ic Double-Edged Blade [IC]

[Gizmo]

"Hey, I'm not the one who brought a date, Goggles!" Jack called over to the teen as he and the mysterious swordsman circled each other appraisingly. "So, what's a sharp girl like you doing in a dull place like this?"

"...are you some kind of idiot?" Crimson Katana asked seriously an instant before her namesake blade flashed with blinding speed, swinging around and whipping toward the swashbuckler.

Meeting the Three-Flames Katana with his own fiery sword, Jack grinned broadly. "Belleza, I'm the best kind of idiot." His confidence unshaken, he snapped his rapier forward with a lightning quick thrust, only to have it turned away at the last moment by the wakizashi in her off hand. Surprised, he pulled back into a defensive stance. "I never miss. Who are you?"

His opponent pushed the offensive, evidently deciding that the best way to acquire the Grasscutter was through the talkative fencer. "You'll understand if I'm not in a sharing mood."

[Ecalsneerg]

"At least I can get a date," retorted Geckoman, trying with all his might to force his way clear of the security robot's arms. "Dammit!" he burst out. "I hate security. So much. Now, giant robot, if you don't let me go, I am going to scrap you, and use you for car parts. Then sell you to the owner of one of those damn dogs who shed everywhere. An eternity spent covered in smelly fur." He planted his hands hard on the metal, fingertips sticking fast immediately. Then twisted his joints hard enough to dislocate them to get the flexibility to kick free of the hold.

[Gizmo]

Worrisome popping sounds and flashes of pain soon paid off as Geckoman managed to extricate himself from the crushing grip of the massive mechanical monster by the slimmest of margins. As the automatons and the remaining ninjas tried in vain to connect with the agile teenager, Freebooter quickly closed the distance with the fallen Miss Americana. "Hate to strike at a beauty who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time," the swordsman noted with a small shrug before twisting a dial on the bottom of his cutlass. The neon green diodes redoubled their light and the blade began to vibrate faster than the human eye could perceive, emitting a night pitched whine. "But that's where flying the regime's colours get you!" Leaping forward again, he struck!

Taking advantage of her preoccupation, one of the robots that had been concentrating on Spellbound thundered over with surprising speed and slammed a massive fist into the patriotic paragon's back. Freebooter looked vaguely appalled at the tactic. "Who wrote the tactical AI on these rubbish heaps? Tch. Just switching the enemy recognition was lazy, shame on me." As if illustrating his poor assessment, the remaining technological terror squeezed the captive young woman with piston driven force. Evidently giving up on cutting through Miss Americana's super tough skin with their throwing weapons, the last of the Katanarchists made a mad dash from their various perches to grab the unattended Grasscutter!

[Electra]

Miss A smiled at Freebooter as his cutlass smacked harmlessly against her exceedingly tough skin, ignoring the robot's blow from behind. "You should know better than to trust corporate programmers," she chastened teasingly. "That kind of laziness will get you in trouble sometime." She pointed a reproving finger at him, shooting a blue laser bolt straight into his chest! Without looking to see what he made of that, she took off, flying across the room to try and intercept the Sword-wielding Katanarchist.

[Gizmo]

As the blue bolt knocked the Freebooter off of his feet, Crimson Katana watched the remaining Katanarchists scramble for the Grasscutter where it lay on the ground from the corner of her eye, scowling. "Don't have time for this," she muttered in annoyance, her matched blades whirling in a flurry of deadly steel. Jack's fancy footwork kept him ahead of the assault for a moment, but his lone rapier put him at a disadvantage. Finally, a particularly blinding swing broke through his defenses, leaving a thin, arching gash in a crescent shape across the front of his black bodysuit, revealing tanned skin and a line of blood.

With a muted grunt, the fencer's expression turned serious. "Alright, that... he began as he launched into a furious barrage of blows. "...is just about..." The fiery sword bled into a blazing blur, a strike catching his opponent's right wrist and sending the longer of her two blades to the floor at her feet. "...enough..." Crimson Katana took a half step back, focusing on defense with her remaining weapon, but the wakizashi too was sent tumbling out of her hand. "...of that," Jack concluded, pausing his assault to hold the disarmed swordswoman a the point of his blade.

