Gizmo

Trevor blinked several times, evidently having trouble parsing what Stesha was saying. "Should get working on the generator," he noted looking over at the shed. "Going to take a while, still." Turning back to the pregnant plant controller he hesitated for a moment before admitting, "Once I'm finished, though... cookies would be... nice?" It was painfully clear that the young man had found himself suddenly and unexpectedly outside the realm of his social experience.

"Ha, a surprising amount of my life these days is pixie dinners and roof-jumping," Ellie admitted, shaking her head in muted amazement at her own statement. "Class has been okay. The advanced bio courses are interesting enough that I actually feel like I'm learning something, which is a nice change." With the fingers of one hand still intertwined with Mara's she turned to lean he back against the counter. "Oh, I almost got totally busted using my powers at the hospital the other day."

"Impressive solution," Trevor agreed, looking up at the cold, grey sky contemplatively. Not many would have been inclined to treat a villain's monstrous forces with much compassion, and actually coming up with a successful arrangement for them certainly went above and beyond. The young man found he had a growing respect for the unassuming botanist. Somehow every encounter with her had left his spirits oddly bolstered, though he was at a loss to sufficiently explain why.

"Alright, smart guy, colour me impressed," Erik allowed with a lopsided grin spreading across his face, a competitive edge creeping into his tone and body language as he tossed his duffel bag on the floor and crouched to unzip it. "'Course, there's a difference pretty knowing the theory and putting it into practice." Retrieving a foil of his own from the bag, he straightened, rolling his shoulders and back in a brief stretch. Even against an experience opponent, the fencer wasn't going to risk using his superpowered weaponry in a friendly sparring match; he tended to pump a lot of energy into his blades these days, enough that he'd have to consciously hold back to avoid injuring his opponent.

Ellie pursed her lips and make a short, derisive sound. "Y'know, it's no fun giving you a hard time if you're gonna play the self-deprecating card," she scolded lightly, absently brushing Mara's blonde hair with her free hand. "All that leaves is raving on and on about how you're determined and gorgeous and brilliant and blah de blah blah. Who wants to hear about all that?" With an exaggerated sigh, she retrieved her soda from the other side of the table.

"Mnh, wasn't that bad," Trevor assured Stesha with a slight gesture of dismissal. "Normally trips to other realities are all exploding helicopters and obnoxiously handsome space princes and bleak, existential angst." Rubbing his face at the memories, he snorted ruefully. "At least there wasn't another version of me this time. Unless one of your buzzing friends went by 'Beefore Twelve Oh One'."

"You mean regular school or Claremont school?" Ellie asked with a sardonic drawl. Letting go of Mara's right hand but keeping hold of the engineer's left, she walked slowly around to the other side of the countertop into the kitchenette proper, nestled amongst the fridge and cupboards. "The first one is... kinda awful, honestly. Well, depending on who you are, I guess. In theory it's the 'best years of your life', which is just sad in a different way." Sidling up to Mara so that they were simply standing next to each other, holding hands, she mused. "Claremont's pretty different, since everybody there's some level of freaky and they all actually want to be there. It's tough to explain without any context."

"Hnn, getting old fast," Midnight grumbled quietly to himself, folding his arms and peering up at the heavily armed men patrolling the strange fortress, idly calculating how many he could reasonably take on his own. Off a flat look from his double, he shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not dating her." With a sigh, Midnight addressed the combined group as a whole, though he didn't raise his voice much. "Need reconnaissance either way," he suggested diplomatically, indicating himself and his counterpart as he continued. "We can scout the pyramid with the Sages, cover the ground quickly. Telepaths keep us 'wired in' while rest of you plan."

Settling back down from the counter, Ellie beamed through a fierce flush, evidently feeling more confident about her decision. "Technically it's Eliza, but nobody ever uses that. So it's pretty much just Ellie." Bobbing her head from right to left, she let out a long breath. "Well, I mean, it's still Jill in costume, obviously, and at school too, which I know is pretty weird but that's a whole thing, too. It's just..." Stopping for a moment she reached across into the kitchenette to take Mara's hands. "When it's just us I wanted it to actually be, y'know, us."

Nodding amiably, Trevor waited until they were well away from the ad hoc camp to unfasten his mask from behind one ear and let it hang around his neck, looking surprisingly like ordinary winter wear in its undone state. "Let me know if you need to slow down or take a break," he encouraged the botanist, coughing in mild embarrassment before clarifying, "Because of all the teleporting, not... erm. Well." After continuing on for a new minutes in silence, the young man spoke up again. "Survivors are lucky you found them."

