[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Madelyn Green + wearing

Paladin landed in the street with the faint sound of an impact. She'd stopped absorbing all of the kinetic energy from her landings when she realised it might give away the truth of her abilities. As it was she left just enough energy to feel like she'd stepped off a table. It would not completely conceal her powers, but it would be enough to at least discourage the idle observer. She quite enjoyed reading the various different theories she'd seen posted on forums and message boards. Fortunately though, no one had quite hit on how her power worked. It would happen eventually of course, but until then she wanted to do as much good as she could. At least the revelation of her true power wouldn't prevent her from that, although it might make some villains smarter in how they decided to take her on. A voice buzzed in her ear, and she tilted her head instinctively as her Hero Liaison came through the small earpiece. She'd been promised they were working on something better, but the damn thing still came with a range boosting pack that she had to clip to the back of her suit. She hadn't had it knocked off yet, but surely it was only a matter of time. Apparently there was a situation at a bank. She almost rolled her eyes. Normally bank robberies didn't happen very often, certainly not as often as TV shows made them out to. Since the Event though any petty thief who happened to develop a half-decent power decided they could afford to be a little more ambitious now. They had calmed down recently, put down swiftly by Paladin or the other West Coast Heroes, still, there was always one idiot who missed the memo. She leapt into the air, assisting her ascent with a generous helping of kinetic energy. The bank was only a few streets away. She'd be there in less than a minute.

© seadra of gs

[Madelyn Green]

i'll be the bigger man while you act like you're innocent

The day had begun as any other with Madelyn having her usual breakfast of Eggs Benedict and fruit. Or at least something that resembled Eggs Benedict anyway. Cooking was still not Maddy's strong suit but it was the best that she could do in the absence of  Pemberly's culinary expertise. Still, this morning's meal was a bit of a triumph for the brunette as unlike most of her previous attempts, the eggs were actually edible. Collecting the ceramic plate from the plate, Madelyn shuffled across the kitchen to place it in the dishwasher among the other soiled dishes.

As the door to the appliance closed, Madelyn spoke clearly saying "Alexa, start the dishwasher on water saving mode." No sooner than she had spoken the command did she hear a high pitched yapping.  Maddy glanced down just in time to see her yorkipoo  puppy rushing towards her. A soft smile broke across the nineteen year old's face as she bent down to scoop him into her arms. "There's my handsome boy," she exclaimed as she pressed a gentle kiss atop the puppy's head. "Do you need to go out buddy," Madelyn inquired. Walking into the living room, Madelyn seized Kenji's leash from the end table and gently deposited the puppy on the vinyl flooring/

After taking a moment to hook the leash around his collar, Maddy exited her condominium and headed around the back of the building to allow the puppy to do his business. Picking up after Kenji was easily among her least favorite duties as a puppy parent, but nevertheless Madelyn did so anyway before bringing him back into the condo.  "Oooh, someone needs to be groomed," Madelyn cooed as she evaluated Kenji's fur and nails. Maddy put Kenji down as she dug her dog carrying tote out of the living room closet. As she set the bag on the floor, Kenji happily climbed into the bag.

Grabbing her keys from the end table, Madelyn scooped up the bag and secured the strap across her shoulder. Sliding her hand into one of the side pockets, Maddy dug out a wallet. Unzipping the wallet, the heiress frowned  at its contents. Definitely have to stop by the bank, Madelyn mused as she stuffed it back into the pocket of the bag and exited the condo.

~30 minutes later~

Having dropped Kenji off at the groomer's, a hurried Madelyn scurried into the bank. Despite being raised in an extraordinarily social family, Maddy had never much cared for drawing unnecessary attention to herself. A fact that was reinforced by the simplistic manner in which she'd adorned herself that morning. Pulling her mousy brown hair back into a messy ponytail, the introvert had pulled a black north face jacket over her white tank top, stepped into a pair of black legging and slipped her feet into a pair of khaki uggs for the day. 

