Heritage

Happy birthday, HGM!

Oh jeez, I just realized I might have messed you up with that last post; if i need to change it or even scrap it, let me know.

Not sure what rolls to make, but this is how Casey plans a 'job'; ironically, it's not very different from how a Girl Scout plans a major community improvement project. Yes, I find it hilarious to use her Scout training as justification for A-Team-type montages, but a Girl Scout Ambassador does know her s###

"Wouldn't dream of it, detective," she said as he walked away. There was a quick blur of movement, and the slip of paper was gone; her face was somewhat troubled, but her smile returned as she briefly rejoined the group of dockworkers. "Well, it looks like my work is done here; stay safe! I'll be here if you need me!" And with that, she lifted off dramatically into the sky... ...and quickly doubled back to reclaim her hidden clothing. Casey Blankenship rode public transportation back to school, to give her time to figure out what she was doing, and not just in terms of her plan to break into Mercury's offices. So is this who you are now? Just another vigilante, taking the law into her own hands? But that detective practically begged for my help; his hands are tied, and lives are at stake. And not just from those grenades; who knows what other high-tech weapons are moving through Freedom? The pros and cons went back and forth in her head for the whole ride; she thought about her father, the Girl Scouts, Woodward and Bernstein, the Armed Forces, Terrifica, and a dozen other moral touchstones. By the time she reached the gates of Claremont, she had her answer: to know what she knew now, and to do nothing, would be far worse than any lawbreaking she was about to plan. It looked like 'Hardcase' had another job to do. First things first, she did her research; sitting in a reading nook at the main branch of the library, her fingers danced across the keyboard of her Powerbook as she her eyes devoured everything she could find out about Mercury, the history and design of their building, the neighborhood it was located in, other tenants in the building, including the management company, and who handled security and maintainence. If she got stuck, she found a librarian to help her with her 'research project for school'; the library had all kinds of city plans and records on file, if you knew who to ask and had a winning smile. As before, she looked for different ways to do things, because 'Hardcase' didn't fly; she used the back door, or even the front door if need be, though if she really had to fly, she would, but only in dark clothing at night. Of course, Miracle Girl could check out the roof access while she innocently flew over the city in broad daylight... Her bespectacled face lit by the glow of her laptop's screen, Casey chewed her way through two bags of Red Vines as she hatched her plan. "Let the caper begin..."

Grimalkin/Shrike (22) [Maxed] Dreadful Dares (1) Hot Time, Summer in the City (3) More Bright Lights and Good Cheer (1) Positions Available (3) The Box of Delights (2) Ultimate Cosmic Power, Itty Bitty Living Space (12) Miracle Girl (21) Ben Hur Invitational: Five Stars (3) Dark Dealings (2) Halloween Hijinks (4) Lights, Camera, Action! (5) The Young Woman and the Sea (7) All points to MG

I hope I'm not irritating you, but I think that unless he looks cell shaded or otherwise drawn, the first thought many people would have would simply be 'clown', since he still looks mostly human; after all, he called himself that in his sign! Also his body hasn't morphed or deformed in any way (unless I missed something), which is what normally sells you on toonage more than behavior. However, if he referred to himself as a toon, everyone would go, 'oh, of course he's a toon', because then they'd make the connection.

It was hard for Casey to wrap her head around someone like Punchline, since he triggered opposing responses in her. In her heart, as always, she felt the overwhelming need to help those in need; this was so deeply ingrained in her character that it sometimes physically hurt. But on the gut level, she was somewhat disturbed by him; not to the degree of a horror movie clown like Pennywise, but more the way she felt about watching cartoons like Beetlejuice or Casper when a monster 'just wanted to be friends' but was still clearly monstrous. What did Josh call it? The 'Uncanny Valley'? Finally she took a deep breath and nodded to herself. This actually wasn't all that hard; Punchline needed help, and helping people is what she did. Better get on with that, before all that noise the lead pipe made brought an angry alien to their position. She put one arm around the strange clown's waist, and another around Aquaria's; her grip was powerful but somehow comforting, like when they pull the padded harness down over your shoulders on a roller coaster. "You guys ready? Hang on!" And with that, she lifted up into the air, and flew head first right back where the climbing rope poked through from the 'real world'. Or at least, she hoped so...

Lynn took the business card, studied it for several seconds, and then tucked it into her back pocket with a nod. "Sweet, I got digits! Guess I should give you one of mine now." With a flick of her fingers, a Silberman's Bookstore card was in her hand. "This is a real one, not one I conjured out of glamour, so I can't be all creepy and spy on you or anything. Also there is an official Grimalkin website, which Gretchen maintains, though I do put up some content every one in a while. We get lots of tips via PM that way." She took out a pen and wrote her cell number on the back of the card. "There you go, all good to go." "Send us an email when you're ready to do the photoshoot," said Gretchen with a nod. "I'll handle all the details."

That's...probably not good. Casey apologized to the reporter to her left as she got up and slipped away from the crowd, and began reflexively scanning the emergency frequencies as she made her way towards the nearest exit, though she didn't head outside yet; instead she stood there, ready to dart outside in a moment's notice to change into her costume, her gaze darting all over the room for signs of a possible intruder. For if there was one thing she knew with certainty, it was that big public displays like grand openings and galas often drew the attention of dangerous elements. And no one was getting hurt on her watch.

