4391/Red X: Are you ready, Rayner

Red X: Are you ready, Rayner
Date of Scene:	05 May 2018
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Rayner prepares for his showdown with Red-X. Schemes are revealed, strategies discussed - and even an apology made.
Cast of Characters:	Stardust, Raijin, Robin (Wayne), Breath

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Stardust has posed:
Apparently it's Rayner's turn.

Red X has issued the challenge, and threatened to set of EMP devices around the city if he doesn't show. Dare he say no? And dare he go as unprepared as Vorpal was?

Colette thinks he shouldn't. Which is why she sent a message to Damian and Rayner: "I think we should talk about this Red X stuff before Rainy goes into battle. Damian, you're the leader, time to lead. Rooftop?"

The roof of the Titan's Tower! So many advantages for a meeting like this. It's comfortable, it's open, and if the tower is bugged it's a fair bet the rooftop is going to be the hardest place to hear what's going on. Also, it's a roof. Which is handy for Colette's latest bizarre training regimen, which appears to be attempting to walk around the tower - along the side walls. She seems to be having some kind of dispute with gravity lately. At least it means that, for once, she's not messing around in potentially dangerous ways with the danger room holoprojector systems.

Raijin has posed:
Rayner was threatened and he has -never- backed down from a fight. So when Red X delivered his message to Rayner and the team? It didn't take long at all for him to get geared up for this confrontation with the sharpest pain in his ass that he's ever experienced. But he's stopped. By whom?

Colette. Who he affectiontely calls 'Letty'.

He's summoned to the roof of Titans Tower, where he arrives in his full gear. Though it seems he's changed it up a bit. Ditching the tattered clothing of the past, he now wears a hooded leather jacket with yellow lightning lining all over it, namely the front and back and on the hood. Black gloves, black cargo pants with multiple straps for where he can put his gadgets, gizmos, and whatever else he might need, and combat boots. He has a triangle backpack to store bigger stuff if need be.

Arriving on the rooftop, he looks for Letty and Damien, crossing his arms as he waits to here for his teammates to arrive. Then he sees Colette.

"Hey Letty. Come here often?"

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Seemingly summoned by Colette, Robin had landed on the roof. Draping his cape over his body, seemingly doing an impression of Raven.

  Damian clicks his tongue in retort to Rayner. "That is the shittiest pick up line ever." Looking to Colette, Damian gives a light nod. "Stardust." He doesn't look exactly pleased to be summoned.

Stardust has posed:
When she hears Rayner's greeting, Colette walks up and around onto the top of the roof, a delicate operation of changing one 'down' to another which takes considerable concentration. She doesn't quite get it right and takes a step up into space before getting her feet around and onto the firm surface of the roof, an error which brings a frown.

"Rainy, Robin," she says by way of greeting as she hops down off the encircling wall. "Rainy, I presume you're planning to accept the challenge. Robin, I presume you're going to give your team member some advice and guidance before he steps into the fray." Straight down to business. "You guys think this EMP business is real? And what did we learn from Vorpal's showdown that can help out here?"

Raijin has posed:
Raijin looks at Robin as he arrives. "and you are a crappy Raven cosplayer, what else is new?" he offers a playful little smile to Robin before he looks to Colette. "Hey Letty. That's exactly what I intend to do. My goal is to end this now." he says with a determination in his eyes. It's not quite to the level of arrogance.

He then looks to Robin at Colette's confidence that Robin will actually lend advice. and here's hoping it's quite helpful.

"Yeah...I do. So far he's been right on his other threats. Take the bank for example."

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     "You want me to save Red X the trouble of beating the shit out of you?!" Robin clenches his fists into balls. Damian looks to Colette, plain eyed and unamused. "You presume I have a reason to not let Red X merely hand Gaijin his own ass."

  He's told Colette his grievances, and things haven't improved since then. "It's hard to tell. They've delivered on their promises so far, I'm one to believe the threat. If X has any brain, it wouldn't be a baseless threat."

Stardust has posed:
Colette's brows crease into a momentary frown before she sighs and then nods her head at Raijin's response. "So we have to take it seriously. Play it straight. For now. On the up side, it looks like this Red X character is trying to prove a point rather than actually cause lasting injuries. On the down side, he..." she quickly glances at Robin. "...Or she, of course, seems to know a lot about us. Keep that in mind, Rainy. You're going to be fighting someone who's prepared for you. That means think outside the box. Do the unexpected."

