Rock 'Em Sock 'Em [Dr. Dressler, Dustin Waugh]

A clear and cloudless Brazilian summer afternoon over the town of Paraty, about 100 miles South-West of Rio de Janeiro. The sounds of panic and fear from the streets as everyone clears a path. A young woman thrown through the air at breakneck speed, hurtling like a beanbag over herself before crashing into the side of a 3-storey white stone building. Hard.

The woman passes through the other side of the building as quickly as she entered, smashing through a red-painted granite storefront like a cannonball in the streets behind, before hitting the cobblestone bricks. Her body tears up rock and dirt like a plow tilling a field, losing momentum before finally tumbling to a stop at the base of a historic hotel, hitting the wall hard enough to shake the place. As crumbs of century-old stonework trickle onto the girl’s body from the hotel’s bashed wall, she slowly pushes herself up off the ground with both hands, head spinning.

“Ow.”

Cleopatra rises to her knees, before getting up onto her feet and grabbing her bearings. The tall chocolate-skinned young woman is dressed for the summer, bare-foot and wearing knee-length white cargo shorts with a bright blue belly tee wrapped tightly around her upper body. Her hair is shaved punk-like on the right side of her head, letting her wavy, snow-white curls tumble to the left side of her face. Of course, all of this would look a damn lot nicer had she not just been knocked through half a neighbourhood: Her top and shorts are torn up, her hair is peppered with smashed pebbles and her smooth, toned skin is smeared with dirt and scrapes.

Cleo gives herself a quick once-over: Nothing broken. Nothing missing. No gashes. Good. She idly runs the back of her hand over her lips, wiping away a streak of blood as she narrows her gaze down the corridor of destruction her body has carved. To no one’s surprise, her opponent was quickly making its way towards her.

-----

24 hours earlier Cleopatra Wilde, aka Omni-Girl, was just another tourist soaking up the Brazilian sun. No identity and little money meant hotels were out of the picture, but when you can fly yourself through the air at supersonic speeds, a whole new world of vacation destinations opens up. She had touched down out of sight in some jungle-covered hills, then casually walked down to the beaches of Paraty to mingle. Hundreds of miles from Geneva, a world away from the Special Crisis Council, on a beach with tourists escaping the winter season... Cleopatra just wanted to let her hair down and overindulge in a little “me” time. And overindulge she did.

Eager to make introductions with party-goers and beach bums, Cleopatra was in full swing of things in no time flat. Swimming, dancing and playing during the daytime (albeit holding herself back to seem ‘normal’) then eating, drinking and singing around the fire at night, Cleo spent her first day in Paraty riding on the generosity of her new friends. A blissful night’s sleep under the stars and a hangover-free next morning (thank you, superhuman recovery!) found her in even higher spirits, where she decided to head into the town proper and sightsee this old colonial city.

The old town of Paraty was set up as a historic spot for tourists and locals alike to enjoy, where the old world’s architectural designs around colonial Portugal were preserved. Cleo was window shopping in the town’s market square when trouble began: People in the streets paused and looked to the sky awe-struck. That awe quickly turned to terror as a massive metal man fell from the the heavens, smashing violently into the streets near Omni-Girl. Standing 20 feet tall with spiked vice-grip hands, bendable telescoping arms, sleek rounded plating covering its frame and topped with a transparent half-dome holding sensors which glowed sinister red, the robot resembled a gritty reboot of an old B-Movie classic.

Omni-Girl spun to face the machine, wide-eyed with surprise. “What the hell...?!” She exclaimed as the mechanical man stood itself up and quickly transfixed its optics upon the white-haired superhuman. Without a moment’s hesitation the robot stomped straight towards Omni-Girl, causing the able-bodied on the streets to flee while one older man could only look in shock as the giant’s stone-crushing feet drew closer.

“Watch out grandfather!!” Omni-Girl cried in Portuguese as she rushed full-tilt to intercept. The girl had just enough time to push the man out of death’s way before the robot interrupted her with a  massive KICK, sending Omni flying with a loud metallic KRONGG! Omni-Girl reeled in pain as she sailed through the air on a crash-course with a white stone building...

