TeChameleon

((Uh... Ravenick? What about the explosion?))

((Basically, Target Lad just sent Kirae a 'tell'- RP-wise, I'm assuming that all the heroes have some form of long-distance communication- an earbud with 'radio' capability or whatever))

If you can use something a bit more serial in nature, the (mis)adventures of my prototypical hapless henchman (as yet unnamed) are up for grabs- Diary of a Henchman.

((My as-yet-nameless Henchie would doubtless recognize a kindred spirit if he met Jenkins, but his origins owe more to Wile E. Coyote (well, that and this Something Positive strip, although I like to think my humour is a bit less... nasty and hard-edged) than the ever-luckless villain temp.

Oh, and Blarg? The Freakshow suit was dismantled by Captain Amazing's six-year-old with a screwdriver, so it's kinda kaput.))

Day 41
7:00 AM
Wake up early; first day off conscious, determined not to waste it. Suggest that other henchies and myself hang out. Strange smiles at suggestion; uneasy feeling returning.

Day 44:
4:00 PM
Have spent last seventy-nine hours hunting for snipe. Exhaustion and suspicion that was all elaborate prank beginning to set in. Am totally lost.

5:30 PM
Found by Dr. McDemon, yelled at for wasting time. Asked how boss found me; apparently, can be tracked at all times using the remote killswitch installed in my head. Is comforting to know that Dr. McDemon can come to my rescue at any time, if need be.

Day 45:
8:00 AM
Inspiration strikes! Wife of Captain Amazing comments (via tapped phone line) that school trip of slightly larger small child is being chaperoned by herself; they are going to Faultline. Will mean dragging body a fair distance to place in fridge, but perhaps worth it; am becoming fond of George, in a strange sort of way, but cannot feel too sorry at delaying next meeting. Set out to prepare ambush.

12:45 PM
Am thoroughly lost; followed directions given, ended up someplace called "New Overbrook". Am unsure if is even correct city. Stupid Mapquest.

1:00 PM
Decided to investigate New Overbrook, see if ambush could be salvaged. Have fallen off cliff and been captured by zombie-things.

3:00 PM
Managed to escape zombie-things when they stopped to argue with mutant hobos over who got to keep me... or possibly eat me. Is not clear. Have fallen off another cliff.

3:30 PM
Sanctuary! Soldiers of Lord Recluse are here, somehow. Run towards them hoping for protection.

3:32 PM
Note to self: do not laugh at those funny-looking maces any more. Considerably more painful than stupid looks suggest. Manage to escape from Spiders by falling off another cliff. How many cliffs does this place need?

4:00 PM
Manage to avoid falling off cliff after being chased by Clockwork, only to be knocked off cliff by flaming ball of metal. Am greatly surprised- is Dr. McDemon's de-orbited killsat. Am tired of living on leftover condiment packets... maybe will stop garnishing wages if I bring most of killsat back to base?

Day 46:
7:00 PM
Killsat heavy. Still not back at base.

Day 47:
5:00 AM
Dr. McDemon displeased at being woken early, even for killsat. Sends me to be tortured. Don't have heart to remind him that torturer quit a week ago.

6:00 AM
Throat sore; tired of sitting in torture room screaming for no reason. May be losing voice. Bunk off for quiet smoke, accidentally find Dr. McDemon in lab. Am surprised- rarely find boss working there. Dr. McDemon complains that de-orbited killsat is kind of useless, even once repaired; suggest using Warburg rocket to re-orbit it. Dr. McDemon nods, agrees could work, then sees who spoke.

7:30 AM
Dr. McDemon has been resuscitated, seems fine, although still in some kind of shock- keeps mumbling nonsense; "He had a good idea..? He had a good idea..? He had a good idea..?" Meaningless. Thankfully new nurse efficient, despite slightly odd looks.

7:35 AM
Nurse threatens to unman me with bonesaw if I call her a 'nurse' again. Nurse is actually 'Meat Doctor'. Why nurse wishes to be called that unclear.

