In Soviet Russia, Powers Control You! (IC)

[Geez3r]

February 20th, 2010

It was rare that Atlas called anyone. He never really liked talking on the phone, he'd much rather speak to someone face to face. But when he did call someone he did so with urgent news, and this was very much not an exception. After waiting for a few rings, Grim finally picked up. "Uhhh.. Hi.. Grim? Yeah this is Atlas..."

Grim immediately knew something was up. Firstly, Atlas's accent was gone. Secondly, he seemed really, really upset about something and was breathing heavily, practically on the verge of hyperventilating from the sound of it. And thirdly, he sounded scared. Truly and legitimately scared. "If you could like swing by my house, like now. That'd be good. I'm kind of in some trouble, and I think you're the only one who can help."

[Heritage]

"Uhhh.. Hi.. Grim? Yeah this is Atlas..."

At first, she didn't believe him; lying on her bed playing on her DS, she rolled her eyes at the prank call. "No it's not! Who is this really, and how'd you get my number?" :roll:

"If you could like swing by my house, like now. That'd be good. I'm kind of in some trouble, and I think you're the only one who can help."

But soon it became obvious that it was Atlas, who apparently faked or exaggerated his accent (perhaps to be underestimated?) but was also legitimately freaked out. Grim powered down her game, tossed it on her nightstand, and leaped to her feet.

"Okay, calm down, big guy, I'm on my way. Is this a medical thing, or do we need cops? Also, where the hell do you live, anyway?"

[Geez3r]

At first, she didn't believe him; lying on her bed playing on her DS, she rolled her eyes at the prank call. "No it's not! Who is this really, and how'd you get my number?" :roll:

"When we last played poker, you lost when you had 2 pocket sevens." Atlas had expected that she wouldn't believe it was him, and with good reason, he didn't recognize him as him. This was the first thing that popped into his mind that he could prove who he was. He had practiced the line for nearly 10 minutes before he had picked up the phone.

But soon it became obvious that it was Atlas, who apparently faked or exaggerated his accent (perhaps to be underestimated?) but was also legitimately freaked out. Grim powered down her game, tossed it on her nightstand, and leaped to her feet.

"Okay, calm down, big guy, I'm on my way. Is this a medical thing, or do we need cops? Also, where the hell do you live, anyway?"

Atlas hastily responded "No! No. Nothing - Nothing like that." but under his breath adds "God I hope not." After a small pause and what sounds like a steadying breath he continues "I live out in Ashton uh.. 13th street. uhh... yeah. you'll know which one it is... Door's open. Get here quick."

[Heritage]

"I live out in Ashton uh.. 13th street. uhh... yeah. you'll know which one it is... Door's open. Get here quick."

"Gotcha, I'm gone." Grim left a quick note for Colt, then took to the air, a tiny shimmering spark zooming just above the rooftops. Once she was over 13th Street, she was able to see what he'd meant.

"Wow, it's the Jolly Red Giant's castle!"

She darted out of the sky and returned to normal size on the porch, now in her working suit. There was, however, just one little problem; the knob for oversized door was almost a foot over her head! After a bit of thought, she went for the obvious approach; leaping up, she swung from side to side until the latch clicked.

Once inside, she called out, "Atlas, I'm here! I got here as fast as my pretty little wings could carry me!"

[Geez3r]

Upon entering the house, Grim found herself in the living room and immediately felt like she was 8 years old again. Everything in the house was so big, the coffee table nearly came up to her chin. It was furnished much like you would expect a standard blue collar house to be. Everything looked like it was made for comfort (and durability), any aesthetic choices were an after thought at best. But to be fair, Atlas probably didn't have the greatest selection to go from.

