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Post by jernus on Jun 20, 2010 17:59:55 GMT -5
Kage looked at the search entry Roy had entered and supressed the urge to burst out laughing. At the same time, he couldn't help but be worried about the athlete. Luckily, John seemed to be agreeing with him as he spoke up.
"Sam..." he interjected tentatively. "I'm no expert or anything, but... wouldn't such a vague search possibly screw up the system?" Sam contemplated this for a second before snapping his fingers.
"I hadn't thought of that," he said, producing a notepad and a pencil. "but it could be an integral part of the experiment. Go ahead, Roy." The redhead hesitantly pressed the Enter key, and Machine I opened. He stepped inside, and it closed in the blink of an eye. "Now, this part miiiiiight tickle a little..." continued Sam. The screen showed a shot of Roy from inside the pod, and his shocked expression as two wires lowered themselves and stuck inside his ears. Before he could object, the machine lit the room up with electricity. When the process looked to be done, the chamber opened and released clouds of yellow gas. Sam immediately covered his face. "Everyone! Cover your mouths and noses!" he shouted in a muffled voice. The rest of the group did so in a panic, and beheld the figure that stepped out of Machine I. He was Roy's height, but his attire was completely monochromatic. On the chest of the black and white jumpsuit he wore was a giant question mark, and his face was covered by a white and black mask.
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Post by Tekka King on Jun 20, 2010 18:08:04 GMT -5
Well, at least his brain wasn't leaking out of his ears. Though she was wondering exactly which superpower Roy had been given by the machine to give him his current attire. He sort of reminded her of the Riddler, what with the question mark and all. Perhaps it was a random superpower each time sort of thing?
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Post by jernus on Jun 20, 2010 18:19:40 GMT -5
Kage looked at the figure who had replaced Roy, a bit wary of what it might do. The new being put its hand up in front of its face, almost as if wondering if its own existence was possible.
"Roy... are you okay?" asked Sam. The monochromatic entity laughed.
"Roy?" it asked in a voice that was Roy's, but a bit lower and with a hint of a British accent. "Roy is no longer here." Everyone else in the room froze, apparently about to run for it, but then the person that was not Roy laughed in the redhead's normal voice (albeit just a tad nasal. "Nah, I'm just screwin' with you guys!" he informed the deeply sighing group. "I'm still in control, but it feels weird... Almost like I don't have to be me... or something." He looked at Abby briefly, and with hardly more than a flicker, there were two Abby's in the lab, one of whom had black hair and was wearing a black and white version of the original's outfit.
"Roy, you perv!" shouted Abby. If it had been an anime, Kage would have expected to see a vein pop.
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Post by Tekka King on Jun 20, 2010 18:44:28 GMT -5
Oh, now THAT looked interesting. He was a copycat, was he? That would be good for stealth, but did it allow him to copy superpowers as well? Well, most of the thoughts were halted in their tracks by Abby's response to Roy, it WAS rather comical, and Tekka snickered at the interaction between the two.
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Post by jernus on Jun 20, 2010 19:05:58 GMT -5
Had Kage been sitting in any kind of establishment where falling over was possible, he probably would have. Seeing Abby and Roy bicker was one of the funniest parts of this movie so far, and it contrasted well with the gruesome Dark Earth scenes.
"Oh, shove it!" taunted the fake Abby, her voice almost completely the same. She then did something that even the giant would have given a good strong punch to him for - she took hold of her own white midriff shirt and peered down inside of it. "I always wanted to do this..." Sam took no notice as the real Abby glared at her copy, who only laughed at her.
"So... the generality of your search made you... a blank slate among superheroes, it seems," remarked the inventor with an amazed expression as he jotted some things down on the notepad. "Is anyone else suffering from symptoms?" Abby, Jess, and John shook their heads, and Sam sighed with relief. "Well, then. It looks like, for all it's worth, Machine I is a success." His face relaxed quite a bit, and he looked over at the stairs. "Now... who's up for a round of Super Smash Bros.?"
