Dollhouse

She stared at the little plastic card for a long time. Not in confusion, as she knew how to swipe it through the reader, one of the few things she did understand about this very strange day. So much change. So much to try to get used to, to cmprehend. She felt sure of nothing anymore, and it seemed every moment was a struggle against a nearly overpowering urge to flee.

"Can't just run, can't climb a tree or crawl under a house." she hade to keep telling herself. "Everything is different now. Have to be strong...be clever."

Who was she? Even her name had changed, at least on the outside. The man in blue has smiled when he told her that they'd have to get her name straightened out, that "we really can't just call you 'kitty.'"

But they'd never be able to pronounce her real name: people's voices weren't like that. Even she couldn't really say it properly any more. Not since everything changed, since her body and mind had gone through the terrible, wrenchingly painful transformation in to what she was now. Into this mewtation.

"You have an innate mutant ability to manipulate the electromagnetic force, kitty...perhaps some sort of code name based on that...hmmm..." The man in blue had mused.

"Electrokitty!" she'd blurted out, then regretted it, thinking she must surely sound kitten-foolish. But the man had smiled broadly, obviously pleased.

"Electrokitty it is. Let's get your DNA card imprinted with that and get you ready for your initial test."

That had been a half hour ago. She had been told exactly what to do to begin her test, but nothing about what would await her inside, save that she would have to be ready to adapt to something new, something she might not be used to. She smiled inside. There was nothing about this day that didn't amount to something new and strange!

"Kitty ready...kitty brave! I'm not a scared little kitten with her tail tucked and her ears flat!"

She swiped the card. The door slid open. She strode in, slit-pupiled eyes agleam.

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(OOC - Next up: Electrokitty Takes the Test! Electrokitty is a ff/elec defender on Triumph, currently (geddit: current? Elec? Oh, I crack myself up!) lvl15 or so. Look her up if you're so inclined. Scratching behind the ears optional, but always appreciated...)

The delicate hands clenched the page tightly, wrinkling it, threatening to tear it in two. Oversized, slit-pupiled eyes narrowed in a kind of desperate frustration, bringing a slight quiver to her lower lip. Warring emotions struggled for supremacy, feral predator's anger barely suppressed by other, more human responses. She tried to gather herself.

"Be calm. Tail still, don't twitch. Ears up, not flat." Thoughts took form and structure, not just raw feeling but words, symbols. "Kitty knows how...kitty can!"

She strode quickly down the hallway of the shelter, towards the front desk. Raymond would help. Raymond always helps, never makes fun. Her footfalls made little sound, her lithe form moving with an economical grace. She is largely humanoid, but several features are unmistakeably feline, the most conslicuous being her ears, set atop her head rather than to the side, and her long, very active tail. She wears nothing but a white leather chest harness, her luxuriant silver-tabby-striped coat making clothing unnecessary. A balding, frazzled-looking man sitting at an overloaded desk started at her arrival.

"Oh, hi, Kitty," he said with a touch of relief in his voice. "You need something?"

She held the paper out to him, stiff-armed, saying nothing. Raymond took it gingerly from her hand, inverted it, read it. His eyebrows rose for a moment, then he smiled gently.

"What?" She seemed near panic. "Kitty not read! Kitty need to know why paper in her room!"

"First person, kitty...what did I tell you?"

"Sorry." She composed herself with visible effort. "I need to know what that says, and you know I can't read...yet. Why would someone put a note in my room? Who even knows I live here?"

"Let me read it to you...maybe that will help clear things up, at least a little." Raymond cleared his throat. "Okay...'Greetings, You have been hand selected to participate in our Hero Recruitment Program. We've had our eye on you for some time now and we are extending you this special invitation. If you're interested bring the attached keycard to 8321 Virtue Court in Atlas Park and present it at the door for access. Hope to hear from you soon.' Did you get that straight, Kitty...they think you have what it takes to be a hero!"

"Kitty? I mean, er...me? A hero? But I'm just a kitten...or whatever I really am..."

"We both know what you did to those Hellions who tried to jack our petty cash box."

"Just a carpet shock," she shrugged.

"Yeah, right..." Raymond made a show of rearranging the mess on his desk, then stood up. "Let's go, Kitty. I need to show you where this is...this is something you need to do. You can't stay in this dismal homeless shelter forever."

"You don't want kitty...me any more?" Her voice quavered.

"You'll always be welcome, dear. Always. But it's time to move on...move up. Let's go..."


(more to follow!)

Dollhouse has a Science origin. She was horribly injured when her school was hit by an errant munition during the Rikti War, and only radical intervention by a surgical team from Deimos Innovation's R&D wing saved her life. The cybernetics that now make up a large percentage of her body also give her superhuman powers, primarily in the area of fire and heat generation, but also medical nanotech, jump impellers, etc.

Lotus On Water is of Magic origin, but not, perhaps, in the usual sense. I almost made her a Natural origin hero, as I'd something of a "Zen Swordswoman" archtype in mind. But it also seems as if that archtype, when taken to "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" extremes, includes a quasi-mystical component. Magic seemed to be more what I was looking for.

Electrokitty, a fluke amalgamation of human and feline DNA, is clearly a "Mewtation."

Enough for now!

"Okay, so what's the deal with all this Drama class babble? Why on earth would superheroes talk like that? I mean, look at me: I'm a Jewish girl from Baumton...who somehow ended up being about 75% cybernetic organism. I'm gonna talk like some Renn Faire reject? I don't think so!

