Gizmo
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The council chambers of CoVic Station were neither as large nor opulent as the senate of late Lor-Van but an arched ceiling so high it made the average sentient dizzy to look upon lent them a certain grandeur. Accommodating the aesthetics of every group that had some sort of diplomatic presence on the station had been an exercise in frustration and eventually the workers clearing out that portion of what had been the Communion mothership had settled on a rather spartan look. Great round disks of burnished metal were laid into the curving walls, each broad enough for a half dozen humanoids to stand on with room left to move about. The platforms were layered in several rows moving up the walls, spaced so as to afford each of them a view of the empty space in the middle of the chamber. Audio equipment and info screens built into guard rails added a semblance of familiarity to the room but the alien geometries and asynchronous lights pulsing in the walls made it impossible to forget where they were all standing. And an interesting group it was who watched the Khanate delegation arrive. While none of the platforms were explicitly reserved for any one group, now as more often than not the disk immediately facing the entrance way was occupied by Ambassador Th'emme and her bodyguard. Two their left three representatives of the Grue Individuality whispered hurriedly amongst themselves, necks moving bonelessly to turn their eyes toward the new arrivals. Representatives of every former Khanate world with enough pull to have a representative were present, even those who normally focused their energies far more on lobbying with more powerful groups than participating directly. Mostly Zultasians, their expressions ranged from curiosity to barely contained agitation and it was difficult to miss that not one of them had arrived without a guard of their own. Further up the walls were others still, hurriedly gathering notes and pulling up intelligence reports on their screens. Toothy Jereid and tentacled Illthusians, merchants and military advisors. It was both an impressive tapestry of cooperation and a clear indication of just how many vying interests were pulling and prodding at the direction the station would take. As they entered Th'emme locked eyes with not Ambassador Raal but Lady Tal'gar; some habits of a noblewoman died hard. Still, as the murmuring in the great chamber died down the Lor ambassador said nothing in greeting, waiting instead with a thin smile for the Khanate delegation to set the tone.
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Winifred reflexively tucked her chin toward her neck as Raina circled around her, not entirely sure if the approval made her more or less self-conscious than a negative assessment would have. "I am relieved to know I've fallen on the proper side of scandal," she replied blithely, clasping her hands behind the small of her back to keep from fidgeting with any of her new outfit. When the blonde touched her hair she froze for two long beats before forcing herself back into a more neutral posture and considered the question with a small frown. "My hair? I suppose it's not... necessary." She hadn't done more than tidy it up since awakening in the present day and now it very nearly reached down to her folded hands. "I have noticed it's uncommonly long in the here and now, of course and it can be a tad cumbersome. I'm not sure I'm prepared for one of those boyish, asymmetrical styles but it... it does grow back, after all." The alchemist set her jaw resolutely but the way her eyes flicked between Raina's hand and her own reflect betrayed some nervousness.
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Jack of all Blades / Jill O'Cure (6) Interceptors: Echo vs Gecko (2) Present Arms (4) December Vignette - Winter Wonderland Midnight II (4) Freedom's Finest #5: Shadow of the Leviathan (2) How Lucky We Are To Be Alive Right Now (2) Ghost Girl (8) Nine+ Ladies Dancing (2) Horrorshow (6) Reagent / The Alkahest (10) Transmutation (10) Lou Lubrano (2) Knock on the Door Job (2) Rollover and Ref Point can go to Reagent, thanks!
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"Yeah, I'm a real complicated guy," Lou drawled back at Sofía from behind his sunglasses, the effusively friendly manner vanishing the moment the paralegal was out of earshot. His brows lowered as he studied Xavier in light of the little anecdote about the statuette. In his experience private eyes concerned themselves with cheating partners and personal injury lawsuits, not putting their necks on the line by getting on one of the Families' radar over a frame-up job. After all the talk about discretion and caution it was sounding like the other man was a little more complicated than he'd let on, too. With a grunt he decided that he didn't actually care enough to press the issue. "Well, you kids have fun with all that. It's been a treat but I got a car to deface, among other things." With a casual wave turned about and began walking away... only for the phone that had been returned to him upon their release to ring from inside his jacket pocket. Pulling the simple burner out and placing it to his ear he curtly greeted, "Lubrano."
