ic Cultural Competence (IC)

[Tarrakhash]

"No I absolutely don't...you smell bad though...", and the guy totally did, as Chromium pounded away at Silver-Uzi with little to no effect while shrugging off the massive blow from his foe. His feet clattered through the broken surface of the floor, scattering bits of concrete and kicking up dust as he heard Wadjet yelling "...the goddamned Jigsaw Man!" His molten silver eyes flickered towards her, just for a moment, before focusing back on his foe and frowning,"Smells more like the rotten man if you ask me!"

 

He was getting tired of the slug fest, it was time to take this guy down hard, he'd been a damn good wrestler back in school, and he'd learned a few more tricks while under the care of Aegis and he wasn't afraid to use them. With a quick fast jab he darted forward, switching the way he stood to a much less powerful stance aimed at getting him close to his opponent and dragging him to the ground. Or at least that was the plan, dragging his feet as he did so he hit a pipe or something slightly more solid than the cracked concrete and he stumbled the jab flying wide as he struggled to keep his feet underneath him his next few blows flying far wide as he just tried to get his limited defenses back up.

 

He had always been about straight up attack, and perhaps that shouldn't really change.

[Avenger Assembled]

The Jigsaw Man began chanting again - and suddenly that stink of dead chickens and human blood was filling Chromium's metal nostrils, seeming to pour down his throat and assault his very core! His bowels twitched and his metal body shivered as unholy energy seemed to suffuse his body as the eldritch glow in the Jigsaw Man's eyes grew to cover Chromium's tough hide too. Wadjet cursed explosively at that, worked her gun and fired - and a ball of chemicals hit the Jigsaw Man right in the cheek! He gagged and staggered as the fluid was absorbed into his skin and in his mouth, for a moment retching with two tongues simultaneously. Both combatants were weakened now, shaken by eldritch magic and powerful soporifics - the fight was still anyone's game. 

[Tarrakhash]

Disease, Poison, he was immune to most of the things that bothered normal humans, but magic....magic was another thing entirely. It had been a few years since he had felt ill and even then he'd never felt like this, almost totally disabled. Staggering he stepped back, watching the glow spread across his silvery skin, this had to end and soon but he could hardly move without wanting to retch. Shaking his head he staggered a little more away, seemingly overcome with nausea.

 

In fact he was just trying to get Wadjet out of his arc of fire as he suddenly turned, staring at the Magical Voodoo Aztec man and the body he possessed,"Time to cast this demon back to Hell! Let's send him out of here...." Raising his hands above his shoulders golden arcs of energy ran up his arms making the silver flesh ripple like it was made of liquid and then just before it reached the very tips of his fingers he slammed his hands together and a resounding blast shot out from his fingertips golden waves of energy rippling through the air in a cone slamming into bits of furniture and smashing it to kindling before meeting the Jigsaw man in a golden flurry.

[Avenger Assembled]

Chromium's mighty blow knocked the Jigsaw Man backwards, blasting him into the room from which he'd initially emerged. And it did more than that - the house, already battered by the fight between the two superpowered titans and damaged from Chromium's initial entrance, shook violently. The next thing Chromium heard was a terrific ripping sound above his head as joists parted and plaster began falling; the ceiling was caving in as the area where the Jigsaw Man had landed began collapsing and sinking against the side of the house. Wadjet  cursed and flung herself backwards into the stairwell as the ceiling by the stairs fell in entirely, ceiling beams and floor joints banging downwards in a terrific concussion that would have crushed her had she stood still. There was no sign of the Jigsaw Man now - but would the house stand up?

[Tarrakhash]

The AEGIS agents had spoken to him time and time again about his weight, his strength and taking them into consideration but when you are fighting a possessed Voodoo Aztec man you couldn't much around with holding back! And of course the result was that he was literally bringing the house down as he raised his arms above his head to cover himself as the beams and the ceiling collapsed in on him in a shower of debris and dust, he dropped to the floor reflexively trying to lessen the impact that in reality he likely didn't need to.

 

In a few moments he was buried and things were still, a small smile crept across his lips, a little while ago this would have been a huge issue but now. With just a thought his body simply liquefied and before you knew it there was a puddle of silver liquid where Chromium was just a few moments ago. It oozed it's way through the narrowest of cracks and then when he had daylight slid out into the open, his head forming first, which was an odd sight making sure it was safe before the rest of his body reformed on top of the wreckage.

 

"Wadjet, you okay?", then his eyes slid in the direction he'd sent the Jigsaw Man flying,"And where did stinky go?"

