Cotoloti

"Rat! Don't worry, I'm on it Doc!" yells out Rusty and races towards the creature at high speed.

Rusty laughs with Velocity and falls over. "Oh babe you're waaay out of my league but I'd always be happy to watch your back." Rusty shrugs, "No problem. I get that a lot. Near as I can figure by weight I'm denser than any of the base metals. Just don't start throwing calculus at me." "Ha! That would be awesome! I'd be willing to give it a try. Most regular materials will lose in a head butting contest with me. I imagine I might get a bit of a headache smashing into some of the heavy hitters out there. So if it fails miserably I'm knocked out and I miss the fight. Kind of a bummer but I'll get over it."

Rusty laughs and says, "That's me in a nutshell low and powered. But the rest of you can tag along if you like. I could really use a full sized partner sometimes." He dashes over to Gossamer and asks, "What do you think Deadlylocks? You wrap em up while I knock their lights out?" Another dash over to Velocity and he grins again ever the optimist, "Maybe you'd be interested? Always had a thing for women that like to go fast." Another hop and he was over at Dr. Archeville, "You could come and bring Nergal. Get the robot to deliver that discussion on Robotics? While they're dazed I'll bash em."

Rusty tries to puzzle out the Doc's plan. "So... you built a robot to look like a cool fighting robot but it can't fight? I thought robot was latin for mechanical butt kicker? No offense Doc, I'm certain it's a piece of genius technology but I don't think a lot of kids today will pick up on the reference of an 80's cartoon. Especially if it's standing around with a bunch of modern super heroes and it can't do anything super. Sort of like showing up at a Hannah Montana concert with a mechanical Chachi."

Yeah, I'm kind of bummed about cooking 4.0 I miss the OpenSource Cooking. Sure they say I can convert all the receipes but seriously who has the time to figure out all the opposed ingredient checks? Chilli powder vs Oregano or Cumen vs Basil ? Not to mention that every cook starts off with a different set of measurements!

Rusty clenches his jaw shut so he doesn't make a comment to Gossamer. Dr. Archeville's offer snaps him out of an indecent daydream. "Wait a second Doc. Did you just offer me a mech? That is so totally awesome! What can this thing do?" Rusty hops over to Dr. Archeville, landing on the floor with a light thump. "It might be easier for everyone to see a mech fighting than me. I mean, that's part of the reason I win fights. The bad guys just don't see me coming until it's too late. Even if they spot me it's; Hey, there's some really little guy running at me. What's that all abou... oh god my knee!; and then I call in the cleanup crew. So an armored shell might be fun to drive around. Are you sure you want this crowd taking swings at it though? That is probably not covered under insurance."

Rusty grins and says, "Well I don't know if I can help out if there's going to be a kissing booth. I'll be stuck waiting in line all day." He smiles and carries on, "But seriously I could play the guess my weight game with the kids. Stand on a scale and they can guess what sort of weights to add or I can do some tiniest strong man stuff. Heck, I'll hand out ice cream cones if you like. I'm just happy to help."

Thanks Doc! now I've really got to talk to you about fixing me up with a shrink ray.

*snicker*

Rusty smiles warmly and winks at the speedster chick and says, "Back at ya babe." Rusty sighs after Gossamer and shrugs. His thoughts run idly, A smart chick like that wouldn't have anything to do with me anyway. At least not a smart chick more than twelve times my height. Hey maybe Doc over there can whip me up a shrink ray!

First character to compare Rusty to Joe Pesci will discover what it is to have a very small, very strong, very, very angry man jump down their throat and beat them up from the inside out.

Can you modify Rusty a little bit? He's not a size manipulator. His size has been manipulated. Stuck in itty bitty mode. That doesn't sound like a particularly awesome description though.. Hmm...

Rusty stands up and waves his hand across his body. "What you see is what you get babe. I used to be an average guy and now I'm not. As far as I know there's no going back. It's put a bit of a crimp on my social life but rent on a sock drawer is pretty cheap." He's smiling while he says this. "I've had a while to get used to it. Like everyone's life it's got it's ups and downs." He wanders across the desk a and idly picks up a paper clip. He unfolds it and slowly twists it in a tight curl. "But I'm new to the hero thing. For a couple of years I just took care of myself but I decided I'd have more fun helping people and busting heads. Apparently there aren't a lot of really small heroes around so I've been interviewed a few times. They keep calling me up for the lighter side coverage. Apparently it's humorous when I spring into action." He pushes the coiled wire down and sends it plinking off across the room. He smiles at Gossamer and asks, "So what's your story? What started you battling the forces of evil?"