She steps away from the pair, leaving them to glower at each other while she goes to her backpack, left leaning up against the side of the gas grill, and crouches on the ground to sort through its contents. "That's between the two of you Robin," she calls over. "But then there's that leadership thing we were talking about the other day. "

Raijin has posed:
Rayner looks at Robin as he seems to explode in temperment at him. "Watch your temper. It'll really bite you in the ass one day." likelihood, it already has. He keeps his arms crossed, and he doesn't seem to intimidated by Robin's outburst. Though by that outburst, Rayner narrows his eyes.

"You want him brought in, don't you?"

NOW he's suspicious. He always figured that Red X needed some kind of way in to know =this- much about the team, but he keeps his suspicions to himself. "and the -last- thing we need is us at each other's throats. It plays into his game far too easily." he looks to Robin for a moment before he looks to Letty.

"Agreed. More than likely Red X was the one who stole that Atlantean artifact awhile ago too...so he might have a new toy we don't know too much about. I don't plan to take too many risks." he watches as Letty leaves them then, looking at her for a long moment before he looks to Robin. "What leadership thing?"

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Robin is the master of holding grudges, and can hold them for world record lengths of time. He rushes up right to Rayner, scowling. "Why don't you drink a big glass of shut the hell up before you see the business end of my katana."

  The angry bird moves off, moving back to Colette. "Who's to say I have to teach this jackass anything? He said it himself that Red X 'just has gadgets' sounds to me like he's more than confident he will come out the victor."

Stardust has posed:
"Just something Robin and I chatted about the other day," Colette calls back to Raijin. "He's our leader. The brains of the operation. And one of his team just got the stuffing beaten out of him. You think that's fun for him, Rainy? Our failure is his failure. Our pain is his pain. Now Robin here might not like you as much as he likes Vorpy, but I kind of assumed he's not keen on seeing you stabbed too. I mean maybe I was wrong, in which case you two need to sort that out, because that's one messed up way to be a team."

Colette pulls a cylinder out of her backpack, and stands up again, tossing it up and down in her hand. "I mean at the least it's not exactly a great reflection on him if we all fuck up and end up in hospital, Rainy. On the other hand, it's not exactly a great reflection on us if we can't defeat one guy. And it's particularly not a good reflection on any of us if that happens because we're too busy fighting amongst ourselves to fight the bad guy. Which leaves me with two questions. First... Rainy, you going to make it up to Robin, and ask him for some help and advice, or is he right about the confidence? 'Cos if he is, change your mind. Robin has far more experience than any of us, and we're dumb if we don't try to use that. Second, Robin, what do you think of this?"

She passes the cylinder to Robin. It's a plain, unmarked spray can. "Synthetic DNA tagging spray. Lasts about a week, unless you feel like walking into a kiln. I was thinking of suggesting Rainy uses it on X-face. Might help us figure out exactly who he or she is."

Raijin has posed:
Rayner turns his head to Robin. "Didn't know a leader actively threatened his teammates." Apparently hea nd Robin are going to forever have problems unless they work their shit out. "What I will say is I'm sorry, what I said came out wrong. Having no superpowers and only gadgets don't make you incapable or unable to dow hat you need to do. Now calm down, and help us think." he looks at Robin with a sincerity.

"The only confidence I have is that we'll bring this guy in. Whether I end up losing or dying in the process isn't my concern." apparently he's not scared of death either, before he looks at Colette as she speaks. a sigh as he nods to her. "I'll make it up to him when this is said and done. If it gets done." He looks at the Cylinder as it's tossed.

"...where did you get that?" he asks Colette curiously, though it's not aggressive in any way, more like a curiosity. "That's genius. Okay...so.." he starts to pace. "I can try to tag him with that Cylinder, or someone else can and I can keep the bastard distracted at the very least." he takes a breath.

"Anything else I should know about this guy or gal aside from the fact that I stand at a disadvantage. Distinctly. I'm coming to them and they have the playing field in mind."

Breath has posed:
Lyssa walks up, heel-toe with her hips swaying. Somehow. Can't be easy with her build. She likes flats with soft soles, or she would probably have that dramatic click-click from heels down too.