7:45 AM
Have managed to outrun bonesaw-wielding nurse. Maybe she should try to kill Mrs. Amazing. Speaking of which...

Day 48:
9:00 AM
Have been thinking hard for last day; no new plan presenting itself. Decide to ask new nurse for help.

9:20 AM
Have managed to get bonesaw away from nurse. Ask for advice; nurse stares for a long moment, then bursts into deranged laughter. Rates at least an 8.6; impressive. Once nurse has calmed down, she suggests poisoning their water. A surprisingly good idea; while am distracted, nurse makes grab for bonesaw. Retreat seems to be in order.

12:00 PM
Thankfully, bonesaw too heavy for nurse to run quickly with; evasion simple. Reach Amazing household without incident, poison dispenser in hand.

12:30 PM
Have cased joint very carefully; minivan not in driveway, nobody seems to be home. Great luck- Amazing household has gone out for lunch. Break in, begin attatching poison dispenser to kitchen sink.

1:00 PM
Finally finished; plumbing amazingly thirsty work. Grab glass from cupboard and pour self a glass of water from tap.

1:05 PM
Finished just in time- hear minivan turning into driveway. Flinch instinctively. Feeling a bit dizzy. Nerves, maybe? Head for back door.

1:06 PM
Run into Captain Amazing as he is coming in back way. Captain Amazing wearing paper hat from child's party meal. Hard not to stare. Am thrown through walls again; wave to George on way by.

Day 51:
2:00 PM
Wake up in base infirmary. Dr. McDemon there. Ask nervously if poison plot worked. Hands me flyer advertising bottled water that had been stuck to shoe when Captain Amazing threw me through wall last time, informs me that Mrs. Amazing is happy with bottled water delivery and absolutely raving about new dish detergent- all dishes now sparkling clean when washed in sink. Suggest marketing poison as new dish detergent. Dr. McDemon makes unnerving choking noise, attempts to throw me through wall.

2:05 PM
Nurse returns, still carrying bonesaw. Requests Dr. McDemon wait until I have been released from her care before throwing me through wall. Boss agrees with amazing speed, mumbles something about being busy, and disappears. Nurse turns, smiles at me.

2:07 PM
Amazing how fast one can crawl with proper motivation. Am in unfamiliar part of base; hopefully am properly hidden. May need new plan.

((Hmm... couple of assumptions you made, Sov- one is that Target Lad had any plans whatsoever to stop after he belted Pestilence; he doesn't. The hallway is still full of nasty toxins, and his protection is quite limited- he's hauling his tuschas out of there as fast as he can move.

Also, he's a bowslinger- he's wearing comfortable leather gloves to protect his hands))

War found himself slightly startled as his target ignored him utterly and shot off down the hallway as fast as he could move. There isna much I c'n do t'help if'n I pass out an' die from th'crap tha' th'idiot I belted pumped into th' air here, an' I only have a few seconds o' clean air left. Target Lad thought as he shook his sore hand. The toughness of his opponent's armour had surprised him, and he shuddered as he noticed a deep gouge in the leather of his glove. I dinna like to think what would happen if ' took a cut fro' anythin' tha' dafty was wearin'... As he shot around the corner, there was a damp squib noise behind him, and he risked a glance down the hallway as he banked around the corner.

Then he peeked back out from around the corner. The whole hallway had gone opaque, and he frowned as he flicked through various visual spectrums. By the sound of things, the Portal Corp air filtration system was working hard, but didn't seem to be making a lot of headway against the smoke screen of... whatever. Target Lad finished flipping through every enhanced-vision option his targetting monocle afforded him (all five of them), and had even tried a trick his Uncle had mentioned, 'seeing' deeper into the electromagnetic spectrum to pick people out by their bioelectric signature. Either the trick hadn't worked, or whatever the smog was made of was blocking that, too.

The little archer thought hard and fast, but wasn't able to come up with much of anything better than... he opened an encrypted private channel to Kirae. "Oy, daft git! Hit th'floor!" Then, his conscience assuaged, he lobbed a concussive arrow down the hall.

