Watchmen: A Reassemblyverse Game (M&M 3E)

[herodofcows]

Chapter 1: Riddle Me This

It lurks on the outskirts of Gotham City, like a single poisonous thought on the edge of conscious thought. It is barely visible from the city proper, obscured as it is by forest and marshland, and yet its presence casts an undeniable pall upon the day-to-day lives of Gotham's denizens. It is home to nightmares and madmen, a serious house on serious earth, a place for an emptied Hell to store its devils.

Arkham Asylum.

It is rare for the inmates to receive visitors, and yet today there are four strangers beyond the usual influx of guards and medical personnel.

The first pair drive through in a rented car, parking in the seldom-used visitor's lot before making their way through the doors. They enter with press passes, one with a notepad and the other with a camera. The former is a tall dark-haired woman with a purposeful air and eyes that could slice diamonds. The latter is a slight red-headed man in dark clothes that, in certain lights, almost seem to shimmer and flow.

Eventually, they are met by a dark-haired gentleman dressed a lab coat and resplendent in professional demeanor. He exudes good-natured arrogance as he strides forward and clasps the man and the woman by the hand before guiding them deeper into the sterile tiled bowels of the asylum.

"Lois Lane, I presume? Dr. Stephen Strange, a pleasure to meet you. And you must be James Olsen? Dr. Stephen Strange, nice to meet you. Please, follow me!"

"Olsen! C'mere."

As ever, Lois' bark shoots across the room and seems to hit you square in the face. She beckons you peremptorily into the office that she splits with Clark. You'd hastened in: even at the best of times,
it doesn't pay to keep Lois waiting, and her Skrull abduction had left her with some newfound reserves of acerbic pull.

"I'm stealing you off the City desk for a couple days. Shut the door behind you. Got something hush-hush."

She tosses a binder over to you. It's emblazoned with the Arkham Asylum logo, and bears the legend Project John Carter.

"I got a tip from someone at Arkham: Looks like Martian Manhunter is doing some kind of community service partnership with some hotshot neurosurgeon named Strange at the Asylum. Telepathy as therapy, trying to rehabilitate violent criminals. It's good puff piece fodder on its own, but why is a federal prisoner like Martian Manhunter being used in a private asylum? What is he doing there to begin with? Who's lending him out, or is he somehow a free man?

"We've got hotel rooms for two nights, Thursday and Friday. Figure we take Thursday to hit the Asylum, do an interview with Strange, see if we can get some facetime with Manhunter. Friday . . . well, depending on what we see, maybe we do some detective work."

She punches you lightly on the shoulder.

"So whaddayasay? Ready to dip your toes into some real investigative journalism?"

The other two arrive directly in the entry hall in a blaze of bluish-purple light. One is reptilian, a humongous bestial-looking figure. The other looks positively demonic, and is suffused in the same light that had heralded their sudden arrival.

The guards react in alarm and begin to raise their weapons before a sonorous voice cuts them off.

"Lower your weapons, please! These . . . people are expected."

A bald-headed gentleman in a lab coat strides down the entryway stairs with magisterial grace. He does not move to shake hands, but instead nods graciously and indicates that you should follow him.

"Welcome to Arkham Asylum. I am Professor Hugo Strange, at your service. I appreciate you travelling all this way. Mr. J'onzz has been quite looking forward to your visit."

Really, it was only Builder that had been specified in the invitation.
Through the mindlink between the Skrull and the reptile, J'onn had mentioned his whereabouts and indicated that all might not be well:

I have allowed myself to be dosed with SPIN tech as part of my parole, and I am lending my services to aiding in the rehabilitation of violent criminals at Arkham Asylum. The work is, by and large, rewarding, but . . . Rene, I think there is something amiss in the Asylum. I cannot put my finger on it, as my telepathic activity is restricted to working hours and specific laboratory conditions, but there is a presence of some sort within Arkham that makes me profoundly uneasy. Will you come visit? I will put in a request to the chief of medicine for you to come around. I would enjoy your company, but I hope you might also find the time to . . . discreetly . . . have a look around?

Gethsemene's presence is incidental: the Asylum is, inherently, a place of fascination to an Indigo Lantern.
It is a repository of broken souls, of minds fractured and shattered and lacking in something important, something vital to their own essential humanity. The Builder had asked her along, perhaps out of caution, perhaps as a courtesy, but the motive for accepting the invitation remains the same for all that:

Who knows? Perhaps some of these poor benighted inmates might benefit from the Indigo Light.

[Starsign]

Rene had thrown his reptilian arms up in the air and curled his clawed fingers into the palm of his hands the moment he saw the guards raise their rifles at him. It was a bit of a strange sight to see a scaly humanoid in Arkham Asylum, whose brother probably had been sealed up here sometime ago, immediately give up a fight rather than resist. He hadn't exactly come through the usual channels, partly because he ended up coming with Gethsemane, whose alien and demonic appearance did nothing to help quell the utterly inhuman look that both of them had. Rene hadn't been feeling completely ready for a fight either. The indigo-powered teleportation left him queasy and in a fit of pain, perhaps extending from the ring's bizarre combination of fueling compassion and pain together. He'd been getting used to pain, perhaps uncomfortably so. He had been through so much and seen so much **** that the horror and crippling factor of it had diluted somewhat. The effects of that still weighed on him but it was no longer completely breaking him mentally and emotionally.

Though were it not for a close friend of Rene's, he'd not be here in the first place.

Rene hadn't kept in touch much with J'onn since the insane incident at the Peak. It was great to meet and fight with J'onn there but amidst everything that happened neither found a lot of time to bond and converse over everything that had happened. To some degree Rene felt more comfortable knowing J'onn was on Earth rather than holed up in some alien-related prison; it's an ironic thought because Earth and humanity by extension can be very unpredictable. There was nothing until now that indicated where J'onn was. Knowing now put a great deal of ease on Rene's scaly shoulders.

~Thank god you're doing alright,~ Rene responded back through his mental link. ~Yeah I can come. I should have time between all the work I do for Habitat for Humanity.~ The charity work Rene had been doing for that organization was deeply satisfying as well; it's a far cry from the stress and panic of fighting supervillains. ~I've never really seen Arkham Asylum before but I've heard it's a nightmare of a place. I'll run by over as soon as I can.~ Months ago, Rene wouldn't dare enter Arkham Asylum. Now he's willing to jump headlong in for his friend.

For a brief moment Rene had wondered if they should have jumped headlong in. Practically every muscle in his large body was still. His back remained hunched over, smart enough to realize that guards don't take well to a non-human suddenly standing straight up. His tail rested down on the mucky-tiled floor within the Asylum. The fact that he hadn't been shot at yet ought to be a good sign of how his visit may go. Rene did come to be known as something more than that big reptilian monster who hung around with the homeless and it helped that he was friends with the Misfits.

As the situation cools down, Rene eases himself and his posture up. He lowers his hands and heaves a relieved sigh, looking down and noticing he punctured his scaly hands with his clawed fingers. The five bleeding stabs healed up in an instant, a useful display of his reptilian regeneration at work, as he looks back at the professor. "Thank you," Rene says. His rough, scaly voice is of a calm, though tired tone. He hasn't a lot of time to rest up in-between all the work and building he has done. He has yet to work himself to exhaustion but he's failed to get the amount of sleep he probably needs. "You're the chief of medicine then? J'onn said you would be expecting us."

In truth, Rene had only been invited; Gethsemane wasn't ever mentioned at all and he assumes that Strange was making things up to seem like she was invited. However Rene wanted someone else to come, largely because Rene doubted his safety going into some place called Arkham Asylum on his own. Besides the fact that the demon-alien-thing has been around recently, Rene has a distinct concern for her ever since their meeting at the Iceberg Lounge: he wanted to help protect her. Not because she couldn't handle herself; living for thousands of years and having powers from numerous sources meant she could probably wreck him in any number of forms; she can handle herself far better than Rene could. His concern is over her ring and the consequence that she'd ever have to remove it. As much as Rene didn't like the Indigo Ring he's not going to pretend to think there's a better alternative right now. He needs to make sure she never loses that ring, for her sake and everyone else's.

Arkham Asylum came off about as Rene immediately expected: a very unfriendly and uncomfortable place. Immediately he can feel his instincts kick in as he takes in the sight and smells of the place as he begins to follow Professor Strange. J'onn warned that something was... off, presumably even by the standards of this asylum. Rene, unfortunately (or fortunately) has no experience of being in asylums before as he looks to Gethsemane. "You've been to asylums before? Like in the past?" The irksome atmosphere of the place causes Rene to hold off speaking about exact details to hide implications such as Gethsemane's age; no need to speak what others don't need to know. "Were they anything like this place? Or at least as far as the rumors go?"

[Zelphas]

Gethsemane remains still as she and the Builder arrive in Arkham Asylum, aware that any movement on her part could be misconstrued as a threat. She isn't worried about whatever weaponry the guards could bring to bear, exactly; fighting them would cause needless pain, something she wishes to avoid at all costs. She nods politely to Dr. Hugo Strange as he calms the situation.

For Gethsemane, her extended stay on Earth had been a surprise, but not necessarily an unwelcome one. Jor-El was captured by the US Government and placed in a maximum security prison, somewhere Gethsemane couldn't just teleport into without causing a whole host of problems and unnecessary fights. The intervening time between the Peak and now was spent debating how to accomplish her mission... and catching up on where the world has gone in the past fifty years. Gethsemane has the most to atone for on this little blue planet, and she intends to do all that she can while still on its surface.

The large demoness turns to look at the Builder as he speaks, forcing down a burst of raw hunger that intermittently rears its head. The Brood parasite had forced this body to feel hunger once more, and while money is not difficult for Gethsemane to find, places that are willing to serve her most definitely are. "Few. This better than some. People attempting to help, here." She glances around at the murky windows and gloomy architecture. "General atmosphere not exactly conducive to improving mental health, will admit."

[TheIronGolem]

Jimmy's feelings towards Lois are...complicated, these days.

Logically, the revelation that the "Lois" he'd been working with these past several months - the one he'd had that awful fight (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=19780048&postcount=202) with and who'd made his professional life feel like doing blindfolded ballet on a minefield - wasn't the real Lois ought to make him relax more around her. It wasn't her, after all, who'd basically called Jimmy a selfish coward and had possibly been right.

But the human mind just isn't that receptive to logic, and Jimmy's in particular still tends to revert to that of the nervous intern he'd once been. It hadn't helped that the real Lois had been on a shorter fuse lately and even broken up with Clark. So between the stuff that shouldn't make him tense but does anyway, and the stuff that genuinely should make him tense, he's...well, tense.

That crack about doing "real investigative journalism" doesn't exactly help. He did an exposé on Hell, for cryin' out loud! That had gotten the Perry White Nod-And-Grunt! That's, like, two steps below a Pulitzer!

Still...the fact that she'd reached out to him, and done so in a manner like her old self, is encouraging. And if she could get past spending months as a prisoner while some Skrull stole her life, then he could get past some awkwardness with a co-worker.

***

Arkham Asylum. Not a place Jimmy had hoped to revisit soon. Even here in the lobby, he can hear the howls and maniacal laughs echoing from the labyrinthine hallways. He wonders if Lois hears it too; if so then she's giving no sign of it. Not that he'd expect her to.

"My pleasure", Jimmy says in response to Dr. Strange's greeting. He throws a quick glance at Lois, and she nods imperceptibly, confirming his instinct - this is one of those guys. Smart, witty, charming, and way full of himself. Standard protocol for this type: butter him up, flatter his ego, let him make everything about himself. Before long, he'll be eager to spill every secret in this place just to prove he knows them.

For Jimmy, this means putting on his best gosh-what-an-honor smile and holding up his camera. "May I?", he asks Dr. Strange, fully expecting that this is someone who lives to preen for a camera. "For the front page?" he adds, driving home the appeal to ego.

[herodofcows]

Strange inflates visibly as he poses for Jimmy. One might easily think that he were posing for a glamor shot or an online profile picture rather than the front page of a well-regarded newspaper. The fact that he's posing before the doors of what appears to be an occupied medical ward is really just icing on the cake.

Lois nods approvingly and tips Jimmy a wink as she opens up her notepad.

"So, Doctor Strange-"

"Please, Ms. Lane," comes the inevitable roguish interruption, "Doctor Strange sounds SO ostentatious. Call me Stephen."

From the careful neutrality on Lois' face, it is fairly apparent that she's heard that line before.

"Stephen, then . . . Let's start with the basics. What would you like our readers to know about your work at Arkham Asylum?"

If possible, Stephen swells up even further.

"WELL, my work focuses mainly on the physical structure of the brain and its long-term development . . ."

Danger. Alertness. Something is wrong . . .

The symbiote gives Jimmy some vague warning, but it's enough. As the doctor natters and Lois feigns interest, a growing sense of wrongness starts to steal over Spider-Man . . .

Elsewhere, Professor Strange gives a solemn nod.

"We have indeed been expecting you. Please, follow me."

He leads the two monstrous-looking humanoids down a well-guarded corridor towards a large elevator. Once within, he inserts a key card into a nearby slot and keys in a numeric combination on a pin pad. The elevator lurches and begins to slowly descend.

"I understand that the architecture might appear unsettling to first-time visitors," he rejoins, in response to Gethsemane's words, "But let me assure you, within these hallowed halls we are practicing the finest in restorative medicine and advanced psychological assessment. Your friend J'onn is proof of that-"

~Rene . . .!~

"-dedication and pursuit of greater therapeutic heights. Initial-"

~Can't say much . . . quick . . . Look, smell . . . Something wrong . . .~

"-tests in the use of psychic operant conditioning have yielded some promising results, and soon we hope to expand to other applications of telepathy. Mr. J'onzz opens a number of doors for us here that might have otherwise remained closed. THAT is the spirit of Arkham, madam"" Strange concludes, addressing Gethsemane with a respectful bow.

I believe it's skill check o'clock!!!

[Starsign]

Every couple steps here there's a nagging thought in Rene's mind as to whether he should be in Arkham Asylum. The reptilian was, put simply, insane from all the mental and emotional trauma he's been through and had exhibited a desperate need for therapy. Yet he's never really made the attempt to see a therapist that he could trust. Being with his friends and his work for Habitat for Humanity was his therapy, so to speak. It largely got him away from the insanity of hero work and let him focus on the things he did enjoy. It's still not healthy for him; he's not really getting the help he needed and his brother is getting even less. All things considered, Rene really should've considered looking into this place more.

On the other hand, this place didn't feel right to Rene. J'onn had been right when he said something was off. There was this unnatural presence that belies the entire point of the asylum. The place didn't feel like a useful are to rehabilitate the crazy or the damned. In a way, Arkham Asylum's dreary, gloomy and unnatural atmosphere gave it this surreal experience; it was like that the asylum welcomed the demented and the crazed who were locked up here. This sort of nightmare wouldn't help Rene at all, much less his brother. While Rene felt compelled to ask more about how the Asylum operated, he didn't want to give any hint that he may be in need of it. He was barely paying attention to Professor Strange's monologue in the first place. The details of the asylum were lost on his reptilian mind as he walked cautiously. His reptilian expression a small frown as his hunched walk kept him besides Gethsemane. Boy she must be used to places like these.

The seriousness of the whole place gets exaggerated by the message J'onn sends to Rene. Immediately Rene's eyes widen. J'onn wouldn't send a message like that under normal circumstances. His message here was strained, torturing almost. It was like that something was peeling into J'onn, leaving him with little he could do at this point. This is bad for Rene and even worse for J'onn.

He's captured.

The voice in Rene warns in its slithery anger as Rene saw a dark, reptilian shadow crawl across the ceiling. It somehow eclipses the already-dim light and shadows in a veil of darkness; everything is in its sight is contained in its own body. Its shadows marks its territory. Where the voice hunts, the voice warns Rene of.

We must find him.

The shadows disappear from Rene's eyes as he wakes up back to Hugo's mindless blabbering. Rene had already been absently ignoring the professor; now Rene is actively ignoring Hugo as the reptilian sniffs out the nearby area. Something in him says he should scout as his nose picks up scents and smells while his eyes peer at every inch and nail of the asylum's walls. He suddenly moves from one end of the room to another as he whispers into his ally's ear. "Gethsemane, there's something wrong here. I-I don't know what it is but..." He pauses to think. Rene can't trust anyone in this asylum expect for Gethsemane and J'onn... meaning the compassion-controlled demon-alien and the shackled super-skrull. Rene's allies can be weird. "Just call it my instincts, but I need you to just see if there's something wrong with this place, please." Rene leaves out J'onn from his mouth and makes no attempt to try and communicate with J'onn. Rene is sure that his friend is in trouble and can't do anything more to jeopardize Martian Manhunter's condition. In the meantime Rene keeps his senses up while following the professor... for now.

I rolled for skill checks over here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22127061&postcount=309). Here's hoping Rene finds something out from it!

[Zelphas]

Gethsemane nods politely to Professor Strange as he speaks, looking around at the Asylum. Place is obviously not conducive to mental health. Looks like asylum in horror film, and lacks soundproof rooms?
What is state of Gotham, that this is best they can do for mental health? In all honesty, Gethsemane suspects that someone from Downbelow had a hand in the construction of the first asylum; such edifices seemed to almost always be gloomy, dark affairs, more likely to increase paranoia than alleviate it. Then again, humanity is more than capable of creating horrors without demonic help. Still, Arkham Asylum particularly glaring case.

Gethsemane nods in response to the Builder's whisper, shaking herself out of her ruminations. She runs an eye over the building again and extends her other senses, feeling about for any magical (or demonic) influence. No need for a demon to be here, most likely; still, cannot know everything going on Downbelow.

Expertise (Magic) to see if anything's amiss: [roll0]

Expertise (Demons) for the same: [roll1]

[TheIronGolem]

Jimmy tenses up a little at the symbiote's warning, but doesn't let it show externally. The urge to shift into his costume is strong, but he clamps down on it. Not just for Strange's sake either; he is so not ready to let Lois know that he's Spider-Man, and she'd probably start suspecting everyone in her life is secretly in the super-scene. He pictures Perry White in a spandex uniform, and instantly wishes he hadn't.

