Aeon City IC

[Queen Sapes]

Issue 1: Introductions

The story of the world of freedom. It’s one we’ve all heard countless times before. It’s an inspiring planet, a world where heroes fought for the ideals of freedom in every war since the American Revolution, a place a baby from another dimension grew into its greatest paragon of justice, where a silver storm birthed a whole generation of supers by random chance, and a place where forgotten ancient magics battle alongside impossible technologies of the future on a daily basis. But with the good must come the bad, and as a haven for superhumans, the world of freedom attracts rather unwanted attention. Shadowy conspiracies threated to pull the planet apart at every moment, megalomaniac supers engineer insane plans to claim the world for themselves, and even threats from outside the multiverse have made attempts at bringing the world of freedom to its knees.

Or at least, one of the worlds of freedom.

In the multiverse there are many copies of the same world, and while some have had problems with otherworldly invaders on their doorstep, many more have not. In one world, Freedom City almost fell to the forces of the Terminus and lost its greatest hero as payment for its survival. In another, the eyes of the Terminus have never fallen on the world, and the Freedom League still only hear of the Terminus is occasional whispers. In one world the Silver Storm only recently tore Emerald City apart as part of its creator’s plan for an army of supers. In another the Storm is long past, its engineer having fallen at the hands of the Sentinels. For one world, the greatest hopes for the universe are the Freedom League and the Sentinels, protectors of Freedom City and Emerald City respectively. For another, it will be the guardians of another city, forgotten in one but instrumental in the other.

A place where time seems to blend itself together as ancient woodlands give way to old wooden homes, tired brick shops, and fancy new suburbs where a handful of models are duplicated hundreds of times. Old rusting factories sit empty not a few miles from the shiniest and most advanced skyscrapers working tirelessly away at business. In some places the old world mixes with the new, as an old dam spans the river nearby, held together with new world technologies. Time is important piece of the city, as every morning when the sun rises over the lake the city pulls itself into motion, the new city moving quickly as each second lost is wasted, while the old city lumbers into motion, taking peace in the quiet of the early sun. It’s the duality of the city that attracted the super element to it. Deep in the forests and quiet shops of old town lie ancient mystical secrets that attract fortune seekers and mystics alike. The tall towers of business and technology lure thrill seekers, criminals with enough power to take what they want, and every type hoping to claim a prototype device or weapon as their own. It’s a city in need of heroes willing to become its protectors, to defend both the secrets of the past and the hope for the future.

So come and find your destiny in Aeon City.


Police sirens pierce the relative quiet of Aeon City’s extremely cloudy night, all rushing towards the same spot on the edge of New Town: The Aeon City Museum. It’s one of the older buildings in New Town, only recently reopened after heavy renovations that added a basement and third story to the public building. It seems someone or some persons have broken into the museum. Not a common occurrence seeing as the building is mostly old local artifacts, relics, and several exhibits about both local and world history. Still, perhaps it was one of the exhibits added in the renovations that attracted someone’s attention. The police quickly establish a police line around the entrance, sending other officers to block the alleyways the fire doors open up onto. It’s a quick job. Quite possibly the most effective part of the APD is their efficiency and speed, and within minutes of arrival they have the building locked down, officers on nearby roofs watching the windows, and the police chief shouting in over a bullhorn.

It doesn’t really matter what attracted you to the scene, whether it be hearing the call over a police scanner or following the cars while out on patrol, you all find your way to the museum to solve whatever issue has apparently arisen inside.

[Arcran]

Steve wasn't happy to be flying about the city. Don't take that the wrong way; Steve loved to fly. Probably damn near the only thing about being a superhero that he liked. Well, besides the pickup lines it opened up. Ladies were perfectly willing to drop their panties when they heard not only were you a hero, but your powers seemingly revolved around love. And the wings. The wings never hurt.

He couldn't think about that now. Could think about that beautiful blonde with big, round, beautiful eyes that he had to ditch at the bar when he saw the TV report. Something about people robbing museums always worried him. His bracelet looked like it belonged in one, and it clearly did more than a little to help his superhuman capabilities. Besides his looks of course. Those were natural.

Although worry about some other lucky bastard getting wings and a golden bow was a small part, the other was that, of course, there were TV crews there. If the public saw reliable old Cupid swooping down to investigate a crime scene, that can only help his image.

As he nears the scene, he gives a few extra flaps of his wings to put him just a little bit higher than he needed to be, then dives, aiming for whatever news van is there, trying to go as straight at the camera as possible. At the last second, he extends his wings, his shoulders straining at the sudden change in acceleration, coming in for as dramatic a landing as he can pull off. He tosses a wink at the lens before setting off to find the police chief. Hopefully they have this all wrapped up and him showing up here will be more than enough so he can get back to that lovely blonde.

[The_Admiral]

Kevin sighed as he mounted his bike, he really needed a break from marking essays. Gunning the engines, he put on a helmet and rode off into the night.

As he tore down the road, he noticed a police car race past him sirens blaring. Sighing internally, he muttered, Might as well, retrieving a blocky silver device from inside his coat.

One hand holding onto a handlebar, he raised the device into the air, shouting, INSTALL! A circular screen formed in front of him and as he rode through it, covered him in a silver and gold suit of armour.

Suited up, he trailed the police car, stopping in front of the museum and getting off, he looks at the museum attempting to get a feel of the current situation.


OOC
He's the leader of the greatest nation in the world, Procrastination. He's basically attempting to figure out what's going on on the ground right now by listening to the news reporters and whatever the police are saying.

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

*Some time ago*

Atop an apartment in one of the seediest parts of town, a figure stood silent, unseen, like a Phantom of old. He quietly observes the streets below, watching for trouble. Some nights, the place was noisy- full of muggings and rapes, and even the occasional open gang wars.

This clearly wasn't one of those nights.

Instead tonight was quiet, perhaps even too quiet, like the proverbial calm before the storm. The dark and cloudy sky certainly contributed to the sense of foreboding. A series of beeps in his ear informs him that his cellphone is ringing, and caller ID tells him that it is from his base. The Phantom taps a button on the side of his helmet to answer.

"Yes, Alice?"

"Master, something unusual is on the news. Somebody has broken into the Museum."

"The Museum, you say?" The Phantom pondered for a moment. "Good work Alice. Keep me informed if you hear anything else."

"Yes, master."

The Phantom tapped the button again to cut the line. He powered up his jets, and started flying towards the Museum...

I hope its fine to use the HQ like that. Basically use the Cyborg Maids to man the Communications console, and to forward any potentially interesting news to Phantom. If not, just ignore this first half.

*****

The Phantom lands on a building opposite the Museum, to first survey the scene. The police already had the place surrounded. Usually, somebody breaking into the Museum was either looking to steal some expensive trinket for cash (bad), or else was aiming to grab a mystic artifact of great power (very bad!). Once more, he glanced up at the foreboding cloudy sky (probably very bad).

On any other day, the Phantom would normally have content himself with sneaking into the place, subduing the criminals, and then disappearing into the night, leaving the police to take care of the rest. He had a reputation for being terribly mysterious, which he liked to keep.

But tonight was different. Even casual observation of the crowd gathering in front indicated some unusual people were there. A quick glance revealed one man with wings, and another in some gold and silver armor. Fellow superheroes. The first contact after only hearing their names through the news. This was it, the potential makings of the team he would need for his coming war.

But first he had to introduce himself. The Phantom flies down to the ground, next to the policeman who seems to be in charge, landing with a audible "clang" as if to announce his presence. "I am the Phantom, what seems to be going on?"

[hobbitguy1420]

Jack wasn't having a good evening.

It was his day off. Usually this would be a good thing, but today it meant lugging a bunch of broken furniture out to the street from his apartment. He'd transformed inside again. He really needed to figure out a better way to deal with this.

He tugged a shattered table up to the curb, quietly thankful - just for a moment - for the extra strength which seemed to have come with his condition. He finally got the thing into place, and was almost flattened by a police car, followed by some jerk on a motorcycle! He recoiled back onto the lawn, his heart pounding, and began to feel the quivering, stretching sensations which always preceded the change. Oh, crap, he thought in dread as the blackness closed around him. Not again...

A howl out of the primal forests of the world echoed through the street. Once it finished, the Feral sniffed the air, smelling all the scents of this, its territory. One of its ears twitched. It heard the loud, bright, screaming things. The ones which always led to intruders and pack-enemies. The Feral snarled and began loping after it in long, fluid strides and leaps.

It arrived to find many of the loud, bright, screaming things, around a not-den. There were several colorful creatures with unknown scents there, and many of the Feral's blue packmates. The packmates it ignored. The others, it fixed with a glare and a snarl as it approached. "Pack?" It said in its growling rumble. The growl intensified. "Enemies?" It bared one sharp fang.

Presuming it's okay to preside over one of Jack's uncontrolled transformations like this, of course. If not, I'll have to change this. By the by, no offense meant, Sentinel. :P

[Joyride]

Beth

Beth Mason's first night on patrol in Aeon City, and already there's a case to handle. The newbie heroine can't help but feel a little excited as she suits up in her tiny apartment, pulling on her high-tech flexible super-suit. Custom made to match her shifts in size, the suit is not altogether unlike Beth: Capable, but lacking a certain heroic flair. A look in the mirror shakes her resolve. Maybe she's not ready to go out into a new city and try to pry a name for herself from the museum break-in. Maybe Aeon doesn't even want a stumbling, giant protector, just as likely to crush the gallery as she is to protect it. Beth thinks of Kayla, though, and her promise gets her out the door and onto the streets. She hops onto her rusted-out bike -- hardly the sleek, stylish transport a hero deserves, but hey, sometimes you just gotta get there -- and rushes toward the embattled museum.

She's encouraged to see multiple other heroes already on the scene, including an absolutely gorgeous man showing off for the camera and an intimidating figure in a metal suit. Maybe some of them can teach her more than she's pieced together from old comic strips and the odd eyewitness report.

She parks her bike and approaches with a hesitant expression, as though she were worried about stepping on something even at her normal, modest size.

As Beth tries to claim a spot near the police chief, the Feral's snarl spooks her and she jumps back. She raises both hands in a gesture somewhere between self-defense and submission: "Umm, hi! I'm, ah... here to help."

[Propagandist]

Madame Mischief

As the sun set, Marie rose. She kept odd hours, something her recent move and career change had done nothing to help. Not that it mattered, she'd always been more of a night owl anyway. Putting on her "stage" outfit, she climbed the stairs of the Regal Hotel. The old brick building was one of the tallest places in Old Town, which wasn't saying much when you compared it to the towering skyscrapers of the business district. It had once been quite luxurious, but its heyday was around the time Marie had first discovered magic. These days, it was derelict and run-down, but it was also cheap, and the landlord didn't ask questions about the guests. Marie liked it that way.

From the roof, she looked out at the city. Aeon was a bustling place, even at night. She liked the rhythm of the nightlife here. Less frantic than Freedom City, and all sorts of interesting people out and about.

Her reverie was interrupted by a police car rushing past, siren blaring. Then another. And another. "Interesting..." she murmured to nobody in particular. No fire engines, no ambulances, just cops, and all headed in the same direction. "We have ourselves a crime in progress, I'd wager. Showtime."

She watched the cops as they maneuvered through the city streets, teleporting from rooftop to rooftop above them. Headed towards the edge of New Town, and the museum. Made sense. All sorts of valuables in there, including more than a few mystical artifacts. And what's more, it seemed she was not the only super attracted to the commotion. This could be fun!

With a loud *pop* and a burst of smoke, Madame Mischief appears from thin air in the middle of the growing group in front of the museum. "Gooood evening, ladies and gentlemen!" She gave a huge theatrical bow to the assembling heroes. "And hellllo there!" Getting a good look at Cupid up close derails Marie's train of thought for a moment. "Madam Mischief, Mistress of Magic and Mysticism, at your service!" She glances up at Feral, seemingly unconcerned by the beast bearing its teeth at her. "Well, seeing as I have no plans to be torn limb from limb this evening, pack!"

She looks around with a cheeky grin. "Say, any of you noble heroic types care to fill me in on the situation inside, or is that an unknown?"

[Arcran]

Cupid looks around at the heroes. Two guys in robot suits. Boring. Some giant slobbering thing that looks like it belongs in the pound. Boring. The others were far more interesting though. A woman in a skintight tech suit. Interesting, but seemed shy. Not exactly his thing. An absolutely striking woman in a magician costume. More interesting.

Doing the only logical thing, Cupid walks over to the striking magician, offering his hand.

Name's Cupid. Archer of Love. he says, throwing in a wink. I'm going to ask Mr. Police Chief what's going on and when we can leave. Feel free to accompany me, he says, not specifying whether it be with the police chief or the after. You as well miss... he says, looking towards the other woman there, trying to get a name. Might as well invite her.

[Queen Sapes]

As the first of our heroes arrive so do the news vans, quickly spilling out with cameras, mics, and several young men hoping for a break from either channel 2, 4, or 5. They all spout off a few lines about the museum break in, but upon spotting Cupid their focus seems to shift. As each hero arrives, the reporters either make comments about them or relay general knowledge about them. General stuff that anyone would know, but a way to hopefully get the viewers invested and drive up ratings. Above, the dark clouds emit a low rumble that can only mean a storm is approaching.

The officer in charge of the situation is a man in his late 30's, with a rough but short beard and fairly short hair that appears to have a bit of natural curl. Streaks of grey cross his hair, showing signs of either stress or age, and a pair of thick glasses doesn't help the image. He quickly becomes aware of the heroes' arrival, passing the bullhorn off to another officer and giving a series of quick orders no one can hear save the men he is speaking to. He approaches the group and gives a heavy sigh while rubbing his back a bit.

"Heroes. Thank the lord you're here, I was almost afraid we'd be forced to go in ourselves. We've got sort of an odd situation here that I'd rather not risk my officers on. Oh, but where are my manners, I'm Lieutenant Gerhard of the Aeon PD," he says trying to be as welcoming as possible and extending a hand to anyone who will take it. "As you can plainly see, somebody broke into the museum about fifteen minutes ago. They weren't even trying to be subtle about it either, started tripping motion detectors across the building and hitting the silent alarms on more than a dozen cases. We know it's more than one person inside since the alarms were being tripped throughout the building almost at the same time. We don't have estimates on numbers unfortunately. No camera footage yet, but we're working on it," he says gesturing to the truck.

"We've made repeated attempts to contact whoever is inside but so far we've had no luck. I'm guessing they realized their plan went south and now they're trying to figure out whether to comply or escape. Thankfully we've got both alleyways blocked so they'll be caught if they leave that way. Now here's where it gets a little weird and I stop wanting to be in charge of this," he says taking a deep breath. "We were first alerted about the break-in by the motion detectors inside the building," Gerhard says emphasizing the word inside. "Not a single window or door alarm anywhere outside the building was triggered. We thought they might just have gotten sloppy inside, but we checked and every single one looks untouched. Not a window is open and not a door unlocked. To make matters worse a couple of locals report seeing a flash of purple lightning hit the building around the same time alarms started going off. Could be nothing, but I'm willing to bet it's related in some way."

[hobbitguy1420]

No challenges. Good. The Feral likes packmates who know who's Alpha. "Enemies inside. Prey. Hunt." It inhales deeply, trying to capture every scent possible, to learn more about what's inside as it begins to prowl toward the building.

I expect this would be an Awareness + Perception check to determine any information about the circumstances that a nose any bloodhound would envy can find. I'll wait to roll 'til I'm told, though.

[Arcran]

Cupid almost groans aloud. Supers? Really? Purple lighting and no alarms being tripped couldn't be a coincidence. So much for it being petty art criminals that he could handle in a heartbeat.

Anybody here got telepathy or something that would let them see inside? I could try to scout the place out, but frankly I'd rather know what we're dealing with going in.

[Queen Sapes]

Feral:
Inhaling every possible scent from the area, Feral is able to determine a wide variety of people who have been in the area in the past week. A pregnant mother escorting a couple of young children into the museum, a drug addict who proceeded to the bathroom inside to get his fix, a young couple who smelled of car leather from a long drive who stopped for directions, and countless others. However, the newest odors in the area are of a handful of people smelling of burns, unwashed clothing, sweat, and some strange otherworldly odor Feral has never detected before this and is unable to place. The scent appears to originate from one of the upper floors and then spreads through the rest of the building. However, Feral is unable to detect anyone actually inside, just their lingering scents, although this could simply be due to distance from the building.

[The_Admiral]

"Alpha Nine, I need info, now, anything you can pull." he says into thin air.


My base has Communications, Computers and it's intelligent. Can it hack the thing and take the footage? If it gets the footage can it compare the faces to a database?

[Propagandist]

Name's Cupid. Archer of Love. he says, throwing in a wink. I'm going to ask Mr. Police Chief what's going on and when we can leave. Feel free to accompany me." he says, not specifying whether it be with the police chief or the after.

"Sounds like a fine plan." Marie takes Cupid's offered hand with a smile, likewise not mentioning what part of the plan appealed to her.


Anybody here got telepathy or something that would let them see inside? I could try to scout the place out, but frankly I'd rather know what we're dealing with going in.

"Telepathy? Not quite, but I could take a look inside, if you all and the boys in blue don't mind standing guard for a moment. That's the thing about astral projection. When the spirit travels, there's nobody home to look after your body."

With that said, Madame Mischief sits cross-legged on the hood of a police cruiser and takes a few deep, calming breaths. Suddenly, she goes rigid and catatonic, her eyes turning an unnaturally bright white.

Marie's spirit, on the other had, floats through the currents of the astral plane, peering down a short distance away in the material world, into the museum.