-----

The robot’s heavy metal footfalls draw closer, and through the wreckage Omni-Girl catches glimpses of the sinister black metal attacker. On the streets around her gawkers are snapping photos and calling the police. “GET OUT OF HERE!!” Omni-Girl shouts. “Do you want to be KILLED?! Run! RUN!!” The people flee down the streets and into the hotel, leaving her alone to face down her opponent.

“Bad mistake, tin man.” Omni mutters under her breath as she digs her heel into the ground and clenches her fists, a coiled spring ready to fire. As soon as the robot rounds the corner of the wreckage Omni-Girl flies at its exposed chest, fist pulled back to deliver a steel-shattering haymaker - and is suddenly blindsided by a thunderous burst of explosive force! Omni hits the ground and rolls to a stop some 50 feet away, body smoking from the sudden rush of heat.

“Aaagh...!” She winces, rising to her feet and gritting her teeth. Her robotic opponent had turned to face her, and down the street past it was ANOTHER dome-topped black-clad mechanoid, an identical copy to the first, with its arm extended and open vice grip glowing red-hot from having fired a potent energy cannon.

“Two against one, huh?” She quips, moments before the lead robot’s arm shoots forth a mess of twisting steel wires! Caught off guard, Omni-Girl is entangled in the mass of industrial steel cables, wrapping around her arms, legs, waist and neck to keep her restrained.

“If you bring... One more... You might... Have a chance!” She gasps between breaths as the cables constrict her tighter...

Long leathery wings glided effortlessly on the ever flowing wind currents high above the South American continent. Dr. Dressler soared as a pterodactyl well outside of the view of the populace below. From so high up, he could not even see the little ants scurrying across the earth. But their hills, their skyscrapers and monuments to themselves stood in testament to the fact that they were indeed still there. A shame. They seemed to think that all was well. Humanity had the dillusional belief that it was at the top do the food chain, some sort of apex predator. A laugh escaped through Dressler's elongated beak at just the thought. No, humanity was a dying animal rotting from the inside. And the world was responding, extraordinary men and women were emerging from the remnants of a former super power. Humans had had their time in the sun, and now the great turmoil of evolution was taking place. A dominant race would emerge from the ashes of the human race and Dressler intended to be the one at the top.

Suddenly the man's musings were broken by a rush of air above him. The vertebrae in his neck rapidly changed to be like those of an oversized owl as he roared his head 180 degrees to look above himself. A large metal automaton was rapidly descending upon him like some sort of man made meteor. Acting quickly, Dressler's long glider like wings sprouted feathers where once they hand been tight skin, their bone structure becoming that of a Peregrine Falcon with a six foot wingspan. Tucking the new wings to his body he spun rapidly to the right while simultaneously diving. The construct passed within mere feet of him as he fanned his wings outwards to stop the roll but continue his dive.

Hurtling towards the earth fromthebimmense height, his eyes became those of an eagle, their telescopic properties allowing him to view just what it was that had tried to clip his wings. It was a hulking testament to the very human hubris his mind had just been mulling over. This was the sort of thing humans created, engineering their own destruction almost as a pastime. Let them destroy themselves if they want he thought, still racing like a bullet through the sky towards the thing. But an infringing on me cannot go unpunished!

At once Dressler no longer appeared like a thunderbird. Instead his wings folded back into his body, their musculature stretching out into his limbs and torso. The feathery covering he had just worn receded into sharp grey scale-like protrusions of limpet teeth covering his entire body. Then he would begin to curl around himself, the grey stoney limpet teeth forming a thick mockery of an armadillo she'll over his rapidly changing body. As he curled into a spinner razor coated ball his insides churned and bulged, producing an abundance of sulphuric acid. Vents like the ink sputters of a squid would open up in tiny slits between the limpet teeth along his back. An audible hiss came from his spinning form as the dull orange acid coated his spinning form and flung from his body. All this happening in the moments before colliding with the second automaton on the ground, he was confident that it would not survive the impact. But little did he know of the second metal man, and the woman that it currently has caught within its grasp.