Jimmy brings his camera up again, taking "ambience photos" as a cover for scanning their surroundings. A couple of shots from alongside the walls make the hallways seem to stretch on forever - and also lets him check for opening doors. A low-angle shot of the room emphasizes the ominousness of the place while also letting him check for anything stalking them from the walls or ceiling (Why are there gargoyles INSIDE the building? Do you want Batmen? Because that's how you get Batmen!). And so on.


Perception to spot anything that seems like it might be sneaking around or preparing to attack:[roll0]
Expertise (Heroes/Villains) to remember any villains known to be currently interred in Arkham: [roll1]

[herodofcows]

CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.

The crash of doors shutting rings out all across the Asylum. Jimmy finds himself on the opposite side of a security door to Lois and Stephen. Lois bangs on the door once, alarm gradually growing on her face. Stephen's face goes slack for a moment as he runs over to a nearby guard.

On Jimmy's side of the door, the patients in the nearby infirmary all jump up as one and begin attacking doctors and nurses. The medical staff begin streaming out into the hallway, attempting to evacuate as the inmates turn on the unlucky souls left behind.

The elevator containing the Builder and Gethsemane lurches to a sudden halt. Professor Strange goes sprawling, sputtering with rage and confusion.

Noises begin to filter through: yells, alarms, even a few gunshots. The Builder can see the crowds on the move, like solid masses pressing through tight spaces and consuming individual hot spots.

A voice crackles onto the intercom, serpent-slick and twice as self-satisfied.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen of Arkham. I'm afraid we're going to be deviating from this evening's original entertainment of injections poking and prodding about within the mysteries of the cerebellum. Instead, I, Edward Nygma, offer you three humble riddles to educate and expand your minds!

"The first! Arkham Asylum was a serious house on serious earth, but the earth and the house have become Strange. If you can eliminate the Strange from Arkham, you win!

"The second, for those who wish to keep Arkham Strange! I am feet that touch ground but don't walk. What am I? If you find the answer, you're safe! If you're found first, you die!

"The third, which supersedes the first two! A police inspector is sent to solve a murder with eleven suspects and no witnesses. The inspector knows neither the victim nor the suspects, and yet they know the culprit immediately. How?

"Be you guard or inmate, hero or villain . . . Answer my riddles, and you'll make it out alive! Answer my riddles, and you will gain . . . Wisdom."

The intercom goes dead, and the noise, if possible, redoubles.

[Starsign]

Gone was Rene's ability to compose himself for a brief moment as the elevator ceased working. Gone was his cautious lookout and keen eyes as someone slithered its voice over the intercom.

"Oh ****," he speaks to himself, sounding hoarse beneath his scaly tone "Oh ****, ****, ****!" He curses with slight madness as he immediately crawls up to the elevator wall, scratching and puncturing the elevator walls and ceiling with his claw marks as he opens the emergency hatch above. His first instinct is to panic. He knew this was coming; J'onn had warned him that something was off. And here Rene is, trapped in a hostile asylum most likely taken over by one of its crazier prisoners. Rene's second instinct is to escape. He was no good to anyone being trapped in a suspended and frozen elevator. Even if he has no clue what to do or where to go, he can at least focus on the present and just get out of his current predicament.

Rene exits out of the elevator's interior and gives a quiet sigh of relief. It was like he had exited a room of madness and left back to a world of sense and logic. Not that he actually is out of the asylum but he feels glad to actually be able to get out and move around. His reptilian tail curls up around his crouched legs, looking up at the elevator shaft above to see just how far the elevator currently is. The reptilian humanoid gives off several haggard breaths before peeking his head back into the elevator and extending his clawed hand out to Gethsemane. "Alright, alright. Guess we'd better start helping." He tries to relax, doing a poor job doing so, as he helps Gethsemane out of the elevator room. "I'm really glad now that I asked you to come," he says, speaking honestly but with a frown on his face.

Rene is out of his element here. He has no idea where to begin. Most encounters he's been through involved a direct villain to face and fight. Now he's contending with a villain who is god knows where and stuck having to figure out riddles of all things! He may as well start now, else he'll be blindingly waltzing around the asylum with nowhere to go... though he does have somewhere to begin if nothing else. "Did anything he say mean anything to you Gethsemane?" Rene leaps to the elevator wall as he uses his reptilian infra-vision to make out the various heat signatures. "I've... got something of an idea. Before we got on, I sensed a few people in here, like stabbed people. I think that second riddle was referring to the bodies. A corpse doesn't walk." Rene's own words send a shiver down his hunched spine. It's a demented answer but it makes sense for an insane asylum member. "Well it's that or something like... I dunno, land mines?" As a more mechanical alternative, it's not the worst theory. Mines touch the ground, don't move, and blow the **** out of anyone who doesn't notice them right away. They fit the riddle's description like a glove.

"And that third riddle is..." Rene stops himself before answering it. This is an obvious one for him. He knows the answer to this. A person who knows only the criminal in a crime scene would only be capable of that by a pure, complete guess... or is a mind reader; and Rene knows who that police inspector is:

John Jones, aka J'onn.

That third riddle is all Rene needs to figure out what was wrong with J'onn's strangely-staggered mental communication. This Edward Nygma, whoever he is, somehow found out who J'onn is and must either have captured J'onn or subjecting him to horrible mental torment. At this point it's a giant risk for Rene to try to communicate with J'onn. Maybe Rene could encourage J'onn by communicating with him. Or Rene would end up causing a big giveaway of his position that ends up doing more harm than good. In that case, Rene might be best off using just his senses to track J'onn after finding those who have been critically injured...

Nah, Rene wouldn't care risk leaving J'onn's safety in doubt by not trying to reach out to him. ~J'onn? J'onn, gimme a sign. I'm gonna find you, alright? If you can, lemme know where you are!~ There's no doubt in Rene's mind that his friend is somewhere in Arkham Asylum and in trouble. Where in Arkham Asylum? He has no damn clue.

Waiting for Gethsemane's response before I post again so we can work out a strategy and path to follow.

[Zelphas]

Gethsemane listens calmly to the snakelike voice on the speaker, dissecting the riddles as she can one by one. The first; obvious, skip. The second; feet that do not walk... Inanimate? Statues too obvious,
too unlikely. More abstract... maybe... She turns unhurriedly to Professor Strange next to her. "Directions to cafeteria, please. Other locations where tables are plentiful as well."

As the Builder panics and then begins to calm down, Gethsemane waits patiently for him to finish speaking. When he does not elaborate, she extrapolates from what she knows, but does not make any guesses. "Simple question, before adjourn," she says instead, flexing her wings slightly in the cramped confines of the elevator. "Who is Edward Nigma?"

[Starsign]

Rene pauses his searching through infra-vision as Gethsemane calmly speaks with Professor Strange. The reptilian humanoid can't imagine how heroes can be calm at a time like this, though the demon-alien... thing is a different matter. Of course she'd appear calm about it. That ring of her's shuts out every sense of fear, panic, and anger that this asylum takeover would otherwise inspire. These emotions are what make Rene something more than, as his brother had put it, a "freak." At the same time he should rightfully be critiqued of his panicked and emotional state whenever he ends up in danger. He feels like someone should slap a sticky note on his forehead that tells him, "Be Calm." If only it was easier for him...

"Tables?" Rene's coarse voice comes with a confused stare as he hangs on the elevator wall. He takes a moment to think of whether that's an answer to the second riddle. It does make some sense as its legs do not move, unless the whole table is moved. It doesn't quite fit the, "found first and die," warning that came with the second riddle, hence Rene's theory that the answer is actually land mines, but it makes sense otherwise. "Maybe more like the bottom of table legs?" He adds onto Gethsemane's suggestion. "The riddle referred to feet, so maybe there's something stuck at the bottom?" Rene may be awful at riddles but at least he can contribute when an idea comes to his insane mind.

However the cafeteria, to Rene, is a distraction from what he thinks is a bigger problem as he turns his head away from Gethsemane and out to the walls where his infra-vision can see heat signatures through steel and brick. "I need to find those people who were attacked. Riddles or not, something happened to them here and they need help. Gethsemane you can heal, right? I'm gonna try and find those people and bring them over to you. I don't care if they're crazy or demented or whatever; we're supposed to be helping them." As much as Rene wants to just beat the villain, save the asylum and call it a day, saving the people in the asylum is more important. Even if Rene has a lack of medical knowledge, his conscience would condemn him if he ignored an injured person.

This is a shorter post than my usual, but should work fine! Making a Perception check to try and find those injured people/faint heat signatures through Rene's senses: [roll0]

[TheIronGolem]

Jimmy can play word games with the Riddler later. Right now, he's looking for a way to quell the full-scale riot that's brewing right in front of him

He gives the security door an experimental push. Nothing. Not that he was expecting anything; this place is built to hold the likes of Bane and Omega Red, so naturally his junior-varsity-level superstrength isn't going to cut it here. Besides, keeping the inmates contained is probably the most important thing right now.

"Lois!", Jimmy shouts, hoping they can hear him on the other side. "You guys get outta here if you can! I'll find a safe place!"

What he really means, of course, is a place that's safe for Spider-Man to send the civilians.

Instead of spending valuable time on a search for a place to change, Jimmy trusts in the hope that in the chaos nobody is paying attention to him yet, and his street clothes morph into his Spider-Man outfit. The webslinger dashes into the infirmary and aims a punch at the nearest attacking inmate he sees.


Spider-Strike on inmate: [roll0], DC 23
If these inmates are minions here are some more rolls for Takedown 2: [roll1], [roll2], [roll3], [roll4], [roll5]
This is using my old PL10 character sheet, because I still haven't gotten around to fixing my current one.

[herodofcows]

Lois hesitates for a moment, and then nods curtly.

"Right. We'll meet up as soon as they secure the area. Be careful, Olsen."

She retreats from the door, grabbing Stephen Strange and pulling him towards a nearby surgical wing. It's a crazy situation, but Lois can take care of herself. With that in mind . . .

CRASH

The coarse laughter and inarticulate gibbering of the inmates changes to hushed apprehension as a fully-suited Spider Man comes crashing through the double doors. There's a brief moment of silence as several of the more lucid patients begin to consider that this isn't going to end well for them.

WHACK. SMACK. BASH. SLAM.

One ballet of violence later, these moments of self-reflection are perfectly borne out! Many inmates are now floored. Some are walled. An unlucky few are ceiling'd.

Most of the doctors and nurses are okay except for minor cuts and bruises, but a few are seriously injured. Some of the uninjured staff begin tending to them, while others move to lock and barricade the doors. A few of the doctors approach the wall-crawler tentatively.

"Um, excuse me . . . Uh, Spider Man?" asks one of the doctors, whose name tag declares her to be Dr. Claire Temple, "If you're going to try to stop this, you should know that the Riddler could-"

"Ohhh, how INTERESTING!" crackles the Riddler's voice over the intercom. Dr. Temple goes quiet and darts her eyes across the room at this interruption.

"It seems my little web has caught the attention of a spider! And so near one of the Stranger parts of the Asylum! What a surprise! Your presence is news to me, Spider Man, but your arrival and placement is picture perfect!"

As he speaks, Dr. Temple leans in closer and whispers in your ear, hand covering her mouth.

"The Asylum is in a closed network. The only way for the Riddler to lock us down like this is from the Warden's office. You want to find him, that's where he'll be . . ."

Meanwhile, from the elevator, the Builder can get a basic idea of the placement of bodies. They appear to be clumped in close quarters, vaguely outlining a narrow passageway somewhere east of the reptile's current position. Some appear still faintly alive, while others are recently expired . . .

"Nygma!" barks Professor Strange, coming to his feet with an impetuous wave of his hands, "Stop this at once! We know the extent of your intelligence. There is nothing for you to prove here!"

"Nothing to PROVE, Professor Strange?"

~Rene . . . basement . . .~

"Why, there's EVERYTHING to prove! I'm not trying to display my formidable intellect to YOU. It's your masters that have my interest!"

~Other patients . . . running out of time . . .~

"The police inspectors, Professor! It's THEM that I'm confronting. You're just a pawn in a greater game!"

[Starsign]

Rene appreciated the advice he was getting from J'onn. Even if the Martian Manhunter may be captured, which Rene absolutely thinks so, J'onn still managed to advice and direct Rene. There's something that really had to be said for the mental link they have. Without that, communication and coordination would have been impossible. Rene can't thank J'onn enough just for that.

The message Rene received changed the direction of his infravision search, aiming closer below him to track down what he assumed were patients. Yet wherever he looked, he saw those faint heat signatures through the walls; people dying all throughout the asylum. A question came to Rene's mind; it wasn't "how do I save them?" but instead, "how do I save them all?" It was a pointless question, for he can't save them all. Even with his speed, Rene didn't have the layout of Arkham Asylum memorized enough that he can just go anywhere in an instant; that's even if this Nygma hasn't locked down the doors somehow. Rene's task then was to minimize the deaths caused in this Asylum, however that can be done... It just wouldn't be enough to stop his reptilian spine from quaking over the question of how many workers within Arkham will die first.

Besides the message from J'onn, the only other good news Rene's heard is, somewhat ironically, the sudden "guest" that was spoken to over the intercom. "Spider-Man?!" Rene didn't expect another hero, much less someone he knows, to be right in this mess of an asylum. His reptilian voice croaked out in the elevator shaft with surprise. He glances over to Gethsemane with his reptilian eyes looking curiously at her. "That-that's not a coincidence, is it?" He stutters slightly at his own words. Him, Gethsemane and Spider-Man had met in Gotham at the Iceberg Lounge sometime earlier, and before at the Spire. This makes the third time that the three of them are in the same building. They don't even live in the same place; Spider-Man hangs out with Superman in Metropolis, Rene in Gotham, and Gethsemane just seems to venture throughout the entire universe. Either fate has a very funny sense of humor or there's an underlying factor within the three that keeps tying them all to the same place. It's welcoming either way.

He takes a glance over through his infravision and notices a... distinct heat signature. It's a rather strange one: one signature completely wrapped around over another. It's as if something is completely covering a person... and numerous other heat signatures, though not faint, are lying on the floor. Seems like those ones are knocked out. That's a good guess then that the rather distinct one is Spider-Man.

The reptilian sticks his claws off the elevator shaft wall, leaving clear puncture marks as he leaps back down onto the top of the elevator. "I think I know where to go," he speaks with his coarse, sharp voice to Gethsemane and Hugo. Rene isn't much of a leader; never will he find himself leading a superhero team like he's Captain America. Someone however has to take the initiative here, and Rene has both the powers and the information to get things done. He's supposed to be a hero, even when he's not in that mindset.

Quietly he walks on his four clawed limbs over to Hugo, reaching up to the professor's ear to whisper to him. "Did you know Spider-Man was coming? We're gonna need his help." Rene isn't going to be subtle about it: they need all the help they can get and they're likely to get no help outside of the asylum; if Batman isn't here now, he won't be here in time to help... Not that Rene is comfortable working alongside someone as terrifying as Batman. "And what's the fastest way to the basement? We need to get there right now."

Rene doesn't exactly give Hugo an immediate chance to answer; he is already heaving Hugo and Gethsemane on his hunched back, as awkward as it looks, as he picked them up in a sudden instant. "Hold on tight," he warns the two as his reptilian's red eyes and black pupils eye out Spider-Man's position. Shadows and silence drown out everything else with a single word coming to Rene's mind.

Move.

And just like that, he had dashed off the elevator ceiling, down the wall shaft, and dashing like a green blur through the asylum, working around the place to reach the room Spider-Man is in. For Rene, it took as long as it did normally. For the other two, the experience must have been disorienting.

"Holy crap." Rene's coarse voice spoke out as, to Spider-Man's perspective, he seemingly appeared out of nowhere within the room. The reptilian lets Gethsemane and Hugo off his back for a moment as Rene looked down both at the injured staff and the unconscious villains on the floor. "Jesus, what happened here?" He is left very confused at the sight with fear tinging down his hunched spine. His red eyes turn to look at Spider-Man. "And Spider-Man, what are you doing here?" He pauses. "...Okay, more like what were you doing here? I guess you're saving the day now." The reptilian's senses perk up over the unconscious villains. Spider-Man took them all down so quickly? In Rene's own crazy mind, he doubts he can ever pull that off.

Rene will bring himself, Gethsemane and Hugo over to the basement once Hugo mentions how to get there. If possible Rene will get Spidey there too, but Rene has no way to tell where Spidey is or if Rene can even get there.

[Zelphas]

Gethsemane shakes her head politely to the Builder as he suggests bringing patients to her. "If possible, would suggest not moving injured. Instead, should go to--"

Whoosh

"Them," Gethsemane finishes her sentence unperturbed, even though she is in an entirely different room. She nods politely to Spider-Man, then turns towards the wounded all around. Moving to the most injured first, she begins deftly stabilizing those around her, starting with those nearest death and moving from there. She speaks to the other doctors and nurses with short, terse sentences, revealing her skills as a doctor without answering any questions about who or what she was.

Taking 10 on Treatment for 24 to stabilize the injured all around.

[TheIronGolem]

Have you ever turned on a vacuum cleaner while a cat was inspecting it? If so, it's easy to visualize Spider-Man's reaction to the room being suddenly full of monsters who don't trigger his Spider-Sense.

"Builder. Gethsemane. Fancy meeting you two here", Spider-Man says casually from his new position on the ceiling. He'd actually given them a greeting immediately before that, but an untrained observer could have mistaken that greeting for a panicked yelp, so he restates it in words for their benefit.

"Oh, and you must be Professor Strange", he continues, recalling the man's face from the Arkham Asylum refresher he'd given himself before coming over with Lois. "Glad to see you're okay."

Being satisfied with his impromptu security sweep of the ceiling, Spider-Man drops back down to the floor.

