KnightDisciple

Well. Gabriel's not likely to be stealthy. So...what about using a Hero Point to stunt Fascinate or something similar, and doing the exact opposite of stealth, but only for Gabriel? Basically, he strides down the hall being all "fire and brimstone", and draws all the attention to himself while the others sneak around a bit?

"Indeed. It's best we be prepared for what we may face ahead. And that we try not to make assumptions about what they may or may not possibly be able to do. Clearly they've been doing...something...for a while." Privately, Gabriel was glad the Captain had been able to handle the camera; the best he could have managed was to simply destroy it. Though, it hadn't been instant... "What are the chances they know we're here? I know you disabled that thing, but what if one of them saw us before a general alarm went up?"

"While man's desires and aspirations stir, he can not choose but err. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe." Corbin leaned forward a bit in his seat, his expression serious. "You make a mistake. You got hurt. It sucks. But instead of trying to pretend it never happened, you ought to be learning from it. I made a whole bunch of mistakes this last year. Mine were smaller individually, but collectively they meant that Young Freedom was barely a team. It's pure luck we won some of the fights we did. Lives were on the line, and that line was frayed because of my pride." He settled back into his chair again, his hands forming a steeple. "You're already working to heal yourself. And even if your research won't immediately help people, I'd wager you'll start a ball rolling somewhere. Keep your eyes open, and who knows what good may come of this? More than that, you'll grow stronger because of this. Wiser. And you'll still be a remarkable young woman who people are proud to consider a friend." At this, he gave her an encouraging smile.

"You know, if you get this working, you could be paving the way for other people with spinal injury, right? This might be the beginning that helps thousands of people gain more mobility than they ever dreamed about." Corbin paused, considering his next words carefully. "And those nano-thingys, those might be a big thing too. I know that doesn't really help, not much..." He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He felt like he was about to step into a minefield. "Jessica...What's wrong?"

"Wait! I wanted to try the meat!" Corbin sighed and sat down in his chair. He ran a hand over his face and gave Trevor and Erin a rueful smile. "One of these days I'll figure out that there's no such thing as "average" or "normal" in life. For anyone. Anyways...Nachos are always fun." He shifted awkwardly in his seat. It was clear he was still a bit shocked by some of todays revelations, but his expression made it clear he was desperate to have more friends around. Not so much that he suddenly didn't want to be around Quo-Dis, but that he wanted a little more variety. And maybe some friendly support?

I'm okay with trusting the Captain to do it, and I'll wait for both Fox and Electra to respond to the presence of the camera, so I'm not hogging the spotlight too much.

"Huh. Steam mechs draining nuclear plants. What a town." He shook his head in bemusement at the thought, before listening to Jessica's explanation of her plans to regain her mobility. "Hm. Something external? Or internal? I mean, don't they have artificial limbs that are pretty advances? The ones made by Miss Americana?" He laughed and rolled his eyes. "One of my classmates and teammates would. Not. Shut. UP. About how "totally more awesome than anyone" Miss Americana was. Constantly talked about her. She seems like a great scientist and person, but hype backlash, you know?" When she tried to reach her laptop, Corbin started to get up from his chair, but he wasn't fast enough. He winced as he heard the *thud*, but calmly moved over to her. "Hang on, and just relax for a second." With that, the large young man reached down and scooped Jessica up in his two arms, lifting her as if he couldn't even feel the weight. She was placed back on the bed gently, the tangled sheets shaken out and rearranged. A moment later, the table was placed within easy reach. "If you're not going to freak out about being paralyzed, then you'd better not freak out about asking for help." The scolding words were somewhat undermined by the friendly smile he gave her as he retook his seat. "Now. You were going to show me something on your laptop?"

