Gizmo

Trevor finally looked over at Erin, his expression startled. "What? That's crap," he retorted immediately, the blunt words spilling forth before he could rethink them. "You can't honestly-- Erin, you've single-handedly taken down innumerous villains, stopped multiple incursions from other dimensions and other planets-- I watched you go toe-to-toe with Superior, for God's sake." The young man's body language practically unfolded outward, going from withdrawn to animated, as he punctuated his points with expressive hand gestures. "When we were overrun with the one thing you had every right imaginable to be terrified of, you were out there anyway, making sure I didn't get my fool neck snapped."

Midnight's teeth ground together behind his featureless black mask. He could probably creep into the cavern unseen and dispatch a few of the cultists before the others were any the wiser, swinging the odds in his favour. Certainly it would be the tactical thing to do, the way his grandfather had taught him to deal with numerically superior foes. Seeing the man who had raised him bloodied and battered, however, turned the blood in his veins to ice water, and he could almost swear he felt the midnight mist sliding, ink-like, just under his skin. There was something to be said, after all, for the direct approach. A massive cloud of billowing black spread forth from the chamber's entrance, spilling forward like the edge of a slow motion explosion. "Bow down, fools," a chilling, emotionless voice grated out from the darkness, the acoustics of the cave lending it resonance and making it hard to tell where it was coming from. "You meddle beyond your means."

Alright, Trevor's going to make a DC 30 Intimidate check against the cultists, using Skill Mastery. He also has Second Chance [intimidate] if need be.

Trevor was quiet for a long moment, covering one fist with his other hand and resting them under his nose. "Remember when I told you how my grandfather kept fighting, kept making the right choices even when the heroes with powers gave up?" he asked finally, his voice soft enough that without her enhanced hearing Erin would have had to strain to make out the words. "Always thought, if you did that, it wouldn't matter what anyone else said or did or thought, because you'd know." He couldn't even look in her direction as he admitted, "Feel like I don't know anything anymore."

Jack of all Blades (64) [interceptors] Zombie Powder is a Helluva Drug (2) Stay On Target... (2) Welcome to The Interceptors, Jill O'Cure (12) Meet The Interceptors! (10) In A Handbasket (13) Sword & Sheath (15) Red Rover (9) Unbalanced Vignette (1) Midnight II (95) Meet the Roommate (3) ... but the Exchange Rates are Murder! (7) Hunter In The Forest (6) Shadows In The Night (2) Midnight Run (26) Mind Games (7) Midnight Confessions (19) Midnight In Her Eyes (11) Kill A Man (12) 20 Questions Featuring Edge! (1) Unbalanced Vignette (1) NPCs (88/2 = 44) Jill O'Cure (67/2 = 33.5) Flesh and Bone (36) No Man's Land (12) This Party's Better Than it Seems (19) VINCE (2/2 = 1) Meet the Interceptors! (2) The Blank (12/2 = 6) Mind Games: Remix (12) Blaise O'Glory (7/2 = 3.5) Eighty-Eight Miles Per Hour (7)

"Doesn't feel like the right thing," Trevor responded with surprising vehemence, his body language turning even more withdrawn. The tall youth shifted his weight as though to stand up, but evidently reconsidered, settling for setting his mug down on the roof beside him. "Should've been able to do both," he insisted, placing one hand over the bridge of his nose as his mouth compressed into a fine, twisted line. "Figured something- I-" There was an audible grinding of teeth as he struggled. "You shouldn't ever have to feel that way."

"Guess so," Trevor agreed, his naturally subdued tone masking some of the lack of conviction. Looking down at the stainless steel lid of his mug for a moment before continuing. "Listen, before, in the Manor. I'm sorry. I should have.." The young man's jaw worked silently for a moment, opening and closing as he tried to finish the sentence. "Don't know. Something different." Even with his inexpressive face largely hidden behind hat brim and sunglasses, his body language was miserable, lean shoulders slumping.

