ic Scrier's Masquerade (IC)

[Gizmo]

Jack waved away the objections to his piratical demands airily. "Ladies love parrots. True story."

"Somebody's just stalling taking his mask off," his sister drawled with equal lack of concern as she undid her own bandana mask and pocketed the crimson fabric in the pocket of her jacket. Underneath, she was a sienna toned young woman with attractively angular features and dark blue eyes bordering on black that gleamed with intelligence and wry wit. Without her mask, her costume could reasonably pass for somewhat eccentric street clothes, but the cuff of a sleeve sticking out of the shoulder slung bag she carried suggested she planned to change once they were underway.

With a grumbling sigh, the elder sibling followed suit. "Sure, not like I'm trying to maintain a secret identity or anything," he muttered half-heartedly under his breath as pocketed his mask. The familial resemblance was obvious, with the same defined cheekbones and tapering chin. More surprising, however, was when the swordsman reached up with his opposite hand to pull back his wavy black locks to reveal it as a wig covering closely shorn, dusty brown hair. "Alright, everybody gets one free crack about the wig," he told the others resignedly.

[Raveled]

Jessica watched as the brother and sister duo unmasked, her eyebrows climbing almost to her hairline as she saw the features of Ellie Espadas emerge from under Jill O'Cure's bandanna. Ellie Espadas, girlfriend to Mara Hallowman, Jessica Parker's best friend. The revelation rocked her back on her heels, and the young woman fell quiet as she digested it. At least, one version of her did; Goggles didn't waste a mark, nudging her other self in the ribs. "Like the author said," she stage-whispered, "he'd be tall, dark, and handsome, if he hadn't in fact had brown hair?" Grinning, she marched up the gangplank, hitching at the strap of her pack. "I've got to get this stuff stowed beneath decks before we set out."

Jessica was left blushing furiously as her other self walked away. She waved her hands in the air as if she was trying to wipe the comment out of existence, and shook her head sharply. "I, um. I don't really do quipping, sorry." She laughed self-deprecatingly. "Heh, that'd be a way to spend the journey, right? Combat Jokes 101?" She shrugged and started up the gangway towards the sub.

[Ecalsneerg]

John Fraser just blinked. And leaned forward on his cane. Then took a couple of steps to view it from the side. Despite his amusement, his face remained stone-like in its lack of reaction. He just shook his head and began to follow Ironclad towards the sub.

"Well," he said in an even tone. "I am willing to take one free joke about the wig. Just not right at this moment. I'll wait for a more opportune moment." He turned his face away so nobody could see him grin.

The archer regained his composure long enough to glance over his shoulder. "Anyway, if we're going without masks, I suppose you should call me John."

[Gizmo]

"Ha, well, handsome I'll take," Jack laughed, bowing slightly from the waist and giving a flourish with one hand in the alternate Jessica's direction as she boarded the craft. To Arrowhawk, he offered a snort. "As if you needed my permission to be an ornery coot, old man." Running one hand through his real hair quickly, he smirked. "Besides, didn't see it coming, did you, Eagle Eye? Master of disguise, is what."

His sister for her part coughed lightly into her hand at Ironclad's noticeable reaction. "Right, yeah. Hi!" she attempted with a small, chagrined smile and an apologetic look. "Turns out we've met, huh? Sorry, it wasn't anything personal not cluing you in earlier, honest."

"If we're all going to such creative lengths to preserve a modicum on anonymity as 'John' here," the elder sibling spoke up, "Jack and Jill ought to serve well enough regardless, yeah?"

[KnightDisciple]

"I think the name "Carson" is already out of the bag, so that works for me."

Ga-Carson gave everyone a light smile. Merriment danced in his eyes as he spoke next and his natural brogue crept out.

"And I think I'll do what Arrowhawk said, and save up my free crack about the hair. I have a feeling I'll enjoy it more if I wait to spring it on you.

That's your first lesson in Combat Quips 101, by the way.

Anyways, does anyone else want to actually get on board the submarine?"

Carson started slowly walking to the on-ramp, since it seemed the sub was ready to go, with only a couple of crew members still waiting for them to board.

[Raveled]

Jessica shrugged with one shoulder as she and Jill -- that is to say, Ellie -- climbed the gangplank. "It's your secret to tell," she said. "Or yours and Er-- er, Jack's. And Mara's. Oh, hell, I don't know. You don't have to apologize to me for not telling me your life's story, Jill!" She smiled tightly as she ducked through a door, making sure to step high over the raised threshold. She straightened slowly, making sure her head wasn't going to hit the low ceiling. It was a close thing, and she reminded herself to keep an eye out for hanging pipes. "Ugh. Right now I'm supposed to be reviewing plans for a hundred-and-thirty-centimeter nanofabber line. Instead I'm about to go underwater with creepy-alterna-Me and fight some creepy-alterna-versions of my own personal heroes." She shot Jill a tight smile. "The life we lead, huh?"

[KnightDisciple]

GM Post

The heroes went on the submarine as roughly the last people to board. Only a couple of crew members were left, and they too quickly got on board. The sub was soon sealed, and perhaps 10 minutes later, it finished all checklists and disengaged the docks. As the group was led to the on-board conference room (since they didn't need to be on the bridge while they were doing some of the more delicate navigation of the journey), they barely felt the submarine start to glide through the water. The intercom crackled after a moment.

"This is the captain speaking. We are now underway. Diving will commence in 5 minutes. Normal movement is allowed, but please be aware we could hit some underwater eddies and experience turbulence. All passengers, if an emergency occurs, please listen to and follow the directions of any nearby crew member without question. Thank you."