With a steadily growing 'to do' list, Madelyn hadn't paid much attention to her surroundings, instead slipping in behind a young blond woman with a Iphone 8 glued to her multi pierced ear.  As her mind began to instantly idle as it often did when she wasn't stimulating her mind in some way, Madelyn realized that she couldn't recall whether or not she'd seen her debit card in her wallet. Had she not been so preoccupied with sifting through her wallet, perhaps the brunette would have noticed the disheveled young man loitering near the exit nervously shifting his weight from one foot to another. 

@tagmctaggington ▪ ### ▪ note here 

► kaigra ◄

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Madelyn Green + wearing

A few minutes earlier It wasn't exactly a busy bank, being out of the city centre and not one of the major chains meant that it was a good deal less grand than it might otherwise have been. There weren't many people there, and at this time of the morning, there were only two tellers on duty out of the four booths, and it meant that the queues were slow moving. There was a dishevelled looking man by the door, but another about the same age approaching the counter. As he finally reached the teller he turned and nodded significantly at the man by the door who slapped his palm out onto the glass surface. Ice immediately began to spread from his fingers, creeping across the glass, accelerating until it had covered the entire surface, freezing the doors shut. As shocked bank patrons looked on the ice thickened, the street slowly disappearing into various shades of blue as the main entrance was totally blocked off. The man by the counter immediately swelled, as though he were undergoing an intense body building program in the space of a few seconds. A moment ago he had been scrawny and unimpressive, now he looked like he could give Dwayne Johnson a run for his money. He proved that a moment later when he put his fist through the bulletproof glass in front of the teller and ripped it out of the wall. "Just stay calm and nobody needs to get hurt." Paladin landed outside the bank, finding the building easily when she saw the faint mist coming from the doors. Unless this place was some kind of new modern art installation, this had to be it. "Paladin responding to the bank situation. What have we got?" Her liaison paused a moment before filling her in. Presumably gaining access to the cameras inside of the building. "Two metahumans so far, one cryokine, and one brick, the brick seems to be some kind of shifter, he's augmented his actual muscle but is still displaying strength and toughness way beyond a normal human." Paladin nodded, beginning to stride towards the iced over doors. "Hostages?" "What else? They've moved them away from the doors though." "That's good, makes knocking a lot easier."

© seadra of gs

[Madelyn Green]

i'll be the bigger man while you act like you're innocent

A deep frown marred Madelyn's lovely features as she finished sorting through her wallet. "Damn it," the nineteen year old murmured under her breath as she stepped out of the line. Seriously, she'd forget her head if it wasn't attached to her shoulders, Maddy silently chastised herself as she turned to head towards the exit. However, the brunette had scarcely taken two steps forward when she noticed the scruffy, anxious, man whom had been loitering near the door placing his hand against the glass. Initially, she hadn't given the seemingly innocuous action much thought merely assuming that he was about to exit the establishment.

As ice rapidly began to consume the glass door, Madelyn's mouth dropped into an 'O' of surprise. Well, that can't be good, the heiress thought to herself. As other bank patrons begin to take notice of the barred exit, a flurry of startles gasps erupted throughout the financial institution. It was strange that ever since she developed her own abilities a year ago, she'd been curious about other metas and wanted to meet more people like herself. Of course, this wasn't quite what she had in mind. While the brunette was formulating an escape plan, out of her peripheral Madelyn noticed something unusual taking place at the counter.

The rather unassuming man at the front of the line that she'd previously been standing in had begun to ....swell for lack of a better term in a very Bruce Banneresque kind of manner. In fact, Madelyn half expected the man's skin to turn green. Well, that's something that you don't see everyday, Maddy mused. If the man going full on Incredible Hulk on her hadn't spooked the teller then surely slamming his fist into the pane of bulletproof glass separating them and ripping it down freaked out the petite woman. A series of screams reverberated through the bank but Maddy was unable to tell whether it was coming from the tellers or the customers.

Holding her hands up on either side of her face in a position of surrender the teller stammered "P---Please don't hurt me. I... I have kids."