Happy birthday, Fearless Leader!

This Sunday afternoon, Casey was wandering the Bayview Mall, mostly window-shopping and eating soft pretzels, when her ears picked up a call going out on the police radio frequency about stolen sports cars and illegal street racing. The blonde heroine wolfed down the last of her pretzel and slurped down her cherry Coke Icee in record time (ahhh, brain freeze!) before heading for the nearest exit. In no time at all, Miracle Girl was in her costume and in the air, flying over to the Boardwark. It didn't take long for her to spot the three cars (the high performance engines flared white hot in the infrared), and soon she was over them, easily keeping pace with the lead car as she kept her eyes peeled for any pedestrians who might need rescue from the path of the speeding vehicles.

Just to clarify, the thread is set around 12:35pm in the afternoon, right? Want to make sure we're all on the same page.

Vroom-vroom! For realz this time!

Oops, wrong thread!

Vroom-vroom!

Casey's face lit up at the sight of her friend. "Hey, roomie! Oh, this is just a rental; I've never really been very good at sewing." She leaned in to give her classmate a hug, but held back at the last second when she noticed Saku was holding herself a bit stiff. "Are you okay? You look a little..." At the mention of other guests, the blonde heroine frowned. "There's someone else inside; big guy, from the look of his heat signiture. We should probably be cautious, just in case it's a trap."

1d20+11=16 Nope, it shall remain a mystery!

"Oh, I can't believe that actually worked!" Casey took a few seconds to get her bearings, smiled at Aquaria, and then shook Punchline's hand with her firm grip. "Nice to meet you in person, sir." Then she paused for a second and wiggled her hand in the air. "Forgive me for asking, but are you some sort of...super-clown? Like, do you throw cotton candy bombs or make weapons out of balloon animals?" As she waited for his response, she did a quick IR and radio scan to check for incoming threats. "Yeah, the line's still secure, but don't worry; we're all going back together."

"Hmmm." In truth, there wasn't too much Casey could about microfibers, though it did occur to her that at least she could shift to using only natural fiber clothes and fabrics; including Dr. Delacroix's discussion of them in her article might increae awareness as well. She sighed in frustration; even with her superpowers, there were some problems even Miracle Girl couldn't solve. But rather than dwell on the negative, Casey chose to focus on the positive, the way she always did; she eagerly listened to the various experts talk about their work, always careful to note anything she could use in either of her identities to help others. From time to time, she was somewhat distracted by Dr. Delacroix himself, both by the mystery of his surprising physiology and his physical appearance. You know, he's actually...kind of cute!

If you want to detect Grim and Nevermore, might want to roll for Notice? Not sure if you should roll anything for interaction with the detective.

Okay, my post is now edited.

Oh, I thought he had Concealment 4, but does he not have that anymore since he reconfigured his Gadget?

With the number of people moving about, Grim realized invisibility actually wasn't the best way to go; more than likely, someone would bump into her, which would lead to a major freakout for the cops, which wouldn't help anyone. Instead, she ducked into a corner and did two things: scoped out the various uniforms used by hotel staff, and listen until she heard one of the cops mention the room numbe. Once she'd had this information, she silently stepped into the women's room and adopted the look of an unassuming middle-aged woman from housekeeping; in this guise, she was able to take the elevator up to the right floor without drawing any attention. Once upstairs, she found a quiet corner and shifted back into her pixie form, which she used to dart from shadow to shadow until she was inside the room; she noticed the brilliant-but-frequently-irritating Terrifica was already her, talking to one of the detectives, and she heard and smelled someone else in the room who- Ah, there he is! Looks like another Raven-in-training. I think he goes by...Nevermore? I like the Poe reference! High up in a darkened corner, Grim watched his progress with a mixture of amusement and admiration as he made a methodical search. Rather than crimp his style, she stayed out of his way and studied the horrific crime scene from her vantage point, focusing mainly on scent, as it was often neglected in situations like these. Ugh, this poor girl!

Stealth check for Grim in pixie form: 1d20+30=32 Wow; crappy roll on the die, but luckily her bonus is still insane! Notice check for Grim: 1d20+15=35 Much better! EDIT: in the interest of fairness, here is Grim's Disguise check: 1d20+38=54 Don't think many people can make that, but you never know

As a long-time environmentalist (it's almost impossible to not become one after ten years of Scouting), Casey was sadly familar with the issues of plastic waste in the Earth's oceans, but the microfiber threat was new to her, and she listened to Dr. Delacroix's description with morbid fascination. Clearly this was something she needed to research and act upon, for even though her own body was immune to everything from toxins and illness to radiation, the rest of the world was not so lucky. "That is...very sobering information, Doctor," said Casey, her journalistic facade of polite interest wavering slightly as the implications of microfibers continued to bounce around her head. "Thank you for your time, Doctor; I'm sure our readers will follow your work here with great interest." And with that, she wandered off to have a seat and pull out her phone to immediately begin researching microfibers, and figure out what she could do about them.