Heritage

Crap on a stick! Okay, gonna due a quick edit before anyone else posts; Sac, I hope you don't mind taking one for the team :(

Grim laughs and goes a little pink in the cheeks as she signals a waiter and trades her empty champagne glass for a fresh one. "Oh, that's totally, that's fine." She takes a sip and then runs her finger around the edge of the glass as she tries to find the right words to explain exactly what she does. "The thing of it is, I'm a shapeshifter, and I can use that ability to make myself more, uh, gooey is the best way to put it, I guess. So really I just kind of-" And here she slides her hand through the air. "Shlurped in through the window, through a crack about that thin." The young shapeshifter shrugs. "Kinda gross, I know, but hey, it gets the job done." Grim is about to ask Dark Star about his travels in space, because how cool is that, but then the topic shifts to Avenger, economics and the Fens, a subject she feels very qualified to discuss. She holds her hand up a bit and nods. "Okay, here's the thing; you guys are right about how crime is all about the money, because obviously it is, and because of that, I think we can't just stop at beating people up. We need to do more for the victims, too." As she warms to her topic, her hands get increasingly animated, and her champagne dangerously close to splashing someone. "I maintain a small fund that I use to help hookers buy tickets out of town; these girls are getting cut to ribbons by their pimps, and there's nowhere safe for them in Freedom if they try to get out of the life. And you know the cops in the Fens have better things to do than, say, actually helping people." And now that champagne is looking kinda scary... :? "What we need to do is work together to make this legit, not just one scrawny pixie girl with a bag of crumpled twenties in her closet; we need to do this thing now, not-" And there it goes, out of the glass, and all over the front of Thunder's dress. "Oh man, I'm sorry! I get all worked up over this stuff. Can we get some towels over here, or lots of napkins?"

Gossamer still has two unspent PP left over, so I would like to convert them into four ranks of Perform (Stringed Instruments) and Acrobatics. Updated by Doc

Even with all the hubub in the room, Grim's excellent hearing picks up tantalizing bits and pieces, especially a little drama involving an underaged color-blind pimp. Boy, the stuff I miss out on by not hangin' with kids my own age. The petite hero turned to Star and beamed. "Hello, I'm Grimalkin, or just Grim, as was mentioned." She's about to extend a hand when she truly comprehends the nature of the incorporeal hero's powers, and stops herself. "Ooh, you're not terribly solid, are you? That's cool; I slipped into a crack house through a crack in the window once." Grim frowns rather comically at her last statement, but then dismisses it with a wave of her hand. "Anyway. So, I take it you sneak into places a lot, Dark, but the real question is, what do you do when you get there?" ;)

That little bitcah! Lynn clutches her gut as she sneers back at agile villainess. "Gotta find me first, loser." She promptly disappears from sight, slips as quietly as she can past the girl, then turns to dig in her claws.

Hmm, need to get that Toughness up ;)

Do I need to blow an HP not to get seriously messed up? I will do so if I need to.

Grim smiled and nodded. "Okay, sure, why not?" She grabbed the last two tasty bites of food off her plate, then reclaimed her glass and looked for a place to leave the empty plate; by the time one of the waitstaff came to her rescue, Thunder and the slightly cheesy hot guy had found another group of heroes with whom to chat. Cursing slightly under her breath, she scooted across the room (if not for her grace, she might well have tripped) and came to a halt at the edge of the group, with a classic feline 'I meant to do that' expression on her face. I'll just kinda hang back, I guess; ooh, Chris Isaak Guy is here. She smiles and makes a goofy face at Pompadour, as if to say 'Can you believe this joint?' About half a second later, she recognizes him from the cover of Us Weekly. Oh wow, it's that guy!

Grim flicked our her claws with a wicked grin and took a defensive stance. "I'm ready if you are, Miss Magic Cop." She signaled Wes with a jerk of her head. "Hey, do that cool thing where you bulk up, like you did back at my place that one time."

Rolled an 18 for the Toughness save. Can I use an HP for something?

Bendigeidfran, I think you misread Ace's statement; I believe he is bringing the lone hero Dark Star to join you and Pomp's conversation.

