Log:The More Supersoldiers, the Merrier

2018/08/08 	 Griffin Copycat Victory Ghost Stella

1

Griffin laughs before saying, "Brother- I'm not sure anyone on this planet is in his weight-class." He takes another sip of his smoothie as the smile reaches his glowing eyes.

Wade is seated at a table with Sentinel. Wade's drinking some coffee, and looks like he got out of the gym not too long ago. (His hair is still a bit wet, and he has a duffel bag next to him.)

Wade chuckles. "I meant figuratively. I mean, I'm not about to be able to go toe-to-toe with Dr. Destroyer and expect to win, right? I might delay him enough to allow friends to deal with him, but I'm being realistic."

Kat steps in out of the heat and humidity, her cotton candy pink hair tied up in a pony tail. She's supposed to be at work, but she's technically under Doctor Faraday's supervision today, which basically means she can take long breaks until he summons her. She's dressed in a pink tank top, jeans, and sneakers. Layered over her tanktop is a long sleeve black fine mesh shirt, and a pair of thin black gloves despite the heat. What she needs now is an ice blended coffee!

Griffin's senses pick up Kat just as she arrives, her glowing energy pattern as clearly as if someone had taken a highligther to her energy patterns. His smile widens even before he sees her, which might be a moment since his back is to the door.

"Haha- I know. But it was too perfect to let that turn of phrase go." He replies. "I admit I was a little cocky getting into it but he laid that to rest right quickly. He had it all- besides height anyways."

He turns, putting his elbow on the chair next to him as he turns to take a look at his Handwarmer+.

Wade doesn't pick up on Copycat immediately like Griffin does. Though his attention is brought to her when the other man at his table turns to take a look.

Stella usually calls her order in ahead of time and with one of the workers getting her order ready a blur stops just before the door and she walks inside to pay with her PDA. Drink seems to be some sort of super sugary lemonade type thing and a dozen cookies. "Thanks"

Copycat is peeking about for an empty table when a pair of golden eyes and a familiar face cause her to stop search. Caught offguard at running into him unexpectedly, she offers a little wave and a smitten, shy smile. The sort of smile one gives their crush. She slips around a few tables towards her Handwarmer+ and his friend. "Oh, hi! I didn't expect to see you this early." She did say she'd be at work. And now she's not. She just hopes she doesn't get caught or called on about it.

Wade glances over at Stella when he sees the blur in his peripheral vision, "Hmm." He turns his attention back to the couple, and says to Griffin, "Who's your friend?"

Griffin is just happy to see her not thinking of alibis and the like- especially since it seems she hasn't seen the news about him snagging a space shuttle moments before an out of control satellite caused a disaster of sub-Overlord proportions.

"I figured I'd grab a smoothie before heading to assist a search in the Colorado Rockies." Griffin says. "They just got started, so I figured I'd give them some time to establish a perimeter and what not." He explains openly.

He turns back to Wade with a proud smile and says, "Wade- meet my girlfriend. Katrina."

Grififn minds his civic duties while watching Stella's energy pattern with his energy sense. He doesn't beleive he's ever met this person before so he 'watches' carefully..

Wade nods to Copycat with a smile on his face, "Nice to meet you, Katrina."

Copycat blushes as she's introduced as Griffin's girlfriend while he's in his hero gear. But this is supposed to be a safe cafe for metas. As much as they try not to make it public that they're more than patrol partners (or more than hero and his sidekick) so villains don't use that to their advantage, the superhero couple do a really bad job of keeping their secret.

"Nice to meet you, too. You can just call me Kat," Kat says as she extends her gloved hand for a handshake.

Wade smiles and shakes Kat's hand, "I'm Wade Lockwood. I also go by 'Victory'." He chuckles. "I'm jealous. My girlfiend has been out of town for longer than I really want to think about."

Stella idly gulps down some of the drink as she looks around for a place to sit. That said to his energy sense she comes off as very unusual, although by just the visual spectrum it's pretty easy for her to pass for human to casual inspection.

Griffin is just too proud not to say or imply something sometimes. He's got it bad for Copycat despite their physiological 'difficulties'.

The Sentinel looks aghast at that. "So what's the deal with that? Not enough frequent flier miles?" He asks playfully as he pushes out a chair for Copycat- he uses the opportunity to look at Stella with his eyes with a cursory glance. Though with his rapid vision what seems a cursory glance is really quite the inspection.

Wade chuckles. "She'd be upset if you heard her say that about her. No, she's just busy. She's a trainer with Starguard, and goes around to various facilities to help train the local agents."

Wade says, "Wait...if she heard you say that about her. That's what I meant."

Wade shakes his head, "Not enough caffiene yet." He smiles and takes another sip of his drink.