~Meanwhile~

Madelyn studied the door trying to gauge how thick the layer of ice that the meta had spread over it was. After several minutes of contemplation, the brunette concluded that she should be able to blast through it., but she'd have to get closer. It would likely be best to freeze him first and then try to blast through. He wouldn't stay immobilized for long so she'd have a very short timeframe to get out as many people as she could.

Taking a deep breath, the nineteen year old crept slowly towards 'Sub-Zero'.

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► kaigra ◄

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Madelyn Green + wearing

Knowing that the hostages had been kept away from the front doors allowed Paladin to enter as dramatically as she did. She didn't even bother to pull back her fist, merely extending her hand, palm outwards and pushing gently on the ice. That push was amplified by the kinetic force of a small car hitting the ice. There was a vicious crack, the ice fracturing instantly at her touch. She stepped through the whole that was left, carefully avoiding the twisted metal that the door frames had been reduced to with her blow. She took in the situation within the bank, there was a Schwarzenegger wannabe pulling money from the teller's registers and shoving it into a duffel bag, while a scrawny looking fellow stood about halfway between her and the counter. He'd turned to stare at her, obviously surprised at how quickly his barricade had fallen, and scared once he realised who had broken through it. Paladin, to her credit, resisted the urge to adopt the classic Superman pose, arms akimbo, or to utter something clichéd. "I'm sure you guys have seen this before on TV. So let's make it easier on all of us. Give up now and I won't have to break your legs." That was when it all went to shit…

© seadra of gs

[Madelyn Green]

i'll be the bigger man while you act like you're innocent

While Maddy had no true frame of reference as this was her first and hopefully last time being a hostage, the anxiety level of the robber guarding the door was disturbingly high. Which in Madelyn's eyes made him even more dangerous than the meta that was punching holes through glass. On one hand, he could possibly be reasoned with and yet on the other hand there was a high probability that he could get spooked and wind up really hurting someone.With their only exit properly sealed off, the terrified patrons were huddled together in various corners of the establishment whispering quietly among each other.  Every now and then the hooligan at the door would shoot one of the groups an icy glare that would frighten the customers into silence.



Having moved apart from her group, the ruffian's gaze was immediately drawn towards the nineteen year old as he called out "Hey! You! What do you think you're doing? Stay back!" Raising her hands in the air to show him that they were empty and reassure him that she meant him no harm "Madelyn inquired softly "Can II just talk to you for a minute? Just a minute. I promise." The hoodlum advanced towards the teen a dew steps, his voice raising a few octaves as he shouted "I'm warning you. Get back over there with the others." As he had moved in closer to her, Maddy was now able to get a clearer view of the thug's face and was surprised to see that he was just a kid barely a few years her junior.



Well, that  explains alot, the young woman thought to herself as she took a deep breath and let it out slowly saying "You don't have to do this you know. I  can tell that you really don't want to. You seem like a good kid. Someone is bound to have called the cops by now and when they get here it's going to get pretty ugly. If you let some of us go they might take it easy on you. At least let the moms with kids go." Shooting a nervous glance towards his partner in crime, the kid simply responded "I can't do that. I'm not even supposed to be talking to you. It's going to get real bad for both of us if he sees you, You really need to get back with the others."





Well, the kid certainly wasn't the brains behind this job, Madelyn concluded. So, that meant the incredible hulk over there was in charge. Maddie had parted her lips to say more when a loud crack reverberated throughout the building shattering the ice barricade. It seemed like someone had the same idea that she'd had about breaking the ice only this force clearly came from outside.  A theory that was confirmed as a costumed figure casually strolled through the opening that used to be a door. Well, that was quite dramatic, Madelyn thought to herself as the hero proudly threatened to break the criminal's legs.



She had also mentioned something about being on TV, although Maddy couldn't confirm the claim as she barely watched TV these days. Madelyn shifted an anxious glance towards the young boy studying his face as his expression shifted from shock to fear. Before the brunette had a chance to respond, the kid sprang forward grabbing her about the torso.  As she struggled to break free of his grasp out of her peripheral she could see the miscreant at the window reaching into his waistband. The younger of the criminal duo turned then to face the hero dragging her in front of him as he did so as a human shield.



