Electra
-
Posts
11,284 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Freedom City Guidebook
Freedom City PBP: A How-To Guide
Gallery
Events
Everything posted by Electra
-
Merlin gave Owain a quizzical look and then glanced at Raina, who shrugged. "Hello," Merlin chirped back, sounding tentative. "Nice to meet you. I'm going to eat when we aren't covered in ancient corpse dirt." He gave himself a disgusted all-over shake, which just put more dust onto Raina. Erik's punning earned him a single death glare from Raina before she turned her attention elsewhere. "Your friends are all crazy old people at heart," she maintained stubbornly as Talya walked by. "It's like a state of mind. But if you owe me," she added, brightening, "can I borrow the green Louboutins on Saturday night? I've got a date." A shower was definitely in order, but she made do for the moment with a couple of baby wipes from one of the omnipresent tubs. Wiping her hands, she touched one finger to her own throat, then spoke to Neko in flawless Japanese. "That's a good trick, are the ears the illusion or does the illusion cover them?"
-
Noise from the other room announced the arrival of one more member of the household, one Neko and Gawain had not encountered before. Raina, whose relationship to the rest of the Espadas clan was somewhat obscure, had been off on a weekend trip during their previous visit. Tonight, judging by the snug black bodysuit she was wearing, she'd probably been out doing some sort of hero work. Judging by the way the bodysuit was almost gray with pebbly dust, it hadn't necessarily gone well. The small monkey on her shoulder was similarly dusty, and did not look pleased about it. "Hey, I'm home!" Raina called, completely unnecessarily. "Talya, I'm not doing any more jobs for your weird old person friends. They're all the worst." She thought about sitting down and grabbing something to eat, then noticed the state of her hands and the rest of her. "Right. Gonna go shower before I get mummy powder or whatever this sh- junk is all over dinner. Hey kiddos," she added, grinning at the children. "You gonna save me some dessert?" The two new faces at the table caught her attention. "Oh hey, Josie and Prince Caspian, I forgot you guys were coming." She took a quick whiff of the air. These two were supposedly both magical, but she didn't know exactly what type. The guy was musty, old books and candle wax. Probably something to do with coming from the fictional past? The girl... Raina sneezed. Great.
-
Despite its recent growth, the shell was still bigger on the inside as soon as Neko climbed in. It was a shadowy space, only barely lit by the room light from outside, and she could barely see the black and gold shell pattern around them. Just ahead of her, Danica waved encouragingly and opened a normal-looking, if small, door and ducked through it. Light washed out, and as soon as Neko stepped through she was with Danica in a little bedroom that could've been in any American house, complete with furniture and a whole other set of posters and decorations. "Welcome to my shell!" Danica exclaimed. "This is where I keep most of my stuff. It's technically a pocket dimension, I guess, but it's just easier to not think about it too much. It's magic!" She reached up onto one of the shelves and produced a Rubix cube the size of an apricot. "Here you go," she told Magenta, passing over the toy. "I thought you guys might like that."
-
"Yeah, lots of things!" Danica told her enthusiastically. She bellyflopped down onto her mattress and proceeded to wriggle out the top of her shell like a snake shedding its skin, leaving her dressed in the clothes she'd worn on arrival. The shell began to grow til it was the size of a little tent, covering nearly the whole bed. She crawled back in headfirst, her voice echoing a little as she disappeared inside. "It's bigger than it looks! You can come in if you want! And you too, Magenta!" she added. "I've got something for you!"
-
"Huh," Danica said thoughtfully, looking down at the little smoke thing. "That's kind of weird, but not actually scary," she decided. "Anyway, I sleep in my shell, so it won't bother me at all. If you have a lot of bad dreams, you should talk to one of the counselors." Danica carefully climbed off her scooter and mounted the little ladder that led to her half-lofted bed, very slow but seeming otherwise completely able. "Lots of people who come here have trauma, bad stuff that has happened to them. There are people at the school to help you learn to feel better." Reaching into her shell, she pulled out several long rolled-up posters and began tacking them up on the wall. An X-Files poster shared space with One Direction and The Backstreet Boys and BTS, a movie poster for The Fault in Our Stars went up next to a print of Van Gogh's Starry Night, and more. It was a perfectly ordinary collection for a girl who had been collecting for quite a long time. "So what grade did they put you in?"