Looking from the tip of the energy construct to her own fallen swords then back to the swashbuckler, the masked woman made a thoughtful sound in the back of her throat.

[Ecalsneerg]

"Hey, big, rusted and ugly! I know it's not your fault you've been plundered by some half-assed pirate. Seriously, it's an overused villainous motif. 'Oh look, i'm so smart and clever and original!' Yeeeeeah, right. You hear me, pirate boy? Yeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrr a walking cliche! Yarrr!" Geckoman shouted first at the robot holding Liz, then at the Freebooter.

"Also... GECKOTOTHEFACE!" The green crime fighter leapt and lunged at the giant robot's face with great aplomb. This will work!

[Gizmo]

As Geckoman's limbs abruptly wrapped around its optical sensors, the robot stumbled backward, flailing one leg in the air, then the other. "Error! Error!" it shouted in a plaintive electronic tone, causing the other robots to lumber over and swing their massive metal arms ineffectually at the offending superhero. Unfortunately, is retained its bear hug on Spellbound, leaving the bizarre trio to dance about the lobby.

The remaining Katanarchists swept past Jack of all Blades and his opponent, snatching up not only the fallen Grasscutter, but also the fire-etched blades on the swordswoman as they raced toward the door, eliciting a string of curses in at least two different language. "Wait, what?" Jack blurted, confused. Despite their similar costumes and apparently parallel goals, was it possible that the ninjas and the late arrival weren't on the same team?

Wherever their loyalties lay, the silent thieves found their progress immediately halted by the patriotic paragon setting down directly in their path. "Children. No respect for classical archetypes," Freebooter bemoaned, tilting his head to one side as his high-tech monocle glowed with bright LEDs. The last robot, the one holding the security guard captive, straightened stiffly before tossing its hostage roughly to one side and moving to harry Miss Americana, obviously looking to buy its new master's employers time to make good their escape. "I trust you've more refined sensibilities, dear lady, ha ha!"

[Electra]

"You've little room to talk about classical archetypes, Freebooter, when you've resorted to silly memes yourself," Miss A shot back with a sharp-edged grin. "Ninjas, pirates, and robots? Please. Why don't you call off your zerglings and we'll do this properly? Alternatively," she added, looking at the Katanarchists, "You all can give me the sword and back off, or I can see how many of you my friend of all blades and I can take out before you can get in so much as a karate chop." She held up a hand that flickered menacingly with laser light.

[Gizmo]

"Oho! I can't say I expected the beauty queen of all people to clue into my little private joke," Freebooter chuckled jauntily, vaulting through the air to land atop the robot's shoulder in a crouch, resting his diode studded cutlass on one knee. "I suspect you'd know, then, that ninjas only grow more deadly as their numbers decrease!" Looking a little more introspective for a moment, he shrugged. "I also get the impression that this lot is a bit mad, so..."

As if confirming the pirate's hypothesis, the remaining ninjas leapt forward, blades flashing as they lashed out at Miss Americana. Their single-minded fervor seemed to strengthen their blows and quicken their strikes, but still they were no match for the patriotic paragon's impervious skin, which easily brushed aside their attacks.

Sprinting into the melee, the Crimson Katana caught the ninja carrying her weapons off-guard, punching him squarely in the face and sending him flying backward as her etched blades fell from his hands and tumbled through the air. With a gesture, the mystic steel melted into liquid flame and slithered up the masked woman's arms, transforming into tattoos. Taking stock of the continuing chaos, she seemed to reach a decision and moved to begin climbing nimbly up the wall toward the high windows.

"Hey, we're not finished here, lady!" Jack called after her indignantly, giving chase. Along the way, he used the robot the Freebooter was perched upon as a stepping stone, his energy rapier moving almost too quickly to follow in his wake. The swashbuckler backflipped through the air to connect with the wall just above the Crimson Katana, blocking her way. A moment later, the massive automaton let loose a ear-splitting creak before falling apart in two halves, bisected down the middle. The villain on its shoulder let out a brief yelp as he acrobatically managed to land on his feet atop the smoking remains.