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Post by Tekka King on Jun 20, 2010 19:24:25 GMT -5
Oh, Roy was gonna get it now. Any girl would take that as the highest injustice, and Abby was bound to get him back one way or another. Probably after she had decided upon her own power.
Tekka grinned at the last comment, Sam was blowing off the success of giving an ordinary person superpowers in order to play videogames (a game that had lasted the thousand or so years since it's conception actually). So that was what people meant by eccentric inventors.
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Post by jernus on Jun 21, 2010 16:27:11 GMT -5
Kage had to guess that Super Smash Bros. was the game Sam couldn't seem to beat Roy at in the beginning of the film, and the inventor's determination made the giant smile. He always seemed to stick to one project until it was successful, unlike the married inventors of an old cartoon the wanderer remembered watching as a small child. He let himself get lost for a moment, just long enough to recall that it was a show about a half-ghost... or ghost-hunting, or something. While his mind was off the movie, Kage took the time to look back down at Tekka, who seemed completely engrossed in the picture again. The understanding grin on her face showed that she knew how the dispute between Abby and Roy would turn out. It made him almost make a mental note never to make the younger Tora angry, but it wasn't in the giant's nature to intentionally annoy anyone. Kage looked at the screen again, placing a reminder in his brain to ask if Tekka would want an escort back to her house. It would be a good opportunity to figure out what to say. As the movie continued, the sound of a school bell segued the sequence into another session of what appeared to be a homeroom situation. Sam, Roy, and Abby were seated in a group near the back, where they wouldn't catch the eye of the frightening (but hilarious) teacher.
"So, you were able to change back, I see," observed Sam as he looked at Roy. The redhead grinned.
"Yep!" he replied jubilantly. "Just had to think about it."
"That must have been so hard for you to do," Abby commented with a tone of sarcastic pity. Roy glared at her, but the grin he had worn soon crept back across his features.
"So, Abby..." he began, apparently turning on as much charm as he could muster while hiding the laughter. "You still wearing that Pink Kitty bra?" The teal-haired girl looked about ready to destroy him, but her attentioin suddenly turned to her wrists. She began scratching at them madly, and even started to bite at the fingerless gloves she wore.
"You all right, Abby?" asked Sam, his face full of concern and shock. She looked at him briefly, her cheeks flushed.
"Yeah, I - oh, no..." With that, Abby practically leaped from her seat and sprinted from the room, barely acknowledged by the teacher.
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Post by Tekka King on Jun 21, 2010 19:06:12 GMT -5
In Abby's position, Tekka would have lunged for Roy no matter how the situation would have turned out. Of course now she was a little worried over Abby. Hopefully it was nothing too out-of-the-norm. Of course, based on the fact that she was clawing at her wrist, it probably WAS something out-of-the-norm.
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Post by jernus on Jun 21, 2010 19:18:13 GMT -5
Kage's eyes widened a bit at Abby's strange behavior. This couldn't be good... The shot changed to a view of a bathroom, into which the teal-hairred girl rushed. Although... her hair wasn't so much teal anymore - it was slowing turning purple. On top of that, it was becoming stiff-looking, and had started to shrink. Abby hurriedly opened the door to a stall and locked herself inside. The screen showed the inside of the stall, and Kage almost felt the poor girl's pain as large, sharp blades suddenly jutted from her wrists. She stood there, panting and looking at the newly grown weapons, her eyes filled with utmost fright.
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Post by Tekka King on Jun 21, 2010 19:24:55 GMT -5
Oooh... Tekka's eyes widened. Purple hair and blades, that wasn't good. Either it was some sort of effect from the machine's smoke, or Abby was being influenced by one of the villains. She looked far too terrified to actually BE a villain, so that option was out, besides, there was no one to keep up an act around.
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Post by jernus on Jun 21, 2010 19:39:32 GMT -5
The scene faded out on Abby's horrified face, and faded in on the five teenagers sitting on the steps outside of the school. Several students passed, but none seemed to care about the purple-haired girl with knives in her wrists.
