Heritage

Oh for goodness sake! Well, I don't want to jusy leave them to their work; I'll have to make this quick. Dropping lightly to the pavement nearby, Gossamer stood with her hands on her hips, cleared her throat softly, and arrayed her hair in what she hoped was a threatening manner, spread like a giant pair of wings. "Good evening! I couldn''t help but noticing you're commiting a crime, and I was hoping to make you stop." Clearly her snappy superhero patter needed some work :roll:

Gossamer got an 22 on her Intimidate roll; not bad for a beginner!

January 19th, 3:36 AM, The same stakeout Colby laughed so hard hot coffee shot out her nose. "Ow, damn it that hurts! Hahaha!" "I'm sorry! You got any napkins in the glove compartment?" "Yeah, yeah." Grim popped open the latch and started rummaging around, and came upon the detective's backup piece. "Yikes, loaded gun, loaded gun!" "Be careful in there, little girl." "I am, I am! Wow, you eat a lot of junk food." "Hey, only when I'm working; I eat healthy at home, and I work out. Thanks." She accepted the wad of different takeout napkins and began mopping the coffee off the dash, then returned to their previous conversation. "So the guy ran right into Nightrival's chest?" "Yeah, and he bounced back like five feet, right on his ass; it was awesome!" "I bet; would have loved to see that. I've got some good ones, too, some real crazy s***; just give me a minute or two, and I'll have you wiping up your coffee." She chuckled as she finished her cleanup, but then her eyes darted back to the storefront they were watching. "Waitaminute, we've got movement." "You seeing what I'm seeing, Colby?" The young detective grabbed her radio and responded. "Copy that, Kolanski, I see it; hold your position." From her spot in the front seat, Grim craned her neck. "I'm not seeing anything, what do you see?" Still holding her radio handset, she pointed up the street. "We got some movement in the window of the place next door. All of these business are supposed to be closed, no current tennants." Squinting with all her might, the shapeshifter was annoyed that she still couldn't see anything. "Yeah, but it could be homeless; lots of squatters in this town." The cop nodded. "True, true, you might be right, but we have to consider every possibility. They might be using the storefront next door as well, maybe knocked down a wall between them." "I'm gonna do a drive-by, see if I can see anything." "Okay, but be careful." "Copy that." Grim was actually speechless with excitement, leaning forward, eyes rivited to the unmarked car slowly creeping up the street in their direction. Just as it was about to pass the storefront, the heroine caught a glimpse of a hooded figure on the roof across the street, holding a large bundle. Eyes wide, she pointed her finger right at it. "Movement on the roof, movement on the roof!" Colby's eyes darted back to see the figure, raising what looked like a large cylinder to its shoulder. "Kolanski, get out of there, get out of there!" "What, what do you see, I can't see-" The blast blew out the windshield of Colby's prowler, and set off car alarms all over Greenbank.

Grim just stared at him for a few seconds, one corner of her mouth twitching slightly. "Ummm..." Then she turned to the cowboy. "Gee Colt, your plan sounds safe and not insane! Let's try that out, okay?" She looked back over her shoulder at the Russian. "Hey, if you want to go leaping around with a car under your arm, knock yourself out, buddy."

Estelle cheered when she saw the combined efforts of the newcomer and the city's heroes in routing their mysterious foes; the threat gone (for now), she turned her analytical eyes to the reminaing craft and its people, who looked human on the surface. It appeared the young woman with plant powers had access to some form of miraculous transport, so it seemed the safety of the newcomers was not so much of an issue. Gossamer cautiously approached the craft, smiling warmly with her hands clearly visible, as her hair, sopping wet from the spray, stretched out to gently probe the hull.

The company at Providence just kept getting stranger and stranger; they were were now joined by an apparent angel and a student from Claremont, who somehow still managed a commanding air despite the fact that he was wolfing down a breakfast sandwich. "Well, perhaps more heads put to the task will aid this rather unusual investiagtion." She inclined her head annd smiled at the teenaged crimefighter."Geckoman, it's a pleasure to finally work with you; I'm Gossamer, from ASTRO Labs. How do you do? And I have touched nothing with my bare hands, though a few of my hairs have admittedly been probing about; I don't think they'll be confused with any other fibers, though." Looking outside, she waved at the young winged woman. "And hello to you as well, Miss...?" Tugging at her lower lip, Gossamer nodded. "Indeed! The patient calls herself Luna Moth, but has she ever exhibited such behavior before? We also need to determine how the guards were subdued so quickly; was it a chemical agent, some sort of mental effect, or something else entirely?"