-
Paige goes on 19 and has a skill mastered Sense Motive of 25. I'm also going to do a Notice check, which is skill mastered to 30.
-
"Well we won't get our deposit back on that," Paige observed dryly as the office building went up in flames. She ignored the pang of lost footage and equipment, trivial in comparison to the fact that all the people had gotten out alive. The headache that psychic visions gave her was more than worth it just for that. Even now their crew was back at work, David manning the camera he'd brought along despite Paige's insistence and several of the others filming with their phones. Kelsey had one arm firmly wrapped around Vivi's shoulders to keep the intern from falling apart during their first big villain encounter. She turned her attention back to the fight just in time to see her son arriving, bold and loud as his father in his prime, and couldn't help the smile. "Can't you just use a sand ball like a regular person?" she asked, the question obviously rhetorical. "Our investigation appears to have cracked wide open, along with our building."
-
"Well, sort of?" Danica equivocated, making a see-saw motion with her hand. "My parents are zoologists, that means they're scientists who study animals. My mom's specialty is the giant tortoises. She really, really devoted her life and all her attention to learning more about tortoises, and she really, really liked them." It was kind of hard to walk the line between making the words too complex and simplifying the concepts too much, but she did her best. "Anyway, that kind of devotion, I mean, that kind of love for tortoises caught the attention of a tortoise god who was looking for, um, a solid body in the real world. So when my mom got pregnant, it put its power into me, so someday when I'm grown up, I will probably be a tortoise god myself. But that's not for a long time," she added quickly, waving away the topic. Magenta provided an adorable distraction. "You like Neko's ears, huh? They're pretty cool," Danica agreed. "Maybe you can get Ryder to give you cool ears, if you want." She turned her attention back to her new roommate. "So what's your story?" she asked curiously. "Where are you from? What do you like to do?"
-
Raina immediately put up both hands to distance herself from any facet of this conversation. "If you want somebody to put the fake you back together, that's totally your business," she told Anna, "but I'm definitely not going to be the one to go another round with it." By now Merlin had found her and given her a thorough scolding for not fleeing earlier, a position that was unfortunately kind of hard to argue with. "You've got your pictures and nobody got the Kathy Bates treatment from their accidental girlfriend, so I'm just going to call this a win and go home."
-
"Magenta!" Danica squealed in delight, slowly bending down to allow the robot insect to climb onto her open palm. "I'm so glad you're back! I bet Ryder's around here somewhere, huh? I'm glad you like the new hair!" She gave Neko a reassuring look. "This is Magenta, she's an arti- um, she's a robot bug," she corrected, hoping to hit the correct vocabulary level for her new roommate. "She belongs to my friend Ryder. He helped design my scooter, and he's awesome! You'll probably meet him later. Want to come with us to see our new room?" she asked Magenta, even as she began to roll the scooter around towards the door.
-
"Sure, that sounds great!" Danica grinned down at the illusory cat, then tucked it safely in the crook of her arm where it would not be pinched by her shell. Extending her own palm, she produced a glowing blue tortoise and proffered it to Neko. It looked less like a real animal than the kitten, but had the same odd almost-weight to it. "I carry all my stuff with me in my shell, we can unpack together! Usually my parents bring me to school on the first day, but since this is my fifth year here, I asked if I could just come by myself this time." She looked over to Muirne and Nat. "Want to all get together in the caf at dinnertime? I can't wait to hear how everybody's summer went."
-
"Scooter," Danica corrected cheerfully. "It helps me get around faster. My natural pace is pretty slow, and the scooter means I'm not fifteen minutes behind everybody else when we try to go someplace. And hey, if you like warm, we're going to get along so well! I got a new heat lamp with three way bulbs and this crazy surge-protector looking thing to keep it from tripping the breakers all the time. You'll love it," she promised. "How many cats do you have? Do they all live here too?"
