Chosen (M&M 3E IC)

[herodofcows]

There are a million voices in your head, and you can only hear snatches of their speech.

You are loved. Know that, please . . .


The gods are dead in heaven and this is their sepulcher . . .


What happens when the paupers become sovereigns and the princes are brought low?


Chosen, we have been chosen . . .



Morality is a lie that we tell ourselves to make our concrete jungles seem habitable . . .


Humanity's spirit is a text be writ large, seared into the sky with words of power and pride . . .


For the first time, REAL power will be distributed with true democratic fairness . . .

You may as well appeal to the howling storm than to ask for an iota of mercy . . .


The stars in the sky are quiet tonight, because of what we do this day . . .


I wish this could have turned out differently . . .

While I draw breath, these halls are still a sacred place . . .


BREAK THE WORLD!


Isn't it funny, how you can KNOW that power corrupts and still be corrupted?


Look at you! You're glorious!

One year, and then seven hundred million people will set this world on FIRE . . .



There's nothing we can do. It's up to you, now . . .


Be the vanguard for a glorious new age . . .

You are loved. You are loved. You are loved . . .

You awaken, surrounded by strangers, on dry yellow desert sand. You appear to be at the bottom of a small canyon or ravine, about fifty feet below the edge. Desert scrub and grass shiver in a light wind, but beyond that the place is absolutely still. A hot noonday sun beats down on you, barely shaded away by the canyon walls.

You have no idea where you are. You have no idea how you got here. One moment, you were either asleep or minding your own business. The next, you were waking up here with a thousand dreamed voices ringing in your head.

You and the other strangers are arranged in a rough circle. In the middle, an odd gust of sand is settling down, as though something just disturbed it. You hear what sounds like a door creaking, and then, silence.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Jack came to holding his head, shaking it dazedly as he tried to clear both the cobwebs and the echoing voices. "Can you all quiet the :smallannoyed: down?" he grumbled.

Slowly, he opened his eyes and staggered to his feet, staring around the desert with a look on his face that was somehow both blank and angry.

He took it all in. The desert. The people. The stupid little swirly sand bit. Gave it all a good once-over, really analyzed the situation. His mind brought him, over and over, no matter what new piece of evidence he seized on, back to one inescapable conclusion:

"What...the...:smallconfused:...?"

[greenpotato]

Wojciecha wakes confused at first, but then a huge grin breaks across her face beneath her prominent nose. She has figured it out. "Oh my god! Is this a new Reality show? Its just like survivor!" She wonders which one of her sleazy hollywood agents got her signed up to this new secret reality tv show as she fixes her long blonde hair and peers around for the hidden cameras.

[Xunthrae]

Aiden sits up, gripping his head. Why is his head pounding? He looks around at the others. what are they doing here? finally he notices the tendrils of cold radiating off his body, like an open freezer. Anyone near directly near him would definitely feel the temperature difference.

"Anyone know whats going on?" Aiden's voice has a tinge of fear. He can feel something different about him. He doesn't feel the heat beating down on him like he would expect.

[Business Scrub]

"Uuuugh..."

Ellie looks around groggily, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the light. "What the fock is right. I tink I'm gonna be sick..." she speaks quickly, her accent almost palpable.
Ellie takes a breath, then apparently decides she's ok. She stands up and looks around, seeing desert in every direction.
"Nah, false alarm. But where the 'ell are we? And how?"
She takes a couple of experimental steps out, as if trying to decide that this is actually real.
"Ugh, and why does it feel like Manchester had practice with me head instead of a ball?"
Ellie turns back towards the group, continuing her steady stream of conversation.
"My guess is someting... moved all of us here... somehow. Unless we're all just high. Frankly that'd make more sense right now. An' I'm pretty sure t'aint a TV show. Which brings up the question: why're we here..? And uh, where is here?"

As if remembering, she pulls out her phone and checks for reception.

[herodofcows]

Songbird's phone has a bar or so of reception. Potentially enough to text with.

Above, the wind begins to pick up, sending sandy particles into the ravine.

[Quellian-dyrae]

"Better blasted not be a blasted reality show," Jack grumbled (a shade off from a growl, really), before raising his arm in front of his face to ward off the stinging sand. "Gah! Stinking-!" he snarled, but he cut off as, with a sound pretty much recognizable as an "audible gleam" sound effect, his skin transformed to shining steel.

"WHAT HAPPENED!?" he cried out, grumpiness finally giving way to panic as he stared down at his now-metallic arms and hands.

[Drakeburn]

Chase turned over in his sleep, bothered by the voices that he was dreaming about. He didn't understand what any of it meant, or why it was happening to him.

Chase then gasped and sputtered awake when the wind threw some sand into the face.

"What the!?" He managed to say through his coughing.

"What is this place?! How did I get here?! Who are you people!?"

In a desert ravine, with five strangers, with no idea how he ended up here. Chase knew he was having another off-day, only more off than usual.

[Business Scrub]

Ellie puts her phone away, thinking.

Not enough to get a map up. I could probable get a text out, but to who? What would I say: I'm lost somewhere, come find me? Better to wait until we know more.

"Good news folks! We have a wee-- Whaaaat the fock is tat?" she practically shouts the last bit, pointing at Jack and taking a noticeable amount of steps away from the man, afraid it's some kind of contaminate.

"Are you ok? Kin you move your hands at all?"

[Xunthrae]

Aiden looks over to what the woman with the accent is freaking out over. "Oh sh**!" Aiden scrambles back away from the back, the temperature of the previously hot desert drops considerably and a trail of ice is left under where he was.

"What the f*** is going on!" Aiden's heart is pounding as he looks at his hands and the ice patch in front of him.

[Quellian-dyrae]

"Uhhh..." Jack answered, flexing his fingers, "Yyyeah. Yeah it...looks like WHAT DID YOU DO!?" he shouted as the other guy made ice. ICE!

In the middle of the freaking desert!

[bigstipidfighte]

The last of the group to stir is an old man. He is just now waking up, which is odd, because he can’t remember going to sleep. There is shouting. A fight? That possibility has him wide awake, muscles tense, eyes wide as he leans upward, craning his neck to see what is the matter.

Nothing the old man sees makes any sense. There are men and women around him he does not recognize. There is only sand where his bed should be and the open sky looms wide beyond the lip of a ravine, stark contrast the cold grey of the dormitories. This was not the Lompoc penitentiary. Which is certainly where he would have gone to sleep. If he had gone to sleep. He still wasn’t certain of that.

A downward glance reveals nothing unusual about his own appearance. A t-shirt and boxers, of the same commissary-issued white cotton polyester blend he’d worn for years. But who were these people? It occurred to the man that if he could not answer that question, perhaps they did not know him either. No markings on his nightclothes betrayed his identity as a guest of the federal prison system. These people sounded frantic, confused.

In the face of all this utter wrongness, the metal-man and the out of place ice seemed almost to be secondary issues. Special effects, maybe, some sort of costume. Someone had mentioned something about a television show before he was fully conscious. From their conversation it didn’t sound like anyone had any better grasp of the situation than him.

“We should get to higher ground,” he said half to himself as he rose shakily to his feet. “Somewhere with a view.” A view. That was something the old man had only had twice in the last decade. Attending a wedding and a funeral. It would be worth the hike out for that view alone, even if it there was nothing useful to see.

A face-full of wind-driven sand greets the old man as he scans the area for a way up. He’d need something to cover his face, he thought, as a scarf appeared in his hand. “Ah!” He flung it away from himself with a start, eyeing the strip of cloth with a mistrust normally reserved for a snake.

[Drakeburn]

A man who can turn his arms into metal, a man who can make ice in the middle of the desert, and a man who can make a scarf appear out of nowhere. Okay, now Chase was starting get a bit freaked out here.
"Yeah, we gotta get out of here!" He agreed with the old man.

Chase thought it would be best to scout a path that leads them out of the ravine. So he took off to find a way out of there. Only he couldn't believe what was happening: the scenery was going by fast as if he was in a race car, and the air was blowing against his face. It took Chase to realize that he was running really fast! But how!? He glanced around to find that path out of the ravines, trying his best to focus.

[Business Scrub]

Ellie looks around with increasing anxiety. The man with weird skin: That could have been some condition she had never heard of, but the rest was downright impossible.

"I... I'm definitely still asleep or someting. This can't be real. I just have to wait to wake up."

She holds her head, her headache getting slowly worse like a banging on her brain.

"Just... I don't feel good. Can everyone just shut it for a bit?"

[Quellian-dyrae]

Jack took a couple of long, deep breaths...and a couple more when the other guy started zipping around at frankly indecent speeds.

"Ooookay...I need a freakin' drink..." he muttered.

A can of beer appeared in his hand.

...

...