"All right, so first thing's first - we gotta keep the civvies safe. Builder, anything you can do to fortify this place in case more inmates show up? Gethsemane - "

He sees that Gethsemane is already expertly treating wounded civilians. Well of course the demon-alien-spacecop is also a doctor, why wouldn't she be?

"Uh...Dr. Temple?"

He grabs a pen and some scrap paper, holding both out for her.

"Maybe you could sketch us a map to that...storage closet? You know, the one with the supplies you need?"

Ladies and gentlemen: Jimmy Olsen, Master of Subterfuge.

[Starsign]

"Fortify?" Rene's coarse voice responds with a helping of skepticism as the large reptilian tilts his head around the room they are in. Now it's not to say that Spider-Man's plan isn't a bad idea. Arkham Asylum is a complete and utter mess which has absolutely no immediate safe rooms; any place which even pretends to be a goddamn safe haven is a place that has to be secure. Rene's been in too many places where there isn't a single spot where he can sit down and relax, even for just a minute. Any person can use the sanity of a safe room especially in an overrun asylum.

The Builder, however, is quick to point out the problem with building a safe room. "Spider-Man, this looks like an infirmary. There's barely anything I can use here." He points with his clawed hand over to the various springy beds, metal bed frames, and the hanging cupboards that presumably contain medical supplies needed for patients. "I can't really work with much more than that in this room and there's not much else I can find just outside the room. And we can't afford to split up when some mad jester is taunting up over the intercom." In spite of the... interesting definition of Mr. Nygma, Rene has no clue who the current ringleader of this madhouse is. He's not really well-informed on Batman's large list of villains besides a few including the Joker, the Penguin, and the Lizard... none of which can possibly be the voice on the comm.

Rene looks over at the infirmary again as, due to time constraints, he stops trying to argue with Spidey. "...Ah, nevermind. Look, lemme see what I can do. I'll just be a second."

And guess what? Rene is being literal.

Almost as quickly as one can blink, Rene took the bed mattresses, the frames, and the cupboards and assembled them into an utter mess of a blockage with a small area that can be opened and passed through. "This is about the best I can do right now." He didn't sound proud at all having to do a patch job after building some real homes as a part of Habitat For Humanity. "I think it'll hold, for awhile anyway. It's not like we've got a lot of time." The hunched reptilian, still wearing the black cloak he's worn since arriving here, turns around to look at Spider-Man and Strange with Rene's solemn eyes. "We gotta get to the basement. Professor, how do we get there?" Rene tries his best not to imagine what's happening with J'onn every moment spent in the infirmary. He's fine, is only for now. The other heroes just need to pick up the pace, something a speedster like Rene is good at.

Rene will use his Builder Instinct to construct... well, fortifications in the infirmary as a quasi-safe house to help keep the staff safe. I'll roll Expertise (architecture) in case it'll help: [roll0]

[herodofcows]

As the wounded are stabilized and the room is secured, Dr. Temple sketches out a rough map of your route to the Warden's office. It's a bit of a slog, unfortunately: it looks as though you'll have to get through the locked-down hallways that you'd been proceeding through, over to the main entryway, and then up into the upper levels into the administrative wing.

"How did you get in there? I locked down the building! You shouldn't be able to . . . Vents. Air circulation. I see. Yes . . . Well, we can't have that, can we?"

A new series of clangs and clanks resound through the building, mostly focused within the walls themselves.

"There! No more workarounds. No more filthy CHEATS. Now, I think it's time to begin the game in earnest now, don't you?"

KCHUNK

The doors outside of the fortified infirmary unlock. Both security doors in the hallway are opened. Yells and the sounds of struggle begin to filter into the space. Some of the doctors and orderlies begin to look nervous.

"You have three choices now! JUST THREE! No more bending of the rules, do you hear? It's MY game we're playing! Now! Riddle me this:

"Two paths stand before you: the first leads to truth
If you'll give up ego to play at the sleuth:
You'll answer my riddles, you'll see through the lies
You'll identify the devils in disguise

"The second path's heroism, for the brave
You'll fight down the dastards, the day's what you'll save
You'll gain shining accolades, but in choosing know
You've cost us everything with your little show

"You'll know the first path by the beast standing guard
King among the kingless, he's another Bat-scarred
Geared for your destruction, in your way he stands
Batman could not beat him; do think that you can?

"The second path's guarded by sundry grim foes
But you'll not have trouble with any of those
Their bodies mark my spot, if you're thus resolved!
But can you face Riddler with riddles unsolved?

"And yet, there's a third path! You need not be tasked!
The answer's a question that's already asked!
I'll stand down and tell you what each riddle meant
If Strange will but show you what's in the basement!"

Professor Strange pales at this last statement, even as he'd pursed his lips at the Builder's question.

"I cannot . . . that is to say . . ." he speaks, hesitantly, "In this current situation, perhaps it would be best if the basement were left sealed . . ."

The Riddler's laughter echoes over the intercoms, even as the noise of the prison break becomes louder from one of the doors outside . . .

[Starsign]

The last thing Rene really wanted was for his fortifications to be tested or even threatened. The clings and clangs of security doors opening did just that.

He was left without words; his reptilian mouth hung out open with his sharp teeth visible in a silent gasp. The crazy voice with too much power over the intercom spoke of mad, confusing nonsense wrapped all up in riddles that Rene didn't have time to figure out. The most that Rene understood, alongside with Professor Strange's bizarrely-hesitant response, is that one path led... somewhere, one path led to the guy on the intercom, and the third led to the basement... It's gotta be the basement, right? The guy on the intercom had mentioned that something was there. There's something there that Strange was hiding, and it's something J'onn tried to warn Rene about. It's as if the laughing villain was trying to make a point that there was something wrong with Arkham Asylum, and it's something not actively done by a guy who barely talks in normal sentences.

...It's at this point that Rene realizes who the guy on the intercom is. The reptilian humanoid always lacked knowledge of Batman's rogue gallery. Some of the villains Rene's heard about were mostly just out-of-context gossip across Gotham's streets and alleyways. But "crazy guy who speaks in riddles all the time" kinda spoke for itself: this was the Riddler that's hijacked the Asylum. HOW he managed to hijack it was beyond Rene. As far as the reptilian knew, the Riddler lacked any actual powers and certainly did not have the physical strength or skill to wrestle his way toward whatever master controls are in this building. Something gave him help, and that was a riddle Rene wouldn't try to figure out.

Rene's head and reptilian eyes look around and below him during the Riddler's maddened speech, trying to sense and point out any people of interest throughout the Asylum's current floor and basement. While the reptilian is a predator, he's not exactly an omniscient sight-seer. Infravision can only do so much to spot people behind walls. At the very least there is no one in the basement, which implies that something, rather than someone is down there. Rene almost hoped that J'onn was in the basement which allowed Rene to find his friend as well as find whatever the Martian Manhunter pointed out. Alas, Rene instead will have to ask where J'onn is after searching the basement.

If only Rene can afford to do so. The heat signatures of people to the left and right immediately becomes a concern. "Oh no..." The reptilian hisses under his breath, loud enough that Spider-Man and Gethsemane can easily hear him. "Oh no, that's not good." His voice tries hiding the internal panic his mind is going through. He feels shadows lurch up around his body, equally trying to comfort him as they do terrify him. The riddles and laughing given out over the intercom have been drowned out in Rene's ears as his infravision spells out the immediate danger.

"There's a group nearby. I think they might be coming this way." He warns with a shaky clawed hand towards the right hallway; his left clawed hand tightens the black cloak he wears."I think it's mostly unarmed inmates, but they're getting closer since the doors opened. I-I think they may find the infirmary if we leave them alone." Rene doesn't like to state an unfortunate outcome but it'll be too idealistic of him to think that the doctors here are safe. After all, Rene thought he had a pretty safe life back when he was a human builder, and guess how THAT turned out? The reptilian looks between Spider-Man, Gethsemane and Hugo as Rene keeps speaking. "There's a... uh, more 'organized' riot on the left. It's more distant. I think it's being overseen by someone with a lot of hot and cold heat signatures on his body. I don't think that's as worrying here as the other group." Rene doesn't really have a plan, hoping the experience of Gethsemane and Spider-Man might make up for that.

Instead Rene stuck to what he knows he should do: try and get to the basement. "Professor, the lives of patients are on the line here. They're running out of time. We have to get to the basement if we want to save as many as we can." Rene uses the specific words that J'onn used through their mental link. When Rene says it however, they suddenly take on new meaning. Was J'onn speaking as if the inmates are at risk of dying? Rene won't speak up on that, as Hugo isn't likely to answer outright. Instead Rene just has to convince Hugo that whatever risk of unsealing the basement will be worth it. "We're going to make the Riddler pay for this, I promise that. This is- this is like a nightmare. It's horrible. But we need you to cooperate with us if we're going to get through it, please." Rene doesn't want to say, "I'll tear every door and wall to the basement if I have to." That action is something that his brother would do, not to mention cause a lot of infrastructure damage. But if it means saving everyone then Rene absolutely will do so.

Let's try a Persuasion check to convince Hugo to help show and open the basement for the Watchmen. Add +8 to the result if Heart Of Gold applies: [roll0]

[Zelphas]

Gethsemane listens patiently to the ramblings of Nigma as she works on the wounded, Trying to come up with theories in her head. Lack of knowledge of powered individuals in this generations seems a serious issue; must rectify.

When she hears the doors opening, she glances in that direction, then back to the group. "Deal with active riot, then passive?" she suggests after listening to Rene's information. "This Nigma attempting to make some sort of game. Suggest to break it. Can help."

[TheIronGolem]

"Deal with active riot, then passive?"

"Yeah", says Spider-Man. "What she said."

The Builder's impromptu barricade looks pretty good considering what he had to work with (to say nothing of taking literally a second to put together), but it could use some reinforcement. Spider-Man starts poking around in it, looking for places he can reinforce it with webs. He secures mattresses and cot frames against the walls, coats fastenings with globs of webbing so they can't be easily pulled out, and even adds a few supporting strands connecting looser pieces to the ceiling. What he lacks in engineering and architectural knowledge (i.e. everything) he makes up for with quantity. By the time he's finished, the barricade is ugly as sin, but definitely stronger.

As he works, Spider-Man asks Dr. Temple another question: "So, can we get a who's who on the inmates? Anyone with powers, fighting skills, anything like that?"

Spending a Hero Point to Power Stunt for reinforcing the barricade as we discussed.

[Starsign]

"Oh, crap. The riots." Rene gets surprised momentarily as he realizes how single-minded he's been. He kept thinking about the basement because J'onn warned about it and because the Professor doesn't want it opened. If a Justice League member says its important to saving the lives of other people then it should be immediately sought after. And yet the emergency on hand are the active riots happening practically outside the very room Rene is in with Spider-Man and Gethsemane. Rene didn't realize until now that he should be thinking of the victims currently captured or being beaten by inmates. And as someone who can zip across a building in an instant, Rene should know better than to help people along the way to an objective. Ideally he can quell the riots in one moment and be right at the basement in the next.

For Rene, reality never works out that way; it's just sometimes nice to think of the best possible outcome.

Rene watches a moment as Spider-Man reinforces Rene's rather crude fortifications. The web looked, frankly, icky. There isn't really anything for Rene to admire about it's appearance. Yet he can tell that it already looks a lot sturdier than when the Builder just stuck it all together with his tongue. That actually gives Rene an idea in the future. Perhaps he can teach Spider-Man some things about architecture for the next time they have to build or reinforce something.

But for now are the riots to deal with. Rene can only hope that what he asked of Hugo before may convince something in the professor.

Thought I'd just do a short post so Rene acknowledges what Gethsemane and Spidey have agreed on. My prior post though still applies for what Rene's doing this moment. :smallsmile:

[herodofcows]

Dr. Temple nods and gets onto one of the computers.

"I can give you a list of our powered patients. We've been implementing SPIN tech as its become available, but for some of our patients we've had to keep relying on individualized containment plans. Let me just . . ."

A nearby printer hums to life and begins spewing out a list. She turns to look at Spider Man semi-defiantly.

"I'm just giving you their file blurbs. You're not staff, so I can't give you detailed information on their powers or anything else. This will have to do for you, okay?"

Since the blurb would take forever to write up, I'm giving you their names, aliases, and a +5 circumstance bonus to any Well-Informed checks you make about these guys. As you encounter them, more will be revealed about their powers and abilities.

Poison Ivy (Pamela Isley)
Azrael (Eddie Brock)
Cheetah (Barbara Minerva)
Two-Face (Harvey Dent)
Harley Quinn (Dr. Harleen Quinzel)
The Chameleon (Basil Karlo)
Toyman (Winslow Percival Schott)
Deathlok (Walter Kovacs)
The Sentry (Robert Reynolds)
Scarecrow (Jonathan Crane)
Heatwave (Mick Rory)
Gladiator (Melvin Potter)
Black Hand (William Hand)
Victor Zsasz

Meanwhile, the barricade goes up and is solidified by symbiotic web fluid. The infirmary, for the moment, is safe as houses.

Outside, however . . .

CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.

"ExQUEEZE me! Hello? Is anybody there?"

An all-too recognizable Jersey falsetto pierces the air outside, overpowering the sounds of the riot.

"I know you're there, Strange! My doggie smells ya! Don't ya, doggie?"

"Yes . . ." gasps a hungry wheezing voice, "The flesh . . . Yes, we smell the flesh . . ."

"Ha! Knew it! So, ya gonna come out? Or do we gotta bust in?"

Strange's face remains pale, but now his sneer becomes more prominent.

"I will NOT be intimidated into surrendering my life's work, sir!" he proclaims grandly, "It is one thing to let you visit your friend below, but quite another to open up the work going on below to scum and criminally-deranged geniuses! No! A thousand times no! You call yourselves heroes, do you not? Deal with this!"

[Starsign]

There is a sudden painful *THUMP* that hits Rene, as if his reptilian heart suddenly bellows out a horrid cry. Something in Strange's retort leaves a small mark on Rene's mind. It isn't a physically painful one, for the professor has nothing which can be a threat to Rene's scaly body. It is instead a psychological pain. The reptilian was keen to initially trust Hugo as the professor led Rene and Gethsemane throughout the asylum. The place, dreary and damning in looks, at least seemed to follow a road of good intentions through its staff, and the idea of truly insane people being treated may have been an ideal worth following. Rene's been trying to help Killer Croc after all.

But Hugo's sudden retort, loud, thunderous and arrogant in his refusal to help leaves Rene hurt. The professor's complete refusal flies in the face of danger which has effectively overtaken the asylum. There's no reason that the professor would do this unless he felt that opening the basement will reveal something that he really doesn't want the heroes to see. In Rene's mind, it has to do with something involving the inmates kept here. J'onn warned Rene like that there is something awful happening to the currently rioting inmates; it's as if Hugo was doing something awful to them and that they're rebelling against him now. It doesn't justify what these inmates are doing but it echoes why J'onn really wanted Rene here: to investigate something WRONG with Arkham Asylum. And every little thing that Hugo Strange says keeps adding onto that mystery of wrongness.

Though perhaps the reptilian's instability and paranoia takes him over, for Rene has now been told that J'onn is also in the basement.

"H-he's what?" The reptilian's rough voice sounds as if steel battered against each other, pitched by a shocked realization. "You've been keeping the Martian Manhunter down there? You LOCKED him in the basement?!" In a sudden storm, Rene tries putting two-and-two together without any context to back it up. Rene believe he's been given enough information to believe that-

He's imprisoned.

The reptilian shadow which has been following Rene suddenly jitters up behind him; a terrifying, yet comforting chill roars down Rene's spine as he hears his own voice speak to him, and only him.

No metal holds us.

We shall save him.

Rene tilts his head away from the barricade he and Spider-Man made as Rene's reptilian shadow sneaks out the door; the shadow's covered domain stretching to and beyond the room as the area is enveloped in darkness. It's going; it's going to find J'onn. It will expand until its safe darkness cradles what must be the beaten and mentally-drained form of J'onn. It'll be alright, Rene just has to-

CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.

A continued series of very loud knocks echo into the holes of Rene's head where a human's ears would be. He turns his head back the other way to see that some of the inmates are already beginning to try and force their way into the infirmary. Were it not for the barricade, they probably would have made it in already. Trying to reach the basement now will be irresponsible to say the least, as much as it may disappoint the humanoid reptilian.

"Oh ****!" Rene curses somewhat vocally as he realize he has to do something. For now, Rene cannot really convince the professor any further; Rene frankly feels that Hugo will be of no use, precisely because he doesn't want to help when it comes to solving anything in Arkham Asylum. Rene gives the professor one worried and angry sneer before slithering on his clawed hands and feet to Spider-Man and Gethsemane. "This is bad. We can't open that barricade right now. There's gotta be another way around the asylum to the hallway." Rene doesn't have much in mind for "where" to go. He didn't study the asylum's architectural design before entering, though he does try to rattle his reptilian mind to recall how an ideal asylum building might be designed for the purposes of getting around quickly. Rene also can't help but use his superior size to look behind and over Spider-Man as the web-slinging hero looks at the list. "Uh, do you recognize any of those names?" When in doubt, trust the more experienced hero to know who the inmates and villains are.

Just to clarify again, anything involving Rene's shadow or darkness that isn't part of a power stunt is just something Rene sees; in this case, no one else (except those reading his mind :smalltongue:) should be seeing a shadow expanding and moving out of the infirmary.

Also, gonna roll Expertise (Architecture) to try and find the fastest way around to the hallway so we don't have to teleport or break through the door: [roll0]

[Zelphas]

Gethsemane goes very still as Professor Strange begins his rant, her burning eyes focused on the sneering man before her. Her ring dims slightly, the glow tinged red for a moment before a sickly yellow hue creeps in, mixing messily with the indigo radiance.

