2013.05.05 - Welcome to Legion HQ Booster Gold-- Now DIE!

It's a sunny day in midtown Metropolis, and that dang spaceship's already begun turning itself into a giant L. Seriously. It's also got a proper entrance plaza thinger on the reconstructed Highline, and an intimidatingly impressive lobby.

Earlier in the day, Booster got a comm over his Flight Ring, telling him what time to show up for his tryout-- and now the three Legion founders are waiting for him there. Believe it or not? The giant horseshoe-shaped desk at the head of the lobby's got 'Yes/No' lights on its front at the moment. Seriously.

Rokk's sitting on top of the desk above one of the sets of lights, a nameplate that says 'Cosmic Boy' tipped over so that it doesn't say it in public, and he's eating an apple. "So if he makes it, I guess we'll have to make him reserve, like Rond. It's not like being a reservist is awful-- *I've* been reserve-- but I'm trying to think of a way to say it that isn't a really nasshead way to say it. Or maybe he got an accidental power from the impact?"

"'Hey, Gold, you're a Legionnaire. We know how busy you are, so we're putting you on 'special duty'. If we need you, we'll call.' How bad can that be, Rokk?" Garth says with nonchalance, as he stretches. "So, can we get the show on the road already? Just tell him to step into the simulation room and get his test on." There's a wider-than-usual grin on his face as he rubs his hands.

Yeah, so he -actually- did read up a bit, and there was -one- thing that appealed to him. See, Rokk, he even -ran- it past you just to show he did his homework, -and- to make sure that the hazing--- uh... test--- wasn't excessive. Aren't you so proud, Imra, Rokk?

"Skeets, screen all my calls until I'm done," Booster Gold instructs his valet droid as he flies in the fine and sunny day. He is shiny; extremely shiny. It would not do to simply be Booster Yellow, he really does gleam like gold. "Unless it's the President or something, I mean use your discretion on that kind of thing."

After a thoughtful silence, Skeets queries, "Why would the President call you, sir?"

"Okay. Firstly, that is not outside the bounds of reality. Secondly, shut up." Booster Gold lands, and walks into the lobby of the newly reconstructed ship. Regarding the grandeur as he walks in, he lets out a long low whistle and compliments it with a, "Wowzer. Totally sweet digs."

"That... Isn't a bad suggestion." Imra admits as she sits behind her desk, which does have the 'Saturn Girl' plaque out in the open. Heck, it's more or less what she was going to suggest, only she probably would of phrased it a bit more politically.

And yet, despite that the Telepath from Titan does look more or less like 'all business'. Okay, to those that know her (or at least a version of her) like Rokk and Garth she does look sort of relaxed, but still being her usual business like self.

"If it comes down to it, you can even be the one to say it if need be." is in turn said before she glances at Rokk, possibly to check on his reaction to that suggestion.

Then again, as Booster enters, she does shift her attention towards the golden newcomer.

"I was figuring I would be, I mean-- I'm not gonna make either of you unless you want to--" Rokk says, gesturing with the apple. He stops when Booster comes in, though, and tosses the apple from one hand to the other, then lifts a hand to wave. "Welcome to the new Legion Headquarters, Booster Gold. You've met Lightning Lad; this is Saturn Girl." He slides back down behind the desk and takes his seat next to the other two, then explains with cheerful earnestness, "The way this will work is that we'll have you give us a demonstration of your powers, then ask Skeets to stay with us while you go into the training sim area so we can see how you handle yourself in an emergency. After your tryout, you'll--"

Cosmic Boy's explanation's cut short by the sudden appearance of possibly the most absurdly slinkingly gorgeous pink woman in the history of what the hell, who teleports in and immediately looks around, zeroing in on Booster's shining shininess. She runs toward him, harem-y outfit fluttering, face a beautiful mask of terror and teary hope. "Master Gold! Please! You must save me-- save me from my wicked husband! PLEASE!"

Cue the woman plastering herself to Booster's side, and Cos gaping in surprise, and Skeets starting to interrupt. "Sir, I suggest you readjust the settings on--" the valet starts, and then makes a bizarrely electronic MMPH sound and freezes in place.

"I'll do it. Just tell him that, so you don't -have- to say you're doing -everything-, for grife's scape." Garth says, leaning back.

