TeChameleon

Energon X faded back into view and pulled off the mask, rubbing his face between the eyes... the thorn had penetrated deeply enough into the mask to cut his forehead quite deeply, rivulets of blood running down what was left of his nose and around the edges of his breather-mask.

He raised an eyebrow at Inky. "Easily distracted, much?" he commented amusedly. He waved a waiter over. "But yeah, truce. Oy, mate?" he said, turning to the waiter who had moved silently up. "Whatever the shrimpy and her pet plant want, on me." He paused. "Whatever they want that they're legally allowed to have, that is."

He offhandedly tossed the mask back into his dimensional 'pocket', and nodded to Fraenir. "Don't worry too much about the tikimask bit- I was just pranking shortstuff here after she started shooting spines at me." He reached into the pocket again, and pulled out a mid-sized bar of chocolate, tossing it to the big draconian. "This here's chocolate- Belgian milk chocolate, to be exact. Very good stuff... er..." He hesitated for a second. "Hmm... the main ingredients are milk, sugar, and a type of bean. Hope there's nothing in the mix that would be harmful to your particular physiology." He gave Inky a quick wink, nodded to Fraenir, then said "Excuse me a second..." and wandered off to find Kheldragon.

Quickly locating her, he bowed. "Feel free to rejoin us, if you like." he offered, then added, "By the way- the offer to continue drawing energy from me while I'm in the vicinity does not have an expiry date; if anything, it would be something of a relief, since it would make it far easier for me to maintain control." he told her, then nodded to her once, and withdrew back to the small knot of people around Inky, making it as clear as he could that while he would prefer her to join the group, her personal space was her own.

[ QUOTE ]
"The Chief is correct." the Sword Sorcerer curtly told those busy smashing up Clockwork here and there, "The DPO perimeter is quite secure from them, I assure you."

[/ QUOTE ]
"Killjoy." Energon X muttered. He picked off a few stragglers with offhand blasts and drifted closer to the truck Sword Sorceror was hovering over like a mother hen, not bothering to touch down.

He levelled a burning gaze on the truck. "So... are the theatrics really necessary? Those of us in this business usually don't get into it out of a love of unecessary waiting." He glanced over at Dax. "Uh... sorry about the shirt."

Energon X shifted uncomfortably, trying to pin down the odd sensation creeping down his back. Finally, another shift brought a faint crinkle of leaves to his ears, and he snorted. Digging down his back under his armour, he hauled out the nettle. He raised an eyebrow at Inky. Sorry, kiddo... gonna have to do better than that on someone whose blood is basically raw energy now. I got the scratchiness, but the itching doesn't work so well when there's nothing for the poison to work on.

He dug around in his pocket dimension, using his cape to shield the action from prying eyes. First, he popped out a small, glowing green capsule, snapping it open to bathe himself briefly in healing green radiance, taking care of the scratches. No point in being uncomfortable for the rest of my night off. Then he dug a little deeper.

Lesse... Freakshow cybernetics... Skull mask... faux Hellion horn... why do they wear those stupid things, anyways? Just makes them look like morons... Malta Sapper's gun I used to beat the jerk senseless... more Freakshow cybernetics... Devouring Earth protoplasm, yech... hmm. No... gyeesh, I really need to clean this thing out, or at least organize it a bit.

A few minutes later, he straightened up with a nasty spark in his glowing eyes. Fading to invisibility once more, he slid silently over to where Inky was still looking for him. First, he twiddled his voder a bit, altering his voice dramatically (in theory, anyways). Then he slipped on the Banished Pantheon Spirit of Pain mask he had kept as a souvenir. I knew I'd kept one of these...

Parking himself directly behind Inky, he let his natural glow take over, then decloaked just the mask, making it look like it was floating on a column of violent purple energy. Reaching out with a tendril of energy just strong enough to sting, he growled "BOO."

"Gee... you brought playmates." Energon X commented wryly to Dax. He leapt into the air, then started corralling several groups, swatting them flying with precise, economical blasts, or batting them in the general direction he wanted them with red-glowing fists.

