What the Doctor Ordered (IC)

[Raveled]

Freedom Medical Center was one of the largest, most advanced, and busiest hospitals on the planet. It was also just a short hop across the river from the Lab, home of high-tech innovations to revolutionize the world. It wasn't surprising, then, that the latter often provided brand spanking-new tech to the former; while the Lab did have its own biomedical wing, it was a much more specialized area, dealing with exotic or outright metahuman maladies. The FMC was the perfect place to test new medical technologies intended for the wider market, which was why a truck registered to the Lab was threading through the complex towards a loading dock.

Jessica Parker rode shotgun in the truck, dressed in a smart blue business suit, clutching a set of note cards in her lap. Normally she wouldn't think of wearing something so formal just to deliver some machines, but she was expected to give a talk on how to use the devices. When the founding members of the Lab had been discussing who to send, Miss America had been the natural choice, being the only one of them who seemed comfortable giving speeches. Jessica had asked for this job, though, knowing that it was important to learn how to speak in front of a crowd. Now, as her stomach knotted with tension, she was beginning to regret her decision.

The truck pulled up to the loading dock and several orderlies gathered around the back, unloading the dozen or so boxes of equipment. Jessica picked one out of the group and signaled one of the interns -- the only female of the group, she noted idly -- to follow her up to the presentation room.

[Gizmo]

Ellie Espadas usually volunteered at Trinity Hospital in the West End, if only because it needed the help more, but Freedom Medical Center certainly afforded the prospective medical student more opportunities to learn. It didn't hurt that it was so much closer to the Lab and a certain engineer, either, admittedly. Helping to carry boxes wasn't exactly what she'd signed on for, however, even if she was curious about what new equipment was being delivered. The young woman had expected to see Miss Americana when told that someone from the R&R facility was coming along to demonstrate the device, but was surprised to recognize Jessica Parker, better known by many as Ironclad. Ellie had heard a lot about her from Mara, and found her curiosity truly piqued, particularly since Parker obviously didn't know who she was out of costume. "So," she began, "they didn't really tell us what you guys were bringing over. Anything exciting?"

[Raveled]

Jessica half turned to regard the dark-haired, dark complexioned girl following her. "Med-pacs," she said succinctly. "Just like in video games. Pick one up and it closes open wounds, cleans out all infection, even replaces lost blood. Doesn't cure poison or other toxins, though. You need a blue herb for that. And god help you if you get vampirism. You'll have to pray at the right shrine at the right time of day r do some really obscure quest line to fix it." The pair came to a bank of elevators and Jessica pressed the call button, then went to stand in front of one of the sets of doors. Sure enough, that was the first to open.

The young woman held the door open and the pair rode up in silence. After a long minute Jessica spoke. "I mixed too many video game series in there, right? Ruined the joke?"

[Gizmo]

"It's... probably funnier if you don't actually deal with toxins and the like on a regular basis," Ellie allowed charitably, although she hadn't actually gotten the joke at all until Parker reiterated the video game connection. Probably funnier if you've never dealt with vampires, either, the volunteer mused inwardly. Does that make me a 'blue herb'? ...no, that just sounds derogatory. She suspected the other young woman's chatter was largely a sign of nervousness over the impending presentation, but she could see how the long-haired girl would get along with the typically laconic Mara. Not that she was even a tiny bit jealous, obviously, because that would be ridiculous. Taking a closer look at the sealed box she was carrying, she asked aloud, "So, are we talking nanobots or a sympathetic electrical field or what? I know you guys have more engineers on staff than biologists."

[Raveled]

Jessica laughed. "No, it's not a med-pac. That was a joke. It's, uh, it's a handheld ultrasound machine. Basic design came out of a student in University of Michigan; we collaborated with her to finish the miniaturization and the interface." She seemed to be relaxing now that the conversation had taken a turn into technical details. "It doesn't have the functionality of a, ah, standard ultrasound, but it's small enough to carry in a person's pocket. Doctors could even carry one around like a stethoscope. Could use it in normal examination rooms." The pair came to a set of heavy double doors and Jessica paused there, one hand on the handle. "Actually, since it does detect sonic vibration, it could probably double as a stethoscope. Put it in a passive mode -- it might even work for blood pressure." She stared off into the distance for a moment, then gave her body a sudden shake and smiled at Ellie. "But that's in the future. Need to iron out the kinks in the basic design, first!"