"Move and I turn her into a popsicle", he cried out in a shaky voice.

@tagmctaggington ▪ ### ▪ note here 

► kaigra ◄

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Madelyn Green + wearing

The scrawny guy had grabbed a hold of a hostage that for some reason had strayed quite far from the rest of the group. The other was simply staring at her. He was huge, he must have been 7 feet tall, and dwarfed everyone that stood around him. His bicep was thicker around than Paladin's waist, though she seemed unperturbed by his size. The hostage was the problem, and Paladin held up her hands in the universal sign of wow, hold on a minute. "OK guys, we need to calm down this situation. We don't want anyone to get hurt now do we?" She glanced at the girl, trying to give her a reassuring smile, before fixing her eyes on the cryokine once more. She did her best to look non-threatening, although her entrance had probably not done much to sell that particular image. Or her reputation. The muscular man pulled a gun from his waistband. It seemed an odd decision. The guy could punch a hole in bulletproof glass, but he thought a gun might help him deal with Paladin having showed up. He didn't exactly need a gun to hurt anyone, or even kill them. One punch could probably crush someone's ribs, or break their neck. He wouldn't be a problem for Paladin, but with civilians in the equation things could become more complicated. She could put him down instantly, but that might make the skinny one panic. "Look kid, you know better than this." He was shaking, one hand around the girls throat, the other held out in the direction of the Hero. The ice on the door had been pretty thick, if he could actually freeze the girl solid then nothing Paladin could do would save her. If she could get him to give up, then they could still get out of this without anyone getting hurt. "You know if you hurt her, if you kill her, then that's it. Your life as you know it ends. You know you can't beat me, and you know he can't." She nodded towards the bulky man who was still holding his gun. He growled in their direction. "Don't listen to her, once we have the money we can disappear." She shrugged, "What will you get? A few thousand? You can't get into the vault, he's not that strong, the most you could get would be what's in the registers. You can't disappear with that. The Police will find you, and you'd go to prison." She looked around at the other people in the space with them. They looked afraid, worried, here and there she saw relief, or hope. "You have a choice right now, you can let her go, and walk away. I'll tell the Police that you surrendered, you'll be let off with an easy sentence. If you're lucky you might not even get a prison sentence. "If you hurt her, or kill her, then all of that goes away. You can't outrun me, and you certainly can't beat me in a fight. You won't get away. And because you wanted a few thousand dollars quickly you'll have thrown away your life. Is it really worth it?"

© seadra of gs

[Madelyn Green]

i'll be the bigger man while you act like you're innocent

Despite the lanky frame of the leaner of the bank robbing duo Madelyn's assailant was deceptively strong as he ensnared her in his viselike grip. While Maddy highly suspected that freezing an entire person would be significantly more difficult for the kid than freezing an inanimate object had been. The brunette didn't dare underestimate the resolve of a frightened kid whom felt as if he'd been backed into a corner. From the moment that he'd accosted her, the nineteen year old had struggled against his grasp. However, as she began to feel a slight chill forming at the base of her neck, the teenager's movement abruptly ceased. The tension in the space could be cut with a knife as the once boastful hero now appeared to be erring on the side of caution.

The smile that the woman offered did little to soothe Madelyn's frazzled nerves as the aggressor's hand contracted ever so slightly when the superhero addressed him. "I....I don't want to hurt her. I don't want to hurt anyone, but I will if I have to.," the kid cried out. Not that Maddy considered herself to be a particularly morbid person or had ever given any serious thought to the matter, but in the few times that she'd imagined her demise not once had she considered it would come as the result of being frozen solid. As the younger criminal considered the hero's words from across the bank the muscular older man bellowed "You trying to cheat me! I said I want all the money in the register! Put it all in there!"

As he barked at the teller, the burly thug slammed his fist on the counter with enough force to reduce the structure to rubble. The kid had begun to shake and while Madelyn was grateful for the slightly reduced grip that the quivering enabled, the brunette couldn't be certain whether the criminal was quaking from fear or rage. As her would be savior continued her 'negotiations' with the hoodlum, Maddy couldn't help but to think that perhaps threatening someone as skittish as this miscreant might not have been the best course of action.  It would seem that the large one had become aware of the hostage situation taking part a few feet away from him and decided to weigh in advising his partner to disregard the hero's words.