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Ghost Girl made an appreciative coo, lacing her currently bony fingers together between her shoulder and cheek. "Aw! You are such a good friend, letting me go first. I better set the bar high! See you on the other side!" With a wave she faded from view into invisibility and sped off down the hallway. She sniffed the air experimentally as she went, confirming her suspicions. The properties of the psionic fields the thugs were wearing stopped her from sniffing out their fear the way she usually would have; it made a certain sense if they were covering themselves in a sort of bravery-made-solid. An inconvenience, certainly but then that might have made the game a little too easy. So rarely did she have a good excuse to cater to the predilections that came with being a poltergeist. Invisible and silent she rounded the corners of the building before exhaling, a slower, more moderated version of the icy torrent that had trapped the first of the intruders. Instead of a blizzard an icy cloud poured forth, quickly filling the enclosed space with a dense field of concealing, shiver-inducing mist.
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ic How Lucky We Are To Be Alive Right Now (IC)
Gizmo replied to Avenger Assembled's topic in Port Regal
"...ah." Trevor exchanged a look with Erin before clearing his throat and reaching into his jacket. From within he produced a small knitted cap, sized for a newborn and made from alpaca yarn dyed a deep black. Talking a half-step forward he presented it to Nina, a hint of sheepishness working into his usual stoicism. "Didn't realize we weren't supposed to know. Iyar will be excited." The corners of his mouth turned upward in what might as well have been a broad grin in comparison and the dark haired man gave Mark a light punch in the shoulder along with a minute, silent nod. -
"Haha, gross!" Ghost Girl cheered her friend's macabre showing with delighted laughter, exposed jaw bones clacking. "I'm a sucker for the classics but she's always so much more creative, y'know?" she explained to the group of scientists, seemingly oblivious to their discomfort. "Comes from having no skeleton, I think. I mean, I don't have a skeleton either, haven't had one for ages really but that's a whole conversation and we've got things to do!" Spinning her scythe about so that its handle rested horizontally in the air she hopped up onto it as if rising sidesaddle. "You should probably try getting that doohickey off of him while it's not working. In the meantime, I defer to the master huntswoman!" She gave a courtly wave of her hand to the mangled mess of metal next to her. "Shall we?"
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ic How Lucky We Are To Be Alive Right Now (IC)
Gizmo replied to Avenger Assembled's topic in Port Regal
The rumble of a motorcycle engine announced the late arrivals as Trevor and Erin pulled into the driveway atop the Night Cycle in its more conventional guise. Dismounting, the former adjusted the collar of the maroon turtleneck he'd hastily tugged into place after the heavily armed robbery they'd run into along the way had been subdued. Thankfully with his jacket undone and his mask and belt stowed away in the bike's hidden compartments there was little to differentiate the rest of his costume from normal motorcycle leathers. Stowing his helmet and retrieving the cooler bag from the back of the Night Cycle he quickly made his way to the door with long strides and let them inside. "Sorry," he called as they headed toward sounds of activity further into the house. The battered bag in his hands received a faintly glum expression from behind his sunglasses. "Food mostly survived." -
"Language," Ghost Girl warned their captive while the security feed was being brought up. Once they'd heard the diminutive mastermind's rant the poltergeist let out a low whistle of commiseration. "Jams. What's his damage, eh? Gotta appreciate the thorough explanation, though!" An unsettling smile spread across her face as she leaned forward to inspect the device strapped to his chest. "So this thing only works if you're not scared?" She made as if to poke the disk with an index finger but instead her hand passed right though and deep into the thug's torso, plunging well past the elbow. She lifted her head to make eye-contact with him only to reveal empty, cavernous sockets as flesh melted away to reveal polished bone. Ghost Girl slowly retracted her arm and her fingers reappeared wrapped around a elegantly curving wooden handle. It continued to slide effortlessly out of their defeated intruder's chest until the wicked tip of the scythe's blade protruded from right between his eyes, its impossibly black length bisecting his face and throat as removed the weapon fully with a theatrical twirl. By the time she had it spinning in lazy circles by her side her face had fallen away entirely leaving only a grinning skull. "Oh, Wraith! And it's not even my birthday!"
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"Alright then tall, glowy and smashing," Ghost Girl addressed the restrained intruder, pulling her hood back with one hand and daintily working her jaw back into place with the thumb and forefinger of the other. "Now that you've had a chance to cool off, do you want to tell us what you think you're doing breaking down perfectly serviceable doors and knocking people around, eh?" Her patient tone as she floated high enough to look the luminous figure in the general area that should have contained its eyes and the way she planted her fists on her hips suggested she wasn't angry, just very disappointed. "That's no way to make a first impression, bud."
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Ghost Girl Diplomacy Check: 1d20+16 24 Diplomacy Check, Second Chance: 1d20+16 31 That's got a +4 bonus on the off-chance that Attractive applies.
