Fortune's Favorites IC

[Starsign]

Enter this city which has been proud of itself since it's early days, smile, and look up to those which watch over you all...


Fortune's Favorites
Issue #1: By Chance, We Come Together

July 24th, 2012
Fortune City, 1:07 PM

The sun just passes it's peak as it's light shines on East Side Bank, a small entrusting building that was built and been in service of savings since the Golden Age of Fortune City. It's renovation has been what seems like eons and thus comes off a little old-looking and tattered compared to some of the more industrial or executive buildings scattered around in the city. Yet East Side Bank holds itself up with it's many citizens who deposit and withdrawal their well-earned pay and cash. Among being the only bank within kilometers of this area, it's adjacent areas makes it a welcome sight for those who work or spend nearby.

The bank looms over Malcolm Central, the largest park in Fortune City. The park's numerous pathways makes it easy for anyone to enter and can enjoy the green trees and many flowers that liven up the area in a way the rest of the city can't accomplish. Right around in the middle is a lake that stretches nearly a kilometer in length. Though swimming and fishing are not allowed it doesn't stop some people from trying to in the nigh-pristine pool of water. Among there lies numerous stalls and trucks selling ice cream, slushies, hot dogs, and more.

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k218/ripleycat/ar128374384582823.jpg

The road that separates East Side Bank and Malcolm Central is also rife with numerous spots of interest. Among them includes the Blumminton Inn, a 24-hour bar open for those looking for a drink or meal to have. The reasonable prices and lively days and nights make it a good place to hang out if you aren't in a bad mood. It's wood-like interior gives the bar a unique feel that differs from other bars, like this one goes for a less modern approach. This extends to the gym backdoor for those in need of exercise.

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k218/ripleycat/Bar-P1030319.jpg

And the Spotlight World Casino that hangs at the end of the road is currently undergoing expansion. It's business has been successful enough that construction of a second floor is in the works right now. Civilians gleefully work their way in due to the place's cash-friendly rates and high maintenance up. Spotlight World may not be something like Magnam Caelo, one of the greatest and most expensive casinos in Fortune City, but it's tropical-like feel, bright indoor colors, and upbeat music makes it a joy for anyone come day or night.

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k218/ripleycat/ext_casino_dusk.jpg

Today is like that of a typical, successful day in Fortune City. Buildings and places are alive with people with their own agendas and plans. Though there is often something unusual or uncommon that occurs like a supervillain attack or disaster, people are there to help when called for. Even then superhero life isn't everything; everyone usually has a job to work, an errand to run, or a place they need to go to relax or meet someone new. The question is, where are you?

And here we are! This first section will be freeform to let yourselves get into your characters while I get down the feel and pacing of the setting. You may all go describe what your characters are doing at this point as per their daily lives. I've given numerous places your characters might be in but you may also make up your own place in this part of the city. And if anyone might be in need of help, I can go set up an introduction of sorts for your character if you need it. Wherever your character is, I'll describe that area more in detail and hopefully manage to make it enjoyable for you before the action really kicks in :smallwink: Just be sure that your character is within the area if that is manageable please.

[Raynn]

Declan Kenneth Tennant a.k.a. Roulette
2/2 Hero Points - Unharmed


"Ugh . . ."

On a park bench Declan rolls over as he groans. From the Omni-Morpher the artificial intelligence Omni chirps at him


[Judge Tennant of Earth, it is best we begin today's training regime]

Declan groans again and a woman who passes stairs at him


"Five more minutes,"


[Also I wish to again file my disapproval of losing consciousness willing outside in a primitive urban area]

Finally sitting up Declan finally replies


"Well since you don't sleep you'd just tell me if some homeless guy was going to jump me right? And since this 'Authority' that sent you does seem to send a pay check it's not like I have anywhere to sleep."

Declan dusts off his clothes, a black suit jacket, a white shirt, red converse and jeans. About all he had for a super hero costume at the moment. On his upper right arm was a white arm band with a red x-men like x symbol, on his shirt was the same symbol, both a bright red.

Throwing on his one strap back pack he begins marching to a secluded part of the park glancing around the area as he goes.

Omni speaks up


[Don't do it Judge Tennant.]


"Do what?"


[You are looking for humans of a similar age as yourself. You intend to use the power of the Omni-morpher to impress them. You are doing this as a means of coping with the mental and emotional stresses of being on the run, alone, for extended period.]


"Let me guess, this is the abuse of power lecture again?"


[No. As your mentor your mental and emotional well being concerns me, but you slept through today's time allotment for personal activities.]

Declan groans and approaches a trio of girls his own age lounging on the grass in the park who give him an odd stare but he just grins playfully back at them.


"What never seen a hero before?"

His smirk grows even wider as he cycles though the holo display of the Omni-morpher, the girls staring at him like a crazy person, then interestingly at the watch. The next bit is the bit that always makes his day or ruins it . . .

He slams his hand down on the morpher as he shouts


"IT'S MORPHIN' TIME!"

There is a flash of green light and Declan appears to vanish. Among the blades of grass now stands the three inch tall Galvan Judge Tennant. Declan slumps over depressed


"I hate you Omni . . ."

Omni seems to perk up


[I would like to take this time to remind you I do not have conscious control over your form selection, and to note that if I did . . . I would feel quite happy with myself right now.]

Alien Selection Roll: [roll0]

Galvan: A Galvan is 3 inches tall, amphibious and a thin humanoid with large, long flat three fingered hands and two large eyes, gills, no nose or ears and a head in roughly the shape of a Y. It has green eyes with a black pupil and grey clammy skin.

[Ridai]

Saskia Kendrik
Spotlight World Casino construction site

Something tells Saskia they'll try to screw her out of some of her pay. The sun is burning down on her muscular frame, dwarfing the men nearby who have been casting glances (or stares) of various kinds her way since she arrived or talking behind her back. One could assume they aren't used to female co-workers. Or rather, they are unused to working with someone who had been branded a "menace to society" by the media years back and all the stuff that followed, yada yada. Same crap every time. Sure won't try anything stupid if the young woman in question treats steel girders as if she was carrying oversized baguettes and bends them as easily.

Much of the time was spent arguing with the damn architect and eventually verbally tearing him a new one to shut him up and pointing out the few dozen flaws in his blueprints. Wasn't too pleased with getting backtalk from an unwashed peasant, but couldn't deny the findings either if he wanted to keep his reputation and job. Sure wishes he could shoot lasers with his eyes right now, though, when he wasn't busy trying to learn.

After the moment Saskia pretty much became the one in charge at the construction site, the first thing she did is simply burn through the few steel girders that were already standing (or simply rip them out) and bending them into a more compact size as trash to be melted down. Instead, Saskia forged a perfectly fitting steel construct fused right on top of the existing structure and is about to add the last parts. Doesn't care if finishing early means less money for the guys who planned all this. She's there to do things right, screw all else.

"Hey Mark, how 'bout we go an' celebrate your freedom tonight? Drinks're on me," Saskia says to the nearby tall man called Mark Torres, who recently got out of prison and used to be one of the guys under Saskia's command there (after the whole lindworm thing). She has been chatting and catching up with him during the morning and didn't give much of a crap about the other guys who were shuffling about to do anything worthwhile. "Should've given me a call when you got out, idiot." Doesn't mean any harm, the tone's normal. He's a good guy and she ultimately takes good care of those who are in her good graces. The seeming half-giant is putting the finishing touches on the structure, her hands encased in her dragonblood gauntlets hammering steel into existance with loud clangs, the structure appearing with a short white-hot looking glow and rising steam.

Stepping back, Saskia surveys her work. Nothing fancy, by her standards, but it'll do. Dressed in a black wifebeater, rugged jeans, steel-capped work boots and her dark-red gauntlets made of the skin and blood of a lindworm, Saskia throws her wild mane of fire-red hair back and stretches her arms for a bit, looking over the city below for a moment with Mark. "Any news from the pen? Anyone in particular miss me?" Saskia chuckles. She has one particular guy in mind, and she regularly sends and receives letters and packages, but talking in person always feels better.

[SuperCracker]

Tim McAllister
The Park

“Down…. Set. Hike hike!”

In a flurry of activity, a bunch of twelve-to-thirteen year old boys in black jerseys started to run the play. The offensive guard and tackle pulled right, guarding the running back as he tried to make it through the defense. Other boys in blue jerseys hustled and prevented them from getting too far. It was a good showing for all the young boys. They were all from the inner city, where there were no parks this nice. However, one of them stood out.

The quarterback was significantly taller and older than the rest of them. At 6'2, and 200 pounds of lean muscle, he was a handsome young man. His brown hair was short but wild, and his brown eyes were full of mirth.

He was Tim McAllister, also known as the wrestler “Aegis.” Or just “Tim, the bouncer.” Sadly, his wrestling career hadn’t taken off.

Despite all the titles, he was just Tim, right now. He was a volunteer coach for a youth league football team. Where the rest of the boys were dressed in pads and helmets, Tim was just wearing a black t-shirt and some faded, holy jeans.

“Good job, ya’ll!” He called out in his deep voice, complete with a Southern accent. “Antoine, you gotta move faster. Gotta hustle when we run 88 Superpower,” it was the play’s name, “the line can guard ya, but you gotta get that ball down the field. Alright, let’s run it again.”

He grinned as they ran the play one more time. These kids were all at-risk, just because of the community they were growing up in. He was determined to give them something to make the days better, and encourage them to be more than just dope-slingers.

He might have gone down that path if it weren’t for Stephanie. So he would pay it forward.

“Hell yeah! That’s a block, ‘Nesto. Good job.” He gave the lineman a big high five.

[Green Bean]

Avery Johnson

Avery liked to have lunch in the park on nice days, always a different spot, never exactly the same time (old habits die hard). Today was even less predictable than usual; there was someone else with her, a friend from her previous life. They sat on a park bench, munched on hot dogs and watched a bunch of kids playing football. Their conversation was superficial, but friendly enough. Avery finished her meal, primly dabbed her face, and decided to get down to business.

"So, let's talk about why you're really here." Her tone and expression was light, almost playful.

He chuckled. "Come on, can't a guy on layover visit an old friend?" His expression was totally sincere, and if Avery hadn't known him since they were students, she might have even bought it.

"Come on, Brian." There's only the slightest hesitation as she name drops his current alias. She's known him by a dozen other names, including his real one, which to her knowledge she's never actually used. "You can't lie to me, and even if you could, I know word's gotten back to the Company by now. You're here to make sure that I haven't gone off the deep end. No running down main street in my underpants spilling national secrets."

"Well, you can't blame them, Sher." They've both done casual sweeps for eavesdroppers, but still the mention of her old work name sharpened her senses. They're both still all smiles, just two old friends reminiscing on a park bench. "I mean, dressing up in tights and fighting the forces of evil? We do worry. After Bogotá-"

Avery held up a hand to silence him. "Bogotá happened, and I'm not going to pretend that it isn't part of this. But I'm the same person I've always been. I signed up with the Company to try to make the world a better place, and that's why I'm doing this. I'm not going to spill secrets any more than I did when I was Agency. I just want to finish my career without all that realpolitik, you know?."

"I get it, don't worry. " He smiled, genuinely this time. "No one in your old section thinks you've actually gone nuts. This is due diligence for the guys upstairs, and I'm going to tell them you're not a security risk. Anyway, I've gotta run, my flight out is in a few hours, and this trip wasn't critical enough to call in a favour with the TSA boys. Keep in touch, Avery. You need help, or want to talk, or anything at all, you know my cellular dead drops."

And then he was gone. Avery decided to just sit a while in the sun. She closed her eyes and extended her mind out into the world. It was a nice day. She'd pass a little time practising, then get back to work.

[Ladorak]

The Lawman

It had been a long and frustrating day, the capstone of a long and frustrating month which, in the damp and dark confines of Office B3 FCPD HQ, seemed to have dragged out across the span of centuries. Although he couldn't share it with his fellow officers the Lawman was more acquainted than most with the span of a century. He judged this month had so far lasted two, almost doubling his lifespan.

His eyes hurt from peering at the monitor in front of him so, blinking rapidly, the gazed about the 'office' around him. Office B3 was basement level, a huge storage room recently repurposed for better use. Light filtered in from narrow window slits above, shadows flickered constantly across the office with the tramp of feet on the bustling sidewalk. Several members of the Major Crimes Unit were scattered about, doing paperwork, sharing information or shooting the breeze. He blinked to bring them into focus, then wondered why he had.


The air still smelt musty despite months of smoke and sweat, the equipment was outdated (When it wasn't broken) and the posting, thus far, had not afforded him the excitement he craved and had expected from a Major Crimes Unit. The sad fact is he mused That even if I joined armed response or SWAT, I still wouldn't see many gunfights. Those days are done. I miss the gunfights... Although the truth was the whole gunslinging thing had lost much of it's lustre after his fifth or sixth resurrection. Life was never sweeter then when it was balanced on a razorblade, a safety net spoiled the whole thing.

His computer started beeping at him, demanding his attention. He turned to it, wrote down the two numbers on the screen, listened patiently for under two minutes, ticked a box labelled 'Not pertinent' and shoved the paper into a large pile of other papers labelled 'Not pertinent.' It loomed like a tower over the much smaller pile of pertinent calls. 'Wiretaps suck.' he said to no-one in particular. No-one answered.

He gazed around again and, satisfied he was unobserved, took another pull on his hipflask. Not that he'd consider doing such a thing on patrol, or even on a desk, but Office B3 had taken on the aspect of a thing quite distinct from policing. He sat and he listened and he wrote notes, that was all. Not that it made much difference, 'Office Mason' had acquired a brief celebrity across the Department when he had drunk two Officers and three Detectives under the table, back to back. His slurring that 'Young 'Uns today can't hold their water.' (Said in reference to a man who appeared ten years his senior) was dismissed as the drunken rambling of a man who, by any sane measure, had had enough. None-the-less the reputation stuck, no one was likely to complain.

He rolled a cigarette just to kill the boredom, which it did for around a minute. He killed another twenty staring banefully at his computer, focusing all his will into blowing the confounded thing up. The Lawman was not accustomed to backing down when a confrontation had started, he'd have spent far longer engaged in that battle of 'wills' had not another call come through.

As soon as the first words were said he knew it was pertinent. There was something in the voice of the incoming caller that made him sit up. His instincts screamed at him for the entire conversation and when it was concluded he was smiling broadly. 'Got you, you ****' After almost two months the tap had delivered it's first major player. Suddenly the Lawman felt a lot better disposed toward his computer.

Stanson was only an enforcer, but who knows what he might say when he was looking down the barrel of twelve straight, no parole. Men said all sorts of things when they were looking down barrels. Always had, at least to the Lawman's experience.

Now he had a dilemma. If he took this immediately to his ******** of a commanding officer the idiot would order Stanson picked up immediately, almost certainly blowing the wiretap and a month of the Lawman's own work and time. He only knew Stanson as a voice on a phone, but he didn't sound the type to flip. On the other hand if the tap was blown he'd be out of this office...

He mused on this a while, then reluctantly 'lost' the call notes. A good LT would pick up on this 'error' within a week or two. This one would probably never notice the discrepancy between computer logs and physical logs until an angry DA reprimanded him for it. Not that it would get that far, the Lawman would get his files back in order when there was a case worth making.

He sighed, wishing he could be anywhere other than where he was, determinedly forgetting the ticket out he had just refused. He rolled a cigarette to kill the boredom, which is did for about a minute.

[ChronicLunacy]

Rudy Brandt - Frostbite

Medical leave of absence...day sixty-two.

It had been officially more than two months since Rudolph Brandt had escaped from the WARD testing facility with his skin mutated blue and eyes glowing a jaundiced yellow. They'd taken him immediately to the hospital and subjected him to a full workup, only to find that despite his odd appearance, a slight case of malnutrition, and a significantly lower core body temperature than anyone else he was completely healthy. Yet, because of what they'd termed "unforeseen mental health issues" he had been put on medical leave from the police force indefinitely.

Of course, it was nice that they were still paying him, but at the same time he'd had absolutely nothing to do but cool his heels...and make up dreadful ice puns. Any time he went within a hundred yards of a "legitimate" WARD facility security or even a police patrol car would show up to escort him away...and he wasn't quite ready to try breaking into the place just yet. He was still a police officer after all and he was having much difficulty warming up to the fact that he might have to take the law into his own hands to bring WARD down. So far all he'd done to that effect was create one of those crazy conspiracy theorist walls in his apartment with tons of newspaper printings and print-outs connected to each other with string and push pins.

Well...that and lamenting his fate. He'd done a lot of that, too.

That was why he was in the park, bundled up in a hooded jacket, long pants, gloves, a baseball cap, and sunglasses so that no one would stare. He was having a sulking session -- stewing in anger over his treatment at the hands of those mad scientists and dreaming of sweet justice. He'd see women he would have gone to talk to and imagined them screaming in fear at his cold, blue skin. Not many women wanted a date with a guy that looked like he'd walked out into a blizzard and died after all.

If only he had something constructive to do...at least some way to alleviate his boredom until he got a good lead on what WARD was really up to...

[SuperMuldoon]

Alan Ballard - HELIOS

"Time to initiate the final test on the upgrades Henry." Alan said, hovering in the sky well above Fortune City, FLARE Jets keeping him aloft.

"Copy that. The program is up and running, when you start I'll see the performance readouts and we will go from there. Go ahead, I can't wait to see how the upgrades work!" an excited Henry Sykes replies over the suit's comm system from back in his lab.

"Ok, here we go. MERCURY System, ENGAGE!" he says, as the suit's vocal receptors read his command. The MERCURY System orb orbiting his suit glows as it powers up. It sockets itself into place on the SOLAR Battlesuit and almost immediately the FLARE Jets surge with power. Alan decides to slowly ease the power up.

With a blast of immense power, Alan tears through the sky. "It's a lot more powerful than our predictions." Alan said through gritted teeth, straining to resist the powerful g-forces.

"Incredible! The speeds you have attained, and we are only at 10% power!" an excited Henry Sykes says over the comm.

Alan slowly increases the power. "AAAAHHHHHH!" he yells as his speed increases even more.

The Fortune City residents enjoying a relaxing day at Malcom Central Park, might have their day disturbed slightly by an orange blur breaking the sound barrier in the skies above.

[Starsign]

Declan

Though an admirable attempt, "impressed" wasn't the word that described the teenage females' reactions. One of them, a tall female with short black hair wearing a white t-shirt and jeans, gives off a profound "Ugh," and turns away from the three foot tall Galvan. The second of two females, one with long blonde hair in a tank top and long skirt, seems more fascinated by Declan way than anything. "Wow, how did you do that?" She bends down and eyes Declan with glee. "Was that magic or are you really an alien?"

The third teenager, wearing a tank top, shorts, and sporting short red hair, has the closest reaction to what Declan wanted. She slowly kneels down in curiosity to the Galvan and pauses for a moment before slowly reaching out to rub the area of where she thinks the Galvan's ears are. "Hey, can you hear us without ears?" The blonde teenager simply cracks a smile at her friend. "Fascinating little thing, isn't he?"

"At least some people are doing more than sulking about," the tall female interrupts deadpan as she looks off in the distance with an unamused look. Declan could see in her direction is a man of average height lazing about next to a big tree. He wears clothing that doesn't resemble reasonable wear on a summer day; hooded jacket and thick long pants.

A moment later, the skies attract the attention of the three girls as an orange blur, along with a male's yelling, flies past at incredible speeds. The red haired and black haired girl simply look up for a moment while the blonde teen stands up in excitement to look toward where the blur is going. "Wow! Did you both see that?!"

Saskia

Originally early in development, Saskia's work manages to get the whole main structure up in incredible time. The steel walls and girders hold up the second floor very nicely. The other workers there are unsurprisingly amazed at the progress that was made. While most of the workers there were a little frightened at best, there is no denying their respect at Saskia's skill in building. It only seems to be Mark who is amused by the work made. Of course he has had the experience of knowing Saskia for awhile so he is rather used to it.

Keeping quiet for most of the work day, Mark looks at Saskia to respond to her as they are putting the finishing touches on the structure. His voice is a little shaky, still getting used to his new life out of the maximum security prison. "Could we skip the alcohol tonight Saskia? I'll be fine with soda pop or even water." Saskia knows Mark has had a drinking problem before being arrested to the prison. It wasn't the reason why he was prisoner but it was a factor; he has yet to tell Saskia what specifically happened though. Nowadays he is very careful on his actions and their consequences. "Wanted to get settled in the city before I called anyone. Do you have a specific place to go tonight or would you like me to decide?"

Getting ready to check the roof stability, Mark hesitates as Saskia mentions the prison. "I, uh..." He never really enjoyed that place as Saskia can recall, especially the outbreak that happened there. He sounds very embarrassed as he speaks. "Well Sam is wondering how you've been but I try not to think back to there..." Before letting Saskia get a chance to respond, Mark hurries up the ladder out to a hole in the roof to check if the roof is stable. A moment later Saskia can hear Mark say "Holy-!" and slides down the ladder as Saskia can hear a male's yell scream past the building.

Tim

If someone watches from a distance, they can see how the kids were having a lot of fun practicing football with their coach. The kids have known Tim for a long time and they greatly enjoy his company compared to their previous coach. Antoine, the young kid with short black hair and dark skin, looks to Tim as he gets up from being tackled. "Yeah, but I'm trying my best! It's hard to move in this." Antoine had signed up for football as a way of exercise. Being rather lazy beforehand, the young boy chose to toughen up to make his family proud of him. He has a rather problematic lack of confidence though, something he's been trying to overcome.

Another boy, Mike, grabs hold of the football after practicing a play. "Tim! Watch me!" He cries out in excitement as he drops the football and tries to kick it. He fails spectacularly as his leg kicks thin air instead and falls over on his back. A moment later he gets back up to try again. Mike is always one who wanted to try and impress everyone for some reason. He isn't very athletic but he does try his best and is never lacking in confidence.

Meanwhile, taking a look up, Tim and the kids can see an orange blur and a man's yell quickly streak by at incredible speeds. Mike's attention turns to it immediately. "W-was that a plane? How'd it move so fast?" He looks to Tim as if the coach knows everything.

Avery

After speaking with her "old friend," Avery rests for a bit to let her mind go out toward the city. Such a process is like a spinning roulette, drop the ball and let it go to whichever number it lands on. In this case, she ends up hearing the sounds and thoughts of an indoor area. Avery can hear the sounds of cash machines click in and out while people talk about such things of money, withdrawals, and deposits. Based on the sounds of it, it's likely a bank or casino of sorts.

Among the sounds that Avery can make out is a conversation between two females. "So, how has the city been so far?" One voice is that of a mid-thirties woman, sultry and sweet. "Well, it's... Big I guess." The other voice comes from a younger woman in her low to mid-twenties; she sounds almost naive to Avery. "So this is where we'll be from now on? I feel like we're going to get ourselves lost here." The older woman chuckles in response. "Of course! This city is one of the best places to get lost in, to lose ourselves as well as those that pursue us." The younger woman gives a worrying sigh.

As soon as Avery opens her eyes however, she sees an orange blur streak across the sky with an accompanying yell from a man.

The Lawman

Among the basement level in the FCPD HQ comes an echoing sound of footsteps. The footsteps are quieter than those of an experienced officer; instead the pattern comes from a very cautious person. Likely they're the steps of a newcomer.

Sure enough, at the entrance of Office B3 is a rookie cop. Young, at least in his mid-twenties. Very short brown hair and an athletic build does little to hide his fresh, idealistic face. He waits for the Lawman attention to come to him before he speaks up. "Officer Johnathan Smith reporting sir. The commanding officer has requested you to begin patrol early today." His voice matches his face rather well. There is a clear sense of discipline within him however so at worst he seems like a well-trained and young novice.

The officer takes a quick look at the room of The Lawman's. Between the scattered papers and the empty bottles lying around, The Lawman could tell the officer is trying to hold himself from raising an eyebrow. Looking back at The Lawman, Officer Smith politely asks, "Would you like me to organize your papers in the meantime?"

Rudy

Relaxing at the park, Rudy hadn't found much, if anything, coming up to him. His moment of sulking contrasts the rest of the park's activeness and his clothing makes him come off as shifty at best. Despite that there are a few key sights around him. Off to his left is the famous lake of Malcolm Central, mostly calm and relaxed today. A husband and his wife can be seen having a picnic by the lake; sandwiches and salads make up of their lunch.

Looking in front of him, Rudy can see a teenage girl looking at him across the distance. She looks rather tall for her age, wearing a white t-shirt and jeans with short black hair to contrast. Along with her are two other teenage girls who seem to be admiring a three inch tall creature of truly bizarre anatomy. Even from this distance Rudy can tell it's hardly a common animal.

Just then, an orange blur streaks past the skies. An accompanying male's yelling is heard along with the blur.

Sorry Muldoon, I'm not quite sure where to go from here for your post, though mostly everyone else is aware of Alan :smalltongue: If you have anything planned with Alan, please write a post for it. If not and you'd like me to though, I can come up with something. Hope this isn't an inconvenience for you :smallredface:

[Ladorak]

Small change if you don't mind. As a detective Mason/the Lawman doesn't do patrol. However there's all sorts of ops work that'll get him out of the basement. Just pretend he got a ti or something.

The Lawman smiled wickedly 'Rook, you just made my day. Listen carefully. You have one job here.' He got up, making a show of dusting down him chair 'You sit here. And you stare at this.' He jabbed a venomous finger at the flickering screen. 'You listen when a call comes through, you make call notes. Then you tick one of the two boxes. Then it goes into one of these two piles. The big one's not the good one.'

While he was speaking he had stepped across the room and retrieved his leather duster from a coat rake, unlike everything else in his office it was in immaculate condition. It slipped onto him like a second skin.

'Case notes are all there. Take your time to familiarise yourself with the names. Learn their roles, learn their mannerisms. Learn how they interact. Some of the files have photos, I find it helps.'

The Lawman stepped forward, suddenly he was towering over Officer Smith, staring down on him baneful. 'Do not touch my paperwork rook.' He continued to stare menacingly for a few seconds, then he moved away to the door. He stops just before he touches the doorknob 'And I'm Detective Mason. Don't call me sir.'


The carpark

The Lawman is split with indecision. On the left is an unmarked police car, on his right is Lola, his pride and joy. She was the type of Harley that Harley didn't make anymore. A low slung cruiser with a throaty roar and far more power then it needed, designed only from driving in straight lines. Utterly impractical for the city. He didn't care, he loved her.

Unable to decide he flipped a coin, and sighed sadly as it came up tails. 'This'll be a sensible day then.' He said the word with loathing as he made toward the car.

[Ridai]

"Ha!" Saskia calls out as she hears Mark talk about not wanting to drink alcohol, a grin on the big woman's face as she jabs a finger in his direction. "That's what I wanna hear, boy! **** booze." There's irony in what she calls Mark, since he is in his early thirties. Then again, she singlehandedly protected all the grown men with the will to be a more or less decent human being.

Saskia inspects her handiwork a bit as he continues. "Actually, I got a better idea. Little restaurant just down the road an' I'll treat you to dinner. Ya'll be all over their steaks."

As Mark climbs up the ladder, voicing how the prison haunts him, Saskia is reminded that others are not as strong as her, physically and mentally. She had even enjoyed her time in there. Life was simple, without so much of the bull of normal society. She hung out with Sarge, looked after her boys, roughed up troublemakers, worked to her heart's content. Simple. "Sammy still can't take me off his mind, eh?" she mutters to herself, one corner of her mouth actually rising. Granted, him being into her might have something to do with the guys having seen her naked in the shower numerous times, but it seemed to stay that way for him even with her clothes on.

Then the shout happens. Cocking an eyebrow, Saskia grabs one of the steel girders and leans outside the building, looking up to the orange streak in the sky. "Oh, watch out, spandex squad is coming," she quips drily, shrugging the moment off. Seeing that the supplies to continue work at this point are missing, Saskia walks over to Mark. "Guess we have the rest of the day off. Dinner's lunch now." The young woman chuckles, slapping him on his back and heading out with him, taking off her gauntlets and carrying them in her hand.

"Call me when ya'll get the supplies," she hollers over to the supervisor. Next stop, a nice little restaurant just down the road.

[Raynn]

Declan Kenneth Tennant a.k.a. Roulette
1/1 Hero Points - Unharmed

The Galvan smirks, or an approximate of the species, before replying to the blonde with a bow


"I am neither magic or always an alien, I come to this form by way of a device known as the OMNI-MORPHER!"

he points to the device that now resides on his chest


"I do indeed possess facsimiles of human aural receptors they simply reside under my . . ."

As Declan is cut off Omni pipes up from his chest


[Judge Tennant we should investigate th . . .]

Declan cuts him off in turn as he gives the two girls who gave him the time the number of his current burner cell


"I know, I know. Judge stuff, but we'll need a way to follow. You were a Galvan so you know they're just smart they can't f. . . oh that's good."

With that Declan starts leaping away in the direction of the nearest electronics store as he says back to the girls


"Call me, we'll do lunch!"

Assuming I don't have time not to Jury Rigg I'll spend a hero point to Jury Rigg Flight 5 (Limited: Platform).

Technology: [roll0]

If I can afford to not jury rigg and still be ready before Declan times out at the ten minute mark then I will not Jury Rigg, otherwise I will.

[SuperCracker]

Tim McAllister
Park

Tim walked over to Antoine and he gestured to his sides. “You gotta make sure the pads are on tight. The tighter you’re wearin’ ‘em, the easier it is to move around with ‘em. Get good and strapped in before the next play. Five minute break, fellas!” He said, holding up his hands, fingers splayed outwards. “If you’re late, you’re runnin’ laps!”

He gave Antoine a pat on the helmet, then looked over to Mike as he tried to kick the ball. Tim winced as the kid busted his ass. He ran over to where he was and knelt down, helping him up.

“Mikey, son, you gotta remember to keep your balance. Yeah you wanna punt the ball hard, but ya don’t wanna break your leg doin’ it. Just practice the technique I taught ya. Take it easy. When ya got the basics down, then we’ll work on the epic kickin’ skills.”

He grinned and patted him on the shoulder.

“Run and grab some water, we still got an—“ He looked up with everyone else at the sound of the sonic boom. For a split second he saw the orange streak. Wonder hit Tim’s brown eyes… maybe a superhero of some sort?

Man, how cool would it be to fly like that?

“I don’t think that was no plane.”

[Green Bean]

Avery

Avery follows the conversation of her unintentional eavesdroppees carefully. It's absolutely none of her concern, but then again, in her line of business what you don't know can send you to an unmarked grave with two in the kidneys. She's putting together a brief investigative plan to look into this, nothing too serious, when she's interrupted by a sudden sonic boom. It looks too small for a fighter jet, and the dopplering scream indicates there's probably a pilot. The question is, who was it?

Like the professional that she is, she multi-tasks, whipping out her phone to Google nearby banks and casinos while reaching out with her mind to the retreating blur across the sky before it got out of range. She establishes contact with the outer edges of his (her? its?) mind and drops a non-invasive telepathic package there. It's nothing more than a quick message, along with the knowledge of how to respond.

<You should probably slow down a little bit, before you make an enemy of every new mother in the city.> Her 'voice' speaks in English, and thanks to a month long regimen with a Langley area linguistics professor, with no trace of accent or regional colloquialisms. The sardonic tone carries through just fine, though. <This is prime naptime, after all.>

[SuperMuldoon]

Alan Ballard - Helios

Alan, recovering from the surprise of just how fast he was going, slowed down and reduced the power coming from the MERCURY System. An excited Henry Sykes blared over the comm. "Fantastic Alan! The results are fantastic! The speed you can attain...its simply fantastic!"

"Fantastic indeed, but it is something else entirely to experience it first hand. I'm going to have to make some modifications, the throttle is just too sensitive - the slightest push sent me supersonic." he said, and was about to continue when he felt a voice inside his head. Nothing malicious - in fact it seemed somewhat snarky. <Telepathic communication, the first time I've experienced it - very interesting! However, I'm afraid the residents of Fortune City will have to bear with the momentary disturbance - it's for Science after all!>

Alan smirked, making a mental note to investigate the telepathic message after the test was completed, and turned his attention back to the task at hand. "I'm going to take her down Henry, do a quick adjustment and then maybe run it again." he voices over the comm and looks for a nice quiet spot to land in the park.

He lands near a small group of trees with minimal people around and quickly gets to work. The MERCURY orb detaches from the suit and floats into his hands as the armored gauntlets slide back allowing him full use of his hands. Readouts flash on the screen detailing the technical specs of the orb, and his hands move quickly making the necessary adjustments. It takes a few moments, but everything is finished neatly and he eyes the sky, ready to begin again.

[Starsign]

Alan

The closest remote place Alan can find is a small clearing surrounded by clusters of trees. Landing there takes a little precision but is otherwise a suitable spot for quick alterations. Things could be worse anyway; Alan wouldn't have wanted the MERCURY Boosters to outright stall and cause the SOLAR battlesuit to plummet down to the ground.

If Alan takes a moment away from adjusting, he may look around to see the green leaves and grass accompanying the oak of trees and the distant sounds of children playing and people happily chatting. These are one of those times where a scientist can wish that their lab could perfectly replicate the outdoors rather than attempt to do so artificially.

Just then, a voice can be heard off him the distance. "Hello?" It's the sound of a young and curious boy. The SATURN Satellite System can detect that the voice is coming from an average 53 ft away, directed at Alan. Looks like he's got some more attention than he expected.

Tim

Antoine simply nods as he goes over to the bench. After the initial shock of the orange blur flying past, he goes to take off and place his pads on again. Though he seems focused on football, the other boys are more interested in the blur that had just landed nearby the field. A cluster of trees block off what would have made an easy sight to look at whatever just landed.

Still holding the football in his hand, Mike slowly walks away from the field and right up in front of the cluster of trees. He rings his voice out curiously in the distance. "Hello?" His attention to it seems to distract him, along with many other kids, from the fact that they should be practicing football right now. Perhaps a visit might be in order?

Avery

After sending her message and getting a response, Avery may look in the skies to see the same orange streak move to land in the park. Based on her mental senses he had landed nearby, at least within short walking distance. Based on his response it sounds like he'll be off to the skies again. If Avery wants to talk with this person face-to-face, now might be a good time.

If she'd rather not though, the city is still full of minds and voices to listen to if she'd rather.

Declan

The red-haired teen waves after the Galvan as he takes off. "Wait! I don't know your-" Her voice trails off as Declan hops away as fast as the 3-inch creature can go. It doesn't take long to find a hardware store. Simply going out of the park, over the street, and past a small alleyway to find the building he's looking for. The place is a bit of a modest two-floor story building, built with bricks painted bright white to stand out among the other buildings present nearby. Above the doorway in is a large wooden sign with the word "Ryan's" in blue letting with a white border.

Inside Declan the Galvan can see the floors cleanly floored with smooth wood as he enters. From what he saw of the outside building, he can judge that he can see about only half of the floor he's on, the other half blocked off by a wall and an closed door brightly labeled "DO NOT ENTER." The other thing Declan immediately notices at the moment is the clerk at the register. A man in his thirties with very short black hair and a face exemplifying confusion looks down at Declan. After a moment's pause he opens his mouth to quietly ask, "...May I help you?" Another young clerk seems to be quietly talking on her cell phone, only making several looks towards Declan. The few other customers here have yet to notice Declan; probably for the best.

Saskia

Saskia waits outside the casino for a bit while Mark changes out of his construction clothing. He walks out wearing a simple black t-shirt and jeans. "Sorry for the wait," he modestly says as he begins walking down the street with Saskia. As usual, the streets and sidewalks are very busy, crowded with people and their own plans for the day. It's amazing how one can have a conversation here.

Mark is a little hesitant at first but decides to speak up on the way to the restaurant. "Saskia, how much of this city have you been to so far? Fortune City feels so overwhelming to me. I've seen crazier as we both know, but I've never lived here for a long time."

Mason

Officer Smith looks on with a little worry at how... Violently Mason is treating him. The rookie quickly understood what to do however as he responds with a confident "Yes detective," and begins staring at the screen defiantly. Looks like reality is going to take some time to be knocked in the rookie's head. At the very least Mason's desk work are in good hands... For now.

Driving off down to the requested location, Mason sees the usual things in Fortune City such as the active casinos, the corporate buildings, and the crowded sidewalks. He also notices the less usual stuff like an orange streak land down in Malcolm Central and his phone going off with the standard jingle he's heard hundreds of times now. "H-hello? Police?" The voice on the other side comes from a young woman; her voice very quiet but calm. "This is from Ryan's Hardware down at Sideview Drive 98. We just received an entry from an unknown, sentient specimen, around 3-inches tall, that entered the store. Is there anyone nearby that know what kind of creature it is." Anything describes sensible better than what he just heard now.

Lemme know if this is good Lad. I'll change it if it doesn't :smallredface:

[Ridai]

Saskia overlooks the crowd, not having any particular trouble getting through. "Most of it, I guess. Lived here until I became monster-of-the-week." She gives a derisive grunt. "Never eff'n' changes, just gets dressed up differently. The third of town tourists don't know exists is probably the sanest." Saskia doesn't bother with regarding the people around her, just let's them take the path of least resistance. Namely, going out of her way.

