alderwitch

Phantom let the power fizzle and she grinned at Avenger, her teeth flashing white in the shadow of her hood, "You always drive. I think the shadow dogs have retreated for the moment. How did you get into the shadow realm in the first place?" She asked the last curiously, her head cocked to the side under her hood. "Dead Head made mention of Samedi and I think he might be a force behind this as well from all that I have seen."

"I'll go wait for Jack. I wouldn't want to be in the way," Taylor seized on the idea and fled Archevielle's lab as quickly as she could without full out running. It wasn't too hard to find the door to the room in question and Taylor located a chair near enough to it in the hall to wait for Jack. She dropped into it, folding her arms across her chest and tucking one leg up under herself. She shifted in the chair a few times, impatient and miserable, before she began flipping through the magazines on the coffee table just for something to do. Hopefully, if Jack refused to reappear (and she wouldn't really blame him, although she envied the ability at this particular moment) someone would come prod her out of her chair when she was needed to be stuck in another mad science device.

Alex sighed and filled in for the tall boy, "This is Mike. He's a little distracted about almost smushing you, but he usually has much better manners." She poked Mike in the ribs for emphasis.

"We can't risk being gone so long. Jack's the leader, more or less, of Freedom City's vampires. If he leaves, hill have a coup on his hand and a vampire coup doesn't leave survivors," Taylor said quietly, "Worse, if they find out that Jack's made a half-breed, his enemies may very well unite and come for his head, and mine and our son's. Dhampir are a pretty big 'do not create' when it comes to the vampires. We'll sneak off to worlds that move faster so I can get through the pregnancy as quickly as possible and be back in fighting shape.

Taylor laughed, "I'm not sure I can do Cher justice. If presents are on everyone's mind, the least I can do is gracefully give in to the crowd's wishes." Dimples flashed in her cheeks as she leaned into Jack's side. "But, really, I'm just glad you're all here."

Phantom sighed and nodded to the robot, "You'll be safe with the league. I'm certain that they'll be very interested in whatever you can tell them about Otaku. It might help in ensuring that his sentance in prison is a long one." Still keeping her gaze on the robot as it was better safe than sorry, Phantom added to the other two, "Does anyone want to do the speech thing before we go? Not my style personally."

Taylor laughed at Lynn's antics with the secret identity and shrugged, "I don't think anyone is evesdropping or anything. They're mostly just staring at Moira." She shrugged and nodded, "Jack and I have a group we're working with at the moment. Its working out well. We share similar out looks... and problems."

"He did answer the questions asked, to the best of his ability." Phantom said with a touch of impatience. She was long used to the verbal dancing of outsiders, "The thing with any faith, or enlightenment, or whathaveyou, is any answers given to you are meaningless. If you are given it as fact, there is no belief. It takes no strength to believe in something you know to be true, and gives nothing but hollow righteousness. Anything that purports to be able to provide you with all the answers is lying. Most likely for their own gain." She turned her cool gaze back to the angel, her tone a warning, "That said, I would remind you that even if you gather a cult well meaningly, it is still a violation of the Pact. I'm sure you have no intent to set yourself up for worship."

"It's not hiding, it's exploiting the advantage. Lets head to high ground on the off chance they just knock down buildings." Alex said judiciously as they shimmered out of sight to the boys, but still visable to each other. Alex floated up towards the roof of one of the better buildings to keep an eye on the boys.

"I'm Alex," said the same high, piping voice that Faith had heard in her head earlier. It belonged to a petite redhead who was dressed in a hot pink snow parka and canary yellow snow boots and mittens. The knit cap over her red curls was striped with orange and green. She waved one mittened hand cheerfully, "I'm a psychic too. Sorry, we should have set better out of bounds."

Nodding for Dead Head to grapple with the large monster, Phantom put her back to his and readied a bolt of crackling energy for whatever leapt from the shadows.

I should also add that the information communicated to Phantom isn't like a readout of name and stats. What she learns usually is the specific flavor of Colt's makeup and where he belongs in the Cosmic Coil. It's more like she shifts her senses to percieve him dimensionally than visually. So its up to you if this alt earth has a designation with the freedom league or a common name.

Unreliable array works this round I'm going to stunt a mind control effect on the omega drones this round as I don't think regular mind control would work, am I right?

Taylor turned towards him, a smile chasing away most of the shadows in her eyes. She raised one hand to touch his cool cheek affectionately, "I appreciate the rescue attempt. Its my own fault for procrastinating so on things." She shrugged and shook her head, shaking a few tendrils out of the messy bun on her crown, "I'll explain that we both have powers that make having children difficult but apparently not impossible and so we're treating the pregnancy as high risk. I don't see any reason to share your secrets. I love my family but I'm not going to expose you to any sort of judgements from them." Her chin firmed stubbornly, lifting a a fraction.

"Lunch, today," she insisted, fixing Taylor with a look that made her feel about eight years old again. Taylor sighed and agreed with exagerated patience, "Lunch today, yes. We'll get in our car and head right over." "Don't you act like I'm being the unreasonable one here, Taylor Xiao Xiao Chun," her mother scolded in outrage and Taylor ducked her head in abashed appology before she pressed a quick kiss to her mother's cheek. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. We'll be right there." Taylor murmured. It took a few more minutes of promises and threats before Dr. Chun got in the car and left. Taylor was certain that she was checking the rearview mirror to make certain they were following.

