of her, besides since they were here, wherever here was, they might as well enjoy it. "Just...be careful. I remember last time you thought that 'something was a blast'" she teased her brother.

"As long as no one we know is evil or possessed that's good. I don't like fighting people I know," Molly said, eying the buildings curiously. Nothing looked right, but she was used to getting taken to strange places without being asked. It was kinda normal by now and happened at least once a year. She figured that's what the X-People would go through so what would an X-Person do?

"Okay, we we gotta find a way out. Maybe there's like...a magic door or something? We all were in the air....maybe we should find our way back up to the top of the building?"

"Hmm." Johnny crouched down, and rubbed some dirt between his fingers. He looked up at the sky and back at the ground. "We all fell from pretty high up. And since no one here can fly..." He rubbed the dirt in his fingers again and sniffed it. He smiled and looked at the girls. He held out his fingers. "Doesn't look like dirt. Doesn't feel like dirt. Doesn't smell like dirt. We'll never find out what's happening if we go up. But if we go down, perhaps we can get to cause of all this. Besides, there's a demonic paint magician I need to meet."

"I should never have mentioned that to him, should I?" Sue asked in an aside to Molly.

"You realize demon magic things are normally bad bad bad things right? I mean really bad, end of the world kill everything they see bad," she emphasized to her brother. You get nearly killed by a magic stone scorpion that tended to stick with you. Sue knelt down and poked at the ground, "Ok, so what do you have in mind then?" she inquired.

Johnny smiled back at Sue. "All paintings have one weakness that I know of. Flame on!" Johnny was engulfed with flames. "I'll make quick work of this...whatever we're in. Stand back," he warned.

Molly made a face and let out a sigh, hunching her shoulders. "I really hope we don't melt," she mumbled, folding her arms as she backed up to give Johnny some room. They didn't like her plan. She thought it was a good plan. Melting was not a good plan.

"Just be careful," Sue cautioned, going to stand next to Molly, "I'm with Molly, I really really don't want to end up getting melted or burnt. Or for you to set the painting on fire, not all of us are fireproof you know."

"I bet all the water here is paint too," Molly said. She didn't feel very useful at the moment since she couldn't punch her way out of something.

"Then stand back. It might get warm," Johnny replied grinning. He took a deep breath, steadied himself and fired a flame down into the ground.

Nothing happened. "Maybe I should make some Kung Fu noises," thought Johnny. But no, something was happening. The ground beneath his jet and under his feet was getting soft. He reached out and touched a building next to him. The was a momentary resistance and then he felt his hand slipping through. He stamped his feet under him, noticing how the ground around him had become soft, and how he was slowly, but with an increasing speed, sinking. He stepped back and continued the flame jet to the area.

"Umm, guys...I not one to usually doubt myself...but I just want to make sure you all think down is a good direction, right?"

"It's better than any other direction we've got to work with," the elder girl commented, "Just stay away from the melting area," she told her brother as a look of worry flashed across her face.

"It looks like it's working, but better safe than sorry." Sue waved a hand in front of her face before coughing and leaning against a nearby building for support, "Water paint kinda stinks a lot when it burns doesn't it?" she remarked distractedly.

Tilting her head at the different colors the paint was giving off, Molly found it familiar. It reminded her of something she'd learned. What was it? Feeling a little woozy, Molly put her hand to her head. Then, her eyes widened. Science class + Wademan teaching= X_X

"Wait! No more burning! Not yet!" she said, waving her arms around.

"If you burn paint it can make you sick from the fumes. Since we're in a mural and the whole thing is paint we could totally like...die and that would suck cause then I wouldn't get to punch things as a ghost," Molly said. She tapped her chin.

"How long will it take to burn things? Cause...you can make a force field around us, right Sue? Does it keep in air? We could like....stay in there?"

"Maybe for a few minutes," Sue allowed, "But not much longer, And Johnny would have to stay outside with the fumes, he can't burn anything up from inside the forcefield." She gave her brother a worried look, "You'd have to burn it really fast."

Johnny looked at his sister, a tear glistening in his eye. "You want me to burn things. You really want me to burn things." He smiled, stretched out both his hands. "Get behind the forcefield ladies....this could get messy." He cackled and cracked his neck.

