Lone Star

Kid Cthulhu looked at The Collector with a look of bemusement. "What? Seriously? How do you expect me to take you seriously? You're a walking stereotype." KC put his hand to his temple and readied a mental draining spell. Something to weaken his will before he zapped him with his more offensive spell, one that may put him to sleep for a while. It's hard to stay on one's feet when one's sanity has been drained. "Regardless, I'm gonna take you out, Collector, lack of originality and all." KC extended his squiddily hand in the direction of The Collector, and he fired off a sanity draining spell. "Let's see how well you can fight without a will to speak of!"

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2396297/

KC uses his Wisdom drain, and rolls a 17. Will Save 16.

Alright! I shall make my move.

I want wings. I have 3 points, and I put two of them into having Flight 1, and save the last.

Moments later...

The three young heroes were standing outside Freedom City's Museum in Center City. Standing at the foot of the marble steps that led up to the front of building, the three could see beams of light flashing inside the lobby. Thank's to Breakdown's concentration, the feeling of nauseousness that they were expecting to hit never came. The feeling was a welcome relief. Kid Cthulhu's realization that he was about to make his heroic debut, however, was not!

KC looked about, and was relieved to find his stomach had not decided to eject his lunch. "Nice work, BD, I'm not going to die before I even get into my first real fight." KC said. "Well, into the fray I go!"

KC opened the doors to the museum, wrapping his moist tentacles around the handle. As he walked into the main entrance, he realized he could not see the potential thief of art. Using a small amount of his magic, he channeled the mystic fire into his fingertips, illuminating the room. "Hello, potential thief! I am Kid Cthulhu, and I believe it is my job to stop you from...thievery." Man, KC thought, I need to work on my introductions.

I can do that. I'll wait for L_S to confirm before I start the thread.

Sounds good to me, my droogies. Thread away.

I agree, although I'm lost for a name too. :?

Breakdown smiled as he looked at the tabloid snapshot. "So that was you? I'd heard about someone prowlin' the streets at night, but honestly," he gestured to the tabloid, "I don't think they got your good side. I couldn't tell that was you when I saw you. That could be a good thing, though. I wouldn't want to be associated with a photo like that."

An idea dawned on Breakdown as he finished talking. "Hey, you know what you need? A decent crime busting escapade. Maybe if we can catch some real crooks, people will start paying attention to you better. I'd be glad to help out if you want some back up!" It was amazing how Breakdown's winning smile could travel like an infectious disease, spreading excitement wherever it went.

"A crime-fighting spree? Yeah, I'm down for it." It was true, Breakdown's smile was as infectious as the plague, and KC felt his face light up. "So, what are we waiting for?"

"CTHULHU FH'TAGN!"

A wash of mystic fire changed the lanky teenager into his otherworldly form.

"Let's roll."

Kid Cthulhu :cthulhu:

Shoggoth on the Roof

Breakdown was passionate about his music, and Fulcrum didn't interrupt his reminiscing. Sure, knowing what he was thinking about would be nice, but she wasn't going to pry. Instead she nodded, "I'd like to hear your band. Give me a heads up on the concert dates please? I'll ask around Riverside and see if anyone is interested. You'd be surprised how diverse the local music scene is here, artsy reputation aside."

Walking over to KC, she offered him a couple of binders with more of her artwork, in varying styles and formats. They ranged from surreal to quite realistic, many studies of anatomy and posture. The old ones had more superheroes, but the newer ones featured more landscapes, other models and even horror elements. In particular was an industrial theme featuring complex machines and cybernetics. Some even ventured into the biomechanical style of H.R. Giger.

Leaning on the couch, she smiled to Breakdown as she flipped through another one, "Maybe you can land a spring concert in Riverside Park. It has an open air auditorium." She held up a sketch of the stage.

KC lifted his head as she moved the book towards him. "GIGER!" he suddenly shouted. "I love that guy!" KC began to flip through the books. He smiled to himself as he studied her work. "You've got a real unique style, Fulcrum. Sorry, I passed out for a second. I've been staying up late on city patrols, although I haven't been recieving the attention I want." KC reached in his back pocket, and pulled out a tabloid magazine, which featured a blurry, black-and-white picture of himself. "Yeah."

"Thanks," Breakdown smiled. "I try!"

"Hey, man. I can't help but charm the ladies. I'm a rock star after all." Breakdown gave KC a large boasting smile. But his new friend knew enough by this point to easily tell that Breakdown was just giving him a hard time. "That, and not having tentacles helps."

