8702/Getting Charged Up

Getting Charged Up
Date of Scene:	16 November 2021
Location:	Central Business District - New Troy
Synopsis:	Angela meets Mary Marvel...and Mary Bromfield.
Cast of Characters:	Mary Bromfield, Aldrif Odinsdottir

---

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Monday night. It was supposed to be some quiet night, nothing to worry about or concern yourself over.

But, as Dr. Ian Malcolm, had said once, eventually there is the running, and the...screaming.
This time, it was a LexCorp automated defense system that went haywire. Some genius thought it was a good idea to set up about twenty spider-like combat drones, load them up with attack software, and run a little test...
...without making sure the kill-command would actually stop them.

Mary Bromfield was heading back to the apartment when the first drone lasered its way out of a storage facility near the main building and led nineteen others out to do as much damage as they could before the three-hour battery inside of each of them ran out of juice.
Mary blinked, then grabbed her stuff and bolted for the nearest empty kiosk...

...and, one shouted word later ("SHAZAM!") A thick lightning bolt descended out of a cloudless, starry sky and vaporized the kiosk.
Ooops.

Aldrif Odinsdottir has posed:
    And in the center of the robots is a naked woman or close enough to it as to make no bones, a knock-off Red Sonja-type who might be an alien because of her featureless eyes and odd facial markings but is probably some kind of magic because nothing about her winged tiara should be keeping her hair out of her face as she fights. Also she's fighting with a pair of golden blades instead of phasers or whatever, so that probably but not definitely means something.
    Her style is a thing to behold. She goes from moments of pure stillness to flashes of movement so fast even a Marvel has trouble following them; her blades, curved like scimitars but with some weird mouth-like hooks in the blades that probably mean something but mostly make it look like she's dual wielding big can-openers, cut through the metal hides easily. Her face, at least in her moments of stillness, looks composed with a hint of annoyance. Any one of her strikes would be lethal to an organic creature of similar build, but robots and their redundancies rudely refuse to go into shock and/or bleed out.
    Still, Blue Tanya or whatever her name is, is holding her own against a swarm of killbots. That's not nothing.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
By the end of the first ten seconds, eight of them are destroyed, but the others apparently learn pretty quickly - keeping their distance, ten of them firing lasers, but two of them rush at Angela, firing not lasers, but a grey goop that flies like splotches of mud but stick like glue.

Four of them follow up behind and are about to open fire when an arc of electricity, the kind you'd see arcing around a Tesla coil a hundred feet high, jumps from one to another, frying them as it does.

And it came from a woman in a red tunic, a hooded white cape, and a lightning bolt across her chest.

"Hello, spiders. Ready to get your batteries charged?" Mary Marvel says with a playful smile.

This is the part she likes.

Aldrif Odinsdottir has posed:
    Angela find out the hard way what the globs are after blocking one with one of her blades and getting it all underside-of-a-school-desked. Fortunately for her, she has more options than a schoolgirl: the afflicted weapon, the one in her right hand, is rapidly changing shape. Mary can see that even though the blade is completely concealed, by watching the thick adhesive stretch and contort along the weapon's mutating shape. In the meantime, Angela pays it no mind. She notes Mary Marvel with a stern, cold expression and falls into a more defensive fighting position, circling counterclockwise to keep Mary as directly in front of her as possible while fighting.
    The Metropolitans have mostly fled the scene, but the ones who are in cars were not fully able to, and Angela's maneuvering unfortunately leaves the street open for the killbots. If anyone had thought she'd been positioning herself to protect civilians, well, that theory just went out the window, covered in artificial webbing fired from a spider-bot's butt-cannon.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary looked to her left as two fired lasers at her. She raised her hand as the beams made contact with her palm...and did not burn through it.
Mary walked forward, picked up one of the spider-bots, then turned it over and brought it down on the 'bot next to it, trying to make both of them occupy the same space at the same time.
KEE-RUNCH.
Well, THAT didn't work for them. But it did get the attention of three of the remaining six. Those three scuttled away from Angela, one of them firing its "goop gun" at her. It covered the front of her tunic, and her exposed legs. She slowed down to look down at herself, then back at the goop-bot.
"You're going to PAY for that, you little TINKERTOY!"
And then she curls one slim hand into a fist and sends the goop-bot to that great junkyard in the sky.