(OOC: these robots are your NPCs so ill let you decide how Dressler's attack fares against them and whether or not it even hits)

After getting laid off of work a week ago, Dustin has been over the border.... Well a few all the way down in Brazil having himself a fantastic vacation which surprisingly is all being paid for thanks to the generosity of a man he saved from getting destroyed by a falling car. He did not care for the man's wealth or luxuries, but it was never to often that he could be in one of the most traveled to sight seeings in the world. What city in Brazil other than Rio itself. It was a marvelous sight and the old buildings mixed sort of like harmony with the nature around it.

He looked around as the birds would sing and the people walked about. Tourist with their cameras, Hawaiian shirts and multitude of belongings. Although he was not the same when it came to appearance; as he had on his favorite black cargo pants, with a random Beatles shirt that he would get random thumbs up for. He would almost tear when people paid respects seeing as they respected the music quality. He also wore rubber converse that he ended up buying before his trip with left over money.

He stretched as he turned to a hotel and proceeded to walk in and go to the front desk. This hotel must be in its centuries because of the arts work and the poor quality of its building structures, but at the same it was a nice 4 star hotel that was very popular.

I would like one room please and please send the billing of all cost to this address. (handing over the paper to the attendant.)

Umm... Uh si senor. I will bill charges. Room 204 and thanks for ,being with us.

This guy obviously was practicing his English as his speech was broken and his flow of words became jumbled up with a mixture of Spanish and native tongue. At the very least he was trying, but that was more than Dustin could say since he only knew English.

----

After an hour went by he could of figured he was much more tired, but it turned to be a consistency of being off track.

{{{Crasssshhh}}}

"What?" Dustin thought in a panic as his reflexes were revamped. He looked towards his wall where he seen a nice hole or crater where something struck. As he peered through the hole of another building he could see a giant metal robot. What the what? Does this thing know I'm a meta human? It did not matter for his answer was given to him real quick. A human figure jumped from the base of the building towards the metal giant, but it did not work as two guns came off the robot and shot her down. That must have been a laser gun or a rail gun, but what ever it was it seemed serious.

The hole was made and he used his ability to form a plat form under his feet levitating him closer to the scene, but more trouble. There was another one and it had wrapped cords of electrical wire around the person. Dustin knew if he helped it would just be bad for him and maybe lead to the end of the current city. He had to act just in case the were after to destroy the city and she was trying to stop them.

One eye filled with darkness while the other glowed white and with a move of his hands and accuracy he shot this wave like disc the the electrical cords in the attempt to cut and free her so he could help fight them.

Dr. Dressler’s newly-sculpted body smashes straight into the back of the robot furthest from Omni-Girl, striking like a wreckingball and collapsing its hardened armour plating inwards! As Dressler rebounds off with the force of the impact, the fighting machine stumbles forward, kicking one leg out to catch itself before falling face first in the streets. The thing almost topples completely, but with surprising speed both the robot’s bendy arms aim downwards and shoot out like a pair of telescoping poles, pushing off the ground and righting the robot back onto its heavy metal feet!

Splashes of Dressler’s potent sulphuric acid are smeared around the point of impact on the robot, but the chemical’s brown-orange colour is curiously shifting to a strange light blue-green hue. In a few brief seconds it seems the acid has mixed with some basic chemical compound, producing a harmless bright blue paste! Dr. Dressler’s scientific background lets him easily deduce that the plating may be coated with a neutralizing chemical solution - perhaps even mixed into the paint - though if that’s the case, the machine’s internals would likely NOT be treated with the same coating.

