Electra

"I see them!" Stesha reported from across the building. "Midnight's fighting the tentacle robots, he needs backup. I'm going to send you all through to him. Everybody join hands!" As soon as the others had complied, she grabbed hold of Gabriel's hand, since he was the closest, and sent them all through the network of green to the place she'd pinpointed. She herself, though, stayed behind. Through the mental link with a dingy little potted rosebush, she saw them arrive at the scene of the battle. The rosebush, meanwhile, began to grow.

Fleur goes on 9! Woo-hoo!

"I see," Miss A said, turning the device over in her hands as she studied it. "That's a change of M.O. for him, he's usually more keen to inspire fear than take it away. Of course, that strategy hasn't been working too well lately in Freedom City. Looking to diversify, hmm?" she asked the bound villain with an undeniably smug look. "Well, we'll just make sure this stays destroyed, and hopefully that you stay in jail a bit longer this time." She opened the device and took out a few key parts, then set the now defunct contraption back down. "That should be safe now," she told Jackie B. "So is this your beat, then?"

"Hold very still," she reminded him, "and relax as completely as you're able. I'm looking right now to see your body in an entirely resting state, and the closer you can get to that, the more helpful the scans will be." Taking a cue from recent experience, she dimmed the lights, bumped the thermostat just a touch, and piped in the soothing music she had on hand. "This should take approximately five minutes, starting now." She stepped behind the screen and began to order the machines to do their thing.

Cyberknife (Gina) Character Score Theme Song: [groove]23299965[/groove] I'm the science genius girl, I won the science fair. I wear a white lab coat, DNA strands in my hair. When I clone a human being, he will want to hold my hand, When I clone a human being, he will be a member of my band Fight Song: [groove]23299969[/groove] Beware of pretty faces that you find, A pretty face can hide an evil mind. Oh, be careful what you say, you'll give yourself away, Odds are you won't live to see tomorrow! Romance Song [groove]25048331[/groove] Well it's gonna be the future soon, and I won't always feel this way. When the things that make me weak and strange Get engineered away. It's gonna be the future soon, never seen it quite so clear. And when my heart is breaking I can close my eyes, And it's already here. Tragedy Song [groove]23300238[/groove] I stood close enough to hear you say, "Do as the beautiful ones do." Tore out my picture from its frame, Just wanted to be one of you.

Character Score: Wander Theme Song: [groove]21724578[/groove] I just want to feel today, feel today, feel today, I just want to feel something today, I just want to feel today, feel today, feel today, Feel like maybe I will be okay. Fight Song [groove]21724715[/groove] One, nothing wrong with me, two, nothing wrong with me, Three, something's got to give, four something's got to give... Let the bodies hit the floor! Romance Song: [groove]21724561[/groove] Let them shuffle the numbers, watch them come and go, We're the ones who are out here, out past the edge of what they know. We can only be who we are, Doesn't matter if they don't understand... Tragedy Song: [groove]23299960[/groove] Dies illa, dies iræ, calamitatis et miseriæ, dies magna et amara valde. Dum veneris iudicare sæculum per ignem. Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine: et lux perpetua luceat eis. (That day, day of wrath, calamity, and misery, day of great and exceeding bitterness, when thou shalt come to judge the world by fire. Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord: and let light perpetual shine upon them.)

Erin looked confused for a moment, then laughed when he gave her the cupcake, holding it in the palm of one hand to examine it. "That's so cool, Trevor! Birthday cake." She wondered how the cupcake hadn't melted or gotten squashed up against the hat, but knowing Trevor, he'd probably installed a tiny cupcake insulation system into his hat just for the occasion. It certainly seemed pristine. "Thank you." Erin had promised herself that she wasn't going to let herself think any sad thoughts today, so instead she leaned in and kissed his cheek. "I guess this means I'm an older woman now, at least for another four months or so."

Stesha opened a flower and shoved the wriggling robot into it, figuring she'd deal with that little abomination later, when she had the stomach. "I bring a message, oh queen, from your daughter, Bee-atrizz," she called, "who was sent from the hive and has gone ahead to prepare a place for you. She wanted me to remind you that though she is deformed, you always called her your mozzt clever offzzpring." Stesha carefully rolled the Zs passing along a little of the giant bee's distinctive accent. "She would like to remind you of the time that she discovered the mechanism for dispensing sugar water into your enclosure, and opened it wide so the water gushed freely. The Mazter was angry, but you had such a feast! She wants you to know that what is waiting for you is a thouzzzand timezz better than that, because it is real. She and the others are waiting for you. They miss you."

"That sounds wonderful, Estelle, I know you'll make us all look good," Miss A said complacently. "I have a few remarks prepared as well, for whenever they might fit in. Jessica, we still have a few minutes, why don't you go and get yourself washed up?" she suggested kindly. "I think I can dig up some polish somewhere that will take off that goop, and you'll be good as new. You don't want to have to stand in the back, or risk getting any of that into Gossamer's hair."

Erin flushed pink all over again and tossed one of her many pillows at Alex. "I guess it's only fair you picked up on some of our thoughts," she teased, "since you were so generously sharing the fact that you were totally looped with us." Erin hesitated for a minute, torn between dignity and curiosity, and then gave in. "What sorts of things was he thinking about me?" she asked Alex, with a totally worthless effort at nonchalance.

"All right then," Miss A said crisply, "go ahead and lay down on the table. It's important that you remain still and don't speak, some of these sensors are incredibly delicate while they're working." That wasn't entirely true, none of the sensors she was going to use was so sensitive as to be disrupted by simple conversation, but it certainly made a convenient story, didn't it? Miss Americana, with a lifetime of being a stunning beauty, likely should've shrugged off the smarmy insinuations much more easily, but she was doing the best she could.

