Gizmo
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Freedom City PBP: A How-To Guide
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Eli's boisterous hug drew a sharp laugh from Erik even as the younger Espadas gave the speedster a flat look, pointedly extricating herself from the hug. "Eli, do we have to have the 'personal space' talk again?" "Ah, ignore her, Zip," her brother advised, moving with surprising speed of his own to turn his teammate about into a loose headlock, ruffling the blond's hair. "Somebody's just getting her Grinch on because she's too cool for school." Ellie snorted derisively as Doktor Acheville appeared moving to help him with his festive sack. "Hey, sir. Merry Christmas. This coming from the guy who never bothered with college?" she directed back at Erik. "That's different! I actually am too cool for school. There was a study and everything." Releasing Eli, the fencer nodded sagely, placing one hand lightly on his chin. Recalling what he'd been talking about, he snapped his fingers excitedly. "Okay, seriously though, so we're at the North Pole, right, and-" His narrative was interrupted by Lynn's bellow, followed immediately by the large screen blinking to life with the simulated avatar of Vince, the Underground's resident artificial intelligence. "What dulcet tones are these I hear?" the gregarious program inquired, cupping a hand to one ear. "Surely a nightingale, or lark!" Vince had outfitted himself in a red and green stripped turtleneck with all the hallmarks of a hand-knitted garment made with more love than skill, a steaming mug of hot chocolate in his hand. "Sorry for the wait, gang! Got distracted using security cameras to see all the window displays in the city."
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"Well hey, I was just letting the pieces of my fiendishly brilliant Machiavellian plan fall into place, but improvising works, too," Jill chuckled with a little more nonchalance than she actually felt. "And we've already agreed that I'm attractive and intelligent, which I gotta say is a solid first step for the 'plan as you go' strategy." The young woman was still speaking in a noticeably hurried fashion, but was gradually finding her footing again as a small smile played about the corners of her mouth.
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Earth-Prime Grunting a soft affirmation, Midnight followed Wander back to the armored ambulance, agreeing that time was the essence. With two more heavily injured civilians lying in the spacious back with a handful of less serious cases attending to them as instructed, he slid into the driver's seat opposite the auburn haired powerhouse and pulled away from the levy as the members of Freedom's heavily taxed EMT personnel arrived from the opposite direction. His own vehicle's modifications, in combination with his substantial skill behind the wheel, soon had them speeding through the downpour toward the nearest hospital. --- Earth-Paragons Grunting flatly as Wander leapt away with the Young Paragon's team mascot, Midnight passed his spare helmet back to Sage as he mounted his motorcycle in front of her. "Stuck with each other a little longer," the considerably taller youth remarked, some combination of vocal filtration and continued concern robbing the comment of any heat. "Going to want to hold on," he instructed with a terse gesture to his waist as he replaced his own helmet and kicked off, leaning almost horizontally against the turbulent weather as they rocketed after the blue and gold clad pair arcing though the sky.
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"Bam!" A lance of crackling electricity rocketed toward the lone gunman's head as a grinning Jack of all Blades appeared beside him from out of nowhere in a flare of royal blue. So mesmerising had Gabriel's speech been that the flamboyant swashbuckler had been able to slip away unseen with surprising stealth, silently closing the distance between the pile of wrecked robots and the remaining criminals. The sudden blow caught the man aiming for Gabriel solidly in the chin, the energy of the blade diffusing though his body like a taser shock as Jack continued with his thrust until his knuckles connected solidly with flesh and bone. Spasming, the bank robber collapsed to the ground just as his twitching finger tightened around the trigger. The shot went far wide, only barely grazing the hero in white as he moved to place himself in its path. Jack responded with an economy of movement, kicking the weapon away with his booted heel and a suddenly dire expression. An inarticulate grow rumbled in the back of his throat as he leaned down to roughly grab the unconscious man by his collar until his sister's voice called over from beside Gabriel. "He's fine, hermano, we're fine, it's all good." Concentrating, the young woman briefly examined the thin line of red traced across the hooded negotiator's left bicep before covering the wound with her right hand. A warm blue glow, like daylight through curtains, poured from her fingers into Gabriel's arm with the by now unfortunately familiar sensation of accelerated healing. When Jill removed her hand a moment later, the only remaining damage was the tear in his sleeve. "There we go. Not bad, Wonderbread. Little talky, but..."