It was clear the announcement had been solely for the benefit of the passengers; any crew would know the occasional hazards of undersea travel. Their journey had now begun.

[Raveled]

"I mean, I'm not saying that I'm not happy helping them. Finagle knows, you don't get into this sort of life and then complain when someone needs your help, but they kind of messed it all up." In the depths of the submarine, Jill and Ironclad, looking a lot more like Ellie and Jessica, were navigating the cramped corridors of the vessel. Since they had left dock the young inventor had headed steadily towards the stern, determined to see what was powering the ship with her own eyes. On the way she had kept up a running monologue on the whole situation to Jill. "If they had just popped in and given us a couple of days, we could've had enough heroes between us to simply flatten Mastermind's troops between, um, wherever we are and wherever he is. I just know we could have!"

The pair turned a corner and practically butted heads with another tall blonde, this one wearing the same welding goggles as when they saw her last. Goggles smiled widely as Armor's eyes widened in response. "Oooo, me! I've been looking for you. Listen, I'd like your input on a couple of designs for some tracked vehicles. If you can convince Gabriel to use these, we could dig right under the city! Mastermind would never know we're coming!"

"Oh... okay." Goggles grabbed Armor's arm and pulled her along; Armor turned around and mouthed to Jill, "Save me!"

[Gizmo]

"Preaching to the choir," Jill agreed with a shrug as her world's Ironclad rambled exasperatedly about their frustrating situation. If anything, the medic was feeling a little less charitable in her attitude than even the armored heroine, but they both knew they were going to help the resistance against Mastermind regardless and there wasn't anybody present worth berating over their abduction. There was little doubt in her mind that they would succeed - her family was not known for a lack of confidence - and the sooner they did so the sooner they could go home.

At the appearance of the second Ironcald, she gave the first a helpless look. Before Goggles could carry Armor off, however, the elder crime-fighting sibling appeared, jogging the cramped hallway from the opposite direction. "Hey, ladies! Tell me one of you has found a room big enough for an actual work-out," the fencer pleaded, looking from face to face and unconsciously rolling one shoulder. "I'm going stir crazy here."

[Raveled]

Goggles glanced around and grinned as Jack appeared. "Sailing around in a sub is a bad time to discover that you're claustrophobic," Goggles pointed out. "But I'm sure we could push a few bunks against the walls and see what kind of room that makes. Or, you know, keep them together." She grabbed his arm and led him past Armor and his sister, back towards the ship's bow. Armor held her breath until her double was safely out of sight through a hatch, then let it out slowly. "Okay, I'm still giving that marker to you, Ellie." She resumed walking back towards the engine room. "I'm sorry, but the other me just creeps me out. I mean, have you seen her eyes?"

---

A few hallways away, Goggles lead Jack through the ship. "So you and your sister, huhn? Crime-fighting duo across the cosmos?"

[Gizmo]

"Oh, uh, y'know. We do okay," Jack replied somewhat uneasily, casting a look over his shoulder even as he was led away. He recognized the tone of voice this alternate version of Ironclad was using immediately. Hell, I invented that tone of voice. Clearing his throat he added smoothly, "Of course, the alternate dimension thing's not really our usual. Our team mostly stays close to home when we're not getting kidnapped." He made an attempt to free his arm by quickening his step relative to the local's but her grip proved formidable.

[Raveled]

GM

"Yeah, well." She shrugged with the arm that wasn't locked around Jack's. "King Crab asked me for a device that could go to another dimension. I really wasn't sure they'd work. I was kind of thinking he'd use them to send Mastermind to some place where the sun's already expanded and boiled off the atmosphere, but hey. We got you instead, that's cool." Stepping over another lip she led Jack into a corridor lined with hanging bunks. "Here we go," she said, letting go of Jack's arm and starting to swing the bunks up against the wall. A simple latch secured them, and in no time at all there was a clear metal hallway. Armor leaned against the doorjamb and watched him. "So how do you fight?"

[Ecalsneerg]

John just stood pensively, and turned to Gabriel. "Right, while they're off bollocking about, we need to come up with some method of fighting this reality's Interceptors. I don't know how competent they'll be, but I assume that, much as it pains me to say this, be a credible fighting force. And Doktor Archeville's involvement complicates things."

This next part wasn't said with exasperation or any shame at all, and in fact sounded like a tone of respect. "I don't know if I have any way to even slow down Doktor Archeville if he's anything like our one. You lot have a lot more raw combat power than I do, so what do you think would work?"

[KnightDisciple]

Carson nodded his head at John's suggestions.

"Well, I did some asking around before we left, as well as a bit of checking on their computers. As far as powers and abilities go, this world's Interceptors seem to generally function like ours. No major differences have been observed, and the other me had a lot of chances to observe."

He smirked slightly at the mention of Archeville.

"Well, he still has to hear, doesn't he? I haven't heard of him having something that can somehow block out sonic powers while still letting him hear, barring an actual power dampener. And even then, why would he have it on by default? The only hostile sonic controller he knows is either dead, or a broken mass of meat and bone somewhere. If nothing else, I can force him on the defensive for a while. And while I'm good with shooting sound at people's faces, I've got a fair number of tricks I can throw at him. Keep him off-balance, that sort of thing. It's one thing I'm rather good at when I put my mind to it. I'd probably open up by trying to either deafen him, or possibly panic him. Do you have something that would let you blind him even for a few moments? If we could take out hearing and sight, he'd have to either take it on the chin, or curl up under a super-force-field long enough to recover.

One of those means he's down for the count, the other means he's not our problem for 30 critical seconds, or however long it is."