-
"Thanks, Nat!" Danica replied, all smiles. "You look awesome too! I bet you got some cool new clothes this summer, I can't wait to see them!" She took a cookie from Muirne's extended plate. "That was really nice of you, Muirne, I'm starving!" As she bit into the cookie, the overstuffed backpack on her back shimmered and grew, an illusion that melted into an enormous black and gold patterned tortoise shell that encased much of her body. "We were running late this morning and I didn't even eat breakfast. You'd think I'd know better after doing this five times already, but oh well." Her attention was caught by the new girl in the corner. "Oh, hey, Neko! I saw your name on the door! You're a cat girl, that's cool! Are you the avatar of an animal spirit too?" Another nudge of her scooter had her crossing the room to meet the person she'd be spending the next year with. "I hope you like warm temperatures, I have to keep my dorm room pretty cozy."
-
Don't you know that it's worth every treasure on earth, Paige's mental "voice" sang back to Richard silently, to be young at heart? For as rich as you are, it's much better by far- Her song cut off abruptly as Paige's mental shields went up, her body stiffening and her eyes rolling back into her head. Richard, of course, was at her side long before she could begin to crumple, but the spasm lasted only a moment. Paige caught herself, took one wild look around, then spat out a obscenity that would've gotten her a rather nasty letter from the FCC. "Everybody out!" she shouted, "right now! Leave the gear!" Running to the nearest wall, she pulled the fire alarm and then ran for the doors herself, trusting Richard and the crew to be right behind her. The two investigators were unknown quantities but they seemed smart enough to heed a psychic's warning. She hoped so at least; there was no time to argue.
-
"Have you literally ever heard a robot story?" Raina demanded in disbelief. "That's like, the first thing that always happens. The girlfriend robot never takes it well, never takes anything well. You're she didn't take a cleaver and go after your junk so you could be just like her forever," she opined. "You gotta stay away from sentient robots, they're bad news. Now, have you got the pictures? The originals now, don't even think about switching them for printouts. The lady here deserves to see something set on fire, and you probably want it to be the pictures and not, say, your whole workshop."
-
A slight mechanical hum from the hallway, followed by an audible thud announced another new arrival to the floor. Another quick whir, and suddenly the doorway was filled by a girl riding what might have been a purple Segway, if the Segway had been invented in an only-slightly-dystopian cyberpunk future. It was all sleek lines and had faint blue running lights in the treaded wheels, an assembly that looked perfectly capable of climbing stairs and possibly mountains if necessary. The girl riding the scooter was small and a little stocky, with lightly freckled olive skin and bright blue hair in a side-shave cut that brushed her chin on one side. A tiny sparkling stud glinted from one side of her nose. "Hey, new kids!" she greeted everyone with boisterous enthusiasm. "Welcome to Claremont! It's awesome to see you all! I'm Danica! Muirne, hi, welcome back! Did you have a great summer? I had an amazing summer!" She nudged the handle of the scooter to roll all the way into the room.
-
"You were sent to investigate," Paige Cline remarked, a thoughtful frown creasing her forehead as she reviewed the real-time transcripts of what had been said. "Someone drew both of you to that place, just in time for you to see something strange and then almost get killed. Maybe it was a trap all along, but if so, there wasn't really any reason to show you anything at all. Maybe it was just bad timing. Either way, whoever sent those emails knows something more than we do now. And the robot that was in the warehouse, if there was anything particularly distinguishing about, something that might tie it to a known individual, maybe? Talos' robots are different than ArcheTech's robots are different than HAX's robots, etcetera." She spread her arms in a shrug. "I don't think we have any business directing your investigation when you're both much more experienced in the business than we are, but those are just where my gut is pointing. You must be getting close, if you've got somebody worried."
