ANANSI - Abomination of Spiders (M&M 2 IC)

[Lost Demiurge]

(This issue's cover has a picture of a bunch of spiders scrambling to keep clear of a vast grinding mass of gears. The title of the story is GEARS IN THE MACHINE)

"....And for those just tuning in, it's a sunny hot day out there! Heat Index just broke a hundred, and there's not a raincloud in the sky! Better to stay in today, and where better to keep it cool then the 93rd annual Edisonfest! Celebrating almost a century of innovation, and the founding of Fayt Metrocity! Bring the wife, husband, or significant squeeze! Stay cool with the hundred-foot-tall HYDROSTATION! Enjoy the comforts of the authentic restored cinematic ROTOPLEX! Take a ride on the electric VELOCIPEDE! This and many other rare inventions on display, for the curious onlooker!"

They've been playing the same ad for hours, on radio, television, and those annoying little pop-up browser ads that you get when you mouseover popular sites. They can afford to! The Edisonfest is the largest summer fair in the area! It completely takes up the Fayt Convention Center, indoor AND outdoor. Tickets are as prized as winning lottery slips, and the downtown hotels are always booked solid during the three days it goes on.

And earlier today, Lucinda gave you her ticket.

"No good." Her hair was tied back in a bandanna, and she was frowning through her spectacles. "The inspector's coming through on Monday, and the library is WAY too dusty. I've got to spend the weekend cleaning, and you KNOW how the dust makes you sneeze. All of you. I am NOT having a mass of a thousand sneezing spiders keeping up a chorus while I'm arms deep in Feebreeze. I can't use it, most of my other friends either have one already or aren't interested, so it's yours. Go have fun at the show, and bring me back a copy of Bolts Quarterly, will you?"

And so here you are, with a Edisonfest show pass hung around your neck, walking through a crowded convention. Not really your scene, but there's lots of neat, flashy things to look at, and people seem pretty happy.

Four signs catch your attention, and there's a man over in the corner with a really neat hat.

The first sign says FREE VELOCIPEDE RIDES ->

The second sign says LECTURE BY RENOWNED INVENTOR GEAR GATLING <-

The third sign says MOVING PICTURES, NICKEL A SHOW, and the door is directly ahead.

The fourth sign says GALLERY OF RARE AND WONDERFUL INVENTIONS, and it seems to point to a staircase leading up.

The man selling hats is wearing a huge top hat with gears and suchlike all over it. He's got a snappy suit, and a monocle. "COG HATS! COG HATS SOLD HERE! DON'T WALK AWAY PLEASE STAY, DON'T GO! YOU COULD USE A NEW CHAPEAUX!"

[Starsign]

The Edisonfest was always something one would dream of going to with the family. Together on the rides, examining and exploring wonderful contraptions and learning many new things. It was like a scientist family's dream come true. And even if not scientists, any family would have loved a reason to go together for the memories.

Unfortunately for Anansi, he was unable to acquire such a memory. A faint yet unavoidably clear dream of his. He had every hope to have a family for these occasions, but it would be awkward when you're a humanoid mass of spiders. Even then, he wasn't all that happy that Lucinda couldn't come. Still, he had to make the best of it for her.

Anansi walks in wearing his trademark robe, hood up over his head, a leather jacket, and gloves. While it wouldn't be completely out of place for him to go without need of all the clothing, though he'd rather not attract attention to himself, his actual reason for it was for protection from the sun. It has been such a irritation to the spiders that he is made up of that it is a problematic distraction. The clothing does limit his maneuverability and skills a bit though, so he will have take it off in the case it had to go.

Upon seeing the signs, he examines the man with the large top hat and his overall fashion sense. He thinks to himself, Attractions these days... They look as conspicuous as possible, as he makes his way to the staircase up to the "GALLERY OF RARE AND WONDERFUL INVENTIONS" to see what was on show there. As he works his way up though, he wonders if he is the one that looked conspicuous despite his clothing...

Making a Disguise check to avoid too much attention to himself. May I be allowed to take 10 (for a total of 20)?

[Lost Demiurge]

Sure, you're not under any time pressure at the minute, and you've got plenty of resources available to prepare this. You can take 10 on a disguise check.

