Tomorrow City

[fireinthedust]

CALL TO THE WATCH

Wherever you are, whether working in your secret identities or patrolling in your hero persona, you find a black disc. Perhaps it slid out of an envelope from your work inbox, or it was tucked into a compartment of your utility belt, but you have no idea how or when it got in there. It is small, the size of a poker chip and fitting nicely in your hand, and on one side in silver letters has hands painted on it like some kind of clock face... or watch. The symbol of the Zenith Watch, Tomorrow City’s foremost superheroes! You move somewhere private and when you investigate it a light flashes and an image appears in the air overhead. It’s a hologram of a man in a dark cape and cowl shaped like a bird of prey: Blackhawk! A legendary crime fighter and leader of the Zenith Watch after the death of the original Supernova, Blackhawk is the dour shadow of justice. If he is contacting you, this is serious business.

His voice crackles in the hologram’s recording: “If you are receiving this, I have activated blackout protocol. The worst has happened or has already begun: the Zenith Watch has failed and are most likely dead. In preparation for this I have carefully selected individuals who would be best able to protect the world we leave behind, who best represent what the Zenith Watch stands for, or who can best carry on our mission. Whatever has taken us down is likely still out there. While I can tell you little, I have come to strongly suspect that forces have begun to conspire against us. Someone wants us out of the way, and if you are hearing this it means they have succeeded. Whatever their plans are, only you can stop them now. If you’re willing to take up the mission, get inside the Zenith Tower in Tomorrow City via the boarded up Diner at 34th and Tesla, enter in the back and our contacts will show you the way. Come dressed for hero work, and to meet the rest of the new team. You, and the others who are receiving this message, are the last, best hope of protecting this world. While I can’t give you answers, I can give you access to the resources of the Watch, as well as the veterans who trained us. There is no one else.”
With that the transmission ends.


OOC: Hello and welcome! Post your character doing two things: First, getting the message with immediate reactions. Second, how they leave to get to the diner (ie: "to the (...)-mobile!", "whoosh", etc.). I'll post getting there shortly.

[Amaril]

Standing in the alleyway behind Holliday Plaza cinema, Noah scowls confusedly as he holds the disc up to his eye. When the lone customer had come to the concessions stand just a minute before the end of his shift, ordered a bottle of water and nothing else, and then walked back out the door without even looking towards the theaters, he'd found it odd, but hardly stopped to question it; only once he'd unfolded the bills the man had passed him had he noticed the object concealed within. Weird...it's too small to be a DVD. What the heck is this about?
As if on cue, the device suddenly lights up, causing Noah to flinch back and almost drop it in surprise. He recognizes Blackhawk right away, eyebrows practically shooting off his forehead. Holy crap, seriously? The guy's a legend, why would he contact me? This thought followed immediately by oh s***, the Watch knows who I really am? Jeez, either I suck at keeping a secret identity or they've got even more eyes than I guessed...
Despite his misgivings, he listens to the whole message, his nervousness steadily growing...but alongside it, he realizes something else is gnawing at his gut. If the Watch is compromised, things must be truly dire--he's almost surprised not to have heard of any supervillain plots in the past few days--but they had contacted him. Which must mean they think he has what they look for in a hero. In spite of himself, Noah can't help swelling with pride. Wow...I didn't know I was getting that much done. And it'd be nice to have Watch backing...somebody on-side in case I'm targeted.
As the message reaches its end, he makes up his mind. Glancing back down the alleyway to make sure he's not being observed, he kneels down and unzips his backpack, withdrawing his admittedly somewhat lame costume; with a second glance back just for good measure, he quickly pulls the white cotton hoodie with the dark red DNA strand logo over his head and dons the black mask. A moment later, Helix stands in his place, pulling the bag back onto his shoulders. Grinning with sudden excitement, he braces against the pavement, takes a deep breath, and launches himself towards the building's sheer wall. Building on his momentum, he takes off straight up its surface at a full-tilt run, the wind blurring his vision. In just moments, he's on the rooftops, dashing towards the edge of each and hurling himself through the air over to the next. "Zenith Tower, here I come!"

[Rakaydos]

John Wulfe shook his head at the recording of Blackhawk. "Represent what the zeneth watch stands for, do I, you Crow? You must have been feeling desperate when you recorded this."

Opening his attic, he pulled out several boxes- an antique ray gun, a utility belt, a fancy military uniform and an amulet. "Dress for Hero work he says... Shame I've only got the other kind."

Wrapping a hand around the amulet, his hand (all that is visible in the closeup) begins to grow fur, the shadow against the wall turning into a classic werewolf sillouette. "Hope the damn Crow has a seamstress on staff-"

Another closeup of the military uniform, on the nametape, reading "Col. Wolf" as a monster-paw pulls it off the stand. "-This was never meant to be worn again."

[Nintendogeek01]

"Hmmmm..." Ellen was home at her top floor apartment loft, the same apartment she shared with her fiance Robert, looking at the living room's furnitue; the sofa, the plants, the table, the chairs. "Maybe like this?" With superhuman alacrity, and the aid of her tactile telekinesis, Ellen rearranged the furniture in little more than a minute before zipping back to where she was standing to observe the layout. "No... how about...?" then she proceeded to do the same thing again, and again, and again no more satisfied than she was with the last arrangement. "Ugh..." Ellen groaned, this time lifting off the ground to get a more aerial perspective on the furniture layout.

"Honey..." Ellen's attention snapped to the entry hall walkway, where Robert, in his business suit was staring at her with his blue eyes, shaking his head in disbelief, "It was fine how it looked when we left this morning," he sighed while he set the mail on the counter-top that separated the kitchen from the living room.

"Well... yes it was fine," Ellen sheepishly admitted as she drifted back down to ground level and caressed Robert's swept back brown hair, "But it wasn't just right," she said, gesturing back towards the living room.

"Geez..." Robert sighed, though his face showed he was more amused than he was willing to admit, "You can run fast, fly, and lift a few tons by touching it... and you use that to rearrange the furniture," Robert chuckled as he sorted through the mail.

"More than just a few thank you very much," Ellen retorted with a smile, "So... anything I should know?"

"Ellen, I told you, leave the particulars to me," Robert told her as he moved one letter from his hand to the counter, "Just be at the meetings..." another letter to the counter, "...smile at the press conferences..." yet another letter, "... quietly be the scientific mind..." one more letter, "...and the lovely face of BrightDawn..."

CLINK

"...Inc." Robert and Ellen both looked at the last letter that had been casually dropped onto the counter, there was no return address and it simply read "To Ellen Bright." Curious, Ellen touched the envelope with her finger, willing it to unfold and open. Then, behaving more like a normal person, she grabbed the envelope and emptied its contents, a small black disk with silver letters, showing the symbol of the Zenith Watch. "Isn't that...?" Robert was about to ask before the disk flickered to life and played its message.

Once it concluded, both Ellen and Robert had somber expressions on their faces, "Ellen... how did he know that you were..." before he could finish his question, Ellen had already vanished from his side, "Ellen!" Robert flew into a panic and ran to the stairs that led to the upstairs rooms, including their bedroom. By the time he got there Ellen, no, Beacon was in costume and stepping out of the door before stopping to look at the panic-stricken Robert, "Ellen you heard that message!" he told her, clearly worried.

"That's why I need to go," she answered as gently but firmly as she could.

"Look, I know you're bullet-proof, but guys the Zenith Watch fights? Those aren't bullets they throw out, you could get seriously hurt... or killed!"

"Sweetie..." Beacon reached out a hand and gently stroke his cheek, "I'm not going out there to die, I'm going out there to do right by the Zenith Watch, and the people who need them," she told him with a smile. She paused a moment before giving him a quick kiss on his lips, to which he gently responded with his own, "I love you, so I'll come back to you," she told him confidently before walking past him to the stairs, heading for the sliding glass door that led to the roof.

Robert sighed, knowing that he can't realistically stop her; he turned back towards the stairs and shouted "Then good luck, and come back!"

Beacon opened the sliding glass door, stepped outside, and inhaled the air. She smiled, enveloped herself with the soft glowing light of the Beacon, highlighting the form-fitting white and magenta costume, before she lifted off straight upward into the air. Once Beacon was well above the skyscrapers, she twirled around, observing the cityscape below her. "And I'm off...!" with a victorious cry into the air, the Beacon rocketed forth at maximum speed, racing to where the next issue of her adventures would continue!

[Quellian-dyrae]

The Springs siblings spent a lot of time in each other's company, but not all of their time. At the moment, Caleb was doing a routine check-in with one of the foster families they were assigned to, Amy was doing one of her rounds at one of the city's hospitals, and Nadia was getting a cat down from a tree.

(They can't all be important tasks all of the time).

The disk clattered to the ground from, apparently, the toy robot the child Caleb was visiting was playing with as the boy turned and ran back into the house. Amy found hers' when the patient she had healed grasped her hand in thanks, apparently pressing the disk into her hand. The cat was sitting on Nadia's.

By whatever fluke of serendipity or calculated intent, the three activated the disks and watched the message simultaneously. When it ended, there were a few seconds of stunned silence, and then a flurry of communications sent to one another through the psionic consciousness that bound them.

~It...that can't really...they can't really be dead, right?~ Amy sent before anything else, her mental voice filled with concern for their city's heroes.

~Nah,~ Nadia responded, sounding completely certain. ~Ten to one odds, they're just out of contact for some reason and something important came up and they need to call in temps. Or maybe this is just a precautionary measure. Or even a test, to see who responds to something like this and make sure the delivery system works. But, I mean, come on. The Zenith Watch? Dead? Have you seen these guys on the news? They're the greatest superheroes in the city! And considering that we are both A) superheroes and B) in the city, that's saying something!~

~In any event, we obviously have to go,~ Caleb sent.

~Oh, heck yeah! Obviously! I mean, doing work for the Zenith Watch? Can I say yes quickly enough?~

~Nonetheless, whether the situation is as bad as the message indicated or not, it would behoove us to act in all ways as if it is. We must assume that we are going up against a potential threat of a sufficient scale to neutralize the Watch, and that we will not have backup.~

~God I just hope they're okay, though...~

~I guess this is what you've been waiting for, eh Trin?~

~Pardon?~

~Well I mean, if we fill in on a Watch-level mission...you gotta figure that'll impress the folks back on Tirna, right?~

~Hmm...I suppose so. Nonetheless, I would think the cost too high.~

~No. Stop that. No high cost. Until we've seen the bodies, had them verified by a panel of experts of both the medical and supernatural, and given them no fewer than three perfect dramatic cues to suddenly arrive and save the day, I for one refuse to so much as entertain the frankly ludicrous idea that the Zenith Watch could actually have been defeated, let alone killed. 'Cmon, let's go! I want to meet the rest of the team!~

Amy and Nadia were already suited up. Caleb just flew quickly home to change into his Tirnan military uniform. His sisters met him as he was coming out, and all three took to the air together, flying at speed for the diner.

[CandyLaser]

Lara was working - of course - when she found the little black disk. It had been tucked in between two pages of the paper she was reading, which was remarkable, because she'd printed it out herself, then tucked it in her bag, and she was quite sure no one else had gone into her bag while she returned to her apartment. But here it was. It was not the strangest thing she'd encountered.

After listening to its message, her first reaction was fear. Someone knew who she was! But after a moment of panic, she closed her eyes and thought things through. If the message was to be believed, it came from Blackhawk, and his detective prowess was legendary. She had her doubts about the message's origin, but the only way she could see to find out more was to go and see what was at 34th and Tesla.

She left her apartment and went up to the roof. Taking care to ensure she wasn't observed, she closed her eyes. A flash of brilliant white light marked her transformation to Starbright. And as Starbright she took off in flight, a glowing blue-white contrail marking her path as she flew to the diner at just under the speed of sound.

[Lord Raziere]

Professor Dragon had just finished the college class he was teaching.
"-and that is how in the wonderful world of transformative genetics, it is possible for a human being to gain the powers of a bat by being bitten by one. Next class we will be covering spiders!"
The students found the fact that their Professor was a green dragon a little odd, but they've had weirder teachers. Drake finds the little black disc and soon makes his way to Tomorrow City's Unversity teleporter system installed to make sure he wouldn't destroy the walls or anything, to get outside to a rooftop where he plays the message.
"My god. The Zenith Watch is gone! If I am considered worthy of doing the right thing in their place, I shall try my best. Though that they have to call upon me is distressing. I am not exactly the most....subtle of people. Though my fame and the fact that some of them helped me adjust probably did tilt them in the direction of choosing me."
He then takes off into the sky towards the diner.

Look up there!
Its a bird!
Its a plane!
No its.....Professor Dragon! Fearlessly diving down to land in the street near the diner and landing with a loud thump! He checks around, did anyone see him? Did anyone else get here?

[Blackhawk748]

Basilisk rolled the small disc in between his thumb and forefinger as he walked to his small "lab" in the Botanical Gardens. George, one of the bums, had found it outside and had given it to him. It was strange, it had no scent, no visible buttons or other components, it appeared to be no more than a poker chip with the Zenith Watch symbol on it. Someones idea of a joke Basilisk thought as he put it on his chemistry table. As he turned to go back to work he heard a *click* and a *wurr* and a miniature Blackhawk was floating above his table.

After Blackhawk's message Basilisk stared at where the hero's hologram was just a few seconds ago. And he laughed. He laughed hard. He was laughing so hard that some of the bums started moving away from the lab, for fear that he had gone mad. So they need me? Surprised I even made it on his radar as a hero. Basilisk recovers his composure. This is what i've been waiting for. Now i can prove myself. Now everyone can see that i am no monster

Basilisk started heading for the sewer access, grinning to himself. 34th and Tesla wasn't to far to go, besides, it was nice being needed.