Madame Mischief has Remote Sensing for visual/auditory/mental. Having never played a character with this power before, I'm guessing it would be a perception check to actually notice anything with it? :smallconfused: And since it's like looking around normally and I don't want to make everyone wait while she checks room by room, I'll just start with the lobby.

[The_Admiral]

After standing silent for some time he then says, Sorry, I've got nothing, I don't mind it's worth a shot

As Marie projects herself Keith retrieves what looks like a old flip phone and taps a few buttons. As he extends it to his side it announces, CONNECT. A circular portal appears and he retrieves a bulky gun from it with a slot for what appears to be the phone. Placing the phone in the slot he raises the gun, ready for combat.

[Queen Sapes]

Madam Mischief:
Her spirit enters into the lobby, finding it completely empty and apparently untouched in the extremely dim light. It's a wide room with open arches leading into the various wings of the building. Benches and potted plants decorate the area, with a "authorized personnel only" door sitting close to the entrance. Stairs at the back lead up to the second floor, which in turn are followed by stairs up to the third. From the ground floor you can see the barest piece of each floor above, all the way up to a massive clear glass arch that makes up part of the roof. The circular receptionist desk in front of the doors doesn't appear to be touched as papers from the work day still sit fairly organized on the desk. Models of pterosaurs, rockets, and a large paintbrush hang on wires from the ceiling, moving a little as air conditioning blows them back and forth. The building is separated into a couple of sections per level, as over the arch to the east wing you see a sign that reads "the Art of Aeon". The west wing has a similar sign reading "American History". Hanging signs point up the stairs, leading visitors to the Ancient History, Technology, Superhero, and Military exhibits.

Perception DC 10:
Upon closer inspection of the floor, you notice tiny shards of glass all over the floor, possibly the result of someone smashing the glass display cases throughout the building.

Perception DC 15:
Taking a pause to look around, you realize you can hear wind coming from somewhere around you, and looking up you notice that the glass ceiling has a very large but relatively unnoticeable hole in it, as if it partly shattered when something hit it hard enough.

Silver Sentinel:
Unfortunately the security keeping the footage under lock and key proves to be rather advanced as Alpha Nine is unable to crack the encryption.

[hobbitguy1420]

"Prey. There." It gestures toward the upper levels of the museum. "Strange. Burned" The Feral's lips curl as it analyzes the smells. "There? Not there?" It shakes its head. "Get closer. Smell better." And saying this, it prowls up to the museum walls and begins scaling the side, its claws biting deep into the concrete and stone, nose working all the while.
Hoping to get some more info by sniffing again from up close.

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

The Phantom listened intently as the police chief explained the situation. No external evidence of entry, probable purple lightning teleportation, and complete ineptitude with regard to technological alarms once inside... And the clouds were now starting to rumble. Things were really piling up on the "Steal Mystic Artifact" side. The Phantom spoke (to those who would listen). "Considering their route of entry basically sounds like teleportation, it would be fair to say that their route of exit would likely follow the same. If that is the case, then their complete disregard for the alarms makes sense, since they can exit without having to go through the cops surrounding the place. A smash and grab with an assured getaway, if you will."

"It does seem odd that they are tripping so many alarms at once however, since I cannot imagine that many articles being valuable. The first possibility is that the plan us to wipe the museum clean and teleport out with everything regardless of value. But if you have teleportation powers with that kind of carrying capacity, there are far more lucrative targets like the jewelry store. Rather, it seems probable to me that they are searching for something specific, but they don't know yet what it looks like. And considering this is a museum full of old stuff, rather than valuable jewelry, money is not their primary concern. It is then likely, that they are searching for one of those ancient mystical artifacts of power." He says as he looks towards the scrying Madam Mischief.

"In situations like these, the best solution is usually to storm the place as quickly as possible to interrupt their search, before they find their artifact and teleport out!"

[Arcran]

I'm down for that Robocop, Cupid quips quickly, quickly cracking his neck. Let's let out magician friend finish up and see if she can- ah, damn it, Cupid says, watching the big mutt leap onto the building. Seems like he's already going. Should we just let him go? Doesn't seem like much of a team player, and frankly, he smells like wet dog.

[The_Admiral]

I can get us in without smashing anything though my teleporter isn't tactical it'll get us in and out and that's it.

[Queen Sapes]

"If y'all want to go head inside I'll get on the line and clear up any problems with you heading in," the Lieutenant says glancing at Madam Mischief, clearly a bit confused and intrigued at the magic he's witnessing. The Lieutenant shakes the thoughts out of his head and keeps an eye on Feral as he scales the walls. "I'll keep the police line waiting if anyone heads out of the building and try to get AEGIS on the line. If there are supers in there, we'll want someone capable of handling them once you take them into custody," Gerhard says, taking out a phone to make the necessary calls as he leaves the group to discuss their moves.

Feral:
Moving up the building's walls, Feral continues to search for scents. He continues to find completely random scents from a construction worker whose sweat lingered on one of the building's supports to the perfume a receptionist sprayed before she left work. The unknown scent grows stronger the closer he gets to the third floor, and it almost appears to disappear and reappear at random intervals. Feral is still unable to detect any fresh scents, although he certainly is able to find the lingering scents that criss-cross the building.

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

The Phantom ponders for a moment. "That said, I wonder if there is a head-mage in there who is their teleport vehicle. Finding and taking him out should prevent the rest from escaping." He turns to the police chief and gestures at the police van. "Mind if I take a crack at the security footage?"


Since Rocket Rose isn't here yet, and Alpha 9 has failed, I'll take a bit of time to hack into the mainframe.

Take 10 to Technology for 31.

[hobbitguy1420]

Disappointed, the Feral drops from the building and lopes back to the pack. "Prey not there," it says, frustrated. "Scent old. Strange. There, not there, there."

It sends a warning look toward the bird-person. He doesn't smell properly submissive. Not good. The pack can't have two alphas. The Feral stands a bit taller, stares the bird-person in the eye. Body language, for those who understand it, meaning I am in charge.

[Propagandist]

Madame Mischief snaps out of her trance with a gasp. "Gah! Ah, hello again. Always an interesting trip! So, I didn't see anyone, but there were slivers of broken glass all over the floor in the lobby, probably from whoever's inside smashing display cases. Got an idea of the layout, at least. There's a staff-only door near the main entrance, not sure what's back there. Place is divided into two sections per floor. American history and the art gallery on the ground floor, ancient history and technology on the second, military and superheroes on the third. I'm ashamed to admit I've never been here, but the second and third floors sure sound like they might have bits and bobs we don't want the evil crowd getting ahold of."

Marie nods at Keith's offer. "It's a bit uncomfortable, but I suppose I could bring a couple people along for the ride as well."

[Arcran]

Cupid looks at the taller mutt, not particularly impressed. It was standing up more? What the hell was that supposed to do? He decides to just ignore it for now; if they got in a fight, it'd be useful. That's about it. It could glare at him all he wanted; that wasn't the kind of hero the news cared about. Too big, too ugly, too unhuman. He didn't need to be buddies with a hero like that.

I'd be happy to accompany the lovely lady, he says, stepping closer to Madam Mischief. I trust a magic a hell of a lot more than things people build, and the company would seem to be better.

[Queen Sapes]

"Go for it!" Lieutenant Gerhard shouts back to Phantom, returning to the conversation he's having on the phone.

(This goes for anyone watching the security footage)
Entering the van, which is a bit cumbersome to do what with the battlesuit, Phantom begins cracking the security footage and within a few minutes a week's worth of footage is at his fingertips. Scrolling quickly into the most recent footage shows the flash of violet light on several of the cameras as well as glass falling into the main lobby, although the cameras don't seem to catch where the light hits as it lights up almost all of them. A violet glow fills the corners of several of them as seven figures wearing dark hoodies, sweatshirts, jackets, and jeans all begin running from the light and spreading through the museum, shattering glass cases with metal bats and taking the contents of the cases and dumping them into duffel bags. They appear to be hitting the place at random, spreading through the exhibits on the first two floors. For seven people, they work extremely quickly, and within five minutes they all return to the violet glow and disappear from all the cameras, the light reseeding as they do.

Perception DC 15:
Close inspection of the seven figures shows that six are men and one is a woman, although they all keep their faces off the cameras. Only one is wearing a sweatshirt with any kinds of markings, this one being a glimpse of the words "Big Al's". They actually appear to be targeting certain types of displays, taking as many large items made of metal as possible, irregardless of value. Only a few non-metal objects are taken, namely two tablets from the Ancient History section and a series of scrolls from the Superhero section.

[JeminiZero]

Perception: [roll0]

So... they've already left?

[The_Admiral]

Retrieving the 'phone' from his gun, he flips it Open tapping a code in it.

CONNECT the device announced as another portal opened. Reaching into it he retrieves a circular tray with six bulky looking watches on it of varying colours.

pick one Keith says as the portal closes.


There's red, blue, yellow, green, pink and black, pick a teleport beacon/deactivated morpher

[Arcran]

What's this little toy going to do? Cupid says, taking the pink one.

[hobbitguy1420]

The Feral turns at the bird-man's words and glares at him. "Stop talking." He says. Then he looks doubtfully at the little colored things. He turns to the yellow man. "What this do?"

[Arcran]

Cupid thinks of giving yet another witty retort but frankly the dog seemed more than a little unhinged, not to mention stupid. If the beast decided to hit him, he'd be in trouble, and frankly it didn't seem heroic enough to put up with his wit and sarcasm like most did.

He shrugs and waits for a reply about the watch.

[The_Admiral]

Well they're teleport beacons and communicators, they are shifters but there isn't enough dimensional energy left for them to do that. With them Alpha 9 should be able to port you into the museum.

[hobbitguy1420]

The Feral stares at the yellow man.

"What it do?"

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

The Phantom punches a few more keys into the computer, before leaving the van.
Basically copying the footage to a secure data vault for future viewing.
"Shifters you say?" He picks the green one up, and examines it closely.
Technology 31 to see what he can learn about it. :smallbiggrin:

[Arcran]

I'll pass. Our resident magician has already seen inside the place, and I've heard too many stories about what happens to supers when they teleport somewhere they haven't seen before. Thanks, but no thanks.

[Joyride]

Beth isn't quite sure how to respond to Cupid's offer, stammering without offering a name. The arrival of the next heroes soon breaks her one-sided staring contest with the winged archer and puts her mind back on track. She hangs back as the plan evolves, with the witchy newcomer Madame Mischief sneaking in via astral projection and the two tech-focused heroes collecting and analyzing data. Hopefully she'd be able to offer her own talents soon.

When Keith produces the depleted shifters, Beth approaches and eyes them cautiously. She hesitates before offering:

"If we're going in both ways, it might be safer for someone to carry me. I can, um, be... really, really small."

[Arcran]

Your noble steed await, Cupid says, offering a hand with the palm up, a sly grin on his face.

He thinks to himself about the team makeup. Two robot suits. They usually had things that could blow up, which would be a danger in the museum. A dog that could hardly control himself now, much less in a fight. A woman who could shrink and, hypothetically, grow. Thoughts about the fun that could be in bed derails his actual thinking for a moment, but soon links a huge woman with a wrecked museum. He and the magician should cause minimal damage, but other than that, seems there won't be much of the museum left to visit.

[hobbitguy1420]

Surrounded by these strange new pack members, The Feral does what comes naturally - he inhales deeply, seeking out their scents and the smells which make them up. He wants to learn everything that he can about these creatures.

What sort of roll or rolls would I want to make in order to put together a scent-profile of each of my fellows?

[The_Admiral]

still better take one , they're good communicators. Got footage? It'll help Alpha pinpoint our entry point better. he says, question directed at Phantom

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

"The Footage I saw indicated that they started on the first two floors, worked fast, quickly left. IF they are still inside, they should be on the third floor."
GM: Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Arcran]

Cupid straps the watch to his right wrist, not wanting to risk it interfering with the bracelet when it came time to power down.

The first smell you get from Cupid is that of expensive cologne. Very expensive. The kind that you could never afford. It burns your nostrils; from a normal sense of smell, it'd probably be attractive, but with your supernose it is more than a little overpowering. Mingled with it is a hint of woman's perfume; either he was recently with one, or he wears it? Probably the first. Strangely, he seems to have very little body odor, almost as if he doesn't make any.

His bow smells old. Very old. Older than a lot of things you smelled from the musuem. It made your nose tingle, but not in the way the cologne did. More in a powerful way. It was a strong bow, stronger than him.

Mingled with all of this is a faint powdery smell that lingers around him that smells slightly like vinegar. You can't seem to quite place it, but it seems counter to all his other smells.

It's heroin, although I'm not sure if The Feral would recognize it? Guess it depends on what kind of experiences he's had.

[The_Admiral]

plug the footage into the shifter, Alpha will download it. Keith replies to Phantom gesturing to a universal bus on the side of the shifter.

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

plug the footage into the shifter, Alpha will download it.
The Phantom returns to the van, to try and do what the man in the gold and silver armor requested. "There were 7 of them, apparently entered and left through purple lights, which I can only presume are portals of some sort. Both their portals and faces avoided direct capture by the camera, so it seems they are at least aware of where the cameras were placed. One of the intruders had a sweat shirt with "Big Al's" written on it."


Eidetic Memory to see if he has heard of Big Al's anywhere: [roll0]

Incidentally:

(This goes for anyone watching the security footage)
probably means that whoever wants to, can follow Phantom into the cramped van to watch the thing as well. :smallsmile:

Not sure if the van has a USB plug for the Shifter. SapientOne?


The most obvious scent from the Phantom is leather, from the slightly worn trenchcoat he wears over his armor. Below that is a combination of metal (from the armor obviously) and musty earth, as if he spends significant time underground. There is a tinge of fire, the smell of soldering. Buried under all those, is the faintest whiff of death: like a man who has been dead for about a day.

[Propagandist]

"Ooh, tech toys! Fun! I'll pass, but I appreciate the offer." Marie declines the shifter, then abruptly turns back and picks up the black one when Keith mentions their use as communicators, strapping it to her wrist. "You know what, a little backup never hurt anyone."

She turns to Beth with interest. "So, you're a size-shifter? That sounds like it'd be just about the most useful thing in the world. You're welcome to hitch a ride with me too, if you want."

Phantom's report gets Madame Mischief's attention. *Pop* *Pop* "Aaaahhh!" The completely unnecessary teleport causes one of the police to fall out of their chair as Marie appears inside the surveillance van. "What's this about purple lights and portals?" She watches the footage and glances over at the Phantom. "This ringing any bells for you?" The guy in the trenchcoat and power armor seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. Maybe a little verbose and matter-of-fact, but he had a better handle on what was up than anyone else so far.

Expertise: Magic check to see what, if anything, Marie can glean from the footage, or if what she's seeing is even magical in the first place. [roll0]

Madame Mischief smells of smoke, probably residue from her flashy entrance. A flowery perfume as well, not quite as strong as Cupid's cologne, but still plenty strong for a nose like Feral's. There's a chemical scent from the stage makeup she wears, mixed with a sharp tang and of all things, the scent of the forest from her clothes - mothballs and cedar oil.

[Queen Sapes]

Phantom:
Big Al's is a popular fast food chain that began opening up franchises across Aeon several years ago, primarily in the suburbs and New Town. They have a reputation for making a really good burger and supplying a surprising amount of employee benefits. However, they typically keep merchandise to the bare minimum, only selling hats and other items at a few locations. Off the top of your head you're unaware of where.

OOC:
Anyone can watch it if they take a look inside the van, and it does have a usb plug.

Madam Mischief:
The purple light clearly indicates some kind of teleportation spell that was cast and held open by some unseen party, likely some kind of powerful magician holding it open on the other side of the portal. Just from the light you aren't able to determine the specifics of the portal, but you know that portals that are maintained often leave behind residual marks. You also take note of the large amount of metal they take from the museum, as some powerful summoning spells require a vast amount of metal fed into them to stabilize. Without knowing what was on the tablets or scrolls you'd be unable to identify them or their purpose.

[hobbitguy1420]

After sniffing around for a bit, the Feral sneezed. It turned a chastising look at the Phantom.

"Clean better after kill. Smell like rotting. Missed blood somewhere."

That done, it leaned down and snuffled at the changers, then took the red one in one clawed hand. It stared at the thing, then looked questioningly at the yellow man.

[The_Admiral]

Just strap it to your wrist, Alpha got the feeds? We're almost ready to port in. he says.

OOC

Just waiting on people to select their watches and we're off.

[hobbitguy1420]

The Feral looks down at the thing again. It looks complicated. The beast leans down and gnaws carefully at the band, hoping that'll make things clearer. It doesn't.

[The_Admiral]

Sighing Keith retrieves the band from Feral's teeth and carefully helps him strap the shifter to his wrist. It beeps twice "There, it's locked on."

[hobbitguy1420]

The feral stares at the thing around its wrist. "Not like," it says, muzzle wrinkling. "Itches."

[Joyride]

Beth is relieved to know that her admission of her own power has gone over well. She smiles at Madame Mischief's compliment, but doesn't reply, instead staring at Cupid's outstretched hand. Given that Cupid himself is so dreamy, Beth can barely take her attention away long enough to hear Keith's explanation.

She approaches and tentatively reaches toward, then picks out the blue shifter. She attaches it and holds up her wrist to make sure it's on correctly. Once that's confirmed, she nods to Cupid and Madame Mischief, closes her eyes, and activates her power. Though she's still new at being a heroine, she's practiced on her own and managed to get her shrinking under control. Slowly, deliberately, she dwindles to just under a foot tall, her super-suit downsizing along with her.

