2867/A Tower Tour

A Tower Tour
Date of Scene:	16 October 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Colette takes Sev and Breath on a tour and gives them an introduction to the greatest danger of the Titans Tower: messy teenage superheroes.
Cast of Characters:	Stardust, Exo-Girl, Breath

---

Stardust has posed:
"...aaaand this is the ops room." Colette leads Sev and Lyssa out of the elevator and into the room, and immediately makes her way to the big round sofa and flops down, legs crosses and arms stretched out.

As tours go, it was certainly interesting. The Tower is an impressive place! A glimpse at the basement level was perhaps most tantilizing, a dark hangar with several very intriguing vehicles. "Robin-zone," Colette confided. "Brood-central. It reminds him of caves, I think."

  There are store rooms which contain a bizarre array of 'evidence', including a corner Colette shows where a jumbled stack of robot parts is found. "My collection of Trashbots," Colette confides. "For some reason I keep fighting badly-constructed robots, and I usually bring a bit back. Not entirely sure why I bother, there's never anything of interest."

  There are some impressive crime-labs and research areas, which are apparently also Robin-zones. He is the resident detective, after all. The gym and danger room look like fun places to train, with space and facilities for Titans of all types to practice and cut loose without destroying too much. "Full of interesting challenges, how to train when you're a super," says Colette. "For example, do you gain anything by lifting weights in a power suit? Probably not. And have you ever considered how hard it is to make a punch bag that Wondergirl can punch more than once?"

In truth the tour is a little frustrating; there's a lot of interesting stuff to see, and it was quite a rushed tour. The impression might also have been given that a different tour guide might have provided a more insightful running commentary.

"Ops room is where we play games and eat pizzas. But also, computer stuff. Communication screen. Meetings. All that kind of stuff." She demonstrates with a lazy arm-wave in the direction of the fairly dazzling array of technology. "But mostly games and pizzas. And movies. Don't let Rae pick a movie unless you don't mind not sleeping that night. Then there's private rooms over there..." she waves, again rather vaguely, in the direction of some doors. "And a roof. Upstairs." She points up, just in case you weren't sure. "Be careful if you go there. That's where Goliath hangs out. Don't ask about Goliath."

Exo-Girl has posed:
Sev oooooh. Sofa. And /damn/ that's a big screen. "I mostly either just turn down the assist, or set the frame to resist movements when I want to exercise... My apartment kinda sucks in comparison. It's only got two rooms if you count the bathroom..." By now, out of the public eye, she's unsealed her faceplate, the visor of the helmet lifted up to reveal the teen's face. "Don't ask about who? She giggles. "A-anyway... Colette... You asked last time. About my armor. Well..." She lifts off her helmet, revealing short-cropped black hair, and the link unit itself bolted to the back of her skull, screen flickering with status information. "It's not r-really armor. It's a frame that anchors to my skeleton. The p-plates just mount onto it. Oh hey, she didn't have that stutter /before/ she took off the helmet...

Breath has posed:
Breath opens her mouth then closes it. "Uhhhh... Right. Is there stuff other than pizza? Burgers or something? Umm... And is there any stuff to practice my stuff with yet? And.. oh.. I don't know if you know, like.. ANYTHING about me yet. Wait, bolted on? Ow? Dang?" She just sort of looks around, trying to remember all the stuff! And like, people and everything.

Stardust has posed:
Colette frowns a little at Sev's explanation. "So it's armor, just kind of built in, but detachable?" she suggests. "I mean it still protects you, right? I met a giant turtle recently. He had pretty good armor. Maybe yours is kind of a shell, then?" She settles back in the sofa, getting comfortable, and gestures to the seat, inviting the other two to sit down. "The one thing everyone here has in common is how different they are," Colette offers gnomically. "I mean, Starfire's an alien, Kaldur lives under the sea, I'm not entirely convinced Urban Wolf isn't a robot, and Vorpal sheds on the furniture. "

"I know I wouldn't want to be standing in front of you when you sneeze, Lyssa." Colette flashes her a grin. "But not so much the details. The danger room is configurable to all kinds of tests and environments, and you could practice blowing over targets in there I guess. Good for low-level and close quarters flying excercises too. So uh... basically I got possessed by the ghost of a dead superhero only it's not a ghost and he gets real annoyed when I say that, sorry Ash, and that's how I got my stuff. Which is about as generic as it comes. Hard to hurt, punchy, fly-ey. What's your stories?"

Exo-Girl has posed:
Sev nods. "Y-yeah... It's good. P-people stare at the frame though. I don't get out a lot." She looks away from Breath, trying to avoid making eye contact. ...Oh great. It's origin story time. "I... I don't know, really. I can't remember a lot before they put the link in..." She unclicks the gauntlets, setting them on the counter next to her helmet, and revealing the sections of the frame along her forearms. One hand comes up, rubbing some of the scarring around the link's mountings. "S-someone there helped me escape. Set m-me up with an apartment. I'm a coder b-by day, go out and punch people and g-get shot at at night."