But speculation will have to wait. The moment it is standing upright the robot’s upper body quickly twirls 180 degrees with a mechanical *vrrRRrr!* to face Dressler, keeping its broken back plating out of reach. The advanced sensors within the robot’s transparent dome head flicker briefly as they analyze this new target, before opting for the most universal of answers when dealing with organic pests: A small panel around the robot’s collar pops open, revealing a short stubby nozzle which sprays a violent stream of napalm-hot FIRE towards Dressler!

-----

Dustin’s energy disk violently cuts through the narrowest section of cables between the girl and the machine, producing a shower of sparks and a loud chorus of sn-sn-sn-sn-SNAPPING sounds as the steel coils are severed! The separated lengths of wire clatter noisily onto the street beneath Omni-Girl, while the ends still attached to the robot quickly retreat into panels along its extended arm.

With the cables finally giving her some slack, Omni-Girl BURSTS free of their grip and swiftly sprints over towards Dustin. She plants her bare feet down on the cobblestone and, while facing down the machine with her fists raised to fight, speaks to her rescuer.

“Thanks for the hand,” Omni-Girl says, eyes still fixed on the robot, “but I hope you and your friend know what you’re getting into.” The young woman clearly thinks Dustin and Dr. Dressler are on the same team. The robot closest to Omni-Girl and Dustin takes a moment to appraise its situation, re-evaluating its approach with the arrival of a new target. This gives Omni and Dustin a precious moment of time to make their own plans.

“These things are Directive Taskmasters, automated fighting machines designed to take down metahumans.” Omni explains as fast as she can. “They’re walking toolboxes of weapons, chemicals and crazy systems that can adapt their strategy on the fly. They’re relentless, deadly and - as much as I am kicking myself over it right now - probably here for me.”

Omni takes a quick glance up and down the street, assessing their surroundings. “The Directive doesn’t give a damn about collateral damage, if we fight here it’s going to be a disaster. We’ve gotta lead them out of town... So, how fast can you fly?” she asks Dustin.

THUNK! The sound of Dressler's solid exterior echoed inside the sealed chamber of his shell as he made solid contact with the machine. He could feel the teeth of his shell scrape against the solid metal as he ricocheted from its surface. It was clearly durable, more so than he had expected. Good. Dressler enjoyed a challenger, but he needed to know exactly the kind of damage he had done.

Rapidly unfolding himself, Dressler's arms and legs would extend, a membrane of stretched skin between them like a flying squirrel. He captured the wind like a parachute as his eyes zeroed in on the hull of the mechanized attack dog. He had made a sizable dent, even scraped away the things paint job and knocked it to its knees but he had not breached its armor. Even more curious, where his acidic payload had made contact there appeared to be forming some sort of blue-green substance forming. That meant there was copper in the thing, probably in some sort of neutralizing compound. Excellent Dressler thought, a wicked smile streaking across his now beastly face.

But already the droid was recovering, pivoting its torso in a full 180 to face him. He waited, hovering in the air above the thing as he awaited its move. A few beeps from behind its clear head paneling and a nozzle was produced from its collar. Pull whatever trick you... he began as a thick jet of fiery napalm erupted from the nozzle. Pathetic was his only thought as he chuckled, his body doubled over the thickness of his limpet teeth scaled armor as every cell in his body fundamentally changed. He now possessed the properties of a thermophile, capable of not only surviving but thriving at temperatures that would flash fry any other organism.

As the flames engulfed him, he basked in their heat, noting the pleasant feeling of comfort it now brought to his modified cells. And now fully enveloped he would once more dive, this time headlong at the opened nozzle. The flesh about his neck would stretch and distend, clearly accommodating some large structure within. He now possessed a human sized version of the giant Palm salamander's ballistic tongue, considered by some to be the strongest muscle in the animal kingdom, capable of extending to its full length three times faster than the blink of an eye. As an added bonus, he created a radula at its end, capable of shearing solid stone with no effort at all.

As his mouth opened the terrifying projectile weapon was already loosed upon his enemy. It was aimed straight down the nozzle producing the flames that both engulfed and concealed him. If on target, the radulated tongue would tear straight into the open passageway to the interior of the automaton. It had unknowingly opened itself to Dressler, and he intended to take full advantage of such a grave error.