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"That's cool," Jill assured Dragonfly, taking a seat on the edge of the desk closest to the inventor's chair and folding her hands into her lap, her posture contained despite her long limbs. "Sorry, I didn't mean to spring that on you, it's just..." Trailing off for a moment, the taller girl took a deep breath before explaining in one long rush, "It's like, here I am hanging out with this awesome person, but I still feel kinda awkward and I don't know why, and I'm thinking is this just how I am with people? And then I actually deal with why a bit, and that's pretty much terrifying but also awesome, too, and I guess I don't feel like wasting time being scared when I could be focusing on the awesome."
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Jill blinked a few times, moving her hand from her hair to rest on the back of her neck as Eve listed potential applications of her telepathy. "Uh. That's definitely... yeah." With a rueful shake of her head, she allowed herself a small smirk. "It's always the small, quiet ones you've gotta watch out for, huh?" Bangle bracelets clattering noisily as she shrugged good naturedly, she turned to the doorway. "Well, if you're done making yourself gorgeous, are we ready?"
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Earth-Prime Midnight caught enough to Sage's turmoil through the tenuous psychic link to be vaulting himself out of the ambulance's rear doors in the time it took her to turn her mental powers away from the rift, placing a steadying hand on his white haired friend's shoulder and waiting for confirmation that she was alright to proceed. --Easy. Take your time.-- Looking over to Wander, he nodded taciturnly in agreement, speaking normally in a clear baritone. "Insane and supposedly dead, not stupid." The ultimatum certainly suggested that Overshadow was a step ahead of them, a thought that irked the young strategist. They were still flying blind; he hoped Sage would be able to offer some insight into the ominous rift. --- Earth-Paragons "Damn!" Midnight swore as Sage collapsed nearby and Wander dove to catch her, wonder aloud, "The hell does that to a telepath...?" He was a little surprised by the image-conscious team leader's immediate save, a hint of grudging respect slipping through his reserved demeanor as he moved to offer the two young women a hand up. "Nobody carries me anywhere," he informed the fretting Cobalt Templar as the student arrived, wreathed in blue flames. "Help me get her back on the bike," he told Wander with a terse nod at the shaking psychic. "Can rendezvous at the Tower."
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"Ha, well, I try," Jill chuckled, running a hand through the side of her black hair as the gymnast commented on it. "Had a ponytail for about forever, so I'm still getting used to the new look." When Eve mentioned her touch having more dramatic effects, the prospective medical student snorted wryly before catching the troubled look from the smaller girl. "Heh, I'll bet. ...hey, c'mon, magic puke touch, remember? Could be worse."
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"Heh." Trevor laid his hand back down on his seat's armrest and smiled. "Still not tired of hearing that," he admitted, ducking his chin down for a moment as his grin spread far enough to show teeth. "'Girlfriend', I mean." Tightening his smile to a sheepish upturned twinge of his thin lips, he regarded the highway before them. "Hmm. Probably wise. Not exactly factory standard, but not outfitted for action."
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Jill hesitated for a brief moment, second guessing herself. It would be easy to smoothly play the suggestion off as a joke, or give any one of a half dozen perfectly legitimate reasons to discard it. Ultimately, whatever insecurities the young woman may have had, unwillingness to commit to a course of action had rarely numbered among them. "So we order in," she replied, speaking a little more quickly than usual as she toyed absently with her bangs with one hand while wrapping her other arm around her waist. "Or just show up in full gear and let people stare or in civvies with huge, novelty sunglasses. I mean, no pressure, obviously, but yeah. I guess I'd be up for that."
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Atop the building, Jill O'Cure tensed, preparing to leap from her elevated perch, when a slight gesture from her brother caused her to pull up short. "Hold on. Let's see how Gandalf the White handles this one," the fencer instructed quietly, his demeanor taking a subtle shift to one of sober contemplation. "What?!" the young woman hissed, taken aback. "We don't even know-" "So let's give him a chance," Jack cut her off smoothly. There was something about Gabriel, something on the far edges of the metamagi's superhuman awareness that might have been nothing more than a mundane hunch, that told the swordsman to hang back. He hadn't managed as well nor for as long as he had without listening to that kind of hunch.