"She's one of them, she can't be trusted. That girl is our ticket out of here. The minute you let her go, she'll kill us both," the ruffian blustered. As the hero and the hostile robber went back and forth the young man seemed to grow more and more irritable by the moment. "Shut up! Both of you, just shut up! I need to think," the kid shrieked. The kid's gaze drifted from his partner back to the superhero as he considered the woman's words before finally crying out "Screw this." Releasing his grasp on the nineteen year old's neck, the kid shoved her forward. Caught off guard, Maddy stumbled a few steps before finding her footing. Anticipating that the hero would see to the well being of the hostage first, the kid bolted for what was left of the front entrance. 

Oh, no you don't, Madelyn thought to herself as she lifted extended her hands in front of her a few inches apart from her torso with her fingers facing towards the robber. Maddy squinted a little as tiny dots visible only to herself appeared to consume the kid's slender frame.The microscopic dots were swirling about furiously, however as the heiress focused on each speck they gradually slowed down until they had all ceased movement leaving the young man suspended in something of a jogging position. Breathing a sigh of relief Madelyn stated "Well, glad that worked Otherwise, things could have gotten a bit messy. You know I tried that on my stepmother's vase last week and ended up shattering the thing. Man, she was pissed. Not quite sure why. Personally, I think that I did her a favor. It was pretty hideous."

Bringing her hand to the side of her neck, the brunette began to absentmindedly rub the area where a red bruise had formed as she murmured "Ow..."

@tagmctaggington ▪ ### ▪ note here 

► kaigra ◄

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Madelyn Green + wearing

Paladin had been about to leap forward and apprehend the cryokine before he could take any other hostages. He'd made the right decision now, but that didn't mean he'd make the right decision again in a few minutes time. She was astonished to watch as he appeared to move in slow motion before finally freezing in place. Had there been some kind of backlash from his ability? She glanced over to the hostage, who she now realised had raised her hands, clearly this girl had some kind of an ability of her own. Could she stop time? If so that would make her the first metahuman on record able to do so. Her comments were concerning, she'd just frozen the guy in place with the record of her previous attempts resulting in explosive dismantling of her target. Fortunately the skinny man did not immediately explode into a fountain of blood and gore. She raised a cautionary finger to the girl, then pointed at the frozen thug, "That, we will talk about in a minute." Then she turned back to the muscular thug that was standing and staring in horror at what had just happened. The realisation hit him and Paladin at the same time, but Paladin was quicker. She leaned forwards onto the tips of her toes as though about to run, then instead of taking a step forward she pushed off and seemed to fly across the room, her progress helped by more than a little kinetic energy. The muscular man had twisted, bringing his hand gun to bear on the woman behind the register. As he saw the flash of movement he fired instinctively, twice. There was a scream of panic from the hostages, and then the woman who he'd been threatening opened her eyes to look into the grinning face of Paladin. "I promised no one would get hurt. And I never break a promise." She turned around to the muscular thug. He began to back away, swinging the gun around wildly to cover the remaining hostages. Paladin shook her head disapprovingly, "That was your chance." The push shouldn't even have rocked the thug. Paladin simply reached out with one slender hand and placed it gently against the man's diaphragm. The blow lifted him off his feet, hurling him across the room and into the wall. The gun tumbled from his fingers as he coughed and spluttered, trying to regain the breath that had been driven so forcefully out of him. It was fortunate that his transformation came with some degree of resilience, otherwise he might have broken some ribs. Paladin keyed her earpiece. "Both contained, though I don't know what's happened to the first, it's like he's been stopped in time. Need a clean-up crew here ASAP." She turned to the one time hostages. "We need to clear the area now, there are uniformed officers outside and an ambulance, please go to them. You're safe now." However, she singled out the girl rubbing at her neck. "I need to talk to you."

