alderwitch

"You want me to cover your features with an illusion?" Alex offered quietly, pausing in her telepathic explanation to Mike about what everything was. "I can hold it for the dinner without too much problem, I think." Alex didn't have an id to hide but she understood the need for one.

"More used to clip ons?" Bombshell smiled up at him and stepped forward, tugging one end slightly down further than the other one. "As good as you are with those hands, this will be easy to pick up. And a skill that every man should have. And any woman who occasionally needs to pretend to be a man in the line of duty should have as well. Now, let's see if I can remember how to do this when it isn't around my neck." Without her heels, Bombshell came up roughly to his nose and she stepped in close, her fingertips brushing along the sides of his neck lightly as she flipped up the collar. "Now... first you cross one end over the other." She murmured as she went to do just that, her slender fingers working over the fabric with practiced ease although she did have to stop and reverse her work once as she'd done the mirror version of what she'd meant to do. Laughing huskily, she went back to finish the knot and tighten it, flipping his collar back down. She paused, smoothing out the tie and turned that slight smile up to him, "There you go, sweetie. You'd be quite dashing, I think, in a tux."

Each of them tumbled weightless through the Void before landing on soft turf. For JJ, the sensation of being whole was almost overwhelming as the expanding emptiness inside him filled with that connection to his native dimension not unlike a dislocated limb snapping into place. They were floating in a place that JJ might remember although the others less so. It was the soft grassy asteroid floating free in the Void that had been where he vanished too when threatened since infancy. Not much larger than the grounds outside the manor itself and covered with a soft grass that defied biology since there was no sun here and the only water was in a small cool pond in one corner. "Jack!" Taylor called, getting up quickly to her feet and gathering her infant son into her arms, "JJ! Over here!" She leaned towards them but took no steps forward, as if rooted in place.

I should add, since Gizmo asked me in chat, I'm not depriving you of any powers or abilities or equipment. Feel free to describe them as looking different if you'd like but the mechanics will be the same. That said, if you would LIKE to find your character unable to do something or have something intrinsic to them, feel free to do so and have the HP for the complication. This is going to be an adventure but a light hearted one.

"Those are some of them, yes. Also being sneaky and charming." Talya agreed, pausing in buttoning up the white shirt to watch him with interested green eyes. Her gaze flickered from scar to scar as if taking mental note. She had her own, of course, although less than one would think for an immortal and decidedly dangerous life as they all predated the war-time experience that had left her, well, what she was today. The pause was brief but noticeable and then her fingers finished with the stiff buttons, fastening them up and tucking them into the waistband of the pants. "You know, I snuck into the Freedom League Christmas party once just like this - as a waitress I mean. Years ago, of course, and I got caught - of course. Really, that was the point at the time. I suppose that was the last time I waited on tables. After that, of course, it all went to hell in a hand-basket. Let's hope this time goes a bit better, then?"

"It wearing your face might make it a tad more difficult to convince them that we're on the side of right and good." Phantom opinioned but didn't seem overly concerned. "I say we teleport into the middle of the hive and blow up the jailer. I think that'll make it quite clear where we stand. Then it won't be so hard to explain why the robots are wearing your face: because he's insane."

(GM post) Once upon a time - for that's how these things always start - the band of unlikely heroes known as the Interceptors found themselves waking in a world even more unusual than the admittedly extraordinary Freedom City. This world, in fact, was in technicolor. They woke with around a small campfire in wooded hollow that looked like something straight out of an old movie set. The clothing too was that mix of theatrical take on some vague medieval era that never existed. If one, however, was a theater buff, it wasn't too hard to place their respective roles. Grim's long dress and trailing sleeves were a somehow untarnished white. Entirely unsuited for a jaunt through a forest and decidedly bridal, with Jill O' Cure dressed in suitable handmaiden's wear. As for the other Interceptors, it wasn't too hard to divide them down to the appropriate roles of Hero (Colt), Kid (Dynamo), Stalwart Friend (Fulcrum) and Dark Loner (Jack of All Blades. In the distance, the more keen of hearing would hear the baying of hounds and the distant sound of a hunting horn.

Also, Darius, if you're too busy, feel free to bow out of this thread if you want. I've included where Fulcrum is but due to the nature of the thread, she could be a figment of the book rather than a PC.