She follows a laser line straight toward Rayner, frowning. "Don't think you are getting far unless you slow your roll. X knows us, seems like. And the one thing I know about you? Is that you are way too proud of your powers. You use lightning. There's about... oh.. a hundred percent chance that it's going to get used against you as soon as you try to pull any of your usual tricks, and if you think the way to solve a problem is more powers, it's not going to go too well for you. At. All. So like, you need some backup plans. Like, bad." She crosses her arms. "So what'cha got? Maybe a gadget or something?"

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian's brow raises as Colette hands over the spray. "Y-you synthesized this yourself?" He's delightfully surprised at at the initiative. "It's a...good idea. Rayner simply has to get X with the spray." He knows the rest of it, it's simple enough it seems.

  The apology seemed sincere enough for now. He was open to hearing what Rayner's plan was, and give a couple pointers for what it's worth. "So, what's your idea?" He finally asks, looking to Rayner.

Stardust has posed:
"eBay of course Rainy," Colette answers. "Where else? Sorry to disappoint you Robin. I'm just not that smart. It's pretty common now they use this stuff in ATMs in France as an anti-theft measure. It's effective." She steps over to Rayner and gently raps on his forehead with her knuckles. "Hmm, nope, there's something in there. Of course it's your concern whether you live or die, you ass. Fortunately I'm pretty sure that isn't X-Face's intention, given what he did to Vorpal. What exactly his intention is,or sorry, his or her intention, anyway... is a good question. Sounded like it was a test. I suspect it's more about proving a point, though know idea what that point is. He will want us to survive if he wants to prove a point to us though. Or her. Anyway, tag him with that stuff Rainy, it's worth a shot."

When Lyssa joins the group, Colette greets her with a cheery wave. "Breathy. How's tricks? I brought you a gift." She returns to her gear and pulls out a black leather-covered instrument case from behind her backpack, and brings it to Lyssa. "Clarinet," she announces, holding the case out. "Don't tell Vorpal. It's only a cheap second hand one, 'cos I didn't know if you'd take to the idea, but it's not awful. Since there's no such thing as a breath-based martial art for you to learn, seems to me it's the next best thing. There's a card in there for an instructor. I've paid for three lessons, enough for you to figure out if learning a bit of breathing control will help you out."

Raijin has posed:
Rayner looks at Colette with a slightly raised brow, though eventually he smiles. "No, I've seen you. Despite how well you talk yoruself down, you're incredibly intelligent." he smiles warmly to her. "But this is extremely clever. Good work, Colette. Not that you need to hear it from me." Though as he looks at the cylinder that Damien holds, soon enough Colette is much closer to him and her knuckles are rapping on his forehead, and he gives her a kind smile. "Fair enough, fair enough...I'll try not to die then." he smiles to her and yes, he looks at her for a long time. Alas, he nods in agreement. "Seems maiming and idle humiliation is his intention at best. Least that's how I view it."

Theeeeen Lyssa arrives and he turns to face her. "You missed it. we literally just had that conversation. Gadgets and all. Sorry, you missed my apology lady." he tells her with a more humorous gaze before he looks at the cylinder that robin holds. "We're gonna use that to tag X to see if we can get their identity. If I beat them too, then well, guess we got lucky."

When asked what his plan was by Robin, he crosses his arms and thinks. "Initially I was going to wing it. But now that I have put thought into it.." he chooses his words carefully. "I doubt I'll be able to use my speed to my advantage...maybe for one or two quick bursts. I don't know what he has that can counteract me, but more than likely he has something. Might have to go with durability and standard martial arts to try and either outlast him or look for an opening. Maybe find a way to surprise him with my powers. Not quite sure."

Breath has posed:
Lyssa mmms. "Okay. I'll add it to my schedule of other educational activities." She nods at Rayner's plotting, points at his forehead, and flips it to a thumbs-up. "Now you're thinking. Do you have any tricks that are unlike you that you can pull out? Iunno. It's worth a shot." She steps back and smiles at the other two softly, crossing her arms behind her and listening a bit more. People are.. much less angry now than when she started walking this way, that's good.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian places the cylinder down on the counter, crossing his arms. He walks towards the edge of the rooftop, looking out. "Assume that they know everything about you. What damage from your weaknesses can you mitigate?" The wheels were turning in that head of his, he was visualizing the scenario.