© seadra of gs

[Madelyn Green]

i'll be the bigger man while you act like you're innocent

Rather absent mindedly Madelyn tilted her head from one side to the other in an attempt to work out a 'crick' in her neck completely oblivious to the fact that those around her were gaping in abject horror at what they had just witnessed. One would almost think that her fellow citizens had never seen a metahuman exercise their ability in public before which was just ludicrous as it was virtually impossible to watch TV these days without coming across a hero taking down a bad guy with their power and then taking a few moments to pose for a photo op before riding off into the proverbial sunset. Still, she supposed that to be fair seeing it on television and observing it close up and in person were likely two very different things. For that matter to her recollection, the brunette couldn't recall having seen an ability quite like hers before.



The superhero was speaking again, however it took a moment for the nineteen year old to realize that the woman  was in fact addressing her.  The hero gestured towards the cryokine that was still very much frozen in place before indicating that they would discuss what she'd done. Glancing towards the thug, Maddy started "Yeah....about that... listen there's really something you should..." However, before the young woman could finish her sentence the caped crusader had shifted her attention to the remaining thug whom looked completely freaked out by the entire situation. The smart thing to have done was likely to simply surrender, how the burly hoodlum once again proved himself to be far more brawn then brains by drawing his gun on the teller that he'd already terrorized once before.



The next sequence of events took place so quickly that it was actually difficult for Madelyn to sort out what had taken place. All she knew was that shots were fired and yet somehow the teller remained unharmed. What happened next, on the other hand, was perfectly clear as the hero pushed the thug which not only launched him into the air, but across the room. As he hit the wall with a sickening thud, Madelyn winced.  That had to hurt, Maddy thought to herself. He wasn't likely to be mobile any time soon. That's if he was even still conscious.  With both criminals out of commission there seemed to a inaudible collective sigh among the hostages almost as if a fog had lifted off of her fellow patrons.



As the hero spoke into her headset, the once deathly still room slowly began to come alive with nervous chatter. While some whom had been recording the encounter on their mobile devices were reviewing the footage, others were taking the time to contact family members to make them aware of their status.  With her report made, the superhero then instructed the hostages to clear out and find the uniformed officers whom she assumed were standing ready to receive statements. Apparently, an ambulance had also been dispatched not that it seemed wholly necessary. A faint buzzing at her side reminded the teen that her purse was still secured fixed around her shoulder. 



Digging out her phone, the teenager unlocked the device to find several missed calls from the groomer. Pursing her lips together tightly, Madelyn glanced towards the hero and then back towards the opening that had once been a doorway that the other hostages had begun to file out of.  Taking a deep breath, Maddy scurried towards the ext hoping to fall in with the masses and be forgotten about or at the very least overlooked but to no avail as the superhero singled her out for the conversation that she had previously promised. Anxiously, the young woman began to twirl a strand of hair around her finger rather furiously.



Taking a deep breath, Maddy blurted out "Ok, but you should probably make it quick because he's not going to stay like that forever. I can reverse it but it tends to wear off on its own anyway."

@tagmctaggington ▪ ### ▪ note here 

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Madelyn Green + wearing

Paladin mentally took stock of the energy she was currently carrying around. It was probably enough to take on the cryokine, but she knew better than to take the risk. She glared over at him for a moment, before transferring the glare back to the other young woman, who now she came to think of it, was probably older than she was. "Well then, I want you to take it off him… whatever you did." Paladin strode confidently across to the skinny guy, taking up position in front of him, and catching him around the throat the moment he started to move again. His eyes bulged in apparent shock at her sudden appearance before him. He clutched at her suit, and she noticed the frost beginning to form on the surface, though she couldn't feel it yet through the heavily insulated material. She stepped in close, nose to nose with him. "Are you sure you want to do that. Your buddy's already gone. Now this is the last time I'm going to extend the offer. You wanna give up?" She felt him swallow, hard, then he nodded very carefully, as if he were afraid she was going to squeeze and make his head pop off. Paladin admitted to herself that it was tempting to do it to the scrawny little bastard. She let go of him and stepped back, he immediately dropped to his knees and placed his hands on the back of his head. "Look at that, you're learning." Then she turned in search of the girl, spotting her before she could escape through the door. "First, damn that power is awesome." The genuine excitement in her voice was obvious. Alice had always been a nerd, and when super powers had actually turned out to be real she had been the one who had been determined to turn them into Super Heroes. She'd never actually met someone who could do what this girl had just done though. Then she remembered her position and tried to put some disapproval in her voice. "Wasn't that a bit risky though?"