When they were bunched to his satisfaction, he swooped upwards, then plummeted out of the sky. Landing in the middle of the group of automatons, he glowed blue for a second. Then

*THRAKA-hella-giant-BOOM!!!*

A brief rain of half-melted robot bits clattered to the ground, and the dust cleared, revealing the smug Blaster standing in a small crater, leaning casually on a partially slagged wall.

"Better." he commented. "We should be able to actually hear ourselves think now while the briefing is going on. Sodding little nuisances."

A Cannon Knight ricocheted off the wall with a clatter, followed hotly by Energon X, his tech 'wings' flaring as the flapping 'disguise' mechanism struggled to match his flight speed. Fists wrapped in a bloody glow, the blaster reared back and brought both fists down, mashingh the unfortunate electric 'bot into tinfoil. "Buh-uh-gger!" he panted. "I was just scouting about invisibly, and... these little sods are going crazy!"

He glanced around at the assembled supers, then turned to the Vanguard rep. "There are blood stains all over the place, and not a Troll or Outcast in sight. Even the Vahz seem to be gone." E-X made an irritated noise. "If you tell me that the yobbo with the Mundi is now powerful enough to subvert the King's control over the clocks, I'm going HOME." he snarked.

Stalking over to the bins, wings quivering with irritation, he started sorting rapidly through them, choosing a solid blend to store in his belt pouches, then stuffing several giant random handfuls into the pocket dimension that held his Freeze Ray/Rocket Launcher combo, hard rations for several months, a tent, spare powercells for his armour and various gadgets, and basically anything you might need if you expected there to be a good chance of you not being able to get home for a long while at any given moment.

[ QUOTE ]
"You never do know if your foe might level some manner of nullification on any unorthodox means of storage you may possess..."

[/ QUOTE ]
At that comment, he glanced at the Sword Sorceror. "Been there, done that." he grunted. "That's why I keep a full nanotech repair suite OUTSIDE my pocket dimension, clipped to my belt with the other smallish bits of junk that might be useful at a moment's notice."

E-X twitched when the thorn clipped his ear, stinging like a wasp. His flight field wobbled sickeningly for an instant as his concentration slipped, nearly dropping Kheldragon. Then his eyes narrowed in amusement. Unluckily for you, short stuff, my targeting HUD caught a glimpse of that thorn, and told me where it came from. If you want to play it that way... He didn't have a mouth anymore, but there was a definite aura of mischievous grin about him as he finished the dance.

He landed smoothly, offering an arm to help Kheldragon out of the air as the music stopped. "Thank you for the dance;" he said politely, "it's always a pleasure air-dancing with one who has good instincts for it." E-X glanced over at Inky, thinking for a moment, then snapped his fingers. "Oh, right. I promised Fraenir to introduce him to chocolate. Gonna have to duck out to FF for that- will you excuse me? I'll be back shortly."

He bowed slightly to her, then faded rapidly from sight, becoming transparent for a moment, then flat-out invisible. Ghosting towards the entrance, he paused near Inky.

A passing waiter with a trayful of drinks abruptly found himself jostled at precisely the right time to give Inky a short, sticky shower of hot and cold liquids. At the same time, another sharp *BANG* went off next to her other ear, followed by a quiet chuckle. Then E-X was gone.

Less than a minute later, he had reappeared in the VIP lounge, choosing to teleport straight from his apartment. He left the tackytikiness of the VIP lounge... Really, what was Zero thinking..? he wondered for the hundredth time... and set out to find Fraenir again.

Energon X spun and swooped around Kheldragon, doing something that was a peculiar mix of aerobatics and dancing, and just generally enjoying himself. He noticed Kheldragon coughing up some blood, and his brow creased in the upper half of a frown. The purplish liquid hovered, suspended in his flight field, and he shrugged.

He raised a hand, and thin beams of blue light crackled out, neatly vapourizing the globules. He caught Kheldragon's glowing eye with his own, and shrugged self-consciously. "Just working on my control... Have to stay on top of it all the time."