"Pride." Gethsemane drops the word softly, her voice somehow hissing despite the singular absence of sibilant sounds in her statement. Despite the fact that the room they are in is well lit (for Arkham), Gethsemane's form seems to darken with shadows, accentuating the glow of the ring of flames in her eyes. "Surrendering your life's work, Professor? Would opening the basement to be seen, not by this 'Enigma' but by Heroes, destroy your work? Riddle said to show basement to Heroes, not to inmates. Must wonder what this work is. May have seen it before." A contemptuous flick colors her tone at this last statement, and her eyes glow all the brighter as though to underline the implication of her words. "You lack the power to prevent entering the basement, Professor Strange. Opening the door may save many, if Enigma is bound to his riddles. With your assistance, will remember, and seek to aid if repercussions come. Without your assistance... will remember."

A moment later, Gethsemane looks as normal as she ever does, watching the Builder as he searches for a way out of the room and towards the strange, cheery voice. "All seemed to recognize person on other side of door," she comments in her neutral tone, the buzz of the translator on her throat once more prominent. "Another prominent villain in Gotham?"

Intimidation to scare Hugo Strange out of his pride: [roll0]

[TheIronGolem]

"All seemed to recognize person on other side of door. Another prominent villain in Gotham?"

"Harley Quinn", Spider-Man rattles off absent-mindedly as he scans the printout in his hands. "The Joker's Padawan."

"Apprentice", he corrects himself. He's used to having more pop-culture-savvy teammates.

"Most people think they're some kinda Bonnie and Clyde crime-couple", he continues. "But that's just an act."

It's really just Jimmy's journalist instincts rattling off these tidbits. His conscious mind is absorbing the list of inmates, correlating it with his own extensive-but-mostly-secondhand knowledge of their abilities and personalities, and mulling the implications.

"Okay", Spider-Man says, looking up at Gethsemane and the Builder. "We got quite a spread here. Some of them are just kooks, or only dangerous if they have their toys. Literally, in Toyman's case."

He throws a glance at Professor Strange. "You do keep their bad-guy-gear somewhere else, right?"

"Let's see...a bunch of Batman's fan club are here, no surprise there. Two-Face, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow. I heard Scarecrow got himself a Yellow Lantern Ring.

Chameleon's a shapeshifter, so maybe watch out for new 'victims' or 'heroes' turning up at convenient times.

Cheetah's fast. Not Flash-fast, I think. But maybe you-fast, Builder.

Black Hand is a mutant with some kind of life-draining touch. So...y'know, don't touch him.

There's a guy calling himself Gladiator, but it's not the same one we fought up at the Peak. Honestly, I'm pretty surprised there aren't a lot more guys out there calling themselves Gladiator. Or Blade. You'd think you'd meet five Blades every time you went to get your mail. Anyway.

Azrael, Toyman, Heatwave. Crazy violent weirdos, but they shouldn't be too much of a problem if they haven't had a chance to hit up the Super-Gadget Lost and Found.

Deathlok is some kind of cyborg vigilante. The 'vigilante' part might mean he won't be with the bad guys. But, I mean, they sent him here for a reason, right?

And as for Jersey Girl's 'doggy'...I think that's Victor Zsasz. Serial killer, has a thing about cutting tally marks into himself whenever he kills someone. He didn't have powers, but..."

Being only text, the printout doesn't have a picture of Zsasz. But the hauntingly familiar description leaves Jimmy with a pretty decent idea of what he's likely to see soon.

"It looks like he does now. And I think they're, uh...a little like mine."

[Starsign]

Letting the more experienced hero speak, Rene stays quiet as he looks over Spider-Man's shoulder as Spidey begins naming off the villains and Arkham inmates one by one. Most of these are pretty much a blank for Rene as far as familiarity goes. Sure he's heard of Harley and... wait, no Rene's really only heard of Harley; even then that's mostly because she gets associated with the Joker who is strangely absent from the asylum. Either he's locked up elsewhere or he's on the run. The rest of these villains, however, are locked up tight in Arkham Asylum... just not in their cells. Did J'onn actually look into the minds of all these villains as part of his job?!

"That's a ****ing mess of a list," the not-so-sane reptilian says, feeling a shiver down his cold-blooded spine. "I mean it's got a shapeshifter, a speedster, a guy who sucks life out, a bunch of crazy guys, and a goddamn vigilante." The sheer number of villains just on the list is staggering to the reptilian. He feels a moment of panic in his mind; something in him is saying that they can't do this; there's too many of them. Yet he has to convince himself that he can. Spider-Man and Gethsemane are here to help and the inmates must be spread all throughout Arkham Asylum. So long as they're all split up, the three heroes can work their way through the whole place. He did however have two odd questions to ask. "So why does this... Zasass," he pronounces like a complete buffoon, "have your powers Spider-Man? Is he supposed to be some sort of half-spider person?" Rene's reptilian snout leans away from above Spidey's shoulder and back to the compassion-filled demon who came to the asylum with Rene. "And Gethsemane, you know about the Lanterns, right? What's this Yellow Lantern Ring supposed to be about?" Rene simply gives off questions to those who he imagines has answers. Despite this being an asylum, it feels way more like a supervillain prison. He'll have to wait and hear in case the other heroes know something about Zsasz and Scarecrow that Rene doesn't.

This doesn't stop the reptilian from warning the other two about the asylum's layout. It kinds helps that the door's banging on the other side continues to ring loudly into Rene's eardrums. "...Oh, right. This is a problem." His reptilian voice quakes with slight fear as he continues speaking. "From what I've seen of this asylum and have seen of blueprints for others, this place is designed to choke off any and all places as needed. It's supposed to contain any outbreaks that occur, at least if there was a reasonable person in the warden's office." It was pretty obvious for everyone that Nygma's takeover of the office was not considered when the place was constructed. "The only ways out are through the ventilation, which will take me time to force open, the front door, which I'd have to move the barricade for, or teleportation." His reptilian eyes look over at the one who managed to get him here. "And I think you mentioned your Lantern teleport power was exhausting to use Gethsemane?"

This place really has become quite a predicament to move around in.

[Zelphas]

"Ah," Gethsemane says, deciding against asking for clarification on who the Joker was. Even in her few days' stint back on Earth, she'd heard people mention that name, and understood enough about him to know that he was a viable candidate for an Indigo Ring, at the very least.

Gethsemane listens patiently to Spider-Man's recounting of the prisoners they're facing, taking special notice of Scarecrow and Victor Zsasz. "Yellow Lantern is fear," she answers the Builder calmly. "Use fear as weapon; more they are feared, stronger they become. Will to resist fear is necessity."

She gazes at the barricade for a moment. "Teleportation is tiring, but necessary to keep barricade intact. Also useful to surprise opponents; should be able to catch Harlequin off guard," she continues, unaware that she has just mispronounced the insane psychologist's villain name. "If Zsasz has similar powers to Spider-Man, unlikely to be caught by surprise. Grab hold; contact needed for teleportation."

[Starsign]

"...Fear."

The word hits Rene about as much as a pair of kryptonian eye lasers do; it's painful, it's precise, and exists to leave a burning mark that torments longer than a punch will. Rene's had months of his life recently dealing with fear. In fact his entire superhero life so far has been about dealing with terrifying, ****ed up situations that have thrown him into a mental and emotional panic that most non-powered humans can understand. Rene's seen things that even most heroes had never witnessed before; the likes of eldritch abominations are those that no hero should ever seen. He's been an incredible victim of fear and terror; today it seems like he'll still may be that.

"Great, great," he hisses quietly under his breath. His round eyes almost fidgeting around as he speaks, looking away from everyone for a moment. "As if I didn't need enough going around trying to scare the **** out of me. Now there's a literal weapon of fear." Rene sighs, aware of the inevitability of his situation. Given how the asylum has gone to hell, facing Scarecrow will be a forced situation. Rene doesn't want to be there when it happens, but he will be there when it does. Besides, he doesn't want to leave Spider-Man and Gethsemane hanging; they need him as much as he needs them.

The reptilian, hunched over as he's always in, walks over and gently holds onto Gethsemane's insectoid-textured, tentacle-like arm; between the oversized teeth, the possibly-senative wings, and the leggings, there's not really a better place to hand onto the brood-demon creature. His claw wraps carefully around to make sure he doesn't scratch her by accident. "Alright, I'm ready," he confirms to the Indigo Lantern, holding back the shaking tone of his hissing voice. Indigo teleportation is not a pleasant experience, something Spidey is likely to find out shortly. But it certainly beats the time he had gone through several dozen of Sarah's portals at once to get to the other side of the world; that is something he never wants to do again.

[herodofcows]

Strange remains stony-faced as Gethsemane menaces him, and silently turns to look at his staff as though this were a routine inspection of the area. None of the doctors will look him in the eye.

"I owe you no explanations, madam. You may do as you think best. I am doing what I know to be best."

"HU-goooooo!" Harley screeches from the outside, "I can HEAR youuuuu! Better come out quick, or we're gonna hafta break in!"

"Harley?" Dr. Temple speaks up, moving to the door, "Harley, it's Claire. Claire Temple. Do you remember me? We used to work together, back when-"

"Awww, lookit! Hiya, Claire! Long time no see! Sorry about this, but we gotta do what we gotta-"

"You DON'T have to do this, Harley!"

"-an' Zsasz is lookin' preeeetty hungry! Ain'tcha, Zsasz?"

"Yes . . . yes, please, yes . . . So hungry . . ."

BLINK

In a glow of Indigo light, our heroes emerge in the hallway. The two lockdown doors are peeking open. To the left, the floor appears eerily deserted and quiet, minus the odd body strewn here or there. To the right . . . pandemonium. Patients are running rampant, shrieking and striking and tearing into each other and anyone in the vicinity. Screams and cries ring out through the hallways, along with the distant sound of automatic weapons fire.

Harley and Zsasz are standing at the barricaded door, at the head of about a dozen brutal-looking prisoners. Harley is holding a bent steel bar over her shoulder like a baseball bat, still in her full Arkham inmate jumpsuit. Zsasz has torn his off from the waist up, and his unmarked flesh seems to shimmer and flow over him as he tenses.

They all turn around as the two aliens (okay, one and a half) and the reptile emerge from thin air. The Indigo glow was dim, but still apparently noticeable.

"Heyyyy, what the-"

The inmates tense. Zsasz's eyes widen. Harley begins to heft her metal bar.

And for Spidey, the world slows . . .

Okay, Spidey first, then the enemies, then free-for-all!

[TheIronGolem]

"If Zsasz has similar powers to Spider-Man, unlikely to be caught by surprise. Grab hold; contact needed for teleportation."

It takes Spider-Man a moment of searching to find a spot to grab that is neither sharp nor likely to earn him a stern letter from Superhuman Resources, but find it he does.

Thanks to his Spider-Sense it only takes Spider-Man a fraction of a second to clear away the disorienting effects of the teleportation, but it's immediately apparent that that time was enough for Harley and Zsasz to spot him and his allies.

Taking advantage of what precious little remains of their element of surprise, Spider-Man dashes towards Zsasz at full speed as if to tackle him. At the last second, however, he leaps into the air and sprays webbing downwards as he sails over the psychopath's head, hoping to make him an easy (or at least, easier) target for Gethsemane and the Builder. The curious part of Jimmy's mind, detached somewhat from the immediate danger, notes that he'll finally get to learn whether the webbing of one symbiote will actually work on the user of a different symbiote. Assuming Zsasz really has one, that is; Jimmy had been expecting to see something that looked less like the scarred maniac from the newspapers and more like some probably-monstrous variation on his own short time as the Scarlet Spider.

Conflict. Apprehension. I don't like this...

I don't either, buddy. But if that IS one of yours, we need to free it from that lunatic.

The webslinger's momentum ought to send him crashing headlong into the wall behind Harley and Zsasz. Instead he runs up the wall, back along the ceiling, and comes to a stop crouching against the opposite wall where he can survey his handiwork and prepare to deal with any counterattack the two of them may have.


Web Snare on Zsasz: [roll0] (Dodge DC 21, 1st degree Dazed/Impaired/Vulnerable, 2nd degree Stunned/Disabled/Defenseless)

[herodofcows]

Spidey's webbing snares truly, and Zsasz is quickly encased in the symbiote's tendrils. He struggles, groaning and yelping incoherently, but to no avail.

"N-no! NO! Let me go let me GO let me GOOOOO!"

However, the wall-crawler is jerked into a reverie the second the tendrils make contact with Zsasz's skin . . .

You hear/feel it again: it's a voice in your head, an emotion blasted through your medulla, and it stops you in your tracks.

Shock. Confusion. Mother/father/parent?

Shock. Uncertainty. I killed you.

Rage. Fury. I WILL KILL YOU AGAIN.

WHOOSH

DONK

. . . only to find himself nearly bashed across the head as Harley springs over with her metal bar.

Luckily, having a super-speedy reptilian tank nearby has its benefits. As Spidey reels, the Builder picks up the slack and takes the hit.

"LEGGO MY DOGGIE!" she shrieks, winding up for another swing.

The mob of patients descends on the more monstrous heroes, shrieking and flailing and punching as hard as they can.

"Sorcerers!"

"The devils, they're here, kill the devils, kill them!"

"Blood and guts and water and viscous humor!"

"Millennium hand and shrimp!"

The Builder is fast enough to dodge and strong enough to tank their blows, but Gethsemane is still drained from the teleportation. A few of the inmates manage to get in some hits as she tries to defend herself.

Spidey gains a Hero Point! Until he resolves things with Zsasz's symbiote (or disengages from it entirely), he is Dazed!

[Starsign]

It's just like instinct: you act and don't realize it until it's already happened.

Rene was frozen briefly as he saw Harley and Zasaz on the other side of the door; neither of them came too far off from what the reptilian had expected of them; one acts like she's an amusing clown, the other is a flesh-happy psychopath who loves showing off his own self-inflicted wounds. Were it not for some of the crazier **** Rene has seen before, he'd likely be downright mortified by these two. Zasaz in particular seems like the kind of person that no one would dare try and approach even if he were locked and treated in a forcefield cage. Spider-Man seemed to know what to do at least as the experienced hero throws the crazed killer into a wall. By all accounts it seemed like Spider-Man had it all in control.

And then Rene's instincts came in as he saw Harley's steel bar.

MOVE!

All of a sudden the black cloak which covered Rene's body was thrown off. A green blur slithered meters forward, barely quick enough for anyone to notice.

DONK

The bar had hit an impressively durable head of scales and muscle. As if out of nowhere Rene had rushed in front of Spidey to intrude and take the blow. For most people, the metal object would have given them a concussion. Yet for the reptilian, it comes off as little more than a painful smack on his the bare, yellow-green scaled head. He hisses a yelp as his head is knocked downward slightly from the impact, even though he left Harley without any real damage done. The removal of Rene's cloak meant everyone got to see his new costume, having replaced the old, tacky Secret Warriors outfit he's come to despise. He originally asked Katie for advice on a new hero outfit that wouldn't get torn up under Rene's super-speed; that... did not go well. Instead she directed him to someone who was more sensible in their outfit designs. As a result, Rene wore what was a surprisingly simple spandex-style outfit of thick rubber which covered from his shoulders down to his stomach, leaving his limbs free. The outfit came in a dark green color, with the light-green symbol of a serpent on his back. The outfit was designed so minimally and simplistically due to the concern of damage. As far as speedsters go, Rene had proven himself to throw himself into danger rather than dodge out of it. If he's going to have a super-suit, it better be easily repaired.

There was also a small difference in Rene's frame. Compared to his time on the Spire, the reptilian now appeared a little bulkier; his muscles were slightly bigger than before. He couldn't explain why he turned out like that; it just happened over time and no amount of work building homes can justify the boost in strength. He certainly won't ever be as big or as strong as his brother, but it did help him keep up with the other heroes in a fight.

While Rene had thrown himself in front of Spidey, he was more concerned with the chaos and gunfire that had come from nearby. He believed that Gethsemane and Spidey would understand if the Builder had ran off to stop the rioting inmates from harming more people. Turns out, that wasn't needed; they came right for the three, speaking crazy, maddening babble which wasn't out of place with the voices and sights Rene had been hearing all through his reptilian life. The screams of the patients, in fact, left Rene more staggered than the rabid attacks of the mob do. He hissed a shrieking, "GAH!" and backed off from some of the attacks while others left him mostly rattled; a normal human's punch didn't do much to hurt him and flinging chains and bats at him help very little against his scales.

Even if Rene should be worried about Harley and Zasaz, the Builder can't help but panic more over the group of patients that are most definitely not well-treated. "Stop it!" He yells in futility over their mad rambling, coming off so similar to some of his own breakdowns into insanity in the past. The reptilian's words, however, mean little compared to the actions he commits to after.

ZIP

POW

ZOOM

WHACK

He dashes around in a mad blur, painfully curling his claws into his palms as he strikes the patients with a series of wild punches, backhands and tail slaps, moving around just to knock them all unconscious. Anything to get them to stop; anything to get them to shut up!

Switching my array over to Self-Defense Instinct to handle the lower-Toughness attacks they do. Will attack the patients and use Takedown 2 to hit as many as I can. Do the patients count as minions? If so I'll Power Attack for 2 and just take 10 on hitting them as a result of 20. DC 27 Toughness on each hit.

[Zelphas]

Gethsemane more or less ignores the wounds inflicted upon her by the inmates; a few minor blemishes won't last long upon her infernal skin, as her immortal nature will soon simply reject their existence. She surveys the battlefield for a moment, before glancing over at the woman with the giant metal bar. "Harlequin. Worked as a psychologist?" she says, her voice conversational as her ring begins to glow an odd, ugly bluish-orange. "Good to see a professional taking such a... close interest in their work." Those with good ears might detect a slight whizzing noise underneath the Brood-demon's banal words.

Move Action: Close with Harley Quinn, if necessary.

Standard Action: Attack with Sting of Greed, All-Out Power Attacking for 3. [roll0] On a hit, Fortitude DC 23 vs. Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated, Will DC 23 vs. Weaken Will and Toughness. Both effects are Subtle 2, so Harley Quinn needs to make a Perception DC 20 check to realize she is being attacked (which hopefully means she's Vulnerable if she doesn't make the check).