"Aw heck..."

[herodofcows]

Chase zooms through the arteries of the canyon system like a particularly excitable blood vessel. From the relatively cramped quarters that the group had woken up within, he finds that the canyon system widens out significantly. Desert scrub turns into something approaching verdancy next to a small snaking river that runs through the canyons.

The whole place is monumental. It gives the impression of having been carved by some deity long ago for the explicit purpose of reminding humanity that they are small. In the noonday sun, the place is some mix between quintessential America and quintessential 'Murica.

After a few seconds of searching at hyperspeed, Chase finds that there comes a point where the ravine slopes up and levels out. Across the plain, he can see desert extending in all directions, peppered with dwarfish bushes. To the north and south, he can see hills, but the east and west are wide open.

Regardless, he's found the edge. And, glory be, there's a road running just next to it!

[Rhyvurg]

Jack sits up, rubbing his eyes. What in the world... Last thing he remembered was cutting the power to that building, then this. Had he been caught by some other crooks and they dumped him out here for a joke? Did the lab had protection, and the mob dumped him out here instead of killing him because of his old man? But if that was it, whom were the rest of these people. He stays quiet, not drawing attention to himself as he watched people turn to steel and ice, then someone run faster than a speeding car. Looking down at himself, Jack almost faints again. He was...big. His shirt was ripping at the seams, he was almost a foot taller than he used to be, and he looked like he'd spent a lifetime in a gym. Getting to his feet, he kicks his burst-open shoes off. Every movement makes his shirt tear even more, until there's no real point in keeping it anymore. Luckily, his pants are made of sterner stuff.

All this was like something out of a comic book, or Heroes, and if they were made special, why not him? Closing his eyes, he wishes as hard as he can to be special as well. When he opens his eyes, he was ten feet in the air and rising, and in a few second he was above the canyons. He nearly panics, and when he thinks down, he goes down. He smiles, and carefully works on different directions, bobbing around like a balloon tied to a child's wrist. Laughing, he flies in circles and loops over the canyons before going back down to where the others were. He lowers down into the canyon, the sun behind him, turning him into a silhouette. "Okay everyone, don't panic. All will be well."

[Quellian-dyrae]

Jack was, admittedly, a little...wary of the beverage that had just appeared in his hand.

But then another one of the people upped and started flying, and he just sighed and tossed it back.

[greenpotato]

The weirdness going on around her would of freaked Wojciecha out if she hadn't already convinced herself this was some sort of reality TV show. She grimaced at the other actors, their performances weren't very convincing even if the special effects were so good. And using practical effects in this modern age of CGI? She respected the producers of this show. She continued to run her fingers through her hair and with an absent though wished it was thicker and longer.. and then the special effects kicked in on her. Her hair did get longer and thicker, but how? She hadn't uttered a word. How could the director here her? She tried again, simply thinking about her hair being longer and again it grew before her eyes. Then she thought about it getting shorter, and it did. Was it just her hair the trick worked on? She held up her hands and thought about her fingers getting longer and they did, then fatter, then her nails longer, then painted, then longer legs, then shorter, then thicker... where was the limit to this?
How could they be doing this? There was no prosthesis, these were her real body parts changing on a whim.

[Drakeburn]

"Hey guys! Guess what! I found the....." Chase announced with excitement, only to find that they weren't there behind him.
How fast was I going? He thought to himself.
How did I get that fast anyways? How did I end up in this desert in the first place?
Chase paced back and forth for a moment, thinking up more questions and unable to think of any solutions.
The last thing he can remember was that he was helping his brother pack his things into a moving van. He said that he was about to be transferred to somewhere else.

[Business Scrub]

Ellie closes her eyes and looks down in pain, increasingly agitated. She glances up at the man hovering a few feet above the ground.
"'All will be well'? Gah, screw you!"
Feeling like she'll explode, Ellie sits on her knees holding her hands to her temples. Clearly in some pain, she borderline shouts at the others.
"Shut up! Everyone be quiet! I can'... I can't think. Why is everything all spinny? Some one make it stop. Make it stop, please..."

Too distracted to take notice of anything else, she lays on the ground, quietly continuing to mutter "Make it stop, make it stop."

[Quellian-dyrae]

Jack huffed out a breath. Okay. Well, his mind was officially blown. That happened. Accept it and move on.

He looked about the little group of people that were with them. Sheesh, most of 'em were kids. And an elderly fellow. Who would do something like this to kids and old guys?

"Mmph. Uh...how about water?" he tentatively asked. A metal glass of water appeared in his other hand. Weird as anything. Jack just shook his head at it. "Awright, fine, how 'bout a million bucks?" Hey, if they wanted to play that game, he wasn't going to argue. The million bucks, however, failed to present itself. Bah.

"Whatever. A couple aspirin then," he grumbled. They likewise failed to appear.

"I swear to God, if we each got three wishes and I just wasted mine on turning into metal, a beer, and a glass of water I am going to..." he trailed off into a fit of indecipherable grumbles as he tried and failed to come up with a form of vengeance he could realistically enact on some maliciously-omnipotent, wish-granting entity.

What? They were in a desert. It was as plausible a theory as anything.

"Here, girl. Drink this," he offered the apparently-migraine-stricken woman gruffly as he walked over to her, holding out the water cup. "How you doing over there, Sir?" he called over to the elderly man. He was a bit concerned for the fellow out here (although whether he should be concerned more because of the desert sun or the chill coming off the ice-making kid, he wasn't quite sure of), and anyway, Jack had been raised to show respect to his elders. Just because you wake up in the middle of the desert with voices in your head and impossible things happening doesn't mean you can't take the time to show some common decency.

[Rhyvurg]

Jack lands and hurries to the woman. "We need to get out of this desert. We have no idea how long it's been since any of us had water or food, we could have been laying here for days. Ma'am? Can you hear me?"

[Business Scrub]

Ellie looks up briefly at Jack, green eyes distant with pain. She takes the cup, and drops it almost immediately into the sand with shaky hands. "Thanks I... I'm not a kid."

She takes a few careful breaths, then nods to the other Jack.
"Yes, I tink I'm fine. I--" Then she turns to the side and is sick into the sand. After a long moment, she wipes her mouth and looks up. "Umm, sorry about that. I should be okay. Did we find out what's going on yet..?"

[Rhyvurg]

"Actually we just got a clue that we might have been here for a while. People throw up when they chug water after being dehydrated. Or it could be something else. Either way, all the more reason to get out of here. Can you get to some shade on your own? I'm going to head up and try to find a town or something."

[Business Scrub]

Ellie shakes her head. "No, I'll be alright now. I dunno what that was; m'head is still pounding but it feels like the worst is over. It doesn't feel like it's been too long. Weren't there one more of our crew?"

She looked around at the folk that had assembled:
a metal man making food out of nowhere,
a woman making her hands freakishly grow and shrink,
a man spreading ice on the desert floor,
someone who could apparently materialize clothes,
the musclebound old man before him,
the one who had suddenly vanished,
and her: the one who had just flipped out and vomited in the middle of the ravine for no reason. What a motley crew they made. She speaks to Jack again.
"Let's try to get everyone organized. None of us really know whats happening, but running around like chickens sure won't help."
In a rather commanding stage voice, she calls out to the group.
"Oy, everyone! Let's gather round for a sec. Maybe whatever's going on has to do with something about us. Let's try and piece it t'gether; as a group? Are we missing one?"

[Quellian-dyrae]

"The speedy one," Chef Durello ((because seriously :smallamused:)) confirmed. "Kid's probably halfway to Vegas by now," he muttered.

"I'm thinking he has the right call, actully," he said with a nod to the other Jack. "Immediate survival first, figuring out what the heck's going on second. I'd much rather try to figure this out over a nice, five course dinner," behind him, a big steel table, complete with chairs, dishes, and silverware, popped into existence, "than on an empty stomach under the desert sun in the middle of nowhere. Mm. Yeah, maybe a good chef's salad to start." Pop. "Followed up with a bowl of my famous New England Clam Chowder and some fresh-baked garlic biscuits." Pop. Pop. "Big ol' bloomin' onion fried and battered with thirteen herbs and spices for an appetizer. And I'm thinking a juicy roast chicken with asparagus and corn on the cob for the main course." Pop. Pop-pop. "And finish her up with a slice of fresh-baked cherry pie with a scoop of vanilla whipped cream and a drizzle of chocolate." Annnnnd...pop! "Now that's a proper meal to discuss this sort of craziness around, but I'm not gonna be making it with sand and the odd cactus for ingre...di...what smells so good?"

He turned around to behold the now food-filled table with a blank stare.

"...Huh."

[Drakeburn]

After recollecting his thoughts for a moment, Chase figured out a few things.

1) He is in a desert.

