Pace McNabb

Name	Pace McNabb
Gender	Male
Homeworld	Praetorian Earth (Loyalist to Cole until forced to move to Paragon)
Class	Freshman
Nut	A Little Nutty
Totem	Jackalope +1 S/GM, +3 Bod, -1 RWP, +2 Luck, -1 Drive, -1 Bonk, 20+5kk
Smarts	7
Bod/Feet	9 (3) (Dexterity >> Strength)
RWP	1
Luck	4
Drive	11 (6) (Mechanical Engineer >>> Piloting)
Looks	4
Cool	4
Bonk	4
Powers	Teleportation - can move from one spot to another by blipping out of existence and returning nearly instantly somewhere else. This is via gadgetry, personal use only, however he has plans on utilizing analysis of Portal Corp's work to produce larger scale multiple-object portals in the future. The teleporter he carries with him can be tuned with his glasses and gloves, both of which are fitted with extensive gadgetry themselves, and works line of sight (up to 25 miles) in most cases. However he has a cache of waypoints that also allow him to move directly back and forth. Several of those points have power supplies built in, so they do not drain the power of the porter, but if he uses the device alone it requires several minutes to recharge after every use. Hyperstat - pick a stat and add +5 to it permanently, no matter how high that makes it. Drive - applies to all machines, particularly ones which can be used to move or transport things. Skateboards, Lear jets, conveyer belts... all of those respond to him. (Is completely enfatuated with WyldFire the race-driving heroine, and has a lot in common with her - teleport and cars!) Gadgetry - though he isn't as 'outright genius' as some folks around Carramba, Pace's expertise far outstrips most, and he has invented or tinkered with existing devices that allow him to do a lot more than any typical Freshman. With enough parts on hand, he can create something new in about three hours; with missing pieces it takes longer, but still works. If all he needs to do is alter what an existing device does, he can usually work up something in less than an hour, or in a few minutes if it is something he's done before (he can take a bar code scanner and turn it into a lockpick in an hour, if he loses that one he can whip up another in about 10 minutes; he could scrounge together the parts to create a small robotic shield in a combat zone with ease, but in a spare room not so quickly)
Clusters	Vehicles and Travel +3
Skills	Navigation +3 Spare Parts +2
Knacks	Snappy Dresser +3 Has Super Enemies +2 Always Smells Of Ozone +2
1	Time Travel Mapping+Technology / Q. Pepper
2	Algebra Basics / N. California
3	Mandarin Language / Hirayama
4	Galactic Geography / Huntington
5	Ironic Literature / P. Fettel
6	Manual Transmission Driving / Krueger
7	Super Team Tactics / Dane
8	Teleportation Practice / Lane
Dragon	Oilslick

Adelade's new friend adjusted with a few days of rest and being tended to, instead of her clear scrabble for survival in the icy caverns to the north-west. She and Balsamina confirmed where they had landed was reasonably close to the Icewing kingdom, but was south-east by a good flight. Balsamina claimed that the stars were easier to see here in this rocky area, they compared notes - the two appeared to get along much better once Saxifrage realized there was no threat from anyone here. She was jumpy, she would likely always be, but finally found a bit of peace in this canyon.

That is, until a large shadow flickered overhead, and she went straight for the cave they'd been living in and would not come out until someone else checked it out.

That someone turned out to be Pace. He was living up to his name, watching the dragons as well as the people around him with his typical analytical eye and probably taking mental notes. Once he'd settled in to this routine, this camping out bit might wear on his patience but he was learning from it. For instance first off he was getting so many great readings on how to do on-site teleportation as well as the knowledge that he wasn't alone in using gadgets and devices for such a thing. For the moment though, he snugged his gloves on and settled the goggles over his eyes more for protection from the dust in the air, than anything else.

Pace peered out from the ledge and glanced around, where was it now, that movement said it was a fast dragon. Too big to be anything but one, and their two friends were still inside. Balsamina was looking a lot like she'd be needing to immerse herself in a large body of water soon, pale because of dehydration a bit more than usual. He fiddled with his goggles, swapping out the normal lenses with binoculars to scan the horizon. Soon enough he spotted that motion again, like an oil slick over cement.

The shadow had crossed perpendicular, so this dragon was... searching? The Freshman's gut started to tighten. He knew from being pursued in Paragon by those jerks thinking he was a villain - they would comb neighborhoods on the street as well as the rooftops and beyond. This was 'beyond' - up in the air. Flying heroes trained his senses, unlike many people on Twoarth, he looked up because there was often something going on in the air at least over Paragon. These instincts were serving him well now, though, because even if he couldn't directly see the dragon that was flying around - he saw the dust cloud on the ledges opposite their cavern, he saw the rare tree bending after it had passed.

