The new guy was impressive. He sounded a little bit unhinged, maybe... but he wouldn't be the first hero to be a touch delusional. As long as his intentions were good, though, Goodwill was prepared to forgive a little nuttiness. Hopefully, though, he was only a little nutty. He was fighting both sides, at the moment, so that remained to be seen.

Part of Goodwill wanted to hang back and see what Captain Cosmos could do. But it was probably safer for all concerned if he didn't. Instead of taking up the role of spectator, Goodwill flew over to where Captain Cosmos was and prepared to fight alongside him. Hopefully that would mean Delancy's agents would stop shooting at the Captain for the moment. If so, maybe the Captain would stop shooting at them, too.

"I'm Goodwill," he said, in case the Captain didn't know him from the many, many newspaper articles that had featured him. "Nice to meet you."

Cosmic Girl looked at Goodwill and shrugged. "He's nothing to do with me, I swear!" She had not heard of him, and he did seem a bit over the top. His diatribe was more like an evil villain than a hero, but hey, he was attacking the bad guys, so she wasn't going to look a gift horse in any orificies.

"He, on the other hand, is! Hey, Tiny! Come back for a rematch? I'm game!" and she shot upwards with a loud swoosh of cosmic energy! Once she was a fair distance up she paused, in that hang time that seems to last far longer than it should when at the peak of a high jump. Then she turned and dived back down, her cosmic eye beams blasting out at Tetsubo. Last time they met, he had said (and done) some pretty hurtful things to her, and she was not yet mature enough to brush that sort of thing off lightly. She was out for settling the score, and putting his oversized demonic butt right back in the slammer!

Down she came, and this time her aim was true!

VWOOORRRPPPP!!!!

OOC:

17:54, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 11 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 6,3.  PEWPEWPEW! Forceful attack against my old nemesis!

YES! Finally, my dice are being kind! Two moves to choose!

-> Hits hard, for +1 Stun
-> Avoid retaliation, for -1 Stun

Twist's acrobatics impress everyone who sees them.

(Twist, take +1 on your next roll. I don't think that roll was really needed, but you aced it so hard I'm giving you a little bonus this time.)




"Are you the local law enforcement for this planet? Because there is an imbalance in the Cosmic Balance in this building, and these evildoers are trying to stop me from investigating it!"

Captain Cosmos notices Cosmic Girl blasting Tetsubo, and approves. "Is she with you? She smites evil fairly well for a local."

"We're more... civilian law enforcement volunteers," Goodwill tried to explain. This guy was from another planet? He certainly looked human enough, but shapeshifting aliens were a concept that Goodwill was already familiar with. Still, he could just be a human with a tenuous grip on reality. Given how powerful he obviously was, he'd need to be handled with kid gloves until his story could be substantiated. "What sort of imbalance...?"

Wait... The 'local law enforcement of this planet'? Did that mean this Captain Cosmos was another alien? Lynx supposed that made sense, given his name. She was sure that she appeared just as human as any of her compatriots, but even so, she had little intention of getting involved with what appeared to be some sort of space cop.

Even so, she couldn't just hang around! This was a dangerous situation and she needed to help out. With a flash of electricity, she zipped over near the two hiding behind the very large rock. Not too close, of course. Lynx still remembered that one robotic Norwood that blew up in her face, so she wasn't about to get up close and personal with anyone she didn't know. These two were hiding, but that didn't make them not dangerous.

"So, how's the rock over here, you two? Are you waiting for something in particular to happen or just trying to hold back until everything's over?"

"Seriously, Captain Cosmos?" Twist muttered under her breath. "Seems more like Major Disaster." The hero she recalled as Goodwill appeared to have matters in hand with regard to the extraterrestrial, the heroine she knew used the codename Cosmic Girl was taking on the big bruiser with the Asian name — Tubesock? Tubesteak? Oh hell. —  and the unfortunately-named White Lynx — If she were a sista, imagine she'd be Black Panther or some other goofy animal name. — was sounding out the cowardly duo. Blackjack was shaking off being tossed into the wall like a ragdoll, which left The Cogster unengaged. Footage from the evening news flashed through her mind. Some kinda technical brutha, think he uses force fields. She cartwheeled off the guard tower as was her peculiar stretchy idiom, and darted nimbly around the man with the intent to distract him from the retreating line of law-enforcement types. "Hi, you can call me Twist. You're first on my dance card today, you lucky thing! Shall we?"