"Yeah? Well, ah, cool," Jill grinned a little as jogged back to the warehouse's front door and picked up her jacket, rifling through the inner pockets. "Not to play into stereotypes, but the motorcycle thing is pretty super hot," she called over, frowning as she failed to find what she was looking for. "The dinner thing's not going to be like this second or anything, but... where did I - ah!" Switching sides, she finally retrieved a plain, eggshell hued rectangle of stiff paper and hastily returned to the counter, sliding it over to Mara. A simple capital letter I was embossed in the card, while one side had contact information written in a faint off-white that showed up at a certain angle. "So... that's the place. Um. If somebody else answers the door, just... tell then you're looking for Ellie. ...which is me," she added somewhat unnecessarily, biting her lower lip.

"Wait, 'motorcycle'?" Jill interjected simultaneously as Mara asked for her own clarification. "Oh, uh, well I mean, we call it that," she started to explain, stumbling over her words a bit in her rush. "The Interceptors. Y'know, my brother's team. I'm like their junior, reserve intern thing, but they live together mostly and Grim -- the kinda pixie looking... anyway, she really likes having everybody together for dinner and holidays and stuff, so, um." Catching her breath, the taller girl took a second to follow her own train of thought. "Obviously, if you don't feel like it, no sweat, but she'd seriously, whatsit, plotz if you stopped by some time."

"Ha, yeah, fair enough," Erik laughed, rubbing the back of his closely shorn, dusty brown hair. "Taking a little getting used to on this end, too." As the Doktor elaborated on his reasons for being there, the swordsman raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Well, uh, sure, Dok. Real opponent's always better than a simulator run, but erm..." The younger man looked for a delicate way to phrase his question. "Have you actually ever done any fencing before?"

Circuit Power Level: 8 (120/120PP) Trade-Offs: +3 Attack / -3 Damage, +3 Defense / -3 Toughness In Brief: Technopathic tripartite test-tube teen! Alternate Identities: Maya Martel Identity: Public Birthplace: Freedom City Occupation: Claremont Student Affiliations: Claremont Academy, The Lab, Martel Enterprises Family: Eliza Espadas (Jill O’Cure, mother), Mara Hallomen (Dragonfly, mother), Eve Martel (Sage, mother), Erik Espadas (Jack of all Blades, uncle), Nicholas Marius Martel (Paladin, uncle), Isabel Jade Martel (Binary, aunt) Age: 16 (DoB: April 4th, 2017) assumes thread set in September 2034 Gender: Female Ethnicity: French, mostly Height: 5’5†Weight: 110lbs Eyes: Dark Blue Hair: Platinum Blonde Abilities: 0 + 6 + 4 + 10 + 4 + 2 = 26PP Strength: 10 (+0) Dexterity: 16 (+3) Constitution: 14 (+2) Intelligence: 20 (+5) Wisdom: 14 (+2) Charisma: 12 (+1) Combat: 8 + 8 = 16PP Initiative: +3 Attack: +4 Base, +5 Melee, +11 Spatial Blades Grapple: +5 Defense: +11 (+4 Base, +7 Sheild), +2 Flat-Footed Knockback: -2 Saving Throws: 3 + 3 + 4 = 10PP Toughness: +5 (+2 Con, +3 Spatial Warp Suit) Fortitude: +5 (+2 Con, +3) Reflex: +6 (+3 Dex, +3) Will: +6 (+2 Wis, +4) Skills: 52R = 13PP Acrobatics 7 (+10) Bluff 9 (+10) Computers 9/13 (+14/+18) Craft (electronic) 5 (+10) Knowledge (physical sciences) 5 (+10) Knowledge (technology) 5 (+10) Language 2 (English [Native], French, Japanese, Spanish) Medicine 3 (+5) Notice 6 (+8) Feats: 11PP Attack Focus (melee) 1 Attack Specialization (spatial blades) 2 Benefit 4 (Status, Wealth 3) Eidetic Memory Fearless Online Research Taunt Powers: 2 + 26 + 16 = 44PP Datalink 2 (mental, 100 feet; mutation) [2PP] Technopathy 16 (24PP Array, Power Feats: Alternate Power 2; mutation) [26PP] BP: Healing 8 (Extras: Affects Objects, Restoration, Flaws: Limited to Objects) [24PP] AP: Summon Animated Machines 4 (60PP Minions, Extras: Fanatical, Horde, Range [Ranged], Power Feats: Mental Link, Progression 3 [10 Minions]) [24PP] AP: ESP 6 (audio and visual, 20 miles, Extras: Duration [sustained], Simultaneous, Flaws: Action 2 [Full], Medium [Cameras and Microphones], Power Feats: Rapid 5 [x100 000]) [17PP] + Comprehend 1 (electronics) [2PP] + Enhanced Datalink 4 (to Datalink 6 [20 miles]; mental) [4PP] + Enhanced Skill 1 (+4 Computers) [1PP] Device 4 (Spatial Warp Suit, Hard to Lose, 20DP; technology) [16PP] Enhanced Feats 3 (Evasion 2, Quick Change) [3DP] Protection 3 (Extras: Force Field; Power Feats: Selective; spatial shields) [4DP] Shield 7 (spatial shields) [7DP] Strike 5 (Power Feats: Accurate; spatial blades) [6DP] DC Block: ATTACK RANGE SAVE EFFECT Unarmed Touch DC15 Toughness (Staged) Damage (Physical) Spatial Blade Touch DC20 Toughness (Staged) Damage (Physical) Abilities (26) + Combat (16) + Saving Throws (10) + Skills (13) + Feats (11) + Powers (44) = 120 Power Points