That's what society gets for making it normal to impale yourself and call it a fashion statement... Kage reflected with a quiet chuckle.
"So you've been hiding out in the bathroom all day?" asked Jess concernedly. Abby held up her bladed hands.
"These aren't exactly accessories, Jess," she said in a voice that was just a bit raspier than her normal one. "Besides, this keeps happening." In an instant, she was gone, with nothing but a pale outline to mark her presence. She reappeared, and Sam produced the notepad from the experiment.
"I think this might be caused by Machine I," he said gravely. "Did any of you breath in the gas that was emitted after the pod was opened?" Abby looked at the inventor sheepishly, and John scratched the back of his head. Jess simply looked down.
"I... think I might have inhaled a bit of it," admitted the muscly blonde.
"Me, too..." Jess followed. Sam slid the palm of his right hand down his face.
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Post by Tekka King on Jun 21, 2010 20:10:06 GMT -5
Tekka wasn't entirely sure how realistic the responses from the other kids were, really, but it was a good exaggeration of how desensitized people could get. She was pretty sure the school's administrators would have had some sort of problem with the wrist-blades though.
Though, the silver lining was that Roy would be less likely to tick Abby off...
But of course, now John and Jess would be getting powers (or would they be mutations like their friend?) too.
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Post by jernus on Jun 21, 2010 20:37:10 GMT -5
Kage was eagerly anticipating the unveiling of whatever Jess and John would become as he reached inside the huge paper bag that now sat snugly between him and Tekka. He extracted a snack cake and opened it, enjoying its sweet aroma. Meanwhile, Sam was still face-palming and sighing.
"Well, all to the good, I suppose..." the inventor said sagely. "If either of you experience symptoms, give me a call." He had taken a sheet from the back of the notepad and was scribbling something on it. He handed it to Jess shortly afterward. The youngest of the teens took the slip of paper almost reverently, and the rest of the group parted ways as the scene faded into a living room. A girl with sandy hair that was done up in pigtails was sitting on the couch, a remote in her little hand. Suddenly, the door opened, and Jess stumbled through, looking quite tired.
"Hi, Jess!" the girl called happily. Her eyes shone with adoration as she indicated the seat next to her. "I recorded the latest episode of Ninja Cop. Wanna watch it with me?"
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Post by Tekka King on Jun 21, 2010 21:12:06 GMT -5
The movie was wonderful, good characters, nice pacing, a visible plot, etc. However the only thought on Tekka's mind when the pigtailed child (presumably Jess's sister) opened her mouth was, 'Ninja Cop?'
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Post by jernus on Jun 21, 2010 21:50:03 GMT -5
Kage almost couldn't control the urge to snicker uncontrollably, thereby doing a spit take with the snack cake. He was far too intrigued with where Jess's condition might take him to make a fool of himself, however. The sandy-haired teen flopped down beside the girl, who pressed a button on the remote that started the show. Before long, Jess was looking quite nauseated, and his skin was beginning to turn purple in several places.
"Jess, are you okay?" the girl asked. "What's wrong? You love Ninja Cop!" Jess merely groaned before speaking.
"I don't feel so good..." he muttered. His apparent sister looked over at him, her eyes filling with concern.
"You don't look so good..." she answered. "I've heard of poeple turning green when they're sick, but never purple..." Jess made a gagging noise near the middle of his sibling's statement, and suddenly a sickly grinding noise began somewhere inside of him. He sprinted from the couch, up a set of stairs, and toward a door (probably his bedroom). By the time he had reached for the knob, his skin was almost completely transformed into a deep violet color, and his ears had moved partway up his skull. He threw the door open and shut it, fingers with rapidly growing claws fumbling to do the lock. There was a mirror on his door, and as he tried to seal himself in, the sandy-haired teenager beheld his own horrible change. His teeth were becoming sharper, his eyes had turned a pale yellow, and wings were beginning to crunch their way out of his back. A half-human scream could be heard as the screen showed the house from the outside, and a huge, anthropomorphic purple bat shattered through one of the upstairs windows, flying in a panic through the night.
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