I still don't think she'd get enough leverage to push herself upwards to the surface, which would be more than 2,5 meters, with a body and don't forget that the air quality down there wouldn't be good, she'd have to do it quickly... hmmm, her shard might even give her a boost for it...
That was pretty much my thought, yeah. She also needed her help to get the gangbanger.
OK I got a better way of describing my idea.
A lot more stressed out, much crazier capes.
I love the idea of Witch Tinker Lisa and kinda wanna see her with Baba Yaga's house. What I really wanna do though is pair her with the alt power taylor I'm toying with a Tinker metallurgist and black smith. See them meet up possibly through Toybox and eventually into forming their own team.Sorry this took so long.
Incantrix's Witchcraft theme is quite versatile, but also limited in strange ways. A simple example is to say that she can build a flying (anti-gravity) broomstick, but would have a very hard time making a jetpack.
The easiest things for her to make are potions, lotions, scents, or similar things, that grant low-level Thinker or Brute powers (sometimes with Mover 1 or 2 abilities as a side effect of the latter) that last anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. The potions generally don't interfere with each other, or with existing powers, but Lisa will generally know if they would. The longer she has to work, and the more expensive or hard to obtain the materials involved, the higher the threat rating can be. If she has time to research before a job (and is given or otherwise obtains enough accurate information), the Undersiders become an all-Thinker team with powers perfectly fitting the mission.
She can make potions that grant a wider range of abilities, but the less subtle the effect, the harder it is to make (outside of many Brute powers, but even there, she has an easier time making healing potions than 'ridiculous strength and/or speed' potions, even if other Tinkers think the former should be harder), and often the less duration it has. One that she's particularly proud of grants a weaker, more tightly-specialized version of her own Tinker power for between three and twelve hours, but usually around seven or eight (roll 3d4, as Regent puts it). If Lisa is working with someone she granted a Tinker power to, the whole becomes greater than the sum of the parts, within the temporary Tinker's limited theme. In a parahuman, the specialty is anything related to their own power, but again, subtle effects are easier (increasing Regent's range or speed of onset is fairly easy, giving Grue the ability to form his darkness into semi-solid tentacles would be difficult, and giving Bitch the ability to gattai her dogs into Monster-Dog Voltron would be ridiculous), and the resulting item will have a witchy or mystical appearance (and the further the intended effect is from folk or pop-culture witchcraft, the harder it is to make, as with her own stuff). In Tinkers specifically, it tends to expand the existing theme, and the resulting tech tends to have a mix of that Tinker's usual aesthetic with a mystical look. In a non-parahuman, whether they have a Corona Pollentia or not, the potion grants a (more restricted, and usually weaker) specialty related to their existing skills and/or talents, unless taken under stress, in which case the power is related in some way to that stress.
Most of the ingrediants of her potions are refined from natural organics, which makes her rather more interested in Taylor, who can help with acquisition. An important aspect of a lot of her less exotic potions (e.g. Thinker powers that don't involve new senses) is that if the same person takes the same potion repeatedly, it tends to have lingering effect, especially on parahumans who have powers related to the granted ability (including the granted Tinker power, though that may take longer to set in, especially if the shard is particularly unsuited to Tinker abilities; precognition would depend on both the shard and the existing powers). At first, it just seems like it tends to last a bit longer, but eventually, they'll notice that a much weaker version of the ability seems to have become permanent, and after a few hundred doses, the potion may effectively be no-longer needed. This is not something that can be rushed, though, as while overdosing is difficult, it's not impossible. Non-parahumans only get this benefit for the most 'normal' abilities, like excellent memory or mathematical talents, better-but-not-superhuman multitasking or fitness, enhanced creativity, and so forth. Retaining the Tinker power is theoretically possible for a non-parahuman, but would be easier if they already have some appropriate Thinker powers (memory, mainly; others depend on the specialty), and even then, is unlikely. The effects of someone triggering or second-triggering while under the influence of one of these potions is unknown, though if Cauldron got a hold of some of her stuff, they could certainly check (Ack pointed to a bit in canon a while ago where Number Man comments that they've used Contessa to predict what situations could cause someone to second trigger, IIRC, she just can't predict or control the results; they can certainly control when someone takes one of their formulae, though).
As noted, she is not limited to potions, as long as the items she creates both fit the right aesthetic, and have an appropriate power or powerset. One type of temporary item that she uses on herself a lot is a form of temporary tattoo, which is actually a device, rather than a lotion like body paint or other makeup. If a Tinker were to examine one with a microscope, they would find circuit patterns in the 'ink' (and get teased for looking so intently at her skin, most likely). These marks tend to glow when being used with particular intensity (sometimes also causing her eyes to glow, and even creating a localized updraft), and work best if mostly or fully uncovered (though they have no problem with body paint, especially the varieties Incantrix makes). In the spoiler box, below, is an example something she might wear on a job (though she's also willing to wear things that cover less), once she added at least a mask, gloves, footwear, and utility belt:
The golden torc is a key item, containing a number of sensors, as well as a psychokinetic field generator. This creates an effect similar to Shamrock's power, but more limited - mostly, it means she's harder to hit in combat. She can also use it to generate a force shield, generally in conjunction with other items she has on hand, but this is stressful, and thus is done only in emergencies (for now - Tinkers improve, after all). She often studies recordings from the sensors to improve her own tech, and to help Brian (and later Taylor, if she ends up leader) refine the team's tactics. The torc also contains a holographic projector, which when not used to reduce her visibility, can generate the illusion of a variable-length cape, allowing her a cool look, without risking it getting caught on things, or grabbed by an opponent (sure, the torc's PK field could prevent that, but it would just be one more factor to keep watch for).