Lyn sighed disconsolately. "I guess; oh well, maybe we'll get lucky in the next one." Suddenly she grinned evily as a thought struck her. "I can be like your slutty girlfriend, and then you swoop in and defend my so-called 'honor'; that one always works." Cackling to herself, she completely missed Erik's sports reference.

Grim beamed. "See, it's not so bad, really; the meat is always the highest quality, but the taste does take some getting used to, or so I'm told. Plus we have an excellent in-house cook in Jack, who's got you covered for all your non-kosher needs." At first so eager to question Colt, now Grim seemed oddly hesitant as she scratched her chin thoughtfully. "Hmm, now that I have you at my mercy, what am I supposed to do with ya?" After a few moments, the shapeshifter tucked her legs under herself Indian style and shrugged. "Okay, I guess we'll start at the begining." Suddenly she had a pen and a small therapist's notepad. "Tell me about your childhood." ;)

The changeling took a deep breath and let it out slowly; still lying on her back, she started making her case. "I'm not saying not telling him is right; I'm saying telling him doesn't help." Grim sat up, then hopped to her feet, and began to pace, not unlike a criminal prosecutor. "You ever see one of those cop shows, or even been at an actual trial, and one attorney brings up some point which the judge declares isn't relevant or whatever? The jury is not supposed to consider whatever they were told not to think about, right? So naturally, they just rewind the tape and tape right over it." And here she stops and faces Atlas dead on. "Except they can't; that information has tainted their brains, and I bet you money it will affect their final decision. This is just like that; there are no takebacks on this kind of thing. Once we tell Colt we kissed, due to proximity, circumstance and spontaneous attraction, he will remember that for the rest of his life. Even though that kiss was meaningless, it will always be there, and he will doubt me whenever I happen to look at another guy's ass. I'm not saying it's gonna cause us to break up, but we'll have planted a seed of doubt in relationship that's less than six months old." Grim folded her hands and rested her lips on her fingertips. "Doubt is like radiation, but with no half-life; it can only build up, never shrink or fade away. I love Colt and plan to stay with him for a long time, and I don't wan't to poison our relationship with doubt this early on." She shrugged. "And I'm not even saying I'll never tell him; maybe in a year, when I feel we're in a better place with the relationship, I'll be able to tell him. I'd actually really like that. And if he asks me point blank in the meantime, I think I'd tell him." And then Grim made her final point, raising a finger dramatically. "You talked about keeping secrets; hell, isn't that what we do best? I know the real names of several heroes in this city, and I've been trusted with that information, which I intend to keep secret until the day someone tells me it's okay to share it." She took a step closer to Atlas, head slightly bowed down, looking rather menacing. "And I have lots of secrets, some of which I'm gonna take to my grave. Not every secret should come to light, my friend."

Hmm, I don't think he'd be a good fit for this particular thread, but I'd be happy to develop another one for Hub on the Southside, using either Grim or Gossamer.

Lunch was actually awesome, which caught Grim by surprise; back when she was a freshman at Egg Harbor Township High (the ony year of high school she attended), eating lunch in the cafeteria wa typically the lower part of her day. Little Sherry Epstein sat hunkered over her tray, face jammed into a book on Prohibition gangsters or some other unsavory topic, Discman playing angry girl punk turned up to deafening. But here at Claremont, Lenya was more than welcome, and lunchtime was fun; everyone was cute and funny, and just ate off your tray like you were family. She laughed as Chris and Eddie joked around, and smiled at the way Alex and Mike held hands, true high school sweethearts. The weird thing was Grim actually felt like she belonged. But of course it was all a lie; she had an increasingly-unpleasant mission to fulfill, and the sooner she faced that reality, the sooner she could leave these poor kids alone. Seeing the psychic as being the bigger 'threat', she headed for Alex's dorm when her class schedule said it was supposed to be vacant. Making sure no one was around to observe her, 'Lenya' stood outside her door, melted into a puddle of gray faerie goo, and slid through the crack to the other side.

Grim laughed as she rubbed her temples. "Yeah, I shouldn't fly like this either; fly smack into a window and bust my neck like a parakeet." She looked between the two guys for a moment. "Hey, you guys wanna split a cab? You can probably just leave your rides here at the garage. Right now, I'm crashing in Riverside, how 'bout you guys?"

Grim smiled at the Russian's evil laugh; Atlas was fun to be around, and she hoped the three of them (plus a few more people!) would make this a regular game. "So, is that it for tonight, gents? I think I might be done for the night, seeing as my head will be literally split in two tomorrow moring."