2) He has superspeed.

3) He cannot leave those people behind.

With that in mind, Chase sped back to where the group was.
"Hey everyone!" He announced.
"I found a road up ahead! We can travel...." But Chase noticed that something seemed a bit odd here. Nobody was turning around to him. Upon closer inspection, he realized that everybody was moving in slow-motion.
"Am I really going so fast?" Chase muttered in awe as he walked around the group.
"You know what? Heck with it!"
Chase grabs onto the old man and speeds off, running back to the spot where he found the road.

[bigstipidfighte]

The old man was troubled. There was talk now of finding civilization. For a little while the prospect of being out of Lompoc had exited him. But what would he do now? Aside from the obvious problem of being in the wilderness with no recollection of leaving the prison, and the very real possibility he’d lost his mind, he had a lot to think about. He was an escaped convict now, he supposed. No cash, no friendly place to hide out, no identification, no plan. “Maybe we should hold off on looking for a town for a bit. Try and figure out what’s going on. Besides, whatever the hell all this is could be going on everywhere. Here, we’re safe, at least for the short term.” Safe to think, safe to decide whether to try and turn himself in, explain all this, or resign himself to a life on the run.

He nods to the man asking after his welfare. The one with the mysterious water. “Aside from the general insanity, I think I’m fine. I’m…” He paused, about to introduce himself. Maybe he should give a false name?

Before he could muddle through that decision, he had a sense someone was about to grab him from behind. He turned in time to see something speeding toward him. The world blurred. Now he was moving through the canyons at a remarkable speed. He pondered how he knew this was going to happen. Where was he being taken? A road he thought. Why? But now he was at the road he had predicted a moment before. A road in a desert, stretching out in both directions, and him alone on the side of it with a perfect stranger. Was he being hit? Was this the end of the line for Martin Godwin? “Who are you?” he managed, a clear note of fear ringing in his voice. He needed to stall, find a way out, or a weapon.

As he thinks that, a shiv appears in Martin's hand, but he doesn't seem to notice.

[Drakeburn]

"Woah, woah, woah, woah." Chase said quickly when he saw a shiv appear in the old man's hand.
"Take it easy sir, I only want to help. My name is Chase Jackson, I somehow ended up in this desert probably the same way you did, and I only want to help everyone find their way out of here. Now, if you excuse me, I'd like to go fetch the others."
With that said, he took off again. At first he was so frightened and shocked about his recent development of super speed, but now he's starting to like it. The thrill of moving so fast, how quickly he can get from one place to another.
Once he saw the rest of the group in view, he grabbed the blonde haired young woman, took her to where he dropped off the old man. After he dropped her off, he raced back to the group, but the smell of food suddenly made him feel hungry. Stopping for a moment, he quickly gobbled up all the garlic biscuits on the table, and then the roast chicken, before grabbing one of the other young women in the group (Ellie) and taking her to the road he found.

[Rhyvurg]

"Wait..." When people start vanishing, Jack focuses hard on trying to figure out what's going on. His powers respond, accelerating his mental processes thousands of times over. He sees the man take Ellie and run, but he can't seem to get his body to keep up with his mind in order to stop him. He sets his feet, ready to react if the speedster came back.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Durello shrugged and headed for the table, only to halt as the old man vanished. "What the-" he started saying, but he couldn't even get the thought out before more people (and food) were zip-gone with a blur and a whoosh.

"Where'd they-?"

[Business Scrub]

"What the-- Ah!"
Ellie has just enough time to realize what's happening before she is whisked away herself.
Once Chase puts her down she looks frustrated, like she's about to say something, then changes her mind.
Ellie begins humming a tune (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUkcKOq6HOM) quietly to herself: perhaps to comfort herself among all the confusion and craziness. She shakes her head and thinks as Chase is about to run off again, He could have at least brought back some of the chowder...

Waiting for last of the people to arrive, she starts singing quietly rather than humming, reproducing the song completely: instruments included, replacing the singer's voice with her own higher one. Ellie seems not to notice any oddness, looking casually out towards where she expects Chase to return from.

Mind Control power on Chase, asking him to bring back some of that chowdah chowder. Will DC 20, I believe? I know it's an incremental power, so if Chase doesn't save, its up to him if he wants to RP through three rounds or just make it more story-like.

[greenpotato]

Wha?" the blonde manages to mutter lamely after she gets unceremoniously dropped by the speedster. Her face turns sour. She already missed her chance, the other woman had made a bigger impression on the others she just had to hope that this TV show didnt have a peer voting system.

Then the other woman gets dropped near her as well, hmm how to deal with her competition?
"Wow, how lucky are we to get picked?" She says with a big grin to Ellie. "Hi, I'm Wojciecha"

[Drakeburn]

Coming back to the group, Chase saw somebody getting ready for him up ahead. Since he's coming over there, he thought that he should a little fun with him. He ran around so to avoid the man, and circled around the table and the guy waiting for him: the first time to grab the cherry pie and slap it into his face, and the second time to grab the clam chowder and ran back to the second woman he brought there.
Why am I doing this? He thought to himself.
Looking down into the bowl, he saw that it was empty. Looking back, he saw that he had left behind a long trail of clam chowder. Maybe the others will follow the trail to here perhaps?

[Quellian-dyrae]

"-...Go...?" Durello muttered. But then a clue presented itself.

Clam chowder!

Durello frowned and looked back at the table to see the pot missing. "Seriously?" he growled.

Scowling, he started jogging in the direction the trail was leading, the metal disappearing from his skin as he went. And as it did, he moved faster. A lot faster. Oh, sure, nowhere near as fast as Speedy had been going, but still shooting well past "highway" speeds and approaching "racecar" speeds. It wouldn't take him long at all to follow the trail of tragically wasted chowder to reach the rest of the group.

[herodofcows]

As Saint and Chase engage in their shenanigans, the rest of the party can see a small dust cloud on the horizon. Coming from the south is what appears to be an old pickup truck, about a minute away.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Durello was opening his mouth to start ranting and berating people about just up and disappearing when the truck came into sight, distracting him from his grouchiness. "Awright, now we're talking!" he said, willing a stop sign into existence!

...He conjured the steel pole for it just fine, but there wasn't a sign at the top.

Seriously!?

"Completely freaking arbitrary!" he ranted at the pole, which obligingly vanished.

[Rhyvurg]

Jack's hand snaps up, keeping the pie out of his face but his hand, arm and torso are thoroughly splattered. "Why you..." He flies up again, noting how the faster he flies, the more his senses slow down to normal speed. He rises above the canyons, looking for the others.

[roll0] Perception

[herodofcows]

Jack sees the others clustered by the side of the road, minus Chase, whose shenanigatory nature has him still running about all catwompus.

As for the others, the truck gradually approaches and then, seeing the eclectic group of people standing by the side of a road in the middle of nowhere, slows down and comes to a stop in your midst. A window rolls down, showing two occupants in flannels and jeans. Both have a particularly Native American cast to their features.

". . . you folks have some car trouble?" the driver asks, giving Martin a searching look.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Durello bit back a sarcastic retort of "do you see a car?" The guy was trying to be helpful. Not right to take out his frustration on him.

"Something like that," he answered instead. "Frankly, we're lost. Not even sure where we are, to tell you the truth." He didn't mention the weirdness that had been going on. Not yet. That seemed like a need-to-know sort of thing to him, for now at least.

[herodofcows]

The driver nods, spares a nonplussed glance towards his companion, and turns back to you.

"Well, where were you trying to go? Maybe we could give some of you a lift. Tsaile's back that way," he jerks a finger in the direction that they'd just come from, "And my cousin's a mechanic. We could give you a lift back, and he could come tow your car. Sound good?"

[Xunthrae]

While the chef talks with the two in the car and the others do their things, Aiden is sitting against the ravine wall freaking out to himself. He is running scenario after scenario in his head of how he got here and how this happened. He doesn't live anywhere near a desert. He lives in Portland for goodness sake. Maybe this is all a dream. With a cursory pinch later, he's sure he isn't, but it's all too much. This is too fantastical to be real. People don't conjure things, people don't create ice, people don't run so fast you can't see them. It just doesn't happen!

The part of canyon the young man is against begins to frost over as his mind keeps racing, trying to fix his perception of whats going on. It's obvious to anyone who's seen one before that he's having a panic attack, his thoughts looping, feeding its own growing fear. Almost the whole area is now noticeably cooler, and it feels like its dropping in waves as the chill radiates from Aiden.

[Quellian-dyrae]

"Yeah, the car's...not recoverable," Jack said, figuring it was true enough. "But a lift into the nearest town would certainly be appreciated. Name's Jack, by the way," he said, extending his hand. "Jack Durello."

