It's Not Lupus [IC]

[Flare Knight]

Date: November 28th, 2010 (Sunday). Early morning.

Slamming into the ground, Powerhouse shook his head- his hair was longer then usual, the short cut blond hair had turned into a heavy top cut that fell over his ears-, and grimaced, his longer teeth biting into his lip. Even his fingernails were longer then usual. Taking deep breaths and trying to stay calm, he calmly, as calmly as he could, walked towards Archetech. He could see it from where he landed, the massive 12 story building that looked so impressive. Powerhouse couldn't waste time thinking about that though, he had to actually get there, so he began his long and painful walk towards the massive building, his entire thought process focused on it to avoid thinking about the uncomfortable things going on in his body.

As he stumbled his way through Hanover, sticking to the darkness- his body was becoming more and more mutated, his wounds hurting more and more-, he walked. Each time he had to step into the main street, he jumped, but that just made him hurt more, so he consistently walked. At times he was lucky enough to find a street he couldn't see someone on, but those were few and far between, Hanover was always busy. It was in this way that he decided he couldn't get anywhere looking like he did, wounded, and somewhere stuck between normal and ugly, so he gritted his teeth, and leaped, aiming for the big building in the distance.

The large crash as he stumbled into the ground in front of the Archetech building was probably enough to announce the fact that he was there, but he continued walking, and stumbled into the doors, glad they opened automatically. Falling to his knees in the lobby, Powerhouse yelled loudly- as loud as he could, anyway-, his voice ringing. "I need to see Doctor Archeville. Quickly." He panted, trying to stay calm, relaxed, deep breaths. It wasn't working very well, because the massive wound in his shoulder, the one in his wrist, and his half-way transformed body- hairy, but not furred, long hair, almost claw-like nails, and slitted pupils-, were causing him to worry.

[Dr Archeville]

Though it was early Sunday morning, ArcheTech was not at rest, for Science! rested for no one. A young Vietnamese woman, Nguyen Thi Ngon, was working the main reception desk that morning, and had been looking forward to a quiet morning when the half-lupine man barged in. She kept her cool, though, and called Archeville on his emergency line while two security guards went to the young man's sides and attempted to escort him to a chair off to the side.

Ngon's monitor showed the interior of Archeville's home laboratory, but not the man himself. Sounds in the background indicated he was present, though, likely working on something. "Doktor! Doktor Archeville! We have an emergency here!"

"Erklaren," Archeville's voice came from off-screen. It sounded... phlegmier than usual. Perhaps he had just woken up. That could explain why he lapsed into his native German for the word "explain."

"It... well, it looks like someone in the early stages of lycanthropy!"

A werewolf?! Innnteresting... but I should let the milksop out to see to it first. Nice and friendly...

"Say again, communication unclear. Start from beginning."

As Ngon went over what had happened, Archeville came into view from the shadows. His silhouette looked a tad off as he approached, but when he came fully into view and appeared his usual self. Ngon wrote it off as a tick of the light, glitches in the communication system.

"I will be right there!"

For Science!

Less than a minute later, a pinpoint of gray-blue light appeared in the ArcheTech lobby, and everyone there felt a slight twinge of vertigo as gravitational forces were bent and twisted to form a short-lived micro-wormhole. Archeville appeared, and ran to the young man's side. "Ngon, contact the medlab, tell them-"

"Already on it, Doktor!"

My staff is awesome!

He smiled and nodded at her, then knelt down by the young man, "I am Doktor Archeville, and I am here to help. What happened, sir? When did this happen? Are you still being pursued?"

[Flare Knight]

The massive amount of activity bustling around this area actually made Powerhouse confused a little, it was like a well oiled machine made of a thousand different parts. The amount of different people running around made Powerhouse a good deal strange, but as the man, who was obviously the boss, got closer, he smiled, or smiled as much as he could, and tried his best to answer in order as teh questions flew at him, though his confusion caused him to answer things somewhat backwards. "Not long ago...maybe a few hours. Not being pursued...they left me behind to...do something. I was bitten by a Wolf. It looked, from what I could see, some type of Sickness that turns people into...wolf-people. I'm Powerhouse Dr. Mr. Archeville, it's nice to meet you...sorry for the bad circumstances." He explained as best he could, shaking his head. "You keep a busy place around here." He offered as a joke at the Doctor, a small smile on his face after he finished. "Ms. Fleur said you were able to help Superheros. You think you can help me?" He added, explaining how he knew about the man if she thought it was necessary, but mostly to try and keep himself from being overwhelmed by focusing on what he remembered.

