Gizmo

"Right, you folks are big on titles," Ellie recalled as she extended her own hand. "The butch-lady-VINCE calls me a 'mender perilous', which is fun. I do nicknames, too." A moment before her hand clasped Aarden's a soft crackle of bio-electricity rippled down her forearm and coalesced into a soft blue glow, a forcefield that enveloped her hand like a glove. "My name is Dr. Eliza Espadas. Ellie to my friends." She returned the handshake with just enough force to match the broad shouldered elder's grip. "I appreciate that you aren't here as your first choice. If a title makes you feel more comfortable, you can call me 'Doctor'. Not 'child' or 'outlier' or whatever else. On this world 'Doctor' is a promise. An oath, yeah? It means that I will do everything in my power to help you. And to do that I need your full cooperation. Fair?"

"Aah, I don't know?" Ryder answered quietly next to Danica, opening the flap of his bag just enough to make sure Magenta was situated comfortably. "I think maybe the anger part is just the juice? Like, the power source. Both this guy and the one Utsuwa and I met woke up and were conspicuously chill afterward." He looked around the interior of the bus uncomfortably, trying to shake the feeling that they were being watched. "You heard the music right before it manifested or whatever though, right? That girl at the bus stop was playing and it seemed like she was trying to egg the guy on and it was super loud but there was no sound system. The way they sound like instruments and sort of look like a sound wave on the outside it's just..." The younger student made rapid, aimless movements with his hands in a frenetic expression as he tried to find the words. "It's an aesthetic. Like my armour doesn't need to look the way it does but I like it. The Ragin's whole thing feels intentional like that."

With Danica skillfully calming down the bystanders, Chitin took a few awkward steps back away from the group. "Okay, well, no more monsters to fight. Stay safe... citizens?" He raised an armoured hand to wave. "Okay, bye!" The surfaces of his suit seemed to ripple briefly before his entire figure disappeared from view. A faint blur in the air and some soft squelching noises in the slush followed by the grunt preceding a leap gave a pretty good idea that he'd left the immediate area. Still rattled by the entire experience the young mother had made her polite excuses after thanking Danica and hurried away in what may well have been a random direction. The other man took the teen's advice and used a ride share app to call for a ride. In the meantime Ryder reappeared from around the corner of a nearby building, jogging back over to the bus stop. He reached the side of the road just as the requested car arrived... just ahead of a salt stained bus.

Ellie winced as Erin recounted the family's recent tragedies. "Oof. That is... a lot. If this does work I'm hoping you've got a plan for talking them down from the cult angle. I would not make a good saint." There was a silent lull as the elevator reached it's destination before she spoke up. "By the way, they had me in to do the interview about the whole Curator robot thing at the end of January, like we talked about? Brought back some stuff. Don't think I thank you and Steve enough for getting us all through that in one piece." Her tone was fairly light, not looking to have an emotional conversation there in the hallway while there were other matters that needed resolving. There was never really a good time to talk about a shared experience in alien abduction.

"Aw, I wouldn't go with that. 'Duckling' is definitely condescending, sure but it also sounds way more affectionate. 'Cricket' at least gives you some plausible deniability when you're trying to pretend you don't think I'm great." Ryder gave Natalia a broad, almost challenging grin, any momentary embarrassment evaporated like snow landing on the hot skillet of his natural enthusiasm. "And sucking up implies I'm not nice to everybody! May tried pretty hard to kill us and I'm nice to her." Jenny made a long note of frustration in the back of her throat. "Ry. Don't let people try to kill you." "I can't stop them from trying! Just from succeeding! Hence: armour." He raised his palm outward for Magenta to bat at playfully, not unlike a cat. "I probably could have done a tape deck theme. Sound instead of colour?" "Make it look like tape was wrapping around you when the armour came out?" Jenny offered, taking a spray bottle to one end of the small restaurant to wipe down the tables. He brother bounced a little on his stool and pointed an approving finger in her direction, visibly working out the engineering behind that sort of effect.

"That's crazy," Ellie objected as they walked. "Mark's way more motherly than you. Corbin, too. Maybe Trevor. Not Eve. Do you have a statue? You do, don't you. I'm already jealous of your hypothetical statue." She gave the harried security chief a lopsided grin. "I'm also remembering that you once said you'd explain the Omega thing later and then super never did. So you're not getting away with that twice." Her expression dimmed as the elevator approached their floor. "Seriously, though: if this is something the kid was born with or a long term thing I might not be able to do anything special here. The magic part is fussy about that stuff, that's why I couldn't do anything for mi mama. How bad is this going to be if we can't pull out a win? People get dangerous when worship's involved and that's not-huge-warrior people."