Aldrif Odinsdottir has posed:
    Angela is distracted enough to lose track of facial composure and permit a frown: punching is how these golems are charged? It might explain why her attacks are so ineffectual--but no, the strangely overdressed human just destroyed the thing. Perhaps she did so to remove its battery for future recharging. That must be it.
    Mystery solved, Angela goes off the defense and returns to offense. She throws her uselessly gummed weapon into the sidewalk--no, literally into it, at least eight inches into the cement--while the other one reverts to liquid metal and flows up her forearm into a golden bracer, which shape it seems content to hold. Angela needs both her hands for her next feat, diving behind the remains of the kiosk presumably for shelter but in actuality lifting the thing up and swinging it like a bat at the bots descending upon her. The plywood frame (always trust Lexcorp for quality materials, folks) disintegrates to splinters by the time her wide, reaping swing is finished, but at least the force of the impact broke one and knocked the rest of the ones on her flying.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Well, the Xena clone seems to be holding her own, that's for sure. How does she keep her hair from getting tangled up in...well, in herself?

She rips the glue-stuff from her legs, then glares at the remaining two, who actually look at each other as if realizing how much trouble they are in.
Then they start scuttling away towards the nearest building to hide behind, perhaps make their escape.
Mary points at then with a finger-gun, close one eye, aims, and says, "Bang."
Except when the bolt of electricity shoots out to fry one of the fleeing bots, it sounds more like, "zzzzZZZORCH!"
She raises her other hand, also a finger-gun, and sounds a little more like her girl-crush, Steve Blum as Spike Spiegel, when she says "Bang" again. The other hand proves to be as electrifying as the first one, melting the casing and bouncing around inside to turn it all into slag.

She sighed, looked down at herself, then turned to see how Xena Warrior Princess was doing.

Aldrif Odinsdottir has posed:
    In addition to a couple of shapeshifting whatsits, Angela also has a broadsword sheathed horizontally in the small of her back. She whips it out so fast the steel (it's probably not steel) doesn't even sing from the sheath. It cleaves through the last few bots like a chainsaw through a cobweb: you don't need to worry about inflicting lethal blows when you can just bisect your enemies.
    As the last one falls into two equal pieces like a Samurai Jack villain, Angela is already sheathing the blade and walking over to her abandoned weapon with half a robot in hand, using it like a putty knife to de-gunk her blade. She seems to be doing all of this while ignoring Mary Marvel, and maybe she even is. It's hard to tell what direction those featureless eyes are aimed at, but she does seem to be casually keeping She-zam in her field of vision during the irritatingly complex operation to free her blade from its bonds.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Well, she didn't do too badly, but this sword-wielding woman with EPIC hair was definitely ahead of her on points tonight. She wondered who should clean this up...

Then Metropolis PD and FD showed up, and she nodded. Ah. They would do it. Downtown like this, the response time would be pretty quick.

She walked over to Angela, sticking out one hand and smiling pleasantly enough. "Hi, there. I'm Mary Marvel. Some just call me Thunderbolt. Nice to meet you!"

Aldrif Odinsdottir has posed:
    Angela doesn't accept the hand at first. Ostensibly that's because both of her hands are still loaded with half-bot and slowly cleaning weapon, but she's checking Mary out; not lasciviously, at least there's that, but definitely taking stock of the other woman before nodding once, coolly. Her liquid metal weapon returns to its place hugging her right forearm, and Angela then accepts the offered hand to shake. "I am Angela, huntmistress of Heven. I greet you, Mary Marvel called Thunderbolt. What is your business with these people?" she asks, lifting the metal carcass of the robot in a simultaneously vague and precise illustration of whom she's referring to.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
"Business?" Mary looks down at the bot, then turns it over to see the LexCorp logo. "Oh, I was just stepping in to keep them from hurting anyone." She looked over at the kiosk...well, what was left of it. "Caused a bit of damage, myself. Sorry."

She stopped as she processed what Angela had said. "Are you...well, some kind of angel?"