[Dr Archeville]

"I shall certainly try, young man," Archeville said reassuringly while doing a quick check of his vitals. "The last thing I wish to do is prove Fleur wrong!"

Well, on something like this, at least. Her 'my powers are from exposure to a magic flower,' on the other hand...

"Gentlemen," he said to the two guards, "I will require assistance in getting him to the medlab, in case he starts seizing again."

Powerhouse was taken up an elevator to another floor, to a room filled with advanced medical equipment and a handful of nurses and doctors, who'd already been briefed by Ngon. "Elevated heart rate, pupils dilated and bloodshot, responsive but groggy. Excessive hair growth, advanced keratinization of nails, receded gumline," he called out, "I will take blood samples; get monitors on him, fluids, and..."

He paused a moment, though for his superhumanly fast mind a moment was like a few minutes.

Wolf's bane is the common treatment for werewolves, yes? Wolf's bane... Arnica montana... used as an antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, fungicide, and vasodilator for centuries... but also highly toxic, if overdosed. There have been clinical trials for derivatives of it for use against certain cancers, trials I made sure ArcheTech was involved in, for just such an occasion...

"... and set up a drip of that Arnica-derived antitumor medication, 0.1 mg/kg/minute."

Now it was the others who paused in the midst of hooking up monitors to the young man. Butt hey trusted Archeville, and did as instructed.

Archeville attempted to draw two vials of blood...

[Flare Knight]

"Right. Ms. Fleur would be very disappointed if I didn't get to be a Hero...that's what she said. Help people." He mumbled, still a bit groggy, but his babbling as he attempted to keep remembering himself was possibly a bit annoying.

There was more spinning and talking as they went up the elevator, then into this new room, filled with way more people then he had ever dealt with at Yellow Forest- his only doctor had been Virtue, and he did not like her-, so he had to try his best just to focus on each thing, one at a time, and try to understand what was going on. Mostly a futile effort, but he attempted anyway.

In the back of his mind, Powerhouse wished he hadn't been bitten so he could have avoided being such a burden, but he was glad that someone was helping him. It felt...nice, to have someone trying to help you without a secondary objective other then helping him. It made him feel...wanted, to have someone like that looking over him, so, to express his gratitude, he stayed perfectly quiet- mostly- and tried to avoid moving- even his twitches were silent, something years of Virtue's uncomfortable prodding taught him not to do-, as well as he could, to aid the Doctor and his associates in anyway necessary, to avoid them being distracted from helping him by him, but he knew he needed to help the Doctor too, before he broke a needle on him or something else.

"Uhh, Mr. Doctor. I know you are trained to help Superheroes, so I should warn you, I think. You are gonna need one of those special needles for me. It's my Skin, you see. Bullets just bounce off, it took...uhh..I think it was a 'Rank 10'? Needle. That's what...another doctor said. She was usually right, and I don't think I've gotten tougher since then." He almost said Virtue's name, but he avoided it at the last instant, and went quiet again. Then, because he couldn't help himself, he poked at his teeth a little, where his gums used to be, and felt at his teeth. "I must look a bit strange, huh?" He asked the ceiling, not really sure what was going on, other then that he really wanted to go to sleep right now, but he knew he had to stay awake. 'sleep is bad. Stay awake.' he thought to himself, not really sure where it was coming from.

[Dr Archeville]

As Powerhouse was (groggily) explaining the special needles the other doctors had needed to use on him, Archeville had been attempting to insert a needle into his arm to get a blood sample, and watched as the needled bent. "I see... team, make a note: his skin is immune to standard needles."

Even more challenging!

"Doktor!," one of the nurses called, "there is some... some interference with the monitors. They're not getting any readings!"