This particular explosive head didn't do much damage (well, unless it hit you in the face before it went off, in which case it was like getting punched in the head, quite hard), instead releasing a shockwave of reasonable power, hopefully forcing the smog screen into the vents (where the labgeeks would probably go into paroxysms of ecstasy examining it- Isles biotech didn't pass through Paragon City labs very often, for obvious reasons). Also, if he was lucky, his opponents would be caught off guard, and carried off their feet.

((Any suggestions on improvements are also welcomed, since this is mostly stream-of-consciousness random gabble evolved out of boredom and a 'net connection at work

As the man said, 'Dying is easy; comedy is hard.', although the endeavour of combining the two was never expounded on...))

((by the way, if you read and enjoyed this, feel free to comment- the format means that it doesn't matter much if it's broken up a bit))

Day 21:
2:00 PM
Quick bounce-back from being run over promising sign. Invade home once more, find wife cleaning up childrens' toys in living room. Am flailed into submission by child's wooden toy on a string; find self wishing Captain Amazing would come home and throw me through wall. Would be less painful.

6:00 PM
Revive to find self duct-taped to lamppost immediately opposite Amazing household. Upside down. Captain Amazing comes home, returns me to base, javelin style, still attached to lamppost. Landing likely to hurt.

6:25 PM
Was correct. Landing painful. Losing consciousness now.

Day 26:
10:00 AM
Have procured tank. Plan to level house in its entirety. Unfortunately, am unclear on exact position of firing button for main gun. Will peruse while in transit.

11:15 AM
Have found firing button, finally. Unfortunately, found it by bumping into it. Am discovering that cargo ships float poorly with eight-foot hole in side. Panic, attempt to drive tank out. After all, cargo ship is nothing but disguise.

11:20 AM
Apparently, cargo ship not merely disguise. Tank also floats poorly, even without eight-foot hole in hull. Both tank and ship rentals; Dr. McDemon unlikely to be pleased.

2:00 PM
Dr. McDemon, indeed, displeased. Oddly, seems more upset about seawater dripped on carpet. Dragged away to be tortured.

5:00 PM
Torture less painful than encounters with Mrs. Amazing. Puzzling. Torturer gives up, disheartened. Shouted at for depressing torturer, sent to room without dinner.

Day 31:
12:00 PM
Have not eaten since lunch, five days ago. Approach Amazing household once more; hunger clouding judgement, no plan. Decide to raid kitchen before attacking wife.

12:05 PM
Find Amazing family (minus slightly larger small child, who is apparently at school) seated at table, eating. Surprises all around.

12:10 PM
Wife sets fourth place for me, offers dinner. Badly confused, too hungry to care.

12:30 PM
Chastised for poor manners, but am no longer half-delirious from hunger. Remember original purpose, pull out knife. Captain Amazing throws me through wall to applause of small child.

Day 33:
3:00 PM
Awaken from coma with primal scream, assault Nurse for vaguely resembling wife of Captain Amazing. Am clocked by bedpan.

3:15 PM
Awaken again, more controlled, but still boiling with rage and renewed sense of purpose.

3:20 PM
Mystery solved; apparently Dr. McDemon has been playing subliminal motivational tapes while am comatose. Dr. is pleased tapes work so well; Nurse hears this and tenders her resignation with some force.

3:30 PM
Dr. McDemon has regained consciousness after being clocked by bedpan; tells me that there is 'support' coming to attack Mrs. Amazing this time.

3:40 PM
Have met "Bubba". Bubba very, very large. Am frightened. Still, should prove effective in restraining Mrs. Amazing while fatal blow is delivered.

6:25 PM
Approach Amazing household with caution. Coast is clear, Captain Amazing is out on emergency call. Pull out knife, prepare to attack.

6:35 PM
Last sight of Bubba had him curled in the fetal position sucking his thumb. Wife hit him in groin with vacuum cleaner powerhead, then over the head, then turned it on and jammed his nose in it. Then turned attention on me. Judging by smell... and feel... head has been tied in diaper bag. Very little air. Do not wish to breathe what air is here.