"Yeah, I wasn't just going to ditch you because you were heading to the other coast, not when that's not as big of a barrier as some might say. Not for us. As for "so few years", we'll just have to see. Maybe I'll stick around longer than you think, just to show you up!" He gave her a wink as he gathered up the tray of buns, as well as grabbing a couple of bags of chips, and snagging the two cola bottles with blue fire-hands. He wasn't far behind his girlfriend, eyeing the meat tray with a bit of curiosity and a lot of hunger. He set everything down carefully, before starting to head back into the kitchen, talking as he walked. "Save me a bit of each, at least. I want to try them all. Just gotta get the ice and glasses. Trevor, Erin, if you guys don't want either of the sodas I brought out, just let me kno-WAIT A SECOND!" The sudden exclamation came out of nowhere, before in a flare of blue light (that damaged nothing), Corbin was standing in front of Quo-Dis, lightly gripping her shoulders as he stared into her eyes, his own wide and manic. "Just a minute ago. Did you...did you just ask me to marry you?" The boy doesn't sound angry, but he does seem rather befuddled. Probably not a totally foreign expression to his apparent fiancee.

"I heard there was a robot working at the Lab." Corbin grinned a bit as he got a laugh out of his bedridden friend. "Pleasure to meet you, Jessica. Though...How exactly are you going to handle your spinal injury?" He winced when he said that, but perhaps it was good to get it out in the open. "No, that makes sense. It's why I prefer actually making visual art to looking at it, and why I want to go into archeology. Speaking of which, no, we don't know everything about history. Heck, just a couple years ago we dug up a whole new pyramid and tomb in Egypt. We're finding new bits of information all the time! We've found records of a few Roman Emperors pretty recently. In general, it's a combination of searching for new dig sites, and then taking all the scraps and piecing together a bigger picture. There's so much to find out, because it's only been probably 600 or so years that we've really seen a lot of historical writing happen on a wider basis. Past a certain point, you're tracing rumors and legend to just find...something."

"Third question: Do you have any "contingency plans" that might be bringing any forces to rescue you rather than kill you?" Gabriel was as implacable as any rock Gaian Knight could pull from the ground. He spoke with a calm, level voice that hinted at a man whose patience was not great for the being in front of him. "You are clearly an intelligent person, and you managed to acquire a suit of armor, clothes, and a ship, and make it here to Earth Prime. You'll understand if I'm...cautious...regarding possible secondary plans."

So, if the others don't come up with an idea...If "turned to dusty scrap" counts for "disabled", couldn't Gabriel (or one of the others) just annihilate it? Like, shoot, I could one-two punch it with Drain Toughness and then Blast, and it's tiny metal flakes. But I'm not sure if that's in the spirit of what you're going for here.

Gabriel had been standing quietly to one side, spear stowed away for the moment, arms crossed over his chest, and head bowed. To the others, perhaps it looked like he was praying while they debated their approach. Praying, or perhaps resting? "That place isn't shut down for the night. I hear...machines, chemicals, electricity, things like that. Steps. But...no voices. Perhaps a patrol. And possibly in a basement." He opened his eyes and walked over to the others, stopping to consider the three heroes for a moment, tapping his chin in thought. Then he smiled. "I have an idea. None of us can see through walls, but I'd wager we could get on the roof pretty quietly. At that point, if we work together, I think we can get through quietly. I could warp the metal, make it as weak as paper. Then, the three of you grab and lift gently. It comes away quiet, or at least quiet enough the other noises cover it up. Then we slip inside and commence investigation." He gave a shrug. "Or we wait for the contact a bit, then try that. Thoughts?"

"A bunch of hotshot scientists with sky-high IQs not always agreeing? Why, however would that happen? As for conflict with friends, you've got a point. Maybe when I get a chance I'll try to sit down for lunch with Eve, clear the air..." He considered her words for a moment. Then suddenly, he took a half-step forward and offered her his hand and a smile. "My name is Corbin Alphonse Hughes, Bearer of the Blue Ring of the Courageous Leader. How are you doing today?" He gave a chuckle. "Might as well give ourselves a bit of a do-over, eh? So. I know you do science-y things at the science-y Lab, and you...had...a pretty potent suit of armor. But I'm not really clear on what science-y things you do, precisely. Me, I'm starting at Freedom City University's History Department in the fall."

TT, from where we are, what could the following get me: Target is the named warehouse there.