[Drakeburn]

Chase had ran off to clear his head so he can recollect his senses. Before he could reach the others, he noticed a pickup truck stopping by the people by the road, where he put them. Well, most of them actually.
At first he thought about running over there, but it might freak out the driver, who probably doesn't have superpowers. So he simply stands there and watch.

[Rhyvurg]

Jack stays in the air, watching the group down below. Just dropping down next to them would be bad, the guy in the truck might panic. He settles on landing in the canyons, out of sight of the truck, and walking to join the group. Yeah, barefoot and shirtless in the desert, not strange at all.

[Business Scrub]

While others talk to the man in the car, Ellie notices Aiden in distress. She puts a comforting hand on his shoulder, shivering as she does so.

"Hey it's gonna be okay, okay? Everyting's all fecked up right now, but we'll get through it. Together. You're not alone in... whatever this is. Wanna talk it through?"

[herodofcows]

The guy shakes Jack's hand.

"Heya. I'm Ed, and this is Jim . . ."

"Hi there," says Jim, waving briefly.

"So, if you all just want to climb on in back we can get-" Ed continues, and then shivers slightly, ". . . uh, get going."

He looks around a bit and then sticks his hand out the window, feeling the temperature.

"Jeez, it's a lot cooler than I thought. You feeling that, Ed?"

Ed rolls down the window and sticks his hand out for a second.

"Huh," he says, withdrawing it, "I'll be damned."

[Quellian-dyrae]

"Appreciate it," Durello said with a nod, heading around to the back of the truck and lowering the tailgate. "What do you say, guys?" he called to the group.

[Xunthrae]

Aiden blinks and shakes his head soon after Elle's hand touches his shoulder. "No. Thank you though. I don't know what came over me." The chill starts to subside, but doesn't fully go away. He shakily stands and starts moving towards the truck.

[Business Scrub]

Ellie gives his shoulder a reassuring squeeze and a smile. "It's ok. It happens."

Then, not one to be quiet for long, she hops up to the car and its driver. "Weather's been acting strange around here, but I guess that's weather then, innit? We'd be bloody thankful for a lift, s'long as you folk are heading to town."
She left the last part vague, certain they were heading to some town. She didn't want him asking too many questions yet, or he would start to realize just how weird this was. Without hesitation, she steps into the back of the truck and takes a seat on one of the wheel hubs.

[Drakeburn]

From a distance, Chase watches the group and the truck. The plan was to head to where the truck was headed without being seen. As simple as that. All he had to do now was wait....

[herodofcows]

As everybody piles into the back, you all catch a glimpse of the license plate: apparently you all are in New Mexico, of all places.

Ed revs the engine and the truck gets moving. After a bit of a janky three-point-turn, you guys are headed south again, with Chase following along at super-speed. The drive is a dull one, once you get over the seemingly infinite stretch of desert landscape. The brush passes by sedately, and the sun beats down on you from on high as the truck jostles you about over small bumps in the road.

Suddenly, Chase, Saint and Martin both notice something, independently: a black speck in the air that grows larger VERY quickly, resolving itself into something man-shaped (but not quite man-sized). It's flying through the air, coming at the truck, and seems to have no desire to stop . . .

CRUNCH

The bed of the truck shatters as the blur slams into it.

Everyone goes flying through the air. The cab of the truck careens into the desert, and you hear Ed and Jim cry out in alarm.

The road is now a 30-foot shallow crater.

And standing in the midst of that crater is a fully-armored knight, with a glowing glaive in hand. It stands, perfectly still, as though it had been there the entire time. Its armor is white and seems to be made of a million individual plates, hugging the form of the wearer perfectly. Though you cannot see its eyes, it somehow seems to be staring fixedly at all of you.

And the stare is not a friendly one.

Okay, so! Combat!

Everybody but Chase takes DC 27 damage (roll Toughness), with a DC 22 Dodge to take half. Keep in mind, everybody but Martin and Saint is vulnerable, so y'all use half of your Dodge bonus to make that roll.

Chase, Saint, and Martin can act immediately. Everyone else needs to wait until the surprise round is done, at which point the order goes:

Chase
Martin
Aiden
Saint
Wojciecha
Knight
Ellie
Jack

[Drakeburn]

"Woah!" Chase said in shock and surprise as the knight crashes into the bed of the pickup truck. He saw everybody sent flying from the impact of that crash. There were no cops around here, not for probably miles. Heck, this is something the police couldn't handle, not even his brother!
He had to direct the knight's attention away from everyone, to give them time to recover and use their abilities against... whoever or whatever was in that suit.
"Sorry, but your princess is in another truck!" Was what Chase can come up with as he took off at the knight and ran by back and forth a few times, hitting against its armor before darting away in the opposite direction of the road. He gasped in pain as his hands hurt from punching at the knight's metal armor.

Move Action: Darting back and forth by the knight then darting down the road in the opposite direction.

Standard Action: Rapid Attack (Selective Multiattack Damage 6, Accurate 2)

Attack Roll: [roll0]

Damage DC 21

[Rhyvurg]

For Jack, it's not about being surprised, or afraid, or uncertain. There is only the thought that the two men in the truck could die if they crash after a hit like that. He pours on the speed, flying after the cab of the truck, trying to catch it before it lands.

[herodofcows]

The knight barely seems to react to Chase's supersonic blows. Chase, on the other hand, feels a creeping chill on his hands with every blow he lands. As he runs away, that chill becomes painful, and he sees a deep blue latticework of ice start to creep up his hands . . .

Roll a DC 22 Fortitude check. One degree of failure: Hindered and Impaired. Two degrees: Immobilized and Disabled.

Meanwhile, Saint zooms over to the cab of the truck, skidding to a stop beneath it as it begins to arc slowly downward. Looking up, he can see Ed screaming while Jim has his hands clasped together and eyes closed. Saint has a moment to judge any number of factors to keep these two from being crushed as he extends his hands to catch the vehicle . . .

Dexterity Check! [roll0]

You wanna roll a DC 5 to catch them (so, as long as you don't crit fail you're fine). From there, we subtract your Strength modifier from the fall damage, which in this case is more than sufficient to catch them handily!

. . . but Saint's strength is great, and his arm is sure. Ed stops screaming and stares at you through the window as Jim slowly stops praying. Both men look at you, shocked.

[Drakeburn]

"Coldcoldcoldcold!" Chase panics as he comes to a complete stop.
Who was that guy!? And why did touching his armor freeze up his hands!?
Chase tries to think fast, and rubs his hands together to create enough friction to melt away the creeping ice.

Using Quickness 11 to warm up my hands with friction.

Fortitude Save: [roll0]

[Rhyvurg]

Saint sets the truck down. "You guys should get out of the truck and stay down, this might get messy." He flies back to the road, twenty feet off the ground. He stops at the rim of the crater. "Who are you? We can talk about this without any need for more violence."

[greenpotato]

Wojeicha has the wind knocked out of her, shes never felt such pain in her life. The shock of it dazes her.
I must heal, I must resist if it attacks again she thinks and her mind turns to the defences of animals, thick fur of a bear or boar and the hide of a hippo. As her mind turns to these things her body reacts, bulking up and growing dense fur over her thickening skin.

(2 degrees of failure agaisnt initial attack means shes stunned)
Standard action:
Variable with linked growth:
As big as a bear: Growth 4 (8)
Variable 12 (84)
Tough enough to stop it:Enhanced Stamina 11 (22)
Strong enough to fight it: Enhanced Strength 11 (22)
Hippos hide and boars bristles: Impervious to Toughness 10 (10)
Feral instincts: Enhanced Advantages 6 All out attack, defensive attack, accurate attack, power attack, fast grab, improved grab

[bigstipidfighte]

Martin looked up just in time to watch a human-shaped rocket blow up their ride. He was knocked clear of the truck, skidding across the sand painfully, but, surprisingly, largely unharmed. Picking himself up, he walked over to the lip of the crater and took a good look at rocket knight. Even though the figure was just standing there for the moment, he could almost see it moving, graceful, too skilled for any ordinary opponent to injure. But if Martin had learned anything about the group he’d woken up in the middle of a desert next to, it was that they were far from ordinary.

“We’re like you.” Martin calls down. “Weird powers.” As if to prove a point he conjures a large shield. It looked like metal, but Martin noticed it seemed light enough for him to lift easily. “Put that pig-sticker away and we’ll talk.” He returns the figure’s cold stare, his tone closer to threatening than conciliatory. He felt confident they could win a fight if it came to that.

Move up to crater.
Standard action use his “create” ability to create a large shield (+3 dodge/parry if I’m reading the rules right) It’s probably around size rank 1 or 2, which would mean it is toughness 3 or 4 which should be enough for it to be metal I believe. I saw a chart of substance toughnesses once but I couldn't find it quickly.

