I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings [IC]

[Dr Archeville]

"Zhank you very much, varden," he said with a slight bow, "I shall do mein best to make sure you do not regret placing her in mein care. Also," he added with a hand raised to one side of his mouth and speaking in a 'stage whisper', "zhank you for arranging zhe additional security -- I'm still working on establishing my name und reputation here, und zhe last zhing I vant is to be associated mit some sort of harassment scandal!"

Hrm, how do you solve a problem like Maria?

What?

Nothing. Nothing at all.

Riiight...

Before he was escorted out to the infirmary, Archeville half-turned back to the warden. "Oh, Varden Drummer, von more zhing. Just how are zhe powers of zhe prisoners here nullified? I ask out of both scientific curiosity und out of concern for mein experiments." Now he turned fully to face the warden, gesturing a bit as he talked, "I need to know vhat is in zhe environment I am vorking in, such as zhat of zhe prison infirmary, since it may impact some of zhe results of mein tests, or even prevent some of zhem from being carried out altogezher. Is it some manner of building-vide energy field, similar to vhat is used in zhe current versions of zhe nullifying manacles AEGIS uses," he swept one hand towards the light fixtures in the ceiling, "or some aerosolized metagene inhibitor pumped in zhrough zhe ventilation system?" he swept his other hand towards the HVAC duct in set into the wall.

[Heridfel]

Drummer nods. "I wondered if you would ask about that. I can't go into great detail about the specifics - even if I knew them, it would be unsafe to make too much information on our countermeasures public. But for what you're doing in the infirmary, I can provide you with some basic details.

The power negation is at a constant level of power throughout the facility, and affects everyone inside - hero or villain, it doesn't matter. It will knock out the powers of any mutant, psychic, 'evolved human', and even most magical effects. I'm told it has something to do with the ones who use magic to do things versus the ones who "cast". I don't understand the distinction, but that's why we have some artificers on staff as needed to nullify the ones who can cast.

It also will nullify most powers given through super-science. The exception is powers that are based on technology. Those require a separate nullifier. We can't block them uniformly, or else most of our regular technology also wouldn't work. We've also had mixed success with nullifying alien powers, and those granted by god-like beings. The base system can't handle them at all.

Finally, the nullifers can't fully negate very powerful metahumans. They will typically have a separate nullifer collar as well, or use some other means of inhibiting their powers. As you know, Dryad is part plant. While she gets limited access to sunlight to keep her from starving, it isn't enough to completely fuel her powers."

He takes a deep breath, and Dr. Archeville gets the impression that he's gotten more words out of the warden than most people ever do. Drummer reaches under his desk and pulls out a bottle of water.

"Would you also like one?" he offers.

[Dr Archeville]

"Ah, vell, I vould presume zhat you confiscate any manner of removable technological or... magical devices," he said as he walked across the room towards the warden. The word 'magic' clearly left a bad taste in his mouth, "und store zhem in separate holding facilities, as mein own devices vere vhen I came in. Bionic und cybernetic implants vould be a bit harder to deal mit, zhough...." He trailed off and mumbled in German for a bit, then snapped to and took the offered bottle of water. "Zhank you," he said after taking a sip.

That was nice of him.

Nice? More like useless! He didn't actually tell us how their powers are negated!

Oh, I'm sure it was just an oversight, I bet he'd tell us if we asked nicely.

Bah! He should tell us everything we want to know, now! Can he not see that we are his better?! That we are so much more than any of the superhumans incarcerated here? We are wholly unaffected by his nullifiers, a clear indication of our potency!

Or a sign we're not entirely human, that there's an extraterrestrial in our family tree. Or-

Silence your blasphemies! We are not sullied by any non-human contamination, or anything else! We are transhuman, more human than human!

"As for zhe 'casters'," he continued, the same distasteful look on his face, "it has been mein experience zhat such individuals can be easily stopped by restricting zheir ability to gesture and incant, enforcing zhe psychosomatic blocks on zheir powers. Zhough I suppose binding und gagging them vould impose upon all manner of civil liberties violations..." The doktor smirked, then rubbed his temples a moment, and took another sip of water. "Varden, I do appreciate all you haff told me, und do appreciate zhe need for secrecy und security here, but I must ask for just a bit more information. Are zhe building-vide nullifiers energy-based, or biochemical? I don't need to know specific frequencies or compounds... well, actually, I vould find zhat extremely useful, but I am aware of zhe most common energy- und biochemical-based power inhibitors und can vork around zhat... but I do need to know zhe basic elements so I can adjust mein experiments und procedures accordingly." He paused to take another sip of water, "If zhe nullifiers used here are biochemical, for example, zhere are certain catalysts und reagents I could not use out of concern zhey vould counter zhe nullifiers und restore Dryad's powers in full, or even mutate her into something new; if energy-based, I vill not be able to accurately use some of mein scanning equipment or delicate tools due to interference."