After calling out, a voice towards the back of the house answered "In here." but before Grim could make much progress, she was greeted by a loud scampering noise. A Siamese cat darted out from the kitchen, leapt up on top of the seat of couch before it jumped onto the coffee table. Grim could see the name tag "Sprinkles" around its collar. It let out a loud "MrrrrrrOOOOoooowwwwww" and took a few steps back towards the kitchen, before looking back at Grim and repeating the process. Clearly it wanted Grim to follow.

The cat lead Grim through the kitchen and into the master bedroom where there was a very large lump under the sheets. "Grim, is that you?" asked the lump hesitantly.

[Heritage]

The young shapeshifter was getting a seriously freaky vibe from the whole situation; the giant house wasn't helping, but what really worried her was the sound her poker buddy's voice on the phone. Following the sound of his voice, she finally made it to his bedroom.

"Grim, is that you?"

At that moment, Grim felt like she was in a cheap, straight-to-video horror film, the kind you saw at Blockbuster starring a blood-spattered Lou Diamond Phillips.

What's he gonna look like under that blanket? :shock:

"Hey, big guy...I'm right here..." She inched closer and closer to the huddled form.

[Geez3r]

The lump shifted a bit as Atlas got ready for the big reveal. "Yeah, um I look a bit weird. Uh.... yeah. Hold onto your butt." Atlas sat up and the sheet fell away revealing... not anything remotely expected. It looked like a weird cat hybrid version of Atlas. A siamese cat in fact, only with redish fur instead of tan. But that image didn't last. After looking at Grim for a few moments, Atlas's skin began to melt and mold itself into a new form. When it stopped, he didn't look like Atlas anymore, but rather a much larger and more muscular version of Grim herself. "So umm yeah." bracing himself for Grim's reaction to seeing... well Grim...

[Heritage]

"So umm yeah."

"Whoa!"

It was one of the creepiest things she'd ever seen, even though she realized as a shapeshifter herself, it was kind of hypocritical to think so. But to see herself in this context, all red and gigantic, was disturbing as all get out.

"Okay, let's see what we can do about this, both for my sanity's sake and as a kinda test."

Her form was quickly wrapped in a swirl of gray mist, which left behind...a mini-Atlas! Her build was as close to the giant red man's as possible, only much smaller. She kept her voice kind of her own, to avoid freaking out the big Russian anymore than necessary.

"Let's see what happens now!"

[Geez3r]

After looking at himself for a moment, Atlas turned back into himself... almost. This time, not only did he take Grim's form (which was really his own) he also took on Grim's stature, only more exaggerated. After his muscles were done contorting and shifting, Atlas was only a mere 3ft tall. "Uhhh... Zis is an improvement... I zink. And I'm talking normal again da. Zat's good." says Atlas, his voice now much higher than it was previously.

He shifts on the now monsterously oversized bed, his legs dangling off the side. "Please tell me zis gets easier." said Atlas pleadingly.

[Heritage]

"Please tell me zis gets easier."

Grim could only shrug and look sympathetic. "Hell if I know, bud; no one's powers work just the same. When I woke up in a dark alley one night and found out what'd become, changing came as easy as breathing, but I think that's because I ain't really human any more. You, I dunno, I guess are some kinda mutant or something?"

She paused for a minute and stroked her lower red lip thoughtfully. "Although I did nearly s*** bricks when I found out I could do this-"

In a flash, her body lost all cohesion and collapsed to the floor in a pile of goo, which then shot back up into the five foot three inch form of Grim, wearing a pair of polka-dotted boxer shots and an 'I (heart) Freedom' T-shirt.

"Let's see if you can do clothes, too, and after this I gotta another test to run."

[Geez3r]

"I have no idea. Archeville is still trying to figure it out. But each time I see him, my DNA is different. Still going zrough changes. Obviously." said Atlas as he gestures at his mini body. "Ah you're going to reget zat." says Atlas as he plops down on the floor as Grim takes her new form, it wasn't a threat, just a statement.