In a squeaky, shrunken voice, she chirps up to the larger heroes, "Ready!" then approaches to accompany them inside.

[Arcran]

Cupid gently picks up Beth, almost laughing at the diminutive size.

You know, I always liked shorter women, he says, flashing her a grin.

Here, I might need my hands, and don't have any pockets. I promise this is only as weird as you make it, Cupid says, pulling out his elastic waistband slightly and barely tucking Beth in, patting her to make sure she'll stay.

Alright. Safe and secure, and I can use my hands, he says, shrugging and slightly extending his wing so he can slide his bow off his back, flashing another grin down to Beth.

[hobbitguy1420]

The feral growls in surprise at Beth's change. It leans in, sniffing in mistrustful curiosity at the now-tiny packmate.

[The_Admiral]

"You two quit it, I have enough of that at work" Keith grunts as the tray folds into a disc. Slotting the disc into his phone, he clips the red watch to his belt.

"Alpha, port us all except black in into the third floor, one of the empty parts in 3, 2, 1." he says as he taps a code into his 'phone'.

Immediately everyone except Marie is surrounded in a field of colour matching that of the watch strapped to their wrist.

A stark white room flashes before their eyes right before these people arrive in a room inside the museum.

[Arcran]

"What the hell man? I wanted to get sent in by the hot magician chick!" Cupid says, quickly making sure that his hair didn't get singed.

"Cramping my style..." he mutters as he gently lifts Beth out of his pants.

"You're welcome back any time, but for now you can probably help a lot more outside my pants. Do visit again though," he says with a wink, pulling his bow back so a transparent pink arrow appears on it. Maybe tonight wouldn't be a total loss? He'd take a superhero with an interesting power over some random blonde anyday. More fun things to try, at the very least.

Still, he had to focus for at least a few minutes unless he wanted to get shot. He looks around, trying to get his bearings.

Just in case.
[roll0]

[Queen Sapes]

The group of heroes, save for Madam Mischief, find themselves deposited at the top of the stairs on the third floor of the museum. The room is rather dark, what with the museum's internal lights off and no moon or starlight pouring in. Directly across from the stairs sits a pair of closed double doors, a sign above advertising "See the Stars with Astro!". To the left of the stairs, a short balcony leading to an archway that enters into the superhero exhibit. To the right, an identical path leading to the military exhibits. Above the heroes is a massive glass arch that plays the part of roof of the building and a nice source of natural lighting. The area around the group is decorated with cushioned chairs, potted plants, and a few signs. Aside from our heroes, the place looks completely empty.

Perception DC 15
Your senses alert you to the sound of wind coming from somewhere close by, and a quick glance at the ceiling reveals a large hole in the glass window. A light rain looks like it's starting up outside, letting in tiny droplets of water that fall down to the entryway.

Perception DC 35 (You can roll once for both)
Closer inspection of the room reveals that the chairs, plants, tables, and signs all look as if they were pushed out of the way in unison. They cling closer to the walls than they naturally should, leaving the spot the heroes landed in clear of objects. Looking down you're able to see burn marks in the carpet, faint enough to miss in this lack of light. A clear circle is burned into the carpet, runes dotting the edges.

Expertise: Magic DC 20
Calling upon your knowledge of the arcane arts and a little study of the runes, you know this is definitely the remains of a portal. The runes seem to indicate the portal was designed to tunnel through a parallel dimension, going through it as a shortcut but not actually exposing those passing through it to the world. You could probably reactivate it just based on the burn marks, but the runes aren't foolproof and could potentially open up to the universe they tunnel through.

[hobbitguy1420]

The feral freezes stock-still at the unexpected light show and change in surroundings. Its eyes stare, wildly panicked, and its muscles quiver tensely. A growl shudders out of its chest, starting low but swiftly rising to a hysterical pitch. It looks like the beast's just a step away from bolting or biting something off of somebody.

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

Here, I might need my hands, and don't have any pockets. I promise this is only as weird as you make it,
The Phantom harumphed as Cupid puts the small blue girl into his pants, the obvious metaphor not lost to him. "You should try to get pants with pockets. They are useful for many things." He comments, patting the amply large ones on his trenchcoat. In fact, it was one of the main reasons he wore a coat over his armour to start with.

*****

Once inside the Museum, the Phantom looks around, wondering whether the intruders were still here, or had flown the coop.


Perception: [roll0]

[Propagandist]

*Pop* Madame Mischief appears momentarily, joining the rest of the team inside. She glances around, squinting in the low light and smirking at Cupid's antics with Beth. The words "pocket rocket" can be heard under her breath.

"So, thoughts? They took a boatload of metal, which magically-speaking, is probably not a good thing. You use it to 'feed' and stabilize certain summoning spells, namely big powerful ones. It doesn't seem like our thieves are still around, so if I may, priorities one and two ought to be finding out what was on those other things they stole, the scrolls and tablets."

Feral's panicked growl gets Marie's attention. She cautiously moves toward him. "Hey big dog, you alright? You get teleport-sick?"

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

"As I recall, the scrolls were in the Superhero section on the current floor, and the Tablets were in Ancient History on the 2nd floor. We should probably head to the Superhero section first." Phantom says as he looks around for the place.

[The_Admiral]

Panicked I think, though one thing at a time, we get fur man calmed down first. he calmly states, slowly extending his arm in Feral's direction approaching him.

[Arcran]

Cupid looks at the Phantom, a mischievous grin on his face. "If I had pockets though, our friendly neighborhood size-changer would have a far less exciting ride!" he says with a chuckle. "Say, do you have a superhero name yet?" he asks Beth.

"Mischief!" Paul says, looking around the room. Be didn't know anything about magic, but wasn't a circle with runes bad? They aren't going to get trapped or something, are they?

"What the hell do the runes mean?" he says, going behind her and using her arm to point since the things are so damned hard to see. Really, he'd probably just gotten lucky, but he didn't need to tell everybody else that.

[hobbitguy1420]

The Feral's growl turns into a snarl, and he snaps at Sentinel, though the teeth get nowhere close - a warning, then. "Not like. Not right. Bad. Bad!" His nostrils flare and his ears swivel, trying to catch his surroundings and figure out just where he is.

[The_Admiral]

You're in the museum, the thing on your hand can send you anywhere on earth. he states to Feral, halting in place.

[hobbitguy1420]

The Feral turns its head slightly to look at the Sentinel. "In not-den?" He inhales sharply, and his ears turn down. "Strange smells. Too much." He shakes, head to tail, like a dog exiting the water. "Not like," He says again.

[The_Admiral]

Okay, calm down just take in the new place.

[hobbitguy1420]

The Feral takes half a minute, panting, to grow used to the new place, the new scents and sounds, the new feel to the air.

"Bad pack gone," he growls, more calmly. "Smell faint. Other smells strange. Hard to tell."

Can the Feral walk through the museum, taking 20 on perception checks throughout the whole thing in order to track down anything that might be found?

[Propagandist]

"Mischief!" Paul says, looking around the room. Be didn't know anything about magic, but wasn't a circle with runes bad? They aren't going to get trapped or something, are they?

"What the hell do the runes mean?" he says, going behind her and using her arm to point since the things are so damned hard to see. Really, he'd probably just gotten lucky, but he didn't need to tell everybody else that.

"What're you... oh. Well lookie here!" Madame Mischief gives Cupid an odd look as he points her arm at the carpet before noticing what he's pointing her at. "Hmm, let's see. Eeeenteresting. Don't worry, it's not a trap and it won't summon Satan - for starters, you need a live goat for that. It's the remnants of a portal. And if I'm reading these marks right, which... well, that remains to be seen, a portal that took a shortcut through another dimension. Not a portal from another dimension - they started here and ended here, but they... tunneled through a parallel world on their way. The mystical, metaphysical version of driving though a back alley to avoid traffic."

"Give me a little time, I could probably reopen this - course, that could also right into whatever world they passed though, which would make for a lousy detour."

[Arcran]

"Let's save that as a Plan B then." Cupid says. Fighting things from another dimension sounds bad. "You did good," he tells Madam Mischief, geniunely impressed."If you have the time I might need you to check something out for me." For once, he's not making a move. Maybe she could tell him about his damn bracelet.

Still, they should figure out this crime first so he can proceed to enjoy his night.

Hey, mutt," he shouts at the Feral. "Be a good boy and track down the baddies, alright?"

[hobbitguy1420]

The Feral stares into Cupid's eyes and bares a few very large, sharp teeth. His ears pull up toward the top of his head, both pointed toward Cupid. "Stupid Least. Talk too much." He doesn't move.

[Arcran]

"Look buddy," Cupid says, taking a step back, glad that he had drawn an arrow. What were you supposed to do with bears? Look big? He extends his wings, making a magnificent white wingspan. "We all contribute. Robocop beamed us in. Miss Magicpants told us what the runes I found meant. You're the one with a dog nose, so use your powers and do your damn job."

[The_Admiral]

Weren't you listening? Bad pack gone, the robbers made it out some time ago. he replies gruffly and dismissively to Cupid.

Turning to Marie, he continues, Mischief, take your time with that portal I think a detour would be unappreciated. a tone of authority in his voice.

He teaches, hints at his day job is fun.

[hobbitguy1420]

The Feral looks at the Silver Sentinel and nods, his lips closing around his teeth in a smug smile.

[JeminiZero]

Phantom
The Phantom nods approvingly at the man in gold armor, as he breaks up the squabbling pair. This was not the most promising start...

"Give me a little time, I could probably reopen this - course, that could also right into whatever world they passed though, which would make for a lousy detour."
"If you are unable to reopen it safely, see if you can trace their exit location. These Shifters let us get there without having to follow the exact road they took." Phantom says as he kneels down to get a close look at the runes. While he may not be able to understand them, being able to recognize similiar runes in the future would probably be useful.

[Joyride]

Once inside, Beth clambers out from Cupid's trousers and deftly descends his leg. She leaps from Cupid and expands in mid-air, reaching her normal and natural size once again. She catches herself beaming at her successful feat and shyly turns her face from Cupid as she addresses his question:

"Oh, I, um... I'm kind of in the market."

The suggestive trip into the museum has her a bit flustered, but once the investigation begins in earnest, Beth is all business. She stays a few steps back from the more learned teammates and watches the exits for signs of movement, falling naturally into the role of protector. She notes the discord between Cupid and the fearsome man-beast, hoping to help resolve it, if possible, down the line. Nothing like a rift between members to throw an otherwise effective squad off its game.

Beth stays alert and attentive to Mischief's explanation, trying her best to follow along with her limited knowledge. Her input is an uncertain expression and a raised eyebrow. This was getting pretty surreal, pretty fast.

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

"Oh, I, um... I'm kind of in the market."
"First night out eh? Well we all have to start somewhere." The Phantom says. The way he talks, you would never guess he had been at this for only a month or so. He ponders possible names for a size changer. "Perhaps, take something based on Excel (XL). Maybe even Excel-Lass (XLS), although I personally think Excel-Girl sounds nicer."

Alternate text:

"Well, thats a rather... uh... unique name. Pleased to meet you Miss Kind-of-in-the-market."

[Arcran]

Weren't you listening? Bad pack gone, the robbers made it out some time ago. he replies gruffly and dismissively to Cupid.

Turning to Marie, he continues, Mischief, take your time with that portal I think a detour would be unappreciated. a tone of authority in his voice.

He teaches, hints at his day job is fun.

"Honestly, I was trying more to get his mangy smell out of here, but that works too," he says, slowly edging away from the mutt. "Anyways, how do we know they're all gone?"


"Oh, I, um... I'm kind of in the market."

"Power Suit is on the right idea. You could always go with a classic -Gargantua, Giga, or my personal favorite, Maximista. That one should get the news, and might even net you some TJMaxx commercials. Hardly glamorous, but we all have to start somewhere."

[hobbitguy1420]

"Scent is old. Stale. Bad pack gone." He takes another big sniff. "Burnt. Sweat. No soap."

[ChronicLunacy]

http://imageshack.com/a/img19/3769/sby7.jpg Torrent

"Ben! Bubbie! I got somethin' for ya! High profile, lotsa news vans on their way! Perfect opportunity to show off yer new duds! It's at the museum on Blahblah Street, the big one. If you get off your tuckus you can make it! So get crackin'! Love ya! <click>"

The message ended and Benjamin Blake a.k.a. Torrent grinned, tucking his cell phone into his belt. He'd already been admiring himself in the mirror when his new agent, Morrie, had called with the news. All he had to do was add a set of expensive shades (Yeah, he wore his sunglasses at night. So what.) and he was downstairs in the garage revving the engine of his newest rented car. A man of Ben's means could afford a new set of wheels every week if he wanted, and this time it was a brand-spankin'-new Ford Mustang, 2014. The V12 in the sports package roared as he tore off down the road.

He parked a few streets over and then strolled right through the police tape in his highly visible gold and white uniform, waving and smiling to the news cameras. "Don't worry, folks. I'll take it from here!" he said, waving off any officers that tried to get in his way and walking right through the museum's front doors. He stomped around loudly, not disguising his footsteps and whistling to himself, until he found the other heroes already there or they found him.

"Yo, I'm Torrent. So, people, what's the situation?" he flashed a smile to everyone and took off his shades with a flourish.

[Arcran]

"Bad guys used some kind of magic mumbo jumbo to jump in here. My beautiful assistant is trying to track it back where they cam from," Cupid says, tossing a wink at Madam Mischief as he says so. "Then it's standard hero stuff. Kick ass, make it back in time to hit last call."

"Say, what brand are those sunglasses? Oakley?" he asks, genuinely interested and smirking at his trick question of sorts. The answer could determine his entire opinion of the man. He seemed to be trying to pull off classy, but did he have the hardware to back it up?

[hobbitguy1420]

The Feral snarls at the newcomer. "Who? You bad pack?" It steps forward, interposing itself between Torrent and the rest of its pack. "You pack, you say. You not pack, you go!"

[ChronicLunacy]

http://imageshack.com/a/img19/3769/sby7.jpg Torrent

"Magic, huh? Cool! I love magic!" he chuckled. "Don't know the first thing about it, but Harry Houdini...the guy was a boss. You certainly fill out the stage getup better than Houdini, though, Miss Magic." he said, giving Madam Mischief an appraising look. Then he turned his attention back to the guy in the speedo.

"Please, they're Louis Vuitton." he answered Cupid's question offhandedly, probably not realizing or not caring that he was being tested for class.

Then the feral...thing got really aggressive and started getting in his face, demanding something about a pack. "Down, puppy." Torrent waved at it. "I don't know what you're barking about, but I'm one of the good guys." he said flippantly. "And geez...bee-tee-double-ya, you need a breath mint. Phew!" he added, waving his hand in front of his face as if to clear the air. He produced a pack of Life Savers from his belt and offered them to Feral.

[Arcran]

Good taste in women? Check. Classy sunglasses? Check. Insulted the mutt? Check. He didn't exactly like him trying to put the moves on Madam Mischief, but, to put it frankly, this man couldn't hold a candle to him in the looks department. He wasn't quite as classy either, but it would do.

Cupid walks over to the man, putting an arm over his shoulder. "Cupid, Archer of Love and all that. Millionaire playboy too, but that's not nearly as fun. What exactly do you do? Lasers? Super speed? Mind control?"

[ChronicLunacy]

http://imageshack.com/a/img19/3769/sby7.jpg Torrent

"Heyyy, man after my own heart. Nice speedo. Makes a statement." he chuckled, giving Cupid a compliment. He let himself get steered away from the hairy guy in order to diffuse any developing violence he might have started there. "Let's just say you should stand behind me if anyone starts shooting at us, eh, wings?" he answered somewhat cryptically.

[Arcran]

"Hey man, tights. They go all the way down," Cupid says, gesturing at his legs. "Speedo isn't exactly classy, you know? And I can do that. Happy to let other people take the bullet for me. Much easier to stay looking good without bullet holes."

[The_Admiral]

Keith groans in exasperation, were these heroes or his class he asked himself, as he grunts, "Start acting like actual adults, I know teenagers who act more mature than you. This is a shifter, teleporter and communicator, may save your life." retrieving the red bulky watch strapped to his belt and tossing it to the newcomer.

[Arcran]

Cupid slaps Torrent on the back. "We'll talk later. Maybe you can come by my place sometime," he says, walking over to Madam Mischief.

"Any progress?" he asks. Tonight just kept looking up it seemed!

[ChronicLunacy]

http://imageshack.com/a/img19/3769/sby7.jpg Torrent

Torrent raised an eyebrow at and snatched the shifter out of the air with a swipe of his hand. "No one asked you, bullet-head. Learn to unclench a little, alright?" he smirked at Silver Sentinel. "You know, as long as we're giving unsolicited advice and all..."

He shrugged and strapped the bulky, unfashionable watch-thing around his wrist, already wondering when he was going to accidentally break it. With the shenanigans he got up to it was only a matter of time. Shifter, huh? he thought as he started messing with it experimentally. Sounds techy and...bored now. he stopped after only a few moments, content to ignore the device's existence from then on.

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

At the arrival of another "fellow hero", a large figure wearing a leather trenchcoat over a gleaming silver and green battlesuit, stands up from examining the runes on the carpet. He turns to introduce himself to the newcomer "I am the Phantom, tinkerer extraordinaire"

[hobbitguy1420]

The Feral snarls at Torrent. Another one. This isn't a pack, it's a litter of foolish cubs.

He walks over to the Silver Sentinel, not taking his eyes off of the annoying ones. "One search," he says. "Not want bad pack hide. Howl if find." And with that, he hunches down, begins to snuffle, and wanders away from the "pack."