The prone man groaned more loudly before hauling himself into a seated position, hand still over his eyes. "You friggin' said it, kid. At least the food's good." Finally dropping his hand he looked about the scene with a morose expression. "Maaaaan, I've been making some real progress at therapy, too." "If it helps, I'm pretty sure the giant monster part wasn't directly your fault," Chitin chimed in, body language casual but very pointedly standing between the bald man and the still nervous young mother. "Happened to another guy who lost his cool the other day, too." He looked up blearily and caught sight of the woman behind the armoured teenager. "Aw jeez. Lady, I'm real sorry about yelling and scaring you. I've been trying to be better than that but it ain't fair you had to deal with it." Chitin caught Danica's eye and gave a small shrug, trying to figure out if they needed to stick around or make a graceful exit.

"Ah, Dios, okay. Worried parents are always rough. Make sure Mara's 'private elevator' is clear on your end and I'll right there." The power requirements of the site-to-site teleportation pads her wife had installed at the office and their home were a little too hard to explain away to use consistently but it was a handy option to have in an emergency. Or when she'd distracted Mara from leaving for her morning commute in time. - - - - - Ellie stepped out of Mara's office to meet Erin dressed in an olive green turtle neck and khaki slacks she wasn't terribly precious about getting ruined by potential cosmically tainted baby barf, with a bulging messenger bag over her shoulder. She didn't expect a conventional first aid kit to do much in this situation but she didn't do house calls without bringing all of her tools. "So can we revisit the part about you performing a miracle real quick? What am I walking into here?"

"Alright, but you owe us a babysitting night," the sardonic reply came. Ellie had already had a pretty good idea of why Erin might be calling her instead of Mara and it generally wasn't going to be to gossip about the neighbours. There was a muffled string of objections followed by the medic saying, "I know you don't need a babysitter, Yoyo, it's about being petty." The note of deadpan humour dropped from her voice as she turned her attention back to the call. "I'm geared up. Is this a 'Dragonfly teleports me in' sort of emergency? Should we be phone-treeing this?" Between her powerset and her day job Ellie was used to always being on call one way or another; whether she would drop everything to come of Erin's aid had never actually been in question.

"And your ghost tortoise guy was like vwom-vwom-vwom-CHOMP!" Chitin responded after racing back over the Chelone, pumping his arms in enthusiasm. The extended blade portions of the armour snapped back into place along his forearms, giving him a less immediately threatening silhouette by the time mother and her baby had reappeared amidst the slush and scattered newspapers. "Hi there! The, uh, other people who were waiting for the bus all got to safety too so don't worry about that!" He gave her a big thumbs up! A low groan came from the cement as the bald man groggily came-to. He didn't make any attempt to stand up, instead covering his eyes with his hand to block out the late morning sunlight overhead. "Nnuugh. Had a dream I was yelling at a baby. What that hell."

Jill grimaced and pinched the bridge of her nose with the manner of someone who had a lot of practice being hard on themselves. "I knew this was going to come up though and I thought I was good for it." With a long exhalation she took a sip from the water bottle. "It was probably the second most scared I've been in my life and the top end of that list is not family friendly fare. It's tough partly because the specific thing we-- the thing that I was worried about only totally makes sense if you know some, uh, personal stuff? Like who knows who and some secret identity stuff. Trying to figure out how to give an honest answer without, y'know, compromising anyone."

Ryder leaned back on his stool, blinking several times. "Oh, wow. You're doing the thing where you're being carefully considerate and even equating my stuff to your hobby. That, um." He ducked his head slightly and gave her a small, vaguely embarrassed smile. "I know that's not, like, your go-to. Thank you." "Oh right, I'm going to make it weird, Mr. Feelings," Jenny muttered under her breath rolling her eyes with a severity that seemed like it must be physically taxing. "Our mom had one of those printers in her home office when we were little. Like, Ry would have been just a baby and there was only so much space so his crib was in the same room, right?" Her brother spun back around to face toward her before his cheeks could colour too noticeably. "I don't even really remember that or anything but I was going through some stuff that was packed away last year and found one of the cartridges in there with a huge stack of that paper that has the holes on either side? And I'd been looking for a cool case for what I was working on and one thing led to another, ha!"