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"I think you're underestimating the place of a fine sword in proper ballroom attire," Erik riposted easily while flashing Talya an apologetic look. It was true that he tended to rope those close to him into fights in darkened alleyways and bleak alternate dimensions more than fancy parties. Or darkened alleyways in bleak alternate dimensions. "And I'm not gonna ask about the bear piss, Snowflake," he added, wagging a finger at Cathy with a lopsided smirk, "'cause that's gross and I don't wanna know." While the smile remained on his face it left his eyes as he considered the pale girl and her redheaded companion more seriously. "Cielo, why don't you start figuring out where Cathy is sitting in terms of skill level while I work with her gal pal? What sort of weapons were you thinking about, Red? Quarterstaff, batons?" He cocked his head to one side quizzically. "Pitchfork?"
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"Well that's new," Ghost Girl mused aloud even as she rushed forward through the air. Her belted coat billowed out behind her, tossed by a phantom gale and even in the dimness of the unlit room the shadows beneath her hood seemed to deepen ominously. "Make sure he's alright," she called to the remaining scientists, a faint echo creeping into her voice as though from the other end of a long tunnel. "I'll make sure our new friend is comfortable." With her back to them the civilians couldn't see the ghost's jaw stretch and distort unnaturally into a chasm from which the full fury of winter erupted. Howling winds spilled forth along with sleet driven sideways in a widening cone than engulfed the luminous intruder. The blizzard poured forth for long seconds, the temperature dropping in the room and a thin layer of frost forming on the glass of beakers. When Ghost Girl finally closed her mouth with a clack that was audible in the abrupt silence the creature and indeed the entire shattered doorframe were coated in a thick layer of rime, jagged spires of ice swirled with patches of white trailing backward.
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Ghost Girl Full Action: Ice Breath against ?????. She'll aim the cone to hit the intruder while pointing the wide end toward the door. DC22 Reflex.
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Ghost Girl Initiative: 1d20+3 21
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Ghost Girl diplomatically cut off her burst of laughter with a cough. "Sorry. It's a little funny," she insisted with an apologetic tone. "Not to worry boys, Wraith and I are what you'd call your creature-of-the-night type heroes. You can tell from our dour, brooding demeanours!" The poltergeist waited a moment for the joke to land before pushing through the awkward silence that followed instead. "I'm saying we can both see just fine in the dark. I'll go take a peek at your fuse box, see if the power's off anywhere else. Maybe try unplugging the power absorbing alien ball?" She shrugged broadly enough for the gesture to be clear even in the dimness of the room. "Just a thought! You're the scientists, eh?" She exchanged a significant look with her friend; before they were done at the lab it seemed likely that some cabling might need to be chopped with a shapeshifted metal limb.
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"Oh, don't be silly! It's always nice to see someone this excited about their work!" Ghost Girl assured Bole with a sunny smile while the newcomer was brought up to speed by his peers. Having been expecting trouble she'd arrived as translucent and blue as ever but thankfully Freedom City was the sort of place where that didn't raise too many eyebrows even among scientists. If anything rushing toward an alarm in a more mundane guise would have demanded more answers. "I bet this sort of thing is exactly the reason they got into science in the first place, eh? I mean, alien technology! Very neat, very fun. Do you know what it is?" She directed the question toward the trio of agitated researchers but glanced pointedly toward Wraith. If anyone there was likely to recognize the bauble her money was on her friend, the actual-factual alien.
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"Not in front of the kids," Erik protested half-heartedly, most of his attention on the sparring. He glanced over long enough to catch Steve doing the thing where his eyes seemed to focus on some distant point with the sense that air raid sirens and industrial metal percussion should be playing in the background but decided not to ask. He never really liked the answers. "You sure you want to double down on this, big guy? Escher's fighting like she's got something to prove." That was probably at least a little bit true but he also hadn't chosen martial-arts tag for this exercise at random. Chris was quicker than most and his regeneration was enough to work past most glancing blows. That margin for error meant he could outlast most opponents. That strategy used the word 'most' a lot more than Erik liked. There were threats gathering against his family of which they were only starting to make out the outlines, threats that might not need more than a glancing blow. The Interceptors were going to be ready for anything that came knocking.
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"I - I'm concerned with their ability to cover my - all of me!" Winifred stuttered from behind the closed door, trying to will away the heat rising in her cheeks. "Nor am I convinced your approval is measuring for the correct variables, Matthew. Really." She pursed her lips at the offending garment. She supposed she couldn't entirely rely on her own now outdated sensibilities if her goal was to look less out of place and 'less expensive to replace' was a strong argument given her condition. "...I'll work up to them," she muttered to herself as she tossed two pairs into the growing pile on the small bench. On Raina's insistence that she wear a new outfit from her selections while the continued to shop the alchemist opted for a less daring - though still quite snug - pair of jeans with a dark, sleeveless top in what she was informed was a 'tank' style. She pulled a purple blouse on over that and felt confident enough to tie the front corners together in a loose knot as she'd seen done rather than using the buttons. "Do you know, I think these pockets might be more ornamental than functional?" she tsked, pulling her long black hair over her shoulder while studying herself uncertainly in the mirrors.