The engineer pushed her way into the conference room, holding the door open for the other girl. There were four rows of folding seats set up facing a raised platform, with a bare table on the platform. There were a few figures milling around in lab coats and surgical scrubs; they glanced around when the two young women entered but quickly went back to their own conversations. Jessica motioned for Ellie to put the box on the table and glanced around the little presentation area. "There was supposed to be an ultrasound machine here," she said, her tone annoyed. "I don't suppose you could go grab one?"

[Gizmo]

Ellie did her best to keep a flat look of disappointment off of her face. The miniaturized ultrasound devices would certainly be useful, but they weren't exactly in the league she'd come to expect from the Lab. Then again, Mara usually shows be the experimental, in-development stuff, which you really wouldn't want to be just handing out. Setting the box down, she did pull an annoyed look at the apparent lack of preparation on the hospital's part and nodded amiably to the presenter. "Sure, gimme a sec to track one down that's not in use. Ellie, by the way," she introduced herself, extending a hand.

[Raveled]

Jessica shook the offered hand. "Jessica Parker," she said. "Thanks for all the hauling around, by the way. Um, there's supposed to be some coffee and bagels or something. Feel free to stick around, grab some food, watch the presentation."

For her part, Jessica produced a small box cutter and slit the packaging, pulling out an odd device still wrapped in plastic. It looked like a batter's glove, a fingerless leather covering, married to a milky globe the size of an apple. A cable led off the glove to a three-way outlet, sporting the most common data-cable adapters. The engineer slipped the device on her left hand and adjusted the fit; when it was just right, her hand curved around to cup the ball. She drew a few stares as she smacked it against the table experimentally, then examined the device for cracks or flaws. Convinced the instrument would hold up to spec, she slipped it off and pulled out her speech notes, going over them one last time before her presentation.

[Gizmo]

"No sweat," Ellie assured her with a dismissive wave. "You know how it is; if you can't carry a box without dropping it, they're never going to let you cut somebody open and monkey with their insides." The intern jogged off to track down a more conventional ultrasound machine. Parker -- Jessica, rather -- seemed likable enough, though it left the dark haired young woman pondering just what the proper etiquette was in this situation, given her secret identity. I guess that'll just be a little awkward when we're finally introduced properly.

[Raveled]

Luckily, Ellie returned with the machine just a few minutes before the presentation was due to start. Jessica thanked the other woman and took her place up on the platform; by now most of the chairs were filled by carious important-looking individuals, some of whom were openly disdainful of the idea of being lectured by a teenager. Jessica, for her part, was standing up at the table and quietly waiting for the murmurs to die down. Once they did she launched into a quick speech about the new product, outlining the mechanics and uses of modern ultrasound before moving on to the Lab's product. She demonstrated how the new design worked, compared it to the older model sitting on the cart, and overall made a very competent speech. Possibly because she was adhering religiously to the notes she had memorized on the drive over. That showed when she finished the prepared spiel and swallowed hard before asking, "Any questions?"

"Yeah, I got one!" The rough, overly-loud voice from the back of the room drew more than a few stares. The owner of the voice stood up, shedding the lab coat and revealing a well-muscled body, balding head -- and two furry, clawed forearms that more properly belonged on a bear. The double doors at the back of the lecture hall banged open and three more men entered; one was an absolutely huge specimen who made the floorboards creak when he walked, the next seemed normal enough except for the blazing blue aura around his head, and the last was a horrific mix of man and fly. The bear-armed figure motioned the heavyweight forward while Fly-Boy and the normal-looking one took up places by the door. Bear and heavy stalked down the center aisle straight towards Jessica, who surprisingly held her ground and seemed more comfortable facing down these violent freaks than giving a speech. "How many of those little gizmos you got around here? Oh, and how fast can you load 'em up?"

[Gizmo]

Oh for... I swear, I don't know how we get anything done in this city some days, Ellie groaned inwardly as the quartet of freakish brutes made their presence known. Luckily, their entrance was distracting enough that the young intern was able to slip out the back of the room in the resulting commotion, and was quickly sprinting for a nondescript locker one floor down, sounding the alarm as she went. Retrieving her messenger bag, the dark haired girl slipped into a conveniently unoccupied washroom and moments later the crimson clad form of Jill O'Cure was lifting itself out the small window and firing a grappling hook up the side of the hospital to get back to the presentation room.

