Log:KitKat Konspiracy

2017/08/04 	 Ranger Copycat Porter

1

Griffin Freeman, The Living Capacitor has made short work of his Saturday To-Do list and has stopped just outside of the corporation he does some sidework for, testing their equipment- specifically the gravimetric system that powers his GravChute.

He pulls up Kat's image on his CommBracer and then taps an envelope on the right of her face. He admires it a moment- a candid shot of her in her SIDRAT blue briefs. He chuckles before sending her a message.

<>

He heads inside and checks in with security for a badge and to call the 'Big Brains' responsible for Griffin's Damocles GravChute.

He emerges 26 minutes later, his wide shoulders & over the chest harness gone. The belt control unit remains, but there is no more bulky equipment to be seen.

The SuperSoldier looks quite pleased witht he advancements made thanks to his participation in their testing. He was so busy getting shown how the new unit worked and whatnot that he lost track of time.

He checks for a message from Kat.

A few minutes later as Griffin's inside and waiting, he gets a reply. <> The message is brief and done in her short-hand. She must be up to something.

In fact, she's up to something with the Torus, across the distance of space, ducked down behind a control console as laser fire streaks above. But her PowerPixie+ has had certain modifications to allow her to still receive distant messages to maintain her cover. The Torus is even now beginning to build a wall of destreum to extend her cover so she can stand up and man the controls of the boarded ship.

Of course, that was a while ago. As the SuperSoldier checks his message so late, he only just starts to read it as Kat pulls up in a red convertable with the top down. She's got a broad-brimmed woven summer hat, sunglasses, pink lipstick, and a light aqua tanktop, white shorts, and white gladiator-style sandals. She's changed her hair, having dyed it to an aqua-sea green.

"Get in," she says with a warm smile.

Griffin has to double take as the red convertible pulls up. He almost didn't recognize his handwarmer. "Oh!" He says in surprise as assent washes over his face. "Yes, ma'am!" He says enthusiastically, jogging around the front of the car to get in on the passenger side.

Sure he could zip right in but, Kat didn't fly here so he figures he'll move at a 'normal' pace too so not to spoil whatever Kat has in store.

"Nice ride." He says, admiring the car as he clsoes the door. One might think he's being a jerk, talking about the car before his lady. But he's just settling in a moment first, letting the moment preent itself.

After the door is closed he turns and looks at her appreciatively, his eyes hanging at hers before he finally takes a good long look at the sea foam green locks that were once cotton-candy pink.

He turns his head curiously as he takes it in, his lips tighten and his head bounces left to ight as if some invisible game of tennis were happening in his mind that needs to be played out physically too.

Finally- at least to Griffin, thoguh in real time with his sped up visual acutity its only been a half a second. Though in that time he's examined every bit of her hair. "I like it." He says smiling, clearly glad to see her as his smile brightens even more once his eyes return to meet hers.

Only then does he feel out the situation- clearly too eager to see Kat, otherwise he might have raised an eyebrow at Kat arriving in a car with green hair.

Sadly its still moments more before he relaizies someones been faking being him and her lately. So he should be careful. On the sly, he feels for Kat's energy to confirm everyone is who they say they are.

The car is in pristine condition, freshly washed, and definitely expensive. There's no way she could afford this car in her wildest dreams, but renting for a beautiful day like this summer day is definitely more likely.

"It's a loaner," she answers as he gets in, apprehensive for a moment as his eyes bounce back and forth along her hair. She self-consciously brushes her hair with her fingers and adjusts her hair, worried he doesn't like it until he finally announces his thoughts.

With a sigh of relief, she shifts the car into first gear and pulls away from the curb. "You had me worried for a moment there. I thought it'd be a nice surprise, but I was starting to think it was a mistake." She smiles, then has to take her eyes away from him to watch the road. "I figured surprises would be fun to go with celebrating the good news."

As he feels out for Kat's energy, he feels that familiar bio-energy within her, stored and suffusing her invisibly to normal eyes. He also notices as he studies her that she's not wearing her second-skin suit.

Feeling a bit of relief at feeling Kat's energy and that all is as it appears, Griffin continues smiling and adjusts his chair. He's a relatively big guy, and coupes aren't made for leg room.

He finds the toggle switch and the chair slides back smoothly and absolutely silently. Though he'd expect nothing less of a future luxury vehicle. He toggles another switch, releasing the back support of the chair, which he actually lets sit farther up- so he's sitting straight up. Griffin's posture is always top notch so this should be no surprise. Settled in, he turns towards Kat after grabbing the seatbelt & puts it on. He says, "Oh yeah? Celebratory surprises are the best kind! What are we celebrating?!" His tone excited as his lowing eyes look around for clues- well beside the red convertible one he's sitting in of course.

Kat shifts to second gear and drives along towards the coast in the rental red convertible. The wind buffets her freshly dyed aqua-seagreen colored hair. She's got a broad-brimmed woven summer hat, sunglasses, pink lipstick, and a light aqua tanktop, white shorts, and white gladiator-style sandals. Griffin sits in the passenger seat, trying to adjust the chair to get comfortable.