---

14:06, Today: Twist rolled 9 using 2d6+3 with rolls of 2,4.  Hold Them Off (Drive Them Crazy) with +1 bonus. I will draw The Cogster away from the agents. Retaliation will be -1 Stun.

"Ugh, not another one. ...Although at least you're new. And attractive. But you can't hurt me, I don't expect... I am trying to-- say, hold still-- I-- blast it, what is it you want, anyway?"

The Cogster doesn't seem interested in engaging in fighting Twist, at least not for the moment-- he just seems to want her to stop distracting him... which is a wish he's not getting fulfilled-- he's totally distracted. Twist can lead him away from the action, if she wants...

Lead him away from the action Twist did, all the while turning on the charm. "Oh, sugar... surely you know what a woman with a bod like mine always wants." She flashed The Cogster a winning smile. "Why, nothin' short of your complete and unconditional surrender, darlin'!" Twist swirled around the outer surface of his force-field, covertly probing for a way through. If I can squeeze past, I can snatch away his power source or somethin', she thought to herself.

Cosmic Girl was not really paying attention to the commentary on her abilities. For once, her aim was true, and she was doing what she was best at: picking off targets on the ground, while zipping about like a demented woodpecker.

She could see that she had definitely socked Tetsubo, and that Blackjack was exposed after his impact with the wall. So she held her hands out as she zipped overhead, and sent a spray of bolts of cosmic energy at each of them. They were out in the open, she was given a very clean shot to both of them...

VVVWWWORRPPP!!!

OOC:

23:36, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 10 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 5,3.  Cosmic Girl tries to capitalise on her attack! Let's be Forceful!

Oh yes! Let's say +1 stun on each of them, multiple targets from Area of Effect attack!

The Cogster slowly wanders away from the battlefield near the hole in the side of the building-- but his field seems to be a dome, extending to the ground on all sides...

---

(Hmmmm... White Lynx, roll Charming.)

---

"I don't know for sure yet! Something that weakens the bounds of reality itself! A clear danger that must be destroyed, whatever it is! These miscreants attempt to bar my path!"


Captain Cosmos smirks slightly as Cosmic Girl tears up the villainous combatants. "Ho ho! Another good blast! Who is that youth, Corporal Goodwill?"

White Lynx rolled 10 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 3,6.  How do you do, fellow hyoo-mons? Charming.

I can try to overload his force-field, Twist thought to herself, but that may require more pressure than I can exert. An idea occurred to her then. Wait...the damn thing has to be air-permeable, or we couldn't hear one another! I'll need to make like a really large garbage bag, and see how this trash likes playing astronaut. Talk about spreading myself thin!

Corporal? Oh well.

"She's Cosmic Girl," Goodwill replied, noting, but not commenting on the similarities in their names. "She's... kind of amazing."

The young woman turns. "Oh! You're that speedster! Just what I need-- super-speed to get the heck out of here!" She reaches for White Lynx--

--But stops before she touches her. "But... I remember when I grabbed Silver Streak's powers, things got really bad for him-- by accident. He didn't deserve that-- I didn't mean to mess up his life. And here you are being so nice as to check on us... I'm'a let you keep your powers for now. You seem nice."

The young man looks at both women like he's thinking Huh, if it was me, I would'a just stole her powers, but I guess she has her reasons. "Yeah, that super-guy over there tore into the prison and most of us got out," he says to White Lynx. "Um, this doesn't count as me escaping-- I just had to get out in the open away from the fighting, okay? So don't tell the feds I tried to escape."




(Good role-playing, but what'cha gonna do now?)




"Eh? 'Cosmic Girl?' I know the names and assigned planets of every member of the Cosmic Corps, and she and this planet aren't even on the list! What gall, to pretend to be an officer of...!" He watches Cosmic Girl turn on a dime in mid-air to effortlessly dodge a chunk of masonry that Tetsubo throws at her. "...Still, I admit that she might make a very suitable recruit..."

Twist gradually increased her surface area to encompass the entirety of The Cogster's force-field dome, all while maintaining a steady line of flattery. "Force-field, huh? Did you invent that yourself? Wow, you must be so smart!" She knew attempting this was pushing her powers into unfamiliar territory, but it was the fastest thing she could think of short of sling-shotting the dude into a wall.

