Building Bridges

## Premise

Nikola’s last attempt to get everyone together and figure out what the future would look like for the group went… not as well as he hoped. Now Brittney insists on keeping her distance, and the group knows that the mysterious blogger Nightlight is none other than Nikola’s new girlfriend Lina. A discussion about how things should work moving forwards is more warranted than ever, and hopefully this time they can actually have it.

## Cast

* Zen (DM)
* Kat Afka (Lordlyhour)
* Carolina "Lina" Noticia (kt)
* Nikola N. Change (Authorticity)
* Shaun (Verl)
* Tailwind (Tallestnull)

## Plot Summary

### Part 1

Lina randomly shows up at the junkyard one day, stumbling across the group having a meeting about how to arrange a meeting with Lina. Lina is surprised to see Shaun and Kat there and asks if they're mutants or just involved; Shaun deflects by saying that's rude, and Kat fails horribly at feigning ignorance by asking what mutants are. Lina sarcastically feigns ignorance, asking if Kat can tell her what a mutant is, and Kat says "It's me!" and transforms to demonstrate. Tailwind tries to get the group on track and says they've only been at this for a little while, and Lina asks and confirms that they got their powers shortly after the start of the school year. Nikola asks if they should invite Roadkill, and Lina says she won't ask Roadkill to come to this side of the river, which Tailwind initially protests but finally concedes to. Lina texts Roadkill to see if he wants to be part of the meeting, and when Kat tries to convince her to lure him over to the Wellspring City side of the river, she ardently refuses to ask him to cross the bridge.

The group walk across the bridge to meet on the opposite shore. As they walk, Nikola hangs back to check on Shaun, since he's the most vocal about keeping the group small and secret. Shaun is unhappy about Kat transforming so cavalierly and thinks the group will be at a disadvantage going into this conversation, since Lina and Roadkill know more important info about them than vice versa. They arrive on the other side of the bridge, and Roadkill joins them. Tailwind explains that if everyone is going to work together, they need a baseline of shared information, and Nikola says they also need to discuss what working together is going to look like. Lina and Nikola set up a picnic, and everyone but Roadkill sits together, with Roadkill sitting a bit further back from the group.

Everyone introduces themselves, and Lina mentally tells Nikola not to bring up Roadkill's claw, which Nikola passes along to the others. Kat asks how Roadkill and Lina met, and Lina explains that he saved her from being swept away by the river when she was little, and then she came back years later to find him. Tailwind teases Roadkill for having a heart after all, and Roadkill whacks Tailwind with his tail in retaliation. Nikola offers to let Lina and Roadkill ask a question, but Roadkill doesn't care, and Lina asks what the group knows so far. Nikola recaps what the group knows, and the group mentally figures out their next move. Tailwind explains that they work at the junkyard and asks why Roadkill wouldn't meet them there, and Roadkill says he doesn't want to tempt fate by going into Mayor Bronson's city, since he already hates the mutants being in Endsville. Tailwind says Bronson is inept, but Lina points out he's gotten this far.

Nikola brings up that his mom, Quartz Change, used to work for Mayor Bronson, and watches Roadkill's reaction. Roadkill recognizes the name, and Nikola disclaims that he can read minds but even without that can tell that Roadkill knows her. Roadkill says Quartz used to come over to Endsville about 20 years ago, and Tailwind asks how old Roadkill is. Roadkill says he's seventeen, Kat asks how long he's been seventeen, and Roadkill says it's been thirty years. Tailwind wonders if it's because he's part lobster, and Kat asks if they'll have to worry about it or if it's just a Roadkill thing, and Roadkill explains that while he doesn't know what'll be true in their case, most mutants age slowly, but he's an outlier for not aging at all. Lina says she's never heard of mutants being able to change back and forth like the group, Tailwind explains a little about their electricity mutation, Lina pictures Tailwind puffed up with static electricity and Nikola struggles not to laugh.

