Fox

Dragonfly snorted, sitting back in a chair before the last of the fight's adrenaline had a chance to flush out of her system and leave her with shaky legs. "Not that young. And would be difficult to argue I'm a 'lady'. But thank you. Didn't almost damage my lungs this time, at least." One of her gauntlets unlatched itself - under protest, letting another spark loose as it powered down - and she pulled it off, shaking the freed hand and giving the damage a critical eye. "Was an...ungraceful 'jaunt'. Took advantage of the ambient radiation types. Not something I want to try again...without reactor and Hiroshima's...lingering presence, would have made it half as far, and probably torn holes in space. Try to avoid that. Difficult to clean up, invites very bad things to visit through the tears."

Tarrant glanced around, whistling. "Man. A house that literally grows as you need it to. It's probably a little weird to say after what I just spent the day doing, but that's gotta be pretty handy." He chuckled, pulling his goggles down around his neck. "Floating castles made in a day, plant houses that can be told to add to themselves...somewhere back in Freedom City, a contractor weeps." The dirt and dust that liked to cling to him while he was working flowed across him, collecting in one hand to keep it from getting on anything in Stesha's house. "Do you need help with lunch?" he asked, tucking the little dirt-crafted rock away in a coat pocket.

Mara finished putting on the vest, tugging it and the underlying shirt into place. The clothes were a little larger than they were on her girlfriend, but she generally preferred that anyway, for comfort. "Just ate my weight in tamales," she wryly noted, looking down at herself. "Admittedly, not that much weight. Still. And...thank you." She ducked her head a little, apparently pleased that her clothes met muster. "Invested in nicer clothes recently. For...dates, and things like this. Still prefer overalls or t-shirt and jeans for casual wear, but...admit it's nice to look nice. Sometimes. Can never prove I said so," she cautioned, wagging a finger. "Have a reputation to keep."

Dragonfly had a lot to say about Supercape collapsing, but most of it was in Russian and almost all of it was extremely unladylike. "" she curtly noted over the building-wide comm system. "" She let go of the comm button, took a few steps toward Supercape...and then turned around, hitting the button again. "" Now she made her way to the fallen caped hero, trying to figure out how she was supposed to get him...where? The Lab? East coast United States would be a heck of a trip, and that was his area of expertise. could do it - in theory - but would need some kind of... Her gaze landed on the reactor they'd both popped out into; the one that was still flooded with radiation. Math and mechanical designs flowed through her mind. that could work She put a hand down on Supercape's shoulder, folding him away into storage - not the kindest thing to do to an injured man, but better than what she was about to do. Both gauntlets flared to life, visibly burning out parts or cracking glasswork as the world around her just...collapsed, nearby radiation spinning into an almost visible sinkhole that led into nothing. Or, in this case, led across the ocean to the medical floors of the Lab, where Dragonfly appeared in a (defanged and harmless) burst of radiation, ungracefully hitting the ground shoulder-first. She managed to get back on her feet before too many people saw her pratfall and, wearily and with smoking gauntlets, brought Supercape back out onto the nearest level surface she could find. "Medic?"

Well, first, Dragonfly pulls Supercape into storage. It's gonna be a bumpy ride! Extra Effort to stunt off her spatial array: Teleport 9 (20,000 miles; Extras: Accurate, Flaws: Long-Range) [18pp] 18, not 20 pp; the extra effort inflicts fatigue on her gauntlets, burning them out and losing 2pp off all their powers. Devices! 20,000 miles is over twice the diameter of the Earth, so that'll do just fine. Teleporting to the Lab's med rooms, and then pulling Supercape back out of her pocket.

Tarrant snorted, whispering with a tone of overblown mock conspiracy. "Are you kidding? We should get going while the going's good!" He chuckled, watching the group fly off until they were the size his instincts were pretty sure bees should be. "There's not much there that they can destroy, honestly. Not yet. All I had to work with was stone, so that's all they'll find there...even if they did manage to break something, I could put it back up. Goodness knows I have some repair work ahead of me anyway." He opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it, quirking an eyebrow. "I was about to say something along the lines of, 'What are they going to do, bring down the islands?', but, ah, in this line of work maybe it's best not to tempt fate. If anyone could find a way, it'd be giant, talking bees."

"Supercape doesn't have a beard," Mara quipped, watching Ellie lie back with more than a little interest. She dropped her shirt on the reclining medic before she was tempted to do something they might regret later. "Besides. Am already a cautionary tale for Lab interns. Like the boogeyman - boogeywoman. 'Be careful who you anger,'" she intoned, slipping her arms into Ellie's dress shirt. "'Dragonfly needs test subjects!' Probably a good threat...haven't ended up with my own intern yet. Sort of enjoy the reputation. Better than people trying to be subtle about offering me food."