6:40 PM
Comfortably familiar feeling of hurtling through multiple walls informs me that Captain Amazing is home. Believe am beginning to recognize individual joists.

Day 37:
6:00 PM
Experiencing bizarre deja-vu watching Road Runner cartoons in hospital bed. Source of deja-vu unclear. Find that Bubba has quit for job as Aeon Corp guinea pig, citing 'safety concerns' with working conditions here. Not certain on meaning- workplace is fully OSHA compliant.

Day 38:
9:30 AM
Back to fighting trim again! Discover that Dr. McDemon has time-share on Killsat; request usage of, but am told that someone has to be at ground zero for targetting. Shrug, take targetting laser. Back to the Amazing house!

12:15 PM
Hide in bushes of house across street, 'paint' house carefully with laser. Killsat coming over horizon in minutes; destruction of house assured.

12:30 PM
Awaken in Amazing kitchen with vague memories of world going white behind me. Apparently was pointing laser wrong way. Lay still, hoping family will think am dead. Unfortunately, rapidly coming to realize that have landed facedown in the scalloped potatoes on the kitchen table. Smells delicious, but am rapidly beginning to feel slightly roasted.

12:31 PM
Leap up with face feeling like is on fire. Get thrown out through walls again. Thinking of naming joist that always breaks ribs "George". Must get name of contractor- he does solid work. Perhaps Captain Amazing gets volume discount?

Day 39:
Time unsure
Awakened early by Dr. McDemon screaming at me. Is displeased. Amazing Friends (Captain Amazing's supergroup, apparently) has found and de-orbited killsat. Still had seven payments on it; is coming out of my paycheque. Am sent to be tortured again.

10:00 AM
Torturer has burst into tears and quit. Apparently took me twenty minutes to notice he had started. Dr. McDemon deeply unhappy, but unable to have me tortured as torturer has quit. Should not have reminded him of this; has had me strapped into deathtrap instead. Spend time while walls are closing attempting to think up new plan for eradication of wife of Captain Amazing.

8:00 PM
Bored. Shark has gotten jammed in gears that close wall, and whole thing has come to juddering halt. Eventually climb spikes out of pit and sit on laser-table to have smoke. Crotch-laser surprisingly good cigarette lighter.

9:00 PM
Dr. McDemon comes in, finds me, throws hands in air, and sends me to fix broken deathtrap, muttering something about horrible luck.

Day 40:
2:45 PM
Have new plan- will crash plane into house. Worked well in World War II, should still work. Plane secured without incident this morning, and was able to enter Paragon City airspace undetected. Scream "TOSHIIIIIIIIIIIBAAAAAAAAA!!!!!" and dive plane. Wings rip off halfway down, lose control and crash on front lawn. Shakily get out and stand in driveway to inspect remains of plane. Get run over by minivan again; forgot about wife picking up slightly larger small child from school at this time. New plan a bust; need different new plan.

((C'mon, Sov... post so I can react to the happenings! At the moment, Target Lad is doing a high-speed flying Thunderstrike charge on Pestilence, and Abram's sadism is likely to piss him off- I'd like to shoot him a couple of times ))

Day 1:
8:00 AM
Am very excited; it's not really the first, but this is the first day of my new life. Have gotten job working for Dr. Evilus McDemon, an up-and-coming criminal mastermind. Expect big things to come my way!

9:00 AM
Dr. McDemon has informed me that as the 'new guy', am being given a simple task- visit the home of his archnemesis, Captain Amazing, to kill his wife, and stuff her into the fridge. Am not entirely clear on fridge thing, but apparently is 'traditional'. Sounds simple enough, but way that fellow-henchies are snickering behind my back is making me uneasy.

11:45 AM
Have reached Captain Amazing's home. Wife is preparing lunch, apparently. Approach her from behind with garrotte ready, and have face smashed in with frying pan full of boiling grease. Ow.