An eyebrow quirked questioningly. "You've had that looked at, right? I know a few empathic healers, including one who is a trained MD as well." He made a face. "Healing-resistant injuries are a bugger. Trust me, I know. I actually had one healer who was powerful enough to fix my face... hurt like bloody hell when it melted off again almost immediately."

Not too talkative, is she? Still, she's oddly good company... either that, or she's just so depressed she makes me feel better by comparison alone. he thought ironically. He continued to soar, enjoying the movement and the music, half an eye, as always, open for trouble. It wasn't the most fun habit to be stuck with, but then again, it was a necessary skill for someone who didn't get funky forcefields, or invulnerability, or stone-hard skin, or command over the forces of nature to protect himself from harm.

[ QUOTE ]
"Whats chocolate? Is it like donuts?"

[/ QUOTE ]
It was hard to tell, given the absence of most of his face, but there was a definite hint of a grin in Energon X' voice. "You... COULD say that... remind me to duck out to Founder's when I get off the dancefloor; I'll snag you a bar from my favourite chocolatiery. Wish Zero would start serving food in here as well..." he grumbled, ignoring the look DJ Zero flashed him at the complaint. The blazing fire of one eye went out briefly as he winked, and he started to head out onto the floor, then paused.

[ QUOTE ]
She quietly stepped back into the plant, giving Energon an "I'm a good deal tougher than I look" glance.

[/ QUOTE ]
Energon X drifted over to Inky's innocuous looking plant a moment after she slipped into it. He held one gloved hand in amidst the plant's stems and fronds, and let loose a snap of energy, careful not to damage the small tree. It wouldn't be audible even a few feet away over the thumping music, but within the confines of the plant, it would be a frighteningly loud *BANG!*

"I hope you're even half as tough as you think you are, shrimpy. This game's a nasty one."

He straightened and flew back to where Khel was moving slowly towards the dancefloor, shaking his head. "I'm not sure how comfortable I am with kids... even superkids... getting into the giant war-zone that Paragon and the Isles are for super-types." He shook his head again, then gave a one-shouldered shrug. "Well, there's not a lot I can do for her, other than keep half an eye out if she's around." Then he paused, looking embarrassed, or as embarrased as it was possible to look with nothing but your eyes and eyebrows visible. "Eh, sorry. Letting my protective instincts for 'innocents' run away with me again. he commented offhandedly, the cynical quotation marks around 'innocents' clearly audible in his voice (whoever had built his voder was bloody good.)

He offered a hand to Kheldragon, concentrating briefly. She suddenly found herself freed from the bounds of gravity as his powers took effect on her. The grin was back in his voice as he said "I don't think we need to worry too much about straining your injuries. Or did you never wonder why there was so much airspace above the dancefloor?" The synthetic voice was teasing, but there was more concern in it than flirtatiousness.

"Whatever you say, munchkin." Energon X told Inky. "You remind me a bit of my little cousin Danny... he's going by Target Lad nowadays. If you see a kid with a bow, electrical powers, and a big bullseye on his chest, tell him I said hey." The synthetic voice became even more amused. "I should duel you sometime... see how good you really are at 'takin' c're of y'self.'"

[ QUOTE ]
"...I'd gladly trade my jaw...for my wings..."

[/ QUOTE ]
"I think we may have to agree to disagree on that one." E-X ripsoted wryly. "Even now, more than three years later, I find I still miss my tastebuds."

He shrugged. "We're all broken to some extent in this business. Best you can do is keep going." Another shrug. "Hmm... I can't drink anymore than you can... well, I can, but it tends to put people off when they see me pouring liquid into the blazing energy hole in my face, and I can't taste it anyways... but... well, do you dance? I need to burn off some of this energy, and that is as good a way to do it as any."

Energon X stared at the TV, the purple glare that happened whenever his gaze fell on something even slightly reflective washing out the picture slightly. He watched not-Cohen's speech, listening thoughtfully. Then he rewound it, a look of puzzlement furrowing his brow. Then he rewound it again. And again.