[Electra]

"Are we judging books by their cover now?" Miss A asked Freebooter with a laugh, even as she continued mowing through the crowd of ninjas, trying to isolate the one who actually had the sword. "You of all people should know better. And since you haven't gotten what you came for, your allies are scattered or gone, and the police are on the way, I'd say your little boarding party is all washed up, handsome." Despite that, she didn't move to take the swashbuckler into custody just yet, instead concentrating exclusively on the ever-shrinking pool of ninjas.

[Gizmo]

The Katanarchist actually holding the Grasscutter displayed surprising impressive evasion skills, ducking behind his remaining comrades as he avoided Miss Americana's red, white and blue beams. Before long, however, he was left standing amidst a considerable pile of groaning and unconscious red robed martial artists, clutching his prize in both hands as the blonde heroine hovered above. For a moment, he stood still, looking remarkably dejected for someone with most of his face covered, shoulders slumping in defeat.

"Well, that's the last time I take a contract to satisfy a meme," Freebooter sighed, glancing over to where Geckoman had finally managed to free Spellbound from the robot's grip, the occult-themed technologist making aggressive use of her electromagnetic gadgetry to finish the job. Giving his patriotic opponent a courtly bow, the villain commented, "We'll meet again sooner rather than later, my dear, but this captain knows better than to go down with the ship." With that, he made a prodigious leap obviously beyond the capabilities of an ordinary human toward the shattered windows of the far wall.

On the opposite side of the lobby, the Crimson Katana responded to Jack's sudden appearance in her way by smoothly pushing off with her hands to flip end over end into a kick that sent the fencer crashing back down to the floor even as it propelled her the rest of the way to her escape route. Balancing in the window frame, she paused for an instant before turning back long enough to call down, "You leave your guard down on your left." With that, she vanished from site.

Sitting flabbergasted on the lobby tile, Jack could only let out an indignant, "Who was that?!"

[Electra]

Miss Americana neatly dispatched the final ninja with a blast of laser light, then went to pick up the blade that was the cause of all the trouble. "I don't know," she admitted. "I recognized the Freebooter, but I haven't seen the other one before. Fast, wasn't she?" She looked over to make sure the unpleasant young heroes were doing all right for themselves before replacing the sword, somewhat wistfully, in the remains of its glass case. "Looks like they'll have to upgrade their security in here again. Perhaps I'll offer my services in trade to clean the virus out of their computer system. I'd love a few hours in the lab with that blade."

[Gizmo]

"I... but, she-- nobody can... what?!" Jack managed in a strained voice as he picked himself up off the floor and examined the slash across his chest. Placing a palm on his bandanna covered forehead, he shook his head. "Sorry, I just... Fencing isn't just my thing, it's literally what I was born to do," the swordsman explained, still a little dazed. "My ancestors took the long, hard but ultimately probably more fun approach to genetic engineering. She..." Jack moved his hand from his forehead to rub his chin slowly, something akin to a grin ghosting over his features despite everything. "She's really, really good."

[Electra]

Miss A looked Jack of all Blades over thoughtfully, then crooked an eyebrow and smiled at him. "It sounds like you should try looking her up again," she suggested. "Being the best at something isn't nearly as much fun if you don't have someone challenging you for the position. And she was rather pretty, from what I could see of her through the costume." She idly brushed a few bits of glass from her now-rumpled business suit and walked over to examine one of the fallen security robots.

[Gizmo]

"What? No, c'mon!" Jack protested, pursing his lips briefly and waving Miss Americana's suggestion away. "I mean, I'm pretty sure she's one of the bad guys, so that'd just be-- Well. Maybe." The swashbuckler looked lost in thought for another moment before clearing his throat self-consciously and walking quickly over to check on the head of the building's security team.

The security robot the patriotic paragon examined was almost laughably crude compared to her own state of the art systems, but they were certainly functional enough for their intended task. Presumably they remained connected to a central database while in the recharging berths from which they'd emerged, which would have allowed a hacker with the Freebooter's skills to access their programming and make his alterations.

[Electra]

Miss A quickly disabled the robot, ensuring it would not be reactivated until its system was clean, then moved to do the same to the others. "Don't you believe in rehabilitation?" she asked Jack, a trace of laughter in her voice. "Sometimes all a villain needs to get clean is a really good reason. Or maybe a mentor, there's the ticket. Someone to show them the way to turn their powers towards good." She moved quickly, and soon the robots were deactivated as well as disabled, ready for safe repair. The security guards seemed to be doing all right on their own, though she suspected some of them would have headaches for awhile.