After a moment, Atlas's flesh started bubbling and writhing until it solidified into its new form. This time it looked like an exact copy of Grim... almost. He hadn't made clothes. "Great, I'm a chick again. And I'm nekkids." his voice sounding exactly like Grim's now too. Atlas however was still a gentlemen however (no, not like that) and kept his eyes locked on Grim's own eyes rather than let them wander to take in the ...*ahem*...scenery.

"So what are we going to do no-AAAhhh." Atlas suddenly lurched forward and seemingly out of his spine, a duplicate set of clothes envelopes his body. "Well what do ya know?" Only now does Atlas look down to examine the new form, holding out the bottom of the shirt so he can read it. "Weird... I can feel the shirt. Like, the shirt's part of me... That's either really good or really bad."

[Heritage]

"Great, I'm a chick again. And I'm nekkids."

:shock:

"Wow. Wow, that's...wow. Okay, so your mimicry is very impressive, and disturbingly accurate. Hah."

"So what are we going to do no-AAAhhh." Atlas suddenly lurched forward and seemingly out of his spine, a duplicate set of clothes envelopes his body. "Well what do ya know?" Only now does Atlas look down to examine the new form, holding out the bottom of the shirt so he can read it. "Weird... I can feel the shirt. Like, the shirt's part of me... That's either really good or really bad."

Grim tentatively approached...well, herself, and gingerly reached out to touch the material of Atlas' shirt. "Damn, that is amazing, especially because you made it out of yourself, dude! Excellent work!" The changeling shook her head in appreciation.

"Heh, you ever see The Sword in the Stone, when Merlin and Mad Madam Mim have the morphathon championship? Me and Wes tried that a few times; got a little freaky one time, too."

The tiny shapeshifter got a little pink in the cheeks and took a few steps back from her fellow shifter, swinging her arms to and fro, as though preparing to compete in some sort of athletic event.

"Okay, enough about that, though! This time we're gonna go for finesse; see if you can play in the big leagues." She gave him a playful wink. "I'm sure you can do it, though; you just needed the right coach, am I right?"

Grim rolled tension out of her neck and shook out her hands. "Okay, you ever seen Breakfast At Tiffany's? We're going for the full Holly Golightly, pearls and everything; if you can't do it all, no big deal, but if you can, awesome. After this, we're gonna see if you can mimic other people's powers and stuff, and also work on getting you back to being a guy, alright? By the way, does it hurt when you do this stuff? Because if it does, let me know now, and we can take a break."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and once again the mist flowed out of her body, ringing it with circles of gray vapor, only to disipate and leave Grim looking pretty darn elegant. When the change was over, she peeked with one eye to see Atlas' progress.

"How you doin' there, big guy?" ;)

[Geez3r]

:shock:

"Wow. Wow, that's...wow. Okay, so your mimicry is very impressive, and disturbingly accurate. Hah."

"I'd guess you'd be the judge of that wouldn't you? Then again if we got Colt in here..." teased Atlas with an impish grin.

Grim tentatively approached...well, herself, and gingerly reached out to touch the material of Atlas' shirt. "Damn, that is amazing, especially because you made it out of yourself, dude! Excellent work!" The changeling shook her head in appreciation.

"Heh, you ever see The Sword in the Stone, when Merlin and Mad Madam Mim have the morphathon championship? Me and Wes tried that a few times; got a little freaky one time, too."

The tiny shapeshifter got a little pink in the cheeks and took a few steps back from her fellow shifter, swinging her arms to and fro, as though preparing to compete in some sort of athletic event.

It felt like cotton in really did. But it was at least 8 or 9 kinds of weird to have the cotton feel back. "I guess. Still not entirely sure how I did it though. And I'm not gonna lie, being naked and clothed at the same time, not to mention the whole being in another person's body thing is definitely a sensation I will not get used to." said Atlas as he looked himself (technically) over in the mirror.