Other witchy tools she uses frequently are the flying broomstick mentioned earlier, and a series of witch's hats and/or capes that mostly boost or add various Thinker powers, or assist the torc in some way. The hats/capes tend to be more cheaply built, as she's more likely to loose them (they do have chin-straps, but they're fairly weak, intentionally). The Tinkertech in them can self-destruct, but anyone holding or wearing the hat would barely notice beyond the hat not working, warming up, and starting to smoke (she's not going to wear high explosives on her head, thank you very much). She often carries a wand or two (or sometimes rings, bracelets, or other jewelry) with various Blaster or Shaker powers, and aimbot targeting systems (because wands are normally hard to aim); these may be loaned out to her teammates, instead. Also considering the idea of her having a Tinkertech bow and trick arrows, or a pair of fox-ears and a stick-on tail (Shaker powers, mainly involving illusions).
Thanks to her regular study of Regent, and more intermittent studies of Glory Girl and Gallant, Lisa has developed gadgets to shield against many types of neurology-affecting Masters and Strangers (primarily human-affecting, though she could probably block or disrupt Taylor's power, if she tried), or to amplify the same. Though she does not know it, her mind-shield tech would completely no-sell the powers of Heartbreaker or any of his children (even hiding from Cherish), and could resist a number of others who use similar vectors, like Valefor, August Prince, and Nice Guy.
Lisa maintains an alternate cape-ID as a rogue in a Naughty Nurse outfit, who mostly sells healing potions and leases out and maintains Tinkertech healing equipment (giving often-steep discounts to those provably in need, like the underemployed Dockworkers). Quite a few people suspect that the Nurse and the Witch are the same person, but as there's no proof and she's rather helpful, the heroes tend to stay hands off. It helps that these Undersiders prefer to go after 'acceptable targets' like gangs and unpopular-for-being-evil businesses (the 'Bank Robbery' Station of the Canon should not happen, though the Ruby Dreams Robbery could).
Personality-wise, this Lisa is generally less smug and less bitchy than canon, as well as less driven to be the smartest girl in the room, although all three traits are definitely in evidence. She still has serious issues with suicide, but is more obviously proactive about it, more inclined to seek out the causes and, if possible, correct or eliminate them. She also lacks Tattletale's hang-ups regarding sex, and while certainly a tease, might actually follow through, if she trusts someone enough.
As a group, the Undersiders all have 'magic' communicators that cannot be intercepted by normal means, or most Tinkers (though Dragon would be able to, if she tried hard enough), as well as better defences, and auxiliary sensor units similar to that worn by Incantrix. As noted above, they have a somewhat different reputation, helped along by a reporter finding out that Rachael donates some of her take to some dog shelters (the ones where she can smell that the people truly care about the dogs). While they do keep most of the take for themselves, the others do occasionally make donations to charities, battered spouse/child shelters, and so forth, mostly for the good press, and the amusement value of various government types wanting to avoid the bad press of taking money away from such groups, despite it being proceeds from a crime - of course, you can't always prove which crime, if any, they're using the proceeds from, either).
Grue has a bracer that projects blasts of 'clinging' darkness, though he must pour his darkness into it before use; this darkness lasts for several minutes per hit. His suit can make 'denser' darkness cling to him and absorb incoming kinetic energy, acting as armour. During the times Brian is under the influence of the Tinker potion, he and Lisa have also experimented with a potion that would temporarily grant him his post-second trigger powers.
Regent's crown can be set to increase either his power's range or speed of onset, but not both; it also improves his ability to sense nervous systems in that range. The taser in his sceptre can produce a number of ranged electrical effects, including EMP (which does pretty much nothing to Lisa's tech). His fancy belt generates a force-field that provides some protection against physical attacks, with a power-monitor in his mask.
Bitch gets a highly bullet-resistant helmet in the shape of a snarling hound's head, which greatly enhances her hearing & sense of smell (she can tell fairly accurately what other people are feeling), as well as allowing silent communication with her dogs. When she bothers to wear her armour, it also provides resistance to bullets. Both the helmet and the hard parts of her armour protect well against attacks from Brutes rated four or lower, and at least resist higher-level Brutes.
Taylor (nom-du-cap pending - seriously, she should think of one before the Wards or the press do it for her) starts out with a wigged helmet that enhances her range, and prevents her real hair from being burnt off (as well as being highly impact-resistant). She also has a belt similar to Regent's, though with a defensive Shaker effect similar to Incantrix's torc.
Still working through. Please tell me this isn't a real character.
I think I'd like to read this fic.
I see no way for this to go badly, at all.
That's a pretty good idea. I really like it.
I have a novel in my mind where the Spanish Flu pandemic (just after WW1, infected a full third of the world's population, and killed between 10% and 20% of its victims) was actually the zombie virus.
Virus acts as a preservative? Leaves the human alive with instincts of an otherwise docile herd animal that is driven to murderous rage at the sight of normal humans?
Some degree of handwaving is needed for any kind of scenario that involves zambehs.
Is it updating regularly again? I stopped following it sometime around when Susan lost the hammers.Pretty much this.
The zombie thing is just silly in the end.
Also: if you're not reading this comic, go fix that, fix it right now.