Dr. Dressler’s transmogrified tongue bullseyes the exposed nozzle gushing forth blazing napalm, its sinewy mass able to writhe beneath the Taskmaster’s hardened outer plating and reach vulnerable internal systems! Quick to react to this intrusion, the robot ceases spewing white-hot fire and attempts to snap the plated lid closed over the nozzle, forcefully severing Dressler’s extended muscle if it can.

Processing several potential outcomes at once, the Taskmaster does not allow this sudden strike to knock it onto the defensive. The machine reaches skyward and, from hidden slots along its right arm, shoots forth a twisting, twirling mass of reinforced steel cords at Dressler`s body and tongue! At the same time, the vice grip at the end of the robot's opposite arm closes into a pointed triangle position, before beginning to SPIN at a violently fast pace and transforming into an industrial-grade drill! If able to grasp its target and reel him close, the Taskmaster plans on putting Dr. Dressler’s protective natural armour through a VERY intense stress test!

-----

Omni-Girl stands at the ready in case their mechanical opponent makes a sudden sprint for Dustin. As the man charges his attack, Omni does a double-take at the dual orbs merging into a singular destructive bolt. “Hey! Be caref-”

Before she finishes Dustin FIRES, the shot sweeping towards the Taskmaster and hitting it dead-on! There is a resonating KLONG! of metal plating being crushed as the robot is hurled unceremoniously into the air, Dustin’s energy sphere in hot pursuit. Omni-Girl watches for a moment, before grinning. Idea!

“Change of plans. Keep it on him!” Omni-Girl says to Dustin as she begins floating off the ground under her own ability. A subtle golden glow sheathes the girls hands as her brilliant blue eyes shine with a hidden power. “Control your orb and try and pinball this jerk as high as you can into the air. If we time it just right, I can strike with a bolt of cosmic power exactly as you hit him for the mother of all energy blasts!”

With that, Omni-Girl rockets into the air with speed enough to sweep dust and debris into her slipstream, following behind Dustin’s dual-charged powerball.

Limpet teeth scraped against metal as the ballistic radula scoured the inside of the nozzle. With a heavy twinge down his tongue he felt the thing bottom out on the internals of the attacking machine and already he was beginning to change again. In one squelching fleshy pop his body would from its solid rocklike appearance to that of a pink almost liquid blob then turning itself inside out down the length of the long tongue but starting at his feet. They would pucker inwards, folding into the flesh of the legs and up through his torso as the legs did the same, all eventually folding inside the tongue.. Organs and flesh coiled in on themselves in a process similar to a sea cucumber expunging its internals but in reverse. And just as the automaton closed its hatch on the pipe, the last of Dressler's squishy body folded inward to the radula inside the machine.

The sounds coming from within the metal man would sound almost as though it had an upset stomach. Rumbling organic gurgles would echo inside if it as Dressler's body reorganized itself, unfolding organs and reconstituting bones. Even to Dressler whose firm could be so very fluid and ever changing in shape, the process felt unnatural, like reorganizing himself after being put in a blender. But he was inside now and needed to capitalize on his advantage.

Immediately the limpet spikes covering Dressler's now pink and spherical body elongated and sharpened, pointing out in all directions making him resemble some kind of man sized puffer fish from hell. Then in a quick burst his body expanded outwards, quintupling in size, the spikes driving forcefully outwards in all directions. To make matters worse, he was once more excreting the corrosive acid from earlier, hoping that the internal a of the thing would be far less protected against such attack. To ensure his own safety in the acid muk, his pink skin took on a smooth cinsitency, that of a cows stomach lining, ensuring that the acid would not eat away at himself as well. Surely he thought the adaptive machine cannot have prepared for something like this. All the while he felt his spiked exterior pressing against his confinement inside the thing by his ever expanding form. This foul machine would die by his hand, he was determined of that.