"So, what about'cha? Got a roof over your head, big plans to put all that money t'wards?"

[Raynn]

Declan Kenneth Tennant a.k.a. Roulette
1/1 Hero Points - Unharmed
Alien Form: Galvan

Declan leaps up on the registrar's counter and says nonchalantly


"I'm going to need access to some of your electronics, and any spare tools or parts you use for repairs, superhero business. I'm sure I can find a way to make it up to you once this has all been sorted out, but I apologize because I must rush. I'm in an awful hurry!"

He smirks and does is best heroic pose


"Please direct me to where I can work."

[SuperCracker]

Tim McAllister

He brushed some dirt off of his black gym shorts. His black muscle shirt was without sweat. Apparently he had some pretty good endurance to be running plays with all these kids. Still, he needed water. He found the Gatorade jug they’d brought along – filled with water, of course – and filled one of the bottles, drinking it down. He made sure to get the kids hydrated. He didn’t want anyone dropping from sweat. They do live in the desert, after all.

“Drink up, drink up. A car don’t run without gas, and ya’ll don’t run without water. Hydration!” Tim didn’t know the science of it, but he’d had those lessons drilled into him when he was a kid. Some things did manage to stick occasionally, as he’d always say.

Tim glanced around once, and realized that Mike wasn’t there.

“Aw hell.” He sees the kid wandering out towards some trees. “Ya’lls five minutes are about up. Ya’ll mind Coach Hernandez for a minute,” he said, referencing the other coach, one of Tim’s former coworkers at a construction job.

Tim then jogged over to where Mike was. “Yo Mikey. What’d I say about wanderin’ off?” He followed Mike’s eyes into the trees, and saw… well… something that looked like it came out of a movie. “Mikey, get back in there. They ain’t gone be able to run the play without you.”

He waited for Mike to run off before he stepped through the treeline into the clearing. To Alan, Tim would appear to be just some guy at the park.

“Damn, son. That’s some serious hardware.” Tim said to him with a good natured voice. Sharp eyes watched Alan, to gauge whether he was one of the good guys or one of the bad ones.

[Ladorak]

'Detective Mason here mam. I'm on my way.

This was one of the better bits of the job. He took the siren out and placed it on the roof of his car. It's shrill wailing sent traffic scattering before him as he put his foot down all the way. Sometimes it was good to be a cop, not often, but sometimes. As the speed force drove him down into his car he reflected that this was one of those times.

'I'll be there in a couple minutes, it the meantime keep your distance.No sudden movements, and try to be polite to it. You'd be surprised how often that helps.'

[Green Bean]

Avery quietly broke off telepathic contact with the UFO pilot when he landed and decided to investigate. She paused for a moment, to make it more difficult for any hypothetical observers to make the connection between her and the telepathic communication. She stood, and leisurely went off in the general direction of the landing site, following a walking path like any other normal citizen enjoying their day.

"Suddenly", she caught a glimpse of bright orange out of the corner of her eye. Obviously curious, she wandered off the path and quickly arrived at the landing site. She narrowly missed some random kid running off, but pushed through the bracken to find that the football player from earlier had beat her to it.

Inwardly, she was impressed at what she saw. Garish colour aside, it looked like a serious piece of hardware. Serious hardware meant serious money, and serious money was something serious people kept an eye on. Avery went through her mental Rolodex for people or organizations with the money and motivation to build something like that. Outwardly, her mouth gaped a little, the sight of an advanced battlesuit a mind-boggling twist in the ordinary life of Jane Q. Public.

Running a Well-Informed check on Helios. Not trying to find his secret ID or anything, but it never hurts to keep informed!

Investigation: [roll0]

[SuperMuldoon]

Alan Ballard - Helios

The SATURN system gave him a proximity warning before he heard the child's voice. "Henry, looks like I've got some company - some civilians have noticed my impromptu landing. Let's postpone testing until the civilians are clear." he says over comms and lets the MERCURY orb float back into place just as the small child - followed by a rather large, physically fit man approached him.

Helios gave the kid a quick salute before the larger man told him to get back into the football game. "Serious hardware indeed, one of a kind." he replied in a friendly tone. "Just running a few tests, sorry to interrupt your football game. It was supposed to be high altitude, but there was a slight calibration error...just finished with the adjustments."

His sensors alerted him to another civilian behind him. I probably should have activated the cloaking systems instead of sensors...

[SuperCracker]

Tim McAllister

“It ain’t no problem. That’s why there’re two coaches.” Tim started walking forward nonchalantly. He did have a bit of a fanboy glint in his eyes. “So uh, I dunno any of this technological sh--- stuff, but that thing goes fast if you were what I was lookin’ at a while ago. What else does that bad boy do?”

Tim was too entranced by the idea of a superhero—or someone who could be one—to pay attention to the quiet woman that also came to look at the power armor.

“Ya know what, I got horrible manners. Tim McAllister. I dunno if ya got a secret identity or not, but I reckon I should introduce myself before grillin’ ya.” He extended his hand towards Helios.

[ChronicLunacy]

Rudy Brandt/Frostbite

From a little farther away from the group gathered around the man in the orange battlesuit, Rudy observed from the shadows of the treeline. He couldn't help but agree with the football coach...that was some serious hardware. Though bringing it down in a park full of kids might not have been the best decision, it was certainly a sight to see. Despite the summer day, Rudy's breath fogged as it drifted out from under the hood of his jacket.

At least he wasn't the only bit of weird to show up in the park today.

[SuperMuldoon]

Alan Ballard - Helios

Alan shook Tim's hand. "Call me Helios. Pleasure to make your acquaintance Tim." he said. His sensors started noticing more people heading to his position. At this rate I'll never get back to testing...

At the mention of what his suit can do, Alan had to restrain the desire to show off - he was extremely proud of his abilities, but it would probably be best not to go overboard. "Well, the SOLAR Battlesuit has many functions, the one I was just testing was the MERCURY System. That one pretty much lets me fly REALLY fast. Most of the other systems are combat related, and I don't think a public park would be the right place to show those off - but let's just say I've got some firepower." he said, grin invisible under his helmet but evident in his voice.

[SuperCracker]

Tim McAllister

Tim shook the armored hand. The pressure sensors in the armor might indicate that there was really no give in the big man’s grip, which could be peculiar considering the servos in the armor itself. Tim listened eagerly. SOLAR… MERCURY. Sounded like planet stuff. He canted his head when he said the suit had firepower.

“If ya don’t mind me askin, what you plan on usin’ that firepower for?”

This was the important part. This Helios guy didn’t sound like a bad dude, but still… due diligence (he’s heard that phrase before).

[smuchmuch]

Lady luck

With a small musical sigh of disapproval, a gorgeous strawberry blonde wearing a cream tailor suit and her hairs tied back into a green veil delicately put her glass back on the counter of the Spotlight World's bar. Overpricing she can forgive, it's a casino bar after all, the drinks aren't supposed to be the main attraction, but nothing called called a 'tropical embrace' should feel so tame on the tongue.

She came to watch over the works on the Spotlight World's second floor. It is of course nice to see business growing, the city is healthy, and the fact it's a small part of her own territory is even more pleasing. but it's nothing exceptional. She did however notice a strange tingling feeling when coming in front of it, some power used that felt slightly familiar in a way. And there was not mistaking the construction was going faster than it should. This picked her curiosity, she might just give a visit to those miracle workers.

It is however quite early for her taste. Where the casino towers and when the city is colored by the lights of neons, that more her place and hour. So before tackling any kind of business she's taking a breakfast.
Not the cocktail, or even any kind of food, whether it's good or not, while she does enjoy it it's just not kind the sustenance she needs at the moment. No it's the people in front of her, aligned in front of slots machines loosing themselves in the fascination of the game, the hope of the gain. All those emotions and belief makes thin little threads rising in the air, tangling to create the weave from which are made the greatest miracles and magics and, in all modesty, her of course.

Having had her morning, well early evening, jolt, lady luck is still in no big rush. She pose a few bucks on the counter, small tip that dring ddi'nt deserve more, before walking in dirrection of the door, before thinking where to go next.
She could take a look at that construction site right now while the workers are on lunch break to see what the griders have to say. Maybe she could kill time by taking a stroll in the park first. It's not really her taste to be surounded with greenery but the park is a tame thing with great solid concrete alleys and a cool relaxing atmosphere, nice to visit once in a while.

Suddenly she rises her head to the sky, where an orange blurr just passed with a male scream and ended up in a crashing sound in dirrection of the park. Look like there might be some entertainment scheduled earlier than she though after all.

[Starsign]

Saskia

Mark rubs the back of his neck as he thinks for a moment. "Well actually I do have an apartment. It's barely adequate but it really is better than I could have expected when I came here." He places his hands in his pants pockets as he walks, clearly in thought with a bit of a sorrowful look on his face. "As of now I'm just trying to live; I don't really have any future plans... What about yourself? What was it like for you when you first got back here?"

Declan

The store clerk leans back as the Galvan jumps up on the counter. He uncomfortably looks at his female partner, who had just hung up on her phone, before looking back at the 3-inch creature. Slowly he says, "...Sorry sir, but items must be paid for before you may use them. Could I ask what you need?"

After Declan gives his response, a person suddenly enters the store. The female clerk gives a small sigh of relief. Whoever this person is, he's certainly looking at the odd situation.

Mason

The female voice on the other side of the phone gives a quiet and somewhat relieved, "Yes sir," as she hangs up. Coincidentally, Mason is able to pull over to Sideview Drive 98 shortly after hanging up. Ryan's Hardware is just a short drive to the nearby driving place and a walk past the street afterward.

The place is a bit of a modest, meaning sub-standard, two-floor story building, built with bricks painted bright white to stand out among the other buildings present nearby. Above the doorway in is a large wooden sign with the word "Ryan's" in blue letting with a white border. Mason can tell this isn't one of the more high-corporation buildings at risk here. Inside the detective can see the floors cleanly floored with smooth wood as he enters. He also immediately notices the situation as to why he was called to come in for. The first of two store clerks, a man in his thirties with very short black hair, looks worryingly at a very small creature standing on a desk. The creature is
around just a couple inches tall, ambiguously amphibious and thin. a head in roughly the shape of a Y with two large eyes, gills, and no nose or ears make up practically half of the creature.

This could take a good bit of explanation.

At the park

By the looks of it, the SOLAR battlesuit has caught quite the attention. Aside from the football coach known as Tim McAllister, watching from a distance is a man masked under a lot of heavy clothing and an old female looking at the technology in wonder. A few moments later, another female, a beautiful blonde woman, is seen walking towards the commotion. Quite the crowd here, perhaps an introduction from everyone is in order?

Avery doesn't have any info up on this battlesuit. Probably a brand new model of some sort.

And if no one here minds, I thought I'd bring the 4 PCs in the park, along with Lady Luck, together to get everyone a chance to roleplay a bit. Lemme know if there might be any problems. :smallsmile:

[Raynn]

Declan Kenneth Tennant a.k.a. Roulette
1/1 Hero Points - Unharmed
Alien Form: Galvan

Declan glances over at the new entrant, suddenly ignoring the clerk who he realizes is just stalling. OMNI speaks up


[Judge Tennant, it is possible that an individual entering the premises after you have alarmed this company's patrons may be a result of a contact to a local law enforcement agency. I should not have to remind you that you are currently a fugitive from their legal system]

Slowly Declan the Galvan nods


"I know OMNI. Let's hope this guy is a little nicer than the Feds who tried to chop the Omnimorpher off my arm . . . if this guy is even a cop."

[Ridai]

Seeing Mark's expression briefly puts a hand on his shoulder, surprisingly gently for someone of her strength. She has become better at actually controlling her titanic power since her teenage years. "Hey now, no hangin' your head. Startin' over's hard, but things're gonna turn out for the better if ya keep at it 'n' don't half-ass it." Tough talk is well and good, but some soft(er) words every now and then help, too.

"Pretty much had to start from scratch. Did some construction work, some architect stuff, other physical things, to get some money. Bought myself an old warehouse over in Silver Springs, renovated it, made it my home. Put a kickass workshop in there. Pretty much enjoying my hobby, doing some contract work on the side or show those diploma-armed amateurs how to build a frickin' house!" Saskia chuckles, smirking when she remembers what had happened earlier that day. Learning experience for the guy. Ahh, good times.

[Ladorak]

'Alright little fella.' said 'Mason'as the door swung back from the straight armed mighty shove he had given it. It creaked upon it's hinges and rebound, slamming shut behind him as he approached with the long strides and swinging hips of a true gunslinger 'I'm gonna assume I don't need to keep my gun pointed at you. Don't be making me regret it now.'

Approaching the counter gave him time to observe Declan

'I've been around a ways and I can tell you this is a new one for me. Right, I'm assuming you can speak too, else-wise this pretty lady wouldn't have told me you was sentient.' He doths an invisible hat to the clerk 'Swift thinking miss. You wouldn't believe how often folk just freeze in a situation like this.'

He returned his attention to Declan 'Ok partner, no need to be scared, but you see how curious folk are gonna be. Alien, mutant, weird pet, it doesn't matter to me. You lost?'

[SuperMuldoon]

Alan Ballard - Helios

Alan eyed Tim suspiciously from behind his helmet. He took a moment before answering. "These weapons are to protect. There are...people...things...out there that seek to harm innocents. I plan on stopping them." he said and let his statement hang there for a moment. He didn't plan on it but it ended up sounding pretty serious. Trying to lighten the suddenly dark mood, Alan tries to change the subject. "So what do you do, Mr. McAllister? Are you a football coach of some sort?"

[ChronicLunacy]

Rudy Brandt

"These people..." came the sudden addition to the conversation via the man bundled up like he had just walked out of the snow. "...I'd like to know more about who you mean." he said awkwardly, obviously not wanting to give away more information than necessary. He probably didn't want to come across as some nutcase and the football coach being there didn't help.

[SuperCracker]

Tim McAllister

His dark brown eyes gazed upon the helmet. Tim couldn’t figure out where Helios’ eyes were exactly, but he made a guess and tried to look the armored man in the eye. He let Helios get out what he needed to say. Tim gave a slow nod… then his face lit up with a big ole grin.

“Hell yeah, son. I like your style.” The tension faded instantly. “Yeah, I coach these kids. It’s a volunteer thing. For work, I bounce at a bar.” He left out the pro-wrestling bit.

Another voice joined the conversation. Tim glanced over to the guy who was bundled up. Kind of strange on a hot day, but different strokes for different folks, you know?

“I ain’t gone speak for him… but just go take a walk off the Strip and you’ll see what he’s talkin’ about. People are out to lie, cheat, steal and kill. Some ***holes’ll throw bottles at a kid for what he looks like or what he does with his life. That ain’t even getting’ into the dudes who got superpowers and choose to hurt people with ‘em.”

He held a hand up.

“Don’t get me wrong, not all people with powers do that. Hell, I ain’t ashamed to admit I’m a mutant, myself. But there are some. And I think people like Helios here… are doin’ a good thing.”

[Raynn]

Declan Kenneth Tennant a.k.a. Roulette
1/1 Hero Points - Unharmed
Alien Form: Galvan

Declan rubs his head awkwardly as his current super brain figures out what to say. He goes with the truth


"I'm . . . an alien, but only for the moment. I can turn into aliens, but really I'm human. Also . . . I'm . . . sort of Law enforcement as well.

I'm a Judge. It's kind of like an intergalactic equivalent of the F.B.I.. My Jurisdiction is anything extraterrestrial or well . . . just generally beyond normal I guess. . . I came in here to create a anti-grav propeller engine because I saw someone fly over the park and I needed to follow but sadly out of the alien forms I have access to I wound up with this one, a Galvan, which while great for thinking and building is terrible for speed.

Anyway could you help and not arrest me? I kind of haven't had the best luck with human law enforcement . . ."

Declan shrugs.

[SuperMuldoon]

Alan Ballard - Helios

Alan nodded at Tim. "Thanks, I do my best." he says, and turns to regard the newcomer. Before he can answer, Tim does a mighty fine job of taking the words right out of his mouth.

"Tim here has it. There are people that need help, and I am a person in a position to provide it." he says simply.

"So don't worry, I'm one of the good guys." he says and gives a cheesy thumbs up.

[ChronicLunacy]

Rudy Brandt

Voice volume climbing steadily higher as he went on, the man went on. As he spoke, he started becoming more animated, his breath coming out from under his hood in puffs of steam. "Cleaning up the streets is all well and good, but what about the big fish? Do you want to waste time chasing after purse snatchers and car thieves or will you take it to the real scum? The ones protected by Wall Street and the government that masquerade as legitimate businesses while selling superpowers and guns to the HIGHEST-!"

Rudy shut up suddenly as he caught himself raving. His voice returned to indoor-safe levels as he looked around self-consciously. "Or do you just want to get your fifteen minutes of fame and look good on TV?" he growled out.

[SuperCracker]

Tim McAllister

The big guy raises an eyebrow as Rudy nearly came unhinged. Wasting time taking out car thieves? “Homey, you ain’t ever had to get to work to support your kids, have ya? That kinda thing is kinda hard when that car gets stolen and ya have to wait on Fortune City's sh**ty-*** bus-system. And some people ain’t got a lot of money… and when that purse gets snatched, there goes the phone and the cash. If you think it’s a waste of time helpin’ folks with that stuff, you need to get your head screwed on.”

Still…

“But you show me anyone hurtin’ people… whether they do it in the hood or up in a skyscraper, I’ll try and do somethin’ about it. You show someone sellin’ guns… particularly in my neighborhood, and I’ll go to war.”

Tim’s rough around the edges, to be sure, but the way he expresses himself… his demeanor and his mannerisms… he’s passionate about what he’s saying.

[SuperMuldoon]

Alan Ballard - Helios

Alan was put on his heels slightly by the strength of the man's outburst. He seemed to really have been wronged by some corrupt individual or group in the past. "There is a lot of bad things going on, whether you look on the streets or in the corporate world. There are people who take advantage of others for their own gain - I'm here to help anyone who needs it, regardless of what has happened to them. If someone sincerely needs help, then I'll do my best."

"And I'm definitely not in this for the fame and looking good on TV." he adds. "Though my suit does look pretty badass."

[Ladorak]

'Yeeeeah...' Said the Lawman as his brow came down and his voice took on a sudden edge. 'Good one.'

'Mason' reaches into his duster's inner pocket and, with a swiftness of hand no longer seen among men, traps Declan under his lucky shotglass. So called because he only used it with whiskey someone else has bought, because that's the lucky whisky.

'That's my lucky glass. Don't break it.' It is not hard to loom over a Galvan I'm going to check on your story.'

Leaving Declan to suffer the noxious fate of a hundred years of built-up alcohol fumes 'Mason' stepped outside and dialled the number of one of the many many people that 'Mason' did not know. He opened with 'The lawman never stops riding and after that simply stated his case. Intergalactic Judge, says his jurisdiction is space, claims to be human, turns into aliens, three inches tall, green, Y-shaped head.

Gather information check on Declan's story: [roll0] Connected means it takes less than a minute

[ChronicLunacy]

Frostbite

The man in the hood paused for a moment, measuring the two men next to him for...something. Sincerity? Potential? Then he looked at the ground before he started pulling his leather gloves off of his hands one finger at a time. What skin became visible was a strange blue color, unlike any natural skintone they'd ever seen. Next he reached up and pulled his hood down off of his head and removed both the shades and the scarf he'd been wearing to cover his face.

If his hands had been weird, this was even weirder. His face was the same frozen blue as his hands. His hair was about the only normal thing about him, being just straight black, but his eyes were a jaundiced yellow and actually seemed to glow a little bit. "If you mean what you say and you have the ability...then I could use your help. Tell me, have you ever heard of WARD?"

[SuperCracker]

Tim McAllister

He wasn’t thrown off by the blue skin. God knows mutants came in all shapes and sizes. And right now, that’s kind of what he thought Frostbite was. Tim would have normally given him a talk about why he didn’t need to hide his differences, but the guy seemed paranoid… maybe he had his reasons.

When Tim was asked if he’d heard of WARD, he shook his head.

“Nope. But I reckon you’re gone tell me. What’d they do to ya, that’s got you all jumpy?”

[ChronicLunacy]

Frostbite

"THIS! THEY DID THIS!" Rudy's face contorted into a mask of rage. His eyes flashed and the temperature around them suddenly went into freefall. Frost crystals immediately started to form on HELIOS' armor, getting into the armor joints and screwing up the visibility, but unless Tim had some sort of mutant protection against the cold he'd probably be feeling even worse. Ice would start to form on his eyelashes, turn the ends of his hair into icicles, and start his skin burning with cold. Even the grass underneath them went brittle and started cracking and breaking under their feet.

Of course, he seemed to recognize what he was doing almost the moment it happened and he curled in on himself. He took a few rapid steps away from everyone and wrapped his arms around himself, taking the zone of cold with him. "I'm sorry, it's...They ruined my life."

No mechanical penalties on anyone. This is all for flavor. :smallsmile: All the ice on HELIOS' armor can theatrically break apart when he moves.

[Raynn]

Declan Kenneth Tennant a.k.a. Roulette
1/1 Hero Points - Unharmed
Alien Form: Galvan

Declan realizing that this officer of Earth law is just as dismissive and willing to imprison him as the other agents he's encountered he forces off what must be a pretty over-sized shot glass, throwing it away and not waiting to check does it shatter on the floor.

He begins to leap away in the direction he came, giving up on the flier, and caring only about going free before he was again arrested unjustly.


"Yeah, you totally would be okay if I had imprisoned you while I checked YOUR story. I guess you ARE just like the others. Don't follow me, when you find out what I was saying is true keep in mind imprisoning a Judge is an ACTUAL offense I'm being nice enough not to try to imprison YOU for."

With that Declan begins moving back in the direction of the park.

[Green Bean]

Avery stayed quiet while the two gentlemen talked. She allowed the "shock" to gradually wear off her face, and slowly replaced it with awe. Golly! A real live superhero!

She backed away a little when the third man arrived, and her expression became worried. He seemed...unstable. Her feigned shock has a realistic edge - in her old life she never encountered the more overt kind of metahuman unless something had gone horribly wrong, and Avery's inner operative is already planning for a quick getaway, though it's not so much frightened as paranoid.

When the newcomer drops the temperature and starts freezing Helios, she stays in character, leaping back behind a tree and emitting a terrified "Oh no." But inwardly, she's seconds away from an attempted lobotomy when he stops himself. What could have made him like this?

Well Informed on WARD: [roll0]

[SuperCracker]

Tim McAllister

Tim’s eyes narrowed as the temperature dropped. And while ice did start to form on his eyelashes, he oddly enough didn’t seem perturbed at all by it. Only pissed that Rudy was trying to do it. Tim stepped towards him, clenching a fist.

“You better lock it down, bro. You ain’t gone just snap freeze everyone around ya when you get pissed.”

Frost came from his nose as he exhaled his breaths. It was a tense moment, with Tim thinking for a moment that maybe Rudy was the guy to be worried about. But soon enough, Rudy let the zone of cold drop. Tim nonchalantly brushed the ice from his face like it was just getting in the way. Tim’s demeanor softened when Rudy said his life had been ruined.

“I’m sorry, man… You wanna tell us who these people are?”

[smuchmuch]

Leaning agaisnt a tree, the Lady look at the scene mixed in the crowd of curious bystanders. Or she would if the bystanders weren't, oddly enough in a park full of people, just her and an older woman.

She does give a small whistle of admiration when arriving at the scene, the man in armor look quite davanced (well for all she knows, a nerd she's not, but it look futuristic. She does like the golden sun design, certainly has a very distinctive style) but not as impressive much as the trail left by the crash. Good thing he crashed in that small clearing rather than through three buildings.

The other two people at the center aren't compeltly devoid of interest either. The one who dresses in long coat in June is quite conspicuous.
And the sport coach with the ghetto accent may looks quite ordinary, but his aura radiate physical form that is quite extordinary.

The discussion seems to heat up.. whoops, poor choice of words here, as the temperamentous guy removes his clothes. The look of slight fascinated curiosity she gives isn't faked. The lady knows There is behind the mundane city a whole world of strange things, she should know it's her world, and many tourists have came though the city walls but blue skin when pissed is definitively a new skin color for someone whose aura seems only human, A very angry human with the power of frost . The lady takes a few steps closer, definitvely one to keep watch on.

All in all some quite facinating people, well worth the early wake. The lady wonder just how many more intersting this could get. With a small smile she waves a few fingers and then as luck would have it...

[SuperMuldoon]

Alan Ballard - Helios

Alan took a small step back as Rudy yelled out. The temperature warning flashed itself across his HUD. "Yeah yeah, I see it." he says to the suit's onboard computer. The ice began crystallizing in the joints of the armor and spreading across his visor - so Alan opened up the housing of the miniature sun powering the SOLAR suit and began melting the ice away. He also noted that Rudy's ice field was already ebbing away on its own.

"I would suggest being a little more restrained on using your powers in such a manner, however I can understand your emotional state. I apologize, I do not know anything of this WARD you speak of." he says, shaking off the remaining slushy bits of ice and closing the housing of the mini-sun.

At this point Alan noted the rather awe-struck civilian listening in on the conversation. "Don't worry miss, everything is under control here." he says in his best reassuring hero voice.

smuch, just to clarify - Helios didn't crash in the park, he just sorta had a crazy flight before regaining control and landing safely :smalltongue:

[ChronicLunacy]

Rudy Brandt / Frostbite

"Not here. I've already made enough of a spectacle of myself today..." Rudy said, rewrapping his scarf and pulling his hood and gloves back on. He looked around at the bystanders that were gawking at him and returned his sunglasses to his face self-consciously.

"This is my cell number." he said, pulling two business cards out of his pocket and handing them over. They read "Detective Rudy Brandt, Fortune City Police Dept." with all the appropriate information. "WARD is a terrorist group that sells weapons and metahuman powers to the highest bidder. They used me as an experiment when I got too close on an undercover op. If you want to help give me a call. I'll set up a time we can talk without an audience. I'm going to put them on ice...so to speak." he said, cracking what might have been half of a ghost of a grin. "These are the people putting the guns, drugs, and psychos with powers on your streets. If you want to make a difference, WARD is your target."

[Ladorak]

'Actually your story checks out, you're free to-' as he was speaking his head swung back into the hardware shop. Suddenly wild panic filled his eyes, the word 'go' half formed on his lips was ironically forgotten as he turned and spirited headlong back into the shop. The door, already much abused by him, clattered back and swayed on it's hinges. He crossed the room in five swift bounds with his long coat streaming out behind him, leaped flat onto the floor with his arm outstretched. He banged his elbow badly, sending pain shooting up his arm, but it was worth it.

The glass, left rolling since Declan's abandonment, falls from the counter and into his hand. His sigh of relief is audible.

While he was getting back to his feet he noticed looks of confusion 'Had that glass over a hundred...' Suddenly he stopped, catching himself at the last second. Forced into a lie he said 'weeks,' which sounded weak even to his own ear.

He turned to spy Declan disappearing into the park. He shot the pretty clerk a quick and rueful smile 'You ever hear the one about the three inch tall judge? These small things are sent to try us.'

With that he was away, once more his coat streamed out behind him, once again he issued damage to the door. Running into the park he chased Declan where men of lesser eye would have lost the tiny green alien against the grass 'Wait wait! You're not under arrest, you're story checks out, but I have more questions for you!'

[Green Bean]

Avery wasn't the sort of person who would narrow her eyes or snort with disgust when confronted with an old foe. But if she were, she would have. WARD were monsters, and this poor FCPD detective had no idea just how deep things went. She had a pretty good idea, but the things she knew about them were capital S Secrets, the serious National Security kind that gets people killed.

But then, an independent investigation by a few well-prepared heroes coming up with evidence without the Company's fingerprints on it? That was another matter entirely. Avery's eyesight was excellent, and she managed to pick his name and number off of the proffered business card as he handed it to Tim. She'd look into this Detective Brandt, see if he was trustworthy, and then "Silhouette" would have to arrange a meeting, hero to hero.

[SuperCracker]

Tim McAllister

He took the business card and looked at it for a moment. This guy was a cop? Tim looked up at the guy, who—understandably—looked like he could be a little unhinged, and he nodded to him. “If what you’re sayin’ is true, if they’re the ones puttin’ sh** on the streets, I’m in.”

He put the card in his pocket and glanced over to Helios.

“What about you? You said that suit’s for helpin’ folks. Wanna see if it can get the bad guys, too?”

He gave a bit of a grin.

[SuperMuldoon]

Alan Ballard - Helios

Helios accepted the card with an armored hand. He scanned the info into his suit's computer storage. "If this WARD checks out, then of course I will help. If they are half as bad as what you are saying, then Fortune City would be a much better place with them gone."

"Count me in."

[smuchmuch]

"Don't worry miss, everything is under control here."

"Oh good then" The woman comments with a charming if maybe slightly amused smile and a voice that could melt the ice if the power of two suns wasn't already doing it better "I feel safer already"

She does gives a little look of shock to the revelation of WARD (but the concern is not entirely feigned. Power is a precious but dangerous thing to give. And it's better if it remains in a certain check. If someone is making supersoldiers and realisiing failed experiments int eh streets, things may be getting nasty. bad for buisness)
The Lady is thinking she might pay those gentlemen a visit but it looks like the discussion is breaking off. She kind of wanted to see more; she was expecting something to happen. Is she loosing her touch ?
She did waggle her fingers, anytime now...

[ripleycat]

Fortune City knows better than to disappoint Lady Luck when she wants something exciting to happen.

Right on cue, a line of cars comes roaring around the corner and onto the street that separates the park and the rest of the neighborhood, tires squealing. Pedestrians dive wildly out of the way, as do the Lawman and Roulette. One of the cars actually passes directly over Declan's tiny Galvan form as it jumps the sidewalk and continues sailing right down the road. That, however, is hardly the strangest thing about the scene unfolding before you.

The cars all look to be at least 70 years old, but they still gleam like new, as if they drove straight out of 1932 and onto Malcolm Avenue. The men crowded inside and hanging off of the sidesteps as the cars careen down the road are all wearing clothes as out of place as the vehicles they drive, classic suits and fedoras, and nearly all are carrying the infamous and iconic Tommy gun. It's a scene torn right out of an old gangster movie (Well, to most of you. For "Detective Mason", the impression is a bit more true-to-life, and rekindles memories of decades long past, wild shootouts, car chases, and a breed of criminal he thought long extinct.)

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k218/ripleycat/1932_Ford_Model_18_55_De_Luxe_Tudor_Sedan_JEH168.j pg
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k218/ripleycat/cadillac-v16-452-dual-cowl-sport-phaeton-1930.jpg
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k218/ripleycat/ufsrl.jpg

From in front of the Blumminton Inn, Saskia watches the bizarre convoy as it speeds past. Any question of whether or not this was going to be trouble was answered by the chattering report of a tommy gun erupting from down the street. Sometimes you couldn't even catch up with an old friend over lunch without this city throwing a wrench into the works.

The cars screech to a halt just outside the East Side Bank, the timeworn Art Deco building looking much more in tune with the anachronistic gangsters in front of it than it did with the rest of the neighborhood. The drivers of three of the cars emerged, revealing a trio of women in the same long-vanished style of clothes as the men who clambered out after them. The molls appeared to be unarmed, but they were unquestioningly in charge, the lesser mooks obeying commands without hesitation.

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k218/ripleycat/8b611a7a0609e9e2bbadd6452bc39dd0-d4j1m2f.png
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k218/ripleycat/tumblr_l58tq3aYDQ1qb8ugro1_400.jpg
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k218/ripleycat/tumblr_l5kkrkweH11qb8ugro1_500.jpg

Despite the trappings of a bygone Golden Age of crime, the man who steps out of the massive black Cadillac at the head of the column doesn't fit anyone's idea of a hardened criminal. He's tall, but rail-thin, with skin so pale it's practically translucent, crazed eyes, hollow cheeks and a scraggly soul patch better suited to a guy playing guitar in a coffeeshop than an old-school gangster. Spindly, near-skeletal hands reach back into the cab and pluck a fedora from the seat to go with his rumpled grey three-piece suit. He spins around and fires his Chicago typewriter into the air, jolting the dumbstruck bystanders out of their trances and sending them screaming and running for cover.

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k218/ripleycat/rains_on_me_by_Melna.jpg

The bank's lone on-duty security guard, a clean-cut African-American kid who doesn't look old enough to shave, let alone be carrying a gun, comes rushing up to the door, only to find himself facing a mob of grinning goons with more firepower than an army depot. The apparent ringleader waves his weapon in the guard's face and shakes his head.

"No no, copper, don't you go playin' the hero! Gun on the ground, an' you right after it, less you want me fillin' your hide with daylight."

Staring down the barrels of dozens of heavy weapons, the bank guard wisely obeys, dropping his gun and laying face down on the sidewalk.

"Aww, he's smarter than he looks. Alright, dolls, let's make us some green! You boys stand watch. Keep those cars running, and watch for the cops and capes! They'll get here quick, we just gotta be quicker!"

With that, the man, the molls, and most of his gangsters burst through the doors into the bank lobby, leaving five henchmen standing on the sidewalk around the unfortunate guard. Those outside can hear the boss shout "Ooookayyy, ladies and gents! This here is a robbery! All of you, down on the floor, no funny business! You give all cash and valuables to my associates here, and they won't go fittin' you for a Chicago overcoat! You sir! Yes you, Mr. Manager, you're comin' with me! We're gonna take a gander at tha' big ol' vault in the back! Lead the way!"



What do you do?
OK, kids, let's have some fun! If you wish to take action this round, go ahead and roll for them as necessary. Go ahead and roll Init as well, just so we have it before things before things get chewy.

[ChronicLunacy]

Frostbite
Condition: Unharmed
HP: 1/1 (+1 Luck)

Soundtrack (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hap6tZymSAU)

Already wanting to walk away from his conversation with the others, Rudy was struck by curiosity at the arrival of the anachronisms in pinstripe suits. Following them toward the bank on foot, he didn't scatter like the other pedestrians when the gangsters started firing their tommyguns into the air. Instead, he stood witness as the jokers disarmed and started threatening the bank guard.

It filled him with cold purpose to see such a thing; to see people that thought they could do whatever they wanted and get away with it just like WARD. Now Rudy may have been on leave, but he was still a cop and it wasn't in him not to do something when people were in danger. So he just kept on walking toward the five goons surrounding the guard on the sidewalk.

He was an odd sight, dressed for winter and trailing steam from his mouth, but the henchmen would soon find themselves wanting a thicker coat...because for some reason (with the exception of the guard) things were starting to get cold. They started to notice things like being able to see their own breath, then the frost that appeared on the barrels of their weapons and the cars' engines started to sputter and die. The entire time, the man in the heavy coat just kept walking toward them. As he came closer, he began to shuck off his coat, sunglasses, scarf, and gloves, but it only became very apparent that he was the one causing the sudden plummet in temperature when ice started to grow over Rudy's body, forming a protective armor.

"I'll bet you're losing feeling in your trigger fingers right about now. As your core temperature drops and your blood starts running slow like slush in your veins, you're going to pass out, too. Now you have a choice." he informed them calmly, letting time pass and the cold do its work. "Prison...or hospital? Where would you rather end up?"

Initiative: [roll0]
ACTIVE POWERS
Environment Control 10, Extreme Cold, Selective (Fort DC10 + 1 per successful check every minute. Fatigued->Exhausted->Incap)
Protection 8, Ice Armor

[Ridai]

HP 1 -> 0, Condition unharmed, Ini 17

Saskia looks over the dumbstruck crowd after the oldtimers racing by. The first reaction, namely 'whatever', is soon replaced when the gunfire is heard. "This city..." She starts, before looking to Mark. "Keep your head down and slap some sense into the gawking sheep. Don't play the hero, you can't take a bullet." she pretty much orders her former lieutenant to do. Saskia doesn't give a flying eff what she calls the people around her in their presence, they don't deserve better. "Call the police. And ambulances, 'cause those ******* jokers gonna need 'em."

Without waiting for a confirmation, Saskia begins to rudely push her way through the crowd, straight towards the bank, a withering glance shutting all those up who want to try and complain. It's noon, she was arguing with the damn architect all morning, Mark is getting exposed to blatant crime again, she is goddamn hungry and the damn restaurant won't fix up anything with those old-school fashionistas around. She doesn't care who they think they are or whatever heat they're packing. Right now, there is a 7' 2" woman approaching the left most oldtimey car, 1600lbs of flesh, muscle and a real bad mood.

Saskia is angry.

Reaching around her left side with her right arm, already wearing her gauntlets again, with a loud clang, a flash of light, fire and steam, the fire-maned woman forges a giant damn 12 ton hammer made of pure steel, leaving even people with no clue in awe of it's craftmanship. She swings it like it was light like a feather, sending the huge head crashing into the chassis of the car, the sound of crunching, screeching metal and shattering glass filling the street as the whole thing is sent flying in a high arc above the middle car and onto the right one, demolishing both.

Saskia is damn angry.

Putting the hammer down onto the ground, concrete cracking beneath it, one of Saskia's hands digs in the middle car, lifting it like it was a toy, slamming it with utter ferocity onto the pile of cars, compressing all of them further. Not having had enough, she reaches back, grabs her hammer and slams it down onto the pile, turning the machines into scrap for good.

