Mutants and Masterminds: The Fall IC

[Raynn]

A downed Aegis field mech burned in the dust and ash of what was once Liberty Park. In the distance the silhouette of the burning husk that was Freedom City University an hour ago was barely visible through the clouds of debris.
“I’m really enjoy this ; killing each of you, I mean it’s very. . . what’s the word I’m looking for?” a young man, early twenties, dressed in denim jeans, a white shirt and a black suit jacket stood above a mound of wreckage, a car jetting out at an angle.
“FOR SEVEN!” Bolt’s suit was torn and the speed had caused Seven’s blood to dry and stain him. He accelerated like the lightning that gave him his name towards the young man.
A faint red glow sparked with arches of electricity as bolt collided with the man, being incinerated instantly into to dust and red mist. The man smiled and said smugly “Bolt, you’ve been grounded.”
“Nemesis!” Nemesis turned as he heard his name to see another new Freedom Leaguer, Magni Thorson, it annoyed him that Captain Thunder had used him as an excuse to elevate Next Gen to Freedom Leaguer status.
Thankfully Nemesis thought most of Next Gen was dead now.
“Thou shall return Bolt to me or you shall face the might of my hammers monster!” There was rage in his eyes, he had forgone mere anger; carnage danced just below the surface of his eyes.
Nemesis clicked his fingers and smiled realising the word he had been looking for “cathartic! That’s what I was thinking of; killing all your friends was cathartic.”
“DIE WRETCH!” A lightning bolt raced out from his hammer only to arch back and stun Magni.
Nemesis stepped forward and the weapons flew into his hands which were already sealed in the M.E.G.A.S.; he stepped over Magni and bought down both hammers in powerful swings, one after another in repetition.
Nemesis rose covered in blood, the last of Claremont’s Next Gen dead, Nemesis looked behind him hearing a voice.
“You are mad Nemesis. . . Sick. . . An animal to be put down. . .” Dr. Metropolis always spoke with an authority, that of an entire city in one voice.
Nemesis smiled. The city feared him, he could hear it.
He had already adapted to Dr. Metropolis and his opponent knew it; Captain Thunder’s unconscious body hung from the Centurion statue where the Mayor’s skeleton had half melted into the nearby cement, Daedalus’ armour was empty at the statue’s feet. Nemesis couldn’t see any of the other Freedom Leaguers than the new arrival, the few living must have carried away some of the dead.
"You heroes must come with a warranty, I break one and I get a replacement free,” Nemesis said with a laugh.
Dr. Metropolis teleported in front of him and grabbing him by the collar and holding him up, his face cold with silent horror “what have you done?!”
Nemesis held out his wrists "Go ahead, take me in. Arrest me, and send me to the big house. I want to play in a different yard for a while."
“I’m not going to arrest you. . .” Dr. Metropolis threw Nemesis, slamming him into the ground.
Nemesis stood unharmed “Do you know what was the best part about killing almost the entire Freedom League Metropolis? Neither do I, I wasn't actually paying attention when I did it."
Again Metropolis struck him in rage, this time knocking him pack only slightly.
“You can’t face an entire city, your powers only combats one person at a time. Even if you defeat me eventually you will fall!”
“Doctor, you’re this city. . .”
Metropolis’ face filled with fear.
Nemesis Adapted.

The world goes white for an instant.
A week later the world mourns, confused and scared. How could the greatest heroes the world has ever known be struck down so easily? What had happened? Why did no one seem to know? But in all the fear of that time the emergency Mayor was stalwart.
As you see him on a screen, live or hear his voice you know who he is because your fear will never let you forget him.

Nemesis is the new Mayor and he smiles at you. Deep down in your soul you know what you must do.

Where are you? What do you do?
I'm allowing a good bit of Freedom at the begining to set the stage, it is a week after Event 84.

[Lost Demiurge]

"Hmph." Dir.... Dora Iris was not impressed. This was not an unusual state of affairs... Much of the world was in her opionion, trite and uninspired. This bothered ...Dora only a little, she had learned to live with it. Still, the boredom was torment in its way.

She turned the black orb over in her hand, tracing small patterns on the surface with her pinky fingernail as she did so. The other hand held a soft-serve cone, mostly devoured. The ice cream was vanilla.

At the final tracing, the device gave a mild "Beep", and started to glow. Unconcerned, D...Dora picked it up and held it up. A mild hum and ZOT, and the charred ash of what had once been a squirrel in the tree above fell lightly over the two people below.

"Pathetic." Said Dora, offering it back to the detective. His name was Cael, and his call had offered Dora a possible reprieve from boredom. Not much of one, now.

"A simple toy. An Omegan disintegrator crystal. Removed from its power source, little range and minor effect at best. Dire recommends-" Her mouth shuts with a snap, and she looks away. Calmly removing a pill from her pocket and placing it on the cone, she took a neat bite of ice cream, swallowing the bitter pill with little effort. After a minute, she spoke again.

"I. I recommend searching for carbon ash at the location you found this bauble. An incautious user would not know the beam's emergence point, and would likely end their own life. In fact-"

Freedom University blew up.

And as Dora watched, an brutish, unstoppable jackass murdered those who had at one point been her most respected foes.

ONE WEEK LATER

"Crime on the rise, SWAT units pinned down by..."

"Repeat, Carnifex is loose on fifth and vine! All pedestrians are advised to stay indoors, remember he tracks by motion-"

"The Anderson building is still burning, at this point the death toll is-"

And a single screen among the disasters, with a grinning, smug face peering out from it, promising to turn this city around, that Freedom City could trust in its new mayor.

"FOOL!"

Sparks flew in the darkness, and metal interlocked with metal with a CLANG, and a smooth Hiiisssss...

"UNWORTHY CRETIN!"

A rolling hum, as the fusion cells charged and a red glow pervaded the room. Dusty consoles revealed ancient cables wrapped in rubber. A single thronelike chair dominated the command center... Empty for the minute.

"BLATHERING SPAWN OF A MENTALLY-AFFLICTED SIMIAN!"

CLONG, CLANG went the secondary linkages, and a perfectly-manicured hand pulled on a metal gauntlet, clenched metal and ceramic fingers, and held a fist on high. Another Hiiissss...

The screen dared to prattle on! "And I assure you, Freedom City, that you have NOTHING to fear!"

The metal fist stretched out toward the screen, opened its hand as if begging, and a bright pulse of red energy blew the screen into a thousand shards.

"ENJOY YOUR VICTORY FOR NOW, SMUG JACKAL!"

And in the flaming sparks of the monitor, a metal form stepped out of the shadows, feet clanging against the floor, as it strode toward the throne. Seven feet tall it stood, a porcelain mask reminiscent of a beautiful woman adorning a muscular steel frame, with only the slightest of curves to indicate gender. A dark red tunic with a flowing cloak and cowl completed the ensemble, and servos whined as the titanium-and-silk clothed figure sat once more on the command center's throne.

A hand held a pill bottle up, and the figure considered it for a long moment. Then the black hollows of eyes within the mask glowed red, and with a snap, the metal fist crushed the bottle, white powder and crumbled bits of pill raining to the floor below. Good bye, Dora Iris.

"NEMESIS, YOUR ACTIONS HAVE DOOMED YOU. DIRE SHALL STUDY YOU. DIRE SHALL HUNT YOU. YOUR FATE IS DIRE."

Hello once more, Doctor Dire.

As the maintenance lackey bots began to fix the screen, Doctor Dire leaned back into the throne of Dominance, and studied the control room of the Urban Sanctuary.

"PATHETIC, AS LAIRS GO. BUT IT WILL DO FOR NOW."

A stray thought into the armor's cerebral interface activated the radio. With a few seconds, she customized it to tap into the cellular phone bands. With another thought, she called Cael's phone.

"DETECTIVE."

"THE TIME HAS COME. REMEMBER THE PLAN. FIND THEM, BRING THEM TO THE WAREHOUSE. WE SHALL GATHER THEM INTO AN ARMY, AND THUS... PUT THINGS RIGHT."

"SO SWEARS DIRE!"

[Green Bean]

Torches gutter in the dim light of Ellen's shop basement. Books and scrolls lie scattered across the workbench and floor, covering the scores and scars of past trial and error. There is a spot on the floor that has been meticulously cleared of clutter, and in its place is a magic circle that seems to occupy more dimensions than it should. Ellen kneels at its very centre, careful not to disturb the circle's lines. The magician raises her arms, and begins to chant.

"Ahgrazul, Pathfinder of the Cosmic Coil, hear my plea. Lead me safe through time and space, that I may find my destination..."

Ellen's chant continues, though the words no longer sound human. Power crackles around her, arcing up and down her outstretched arms as the winds of magic swirl around her. The torches, feeble in the face of such power, go out, but the room remains just as bright, lit by the shining magic circle. Abruptly, Ellen's chanting stops. The room goes still, but there is a charge in the air, as though the world waits with bated breath. Just when the silence seems too much, she brings her arms down in a potent gesture.

"Show me what I seek!"

Ellen's eyes roll back in her head, and her body crumples to the floor. Her mind, borne on the winds of her magic, forces its way through the illusion of linear time and separate space. She feels herself being drawn toward Liberty Park during that terrible hour, and tries to push further back, trying to find Nemesis before he wrought his terrible wrath. There is a brief moment when she almost sees him, but she is interrupted by a familiar presence. To her dismay, she feels her past self and her desperate ritual tugging at her, drawing the spell's strength away. Though she tries to hold on, the spell's structure cannot hold against the will of its creator and Ellen awakens to find herself back in her basement.

Ellen swore, but was hardly surprised at the result. All of her previous attempts had ended the same way, with their magic drawn away by the very ritual that had empowered her before. Clearing the books off of her favourite chair with a sweep of her hand, Ellen sighed and sat down. Her eyes fell on her cellphone and she picked it up. Her magic didn't look like it was going to solve the problem. Perhaps another set of eyes would help. Cael's. The man may not remember what had happened, but he would surely be interested in helping. She dialed the number.

[SuperMuldoon]

Synapse arrived on the scene in time to see Dr. Metropolis and Nemesis square off. Looking around at the carnage and devestation, his eyes stop on a familiar face. Is...is that Dire? A loud noise snapped his attention back to the fight, and all of a sudden everything went white. Synapse did the only thing he ever did. He ran.

One Week Later

Synapse makes a quick stop to visit his sisters and make sure they were ok. They were shaken, scared...and their memories were tampered with. Somehow, they couldn't remember what had happened to Freedom's greatest heroes. Couldn't remember that their new mayor was the one who was the source of the destruction. "I don't know...when I'll be able to see you next...I escaped from jail and I can't drag you into this. The athourities might not be looking for me now, what with the bigger problems to worry about...but who knows when they will come. Until this is taken care of, I don't think I can risk coming here..." Synapse spares them one saddened glance, and just like that he's gone.

Why does nobody remember the truth of what happened? I hope that was Dire that I saw, maybe she's experiencing the same thing...hope she doesn't mind unexpected visits from old employees... Synapse mind is running a mile a minute, which is just enough to finish the thought before he arrives at, what hopefully still is, Dr. Dire's residence. The Urban Sanctuary. Synapse reaches what he thinks might be the entrance, but he hasn't been here in a while...so he starts poking around looking for the entrance, or at least some way to let Dr. Dire know that he's here and looking for help.

[Lost Demiurge]

The security systems register an alert, and a gauntleted hand pushes buttons, bringing up camera feeds.

"ALREADY?"

A flick through identifies the warehouse level as the offending area. "PAH. DOUBTLESS IT IS VAGRANTS AGAIN."

Nonetheless, Doctor Dire calls up two feeds to the secondary monitor. To see a somewhat familiar figure....

"HM. SYNAPSE? THE TIMING IS SUSPICIOUS. NONETHELESS, INVESTIGATION IS IN ORDER..."

In front of the snooping speedster, a metal cylinder slides out of the ground, uncoils until it's larger then a person, and opens a hatch, revealing a phone booth sized chamber. From the back of it, a speaker crackles to life. "Enter, unexpected guest. Disintegrations will be witheld while you are enjoying your current state of hospitality."

One swift trip down a hundred feet or so, the pneumatic tube drops Synapse off at the base entryway. LED's in the walls flicker in patterns, indicating the paths to follow. And soon, Doctor Dire is glaring down at him from the Throne of Dominance, leaning one blush-painted porcelain cheek upon a titanium hand, as if in weariness.

"SYNAPSE. YOU ARE UNEXPECTED. YOUR METABOLIC RATE HAS NOT GONE UNREMEMBERED... AS SUCH THERE ARE UNHEALTHY YET ENERGIZING COMESTIBLES AT THE TABLE."

The free hand gestures to a semi-circular table that sort of loops out from the big throne, and sits below the monitor bank. She's put a few packets of mixed bar nuts at the far end of the table. A six-pack of Red Bull sits next to them.

"SIT. PARTAKE. AND ANSWER THE QUESTION... WHY ARE YOU HERE?"

[SuperMuldoon]

Synapse looks up at the imposing figure of Dr. Dire. That armor was the stuff of nightmares indeed...and sitting on...what did she call it? The Power Throne, The Throne of Conquest...The Porcelain Throne? Synapse snickers to himself at that, hopefully fast enough that Dr. Dire didn't notice.


"SIT. PARTAKE. AND ANSWER THE QUESTION... WHY ARE YOU HERE?"

Synapse devours the snacks and polishes off 3 of the red bulls after the word "partake" was spoken. "ThanksPrisonFoodIsThePitsGodIt'sNiceToHaveSomethin gOtherThenTheSlopTheyServeOhManRedBullICan'tRememb erTheLastTimeIHadOneTheseThingsAreGreat" Synapse stops himself and drinks the last 3 cans of red bull. He sits down and composes himself.

It's been a while Doc...and I know it's weird me stopping by but, I'll lay it out straight - I was at Freedom Park a week ago. Now nobody remembers that our new mayor was the one who put the Freedom League in the morgue. I thought I saw you there...figured maybe you might know whats going on, maybe remember something...Oh, and I also kinda broke out of jail so..." Synapse trails off as he looks up at Dr. Dire.

[Unkabear]

Cael was out and about. He had just left the Java Hut and a final meeting with his most recent client. She was in fact being haunted, and it ended in one of those experiences that would be forever branded into his head. Up until last night Cael had never actually seen a wall bleed.

The Cappuccino was nice and frothy and left a nice mustache that had to be licked from his upper lip. He had a meeting with Dr. Dire, she was eccentric to say the least, but could always be counted on to come through when he had a technology question. And the fact that she was discrete and could be counted on to keep it to herself.

One of his ongoing jobs brought him across something of a mystery. He took it on for the FCPD as they were out of clues. Just a crystal sphere and a missing person. Generally this came up as a mystical event, though Cael quickly determined that it was not an artifact of Magic. So he gave the good Doctor a call.

The end result was remarkably underwhelming. It looks like Mr. Wilhelm did him self in with his own incompetence. “Thank you” Cael offered before it happened.

When Cael heard the commotion he looked to see what he could do. And though several heroes were lining up to swarm in, there were still several civilians about. Cael knew that he could add to the fight, but he also knew that civilian casualties were unacceptable. So he ran over to the nearest group crouched behind a low retaining wall and opened up a portal to Riverside Park.

Freedomites ran through the portal, bottlenecking a bit as they did so. But anything was better than being close to this Nemesis that had killed the rest of the Freedom League and Next Gen.

Cael stepped though the distances between groups of people and funneled out as many as he could, paying little attention to the main attraction, just enough to make sure that it was not heading his way, or to get those out who were in the way of danger.

That was last week. And as disturbing as the event was, what was the most disturbing about the whole incident, was that this Nemesis was announced that he was the Mayor. No one else batted an eye. It was as if they did not remember that day, nor did they remember the face that had killed their heroes.

Cael’s phone rang. He was not familiar with the number, but generally speaking, anyone who actually had the number was worth listening to. If for nothing else to figure out how they got it. He regularly changed numbers every few months or so. There was a strict distribution list that would receive the new number. His office line was different, but then he had an answering service taking those calls.

“Hello” "DETECTIVE." The voice raged through before Cael could even adjust to the booming voice.

"THE TIME HAS COME. REMEMBER THE PLAN. FIND THEM, BRING THEM TO THE WAREHOUSE. WE SHALL GATHER THEM INTO AN ARMY, AND THUS... PUT THINGS RIGHT."

"SO SWEARS DIRE!"

He had been careful about who he spoke with about the event. It quickly became clear that most of the city did not remember anything about the events. He had pinned down a few who did remember through very careful questioning. Or so he thought. Dr. Dire quickly latched to the idea, and began formulating. Cael guessed it was just natural, he looked at it as a mystery to be solved. But still, the Doctor had a semi decent plan. To gather those in the know and. . .well there was not much more than that, but it was a start.

“Uh, will do.” He said into a line that was already dead.

Just in time for it to ring again. He had just changed the number, so Telemarketers had yet to get a hold of this one, though Cael could swear that they ran contests to see who could get it first.

“Hello.” Ellen’s voice was a welcome one. “Ellen, its good to hear your voice. I know this sounds strange, but I could use someone at my back here, Dr. Dire has. . .” Cael began to lay out what he knew, quickly learning that by the grace of the balance Ellen did not question him like he had gone mad. Then Cael began to explain why he would want a friendly face with him when it went down.

[Sliver]

The noise of the passing cars drowned Jake's pained grunt as he woke up in a ditry, abandoned alley in a pile of trash with a killer headache. Rubbing his head, trying to recall how he got there, he mumbled to himself "What the F-" only to be pained even more by his dry throat.

Leaping out of the trash, he stumbled towards "The Rubber Pen", a new local bar that he didn't have a clue about it's name origins. Oh, that's right he starts remembering her, dragging him outside for about the first time in the past week, taking him into this place. At some point she asked him to come upstairs.. What did he tell her? She leaves alone, hope she is alright, bah! Hope I'm alright. He continued drinking, drowning himself in alcohol.

He starts changing forms, but can't concentrate on something complicated, makes only minor adjustments just in case, and makes the terrible smell go away with concealment. Better no smell at all then that horrible one.

Into the rubber pen enters a young looking wreck in a brown long trench coat, a bushy black beard and messed up hair. Noticing some "not so fresh" banana on his shoulder, he throwed it into the trash at the entrance.

The place is empty, besides a young man trying to make some money and is responsible for opening up for the sorry men that drink so early in the day. "You are either a pedophile, or times were a bit too rough on you" he trieed to joke with Jake, but only awakening Jake's splitting headache. Rubbing his head and stretching a hand forward, he groans "Please, just water, and some quiet"

The man shruged and walked away, returning with the water after a time best described by Jake as "What the F**K took you so long?!" he didn't say that, and it probably wasn't that long, but it sure have felt like that. He looks for a moment at the water, easily noticing the dirty glass, and deciding he doesn't care.

He gets up, tells a hasted goodbye and scurries off. Moving through a park towards her house, he thinks about what he will tell her. She is right though. He can't wallow in self pity. He waited for the moment his powers will be awake for such a long time, and now that they are here and he needs to use them, he whines that it's too hard and he doesn't know where to start and no one will help him and.. He started to sink into depression again. Great. Going up hill on the grassy ground he notices a stage with a wall, on it hanging a giant poster of their precious new mayor. "Damn him" Jake curses to "the mayor" some more and looks around, shrugging and suddenly, his arm turns into a color spray.

Stepping away, he examines his art. "Damn, I'm childish" he thinks while examining the only piece he added to the mayor. A giant red mustache. In a giggle mixed with hate, he felt like a teenage emo, and slipped back, falling to the grass and letting his body roll down hill, trying to reach out with his mind to anyone like him, to anyone who knows..

[Fragenstein]

Charlie had been practicing a little free-running when Nemesis made his debut. The buildings of the tightly packed city were perfect for the nuvo-sport and the wire running through his body told him how it was done. The boy expertly moved from ledge to perch, sliding down slopes and springing across gaps between structures.

Despite all of the artificial talent that ran through his body, he did still have to train. Just knowing how to do a thing was not the same as being capable of getting it done. His endurance and strength still needed to improve. Discreet muscle groups that he'd never used in his life were being put to the test just in this exercise, so if he were to become one of the city's champions then he'd need to be better than he was now.