12:20 PM
Regain consciousness briefly upon the sensation of being lifted. Captain Amazing has returned home for lunch and promptly evicts me... through several walls. Ow again.

Day 5:
3:45 PM
Dr. McDemon has praised me for my resilience; most henchmen remain in coma for at least a week longer than me. Praise leaves me feeling somewhat uneasy. Decided to be smart this time; had buddy fix up old Freakshow parts into a suit of power armour. Has a bit of an oil leak, but protection is solid. Frying pan no longer a threat.

6:30 PM
Break into house without incident once again. Mrs. Amazing is in bathroom, bathing small child. She immediately bundles child into towel and turns to face me. Laugh evilly (boss gave my evil laugh a 7.4 out of 10- an unprecedented honour for a minion!) and approach with claws outstretched. Fun fact: friction coefficient between freshly-waxed floor and lubricant-covered Freakshow boot stepping on a soapy rubber duckie approaches zero. Regain consciousness in tub, half-submerged. Wife reappears from wherever she took small child holding extension cord. Live extension cord. Cord is dropped into tub. Ow.

7:10 PM
Regain consciousness once again, to find different, slightly larger small child standing over me with a screwdriver. Cord is gone (thankfully), but relief is short-lived. Child cheerfully informs me that it's supposed to get me out of this pile of junk. Smaller sibling reappears carrying wrench, purpose unclear, as it can barely lift it.

7:30 PM
Feeling badly perforated; would expect child of so prominent a superhero to have better hand-eye coordination. Smaller sibling with wrench has probably concussed me, yelling "Helping! Helping! Helping!" in between giggles. Captain Amazing returns home, sends kids to bed, and throws me through wall again.

Day 9:
11:00 PM
Decide to ambush wife while sleeping. Break into house without incident and find bedroom. Forgot that Captain Amazing would be there too. Oops.

Day 16:
11:00 PM
Same plan, but this time make sure Captain Amazing has been called out on emergency. Discover that Captain Amazing is an avid golfer, and keeps his clubs in the bedroom. Wife heard me coming, and was standing behind door with golf bag. Five Iron required Jaws of Life to remove. Driver will probably need surgery to remove. Regain consciousness to Captain Amazing throwing me through the wall again. If his contractor works so cheap, should get number from wife before killing her; my place could use some work.

Day 19:
3:00 PM
Spent first paycheck on truck full of nerve gas. Pump house full, stand in driveway laughing maniacally. Get run over by minivan as she returns from retrieving slightly larger small child from school; she wasn't home. [censored]! May need new plan.

((Wait... Sov... what ruleset are we playing by? Most threads that I've participated in on this forum haven't adhered too strictly to in-game mechanics; so if we're not sticking exactly to Co* mechanics, then Kirae is a 'true' teleporter (send things away as well as bringing them closer), and she can teleport gases elsewhere if she wants. And if we're sticking exactly to gameplay mechanics, then how are your plants absorbing damage for you?

I apologize if it wasn't clear before, but Target Lad fired off one attack the instant he was in the portal room, pretty much simultaneous with teleporting in, and had time to get off a second before the plant-alanche got him. He's a blaster; attack speed is how he survives. And how is a vine going to stop a Talsorian Arrow (those green energy-blade-things the Vanguard use), anyways? As to the gas, at the moment Target Lad's moving exceedingly quickly, and has been maintaining a bubble of 'clean air' within his charged armour, same as he was before. It doesn't last too terribly long a time (it's only a few cubic meters of air), but it's enough to keep him going for a little while.))

((Uh... Sov? Target Lad got off two powerful attacks before he went down to the poison; are you even going to acknowledge those? His entire schtick is that he's a pretenaturally accurate shot with the bow- limited (~1 second-ish) precognition lets him aim at where his target will be, not where they are. Well, that and the electrical manipulation, but whatever ))

Target Lad was a t-shirted blur by the time he reached the section that Pestilence had last been seen (radio contact with the security team was handy- apparently, none of the villains had bothered to disable the security cameras). The little archer banked sharply, veering around a corner.

