[center][h1][color=dodgerblue]Wards - Where Does He Get all those Wonderful Toys?[/color][/h1]
[@BCTheEntity][@yoshua171][@solokolos][@Lugubrious][@Old Amsterdam][/center]

[color=cyan]"Elliot,"[/color] Decoy began, with a stern tone clear through the thick Japanese accent. [color=cyan]"Remember to watch your manners. Insulting your team breaks down trust. I am glad you appreciate your studies and do well, but remember who always has your back."[/color]

With that bit of chastising done, the hologram turned its attention toward the Wards as a whole. All of the team had showed up promptly, as to be expected. No doubt they were tired of being cooped up, restricted only to training and academics instead of the superheroing they had all signed up for. Messiah's question was quite apt, if it was only half hearted. [color=cyan]"Now that everyone is present, it's time that you all got your gifts from me. I've been working overtime in order to get these completed for you, which is impressive since I need to perform regular maintenance on this entire building as well as your holographic communications interfaces. It's a good thing I can't sleep!"[/color] The hologram began making typing motions in the air, no doubt whatever sensor that tracked the real Decoy was translating the motions directly to them, even if they didn't get to see the computer he was at. The whole thing would have looked incredibly silly to an outsider.

A couple of seconds later, five presents seemed to phase into the room, each one wrapped in unique wrapping paper with individualized bows and name tags. Well, it would be incorrect to say that they phased into the room and more appropriate to say that the light bending around them ceased to camouflage their presence. [color=cyan]"Inside you will find one of my holographic decoys, the same kind of projection disks that I make for the full fledged Protectorate heroes. If you're ever in a bind and need a distraction, you can activate these devices and slide them out, where they'll project a life-like hologram of you, complete with sound. Additionally, each comes with three settings for three different poses based on your individualized fighting styles. The first setting is the same for everyone, it projects an image of you simply standing still, but the other two are quite dynamic and unique."[/color]

Decoy allowed the Wards to open their gifts and marvel at his inventions. Inside each wrapped giftbox was indeed a disk, about four inches in diameter and half an inch thick. It was made of a metallic alloy not yet categorized in modern science books, and in the center of the disk was a single black lens projector. Along the outer edge of the disk were four buttons, but none of them were labeled. The object was also incredibly lightweight, only feeling slightly heavier than the glass lens. Whatever it was that Decoy used to make these things, it was amazing.

[color=cyan]"They can only be activated if you have one of my holographic communications interfaces. As long as you're wearing your communicator, each button will project its label. They should read 'Setting 1,' 'Setting 2,' 'Setting 3,' and 'Off.'"[/color] In order to demonstrate, the hologram of Decoy's body broke apart, then reformed into a projection of the devices. Like an idiot's "how to" guide, it showed the Wards a glove covered hand waving over the buttons, which then projected out the labels. The image of the hand then pressed the "setting 2" button and the display zoomed out and reoriented itself so the projector was facing directly up. A new image appeared above the device, showing Inkscape spraying a massive cloud of ink gas. As soon as this was done, the hologram collapsed in no itself and reformed into the image of Decoy once again.

[color=cyan]"And you'll be able to make use of your new equipment on tonight's mission. Any questions?"[/color]

[hr][hr]

[h2][center]The Minutemen - Feels Like a Noir[/center][/h2]
[center][@Banana][@Nattook][@yoshua171][@Old Amsterdam][@FiroIV][/center]

The young lady looked to be feeling a bit overcrowded, now that all of the Minutemen were coming out from wherever they had been before to stand nearby. She bit her lip with the slightest twinge of anxiety, but a glance over to the wing cap that G4M3R had been working on seemed to relax her. She gave a deep breath, then spoke in a calm, sultry voice. [color=pink]"Well, it's the Community. They've been harassing my family's shop, asking for protection money and whatnot. You know, standard gang bullshit. Last night they really busted up my father while I was out getting groceries and said... They said they'd be back today at noon to pick up what we owe them. Or..."[/color]

The woman trailed off for a second, recomposing herself. She sighed and steadied herself on the counter. [color=pink]"Or we'd end up owing them, and the hospital. According to my dad, they made it sound like they were going to come back in big numbers, and bring some of their bigshots, like Xolotl."[/color] She took a second to scan the room. Finding a couch she could sit on, the woman took a seat, crossing her legs. She pulled out some lipstick from her purse and reapplied it. [color=pink]"My name is Sheila Jones. My father is Donald Jones. We live with my aunt, Genivieve Gutierrez, and her four year old daughter Lucille. You can find our store at 1516 North Colfax Avenue."[/color]