This run also served the purpose of finding a new home for Skillwire. That was the name he'd decided to give the powerful maniframe that he'd inherited, and he felt there was little doubt that he'd earned the ownership. The lab held too many painful memories for him to live there comfortably. It sufficed for now, but every time he returned the place felt more creepy and disturbing.

A familiar voice could then be heard as Charlie paused on the side of one building. He'd been preparing to leap from one wall to the fire escape just across an alley when something made him pause. There was a television on across the way, visible through an open window. Something about a new mayor...

The frightening grin that Nemesis delivered made his hand tighten around the secure conduit he'd been using to hold his position. That sweating hand was starting to become painul with the effort of holding himagainst the wall and his feet slipped a bit on the rough brick. A few quick moves had him retreating back up to the roof rather than springing over to his previous target.

How had this happened? Now had the bastard responsible for this atrocity become the man in charge? He'd learned that, yes, people had been made to forget, but this was just beyond belief.

Charlie scowled beneath his hood and the current events. A mental signal to Skillwire flooded his mind with background information regarding Nemesis. Along with that came information about local politics, background information on the major players in the city and what connection they might have to the murdering villain.

As he did, another presence crept into the Expert's mind. For a minute he was worried about a glitch in his 'frame, but it didn't seem to be coming from that source.

"Hello...?" He answered aloud first, and then again in his mind.

"Hello...?

[Sliver]

Sitting straight a bit too quickly, Jake groans in pain, still dealing with the effects of a stupid night.

"Who's there? Is it true.. It can't be, there are others.. Are you too, aware of Nemesis?" Jake's projected thoughts sounded unsure and he was happy no one was around the park to see his weird fiasco.

[Fragenstein]

"Yes...", Charlie hesitated. He shouldn't have answered, what if it were the bastards that did this to him trying to track him down? The boy had no way of knowing what booby traps or failsafes they may have built into his body.

But the presence on the other end didn't carry the menace he'd come to associate with his absent captors. It... he?... seemed to unsure of himself, maybe even a little frightened.

"I know about him, yes. How many of us are there, and how are you inside of my head?"

The Expert paused to shift his knowledge once more. Information on psychic penomena started to fill his mind with data as he tried to sift fact from fiction on the concept.

[Sliver]

"I.. Don't know.. It's the first time I tried to reach out, and I honestly didn't think anyone will pick it up, let alone answer it.. I'm not really inside your head, it's just a power I have that allows me to initiate mental communication.. Jake sounds awkward, he only practiced a few of his abilities from the time of their awakening, and he just did it, not really thinking about it, let alone trying to explain to someone else.

[Fragenstein]

Charlie nodded to himself, forgetting that the caller wouldn't be able to see it, and reviewed what he now knew about telepathic communication. He had to wonder how far into his thoughts the stranger could probe.

"My name is...", Charlie's mind clamped down hard on his thoughts. He'd almost given away his name, and this was not a time that he could afford to do such a foolish thing. He was entering a new world of danger and enmity. His private identity was not something to be shared.

Was this a setup? Were his tormentors trying to find him to take back what he'd been given? That seemed unlikely. The person on the other side of his mind didn't sound like them, and this was hardly the most convenient way to set an ambush. More likely they'd have been waiting for him back at the lab during one of his frequent return visits.

Even if the caller wasn't a threat to him, there was the fact of Charlie's age to be considered. He didn't think that the world would be very understanding about a sixteen-year-old kid fighting crime.

"I'm the Expert." He supplied. "I think we should meet. Where are you?"

[Sliver]

"I don't really have a public identity, and like yourself, I don't wish to give away my real name.. But you can call me Metamorph, if you need a name. Unfortunately, I believe my communication is only limited to this planet, so I can't tell you how far apart we are exactly.. I'm at a park near "The Rubber Pen" bar if that helps you, near a stage with a large poster of Nemesis, with a really fancy red mustache, if I may add.."

[Fragenstein]

Charlie already had maps and information downloaded about the city for his jaunt, and it only took a moment to cross reference what he'd been told. Though he didn't know about the Nemesis poster, the park, stage and bar all had public listings.

"I'll be there in a few minutes. Watch for a silver Lincoln."

Charlie closed his mind to the conversation, though he wasn't sure if that'd keep his thoughts to himself. Hopefully Metamorph would pick up the hint for privacy and not pry any further.

The car was something he'd stolen from the lab's motor pool. It was nice and new with low miles and all badging removed. The plate was registered with an innocuous front, some company that either didn't exist or was buried so deeply under cover that not even Charlie could dig up anything about it. He assumed that former was true, and that made the car about as invisible as paperwork possibly could.

He was into the driver's seat in remarkably little time and on his way towards the park. A few minutes after that had it pulling up to the stage's parking lot. Blackout windows made it tough to see who was driving, but as it simply sat there idling, the MKZ gave itself away to Metamorph as to who was behind the wheel.

[Sliver]

Jake steps slowly towards the car and without opening the doors, he slips his head through the closed window without trouble and examines the Expert "I would sit down, but I don't think you would like that. I might not smell of it, but I really need a shower.." His expression looks pained "Heavy drinking and waking up in a heap of trash.. I could use a cold shower. It's good to meet you tho."

[Green Bean]

Ellen mostly felt relief, relief that she wasn't the only one who remembered the Event. There was a small part of her worried about working with an ex-supervillain, but desperate times called for desperate measures, and Ellen was at Cael's side when he walked into Dire's warehouse.

[Fragenstein]

Charlie wrinkled his nose at the unexpected intrusion. He was caught off guard, but he recovered quickly and opened up a file on Metamorph in his mind. 'Telepathic Communication' and 'Shapeshifting' was recorded, along with what he could see of the man's hight, weight and stats. A note was appended that such information should be considered unreliable at best, given his apparent talent.

"Get in, I know some tricks on getting odors out of upholstery."

That was true. His encyclopedic knowledge did not stop short of 'dry cleaning'. If it came down to it, he could even just swap the current car for one just like it still sitting in the lab's garage.

"Plus I can get you that shower, as long as you don't mind slipping into a hotel through the ninth floor window."

That was, after all, how Charlie had been gaining access. He didn't have the money or fake IDs at the moment to actually pay for the room. The best he was able to do was break into the hotel's booking system and mark the room as occupied and payed-for in advance.

It helped that he could slip in and out of the building without being seen. No questions were or ever would be asked as long as he was never caught.

He did feel guilty about the theft of services, but alongside of Metamorph's file was another keeping tabs on everything he owed and would continue to accrue until he managed to get properly set up with a real life.

The Expert spoke out of his concealing hood with a tone little resembled his mental 'voice'. Before he seemed to carry the mature weight of many, many years. In reality, however, he sounded much too young to have seen half of that.

Charlie was aware of that and wished that some sort of disguise or acting talent had been included in the mainframe. Unfortunately, such abilities seemed somehow less definitive* than the scientific and physicial training he had within his reach.

Disguise, being a CHA based skill, t'aint included in his VP.

[Sliver]

Jake slips through and to the seat, laughing "slip in, that's what I do.. These seats are way more comfortable then that pile of junk.." He rubs his head "Do you have some medication in here? I'm not drinking like that never again.."

[Fragenstein]

The odor that accompanied Jake was palpable, almost a tangible aura around the man. Charlie had to agree that if drinking was responsible for his curernt state then it was best avoided.

"Meds? No. Hopefully you're talking about Tylenol or niacin. I have some 5-hour Energy shots back in the room. That'll have to do."

Charlie couldn't swear that he wasn't talking about anything prescription or illegal, but he decided to assume the best.

As the smelly super' settled himself in, the car was slipped into reverse and backed out of its spot. Charlie handled the vehicle through traffic with the ease and grace of a professional driver in spite of the fact that he'd never even been behind the wheel of anything before a week ago.

He also craked the windows a bit and turned up the car's ventilation trying to push out the funk.

"So what do you know about Nemesis? And why are you the only one that honestly remembers?"

That was a slip. Charlie didn't consider his own awareness to be fairly gained. If it hadn't been for Skillwire instructing him of Event 84 then he'd be as ignorant as the rest of the city.

[Sliver]

Note: While Metamorph speaks of his own smelliness, you smell nothing of him, unless you have acute smell. Really, he smells of nothing. No odor at all.

"I really don't know. Maybe it is due to my powers, or maybe due to.. Well, I was there with.. Her.. I have sent her away, and she remembers nothing of it. Maybe it has something to do with that.." He sighs "My last connection to this wretched place, and she doesn't remember"

[Fragenstein]

Gotcha -- I'm not sure it's worth going back and editing my posts, but let's just pretend that Charlie's reaction to the smell never happened?

"A pliable body would infer a pliable mind. Maybe even slippery, which might be how you avoided the amnesia, yes. But who is she, and what does she have to do with Event 84?"

In a way, running into Metamorph was a great relief. Even though Charlie had no reason to doubt anything fed to him by Skillwire, he still couldn't be sure that it hadn't told him a lie. If someone else knew about the tragedy then it sounded like he hadn't been misled at all.

The car continued its journey through the city streets. Charlie unerringly obeyed all traffic laws to the letter and gave other divers all courtesy that was properly due. If one to speculate, it was almost as if the young man piloted with the local Driver's Ed manual in his head.

[Sliver]

"She is.. Nobody." Jake shakes his head "It doesn't matter."

Jake sighs and sits quietly. He never thought about having to work in a team, and had no idea what to say or how it's like..

"You are pretty skilled for a kid, that's why you try to hide your age?" He slumps down the seat "I guess I won't have visual related problems.." Having a bit more focus now, his body starts to change again. He gains a bit more hight, his hair turns dark and his cloths become less stalk-raper like.

[Fragenstein]

Charlie actually cringed when the remark about his age came up. He'd expected to be found out eventually, but he'd hoped to withhold his age beyond at least the first encounter with another superhero.

"I don't think that Child Services would appreciate a minor risking his life fighting crime. They'd probably lock me up for my own protection. It really is better if nobody else found out, so hopefully you'll keep that to yourself.


"And, yes. I'm very skilled. A universal expert on nearly every subject. If it's publicly known information or a humanly quantifiable talent, then I know it and I can do it."

That comment brought the vestigial teenaged mindset out of Charlie. A part of him had been dying for a chance to prove himself, be challenged on what he could do a show off his abilities.

"You can test me if you want. Ask me something only Alex Trebeck would know."

[Lost Demiurge]

Just as Doctor Dire leans in to speak with Synapse, the proximity alert flares up again. A check of the viewscreen reveals two more familiar faces from incident 84. The Doctor nods. "GOOD."
Ellen and Cael are met with pneumatic tubes rising up from the warehouse floor, and the same canned invitation that Synapse got. The LED's in the steel-lined walls deftly weave a path through the dusty corridors of the decades vacant base, while various rooms reveal plastic-covered machinery of a disturbing nature. Small, permanently hunched over robots run throughout the base, cleaning and repairing.

And the Doctor waits on the Throne of Dominance, inside the central command room. Her masked face stares down at the new arrivals, as she puts her hands together, and taps finger to finger.

"YOUR ALACRITY IS COMMENDABLE, DETECTIVE." The cloak sweeps aside and a metal hand indicates Synapse. "MEET SYNAPSE, A FORMER HENCHMAN. NOW PROMOTED TO COMRADE DUE TO COMMON CAUSE."

THe mask turns back to Cael, and tilts. "I SEEM TO RECALL AT LEAST ONE MORE FACE PRESENT AT THE PARK THAT IS NOT HERE. YOU HAVE NOT LOCATED THE ONE WE SAW NEXT TO THE TREES?"

Servos hiss, as the armor shifts and she leans forward to consider Ellen. "WELCOME TO THE URBAN SANCTUARY. I AM DOCTOR DIRE. WHAT HAS THE DETECTIVE TOLD YOU ABOUT OUR SITUATION, AND WHAT HAVE YOU DEDUCED ON YOUR OWN?"

[Unkabear]

Cael shrugged, “From what I have gathered it is a street kid I haven’t had time to speak with Angel* yet.” She is the best resource to find anyone homeless on the street, but in the devastation she has been out and about working and she doesn’t carry a cell phone. Cael wouldn’t admit to the fact that he was worried about her, but he knew that she could well take care of herself.

*I know I am highjacking her over from a Charles De Lint series, but damn it if Angelina Marceau (http://books.google.com/books?id=XWy19Uo53HEC&pg=PA103&lpg=PA103&dq=Dead+man's+shoes+charles+de+lint&source=bl&ots=qZnomxfikg&sig=wwQmDOnAxqWqzYoDRy5Sm0UEx8g&hl=en&ei=wi-VS4KLJ4XgtgPM9an8Aw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Dead%20man's%20shoes%20charles%20de%20lint&f=false)could not be here in Freedom City. The short story is well worth the read even if you are not a Charles De Lint fan.

[Sliver]

Jake smiles "I'm sorry, but it won't prove that much. I was.. Trained, for a specific reason, and my extreme specialty didn't really allow me time for general study or anything really.. I am really good at concentrating though.. And I could read your mind if you let your guard down.. Didn't try to control anyone yet though.. Maybe some day I will be strong enough to change others, could help.." He closes his eyes and pulls up his fist in front of his face, as if examining it. "Changing yourself to gain skills not actually yours. We are alike, there. Are you limited to skills and knowledge, or you could take on extraordinary powers?"

[Fragenstein]

Charlie shook his head.

"Nothing humanly impossible, and nothing that can't be reduced to formulaic description or a trained reflex action."

The car continued to maneuver smoothly through traffic until it slowed in front of a medium-quality hotel. It wasn't one of the larger chains or part of the elite buildings that catered to high-dollar clients. It was, however, sparsely occupied and was old enough that the windows still opened on the upper floors.

Charlie cruised around the block and into an alley that ran behind the building. This led to the hotel's underground parking and was where he exited the building.

"That security camera over there happens to be malfunctioning. They won't be able to see us coming or going, and the car is registered with the hotel as belonging to a guest. A minor typo in the plate description keeps it from being listed in their system correctly. Nobody should bother it and, hopefully, anyone watching for it to show up in any databases should miss it by 'that' much."

Charlie didn't really like running around in broad daylight in full costume. While it might not be that out of place dashing across rooftops, the outfit tended to draw too much attention on the street. This route gave him access to the almost-always empty alleyways that ran un-noticed behind the city scenery.

From there it was just a hop-skip-jump up the treacherous purchases of the hotel wall towards the room.

[Sliver]

"Cameras, climbing.. Never bothered me less" Jake smiles and lets the Expert lead, instead of climbing he just sticks to the surface effortlessly.

[Green Bean]

Ellen shifts back slightly as Doctor Dire addresses her, clearly somewhat discomfited by her...unique way of speech. "I, uh, am pleased to meet you, doctor. I'm Ellen, a sorcerer." Her hand fiddles with the chain of the amulet dangling around her neck. "As for the Event, all I know is that way too many people died, and Nemesis messed with the entire city's head somehow. I've tried to look into the past to find out more about him, but my own presence at the Event's interfering with my spells."

[Fragenstein]

Charlie could have accused the shapeshifter of cheating, but it wasn't like the boy was using his own reflexes to make the ascent. It seemed that, either way, people in their fields had their own ways of getting things done.

It didn't take long to reach the top floor, and if anyone actually saw them scaling the building they apparently didn't call the cops. No sirens sounded and nobody was pounding on the room's door when they stopped at the window.

It was unlocked and Charlie pushed it open before climbing inside, leaving it open so that Jake could enter without having to flatten himself again. Although, who knew, perhaps the guy liked doing that.

"The shower's over there. Go ahead and get cleaned up, I'm going to see if there's any other news on our new mayor."

[Lost Demiurge]

Dire broods for a second, rubbing metal fingers against ceramic chin.

"ELLEN... YOU HAD BEST CHOOSE A PSEUDONYM, ELLEN. THE WAY AHEAD WILL NECESSITATE USE OF YOUR POWERS, AND SOON THERE WILL BE MUCH INTEREST IN YOU, YOUR BACKGROUND, AND YOUR NAME. GUARD IT WITH A FALSE DENOMINATION, AND PERHAPS A MASK WHEN OPERATING PUBLICLY. THAT IS THE ADVICE OF DIRE."

"AS TO OTHER BUSINESS... THERE ARE SEVERAL AVENUES FOR US TO PURSUE FROM THIS POINT, BUT IT WOULD BE BEST IF ALL AVAILABLE PERSONNEL WERE BRIEFED AT ONCE. WASTEFUL, OTHERWISE."

She stands from the throne, with a quiet whine of motors, and moves to the monitor bank. Nodding as the lackey-bots finish the last monitor repairs, she turns the screen bank on with the wave of a hand.

"DETECTIVE. THIS COMPUTER CAN BE USED TO HACK THE PUBLIC WORKS CAMERAS CITYWIDE. IT CAN ALSO MATCH IMAGES, AND NARROW DOWN CANDIDATES. SYNAPSE OVER THERE CAN MOVE AT SPEEDS THAT DIZZY THE AVERAGE HUMAN INTELLECT."

"WILL THESE TWO FACTORS BE SUFFICIENT TO AID YOU IN LOCATING THE LAST WITNESS?"

[Raynn]

As Dire glances over the monitors they all suddenly display one large green and black grid overlaying a basic 3D map of the city. A voice blares as a red dot emits wave after wave from Riverside Park near the city center "DIRE SITUATION DETECTED; DIMENSIONALY ALIEN TACHYONS DETECTED; POSSIBLE PARALLEL UNIVERSE INCURSION DETECTED; DIRE SITUATION DETECTED. . ." It continues to repeat the message.

[SuperMuldoon]

Synapse appears in front of Cael and Ellen and shakes their hand and then is back sitting down in the blink of an eye. "Nice to meet you two. Glad to see I'm not alone in remembering what happened a week ago. Anyway, like the boss says, if you need to find someone, I'm your man. Fastest man in Freedom City..."


"DIRE SITUATION DETECTED; DIMENSIONALY ALIEN TACHYONS DETECTED; POSSIBLE PARALLEL UNIVERSE INCURSION DETECTED; DIRE SITUATION DETECTED. . ."

"Uh...boss, you want me to check this out?" Synapse says, pointing to the red dot at Riverside Park.

[Sliver]

Charlie could have accused the shapeshifter of cheating, but it wasn't like the boy was using his own reflexes to make the ascent. It seemed that, either way, people in their fields had their own ways of getting things done.

It didn't take long to reach the top floor, and if anyone actually saw them scaling the building they apparently didn't call the cops. No sirens sounded and nobody was pounding on the room's door when they stopped at the window.

It was unlocked and Charlie pushed it open before climbing inside, leaving it open so that Jake could enter without having to flatten himself again. Although, who knew, perhaps the guy liked doing that.

"The shower's over there. Go ahead and get cleaned up, I'm going to see if there's any other news on our new mayor."

Note: Jake didn't flatten himself, he went through the window when he first met Expert in person.

Jake climbs into the room and examines it, then he nods and moves towards the shower "Could you make some coffee while I'm there? Thanks"

He doesn't bother opening the door and just passes through it. Soon enough, Charlie can hear the water start running.

[Fragenstein]

Gotcha -- phasing through the solid objects themselves rather than flowing through the gaps around them? I'll keep that in mind.

"Coffee, sure." Charlie agreed. He was paying more attention to the television, though, and trying to find any news that might be commenting. With the new mayor taking office, he assumed that at least someone would be talking about it.

"The energy shots are on the counter by the sink."

Young though he may be, Charlie had seen his share of late nights in the past week. He often needed help in getting fully motivated for a proper day's work. Coffee had never really been to his taste, but he put on a pot of the stuff anyway while the TV prattled on in the background.

[Lost Demiurge]

"HA!" Dire laughs, a brief bark of amusement. "ALREADY THEY COME, TO CONQUER WITH THEIR MOST FEARED FOES NOT EVEN A WEEK DEAD. THE SEARCH FOR THE FOUNDLING SHALL BE DELAYED, THEN."

"THIS SHALL BE AN EXCELLENT WAY TO SET THE PLAN AGAINST NEMESIS INTO MOTION."

"WE SHALL MAKE OUR DEBUT AND SAVE THE CITY SOME DAMAGE..."