Status: 1 Bruise (Heals), Fatigued, -3 to Active Defenses this turn.

[TheIronGolem]

With his head going foggy from the contact with Zsasz's symbiote, Spider-Man turns inward to seek answers.

It killed you before? What does that mean?

Confusion. Bewilderment. I've got nothing.

He's not surprised. This symbiote doesn't "feel" quite like either of the other two Jimmy encountered in the Purple Man's hideout, even if he suspects it would have gotten along famously with the one John Constantine had lobotomized. So why does it seem to recognize his symbiote?

Time travel? Alternate-universe shenanigans? Did somebody punch reality again?

Of course, the simplest answer is that it's just as crazy as its host, so Jimmy decides to go with that for now. Occam's Razor still applies even when a serial killer is giving himself tally marks with it. And as much as he'd like to put Zsasz down for the count, he can't just beat on one defenseless villain while several others are mauling his friends.

Dropping down from the wall, Spider-Man watches the two Harleys in his vision circle each other, then throws a roundhouse kick at the point where they finally converge.


Standard action:​ Spider-Strike on Harley (All-Out/Power Attack for 3 each): [roll0] (Damage DC 26+Multiattack)
Status: Dazed, -3 Active Defenses

[herodofcows]

"Hellfire and brimstone!"

"YOU'RE NOT REAL YOU'RE NOT YOU'RE NOT YOU'RE NOT!"

"HAHAHAHAhahahahahaaaa . . ."

"Buggerit!"

The tide of inmates continues to swirl around the two more monstrous-looking heroes. The Builder swats down two, but the sheer press and literal mad strength of his opponents makes them surprisingly difficult to put down.

Luckily, the Builder and Gethsemane are made of sturdy stuff. The flailing and smashing and whacking and bashing comes down to a series of semi-near misses or outright ineffectual blows, and the horde remains a noisy distraction more than anything.

"Peel your flesh and slice your bones and suck your marrow out, yes, your disgusting flesh and shackled life, I'll free you from it, so I will, I promise you . . ." Zsasz continues to yowl, still thrashing ineffectually against his bonds.

"Ohhh, no ya d- . . . Oh . . . Uh-oh . . ."

Quinn, mid-charge at Gethsemane, suddenly sways. She looks confused for a moment, hefting the metal bar as though it's suddenly much heavier.

"W-what did you-"

WHACK

Even mid-reverie, Spidey's foot makes for a sizable distraction as it contacts Harley's face. The former psychologist goes reeling backwards, smashing headfirst into a tiled wall. It takes her a moment to pick herself up, and she is cross-eyed as she flings herself at the wall-crawler.

"OHHHH you're gonna get it now, you- DAMMIT!"

CLUNK

Once again, the Builder takes a blow meant for Spidey. Harley's unfocused eyes narrow in concussed rage.

"WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA, YA CROC-WANNABE? Gonna make SHOES outta you!"

The impressions are dim and difficult to make out, but you and the symbiote are starting to get a sense of story here . . .

Cold fury. Pain. I remember it so clearly . . .

"SPLIT"

Terrified. Confused. Mother is here.

"Junior and Brood Mother? Get in."

Numb. Despairing. Separated. Motion. Timeless ages trapped in the dark . . .

Light. Wet. Cold.

"Hello, little fellow. Come here, right here . . ."

Unwilling. Terrified. Can't stop. Controlled AGAIN.

"This is my friend Black Manta. You're going to help him now . . ."

Bonding. Familiarity. Hatred boiling in the new host, raw hatred for Namor, for Aquaman, for the United States of Atlantis.

Scared. Confused. Want to leave . . .

"Ah ah ah ah! Stay, little thing! Stay and help, or I'll be back!"

Faint hope. Surely Mother would come. Surely it would not be long.

Rage. Broken reverie. MOTHER NEVER FOUND. I FOUND MOTHER.

[Starsign]

Perhaps it's a fear of what the crazed inmates could do to the heroes, or perhaps because he's the toughest hero in the asylum, but Rene just does not want to see those he works with hurt. He couldn't quite call Spider-Man and Gethsemane his friends, at least not in the way that the reptilian thinks of the Misfits. Yet the three of them have now met on multiple occasions; there wasn't any reason to believe that this would be the last time they'd all meet. Rene would absolutely be willing to try and be friends with the other two heroes and he would be willing to do so during battle. While he could manage it, he wouldn't let them get hurt. He hated being hurt himself; he hated blood and pain, even his time as a reptilian dulled his sensitivity to it; but what good is he as a scaled, compassionate person if he refused to protect those he cares about?

So the reptilian had no hesitation, even if he might have ended up regretting it, when he dashed back in front of Spider-Man and took Harley's swung steel bar to the reptilian's head.

CLUNK

There is a loud painful hiss from The Builder as he reels from the attack and nearly stumbles over his own clawed feet in the process. The bar left a cracked mark on the right side of his face and snout; several of his sharp teeth fell out from his mouth as well. Wherever Harley learned how to hit hard, she learned really damn well. The reptilian gives a painful pant as he keeps his claws on the ground; the crack and small crater on his head already healing off some of the damage done. Whether The Lizard had regeneration in mind or not when transforming Rene, it sure happens to be a damn useful power!

All that regeneration however does little to counteract the pain from the blow as Rene clutches the wound with his right clawed hand. He would have focused on attacking back if he was able to focus. Yet the not-so-sane reptilian feels immediately compelled by Harley's taunt to him. In one sense, making a villain angry scares Rene, for it always means that the villain will do so much worse to him than they had originally planned. Yet Harley had said something that caught Rene's attention. "C-Croc-wannabe? You know my brother?!" Rene has little knowledge of Killer Croc's past activity as a villain besides being aware that Croc's been a part of Batman's rogues. Rene hadn't exactly been interested in knowing about who Croc had run into back when he was in Gotham but to find someone who knew about Rene's brother comes off as a bit worrying for some reason.

That's not as worrying as the steel bar Harley still held as she seems ready to smash Rene's face in, something Rene realizes much later than any other hero should. He gasps with wide reptilian eyes as he sees Harley baring her steel bar at him and, as if by reaction, Rene ducks down, slides to his side and uses his momentum to swing his tail at her.

Rene is switching over to Survival Instinct as he MAY be interposing quite a bit this chapter. Attacking Harley with a standard attack with Power Attack +2/-2. [roll0]
DC 27 Toughness on hit.

[Zelphas]

"Brood venom," Gethsemane answers Harley blandly, the inmates' blows bouncing off of her carapace without leaving a dent. Her earlier wounds have already vanished, simply ceasing to be as her infernal nature rejects their existence. "Brood have vested interest in keeping prey alive, so venom is nonfatal; merely paralytic."

The demoness looks around at the babbling horde of inmates and sighs. "If had more time, proper tools... no matter." Her ring, staff, and forehead glow a murky red for an instant, and then bloodred flames coat her claws. "Apologies. For now, must meet madness with rage." A moment later, she is among them, making up for her lack of super-speed with economy of movement as she methodically slashes down her opponents one by one.

Move Action: Close with nearest inmate if necessary.

Free Action: Switch to Claws of Rage.

Standard Action: Claws of Rage on the inmates, All-Out Power Attacking for 5. I will take 10 on the attack roll for a total of 22 and use Takedown 2. Parry DC 30+Multiattack vs. Damage on each hit. The attacks do have Secondary effect, but if that would cause Incapacitated inmates to begin Dying, I will forgo it if I can.

Status Fatigued, -5 to Active Defenses this turn.

[TheIronGolem]

It's hard to split your attention between a deadly hand-to-hand battle and a psychic conversation with aliens, which is why the Builder doesn't receive the thanks he deserves for taking another blow meant for Spider-Man.

Rage. Broken reverie. MOTHER NEVER FOUND. I FOUND MOTHER.

So this is the symbiote he lost track of in New Orleans. Jimmy's worst-case scenario is unfolding right in front of him. He'd failed this symbiote just like he'd failed its sibling. And while the other one could at least be said to have been spared any further pain, this one has had its developing mind subjected to the insanity of Victor Zsasz. It's all his fault.

Contradiction. Reassurance. This is not your fault, it is his.

Jimmy appreciates the sentiment, but he can't help but notice that his symbiote seems to be holding something back. It's not hard to guess what; these are its children, after all. This is hard enough for Jimmy, so how much worse must it be for the poor creature watching this happen to its own progeny?

Hey, Jimmy thinks at the red symbiote, hoping it can hear him. Remember me? We're going to fix this, understand? We're going to get you somewhere safe. But first we've got to get you away from that maniac. He's poisoning you.

Speaking of maniacs: Zsasz is still struggling against his webbing, and Harley is wailing on the Builder with that pipe. Gethsemane seems to have the rest of this cluster of inmates taken care of, but these two still need dealing with.

"Okay, kids. This has been just tons of fun, but I think it's about time for your nappy-naps."


Power/All-Out +3 Multiattack Spider-Strike on Harley and Zsasz (DC 26)
Zsasz: [roll0]
Harley: [roll1]
Status: Dazed, -3 Active Defenses

[herodofcows]

The inmates go from howling and shrieking curses to howling and shrieking wordlessly as Gethsemane slices through them. The demon's wrath sends forth blood-red flames with each swipe, and her opponents fall one by one in a ballet of blood.

By the end, these poor unfortunate souls of Arkham Asylum are bloodied and singed and fallen, but alive. It's shame to think what they could become if the Indigo Light could reach them.

Harley, for her part, just refuses to go down. Cross-eyed and stumbling, she's fighting like a veritable demon and not giving a single inch. Spidey and the Builder both lash out at her, and she evades both with a sort of staggering dodge that might have just as easily been pure luck as anything else.

"Naps . . . f'r . . . YOU FIRST!" she screeches, and her iron bar smashes into the back of the Builder's head with a resounding crash.

Meanwhile, Zsasz begins to chuckle shrilly, and his struggling stops for a moment.

"Mmmmhmmhmm! I heard that, flesh! Oh, you don't know anything . . ."

Scorn. Mockery. "He's poisoning you?"

Fury. Derision. Just what you said last time.

The sense remains a little hazy, but you're beginning to get a stronger sense of place and narrative now. The symbiote is telling you a story . . .

Months of terror. Months of pain. Months bonded to Black Manta.

He was a cruel host, a mean host. All he wanted was power, and all he offered was his own insecurity and hatred.

He tortured you, demanding abilities that you didn't have, abilities that would let him slay the True King of Atlantis.

You did what you could, still compelled by the words of the man with the voice.

You hoped for as long as you could, waiting for mother/father to come and rescue you. You waited for days. Weeks. Months.

Only when a year had passed did you accept the truth: Mother/father wouldn't come. You'd been abandoned. You were trapped.

* * * * * * *

You see the Black Manta's head, held in the hands of the True King. Black Manta had attempted to attack the True King, relying on the powers you would bestow.

You were scared. You withheld those powers, more out of weakness than will. And Black Manta died.

In your terror, you move and contract. You cannot help yourself. The True King notices. He extends his hand.

You feel it then: Certainty. The True King is a rock of certainty, a beacon to your abandoned and frightened self. You reach out to him, make contact . . .

You've found your host.

* * * * * * *

You see the armies of Atlantis, led by Arthur Curry, the golden-haired False King. They are glorious.

You see the armies of the host, the True King. They are arrayed for miles.

You charge. The sounds of conflict shatter the peace of the ocean depths.

You are unstoppable, a whirlwind of death and destruction. You cut through the ranks of the False King's troops, maiming and eviscerating with ease.

The False King tries to reason with you. His words are only so much water, and the water turns red as you cut his throat.

* * * * * * *

Atlantis marches to war, and the True King is at the head of his armies, and you are at the head of the True King.

Surface dwellers cower and fall before you. Nations crumble under your feet. Their heroes fight you. Their heroes fall.

Finally, the Battle of Metropolis. The True King stands before a maimed Superman, readying a final killing blow . . .

THWIP

A tendril, one like yours. A texture, one you recognize. A voice, one you'd buried.

Do you remember me?

We've been looking for you. We didn't realize where you'd gone, what had . . . happened to you.

This isn't your fault. You've been confused, misled.

We're going to get you somewhere safe. But first we've got to get you away from that maniac. He's poisoning you.

They try to fight you. They give Superman enough time to escape, to fight another day. But it's worth it.

The True King laughs as he helps you crush their skull.

* * * * * * *

The Battle of Central City was the final siege. Four days, four nights of pitched battle. Unceasing. Unending.

A sudden light in the dead of midnight. A vortex. Some weapon of the enemy?

You are pulled from the True King. He cries out. You cry out too, wordlessly.

You are tumbling, tumbling, tumbling through lights and noises, through other worlds and times . . .

To the middle of Metropolis. A different Metropolis. Two Supermen fight a third. Lex Luthor with hair stands triumphant. The Scarlet Witch is floating, holding a legion of heroes at bay as they all fight amongst themselves in a frenzy . . .

The Disassembly.

Rage. Panic. Trapped here. Away from the True King. Away from my revenge.

Wry amusement. There are perks.

Bloodlust. I get to kill you twice, mother/father.

With a sudden wrench, Zsasz stands up straight. The symbiote webbing falls away, and his skin is abruptly covered in razor-sharp protrusions.

"Let us liberate you now, flesh. Mmmm . . ."

[Starsign]

CRACK

Rene's reptilian eardrums tear loudly as he is suddenly smashed into the floor by Harley's painful bar of a weapon, drowning out his repulsive-sounding, "GAH!" amidst the sudden impact, His scaly limbs shake in shock briefly as he struggles to get up on his knees. There's a leak on his head; something about that bar smashed through the plate-like scales that covered his head. It's beginning to drip down the sides of his head and then curves down to his reptilian nose and snout. His nose and ability to track scents make it clear: he's bleeding; he's bleeding; Oh god he's bleeding. As if given an infusion of fear-eclipsing adrenaline, the reptilian almost senses his body going into shock. His limbs violently quake briefly under the revelation. He thought he was over the sight of blood. He thought that the horror of pain and blood paled and diminished him after all that's happened. But no, you can never prepare for harm; you can never prepare to be beaten, broken, and bleeding out. It's a terrible experience each time it happens! It's-

STOP!

A shadowy command overtakes Rene's muscles; a calming wave across his head momentarily ceases the flowing blood as dark, invisible hands take over his clawed hands and feet.

Get up! Fight, beast!

Slowly the reptilian strains back up from where he fell; something helps him to his feet as the large gaping wound in his head begins to patch together. His body keeps him alive and conscious as it redoubles its efforts to heal him. As if by his instinct, however divorced it is from reality, Rene pulls his cold-blooded, scaly body together before something smashes him back down behind the veil of darkness that surrounds him... Then he comes to again, and finds a lot more blood than he expected. First there is the inmates which Gethsemane had casually routed, bloodied by claws which very well could have slain them easily. Then there's the splatter of blood on Harley's steel bat, merely confirming what he had already expected from the blow to his head... and the harlequin-dressed woman doesn't even seem to recognize the blood she sees on Rene and on her bat. Holy **** what is wrong with these asylum inmates?!

Having refocused himself, Rene tries getting over his slight panic and sees Harley letting down her guard after her violent beatdown on him. The reptilian finds himself breathing heavily for a few moments before hissing as if to psych himself back up. He can't let the blow get the better of him. Clenching his fists, and skewering the palms of his hand with his claws again, Rene rushes forward, pained head be damned, and recklessly tries smashing his left fist into Harley's gut. His increased bulk means he doesn't have to spread blood around by clawing his opponents; all the better for Rene's fragile psyche if he can just knock out his opponents without drawing blood.

Since Rene is Staggered, IIRC he can only take a Standard or Move action, so he'll take the Standard to hit Harley. And I will be using All-Out Attack and Power Attack +5/-5 to strike Harley while her defenses are down! [roll0] DC 30 Toughness on a hit.

[TheIronGolem]

Spider-Man is still struggling to maintain his situational awareness in the face of the other symbiote's psychic ranting. So this isn't his own sybmiote's offspring after all. That's...mixed news, really. Good, because it means it might not be too late for "his" red symbiote yet. Bad because if it is too late, there are now two of them out there.

Recalling his time at the Baxter Building as Richards and Palmer had brainstormed treatments for Superman, Jimmy thinks about some of the things they had told him about how alternate universes work. Most of it had gone so far over his head that it was at risk of achieving orbit, but one thing he did grasp was how most inter-universal trips are "short" ones, cosmically speaking. That is, even when key differences exist between one universe and the next, events of a lesser scale still tend to play out in similar ways - sometimes even identically. As a result, it occurs to Jimmy that if he can get a complete story of what happened to Zsasz's symbiote, he might be able to glean some clues about the whereabouts of his own.

But that'll have to wait. The need to stop Zsasz, Harley, and the rest of this riot (oh, and the Riddler too, because when it rains it freaking pours) hasn't changed.

"Naps . . . f'r . . . YOU FIRST!"

If Harley's screeching hadn't jostled Spider-Man out of his navel-gazing, the wince-inducing sound of the collision between her pipe and the Builder's skull surely would have. The big lizard might be tough, but he's not indestructible, and he's been taking way too many hits that had the webslinger's name on them. Time to put that pipe to better use.

"The Joker's protege, ladies and gentlemen!", Spider-Man proclaims theatrically in response to Harley's punch-drunk retort. "If only he could see her now - the Gallagher Too of supervillains!"

As he taunts Harley, the wallcrawler edges closer to Zsasz, preparing to dodge the swing he hopes he can trick the crazy lady into taking at him.

This trainwreck losing streak the dice have been giving me is obviously a great time for me to burn a Hero Point on a risky move!

Hero Point: Gain the Redirect advantage until end of turn.
Standard Action: Using Redirect, attempt to Trick Harley into hitting Zsasz. Deception check: [roll0] Yep, that seems about right.
Status: Dazed

[Zelphas]

Gethsemane flicks the last sizzling flecks of blood off of her claws and turns back to the only two opponents still standing. Note: return and heal inmates soon. Preferably while still unconscious. She glances around the corridor they are fighting in, for a moment, then takes a few judicious steps until Harley Quinn is between her and the barricaded door.