It's not until the pink woman shows up that he lets a low whistle escape his lips. "Holy hell... she's a -looker-, Rokk..." the ginger Legion co-founder remarks, as he leans forward to get a better look.

It's only until he remembers Imra is next to him that Garth straightens up, doing his best to look uninterested.

Booster Gold nods a polite greeting to Garth, and touches the tips of his index and middle fingers to his forehead in a salute to Saturn Girl, adding in, "Ma'am." He is professional and attentive, at least until the young woman races in towards him. For a moment, he looks taken aback and is pointing towards the Legionnaires with both hands as if he were about to explain that he is busy doing this thing, here. "I..." But almost immediately, his heroic instincts kick in--rescuing damsels in distress are a key component of heroism, at least in Booster Gold's view. Rescuing orphans and kitty cats is pretty good, too, but distressed damsels always top that list.

Therefore, Booster rallies and puts a protective arm around the woman, turning back towards where she had entered from just in case something horrible is chasing her, so he can shield her with his own body. "Don't worry, ma'am! No one will harm you as long as BOO$TER GOLD is on the case!" That proclamation is accompanied by a wide-legged stance and his free arm is dramatically outflung, finger pointing. He's actually pretty good at this kind of posturing, because he practices this every day in front of a mirror until he gets it right.

There's a nod from Imra at Booster as she's introduced, but otherwise, she remains calm. Cool. And of course collected. A consummate professional, while even in costume.

"What the hell?!?"

Yeah. That's /Saturn Girl/ shouting that as that woman up and suddenly appears. Inside the Legion HQ. And all but hangs off of him. She doesn't even look at Rokk, but Gartj does get a glance as his brief reaction is noticed.... Or maybe just a random stray thought is picked up...?

(OOC) Booster Gold says, "Booster's current thoughts: "This chick is smokin' hot." "I hope I get to punch someone evil, that would rule." "I'm hungry.""

(OOC) Imra Ardeen facepalms

Maybe the stray thought of Rokk's where he's going. o O ( heeheeheeheehee ) like nonstop but his face is /pure business/. Or maybe it's got something to do with the 'Crap. Imra, I had to shut Skeets up, he was about to give it away. Can you broadcast the scenario's specs to him? And my apologies?'

BUT ANYWAY hell yes. Boss like a boss. Cos straightens up, stands, leans forward with his fingertips on the desktop, and frowns. "Miss? I'm sorry, but, who--?" he starts to ask. Starts.

Meanwhile, Veilmist is /completely ignoring/ Garth and Imra and Rokk; she's managed to nearly merge her harem pants with Booster's forcefield or something, and her perfectly manicured nails are tracing the outside of Booster's star. She looks up at him with adoring hope. "You'll have to kill him. My husband, I mean. Once you kill him, I'll belong to /you/, Booster Gold. /Only you/. You can protect me from all the others..."

'Let her ask for help. We might as well see how he reacts to the unexpected,' Garth interjects mentally, as he smiles at Veilmist. That he's being -ignored- only dims it a bit, but he coughs... "Ah, excuse me...?" No, still being ignored.

"Uh, Booster, buddy... she's all yours."

A glance at Rokk. "So we're putting the test on hold?" Garth asks, wrinkling his nose. Dammit...

"Whoah, whoah." Although Booster does not let go of Veilmist, because why would he ever do that, he does look down at her and turns his pointing hand into a palm-up didactic gesture as he says in a reasonable and much quieter tone of voice, "I'm sorry, lady, but I don't kill people. I'd be happy to beat him up for trying to harm you, but then I need to hand him over to the proper authorities and they ... do whatever, like book him and there's a judge and stuff. Because that's how the law works, I studied it extensively." Actually, he read a wikipedia page on it, but it took him about an hour to do that, so this is not a lie.

Louder, then, he makes a sweeping gesture towards the three Legionnaires and says, "Trust me, I know what I'm doing!" And quietly again, almost a murmur to Veilmist, "But if you want to go to dinner later, that's cool, too. But you're under no obligation. You're your own person. I'm open to negotiations." He lifts his head and curls his free hand into a fist in order to resume a pugilistically heroic posture and exclaims, "Bring it on! Evil-doers will be punched until they are very sorry!"

Robots are always a bit of a tricky thing for any telepath. After all, the names of telepaths that can communicate with both AI as well as organic life forms can probably be counted on one hand, with room left over.