Kat smiles as he asks what they're celebrating, blushing a little. "I'll get to it, promise!" she chuckles.

She slows down to take a corner, putting them on Oceanside Blvd. This picturesque street runs from along the ocean from North Beach all the way to Bayside, and is a touristy area with sea food shops, ice cream, souvenirs, and relaxing spots to enjoy the beach. It's THE place for both family fun or dates to enjoy the coast, and has a beach-town vibe.

"So...uhh...how long would you say we've been together?" Kat asks sheepishly as she slows down in search of a parking spot.

Beach. Family fun. Sure, the holo ads all make it look so nice. They fail to mention things like abrasive sand, corrosive seawater, burning sun, or tired and/or cranky children

Perhaps those three would explain why Porter trudges from the beach along the boulevard sidewalk. Pulling/dragging a wagon full of cooler missing lid, defalted beach ball, brightly colored plastic buckets and shovels and other family beach wonderland crucial supplies in various states of ...well-used.

The wagon has at least two flat tires, Porter is barefoot, his complexion a shade that might make cooked lobsters wince... despite wearing a wide, woven summer hate with pink bow that might even be as cute as Cat's. His other hand is holding the tattered leg of his shorts, or what's left of it, closed for modesty.

Griffin's eyes go a little wide at that question. Afterall, he's a red-blooded American male from the early 21st Century. He doesn't get to enjoy the coastal vistas because he's now panicking and trying to find answers to questions he's not expecting. Somewhere a lone pirate voice whispers, 'Down that road be monsters, boy.'

"Ummm..." He says, as his mouth gets drier. "I guess I'd say its been a while. A year now?" He asks, realizing how much time has gone by since he first arrived in the future, and since he met Katrina Prince. He's only estimating, but he hopes its close enough.

As they slow to look for a parking spot, Griffin tries to use his energy sensing abilities to feel for the vehicle batteries- and then to find a gap within them. He closes his eyes as he concentrates, he figures its good practice to hone his new ability and it will buy him time to count the months and the events that occurred within them.

Griffin clears his throat, "Found one...Three rows over....5...6...7. 7 cars down."

Griffin can spy that parking space about to open up in front of an ice cream parlor. A perfect spot! And it just so happens to bring them close to the defeated Porter. The James one.

Kat clicks her tongue at Griffin's sharp sight. "Wow, good eye! How'd you spot that?" she says appreciatively as she starts to change lanes and gets ready to park. She slows as they get close, stopping just past it before stopping and reversing, sliding the car in smoothly in a decent parallel parking job.

During the parking, she's distracted enough not to lead on with the question of how long they'd been together.

"Well... I didn't want to say anything, at least not until I understood it better." Griffin leads, "But I've been able to 'feel' the energy around me... for about three weeks. It was off and on at first, the first 2 weeks I thought I was going crazy." He sighs, happy to get that off his chest. He doesn't like hiding things unless its necessary- and considering how acute this sense has become over the last few weeks its probably time for it to be on the table. At least with Kat.

Griffin idly scans the crowd as he says, "So yeah... I guess we have two things to celebrate?"

Kat puts the car in park and shuts off the engine as she listens. She just stares at the wheel for a few moments. "So you were having some weird stuff going on, thought you were going crazy...and wouldn't tell me?" she asks quietly without making eye contact, either mildly hurt or mildly suspicious by her tone.

SQUEAK. SQUEAK. GRIND. SLAP. "Ow."

Porter and his payload make their to and by the parking lot. Slowly and uncomfortably.

"Ummm... not quite." Griffin says, "I told you about how I've gotten stronger. This was just ... a symptom of that. And I've been seeing a guy for a long time now about my powers." Griffin says, feeling like this celebratory surprise has somehow gotten away from him.

He sighs and says, "I didn't want you to worry. You have enough to worry about with your own powers to be worrying about mine too. That's all." He reaches out and touches her leg, hoping to get her attention so he can earnestly look her in the eye and say, "I didn't mean to hurt you, or hide anything."

That of course puts Porter into his view. Griffin Freeman tries not to suck his teeth at their seemingly shared suffering.

Now that Porter is in view, 'weird stuff' could be more appropriate. His current state seems to suggest some sort of ... er... stuff? He hasn't seemed to notice Griffin Freeman or Cat yet. Then again, he doesn't make a habit of peering into parked cars. That one time was purely accidental and coincidental; he wasn't peeping!

Kat takes in a breath and sighs, then pushes out a smile. "Yeah, you're right. You didn't hurt me," she says without making eye contact still. She gasps and jerks slightly as he touches her leg and makes contact with bare flesh. But she gasps because nothing happens.

"S...surprise!" she says off kilter as she finally looks at him with a sheepish, awkward smile, unprepared to have her surprise ruined.

Porter startles and ducks at the sudden yell of 'Surprise!' To Griffin, it could easily resemble PTSD and fear at loud noises. He looks around franticly a moment. It's not his birthday, and it dodn't sound like Kyssie. Is it good? Is it bad? Is it clowns?

Please, don't let it be clowns. Or more sharks. Or clown sharks.

