Heritage

She'd done all the cleaning early in the day, so she would have time to head on over to the Y, grab a shower and get back in plenty of time; Lynn had spent much of the day on her knees in sweats, scrubbing the floorboards until they shone, and it was dirty work. She'd also hauled most of the broken furniture into the disused bedroom, dusted the curtains and chairs and polished the coffee table. Unused to this much activity on their mistress's part, the cats had holed up in the closet or under the bed as much as possible, only daring to tiptoe out when she was as close to being finished as time would allow. Lynn stood in the middle of the bedroom (basically the only room she really used), with her hands on her hips, shaking her head in dismay. "All this work and it's still a dump; oh well, it is what it is, right babies? Okay, Momma has to head out and make herself all clean and gorgeous; I won't be gone too long." By the time it was getting close to seven on this Friday night in early April, she was as ready as she would ever be; Lynn had chosen her outfit with great care, she had lit the dozen bayberry candles throughout the room, and the napkins, plastic utensils and Chinette were laid out on the coffee table. New throw pillows were placed on either side of the low table, and she’d picked the best of the salvaged hotel art to hang on the walls. Lynn checks the time on her Go Phone for hundredth time, then scampers into the spare room to check out her reflection in the standing mirror. “I dunno, babies, what do you think about the look? Too much, too little? Gah, stop worrying so much!†Rolling her eyes, she returns to the bedroom and begins pacing by the window; her three cats lie in a warm pile on top of her bed, and DB is sleepily watching her through slitted eyes.

That's about enough of that. Annoyed at having to deal with 'mere mortals', Red Queen decides to take the other guard out; she drops the illusion hiding the two criminals and sends a vicious red blast straight into the man's chest.

Lenny is prowling the floor of the casino, looking for what, he is not exactly sure. Opportunity, surely, but exactly what? The Mob is in deep in the casinos, so maybe this is a good place to take my first step on the ladder of crime, with Hieronymus King waiting for me all the way at the top. It's certainly a lot nicer in here than it was out at the Arena, which frankly scared Lenny half to death. No, all of this is familiar from a childhood spent in the shadow of the big casinos back in A.C. He's wearing his usual get-up, tacky cowboy boots, black jeans and black Italian knock-off leather jacket, which really doesn't stand out too much. As he reaches the blackjack table, Lenny catches sight of an attractive young woman who seems to be discretely casing the joint; it's in the casual flick of her eyes as she notes the position of the surveillance cameras and casino security. Interesting. And wow, are those cute boots! No, no, stay on target, you are doing a job here, kiddo. The handsome young booster finds a chair next to the girl and flashes his pearly whites. "Hi, hiya doin'?" He indicates the table with a jerk of his head. "You having a good night here or what?"

Grim's eyes go wide for a second as she laughs in disbelief. "Wow; you're really serious about this, aren't you?" She pursues her lips, then gives him a sly look. "Well, since you showed me your's..." She smiles, holds her hands out to the side, and the familiar grays mists return to swirl around her; soon the mask and leather are gone, and the young heroine is wearing sneakers, jeans and a New Jersey Devils sweatshirt. "Hi Liam, I'm Lynn Epstein of Atlantic City. When I'm not kicking butt and taking names, I survive by panhandling on the streets of our fair city, though I've been thinking about getting a real job lately." Suddenly she stops as a thought strikes her. "Wait, Velocity? The rich girl with the big..." She holds her hands out. "Outfit? You asked the shiksa first? Oh, that's great, just great!" Grim storms around the rooftop a bit, waving her hands in the air. "I should have known, y'know? Guys always go for the ritzy girls, it's the story of my life!" She marches back over to Rival, still clearly incensed. "I can be all posh, too, y'know. Oh yeah!" Her hair lengthens down to her shoulders in shimmering lusterous wave. "See? Piece of cake! I can't believe-" But then she stops herself, palms up and out as she closes her eyes and shakes her head. "Wait, wait, wait...I'm sorry." She twists a lock of hair around her finger. "It's not about the money, or anything else; I don't even know if she actually is rich, she's just got that, y'know, rich smell." Grim takes a deep breath and her hair shifts back to being short and spikey. "I know she's good. I've read in the papers and seen it on the news, and she's good at her job, at our job, the same thing we do." She steps over to Rival and gently holds his arms as she looks up at him with those big brown eyes. "It's a reflex thing, y'know? Or maybe you don't know; us poor little Jewish girls are used to guys going crazy for the rich party girls. They stand out, like they sparkle or something, and guys always go for the sparkle. And anyway, I know it's not about anything more than...teaming up to fight bad guys." Grim shrugs. "I'm not gonna lie, it hurts a little that you asked her first, but I believe you; I know you would never hurt me, boss, not on purpose. I'll get over it" She drops his arms and sleepily rubs her eyes, for a moment forgetting about the bruising, which elicits a wince. "Ahh! So yeah...I guess I can play nice with the little princess." She sighs and rolls her eyes. "If that's what you want." She smiles and nods. "Yeah, I'm totally in."

