01: text

[hothead]

[ Somewhere around two in the morning: ]

stepford houses and glowing tattoos are pretty sweet deals as far as bagging and tagging goes, but it doesn't matter how well it's dressed up- nothing good ever comes from being in someone else's pocket. the dupes might have been assholes, but at least they were on the level.

but that's probably already been said on here a thousand times, right? morality this and conspiracy that, shut up already. getting to the point:

if you're registered, save the speech. if you're not, did the government keep their promise and leave you alone?

and for anyone who would rather shoot themselves in the face than talk about registration one more freaking time, i'm taking suggestions for superhero names. smoke theme required, bad puns preferred, winner earns my very sincere gratitude.

Comments

video

[boobwindow]

[ Don't any of you guys ever sleep? No matter; Peej is in full costume and wide awake for once. Her ID doesn't print along with her comment. ]

You never want to go with a bad pun.

voice!

[hothead]

I think you mean you always want to go with a bad pun. Unless you're speaking from experience.

[ And yes he sleeps in the middle of the day, like a responsible young adult. More importantly: ] How'd you ditch the name tag?

permavideo!

[boobwindow]

Here I thought you were serious about your own superhero mantle.

[ A smirk. ]

Easily. I've got a secret identity to maintain, after all.

permavoice!!

[hothead]

I'm always serious. [ Not video, but you can hear the grin anyway. ] And really? No offense, but isn't the secret identity thing kind of moot when you're in a place called Heropa?

[boobwindow]

Not everybody here is going to be a good person. There's always someone ready to take advantage of your civilian life and target the people you care about.

[ There are still some loonies from Gotham. ]

[hothead]

[ That hits close to home, but other than a brief pause, there's no tell. ] Guess that makes sense. Where I'm from, you were either a civilian or you weren't, no secret identities allowed. Then again I never actually tried putting on a mask, so who knows.

So what do I call you?

[boobwindow]

Vigilantism pretty common?

Power Girl.

[hothead]

Not as common as it should be, but it's a work in progress. And that's... pretty straightforward. Kind of vague, though. Just "power"?

[boobwindow]

"Should be"?

[ She lifts her head, curiosity sparked. ]

Just Power Girl. I figure it's clear enough.

[ Those arms of hers are pretty toned. ]</small.

[hothead]

[ Yeah, definitely noticed the arms. ]

Let's just say the government I'm used to is more into the literal bag and tag approach. Most people either keep their head down or get caught, not a lot of room for fighting the good fight.

[ And normally he's happy to talk about himself, but it feels slightly weird here. Cheap, maybe? Something to do with being dragged to a different universe, makes the old one seem less real. ] So what, strength? Is that something you brought with you?

[boobwindow]

So you're familiar with some of this already. That doesn't sound good.

[ A snort. ]

I've got plenty of strength, sure. Hence the "power" in "Power Girl".

[hothead]

Hey, it was getting a lot better until someone went and got dragged into another dimension. [ Or alternate America, or... whatever, above his pay grade.

And after a pause to squint at the feed, though she can't see that: ] Is that a cape?

[boobwindow]

[ A more sympathetic expression settles in. ]

I don't know how much comfort it'll bring you, honestly, but time is suppose to "stop" whenever we get plucked from our universes and brought here.

[ All the people coming from the same worlds haven't noted their own disappearances, so it must be the same as the City.

Peej pauses, then tugs at the end of her red cape. ]

Yes?

[hothead]

[ Another brief pause, and there's some semblance of real gratitude in his voice. ] Every little bit helps, right?

[ But the cape thing's less personal, so he's happy to focus on that. ] So... flying? Or just a really unique fashion statement. [ Please say you can fly. ]

[boobwindow]

[ She's taken aback by how readily he accepts it, but it's all the better for him. The least he'll have to worry about is missing anything.

She grins and there's a chuckle from her. ]

Yes, I can fly. I can do a lot of things, but it would take a while to list them off.

[hothead]

[ He'll take some good news until proven otherwise, man. ]

Right, okay. So you can fly and you have too many powers to list, nothing to brag about. [ Sarcasm, of course, because that's insanely impressive. ] But more importantly, if I say neon, you say—

[ Context?? ]

[boobwindow]

[ Que?? She stares into the feed. ]

I'm not following.

[hothead]

You know, neon. Light? Commonly found in the signage of seedier districts? Can you use it?

[ Swear this sounds less lame where he's from. Possibly. ]

[boobwindow]

If I bought the proper equipment, sure.

[ Her X-ray vision power might be inconsistent, but she's never had neon light powers!! ]

[hothead]

So you don't have everything. [ Only a little bit smug. He's aware that neon isn't the most obvious of superpowers, to his credit. ]

What do you use to fly?

[boobwindow]

I don't use anything. I just do.

[ It's not always an odd question to be asked, but she decides to check in anyway. ]

People don't fly where you're from?

[hothead]

[ Well that's just cheating. ]

Not exactly. It's a work in progress. The problem is that our powers need juice— hard to keep up a supply when you're mid-air. But I'm guessing your powers play by different rules.

[boobwindow]

Just need some sun and I'm good to go.

[ Kryptonian physiology is grrreat. ]

Are we talking actual equipment you need to fly or something else?

[hothead]

Something else. Smoke, uh— video... screens? Not one-hundred percent on the logistics of that one.

We're stronger, better, faster, the whole package. But when it comes to the flashy tricks, we still need something to channel.

[boobwindow]

Channel, eh?