"Stabilize the portal? I'm up for it, but..." Cobalt Templar shrugs as Inquisitor Hughes rolls his eyes a bit (though it's unclear who it's directed toward). "How? I mean, I need to know how to shape my energy. I can't just point it to a dimensional portal and say "stabilize this", I don't understand high-end dimensional physics." "He's got something of a point there. At any rate, if he's stabilizing from this side, would it be helpful for me to stabilize from the inside?"

Notice Check: 26.

"Or I can just learn how to fly faster, maybe. But you're right, college happens all the time." He gave them both a small smile. "Thanks, guys. I'll...I'll be right back. I'm going to go help her prep the food." With that, Corbin strode into the kitchen, leaving Erin and Trevor alone in the casual dining room, looking out over the lawn (which was admittedly pretty bland at the moment). The young man was quickly caught up with Quo-Dis, and for a moment he just silently went to washing his hands and helping her put the food together. Finally, he spoke up softly. "So. Recruited for a super-team, huh? Pretty impressive; I haven't gotten any offers yet, though I've sorta stayed low-profile for the last year. Um. Look. I don't think this is as bad as either of us seems to be thinking it is. Or treating it. Or however. I mean-" He turns to look at his lady love. "We've both got phones with video chat features. And we can both fly. I can't fly super-fast yet, but that's only because I haven't really had to push myself yet. I bet I could figure out how to make it from here to Cali in 20 minutes if you gave me a week. I mean, we wouldn't see each other every day, but I bet we could meet up at least once a week, you know? It...it's not like it was, but we can totally make it work." He stepped forward, unconsciously reaching out to gently take hold of one of her hands. "I mean, that's what we both want, right?"

Yeah, this thing's dead. It's partly my fault, but the lack of half the cast participating played into it. At this point, we've all edited so many times it'd be a pain to try and remember our old sheets, but using the new sheets would be awkward for some. So...yeah. Sorry this outing sucked so much, folks. Summary: Everyone gets to the compound, and even to the part where the supercomputer is. They run into the Interceptors. There's a fight. Good guys win. Bad guys lose, are beaten near to death, whatever. Alt!Arrowhawk is rescued along with other prisoners. Everybody gets back to the boat, which soon leaves for Panama. Slightly stressful trip back to submarine (fear of discovery). Everyone gets on the sub, goes back to base. People are happy. Everyone goes home. Alt!Gabe isn't seen because he's in a coma due to the pain of his injuries and the long, slow healing process. So, hey, you don't have to deal with him, and he's in discomfort. Yay. Any questions?

Gabriel let Fleur and GK worry about putting up barriers around the ship. He troubled himself with keeping guard on the "defecting" Annihilist in front of them. He planted his feet in a wide stance, holding the spear ramrod-straight as he stared directly at Shadian, disgust present on his face. "Are you trying to say you believe you're a valuable asset? Or that since you're a clone, you can't be held responsible for things done previously?" He quirked his head to one side, slightly curious. "Though, I do have to wonder...How many other cloning banks were destroyed? How many Shadian Steelgraves are left in the Terminus?"

Corbin had slowed as Quo-Dis started to speak, curious about her "announcement". He knew she'd been somewhat quieter the last few days, and apparently this was the explanation. 'Maybe she's going to be trying out a local unive-' His thoughts ground to a halt when she first said she'd been scouted by a super-group in California, then said that she was "sorry", and that the time "hadn't been right" before just now. He tried to understand just what she meant by "I am sorry". He hoped beyond anything it meant "I'm sorry I won't be staying in town all the time", and not what he feared it meant. He stood still as she went into the kitchen, before slowly looking at his two friends, an expression of shock on his face. "She...I mean, that's not totally bad, right? We can both fly, and there's telephones and stuff. Right, guys?" The desperation was palpable in his words.

