It's Like Clark Kent {open}

[Kori Ander]

Kori was standing in a photobooth shaped like a telephone booth. Because nobody actually used telephone booths any more, really. There were cell phones and the like to be using, so you certainly didn't need a telephone booth. This one had been designed pretty much to be a statement, and likely had something to do with a certain British television show that far too many people seem to be interested in. It was blue. And it currently had an alien within it.

Said alien was currently examining the various nooks and crannies of the box, clearly looking for something. In point of fact, Kori had heard rumors that Superman, one of the several superheroes from her universe that she had heard of but had not, in fact, seen, used phone booths to change. There were, in fact, several comic books wherein the various superheroes did exactly that; Kori had seen a couple in the library. Considering that she was, in fact, a superheroine, she was trying to consider how exactly this process worked.

Kori pressed her face against the glass, bulging her cheek as she looked out into the crowd about the complex. Seeing as the Entertainment Complex was one of the few places completely free of damage from recent events, there were more people than normal, which meant more people to stare at the pretty girl who was currently standing in the booth.

"Maybe I should do the removing of the clothes?" Kori asked, though not before prying herself from the booth. She frowned, tapping the door. Deciding this was one of those moments when it was best to double check, Kori stuck her head out of the door, calling out to, well, everyone within earshot: "Is it acceptable for me to undress within this phone booth?"

[Darwin Daugherty]

Darwin had been leaning against the booth as she was figuring out the insides of the booth. It was definitely interesting to see one of these 'people' struggling with something like this. Perhaps it was this body he was stuck in or the fact that the woman typing this and controls him somewhat is a fan of Starfire and thought the choice of playby was outstanding, but she was cute. Then she stuck her head out of the booth and proceed to ask if she should undress. His black gloved right hand peeked around the corner and tapped the top of her head. He then walked around and smiled to her with that chaotic grin only he had. If he had his single fang it would be poking out the side of his smile. The six foot five inch former Dragon pony hybrid spirit blocked the views of the passerbys and withdrew his hand. "Honey I don't think it would be wise for you to undress yet." He took a step in and pointed to the bill insert slot. "If you don't pay the fee first, the police may come and arrest you for shoplifting."

He then stepped back out to give her the space to move around. "I'll stand out here to make sure no one walks in on you. There will be a series of light flashes. These are just to make sure that you are still in there." The devil of disharmony then leaned back against the booth, covering up the photo dispensing slot and gave her a smile. Not a reassurance if you knew exactly who this person was originally. But he could fake it well enough.

[Kori Ander]

The tapping caught Kori's attention. she blinked, turning to look slightly up at the young man who had done the tapping. It was odd; Kori really wasn't used to looking up at many people here, since they all seemed to be on the smaller side of things. That, combined with the man's dark skin, made her instantly think of Cyborg for several seconds. When the boy started talking, that was not something that was really changing any. Kori blinked at him as he explained, watching his finger as it pointed toward the coin slot. She frowned.

"Why would it be lifting of the shop for that?" she wondered aloud. She tapped her fingers against her chin for a moment. She supposed it did make sense for the Entertainment Area to charge for something like this. Though really, charging a superhero to change into their superhero garb was just bad form all around. Kori turned to look at the boy as he offered to stand guard, nodding most vigorously (also known to Kori as "nodding").

"Right, I will do the paying, and if you would do the guarding that would be most splendid. I shall emerge with my crime fighting clothing on, but I will really be the same person," Kori paused, considering. The Titans weren't exactly huge on the whole secret identity thing, and Kori in particular had sucked with it. Well, perhaps not quite as much as Cyborg or Beast Boy, but pretty close. The alien princess shrugged, dug into a skirt pocket to produce a few coins, and jammed them into the slots. When the machine started whirring, Kori ducked back in. She had her shirt off and was well on the way toward changing into her purple top and skirt when she heard the machine talking to her. Blinking, she turned to look, seeing the various options on display. There was something about backgrounds and the like. Frowning, Kori tapped the options, thumbing through them. It, well, it looked like the machine thought she was paying it to take pictures of her. She tapped the screen a few more times, wondering if perhaps she'd selected the wrong option.

Seeing no alternative, Kori, with her shirt still off, stuck her head out of the machine, looking to find the boy who'd been so helpful. "The machine says it wishes to take the pictures. Am I perhaps not using this correctly? For I wish to be changing into my costume, not having the pictures taken of me," she blinked at the boy, completely oblivious to, well, the situation in general, really.