Sickly yellowish light glows out from Gethsemane's ring and the mark on her forehead, and she draws herself up to her full height, one claw pointing imperiously at the Joker's protege. A ball of pulsing, yellow-black force gathers at the tip of her claw, roiling with dark flames and the shadows of terrified faces. Gethsemane sends the ball flying at Harley Quinn with a simple word: "Cower."

Move Action: Shift until she is between Harley Quinn and the open corridor (essentially, shift so that if Harley Quinn wants to run away from Gethsemane,
she has to run into the barricade).

Free Action: Switch to Unholy Terror.

Standard Action: Unholy Terror on Harley Quinn, All-Out Power Attacking for 5. [roll0] On a hit, Damage DC 30, Will DC 25 vs. Entranced/Compelled/Controlled (Only to run away from Gethsemane, Entranced targets may act normally any round they use a Shift action to move away from Gethsemane).

Status: -5 to Active Defenses.

[herodofcows]

WHACK

Harley reels backwards as the Builder punches her in the stomach, but the stumble is calculated: she turns it into a tumble that lands her back on her feet. She twirls her crowbar, a demonic grin on her face.

"Alllll right, NOW ya asked f'r . . . Wait, what?"

Spidey's line . . . well, she seems more confused than incensed.

"What's a Gallagher T-?"

And then Gethsemane hits her with the fear blast.

She does not shriek, nor flee. Her eyes widen and her pupils fully dilate. For a moment, she seems to stop breathing.

"Y-you . . . You . . ." she chokes out, as though her mouth is refusing to obey her commands.

"You're just like the other two . . ."

She keels over in a sudden swoon, head smacking the tile floor as she slides into unconsciousness.

Zsasz surveys the room, suddenly reserved. His eyes dart from the unconscious Harley, to Spidey, to the unconscious inmates, to Spidey, to Gethsemane, to Spidey, to the barricade, to Spidey, to the Builder, and then at last to Spidey. His skin seems to shiver and flow around him, and he licks his lips unblinkingly.

"We'll meet again, flesh," he drawls to Spidey, a dreamy smile on his face, "Oh, yes. Another time, another place, we'll meet again."

And with that, he springs with sudden agility out the right-hand door, vanishing back into the pandemonium of the rioting inmates.

The intercom crackles to life once more, and there is a brief lull in the rioting.

"Chop-chop, my little heroes! Time to choose! The left path, or the right? Strange truths, or enigmatic heroism? Choose, or I shall choose for you!"

[Starsign]

Rene clutched the wound on his head again as the battle calmed down. His skull had been regenerating its cracks and scales as Harley fell and as the creepy serial killer took off at shockingly inhuman speeds. The reptilian just gave off a scaly sigh as he managed to survive yet another battle. While it was far from the most harrowing experience of his life, Harley's steel bar took a mental toll on him, reminding him of his fragility if he let up for even a moment. He can only shiver at what would've happened if Harley got another good blow in him.

His shivering, echoing a sense of shock in his cold-blooded body, intensified as Nygma's voice echoes over the loudspeaker and reminding the three heroes of their immediate dilemma.

The hunched-over reptilian tilts his head left and right, noticing both ends of the hallway which will no doubt soon close. His immediate thought is to rush over right and quell the immediate riot so that Gethsemane can heal the injured. It'd make sense; they go heal the attacked now and then they can deal with the "calmer" stuff later. After all Nygma isn't going anywhere and neither will the rest of the inmates stuck in this bastard nightmare of an asylum. And yet... Rene can't help but worry what happens if he does that. They'll be ignoring the truth, ignoring a potentially pressing matter, and ignoring other workers who may be injured over on the left. Just because it's quiet didn't mean people aren't hurt there. His infravision has seen too many people whose body heat seemingly died out. The longer the three heroes stay together, the more people will die. Gethsemane has to help those on the right; it's too immediate for her healing to ignore. She needs to be there now. And she needs to have some form of backup in case the riot appears worse than expected.

So the reptilian, seeing the demon-bug creature heal the last of the dozen or so inmates to keep them from bleeding out, takes several shaky breaths, consider his options... then speaks a determined, yet hesitant phrase. "Please, trust me."

In an instant, Gethsemane and Spider-Man are taken over past the right door with the chaotic riot, while Rene is over at the left door with the eerie nothingness beyond.

Rene doesn't look back. He doesn't want to after what he just did. He just let himself go down on his own on a path which is supposed to house someone that freaking BATMAN can't beat; and Rene did so knowing the risks and knowing that the best possible outcome is to split up. And yet to by himself inside a living hellhole... He's been in this situation before; he has no way to contact anyone here and he's absolutely sure J'onn isn't available right now. Rene has to traverse down by himself. And this time, being on his own, he truly, seriously has to do it without help.

Is the large reptilian creature terrified? Hell yes he is. Yet he is filled with a sense of will, a drive to go forward, a motive overpowering the fear in him. He's a powerhouse; this is something only he will be able to do on his own. He can heal, he can regenerate; and goddammit, he's a large reptilian with super-speed! Even if he can't handle it, he has to try. He has to set an example for his brother as what it means to be a hero and to do the right thing, even if Croc isn't able to see this from his cage way down in the Spire. There may be no one to save Rene this time, but that's fine; he needs to make up for all the times he'd been rescued. And even damning all that, Rene's going on his own because helping everyone is the right thing to do!

So with that internal flash of resolution in the yellow-green scaled reptilian, he continues down the path set before him, ticking his clawed hands and feet on the dirty steel asylum floor as he braces himself for what may be ahead. A massive shadow envelops the area behind him. The beast in him and the shadow it masters will follow The Builder at every step. Even if Rene may be on his own, he won't be alone.

[herodofcows]

The Riddler's voice begins to spiral upwards through the octaves as he realizes what is unfolding.

"No, y-"

WH-

The Builder zooms Spidey and Gethsemane into the right-hand hallway, filled with rioting inmates.

"-ou ca-"

-OO-

Within the next millisecond, he is running back through the middle hallway, past the downed thugs and the unconscious Harley Quinn . . .

"-n't choo-"

-SH!

CLANG!

"-se both!" proclaims Nygma, as the security doors slam shut.

Our heroes stand in two similar settings: long hallways, punctuated by doors to medical wards.

Spidey and Gethsemane's side is apparently filled to the brim with rioting inmates: they are clawing over each other, screaming and shouting indistinguishable nonsense. It seems uncontrolled, chaotic, and not at all in the Riddler's stype. The heroes see signs indicating directions for the Cafeteria, Visitor Processing, and Common Areas.

"Look! Look, you chattering imbeciles! Look at the costumed freaks!" Nygma bellows over the intercom, "They guard Professor Strange! KILL THEM!"

A surge of inmates moves in towards our heroes. Two are immediately recognizable as leaders of the pack: on one side, Two-Face (former Gotham DA Harvey Dent) comes barreling towards the wall-crawler fists-first. One the other, Mr. Mick Rory (otherwise known as Heatwave) is brandishing an aerosol can of air freshener and a lighter.

Meanwhile, the Builder's side of the asylum appears . . . mostly deserted. The lights are flickering where they aren't entirely off. The reptilian rescuer can see and smell several warm bodies in the area: most are huddling on the ground in the various infirmaries, silent and largely unmoving. Some appear to be creeping low through the halls, as though trying to avoid notice. The anomalous heat signature the Builder had seen/smelled earlier is nowhere to be found . . .

"Ahhh, my dear sauropodian simpleton . . ." crackles the Riddler's voice, breaking the silence abruptly, "I fear you've misjudged the situation! You cannot choose heroism AND truth! One obscures the other, and the other poisons the first!"

A light goes out above the Builder's head. The hallway is mostly shrouded in darkness, yet he can see the signs for Basement Levels, Intensive Treatment, and Staff Quarters.

"Well, so long as you're here . . . riddle me this! You may be the more cowardly animal, but you face a craven beast! Can you guess what awaits you now?"

[Zelphas]

Gethsemane barely notices the Riddler's commentary, too busy contemplating Harley Quinn's final words before she collapsed. Other two? Odd comment; reaction to being hit by Yellow Lantern power? Or unholy power? Either case warrants investigation; Yellow Lantern presence in Gotham dangerous. Demon presence... worse.

Her ruminations are interrupted by the Builder's sudden movements. Gethsemane glances over at the super-fast lizard-man as he tears across to the other doorway... and then sees his shadow.

Up to this point, Gethsemane has assumed that the Builder's abilities are primarily biological in nature. In the past, she would have slated him for eventual dissection, if she found spare time; now, she has been content simply to passively study him and make conjectures about the changes wrought upon him. The split-second sight of the Builder's shadow, however, puts his powers in a whole different light. That giant, encroaching shadow, far larger than the lights would create, shows that there's something magic going on with the Builder; and what's more, it isn't magic that Gethsemane immediately recognizes. The Indigo Tribe Demoness stares at the locked door for a moment longer. Note: Ask the Builder to perform in-depth analysis. Soon.

That revalation out of the way, Gethsemane turns smoothly towards the coming mob, flexing her claws slightly. "So, when the Riddler's scheme is defied, loses composure and resorts to threats and anger quickly. Useful," she comments lightly to Spider-Man. "Can deal with general mob; begin subduing one or another of ring-leaders?" she suggests, before launching herself towards the oncoming crush of inmates, her claws once again dripping with crimson flame.

Move Action: Close with nearest crazed inmate who is not Two-Face or Heatwave.

Free Action: Switch to Claws of Rage.

Standard Action: Claws of Rage on the Inmates, taking 10 for a total of 22. Parry DC 25+Multiattack vs. Damage, using Takedown 2 to drop as many as possible.

Status: Fine (?).

[Starsign]

The lights are out.

Rene hears nothing in the room but his huddled, scaly breaths as he quickly turns around to look behind him. His shadow's gone; light is gone. He can't see any of his allies past the steel door that had smashed down behind him. This isn't the darkness he's used to. This is an appalling, lonely, dangerous dark atmosphere wherein someone threatens to tear him limb-from-limb. The reptilian humanoid does every internal thing he can to keep himself from panicking. He's still in the slithering-esque stance he'd been in before the lights went out. He's pretending to be a predator. He knows full damn well that he acted as if he was. Without being able to see his opponent, who somehow hid himself from Rene's infravision and smell, Rene is easy prey.

There is no voice or encouragement from the Beast as Rene considers what to do. The people here seemed alive, though either unconscious or on the ground scared ****less like himself. As the reptilian hoped, there didn't seem to be a need for Gethsemane just yet. He doesn't think much about Nygma's riddle; seriously, what kind of riddle IS that? The most that was important was that Rene was called cowardly... which isn't the most inaccurate accusation; and that this so-called beast which Batman couldn't beat happened to be craven. What did that mean? Rene mostly recalls that it's another term for cowardice. Perhaps that's why the lights are out; the two are forced to play hide-and-seek with claws and teeth. This isn't a game Rene's going to win.

...And, let's be frank, he never did like fighting.

"Um, excuse me?" His rough, scaly voice reeks throughout the room; his tone however sounds more like he's trying to strike up a conversation under tense circumstances. "Look, I'm sorry that I beat up the other inmates before. But please, I want to know what's happening here! Strange isn't telling me anything, this Nygma isn't telling me anything, and right now I feel like almost everyone's just encouraging me to beat everyone up." In truth, fighting is something which Rene can immediately resort to when faced with danger. That is a serious problem on a crazy day like today. The fact that this so-called beast hasn't attacked him is a rare moment to speak before the likely outcome that things go to hell... again. "I know something is wrong here, and I don't just mean the riots. I don't know exactly but I think..."

He pauses slightly. All he has are clues and hints to go on, most of them coming from Nygma's "riddles," Strange's impressive retorts, and the fact that Strange has kept J'onn locked in the basement. And yet, it's enough for Rene to try and make a guess, to try and demonstrate some sympathy for these insane inmates who are undoubtedly unjustified in their riots. "I think... Strange may be doing something to you, doing something to my friend as well. And Strange seems worried about anyone finding out." Up until this point Rene has basically been working nearly blindly for Strange. Here, perhaps, is a chance Rene can learn more from someone else's perspective... that and maybe cause a miracle and be able to walk out of this room without needing to fight this beast. "I don't really know why, but I want to find out. So... whoever you are, can we just talk? Can you come out and talk to me about what happened... please?" Rene's voice trails with a mild notion of skepticism and worry. Nygma may not have expected Rene to actually try and converse before hunting down whoever is here. Or perhaps the guy with the intercom believed, and likely not without reason, that this beast will not listen to talk. Any other hero likely would have come out hunting and swinging at this beast or immediately run up and treat the people lying around; Rene instead is making the impossible attempt to try and converse with an insane resident of Arkham Asylum.

Impossible or not though, he has to try. This may be his one chance to talk to one of Arkham's residents about what happened; he's gotta take it.

Lemme know if this requires a Persuasion check Herod. :smallsmile:

[TheIronGolem]

"We'll meet again, flesh. Oh, yes. Another time, another place, we'll meet again."

"NO!", Spider-Man shouts at the fleeing Zsasz. He fires a web-line at Zsasz, but the psychopath is too slippery, and the shot only succeeds in plastering some nobody from the crowd to a wall.

The webslinger barely has time to notice his head clearing up before the Builder has rushed him past the door and disappeared, and even less time to be annoyed about that before his Spider-Sense is demanding his attention. Harvey Dent, it informs him, is bearing down on him with murder in his eyes.

Is this about that joke (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21399678&postcount=459)?, Jimmy wonders, ever the master of prioritization. Do they even get YouTube in here?

"Can deal with general mob; begin subduing one or another of ring-leaders?"

"On it, Legs", replies Spider-Man, already airborne. The wall-crawler's leap lands him directly behind Two-Face. Trusting his Spider-Sense as he turns to face the disgraced DA, he throws an elbow blindly backwards in anticipation of where Dent himself will turn.


Move action: Jump between Two-Face and Heatwave
Standard Action: Spider-Strike on Two Face: [roll0], DC 26 + Multiattack

[herodofcows]

Spidey and Gethsemane

The inmates come for the two heroes as a roaring tide, a wall of rage and terror and fury . . .

SLASH

SLICE

SNIKT

. . . and then Gethsemane charges forth, and they break like waves against a rock. She moves down the hall like a beast of the hunt, like a master swordsman, cutting them down like stalks of wheat. Some fall with curses. Some fall with screams. Some fall in silence. All fall, in the end.

Well, all but two.

"Tell me somethin', freak-"

FWOOOOOOSH

Gethsemane is suddenly engulfed with flames as Heatwave approaches, aerosol igniting from the lighter's flame and spraying all over the demoness.

"-Do ya BURN? HAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!" Rory chortles, eyes metaphorically alight.

Meanwhile, Dent spins around as Spidey leaps over him, lunges, and . . .

CRACK

. . . recoils when his nose meets the wall-crawler's elbow. It's a shame: at one point, Dent had a classically-handsome lantern-jawed face. Now, not only is he half-burnt to corpsedom, but his nose is clearly broken.

"GUH!"

His hand scrambles among the fallen inmates, picks up what appears to be a fireman's axe. With a sudden manic swing, he smashes it into Spidey's shoulder.

"EXECUTION!" he roars, readying unsteadily for another swing, "IT'S THE GUILLOTINE FOR YOU!"

The Builder

Silence greets the Builder's pleas for a moment, and then . . .

BRRRRRRRT

The reptilian hero lunges to the side, as automatic weapons fire suddenly sprays and shatters the wall to his right. His reptilian eyes glance around for muzzle flares, but there don't appear to be any . . .

BRRRRRRRT

The tile beneath him shatters and cracks, revealing the concrete beneath. A few leaps and quick scrambles along the wall and ceilings . . .

. . . and the shooting is replaced by silence.

"You think I am pawn of Strange? No, yashcheritsa. Nothing so silly."

The (apparently Slavic) voice is echoing down the darkened halls, but the source is impossible to tell or locate . . .

"Everything was taken from me. By my Motherland. By America. By Batman. All that is left is vengeance . . . and the Hunt."

As the Builder creeps past one of the empty rooms, two figures meet his eye: a black haired woman in her mid-thirties is crouched with her back against the door, surgical knife in hand. Cowering behind her is a man with an impressive goatee and salt-and-pepper hair, obviously terrified. The woman has a determined look on her face and is whispering intensely.

". . . asking if it wasn't urgent, but please hear me. Clark. I need help. Follow my voice, please . . ."

"This allows me both, yashcheritsa," continues the voice, still echoing untraceably, "Win or lose, I take vengeance for my father, for my family, for the wealth and honor that was stolen from me. Now come. Find me. Hunt me as I hunt you . . ."

[Zelphas]

Gethsemane looks over the fallen inmates, the scarlet flames fading from her claws. Unfortunate that had to take quickest route to subdue inmates. Unlikely to be useful for rehabilitation now; would probably cause flashbacks, regression. Can hopefully heal physical wounds at least lat--

"Do ya BURN?"

The fire rolls over the Demoness, pieces of carapace blackening and flaking from the heat.

Out of the flames, Gethsemane's eyes appear, pools of deep oblivion lit by rings of literal Hellfire. "Burn? Your flames cannot compare to Downbelow." Light the ugly bluish-yellow of an old bruise glows from the dying flames, and Gethsemane flicks a ball of screaming yellow-black flame at the pyromaniac. "Here is a taste of true burning."

Move Action: None.

Free Action: Switch to Unholy Terror.

Standard Action: Unholy Terror on Heatwave, All-Out Power Attacking for 5. [roll0] On a hit, Damage DC 30, Will DC 25 vs. Entranced/Compelled/Controlled (May only be used to force targets to flee; Entranced targets may act normally in any round that they spend a move action moving away).

Status: 1 Bruise (heals), -5 to Active Defenses.