"He's fine. Nothing got close to the manor that the auto defenses couldn't handle." Trevor used taking a sip from his steaming mug as an excuse to trail off for a moment. Placing his free hand on the back of his neck, he cleared his throat self-consciously. "Wanted to give you your space. Well. Not 'wanted', obviously, I mean- You know what I mean." Suppressing a grimace, he joined her in looking out over the campus from their vantage point.

Trevor gave Oliver a grateful nod as the cat padded away, unsure as always of just how much the orange tabby was able to understand. Ignoring a final stab of concern that he hadn't given Erin sufficient space yet, he continued on to the roof. At the young woman's greeting, he offered a small smile of his own. "Hey." Continuing forward, he crouched, folding his legs beneath him to sit next to her and set one of the travel mugs down near her knee. There was a long moment of silence before he continued. "...so. How are you doing?" Trevor's voice was quiet, but his inflection made it clear it wasn't idle smalltalk.

One of Jack's eyes squinted behind his bandanna mask while the eyebrow above the other raised. "I am super uncomfortable discussing your metal nipples, Gai, especially in front of my little sister." "I'm uncomfortable having 'you' and 'knowledge' in the same conceptual sphere of thought," Jill told her brother, resting her elbows on her knees and propping up her chin. "I don't know much," the swordsman admitted with an air of misplaced pride, "but what I do know, I know the hell out of."

"Soup tends to cure a multitude of ills, yeah," Jill agreed, waving her hand in a small arc. A shimmering blue light surrounded the extended limb, and a small, boxy forcefield formed under one of the large first aid kits, raising it to a more convenient height for inspection. "This is pretty good stuff, actually," she noted judiciously as she sifted through the kit's contents. "The whole set up is really ambitious, I gotta say."

After the city wide epidemic of rampaging zombies had abruptly come to a halt, Trevor had wanted to speak with Erin immediately, concern for how she was handling the severe trauma competing with guilt for prioritizing the his mission over her well being. He was fairly sure she understood his reasons, but even after taking out some aggression on the undead hordes, or perhaps because of it, logic was still taking a backseat in his thought processes. Unfortunately, her single-minded insistence on scouring all of Freedom personally to ensure the threat was ended forced him to wait. His endurance simply couldn't match Erin's, and after the evening's exertions and having forgone sleep for the better part of a week, he was in no condition to keep up with her. Days passed, and urgency slowly turned to awkwardness as the time continued to elapse. The dark haired young man finally steeled himself against his own angst, unwilling to let the issue fester to be brought up at a later, unknown and likely inopportune moment. Wearing his matte black jacket unbuckled over a light brown shirt despite the autumn chill, Trevor headed outside, a pair of covered travel mugs in hand, the brim of his fedora pulled down over the oval lenses of his sunglasses.

Vince's suit shifted down to a more subdued blue and black combination, as his avatar stuck out his bottom lip dryly. "Well now you're just overcompensating." "That's what you get for having emotions like an irrational sack of meat and water," Jack told him with a shrug. "You could've been one of those cold AIs that ultimately decides the best way to serve man is to put us out of our misery." "I'd be putting you out of someone's misery, anyway," Vince grumbled under his great with a smirk. Tugging at his simulated collar, he caused the fabric to expand until the flaring neckline revealed a portion of bare chest adorned with medallions, the entire suit brightening to a eye searing baby blue. "Still!" With a wave of his hand, the scenery evaporated and was replaced by a bevy of sifting lights in a variety of colours and shapes, sliding along the walls, floor and ceiling and floating at various speeds through the air as a disco music blared over the Wreck Room's speakers.

It took Jill a moment to figure out if Eve was kidding about her royal lineage or not, simultaneously taken somewhat aback by the petite girl's non-verbal vocalizations. "Uh... wow. My dad's actually French, but that side of the family is less 'monarchy' than 'mystically enhanced foot soldiers for a secret society'. Still!" She absently tucked her hair back around her ear, a few of the bangs almost immediately falling back out of place.