[Raveled]

Some of the doctors in the back noticed Ellie making a break for it and followed her, scattering into the building. Most were sensible enough to stay quiet until they were several turnings away, but it was inevitable that hospital security would show up before long. Inside the room, Jessica noticed the trickle of hostages out the back doors and knew she had to stall the malformed villains. With lock all the potential victims would get away before the fight could start. They'd still be in the middle of a hospital, but half a solution was better than none.

Jessica stepped forward and stared Bear-Claw down. "I don't know what you think you're getting," she said, "maybe a prototype weapon or the next generation of whatever. But these are just ultrasound machines. The only folks are interested in this stuff are other hospitals."

The leader sneered at her in return. "Don't you worry your pretty little head about what we'll do with them. Just had them over and we won't have to get... nasty." He glanced back at his cronies and, on cue, they let out a mean laugh, clearly intended to intimidate whoever they were dealing with. Jessica worked hard to keep any reaction off her face.

[Raveled]

This apparently wasn't the response that Bear-Knuckle was expecting. He abruptly raised one huge, clawed paw, then paused mid-swing. A cruel, lazy smile spread across his features, and he lowered his hulking arm slowly. "TKO," he called out. "C'mon up here. Time to get your hands dirty, boy." The leader of the group stepped aside and the only normal-looking member of the group stepped up. He was actually rather scrawny, and except for the blue aura around his head and fists might've been rather unremarkable. He raised those fists in a classic boxer's stance, stepped back, and let loose with a roundhouse punch. It was almost sad when Jessica took a quick step back and watched the blow sail right past her. She raised an eyebrow at the group, almost daring them to make another try.

[Gizmo]

"'Pretty little head'? Really?" a sardonic voice rang out from the presentation room's window as Jill O'Cure swung in on her grappling hook line, tumbling acrobatically into the room and smoothly rising into a combat ready pose. "You get that she's a super-science muckity muck genius, right?" the black and crimson clad heroine asked dryly as blue light enveloped her hands with an electrical crackle. "Whereas you're a walking second amendment joke." With a gesture, translucent blue sphere of energy shimmered into being around Bear-Knuckle's comrades, leaving them trapped in bobbing prisons. "This is the part where you say, 'curses, Jill O'Cure!' followed by something else stupid for me to make fun of."

[Raveled]

Jessica was as surprised at Jill O'Cure's entrance as the villains, but she reacted faster. There was a flash of blinding light from the inventor's wrist, which grew to envelope her entire body in the blink of an eye. When the energy field faded, she was clad head to toe in her super-advanced battlesuit. Engaging the suit's servo muscles, she surged toward the remaining, untrapped villain. She swung one metal-clad fist around and fetched him a blow on his nose that drove the bear-armed man backwards and into a row of chairs. He went down in an undignified tumble, striking out randomly and tearing several of the metal seats to shreds. His cronies, meanwhile, all hammered on their blue-tinted prisons; Fly-Boy and TKO didn't seem to be getting very far, but Heavyweight's prison crackled with each oversized blow the heavy man rained down.

[Gizmo]

Hands shaking a bit from the mystic recoil of Heavyweight's blows against her construct, Jill grimaced. "Whoop, hey now, none of that." Thinking quickly, she lifted the bubble prisons and their occupants just off of the floor and with a broad gesture slammed them into the window she'd just slipped through. The wall gave way against the more durable force fields, leaving a substantial hole as they continued out into the open air. Lifting her hand upward, she sent all three rocketing skyward, until they hung suspended at the limit of her range. "You're probably gonna want to reconsider trying to break out of those, guys! On the bright side, there is a hospital right here, but still!" Turning a portion of her attention to the armored heroine giving the remaining villain a run for his money. "Hey, Ironclad, yeah? Sorry for butting in, but I was in the area and we have a mutual acquaintance who'd be super ticked if I let these guys manhandle you." Tilting her bead to one side slightly, she considered. "Or would that be bearhandle?"