Jack of all Blades - Songs to Stabpunch To He’s a Pirate - Taylor Davis Folk Violin Cover No better song for leaping from a balcony, swinging on a chandelier into a climactic duel! Some of Jack of all Blade's more outrageous mannerisms are Erik egging his opponents on or deflecting his more serious motivations but in the spirit of Dick Grayson and Peter Parker racing along the rooftops of Freedom City is an expression of joy and freedom for him. The ethos of the swashbuckler is about setting ever greater challengers for oneself and overcoming them with style and He's a Pirate's unrelenting forward momentum is the perfect accompaniment. Wrong - Depeche Mode This speaks to teenage years and early superhero carrier, when he had a sharper, more confrontational approach. It's the frustration over having to give up a promising athletic future to take care of his family, over the problems plaguing his community, over being talked-down to and dismissed and later over the baggage that came with a father he had no use for. It's the stubborn refusal to compromise on his way of doing things, to play it safe or tone things down or ask for help. It's about feeling out of control and only knowing how to double down. Working Class Hero - John Lennon Despite fighting the invading horde of hell and unspeakable horrors from the depths of space Erik will always be a West End boy at heart. I've floated the idea more than once that Jack of all Blades' identity may be a bit of an open secret in his home burrow - how many fencing instructors are there operating out of the Interceptors' turf? But as Erik or Jack he's one of them, protecting their streets or mediating between neighbours; he's tangible in a way the Freedom League might not be. And despite Talya's best efforts it's hard to let go of that feeling of living paycheque to paycheque. The Duelists - Iron Maiden Sword fighting! The Duelists is about getting into a fight you can't win for what probably aren't great reasons. Erik accepted a long time ago that his story probably ends violently but the thrill and spectacle of an underdog fight is undeniable for him. As he's gotten older and gainer more reasons to stay alive he's gotten wiser and more judicious about the fights he picks but in the thick of things with the blood pounding in his ears he could never back down. Kick in the Teeth - Papa Roach In a similar vein although he's got more than a few tricks, Erik's ultimately no more durable than any other mere mortal and he gets hurt. Like, a lot. Frequently and severely. Is it even really a site event if Jack of all Blades doesn't end up with a gut wound? A more reasonable man would probably have learned something from all of that but Erik's mostly learned exactly how much blood he can loose before he stops being able to throw a decent punch. It's more than you'd think! Boy Named Sue - Johnny Cash Having a deadbeat of a father was bad enough; also having to deal with the House of Swords' $#%@ is something else entirely. Erik can't deny that his powers and probably his natural aptitude for fighting came from Jean Pique but as far as he's concerned he doesn't owe him or the House a damn thing. Like the song, though, you have to have a sense of humour about it when magical musketeers and ninja cults showing up to attack is just a fixture in your life thanks to a jerk you barely know. Swedish Girl - Lotus Child When Erik met Willow everything changed, practically in an instant. We had a joke early on that Erik was like candy to immortals and maybe it's because he doesn't just survive, he is undeniably, passionately alive. What should have been a one-night stand turned into a fire that just never went out and together with someone who had seen civilizations rise and fall Erik found himself actually thinking about the future for the first time in years. With everything stacked against them it's tough not to feel like it was fate. Uptown Girl - Billy Joel And then everything changed again! Talya is a master of subtly manoeuvring and manipulating unfair systems to her advantage; Erik has rarely been accused of subtly. They share other qualities, including some of the more self-destructive or -sacrificing ones and that makes it easier for them to recognize and call each other out on those. I like that Uptown Girl has a mix of outgoing confidence and self-deprecation that fits Erik well. How'd he ever get so lucky anyway? My Girlfriend's Girlfriend - Type O Negative I am obligated to remind you that Min kissed Talya before Erik did. My Girlfriend's Girlfriend is a little on the goth metal side of things for Erik but his wives are indisputably much cooler than him so that works. Come With Me Now - KONGOS How is it that Erik ended up the leader of a team and a rallying point even for those who only know him by reputation? He's not a master planner with a million contingencies or an inspiring paragon of unassailable virtue. But whatever the situation, whatever the odds, you'll find him in motion, always moving forward. I like this as a bookend to He's a Pirate because it's got a similar driving momentum with a bit more self-awareness. Spark - Fitz & The Tantrums Bonus Track! For me this is the Interceptor's theme song, throughout their many iterations.