It was a rather funny scene for Grim as Atlas still moved as if he was the 10ft wall of muscle, even though he was in the 5'3" Jersey girl body. He may have looked and sounded a lot like Grim, but a few moments of interaction would give him away to anyone who knew the real Grim. "Wes...? Wesley Knight?" asked Atlas turning around "Isn't he the one with the uhhh..." The look on Grim's face just caused Atlas to snort, but he thankfully let the issue drop.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and once again the mist flowed out of her body, ringing it with circles of gray vapor, only to disipate and leave Grim looking pretty darn elegant. When the change was over, she peeked with one eye to see Atlas' progress.

"How you doin' there, big guy?"

When Grim looked over at Atlas, he was a writhing ball of flesh in a vaguely humanoid form. He had his hands over his eyes as he responded "This is a lot harder when I don't have something to go off of." in a rather gravely voice. "I think I almost got it." After a few more moments of concentration, his shape started to solidify and he didn't look half bad. "OK. Now this is weird."

[Heritage]

When Grim looked over at Atlas, he was a writhing ball of flesh in a vaguely humanoid form. He had his hands over his eyes as he responded "This is a lot harder when I don't have something to go off of." in a rather gravely voice. "I think I almost got it." After a few more moments of concentration, his shape started to solidify and he didn't look half bad. "OK. Now this is weird."

You could have knocked Grim Golightly over with a feather; the look on her face was both delighted and gobsmacked.

"Oh my God! I thought you were gonna copy off of me, not come up with something on your own! This is huge, dude!" She stepped around the elegant figure of Atlas, shaking her head in disbelief. "Is this someone you know, or did you come up with this girl out of whole cloth?"

The changeling stood with her hands on her hips, her voice filled with frank admiration. "Outstanding, Atlas...outstanding. You'll never have to pay for another drink for the rest of your life." She winked and wrinkled her nose before ditching her fancy duds for black sweats and a New Jersey Devils hockey jersey, and plopped into a director's chair she conjured up, which had the words 'Coach Grim' across the back.

"Ok, enough paper doll crap, we need to find the old Atlas in there somewhere; can you find your way back to the old you? You know your face and body; you've been taking care of them for years. If you need to use the mirror, go for it."

[Geez3r]

Atlas blushed a little bit as he looked down at himself. "Actually, this is my mother." Atlas walked over to his dresser and took out a photo album, thumbing through it for a moment before he found a picture of his mother in the very dress he was in. "This was taken on my parent's honeymoon." Atlas spent a few moments wistfully looking over the photograph.

With a small sigh, Atlas put the photo album away and stood in front of the mirror. "Okay first thing's first." Atlas's body sort of folded back in on itself, turning inside out reverting to a white-ish humanoid form devoid of most identifying features. This time he made a pair of ordinary blue jeans first. After a moment the color of his skin changed to a more human norm. "Well I'm a guy again, that's a good first step." He looked back at Grim, but his face turned beat red practically as soon as he made eye contact and he hurriedly averted his gaze with a small cough.

After a few moments, he had most of his body back. It took him longer than normal just because he was used to having so much muscle on his frame, but the first couple of attempts just made him look utterly disproportional. There was also quite a plethora of very odd facial expressions as he tried to get his face back to normal. After a few moments, Atlas turned to Grim "Don't think it's quite right yet. Any insight?"

[Heritage]

"Actually, this is my mother."

"This was taken on my parent's honeymoon."

Grim came over to look at the picture, and smiled wistfully. "Wow, she was beautiful." She suddenly looked a bit uncomfortable. "Is? Was? Is she...?"

"Don't think it's quite right yet. Any insight?"

The more experienced shapeshifter stroked her chin thoughtfully as she stepped around Atlas' new form.

"You're probably overthinking it, dude; your body still remembers what it felt like all those years, even if your brain doesn't. It should be more like gravity, falling naturally back to Earth, to use a really lame metaphor."

She stepped forward and put her hands on his shoulders.