Tailwind asks if anything weird happened in Endsville around Halloween, and Roadkill says he didn't notice anything. Lina says she assumes the device was made by Bronson, and that he wouldn't have any reason to target Endsville. Tailwind says there's another card in play, Lina brings up the missing pets from Into Thin Air and the group tell her that Yllwyll was using mutants to steal the animals from town, and Tailwind redirects to talking about the ink monster from A Watershed Issue and bring him up as a possible cause of the Halloween events. Lina is surprised to hear that something was in the tunnels under Wellspring City, Roadkill says it's unlikely it got into the city without the mayor knowing, and the group speculates on whether it may be working with the mayor, but ultimately aren't sure if it may be an independent force.

Lina explains the backstory of Endsville: Dr. Wyll made a scientific discovery he called Catalyst-V but kept secret, an accident happened and mysterious green goo that people assumed to be Catalyst-V was spread across the city, and everyone started mutating. Nikola asks what happened to all the city's inhabitants, and Roadkill explains that mutations like his, where he can still think and talk, aren't very common, and most people got mutated into unthinking creatures. Lina elaborates that most thinking mutants left stay in small, hidden groups because resources are scarce. Tailwind protests that it's dumb to split into small groups instead of trying to build a community, but Roadkill argues that larger groups make bigger targets for aggressive mutants. Lina says the group, especially Tailwind, have been lucky to come to Endsville without having more incidents. Nikola says that being mutated was all their bad luck concentrated, but Lina and Roadkill say that they got lucky with the nature of their mutation and it doesn't count as bad luck.

Tailwind and Lina get into a discussion about trying to set up farming in Endsville, and Nikola brings up the possibility of using fungi to soak up Catalyst-V out of the soil but ultimately says this is a discussion for a different time. Lina brings up that Wyllvylle was the epicenter of a natural disaster that no one has helped with, and Bronson is actively trying to cover up. Tailwind asks why no one has gone for help in a city other than Wellspring City, and Roadkill says there are no other cities nearby and that mutants that have left looking for help in the past haven't come back.

Nikola says his mom didn't say much about her time in Wellspring City, and asks how much she knew about Catalyst-V and if she's kept up contact with anyone in Endsville. Roadkill says he hasn't heard from her since before she left the city, and didn't have a phone before Lina got him his current phone. Nikola offers to give Roadkill their mom's phone number, but he declines, saying she's not in the same place as when they were friends. Nikola says Quartz's behavior has been concerning and they wanted to check if their mother might have any info that could be a danger to the people in Endsville, but since she hasn't kept up contact it's unlikely.

Tailwind asks how many other sentient mutants the group should be aware of, and Nikola sees Lina thinking of a smaller, partially-robotic mutant before trying to redirect her thoughts. Nikola deliberately walks away from the group to leave Detect Thoughts range, and Roadkill asks why Tailwind wants to know about other mutants, and Tailwind elaborates that they want to know about any other allies or any threats. Roadkill says they don't have to worry unless they go deeper into the city; Lina says they don't run into many people and Roadkill corrects her, saying that he sees people when she's not around. Roadkill says that people mostly keep to themselves and won't pick a fight without being provoked. Tailwind says that Yllwyll seemed pretty willing to lash out without provocation, Nikola walks back to join the group, and the group spirals into a discussion about the high school's poor practices making Lina and Tailwind do important work.

Tailwind brings up Factoid and asks what they should do about it, and Lina suggests experimenting with not feeding it, which Tailwind objects to because Factoid is a living thing. Tailwind brings up the Catalyst-V they gave Lina in Stress Testing and says Yllwyll had a lot more of the stuff, which Lina agrees is concerning. Tailwind then explains the mutant-repelling device from the Halloween parade, and says they suspect it was made by Bronson. Nikola says it was clearly a move to uncover any hidden mutants in the city; Roadkill asks how anyone in the city would know about the group being able to change back and forth, and asks what they've been up to. Tailwind summarizes the group's adventures so far, but concludes that no one should have been able to figure out they could change back from their actions thus far. Nikola brings up that all it would take is one person who's difficult to notice, like Lina, seeing the group when they didn't realize. Roadkill wonders why Bronson hasn't used the tech in Endsville yet if he has it, and Tailwind speculates that it could be an employee or former employee of his.