Moving towards the door, her path is blocked by the mooks feeling real damn tough threatening one guy with automatic weapons. Ignoring the icy guy and not seeming uncomfortable in the cold at all, Saskia steps right in front of them, her frame dwarfing each as her eyes narrow and small flames dance across her lips, the gigantic hammer in her grip. "You **** for brains will stack your guns in a nice pile, roll over like the good little bitches you are and wait for the cops to get their lazy asses here without moving one damn muscle or I will grind you into fine red paste. I'm not one of those superheroes, so you better bet your asses that I'm not ******* bluffing."

Saskia is really damn angry.

Temper complication engaged!

Intimidation [roll0]

edit: Reroll for 32 in OOC, +5 intimidating action bonus = 37. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=14103109&postcount=49)

[Green Bean]

HP: 2 Condition: Unhurt Initiative: 9

Avery's surprise is not feigned in this case. She snapped out of it quickly, and followed the fleeing crowd until she could slip away to get changed into her hero outfit, but her bewilderment and bemusement kept bubbling over her thoughts, if not her expression.

She knows she should take this seriously, but come on! Prohibition-era cars and thugs with tommyguns? As she got changed, she wondered if they realized how much more valuable antique cars were than anything they'd get out of a bank. What an amazing city this was.

Fully changed, she approaches the bank quietly from the side, and is in an excellent position to witness the honourable Detective Brandt dropping the temperature, and the arrival of yet another apparent metahuman (a fellow vigilante or a would-be robber?). They were certainly an angry pair...

Initiative: [roll0]

[SuperCracker]

Tim McAllister
The Park

Gunshots rang out. It was a familiar sound to Tim, and probably to the kids, as well. Instead of barreling into the fray, Tim took off running towards the kids. “Ya’ll get outta here. Stay low to the ground. Ya’ll follow Coach Martinez, now.”

The kids and Martinez started to make their way away from the sounds of shooting. One of the kids stopped and turned towards Tim, who had produced a strip of red from his pocket and was bringing it up towards his head.

”What are you gonna do, coach?”

Tim grinned and quickly tied the strip around his forehead, grinning a wild grin.

“What ya’ll think I’m gone do?”

Aegis: the Invincible
In Front of the Bank
Stats
Condition: Ready to kick some ***
HP: 1

Appropriate Music (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iOpUdsMeqM)

Between the woman with the hammer and the guy freezing the area over, they’ve pretty much got some of the goons quaking in fear. And it only gets worse from here. Dropping in from the sky like a meteor came the football coach, in his t-shirt and gym shorts. His impact cracked the sidewalk underneath. He stood up to his feet… looked left at Frostbite, right at Saskia, then dead on at the henchmen.

“Ya’ll best get out the damn way…”

His posture and the grin on his face stated the obvious, that he was set to charge right in.

Initiative: [roll0]

[SuperMuldoon]

Alan Ballard - Helios
Condition: Doing Fine
HP: 1

"What the heck...?" Alan says to himself in disbelief, and uses his suits optic enhancements to zoom in on the situation unfolding at the bank. A group of anachronistic bank robbers with Thompson submachineguns rolled up and aimed to hit the bank fast and hard. Turning to see that both Tim and Rudy were already gone and heading over to the bank, it wouldn't do for the most obvious hero to be left standing in the park alone.

"Activate CORONA Shields, FLARE jets engage." he says as the warm glow of the suit's forcefield outlines the power armor. Helios roars into the air as his jets propel him toward the bank. He arrives, and hovers over the collected group of Rudy, Tim and Saskia. He upped the volume on his suit's external speakers and holds out a hand filled with the swirling energy of the miniature sun housed within his armor.

"Attention prospective bank robbers! Throw down your weapons now and surrender, there is no escape!"

initiative in OOC, forgot to roll it. Initiative = 21

[Ladorak]

The Lawman
HP: 1
Unharmed
Init: [roll0]

'Oh hell...' There wasn't much left to say. He cursed not damning that ******* coin and taking Lola instead, as he had wanted. True the car gave him a convenient place to don his disguise, it also meant driving an unmarked police car while dressed as a known vigilante.

Inside the car Officer Mason became the Lawman. Old leather boots slipped on, spurs jangled once again. A utility belt is strapped on, and a gun-belt strapped to it. A black bandanna covering his lower face, a tall broad-brimmed cowboy hat his upper features and hair. Only his pale blue eyes shone out, radiating something not wholly human.

**********

'I'd say you folks had this situation well in hand.' The lawman emerged from behind the mess of two cars holding the two biggest revolvers all assembled have seen. Two massively thick gleaming cylinders set with huge bronze bullets (Of his own making) stare down two monstrously long barrels. Each looked too heavy for any normal man to hold for long. His hands did not so much as waver as he held them out, allowing the mooks an intimate looks down the barrels 'But I might as well pitch in some.' The friendly and easy tone in his voice is suddenly replaced by a startling snarl of command 'Drop 'em! I'm an angry man with two itchy trigger fingers, and if I put one of these in your head there won't be much left of it. So much as sneeze and I'll put a hole through your face a man could fit his fist through. Now drop 'em'

Intim (Because overkill is never enough): [roll1]

[smuchmuch]

Lady Luck

Condition: Quite amused. Also, unharmed.
Action (round): Teleport
Hp:1 +4 rerolls (luck)


Lady luck momentary surprise isn't feigned as the cars blurt into the streets. She was shooting for a minor event, not a full on bank robery. But after all, she of all people should know, that's the thing with luck, even if the chance are slim you're never quite sure of what you might get. She let the champions of justice and truth pass by her as they leap to action in direction of the bank (Look a them go !) beofre following, without a rush.

She notice that a giantess of a woman she vaguely remember nearly bumping into passerbys earlier when she was leaving the casino earlier is already on the scene throwing quite the spectacular tantrum. Between her and 'Tim' dynamic entrance what energy. The lady cringes a bit, although it's hard to say if it is at the potential proprety damage than the less violent but no less surprising cold draft that suprised her while she was dressed for a summer day; no doubt the icy detectice is the one to thank for that.

She looks at the parked vehicles with a certain fascination. She wasn't here for the prohibition era itself, even though she probaly owed to that period more than a little of what would shape the city what it was now and her own existence a couple of decades later by extension; but the streets themselves remebered a time where such a scene could have been (on a semi regular basis in fact).
It was unlikely to be the real deal, of course, and yet it still feel like a blast from the past, even if just because it looked outright like it came out from a ganster movie set, as some still used to be shot not that long ago, before in yet another depression pushed msot of what remained of the local movie industry to move back to sunnier pastures in Hollywood. Then the lady represses a guffaw as the lawman, dressed a a cowboy as usual, joins in the fun.

The lady decide to move on to where she'll get a better vision of the scene.
Would anyone look behing there is no flash, no clapping, no light, maybe someone looking behind with very keen senses might catch the hint of a silhouette and on the ground a small ripple as small ribbons of concrete seems to merge into the pavement bellow but they vanish so fast they may just be a trick of the light, it seems she's jsut gone when no one was looking.
On the second floor of the bank, the lady put an arm over the railling and look a the people below, then take another longer look before smilling. Not the real deal, indeed. But full points for style Should be entertaining.


I realised that lady Luck speaking the same color as saskia might be a bit confusing so I'll either change the color or add some font.

[ripleycat]

The wannabe Capones were prepared for the bank security and maybe a beat cop or two showing up. They weren't ready for six powerful and angry vigilantes to drop on them seconds after they'd arrived. Nor were they prepared for the threats of sudden, horribly violent death that said vigilantes promised. Two immediately drop their guns and begin dashing down the sidewalk as fast as their legs will carry them. Two others lay facedown on the pavement, next to the bank guard, who has a smug look of satisfaction on his face as the thugs get what's coming to them. The last would be gangster looks up at Saskia with eyes the size of dinner plates, tries to whimper something, then faints dead away.

The gangsters already inside ignore the interested witness who just popped into existence on the second floor, focusing their attention on those who just made short work of their comrades outside. "Boss! We got a whole boxcar fulla capes comin' in! Hurry it up!" one roars as those who are aware of the trouble dive for cover and open up with their antiquated but still viciously effective weapons. Others begin doubling their efforts to snatch every bit of cash and other valuables they can get before it's too late.

Despite wielding guns that were famed for pumping out 800 rounds a minute, the aim of the thugs inside is piss-poor. Only Aegis is actually caught in the wild crossfire, while the rest of the heroes escape unscathed.

Save for one. A hard-looking man with a nasty scar across his cheek and the walk of someone who actually knows how to handle himself keeps his cool amidst the chaos and swiftly unloads his entire magazine into the Lawman's torso with a sneer. "I'm gonna blow you down, cowboy! Coroner's gonna have ta use a mop to pick you up!"

The lookouts manage just barely to shiver their way through Frostbite's attack, but fail both Indimidation checks by more than anyone has any right to fail anything by. All flee, cower, surrender, pass out, and are otherwise removed from the fray.

Ignore the following if you have sufficient Impervious. Those who were hit were chosen randomly. The tommy guns have Multiattack, hence the varying DCs.

Aegis needs to make a DC 22 Toughness check.
The Lawman needs to make a DC 30(!) Toughness check.

[SuperCracker]

Aegis
The Bank
Stats
Condition: You'll see. Read below.
HP: 1

The streets echoed with the gunfire that erupted from the bank. Surely the entire area would hear the deafening roar of the old-timey submachine guns unleashing their deadly contents towards the collection of vigilantes. While some of them ducked or sought cover from the gunfire, Aegis did no such thing. He calmly strode forward, through the gunfire. The aim of the criminals was deadly accurate. Bullets struck him in the face, on the body, legs, shoulder.

…But they flattened against his skin as if he were made of the strongest steel, and then fell away.

It didn’t look like the lawman might fare so well… Aegis broke from his walk, accelerating incredibly fast. He moves at a blindingly fast speed, a blur that moves from thug to thug, wreaking havoc at every stop. Blisteringly fast clotheslines, shoulder-checks, and just plain trampling was what was aimed at these thugs. And just a few minutes ago… he looked like a plain football coach.

He smashed through the front door of the bank, and finally stopped, his brown eyes burning with fury.

“Let ‘em go. Last chance.”

Using my “Freight Train” power. It’s a trail-area power as per houserule. Aegis has speed 8. He easily can cover enough ground to hit all the mooks outside. Dodge check DC 20 followed by toughness check DC 25.

[Ridai]

HP 0, Condition unharmed and goddamn angry, Ini 17

Stepping over the puny guards outside, Saskia growls and moves forward, ignoring the hail of bullets. Upon reaching the entrance, the giant woman shouts and rams the giant hammerhead into the ground, glass, metal and stone shattering and getting launched through the air from the point of impact, the shockwave ripping through the ground and connected walls in a 30 feet wide crater. Those unlucky to be caught within fall victim to the force entering their bodies through the ground, sure to rip most from their feet as it hits them like a freight train.

Saskia uses her Shockwave alt
Damage effect, 30ft. area, dodge DC 22, toughness DC 27
Affliction effect, 30ft. area, dodge DC 20 (alternate resistance: dodge), 1st degree: hindered, 2nd degree: prone

[ChronicLunacy]

Frostbite
Condition: Healthy
HP: 1/1 Luck: 1/1

"Hey, thunder-thighs, watch the property damage!" yelled Rudy, trailing in Saskia's destructive wake. "They've got hostages, so you can't just bring the entire damn building down around our heads, you lunatic!" he continued as he stepped into the bank over the rubble. This maniac was more dangerous than the gangsters!

If any where still up after that, Frostbite made sure to keep them on the ground. He waves his hand and out of it shot a stream of ice onto the floor that formed under the feet of any bad guy around. If the Shockwave hadn't got them, they'd be slipping and sliding all over the place and easy pickings for the rest of the vigilantes that were coming in.

Affliction 10, Ice Slick, Reflex Resist, Hindered-Prone, Limited Degree, Area-Shapeable, Selective -- I think it's DC20.

[Ladorak]

The Lawman
HP: 1
-1 modifier
Attacked all out

Splatters of blood fly up and out in all directions as the Lawman 'dances' (Sadly the dance with which he is most familiar). Yet in the end, holed by a dozen bullets, he remained standing. The blood pouring down him regarded as mere irritate. 'Better men than you have tried.'

His hard calibres sing out. Massive explosions rip the air, drowning out the paltry stutter of the tommy guns. They were lesser weapons, rapid but inaccurate after a mere twelve steps, the weapons of a dogs, not wolves. The booming of his pistols snuffed out their noise as bullets snuffed out lives.

Almost in afterthought he drops to cover. 'And worse men than you have succeeded.' he muttered grimly to himself.

All out attack Multiattack 6 mooks:
[roll0] DC20 (Minus 1 taken into account)
[roll1] DC20
[roll2] DC20
[roll3] DC20
[roll4] DC20
[roll5] DC20

And move into cover

[SuperMuldoon]

Alan Ballard - Helios
HP: 1
Status: A-OK
Initiative: 21

Hovering outside the front of the bank, Helios allows himself a smile as the criminals surrender. Always nice to avoid conflict - however, the same could not be said of the mooks inside the bank. The others that had arrived at the scene began storming the bank, the large woman nearly destroying it. "There are hostages inside! Watch the collateral damage!" he yelled, adding his own voice to Rudy's concerns.

Below him, another anachronism - this one a wild west cowboy - got a chest full of lead. Alan is ready to swoop down and help him, but somehow he shrugged off the damage and returned fire in a hail of bullets. Tough SOB.

Helios flies forward to get a clear shot at the interior of the bank. "Arm the VENUS System - we are going to smoke these rats out." he says to the battlesuit as the corresponding planet orb slots into place. Green smoke begins wafting up from his hand mounted blasters as the targeting system plots ideal trajectories into the bank.

He fires small energy encased capsules into the bank, which shatter on the floor releasing the noxious fumes around the robbers.

VENUS System - Affliction 10 (range, shapable area) Fort Impair/disable/incapacitated. Shaping the area to as many crooks as possible, while avoiding the other heroes. I guess its DC20 right?

[Green Bean]

HP: 2 Condition: Unhurt Initiative: 9

Avery ducks behind cover as the situation proceeded to go to hell in the space of a few seconds. In theory her fellow vigilantes were altruistic, well-trained individuals who would put the safety of the hostages first. Bank robbers, though, not so much. So, the biggest danger to innocent bystanders right now was getting shot by those anachronistic thugs, accidentally or otherwise.

She establishes a direct and firm connection with as many of the robbers' minds as she could muster and dumps a stream of mental and sensory information somewhere between the conscious and subconscious. <Wait, those aren't guns you're holding! Those are snakes!> She formed the image of a an olive green snake, coiled around an arm. It opened its mouth and hissed, exposing a jet back inner mouth. <Holy crap I think those are the poisonous kind!>

Power stunting the following power:
Affliction 7 (Entranced/Compelled/Controlled), Extras: Area (Burst), Range (Ranged), Selective, Flaws: Limited (One Command: Act like your gun is a poisonous snake)

[smuchmuch]

The lady raise her fingers and hesitate to intervenne when she see the scarred man pointing his tommygun to the lawman. Or when the large woman seems quite liable to, cause massive destruction in her rage. Oh nothing just a little tipping of the odds, to make sure nothing irreparable were to happen. But nothing seems too out of control for now so she decides to stay as an objective spectator for now.

[ripleycat]

Aegis plows through the gangsters trying to hold the front of the bank like an angry headbanded freight train, sending four of them sailing across the lobby like bowling pins. The fifth, the man with the scar on his cheek, neatly sidesteps the charging hero like a matador with a bull. "Ah ah, sonny. Try again!"

Another wave of mobsters rushes forward, only to have Saskia smash her colossal hammer into the floor of the bank like a ton of dynamite going off! The mooks never stand a chance, the shockwave picking up men as easily as it does glass, steel and stone, and hurling the four of them across the lobby like ragdolls. The shockwave doesn't discriminate, though. A great chunk of concrete torn up from the floor smashes into a support column, and with a shudder and the sound of shearing bolts, a huge section of the second floor collapses, coming crashing down directly towards Saskia and Frostbite! The falling debris pins two of the bank workers to the ground behind the counter. You can hear screams, so the worst has been avoided, but nobody can tell if the pair are injured, or how badly. The section that remains standing groans and tilts dramatically, threatening to send those standing on it, like Lady Luck, crashing to the ground!

One of the dazed mobsters hops up from behind the now-shredded couch he was using for cover and begins to run, only to have his feet sail out from under him as the floor turns to a thick sheet of ice. He slips and crashes hard into the counter, lying groaning on the floor. The scarred man nimbly dances back from the ice slick with a cat-that-ate-the-canary grin. Unlike the rest of his unfortunate comrades, he seems to actually be enjoying the battle.

The grin dies on his face as Mason draws his guns and lays down the law. Faster than most can blink, the Lawman leaves six of the robbers lying in bloody heaps. Though the gunsinger's supernatural precision leaves them breathing, they're not going anywhere but the hospital after this. The scarred man gets off worst of all, the Lawman's bullet striking the thug's submachine gun and shattering the tommy gun into countless pieces. The shrapnel perforates his face as he falls, leaving him a half-dozen fresh scars to wake up to.

The VENUS system deploys into the ranks of the remaining gangsters, thinning their ranks further as three of the men, coughing and their eyes streaming with tears, try stumble weakly away from the gas. Even the best computer can't account for the wiles of random chance, though, and one of the canisters takes a glancing blow off the shoulder of one of the stumbling mooks. Instead of a gangster getting gassed, it bounces away, shattering scant inches from the face of one of the bystanders lying on the ground. The man gets a facefull of Helios's gas weapon and immediately begins retching and choking, his body twitching and seizing violently.

Avery's more subtle powers work their way into the brains of the few thugs still able to fight. Two of them, showing remarkable willpower, manage not to immediately succumb to the mental trickery, though they remain transfixed, the signals from their hands telling them that they were still holding cold steel conflicting with the Augh! Snake! message in their heads. The other is more suggestible. With a yelp of fright, he hurls his olive-green snake across the floor. As the tommy gun clatters away, the trigger strikes the floor, and the gun begins firing wildly, spinning and filling the air with lead. Two of the hostages are struck by the wild bullets, and most of our brave heroes find themselves in the path of the runaway gun as well!

Seeing the battle turn against them, one of the molls dashes away towards the back of the bank, shouting a warning. "Doc! We can't last much longer! We gotta split or we're all gonna end up in the slammer, or worse!" The other moll grabs the lone unharmed thug and together they snatch a couple of sacks of cash and start making a run for the backdoor.

Amidst all this chaos, a shellshocked teller stumbles out into the main lobby from behind the counter, coughing and covered in plaster dust from Saskia's handiwork. One of the last thugs who remains standing grabs her around the neck, using the woman as a human shield and shoving a Colt .45 into her temple. She screams loudly and he growls desperately. "All right! You do-gooders are gonna let me and my dance partner here walk out that door, or this pretty little thing is gonna get her skull sprayed across the wall!"

Used Invisible Castle this round, due to the huge number of rolls needed. Links below.

Aegis Dodge Checks. (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3755780/)
One mook makes the Dodge check. The 4 hit mooks can't make the DC. They autofail and are knocked out.

Saskia Dodge Checks (Damage Effect). (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3755795/)
The 4 thugs caught in the shockwave all autofail the Toughness DC as well, and are knocked out, making the Affliction half redundant.

Frostbite Dodge Checks. (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3755808/)
2 mobsters are caught on the slick. One fails and falls prone, the other manages to keep his footing.

Lawman Toughness Checks. (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3755831/)
All of Mason's attacks hit. Only 2 of the mooks have even a chance to make the DC. Both fail. All 6 are incapacitated, and 1 is critted.

Helios Fort Checks. (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3755842/)
Two gangsters are disabled by the gas attack, and a third is impaired.

Silhouette Will Checks. (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3755849/)
Two mooks are Entranced, and while they do not drop their weapons, they take no further action this round. The third drops his snakegun.

Via the highly scientific coinflip, everyone but Aegis and Frostbite must make DC 20 Toughness checks against the dropped tommy gun's bullet rain.

DC 20 Dodge check for Lady Luck to avoid being knocked Prone by the second floor's partial destruction. If you fail, it's a DC 14 Toughness Check from the fall down to the lobby.

Frostbite and Anvil must make DC 25 Dodge Checks to avoid being trapped by falling debris. Failure means you are hindered and vulnerable, two or more is defenseless and immobile. Should you fail, the resistance check to break free is also DC 25, based on Damage or Sleight of Hand. Your choice.

Not counting two of the molls and the boss, who are not visible from the lobby, and presumably back in the vault, there are 2 unharmed mooks (though one is disarmed), the Entranced pair, a Disabled/Hindered/Prone, but still conscious mook, and one of the molls remaining.

1 hostage is being, well, held hostage by a gangster, 2 are trapped by the collapsing walkway, 1 is currently getting violently ill from Helios's gas grenade, 2 have been struck by rounds from the rogue tommy gun. They are both wounded, but their condition beyond that is unknown until someone gets to them.

HP to Silhouette for the Bullets Everywhere complication.
HP to Anvil for the Collateral Damage complication.
HP to Helios for the Gassed Bystander complication.

[ChronicLunacy]

Frostbite
Condition: Unharmed
HP: 1/1 Luck 0/1

Rudy had to dodge the falling debris by running to the side, barely avoiding being crushed by the masonry. The effort expended toward one goal meant, however, that he couldn't find his way out of the path of the bullets from the out of control machinegun. The rounds pinged and cracked harmlessly against his hardened ice armor, which kept him safe and whole.

"Damn it..." Rudy cursed. One of the others was going to have to deal with the guy holding the bank teller hostage. He needed to make sure level two wasn't going to drop down onto everyone because of Saskia's exuberance. Extending his hand toward the supports, a stream of ice blasted from Rudy's palm and formed crystal pillars underneath the second story and on the existing concrete supports. Hopefully the ice would be enough to shore up the damaged construction and keep the second floor from collapsing entirely.

Create Ice 10, Continuous, Innate, Precise

[SuperCracker]

Aegis: the Invincible
Stats
Condition: Invincible
HP: 1 -> 0

The villains looked pretty well-taken care of. There were a lot of heroes throwing a lot of firepower around… but they were catching a lot of people in the crossfire. Aegis saw the second floor begin to collapse. He was about to move to hold it up when Rudy provided the solution to that problem. But there were still screaming people trapped up under the wreckage.

Oh, and there was a gun going off. First, Aegis ran with amazing speed, appearing in front of both of the bystanders who would have been shot by the gun, a young woman in her twenties and a middle aged man in a business suit. Tim shoved the man to the ground, out of the path of the bullets, and he shielded the young lady with his body -- arms outstretched. The bullets ripped through his clothes but could not harm him... and she was protected.

"Get outta here, darlin'."

He wasn't finished, there were the people trapped under the second floor wreckage. Ignoring the moll and the thug and letting the others handle it, Aegis jumped over the counter.

“Hang on ya’ll!”

He leaned down and gripped the wreckage of the second floor. With an inhuman strength that one wouldn’t guess from his relatively normal frame, he lifted the wreckage off of the bystanders as if it weighed as much as a piece of paper.

His brown eyes looked down at them.

“Get out from under here, but try and stay down. It ain’t over yet.”

Interpose for the bystander (so that only one gets harmed by the gunfire). Impervious blocks the damage. Then Aegis lifts the wreckage up.

EDIT: Hero point to Interpose for the second bystander as well. Bullets, YOU SHALL NOT PASS.

[Ridai]

HP 0 -> 1, Condition unharmed and goddamn angry, Ini 17

As Saskia straightens up again, the entrance begins to collapse around her. Bullets impact her body, but just shatter. Smaller debris lands around her and some is simply crushed beneath her feet. The gangster taking the hostage squared hostage can very much see the giant woman's silhouette standing in the destroyed entrance, looking straight at him. Larger pieces of debris fall down onto her, sure to bury her and cave her head in... only for the first boulder to simply hit her head and break apart like a pinata. The second large piece of stone meets Saskia's dragonscale encased fist in mid-air, pretty much getting disintegrated. Through the dust, the gangster still sees that large shadow. And flames from within her mouth, accompanied by another low growl.

No damage from the bullets. Got hit by debris, but made the resistance check.

Can't intimidate this round, but can at least look menacing.

[smuchmuch]

Lady luck
Condition: Unhurt, somewhat annoyed.
Hp:1, luck:4

As the shockwave settles having caused much propriety damage, the lady stands in the center of a rising cloud of plaster and a circle debris from the celiling, absolutly unscathed exept for a small chunk of ceiling that she flicks neglectedly aside before walking to the side to more stable grounds. As soon as she set her foot on an undamaged part of the walkway, the weakened section she was standing in a moment before give and up and fall on to the loby before meeting halfway a rising iceberg to break it's fall.
While she does not appear shaken in the least, it was a bit closer than she liked it. Why she could have tripped and falled down, how undiginfied. She intended to have a discussion with some of the brave champions of justice later, make that a stern talk.

Her thoughts are interupted by the sound of wild gunfire. looking down, she see a gun on the floor and an hostage. That won't do at all.
Superheroes and mooks can take bullets and get maimed and die, it's sad to see a life snuffed out early but it's something that happens in such risky occupations she understands. But noncomabatants, that something else, for starters it's bad for buisness. Thankfully those guns have to be museum pieces; why she wouldn't be surprised, the lady snaps her fingers, if they were quite unreliable and jammed at any minute now.

Ranged Aera Affliction (machine controll), Rank (8)

To make every gun malfunction and stall.
Preferably placed as to target both the tommygun firing widdly on the floor and the one in the thug with an hostage's hands, if possible (and the remaining moll's gun as bonus if I can)
(Not selective so Helios' weapon system or the lawman's gun may be affected if in the aera.)

[Green Bean]

Silhouette
HP: 2 Condition: Unhurt Initiative: 9

Avery dived behind cover, swearing sulfurously as she did. A bullet grazed her leg, too close for comfort. Lousy 1920s era machine guns. It didn't even occur to her that throwing the gun would do that - even local militias in the middle of nowhere had guns that wouldn't start killing people if you dropped them.

An open firefight and a hostage situation had very different operating procedures, so instead of going on the offensive, Avery insinuated herself into the gangster's mind, without a hint mental pressure, not even the slightest twinge to set him off. Before she could deal with this, she had to know what his ultimate plan was. She could only hope that no one on either side would do anything rash before then.

Mind Reading on our hostage-taker - looking for his intentions vis a vis the hostage. How willing is he to kill her, and under what circumstances?

Power Check: [roll0]

[Ladorak]

The Lawman
HP 1 Unhurt (Regen this turn)

As the Lawman rears out of cover another stray bullet catches his shoulder, yet all it caused him to do with adjust his aim, slightly.

For over two hundred years the Lawman had seen bad guys grabbing hostages pretty much whenever things went belly up for them. It had gotten old a long time ago, as he lined up the shot he idly wondered if the whole thing had become a matter of tradition, or if criminals were really that unimaginative. Surely they'd have come up with a different plan B by now?

Anyway, it didn't matter none. He'd long since found the most expedient way of dealing with it. The ice and disintegrating masonry were hardly the ideal surfaces, but his keen eye quickly spotted a likely looking steel support beam. He stepped to the right and half a step forward, reluctantly leaving cover behind. In but a second the reassuring haven became but a distant memory, as the Lawman focused all his mind and will into the shot. He saw the bullet travel, felt it rebound off the beam, knew that it would impact with the pistol. He pulled the trigger

Click

So great was his surprise a curse he'd not used in over a century came unbidden to his mouth 'Tarnation!' Since his very first incarnation, when Law itself breathed fresh life and new purpose into him, and 'anointed' him with his 'badges of office' the Hard Calibres had never misfired. He had fired them in sandstorms, underwater, even in Arctic cold on the odd occasion, they never misfired. Until now he had not believed them capable of such.

Yet his quick wits quickly resolved the dilemma, a sudden silence had fallen in the bank as the chatter of gunfire abruptly died. Nobody else's guns were working either. No doubt one of his new found allies were responsible.

Finding himself relegated to the level of incredibly hardy caveman he considered his next move. One of the Molls was making for the backdoor, that seemed the logical way forward.

He pulled his lasso from his belt and leapt back out into the street, the loop already twirling above him. From another jutting support bean to shop sign, from sign to lamppost, from lamppost to fire escape and then onward to another lamppost. As always his aim and timing, even with a rope, were perfection incarnate, not a single ounce of momentum was wasted.

He landed gracefully outside the backdoor, long before the Moll had chance to reach it. He pointed both huge pistols at the door and waited, smiling slightly.

Swinging 5 allows 900 feet of movement a turn (Frankly more than I thought it was when I took it) More than enough to get all the way around and be waiting for them on the other side of the door.

Ready action: (Assuming I'm out of the no-gun field now) Attack the Moll as soon as the door is opened. It's a multiattack, so increase the attack’s
resistance check DC by +2 for two degrees of success, and +5 for three or more.

Attack: [roll0] That's a crit, so DC25 bonus another +2 or +5. Yum:smallsmile:

[ripleycat]

"Miraculously," the out-of-control tommy gun jams as it clatters across the floor, saving a pair of bystanders who were directly in the path of the bullets.

Aegis's titanic strength allows him to lift the great mass of rubble that has collapsed on a pair of bank workers like it was nothing at all. The pair, though a bit bruised and battered, are both conscious, and take the paragon's advice to heart, crawling behind the counter, out of the way of the fight, at least for now.

Frostbite's great column of ice stabilizes what's left of the second floor, narrowly preventing another great chunk of the walkway from crashing to the floor. The parts that have already fallen on our brave heroes are at best a mild inconvenience. It takes Anvil only a few seconds to wade free of the rubble that smashes down on her.

Despite the glowering giantess emerging from the dust and debris, the thug with the hostage continues to move towards the entrance, dragging his unfortunate human shield as he goes, unaware that Avery was digging into his thoughts at that very moment.

Helios rushes to the hostage who he accidentally dosed with the VENUS system. The suit's computer assists him in stabilizing the man, who still seems sick, but is no longer coughing up his lungs.

The back door bursts open scant seconds after the Lawman lands on the sidewalk behind the bank, and the moll's eyes go wide as she sees the gunslinger waiting for her. With reflexes that rival his own, she yanks the unfortunate thug at her side into the path of Mason's bullets, letting him take the shots meant for her. As the mook collapses with a feeble groan of pain, the moll whips one of the hefty sacks of cash at the Lawman's head with a strength far beyond what her thin frame should be able to generate!

From the backroom, an annoyed voice yells "All right, all right! I'll take care of th' loot myself. Gals, show these jokers what 'yer made of!"

On command, one of the molls appears in the entrance to the back room, toting a bulky steel safe in one hand like it's nothing more than a bag of groceries. Seeing Aegis with his hands full of rubble as the civilians crawl to safety, she grins and shouts "Hey sweetheart, think fast!" before winging the safe right at Tim's skull!

The submachine gun fails the check against Lady Luck's powers and malfunctions. Roll. (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3763920)

Avery's powers are Subtle, making the thug unaware of the situation, and making this routine opposition, giving him a result of 12, netting Silhouette 2 degrees of success. Results in the spoiler below, everyone else, stay the hell out. :smalltongue: What did I just say? Get out.


The gangster does not really want to shoot this woman. His main goal is to get he and his "dancing partner" outside and away from the heroes as quickly as possible. Escape and survival are the priorities, not going out in a blaze of glory. Oddly, his thoughts are all focused on "us." For some reason, he considers getting the hostage out of the bank of equal importance to getting himself out.

As instructed by Muldoon, Helios spends the turn assisting the gassed hostage, who stabilizes.

The moll running for the back door Sacrifices the remaining mook to avoid the Lawman's attack. Needless to say, the mook can't make the save, autofails by a ton, and is incapacitated.

Backdoor Moll's attack: http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3764042/ Hit. DC 23 Toughness save for the Lawman.

Attack vs Aegis: http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3764059/ Hit. Screwed up the DC on this, SC. It's DC 27, not 24 like the link says. Sorry.

HP to Aegis for saving the civilians first, and HP you spent returned, as LL's action makes yours unnecessary.

[Ridai]

HP 1 -> 0, Condition unharmed and goddamn angry, Ini 17

With the moll trying to bring the pain, Saskia has a new target, ignoring the mook with the hostage entirely. Hammer staying embedded in the crater, Saskia decides it's time for some manual work. Closing the distance with every footfall a very audible stomp that crushes small debris and shakes other small fragments, she shouts "Think faster!" With a resounding stomp, Saskia comes to a halt next to the moll, her hands folded and swinging her muscular arms full force, aiming her balled fists straight at the currently undented woman.

Switch to Hurl to the Horizon alt power of Saskia's gauntlets. Just 'cause.

Move to moll attacking Tim

Standard Unarmed attack with All-Out Attack -5 active defenses/+5 attack and Power Attack -5 attack/+5 damage.

[roll0] vs. Parry (Crit 19-20), Toughness DC 32
edit: HP to reroll, final result... 20 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=14160514&postcount=90).

[SuperCracker]

Aegis: the Invincible
Stats
Condition: Bruised + dazed
HP: 2

The villains looked pretty well-taken care of. There were a lot of heroes throwing a lot of firepower around… but they were catching a lot of people in the crossfire. Aegis saw the second floor begin to collapse. He was about to move to hold it up when Rudy provided the solution to that problem. But there weThe thick safe slams into his head with tremendous force. It causes his head to jerk forward from the blow, and it actually seems to hurt him. In fact, it rattles him for a moment. Still, he keeps the rubble held up until the civilians make it out of the path of danger. He calmly turns his head towards the moll and narrows his eyes.

His hands let go of the rubble, which lands on the floor of the bank, causing the ground to tremble. Now, while Tim doesn’t like to ever hit a woman – he can make an exception for one who just tried to get those bank tellers killed.

Through his daze, he whips around, aiming an open palm towards her neck. His goal is to strike her, and then either chokeslam her or throw her at one of her friends. He’d figure that out when the time came.

“Aegis ‘bout to choke a b****!”

Attack! [roll0] DC 28 toughness plus Fast Grab. DC 23 against the grab effect.

NATURAL 20! Critical hit! DC 33 toughness save plus the fast grab.

[ChronicLunacy]

Frostbite
Condition: Unharmed
HP: 1/1 Luck: 0/1

Trying to cut off whoever was still in the vault, Frostbite let the others handle the obvious distractions and ran toward the back of the bank. He tried to keep his feet light so that no one in there heard him approaching.

Stealth: [roll0]

[Green Bean]

Silhouette
HP: 2 Condition: Unhurt Initiative: 9

Avery waits until the hostage and thug pass near her before stepping out behind cover. She draws a gun and points it at the robber. Her stance is military-grade, and leaves no question that at this range, she could probably tag him, hostage or no. She 'spoke' to him mentally though a private mental channel (no sense letting fellow vigilantes overhear and misinterpret). She included the hostage in the conversation, keeping an eye on her reaction. <Drop the gun, and you can walk away, no cops, no heroes. Deal?> Her expression was businesslike, but left no question this was a limited time offer.

Obviously, Avery's rifling through the thug's mind for his escape route and ultimate destination, and will be tracking him down once the bank heist is over. But he doesn't need to know that.

Mind Reading: [roll0]

[Ladorak]

The Lawman

HP 1 Unharmed

The Lawman's eye widen in panic as the Moll pulled her subordinate into the path of his fire. Shots aimed to disable the Moll would have killed the unfortunate mook, had he reacted a split-second later. A twitch of his wrists saved the man's life, though he'd be unlikely to thank the Lawman for it, as badly maimed as he was.

This distraction, as brief as it was, was all the time the Moll needed. The Lawman tried to dodge aside from the sack of money, succeeding only in taking the blow on his shoulder. The impact caused the bag to explode open, sending paper money fluttering in all directions. Through the whirling flood of green the Moll still makes out cold blue eyes, and very big guns

It barely rocked him back on his heels. He arched an eyebrow inquisitively 'You know it's a criminal offence to bribe a man of the Law?'

He didn't wait for an answer. Instead he put her down, hard.

Move away from the Moll (I didn't include this in my post, because I couldn't think of a good way to say The Lawman bravely ran away' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=BZwuTo7zKM8#t=61s) without spoiling his image

Attack: [roll0] DC20 (Plus potential multiattack bonus)

[smuchmuch]

Lady Luck find a seat, more comforatable, and look below as the dolls throw with one hand a safe on Aegis the invincible and the lawman prooves there situation money can't get you out. Tradition would call for popcorn here but she doesn't have any, besides one has to watch her line. She wonder if the banks' security cameras are capturing this or if they have disabled in all the fighting.

Between the decline of classic wrestling and the augmentation of the metahuman population it wouldn't be suprising if someone though of making a show of this. sure there would be some logistic complications for finding an apropriate battlefield who could stand the collateral damage and finding enough performers atfirst (although her stare stops on Saskia, if there are more like them comming up...), but still places would sell like hotcakes ! Would probaly be a prime toursist attraction too.. she flags that line of though for later, certainly worth thinking about.


The submachine gun fails the check against Lady Luck's powers and malfunctions.