"What? Let me see!" He did a quick visual scan of the monitors, noted that they were attached to the patient properly, all the wires were connected, but there were no readings. "Jennings, based on what has been observed, list possible reason for interference."

The nurse's brow furrowed, "thick skin preventing penetration of standard needles, and muffles vitals signals?"

Gold star!

"A sound hypothesis," he replied, keeping one eye on Powerhouse. "Recommendation?"

The nurse, a girl-next-door green-eyed blonde in nurse's scrubs, waved a hand in front of Powerhouse's face. "Stronger needles and biomonitors capable of deeper penetration."

Archeville nodded, but he was not idle. He withdrew his Electromagnetic Screwdriver from his pocket, made a few quick adjustments, and waved the wand-like device over Powerhouse.

Could be thick skin, could be a skintight force field preventing direct contact of the monitors with his skin. The team will need to find out, fast, if we are to help him!

[Flare Knight]

To Powerhouse, when he removed his hands,e the colors whirled again, twitching a slight bit at the needle- like he was taught to-, and the commotion went up. 'no signals? err...what did Virtue say... Man, I'm a walking list of medical problems' He thought about this, because it was important right now, and remembered part of what his possible powers could be, though it was like fighting upstream against a waterfall that was frozen solid. Thinking was becoming harder, which was bad, though he refused to turn into a Wolf, because he knew the Doctor would help.

"Right...uhh...She said...Either I'm a Nuclear reactor......or-" Powerhouse thought, hard, but it was a bit blank. What was the other one? He knew the word, it was Metatron, but he couldn't really think about it as Metatron, that was a handful of symbols with no pictures, so to speak. He could think of the word, but with no pictures to look at when he thought of it, the word was meaningless, but there was another M word, something that he could remember, and while the word itself was hazy, what it meant, *who* it meant, wasn't, which was a bit strange but not as important as remembering. He picked at it for some time, as it turned out, having nothing to do helped his patience immensely, so he ventured a look around him while he tapped at the word slowly, and, holding on to that weird M word and his own thoughts, managed to work backwards to remember what it was that he could also have, somehow or another.

"Gravity field...millimeters." He felt very calm and collected, though his sentence was missing a few words. His brain was still a bit scattered, but he was fitting it together slowly. Taking a second to breath, collect his thoughts, and consider, he explained, making sure his words were right. "I have a field of Anti-Gravity...I think. " He said, trying to make another joke, though he lost it in between his brain and his mouth, and frowning- his lack of gums were becoming a bit annoying, he wanted to poke at them, but kept his hands still, barely. 'I want to riiii- NO. Bad.'. That wasn't good. The doctor would help. "A check would be nice. They never figured out...at home." He explained, leaving out that he ran away too quickly. Even he had a good idea which one he was- after all, he hadn't been firing radiation blasts yet, so that was a pretty safe cross out-, but wanting a real doctor's opinion on it, meaning a doctor who didn't also have seven other needles injecting and removing various chemicals from him. This place was...nice, and

[Dr Archeville]

"Good lad," Archeville said in a soothing tone as he continued fiddling with his techno-wand, "keep talking, tell us all you can. It helps us, and lets us know that brain of yours is working."

And that you are not turning into a mindless beast-man!

"Ah, yes, I see it now: skintight gravitic energy field. This..." he looked up to his staff, "complicates things."

"Can't you just... shut it off?" the nurse asked.

The Doktor cocked his head slightly. "Possibly, and I would not hesitate to try under most circumstances. But," he glanced back and forth between the assembled staff and their patient, "shutting down his abilities may compromise other systems, enough for this infection to get a stronger hold. We will have to find another way in."

Ah! An idea is forming!

"Now, where is that anti-tumor medication?"

"Here, sir!"

"Excellent; hand it over, I have another idea. Now, young man," he looked Powerhouse straight in the eye, "I have two very, very important questions for you: do you still need to eat? And do you still need to breathe?"