© seadra of gs

[Madelyn Green]

i'll be the bigger man while you act like you're innocent

The hero had seemingly taken a minute to properly assess the situation before shifting her focus back to the rather anxious nineteen year old. When the blue haired woman's gaze finally did fall back upon her there was a rather uncomfortable iciness within her orbs. For a moment, Madelyn simply blinked at her in disbelief wondering if somehow she managed to offend the superhero. Still taken aback, Maddy stammered "Um, sure. Ok. If that's what you really want then I will take it off." As Maddy's umber gaze drifted back over to the frozen cryokine, Paladin sauntered over to the frosted thug positioning herself directly in front of him.

Lifting her hands as she had done before, the brunette narrowed her gaze as she focused on the series of microscopic specks that had now been rendered entirely immobile. As she intensely studied each spot gradually one by one they began to move gradually breathing life into each of the boy's limbs until eventually he completely "dethawed". Much to her surprise the moment that he did so the hero reached out and seized him by the throat. As was beginning to become habit with the teen, the kid immediately panicked and instinctively attempted to freeze his aggressor. Which likely would have worked had the hero not been wearing a suit that apparently provided some manner of protection against such things.

There really didn't appear to be many if any options left for the hooligan which thankfully he soon realized and conceded defeat. For a moment it almost seemed to the teenager that the superhero wasn't certain that she was willing to accept his concession. While she couldn't be entirely certain how things had played out in the young woman's mind, eventually she released the criminal whom immediately placed his hands behind his head once he made contact with the ground. With that bit of business handled, Madelyn once again found herself the target of the hero's focus. However, much to her surprise the superhero actually complimented her ability.

Directing a rather sheepish grin in the woman's direction, Maddy replied "Thanks. It's nowhere near as cool as being able to fly across a room or send someone hurtling through a wall with a minor touch but it comes in handy. It is kind of passive yet offensive at the same time depending on which end of the spectrum I am using it." No sooner did she utter those words did the rebuke that the teen had initially been expecting come. A bashful expression crept across Madelyn's face as she responded "Maybe a bit, but no risk no reward. I have been getting a better handle on it  with practice. It is only while in an emotionally charged state that it can sometimes go awry."

@tagmctaggington ▪ ### ▪ note here 

► kaigra ◄

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Madelyn Green + wearing

Paladin shrugged at the other woman's deprecating comments. Then raised an unimpressed eyebrow at her apparent defence of her actions. "Right, cause being caught in the middle of an armed bank robbery doesn't count as an emotionally charged state. " Paladin might not be the mastermind that Dominic was, but she could see how things going wrong might have looked on the news. Heroes were relatively popular, but there was a lot of prejudice, and most of that focused on metahumans who chose not to join the Program. Not that Heroes were immune to all that criticism and hate either. "Look, I can beat people up sure, but that's not that impressive, there are loads of metas who are super tough. You stopped him dead, like you stopped time or something. I've never met anyone who can do that. It could actually be a really useful ability." She looked around at the now mostly empty bank. Emergency response was still mostly occupied with the erstwhile hostages outside, although she could see a heavy van arriving, four officers with specialist equipment clambering out of the back. Taking down metahumans wasn't the problem, containing them was. There had been no advances in research to disable abilities, and that meant that detaining them required extremely specialised equipment such as insulate gloves and manacles three inches thick. Even that came with risk if the metahuman was particularly powerful or unusually determined. "Look, you had every right to be angry at that guy, but he was running. You wouldn't have been able to live with it if you'd killed him. You can't take risks like that. If you'd killed him then people wouldn't have seen a hero, they'd just have seen one more person with terrifying powers." She looked back at the girl, "I'm Paladin by the way." It was completely honest, it was unlikely that there was anyone on the West Coast that didn't know her name, but she didn't think about publicity or things like that. She much preferred just being a normal person, albeit a normal person with superhuman abilities. "Have you considered joining the Program?"