Nice? Lynx was really only doing her duty here. These two weren't doing anything yet and were more in danger than dangers themselves. It only made sense to treat them with some small manner of politeness, especially seeing as she herself was a bit of a phony.

But... grabbing powers? The young woman could do something like that, just from touching her? Being "nice" certainly saved her in this instance. Lynx had a lot of questions as to how something like that would work, like which abilities the woman could take. Would Lynx only lose her super speed or would her electrical powers go too? There were rather interlinked, she thought, but she didn't know how much. And, if that happened, would Lynx have to convince her to give those powers back? Or was there some way for her to expel a 'borrowed' power? And, if something like that happened, would those powers even return to Lynx? It wasn't like they were even hers to begin with...

Not to mention possible 'powers' that she might not even consider in the same vein. Would Diana's fitness count as a power she could steal? Her sight? Her sense of smell? The woman looked human to her, so maybe 'powers' extended to any abilities considered outside of human capabilities. That might let someone keep most of their own, less-strange powers, but what about her shapeshifting as a Brin? That was just a natural part of her being, even though she'd lost access to it for now, but would it be recognized as a "power" to steal? And, if that happened, would she lose the form she was in? Or would she remain there, still stuck in Diana's form?

It was a curious train of thought, but Lynx doubted that she would be able to waste time asking her questions. Instead, she turned to the side as a way to somewhat signal that she wasn't intending on keeping them there.

"I suppose I should thank you then, miss," Lynx smiled kindly at the woman. If niceness had gotten her this far, it wouldn't hurt to stick with it. "Dealing with any power switcheroos right now would probably make this problem much harder to deal with! One question though, just in case I need to quickly carry you away from danger if this rock stops being a good hideout. Does that power happen automatically when you touch someone, or do you need to activate it?"

From there, she faced the both of them. "And, don't worry, you two. This looks like a very odd situation, so I see no reason to do anything to you right now. You're just surviving and no one can criticize you for wanting to stay out of danger. Now, are you two comfortable here, or would you like any help getting to a safer position? This is a nice rock, here, but some of these people can still get to you rather easily. As you've pointed out, miss, I am rather speedy, so I could do a lot to get you both out of harm's way. I suppose there's also the option to offer your own services in calming everyone down here, if you're alright with that, but I want to make it clear that I'm not expecting that of you. You didn't ask to be here, after all."

"Hey!" Goodwill said, a note of warning in his tone. "She's not pretending to be anything. We've never heard of you guys until five minutes ago, and you don't own the rights to the word 'cosmic'.

"Hold on...."

Goodwill picked up a chunk of rock and threw it at Tetsubo. He'd started talking to Cosmic Creep to make sure what side he was on, but Goodwill needed to be part of this fight.

Forceful, Attack Tetsubo:
Goodwill rolled 13 using 2d6+3 ((5,5)).
--Hit hard
--Avoid Retaliation

"Now, tell me more about this 'imbalance'."

Cosmic Girl was unaware of the conversartion going on, and it was just as well, as she would not have been especially happy with the implications. However, this did mean she could focus on the battle. She flew another strafing run, shooting more bolts from her hands, directly at Tetsubo. He was probably just as dangerous as Blackjack, but she could not let go the personal beef she had with the huge guy...

OOC:

17:58, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 11 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 4,5.  Another attack! Pew!

Effects:

Hit Hard for +1 Stun
Avoid retaliation.

"Yes, a force field. Yes, I invented it. Yes, I am. But... you are rather slowing me down... And... worse, you're blocking my view of the madman trying do destroy us, or whatever he's-- could you stop doing that, please...?!"

---

"Hm? Oh, no-- I actually have to concentrate. I mean it's really not hard, but I can't just do it accidentally. Never have so far, anyway."



"Oh, wow, I'm glad you asked," says the girl. "I've had a lot of time to think-- like, way too much, really-- and I've been thinking-- this guy let out the really dangerous nutjobs! No, wait, that's not what I've had too much time to think about. What I mean is-- this is scary! But I've been thinking that maybe if I prove that I'm not really a supervillainess, maybe they'll let me out, or at least take time off my sentence or something? So if that Captain Cosmos guy gets out of hand even worse... maybe I can help? And maybe the government would be nicer to me then? Put me in a regular prison with other gals I could talk to and stuff? Because some of these people are crazy." She turns to the young man next to her. "No offense."