Six watchings later, he was convinced that something wasn't right. Most psychotic 'Bwahahahaha, I'm here to take over the world!!!!' rants don't have that distinct edge of self-mockery. Even given that these types almost always lie, something else is going on here. Then he made an amused noise. Besides which, I've heard enough uber-villains monologuing to recognize someone who's faking it.

He floated off the couch, gliding sedately over to the commcentre of his small apartment, and raised a cynical eyebrow. Twenty-seven missed calls in that short a time? He flipped through them briefly, flagging the important ones, then listened through them. Hmm... even Gaussian wants me in on this one. That alone suggests that there's several deeper levels at work here. Eh... even if he didn't, SERAPH's called me in. And, while I don't 'officially' work for them, they've always done right by me in the past.

He shrugged, and called Rebecca Brinell. "Becka? This Boomtown thing? I'm in." He listened for a moment, then checked the mission briefing in his monocular HUD. Making a few affirmative noises into the phone, he terminated the call, floated a little higher, then swooped out the window, fading from view as he did so.

Interesting. This new technomancy bit has SERAPH intrigued, and, I suspect, a little professionaly jealous. Magic and superscience don't tend to play well together- dropping a mystic artifact into a particle accelerator has had results ranging from the disappointing to the spectacularly fatal. Now that there's an artifact at the power level of the Malleus Mundi running around in Paragon City, they want to try a few theories out on it. And, being one of the most potent powersources on two legs, of course I just 'happen' to be elected to test things out.

A brief stopoff in Galaxy City to be outfitted with a new suit of armour- one that offered the same level of protection as his old suit, but was significantly bulkier thanks to the hundreds of esoteric sensors packed into it. The crowning touch was a pair of big parabolic antennae attached to the back, neatly disguised as a pair of high-tech wings. Energon X eyed the black-white-and-gold effect with blazing eyes- colour downshifted to a glowing yellow from their usual purple, thanks all the exotic energies flowing through and around him. He shrugged, making the wing-antennae flutter. "Not my usual look, but not bad." he commented.

He rose off the floor, techwings flapping slowly, and nodded his now-hooded head to the technician who had outfitted him. "Thanks Vern. Hopefully all this junk you've loaded me up with does the trick. And if not... eh, it's one more layer between me and some geek who shredded States." He soared out the doorway and was gone.

A short while later, he had touched down at the Vanguard DPO, nodding to the startled operative as he decloaked next to her. "Energon X. I think you are expecting me?" he stated simply.

Energon X, still jittery after the confrontation with Poe and the tension of nearly losing control of his powers (and coming uncomfortably close to vapourizing the D in its entirety), whirled when Inky popped out of the plant, fists up and glowing. A split-second of cognitive dissonance, and he realized the new arrival wasn't a threat. Unless she's giving out poisoned donuts or something...

He turned a bemused gaze on Kheldragon. "Batteries?" He shrugged. "Never let it be said I don't know how to show a girl a good time." he murmured teasingly, the faint echo of the voder at work distorting his amused voice. He reached into his cape, rummaging around in the small pocket dimension contained within it.

Then he twisted around, reaching deeper into the cape. After a while, he untwisted, drawing out a large handful of the small, high-energy powercells many heroes used to power their various gadgets and gimmicks. He offered them to Kheldragon with a short bow. "Take as many as you like... I tend to carry enough to light Steel Canyon for a week. A few years in this line of work has taught me that there's no such thing as being too prepared."

Then he caught the brief interplay between her and the hitherto quiet woman who had introduced herself as Sara. First, she introduces herself as a monster, then reacts like this to some random... admittedly quite pretty... woman... Hmmm. The blaster raised an eyebrow at the Kheldian's mounting anger, then shrugged. He turned fully towards her "You may not like the bits you've got..." he commented mildly, then reached up to the close-fitting mask that (presumably) covered his lower face and touched a clasp, letting it swing to one side briefly. He let it hang for a beat and a half, allowing Kheldragon to get a good look at the disquieting hole in his face, a ravening maw of energy sunk into a circular area, from the bridge of his nose, around just below his cheekbones, and hollowing out most of his jawline. Then he swung the mask up again. "But at least you've still got all your bits."

