Darryl and the Hexsquad
0: Spectrenium-238
Molly's Room, 2.20
Darryl was dragging a heavy and bulky suitcase towards the trapdoor while everyone looked at him.
"Darryl, where are you going?"
He froze at the question. "Uh… somewhere undisclosed. Don't worry about it."
He then dragged the suitcase through the door and closed it behind him. When he was done, he headed down towards the front door while pulling out a cell phone and dialed the contact labeled "Gardening Club."
RING
RING
"Come on, pick up!"
RING
"What is it Maverick? I thought we were square after stealing from the embassy and framing the-"
"I need a favor and will owe you whatever you want!"
…
"How much trouble are you in?"
"There is an imminent invasion of Earth by ghosts. We need Spectrenium-238 to make a device work so we have a chance."
"Any idea where you can find it?"
"Not a clue Snakeshift. I was hoping you knew."
There was a sigh as Darryl got to the side of the road. "Give me a minute. Where are you now?"
"Flagging down my Uber to go to the airport. I got Giancarlo to give me a ride to wherever you can direct me."
"Wow, you are pulling out all the stops. OK, I have some good news. According to the internet, Midwest United has some, and we already have some people there. I can tell them to start the operation, but I can't give you a timeline yet."
"That's fine, I'll text you when I get to the airport before we take off. Thanks, Snakeshift."
"Don't worry, I'll be calling in that debt soon."
Connecticut
Luz hung up a phone labeled "Darryl/Maverick" and put it in a wall-mounted case next to a dozen others similar labeled and mounted. She turned her chair away from the desk and computer to look at her girlfriend who was looking disappointed at her while sitting in a beanbag chair and holding the latest "Good Witch Azura" book.
"Looks like we will have to postpone 'Azura book club.' Are you sure you want to interrupt Vee and Masha's college tour? They had been looking forward to it for weeks."
Luz just shrugged before pulling things up on her laptop. "There is no way we could get anyone else to help them in time. Everyone else is either here on the East Coast or on the Isles. If we don't bother them, people could die."
She then pulled out a phone labeled "Luz's Phone" and dialed a number in it.
Midwest United
RING
RING
"Yes, Luz?"
"Hi Basilisk, are you and Wicca free to talk business?"
She then looked up at the rest of their tour and pulled Masha's sleeve to get their attention before pointing to a nearby bathroom. They nodded and the two disengaged from the tour into the bathroom while Vee shot Luz a quick "one second." After making sure the bathroom was empty and slapping a quick out-of-order sigh on the door from Masha's bag they set the phone to speaker.
"Ok, we can talk freely and we are on the speaker. What is it Snakeshift?"
"Maverick needs help getting Spectrenium-238 from building G, room 220. You are the only ones that can help him with this in the timeframe."
"WHAT! Why does he need it?"
"Ghost invasion."
…
"Cool!"
"MASHA! We are in the middle of a tour! Can't you ask some of the Oracle Track people on the Isles to come over and kick them back home?"
Masha shot Vee a look. "Vee, how are we supposed to gather a large number of witches from another dimension with only one portal to Earth in Connecticut to the Midwest faster than we can rob a university we are already in?"
"Also, the Isles are still pulling themselves together after Belos. They can barely keep the Isles as a single country, let alone send a task force to engage in warfare in another world. On top of that, do you want to risk that some of the anti-human radicals won't slip through into Earth?"
Vee just sighed. "No. I hate that you're right. What do I have to do?"
"According to my research, the room is locked with a combination of Iris and fingerprint scanner. I need you to find someone with clearance and get in before getting the Spectrenium-238 and handing it off to Maverick. He texted me recently that his ETA is 20 minutes."
"Any idea on where to start?"
"I am looking, but I don't have any intel on the place beyond just googling Spectrenium-238 and the collage."
Masha rolled her eyes. Vee rolled her eyes. "Fine. How about Maverick, do they have any info?"
"I'm passing along your number to him, but he is traveling to you via helicopter and has his phone in airplane mode. So unless either of you has a satellite phone, you will have to wait for him to get to you for any tech help."
"Got it Snakeshifter, we will get on it then."
"Good luck."
"Thanks."
She then hung up before turning towards Masha. "So how do you want to play this?"