Jill O'Cure (Maxed) (17) The Best Offence (6) (OMTB) Interview: Jill O'Cure (11) Midnight (Maxed) (3) Ticket to Anywhere (3) Redbird (Maxed) (2) Ticket to Anywhere (2) Reagent (Maxed) (10) Only Doing Good When I'm Having Fun (10) Chitin (30) Monkeys on Parade (2) Monkeys of Parade: Second Banana (9) Aren't You Tired of Being Nice? (7) How a Young Heart Really Feels (7) The Keratin and the Chitinous (5) GM (5x2 = 10) Aren't You Tired of Being Nice? (2) The Keratin and the Chitinous (3) That's a total of 42 rollover posts, yow! 20 of that can got to Chitin to get him to the 50 mark, then the rest can be split between Rock and Lou to get them each over 10! Ref point can got to Chitin as well, thank you!

As the glowing reptile took flight Chitin coiled his legs beneath him and launch forward into a leap propelled by his armour's servos. His foot touched down on the tortoise's shell just long enough to use it as a stepping stone to soar yet higher, both energy blades held above his head as though he were preparing to dunk a basketball. "CYMKutters!" his belt called out cheerfully while he brought the blades down in a cross, just as Chelone's unusual missile clamped its jaws closed with supernatural force! Chitin landed on the other side of the Ragin in a three point crouch, leaving behind the afterimage of a pink X hanging in the air. For a moment the creature's lupine head looked merely surprised. The each of its massive tusks slid free, cleanly sliced in half. Before they could reach the ground the bite shaped hole in its lower chest vibrated with a sounds like a hundred snare drums falling down a flight of stairs and the entire Ragin exploded in a burst of icy blue energy!

Wolf Ragin Toughness Save vs DC 32: 1d20+11-3 10 EXTREME TORTALITY!

The beast rebounded off of Chelone's shell and toppled over to one side, flattening a newspaper box with a screech of protesting metal. The big gorilla arms flailed about looking for something to grab onto to push its pachyderm bulk back up, forcing Chitin to duck under a wild swing and juke back over to where his classmate was standing. "Haha, wow! Tortoise denied!" While the Ragin tried unsuccessfully to fend off the enlarged ghostly tortoise he reached down to press the chambers on his belt in sequence again and a faint hum of building power began rising from his armour. "Let's hit it with everything we've got before it smashes anything else! Ready?" Brilliant pink light grew in intensity from behind the armour panels along his shoulders and arms, collecting in the energy blades and pulsing faster and faster.

Chitin Move Action: Acrobatic Bluff vs Wolf Ragin: 1d20+5 18 Holding Action until Chelone's turn for a Combined Attack. Standard Action: Attack Wolf Ragin; All-Out Attack 5, Power Attack 5: 1d20+6 26 That's a crit! The feint effectively doesn't matter, that's a DC 30 Toughness Save, potential increased by the Combined Attack. Wolf Ragin Passes its turn to clear the Daze. 13 - Chitin - Bruised x1, -5 Defense, 3HP 7 - Wolf Ragin - Bruised x3 > 0 - Chelone - 3HP

The tall redheaded woman gave a small start then assumed a po-faced expression. "The one who should apologize is myself, young adamant! What I foolishly mistook for stoic resignation is clearly an inner-peace borne of great wisdom. That I placed my own expectations upon you was unworthy of me." She bowed deeply from the waist. Mr. Hunter cleared his throat softly, the corner of his mouth twitching almost imperceptibly. "Driver assist tracking eye moment certainly possible. Rear and side cameras for view without movement, collision detection. Size determined by accommodating scooter would leave space for additional seating or equipment."