[Avenger Assembled]

Wadjet added can melt to the list of things she was accumulating in her head about Chromium. Oh well, at least it saves me an acid shot! She was pretty sure the metal man wouldn't have gotten chemical burns from the hydrobromic compound she carried, but this way she didn't have to find out. "Fine," she said tersely, "just fine." She'd done some fast maneuvering herself, sliding out the stairway she'd been trapped and through an open window here. Her back hurt enough that she knew she'd need an aspirin when she got home. As sirens echoed, she commented, "Got cops to come here." Getting the Bedlam PD to actually show their faces in this neighborhood took some work. "Get help with powers," she said seriously. "Nobody was in here - but that was luck." She hesitated a moment, then said, "Know somebody can help. Where can we find you?" 

[Tarrakhash]

Chromium flexed his neck from side to side as though stretching out kinks, and frowned as he hear the sirens start up,"That is impressive...how much damage did we do?" He glanced at the house and chuckled,"Oh wow....." He frowned at Wadjet's next words, tilting his head again,"My powers are just fine...I don't need help with that, I couldn't hold back with that guy he was able to absorb a couple of my hits, do you know how few people can do that? He clearly wasn't just human...he was some Voodoo Aztec possessed dude."

 

Looking at the building he shrugged as she spoke about them being lucky about no one being there,"You said we were going to smash the place up so I did...but yeah, it got a little out of hand." He looked around and sighed as she offered help,"I could do with some training, I want to be better at finding the people responsible rather than just beating on their pawns....." Again his head turned as he listened to the sirens again,"I just find a parking place each night. Usually in the wealthy areas so I don't stand out. I don't have a fixed home at the moment...not many people will talk to a man made of molten silver, right? Even covered up I can't really get into a conversation with anyone. You got a phone? Give it to me, call me when you're ready and I'll bring it back to you."

[Avenger Assembled]

Wadjet hesitated just a moment, then reached into her costume long enough to pull out an old-fashioned flip phone. Tossing it to Chromium, she said, "Jigsaw Man leads the Mara. Reason they're top dog. Eyes open" On the plus side, the fight with the two of them would certainly take Jigsaw's attention off the Furies - which had been part of her goal in coming here anyway. "Will call." She pictured her conversation about today with Anna and decided she'd handle that when she came to it. Chromium was someone they could work with, and someone they could direct at their enemies - and for the moment, that made him a friend. "Don't talk to the cops." she added in a warning hiss - disappearing back the way she'd come when Chromium looked away.

[Tarrakhash]

Chromium looked at the phone, frowning just a moment then nodding,"You be careful too...and call me soon."  Grinning, he made towards an open space,"And not just because you need a ride, okay?"

 

With that he shifted back into a Porsche before setting his tires spinning and heading out into the city, away from the sirens, soon the only sign of him was the black marks on the asphalt and the smell of burning rubber. He drove deeper into the city, heading towards one of the places he stashed clothing, he needed to find a junkyard or something he was hungry again.

[Avenger Assembled]

A couple of days later, the phone rang. 

 

"Hello. This is a friend of Wadjet's." The voice on the other end didn't sound like the woman Chromium had met, anyway. "Do you eat?" 

[Tarrakhash]

Chromium was sitting in an alley, all wrapped up like he lived in the antarctic when the phone rang. Digging the phone out of his pocket took a bit, he had forgotten he even had the thing, and when he answered he frowned at the voice,"Oh...ummm....yes, of course I eat. I eat all the time if I can, I'm a growing boy. Who are you and how can I help you?"

 

Great now he sounded suspicious and polite, his mom would be so proud...and so would his dad. Just for different thing.

[Avenger Assembled]

"I'm Anna, I'm a frienda Wadjet." Speaking of ladies, the woman on the phone had a tone in her Jersey-accented voice that sounded like somebody's mom. "I'm gonna meet you at Berth 13 in the Bedlam City Dockyards at 6:30 AM tomorrow morning, all right? I'm gonna bring you some food and we can talk. Don't bring nobody with you now, this is just you and me." 

[Tarrakhash]

"Anna.", he said the name more to help him remember her name than anything else,"You can call me Chromium."

 

Anna seemed like a really plain name compared to Wadjet, but Wadjet had said her friend could help him with his powers, frowning he nodded,"Sounds good. I don't plan on bringing anyone."

 

Of course he didn't really have anyone, at least not anyone who he counted as a friend. So it would be alone but he'd likely make sure he checked the area out before hand, would hate for this to be a trap by the Jigsaw man. He was sure that dude was pissed Chromium had smashed up his HQ...or whatever that place was. A thought crossed his mind, could the Jigsaw Man change bodies? That was something Wadjet's friend would have to help him with.