[Heridfel]

"I can't give you that information; I don't know it myself. All personnel without a strict need-to-know have been conditioned so that we are unable to retain that information. That's to protect against mind readers when we're outside of this prison, who might otherwise develop countermeasures. Dr. Wallace is the one who designed the system, but she's out on vacation and can't be reached. Daedalus also has the information, but I believe he is out in space, the last that I heard.

I suggest you proceed cautiously, assuming that what is being used is the least convenient thing in all cases," Drummer says.

[Dr Archeville]

"Ah, of course, varden. I do understand. Zhank you very much for your time und cooperation." The doktor turned and walked out, taking a long swig from the water bottle, allowing the guards to escort him to the infirmary.

Well, we tried, that's all we can do.

Bah! As if some telepath could penetrate our mind!

Yeah, it's not like it hasn't happened nearly a dozen times before....

......... Bah!

The super-scientist soon arrived at the infirmary, where his own equipment -- essentially two portable laboratories, one for biochemistry and one for botany -- had been brought in. It took him nearly 40 minutes to get both adequately set up in the section he'd been permitted to use and to start some basic analyses of the samples he'd taken from Dryad, even with some help from the prison's on-hand medical staff. "Alright, I can't use zhese scanners in case zhe inhibitors here are based on Gyrichian radiation... und I cannot use zhese catalysts und reagents in case zhe inhibitors are based on aerosolized versions of zhe Hodge series of RNA denaturing agents. Oh, and if zhey're using zhe Cortez class of peptide chain blockers, I can't use zhese...." Archeville carefully -- and with some frustration -- separated out some of his equipment and placed them back into their containers, then checked the clock on the wall. "Okay, I zhink zhat's it, und mit barely a minute to spare."

[Heridfel]

The time comes and goes. Dr. Archeville is kept waiting for another seven minutes before what he assumes is a woman inside of MAX armor comes trodding into the infirmary. The suit looks around, then speaks, confirming its inhabitant's sex.

"Dr. Archeville, I presume," she says. "I put in a call as I was coming here. Dryad should be escorted here shortly."

Behind her, another guard walks in. He's also clad in MAX armor, and still manages to move like he's marching. Dr. Archeville can tell this one is a man by his gait, and instantly pegs him as ex-military, probably Army. The guard doesn't speak and takes up his position facing the door and watching for any possible threats.

---

Down at Dryad's cells, the same pair of guards come by and knock on the bars. "Up and adam. The doctor is ready for you at the infirmary," the man says.

[nareik123]

Dryad solemnly stepped up. She looked at the rubbish hole that was her cell and chuckled. She ripped off a leaf and left in in her cell, for memories.

"Lead on" Dryad beckoned.

[Dr Archeville]

"Zhank you, Officer... er, I'm afraid I only caught your first name. Maria, ja?" The doktor offered his hand to shake, "I do apologize for having you come in early, zhough do greatly appreciate you rearranging your schedule."

These conditions are intolerable! How do they expect us to do anything when we're restricted from using so much?

What, a craftsman's only as good as his tools?

What did you say?

I said, I thought a good craftsman never blamed his tools. Or are you so-

Oh-ho, don't you dare! I'll show you exactly what I can do, even under these conditions.

Whoah, wait, no, NO! That's not what I-

Archeville looked up from a collections of test tubes as Dryad was escorted in. A pair of tubes were over Bunsen burners, set to a very low flame; another was set in what looked like a paint can shaker, being agitated vigorously. A trio were set into a centrifuge, spinning madly, while another was set inside a clear (plexiglass?) box and had an intense white light shone through it, which split into a rainbow projected onto a white screen behind it. A laptop next to it showed a mirror image of the projected rainbow. Several more vials and bottles of chemicals were seen lying about, along with several small electronic devices of unknown purpose. Even more bottle and devices were in the two large boxes on the floor behind him. "Ah, good, you're here!," he exclaimed after looking up from his equipment, "Now ve can begin in earnest! Gentlemen, if you vould bring her closer, as close as you are comfortable mit her being to mein equipment."