Copycat slides into the chair next to Griffin, smiling up at the tall man before she looks back to Wade, also looking apologetic. "Aww, I'm sorry to hear that. Even just my short trips are kind of rough," she mentions, leaving out the fact that her trips aren't that short where the Quantum Mechanic is concerned. All across space and time, and being able to return close to when she left, means she spends more time away than she admits to Griffin. She looks over the menu and taps on an order of a white chocolate mocha frap.

Griffin chuckles before explaining, "I just meant, I'd happy give you a lift- both ways. No reason you two should be apart considering how connected the world is these days. If its a matter of timing or distance... well it's not with me. So..." He trailing off as he looks to Copycat, taking a sip of his smoothie- his glowing eyes clearly just for her as Stella finds a seat.

The Quantum Mechanic is definitely running behind- having meant to call Kat over 20 years ago (relative time) but he's currently trapped between universes lost and locked away by an ancient enemy.

Wade nods. "It's just timing, honestly. Work is keeping us both busy. That's all."

"Ah, well, work can do that sometimes," Kat sympathizes. She notices Griffin looking at her, and ends up glancing back to him and offering up a sweet smile. She gets lost there for a moment before suddenly realizes something. "Oh, but I'm interrupting. So what were the two of you talking about before I sat down?"

Stella cant help but overhear something about work as she was heading for a table and blurts in "Oh yeah work usually does suck doesn't it... It helps when it doesn't take up all your time"

Wade shrugs and smiles. "Just some sort-of current events. Overlord, and the alien guy who showed up after the fact to challenge those who had beaten the Overlord."

Griffin nods at Wade's words as he and Kat lock eyes for a moment. "Well, offer still stands. We SuperSoldiers gotta stick together." He says with a smile as he turns back to Wade.

"Yup. We were just talking shop- namely, Zyzzryx? Umm... this little guy who came knocking just after the Overlord was carted off. I'm sure I told you about it- the weird little guy with the riddles who punched like a whole line of Mac trucks?" He says, following Wade up to answer Kat, trying to remember if he actually did mention that rumble for all the glory.

"If you've got a job that doesn't take up all your time, you better hold on to it for dear life." Griffin says with a warm and welcoming smile towards Stella, trying to see if he can place the face.

Copycat suddenly sits up, very attentive at that. "Noooo, you didn't mention that," Kat says with a worried glance between the two of them, then settling on Griffin with some ...not quite accusatory, but there are answers wanted in that look. "What happened??" she asks both of them.

Wade checks his watch, "I'm afraid I need to get going, personally. I need to be back to the base to teach a class." He smiles, "You'll have to get the story from him." He gets to his feet, "Nice chatting with you."

Stella nods a bit to Griffin and smiles "Well you know when going from here to Austrailia takes you less than a second you usually end up with a lot of spare time... Then again I tend to have an extra 8 hours a day over most people though since this body doesn't require sleep so even when I do the superhero thing from time to time it really doesn't hurt my overall free time that much"

Copycat looks to Griffin instead as Wade leaves, all attention and expectation on him to explain this Challenger.

Ghost steps into the coffee shop, making her way to the counter to order a mint green tea.

Copycat is sitting next to Griffin as one of the server drones drops off her white chocolate mocha frap. She reaches for it blindly, taking a few times to grab it, then brings it up to her mouth to take a sip, her eyes never leaving Griffin as she waits for answers.

Griffin nods to Wade giving a half salute to 'Victory' as he leaves. "Catch you later, Lockwood." He says before turning back to Stella and Kat.

Stella is taking a seat near by, and Kat and Griffin are sitting at a table.

He answers Stella, "I know a bit about that, but I'd reckon you're leagues faster than me if you're making it to Austrailia in less than a second." He plays down his own speed for numerous reasons, strategic and otherwise. Mostly just because he's humble, not conniving.

"His name was... Zyerix? Zuelix? ZuXX! That's it." He says as he snaps his fingers as it comes to him. "He was a tiny little thing. His ship was... it was about as big as this room- max." He might be exadurating the size because this guy was small.

Kat nods slowly as she sips her drink and listens. "And this tiny guy came to do what exactly?" she prompts for more details, trying to stay calm and collected instead of letting her worry show on the outside.

"Challenge the Earth's 'Mightiest'." Griffin says before adding, "For 'Glory'. He said that Earth was known now and he came to take the glory Earth's champions acquired by defeating the Overlord by defeating us himself. But- he turned out to be a rigtheous little dude. A bugman of his word." He nods before taking a drink of his smoothie. Kat knows he's leaving something out. Something she would would worry about.

Ghost's ears twitch as she overhears every word spoken. Collecting her tea she goes over to the table where the heroes are seated. "Hello. I wonder if I might join you and listen?" she asks.

