2014.05.07 - Costume Creation

Roberto da Costa considers himself fairly good with computers. The experiences of his formative years have been soundtracked by iPods, arranged over smart phones, and trained for in the Danger Room. But this? This is impossible. Frustrated, he kicks one of the lab supercomputers with a sneakered foot and blurts out a stream of Portugese profanity. "Just draw the outfit, he says. Just put it int the computer and it'll 3D print, he says. Easy for him to say. He just has to put on a speedo and turn into a popsicle whenever things get rough." The outfit on the screen appears to be a mishmash of armor and skinsuit, tailored for a being with over a dozen limbs and a five-dimensional fractal for a body.

And for the majority of Berto's costume creating extravaganza he was quite alone, but as he lets loose with that string of profanity, a familiar circular portal will appear within the confines of the super secret science lap within Xavier's.

From the depths of said stepping disk, two blonde figures will be spewed outward with just a tiny bit of force. First through the portal is a familiar blond young man and following him is a familiar blonde woman.

While there exit from the portal wasn't exactly smooth, Illyana only lands with the faintest of wobbles as she skids to a quick stop, saying once she's stable, "Hells bells, that was rough. Shouldn't have tried such a wild leap." Straightening the girl will brush imaginary dirt from her clothes, saying as she does, "Doug, you okay?"

And as she looks around it's about then that she realizes that they're not alone. Brows pinch for the briefest of seconds, before she realizes who's with them. At the sight of Berto, Illyana offers a quirk of a grin towards their former teammate, "Berto. It's been a long time."

"Yeah, I'm okay," Doug replies, as he stands up and dusts himself off. These trips off to Limbo really took a number on the system. Worse than the prototype teleporters, really.

Still, dusting himself off, looking up at the Portuguese profanity, Doug can't help but smile. "I don't think these computers have mothers, and anyway, really, what's the use, you really don't want to insert -anything- into them. Leave that for the experts."

At least the portal spewing his former teammates into the room is a reprieve from Berto's fruitless button-mashing. He whirls, one arm up to shade his eyes, and a look of alarm morphs into a broad grin as he recognizes the teleportation style. "Illyana! Doug!" he greets them as the portal closes, its glare dimming enough for him to recognize both faces.

"I'm about five seconds from inserting my fist straight through the screen." He pauses to huff out a few breaths, then continues more calmly, "That may have sounded better in my head. How are you both?" He grins and explains, mainly for Illyana's benefit, "I've only been back for a few weeks, and I haven't been around Xavier's for much of that."

Blue eyes will flick towards Doug, and the blonde will shake her head, as she says dryly, "Doug, sometimes you make it too easy, but, I'm just going to have to take it."

Clearing her throat dramatically, Illyana says with a wry tone to her voice and a smirk towards Doug, "Yes, Doug, only /you/ would know about what you can and cannot insert into a computer." Shaking her head, Illyana will then turn her attention back to Roberto as she says, "I wouldn't. You know how Doug is about all the computers here at Xavier's. They're his 'preciousnesses' and hurting them would definitely upset Dougie." Flashing another quirk of a grin towards the blonde boy, Illyana will continue, "But really, glad to see you around, Berto. It's starting to feel like the old team is coming back together again."

"All though, if that's your idea of a costume, we definitely have to have an intervention." She finishes with, as she critically eyes the multi-armed suit, "And perhaps a quick scan at the medbay. Last I recall you only had two arms not thirteen."

"Har har. So does Kitty," Doug rejoins, as he rolls his eyes, stepping to the side to regard Roberto's creation. "Man, that -would- make a great costume for Spider-Man or something, if he had that many arms."

"Anyway, if you're after a costume," the blond man goes on to continue, "I'd use one of the templates first and then build on top of that. And uh..." He regards the colors. "I'd -definitely- talk to a fashion designer first. And not Kitty."

The Brazilian grimaces, covering his eyes. "Don't even make me look at it. I was not cut out for fashion design. At least, not in this dimension -- maybe somebody in Limbo can wear it." He brightens as he follows the others to the terminal. "Then again, if we're getting the band back together, we could always go the Blues Brothers route. Black suits, sunglasses, skinny ties. Easy and classic, and you can get it at a thrift store instead of fighting with this infernal machine."

He gestures at the on-screen mess. "I DID start with one of the templates. That's the scary part. And I was trying for black and gold, maybe a little bit of red for the X-symbols. But then I tried to add customized armor bits and paint them, and the touchscreen slipped, and..." He trails off, giving the other two a helpless look. "This computer hates me."

Another amused look is sent Doug's way, before Illyana turns thoughtful. "Hm. I would look good in a suit and tie. I could totally pull it off." And then she glances at Berto and Doug, "You both could pull it off, as well. Though I suppose it wouldn't be practical. Unless we underlined it with some sort of armor."

And while those that may not know her very well might think she's completely serious, she's really not.

At Berto's last comment, Illyana can't help but snort quietly, "Computers only love Doug and Kitty, but thankfully we have Doug here. I am /sure/ he can help you lose some of the limbs, and bring the suit back to your specific physique. As for colors - " She'll squint at Berto and then the computer screen, "I could see black, gold and a red X symbol. You could also go for a nice contrast of silver or white, as well, instead of gold."

"I already did the Men in Black routine with SHIELD," Doug replies as he runs a hand through his hair. "Don't want to do it again."

Moving over, Doug checks the program, before pressing the 'Undo' command, several times over until it gets back to a state with the black and gold and red symbols, before all the extra limbs and customized armor showed up. "Ok 'Berto, let's see..." Glancing up at Roberto, Doug eyes him, before re-directing his attention to Illyana. "Ok Illyana, what else do you want to add?"