[Flare Knight]

There was a Sharp pain in Powerhouse's lower legs, enough that he screamed out, actually shocked at how bad it hurt, as his shins shortened, and his feet drew longer, bursting out of his spandex-boots, which were a shame, because he liked those boots a lot. "Argh!" He howled- really howled, his voice was becoming more like a howl or bark- and scratched at his throat with ever increasing nails, nails that were becoming dark in color and extended a good three inches past his fingers. Even his hair was growing thicker, the same shade of blond as his hair, though his face had only slightly extended. "Right..Yeah...I...Do." his voice was being forcibly dragged out into coherent syllables, through vocals chords slowly changing into those suited for a dog, not a man. "I...eat and breath....all the time...Sometimes...I'd...miss meals though...you know, you don't...need them all the time" He explained, wanting to gesture, but his wrists were becoming elongated, and he didn't feel like moving them. The only part of Powerhouse that wasn't turning into a wolf was his face, which remained mostly humanoid, somehow.

[Dr Archeville]

"Hold him down!," Archeville barked. Three assistants leaped into action, one at either arm and the third at the young man's shins.

Got to work fast!

The Doktor moved like a well-trained bartender, mixing medications and compounds. "If we cannot administer intravenously, we will do so nasally, since the lungs are the best way to get things into the blood, and his need to breathe implies some continued exchange of gases. I am combining the anti-tumor medication and human rabies immunoglobulin with dimethyl sulfoxide, which will open certain cellular channels and permit a more rapid absorption of the medications."

Moments later, Archeville approached the patient with a syringe (lacking a needle) in the other. "Sir, I am going to spray this up your nose; you need to inhale it." He looked to the three men, "hold hm steady, please."

Without waiting for answer, he stuck the nasal syringe up Powerhouse's nose, and sprayed the medicated mist.

Really hope this works!

[Flare Knight]

The people grabbing at his shins and arms were enough that the slowly changing Powerhouse seriously thought of them as a threat, baring his lengthening teeth and raising what would soon be his hackles. snarling and struggling. Though the wolf-Powerhouse was obviously strong, just as strong, if not more so, as when he had been normal, but enough of the Human Doormat that was Powerhouse remained that, for all of Wolfhouse's struggling, it was fairly obvious most of the power in the body was being diverted into stopping the rest of that power from getting out. It created this strange image of the half-Werewolf who was struggling as much against himself as the men holding him, his muscles bulging in odd places under the coat of fur that was slowly getting thicker and thicker as they held off other muscles. It was in this creature that the Doctor shot the medicine up it's nose, and Wolfhouse took a deep breath, partly because his struggling was tiring him out, partly because he trusted the doctor to know what he was talking about.

Another howl of anguish burst from Wolfhouse's throat as the medicine began to take effect. It was not as if it stopped or reversed the transformation, yet, but it was slowing, fast. The last remaining piece of Powerhouse had been his face, slowly turning into a muzzle. As the doctors watched, it slowed, then stopped flat. It was like that for a short time, Almost Wolfhouse panting heavily and stock still otherwise, and extended tongue lolling out of his mouth. It didn't even say anything, only a low pitched whine coming out of the back of it's throat every now and then.

[Dr Archeville]

Huzzah!

Archeville grinned, "thank goodness! Right, help prop him up so I can give him a second dose." He went back to the work station, and moment later came back with a small glass flask filled with a purplish liquid. "Here, drink this, it should help."

An hour or so later, Powerhouse was lying comfortably on a hospital bed in ArcheTech. He had mostly reverted back to his old self; his bones were back to normal, and about half the excess hair had fallen out. Archeville was at the foot of the bed, reviewing a chart. "No trace of any infection, and the symptoms are reverting at a good pace. You should be back to yourself in another hour or so."

Hooray for Science!

"And now that you are calmer," he flipped the chart closed, "could you tell me, again, just what happened?"

[Flare Knight]

After all the excitement of almost turning into a werewolf, Powerhouse was glad to be able to sit in a bed, though with the Doctor there he couldn't really enjoy it and go to sleep, which was sad because sometimes Powerhouse just wanted to go to sleep. He felt bad for being bitten in the first place and wasting everyone's time, so when the doctor started talking, he flinched, expecting to be reprimanded. When he wasn't, Powerhouse sat for a minute after the man finished talking. "Right. Well, I was in Greenbank, there had been some crazy homeless man beating up business men on their way home from work for the past few days, so I went to investigate." He said, slowly, sitting up straight and speaking without inflection. He wasn't telling a story so much as stating an incident report. "I came across a man matching the description and a Wolf creature chasing a girl. I was forced to abandon the man to stop the Wolf. I managed to intervene in it's attack, but I was bitten in the ensuing melee, and I failed to capture them due to the bite." He said, finishing his report and sitting quietly. "I apologize for failure, Sir."