Also the gun of the thug holding an hostage should too. (But of course no way to know unless unless he tries to shoot it, though)
LL readies the exact same action than last turn if necessary, centered on the him, in case he actualy tries to shoot the hostage.

[ripleycat]

Moll #1: -1 (Bruised), second floor
Moll #2: Unharmed, ground floor
Moll #3: Unharmed, outside on roof
Thug: Unharmed, outside on roof
The Boss: Unharmed, in back

Helios gently lifts the sickened civilian from the floor and hovers over the wreckage at the front of the bank, getting the ailing man safely out onto the sidewalk and away from the warzone, at least for now.

The moll who brained Tim with a safe ducks smoothly under Anvil's vicious two-handed punch- which leaves her wide open for Aegis's counterattack! The titanically strong powerhouse crushes his hand around the petite woman's neck...

And she barely flinches. The woman's skin is cold to the touch, metallic, and rock hard- she feels like steel, not flesh. She knocks the paragon's hand away with a strength far beyond her frame and smiles innocently. "Darlin', you're taking this awfully personal. We're just here for the green, got no quarrel wit you. But if it's a rumble you want..." She cracks the flat-footed Anvil across the jaw with a quick punch. "Than that's what you'll get!" She leaps onto the counter and jumps up onto the precarious second floor balcony, daring the pair of heavy hitters to follow her.

The fluttering greenbacks offer the moll at the back door just enough cover to avoid getting perforated by the Lawman's huge bullets. She smirks and grabs a handful of cash out of the air. "An Untouchable, eh? Shame. Ah well, there's one way ta deal wid an honest cop. Make him an honest corpse!"

The sound of ratcheting gears and hissing hydraulics fills the air, as the moll's arm transforms into a hulking submachine gun. It is to a regular tommy gun what the Lawman's handcannons are to standard revolvers. With a wicked grin, she levels it at the gunslinger and opens fire with a bone-shaking roar.

Frostbite's sneaking talents are good enough to keep those in the back from noticing his approach. In the back of the bank, he can see two figures. The thin man, the big boss, waving his gun around and hovering impatiently behind the bank manager, who looks scared out of his mind. The manager is inputting some kind of code into a console near a massive vault door, one of those huge steel circular numbers right out of a heist flick. With a great hiss and a clang, the door unseals and slowly begins to open. The gangster hoots with delight. "That wasn't so hard, was it! Let's see what the treasure trove's got inside!"

The hostage-taker seems to relax ever so slightly as he stares down the barrel of Avery's gun. "Really? You capes'd let me do that, just waltz on outta here? Temptin', but... well, here's the thing, lady- you ain't got the whole picture."

His hostage stops squirming, and her expression changes from stark terror to smug satisfaction. "Aw, Joe, why you gotta ruin the surprise like that? I wanted to do th' big reveal!" A shimmering light engulfs the hostage. When it fades, standing in her place is a golden-skinned robot, who plucks the thug's fedora from his head and puts it on hers with a cheeky grin.

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k218/ripleycat/Screenshot2010-09-09at42422PM-1.png

"Take care, honey. You seem like a kick to me. Come on by an' see us sometime." She leaps away out the front door, the thug in tow, landing effortlessly on the far side of the street then launching herself straight up onto the roof of the apartment opposite the bank, at least four stories, like it was nothing at all.

Even with the reroll, Saskia's attack is a miss.

The Lawman's attack misses as well.

NPCing Helios again, hopefully for one last turn. He carries the sickened civilian outside, away from the chaos in the bank.

The boss fails his roll against Frostbite's stealth- Rudy is undetected so far.

The moll beats the resistance check for Aegis's Fast Grab. She isn't grappled, but she does take a hit from the attack.

Silhouette's Mind Reading check is against routine opposition again. It gets her 3 degrees of success. Results in spoiler below. Once again, everyone else stay out.

You get a visual snapshot of one of the thug's memories- the base of operations for these gangsters is an abandoned garage a few miles from here, in an older, run-down part of town. You know it, or at least, you know the area- these oddballs are hardly the only criminals squatting in the old neighborhood.

Saskia needs to make a DC 25 toughness save (Impervious applies).
The Lawman needs to make a DC 30 toughness save.

HP to Silhouette for the Bait and Switch complication.
HP to the Lawman for the rerolled attack.

[Ridai]

HP 0, Condition staggered and -1 resistance, Ini 17

Pain jets through Saskia's jaw, putting her rage out cold for a moment as the only thing she sees is a starry, blurry haze, stumbling to keep herself on her feet. It takes effort to keep her senses about, let alone move anywhere. With the moll out of her reach, Saskia, breathing heavily and leaning on debris, slams her fist against the stone, bringing into existance a gigantic mace with a loud clang, crushing some more furniture and steam rising from the steel.

Welp, rolled in OOC, scored a 14, so three degrees of failure.

Saskia forges a mace big enough to reach up to the second floor's ceiling if she stretches a little and makes the hitting area as large as possible.

[ChronicLunacy]

Frostbite
Condition: Unharmed
HP: 1/1 Luck: 0/1

The boss was going to be quite ticked off when a thick wall of ice suddenly formed between him and the safe/bank manager, blocking him off from the money and the hostage quite readily. To keep his attention away from the vault, Rudy stepped into plain view, his armor crackling like a shifting glacier as steam poured off of him in whisps. "It's going to be a little harder than that, scumbag. Surrender or I'm putting you on ice." he grinned, his eyes glowing just a bit to accentuate the point.

Wall to wall ice to separate the gangster from the vault and the potential hostage. As thick as Frostbite can make it, depending on how wide the room is. Create Ice 10 is Continuous, Innate and Precise.

Intimidate: [roll0]

[SuperMuldoon]

Helios
Condition: Power Returned
HP: 2
Initiative: 21

Placing the man down gently on the street away from the chaos in the bank, Helios prepares to get right back in the action. "Apologies citizen, but during battle accidents do happen. You should be fine now, but if there are any further symptoms please contact your local physician." he says before rocketing off into the air.

He doesn't make it very far before he notices one of the 'Molls' leaps across the street and up on top of a building, dragging one of the thugs along for the ride. Helios rockets up the side of the building in pursuit, leveling off when he reaches the top. "Halt criminals - there will be no escape." he says, voice actuators turning up the volume to make sure he was heard. He levels his hands at what appeared to be a female model golden robot, and let loose a rapid fire blast of sun fueled energy.

[roll0] multiattack focused on the Golden Moll.

EDIT: Yay crit! DC 25 toughness save + crit (+5 right?) + all the multiattack goodness :smallbiggrin:

[SuperCracker]

Aegis: the Invincible
Stats
Condition: Bruised
HP: 2 -> 1

He thought the woman was strong – hell, it’s not often that he feels it when someone hits him – but she proved to be a bigger threat than he’d realized at first. Aegis clenches his fist, with a grip that could turn a piece of coal into a diamond. “Darlin’,” he said pointedly, since she was stealing his verbiage, “you made it personal when ya tried to get those people crushed.”

He saw her leap up onto the balcony. It was still shaky. She’s betting that if he comes up there with her, he might fall and leave himself open for an attack. Before he met Bill, he might have done just that, and gotten himself into trouble. But this time, he thinks before he acts. Avoid standing on the balcony.

He kneels down and picks up a piece of rubble, a block of concrete that fits into his hand. He tosses it up once. “Hey darlin’, catch.”

He grinned and winds up… then throws it like a fastball. When it left his hand, it rocketed out like a cannon-ball, aiming right for her mid-section. Let’s see if she can stay standing on the precarious perch while she’s being pegged with supersonic rocks.

Move action to pick up the rubble, then standard action to throw! All-Out Attack + Power Attack. Full deal. Damage is DC 33.
EDIT: Hp spent. New attack result is 18.

[Ladorak]

The Lawman
HP 2 Dazed and -1 modifier

As the Moll's arm transformed the Lawman's pale blue eyes glint with flinty astonishment. Seemingly involuntarily he pushed his hat higher up his head, as if to allow a better view of this strange and unexpected transformation.

'Holy-'

Concussive explosions fill the air, a hail of bullets riddle him, throwing him backward and spraying red ichor up and outward, further soiling the fabric of his costume with crimson. So great was the sudden force that, as it threw him backward, it knocked his hat off, leaving it to fall to the ground before the Moll as his body twisted and arced through the air.

He grimaced through the pain as he hit the floor, one of his hands instinctively curling around his bloody chest as the other, equally instinctively, keeps the Moll firmly in his ironsights.

His grin of pain, however, is mixed with genuine humour. 'That's some trick you've got there. My hat's off to you.

From beneath the Moll's feet there comes a beeping, ringing insistently into the sudden silence left by the Moll's gun arm. She glances down, her eyes quickly locating the source of the noise. She kicked the Lawman's hat, it fluttered away to reveal the EMP grenade concealed beneath. It beeped one more time, the lights on it flashed a final urgent red warning. Then it exploded, sending a powerful electromagnetic pulse out in all directions.

EMP grenade from utility belt. Nullify electronics 5, area

[Green Bean]

Silhouette
HP: 2 Condition: Unhurt Initiative: 9

Avery was a bit nonplussed. Collusion between hostage-taker and hostage? Sure. Robots in disguise? Not so much. She supposed that was Fortune City for you.

Still, it made things much more complicated. Generally speaking, she needed a mind to read or beguile, and machines don't have those. Still, clearly some of the robbers had human (or human-like) minds. Avery dropped behind cover, and reached out with her senses, lightly touching each of her foes' minds, simply seeing if it was possible.

Using Avery's mental Sense to determine how many of the bank robbers can be psychic'd. No offensive actions this round, though she'll try to maximize cover from the gangsters.

[smuchmuch]

"What a tw-eest" The lady smiles amused. (Actualy, while she already knew, the moll playing hostage did fool her, impressive.) Things are getting good.

can't think of any good actions right now. so holding

[ripleycat]

Boss: Unharmed
Rooftop moll: Dazed, 1 hit
Ground floor moll: Nullified, Impaired, loses turn.
2nd Story moll: 1 hit

Maybe it's the huge wall of ice that has suddenly cut him off from his loot and his potential hostage, but the boss doesn't cow to Frostbite's threats. Rather, he gets angry and blustery, which is less than impressive coming from a man it looks like a stiff breeze could knock over. "Ooh, you made a big mistake, Frosty. That's my money, you ain't stoppin' me!"

From his pocket, he pulls a revolver, as old-fashioned as the rest of the gang's gear. The multi-colored lights glowing from the cylinder and the loud electric hum it are hints that this is probably not a period-accurate piece, though. "Let's spin the wheel of fortune, iceman! Who knows what you'll get!" He spins the cylinder as he fires at Rudy, a bright blue bolt of energy erupting from the barrel. Even through the crackling ice armor, the cold-controlling cop can feel a cascade of energy through his body. It's like your nerves are on fire.

Across the street, the moll who dropped her disguise to reveal the golden robot underneath shows a bit more nobility than the one who threw a helpless man in front of the Lawman's guns. She tosses Joe the thug behind a nearby air conditioner, saving him from Helios's sun-powered burst. That leaves her right in the path, however, and she comes out of it looking worse for wear, scorched and sparking a bit. "I ain't standin' down for nobody, cape! How 'bout I give youse a taste of your own medicine?" Like her compatriot in the bank, her arm transforms with a hiss and rattle, revealing a glowing energy cannon. She's still shaken, though, and the shot sails harmlessly into the sky, well wide of the armored figure overhead.

Back inside the bank, the mischievous and malevolent moll on the second floor sidesteps Aegis's concrete fastball, which punches a hole clean through the wall behind her. And the wall behind that. "It's little ol' me puttin' those poor innocents in danger that gets you all riled up, then? Thanks for the tip, sweetheart." She tears up a piece of the guardrail, making a big jagged spear, which she hurls up and across the lobby with shocking speed, neatly severing the cables holding up one of the big fluorescent banks of lights that illuminate the bank, and sending it hurtling down towards Lady Luck, who she's taken to be one of those bystanders Aegis loves so much!

Avery stretches out her mind, feeling out the forces arrayed against the heroes. What she finds is significantly more synthetic than what she's used to. (OOC: results in spoiler below.)

Of the 5 remaining robbers, only two are human. The thug on the roof across the street, just barely in range, and the figure in the back of the bank. The molls are all machines- remarkably sophisticated androids. You get something from them, but it's very difficult and warped compared to the mind of an organic human- like trying to watch scrambled cable.

The moll facing down the Lawman goes pale as a ghost when she sees the EMP grenade tucked under the cowboy's hat. The electro-magnetic burst surges through her, causing sparks and smoke as she twitches and twists for several seconds, yowling in pain. Her gun-arm half-ratchets back before shutting down, and even after the spasms pass, it's clear that not everything is working as it should, her voice stuttering and obviously mechanical now. "C-c-credit w-wherrrre it's due, c-cowboy. Nice t-t-trick too."

Even with the reroll, Aegis misses. :smallfrown:

Rooftop robot moll fails by 5 against Helios's attack. Dazed and Bruised.

Ground floor moll fails by 3 against Nullify. Gun is currently out of commission, she loses this turn, and she is also Impaired.

Frostbite must make a DC 22 Fort save, or be Impaired/Disabled/Incapacitated.

Lady Luck needs to make a DC 18 Dodge save and a DC 20/25 Toughness save, depending if she makes the first.

[ChronicLunacy]

Frostbite
Defense: 20
HP: 0/1

Rudy reeled backwards a bit as his muscles began to seize, his head craning back until the play of electrical arcs over his armor ceased. Then his yellow eyes tracked back down to pit the mooks' boss with a freezing cold stare. He rolled his neck and exhaled a gout of steam into the air between them. "My turn." he growled out as ice spikes began to grow nearly all over him. Then he lifted his arms and the buzzing spines began slicing through the air toward the rodents' ringleader, peppering him as well as shattering or embedding in the wall of ice behind him.

Ranged Damage 10, Multiattack: [roll0]

[Ridai]

HP 0, Condition staggered, 1 hit Ini 17

Lifting up the mace to just smash the moll from above along with what's left of the second floor, Saskia stops and lets the gigantic weapon hit the ground again with a loud clang, having a strange moment of clarity, but also of standing beside herself. Why did she even go here and wreck the place? It's not like the gangsters were her business or the people around insulted her or anything. Going with her original plan would bring the house down, no question about it. Definitely not what's needed right now.

Looking for another angle, Saskia steps a bit to the side (well, as quickly as her shaky balance allows) and assumes a stable stance. Putting her weight into it, the one-and-a-half-ton redhead swings her giant multi-ton mace in a wide, clean arc, ideally only hitting the moll, some lights and the unoccupied ground with the moll as a cushion for her masterful metalwork. Rather swing a little too high than crushing the entire second floor.

Switch to the Demolish alt of her gauntlets, as part of her aborted original plan. And Saskia has no other single-target alts on her gauntlets, so slim pickings.

All-out attack and power attack [roll0], Toughness DC 32
Demolish Linked: Weaken (toughness) 10, affects objects only, "fortitude" DC 25 (however an originally fortitude targetting affects objects power works against objects).

...of course, the dice roller keeps hating me.

[SuperMuldoon]

Helios
Condition: Good
HP: 2
Initiative: 21

Helios' sensors track the Moll's new cannon's trajectory and he watches the beam harmlessly travel past him and disappear into the sky. "A taste of my own medicine? I have harnessed the very power of the sun itself! Your peashooter cannot hope to compare!" he yells, voice actuators booming his voice over the rooftop as he fires another wave of solar fueled blasts at the Moll.

"Surrender now mechanical woman, your plot is foiled!"

[roll0] New Roll in OOC = 25 range damage, multiattack DC 25 toughness

[Green Bean]

Silhouette
HP: 2 Condition: Unhurt Initiative: 9


As a telepath, Avery had constantly heard the old chestnut that you only use ten percent of your brain. It was, of course, entirely inaccurate. Healthy people used their entire brain, though only a fraction at any one time. With careful mundane stimulation, you could activate just over a third at once. But if some talented mentalist, hypothetically speaking, decided to go through a criminal ringleader's mind with the astral equivalent of an electric probe you could get it up around ninety percent. The effect was very much like a seizure, could induce unconsciousness in seconds, and with careful management caused no permanent damage. Hypothetically speaking. Avery knotted her brows in concentration.

Mental Blast vs. the fellow in the back of the bank. Automatically hits, DC 20 Will Save vs. Non-lethal damage.

[smuchmuch]

Lady luck
Hp: 0+ 4 luck
Status: Fine but somewhat miffed

The large light tumbles down with much sound, thre is no way the poor innocent woman in it's way cannot be crushed. And yet.. quite suddenly a large metalic pole rises in the air in the path of the gigantic orb and knock it of course. despite a momentaneous scare, the lady just smile knowingly as she was enjoying a small joke.

Looking below the lady see that Saskia is holding the giantic pole, tall enough to reach up to the second floor, readying it a for a more or less calculated swing but she doesn't seme to have the best gripp on it. The way she swings that huge thing it wouldn't be surprisng if she hit quite a few more things along the way. On the same side, she doesn't doubt the mighty Aegis is preparing to hit agin and with all the fighting, the structure of the second floor has been somewhat weakened as she discovered herself a few moments ago. wonder if the doll will be as lucky ?.

With a mean humourless little smile in direction of the moll that seems to say '"Darling", you just made the biggest mistake of your life', the Lady snapps her fingers.


Can I use luck control to make someone hit somethign else than their intended target ? (since Saskia missed anyway :p)

If not I'll just crunch it as:

Hp to Power stunt luck control/glamour array as:
Full action Ranged damage 10, penetrating 1 subtle 2, accurate 5, indirect (19 pp)
[roll0]
If necessary: luck reroll [roll1]
Lethal damage (and spectacular too if possible :smalltongue:)

[SuperCracker]

Aegis: the Invincible
Stats
Condition: Bruised
HP: 1

Okay, that didn’t go well. He winced at the sight of the hole he blew through the wall. He’d probably have to come back with some materials to try and patch it up. His thoughts on the matter are disturbed by the moll throwing a makeshift harpoon at the lights, trying to smash the pretty lady. He begins to make a run for Lady Luck to save her—but it’s quickly apparent that she needs no saving. That’s a relief. And, perhaps unfortunately for the moll, it brings his attention right back to her. She wanted him mad. She got him mad.

He takes his fists and slams them together, with a resulting shockwave rushing through the air. He sees the big ole girl with the mace winding up for an attack. That’s the rock. Tim might as well be the hard place.

He leaped at the Moll, leaving himself wide open as he moved to punch the iron woman and wrap her up in a headlock.

Charge + All-Out Attack. No power attack.

[roll0] DC 28 toughness, and DC 23 strength vs. grapple (improved hold if it succeeds, so it’s harder to break from).

[Ladorak]

The Lawman
HP 2 1 Unharmed

The Lawman picked himself up, beneath his holed and blood splattered clothes his body was already healing. Bullet wounds like bloody mouths closed up, whole flesh knitted itself together as he stooped and picked up his hat. Once it was placed back upon his head he jammed one of the Hard Calibers up into the small of the Moll's neck. 'Darlin' you folks are robbing a bank, I'm guessin' your credit's no good.'

He pulled the trigger.

Attack roll: [roll0] DC 20 Multiattack
Hero point reroll: 25

[ripleycat]

Rooftop moll: 2 hits, Dazed
2nd floor moll: 3 hits, Dazed, Restrained
Ground floor moll: Nullified, running away
Doc Ambrose: 1 hit, Dazed

On the roof of the apartment, the man in orange armor and the robot of gold continue their firefight. The moll absorbs another blast of sunfire from Helios, her metal skin now charred and blackened. The robot keeps ticking, though. "Peashooter? I'm gonna cook you inside that tin can with this peashooter, Mack!" Her confidence seems more reasonable this time, as her burst of white plasma is on target this time, hitting Helios dead in the center of the chest.

Back inside, the moll on the balcony easily ducks under Saskia's giant mace of doom, but the jagged spike of concrete that emerges suddenly from the wall behind her isn't as easy to escape. She twists, avoiding the worst of it, but it still gouges a nasty furrow in her shoulder. The acrid smell of burning electronics wafts from the wound.

The twin attacks also leave her in poor position to deal with the third, as Aegis leaps up from below and puts a dent in the steel woman's cheek. Seeing stars (or whatever it is that robots see), the moll can't escape from Aegis's crushing grip. "Gerroff me, you damned ox!"

One floor below, the moll menaced by the avatar of the Law itself turns away at the last second, only her superhuman reflexes keeping her head from being turned into a pile of scrap as the bullet grazes past. She seems nonplussed by the Lawman's quick recovery. "Youse is mmm-more tt-than jjj-just some Joe p-packin' heat, ain't you, cowboy?"

In the back of the bank, Frostbite hurls a wall of frozen spikes at the ringleader, only to have them break and shatter on a shimmering blue forcefield that appears around the gangster out of thin air. The thin man chuckles maliciously. "Sonny, you tanglin' with Doctor Archibald Ambrose, the greatest inventor this side of Tesla. I got more tricks up my sleeves than I can count, and my Gundolls are more than a match for any jumped-up 'heroes'. Don't think for a second some blue-skinned joker is gonna... Aaaaughh!"

The would-be mobster suddenly goes glassy-eyed, staring blankly at nothing for a moment. He shakes his head and grimaces, stumbling against a wall for support. He glares at Rudy with wild eyes. "What'd you try to do to me!?" Without waiting for an answer, he dashes out into the lobby, leaving the vault behind. "Boys, darlings, help me! I command it!" Ambrose skids to a stop, expecting his minions and creations to come charging to his rescue. Instead, his men all lie in heaps on the floor, and of the molls, one is nowhere to be seen, and one is struggling in the grip of one of the hated heroes.

The third takes one look at the situation and says "Aw, you ain't nothin', Doc. Always was a coward, mm-makin' us do th' real work. Youse can save yoursss-self." With a wink, she snatches Mason's hat from his head and dashes out the backdoor into the alley behind the bank, leaving her creator standing in the middle of a room with six angry superheroes. "CC-catch me if you can, cc-cowboy!"

The rooftop moll takes another hit and remains dazed.

Doc Ambrose takes a hit and is dazed by Silhouette's mind-attack.

The 2nd floor moll takes a hit from Lady Luck's attack, and another hit and a daze from Aegis's. She fails the grapple check by one degree, and is now restrained (immobile and vulnerable) by Aegis. Aegis himself is also vulnerable so long as he maintains the grapple.

The ground floor moll makes her save against the Lawman's attack.

Frostbite gets an HP for the GM fiat.

Helios must make a DC 25 Toughness save.

[SuperCracker]

Aegis: the Invincible
Stats
Condition: Bruised
HP: 1

Immediately after punching the moll, Aegis had wrapped up her head and arm in his right arm, and was grabbing her other arm with his left hand, keeping her from attacking him or anyone else. He turned his head towards her and grinned a wild grin. Oh, Aegis definitely liked the thrill of a good scrap.

“What’s wrong, darlin’?! Ain’t so funny when someone’s beatin’ on you, is it?” He squeezed her in his grip, keeping her from fighting out of it. “You know… as you sit here, regrettin’ every damn decision you made that put you in this situation, I only got one question for ya…”

“Do ya smeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell --- what Ae-gis – is cookin’?!”

He changed his grip on her, getting his arm wrapped firmly around her head, trapped by his forearm and shoulder, and he lifted her up off the ground, jumping up and coming down with her, slamming her firmly on her back. The already-weakened second floor would shudder from the impact. He kept her pinned down by her neck, leaving his free arm open to do some more damage.

Free action to maintain the grapple, standard action to all-out + power attack her (Improved Grab) in lieu of the automatic strength damage. She is vulnerable, so her defense is reduced!

[roll0] -- (Hero Point: Attack roll is 22) DC 33 damage.

It’s the Rock Bottom. It’s gotta be epic!

[Ladorak]

The Lawman
HP1 Unharmed, All out attacked

Some joe packing heat? He shook his head to dispel her of that notion. No, no indeed. The Lawman was some joe packing heat who knew how to use it and had a big old monkey on his back, the type of monkey that wouldn't let a man lie down and die. 'You got that ri-'

He got no further, the Moll moved with fluid grace and deadly speed, in stark contrast to her spluttering juttering movements only seconds ago. Obviously the EMP had done less damage then he thought. Her good hand came at him in a blur, he barely had time to even duck his head. A second later he realised his mistake, his hat was off his head and she was bounding off down the alley.

His first response was pure white-hot unmitigated rage. When a man lived as long as he had the sentimental attachments he formed to objects took on unhealthy proportions. Friends died, enemies died, everyone died, apart from him. Like a child cautioned not to name a goldfish won at a fair the Lawman had learned not to get too attached. A good hat, on the other hand, would always keep the sun out of your face, a good glass would always hold a drink. They were symbols of stability in a world that was anything but stable. It was no coincidence or conceit the 'cape costume' he'd selected was so similar to the style of his very first lifetime, it was a touchstone, something comforting and familiar that lent him the trappings of a humanity he sometimes felt he only dimly remembered.

Then the Lawman smiled in spite of himself, amusement warred within him with annoyance. He had to admire the audacity 'Sassy, stylish, sexy and handy with a gun. If you hadn't tried to perforate me I think I might be in love.'

He hazarded a glance over his shoulder. The other capes seemed to have the situation well in hand. He couldn't resist a closing remark as he turned to bolt after the Moll 'Hey Doc. Next time you build a gundoll you might wanna program her to, you know, give a crap about you.' Pleased with that closer he turned back to the Moll and sprinted after her.

OOC: I don't know if I get an attack or anything. Here's my attack roll if I do:

All and attacking and power attacking

[roll0] DC 22 Multiattack

[Ridai]

HP 0, Condition staggered, 1 hit Ini 17

Having failed to hit yet again, Saskia sets down her huge weapon. With nothing else to do, she walks to the doc and takes a swing.

All-out, power attack [roll0], toughness DC 32

[SuperMuldoon]

Helios
Condition: 1 Hit
HP: 1 -> 0
Initiative: 21

Alan felt the heat from the Moll's laser as it impacted on his CORONA Shields. It was certainly stronger than he originally thought. Dammit... he thinks as he quickly reroutes power to the shields just as the blast managed to get through. As the energy dissipates, Helios' armor sizzles slightly from the blast that got through.

"Perhaps I underestimated your weapon, however the result shall remain the same! BEHOLD THE POWER OF THE SUN!" he yells and fires another sun charged blast.

[roll0] DC 25 toughness, multiattack

[Green Bean]

Silhouette
HP: 2 Condition: Unhurt Initiative: 9

Avery redoubled the mental force she brought to bear on the leader. It wouldn't be long now...

Second verse, same as the first; Mental Blast on the doctor, DC 20 Will Save.

[smuchmuch]

Lady luck
Hp: 0+3Luck

I'm not really feeling in the mood for writting, TBH, I'll edit something later.
As I said in thee OOc, Lady luck use luck control to give another reroll to Aegis on his attack as a standart action.
Then using a subtle teleport as a move action to get to a place with a better on the view on the two fight outside.

[ChronicLunacy]

Frostbite

Following the doc out of the vault, Rudy didn't feel as if he had to chase him because the villain obviously had nowhere to go. Instead, as the other metahumans attacked the mad scientist bank robber, Frostbite formed an ice slick on the floor underneath the doc's feet. That way, if he managed to dodge the brutish woman's hammer blow, he'd end up on his back staring at the ceiling anyway.

Affliction 10, Ice Slick, Reflex Resist, Hindered-Prone, Limited Degree, Area-Shapeable, Selective

[ripleycat]

The moll flails helplessly in Tim's grasp as he lifts her up. One of the hostages on the floor below seems to know what's coming, as he gasps and screams "Oh my God! Don't do it!" The second floor groans loudly under the pressure, but it holds long enough for Aegis to slam (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0lwqrJsOoE&feature=related) the moll down. There's no need for another round, as the impact sends scrap metal flying, and with a final twitch, what's left of the gundoll lies still.

In a display that would make a slapstick cartoon character stand up and shout "Come on! That's totally unrealistic!" Avery zaps Doc Ambrose's brain again, causing the would-be gangster to twitch and go slack jawed- just as an ice slick forms under his feet.

Thanks to Rudy's handiwork, the ringleader's feet go right out from under him, and he half tumbles, half sails along the ice- and right into Saskia's well-timed swing.

There's no technical wizardry up the bad doctor's sleeves to save him this time- not that it would matter, with his brain currently experiencing technical difficulties. Saskia can lift buildings without breaking a sweat. A skinny normal human gets swatted away like an annoying fly. Ambrose takes the blow right on the chin with a loud and sickening *CRACK*. Teeth and blood spray across the lobby and the man is knocked out instantly, which is probably for the best, considering what follows.

The force of the blow sends Ambrose ragdolling through the air like the physics engine in a video game just spazzed out. The Doc smashes through one of the bank's second story windows, sails over the parking lot, the road, and some of the park before crashing through the branches of a tree, which mercifully redirects him into the lake, where he lands with a huge splash. After a few seconds, he bobs to the surface, motionless.

"N-nice hangtime, big lady!" comes the cackle of the moll out in the alley who left Ambrose to fend for himself. As Mason comes charging out after her, she jumps up onto a fire escape and grins down at the Lawman.

"H-howdy, cowboy! Perrrsistent, aintcha? Hows about we cut a deal? You let me go, and I'll give you your hat back. Fair trade?"

Helios's blast doesn't back up his boast, unfortunately. It slams into the apartment roof about a foot in front of the Gundoll, who skids back and behinds aiming a shot a the power-armored hero, only to stop when, her creator goes sailing across the skyline. "Doc! No! Aw, we gotta do everything ourselves, don't we? I'll deal with you later, tin can." The robot leaps down from the roof and begins running towards the park.

Grappled moll toughness save (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3797096/)

Doc Ambrose Will Save (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3797099/)

Doc Ambrose Dodge save (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3797102/)

Doc Ambrose Toughness save (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3797098/)

Knockback time! Saskia's Damage rank on that attack is 17. The Doc's Toughness save is a mere 2, with no other modifiers like Growth to lessen the impact. The result is an impressive Distance rank 15 knockback... 120 miles. :smallbiggrin: We'll toss something in the way so the doc doesn't do the full Team Rocket.

Doc Ambrose fails everything forever and is incapacitated.

The grappled moll fails by 4 degrees and is also incapacitated.

HP to Aegis for the Rock Bottom.

HP to Anvil, Silhouette, and Frostbite for that ludicrous combo.

[SuperMuldoon]

Helios
Condition: 1 Hit
HP: 0
Initiative: 21

Helios watches the gang leader sail out of the bank and crash land with a splash in the park's lake. Time to wrap this up. he thinks, turning his attention back to the fleeing Moll.

"I thought I already made it clear, you cannot escape from me." he says, flight jets firing as he flies after the Moll. "Activate the NEPTUNE System." he tells the armor, and the energy emitting from his hands changes to a smokey blue. He extends his hand palm outward and fires a large beam of supercooled liquid, freezing the area around the escaping Moll, attempting to trap her in an icy prison.

Affliction 10 (Range, shapable area) Reflex hinder, immoblize, paralyze.

[Ridai]

HP 0 -> 1 Condition staggered, 1 hit Ini 17

What little blood is left on Saskia's massive gauntlet is burned away swiftly. With the immediate threats gone and the last two molls on the run and probably soon to be caught, the redhead glances at her surroundings and rolls her shoulders, any kind of agitation pretty much gone, along with the interest to fight.

"Welp, time for cleanup." Saskia smashes her gauntlets together and with a steaming flash, quickly cooling steel structures have appeared around the bank, stabilizing and securing all unsafe and damaged zones, as well as creating a winding staircase up to the second floor and an even pathway to the exit. Although built solely for a practical purpose by someone who actually knows her stuff when it comes to statics, every single steel structure is artfully designed, actually managing to improve the (previously undamaged) look of the bank interior by a fair amount.

Saskia switches to her Permanent Create 9 alt
Innate, Precise, Subtle, Tether
Feature: Everything Saskia creates looks awe-inspiring and/or flat-out awesome

[Ladorak]

Mason holsters his firearms, though his hand never strays too far away from them 'Can't do that darlin' there's genuine regret in his voice 'They don't call me the Lawman for nothing. And the Law, she's one harsh mistress.' There's a depth of feeling to that last statement that even a malfunctioning robot build for bank robbing can't miss.

'Hear me out though, before you go on running. I will catch you, the only men who've outrun me did it by dying, and I been chasing folks for a long time.
'Come quiet like. Give yourself up. The way I figure, you were build by a crook, programmed by a crook, led into a crime by a crook. Ain't your fault, not at all. Give up and I promise you, the first officer on the scene, he'll see the mitigating factors. He'll testify you're not responsible for your actions, and I'll move heaven and earth to make sure the judge sees it likewise.
'It's either that or I fill you full of holes and, assuming you survive, a looong time behind bars. And I don't think either of us wants that.'

[SuperCracker]

Aegis: the Invincible
Stats
Condition: 1 hit
HP: 2

Aegis stood to his feet, having delivered one of the most electrifying attacks a superhero can make, and he observed the smashed gundoll on the ground. Aegis grinned a little bit and brushed his shoulder off, exactly what one does when feeling like a pimp. He’s ready to leap back into the fray and pound the rest of them, but sadly they’re all gone. He gives a stern look towards Saskia, who’d brought down half the building.

He looks like he’s getting ready to say something angry to her… and then she uses her mojo and completely fixes the bank. Hell, it actually looked fancier than before.

He blinks once. “Uh… good sh**,” is pretty much all he’s left with.

“Ya'll alright? Anybody hurt in here?” He calls out, looking around the bank for each of the hostages he’d seen.

Consider me out of combat.

[Green Bean]

Silhouette
HP: 3 Condition: Unhurt Initiative: 9

Silhoutte moved to go after the good doctor to make sure he didn't drown, but stopped when she noticed one of his apparent creations going after him instead.

The bank is clear, but there's still some pressing issues around the periphery. The robot on the fire escape, for one. Avery's never tried to read a synthetic mind before, but she'd felt something coming from them, so they might not be entirely mechanical. She concentrated, and pushed a quiet but firm mental probe into the scrambled synthetic mess that is the mind of the robot confronting The Lawman.

Attempting to read the mind of the be-hatted robot. Probably won't work, but hey, it's worth a shot.

Mind Reading: [roll0]

[ChronicLunacy]

Frostbite

Rudy just stood and stared as everything came down to a perfect storm of slapstick pain for the good doctor and he went flying out the window into the lake. "I...um..." he said as his armor seemed to shrink and melt off of him. "I'm going to see if he's still alive..." he informed anyone listening, then did as he said. He headed out the front doors of the bank at a jog.

[ripleycat]

The moll trying to escape from Helios zigs when she should have zagged, and ends up directly in the path of the cold beam. The NEPTUNE system works as advertised, leaving the robot completely frozen solid in a block of ice in the middle of the road.

Rudy finds Doc Ambrose floating in the reeds near the lake edge, close enough to shore to just fish him out. The would-be gangster is breathing, but it's very shallow and uneven, probably because his face looks like he got hit with a pile driver. If he gets to a hospital, he'll probably make it, but he'll be eating though a straw for a long time.


'It's either that or I fill you full of holes and, assuming you survive, a looong time behind bars. And I don't think either of us wants that.'

The moll up on the fire escape runs a hand over the furrow in her chin where the Lawman's shot had missed taking her head off by less than an inch. Her teasing attitude fades as she listens to the gunslinger's ultimatum. "No, I sure don't. You d-drive a hard bargain, cowboy. Youse better b-be level with me, cause I'll be comin' for you if you sell me up the river."

After a moment, she hops back down and puts Mason's hat back where it belongs before sarcastically sticking her hands out for the cuffs. All right, you c-caught me. Wouldn't have tried it anyway if we'd known alla you capes was sittin' outside waitin' for us. Where'd youse come from, anyway?"



Given multiple requests and waited more than long enough. Smuch can play catchup if he's still interested. :smallannoyed:

Dodge Resist vs Helios. (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3812306/) The Gundoll gets a nat 1 and is Paralyzed.

Given their half-immunity, Avery's roll is not enough to pick up anything from the last Gundoll's mind.

We are no longer in combat time. I had a lot of fun with that, I hope you guys did too. :smallsmile: And now, back to our regularly scheduled GM.

[SuperMuldoon]

Helios
Out of combat.

Helios descends from the sky and touches down slowly next to the frozen moll. Using his gauntleted hand, he rubs some of the frost away and peers inside at the golden robot locked inside the ice. He grins underneath his helmet.

"I told you there was no escape." he says, and begins the task of melting the ice slightly from the sidewalk using micronized blasts from his SOLAR battlesuit before shifting to the MARS System. The energy from the miniature sun fires through the synthetic muscles of the suit as his arms and legs bulge slightly. He pushes the ice prison under the shade of a nice tree, so that it doesn't melt too quickly under the hot Fortune City sun.

Satisfied that she won't be going anywhere until the police arrive, Helios jets back up into the air and scans the building the Moll was originally on, looking for Joe the Henchman. Can't leave any loose ends. he thinks to himself as his visual sensors sweep the roof.