"I... dabble," Jill allowed, wincing slightly and placing her free hand on the back of her neck after brushing a few loose bangs behind her ear. "Y'know, in an 'uncanny ability to burn anything I try to make' sort of way. So, as long as I don't have to use the stove...!" With a wry shrug, she turned back to her drink. "Our hours are weird enough that we eat a lot of takeout. Heh, Grimalkin's always trying to rope us all in for family dinners lately, though, which is actually pretty nice." With a small cough, the medic nonchalantly added, "She'd get a kick out of you dropping by, it you wanted, sometime."

Midnight made a flat noise in the back of his throat but nodded politely to Fleur. "Smoothly enough." The young man did feel for the traumatized survivor, who'd managed to hold himself together reasonably well all thing considered. Clearly he hadn't been in particularly good condition even before stumbling across the giant bees. Now that he'd been divested of his weapon and wasn't threatening anyone else, the young vigilante was considerably more inclined to be sympathetic.

Midnight ran a hand over his lack of face wearily, mentally counting backward from ten. "Listen. The bees want you to leave." Crossing his arms partly to keep himself from simply knocking the man out and having done with it, he tried to explain, keeping his words slow and precise. "You invaded their hive and started yelling threats. Scared them. Already explained to the Queen it was a misunderstanding. Can just walk out."

"Just. Calm. Down," Midnight insisted, growing a little frustrated. Reassurance was not his forte by any stretch of the imagination. "Not going to kill you, not even going to hurt you. Just needed to make sure you didn't hurt anyone else." Releasing the man's arm, he indicated the opening in the hive wall that led outside. "Bees only want you out. Going to take you back to your people. If you can stay calm."

Midnight's response was a derisive snort. "Please." The ominous eyes disappeared in the darkness. A moment a later, there was a rush of movement to the terrified man's right and the next thing he knew his weapon was clattering to the dirt floor and his arm was pinned firmly behind his back. "You need to calm down," the wraith like figure advised in a flat deadpan lacking all inflection. "Now."

"I know, I know," Jill assured Mara in a placating tone with a mischievous edge, one hand raised defensively while the other held her soda bottle. "That's why it's so much fun to give you a hard time about it." Considering the kitchenette while she schooled a lopsided smirk, the medic shook her head. "As long as you promise not to forget later on, I'm fine. Did you have to learn to do all your own cooking, then?"

With a grunt of affirmation, Midnight started down the opened space, this pace steady and even. As he walked, wisps of inky mist began to trail from openings in his clothing, twisting into thicker streams as a roiling cloud formed about his feet. By the time he'd closed half the distance, the young man had transformed into an indistinct figure of pitch black, sliding inexorably toward its destination. Once he entered the hivelet, all that was readily visible were the twin, red slits of his eyes. Finding the man holed up inside with ease, the specter spoke in a soft, grating tone. "Need to talk."

With a sound in the back of her throat somewhere between a laugh and a groan, Jill rolled her eyes toward the warehouse's high ceiling and followed Mara back to the kitchenette. "Tease," she accused lightly, her tone wry. Taking a sip from her soda, she realized that the run in the brisk winter air had left her thirstier than she'd realized. Making it back to the counter, she cast a sardonic look at the refrigerator. "So, do I have to check to make sure there's actually food in that thing?"

"Yeah, but I'm your kind of strange," Jill asserted confidently, gracefully extricating herself from the tangle and helping Mara to her feet. She honestly did find the inventor's stubborn streak to be a particularly attractive quality and had no doubts that Dragonfly would have her wings fully functional someday soon. "More than a tackle, huh?" she asked playfully, leaving her arms hanging loosely around the shorter girl's neck. "Do tell."

Midnight looked from Fleur's uncertain expression down to the sub-hive and let out a soft, much put upon sigh. "I'll go talk to him," he told the plant controller with the tone of someone resigned to doing the right thing despite an easier option. The dark of the earthen structure wouldn't bother him in the slightest, and he had nothing to fear from a single, panicked opponent. Folding his arms, he warned, "Might still end up knocking him out. Might as well give him a chance, first."

Jill looked between the powered down flight harness and Mara for a moment before abruptly tackling the engineer in a hug, carefully avoiding the fallen pieces of wood as the force quickly sent them from crouching to sitting. Despite the resulting tangle of legs, the medic pressed her forehead to Dragonfly's with a wide grin. "Okay, the determined, iconoclastic perfectionist thing?" She raised both eyebrows impishly. "Kinda fantastic."