It was all going good now as his attack had made contact. It seemed to not bulge at first but with more effort he was able to lift the monstrous, metal beast into the air and the path he made for the girl was involuntary. It was good another hero knew how to fly.

He looked over as he seen the other guy slither on into the robots insides... Hmm? That would be more effective to take it down, but my ability is to destructive.

He thought to himself on how the guy was going to take the machine down but had to refocus. He let his ability explode to send the giant further into the air. It would give the girl enough time before it started to fall. Now all he had to do was ready another attack. Something with size and power. Since the robot would be out of population he could really let go on the destructiveness of the next attack.

He raised his hands in the air just like "The Spirit Bomb". Energy started to warp from his body and pour into the small sphere. Soon the size started swelling and the pitch black form gave it a lurking feeling of death. If you stared at it long enough the space around it became blurred like that of a black hole, but the ball had no gravity like pull.

About a few minutes later the ball looked as big as a skyscraper he was standing on. Gaining this much power should help the fight depending on if the other guy can handle the robot or not. He would just choose where to send the massive energy to.

The grounded Taskmaster’s reaching cables twist and twine where Dressler used to be, just missing the cunning doctor as his freshly-mutated body darts into the war machine’s exposed internals! Moments after the nozzle cover snaps shut, the robot seems to stumble and stagger strangely, beeping and clicking randomly while its arms jerk back and forth with no immediate purpose.

All at once the Taskmaster stops moving, accompanied by a low and sad whirrring which fades quieter and quieter as the machine’s onboard systems power down... Before suddenly EXPLODING outwards with a loud clattering of metal shards, crushed silicon and pulsing organic matter! The clitter-clank of junk and the occasional loud KLONK of reinforced metal armour plating is heard as pieces of the Taskmaster’s upper body rain down on the street, while its fairly sturdy lower body stands upright and stock still. Atop the remains sits Dr. Dressler’s round, spike-covered and acid-dripping body, looking like a bizarre, ocean-dwelling urchin walking around on a pair of far-too-small robotic legs.

Smashed to pieces, the Taskmaster robot is soundly defeated and no longer a threat of any kind. From windows and side-streets, curious gawkers peek out from safety to see whatever caused the rampaging robot to stop.

-----

The airborne Taskmaster spins and twirls erratically, thrusting jets of fire from its vice-grip hands, shoulders and feet to try and stabilize itself mid-air. By the time it managed to right itself, however, it was too late.

In hot pursuit, Omni-Girl flies skywards in the wake of the tumbling Taskmaster. Once a good thousand feet over the town she comes to a mid-air stop, the glowing golden energy wreathing her hands coalescing into a bead-like ball of light in each of her palms. Omni-Girl’s face has an intense look of concentration as the young lady gathers energy: She throws her hands out to her sides behind herself and then, opening her brilliant blue eyes wide, THRUSTS both palms forward! A crackling BOOOM of thunder rocks the sky as a piercing lance of burning cosmic force shoots forth from her joined hands!!

Had it the awareness or the footing, the Taskmaster would have carefully leaped aside from such an obvious attack. Having been punted into the air like a soccer ball by Dustin’s attack, however, the machine barely rights itself in time to raise its arms over its core in a desperate defensive maneuver. The cosmic beam cuts straight into the front of the Taskmaster and out the other end in a 3 foot-wide hole, continuing on to part the clouds miles away before trailing off into space. The robot seems to linger in the air for just a moment, before EXPLODING violently in a spectacular high-sky fireball, raining tiny bits of twisted metal and sizzling silicon across the town, beach and nearby jungle.

“BOOYEAH!!” Omni-Girl cries in excitement to no one in particular. “Critical hit motherfuckaaaaa!!”

Delighted with their success, Cleopatra quickly flies back down to the street in front of the hotel. Seeing the as-of-yet-unintroduced Dr. Dressler has things under control at the other end of things, Cleo swoops down with her hand raised to give Dustin a high five. “That was AWESOME! You and your friend showed up at the perfect time. Thank you!”

