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[right][sup][b]Kord Mansion. Westchester. New York State[/b][/sup][/right][hr]After returning from dinner and placing his precious, precious leftovers in the fridge, Ted once again made his way towards his private lab. It was nice today felt normal after his escapades the night before. Going into this, he worried he would be consumed with his adventuring. So far, so good on that front at least.

The pain in his jaw had finally died down, and the swelling seemed to have gone away as well. It was honestly a miracle it wasn't broken, probably thanks to the stabilizing protection of his cowl. Still, if he was going to continue doing this, he was going to need a way to take on multiple goons at one time. He was a good fighter, and had trained with many senseis across the globe during his travels with Dan, but he wasn't good enough to take half a dozen on without some assistance.

"Welcome home, sir," Kha said as Ted took a seat at the computer. "The renders you asked for are complete."

[color=6ecff6]"Great, put them up on the display,"[/color] Ted responded to the AI, letting out a belch to make some more room in his stomach around all that beautiful beef. He was going to need to do a serious workout tomorrow to make up for all that he ate. Couldn't be fighting crime with a protruding gut now, could he?

Instantly, on the screen in front of him, Kha's renders of the plans he had started working on this morning appeared. Wanting to get a more comprehensive view, had instructed, [color=6ecff6]"Give me these in the holograms."[/color]

"Understood, sir."

He spun his chair around, and the air directly around the computer came alive with blue light. Now around him floated a light construct of his plan. The image was something like a gun. It almost looked like a ray gun from an old sci fi movie, like Flash Gordon would be using it to defeat Ming the Merciless. Instead of the normal, sleek firing area there was a bulbous top with a sort of antenna sticking out of it. 

With a swipe of his hand, he exploded the build, sending the components of the gun out in a snowflake like pattering. He could see the self defense mechanisms he had baked into the weapon. A flash LED that could temporarily disorient attackers was pretty standard. Police had used flashbangs for years, and at least this one wouldn't come with an explosion. The other device that he had built into it was a powerful compressed air canon. Using  version of the antigrav generators, he had managed to create a blast of air strong enough to send a man flying. By his calculations it could take an elephant off its feet...not that he'd ever try that.

Outside of the crowd control measures he implemented, he also added some Swiss Army Knife-like features, including a cutting laser and a grappling hook using a fine, strong wire, not unlike that used in the bug. 

It was a solid start overall, but something still bugged him about it. The gun would only work when he had the jump on his enemies. If he got in a situation like the other night, he might be disarmed rather easily. He could program the gun to only work if he had it in his possession, sure. But even if his enemies couldn't use it against him, it would do Ted no good if it got knocked from his hands.

[color=6ecff6]"Kha,"[/color] a thought came to him, [color=6ecff6]"display the Beetle suit. Exploded view of the gauntlets."[/color]

Without a word of acknowledgement, a hologram of the suit appeared next to the gun. The suit was mostly made up of a light weight, metal alloy weave fabric. It was lightweight, durable, and protective. But he had put thicker armored plates on strategic places. Elbows, knees, wrists, those sorts of things. The gauntlets that protected his wrists wrapped around half of his forearm. While they were just made up of kevlar and the same ballistic fiber that made up the suit, he saw the opportunity to make them more.

Moving like a man possessed, Ted's hands flew through the air, combining the components of the gauntlets with the components of the handheld gun. The resulting apparatus was bulkier than the old pieces of armor, but not to the point of being cumbersome. The tech learned from the Scarab allowed a phenomenal amount of micro sizing components. It could have been the next microchip if Ted could perfect it. 

[color=6ecff6]"Okay, Kha, run some diagnostics. I'll check on them in the morning."[/color]

Making his way back up to the mansion, Kord stopped off in the large drawing room off the main foyer on the first floor. This was once his father's cigar smoking room and lounge where he entertained business associates and friends. The dark wood and old furniture gave it the appearance of the salons of old, but Ted had given it some modern updates, including a large TV and a pool table. He wasn't a smoker, but there was nothing like watching a game with friends in your own personal sports bar.

Ted poured himself a small glass of bourbon and took a seat, flipping on the TV as he did so. On came the local news, and what he saw on the screen made him sit up in the plush chair he had started to relax in. The chyron that ran along the bottom of the screen read "Technicolor Thieves in New York?"

The reporter on the screen was standing outside STAR Labs in Harlem, "What started out as a normal breaking and entering took a turn for the weird when police arrived on the scene and found something they didn't expect."

With a screen cut to earlier in the day, a police officer appeared on the screen, "Yea, well, when we arrived on the scene we found multiple suspects either unconscious or restrained. Some of which were, as we initially believed, painted in weird, hippy-like patterns. We later discovered that their skin was permanently like this. The reason for this is unknown."
 
Cutting back to the reporter, "And the strangeness doesn't end there. The men who are currently in custody who weren't oddly colored claim they have no recollection of being at STAR labs or how they got there, while the so-called 'Madniks', the term the police are using for the multi-colored criminals hearkening to their 60s-esque appearance, have told police that they were accosted by a man dressed in all blue. Whatever the case may be, the suspects are being held at a local precinct until their preliminary hearings. Strange times out here in Harlem. This is Melody Case, reporting from STAR Labs."

[color=6ecff6]"Madniks? Come on people,"[/color] Ted shook his head. Ridiculous bad guy names aside, the report was fascinating. The men who had the color drain from them after he had knocked them out claimed to have no clue why they were involved in the heist. How that was possible he had no idea, but then again they went from looking like cartoon characters to normal people. So weird was going around these days.

One thing was certain, however. Ted needed to speak to these men. Even if they had no idea why they were involved in a break in, at the very least they had been chosen by the mastermind of the crime for a reason. If he could figure out that reason, maybe he'd be able to figure out what was really going on.