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[Madelyn Green]

i'll be the bigger man while you act like you're innocent

The moment that Madelyn had uttered her defense of her actions. The nineteen year old realized that her words would be misunderstood. Sure, being a hostage in a bank robbery was certain to put anyone in an emotionally charged state but didn't everyone react differently to such sutuations? Offering Paladin a casual shrug, Maddy replied "It's weird but to be honest I was fairly calm until the kid grabbed me. It was only him threatening my life that put me in an emotionally charged state. If I had the freedom of movement to attempt to freeze him then that likely would have gone pretty badly."

Even while the brunette was aware that her ability was dangerous in some ways, she'd never been able to successfully implement the explosion aspect on a human being before. This of course didn't mean that it wouldn't work only that it hadn't before.Truthfully, she didn't even know how it would work. Would they just spontaneously combust? Could she just blow up a specific body part? Focus on a particular organ? There was so much of her ability that was still shrouded in mystery and perhaps that was what the hero was referencing.

Shaking her head as Paladin suggested that her ability appeared to be some form of time manipulation, Madelyn responded " You know that's what I thought too when it first happened, but now I think it is actually more biological in nature. I can see these little flecks that no one else can seem to and nearly everything is comprised of them. I think they may be molecules. They are always in motion and I seem to be able to either slow them down or speed them up. When I slow them down it creates some sort of suspended animation effect, but when I speed them up...things explode."

The bank was eerily deserted as EMTs were tending to the hostages, although most of not all of them were virtually unharmed. It was the criminals that were in need of the most medical attention, interestingly enough. Not that it would matter, as they would likely be carted off to prison immediately after being patched up. As Paladin spoke again, Madelyn shifted her focus back to the hero adding "The boy tried to kill me so I am not sure that angry cuts it. As he was running, I seriously doubt that I would have actually killed him. It is a bit more difficult for me to blow up a moving target than to freeze it. I wasn't really trying to be a hero, just keep him from getting away with almost killing me. Still, I get it. Leave the hero business to the professionals. "

Extending her hand as the superhero introduced herself, Madelyn replied "Nice to meet you. I'm Madelyn." Paladin's follow up question caught the brunette off guard as she stammered "Program? Like the Hero Program? No, I guess I never really thought about it."

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Madelyn Green + wearing

Paladin shook her head with a smile, "That's what I mean, you turned that power on him when you were angry." Her tone grew more serious, "Trust me, I know the kind of regret that can lead to, and you don't want that weighing on you for the rest of your life. He was an idiot, and desperate, but he doesn't deserve to die." She listened quietly to the girl's explanation of her ability. "That is seriously cool. Being able to just completely freeze someone like that. It was like he wasn't even going to fall either. It was clear that Paladin truly was interested in Madelyn's ability. Flashes of her nerdy personality showing through with each comment and question about what Madelyn had done to the man. She might have been a lot more serious had he actually been hurt, although she wouldn't have held it against someone who was, to all intents and purposes, an innocent bystander. "Look, I'm not saying that. You were defending yourself, and I know it's hard to just stand back and let someone else handle it, but if something goes wrong, you've got nothing. The Program is here to make sure that you never need to use your powers in situations like that, because it's what we're trained to deal with. We're prepared for what might go long, and we drill with our powers to the point where we can use them in our sleep." She shrugged awkwardly, "I just don't want you to get into trouble when you didn't need to." Paladin grasped Madelyn's hand, shaking it. "Like I said, we're trained to deal with situations like this. People look to you for the right thing to do, and you get a real chance to make a difference. Plus…" She struck a mock pose, "The outfits are pretty sweet." She looked out of the open doors of the bank, her hair blowing faintly in the breeze that was entering the lobby. "And we could use someone with a power like yours."

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