Lynn smiled and hugged her friend warmly back. "Lemme know how it works out when you find the nerve to wear it. Y'know God gave you those curves for a reason, girl; you gotta use 'em from time to time." The young shapeshifter turned her attention to the other guests. "Okay, who else has something nice for the birthday girl?"

Holding the device in her hand, Estelle nodded as they went over its method of operation; when they finished, she gave all three techs a quick peck on the cheek, then lifted herself up to the streetlights once more, calling down, "Thank you, gentlemen! I can only hope I find the good doctor in time!" Soon Gossamer was making her way towards the Lindroos Bridge, making fairly good time due to her amazing locks; from time to time, her eyes flicked down to the scanner she held in her hand, looking for any more hints as to the German scientist's current location.

When Atlas got all big and truthful, Grim buried her face in her hands. "Oh god, I kissed Duddley Do-Right of the freakin' Mounties!" She started pacing in tight circles, hands on hips, shaking her head. "Okay, the one thing we agree on is that the kiss was stupid; where we disagree is on the 'full disclosure in a relationship' thing. Crap." She stopped, bending over to rest her hands on her knees and just stays down there for a few seconds; when she finally comes back up, her arms are crossed tightly against her chest. "Well, now I have to tell him, because you're going to tell him, even though personally I would rather never hear my boyfriend kissed a girl one time, because I trust him and would rather not think of her every time I kissed him." Grim dropped down on and sat Indian style, laughing to herself. "Well, at least now we know we're never gonna date, so that clears that up." She fell back on the floor, arms spread wide, staring up at the ceiling. "So how do we tell him? Do we show up at our HQ in matching outfits, or do you think maybe a press conference is more informal?"

Lynn looked genuinely hurt, then punched Billy fairly hard in the arm. "Dude, you were in a bar fight and didn't tell me? Guys have all the good times!" She crossed her arms tightly over her chest and harrumphed. "If we start one now, it'll just feel cheap and crappy." :(

Lynn laughed at Erik's own befuddlement. "Well now I don't feel so bad about not knowing, since the dude with the powers doesn't know, either; hey, maybe Colby will be able to tell, and you'll finally know one way or another, right? Anyways, I think she was thinking about how a magical-type power might interact with demonic/interdimensional stuff, like maybe that makes you more susceptible or something? I dunno." She finishes of the last of her drink, and sighs with satisfaction, shaking her shoulders a little bit for no particular reason. "So what else is new? What else can we talk about other than chicks for Erik and demon-tainted powers?"

Some of the anger finally started to bleed away, but Grim was still a bit testy, even though it was tempered with humor. She narrowed her eyes and chuckled. "Oh man, look at you being all perceptive and stuff." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Yeah, life hasn't always treated me so nice, and you're right, when things get good, I get suspicious. I don't trust happiness, because it has a tendancy to kick me in the stomach when I let my guard down." The tiny heroine laughed at the Russian's joke, but took a few steps away from him, looking to put a little distance between the two of them. Her next words are somewhat light, but still laced with a hint of bitterness. "You know what, screw you and screw your sexy new powers; me and Colt are good together, and I love him." She waved her hand in Atlas' direction. "There's always gonna be some cute guy that makes me think dirty thoughts; hell, have you seen the ass on Jack of All Blades? It's a thing of beauty! And if you live in a city with Divine in it, you know your man is gonna think those thoughts from time to time. It's what us humans do." She clapped her hands together and nodded sharply. "So here's what we're gonna do: we're not gonna tell anybody. Because that helps no one. We move on and work past it. Capiche?"

Minor corrections to Grim's sheet: Power Level: 13 (191/191pp) Unspent PP: 0 This was just never updated from last month's spending. Done by Geez3r

Coming upon the site of the altercation, Grim saw it was hardly an even fight; a few greasepainted hooligans beating up...a judge, maybe? Someone in a nightshirt? At this, the young shapeshifter could only shake her head in mock-dismay. "I dunno; clown-on-clown violence rarely solves anything." Nonetheless, she took a defensive pose, ready to leap into action if need be. Where the hell are we, anyway? The sounds and smells are way off; smells like that field trip to the dairy farm.

Ah, IC still loves me! Notice: 1d20+15=16 Initiative: 1d20+12=15

Cool! I can do a quick IC of her thanking the trio and swinging into action.

I'm bored with my character pic for Gossamer, and want to celebrate the awesomeness of Alder; can we use this pic instead? http://freedomcity.error-403.net/images2/Gossamer.jpg Done by Geez3r

Hmm, okay, the rolls kind of run the gamut : 1d20+4 = 18,20,14,6 and 23