He shrugged again, then turned to Fraenir for a second. "Mate, if donuts are that much of a shock to you, I've just got to see how you handle chocolate..." E-X paused for a moment, then glanced down at Inky. "By the way, short stuff... for future reference, startling a large group of supers after a situation like that is a good way to get your cute lil' head blown off."

((Hmm... not sure. That purple's a little better, but... I'm reluctant to lose the purple completely, because it's a convenient shorthand to indicate that Energon X' voice isn't quite normal))

The stentorian rasp of Energon X' strained breathing cut off in a startled gasp as the incredible pressure of Poe's unfettered energies snapped off like someone throwing a switch. He staggered like a man who had been leaning on an unexpectedly-opened door, then caught himself, what was visible of his face screwed up in a ferocious scowl of concentration as he fought to hold back his own power.

The harsh blue penumbra that surrounded him slowly faded, and as the intensity dropped, the Blaster slowly became aware of a sensation of slow relief... Almost like a safety valve..? he thought, puzzled for a moment. Still surrounded by a radiant glow, he waved an experimental hand, and jumped as a fat blue spark arced between him and Kheldragon.

Huh... looks like she... at least, I think she's a she, sounded like one, anyways... took me up on my offer to keep draining. Can't say I'm complaining, though. Almost guaranteed I would've gone 'boom' without her help. Energon X straightened, glaring after Poe, idly considering putting a power bolt through the back of his head, DJ Zero or no DJ Zero.

He's after that guy? he thought, looking Power Breaker up and down skeptically as Poe confronted him briefly, then moved on. Huh... Brute, by the look of 'im. Wonder what those two's story is? He shrugged irritably. "The last thing I need is to get tangled up with another overpowered idiot with delusions of demigodhood." he finished aloud, waving a dismissive hand at the departing Poe.

E-X turned his attention back to the small crowd that had gathered around Poe. He inclined his head to Fraenir first. "Apologies for jumping in front of you." he said formally, "But there wasn't a whole lot of time- if that idiot wasn't stopped, I would have gone critical... which wouldn't be a pleasant experience for anyone here." He paused. "Speaking of which..."

Energon X turned to Kheldragon and inclined his head. "Thank you for the energy siphon. Without that help, I would not have been able to maintain control as long as I did." And I pray that none of you ever learn how close you all came to being blown to monatomic dust because of the interference that idiot set up within my powers.

E-X hesitated awkwardly, still looking at Kheldragon. "Anyways, can I buy you a drink, or something? It seems the least I could do after the help you gave me. Oh... In costume, I'm Energon X. Nice to meet you all." he finished wryly.

*pokes thread*

So we're waiting for Lt Briggs (the OP)?

Ah... well, that explains that. Thanks (I guess >.&lt Devious.

Count me in on this one.

Shoulda guessed...

Ah, well. And here I had a long, elaborate plotline laid out, too. *sigh*

Meh. Guess I'll wander off to the Malleus Mundi bit.

RIP, long, elaborate plot

*pokes thread*

So... is this because I'm not a proven quantity that nobody's interested, or did I somehow slip on the writing, or has this been done before, or what?

*sigh*...

Well, if my thread dies the pathetic death it seems destined to, I may join.. gonna hold off for a few, though- my main RP character wouldn't have a lot of interest in magic-based problems :/

((... you make yourself absolutely central to the entire thread, then ditch without the slightest IC explanation?

That's kinda cheap.

EDIT- Oooookay, Grey, you timed that just perfectly to make this post look ridiculous >.<

*sigh* Meh, I'm just glad you're back and we can start moving again.

EDIT2- Hmm... okay, that came out grumpier than intended. Sorry

Oh... by the way... this is what Energon X usually looks like- or, a little closer, just so you've got an idea.))

((I'm stopping of necessity... should have been in bed two hours ago >.o

So you won't be seeing me again until sometime this evening))

((>.> Indeed. Guessing we'd best wait for Diov. Poor bugger may wind up blowing up Pocket D after all, heh... Energon X is dangerously close to going super-Nova on him with all the energy being thrown around))

E-X twitched as the energy roared out of him, his head swiveling and blazing eyes going wide with shock. He stared at the Kheldian for a long moment, then shook his head.