"ELLEN. THERE IS A ROOM OF VARIOUS COSTUMES DOWN THE LEFT HALL, PAST THE ROOM WITH THE DEFUNCT MOLE MACHINE IN THE CORNER. SYNAPSE CAN SHOW YOU THE WAY. GRAB A COSTUME OR AT LEAST A MASK THAT SUITS YOU... WE SHALL NEED MAGICAL ASSISTANCE FOR THIS BATTLE."

"SYNAPSE, CAN YOU FERRY THE OTHERS THERE ONCE ELLEN IS FINISHED? MAINTAIN A SAFE DISTANCE, DIRE SHALL MEET YOU SHORTLY. OH, ALSO..."

A push of a button, and a pneumatic tube hisses in the ceiling, dropping a cylinder into her metal hands. A quick twist, and several small metal buttons tumble out. "EARBUDS AND VOCALIZERS. ONE ADHERING TO THE BASE OF YOUR NECK, THE OTHER BEHIND YOUR EAR. SECURE COMMUNICATIONS FOR NOW. A BETTER SOLUTION LATER."

"QUESTIONS?"

[Lost Demiurge]

The former villain pauses.

"WAIT. ASSUMPTIONS ARE THE FOE OF EFFICIENCY. YOU ARE A SORCERESS, AND THE DETECTIVE IS NOT WITHOUT HIS OWN RESOURCES. DO YOU HAVE MEANS OF FAST TRAVEL? SHAREABLE WITH A GROUP?"

[Unkabear]

Cael raises an eyebrow about being carried anywhere. "I think I would rather take the express" and opens a portal to Riverside flushing the room with fresh air as he took the communications device and rolled it over in his hand.

Cael never did well with Technology, the constant roll of new cell phones attested to that. Really the only thing that did not seem to break was his Rolls*, but he believed that was because it was a machine crafted in quality...and did not have a computer in it. Yet he at least did not toss away the divice, he just considered it for a bit.


1938 Rolls-Royce Phantom III Labourdette
http://a21.idata.over-blog.com/600x398/2/27/21/01/images-septembre/rolls_royce_phantom_III_labourdette_03.jpg

[SuperMuldoon]

Synapse puts on the communicator "Just like old times, is this the same one I used to use back then? Fits like a glove." He sees Cael open up a portal "Well, I guess that is one less person I have to carry!" Synapse then zooms up to Ellen. "This way for the masks and stuff, and I would advise not to touch anything on the way..." he motions for her to follow him as he heads down the hall, in ultra mega super slow motion (normal human speed).

[Green Bean]

"Only if you give me three days and a decent library. I'll be right back." Ellen dashes for the costume room, grabbing the first face mask she can find and putting it on. The effect is rather disjointed; a grinning be-spiked demon head on top of a t-shirt and jeans clad body. Next time I'll have to bring along that robe I was making. If there's a next time. The witch returns to the monitor banks. Ready to go."

[Unkabear]

The portal can be used by everyone, not just me. It is a doorway in the air.

[Lost Demiurge]

"HM!" Dire is impressed. "DETECTIVE, YOU HAVE HIDDEN DEPTHS. THIS PRESENTS AN INTERESTING HYPOTHESIS... BUT THAT IS FOR ANOTHER TIME."

"COME, LET US ALL USE THE PORTAL."

"OH, AND IF ANYONE ASKS OUR OPINION OF THE NEW MAYOR, LIE AND SAY HE'S JUST FINE BY US. NO NEED TO TIP OUR HAND YET."

And Dire strides toward the hole in the air.

[SuperMuldoon]

Synapse stands before the portal created by Cael, and gives Ellen a once over "Interesting choice...the previous owner of that mask was a pretty nasty character. Still gives me the creeps when I see it! I hope you won't threaten to devour my soul and digest it over all eternity?" he grins and turns to follow Dr. Dire through the portal, ready to take off running at a moments notice.

[Raynn]

************************************************** *
As Charlie glanced over at the TV he saw a snipit from a speach that Nemesis must have made earlier in the day "We cannot allow our city to go unprotected, heroes as they are now do their best but it is my firm belief that one team will always guide the masked community as a whole, one team will always set an example and with how fragmented the heroes are now it seems that it is up to my office to put in place a new team."
He smiles with a grin he could have torn off JFK's face "A NEW FREEDOM LEAGUE!"

TV pundits take over as they are in deep discussion over the heroes that have been confirmed to have survived event 84 and who among them will join this New Freedom league or as it has been Nicknamed the NFL.

************************************************** *
As Cale looks through the portal at the park he sees a large ball of deep purple energy from which lightning arches in patterns scorching the ground, it's large, its diametre is about the length of a school bus.

The civilian's have begun to flee in terror as the Wormwhole begins to stabilize. You see small black dots in the air only to realise they're black spheres floating near the wormhole's entrance.

They are about the size of basketballs and move in quick bursts.

There appears to be no Superhuman involvement or even local law enforcement on the scene yet.

[Green Bean]

Ellen grins at Synapse as she puts on her communicator. Well, her mask does. "Have you been talking with that old lady on 8th Street? Because she took my words totally out of conte-." Her words are interrupted as the portal opens, and Ellen flies through.

There was a brief moment of transit, and she's at the park. Seeing the portal, she wastes no time in testing the waters. Levitating a nearby fallen tree branch, she wills it toward one of the black spheres. She is careful not to move it fast enough to actually harm anything; there was not yet evidence that the phenomenon was hostile.

[SuperMuldoon]

Synapse takes it all in and then immediately snaps into action. "I'll be right back boss." he says and then explodes into motion, helping civillians get to a safe distance from the anomaly, keeping them out of harms way and away from the crackling lightning and those black spheres. When thats done, he returns to his position next to Dr. Dire.

"So...what the heck is that?"

[Raynn]

A blast of cosmic energy is emitted from the orb as the log approaches and destroys it.

[Lost Demiurge]

Doctor Dire activates her boot jets and hovers through the portal, arms crossed, cloak flapping in the wind. Considering the alien spheres and phenomena, she sends the visual feed back to her base computer, for analysis and a quick image search.

Rising well above the portal, and moving away from it, she surveys the herd of running civilians, and the bus-sized rip.

"ATTENTION, ALIEN INTERLOPERS!"

"YOU ARE TRESPASSING UPON A WORLD THAT IS NOT YOUR OWN!"

"STATE YOUR BUSINESS AT ONCE, OR FACE THE CONSEQUENCES!"

Inside the armor, her cheek twitches. Twitches again. She can't help it, and really, it feels good to proclaim...

"SO SAYS DIRE!"

At Synapses' question, she nods and toggles her throat vocalizer. "This precise phenomena is currently unknown. Running a search through the databanks now."

Without the armor's amplification, her voice is actually very soft and calm. She could be discussing a hand of bridge.

"At any rate, good work with the civilians. Ellen, Detective, experiment a bit and see what you can figure out. It is Dire's estimation that something larger will emerge given time... Any advance warning of just what is coming through will be useful. Dire's armor is loaded only for war at this time, and so is best suited to stand as a reserve if violence ensues."

"Oh, and close that portal, Detective. No need to risk the command center to collateral damage."

[Green Bean]

"Right, whatever they are clearly doesn't like being poked." Ellen makes a sweeping gesture with her hand, and a glowing blue ball of pure arcane energy shoots from her hand, aimed at a spot on the ground next the same dark orb. The energy contained in the ball was barely enough to phase a squirrel, but she watched carefully for the orb's response, wracking her brains for any magical cause of this anomaly.

((Knowledge: Arcane roll for anything relevant. [roll0]))

[SuperMuldoon]

"ATTENTION, ALIEN INTERLOPERS!"

"YOU ARE TRESPASSING UPON A WORLD THAT IS NOT YOUR OWN!"

"STATE YOUR BUSINESS AT ONCE, OR FACE THE CONSEQUENCES!"

"SO SAYS DIRE!"


Now it IS just like old times! Dr. Dire always had such a flair for the dramatic. Now I remember why working with her was so fun! Synapse thinks to himself as he watches the log get destroyed by a burst from the rip. "Well, I don't have any fancy gadgets or anything...so I guess all I can do is wait until whatever comes out, comes out. I hate waiting..." Synapse crosses his arms and taps his foot at a steadily increasing pace.

[Fragenstein]

"Aw... crap." Charlie muttered on hearing the announcement. He supposed it was inevitable that Nemesis would post his own guard. After all, if he and Metamorph had survived the brainwashing, then others may have as well. The villain would need somebody on his side to field attempts at taking him down.

Though, given how easily he destroyed the old front, it was doubtful that he needed much help. A new file was opened up entitled 'New Freedom League'. Notes were taken from the journalistic debate and cross-referenced against Skillwire's own awareness. It didn't take long to start formulating his own educated guesses as to the coming roster.

His list was decidedly darker than that of the pundits.

"Don't take too long, you have to see this." He called towards the bathroom. "Nemesis is putting together his own Freedom League."

Charlie continued scanning the channels in search of more information. He wasn't sure where to start with the plan to take the man down, but the more news they could pick up, the better. Allies were going to be needed in a big way.

[Raynn]

************************************************** *****
An emergency news broadcast interrupts the pundit as Charlie is shown the scene live from the park including the other heroes.

************************************************** *****
As you stare into the portal a single entity passes through it as through he simply had passed through a veil.

Almost 9ft tall the being seemed to hum with unknown energy, sealed within a golden containment suit, if not the suit itself.

He stood upon a similarly golden disk that seemed to hold him up defying gravity a handful of the black orbs danced near him as if to communicate then shot off into the distance.

The portal flickered and grew as calm as seemed possible without it disappearing.

A voice boomed, artificial but powerful "IANUS, LORD OF THE LOST (http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/77/361480-32725-dreaming-celestial_super.jpg) CLAIMS THIS WORLD!"

Ellen detects no supernatural powers at work but does notice the natural world's barriers between worlds being out of balance.

[Green Bean]

Ellen fingers her amulet nervously as the golden figure steps forth, but steps forth and calls across the park. "I don't suppose Ianus, Lord of the Lost, would be willing to talk first?" Her tone is forceful, but reasonable, showing no signs of fear or desperation.

(([roll0]))

[Sliver]

Jake comes out of the shower, visibly refreshed. "Could have cleaned it off with my powers I guess" he mumbles "But nothing beats a cold shower" he pulls out a mug and pours some coffee in and sips slowly, feeling the warm liquid pouring through his throat into his stomach. Ever since he could change every aspect of his body, he started feeling every part of it that much more strongly. Setting the mug aside, he looks at Charlie "Expected. Destroying the old League, now that almost nobody remembers he did it, controling all the remaining heroes is a logical step." He sighs and sits down "It's bad.." Jake closes his eyes and tries to remember. If his theory is correct, then maybe someone he saw at the park that day will remember too.. There was that man that tried to clear him out of the place. Jake pretended to cooperate but slipped closer anyway.. Maybe he remembers.. Jake concentrates on the image of the man and probes.

(To Cael)"Hello, are you hearing me? Do you remember, last week w-WHAT THE F**K?!"

"WHAT THE F**K?!"

That last part, he both sends mentally and exclaims loudly when he saw the broadcast.

[Fragenstein]

"From bad to worse..." Moaned Charlie. Now was not a good time to be fending off invaders from other dimensions. Or was it other planets? One thing for sure, this Ianus guy didn't seem to be from around here.

'Hey Morph!" His voice was a little more insistent this time. "Get a move on or you're going to miss out on the action. We've got some Jolly Gold Jerk stepping all over Riverside Park... oh, you're out. Sorry about the yelling."

Charlie had been so focused on the television and its frightening revelations that he hadn't noticed the man stepping back into the room.

The Expert turned his attention back to the televised scene and accessed Skillwire one more time. He was looking for any and all information on anyone appropriately named Ianus or titled Lord of the Lost. At the same time, he also scanned the non-human threats. Something, hopefully, would pop up.

While waiting for Metamorph to reply, Charlie will take 10 on a few knowledge rolls - Ianus, Lord of the Lost (whether or not they're named Ianus), and known non-human threats. He should have a total of 24 on each.

[Sliver]

"Stupid alien threat, not letting me finish my coffee." Jake snorts "How are you moving around town?" Metamorph asks as he leans over to the window and looking out, he becomes silent for a moment while creating a little connection with the cameras broadcasting the event, finding out the location he looks back at Charlie "Ready?"

[Raynn]

Ianus looks upon Ellen, the first living thing he sees other than the plants. For a moment he remains still but then in one slow deliberate motion ignoring the others he descends to her till he is floating a metre or so off the ground in front of her.

"Sorceror. . . what do you wish to know?"

From what the Skillwire can tell Ianus was never encountered before or anyone called the Lord of the Lost

[Green Bean]

Ellen is relieved that the golden creature is willing to talk. "I wish to know why you are here. Our city does not often get visitors of your, ah, stature."

[Raynn]

"Our world. . ." He says mournfully motioning towards the spheres "fell, the darkness came and to survive the murder of our parallel they became what they are now."

He turned back to Ellen again, as if to say something but looked up at the sky at the last moment instead "we have wandered from world to world ever since, seeking a new home, we have wandered for so very long. . . all the world's before were incompatible; our last possible wormhole, that last one we had the power to create, brought us here."

He motioned to a few more spheres to shoot off into the distance "The others will examine this world as I prepare for the arrival of the others; then this world will be made compatible and it will be our new home."

[Fragenstein]

"Damn." The Expert muttered. If Skillwire didn't know who these guys were, then it wasn't going to be able to tell him how to fight them. He relied on that knowledge to boost his own combat skill, indicating where to hit and how hard for best effect.

He'd just have to suffer through as best he could. Too bad, his first fight was going to be a relatively fair one. Charlie hated fighting fair.

"Normally, I drive." He answered Jake's question. "I don't think I'm going to have time to deal with traffic right now, though, so it'll have to be the rooftop express."

Charlie had the city maps drawing lines for him in his head, showing him where the park was and plotting a good route. He was going to have to push himself to get there, hopefully the boy's endurance was up to the task. Not being able to fly was, apparently a serious setback in a superhero's mobility.

"Let's go."

The Expert will be using his Althetics to give him the skills to get there by rooftop, and his Education to plot out the best route. I'm going to assume that without knowing what we're facing, I won't be able to use 'Favored Enemy', correct?

I could always take a shot at 'Armored Behemoths' or 'Living Energy Spheres', but I'm not sure if such guesswork really qualifies. It's up to you if you want to allow a boost to his Damage.

[Green Bean]

Ellen watches the orbs shoot off into the distance. She starts to feel a little nervous as she listens to what Ianus says. "What do you mean by 'compatible', exactly?"

[Sliver]

"Alright, no point in letting you lag behind." Metamorph leaps out the window and turns into a hawk, soaring towards the park and keeping track of the Expert.

[Raynn]

No favored enemy for now

Ianus turns to her and with his hand in a fist says "This world will have to be changed, made anew, so that we may live on it without aid."

He looks out across freedom city "This is the day your world ends, Ellen of Earth."

[Green Bean]

Ellen started, and looked suspiciously at Ianus. "Wait, how do you know my name? Actually, don't answer that, it doesn't really matter. The witch sighed, and started mentally reviewing her offensive spells. "I don't suppose I could persuade you to use another world. While you may not have any more wormholes, we have scientists of our own, ones who could help you find an inhabitable world."

[Green Bean]

((Argh, sorry for the double post; forgot to add the dice roll. Diplomacy Check: [roll0]))

[Fragenstein]

Charlie does his best to keep up by using the leaping-and-the-springing, but he knew Metamorph could have left him in the dust if he wanted. That was okay, this didn't represent the Expert's ideal conditions. Just waited until they needed a helicopter pilot and see who kept up with who...

"There's something about this I don't like..." He tried to direct his thoughts towards the shapeshifter.

"Nemesis announces the formation of a New Freedom League the same day a completely unknown invader shows up? Do you know who this guy is? Where he came from? Because I've never heard of him before.

Charlie was trying to put together just what was so suspicious about the setting. There had been invaders before, certainly Ianus wouldn't be the first to try conquering the world. But why here? Why now?

"You've got a bird's eye view right now. Do me a favor, watch for unexpected visitors around the park. I have a bad feeling we're about to see the world premier of the Nemesis Freedom League."

A part of him almost hoped that he was right. If Ianus was a genuine, global threat then it'd be up to the two of them and the handful of heroes already on hand to stop him.

That sounded insanely dangerous. It might be better if this was all a pubilicity stunt put on by the mayor himself.

[Raynn]

"I have accessed your races primary resource of knowledge, internet, I downloaded it, all of it. You were included," Ianus says surprising non-chalantly.

At her compromise Ianus says "I have become aware of the recent events, your greatest inventor and likely the only one capable of artificially creating a wormhole large enough for long enough is dead, this Daedalus."

A dozen more spheres return to him an zip away without a word "Your supreme sorceror is missing in action, as are many of the more powerful and capable sorcerors on your planet. So the only mystical option would be. . . you Ellen, if you could open a gate to another world then we could leave your world at peace. . . and make this other world compatible instead."

[Raynn]

This scene is just here because I thought it might be good to put in, further the story.
******************Office of the Mayor************************
Nemesis or as he had become to be known Daniel Sword dragged his hand back through his hair in frustration, letting out an angry sigh.

An advisor to the mayor shuffled through pages and was about to speak when Nemesis cut him off "So this b****** just showed up and no one knows who or what he is?"

"Yes sir, but. . ."

"And I just went on television and promised this city a team to defend it!"

"Sir they're not. . ."

Nemesis cut his assistant off "I want a status report now!"

The assistant shuffled through some sheets "Daedalus 2.0 isn't online yet, Megastar Mk. II is still fighting resistance from the M.E.G.A.S., Orion is more than ready to be the new Bowman, The Meta-Grue is ready to pretend to be Pseudo, Captain Thunder assures the team will be ready by the deadline, sir."

He turned towards the assistant "Well you better hope to god whatever heroes are left can handle this!"

The assistant full of fear whispered "Sir, the heroes who were first on the scene, they were at liberty park. . ."

Nemesis turned full of rage, blasting a spare table to pieces in his rage "WHAT?!?!" (http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/2/22/Alexander_Summers_%28Earth-1610%29_001.jpg)

[Green Bean]

Ellen visibly gulps. She hadn't realized just how much damage Nemesis had done. So I'm the go-to gal for sorcery for the entire planet? Fantastic."

However, her panic quickly fades away as she begins to consider the practicalities. Long-range teleportation? One couldn't just transfer the matter through the Astral Plane; there were too few spirits in the depth of space. Perhaps a more moderistic approach? In her mind's eye, she is already reviewing Dairine's Cosmos and the Coil, the go-to work for long-distance transportation. The task was daunting, yes, but now she was in her element. Forget the mind-wiping villains or extradimensional invaders; this was about magic now.

Ellen straightened, no hint of nervousness on her face now. "Ianus, I will need to know what kind of requirements you have for this new world. Doctor Dire, I will need your help finding a world that meets them. Also, it will take me a few days to create this ritual. Is there a place you can conceal yourself? The city is a dangerous place right now."

[Unkabear]

Cael stepped between this place and that and was on the other side of the portal from the others. He was reasonably sure that he could close the portal, but it would take a lot out of him. Looking up he witnessed the gold thing approach Ellen, since they were not fighting, Cael assumed that she was attempting Diplomacy.

It was worth a try, and anything that didn't end in them destroying part of Freedom City was worth trying. He would wait before he attempted to close this, for he knew that he only had one shot.


I also have ritualist and a decent Knowledge Arcane, I would be able to assist Ellen in her ritual

[Lost Demiurge]

Uncrossing her arms, Doctor Dire examines the gold-armored figure.

It had been WORK to let Ellen have her say. WORK to not vaporize the arrogant alien.

But, so far, it had been paying off. And this, now...

"THE GENIUS OF DAEDALUS CANNOT BE DENIED. BUT MANY TIMES, HE MET HIS MATCH IN DOCTOR DIRE."