[Hammer Head]

Amber Beretti walked slowly away from the set, fidgeting uncomfortably in the dress she was squeezed into. She was a couple of sizes too large for this thing, and though the glamour made it appear to fit perfectly, it did nothing to make it comfortable. The teenager beneath the illusion was in agony.

In her changing room, she slumped into a seat with the words "COSMIC MAGAZINE" emblazoned on the back, she leaned back and ran a hand through her hair as she coped with the massive headache she had been sporting all day. The Stone Renegade had turned up that afternoon in Thai Town, after months of being sealed in a magic amulet. She had to miss fourth period to keep him from smashing the place. Luckily, she had managed to get the fight down to the docks early on, but even with the help of Crystalline Tourmaline, it had taken seven hours before the villain decided to finally retreat, and she had to go straight from there to here. After this, there was still homework and study to catch up on, and it was close to ten thirty already.

It was getting to be too much. She had end of year exams coming up soon, and she was in no mindset to be giving interviews or smiling for the camera. Thankfully, the glamour made her always seem pleasant. Otherwise she wouldn't be able to do even half the work involved in her life.

Maybe a snack would help her calm down. Grabbing her purse, she reached for the pocket where she kept her cookies. However, when she bit down into what she had believed to be a thin mint, she realized, through the 'tink' of her teeth, that it was metal.

Holding it out in front of her, she realized it was a metal coin with the symbol of the Zenith Watch on one side. But, as she examined it, an image of Blackhawk rose up. Blackhawk, that guy who led the Zenith Watch, who had thwarted Beecher Hawk's every attempt to get a look at his face, and who had once even floored her (It was this whole thing where Cerebrospinal had made her see all her allies as enemies. She had taken out quite a few before he got there, and she almost took him down too, but he had won, as he always does). There this titan stood, imparting a very important and very stressful message to the already-stressed-out girl.

You all know what the message was, and so you also know that it was such an amazingly important message, that Blackhawk had to be sure that it would make it to this high school student. He could not allow this message to go awry. There was no way that there could be an error in the delivery. But Amber Beretti's beautiful visage gazed up at that hologram with an impassive face, as her brain failed to process the message beyond it's importance and a single additional facet:

They had chosen to put it in her cookie pouch.


SUNSET GAZE, ONE TON TOPAZ

Super saturated orange light flared out from behind the door to that dressing room, and there were a dozen loud crashing noises that came next. After a moment, the door swung open, revealing a wrecked and smoking room with One Ton Topaz standing there, wreathed in an aura of sunset-orange fire with her black & orange pseudo-spandex donned and her hair and eyes replaced with cosmic fire that flickered back and forth between the colors of persimmon and mango. Her expression dour. In her hand, four fragments of a shattered Zenith Watch coin.

Everyone present in the studio just stared at her, wide-eyed. A moment stretched between them before she spoke, "Gotta go, another catastrophe. Send me the bill for the room."

Down the elevator, through the front door, and she lined up her charge with the street. She couldn't fly, but she could run pretty fast, so long as she had a flat area to run across, which meant the road. She'd need to slow down to turn corners, but, thankfully, she gave off enough light that people ahead of her could see her coming, and they mostly knew to pull over. Though, not everyone pulled over. She'd had to jump over more than a few cars during the last two years.

Off she went, trailing hot air and blazing orange light as she tore down the streets. All the while, her expression was dour. Couldn't the Zenith Watch have thought about her before they went and got themselves beaten? What was up with them, anyways? Were they sealed into stones and used as batteries like what happened with Sub Zero Sapphire and Sage Amethyst that time with Hero's archnemesis whats-his-name? (You'd think if the hero was named Hero, his villain would be Villain, right? Nope, not the case.) Or were they out in space, fighting a resurgence of the Void Hussars. Time travel could get wonky, and the Void Hussars loved time travel. Maybe they were just on vacation. She wouldn't put it past them. Fake their deaths for the summer and go to Fiji. Except Fiji was currently under the control of Rastafarian Joe. Bahamas then, the Bahamas only had Octopus Man, and he was usually tied up with Master Atlantis anyways. Whatever the case, she was going to slap Blackhawk when she saw him again, even if they were in Hades or Hel or one of the other afterlife dimensions. It's his fault for letting them get killed, after all, he's the leader.

As she ranted in her head, she spotted a frost-colored contrail in the sky. Hey, it was Starbright! She loved it when Starbright was around, she could lift her weight, and make it easier to be a Superhero in general. Maybe she had been summoned too. That would be nice. She wondered who would be there. Oh... she hoped she wasn't the only Sister of Spectra. Things were weird enough already with how much attention One Ton Topaz got.

After that thought, she skidded to a halt just in front of the diner, as Starbright came down from above. Holding up her hand, the chosen hero of the Orange Cosmic Light called out, "Hey! Starbright! Did you get a coin too?"

[Rokku]

Katy Kelly was surprised to say the least when she found the strange disc in her locker after karate practice, and quickly ducked into a maintenance closet to watch the message.

"Best," she said when the recording ended, "damn right."

Summoning up the passion within her, Kelly called out her transformation command.

"BLAZING HEART, MACH RUBY!"

In a flash of crimson light, Katy Kelly was replaced by the Princess of Passions, Mach Ruby. All anyone can see is a streak of red light as she runs a thousand miles an hour to the listed address, arriving in a handful of heartbeats and coming upon a few familiar faces.

"Topaz, Starbright," she says, "s'up."

[CandyLaser]

The presence of two of the Sisters of Spectra calmed Starbright somewhat. It seemed unlikely to her that they knew of her secret identity, or that they were setting a trap for her. And if it was a trap - after all, if someone took out the Zenith Watch, perhaps they wanted to get rid of the other heroes as well - if it was a trap, having Mach Ruby and One Ton Topaz with her made it al the more likely that they'd get out.

"Topaz, Ruby," she said, greeting each with a calm nod. "I did get a mysterious disc as well, Topaz," she said, in answer to Topaz's question, "and I'd bet that Ruby did too. I suspect we're not the only ones. If someone... or something... did take out the Zenith Watch, we couldn't be the only replacements. Shall we go in?"

[Gemshadow]

Malleboy

Daniel was staring out of the second floor window of Mason Hall at Tomorrow City University. He had been trying to follow his professor's detailed description of the endothermal reaction he was demonstrating on the work bench at the front of the lecture hall. However he just couldn't keep his mind on his study's today. For some reason there was a sense of excitement about the day that he hadn't been able to explain.

Since he woke up he felt an odd tingling in his palms. This happened to him occasionally and on some of those days strange things happened - not on all by any means but enough that Daniel thought there might be something to it.

So he sat in the hall listening to his chemistry professor half-heartedly and watching the sky outside sure that something was going to happen. Not this period.

Daniel got up at the end of the period and gathered his books back into his backpack and was just zipping it up when he noticed the small black disk in the bottom of the pocket next to his keys. He quickly looked aorund the room but felt immediately that he shouldn't draw attention to it and so closed up his bag and made his way out of the hall with the other students.

After a bit of a walk when he was sure people were too engrossed in their own activities and conversations, Daniel ducked into a bathroom. After closing the door he did a quick check of all of the stalls to ensure he was alone and then retrieved the chip from his bag. The tingling sensation returned and Daniel instinctively, and almost unconsciously, shifted his appearance to that of Malleboy. He grew nearly a foot, his shoulders became broader, his muscles expanded, his jaw more square, his skin turned to a deep shade of blue and his clothing was replaced by a bright green and black bodysuit.

Then the message played. Malleboy stared and the disk for several moments in silence after the message ended and he gripped the disk tightly in his hand. Just then the door opened and two young women walked into the bathroom. They stopped in their tracks and looked at Malleboy and he looked back blushing slightly as he did so. Oops, he thought to himself. "Excuse me Ladies, Official Zenith Watch business. With a curt bow of his head, Malleboy moved quickly to the window, threw open the sash and jumped out.

He transformed the lower part of his body mid-fall into a giant spring and bounced upon landing sending himself forward in a huge arc. A few hops to the east and he landed on the roof of his dormitory. Stashing his backpack, but keeping the chip with him, he returned to his leaping so that onlookers wouldn't suspect that he had stopped at all. He quickly made his way towards the diner. As he arrived he noticed that he was hardly the only person to have received a summons.

He slowed his bouncing with one last spring powered jump and then his feet reformed below him. Greetings Heroes, I am glad you could all make it. I'm Malleboy, he finished with a big toothy grin.

[Blackhawk748]

At the junction of the 34th and Tesla a manhole cover slides up and Basilisk crawls out of it, looking up he notices that there are several heroes in front of the diner, two of which are Sisters of Spectra. Well, Blackhawk sure doesnt take any chances. This many heroes could take on anything. He decides that he may as well approach, as standing in an alley isnt going to do him any good.

Hello. I take it we all got the same message?

[Amaril]

From the top of the adjacent building, Helix easily spots the assembled group by the glow of the two Sisters. Wow, looks like they really called in everybody they could get. This should be fun. Grinning, he steels himself and takes his last leap, arcing high over the street and plummeting towards the sidewalk below. "Heads up!"
He crashes down in the middle of the group on one knee, slightly cratering the pavement. Grinning widely, he quickly stands up and glances around to survey the other arrivals. "Evening. You guys get the same message I did?"

[Nintendogeek01]

An aerial perspective sometimes didn't make the streets distinct enough to navigate efficiently, but nonetheless Beacon soon found herself flying above the diner at 34th and Tesla. Lo and behold, as the message indicated, there was an already colorful gathering of supers, some of whom Beacon recognized by reputation, namely the two Sisters of Spectra, and the one in the space-themed outfit seemed familiar, though she was unable to place a name; oh well, there would surely be time for proper introductions.

With a smile on her face Beacon drifted to the ground and landed a short distance from the gathered group "Greetings! The Beacon is here to assist!" she placed on hand on her hip, and used the other to greet the gathered supers with an exuberant salute before placing that hand on her other hip.

[Quellian-dyrae]

The triplets flew down amidst the ever-grown assembly of supers, looking about the group that was already there. Amy looked a little stunned. Caleb's brows were slightly raised, clearly impressed. Nadia was wearing a big ol' grin of cheery excitement.

~Dude...guys...I mean...are they serious? Is this even serious!?~

~That is indeed quite a team.~

~I think that's Malleboy right? He's like, super-bouncy! It's awesome! And holy crap is that a freakin' dragon!?~

~So, I'd say what we've learned here today is that Blackhawk doesn't play games. As if there was ever any doubt.~

~He called in Beacon, Starbright, and Helix! Oh my God the face punching! The epic face-punching!~

~But guys...I mean, with all these heroes here, this probably really is a serious matter. The Watch might actually be-~

~TWO Sisters of Spectra? TWO!? What kind of team could ever possibly require two? Blackhawk you mad genius!~

~Should we...be worried about her?~

~No more or less than usual, I suppose.~

~I guess it is kinda exciting...~

~Oh whoever the villain is is going down so hard so many times! This is going to be beyond glorious! Supernova may just spontaneously resurrect because the sheer concentrated awesome of heroism is about to reach critical freakin' mass! Tell the boys and girls back home on Tirna to start paying attention, Trin, you're about to be coronated out of hand. Heck yes!~

"Greetings, everyone," Caleb said to the assembled heroes, trying to keep the amusement of his sister's telepathic ramblings mostly out of his voice and off his face, to present a more businesslike demeanor. Amy gave the group a little wave.

[Amaril]

Helix's eyes widen at the continued growth of the group. "Holy crap, how many people did Blackhawk call? We've got a freaking superhero army going here!" He chuckles nervously. "I'm honestly not sure whether to be excited or terrified about this..."

[Rakaydos]

"Terrified" came a voice from inside the diner. A massive, muscle-bound wolf in a military uniform waited inside, playing with another disk. in the darkness, he seems almost familiar... (someone else can loudly exclaim his name)

"...unless you all feel you can take something that took out the Zenith Watch, we should ALL be very afraid."

[Gemshadow]

At Helix's comment Malleboy, who had been greeting each hero as he or she arrived and introduced themself with genuine enthusiasm, allowed a bit of concern to cause his dazzling smile to falter slightly. Oh I hadn't thought about it like that.... After a moment's reflection though he apparently managed to recover his excitement, still it'll be an honor to serve alongside each and every one of you whatever the outcome!

[Quellian-dyrae]

"Excited," Nadia answered at...pretty much the same time, before loudly exclaiming, "Holy crap, Colonel Wolf!"

((Got your back :smallbiggrin:))

Caleb eyed the former supervillain warily, but Nadia's eager grin only brightened. Far as she was concerned a teamup with a former supervillain only reinforced her whole "victory is assured, this is going to be awesome" hypothesis.

[Amaril]

Noah sucks in a sharp breath at the sight of the wolf--he recognizes the figure from old news reports. "Colonel Wolf" he says, unconsciously tensing to move fast. "Can I assume the fact that you're talking to us means you're not gonna cause trouble?"

[Blackhawk748]

I doubt the Wolf has any hostile intentions,says Basilisk as he gives a look to Col Wolf as he enters the diner. what i want to know is why Blackhawk called several children here? Also the Wolf has a point, terror is an appropriate response young man.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Amy kinda...hesitantly raised a finger, "Um...we're not...actua...uh...nevermind."