A loud BOOM would ring in Dressler's ears as he felt the bits of the machine around him explode outwards. His plan had worked and the thing had been unable to handle the internal onslaught. As he felt the debris clear around him, Dressler's form slowly coalesced back into its more human shape, well kept dress clothes and all. Spines and teeth and skin tone all reabsorbed back into his fully clothed body as he once more took in his surroundings. He currently stood on the waist of the mechanical thing, the rest of its body was strewn about in smoking rubble all around him. Meddlesome thing he thought, feeling satisfied with his victory over the machine. But he was somewhat puzzled as to why it had -- BOOM!

Another explosion rang out above him, identical to the one he had heard when his own automaton had been destroyed. Quickly his eyes turned to the sky, his skin rippling as it prepared to once more take on whatever shape he may need. High in the sky above him, he saw a form begin to rapidly descend from what must have been the aftermath of a fight with a second machine. Were they taking this city? He thought to himself with some concern. Hurriedly he looked about at the scrap bits and pieces of the robot upon which he stood, trying to find some indicating marker of who may have made them. There was no such luck, though he felt relieved to not see anything familiar among the rubble. For a moment, he had been worried that he may have foiled an attempt from Rise to take a city in his rush to anger. Then again, if they had wanted the city taken, he was assured they would have done it themselves, not sent some giant ridiculous and clumsy robots to do so. Besides, as far as he was aware, none of his colleagues were of the giant robot building type. Red he assumed was the closest but he seemed far more the man to do something in person, so his fears were quickly dismissed. That still however left him with determining just what was going on here.

Stepping down from the mechanized wreckage Dressler began to move in the direction of the flying woman and her compatriot on the ground. Almost immediately his eyes went to work, scouring over their DNA in search of just what he was dealing with. The man it seemed was an energy manipulator, with hazy connections to some ethereal force. Though vague and versatile, Dressler's interest quickly waned. The man it seemed was completely lacking in physical prowess, his metagene focused entirely on his manipulation of this strange energy over which he had control. Dressler was a man of science, of logic, the vaguely mystical had no place in his world view.

Stepping now within feet of the two, to join their little pow-wow, his eyes lit up as they went to work on the woman. She was young, extraordinarily so and the marks of tampering and manipulation danced all along her genetic code. It was a masterpiece of genetic ingenuity. She bore mutations similar to those caused to organisms exposed to high levels of radiation, bu the ways in which they had altered her were in now way harmful. The limits of her strength and durability were quite exceptional and in such a relatively compact form. He trembled with excitement as he gazed upon her, his mind already going to work with ways to use this wonderful lab grown metahuman. Realizing that he was probably eyeing her like a piece of meat, Dressler resumed a more civilized posture, straightening up his stance and naturalizing his gaze.

I've actually never had the pleasure he butted in in response to the woman's remark about himself and the man being friends.My name is Dr. Dressler he introduced himself to the two of them, offering a hand first to the man then the woman. Would either of you two mind explaining to me what exactly those things were? I just happened to be passing through when one of them fell from the sky and nearly landed on me. His tone was smooth and professional, as though what had just happened was simply another and day and that these were all perfect strangers having a pleasant spontaneous conversation. He gave no indication of his growing fascination with the girl.

As the woman flew into the sky she let out power that appeared like his own, but different in so many ways. It must have been something more on a unique quality to her like it was unique for someone to have his same power. With the strike of her ability to the robot,; she took the final hit for herself before it could come back down.

He still held his energy ball in his hand and decided to go to work. He targeted only large pieces of robot and vaporized before it could land in the city and cause massive damage. He looked around as he seen the guy looking at him, but Dustin was not worried as he was prepared to speak to them both. Although the girl best have more answers than they come to get me.

He shortened his fuse and capped his power so he would not burn excess stamina. The girl made it back first with open arms to greet him on their success. Being friendly he held up his hands and high fived her as well but did not mutter a word. he turned to see the other man coming over, and answering the girl about their friendship. Just as he said I dont know him... It was a stroke of luck that he was here otherwise it would have been just you and me. The building we stand on is actually the room i just bought to stay in... Oh yeah, he had forgotten his room and belongings.