He raises his index finger, lowers it, raises it again, lowers it. The girl's words have had an effect on him. "You know what, maybe she's being smart. Maybe I can get time off for good behavior, even though my power's pretty defensive. I'll stay here for now, in case I can help or something."

---

"I know not its nature! The closest thing I've ever felt with my Eternal Awareness was that time that the Voidists from Nebula 10 tried to open up a portal to an alternate universe! We lost two Corpsmen stopping that-- a true tragedy! Such a peril must not threaten our reality again! So... wilt thou aid my quest... or shall ye stand in my way?!"

---

Testubo goes down, and doesn't get back up. It looks like maybe he's not going to get back up anytime today. Might be faking, though-- better let Goodwill (or better yet, the new guy) check it out.

"Thank you, miss." That made things a little easier. Now she knew that trying to rescue the two from danger wouldn't be an automatic death sentence!



"Alright, so you're staying here for now. Good to know. Ideally, showing that you can help in a crisis like this would help with the government's view of you, but I can't say anything there for certain. If you need it though, I can vouch for the both of you. In my humble opinion, staying safe and not contributing to all the conflict around you is good behavior all on its own."

Lynx's eyes swept over the area. "As of right now, it looks like Tetsubo and The Cogster are pinned down or knocked out and Blackjack isn't doing too well either. Goodwill seems to be talking down Captain Cosmos, so hopefully, we won't need to fight him, but that might still be necessary. There's still that other, uh, guy over there." She pointed at the white-haired man. She wasn't entirely sure what his deal was, but his suit looked different from those of the agents and he didn't seem to be on their side, as it were. He hadn't done much once she and the others arrived, so perhaps it was better to leave him alone until he did something to threaten the people around him? "You know what? I'll be entirely honest here: I have no idea who that man is. He doesn't seem like an agent, so I'm guessing he was imprisoned here too. Do either of you know his deal? And, aside from that, might I ask you your names? or, I suppose, your 'super' names, if that's better. If I need to ask for your help in the middle of fighting, it'll be much easier than calling for 'Miss Power Borrower' and 'Mister Defensive Power Guy'!"

"Of course we'll help." Goodwill spend precisely no time in thinking that one over. A request for help was a request for help, even if it was from a guy who was either a little crazy and from outer space, or a lot crazy for thinking so. "Let's just get everything squared away out here, and then we'll go inside. Okay?"

That's it, sugar, keep on talking. Just keep getting riled up, Twist thought to herself. The sooner you use up enough of the oxygen in your little bubble, the sooner this will be over. She pouted coquettishly at The Cogster. "Oh, hon... you'd rather look at him than me? What's a girl gotta do to earn your undivided attention?"

---

12:23, Today: Twist rolled 7 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 4,2.  Talk Things Out.

Cosmic Girl was enjoying herself. Watching Tetsubo hit the ground was never going to get old. So satisfying! She turned and threw some bolts at Blackjack, but as usual her exuberence was rather high, and her skill suffered as a result. Sure, she threw some cosmic bolts... but her aim was, predictably, far from accurate.

OOC:

19:29, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 6 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 1,3.  Let's shoot Blackjack! Yay!

Welp, I failed another attack. My dice have returned to normal. I'll be over here waiting for the inevitable horror to descend upon me.

"Oh sure, I'm The Impersonator, and this is Blue Dragon."

"Hey," nods Blue Dragon.

(I have decided that asking the question in Red above is pretty important-- give me an extra Charming roll, please, White Lynx (not so much to get cooperation but to try to help jog their memories about any important details they may have picked up))





"I... well... I..." He smiles. "Well, what is it you want from me, exactly...?"




Blackjack, surrounded by those black bandage-like tendrils of his, decides he's had enough of this, and he swiftly uses his animated bandage-things to climb up the side of the building's wall-- and to push him out toward Cosmic Girl.

He successfully punches her. Ow!

But her cosmic aura blasts him just as hard. Ow back at'cha!

(Cosmic Girl and Blackjack each take 2 new Stress.)

He begins to fall...




"Yes..." The Captain looks upward at where Blackjack is falling. "Do you know that monster? Is there a special trick to stopping him? He seems quite durable..."

"Usually we just keep hitting him until he gives up."