"I...I'm going to regret this, I know I'm gonna regret this," Sue complained to the universe in general, "Just try not to burn off all of your clothes...again." she teased. "If you start to feel lightheaded back away, we're better off with you taking your time than dropping unconscious on us."

As she spoke, Sue erected a forcefield around herself and Molly with a upward wave of her hand, leaving the two girls behind a filmy haze.

Molly blinked at Johnny like he suddenly sprouted wings and a tutu, then rubbed her forehead. "Kay," she said. For some reason she just wanted to follow him around yelling 'no! bad!' and keep him from blowing himself up. She bet Sue probably felt that a lot.

"Be careful."

Johnny flashed a smile back at them. He rubbed his hands together and bit his lip in concentration. He raised his hands and pointed at the ground. Flames spurted out and the ground began to bubble. A hole appeared. A black hole. Johnny couldn't see where it led to, but the paint around the edges seemed to drip down into it.

The hole slowly expanded. Johnny took a step back, unconsciously, gave a little cough and yelled over his shoulder, "Ugh, Sue? Where do you think the hole goes to?"

"Wherever it is, it's got to be better than a completely empty city with nothing to eat or drink," the elder girl pointed out, "Might as well go see, what do we have to lose?"

"And if there's something bad we'll just fight it like we always do," Molly said with an assuring nod, pushing up her sleeve. "Cause we're awesome."

Johnny nodded in agreement and refocused on the hole. I began to grow at an exponential rate. Faster and faster the radius grew as more of the paint dripped down into the nothingness.

The hole was now the size of a small person. Now the size of an adult. A couple. A group. He stepped back and coughed a little. "Phew... I think this might be big enough." He grinned. "Anyone fancy a trip into the unknown?"

Molly held up her hand. "Me!" she said. "Sue, can we all fit in your bubble? You and me and Johnny? If we go in and something tries to get us then we'll be protected. I don't really need to be but if there's like...water and stuff I don't think I'm unsquishable from drowning. And if there's not water we can figure stuff out from there. Like if we need to punch them or like...say hi, just in case there's good guys on the other side too."

Sue smiled and gestured her hands to encompass the other two, "There's only one way to find out," she noted as a forcefield started to flare to life around them, "Just get close, I don't want the forcefield to fail if we end up in the middle of a fire or the middle of no-where." Sue started walking towards the void shooting Johnny and Molly a mischievous smile that was a clear reflection of her brother's. in the end she was still his sister, "Geronimo!" the blonde leaped forward catching the other two with a half formed forcefield and pulling them closer as the three of them tipped forward into the void Johnny had created..

Johnny let out a whoop of delight as they tumbled through the darkness. And as suddenly as the darkness had enveloped them, they emerged into the light. Johnny landed nimbly on his feet and looked around, before his two travelling companions landed on top of him. He pushed them off and jumped back onto his feet sway a little from the paint fumes and the fall.

The scene around him was that of an aftermath, once the carnage has finished. He noticed familiar faces organising medics, rushing to and fro and providing some sort of crowd control. He was a little disappointed that no one seemed to notice their dramatic entrance, marred as it was with Sue and Molly landing on him. He turned to them, giving them a I-guess-we're-back shrug, before he noticed a certain breeziness about his person. He looked at them and cocked his head, before laughing. "I guess it's a good thing I wore my fireproof boxers today!"




Matt and Tandy beep boop zap their way home. No, really. Sonar + Light Daggers. Beep Boop Zap.



"DON'T say that." She had to lower her voice a bit as she looked around. "I really hope Slenderman isn't here." She looked behind her, "But I see something...I don't know what it is."

Matt couldn't see or hear Slenderman with his powers, but the thing made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. That wasn't very useful. "What is it?" he asked, curious. All he saw was her and trees. That wasn't helpful.

"A painting monster? Maybe it is the caterpillar from the book? It is creepy looking. I never been inside a painting before, do they have monsters?"

"I don't hear anything..." Matt replied, unsure. "Can we get out?" he asked. Was there a door or something in the distance? This was fun, but it was time to go.

"I don't know. The thing is getting closer. Let's go this way." Tandy's hand found Matts and started to pull him in the opposite direction.

Away from monsters or demons or Slendermen or whatever else was a Good Idea. Running with Tandy, Matt half dragged her with his longer stride. "What's that?" He asked, skidding to a halt as a man in armor stepped out to block their path.