Nadia's eager grin faltered just slightly as a few of the assembled heroes deemed fear the more appropriate response.

Not on my watch, thought the Angel of Hope.

"Hey, guys, I mean...don't get me wrong, the Zenith Watch are utter beasts and we all know it, but I mean...look around! Look, even if - and even with the grim holographic warning, I deem this a huge 'if' - the Watch has been defeated, we've got some seriously epic names here! I'm not going to say you shouldn't exercise proper caution, because that's my job, but I would say we're far from the point where fear should even be a consideration, let alone an appropriate response!"

"We don't know all the details," the Angel of Faith agreed, less exuberantly, but with calm certainty in his voice. "Even if they were defeated, I don't doubt they would have brought down a lot of their foes with them. Regardless, I'm certain that they would not have chosen a team they felt incapable of handling the threat. I'm...not sure I would call the situation exciting either, but I believe that we can trust the judgment of the Zenith Watch and the capability of everyone assembled here."

[Rakaydos]

Noah sucks in a sharp breath at the sight of the wolf--he recognizes the figure from old news reports. "Colonel Wolf" he says, unconsciously tensing to move fast. "Can I assume the fact that you're talking to us means you're not gonna cause trouble?"

Col. Wolf flipped BlackHawk's coin in the air and caught it again, showing the sigil of the zenith watch to any who might have missed it. "No more than the rest of you, I'd think. That damn crow has plans within plans, but if someone's managed to take him out, I doubt Blackhawk's Final Option is going to be as carefuly measured as his others."

[Rokku]

Mach Ruby watched as more and more heroes arrived, taking in the pure scale of the team Blackhawk had put together.

"So," she said, "we should probably go inside before somebody calls the press. Or the cops."

[Amaril]

"Think it's a little late for that, Ruby--speaking of which, hi, big fan of your work" Helix says with another nervous chuckle. "But yeah, I guess we may as well. Unless anybody can think of anyone else we should wait for?"

[Rakaydos]

Mach Ruby watched as more and more heroes arrived, taking in the pure scale of the team Blackhawk had put together.

"So," she said, "we should probably go inside before somebody calls the press. Or the cops."

Col. Wolf nodded to Mach Ruby. "Indeed. I've already located the back entrance." He rose to his feet, an imposing 8 feet high to his eartips, and turned toward the back to the abandoned diner.

[Blackhawk748]

Col. Wolf nodded to Mach Ruby. "Indeed. I've already located the back entrance." He rose to his feet, an imposing 8 feet high to his eartips, and turned toward the back to the abandoned diner.

Basilisk has been looking around the inside of the diner while the others where introducing themselves. Not finding the entrance immediately forthcoming he elected to simply wait for the others to come in.

As Col Wolf heads to the entrance Basilisk follows, especially when someone mentions cops.

[Nintendogeek01]

"Hold it Wolf," Beacon followed after him quickly into the building, she had heard both sides of the discussion on whether to be terrified or not, but there was one thing that she couldn't just allow to sit unaddressed, "Look, I understand your caution, and if you were called here too I'll give you the benefit of a doubt," Beacon started, "But there's a difference between tempering excitement, and loudly putting down a hero who's dead or missing!" she scolded, making a conscious effort to keep her arms resting at her sides, even if she was clenching her fists, she wasn't interested in starting a fight after all.

[Quellian-dyrae]

The triplets followed along, and you'd think at least one of them would have something to do or say to make it more interesting, but nope, I've got nothin'.

[Rakaydos]

"Hold it Wolf," Beacon followed after him quickly into the building, she had heard both sides of the discussion on whether to be terrified or not, but there was one thing that she couldn't just allow to sit unaddressed, "Look, I understand your caution, and if you were called here too I'll give you the benefit of a doubt," Beacon started, "But there's a difference between tempering excitement, and loudly putting down a hero who's dead or missing!" she scolded, making a conscious effort to keep her arms resting at her sides, even if she was clenching her fists, she wasn't interested in starting a fight after all.

Wolf gave Beacon a distainful glance. "I've met that damn Crow, I've faced down Supernova himself and lived to tell the tale. I know the Zenith Watch as more than stories in a children's book- their strengths and weaknesses. Can you say the same?"

[Blackhawk748]

Stop this, its getting us nowhere! Basilisk growls. He turns to Wolf Just show us the entrance

[Nintendogeek01]

"You're right, they are more than stories, and they're owed that respect!" Beacon retorted before the lizard-man interrupted. Beacon sighed, "You're right... erm... sorry I don't think I got your name," Beacon said to the lizard man

[Blackhawk748]

"You're right, they are more than stories, and they're owed that respect!" Beacon retorted before the lizard-man interrupted. Beacon sighed, "You're right... erm... sorry I don't think I got your name," Beacon said to the lizard man

You can call me Basilisk he says as he turns back to following Wolf

[Nintendogeek01]

"Nice to meet you Basilisk; I'm Beacon if you didn't catch me earlier," she chuckled a bit, well-aware that she proclaimed her name a bit loudly.

Beacon slowed her pace a bit to fall back to pace with the trio that was debating with Wolf earlier "I for one, am glad that you're eager to help," Beacon told them, hoping to encourage them, "But Wolf is right about one thing, this is bound to be different from purse-snatchers and bank robbers. Then again I don't know your experience so maybe that's not news to you," Beacon shrugged. "So, what do you call yourselves?" she asked with an inviting smile.

[Amaril]

"Call me Helix" Noah says with a grin. "It's Beacon, right? Think I've seen you in the news. And I figure it's gotta be supercrime, I mean, you'd have to have supers on your side if you were gonna challenge the Watch like this, right?" His eagerness hides his nervous jitters--he's never faced any actual supervillains before...

[Quellian-dyrae]

"We've faced supers before. A couple times, anyway," Amy assured her with a gentle smile.

"Yeah, this'll be nothing we can't handle," Nadia elaborated with her typical confidence.

"I'm Ca-" Caleb began, only for Nadia to cut him off. "No! No! No! Codenames! Codenames! Codenames!" she demanded eagerly.

"The Angels of Faith, Hope, and Love? I mean...they work okay for like, the newspapers and stuff, but-"

"Yeah, no, way too long! Um...umm...mmm...I got it! I'm Espera, she's Amora, he's Fidelar," she said, nodding.

"We're...who n-...um...okay...?" "Amora" said, a bit uncertainly.

"Yep. That's us. Definitely." "Fidelar" said with a sort of deadpan, "I've learned it's best not to argue" tone of voice.

Either ignoring or, quite possibly, entirely unaware of her siblings' uncertainty with the new codenames, Espera continued, "And you can use Trinity to refer to all of us, if that makes things easier."

[Blackhawk748]

Basilisk glances back at the young Superheroes chatting it up, then walks up to Wolf's side. They seem a little to excited to you? He says quietly.

[CandyLaser]

Starbright follows everyone else in, bringing up the rear - she's still wary of a potential trap, and the appearance of Wolf doesn't do much to put her at ease. Still, it seems like a motley crew that's been assembled, and she finally begins to feel at ease. While none of them were on par with the Zenith Watch, there were some heavy hitters here.

As the group entered the diner, she introduced herself to the ones she didn't recognize.

[Rakaydos]

Basilisk glances back at the young Superheroes chatting it up, then walks up to Wolf's side. They seem a little to excited to you? He says quietly.

The former archvillian snorted."Heros always are. What about you...Basilisk, was it? Are you not here for the triumph of Truth, Justice, and Science?"

[Blackhawk748]

The former archvillian snorted."Heros always are. What about you...Basilisk, was it? Are you not here for the triumph of Truth, Justice, and Science?"

Yes, but im not gonna go around shouting it. Im hear to prove that im not a monster, and i think thats something you may be able to sympathize with. After all, we both have terrible PR Basilisk says with a toothy grin.

[Rakaydos]

Wolf chuckled. "But I am a monster. Being retired didnt make me a hero. I simply have a debt to pay."

[Nintendogeek01]

"Starbright, if you don't mind my asking, are you particularly interested in space? Astrology? Astronautics?" Beacon couldn't contain her curiosity; who knows, asking the right person might bring her a step closer to her alien origins, which still remain a mystery to her.

"I don't mean to assume, but your name and suit made me curious," Beacon added, slightly worried that the assumption might seem offensive.

[Blackhawk748]

Wolf chuckled. "But I am a monster. Being retired didnt make me a hero. I simply have a debt to pay."

So you say Basilisk lapses into a companionable silence.

[Lord Raziere]

Wolf gave Beacon a distainful glance. "I've met that damn Crow, I've faced down Supernova himself and lived to tell the tale. I know the Zenith Watch as more than stories in a children's book- their strengths and weaknesses. Can you say the same?"

"Some of their scientists helped me adjust to me being a dragon! I can say that."
Prof Dragon replied.
"Nice to meet you Wolf! I am Professor Dragon. If Zenith Watch trusts you enough to call upon you, I'll try my best to trust you as well."
He said as he tries to get into the diner.
"and hello Basilisk, I didn't know anyone had a similar condition to mine. Though I think you might an opposite problem with it: I think I'm a little too well-liked. The spotlight is not for me, even if I do like my new form."

[Hammer Head]

One Ton Topaz was about to start up a conversation with Starbright and Mach Ruby, but, it seemed that just as she opened her mouth, superheroes started showing up, and all at once too. There was a big lizard monster whom Topaz assumed was a villain for a moment before he asked if they had been called there too (she can't help it that big lizard monsters were usually supervillains, and besides, she'd never seen Basilisk before). Next came a sideliner whom she'd passed in fights a few times. What was his name? Helix? The there was the Starbright parallel named Beacon who had teamed up with Sage Amethyst, Crystalline Tourmaline, and Hypercollision that time when The Bone Stitcher had taken over a morgue. Then the angel triplets who kept trying to get media saturation. Not that it was a bad thing, or anything. Then the bombshell, Colonel Wolfe, followed swiftly by another friend, of hers, Malleboy.

After this, they started talking, going over introductions and everything, but Topaz just looked around for a probability manipulating device or some sort of illusionist. Everybody arrived at the same time. There had to be something up with that. I mean, did they all read the message at the same time she reached into her cookie pouch...?

She still couldn't believe he put it in her cookie pouch! What was he trying to say?!

After a minute, everybody started going inside, but Topaz just stood there looking around, first to arrive on scene just to be suddenly surrounded by Supers and then left at the back of the group scratching her head as they all moved inside. Eventually she just shrugged and went in after them, coming up beside Starbright and Beacon. Oh, right, Beacon, being all up in arms about Colonel Wolfe and his flippancy concerning Blackhawks disappearance, "Hey! Beacon, right? I'm One Ton Topaz," like she needed to say who she was. Anybody could recognize that blazing hot sunset aura from a mile away, "I'm not saying I agree with Private Puppy. Hell, last time I saw him, I punched him into a brick wall. It was a good time. There was an 8-foot tall imprint of him on that wall for days after. But Blackhawk's gone missing twice this year alone, this being the third time. Once last year, he actually died, and we had to make a deal with this guy called the Demonstrator to go into this Limbo dimension to pull him back. Sage Amethyst was a big help that day, she's good with haggling. All I'm saying is that him being gone just means we get his work load. I'm more concerned that the whole Zenith Watch is gone. Usually they leave at least one person behind while they're on their missions. Tell me I'm right, Ruby," Topaz turned to her fellow Sister of Spectra for some input.

"And we have a lot of muscle here to help. Even just you, Starbright, me, and Ruby together could probably handle someone like Totality, the guy with all the spikes, by ourselves, and then we have the Trinity girls, Private Puppy, this guy Helix, who I don't know very well, but I've seen him on occasion and he shows promise, and Malleboy, who is awesome, especially if you make him indestructible. Hey, Malleboy, remember that time with THE FIST. That guy was hilarious. Huge guy, big guns, high pitched, squeaky voice. I couldn't stop laughing the entire time we were fighting him!"

[Amaril]

In spite of himself, Helix boggles a little at Topaz's stories. "Whoa whoa whoa, wait--you seriously brought Blackhawk back from the dead? I never heard about that!" He looks around at the others, suddenly feeling incredibly outclassed. "Jeez, here I am never even having faced a supervillain and it sounds like you guys are already up there with the Watch..." He reaches up to nervously scratch the back of his head. "Well, first time for everyone, I guess..."

[CandyLaser]

"Starbright, if you don't mind my asking, are you particularly interested in space? Astrology? Astronautics?" Beacon couldn't contain her curiosity; who knows, asking the right person might bring her a step closer to her alien origins, which still remain a mystery to her.

"I don't mean to assume, but your name and suit made me curious," Beacon added, slightly worried that the assumption might seem offensive.

"You could say that," Starbright replied. As one might expect, she was more than a bit wary of opening up to Beacon, a virtual stranger. This was her first time really working with a team, and it showed. Protecting her secret identity was important - especially if Zenith Watch really had been defeated or killed - and as they say, three can keep a secret if two are dead.

Still, a polite question deserved a more substantive reply. "I've been out in space more than once. If you're able to survive out there I'd be happy to take you sometime. I have to say, the sunset on Mercury is a sight to behold."

[Hammer Head]

Topaz looked up at Helix's shock, "Well, we're the Sister of Spectra. We deal with cosmic things. I'm not used to being part of a team because we rarely ever all get together, because that's dangerous. The most recent time was when the Void Hussars tried to teleport the solar system into their stellar engine. Though, one way or another, anyone on the top scale has to interact with us, even if we might not know what we're doing all the time," Topaz grinned, then remembered that her "secret identity" was supposedly public knowledge, "You shouldn't be too surprised, I mean, I'm Amber Beretti. I was interviewed on the Evening Show with Frank Bourland just last week. I've been in all sorts of conflicts. But don't worry, if Blackhawk called you, you'll be fine. What are you abilities again?"