Masha pulled out the map of the campus she had gotten at the start of the tour. "The tour is almost done with this building and G is next. Let's just follow this group there and you can break in while I cover for you."
"How?"
Masha just smiled and pulled out a wand from her bag. "I got Gus to show me how to use this training wand to do simple illusions. I can do one of you that can stand still and walk, but not much else. It should be good enough to convince everyone that you never left the group."
Vee nodded at them. "Sounds good to me. I'll try to make it quick and get back as soon as possible. Those things don't hold changes long."
With a plan developed, the two shared a brief kiss before the two rejoined the group.
Building G, Room 202
Vee had just reached the room when she saw Darryl standing in front of it.
"Maverick?"
"Basilisk?"
"What are you doing here? I thought you were still 10 minutes out."
He just smiled. "I got a really good helicopter and great weather conditions. Now, Snakeshifter said that the Spectrenium-238 is behind this door?"
She nodded before walking up to it.
"What are you doing? If you're not in the system, the whole thing will lock down and set an alarm!"
She recoiled from the door like it was hot iron at that. She then took a few deep breaths before turning to Darryl. "Is the college president allowed in?"
"Yes, but-"
"I have contacts and fake fingerprints that match his. Can you disable the cameras?"
He just looked at her in shock before his self-assured grin returned.
"The first thing I did when I landed was loop all the cameras."
She then looked at the iris scanner and put her hands on the pad while shifting them to that of the president.
DING
The door opened and let them both in.
"Let's go."
The two then started looking through the cabinet and containers looking for anything that might be the Spectrenium-238. But as weird as it was to say, nothing they could find was labeled as radioactive.
"Where could it be?"
"Maybe behind that vault door?"
Darryl then turned to look at the large metal door Vee was pointing to. The door itself was a shiny metal with a smooth surface but flushed with the wall. Next to it was a keypad as well as a keycard reader on the wall.
"That's a safe bet."
"I don't have the president's keycard or password for this, can you open it?"
"Hay, I am good but not that good."
Vee sighed before pulling out her phone.
"Hay Snakeshifter, we think it's in a high-tech safe. Can you walk us through cracking it?"
"OK, do you see a model number?"
Vee looked closely at it. "No, but the keypad says it's from SafeCo."
…
"how about the key car reader, SafeCo again?"
"Yep."
"Carajo! That's one of the better ones. I got nothing. You might have to go with plan S."
Vee began to shrink down at that.
"Are you sure?"
"Basilisk, news reports are talking about the ghost attacks. It's only Brighton-based outlets, but a few of the conspiracy sites I monitor are picking it up. If we don't shut this down soon, the supernatural could be proven to be real to the world. You know what would happen to us then."
…
Vee reluctantly sighed. "Ok, plan S it is."
"I'm sorry. Oh, by the way. Can you grab some samples of Plutonium 239? I found that they have some in the college and project Door Dash could use it."
"Really Snake?"
"Only if you have the time. If they don't have it in the safe, just grab the closest substitute."
"How would I know what that is?"
"Just use your best judgment."
Vee just sighed before hanging up. She then began to focus on her muscles, increasing their density and strength before preparing to try and rip the door off its hinges.
"Stand back, time for plan S."
"Or how about plan F."
Vee just blinked before turning to face Darryl. "What's that?"
"F for 'forgetful person left their purse on that table.'"
Vee turned and did indeed see a purse lying on the table. She quickly opened it and poured out the contents onto the desk.
"Help me look for a keycard. If we're lucky, they will also be the kind of person that writes down the password."
After a bit of searching both of them found something.
"I got the keycard!"
"I got a few pins."
Vee turned to look at Darryl. "What do you mean a few?"
He then held up a stick note with 10 sets of 4-digit numbers on it.
"Looks like she kept them all on one piece of paper."
"Which one is ours?"
He just shrugged at that. "No idea. Let me look at the keypad and see if I can figure out which this could be."
He then walked over to the pad and studied it.
"doesn't look like any of the numbers are rubbed off. Let's try dusting for prints."
As Darryl worked on that, Vee continued looking through the purse, hoping for inspiration to strike.
As Darryl continued to try and match the prints on the keypad to those on some of the purse's contents in an attempt to figure out the pin, Vee noticed something odd.