Gonna take 20 to search the building, top to bottom. This gives me a perception check of 41, if allowed. If I can't take 20, I'll make it a Routine Check, giving me 31.

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

The Phantom watches as Feral wanders off, before it occurs to him that if the dog-like creature found some important evidence, he might bring it back... in his mouth... covered with slobber! That would ruin potential DNA, amongst other things! "I... uh... better keep an eye on him." The Phantom says as he rushes off after Feral.

"Mind some company?"

Investigate to search for clues: [roll0]

[hobbitguy1420]

The Feral looks over this packmate, the one who smells like rotten kill. This one hasn't done anything foolish. "Come." it says, then returns to its searches.

[Queen Sapes]

Feral and Phantom
Feral and Phantom briefly leave the group, searching through the museum for any clue regarding the thieves. They begin with the museum's biggest attraction and most popular exhibit, the land of capes, lasers, and magic, the superhero exhibit. The superhero exhibit is rather bombastic when compared to other parts of the museum, all looping, bright hallways filled with replicas and models. The first thing one sees upon entering the exhibit is a set of monitors suspended from the ceiling that loop footage of major historical newsreels. Or rather, the screens would show that if they were currently on. Past that is a wall of famous headlines from across the country. It's a mix of the good and the bad spots of superhuman history: the Centurion's first appearance sits next to the original Stormer rampage following the Silver Storm; Dr. Tomorrow's meeting with President Roosevelt is alongside the Conqueror Worm's death at the hand of the original Raven; the grand opening of Claremont Academy adjacent to the report of Doctor Shock's first victims.

Farther inside, the bad gives way to the good as entire displays dedicated to various heroes spread through the halls. There are obvious ones such as the Centurion display, a collection of replica objects, headlines, and a scale model of the actual Centurion. Many of the cases are smashed open, their replica contents stolen by the thieves. Beside him is a memorial to the original Raven, a replica of his costume sitting inside a glass case flanked by portraits of his greatest foes. This trend continues through the exhibit, showing off the hero and their greatest exploits. A replica of Dr. Tomorrow surrounded by headlines about his battles with the evil Nazi powers; life sized replicas of Freedom Eagle and the mysterious Alien-Gator engaged in battle are the centerpiece of his display; there's even a display detailing the earliest days of superheroism back in the Revolutionary War. Past all the heroes of Freedom City and the Stormers of Emerald City are the select few heroes of Aeon's past. Deadman, the invulnerable acrobat is first, his costume sitting in a glass tube untouched. This is the display the scrolls were taken from, at least according to the security footage. The case they were in doesn't name them, but states they were donated to the museum countless years ago by Deadman himself. Lightning Bug's display sits in the center of Aeon's three displays, the metal replica of his power armor taken by the thieves along everything else. Finally, Gunslinger's display sits relatively untouched, the only item missing being the replicas of his strange laser revolvers.

The entire room is absent of people, save for the extremely well made replica statues. Any attempts to find DNA or some other kind of clue to the thieves' identity is extremely difficult at best. Apparently, the Aeon museum must prefer to clean in the early morning, as the floor remains littered with the hair, skin, and occasional sweat of the day's patrons. At least the floor is clear of litter. The rest of the museum's exhibits are a similar story. Broken glass litters the floors on the upper four exhibits, while the bottom two are untouched. Everything metal they could find appears to have been taken, with only a handful of objects left they didn't reach in time. DNA sources are unlikely to be found, as the thieves' remains easily mixed in with that of the day's patrons. Fingerprints are just as unlikely, as everything touched was either taken with them or shattered by a bat. Investigation into the ancient history exhibit reveals that the tablets taken supposedly date back to ancient Lemuria, although even experts on the ancient society are unable to decipher them.

Expertise: History DC 10 (Deadman)(Eidetic Memory can be used here)
A hero dating back to World War 2, Deadman boasted the impressive ability to survive anything apparently unharmed. While the heroes of the world were busy fighting the war, Deadman remained in Aeon for some reason, fighting street crime at night. Deadman's greatest enemy was a serial killer he chased for years who murdered the wealthy of Aeon, although he was never caught and even Deadman couldn't say he suspected the killer's identity. A few years after the war ended, Deadman disappeared along with the killer, citizens of Aeon suspecting Deadman finally caught him and finally retired.
Expertise: History DC 5 (Lightning Bug)(Eidetic Memory can be used here)
A hero who appeared in the seventies, Lightning Bug was a power suited super who fought crime for years in Aeon but never became a big public figure. He was a quiet super, who wore a heavy suit of advanced armor, including one of the earliest functional jet-packs, all powered by a large battery he wore on his back that sparked constantly with electricity. This caused problems whenever someone would attempt to approach him, and he was able to shoot arcs of electricity from his palms, likely powered by the battery as well. About ten years ago he made a public statement saying he was retiring from crime fighting, although he chose to keep his identity a secret.
Expertise: History DC 10 (Gunslinger)(Eidetic Memory can be used here)
A hero from the earliest days of Aeon, when it was still just a stop on the road west, Gunslinger claimed to be a man from another era. Reports say that he claimed to be a lawman from the distant future who accidentally found himself in the old west, although recently historians have found evidence that claims otherwise. Wherever Gunslinger came from, it's impossible to doubt that the man was dealing with strange things, as he wielded a pair of revolvers that shot out some kind of laser blast. Gunslinger brought law to early Aeon, defeating bandits, murderers, and even a rogue monster or two before his disappearance, leaving behind no trace of where he went.

[hobbitguy1420]

Feral pays little attention to what was taken. It's interested in the intruders, foremost. It concentrates on its nose, making certain to recognize the most recent scents in every room - if it encounters any of these interlopers out among the Great Pack, it wants to recognize them.

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

The Phantom does a methodical sweep of the place, occasionally pausing to snap photos with his camera. However, there were too many biological samples to tell which belonged to museum patrons, and which to the thieves. Which also pretty much busted any hope of finding a flower in the footprints of one of the intruders, which only grew in one part of the city... or something of the like.

The Lightning Bug's suit and Gunslinger's revolvers were supposed to be nothing more than display replicas, which probably meant that they were taken for their metal content. Of greater concern were the non-metal items. "Hmm... Lemurian tablets, and some scrolls donated by Deadman." The Phantom wonders aloud to nobody in particular...

Deadman: [roll0] Edit: Woohoo! Nat 20! So that probably pushes it to 36.

Lightning Bug: [roll1]

Gunslinger: [roll2]

Might as well give this a shot, Lemurian Tablets: [roll3]

[Queen Sapes]

Phantom
The Lemurian tablets are items you know exceptionally little about, aside from the fact they were dug up locally. From news reports, you know that Lemuria was an ancient empire of the Serpent People, a reptilian race that enslaved humanity and ruled the continent of Lemuria with powerful magics. Much of their history and knowledge was lost when Lemuria sunk into the ocean.

[Propagandist]

"Now now, don't insult the master, Houdini had a great body. Not that I don't appreciate the compliment, mind." Madame Mischief gives the newcomer a broad grin. Another lover of the spotlight. Marie could work with that for sure. What an interesting bunch they were collecting.

Getting (slightly) more serious for a moment, Madame Mischief gets to work on the portal. The design scorched into the carpet looked to be intact, so all that should be needed are the rituals to open it up. Piece of cake.

Slight chance of opening doorway to ruined hellscape or world where the Nazis won or dimension of evil twins aside, piece of cake. Totally. No pressure.

Expertise: Magic roll as suggested by the mighty GM. [roll0]

[Queen Sapes]

(Didn't mention the portal's dimensions, but it's diameter is about 10 feet. Just something I wanted to make sure was known.)

With a flick of the wrists and a few words recited from memory, Madam Mischief flows magic back into the charred remains of the portal. In seconds the runes slowly begin to emit a soft, light blue glow, lighting up randomly around the board. As they glow brighter and brighter, light blue sparks fly from them haphazardly, dissipating into a soft and sweet odor not far from lilacs. Slowly, the circles housing the runes begin to glow blue as well, the light slowly working its way into a complete circle. The light continues to bloom as Madam Mischief pours more magic in, sparks continuing to fly off in all directions, filling the air with lilacs. Pretty soon the room is lit up light blue, and the center of the circle adopts the same glow as the rest of the circle. Once it all reaches the same color and brightness, the floor begins to dip in the center of the circle, pulling down in a vortex of color that stops itself before the runes. It continues to pull downwards, digging an extra-dimensional portal through another reality. As the whirlpool of light descends deeper, it washes over a spiraling staircase that begins at the top of the hole and plunges into the space between realities. Pretty soon, all our heroes are able to see is a deep hole in the floor (deeper than would even seem to be possible) with glowing light blue walls that appear fairly thick most of the way down, and the staircase leading them into this rabbit hole. The ritual appears successful as the portal/ rabbit hole stabilizes, light from the runes still illuminating the room even after Mischief finishes with her magic.

Perception DC 40
Almost as far down as you can see, the hole's walls are complete. But much, much further down it looks as if the walls begin to break apart in chunks, revealing pieces of the dimension the portal travels through.

[ChronicLunacy]

http://imageshack.com/a/img19/3769/sby7.jpg Torrent

"Well, that's something you don't see every day." Torrent whistled and walked closer to the portal. It seemed to lead straight down. Nice of them to include stairs, he thought idly, but wondered if the stairs were really needed. They could have been put there just to allow mere mortals like them to comprehend how the magic worked. "Where's Fido and Gigantor? I want to wrap this up and get home before Jeopardy."

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

In the darkened silent museum, it wasn't too hard to hear the hum of magic, and spot the cast-off light from the fireworks show. Looking up from his investigation, the Phantom comments aloud to Feral. "I think that's our cue, come on lets go return to the others."

*****

"We're back, only found that the Scrolls were donated by Deadman, and the Tablets were dug up locally and believed to have been from Lemuria. Any luck with the ... Woah!" Rejoining to the rest of the group, Phantom is struck by the sight of the massive glowing stairwell. "So this should lead us right to the culprits? Well done Madam Mischief"

@ChronicLunacy: Not sure if it was intentional, but Gigantor is Joyride's character. "Green Tincan" or "Green Robocop" would be a more appropriate nickname for Phantom.

Perception: [roll0]

[Propagandist]

Madame Mischief gives Phantom a little salute as he returns, showing off the reactivated portal with a flourish. "Thank ye, kind sir. And yep, should take us right to our thieves. Opened right back up. Nice detective work, by the way. Lemurian, huh? Well, that's probably not good, but it's hard to tell when you start adding that many zeros to the 'years in the past' column."

"So, who wants to be first down the giant interdimensional waterslide?"

Perception, just for grins, cause I'm not making a DC 40 anything. [roll0]

[ChronicLunacy]

http://imageshack.com/a/img19/3769/sby7.jpg Torrent

"Geronimo." Torrent announced as he started quickly down the spiral staircase. He wasn't exactly a "look before you leap" type of person, so his first instinct was to just go metaphorically and sometimes literally head-first into whatever problem he encountered.

[Arcran]

"Madam, will you require a winged escort?" Cupid asks, making an excessive bow towards Madam Mischief.

[hobbitguy1420]

Feral appears, accompanying the Phantom. "Many scents. Mixed. Think know Bad Pack scents." He peers down the hole, sniffing mistrustfully.

[roll0]

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

"Well, since our sweep of the Museum has turned up no other clues regarding the thieves, this is probably our best bet to find them..." Phantom remarks before descending down the dimensional tunnel.

[Propagandist]

"Madam, will you require a winged escort?" Cupid asks, making an excessive bow towards Madam Mischief.

"Require? No. Want? Certainly." Madame Mischief returns the bow and offers her hand to the archer of love.

[The_Admiral]

Keith quietly follows behind the Phantom gun at the ready to fire as he steps into the portal.

[Arcran]

Cupid puts an arm around Madam Mischief, pulling her tight againt him. He also grabs a shrunk-down Beth, placing her back in her previous traveling location.

"Hold on," he says, wings snapping out as he glides down into the portal.

[hobbitguy1420]

His nostrils flaring every few seconds, the Feral prowls down the stairs.

[Queen Sapes]

Our heroes continue down the spiral staircase almost uneventfully, Cupid flying downwards in the gap between the spiral with Madam Mischief and Beth. It quickly becomes aparent why the staircase exists as it elongates and straightens into a path straight down the tunnel, accompanied by a slow shift in gravity. Not 500 meters into the tunnel, instead of descending stairs, our heroes find themselves walking forward on a straight path. For most of the way down the walls composing the tunnel were a solid blue, but the further into the tunnel our heroes get, the more the walls appear to fade out. Before too long, barely transparent chunks begin appearing in the solid wall, quickly replacing all of the solid blue. Light transparency gives way to walls that are more and more transparent, eventually resulting in a lattice of blue light that is the only thing separating the dimension outside from the tunnel. From the point where it first becomes a lattice structure, you can see about 150 meters down the hall where it returns to a lessening transparency.

Outside, you can see the dimension you crossed through is not one similar to your own. It's a barren and dead wasteland, all solidified rock jutting into the sky randomly as far as you can see. The sky is covered in dark clouds that rumble constantly, literal rivers of lightning and plasma running under them. Easily not a world you would like to get stuck inside. You're not even sure if you would be able to breath the air in an environment like this. If there even was air. As you peer into the dimension outside, some gawking at it, you quite clearly hear a piercing screech come from somewhere in the distance.

[ChronicLunacy]

http://imageshack.com/a/img19/3769/sby7.jpg Torrent

"Well, I think it's safe to say we wouldn't want to build a vacation home here. I'm just going to assume everything out there wants to kill and/or eat us and move on." Torrent quipped, looking through the lattice, wondering if anything out there could see them while they were having their nice stroll through Hades. He was fairly confident that most things on Earth would have trouble hurting him, which was partly responsible for his blase attitude about danger and his adrenaline addiction... But here? Going for a swim could reduce him to his base atoms and scatter him to the winds. It was pretty metal, but he preferred his home dimension. "How did these jokers find this place anyway? Or build this thing?" he wondered aloud, all the while speeding up his steps.

He hurried straight through and out the other side if he could.

[Arcran]

Cupid is one of the few visibly gawking. While he was experienced, he was used to more vanilla things. Robbers with guns and grenades, not cross-dimensional portals. Truth be told, he had basically expected to go into the portal and pop out in a villain lair.

"Is that supposed to happen?" he asks Madam Mischief, putting on a confident facade. At the howl he jumps a little, pulling back his bow, the familiar pink shape appearing on it. He didn't want to fight a demon or something. His arrows might not even work on something from another dimension.

"And what the hell was that?"

Deception for not sounding terrified: [roll0]

Attractive makes it DC 25 for people that like his booty.

[Propagandist]

Madame Mischief looks around at the thinning portal walls as if they are a personal insult to her magical talents, to say nothing of the frighting and alien world outside the windows that shouldn't be windows. "No. No it most definitely is not. Should've been like the entrance all the way to the other end. This is bad. I'm thinking I misread a symbol or two."

The earsplitting screech makes her hair stand on end, making her tighten her grip on Cupid. "I don't know and I don't want to find out. How fast can you fly? Go that fast please."

[Queen Sapes]

Feral
Even with you're innate ability to understand animal language, you have no idea what the screech was. It sounded strange, as if torn halfway between animal and something else. But what you could tell was that it wasn't a screech of anger or any similar emotion, but one of fear.

[hobbitguy1420]

The Feral looks out over the alien landscape, alert. Its hackles rise at the alien sound, but only a little. "Prey," it says, its voice quiet but unfazed. "Something hunted." It looks over the pack, such as it is, with particular scorn shot Cupid's way - silently saying "I know exactly what you're feeling." "Prey bring hunter. Quiet. Stay close. Watch."

Meanwhile the Feral does just that.

Feral's going to be taking a Routine Check (31 check result) to watch, listen, and smell for anything dangerous.

[Arcran]

Cupid grabs Madam Mischief with one arm, then looks back at the others.

"See you on the other side," he says, a white-knuckled grip on his bow. He takes a few quick steps than snaps his wings out fully, flying as fast as he can. He really didn't want to do this. Not at all. He was flying towards the howling monster, for god's sake. Still, he was a sucker for a pretty face, and maybe he could just outrun it?

Better get something for this, he muses, pushing his wings to their limits as he carries Beth and Mischief forward, waiting for one of them to panic. He enjoyed flying fast.

Going about 120 mph.

[hobbitguy1420]

The Feral snarls. "Stupid Least." he looks over to the remaining pack. "Run fast?"

[JeminiZero]

Insight: [roll0]
Phantom

"Well, so much for don't split the party..." The black and green armored figure growls as Cupid decides to dash ahead. It was fairly obvious to Phantom that Cupid was scared, (although perhaps his new harem was too distracted by his looks to notice).

Of course, rushing ahead alone was a bad idea, since they could potentially run headlong into any traps left behind by the enemy. And even if the enemy had forgotten to trap the tunnel, if they appeared at the enemy base first, they could potentially find themselves in a losing fight.

The really BIG problem though, was that Madam Mischief was with them. The Phantom wasn't sure if her magic was keeping the tunnel open, but if it was, then getting caught in a fight might force her to "divert power", and collapse the tunnel with the rest of them still inside! It would result in half the "heroes" being beaten into pulp at the enemy base, and the other half being stuck in an alien dimension!

"Slow down you fools! The enemy is just up ahead! Don't charge in alone!" The Phantom calls out, as he fires up his jets to catch up with Cupid!
Lets see if cupid responds. If not Phantom might have to tackle him or something.