A titanium hand points at the alien, and gestures at the spheres. "WE SHALL CONSTRUCT YOUR PORTAL, AND FIND YOU A WORLD SUFFICIENT TO YOUR NEEDS. YOU WILL RENDER UNTO DIRE DATA OF YOUR REQUIREMENTS, AND THE COLLEAGUES OF DIRE SHALL CONSTRUCT YOU A WAY AHEAD TO A PLACE THAT FULFILLS YOUR NEEDS. IN RETURN, YOU SHALL BIDE PEACEFULLY UNTIL THIS IS COMPLETE, AND REFRAIN FROM TERRAFORMING THIS PLANET."

"SO VOWS DIRE!"

Across the vocalizers, Dire whispers; "Detective... You can make portals already. If we studied and boosted your abilities, do you think we could use you to open one to another dimension, or world?"

"Ellen, should you require any form of assistance we can render with ritual construction and completion, you but have to ask."

"Synapse, do not think you shall escape work in this. Remember the treadmill generator? Yes, we may need you on that to power the portal... Hopefully this time the wall shall be spared further demolishment."

[SuperMuldoon]

Wow thought Synapse as he looked to the conversation between the gold plated behemoth and the mage in street clothes and scary demon mask, to think that we might solve this without a fight...that Ellen is something else...it's gotta be the mask!


"Synapse, do not think you shall escape work in this. Remember the treadmill generator? Yes, we may need you on that to power the portal... Hopefully this time the wall shall be spared further demolishment."

Synapse vocalizes over the comm, "The treadmill generator again? I was on that thing for 12 hours straight when you were powering that weather control device...just make sure that belt is replaced, I wore that thing down to nothing last time."

[Unkabear]

"It's possible, but it would be easier for Ellen & myself to use Magic to call a portal to wherever we need. But first we need to find a suitable planet, but if you can find a way to sufficiently boost my power, I don't see why not.." Though it would be a pain to hold it open long enough for an entire race to travel through.

[Lost Demiurge]

"Mm. A last resort then. Yes, researching the ritual would work, from the sound of it. Finding an acceptable planet will be quite simple... Dire merely needs the right satellite support, which is simplicity itself."

[Sliver]

"Sorry kid, this is too slow." The hawk dives towards the Expert. Approaching him from behind, he changes shape and a couple of straps attach themselves to the Expert and he is taken to the air by an animated Jet-pack.

Unkabear - There was a message to Cael some posts ago.

[Fragenstein]

The sudden action of the shapeshifter caught Charlie off gaurd, but it didn't take long to figure out his intent. He was moving too slowly. All of the action would have likely been over by the time they arrived, and the Expert exhausted as well.

Plus he had to admit that this was a much more fun way to travel.

There was a mental 'thanks' relayed to Jake as Charlie settled in for the ride.

[Raynn]

"We will accept another world, not another planet, it must be an Earth, a parallel."

He floats around Ellen as he speaks "A large Nitrogen content in the air would be preferable, along with large bodies of water, capable or supporting sentient creatures."

He rises up motioning for the orbs passing through the portal to continue on and not wait near the wormhole "We will not hide, your technology is not so infantile that it could not detect us. You have till your goverments inevitablly force us into combat."

He clicks his massive finger and hundreds if not thousands of the orbs flood forth in a constant stream racing over the horizon and away, another moment later the wormhole closes "You should be aware, you will simply doom another world in your stead, possibly even another Ellen."

[Green Bean]

"You know, seeing as I'm trying to avoid a situation where we kill each other, you could be a little more cooperative." Ellen sighs and massages the bridge of her nose. "If you can't hide, then we'll need to work fast. Doctor Dire, I don't suppose you'd be able to find coordinates for an uninhabited Earth? I'm not going to have time to go back to my shop, so I'm opening the portal here. It's just a matter of time before some jittery police chief gets involved and everything goes to hell."

Deliberately suppressing her memories of what happened last time she tried to improvise a ritual in a public park, Ellen looks around for something she can use. Spotting a nearby ash sapling, she uproots it with a glance. The wood splits apart into dozens of thick splinters, which form themselves into a crude vertical circle ten feet across, floating in the air. "Cael, I'm not going to be able to build a dimensional portal from scratch! When I cast my spell, I want you to open a portal to where Dire tells you; this should boost it across the dimensional barrier. Or wipe us from existence, I guess." Ellen begins to chant, and the circle begins to crackle with arcane energy.

((Spending a Hero Point to jury-rig a Ritual. DC is 15+the power point cost.

[roll0]))

[Raynn]

The portal begins to form and it will be about a minute before it is stable. All in all for a moment it seems like Ellen has almost single handedly dealt with a threat that could have endangered the whole world in a matter of minutes.

Ianus looks up and sees something, a handful of black shapes on the parks edge and then suddely they become clear, black hawk helicopters marked with the A.E.G.I.S.

A thunder bolt stikes the earth near Jake and Charlie as they arrive on the scene, they look up and see him floating there.

Garbed in armor, his face hidden, but from the symbol marking his chest his identity was obvious, he held thorson's hammers in each hand. A voice boomed out "I am Captain Thunder, surrender or be destroyed."

Ianus seems to look at Ellen, confused.

[Green Bean]

Ellen continues to chant. With the power pulsing in her ears and the ritual still half formed, she can't afford to do anything but continue and hope that the others would be able to deal with the Captain.

[Unkabear]

"Someone run interference! I will help Ellen" Cael steps next to Ellen and begins to chant with her. This was one spell that he knew very well.

K(Arcane) to aid
[roll0] if it beats 10 (which it will) Ellen gains a +5 to her check.

Cael was distracted enough that he kept the strange screaming in his head to himself for a moment. But as soon as he could he would begin to investigate who had invaded his privacy.

[SuperMuldoon]

"Someone run interference! I will help Ellen"

"Running is what I do best Cael!" Synapse says, turning to the newly arrived Captain Thunder. "You're mucking this all up Captain Thunder, take your cronies and get out of here, we got this under control!" Synapse starts running toward Captain Thunder.

((OOC: Is he floating too high for me to attack him?))

[Lost Demiurge]

"You know, seeing as I'm trying to avoid a situation where we kill each other, you could be a little more cooperative." Ellen sighs and massages the bridge of her nose. "If you can't hide, then we'll need to work fast. Doctor Dire, I don't suppose you'd be able to find coordinates for an uninhabited Earth? I'm not going to have time to go back to my shop, so I'm opening the portal here. It's just a matter of time before some jittery police chief gets involved and everything goes to hell."


"EASILY DONE." Says Doctor Dire. With a twist of a gauntlet, she pulls a sphere like device from a recess in the armor, and starts reprogramming it on the fly. With a quick flip of her wrist, she snaps it open, puts in a glowing chunk of SOMETHING, and releases it. The device shimmers and starts to disappear. "HA! A SUCCESSFUL NEW DESIGN. DIRE DECLARES IT THUS TO BE THE INEVITABLE PROBE!"

[Raynn]

Roll iniative, if your going to fight, otherwise don't because it'll just slow it down.

Seeing Ellen so close to Ianus Captain Thunder seemed to have picked his target. Until he saw Doctor Dire, his attention seemed to lock on to her like an animal picking it's prey.

He dives and in an instant crashes down on her like a living thunderbolt, he roars something at her, maybe a name, maybe her real name but it's drowned out by the noise.

Slam attack, attack roll [roll0]
Damage [roll1]

He's on the ground near Dire now.

[Lost Demiurge]

Like a storm breaking, he crashes down from the heavens. A flash of light, and a BOOM-CRACKLE blind eyes and deafen ears, for a split-second.

"Captain Thunder" finds himself staggering back, catching his balance. The head of one of the hammers glows red hot.

The armored form five feet from him has not shifted position. Placidly, one gauntlet continues to scrawl binary code in the air, as the INEVITABLE PROBE flickers in and out of reality.

For a few seconds, the "hero" stares.

Dire's head moves beneath the cowl, and the ceramic mask turns to look at him, black hollows of eyes slowly starting to glow red.

"YOU... DARE?"

[Fragenstein]

A sixteen-year-old boy is dropped between an interdimensional invader and what may possibly be the most powerful man on the planet. He'd seen and done a few extreme things while living on the street, but nothing quite compared to the scene confronting him now. Beneath the hood, his eyes popped wide open and his mouth hung slack.

The Expert really had no idea what to do next.

There simply wasn't enough information to go from at the moment. He was pretty sure that was Doctor Dire working with Ianus, though he'd have to cross check his files to be absolutely certain, so who was he supposed to fight?

It looked like the Doc's people were helping Ianus. That would make sense from a villainy standpoint, but where was the bloodshed? This wasn't a situation that really seemed proper without bystander casualties.

As the speedster came rushing up, it started to dawn on the bright kid that those already on the scene were trying to prevent calamity. That, at least, gibed with the earlier revelation of a Nemesis Freedom League.

The Expert wasn't sure why, but apparently the armor-clad super genius was actually working as a good guy. He knew what to do.

A brief moment passed as his eyes went out of focus in the shadows of his hood. Skillwire hummed and the young man was quickly reprogrammed. A quick, snapping move had the chain unwrapped from its bandolier and ready for action.

Favored Environment: City Park 4 (4pp)
Weapon Spec: Chain 6 (3pp)
Favored Enemy: Captain Thunder 6 (6pp)
Improved Trip (1pp)
Improved Disarm 2 (2pp)
Uncanny Dodge (Hearing) (1pp)
Improved Initiative (1pp)
Improved Critical (1pp)
Quick Draw (1pp)

That should give him Attack: 11 (with chain), Defense: 9, Damage: 10 (with chain against Captain T.), Toughness: 10, Initiative: +12.

+4 to Trip, +4 to Disarm (not if PL caps apply to Improved Trip and Disarm, however).

It'll be a full turn to re-program himself, and a free action to ready the chain. His plan is to ready a disarm attempt against Captain Thunder, though he'll hold to make sure the 'hero' is here to stir up trouble. No point in being the first to attack if things can be solved calmly.

EDIT: Well, crap. Ninja'd twice while I was checking the math on all that.

Oakies -- initiative rolled in the OOC (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8045793&postcount=39) due to editing.

[Raynn]

Dire recognises the voice from somewhere, but she couldn't place where; he points both Hammers at Dire and with a smug almost gleeful tone says "I Dare!"

A giant Electrical blast rockets from his hands towards Dire like a thunderbolt.

Attack [roll0]
Damage [roll1] -3=24 vs. DC 30, Dire is stunned+Bruised+injured. Hence is interrupted in her work.

[Lost Demiurge]

The lightning breaks across Dire's armor, scorching her cloak and blasting her back, sending her crashing off of a tree. The probe remains hovering in midair... As she stands, slowly, shaking her head to throw off the bright lights in her vision.

And across the comms... "Gah... Synapse, see if you can inconvenience this fool. The helicopters are waiting for the moment, but we'll need to deal with those next."

[SuperMuldoon]

"You got it boss. He'll never see it coming." Synapse takes off full speed at 'Captain Thunder' and delivers a roundhouse punch before moving past him out of melee range.


[roll0]
[roll1]
move-by attack

[Raynn]

As the blown lands hard dust shoots out in a blast in all directions when it settles Synapse is gone and Captain Thunder remains unharmed. He laughs.

"Be careful you almost scratched the paint!" He says mockingly.

He turns and aims at Synapse; firing the same blast again.

Attack [roll0]

[Unkabear]

Damage in M&M2e is not rolled, you take the damage + 15 to give the toughness save. Then the opponent rolls Toughness vs the DC, the result goes against the damage chart.

I mean, I am willing to roll with this method, but if we are playing rules as written then damage is a set number unless extra effort, ganging up critical hit or sneak attack modify it.

Pg 152

DAMAGE
When you hit with an attack, you may deal damage. Each attack has a damage bonus. For melee attacks, the damage bonus is your Strength bonus, plus any modifiers for powers like Strike. For ranged attacks the damage bonus is usually based on the attack’s power rank. Melee Damage Bonus = Strength modifier + weapon damage. Power Damage Bonus = power rank.
STRENGTH MODIFIER
Your Strength measures how hard you can hit, so your Strength modifier applies when you attack unarmed or with a melee or thrown weapon.
WEAPON DAMAGE
Weapons have a damage modifier, showing how much damage they inflict. Ranged weapons have a fixed damage bonus. Melee and thrown weapons add the wielder’s Strength modifier to their damage.
POWER RANK
Your power’s rank measures how much damage it inflicts, so it serves as the power’s damage bonus. Individual power descriptions provide more information on how much damage a particular power inflicts.
CRITICAL HITS
When you make an attack roll and get a natural 20 (the d20 actually shows 20), you hit regardless of your target’s Defense, and you score a threat. The hit might be a critical hit (sometimes called a “crit”). To find out whether it’s a critical hit, determine if the attack roll total would have normally hit your opponent’s Defense. If so, then it is a critical hit. If not, the attack still hits, but as a normal attack, not a critical. A critical hit increases the attack’s damage bonus by 5. A critical hit against a minion allows no saving throw; the minion is automatically knocked out or killed.
INCREASED THREAT RANGE
Characters with the Improved Critical feat (see page 62) can score a threat on a natural result less than 20, although they still automatically hit only on a natural 20. Any attack roll that doesn’t result in a hit is not a threat.
SAVING THROWS
When you’re subjected to a potentially harmful effect, you get a saving throw to avoid or reduce it. Like an attack roll or check, a saving throw is a d20 roll plus a bonus based on an ability score and other modifiers. Your saving throw is: d20 + base save bonus + ability modifier + miscellaneous modifiers
The Difficulty Class for a save is based on the attack itself. Generally, the DC for a save is 10 + the effect’s bonus or rank, except for Toughness saves, which are DC 15 + the attack’s damage.
SAVING THROW TYPES
The four different kinds of saving throws are:
• Toughness: Your ability to resist physical punishment and direct damage. Apply your Constitution modifier to your Toughness saving throws.
• Fortitude: Your ability to resist attacks against your vitality and health such as poison and disease. Apply your Constitution modifier to your Fortitude saving throws.
• Reflex: Your ability to avoid harm through reaction time and agility, including dodging explosions and crashes. Apply your Dexterity modifier to Reflex saving throws.
• Will: Your resistance to mental influence and domination as well as certain powers. Apply your Wisdom bonus to your Will saving throws.

[Lost Demiurge]

Shaking off her fatigue, Dire coughs inside her armor.

Definitely out of shape. Must work on that.

She resumes work on the probe. Not long now... She keeps an eye on Synapse, as she does so.

Mental note. Need robot minions...

[Raynn]

ugh, I was meant to add his toughness but I added the wrong number again, it's 2am here and I'm exhausted sorry, you can roll your own damage saves now as me doing it while exhausted is doing the opposite of speeding this up.

so no not a new method just me being exhausted:smallredface:sorry:smallredface:

[Unkabear]

Its all good. I just wanted to make sure.


As everyone is rolling their saving throws, here is the result chart so you can describe accurately what the result of the roll is.
TOUGHNESS SAVING THROW
SAVING THROW… EFFECT
Succeeds No Effect
Fails Bruised
Fails by 5 or more Stunned + Bruised
Fails by 10 or more Staggered + Stunned
Fails by 15 or more Unconscious

LETHAL DAMAGE
TOUGHNESS SAVING THROW… EFFECT
Succeeds No Effect
Fails Bruised + Injured
Fails by 5 or more Stunned + Bruised + Injured
Fails by 10 or more Staggered + Disabled + Stunned
Fails by 15 or more Unconscious + Dying

Pg 164 explains what these mean.

[Fragenstein]

"Geez..."

To say that the Expert was intimidated was a slight understatement. These people were throwing around deadly bolts of energy at nigh indestructible suits of armor and moving at speeds invisible to the naked eye.

Who was he? Some know-it-all kid with a weighted chain? Charlie felt more than slightly out of place in the fight.

Still, Skillwire was filling him with information; the proper attack anagles, attitudes and strategies. Timing was filled in by super-accurate coding and fed to the artificial reflex system built in parallel to his own natural version. He knew what to do, he just had to get it done.

The boy stepped in close to the Thunder, practicaly able to feel the man's power from ten feet away wash against his face, and released his attack. The chain whirled artfully, shot from his hand and...

Shot uselessly past his actual target.

Apparently the kid was a little more shaken than he tried to let on at the moment.

[Unkabear]

Fragenstein, something that I might recommend to you if you do not have any heavy hitting powers would be feats such as set-up, teamwork, inspire (if you have the hero points) and the like to help others get into position to do more damage. This is a way that a non-damage dealer can certainly assist and make a difference in combat

[Sliver]

"Stay back!" Metamorph mentally shouts at the kid, jetpack turns into a double hand cannon in the kid's hands, going invisible and shoots their attacker.

Blast and Stun linked. Stun has the Range extra.

Stun 10 + Range - 30PP
Blast 7 - 14 PP
Accurate *5 - 10PP
Homing - 1PP

Attack: [roll0]
In case of a miss, next round same attack happens and to speed things up:
[roll1]

[Raynn]

Metamorph's blast goes wide of the mark and the Captain seems to barely notice; his focus back on Dire.

Synapse was not hit so don't roll your toughness save

[Lost Demiurge]

Dire mocks the "Captain" as she fiddles with the probe.

"HMPH. TYPICAL OF YOU, DOCTOR. NO SUBTLETY... IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED, GRASP FOR MORE LIGHTNING. THIS IS WHY HE ALWAYS BEAT YOU, YOU KNOW. THIS IS WHY YOU NEVER WON."

"AH, YOU START. DID YOU THINK THAT DIRE WOULD NOT RECOGNIZE YOUR HAM-HANDED TACTICS? WOULD NOT RECOGNIZE THE MAN BEHIND THE MASK?"

"PRACTICE PATIENCE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YOUR LIFE, OR THE WORLD SHALL LEARN THE IDENTITY OF THIS NEW "CAPTAIN THUNDER" EARLIER THAN EXPECTED. AND THE EMBARASSING CIRCUMSTANCES OF YOUR HUMILIATING FAILURE SO MANY YEARS AGO... DIRE SHALL TEND TO YOU ONCE THIS BAUBLE IS DONE, AND WE SHALL SETTLE THIS GRUDGE THEN. ALLOW HER ALLIES TO ENTERTAIN YOU FOR THE NONCE."

Dire's Warning!

Attempting to taunt the baddy with intimidate, while working on the device.
[roll0] + 17

It's up to you whether or not she knows anything humiliating. She just figures there's something embarassing out there to work with, and this fellow is paranoid enough that he'll assume she knows it.

So actually, if this should be a bluff check instead, feel free to substitute the proper modifier.

[Sliver]

Mentally commanding the Expert to throw down the cannon, Metamorph disappears mid-throw. While being thrown, he changes into a tough metalic rod (which has different traits then a hand cannon and thus flies kinda differently so even if payed attention to, it would be harder to judge where it fell) and strikes into the ground, ready to take the heat.. Err, electricity.

If one could see the lightning rod, which he can, if he has acute senses and is 5ft away, he would have seen it giving the finger to the lightning man.

[Raynn]

"Die Dire!" He says pointing towards the injured woman but his lightning curves off and ignites the silouhette of a hand giving him a rather vulgar gesture.

"WHAT?!?!"

[Fragenstein]

Okay, this should technically come after Synapse's attack, but things seem to be progressing quickly.

"No...no...NO...!", the Expert intoned as Metamorph made his move. Two guns snapped into Charlie's hands and tangled the return attempt on his chain. He was only too happy to drop the weapons as he wasn't currently coded for ranged combat.

I know what I'm doing.

A sharp series of perfectly executed moves redirected the chain's momentum and had it back on track, snapping out towards one of the two hammers in a second attempt at a disarm. So far the Thunderer didn't seem to consider him a threat. Maybe he could change the man's mind.

Resetting the chain after dropping the hand-cannon as a Quickdraw free action.

Attack Roll: [roll0] on a DC +16 Disarm attempt.

[Raynn]

You can spend a hero point and you will successfully disarm him

[Fragenstein]

I think I'm going to have to at this point. Why don't we make it so. Spend that point, yoink the hammer.

[Raynn]

The hammer Surtur seems to glide from Captain Thunder's grasp with an ease, either because he was too distracted by Dire or he did not deem any of the other's a threat due to his history with her.

For a moment it seemed as if it had merely been cast aside but at the last second it veered towards the Expert and flew into his hand. A voice boomed as the winds raced.

"You are Worthy!"