### Part 2

Nikola succeeds a History check and remembers that they turned back to their non-mutant form in front of the ink monster in the sewers in A Watershed Issue, though they were hidden by their cloak. Nikola quietly goes "oh fuck", drawing everyone's attention, and he says he might've fucked up, explaining what he remembered. Since they didn't show their face, the group figures it's not that bad, though it might be what caused suspicions of hidden mutants in the city. Nikola also reminds Shaun that they said his name during the encounter.

Tailwind says they've had a lot of discussion about information, and that they should figure out their next move. Nikola says they should figure out what their goal is, which they wanted to figure out in We Need to Talk before the fight with Penumbra broke out. Tailwind suggests the group's mission is to help people, and Shaun suggests that if the mutant problem becomes public, Mayor Bronson might turn on them. Kat suggests finding Yllwyll and trying to get more information from him, and that Lina and Roadkill haven't met him yet so might be able to talk to him, though Roadkill refuses. Nikola tries to redirect the group and asks what their ultimate goal is should all their plans succeed, and says the situation in both cities is untenable. Lina says she wants justice for Endsville, freedom of speech, and a cure for mutants that want it. Kat suggests overthrowing the mayor, but Shaun and Roadkill say that's unrealistic. Tailwind says they're fascinated by the mutant powers and want to learn more about them. Lina brings up people being disappeared by the government, and Tailwind says they should probably get to the bottom of that soon.

Nikola pulls out a notebook and has everyone start writing down their ideas as they talk. Tailwind says they want to learn more about how Catalyst-V and possibly find a way to fix its effects. Everyone except Roadkill (who doesn't care) and Tailwind (who is pacing) huddles around the notebook with different colors of pen. Tailwind asks if there's a recognizable epicenter of the Catalyst-V accident, and Roadkill says it's hard to tell. Lina suggests Yllwyll's lab was ground zero for the Catalyst-V accident, since he was the one working with it before the incident and is where the group got mutated. The group agrees that's a good place to start, though Lina points out they probably won't fool Yllwyll again, and Tailwind starts making plans to build a stealth suit so they can sneak in.

Tailwind suggests they have regular meetings, and asks how they should get ahold of each other when weird stuff happens. Lina likes the idea of regular meetings, and tells Roadkill he doesn't have to come any time. Roadkill agrees as long as Lina thinks she can handle herself around the rest of the group, and Lina offers to give him everyone else's addresses. Lina and Tailwind discuss some possible enhancements to the website, like advertising it with clickbait pop-up ads. Lina suggests getting agriculture set up in Endsville, and Kat suggests they could get usable soil from Nikola's farming town. Kat also suggests using the anime club, which is mostly approved by the school at this point, as outreach for the blog. Lina gets excited at the prospect of showing anti-government anime at school, which her cousin out of town could mail in. Tailwind mentions they're moving the junkyard projector so that the screen will be visible from Endsville, and asks for any movie requests; Roadkill reluctantly says he'll ask around. Kat asks if Roadkill enjoyed the anime he lent him, and Roadkill tries to play it cool by just saying it was okay, which everyone but Shaun (who doesn't care) and Lina sees through. Nikola can see Roadkill's favorite show from the bunch was *Undead Takeover Story*, an idol anime, and struggles not to laugh as they telepathically tell Kat about it.

Nikola asks if the group wants to make contact with other residents of Endsville, but Lina suggests they wait until they're more established and have a better handle on their powers. Nikola asks the group if they want their mutant personas to be known as forces of good, or if they want to keep being secretive. Lina says if they keep fighting, they'll be publicized eventually, and they can either get ahead of it or have Bronson make bad propaganda first. Kat is enthusiastically in favor of becoming superheroes, and Lina says if they become known as superheroes, they might have public support behind them if they get exposed in the future. Nikola calls a vote on whether the group are willing to go public as superheroes if needed. Nikola and Kat vote yes right away; Tailwind hesitates, noting they're impulsive; Shaun says they might as well get the good press if they have to fight mutants anyway. Lina suggests they promote the heroes on the website and Kat gets excited about that. Roadkill calls out Shaun for not having a hero name yet, and Tailwind suggests running a poll on the website. The group has a little discussion about the knockoff merch of them that will surely come about.