[Dr Archeville]

Military background? Looks old enough to have served for a few years. But, no, if he was he'd be asking for military doctors, telling us to call someone above him so he could report to them. Private militia? Maybe... best to be supportive, focus on the nurturing aspects of the medical profession And find out more about these attacks first, as those seem the biggest threat.

Oh! I should call Lukos!

The Doktor smiled and nodded, "there is no need to apologize, my boy. You acted for the good of others, and you saved some people from an attack. That is to be commended!"

He walked to the head of the bed, checking the special biomonitors they had set up. The standard ones had been unable to get readings due to the skintight gravitic field over him, but these had more penetrating power, and so were able to get reads on his vitals. "Hrm... heart rate and bp are still above normal, though that is common for metahumans with enhanced strength, so I would say you are almost back to where you should be."

Powerhouse did not notice that, amongst checking all the readings and marking notes on his notepad, that Archeville had activated a miniscule audio recorder, disguised as a pen in his labcoat pocket, that could record what was said in the room.

"Speaking of-" he began

No, wait: do not ask him where he should be, where he is from. Focus on the attack, for now.

"of changes, could you describe this homeless man who was attacking the businessmen, and the wolf-creature that you fought? I would like to get a sketch of them out to the police and local superheroes, so they can be on the lookout."

[Flare Knight]

Powerhouse nodded, closing his eyes as he thought back to what the man looked like. He came to his mind a bit fuzzily, but after thinking about it for a bit, the image came into a much better focus. "When I first saw him, he was wearing a wig, really dirty, and brown, stringy and such. He had on a pair of green mittens and a dark brown wool cap, scuffed boots, and a big coat...He had a wild beard too...his eyes were...brown, maybe?" That part was easy, but when Powerhouse had seen the man next, he had been infected with the virus, and had trouble seeing the man through his bad eyes. This picture was less clear. "The wig and beard were fake...I...think his hair was brown, maybe. It was short though, really short...maybe thinning? I'm not sure." He said, rubbing his hands. He wanted to apologize again for being a failure, but it didn't seem like the man would accept them, and that just made him feel worse.

Even though Powerhouse had trouble remembering the man, he remembered the wolf well enough, it had been in his face for several minutes as they struggled. It had been trying to eat his face, after all. "The wolf...Green eyes, brown fur, long claws. It could alternate between two legs or four. Teeth were...as long as my index finger." he said, holding up his finger for reference. "He also probably smells bad, because I kicked him into a dumpster." Powerhouse finished with a grin, putting his hands in his lap once more. "He mentioned something about a...gene. I don't know exactly what it was, but, from what I could tell, it was required for the virus to work." He said, remembering that as he stopped for a second, then finished with a sigh, then fell quiet, still trying to remember.

[Dr Archeville]

The Doktor nodded as he spoke. When he was done, he smiled at him again, "an excellent report, Powerhouse, very good."

Elements of PTSD there... though those could easily be due to a sequestered upbringing...

He walked around the bed, back to the foot, and jotted more notes onto the pad computer he held.

"Is there anything else? Can you recall anything else the wolf-man said that struck you as odd? Or any other details about the man? Was he wearing any jewelry or have any tattoos or scars or other identifying marks?"

If only people with certain gene sequences are able to be affected by the lycanthropy virus, that could explain some of the variations in werewolf lore -- it is variations in both the virus itself and in the gene sequences. Lon Chaney wolf-man for those with a partial sequence, full Howling-style ones if they have the full sequence? Something they can sniff out in others? Something similar with a vampire virus? Oh, maybe the same virus?!