Then again in an age where text messaging and email is common, there are always other methods. And considering the tech that is incorporated in this headquarters, those methods can be used easily enough,a s Imra sends the silenced robot a message. One with the data byte containing the specs regarding what's going on.

But anyways, there's a glance at the other two Legionaires as the telepathic girl finishes doing that. Or there is before she rolls her eyes at Boosters claims of studying the law extensively, not to mention the whole 'Evil-doers will be punched until they're very sorry'.

~This is going to be interesting...~ is said telepathically, just to Rokk and Garth.

"Oh no, but you /must/!" Veilmist says, terrified again; she abruptly lets go of Booster-- while managing to stay welded to the man's side-- and shrieks. "HE'S COMING! He'll kill you for trying to steal me if you don't kill him first!!"

Rokk's leaned over to slap the button for basically red alert!! or something, now, and he calls out, "Miss, you're in Legion headquarters, we don't abide /any/ killing here-- you'll be safe, but you have to /calm down/. Saturn Girl, can you give her a hand, there?"

~Interesting, my butt... he's a total poseur,~ Garth grimaces. ~Though I can't blame him. I mean, look at her. She's -pink-, grife! You can see it's all -her-...~

Stepping up, Garth nods at Rokk's words. "Right. Though nothing says we can't mess him up -good- to make sure he doesn't bother you again..." Garth says, although he had the feeling Veilmist was completely ignoring him in favor of Booster.

And then a big glittery blast from above, complete with kirby krackles, comes from the sky, aimed at hitting Imra, and a looming figure swoops in, a large Khund warrior-cyborg, all clad in silver and black, bellowing "WHERE'S MY WIFE?". The upper right quarter of his head encased in metal, with a gleaming red scope where his eye was, armed to the teeth in Liefeldian fashion, scruffy black beard, and a totally huge metal codpiece. Yeah, so he's compensating, you wanna argue with the Khund with the very big gun mounted on his right arm?

There's a nod at Cos as Imra gets up. Yeah, she's fully back in 'iron butt'.... Errrr... All business mode.

"Ma'am, if you'd please come with me." is said in a calm, matter of fact tone. Yes, she's calm even as Veilmist is worked up like that. And yet...

She glances back at Rokk and Garth, offering them a quick telepathic signal. One that even Booster should be able to pick up on.

~I'm gonna get her to...~ starts to be said, but the Firefists blasts comes, and... Odds are she didn't have a chance. It's almost as if one moment Imra is there, then there's an outline of s skeleton for the briefest of instants as that blast hits. Then there's a pile of ash on a blacked, multilated section of the floor.

"I will do my best to subdue him, ma'am, but that's all I can promi--" Booster Gold does not get to finish this, as the attack is incoming. "No!" The horror on his face and in his voice is genuine, when Imra is hit. The posturing stops, and Booster rockets towards the invader. His fists are glowing with golden light, and as he swings a clean uppercut at the Khund warrior's head, his wrist blaster fires as well. This is a punch backed with his rapid flight speed and super strength, but it is surprisingly concise; once upon a time, Booster was one of the top athletes in the nation, and that helps a lot when you have to pull together complicated superhero moves.

"Imr-- IMRA!!?"

It doesn't matter what universe anyone is from. Cos, already standing, is taking off from behind the desk almost as soon as the telepath's /getting/ shot; his hands are holding fistfuls of air like his fingers are claws, and he starts to crush Firefist's armor while it's still on him. And shed manly tears which he ignores in favor of takin' care of business (da-na, da-na). He knows he doesn't have to give orders. Not /now/. Not--

"Im... IMRAAAA!!!" It's amazing how much of an echo Garth's cry has in this area... although perhaps it's not so surprising when Lightning Lad cranks up the voltage, immediately firing at Firefist with bolts, perhaps a bit -too- overzealous with the wattage -or- Booster being too close for comfort.

The Khund's reaction to Booster's blaster punch is outrage, as his head is rocked back just enough, before he snaps forward again. "YOU!" he glowers, shifting to grab Booster and use -him- as a SHIELD against the Legionnaires as he fires away at the Legionnaires.

First, the -lightning- lad that could fry his circuits...

"AAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHH!" Garth .... crispiesfriesashesdeathcries.