The Gallery of Inventions is packed with people, at this hour! Display cases line the walls, and larger inventions hang above the crowd... Not all of them are Edison's, but he's well represented. A few of the items stand out, due to their unique nature...

The first display case holds the first lightbulb ever crafted by Thomas Alva Edison. It's long since burned out, but nonetheless it's earned its seat of dignity.

In the center of the hall, an Allied Unitread sits, cannon poking out of slots on its side. Built to counter the Axis Warwheel project, it's Something like a tank, but not. It looks very sturdy, and the single tread covers the top and the bottom of it.

In the back of the hall, sits a small device called the Evergear. It seems to be a gear around a cylinder, constantly turning. The plaque proclaims it to be a disputed invention between Tesla and Edison. The gear apparently holds the same electrical charge that it recieved in 1932, using it to slowly rotate to this day.

Down the hall, in the more modern part of the exhibit, something that looks like a cross between a gun and a movie projector is being shown in a case. The plaque reads: PHOTONIC GENESIS PROJECTOR, ON LOAN FROM BAY CITY HAZ-SCIENCE DIVISION. It further explains that this device was used by the villain Bad Trip in his 1978 crime spree, to bring creatures, villains, and items into a pseudo-existence from projected movies. Thwarted by his archenemy, the beatnik hero Funkadelic, the PG Projector was broken, and remains so.

Unsurprisingly, this last item is under heavy guard. Not only are obvious cameras watching it, but two power-suited members of the Haz-Science Squad are standing next to it. There's also a red velvet rope divider keeping people away, for what it's worth.

And Anansi can roll me a sense motive, please...

The only other thing of interest off of this Gallery seems to be the convention center food court.

[Starsign]

Anansi takes his time to look through the items. He hasn't much interest in most of them, though the Evergear has caught his attention for awhile. With it still in motion he had wondered... Just how long would it last compared to him? He didn't think on it too much so he moves downward to the more modern area.

The Photonic Genesis Projector had caught his eye immediately. Reading the plague, he thinks how Bay City has been doing since his trip a few years ago there. He figure it wouldn't be like the last time he came there... And not just because of his new form.

He did give a moment to think; why in the world might such a dangerous item be put on display? It's not supposed to be an exhibit, it should be kept in an underground vault where it isn't under the risk of it being taken, no matter what protection is here. Anansi wasn't of course about to make any sudden moves.

Sense Motive check: [roll0]

[Lost Demiurge]

Anansi notices that there's a clean-shaven, blonde young man leaning against the Unitread. Like a number of people here, he's dressed Steampunkily, with goggles and gears and vaguely victorian fashion. Though he's pretending to look around the hall, his gaze keeps returning to the PG Projector, and its guards. And occasionally his lips move, like he's saying a word or two to someone.

No one else seems to have taken much note of him.

[Starsign]

Anansi takes note of the man, and walks towards the exit, changing course midway to move to the blonde young man by the unitread. Anansi wished to speak with him, casually. As he neared him he tried some casual talk. He asks, "Does the exhibits fascinate you? I see you love the spirit it gives." Anansi does his best not to show his face, rather try and act human over looking one.

[Lost Demiurge]

"This exhibit reminds me of how much the world sucks today." The young man frowns, and waves a hand toward the lightbulb. "Look at this! We're how many decades past that, and we're just now developing better lightbulbs? And this!" He points at the Evergear. "You can make an endless power source, but gas sells for $4 a gallon, and people drive piece of crap SUVs that get 8 miles per gallon. Brave and smart men did all this, and what have WE done? Facebook? Twitter? SNUGGIES? Please."
"Society needs a kick in the crotch. That's the only way to get people to pay attention."'

He looks at the PG projector, and flips a small metal gear up and down. He flips it again, and it seems to take longer to fall back to his hand, this time.

It's got the air of a nervous habit...

[Starsign]

A sigh could be heard from Anansi as he shook his head. "How cynical," he replied. "The world has made many changes, but we are not perfect. If you wish for things to change you shouldn't need to do something as... irrational as you had described." Anansi felt that some things don't require a firsthand physical action. "If you want a gear to move and develop, it shouldn't be attacked, but guided and cared for; like a child." Anansi then turned to the PG Projector as the blonde man is also looking at, then at the small gear in his hand, before looking back at the projector. "...Does that thing interest you?" He now spoke in a slightly worried tone.