"If you'll lay down on the lab table there, I can take some sensor readings of you that might help with that," Miss A offered after a moment's hesitation. She could've gotten away with ending the interview, and it might have been more comfortable, but she was too thorough a scientist for that. "It should take just a few minutes. If you believe your body chemistry alters upon samples being taken, this will be a good way to get a baseline meausurement." She gestured to an exam table over on one side of the room.

Stesha felt drowsy for a moment as soon as she teleported, but she was able to shake the feeling off. At least it wasn't only her this time! "I can do that," she murmured. "This whole building is full of plants on desks and in corners. I should be able to search through it without much trouble. Just watch my back for me." She stepped over to the nearest houseplant, a wilted african violet that perked up noticeably just at her approach, and carefully laid her fingers on it, cautious to keep the touch as light as possible. Closing her eyes, she began to search the building, floor by floor, plant by plant, looking for signs of Midnight or Doc Otaku.

Stesha wasn't usually too quick off the mark when it came to a fight, but this time her ire was up. As soon as they were in the room, she was extending her hands, vines shooting from the seeds in her fingers so quickly that the Robo-Bee-Fleur had no time to do more than blink before she was encased in a living blanket of green. "That's my face!" she shouted defiantly at the writhing mass as the robot tipped over and rolled ridiculously on the floor. "Nobody wears that but me!"

Snare attack on the robot Fleur! Surprise! She rolls a 15! DC 28 to save.

Fleur is well rested and succeeds with a 22!

"I guess... I guess just looking would be enough for a start. Maybe I will ask Doc about it, next time I see him. I've been meaning to talk to him anyway," Stesha mused. "I would rather not ask Scarab, at least not as a first resort. But you're right. You're right," she said again, resolve firming her tone. "It's stupid to just stand here and wait and wonder and feel bad, when I could be doing something proactive." She took a deep breath, tried a brave smile. "Thanks, Taylor."

"Just give me the role and I'll sell it," Miss A assured Victory with a confident smile. "Though if it's something extreme, you may have to give me a little time to at least scrounge up a costume. And that's a good idea, Geckoman," she told the green-clad hero. "It never hurts to have a few boys in blue on hand to take the bad guys on after the fight is finished. Get in touch with your contact and get the wheels turning. I'm assuming AEGIS' backers don't have the appropriate jurisdiction inside the city," she half-asked Victory.

Miss A, who was keeping an eye on the crowd as she adjusted a display of prosthetic models, gave Dragonfly a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it, they're all just interested in seeing the inside of this place. It got put up so quickly, and with so much security, I imagine that everyone is itching to see what it's like." The beautiful heroine, clad in a burgundy and navy skirt suit beneath her pristine white lab coat, didn't look at all concerned by the press of people. "Just remember that this is your place. There are areas that are off-limits to the public, no one is going to tell you that you need to stay out here if you decide not to talk to anyone."

"It doesn't bother me," Miss A admitted with a chuckle, "I grew up down south, I know nothing about hockey. I thought they were football players till I noticed that some of them had sticks." Leaving the bound-up Fearmaster on the ground, she walked over to his broken toy and picked it up to examine it. "And you looked like you were doing just fine on your own, I mainly intervened in the hopes that you wouldn't have to give them all headaches to regret later. So they were trying to buy steroids?" she asked.

Erin wasn't far behind Alex, actually taking the steps on her own two feet, then pausing in the courtyard to do a few stretches before the expedition. She hadn't packed anything extra for the trip, and wore her normal uniform with nothing more than her communicator and bat hitched to her belt, though she'd taken the precaution of putting her hair in a french braid rather than risking the wind blowing it into her face. She gave Trevor a quick smile of greeting as she joined the group, waiting to hear more about what they were going to do.

"Poor baby," Miss A said with a laugh, and obligingly gave the beleaguered defenseman a kiss on the cheek, which was enough to have eve a seasoned hockey player turning red and stammering. "I think it's safe for all of you to head back to the ice now, while we deliver this fellow to the police.You all are lucky that Jack of all Blades was here to stop the Fearmaster. Now be careful out there, and bring home some wins for Freedom City!"

"Sure, why not? It'll be fun!" Erin said, blissfully unaware of all the complexities involved in an undertaking of such magnitude. "If you invite enough people, nobody needs to worry about their secret identity, and everybody can enjoy themselves. And you've got all sorts of friends who'll be around to make sure nothing bad happens, so you don't have to worry. I've been practicing my dancing," she confided, though it wasn't much of a secret. "Trevor and I are getting pretty good together."

"I won't know until I do your cellular analysis," Miss A told him coolly. "Offhand, I would imagine it's a waste product of the energy expenditure process your cells undergo during your transformations, or potentially a lubricant to facilitate the movement of parts. If you'll let me take a sample of that as well, it would expedite the process and perhaps allow me to come to a more nuanced understanding." She offered him a specimen jar ad a white gauze pad with which to wipe his hands.

"Absolutely." Miss A said with a laugh, flying over to pick up the addled villain. She deftly fashioned a gag out of a discarded kneepad, fastening it over the hockey mask and all. "Is everyone okay over there?" she asked as she flew back, squirming villain in tow. "Anybody need a doctor, hospital, band-aid?" She turned her smiling attention onto the hockey players, which in itself was enough to make a lot of minor aches and pains start feeling a lot better.