That took the wind out of her sails as few things could. Taylor blew out a sigh of relief and stepped forward to capture her mother's elbow in a gentle but firm grip. They were the same height but Taylor, despite the pregnancy, was more fit than her mother and stronger. "I've been seeing a specialist for a rare hereditary condition" Which was all true. "Can we not talk about this in the frozen foods aisle? People are starting to stare." Dr. Chun allowed herself to be tugged towards the front of the market but she frowned at Jack in an expression that was strikingly similar to her daughter's as she demanded, "Why? What's wrong?"

After staring inside the fridge expectantly for a few minutes without anything appetizing presenting itself anywhere in confines of the stuffed shelves, Taylor thumped the door shut and went in search of Jack. On the bright side, the fact that Jack didn't eat, let alone open the fridge that had people food made him easier to convince than most husbands that a trip to the market was not only neccessary but urgent. Taylor was weighing the pro's and con's of various frozen foods, a container in each hand when she glanced over Jack's shoulder and all of the blood drained from her face. For a moment, Taylor strongly considered chucking the frozen food and fleeing the dimension but her feet remained rooted to the spot. Taylor would rather have faced a horde of demons than the diminutive brunette bearing down on the two of them. "Zee!" Taylor cringed at the family nickname and considered sinking through the floor of the supermarket. Of course, of course, she hadn't bothered to toss anything bulky over the turtleneck. They were only running to the store, after all. "Mom..." She began placatingly, her hands raised in wary defense but Taylor's mother gasped, her blue eyes wide with a combination of shock and hurt before she began in on a tirade that was a confusing mix of Cantonese and English, her gestures at Taylor's waistline making the point abundantly clear. For Jack's sake, Taylor's replies remained in English. Not that she managed to get much in, "No- Mom, I... No! It's not... Well, yes... Mom, wait... Not like that!"

Taylor gave Colt a sharp glance at his pointed look before noting the shell shocked expression on Grim's face as the shape shifter put two and two together. Sighing, she settled down into a chair. Was it really that obvious? Either she was going to have to come up with better disguises or hide away in the apartment. Lifting up her fingertips, Taylor tossed off the detection spell to discern what alternate earth Colt came from while they settled in, figuring she could spend the time doing that while they gathered their thoughts. When she was done, Taylor laced her fingers together in her lap and waited almost expectantly.

Taylor stepped inside and pulled off the winter coat, letting it vanish into the Void once the door had shut. She smiled politely at Colt, "Ouch, but no worse for wear I see." Tucking her hands into her jean pockets, Taylor lifted her shoulders in a delicate shrug, "Jack's fine, if busy. We both have a lot on our plate these days. He really doesn't need me to work him too hard as he manages that himself just fine. He's working at the moment." She smiled and looked between them, "So, you need a consult on interdimensional hijinks?"

And Taylor's untrained disguise check to keep that baby bump under wraps: 1d20+2=17

"I've considered it," Taylor admitted wryly, "With how I feel about my head being messed with, that's quite a statement. It's more complicated though, because we actually have a wedding licsence with the date on it and the baby will have a birth certificate with the date on that. Considering the hoops for the paperwork, it wouldn't work in the long run to mess with memories. Plus, it really would be wrong. But certainly easier." Taylor made a face and shook her head, "No, I'll have to tell them. I'm just still trying to decide what and how to tell them and in the end, that's less important than making sure that we protect myself and the baby. Also in a way that makes it so that I don't have to kill a bunch of vampires. That would make Jack more than a little testy."

"Just give me a vague location and I'll find you," Taylor nodded at the instructions, pushing her cart into the line and began fishing for her wallet, phone still tucked against her ear, "I'll be at the front door in about fifteen minutes. Give or take." Taylor was true to her word as she walked up to the stairs of the brownstone about fifteen minutes later. A small asian woman wandered up (as she was not nearly so blase as to port in on the doorstep), dressed casually in jeans and a loose empire waisted top under a buttoned winter coat. She paused, eyeing the door before shrugging and knocking once.

"That would be easier if I hadn't sworn up and down to my mother that the hasty wedding wasn't because Jack and I were expecting. Not to mention I am supposed to be graduating college this summer. My parents think I just turned twenty-one and have enough concerns about the whirlwand romance." Taylor sighed and rubbed her fingertips accross her brow, "And I don't trust them to react well to the truth. Their rejection of Jack would hurt him and I don't want that. He doesn't have a family of his own. Well, other than me, of course."

Taylor eyed the ice cream in her cart, thinking it wouldn't survive a long term time in the Void. She tapped her fingertips against the metal bar of the cart and thought, "Well... I can come by and discuss the situation fully. I don't know which dimension Colt is from and I'd have to see him in person to cast a spell to detect that. Once I know more of the details, I'll know more what I can and can't help with." She glanced down at herself, mentally making note to add some sort of bulky sweater. Or jacket. They were trying not to have word about the baby get out, after all. She didn't think Jack would be too pleased about this little adventure at all, but better to beg forgiveness then ask permission, "Where should I meet you?"

Taylor picked up on the second ring, flipping open the battered little cell phone. Her voice was blessedly normal Taylor coming out of the phone and not Phantom's hollow boom. Which made since as she was currently standing in the middle of the market, trying to remember what all one went grocery shopping for, "Hey, Grim. I'm guessing this an official call. What do you need?"