[Darwin Daugherty]

Discord stared blankly as she was going hook line and sinker for this. She just had to be more alien than him. As he was about to explain the shoplifting concept, she just nodded and ducked back in. Leaning back and closing his eyes he just grinned to himself. Then came the part about her re-emerging in her crime fighting clothing. A heroine? And she was this gullible? Oh this was going to be fun. He hummed to himself as the door closed but soon enough she had her head and topless shoulders back out, fortunately not showing a lot to those walking by. Background and pictures? His head tumbled through and then connected a few dots as he turned around. "Well that's because this booth is super smart. It saw that you are a crime fighter so it is offering to help in your pursuit of justice by taking pictures of nearby crime that needs your attention. It will select four for you." He just smiled to her and tickled under her chin. "After you change I will help you find these places."

He just leaned against the booth on his arm nonchalantly as he spun his web. The area was definitely busy with other things that to worry about two people at a photo booth. 

[Kori Ander]

Super smart? Kori poked her head back into the booth, considering. She supposed it did make sense for photobooths to be armed with such materials. That actually explained why Superman was seen using them to change so often. Batman or Robin or someone like them had probably arranged the booths to make sure to take stock of crime and such around for just that reason. The superhero could poke his/her head in, take note, and then head out swinging. Totally made sense.

Kori wasn't a fan of the chin tickling though. It wasn't really the contact; she was a big fan of physical contact, but the gesture. Kori had learned early on what were condescending gestures, mostly because she seemed to get them a lot when she first came here, and she knew full well that this was often one of them. However, the boy was being so helpful that she was definitely willing to overlook such a small thing. Kori was all smiles and nods before ducking back in.

The heroine clicked through several more pictures, finding scenes and layouts and such. They really didn't seem to be showing any crimes or anything like that, but maybe they had some sort of predictive software? Like, there wasn't a crime in that... medieval castle place, but there probably would be one one soon. Yeah, that made sense. There was... well, the castle, and what appeared to be a laser arcade of some kind (Kori was pretty sure she recognized that), a forest complete with unicorn (not purple, thankfully), and what appeared to be just a normal photobooth of some kind. Kori frowned, shrugged, and entered her selections. She then hurriedly worked her way through changing, blatantly ignoring the various flashing lights that happened. Years of training meant Kori was as adept at changing as most supers. It wouldn't take long before she would be in position. However, the camera was still doing a remarkable job of catching Miss Kori Anders in various states of undress, with her outfit coming on in pieces.

The photos would soon be sliding out of the various slots, provided for viewing, which, in this case, meant giving Discord something very akin to a peep show.

[Darwin Daugherty]

After she slipped back into the booth to finish changing, he just stood there whistling as the booth did it's job. After the fourth flash, the strip of photos fell into the slot. Darwin easily took the strip and slipped it into his pocket. Not knowing how long it would take her to finish, he didn't want to spend any time looking over them in case she came out while he was looking. He was in fact smarter than that. Despite what the strip was, he wasn't getting them for that type of amusement. It was just the first piece of ammo for much much later. Hey don't blame him, he is the lord of Chaos and she is a gullible heroine. Villains at their nature oppose heroines. He did get a quick look though to make sure that they caught some decent shots though. Grinning, he grabbed an empty bag that was on the ground and popped it open. He then held it just to his side, waiting for her to emerge. Just something she could use to store her other clothing.

Now the big question on his mind. Where could he point her that was a possible background that could have a crime happening. He closed his eyes and thought back on some of the other pictures he saw eminate from the booth from other couples. There was a castle, some lasers, and the forest. The Forest. That's brilliant and devilish. He could send her to the forest where he met Dashie and Tink. Maybe he could get her to run into a couple of the invisible trees along the way. "When your done the computer shown an image of an alien invasion in the forest." 

[Kori Ander]

Kori heard the boy outside call and nodded before plopping herself down on the bench. Discord would probably be disappointed in the next section of pictures, as they mostly just involved a pretty well fully dressed Kori (well, dressed in her superhero outfit, which consisted of the crop top and short skirt) pulling on her lengthy boots and working them onto her feet. She could sense the other's unease and the whole "let's get out of here" feeling, which she knew all too well.

Soon the fully dressed Kori ended up stepping out of the booth, looking very much like a cosplayer as opposed to an actual hero. She did seem to glide as opposed to strictly walking out of the booth, her feet not quite touching the ground. Still, there was something a lot more teenage girl about the way Kori flipped her hair and ran her fingers through it, before adjusting the bracers covering her hands. There was definitely something confident about the way she pulled them tight and nodded, however, and that spoke a lot more of "Starfire" than "Kori Anders."

"An alien invasion?" she asked, tilting her head slightly. "Is it still incoming? For when I saw the scenes in the machine, there were no aliens. It is alright though," she nodded that confident nod again, "for I used to be an alien, and I can therefore handle them. Did you see where they were? Could you tell or perhaps show me?"

Kori turned to Discord, her eyes filled with that trust and confidence, as though she really believed he would tell her the complete truth, which obviously involved alien invasions, and she would then be able to handle them just fine.