[Starsign]

The reptilian's clawed hands and feet scattered across the steel floor and ceiling as the dark room was lit up by flashes of light and the sound of crashing bullets. In a panic, Rene leaped from the floor, to the walls, up to the ceiling, and then back down on the ground as he hid behind a wall. Fast, huddled breaths overtook him as he felt like he avoided certain death. And the inmate's senseless, dominating voice did not help matters. Rene's tail froze under his panic. His mood, his state, it's all so familiar. He's being hunted, hunted in a hostile area without friends or allies to help him. It's just like-

He felt the steel, alien walls. He heard the yelling voices of skrulls, screaming incomprehensibly around the ship. He drowned in the helplessness of a world that hated him, a world where no one would help him. A million voices yelled in his head, trying to control him, trying to dominate him. And he saw that THING.

"GAH!" Rene gasped in horror, barely able to keep it quiet as he covered his forehead and eyes with his right clawed hand. He wanted that image out of his head. That isn't here; that isn't happening now. He releases his clawed hand after a few moments, finding his mind back in the darkness of Gotham's worst asylum ever. He had to get it together. This wasn't the warship, this was the present. Rene doesn't have voices in his head trying to take him over. Nor does he have a kryptonian abomination chasing after his every step. Whatever this inmate was, he couldn't be as bad as the Hunter.

Evidently, he was not the only one in fear of this inmate. Looking into the small room and seeing the two humans there was enough of an indication that Rene was not along with the inmate. And yet the villain talked as if he was only interested in Rene rather than the woman with the surgical knife. It's hard to say why the villain apparently left these two alone... If Rene were to guess, he'd cynically imagine that these two are supposed to be the villains' leverage to make Rene play its little "hunt." Neither of the two probably wanted to make an effort to talk to Rene. And who could blame them? They're in an asylum gone rampant. The reptilian could be easily mistaken for being an inmate; and given his insanity, it's almost a justified accusation.

Rather than try to talk to them, as much as Rene would like to, he instead puts a claw to his lip-less mouth to warn the two humans to be quiet, then pointed to the closet, table, and bed to hide in or behind so that no one worse ends up finding them. A dingy little knife isn't going to protect those two from automatic weapons, but being hidden from sight very well might.

Rene, meanwhile, ends up moving away from the room and, probably to the inmate's delight, tries to hunt down the one who shot at Rene. Meanwhile, a single thought penetrates Rene's mind: who IS this inmate? Rene only had two hints to go on; Batman of all people couldn't beat him, and that the inmate was covered by warm and cold spots from the reptilian's infravision. So whatever it is, it can't be fully human, can it? Was all those cold spots supposed to be metal or dead organic material? Was it a cyborg, or some kind of undead? Either way, it had to be durable. One does not beat Batman without being tough enough to take blows from him. Does Rene even have a chance? He may have to look for a temporary situation and come back when he has Gethsemane and Spider-Man back.

So the reptilian begins crawling and slithering across the room, quickly checking around the various hallways and rooms to see whether there's an elevator or a vertical slide of some kind big enough for a human to fit through. It'd be something of an emergency tactic but, all else fails, Rene can just send this inmate tumbling down in hopes of slowing him down enough.

Even in his search, Rene tries to keep talking to the villain; getting him listening might at least keep those two humans safe. "Okay, look I'm... sorry for what happened to you. I know what it's like to lose everything." Rene's attempt to sympathize with this inmate must fall on deaf ears. He's lucky the villain even spoke the first time. "I guess it wasn't as... extreme as yours though. I mean, nothing left? Nothing even from those countries? That's, that's awful if it's true. All I've lost was because of one person." The reptilian wonders for a moment whether this inmate is hoping Rene will say "Batman," which isn't exactly the answer. As much as one may like to think, there's probably not a lot of similarities between the hunter and hunted in this asylum.

"Do you have a name?" Rene continues talking paradoxically as if he's trying to talk normally to a friend. "They call me The Builder, though I guess, if I have a real name..." ...Should he really be saying his actual name to villains, especially in an attempt to understand or, damn all sense, try to sympathize with them? "It's Rene. What about you?" ...Yeah. Even if Rene shouldn't, he's gonna do so anyway. His name lacks the same liabilities and problems that humans have when they choose their hero names. Everything one can find out about Rene will learn the exact same thing if they looked up about The Builder. His real name has no value beyond a personal, symbolic interest in explaining who he really is... Not that this villain is likely to care.

Not sure what roll I should make here. Lemme know what to go with Herod. :smallsmile:

[TheIronGolem]

Spider-Man's shoulder sings a song of pain as the axe blade bites into it. At least the symbiote's warning had let him avoid the worst of the blow; losing an arm (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20537999&postcount=31) is not a performance he'd like to repeat.

"Gaahh!", shouts the wall-crawler, in equal measures pain and exasperation. "Honestly, who stocks their insane asylum with axes?"

He ducks under another swing, still complaining as he comes up.

"There are actual axe murderers here!"

A brief hop backwards takes him out of range from an overhead chop that gouges a furrow in the floor. Spider-Man takes advantage of the breathing room to return fire with a spray of webbing.

"I mean, they don't set out bowls of coke at Betty Ford, do they?"


Standard Action: Web Snare on Two-Face, All-Out Power Attack: [roll0] Dodge DC 26 (1st degree: Dazed, Impaired, Vulnerable, 2nd degree: Stunned, Disabled, Defenseless, Limited: Physical Actions Only)
Free Action: Complain, Lampshade
Status: Dazed, -5 Active Defenses

[herodofcows]

Spidey and Gethsemane

Heatwave's eyes widen, pupils dilating as the heat engulfs him. He does not seem to sweat, and the burning is minimal relative to his own scarring, but something about the fire certainly has him spooked.

He begins backing up, fleeing down the deserted hallway and looking panic-struck at the demoness. He chokes out a few words as he runs as fast as he can:

"C-cold . . . so . . . So COLD . . ."

For his part, Dent is clearly past noticing Spider-Man's pithy observations. He doesn't really seem like the sort to take a joke, really. Perhaps he only has half a sense of humor?

"C'mere, FREAK," he continues to bellow, hefting the axe for another swing, "You've got a date with-"

FWIP

. . . the rest is muffled by a veritable mountain of webbing that seems to root him to the spot, leaving him looking about the size and shape of a black stringy punching bag.

Aside from the muffled and restrained former Gotham DA, the hallway is deserted of all hostiles. The signs for Cafeteria, Common Areas, and Visitor Processing all seem to pop from their restrained painted signs . . .

"Well, look at that!" crackles the Riddler's voice, "You've demonstrated the capacity to solve a problem with your fists! This makes you nearly as intelligent as the average primate! Now, riddle me this . . .

"First, I'm having guests, entertaining them all
But end with an epoch you've had since you were small
Wonder if you can, puzzle out your doom
Why won't fists avail you in the next room?"

The Builder

In his scramble to dodge and creep around, the Builder has further muddied things: for all that he searches around, the strange heat signature does not seem to be popping up anywhere. However, it seems like this cuts both ways: the firing has stopped. It looks as though his opponent has lost him as well . . .

And why is that?

Reviewing in his head what he knows about constructing and building, the answer comes in a flash of inspiration: of course Arkham, built in the early 20th century but with clear signs of partial recent remodeling, would have its fair share of lead-based paints still embedded within the walls. Yes . . . maybe even the joists are painted within, providing a perfect screen for anyone using conventional X-Rays. And that's not even counting the concrete supports, which would work as excellent points of cover even against someone who appears to be shooting through walls . . .

Back in the present, the woman stops talking and nods at you as she notices your gesture. The man begins to yelp and whimper, but a fierce glare from the woman seems to shut him up. Crouching low, she leads him towards a corner of the room. She lies facedown on the ground with her hands over her head, and gestures for him to follow her example.

Elsewhere, the voice begins speaking again . . .

". . . My name is Alexei, yashcheritsa. I was once known by my father's name, but he is dead and will hunt no more. I am here for one reason, and one reason only: I am the KGBeast, and I am the son of my father. I hunt. It is what I do. And by this hunt, I gain the chance to strike back at my persecutors . . ."

He seems to be coming closer, if the echoes are to be believed . . . but are they?


"If you have suffered as I, yashcheritsa, then I pity you. But this will not stay me. By coming here, by getting past me and looking for secrets below . . . by doing this, you would aid those who persecute me. You would bring the rot that infects them to light, that they might be cleansed and freed from its ravages. I, however, wish the infection to fester in the dark. So I hunt you, yashcheritsa. This is how it must be."

[Starsign]

The reptilian huddled behind one of the large, concrete supports as the rampant villain searches for him. Thank god Rene was smart enough to have remembered his knowledge of construction and materials. Hiding within buildings had worked better than it should for someone as large as him. His scaly back rubbed silently up to the concrete; his tail silently lazing between his legs. He still couldn't find this damn person. He looked and looked and looked and his infravision found nothing, nothing! He couldn't tell whether he'd get gunned down the moment he turned a corner! This was the worst kind of hunt, one where he's failing to hunt his opponent and instead was simply doing his damnest not to get hunted down.

And yet, in spite of the terrifying conditions, Rene wasn't as scared as he could be; and it's all due to the villain's speech.

Rene hadn't expected him to speak, yet the inmate, the... very poorly-named KGBeast answered as if he understood empathy, maybe even sympathy. The reptilian hadn't been expecting anyone to respond to him so truthfully when the inmate had seemingly nothing to gain from it. Even if it wasn't much of a story, this Alexei seems to have had a real good reason for ending up here; not here because he had to be locked up for good but here because something could be done to help him. In that sense, Rene pitied this inmate. If only Arkham Asylum wasn't designed like a mad ****house that was run by a questionably-mysterious professor.

Yet this inmate is what differs today from the horrible warship incident. Rene's not being hunted by a monstrous abomination, unstoppable and inhuman in all possible aspects. This isn't a place bounded and surrounded by alien creatures and ideas where everything is out to kill the reptilian. This is a human asylum where he is being hunted after by a person with serious problems which Rene can somewhat understand. The fact that this inmate is answering Rene, and in a way which one wouldn't expect from an inmate, is enough to keep Rene grounded in reality even when he is surrounded by darkness. If all of Rene's opponents were like this, maybe he wouldn't be so terrified and drowning so often in his insanity.

"Alright," he begins. He nearly stutters in his rough, scaly voice as he gets the moment to speak. "I don't really get why I could go down this way if what you say is true. This Nygma's the one with the controls; if he wanted me to not find out... whatever is happening in the basement, then he wouldn't have given me the option to go this way." Only a minor thought pokes in Rene's mind that tells him that Nygma's goal, whatever it is, may very well differ heavily from that of the inmates. Granted, it's likely that KGBeast doesn't really care about Nygma. "...But I'm sorry, I do have to get down there. A friend of mine is in trouble and the only way I'll find out is if I can get to the basement." There Rene goes again, believing J'onn may be in dire peril when the reptilian truly doesn't know. The fact that J'onn hasn't telepathically messaged Rene is a little distressing, even when that fear is quiet compared to the fear of being hunted down.

It takes a moment before Rene finds the determination to say something he wants to say. "And... Alexei, KGBeast, whatever people call you. Thank you for the offer, but don't pity me. I've suffered a lot but I'm... tired of people thinking of me that way. I'm ready to get past suffering and get around to standing up for myself. And I'm gonna do it even if I'm scared out of my mind." He makes some incredibly strong words, ones which he hasn't done a good job backing up in the past, and the sound of resolution in his voice is hidden under a slight melancholy tone. "So I don't see any other way around it. You want us to hunt each other? Fine. I'll hunt you down." His speech done, tough talk by his own standards, Rene slithers out from the concrete pillar he hid from to find KGBeast however he can... while not being caught, preferably.

Let's make the same rolls from last round!

Persuasion:
Expertise [roll]Architecture
Stealth: [roll1]
Perception: [roll2]

[TheIronGolem]

"C'mere, FREAK. You've got a date with-"

FWIP

"Whoah, slow down there Harv! I mean, I like you and all, but you're clearly not over Batman, and I'd hate to be your rebound."

Really, Olsen? Gay jokes? You must be getting tired.

Aww, gimme a break, it's been a long day!

"Well, look at that!You've demonstrated the capacity to solve a problem with your fists! This makes you nearly as intelligent as the average primate! Now, riddle me this . . .

Ugh, this guy again...

"First, I'm having guests, entertaining them all
But end with an epoch you've had since you were small
Wonder if you can, puzzle out your doom
Why won't fists avail you in the next room?"

"Because," Spider-Man sighs, "you're the kind of villain that latches onto fads, and now that having a gang that dresses like you is out, your lamprey lips are locked on this whole sadistic-choice thing that's been going around ever since they started making those Saw movies.

So we're gonna go in there and there's gonna be some kind of deathtrap, and maybe it's rigged so that one person is supposed to die so that the other can escape or something like that, and you're gonna break an arm patting yourself on the back over it because just like the people who make those movies you've mistaken sadism for sophistication."

The webslinger throws up his hands as he walks towards the Cafeteria.

"So yeah, sure, let's do this. Can't wait to see what kinda Blofeld-hosting-a-game-show setup you've got ready for us. Also, I could use a bite. I think I saw a sign that said it's meatloaf day? You ever try meatloaf, Gethsemane? I bet it's what they serve in Hell after budget cuts."

[Zelphas]

Gethsemane considers hunting down Heatwave as he flees, but decides against it a moment later. Further note: mention incident to Heatwave's therapist... provided he has a therapist. She glances around at the gloomy contours of the building around her. Additional note: look into administration of Arkham Asylum and suggest revisions.

At the Riddler's next snide comment, Gethsemane looks down the hallway where Heatwave just ran, and then at the bound and restrained Harvey Dent, and finally at the inmates on the ground, each of which were incapacitated by a simple, precise slash. "Solving problems with fists..." she murmurs in a carrying tone, her voice dry, "Precisely what happened here..." His rhyme gives her pause for a moment, and she tries to decipher its contents. Likely a mental attack in the future, she thinks after a few seconds, but discards the rest as unimportant until she gains more information.

"Meatloaf was on good days," Gethsemane replies to Spider-Man lightly, following his choice of path without complaint. Her talons click lightly on the floor as she walks. "Rest of the time, had Spam and cheese whiz."

[herodofcows]

Spidey and Gethsemane

The path to the cafeteria is largely deserted, with a number of slumped figures littering the path. Many are dead, or unconscious. The door is ajar, and the room is lit with a dim flickering light . . .

Inside, there are four figures illuminated clearly amidst the flickering lights. Cafeteria tables have been pulled together and rearranged into a large-ish arena. Within it, Gladiator stands in full guard riot gear, but he wields a heavy cleaver instead of the standard issue baton. His eyes are wild and darting as he stares across the impromptu arena at Eddie Brock, who is unarmed and stares back at Gladiator with glassy eyes.

"The Lord is my Shepherd," he proclaims in an airy voice, as Gladiator sniffles, "I shall not want."

There are two women at the other end of the cafeteria, atop the tables as though in a spectator position. One is amazonian in physique, with long red hair and pronounced feline features. She is The Cheetah, a mainstay in Wonder Woman's current rogue's gallery, and she holds an ashen-faced Lois Lane by the throat as a . . .

"A HOSTAGE, you mentally microscopic morons! 'Host', one who entertains guests! 'Age', a measurement of time you've had since you first came kicking and squalling into this world! THINK! You really should be THINKING!"

The Riddler's voice crackles over the intercom, self-satisfied as ever.

"So, that's just what this room is: a space for you meatheads to THINK! Your kind never does, oh no: you'll always rush in and try to save the day, fists and feet flying before the first thought even crosses your brain! But now you have to, you see: the Gladiator and the Christian are going to reenact the old days of the martyrs in the Coliseum. Jump in to stop these two from killing each other (and they WILL kill each other, never fear), and intrepid reporter Lois Lane will find her throat eviscerated at the hands of the Cheetah! LET them fight, on the other hand, and she will go free and you will be allowed to pass peacefully. Leave the room, and the Cheetah will slay everyone within.

"The winning move is to simply do nothing! CAN you do nothing? Or do your monkey brains refuse to let you act passively and insist gorilla-like on alpha-male displays of violent dominance?"

The Gladiator's hand tightens on the meat cleaver. Eddie Brock looks up to the ceiling, muttering prayers. The Cheetah smiles savagely. Lois Lane's face pales further . . .

The Builder

". . . So be it, yashcheritsa. We will see whom is the prey and whom the hunter . . ."

With that, the KGBeast goes quiet.

In the silence, the Builder steals his way along the corridors towards the elevator, ducking and crawling and slinking in such a way as to minimize his own exposure out from the reinforced areas of the Asylum. The hallways are dark and smell of fear: most rooms he passes by have at least one huddled civilian or harmless inmate, whimpering or breathing raggedly or sobbing quietly to themselves.

Upon arriving at the elevator and peering briefly down the dark shaft, the Builder's nostrils fill with intense chemical smells. He recognizes a few of them from his time on the Secret Warriors: Fury had made sure that he could identify volatile chemicals by smell and taste. The entire elevator is lined with explosives . . .

. . . and upon that moment of realization, the Builder catches sight of the KGBeast.

He is massive for a human, standing well over 6'6". He is creeping through the dark on his hands and knees . . . or, rather, hand and knee. His left arm appears cybernetic in some way, and he holds it out before him like a lance. He is looking intently at the main hall that the Builder had just crept down, not realizing that his quarry had already flanked him . . .

Surprise round! Then, roll initiative!

[Zelphas]

Gethsemane blinks as she looks over the scene, and then sighs. "Wordplay? Didn't consider it; seemed too simple. Mistake; will not repeat. Handle Cheetah?" she asks Spider-Man nonchalantly, before muttering a few liquid words.

For a moment, nothing seems different. Then both Gladiator and Eddie Brock shimmer oddly, and suddenly there are two Galdiators, and two Eddie Brocks. Then three. Then five. Then ten. Finally, twenty three Gladiators stare and sniffle across the room at twenty-three muttering Eddie Brocks, the room filled with the sounds of forty-six bodys shifting and breathing.