Oh, but Starbright was mentioning Mercury, "Oh, yeah, the sun takes up the entire sky. You just gotta be careful with molten metal under your feet, radiation coming from everywhere at once, and, you know, the whole 'no air' thing."

[Nintendogeek01]

After One-Ton Topaz said her piece about the earlier argument with Wolf, Beacon sort of bobbed her head in agreement after some slight consideration, "You are right and it's not that Wolf didn't have a point, it was more his dismissal of Blackhawk," Beacon admitted, "I've no doubt that this is serious, after all..." Beacon turned to Helix before continuing her train of thought, "I wouldn't say I'm up there with the watch, but I can tell you one thing; yes supervillains are going to be more dangerous and you have every right to be nervous, but that's what makes foiling them worth the effort, because you know you stopped something dangerous. When they're beaten, you know you've made a difference," she hoped this would encourage Helix. "With luck you won't start with Bone Stitcher, that guy was as macabre as he was delusional," she sighed; as amazing as the other Sisters of Spectra were, fighting that dude was not fun and she tried not to spread that story around, not to mention Robert would have flipped if he knew she was involved with thwarting that, poor dear always worries about her a bit much.

When the conversation turned back to space-travel... it was possible for there to be a gleam in Beacon's eyes as she was unable to contain her excited smile at Starbright's offer, "Oh could you? I know I can survive the vacuum since I went up to orbit as a sort of test, oh but moving is surprisingly difficult up there, if you could show me some tricks for that I'd be so... grateful!" yes Beacon was about as giddy as a schoolgirl at the thought of learning to navigate space properly; maybe this would be the first major step to being able to find her father... she might have to ask the others of their experiences with extraterrestrials once she got to know them some more, but for now this was enough to excite her.

[Amaril]

Helix feels his confidence recover a little with Topaz and Beacon's words. "Yeah, I'm not expecting this to be the same as street crime. Don't worry about me. I might not have the experience, but I'm pretty sure my powers can make up for it, they're pretty awesome." He frowns in thought for a moment, thinking how to best answer Topaz's question--he's been a little disappointed at how few people seem to know enough Latin word stems to figure out "biokinesis". "Basically, I can change my own physiology however I want. I can get super strong or super fast, or I can grow extra limbs, turn my hands into claws, change my face, whatever." He demonstrates by quickly turning into Malleboy and back behind his mask. "I can do the same thing to other people by touching them, too, so if you get hurt I can take care of it. Oh, and I automatically regenerate from injuries. Not really sure how severe they can be, though, the worst I've had was a broken arm. Kinda hoping not to have to test that part." Suddenly he remembers his manners. "Anyway, it's really an honor to be working with a team like yours."

[Lord Raziere]

"As for me, street crime is actually a little hard for me- I've been crimefighting for a few years but my specialty is in giant monsters and the like, as normal street thugs are sort of hard to take care of when your a big dragon."
The indoor problem, the hostages problem. Things like that. He really had to start using his brain for tricky situations like those. But he was sure smaller more normal sized heroes could take care of that now that he was on a team.
"And of course its a pleasure to be working with others for a change."

[Phobia]

Several hours earlier..

"Huh? What's this? It's certainly not fan-mail!" Dana said, just a tiny bit creeped out, by noticing the letter on her makeup station at a particularly high class modeling gig. "This is the symbol for Zenith Watch!" She exclaimed as she examined it closely before covering her mouth. The muscular superheroine must have crushed something inside when she picked it up because it immediately started playing!

If you are receiving this, I have activated blackout protocol...

"Oh crap!" She exclaimed before ducking into the bathroom to listen to it fully. Sometimes it was really hard to keep your secret identity when you were as clumsy and strong as she was. "Blackhawk? This must be serious. He must have kept tabs on me after they rescued me from Doctor Abomination!" Her expression darkened as she continued to listen. "The Zenith Watch were heroes. Whomever took them out deserves what's coming to them and it's an honor that they'd pick me.. But I'm terrified!" She took a deep breath. "Okay just relax. You've been mentally preparing for some serious superheroing for months now just- ack!"

She was interrupted by a loud knock on the door. "Miss Davenport please, uh, finish up quickly. They are ready for you!"

"Umm actually something really important came up. Can it wait?"

"Miss Davenport! Felipe de Galarande waits for no one!"

"Oh. Well I do absolutely fierce today. Maybe if we can make it quick."

Present

"Crap, crap, crap! Come on, Nash, can't you drive any faster?" Dana yelled to her limo driver and he apologized before flooring it even more. She put up the barrier to block the driver side from the back and started to undress and try to squeeze into her costume. Thank god for tinted windows.

"You had an important meeting.. At a boarded up dinner, Miss Davenport?" Her driver said through the intercom to the back.

"Uhh yeah. Do me a favor, Nash, and uh, don't say anything about this to anyone. Thanks!" She called back as she got out of the back in full costume and rushed over to the building. Mental note to self: really work on doing better at maintaining a secret identity. "I hope they're still here!" She said frantically before ripping the door off it's hinges along with some boards because she tried to open it too hard.

"Crap."

[Quellian-dyrae]

The triplets listened as the heroes chatted, just quietly paying attention and getting a sense of their new teammates. They had heard of most of them, to one degree or another, but they didn't really know much about any of them.

But when the door suddenly tore off its hinges, the three moved as seamlessly as if they were a single person, whirling to face the door, eyes suddenly glowing with silver, blue, and pink radiance as they faced the potential threat, energy gathering into their hands.

But when they saw it was just another superhero, the power faded as quickly as it had been summoned. Amy raised a hand and gave a kinda sheepish wave and grin. "Uh...hiya!" she said, sounding a bit embarrassed.

~A bit jumpy, are we?~

~Uh...mmm... I mean, nonsense! Troubled times! Gotta be ready!~

~Oh yeah. Just keeping on our toes, is all.~

~High-caliber heroes like us, can't expect anything less!~

~Ah. Oh course...~

[Phobia]

"Uh.. hey.. I guess I'm not late?" She asked while rubbing the back of her head and stepping inside to join the others, way too embarrassed to notice the triplets being embarrassed. The almost seven foot tall beauty was decked out in her best purple spandex and a luchadoras themed mask. Miss Muscles could almost pass for a She-Hulk lookalike with her size, strength and beauty. But right now she just looked embarrassed and clumsy.

[Rakaydos]

Wolf was already in the tunnel, leading the way toward the base of the Zenith Watch.

[Blackhawk748]

Wolf was already in the tunnel, leading the way toward the base of the Zenith Watch.

Basilisk was already following Wolf

Damn my lack of super hearing :smalltongue:

[Quellian-dyrae]

"Nope. Blackhawk apparently timed things out better than a precog could have," Amy answered with a grin, the triplets then hastening to follow into the tunnel.

[Gemshadow]

Malleboy's face droops slightly and a bit comically as tensions begin to rise. He joins the others moving inside the abandoned diner. He quickly scans the interior for possible threats while keeping his outward appearance that of excitement and awe. After all this was history in the making and he was in the middle of it.

[Phobia]

With a relieved smile that she hadn't been humiliated in front of quite all the heroes gathered she rushed in after the triplets and then whistled at how many people she could see in the tunnel, her massive form bringing up the rear.

[fireinthedust]

OOC: ...technically didn't expect you lot to "arrive" until this post... That said, great!

THE DINER

You reach 34th and Tesla and see an old-style diner on the corner. The place is run down, boarded up as if renovations are going to begin any year now. There is a big sign that used to light up that says “Diner”, and a large clock overhead. One of the doors is ajar, and you can see someone moving around inside. This place is just out of the way, with easy access to a back alleyway. It is also far away from the Zenith Tower by several blocks, which you can see rising above the city as a great octagonal skyscraper.

Inside the diner there are several other people dressed as heroes, sitting or standing around. Behind the counter is an elderly black man with grey hair, with massive muscles beneath his leather-elbowed pullover. He has a pot of coffee brewing, which he hands out to those of you entering. When he speaks it is with a vaguely southern accent.

“I’d let you all get acquainted before I introduce myself, but you seem to have gotten on that already. You all are going to be working together for the next little while.”

“My name is Jack McDuffie, and I got the message from Blackhawk just as you did. You may remember me as Jack Hammer, a member of the Zenith Watch back in the day. Use to be a big deal, having me on the Zenith Watch. I didn't even have the word "Black" in my name, we didn't even do that back then. Now every black man has to advertise, has to be 'black hawk' or 'black rocket', or I'd have to be 'black hammer' instead of Jack Hammer. Doesn't even make sense, a 'black hammer', what is that? I never used one of those..."

"Anyway, that was a long time ago, and I’ve been out of the frontline work for some time.” He pats his leg with his cane, and you can see the leg has been replaced by a cybernetic limb: sturdy and high-tech, all the way up to his hip and under his sweater. “Most of my work is support, training for team members, and keeping repairs going on equipment. Fact is, team goes through a lot of jets... a LOT of jets. Just the way it is.” He’s quiet for a moment, as if thinking of something, then clears his throat.

“Here, as members of the Zenith Watch you get these COMMUNICATORS, little ear pieces that fit into your ear canal. You won’t feel them, they won't blow up in your head or anything, but they’ll allow you to stay in contact with other members wherever you are, if there’s a signal.”

(hands them out)

“This Diner is the entrance to the Zenith Tower you can use when you don’t want to draw attention to yourselves. Behind the counter is the controls to the tunnel that can take you right into the tower. The computer has already been programmed to recognize your unique...”

Suddenly there is a loud explosion, and a painfully bright flash of white-hot light bursts in through the windows. The entire building rumbles and dust falls from the ceiling. In the silence that follows you hear the sounds of energy weapons discharging, buildings struck and crumbling, engines tearing through the sky, and the low hum of distant screams.


Looking outside: A giant hole has opened in the sky, as if a funnel had opened in the fabric of space-time, and on the other side is a vast alien sky. A massive ship, like an upside-down black pyramid covered in lights, has stuck its tip through the rift and is releasing a number of flying saucers into the sky above Tomorrow City. The saucers take positions above several buildings, and from them come squid-like creatures that fly down to the ground in patrols. Some patrols are accompanied by large metal pods that grow three thick legs that stomp along the street as they hit the ground, and begin to fire energy beams at fleeing citizens, whose bodies vanish the instant they are struck. Some of the saucers can be seen flying out from the rift and flying into the horizon, in the direction of other major cities.

One of the Saucers flies over the Zenith Tower and extends a force field over the building. The field shimmers with purple-green energy, and the Zenith Tower is hidden from view.

Jack Hammer starts as he looks outside through the slats on the window.

“Good Lord, it’s a Krollusk invasion fleet! Of all the times...”

[Amaril]

Taking a set at one of the booths, Helix accepts the coffee with a nod of thanks. He sips it cautiously as Hammer goes through his briefing, his curiosity only building as he manages to keep talking without explaining what's actually happening. Finally, he can't stand to stay silent. "This is all really helpful, Mr. McDuffie," he says, "and it's an honor to meet a former Watch member in person, but...well, I'm still kind of wondering what we're actually doing here. What's happened to the rest of the Watch? Why did we get the--"
The explosion and the flash cut him off; he reflexively throws up an arm to protect his eyes until the light fades. As he looks out the window at the arriving aliens, he feels as though the reasonable response would be to panic and hide under the table...but instead, he finds a grin spreading across his face. As inexperienced as he may be, he's still a superhero--this is what he's been preparing for.
He stands up at his seat, not taking his eyes off the window. Gritting his teeth, he focuses on his power, willing his body to change. With a sound of tearing and cracking, his right arm suddenly explodes into a mass of flailing, tendril-like strands of muscle tissue; a second later, the bones start to grow and twist, the muscles knitting back together around them to hold them in place. In barely a moment, his arm has become a huge, wicked-looking five-fingered claw.
His grin widens. "Let's f***ing roll."

[Lord Raziere]

Professor Dragon's brow furrowed in annoyance. He hated it when alien invasions happened in the middle of important meetings like this. I mean how rude can they be?
"I'll take the big one. Its the one the rest are coming from, better to cut off the source as fast as possible. The rest of you might want to take care of the smaller ones. But first...this force field"
He then leaps forward like a lunging tiger, furiously raking at the forcefield with his claws with the fury a raging storm to try and break through.


Attack Roll: Close Attack 10 + Dragon Claws 10
[roll0]

(if I'm wrong about how that works, just subtract ten from the roll)

[Quellian-dyrae]

The triplets listened attentively to Jack, slipping the communicators into their ears when provided, Amy saying, "Thanks," as they received them. When the flash occurred, Nadia rushed to a window to peer out (the other two jerked as if to do so as well, but held their seats; it was a trivial bit of focus to see through Nadia's eyes, so there was no sense cluttering the window space), her mouth dropping open some at scale of the attack. Flame-blast, how had they heard about the Watch?

Obvious answer: they hadn't. Otherwise they wouldn't have been trying to block the tower.

"Holy..." Caleb breathed.

"Oh my God," Amy whispered, tears in her eyes as over a dozen people just...vanished in seconds, as if they have never been.

