Raveled

Jessica thought briefly about inviting Blake back to her garden condo -- well, her parent's garden condo technically, but since they were never in it was basically hers. After all, she had Samurai Warriors I & II on DVD -- but she decided against it. Not on a first date, at least. She squirmed a bit under his grasp, warming up slightly, goosebumps covering her skin more at the realization that she was walking arm in arm with a boy, with her boyfriend. "No," she said, her voice quiet. "I'm actually pretty good right now. Unless you want a coffee or something."

Jessica grabbed Blake's hand and draped it over her shoulder, snuggling in closer. It really was getting cold, and she was too thin to hold much body heat. "Yeah. I... I had a good time, Blake. I mean, minus the supervillain trying to... I dunno, blow up the movie or something. And even that was fun, in its own way."

Jessica shrugged with one shoulder, pressing the other against Blake's arm. "You've seen where most of my work goes," she said, "into the suit. I'm always messing round with it, always tweaking it. Like, last month? I figured out a way to use some excess radiation from the flight system to make it stealthy, like a jet or something -- it wouldn't show up on radar. But then I got to thinking about how often I use something like that -- hint, never -- and I reallocated the system resources." She fell quiet, enjoying the sensation of walking along slowly. After a minute she spoke up again, saying, "You'll have to take me to one of those parks, so we can see the view."

The wind picked up as the pair moved away from the movie theater, so Jessica took Blake's arm in both hands and moved closer to him, until both of them had to walk slowly to avoid tripping each other up. "As early as I can remember, yes. My grandpa was really smart, too, and so are my parents. Even if they don't really do the whole 'hard science' thing." She made a face at that -- her disdain for anything not founded on math was pretty apparent. "But yeah, I've always been bright. When I was six, I took apart the TV remote and rewired it to work on the kitchen." She smiled wickedly, turning her face to Blake. "My dad was so surprised when he tried to watch CNN and ended up spraying protein shake all over the kitchen ceiling." She took a deep breath, lost in her memories for a moment, then asked him, "So what do you do when you're not saving damsels in distress?"

Jessica turned her arm, checking her watch. The movie was supposed to be a little over an hour and a half long and they obviously weren't going to be able to see it now. Not that she had anyone checking in on her -- her parents were probably on different coasts at the moment -- but Grandpa would lecture her if she was out too late. "Sure," she said, angling away from the entrance of the theater. "Really, though. How'd you get your powers? Is it a mutant thing?"

Jessica well understood the need for privacy and waited patiently until Blake reappeared. She jumped a bit as someone hugged her from behind, then relaxed as she heard Blake's voice. She still stepped forwards and entangled herself from his arms, though; it was cool having a boyfriend, but she wasn't sure just how far she wanted to go with all the touching just yet. She smiled at him nevertheless. "Nah. If it hadn't been for you, that guy could've taken the whole place apart." She took hold of his hand and pulled him along, walking slowly across the front of the multiplex. "It kinda sucks, having to use a suit. I'd give just about anything to be like you. Just snap my fingers and woosh, I've got powers."

Jessica beamed down at Blake and heaved the projector back onto the table, leaving thing at an angle to the window and with Samurai Warriors 3 still playing. She slipped out the projection booth and hurried down the stairs, emerging a bit sweaty and flushed with pride at her own quick thinking. She jogged back down the hall just as Kid Cthulhu was emerging from the theater, turning sideways to get his wings through. She met his gaze and pumped her fist in the air, then brought her hand up and gave the other hero a high-five. "That went down pretty well," she said, perhaps a bit too loudly. After a moment she wrinkled her nose, sniffing at the air. "Do they sell fish at the concession stand? I didn't see any."

Jessica hefted the projector off the table, gripping it with both arms. This sucker was heavier than she expected, but after a little effort she got it balanced on the lip of the window showing the theater proper. There was a little plastic window there, with a catch. Jessica opened it and stuck the lens of the projector out, distorting the view of the movie on the screen but holding the window ajar. She put two fingers to her lips and let out a harsh, piercing whistle. When the accented villain glanced up, Jessica let him have the full glare of the projector straight into his face.