Breath has posed:
Breath ohs, um, "I'm just some random trans girl from medium-town Idaho. I'm basically just the Big Bad Wolf. I don't know why. Pretty boring, I guess..." She bites her lip and fidgets self-consciously. "And I can punch and wrestle with stuff pretty good, because of all the times people tried to beat me up. Not like Robin or anybody like that though. But like, I can hold my own I guess. A little bit less now that I'm on estrogen, though. That and because I don't train as much as I did. But like... I don't have any horrible past or anything like that."

Stardust has posed:
"That's a decent thing to lack, Lyssa." Colette hops to her feet and heads to the kitchen area, returning with a few cans of soda, which she offers around. "Is there really any point punching and wrestling someone if you can blow their house down?" she asks. "I'm not saying it's not good to know how in emergencies, but seems to me you want to do your fighting from well beyond fist range."

Colette nods her head towards Sev. "You'll get used to being stared at if you wanna do this stuff. People stare at costumed crime fighters. I can look as normal as anything, but as soon as I fly just a little bit, everyone's staring. You'd think everyone would be used to it now. 'Look up in the sky! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Nah, just another superhero. Yawn.' But apparently not. And how about you, when it comes to crime-fighting? Exo-frame gives you enhanced strength, I assume... flight? Force fields? Rocket boots? Anti-gravity? Laser-beam eyes? Can you control robots minds, or fire bolts of electricity? Are you vulnerable to magnets and rust?"

Exo-Girl has posed:
Sev shakes her head. "No, just... strength, endurance, a bit of speed... and no, it's not magnetic. It's t-titanium. I think this was suppsoed to be for the military... There might have been more stuff f-for it, but I never got any of it. M-mostly just makes me bulletproof." She leans forward, resting her forehead in her hands, elbows on the counter. "...Do you have any snacks here?"

Stardust has posed:
Colette digs around in the kitchen, looking for snacks in various cupboards. "We got chips and... a bag of peanuts, and what's..." she stops suddenly, backing away from an open cupboard door in alarm. She pauses a moment, then darts forwards, slamming the door shut and putting all her weight on it to keep it closed. "Uh... over there," she points at another cupboard. "Peanuts and potato chips, help yourselves.

Shifting nonchalantly so she's leaning her back on the cupboard door, Colette crosses her legs and arms. "Bullet proof is a good start. That's what I go with. Being bullet proof means you can get into the action and worry about the rest as it happens. "

"Breath here has to do things a bit differently," Colette nods her head to Breath. "Hence that suggestion that being out of fist range is good. Of course tactically speaking it's probably good not to get shot even if you are bullet proof, better to not be where the bullets are. Unless there are other non-bullet proof people around who might get shot otherwise. Though I guess in Breath's case she'd try to like blow the bullets away or something." She adjusts her lean, shifting to get more weight on the cupboard door.

Exo-Girl has posed:
Sev isn't going to bother wondering what's in that cupboard. Maybe it's fuzzy blue stuff. Or Starfire's mustard collection. Anyway... SHe acquires some parmesean and roasted garlic chips, crunching them as she listens. "...I bet you could fly if you had a wingsuit thing. Like, blow against the ground? Or... I d-dunno." She seems to be calming down some, the stutter's going away. "But yeah... I don't know too m-much, but I'd gladly spar with you guys."

Breath has posed:
Breath listens some. "Mostly I've just been blowing at the face of people with guns. You know, like the first time you saw me? Because it's hard to shoot when you have a lot of wind in your face. It's... not really the greatest approach I guess? But it's all I have so far." She nods, "Yeah, I totally made one. But it's, like.. Somebody said it was 'Next level MacGyver shit'. It didn't sound like much of a compliment though. Robin was supposed to be working on something, but I can't ever find him in a good mood..." She shrugs some. "I was thinking about learning how to use a blowgun and trick, like, pellets or something too. But like, I have a minimum wage job."

Exo-Girl has posed:
Sev nodnods. "Yeah, that works p-pretty well. THe blowgun idea's good... You could probably get some pretty serious shots..." Omnomnom. ...Hey, where'd half that bag of chips go? Despite the frame assisting her, Sev still has a teenage metabolism, and eats like it. And her budget doesn't always cover things like potato chips. Which are REALLY DELICIOUS.

Stardust has posed:
"How about getting some mylar sheet and folding it up into balls for the blowgun?" Colette suggests. "So they expand out into a big tangly sheet. kind of reverse parachute. I mean your blowgun wouldn't have to be small," she points out. "You could probably use a pretty wide bit of pipe."