Tailwind mentions the living training dummy from Push-Ups for Power-Ups to Lina, and recalls that Shaun scraped his hand on the dummy and smeared it with slime immediately prior to it awakening. Tailwind asks to get a sample of Shaun's slime next time he transforms, leaving Nikola and Shaun confused, and explains that Shaun's slime might've brought the dummy to life. Lina asks if Shaun is just Catalyst-V on the inside, and Shaun denies it. Kat suggests they could use Shaun to make more mutants as recruits, which everyone else vehemently protests. Nikola says that some of their ink goes green when they transform and suggests they run some blood/ink tests. Shaun asks if this means he could be exposed by a blood test, and Kat says most of the group probably would be. Kat and Nikola mention that their powers don't change when they transform, and Shaun says he's trying very hard not to think about it and doesn't like the idea he's just slime pretending to be a dog toon.

Nikola brings up Lina's suggestion of mind reading resistance training and asks Tailwind to help them come up with a good procedure to practice without Nikola seeing their actual secrets. Roadkill is skeptical, Nikola prompts him to speak if he has something to say, and he says he doesn't trust them to try something like that with Lina given what Penumbra did. Nikola says they're not excited about it either, but think it's something for everyone to decide for themselves. Lina reassures Roadkill she'll be careful, but wants to be more prepared if she runs into Penumbra again and be able to protect what she knows. Tailwind asks Roadkill if he has any ideas for actions they should be taking now, but Roadkill brushes them off. Nikola says he can let them know if he thinks of anything later.

Shaun asks how the group are going to show off and get recognized as heroes, and what they plan to do if Brittney causes problems (using Brittney's civilian name instead of Penumbra). Everyone stares at Shaun, but Lina doesn't make the connection between Brittney and Penumbra, and the group tries to redirect Lina, with Kat reminding her that Brittney used to date Shaun. The group switches to talking about where to get a leather jacket for Tailwind; both Kat and Lina have leather jackets for cosplay that they could use. Tailwind's electric form from A Fright to Remember comes up and Tailwind mentions that they were able to possess a cop-bot, and suggests another training session to see what else they can do in that form. Shaun complains about being contagious, and Kat brings up that they might all be contagious and should check on that.

Lina tells the group they shouldn't rely on Roadkill always being around to help. Tailwind makes a joke about Roadkill being pretty much useless last time he fought alongside them, and Roadkill says he did much better last time they weren't around. Lina asks if Penumbra wears armor and Roadkill explains that when Penumbra pulled out of his claw, there was the sound of tearing metal. Kat tries to keep a straight face and doesn't mention seeing wires when he healed her. He fools Lina, but Nikola sees him remembering the incident. Nikola keeps a straight face, but Kat notices and mentally asks them not to tell anyone, which he agrees to. Out loud, Nikola says they'll probably need to ask Penumbra to get any answers about that, and Tailwind says that probably won't be anytime soon. Nikola hugs Lina to comfort her.

Tailwind tries to push the group to set some short-term goals, and suggests asking Perspicuity for anyone he trusts that they could try getting information from. Nikola says they'll work on getting dirt from their family's orchard for the eventual gardening project, and asks Roadkill if he wants to be mentioned to Quartz, which he's a bit taken aback by. Nikola pulls out a photo of him and his moms from them he was little to show the group. The group talks a little about the junkyard and how Goat has butted heads with Mayor Bronson but not been disappeared yet. Shaun asks if there's a good place in Endsville for the group to flee too if they're going to be making themselves superheroes, and Lina says she'll set up some safehouses.

Lina asks Roadkill what to do if she ever talks to her and he comes up, and Roadkill says his existence isn't a secret, though Lina promises to keep "certain things" secret and Roadkill says they'll discuss it later. Nikola tells the group his parents are getting a divorce, and when the others are surprised, he explains that Penny found a lot of money Quartz had hidden and kept secret and still refuses to talk about, so Penny is trying to divorce Quartz. Nikola says he talked to Quartz recently and was hoping Quartz was still in touch with Roadkill and trying to keep him secret, and is disappointed that doesn't seem to be the case. Lina asks why Quartz sent Nikola to Wellspring City instead of Toontown if she's so worried about him being here, and Nikola clarifies she didn't want him leaving the farm at all, and Toontown is far away and his grandmother in town is really busy. Lina asks if they'd be able to talk to Quartz alone if they went out to the farm, possibly getting help from her, and suggests they get the school to make a field trip of it. Nikola discounts the idea, saying everyone's been to an orchard before, and everyone else says they haven't. Nikola says they'll ask about the field trip, and calls Quartz with the group. Lina asks if Quartz knows Nikola is dating her, and Nikola says they haven't told any of their moms, but especially not Quartz because he's kind of pissed at her.