The guards looked to one another, then to the ones in the MAX armor. After a series of near-imperceptible head movements, Dryad was brought a few steps closer. Still a good twenty feet from the workspace, though close enough to give her a clear view of what was going on. Archeville gave a bit of a frown and a half-shrug. "Yes, vell, zhat vill haff to do."

"Now, Dryad, you told me you know quite a bit about your systems, zhat is, about biology und botany, ja? Vell, if it vas just you und me here, I vould use some highly technical jargon, but since ve have guests, I shall explain zhings in more of a layman's terminology."

"Ve vill begin at zhe beginning, mit vhat you are, und from there determine how to go about treating you." Archeville took the laptop and entered a few commands, then set it on the tables so that everyone could see the screen. He stood behind it and reached over from the side on occassion to click a button. The first image was a computer model of Dryad, posed like the Vitruvian Man. "Zhis image shows you, or at least as best a representation of you as mein memory vould allow me to recreate. As ve can see here, here, here, und here," he continued, punctuating each word with the push of a button, causing parts of the image -- a section of her scalp, her neck, her hip, and one of her claws -- to be zoomed in on, "zhe changes done to you are completely body-vide. Takink a closer look," another series of button presses, causing the bits to be zoomed in on even further, almost to the cellular level, "zhat zhe changes go qvite deep indeed. Zhese are some of Dryad's cells, vhile zhese," more button pushing and two new images sprung up, one vaguely recognizable from high school biology, "are standard animal und plant cells, one from a human und von from an oak tree. As you can see, zhe human und oak cells have some gross similarities, but several differences, too: for example, zhe oak cells contains zhis von large, central vacuole, vhile zhe human cells contains many small vons. Dryad's cells, however, contain elements from both; her cells have von medium vacuole und several smaller vons. However, looking closer," A few more keys very hit, and the images of the cells were magnified more, showing double-helixed strands of DNA, "ve see zhat her DNA is no different from human DNA. Vhatever altered you has made your genes act und express differently, but zhe underlying DNA is untouched!"

[nareik123]

Dryad looked up at Archville, determination blazing on her eyes.

"If my DNA is unchanged, then I can be returned! Argh, if I can use the laptop, I might be able to help" Dryad hissed. She began to formulate plans in her mind. She had one ability that she liked, she could isolate her body functions, allowing her great understanding of her new body. She couldn't do anything, apart from understand her body, but even that helped on some occasions.

This, was a prime occasion.

[Dr Archeville]

Yes, even with these paltry resources, we should be able to cook up something quite exciting...

No, stop! We're supposed to be here to help her, not hurt her!

Awww, tsk tsk tsk, I have absolutely no intention of hurting poor lil' Dryad.

You... don't?

Of course not. In fact, none of my plans would directly harm anyone.

Why does that not alleviate my concerns?

Archeville gave Dryad a half-smirk, "I doubt zhe guards vould allow you access to mein laptop. But, you are correct, since your DNA is unchanged, zheir should be some vay to make it... reboot und get your genes back to zhier normal expressions, und thus return you to your former state."

The super-scientist walked over to one end of the table, where several electronic components were laid out. As he talked, he took up pieces and began combining them, "Based on vhat you haff told me, I haff been vorking under zhe assumption zhat the technique used to transmogrify you vas similar to zhe von Doctor Grovemont used to turn himself into zhe Green Man. Zhat is to say, some manner of alteration to your morphological energy field, altering zhe amplitude und frequency -- like tuning a radio -- so it was less like the field of a human und more like zhe field of a plant." Archeville now held what looked something like a television remote control, though across the top was a very small screen. "Based on my studies of zhe few notes on Grovemont's equipment zhe FCPD und STAR Squad allowed me to access, I believe zhis device can replicate zhe effects of the devices used to alter your field, und so change you back."

