Catalysts: IC 2.0 Announcement in OP!

Aeron awoke from his slumber tired and sore, it seemed that his body had more or less fixed itself at this point and he was ready to go. He stood up from his spot on the ground and cracked his back and walked stiffly in circles. Now then, it should be time that he was leaving. No way he was staying here any longer.

He looked out into the city and looked about for anything to interest him. He could see absolutely nothing out of the ordinary - err.. Ordinary for the city. He crossed his arms and leaned against the balcony before letting out a loud whistle. He heard it echo. Such joys.. He had nowhere to stay before he met Nox. Then he started living in The Haunt. And now, here they were, in a penthouse. He returned to the inside and sat down on the large couch. "Time is running to its end."

She took her time to enjoy the bath. Eventually though, she decided to empty it, drying herself off carefully and putting a shirt on. The shedding skin had lifted more, but she preferred to remove it out of the water. Returning to the bed, she sat against the head and began sliding her fingers into the peeled off areas, lifting the skin off carefully.

"Basically," Rodney replied. "I can also become it if I feel like it. Evidently trying to draw interdimensional portals doesn't quite work out, though."

"If you've got some rubber bands or hair bands or something, might want to seal off the gloves and cuffs with them, just in case. The suit should hold pretty well, but heaven forbid something gets up inside there."

"I suppose I'll just have to be careful." Winter folded the suit for now - despite its heavy material, it was quite collapsible - and, draping it over her arm, turned to look at the police line once more.

"I think they're getting ready to head in soon. Still no word from the bee-man, though..."

Slowly building a pile of the bright green pieces, she now had a ring of fresh skin around her right leg. "Now, which way to work..." She started peeling down toward her knee. The skin there came away much faster, since it was used to being stretched out.

He had been brought to the White House! But what could the president want with him? He was ushered in to a lavishly furnished room, with a desk with two chairs on either side. He sat in one. Soon, the president himself came in! "You've been quite a thorn in my side, mister Cady."

"Well, I mean to help if I can. I take it you were going to do the same?" Rodney replied, sketching himself another suit. His wasn't going to include any separate pieces, or zippers, or any other sort of seams: no way in or out.

"Of course, of course. I feel it's important to clear the Catalyst label, or at least set the truth straight that not all of us are bad. So many people are hostile to metas these days."

Winter held the suit out in front of her, examining it. "Hmm... How exactly do we put these things on?"

"You've got a zipper on the back, but I don't. If anything's got elastic on it, put that on the outside so it cinches down on the other thing."

Rodney finished sketching and summoned his suit directly onto himself.

"Last time somebody did something crazy and evil like this, at least that I remember, the entire block got flamed to smithereens. Remember that?"

The president continued. "You are a very valuable asset. You are the most successful of our super-soldiers. You have succeeded in proving the worth of the Catalyst program. As such, I'm letting you go. You'll find your clothing and weapons outside."
Nox thought for a moment. "What's the catch?"
"You don't attack us anymore."
Nox considered it. "Fine," he said with a straight face. He was a good liar.

Winter, following Dali's instructions, was soon outfitted in the suit. Having no elastic parts on her person, she merely tucked the outfit's legs into her shoes.

"Hell yes I remember, I was right in the middle of it."

"However, do realize that catalyst-military integration will begin soon. So should you choose to resist..." He let it stand at that. He waved Nox out. The transport then took Nox back to the facility. He was sent in to another room to retrieve his stuff. Once he had retrieved his knives and clothes, he found his sword replaced by something new. It had a straight blade, angled to a tip on the bladed edge whereas the dull edge was completely straight. The hand guard was only two ridges in the nearly flat metal. He picked it up. It was light, an agile sword. It seeme sharper, too. Soon, he was on a helicopter to New Suffolk.

"I was in the middle of the second fireball, and I almost didn't – " Rodney paused, realizing what Bloom had said. "Wait, how are you alive? I got burned to a crisp, but you're unscathed!"

Winter gave a brief, humorless smile (Though not unfriendly) as she replied. "I heal things, sometimes they heal me back."

She turned away to face the police barricade, observing their movements, hoping that they would not notice the two lunatics in beekeeping outfits. "So you were in that, too, huh? I take it you got sent to the hospital...?"

"Yeah, I did. Then I snuck out and redrew myself. First body doesn't exist anymore, and I have no clue about anything in the last week. But you... hot damn, sounds like you had it relatively good."

Through the mesh of the hood, Bloom could probably tell that Rodney was impressed.

Ragnarok needed time to think... He needed time to be alone, to think about his actions. He stood up straight and left the hotel slowly, not alarming Steph, and vanished into the woods of the Island. He wouldn't be found until he wanted to be found.

((Last post for awhile.))

She finished peeling off the skin of her legs and looked around. Ragnarok has probably gone to check up on the others, pity that he'd miss the chance to help her remove the softer scales. Doing so, she found a nice container to keep the scales in, labelling it with the date, and put on a pair of green khaki pants. She took the moment to look at herself in the mirror. Her pregnancy bulge wasn't too noticeable, unless someone was taking the time to look, and was within a reasonable distance they'd probably dismiss it. Shrugging, she headed for the lift and went down to the lobby to hang around for a while.

The impression was mutual. "Wait - you drew yourself a new body? Just like that? That's amazing, mate."

She stopped to think. "Say... couldn't you just draw us up a whole army, right now? Maybe some bug spray...?"

"Thanks. It took me a week to draw myself in enough detail to work out, so it's hardly trivial. I mean, these suits still look like the surface I drew them on, so... I could try getting some backup, though. On short notice, I don't know how well I could..."

Rodney's voice trailed off as a lightbulb came on. He snapped his fingers and pointed at Bloom excitedly. "Bear."

"Ah... I see. So your animations are only as effective as they are detailed? That makes sense, I suppose."

At Dali's last word, however, Winter became quite perplexed.

"Bear? ...I don't follow."

"I have a bear. It's already drawn, and I have it here; you know, for getting mugged and stuff. If things go pear-shaped for the cops, we send in the bear and go in behind it.

You're right about the detail thing; I can make pretty much whatever that I know how, but it takes time. Want a knife? Sure, give me thirty seconds. Want a Humvee? That'll be a few hours, at least. But I've got the bear queued up."

"I... I see." Winter stood still for a few seconds, expression shrouded by the beekeeping suit, until it became painfully obvious that she did not see, at least, not entirely.

"But why a bear? Why not... Oh, I don't know, a robot or something? Wouldn't a bear just attack you, too?"

Rodney shrugged. "The bear was originally for me to just change into, not have as a backup player. My own stuff generally doesn't hurt me unless I do something stupid, like draw it so it blows up in my face. Besides, if it goes haywire, I'll just put it back on the page. But a robot, now there's an idea..."

It was an idea he'd have to use at some point, but not right now: he didn't have the time or space for it.

Winter nodded. "Oooooh, I get it. Heheh. Clever!"

A thought struck her. "Say... You're not with Nox and Ragnarok, are you? They've been hiring everyone they can find to assist in their plan. Well, every Catalyst, that is."