Griffin was so concerned with having hurt Kat's feelings that he forgot she wasn't wearing a SecondSkin(TM) garment to keep their physiologies distinct and that he wasn't wearing his gloves because he was running late and still reading her message when she pulled up in the rental.

He yanks his hand away when she gasps, more out of instinct. But her words cause his mouth to hang open in absolute shock.

"W-w-w-wh-w-whut?" Is about all he can stammer out. He is clearly surprised. Very surprised.

He tentatively reaches back out for her bare flesh, his heart begin beating just a bit faster the clsoer he gets.

Yep, her flesh feels very fleshy. And soft. Kat blushes as he touches her again. "It's...temporary. Dr. Silverback developed a medication to try and temporarily suppress my powers. But...it's still in testing."

She looks a little flustered and guilty. "Actually, way in testing phase. I got eager and snuck the pill, and he's worried about side effects, so he won't let me take it again until he can run more tests. I was just eager..." she admits, then glances over at the ducking Porter and his ruined state.

Porter recovers from his reflexive reaction and realizes that it isn't clowns, sharks, or his birthday. It's Cat and Griff. "Oh, hey." At least the smile is genuine, and a much morepleasant reflex. There's a wave, too. Unfortunately, that leaves his short leg to flap around rather risque' a moment before he remembers and clutches it. "How're you two?"

Unfortunately for everyone involved, Griffin only heard about 15-25% of Kat's description o fhow this miracle of science came to be. He's too stunned really do anything but smile blankly at as his left hand gently squeezes her fleshy bare flesh- something he had to break a psychopathic mucus monster out of a Maximum Security Meta-Holding Facility to do before now.

"Best decision ever." He says to Kat, though it may be clear he didn't quite hear all of that.

Porter righting himself and directly engaging them seems to snap Griffin out of it. At least enough to respond and look away. "Oh- everyting is so awesome right now, Porter. You look like you're having a rough go of things or were the recent victim of... a... shark disrobing and possible wagon fight? You alright?"

He looks up and over at Porter trying not to grin from ear to ear, but he doesn't lift his hand a micron.

Cat waves back, but the wave slows and her eyes dip as Porter exposes himself. She smirks very slightly. "I always wondered how he managed to get engaged to Paragon," she murmurs in mild amusement.

She glances at Griffin's decision comment and smiles a bit, then looks back to Porter, glad to see he's decent. "Yeah, what happened to -you-?"

"Uh... yeah, something like that." Porter nods to Griffin at his guess. "Well, the wagon didn't fight me, really. Now it is, kinda. But everything's Ok. Just walking home. What's the great news with you two?" He didn't miss the the really awesome part, either.

Griffin let's Kat answer that as he beams.

Copycat wiggles a bit in her seat with excitement at the news. "There may be a medicine that could treat my...'condition'. It's not certain yet. Still on the testing phase."

She looks to Griffin and looks a little coy. "And I wanted to celebrate...and to ask Griff about...us."

A montage plays through Griffin's head of terrifying things he's experienced in his relatively short life. A lot of scenes play in wartorn areas, deserts, jungles, urban areas, even a few missions in the bleakest of snow conditions. Then the bitchin' classic rock soundtrack shifts to something a bit more epic and heroic as he remembers the monsters, robots and aliens he's fought since getting superpowers. Inbetween he even remembers getitng into that damnable cryogenic chamber that bestowed him his abiltieis in the first place- and still despite all of that, he's having a hard time coming up with any one moment scarier than that sentence. .o0(What could there be to ask? Did I do something worng? Oh God- now that she can be 'normal' she's going to leave me...) He tries to stiffle the look of panic on his face as he looks to Porter and shakes his head affirmatively to confirm what Kat's saying.

Porter blinks, looking from Cat's wiggling excitement to Griffin's ... terror(?). "Oh! Well that's great! I hope it all works out for you. Just don't take -too- much of it."

Kat nods in agreement. "Yeah. Dr. Silverback made me promise not to take anymore until he could test its affects on me." She is oblivious to the terror going through Griffin's mind. The last thing she'd suspect is that he's worried about her leaving.

But maybe it IS bad news? She's acting somewhat reserved. She didn't even kiss Griffin with her ability to do so without consequences.

Kat studies Porter's redness, then glances to Griffin, studying him a moment. "Ummm...perhaps we should go get some ice cream?" she suggests as though it were needed.

"Ice cream'd be awesome," Porter doesn't quite yell. He nods alot before clearing his throat. "But we probably shouldn't have too much of that, either."

Griffin Freeman shakes his head in agreement though he seems a bit bewildered. He really tries not to look worried now that Kat's looking his way. "Yeah, Ice cream sounds great!" He says, deciding that its just not worth worrying about before hand. He'll deal with whatever happens- plus Porter is here, its not like she'd dump him in front of Porter is it?

He opens the car door and casually walks over to Kat's door to open the door for her.

Porter watches them get out of the car. He's still not sure about Griffin's ...uncertaintity, but everything sounds like a good thing. Ok, except for possible side-effects. That's probably it. Or maybe, if there's no risk of CopyCating, she'll be wearing more revealingt clothes? That could cause accidents all over the place? Or maybe she'll never let him leave the room?