Stardust has posed:
"I know my limitations." Colette dismisses Rayner's praise with a wave of her hand. "Didn't say I'm dumb, but if you want somebody to science things, I'm probably the last member of the team you should ask. My bet though, X-face is going to be prepared for the zappy. So don't bother with the lightning punches. But don't let him just disarm you that easy, either. Surprise him. Use it some way you never used it before. Or surprise her. Whatever. Ever tried wrapping a lot of wire around your arms? You could become Electromagnetic Man for the day. That could mess up someone trying to swing a sword."

Colette picks up the cylinder and tosses it to Rayner. Then she hops up on top of the pizza oven and sits on it cross-legged. "Assume we're out-planned. So go off-book. Do the unexpected. Give him the... mess with his head I mean. Or her head. Whatever."

Raijin has posed:
Rayner looks to Lyssa at her question, and he seems to ponder. "There's one that I haven't tried for a very long time....but if it goes south, it will be indescribably painful. So that's out of the box. I'll just have to get creative." he nods softly to her then, and then he looks to Damian, who's -much- calmer now.

"Well...I have extremely hard skin. Not sure a sword will work, but if it's made out of the right materials, I guess it could cut through." he shrugs then. "The EMP is what I'm worried about...I haven't put my powers up to par against something like that quite yet. Could shut me down completely, or it won't affect me at all." he seems to ponder for a moment.

"aside from that, could be all about what his toys can do." he then looks to Colette as she dismissed his words that she was quite smart. Though he does finger gun at her when she brings up the wiring. "I have before, once, when fighing a guy made of solid concrete stone who was robbing a bank. Very helpful. Could work..." he now seems to ponder. "alright, I think I can work with out of the box, unorthadox thinking." he nods a few times. without looking, he cathces the cylinder and he looks at it, before he looks at Colette. "Already on it, Letty." and he smiles warmly to her.

Breath has posed:
Lyssa nods at Colette in agreement. "Yeah, those are all awesome ideas. You should totally see if you can pull some of them off. I just know if we stick to the script, we are totally going to be walking into whatever is prepped for us. I'm still trying to figure out what to pull that's new. I'm way too dependent on whatever is lying around wherever things are going down at, so that's one thing. That's easy to control for, but like, there's only so much controlling for terrain they can do if we're playing defense."

Stardust has posed:
"Not so sure about playing defense," Colette suggests with a nod to Lyssa. "You're probably not as resilient as me Rainy," Colette says. "But you're a better fighter. And hit harder. Don't rely on not being cut. Force him to rethink, then hit hard and fast while he's trying to come up with a new stratagem. The terrain is his, so time is on his side not yours. Or her side." She turns to look at Damian. "Does that sound right to you? It's my advice, anyway."

Colette hops down from the pizza oven, grabs her pack and slings it over one shoulder. She steps up to Rayner, nods her head and returns his smile. She's been a noticably distant the last couple of weeks, but this time her smile is warm too. "Get him good, huh? And stay safe. Fais gaffe, Rainy. Don't let him kill you, or I'll kill you. T'as pige?" She holds the smile for a moment, then breaks away and steps up to the edge of the roof, next to Robin, looking out at the view he has been taking in. "Nice view. I should come up here more often," she says to him. "Smell you later, boss." She turns around, fires a salute off to Lyssa, and lets herelf fall backwards off the roof.

It's not just gravity Colette has a troubled relationship with; it's stairs too.

Or maybe it's just an inability to not show off.

Raijin has posed:
Rayner nods a few times to Lyssa as she speaks, nodding a few times. "Totally. Don't worry, hopefully I can get him so you won't have to. But....pray I'm that lucky." he smiles softly to her then. "Don't worry, I shouldn't be on the defensive too much." Then Colette approaches him, and he looks her right in the eyes...

"True...and don't worry, I think I'll be able to keep 'em busy with the plan we've chatted about here." Then she comes closer to him and she gives him a genuine smile. Something he's been trying to get out of her for weeks. "Je comprends, Colette." He speaks French?! "I'll try not to." he looks at her, and his pinky even touches hers in passing! Then he watches her fall off the roof. "....Montrer." he laughs a little bit then before he looks to Robin. "Later then, leader. Later Lyssa. good tos ee you. Tell your boyfriend I said hi!" oh yes, he will tease Lyssa bout that pretty much for forever.

Then in the blink of an eye, all that's left of his presence there is a little spark on the ground. He was already off to his 'date' with Red X.