Quartz picks up Nikola's call, then Nikola switches over to their burner phone and introduces everyone but Roadkill (who chooses to stay quiet). Nikola asks about arranging a field trip to the farm, and Quartz agrees to it, saying Nikola is always welcome back at home. Nikola asks if all three moms are still at home, and Quartz says they are, though she's been sleeping in Nikola's room. Nikola asks if the situation has gotten better, and when Quartz says it hasn't, Nikola asks if there's anything else Quartz wants to tell them about Endsville. Quartz says they can talk about it another time, without their friends on the line, and Tailwind calls out that they've seen Quartz's graffiti. Quartz asks if the kids have been going into Endsville, Nikola confirms it, and Quartz says they'll have a talk about it later. Nikola asks Quartz to tell his other moms about the field trip, tells her he's dating Lina, then hangs up.

Lina asks Nikola to tell his other moms that they're dating so they don't hear it from Quartz, and he agrees to tell them later. Shaun says they should get home before it gets dark. Shaun brings up the fact that he got adopted by Nikola's grandparents in Family Tree Botany, surprising Lina and Tailwind. Tailwind teases Shaun about the training dummy being his son, and when Shaun snaps back, Nikola mentally tells them to leave it alone for now and they change the topic. Tailwind tries to change the topic by saying Shaun can lick his elbow now, and the rest of the group roast them for thinking toons can't lick their elbows anyway.

Shaun walks the group through the to-do list they came up with, and Lina says she'll bring a first aid kit for when they do testing on each other, plus PPE for herself because she doesn't want to risk being mutated. Shaun suggests they come up with a code word for Penumbra problems, in case she troubles Lina again, and the group agrees to make a horoscope reference in that case.

Before Roadkill heads out, Nikola approaches him and says they want to talk to him one-on-one sometime, and he has Lina give them his phone number (because he has trouble typing). Kat heads home and looks for a leather jacket in his cosplay closet, but doesn't find any. Shaun makes a habit of covering up more, paranoid about being contagious. Tailwind heads to their workshop and starts working on a stealth suit that could fit them or Lina. Lina follows Nikola home, and Nikola asks if Lina wants to come up and meet his dog.

## Notes

Everyone in the group except Shaun has a burner phone for superhero business

Kat has a very high passive Perception and is one of the few people who is able to see Lina on a regular basis

Nikola and Lina both brighten up when they see each other

Brittney did not actually install spy cameras on the bridge, though she considered it in previous games

Lina is surprised Shaun is involved in the mutant group

Nikola still has the mutant-repelling device, but Brittney still has the vial of Catalyst-V it relies on

Magic is possible in Wellspring City like it is everywhere else in the world, but is not commonly taught or practiced

* There are likely magic healers at the hospital, but that's the most common magic-heavy role in the city

Nikola's mom, Quartz, was a rebellious teenager and drew some graffiti that still remains in Endsville

Zen calls Lordly the Voice of the Contrarion as a reference to a video game character that sounds and acts a lot like Lordly

Lina admires Quartz's spray paint skills and thinks she was cool

Lina learned how to spray paint from Roadkill

Lina is embezzling money from the school budget for herself

Tailwind powers their mech with their electricity powers

Tailwind claims they got choked by the ink monster, even though they weren't

Lina plans to go to law school and then run for mayor against Bronson when he's old

Lina can make things glittery just by touching them

*Undead Takeover Story* is a bootleg version of *Zombieland Saga*

The living scarecrow is serving as a lookout at Tailwind's shack

Lina says that Nikola's mother looks "metal as hell"

Lina often gets mistaken for a lost child

Toontown is at least a day's drive away from Wellspring City

Brittney thinks astrology is stupid

## Session Recording

Part 1

Part 2