Jessica moved up the stairs quickly, her breath coming in quick puffs as her long legs took the stairs two at a time. The stairwell let out on a narrow hallway going in tow directions, with doors bearing a number each. The heroine moved down them quickly, counting off under her breath. When she got to the right number she opened the door -- there wasn't even a latch, just a closely-fitted door -- and stepped inside the projection booth. There weren't any employees in here -- most of the movies were probably run digitally, from a central console somewhere -- but the movie itself was still playing on the big screen, images of samurai making impossible, wire-assisted leaps playing over the hero and the villain as they boxed among the seats. Jessica turned to the projector itself. It was a simple enough model, secured to a big table by six wing-nut screws. The heroine set to work undoing them.

Jessica raced through the theater, hurriedly recalling the layout from her quick meal in the lobby. There was a door, all by itself -- There it is -- that probably wasn't locked -- Thank you, lax security -- and behind it, stairs leading up. She hurried up the stairs, silently thanking her grandfather for the exercise regimen he forced on her. It was a pain at times, but at least she wasn't gasping for breath yet.

Luna Moth and Conqueror Worm were both approved in August.

Jessica leaned close to Blake. "Keep him distracted," she whispered and dropped to the floor, ignoring the sticky patches as best she could and scuttling over to the aisle. Once there, she trusted in the other hero's ability to keep the villain occupied and sprinted towards the door. She burst out into the hallway at the tail end of the panicked civilians, looking both ways for a door marked 'Employee.'

Jessica looked between Blake and the disruptor. "Blake, do you know this clown?" She slid her hand free from his and wiped both her palms on her pants. The pre-battle tension was flooding her system with adrenaline, and making her palms sweat. The suit was all the way back in her car, too far to get to -- but there had to be something she could do. Her brain raced as she tried to come up with an idea.

Jessica shrugged off his arm on her shoulder, but then she grabbed his hand and held it between them. "I'm kinda on my own," she whispered back. "I met another techy kinda gal, goes by Dragonfly. We fought back these vills, and we've met a few times since then. She's really smart, but kinda, I dunno, schizo. You know?" Someone a couple rows in front of the pair turned and shushed them. Jessica blushed and sank down into her seat a bit, pressing her lips together. But after a moment she glanced over and met Blake's eyes, then stuck her tongue in the general direction of the shusher.

Doing my own take on a "bat suit." Dunno if it will ever see the light of day, but I've got a bee for it. Device 3 (Technology; Hard to lose; 15 pt) [12 PP] BE: Enhanced Defense 3 (Cape, training; Feat: Alternate Power) [7 PP] AP: Flight 2 (Cape; 25 MPH; Flaw: Gliding) [2 PP] Super-Movement 1 (Wall-Crawling) [2 PP] Protection 3 (Armor; Extra: Impervious) [6 PP] Well? A long, fluttery cape to distract enemies or glide between rooftops, some armor to protect against weak weapons and low-caliber firearms, and some gecko pads on the gloves. Seems solid to me.

Robin sighed. "We start with coffee," she said. Once she was holding a cup of the stuff, she sipped it gingerly and began marshaling her thoughts. "Lynn, Grimalkin, whatever you think of her as -- she was your girlfriend at the time? What was the situation that you felt she needed to 'die,' even if it was only a simulacrum? Wesley, why didn't you talk to her about this?"

Jessica wasn't expecting the kiss, and she froze for a moment, unable to decide how to respond. Eventually she settled back into her seat, eyes on the screen, but her leg shifted over until it was pressed against Blake's. She slowly raised one hand to her cheek, feeling where his lips had pressed against it, and smiled slightly.