[Ecalsneerg]

"Eeeeeeeeh," offered Geckoman. "Roll with it, it can't go that wrong, right?" He shrugged his shoulders. "Besides," he said, helping Spellbound to her feet. "She was kinda hot."

That earned him a solid punch in the arm. "Watch it," warned Spellbound. "But Captain Clever Timing has a point. I mean, she can't be all bad, maybe she's got a good reason for what she does. Give her a better reason to stop." She squeezed Geckoman's arm tightly and gave him a small smile.

"Or just have s- OW!"

[Gizmo]

Propping the unconscious but steadily breathing security guard up against the wall, Jack laughed aloud at the interplay between the young couple, wincing and pressing a hand to his chest as he did, pulling it away slightly red and sticky. "Heh, well that's getting a bit ahead, right? She was just trying to kill me," the fencer pointed out, getting back to his feet and wiping his hand on his pants. "Really, there's every chance-- ah, who'm I kidding? I'm adorable. She just needs to get to know me."

[Ecalsneerg]

As Geckoman began to chip in with. "Getting to know you? Maybe that's not such a-", Spellbound quickly jumped in upon seeing the blood on Jack's chest.

"Um... maybe you should go to the hospital or something? That doesn't look especially healthy." She frowned. "If you want, I could probably whip you up some nanoweave armour, or something."

"How come I don't get that?"

"You did. Then complained about chafing and overt warmth until I hid it from you."

[Gizmo]

"Hmm?" It took Jack a beat to connect Spellbound's advice with the cut along his chest. "Oh, that. Nah, I've had way worse. I'm awesome, but I'm only regular-people fast, y'know?" The fencer absently pulled the ripped flaps of the top of his bodysuit back to get a better look at the bleeding slash. "The bad guys are pretty much just re-scaring old scar tissue at this point. This one's just embarrassing 'cause I usually do pretty well up close and personal," he laughed ruefully, poking around behind the lobby's concierge desk to see if he could find a first aid kit. "Got way more bullet holes than stab wounds."

[Electra]

Miss A finished with the robots and walked over to Jack, shamelessly tugging aside the edges of his torn shirt herself to get a look at the wound. "It won't kill you," she diagnosed with a half-smile, "but for the sake of your pretty skin you may want to have a couple stitches put in, scars or no scars. I could fix you up back at the Lab, but I'm betting you probably have a regular doctor for this sort of thing. Secret Boy Scout type and all that." She gave him a quick wink, then turned to the room at large. "I don't know about any of you, but I could use a change of clothes and a drink. It's true what they say about there being no days off in this business." She sauntered for the door, once again the very picture of poise and confidence despite her ruined designer suit.

[Gizmo]

Wincing slightly at the brusque treatment, Jack gave the patriotic paragon a slightly reproachful look. "Hey, easy! You don't see me ripping your shirt open. At least not without asking first," he added roguishly, at least partly to distract himself and the other heroes from a partially suppressed wince of pain. "I might never have been a boy scout, but luckily for me mi hermanita doesn't go by Jill O'Cure because she's a fan of seventies rock. It works out: she gets some practice and I don't bleed out. Win-win."

[Ecalsneerg]

"For those of us who are not quite so old..." said Geckoman, gazing into the distance as if he was thinking hard. "And even for those of us who roomed with a guy who owned possibly every record ever made... Jill O'Cure was a band? Spellbound, get me my Google!"

There came no reply, only the sound of a palm slapping the forehead of its owner with force. "C'mon, that's just obscure. Couldn't you have mentioned them earlier and logic bombed the robots?"

[Gizmo]

Jack gave Geckoman a vaguely offended look. "Obsc...?! It's the Cure, for-- I can't even talk to you right now, seriously," the swashbuckler told the youth flatly. "My point is that she's a medic, been setting by bones and stitching me up even before she got crazy magic healing powers." There was a distinct note of fraternal pride in his tone. "And I am not old, Goggles; you're not far from outgrowing your 'hip new hero for a new generation' phase yourself." He accompanied the rebuke by shaking his fist like an elderly man chasing children off of his lawn.