Aldrif Odinsdottir has posed:
    "Yes," Angela says, tone neutral, simply confirming a fact. "Though it is not as you conceive it. I do not know your God, nor would want to." She notices the handshake is continuing much longer than others she's observed, and her lips curve in a small, mauve smile. She makes no effort to withdraw her hand. "And you are some kind of human?" she asks, so drily it's hard to tell if that was a joke or not.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary smiles. "Kinda. I..." Then she realizes she is still shaking Angela's hand. "Oh! Sorry, that went on too long." She stops shaking Angela's hand, then releases it and looks around. "Uhm...maybe we should talk someplace while we let these officers and paramedics do their job without us conversing in the middle of it. Want to meet on the top of the Daily Planet building?" She pauses. "Uhm, can you fly? Maybe I should have asked about that first..."

Aldrif Odinsdottir has posed:
    Angela's smile widens just barely, amused. "And if I cannot, what then is your response?"

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary purses her lips. "Well, I'd just have to carry you, then. In one arm or both arms, though. I am not going to put you over my shoulder in a fireman's carry."

Aldrif Odinsdottir has posed:
    "I shall permit this," Angela decides, and stands still, suppressing a smile, waiting to see Mary Marvel's next move. While she waits, she glances at Lexcorp, and her smile fades grimly. "And I shall return to you to conclude our business."

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary smiles. She kinda likes this part, too.

She walks over to Angela's left side, then slides one slim arm around her waist. "Don't worry...I got you. and I promise to bring you back down if you don't want to use the stairs."

No up, up, and away for Mary Marvel. She just jumps up as if to grab something on a shelf above her...only she just keeps going up, and up, and up, lifting Angela with the greatest of ease.
There is only a faint whistle of wind as they rise upward. She can go pretty fast, but she keeps it at a moderate speed for passengers.

Aldrif Odinsdottir has posed:
    Angela's arm slides around Mary's waist, but very loosely. Maybe she has absolute faith in Mary's ability to carry her, which would be reasonable, given that she watched Mary win a fist fight with robots.
    "Is it your habit to invite every woman to an isolated rooftop?"

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary smiles to Angela. "Well, Walt Disney World is pretty far away, and I think they're closed by now." She winks. "Just want to talk, and someplace where it's safe to assume the wrong person will not hear something they shouldn't hear." She gazed at Angela's hair. "How DO you keep from getting tangled up in that?"

Aldrif Odinsdottir has posed:
    Angela glances sidelong at Mary and doesn't really answer, just hanging on to that suppressed smile. "It is a common tool in Heven. Do you wear your hood to hide your hair?"

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary chuckles. "I like it. It helps keep my head from being rained on. From other falling stuff, too, but mostly rain."

She slows as they approach the roof, landing lightly on the roof next to the big shiny planet statue, and Mary slides her arm back out from around Angela's waist.
Mary steps back, still smiling that pleasant smile. "The view is pretty nice from up here."

Aldrif Odinsdottir has posed:
    Angela looks around at Mary's comment, just scanning the city skyline, and nods once as if confirming some unspoken opinion. "I suppose," she says judiciously, then turns her attention back to Mary. That steady gaze would probably be a little weird even if her eyes had colors in them and even if she blinked. "What is it you truly wished to discuss, Mary Marvel?"

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary titled her head slightly, looking puzzled. "I don't have any hidden agenda, Angela. I've just...never met a kick-butt warrior woman, apart from Donna. I've been in New York most of the time, just moved here, and I was impressed by how you fought those things. I've never seen you before, so I was curious." She looks out at the night-time lights of the city. "And I figured you might feel more comfortable talking without seventeen sets of ears to hear."

Aldrif Odinsdottir has posed:
    "I see. Your ways are strange to me, Mary Marvel." This is stated in the neutral tone of a fact being delivered, neither judging nor irritated. "In Heven, if there was something that I would not wish others to hear, then I would not say it." She regards Mary for a moment. "But perhaps humans feel unsafe refusing to answer a question from one as powerful as you, lest they risk your ire?" she guesses.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary hmms. "Well...it's kinda different. You see, I don't ALWAYS look like this. I was given these powers by a wizard, and I have to speak a magic word to change from normal me to...well, to Mary Marvel." She gives a soft smile. "So it's about secrets. Secrets I have to keep. A lot of heroes and heroines I know have secret identities where people don't know they have abilities far beyond mortal men and women. And it seems awfully rude blurting out someone ELSE'S secret when I have a few of my own. So it's about respect, really."

