Heritage

Gossamer shrugged casually. "Oh, since high school; my sister Sunny and I had a band." She paused and looked thoughtful for a second. "Well, have a band, I should say; we actually had a reunion show here in town back in April. We're even on YouTube; search under 'Naughti Girlz', ending with an 'I' and a 'Z'. It was quite the show." Estelle laughed and adopted a sort of Valley Girl accent; her hair joined in the act by curling into a bad frizzy perm. "Ohmigawd, no way! Well, you are like mega-tasty! I'm totally serious!" Her hair resumed its normal texture as she sighed and idly ran her fingers through it. "I realize it can be a bit much; it's just so odd for me, because it...feels so natural! It's like someone saying my arms are sort of weird and hard to get used to, which I know must sound strange..." Feeling slightly self-conscious, she swept all her hair up into her usual thick braid, which laid lazily down the curve of her graceful back. Looking up into the sky, she tucked her knees up under her chin. "You've taken on this life by choice, but for me, it had the air of inevitability; what else was I going to do after this happened?" She shook her head. “I’m sorry; believe me, I'm not asking for pity or even sympathy. I was born wealthy, with excellent genes, and received a wonderful education; I would have to be an ungrateful idiot to complain. And yet, from time to time I do." She raised a fist in mock-outrage. "Curse my human weakness!"

Dashing through the snow, to catch the crooks today! Through the mall I go, running all the way! This was going to be fun; various scenario's played out in Grim's mind as she kept pace with the oafish crooks, waiting until the got away from the crowd and into the relative safety of the parking lot, where- Yikes! Emphasis on 'relative'; she was nearly hit by a car! Luckily she heard it in time and was able to roll clear with seconds to spare. Suddenly running around invisibly among holiday shoppers seemed like a bad idea, but she still felt the value of surprise was worth the risk; the tiny shapeshifter just made sure to be more attentive from now on. Once they got to the far end of the lot, which had a lot fewer cars, Grim allowed her voice to echo eerily across the slushy pavement, while she herself remained unseen. "I know when you are sleeping, I know when you're awake. I know when you've been bad or good, so be GOOD, for goodness sake!" The six hoodlums stopped dead in their tracks, clearly unnerved. "What the f*** was that?" Grim took this time to sneak up to the the biggest of goons, her arm poised to strike...

Grim waved a hand dismissively, even though she was clearly blushing. "Pfft, don't thank me yet, and don't go into this thinking it's a date, even though it kinda is. Silhouette strikes me as fairly private person, so for the love of God don't push; remember, girls can smell desperation a mile away." She hopped back up on the ledge, dangling her shapely legs as she started to tick off points on her fingers, another familiar gesture. "Let her set the tone of the evening, and more importantly, the pace; if you come in guns blazing when she wants to take it slow, she will literally disappear. Keep your mind on your work. You’re a guy, so you’re gonna sneak a peek whenever you can, but please be professional and discrete; if she thinks you’re a dork or a perv, well, see above re: the vanishing act. You will probably impress her more if you do a good job than if you try to be cute and funny. And if she likes you, she will let you know.†Grim sighed and rubbed her face with her hands. “God, I wish I could be there with you! I mean, technically, I could, but that would be twelve kinds of wrong, plus you don’t need me nudzing you while you’re doing your thing; you have some confidence issues in this area, and I think having your ex feeding you lines would only mess with your head.â€

Every once in a while, Lynn still liked to hit the stores, just to have a look around and see what everyone was wearing; being a shapeshifter who had complete control of her appearance actually created a huge gulf between her and pretty much every other female in Freedom City, and in fact much of the world. Obviously women talked about all kinds of things every day, but so many conversations started based on some admired item of apparel, shade of lipstick or a cute haircut; when she was young and snotty, she found such talk to be pointless and shallow, but more and more she found she missed this simple shared ritual, and envied the women who participated in it. Suddenly a realization hit her. I have almost no girlfriends; well, unless you count Ellie and Mona, and they're really teammates first. I haven't talked to Taylor at all since the summer, and I hardly ever talk to Moira these anymore... This thought saddened her greatly, and combined with her general dislike of the manic Christmastime shopping frenzy, she found her mood turning black as a lump of coal. But then she saw something that rather disturbingly put a little bounce in her step: a pack of young guys in ski masks running out of a video game store, waving guns and hefting bulging backpacks as they whooped like idiots. “Aw man, we did it, we did it!†“Ha ha!†Ducking behind a giant animatronic Homer Simpson Claus, Lynn disappeared into the night (or so she thought), her jeans and fleecy parka shifting into her black-and-midnight blue leather costume as she loped after the thieves, effortlessly slipping through the panicked crowd that felt only the wind of her passing.