The Expert finally has the Captain's attention; as the Captain glances round at the assembled heroes and the Invader who seems to have avoided conflict so that he would only need to fight the weakened survivers, it seems for a moment like he might finally believe the deck was stacked against him until he finally said with a laugh.

"I feel like a kid in a candy store, I don't know who to kill first!"

Surtur:
Strike 2 (impact/fire damage, Mighty), Weather Control 5 (Alternate Powers: Air Control 5, Blast 5 [lightning])

[SuperMuldoon]

The lightning was coming for him, so he kicked it into overdrive and just managed to outrun it, watching it strike just behind his feet, blasting a small crater. That was close, would have fried me good if I was a hair slower.

Turning around quickly, he watched "Captain Thunder's" next lightning attack strike...a middle finger?!?!

Not letting this moment go to waste, Synapse turns around for another 'drive by' MACH PUNCH! (Synapse Strike?)


[roll0]
toughness DC: 15+8=23
move-by attack

[Raynn]

Captain Thunder reels from the Synapse strike; obviously bruised and beaten by the strike, his armour seems the worse for wear.

His distraction from Dire's taunts combined with the force of the Synapse strikes leaves him temporarly disoriented.

"Okay, you've got some moves. . ."

Captain Thunder is stunned and bruised.

[Fragenstein]

The Expert had been prepared to give Thunder a speech, once about they were all heroes here and nobody had to get hurt. But that murderous comment told him that wasn't going to happen. Apparently this wasn't just some misguided good-guy working for the wrong man, it was a stone cold killer.

That fact decided his next move for him. Surtur came up, directed at the armored jerk, and let loose with a mighty blast of lightning.

Charile loses the +6 from his Attack Spec (Chain), but he uses the +4 from his Favored Environ to help make up for it. That puts him at Attack: 9 and Defense: 5. He still has the Favored Opponent running, so damage is now +11.

Attack: [roll0] with 15+11 save DC.

[Raynn]

The lightning arches from the Expert's blast and strikes the invisible lightning rod again.:smalltongue:

[SuperMuldoon]

"What...too fast for you Cap'n?" Synapse taunts as he quickly stops by Expert. "Nice hammer you got there kid! Let's see if we can't become the Hammer Bros.!" Synapse dissapears in a blur of motion as he runs straight at the "Captain", hand reaching for his other hammer...


Ok, well it might not be my turn but this is up here for when it comes around :smallsmile: ((he did have 2 hammers, right? :smallredface:))

disarm attempt:
[roll0] (+12 for atk roll, +2 for imp. feat. I'm not sure if i'm allowed to go over PL caps due to a feat, so if not, just subtract 2 from the result)
if successful: [roll1]
move-by action.

[Lost Demiurge]

"DIE? DIE! DIRE DEFIES DEATH, DOLOROUS DUNCE!"

"THE DECADES HAVE NOT CHANGED YOUR PATHETIC LACK OF TECHNIQUE..."

"DR. STRATOS!"


And while I'm programming, a quick knowledge check on heroes/villains to see if I know any weaknesses we can exploit... (Feel free to PM me on this.)

[roll0] + 15

[Fragenstein]

In the wake of the failed attack, Charlie mentally smacks him self in the forehead.

"Dude!", he sends an urgent thought to Metamorph. "Don't steal our attacks."

The chance to end this quickly seemed to be slipping away. The flicker of motion from Synapse's next attempt gave him a glimmer of hope, however.

[Raynn]

As the dust Synapse threw up clears one man still stands in the distance with the other hammer. . .

And it is Synapse.

Realising what had happened, the Captain made for the sky, disarmed, his suit seemingly now barely able to function without the hammers.

The helicopters begin to descend as a few remain in the air to give Captain Thunder cover.

C.S.T.D. agents, dressed and armed like swat team members, surrounded the group in a circle as Dire finished her device. They readied their weapons and aimed.

"Surrender and you will be dealt with fairly!" The Captain forced out in a ragged tone, seemingly simply as a show for the agents.

C.S.T.D. = Counter super terrorism department.
Ymir: Same as Surtur but cold instead of fire damage.

[Lost Demiurge]

"I THINK NOT. WE HAVE COMMITTED NO CRIME, HERE." Says Dr. Dire. She releases the probe, and it blurs, and disappears into nothingness. A few seconds later, an image appears in midair flickering image of a wrecked, war-torn version of Freedom City seen from above, with swastika-emblazoned tanks firing upon some sort of giant demon-thing.

While everyone's staring, she takes the opportunity to give an approving nod to the hammer wielding masked youth who appeared out of nowhere. She beckons him closer.

""The quantum coordinates are as follows..." She whispers to Ellen, following up with the hard facts.

She turns to address the CSTD agents directly.
"NOW IF YOU WILL EXCUSE US, WE ARE A BIT BUSY FINDING THESE ALIEN GUESTS A WORLD IN NEED OF HOPE THAT THEY CAN SALVAGE. IF YOU WAIT A SECOND, THEY WILL STEP THROUGH THE PORTAL TO HERE..." She indicates the image.

"AND THIS INCIDENT WILL BE RESOLVED."

"ALTERNATIVELY."

And she looks down upon the agents, eyes flaring red.

"YOU COULD FIRE THOSE GUNS."

Activating Fearsome Presence. Only DC 11, but it might make some of them hesitate.

[Raynn]

The wormhole seems to throb as it stabilises. Ianus turns to Ellen and with a sad tone says "It is time."

In an instant thousands if not hundreds of thousands of black spheres blot out the sky.

He turns to the agents and assists Dr. Dire in letting them know to stand down.

The sphere's pass through the wormhole as one large group, a flood of black. Ianus turns to Ellen and places his massive hands on her shoulders "People will die on this new world, I ask that you do not blame yourself for this young witch. . . I can not help you here, the wormhole cannot remain stable for long."

He glances over at Captain Thunder "I will do what I can to help; I have uploaded a recording of your opponents actions and boasts to, the moving image global repository, YouTube. I hope this will swing this world to your side as you have just saved 6 billion lives I would expect them to look quite favorably on you now."

He moves to leave and no one fires, he floats a foot from the wormhole's event horizon and says, mainly to Ellen "My people, the Human race of Earth 1 Trillion owe you a debt of gratitude, as psionic entities it has been a long time since we have had a world we could interact with, for that I thank you."

With that he steps through the wormhole and is gone.

[Fragenstein]

The Expert nodded and moved to Dire's side. This was shaping up to be the shortest super-career in history. His first encounter was not only televised, but also against a city-sanctioned hero. It didn't much matter that Nemesis was their true adversary seeing as how he was currently making all the rules.

Charlie still had Surtur raised defensively against their attackers as he watched the Nazi-world appear. He approved. If they had to invade somewhere, it might as well be there. Hopefully they wouldn't strike a peace with the expansionist regime and return even more prepared to remake this, more peaceful, world.

He was a little relieved when Ianus announced his upload. Charlie knew that public opinion could easily be swayed by a viral video, though perhaps not the ones that actually mattered. Would they still become wanted criminals? Felons?

It was yet to be seen. If nothing else, then at least he'd be shown taking the hammer away from a world-class power. Perhaps that would offset him being caught in the same lightning rod trap as the Captain.

[Lost Demiurge]

"YOU MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE." The image fades, as she takes the boy's shoulder and guides him toward Ellen and Cael, and motions for Synapse to follow.

Over the earbuds... "Detective, portal to a neutral location now, if you will. We'll go there, close it, then hop back to the base."

[Fragenstein]

"Wait... where's Metamorph?" The Expert asked.

He damn sure didn't want to leave the other one here to the mercies of the Feds. Inivisible or not, whether he'd be caught or not, he deserved the chance to escape the same way.

[Green Bean]

Exhausted from fueling the portal with energy carved out of her life-force, Ellen gratefully lowers her arms, trying not to think too hard about the world she'd unleashed Ianus on. Without her magic powering it, the gateway closed with a sad *pfft*.

"I can't believe we just pulled that off! By all reasonable standards, that was supposed to be impossi..." Ellen trails off, only now noticing the small army of troops and what appeared to be an angry, beaten-up man in a robot-suit. "Err, we should probably go."

[SuperMuldoon]

Synapse zooms up next to Expert and holds up Ymir, "See? Hammer Bros.!" letting out a chuckle before looking up to the sky to see more helicopters then open sky and troops beginng to land.


"Err, we should probably go."

"You got that right." Synapse says, and then vocalizes over the comm, "I can escape without using the portal...if they make it hard to leave, I'll stay behind and distract these guys until you're all clear..."

[Unkabear]

Cael looked about him, watching the portal close...fearing for Erde...but not that much.

He then nods to everyone there, including two newcomers that was a pleasant suprise, especially since they had helped turn the tide of battle. He beconed to them all and opened a portal to a place a bit dryer and a bit warmer.

"Come on everyone, time is wasting." He steps through himself and then holds it until everyone is through, then closes it abruptly. As you look around you can spot signs of desert. Those with gps could tell that it was the Gobi Desert in China.

Cael then took them through three other portals, Hawaii, New Zeland and Chili, before preparing for the one back to Dr. Dire's hideaway.

"Synapse, would you be so kind as to make sure that the way is clear?" he said finally ready to head home. Then as everyone gathered he turned to Ellen, and placed a hand upon her shoulder. "Nice work kid. You did good with that portal."

[Green Bean]

"Thanks, Cael. I couldn't have done it without your help. Or Dire's." Ellen stifles a yawn as she takes her first real look at the newcomers. "Uh, hi. I'm Ellen. I was a little out of it, but I gather that you helped us out back there?"

[Lost Demiurge]

The armored form of Doctor Dire looks around as they enter the Urban Sanctuary, checking the screens and nodding. Then she turns to examine the two newcomers.

"YOU FOUGHT WELL, YOUTH. AS TO YOU... METAMORPH, IS IT? GOOD. YOU WERE INITIALLY MISTAKEN FOR AN OBJECT. IN ANY CASE, WELCOME TO THE URBAN SANCTUARY. A QUERY... WHERE WERE YOU LOCATED WHEN EVENT 84 OCCURED?"

As she waits for the answer, the armor hisses, and the back bulges. It hunches forward, and the cloak moves aside as a tall, thin woman in her late forties climbs her way out of the armor. There's a faint smell of burnt fabric, and she examines fresh burns along her arms and her blouse, before she grunts, and heads to the center of the command chamber.

Once there, she pushes a button, and a covered cylinder opens, chilling the air around it with mist. Reaching in, she pulls her hands back with... A container of ice cream. Gourmet ice cream, several bowls, and a thermos.

Pulling out a few spoons as well, she sits cross legged on the Throne of Dominance, scoops herself a bowl of chocolate, and pours hot fudge from the thermos over it. She puts the items on the table and waves at them with a loose hand, before digging in.

[Sliver]

The lightning finger turns visible and into a half balding man with a large nose, black clothes and red shoes. Looking like that. (http://www.math.nyu.edu/~louidor/gargamel.jpg) He hesitates to enter at first but decides that it is better to escort the kid and not live him alone with strangers. That is at least how he convinced himself.

"I was at the park.. This one, Cael is it? He tried to clear me out of the place with the rest of the civilians.. "

He turns to the Expert and puts a hand on his shoulder "It was a risky move there, you should be more careful. We are alike, our true powers aren't our own, it gives us versatility but we pay in raw power. Unless you have world changing powers, you really shouldn't come up close to such opponents unless you can catch them by surprise with some wonky move. Nevertheless, you did well, just.. More careful next time, alright?"

Metamorph finally looks around him and examines the sanctuary with awe, both with normal and x-ray vision.

Sitting down and taking a bowl of ice-cream, nodding thanks, he finally asks "It's safe, right? They won't be able to track down this place using the portal? And then there is the video.. I'm safe, my nature kinda guarentees no identification on sight, but what about you?"

While speaking, he already turns partially, no visible changes, into a cellphone and connects to search said video.

[SuperMuldoon]

Synapse sits next to the two new comers and prepares himself a bowl of ice cream with hot fudge. "Ah, the post heist - er...I mean, post saving the world Ice Cream Sundae party! Still getting used to this whole hero thing. Anyway...I don't know how I ever worked with anyone else...you know, I did some jobs for The Foundry back in the day, and at meetings I had to sit next to that guy with the extra gorilla arm. What was his name? Doctor something or other...ahh its not important. I could of sworn that arm was trying to touch my leg at every meeting. Couldn't focus on anything else and ended up getting kicked out after I botched a job because I didn't pay attention to the plan."


"It's safe, right? They won't be able to track down this place using the portal? And then there is the video.. I'm safe, my nature kinda guarentees no identification on sight, but what about you?"

Synapse turns to Metamorph, "Well, you should never doubt the Doc's security. We should be safe here. As for being identified, well, I broke out of jail a week ago so unless the whole Event 84 erased that part from everyone's mind too, I'll probably be identified on sight anywhere I go! Though maybe saving the city has moved me toward super-hero status? Anyway I gotta see this video, can someone load it onto the big screen? I bet it has at least a couple hundred thousand hits by now!"

[Sliver]

"Maybe we saved the world, for now, but we doomed another. And there is a chance that that world could send that thing back to us, or maybe at the end, that thing will get into trouble just as it did before and will reach out to our world again. Trapping him in a blank world with nothing else would have been the idle solution.." Jake sighs, but with mixed relief "But I am glad to hear others remember our true enemy"

[Fragenstein]

Charlie had been busy continuing to craft a file on Ianus as they moved about the world. He wanted to make sure all of the notes were included while fresh in his mind. A description of the world they went to and its coordinates went in, a link to the Roman god Janus (also called Ianus), and postulation about this not being the first contact between this earth and Earth 1 Trillion and so on.

It was more likely that the invader simply choose a name that would be fitting of his nature, however. Charlie doubted that beings made of energy such as his would use names even translatable into english. Still, he didn't want to immediately discard the possibilty of ancient interraction.

As they settled in, he looked at the ice ceram suspiciously. No offense to the doctor, but the stuff had often times been used in the past by more than one of his long string of foster parents to cover up some overly harsh treatment. Everyone always assumed that a kid would forget everything the second he saw a bowl of the stuff.

Needless to say, it didn't carry the comforting effect for him that it did for most others.

Instead, he loaded Doctor Dire's file when she finally, fully, revealed herself. It actually was a major villain who was part of the team that saved the world. Jake's advice on how to handle combat would have to wait as well as the question on how he avoided Event 84.

"You're Doctor Dire." He stated to the woman on the throne. "I don't understand..."

What followed was something of a Greatest Hits listing of her past work. There were some not-so-very-nice things in there and he wanted to know what was going on. The doctor's record did not paint her as much of a hero, but here they all were after a successful encounter that saved the world.

[Green Bean]

With great relief, Ellen pulls up the grinning demon head mask and decides to grab a bowl of ice cream. Only to keep up her energy, of course. Chocolatey, chocolatey energy. She looked over at Charlie. "Well, whatever she's done, keep in mind she just helped us save a lot of people today. Besides, Cael here trusts her, and he's a good judge of character."

[Fragenstein]

"That's why I'm confused." He turned to Ellen. "This isn't consistant with her track record, particularly that time in the late '80s when she sent a robotic decoy to stand trial in her place."

The boy had his hood pulled down, revealing for certain the youth heard in his voice. Apparently the Doctor had already sussed him out, but she was quite the crafty one. He focused once more to the figure on the throne.

"What would have happened if it hadn't been discovered and disarmed before exploding? Would people have died?

"I'm not going to hold your past against you, Dire. But if I see a white van with 'Free Candy' written on the side, I'm not knocking on the driver's door. I just want to hear, in your own words, why the change of heart?"

Hopefully the 'Exploding Robot' thing is okay by Demiurge. It sounded appropriately villainous. If not, let me know and I'll edit.

Also, Dire's security systems may be detecting heavily encrypted burst transmissions with proprietary protocols coming from him every time he changes his VP. Transmissions too well protected to be deciphered by brute force.

[Sliver]

"Oooh! I think I know the van!" Metamorph leans forward, then sighs "No, wait.. It said "Free candy, I'm legit!" on the side.. That was one heck of a candy I'd say, expansive too.. Only time I saw a unicorn.. They are actually really hostile ya know?"

[Lost Demiurge]

Dire nods at Metamorph, and Expert. "Your confirmation indeed supports the hypothesis... Everyone that witnessed Event 84 was a powered metahuman." She takes another bite, smiling faintly as Metamorph asks about safety. "For now, it is safe. Cael is a professional when it comes to throwing pursuit. The tachyons will fade before they can track each location physically."

"Oh, and incidentally, mourn not the world the aliens recieved. It was one where innocent souls can be sacrificed as a source of power, and the battle had come down to the New Reich Republic and the worshippers of a demon god. No one with the slightest trace of morality has survived to adulthood there in a very long time."

Dire looks over at Synapse. "All have their post-victory rituals. Remember Nymphala the inexhaustible? Took a week to get the smell out of those rooms. At any rate, this fellow had a gorilla arm, you say? Hmph, an amateur no doubt." She adds more fudge. "Orangutans are far superior for the mass involved." Complying with his request, she turns the main screen over to the news.




"You're Doctor Dire." He stated to the woman on the throne. "I don't understand..."


"Dire was victorious, so there is Haagen-Dazs. Those are the rules. What is there to not understand? Hm? Oh..." She settles back, as he goes on.



What followed was something of a Greatest Hits listing of her past work. There were some not-so-very-nice things in there and he wanted to know what was going on. The doctor's record did not paint her as much of a hero, but here they all were after a successful encounter that saved the world.

"Ah. Understandable." She finishes the bowl, licks the spoon, and hands it to a cringing robot, who scuttles off with it. More robots have started to repair and maintenance her armor.

"You see, there are many reasons for villainy. And many shades within it. Dire, for quite some time, thought herself without equal. But the world would not recognize this. And as such, many attempts to show them, show them all, were conducted. Wasteful, really, in hindsight."

She stands, and paces back and forth.

"It was not until the Freedom League came upon the scene, that Dire encountered a true equal." She waves a hand at some secondary screens, causing them to flicker to life with old images, famous fights against the Freedom League, as seen by her helmet cam. In the shots that she calls up, she's more often then not looking toward Daedelus.

"Took some time to understand that, of course. But once it did... Daedelus was very helpful. Helped Dire to understand that a superior human truly needs to prove nothing to the world. That it is the duty of the superior to guide and help the inferior to ascend, to become more than they already are."

She sits back in the throne, watching the old videos of Daedelus, and for the first time emotion enters her face. Loss, sorrow, regret... And more. It's gone in a second.

She kills the feeds, and turns back to Charlie, looking him over with piercing blue eyes.

"Of course, by that time, Dire's actions had caused much harm, and weakened society. After finally being aided to realize this, it was agreed that Dire should lead a quiet life, spending the remnants of resources from ill-gotten gains to compensate those she had inconvenienced. That was done, and this is all that remains of former ransoms and heists. And also, a few inventions here and there, to advance the technology level of the planet. Those were done, for the general good. Indeed, you have doubtless used or benefitted from one of the patented inventions without realizing it."

"In time, a rapport was developed with Daedelus. Dire can... well, could, call him an equal. This was no small thing."

"And then, one week ago..." Her face twists into a merciless grimace.

"Daedelus did not deserve that death. The Freedom League did not deserve their fate. Once again, Dire is without equal. And instead of joy at this fact, there is only loneliness... This... Nemesis... Has offended Dire. And so, she will take revenge in the cruellest way possible. This is it."

One of the robots brings her a blue kimono, and she folds it over her burned blouse, settling back down into the throne.

"You ask why, youth? The same reason Dire does anything. Firstly, a break from the boredom that occupies her waking moments. Secondly, to avenge a slight. Thirdly, because Dire wills it."

She looks around the room.

"All have their own reasons for this. Which is fine, they need not be Dire's reasons. So long as the goals are mutual, and the methods and prowess as skilled as Dire witnessed earlier today, then this base will remain open to those here... And all aid that Dire can give is yours for the asking."

"Questions?"

[Fragenstein]

"... Okay then."

Following Skillwire's instructions, the Expert had been paying full attention to Dire's speech. Her every movement had been analyzed, the tone and quality of her voice dissected mentally and every change in her eyes, breathing and stance put through the wringer.