Had a lot of fun Ripley! Can't wait till next one :smallbiggrin:

[Ridai]

"Those're jus' the supports, repairs 're coming. I clean up after myself. And sometimes other people," Saskia answers sort of indifferently, giving everything a once over to see if she missed a crucial spot. "Still, thanks, buddy," the redhead adds, lightly punching Aegis' shoulder as she passes without looking. Lightly as in "would probably crush the shoulder of a normal person".

Police and ambulances should be underway by now. Nonchalantly clearing a path to the exit, removing debris people are trapped under and carrying those who got hurt to the entrance, Saskia seems to have experience with how to handle an aftermath like this one. "Oy, someone get me the manager." is heard once she's mostly done, seeking the one in charge of this bank out.

"Bank's gonna be closed while I'm making repairs, gonna take me 'bout 24 hours or so. And no, ain't gonna cost you a dime, 'cept for new PCs, furniture and stuff. Place needed a makeover anyway." Saskia doesn't bother asking for permission and such. Letting her make repairs and remodel parts of the building is by far the most time- and cost-effective thing they could do. Hell, paying their lawyers to sue her would be more expensive and time-consuming.

Time to roll up her non-existing sleeves and get to work.

Expertise (building) +20 modifier and Quickness (building) 6

Works pretty much nonstop and organizes the necessary materials for the job as well. Adding some of her metalwork where it makes sense.

[Green Bean]

The situation looked well in hand, so Avery decided to slip out the back door. There wasn't much point in sticking around in her hero outfit, so she'd find a quiet spot to get changed and join the milling crowd that would no doubt be forming outside. On her way through the alley, she ackowledges Mason with a nod before jogging off to a quiet alley or gutter.

[SuperCracker]

Aegis: the Invincible

Kind of odd how the big ole girl went from “Hulk smash” to “thanks, buddy” all in a few seconds. Still, mood swings and all, she was helping out in a way he couldn’t by fixing the damage. She was alright in his book.

“Yo. Name’s Aegis,” he said by way of introduction before he peeled off to start assisting the people who had been injured. He lifted heavy debris as if it were nothing, and would gently carry the injured outside to the ambulance.

He would stay and do this for as long as it took, or until someone told him to get the hell out of there. He apparently wasn’t the kind of “cape” who runs in, punches something, and takes off.

He glanced towards Rudy outside checking on the mad scientist, and he recalled what the former cop had said: an evil organization was out there… and had experimented on him to give him those powers. What if they were giving other people powers—people who weren’t so well-intentioned as the cop? It could be way worse than simply selling guns to the gangs.

[ChronicLunacy]

Rudy/Frostbite

Rudy held a hand out and the lake's surface began to freeze over so that he could walk his way over to where the villain bobbed in the reeds. He reached in and lifted the mad scientist out, then threw him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry for the walk back. Ambulances and police would be showing up back near the bank in a moment so he intended to just head back and drop the nutcase off. Before he walked away, however, he gave into paranoia and gave the Doc a quick pat-down, checking through his pockets for gadgets as well as more mundane things like a wallet. With all this technology, could he be a WARD byproduct?

Investigation, if needed: [roll0]

[Ridai]

"Saskia," she curtly answers, mentally already long prepared for the potential fallout given her public status as a "menace to society". Tabloids gonna have a field day with what happened here, but those are for the braindead, so nothing of value is going to be lost.

[Ladorak]

'Can't rightly say.' He adjusts the angle of the hat on his head, his bandanna masking a wide grin, he was growing to like this one more and more, he was glad she hadn't forced him to shoot her. 'I came here thinking to take you all down on my own, though I certainly don't begrudge the assistance.' He reached out and took both her hands in his, lowering them down to her hips 'No need for that, I think. Slapping cuffs on you would be nothing but an insult to you and stupidity for myself.' His hands rested briefly on her hips, an almost quizzical look in his eyes. Then he was turning away, beckoning her to follow as he moved at a brisk pace back to his police car.

Once there he spoke again, this time sounding more serious 'You took a big risk trusting me darlin', and I don't want you to think I was just foolin'.' He reached up and tugged his bandanna down, revealing a grizzled face and wide grin 'Officer Mason. Pleased to meet you.' He proceeded to change as fast as he could, his gunbelt, hat, coat, bandanna and blood covered shirt went into a tidy heap underneath the spare tire in the trunk. As he stripped his shirt off he noticed the moll's eyes roving his torso, utterly unmarked by the passage of bullets 'W-What are you?'
'I might tell you one day, depends.' He buttoned up a clean shirt and strapped on his regulation firearm 'I don't much care if you dream of electric sheep, but to androids have electric beer, magnetic whiskey?' Without waiting for an answer he reached into the car and got on the radio 'This is Officer Mason. I'm the first receiving at the bank robbery. Capes beat us to the punch, god bless 'em. I'm gonna need at least two paddy wagons and a dozen ambulances, at least one in critical condition, also some unis to work the scene.' He waited for confirmation, then tossed the radio receiver into the empty passenger seat. 'If you can get drunk I might wind up telling you some day. Now come on, I have to actually be the first on the scene or that message is gonna look mighty suspicious.'

A few minutes later Office Mason was stepping through the doorway into the bank, sighing internally in relief at the absence of police presence. He masked his astonishment at the swift repair done to the place. He called out in a loud voice, not entirely dissimilar from but subtly different from the wide western drawl he had previously used 'Officer Mason, Fortune City Police, major crimes unit. Anyone wanna tell me what happened here?'

[Ridai]

"Here we go." Same old song and dance. Saskia answers the cop without a glance. "Old-timey bank robbers with robot chicks. Went to town on 'em. Boss' floatin' in the lake. I'm in charge of repairs. People needing medical attention are over there." She's tired of explaining herself to cops, so Saskia is sticking to the damn bullet points.

[smuchmuch]

From the nearby balcony she moved to, the Lady gives a little clap as the good doctor takes one impressive dive into the lake. Two flying people in one day "At this rate I should turn that park into an airport"
He's soon followed by the frosty detective comming after him (the coat is a deadgive away) then another silhouette she doesn't seem to recognize commes out the Bank back door. It does seem this whole sow is goignt o be over soon anyway, the brave heroes are triumphant and all the bad guys are dow; police and ambulance can't be too far away by now.

The Lady chuckles as she see the lawman walking back with his unfettered prisoner in tow. Who would have though ? The mighty lawman, relentless uncompromising hunter of legends whom no criminal escape the six shooter (or so the ballads would tell you), hides behind his tough rugged cowboy exterior a big boy scout supringly willing to deal things out.
Trusting the robot with freakshingly high strength not to hightail it as soon as he's got his back turned seems rather naive to her but what does she know. At any rate it's good to know he's not an unreasonable man. The lady is all for law and order but like so many good things, there is a such a thing of too much of it.

She feels a little something, like a tingle in her skin, but not the one fromt he envellope, her real one. It's not very big but anyone like her would notice if close enough. Someone is altering some of the local architecture.
Reapearing in a corner of the bank lobby rom where the sensation comes from and tears her skirt a bit, if someone see her she's another one of the hostages. The explanation offers to herself in the form of sudden large metalic beams supporting the crumbling facade. The lady pass a finger on the smooth cold metalic surfaces. The heavily ornated metalwork is a work of art in it's own right but it does look strangely at odds with the rest of the bank as if someone has mixed two different buildings.

The Lady takes a look a the large girl occupied at her work, probably the one responsible for the advance at the casino too,, and ***** an eybrow not having seen what she was expecting. "Odd" she merely comment to herself.

OKay finaly caught up.

[SuperCracker]

Aegis: the Invincible

The young man in gym clothes set one more injured person down before he walked over to the cop. Tim was a little wary of police, like most people were in his neighborhood. It was one of the reasons he had started being a vigilante… some people simply trusted him more than certain cops. Still, he was willing to give the guy a shot. He was ‘major crimes unit’ or whatever that meant… not something like vice.

The big ole girl Saskia gave a brief rundown. He added to it, though.

“Things got a little crazy,” he said with his Southern Accent in full swing, “but there were enough folks here to take care of it. Me, her, a guy in some power armor, a damn cowboy, an ice man, and one other. Ain’t sure who she was, though. Some folks got hurt, but they ain’t hurt that bad. I reckon they’re shaken up, though.”

He held out a hand to Mason.

“Tim McAllister. I go by Aegis when I’m doin’ this kinda stuff.”

[Ladorak]

The Lawman is pleased to find the bank in its current form. The surprise he shows is not feinted. As he gazes about in shock at the sudden transformation he knows the others will see Officer Mason's amazed by the scale of the robbery they have prevented. A mighty haul indeed.

He nods up at Saskia, unable to say the words in his heart, but able to say something like them 'It's been some time since I've been in this bank.' he boldly half-lied 'Place has been done up nice since last time. Used to be pretty shabby. Classy now, good luck with the repairs. I'll leave you to it, although I will need a contact number for you.'

He turned to Tim and took his hand. Once again he could not say the words in his heart, but could say something like them 'Pleasure to meet you Tim.' The Lawman had been deeply impressed by Aegis, not by his power, but by his actions. A young man, obviously full of energy, ready to take on the world, a titan among men. Yet still his first instinct had been to protect the fallen. Speaking as one who knew the difference, he knew it did matter less inside when you need not fear the bullets. Still, it was an act of compassion and restraint and it spoke well of the young man. Officer Mason could say none of this. 'You seem like a fine young man. I've been seeing that cowboy a lot recently despite himself he smiled internally, that one never got old. 'Nightmare for me. Never sticks around. Someone like yourself, private citizen with superpowers, uses them to stop a robbery. Sticks around to talk to me afterward. Some paperwork, because there is always paperwork. But not much. Private citizen discharges a firearm in a bank robbery, doesn't stick around. Paperwork nightmare. Almost all of this was lies, but it helped cement the boundary between Lawman and Mason If you don't mind waiting a uniform officer will take a full statement from you. They should be here soon.' he surveyed the fallen. 'Quite a haul you have here. You did good, real good.' He badly wanted to say we, after all these years his still took great pride in his work

His next words here addressed to the room at large Ok! Bad guys, listen up! All of you able to walk, crawl or drag yourself up against this wall without further injuring yourself do so. All of you not able to do so, don't.'

He waited for the room to separate, over the groans he spoke quietly to the Moll 'Sit yourself down darlin'. I'll get back to you soon enough.'

'Bad guys on the floor! Medical assistance you don't deserve is on the way. Sit tight, try not to go into shock, stay calm and alert. Help is coming. Anyone pretending better remember he might get his buddies killed, and might think about getting up to that wall.'

He began the long process of taking the names of the felons against the wall, a boring process, but not without reward. He got the Moll's name, and Scarface's too. He stood over the grizzled man and badly wanted to twist the knife, but remained professional. Soon the uniforms start arriving and he delegates this chore to them gladly after a perimeter is set up. Paramedics arrive and start taking the injured away, starting with the most critical. They start taking the prisoners away, he stops one officer and tells him to treat the Moll well, mostly for his own good, and to give her a private cell, rather than putting her in holding.

He returns to the heroes of the hour. 'Pretty soon I'm gonna have to ask if you folks if you wanna speak to the press, so I might as well ask now. I'll also need names from the rest of you. Contact info too, you too Tim.'

[Ridai]

Saskia nods at the mention about the repairs, but sighs heavily at hearing about having to give her phone number. Going over to a counter, she shakes the dirt off a messy pile of paper and jots down her mobile phone number with a pen that looks way too tiny in her hands. The lot of someone living in a world not made for someone her size. "There goes my fifth number this year," Saskia comments as she hands the number over. "You look like an upstandin' fella, so at least tell your buddies at the station to wait a week before the number is 'accidentally' leaked again."

Saskia minds her own business until she's addressed again. "Saskia Kendrik, my address 'n' **** are on file. As for the press, **** no! Tell those vultures they can **** themselves up their asses with that thing." She points to the gigantic mace still lying about, soon to be compacted to a ball of metal by her own hands (once people are outside and can't complain about the loud screeching). With that done, back to repairs.

[SuperMuldoon]

Helios

His sensors spot the cowering crony still behind the air conditioner the moll left. He descends down, holding his glowing palm outward toward the crook. "It's over. Please come along quietly." he states flatly. Joe the mook complies, and Helios' armored hands grab him by the shoulders as he is flown down, back to the scene of the crime.

Jets firing, he slowly touches down in what was the bank, though it does look quite a bit better than it did moments ago. He sees Tim chatting with a few of the other heroes that stepped up today. "Get moving." he says, lightly shoving Joe the mook over to where the rest of the criminals were being rounded up to. He then looks at Lawman and Saskia. "Thank you both for your assistance today. Great deeds are usually wrought at great risks - and risks were certainly taken by all of us." he says, and extends his hand to both of them. "Helios, pleasure to meet and fight alongside you."

He turns to Tim. "Tim, I could use your help. I have encased one of those robotic women in a prison of ice. Perhaps you could help me move her to be with the rest of the criminals?" he says, indicating by pointing his thumb over his shoulder.

[Ridai]

Saskia looks down at the armored figure, a frown on her face, her eyes wandering towards the hand, then back to the head area. It looks like she won't return the gesture for a while until she finally grasps the hand reluctantly, her grip firm (even with the suit in place), though she doesn't repeat her name or say anything else.

[SuperCracker]

Aegis: The Invincible

“Well, I can’t blame ‘im for not hangin’ out. May not feel comfortable with people knowin’ what he can do. Hell, he may not want any recognition for it. Either way, he did a good thing, so don’t be too hard on ‘im,” Tim says in defense of the cowboy who was, in reality, standing right in front of him. He gives a grin, “Besides, the paperwork’s gonna give ya the chance to get some big ole overtime, right?”

For a young man who had displayed the ability to move at incredible speeds, nigh-invulnerability, and strength that could make the earth tremble, a conversation with him was incredibly down to earth.

Mason says he wants Tim to stick around to give a statement, he didn’t mind it. Mason seemed like a good enough guy. “Ain’t no problem. I can’t take too long, though. I imagine there’s a pack a’ kids wantin’ to know what I was just doin’.”

When the uniforms and paramedics arrive, Tim helps load people onto gurneys. He has a hard time just sitting around while people are helping. Every now and then he passes the wall of felons, and he shoots a look at one of the thugs who’s giving him the stink-eye.

“What? Punk-ass b****,” he says, summing up his thoughts in a most eloquent fashion.

By the time Mason returns to tell them that the press will be showing up, he’s been mulling that over. “Yeah, I do wanna speak to ‘em.” He feels self-conscious for a moment, maybe worried Mason would get the wrong idea. “I don’t wanna go braggin' or nothin’. I just wanna let ‘em know that a mutant helped out. That’s all.” He also gave Mason his contact information. Cell phone number and address. He lived in a very working/lower class neighborhood. Mason was a cop, he could tell just by the street address.

Helios drops in and asks for Tim’s help. “Prison of ice? Damn, dude. You ain’t messin’ around.” He grinned and jogged outside before leaping up to where the frozen Moll was. With no effort at all he lifts the ice and returns to where everyone was. He was holding the frozen moll like she was a paper plate.

“Got ‘er.”

[ChronicLunacy]

Rudy/Frostbite

"No press, Mason, and you already know my name." Officer Rudy Brandt said as he dragged the battered and soaked ringleader over. He didn't let the doc near the rest of the henchmen, but instead created restraints for the doc's hands and feet out of ice. He had dropped the criminal near one of the ambulances and left them to handle the trash. "And don't worry, you can tell the Captain I'm not violating the terms of my forced vacation either. Call it a citizens' arrest." he grumbled.

[smuchmuch]

"You do good works" While things are settling down and the oficer is busy talking with the others heroes of the hour (It's not the Lady is particulary shy in any way, it's just in her nature to be somewhat secretive in her apparences.) a blonde woman sits near Saskia, looking at her creations but msotly at her with noin dissimulated curiosity. "And It's a fascinating talent, you have there. How, if it's not rude of me to enquire, did you learn to do that ?"

[Ridai]

"Just doin' it," Saskia responds curtly, immediately followed by shearing through a large boulder with a thin white-hot line of fire from her throat and stacking the debris next to the entrance for easier disposal, cooling the welding lines down with a cold breath. "What, you want me to make you somethin'?"

[Ladorak]

Mason nodded gravely at Saskia's words and said nothing. He did however go back to her number and switch the 6s and 9s. He left a tiny mark at the end of Saskia's name. It seemed to be a simple over extension of the trailing a's tail. It was a simple cipher for anyone possessing his notebook and knowing the code, near impossible for anyone else. 'I promise you it won't leak this time. I'm sure you've heard that before. I mean it.'

He nods to Ruby 'Brandt. I've heard of you. I think I'll keep your name name under my hat.' As he expected it would there came a swelling behind his eyes. A think that was either a she or an it sleepily awoke. It sank into his mind as a cat would into a lap, with all the pleasantness of the simple ease of a warm furry purring creature and all the expatiation of acceptance and easy grace that accompanied it. He does good things. The system will waste it's time making his life harder. Nobody wins, surely his actions here justify themselves. He has earned the right to do this unmolested by doing it. I'm the first attending. I decide what happens. This is my crime scene

The pressure departed, and was then gone, satisfied. He took a second to steady himself and then got back to his job. 'Nice citizen's arrest by the way, off the record of course.' he grinned down at the professor in a way with was entirely unpleasant.

Soon the work is done and as expected the press, all familiar faces to Mason. They put him in mind of a flock of vultures descending even as he knew he was being unfair to many. He went out, did an interview that was as boring as possible (This being the correct but little taken way of dealing with tv press) but he did turn it on right at the end. In a way that was almost magic he suddenly looked very photogenic indeed, with perfectly measured words spoken in an equally sudden deep and confident voice he introduced Tim, and gave him as much of the credit that bent truth would allow. The Lawman had seen a lot of scapegoats over the years. Often he had wished the unfairly treated in america had the power to defend themselves. Now it had happened, and he often wondered if that was a foolish wish. It was important mutants were fairly treated, kids like Tim were important. He set Tim up to shine as best he could and left them to it.

[smuchmuch]

"Oh, I was merely being curious."The Lady gives an apprent small apologetic smile and hesitate for a little while. A giant scafflholding wouldn't really fit in the living room and she's more 'wood panneling and green velvet' in her taste then 'massive cast iron' anyway.
On the other hand it could be interesting to have a small sample of the kind of thing 'Saskia' could materialise. "But.. maybe something small, as a souvenir ? I'll pay for it."

"I simply wanted to be gratefull for what you did today" Actualy partly true; she eyes the large metal ball stuck it the second floor that might have crushed her. It wouldn't really have 'killed', in truth, but still would have been quite painfull in the very least. "If there is anything I could do to thanks ?"

[Ridai]

Saskia gives Mason a long look, trying to decide whether she'll soon receive calls of people going all fire-and-brimstone (and/or wanting to stick x into bodily orifice y) on her. In the end, she just nods and slowly turns away.

The redhead eyes the blonde beside her for the first time. She is actually surprised to find a woman that qualifies as stunningly beautiful that seemingly isn't part of the 'ermahgerd' or mindnumbingly shallow crowd. One shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, Saskia knows all too well, but Fortune City hasn't been kind in that regard. People like that blonde usually stay away, the rest tries to give her **** before they get shut up with a glare like the little cowards they are.

"Cover your ears." As soon as the woman does, Saskia slams her hands together with another loud clang and flash, steam soon rising from between them. Softly, the giant woman breathes cold air between her cupped gauntlets until her work has reached a normal temperature. Soon, one of her large hands is lowered to the blonde's eye level. Upon the open palm rests a small metal figure showing a bird in flight, standing upon a small base to prop it up. While a bit stylized as if a flowing pattern ran from the head to the wings, the bird looks incredibly life-like as if the animal just froze in mid-air, graceful and full of life, instead of seeming cold and creepy. All the proportions are correct, the anatomy has been done right and even the details of single feathers can be seen upon very close inspection. As for the material, it is simply real permanent steel, lacking impurities and magic. "Just take it."

Saskia stops as she is being thanked, remaining silent, her eyes looking into thin air as if looking for something. Finally, though, she just shakes her head. "Nah." She extends a hand to the woman to help her up, her touch careful so she doesn't accidentally harm her. "You prob'ly have better things to do than watch me fix this place up and get the metal outta here."

Once the media is gone, Saskia will need to check up on Mark, too.

What metal ball? Saskia made a giant mace that still lies on the first floor (which she is going to compact into a ball), but she didn't even swing it, nor did she throw anything. Aegis threw some debris, I think, but that's it. :smallconfused:

[SuperCracker]

Aegis: the Invincible

When he was shuffled out in front of the camera crews, Tim felt a little awkward, at first. He’d never done any kind of televised interview before. Sure, he is involved in the sports entertainment industry, but he’s never been one of the big names. So he never had to do any of the talking. The reporters give him a barrage of questions, and he’s not quite sure how to handle it. In fact, he loses track of what’s being asked of him.

The flock of reporters goes quiet for a moment. One of them asks a question, quietly almost. ”Can you tell us what happened?”

Tim looked at the reporter, glad she threw him the lifeline, and he answered. He was a little unsure of himself, at first. “Well, uh… I was over there in the park,” he gestured in that direction, “coachin’ our neighborhood football team. Go Bulldogs!” He said, looking directly into one of the cameras when he said it. “I uhh… heard gunshots comin’ from over here, so I jumped from over yonder.”

”You jumped?” One of the reporters asked.

“Yeah. I can jump real high. Probably shoulda played basketball, huh?” His lips curl into a small, lopsided grin. It gets a few laughs out of the group. Some of them are a bit disarmed by how conversational he was with them. “Anyway, I jumped over here. There were some other folks out here lookin’ to help. We went in, punched some bad-guys, did our best to help people. It turned out okay.”

”What made you decide to intervene?”

“Well… I’m a mutant. I was born with these abilities. If I just sat around and didn’t do nothin’ good with ‘em, it’d be kinda damn selfish, ya know?” He paused. “Oh sh**, I can’t say damn on TV, can I?”

More of them are laughing now. Tim has a natural grace when talking to people. It’s not because he’s particularly eloquent—he’s not—but it’s because he’s very genuine. There’s a kind warmth and a sense that what you see is what you get.

”What kind of abilities do you have?”

“I’m real strong, real tough, and real fast.”

”How strong are you?”

“Ain’t sure. I picked up a tractor-trailer once and it seemed pretty easy. I ain’t had no way to test the upper limits. It ain’t like I can run down to Gold’s Gym or somethin’ and max out.”

”Where are you from?”

“Originally I’m from Georgia, but I been livin’ here for years now.”

A few more questions come, what neighborhood he lives in, how old he is… He’s getting into it. There are less pauses. He’s more sure of himself, he’s making jokes and having fun. Then someone asks him the important question.

”What is your stance on mutant rights issues?”

His brown eyes grew serious. “I’ve had my problems with anti-mutant folks in my life. People think we’re bad people or somethin’s wrong with us. But, you know… most folks understand that, like everyone else, there are good mutants and bad mutants. Really, it’s just that there’s good people and bad people. Some happen to have an X-Gene, some don’t. You gotta judge a person by the content of his character, not the color of his skin or the DNA in his blood. I think people know that, down at heart… and I think the law’ll work out that way too.”

He gave a small smile.

“On that note, I gotta run, ya’ll… I gotta get my kids back home.”

And he heads off, because that's just what he's going to do. Not to mention the fact that he has a job to get to tonight.

[smuchmuch]

The Lady look at Saskia, honnestly a bit nonplussed at her willingness to give for free what easily deserved thousands. Why that woman did not use her gift to be a rich and respected artist who sold her pieces for millions was beyond her. "Thank you. Still I should repay you. Somehow." The other too, come tot hino of it, out of fairness (not that the lady really cares that much about fairness to be honnest, 'but noblesse oblige') Maybe she'll jsut give them so good luck for the rest of the day*.

Of course, she smiles for herself as she hears the man outside having the time of his day in front of the journalists, words are alway free. But that doesn't mean they're worthless. "Whatever monster you think they'll see you as, one day you'll have to take occasion to change their mind. You did something good today, no one will deny that. Step outside. Take some credit. It'll be the first step." She hands a buisness card in the name of one 'Felicity Morgan', before taking the bird and walking away "Have a good day."


*No idea if my character can actualy do that. She does have a 2 pp feature 'bless/jinx power. Up to the Dms to decide the limitation of that.


What metal ball? Saskia made a giant mace that still lies on the first floor (which she is going to compact into a ball), but she didn't even swing it, nor did she throw anything. Aegis threw some debris, I think, but that's it.

During the fight one of the moll 'threw' a big metal ball (that was already part of the bank) at Lady Luck which Saskia (unwitingly and with the influnece of some luck control (and me taking a bit of liberty in interpreting a succesfull dodge roll, I'll admit)) knocked out fo course when she raised her metal mace. That was the one I was refering too.

[Ridai]

Saskia raises a hand to bid Felicity farewell. It only takes a minute or so to finish the initial cleanup. Tim's still talking outside and the redhead stares into the mostly empty bank. She'll need to get what she needs to fix the stone fassade and interior of the bank, as well as something to transport the debris and excess steel. A groan escapes her. She doesn't like wasting time while on a job, so she'll need her pickup and one of her trailers. Which means going outside. Whatever bank employee or manager is still present is told that she'll be back in a bit with the stuff she needs to fix the place.

As Tim is taking off, the muscular woman exits through the main entrance now framed with steel supports. Once the reporters realize who is standing there, towering over them, her path blocked by the crowd, they momentarily fall into silence, some stunned, some afraid. Saskia's hatred of the media is well documented and feared, causing them to clear a path. Slowly, she walks through the alley, recognizing several faces, sending shivers down their spines with cold glares. A few look like they want to say something, but the words remain stuck in their throats, cameras becoming awfully shaky and off-center, especially when within arm's reach of that "menace to society".

Some are clearly recognizing her work on the supports throughout the bank, though no one seems ot have the guts to ask about them. "M-m-miss K-kendrik, did you a-aid in the arre-" The one question is immediately answered with a growl. "The **** does it look like." The man is getting smaller and smaller by the second. "Dumb ******* bastards," she snarls to herself quietly, but still well audible, exiting the crowd and heading over to where Mark is supposed to wait.

"Mark, sorry, got work to do. Meet'cha in two or three days when the folks at the casino gathered their stuff." An encouraging slap on the upper arm (measured so a normal human can take it) later, Saskia is heading to her pickup to get what she needs, having a few places to go to.

[Starsign]

As the bank goes through it's repairs thanks to Saskia and the attempted robbers are taken away, a man from the back room of the bank appears and walks up to the remaining heroes still here. Clearly a little shaken from all the action that has occurred, the man appears to be in his mid-thirties, wearing a dark blue business suit and fashionable black pants. His brown hair looks a little unclean due to the chaos that had occurred beforehand. "My sincere thanks to you all for the rescue," he says, trying to act like a businessman under his nervousness. "Mr. Donovan, please to meet you all."

To each of the superheroes still remaining, he gives a letter to each of them. "I haven't had much use of these, so I've been saving these up. Whether these will be of better use to you or not, I hope you'll accept this gift. I will be sure to give it to the heroes who have left too." To Saskia and Tim, who have already left, a letter had arrived for each of them at their home. By a degree of luck, another letter had come into the hands of Lady Luck and Avery as well. All the letters have the same fancy design and wording on it:

"To those who have earned this invitation, we invite you and a possible friend to the Magnam Caelo, the famed, luxurious casino for one night at free admission any Thursday of the week! Enjoy the restaurant corner, the wondrous bar, or the many casino machines and games scattered around. And if those aren't your tastes, then check out the weekly theater play! There is always something here to do for everyone, so stop by and leave your sorrows behind!"

As encouraging as the words portray, there was no doubting the pictures that the letter contained. Each picture showed parts of the casino that seem genuinely real and not some cut-and-paste work. Close to the bottom of the letter stating "Please place your signature here and show this letter at the entrance to be invited in," and a white rectangular box below that. Looks like something one could check out, why pass up on it?

Okay end of the issue! Hope this doesn't come off too much as railroading; I haven't quite planned this out as well as I should have. :smallredface:

2 PP for everyone, I'll work on the post for Issue 2 as soon as I can tomorrow. :smallsmile:

[Starsign]

Issue #2: High-Stakes Royale
"Gambling is a sure way of getting nothing for something."

July 26th, 2012
Fortune City, 6:00 PM

A couple days after the attempted bank robbery, the Magnam Caelo's appointed invitation day has arrived. Opening now until 3 in the morning, the casino's bright entry lights can be seen from almost across the city. It's like a message to those that all who may enter will be given the red carpet treatment.

It's a fine night to go for any reason. What does one have to lose?

Sorry this short post took all day to do *facepalm* Anyway, I'd like to know IC who will be going and who won't be. I know at least one PC won't be so I wanted to avoid railroading everyone there first.

Once I've got whether everyone is going or not, I'll get the next post up, this time more alike the lengthy, descriptive post that openers usually should have. :smallredface:

[ChronicLunacy]

Frostbite

"Famed luxurious casino..." Rudy said under his breath before a small clang announced the deposit of the letter into his waste paper basket. "Waste of my time..." he grumbled as he picked up a few things and shoved them into his coat pockets on the way out the door.

He paused for a moment to look down at his police-issue 9mm pistol and the badge in a wallet-like leather holder that he'd spent years habitually flipping open and closed the way the cops did it in movies. Now he considered both little better than toys at best, and contemplated throwing them in the trash right along with the invitation at worst. He knew he was never going to be let back on the force, not with the way he looked and what he was saying. They'd string him along for six months or a year, however long it took for his story to be forgotten, then he'd be unceremoniously let go. His pension and benefits would likely be deleted just as quickly. All the result of WARD PR people stuffing money in the pockets of mayors, police chiefs, etc. so that soon Rudy would be nothing more than one more crazy homeless guy. Well, this soon-to-be crazy homeless guy still had the powers they'd given him along with his new healthy coloring...and he wasn't going to be stopped so easily.

There were more WARD fronts he could investigate; some less-than-legal search and seizure he could attempt. If it all went wrong he'd be on the run, but it was worth it. He kept a bag packed for just such an occasion, and he didn't live on much these days. He'd be vindicated eventually, and when he dragged them kicking and screaming out into the light he might be able to have something like a normal life again. That was the end goal. Everything else was just inconvenience.

Time to go to work.

[Ridai]

The bank has been restored faithfully and remarkably quickly, in less than 24 hours. The steel supports and additions are gone and the building somehow seems to shine with renewed, even never seen before splendor, subtly improved with a sure hand. The place now being more handicap accessable is also a plus.

When all is said and done, Saskia finally returns home, a converted warehouse surrounded by a more than sturdy steel fence, both it's door and that of the warehouse being way too heavy to be opened by normal people. As she reads over the mail, she finds ads, all of which get swiftly incinerated with a quick breath for each article. Felicity's card, however, is safely stored. Normally, she'd discard it as well, but something keeps nagging her in the back of her mind not to do that. The blonde lady is intriguing, the image refusing to disappear from Saskia's mind. The invitation, meanwhile, is also kept. Tentatively.

But right then, a long shower, a good meal, some quality "me time" and a long, long 12 hours of sleep are what she wants. Lying in her large bed, constructed to be sturdy enough for her and fit her needs, Saskia thinks back to her outburst. She has a short fuse, never denied that, but it was out of proportion, even for her. A weary sigh escapes her lips, wondering what is keeping her so on edge, as she slowly drifts to sleep.

-----

The next morning, there is a little void. There isn't much to do. Breakfast, check mails for any potential contract work, don't bother to put on more than underwear while running around in her home (the windows are pretty high up anyway), stare at mountain sides of the UK for a few moments too long, melt down all that excess metal from the bank and just start working on it. Starts to look like a castle. Saskia half-smiles. Maybe it's time to work on something really elaborate for her collection. Not that it is lacking in quality. Or volume. In the general area of her workshop and it's grand centerpiece, the forge (all of which would be artists' and blacksmiths' wet dreams), several racks with all kinds of objects are towering in the large hall. Everything from various large melee weapons to models and statues to various "doodles" can be seen.

Saskia's content, doing what she loves by working on her latest project, patiently and masterfully composing and designing every inch of it, but the void is still there. She doesn't know why and that is beginning to bug her quite a lot.

No idea what to do yet.

[Ladorak]

The Lawman felt he was owed an invitation himself, yet was unable to claim one as Mason. Rudy's refusal allowed him to lift an invitation that would go unmissed. Accepting an invitation that he, Mason, only had in the vaguest way been extended. Although convoluted reasoning it was it remained no less than what he felt he was due.

There's not a bar in the world that can't prop up the Lawman. Magnam Caelo's offering is both better appointed and less interesting than his usual perch. 'What do you make of it?'
The man sitting next to him looked about. Detective Stone was a hard man in his autumn years, old muscles slowly going to fat, lines of both stress and age lined his intelligent eyes 'Casino? Got to be good for the city.'
'Not like a man ever turned to crime for gambling dates.' Mason observed sourly.
'Now there's a thought.' Stone said happily.
'It's shiny, I'll give it that.' Some elemental truths are realised after a long enough life. Folk were like magpies, shiny caught the eye and stilled or attracted the body. No sense wondering why, not when it was so manifestly true.
'You gonna try your hand?'
Mason smiled, but it was bittersweet 'Reckon I'll try my hand at the poker table in a spell.' An old joke, this cowboy speak, issued with a perfect western accent, ripped from the silver screen. A joke far older than the costumed lawman that now fought throughout the city, but not near as old as the faint trailing memories of that bygone time.
'Might finish my drink and leave you to it then.'
Mason nodded, expecting this. Stone had been a good drinking buddy for many a year, joining a hallowed hall of man and women who had, almost entirely, later moved on to better things. He had them in place of saints, stretched out for centuries. From Old Amber the fellow gunslinger all the way down to Detective Stone. They came back to him now. Jek who'd always watch your back when you couldn't see past your hand, Richie the lady's man, Paul, the would-be ladies man, the twins Sally and Claire. Rus, best man you could ever want in a tight corner. The run-and-gun battles with Charles. The close police work and friendship with Dexter. All shining with the after-sparkle of beer goggles worn long ago and coloured by the rose tinted glasses of nostalgia.

Now Stone, as had many before, had left this hallowed hall of wasted hours and insobriety. Late in his years he had found love. Now he was moving on to better things. The Lawman mourned his passing even as he felt gladness in the man's happiness, but both emotions were jaded by oft repeated experience of that very duality. Always his drinking buddies got old. These days when Stone said 'Only the one' he meant it, where once it would be the opener of a blurred weekend, never fully remembered.

Privately the Lawman lamented, wondering how long it would be until the next one, remembering well the dark times when there was no one to lift a jar with, the nagging thoughts of possible addiction that accompanied such times.

So Stone left, to a warm home, a willing woman and a good meal. Mason envied him, but rather than dwell on that took his drink to the poker tables.

[Green Bean]

Avery spent the past few days doing maintenance. Her biggest asset was her network of contacts and informants, and it was vital to keep it going. There were three layers to her network. The willing, friends and acquaintances who fed her the occasion tip or favour, whether out of friendship, gratitude, or the occasional stack of anonymous cash. The unaware, members of the civil, corporate, or criminal spheres with predictable schedules that she could discreetly tail every so often to pick up their latest "report" telepathically. And the coerced, almost exclusively crooked politicians and businessmen guilty of embezzlement that she was blackmailing into feeding her gossip and making reparations for their crimes. But a network that large required work to keep together. So she spent her days polishing her Arabic at the local Sultan Supermarket, crushing a few minor rebellions, doing a few favours, and enjoying a two hour lunch (on her) with a minor functionary in the city permits department.

When Thursday rolled around, she considered her invitation. A high end casino with an admission fee had just the kind of exclusivity that attracted the movers and shakers in this city. Admittedly, Thursday wasn't the usual night for high rollers, but the habitual drunks and gambling addicts among the VIPs tended to be easier to corrupt, and seeing who had bought them made for a handy civic barometer. On the other hand, her natural paranoia warned her against going where she was invited. If there was any way to track which invitation was which, it'd be too easy to match them to her appearance at the bank.

In the end, she compromised. "Linda Connor" would take the invitation and have a night out at the casino while Avery enjoyed a night in watching TV. The Linda identity was thin - just a driver's license, a few out of town receipts, and a clerk at a Motel 6 who'd vouch she'd been staying there - but even if the ID was blown, none of it led back to Avery. To be extra safe, she cut and dyed her hair, invested in some cheap but distracting jewellery, wore lifts in her shoes that were just uncomfortable enough to change her gait, and adjusted her voice a key or two up. She made it through the front easily enough, and made a beeline for the bar, where she ordered a fancy cocktail. Being drunk was a liability, but acting drunk was beyond useful.

She surveyed the crowded floor, noting a few likely looking targets, but it was too early for the real action to start. She decided to kill time with some gaming. Poker had always been her game of choice when killing time on the job, and it was good practice bluffing. Lose a few bucks, or maybe win a few and blow it on the slots, and then go commiserate with the guy in the expensive suit spending more than he can afford at the craps table. Easy peasy. She slipped into a seat at a likely looking table where a certain cowboy had just arrived. "Deal me in."