The sight galvanized them, freed them from their surprise, and Helix's valor encouraged them, seeing such confidence in the face of the invasion from someone who had said he hadn't faced supervillains before. Caleb and Amy leaped to their feet, and the three moved with singular purpose for the door. "We're with you!" Caleb said to Professor Dragon. Fact was, the three of them were simply of limited value against a horde. Oh, sure, they were capable fighters and would dish out some harm, no question. But they'd be of much greater value going after a critical target, or protecting a single powerful asset on their side.

And even in a world of superheroes, when in doubt, assuming the most powerful asset on your side is the freaking dragon was simply good sense.

Well Informed on the Krollusk: [roll0].

They're heading outside, but sticking close to Professor Dragon. My read of what happened is actually different from Raziere's. It looks to me like the diner is outside the radius of the forcefield, it just covered the tower itself. If I'm wrong but he smashed the forcefield, that works too. If I'm wrong but he A) didn't smash the forcefield and B) didn't receive, like, a backlash or something from it, they'll attack it as well with Invest Ideal, All Out Attack for 5, Power Attack for 5 at [roll1]. On a hit, Toughness DC 30+Multiattack vs. Damage, and it will have to repeat the save next round as a Secondary Effect. If it counts as an object, this is against Damage Object rather than actual damage (i.e. 1 degree bruised, 2 degrees breached, 3 degrees destroyed), and if it's an immobile/defenseless object, it resolves as a Finishing Attack (auto-crit if it hits Defense 10).

'Course if it is there, they smash through, and there are aliens waiting outside to shoot anyone who comes through, the All Out Attack means they'll be at -5 Defense for the first round of attacks due to All Out Attack.

EDIT: And really that should be, trying to stay close to Professor Dragon, since he flies four times faster than they do if he's going top speed. But I can promise lots of tasty defensive buffs if he lets them keep up :smallbiggrin:.

[Nintendogeek01]

Beacon sipped her coffee whilst listening to Jack Hammer, making sure to take a good whiff of the scent before drinking it; drinking it may not have been a necessity, but if she ignored everything just because it wasn't necessary there'd be so... much she missed out on, like this cup of coffee for instance. The story and coffee were both interrupted by the massive boom, leading Beacon to whip around to look outside to see the ships and alien life forms drifting down to begin occupying the city streets.

Beacon about set down her coffee cup and flew out but wait... who did Mr. Hammer say this was? "Wait Helix!" Beacon grabbed Helix's shoulder to keep him from charging gung-ho out there with Professor Dragon and the Triplits, not that she was going to actually force him to stay, if he still pulled away to go she wasn't going to stop him. Regardless, the alien's focus on Zenith Tower was concerning, did they not know that the Watch was missing or maybe... Beacon turned to Mr. Hammer.

"What can you tell us about these Krollusks? And is there a particular reason they'd lock down Zenith Tower?" Beacon asked, ready to fly off the second her questions were answered.

[Amaril]

Helix jerks his shoulder away from Beacon's grip, hastily slotting the new communicator into his ear with his other hand as he does so. "No time to wait! Every second we stay here, more civilians get hurt. Hammer, brief us via the comm while we engage." Without another second's hesitation, he charges after the dragon and the triplets.

[Hammer Head]

Topaz nodded to Mr. McDuffie when she walked in, but almost immediately tuned him out. She was fond of him, and respected his work in the watch, even trying to adapt some of his out moves into her style, but he did have a tendency to ramble on a bit about things he'd said a thousand times before. Besides, she had a headache right now, had all day in fact. She gladly accepted the COMMUNICATOR from him when he handed them out, though. She'd had temporary ones before, but never a permanent piece. That was actually a novelty for her.

She stood there politely as Jack Hammer explained who he was - in his own way - to the new guys, and went over some of the details on how the Zenith facilities worked. But then, just as he was explaining the tunnel, everything went pear-shaped, and there were sudden sounds coming from everywhere at once. She was most certainly not the first to move, but when she finally got her head screwed on straight, she went straight out the doors and looked up. Seeing... aliens.

You know, she usually had good memory for these things, and she knew she had seen these guys before, but, until she heard Jack mention Krollusk from back in the bar, she had no idea what she was looking at.

But Krollusk... a cosmic level threat, but usually the province of the Sisters of Spectra Stomp Sunstone and Clarion Jade. They should have this under control... unless... "No..."


SUNSET CLOUT

The light which wreathed One Ton suddenly grew blazing hot, oppressively bright, and actually difficult to move towards. In her presence, the pavement suddenly sizzled and cracked, except where her allies stood, which seemed strangely exempt from the atmospheric conditions of the power. She quickly inserted her COMMUNICATOR into her ear and related to the others as she walked to the street proper, "I'm taking one of the War-of-the-Worlds walkers. If someone needs backup just scream in my ear. Do the same if we get any helpful trivia in our pursuit. Hey, wanna help me out, Malleboy? I hate going in to these things alone," and I'm tired from a seven hour fight with Stone Renegade early today.

Once she was back on a major street, hopefully with Malleboy present to aid her, she turned to face a walker up ahead, set her feet into the ground, and...


THIS IS SUNSET FOR YOU

She started out slow, as always, but built momentum after a few seconds, turning into a blazing, orange blur in only a few seconds, tearing up chunks of asphalt as she barreled down towards the walker, determined to smash through one of it's legs and topple it to the ground. It would take her a few seconds to get there, but as she ran, she silently urged those of her new allies who could fly to take care of the saucers. It would not do to have a national crisis on their first day on the job. It was bad enough to face a city-wide crisis.

[Nintendogeek01]

Yeah, as more or less expected, Helix charged out, good on him though; it's not as though Beacon wasn't concerned for the civilians, but intel seemed as imperitive... although that said the comms that were just handed out slipped her mind. "Ah... right the comms," Beacon quickly inserted hers into her ear, "Right, Mr. Hammer, just answer over the comm, either way the saucer over Zenith Tower is locking it down for a reason," Beacon heads to what remains of the door and steps outside and is off like a rocket to engage a patrol.

"FYI everyone...!' Beacon shouts into the comm. "if you need a lift to the saucer over the tower tell me where you are and I'll take you as soon as I can." Beacon finished.

She flew towards one the walker patrols terrorizing civilians and hoping to get its attention threw a solid punch at it. "Right here invaders!"

unarmed attack roll vs. a robot walker's parry. Roll in the OOC thread results 24. If that hits it is DC27 toughness to resist damage and DC22 to resist being grabbed.

[fireinthedust]

Dragon: You get a look outside and see... this is the biggest invasion you've ever seen! The hole in the sky is about as large as the downtown area, with the tip of the ship looking tremendous. The sky is filled with a lot of smaller ships, soaring around the city. This is a big deal, even for you.


Jack Hammer speaks up: "You folks probably never heard of the Kroll, if you think you're going to just... fly up there and punch the ship in the face!"

“Krollusk is a massive creature who lives in another dimension, called Krollspace. It sends Kroll Seed fleets to other worlds, who terraform the planet so Krollusk can live there and mutate all life forms into more Kroll drones. When the planet is ready, those Saucers will pull Earth back with them into Krollspace. I’ve seen them on other worlds, back in the day. They’ve sent scouts to Earth, but they never dared come in force like this when the Zenith Watch was...” He falls silent, then shakes his head.

“I’d say we don’t have much time to stop the world from ending! Folks, this is what we call baptism by fire. We’ve got no other heroes. You’re up.”

“If we’re going to have any chance of stopping this invasion, we need to get on board that mothership and shut them down. I could teleport you folks up through the Zenith Tower’s dimensional transporter, the only thing that could get through that thing’s shields and interference fields, but you’d have to take down that force field blocking the tower. Before we think about that, though, we’d need the teleport codes, to get us through their shields. The only folks who’d have that would be the Kroll Captains, one of the drones flying around the city but with a psychic-blast that’ll melt your brains out. You’ll need to fight those Kroll drones and see if you can find a captain, and get it to give you the codes. Then take out the saucer above the Zenith Tower so we can get in there and teleport up to the mothership. Get inside, take out the control room, and get back here before the ship gets sucked into Krollspace. Do that, and we have a chance.”

“Sound like a plan?”

[Amaril]

Helix takes in Hammer's briefing while dodging around energy blasts. "Roger that! How are we gonna distinguish the captains from the normal drones on sight?"

[Quellian-dyrae]

"Understood," Caleb said through the communicators.

"Are the drones susceptible to psychic compulsion?" Nadia asked. "Emotion-based attack, to be specific. We might be able to force one to give up the codes if so."

"Assuming we can beat their own psychic defenses, of course," Amy added warily.

"I am indeed assuming that, yes!" Nadia responded without missing a beat.

[Rakaydos]

Wolf had his ray gun out and was adjusting it's setings. "I might be able to close the interdimentional warp if I can get enough power, close enough, but that wont do anything about the drones already here. Does Zenith Tower still run on that old Naquadranium 4 reactor Blackhawk set up in the basement?" he asked Jack.

[Blackhawk748]

Basilisk looks out a window and sighs, not being able to fly was a real pain. He inserts the com unit into his ear hole and heads out the door, immediately climbing up the outside of the building. His plan, get near a drone and jump on it, then ride it up to the saucer, once there... He grinned I love it when theres no civilians in the way, its nice just letting go. Into the Com unit Dragon, im gonna need some cover, better if you can do a flyby with a few drones on your tail.

[Lord Raziere]

Basilisk looks out a window and sighs, not being able to fly was a real pain. He inserts the com unit into his ear hole and heads out the door, immediately climbing up the outside of the building. His plan, get near a drone and jump on it, then ride it up to the saucer, once there... He grinned I love it when theres no civilians in the way, its nice just letting go. Into the Com unit Dragon, im gonna need some cover, better if you can do a flyby with a few drones on your tail.

"Very well"
He said through his. He slapped one of the drones and quickly flew away, attracting their attention and flying towards Basilisk.
"This good enough for you?"

[Blackhawk748]

"Very well"
He said through his. He slapped one of the drones and quickly flew away, attracting their attention and flying towards Basilisk.
"This good enough for you?"

Perfect Basilisk lines up and jumps as they pass.

(1d20+12)[22]

[Gemshadow]

Malleboy too was hanging on Jack Hammer's every word until the explosion wrenched his attention away. He was filled with a mixture of excitement and awe. The scope of this pushing the limits of his imagination. He would soon adjust though, he was nothing if not imaginative. Hearing Topaz's call he rushed for the exit and once again transformed himself into a human spring, On your six, Topaz! Let go get us an alien Captain! his shout full of boyish glee.

[CandyLaser]

Starbright accepted the communicator warily, but inserted it in her ear nonetheless as she saw others doing the same. And it was a good thing she did - only a few moments after she was on the frequency, all hell broke loose. The explosion rattled her for a moment, and the others were quicker to jump into action than she was. But this also meant she heard Jack Hammer's advice on dealing with the Kroll. "Capture a captain, get the teleport codes. Got it." Then she took flight. A brilliant contrail marked her passage as she flew up to meet the invaders in the sky. A glowing nimbus of energy surrounded her as she cut loose, releasing a burst of cosmic power that washed over the biggest collection of drones she could find.

As she did, she spoke into the communicator. "Starbright, on drone detail. If anyone needs a lift, let me know - and sing out if you're injured."

I'm going to find the biggest group of drones I can and unleash a cosmic wave on them - that's a cone attack, Damage 10. No rolls necessary on my end.

[fireinthedust]

EVERYONE WHO'S ATTACKING INVADING DRONES: give me your rolls! If you're avoiding them: give me your rolls!

And whatever you do, describe the action FIRST, and then give me the rolls. You won't be penalized for small posts, but you'll get a randomly-determined benefit (now or later) for awesomeness.


SLAPPING A SAUCER: You have several options of which one to fly up to, there are several. Each is fairly large, however, and slapping it may hurt. One is above the Zenith Tower, generating the force field. Others are very high in the sky, and numerous Kroll forces are pouring out of them and onto the ground. There are two that are right now descending towards the city, one towards what looks like Christoph R Walken Park, and another towards what looks like (gotta find my notes, but iirc it's either a stadium or town square).

There are flying *speeders*, or smaller saucers the size of the walkers/tripods, if that's what you mean. (I'll check my notes when I have a minute: afk atm. I'll clear it up if it's confusing (see? this is why we test this stuff! :D ).
They could certainly be slapped and distracted. They also have disintegration guns, like the walkers and drones, mounted on them, which seem to be incinerating humans instantly.

If that's what you're aiming at: make some rolls! (and here, pls, so I don't have to zip around?:smallredface:)


ADVENTURE LOCATIONS: Here's the deal: we have several sites that *could* have a captain. You can go to them in different groups, together, or on your own; or you can stay on drone duty and save some humans.


Zenith Watch Tower
The Park
The (I want to say town square?)
Downtown Tomorrow City (drone duty)
The slums area, called "Downside", where police radios are calling for help


BETWEEN ADVENTURE LOCATIONS you'll have to fight drones, patrols, tripods. I'll tell you if and what you run into each time.



REACTOR: Jack Hammer starts at the suggestion from Wolf.
BLACKHAWK?! I'm the one who did that, not that whippersnapper. Me and Doctor Impossible! But you can't just zap the ship with that reactor: we tried that on another world, had everything we needed, but it didn't work... we... (cough) No, you have to get *inside* the ship and send them back from in there. The engines on that ship are more powerful than anything on this planet. That's the tip of one mountain you're looking at: the rest of the ship is the size of a planet, and all of its core is power generator. Only thing that can stop it... is itself!

When the time comes, we'll need you in there being a genius inventor. The only way to get in there is through the Zenith Tower's teleporter. We rigged it up... last time the Zenith Watch took on the Krollusk. He falls quiet, and then rushes over behind the bar to a computer console that, miraculously, is made with super science enhancements.