Copycat stares at Griffin in exasperation as he leaves out more critical details, still slurping her frappe. "So a guy who thinks he can take out the people who took out the Overlord came to defeat someone? What do you mean righteous? Do you mean in that old fashioned slang you use, or literally righteous?" Kat asks, feet tapping as she fails to hide some of her worry. She wants to know. She really wants to know. And before she knows it, her body changes without her consciously intending to. Suddenly Griffin is staring at his twin, foot still tapping while he slurps and waits for answers. But then, memories start to flood in bit by bit. Mostly of this morning's conversation to start, and moving backwards. Griffin-Kat hasn't noticed the change though.

Ghost stares as Copycat morphs into Sentinel's twin. And even she, with Elven Second sight cannot tell the difference.

Stella shrugs a bit and guesses if people are going to engage her in conversation she'll join their table if permitted. As for speed that's pretty much her main thing "Probably, it really is hard to find people close to me in terms of pure speed" she admits "But you know delivering things super fast does help pay the bills"

This is the kind of thing that happens being a public hero and honestly its not something Griffin hates. He likes being a hero to some degree- especially since duty is so important to him. The SuperSoldier glances apologetically to Kat but he needs the extra cover for what he's about to describe next.

"So here we are, three deep, side to side. Spirit & Dreamgirl, a couple of StarGuard's best- but, come on. Spirit's the commander for a reason." He says with a bit of admiration in his tone. "Alright, alright! I'm getting to it!" He says, answering her question and kicking his story up a notch- but not in time it would seem.

"I mean he was an awesome guy- I'd say human, but he... he wasn't biologically. Otherwise, I'd buy him a drink 9 days out of the week- if there was a bar on Earth that could take his footsteps." Griffin says being sure to be clear since he and Kat often have this language barrier. A couple of years in the future isn't nearly enough to get him to shift his slang into the modern era.

He says a couple of outdated words in rapid succession as he finds himself face toface with CopyGriffin.

He sighs, looking over to Stella. "You're welocme to join us too. Us two too." He smirks as he cuts eyes at his other half and self. "Well you might as well finish the story now."

Griffin (Original Flavor) takes a sip of his strawberry banana smoothie.

Ghost makes a mental note to speak with Stella after the story is told. But at the moment she continues to listen.

Stella smiles and takes a seat at the table with the others and peers at the duplicate Griffin "Interesting" she comments as listens to the story.

"But then we realized, as the ship broke the line of the mountains that it was less than a mile away. Now, I thought it was crazy to hold the line- but we stood our ground as the ship closed in with Spirit taking point. We worked out DG was going to take point if things went South- which, they already had considering we were in the Antarctic again. Less than 1 click from where the Overlord's chair sat."

CopyGriffin reaches over and takes a sip of Griffin's smoothie before continuing. "The ship came down and the Earth- I kid you not, couldn't hold it up, a little beachball of a ship. This thing left a crater in the ground three-block around. Then the doors opened..."

"So here we were- DG & Commander Parrault- as this ship thunders onto the scene, looking so distant but closing way too fast. We were there because a call went out all across the face ot the Earth- I guess not every one heard it or could respond if they did. So it was just the three of us." CopyGriffin says as if he were retelling an old fisherman's tale. CopyGriff will think to Old Man Winchester who used to tell stories to any who'd hear 'em, always in the coffee shop in the only convienence store they ever visited on the rare occassion his family went to town each year.

"But then we realized, as the ship broke the line of the mountains that it was less than a mile away. Now, I thought it was crazy to hold the line- but we stood our ground as the ship closed in with Spirit taking point. We worked out DG was going to take point if things went South- which, they already had considering we were in the Antarctic again. Less than 1 click from where the Overlord's chair sat."

CopyGriffin reaches over and takes a sip of Griffin's smoothie before continuing. "The ship came down and the Earth- I kid you not, couldn't hold it up, a little beachball of a ship. THis thing left a crater in the ground three-block around. Then the doors opened..."

Ghost unconsciously leans forward as she get gripped by the story-telling.

Griffin (OF) nods as CopyGriff's rendition rings true before continuing along, leaning on his ability to stay cool under pressure to hide the surpise he's feeling over Kat's sudden and seemingly unprompted change. "and with a thunderous opening introduction, ZuXX stepped out. He demanded his challenges be met head on. But these weren't the kind of challenges you'd expect someone sending out telepathic waves over the Earth demanding a challenge of champions."

CopyGriff picks up the next bit as more of Griffin's memories fill in the blanks.