Anyway, ice cream. "So, where to? There a good place near here?" He looks around, as if not entirely sure where in the neighborhood he is.

Kat's eyes follow Griffin as she thinks he's going the wrong direction...only to realize he's come to open the door for her. "Such a gentleman," she smiles sweetly and unfastens her seatbelt. She swings her legs out of the car, then holds her bare hand out for him to take and help her up. Not that she needs it.

"I spotted an ice cream shop a few stores back. One of those unlimited toppings and shaved iced ones."

Griffin Freeman takes her hand happily, and 'assists' her out of the car, smiling to Porter after wrestling his extreme worry back to more managabel (and hidable) proportions.

"Oh, but of course my lady." The SuperSoldier says to Kat with a grin before asking, "Do they really say 'Unlimited'? That's a tough claim to make, especially when you're talking in this town." Griffin says, and he should know. Before his powers really took hold, he was still fueling a good amount of his abilities via the biological standard, ATP. It was a big issue that was only solved by the large bounties he was pulling in. Now though, his appetite is still large but not gargantuan and therefore no longer a finanical concern- though it might soon become one for this poor ice cream shop making large advertising claims.

Copycat smiles even more at being called a lady. She pulls herself out of the car, though with Griffin's strength, he can hardly feel her using his grip to help her. Shutting the door and clicking the lock button, the car beeps once to alert that it is locked.

"Hmm, well, I figure unlimited...as much as you can fit in one bowl. That's probably how they get you.

Porter drools a little at the mention. "Sounds good to me. Let's go!" He tugs at the wagon to get it moving again, wincing at the resistance. Then a pause. "Er, wait. I'm not interrupting your date or anything, am I?"

"Ohh, no...you're not interrupting," Kat assures Porter with a kind smile. Her hand slips away from Griffin's as she leads the way down toward the ice cream shop. There's a lot of foot traffic on the sidewalk today, and while Kat tries to weave her way through the crowd, she gets bumped and nudged repeatedly. Under normal circumstances, with her just wearing a tank top and shorts, this would be a problem. But today, she doesn't have to worry about all the accidental contact.

Ahead, is the Snowballs Chance ice cream storm. Inside, people are grabbing bowls and going through a line, filling up with shaved, fluffy ice cream and going to the bar of toppings to customize their snacks. There's also a counter that people pay at or make special orders, like hot belgian waffles on a plate put your ice cream on top of.

"Well considering it was thanks oto you that we ever touched for real at all? I think its fitting that we bumped into you, here of all places." Griffin says to Porter, before patting him on his back and then attempting to seperate Porter from his wrecked wagon. "I'll just run this to your place..." He says if allowed before vanishing with the wagon. He reappears 3 seconds later sans-wagon, but with what he imagines is a Porter sized pair of shorts- though consdiering what a skinny boy Porter is, they might be a little big in the waist. .o0(Still better than that high-slit he's rockin' now! Speaking of...) The SuperSoldier thinks to himself as he catches a glimpse of Kat walking away in her skirt. (Yowzas.)

He follows along happily, tossing the shorts on to Porter's shoulder as he catches up to Kat.

Porter winces at the slap on his back. "Ow...ok?" He blinks. Seems by the time he's realized the wagon and Griff are gone... Griff is back. With new shorts?

Porter says, "Oh. Thanks."

Kat's hips even sway slightly with her weaving. Not having to be afraid of being touched has given her some new-found confidence in the social arena, at least. And she might be showing off for Griffin. Just a little? She's getting a few looks from people in passing.

She cocks her head slightly as she listens to the conversation between the guys behind her, then turns around, missing Griffin's speeding off and back with supplies as she was turning. She opens the door and holds it for them both, since at least Porter can't let go of his shorts yet.

"Yeah, that was really special," Kat smiles shyly. Her eyes lift to Griffin's, and the smile stays, but there's something in her eyes...like she's waiting for the right time to figure out how to ask something.

Porter is not holding kitten-print sleep shorts in one hand, and his tattered leg of one in the other. He looks to Cat when she opens the door, though her comment makes him blush. Lucky for him, the sunburn probably masks it. "Er. Just glad I could help. And thanks." The last part was for the door, which he quickly ducks in. "I'll be right there..." He heads to the men's room to change. Kittens are still better than tatters.

Griffin has clearly noticed the new confident Kat and its definitely working its magic on him. He is a believer in this medication, whatever it is. One could almost set Griffin's brainwaves to the frequency of Kat's sway. Despite always having his head on a swivel, Griffin does in fact not have his head on anything but Kat. He'd agree with the looks given nevertheless, if anything he'd just shame them for not noticing before. He's always thought she was a headturner.

Griffin looks up as she turns and smiles shyly at Griffin. Mentally he admonishes himself for being so distracted that his girlfriend got the door for him, but he gives no indication of that as he grabs the door Kat is holding and agrees with the speciality of their first real kiss and the moments that followed. "Absolutely." His smile doesn't need to shift much as his mind was in a very adjacent room.

