[Plot] Hello, We Must Be Going

[Chisaki Watanabe]

After some digging, the team on the CRUA investigation found that in the rare instances people were shipped to Muir from CRUA, they came with government escort. Which meant government plates. So now the team knew to ignore anyone coming off the grounds with those. And they'd ruled out the likelihood that any sort of small vehicle was making these drop offs, as it would make it more likely that these people they were shipping off could be spotted.

Unmarked van seemed the way to go, the villain vehicle of choice. And in making a casual circle around the outskirts of the ground, the team would indeed spy one or two in the parking lot that seemed like they fit the bill, which were still parked there even after all the visitors seemed to go home for the day.

And so it went that on the very same evening the Miscreant team was deployed to see if they could identify Basil, so too was the CRUA team sent out to place trackers on the vans. Bouncing down a backroad in the dead of night, Chisaki was riding in the back of van herself, one marked 'Summers Moving'.

"Alright, so let's go over the plan again."

[Victor Freud]

"Chuck me over the fence, I slap some trackers on the vans, and I get myself back before anyone notices." That might not have been the actual plan, but it was what Vic had insisted he was capable of.

[Robin Stanton]

"Sounds good! If I might make one small addition?" she says, grabbing one of the slightly-less-than-palm-sized tracking devices. "Let me tag along on this one." she says and her hand loses cohesion and turns into a pale pink mass that seeps into the device. Her body rapidly loses mass until just a small pink blob is left and the process seems to slow down a bit. "Just... hang on, gimme a sec..." The blob twists and shimmies around as Robin tries to cram the rest of herself into the tracking device. By volume there's more of her in there already than the device could reasonably accommodate so it becoming a struggle now doesn't really make a whole lot of sense, but the rules by which the Stanton's operate don't seem to always follow such trivial things as 'Physics'.

~There we go.~ the tracker squawks like an old radio despite not having any speakers.

[Chisaki Watanabe]

Chisaki nods. "I think this is a good idea too. None of us should be moving alone on this one."

[Chase Delacroix]

"Is your plan to piggyback the tracker to wherever it goes?" Chase asked Robin from the driver's seat.

[Victor Freud]

"I'm thinking that's what she's thinking, which means that once I plant it, she WILL be moving alone." Victor pointed out, even as he was stowing the devices in a pouch on his belt. And on went the domino mask; this was serious work. And into his mouth went the beignet, which got icing sugar on his suit.

"Damn, this girl can bake."

[Chisaki Watanabe]

Purely because she could not help herself to see the mess, she reached out and began brushing Vic's jacket off like a doting mother.

"Do you want to go with her? We may be able to trail behind her far enough in the van."

[Victor Freud]

Victor had an expression of reluctant appreciation - like a cat that's being brushed of it's matted fur. "Honestly, I think coming back and riding in here would be more comfortable." He decided to test the Robin-infused tracker just in case, seeing if it showed up on their computer. At least then they'd know which one was her van.

[Robin Stanton]

It sure does. And somehow the dot indicating it's position is pink.

[Victor Freud]

Victor stored the RPS back in his belt pouch and tested the other tracker just to be certain.

"Alright, I've got everything I need. If there's trouble, the signal will be hard to miss."

[Chisaki Watanabe]

"Take us in Chase-senpai." Chisaki replied, instructing Chase that it was time for the drop off.

[Narrator]

The grounds of the Center were incredibly quiet. The facility itself was rather dim, with only the occasional light on in a patient room here or there. Of course there was a curfew at a place like this. We wouldn't want patients roaming at all hours like they have freedoms or something.

Beyond the gates where the gang would be working there was just a single person on watch duty. The night watchman in the guardhouse who was so engrossed in how Jaskier and Yennifer were going to get out of this scrape, he wasn't likely to notice two stealthy mutants doing much of anything as long as it didn't involve him directly. Hell, it could potentially be taken further, and that he probably wouldn't bother to look up unless whatever they were about to do completely destroyed his cell phone.

[Victor Freud]

Victor leaned over the front seats to get a better look at the place.

"... which one of you has the better throwing arm?"

[Chase Delacroix]

"I'd say me. Intensive physical training and superhuman coordination, remember?" Chase said matter-of-factly.

[Victor Freud]

Victor put his hand on Chase's shoulder and with a little "hup!" jumped while shrinking at the same time, so that a plum-sized sneaky boy landed on said shoulder.

"Biff me boyo, we're goin' for a LANO drop."

[Chase Delacroix]

Chase exited the van and quickly but quietly crouch-ran to the fence. Sure it was unnecessary to be that stealthy, but training is training.

"Good luck," he said as he put a hand next to his shoulder for Vic to climb into. Once he did, Chase would throw him over.

[Chisaki Watanabe]

When Chase came back to the van, Chisaki was in the driver's seat with a wild look in her eye.

[Chase Delacroix]

"What?" he asked upon seeing her expression, glancing around for danger.

[Chisaki Watanabe]

"Beep beep." She says. She didn't touch the horn. She didn't even dare to pantomime touching it. But she clearly thought it was funny by the expression on her face.

It seemed perhaps the forcing an agent of chaos into the role of the voice of reason might have something of a psychological effect.

[Chase Delacroix]

"Maybe I should get back behind the wheel," he commented with a smirk.

[Chisaki Watanabe]

"Okay." She relented, shimmying out of the seat for Chase to resume his position as get away driver.

"But I want to drive next time."

[Chase Delacroix]

Climbing into the seat, he said, "I feel I should ask if you know how."

[Chisaki Watanabe]

"Not knowing how to do something rarely stops me from trying."

[Victor Freud]

Chase exited the van and quickly but quietly crouch-ran to the fence. Sure it was unnecessary to be that stealthy, but training is training.