Can I make a Sense Motive check on this guy? [roll0]

[Lost Demiurge]

The young man grins, flips the gear up, and it slows and stops in midair, still turning.

"Yep, that thing over there interests me. And actually, when I want a gear to move I do THIS."

There's a sound similar to coins, and from the folds of his coat, hundreds of gears spin out and start orbiting him as he steps back and slowly rises from the floor.

"Might want to stand back, dude."

With a gesture of his hand, the two power armored agents bounce off each other, and fall to the ground with a CLANG. They try to stand, but their movements suddenly go spastic.

In any other city, the crowd of people in the hall would be yelling and panicking. But this is Fayt! They're quietly picking up their feet and moving towards the nearest exits. Well, the locals are, anyway. The tourists are either panicking or twittering about this occurence.

The young man laughs. "Alright! I'm taking that thing over there. Anyone who has objections, speak now or forever remain glad you didn't!"

[Starsign]

Following the blonde man's orders, Anansi gets behind and moves back upon the blonde man releasing all the gears. Anansi is rather calm and quiet until the laugh of the young man, which the heavily clothed figure responds, "Unfortunately for you I have an objection with thievery." Anansi then breaks disguise a bit by extending his arms longer than a normal human would be able to grab a hold of the thieving man. During the time Anansi mumbles to himself, "And I was hoping this wouldn't happen in a crowded area..."

Going for a grapple, first making a melee attack: [roll0]
Now a grapple check if I succeed in the above: [roll1]

If both succeed, I damage him by smashing the guy into the ground DC 15 toughness

[Lost Demiurge]

Anansi's arms lengthen and shoot out, and the man darts back in surprise... But not fast enough.

But as Anansi's arms tighten, the gears surrounding the young man leap to protect him, shielding him and GRINDING. Dead spiders fall to the ground.

Toughness check, DC 23 please. You've hit his force field's damage aura.

"Whoa!" The young man manages to slip out of the grappling limbs of the countless spiders that make up the arms. He flies to about 15 feet up, and a little back... Near a hanging exhibit of the first Aether Flyer.

"What the hell are you?"
He doesn't seem concerned. It's fairly clear he was expecting SOME kind of trouble. In the meantime, more of the people in the hall clear out, leaving some space. "Anyway, my name's Kineticog. Lemme show you why."

And he flicks a gear spinning toward Anansi, that shoots forward at suddenly ludicrous speed!

Fortunately, it misses Anansi, nicking his pants leg and spanging off the Unitread.

[Starsign]

Anansi looks at the dead spiders of his with discontent as he retracts his arms. "I'm just a person looking to help, but I'm sure what you are doing could be less chaotic." Anansi then throws off his jacket and gloves. His hood flying back to reveal what he really is, a creature made of spiders. "It is too police-like for a being like me, but I'm taking you into custody." Without needing to move, Anansi's arms lash out again, this time going further than before and instead of a straight line, chaotically move around before suddenly pummeling the villain.

Impervious Toughness 15 has the save work automatically, Toughness now down to 14.

Using Strike: Attack Roll [roll0]
Toughness Save DC 24, Autofire is in effect

...Oh and I probably should roll initiative: [roll1]

[Lost Demiurge]

(Full splash page)

The hood whips back, as Anansi tells the young man to stand down! Shed of his disguise, he is revealed for the first time!

(Reaction panel. The crowd stands and stares, until...)

A tourist screams and faints. His wife curses him and drags him out through an emergency exit. This galvanizes the rest from their shock, as they resume the honorable art of WE ARE LEAVING.

The crowd's still filling about 2/3rd of the hall so far, but they're giving the two strange combatants plenty of room, as they dart around the exhibits. Kineticog seems to have an easier time of it, as the airspace is a bit less cluttered...

Perception check for Anansi at this point.

Kineticog grimaces, as he barely avoids Anansi's strike. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, bad touch, bugman. No means NO!"

He waves his hand, and bits of power suit strip themselves off from the two fallen Haz-science guards, and mix with a few errant gears from his shield. It stands finally, 10 feet tall and wide, with mismatched mechanical bits that shouldn't work.

"Now my Cogenstein is gonna demonstrate the PROPER way of hitting someone!"