Edit: Found the chart. Looking over the rules, it's probably size 0, toughness 5. About as tough as "stone". Let's say the shield is made of aluminium.

[herodofcows]

Jim and Ed both stare, frozen in the wrecked half of their car as Saint moves away.

The knight, meanwhile, turns slowly around to gaze at both Saint and Martin. A metallic clatter issues forth from its helmet, and you slowly realize that it's speaking. It's voice is like golden coins clattering onto a wooden table.

"There is no violence here," it clinks, arching its glaive slightly, "Only excision."

It charges Saint quicker than blinking, a white blur with a glowing aura as the glaive spins faster than the eye can see. It rains blows upon Saint, a high-speed symphony of deadly precision and grace.

Attack vs. Saint:
[roll0] vs. Parry, DC 26 Damage. Penetrating, plus Multiattack bonuses (so, DC 28 if it beats your Parry by 2 degrees, and DC 31 if it beats it by 3 degrees)

[Quellian-dyrae]

Durello grunted at the impact as he was launched from the truck, landing hard, but he somehow managed to come out of without much more than being a bit banged up.

"HEY!" he yelled. "WHO THE [Nope!] DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!?"

Durello was furious, absolutely livid. Fight and Flight started their rock-paper-scissors match. Flight picked scissors. Fight drove in on a flipping steamroller, crushed Flight (and his little scissors too) into the ground and rolled on to rally all resources behind him for anarchic war. His heart pounded harder than he had ever felt in his life, and Durello gave a roar of utter rage that felt like the only possible way to vent the sudden, terrible heat coursing through his veins, as if his blood had turned to molten metal.

(Spoiler alert: it had!)

Unfortunately, Mr. Dark Ages of Where's The Freaking Chivalry? over there was kinda flying too high for Jack to, you know, hit or something. All he could do was glare up at him impotently, his insides boiling, wishing nothing more than for the anger he felt to cook that smug armored punk like a fine roast.

(Spoiler alert: it did!)

Free Action: Swapping Iron Chef Array to Steel Bones.

Standard Action: Alter Temperature on the knight. Perception range attack automatically hits. Toughness DC 25 vs. Damage.

Current Status: 1 Bruise.

[Business Scrub]

Ellie hits the ground hard, rolling a couple of times in the dirt. She looks up to see the metal... thing hovering above them menacingly. Desperately, she looked left and right for a place to run, and found none. The people around her were flying into action, but even they couldn't seem to hurt the thing moving at blinding speeds. What was she going to do, punch it?

Just before she begins to run off, a tiny voice in her mind chimes in. Change his mind...

With a supernatural focus, she reaches her mind out to the metal man, trying to persuade him to stop. Rather unknowingly to her, Songbird begins to sing the first thing that comes to her mind.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-mW_0TUSy4

Mind Control: Perception range automatically hits. Will DC 20, Affliction.

[Rhyvurg]

Saint looks at the small cut on his arm, where the glaive struck him. "I don't like violence, you made me do this." He takes a deep breath, then blasts the knight with a burst of air more powerful than any natural wind the planet has ever known.


Moving 14 points to Move Object (28 ranks), 2 points remaining in Flight to stay aloft.
Using Extra Effort for 29 ranks, concentrating for +1 Strength to the effect.
Pushing him straight to the ground.

[herodofcows]

The knight is a monolith. In the face of an attack on its armor, its mind, and its body, it remains unfazed.

"Cease your resistance, please. This is a mercy," it clinks, "Your existence imperils everything."

[bigstipidfighte]

Martin was experiencing two visions. In one their group managed to drive off this attacker. In the other their bodies lay strewn about the desert, the last to remain conscious attempting to flee the scene. He got the sense that these premonitions weren’t just predictions he had no control over. They were more like paths, and he stood a a fork in the road, able to walk down one or the other. A path where the white knight proved to be an unstoppable juggernaut, or a path where it was eventually defeated. He focused his mind on a future where he survived this encounter. Could bending fate be as simple as willing it to change?

Action: Jinx on the knight. Will DC 20, one degree of failure makes it Impaired/Vulnerable, 2 makes it Disabled/Defenseless.

[Drakeburn]

As quickly as Chase tried to warm himself up, he can still feel the cold creeping all over his body. He could feel frost all over his skin. Cold, but there were more urgent things to worry about: the knight attacking the people at the truck.

He darted back to the scene of the fight. Chase can feel that he wasn't running as fast as he was to begin with. With the crazy knight coming into view, he aims straight for the knight's weapon. It was simple: Take away his weapon, and keep it away from him.

Move Action: Back towards the knight and down the road the other way.

Standard Action: Disarm the knight: [roll0]

[greenpotato]

The bear like monster that Wojeicha has become swings a powerful taloned paw at the knight [roll0] to hit DC 25 toughness check

[herodofcows]

The knight takes everything you have and stands tall, still. Heck, its armor isn't even dirty yet.

"Do you fear for your companions?" it asks, voice still more clank than clarion, "They are saved. See!"

It gestures, and those that choose to look will see two other knights in identical armor fly down. Swords sheathed, they grab Ed and Jim and fly off south. Neither man struggles, rapt as they are in shock and awe.

The knight turns to you all, and amidst the metallic tint of its voice, you seem to detect a note of satisfaction.

"What happens next is righteous. The stars in the sky are quiet tonight, because of what we do this day."

It ceases its attack and seems to meditate. The glow from the glaive seems to leave the weapon and suffuse the knight, crackling with an intensity nigh-eldritch.

Move: n/a
Standard: Charging up . . . something.

Carry on!

[Quellian-dyrae]

"HEY! YOU GET BACK HERE WITH THEM!" Durello roared as the other two knights swept up the civilians.

Oh this smug little creep! Durello glared up at him and clenched a fist, focusing his will, all his anger and fury into conjuring up something to strike the knight down. Some weapon, or massive object, that could smash him to the ground and crush him beneath Durello's fury. We'd see how bright and shiny his armor was after this!

And in response to the super-chef's will, the air above the knight shimmered...

...and dropped a pile of moldy tacos on his head.

Jack wasn't sure whether he should be pleased or disheartened by that.

Move Action: Doin' fine!

Standard Action: Culinary Conjuration on his head. Toughness DC 25 vs. Damage and Strength or Dodge (whichever is higher) DC 20 vs. a Vulnerable/Prone Affliction.

He also first receives a Dodge save against the Area effect. If he succeeds, the Affliction DC is reduced to 15, but the Toughness save is obviated entirely per the rules for dropping created objects on people.

Current Status: 1 Bruise.

[Business Scrub]

Ellie watches everything this ragtag band does bounce right off the man, and despairs as he meditates on... something.

No no no... I'm not here... She pleads silently. And to the people around her, she suddenly vanishes, their minds forgetting about her as soon as they see her.

Still singing, she runs to the side of the road, compelling him to stop what he's doing.

Actions: Free: becoming invisible
Move: moving 30 ft to the side
Standard: Mind control again, Will DC 20

[Rhyvurg]

Distracted and angered, Saint takes a swing at the knight, trying to cave in it's smug mouth a little.

[Argentum]

Dylan growled, nothing was working against the knight at all! Really, what was that ridiculous armor made of? It hadn't even flinched against that huge wind that the shirtless one had made!

Was that two other knights he saw flying out of the corner of his eye? Damn it all to hell, it was! "Right, not the time to monologue here."

He didn't know why the knight was trying to kill them, they hadn't exactly done anything wrong, unless spontaneously developing superpowers was a sin. In which case, it could go ahead and take that glaive and shove it up its own rectum.

He flew above it at blindingly fast speeds, stopping roughly two hundred feet above the seemingly unstoppable knight. With a thrust of his hand and a wordless cry, he willed with all his might that the knight would go down.

Pure kinetic energy reacted to Dylan's will, flying out of his palm and toward the knight, intent on utterly crushing the eyesore and leaving it broken on the ground.

Move Action: Fly 200ft directly above the knight.
Standard Action: Force Push, Toughness DC 24
Attack Check: [roll0]

[bigstipidfighte]

Martin keeps concentrating on altering the outcome of the fight. After he started, the knight went from attacking everyone to standing around glowing, so that has to be an improvement, right?

Jinx again, DC 20.

If the Jinx fails, I'd like to use a free action to switch my array to Luck Control so I can give the party re-rerolls against the power-ed up action if need be.

[herodofcows]

The glow brightens and the crackling increases in intensity as the knight's meditation continues. Nothing seems to faze it. Nothing seems to affect it. You hear it say something almost quiet, straining against the buildup of power within its body.

"I do this . . . for the cosmos . . . and for my lord . . . on . . . high . . ."