The downside to being a hero who has a no-kill rule is that you always have to approach an unknown adversary with some caution just in case an overenthusiastic attack kills the target. But this situation is rapidly becoming terrible. Booster is grabbed by the Khund, although it looks as if he did not try to evade this at all. His form-fitting force field is glowing faintly, but that glow increases when some of poor Lightning Lad's bolts strike him. "Yeah. That's right, it's me," he replies, in a grim and level tone. "And you've got me right where I want me." This time, when he punches at the Khund's face, it is aimed directly at his forehead. His blaster fires, amped up significantly by the extra power boost unknowingly provided by Lightning Lad. It is set to be a 'stun' but a powerful one, discharged right into his target's brain.

Assuming that's where Khund brains are located, of course; Booster Gold did not have a chance to read the wikipedia article on them.

And there goes Garth. Imra and Garth, both down, Cos in midair with the crushing magnetic hands, Booster, basically deciding that Firefist needs to /check out of Hotel Crazy, Crazytown, NY/. Veilmist is being /totally/ unhelpful, standing by the sidelines and squealing in glee at the carnage.

The Braalian man's face is twisted with grief and rage, and Firefist's bleeding out the face, and Booster's /got/ it, man, but that doesn't seem to be stopping the erstwhile Cosmic Boy. The Khund's weapon hand is crunched into a little ball of useless, so very belatedly, and like a thundercloud of fury, Cos has his hands stretched down and out, making a force-choke sort of gesture thing. "Out of the way, Gold. They were my best. Friends."

The constant pounding by Firefist under Booster and Rokk's onslaught results in a collapse of the Khundian warrior, as metal give way to shredded flesh and blood...

And at this rate, the Khund wasn't going to survive the onslaught, especially not if Rokk kept this relentless, unforgiving magnetic assault up...

Booster Gold is extremely angry at the moment, so it takes him a moment to realize what Rokk intends. This shocks him into a slightly more logical frame of mind, and he says, "-No-!" The force field around him slips away and surrounds the Khund instead, although it becomes more spherical, a protective prison. Booster holds his hand up and says in a quieter, serious tone, "No, I'm sorry, if you did that now it would be murder. I'm sorry, I can't let you do that... I mean, he's a murdering scum-ball but you're -not-." At least, Booster is hoping he's not; he really does not know Rokk, and maybe in the further future, killing people who have been subdued is fine and dandy.

And it's almost as soon as Booster puts that forcefield up that something odd happens. Namely the form of the Khund warrior flickers. heck, he's there for a few moments actually, and is completely frozen...

Before it's almost like he vanishes in a burst of static.

At least that's before a certain voice can be heard. A female voice. Coming from the podium marked 'Saturn Girl'?!?

"I think I've seen enough." is said as there's a bit of a mixed effect. Part of it is a similar burst of static as a hologram fades away, but it's almost as if there was a subtle 'just don't look here please' effect on top of that.

"Don't you guys agree." is said as Imra stands there, her head slightly tilted to the side, but she is smiling.

"Yeah," says Garth from the podium marked 'Lightning Lad'.

"Not bad at all. Passed the Legion code without needing to know about it. What do you think, Rokk?" Garth adds as he glances towards Rokk.

In answer, Cos extends a hand toward the podium with the tipped-over Cosmic Boy placard; the light beneath it marked 'YES' flicks on in brilliant cheery affirmative green. "/Definitely/ seen enough. Hey, Skeets! I'm sorry again. You ride it out okay, man?" he calls over his shoulder, landing on the already-mending-itself shot-up floor. "And sorry for the deception, Booster. It was a test. In my opinion, you passed with flying colors."

Booster Gold is open-mouthed; he looks genuinely shocked. The expressions that flicker across his face encompass bafflement, anger, relief. Then, he snaps his jaw shut and his expression is calm, as if a cool facade had just dropped down. The empty force field bubble vanishes, and he floats downwards until he can land on the floor, because at the moment he does not trust his ability to control his flight. "Wowzer, you guys really put up a heck of a tryout." He looks down at the floor then, rubbing his chin, clearly lost in thought for a moment.

Skeets whirrs quietly, possibly doing a self-check, but then he chirps politely, "That's all right, sir, I understood your need for secrecy."

Booster glances up, then, and he says, "I mean, thank you, but I didn't really do a good job. I mean, two of you -died-."