Grim screws up her face in thought as she tries remembering every detail. "Uh, well she mentioned a 'he' a lot, sounded like a guy she worked for or had power over her...she seemed very emotional about the whole Vickie Atom thing, and she regretted doing something to save her family, which I kinda sensed hadn't worked out well. And the hair changing thing was really weird, going from long and blond to dark and kinda puffed up. There was no advantage in doing that, not like a disguise or anything; it almost seemed...I dunno, like she wasn't fully in control of herself or her powers." Grim stands up suddenly when Phantom opens up her cloak. "Whoa, whoa, what are they, floating around inside your clothes? How kinky is that?" She looks about ready to chuckle for a second, but after glancing at Phantom she goes back to business. "So can we talk to them in there, or do they have to come out? Do we have a way to like restrain them, or are there any interrogation rooms down here in the Creepy Dungeon of the Pharaohs?"

Grim nods in approval as she takes a position in front of the window. "Works for me." And then without warning, she kicks the window in "Babies, Mommy has to move, but you're coming too!" She jumps into the darkened room, and begins moving rapidly throughout the suite; her movements are smooth, but with a frantic edge. The slightly-built heroine looks over her shoulder at Wes, and there's panic in her eyes. "Knight, I need your help; I can't do this alone, and we don't have much time. I'll take care of the cats, you grab the food from in the bathroom. Move!"

Sorry, she's addressing Jack/Avenger, not knowing his name; I'll adjust it to make it clearer.

The petite heroine wrinkles her nose. "It means I have to keep explaining it to people; no, I'm kidding, even though it's true. It's totally fine you asking." Grim sighs and then makes a sort wavy gesture with her plate of food. "It means I liked freshman English, and we read Shakespeare and Hawthorne; the name came up in both. It means a witch's cat or familiar, and it kinda fits my powers. I don't think anyone else has ever used it, at least not in the States; I dunno about England or whatever. I Googled it at the library before I picked it." She shrugs, and takes a swig of her champagne. "You can call me 'Grim', by the way. Yeah, I used to kick around the Southside, too, when I was working with Nightrival." She makes a face, somewhat hard to read; unhappy, or perhaps disappointed? "We, uh, don't work together anymore. So I gotta ask, to turn it right back atcha, what the heck does 'Thunderstanding' mean? No offense, but that's an odd one, too." A heck of a good-looking guy popped out of nowhere, and then proceeded to order a mint julep. He wasn't the only hottie in the room either; this Chris Isaac looking guy across the room was talking with some old guy, and he was lookin' super-fine as well. She gave Mint Julep a very clear once over before giving him a smile and a nod. "Hello to you, sir! You seem to fill out a tux nicely. I'm Grimalkin, and this is Thunderstanding." Grim looks down at her hands, one holding her drink and the other her plate of yummies, and frowns. "Hmm, I would extend my hand in a lady-like fashion, but it looks like I'm busy getting drunk and stuffing my face." Instead she manages a surprisingly graceful courtesy. "Mi'laird." :D

Grim's eyes look like they're about to pop out of her head by the time Phantom is finished speaking, and she can hear the blood rushing in her ears. Did she just compare me to an extra-dimensional Nazi? Her first desire is to lunge across the intervening space and belt her, but she knows the mystical heroine would probably laugh off such an attack, and the others would be drawn into the fracas. Her second thought is to draw upon the pool of verbal venom she inherited from her mother and really let loose and tear Phantom a new one, but she hesitates for a moment. Is this the way you want the rest of your new teammates to remember you, as the nasty girl with the foul mouth who can't work well with others? While she's trying to formulate a somewhat less vile remark, Avenger speaks. Suddenly the anger is transformed into something warm and bubbly in her head and gut; she barely hears the rest of the vigilante's remarks as she smiles and stares off into space. He stuck up for me; Avenger, the dark bad boy of the night, stuck up for me!

Through use of landmarks, verbal instructions and good old-fashioned pointing, Grim eventually guides Wes to the vaguely sinister Imperator Hotel in the Fens, with it's crumbling Greco-Roman terra cotta facade; the lowest floors are shrouded in darkness, the top two floors appear to be dimly illuminated from within, and a weird green light flickers around the edges of the blacked-out windows of the penthouse. "There, that window down there on the seventh floor; that's home sweet home. Just drop me on the ledge, and I'll get us in. I'm gonna act like I'm in a bit of a rush, and might say some kinda random things; just play along, or you can play it stoic."