[Avenger Assembled]

The Dockyards were lonely this early, hours before the start of the first shift - and cold. The lake was going to start freezing before too long, and then the truly terrible cold of a Bedlam winter would settle in. Chromium was alone for a while by the berth, where an ancient freighter of no particular vintage sat rusting quietly at anchor - and then suddenly he wasn't. "You must be Chromium. I'm Anna." Anna turned out to be a slim blonde woman who looked to be in her mid-fifties, though it was hard to tell with the bright yellow hair escaping from underneath her Maniacs-themed stocking cap. "Are you hungry?" she asked, holding up a fast food takeout bag in one hand and a beverage holder in the other. "I went to Chik-Fil-A; got you their sampler."

[Tarrakhash]

Chromium had been walking around all wrapped up with as little silver showing as possible and the cold weather helped. Still when Anna spoke he jumped a little and turned,"Shouldn't sneak up on people!" He looked her over, with all the subtlety of a teenager, and then frowned and nodded,"Great, I'm always hungry!" Taking the packet he put his hands in and looked at her as he took his first bite, not even bothering to take off the wrapping off the first thing he put in his mouth, but he murmured appreciatively before asking between chews,"Thanks....now....Wadjet said you could tr.....help me?"

 

With the sentence completed he started taking more large bites, hardly seeming to chew as he wolfed the food down in a way only a young man can do his silver eyes never leaving her face.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Go ahead and finish eatin' first. I know how it is with teenage boys." She took a few steps away, giving Chromium his space. "You get a lot to eat, where you are?" Anna hazarded, looking back over her shoulder at the boy. 

[Tarrakhash]

Chromium didn't need a second invitation and started to eat with gusto, barely pausing for breath it seemed till everything including the packet that had held it all had been devoured. Then he looked up and grinned,"Fortunately everywhere I am there is plenty to eat....I'm always hungry, always, and they told me it's not just because I'm a teenager. I'm apparently...what was it....building density at the atomic level..and can...consume any matter given enough time to chew it."

 

He shrugged and grinned,"There is always plenty to eat, you just got to know that not all of it tastes good...."

 

Tilting his head he frowned,"So what is the plan, what are you wanting me to do? I'm pretty sure you're not going to help me for free....and I suspect that means you already have a dirty laundry list you want completed, yeah?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"Never ask a lady about her unmentionables, sonny, it's not polite," said Anna, not unkindly. "A'course I ain't no lady, but you got no way of knowing that." She hmmed, breath steaming in the cold, then said, "The people yer with. What are they like?" She had a few goddamned ideas from the way the poor kid was talking, but saying it out loud wouldn't do anything to win his trust. 

[Tarrakhash]

Chromium frowned, trying to work through her accent and strange use of words, at least for him, and finally nodded,"There aren't any ladies left in Bedlam, only in fairytales and day dreams." Shrugging his shoulders and looking around he wondered if she was trying to luring him into a trap and then her last sentence struck home and he snorted,"I ain't with any people, it's just me. I got a place to stay and that's it. There were some folks who told me all this stuff but they did't want to play ball my way so I'm doing it myself."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Well yer a real hardened character, huh?" she said gently. "I spent some time like that when I was yer age. It ain't easy." Not wanting to provoke the boy's pride, she changed topics. "What's yer way? Wadjet said you turned up fightin' car thieves and the Mara; is that your turf?" She smiled thinly. "You and me, we ain't exactly Hardwick Park stock these days." 

[Tarrakhash]

A sliver eyebrow arched at her comment on his hardness, and then a more innocent smile broke through for just a moment,"Hard enough to stop bullets...that's for sure." He shrugged,"Don't have a way, don't have enough of a understanding of the gangs and stuff to be able to figure out where to be effective. Wadjet knew were to strike, so I was effective...I need to be able to figure out who done things, and then figure out how to take out the puppet masters. Like this Jigsaw man..."

[Avenger Assembled]

"It took me a long time too. Gettin' to know local people helped." She judged that Chromium here wasn't a local; he didn't have the local cheesehead accent that most of the locals did. "The Mara are dangerous, but they ain't the only bad guys in this town. Not by a longshot. What I'm asking you, is, you want a hand? Not gonna take your place or move in on your turf; but even a little dinky burg like this can be a big place if you don't know where to look." 

[Tarrakhash]

Chromium shrugged,"That's why I'm here, right? If I could do it by myself I wouldn't have accepted Wadjet's offer. I need to get better connected and know where to focus my efforts. I don't have a turf at the moment. I just kind of float around, so figuring out where I might fit would be a good idea to. I don't want to step on anyone's toes but I do need a place to call my own."

[Avenger Assembled]

"I can get you a place," offered Anna casually. "Just us girls in there, but it's got a lot of space. You'll hardly ever see us if you want yer own turf. There's food and electricity, and you just hafta be a little sneaky to get around the punk kids." 

[Avenger Assembled]

"I can get you a place," offered Anna casually. "Just us girls in there, but it's got a lot of space. You'll hardly ever see us if you want yer own turf. There's food and electricity, and you just hafta be a little sneaky to get around the punk kids."