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"Ah, yes... statement," Trevor agreed, resting on hand on the side of his face and scratching his cheek with the index finger. "Unrelated note, don't press any of the switches hidden under the dash." He glanced sidelong at Erin before adding defensively, "Well, they're not lasers." Normally his deadpan style of humour would have made it difficult to tell if he was joking or not, but having just participated in a thorough inspection of the vehicle, Erin could say with reasonable certainty that this piece of the Manor's vehicle pool was for strictly civilian use.
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The flush of heat Jill felt seep into her face didn't leave her with much doubt about whether or not her reaction was noticeable. "Ah, profesora nena...!" she managed a little breathlessly, placing one hand lightly on her chest with a shallow nod that graciously conceded defeat in their impromptu contest, grinning in spite of a furious blush. "You gotta at least buy me dinner first, muñequita, then maybe we'll talk."
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Earth-Prime "You heard her, Templar. Keep your distance," Midnight's collected voice came over the younger student's communicator as down below the fedora wearing hero carried one end of a stretcher into the back of the armored ambulance and out of the pouring rain. "Nothing in or out until we know more." Narrowing his eyes in consideration behind his featureless mask, he directed a cautioning thought in Sage's direction. --Careful. Synesthesia suggests mental component; could be making yourself vulnerable.-- --- Earth-Paragons Midnight's rain slick motorcycle pulled up to Wander and Edge with a rumble, weaving through the chaos on the ground. Removing his helmet, the rider revealed short black hair protruding over the top of an otherwise blank, black mask punctuated be ruby red goggles. Pointedly ignoring the Claremont students for a moment, he regarded the purple tear in the sky once more now that he was stationary, grimacing to himself. Finally, he turned to the team's leader. "Can worry about me stealing your thunder later," he grated through the vocal filter built into his disguise, "where do you need me to help?"
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--Nah, the white suits you, I think. I dye mine, but don't tell anyone,-- the older teen admitted, absently tucking her unruly bangs away from her eyes. She glanced over as the bathroom door opened, setting down the picture frame and giving the grinning telepath a bemused look. "Better reception than my first cellphone," she noted ruefully. "Whole planet, though... that's pretty intense."
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"Oh brother," Jill scoffed, rolling her eyes as she place one gloved hand on her hip. "Well, I was going to say I was interested in subscribing to your newsletter, but now I'm just not sure if I can handle having my worldview shattered like that." Tilting her head slightly to one side, she gave the inventor a wry look. "Taking the 'teaching' thing pretty serious, huh? Gonna be handing out grades, making sure I take notes, asking me to stay after class?"
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"Oh, you have not begun to see 'mouthy', Powergloves," Jill promised, sashaying a step closer with a broad wink. Letting the suggestive body language drop, the medic placed one hand on the back of her neck just above the collar of her crimson jacket with a lopsided smirk. "Thanks for helping make this not weird," she added unexpectedly, her voice a touch quieter. "Still being able to joke around means a lot. Well," she continued, one eyebrow raising behind her mask, "mostly joking. Have to admit you're making some compelling arguments."
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"Mmn, nope, little bit bawdy," Jill countered, crossing her arms and shaking her head. "One might even say risqué. See, I'm picking up some French already." Sniffing, the taller girl turned her nose upward slightly. "And I'm dealing with some serious self-image reevaluation, here. I'll call you cute if I want to." Daunting though she was finding some of the larger implications, that part at least Jill found oddly liberating. "As for biology versus electronics, all I'm saying is there's no point in reinventing the wheel then the existing equipment is more than satisfactory." She gave the syllables of the final word drawn out emphasis, her nose crinkling in amused challenge despite her attempts at maintaining her haughty demeanor.
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--Well, that kinda stinks, then,-- Jill commiserated upon hearing how little Eve got to see of her siblings. --At least you don't have to worry about getting sick of them,-- she noted with a mental drawl, considering her own sibling. --Heh, telepathy is cool. So, do you dye your hair then, or what?-- Looking over the photo again, it seemed to the senior student that the psychic nature of their conversation lent itself to abrupt changes in topic.