"Good luck," he said as he put a hand next to his shoulder for Vic to climb into. Once he did, Chase would throw him over.

Victor kept low and clung to Chase's shoulder. As much as the boy joked around, the closer they got the more serious he became; until the point when he dropped into their hand he bore the same expression as though he were just about to act as a pallbearer. He just gave Chase a thumbs up and then balled himself up, ready for the toss.

His body tumbled through the air, and it wasn't until he felt the change of equilibrium - that brief pause between rising and falling - that he outstretched his limbs again. So many years practicing gymnastics, he'd trained his inner ear well. And with his condensed toughness he was able to hit the ground in a tumbling roll that brought him to his feet without so much as a scratch. It was totally cool and impressive, but of course no one saw it - that was the nature of his ability. If he was using it well, no one would ever know he was using it at all. He patted the pouch on his belt, feeling for the trackers (and his passenger) before he took off in a brisk jog, trying to keep close to the grass and other foliage as he made his way toward their target - it'd give him cover if he needed it, and in the corner of someone's eye or a camera lens he'd just look like some nighttime critter running around looking for food.

For Robin, the experience must have been a strange quasi-familiarity. She'd already crammed herself into the tracker, no small feat. But when Vic had shrunken down she'd been made even smaller. The sensation was not unlike what a deep sea diver might feel as they descended, a pressure on her entire form, growing stronger and stronger, a constant squeeze. It might take some getting used to.

[Narrator]

So far everything was safe and sound. The guard didn't even look up from his show. No one new seemed to arrive on the scene in the last few minutes. So far, Vic seemed in the clear.

[Victor Freud]

With no sign of being spotted Vic allowed himself a few extra inches to lengthen his strides, all while keeping his eyes peeled for the vans and any potential onlookers or cameras.

[Narrator]

There were definitely cameras to keep an eye out for all over the parking lot. This was England after all.

But he spotted the one of the vans he was looking for just some fifty feet ahead of him, parked right up by the gate.

How convenient.

[Victor Freud]

Victor made a beeline for the van, approaching it from the rear and running underneath it. Once he was safely underneath he was able to get a bit more of his size back with little fear of being seen, and more easily handle the tracking device.

[Narrator]

Unfortunately, while Victor was under the closest van, a commotion randomly brewed coming in his direction. The muffled screams of someone were getting closer, and the scuffling of several pairs of shoes.

"Jesus! I thought they tran'd this blighter!" A voice cried out in a harsh whisper.

"Maybe it wore off?" a se ond voice answered.

[Victor Freud]

Victor cursed internally. Attaching the tracking device to the vehicle's metal frame was going to take time. He couldn't just chuck it in behind the bumper, it might bounce around and fall out, and if the bumper cover was metal it might block the signal. He needed to position it so that it could bounce it's signal off of the tarmac. So instead he climbed up into the vehicle's undercarriage, with the intention of fitting the tracker and "jumping off" at the first opportune moment, when it stopped at a set of lights or slowed for a turn.

[Narrator]

As he had suspected, the trio of people began to move towards him, the sounds of fighting continuing on for a brief moments before the sound of a sickening thud. Then, nothing.

"Throw him in the back. He should be out long enough to get him home anyways."

From his hiding spot underneath the van, Victor would watch two pairs of moving legs flanking one another approach the back of the vehicle, followed by the jostling of said vehicle as they opened the doors and loaded the person into the van.

He'd hear the back doors of the van slam closed, but by the fact just one door in the front opened and shut. It seemed only one of the two who carried out their captive climbed into the front seat, the driver.

[Victor Freud]

That only one worker would be in van wasn't too much of a surprise; that the operation would have people working in the clinic proper was a given. Victor didn't really have time to plan things out however; he couldn't both hang on to the vehicle frame and mount the tracker at the same time, so he had to do the next best thing. He checked his pouch to make sure that they were turned on before he took a simple zip tie from another pouch. Allowing it to resume it's normal size, he wrapped it around the metal frame and himself, and drew it tight. He wasn't going to be shaken off easily.

[Narrator]

As predicted by Victor, the van turned over, and then took off with him strapped to it.

[Chisaki Watanabe]

Chisaki kept waiting for a tiny little Victor to return to the backdoors of the van. After some ten minutes of waiting and no Victor, a ping rang out to let the pair know the tracker was live, which continued her resolve to wait.

But then the tracker started moving and Victor didn't return...

[Chase Delacroix]

"Shit. If he isn't hitching a ride then we'll have to come back for him," Chase said as he made to follow the van.

[Chisaki Watanabe]

"Wait!" She cried out. "Keep the lights off.

The tracker can follow at over a kilometers distance. We must stay as far back as we can, otherwise they'll know they are being followed."

[Chase Delacroix]

"This isn't my first tail Chisaki," he said, having not actually started moving yet.

[Robin Stanton]

Meanwhile Robin could tell something was off, seeing how they were moving and she hadn't been taken out of Vic's pocket or gotten released from the odd but not unpleasant full-body hug of being shrunk.

"Pretty sure you were supposed to place the trackers, not escort us." the crackly radio voice quips from Vic's pocket over the noise of traffic and the pavement rushing by beneath them.

[Victor Freud]

"Yeah, well it wasn't my first choice. And you don't have exclusive rights to bad ideas." Victor doesn't sound TOO grumpy, he's certainly not annoyed with her. But it'd be much more comfortable to be riding inside of the van than under it. To most people, it'd be downright terrifying at this scale.

[Robin Stanton]

"Well shit and here I thought I could patent setting extremely bad examples with reckless plans. Here's hoping the others figured out what happened and aren't hanging back waiting for you."