[Darwin Daugherty]

As Darwin pocket the second strip of pictures, Starfire emerged seemingly floating a little bit above the ground. This second set was more clothed. He might just keep this for himself. He passed her the bag for her clothes and then looked towards the exit, ignoring the stares from the others standing around them. When she questioned the alien invasion, he just took a step towards the door way, looking to her as if to say that he would explain on the way. "This planet's sun provides them a perfect camouflage. They don't kneed their technology to be invisible. But through my sensory abilities, I could see them. It's not that uncommon on my planet, but alas I am too weak to fight them completely. I can point them out to you though. It's what we heroes do." Ha hero. Discord was as far from being a hero as he was from being a female. 

As he spoke to her and made sure she was following, he picked up the pace. "They are landing in the forest and have cut a straight line through the trees so their army can form up for their invasion." While it was true he was not as strong as he was back in Equestria, he could at least get a good run in as he led her through the complex and out onto the streets. Where was he going with this full deception? Not even he knew right now, but it would come to him when the time came.

[Kori Ander]

Poor Kori, she bought every single word that came out of Discord's mouth. It made perfect sense for the sun to grant the aliens super camouflage powers. And who was to say that aliens wouldn't land here at Tenebrae? It almost fit in too perfectly with everything that had been going on lately. Cakes coming to life, sections of town covered in jam, forests disappearing, pets uprising, aliens attacking; it all prattled off like one solid list, no breaks or breath needed. And of course Discord could only see them but not actually do anything; it was likely that his powers had been coming back in strange spurts and he'd only managed so much. That's what had happened with Kori. it was why she was only sort of floating and could only speak Chinese at a preschooler's level.

Landing strips, armies, this was all sounding serious. Kori still kept up, because that was what she was capable of, but she couldn't help but frown. "Are you certain that we can actually do anything to stop them?" she asked, her worried eyes flicking to Discord. "While I do have lots of the training, I do not have nearly as many of my abilities as I used to possess. I cannot seem to fly very well nor have I been able to summon the star bolts since my arrival. I do think I am tougher than normal."

Kori frowned. She'd mostly been trying this because she needed to. But actual trouble? That sounded like too much for her. Yet, she couldn't very well not help, could she? That felt... wrong. She had to nod. "Right, we must do what we can. Move with much haste! For we cannot let the aliens win the day!"

And Kori certainly sped up, which was pretty easy when your feet still weren't quite touching the ground.

[Darwin Daugherty]

As Darwin moved down the street he thought. What would she be able to do against actual aliens if all she could do is fly and punch? Hmmm there is a thought. Grabbing a street post to make the turn sharper towards the forest from before he spoke back to her. "They do have a weakness. They become stationary if they are hit with impact by the biomaterial keratin. Also if the source of the keratin is not touching the ground, they can not redirect the force of the material transferance and they will petrify on the spot. Since skin, hair and nails are made by keratin, you with your flight capabilites can render them immobile and stop thier invasion. I'll hold them so you can aim and hit as hard as you can. They are about three feet in diameter, so expect the strike point to be three feet in front of me.

The two passed some kids on their way to school and a couple parked cars. The forest wasn't much further away, though he was starting to get tired. All of his life, he only ran if he thought it was fun, he could float anywhere and teleport everywhere else. But to carry this on, he had to continue. The burning in his chest wasn't pleasent. He had to make a note to himself not to do this again.

[Kori Ander]

Kori frowned at the mention of keratin. She'd never heard of such a thing before, but the boy seemed to be most emphatic in it existing within her. Kori supposed that this was entirely possible; she did have a brand new body that she wasn't entirely used to. it wasn't as if Kori had spent time analyzing her body and figuring out what it was made of (you'd have to be rather odd to go to that extreme, and possibly possessing purple hair and obsessive tendencies).

"Why would they invade here if they could be stopped by someone with just the punching?" Kori asked, looking over at the boy. "People here can do the non-grounding easily enough. They could stand on stools. Or perhaps someone could stand above them and hold them up with wires and such to emulate the flying. I believe this is what they do for the movies and such, though I am not an expert," Kori's frown deepened slightly. These were certainly strange aliens. Usually alien invaders had more of a plan. Kori would know; she'd heard directly of them from her various family members, several of whom had led invasions of various kind before.

Kori kept moving, mostly keeping up with her light feet, which did get a passing glance or so. Given the strangeness that was relatively common in Tenebrae, a floating girl didn't warrant too stringent of a look. Several did pause to look at Kori's bared legs, but that was for entirely different matters. As Kori realized, however, that her companion seemed to be having difficulties, she slowed, turning to him with a look of concern. "Are you certain you can keep up? I could try carrying you for a while, if you need it. I do not have my full strength, but I could probably give you the piggy back ride for at least a short distance. I would say you did not need to run with me, but I need you to be there to be showing me where the aliens are..."