Taking the device, he jogged back over to the other end of the table, which held numerous chemical vials. "However, I do not believe zhat zhis device can render a permanent change: Grovemont's early use of his devices vere temporary, zhe morphic fields eventually reset zhemselves once the stimulus of zhe devices vas removed. I believe he used a series of chemical injections to make zhe changes to himself permanent, und zhe same vas likely done to you." Laying the 'remote' down, he began to concoct two separate compounds. "Zhis first compound vill make your body more receptive to alterations to its morphic field, und thus make zhe process of changing you back easier. It vill also make it posible for zhe device to adequately affect you; mitout zhis injection, it vould require a device far bigger und more powerful. Zhis second compound vill be administered after your field is altered, and should render zhe change permanent."

Once finished, Archeville loaded both compounds into separate hyposprays, then brought them and the 'remote' over to the middle of the table, where the blood/sap, hair/leaf, and skin/bark samples he'd taken from Dryad were set. A huge grin had spread across the scientist's face, "So, shall ve test it on zhese samples?"

[Dr Archeville]

You can't be doing this, you shouldn't be able to exert such control!

Maybe he's finally realized that we can do such great things together.

No! We're all needed, balanced, in harmony!

Harmony? We're not some boy band.

We are heroes!

Before anyone could voice any real response, Archeville administered the first compound to the three samples, then waited a moment. "If zhis procedure vorks, zhese fresh samples should show some indication of it. It may not be much, Dryad, und may not even be visible to zhe naked eye, so do not be discouraged if ve do not see any immediate change." The super-scientist gave what was probably an attempt at a reassuring smile, though being in full "working" mode made it seem a tad disturbing.

"Und now zhat zhe first serum has had a bit of time to soak into zhem, ve can proceed to step two!" He moved the samples as close together as he could, then and aimed the 'remote' at them and pressed a series of buttons. A cone of weird greenish light shone forth from the device, slowly shifting to red as he adjusted the controls. As the light shifted, the samples of leaves and bark began to twitch and pulsate, and change into hair and a bit of skin; the collected sap turned from an amber-brown to a rich red.

"Ha! Better zhan I zhought!" Archeville turned off his device and quickly administered the second serum to the samples, then took out a microscope-like device and trained it on the samples, then plugged a cable trailing off from it to his laptop. "Ja, ja, see! Zhe samples haff all reverted to a purely human form, mit no sign of reversion!"

Archeville studied the samples intently for some minutes more. After about 20 minutes he began talking with Dryad, going over some of the mechanisms behind his serums and morphological energy field adjustment device with her. When he sensed some unease from the guards who felt he was saying too much, he changed the subject and talked to Dryad about what she would do with her life once she'd served her full sentence. He talked some about his own life and exploits, too, to give her some idea of what she might do should the procedure not work and she was still a plant-woman by the time she got out, assuring her that her appearance and abilities need not mean she had to be an outcast from society. At no time did the guards let her out of their sight, more than a foot from them, or less than 15 feet from the table with Archeville's equipment.

After about an hour of talk, Archeville checked the samples again, and found they were still normal human blood, hair and skin. He asked to speak to the warden, to tell him of the apparent success. Dryad was escorted back to her cell and Archeville to the warden's office, since Drummer didn't want to use a phone or radio. Archeville reported of hi success, and asked for permission to test it on Dryad herself. After about 20 minutes of discussion and debate, Drummer agreed.

[[ If need be, I'll spend a Hero Point to convince Drummer to let Archeville do his thing. Maybe some stunt on one of his powers, for a "Flawless Logical Debate." ]]

Seeing Dryad escorted in and out of her cell so much was causing quite a stir amongst the other inmates in her cell block. They'd seen her escorted out before, put into solitary for being superhumanly disruptive, but this was different. They could sense something was up, something big.

Everyone reconvened at the infirmary, and Archeville checked the samples once more. "Status unchanged, ve're good to go" Archeville prepped two more hyposprays and double-checked his morphological energy field adjuster which one of the on-duty nurses -- accompanied by two guards -- fit Dryad with a patient's gown and laid her out on a table, then attached an electrocardiograph (as best she could) to monitor her heart activity. Once he was satisfied, Archeville wheeled his equipment over on a small table, one normally used to hold surgical instruments.

"You should not feel anything from zhe injection itself," he said as he held up the hypospray, "zhis uses an extremely fine, high-pressure aerosuspension delivery system. Zhere's no actual needle. You'll probably feel a tingling as the serum goes zhrough you, und possibly a mild headache und nausea. After zhe injection, ve'll need to vait for von minute for zhe serum to sufficiently disperse zhroughout your body. Zhen ve'll begin zhe adjustments to your morphological energy field. Now, are you ready?"