"Alright man, we'll save you a spot in line." He says to Porter, taking his glasses off and putting them in his pocket and looking back to Kat.

His eyes search hers, wondering what else she has in store for them. He can tell she's holding something back. She's terrible at this kind of thing, whichis one of her most endearing qualities.

That slick & michevious smile is replaced with one that is more curious & adoring than it is lurid.

After a moment he says, "So..." deciding that know is as good as any time considering they are 'alone'.

"So," Kat lets out a pent up sigh as Porter gives them some privacy. "There was some bad news, too," she murmurs. With Griffin taking the door for her, she slips inside and waits for him to follow her to the light. She selects a small-sized bowl. It's white with an orange band and a flaming snowball illustration and the Snowball's Chance logo on it.

"While it's working now, the Doctor..."

Her words die away and her eyes look away from Griffin, her throat constricting a moment. She swallows thickly and she picks strawberry ice cream. She puts her bowl underneath and pulls the leaver. The frozen block of ice cream within the machine spins and starts shaving thing ribbons of pink ice cream into her cup.

"The Doctor said not to get my hopes up. The chances are I could gain a tolerance to it, or it could be addictive, or be bad for my health...all sorts of things. And he said if this doesn't work...it's the last option for a reliable fix."

Once her bowl is piled high with ice cream, she stops and lowers her head some more. "So I'm just trying to enjoy this while I can. But...it left me wondering." She looks up into Griffin's glowing eyes at last. "If this is it. If this is all we could ever be...you not being able to really ever touch me. What does that mean for us?" It's a heavy question that's weighing on her.

Griffin follows behind, listening carefully at the Doctor's prognosis. He grabs his own bowl, and puts a layer down of vanilla ice cream, followed by hot fudge and then cookie crumble. Then he repeats that over and over and over until its threatening to spill over the edges of the bowl.

He doesn't seem distured by Kat's words. He in fact, seems relieved. "Oh... is 'that' all?" He asks, taking a happy sigh. "I thought you... I dunno. I dunno what I thought." He says, seeming suddenly embarassed.

He grabs a spoon as he waits for their plac ein line to move.

"You know as well as I do, that tomorrow isn't promised. That the world could get blown up by a megalomaniac with a trust fund any day." He says, putting his spoon in his bowl and then taking his now free hand to wrap around Kat. "If this is all we could ever be, then thats what we are. It doesn't make me love you any less." The 'L' word?! Oh snaps. "To me, it just means we take things day by day just like everyone else. At least we have today." He smiles at her and then, turning slightly, he leans and gives her a very gentle, very chaste kiss on the lips.

Speaking of megalomaniacs with trust funds... Ok, Porter isn't either of those. But he is now ..be-kittened(?)

Para would probably get a grin out of seeing him, but at least they aren't tattered into shreds! They don't fit him perfectly, but that's what elastic drawstrings are for! So now he has both hands free to head to the counter.

Slowly, when he sees Griff and Cat share a moment. So he just takes up a spot in line behind them.

"'Is that all?'" Kat parrots back, caught off guard by Griffin's sudden relief. "What else did you think it was? You're not...you're not bothered by that? You don't want to go find someone else?"

Kat's insecurities were heightened with the potential news that there's no hope for her. She can't believe his reaction, peeking up at Griffin as he uses the L word, her eyebrows raising in surprise. She's frozen in surprise as he plants a kiss on her lips, still staring at him, speechless for several moments afterwards.

Porter tries really hard not to eye the two too much. He can hear them, and now it sounds like the moment turned more into A MOMENT. THE MOMENT? Either way, it went capitalized. Probably extra punctuation, too.

Lucky for him, it's now his turn to pile stuff into his bowl. He's a little more traditional: vanilla, crumbles, fudge, whipped cream, and some chocolate shavings.

The SuperSoldier just smirks at Kat a long moment before saying, "I'm embarassed to even say what I was worried about. But truth be told- if you want me to say 'I'm thrilled' you're gonna be hard pressed. But I signed up for this already before there was ever talk of a long term solution. We had magic on the table and that was it, then there were the SecondSkin(TM) suits, and now this... this... salve? Pill? It doesn't matter what. It works today, so we have today." His eyes never leave hers post-kiss.

"So no. I don't want to go find someone else. People used to say man would never fly, or get to the moon, or cure Polio, Ebola, MRSA1 or the 9 different types of cancer they've almost eradicated. They used to say they couldn't give super powers to people. They used to say flying cars were a dream and never would be real. Kind of hard to believe this is the 'last chance' after all I've seen." He adds, ever hopeful. "I'm sure when Porter gets out here, he'd agree with me completely." He turns to look for Porter. "Oh! Ha." He turns back to Kat and nods his head in Porter's direction with a look that says, 'You want me to ask him?'

Kat smiles a pleased smile, setting her bowl aside on the adjacent counter. "You're just full of surprises. If that's not love, I'm not sure what is," she replies, rather amused.

She leans about to look back at Porter, and then starts walking his way. But then she continues on past him. "I guess I didn't need to worry after all," she comments as she heads on to the door and pushes it open to step outside.