"Hey, the ladies love the tentacles, despite what you may have heard from various sources." He decided to change back into his human form. "There, better?" Blake said, sticking his tongue out at the young hero.

Sitting down the picture gently, she looked up to Breakdown, her smile regaining its former cheer, "You're a good guy, Breakdown."

KC sipped at the water, which admittedly was difficult with his...tentacles. "Oh, sure, ignore the starving artist in the corner."

Once he stepped into the apartment, he simply took in the whole place. [/color=#008000]"I wonder how the acoustics are?" he asked, looking at the rafters and ductwork.

KC called from the couch. "ECHO! ECHO! Echo! Echo. echo."

What can you say? Her pad was equal parts small late-twenty-something and surreal. On the one hand, it was minimalist and comfortable, an open rafter and floorplan with lots of exposed brick and duct work. The combined kitchen and living room ran down the front of the warehouse, framed by large windows. The usual furniture dominated: couch, chair, small entertainment center clustered against the window wall. Her bedroom was screened off in the far back, next to the bathroom door. Another screen closed off the fair corner across from the bathroom.

Now the surreal side came in two parts. One, most everything not built in was much larger than normal. As if, unsurprisingly, it was scaled for someone eight feet tall. Even the cabinet handles were sized for her. The other surreal part was the vast collection of paintings, drawings and sculpture that peppered the background. They covered every imaginable topic and style, from neo-classical to cubist to graffiti to comic illustrations. Perhaps most impressive was a hanging, black metal sculpture comprised of dozens of curvilinear sheets, strung on thin chains, all flowing into a three dimensional spiral cluster.

Heading into the kitchen, she asked, 'Want something to drink?"

"Woah, I dig the style, Fulcrum." KC held his head. He was extremely nauseated from the teleportation. "Although, in the future, just let us fly there, Breakdown. I feel like I just got out of a washing machine on spin drive. "Could I get a glass of water, Fulcrum? I gotta sit down for a second."

KC staggered over to the corner of the room, and plopped down in the couch. He tested the springs. "IKEA?" KC asked.

"I give. I give. I shouldn't have even tried something so basic," teased Fulcrum as she, quite visibly, tried to come up with a more challenging question, "You know your stuff, I'll give you that. All of us have our specialties. You should appear on Jeopardy, Breakdown."

"Dang, no kidding Fulcrum."

As KC noticed Fulcrum's demeanor change. She seemed reminiscient. He knew how difficult it must be to live under the shadow of the great Centurion. KC wanted to leave, he didn't like seeing his new friend feel badly.

"So, let's head out to your studio! I'm dying to see it. Maybe later I can take you to mine- if you can call it a studio."

"Spoken like a true smartass," Fulcrum joked, "Or budding artist. But sure, I'll try to nab you both a copy." When Breakdown started zipping off facts about the comic, she just stopped and listened to him in shock. Considering that the comic geek in her had only heard the name before submitting samples, Breakdown's knowledge of comic fandom was impressive indeed.

"Characters and layouts. They gave me a blank check to redesign the characters. I really didn't change much. 'Don't mess with perfection' or so they say," she replied while flipping through her phone again. Finally she offered the small screen up to the two, "This isn't from Typhoon, but its my current style."

"Yeah, sure, KC. I have a studio down by the docks. That's why I was in the neighborhood."

KC looks at the screen. "Wow! I'm officially impressed. I was mostly joking about not having the money to buy comics...Ramen noodles make a very healthy dinner for the young artist. Could we go see your studio?"

As a boy, Blake was always going with his parents to their artsy friend's house to examine their work and exchange comments or critiques. It was exciting for him, even now. Breakdown's knowledge of popular culture was impressive, even among some of Blake's friends at the comic shops.

"You sure know your stuff, huh, Breakdown?"

Having drifted off a moment, Fulcrum started and turned to the two, "Oh, yeah, I'm a professional artist. I'd like to say my oil and watercolor paintings, the whole 'fine art' thing, was my forte, but really I'm a graphic designer and illustrator," she smirked ruefully, "Although really I do prefer illustration work a lot more. Just landed a gig doing the interior art for the comic Typhoon. I'm really stoked about that." She stopped a moment and eyed another costume, adding a little vaguely, "Plus I publish some of my original work too."

Those attuned to pop culture may have heard of the adventure comic Typhoon. Equal parts Indiana Jones, Jack Sparrow and The Man with No Name, the titular character was a fictional heroine zooming around circa 1970s trying to save the world. She originally was a successful indie comic before being bought up by Castle Comics and relegated to D-list status until receiving her own book last year. The fan base was small but vocal.