[Flare Knight]

There was an obvious, though small, smile on Powerhouse's face at him being complimented, but the next question was enough to cause him to go back to thinking hard, crossing his arms, looking down, and frowning. "The Wolfman...Well, it wasn't the Wolfman, he never talked after that. But, I think...maybe, the girl he was chasing was related to him...He knew her name...I think." He said, thinking about the man instead of the wolf this time. "The man...once he got rid of his clothing, he was normal. Disturbingly so...You couldn't pick him out of a line-up, because he'd be so generic that you wouldn't even notice he was there." he offered, clenching his fists and looking upward, into the ceiling, for a time. 'This man is...strange...' Powerhouse thought to himself as he stared at the white ceiling above him. 'he's nothing like Virtue...' he finished, looking back at the man and waiting.

[Dr Archeville]

Hrm, that is unfortunate... but there are options.

Archeville nodded, "he may not be as nondescript as he believes. If he's got the same virus you do, he'll have an elevated heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature. Not exactly something that is uncommon, especially in this country, and while he is in 'human mode' his levels may not be that much more elevated, but it is something. What is promising, though," he leaned forward, excitement creeping into his voice, "is the samples of the virus we were able to get from you before the treatment eradicated it. Well, not of the virus itself, really, more like fragments of it, but, enough to perhaps device a test. Certain illnesses cause your body to... well, stink in a certain way, due to the bacterial or viral particles and toxins accumulating in your sweat and lungs and mouth. If we can work out a way to test for the presence of these viral particles in a person, by testing their breath or body odor, we may be able to track this fellow down!"

Science!

"Now," he took a deep, calming breath, and leaned back in his chair a bit, "what about the woman? What did she look like? I am sure the police and any superheroes who investigate this would be interested in talking to her."

[Flare Knight]

Even being completely conscious, Powerhouse was still confused by the way that the Doctor was talking, and his eyes showed it, sliding out of focus as the doctor talked, getting just enough from what he was saying to understand that they could find the man. "Doctor...I think I've made a mistake in my statements..." Powerhouse said, hanging his head, covering his face by looking directly down at his clenched fists."I never saw the man outside of him being a Wolf...I don't even know if the Transformation can be reversed. When I came to the scene, the man was already transformed. I was speaking of the man who seemed to have given the man the medicine, the Doctor who told me about this.....I'm sorry..." He said, hanging his head and frowning."My apologies will never be enough to express my sorrow at my mistake Sir, I apologize for being such." He said, cringing away from the Doctor as if expecting him to begin yelling or something similar.

[Dr Archeville]

I must find a way to get him to lighten up!

Archeville held up one and, palm facing outward, and spoke in (what he calculated to be) a soothing voice. "it is alright, Powerhouse, you do not need to be so apologetic! Fuzzy memories are a perfectly normal side-effect of traumas such as this; in truth, your recollections have been quite good! Most would not be able to remember the color of the eyes of an animal that attacked them! As for transformation reversal, well," he grinned and chuckled, "it would appear that you are living proof that at least a partial, incomplete transformation can be reversed!"

"So," he held up one finger, "there was the wolf-man, and," he held up a second finger, "the doctor, he was the one with the fake wig and beard, right? And," he held up a third finger, "the woman they were after, right? What do you remember of her?"

[Flare Knight]

"Right...You have it right..." he agreed, tapping his hands together. "uhh...well... I guess it's good that I'm that, at least. I mean, it means that I've helped you prove something."He said, smiling. This man was nice. Very nice. Powerhouse knew he could trust him. "Right. The girl had...blond hair...maybe Green eyes? She was related to the Werewolf man...I think. I'm not sure, but it seemed like it." He said, thinking hard. Then he remembered that he was an artist, and snapped his fingers. He had forgotten about it, but the doctor was a nice man. He could trust the man, right? He hadn't done anything suspicious, and had helped him.

"Actually Mr. Doctor. It might be better if I draw them, instead of describe them. I'm pretty good at drawing. I could probably draw them faster and more accurate then if I tried to describe them. I think." he said, reaching out his hand and clenching it. "Can I maybe have some paper and a pencil?"

[Dr Archeville]

Ah, a direct way to aid in the investigation! And art may also prove therapeutic to him!