Assuming she wasn't the world's greatest liar, Charlie found no reason to cast further doubt. While he might never trust her fully, he could at least count on her sincerity as far as this particular endeavor went.

She apparently wasn't pushing for answers to her earlier question. That was fine, Charlie wasn't quite ready to talk about the atrocities he'd experienced prior to Event 84.

He also was still not a big fan of ice cream. Plus he seemed to only now realize that he was still holding Surtur. The hammer had been quiet since announcing his worthiness, but now its conspicuous weight called to the boy's attention.

Charlie carefully placed the weapon on the table with a statement that it simply wasn't his style. He preferred his chain as a more flexible weapon, but admitted that it should never be allowed to return to the upstart Captain Thunder.

Actually, he wondered why Surtur had even allowed the murderous phoney to pick it up. Those must be some fairly loose qualifications for being 'worhty'.

It was about then that he remembered Dire's accusations about the armor clad villain and cross-referenced The Thunderer's new file with that of Doctor Stratos.

[SuperMuldoon]

Synapse places Ymir on the table next to Surtur. "These things are some pretty powerful artifacts, what do you guys think we should do with them?" He says, looking to the magic experts.

"Also, not to rain on our victory parade or anything, not only are we enemies of the establishment now that Nemesis is the mayor and has put in his own 'Captain Thunder', every villain group in the area is going to be making grabs for power now that the Freedom League is gone. If we are choosing the path of heroes, I don't think we will have any allies." Synapse says, leaning back in his chair and turning to watch the news.

[Sliver]

Metamorph thinks of Dire's answer for a moment and replies "Don't get me wrong. I couldn't care less for them, but if they thrive enough to need expansion, or that world finds a way to send them away like you did, they could return here. What I'm saying is, I watch too many movies."

Turning to Synapse he continues "I'm used to working alone, and by myself I wont have issues with any enemy.. I won't be recognized on sight, and establishing sight for my opponents might prove troublesome as well. But.. I guess I'm not working alone now.. We need to form a plan, to do something with Nemesis. Full frontal strike won't work I'm afraid, Nemesis proved his power only a week ago. We won't be able to go in flashy super style I'm afraid, and unless we can bring evidence that proves the mayor's crimes without a doubt, we won't be able to claim any credit after the deed is done. You will have to gain new identities if you will want to continue and act all heroic after that.."

"We need a way to counter his powers. He can adept to other supers, but there has to be a weakness. If we find out his real identity, before he revealed himself as Nemesis, it might clue us in. We will need to infiltrate his home or office, wherever he is most weak and alone, so that means getting his most updated plans to chose a time to strike, and the blueprints of the area. Expert, can you search the web to find traces or clues of any of this? Dire?"

Although the dire situation they are in, Gargamorph looks exited, as if he is gonna kill a smurf finally. For the first time in a week that felt like a year, Jake had a purpose, and he had others in this **** with him.

[Fragenstein]

"I can give it a shot." Charlie agrees, referring to the web search. "I probably know more about the man than anyone in this room at the moment, but there's always more to be uncovered.

"I can also try to get a post inside of the mayor's office as an intern. It'd be easy to pose as a budding political scientist. Heck, I could pose as a seasoned politician if I had to, but I don't think I'm quite old enough to pull that one off."

He certainly did seem to have a wealth of knowledge available, though he'd yet revealed the source of his nigh limitless understanding.

[Sliver]

"No. If we won't manage to clear our names after ridding the world of Nemesis, then your face will be known and you will be wanted. Your real identity will be ruined forever. It is safer if I will pose as one and you will send me any needed information on a to-need basis. If we will go with that plan at all."

[Sliver]

Jake coughs "Am I the only one that was confused from that captain thunder focus on lightning attacks and no actual thunder? Sure felt good stealing his lightning though" :smallsmile:

[Green Bean]

Ellen gives the hammers a careful once over, trying to recall if they required any particular actions to safely store them. "Well, we can't exactly give them back. They'd end up right back where you found them." Seeing Metamorph trying to put together a plan, she felt the need to add her own contribution. "If it's all right with you two, I'd like to study Ymir and Surtur. If a baddie was using these, then Nemesis is or employs someone who knows how to work with magic. You'd have to be pretty powerful to confuse artifacts like these, and I'll see if I can recognize their work."

[Raynn]

The Expert:
As the Skillwire begins a search to expand the Nemesis files it gathers only small amounts of information; he supposedly grew up in down town Freedom City and was a minor politician before Event 84. He graduated top of his class from Freedom City University and attended some of the most prestigious schools in the country. It makes no reference to him having super human abilities or ever attending Claremont Academy.

It seems as if Daniel Sword is the genuine article for a moment.

Only a moment; hacking his medical records is difficult but luckily finding out he doesn't have one is easy in comparison. Daniel Sword either never existed or has never gotten sick, now normally that isn't impossible but many of the schools he supposedly attended in his youth had innoculation programs. He should have a file because of that.

His identity has been faked so well that the skillwire lists only a half dozen or so not magical beings capable of faking an identity so well, Doctor Dire being one of them.

As skillwire attempts to hack into the Mayorial office it detects that it has been taking completely off the grid. It seems to have no direct access points from the world wide web. Someone has made it intentionally inaccessable.

[Fragenstein]

"Be my guest." Charlie offers. "Let us know if you come up with what they might use to replace them, as well. 'No way is Nemesis letting us pull his teeth this early."

It had been fun stealing them, actually. It felt good, even as intimidated as the Expert had been. Using the enhancements forced upon him for the cause of good just felt like the right thing to do.

[Fragenstein]

Charlie's eyes grow vacant again as the results of his search request are delivered. The expression only lasts for a second or two before he informs people of what was discovered.

OOC: Any information in the SPOILER box below should now be relayed to the group. He'll also open up about the Skillwire mainframe if asked -- he does intend to have it moved to wherever the group ends up establishing a headquarters for safe keeping. Most likely The Sacntuary, but he doesn't want to presume on Dire's hospitality.

[Sliver]

Metamorph's eyes brighten for a moment with another idea "Dire, can you make a device that is really small and hard to detect, and can track and override data sent through a computer network it is attached to?"

He stops for a second to breath, then morphs a bit to eliminate the need for it and starts talking quickly, but slow enough to still be able to be understood clearly. "I was working for an organization that dealt with information and infiltration until the recent events. They think I'm dead now, at least I believe they do. Anyway, I have no doubts they work with Sword now, feeding him on information he needs to run the city. It is a very powerful aid for him. I know the place and with my powers I could easily infiltrate it and set the device without being detected. We could use it to feed Nemesis false information while keeping track of the information he asks for and what he might know. He is also gathering heroes to form another league so we could use the link to cause him to divide his forces so that an attack will be easier, set a trap or maybe cause him to be cocky and make a mistake that we could turn to our advantage."

Hearing the information, he adds "I could also use such a device to connect us to his office."

[Raynn]

Charlie: again:smallredface:
As Skillwire updates its files on the others around the table the system requests for the Expert to review his findings.

Skillwire: file reference C:Persons/allies/Doctor Dire
Line 184: "Possible relationship with deceased Daedalus."
:Possible Error Detected:
Daedalus possessed the ability to resurrect from virtually all non magical injuries. -Reference C:Persons/Others/Freedom League/Daedalus -
Daedalus most likely no longer deceased; Possibly imprisoned.
Would you like to amend saved file?

[Fragenstein]

Charlie managed to miss most of Jake's plan as the weight of what he'd just learned settled on his mind. An immediate affirmative was sent to amend all related files and he muttered the words, "Daedalus is alive?"

He shifted his gaze to lock eyes with Doctor Dire, watching for her reaction.

[Lost Demiurge]

Dire steeples her fingers, and glances at Metamorph.

"The aliens could return to trouble us. But that would be a problem anywhere we sent them. Since Ellen dealt with them in peace, we have the advantage that we may be able to do so again should they return. Very efficient, by the way."

"As to your other concern, you have the right of it. We are hampered by the problem faced by police the world over... We KNOW who did it. We have enough of the answers to be certain of guilt... But we do not have enough to prove it to an unwitting world."

"We must build a case. That will take research into the new mayor's affairs... And not just that, but those of his backers and affiliates as well. Dire suspects that he did not come to this alone. He is simply not intelligent enough, not to gain this level of support and power by himself."

"To that end, any investigative efforts anyone in this room can lend are the priority. Dire will focus on monitoring and keeping an eye out for incidents that require... Heroic... Assistance. We will keep trouble down to a dull roar, and build our image in the public eye while we hunt for a way to end Nemesis."

"As to the hammers..."

She walks down from the throne, to consider them. She does NOT touch them.

"Two options present themselves. One, we could prevail upon Cael to teleport them to a place of safekeeping, for now. Eventually they will find their way out or find a suitable wielder... It's how artifacts like this do business. Dire is fine with this, it is unlikely they will return to Stratos."

"The other, is to keep them within a spare room in the laboratory, surrounded by wards." She glances up at Ellen and Cael. "In fact, this entire base should probably be warded to be undetectable by magic. If we leave the hammers here, a separate set of wards for them or any other magical items retrieved wouldn't go amiss. In this case, they will be lost to us as well eventually, when the base is raided or a worthy wielder finds their way in."

Dire punches up a glowing holo-screen in the air, and writes "TO-DO: EXCAVATE TROPHY ROOM", then banishes it with a wave.

[Lost Demiurge]

"Hm? Ah, yes, Dire can make such a device. In fact-"

Then Charlie drops his bombshell.

"WHAT!? EXPLAIN!!!" She thunders, looming over the young man.

Then after a half second, she shakes her head, backs up a few steps, and clears her throat. "Ahem. To clarify, Dire wishes to see the logic chain leading you to this conclusion."

As he states it, she nods, several times. "Hm. Dire never tested his immortality. He escaped from every deathtrap she put him within, so it never really came up. It was easy to assume that Nemesis utilized magical means to defeat Daedelus, but if Nemesis did not... If he was FOOLISH enough to imprison the creator of the Labyrinth... Well now."
She sits back upon the throne, resting her chin upon her hand. "This hypothesis needs to be tested. If he lives, his rescue is Dire's... OUR first priority. And if it is untrue and he is dead as originally thought, the question remains... What DID Nemesis do with the Freedom League's remains?"

[Sliver]

Jake nods "If you can create the device, and use that portal from before to drop me near the office, I could try to infiltrate the place and we might find Daedalus' whereabouts"

[Green Bean]

Ellen finishes her examination of the hammers. "I'm not sure keeping them's the best idea. These seem to be from an alternate universe but they'll still show up on the radar of local Asgardians. I'm not how well I can ward them against divine powers." The sorceress steeples her fingers in thought. "We might be able to sell them, but then it might just end up back in Nemesis' hand. The simplest thing to do is give it to the Asgardians in exchange for their support. Even if it's just to keep them out of bed with Nemesis."

[Fragenstein]

Charlie had some theories on the possible fate of the immortal Cretan.

"I wouldn't doubt Skillwire. It's never been wrong before. Borrowing from unrelated mythologies, driving an object through a vital organ should prevent him from fully reviving. Without being able to completly heal an injury as immediately fatal as that should keep him immobilized, but that'd also prevent him from being used as a resource.

"Better for Nemesis if he can find a way to make use of Daedalus' abilities. But how could he manage that? And where on earth is there a facility that could hold him?

"I think 'Morph is right. If the mayor's office has been turned into an impenetrable data fortress then that's where we're most likely to find an answer."

As for the fate of the hammers? The Expert agreed that it might be better to return the things to their creators. They'd be able to find a fitting home for the weapons and honor the man who originally wielded them.

[SuperMuldoon]

Synapse looks to Ellen, "Well, if getting rid of them is the best idea, is there any way we can contact the Asgardians and just give them back to them? Maybe they have a reward for lost hammers or something. Whatever we do, we have to keep them out of Nemesis' hands though."

Synapse jumps at Dire's outburst, startled. He always figured that there was a little something between Dire and Daedalus. She was always trying to kill him in the most convoluted ways possible. Her words now confirm it in Synapse's mind. "If he is still alive, we'll find him somehow. His assistance would prove invaluable."

"Plus, DIRE COMMANDS IT!" Synapse adopts a commanding pose and says in his best Dire impersonation, before cracking a grin at the dynamic despot.


"The question remains... What DID Nemesis do with the Freedom League's remains?"

"Zombie all-star team? Drain their powers for his own minions? This guy made everyone in the city except us forget that he destroyed the whole Freedom League singlehandedly, I don't know what to expect...just going to have to see it to believe it I think."

[Lost Demiurge]

"Mm. Then infiltration is the task."

"Your device will be made by my own hand... But given the risk of the task, time must be taken to craft it carefully. In the meantime, feel free to avail yourselves of the various living quarters in this Sanctuary. Ellen, if you wish to put up wards around the place, now would be a good interval."

"As far as the hammers go... If trading them to the Asgardians is the best option, Dire has no objections. Might also get some answers as to how they got into Stratos' hands."

"Ah, yes... A brief explanation. This new "Captain Thunder's" voice and speech patterns matched those of Doctor Stratos, one of the old Captain Thunder's foes. We had a team up once or twice. The man was insufferable. There is a 90% probability it was him under the mask."

"Which gives us another avenue to investigate..." She looks over at Cael. "If we find out what Stratos was up to over the last year or so, we may find a clue as to how he signed up with the new mayor..."

[Lost Demiurge]

Synapse jumps at Dire's outburst, startled. He always figured that there was a little something between Dire and Daedalus. She was always trying to kill him in the most convoluted ways possible. Her words now confirm it in Synapse's mind. "If he is still alive, we'll find him somehow. His assistance would prove invaluable."

"Plus, DIRE COMMANDS IT!" Synapse adops a commanding pose and says in his best Dire impersonation, before cracking a grin at the dynamic despot.
[/COLOR]

Dire studies Synapse for a long moment, before standing, walking down to the table, and sitting next to him.

"No. No, not anymore. Dire will issue no command to you, or to anyone else in this room."

"You are no longer a minion, or a henchman, nor even a lackey. Those times are past. Anything Dire states to you, or anyone else here, consider it a request or bit of advice."

She sighs, and leans back in the chair. "It seems that we are to act as a team of heroes. Troublesome, given the pasts of at least two of us. But not undoable. And not entirely without merit. The prospect... Intrigues Dire."

"To that end, and for other reasons, mutual respect for each other's capabilities seems necessary."

She leans forward again. "Incidentally, we have a few things to decide upon. Superheroic names for those who do not already have them, and a name for the team. Dire was thinking... perhaps, "The Legacy", for a team name.""

[Sliver]

"What is the level of the security of this place of yours? I didn't get the chance to test my powers in a real infiltration task.." Jake looks around for cameras. "And can you try to find blueprints of the office on some other server? It can't be that only one isolated computer has them.."

[Lost Demiurge]

"What is the level of the security of this place of yours? I didn't get the chance to test my powers in a real infiltration task.." Jake looks around for cameras. "And can you try to find blueprints of the office on some other server? It can't be that only one isolated computer has them.."

"The security is good, though not indefeatable. If you wish to test it, Dire can reconfigure a few corridors and rooms. The security is good enough to detect your emissions, by the way... This would be the Skillwire you spoke of?"

"Blueprints? Possible, but there is a device to work on. Can someone else manage this task?"

[Sliver]

Metamorph nods "If you can set the rooms without hampering the device's creation, I will be glad to invest my time in training there. If you can, a red light lighting up if I'm detected would be grand. Ellen-" He turns "-If you could add magical protection to some of the corridors as well, please.."

(Metamorph assumes the second half of the first paragraph was aimed at Expert)

[Lost Demiurge]

Metamorph nods [COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"]"If you can set the rooms without hampering the device's creation, I will be glad to invest my time in training there.

Dire pulls up a holo-panel, and makes a few passes over it. "Done. Use the southern corridors and four rooms down that way."

[Sliver]

"Thanks" Metamorph smiles and walks away, turning to Ellen "When you have the time.." and vanishes.

[Raynn]

As you come upon the corridor you see a glass door at the end opening up onto a large room that appears to either be a small training room or a storage area.
The corridor itself is white tiled flooring with grey walls, it is well lit and about 8 to 10 feet wide.

[Sliver]

Can't start too early. X-Ray check the walls, floor and ceiling of the corridor.

[Raynn]

The walls have enough of a lead content to blur your vision if not stop it entirely. Doctor Dire dealt with heroes with such sensory powers in her past.

[Sliver]

My X-ray vision is blocked by wood.


X-Ray Vision (4 ranks): You can see through solid objects as if they weren’t there (such objects provide no concealment to you).
You have to define one reasonably common substance you can’t
see through (such as lead, gold, iron, wood, etc.). A subject with
no cover or concealment relative to you cannot use Stealth to hide
from you.

I'm Gargamel, not Superman! :smallbiggrin:

[Raynn]

Sliver:
You can describe your training as you like without my input within reason to speed things along:smallsmile:

Everyone:
Any actions such as rituals, device making, gathering research etc that require checks simply post your check in the OoC and when you get the result post what you do till midnight. Anyone who's actions don't require checks simply post away what you do till then.

[Fragenstein]

... The security is good enough to detect your emissions, by the way... This would be the Skillwire you spoke of?"

Charlie blanched at the mention of his transmissions. He hadn't even considered what sort of a beacon this would be to those around him, though he should have thought of it. It would mean he'd have to be very careful if they ever did send him undercover.

Fortunately, once his programming was set it didn't have to change. Loading up the right set of skills and information at the start should prevent him from having to data-hop.

"Yeah, that would be it." He admitted. "As long as we're on the subject, any chance of getting the 'frame moved over here? I've never been comfortable going back to the lab, and I don't know if anyone'll ever be coming back to find out what happened. If the people who did this get their hands on it, I can only assume killing me will be their number one priority."

[Green Bean]

Exhausted from the day's spellcasting, Ellen decides to go home and grab a bit of sleep while she had the chance. Making sure not to compromise the location of Dire's Sanctuary, she walks several blocks before hiring a cab. Awakening a few hours later, she gathers up some essential books and supplies, as well as a less intimidating costume, and makes her way back in the same way.

By nine, she has a semi-functional workshop up and running in her room, and by midnight her desk is covered with partially completed diagrams. To anyone with a knowledge of magic, the blueprints are quite a clever bit of engineering; a series of highly sensitive artificial ley lines connecting back to a central control orb. They aren't yet complete, however, and there's still much work left to do.

((Call it 3 hours work on the design phase.))

[Unkabear]

Cael watches the whole thing happen, while eating a sugar cone precariously topped with mint chocolate chip icecream.

As he had entered the lair his hat and trench changed colors from the dark navy to a lighter tan and his face again gained details. He had not often use his powers, but in the few times that he had he used this disguise. Sooner or later he would have to come up with a super hero name, but he remained out of the spotlight enough that it never came up.

With his hat resting on his knee as he leaned back in a chair with his legs propped up he let the conversation continue, taking mental notes the whole time. Could he hide the hammers somewhere where they would be hard to find, most definitely, was it worth it. Most likely not. Items of power always had a way of finding those to wield them. Returning them was their best bet. But Cael decided that he would let them make up their own plans for the time being, just to make sure.

Dr. Dire was good and all, but he had to make sure of the intentions of the others. So far they were all innocent and sincere.

When it came time to go he bid farewell to the others and returned to his car offering Ellen a ride home if she wished it. He did keep the transmitter in his pocket as he got into his car and began the drive back to Riverside, driving with the top down and his arm hung over the door the whole way.

Climbing the stairs to his office he tested the door. It was locked, though it was not as if a good push couldn't open it. That is why he never kept the sensitive files in his office, nor worried about a computer. Only once did he find someone camping out in his office. It was his home, in the backroom that had the hardcore security...a deadbolt...and ended the evening crashed out on the futon watching the news on an old tube television that still had dials to change the channels.

[SuperMuldoon]

"Well, since we have some time, I'm going to head out for a bit. Don't worry, I won't make a spectacle." Synapse says, and just like that he is gone from the Urban Sanctuary.

Synapse looks up at the night sky from the roof of a building in the Fens. Not just any building, the building across the street from where his sisters lived. He was just checking to make sure they were ok. If Nemesis found out he had any family, they could become targets...and Synapse couldn't let that happen.