There were no heroes here but himself. But he was not at all interested in calling a random dragon - probably one defending its territory - a 'villain'. So he calmly (hah, his hands were shaking, dragons were still big and more than a bit scary) walked out to the flat nearby and just... waited. He heard it before the shadow passed again, a distinct rustling of leather - wings. But slower than he expected, that shadow turned into solid mass.

Against the red and gold of the canyon walls, it was such a contrast to see black and white. He didn't know the significance of this aside from how difficult it was to hide in this area with that look. According to Balsamina's instructions over the last few days, 'scavengers' like him stood little chance against a dragon that was hungry or angry, so it was a crapshoot here that he was visibly unarmed and alone.

He knew he wasn't alone - the dragon knew he wasn't alone. But he was here without a crowd. If the dragon could sense them, probably with sniffing the air like it was... it knew there were two others.

A grumbling, hissing sound emerged from the black dragon. Oh. Oh crap, Pace realized with a deep blush that rapidly turned into a white flush: he didn't understand Draconic enough to know what it was saying.

"A... a little help here?" Pace said, his voice was barely a squeak. But he knew that Lane was always attentive, perhaps a little scary in that regard, because within a moment he felt that now-familiar turquoise-shaded energy move around his mind. Pace whispered, "thanks professor," and turned back to look at the dragon.

That dragon had a strange look on its muzzle - with what seemed to be quirked-upward eyebrows? So it had also been affected by whatever Lane had done? Pace stood his ground, straightening back up and applying his best bravado.

"H-hello," he said, confident in earnest once he saw the expression on that dragon's muzzle change. "My name is Pace, w...we're here on a trip, we," he recalled the other times they'd had to say it, "we don't mean any harm."

The dragon pulled up a bit, head tilted, showing off that it had short, slightly kinked red horns and little red nose and jaw nubs. Its neck and belly were a bright white, a remarkable contrast with the dark body and wings. But also there were two eyebrow markings in red, which was how Pace knew that the dragon was pondering what he'd said, rather than annoyed or angry at the weirdness of it all.

"Scavengers don't last long in this climate," the dragon said, and suddenly Pace was aware that this was a female dragon - something in how she spoke, more than the actual sound of her voice perhaps? He wondered briefly how dragons identified themselves, or even if they cared about their genders or - "what kind of trip? Not hunting, there's not much here this season..."

She looked around, and Pace saw that the darker armor on the back of her neck and shoulders was very reflective, considerably shinier than the rest of the black. If it was possible to be more black ... that was it. "I've been hoping to catch some dinner, but it's slim. I think the drought has affected everything here."

Pace had to ponder that for a second, "well, I mean we have food enough from where we'd been, but I suppose it's bad that - that there's nothing more here."

It hadn't occurred to him that the wide eyed look she gave was hunger, until a moment later. Mostly because Balsamina was now behind Pace, not purposefully holding food right where it would look like the black dragoness was lunging for him. Pace froze before letting himself cringe, because he heard Balsamina's clear giggle.

"We do have enough, are you -" she was clearly going to say 'hungry' but it was really really obvious that this black dragoness was quite hungry. When she dove for the deer leg that the Sea-hybrid held, Pace saw how lean the other dragon's body was. He all but saw her ribs, honestly...

"Wow, yeah - it's... got to be pretty bad if there's nothing to hunt?" Pace commented while she devoured the meat practically without chewing. He looked up at Balsamina, who had the same expression somehow on her face as he did. They waited a little, and finally when the Icewing Saxifrage came out from hiding he actively relaxed.

"Are you feeling a little better?" Pace asked the dragon, when she began grooming. She was very much like a cat, in that regard, but it was hard to tell whether they even had cats on this planet. The dust had settled, there was hardly anything even to indicate meat had touched the ground. As Pace looked her over, deciding that she was a remarkably cool looking dragon even if a bit thin. With the long and slender wing tips, she looked like she'd be very good at power flight, he knew aerodynamics would work in her favor - she was shaped like a falcon. Her wings were black with streaks of white, somewhere between marble and lightning, and it looked like the white parts were quite reflective, opposite the value of the armor on her limbs. That bright red strip of scales between her belly armor and her body was super cool, she was just ... so perfect?

The dragoness closed her eyes and settled a bit into a seated posture, her tail curled around her forefeet. "I... I really am. I guess I was a lot hungrier than I thought I was."

"Well you did say it was lean here," Balsamina suggested.

"Are you alone?" Pace asked, "Because... well."

The student took a glance over his shoulder, to see the other kids and their professor all gathered at the edge of the cave. Waiting, like he was, to hear her reply. Even Saxifrage seemed hopeful.