There's a thump from the cuboard, then a second one. Colette wedges a foot against the ground and braces herself against the door, acting like nothing's happening. "Sparring is good," Colette agrees. "Try sparring with a few different people, get used to different kinds of threats. Figuring out how to deal with a martial artist is very different from figuring out how to beat someone with energy blasts. " The next thump is louder, and the door, and Colette with it, move slightly. "Don't be disheartened when getting your ass kicked by someone who's been training their entire life, though."

Breath has posed:
Breath hmmms and considers. "Uhm.. Should I be worried about that noise? I don't want to, you know, overreact or anything if things get too weird?" She pokes around for food, picking out actually healthy stuff. If only to make up for all the ramen she eats at home. But she clearly looks distracted by the banging noises. "And um, yeah, I mean, you were THERE the last time I tried that stunt... Remember?"

Exo-Girl has posed:
Sev stands up, pulling on her gauntlets again, and leaning against the door next to Colette. She's not going to pry, but at least a hundred kilos of armored teenager should help hold it shut. "I think this is the thing we're not supposed to ask about. Or some kind of hazing prank. Not sure which."

Stardust has posed:
"I remember, but..." THUMP "... you don't want to be..." THUMP "improvising that kind of th..." THUMP "...thing. Spend some time working out what's good to stick in a blowpipe and stick with what works. Prepare it. " THUMP

Colette slides along to make space for Sev to block the cupboard door at the edge opposite the hinges, where her mass will give best leverage. "Nothing to worry about really, and not hazing, just..." The thumping suddenly stops, and Colette holds up a hand, a sudden 'don't move' gesture. She cautiously moves away from the door, resting one hand on it, then carefully puts her ear to it, listening carefully. She moves her head around a few times, listening in, then pulls back, staring at the cupboard with eyes narrowed.

Suddenly Colette jabs her fist forwards, smashing straight through the cupboard door, and withdraws a fist covered in green goo, which she holds out for the pair to inspect. "Some kind of guacamole," she explains, before going to the sink to wash it off. "Problem solved. Nothing to worry about, just one of Beast Boy's culinary experiments gone a bit wrong."

Exo-Girl has posed:
     "....I want a flamethrower. S-speaking of Halloween... You guys ever see The Thing? B-because I'm getting serious flashbacks to it..." Hey, nobody'd actually mentioned the holiday but... Sev relaxes a bit again. "B-but yeah. I'm Sev. D-didn't really want to share my real name with random people but..."

Breath has posed:
Breath blinks. "I take it you don't clean the kitchen often enough? Or is there a time machine and there are whole civilizations or something? I haven't had any uprisings because my fridge is empty. I maybe have to worry about mice though.. Oh, Lyssa, sure. Just don't go yelling it in public? I don't want to be getting doxxed like one of my friends did. UGH."

Stardust has posed:
"The flamethrowers are kept in the laundry room, " Colette replies. "For obvious reasons. If they're not obvious to you, stay well away from the laundry room or you may be permanently traumatized. Sev. Cool." Colette acknowledges the revelation with a smile. "Don't reveal any more than you're comfortable doing. Some of us are pretty easy with our names, some keep it quiet. Depends on your circumstances, really. Personally I kind of feel like the codename thing is just expected. You won't get taken seriously without one. I mean you're fighting a guy called 'The Joker', he's just not going to take you seriously if you turn up yelling 'Don't fear, citizens! Susan is here.'"

  Colette dries her hands off and shakes a finger at Breath. "No time machines. Time travelliing is bad. Avoid. It's the other one. The not cleaning the kitchen often enough thing. Just don't time travel, it's not worth it.

Exo-Girl has posed:
Sev stands up, stretching. "Well... It's been fun, but... I should probably go. I've got coding to do, g-girl's gotta get food, right?" She picks up her helmet, pulling it on and sealing it. Exo-Girl gives her new friends one last shy smile, before her visor hisses shut. "Okay. Elevator.. Actually..." She gives a jaunty wave, taking a step backwards into the o pen drop shaft. Few stories below, there's a muffled *clang* as Sev makes a superhero landing that would make Deadpool proud, before heading home

Stardust has posed:
Colette watches Sev's departure with rising alarm, and jabs a finger at the elevator shaft. "That. She. That's my trick!" She breaths out deeply and shakes her head. "Oh well. I mean it IS the best way to get down, I suppose it's inevitable other people would pick up on it." Her head turns to Breath. "Not you though. I mean it might be possible for you to cushion your fall with your breath, but you'd probably blow out the windows in the lobby."

She sighs and stares at the smashed cupboard, then with a shrug of her shoulders she darts back to the kitchen area and disappears below the counter. Sounds clattering and banging can be heard . "Okay Lyssa," Colette's voice comes from behind the counter. "I've got a dangerous mission to see to. A threat to all humankind. The future of life as we know it hangs in the balance." She stands up from behind the counter, holding a bottle of disinfectant and a cloth, her hands clad in bright yellow rubber gloves. "Do you know your way out?"