[Darwin Daugherty]

Darwin kept moving despite going just a bit slower. "No no. I am fine, we need to conserve your strength. They do have a plan. That invisibility I mentioned before. How would the Earth fight enemies that they can't see?" This was turning out to be a lot more work than he is used to. It used to be he could just wave down an alien invasion and set them up with some rediculous weakness where the intended target would head but enemies until they were out cold.

In fact as he thought of it, in his mind's eye, a little Fluttershy appeared on his shoulder "Discord you wouldn't really lie to her until she hit her head on a tree and passed out would you?" on the Other shoulder a Mini-Discord appeared and stuck his tongue out at her. "You don't have your magic so you have to use your mental accuity instead. Do this and you can cause more trouble later." Fluttershy just Stared at the mini-Discord. "But do you really want to revert back to your old self?"

This brought Darwing to a grinding halt, both physically and mentally. "Oh I can't do this." He walked over to Kori. "My dear I usually don't apologize for anything, but this time I will have to. I've been lying to you about the invasion. There is no aliens. I was going to have you run head first into the invisible trees for laughs." Sighing he sat down on a park bench and laid his head back. "In my world I am a Spirit of Chaos. I've been trying to behave myself lately, since I got my first friend, but seeing you so will to believe anything I said, I couldn't resist. And then the thought that I could really hurt you...Oh why did I have to get a conscious?

[Kori Ander]

Well, that explanation made total sense to Kori, certainly enough to make her forget the whole thing. So what if the aliens were weak to humans? It wouldn't matter much if the humans couldn't see them. Plus, humans would have to get close in order to actually manage hitting them. In truth, Kori was beginning to think that this might take even more people than just her. However, at the same time, the girl couldn't think of anyone she'd willingly want to drag into something like this. Tenebrae wasn't exactly overrun with superheros. Well, there was Robin, but Robin still was... off. Better to just try this for herself. If all else failed, they could regroup and try again later.

The alien princess likely would have used this newfound determination to move quicker still, but just as she started, she found her companion coming to a stop. Kori followed suit, nearly causing herself whiplash as she did so. Questions were almost immediately coming from the girl, only to be stifled as her new companion explained things. Kori stared, and stared hard at Discord as he explained everything. Invisible trees, possible physical harm. Well, Kori did sometimes suffer when she hit something, in fact, that happened more often than not anymore, but she didn't think it was something to get quite this upset about. A being of chaos...

"But you are trying to reform?" was what Kori asked as Discord finished. "That is what you meant by the conscience, yes? I had a friend who was dealing with a demon inside her who was trying to control her and things. And sometimes people who are bad become good. Still," Kori frowned, "I do not like being lied to... that is all you lied to me about, yes? Because if that is true, we should look for other scenes if there is crime that needs to be stopped..."

[Darwin Daugherty]

Discord never considered himself evil. There were times of Tyranny, but most of what he did, he did for entertainment value. Nor would he say he was reforming. He just rechanneled. Just when he thought he felt the worst, she asked if there was anything else he lied to her about. With his left hand, he reached into his pocket and his right waved her closer. When she was close enough he would flip up the strips of pictures so she can see her changing.

[Kori Ander]

There are a few people in the world who are just inherently nice and will think the best of people irregardless of evidence to the contrary. One of those people, Discord had already met, though she had been a pony at the time. Another of those people happened to be standing in front of him. Though Kori did have quite the tender heart, and quite the strong reaction to... things, not to mention a much stronger tendency toward hitting things than Fluttershy, there was still that instinctive desire to believe, hope that people can and will be as good as you hope. Even when people fell short of Kori's expectations, she tried to help lift them up later. But now, as she stared at the pictures of herself in various states of undress, Kori was trying to figure out how they would have been obtained and why they would matter. Somewhere in the back of her mind was some kind of reminder about how Earthlings had this thing about not showing a lot of skin. Considering that there wasn't that much more of Kori covered now, in her superhero outfit, as opposed to the pictures, she wasn't that disturbed by it. In the end, she could only reach one conclusion, and that was the conclusion she was going to stick with:

"These are pictures that someone was taking while I was changing," she said, her voice relatively flat, "and you grabbed them so people would not be seeing them, because people are strange and would do strange things with such pictures such as put them on the Internet. You did good in getting them, for now we do not have to worry about the Internet doing bad things to us," and with that, Kori reached out, plucking the photos from Discord's hands. There might have been just the slightest flaring of righteous fury, the slightest thing that this might have been something else; there was certainly enough that Kori's pull had decidedly more pull than a scrawny teenager should have.