There's almost a bitter expression on Imras face as Booster says that. All of that. Or at least before she glances at the others and nodding once, as if to confirm what was said. All though as she says it, her gaze does linger on Garth for a moment or two longer than it needs to.

"Unfortunately Booster, that happens. Not too long ago, I saw three Legionaires die. Or at least not too long ago from my perspective. Ask any Science Police officer, and they'll tell you the same thing. It comes with the job."

"And yet, despite that, you lived up to an ideal. As far as I'm concerned, you've got what it takes to be Legion."

"Yeah," says Garth as he belatedly hits a button, causing the 'Yes' light to go on. "The Legion code, aside from all the extra babblygrife, is pretty simple. Do not kill. Or let your teammates do it either." Sure, it was easy to say now, though, compared to Imra's experiences.

"So, now you're in. Uh... you got the ring already, so we just got to tell you, you're on special duty, because of all your extra duties, so you're, uh... like Superman, you'll be called in emergencies." The rest of this stuff can go to Rokk.

"Not only did you *not* kill the bad guy-- and the sim alerted us that you were holding back significantly, despite your worries-- you protected the bad guy when it looked like *I* was going to," Rokk explains further, gesturing and bringing up a holographic readout as he walks back over to the desk. "You wouldn't stand by and let murder happen, no matter how furious or shocked you were. We simply couldn't be sure, even if you submitted to a full telepathic scan, unless you really thought this was happening. Trial by fire, but without the actual fire. And sometimes you'll -have- to stop teammates from doing things they'll regret, no matter how powerful or crazed they might be at the time."

He glances back to Imra and Garth and Skeets, and nods. And then he steps forward again, toward Booster, and offers his hand. "The rest of the Legionnaires *do* have to vote, but if for some reason they all come down with Bgztlian Brainshift Disorder and accidentally vote 'no', I'm pulling rank and not letting anyone gimp your comm. Even if you think we're the biggest nassheads in the world, you've got our utmost respect, and I'd be honored to stand at your side as a Legionnaire."

"Uh, no. I mean, no, I don't think it was out of line. If anything, I understand why you'd need that kind of rigorous test." Booster is not a great actor, but he is pretty good, and he manages a smile that is sincere but a lot brighter than it would be normally. His hand is barely even shaking when it shakes Rokk's. "It's good. It's all good. Thank you. It's an honor for -me-." He takes in a slow, deep breath, as unobtrusively as possible. "And being called in and all that." He is regaining some of his bravado; much like his heroic postures, he practices this daily, as well. "It works out. I mean, I have a day job to think about, you know how it is." Booster points dual finger-guns at the Legionnaires, accompanying the gesture with a playful wink.

"Excellent!" enthuses Cos, turning a little further to clap Booster on the back with what is most likely his actual dork/jock rote camaraderie. "Come on, I'll get you an omnicom with stuff you should know, and a couple of beers--" He glances back at Imra and Garth again, expression not faltering. ~I'm pretty sure this really, really wrung him out. Let's sell him hard to the others.~ "--or maybe something stronger--" and he starts steering the man away "--and show you and Skeets around the place. I mean, provided you can put a couple of appointments on hold for a little while."

Falling in place on the other side of Booster, Garth grins as he claps the not-quite-confirmed Legionnaire on the back. "Yeah. We'll get you a silverale. So, is there anything else you want to know while you're here?"

"Oh, sure. I mean, that's not a problem. Skeets..." Booster glances back at his hovering robot pal. "Could you reschedule my appointments for today?"

Skeets says, "But sir, you don't have an--" The droid pauses, then cautiously says, "Certainly, sir. I'll get on that immediately!"

"Awesome," says Booster, falling back into 21st Century vernacular. "Well," he says to Garth in a casual tone, "Just out of curiosity, that lady that ran in at the start of this whole thing... Is she based on a real person?" Pause. "I mean, I'm just wondering for ... you know, for scientific reasons." Scientific? Really? Oh well. Booster just goes with that. "But a tour sounds good, too."

"Even if she is, you're not getting to access her program." Imra says in a flat tone towards Booster at the mention of if she's real or not. "And if you really want to know... Maybe she'll appear eventually like every other legionaire has so far. You never know."

Then though there's a glance at Garth, as if she's silently saying the exact same thing, only without words, and maybe, /maybe/, in a harsher tone.

Of course like that would truly stop him? or Booster. Or even Rokk.