Spotting the hazmat-suited figure of the chemical wielder at the end of a long hallway (along with Kirae... Bugger... not her again...), Target Lad pushed even harder, accelerating as his fists began to glow blue, electricity crawling around them.

In the space of a heartbeat, he had become a blue-white streak, a thunderstrike of lightning aimed squarely at the small of Pestilence' back.

((*pokes thread.* Anybody going to intercept Danny, or is he just going to get back to the portal room unscathed?))

((It returns! I haven't worked on this story for a few months, mostly out of a combintation of writer's block and forgetting about it entirely, but... well, let's see if I can regain some momentum here))

Energon X leaned his head on his forearm, staring out the window of City Hall. The Freedom Phalanx was still closeted away, although the occasional muffled yelling could be heard from the conference room. His impromptu superteam (with the exceptions of Target Lad and K'ssn'dreh) had scattered, rejoining the fight to contain Rularuu's forces and prevent chaos from consuming the city while so many of its defenders were occupied with the larger crisis.

A sharp intake of breath behind him caused him to turn his head, very slightly, and interrupt. "No, Danny, that wasn't a waste of time." the blaster said flatly. "If we hadn't gone, this war would already be over. And as to me putting you in danger, it was really no worse than what you go through regularly on your own, it just seemed that way because we're so far from home. For that matter, it might not be any more dangerous than you simply staying home, on a day like this."

Target Lad simply stood there for a long moment, has dramatic finger-jabbing-towards-Energon-X pose somewhat ruined by his frozenness. Then he shook his head irritably and demanded "Aw... son of a... how'd y'know wha' I was gonna say, Uncle E?" The older Blaster turned around fully and raised an eyebrow. "Because you've been ranting at me about it for the last half-hour. What, did you think I really wasn't listening?" He shrugged, shoulder plates shifting briefly. "Unfortunately, nothing you said really triggered any ideas. So either find a new rant-topic, try to think, or shush."

Target Lad glared for a moment, then shrugged, leaning against the wall to stare at the ceiling. K'ssn'dreh, who had been observing all this, shook her head and muttered "Familial interactions: bizarre." Then she stiffened for a long moment.

The paralysis broke as abruptly as it arrived, and she lunged forwards, grabbing Energon X by... well, what would be his lapels, if his body armour actually had such a thing. E-X jumped visibly, the bloody glow of his powers snapping on and off it was like a lightning flash as he almost visibly grabbed ahold of his self-control. Target Lad was less controlled, but also slower, so his uncle managed to snag him in mid swing. The Rikti (ex)Comms-Officer ignored the byplay, simply snapping "The Lady: Grey. Neccesity: urgent. Immediate."

Energon X stared for a moment, then jumped sideways so violently that he cracked the window when Lady Grey's voice said, right by his ear, "Glad to oblige, dear. As I was looking for you in any case." Following her own voice, Lady Grey stepped out of a pool of shadow that was much to small to have contained her. K'ssn'dreh turned, blinking violently. "Contact: Homeworld: concepts." she blurted. Lady Grey nodded. "Exactly why I was seeking you out. Their transmission was short and somewhat garbled, but they did manage to convey that their spies within the Restructurists had passed on the situation to them, and also that you had been trying to warn them of danger, but were ignored." K'ssn'dreh simply nodded unhappily. "However, dear, they also noted that they had been in contact with you, to share their idea more quickly and easily."

K'ssn'dreh nodded again, mumbling something that Energon X caught as "Mannerisms: human: imitation: annoying/necessary..." Louder, she said "Rularuu: gestalt-mind: reformed." Lady Grey and Energon X both nodded, while Target Lad sat on the floor, leaning against the wall, bored and fiddling with his bow. "Rikti: hivemind: common knowledge..." the Ex-Communications Officer continued, then paused. "Madness: link: shatters. Damage: minds of: all involved: potential." Lady Grey and Energon X glanced at one another, while Target Lad, his attention drawn by the sudden shift in mood, glanced up. His mind replayed the conversation he had been half-listening too, and his shoulders slumped.