Everything was probably destroyed in the process of the fight and the thought left him when he was so busy. He looked over to the woman and spoke, so would you mind filling us in on what these Taskmasters are as I recall you say? (((He DID shake the other guys hand, didn't put that in.)))

“Ooooohh,” Cleopatra says, nodding once slowly in surprise and understanding. She reaches out to shake Dressler’s hand, smiling brightly. “My bad! You both showed up at exactly the right time. I thought you were, like, a dynamic duo out on patrol or something! Nice to meet you Doctor, and I really appreciate the help.”

Cleo takes a step back, creating a little triangle between Dr. Dressler, Dustin and herself so the newly-acquainted strangers could talk. “My name’s Cle-I mean, Omni-Girl. I mean, Omni-Girl is my ‘name’ name,” she explains with the help of air quotes, “but my actual real person name is Cleo.”

“And those,” she gestures down the street to the scattered heap of ex-robot Dressler created, then once lazily to the sky behind her where Dustin had sent the other war machine airborne, “were Taskmasters, created and controlled by a group known as The Directive. In summary? They’re combat robots with a whole toolbox of weapons and tactics, designed for catching different types of metahumans. I thought they wouldn’t be tracking a place like this, but here we are," she explains somewhat vaguely. "I... Sorta have something The Directive wants, and they’re trying to get it back.”

“But hey!” she says with a smile, clapping her hands together once. “All in the past now, am I right? You guys kicked some serious ass! The way you morphed your body around was hella cool!” she says to Dressler. And you’ve GOTTA tell me how did you that slicing energy disk thing, mister... Uhhm...” she says to Dustin, only realizing now she didn’t actually know the young man’s name!

Dressler's interest was peaked. Not only did this girl possess extraordinary abilities but there was something in her that an entire organization had devoted considerable resources to just for her capture. What secrets wait to be discovered in you? he thought, excited by the thought of cutting her open and getting a good look underneath the hood. More importantly, this girl seemed to be the way to draw out the sort of group in which Dressler had a particular interest...metahuman hunters.

Usually these were the kinds of humans which loathed their own inferiority and attempted to make up for it with bold claims of protecting the world by eradicating the metahuman menace. These people were infants, terrified of what they could not control, neanderthals hiding in their caves grunting at the more advanced homosapians. They wished to halt evolution, to drag the rest o their kind down in to their own degenerate muck. It sickened him down to his core. Even more so now he needed to know about what this woman possessed and how exactly he could get his hands on it.

Hmmm and who exactly are this "Directive"? Dressler began, mulling over what he knew of other anti-metahuman Agencies around the world. And what exactly is it that they want with you? Or is it solely this "something" of theirs that you possess. He looked back over his shoulder at the smouldering debris as the man and woman remarked on the destruction. He had to admit he could never turn down a compliment on his abilities. After all, he was the most highly evolved thing on the planet, why shouldn't they recognize his superiority. It seems that if this organization is willing to invest such vast resources to get whatever it is of theirs back, it must be immensely valuable, perhaps even priceless.

It was not a topic that he liked but he did not mind a winning fight he could participate in every now and then. That is what landed his vacation. He looked around and started wondering how the robots knew where to go?

Maybe controlled or GPS... oh shit. He was about to ask something ,but was asked a question. Well if you watch older Japanese movies, people use chi to unleash a hidden energy to aid them in many things like keeping their body dry while in water. That or like me with explosive energy and energy materialization...

I have a question though. Those robots knew how to find you so would that not mean more are on the way and maybe more advanced or do they take a while to create them?

He planned to sight see, but if they needed to leave the city for a little while then they should hurry so no more destruction could be caused. He had a frantic look in his eye... We need to hurry and go if you think more are headed this way.

(((sorry for the late post been busy and its short)))