-
"It's magic," Fleur replied with an easy smile and a shrug. "They don't stick around long once I'm gone unless I want them to, the roots are just curled around the carpet fibers for stability. If I want to actually put plants in that will last, like the crops on Sanctuary, I have to at least try." For plants that weren't rooted in anything in particular, the crowd surrounding Stesha currently seemed very healthy. "When I was pregnant with Ammy, I just assumed it was the baby flexing her powers, but then she didn't really start controlling plants until she was a toddler. It might just be my own hormones, but I really have no idea. It's a little annoying sometimes, but harmless. Feel free to take doughnuts with you," she offered, "I bought plenty for everybody." She didn't react to the pocketed flower, but with her allies already having spoken up, she didn't really need to.
-
Jessie instantly took the cue to raise her shield and race towards the giants. She yelled as she ran, not so much a war cry as a banshee's wail, an unsettling shrill noise that promised pain and death. It certainly seemed to bother the one remaining giant, who barely thought to dodge until she was already upon him. She brought the shield down with a noise like a bell tolling, then made herself pull away. One hit was enough, one hit put the Maero down. Anything more might kill, and she didn't want to do that. She didn't. Bringing her shield back to ready position, she looked to make sure the others were doing all right.
-
Jessie will focus first on the one who is still standing! She's going to start with a Fast Startle, which is basically going to be her just running really fast at the remaining Maero while shrieking like a banshee and wielding a big ol' shield to bonk them with. That'll be a check against Skill Mastered Intimidate of 25 to resist being flat-footed. She will then power attack with the shield for five, because go big or go home. In the first good roll I've had in ages, she gets a 21 on the attack. Assuming that hits, the Maero will roll against DC 34 for damage.
-
Erin blinked at Mark dumbly, not an unusual reaction to his pronouncements, even after all these years. "Um, wow," she finally managed to get out. Hearing that he wasn't planning on bringing yet another Erin into the world was a bit of a relief; there were quite enough of those running around already even when one only counted her duplicates. "I'm honored," she added, "that's a really beautiful and generous thought. If you want to name the kids after us, that's really nice," she continued, hoping she wasn't stumbling over her own thoughts too badly. "But you like... you don't have to if you want to name them something else? We'll still, I mean, of course we'll love them, we love Richie to pieces, we'll feel the same way about all your kids, you know?" She stumbled to a mental halt, knowing she was probably red with embarrassment. Sometimes it was easy to understand why Trevor usually found it best not to say anything at all. "But I mean yes, sure, it's fine with me at least."
-
"Well, you may need to work on your plumbing when you get home, since it sounds like he flushed himself down the toilet, but we're okay on this end," Erin told him dryly. "I found him taking a soak in the jacuzzi. Sounds like things may be less quiet on your end?" She didn't come right out and admit that Richie had blabbed, but suspected that even Mark would be able to put the conversational pieces together. At Erin's feet, Charlie deftly put a bit of distance between himself and the young visitor, twining himself around Erin's ankles in such a way as to keep her between them.
-
"Two babies, huh?" Erin asked, her voice a little fainter than before. "That... is definitely a lot of babies. But it does mean you'll get to be a big brother, and that's a pretty cool thing. You'll protect them, and they'll look up to you and think you're cool." She pushed the old, familiar ache down and away, focusing on the little boy in front of her. "Plus, with new babies around, you'll never be the littlest one again. You'll always get to do new things first, because you're older." She leaned a hip on the counter to let him think about that.
-
"You know you can't come here without asking someone first," Erin reminded him, her voice gentling. "You scared me, and you scared Charlie. You could have hurt him with that water blast." She went to put her bat in its holster, realized she was wearing blue jeans, and set it on the edge of the sink instead. "Can you clean up the mess while you tell me what happened?" she suggested, sitting down on the toilet lid.
-
Only the fact that Erin had been expecting some sort of immediate attack allowed her to dodge the water blast, launching herself into the air and hanging by her fingers from the decorative crown molding around the ceiling fixtures. Her bare feet splashed into an inch of water that was going to be an absolute pain in the ass to mop up before it warped the flooring, but she ignored that part for the moment. "Richard Amir Lucas, you knock that the hell off right now!" she demanded in her firmest "bossing the scientists" voice. "You know better!"