She stops with the door open and looks over her shoulder with a confident, sexy, and slightly sassy smile.

"I'm glad you turned out to be a good person. I'd hate to find out otherwise. Tell my sister I said hello." She blows a kiss and a wink and steps out into the passing crowd of families, weaving herself into the group as they walk in the direction opposite the car and disappear past the shop window.

Porter now looks up and over. Only to find Griffin looking at him. Uh oh. "I'm right here. And -" Then he blinks when Cat walks away. "Wha?" Then his brain tries to process what was said. He looks after Cat. Then back to Griffin.

"Um...?"

Yeah, he looks more than a little lost.

Griffin looks confused as 'Kat' walks past him. "Wha--" He says, looking back to Porter for answers. The look on Porter's face proves he's just as confused as our SuperSoldier, so he turns back expecting to see Kat making for the restroom or something. BUt she's outside. He looks back to Porter to see if anything's changed. It hasn't. "Sister?" Griffin asks aloud, still clearly confused. "Wait-- Sister?! Kit?!" He brings his hand to his lips as his eyes get bigger. The lights flicker.

He rushes out after her, but by now- someone that well trained in Kat's ability is already 3 or 4 other people by now.

Maybe it was planned that way. Crowded touristy area. Lots of cover. Very public. There's no blue or pink hair to be seen in the sea of pedestrians, but also no energy pattern. Which probably means she's already gotten off the street.

"Sister? Kit?" Porter blinks again. Then some small cognition arrives. "Cat has a sister?"

"Well I'll be..." Griffin is about to say, when he hears Porter. He turns back and looks him before saying, "Yeah- Kat has a sister, Kit. She doesn't talk about her much though... she just... up and disappeared one day. Never said a word to her, and as far as Kat knows- was never seen again." This last part is what has him worried.

Griffin's phone beeps with a text alert from Kat. <>

"Huh..." Yeah, that's almost all Porter has to say on that. Almost

"Well, guess she's been seen again, now?" He finally digs into his ice cream and shovels some in.

Griffin forgot that he even had a bowl of ice cream in his hands. He's about to start eating his and give Porter a shrug when his phone rings. (<<)]Ok. How about you meet us here... I've got something I need to tell you.>> He replies before finally giving Porter the shrug he was due and then putitng a spoonful of ice cream in his mouth. It is delicious. At least there was that. "Kat's on her way now... hopefully the real one." He says to Porter after enjoying that first bite thoroughly.

Griffin forgot that he even had a bowl of ice cream in his hands. He's about to start eating his and give Porter a shrug when his phone rings. <> He replies before finally giving Porter the shrug he was due and then putitng a spoonful of ice cream in his mouth. It is delicious. At least there was that. "Kat's on her way now... hopefully the real one." He says to Porter after enjoying that first bite thoroughly.

Porter nods, since his mouth's full of ice cream. He walks over to a able to sit down, too. After swallowing, he offers, "Could always touch her nose? To check if it's her, I mean."

<> The Torus is closing the portal behind Copycat as the Tellurian Guard escort the space pirates away from the bridge of the spaceship they just saved.

A few short moments the GPS coordinates arrive, and mere seconds later the pair jump from one side of the galaxy to the other arriving on the rooftop of the ice cream parlor. Griffin's hardly even sat down.

"I suppose that's one way of proving it.. though, I imagine Kit can copy that too right?" He asks Porter, though really he's completely unsure.

Copycat glances around frantically as the Torus teleports them on the ice cream parlor roof, expecting Griffin to be there. o O (Torus, that was too fast! What'll Griffin think?) She's at least relieved when she doesn't see him in the immediate area.

"Mrehmree?" Porter looks surprised. And tries to talk with his mouthful. After fixing the second part, he grabs some napkins. "Really? Didn't know that. Didn't even know she had a sister..." He shrugs.

The SuperSoldier regards Porter a moment before taking another bite of his own ice cream, which is definitely melting faster than Porter's own. Likely because Griffin's body temperture is a steady 100+ degrees all the time.

"Yeah, she doesnt talk about her often. Kit's her name. They used ot be real close... but I'm not sure what happened. I don't think Kat does either." He replies between bites.

Copycat lifts off of the ground lightly with a small venting of energy, and figures she may as well go for it. She tilts her body forward and vents more energy to propel herself forward as fast as she can to find Griffin.

"Ok..." Porter is still trying to catch up, but at least he has a vague idea of what just happened, and a bit more context. Maybe. Sort of. "So... I'm guessing she's not the favorite sister?"

The Torus seems unconcerned with Kat's timing, unusual- but something about Griffin's comment was 'off'. Probability Calculations infer that more data is needed.

As Kat flies up and out, Griffin Freeman is inside shrugging at that. "Not sure you could tell them apart until one day Kit just ... split. Literally. From what I understand, they had the same powers. So you can imagine how... integrated they might have been. Its definitely a sore spot for Kat- so... this might not be the most pleasant trip to the ice cream shoppe you've ever had." He says, making progress on his ice cream- but still it threatens to run over with melted ice cream. Perhaps he shouldn't have been so greedy.