Lynn grins and raises her drink in salute. "To partners in crime!" She tosses a faux worried glance over her shoulder at Moira. "Without, y'know, the actual crime part. Is she packin' heat?" Linda laughs and waves her hand dismissively. "Pretty much all the time; don't worry, she's off the clock." The diminutive brunette nods her head sagely. "Ah, then my grievous sins of the past are a non-issue; excellent!" She picks up the rack and flips it up in the air, letting it spin a few times before she snatches it back. Lynn takes another sip off her drink before she starts racking them up. "So, who is Morley's originally named for, some grizzled rumrunner from back in the day? These older places have the coolest stories."

I think I agree with you on this, Fell; it just seems like common sense to me, even though of course no formal ruling has ever been declared on the issue. I think in the case of the party it can be resolved IC, but yeah, I think it should be stated one character/one thread, within reason as you indicated.

And so the brave Grimalkin finds herself standing near the buffet table holding a glass of champagne in one hand and small plate of hors d'oeuvres in the other; after she meekly asked the waitstaff which of the tasty-looking mouthfuls were kosher (about half), she made a large pile on her plate, but then got rather self-conscious about it. Wow, I am so tempted to fade out right now. She felt like a kid who snuck into her parents' party and was desperately trying not to get caught; everyone looked older and more dignified, and the few people she did know from 'work' weren't exactly the kind of folks you got chummy with over cocktails. Plus I kinda hate Phantom's guts :twisted: Just then there was a mild commotion near the door. Now this looked like someone who she'd feel comfortable around; attempting to look inconspicuous, she drifted over in the direction of the open bar. Once she got close enough, she nodded and smiled. "Hi, I'm Grimalkin." She waves her champagne glass about in a vague fashion. "I'm not usually in this part of town; they don't let me outta the Fens too often."

Okay, why is Miss Floatypants giving me the stink eye? It was really hard to focus on what people where saying when she could clearly see Phantom glaring at her out of the corner of her eye. And now it was clear; Phantom had some mad-on against other dimensional creatures or something, and obviously Grim was a suspect in her eyes. Fan-freakin'-tastic :roll: Grim held up her hand, doing her best to ignore Phantom. "Um, yeah, when I was dealing with 'Andrea Atom', she was just fulla information. I made myself look like Vickie Atom, who she obviously recognized, and she made all kinds of references to events that went down differently in whatever version of our world she came from. Also she had powers, which I don't think the real Andrea Atom had, like her hair changed for no apparent reason and bullets bounced off her face." Finally she decides she has to say something, and turns to address Phantom with some annoyance. "And yes, since it's clearly a problem for you, I am an advance scout for the Jewish Pixie Overlords." The shapeshifter's skin turns pale green, her ears grow long and pointed and antennae sprout from her forehead; at the same time, a yarmulke forms on the back of her head and and a prayer shawl unfolds to drape across her shoulders. She hold up her hands in a mock-threatening gesture. "Take me to your lox and bagels! Oy!" The comical disguise melts back into mist, revealing Grim's seriously pissed off face beneath it as she crosses her arms defiantly across her chest. "I was born in New Jersey and I have the birth certificate to prove it. You want me to go get it? I think it's in with the spare towels." :evil:

Lynn shakes her head in wonder. "Wow...can you text on that thing? Who's your provider?" She chuckles at her own lame joke as she takes another big sip of coffee, but then becomes more serious as she starts flipping through the mythology book again. "To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for." She smiles and points towards Sirius' pocket. "Maybe a key, maybe a person; maybe I'll have to go on a quest and rescue some handsome prince from a dragon." The pretty brunette frowns at the thought of such a confrontation. "I better not have to fight a dragon; I'd get my ass kicked! Unless I go at it all sideways; y'know, Puss in Boots style, all sneaky and stuff." She wiggles her eyebrows. "That would actually be kinda awesome." She drains the last of her coffee, crumples up her paper cup, and effortlessly makes the three-point shot into the garbage can some twenty feet away; thrusting both fists up in the air, she softly makes a 'roar of the crowd' sound. "So, what does your mom do, other than answer keys?"