Mara was already halfway out of her shirt, exposing a bra designed more for looking good under the shirt than without it; she'd apparently fretted over looking good, but not been expecting to lose her shirt. Not that she apparently minded, as both eyes widened a bit as she shook her head. "No! No, no. S...sorry. Not very good at emoting, and too fond of deadpan. Really do think it's funny. Not..." She bit her lip. "Probably not something I'd do on my own. But wouldn't do most things on my own. Not that...outgoing. Good to be...phrase...'pulled out of my shell', sometimes. Healthier."

"Exactly what I was mentioning earlier," Mara noted with mock seriousness. "Bad influence. Being around you promotes bad behavior." The idea may have deepened the blush a little (if such a thing were possible), and her tone may have been pretending to be severe, but her hands were already working at the buttons of her shirt. "Should fit you - don't like my clothing too tight. But am looking forward to seeing you wear a shirt a size or two too small; that and the hilarity - worth any mocking we get downstairs."

"Mmh." Dragonfly nodded, and something behind her eyes - Ema's eyes - shifted. She wasn't as familiar with the code as Miss Americana was, having simply spent less time around Sharl (and almost no time poking at any of Sharl's code that wasn't immediately obvious; it just didn't seem comfortable somehow), but she'd been observing and carefully exploring the surrounding simulation almost nonstop since they'd arrived. perks of not being the one who has to talk to people or lead the way Like Miss Americana, Dragonfly's projection went invisible and insubstantial; unlike Miss Americana, she also physically changed, turning a little more abstract and ghost-like. "Could get used to this," she noted, floating about an inch off the ground as she kept pace with the other heroine. "Convenient."

Mara blinked for a moment - not offended or upset, just trying to get her brain working again so she could parse idioms. "Put a pin...mmh!" All at once she remembered where they were, and more importantly, who else was in the building. Her already-deep blush only got deeper and she ducked her head, glancing down toward the lower floor of the house. "I...yes. Good idea." She coughed, shifting on the bed and pulling her hair back behind an ear. "Glad you stopped me before...mmh. Might have been awkward later."

Dragonfly went back to the console rubbing her head, wincing as she found a bump or two that hadn't been there a day ago. She used the back of her metal (and thankfully insulated) gauntlets to hit as many buttons and switches for radiation containment and absorption systems and fail-safes as she could find. These, she was satisfied to note, seemed to be properly constructed...more or less. She glanced around for the control-to-reactor intercom, less because Supercape wouldn't be able to hear her (what with the damaged walls and ruined windows) and more because she was entirely too tired to try to shout over machine noise. "Please tell me he's gone, or defeated, and not dead. Preferably without his stolen power."

Dragonfly went back to the scans while Miss Americana talked, keeping an ear on the conversation but otherwise turning her attention to the available data. Really, part of the problem was that she was too used to seeing her brain - perfect memory or not, looking for commonalities and differences wasn't as easy without putting the two side-by-side. could? - no - too many questions - not that hard - concentrate She chewed her lip, studying, and periodically linking up to the nearest available semi-secured computer to look up a thing or two and trying to remember to not get so involved that she missed anything that was said.

Tarrant rubbed the back of his head, pondering. "It's not really done," he addressed the bees, "so be a little careful where you go looking. And a lot of it, I'm afraid, isn't really bee-sized. Well, giant-bee-sized, anyway. Ah, don't make a mess, please, especially when I get some nicer things in there...and if you're curious, you can all go take a look for the next couple of days without asking, and get it out of your system. I can't promise I'll be around here all the time, but if I'm around you're welcome to come on up if you need anything."

Dragonfly took cover behind the console, throwing up both hands - a twisting, two-dimensional circle pulled itself into being at her fingertips just as the blast was unleashed, and most of the inferno arced up and over, cutting a deep line into the wall behind her where it was being shunted. Most of the inferno, unfortunately, but not all. The last surge of the explosion threw her backwards, slamming her bodily into that same wall just under the plasma-worn groove. She stumbled, her shield disappearing and force field flickering, but by some miracle managed to stay on her feet; the young heroine shook her head to clear the stars and her force field came back in full force before its faltering could be taken advantage of.

Dragonfly's incapable of making that reflex save, so not even gonna try. Even if impossible save rules applied to exotic saves (which they might?), a natural 20 would only get her the 'minimal effect of failing'...which for reflex saves against area attacks, is just plain old failure. Bummer. Thankfully, Evasion 2 means she only takes half effect regardless. So: Toughness Save vs. Hiroshima's Explosion, DC25 (Evasion 2) (1d20 + 8=20) Failure by 5; stunned + bruised. Stunned means it's concentration checks time, though. Concentration checks to maintain Force Field (DC18) and Shield (DC18) while stunned (1d20 + 5=25, 1d20 + 5=17) Dragonfly keeps her force field, but her defense drops to 2 (4, minus 2 from the stun). Screw that. Dragonfly spends her new HP to shake off the stun, and a free action as soon as it's her turn to bring her shield back online.