At the same time, Anansi feels a light touch across his consciousness. Something is whispering to him...
Will save, DC 22. Or you can forgo a save, if you wish...

[Starsign]

As the civilians around take their leave, Anansi takes a quick look at what the other people were doing. His focus then reverts to the newly created creature and it's "master". "If by 'proper' you mean 'smash like a sledgehammer' then I'd rather for it to not bother." The newly revealed spider abomination then attempted to clear his mind of what had seemed like a whisper as he he gave the motion of his left arm as he flicked it away.

...Literally! His arm sails across to Kineticog and it's Cogenstein, of which afterward the arm explodes into hundreds of spiders, latching onto the two and attempting to snare them down. Anansi's lost arm, meanwhile, remakes itself through it's spiders constructing the arm.

Notive/Perception Check: [roll0]
Will Save: [roll1]

Using Snare, burst area of 45 ft. DC 19 Reflex save

[Lost Demiurge]

"GAH!" Okay, that surprised him. Both Kineticog and his creation are trapped by the spider swarm. He crashes to the floor.

Almost immediately, Kineticog's gear field starts grinding his way free. He's not out yet, but that won't be the case for long. The Cogenstein is having a little less luck...

And Anansi hears the whisper in his mind.

"He's not alone. In fact, I'm pretty sure he's the distraction. Watch the case!"

[Starsign]

Ready to crush Cogenstein into scrap heap, Anansi's focus breaks, if just a moment, to hear the warning given to him. Almost as by instinct, the spider abomination dashes up close to Cogenstein and flails a 1-2 punch combo followed by a sledgehammer crush. Anansi then uses the momentum to move past the hopefully damaged construct to hurry over to the case with the Photonic Genesis Projector

Using Extra Effort to gain a second move action (hence the moving after attacking Cogenstein).
Strike 9 on Cogenstein: Attack roll: [roll0] DC 24 Toughness save. Autofire is in effect as well as Thrown, so I'm not in Cogenstein's melee range. I am assuming Cogenstein is helpless so he suffers a loss of defense bonus and an additional -5 in defense in addition to the penalties of being entangled. Please correct me if i am wrong though.

[Lost Demiurge]

Cogenstine rocks under the assault, and crumbles into its component parts. Kineticog swears.

Anansi sees that the case is half off. Four people wearing civilian clothes and cheap-looking Steampunk tophats are currently dismantling it with makeshift tools. They don't seem to take much notice of Anansi.

"Ah, damn. Thought we might have managed a clean getaway. Not today!"

Looking up on a second floor balcony, Anansi sees the hat seller from the entryway. He closes an ornate pocketwatch, and waves at the Spider abomination.

"I'm Hatman Deux, how do you do? Just so you know, my twin's behind YOU!"

That's about the point that one of the bystanders in the leaving crowd charges over and punches Anansi in the back.

Your impervious protection guards you, but that's another rank off.

Shifting a few of his eyes, Anansi sees that it's a hatless man whose face, body, and clothes appear to be identical to the man on the balcony.

[Starsign]

Seeing the odds and situation, Anansi calmly said to himself, "Really not a good day..." The hero was at another dilemma, but used the opportunity of getting punched from behind for a large number of his spiders to fly out and swarm the four men dismantling the projector; following that they would be reeling in closer to get away from the projector case. He then thought, "Where are the authorities?" as he turned back to the top hat's "twin" and wanted to hurry to take him down fast.

Using Snare 9 on the four guys dismantling the projector and it's case. Burst Area 45 ft, DC 19 reflex save; If I can get Hatman's twin as well that's awesome. Tether is in effect to bring them away from the case. Also before I forget I spend a Hero Point to lose the Fatigued effect on Anansi

[Lost Demiurge]

Anansi throws his web, and two of the dismantlers fail to duck in time! The other two calmly stand back up after taking cover behind the case, and continue trying to dismantle it. The two snared are dragged away from the case, bunded into a cocoon tethered to the Unitread.

Sadly, Hatman's twin is not within the radius. Anansi manages to duck back from another punch...

But behind him, Kineticog manages to rip free of his webbing, and rises into the air, gears whirling.

"Time to squash some spiders!"