Copycat hovers over the street and looks around, checking the GPS coordinates and address given. She spots the ice cream parlor and drops down at a controlled speed, feet first, to land on the sidewalk just outside. She looks just like she normally does while on patrol. Pink hair, white and black bodysuit, and her gray jacket for spare pockets.

Peeking inside, she spies Griffin and Porter. Ice cream and Porter? . o O (What could Griffin want to talk to me about...?) She smiles and strides forward, pulling the door open to slip into the ice cream parlor. With a cheery smile and wave, she says, "Hey, Griffin! And hi, Mr. Porter. I didn't realize you'd be here, too."

Porter shrugs. "Hey, I'm not one to poke at bad things. Don't have to bring it- Oh, hey, Kat!" Who announces her arrival by greeting, and surprising Porter. He gives her a smile and lifts his bowl. "Nothing beats ice cream on a hot, scalding, shredding day."

Griffin turns around, regarding Kat a moment- mentally comparing all the differences between Kit and Kat. To which he finds few, but he commits them all to memory nonetheless.

Copycat glances at Porter's shorts, and seems about to question it when she decides it's best to just ignore it. She looks back to Griffin and smiles as she walks up to her official handwarmer. "So what's good here?"

"Just about everything. They .... freeze the icecream here and shave it. Its... amazing." Grififn replies, as he continues racing his own rapidly melting confection. "Unlimited toppings too." He grins, still watching Kat.

"They...-shave- it?" Kat replies, mystified at how this can be. But now she has to find out! "Well, it looks like you two started your ice cream without me, so I better catch up," she grins back. She glances over to a kid going through the motions and follows suit.

She picks up a small bowl, walks up to the strawberry ice cream machine, and pulls the lever. As the ice cream starts to get shaved and drop ribbons of ice cream into her bowl, her eyes light up. "It really IS shaved!" she gasps excitedly. She piles her bowl decently well, then moves on to the toppings counter. Her eyes scan back and forth at all the options. She ends up setting on mochi, crumbled oreos, fresh strawberries, and boba, then tops it off with sweetened condensed milk.

This happens to be the same flavor that Kit chose, but she didn't get around to the toppings yet.

When she turns around, the guys can see she really piled up her bowl and seems very pleased with herself and her treat.

Griffin Freeman watches his handwarmer with moe and more adoration. In fact that adoration is directy proportional to the amount of Kit she appears to not be, but he's playing it safe.

He chuckles at her exclaimation, enjoying his own (semi)frozen treat. He finds her choice in ice cream unnerving, but it isn't enough to sway him on this being the real Kat-of-his-dreams or the Kit-poster.

Porter grins at Cat as she comes back, motioning with his spoon to her bowl. "You brought your appetite. Best thing for unlimited, well, anything." As to how or why they shave the ice cream here, he just likes it. Because hairy ie cream just sounds not good.

Copycat pays for her treat at the counter and twists on the ball of her foot as she changes directions to stroll back to the others, eyes fixed on her treat. She digs in and spoons her first bite into her mouth, only then lifting her eyes up to Griffin to offer a smile with the spoon in her mouth.

Slipping the spoon from her mouth, she swallows with a delighted bobbing of her shoulders. "Sorry I was running so late. So what's up?"

Griffin Freeman pushes the seat across from him out for Kat before replyin. "Oh- don't worry. We were plenty entertained while you were en route." In fact you might say, they never missed her at all.

"Everything alright?" He asks her, concerned- so concerned about this hwole thing that he doesn't seem to notice how quickly Kat arrived.

"Well, it's hot out, and I always have an appetite for ice cream when the weather's like this," Copycat chuckles, then looks over to Griffin.

"Me?" Kat asks as she slides into the seat he pushed out for her. "Yeah, everything's fine. I hope I didn't worry you. Just needed a little extra time to stop a small crime." Across the galaxy. She leaves that part out as she takes another ice cream bite.

"Being a hero can mess with your schedule all the time," Porter nods and chuckles. His own ice cream is over half gone with all the pre-Cat shoveling. Where does he put it all? Who knows.

"Totally." Griffin Freeman agrees. "It'd be nice if... you know... you could be in two places at once huh? Speaking of two places at once... how'd you feel if you knew Kit was still looking out for you?" He says. Real smooth. Like ripping a bandaid off right?

Copycat is spooning another bite in her mouth, wondering about what it'd be like to be able to be in two places at once, when Griffin just slips Kit in there as a surprise. She accidentally bites down on her spoon as her eyes go wide. She must have heard him wrong.

Drawing her spoon, she spears it into her ice cream mound and leaves it there, her nose scrunching up as her eyes narrow in the least intimidating scowl one has ever scene. "I'd feel like she's up to something if she's trying to make it sound like she's doing that."

The SuperSoldier just sighs non-specifically at that.

It's only after a few moments that what Griffin said fully sinks in. And that's when surprise relally hits her. "Wait, what? Did ...did Kit say something to you? Is she -here-??" Kat suddenly becomes panicked.