"Don't be. If you can put this bloody energy to use, feel free. I've got a bit too much." he commented, his synthetic voice wry. Then he recalled himself and glared back at Poe. "If you don't stop... She may actually have delayed my detonation by a few... *AGH!*" The colourfully clad blaster doubled over as his energies flared again, even more violently than before. A hard blue radiance snapped into existence around him, flaring his black cape wide and exposing the swirling pattern of purple-and-blue within it. He groaned as raw energy roared out, pulsing in time with Poe's own systems.

The floor around here is starting to look seriously chewed up... Energon X thought briefly and irrelevantly as his own aura added to the damage Kheldragon had done.

((Haha... alrighty. I should be asleep now... stupid night job... but the lure of posting is too strong. Guess Fraenir's going to be stuck doing "I know Kung Fu" for a while longer. Oh- for those of you who haven't seen my posts before... which would be all of you, I guess... stuff in italics are things that my characters are thinking))

Energy waves pulsed across the club as Poe 'powered up'. Energon X's head snapped around, and he made a disbelieving noise as he stared towards the little knot of people. Grife! What does that idiot think he's doing? The purple-and-blue clad blaster winced slightly as his own internal maelstrom of raging energy resonated in sympathy with the buildup of power across the room. Then he stiffened in alarm.

I've never felt it this intense. Not even the big brains at SERAPH had been able to figure out what made the blaster's internal energies... never even remotely stable at the best of times... go wild in the presence of another high-powered energy field. The two most prevalent theories were that he somehow fed off 'competing' energies... or that the buildup was akin to a tomcat fluffing out all its fur to appear bigger. With, of course, the important distinction that his energy field actually did get more powerful.

Bugger... it normally feels like I've got butterflies in my stomach... right now it feels like I've got 747s in my gut! Why the hell isn't Zero stepping in? Last time something like this happened to me, he barely managed to evacuate the club in time... and that was using instantaneous mass teleportation! And after that, he had to relocate to an entirely new dimension.

Energon X's eyes narrowed in determination, the actinic purple glare sharpening slightly. Bugger that. I don't feel like getting banned from the one place I feel comfortable at... again.

He shot off the ground, a brief swirl of air marking his passing, and shot across the airspace of the club in a heartbeat. Slamming down in front of Poe, Energon X thrust the breathmask/voder that had replaced the lower half of his face to within a few millimetres of Poe's face. Eyes that burned like the heart of a newborn star turned Poe's goggles into twin discs of refracted purple fire.

"Stop that." he rasped, the voder giving his voice a slightly tinny, echo-y quality. Titanic forces roared within him, barely under control, lending power to his words.

((Hmm... this looks like it could be fun to join, although now's probably not the best time... but the Mexican standoff is likely to be resolved before I can get online again ))

((OOC- First off, greetings all; while I've been lurking in the Comics & Hero/Villain Culture forums for a while, this is my first venture into the RP boards. I decided that it's been too long since I last did a Forum RP, so here I am... apologies for my rustiness.

Anyways, I'm too lazy to dig through the established RPs to find a jumping-in point, so I'm taking the easy route (that takes about twenty times as much work, long-term...) of starting my own. Usual rules (no god-moding, no controlling other people's characters, no one-shot kills, etc.) are in force.

It's a simple enough premise... while most everybody's having a conniption fit over the return of the Rikti, or Lord Recluse' latest plot... somebody's gotta keep an eye on our favourite doppelgangers in the Praetorian dimension.

At least, that's how it begins. Maybe... just maybe... there are some broader lessons to be learned on the Other Side of the Looking Glass.))

Energon X scrubbed glowing eyes with the back of a blue-gloved hand, feeling the usual tingle of the warring energy fields in his body, and sighed irritably. The breathing mask/voder that replaced the ruined lower half of his face gave the sigh a tinny reverbration, but if anything, that made the irritation even more clear.