[Starsign]

Based on the shape of his "eyes" on how the spiders were covering, Anansi became a tad annoyed now. Well now I see I won't be getting out of this without an outraged authority or two..." Anansi spontaneously turned and ran up to the two remaining people dismantling the case and threw straight punches at the two of them with his fists.

Because my Strike power has Autofire, I'll attack both of the two dismantling guys (ignoring Kiniticog and Madhat) with my Strike at a -2 penalty to attack (pg 160 of the core rules book)
[roll0]
[roll1]
DC 24 Toughness save, normal Autofire should still be in play as well

[Lost Demiurge]

Anansi sends both of the dismantlers sprawling! One, a portly middle-aged man with an "I love Fayt" T-shirt is out cold. The other, a teenager with a punk haircut is barely conscious. "Ow! What the- Why'd you hit... Where am I?" He looks at the screwdriver in his hand. "The hell?"

Hatman shakes his head. "Ah well. More where those came from! You and you and you and you! Open that case up, two by two!" He pulls out a little gadget, fiddles with it, and four more people dressed in civilian clothes, wearing cheap souveneir top hats push their way through the civilian crowd. One of them's a young kid with a teddy bear, she's probably 8 or so.

Meanwhile, Kineticog ditches subtlety and flicks another high-speed gear at Anansi, while the Madhat twin attempts a luchador-style flying drop kick.

"Mind control? Great." The voice in Anansi's head whispers. "I can do something about that, if you can take out the metas."

[Starsign]

The spiders on Anansi's eyes moved away for the full round shape of it to be seen, a sign of shock on his otherwise featureless face. He then turned back to the two metavillains, charging and crushing a close range, underhand punch at Madhat while his other arm sends out a long, flying punch at Kineticog.

Strike 9 on both metas with Autofire, -2 penalty to attack
Madhat: [roll0]
Kineticog: [roll1]
Toughness DC 24 with Autofire in effect

[Lost Demiurge]

Kineticog manages to dodge, but Hatman takes a full-on swipe... And dissolves into shards of light, which melt away like ice under a heatlamp.

"Ha! I love that trick!" The Hatman on the balcony snaps his fingers twice. "Une... DEUX!" And a twin of him materializes below the balcony, and charges Anansi!

Meanwhile, the four mind-controlled Hatted tourists are busy picking up rough tools and trying to dismantle the case.

"I leave him to you, me." Says the hat-wearing Hatman Deux, opening the balcony door and disappearing from view.

"Absolutely, me!" The twin says, as he tries to clothesline Anansi, succeeding in body checking some spiders out of the mass.

Kineticog flicks another gear at the mass of spiders, drilling through him with only a little harm... But still, enough little strikes can add up...

Anansi's impervious protection loses two more ranks...

[Starsign]

At this time, Anansi was in a situation that was not getting better. In an immediate attempt to stun everyone, Anansi spontaneously bursts in an explosion of spiders causing the rest of him to fly all over the place. The spiders that latched onto the people in the blast are brought down to the ground, pinned by the spider's webs. Anansi himself reforms in a matter of seconds, robe included. "Might I ask why try to use something you can't control? Even if you fix the projector, you have no ability to be able to control what comes out of it, it'll turn on you just as easily as it can turn on superheroes."

Using Extra Effort again. Performing two Snares, one at the four people dismantling the case, the other at Kineticog and whatever-hat's twin. DC 19 Reflex save for all, they will be tethered to Anansi if caught.

[Lost Demiurge]

Anansi explodes into webbing and spiders! The four hat-wearing civilians are pinned to the case. Hatman Deux's twin and Kineticog are caught once more, with Kineticog swearing fit to make a sailor blush. Grimly, he sets to work with his gears again, but Hatman seems well and truly stuck in place.

Kineticog seems annoyed at Anansi's words. "Turn on us? Geeze, you sound like an 80's cartoon. You think we haven't thought this through? And more! Movies with fields of crops in the background... BOOM, world hunger solved. Movies with barrels of oil. BOOM, energy crisis solved! Movies with cancer cures... BOOM! Seriously, do you know how much good it could do? Sure, it'd need some tuning first, but we've got Pistonfist for that-"

"Not to mention that we're getting paid quite a lot to do this." Says Hatman's twin.

