Fox

"Rift, Rift...." Mara frowned, tapping a finger against the bench. "Short black hair, guitar player? We've met." She paused, finally adding, "He's...not my type." change the subject change the subject - suspect double date might be awkward Getting back up on her feet, she turned to fondly look around at her warehouse. "I get out sometimes. See a movie, treat myself to dinner. Pleasurable. If smoochless."

She tilted her head, thinking back. "Stopped two arms deals. Research...did stop by a junkyard and found very nice materials. Steel, military grade. Didn't know what he had. Was a steal. Not...literal, but almost." Mara shrugged, apparently completely unbothered by having spent most of the week in her warehouse. "Not much else. Quiet few days."

Dragonfly nodded. "Sentry Statue. Can do it on my way home." 'home' - still odd "Not too far out of my way." "For cars...." She shrugged. "Anonymously. No plates, changing plates, false identity. Could grab a random car..." She put her hand on her chin, apparently seriously considering that option before waving the hand and dismissing it. "Quality concerns. Theft issues. Morally ambiguous."

Mara shrugged, shaking her head. chop-sockey action flicks? - strange target for villainy - research maybe - look for mentions in the news "Good excuse for a follow-up date. Re-view the movie. Properly, this time. Hopefully." She tilted her head, just a hint of a smile on her face but when she spoke her voice was still deadpan. "More kisses that way."

Now Dragonfly blinked. "Your car is registered to you?" She was already moving, though. big - mass in excess of - rough estimate? - good enough - charge Both gauntlets lit up as she placed her hands flat against the side of the car, scattered lines like creases in paper spreading out from her touch. As they met on the far side space around the vehicle began to buckle and fold, looking nothing more than like Escher and Lovecraft got together for some origami. In a few seconds the whole thing had collapsed away into nothing, just an empty street and a girl with rapidly-fading arm accessories.

She laughed a little despite herself, covering her mouth with the (relatively) clean back of her hand to muffle it. "Don't have much context to judge by, myself. Sounds good, though. Glad for you." Mara turned around and leaned back against the workbench, arms crossed as she addressed the...well, the thin air. "So tell me about your date. Other than the kiss. Good movie?"

She grimaced. "Not really. Questions and paperwork. Good to just leave them to their jobs." Dragonfly reached out, a motorcycle twisting and folding out from under he hand to rest on the street. "Things to do, anyway. Repairs, adjustments. Baths. Many baths." may never be clean again - ugh She paused, looking hesitant before turning back and adding, "T...thank you. For helping me. I...it's complicated, but getting this back means a lot. To me. Looking forward to hearing from you, I think."

"Ah. Hello, Jessica." Mara pulled herself away from her project, putting down her tools and wiping grease on her overalls. try not to think about kissing boys - unsettling "Congratulations. Sounds like a good date...from your tone, he's a good kisser?" happy - happy for her - jealous? - not of a boy....

Dragonfly nodded, lights flickering behind her eyes as she put the visor back into place with a firm click. A phone number popped up on the little chat window from earlier. "Will try to answer. Can't, always. Get wrapped up in things, projects...sleep, once in a while." She turned her head to look over at the sirens, frowning. "Don't...don't spread it around if you can. Value anonymity. Safer." She snapped out of her thoughts, turning back to her new friend. "You have one? A number, I mean. Suppose I could just look you up...."

who...? Mara was literally arm-deep in some half-finished invention or another when the phone rang - she sighed, letting it ring a few times before mentally putting it on speaker-phone. The warehouse provided subtle echo as she tiredly gave her usual warm and friendly phone 'hello'. "Number is unlisted. If you're a telemarketer, or not supposed to have this number, I will blow up your phone."

She hesitated, a thousand thoughts running through her mind, but in the end the only one remaining was have to trust someone eventually. Dragonfly reached up and gently pulled her visor free from its mount, exposing a pair of tired, strung-out dark blue eyes. She shook the hand. "Defeating the Conqueror Worm certainly does. Mara H-....Mara." hope I don't regret this - have to take chances sometimes? - uncomfortable but nice

Dragonfly opened her mouth to counter, but paused, and finally had to shut it and shove her hands in her jacket pockets, mucking her way down the tunnel after Ironclad. "Point. After you." personal note - re-re-re-prioritize wings

She sighed, flicking muck off her pants and looking up to get her bearings and find the tunnel they came in through. "Very much. Yes. Call the police. Take a shower." She flicked away another piece of...something she didn't want to look too hard at. "Several showers." At a mental command her gauntlets lit up, space folding in around her. As she twisted and disappeared, there was a similar effect up at the ledge they'd entered the basin from, depositing her on her feet and looking much happier to be standing on (relatively) more solid footing. "Coming?"