I'm so glad the site is back up! I was worried for a bit there :D

Yes! YES! :clap: :clap: :clap:

Lenny is starting to feel more than a little freaked out; the snatches of conversation he's picking up from around the room are enough to let him know he has definitly jumped into the deep end before learning how to swim. So just how badly do I want to die tonight, wonders Grim. Looking bored, Lenny finishes off his drink, stops into the men's room, very quickly leaves the men's room :shock:, and decides to call it a night as he saunters out the door. "I'll be bahk", she thinks in fluent Ahnoldese.

To be honest, this is why I was pragmatically vague when I refered to Colby's partner :? I believe Thayan also mentioned an interest in this game, if worst comes to worst.

Me Heritage, King of Jungle! Heritage call for animal friends! Auuuuuu-Ahuuuuuuuh-ahuuuuuuuh! :o

Lenny the Lifter will show up later today or tonight ;)

Dude, she's Mob connected? Meet Lenny, your new best friend! Lenny is new in town, and has been basically casing around looking for work (i.e lots of off-screen Streetwise and Gather Information checks) and it sounds like he could easily hear about Cap looking for muscle/help. Lenny has no true secret ID (unless you count Grim!), so he could just walk into the casino and take a meeting, as it were. We could just start a thread with their first meeting, I guess, and go from there, or else start the PM thing.

Yeah, I hope this one's good -I've been a fan of the trailer for several months, and I'm especially happy about the presence of Jason Bateman, a modern master of naturalistic understated comedy. Just they way he say's "Greenpeace does" cracks me up. Also the concept of a somewhat incompetant superhero really appeals to me, the same way The Tick does. Between this one, The Dark Knight, Iron Man and Hellboy 2, looks to be a better superhero summer this year :D

Grim claps her hands over her ears so hard that she sees stars, and still the shrieking pierces her eardrums like white-hot knitting needles, but it no longer feels like her head is about to explode. She yells over the sound as though it were deafeningly loud. "This is bad, man! I can't - ahhhhhh, we gotta figure out a way to stop that! Damn it, that hurts!"

Grim sits up straight and looks over her shoulder at Rival. "Are you serious? Who...who else has signed on?" She shakes her head. "I mean, of course the answer is 'yes', but I just...a whole team? Wow." The young vigilante just sits there for a few seconds, shaking her head and smiling, but there is just a hint of concern as well; suddenly she stands and walks rapidly over to her mentor, the bruised side of her face in shadow. "So yeah, who else? Or did you ask me first, because that would be awesome, but I'm not mad if I'm not; it would just be kinda...cooler if it was."

If your looking for help on a robbery, I have a character looking to get in with the criminal element; Lenny the Lifter (aka Grim) is looking for work out on the Arena right now, though they could meet up somewhere else if you prefer and you'll 'em.

:clap: :clap: :clap: This is indeed happy news; I spend an inordinate amount of time on this site, and I thank all the players, GMs and admins for making is so awesome :D

Certainly the understandable male reaction! She hasn't had anyone for a while and she's fallen hard for Ren, so she's still caught up in the initial heady glow phase. Well he can come visit her in the Grim's Faerie Tale thread (though the timeline would be kinda screwy), or we can start something new, and yeah, we should just switch to PMs from this point on. ;)

Grim's Fortitude save is 20, Notice check is 6; hmm, might want to increase Notice a bit next month.