Kineticog winces. "Dude, shut UP!" As he shouts, he throws his arms wide and floats free. Glancing left and right, he confirms that the hall's mostly empty by this point, and starts to gather huge amounts of orbiting scrap and junk from a few of the exhibits that have been wrecked by the scuffle...

"This is gonna hurt, bugman..."

[Starsign]

"Oh? So you're just lackeys then?" Anansi retorted annoyingly. "So this Pistonfist is who wants this projector? Might I ask if he really shares the same goals as the two of you... Actually do both of you share the same goal? It sounds like both of you would stab each other in the back on the first chance you got." His eyes opened wide again when he sees Kineticog preparing. "...A lovely setup, but I should be going." Then Anansi breaks off into a puddle of spiders, moving around the room a bit until reforming somewhere, not that he was trying to be seen now...

Using Stealth and Hide In Plain Sight: [roll0]
While in stealth I'll do the Begin/Complete Full Action by using my Standard action this turn and my Move action next turn to do the Full Action Aim... That's how it works right? (pg 155)

[Lost Demiurge]

"Heh! You don't know anything. You're fishing!" Says Kineticog with a smug grin that lasts until Anansi disappears! Kineticog's eyes go wide, and he starts whipping his neck around, trying to look in all directions at once as the scrap orbiting him builds, and builds, and builds...

"Where is he? WHERE IS HE!!!???"

"Psh, calm down." Says the Hatman twin pulling at the webbing on him and getting nowhere. "It doesn't matter if he goes away, if we make it so that he can't sneak up on us without casualties." He snaps his fingers.

Nothing happens, and he looks quite surprised about it. Then worried.

At the edge of the departing crowd, a few people suddenly grab their hats and rip them off, yelling in pain and shock.

"Ha, that's done it!" Anansi hears in his mind.

Within the webbing by the Projector's case, the four hat minions suddenly start looking around in surprise, and trying to get the webbing off.

"Not a magical effect, but a slightly reworked mizrador's mind cleanser did the trick for now. Might not work again..."

Knowledge arcana roll, if you please mr. spider guy

The Hatman twin sighs, then looks at Kineticog. "Well, that's most of my utility gone. I'll leave you to it. No sense in risking the authorities getting a hand on one of my Deux's."

"What? NO! How'm I supposed to get the projector with-"

Hatman fishes in his vest, pulls a pistol, and eats a bullet. What's left of the crowd screams, then lapses into confused muttering as instead of blood, shards of light spray from the wound, and the body melts away in a lightshow of sparkles.

NOW Kineticog looks worried.

[Starsign]

As the crowd panics, Kineticog included, Anansi finishes his aiming as he fires a series of punches at the flying villain from behind while he's in fear. He didn't need to say anything at this time. That would come later when things have cooled down. The spider abomination however did not know how the mind control tweak that the voice in his head worked... at least at immediate thought... What the hell is the voice in his head anyway?

Knowledge: (arcane lore) [roll0]
Spending Move action to finish Aim.
Attack roll on Kineticog, Fatigue and Aim in effect: [roll1] Kineticog should be under the effects of being surprised (due to being unable to see Anansi) and loses any dodge bonus to Defense against the attack and suffers an additional –2 Defense penalty.
DC 24 Toughness, Autofire in effect

[Lost Demiurge]

Anansi has no clue about the voice in his head, or that mizrador stuff.

Kineticog never sees it coming.

The massed assault of the spiders to his back hits him like a freight train. A few spiders fall away due to contact with the grinding gears and the orbital junk around him,
Another rank off that abalative protection

...But in the end, it's not enough to blunt the assault. He flies across the room, smacks facefirst into a 50's style butler robot in a KITCHEN OF TOMORROW display, and falls on a (fortunately non-functional) stove, next to a cooked goose. There's a chiming noise as gears of various sizes fall around him in a metal rain, and the orbital junk goes everywhere.

Leaving Anansi pulling himself back together in a rather wrecked hall. Still, it could have been worse. The webbing and spider mix was messy, but it shielded many of the displays from destruction.

"Well done," Says the voice in his head. And then he hears the voice with his ears. "I had my doubts when I detected you. Was in the middle of lining up a banishment spell."