At the sound of concrete going to plasma Dragonfly poked her head up over the edge of the console, frowning at the ongoing fight. She'd had enough small engineering accidents in her warehouse to know that sound, and it wasn't exactly a good sign. better than flesh-to-plasma at least - blinking light - shouldn't be long now - blinking light - just have to hold on for a few more- - blinking light - what? - oh - @#$% She ducked back under the console, giving a panel a swift smack with the butt of her multi-tool to shake loose some wires, which she promptly re-wired to stop the reactor from burning itself out too early. swear this thing is made from duct tape and tin foil

"Practice," Mara happily replied, blushing and feeling a little light-headed. never get used to that - hopefully never will "Lots of practice. Whenever possible. With you. Always did learn quickly." She smiled, an honest-to-goodness happy smile, and leaned her head over to return a neck nuzzle she dimly remembered owing the younger girl. There was something quietly exciting about this kind of closeness in a place that wasn't 'hers' - in a place that was, in fact, Ellie's, and distinctly so; she'd have given that more thought to figure out why if she didn't have other things far more worthy of her attentions.

Laughing, Tarrant held up a hand. "No, no...it's not a bad idea, exactly. I don't think Miss Fleur wants to buy or make a bee-sized hot tub's worth of champagne, of course, but some extra heating in the winter might not be so bad. I'll tell you what: when it gets cold again, remind me and I'll see about heating up your water supply a little. It should keep the hive warmer, and give anyone who had to go outside a nice place to heat back up." And me time to practice, he added, but only to himself. Heating their water pool would probably mean finding some sort of nearby geothermal vent or magma tube, and that wasn't the kind of thing you bring close to a dwelling without having a pretty good idea of what you're doing and how you're doing it.

Mara bit her lip, blushing a little and shifting position a bit on the bed to sit more comfortably. "...might as well make them honest?" she completed, lacing her fingers with Ellie's. She leaned toward the younger woman until their foreheads touched. "Think I like that plan," she agreed, and tilted her head for a kiss. A slow, soft, sweet kiss, tender and taking its time - since they apparently had some time to take. if I am going to get teased - am going to make sure I have something to be teased for - worse things in life to get grief over anyway

"Would be...complex to evacuate everybody," Mara replied. She'd very obviously heard the alert, but apparently decided it was a point worth addressing. "Possible, but relatively time and resource intensive. And likely carries any number of risks. Best to try to fix things first, concentrating on tasks at hand." She chewed on her lip for a moment - it was her instinct to try to save whatever mutants were getting raided, but she had to admit that probably wasn't the best option. Uncomfortable to not do, but not wise to try. "Could try taking a look at closed-off areas, first. Immobile and hopefully less reactive hazard. Mutants would be...unpredictable. And possibly dangerous, given the...mmh. Paranoia. Don't know if they deserve raids, but must be some small reason somewhere to justify police action. Or justify small events, then escalation that lead to police action."

"It's nice," Mara defended taking a few steps around, "tour or not. Bedrooms are...private places. Personal space. Maybe just my own hangups, but...still. Means a lot to see it. Beautiful mirrors and books and...mmh...interesting accessories," she noted, glancing from the items in question to Ellie with a raised eyebrow, "and all." She sat down on the edge of the bed next to Ellie with her hands in her lap, just looking around in silence for a moment. "....so. How long, estimated, do we have before they think we've been here too long?"

Dragonfly skidded to a stop in front of the control console, trying to concentrate less on the madman in the reactor and more on the task at hand. It was a little easier said than done, but she scowled at the computers, muttering to herself. "Would need that - and those - and - have to be kidding. Don't have a switch for - mmh. Never that convenient." The engineer reached for the multi-tool she kept on her belt, flicking it open like a switch-blade. "" she told the machine, unceremoniously starting to unscrew maintenance panels. ""

Hm. Yeah, maybe, if she's having to actually dig around in the console. Dice, of course, are evil and untrustworthy. Plus Invisible Castle keeps going down lately. Skill Mastery: taking 10, minus two for having her multitool but no proper tools. Final check of 25.

"Not expecting detailed maps and official reports," Dragonfly chimed in, tilting her head. "But...general ideas are helpful. Details about abnormalities, common areas problems occur, frequent symptoms. Rumors, even: assuming mutants are quarantined, but no secret is perfect - knowing what is done with - to? for? - them could be useful. City itself, too, like Mary said. 'Bad' areas, locations recently labelled unsafe for civilians. Significant disasters without explanation. Don't know how much of it is helpful, but better over-informed than under."