[Arcran]

On a normal day under normal situations, Cupid would probably ignore The Phantom.

This was not a normal day. He was scared of fighting the enemies without somebody to eat their attacks. He was scared the tunnel would implode. Worst of all, he was scared of some demon carving tatoos into his chest. After some hesitation he slowed his wings, coming down to a slow trot.

"I'm just doing what the magic lady says," Cupid says, turning to face Phantom. "She seems to think getting out now should be our priority."

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

Phantom cuts his speed to match Cupid's "Yes, we should get out now, but we should get out together. No use popping up in enemy territory without support." He was actually relieved that Cupid heeded his call, or things would get... ugly.

He jets back to the rear of the group. "Come on, grab on. I may not be able to fly as fast as Cupid, but I think its still faster than your walking speed..."
He has 1 lowly rank of flight, but that is still 60 ft/round, and double normal walking speed. Switch to strength for max carrying capacity, and he should be able to carry the rest of you land lubbers along.

Edit: If you all grab on, Phantom would be carrying: Torrent, Feral, Sentinel. I nominate we leave the tunnel first to absorb fire.

[The_Admiral]

Perception: [roll0]


Keith runs forward to catch up with Phantom as everyone started flying foward.

Sure, I don't see any problem with it. he shrugs as Phantom made his suggestion.

[ChronicLunacy]

http://imageshack.com/a/img19/3769/sby7.jpg Torrent

"Why not?" Torrent shrugged, grabbing on wherever was most convenient and least awkward. "Driver, to the forum!" he grinned once he was settled.

[Queen Sapes]

As you hurry across the latticed section of tunnel you all once again hear the inhuman screech on the distance, but this time much closer. A quick glance to the right shows you where it came from. On the horizon, a massive creature is moving quickly towards the tunnel. The monster looks like a fusion of a whale and a praying mantis, and moves through the sky like a snake with no visible propulsion. It moves quickly as well, much faster than any creature of that size should be able to. Not ten seconds upon seeing it, it has almost reached the tunnel. Its jaws open up, revealing an impressive and chilling set of jagged teeth as it closes on the tunnel, apparently aiming for directly where Cupid is. Cupid instinctively braces himself for the impact, everyone taking a deep breath…

… As the creature passes harmlessly through the tunnel and continues its flight past the tunnel. Apparently the ritual did in fact hold up as intended, albeit with the ability to view the dimension you are passing through. Everyone takes a sigh of relief at this fact, and a few breaths before a quick realization that not everything is right. The air isn’t the same anymore. It’s almost as if the creature’s body passed through without event, but the air in its lungs somehow filled and mixed with the air in the tunnel. And apparently, the air of this dimension has an effect on humans not too far from nerve gas. It dissipates quickly, leaving the air breathable, but that one breath everyone got was enough to hit their system.

Fortitude DC 16 to resist toxic air

Perception DC 30:
Either spotting them in the ten seconds it took for the monster to reach you or catching them with a glance as it passed by, you spot a pair of humanoid figures chasing the whale. Both have a very human body shape, but both are covered from head to toe in a liquidy, silver material that whips off of their bodies like fire. Occasionally they will lash out at the whale, causing it to scream again as they chase it across the sky.

[ChronicLunacy]

http://imageshack.com/a/img19/3769/sby7.jpg Torrent

Fortitude DC16: [roll0]
My Perception isn't nearly good enough to even attempt that. :smallamused:

Torrent started to cough as the Phantom lifted them up, but he was otherwise fine. Covering his mouth with his hand, he sounded disgusted when he exclaimed "Oh gross...mantis-whale fart drive by!" but otherwise relieved that it had passed by them without disturbing the magic tunnel overmuch. He didn't even think to look around, focused more on getting out than surveying the surroundings.

[Arcran]

Cupid shoves Madam Mischief out of the way as the beast comes at him. He tries to go left, but it turns. He tries to go right, but it turns. In the end he simply panics, pulls back an arrow, and lets it fly...

Only to watch it soar through the creature. He breathes a sigh of relief, his shoulders slumping slightly.

He extends a hand to Madam Mischief, trying to help her up as he realizes Beth was still on him when the creature would have hit. Some use he was.

"Sorry about that. Thought it was coming right at us," he mutters. "Nice job with the tunn-" he says, breaking off into a nasty coughing fit as he breathes in the toxic air.

Fortitude: [roll0]
Perception: [roll1]

"Sorry, meant to say nice tunnel," he says, his system quickly burning away whatever toxins there may have been.

[hobbitguy1420]

Routine Check on perception gives me a total of 31.
[roll0]
The Feral coughs and snorts, the horrible scent irritating its sensitive nose. It stares after the flying beast. "Hunters," it says, its voice hushed, almost reverent. "Silver-fire hunters in sky." It takes a deep breath and raises its voice in honor of the hunt - a wordless howl of strength, hunger, and the joy of the hunt.

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

The Phantom watches worriedly as the ginormous mantis-whale approaches the fragile-looking lattice patch-work dimensional tunnel. "Uh... say... this magic tunnel IS strong enough to keep that thing out right?" He asks aloud to nobody in particular.

*****

But, the whale passes right through, leaving only gas in its wake. However, even as the others around him start coughing, the Phantom's suit apparently protects him from the toxic air, and he does not even flinch. "Madam Mischief, I must once more commend you on the qualities of this tunnel."

Perception: [roll0]

[The_Admiral]

Okay that is very impressive, he says, enjoying the view of the surroundings. As he passes through the gas cloud, he waves the gas away from himself with his free hand, otherwise unaffected by the gas.

[Propagandist]

Madame Mischief coughs violently as the team pass through the mantiswhale's wake, eyes watering, suddenly feeling weak and a little numb. "Th-thanks. Don't tell anyone, but that had me fooled too."

In no shape to do much more than lean on Cupid keep her lunch from doing a round trip, Marie misses the sight of the hunters, earning Feral an odd look as he howls. "W-What're you on about, big dog?"

"A-all right, no rushing into the bad guy lair. That's how you end up in a deathtrap over a lava pit. If you brave and bullet-resistant types want to lead the way, I'm not going to stop you. Ready whenever you are, honest. ...Why can't I feel my toes?"

As rolled in the OOC, Madame Mischief takes one degree of failure from the toxin.

[Arcran]

"Are you alright?" Cupid whispers, a degree of concern creeping into his voice. Mischief didn't seem so hot for once. "Do you need to head back?"

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

Seeing, Madam Mischief coughing very violently, Phantom suddenly lands and lets go of the pair of men hanging on to him. "Put her down, let me take a look." He says in a concerned tone.
Treatment: [roll0]

Not sure if it will help, but he also has Reverse Time. Heal Check: [roll1]

[Arcran]

Cupid quickly complies. When it comes to dealing with alien poison gas, he wasn't very useful.

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

Rummaging through his trenchcoat pockets, the armored figure produces a small stash of basic medical tools. He quickly sizes up Mischief's vitals: pulse, blood pressure, pupil dilation... After a while he finally speaks. "This dimension's atmosphere is surprisingly dangerous. Effects on human physiology are akin to weapons grade nerve gas. Long term exposure to those of you not wearing life support armored suits would almost certainly kill the rest of you... Why did the robbers choose to shortcut through this place I wonder."

He wastes no time getting to work trying to counter the effects of the gas- pills, injections, and ending with what looked like lay-on-hands healing, where he firmly grips the back of Madam Mischief's neck, and channels a bright pulse of green energy. "That should hopefully take care of the worst of it... but I advice you to seek medical attention after this is done, just to be sure."

Standing up from his work, he gestures towards the exit. "Shall we continue, we still have some museum robbers to catch."

[hobbitguy1420]

The Feral prowls forward. "Go ahead," it says. "See what there. Come back to say."

And with that, it prowls as silently as possible toward the far end of the tunnel. Its ears quiver, alert for any noise, and its nose flares with every indrawn breath.

Stealth check to try to approach unseen and unheard: [roll0]
Making use of Ultimate Effort for perception to determine what's happening on the other side of the portal, giving me a check of 41.

[Queen Sapes]

Feral
Climbing upwards and out of the tunnel, you notice that the tunnel appears to be pushing upwards as you continue to scale it, the whirlpool of light eventually opening up to the real world once again. You are immediately hit with a heavy rain that obscures any scents you can find. However, straining yourself to find something, you find older scents left by those who used the portal previously, and it's clear they aren't likely anywhere near the portal right now.

[hobbitguy1420]

The Feral pokes its head back into the portal. "Bad pack gone. Rain. Try to track."

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

"It is safe to exit then?" The Phantom asks. "Let us go then. No point waiting here for the mantis whale to pass by again."

[The_Admiral]

I believe that is readily apparent. Keith replies, poking out of the portal gun at the ready.

[Propagandist]

"I'll live." All the same, Madame Mischief doesn't protest when Phantom comes over and begins his work, gasping as the energy pulse ripples through her body. Getting to her feet, she gives the armored man a grateful smile. "I owe you. Thanks."

"Dunno why they picked this place. Might be random. Seems like a good way to shake off pursuers to me." As Feral arrives with is scouting report, she nods and begins walking up the stairs, following the others out. "Let's get back to our dimension and bust some thieves. I've got no need to hang around in here any more."

[Arcran]

Cupid nods as well. He'd be glad to get out of the tunnel of poisonous gas.

He scoops up Madam Mischief, still a little worried about the toxin, and with a few flaps of his wings puts himself up on the dimension he knows and loves.

"Rain. Fantastic. And it looks like I forgot my umbrella."

[Queen Sapes]

Climbing upwards and out of the tunnel, you notice that the tunnel appears to be pushing upwards as you continue to scale it, the whirlpool of light eventually opening up to the real world once again. Immediately the heroes begin getting hit with heavy rain, the water obscuring any scents Feral would be able to detect from inside the tunnel. The storm must have gotten worse while they were in the tunnels, escalating to a full blown downpour. Leaving the tunnel and preparing for a fight, they find nobody waiting for them. The tunnel opens up directly onto an empty street in the suburbs, sixteen plots for houses in total lining the street which ends on one side in a cul-de-sac. The street sign at the end of the road shows you’re on “Goodall Drive”, which connects to “Greybeard Lane”, one of the roads on the edge of town. Only seven of the sixteen plots are actually filled, the rest lying in wait half-built, a side effect of having a massive housing that died quickly. All the houses sit vacant, “For Sale” signs sticking out on the edge of their plots. Most of the empty buildings are covered in graffiti. Typical things you see around out-of-the-way areas like this: “Mike wuz here”, “The Conqueror Worm Lives!”, a stylized drawing of a nine tailed humanoid fox. The only light comes from the streetlamps, the dark clouds and heavy rainfall obscuring any other source of light. About three minutes after leaving the tunnel, the runes on the ground flicker before going dark, the portal disappearing completely.

Anyone with the ability to easily check the time
Checking the time on whatever device you have easy access to, you find that it’s nearly 11:30 at night, roughly two to three hours since you dived into the portal. Clearly time moved much slower in the tunnel than outside of it, and whatever the thieves were up to, they’ve undoubtedly had more time to finish.

Perception DC 35
Feral
Even in the heavy downpour, you’re able to pick up the scent of people who have been here extremely recently, as older scents would have long ago washed away. The scent leads into a double story house at the end of the cul-de-sac. The garage lies slightly open to the outside.

Everyone Else
Looking around for a bit, you’re able to find a strange looking gun sitting on the sidewalk in front of one of the cul-de-sac houses. Picking it up and giving it a good once over, you spot the words “Gunslinger’s Revolver Replica – Property of the Aeon Historical Foundation” on the underside of the hilt. Looking towards the house the revolver was in front of, you notice the garage door is hanging slightly open.

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

"Hmm... this is unexpected." The Phantom thinks aloud, as he looks around the deserted street. "Has the trail gone cold already?"

Perception: [roll0]

[Arcran]

Cupid says nothing, just looking at the missing runes. He found them in the first place; maybe he can pick them up again?

[roll0]

[Propagandist]

Madame Mischief peers up at the rain, enjoying the feel of the storm. She flips off her top hat with a flourish and reaches inside, grinning as her entire arm appears to vanish into the six-inch hat, then pulls out a full-size umbrella and casually hands it to Cupid, whistling innocently.

She repositions her hat and checks her smartphone, raising an eyebrow in surprise. "Not cold already, just cold. We had ourselves a little time hiccup in the portal. It's been almost three hours in this dimension."

Create to create an umbrella. Perception, because hey, a Nat 20 might happen: [roll0]

[Arcran]

Cupid can't help but chuckle. An umbrella? Really? Magicians are more than a little handy it seems.

It one smooth motion he pops it open, glad to get out of the rain. It's not going to mess up his hair, nothing does, but he didn't exactly like getting his wings wet.

"Three hours? Looks like any chance of getting back in time for happy hour is shot," Cupid muses, a little deflated. So much for the blonde. At least the news was probably panicking over where they were.

[The_Admiral]

"Okay, I really despise time dilation, Alpha, location." he mutters to himself, firearm at the ready.

"Be on guard, feels too quiet." he then whispers just loud enough for his allies to hear.

Perception
[roll0]

[hobbitguy1420]

Routine perception check of 31 beats the modified DC of 27.

The Feral sniffs the air, his fur swiftly being plastered to his skin by the heavy downpour. He leans down to the ground and sniffs again, then turns to the group. "Trail not cold. This way." He turns back and, to the muted sound of heavy snuffling, leads the way toward the house with the open garage. "Bad pack inside."

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

The Phantom follows Feral, before spotting a gun on the way to the house. He picks it up and examines it before announcing to the others. "This is Gunslinger's replica revolver! It would seem that we are still on the right trail!"

[The_Admiral]

Yes we are, now lets go give these thieves a night they'll never forget. he says, grinning under his helmet as he carefully approaches the house, ready to fight.

[ChronicLunacy]

http://imageshack.com/a/img19/3769/sby7.jpg Torrent

Until Feral pointed out one of the houses, Torrent really couldn't do much besides look around aimlessly after jogging out of the portal as fast as possible without actually sprinting. He wasn't much of a detective, really. He was more the type to stop a crime in progress rather than track down the perps after they got away. So he stood in the rain, not really seeming to let it bother him very much, until Phantom picked up the revolver and Feral confirmed the "bad pack" was still here.

At that point, he just walked right up to the front of the house as everyone did their thing to set up. When it seemed like a few people had gone around back and they had the place more or less surrounded, he just knocked on the front door! "Excuse me, but do you have a moment to talk about our lord and savior, Jesus Christ?" he raised his voice a little so he could be heard through the door.

Deception (if needed): [roll0]
And the trend continues! :smalltongue:

[Arcran]

Cupid watches Torrent. Maybe he should let the real face talk to the bad guys?

If they wanted to just walk in, they had to do it smarter than that. He hands Madam Mischief her umbrella back, then pulls his bow back all the way, a translucent pink arrow appearing. As soon as that door opens, he's going to hit them with a Love Arrow. If they're a regular person, he'll just tell them to go inside until it wears off. No matter what happens, its a win-win.

Readying an action to hit the guy who opens the door.

[Queen Sapes]

Ready for a fight as soon as the door opens, you wait a tense few minutes before it's clear that nobody is going to answer the door right now, if anyone is even inside right now to answer.

[ChronicLunacy]

http://imageshack.com/a/img19/3769/sby7.jpg Torrent

First he looked back and shrugged to anyone still in view, then Torrent tried to open the front door in the usual manner.

[Arcran]

"Mind doing the projection thing again?" Cupid asks Madam Mischief. "Wouldn't want to walk into a trap. It has a habit of spoiling good looks."

[Queen Sapes]

Turning the doorknob and hearing the door open with the expected click, Torrent opens the door easily into the unlocked building. He finds himself staring into the house entryway. Stairs leading in both directions sit directly to the right of the doors, the ground floor down a hall directly in front of them, and the garage likely in one of the two doors to the left, the other possibly a closet. Everything is surprisingly empty inside, as not even a piece of show furniture adorns the empty entryway.

[ChronicLunacy]

http://imageshack.com/a/img19/3769/sby7.jpg Torrent

Leaving the door open for anyone behind him, Torrent proceeded down the hall to inspect the ground floor. "Hello? Candygram! Pizza delivery!" he could be heard as he quickly checked the place for hiding thieves. "If you could all come out for your beatings now, that would be very helpful..." he grumbled under his breath. He just hoped his DVR had recorded his prime time shows and he'd be home in time for Conan...

[Queen Sapes]

Torrent
Moving deeper into the ground level of the house, you find yourself in the main part of the house. The dining room, kitchen, and living room all sit open to each other, and a glass sliding door in the living room opens up to the backyard. Even with just a quick glance you can easily tell someone has been living here recently. Eight bean bags sit unoccupied in the living room, stacks of supplies litter the dining room, and the kitchen is littered with open cans, plastic forks, spoons, and small gas-powered flames. No one appears to be home, but it’s easily apparent whoever’s here isn’t concerned with quality living conditions.

[hobbitguy1420]

The Feral carefully approaches the door, keeping an eye out for motion, an ear out for sound. He sniffs at the scents within, then prowls around the house, looking to see what he can see.
taking a Routine Check (if I have time) to search through the yard - see if the scents lead away, see if there're any clues lying around. 31 perception check.

Edit: just realized that there's no "taking 20" in M&M 3e. whoops.

[Queen Sapes]

Feral
Digging, figuratively, through the yard you come up with nothing. The old scents of the thieves is still there but it leads nowhere. They've clearly been here for some time, living in the house, but haven't recently left since their return from the museum.

[hobbitguy1420]

The beast returns to the house's front. "Still in," it says, "No scent."