[Raveled]

The three flunkies floated out through the impromptu hole into the blue sky. Heavyweight threw another few hurried blows, but even he wasn't dumb enough to keep pounding away once there was a few stories of open air under his boots. As Jill was doing that, Ironclad rushed forward and tried to deliver a hammerblow to the prone Bear-Knuckle, looking to end the fight right there. The criminal was quicker than she had anticipated though, grabbing one of the metal chairs and throwing it at her. The armored heroine checked her charge just long enough to dodge the projectile, but it was enough time for Bear-Knuckle to get to his feet. He charged Ironclad, swinging one claw-tipped paw at her head. She spun quickly and though the strike raised sparks on her armor, she seemed no worse for wear.

[Gizmo]

"Not much of a talker, huh? That's cool," Jill mused aloud as she leaned a little out through the gaping hole in the wall she'd created to keep an eye on the captured villains up above. "Keeping focused, keeping your concentration. I mean, if I were to let mine slip, those guys up there wou- oh Dios!" The teenager recoiled in horror as though watching someone plummet to their doom. After a beat, she turned her head to give Bear-Knuckle a truly irritating smirk. "Psych! Seriously, though, getting bored. Mama said knock him out, Green Jeans."

[Raveled]

Ironclad danced back from the melee, putting her back to a wall. Inside the armor, Jessica was breathing hard; this was a much harder work-out that she normally went through for a fight. She quickly rerouted the suit's power and blasted off a high-powered shot at the villain. The energy backwash obscured her vision for a moment, but when she could see again she noted the black, smoking patch of fur on Bear-Knuckle's forearm. He let out a sudden roar and turned to face Jill "Shut up," he screamed at her. He barreled towards her and swung hard, but the nimble healer danced back from the blow.

[Gizmo]

"Lemme think... nope!" Jill smirked as she stepped around the brutal, slashing claws, keeping her concern from her face. No brother or girlfriend to run interference for you this time, she reminded herself. She also had to keep in mind that a solid hit might break her concentration enough to drop the other Contenders. Feinting a kick to keep Bear-Knuckle occupied, she continued, "You could at least give me something to work with here. 'Grr, argh' isn't much in the way of banter."

[Raveled]

Bear-Knuckle's eyes bulged out of his skull as he kept after the lithe, masked heroine, gouging out the plaster walls and carpeted floors as his claws found nothing but air. Meanwhile, Ironclad floated around the action on a cushion of magnetic energy. "You're talking to an ex-illegal streetfighter turned mutated super-criminal," she reminded the energy controller. "High prose is beyond him, methinks." The young inventor floated out the hole that Jill had made, double-checking the position of the entrapped Contenders and their snarling de facto leader. "That said, he's probably thinking less than he normally does. Make a floor and see if he won't come out here!" To give the other woman a chance to breath, the armored heroine let off a full-powered blast at the criminal -- only to have him rear at just the right moment and catch it in the back of the head! He went down hard, but within moments was scrabbling at the floor again, trying to get his arms and legs under him.

[Gizmo]

"Good plan!" Jill called over to Ironclad as she skidded away from the momentarily stunned criminal. "But since we're doing a number on the hospital and these guys are only after your new toys, might I suggest a small change?" With a gesture, the acrobatic medic wrapped the ultrasound devices in another bubble of shimmering energy and sprinted for the hole in the wall, the encapsulated medical equipment bobbing after her in the air. Hitting the ragged edge of the floor, she lept into the sky to land atop the armored scientist, wrapping her arms around her neck. "Run awaaay!"

[Raveled]

Ironclad wasn't prepared for the energy controller to make a flying leap into her arms; her flight system whined audibly as it shifted into overdrive and she drifted down to the ground floor, setting the healer down once they were standing on grass. From the room they'd just vacated, they heard Bear-Knuckle's frustrated, enraged yell. A moment later the super-criminal appeared at the hole in the wall, leaping out into the air. He fixed the air of heroines with a crazy, hungry gaze as he plummeted -- past them and onto a concrete drive. The ground cracked underneath the heavy man, but simply staggered upright and fixed the heroines with an angry gaze again.

Ironclad, for her part, flexed her metal muscles for a moment and slid an odd puck-shaped device into one hand. "I've had just about enough of this," she muttered to herself. She threw the puck into the air, where it suddenly sprouted thin wires. The inventor grabbed one of the wires and charged Bear-Knuckle, swinging the puck. Unfortunately, at the apex of the swing the metal disc broke the wire and went spinning into the air. Ironclad cursed her luck and back=peddled, trying to keep out of the criminal's clawed range.