[Drakeburn]

Crud! Missed! Chase thought angrily. He darted back to the scene, where he saw the kneeling in the crater, glowing brightly. Chase can see that the light is growing slowly brighter.
"You know what they say?" Chase said to nobody in particular.
"There is a time for fighting, and then there is a time for running!"

As the knight was muttering about the cosmos and its lord, whoever that was, Chase grabbed one of his "friends" and whisked both of them a mile and a half away from the area.

"There is no way we can beat that guy." Chase managed to say past his panting.
"The second best option we got is to run for it before that knight goes off."

Move Action: 1.5 miles back and forth
Standard Action: Grab (Willing Member of the party)

[Rhyvurg]

"Goes off... Everyone, run!" Saint grabs the knight and tries to fly him straight up, away from the others. His own safety meant nothing, not with others in danger. He drags the knight with him higher in the air, trying to get it far enough away.

[bigstipidfighte]

What was that thing muttering about now? Oh well, it hardly mattered. Repeatedly punching a wall and stoically being given the finger by said wall wasn't putting Martin in a conversational mood anyway.

[herodofcows]

It's like being caught in a nuclear blast.

The knight ceases its meditation and you have a brief moment to see it spread its arms, and then everything goes white. Everyone within a mile of the event gets knocked down, blasted about, pressed down upon by an enormous force . . .

Hookay folks, here's the big one. If you're within 1 mile:

Damage DC 27, DC 22 Dodge to make that DC 21 Damage.

Linked affliction: DC 15 Fortitude, Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated

When you come to, IF you come to . . .

Everything is the same. Not a blade of grass, not a branch of a tree has been bent out of shape.

But the knight . . . the knight's armor has shattered. And what's beneath is not REMOTELY human.

You see it on its knees, breathing heavily. It wears a dark tunic and trousers, not unlike anything you might have seen in any movies about medieval times. In place of hair, it has spikes jutting back along its head, like a mane. It's skin shines like polished silver, and all six of its eyes are sunset-red. It's mouth has mandibles, which work spasmodically as it seems to mutter to itself.

[Quellian-dyrae]

The blast rolled over him, all-consuming, and there wasn't time to do a single thing about it. "HOLY SH-" Durello cried out as the power slammed him, unable to more than throw his arms up in futile defense, no way to do anything but take the tremendous energy blast full on and right to the face, certain he was about to die.

The power stopped.

The light faded.

And Chef Jack Durello wasn't.

Even.

Scratched!

And suddenly, in that single moment, everything was different. The whole situation had completely changed. It wasn't about confusion. It wasn't about fear. It wasn't even about anger. This was no longer an event, a situation, a problem.

This was an opportunity. This was a blessing. This was power on a scale that Jack Durello had never dared imagine.

This.

Was going to be AWESOME!

"IS THAT THE BEST YOU'VE GOT, KNIGHT!?" Durello yelled as the heat faded from his blood, the weight of iron cast off along with the weight of fear and uncertainty. When he charged the enemy knight, it wasn't with anything like the speed Chase had displayed, but it was still pushing at close to racecar speeds.

Two gleaming knives of stainless steel simply appeared in Durello's hands. Large, heavy knives, the sort Jack used every day to chop through thick cuts of tough meat. And in some cold, confident corner of his brain, as he beheld the weary knight, he knew that that was all he was. Nothing but meat to be butchered.

In a blur of hasted speed, Chef Durello started chopping him up for stew.

Swapping Iron Chef array to Fast Food.

Move: Into Close range of the knight (I'm assuming he's landed since he's on his knees, yeah?).

Standard: Attack with Knife Fighter (Melee) at [roll0]. On a hit, Toughness DC 25+Multiattack vs. Damage and Fortitude DC 20 vs. Impaired/Disabled/Incapacitated Affliction (no Multiattack bonus on the Affliction).

Current Status: 1 Bruise.

[Argentum]

Caught by surprise, Dylan had no chance to dodge the blast, managing only to give a shocked yell as he was pushed to the ground by some immense force.

Slammed into the hard dirt and constantly pushed against it by the force, Dylan could only wish for it to stop.

Mercifully, it did.

He tried to gather his thoughts and get up, but having had his head slammed harshly into the ground, his mind acted sluggishly.

Wha-What was that? Dylan managed to think, before all went black and consciousness was lost.

1 Bruise, Staggered and Incapacitated(Affliction)

[Rhyvurg]

Saint barely keeps from screaming as the explosion crashes him into the ground, crushing flesh and bone. But even as pain washes over him, his body responds. His microreactor cells surge into action, creating copies of damaged cells and replacing tissue at impossible speed. He lets out a small grunt as he gets to his feet, looking over at whatever this thing was that was under that armor. "I wasn't fast enough..."

Total of -2 to Toughness and Staggered. Diverting full array to Regeneration 8, removing Staggered this round, no other actions.

[Business Scrub]

Ellie closes her eyes and plants her feet as the white light begins to envelop her. This was going to hurt...

When she opens them, she finds herself pushed back several feet in the sand, but otherwise unscathed. She looks around at some of the others in pain. "Huh..."

Like Jack, a bit of confident anger begins to well up inside her. This... thing had thrown everything it had at her, and all she had to show for it was a scratch on her arm from the truck exploding. She could do this.

Ellie's song shifts away from anything as formal as before, into what can be described as a song of the desert (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0VX7K37d_s): reminiscent of the hot sand and howling wind, and more than a bit menacing. Smiling a bit, Ellie pushes at the knight alien again with her mental influence, getting him to cease his assault.

Mind Control once again! Will DC 20

[bigstipidfighte]

Martin raises his shield in a vain effort to stop the oncoming blast. When the smoke clears, his effort turns out not to be so vain. Martin is just as unscathed as the environment around him.

From the look of the thing under the armor, Martin was guessing they weren't in for much more of a fight. "Easy now, that thing is broken down." Martin knew the feeling. "No sense hacking it to ribbons. It's friends are still out there, and they have the guys from the truck."

Still, it might try to escape. Martin was getting the hang of his newfound abilities, and with a moment's concentration, a wooden cage springs up around the kneeling knight, thick posts topped with a solid ceiling.

There were a lot of questions rushing through his head, but there was something else to deal with first. One of their gruop had gone down to the blast. Martin hurries over to see if there's anything to be done for the man.

Standard- Create to make a wooden cage, hopefully separating the knight from any attackers. toughness 3 if anyone tries to break through.

Move- move over to where Dylan fell

Free- If I can I'd like to make a second Insight(+14) check to confirm my suspicions that this thing isn't much of a threat without the armor. If I succeed, I'd like to know it's exact attack bonuses.

[herodofcows]

The silver spiky thing rises, groggily, trying in vain to fend off Jack's beating. Amidst the chaos, Ellie's song finds some purchase in its brain and it staggers briefly.

"You can't . . . my mission . . ." it slurs, weaving a bit.

Dazed. Move action to stand up.

[Quellian-dyrae]

"MISSION!? DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT YOUR MISSION! YOUR MISSION FAILED! IT'S OVER!" Jack continued yelling furiously, getting right up in the knight's face to draw his attention away from his steely knives as he thrust them hard at the warrior's no-longer-armored chest.

Move Action: Feint with a -5 penalty, using Startle Advantage to use Intimidation at [roll0]. Mmm...looks like Startle doesn't change the opposing roll, so I guess he resists with the better of Deception or Insight.

Standard Action: Keep hacking away at [roll1]. On a hit, Toughness DC 25+Multiattack vs. Damage, Fortitude DC 20 vs. Impaired/Disabled/Incapacitated Affliction.

Current Status: 1 Bruise.

[Rhyvurg]

Saint takes another swing, but for some reason this thing keeps eluding him.

Back up to +9 toughness

[Business Scrub]

Songbird smiles with satisfaction as her music begins to ensnare the creature. Whatever this things holy quest was, it would soon be a distant dream...

Moar will saves! DC 20, as usual please.

[herodofcows]

The creature shakes off Ellie's song as Jack lays into it. The blows land, but its metallic flesh now shimmers slightly as the blade meets the meat. However, the freezing effect that assaulted Chase does not creep onto Jack. Perhaps an effect of the armor.

The thing grabs its glaive and lays into Jack. It's hard to read its facial expression, but the voice provides all the translation you need.

"I DO NOT FAIL! I was CHOSEN! I WILL EXCISE YOUR POISON FROM THIS WORLD BEFORE IT SPREADS!"

Move: N/a

Standard: [roll0] vs. Parry, DC 26 Damage. Penetrating, plus Multiattack bonuses (so, DC 28 if it beats your Parry by 2 degrees, and DC 31 if it beats it by 3 degrees)

Knight is Bruised 1

[Quellian-dyrae]

Durello's knives whirled in a series of blocks and parries with superhuman speed but little in the way of real skill. He managed to fend off several strikes of the glaive, due more to the fact that he had been inside the knight's reach than to any great ability on his part. One strike managed to catch him, and his skin flashed briefly metallic as it hit. It cut into him, but only by half an inch or so, rather than impaling him outright.