Rusty watched the arrival of the other super heroes, Gossamer and Velocity with much more interest than Captain Wonderful and Doktor Whoever. The camera pole he sat on was a pretty good lookout spot. When Velocity hit the breaks to talk with Captain Wonder he forced himself to keep from whistling. "That Velocity can give me the run around anytime she likes." Rusty sighs wistfully at an impossible notion and leans forward over the post to make an upside down face into the camera. With a hop he lands solidly next to the front gate guard. He smiles and waves before introducing himself. "Hey! I'm Rusty Nail and you've got my name on that little clipboard of yours. Do you want some ID or should we just wait and see if any other five inch tall people come along saying they're me?" After the confirmation with the inside he's waved on through. Rusty strolls along the path and up the stairs between the heroes outside and heads in. They'd been given the heads up or was it down... on his stature and were looking for him along the floor when he walked through the door. He was escorted to the sitting room where he hopped up and sat on the edge of a desk. The plush furniture designed to accommodate normal size folk of all varieties would sink him up to his chin. Here was Gossamer who he did his best not to stare idly at and The Emissary himself. "Thanks for the invite big guy. Nice digs. Hi Gossamer, I'm Rusty."

Rusty leans against the vault door and sucks wind. "Piece... of... cake...phew!" He admires his handy work while catching his breath. The villain Twister was bruised and bleeding and was going to need some ice packs. The urge to do something unkind to the unconscious villain was strong but Rusty sighs and fights it off. It wasn't classy or heroic to give the defeated bad guy an atomic wedgie. Rusty climbs out of the hole and heads out of the bank. Flashing lights reflect against what is left of the glass on the front of the bank. Three police vehicles outside stand blocking the roadway and the law hides behind them pointing guns towards the bank. They don't even notice Rusty walk out until he is halfway across the street. Finally one of the officers calls out, "Halt right there and let me see your hands!" One of the bank employees yells, "No! He came and fought that Spinner!" Another says, "I thought he was The Twirler?" A third says, "Maybe it was the Swirlee?" "Don't be ridiculous! Who would name themselves Swirlee? It was Twister!" "Oh right and who would name themselves after a kids game?" "Fine then what was his name?" .... One of the officers lowers his weapon and calls out, "Hold your fire but keep your eyes on the bank!" He steps from behind the car and approaches Rusty slowly. He asks rather incredulously, "So you fought the guy that broke in to rob the bank?" Rusty rolls his eyes. "Yes. He's unconscious in the vault for the moment. You'd better get the bank manager to crack it open and haul him out of there before he wakes up all cranky." The officer nods in understanding. Living in Freedom City as a cop made for some interesting stories. "And who are you?" Rusty stops and looks at the cop, suddenly irritated. "What? Are you serious? I'm Rusty! Rusty Nail? Oh come on! I was just on the Channel 27 morning show!" "Sorry, I guess I missed it. I'm already at work when that comes on. We're not exactly equipped to bring in the super criminals. STAR should be getting here..." The rest was drowned out by a helicopter suddenly dropping from the sky above them and ropes falling to the ground. Several dangerous looking sorts slid down them quickly while another hovers in the air nearby. The first flashes an ID at the police officer. "Thank you officer for securing the scene and seeing to the safety of the bystanders. We'll take this guy off your hands." The cop nods to the newcomer who crouches down next to Rusty. "So you took out this guy?" "Why does everyone sound so suprised?" asks Rusty. "What's he calling himself?" asked the STAR agent. "He calls himself The Twister," said Rusty. "Like the kids game?" "I'm thinking he was going for something else," suggests the little hero, "He spins. And he's got this..thing with his outfit that can mess with your head. He's sleeping it off in the vault for now. You'd better scoop him up before he digs his way out again. He spun right through the floor of the bank and into the vault." "Good to know. Anything else we should look out for?" finished the agent. Rusty shrugged, "He's kind of arrogant. It gets irritating." The agent nods and the others have already moved into the bank. "Well take it from here. Thanks for your help..." "Rusty Nail," says the apparently less famous than he'd hoped hero. "Right. Thanks Rusty." "Just wish they'd been giving away ipods," mutters Rusty. "What's that?" "Huh? Oh nothing. Have fun." The bank manager was being escorted into the bank by two heavily armed men.