Berto glances at Illyana, dark eyebrows raised. "You know, you actually would look amazing. Suit, sunglasses, big glowing sword, demons flying everywhere. Like something out of a music video." He shakes his head, then refocuses on the screen that Doug has returned to some semblance of sense. He whistles appreciatively. To Berto, any sufficiently advanced level of competence with this machine might as well be magic.

And, bidden or not, he is going to at least add his own thoughts to the conversation about what he'll be wearing. "The main thing is, everyone's always telling me, 'Berto, you're strong but not invulnerable.' So I'm thinking, why do I keep wearing spandex, then? If I put some armor in a few places, I can hit as hard as I want without worrying about hurting myself."

Berto's compliment earns a quick flash of smile from Illyana, even as she adds an agreement, "I would look amazing." But then, it's back to business.

The business of making Berto look just as amazing in his new costume.

When Doug defers to her about the color scheme, Illyana turns thoughtful again as she looks at Berto and then the computer screen. Berto's words are acknowledged with a nod of her head as she says, "There's nothing wrong with armor. You could do something like metallic boots, forearm bracers and perhaps some armor along your shoulders. I wouldn't go full-blown shoulder pads, but perhaps something that curves along with your shoulder, something graceful, not tacky." She'll tilt her head, as she looks between the two boys, "I'd do the base bodysuit black, and have the armor be the colorful highlights."

Considering Illyana's suggestions, Doug looks back at Berto. "Well, if I were you, I'd consider gloves that both protect your fists so you can punch as hard as you want, and keeps them from fracturing your arms, which means some sort of... yeah, what Illy said."

A little tinkering of the uniform along the lines of what had been suggested thus far, and Doug eyes. "The metallic boots look, I don't know... Power Pack-esque?"

"Yes, that sounds perfect!" Berto agrees, beaming. "You're right about the suit, too -- anything skintight will turn black when my powers activate, anyway. There's no point in making it colorful. And yeah, be sure to cover my knuckles. I punch things a LOT."

He steps back, putting a hand to his chin as he evaluates the results. "Well, the boots have to be armored, man. I'm a futebol player. You want me breaking my ankle?"

Blue eyes will regard the monitor for a few more minutes, as both men speak, before she finally adds, "Yes, lets ditch the fully metallic boots, they're a little too much, but how about this - Go with a stripe of metal along the front of the shin bone, down the foot and perhaps around the ankle? As well as along the toes to reinforce them? That way it protects the bone in your legs, your ankles, and toes from the force you strike with."

She'll look to Berto now, to see what he thinks. "Though your next important decision is whether to keep the boots black, like the base bodysuit or bring more color in with them?"

"Wouldn't want it to be too stiff either, you'd -really- snap something if there's no give in the ankles," Doug notes. Sensibly, Illyana's suggestion makes sense, and so Doug makes the adjustment, setting it up to be a brass-esque color so that it keeps three primary colors: black, yellow, and red, the black and gold boots blending in with the red X and the red-gold armor pads over the basic black-and-gold X-uniform.

"Like a shin guard. That makes sense," Berto murmurs thoughtfully. "Lighter, too, so I'll stay fast on my feet. Float like a butterfly, sting like a mack truck." He grins a bit sheepishly and answers, "I think more color. What can I say? I like to look a little flashy, even in the middle of a fight."

He watches over Doug's shoulder, shaking his head. "Unbelievable. We say a thing and you just make it happen on the screen. I should hire you for something, once I have a company to hire people into."

Another snort can be heard from Illyana at the mack truck comment, "Nothing wrong with color. Just as long as you don't look like some drunken pirate." Illyana says, before flashing a look to Doug - They've all seen how crazy Kitty's pirate costumes came out. They don't need another repeat of that.

And while she was just about to say more, she pauses and frowns, her expression turning inward for a moment. "I need to go. Berto, it was good to see you. I'm sure Doug can finish your suit for you. I'll find you later, Doug."

And with that said and very little in the ways of a true explanation, Illyana opens a portal and quickly steps through straight into the halls of her throne room. As soon as she's through the portal closes with a bright wink of light.

'Find you later, Doug' usually meant bad things. Which meant Doug had -better- find some way to make sure he was occupied. Of course, given that Illyana didn't consider shower time or reading time a suitable 'occupied' moment, that just meant less recreation time.

Tinkering with the program, Doug adds, "Hey 'Berto, instead of hiring me to do stuff, how about we just hit the laser tag zone? We can get in some flash and color." And if Berto had any memory of Doug, he -better- remember that Doug -would- try and avoid being hectored by the Bossy Demoness.

Berto watches Illyana leave, once again shading his eyes against the glare of the stepping disc. "See you later, Illyana. It was great to see you again, too!" Afterward, he turns to give Doug a bemused shrug. "Magic stuff, I guess? Better her than me. Dealing with Dad's company is one thing, but at least it isn't full of literal demons."%r%rIn response to Doug's suggestion, Berto smiles and shrugges. "Sounds alright to me. Good way to keep myself busy so I won't just stand here anxiously waiting for the costume to finish printing." He heads for the door and the Danger Room beyond it, then pauses on the threshold, waiting for Doug to follow, "Thank you so much for the help, by the way. I don't know what I would have done if the two of you hadn't come along."

He proudly examines the result of their collaboration. "Fantástico! Now I just have to try it on." He heads for the door, and the locker rooms beyond it. "Thank you so much for the help, Doug. I don't know what I would have done if the two of you hadn't come along." He pauses as he steps across the threshold to wink and grin at the linguist. "I hope I didn't do any permanent damage to your babies."