Aldrif Odinsdottir has posed:
    Angela's mauve lips tug wryly starboard. "There is no danger of that," she assures Mary, then is quiet for a moment, then asks, "Why do you tell me so much of your secret? Do you feel burdened and wish to confess it to someone?"

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary laughs softly. "Well, I told you what I told you so you'd understand. Second...mysterious person bestows power on a normal person? You'd be surprised at how LITTLE that narrows the field for identification purposes." She thinks for a moment. "Maybe a little further down the path, I might say more. But I think I've said enough for now. So, what brings you to the bright lights and big city of Metropolis? See how many heroes you can identify before lunch? I think there are more in New York City, but Metropolis wins on QUALITY, not QUANTITY."

Aldrif Odinsdottir has posed:
    Angela shakes her head slightly. "No. I am here in search of a starlab, where they have doorways to other realms. There is a demon who wishes to avoid paying me the debt he owes. I will collect." She says all these things calmly, as if there's nothing at all weird about any of it. One would nearly think she either missed or has forgotten the promise of future conversations. "And you count yourself among the quality, hm?" she asks slyly.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary holds up a finger. "I *DID* say I just moved here, so we'll see. And if you're talking about STAR Labs, I know Superman and Supergirl know people there. Never been myself, though. She looks thoughtful. "If I do ever find out, how would I get in touch with you? Do you have a phone?"

Aldrif Odinsdottir has posed:
    Angela shoots Mary a sly glance and an 'I see you' little smile. "I do not own a telephone. It is my habit to locate those I wish to speak with. What would you and I speak about, Mary Marvel?" she asks innocently. Too innocently.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary gives Angela a thoughtful glance. "Well, on the off-chance I know someone to talk to about getting access to STAR Labs and was able to speak to them on your behalf, I could tell you whether I was successful or not. Or who to talk to about it if I couldn't do anything. No secret agendas or obscure plots, though. When it comes to what I am doing, I am usually so transparent as to be invisible."

Aldrif Odinsdottir has posed:
    Angela's lower lip pokes out not in a pout but in a subtle and quickly vanished expression of surprise. "Ah, I misunderstood you. I had thought you wished to speak to me for other reasons. But I still have no telephone to use," she adds apologetically, spreading her hands in a helpless little shrug. It's the most body language she's displayed during this conversation, actually. Doesn't take the wisdom of Minerva to guess you touched a nerve.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary took a moment, then gave an apologetic smile. "I wanted to be friendly, Angela. And I do want to help you, if I can help you. You seem like a good person, and I wanted to make your acquaintance, because I've never met anyone like you before. Well, except for the Amazons, but they are a horse of a different color there."
She glanced to the skyline. Nope. No explosions. "And it seemed that I might be able to do something for you. That's...really what I do for people I just met."

Aldrif Odinsdottir has posed:
    Composure regained, Angela nods. "I am unaccustomed to human ways of forming friendships. Your methods are strange to me. But I may safely say I have never met anyone like you either, Mary Marvel." There might be the tiniest hint of a smile on her purple lips. Maybe. Maaaaaaybe.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary Marvel gives a light laugh. "Well...you would be right about that. But this is me as Mary Marvel. All the right makeup, the best clothing, the workout every day. I'm a lot less impressive when you look at the real me. This is all..." She gestures down to herself. "...welll, the idealized version of me. Magical Photoshop. I don't know if you've ever heard of Photoshop."

Aldrif Odinsdottir has posed:
    Angela mulls that over for a moment. "You are talking about your appearance, yes? Seeming beautiful in the way this world wishes you to?"

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary nods. "Well, it helps a lot when I was to keep my normal life and my...non-normal life separate. Stop a calamity, be home in time for dinner. it is what it is. But there is also this little quandary. Who do people want to spend time with, Mary Marvel or Mary Not-Marvel? Because Mary Marvel is the World's Mightiest Woman...and Not-Marvel is not. If someone wants to be Mary Marvel's friend, they're going to be let down by the real me."