Grim laughed hoarsely and with little humor. "It's certainly worth a shot." Nodding in mute agreement with her teammates' desire for action, Grim turned and strode back towards towards the MAVERIC, still rubbing her neck; there was a horrible itchy feeling there, like long spider legs tickling the back of her throat, and mixed with her fury at the night's events, it made her want to spit acidic bile. We end this, but we have to play it cool; if we let our feelings rule us, we could spin out of control. And we can never do that. She slammed the passenger door shut, which caused more safetly glass to tinkle to the pavement; with a wave of her hand, a thick clear film covered the gap to keep out at least some of the winter's chill. More glass, some of it still damp with her blood, crunched beneath her on the seat as she strapped herself in. "Let's go."

I'm going with the Small construct under Animate Object in UP; technically, she could have made something with as many as 60pp, but that seemed a bit much for her modest ambitions.

"Okay." Lynn merely shrugged, her idle fancy flickering away from her mercurial mind as quickly as it appeared; she didn't appear to fully understand the depth of Dok's distaste for such work. At the mention of this, the changeling's face became rather comical, her eyes bulging out as if she'd just swallowed a bug. It took her several seconds for her to regain her composure and find her voice, which squeaked a bit. "A golem? Uh, you do know that story doesn't end too well from the rabbi's point of view, right?" She looked extremely uncertain, almost fearful at the prospect of creating something approaching life. Of course Dok doesn't have a problem with it; after all, Frankenstein was German, too! She dropped down onto a comfy high-backed chair that appeared beneath her, rubbing her jaw in very deep thought. "Well, if I think of it in a different context...more as a faerie than as a Jew...then it's not so sacrilegious. I'm not creating actual life, but more of a shadow of life...what's the word, a simulacrum. A simulacrum..." Grim slowly closed her eyes, then leaned forward out of her chair, with one hand extended into space; tiny pinpricks of sweat formed on her head and her brow furrowed. Once again mist flowed out of her fingertips and coalesced into a small figure some three feet high, the head forming just underneath Lynn’s palm. It looked to be a little girl, maybe three or four years old, but formed out of painted wood; in build and features it evoked both Disney’s Pinocchio and Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy, with painted-on hair, a pretty red dress and large oval eyes, currently closed as if asleep. It also bore a certain resemblance to Lynn herself, or at least how she might have looked as a young child. When at last Grim opened one of her eyes to take a peak, the little GrimDoll stretched her arms, silently yawned and looked around sleepily; at this, the comfy chair evaporated, dropping a very shocked shapeshifter flat on her butt. “Oh good God; what is it?â€

Should I do some sort of reaction post, or just wait until Grim's next initiative?

Sorry for the delay! Toughness save: 1d20+14=25. Hooray, she's not dead! :D

This time her cheeks went bright pink, but she did her best to keep her composure. "Well, thank you, Mad Dog. To be perfectly honest, you haven't seen me 'rock' until I'll you've seen me with a Gibson in my sweaty little hands; you may actually have to be seated for that." Once on the rooftop, she gently set down her date for the evening as she scouted about for a cleanish spot for their late breakfast. "Over there doesn't look too bad." Using her hair as a giant broom, she swept an area free of rubbish and debris, knowing she'd need to take a slightly longer shower than usual this evening. Ah well, these small sacrifices are more than worth the cost. Taking a seat on a irregular outcropping, Estelle quickly laid out their food, which see did very effectively with so many limbs at her disposal. With a happy sigh, she took a forkful and chewed it serenely, then said in her best Homer Simpson voice, "Mmm...cholesterol."

Sorry to take so long to edit! If they're close enough for Takedown, then yeah, she would have taken 10. Also editted her opening line to indicate Edge's success; yay, magic boomboxes!