[SuperCracker]

Tim McAllister

The night of the robbery, he had gone to work at The Dive Shop. It was aptly named; an old dive bar run by its original owner. A place with one big TV to watch the game, old padded barstools and faded band posters up on the walls. The average patron was someone who lived in this neighborhood and the occasional patch of party-goers who somehow made it this far from the lights and sounds of the strip.

The night started quietly. Tim had grabbed his stool and a cold beer and sat at the door, checking ID and being just scary enough to keep people from acting up. It wasn’t until Emma started her shift that he heard anything about the robbery. Emma was the bartender at the bar. A pretty girl in her early twenties, Emma had olive skin and dark hair but big hazel eyes.

“I saw you!” She said to him, quiet over the din of the bar as it came to life.

“Oh yeah?” He said, giving her a grin.

“Did you have to wear your gym shorts? You’re not going to catch on without some kind of cool outfit. Don’t you wrestle? You could use that!”

Tim shook his head at her. “Yeah, cause the guy people want savin’ ‘em is the punchin’ bag of the wrestlin’ league.”

She shook her head, resolute. “Well, then they should make you a big shot!”

It was then that the bar went quiet. Someone had turned the channel to the ten o’clock news. It was Tim, up on the screen, interspersed with cuts to the safe that he’d been hit with, and an imprint in the shape of his head.

Everyone watched, and Emma just gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Big shot,” she said with a grin.

There was a cheer from the bar, and the drinks flowed.

-----------------------------------------

The next morning, he’d found the invitation to the casino. At first, he wasn’t going to go… but... the food and drinks were free! “Sh** yeah, baby! We gone eat fancy tonight!”

As for his guest… well, Emma had to work, but more importantly, he knew someone who needed a break. Stephanie, the teacher he’d lived with for years, hadn’t gotten to go out in a while. He’d called her up, told her to get a babysitter for Ray, and put on something nice. They were going to the Ritz.

They stepped through the doors of the casino. Stephanie was in her early thirties, an African-American woman with a warm demeanor. Her hair was tied up in the back, and she was wearing a simple blue dress and some high heels. Tim, on the other hand, was wearing his most undamaged pair of jeans and a button-down black shirt. He cleaned up pretty well.

“So, whatcha think?” He asked Stephanie.

“I didn’t figure this would be your kind of place,” she said to him with a smile.

“Steph, when ya throw in free food and beer, it’s my kinda place,” he retorted with a playful, lopsided grin.

They walked in further into the casino. Stephanie was checking out the sights while Tim went right for the bar. He sidled up to the bar and said. “Natty Light… wait…” he recalled the drinks were free… “…uhh… Gimme some Hennessy!” Yeah. He always wanted to know what it would be like to sip that Henny.

The drink came and he turned around, looking over the casino. His brown eyes glanced over the games. He’d never touch them. When you don’t have much money, it’s pretty crazy to start trying to gamble with it. What he did notice, though… was Detective Mason.

“Well butter my ass and call me biscuit.”

He slipped away from the bar, walking over to the poker table. He stood over Mason, off to the side. “Yo. Mason, right? How ya doin’?”

[SuperMuldoon]

Alan Ballard

After giving a short interview to the press about how he was always here to help the citizens of Fortune City, and helping the last bit of cleanup at the bank, Helios found himself face to face with a business man - one who handed him an invitation to the biggest and brightest casino in town. Hmmm...

Later, back at Henry's 'secret' lab, Alan chats with his friend and cohort about the invitation, and what to do. "I don't think I'm to go..." Alan says glumly.

"Hm?" Henry mumbles looking up from his work.

"This invitation." Alan says, holding up the paper he received earlier at the crime scene. "It's not like I can just show up to the towns biggest casino in full armor. Would they even let me in?"

"Why not just go as yourself?" Henry says, soldering something.

"Because then everyone will know that I'm Helios! Who knows what people will do with that information? Besides, even if nobody made the connection, the people sending the invitation would know when I showed it at the door to get in!" Alan says, throwing his hands up in frustration.

"Well, that's something you're going to have to decide on your own. Those other heroes should be there though, you could at least make an appearance in the armor."

Alan frowns slightly. "It's not like I'm that guy from that Iron Man movie. I'm no millionaire playboy Rico Suave..." he says and sighs, looking over at his powered down SOLAR Battlesuit.

-------------------------------------------------

The night of the casino party comes, and Helios is hovering in the sky out of sight above the Magnam Caelo, invitation in hand, trying to decide if it's worth it to go.

"Ah screw it..." he says and flies down to the entrance, landing on the sidewalk amidst quite a few shocked pedestrians. "Sorry folks." he says holding up a hand in forgiveness. "Just here for a party." he says and walks up to the front door, flashing the doorman his invitation.

[Starsign]

Though a good number of peoples' attention turn to the orange robot that comes down, none of them or the entry-men had an issue seeing the invitation in Helios' hand. Entering inside the casino, Helios takes a good look at the first floor of the Magnam Caelo. The walls are made from well-crafted silver marble, the only color of it's kind present in this casino. The floor is a shiny, smooth brown and the rest of the place is in an abundance of gold and yellow. A number of sectors on this floor are placed apart, separating the slot machines, card tables, roulette, and the bar neatly as couches faces towards and away from the attractions separate each sector on this floor.

Looking up, Helios can see that the "flooring" for the second floor is a large, transparent, glass panel that is probably very thick; he can see what the second floor is like from where he is and those above could probably look down as well. From what Helios can see, the second floor is more quiet and relaxing compared to the comparatively chaotic first floor. Dark, purple walls are used instead to match with the velvet couch chairs and brown tables that make up the restaurant's dining area. Chefs and cooks can be seen making their food rather than be hiding from the view of civilians. On one end of the second floor rests a majestic stage; curtains being down meant that the play hasn't started yet and the few people up there indicates that things are probably really calm up there.

The bar has one of the biggest selections that a normal-aging person has ever seen. Four levels of shelves are placed on the wall, stretching out for what seems like a dozen meters being filled with beverages of all kinds; most of it is alcoholic. The bartender is a lean but thin man, looking in his fifties. He takes a look at Mason, Linda, and Tim when they came but otherwise treats them as respectful customers. He gives a gruff but welcoming "What will you be needing," to each one and served them in quick time; had this been Saturday the bar probably wouldn't even have seats available for the heroes.

As Tim arrived to the bar and noticed Mason, he also saw across from the bar a young, female blonde who looks at him both in surprise and curiosity. The female wore a rather dull, red dress overtop a grey long-sleeved shirt and tight jeans. A small, untouched drink rests in front of her as she looked back at it after noticing Tim. Tim can't ever recall seeing a woman like her before, so either she saw him on the news or during his wrestling times.

Over at the poker table, Linda, Mason, and Tim learned a few good quick things by the time she reached the table. Firstly all those coming via invitation get a free package of $50 in poker chips for gambling; those who want to gamble more need to pay up. Secondly the table she is at had only two other people there aside from the female dealer, a man with short brown hair around her age and a relaxed woman with platinum-blonde hair. The female looks to the fancy Linda with a small smile while the man gives a quiet smirk and a short shake of his head as if in disbelief. The dealer professionally ignores her choice of clothing, instead nodding his head as he looks at the chips each player had. "Texas hold'em. $5 blinds."

Okay hope I got some sort of thing going here for everyone at the casino. I'll try and keep things interesting for those here. As for Saskia and Rudy, my apologies for not having anything yet but I do have an idea and I'll see about getting something for Saskia soon. I would like to ask Rudy to specify if there's any specific place he would want to begin looking if that is alright. :smallsmile:

And I should also see if there's a way we can determine dice rolls for poker in case you may be interested in that GB :smalltongue:

[Green Bean]

"Linda" anted in casually, letting just the tiniest edge of drunkenness slur her movements. "Let's go." She's practised and at her ease, an experienced player, but (judging by her clothes) not a particularly skillful one.

Heck yeah, let's Casino Royale this!

[smuchmuch]

Lady luck

There's is a gust of wind and the lady feels a little coupon brushing her shoulder as she walks away from the bank and the park. It was a fun intermission but she'll ahve some real buisness soon enough.
She checks the paper before giving a little chuckle. How nice of the random wind to hand her that invitation, but there is little point to invite her where she's already home. Or is someone sending her a message ? When one can control luck even by their very nature, it's hard to trully beleive to coincidences.
We'll see. She smiles to herself before releasing the paper to be blown around to let someone else to enjoy the wonders of the Magnam Caelo. The more the merrier, it's not like she won't be here anyway.

----------------------------------------
Later
In the part of the city that doesn't sleep, at the hour where the neon lights have started to paint the streets around the large casinos in their tacky glow.

In silence the Lady Luck contemplate the heart of her domain from a large window on the second floor of the Magnam Caelo. Thirty millions tourists a year to leave a small token of a mere six billions dollars, and that's just the gambling not counting the hotels and all the asociated industries, one of the fastest growing city in the US. All that based on Lucre, Luck and that Irrational but so tempting hope that, hey, who knows, in that face of all prior stastical evidence and common sense maybe you will be that one lucky winner. Hollywood can alway talk but it's Fortune city trully lives by selling dream.

For a short moment the Lady closes the imediate senses of that coil and ,as those who sometime meditate to hear their own heartbeat, enjoys a short comunion with the Caleo. From the offices upstairs and the corridor behind the scenes to the two pubic floors, she feels in a very diffuse way all of the peoples walking around on the carpeted floor, the noises from the conversations and all the mass of feelings flying around in her walls.
The directors, croupiers, the dealers, the showgirls, the bouncers, even the visiting suckers for a few hours, they are all her people. Every handle turned, every ball spined, every clap and aplause in those walls are a small ritual. Every moment performer that peeks between the curtains to the audience, Every one of those instant where breath is held, every moment eyes track the trajectory of the roulette ball is a small silent prayer. All to her.

Her conciousness regains her mortal envellope. At any rate, it doesn't feel anything calls for her attention right now, maybe after all that card meant nothing and even to those for her coincidence sometime just happens, nor does she have a gig planned in her more mundane qualities tonight. It seems she can enjoy the evening for a while. Maybe she'll see the play later while she's at it. But for now, she strolls between a range of slot machines on to the stairs, the action is on the first floor.

"Hello." she presents a a couple of five dollars chips to the dealer with a lovely smile before taking a seat "Room for one more ?"


Why do I keep trying to be so descriptive when I'm so terrible at it ?

I guess for Poker, bluff and sense motive are a given (although I think we can assume every playeris at least taking a ten by default on those)

QUOTe]“Well butter my ass and call me biscuit.”[/QUOTe]
Kinky. Maybe later

[Ladorak]

Mason smiled Tim! I thought I might see you tonight.' he shot a look at the rest of the table 'This fine young man stopped a bank robbery, near on his own.' He grinned as a collection of faces looking from Mason to Tim, then back again. The stony astonishment, and how it faded from their faces, told him much of their tells. With two exceptions he thought he had the measure of this group, it was like to be a lucky night.

The two exceptions, both attractive young women seated away from him, did not seem surprised at all by what Mason had said, not only did they find it unremarkable they almost seemed to expect it. Plus they both looked passing familiar although he could not place either of them, a thing he found frustrating and unfamiliar. They bore watching, he thought to himself.

'How you liking the casino Tim?'

[Starsign]

Magnam Caelo, Poker Table

There is a nod from the dealer as he repeats his line to Lady Luck, "Texas hold'em. $5 blinds." He let's her deal along with Mason as the other two strangers do as well. The man who is playing gives a small smile from his mature face as he looks to the new female. "I'm glad to see some more coming. For a moment I thought it'd just be a game for two." His voice isn't that of perfect English, having a foreign accent. He gives a respectful nod to the woman with platinum-blonde hair before introducing himself. "Greg Dalton. Immigrant from Greece; moved to America with my family when I was young." The other female gives gives a small, sly blush as she softly speaks. "Maria Trench. Lived here all my life."

The dealer shuffles the deck, removes the top three cards and then passes out two cards to the five players each. "Play," he speaks emotionally. Greg takes a quick look at his face-down cards while Maria simply looks down with her eyes without needing to tilt her head. The order begins in Clockwise, in order of Greg, Linda, Mason, Lady Luck, and Maria. Greg pauses with the same small smile before kindly tapping two fingers on the table. "Checking." His eyes dart quickly towards Linda's for a moment. "I don't believe I have any of your four names." He looks to Tim, now a more casual smile. "You were one of the heroes at the bank a few days ago, were you not? An honor to meet you; was that your first time doing hero work?"

Cards for Lady Luck and Avery/Linda. Please do not look if it's not your hand, thank you. :smallsmile:

Lady Luck:
Seven of Clubs and Queen of Hearts

Avery:
Eight of Hearts and Four of Hearts

I'll hopefully try to make this simple. Roll Insight if you wish to try and see through a bluff of the two NPCs or each other, (since Maria hasn't called you can't really Sense Motive her yet) and roll Deception if you wish to hide or misguide the other players. No looking at the GM rolls please :smallsmile:

And I will allow HP/LP to be used if you want to, however just for rerolling Deception and Insight rolls. :smallwink:

GM rolls:
Greg's Deception: [roll0]


Back Corner Market of Fortune City

Without much in the way of contacts, trying to find information on WARD in Fortune City isn't so much searching for buried treasure as it is searching a junkyard for a copper screw. For Rudy however, he happens to know places to search that are simply more reliable than others. In this case it's a small market location, found after a few twists and turns.

The market isn't a pretty thing, smelling like garbage and wet clothes while damp ground litters the area. Any normal person wouldn't come through here for any reason. Among the area that could be written off as an alleyway, Rudy finds a small hole in a nearby wall that's big enough for a person to crouch through. A rugged yet coarse male voice can be heard from beyond it. "Come right on in sir."

Saskia's Home

Saskia's collection comes off magnificently well even among expert crafters; some however might question the choice of having melee weapons among the collection. All in all however it is a pretty peaceful day after the more hectic chaos of the bank incident. Just before noon however, Saskia's phone began ringing. Picking it up and listening to it, Saskia can hear a familiar voice on the other side. It's her old friend back at the prison, Sarge. The guard captain found a day off and wants to see how Saskia is doing. The location is a modest and quiet coffee shop known as Baker's Halls. Saskia has seen the place once or twice but never really has visited it before.

Okay this is likely my last post in FF for awhile. Off starting the afternoon of the 24th so I'll probably be back late on the 26th to continue this. Hope this'll suffice until then.

And sorry for not having Sarge speak right over the phone Ridai. I had forgotten what she was like personality-wise so I didn't want to mention anything badly out-of-character. :smallredface:

[Ridai]

Saskia's head perks up as she hears her mobile phone ring with the sound of the codec from Metal Gear Solid in the distance. Samantha's ring tone. Dropping what she's doing, Saskia grabs her phone and throws herself onto her couch.

"Hey Sarge." A smile creeps onto her face. It's good to hear from her closest friend. Some would say only friend.
"'s alright, it's going. What about you?" Yeah, it's not hard to tell something is on Saskia's mind.
A chuckle. "Finally let'cha out there, huh?" A pause. "Until they come begging you to come back." A quick remark about the prison administration from Sarge, followed by both women laughing.
"Yeah, I know the place."
"Yeah. Yeah, sounds great! I'm free." Not that Saskia would allow her schedule to come before Samantha. Strict set of priorities and all that.
"Alright, I'll be there. Grab one of the tables in the back." Actually something to look forward to in a long while. Apart from her hobby, that is.
"Yes ma'am, sergeant guard captain, ma'am," Saskia acknowledges the order to show up on time with a chuckle. As if she'd ever been late.
"Alright, see ya there, bye."

With her usual efficiency, Saskia goes to clean up her workplace and herself, putting on some nicer clothes than usual after a quick shower. Which means an actual black top instead of a black wifebeater as well as pants and boots that both don't look like they've seen the amount of heavy-duty work her usual attire has yet.

---------

As ordered, Saskia arrives at the coffee shop on time and finds Samantha quickly. Even in casual attire, she is hard to miss, the tall, fit, blonde woman in her thirties having an undeniable presence and authority to her, though a smile comes easily to her when not on the job. Sarge looking like Sonya Blade with sensible clothing is kind of a running joke.
"Hey, good to see you," Saskia greets her friend, followed by a sisterly hug and sitting down at their table. After ordering a (big) cup of (rather strong) coffee, she dares to lean back a little. The chair is understably groaning under her weight. In truth, she isn't really sitting on it, instead carrying almost her entire one-and-a-half tons with her feet. A useful habit when she isn't at home.
"Met Mark two days ago, seems to be doing fine at starting over. How're the boys? Heard Sammy's asking for me." Always good to get the catching up in that regard out of the way. Try as she might, Saskia isn't particularly good at hiding a certain nervousness, the stuff happening at the bank still on her mind.

[Green Bean]

Avery

Linda casually checked her hole cards and clicked her acrylic nails together. Her eyes flashed with...something. "Linda Connor, from Indiana. Here for a bit of summer fun. I'll check."

Deception to make it look like it's a decent (but not necessarily great) hand: 1d20+20
Insight to see what Greg's up to: 1d20+20

[Ladorak]

'Check. Name's... Mason. I'm a cop. I'm from... aways.'

[ChronicLunacy]

Rudy/Frostbite

Rudy didn't say anything but instead let the other man do the prompting. He instead used the moment to survey his surroundings and make sure he wasn't about to be ambushed. That night he didn't bundle up as much as he had in the daytime. He wanted people to see his bruised, blue skin and yellow eyes for intimidation factor. So he went out that night in just a dark gray hoodie under a black pea coat. Worn in blue jeans and some black combat boots completed the outfit. He kept his head and face bare, but could pull up his hood if he absolutely had to.

[smuchmuch]

"Felicity. I work around here as an entertainer. Haven't I seen you around before officier ?" The Lady asks innocently as she places 8 dollars worth of chips on the table. "I'll bet.

fornow assume the lady is taking 10 on bluff and insight for a 22 in deception and a 18 in insight.

[Ladorak]

Mason regarded Felicity coolly. His annoyance at his inability to identify her, moments ago a mild irritation caused by dogged professionalism, flared to massive proportions. Was she mocking him? 'You might have seen me, wouldn't have been round here though.' He shot an apologetic look at the dealer 'I prefer my poker... seedier.'

[SuperMuldoon]

Helios

The place was gaudy as hell. Looking up he noticed the ceiling was transparent. I hope women know not to wear skirts if they are going up to the 2nd floor... he thinks to himself and continues looking around. Probably sticking out as a sore thumb, he spots Tim over at the poker table and heads over.

"Hello Tim. How are you doing?" he says as greeting and joins him in watching the game. Some of the other players he vaguely remembers from the bank, but due to him being outside for most of it, he missed out on all the introductions.

[SuperCracker]

Tim McAllister

As Mason introduced Tim he gave a winning smile and a small raise of his hand to the group assembled there at the poker table. “Hey ya’ll. Nice to meet ya. Ya’ll go on ahead and play. I ain’t got a good poker face.” Greg asks Tim if the bank was the first time he did hero work. “Naw. I help out ‘round my neighborhood whenever somethin’ goes wrong. It just ain’t gotten a story on TV before.”

He clasped his hands behind him and stood there, mulling over the question when Mason asked him about the casino. “I reckon I like it well enough. But to tell ya the truth, I wouldn’t be here without the free ticket. Too expensive and I ain’t much of a gambler.”

Then Helios came in, with one hell of an entrance. He strolled through the casino in that same battlesuit. At least one of the other heroes were here, right? He grinned and shook the hand of the armored hero.

“Doin’ alright. I got me a little drink and I’m checkin’ out the sights and sounds. How ‘bout you, man?”

[Starsign]

Magnam Caelo, Poker Table

Maria pauses to look at the bet Lady Luck has laid out on the table. She peeks quietly at her own cards before slowly moving her arm to add chips equal to the $8 dollar bet to the pot. "I will call," she says proudly. Her voice holds confidence as she looks over to Greg, a neutral smile poised himself. Without much thought he takes a look at Lady Luck before leaning back slightly and gently pushing his cards forward. "Fold." His voice is dull and dry, as if realizing he's already lost this round. "If I might say Ms. Felicity, I have not seen nor heard of you around here. Would you happen to be new to the job or have I simply turned a blind eye?" He speaks politely and neatly.

Avery and Mason could you please decide whether to call, raise, or fold please? I decided to drop the rolls and just give you the results based on your Intuition ranks.

Avery
Maria may sound calm and confident but her motions tell a different story. At various points it is slightly hesitant and at other times, shaken. She might not be as confident as she looks.

Greg is clever at hidding his tell spots; this clearly isn't his first time at poker. However his stiff pose and slow breathing indicates calmness. It's likely he didn't stop because of a bad hand but rather because being conservative is part of his playstyle. He is less like a cowardly rat and more like a squirrel who attacks with the ferocity of a leopard when the time is right.

Mason
Maria seems like a rather relaxed individual. She doesn't seem to worry about her decision or the situation. One could guess that she already knows how it's going to turn out, and it's going to be in her favor. As a good player knows however, nothing is a guarantee. All Maria is doing is setting up a bigger risk for either a bigger reward, or a bigger fall.

Greg, as far as you know, gave up due to a bad hand or he saw something in Felicity that made him fold.

Lady Luck
Maria may sound calm and confident but her motions tell a different story. At various points it is slightly hesitant and at other times, shaken. She might not be as confident as she looks.

Greg, as far as you know, gave up due to a bad hand or he saw something in you that made him fold...
Please make a d20 check with your level as the modifier.

Back Corner Market of Fortune City

Unfortunately for Rudy, all that can be seen on the other side without crawling through is surprisingly smooth wooden floors. once crawled through however, things hardly look like a trap. The walls look rather crudely-made and ugly, the floor by comparison seems to have been replaced with more decent material fairly recently. The room is short in length but wide, spreading around 7 meters in width. The dealer himself wore about as much as Rudy would, a black coat and sweatshirt with a hood along with blue jeans and boots. The hood covers the top half of his head well as the light from a single candle showing a chiseled and old man, well covered to keep an identity hidden.

"I was actually about to close shop," He says with a slight frown. "But indeed have you come at a good time. I only accept visitors in groups of one and I see you are a person who prefers to venture alone." A crackly grin can be seen from the dealer. "Now... How may I help?" Rudy can see the man behind a metal stall of some kind, glass separating the two for safety's sake. The back wall looks like it has a number of items hung on it, all hidden by many blankets and cloaks in numerous sizes and colors.

Baker's Halls

The coffee shop is, much as expected, a rather quiet and comfortable place even for someone like Saskia. Simple beige painting covers the gentle walls as a soft, white rug makes up of the flooring. In the back, Sarge sat near one of the windows, pleasantly looking out to see, among other buildings, Magnam Caelo a number of blocks down in the distance. As she sees Saskia, she welcomes it firmly. "It's great to see you again," she says, speaking to Saskia as a friend while keeping a strict, professional tone.

She lets Saskia mention about Mark and what's been occurring lately. "Good to hear Mark has turned himself around," she says, her small cup of coffee laying untouched in front of her. "He never did have much of a spine to be blunt, but compared to other people he was a nice person." She holds back a subtle sigh as she continues holding her professional look. "Things have been calmer than the last while you were there, and I think all the better for it. What about yourself? How has Fortune City been treating you so far?" If Sarge has heard about the bank incident, she isn't bothering to mention it right now.

[ChronicLunacy]

Rudy Brandt/Frostbite

The glass wouldn't be a problem if Rudy decided to blast through it, but for now there was no reason. He stood close to the glass so that the information broker could see his face in the candle light and spoke slowly, but seriously. "I want you to tell me about the bad people at WARD; Weaponized Advanced Research and Development. Superpower weapons dealers. I want to know who they own, public faces, where they've dug their holes." he said as he approached the glass. "I'm going to freeze their assets." he growled.

[Ridai]

Sometimes, Saskia wishes Sarge would be a little more casual with her best friend. She suppresses the urge to put an elbow onto the table, continuing her fake-sitting as normal. "Same as ever. Worked a couple of jobs, schooled some architects, messed up some punks. Home's fine, forged a bunch of stuff, doing alright." She looks out of the window. She never liked the look at this city. She doesn't sound alright. "...Having anger issues recently. Completely lost it when those gangsters showed up at the bank. Didn't affect me, wasn't my business." Or happy.

"Guess the boys would tell me to get laid if they were here," Saskia adds with a half-hearted chuckle. "Or find a monster to smash or something." Fat chance of either happening.

[Green Bean]

Avery didn't even bother to glance at her cards, but subtly tried to reign herself in before she speaks. "I'll, uh, call."

Can I get an impression from my fellow PCs?

[SuperMuldoon]

Helios

Alan returned the shake of the super strong hero and nodded his helmeted head. "I have just arrived." he said, voice altered with a mechanical twang. "I am not much of a gambler, I am afriad, but I will have to check out the bar - my sensors indicate they are well stocked." he says jovially.

"By the way..." he says, raising his view upwards. "What is up with that ceiling? Interesting design choice. Though I will be heading up there to check it out - more my style then the hustle and bustle of the casino floor."

[Ladorak]

Call' agreed Mason as he casually tossed three more chips into the pot.

[smuchmuch]

"Really ?" Felicity does look a bit dispointed never to been heard off before shaking her head slightly amused "Oh, I'm afraid you misunderstoond me. I didn't meant in this casino proper, the Magnam Caleo is much too big for me"
That's actualy a small lie, she may not have performed as Felicity Morgan (who is a rather fresh 'mundane' identity) here but she did as others name and apparence, minor stuff, not paticulary worth noting. The storries around it, however... but those are for another time

"I sing sometime at the Clover Fields and the Volupté" And the Otherworldy Curtain but that one is a bit special. "Mostly, I just do gigs in this part of town. Waiting for a break"

1d20+Pl roll [roll0]+10=21

[Starsign]

Magnam Caelo, Poker Table

With everyone calling in, the dealer removes the top card on the deck before placing the next three face-up on the table.

The Two of Hearts, the Seven of Hearts, and the Two of Spades.

Maria looks at the cards with what seems like venomous interest before simply tapping her two fingers on the table. "Check." She looks curiously at Felicity, as if expecting her to make some sort of bold action even if Linda and Mason take their turns first. Greg meanwhile explains the "ceiling" to Helios while not at all being surprised that there is a armored robot in the casino. "You could say that the glass ceiling is one of Magnam Caelo's ideas to separate itself from other casinos. The idea of the glass ceiling is so that people can view the floor from above when down here and visa versa. It's an expensive idea but I find it quite amazing in it's design. I'm not one for the quiet feel of diners though." He sizes up Helios and his suit. "You were also one of the heroes that assisted in stopping the robbery, right? I'm amazed two of you are here tonight, but it is an honor to meet you like this." He forms a soft, casual smile.

His eyes take interest in Felicity when she mentions about the Clover Fields and the Volupté. "I have only heard of such a place, but I have heard promise about it. I plan to take a look there before I leave northward. Tell me, what is it like?"

Okay I'll keep track of the cards here. Obviously for those playing, no lookie at any cards not your own :smallwink:

Lady Luck:
Seven of Clubs and Queen of Hearts

Mason:
Two of Clubs and Nine of Spades

Avery:
Eight of Hearts and Four of Hearts

Maria:
Two of Diamonds and Four of Diamonds


Back Corner Market of Fortune City

The trader frowns a little at Rudy's plans, either unimpressed by the hero's attitude or disappointed at his goal. "Hmm... Information always makes for an interesting proposition. WARD makes the deal more complicated." He pauses, his facial expression completely unchanged in the meantime. Eventually he slowly shakes his head. "...Let me say that I should not be obliged to give away info on people that I have done business with before. They have payed well, however they have no care for quality in trade and have a tendency to go around my back and strike deals that is bad for my business." He smiles once more. "Well I am not one to honor partnership with people who try to use me, so I may be able to give something that you'd like. First however I want to know what you have to offer first."

Baker's Halls

Sarge nods in slight happiness when she hears that Saskia has been doing the usual business, but freezes calmly on the mentioning of the bank. For a short moment, she begins to speak a little softer than usual. "Well... I'd like to think of it as your sense of willingness to be good kicking in." She sips her coffee as she speaks.

"Even if it might have been rather violent, I think it was better than doing nothing at all, wouldn't you agree?" Sarge tries to keep Saskia's spirits up; she always knew that the former prisoner was better when she wasn't in such a negative mood. Sarge gives a slight, unusual hesitation before cautiously asking, "You... Wouldn't be up for sports yet, would you? I thought something like wrestling or boxing could make a good use of relieving frustrations."

[ChronicLunacy]

Frostbite
Condition: Unharmed
Defense: 20

"I'm not sure you understand the situation." Rudy said as frost began to grow on all the walls and ice began to cover all the doors and windows, creating a box around them. There was no escape without Rudy's permission...or barring that three hours and a sledgehammer. "I didn't come here to make deals with scum like you." he said, eyes narrowing. "I don't make deals, I don't make offers. You tell me what I want to know -- everything that I want to know. Then I leave and you can crawl back into your hole. That's how this is going to work."

Brandt's eyes glowed yellow and the informant's breath started to come out in puffs of steam as icicles began to hang down from the ceiling of their little ice cube. It was getting cold, but it could get a lot colder very quickly. Trapped in a little room with Frostbite wasn't the place you wanted to be. "Have I made myself clear?"

Create Ice 10, basically creating a hollow ice cube around them with thick walls to keep the informant from getting away long enough to get the information I need. Toughness 10.

[Ridai]

Saskia doesn't give an answer as Samantha tries to push her actions into a better light. Also, she might not be much of a people person, but the redhead can still tell her friend's uneasy. Her expression sours. She is beginning to hate normal furniture and not being able sit comfortably, rest her elbows in the table, something, anything. The only damn reason why she isn't standing or crushing flimsy metal and wood to dust is to be civil.

"I'm ******* done with sports," Saskia spits out as she hears the suggestion, her features turning real dark. And almost literally spits on the ground to get the bad taste out of her mouth. What the hell, why's she even mentioning that? That's what got me into prison in the first place! One hands balls into a fist...

She's afraid.

...After a pause, Saskia finishes her cup in one go, throws some money on the table and gets up. "Was nice seein' ya. Take care." And leaves.

[Green Bean]

Avery looked to each of her fellow players in turn, meeting their gaze and moving on. "I fold." There was a slight smile on her face.

[SuperMuldoon]

Helios

Alan nods at Greg's words about the ceiling. "It truly is a remarkable, and most likely very expensive, feat. It does set this place apart from the rest for sure." he says. Alan is slightly surprised at the man's compliments.

"Thank you, the honor is all mine. Well, I wasn't sure I was going to come - the suit does draw a lot of attention. But I felt since I was invited, I should at least make an appearance." he says politely. He turns his gaze upwards again at the ceiling. "If you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to take a look at the second floor of this place. Good luck in your game." he says, and strolls towards the stairway to the second floor, and ascends.

[Ladorak]

Mason shot a disappointed look at Avery 'I raise 10.'

[smuchmuch]

"I'm none too fond of the Clover field. The fake irish thing gets old fast and I think I would crack up if I had to dress in green all day. I heard they have a very well stocked bar though, you ahve tolove a stereotype that works." Felicity chuckles while answering Greg's question "The volupté is a normal cabaret. They do love their Jazz night on friday. But if you want also a great palce with ambiance, I heard the 'Moonshine' is great, it's build underground, in the place of a fake speak easy or so they pretend. Of course after the bank robbing today they're going to be full from the free publicity. This city loves its villains and heroes, I guess."

Felicity slightly innocently around while looking at her remaining players. (But officier masson may get the tinniest impression that .. was she looking at him for a little moment longer here ?... ) She semed a bit surprised when Avery folded as if she really wasn't expecting it. She heistate for a split second before throwing ten chips into the pot. "I call."

Yes she's totaly teasing the lawman. But she does have enough bluff that it should be subtle and ambiguous enough

[Ladorak]

The Lawman shuddered a little at the mention of a speak easy. Now there was a dark time in his life everlasting. It was obvious to him from the offset that prohibition was unworkable and would remain so while America remained democratic. The special task force created had maybe one fifth of the resources required and seemed peopled entirely by people who either thought the Volstead Act was unspeakably stupid or who were very adapt at not thinking about the law even as they enforced it. It seemed half the police in the country were engaged in the lucrative practice of looking the other way, depressing enough of it's own right, but there was he. A man who only wanted a drink, possibly the only man in the USA who couldn't have a drink as long as the 14th amendment remained in effect. Dark times.

Insight: [roll0]
Deception: [roll1]

[Starsign]

Magnam Caelo, Poker Table

Maria decides not to say anything as she decides to call, putting in her bet as well. She appears relatively calm as she responds to Felicity. "Heard about Moonshine. Was there a few days ago; not my kind of place really. I prefer something more bustling and wondrous." Greg simply nods his head at the mention of the robbery. "Exactly why I'm not there now. I don't like to be at places too crowded; I do happen to think that this is not crowded at all." He watches the game with great interest in the meantime as the dealer sends out the next card.

The Four of Spades

As Mason's turn comes around, Greg goes to ask him a question out of curiosity. "You seem to be quite experienced at this. I... have a way of telling. Do you go to such casinos often?"

Cards out in play:
The Two of Hearts.
The Seven of Hearts.
The Two of Spades.
The Four of Spades.

Lady Luck:
Seven of Clubs and Queen of Hearts

Mason:
Two of Clubs and Nine of Spades

Avery:
Eight of Hearts and Four of Hearts

Maria:
Two of Diamonds and Four of Diamonds

Lady Luck only:
You sense the feeling Greg has a supernatural way of changing and controlling the outcome of some of his actions and events. It's not like he's able to control luck like you are able to, but he controls something in relation to it.

Magnam Caelo, Upper Floor

A metal staircase leads Helios up to the second form, which shows much like how it is seen from below. The floor is made all of very durable glass, showing the bottom floor like how one would see the city streets of Fortune City from above. The dark purple walls, velvet couch-like chairs, and brown tables give a more calming, if brooding mood compared to the bottom floors. At one side of the room lies the chefs behind sturdy wooden tables, cooking and making food while everyone is able to watch. On the opposite side where Helios entered is the stage used for plays. At the moment however, the curtains are closed so the play may be coming later.

Numerous people give Helios looks of surprise and/or curiosity as he enters. It isn't always someone in a battlesuit decides to be in a casino. None to many are willing to chat with him. Among those in the room, a male's voice can be quietly heard among them. Though difficult to hear, Helios can make out a few key terms relating to biology and chemistry. Amino acids, bases, pH, dilutions; most of it is basic stuff one learns in first-year college. Perhaps it might be a scientist-in-training?

Back Corner Market of Fortune City

The black market dealer shifts his head slightly as he notices Rudy getting a little forceful with his demands. He hardly seems surprised by it however, much like as if he's seen this dozen of times before. With his grainy voice he responds with no emotion to the former cop. "...So then I must do it your way then? If this is how you deal with everyone, you'd have half of the city behind you."

Slowly he reaches for a paper document stored in one of the shelves behind him and opens the window plane a bit so he can slide it towards Rudy. "WARD keeps it's information as secret as they can get. However I save what I can in cases such as these. It is a lead you may follow." The document reads about the transferring of special, forged metals that were paid for. Their last known location is a warehouse someways from here. It's as good a lead as Rudy has.

The dealer then snickers quietly. "I will warn you that this lead may not end as you wish. Continue this path and someone may decide that a bounty needs to be on your head. Take heed on how you use that document if you plan on making enemies."

[Ladorak]

Mason tapped the table three times, a gesture older than he was 'Check.' His steely eyes fixed on Greg with a look not unlike the studied frank gaze of the fleeter birds of prey 'I told you, I like poker but this ain't my kind of joint. I prefer it when the drinks are cheaper, the lights dimmer and the women possessed of lower standards.' He shrugged apologetically to "Felicity,' Maria and Avery 'Women willing to date cops are typically stupid, have low standards or are better than I deserve.' He flashed a smile at them 'I can't stand wilful stupidity, and I wouldn't inflict myself on somehow who didn't deserve it.'

[smuchmuch]

"Now don't knock willfull stupidity. No women would ever date if we weren't ready to get a bit closer to your level." Felicity quips as she checks at the table then her hand.
She hesitates for a short moment, gives a little look at the upturned cards on the table as if the little inanimate bits of plastic had dispointed her personaly and then turn her card on the table. "I fold"

"And you Greg ?" The blond woman tilt her head in his direction with an innocent smile, making eye contact with her deep blue eyes "You seem to know your way around casinos. Are you a professional player ?"

@ Star:
looking at Greg a bit more atentively.
Perception [roll0]
Insight [roll1]
And also his aura, lookingif there's anything she may have missed atfirstbut that appears when looking at it closer. Also his mood.

[SuperMuldoon]

Helios

Alan stands atop the stairs and surveys the upper floor. He was definitely getting some looks. At first he was nervous, but now he decided to have a little fun with it - and strutted through the room like the bad ass battlesuit wearing scientist he was.

The place was definitely decked out - he would have to check out the food made by those chefs, and hopefully that stage would get some use. Not often he gets the time to check out a show.

It is then that Alan hears someone talking shop - science talk! Nothing too advanced, but his curiosity is piqued. Using his suits sensors, he scans and tries to lock on to the source, getting a better look at the individual.