Dryad nodded rapidly.

Archeville administered the serum at her carotid artery, then took a step back. Dryad immediately felt a burning sensation in her neck, spreading up to her head and face and then down to her whole body, until it felt like she was on fire. Then the headache hit, like white-hot nails had been driven into her eyes and into the middle of her brain, followed by waves of nausea. Her eyes squeezed shut with pain, and could not hear due to her own screams.

"It should not be zhis painful!," Archeville cried out over the screams, "und-- Gott in Himmel, her heart!" The EKG showed a wild beat, as if her heart were trying to send some message in Morse code. "Nurse, paddles!" A defibrillator was wheeled out, which she worked on with expert speed to prepare. "Clear!"

1,500 volts of electricity surged through Dryad's heart, with no apparent effect. A second shock administered moments later succeeded in depolarizing her heart, allowing her heart's own pacemaker cells to reestablish a proper rhythm.

Unseen by anyone, the first shock did have an effect. It triggered the release of very fine spores from Dryad's body, spores altered by Archeville's serum. Spores which traveled into the HVAC system and dispered throughout the adjoining cell block, and introduced a slight change in the populace. Many felt lightheaded for a few moments, and a few felt a small wave of nausea... and then they found something quite unexpected.

As the nurse and Archeville checked over Dryad, and debated on whether or not to proceed with phase two of the procedure, some odd noises could be heard from down the hall.

[nareik123]

Dryad opened her eyes as she awoke from the screaming pain she had been injected with.

"What in the name of all that is natural did you do to me" Dryad screamed at Archville. She suddenly clasped her mouth as she realized the pitch of her voice was beyond natural limits.

"I...I just screamed. Not normally, but my Howling scream. Thats, thats not even possible! This compound cut off my powers!" Dryad gasped. She held her arm, and almost fainted as a thorn burst through her skin.

"I've got my powers back? What the..." Dryad gasped as she analyzed her bio structure. She looked at the Guards and smiled, her gleaming fangs glinting in the light.

"I want nothing bad from you two. I'm not trying to hurt you, so you can leave me alone" she hissed.

[Heridfel]

The guards were already edgy once something started going wrong, and both of them were looking at the convulsing Dryad. As soon as a thorn bursts from Dryad's hand, though, they immediately draw their arms up, ready to fire their suits' weapons.

"We don't want any trouble here!" Maria shouts. "Just stay down, and don't make any sudden movements." The other guard edges around towards the nurse, still keeping his weapon trained on Dryad. For her part, she stumbled back into a cart and tripped, though she doesn't seem seriously injured.

---

Down the hall, White Knight sniffs the air. He's dressed in orange, the same as everyone else in prison, rather than his usual Klan-wear.

"Smells like something's burning," he says. He opens his hand, and a small flame pops out of it. "Oh yeah, come to Papa! Daddy needs a way out of this joint." The flame grows larger and larger, then spreads all over his body. White Knight grabs the lock on his cell, which slowly begins to melt, then swings open.

A couple of cells down, an overly muscled bruiser kicks his door across the hall, opening up another cell. At least one man simply compresses himself and squeezes between the bars. It's a full-scale jail break in Cell Block Charlie, and some of the smarter prisoners are opening up other cells as well to add to the chaos. The two guards in the area are quickly overpowered by supervillains eager to make their escapes.

---

Klaxons begin to sound and flash throughout the facility. The male guard in the MAX suit glances over to Dr. Archeville. "You did this. Now, you better fix it."

[nareik123]

Dryad hissed as the guns were raised at her. She smiled, revealing gleaming white fangs again.

"Excuse me ms Rambo, but am I the one you should be focusing on?" she giggled. Then she turned serious.

"Whatever happened that gave me back my powers, I'm guessing Archville needs to get there to fix it. You, Rambo wanna-bees, your gonna need help getting to the place. I volunteer myself to help you get there. If I step outta line, you can summarily execute me, but I want this chance for redemption" she pleaded, tears streaking down her face. Then, she heard something.

"Is it me, or can you lot hear a commotion. Please tell me whatever happened wasn't contagious..."

[Dr Archeville]

Toldja I wouldn't hurt her.

No, but they might!

Not my problem.

You... I... we... argh!

Oh, calm down, it's not lik- hey, wait, what are you doing?!