"Think of stuff you used to do, like if you played sports or had like a physical job; remember how your body felt doing those things. How did the sun feel on your face, or the wind?"

She reached up and gently touched his face, first his nose, then his cheeks, eyebrows and earlobes, almost like she was modeling clay.

"What did you face feel like when your mom touched it, or a girlfriend? Or boyfriend, maybe, I dunno how you swing. Did you ever get punched in the face or gut? How did your skin feel at the point of impact?"

Grim started giving him a few friendly jabs in slow motion, sometimes to the torso, sometimes to the face, then laughed self-consciously at her touchy-feelly approach to 'morph coaching'.

"Hey, I'm just spit-balling here; lemme know if I start driving you nuts, okay?"

[Geez3r]

"I don't know." said Atlas truthfully. "but more than likely..." he left the sentence linger in the air.

"What did you face feel like when your mom touched it, or a girlfriend? Or boyfriend, maybe, I dunno how you swing. Did you ever get punched in the face or gut? How did your skin feel at the point of impact?"

Grim started giving him a few friendly jabs in slow motion, sometimes to the torso, sometimes to the face, then laughed self-consciously at her touchy-feelly approach to 'morph coaching'.

"Hey, I'm just spit-balling here; lemme know if I start driving you nuts, okay?"

Atlas couldn't really comment on most of the techniques Grim was using (her hands on his face probably having something to do with it). After her last comment though, he playfully flicked her in the shoulder; showing her the full extent of his rage. "Ok, I zink I got somezing." said Atlas, he accent having now made a comeback, which was probably a good indicator he was in fact on the right track. "Zis is going to look very veird." he cautioned.

Suddenly, a long cut appeared on his forearm, but lost no blood. Almost immediately after it happened it healed up and became a scar which slowly started to fade away. But before that was gone, Atlas started to sport a shiner on his right eye, which too began to heal. In short order, Atlas was suffering one phantom injury after another. Then all of a sudden, it looked like Atlas recieved dozens of bullet wounds to the chest, and his skin flared red for a moment before all the wounds vanished, and Grim was left standing in the presence of Samael Nitorvich. "It's good to be back."

[Heritage]

"It's good to be back."

Grim nodded happily as she reached out to warmly shake Sam's hand. "Nice to see you again, dude! Yeah, that highlight reel was pretty freaky."

She scrutinizes her face and body, gnawing on a thumbnail. "Well, we know you've got a great start on the general shapeshifting; by the way, I'd recommend you read some books on acting, maybe even take a class or two. I can recommend some places in the Theater District, so you can start working on your movement skills; really helped me out a lot."

The changeling clapped her hands to together, then rubbed them in anticipation, an evil grin on her face.

"Okay, now we get to the good stuff; let's see if you picked up anything else recently." She turned to one side, and a large wooden cube, roughly three feet across, appears on the floor; she gestured towards it like a game show model. "Ta-daa! Let's see if you can do shapes; now I can't join you in this exercise, 'cause my powers don't work that way, but who knows, maybe you got lucky."

[Geez3r]

"Imagine how it vas on my end." replied Atlas as he shook her hand. "Actually hold on." Atlas screwed up his face for a moment. "Wonder if this worked. Yep. If I morph my vocal cords, I can kill my accent. I did it by accident before."

Atlas knelt down by the block, examining it closely and he ran his hands over the surface of it. Standing back up, Atlas took a few steadying breaths and swung his arms like he was about to do a 5 mile swim. "Either way, this is gonna feel weird."

Then as Grim watched, Samael became more and more of the brick house she knew him to be. Any round surface on his body became sharper and more definite until he looked like a collection of rectangles lumped into a humanoid form. Then his body began to twist and contort and fold in on itself, as if on hinges until it folded up into a cube shape. After a moment's rest the outer layer of Atlas's body took on the color and texture of the box Grim had made as well. "Well this is pretty cool. said the box, from god knows where, "But I think my head is literally in my ass right now."