"Bloody wonderful. We're off to the Storm Palace, innit?" he groaned.

Target Lad's precognition had just given him a solid aiming point for his Talsorian arrow when billowing clouds of poison enveloped him and the world went briefly green.

When his vision cleared, he was standing in one of the emergency regen tubes that got set up in Portal Court on Fridays with the typical back-from-the-(almost)-dead headache. He staggered sideways slightly, disoriented, before snapping out "How long?" The startled tech blinked, then managed to stammer "J... just a few minutes." Target Lad stifled the urge to waste a few minutes cursing and flew for the portal room as hard as he could go, barely paying attention to where he was going.

((So... Target Lad managed to get two high-damage shots off on Pestilence (what happened to that blazing arrow, anyways?), then went down- there's no way he could dodge all that without me marysueifying him rather badly. If anybody wants to bang into him on his way back, feel free))

((Erm... I'm still around, although I did abandon the 2029 thread. If this ever starts up again, I'll probably be back.))

[ QUOTE ]
My 50s, names under.

[/ QUOTE ]
... I'm detecting a certain theme, here, Yosef...

For the record- Energon X (or a little closer) and Target Lad (or, alternatively, Target Lad in attack mode) are my two main RP characters, at least at this stage.

Target Lad barely had time to focus his precognition before the wash of light hit once more, dropping him into the midst of dead vines, fire, choking smoke, Hydra Men... and Pestilence. He appeared with a yell, blazing arrow already aimed where his limited prescience told him the chemical-wielder would be, and let fly before the flash had even cleared.

Aigh... I'll be payin' f'r this inna mornin'... m'precog skills are nae tuned for tha' sorta thing. I c'n do it, but t'isna fun, after. he thought with a wince. Normally, his precognitive abilities required him to be able to see his target, and told him where they would go, but teleportation did... odd... things to the equation.

As the blazing arrow left the bow, he was already pulling out another arrow- green flared briefly as the Talsorian arrow he drew out snapped to life. Even the apparently armoured chem-wielder should be feeling a bit of a sting from this particular little toy.

Target Lad simply goggled for a moment, then shook his head. Only in Paragon City c'd somebody who can bloody well fly hurt themselves falling down. he thought with an aggrieved sigh. "Right. Can y'still teleport wi'out flyin'?" he asked brusquely. "Sorry that ye're hurt, but we canna sit 'round an' moan ri'now... a'least, not wi'out whoever th'sod wi'th'hoseful o' chemicals gettin' away wi' whatever he was tryin' t'steal."

A flicker and the familiar queasy stomach-left-behind feeling, and Target Lad found himself in an apparently random hallway... one with a significantly lower ceiling than the vast portal chamber.

He made a strangled sound and twisted violently, managing to 'land' on the ceiling without slapping the unknown girl into it as well. The little archer froze in a crouch there for a moment, then the girl spoke.

[ QUOTE ]
"hi..... um... you can put me down now"

[/ QUOTE ]
Target Lad made an irritable noise and simply let go- if she splatted on the floor, that was her problem at this point. He was listening hard, trying to figure out where the battle had been left- in his experience, most 'blind' 'ports didn't go too far, so they were likely nearby. Failing that, he gave up for the moment and glared up (down?) at the winged girl from his crouched-upside-down-on-the-ceiling position. "Now why'd y'go an' do tha' for?" he demanded, his odd, quasi-British accent (courtesy of having a British dad, Canadian mum, and growing up in the US) coming through more strongly than ever in his irritation... and the fact that his voice broke (again) wasn't making him any happier.

"If we dinna stop th' sods in there, then they'll get awa' wi' Portal Corps' widgets... an' th'last thing we need is that idjit, Dr. Aeon, gettin' his hands on tha' stuff." he growled, bow in hand as he stared warily about. Things in this section of Portal Corp looked quiet enough thus far, but, well... it was Portal Corp.