"Glad to hear there's no further danger. And glad you're taking things in stride." He glanced around the room before stepping to the window and examining the view. All of it was fairly obvious pretense for him gathering his thoughts. Finally, he spoke, his tone rather weighty. "I've decided I'm a pretty terrible friend to the few people who I count as actual friends. Though we don't know each other that well, I count you a friend, Jessica. But in two years at Claremont, two years on Young Freedom, and two iterations on the team..." He turned back to look her in the eye. "I feel like I made only a few genuine friends. Erin and Trevor are friends; Mark's a friend, though he's also...Mark. Eve and I, though...This last year was difficult. I was bull-headed, she was strong-willed, we never decided how we'd try to lead the team. I never connected to the younger members of the team, not really. Heck, I fought more often with some of them than I fought bad guys alongside them. Outside of Young Freedom, I've got Quo-Dis, Blake, and you as people I feel any real friendship with. Oh, there are others I'm friendly with, I guess. And I know we're just barely friends. But now that I'm not even at Claremont, I want to strengthen what bonds I do have. Between the hectic times a year ago, and the rather frightening incident at the July 4th Fundraiser, I've made myself sit down and think about things." He gave a vague wave toward Jessica's condition at the moment. "Considering you're laying here paralyzed, it seemed like it would be a good thing to visit you. I don't know how many visitors you get right now, but one more can't hurt. If me being here makes you uncomfortable or something, I can head out." He was clearly feeling a bit out of his depth, but was also genuine in his words.

Suddenly the "man's" limbs seized up; his body refused to move, even his mouth. He was left frozen, mid-stride, as his entire nervous system just refused to do anything but tell his body to stay in place. There had been no obvious flash of light, but the air around him had blurred for a moment... Then Gabriel spoke as he lowered his hand, genuine anger and disgust leaking through the tight control of himself. "You don't get to call this place holy, wretch. Be silent." He walked up behind the tall creature and struck the back of its head with the butt of his spear. Its eyes fluttered closed, and it sagged in place a bit, clearly unconscious. A moment later, the ultrasonic-sound-induced paralysis faded, and it collapsed bonelessly to the floor. Gabriel turned to face the others. "This can't be the only one. We need to move fast. Let's go. Eyes sharp, ears open. I'll light the way." He turned and strode down the corridor, his spear making the hallway as bright as a noon day in the park, his coat billowing out behind him as he strode with purpose ever-closer to their destination.

Corbin had juggled the cards and flowers to one hand just before walking into the room; he'd meant to do so sooner, but the...scenery...along the way distracted him. He'd had to shake off the rather morbid mood it tried to instill in him. Instead, he gave Jessica a smile, though obviously he was saddened seeing her in her current condition. He walked over to a nearby end table and set down the flowers and cards. "Hey. Heard about what happened; Erin let me know. It..." He paused, trying to think of a way to phrase this. "I'm sorry it happened. The flowers are from me and my parents; they're not much, but hey, a little color helps. Cards from me, my folks, Quo-Dis. Blake would write one, but...he's been sequestered in some sort of super-ritual, over at Parkhurst. It's supposed to help with his current, ah, power source. Something about bad interactions between that, Parkhurst, and other magic users. So, uh. How are you? You know. With, uh. Yeah." He was clearly uncomfortable, concerned, and clueless on how to speak about this.

Corbin Alphonse Hughes walked into the lobby of Freedom Medical Center, dressed casually but still looking a bit uncomfortable. He glanced around before walking up to the receptionist's desk. He was holding a couple of cards, as well as a small bouquet of flowers. Corbin gives a smile to the person on duty at the desk. "Ah, yes. I was hoping to visit a friend. Jessica Parker? I've taken to understand she's in the long-term care department. Would you be so kind as to direct me to her room, and how I could get there?"

"If it's got a battery or something like that, and just needs a charge, I think I-we-can charge it." "We can?" "I've got enough control I could conjure up a charger or something. Then the Inquisitor could feed power into it." "I'd rather not explode it." "That's why you're feeding the charge in; you seem to have more fine control over how much power you put into things. You're better equipped to do a trickle-charge." The Inquisitor was honestly surprised the other him was so helpful; surprised enough he wasn't unduly frustrated by yet another delay thanks to the bumbling artificial intelligence-thing. "I suppose that makes sense. Assuming it would work..."