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Of the New Hampshire Morningstars, sure, Erik muttered silently to himself, heaving a mental sigh. His fingers reflexively went to the ring hanging from the chain around his neck, fumbling for a brief moment as though expecting to find something else there. "It all how you use it," the fencer drawled aloud, stepping away from weapons rack and rolling the shoulder of the arm he'd been holding behind his back. Raina not-so-subtly vouching for her classmate was enough for the time being but he still had to fight the urge to tell the kids to get their demonic magics off his lawn. He wasn't entirely sure what was going on with the little passive-aggressive back-and-forth between the teenagers; if nobody set anybody else on fire he supposed he'd call it a win. "Heard they've been sorting out some... issues, yeah," he continued, exchanging a look with Talya. The manner in which the blonde had recounted her visit to the school had made him preemptively pity anyone who got on the wrong side of her at a PTA meeting a few years down the road. "I know some of you Claremont kids have special needs but I'm pretty sure we can come up with something for you. Have something specific you wanted to work on?"
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"A pig...?" Becky blinked a few times at Aquaria's retreating back before her brows lowered and she set her jaw. The gesture was made more formidable by the way the shape of her jaw shifted as she did so, widening by a good centimetre to accommodate teeth that hadn't been there a moment ago. It shrunk back to its normal proportions as she headed toward the castle's kitchen, passing Temperance on the way. "Just grabbing something, be right back," she called to her fiancé, giving the elementalist a smile while adding, "Oh, Addie would love that mask!" "All of those everyday, seven foot tall, immortal Russians, sure," Kimber nodded with a cheeky grin as Klara released her hand. "Hopefully the stories you heard about us weren't exaggerated too much, eh?" Poorly hidden indiscretions aside the poltergeist leaned into Tarva reflexively as the shadow witch stepped in beside her, floating just off of the ground to better fit against her side. "Klara Matthews, Tarva the Black," she introduced smoothly, squeezing her hand back. "Who is married, you flirt. And not a Furion," she assured her partner in a whisper close to her ear. "Same general idea but different. Not that you were worried."
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"I rather like my coat," Winifred called through the door, voice tinged with a defensive note. She'd come to understand that the high collared lab coat styled affair was a little conspicuous for day to day wear but having a piece of morphic molecule clothing loose enough to survive her episodes had proven extremely useful. She supposed that benefit leaned more toward Matthew's call for utility than Raina's advice. She turned about to consider the slacks she was trying on in the mirror before shimmying out of them again. "And my bandolier, I thought that was a bit dashing, really. Something of a soldier-of-fortune aesthetic! Perhaps I should move it to my hips." She lifted the pair of leggings the pyromancer had included in the pile to be tried on and regarded at them doubtfully. "Do these tights go under something or...?"
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Ellie exchanged a significant look with Mara before edging her chair a little closer toward Min. "Hey, hermana, this is more than a 'winter thing', yeah?" It could be tempting to attribute the dryad's moods to the changing seasons but the dourness that had been hanging over her head had been difficult to miss. While there were a number of unusually experienced people among their circle all of them combined couldn't add up to Willow's life experience and consequently there seemed to be very few things which could significantly impact her composure. Trying to imagine what one of those things might be was not at all comforting. "What exactly happened when the twins were born? The House of Swords wouldn't have you worried like this."
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Alright, rolling for Geckoman since we've been waiting on Ecal for two weeks: Acrobatics vs DC 32: 1d20+15 17 That means the feint works and the attack hits. Go ahead and post in-character, Bluefish.
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"Sure sure, you really got us out of a jam there, Miss Presley," the bearded man agreed much more easily than expected, engulfing the small blonde's hand with both of his own to shake it. Lou was suddenly a very different person than he'd seemed in the cell, warm and almost avuncular. It wasn't too hard for the less law abiding of the group to infer the shark's teeth just below the surface, however. "Sofí was sure worried but me, I said, 'hey,' I said, 'if Xavier here says it's gonna get worked out, it's gonna get worked out, right?' And was I right? 'Course I was, here you are, large as life and all." He produced a pair of cheap looking sunglasses from their returned affects and placed them on his face with a toothy smile. "And I wasn't going to say nothing on account of being polite but since they mention it anyway, you do have me curious about the whole business." In truth he wasn't one to open unmarked doors if he could help it but if he got the feeling this was a mess he was going to want to be able to explain in detail later on.