"Hay Mavorek, do keycards usually have part of their ID number highlighted?"
Darryl stopped at that before turning to look at her and then the card again.
"Please let her be that forgetful."
He then tried it, swiping the card and putting in the number on the card.
DING
The safe opened.
"Thank you forgetful people everywhere! Making life easy for people like me since the dawn of time."
Vee then pulled the safe open the rest of the way, revealing several lead-sealed canisters. They were labeled as everything from radium to uranium, and even some plutonium. At the top of the shelf was one labeled Spectrenium-238.
"Bingo!"
Vee reached up to grab it and handed it to Darryl before she started to close the door. right before she did, however, she hesitated and reluctantly opened it again and grabbed the plutonium sample before closing the door.
"Let's get out of here before someone notices. You go up and I'll go down. Snakeshifter will call later."
"Got it, pleasure doing business with you."
The two nodded at each other before they exited the room Darryl headed to the roof while Vee headed to a nearby closet and closed the door.
"Please work."
She then concentrated before gracing the front of her shirt and pulling it apart slowly, bracing for any pain.
Thankfully, none occurred.
She had successfully been able to make flaps of skin with pockets on the inside that she could open and close like a coat.
"Thank you, Papa Titan."
She then slipped in the plutonium before heading down to rejoin her group
"I am so glad that there is only one more stop on the tour. I have no idea if I can get cancer from this, but I would rather not find out."
In their rented car
"YOU STOLE WHAT?"
"Masha, please calm down."
"CALM DOWN? YOU STOLE-"
They then paused when they saw how scared Vee looked at that. They then took several deep breaths with their eyes closed while forcing both hands to stay on the steering wheel.
"I am sorry about that Vee. I am not mad at you. I am scared FOR you and mad at Luz for asking you to do this. Why would Amity even need you to steel plutonium for her? Can't they steel some themselves?"
"This is plutonium 239, not something that you can find anywhere. They already checked Milestones 2 and 3 with no success."
Masha just blinked at her before pinching herself between her eyes. "Right, of course, they would do that. Why couldn't they just go to the colleges near them?"
"I think they were planning too, but this popped up first. There is less chance of the theft being tied to Connecticut if it's stolen here, let alone Gravesfield."
Masha could just sigh at that. "OK, I can accept that. WHY do they need plutonium?"
"I think they are trying to use it to substitute for titan blood in making a portable portal door. They were talking about giving it to us to take to Midwest United so we won't have to worry about plane tickets if we need to go back to Connecticut or the Isles."
…
"Are you telling me they had you steel radioactive materials so you don't have to pay for PLANE TICKETS?"
"And moving things halfway across the country instantly without worrying about customs. We can charge for shipping without having to pay anything out."
That took the wind out of Masha's sails. "OK, I will give you that. That could open up the Midwests markets to us."
Masha shook their head a bit before continuing. "But that doesn't answer the biggest question."
"What?"
"HOW ARE WE GETTING IT ON THE PLANE BACK HOME?"
"We're not. We are keeping it in our hotel room until one of the others flies over to pick it up."
Masha just froze while looking at her.
"didn't they say it would take 10 hours to fly here?"
Vee just shrugged. "We do have a hotel here for a few days. We can let Gus rest the night before letting him return."
Masha just rolled their eyes. "Fine. But I am still chewing out Luz for putting you through this."
"Fair. Though you will probably have to wait your turn after Mom though."
…
"Never mind, there is nothing I can do that will top her when she's mad."
Yes, the plutonium will work to power the door. how long will it last? I don't know yet.
Hello, Molly McGee fandom! I have been thinking of this crossover with my "Luz's Crime's" fanfic ever since I saw 2.20. I might do some more like this about Darryl working with them in the past, and maybe even go into his gifts to his family in 2.19.1.
I am posting at least one 2k or more fanfic chapter a week this year, but I am going to jump between fandoms frequently based on my muse.
I am also doing "Fanfic info dumps" on multiple series to help other fanfic writers with their works. They are on DevientArt here ( 1228248) because Fanfiction and AO3 both said I couldn't post them there.
Fanfiction: u/5646512/
Tumbler: brianedner/luzs-crime-list-masterpost/dia848df51z4
AO3: /users/BrianEdner1/works