Jack Hammer starts connecting you all to various bits of data, giving you updates on where the aliens could be. Not that it's at all hard to find them on your own...

POLICE RADIO: Those of you aware of such things: you hear the police bands getting shut off one by one. The drones may be targeting police stations! The only one left and calling for help is TCPD in the slum area called Downside. It's over the river and across some train tracks, but you could make it there if you hurried.


STREETS: The walkers and patrols of flying squid with disintegration guns are firing at the large numbers of fleeing citizens. One shot and they're gone, apparently disintegrated. It is NOT free of civilians.

[Amaril]

As Hammer begins to feed him data, Helix suddenly finds himself faced with an unpleasant choice. If they need a captain to get them aboard the ship, going after one is the quickest way to end the battle...but as he watches the drones and walkers sweep through the fleeing civilians, he falters. They're defenseless. If we leave them, hundreds of them will die.
And even more will if this goes on any longer! another side of him counters. We can't all stay and protect them. We need to split our strength, save as many as we can while a few of us go for the captains.
He lands on top of a nearby building, surveying the situation, and makes his decision. "Topaz, Malleboy, I'll come help you get that captain" he announces into the comm, launching himself over the rooftops and after the pair. "You guys who are staying here to fight...try not to let too many people get hurt, okay? Please..."

Gonna follow Topaz and Malleboy to whichever encounter they choose (I'll leave the decision up to them). Waiting on further updates to roll anything.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Given the new information, the siblings figured their powers might have a greater use than playing defense. They flew for the nearest enemy that looked like, you know, an actual being rather than a machine.

The flight was...horrible, as they saw people getting gunned down. Their instincts screamed at them to just dive into the thick of it, attack the aliens directly, fight as hard as they could, save people.

It was Trinity who prompted them onward. The Tirnan prince was no stranger to military operations. Every second this invasion went on was going to cost lives. They were among the few people capable of helping to end it. No matter how many people they could save (and Trinity knew that, for all his power, that number would not be large fighting directly), they would be condemning far more to die for the time they wasted allowing the attack to continue.

Caleb gritted his teeth but put his trust in the Tirnan's advice. Amy fought back tears but resolved to do the best she could to save as many people as possible. Even Nadia seemed subdued, but she clung to her confidence that they could win.

So rather than invoking their powerful shields or healing magic, rather than tearing into the attackers with a flurry of empowered strikes, they focused on a single foe, a petty soldier, and flew at him in a flurry of feathers, wings and eyes and hands shining with brightly colored lights as they reached out to touch the alien, to overwhelm its mind with the sheer power of their ideals. Caleb's touch would make it trust their words. Nadia's would make it believe in them. Amy's would make it view them as cherished friends.

If it worked, they would demand in almost eerie simultaneity, "Take us to the captain who is directing your unit."

Current Location: Downtown.

Move Action: Fly (Speed Rank 8; can travel up to one mile as a move action) at the nearest alien soldier that looks like, you know, an alien, rather than a robot or something.

Free Action: Configure Triplecast to create a duplicate of Impose Ideal, removing the Cumulative Extra and Limited Degree Flaw (third degree condition: Controlled).

Standard Action: Attack the alien with Impose Ideal. If it's a Minion, this will be a Routine check for 20. Otherwise, attack roll is [roll0]. On a hit, the target must make a DC 20 Will save vs. Dazed+Vulnerable+Impaired/Immobilized+Defenseless+Disabled/Controlled Affliction. Naturally, if it's a Minion, it just hits Controlled automatically if it fails the save. In any event, if the target becomes Controlled, it will be forced to spend its actions leading the triplets (and any heroes who wish to follow them) to its immediate captain.

[CandyLaser]

It's not clear to me when it's time to act again. I'm going to post my next action, but I'd appreciate some guidance and organization indicating when things are ready and what the effects of our our first actions were.

After unleashing her cosmic power on a group of the drones, Starbright (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=18915166&postcount=154) saw that they were firing on civilians and decided to adopt a different approach. Sadly, she couldn't protect them all - but she could make herself a bigger target, and maybe take some of them out at the same time. It looked like the walkers and the saucers were the biggest threats.

She heads toward Zenith Tower, flying so fast that she simply seemed to vanish from her position and appear at the sight of the tower. A loud crack sounded as she broke the sound barrier - there might be some damage from that, but it was minor, compared to what the aliens were doing. There, she sought out one of the walkers, and she reached out with her power.

I'm using my rapid flight power to move, which makes me Vulnerable (Dodge and Parry 4 for the round), but I'm really, really fast. Then I'm using my Movable Create Object effect to try to grab one of the walkers. Here's the roll:

EDIT: Ugh, that was terrible. Let's spend a hero point to improve that. [roll]1d20+8

EDIT 2: Anyone know why the dice roller didn't roll? Let's try again: 1d20+8

If that attack succeeds:
A solid dome of cosmic energy encased it, and then she took off again, paying no heed to defense as she sped toward the saucer, towing the walker behind her at hundreds of thousands of miles per hour. Just before colliding with the saucer, though, she veered upward - and let go of the walker, aiming to have it continue its flight right into the saucer at astonishingly high speeds.

Using my Move-By Action to continue moving after grabbing the saucer, and then doing what I describe.

[Phobia]

"Oh %#&!" Miss Muscles exclaims before spitting out her drink. She'd been so engrossed in listening to Jack Hammer's story too, she loved the lore of heroes even though she had been one herself for a little while now. But before that she had still been a big fan of the Zenith Watch.

She dashed outside, much faster than her size would indicate, and leapt thirty feet into the sky before coming down hard on a speeder drone with a Megaton Punch, mainly trying to stop it from zapping any more humans.

"Someone go after those saucers- I'll stay here and deal with these out here!" She called to the others.

I'm downtown protecting civies!

Attack Roll!

[roll0]

[Nintendogeek01]

Beacon
Hero Points: 1
Condition: Normal

Move Action: fly within melee reach of a tripod drone attacking civilians.

Standard Action: unarmed attack vs. tripod drone's parry rating. DC27 toughness save if attack is successful, DC22 Dodge or Strength save to avoid being grabbed.

Attack roll: [roll0]

Other: Beacon will use interpose on the next attack that successfully hits a civilian, making a toughness save for that civilian.

In DOWNTOWN Tomorrow City:

"Beacon to team! Do you read?" Beacon pinged over the comms as she flew towards a tripod machine aiming its death ray at helpless civilians. "I need non-flyers at my location at {insert street address here} to cover civilians! I can't go looking for the Captain Drone while civilians are in danger!" Beacon rocketed towards the drone as its death ray was warming up, pulled a fist back, and readied to slam it into the drone.

[fireinthedust]

OOC: Good call on organizing.

I'm going to let everyone post before moving on. I'll let everyone take ONE round's action, plus responses they may have. Then I'll have the bad guys go, plus any NPC actions. Then I'll respond to your next action (so if you're on drone detail, we'll have another round of combat. If you're going to a location, we'll go there, and everyone going there will arrive together).

Collecting everyone's posts so I can do them at once (ie: once a day), just in case I'm held up or busy with meetings, will help keep this together. I'd rather everyone work together, or in groups, to save posting times and delays.

It looks like you're all moving off in different directions. As powerful as you are, you maaaaaay not want to do that. In the groups I ran in person, we kept people together (helps build team spirit, plus focus), but as this is pbp I can, technically, split the party, sure... but if you're solo, it maaaaaay come back to bite you.



ACTIONS SO FAR: THE STREETS OUTSIDE THE DINER (because, you realize, you didn't have to fly across the city to get into the action! Plus opening action sequence, people)


Dragon: You fly up and smack one of the speeders, and it follows you. Other drones also follow you, as apparently they see a giant dragon as a threat (go figure!). A lot of them, come to think of it...

Basilisk: You see Dragon leading a virtual fleet of aliens towards you. Your attack hits the speeder, exploding it (maybe you hit a power cell?), but as the flames and smoke clear around you (and look epic, btw), you find that your group... is now surrounded by a swarm of alien patrols!

Starbright: Your cosmic blast overwhelms the squid-like alien drones that now surround the group! They shudder and fall to the ground.

Miss Muscles: Your punch hits like a megaton of bricks! A second speeder that had followed Dragon is your target (being the nearest one to you), and like the first, it just doesn't hold up to a super-pounding. It gives off smoke and spirals to the ground, skidding to a halt through asphalt. You land safely.

Around a corner comes a tripod, several civilians fleeing from it.

BEACON: your (EDIT: STRIKE) hits the tripod, so that it stumbles back a few steps. This doesn't knock it down, but it shifts focus from the civilians to you. (yay?) The death ray points at you, and the charge inside lights up. You're virtually certain you're going to be fried, until...

TOPAZ: You strike the tripod. The leg is strong, but your slam is powerful enough that it collapses, the tripod falling to one side.


TRINITY: the triplets grab the nearest drone, which happens to be one stumbling off the downed speeder on wobbly tentacles. With an intense display of psychic power, they pry into the mind of the alien, demanding to know where the captain is...

So it turns out the Krollusk Hivemind is a collective entity. You see the other dimension, and that the various bits of Krollusk were once alien races, people from across the galaxy. The Kroll pop across the dimensions, convert all biological life to Kroll life, and use their ships to pull entire planets back into Kroll space.

The Captains fly around from place to place, contacting the drones psychically. The saucer in the park is one location, the one in town square another, the one on the zenith tower another.

However, you are suddenly HIT BY A PSYCHIC BLAST! Roll your Will defense, DC30, as the Kroll Hivemind becomes aware of you, and lashes out!

It's not just that they're attacking you, it's that the hivemind is so vast, so powerful, that this contact is overwhelming. It's bigger than you, and you want to avoid being squashed like a bug by the size of its mind!


...but are overwhelmed! The trio scream and are hit by some kind of psychic backlash!

Malleboy and Wolf arrive on the scene, while Helix can see what's going on from his perch on the rooftop.


OOC: Okay, NOW decide what your second actions are. You've basically wiped out the drones outside the diner. The Tripod, however, is still technically active: it's lost a leg, but the rest of it is still kicking.

Starbright, if you still want to pick up that tripod, go for it.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Will: . One Degree failure. Bruised?

If the total is less than 20, Luck Reroll: [roll1].

Is this a Damage effect? Or something else? Since I'm almost guaranteed to fail by at least one degree, I'm not sure what state I'm in after the roll.

EDIT: Huh, nice rolls. I almost wish my first one was lower so I could've no-sold it with the Luck Reroll :smallcool:.

Also, whoops, thought the diner area counted as "downtown" :smallredface:.

Well, that was...odd. The triplets reeled back from the contact, Amy crying out, Nadia giving what was more an annoyed hiss, and Caleb grunting. It was weird. It almost felt like their bond had temporarily extended to, uh, the entire flipping race. How it had happened, they weren't sure, presumably some part of the Kollusk's reactionary psychic defense (their attack was more pumping the target so full of idealistic emotion that its will broke down, while this had clearly been a direct telepathic contact). They might have been the first people in history to attempt a psychic attack on these creatures. They made a mental note to spread the word not to do it.

Still, they'd take their licks for useful information. The will of the hivemind crashed over them like a wave, and oh yes, they withdrew. They weren't fools. But they also weren't defenseless. Trinity was a prince from a world where everyone had some degree of psionic power. His mental shields were potent, and he was well inured to the flood of multiple wills in tandem. His psionic defenses couldn't completely hold back the tide, but it minimized the damage done while they ceased their flow of power.

"Apparently the captains don't stick near the rank-and-file. We should be able to find one on one of the saucers," Nadia reported. "Also, wow, guys! Way to wipe out, like, everything in sight! Yay go team!"

"Smart play would probably be for all or most of us to just hit one with overwhelming force. I'd suggest that the best one would be the one over the Zenith Watch tower, since we need to disable that one anyway. Accomplish both goals at once, stop this whole thing faster." Amy added.

"We're not going to be able to psychically compel them to give up the codes though, so we'll need to come up with some other methodology," Caleb added. That, if anything, would be the hard part. How do you manipulate or threaten a single member of a hive mind? He couldn't think of a good option off the top of his head, but he held faith that they'd figure something out.

Doesn't seem to be any immediate need for further combat action here (I'll leave squashing the crippled Walker to someone else who may want to :smallamused:), although assuming that psychic blast was Damage, Amy will heal them (her minimum roll removes at least one condition, and with five ranks Restorative, she'd also negate the effect if it was or included a Weaken. The triplets will follow the largest group that is heading towards a saucer, if the group splits up. If the group is indecisive about where to go, they'll lead anyone who chooses to follow to the saucer atop the Zenith Watch tower.

Current Status: Probably none after healing! Unless it was an Affliction, in which case Will to throw it off at end of turn: [roll]1d20+10 oh yeah I'm editing this post. Well, I'll just roll that with my next post if it is an Affliction.

[CandyLaser]

Starbright is indeed going to go for the grab-and-toss of the tripod, into the saucer. Since my reroll attempt didn't work in my earlier post, here it is: [roll0].

[Blackhawk748]

Basilisk roars (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlNILMJCiw4) and charges the nearest alien slashing at him with his claws, intending to smash and run.

roll (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=18944118&postcount=44)
Also im gonna use Fast Grab and i have Improved Grab as well, and after i attack, weather it works or not Basilisk is gonna run up the neighboring building, i love Move by Action.