Synapse laid back and stared up at the stars. He could run to anywhere on the planet and be there in no time at all, but up there, that was one place his legs couldn't take him. There was always something nice about watching the stars twinkle on a clear night like tonight. He closed his eyes, but was snapped out of his thoughts by a scream. His first thought was to look to his sisters - they were ok. But where did the scream come from? Synapse looked around, and heard another scream, this one cut off halfway. He knew which direction it came from.

Running down the wall towards the sound he saw two thugs roughing up a young lady. One had her pinned against the wall, a knife to her throat, the other was rifling through her belongings, and getting a little too hands on. The young lady closed her eyes - and felt a slight breeze and the knife fall away from her throat.

When she opened her eyes, the two criminals were unconcious and tied up on the ground in front of her and her cell phone was in her hand, 911 dialed and ringing.

Synapse was already miles away. "Maybe I can do this hero thing after all..."


Synapse will stick to the fens, and stop any crimes that occur...getting used to being a hero, but keeping a low profile so to stay out of Nemesis' notice. When it gets late he heads back to the Urban Sanctuary

[Lost Demiurge]

"Before everyone leaves, or scatters..." Dire offers earbuds and vocalizers to Metamorph and Expert.

[Fragenstein]

"Got my own." Charlie admitted. It wasn't tuned to Dire's frequency, in all likelyhood, but it seemed a fine piece of equipment regardless.

Like all of his tools, it'd come from the security room back at the lab. Whatever had caused the mass evacuation, it happened too fast to clear out everything of value.

[Lost Demiurge]

"Well enough." Doctor Dire tells Charlie, and takes the earbuds back. "What do you mean by, your 'frame? Maintenance equipment?" She shrugs.

"Whatever it may be, you are granted permission to transfer it here."

[Fragenstein]

"Mainframe.", the Expert explained. "The system Skillwire runs on. And I'm probably going to need help for that, it's not exactly portable."

Mainframe was, perhaps, a slightly dated term. However the system was considerably more powerful than a simple file server and 'supercomputer' was entirely too vague. Charlie could think of no other way to describe its functions succinctly.

"I'll get you the details on its power and networking requirements whenever you're ready. I'd like to keep it in as secure of a room as possible, if you don't mind."

[Lost Demiurge]

Dire raises an eyebrow, at the hint that her power systems might not be able to handle the mainframe, but witholds comment.

"Very well. As stated before, Dire has work to do at the minute. And the current armor is ill-suited to smuggling large pieces of equipment across town in broad daylight. Wait until night is in full bloom, and then we shall retrieve your device."

And she goes into the laboratory, setting the door intercom to "mocking laughter" before she begins work.

[Fragenstein]

It seemed that the Expert was being left to his own devices at the moment. Charlie wasn't entirely sure what to do next, as 'downtime' had never before been one of his scant luxuries.

There were some things he could do to prepare for his stay. There wasn't much in the way of clothes or belongings to pack, but he could at least move the MKZ to Dire's garage. He tried to think of any other valuables at the lab he wanted to bring, but there wasn't much of that. Mostly he just wanted to bury the damn place in concrete and then call in a good exorcist. Whatever it took to make him forget was fine by him.

So for now he made do with exploring his new home. There was a lot to see and mark in his mind, plenty of technologies that would have left him dazed and confused before Skillwire had been thrust into his head. A lot of it was decades out of date, but stil the construction of the place told the story of a brilliant and organized mind.

He enjoyed mapping out the hallways and hardware of The Sanctuary. It gave him something to do besides break into hotel rooms. Probably he'd be at it for hours before sleep came to claim him.

So the Doc wanted to dub the group 'The Legacy'? That was fine by the Expert, though he had to wonder who's legacy he'd be carrying on. He had no idea, none whatsoever, who's tech he carried around inside of himself. From his experiences, it couldn't have been someone on the proper side of the law.

But if they'd truely been villains, why had they vanished with Event 84? Charlie had come to understand that only the heroes had suffered in those minutes. So why, then, had his tormentors gone with them?

Shaking his head, Charlie decided that was something to discover later on down the road. For now he was betting that Dire's roof had a fantastic view. He decided to find out.

[Raynn]

Not long after midnight a siren blares out through the Urban sanctuary.

A voice booms over the intercom; Dire situation Detected.

On the view screens the same scene is displayed over and over, a giant light blue tribally tattoed man is rampaging through Freedom city center. He has a long beard and long hair all perfect white.
He wears worn leather, obviously handmade, and a massive axe.
The temperature near the groud zero has begun to rapidly decrease towards freezing.

[Fragenstein]

Charlie had fallen asleep on the roof, staring off into the skies and darkened surroundings of The Sanctuary. Distant thrummings and the muted blare of the alarm awakened him, though. It took a few seconds to regain his bearings, but once he remembered where he was he was up and moving. The hood was drawn back over his head once more and his face cast back into its deep shadows.

Shortly after that he could be found standing before a monitor, running images of this new threat against known criminals in his head.

[Green Bean]

Ellen looks up from her latest sketch, a diagram of the warding device's Palantir Matrix. She dons her 'genuinely authentic' wizard robes, a dark blue outfit with various important arcane sigils picked out in golden thread. To anyone knowledgeable in magic, the effect was faintly ridiculous, like a physicist wearing random fragments of the theory of relativity, but she'd found customers were willing to pay 10% more for a bit of "ambiance". Donning the mask, a dark kerchief with eyeholes, she rushes out to the screen.

[Lost Demiurge]

Dire holds up the INVADING ELECTRONIC EAR! Smiling a small grin at how it turned out, she places it carefully in a carrying case.

Just as she stretches and heads toward bed... The alarm sounds.

Glaring at the monitor, she peels the kimono off, puts on a fresh shirt, and heads out. Once in her suit, she clicks the comm open. "Attention, team. We have a frost giant on the rampage in Freedom City Center. Heading out there now."

And offering a quick piggyback ride to Expert, she charts an indirect yet quick flight route toward the giant's rampage.

[Fragenstein]

"But I was just up on the roof." Charlie bemoans.

Still, it seemed that he was being offere a lift to their next encounter. The Expert could only assume that this ewas to eventually become standard practice as he headed back towards his napping locale.

[Lost Demiurge]

"But I was just up on the roof." Charlie bemoans.


"IF YOU HAVE ALTERNATE MEANS OF TRAVEL, FEEL FREE TO USE THEM." Says Doctor Dire.

[Fragenstein]

He did, actually but the Lincoln was still parked downtown. The offered lift would have to do. Though it hadn't been that concept he was protesting, rather that if he'd stayed where he had been when the alarm went off rather than investigating the monitor room he could have saved himself a couple of trips in Dire's stairwell.

[SuperMuldoon]

"Frost Giant? Hey Ellen, make sure you prepare Fireball for this fight!" Synapse says with a wink before zipping off to Freedom City Center. Upon arrival, Synapse keeps his distance out of the cold zone and observes the...frost giant, waiting for everyone else to get there.

[Unkabear]

When the report came in over the important news bulletin and managed to rouse Cael from his stupor. He was rather upset with this. More upset though in a moment when his end table screamed at him.

Cael was remarkably glad that he had not placed the device into his ear.

He opened a small portal and reached through to press a button, it was one of the few electronic devices in his apartment. An instant coffee maker. One placed a small individually partitioned packet of extremely high end coffee into the device, then with the push of a button it would create a perfect cup of coffee in 30 seconds.

By the time he had his jacket and hat the coffee was done, already poured into a styrofoam cup. Cael didn't believe in any dishware that wasn't disposable.

He sipped the perfect cup as he opened a portal, bright light piercing his apartment as he stepped through into somewhere in Africa. Then to Paris. He stopped in Paris long enough to finish the cup, longingly looking into the bottom of the empty cup before tossing it into a trash receptacle.

Cael's next step was up...very high. If you were going to throw someones trail you have to do it right. He free fell for a few moments before he took his final step back to Freedom City. Cael had found that 10,000 ft above the Atlantic was a good way to throw a trail, as few who had the ability to follow a Teleport could do so while levitating at 10,000 ft.

Cael found solid ground beneith his feet, though in his early attempts he had fallen hard when he had tried this, he was not adept enough to realize how to factor into a teleportation, or opening a portal such things as the rotation of the earth, how gravity reacts differently the higher you go, or that the spin of the earth is different depending on how close the equator you are. Curvature, planes and a host of other things that you don't really think about, and Cael not being a mathematician only instinctively has grasped, all needed to be taken into account. The end result was a whole lot of practice, and many bruises along the way.

During the fall Cael let the hat do its work, changing the colors of the coat and hat, and wiping his face of features, stepping into the chaos not as Cael, but as the enigmatic man who shows up from time to time to help the citizens of Freedom.

[Sliver]

When offered, Jake accepted to comlink, but added "Don't expect me to use it.. Electronic transitions are easier to pick up then mental ones" He smiles at Expert and walks off to train.

---------
Midnight
---------

Hearing the transition, Metamorph was still in training. All the time spent on meditation and focus allowed him more control over his body, so longer hours were no trouble. Being able to partially turn into an object to gain fatigue immunity helped too. Using his X-Ray to detect where the Doc currently was, he turned into a small jet plane and flew right through the ceiling towards her position, and then flying next to Dire.

"First jet-packs and now this? You like flying in style huh?"

[Fragenstein]

"Don't be jealous." Charlie struggled against the wind generated by their rapid passage. He broadcast his next part mentally, finding that an easier way to communicate given his position.

"Not everyone gets to ride a supervillainess like a pogo stick."

Perhaps it was best that Doctor Dire didn't get the chance to hear that. She'd been gracious in her accomodations up to now, but there was probably only so far that her new-found goodwill would extend.

[Lost Demiurge]

Stopping to drop the Expert off at a location of his choosing a short distance away, Dire hovers up to roof-level of the nearby skyscrapers, and examines the giant from a distance.

"HM. POSSIBLE ASGARDIAN CONNECTION? COMPREHENDING NORSE IS NOT DIRE'S FORTE."

[SuperMuldoon]

"HM. POSSIBLE ASGARDIAN CONNECTION? COMPREHENDING NORSE IS NOT DIRE'S FORTE."

"Maybe he's come for the hammers?"

[Lost Demiurge]

"Maybe he's come for the hammers?"

"DOES NOT MEAN HE CAN HAVE THEM. THIS IS AN UNCIVILIZED WAY OF ASKING. PROBABLY HAVE TO BEAT THIS ONE DOWN BEFORE IT WILL ANSWER QUESTIONS..."

Ceramic fingers tap against a ceramic face.

"THEN AGAIN, TOO MANY ASSUMPTIONS ARE BEING MADE. TIME TO TEST."

She flies directly over to head-height, in the giant's path.

"YOU! LARGE ONE! WHY ARE YOU HERE? WHY DO YOU TEAR DOWN THESE BUILDINGS?"

[Fragenstein]

Charlie was taking his time with this one. He'd learned already that a figure wielding a melee weapon wasn't restricted to melee attacks. That ax could be capable of feats similar to those of Surtur and Ymir. Obviously there was some sort of environmental effect going on.

Though it was not yet revealed if the frosted ground was a natural trick of the giant or something produced by his possessions.

Dire was willing to take the lead on this one, a fact that gave the Expert more time to complete his research.

Charlie will be taking twenty on such Knowledge skills as: Known Superhumans (cross referencing those with both growth and cold based powers), Modern Mythology (particularly frost giants), and Non-Human Threats.

He will have started his research back at The Sanctuary upon first hearing the alarm and continued through to the current round.

The values are Skill Rank 10 and Int Modifier +4 -- 10+4+20 = 34 on each that he has time to chase down.

[Raynn]

Ellen:
Ellen recognises the Frost Giant as one of Norse mythology and knows that the effect on the climate is most likely due to an open gate to the realm of Asgard. The frost giant is powerful but ultimately mortal also they are known to have little querrel with the mortal world since the fall of belief in Asgard and such pointless destruction is oddly out of character for the species.

The Expert:
The Expert's research turns up little; or that is to say a lot but little that was verifiable. Skillwire confirmed that Asgardians encountered by the Freedom League had spoken of the existence of Frost Giants, who's leaders still possess enough of Ymir's power to grow to great size. These true giants though rarely fought as if they died at the hands of Asgardians it would destabilise their tribe in a power struggle.

The rest of the information Skillwire picks up on is drawn from such reliable resources as wikipedia and as such Skillwire is flooded with information that is most likely untrue or at least unprovable.

As you come upon the scene you see a tall warrior seemingly leaning on his axe as if he was resting. No civilians seem to have been harmed and apart from the wrecked cars and pavement the damage seems superficial, mostly broken windows.

http://images.epilogue.net/users/chriskuhlman/TAGHF30002_06.jpg
He sees you approach and seems almost to smile.

[Green Bean]

Ellen arrives on the scene, alighting on the ground near Dire. She activates her comm. "Something very strange is going on here. This guy's another dimensional castaway, and violence like this is very much unlike his kind." Just in case, though, the sorceress reviews her fire spells.

[Sliver]

Metamorph shifts into an invisible humming bird and flies high above the giant, but keeps hanging close enough to hear any exchange of words.

Note:I won't be posting much today as I will probably be out in about 2 and a half hours will return late and go to sleep right away.. If I won't be going out I will stay later today and will post..

[Fragenstein]

Charlie was going to have to update that file. It was clear that such creatures existed, but apparently most of the details were conjecture or simply absent. He prepped the system for regular updates as the encounter unfolded.

Perhaps he would know a little more about them by the time they were done.

As the giant wasn't showing aggression at the moment, the Expert loaded up one of the more defensive profiles for his combat training. He was content to wait until more information regarding the giant's presence here before pushing the scene forward.

Attack Focus (Melee) 5, Favored Environment (Urban) 5, Favored Opponent (Giants) 6, Quickdraw, Evasion 2, Uncanny Dodge

Attack 10, Defense 10, Toughness 10, Damage 10 (w/chain)

Also -- loading up what Nordic languages are available. That should be relatively comprehensive given the recent existence of actual Norse patheons.

[Lost Demiurge]

Dire remains standing in midair, across from the giant. When she sees him leaning on the axe, she crosses her arms.

"NO ENGLISH? HM. FINALLY, AN EXTRADIMENSIONAL INTRUDER THAT DOES NOT KNOW THE TONGUE OF THE LAND. GOOD TO SEE THAT LOGIC IS NOT ENTIRELY DEAD."

Over the comm, she whispers "Dire does not seem to be getting through. Do any of you have a knack or ability to speak Norse, or something with a chance of being heard?"

[Fragenstein]

Charlie opted to give it a shot once Dire had made her request. Of all the dialects his system provided him with, he selected the one most ancient. That might have the best chance of impressing him with how serious they were about his presence.

They were also only assuming that the creature lacked the ability to comprehend as opposed to being unwilling to reply, hopefully he wasn't here as a delaying action. The group was showing a stereotypical tendency to dive straight into dangerous situations. That was going to make it easy for Nemesis to eventually draw them into an ambush.

"You should probably answer her. Whatever it is you're after, you'll have an easier time getting it if you talk to us."

[Raynn]

"Ymir, Surtur, we come for the weapons that are rightfully ours, Magni's mother was a frost giant, Thor lays no claim, I claim them on behalf of my people. . . to protect my people. . . Give them to me and no one will be harmed," The voice boomed in a language only the Expert could understand.

[Fragenstein]

Charlie was relieved to hear that his paranoia was unfounded. Perhaps it wasn't healthy to always see such threatening duplicity in everyone and everything around him? Up until now, that'd been a valuable survival skill that kept him alive on the streets. It was sometimes hard to remember that he was in a different situation now.

"Apparently you're right, Synapse. He's come to take the hammer bros. home."

He was happy to see them head towards their proper realm, and as the owner of one of the weapons he could only assume it was his call on Surtur. There may, however, be tactical issues here that he wasn't seeing and allowed some time for the others to discuss.

Switching back to Norse, he put his attention back on the giant.

"So that rampage you introduced yourself with? Was it just to impress us that you meant business, or is that how you always say hello?"

[Lost Demiurge]

"Dire sees no problem with this. Synapse or Cael, would one of you pop back to the Sanctuary and retrieve the hammers?"

"In the meantime, we've two tasks. Intercept and hold off the inevitable mayor's toady squad who are going to come this way and try to blow up the giant, and see what we can bargain out of him for the hammers. Ellen, you have far more patience with brutes of this ilk than Dire. Negotiation, therefore, would seem to be your forte in this."

[SuperMuldoon]

"On it Doc." Synapse says, disappearing in a blur as he runs back to base, grabs the two hammers and runs back, standing next to DIre, though now holding the asgardian weapons.

"Well, lets get to bargaining then." Synapse says, casually flipping Ymir in the air and catching it by the handle a few times.

[Green Bean]

Ellen shoots Dire a glance. "I, uh, don't speak Norse. It isn't exactly something you pick up in your everyday life. I'm sure Charlie will be able to handle it."

[Lost Demiurge]

"Ah. It was presumed that you could inform the Expert of what to say. But fair enough."

She swivels to survey Charlie. "Dire suggests two favors, to be decided later. One for each hammer."

[Fragenstein]

Charlie cringed slightly upon the use of his civilian identity, and he spoke his next few words towards Ellen.

"Codenames, please, Charmer. We have no idea who may be listening."

There was some concern in his voice, but no real ire. He knew it was going to be tough to get used to hiding the true names of the group.

As for the hammers? So Dire wanted a couple of favors. That sounded fair, though the Expert likely would have let them go for free. Apparently that's why he considered himself the translator rather than the negotiator.

"Okay..." Charlie switched back to Norse and put his attention on the giant once more, clasping his hands together in front of himself.

"Surtur and Ymir are yours. Nobody here is going to argue rightful possession. But keep in mind that we had to take them, forcibly, from the murderous coward that claimed ownership after Magni's defeat. And he didn't want to give them up willingly. We had to fight for them.

"Clearly we came out as victors, but this false Captain Thunder we fought is really only a lackey. He works for the man that killed Thorson in the first place. That's a battle we sill have ahead of us, and it's going to be a long, hard road to walk."

Charlie indicated the twin hammers, still being held by Synapse.

"Two hammers, two favors. That's what we're asking. Agree to owe us them and I can promise you those favors will be used to help our battle against Nemesis. A man already responsible for an unforgivable crime against one of your own.

"Is this acceptable?"

[Unkabear]

Cael watched the events. Realizing, that for the most part...the situation was defused. Though those less level minded would soon descend upon them and a brawl would again take place.

Though the situation earlier would have made this one worse, yet it had placed a black mark upon them in the eyes of those in temporary power.

Really that was what it would be coming down to. Captain Thunder...Stratos. Who would arrive next. From what realm. From what scruples.

Cael leaned against a tree, deep in the shade provided by the canopy and the way the path winded through a different direction, no lamp near by, or at least not near enough to penetrate the shadows, though he knew that many present could see through the shadows as if they are not there.

He let Dr. Dire take control, not because she was best suited for it, but because no one else had thought to question her authority. Yet her difference to Cael suited him, he knew that as of this time, he remained her conscious, and a strong plant in reality.

She was reformed, but Cael wanted to make sure that she did not slip back into old habits, like someone that had once quit smoking, finding a lit butt there ready to be puffed...and stress making it reasonable to do so.

But so far she had shown nothing but a predilection for good. And for that he was grateful.

Synapse was not one to lead, in fact he was a follower, and for the time being, he has found that good was the better side. Johnny Rocket had a great deal to do with this change. But he needed a steady hand to keep him there. Though the fact that he was a fugitive was something to be downplayed at this time.

Ellen. He was not fully sure why she had joined in this debacle...Yes he did. He had brought her here, and dredged her though this mud. Yet, without her he would have been left to create that portal. And he would have been able to do it himself. But it would have taken more time, and perhaps not as clean. He was sad that she was involved, but since the Event she was bound to this group, as closely as Cael and Synapse was. Cael looked upon her again and realized that she was his conscious, and hoped that she would always act as such.