"HAH! IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT! I TOOK HARDER HITS BACK IN HIGH SCHOOL!" he blustered, seeing little to do but keep up the aggression and continue hacking away, try and distract the guy and make him leave an opening.

Move Action: Startle at [roll0].

Standard Action: MOAR KNIFE! This time let's Power Attack for 2. [roll1]. On a hit, Toughness DC 27+Multiattack vs. Damage and Fortitude DC 22 vs. Impaired/Disabled/Incapacitated Affliction.

Current Status: 2 Bruises.

[Rhyvurg]

"The only one doing harm here is you! We tried to talk to you, but all you want is violence and death! Well, we're not just going to lie down and die for you, or anyone!" He swings again, but cannot seem to land a punch on this thing.

[Business Scrub]

Ellie gives the monster a confused look as his mutterings continue. Quieting her song for a moment, she speaks to him with an unearthly persuasiveness.

"Stop us from what? What are you afraid we will do?"

Mind Reading. Will DC 15 to read his surface thoughts.

[herodofcows]

The knight evades Saint's barrage, its face twisting into an unrecognizeable expression.

"Violence and death is the air you breathe and the ground you stand on! It is the food you eat and the water you drink! It is the sun that shines on you and the night that blankets you in darkness! I come to steal the air from your lungs, rip the ground from beneath your feet, poison your food and sully your water! I will rip the sun from the sky and burn the night away! YOU WILL NOT BRING YOUR EVIL TO PASS!"

Ellie, as you gaze into the creature's mind, you get only a confused jumble of sounds . . .

Please, they're my children . . .


Excise their poison before it spreads too far . . .


Who are THEY, to call themselves divine?


I . . . my lords . . .



Of course, why not? What, is Thor coming too?


We would join you! Show you that your efforts have not been in vain! Show that we are worthy children!


What need to we have for gods? Do you SEE us?

My revenge will be a thing of MILLENEA!


I exist only to serve, lord . . .


Hehehe . . . Hahahaha . . . HAHAHAHAHAHA . . .

Go, and know that my power goes with you . . .


BREAK THE WORLD!


You think that I can't make you BLEED???


I am in your service, I am always in your service!

The apocalypse is here and I'm gonna die single. Great . . .



I will salt your soil, raze your fields, plant gardens watered by your tears and blood . . .


We will be our own gods, be the vanguard for a glorious new age . . .

My children, please, not my children . . .

[Rhyvurg]

"No! The only thing beneath my feet...IS YOU!" Saint lifts a dozen feet off the ground, then crashes down into the knight-creature feet first, trying to pin it to the ground.

[herodofcows]

WHAM

The knight goes sprawling into the dirt, half-rolling into a woozy crouch. Mandibles working furiously, it slams at Saint and Jack with glowing glaive, trying to catch them both in a small shockwave.

"MAGGOT! VULTURE! CARRION CROW!" it yowls like grating metal. Up close, you can see it's bleeding heavily from a dent in the skull. It's blood appears golden.

Attacks Jack and Saint, DC 22 Dodge for half effect, DC 27/21 Damage.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Durello kept rushing at the guy...and it cost him. He blundered right into the shockwave, taking the full force of it. He reeled, swaying woozily under the impact of the blast. It was kinda hard to think.

"Huh...?"

Shaking his head blearily, trying to clear it, it was hard to focus. The knight. He had to stop the knight.

He hurled the knives he was holding straight at the guy. Two more appeared in his hands almost instantly. He stared at them oddly for a moment. Then he hurled them too.

Move: Staggered.

Standard: Attack with Knife Fighter (Thrown). All Out Attack for 2, Power Attack for 2, at [roll0]. On a hit, Toughness DC 27+Multiattack vs. Damage.

Current Status: 3 Bruises, Staggered, -2 Defense this turn.

[Business Scrub]

Ellie reels from confusion at what she heard inside the creatures mind. Who was that? It certainly didn't sound like the creature's voice. It seemed like the people she had heard when she woke up, but there was no one around here.

"Well that was... confusing..."

Picking up her natural song seamlessly, Ellie pushes her mind back upon the creature, willing it to stop.

You know the deal! Will DC 20 please.

[herodofcows]

The knight bowls Saint over with a furious smash of his glaive. He turns to face Jack, seething with righteous punch-drunk wrath, and . . .

SHLUCK

It reels for a second, mandibles working furiously around the knife that has embedded itself into its skull. Golden blood flows, and then spurts erratically from the wound.

"I . . . y- . . . no . . ."

It collapses to its knees, and then slumps to the ground, landing face-first on the knife in such a way as to bisect its head. Pure golden substance flows out of it, and then disappears into the dust.

The desert is quiet around you, as those among you that are unconscious begin to stir. Gradually, everyone is up and more or less intact. You all stare at the fallen being who even now leaks molten gold onto the desert sand.

What. the. ****????

[Quellian-dyrae]

Durello heaved a relieved sigh, falling back to plop down on the sand. He was feeling kinda punch-drunk.

Staring at the body of the...whatever it was, the chef considered the situation, analyzed it from all angles, and came to one, inescapable conclusion.

He deserved a cookie. He popped one into his hand and unashamedly munched it. It was a pretty darn good cookie.

A fact that was made clear when, upon eating it, the injury that he had received from the knight's glaive simply...closed.

Durello stared down at his again-whole flesh, muttered, "Did that just happen?" And conjured another cookie to eat. He immediately felt significantly less punch-drunk, and he could feel his giant bruise becoming something resembling a chest again.

"You know what? Not even gonna question it. Hey guys, who's hurt? I can apparently make healing cookies!" he called over as he picked himself up, conjuring up another batch to pass out to whoever needed them. Or just whoever wanted a cookie. That worked too.

Spamming Nutritious and Delicious until everyone is healed to full and/or has had their fill of cookies.

[Rhyvurg]

Saint gets to his feet, breathing hard. "Okay...Okay, we need to get out of here, there were two more of those things, and I don't think we're up for another fight like that." Grimacing slightly, he picks up the body. "What do you guys think about continuing on this road to that town?" His wounds are already closing.

[Quellian-dyrae]

"No arguments here," Durello agreed. "Uh...we probably oughta try and find Speedy and Shifty though. Assuming they aren't there already...which, honestly, they probably are, fast as that guy was moving." Frankly, fast as that guy was moving, they might have been halfway across the country by now, far as he could figure.

[herodofcows]

The sun is still high in the sky, but looking up you can see clouds are beginning to form against the perfect blue sky.

The desert brush begins to show lengthening shadows against the graying dome of the horizon. The road beckons south to Tsaile, gray and winding amidst the arid red-yellow sand.

You might think the body of the strange knight would seem out of place, but it somehow fits. Its golden blood drips slowly now, drop upon shining drop pooling into the ground and gradually disappearing.

It does not stink, or seem to fester as you recover from your various injuries. If anything, it starts to smell cloyingly of spice. Peppery, even.

Looking closely, you notice slivers of the knight's armor are actually embedded into its body, around the eyes, the back of the neck, and its wrists and ankles. There may be other points of contact, but you can't see.

Amidst the seemingly homogenous golden viscera of its head, there are two small jewels of fabulously detailed cut, covered in golden blood: a ruby, and a dull gray stone of no particular color.

[Business Scrub]

Ellie takes a step back as the monster's head is cleaved in, a disgusted look on her face.

"Well th't was certainly... Horrifying. Anyone have any idea what the hell that was? Err, you're right; we should probably get out of here before we stay out in the desert too long. I don't suppose any of you want to take a... Piece of it? For sciency reasons?"

She takes a couple steps, then apparently remembers what happened to the truck and its drivers.

"Ah right. Poor guys... I don't suppose either of y'are a mechanic?"

[Quellian-dyrae]

"No, heck no, and no," Durello answered. "I seem to have some amount of...I dunno, extra speed or whatever, though. How about you two?"

[Rhyvurg]

"I don't think the mechanic's been born that can fix that truck, but they got away unhurt. And I intended to take the whole carcass with me, there's no telling what the important bits are. And considering we know nothing about this thing or where it came from, every piece contains valuable information."

[Drakeburn]

After barely dodging the explosion and standing by, Chase decided to check out what is happening over there, since the battle seems to be over.

So he runs over to the scene of the battle, and finds everybody hurt, but not dead.

"Did I miss anything?" He asked in a comedic tone.

He looked down at what looked like some sort of alien. By the looks of the pieces of armor that was imbedded on this.... thing, this was the knight that attacked them.