[ChronicLunacy]

http://imageshack.com/a/img19/3769/sby7.jpg Torrent

Finding no one on the main floor, Torrent proceeded to head into the basement. Creepy magic people liked basements, right? There were more than enough of them to search upstairs simultaneously. So with no apparent attempt at stealth, Torrent headed down the stairs and attempted to open any doors he might find in his way.

[Queen Sapes]

Torrent
Moving downstairs, you find the basement to be entirely open and completely empty of persons or objects. It’s strange how the ground floor of the house is so full for being abandoned, yet this area so empty.

Perception DC 25
Out of the corner of your ear you can hear the slightest whisper of air flowing from somewhere, and close inspection of the wall reveals that part of it is newly added to the rest of the house, the paint barely even starting to dry.

[ChronicLunacy]

http://imageshack.com/a/img19/3769/sby7.jpg Torrent

Finding nothing, absolutely nothing even, Torrent paused a moment as he walked into the center of the room. Not so much as a speck of dust down here...odd considering the state of the ground floor. He frowned as he looked from one end of the basement to the other, hoping that the others were having better luck. If Feral's nose was to be believed, the thieves were still there. So where were they?

[hobbitguy1420]

After waiting for a while, the Feral looks to the rest. "Yellow man look long. I help."

With that, he enters, putting his ears and nose to work tracking down the bad pack.

Perception 31 to track down the baddies - say, by the mingling of their scent with the sharp smell of fresh paint?

[Queen Sapes]

Feral
Prowling into the house you get a much better sense of the thieves' scents as they wind up and down the halls. It appears the thieves immediately ran downstairs after returning home, one of them going upstairs and returning down with two new scents. Climbing down the stairs into the basement, you determine that the thieves somehow went through the wall. Investigating the wall they ran through, you get a strong whiff of fresh paint, and can hear a slight breeze accompanied by the slightest sound of people speaking.

[hobbitguy1420]

The Feral immediately holds up a hand at Torrent to indicate silence. It points at the wall and bares his teeth. It walks over to Torrent and speaks as quietly as monstrously possible. "Get pack. All attack surprise."

[ChronicLunacy]

http://imageshack.com/a/img19/3769/sby7.jpg Torrent

Torrent nodded, not really sure what was going on since he hadn't seen anything at all. Still, the possibility that the Feral had found something provoked an aggressive grin of his own as he went quickly back up the stairs and got everyone else's attention as fast as he could using mostly low whistles and charades. Then he led them all back down into the basement.

[Arcran]

Cupid shrugs and heads into the basement, hoping that Torrent had actually searched the place.

"Find anything?"

[Propagandist]

"I could do a little spirit sightseeing, but I doubt it would help at this point, it seems like they've got a lead. Let's go introduce ourselves." Madame Mischief cracks her knuckles and grins unsettlingly as she follows Torrent inside.

[The_Admiral]

Keith follows Mischief down into the basement, "So, where do I shoot?"

[hobbitguy1420]

The Feral meets everyone at the base of the basement stairs. It holds up a clawed hand, then points toward the freshly painted wall with the other. It points at Madame Mischief, then points at his eyes, then points back at the wall.

Then it leans in close, so that the smell of wet wolf and predator-breath surrounds the whole party.

"Be. Quiet."

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

The Phantom also goes down to the basement, finding a completely empty room, and Feral growling at what appeared to be a blank wall. Still, the wolfman's nose had not been wrong so far tonight.

[Arcran]

"Did the mutt find a secret meat locker?" Cupid asks, looking at the wall with some concern. Makes sense to hide the secret base in the basement, right?

[ChronicLunacy]

http://imageshack.com/a/img19/3769/sby7.jpg Torrent

"Ugh...I don't know what's worse. Fido's breath or the mantis-whale's butt trumpet..." Torrent said quietly as he waved a hand in front of his face. "Seriously, breath mint. Offer's still on the table...<cough>" he added as he approached the wall.

[Joyride]

Having realized she was in WAY over her head, Beth remained silent during transit and silently emerged from her hiding place upon arrival. She remains at her reduced size for a while as she watches and listens, trying her best to mentally note what she sees. Beth figures the smaller profile should help her keep in line with the group's careful, stealthy approach. Still, she pays attention and focuses more on the others than herself: Not experienced in field ops or professionally trained, she needs to pick up whatever she can along the way.

Standing with the others, she quietly expands back to her usual size and gives a thumbs-up to indicate she's ready.

[Propagandist]

Madame Mischief gives Feral an understanding nod. "OK, let's take a peek behind door number one. Someone keep an eye on my body for a second." Marie sits on the basement floor, and a murmured chant later, leaves her body behind, drifting through the wall panel to see just what Feral had uncovered.

Using Astral Projection to take a look behind the hidden door. Perception, just in case it's needed: [roll0]

[Queen Sapes]

Madam Mischief
The room you find is a fairly large one, about five by six meters, likely intended to be a rec room or something like that. Instead of couches, computers, and big screen TVs however, there is a massive gaping hole in the floor that reveals a tunnel dug into the rock. This project has clearly been going on for some time, as massive piles of stone and dirt cover the corners of the room. The tunnel doesn’t seem to have any source of light inside, making it completely pitch black as opposed to the rest of the house which at the least had street light. You’re unsure of how far it goes down, but you see the thieves have kindly left their rope ladder descending into the hole. Otherwise it is still as empty as the rest of the building.

[ChronicLunacy]

http://imageshack.com/a/img19/3769/sby7.jpg Torrent

Today, we present Torrent's thoughts versus what Torrent actually says.

This is taking too long.
"This is taking too long."

I could really go for a beer.
"Maybe she's trapped."

I should really wrap this up if I'm going to get home in time for Conan.
"We don't have time to wait. She could be in danger."

Someone just hit me.
"Quick, someone hit m-!"

[hobbitguy1420]

The Feral snarls. It rears back with one massive gorilla arm and punches the yellow man smack-dab in the nose. "Said be quiet!"

If this is a routine check, then my attack total is 22. Strength 8.

[Arcran]

"The mutt's gone crazy!" Cupid almost shouts, pulling up his bow in a smooth action as Torrent is slammed into. A pink arrow appears, flickering slightly, then flies at the great beast. He'd been expecting the creature to snap for awhile, and he had to keep it from hitting him.

Attack: [roll0] Critical on a roll of 18-20.
Effect Rank 10, so 20 to Resist it.

[ChronicLunacy]

http://imageshack.com/a/img19/3769/sby7.jpg Torrent

"No, wait!" Torrent hissed at Cupid, while trying to nonchalantly wipe the blood from his nose. "You've got to understand, my power is kinetic energy absorption...and redistribution, like so!"

Torrent reared back and smashed the wall with both fists.

Torrent's near-Immunity cuts the damage down to 2, so save vs. DC17.
Toughness: [roll0]

EDIT: We'll that's depressing. 1 Bruise.

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

"We don't have time to wait. She could be in danger."
"Well, if you are concerned, I could start checking her vital signs. If her spirit is in trouble, her body should show some response..."

"Quick, someone hit m-!"
"Wait, what are you..."

The Feral snarls. It rears back with one massive gorilla arm and punches the yellow man smack-dab in the nose. "Said be quiet!"
The Phantom is momentarily stunned. It is true that Torrent had requested to be struck (for as yet unknown reasons), but the words the wolfman snarled when he did so, indicated it was not done because of the request. It was like...

"The mutt's gone crazy!"
"Hold your fire!" The Phantom calls out trying to stop Cupid from shooting. "Torrent literally asked for it! We cannot conclude that the wolfman is mad... yet. The last thing we need now is internal fighting at the enemy doorstep."

"No, wait!" Torrent hissed at Cupid, while trying to nonchalantly wipe the blood from his nose. "You've got to understand, my power is kinetic energy absorption...and redistribution, like so!"
"See? Torrent is fine!" But the Phantom continued to worry. Feral suddenly looked a lot less stable, which was a pity because his nose had been incredibly useful so far tonight. One could only wonder if it was merely a matter of time before he truly became a mad dog. Note to self: Feral may suddenly turn on us one day. Devise appropriate countermeasures.

[hobbitguy1420]

The Feral glares at the others, growling. "Am first. Am el-farh. I say, keep you safe. I say, you listen. I say quiet!"

It turns angry eyes on Torrent, Cupid, and Phantom in turn.

[Arcran]

"No, you're not. Villains have alphas. Villains have a leader that is always right. We're heroes, or at lesst some of us are. Heroes decide things as a team. If you want everybody to listen to you, make your own team, hire some goons. Until then, you're just another part of the team.

There's six of us. What can you do?"

And that's the only reason Cupid can do this. One on one, he might back down. With six other heroes? There's no way that they would allow him to get hurt by the lumbering mutt.

"Now stop it with you elfa talk or see if I miss twice," Cupid says, lining up another shot.

Aim Action.

[The_Admiral]

"QUIET, BOTH OF YOU! YOU, PUT DOWN THAT BOW, MOVE BACK, AND STOP ANTAGONIZING THE ANGRY WOLFMAN, AND YOU! TAKE A DEEP BREATH AND THINK VERY CAREFULLY ABOUT WHAT YOU WERE ABOUT TO DO!" he hisses at both Cupid and Feral, ready to fight to disarm them both if he has to.

[Arcran]

Cupid doesn't budge.

"I'm not standing down until the damn thing tells us who's side he's on. Ours, or his own."

[hobbitguy1420]

The Feral glares directly into Cupid's eyes. "First protect pack. Defend. Lead."

[The_Admiral]

There you heard it, now PUT DOWN THAT BOW AND BACK DOWN! he says to Cupid,

And you, BACK DOWN, we can argue over this, after we've fought bad pack and not a moment before. he continues at Feral.

[hobbitguy1420]

The Feral turns his stare toward the Sentinel. He snarls (silently) and stares for just long enough to make a point. Then (presuming Cupid releases the bow), he starts to prowl toward the broken-down wall, sniffing for useful scents.

[Arcran]

Cupid slowly puts the string back, the arrow fading away. He still keeps it close, keping a wary eye on the beast.

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

While Cupid and Feral were acting alpha, the Phantom was for some reason, kneeling beside Madam Mischief, checking her vital signs. After all, Torrent might be correct: She could be in trouble, and if she was, having to rush off to rescue her would probably be the best way to distract the pair from the internal conflict at hand.
Scenario: Cupid and Wolfman appear determined to fight one another... while there is hole in the wall to the enemy base. If fighting cannot be stopped, high chance that noise will eventually alert enemy to our presence.

Action 1: Side with Wolfman.
Result: Wolfman will still think its Alpha and throw its weight around.

Action 2: Side with Cupid.
Result: While Cupid is the more *reasonable* of the two, he is nonetheless still actively aggravating the situation.

Action 3: Let them fight it out for abit, and just before it finishes THEN help Cupid.
Result: Maybe having a few extra scratches will teach Cupid a bit of restraint. However, prolonging the fight unnecessarily delays storming enemy base.

What to do, what to do?
But fortunately Sentinel manages to get the two to back down. As the tension dies down a little, Phantom tries to bring the matter at hand back into focus. "Her vitals are normal, so I don't think her spirit is in trouble... yet."

[Queen Sapes]

The wall shatters on contact with Torrent's fists, planks of wood and wet paint flying into the room beyond. Some of the paint lingers on Torrent's hands and the group peers into the hidden room. The room you find is a fairly large one, about five by six meters, likely intended to be a rec room or something like that. Instead of couches, computers, and big screen TVs however, there is a massive gaping hole in the floor that reveals a tunnel dug into the rock. This project has clearly been going on for some time, as massive piles of stone and dirt cover the corners of the room. Planks of wood from Torrent's punch also litter the area around the tunnel in a cone-like arc, some wood falling down inside. The tunnel doesn’t seem to have any source of light inside, making it completely pitch black as opposed to the rest of the house which at the least had street light. You’re unsure of how far it goes down, but you see the thieves have kindly left their rope ladder descending into the hole. Otherwise it is still as empty as the rest of the building has been so far.

[ChronicLunacy]

http://imageshack.com/a/img19/3769/sby7.jpg Torrent

"You guys want to quit your ****-measuring contest and come on? They probably heard that, my bashing the wall in or your arguing." Torrent said. (And HE was supposed to be the immature one...geez.) "Anyone got a light? Follow me on down." he said just before he saluted the group and hopped down into the hole. He wasn't quite sure how far down it went...but then again he didn't really care either. His powers would probably kick in and save him from any harm the fall might do...probably.

Torrent go down the hooooooole...

[Arcran]

Cupid extends his wings, walking over to the edge of the hole. He'd let the beast hop down first. Might as well let it get shot at first.

[The_Admiral]

Sentinel climbs down behind Torrent, not sure how far the hole went.

OOC
What does my darkvision see?

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

The Phantom's ion jets flare alight, and he hovers down the hole.

Flight is obvious by default, in this case giving off green energy contrail. Maybe that will light up the cave a bit. Its not a bug, its a feature!

If it does not, Phantom still has Sonar so he remains operational in total darkness. (You might be wondering, why Sonar? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzDMlxV7Y9k))

[Queen Sapes]

You find yourselves in a large, natural cavernous area, easily twenty meters in diameter, with enough air space for both Cupid and Phantom to fly around each other comfortably. It appears empty, and even those not accustomed to seeing in the dark are able to see the only thing inside are huge piles of rubble, a jackhammer, and shovels. However, it’s not completely dark inside, as light pours in from a heavy stone door on the wall opposite the rope ladder. The door is open just a crack, enough that our heroes can glimpse the inside and clearly hear a group of people reciting chants of some kind.

[Propagandist]

Madam Mischief's eyes abruptly snap back from glowing white to her usual brown and she sits upright as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. "Hey guys, there's a huge hole in the floor of the next room. We should be care... Oh. Damn it all."

*Pop*

Madame Mischief appears on the cavern floor in the middle of the group, looking slightly peeved. "You couldn't wait a minute? Navigating the spirit realm is not an exact science. In fact, it's exactly the opposite of a science."

As she takes stock of their new surroundings, she holds up a hand and creeps cautiously toward the stone door. "Give me a second, and actually give me a second this time. Interrupting rituals can be just as bad as the actual ceremony." Marie wanted to be sure this was the sort of thing that you could point an angry werewolf at without tearing space and time or the like.

It would also give them time to properly aim the werewolf.

Expertise: Magic to see what MM can pick up about the ritual going on behind the door. [roll0]

[Joyride]

After hustling down into the cavern with the rest of the team, Beth takes a minute to let her eyes adjust. She hears Madam Mischief's command before she even sees the magician appear, but follows it with the same immediate obedience. The promise of cultists in the next room did excite her: an opportunity to contribute seemed close.

She keeps her eyes alternating between Cupid and the Feral, though she can't blame herself for favoring Cupid just a little bit. The tension between them is starting to ramp up, and she feels somehow responsible to help keep the peace.

Hopefully Mischief knows what she's doing... and the rest of the team can give her space to do it.

[Queen Sapes]

Madam Mischief
Peering through the gap in the door, you see a well-lit cavern about the same size as the one you are standing in. Runes of various shapes and sizes decorate the walls, and you can quite clearly see there is some kind of raised stone platform dominating the room. Six men and one woman kneel on the edge of the platform facing inwards, all of them dressed in obscuring multicolored robes. Five of them read from the scrolls stolen from the museum in unison while the other two methodically drop metal objects taken from the museum into what is likely a pit in the center of the platform. Two other cultists hang from the ceiling, suspended by ropes around their hands. Below them, tendrils looking as if they’re composed of a liquidy silver fire reach upwards, slowly wrapping around the two figures. For the most part you barely recognize the runes on the walls, most of them appearing to be altered or broken versions of familiar ones. Listening to the cultists doesn't help you much either, as they seem to be speaking complete gibberish.

Perception DC 15 (Only for MM, obviously)
As you pause to think, you begin listening not to the individuals, but the cultist group as a whole. You realize that together, speaking in unison, they're putting together words that are impossible for a single human tongue to make. You're still not quite sure what they're saying, after all it's fairly hard to study words that are impossible to speak alone, but off the top of your head you know that there are only a handful of spells requiring impossible words, and most were typically produced long before Humanity started writing down names.
Partially obscured by the man and woman hanging, you are able to spot a new figure standing behind the cultists. He is dressed in fur coat and slacks, his gloved hands clutching an odd looking cane with some sort of jewel for a handle. You’re unable to catch his face as the woman’s leg obscures it.

“I suppose congratulations are in order before you’re gone,” speaks the voice of a well-read man from inside the room. “In all my years of attempts, you few have somehow been more stealthy and effective than any legion of followers or army of mercenaries. The masters should be more than happy with hosts like you. It is truly a shame none of you will be around to see their power, and watch as they reshape the universe as they see fit, myself as powerful as a god, but know the history books will remember your names. That is, if we choose to keep the history of everything at all,” he says, letting out a maniacal laugh as he begins circling the platform and you get your first glimpse of his face. His face is clearly that of a monkey, going so far as to put a little bowler hat on top of his head, yet it possesses an off-putting humanity to it that you cannot place. It’s as if the man standing towards the back is stuck between the two forms, jammed between a human and monkey.

Expertise: History DC 15
At first glance you’re unsure if you’re right, but further study makes you believe that the man is a villain the news referred to as ‘Professor Jackanapes’. Memory tells you that he’s been involved in dozens of villainous plots around the world over the last few decades, and that every time he has been foiled and put away in half a dozen prisons. Most of the reports you remember were about how he made attempts to summon some otherworldly force into our universe, every time through a different means. If the news is to be trusted, every single time he has failed, always stopped long before his plans reach fruition or stopped just before. It isn’t public knowledge how he achieved the form he currently has, but he claims he was a professor at a dozen different schools named John Napeson.