Red Queen's Initiative is...taking forever! I think there must be something wrong with da Castle; will try to get a roll in later tonight EDIT: And well worth the wait! :P

She told you where she lives, dude, and says she'd like to see you ten times a day; do you need an engraved invitation? ;)

Bumping this thread back up because Grim is begining her infiltration of the Freedom City criminal element, and it looks like she showed up at the Arena too late to join in on MBCE's little party In her guise as Lenny, she is actually looking to participate in a few straight-up jobs just to get Lenny's name out there as a reliable flunky, mostly acting as lookout/scout, but a little breaking and entering might also be on the agenda. Any one interested in running/playing in such a story?

'Lenny Stein' steps into the bar sector of the Arena, and for a minute he's nearly overwhelmed by the wide array of smells that crowd their way into his head, a crazy mixture of sea spray, sweat, cigarette smoke, other smoke, cheap perfume, cheap booze, metallic aftershave and a lot of hair gel. The young booster makes his way over to the bar, signals the bartender with a jerk of his head, and studies his own reflection in the mirrors along the back wall; whip-thin and feral, Lenny's a pretty boy with a just a hint of mania in his eyes, decked out in a leather jacket, black jeans and overpriced silver-toed cowboy boots. A single gold chain dangles in front of his well-worn Bon Jovi 'Slippery When Wet' t-shirt. He orders a Jack and Coke, pays with a wad of crumpled bills, and leaves a lousy tip, earning him a scowl from the overworked bartender which he answers with a wink. "Have a nice night, buddy!" Lenny's voice is high and slightly nasal, dripping with oily Jersey charm. He snags his drink, runs a hand through his short black hair damp with product, and starts to 'work the room', keeping an eye open for interesting customers. God, this place is vile, thinks Grim. :roll:

As Lt Morena Colby looks for a place to park the gray Crown Vic, she automatically scans the face, clothing and demeanor of everyone nearby; sometimes a perp will loiter around the edge of a crime scene, getting their kicks by watching the furor they stirred up, like a little kid dropping a rock on an anthill. But all her trained eye catches are the hangdog, desperate faces of officers who know they don't have a thing to go on. "Looks like the circus is finally packing it in," she casually mentions to her partner as she steps out of the car. Colby will be twenty-nine next month, awfully young to have made lieutenant, and she knows it; a lot of old-timers had grumbled about 'Affirmative Action' and her fancy degree, but most of the younger cops she's met get along fine with Colby, respecting her expertise and family legacy, and consider her to be a good cop. Her jacket and slacks are fairly sharp, showing traces of both curves and muscle just under the surface, and she lets her long brown hair blow loose about her face. Colby sees Warner doing her usual thing, but a newcomer is also present, a young Asian woman who looks like she knows the best place to get good pie any time of day or night. The lieutenant smiles and strides purposefully over to the cadet lost in her music, drops down to an easy crouch beside her, and tugs one of her earbuds free as she greets the young sensitive with playfully exaggerated enthusiasm. "Hiya, Ginny, what's new?" :D

Grim looks down at the burning van from the roof of the boarded-up storefront, the light of the blaze reflecting in her deep brown eyes; she can only shake her head at the night's activities. "I'm not happy with how this turned out." She stops and smiles, still peering down at the street. "I can't hear you, boss, so I know you're there." She sighs and drops down to the tarpaper, chin on her crossed arms as she leans over the low parapet. "I like working with you; I think we make a good team, or will, once I start pulling my weight a bit, but it's not enough, is it? There's a war going on down there, a war that is about to be turned up a notch, and other than a few parlor tricks my grandpa would have been proud of, I don't think I'm doing a heck of a lot to make it better." The young heroine raises her head to look out over the glowing electric landscape of the Southside, inky black space marked out by streetlights and the constant flow of cars; the chill wind rushes past her ears, and the smoke from burning oil stings her eyes and nose. "What else can we do? We can't just react all the time, we need to strike first. The undercover thing might work, but it might blow up in my face; what if I can't pull it off? What's our next move?"

Okay, it looks like Skinheads is now locked, so I think I will do a very quick mini-thread for Grim and Rival in Southside, to be called Afterglow just to get this bit of business taken care of once and for all :D