Looking over toward the first Lightbulb display, Anansi sees a trenchcoated figure leaning against it. That figure was NOT there prior to a second or two ago. It's wearing an old-style fedora pulled low over its face, with a press pass stuck in it. The neck of the trenchcoat's been pulled up, and the hat pulled low... The face is in shadow that really shouldn't be there. One of the figure's hands is gloved, the other appears to be carved out of animated stone.

"Glad I didn't risk it. Did you know these goons?" He gestures over at Kineticog.

[Starsign]

Though he had thought he could rest, Anansi looked up to the sudden new figure present. He responded "I have no clue about these fools. Did you see what happened to the guy with the outrageous top hat? Not the one that munched fruitlessly on his gun but the one that was watching on the balcony?" As he spoke Anansi ensnares the knocked out Kineticog with his webs and spiders. "I would like to say, 'Thank you for your assistance,' but I think it is probably too early to ask such a thing." he turns to look back up at the new person. "Was the banishment spell for me or for those robbers?" He had plenty of doubts.

Just in case I'll ensnare the knocked out Kineticog. :smalltongue:

[Lost Demiurge]

"It was for you." Says the figure, straightening up. "Are you going to consume your prey now?" He gestures at Kineticog.

[Starsign]

Anansi turned his head sideways a bit in confusion... and annoyance. "Eat him? Are you serious? For starters he doesn't deserve to be a meal. I would've rather kept him webbed, let him become malnourished in a few days, then let him soak up a river before I leave him for dead tied to a cactus in the middle of a desert." he turned back to Kineticog. "And I'm not really a humanitarian in the first place." His line there was delivered with snark, as was his 'preferred' way of removing the villain.

[Lost Demiurge]

"Then I guess I won't be needing this banishment spell." He clenches the stone fist, and something... Smelling?... horrible in a strangely chemical/ozone way goes shrieking into thin air.

"If you'd shown an inclination to act the way something looking like you usually does around here, it would have not been a fun trip back home for you. But I think that last answer's good enough to risk letting you walk out of here."

"In any case, the light bulb's safe, and you're not here for it, so my job is done. The police should be showing up momentarily. If you want to stick around, it's your call. This IS Fayt city. You shouldn't get locked away for your shape."

"On the other hand, leaving early means you don't have to answer questions. That's what I'm going to do."
He touches the brim of his hat. "Be watching you." And he turns and starts to leave.

[Starsign]

The emerald on Anansi took the shape of a confused look as he takes a step towards the strange man. "Well I'll follow through with the same then. I guess now is a good time to say it then, thank you for your assistance." He nods his head in respect. "Perhaps we can meet under better circumstances another time, I would like to discuss more about you if you would be inclined." Anansi puts the robe's hood over his head... Before dispersing into a swarm of spiders that exits the place through the cracks in the wall. Anansi thought to himself, What a day, as he decided to tag on back home. The battle alone was enough of a headache for the spider abomination.

[Lost Demiurge]

Anansi makes his way back to the library unmolested. Lucinda's waiting there, covered in grime, bandanna holding her hair back, scrubbing at the steps.

"Have fun?" She enquires, wringing out a filthy washrag into the bucket.

[Starsign]

Anansi arrives back, looking surprisingly better for wear than she is. "Depends on your definition of 'fun', but yes, I had an enjoyable time." He looks around the library in the meantime. "Cleaning going well?" He would have loved for a little rest after what happened, only a little rest though.

Could I ask why Lucinda has a different color for her font? It was originally blue before IIRC.

[Lost Demiurge]

Could I ask why Lucinda has a different color for her font? It was originally blue before IIRC.

Er... The inker had a color error and no one caught it. :smallbiggrin: Thanks for the catch, went back and corrected it.

"Well, the mold in the secret stairwell seems to have animated, but it's not really trying to attack me or anything so I let it be. The inspectors shouldn't see it anyway, but if you want to keep an eye on it that'd be good. Rather not have to call in a botanexorcist this week, I don't get paid until the next."

She resumes scrubbing. "Glad you had fun, Anansi. You'll have to tell me more details later."

And the sun sets over Fayt Metrocity...

[Starsign]

Anansi nods as he turns to the secret staircase. "I'll remember that, It will be a bit of a long one though." he responds as he makes his way down to his lair for the night. What would he do next? He'll probably have time to figure that out...