[hobbitguy1420]

The Feral crawls down the wall of the hole, following his nose, his eyes gleaming green like a cat's in the near-darkness.

Routine perception check to see what I can pick up. Same ol' 31 check

[Arcran]

With the mutt going down now, Cupid finally follows the others down the hole.

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

"You couldn't wait a minute? Navigating the spirit realm is not an exact science. In fact, it's exactly the opposite of a science."
"Oh, sorry. We were all sort of assuming that Cupid would have picked you up before coming down. After all, he does seem to greatly enjoy holding you."

"Give me a second, and actually give me a second this time. Interrupting rituals can be just as bad as the actual ceremony."
The Phantom quietly positions himself near the door, ready to storm in when Madam Mischief gave the green light.

[The_Admiral]

Keith also positions himself behind the door, opposite of Phantom. Ready to burst in at a moments notice.

[ChronicLunacy]

http://imageshack.com/a/img19/3769/sby7.jpg Torrent

Torrent grouped up with the others, ready to storm the proverbial beaches. It seemed like there might be a lot of magic getting thrown around, and that was something he couldn't absorb. So hopefully he'd be able to get a few punches in before they could finish chanting or casting or whatever hoodoo mumbo jumbo they needed to do to fry him like an egg.

[Propagandist]

Madame Mischief casually turns to the group, speaking with the tone one might use to discuss the weather, though her expression is one of someone fighting a losing battle with a panic attack. "So, two things. One, I recognize the monkey man. He calls himself Professor Jackanapes, and he's kind of an old hand at this. Been busted over and over for attempting this kind of crazy summoning, never tries the same trick twice. I don't really know how the whole monkey thing came about."

"Two, and probably more important; We're in full-on mad cult chanting impossible prehistoric spells while performing blood sacrifice to summon beings that will remake reality territory here. Making with the punching and explosions would be a good idea."

[The_Admiral]

Nodding, Keith turns around, kicking the door in and firing his blaster at the first target he sees. A stream of energy flies from its barrel into the face of his target.


Target one of the chanting cultists. Interrupt the ritual.
To Hit [roll0]

Toughness Save DC 23

[Arcran]

"Heads up!" Cupid shouts, gliding forward next to Sentinel, letting loose the biggest barrage of pink arrows possible. Might as well make the cultists take each other out, right? Should make dealing with that mad monkey a little easier.

DC 20 Dodge for 1/2 Effect.
DC 20 Will.
Burst with 30ft, so 60ft radius.

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

As the door goes down, the Phantom points a palm at one of the Cultist, and fires powerful a bolt of lightning, aiming to hit them hard while they were still unprepared.

If the Cultist Sentinel was targeting is still standing, then follow up his attack, to try and finish the guy off. Otherwise attack some other Cultist who is still standing (and has not been mind controlled).

Power Attack for +5/-5
Attack roll: [roll0]
DC 31 Toughness save if it hits.

[Queen Sapes]

Bursting into the room, hoping to take the cult off guard, Silver Sentinel lines up a fantastic shot, firing at the closest cultist to the door, hitting him square in the back with a pulse from his blaster. Unfortunately, it seems as if the cult was expecting our heroes as the cultist braces for the hit and survives relatively unscathed.

"Fantastic," says Jackanapes as he spots the Sentinel's entrance. "Certainly took your time, didn't you? You understand that when you are sneaking into someone's home you really should try to be more quiet. But it's no matter, you are too late to stop us now regardless," he says as all the cultists rise from their positions. "Friends, please handle this fool while I finish up," the Professor says just as Cupid enters and fires his arrows at the closest three cultists, each arrow finding its mark and putting them under his spell in one capacity or another. "Oh, good, Cupid," Jackanapes mutters clearly confused by the street hero's appearance. Finally, as the rest of the door moves aside Phantom takes his shot, hitting one of the cultists who was in the process of pouring metal into the portal. The man staggers as the lightning bolt hits him square in the chest, and he clutches at his chest in pain.


Sentinel:
Cultist 3 (The one Sentinel hit) Toughness Roll: [roll0] Only a -1.

Cupid (Assuming Cultist 3 is standing):
Cultist 1 Dodge: [roll1] Hit.
Cultist 2 Dodge: [roll2] Hit.
Cultist 3 Dodge: [roll3] Hit.
Cultist 1 Will: [roll4] Controlled.
Cultist 2 Will: [roll5] Controlled.
Cultist 3 Will: [roll6] Dazed.

Phantom:
Cultist 4: [roll7] -1 and staggered.

[Joyride]

As soon as the door goes down, Beth springs into action, rushing into the room alongside her new allies. Taking care not to obstruct any shots for her ranged-weapon comrades, she hangs back for as long as she can, then finds an opening and dives into the room proper.

Her immediate instinct is to warn her friends of what's about to happen, but she figures they'll be smart enough to guess, and anyway she doesn't want to give the cultists any more information. So, humbly, nervously, she gets as close to the center as she can and begins to expand.

Bringing the room crashing down around her might be a problem for all involved, so Beth gets only as large as she can without squishing her friends or causing a collapse. Once she's hit her maximum, she glares down at the cultists below and takes a swipe at one of the minions unaffected by Cupid's barrage.


Current size has 13/8 for Attack and Damage.
[roll0]

And in case I get to grab off of Fast Grab?:
[roll1]

[hobbitguy1420]

The Feral growls. Facing the most damaged-looking of its prey, the bestial creature pounces. It buries the claws of its feet into the foe's chest as it slams into him, rakes taloned hands across his back, then bounds away, letting loose with an exultant howl as the scent of blood fills its nose.

Slam attack, [roll0]. Damage rank 10+1, which would give a dc of 26, right?.

[Queen Sapes]

As Beth swipes down at the cultist below her feet, her suddenly much more powerful fists immediately knock the man unconscious, the giant woman's hands picking up his unconscious form. Across the room, Feral pounces on the cultist clutching his chest from Phantom's lightning bolt, his claws digging into the young man as he cries out in pain. He falls to the floor and, before Feral even leaps off, he is knocked unconscious from the sheer pain he has felt already.

"Of course the newcomers would be the first to go..." Jackanapes says from the side of the room furthest from our heroes. "Victor! Amy! You know what to do," he shouts to the two closest cultists, both nodding in approval as they sprint to the bags of metal, picking them up as they both dive into the magical portal. Across the room, the only cultist not under Cupid's spell pulls a handgun out of his deep blue robe, his head spinning a bit as he takes aim at Phantom and fires quickly. The bullet misses the power armored hero and ricochets harmlessly into the portal.

"I'd very much like to request you return my followers to me. Now," Professor Jackanapes says in a stern and threatening manner from across the room. He puts his palm out in front of him, visible black energies swirling around his arm and building up into a ball in his hands that he blasts across the room at Cupid, a little shockwave of air ruffling his hair as it leaves his hand. The magical bullet slams into Cupid's chest, knocking him off guard for but a second as the energies attempt to mix into his body. His body manages to repel the eldritch magics, the energy visibly vaporizing as his body and mind overcome them.

Beth:
Cultist 5 Toughness Roll: [roll0]
Cultist 5 Grab Dodge (Assuming Successful Hit): [roll1]

Feral:
Cultist 4 Toughness Roll: [roll2]

Cultist 3:
[roll3] to hit Phantom. Toughness DC 18

Professor Jackanapes
[roll6] to hit Cupid. Toughness or Will DC 24.

Now anybody can go in whatever order you would like. I'll try to respond quickly.

[Arcran]

"Sorry, I'm a bit better looking. Can't blame them for siding with me, can you?" Cupid says, pulling back his bowstring again. "Have you heard of moisturizing? With that and a little shaving you could look normal in a decade or five!" he says, letting loose a Love Arrow at the monkey. It was a long shot, but who knows?

"Crazy cultists! I'd love it if you just smashed whatever is keeping the portal running! If you can't break it, just take out the guy with the gun!"

Attack Check for Love Arrow: [roll0] Critical on 18-20. Will DC 20 to Resist.

EDIT: That's an 18, so a crit. Make that a DC 25 Will if this hits.

Ordering my thralls to smash whatever is keeping the portal going. If there is nothing to smash, they should take out the mook shooting at people.

Apparently I didn't put Limited Degree on Showers of Love, so they don't get a save as they are Controlled. They have full actions.

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

The Phantom moves through the door to enter the ritual cavern, and then steps aside, staying close to the wall, to let the others (or their attacks) through. "Mischief, any idea how to close the portal?" He calls out as he fires another blast of electricity.


Targeting the Cultist who is still standing. Or if he has been knocked out by his ex-comrades, fire at Professor Jackanapes instead.

Power Attack for +4/-4. DC 30 if it hits.
[roll0]

[The_Admiral]

"Crazy cultists! I'd love it if you just smashed whatever is keeping the portal running! If you can't break it, just take out the guy with the gun!"

Keith charges at the cultist with the gun, raising his own and firing a stream of energy at him from his own gun as he says, What am I? Chopped liver?


[roll0]

DC 27

[Propagandist]

"Interesting idea, but transformation magic's not really my scene, and honestly, I'm not clear on how turning you into chopped liver would help!" Madame Mischief steps through the door like she's walking onto a stage, arms held wide, grinning a thousand-watt smile. All that's missing is the spotlight.

"Now watch me shut this dimensional rift! I'll need a volunteer from the audience for this one. How 'bout you, monkey man? Fetters of Fenris!" At Marie's shouted command, glowing blue ribbons of energy burst from the cavern walls and try to wrap themselves around the not-so-good professor.

Expertise: Magic to try and answer Phantom's pressing question. [roll0]

Fetters of Fenris: [roll1]
DC 22 Will save for Jackanapes if the attack hits. Hindered + Vulnerable, Immobile + Defenseless, depending on degree of failure.

Edit: My first crit! I feel all tingly. Also, I apologize in advance to whoever I stole that luck from.

[ChronicLunacy]

http://imageshack.com/a/img19/3769/sby7.jpg Torrent
Condition: 1 Bruise

"Aww...minions don't last as long as they used to..." Torrent lamented. "Looks like it's time to spank the monkey!" he grinned as he vaulted across the room, adding to Madam Mischief's attack by getting up close and personal with Jackanapes. He jumped over the portal and tried to land feet first in the evil ape's face, trying to knock him out but also to distract him from whatever the magician was doing to close the portal.

Due to the Fade effect on his Enhanced Strength, I'm down to 8, so I'm pushing it back up with Power Attack and taking a hit to my attack roll. DC25 if it hits.
Damage 10 Unarmed Attack: [roll0]

[Queen Sapes]

Cupid's arrow pierces Jackanapes' heart from across the room for what little good it does. He barely stumbles as the arrow's magic barely even effects the mad monkey's cold heart. "Imbecile. Your magics are no match for mine," he says, clearly angered by Cupid's arrow. On the other side of the portal the pistol toting cultist takes Phantom's lightning bolt square in the chest, knocking him completely off balance as electricity courses through his system. It's just the opening Silver Sentinel needs to give the man a blast to the chest with his gun which knocks him across the room and off the platform unconscious. Madam Mischief enters quickly after with Torrent, throwing magical blue ribbons off the walls at Jackanapes. He sidesteps them easily even in his dazed state, accidentally moving out of Torrent's way as the hero simply lands nearby.

You look around at all the runes on the walls and floors again, and you honestly have little idea of what Jackanapes is doing or how. However, your expertise with magic tells you that since the summoning ritual required fuel, you could probably just try and wait it out until the portal disappeared. But you aren't too sure of that plan's viability what with tentacles of silver fire already breaching this dimension from the other side. You also think that smashing certain runes could shut down the portal, or in the worst case scenario, possibly cause it to expand out of control and consume the universe. All else fails, collapsing the entire chamber could prove helpful to you.

Cupid:
Jackanapes Will Roll: [roll0] Dazed.
The cultist you ordered will act during the enemy turn.

Phantom:
Cultist 3 Toughness Roll: [roll1] -1 and staggered.

Silver Sentinel:
Cultist 3 Toughness Roll (Assuming he isn't out of the game): [roll2] Out.

Madam Mischief:
No rolls needed, his dodge won out against the to-hit.

Torrent:
No rolls needed, his parry won out upon my double checking it.

[Joyride]

Huh. That worked out.

Beth holds the incapacitated minion tightly, wondering what to do with her now-helpless captive. She surveys the battlefield and sees many of her friends dispatching other cultists and making for Jackanapes to deliver a superheroic smackdown. Rather than get involved herself in the brewing melee, she chooses to approach and remain a towering presence.

Ready to interpose herself between any nearby ally and harm, she reaches out to display the knocked-out cultist to his master. She yells the first thing she thinks of that resembles a threat.

"Hey Professor! You're next!"

Here's a Daze(Intimidation) attempt, with +4 for the current size.
[roll0]

[hobbitguy1420]

The Feral doesn't waste time. Locating the next most injured enemy, it once more bounds over, claws outstretched, and strikes mercilessly.

[roll0] not a slam attack this time, so damage of 10 (DC 25) and no self-harm

[ChronicLunacy]

http://imageshack.com/a/img19/3769/sby7.jpg Torrent
Condition: 1 Bruise

"Hey, quit monkeying around and hold still for a second, would ya?" Torrent made another horrible pun with a smile as he landed, then sprang toward Professor Jackanapes with a sweeping haymaker punch, trying to take advantage of his added strength before it was all used up.

Due to the Fade effect on his Enhanced Strength, I'm down to 7, so I'm pushing it back up with Power Attack and taking a hit to my attack roll. DC25 if it hits.
Damage 10 Unarmed Attack: [roll0]

[Queen Sapes]

Feral leaps past one of the cultists nearby, tearing at his skin with outstretched claws as he bounds by. The cultist is hit fairly hard by the attack, but barely flinches as Cupid's control keeps him in check. Both cultists under Cupid's spell begin walking off the platform towards the runes on the walls, pulling out their knifes. It would seem that they are intending to try and break the spell, as Cupid had ordered them to.

"I..." Jackanapes begins after dodging Torrent and barely taking notice of Beth's taunt. The shadows beneath his feet begin to stir upwards, climbing up his body and pooling in his hands. "... am no monkey!" he exclaims extremely angered by Torrent's comment, blasting the dark energy in his palms outwards in a small shockwave, the shadows clinging onto Beth and Torrent. The energy moves quickly up their bodies and into their eyes, psychically burrowing into their minds. Inside, it's almost as if the energy is attempting to rip apart their memories and thoughts, tearing huge gaps of thought in their heads to leave them momentarily mindless.

At the edge of the portal movement begins to stir, apart from the silver fire tentacles wrapping around the hanging cultists. A large clawed hand shoots out of the portal, the claws embedding themselves in the stone platform. A massive hybrid monster of human and lizard pulls itself out of the pool, scraps of robe clinging to its shoulders and waist. It surveys the room with reptilian eyes and spots the nearest target: Feral. The monstrous beast lunges at the wolfman with its claws, trying to flay the hero alive. Feral takes notice of the lizard man just in time to dodge his massive and razor sharp claws. The former cultist rolls into a crouch after missing the hit and turns himself to Feral, barring rows of jagged teeth ready for the beast to attack.

Nearby a second figure leaps out of the portal, this one much more feminine and feline in nature. She lands on all fours, her humanoid body possessing obvious tiger-like qualities to it, including a tail. Her robe still covers much of her body, save for her fur covered legs, head, and arms. She prowls for a second, looking at Silver Sentinel who takes notice of her appearance right as she pounces at him with her claws. The armored hero moves out of the way as she continues past him and off the platform, landing near the heroes at the cavern entrance on all fours.

Beth:
Jackanapes' Will roll against intimidate: [roll0]

Feral:
Cultist 2 Toughness Roll: [roll1] -1 and dazed

Jackanapes:
Will DC 21 for Torrent and Beth. (Dazed, Defenseless, Paralyzed) Instant Recovery at the end of next round.

Cult-Monster 1 (Lizard):
[roll2] to hit Feral. Toughness DC 24. Miss

Cult-Monster 2 (Tiger):
[roll3] to hit Silver Sentinel. Toughness DC 20. Miss

END ROUND 2
Torrent (Assuming he isn't effected by Jackanapes' mental attack):
Once again, Jacknapes' Parry beats to-hit roll.

[hobbitguy1420]

The Feral bares its own teeth in response to the lizard creature's challenge. "Scale prey," it says. "Still prey." And with that, it launches itself at the lizard-man, slavering maw first.

Power Attack vs. the lizard. [roll0] Toughness DC 27 if it hits

[Queen Sapes]

Feral's leap at the reptile monster proves successful as he slices into the lizard's shoulder, cutting the skin. However, blood barely even begins to appear in the wound as it's hide appears thicker than would be expected. Feral slides a bit on the stone platform after his claws leave the hide, the reptilian beast's eyes focusing back on him.

Cult-Monster 1 Toughness Roll: [roll0] -1 and dazed.

[Arcran]

Cupid starts at the cat lady. It distracts him for a second, more because it's female than a tiger-lady, but he soon focuses again. He'd hit Jackanapes in the heart; there was no way he was unaffected. Another arrow should make him fully infatuated. Hoping to whatever gods might be listening, Cupid pulls back his string, launching another arrow at the monkey. Hopefully somebody else could keep the tiger busy.