Just did a minor edit on my post, adding a black-sequined domino for Grim.

This is absolutely terrifying. The tiny figure, barely a foot high, circled and darted high over the red carpet leading into the hotel; Grimalkin was still not sure she actually wanted to go inside, and her new Tinkerbell form was as good a way as any to check the place out. When was the last time you were invited to anything? And there's gonna be good food, cute guys, and a lot of heroic types you've never met before. What have you got to lose? Being recognized had been an adjustment since Memorial Day; of course by the very nature of her powers she would only be recognized if she wanted to be, but more and more she actually did. Stopping in at some all-night taco joint for a bite when she was patrolling the Fens seemed to really cheer folks up, and it's not like the neighborhoods other defender who be caught dead getting takeout. And she usually didn't even have to pay; her cash was politely refused. "It's on da house, Grimmie; you be careful out there, alright?" And it's the thought of the guy at the taco joint, and the old lady who runs the newsstand, that finally pushes her to head inside, because it's always nice to see the local kid do good. In fact it was Tony the pizza guy who gave her the invitation, said a man in a nice suit dropped it off for her. Grim lands discretely in a nearby alley, assumes her normal proportions, and then just walks up to the front door. Just for fun, she's wearing a somewhat more glamorous version of her costume, with nice heels, a little collarbone showing and a more stylish overall 'cut'; her hair is copied from a poster she liked the other day, still short but with angled salon-style bangs. Instead of her normal leather-style domino mask, she opted for a small black-sequined one. So yeah, an actual red carpet! Some paparazzi guys with cameras are there, bombarding her with flashes, and just outside the blinding ring of lights, a pack of massive security guards with expensive suits and no necks are keeping away the gawkers and wannabees in their ghastly cheap tights. She waves and smiles, gives a thumbs up and the two-finger metalhead salute before heading to the front door. Oh God, I feel like a movie star! But lucky me, I can disappear whenever I want. The doorman checks her invite, touches his earpiece and mutters something, then he just nods tersely and waves her through. Look at all this cool old stuff! Oh my god, that's one of great-grandpa's old costumes! Cool! Grim steps closer to the case to study the turban and flowing robe, and places her hand against the glass, head bowed; after a few moments of reverent contemplation, she turns and walks up to the man who must be Ace Danger. Beaming, she extends an elegantly-gloved hand. "Hi, I'm Grimalkin! This is so awesome!"

The last few weeks had been....strange for Grim. She'd been sleeping in a small room underground, in a freakin' tomb, and it was starting to get to her. Sure, it was nice not having to worry about the rats anymore, and she had probably never been more safe in her entire life, but this place gave her the creeps. She was told it belonged to the Scarab, who was back now, but she never saw her; Wes and Avenger talked about her in the present tense, which made the place seem almost haunted. Wes' room was down the hall, and she invited him over to watch movies on her little TV a few times a week, which almost made it feel like a real place. Except it wasn't; it felt more like she was living in a museum, hiding from the security guards after hours. Her sensitive ears picked up all kinds of strange humming and thrumming noises, and the cats never seemed to settle down. She still worked, as ridiculous as that seemed, partly because she was saving up to get her own place, but more importantly for the sanity factor. Normal people had jobs, grabbed lunch on the go, and rode bikes for a living; normal people didn't live in the Egyptian Wing of the natural history museum. So her pleasant Memorial Day outdoors was brought to an abrupt halt by the bizarre and violent appearance of Columbia in the veterans' cemetery, which was fairly sad, but then Avenger told Grim she was going to meet more of the Knights, including the Scarab herself... - - - - She'd always avoided this room because it seriously freaked her out; how can you feel agoraphobic indoors? But now she was sitting on her cushion like a good girl, sneaking peeks at the new faces, and when Scarab spoke she found out that there was actually someone scarier than Avenger. A lot scarier. Sorry, Avenger. She waited patiently for the black-clad vigilante to speak, and desperately wished for a Diet Coke.