((Whoop- Target Lad wasn't trying to take your (as yet nameless) heroine out through the roof, Maj. Ravenick- just to get them both clear of the acid spray while remaining in the same room. He does want to counterattack, after all. Er... or did you just teleport them both? It's tough to tell from your post.))

The saying "There's nothing new under the Sun" dates back to something like 950 B.C.- it's an oooooooold saw.

That being said- if you're in the mood for some creativity, tvtropes.org is an interesting browse, and will either supercharge your creative juices, or potentially stifle them altogether >.<

Hydra men sprawled in all directions, bouncing like large, unpleasant superballs, several even getting hurled bodily back through the portal. While it was true that the framework was undamaged, the poorly-calibrated accidental portal within it was fluctuating alarmingly as damage to the controls mounted and the various wild energies loosed within the room interfered with the normally carefully-controlled portal energies. Target Lad, unfortunately, noticed almost none of this, merely bolting for the exit the instant his explosives went off.

Target Lad found his flight for the door interrupted by a large black object that crashed into him from above, smashing him sprawling to the floor. It mumbled something barely audible over the noise of multiple running battles... a greeting? The little archer turned to yell, then his eyes went wide as he took in the fact that a) this was a winged girl that had just dropped onto him (probably getting a bit of a shock from the electrical field surrounding him), and b) the chemical wielding nutbar was pointing something that looked like a hose at him.

"Gerroff, y'daft bint!" he yelled, half panicky, half analyzing the danger. The spined hero was down, hopefully being ignored by the Hydra men, and his icy opponent was nowhere to be seen. He grabbed the girl with the wings and lunged skywards, trying to get one of multi-staged room's platforms between them and the oncoming chemical spray.

I' this wench cooperates and lets me get 'er out o' th' way, then th' sod wi' th' toxic toys i' gettin' a flaming arrow up his nose. he thought aggrievedly.

((Wellp, since nobody seems particularly interested in interacting with me... >.&lt)

Target Lad was being kept rather busy dodging both Flytrap and Hydra Men, but the fact that both villains and fellow-'hero' were ignoring him completely (aside from a couple of almost desultory attacks) left him feeling an odd combination of pissed off and relieved.

Flying in a crazily erratic, patternless series of swoops as the air filled with acrid smoke and jets of acidic goo (along with the occasional gout of flame or crackle of strange energies), flashes of the battle unfolded before him as the swirls of smoke cleared. He goggled briefly as Nataan and Pokin' Prodder Bloody stupid name... went into Mutually-Assured-Destruction mode, and nearly got crisped by another arc of weirdling energies as the damaged portal shorted briefly, rippling in a bizarre fashion.

"Right." he snapped, loud enough to hear over the thundering chaos that had consumed the portal room. "Who's the sodding moron that decided we needed t' wreck a roomful of equipment that c'd blow us into last week if it went funny? Because that's exactly what's goin' t'happen if'n we dinna' get out o' here!" he yelled, his voice changing at least three octaves in various directions over the course of his brief rant.

Trying to suit actions to words, the little archer made for the hallway, a light bubble of air ionized by his internal electricity keeping him safe-ish from the toxic gases as he flew hard for the exit.

Baulked.

Denied.

Thwarted.

By the time he'd been forced into a fourth circuit of the room, he was seething. Finding himself blocked a fifth time, he gave an inarticulate yell of frustration and whipped out a series of arrows with heavy payloads below the heads, covered in blinking lights. Hauling savagely back on the string, Target Lad fired a brace of highly explosive arrows into the scrum on the floor, not caring at this point what it did to the ever-increasingly-unstable portal. All he wanted was out, and he was counting on the wild wash of concussive force to clear a path for him.

((The Hydra aren't intended to be 'used' against anyone in particular... they're just there, confused, and more than a little pissed off.

And having that many chemical reactions flying about, along with open flames, might cause some... interesting... side effects.

Oh- the Hydra Men attacked on sight because we were within their aggro radius when they passed through the portal ))