Archeville looked back and forth between the guards and Dryad, then stepped between them, facing the guards, arms stretched out to his sides. "Everyvon needs to remain calm." He then turned to face Dryad, "Zhey vill leave you alone if you leave zhem alone, vhich means no baring of fangs or flexing of claws. If you stay on zhe table, qvietly, calmly, ve can vork zhis out. Now, I need to check your vitals, so if you'll just lean back..."

As he began to check Dryad over, he mumbled to himself in German, >

[Heridfel]

The guards keep their guns trained on Dryad until Dr. Archeville steps into the line of fire. Even then, Maria doesn't waver, but the man lowers his weapon slightly.

"Let me radio this in," he says. "I'll get the siren turned off, and then you can do whatever it is that you need to do to fix this." He tilts his head to the side and begins to speak softly. It seems like the suits have a sub-vocal transponder. Maria speaks up in a normal voice. "I do hear something," she says. "Victor, you secure the area. I'm checking the entryway."

She takes two steps back, slowly, then brings the gun around to face the exit to the cell block. Almost simultaneously, Victor and Maria both shout.

"Multiple prisoners headed here!" Maria shouts.

"She isn't the only one!" yells Victor. Dryad and Dr. Archeville (and the nurse) are almost ignored now. Dryad's hostility doesn't hold a candle to a half-dozen super-criminals intent on making their way out of Blackgate by any means necessary.

[nareik123]

Jane smiled at this new outbreak, she stepped a step forward. She was wary of the guns, but her skin was thicker than normal bark, so she thought she could take a bullet.

"I'm guessing you wouldn't want help from a villain like me? I mean, what purpose could I serve aside a distraction?" Jane asked. A thorn burst out from her right hand, but she gently threw it to the guards, making sure she clearly meant no harm. She could withstand a bullet, but not many.

"You want my help, you'll give me my thorn back" Jane said, smiling.

[Dr Archeville]

Frack, she is insane!

Yeah, you would know!

I mean, what kind of a persona negotiates like that? Honestly? Well, if they fire on her, it's not our fault.

Oh, shut up! Okay, first thing to do is try and rein her in....

As soon as he saw the thorn sprout from Dryad's hand, Archeville sidestepped out from between Dryad and the guards, half out of remembering how powerful her thorns can be, half out of concern for skittish guards opening fire at any sign of hostility. His hands were not out or raised, though -- they were on his hips.

"Dryad!" he barks out, "you say you vant to reform? You say you vant to redeem yourself? Zhen stop screwing around und just do it! No negotiations, no quid pro quo!"

"As for you all," he says turning to the guards, trying very hard to hide the quake in his voice, "it seems to me you all need every able-bodied agent you can to contain zhis. It also seems to me zhat Dryad may be perfectly suited for such, if she can control zhe creeping ivy zhat grows along zhe prison's outer walls to come in und hamper zhe escapees. She may even know a few useful things, given her time 'on the inside,' like vhere zhey vould go should such an opportunity as zhis present itself."

"As for me," he continues, "if one of you can escort me to zhe nearest console vhich monitors und controls zhe inhibitors, I can try and see vhat vent wrong und try to get zhings back up und running. Und if you cannot do zhat, zhen bring me von of zhe re-powered prisoners, und I'll try and see vhat I can tell from zhem."

[nareik123]

Dryad hmphed at Archville as she clutched her hips.

"Well, i'm sorry If i have been a plant demon intent on mass carnage with no prisoners. Maybe that explains why I can't speak to people nicely!" Dryad hissed. She looked at the guards with distrust.

"They can only do so much, besides, your the only person who thinks i can be of any good. Let me escort you, I am more combat capable than any of these three" Dryad hissed. She tapped her oaken feet.

[Dr Archeville]

"Just because you look like a plant-demon doesn't mean you must act like von."

[Heridfel]

As Dr. Archeville and Dryad speak to one another and the guards, Victor lets out a couple of shots. Dr. Archeville can recognize that something sounds unusual about them - they probably aren't normal bullets, though exactly how they aren't normal would require more observation. Victor's shots are answered decisively. A torrent of flame surrounds him and blasts him back into the table that Dryad had been examined upon. It looks like his armor held, but the blackened plates and sparks make it look like it won't protect him against another blast like that.