"Off with their heads!" A shrill voice proclaimed.

That wasn't good.

"You have got to be joking." Tandy's crescent moon started to glow as she lifted up her hands to send her daggers towards the armored man. The man in the armor started to melt together like how paint begins to run. "Ew. Well..that might had been bad news bears."

"You just....zapped the only....thing that might know what was going on and where we are!" Matt protested, not that he much wanted his head chopped off. It was better on his shoulders. The phrase seemed familiar though somehow.

"Yea well, he didn't look to keen on talking." Tandy took a step back from the pool of mixed color. "But the painting ate you and I followed so we are in a painting. No way on Earth can we find a more colorful place and the brush strokes are really obvious." She reached over to touch a plant before she screamed as a smiling creature appeared. "Holy cow balls!"

"The fuck?" Matt agreed, unsure what it was. A caterpillar? Seriously? "Everything is paint...." bizarre. Hopefully the caterpillar wasn't some sort of acid-spitting poisonous one. He was seriously out of his element in here, things did not respond to his sonar properly and he wasn't sure he could trust it.

The smiling creature disappeared again and Tandy looked around again, "I see playing cards coming towards us. How does one get out of a painting?"

"Do I look like Harry Potter?" Matt asked. Maybe Ron Weasley. "Let's just pick a direction and try to get out!"

"This way." Tandy took the lead again but still holding onto Matt's hand. "Away from playing cards." She jumped slightly as the flowers around them started to come to life but she kept moving. "I think I heard voices up ahead."

"I definitely hear them," Matt agreed, "They're arguing, but not making any sense either," they didn't seem confrontational or dangerous at least. The landscape seemed to shift and melt around them, the sound almost like the soft crinkling of paper, "Where'd the forest go?" He asked a moment later as they emerged in a field, the forest melting away.

"Chest Field." Tandy whispered as she turned to see that the forest was indeed gone. "I think...we just went into another painting? Is that possible?" Her fear melted away for a moment as anger started to build up. "I HATE THIS PLACE!" She yelled at nothing in particular.

Cocking his head to one side, Matt focused his powers for a moment. "Do that again," He instructed her, taking her by the shoulders and turning her slightly, "but that way. Scream."

Tandy raised an eyebrow but didn't question it as she let out another scream in the direction Matt told her too.

Adjusting her by the shoulders, Matt pointed over her shoulder up into the sky, "Do you see anything there?" He asked. "Like it looks funny?"

Tandy looked up expecting to be blinded by the painted sun but it didn't hurt. "I see a painted sun. Why? Is that our ticket out of here?"

"It's... weaker there. I dunno, stretched thinner. Like we could break it," if they could very to it. Steeping back, Matt launched his cane at the thin spot like a javelin. A moment later, he went to retrieve it, then tried again. "I'm apparently not an Olympic javelin thrower." Plan B.

Tandy watched as Matt was throwing his cane but missing the mark. "Just hit the sun right?" Feeling the urgency to leave the painting as she heard the sounds of yelling behind her. She threw up her arm and let loose five daggers towards the target. Instead of disappearing like they normally do when hit an inanimate object, it left a tear and started to pull them towards the opening. "MATT!" Reaching out her hand so they wouldn't get separated.

Gaming Tandy's wrist tightly, Matt dropped his cane. Oh well, he didn't need it technically and he had spares at home. "Fucking fields trips!" Matt swore as the painting spit them out onto the sidewalk again. Well. That... okay, that could have been worse. Much worse. Still.

"I'm covered in painting snot," Matt pulled his sunglasses off and shook them. "Please don't tell me it's actual paint."

Tan landed on her hands and knees covered in paint. She looked over at Matt and started to laugh, not caring about the crowd that was starting to form.

"Fuck you, too," Matt replied without any malice as he grinned and climbed to his feet, the helped Tandy up. "What color am I then? You are so scrubbing my back to get this crap off me."

Tandy stood up still laughing. "I am sorry. That wasn't that bad for a field trip curse. Worse case, the queen of hearts would had lobbed off our heads. And you have a little bit of all the colors, primarily yellow since we went through the sun." "Someone better think I'm a fabulous living art piece then," Matt grinned. As field trip curses went, that wasn't terrible. It also was reasonably short lived. "Let's find everyone and get home. Ick. I want a shower."