Dragonfly stood there stunned, and twitched a little as her eyes cleared to see no sign of the villain. "Wh..." She twitched a little, and then began a short, rambling string of curses in three languages. should have - could have - why how what - @#$@@#@*&^@#*&$@*$@&$@*&%@ When she finally got her tongue back under control she reached under her visor to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Got none of them. 50 or more worthless flunkies, but no real villains. Heads, masterminds. Just....hhh. At least I - we - got m--..the cannon first."

Dragonfly shook her head, kneeling down in the muck to reach under the weapon and mess with something. "Good plan. Still. At least you weren't set on fire." She apparently found what she was looking for, and the cannon detached and pulled away from Worm's arm, letting the young woman just slide it off. "Or shot." She held the cannon up for a moment, critically inspecting it as she turned it over in her hands. intact stable unused - good - salvage a couple parts - destroy the rest Little lines ran across it, the cannon turning and folding in on itself before vanishing into nothing. Wiping muck off her now-empty hands onto Worm's back, she pulled out a couple zip-ties and bound the villain's hands and feet. going nowhere - too much trouble to leave loose The young woman took a moment to glance around the room, at all the breathing, unconscious bodies. will be a lot of paperwork - pity the police

Shaking her head, Dragonfly gave the last standing fighter a side full of shockwave, taking him clear off his feet and away from the group before he landed in a heap. "Fire and mud. Not our day."

Ranged Attack Roll vs. Vagrant (Blast) (1d20 + 7=27) ....you've got to be kidding me.

Dragonfly stopped no more than fifteen feet away, bringing her force field - no longer weak and twitching - back up around her profile as the remaining trio pulled out weapons. better safe than sorry - would be depressing to fail now Bringing her hand up she gave the one on the left a back full of churning reality. "Don't even know why they try."

No more Master Plan. Force Field, go! Back to Toughness 6, not counting the bruises. Ranged Attack Roll vs. Vagrant (Blast) (1d20 + 7=20) DC23 Toughness.

careful - get the arm mount back - priorities Dragonfly started off towards the fallen villain, firing a blast at one of the vagrants as she ran. Her force field twitched and unfolded, apparently having been shut down entirely. "Will never understand...'minions'. 'Mooks'. So devoted. Why? To what? Waste of power and energy."

Master Plan's down to +1. Dragonfly's dropping the force field so it can build back up while they're trying to beat the snot out of Ironclad. Ranged Attack Roll vs. Vagrant (Blast, Master Plan) (1d20 + 7 + 1=27) SLDKGHASG another freaking 19. I swear she gets so many of these I need to get Improved Critical on that blast, or just her gauntlets in general. DC23 Toughness for the vagrant.

The corner of Dragonfly's mouth twitched. "She isn't chemistry. She is a person. Not answering the man's question. 'They' is not a 'who'. Names. Locations. Organizations. Records." Her tone could have been used to freeze and cut through solid oak. "Quickly."

The moment she saw the opening, Dragonfly kicked her gauntlets into high gear. She sent Ironclad a quick message of 'Nice shot!' as they warmed up, bracing herself and bringing both hands up to launch a large, twisting distortion that carved a small groove in the floor as it flew towards its target. slower than normal - won't matter - new power source working very well minimal drain - heroes usually say something here? She lowered her hands, watching the blast go. "Catch." note - work on heroic quips

....I don't trust my dice. Playing it relatively safe, here. Per the house rules, taking a -2 Attack / +2 Damage tradeoff. Master Plan is now +2. Ranged Attack Roll vs. Worm (Blast, Master Plan) (1d20 + 7 + 2=23) And having JUST typed that, I go and forget to put the -2 in the roll itself. I'm an idiot, and swear I decided before making that roll. This is what I get for using Chrome's field completion things too much. At a -2 on top of that, it's 21, which still hits nicely. If she's prone (wasn't sure) it's 17, which is still a hit. DC25 Toughness save for Worm.

Seeing the guns come out Dragonfly threw up a hand, a large, flat, circular distortion twisting into being as the first bullets came her way. Each bullet that reached the shield blurred, streaking across it in an instant to be spat out the edges, clear of the heroine. The revolver, though, packed a little too much punch in just the right spot - it got deflected across the shield and into the young woman's shoulder. Her defenses stopped it, but barely: she grunted a bit at the impact and the force field itself flickered and twitched for a moment. She glanced up at the pipe the other two villains had disappeared through. unfortunate - will track down later - am sure they'll appear again - focus is here - still has the device - minions unimpressive That brought her attention back down to the Worm. "Allies left you! Should disarm and surrender while you can. Make the whole thing easier for everybody." Not really waiting for an answer, she sent another blast the Worm's way, wincing a bit as she had to move the shoulder.