So Standard: Unarmed Attack with Fast Grab and Improved Grab
Move: Move to alien, then move up building with remaining movement
Free: ROAR!!!

[Lord Raziere]

Prof Dragon turns around, roars at the aliens small fleet following him like a lion before a herd, and begins blasting fire from his mouth upon him, the raging inferno coming at them like a great ravaging blizzard made of flames eating away at them like bright swarm of locusts.


Intimidate Check to make hesitate for a moment:
[roll0]
Flame Breath Attack:
[roll1]

[Gemshadow]

Malleboy springs over to the fallen tripod taken down by Topaz. He stretches himself out across the surface of the pod using his malleable body to search the pod quickly for a point of entry.


Malleboy is stretching his body over the pod like a large rubber coating and using his insubstantial, precise power to feel around the surface of the pod all at once in places where there is likely to be a door with a seal he could break. He makes sure that no part of his body is covering those disintegrators.

I'll have to roll on the OOC thread since I've edited this post
http://http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=18944806&postcount=47 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=18944806&postcount=47)

Result of his search check was a 17

[fireinthedust]

Psychic Attack: Trinity is/are stunned, but psychically powerful enough that the contact doesn't damage them. Maybe the hivemind is like a single, linked psychic entity? Like a queen bee that uses telepathy with its drones; or maybe like a bacteria, with parts that are so mentally identical that they have "resonances" similar to beings with one mind: one purpose, one identity, one collective entity in many bodies. The individual parts are NOT sapient.

OOC: long day, so I'll check in tomorrow. Excelsior!

Also: this first round of combat is big and confusing. Next round I'll have you guys SPECIFY where you're going. Think of it like going to a different room in a dungeon: you go in, there's an encounter there. Between locations, there will be random possible events or obstacles you have to get past. So, for me to know what you encounter, I need to know where you're going to. Otherwise we're just in freefall, and it's way harder for me than it needs to be.

Zenith Tower (looks like Star Bright is launching a tripod that way)
The Park
The (town square)
Downside slums
Drone fighting

When the game is steadier, I'll be able to respond in a more sandbox style. M&M takes some getting used to for the first adventure, while the GM figures out how the heroes "work". (and then I can play with sub-plots, your complications, your rogues galleries, etc., because I know you like to grapple planets)

[Phobia]

"Bullseye!" Miss Muscles shouted as she landed hard and watched the drone crash. She rushed over to the Beacon's last known location and put her hand up to her hear to better make use of her communicator.

"Copy that. Those civies will be safe with me." She said through the link before scanning te sky's for another drone and leaping at it with all her might attempting to grab on and hold it.

Grapple a flying drone!

[roll0]

[Hammer Head]

USE HERO POINT: EDIT SCENE

Topaz's shoulder dug into the metal, denting it, the alien alloy collapsing around her shoulder as the weight of the immense machine shifted, it spun, and, with the sounds of shredding metal, a shower of sparks, and a deluge of some indigo fluid, the leg Topaz tackled tore free from the walker entirely. It remained on her shoulder as her momentum carried her onward for a few more steps, before her shell of blazing orange energy dissipated, and she skidded to a stop, just to be suddenly hatred by the walker crashing down onto the pavement behind her, enveloping her in an expanding wave of dust.

She burned it away with her aura of burning sunset, and kicked the immense leg off her shoulder, before she caught three voices over the COMMUNICATORS talking about how there was a captain in the saucer over the Zenith tower. Those triplets got results, that's for sure. Holding up a hand, she tried to get Malleboy's attention, "Hey, Malleboy, we've got no cap here. The closest one is gonna be up in the saucer above the eyesore tower, and I've got a way," she grabbed the dismembered walker leg in one hand and lifted it up, "inside. Care to give me a slingshot?"

If Malleboy agreed to shoot her at the saucer, Topaz would turn to Helix next, "I think the guy triplet said something about psychic powers not working. Do you think you could make your bio-reflavoring stuff churn out a chemical that makes something just spout all it's secrets?"

[Jumping ahead assuming that Malleboy forms a giant slingshot and Helix thinks he can do said task.]

Topaz braced herself against the central part of Malleboy's giant slingshot, carrying a giant spidery-leg on her shoulder, the spiked tip pointed carefully ahead of her at the saucer in the sky. Then, with the suddenly pressure of acceleration, she was airborne, and that saucer was approaching her face very, very quickly. However, just before impact...


SUNSET MASS

...she changed her weight to 50 metric tons. Turning the leg and herself into a spear of alien superalloys, and a hammer of 50 metric tons driving it forward.

Screwing her eyes shut she braced for impact. But then, she didn't stop. And she continued to feel the air rush past her. Blinking, she opened her eyes again, and, seeing clear skies ahead, turned her neck around. And there was a red-hot hole straight through the saucer. So, turning back to the front, not even showing emotion, she contemplated where she might land, and heaved a heavy sigh.

[Gemshadow]

Hearing Topaz's request Malleboy quickly reaches out and grabs two telephone poles on either side of the street as he transforms himself into a giant slingshot. This is going to be awesome, I've always wanted to try this, Topaz!


Malleboy transforms himself into a giant human slingshot. He uses his Elasticity Array to create the power:
Human Slingshot: Leaping 12, Affects Others(+0), Quirk(Must have adequate struts to attach too.

Since its modeled this way the action roll is to you Hammer Head as a charge action I believe.

[Rakaydos]

Col. Wolf snorted at Jack Hammer. "Good to know. I always knew that crow was stealing the credit." snapping a shot off, a drone falls in the backround. "Excuse me, it seems the triplets are having problems with a war walker." nodding, he dashed off toward the conflict.

[br]

A few blasts bounce off the walker's core before it turns to see the source- Wolf, out in the open with his ray gun out, aiming for another attack...

Ray Gun, linked paralize ray[roll0] (that is, 8 skill and 4 stat, right? or did I do it wrong?)

[fireinthedust]

The GM sipped his coffee... "oh dear, the wee one put a tea bag into it. Ah well, caffeine is caffeine. At least the players in my pbp game won't know. That reminds me!" He hummed, remembering that he was behind on posting to that merry band of superheroes trying out Tomorrow City! Taking another uber-bitter swig of the black-red stew, he turned on his computer.

"Oh, good, one of them posted in the OOC thread. And they're happy! Oh good, people like being happy. Let's see what they wrote in the IC thread that's got them so... Oh dear. Oh gosh. Why, why, why do players do things like this?" The GM put down the mug of simmering ichor and wrung his hands, then frantically went over his notes. "Nope. Dang. Nope."

With a heavy heart, the GM clicked "Reply" and started typing. (and then double-checked that he wasn't leaving out anyone's action... oops, gotta do Star Bright first!)


IC:

STAR BRIGHT: Launching the tripod through the air... you miss spectacularly, sadly, having rolled a 1. Also you seem to have rolled a d10 instead of a d20. The tripod does fly through the air, but hits a skyscraper and sends rubble crashing down into the street. You're not sure if bystanders have been hurt! As well, it narrowly missed a NEWS HELICOPTER that veers out of view. You're not sure if it's crashed! It's several blocks away, so you'll have to go check to find out!

(GASP! The GM seamlessly used a poor die roll to advance the PLOT! Amazing, what a guy! Moving on...)


TOPAZ: Your set up goes off without a hitch: the tripod leg comes off easily enough, Malleboy creates the ideal slingshot out of his body, and a moment later the cosmic champion is flying through the air. WHOOSH, past the drones. WHOOSH past speeders and tripods. WHOOSH past various other flying saucers of equivalent size that happen to be flying around zapping things...

KER-PLANNNGGGGG!!! Topaz spears into the saucer above the Zenith tower. There is a terrific crash and an explosion of sparks, but the leg has pierced the saucer.


The crash knocks you for a loop, but you recover your senses after a moment, and hover in space above the sauser (you hit it going up, crash, bounced up on an angle, hovering there).

Now that you're here, Topaz, you have a much better look at this saucer. The shield surrounding the Zenith Tower is opaque, so you can't see the tower itself. The saucer is stationary, and has extended a mechanical root system down, and from the "roots" the force field is being extended. The top of the saucer, on the other hand, has a platform on it covered in glowing orbs with their own "root system" attaching them to the saucer. The glow is identical to the shield's glow.

A number of drones have flown from the top and are now surrounding you. Their tentacles are waving at you, entangling you. While not powerhouses, they are incredibly strong, and seem to empower each other as more of them pile on.

You hear a voice: clear, educated, masculine, but something about the voice sounds odd. Bring her here and hold her still. I don't want her getting loose.

The flying squid drones pull you down over the platform. They are very strong, if you're trying to resist them(?)


MISS MUSCLES: You see all the above! Have you bounded away yet?

MALLEBOY AND HELIX AND, I GUESS, WOLF: The tripod has been launched through the air by Star Bright. What now?

DRAGON AND BASILISK: Ditto!

SUMMARY: The party smashed all the guys around you last GM post. You've got to option of going off to the saucer with Topaz; going to check on the downed helicopter Star Bright may have damaged; or going AS A GROUP OF TWO OR THREE(so I can keep track of it; I'm only human!) to one of the previously mentioned locations?

[Quellian-dyrae]

Fully getting their wits back about them (and checking to make sure Trinity was okay, since he received the brunt of it), the triplets started flying towards the saucer over Zenith Tower and...briefly stopped, blinking, as Topaz slingshot past them to joust the flipping flying saucer using the leg of one of the giant alien walkers as a lance.

"I'll be honest, I didn't expect that."

"Sisters of Spectra man, I'm telling you!"

The triplets flew off after her, heading for the tower and the saucer above it with all speed.

Flying after Topaz towards the Zenith Tower Saucer at Speed Rank 8 (one mile per move action, or two miles per round with double move).

If we're still on the same round because some previous actions got invalidated, ignore this. I just figure it's better to err on the side of posting.

[Rakaydos]

Watching topaz fl through the air, Wolf shook his head, running for the base of the shield that obscured Zenith tower.

[Blackhawk748]

Basilisk drops the unconscious alien and makes a beeline for the Tower.

[Lord Raziere]

Professor Dragon, see the fleet of spaceships following him are now cooked, flies to the tower as well. Since the shield still seems to be up, he tries to burn the spaceship emitting it with his flames.


Dragon Breath attack:
[roll0]

[Gemshadow]

Seeing what became of Topaz's plan to strike the saucer, Malleboy made an audible gulp, Oh man that's not good. Not good at all.

Malleboy jumps up from his position in the street reforming himself into a giant spring and launches himself up towards the top of the tower to help Topaz.


Human Spring: Leaping 10 leaping up to the top of the saucer beside Topaz.

Not sure what to roll here but here's one just in case.
[roll0]

[Hammer Head]

Topaz felt the metal of the saucer crumple beneath her weight as she skidded to a halt on it's surface. A moment later, she rose to a knee, gripping her forehead, a dimple collapsing in the ship where her knee rested. Sometimes she wished she had the ability to fly, because then she could just fly off and grab another walker leg to try again. Then again, as she looked up at the vehicle, she realized that maybe she didn't actually need to get inside. Then again, she didn't see the Captain anywhere.

Once she rose to her feet, though, there came a voice... and lots of floating tentacle balls. Hold her still, huh? Well, they'd have to be pretty superhumanly strong if they were going to hold her back, and even if they were beyond the peak of human accomplishment in regards to strength, she knew she could take at least sixteen of them. She laughed as one attached itself to her. She doubted they could even lift 50 metric tons.


RESIST GRAB

Gonna use Invisble Castle until told to do otherwise:

1d20+12=22 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4796269/)

Regardless of if they managed to pile on sufficient numbers to cause her dismay, though, she'd relay over the COMMUNICATOR, "Help! I've been transported into a Japanese porno! Tentacles everywhere! ARGH!"

Humph, this narrator does not approve of that comment. It's offensive to the Japanese.

She assumed that she would easily shrug them off and spent a moment to line up another charge, this time with the glowing energy testicles that appeared to be running the forcefield, and...


THIS IS SUNSET FOR YOU

[Phobia]

"Ah man civies in danger! It never stops, huh?" Miss Muscles called out to the nearest hero as she witnessed the chopper go down before they went to attend to something else as well. They probably had enough help over there.

"Get out of my way!" She yelled, her blood pumping, as she dashed towards where that helicopter went down.

[CandyLaser]

Character:
Starbright


Location:
Zenith Tower


Hero Points:
1


Condition:
Normal




After her clever plan failed, Starbright had no choice but go and check on the possibly downed helicopter. She flitted off toward its last position. "Starbright, headed to check on the downed chopper. Topaz, I'll back you up ASAP."


If the chopper's fine, then Starbright will turn her attention to backing up Topaz. She'll fly up and open fire on the tentacles with another cosmic wave. If the chopper's going down, she'll use her cosmic constructs ability to create supports and set it down gently someplace relatively safe. If it's already down, she'll fly down and check on the passengers. If they're okay, she'll use cosmic constructs to construct a protective shell and fly them somewhere safe. If anyone's injured, she'll use cosmic healing to help out the one who looks the worst off.

Well, that's complicated. Here's a d20 roll if I need one. . I might need one for creating a construct to rescue the helicopter; in that case, I'll use Accurate Attack to bump up my bonus by 3, giving me a +11 to the indicated roll. If I need to heal, I get a +12 to the roll and the DC is 10.

EDIT: I didn't understand the relative positions. Heading to the chopper, not the Tower.

[fireinthedust]

OOC: Hi all, thanks for being patient. RL family hospital thing, long effing weekend, but all is well. Gummed up my whole schedule.