Aldrif Odinsdottir has posed:
    Angela thinks about that, frowning, then folds her arms over her chest. She has to do it rather higher than she should to keep her bracers from scraping sparks against her metal battle bikini, so the overall look is somewhere between 'I Dream of Jeannie' and just plain awkward, but she holds the pose very naturally. "I insist on seeing Mary Not-Marvel to make my own judgment. You will be in no danger from me to this revelation, as I will have no identifying information to attach to the face you show me."

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary nods, but moves behind one of the rings, and closer to one of the lightning rods installed on the roof.

"Okay...but don't get too close. There's a lot of electricity involved."
She takes a deep breath, then says, "SHAZAM!"
A lightning bolt descends from the clear night sky and impacts right where she is standing. A large amount of it is discharged by the lightning rod.

When the glare dims, a somewhat-average girl is standing where Mary Marvel was a moment ago. Thinner, shorter, with mousy-brown hair framing a heart-shaped face. Tennis shoes, blue jeans, and a blue t-shirt with the symbol of Captain America's shield on the front (it was on sale, and Captain America is cool, shut up) replaces the tunic, skirt, hooded cape, bracers and boots.

Mary Bromfield smiles sheepishly and holds up a hand. "Hi...?"

Aldrif Odinsdottir has posed:
    Angela's frown deepens, and her candleflame-colored eyebrows come closer together in concentration. "And it is your belief this form is not beautiful enough?" she asks dubiously. "That you are not beautiful enough?"

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary looks a little self-conscious. "I hold no illusions, Angela. I know Mary Marvel is much more beautiful than I am. But it's not just looks, it's what we call 'the whole package.' I had this nightmare once while I was in high school where David Robertson...cutest guy in school at that time...asked me to the prom, but told me I had to go as Mary Marvel because Mary Bromfield 'wasn't cool enough.' Talk about a real WOWSER of a nightmare..."

Aldrif Odinsdottir has posed:
Angela's crossed arms tighten over her chest slightly, as does her confused expression. "What is this whole package which you lack?"

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary chuckles. "Wow. You really are lucky. I bet you never had to worry about the social tar pit that is high school. I guess I'm talking about how appealing you are to people, overall. Not just looks, but looks is part of it. It's a popularity game, and most of the time I was losing..."

She smothers a giggle. "Ignore that last part. Sometimes I just worry that I'd only be liked as Mary Marvel. It's juvenile, but it's still something that bothers me. Mary Marvel can fly, lift tanker trucks, and a hundred other things Mary Bromfield can't do. But Mary Bromfield can go places in relative anonymity where Mary MARVEL would get mobbed like crazy. So I'm not envious of the attention Mary Marvel gets. I just get bothered by people who wouldn't want to be associated with me unless I was Mary Marvel."

Aldrif Odinsdottir has posed:
    Angela nods. "I would also not wish to attract the attention of such foolish people."

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary nodded. "Neither would I. But it's not like people wear signs that say I AM A SHALLOW PERSON...I sorta have to find out firsthand."

Aldrif Odinsdottir has posed:
    "How many of them are men?" Angela asks, right eyebrow minutely raised.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary smirked. "Not all of them are men. Girls, too. I knew one girl, Marcy, who liked to poke fun at me, but became a big Mary Marvel fan. It got a little annoying how much she'd go ON and ON and ON...it almost got to the point where I considered changing into Mary Marvel and telling her to her face what a big phony she was." She giggled again. "Cooler heads prevailed, but you see what I mean."

Aldrif Odinsdottir has posed:
    Angela shakes her head. "I don't, but I am content to understand that I will not see what you mean. I do not comprehend how this facet of you is less worthy than another. I hope you learn to identify the shallow ones soon," says the redheaded megababe wearing the battle bikini. To her credit, her appearance never did her any favors in Heven, but it's not like Mary would know that.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary grins. "If I ever learn that, I'll teach YOU, and then we'll BOTH rule the world." She looks around. "Listen, it's getting kinda late. And Mary Bromfield has to start getting ready to move her stuff into an apartment in the morning." She looked down. "Annnd I'll have to change back, because people will wonder what a college student is doing on the roof of the DAILY PLANET."

Aldrif Odinsdottir has posed:
    "Only if they see you," Angela points out, accurately. "I can carry you to where you need to be."

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary thinks about it, then shrugs. "Seems fair. I need to get to the eastern side of Metropolis University, next to the coffee shop."