"What did we get ourselves into?" He asked to nobody in particular, staring down at the alien corpse.

[Business Scrub]

Ellie looks over at Chase as he returns, a look of slight disbelief.

"Excuse me? Did y'miss anything? Oh no, not much happened when ye ran away. Thanks for that, by the way."

She sighs, then turns to Durello. "Not me. It seems like you all became these amazing... things. I just--- eh, never mind."

She looks at Saint. "I don't think I caught your name. But I saw you flying a minute ago. Do you think you could get up high enough to find a town?"

I didn't mention it, but Songbird ended invisibility after the fight.

[Drakeburn]

"I'm only fast, okay?" Chase responded, turning towards Ellie.
"I don't think I can take a hit like some of the others here. Besides, what else can I do with super speed!?"
He was hot, tired, and lost. He was not in the mood to be accused of being a coward.

[Rhyvurg]

"Ahhh, um, yeah, I probably can. I'm not sure it's a great idea to split up right now though." He seems not to have heard her ask his name.

[Quellian-dyrae]

"Guys in the truck said there was a town down this road," Durello said. He looked to Saint. "Depending on how fast you can fly, if you or Speedy can carry the girl, we can probably make pretty good time to it." After a moment's thought, he added, "Actually, come to think of it, I don't think I got any of your names, considering I'm calling you 'Speedy' and you 'the girl'. I'm Jack. Jack Durello."

[Drakeburn]

"The name's Chase. Chase Jackson." Chase replied.
"But you can call me High Speed if you like. It sounds cooler than 'speedy'. Anyways, I'm fine with taking anybody to the nearest town here."

[Quellian-dyrae]

"Sounds good to me. Any of you have anything else you want to do out here?" He asked somewhat sarcastically, sweeping a pointed glance around the desert. Unless someone, you know, did, he'd start moving, just off to the side of the road, quickly picking up speed until he was going faster than any car was aloud to travel outside of racetracks and maybe that one highway in Germany.

Gotta admit, I could get used to this...

[herodofcows]

The trip to Tsaile would usually have taken about two hours of walking along the dusty desert road, with the sun beating down on you even through the mild cloud cover that appears to be forming.

You guys make it in just over five minutes.

The town itself is barely noticeable as such. It doesn't spring up so much as ease its way into existence. A farm here, a house there, and eventually a coalescence that indicates that somebody at one point decided that, screw it, since they were all living here they might as well do it with some semblance of togetherness.

You get the impression that this is ordinarily a less-than-bustling place. However, as you all come zooming in you see Jim and Ed in a gathering with about a half a dozen more people in front of one of the larger buildings, a squat one-story example of Puebloan architecture. They're all talking animatedly to each other, apparently arguing animatedly.

As you come closer, Ed spots you and points you out to the others. There's an abrupt hush as you approach.

[Quellian-dyrae]

"Uh boy," Durello said under his breath as the people all quieted down and started looking at them weird. But he set his jaw and kept walking forward, doing his best to try and look non-threatening, though watching them warily. Who knew how much the truck drivers had seen or said, or how these people were going to react?

[Rhyvurg]

Saint sighs and lads a dozen feet from the gathering. A half-naked flying man carrying what must look like a dead monster isn't an ideal first impression, but some things can't be helped. "Good morning. I'm sorry to intrude, but my friends and I could use a place to rest and get out of the sun. A phone would also be very helpful."

[Business Scrub]

Ellie looks around, confused at the town's skiddishness. How quickly things had started to become normal for her. Then she sees Ed and Jim, and grins widely: so the crazed knight-thing had taken them back home? She waves to him.

"Ed, Jim! Good to see you two 're still breathing. Sorry about your truck."

Then she looks at the assembled town and puts on a broad smile.

"I don't suppose you folk have seen anything strange around here recently? Any other strange things, that is."

[herodofcows]

The group shoots the most minuscule series of glances at one another. Jim and one of the women speak up nearly at the same time.

"There's a-"

"No," interrupts the woman. She's in jeans and a long baggy blue shirt, and she stares up at you with no small amount of fear and annoyance, "I'm sorry, but you . . . you can't be here, all right? Here . . ."

She fumbles a slightly antiquated smartphone from her pocket and, after a moment's deliberation, hands it to Ellie.

"You can use that, but then you need to go," she says, crossing her arms and backing away slowly. Jim looks at her, annoyed. Ed just looks thoughtful. The others appear bemused or fearful.

[Drakeburn]

"Okay?" Chase said uneasily, not sure what to make out of this situation.
Things didn't seem to be looking so well here. How much did these people hear? What did they know about them?
This is probably the first time he REALLY wished his brother was here.

[Business Scrub]

Ellie looked around, sensing the awkward tension in the air. But something had happened in the fight with that creature; she had touched it's mind. Maybe she could figure out what was going on here.

With a strange mental movement, as if tilting her brain forward, she listened closely to what Jim was going to say. At the same time, she tries to ease the crowd a little bit.

"We don't want any trouble. We're just as confused as the lot of you. Why don't we all take a deep breath and talk things out?"

She makes no move to take the phone, already having one of her own.

Read thoughts is the best power ever! Will DC 15

Also, persuasion check to get the townsfolk to open up? [roll0] (+8 if attractive bonus applies)

[Quellian-dyrae]

Durello looked at the townsfolk with a scowl on his face.

Here's the thing.

He was still confused about the whole "superpowers" thing.

He was a little sore from the fight.

He was tired.

He was hungry.

He was cranky.

So when the woman told them to basically make a call and then head back out into the desert, Jack just fixed her with a dark glare and responded, "**** that. We'll be out of your hair as soon as we figure out where we are, where we're going, and how we're getting there. Until then, anyone who can point us to a place to rest and get something to eat will be much appreciated. The rest of you can kindly stay the **** out of our way."

[Rhyvurg]

Saint listens to the people's reaction, thoughtful. "No. No, we'll go. I'm sorry for any trouble we've caused." He walks over to Jack, his back to the crowd, and whispers. "I'd bet my last dollar there's another one of these creatures in this town, one of them flew Ed and Jim here after the fight started, it probably stuck around and they don;t want their homes destroyed. We need to leave."

[Quellian-dyrae]

Durello scowled. That actually kinda made him want to stick around even more. Jack didn't like getting pushed around and wasn't really all that fond of the idea other people getting pushed around really. Plus he kinda didn't mind the thought of spiting these knight things.

But instead he just tossed his hands up in exasperation and grumbled grumpily, "Sure. Why not."

[herodofcows]

The group stares at you as you speak. The faces remain largely impassive, but now that you think on it, there's a lot of fear in the air.

They keep glancing back towards the building behind them. Specifically, towards the eastern side, where the curtains are all drawn.

Something's glowing a gentle purple behind the curtains.

[Rhyvurg]

The man that used to be Jack felt a stab of fear in his heart. Not for himself, he couldn't imagine being afraid for his own well being anymore, but the thought of another of those things being that close to people if a fight broke out again, that made him afraid. For the first time, he realized how fragile people were to him now, how easily they could be snuffed out. "Time to go, right now." He turns and starts slowly walking away.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Durello frowned some, but with a shrug and a last disgusted look at the townsfolk, followed along, grumbling.

He heard his wife's voice in his head telling him that he was hungry, so he conjured up a ham sandwich to munch. He actually really wanted to get a chance to sit down and relax for a bit so he could see how these food-conjuring powers worked when used in actual preparation of a meal, rather than just pulling the stuff out of thin air...

[herodofcows]

As you begin to leave, a voice arrests you.

"WAIT!!!"

The rest of the group reacts in alarm as a little girl comes rushing out of the door to the building. She looks about eight, but she's distinguished by a crackling glow of purple energy that is eerily reminiscent of the knight's glaive. She pelts towards you, dodging outstretched adult arms, before coming to a stop in front of you all and jumping up and down in excitement.

"Come ON! You have to see! They want to talk to you!" she enthuses in that shrill manner unique to young children. She starts trying to drag you guys back into the building.

"Jill, sweetie!" the argumentative woman begins, voice edging on hysteria, "don't-!"

"Everybody, let's back up a bit-"

"Come ON!" the little girl yells again, heedless, "You have to seeeeeee!"

[Quellian-dyrae]

Durello cast the girl a bemused look, looked up at the townsfolk, then glanced over to the others. "Your call, but I'd just as soon do the thing that might have half a chance of giving us half a clue of what's going on."

[Rhyvurg]

Saint sets the corpse down. "I'll go, you all should wait here."

[Quellian-dyrae]

Durello snorted. "If someone in there can tell us what's going on here, I want to have a talk with them," he said. "And if they're not looking to talk...well, I'm down to do it the other way, too."