He propped his head on his forearm, staring out one of the 'windows' of OTHERSIDE Base into the desolate hellhole that had been dubbed "Praetorian Earth". The purple-and-blue clad Blaster wasn't sure what building the window he was staring out belonged on, but the view currently included a Greater Devoured being ripped apart by a quintet of what appeared to be 'roid-raged werewolves in a forest that made the Hive look positively benign.

OTHERSIDE Base was in a pocket dimension either created or found by the Portal Corps techs (he'd never bothered to find out which, since questioning inevitably led to a flood of technobabble that made his eyes glaze over), floating on some weird dimensional boundary between Home-Earth and the dump Energon X had agreed to patrol, only the main doorway manifesting on the target world wherever it was needed.

A slight shift in position, bringing his arm over his eyes, and the hero noticed fresh markings on the hard-worn armour that covered him all-but-completely, the bright colours almost, but not quite, masking the battle scars. He stared blankly at the new damage for a moment, then grunted. Right. Those things that look like badly repainted Clockwork and their rad beams. Bloody nuisances.

Energon X moved to turn away from the window, then made an irritated noise, yanking on his black cape and flicking the diminutive ALICE maintenance droid that had parked on the trailing garment onto its back. It scrabbled pathetically for a few moments before righting itself and scurrying off. For whatever reason, both the tiny maintenance droids and the giant Heavies were dubbed ALICE-es... and the main portal... Energon X shrugged, and made a face... or at least half of one.

That, in a nutshell, was why he was pacing alone in the hallway outside the 'launch' room. Go time was after a meal... and he had learned early on that it tended to make people uneasy (at best) when faced with someone sticking forkfuls of food into a ravening maw of energy where their lower face should be.

This particular mission promised to be... interesting. After the abortive 'rescue' of Dominatrix (and her subsequent escape), Freedom Corps had decided that more information on the Praetorians was a necessity- and, astonishingly, given their diverse purviews, MAGI, GIFT, SERAPH, DATA and ELITE had all agreed. In a ridiculously short time, OTHERSIDE base had been set up, along with the oddball 'stealth portal' most of the techs called The Looking Glass.

E-X was actually here at SERAPH's request, continuing the semi-informal relationship they had had since the inception of his 'hero' career; one of their ivory tower eggheads had theorized that one of Bobcat's Alley Cats could be turned. The Alley Cats got everywhere, and saw everything; only Anti-Matter's labs were truly closed to them.

Energon X had his doubts... using cats (or catmen/catgirls, whatever) as spies sounded iffy at best. However, he'd never been much of a theorist- if nothing else, it sounded like it was worth a shot, and the contingency plan for if the treachery was discovered pointed the blame at Marauder looking for an excuse for a fight. And in whatever case, this was a single facet of the larger intel-gathering attempt the extradimensional base had been founded for.

Throwing off the flashback with a shrug, he drifted into the launch room, giving the portal an irritable glare before checking the room for any of his teammates. Rather than the giant scifi hubcap rim that characterized most of Portal Corps portals, this one was... a mirror. A three-story, baroque-framed glowing mirror set on a slightly raised dais that looked, if glared at in the right frame of mind, suspiciously like a fireplace mantel, complete with 'ornaments'- several of the giant ALICE heavies flanking the mirror-portal, combat droids that looked like a Victorian child had played dress-up with them.

The launch room was empty save for the disquieting portal and weird droids, so Energon X floated up off the floor, crossing his legs in midair and leaning on one knee with his chin in his hand, assuming the aspect of some bizarre, bored, latter-day yogic guru, and resumed his impatient waiting.

Yeah, I'd kinda like to be able to read about them too. Also... I wanna see Statesman in-game! You go to all that work saving him from Tyrant (who I agree is a wuss... although I did ding 50 for the first time dropping him, which was really cool), and all you get is a crappy little text-box saying he was free?

Oh, and just as a minor off-topic thing, the pink-haired guy who turns into a chibi in that Numa-Numa thing looks suspiciously like Sha Goyjo, from the Saiyuki mange/anime.