Interceptors thread, picking up two days after the Takes a Thief storyline. Interceptors Roll Call: Jack of All Blades, Jill O' Cure, Fulcrum, Colt, Grim, Dynamo Bombshell will be making an appearance as she too touched the book in question.

"It was helpful, it's just not immediately helpful." Alex disagreed with a smile, moving with an easy grace that said she was finally out of the all arms and legs awkward stage. Combat training was good for lots of things, coordination not the least of them, "It is, however, going to take your brain a bit to sort that all out of long term memory and access it correctly. It might be a bit like deja vu when you hear things and already know them. Or at least, they're hidden in your mind. Best to cover all the bases, yeah?" She slipped under his arm, thinking about his question. "I'm alright. Mike's getting ready to come out - not till after graduation - but that means we have to do some research. He has to face what happened all of those years ago in private because it's got to come up in public. You know? I haven't mentioned it to him yet. I'm worried. He still struggles with it, sometimes."

"More recently for you than me, I think, but some things really don't change much. No one looks at the hired help." Talya agreed and turned around to find the extra waitstaff clothing, quickly pulling them on over her catsuit. The advantage of having a costume that was quite literally skin tight was that it was easy to dress up over it. That was part of the design, actually. It was a good deal easier to hide than the goo goo boots of yesteryear's costume, that was for sure. Sinking her hands up into the heavy mass of gold hair, she began to quickly braid it up and out of the way, "So, we get a feel for who all we've got at the auction and a good head count because I really loathe runners and then we just line them up and knock them down? Simple, straight forward and plays to our strengths?"

Phantom nodded, tossing one last wistful look over at the battlesuits just itching to be rendered back into their component atoms but she wasn't calling the shots today. She frowned at the reinforced door and pushed her cloak out of the way as she began to charge up a bolt of white hot energy in her palms. "This man put some serious work into his big locked doors." Once she had a ball of energy too bright to look directly at, Phantom shot her hands forward to rock the steel door on its hinges. After another blast or two, the door hung wildly on its hinges, gaping open. Another gesture sent it spinning into the rack of powersuits with a satisfying clang. "But not enough."

"I do stumble. Not so much with the crushing feet though. Just about everyone I dance with is impervious enough that it really doesn't matter. I'd have to have some seriously dangerous shoes to even get noticed," Alex agreed with a smile and slipped easily into James arms. "And of course, Mike doesn't mind. I asked him before I asked you." She glanced over to where her tall fiance was inviting some girl out onto the dance floor and smiled, her eyes shining slightly with pride before she looked back to James, "Cuz, he's just that good a guy. I'm a lucky girl. So, how have you been?" Alex asked the question like she hadn't been in his head, or used his mental state to make the judgment to ask him to dance rather than go with Mike onto the floor for the first set.

Talya paused at the door frame, turning back slightly when she heard Jack make to follow her and a smile softened her features for a moment with her profile facing the kitchen. It wasn't the taunting or even smug smile - it was a smile that made it clear most of those sharp, wicked smiles were as much of a mask as the black leather she covered her face with. "Is it that planning really isn't your strong suit, handsome," She teased and offered him one slender hand to take. "Or, did you come to make sure that I take nothing with me that doesn't belong to me on my way out?"

Talya straightened and tossed him an amused look over her shoulder, her dark mask outline her eyes and her gold hair falling over her shoulder. "Ma'am. Careful now, or I'll think you're looking to get kinky. I already have the leather catsuit." She turned towards him, resting on foot on the gentleman he'd just knocked out, before turning him over with one booted heel. "I do like a man who knows what he likes. Now, let me think. We've got two of us and who knows how many criminals - and from what organizations due to walk in. Me, I've always been a recon-type of girl. Now, we don't know who's coming or what the ridiculous secret hand sign is to get in. Which is fine, we're already inside. Which, I think, means we hide in plain sight." Talya turned a brilliant smile at him, "How do you feel about a game of dress-up? We already know what the wait staff looks like and if I know my arms dealers - they'll be breaking out the wine and cheese for the real guests for certain."