A blond man in an orange prison jumpsuit walks in through the door. "What did I tell you - we got hostages here," he says, looking at Maria and the nurse who hasn't quite hidden herself away. "Now, don't do anything stupid, and we'll all get along fine." A number of other super-powered villains look over his shoulder and smile. Dryad recognizes some of them - most are just strong and tough, though one of them had said that he had some other sort of power. She can't recall what he had said though - it wasn't very important.

Both Dryad and Dr. Archeville notice that the men behind the leader of the ring are all white. His next words to them, "See, only the white man thinks of going to the infirmary for hostages" give a strong hint to his identity. One of the people behind him says, "And a green woman, looks like."

Maria brings her gun around to aim at the group. The bullets come out fast, but most of them just bounce off. They're rubber, not metal, and ineffective against those with powers at full strength.

[nareik123]

"You know, I always liked you guys" Dryad giggled, before lunging at the white man. She took a deep breath, indicating that her next one was poisonous to Archville. (Its a chemical in her throat, it converts air into poison if enough of it is provided) However, she stumbled and failed to get it near her targets breathing systems.

[Dr Archeville]

Crap crap crap crap crap!

Yup, just as I thought -- when the going gets tough, I come out and save us.

Wha- hey, no! I can do plenty, if we can just get them to listen to us and-

And what? You think they're the sort to let cooler heads prevail? They're not! They're murders and rapists and worse.

Yeah, yo should feel real comfy with them. I-- Wait... you're not gonna-

Given the options, I'm gonna try.

Time to put my acting ability, and my memories of the propaganda of those neo-Nazi boneheads who tried recruiting me, to the test, he thought.

"Very clever of you, sir!" Archeville called out to White Knight, "exactly the sort of cunning move befitting von of your skill und knowledge! Take as many hostages as you can, ve know those meddling 'super-heroes' vouldn't dare risk harming them to get to you und your brothers! Meat shields, that's all they're good for!" He paused a second, then added, "Vell, and a vooden shield, too."

As he talked, he tried to look at Maria and winked, hoping to clue her in on the ruse he was attempting. Maria may have noticed that the doktor's Germanic accent was less thick than it had been; perhaps he was trying to speak clearly so the White Knight was sure to understand him.

"By the vay, you'll vant to be keeping a hold on that von -- even though I am sure your cleansing fires could reduce her to ash in no time flat, she really is much more useful as a living slave than as dead kindling. You see," he said, stepping out to full view of White Knight, making sure the ignorant bigot got a good look at his own Nazi-ideal features, "she and I are zhe reason you all haff your powers back. Und if ve vork together, I think ve can do some truly terrific things. Rebuild und," he cut his eyes to Dryad, "reform the whole vorld, in accordance with your righteous vision."

Hopefully I'm still new enough to the area for him not to know who I am, he thought.

---

Bluff/'innuendo' check to let Maria know he's not REALLY switching sides: 17

Bluff or Diplomacy roll vs. WK (not sure which is more appropriate): 3

Spend an HP to re-roll: 19 (or more; see OOC thread)

Bluff/'innuendo' check to let Dryad know he's trying to set things up to help her take these guys down: 1 Crap.

[Heridfel]

The man tilts his head, getting a good look at Doktor Archeville. Almost offhandedly, he raises his hand toward Maria. A bluish flame bursts out from it, hitting her square in the chest. She falls back to the ground, and the other men swarm her, holding down her arms and legs. She struggles against them, but it's definitely clear that their super-strength is a match for her suit's. The man whose power Dryad couldn't quite recall reminds her - his arms stretch out, pulling him over so that he stands right next to the covering nurse. She's wrapped up before she can even react.

"Hostages are only good if you don't kill 'em, you idiots," he says. He sighs and looks straight into Doktor Archeville's eyes. It's frightening, not because he looks evil, but because he doesn't. If he weren't for his orange jumpsuit, he could probably walk down Freedom City's streets without drawing a second look.

"I don't much like furriners, but I ain't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Call off your attack weed, will you?" he asks Dr. Archeville. He certainly seems to believe that the Doc is on his side - now, the question is whether Dryad believes it, and what sort of reaction she has to his words.

[nareik123]

Dryad glared at Archville, her eyes blazing with fury.

"You lying son of a... I will make sure you take my place here" Dryad snarled. She screamed, not as loud as she needed to do for her Banshee scream. Then, suddenly, vines and trees burst from the ground to entangle the area.