Griffin puts on a pair of his SecondSkin(TM) Medical Ediiton gloves as fast as his metauman physiology will allow, then he reaches across the table to calm Kat. "Its ok- she's gone now." He says as he reaches out for her hand. "She was here though... pretending to be you." If she'll allow he'll squeeze her hand reassuringly.

He doesn't seem quite as bothered by this as Kat is though. "Porter was here too. He can tell you the same- nothing bad happened."

Copycat is still frantically looking around with a look of paranoia. "She got away?? Kit could be anyone!" When Griffin manages to grab her hand, it grounds her...in a literal fashion because it prevents her from flying off, but it also reassures her some.

She snaps her head to him when he reveals what Kit was doing. "She was pretending to be me? What...what did she say? What'd she do?"

"Besides leaving me with the bill for two ice creams? Nothing. I'm tellin' ya." Griffin says. "I know- but she's good at being everyone. Even I lost her. She was gone before I realized what was even going on. But if it will make you feel better... lets be sure, yeah?"

Griffin closes his eyes and feels for Kat's pattern, then again for any energy patterns that match her own 'out there'.

Copycat lets out a sigh as she tries to calm down from being battle-ready. "So al she did was pretend to be me? With you?" Kat sounds mystified as to why Kit would do that. "Did she say anything? Did she touch you?"

As Griffin extends his senses, he can feel only one person with Kat's telltale bioenergy signature and shifting patterns, and that's Copycat's.

Porter finishes up his ice cream. Sunburn must make you hungry. "It's Ok. He figured out she was her, wasn't you." Well, he did! Porter just follows Griffin's lead and keeps to the important details. He wouldn't even have brought her up if he hadn't.

"Yes, she picked me up from RISE Labs' HERC center after my appointment." Griffin says, then he opens his eyes, satisfied that this Kat is the only one around. "She isn't here- no where around here." He sounds confident befofre adding, "and yes... I figured it out, after she grilled me about where we were going and what would happen if today was the only day she had a temporary cure for your abiltiies." He lays it all out there. Well most of it.

Copycat sighs in some relief that she's not hear, but there's also disappointment. "Guess she got away and disappeared. -Again-. One of these days, I'll catch her." She's forgotten mostly about her ice cream, but she's winding down at least. She glances between Porter and Griffin, glad that Griffin was able to figure things out. "Why...why would she ask you that? How'd she even know about you? I haven't seen her since...since..." she trails off and changes directions of what she was going to say, "...a long time."

"She said that if I hurt you, she'd hurt me... more or less." Griffin say with a shrug. He doesn't say anything about the 'L' word or their chaste kiss. But he feels guilty and a bit persecuted for having every 'first' with Kat to be a doppelganger or mutant twin or something similar. Pun intended.

"It means she's been nearby right? If she knew about us- and intercepted our messages?" He muses, trying to build up enough intel to make a decision on.

Copycat fidgets a little and gives an unhappy frown at hearing about Kit's vague threat. "That...she said that? That doesn't make sense," Kat mutters, at a loss as she tries to match that behavior up to the selfish person Kit became.

Her eyes widen at the intercepted messages. "Shick. She'll be up to no good wherever she goes. If she's nearby and taking an interest..." Kat begins to pace a little, thoughts running through her head as she tries to figure things out. "Why now? What is she up to? And what business is it of hers??" There's definitely some hurt from the mention of Kit.

"I take it she's a troublemaker?" Porter asks, not knowing much. Heck, didn't even know Cayt had a sister until a few minutes ago.

"I was hoping you'd have at least some idea to the answers to those questions, hun." Griffin says, but he still seems quite hopeful for some reason.

Copycat sighs at Porter's question. "Yeah, you could say that. She used to be one of the good guys, back when we were...close. Before she went vil," she mutters unhappily.

She looks back to Griffin, her expression apologetic. "I don't have a clue. I haven't even talked to her since she turned her back on me, except a few exchanges when trying to stop her crimes."

Porter tries not to wince. Fails. "Ouch. Sorry." It's not his fault (he hopes), but still.

"So... how terrible would things be if I... touched Kit?" Griffin says, fearing they're not quite out of the woods yet. He remembers Kat telling him she went 'rogue' but he never thought of her as a full on villain. He's still having a hard time beleiving that too considering their exchange- its not something a villain would do.

He rubs his beard from his cheeks down, a nervous tic. He is definitely not comfortable with a villain out there with his powers and face. Correction- another villain out there with his face. He is starting to feel the need to track Kit down for non-social reasons.

Copycat's feelings on Kit's villain status is a bit overblown due to the sisterly betrayal.

She gasps and quickly walks up to him, inspecting him as if expecting he got hurt or...something. "She touched you?? Oh no...no no." She quickly looks to Porter. "Did she touch you, too?!"

"Oh shoot..." Griffin mutters, not even thinking that Porter was touched too.

Porter blinks. "Is that bad? Um... I don't think she did?" He looks to Griffin to confirm his uncertainty.

Griffin shrugs uncertainly.

"Yes, it's bad," Copycat reaches a hand up to run it through her hair, her hand clenching as it tangles with her pink locks. "I mean, she copied you, right?"

"No." Porter's pretty certain on that one. "I think we would've noticed."

(To be continued...)