"What's that? You've got an experimental Forsooth Linguistic Subroutine chip you want me to try out? Well, okay...go for it."

*snap*

"Zounds! 'Tis passing strange, but thy chip hath rendered profound changes. What once was dreadful to mine ears is now a heavenly music, the fair converse of angels, whilst what was formerly meet is now the babble of knaves! What magic hath been wrought, what spotless paladin's quest fulfilled that one so undeserving at this humble maiden might be gifted with fair-seeming and noble speech? 'Tis truly a wonder!"

*snap*

"Dude, that's really cool and all...but my supergroup would never let me hear the end of it, y'know what I'm sayin'...?"

[ QUOTE ]
I agree, I like what you all have written, I hope mine wasnt too long. I even trimmed some fat off of it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nope..."this porridge is just right!" Have some stars!

Codename: Dollhouse
Real Name: Cassadie Cohen
Origin/Powersets: Science 'Firetanker' (fire/fire)

Cassadie Cohen was grimly making her way through another day of humiliation and lonliness at Ann Coulter High School, "enjoying" being the least athletic girl in PE class. As "Fatty Cassie" once again stumbled and fell on her face on the soccer field, the stray Rikti cluster munition landed. The expanding flat disc of concentrated plasma released by the "daisy cutter" passed a foot above her outstretched form, instantly killing the other students and their teachers and coaches. Cassadie herself somehow survived, but the intense heat and violent shockwave mangled her prostrate form and sent her into a coma.

Awakening many long months later in a Deimos Innovations medical research facility, the shattered girl learned that her parents had been killed in the battle for Baumton. She also learned that much of her chunky, graceless body had been replaced by cutting edge cybernetics, powered by Deimos' radical nano-fusion drive. She is equipped with a multi-layered defensive aura system, powerful jumpjet array, extensive retinal-display information systems, full-function medical nanocloud, and most fearsome of all, an offensive weapons suite containing fusion-powered plasma emitters, coronal pulse array, subliminal sonics psyops subroutine, and devastating incineration field generator.

Now Cassadie burns with more than the fusion-fired intensity of her cybernetics: she also loathes the Rikti with a fiery passion and vows to play a crucial role in eradicating them from Paragon City. She has learned much in her career as an unlikely superhero, but feels she is now poised to make a real difference.

Dollhouse proudly adheres to the Tanker's Creed.She will stand. She will fight. She will not flee while life remains.She will gladly place herself in the path of blows meant for her teammates. And should she fall, anything that steps over her to attack her teammates will be a reeling, smouldering shadow of its former self.

Dollhouse is a proud member of Night Shift, on Triumph...call on her any time!

Lotus On Water - Lotus's given name is "Hasukazu" ("Hasuo" is her nickname), which means "Lotus (on) Water." Her hero name is her name, really...

Dollhouse picked her name as a reference to her small stature, her rather chunky figure, and, well...she's a tanker.

Belladonna was a young martial monk named "Dawnflower", a member of a small clan of pre-industrial people living in a place far, far away from Paragon city. When her people were destroyed by nomadic raiders, she was "saved" from a suicidal attack on the killers when an evil mastermind (cue: Phantom-esque organ music) bequeathed her potent but dire magical powers to augement her fighting skills. She single-handedly destroyed the raiders, but very nearly lost her soul, spending many long years in the service of her benefactor. She chose her name as a reflection of what she had become, a darker, poisonous sort of "flower." Yet belladonna can be medicinal, and she hopes for redemption, fighting to be part of Paragon City's "cure."

Others to follow...I've way, way too many alts!

*smacks forehead*

All this time, I was doing it wrong:

1. Go.
2. Hunt.
3. Kill Hamidon.

Upon reflection, the problem is obvious...

Thanks, GoHuntKillSkuls Guide!

A couple I didn't mention before:

Mangonelle (Millicent Olivier) is homeless, living in a cobbled-together little squat in Perez Park. She's struggling out of poverty (ooc: she was WLPL'd, and I elected not to dump a bunch of influence on her from my high-level alts...karmic balance for the PL'ing!), but tends to spend her meagre income on "hero stuff" instead of luxuries like shelter. PP isn't everyone's idea of a safe haven for the homeless, but not too many thugs there will relish trying to mug a spine scrapper with a Security Clearance of 18!

Librarian Jane is, to no one's surprise, a librarian. She tends to get in hot water at work for reading tomes on the history of magical villainy instead of shelving books and helping patrons, but the boss knows of the good she does and cuts her some slack.

Hmmm, let's see...

Belladonna. is independently wealthy, with the origins of her wealth being a bit dangeous to speculate about (at least where she might overhear). She lives in a sprawling condo (the entire floor!) in Dark Astoria, right next to the Moth Cemetary wall.

Lotus On Water (Hasukazu Kitegawa) is similarly fortunate, being the only child of shipping magnate Hideo Kitegawa. She does, however, hold a position with Kitegawa Shipping, unsurprisingly in the Security department.

Dollhouse (Cassadie Cohen) is a highschool student, living with a foster family and supported in part by the insurance settlement resulting from her parents' death. She also receives a generaous stipend from Diemos Innovations, the builders of her cybernetics.

under.tow (Dr. Annabella Planck) is a research professor at Paragon University.