:arrow: Rewrote Robin's description. :arrow: Rewrote Robin's Personality and Motivation. :arrow: Added some Complications. :arrow: Bought Luck. Done by your friendly neighbourhood Geckoman

:arrow: Rewriting the description of the suit. :arrow: Rewriting Jessica's Personality & Motivation. :arrow: Added some Complications. :arrow: Buy Luck 2. :arrow: Rebuild of suit. Next month, include a breakdown as well as a full code sheet, please. - The Sneerg

Jessica followed Blake up the stairs, sliding past the people already in their chairs and settling her cup in the arm holder before sitting down herself. She smiled when he asked her how things were going, and leaned close to whisper to him. "Everything's fine so far. Thanks for the food."

Jessica took Blake's hand and stood, then turned and bent to pick up her trash. It followed the boy's -- My boyfriend, oh-my-god I've got a boyfriend -- into the trash and she turned back to him, taking his hand and interlacing her fingers with his. "C'mon," she said, turning and walking towards the theater. Once inside the massive room, the pair of them stood to the side and Jessica stood on her tip-toes, craning her neck to find a seat. The movie had only been out for a week, and it looked like there were plenty of people seeing this showing. It was quickly becoming evident that there were only two place left: Up high, near the projector, or all the way in the front, where the pair would practically have to lean back to see the entire screen.

Jessica felt Blake's arm settling around her waist and grew tense for a moment, feeling a shiver of anticipation shoot up her spine. She forced herself to relax though, and didn't pull away from him. "Uh. I, uh, can't imagine ever wanting to, you know, get out of a place like Claremont," she stuttered. "There's a not of folks I get to talk to. Except my grandpa, he's pretty cool." She stopped abruptly and the silence stretched between them. Jessica used the opportunity to scoot a little closer to Blake, until her foot started knocking against his in a way that could almost be accidental. "Um. When did you start going to Claremont?"

Had a pretty weird encounter the today. Was cruising the financial district ~ lunch time when I came on a guy who, well, looked pretty dead. I confronted him and, uh, got blasted pretty bad. (Note: insulate armor against electrical shocks better.) I have to say, I wasn't doing too good until another hero jumped into the fight. (C.f. notes "Kid Cthulhu") Together we managed to take the dead guy down, but before the cops could show up and cart him off, a street person came rushing up and tried to use some kind of sonic weapon on KC! He busted it up pretty good, and the street person (c.f. "Under Doctor" -- I believe I just wrote that) teleported himself and the dead man out. I picked up a couple of devices from the guy, though. The first just looks like a regular coat, but it's got some sort of exo-skeleton that stops anyone from getting a good grip on it. It let him slip away away from me easily enough. Device 1 (Technology; Hard to lose; PFeat: Restricted 2; 5 pts) [4 PP] Immunity 5 (Entrapment effects) The second apparatus looks like a Walkman mating with a gramophone. I can't seem to get it to work -- I can't even see any way it could work! All the electrical systems are closed loops. Trying to figure all this out gave me a headache. Device 2 (Technology, sonic; Easy to lose; PFeat: Restricted 2; 10 PP) [6 PP] Confuse 8 (Extra: Alternate Save [Fort]) [8 PP] Oh, yeah. KC also, uh, asked me out on a date. And I said yes. So I'm going out on a date, with a boy. Cool!

As the light faded from Dragonfly's overpowering attack, most of the Worm's derelict audience was lying spread out on the ground, smoking gently. Even the resurgent Luna Moth wasn't unaffected, and she fluttered her new wings uncertainly. Only the merc in the suit, swaying gently on his feet, was untouched by the violent explosion. As she struggled upright, the the villainess pulled a glass bottle from inside her jacket. The mouth of the bottle was wrapped in a dirty rag; in one smoother motion the Worm lit the rag and hurled the incendiary at the heroine. The bottle arced through the air and exploded at the heroine's feet, the potent liquor quickly catching and engulfing her in fire. Meanwhile, far above, Ironclad took aimed down at one of the remaining mooks, now struggling to his feet. The bright ray of energy knocked the man prone again, and this time he didn't try to get up.

DC 19 Toughness save for Fly. Clad's Attack 1d20+5=22 Hiut! Mook takes 10 on Toughness. Mook goes down. Down to 4 Night Crawlers left!