The two boys fit in well. They were in search of something to define themselves. And in the End, Cael would rather The Expert and Metamorph define themselves through the struggle for good than say...Rap. Metamorph was lost to Cael. It was not that he wasn't magnificent in his adaptability, but Cael was at a loss as to how to bond with such a youth. The Expert...he was different, he was grounded in rules. Rules were things that Cael understood. And perhaps it was this little connection that could create something grand. Or at least a partner in his Private Eye business.

Cael reflected, while watching about, looking to the sky more than the Frost Giant as soon the hammers and the Giant would be gone, and the new Authorities would remain, and their true Nemesis to face.

[Unkabear]

As well, Cael thought that he would need to come up with a name, something for Dr. Dire to call him by. Calling out his name would only paint a target upon himself. Detective? Mr. E? The Shadow? Something would come up. But it would need to be soon. At least it had not yet been called out where a reporter could hear, or he would be spending more time in Hawaii...and commuting.

[Raynn]

The Frost Giant shrinks down to his normal height, about 9ft or so and the hammers drift into his waiting hands.

He kneels before Doctor Dire "These two boons will be yours," He allows Expert to translate before turning away and walking away. As the wind's grow stronger he disappears into the snow.

The winds settle but the snow does not fade away like the giant did.

It seems for a moment that another crisis has been averted by diplomatic means until a voice booms out from behind the team.

"We are NightWatch, surrender or you will pay for the destruction you have caused here!"

What appears to be a Super hero team stand before you on one of the destroyed cars; their leader and black costumed man with a long cape, a girl of living white mist, and muscle bound man with claws, a strong looking woman with black hair in a sleeveless black costume with no mask and a man in a long purple jacket wearing an amulet of some kind.

They stare at you almost hungrily.

[Green Bean]

Ellen rolls her eyes at this new team's approach. "I don't know what kind of moron you get your info from, but none of us are big blue giants. We took care of your problem, and now we're leaving." She hadn't meant to be so rude, but something about them rubbed her the wrong way.

[Raynn]

The feral man seems enraged by Ellen's comment, roaring "How dare you!" as he races towards Ellen. Midway he transforms into a large black wolf leaping at Ellen as their leader roars out "TALON NO!!"

Attack [roll0] ; DC 23 vs toughness.
Roll for iniative if you want to fight.

[Green Bean]

((Initiative: [roll0]))

Ellen staggers back from the sudden assault, her protective amulet unable to keep up with the sheer ferocity of the wolf's attack. Her offensive spells fled from her mind as she fell to the ground.


((She is either Stunned + Bruised, or Stunned + Bruised + Injured depending on whether he was using lethal or nonlethal damage))

[Raynn]

It was Lethal damage

"Talon stand down!" The black costumed man forces the Wolf away from Ellen, rushing to her side. He takes Ellen hand as if a doctor reassuring a patient "I'm sorry, I'm so. . ." The sound of massive paws slamming on pavement cuts him off as Talon, unwilling to play the good dog, rushes towards Charlie.

"DAMN IT!" The leader roars, he turns to the man with the amulet "Nocturne, Wall! Now!" The younger looking jacketed man raises his hands with a hint of fear and a wall of solid shadow surrounds the group.

The woman made of smoke passes through the wall but on the other side mearly waits, watching.

The leader looks down at Ellen, showing a handsome, torn, worried face "I'm Doctor Twilight, are you alright? I'm sorry about. . ." he sees blood and fear dances on his face, the other two step back "oh god, I'm so sorry. . ." He tears his cape for material to bandage your wound "I'll deal with Talon once your alright, I promise." He looks into Ellen's eyes, full of guilt.

[Raynn]

Attack against Charlie [roll0] ;DC 23

[Green Bean]

"Wha?" Whatever the reaction Ellen was expecting, this wasn't it. She tried to focus, but her thoughts kept slipping away.

[SuperMuldoon]

"What the heck do you think you're doing?!" Synapse yells, anger clear in his voice. He spares a moment to make sure that 'Doctor Twilight' wasn't doing anything to harm Ellen further before exploding into action, kicking up a burst of snow as he charges at Talon, delivering a flurry of super-fast punches to the feral wolf.


[roll0]
[roll1] autofire (every 2 points my atk exceeds def., +1 to the saving throw DC.)
DC 15+8=23

[Raynn]

Twilight smiles at Ellen's confusion; his handsome features can be made out even through his half mask "I'm sorry about the intimidating entrance, but we're new, since Event 84, we were just trying to get you guys to back down, sadly Talon has a tendency to overreact; I remember this one time in Paris I was with Mistral and he. . . sorry sometimes I rant a little, I'm trying to deal with that, it's on my list right after being intimidating," he ends with a awkward yet cute grin.

He finishes the makeshift bandage and turns to Nocturne "Fly over the walls, don't get involved unless it escalates." Nocturne does as he is told.

He motions towards the Woman behind him, who looks at Ellen with disdain "that's Virago, she's got her. . . quirks; now I know this is going to seem clíched but I wish we could have met on better terms."

He smiles at Virago, who smiles back bearly, and then looks back at Ellen "So why did the Mayor warn all the masks about you guys?"

Talon easily dodges Synapses blows, but mostly due to luck.

[SuperMuldoon]

"Tch...aim is off today..." Synapse says to himself. He turns to 'Doctor Twilight' "HEY! Are you going to keep flirting with my teammate or are you going to help STOP YOUR MANIAC WOLF MAN?!" Synapse yells, still pissed. Not even a minute and I hate this guy already... He turns his attention back to Talon, ready to deliver another assault if the wolf keeps attacking.

[Green Bean]

Ellen shakes her head to clear it, and sits up, ignoring the sudden jabbing pain it caused. She examined her wounds, and though she wasn't a doctor it didn't look too serious. Turning her attention to the surprisingly flirty doctor, she decides to go for honesty. "It's a long story, but..." Ellen gives Twilight the Cliff's Notes version of the Event and the aftermath, careful to emphasize the evils of Nemesis and that she and her companions were only trying to help people.

[Sliver]

Quick response before bed, roll initiative if needed..

Metamorph sees the wolf attacking and dives, turning into (invisible) really thick kind of Jello, peach flavored, and tries to cover the wolf.

Snare 10 + Engulf + Transparent, with accuracy. If I can increase my chance of taking him down, or at least hitting, by becoming larger and making some kind of area snare, then I do that as well, selective if possible.

[roll0]

[Raynn]

The wolf Dodges the jello

He brushes Ellen's face with his hand before he stands "I better go help your friend," he says with a smile.

"Nocturne, bring the walls down," again Nocturne does silently what he is told but as the walls descend the sound of something like a plane, something approaching very fast could be heard.

Doctor Twilight turns to See an Armoured man approaching, bronze and greek, flying. Doctor Twilight starts to shout at the Armoured man "It's okay, it's just a misunderstanding!"

The man doesn't slow and Doctor Twilight seems where his trajectory is headed, the Expert, barely more than a child in his eyes. Doctor Twilight doesn't have time to do more than to lunge at the Armoured man, forcing him to stop "Leave him ALONE!"

Doctor Dire recognises the armour instantly, Daedalus.

[Lost Demiurge]

Dire descends to the ground, scowling behind the mask. "WORTHLESS WILD WARRIOR!"


Initiative will be... [roll0] +2


And just as she lines up a kinetic blast, she sees the armor approaching...

"WHAT? NO. SOMETHING IS WRONG."

Kicking in her bootjets again, she puts herself between Expert and Daedalus.

Routing my Blast power to Strength, blocking Daedalus' charge, and trying to grapple him if he continues charging.

[roll1] + 15

[Raynn]

Doctor Dire must roll a melee attack and hit before a grapple check. Assuming the +15 is your grapple modifier and 5 is the appropriate modifier.

Doctor Dire fails to Grapple the now stopped Daedalus but now flanks him against Doctor Twilight.

"Thou shalt yield Evil Doer!" He barks at Doctor Dire.

While she knows the voice belong to Daedalus she also knows that Daedalus was a genius, smart enough to keep up woth the modern day, only the public thought he talked like that, he put on a voice not unlike sean connery's to not stand out, speaking like any modern well educated man, saying Connery had allowed him to borrow it back in the eighties.

[Fragenstein]

The appearance of the other supers had Charlie off balance, but things calmed down quickly enough once the wall appeared. He was still trying to get a mental grip on the situation.

So it sounded like Nemesis was working with more than just a new Freedom League. He was also spreading disinformation among a few of the other neo-metas that were cropping up.

On the one hand, it was good to know that they weren't alone anymore. Unfortunately, they were being painted as the bad guys by the man they needed to take down. Now, some of the people they were going to have to defend themselves against will be heroes in their own right.

The Expert was working on how to start reversing that trend when Daedalus showed up. Him, or at least someone his armor. Hopefully it was the latter, Charlie didn't want to have to fight someone as legendary as that.

Fortunately he had people willing to put themselves in harm's way on his behalf. At least now he wouldn't have to test his artificial reflexes' ability to keep him alive in such a lethal trial.

Standing defensively, Charlie had his chain out and was watching the armored man's every move.

Switch the Favored Opponent from Giants to Power Armor. He'll also bring up a Knowledge Skill on Daedalus. He'll be watching the figure's movement and behavioral patterns to see if he can tell who's inside (at least to the point of knowing if it's Daedalus or someone else).

More importantly, he'll be cataloging known abilities of the armor itself so that he won't be caught by surprise by some overwhelming ability.

Good lord... can I use real dice for rolling (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8071667&postcount=131)?

[Lost Demiurge]

"THIS IS NOT DAEDALUS." Announces Dire. "OR IF IT IS, SOMETHING IS CONTROLLING HIM. WE MUST SUBDUE HIM, AND FIGURE OUT WHAT IS AFFECTING HIM."

Dire tries another grab.



To hit...
[roll0]+5

To grab...
[roll1]+15

[Green Bean]

Ellen gets to her feet. "Twilight, I'm not going to hurt Daedalus, but I have to stop him from hurting us." With an wave of her hand, a blob of ice the size of a tennis ball shoots from her fingers. While it didn't look like much, if it hit it would nearly instantly grow into a Daedalus-sized cocoon.

Using Snare on Daedalus. [roll0]

[Raynn]

Daedalus dodges Dire again barely.

He's distracted as he is struck by the shard of ice that expands around him.
Reflex Save [roll0]

Daedalus is frozen within a massive crystal of ice but it will obviously not contain his strength for long.

As Doctor Twilight's hand touches the ice the sound of Police approaching can be heard but before anyone can flee the police are already armed and on the scene, atop a mound of snow a half dozen officers aim there guns at the crowd of super heroes. Talon rushes towards them.

"This won't hold him for long, got any more ideas?!" looking back over at Ellen, then he grins "or a name?"

[Lost Demiurge]

"YES, AN IDEA." Says Doctor Dire. "DETECTIVE, OPEN A PORTAL TO A BARREN PLACE. WE WILL TAKE THIS IMPOSTER AND FIGURE OUT THE TRUTH WITHOUT RISKING BYSTANDERS."

She glances over her shoulder at the newcomers. "DIRE REQUESTS THAT YOU COME AS WELL, TO WITNESS."

She readies to charge and slam the block of ice through a portal the second one appears.

[Fragenstein]

Charlie was happy to hear the portal called for. It probably wouldn't be difficult to take out a quick half dozen, not with the power controlled by just one of the two groups here let alone both, but he really didn't want to fight cops. They were just doing their jobs, trying to protect the city from what they've officially been told is a threat.

It wasn't their fault the guy at the top of the food chain was a manipulative, murdering bastard.

He wasn't as sure about bringing Daedalus. Was that really a good idea? Maybe he really was inside that tin can, brainwashed or otherwise controlled for evil, in which case they'd have a lot of trouble keeping him quiet long enough to do anything about it.

If it wasn't him, well, then it would pretty much be the same except that they wouldn't have to hold.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Doc." Charlie stated, watching the opposition while waiting for the escape route to appear.

[Lost Demiurge]

"Have you so soon forgotten our number one priority, Expert? The rescue of Daedalus?" Dire murmurs across her commlink.

[Fragenstein]

"I was hoping it'd be under more controlled circumstances, preferably without him being armed to the teeth and ready to knock us into next week.

But I guess this is going to be out best opportunity. Assuming that it really is him under there."

[Lost Demiurge]

"If it is him, this is an opportunity that can not be passed up. We shall merely have to fight him first. If it is not him, we shall learn something more of our foe."

Says Dire.

[SuperMuldoon]

"Don't worry, I might be able to buy us some time..." and with that, Synapse takes off at the officers, trying to pluck the guns from their hands before returning to where he was orignally standing.


Takeaway attempt, all the guards aiming guns at us (power lets me target anyone within a 500 foot radius).
[roll0] (+6 from super speed rank, +2 for imp. disarm feat)

[Raynn]

Synapse succeeds in disarming the police officers but many more are obviously approaching.

[SuperMuldoon]

"Well, at least we won't get shot right this second...but the sooner we get outta here the better!"

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/thumb/8/81/Quicksilver_OHOMU.jpg/300px-Quicksilver_OHOMU.jpg

[Unkabear]

Cael nods and leans up from the tree. Up until this point everything was well under control. Even with the Nigthwatch, diplomacy prevailed. But this new Freedom League...that was distressing.

Walking over to the others Cael opened a portal, needing to place themselves well away from Freedom, and outside most jurisdictions, the Gobi Desert was a favorite, but if things fell apart he would rather not have to deal with China. So instead he opened a portal to Easter Island hoping that if the police did notice, they would not understand enough to know that this would be just a stopover for the group before they eventually ended up in an out of the way place in Iceland.

He was beginning to like this unknown, and unspoken of member of the team bit. Really if this had been all recorded, little to no information would be retained about him aside from the fact that he opened portals upon command. This would do for now. At least until they could gain recon on Nemesis and this new Freedom League.

Cael made a mental note to have the Doctor check all media of the new Freedom League to spot any other dissimilarities that could be made of use.

[Raynn]

Seeing the portal Doctor Twilight turns to Ellen "if we go with you we'll be branded criminals, we're more help to you if Mayor swor... I mean Nemesis, god it'll take a while to get used to that, if Nemesis thinks we're still on his side, which won't be too hard after how Talon acted."

He takes Ellen's hands with a grin and places a piece of paper in them "now hit me and make it look good, you bring us solid proof on Nemesis we'll do our best to bring more people to your cause; but before you go what is your name?" The last question directed at Ellen.

He then turns to Dire "What is your team name as well? The TFL? True Freedom League? or what?"

Gunfire can be heard as the cops begin to approach.

[Sliver]

"We could pretend to force them into the portal" Meta sends his companions the mental note. He then starts heating his own body, emiting heat to melt the snow.

[Fragenstein]

Time was running out and they needed to get out of there. With law enforcement on their way, it was only a matter of time before more supers working for Nemesis started to show up, and that was a fight which didn't need to happen. They'd gotten lucky that Twilight and his crew knew the truth. The next few seconds might end up reversing that fortune.

The warmth from Metamorph was appreciated, not just for its relief from the cold, but also for making the footing slightly treachorous.

Charlie's chain lashed out against Doctor Twilight, sparing Ellen from having to strike at the man. It flew quickly to ensnare his legs as Skillwire taught the Expert the precise timing needed to bring him down.

"Get into the portal!", he shouted.

Attack Specialization 3 (+6 Chain), Favored Environment 4, Defensive Roll 5, Favored Opponent 5, Uncanny Dodge, Evasion, Improved Trip

Attack: 15, Defense: 5, Toughness: 15, DMG: 4, Dex Trip: 4 (+6 trip with Feat and chain)

Attack Roll: [roll0]

Trip Check: [roll1] +5 if Favored Opponent applies.

Edit: Ah, bad math. Trip Check is +4 (DEX), +4 (Feat), +2 (Chain). +10 total for 13, 18 if Favored Opponent applies. Speaking of which, I just realized that FO maxes out at +5. I'll have to refigure all of those profiles where I have it at +6.

This was a rather abrupt change in his settings, but hopefully we're out of combat timing with organized rounds and the quick switch is acceptable.

[Raynn]

The chain stikes Captain Twilights face but he isn't tripped, he stumbles back and Virago steps forward between the rest of the two groups. She grabs the Expert and easily throws him through the portal.

She speaks coldly "if we go with you then when we inevitablly return to this city we will seen as compromised; we will not pointlessly endanger our team."

Captain Twilight goes to speak "Virago, we..."

Virago gives him a look that says she is not arguing about this.

[Fragenstein]

Charlie had just enough time to cringe with a muttered "My bad...", after the blow landed. It'd felt like a good shot, accurate enough, but how he managed to miss the man's legs so badly was beyond him.

Then he was airborne and on his way to Easter Island. Proper appologies would have to wait until the next time the two teams met.

[Green Bean]

Ellen treats Twilight to a smile before firing a lightning bolt into the asphalt next to him. She has time to toss off a quick "Good luck," before she's gone through the portal.

[Sliver]

After making sure the snow starts melting, Metamorph turns back and moves through the portal. Next mission, infiltration, like the old days.

"Second time we diplomacy an outerplanar threat, but this time we don't end up fighting the government.. Entirely"

[Raynn]

As the group passes through the portal alone, onto easter Island, Daedalus seems to stop struggling and grow still within the ice incasing him, no longer attempting to break free.

Ellen:
As you look at the paper Doctor Twilight slipped you, you see a phone number followed by an X and the message call me.

[Green Bean]

Ellen sticks the piece of paper back into her pocket. Why is it always guys with violent wolfman friends? Focusing back on business, she raps her knuckles on the icy prison to get Daedalus' attention, and calls out loudly enough to be heard through the ice. "Are you okay in there!?!"

[Raynn]

Daedalus doesn't seem to react in anyway or even appear to move.

[Sliver]

GM:
Metamorph attempts mind reading!

[Lost Demiurge]

The chain stikes Captain Twilights face but he isn't tripped, he stumbles back and Virago steps forward between the rest of the two groups. She grabs the Expert and easily throws him through the portal.

She speaks coldly "if we go with you then when we inevitablly return to this city we will seen as compromised; we will not pointlessly endanger our team."

Captain Twilight goes to speak "Virago, we..."

Virago gives him a look that says she is not arguing about this.

"SENSIBLE." Booms Dire. "VERY WELL, REMAIN."

"OH, AND FOR THE RECORD... WE ARE THE LEGACY." And with that, she body checks "Daedalus" into the portal.

Once on the other side, and once the armored form stops struggling, she starts clearing the ice away from him.

"Hm. Radio controlled, perhaps? All of you, be ready in case this is a trick. If he tries to escape or fight, batter him around. Avoid lethal attacks."

[Raynn]

Metamorph:
Shape shifting: You can transform into different forms, gaining the physical traits (abilities, skills, feats, and powers) of the assumed form.

You have to choose a form that has the power you want to use, you can't just mix and match powers. sorry:smallredface:

As you chip away the ice you see that Daedalus is unresponsive and cold. He does not react once he is free, or at all for that matter.

[Sliver]

I have mind reading as a power, it has nothing to do with my shape..

[Raynn]

Ha ha sorry,:smalleek::smallredface::smalltongue: You detect nothing, no mind.

[Sliver]

Jake puts his hand on Dire's shoulder, "You are probably right. No mind at all, I think it is out of control range, or dead.. Wait"

X-RAY TIME!

[Green Bean]

Ellen spreads her hands in a gesture of innocence. "I didn't do that. I always use magic non-lethal ice. At worst, it'll give you a chill."

[Lost Demiurge]

While metamorph scans the armor, Dire examines it carefully, looking for ways to unseal the suit. Also looking for traps, methods of recieving remote signals, and other nasty little devices.



Okay, gonna use knowledge of technology to figure out how to safely open this puppy up.

[roll0] + 15 =

[Raynn]

Metamorph:
The armour is obviously the Genuine article, built by Daedalus.
As you see through the armour you recognise a man who could only be the Daedalus you saw on the evening news throughout your youth but a moment later as you see through his skin you realise what it truly is.
A cybernetic organism, false skin wrapped over a cybernetic skeleton but other than that you see little to devine it's origin until...
on one of the larger components you see a symbol marking it that catches your eye.

Otaku Corp. . . .

Doctor Dire:
You are shocked as you attempt to fiddle with the armour but that was likely an accident rather than a trap, a more careful and prolonged examination would require better equipment.