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Earth-Prime After quickly instructing an uninjured civilian on how to keep pressure on one of his fellow's freshly treated but not life threatening wounds, Midnight turned his attention back to the purple scar across the sky. Without much to go on, the black clad vigilante retrieved a broad spectrum scanning device from his belt, shielding the palm sized tablet from the torrential downpour with one hand while skimming through the readings it gathered for anything that stood out. The rain and ionized atmosphere of the storm was playing havoc on his equipment, but the longer they spent on damage control before figuring out the bigger picture, the more likely they'd miss any window of opportunity to remedy the situation. "Templar, what are you seeing?" the gravelly rumble of his calm voice carried over the communicator. --- Earth-Paragons As Sage had predicted, the unmistakable sound of a heavily modified engine heralded the arrival of a matte black motorcycle speeding around the corner, scything though the violent weather like an oil slick. It took all of a split second for the rider to spot the soaked blue and gold suited girl and screech to a sudden stop beside her. "Hurry up and get on," Midnight demanded, tossing her a pitch black helmet that matched the vehicle. Waiting until the diminutive psychic was perched behind him, the brusque young man resumed his daredevil ride toward the City Center, leaning low against the handlebars. "Any idea what your friends have gotten themselves into this time? he called over his shoulder.
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A poorly stifled snort of laughter escaped from between the fingers on the hands Jill pressed to her face. "Knh, stop that!" she demanded through a chuckle, coughing as she tried to hold the sound in. "Admittedly, discussing this with the smart, cute and apparently surprisingly bawdy girl might not have been my best plan, speaking objectively. Whoo." Clearing her throat and catching her breath, the slim young woman brushed at the bangs that had once again fallen over her mask's eyeholes. "Besides, you know I'm more into biology than electronics," she added with a broad smirk, evidently unwilling to be outdone completely.
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Jill let out a long, beleaguered breath. "No, it's fine, I just haven't really gotten into talking about this yet. With anyone. So." Rubbing her face with one hand over her bandanna mask, the acrobatic youth seemed to come to a decision. "Look, it's just, and this shouldn't even be a big deal, but, I spent a lot of time kinda keeping to myself and now that I'm actually putting myself out there a bit... there's some stuff that's been 'hard to miss', like you said." After a brief pause she gestured emphatically with both hands to emphasize the point, evidently wanting to get the awkward confession over with. "As in I think I maybe like girls. In a gay way."
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"Gossip? I- what?" If there was any demand Jill had been expecting to hear from the petite inventor, that certainly hadn't been it. "When did I become the reticent one, and you trying to engage me in frivolous socialization?" she wondered ruefully aloud, letting her hands fold over each other selfconsciously. "It's not like there's a big thing, just, since I started really making an effort to meet people and make friends and stuff, um..." The medic seemed reluctant to finish articulating the thought.
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"There's something to be said for making an impression," Trevor agreed with a small smile as a heavily clothed child on the side of the street elbowed his companion in the side and pointed out the passing car. "Parade is... Actually really excited about this, more I think about it," the dark haired young man admitted, steepling his fingers, the metaphorical gears turning in his head nearly audible. He looked over to Erin, his stoic visage unusually animated with a grin. "Thanks."
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"Buckling...?" Jack began in an exaggeratedly shocked tone as he spun from robot to robot is a whirling flurry of lightning strikes, tearing away at joints as Jill's force wall finished encircling the mechanoids. Springing upward, the fencer landed atop the shimmering construct just as it folded into an encircling globe. "Buddy, you better watch what you say about my sister!" "He's kidding," Jill assured the white clad figure as she clenched her fist, tightening the glowing blue bubble until it crushed the structurally weakened robots inside with a squeal of wrenching metal. "You can tell because his mouth is ooh snap," the young woman abruptly changed her attitude mid-sentence as Gabriel dealt with the remaining robbers with extreme prejudice. Perching atop the twisted pile of scrap, Jack whistled low at the show of raw intimidation. "Y'know, the white threw me, but in retrospect, the cowl and authoritative name really should have been tip-offs," he remarked conversationally.