"Typhoon? I've heard it mentioned before. You're the artist? Very impressive, I must say."

"I read comic books when I can afford them. Hey, you'll have to buy me the first issue when it comes out." KC said coyly. "Do you have any paintings you could show us?"

"Yea. Claremont actually works just like a boarding school." Breakdown replied. "My parents have a house in town too, but I don't really stay there. I live at school most of the year."

"What kind of art do you make?"

"I like to paint. I used a lot of watercolor and acrylic, but oil is nice too. There's just a lot of ideas that spring into my head, and demand to be drawn. Either that or I'm crazy. Maybe both."

In more ways than one! Breakdown wished he could promote his music while in costume.

"You could say that. I'm definitely not getting OUT of the hero biz, but, well let's just say it's not all life has to offer."

"Thirty, huh? I never would have guessed. You don't look a day older than 22 if you ask me." Breakdown added with a sly grin.

He turned to Kid Cthulhu, "So you said you weren't in school anymore? Did you drop out or something?"

"More or less. I already knew the stuff they were teaching me, so I don't show up anymore. I sold some of my work to get an apartment for myself, and I'm living off of that. Does Claremont have dorms? It is kind of a crappy apartment, I mean, art doesn't sell for all that much, to be honest."

"She had to be as good at getting into things as Houdini was at getting out of them," Breakdown replied wryly. "And with heels like those, I hope she can fly!"

"I'd be glad to give you a tour, KC. Here, write this number down. Both of you, actually. It's the radio frequency that I constantly monitor in my head. It's pretty helpful being able to hear the radio without a receiver. You call me on that frequency, and I'll come running."

"Cool!" KC said as he wrote the number on the side of a book he pulled out of his pocket. The book was mystical in origin, and it hurt one's head to look at the charts and diagrams inside. "I can figure something out to talk to you, maybe I have some radios at my old place. "A tour sounds like a great idea. When are you free next?"

Breakdown shrugged, "It's not like you really even need an appointment. You just show up and talk to the secretary. I don't doubt that Duncan Summers would let you go to school at Claremont. There is a tuition, but he's even been known to wave that for exceptional cases in the past," Breakdown thought of Zoe as he spoke.

"I'm sure the inheritance I got can handle the tuition. You'll have to take me there sometime. Maybe tomorrow? I'm really enjoying this museum now." KC said as he continued to pore over the costumes.

He saw Fulcrum's reaction to the tight costume and laughed aloud. "Maybe she uses it to distract her foes? I know I'd be."

"If Claremont were a castle, Duncan Summers would be a king." Breakdown sagely replied. "Almost everything that happens at school is run by him first. He approves all of the new teachers, and visiting staff, etc. And don't doubt that he knows everything that happens there. And I thought my mom had eyes in the back of her head."

Lacking a better answer, Breakdown sighed, "You'd have to ask him. A wise king keeps his own council, they say. Well, it's true. Half the time we can't figure out what that guy's thinking. Hey! Look at this one!" And with that, the costumes on the wall stole back Breakdown's attention.

"So, he's Big Brother, huh? Well, if you can get me an application, I'd love to try to join up. A superhero school...sweet." KC was hopeful- maybe this Breakdown kid could help him out. He needed some place to practice his powers, and maybe discover some new ones. Besides- he liked school. He hadn't been back since his parents died. Maybe the Claremont Academy would give him the help he needed.

"The Claremont Academy? Maybe. I've heard a little about it, how do you apply?" KC was intrigued about the super-school. He hoped they wouldn't be scared of him, or anything. He supposed he was glad he could change appearance at will- it would kind of suck to be a squid all the time. "Yeah, I guess that would be pretty cool, Breakdown. Do you go there?"

"Soo...kind of a literal hero-worship, huh? Well, at least we have a standard to compare ourselves to. You're right about us doing the best we can on our own. The fact that we're out there in the city, trying to clean it up means something. We may never have our own exhibit, but it still counts, right?" Kid Cthulhu smiled at Fulcrum. "It's better than nothing at all."

"Now, let's go check out the costumes." He was a little unsettled at the accuracy and sheer size of the Omega statue. To be honest, it scared him a little.

"Hey, don't be blue. We'll be that good...eventually. All we need is a good team sponsor, and we'll be all set!" Kid Cthulhu grinned, hoping to lighten his mood. "After all, its not like we suck or anything. Do we?" he said, looking around at the two of them.