"Feeble magic? Tell me that when you're kissing my ass later!" Cupid shouts, hoping his arrow flies true. "Keep breaking the runes!" he adds as an afterthought, hoping the cultists can keep more things from coming through.

Another Love Arrow!

Attack: [roll0] Crit on 18+
DC 20 Will. Cumulative, so he'd be Compelled if he fails.

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

As the last (non-controlled) Cultist goes down, suddenly 2 more beastmen... uh... (was that tiger one female?) beastfolk jump out of the portal. The Phantom quietly wonders. Hmm... if those two were the cultist that previously jumped in, then maybe if we send our puppet cultist in, they will also gain animal powers! But there is no guarantee that Cupid will still control them if that happens...

Then the two cultist beastfolk charge- the lizard hurling himself at Feral, and the Tigress at Sentinel. "There is a joke somewhere in here about a bad kitty... but lets try and finish the wounded lizard first!" He says as he fires another lightning bolt.


If Phantom tries to drag real physics into a discussion about a fantasy comic, will God strike the Tiger Girl dead? No?

Well then, Power Attack +5/-5 on Lizardman. DC 31 if it hits.
[roll0]

[The_Admiral]

Turning around, Keith holsters his gun, leaping after the tiger woman as he shouts in reply to Phantom, You do that, I think I can take her!. As she lands, he delivers a flying kick in her direction.

Whether he hits or not, he lands rolling and gets up saying, I've always wanted to say this, so let's settle this one on one.


[roll0]

DC 23 toughness save

[ChronicLunacy]

http://imageshack.com/a/img19/3769/sby7.jpg Torrent
Condition: 1 Bruise

"Hey, you don't have to go ape on me over i-Aagh!" Torrent clutched his head as the energy reached into his brain and started tearing at his very consciousness. Despite the pain, he had the gall to add, "Alright, agh! I'll admit I was reaching on...that...last one!"

[Queen Sapes]

As another of Cupid’s arrows flies towards Jackanapes, he swings his cane at the arrow in response. The jewel at the top catches the arrow like a baseball bat, shattering the magic arrow in an explosion of pink glass and shadowy sparks. “Precisely,” Jackanapes says, struggling to suppress the anger he exhibited at Torrent, casting a glare at the hero as he struggles to reclaim his mind. “My powers dwarf any you could hope to conjure." His gaze returns to Cupid, his eyes becoming rather sadistic. "I will enjoy breaking you once this is over.”

Across the room, Phantom’s lightning bolt skims the lizard-man’s hide, almost hitting him in the arm but overshooting slightly. The bolt continues past him and impacts one of the runes on the cave wall. The lightning bolt is strong enough to split a crack in the wall where the rune is painted, causing the cavern to shake violently for a second as it fills with an unearthly howl from some unseen position. The room stops shaking as Silver Sentinel flies through the air towards the feline. She repositions in response to the minor tremor, enough to move out of the way of Sentinel’s kick as he lands with a roll.

Cupid:
Jacknapes' dodge beats to-hit roll. Both of them.

Phantom:
Cult-Lizard's dodge beats to-hit roll.

Silver Sentinel:
Cult-Tiger's parry beats to-hit roll.

[Propagandist]

"Cupid's got the right idea! Keep breaking the runes! If things get bad, bring this whole place down!" Madame Mischief leaves out the part about possibly sending the portal out of control and destroying the universe. If that happened... well, actually, their deaths would be fairly quick, so no biggie.

She watches Jackanapes respond to Torrent's banter with rage. "Oooh, monkey's got a sore spot! 'Spose I'd be angry too if I saw that every time I looked in the mirror. So you want a challenge, Jackie Boy? Try me on for size! Flame of Ahriman, consume this pretender!"
An enormous gout of sickly, searing green flame erupts from Mischief's hands, licking and lunging for the madman, almost as if it were alive.

Free action to activate Shielding Sigil, which I never explicitly said was up, but has been since the museum, just to be official. :smalltongue:

[roll0] If it hits, two DC 27 toughness saves for Jackanapes, one this round, one the next.

[Queen Sapes]

Mischief's spell leaps across the room, taking Jackanapes off guard with its sheer speed. The fire envelops him as he screams in pain from the mystical flames, the jewel on his cane glowing a bright light blue for a moment as it absorbs much of the fire into itself. Jackanapes stands there slightly hunched as the flames peel away from him, his body relatively fine, but he breathes hard in frustration and anger. His rage filled eyes fall on Madam Mischief as he rights himself.

Jackanapes' Toughness Roll: [roll0] -1 and staggered

[Joyride]

Jackanapes didn't seem fazed by her improvised bravado, but then, Beth herself seemed to have shrugged off the professor's assault. With focus shifting to the sinister simian, Beth decides to help handle the minions who have appeared -- or was that returned? -- from the portal.

Following up on a direction from the Phantom, Beth bears down on the lizard-man, fists at the ready. When the Feral launches himself for a second assault, Beth backs him up with a smash from above.

Attack +14, Damage +8:
[roll0]

[Queen Sapes]

The monstrous lizard falls beneath Beth's massive fist, the ground indenting where she hits him from above. However, the monster barely bends and certainly doesn't break as he props himself up out of the indent and immediately pounces at Feral. The wolfman dodges the monster's teeth by a hair, as it skids on the stone around the hero. Nearby, the cat engages Silver Sentinel again, swinging her feet around and catching his feet, trying to knock the hero down to her level for an easier fight.

Jackanapes, mystic fire still burning on his fur coat, extends his hand towards Madam Mischief as he did once with Cupid. However, this time the shadows once again begin swirling and pooling in his hands. "Foolish girl. You know nothing of true power, of magics beyond the scale of humanity, things that would tear apart your very mind at the mere thought of them. Allow me to show you!" Jackanapes screams at Madam Mischief as two tendrils of shadows are let lose from his palm. They shoot through the room, readjusting their travel path to hit Madam Mischief's eyes directly. As the pitch black ink covers her eyes, she vividly sees the most impossible things. A plane of black where entire universes collapse in the background, a spiral of entropy sitting in the center of it all; living shadows whispering to each other in a pitch black room with a single white book; massive beasts of silver and liquid fire literally clawing at the walls of reality. It's all more than enough to drive a person completely mad.

Beth:
Lizard-man Toughness Roll: [roll0] Survives. Still at -1.

Prof. Jackanapes:
Will DC 27 for Madam Mischief. (Dazed, Defenseless, Transformed: Driven Mad)

Lizard-man:
[roll1] to hit Feral. Toughness DC 24. Miss

Tiger-woman:
[roll2] to hit Silver Sentinel. It's a trip so it's her [roll3] versus the better of athletics or acrobatics for Silver Sentinel. Hit, but not sure it it's a success.

END ROUND 3. BEGIN ROUND 4.

[hobbitguy1420]

As the lizard-beast skids past the Feral, the primal hero responds by snapping with its powerful jaws, attempting to rip a substantial chunk out of the thing's tail.

[roll0] one more attack against lizbuddy, DC should still be 25, if my math's right.

[Arcran]

Cupid watches the energy connect with Madam Mischief, more than a little worried.

"Keep breaking runes!" he shouts, hoping to whatever god might be listening that they get some results soon.

Cupid realizes that he isn't making any progress trying to hit Jackanapes with his Love Arrows, so he goes for something far simpler. He takes aim, sighting down his bow.

"Hey beautiful, why don't you play with us? I can make you purr really nice," he says as he launches an arrow at the Tiger Lady. Hopefully she could be more useful than the other two cultists seemed to be. Usually they didn't drag their feet so much.

Almost as an afterthought, Cupid gives a few quick flaps of his wings, trying to get out of reach in case the arrow fails.

Attack Roll: [roll0]

DC 20 Will, 25 if the roll is 18+.

Using my Shift Action to fly as high up as possible. Don't want to be in melee range. My thralls should keep smashing runes since that was the last command; Cupid saying that was just fluff.

[JeminiZero]

Phantom


The Phantom watches as the Lizard gets hit by the As-Yet-Unnamed-Massive-Blue-Heroine, but shrugs it off before ploughing into Feral. "Try hitting him harder!" He advises while shifting his position a little, sticking close to the wall. Once he is satisfied with his new angle, he fires another blast at the Lizard.



Even without the power attack feat, all characters can power attack by up to +2. (Which means -2 to attack, +2 to damage, which would give the current Beth 12 Attack/10 Damage).


Move action: Circle the room, so that if the next attack misses, it will still at least blow up some Runes.


Another Power Attack +5/-5 on Lizardman. DC 31 if it hits.

[roll0]

[Queen Sapes]

Feral's snap at the lizard's tail hits but the hide proves too tough for the wolfman's sharp teeth to pierce. Instead the reptile's tail slides quickly out of Feral's jaws as he turns towards the hero in time to receive a lightning bolt from Phantom to the chest. The massive monster easily shrugs off the electricity coursing through it's body, its heart barely missing a beat as it ignores Phantom's attempt. Closer to the door Cupid fires at the feline cultist, her cat-like reflexes allowing her to dodge the arrow just as she spots it. The magical arrow disappears in a puff of pink mist as it hits the stone floor of the chamber.

Feral:
Lizard-man Toughness Roll: [roll0] Survives. Still -1.

Cupid:
Tiger-woman's dodge beats to-hit

Phantom:
Lizard-man Toughness Roll (Assuming no effect from Feral): [roll1] Survives. Still -1.

[The_Admiral]

Keith easily leaps over the sweeping kick. Landing in a crouch, he attempts to return the favour to the Catlady.



[roll0]

Retaliate Attempt(Free action right?): [roll1]

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

Seeing the ineffectiveness of physical attacks on the Lizard cultist, the Phantom decides that switching tactics is in order. "Mischief, if you are still able to fight, hit that Lizard with your Fetters of Fenris. Torrent, stay near the Lizard and keep him occupied. Uh... Giant Girl, punch Monkey boy!"

[Propagandist]

Madame Mischief gasps as her mind is flooded with images of the impossible, things hidden from mortal eyes, reality-and-sanity-tearing truths, magics more ancient than the Earth itself, realms of pure cha-

...Oh, wait, she's a 100-year old mage. She knew about that stuff already. Never mind.

Marie shakes her head like she got a brain freeze from too much ice cream and smiles sweetly at Jackanapes. "Honey, I'm flattered you think of me as a girl, but I got a half-century on you, easy. I've met Lovecraft in the flesh, and I just invoked the deity Zoroastrians believe is the ultimate evil. Your mystic slideshow is weird, but if I wanted weird, I could go watch Maury reruns. Now you sit there and burn like a good monkey while I deal with your lackeys."

"You got it, Phantom! Come'ere, scaley, mama's got a present for you! Fetters of Fenris!" The ribbons of blue light leap from the walls again, this time aiming at the hulking lizard-man.

By popular request, Fetters of Fenris: [roll0] DC 22 Will save for the Lizard if attack hits.

[Joyride]

Beth appreciates the tactical suggestion - the chaos of the battle has her a little confused, even from her elevated vantage point. At the Phantom's command, she shifts her focus to the Professor. The magical energy he'd summoned to bewitch Mischief briefly gives the giant woman pause -- whatever he'd done looked awful, though the sorceress seemed no worse for the ordeal. She's not sure she'll be able to handle any retaliation from the tiny enemy, but orders are orders. The Phantom surely has a plan. Time for Beth to prove herself!

Attack +14 / Damage +8 on hit. Smackin' Jackanapes!
[roll0]

[Queen Sapes]

Silver Sentinel's feline opponent manages to barely maneuver herself over his leg sweep, landing with a jump. She hisses at the hero in response and visibly prepares for another pounce at the hero. Over at the lizard issue, Mischief casts her first spell again, blue ribbons of magical energy wrapping themselves around the lizard successfully. They bind the mighty beast, barely holding as he struggles against them, but successfully keep him in place for the time being. His teeth gnash together as they burn with frustration at Feral. Across the portal, Beth attempts to swing at Jackanapes. The primate-man sees her attack coming and sidesteps the giant's fist fairly easily.

Silver Sentinel:
Tiger-woman's Acrobatics Roll: [roll0]

Madam Mischief:
Lizard-man's Will Roll: [roll1]

Beth:
Jackanapes' Parry beat the to hit roll.

[ChronicLunacy]

http://imageshack.com/a/img19/3769/sby7.jpg Torrent
Condition: 1 Bruise, Defenseless?

Deciding to change tactics, but still reeling from the consciousness-scraping, Torrent stumbled in the direction of tiger-lady, putting himself between her and Silver Sentinel and getting waaaay too close for safety. "Oh. my. god." he said as he seemed to notice her for the first time, and put his sunglasses back on for emphasis. "You are my fifteen-year-old self's embarrassing wet dream fantasy. Tell me, do the stripes go...all...the way down, little kitty?" he gave her what almost passed for a flirtatious grin and made little claw motions.

Trying to Deception/Trick the Cat Lady into attacking him. Hopefully he's being so incredibly obnoxious that even if I fail this roll she'll still want to rip him a new one.

Deception: [roll0] vs. Deception or Insight

Going to use Interpose in case she doesn't go for it.

[The_Admiral]

Keith grins under his helmet as he shoots out, "What you a cannibal or something, because you act more like a chicken", emphasizing the word chicken as he dodges past Torrent and spins on his heel. Raising a foot, he delivers a turning kick in the Tigress' direction.


To hit
[roll0]

DC 23 if hit.

[Queen Sapes]

The tiger-woman, either recognizing Torrent's taunt or not realizing her prey had been replaced, opts to attack the energy sponge. As she reels back to pounce it's all the distraction Silver Sentinel needs to deliver a strong kick to her side, flinging her a little bit across the room as it impacts. She appears shaken by the kick, but not really worse for wear, as she coils back and leaps at Torrent, clawing as she makes contact with him. Nearby, the reptilian man struggles against the magical binds, unable to break them as of yet, but thanks to Feral's proximity is able to snap at the wolfman with his razor blade jaws, still unable to connect.

Jackanapes, on the other side of the room, leaps upwards in a back-flip towards the wall behind him. He lands on it, both his hands digging into the dirt on the walls as he lets go of his cane. From underneath the coat, a long and furry tail appears, snatching the cane effortlessly out of the air. He aims the cane at Beth as a flash of violet light blasts out a purple orb which Beth is able to dodge swiftly. His attempt at blinding Beth to the real world failed, Jackanapes lets go of his height advantage and falls to the ground, landing in a roll. The mystic fire singes him a little more before finally dissipating.

Torrent: (Defenseless had instant recovery on it, so you recovered at the end of Round 3)
Tiger-woman Insight Roll: [roll0]. Failed.

Silver Sentinel:
Tiger-woman Toughness Roll: [roll1] -1 and dazed.

Professor Jackanapes:
Jackanapes' Athletics Roll: [roll2] Jackanapes is now 15 ft above everyone but Beth.
[roll3] to hit Beth with illusion. Insight DC 24 to resist it. Dodged.

Lizard-man:
[roll4] to hit Feral. Toughness DC 24. Miss.

Tiger-woman: (Assuming she's still in)
[roll5] to hit Torrent. Toughness DC 20. Hit.

END ROUND 4. BEGIN ROUND 5

[hobbitguy1420]

The Feral bares its teeth in a bloodthirsty grin at Madam Mischief. "Good!" It turns the bared teeth at the lizard man, as the prey's teeth close out of reach of the Feral's arm, then it pounces, trying to rake its claws down the lizard's exposed belly.

Power attacking the lizard-guy while his defense is lowered. [roll0] I think the DC on a hit would be 27, right?

[JeminiZero]

Phantom

Seeing the situation on the ground change, the Phantom decides to adapt accordingly. He glances at the other Armored man's weapon before calling out. "Uh... Gold and Silver Man, that blaster should have a hyperbeam function, leave Tiger-girl to Torrent and go light up the Monkey! Cupid, the Lizard is easy to hit but hard to injure, however his mind isn't particularly strong. Hit him with your strongest love arrows!"

Firing up his jets, Phantom flies and lands in front of the As-Yet-Unnamed-Massive-Blue-Woman, and faces Jackanapes. "Mischief and Giant Girl, help Torrent with the Tiger girl. As for you Monkeyboy, DODGE THIS" The Phantom's visor glows brightly, before a wave of green energy sprays forth.
Phantom will use Acid Breath. In order to PREVENT cave-ins, he will make a technology check to NOT hit the cave's vital points, while still damaging as many wall runes he can.

Technology check to prevent cave-ins: [roll0]

Acid Breath against Jackanapes (and wall runes): DC 21 Dodge save. DC 26 Toughness if Dodge fails. DC 20 Toughness if Dodge succeeds.

[Arcran]

Cupid watches the monkey yet again effortlessly dodge everything the band of heroes throws at him. There was no way that he was going to be able to hit the monkey right now. What he needed was a distraction. A big, green, scaley distraction.

"Yo, mutt, get the hell away from the lizard!" he shouts, pulling back his bow and launching a Love Arrow at the monster. He sacrifices a little accuracy to try to put this as close to the heart as possible, hoping that he can get a little more use out of the lizard than his other two minions.

Are my other cultists making any significant progress?

AC: [roll0] Using Power Attack!

DC 22 Will to resist, 27 on 18-20

[The_Admiral]

Nodding in Phantom's direction, Keith takes kicking away the feminine feline as an opportunity. Jumping out of the melee, he charges at Jacknape, raising his gun at him.

He flips the phone slotted into the gun open and taps a code into it. Snapping it shut, it announces, CONNECT, OVERLOAD. A beam of energy emits out of it, striking at Jacknape.


Dodge Save DC 21 or Make Toughness Save DC 26 if fail the save, if pass the save the Toughness save is DC 20