[Heritage]

"Well this is pretty cool. said the box, from god knows where, "But I think my head is literally in my ass right now."

Grim held both arms straight up in the air, and spoke loudly like a circus ringmaster. "Ladies and gentlemen, Atlas the Man Mountain has mastered....the Cube!" She whistled and applauded loudly. "Yes! Give it up for him! Now, a final test of his amazing ability to become anyone or anything! This...girls' bicycle!"

With a wave of her wand (hey, where'd that come from?), she summoned forth a hideous pinkish-purple thing, complete with tassels and training wheels. Despite her best attempt at a straight face, her lips started to quiver from the strain of holding back peals of laughter.

No way in hell is he gonna fall for this. :twisted:

[Geez3r]

Atlas returned to human form after the congratulations were delivered. He takes a mock bow. Atlas is left dumbfounded at the next test. He looks down at the bike, then back at Grim, then back to the bike and then back to Grim. He then fixes Grim with a steely glare with a single cocked eye and slowly brings his face closer to hers. It takes Grim a moment to notice the fact that Altas is making one of his eyes progressively larger as it takes up more and more of his face, resulting in a face that could only in cartoons. "I'm gonna say no."

[Heritage]

"I'm gonna say no."

The younger shapeshifter could only laugh and dismiss the ridiculous bike with a wave of her hand. "Well done, comrade! You passed the 'I'm-just-gonna-do-it-because-a-cute-girl-told-me-to' test! Stronger men than you have failed at this most perilous of challenges!"

Grim dropped into her seat and crossed her legs. "Seriously, though, how detailed of an object do you think you could do? Obviously the bike was nuts on a lot of levels (though it would have been awesome if you did it), but I am wondering what you could do."

She indicated the innocent wooden block, which still rested nearby. "A cube is a nice simple geometric shape, but might not work in every situation for undercover work. Maybe a fireplug or garbage can? Shop window mannequin? Y'know, something not insanely complex, but common enough not to draw attention. Whaddaya think?"

[Geez3r]

"Hrmm. Now you got me zinking." said Atlas. He started pacing around the room stroking his chin. "I got it." he said suddenly snapping his fingers. He walked over to his dresser and began pulling out a bunch of clothes, examining each one, and tossing some of them back over his shoulder as he was apparently looking for something specific.

Finally finding whatever it was he was looking for he turned around to face Grim, holding a really big button down shirt in front of him. "Ok. Now what we're gonna do is -" Suddenly, Atlas chucked the shirt right at Grim's head. When she pulled it off her head and looked around the room, Atlas was no where to be found. This time, Grim was being tested.

[Heritage]

"Ok. Now what we're gonna do is -"

Grim stared about the room, still holding the shirt; after a few moments, she began to nod slowly, a big ol' grin on her face.

"Oh ho ho! Very nice, very nice! A little hide and go seek it is, then!"

Closing her eyes, she began to breathe through her nose, first long slow breaths, then little quick puffs all in a row; she alternated back and forth between these two techniques as she dropped down on all fours, and started to crawl, almost like a komodo dragon as her head swung from side to side.

"Little Red Riding Atlas, where is you?" :venom:

[Heritage]

It took her several minutes to place him; after all, it was his room, so his scent was all over everything, along with a lot of faded cat musk. Grim took her time; she didn't want to act until she was sure.

This is fun; I need to come over and play more often!

At length, she got a whiff of his scent, very fresh, carried on the current from a heating vent; she cocked her head from side to side, trying to sumpliment her nose with her sharp ears.

Yep, he's up there.

Suddenly, Grim leaped high into the air, landing softly on top of Atlas' bed; she crawled across the comforter, her claws gently kneading the napping as she moved.

He's right over there; I'm staring right at him.

In a flash she leaped again, only this time she screamed "Tickle Attack!" as she landed on top of a mass of pillows, probing fingers digging into the stuffing.