Grim had to bite her tongue at this to keep from busting out laughing; yeah, she did lay it on kinda thick... At this, the elfin shapeshifter said nothing, but her pointed ear twitched a bit, a 'tell' he recalled from there time dating that she was either very happy, excited or both. Lynn called after her. "Bye, nice to meet you!" Then she crept over to the edge of the roof and raised a hand to her ear, looking exactly like the Grinch listening for whimpering of all the Whos in Whoville. Once she was sure Silhouette had indeed left the rooftop, she leaped at Wesley and wrapped her arms around him in a ferociously warm hug. "We did it! We got you a date, a crimefighting date for Wes!" She have him a quick peck on the cheek, then mercifully released him. Brushing dust off his outfit with a conjured whisk broom, she began to eagerly chat away like a big sister giving her little sis advice before the prom, or a Jewish mother sending her boy off to his first day of school. "Just be yourself, and you'll be fine; obviously your primary focus should be the crimefighting, but sneak in a few questions to find out what she likes, y'know, peppered in between all the lurking and face-punching. You can be a bit old-fashioned sometimes, but lotsa girls actually like that, as long as you don't dote on them hand and foot; then they feel like your babying them, and they hate that, so..."

Grim nodded as she leaned over to peer into the engine at Dok's side, her legs dangling into space. "Yeah, I've done mostly furniture in the past because I kinda know it; I used to visit my dad at his workshop, and he and a few of his carpentry buddies showed my how the tools work, and like how all the joints fit together and stuff like that. But yeah, cars I don't know from Adam." Then a thought hit her, and she dropped back down to her feet, her eyes wide with possibilities. "Hey, I wonder if I could make something more complicated if I was linked to another person, y'know, like a mind meld? If they could project an image of the thing into my head, could I create a working car then? Oh my God, if you have like a gadget that does the same thing, I could make prototypes for you out of thin air!" She smile slowly spread across her face as she stroked an invisible beard. "Sehr interessant, ja?"

So should I edit my post as well then, to reflect her takedown's full effect?

Grim had been quiet as the two got to talking, even going so far as to fade herself out a bit, to help create the illusion that they were alone on the rooftop. She was sensing a little chemistry here, but nothing had truly lit a spark. Clearing her throat and becoming fully visible, she finally spoke up. "You know what, maybe it might be better if you treated this night as sort of a dry run, y'know? I mean, the holidays are coming, which means a lot of shoppers are out there with bluging wallets and credit cards. We may well see a spike in street crime, especially around here where the Fens and the Theater District meet." She spread her arms in a common sense gesture. "I can tell you from experience, Sil, it helps to have someone to watch your back in the Fens, especially a guy like Knight here." She playfully slapped Wes on the shoulder. "Dude is tough, sneaky and very creative with his powers. Plus, if you get hurt, not only can he fly you to the hospital, but he can actually heal you better than any doctor can, on the spot. It's like having an ICU watching your back!" Lynn gave her ex-boyfriend a little wink out of the corner of her eye.

Estelle's eyebrows went up a bit at the somewhat odd though clearly brilliant young woman's offer; she wasn’t entirely sure how to wrap her mind around such an application of technology, not even taking into consideration its source. Of course, it would be the height of rudeness not to at least consider the offer, especially as it had been clearly difficult for Dragonfly to suggest it, and who knows, it could really help. "Thank you, Dragonfly, I'd be very interested in looking over those technologies, although of course any final approval of their use would be a decision made above my head." She was somewhat dismayed when the rather owlish professor turned the subject backed to the use of force and its consequences, as she’d hoped they’d moved on from that, but it seemed there was still interest in the topic. Gossamer marveled at the workings of Dragonfly’s mind; here was a young woman, who like many researchers she’d known had several apparent social issues, and yet she had a keen ethical sense that infused her thought processes. She’d also struck a chord in Estelle, who had several patented formulae legally blocked from further development due to legal wrangling with her father’s company. I must get to know her better. “I’m sure all of us, at one time or another, have been caught in the wheels of a ethical dilemma regarding our work; it would be nice to work with like-minded souls for the common good, at the very least to allow us to focus more on our work, and less time looking over our shoulders at the man holding the purse strings.â€