STARBRIGHT: You need to tell me if you want to go to the chopper or go to the tower. You cannot do both, as the chopper is *not* near the tower. (OOOOoooooh, choices, dilemmas! It all seems so coooool! What'll you doooo? It's like that scene in Batman Forever, where Val Kilmer has to decide to save Robin or save Nicole Kidman! Except you have to pick the one you'll go to first, because they're both scenarios, and it's more fun this way.)


THE CHOPPER: Leaping towards the direction of the possibly-downed chopper, the scene on the street is bleak: The tripod had smashed into one of the buildings, knocking rubble onto the street below. No one seems to have been injured, and this stretch of the city seems to be fairly empty, as if the drones had cleared it out already. The chopper wobbled in the sky as you arrived, but a moment later rights itself and flies off.

*However* you see the hole in the building where the tripod hit has opened up the building wall, and exposed a floor of the building between two stories. Hanging off the section of wall, perilously close to falling to the street below, is a young man in a scientist's suit. The logo for Moebius Industries is displayed on the back of his suit. He does not look safe, hanging off that broken ledge, and the floor shifts as you look at him, like a section of it is about to crumble away and crush him beneath it when they hit the pavement, many stories below.

The building, you realize, is the Moebius Building, the home of famous Zenith Watch scientist Doctor Impossible.

OOC: if this was Marvel, it would be the Baxter Building or Oscorp, or STAR Labs for DC.


THE TOWER: The tentacle creatures have grappled Topaz, in a very tasteful and not in any way graphic fashion, and drag her through the air towards the platform. Standing at one of the nodes on top of the platform is a very muscular man in a torn up lab coat. Hands and feet have long claws on their tips, and his fleshy arms and legs have grown so muscular that they have burst through his sleeves and trouser legs. His head and back have sprouted a dozen wriggling tentacles of their own. His eyes have become black orbs, though the spectacles on his nose give him an air of intellectual dignity. His fleshy lips work around needle-sharp teeth bulging from his gums. In all, he seems like a hybrid between human and Krollusk.

Well what have we here? One of Earth's heroes come to defeat the alien menace? How deliciously futile, just like your pitiful attempt to skewer this shield-generating ship. If only you'd used claws sharp enough to gut a human... like these convenient things, for example. The brute pulls back his talons, preparing to slash Topaz in a horrible fashion.

Just then the rest of the acting-Zenith Watch burst onto the scene (strike a pose!), and the ape-like, worm-covered scientist sneers.
What's this, the cavalry here to save the day in the nick of time? How obnoxiously predictable.

[Quellian-dyrae]

"Predictable, huh? So you know how this goes and you're ready to surrender, is what you're saying?" Nadia taunted, a slender smirk on her face.

"Release her now and cooperate with us. If we don't have to, we don't want to hurt you..." Amy offered.

"...And you can't hurt us!" Caleb finished, the young man's eyes blazing with silver light. His arms came in, crossing in an "X" before his chest, an aura of silvery power flaring up around him. Out went his arms, outstretched wide, and that shimmering radiance expanded outward. All around, his companions would feel for just a moment the quiet certainty, the unyielding conviction, the complete and sincere Faith at the core of his being as he drew upon Trinity's power and Manifested it around them. Their skin would be lined in translucent, silvery shields of energy, a potent barrier against attack.

Move Action: Fly about as necessary to get as many allies as possible within range.

Standard Action: Manifest Faith. All allies within 30' of Caleb are surrounded by a weightless, Selective, Created shield. Normally, this would block line of effect for enemies. That's overpowered, so the Shielding Limit reduces its efficacy. Protected allies can still be targeted with attacks normally, but the shield tanks any Toughness, Fortitude, or Will-resisted attacks for them with a resistance check of +10.

If the shield beats the DC, the attack is blocked.

If it fails by one degree, the attack is blocked, but that ally's shield takes a -1 penalty on further resistance checks.

If it fails by two degrees, the shield is breached; that attack gets through, and the shield also takes the -1 penalty.

If it fails by three degrees, the attack goes through and the shield shatters.

If the attack goes through, the shield does not reduce its effectiveness at all. Non-damaging effects can still damage the shield, and the shield is Impervious, so it auto-blocks attacks of rank 5 or lower. The shield is translucent and thus offers no protection against Perception-range attacks. It's suggested that allies hit by attacks while the shield lasts simply roll the shield's resistance along with their own, and just ignore their own result if the shield rolls high enough to block.

Current Status: Normal.

[Blackhawk748]

Basilisk lets out a low deep growl as he prepares to pounce.

[roll0]

[fireinthedust]

TOPAZ: you burst free of the aliens, easily throwing them off. (OOC: did you mean you're going to charge the energy nodes? If so, roll em!)


DRAGON: The behemoth arrives at the tower, and his flaming breath hits the saucer. The structure is still up, but severely damaged and buckling.


EVERYONE ELSE AT THE TOWER: State your actions. The Aliens look like they're going to charge each of you, while the claw person looks like he'll want to rend Topaz limb from limb, personally.

[Blackhawk748]

Basilisk roars and charges the Half Alien abomination.

Move: move to target
Standard: Unarmed attack and use Fast Grab. [roll0] 8 damage if i hit and he will be grabbed

[Quellian-dyrae]

Trinity continued channeling his power through Caleb, maintaining the shield.

Still shielding everyone within 30'. Shield tanks any non-Perception-range, Tough/Fort/Will resisted attacks that hit affected allies at +10, letting the attack through if it fails its resistance check by at least two degrees.

Not sure if it was necessary to post this but figured it'd be convenient if nothing else.

[CandyLaser]

Character:
Starbright


Location:
Moebius Building


Hero Points:
1


Condition:
Normal



Starbright was glad to see that the helicopter was undamaged. Hopefully they'd clear the line of fire and get gone now rather than risk more close calls. But now there was a new problem. The scientist clinging to the crumbling floor was just one man, and many more were at risk - but it would be the work of only a second to save him. She reached out with her cosmic power, and created a platform of glowing white force just under the dangling man's feet. Then she caused it to raise up, gently, taking his weight and lifting him back up into the building, toward safe and stable ground. Once he was on his feet and out of immediate danger of falling, she zipped in closer to him and said, "Are you all right? Any injuries? If you can, you should get further into the building. Find a desk or something and get under it. We'll have these invaders dispatched soon enough."


I'm going to Create a platform, as described, and use it to save the scientist. Unless he has something to say/do, I'm then going to head toward Zenith Tower to support Topaz.

[Gemshadow]

After a prodigious leap Malleboy lands beside Topaz on the alien platform and turns to face the enemy side by side with Topaz. Okay, what's the plan?

[Lord Raziere]

DRAGON: The behemoth arrives at the tower, and his flaming breath hits the saucer. The structure is still up, but severely damaged and buckling.


Professor Dragon decides to fly around then ram the behemoth at full speed, coming full force at it like a cannonball to wreck it with the full force of his bulk.
"Only I get to set saucers on fire around here."


hm.....I'm just going to use my Strength and Close Attack Score for this one.
Attack the saucer one last time:
[roll0]

[Rakaydos]

Wolf waits for the alien to build up momentum, then shoots it with a freeze ray and sidesteps it's frozen slide off the edge.

[roll0]

[fireinthedust]

OOC: thanks for sticking around! I'm finishing up a business plan, writing my company's next adventure, and planning some events in Toronto...plus (as you may suspect) I'm a bit all over the place :D

As I understand it, this round: Topaz got grappled, and in a burst of strength tossed off the aliens; then shot a blast at the batteries on top of the saucer (roll pending, but it's an easy roll, so likely will auto give it for this round to move forward). Dragon roasted the bottom of the saucer. Malleboy landed next to Topaz. Trinity is shielding everyone. Basilisk roared and charged the alien (hitting, btw). Wolf then blasted his freeze ray (hitting). Am I missing anything? Okay, I'm going to resolve this round, and then we'll go to the next (Dragon is going to bash the tower, btw).

IC:

Topaz threw off the aliens and fired a blast towards the batteries. They explode in a shower of sparks, and crackling arcs of energy leap around the deck. Luckily the shield of Trinity protected the Zenith Watch from harm, though one massive bolt would have fried Malleboy if it had gotten through. Each of the alien drones is shocked, however, and its charred corpse lands on the saucer deck.

The fiery breath of Professor Dragon hit the bottom of the saucer, melting and frying more of the alien technology.

Basilisk and Wolf, meanwhile, attack the alien. Basilisk's charge impacts him, tearing at his fleshy body; yet the mutant's instinctive reaction absorbs much of the brunt of the attack, and while it hits hard, the alien scientist is still on his feet.

The mutant pounces, with a combination strike that would have slashed open Basilisk's throat... if it had connected.

Mid-air the freeze ray hits, and the mutant scientist is frozen in mid-leap. It's body locked, the creature flies off the edge and falls.

ROUND TWO

Professor Dragon's body smashes the saucer, and this time it is too much for the ship. The platform slants sideways, the shield is OFF, and the entire structure falls from above the tower to the ground below. There is a massive crash and a plume of smoke.

EVERYONE TELL ME HOW YOU GET OFF THE PLATFORM, OR HELP OTHERS TO DO SO (please :D)

The smoke from the crashed saucer rises up around Zenith Tower as the shield energy finally dissipates. The top of the shield crackles away, and the Zenith Tower is revealed, like a Pheonix rising from the ashes. A giant amber tower, strange in its design like some futuristic monolith dreamed by some prophet of space and time, it nonetheless reminds you all of hope and the perseverance of the generations of Zenith Watch teams... including yourselves, now!

The entrance door opens a moment later, and Jack Hammer stands in the doorway.

"You did it! I took the monorail from the diner, but the shield extended below ground until just now. I'll spool up the transporter, but we can't get onto the Krollusk Mothership until we get the codes from one of those Captains. Hurry! When you're done, get back here as soon as you can!"

OOC: Yay, one objective done! Now to find a captain...

Starbright and Miss Muscles, I'll be with you in a moment.

[fireinthedust]

STARBRIGHT/MISS MUSCLES

Miss Muscles lands at the hole in the building near Starbright, just as Starbright's shield catches the bystander scientist. A young man with handsome features, he is charming and British, in the vein of Hugh Grant or David Tennant: young, smart, a bit nerdy, but charming in an awkward way nonetheless.

"Ahh! Oh my goodness!" He says as he falls onto the platform. He takes a moment to figure out that he is not, in fact, plummeting to his death. Then, slowly, he turns and looks at you both. "I have to compliment you for your impeccable timing, though perhaps during my years at college... I need you, both of you, upstairs, in the penthouse, now." He winces at how that must sound, and tries again. "...That is to say, that is, we have a problem. At the lab. Up those stairs. In the penthouse that has been turned into a lab. It's... well, been attacked. Not by these aliens, actually, though that's not helping. Up those stairs. I saw them, you see, on the monitor. People breaking into the forbidden lab vaults, where we keep, well, some rather important things. Then all this happened. It's... well, it's not good. Help?"

[Quellian-dyrae]

The triplets took to the air as the platform began to fall, although Caleb and Nadia hovered nearby; if any of the others looked like they were having trouble getting off safely, they'd wing over to fly them off.

Amy, however, dove after the frozen, falling scientist, trying to snag him before he hit the ground. Any life was worth preserving when it was possible to do so.

Also, he might have known the codes. And he seemed different enough from the other aliens that he might be possible to speak to.

Either way, once they had regrouped, Amy would say, "Everyone okay? Anyone need healing?"

Trinity has Power Lifting 4 Limited to flying people out of danger. As always, since it's Trinity's strength, it gets divided among the triplets if more than one of them is using it, so between them they can carry up to eight hundred pounds, probably vicinity four people, to safety if necessary. And I'm not opposed to Extra Efforting that to 1,600 if need be.

That said, if it isn't enough for everyone who needs it, the scientist is probably the one that takes priority, since he's the most at risk of death here. And because he might have the codes.

Not sure what if anything to roll for snagging the scientist. GM?

[Blackhawk748]

Basilisk leaps from the falling saucer and clings to the Tower.

[roll0]
FYI i have wall crawler so i just stick.

[Gemshadow]

As the platform shifts and slants toward collapse, Malleboy quickly calls out to anyone there, If you need a ride down I'm going that way. He then quickly shifts his form into a giant parachute and extends his arms, as many as are needed (8 in fact) to accomidate those that may need help getting down safely.


Variable Power Pool.
Movement 1 (SafeFall) Affects Others(+1)
Extra Limbs 6

If needed Malleboy can easily carry as many people down as needed since his affects other safe fall only requires that they be in contact so with his elongation he can grab the scientist as well if need be.

Malleboy is team support first and foremost so don't hesitate to ask him to do something like grab falling civies or nice aliens because he has flexibility enough to accomplish those types of things while those of you with the real firepower take care of the big obstacles like the bad aliens

[Rakaydos]

As the saucer slid sideways, Wolf ran up to the top edge. The shield dropped, he lept for the top of Zenith tower, landing hard enough to dent even the super-steel of the Tower's construction. (leaping 3)

[CandyLaser]

Character:
Starbright


Location:
Moebius Building


Hero Points:
1


Condition:
Normal



Starbright gave the scientist a quick once-over. Did he not realize that there was a full-scale alien invasion going on? But it seemed that he was aware, and he judged the situation in the building more important. He might even be right, and Starbright's compatriots seemed to be managing fine without her. "All right," she said. "Lay on, Macduff. What's the fastest way there?"

(Sorry about the belated posting. Life got busy. It's also not clear to me who's still actually around.)