Archeville beamed, "certainly, young man! I believe..." The Doktor glanced around the room, then ducked out into the hall just enough to pluck three pieces of paper off one of the messageboards out there. The front of two of the sheets were a reminder for staff to review the latest security protocols, the third notice of a bake sale; the backs were blank. "Here you go, and I have some colored pens here," he said as he retrieved some from his labcoat pocket. "Or would you prefer pencils? I am sure we have some somewhere around here; I know I ordered some...."

[Flare Knight]

"Pencils...would be preferable." Powerhouse muttered, his fingers trailing along the paper slowly. "I use pencils...but I can make do with pens if you can't find any." he added quickly after his statement. He traced out what he was going to draw with his fingers across each one of the sheets, as the colors came to him before he could draw them really, but in his head the pictures were already finished, just waiting for an outlet. As the doctor retrieved the pencils, and he sat about making them.

Basic structures, then the girl's more specific facial structures, and then her hair and eyes. Her skin color, her clothing, all of it wet from the rain, scared. Then the wolf was next. Snarling mouth, drooling lips, long teeth with dripping blood, brown fur, hunched over- drawn exaggerated, like a nightmare come to life-, and then the man. He drew him normal, depressingly so, standing over something, his features picked out, brown hair, brown eyes, normal sized. "Right. This is them."

[Dr Archeville]

Not as good as what a professional police sketch artist could do, but he either has some natural talent or some basic training. I wonder what he does for a living?

Judging by Archeville's facial expression -- an expression Powerhouse had not seen nearly often enough -- he was fairly impressed with the young man's artistic talent. "These are rather good quality, young man! Have you taken lessons? Are you a graphic designer by trade? Or a comic book artist?"

He retrieved a wand-like device from his pocket, and made some adjustments to the controls along its side. "Now to scan these in to the system, so we will know who to look for, and -- if we are very lucky -- stop them before anyone else is hurt!"

This metahuman is new to me, though he does not seem new to or ignorant of his abilities. He is probably not a local; his accent places him as American, though too indistinct to pinpoint a general area of origin. Why is he here? Simply looking to make a name for himself, or something else? Those collars on his ankles, waist, wrist and neck indicate he had been bound against his will for an extended time, and the marking along the sides indicate he had been hung by those collars for some time; fortunately they did not impede our ability to treat him, as nothing we had in the room at the time could remove them. Perhaps his reaction to police presence will give some indication.

He scanned in the pictures one at a time, nodded with satisfaction at the sequence of beeps and blinking lights his techno-wand made, then turned back to his patient. "The police will prefer to have these hand-drawn images for their search. Would you permit them to have these?"

[Flare Knight]

The compliment to Powerhouse was enough to cause him to stop for a bit, going extremely quiet as he looked at the man's face for some time, first blank, then smiling broadly. "Thank you Doctor! I appreciate your compliments. I really do enjoy my work, so receiving compliments really makes me feel like it's even more fun then I think it is!" He said, but then he stumbled a bit upon being asked about his job, before answering- what could it hurt? the Doctor was a nice man! He kept proving it over and over too!- and he spoke freely with just a momentary stumble. "Ah...I'm a comic artist. For a few years. Though I had to stop for a few years because I wasn't allowed pencils." Powerhouse said, nodding, looking at the designs. They were his usual standard of work, not good, but not bad. He moved them around a bit. He was average, but his skill was drawing almost any different type. He could draw average horror stories, or average superhero stories, but he wasn't goo at any of them. "I kind of take lessons. I work with a bunch of good artists, so I get to look at their work and integrate it into my own." He explained.

Powerhouse's attention was drawn to the small object as the Doctor fiddled with it and talked, his eyes shining as the man spoke. "You can do that with just a pen? Is it one of those new Cameras?" He asked, then he flew quickly into silence at the mention of the cops.

"Uhh..." That was a tough one. Cops were good. He had thought they were bad, at first, but the cops weren't the cops he was used to."Cops. Well...sure. I can give them the drawings, or you can. I mean, I'd rather not do it personally, but you can give the drawings to them, I suppose." he said, mumbling a bit, but making his words obvious to the doctor.