"He read our minds or something ... and when I say 'our' I mean yours, mine, hers, everyone. So he could meet us on our terms. Now I say he was lucky, wearing a shield that totally made him energy proof because of three combatants but maybe we were lucky too that day because in hindsight I can't imagine how he came up with what he did. Three challenges- plucked from the collective mind of all the sentients on Earth."

Ghost listens, and when there's a pause she says, "Go on," with eager encouragement.

Stella listens and nods a bit "So he was able to read the minds of everyone that's kinda crazy... I mean think of how many people should be in the nuthouse and he's getting ideas from them?"

"That's what I thought too, I mean- we deal with some real wackos. But its also a good reminder that people are good deep down. Collectively, we felt that riddles & art were worthy challenges- worth our collective honor & some ... 'glory'." Original Griffin says to Stella before he continues. As te pair of Griffins get into the story more they both sit up a bit straigther in their seats, but only CopyGriff slides to the front of her seat. "The first challenge..." CopyGriffin speaks up in a murmur, not realizing it. "Riddles."

"That's right. Riddles. Which... what?! I came expecting a fight- so I came with my game face set to full-auto, so I was struck dumb right there on the spot. But we came through. We each got one Riddle from ZuXX, and we in turn got to give our own." Griffin says before grabbing his smoothie and taking a drink.

CopyGriffin's eyes glow a bit brigther as the story continues s/he says (even using Griffin's outdated slang), "Somehow, we came through. Two to Three. Clutch."

"One Match down. So we're doing pretty good right. Still in it for all the marbles." Original Griffin says in quorum. "Two to go. Next up- Art. Now I bowed out to this one and I'm glad I did. Spirit stepped up for that and his work- I can't give you too many details considering the subject of his art, it was... personal. Still, let me tell you it was magnificent. ZuXX though- he had it all, but appearantly not an eye for art."

CopyGriffin laughs. "Oh- not even a bit. He made a xerox of DreamGirl. Well 3D, but it was just a photographic type copy. Nothing special about it." S/he answers before her inner self can even pose the question thats on everyone's minds.

Ghost clicks her fingers. "So that's what it was about." She says is clear sudden realisation.

Griffin looks to Ghost in surprise before inquiring, "Oh? What was 'what' about?"

Ghost explains, "One of my operatives was at Starguard recently. When he returned to the Embassy he reported that while he was there he was asked to judge between two items of art. What you just described tallies with what he reported to me."

Ghost smiles, "Oh, I haven't introduced myself as yet have I? Warleader Ghost at your service. Field Commander of the Princess Guard Team."

The Colonial Bay Sentinel smiles, having heard of the team working out of Undermoon. His own look of recognition passes over his face. "Pleasure to meet you, ma'am." Both Griffins say in unison as they stand and offer their hand.

They both laugh awkwardly.

Original Griffin says earnestly, "Well your agent told you right. That's how it went down."

CopyGriffin smiles and says, "Small world."

Ghost stands and bows to each Sentinel. Then shakes hands with them.

Stella gulps down more of her sugary lemonade drink and ponders "So some dude with little artistic talent came by and challenged people to an art off?" she rubs her head

Griffin(s) nod. "That's about the right of it, but he was all about fairplay." Original Griffin says before CopyGriff echos with, "A rigtheous little dude- I get it."

"Then- what we had all waited for arrived. 'Battle'- the third and final challenge. He wanted us all to take him, and honestly with that field of his Spirit and I were knocked down a couple of pegs. No lazers, no pulse waves- half our output. But DreamGirl held the line, wearing some incredible blows. One after the other as he bounced about. He was small and nimble, but after I caught a left hook..."

CopyGriffin gasps as she 'remembers' Griffin coming to in a Griffin-shaped hole in the side of a mountainside.

"...I knew he wasn't to be trifled with and I had to sit in awe of DG's defense. You could hear the battle from where I was- honestly, I think its what woke me up. The sound of them battling and the ground rumbling. It was like the Earth was rattling itself apart." Original Griffin says as he continues.

With that gasp and the "getting" of the rigtheous part, CopyGriffin seems to suddenly realize s/he's not the OG (Original Griffin). There's a moment of confusion on his face as he slowly lowers himself down in his seat to try and sort out his memories and identity and put them all in the right boxes. THEN he can figure out when he actually changed.

Ghost has been listening intently. "It sounds as if this alien ZuXX was an honorable opponent. So, he lost all three of the challenges? How did he take that result?"

"I wish I could say that were true, but this ZuXX was truly mighty in every sense of the word. I rushed back to the fight, and between the three of us we got some good lick in..." The Original Griffin says with a noble honesty. "We went round for a while. I guess the US Geological Society registered the fight in seismometers all the way in Boulder. They say the battle only lasted 9 minutes." But Griffin knows it felt like far longer.