"We'll come up with something. Later." Alex smiled at him, framing his beloved face between her small hands. She leaned in towards him, her voice dropping to a whisper against his lips, "For now, Mike... show me the stars."

"Creepy. A super-stalker." Phantom intoned after her gaze swept over the lair. "I don't think this needs to remain intact, do you?" Phantom turned her hooded head back towards her friend, polite enough to ask before making with big boom noises. Her first instinct was to leave nothing useable just on the off chance but not everyone shared her feelings when it came to collateral damage. There was a reason, after all, that she worked with the Midnighters rather than the Freedom League. "Better safe than sorry."

The man nodded once, his gaze never leaving the tip of that blade even as Bombshell protested, "They're not trash... they're impressionists! Of course, one could really make the argument that it's one and the same." Bombshell shrugged and then dropped to her knees to start rifling through the para military men's pockets. "We should find some place to put them so they don't get tripped over. Meanwhile, let me see if I can cover for the absence of these fine fellows." She pulled the radio off of his belt and called in the all clear to whoever was coordinating things. Fortunately, Bombshell was much better than Han Solo when it came to making up military speak. She had, after all, years of experience in the spy game. That done, she smiled over her shoulder at him, "So, what's the plan, Jack?"

Alex exchanged a 'blink and you'll miss it' glance with Mike before she smiled at James and offered one slender gloved hand. "Can I have this dance?" She offered with that gentle smile and sympathy hiding in her hazel eyes. "You did promise me you'd dance with me and we missed it at the school dance. So, how bout it? I promise I won't step on your feet." She lowered her voice to a teasing whisper, "And if I do, I'm way lighter than Mike at least, right?"

"No, nothing's the matter," Alex said honestly, patting his broad chest with her hands soothingly, "I just... I had a thought and I don't want to share it just yet. It'll upset you and I don't want today to be marred by that. Please? We can talk about it later. It's nothing urgent, or pressing. Just... a thought." Alex looked up at him, her hazel eyes wide and pleading. She'd never lie to Mike when pressed but she really didn't want to share her realization about things that would have to happen before Mike revealed who - and what - he was.

"Oh, Ace." Taylor said with a fond smile and shook her head, her dimples flashing in quick amusement. She glanced down at serious faced baby and nodded her agreement, "He does alright with most odd things but, you never know. Ghosts, he's used to, but I take him around a clown and he starts hissing and glaring and when that fails, he cries. It's alright. Jack usually chases off whatever upsets him. I think, sometimes, his vampire instincts and his paternal instincts cross bizarrely. Oh, well." Taylor shrugged after delivering that little understatement of the year, "It's going better. I think we're still working through my absence but things are a lot better now, at least. Much less tense. I don't really know how to make it up to Jack but I'm working on it. That's really all I can do."

1d20+15=34

Talya's eyes crinkled as they fired through different possible scenarios and finished her tea while options were discussed, "Well, I see that I've put this in good hands although, if you want my two cents, I'd do a bit of research before you go leaping. Even if you do tend to leap before looking, its important to look before landing. If you catch my drift. You don't know who wrote it in the first place. For all you know, it could be something very bad trapped in the book." "But, I think I've added what I can. So, my thanks for the tea and for the aid and research." Talya went to make her good-byes with the Interceptors, offering a hand to them as she passed but when she got to Jack, she grinned. It was a wicked smile that said she was up to no good at all and reached for the lapels of his coat to plant a quick but very-not-at-all platonic kiss on his lips before turning back to the Interceptors at large to say, "If you find you do need help, of course, call me. Jack has the number."

Phantom shrugged, the gesture communicated in a ripple of fabric and agreed, "Okay." before she tore the doors right off of their hinges, letting them thump to the ground with a clang, "Now, let's see what's down the rabbit hole." She stepped up onto one of the doors and over it, heading into the crypt itself. "I never like knocking anyways."

"Wow," Taylor opinioned, shading her eyes with one hand as she tried to get a sense for the creatures. "Well, this is a good place for them, and they'll provide you some protection on the off chance any thing nasty ever does come out to bother you. That's a good thing to have. I'm a big fan of security even if the place is entirely off the grid. Or in this case, off the dimension. Beekeeper's gone big time, then. Ah, no pun intended."