Gossamer laughed. "Oooh, very nice!" She cracked her hair like a whip for humorous emphasis. "Actually..." She grimaced apologetically as she sent long golden tendrils towards the Harley. "I was thinking we should eat first!" Plucking out the Tupperware, she shook her head in dismay. "After all this talk off how good we look in our tight-fitting outfits, now I want to stuff my face. But not down here..." Suddenly Mad Dog found himself wrapped up in a thick coil of hair as smiling Gossamer adopted a melodramatic liftoff pose with one arm thrust skyward. "Up we go!" Additional tentacles shot out to grab the wall of the nearest building and the pair was soon scaling the structure while Estelle hummed the old Freedom Friends theme, arm still thrust in the air.

Clearly flattered, Estelle shrugged and dimpled as her golden helmet unfurled and poured down her shoulders in a shimmering cascade. "But of course!" She chuckled somewhat self-consciously. "In all seriousness, though, thank you; your outfit flatters you as well." The blonde heroine thoughtfully considered Mad Dog's bike, easily hefting it with her hair like it was made of papier-mâché. "Are you sure it's safe out here?" She indicated the rooftops with a nod. "I could carry it up there and leave it fairly far out of reach, though I'd still suggest chaining it up as a precaution."

The tiny shapeshifter peered over the edge and grimaced with dismay. "Mmm, yeah, that looks like arson in the making." She held out a hand and a massive deluge of water poured down upon the gangbangers below, thoroughly soaking them and knocking many of them to the ground. Then she ran pell mell and leapt onto Wesley's scaly back, a manic grin on her face. "Quick, take off before they start shooting! 'Fly, my pretty, fly!'"

Does the 'missed chance' vignette have to be set at the time of the original, or can it take place anytime? Birthdays obviosuly being an exception ;)

Gossamer nodded her head and raised her hand. "I'd be happy to go first, unless someone else would like the honors; my mother's been drilling the importance of good public speaking into my head since I was five." She peered over her shoulder at Ironclad's unfortunate ooze stain, and made a face. "Ooh, that is nasty! If you'd like, you can always hide behind my mass of hair as it waves dramatically in the breeze; I'll make sure it only blocks the parts you don't want the public to see."

Once the food was safely tucked away, the blonde heroine eagerly climbed on the bike behind Mad Dog, gripping him tightly around the waist with both arms. Her jumpsuit kept her nice and warm, and would offer excellent protection in case (god forbid!) they had any sort of mishap; it also wrapped around her body like a leather glove, of which Mad Dog was soon very much aware. "Okay!" She had to shout over the deafening roar of the Harley, and squeeled with delight as they rode off into the night. God, this was fun! She felt like a kid again, enjoying each sensation like it was fresh and new; she loved the way her and Greg's bodies moved together on the turns, and the speed, the sound, and the vibration all swirling 'round in her belly. Out of the blue, she pumped one fist in the air and yelled, "We are going to kick some ass! Whooooooo!"

The changeling's face darkened at the mention of her weakness to iron, and she quickly withdrew her hand. How the hell does she know about that? That's the one thing I try really hard to keep a secret! Also not liking the implied threat; exactly what does Wes see in this girl? Okay, on this point, she had to agree with the new arrival; it had been one of her stupider ideas, even if it technically did work. Still deeply annoyed, Grim crossed her arms tightly across chest and scowled. "Okay, fine; do you need a lift, Silhouette? Or I guess Knight can always grow you a set of wings, that's always a big hit with the ladies..."

Though admittedly startled by the elusive heroine's sudden appearance, Grim was also ecstatic to see her. Oh my God, my plan worked! Yay! However the brunette shapeshifter was soon cringing apologetically as things got off on the wrong foot; she took a step forward to interpose herself between Wes and Sil. "Hey, no, if you want to hit anyone, hit me; the stupid sign was my idea." She jerked a thumb over her shoulder and the offending advertisement poofed away. "See, bad sign's gone! No harm, no foul!" She held out a gloved hand, a strained smile on her face. "Hi, I'm Grimalkin; I'm very pleased to meet you!" Yeah, Wes is gonna kill me now...

Nice to have you back, Cos! While you were away, a new Valkyrie was born; now the two of them must fight to the death! "Valkyrie vs Valkyrie" "Round 1" "Fight!"