"Ooh, telenovelas!" Ryder almost got distracted by that but instead fished his phone out again and began tapping on the screen to pull up a video streaming site. "But it's not from that! I'll just show you." After a moment of searching he found was he was looking for, hit play and turned the phone around to show Natalia. The video in question was grainy and a little washed out, formatted for a four-by-three screen. Synthesized music swelled over an aerial view of a snow topped mountain range while a narrator began, "We live in a world of vivid colour." The shot changed to a low shot of a tangle of rainforest plants with a bright red tree frog leaping across the screen. "From the natural world..." Again the video cut away, this time to a bustling city street and a group of youths passing a basketball back and forth as they walked. "...to a world of vibrant cultures." Finally the scene changed to a home office done up with pastel pink painted walls and beige computer equipment. "So why should your printer be work in just black and white?" A woman in a power suit with shoulder pads approached a bulky office printer and inserted a fresh ink cartridge with an audible clunk. As she did a familiar voice could be heard from the cartridge cheerfully announcing, "Dream in Colour!" The music ended with a catchy series of notes as a logo for 'KitaColor' appeared over the scene, along with some distorted artefacts from whatever recording media the commercial had been transferred to and from before making it online.

"Okay, if it were made from a toy I would totally own it so bring it on," Ryder countered, making a show of brushing imaginary dust off of his shoulder, inadvertently dropping pasty crumbs onto his shirt instead. His usually unassailable optimistic confidence was apparently up to the task of dealing with Natalia or his sister, just maybe not both in combination. "But it's not. I mean, you're kind of on the right track but... Well, y'know! 'Dream in Colour!' Right?" He looked at her expectantly. "She's not going to have any idea what you're talking about, Ry," Jenny sighed. She finished up with what she was eating and began packing up the rest. "Bear with him, he's got a very weird idea of what constitutes relevant pop culture."

"Ah, Cathy! Those really are remarkably well crafted. And adorable!" Winifred gave a brief exaggerated pout when Raina didn't immediately don the sweater but quickly turned to point an accusatory at Matt and Riley in turn. "However I invoke 'bullshit' on you and you! You can't simply say you're going to wear trousers with the bottom removed and then fail to deliver, Matthew. Just look at me; this is barely a third of an actual blouse. I'm really quite proud." She placed the fingertips of her freehand lightly to her collarbone while taking another sip of her commandeered drink. "As for you, Smith! Who is this girl you supposedly met? Is she a cow-person? Is she a 'gator'? I demand details that I might live vicariously through your exploits."

“I try not to make assumptions and all but he doesn't really seem like a heavy metal sort of guy in general?" Chitin guessed quietly aloud to Kensei with a small shrug. “Doesn't look like anybody's in danger any more and I don't super love talking to cops, so..." Turning back to the mutely distraught business man he gave a small wave. “Hey, uh, definitely take some time for like your mental health and self-care and all, yeah? Bye!" A massive bound abruptly took him into the air and over the top of the building that contained LentALL. He waited a beat to make sure Utsuwa was following then jumped again to land in the alleyway behind it, quickly looking back and forth to make sure they weren't being watched before deactivating his amour. Cyan folded back up into his usual shape and landed on Ryder's shoulder with a cheerful chirp.

Jenny gave a little gasp and clapped her hands together quietly. "I wasn't sure I heard right the first time. She calls you Cricket. That is--" "No," Ryder interrupted forcefully, gesturing warningly with the pastry in his hand. "That's a special became-friends-by-fighting-a-robot-gorilla thing. You don't get to use that, it'd be weird." Cyan chirped inquisitively next to Jenny, hopping back and forth on the counter. She laid her palm down, inviting him to hop on then up to sit on her shoulder. "I know, bud. It's a great name. I don't know why he's so ashamed of his cricketness, it's sad, really." Her brother groaned, leaning back and letting his arms hang loose behind him while he looked up at the ceiling. He swivelled on his stool to give Natalia a mournful look full of reproach. "And it's not like I'm the one who added the voice to the cartridge in the first place!"

Mr. Hunter listened to everything Danica said with rapt attention, inclining his head slightly any time it seemed like she might be waiting for confirmation before continuing. Once she was finished he gave a slightly deeper nod. "Names can be important. If you see her, please avoid mentioning eighteen month pregnancy to my wife." "Silver Tree's bark," Redbird swore under her breath, hands going to her midriff in reflexive sympathy. The taciturn mechanic gave the taller woman a glance before turning back to Danica. "Speed... culturally significant to Redbird. Doesn't make you 'wrong'." The high schooler hadn't really seemed to need that reassurance and it was given casually but it seemed important to him to leave no room for misunderstanding. "Shell, scooter, easily accommodated. Hnn. Eye movements?" He raised two fingers in front of his tinted glasses and moved them right and left to illustrate.