[Starsign]

Magnam Caelo, Poker Table

Greg simply nods in respect to Mason, his voice cold but not intimidating or distant. "I've no love for those who are fools either, but I'd be sure to take careful note before throwing off a woman's attempts at romance to be simply 'love.' If that makes any sense of course." He then goes to respond to Felicity, acting more suave towards her. "Now now, professional is a very subjective term. I would more say experienced. It comes with being a traveler; you simply learn more when not confined within such a city like this."

Maria simply taps on the table to call check as the dealer draws the last card on play.

The Nine of Diamonds

When the cards are calculated. Maria has a Full House, highest Fours, but Mason also has a Full House, highest Nines. "Monsieur wins," announces the dealer stoically as he moves the pile of chips towards Mason. Maria turns away in frustration as she belts out some sort of vulgar word in a foreign language. She chooses not to speak up yet, instead waiting to see Mason's response to how the cards have played out for him.

As the poker round finishes, the young blonde lady from the bar walks up to Tim, and slowly and curiously tries speaking to him. "Hello. Would you happen to be Aegis? The wrestler as well as the one on TV earlier this week?" She seems both excited and worried about speaking to such a hero, even if he hasn't gotten as much screentime compared to the more well-known superheroes in Fortune City.

Cards out in play:
The Two of Hearts.
The Seven of Hearts.
The Two of Spades.
The Four of Spades.

The Nine of Diamonds

Lady Luck:
Seven of Clubs and Queen of Hearts

Mason:
Two of Clubs and Nine of Spades

Avery:
Eight of Hearts and Four of Hearts

Maria:
Two of Diamonds and Four of Diamonds

Avery only:
You can tell that Maria speaks Russian, if heavily accented Russian.

Lady Luck only:
Nothing about his face or posture will get you anything from Greg. However you can tell that he seems calm, almost uncaring about the poker game. His mindset seems to be on something else.

BTW, sorry for the yellow font color for the female, I know it's an eyesore but I decided it'd fit her best.

Magnam Caelo, Upper Floor

On the upper floors, the man in the solar battlesuit can detect quite a few things. Aside from that the glass floor is amazingly holding up with no problems, the man Helios is looking for is quickly found; a young man somewhere in his 20s with dull brown hair, green eyes, and a focused and anxious face as he skims through a large book possibly related to science. His voice is just as anxious as he looks, almost desperate.

"If the pH is adjusted just right it could work without harming the body, but it would still leave the patient in a poor condition afterward and that doesn't factor in that it may work anyway... Damn it, maybe there is too much carbon in the mixture. How do I-" He stalls, looking up to see Helios on the floor. His mouth open in surprise as he sees one of the heroes he saw on the news earlier. Seems like the scientist is waiting to see what Helios will do.

[Ladorak]

With a huge smile on his face Mason collects his chips 'Come on Tim, I'll buy you a drink.' He clasps the boy on the shoulder affectionately. Before he leaves he quickly nods to the dealer. He tosses him a chip 'For your trouble. Goodnight ladies and gentlemen, I'm off to enjoy your money.'

[ChronicLunacy]

Frostbite


The dealer then snickers quietly. "I will warn you that this lead may not end as you wish. Continue this path and someone may decide that a bounty needs to be on your head. Take heed on how you use that document if you plan on making enemies."

"I'm counting on it. If this lead is a dud I'm coming back, and I won't be so friendly next time." Frostbite growled out, opening a door in the ice wall with a gesture of his hand. He didn't bother to say farewell before leaving with the piece of paper. Rudy tucked it into his jacket and headed off straight toward the address that was listed.

[SuperCracker]

Tim McAllister

Tim nursed his drink… and another one… and another one… and another one. Every time the waitress came by with drinks, he’d take one and drink it down. It was hard stuff too, straight up liquor. Most people would be completely hammered, but he wasn’t even buzzed at all. When your metabolism is so good that it neutralizes poisons immediately upon entering the bloodstream, drinking becomes less of a goal-oriented exercise. Still, when Mason’s done playing his game of poker and offering to buy Tim another, he grinned his friendly grin and nodded.

“Shoot, I ain’t ever gone turn down that offer. Maybe I should try onna those fancy beers. I got it, Miller High Life. They say it’s the champagne of beers, ya know.” He nodded, sadly not being ironic with his statement. He is a guy with hardly any money, after all.

He walked back towards the bar with Detective Mason. “I reckon you’re a card shark, Detective.” He chuckled. By the time they make it to the bar, a young woman comes up to talk to him. She recognizes him from the bank… and from his… other job. You see, the management at the wrestling league never thought Tim had that “wow” factor, so they relegated him to being the chump that gets beaten up by the up and coming talent, to show how good they are. So, Tim has a bashful look for a second.

“Yeah, right on both counts. I reckon stoppin’ bank robberies is a little more important than takin’ a powerbomb every other week.” He gave a good-natured laugh. “Still, it’s nice to meet ya. I’m Tim. This here’s Detective Mason. He’s Law and Order and Miami Vice rolled up into one.” Tim’s trying to give some shine to his buddy here. He’s a good guy like that.

[Ladorak]

Mason grinned at Tim 'Reckon we can do I mite better than that Tim. You ever have real bourbon? Right out of Kentucky? I saw a nice 40 year one when I was back there.' There's a small chance he was responsible for it's brewing, many a year ago. He thinks better of mentioning that part.

'I reckon you’re a card shark, Detective.' There was a time those words would have been backed up by shooting irons. Even today, with that time so long ago behind him, with most men he would have instinctively reached for a revolver with wasn't there and then cursed at his own stupidity. Tim's affable nature overcame that old old instinct. Instead he takes the compliment as it was intended.

He would normally have deeply appreciated Tim's introduction, and would have seized on it with all the gusto it merited. However the incredulity on his face clearly marked how totally he had missed his opening.

The silence hangs for a while, until he becomes aware he was expected to say something. He ran the last few things said through again, paying attention for the first time, and curses himself. 'Sadly in this city it's more like the Wire. Still, I do what I can. I'm sorry Tim.' He cocked his head, studying the much younger man 'I can't imagine anyone powerbombing you. Not unless I've deeply mistaken the meaning of the word.'

[SuperMuldoon]

Alan Ballard - Helios

His sensors spot the young man, anxiously fretting about some scientific problem. Alan is spotted by the young man, who stares at him in apparent wonder, mouth agape. He decides to indulge the young man and heads over, his footfalls heavy on the glass floor.

"Science homework in the middle of one of Fortune City's most extravagant and popular casinos? Gutsy move." he says, a little curious as to the young man's choice of study environments.

[Starsign]

Magnam Caelo, The Bar

At the bar with Tim and Mason, the blonde female gives a small chuckle as she begins easing up around them. "Actually I kinda guessed more CSI Miami rather than Miami Vice. I'm more interested in mystery and investigation fiction than action." She goes to shake Mason's hand, her arm a little shaky despite the smile on her face. "I'm Alicia. Good to meet you."

She takes a seat at the bar, looking back to Tim with casual interest, yet she acts as if he's a childhood hero of hers. "I never thought I'd meet you here. I started watching wrestling a few months ago thanks to a friend of mine. He's a newcomer to the league. Ever heard of Deathless?" Tim has heard the name before. He's a surprisingly large wrestler who had came into the circuit recently as a Heel. He's known for his aggressiveness and arrogance/honor (depending on who Tim has heard it from) in the ring. "He's actually excited to meet you one day. I'm... not sure whether it'd be in or out of the ring, but he's taken a lot of interest ever since you showed up on the news."

She goes to playfully whisper in Tim's ear. "Don't tell anyone else, but I think he's become quite the fan."

Magnam Caelo, Upper Floor

"It's... It's not a crime, is it?" The scientist responds, intimidated by Helios' battlesuit. "I've actually only started- Er, continued my studying a few minutes ago. Been here over an hour now, waiting on dinner after trying out all the gambling stuff downstairs. Thought it might be interesting if one can compare gambling to science experiments but that theory was debunked when I realized gambling doesn't let you directly control it's components."

The man wore simple clothes, a white work shirt and black jeans. Well-brushed, smooth hair showed that he had cleaned himself up quite well before coming here. "I'm looking into the treatment of cells, specifically damaged or cancerous ones that are better off destroyed than they are cured." He shakes his head and sighs. "It does sound a little crazy, but I think I might be able to make it work. Problem is trying to find a mixture that can remove the damaged cells without killing healthy ones. I come up with many mathematical formulas to try to find the perfect mixture, but nothing seems right at all. This isn't even factoring in how to make the chemical without some crazy chemical reaction from damaging half the lab."

He looks at the chef's area for a quick moment before devastatingly stating, "I guess you could say I'm one of those people who try to reach out to the impossible boundaries of science." He eyes Helios' battlesuit with such admirable curiosity. "Seems like you were one of the few who succeeded if you built it yourself." He pulls out a small smile. "You fancy biology at all?"

Fortune City, Abandoned Area

The document Rudy got a hold of is a business transaction with the dealer he had just left. It states that components and metal Rudy probably has never heard of were to be sent to a warehouse in a small, abandoned area off of Fortune City. No further details are stated, but the lead means that Rudy can find and attempt to lock down WARD's shady business with black market dealers.

The warehouse is found after much scouring and searching through alleyways. It's structure is that of metal, sturdy enough to not collapse in on itself but also not exactly impenetrable for someone strong and cunning enough to bypass it. Compared to the rest of the nearby buildings however, it's been in better maintenance than it's brick-associated counterparts.

Rudy has a few options. If he can find a way on the roof, he may know how to get in from above in case there might be guards inside. Alternatively he could head in through one of the two windows on the side of the warehouse, though they have been covered with a white paint making it impossible to look through them. Or if Rudy wishes to go straight in, he can always break down the door with his ice and charge in; it'd be a quick and easy way inside though possibly more dangerous.

[ChronicLunacy]

Frostbite -- Fortune City, Abandoned Area

Ice armor began to grow over his clothes as soon as Frostbite figured out that he was at the right warehouse. He made a cursory examination of the premises, trying to figure out the best way in, but his hatred was quickly overriding his patience. Eventually, Rudy just put his hands on one of the walls. The metal surface instantly began to frost over as super-cold began corroding and brittling the material, causing it to crack and break under its own weight. Soon, the entire section of the wall he was touching collapsed like pieces of cheap glass and he walked right in, growing ice swords into his hands as he stalked inside.

Well, he decided against the subtle route AND the door. So hopefully this will cause some more surprise than if he'd just broken down the front door.
Weaken Toughness 10, Brittle Touch, Fortitude Resist, Affects Objects
I'm pretty sure that inanimate objects don't get Fort Saves? If so then a Weaken Toughness 10 effect likely brings it down to 0 Toughness and simply shatters the metal as described. Correct me if I'm wrong?

[smuchmuch]

The lady shoot a slightly disaprooving look at the lawman, getting out after only one round ? Admitedly the game isn't very the most exciting, few people and low stakes, but still, somewhat disapointing.

"You have travelled much ?". It's very short and barely noticable but there is a slighlty dreamy flash in the Lady eyes as Greg speaks of travel. By nature, the Lady is a very fixed person.
Not that she mind in the slightest; of course she knows fortune city in the best place of the world to be. And yet, yet, sometime a small part of her wonders if there's isn't something out there she's missing, if it wouldn't be worth one day, oh not anytime soon of course, to find a way to well, be abe to move a bit. They say travels broaden the mind; even if just to experience in wich way home is so vastly superior.
"I'd like to hear more." Felicity smiles; the lawman can wait a bit, Greg caught her interest. Oh, and he's (obviously) up to something, and she intend to find what, that's part of the fun.

She looks around to the other people yet around the table, the angry Eastern woman and the other one, Linda, who is utterly unremaraquable before placing a chip on the table "Are you up for another round ?"

We'll do any further round of poker in narrative, I suppose, so vegue overview of how she plays:
Lady Luck is quite decent at bluff (12 +5 whenever atractive applies (she's not overly playing on that here, tho (well not much anyway, she's alway a bit of a flirt :smalltongue:)), less so in reading her opponents (Insight 8)
(She's also pretty knowlegeable player (expertise gambling (8)) but when acting as 'Felicity' she downplay it.)
She's generaly agressive in her play, usualy folding after the three card reveal if it looks defavorable, raising and checking a lot otherwise.

@ Star:
Lady Luck will actualy use her luck control power a bit, subtly, just a couple of deals. Not really even to win, but to see if/how Greg reacts to it.

[SuperCracker]

Tim McAllister

He laughed at what Mason had to say. Hard to imagine someone powerbombing him? “Happens every time I go out there, brotha. Or a chokeslam, or a DDT, or gettin’ put through a table if it’s a hardcore match. I’m the guy they bring in to lose.” He gave a lopsided grin at his complete lack of dignity when it came to that particular part-time job.

The young lady, Alicia, introduced herself. She sounded a little starstruck, but Tim wasn’t exactly a well-known wrestler. In fact, he’d seen the whole thing as a dead-end prior to the attention the bank robbery got him. Either way, kind of strange.

“Deathless? I’ve heard of ‘im. I ain’t met him, though. Big ole dude, though. Ain’t sure why he wants to meet me. I ain’t nobody special.” Says the man with super-speed that can bench press the Empire State Building. She whispers that the guy has become a fan, and he laughs it off. “You’re just tryin’ to flatter me.”

He grinned and gave Mason a clap on the back, friendly enough. “Let’s try some a’ that Bourbon you’re talkin’ about. Anythin’ from the South’s worth checkin’ out, at least.”

[Ladorak]

'Yes, the real stuff. Anything else is just Sour Mash. Care to join us for a drink, miss?' he assumed her agreement, and ordered up three glasses. 'If you don't mind me saying, it seems a waste of your talents Tim. "They" are missing a golden opportunity, and you deserve better treatment. I reckon Alicia has it right, you must be a match for the best.' The drinks arrive, and are apportioned out in quick time 'To your health.' He saluted, then drank.

[SuperMuldoon]

Helios

Alan nods as the man describes his work. "Sounds like you have your work cut out for you. But curing cancer, definitely a noble pursuit and one you should keep working at. Reaching for the 'impossible boundaries' as you put it is the way great discoveries are made. Just...don't blow up your lab." he says, adding a little snark into his voice for the last bit.

"The success of my suit is not mine alone to take credit for. There was a team...Anyway, yes we did break through one of those boundaries." he says, flexing his hands in his armored gauntlets, watching the machinery move his fingers one by one.

"Biology, not exactly my area of expertise but I am a student of all sciences."

[Green Bean]

'Linda' watched Mason and Tim walk away as she anted in once more. Tim didn't seem like the gambling type, but she didn't have Mason pegged for a such a lightweight. She noticed they'd headed for the bar, and resolved to go have a chat with them later on. "Looks like we had a real celebrity at our table. It's a small world. Don't you think?" She caught Felicity's eye and smiled sweetly. There was something about her that bugged her, but in her line of work paranoia didn't substitute for proper investigation.

[Starsign]

Magnam Caelo, The Bar

Alicia takes as simple shake of her head at Mason's offer. "I'd rather not drink, thanks," she says politely.

"Actually, Deathless didn't take much notice of you at first," she responds, turning her head away from Tim to hide any sort of embarrassment or worry. "He... he isn't exactly fond of those who prefer to lose." She pauses, shakes her head, then begins smiling again. "When he saw you on television, I think he realized you were a very different person than he had known from the wrestling world. In..." She shrugs her shoulders. "In a way I think that he finds that you are similar to him in some way." She happens to take another look on the selection of the bar as she swings her legs in a carefree way. "If you aren't too busy, I know of where you could meet him sometime from now."

Magnam Caelo, Upper Floor

The scientist takes a silent look at Helios' armor as the latter explains his suit. "Sounds like you had quite the cooperative one," he responds, a little jealous of Alan. "It's hard for my group to agree on one thing. We're all brilliant, at least I think so, but none of our ideas truly 'click' as well as I'd wish." He speaks with a little doubt, as if he isn't sure whether he should be here or back with the group he spoke about.

In the meantime however, he still seems interested in Helios. "Student of sciences sounds a little vague. Does that mean you are trained in all studies or simply in-training?" He takes another look down at his books and lays an elbow on the table out of slight despair; his hand supporting his head to keep from tilting on it's side. "If you don't mind, I could use someone to discuss in regards to science right now... If you aren't too busy on patrol or something."

Magnam Caelo, Poker Table

Greg simply shifts his eyes towards Felicity as she asks him about his traveling. "Partially. It started as an interest in visiting the United States and on the way there I just happened to find traveling the Earth quite fascinating. I actually happen to be from Greece; great place though it felt too stagnant in activity compared to other countries."

Maria takes this time to wave and take her leave as well, leaving Greg with the two ladies at the table. "So what about you both," he asks politely yet in less-than-somber interest. "Have either of you been to other countries before? You'd be amazed at the cultures you can discover."

Fortune City, Abandoned Area

Rudy's straight-forward plan might not have been the safest option for him, but it is definitely one of the more difficult to predict. The wall crumbles quickly upon touch and the resulting wall looks like it was blasted with dynamite after a cleanup crew swept through it.

Inside a large amount of wooden boxes lie on top of each other like a pyramid, filling up a large part of the warehouse. There are also four guards, each carrying an assault rifle of a model Rudy cannot make out at this time. Their bodies are covered in full black armor, from flak jackets to durable underlays to tight helmets and flash goggles. Their outfits hide their full bodies as well as their identities, along with their emotions. As soon as Rudy bursts in, the guards have their attentions shift frantically towards the former cop. "Intruder detected! Contact headquarters immediately!" In almost an instant, most of the guards move to formation. One loses his cool in the midst and ends up trying to shoot wildly at Frostbite. Two others however move to hide behind some of the spare boxes, as little cover as they might provide. One chooses to fire a few shots, more composed and accurate than the crazed guard. The other instead throws down a smoke bomb, beginning to obscure Rudy's eyesight with black-colored smoke.

Right before his vision gets obscured however, Rudy can see one other guard making a retreat, very likely off to contact WARD that their position is compromised.

Will make all my rolls on the OOC, hang tight CL.

[ChronicLunacy]

Frostbite
Dodge/Parry: 20
Condition: Unharmed
HP/LP: 0/1

When Frostbite stepped through the hole in the wall, bullets sparked and ricocheted off of the concrete at his feet and the rest of the metal siding behind him. Rudy's eyes narrowed and his temper started to flare. With a sort of How dare they shoot at me?! look, he made sure that they couldn't flee.

Even with the obscuring cloud, the guy running for help would end up at a dead end as a wall of ice formed over the doors and windows of the warehouse, preventing escape. Turning around, he'd notice the first screams through the smoke as Rudy tensed up, growing sharp spikes all over his arms and shoulders, then fired them off with two sweeping waves of his limbs. The guy who hadn't chosen to taken cover would soon find himself a very cold pincushion.

Spending a Hero Point for an extra standard action this turn. First covering the doors and windows in ice with Create Ice 10. Toughness DC20 for anyone trying to break it.

Secondly, going for a routine check (taking 10) on the guard who decided not to take cover for a 15 on the Damage 10, Ice Blast, Ranged, Multiattack attack. (-5 due to Total Concealment). DC25 Toughness check on a hit.

[Green Bean]

Avery laughed airily, though it trailed off into a somewhat unladylike snort. "Oh, no. Here is about as far away from home as I can afford. Maybe when I retire. It must be nice to be able to travel like that."

[smuchmuch]

"Looks like we had a real celebrity at our table. It's a small world. Don't you think?"

"It was over the afternoon news. Oh ! I should have asked for an autograph when I had the chance."
She does notice the slight change in attitude of the salewoman but doesn't wonder toomuch what it's about. She probably got a good hand and is trying to psych her out. All Avery gets in return to her sweet smile is a look of complete innocence.


""Have either of you been to other countries before?""

"Sorry, I'm a very local girl. I've done a few road trip in the South but that's about it" And that's a lie, the only time she ever went further than two miles of fortune city was in Reno, circumstances were a bit particular and it was a very short trip. Felicity shakes her head before looking at her cards and placing a chips on the table.
"I check. I hope I get the occasion to travel later. Where have you been, Greg ? Any country you'd recomend visiting ?

[SuperMuldoon]

Helios

"Well, there's always difficulties when working with people. Though I feel the ability to bounce ideas off each other, and have different viewpoints promotes greater advancement then simply working alone in a vacuum." he says to the young man, remembering the good times working with his father and team.

"I say student because do any of us ever stop learning? I know that I am always studying and learning new things, despite what I have accomplished already. My main focus was engineering and physics - applied sciences. However, I have learned quite a bit about all the fields, so while biology isn't exactly my main area of expertise - I am familiar with the material." he says amicably. "And I am not on patrol, just relaxing here at this fine establishment to which I was invited. I can lend an ear if you'd like, though depending on what exactly I was invited her for I may have to leave quite abruptly."

[Starsign]

Magnam Caelo, Upper Floor

The scientist nods to Helios, slowly opening up to the hero despite Alan being in a battlesuit. "Thanks. Most people don't have the time to listen, much less offer some advice or direction. At my workplace, a scientist who has time to help someone else is considered a scientist that is slacking on their job." He looks back at his book, studying it with vigor while descriptively talking to Helios.

"As I said, I'm working on a medical idea of a mixture that can destroy damaged cells without harming the rest of the body. I've thought of factors like pH, elements, and dilutions with both water and blood types. The closest I've come so far is finding an element combination that can closely cooperate with B+ human blood. Yet I feel that I haven't quite figured out where to go from there or how to make the mixture more compatible with other blood types." He places his hand to his mouth as he gives out an audible hum. "What might you think," he asks Helios, "perhaps I'm missing more variables or might I just need to do some more editing on what equations I've got so far?

Magnam Caelo, Poker Table

Greg simply nods to Avery, showing what seems like a lack of interest in her. Though between her looks and her... interesting style, it's hard to find anything notable about her. This is excluding the fact that she seems like someone who's only a little less than crazy.

Instead he finds more interest in Felicity. As the cards come around again, he leans back a bit and smiles. "Oh there are plenty of countries to visit. Even if I got bored of Greece, it's a great place for a foreign traveler to visit sometime. Heard Canada is a pretty nice place too. That's where I plan to head next. If it's good enough I may even retire there. What about you two? Ever had a country either of you wanted to visit someday?"

Fortune City, Abandoned Area

The sweeping icicles sent out firmly nail the lone, uncovering guard. The nailed guard is sent backwards into the wall, stuck on the ice for a brief moment before the icicle shatters. He falls to the ground, badly injured and out "cold" but alive, barely.

The other three guards seem less interested with their fallen ally and more focused on Rudy and the barrier of ice that has trapped them all in. Rudy can't tell the emotion behind any of the suits these supposed WARD men have, but he can tell that they had not expected ice walls to form up. The guard who had attempted to retreat takes a couple steps back in surprise. Shortly however he moves up to the wall and bends down. Rudy can't get a good look but he can guess that the guard is planting something to remove the wall.

The other two guards meanwhile aim to assist the preparing guard. Both still behind cover, one of them begins firing wildly, prompting covering fire rather than intending to gun down Rudy. The other however aims to keep him stunned. Another small object is thrown at Rudy's feet, this time releasing a sudden burst of electric energy. The lightning courses through Rudy's body, threatening to paralyze him in place.

One of the guards is taking no offensive action against Rudy. Another is using Covering Fire to provide Full Cover to the non-aggressive guard. You may choose to ignore cover and hit him, but you will first be automatically hit and will need to make a DC 21 Toughness save.

The other guard throws a stun grenade at Rudy. DC 17 Fort save to avoid being Dazed/Stunned. DC 17 Reflex for half DC of the other save.

[Green Bean]

Avery leaned back as she looked at her cards. "Oh, all sorts of places. China, Saudi Arabia, Ethopia, any of them would be neat. Not the touristy parts, though. They're too, what's the word? Safe. And I get enough safe back home. What's a good time without a little risk? She flourished her cards a little to emphasize her point.

[Ladorak]

Mason's eyes narrow. He has a deep and abiding distrust of teetotallers and Alicia was acting (To his mind) suspiciously. 'You can tell your friend that any problems he has with Tim, he can take them up in the ring. Anything more than that, anything that breaks the law, he'd be well advised to let this "professional" interest go. Frankly if the whole thing is staged I think your boy might be taking it a bit too seriously, don't you?'

[smuchmuch]

"I think I'd like to visit Athene, London, Paris, Cairo." Monaco, Macau, Singapore to be more honnest. "But Canada ?" Felicity sounds a tad disapointed, she was expecting a more exotic choice. "I suppose it's nice but it's a bit ...rural isn't it ?"
"Besides isn't it a bit early to think about retirement ?"

"What's a good time without a little risk?"

"You don't say." Falicity hides a little smile behing her card. Looking at Linda, it's kinda hard to imagine as a thrillseeker. Except possibly in her choice of clothes and haircut.
"I agree" She barely glance at the three cards that have been revealed on the table. With only three peoples and small stakes the game isnt too fascinating. "All in."

[Starsign]

Magnam Caelo, The Bar

Alicia puts her hand to her mouth at Mason's warning. "What? N-no that's not it at all!" She keeps herself from raising her voice to avoid attracting attention to the three of them. "He just wants to casually meet Aegis. Deathless doesn't have any sort of ill will to him." She seems a bit upset by Mason, looking to Tim to see his own opinion or reaction.

Suddenly there is a blaring siren coming from the nearby slot machine areas. A young man with short blonde hair can be seen sitting next to the machine, panicking significantly before he is escorted away by three security guards. Alicia pays a small notice of attention to it before looking back to Tim in silence. The entrance to the slot machines has a rather big sign indicating that the machines have capabilities to detect metahuman capabilities that can manipulate or change the machine in some sort or another. Generally it usually detects luck or probability users, however use of powers that can cause a third-correlation effect, like accidentally smashing it with super-strength or heating it up with temperature control can set off it's siren as well.

SC, Lad, you may both roll for Intuition Insight if you'd like.

Magnam Caelo, Poker Table

"That is exactly the point Felicity," Greg chuckles in response. "I'd prefer to settle down somewhere nice and quiet. Greece was exotic enough to grow up in; I wouldn't mind a peaceful set of retirement years really." He watches Felicity go all-in, and folds calmly as a result. "And yes it is early; I like to plan ahead... And of course, plans always change." he shrugs his shoulders at his words. "So you could say that I never learn. But we're all human, right?"

Suddenly there is a blaring siren coming from the nearby slot machine areas. A young man with short blonde hair can be seen sitting next to the machine, panicking significantly before he is escorted away by three security guards. Greg watches with a bit of concern. "Goodness. And here I thought everyone would have read the warning sign before using those." The entrance to the slot machines has a rather big sign indicating that the machines have capabilities to detect metahuman capabilities that can manipulate or change the machine in some sort or another. Generally it usually detects luck or probability users, however use of powers that can cause a third-correlation effect, like accidentally smashing it with super-strength or heating it up with temperature control can set off it's siren as well.

[Green Bean]

Avery calmly met Felicity's gaze before folding once more. She glanced over at the commotion and looked almost sympathetic. "Poor guy. He should have known the house always wins." She sent out a searching thought, subtly probing the mind of this apparent metahuman.

Mind Reading: [roll0]

[smuchmuch]

"Indeed it does" Felicity nods apparently simpatheticaly but with just a slight hint, only a an very attentive listener would notice it but it's there alright, of pride beaming through. But that could be just because she's raking in the chips she just won. Come to mama, little ones.

(Actualy the Lady doesn't care all that much about a metahuman cheater or two; as long as they long as they don't crash the whole system. After all the Lady is a spirit of gambling as well and this is a free country, if some people decide to use their natural abilities to give themselves a little edge, who is she to blame them ? As long they don't get caught or get too big idead, that is. Still, it's alway nice to see the system works smootly.)

"Good thing for him it's the Caleo, though." The worst he's risking is to be persona non grata for a while and a spot on the black list. There other establishements who would have been .. less magnanimous. Who's the poor idiot anyway ?


Expertise (fortune city life)
Or (gambling) wichever most apropriate [roll0] to see if that guy rings any bells as a known superhuman or cheater

[Ladorak]

Insight check: [roll0]

[ChronicLunacy]

Frostbite
Fortune City, Abandoned Area
Dodge/Parry: 20
Condition: Unharmed
HP/LP: 0/1

Frostbite stepped back, covering his face, when what turned out to be some sort of stun grenade landed at his feet. Fortunately, he reacted quickly enough that he didn't take the full brunt of the shock when it went off. Growling, Frostbite closed in on the source of the attack, charging the guard that had thrown the weapon through the hail of bullets. The autofire rounds [i]pinged[/b] off of his armor, chipping away at it and tossing small showers of ice into the air before Frostbite reached his target, but didn't do enough damage to even slow him down.

Reaching out with both hands, Frostbite ignored the guard's weapons and instead roughly grabbed the man by the throat. The guard would immediately feel the metahuman's arctic touch lance through any intervening layers of clothing and start to flash freeze his body. It wasn't enough to kill him, but it was something like rapid onset hypothermia. Unless he could somehow muster up the strength to resist, he would be quickly reduced to a shivering pile of pain on the floor.

Toughness DC21: [roll0]
Affliction 10, Cold Touch, Fortitude Resist, Fatigued-Exhausted-Incapacitated, Progressive: Routine Attack versus Minion for a 20.

[Starsign]

Magnam Caelo, Poker Table

Greg nods in silence with a small smile as the cards are dealt out again."Agreed. In my line of thought, I believe the best way to play is to play safe... or not play at all. In the case of those machines I much prefer my latter strategy. What about you two?"

Avery:
The mind of the man you can read shows signs of frantic, confused emotions. Unless he's using impossible skill in hiding his thoughts, he seems really innocent and that his mess is nothing more than an accident. He does make the thoughtful mention that he hopes his fiancee won't learn about his time here...

Felicity:
Felicity knows the poor guy as a metahuman known as Markus Clint, a construction worker who has the power of emitting an aura of flames, or at the barest minimum a warm heat sense from his body. He has no actual way of turning off his aura, instead only able to have it at it's lowest level at best. It's probable his aura heated up the slot machine for it to have set off. He'll probably be fine so long as he tells the truth and makes sure never to go to the slot machines again.

Fortune City, Abandoned Area

The guard grabbed by Frostbite struggles a bit before the arctic touch rings the body unconscious, flopping over like a ragdoll in the vigilante's hand. By this point the other two guards have gotten the memo that they aren't exactly going to stop an enraged metahuman who easily takes out armed guards. With one giving a nod to the other, the two make a move and begin running out through the way Frostbite entered.

If Frostbite will want to hunt down those last two guards, he'll need to move immediately to catch up. On the other hand, they have abandoned their supplies here, letting Rudy view through them in case there might be something of value here. If he is to do this however, he will need to be quick. It's likely that the guards might be back with something more resembling a platoon if Rudy decides to take his time.

Unless I might have made a mistake, I believe we are out of combat now.

Magnam Caelo, The Bar

Lad, I am waiting on you to update your IC post with Mason's response. Hope this won't be an issue :smallsmile:

[Ladorak]

Mason turned from Alicia to Tim, with every intention of warning the young man off. He opened his mouth to speak, and then clamped it shut when he saw Tim's face.

Tim's face was a closed as a copy of the 1921 Oxford Dictionary in the Library of Tomorrow. Either the young hero had also noticed something fishy about Alicia, or he wasn't remotely interested in meeting Deathless. Mason hoped it was the latter, to his mind naivety was an important part of being young.

'I'm thinking Tim's not really... feeling it' It was a constant effort to keep up with the ever changing nature of language, and it occasionally produced some embarrassing moments, such as that one. If Mason sounded like an old man attempting to sound like a youngster, well, to hell with it, that was what he was. 'Maybe another time.' He sipped his drink thoughtfully as he watched the young cheater get led away 'I don't suppose either of you know who runs this joint?' There were a number of Casinos that would kill cheats if they could get away with it and Mason, who had gunned down more than one card cheat and was entirely aware of the hypocrisy, didn't intend on letting them get away with it.

[SuperMuldoon]

Helios

Alan listened to the young man attentively, hoping to be able to help him with his difficulties. "Hmm...it is difficult to say exactly. I would have to see your research notes to see just what your results have been so far. If you wouldn't mind forwarding them to me I'd be happy to take a look at them." he says, and gives the man an email address where he can contact him.

"If you've made progress toward the interactions with B+ blood I would say continue on in that direction until you know what exactly you have. Just remember to review your results with your teammates, they could provide insight you yourself has missed."

[SuperCracker]

Tim McAllister

Hey, the drink lessons from Mason were pretty cool, but the little blonde here had gone from zero to weird-as-hell in under a minute. As had been stated earlier in Lad’s post, Tim was looking at her as if she were a crazy leper.

“Look here, lady… I ain’t gone go drop everythin’ and meet some crazy dude named Deathface,” yeah he got it wrong, so what? “If he wants to say hi, he can do it when we’re workin’ together. Though if he’s as weird as you make me think he is, maybe he oughtta go meet a therapist instead. Sheeeeeeit.”

The last word is drawn out as he gives her a final look. He then nudged Mason with his shoulder and he started walking off. “Come on, homey. Let’s go find someone else to talk to. Maybe they can tell you who the boss man is instead of Deathmouse or whatever.”

[Ladorak]

Mason smiled at Tim 'No need to look far son.' He said with deep satisfaction.

He want back to the bar, sipping one drink. He set Alicia's spare on the counter (For later) and reached into his pocket to get his badge. He set it down on the counter too, and sipped his drink.

He waited for the barman to take that in 'Who runs this place? Who runs security?' He sipped his drink.

[Starsign]

Magnam Caelo, Poker Table

As the card game goes on, something becomes very apparent; Felicity is a damn good player at poker. Despite the rough first round, she has started getting lucky and racking up chips like she can read the minds of her opponents. In short time she completely dried up Greg's and "Linda's" $50.

Greg looks in both surprise and frustration, mostly trying to mask it with a look of curiosity. "Well, that's new. I rarely do lose in poker, much less this badly." He stands from his chair, finished with the game now. "Guess it does tell me that I'm rather rusty. Better practice up before going for another round at cards."

He takes one look at Felicity and smiles amusingly. "Felicity and Linda was it? It's good to have met both of you." Unless either woman stops him, Greg says his farewells and goes to examine the rest of the casino.

Magnam Caelo, The Bar

Alicia is less than comfortable by the reactions Mason and Tim gave her. "B-bu-" She begins a weak attempt to defend herself and her discussion, but fails to do so by any means. Instead she droops her head down to the ground for a moment before nodding slowly and deciding to leave.

The barman in the meantime takes a look at Mason's badge while taking Tim's empty drink glass and giving him another full one. "Hmm..." He gives off a quiet hum as he looks at the badge, then to Mason. "Take it up with the security chief," he says bluntly to the police officer. There's a sign that the barman isn't fond of seeing authority while at work. He points towards to a door in the corner of the large casino room with the words "STAFF ONLY" on it. "Be sure to show your badge out when entering. Security isn't fond of people entering suddenly if they don't know you're an officer."

Magnam Caelo, Upper Floor

The scientist nods once more to Helios, looking at the guy in the battlesuit somewhat like a mentor. He takes the e-mail address and puts it away carefully. "Thanks. So then I should focus on working on what I have now instead of spreading out? I'll keep that in mind." He gives off a small smile as he gives Helios a small card with his own e-mail address on it. The address also gives his name, "Vince. E."

"It was good to meet you. I'll send you the details when I find time." He pauses to think for a moment before asking. "Would it be alright if I mentioned you to the other scientists of my group? I think they could use a bit of your advice that I'd like to try and tell them if they'll listen to me for a change."

[smuchmuch]

"Going so soon ? I would have though a man who travelled so much would have hundreds of annecdotes to tell over a drink ?" Felicity smiles charminly as Greg leaves the table. The man doesn't seem too interested; she must loosing her touch. "A pleasure then." The conversation wasn't as interesting as she hopped for but she's still feeling he's up to something, she does intend to keep an eye on him later.

"I am getting somewhat thirsty." she nods in direction of the bar before pushing a good handfull of coins on the table "A last chance to gain some of it back ? Game of you choice. 0ne hand, sudden death."

[Ladorak]

Mason smiled mockingly as the barman as he put his badge away. 'Thanks partner, you've been mighty helpful. You take care now.' Leaving a tip that was just small enough to be insulting Mason made for the STAFF ONLY room.

[SuperCracker]

Tim McAllister

Mason’s after something here. Tim’s not sure what it is, but he thinks it’ll be cool if they find whatever he’s looking for. So, he walks along with Mason, first to the bartender, who gave the most useless answer he could’ve given while technically being helpful. Tim gave him a glare for being rude to Mason. A glare from Tim’s a scary thing, indeed. He’s got lots of force of personality… and if that doesn’t work, he could just cave in the building.

Anyway, they make their way over to the door. Tim reached out and knocked his knuckles against it lightly… which really means it would be loud enough to get the attention of anyone in said room.

“So uh… what’re we lookin’ for here, Mason?”