"Who's mocking the breastplate?" Jack said innocently, laying a hand lightly on his chest as though wounded. "That'd sound like this: 'Hee hee, breasts.' Totally different!" Jill placed her face in her own hands. "Who thought giving the superpower of making pointy things to the five year old was a good idea?" she sighed. "Anyway," Jack continued, ignoring his sister, "there's something to be said for moderation, Gai."

Jill ran a hand along the back of her neck thoughtfully. "Well, really, it strikes me that the issue is less supplies than staff. There's a load of medicines I'd suggest for any ER, for example, but without someone who knows the right dosages, you'd be better off with bandages and chicken soup." Frowning, the girl paced about the room, idly examining the various signs. "A live-in medtech probably isn't happening here, though."

"Alright, nice. Good, grounded stance. It's a heavier blade, so you're going for strong, stable footwork," Jack explained, walking back around Gaian Knight to stand in front of him. "You're adding reach and heft, but that works against you if your opponent can unbalance you. Any time you transfer your weight, it's going to be to put it behind a swing; cover your movements with an attack, see?" Hopping slightly as her seat reshaped itself, Jill raised an eyebrow. "That's like the opposite of what you told me." Her brother nodded. "That's because you're a teenage girl and he's a big guy in bloody breastplate."

"Yeah, sure, of course," Jill mumbled, shaking off her introspective distraction. "I'd be happy to." It meant a lot to the teenager to talk with someone who shared her priorities and was still so well respected in the superhero community. Some competitive part of her wanted people to know that she was more than capable of holding her own in a fight, but when it came down to it, her moral convictions took precedence. "Lead on, Professor."

"I'm definitely not looking to 'throw down'," Jill agreed, placing her hands behind her head and looking out over the urban ruins overrun with plant growth and decay. "During the Grue invasion, I was working in an ER. Someone needs to be focusing specifically on protecting people caught in the crossfire, minimizing collateral damage." There was a flint hard edge running just under the surface of the girl's tone.

Jill snorted, splaying out her fingers exaggeratedly. "Well, excuse my vocal chords, princess," she drawled with a smirk. "It's a high school. People are generally jerks, and you're catching at the most self-absorbed point in their lives. Some of them might even grow out it." She returned the telepath's sidelong glance. "So, is that 'every six seconds' thing really true?"

"Oh, right the bookish guy. Figures he's a teacher," Jill nodded, recalling Stesha's fiance from Lynn's birthday party. "Yeah, one time," she answered the question, absently kicking at a bit of loose stone. "The night I got my powers. Well, activated them, anyway. It's kind of a whole thing. Point is, it got pretty bad there for a bit and I had to defend myself. Didn't really mean to do it, but."

The coltish teen grimaced glumly, slouching slightly as she hooked her thumbs in the slim pockets of her costume's pants. "Yeah, no kidding. I'm... pretty sure I've got it set to 'stun', but it's not something I really want to whip out except for emergencies." She was grateful on some level to have a more offensive application fro her abilities, but on the other hand, pun intended, it was disturbing to know what she was potentially capable of doing to someone.

The Blank faded back into view in the grey void, hanging back as he took stock of the situation. He was certainly in no condition to fight a version of Singularity in possession of all her faculties, and the other masked figure across from him was far more interesting in an case. "All black, how original," he drawled, adjusting his blood splattered cuffs compulsively. "So. Are we doing this?" "Not now. Not here," Midnight replied in a quiet growl, forcing his counterpart to strain to hear his words as the brows above his red lenses lowered. "But I'll be back for you." The Blank laughed with a airy frivolity he didn't quite feel. "You're certainly welcome to try," he smirked behind his featureless white facade, waving dismissively as they continued on their way home.

Jill blinked for a moment, mouth opening slightly, before breaking out into laughter, a strong, brassy sound. "Maldito, girl. Either that was some serious reverse psychology or you are just one stone cold crazy badass." The coltish teenager placed her hands behind her head and reclined further into her seat, looking considerably more at ease. "Either way, I think I like it. So, what's there to do around here, besides school?"