[Ladorak]

''Just sniffing after trouble Tim. 90% of police work is chasing up dead ends.' He smiled, half bitterly, half in genuine amusement 'And the other 90% is paper work.'
Making sure his badge is out of sight but close to hand he pushed open the security room door.

[SuperMuldoon]

Helios

Alan nodded to the young man. "Of course. Good luck with your experiment, I'm looking forward to seeing the results of your hard work." he says, a small hatch of his suit opening for him to drop the card into.

Wishing Vince well, Helios excuses himself to get some food. He strolls over to the chef's area. "Give me a plate of whatever's best." he says, eyeing the food hungrily from behind his helmet.

[Green Bean]

Linda smiled genuinely, with just a hint of shark behind it. "Sure, why not?"

She reached over and grabbed a face down card from her hand in the last round. She'd folded, so no one but her had seen it. She slid it across the table and left it in front of the pile of chips. "This is something I used to play with my brother when we wanted to decide who did the dishes. Rules are simple. Red, or black?"

She gave Felicity a wink. "I'll even give you a hint. It's black."

[smuchmuch]

"Sorry, I'm immune to Iocane powder." Felicity look franky amused. Linda doesn't look like someone who could palm cards in her hand, so it's a fair bet. She does look like someone who would try to bluff. Not all that well. "Let's up the stakes: looser has to pay a drink for both."

"Black."


Out of fairness (and frankly given how low the odds are for both characters, really :smalltongue:) , Lady luck is not cheating and she complelty misreaded 'Linda' (avery has so much bluff that it seems fair)

[Green Bean]

"Deal."


"Black."

Linda kept her poker face for a moment, but dropped it as she flipped over the card. "Good guess. 5 of Clubs. Drinks are on me, then!"

She led Felicity over to the bar. "A Night and the City cocktail for me, and get her whatever she'd like."

[Starsign]

Magnam Caelo, The Bar

The barman gives an analytical look to both Linda and Felicity as they approach the bar. He puts away a glass he was cleaning beforehand before bringing out another one and prepares the cocktail for Linda. "And for you miss?" He makes a courteous, if blunt question to Felicity.

In the meantime of making the cocktails, the barman takes the moment to ask the two women a question. "I noticed you both at poker earlier. Common players there?"

Magnam Caelo, Upper Floor

The smells of the kitchen can be found even through Helios' armor as the aroma seeps him away to a momentary paradise. The food made here seem nothing short of incredible quality, more impressive that it is made where commoners can watch rather than a secure, sealed-off kitchen.

The chef first to meet the man in the battlesuit is a rather large chef, bright in mood with a smile and a grizzled look with bald hair. From what Helios could see, this chef looks like the oldest chef among the cooks. "Whatever is best you say," he responds to Helios is a rather loud and cheerful way, "Why everything here is the best! Salmon, Salad, Chicken, Pork, Soups, we've got it all. Let's hear some specifics kid!"

Magnam Caelo, Security Room

Exiting the main casino and down a short hallway to the security room, Mason and Tim enters a casual room that's rather mundane compared to the exotic works before. The room holds a rather shiny baige wall paint, spreading out across the room alongside a brown linen rug. In the room is a TV resting on the left side of the room that is about 40' in size, not even widescreen. Numerous pop-open chairs laze about both towards the TV and to a small table, which lies next to a small kitchen area found on the wall opposite to that of the TV, At the back of the room is an apparent path that almost immediately turns right. The sign on the wall indicates it to be a locker room.

Several men work about in the room, some watching a football game happening while others are having dinner from the kitchen. All 6 of them present are in their uniforms at this time, probably with body armor underneath it too. One of the men, a red-haired man in his apparent late 20s approaches the two, looking at Mason first. "Excuse me, but you are not supposed to be here," he states to the two with a blunt yet surprisingly polite tone. Often one who enters a staff-only room gets kicked out quickly. "If you don't have proper credentials and a proper reason for being here, you will need to leave."

Still waiting on CL, but I will continue without him if he keeps this up.

[smuchmuch]

Lady Luck

"Good choice. I'll take a 'Fotrune's Smile' with extra gin"

"First time here." felicity answers truthfully ...for that particular persona. She has the kind of smile (and body) that tend to be remembered by men if they saw it before. "i just try my luck to make neds met, hardly what you'd call a common player." More like a permanent one, but the game is not visible to many. "Why do you ask ?"

[Starsign]

Magnam Caelo, The Bar

The barman gives a simple nod to Felicity, definitely seeing her feminine charm. "I just noticed the success you had over there. You could say I'm impressed." He finishes preparing his drinks as he hands them over to Linda and Felicity. "One Night and the City and Fortune's Smile for the ladies; fresh gin, not sweetened. I find my customers here dislike the artificial flavor added to it." He gives a nod to them both as he moves left to meet with another customer at the far end of the bar.

Moments later, sirens begin blaring across the room. Looking behind them, Avery and Lady Luck can see that some, which is to say a majority of the slot machines have their alarms going off. The people involved are, to say the least, confused or scared. Moments later, a small group of security, measuring no more than 4-5 members is seen coming out of a "Staff Only" room, led by a red-haired man in his late 20s. The chief presses the palm of his hand to his forehead in shock of the incident and then quietly says something on a commlink before bringing in an attempt to calm the civilians down.

Avery and Felicity are both welcome to help around or investigate while this is going on.

Magnam Caelo, Upper Floor

With the sound as generally calm as it is here, it takes a moment for Alan to notice that chaos seems to be ensuing from below. Bright red sirens beep from numerous slot machines that people were at, indicating that something had been tempered with or set off their alarm... somehow. Helios can see that security is being brought in, sadly undermanned at this time. Looks like they didn't expect this big a mess to occur.

Helios then notices the stairs to the lower floor is sealed off, leaving people unable to enter or leave at this time. The head chef comes out to the crowd, now speaking in a serious tone like that of what authority would use. "People, everyone remain calm! We have an unexpected accident and have been ordered to keep everyone here for the time being. You don't want to be down there and no one can leave at this time. Remain calm and we can get through this with as little frustration as possible."

Suddenly he turns and pulls up to the counter a plate of roasted lobster, toasted with lettuce slices and sauced with mustard. He pulls out another, bigger tray, containing a cook turkey, pineapple slices placed on the side as the meat is stuffed with bread bits and spices. The sight of it can be stated as delicious. The chef returns to his bright, energetic mood as he calls out, "Now who wants to eat!"

Now Helios could stay and eat, but with how things look from up where he is, it may take security a bit of time to sort things out on their own. Perhaps he can convince the head chef to let him down, or find a more frontal or creative to get down if he so chooses to.

Magnam Caelo, Security Room

Before there is any further conversation made, a red light above the door Tim and Mason entered goes off. The security chief focuses away from the two and towards his comm. "Another slot alarm?" He speaks like he was expecting this, as if it occurred frequently. After getting the response from whoever is on the other side of communications, the chief gives off a wave to some of the other chiefs in indication to follow him. He looks back to Tim and Mason, quickly stating, "As I said, you two should leave." before quickly moving down the hall with 3-4 officers in tow. He doesn't give Tim or Mason time to react.

As the chief leaves, Tim and Mason hears a strange, almost ominous hissing sound. It isn't of the ordinary, not helped by the fact that there is a tiring compulsion trying to overcome the officers in the room. Mason and Tim however seem perfectly fine.

Both of you please make notice checks. Normally you would make a Fort save here but both of you are immune. :smallwink:

[Ladorak]

Awareness: [roll0]

[SuperCracker]

Aegis

Perception: [roll0]

[Green Bean]

"Oh, wow." Avery's eyes flickered over the scene, missing nothing. This was too high end of a casino for a random mechanical failure of this magnitude. It bore investigation. Of course, it'd be easier with a partner, preferably one with a poker face and in the mood for a little fun. She turned up the drunk just a teensy bit and leaned over to Felicity. "Hey, what would you say to a little adventure? That right there, that's a mystery. Wouldn't it be fun if we solved it and were the heroes of the night?"

Perception: [roll0]

[smuchmuch]

Twice in a row ? Okay that deserves investigation.

"Oh I would never" Felicity finishes her coktail, quite innocently.

"You sneak up, I'll distract the guards" Felicity whispers when the barman is out of hearing range. She sounds apropriatly conspiratorially excited with a point of childish amusement like you'd expect from a complete amateur who play spy.

The Lady also has absolutly no intention of doing so. It's a tad mischevious of her but hey the worst that'll happen to Linda will be to be scolded and maybe a stern and much needed sobering . And while the drunk get caugt, she can use that short distraction to do her own thing.


She's all heart, isn't she ?
Should I roll bluff ? (Against LL 12 deception. Pretty sure, Avery could actualy see right though that quite easily but maybe she'll play along. Up to GB)

[Green Bean]

Avery grinned. Avery kept getting hints of something from Felicity. It didn't seem malicious, but she clearly wasn't being entirely straightforward. Of course, objecting too much would be a little suspicious. "All right, let's do this." She looked out over the crowd and the harried security team. Physical infiltration was not her speciality. So, she casually and openly strolled over to the scene, relying on the general confusion and the overwhelming preoccupation of security to keep her from getting intercepted. If she got caught, she still had her silver tongue.

Not even going to try Stealthing. If she's caught, she's caught.

[Starsign]

Magnam Caelo, Security Room

In the now-screeching hissing sounds and gas that suddenly forms, Mason finds himself better off wearing a blindfold while trying to look around. He can't really see what happened to the other officers, much less where the hissing sound is coming from. Tim however is more keen on the occasion and quickly spots the culprit. A small, round, grenade-like object lies on the ground, sending out the gas all over the room. Around the room as well lie the rest of the security men, slumped over on the ground or in a chair for one lucky case. A quick check reveals that the guards are simple asleep; it's easy to come to the conclusion that the device giving off the gas is a sleeping grenade of some sort. By the lack of a big sound it made, it's likely that the device rolled to it's position rather than was simply dropped. In fact Tim recalls that the hissing sound originally came behind and underneath him before it entered the room, indicating that it might have come from the hallway they entered.

Two other things become noticeable to Tim. For one, Mason is not asleep from the gas unlike all the other guards. A bit... odd for a normal officer. The other thing of note doesn't happen to be in the room itself, but in the hallway he and Mason were just in. Suddenly the hallway is up in bright red flames, blocking the way for the two to safely leave from that direction. What seems odd is that the flames are not spreading to all in sight, instead staying directly on the spot that it's burning. In addition, Both Tim and Mason can tell that the flames feel hotter than normal fires. It'll likely burn the more durable characters if they risk passing through it.

If the two want to not brave the fires or find a way to remove it, they can always head to the far end of the room to check what is in the locker area. Or there is a door at the end of the small kitchen that leads somewhere, possibly outside. Either way could be a suitable option.

HP to Mason for the Identity complication.

Magnum Caelo, Lower Floor

Avery can notice that security is doing a poor job with the civilians. Some of them are attempting to run out of the building while others end up on the ground with their hands in the air. Enough of a keen eye helps her avoid getting caught up in the mess. In this commotion, it would be easy for one to simply pass by. In the case of the slot machines however, one of the security men quickly notice the apparently-drunk woman trying to enter. One of the men with a sharp voice calls out to her. "You, woman! This is a restricted area. Move away or get on the ground!" He speaks in panic, troubled and preoccupied by the situation. At the moment he seems too busy to stop Avery at the moment but it would be best to not stay on his bad side when he finds a moment of free time.

As for Lady Luck, whatever her plan is, it wasn't to help Avery sneak in.

Waiting on your action smuch.

[smuchmuch]

'Felicity' gives a thumb up to Linda, then mixes herself in the crowd.

A second later, a security guard makes it's way up to the slots while pushing a few people away on the way with comments along the line of 'sorry, Restricted". While the others are busy dealing with the crowd, 'he' gets closer.

Morph to move near (past, if possible) the guards.
Waiting to see if it works before doing anything else.

edit: Star confirms it'd work so next move
The lady is going to use 'communicate with machines'

But since that means switching arrays and temporarily drop the morph, she's going to create a small distraction first by use Jinx (small 2 pp feature, cause a small lucky/unlucky event) on someone in the crowd (by which I mean likely Avery, as luck would have it :smalltongue:).

I'll roll for stealth, if needed

While the 'others' are busy doing their job, the security guards moves into the perimeter looking for a pace out of sight behing one of the slot machines. She'd like to have them look in the other direction for a short moment, though. With a hand behind her back, she discretly wiggle a finger in dirrection of the crowd.

Then she put her hand on a machine, waiting for a window of opportunity to drop her disguise and ask
"Alright little one, what happened ?"

[SuperCracker]

Tim McAllister

Tim heard, then saw a small object roll its way into the room, then begin to spew gas. Well, that wasn’t good. He took a deep sniff of the stuff. It didn’t really have an odor. Then everyone started to drop to the floor, with the exception of Mason. Tough son of a b*tch.

“Well that ain’t good,” Tim commented. The gas wasn’t affecting him in the slightest, it seemed.

The powerhouse turned towards the door when he noticed that it was on fire. Double that ain’t good. Seeing as how that’s the direction the grenade came from, the dudes who threw it had to be in that direction. Tim’s a regular Sherlock Holmes.

“Yo Mason, hold your breath for a sec.”

Not knowing whether this would help or not, Tim stomped on the grenade. Hopefully the condensed liquid inside would spill out instead of sprew out as gas. And if it didn’t… no difference. Then Tim turned to the problem of the fire. Now, he reckoned he could walk through it and probably be okay. But Mason, on the other hand…

So the obvious answer was to make a new exit.

“Hang tight, homey,” Tim said as he moved into the hallway. If he was right… on the other side of this wall was the floor. Tim then shoulder-rushes the wall with all the super-strength he can muster. That’s the Kool-Aid maneuver.

[Ladorak]

'Hold up Tim!' Mason shouts just before the irrepressible young man plowed through a wall 'Can't fault your reasoning kid, but you ain't in possession of all the facts.' With danger on the horizon the Lawman reverts to his usual exaggerated cowboy drawl and vocabulary. Force of habit is a hard thing to break, especially when that habit goes back further than you can remember. He sighed 'I was gonna tell you Tim, I promise. I was leading up to it tonight, didn't want you to find out like this though.'

Mason runs to the kitchen, looking for a way out of building. 'I need to get out of here quiet like. Come with me, I'll explain, I promise.'

[SuperMuldoon]

Helios

Before he can place his order with the chef, a situation seemed to erupt beneath his feet. Peering below, there seemed to be a growing sense of chaos as lights flashed and security entered.

Then the stairway sealed off.

Letting the chef say his piece and present his food, not wanting to cause any more disturbance, he made as if he was going to take a plate and spoke quietly to the chef. "Good move keeping everyone calm, but this looks like something I need to check out. Are there any other ways to get downstairs, a security door, staff entrance, something?"

[Starsign]

Magnam Caelo, Security Room

Mason's attempts at calling Tim over come too little, too late as the bruiser charges through what seems to be the men's restroom, thankfully empty. Tim then simply takes the door leading outside to the main room.

Before Mason can follow Tim however, the flames suddenly ignite and set the men's restroom aflame. More bizarrely, the two-thirds of the hallway closest to the security room that was aflame have suddenly been blown out; aside from the charred ground the hallway isn't too burnt from the flames. Yet Mason can tell that these are not normal flames. Someone might be controlling them from somewhere. It's likely nearby in this case but Mason's attempt at noticing anything comes fruitless. The perpetrator, if there is one, could be hiding in the kitchen, peeking out from the locker room, or somehow hiding in the hallway or one of its three rooms.

Magnum Caelo, Lower Floor

It takes a moment, but in part thanks to Linda, Lady Luck got a moment to communicate with one of the slot machines who happened to have their alarm go off. As the delightful city spirit she is, Lady Luck gets a response from the machine in the same sense that a young family member would speak to her older relative. It's voice is gentle, kind, and feminine like a child. "Aunty, bad men tried to make me do bad things. Fiddled with my circuits and randomize program. I called for help as soon as I could. Sister and Brother were in trouble too. Thank you for coming Aunty."

A discussion with some of the other slot machines reveals various bits of info. For one, all of the tampered machines suffered the same fault that triggered their alarm. Apparently when the slot lever was pulled, some variant of metahuman gene tried to fix the machine's results into the bare minimal result if there would be no net gain for the player. What is odd is that generally the gene comes from the player; it's unlikely that two people would make use of the same power at the same time, much less a couple dozen people.

Moments later, Tim exits the men's room towards the main floor of the casino. He sees a bit of a panic emitting from the crowd and the few security officers doing a less-than-helpful job at calming the people down. The security chief finds a moment to look and speak to Tim. He looks strained and a bit panicked but it doing his best to remain calm. "Sir past your apparent dislike for hallways, you were on the news for that bank robbery the other day, right. Please we could use some..." He pauses, losing his composure as he worryingly states, "What the hell happened?!"

If Tim looks behind himself, he notices why the chief might be a little more frightened than usual. The restroom Tim passed is now on fire somehow. What makes this odd is that the fires in the hallway before showed no sign of spreading and now it's got the nearby room in a blaze.

HP to Tim for his tactic and unfortunate circumstances he ended up in. Nevermind, that isn't really needed because I got confused :smallredface:

Magnam Caelo, Upper Floor

The chef takes careful note of Helios' request as he passes over the plate to Helios. He waits till most of the other people get their food before quietly speaking to Alan very seriously. "Well I'm not allowed to have anyone leave during lockdown... but I may be able to make an exception for you on two favors that you can promise me."

He takes his finger and points downwards towards the floor. "First do something about what's been happening," he states bluntly as Alan notices that the security team has done little help in calming the people down, even with Tim reappearing to hopefully assist. The chef then smiles wickedly as he changes his attitude to something happier. "And afterward be sure to come by and have some of the turkey! Best one we've cooked in ages!" Whether Alan immediately agrees or not, he points Helios towards a door in the back, presumably that will eventually lead downstairs.

[Green Bean]

Rather than shy away, Avery double down on the drunkenness and aggression. "How DARE you treat me like a common criminal, young man! I have NEVER in my life been treated like this! My husband is on the gaming board for this city, and when he finds out about this, I will have have your job, your house, that ridiculous looking suit, all of it! I won't stand for it, you or your..." Avery continued to rant, not really paying attention to the exact words as she mentally scanned the crowd.

Deception for Distraction purposes. Also, can she pick up anything with her mental senses?

Deception: [roll0]

[SuperMuldoon]

Helios

Alan grins beneath his helmet, and it takes a moment for him to realize that the chef cannot see it. Instead, he nods his head and gives a gauntleted thumbs up. "You got it. Many thanks, friend." he says before nonchalantly (as much as an armored glowing superhero can be) makes his way over to the door and lets himself in.

[smuchmuch]

Lady luck

"Manners little one. It's Lady Luck or Milady" The lady winces at the 'Auntie', it's affectuous but it makes her sound old and projects a mental image of her she doesn't really like. Machines are generaly childish and simple souls, staying in the same place and alway doing the same thing doesn't favor the mind's devellopement. Any humans who'd lack her respect would be on much thiner ice. "Do not worry, you have done well. have some rest" She sighs before pullign her hand and moves away.

After talking to a few of them, the Lady pulls her disguise back up. So it seems soemone with mass technology control is walking around. Except no one would be stupid enough to try to use their power on these machines to cheat after the alarm rung already once this evening ?Maybe it was an accident ? Or did they meant to ring the alarms as a...

Then Tim burst out from behind the scenes from the very door the security guards came in ealier and the Lady can see fire behind him.

...distraction
Now the question of the who and why. Lady Luck finds that detective work and gambling aren't so different...
She puts one hand over a wall of the casino and closes her eyes. Once again her essence races through the walls, her eyes stopps in the polished floor and glass and the security cameras Show me what's happening. show me behing the fire. Show me Greg
...The trick is to cheat to know the winners in advance.


Going to power stunt something
Remote sensing 4 (6) vision, hearing, mental sense
flaw: Medium: Limited to urban setting. Extra: subtle linked +6 investigate (15 pp)
[roll0]

I think i'll be getting that power for good whenever alowed, it makes sense for the character to have. Hope that doesn't overstepps on Avery's toes too much, GB ? Else I'm willing to make some changes before buying it for good so the characters have a different kind of ESP

[ChronicLunacy]

Frostbite
Fortune City, Abandoned Area
Dodge/Parry: 20
Condition: Unharmed
HP/LP: 0/1

Despite his desire to rip them limb from limb and freeze their corpses to the ceiling, Rudy let the guards go, freezing the opening closed after they'd gone to keep anyone else from coming in. Dropping the guard he'd given his namesake to, he headed upstairs to the office. Anything of interest to the operation was likely going to be found up there. Any safe he could freeze until it was brittle as a tortilla chip in his hands. Any ledger or laptop he could take with him. Rudy would wait until he was on the way out to check the various boxes on ground level.

Perception: [roll0]
Investigation: [roll1]
Luck Point Reroll (If Needed): [roll2]

[SuperCracker]

Tim McAllister

“Mason?” Tim asked as the detective suddenly changed the way he was speaking. Tim also started to notice that Mason wasn’t really covering his mouth. The gas was having no effect at all. Tim blinked. “Go do your thing, homey. I gotta find that grenade-chuckin’ mother-f*****.” Then…

BOOM!

While no one in the main room saw him burst through the wall into the men’s room, they probably heard the impact and felt the building shudder a little. When he came out of the door to the men’s room, Tim’s nice get-up was covered with powdered concrete. Tim quickly looked around. It had been less than a minute since that sleep grenade had been rolled in from the security door. Whoever did it couldn’t have gotten far.

Perception check: [roll0]

He didn’t have a whole lot of time to spot the person before the security chief came over, freaking out. “I dunno. Someone from out here opened the door, chucked a sleeping gas grenade or somethin’ in the security room. Everybody in there,” except Mason, “is out cold. Then, a fire got set in the hallway. Ya’ll need to—what are ya lookin’ at?”

Tim then turned his head backwards. Oh great. More fire.

“Sh**.” He looked back to the security guard, speaking quietly enough not to panic everyone, “Ya’ll need to start gettin’ everyone outta here. You’re bein’ hit. Forget procedure and sh**. Just do it.”

Persuasion check: [roll1]

Tim opened the door to the men’s room and stepped inside. Quickly he ran over ways to put it out. He could burst the water line… nah, he already broke a wall. He could try to blow it out with force using a shockwave. That would probably knock down more walls. Or…

If his muscles have super strength—what about his lungs and diaphragm?

Tim took in a deep breath, his chest puffing out as he inhaled. Then, pushing it out with tremendous force, he blew the air out of his mouth with the fury of a gale, to try and put out the fire.

Power stunting his strength/super-strength. I’m guessing this is going to take “Nullify Fire.” So, with 33 pp. Sustained Area (cone) Nullify Fire 10.

HP to buy off the fatigue.

[Ladorak]

Ah, an exit! Mason wasted no time, he flew out the door and into the alleyway outside. He mentally wished Tim good luck, but didn't take the time to stop and wish it in person.

From the back of the casino it was easy to get to where he had parked and, more importantly, to his costume, the Lawbringer and the Hard Calibers. Soon Mason was gone, and the Lawman returned.

Carrying two huge pistols slung at his hips and a sizeable rifle he quickly made his way back to the alleyway and back to the fight.

[Starsign]

Magnum Caelo, Lower Floor

With some surprising, or in her case lucky adjustment, the security cameras change views until it centers on the target Lady Luck is looking for. In the mess of panicked people, Greg seems to be one of the more unfortunate ones. He comes off looking like he got trampled over, face down on the floor and unmoving on the ground. Marks of footsteps are on his clothing that indicates he was stepped on in the meantime.

Please make an Intuition check Lady Luck.

Avery's abstract rambling meanwhile helps the guard be completely distracted by her as she scans the rest of the room. Most of the thoughts she picks up are panicked, crazed emotions from the various people whether they are on the ground or still moving around for whatever reason. The guard meanwhile seems to be calling over the security chief, who takes a moment to notice before grumpily begin to walk over to Avery.

Meanwhile, Tim's unique sense of diplomacy causes the security chief to blink for a moment, clearly not used to taking orders from heroes before. Despite that, he turns to look at his men and signals them. "You heard the man! Let's get everyone here outside! Lower floors first." While being commanding, there is a tip of unease in the chief's voice. The most likely reason would be that he's already imagining how he'll be explaining this to his higher-ups.

The powerful gale blown out by Aegis bellows the flames outward like a dragon's breath. His blast of air also happened to fly out several books, a broom, mop, bucket, and a few sets of clothing from the janitor's room. Mess aside, the men's restroom is now void of flames. The only thing to have come from the flames is the floor being charred. The lack of smoke produced by the flames is probably why no such fire alarm had went off.

*click*

Not a moment soon after, electricity seems to fail in the casino. The lights go out, machines cease to function, and Lady Luck notices that the cameras are shut off. The civilians panic once more as they struggle to move and find their way out. Glasses over at where the bar is can be heard being broken. Those who do find their way out however manage to do so, at least freeing up a bit of room for the others. Tim can notice as well that the flames in the hallway have also died out in the darkness.

Magnam Caelo, Security Room

Entering the security room, the Lawman sees the room as it has always been, a mess with unconscious guards and sleeping gas that wouldn't affect one such as himself. Before he may go anywhere else, the lights suddenly turn off and the television ceases to work. The power outage causes the cowboy to be blinded in the dark without a light to see.

Since you have Night Vision Goggles (presumably just need to equip) could you make a Perception check please?


Magnam Caelo, Upper Floor

Taking the door as explained to, Helios makes his way down a simple hallway with indigo walls and brown, wood flooring. The nature of this room indicates more effort and design was put into the main attractions rather than the staff-only rooms.

Just as he is passing by the Communications room, there is the sound of crushing machinery coming from it and a loud, feminine yelp shortly after. A couple blasts of what Alan can sense as sonic bursts can be heard from the room as well. Immediately after lights flicker off in the hallway. Silence can be heard afterward.

I know it isn't much atm, sorry about that. :smallredface:

Fortune City, Abandoned Warehouse

A thorough search of the warehouse reveals a few pieces of interest for Rudy. The pieces of equipment that were bought from the black market dealer had long since left this place, picked up by an anonymous group. On the paper is an added tidbit of the location where this group would be going; Magnam Caelo, the casino Rudy was invited to join for the evening. The equipment taken were to be "returned to it's proper publisher tomorrow morning. Destruction would not be permitted for sake of future endeavors." This deal seems to have only been made in the last hour or so, leaving Rudy time to follow if he wishes to do so now.

Aside from that, several other documents lie around noting a few other people who were former test subjects for WARD. All their real names are not identified, instead given simple tags like a product line. Most of these are now soldiers documenting false info that they are people of no actual alliance to any sort of company to legally hide their actual associates. A few documents here reveal a couple "rejected" test subjects, victims much like Rudy. These documents label the victims as criminals to be captured and removed from society by authorities to keep WARD's involvement in the shadows. Few leads are found for these wanted subjects but enough for Rudy to track if he wishes to. Considering more WARD soldiers will be coming here, Rudy won't have enough time to read through all of these documents now. As of this time however, he may prefer to hunt after the group heading, if not already at Magnam Caelo if he wishes to follow a fresh lead.

I'll give you an update on the various WARD subjects when you so wish to pursue some of them. But at the latest I'll have them for you set by Issue 3. :smallsmile:

[Ladorak]

'All right partner.' The Lawman growled 'We can play it that way.' He reached into his coat's pocket. Post an ancient shot glass, a beermat with a certain android's prison cell phone number and a highly illegal method of opening locks. Past them all to his night vision goggles. 'Yes sir, you betcha. We can play it that way.'

[roll0]

[smuchmuch]

Looks like we're having a good old fashioned casino heist on our hands.

Fires and all power out all of a sudden. Lady luck doesn't need her supernatural senses to take a good bet this darkness is in all likeness not natural. Two metahuman robberies in one day, my my, what a treat; that's quite exciting.

But it is also setting a bad trend. As it has already been said the Lady don't mind some people trying their luck to get their fortune in many ways and sometime she may get the guilty pleasure of rooting for a handsome stylish rogues or two as long for a little while as long as they are barely a chip on the overall budget.
But if it spreads that might start actually hurting business big time. If things keep up that way, it seems she may have to take a slightly more .. involved stance in such affairs.It wouldn't be the first time; it probably won't be the last. And when someone targets the best casino of the city, her turf, right under her nose then it's downright ...disrespectfull. And we can't be having that.

With three superheroes in the building, no doubt this little operation might go down quite fast. She can see the wrestler with a heart of gold and a fist of bricks and the modern literal knight in shining armor; lwman is nowhere to be soon though but she supect his presence was no coinsidence either; that crafty cowwboy. But she isn't taking any chances here, an exemple must be made. Even if that means she has to tip the scale a bit more actively than she did at the bank.

First thing under the cover of darkness, Lady luck melt into the floor and reappears near Greg still looking like a security guard. 'Are you alright sir ?' the security guard apparently dutifully enquires while taking the man to a nearby seat.
He seems down for the count. It might look like he was trampled in mob escaping but she could tell that someone took advantage of the confusion to neutralie him. But she's still sure as hell he's got something to do with all this. Hmm, criminal betrayed by his accomplice, cop whose target got the drop on in the confusion ?

Maybe a little look though his pockets might shed some light on the situation and give her a better idea of what is going on ?

[SuperMuldoon]

Helios

Alan freezes as he hears the yell, and remains motionless as the lights go down. Yep, something is definitely not right here. he thinks as he stands in the darkness.

"Engage SATURN system." he commands the suit, and his sensor array comes to life. Taking a few cautious steps, he heads toward the source of the commotion.

[Starsign]

Magnam Caelo, Security Room

Placing on his night vision goggles. the Lawman can get the feeling that there is someone else in the room, but whoever is trying to hide is doing too good a job at it to immediately be noticed by the cowboy. A few tense moments settle in the dark room, like prey hiding from the predator. Yet before one can find the other, a swift, gust of wind can be felt behind the Lawman, as if something new suddenly passed by him.

Moments later, there is a slight dim from above. A moment later the lights come on again under a lower power than before. The backup generator had began working again. Not a moment too soon, there is the sound of a blunt sound striking at what the Lawman can hear as padded leather or kevlar. The sound comes from the main room of the casino.

Magnam Caelo, Upper Floor

With the sensors on, Alan can detect a flicker of a weak electricity source and a life form from the communications room. Entering the dark area, he finds the source of the electricity to be the operating machines. Made of a design few could afford to have, the computer is remarkably bashed up despite being very durable thanks to the material it is made of. Sparks fly from the machine in a flurry; a metal object of some sort lies on the ground close by, illuminated only by the sparks.

Eventually the lights dim up slightly. Then the power returns to the casino, though not at full capacity. It also lets Alan see the culprit who is in here. Sitting on the ground, leaning on the wall opposite to the busted machine is a young redheaded woman who looks like she is in her early twenties. She is dressed as a staff member, wearing the proper uniform, having analytical square glasses, and neat, short hair. Despite this, the outfit looks rather unfitting on her, like a mild-mannered person having to dress incredibly fancy for the first time in their life. Generally this would give Alan the impression that she is simply new here... had it not be for the rather exotic and hi-tech blaster in her hand.

Alan can notice her blinking at the machine she had shot beforehand. It takes her a moment to actually notice Helios, at which point she quickly stands up and begins speaking out loud. "Oh hello! See the machine had a problem and I tried to fix it I was using that screwdriver wrench..." Her voice rambles on and on, talking incredibly fast without a apparent break to take a breath. "And the thing started sparking! I never had an idea that it would do such a thing so it gave me this electrical shock and I screamed so I had to bust the thing up to keep it from igniting in flames that's why the power was down for a moment."

She keeps a wide-open smile for a moment, then plumply fades into a unfortunate frown. "...You didn't buy a word of it, did you?" Her tone is slower by contrast and lacked the energetic voice before. True enough, there probably isn't a person in the world who would have believed her attempt at a lie. The fact that her blaster was now aimed at Helios is an indication she figured that out as well.

Roll Initiative Helios :smallwink:

[roll0]

Magnum Caelo, Lower Floor

It takes a bit, but quickly enough the civilians manage to march themselves right on out of the door. By this point the only people left on the lower floor are the security guards, Tim, Linda, and Lady Luck. All those they could find who were on the ground were carried out without many injuries. In the dark, Lady Luck couldn't sense Greg in that period of time. Either he got out with the rest, or...

In the midst of the dark, there is a gusty blur followed by a quick flurry of blunt strikes that can be heard. Slowly the lights dim up as the casino's backup generator finally begins working. Among the dimmed light, the heroes can see that all but one of the security guards had been knocked out in the flurry of blows; bruises and crushed armor comes noticeable of their injuries. The last of which, unknowingly to all but "him" is disguised as Lady Luck, is also struck in the darkness

The lights then actually click on, revealing four new figures in the middle of the room. The first of which is a handsome, short-haired man wearing a grey armored jacket and a matching faceguard for the upper-half of his face. The second of these people is another, slightly older man with black hair, fiery eyes, and a energetic and youthful look on his face. He wears a thick, dark uniform slightly resembling that of a drysuit. Among those two is a notably large man, nearly seven feet in height. His structure is bulky, well-toned and in a posture resembling unease. Compared to the others, he is wearing a more casual brown sweatshirt and jeans that wouldn't be normal in this kind of place. The last of the four is a slender woman in a dark purple, tight, padded suit with a cloth mask covering her entire head aside from her brown eyes.

"Good evening," the younger of the two men state. His voice is polite, but also filled with a deceitful tone. "I was actually hoping to have gotten in and out without the need of a confrontation." He looks over at the older member, who rubs looks away for a quick moment as if to hide embarrassment. "Sadly I see arson will be accounted for. In this case I'm going to ask you to leave." The group of four then show hostile intent, the leader pulling out an odd but high-tech blaster of some sort.

Alrighty everyone, please roll Initiative. Lad you may so do as well despite being in the Security Room. All it'll take is a move action to get to the main floor.

Masked Leader: [roll1]
Older Man: [roll2]
Woman: [roll]1d20+18[/roll[
Large Bruiser: [roll3]

EDIT: Lady Luck is attacked as well for being disguised as a security guard. HP for setback.

[ChronicLunacy]

Frostbite

Rudy took as many of the files on the others -- others! -- as he could carry and destroyed the rest. For now, he'd follow up on the freshest lead just like good old cop doctrine told him to, but he'd try to track down these test subjects and find some way to help them. Maybe he could recruit some of them. They were bound to hate WARD just as much, if not more, than he did. If any of them had received powerful and severe mutations as a result of the experiments the way Rudy had they might be good backup. WARD had what amounted to a private army after all and "Frostbite" was going to need all the help he could get.

In the meantime, he thought as he exited the way he'd come in, he was going to fish that invitation out of his trash bin and make an appearance at the hottest new casino in town.

[smuchmuch]

One security guard reaminHe hasn't collapsed like the other but using an arm against the wall he looks seriously pained and out of fighting state. Also 'he' is faking it.

Maybe it's because while she embodies one aspect of the city, the neons sign and the stages of it's glamorous casinos yes but she is still, to a point, connected to it's concrete streets and metalic infrastructure. Or is it just because, as Luck would have it, the unseen assaillant acutaly missed most of his punch, punching what he though was a rather large of shoulder when the real person is a lot slender; the Lady barely felt the blows. But not being a fan of being caugt into direct fire, she still acts hurt to make the attackers writte her off as a non threat.for now

"Who the hell do you think you are ?! Have you any idea what you're getting into punks ?" Self righteously groans the guard. The Lady chuckles inside, Hollywood spirit eat your heart out, all that is missing is the 'you'll never get away with this' and she still made it sound pretty damn good convincing if she may say so herself. But she would like to know who she is dealing with

Deception [roll0]
Init [roll1]

[Starsign]

Magnam Caelo, Outside

After picking his trashed ticket up and heading off, Rudy arrives to the scene of the casino where he notices that the ticket might not be needed in the first place. With the sun set, Rudy notices a rather large crowd of people outside the casino, speaking amongst one another and showing signs of what is probably complaining. The doors to the casino meanwhile remain completely shut, sealed by steel security doors. Seems like there is quite the commotion happening inside the casino.

If Rudy wants to enter, he could try brute forcing himself through the front door if he can squeeze past the people huddled up near it. Alternatively he could look around the building for another way in or repeat his performance at the warehouse and make his own entrance through one of the walls.

Gonna let Rudy catch up here. If Rudy decides to look for another entrance, he'll find a door in the back that will take him to the staff kitchen.

Once Rudy gets in and finds himself with the others (if he doesn't choose to enter the upper floor) you can join in at the end of the round.

[ChronicLunacy]

Frostbite

Still wearing the hood from earlier to obscure his features, Rudy pulled it lower down over his face and kept his eyes on the pavement to avoid anyone seeing his strange skin or iris coloring. He checked behind himself a few times, but otherwise tried to keep his stride as casual as possible as he went around the side of the casino. He found a door in the back that said something to the effect of "Employees Only," locked of course, and gripped the handle with his bare hand. Frost quickly spread over the metal and steam escaped the contact point. Then he wrenched it down hard and the entire locking mechanism shattered in his hands, leaving the door to swing freely. He checked around again to see if anyone had spotted him before heading inside.