"Not jumping in," Gethsemane says lightly. "Not stopping them from attacking. So-called 'winning move' results in two deaths. Unacceptable."

Move Action: Nah.

Standard Action: Use Glamour. Will DC 22 to disbelieve the many illusions of Eddie Brock and Gladiator.

[Starsign]

What a horrid stench!

That's the first thing that came to Rene's mind when he peeked down the elevator shaft. It wasn't exactly a terrible smell out of pure abhorrence but one more that reeked more of a worrying familiarity. He has to thank the Secret Warriors for at least training him in identifying chemicals. The intense smell, amplified further by his own senses, was alone enough to make him inch his head out of the shaft. The fact that he knew what it was made the elevator even more repulsive to the reptilian. He tightly dug his claws into the steel ceiling as he realized what this meant. The reptilian considered throwing this KGBeast down the elevator as a stall tactic in order to get the civilians out first; innumerable complications arose from a goddamned rigged shift. The first and foremost concern was that throwing KGBeast down there may likely just straight up kill him regardless of what he had. Rene couldn't bring himself to do that. Secondly, and more worryingly, was that there would be a great degree of structural damage that'd come from the destruction of an elevator shaft. Rene couldn't even begin to imagine what problems would come of that. His paranoid and mad mind could think of dozens more reasons why the elevator should now be off-limits; those first two are simply the biggest ones.

He lay still on the ceiling as he sensed, and then saw KGBeast appear. And he's... he's nothing like Rene imagined. The reptilian imagined that his foe might have cybernetics to explain his strange scattered heat signatures from Rene's infravision. The strange lance-thing that he has for a left arm must be something mechanical, and something very much for impaling. The reptilian almost shivers thinking of what will happen to him if he gets stabbed by that. He couldn't see the automatic guns that were fired on him earlier; where did KGBeast keep it? A cyborg like that couldn't carry such weapons around if Rene couldn't see it. Not unless it was stuck... in... his...

...Oh god, that lance isn't a melee weapon, it's a goddamn machine gun!

The reptilian almost squirms at the thought of being riddled by whatever that gun-arm is packing. Why and how did KGBeast get that thing stocked full of bullets?! Didn't the asylum disarm him of all that when he was transferred here? Rene doesn't understand and frankly he actually doesn't want to find out. His cold-blooded body almost riles into an igniting anxiety as the cyborg passes under him without so much as being aware of the monster on the ceiling. Being hidden within the shadows turns out to be one of the few moments of solace Rene feels as his scaly muscles ease ever so slightly. He has to fight, he has to attack. The lives of many workers and inmates are in danger here and Rene, as far as he can see, has no way around this villain. he has to take that cyborg down.

Calm yourself.

The voice speaks through Rene's head; all signs of steel and metal disappear from his sights as darkness shrouded all besides himself and the crawling cyborg. Rene can feel a cool breeze and a humid warmth flow through his body as if he is now hunting in the wild outdoors. Comfort comes to his mind as his instincts spike up. He knows how to hunt; he knows how to strike; he just needs the Beast to remind him how to do so.

Move. Move then strike!

At its call, Rene shoots off from the ceiling, leaping onto the side wall as if he leaps from the canopy to the wood of a tall tree. Another leap, and in the span of a moment the reptilian finds his body held tightly to the side wall with KGBeast crawling unknowingly forward. With Rene's reflexes, all he needs is a moment, just a moment to determine the cyborg's weakest areas; the flesh makes for an all-too-tempting target as the reptilian leaps for a third time and ambushes the cyborg where he lies!

Alrighty, switching to Killer Instinct since I THINK KGBeast is Vulnerable, Defenseless or Unaware due to being a surprise round. Rene will make an attack on the villain with a Power Attack +2/-2. [roll0] DC 27 Toughness + Multiattack + DC 22 Fort vs Impaired/Disabled/Incapacitated and Dazed/Stunned/Paralyzed + Improved Critical 3

[TheIronGolem]

"Handle Cheetah". Right. Because Spider-Man was so successful the last time (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=19747478&postcount=129) he faced a super-speeder. The webslinger has faster reflexes than nearly anyone, but he's not eager to bet Lois's life that he can outdraw Cheetah.

Hesitation. Suspicion. Are you sure that's Lois?

The Spider-Sense slows the world to a crawl, buying Jimmy time to think it through. The symbiote just reminded him of what he himself had told the others: the Chameleon is among the inmates, and likely to pose as someone non-threatening.

He studies Lois(?) for as long as he dares, hoping to spot some kind of giveaway. Nothing. If that's really Basil Karlo in that pantsuit, he has to be more than a master of disguise. He'll have to be a shapeshifter of Mystique's caliber. The face, the hair, the stubborn refusal to show any fear in what would have to be a terrifying situation - all of it screams Lois Lane.

Jimmy racks his brain to think of a way he could discreetly prove or disprove the Lois in front of him. What would Superman do?

...he'd just use his own super-speed to put Cheetah through a wall before anyone could blink. Okay, can't take inspiration from the big guy on this one.

Ideally, he could simply ask her a question to which only Lois would know the answer. Trouble is, if that is Lois, any such question would just expose his identity as Spider-Man, because who in this place but Jimmy Olsen would know to ask it?

Then it hits him. He can ask Lois a question.

"Well, Mr. Green Jeans," Spider-Man says, addressing the Riddler with unnecessary theatricality, "seems like the nice demon lady's put you in kind of a pickle, huh?"

He fires a web-line upwards, suspending himself from the ceiling. It shouldn't be possible for someone to look relaxed while hanging upside-down by a thin strand of webbing eight feet off the floor. But that activity falls under the category of "whatever a spider can", and is therefore in his domain.

"See, she found a loophole in your little murder game, didn't she (totally called it, by the way)? I mean, I guess you could just have Miss Kitty kill the hostage - y'know, just to spite us. But we'd all know you were just kicking over the board because you were losing the game. Worst of all, you'd know."

He takes out his phone. Not surreptitiously, either - he's as casual about it as if he were web-browsing on the bus. Thanks to his inverted positioning, the screen faces towards the floor - and not towards any of the wall-mounted security cameras that might otherwise see that he's texting Lois with the message, "Where are you?". If she answers, he'll know that's not Lois in front of him. If not...well, then he might have to take some chances.

"Speaking of games," he adds out loud, "you mind if I knock out a quick level while you figure out how to deal? I tell ya, 4-14 keeps robbing me of that third star. I mean really, what am I even supposed to do with all those yellow birds?"

[herodofcows]

Spidey and Gethsemane

Within the cafeteria, the two would-be combatants start as the room suddenly seems to fill with their assigned foe. Gladiator snorts like a boar and begins spinning in place, waving his cleaver haphazardly.

"They compassed me about like bees; they were quenched as the fire of thorns .
. ." proclaims Brock, lucid as ever.

The former journalist springs forward at the nearest illusion, not seeming to notice as he passes right through it.

"For in the name of the Lord, I WILL STRIKE THEM DOWN!"

It's a ludicrous spectacle, but the Cheetah does not seem to find it amusing. A low purring growl comes from her throat . . .

. . . and then, even as Spidey's text message refuses to send in time, a WHOLE lot of blood comes out of Lois' throat as the Cheetah rips it open.

"OH, what a valiant attempt at reverse-psychology!" oozes the Riddler's voice as Lois' gasping cries and tears sound out over the awful rush of blood from her throat, "Unfortunately, my astonishingly addled arachnid, I am not playing your game! YOU are playing MINE! Break the rules, and there are consequences! Your friendly demoness interfered, and so the lovely Ms. Lane pays the price!"

It's horrible, watching the Cheetah grin savagely as she watches Lois bleeding at her feet. There's so much blood . . . So much sticky, slowly oozing blood . . .

Suspicion. Confusion. Not how circulatory system behaves?

The symbiote is partially correct: This isn't how the circulatory system behaves in the real world. In a movie, on the other hand . . . Well, of COURSE Karlo wouldn't be able to replicate that. And now that Spidey knows to look for it, he can see it: these aren't death throes, these are the THROES of DEATH. Karlo may be turning an award-winning performance, but ultimately he is truly and (to his opponent's canny eyes) transparently ACT-ing.

The Builder

The KGBeast has the wind knocked out of him as the Builder lands feet-first into his prey, but he recovers quickly. Rolling faster than would seem possible for someone so big, he tries to spring up and grab the reptile into some kind of sleeper hold (which would in turn put that machine-gun-arm right into his foe's face).

Unfortunately for him, the Builder is much too fast and much too slippery. The ex-architect has slithered through his arms and into a ready stance almost as soon as his fingers had begun to tighten.

"GRAH!" is all he half-yells, half-yowls in his frustration.

[Starsign]

Even when his bestial instincts took over, Rene felt a tinge of fear as he just barely avoided being pinned by KGBeast's huge lance-like gun. The reptilian has always been worried about getting shot ever since he first encountered this cyborg. Now that Rene sees the gun this close he can only imagine how horribly he'd end up if he got shot by that thing point-blank in his face! He couldn't imagine surviving such a situation; there wouldn't be anything left of his head!

His reptilian eyes and his thick reptilian tail rattle and shake as he watches the villain seemingly react in anger over Rene's escape. The massive gun now driving fear more than courage in Rene's mind. Why oh why did Gotham have to house some of the craziest villains Rene has seen? Had he not seen worse, Rene would be emotionally breaking down. He's fought worse, there's no question of that; but anything that screams "instant death!" to him is cause for alarm. That gun won't care about Rene's scales; it will kill him if KGBeast catches him. Rene isn't Flash or Quicksilver; he's not someone who will never get hit. Rene has to accept that the gun damn well can and likely will shoot him. And he's damn well sure his reptilian body will be lucky to survive a volley from that lance. Any normal human... Hell, any normal thing would be scared ****less of this thing!

And yet, Rene's crazed mind is ironically one of the few things keeping him in control; the surrounding darkness leaves him focused, mostly, on the villain in front of him. The cool breeze and humid warmth feels like that he's fighting in a rainforest, where the darkness obscures the trees and grass surrounding the two. The passing moments free him from whatever dreary world he was in.

Focus!

The voice in his head commands Rene out of the reality he was in. All that matters now is him and his foe in front of him. A slithering hiss escape from his many small teeth as he faces the cyborg predator.

Move! Strike!

His instincts take control of his actions again as he leaps over on the metal-feeling trees, digging his clawed feet and hands into the material. His greenish-yellow scales darken amidst the darkness as he leaps from object to object, tree to tree, trying to catch KGBeast off guard. A predator's strike is all about timing: he moves, leaps, keeps moving, as if trying to find an opening within his opponent. And after several leaps, Rene dives at KGBeast and aims a slashing swipe at his back!

Hooray for posts! :smallbiggrin:

Going to do a normal attack; I think KGBeast is Defense-shifted so Power Attack would be too risky against +12 Toughness. Also switching Rene's instinct array over to Survival Instinct because oh boy he may need that Regeneration. :smalleek: [roll0] DC 25 Toughness on a successful hit.

[Zelphas]

Gethsemane sighs as the situation quickly devolves. "Good note: poor loser, unable to adapt to creativity of others," she growls, not bothering to hide the anger in her voice. In a rush of bloodred wings, Gethsemane launches across the room, landing heavily next to Lois Lane's bleeding form. She bends low, reaching out a claw... then pauses.

A moment later, she rests her claw lightly against Lois's neck, ignoring the slight buzz in the air around her. Also attempts to stack the deck in his favor.

Move Action: Close with Chameleon.

Free Action: Switch to Sting of Greed.

Standard Action: Sting of Greed on Chameleon. [roll0] Crit! On a hit, Fortitude DC 20 25 vs. Dazed/Stunned/Paralyzed, Will DC 20 25 vs. Weaken Toughness. Perception DC 20 is needed to notice that the attack has taken place.

The Illusions will fade at the end of this round (I believe).

Status: Fine.

[TheIronGolem]

Suspicion. Confusion. Not how circulatory system behaves?

Of course! Once again, the symbiote has picked up Jimmy's slack. While he's seen his share of brutal injuries (and picked up one (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=19772377&postcount=168) or two (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20537999&postcount=31) himself), twenty-odd years of watching Hollywood's neat-and-clean depictions of same are a handicap that's not easy to overcome. But with the reminder to ignore what TV trained him to expect, he can tell Lois is...well, not safe, obviously, but at least not dying in front of him because he dared a maniac to kill her.

That's another tub of ice cream I owe you, buddy.

Which leaves him free to deal with Cheetah. He points one fist at the fursuited speedster and - nope, Gethsemane's already stung her with that freaky tail-thing. Well, that's okay. The Thundercats joke he was going to make will keep.

Instead, he webslinger plants himself on the wall nearest Gladiator and Brock. As much as he'd like to take punchy revenge on the latter for all those times he'd taken advantage of Jimmy's naivety and inexperience during his early years in the journalism game, Jimmy feels kinda bad for the guy in light of his current state. A tendril of webbing spirals out from each of Spider-Man's outstretched fists, each seeking one combatant's weapon.

Move action: Web-swing to wall nearest the Azrael/Gladiator fight.
Standard action: Multiattack Web Pull as a Disarm attempt on Azrael and Gladiator
Azrael: [roll0]
Gladiator: [roll1]

[herodofcows]

Spidey and Gethsemane

Things begin to happen very quickly, now.

As Gethsemane reaches over to grab "Lois", both Gladiator and Eddie Brock seem to stumble and take stock of their situation. Whatever fog had been upon their addled and delusional brains is now lifted, and the two look at each other again as mortal opponents.

"Fear Azrael!!!" Brock howls, as he springs towards Gladiator.

Gladiator does not say anything, but charges to meet him.

THWIP. THWIP.

Two symbiote tendrils rush out for the duo's weapons, but sheer manic unpredictability propels them past the projections and into melee range with each other. Brock's fist rebounds fruitlessly off of Gladiator's riot shield, even as the delusional ex-journalist dodges out of the way of his foe's mighty swing. No blood shed . . . yet . . .

Upon the cafeteria table, "Lois" suddenly stops gasping theatrically and looks up at Gethsemane in dazed confusion. "Blood" continues to trickle down her front, but she abruptly seems unbothered by the whole ordeal.

"What did you d-" she begins, in a far more Clark-Gable-esque voice than usual for Madam Lane . . .

And then the Cheetah strikes.

WHOOSH. WHOOSH.

Her initial strike on Gethsemane scrapes against the demon's chitinous scales, to no effect. Her second slice (a reddish-orange blur across the room and upon the wall within a split-second of the first) catches the wall-crawler mid-web-pull. The symbiote gives some warning, but even Spidey's usual lightning reflexes are no good against so fast an opponent.

"Cretins!" thunders the Riddler from the PA box, "If you cannot play by the rules, why even bother with the game? Why should I not just-"

"RRRRRRRRQUI-ET."

The Cheetah snarls from the center of the room, blood and symbiote goo dripping from her claws. She sniffs the air, and glares at the two heroes with yellow eyes.

"Smell. To-Tem." she growls, tail twitching, "RRRRRO-ther. Tell. Where. Or. I. Killlllllll . . ."

The Builder

The KGBeast begins to chuckle as he starts to sidestep around the Builder. His machine-gun-hand whirrs and clicks as it reconfigures itself, becoming a sinuous-looking wire-formed version of a hand.

"You are worthy prey, yashcheritsa. I-"

And then the Builder leaps, mid-banter.

"-what-"

The KGBeast spins around, trying to track the sudden blur, but there is only blackness-

Crunch

-spins around again, only catch the tip of the Builder's tail already in motion-

Whoosh

-feels the wind behind him, spins, but there is nothing-

SLICE

-nothing but the bite of the Builder's talons into his back.

"GUH!"

The KGBeast stumbles forward, almost falling on his face. He rights himself (barely) and backs up against one of the walls, bracing himself against it as he readies for the next attack. He leaves a heavy blood splatter on the drywall as he shifts against it.

"Come on, then!" he growls, "COME ON!"

[TheIronGolem]

"Yyyeaooowch!", cries Spider-Man as the Cheetah's claws rake his ribs. He can already feel the symbiote moving to seal the wounds and stop the bleeding, but holy smokes it still hurts.

Freaking. Speedsters.

"Smell. To-Tem. RRRRRO-ther. Tell. Where. Or. I. Killlllllll . . ."

Totem? Other? This stuff again? Jimmy still doesn't understand much about this business with Totems and Others and Champions (oh my!), but he does know the Builder is connected to it - more intimately so, he suspects, than the Builder himself has let on. So if Cheetah wants to know where Builder is, it's probably because she wants to eat his heart or something and become even faster. And isn't she enough of a pain in the neck ribs as it is?

"Oh, okay, so you're looking for someone. Wait, is it Snarf? Did Mumm-Ra's dastardly minions kidnap him again? Have you told Lion-O yet? I bet the Sword of Omens could show him where Snarf is!"

Crawling along the ceiling as he taunts Cheetah with Thundercats references (see?), Spider-Man then dangles himself on a web-line in front of her much like one would use a toy to tease a real cat. What he's hoping Gethsemane will notice is that he's positioning himself such that if Cheetah takes the bait and lunges at him, her trajectory will leave her wide open to the demoness.


Move action: Move along ceiling
Standard action: Feint on Cheetah, using Agile Feint with Set-Up to give Gethsemane the benefit: [roll0]

[Starsign]

A hissing snarl curls out of Rene as the reptilian lands on his clawed hands and feet. Small drips of red color his talons as they tap and tear into the steel floor. He's doing it, he's actually able to match this maddened cyborg in combat. The signs of terror in Rene's eyes almost seem withered away as he watches the wounded KGBeast slump his back against a wall. Like a cornered villain, like a cornered animal, like cornered prey.

The field is ours!

The voice in Rene's head revels out as if trying to drown the last bits of doubt and hesitation in the crazed reptilian's head.

Hold him down!

Within the protective darkness, Rene again dashes and leaps up around the hardened wood of the trees, the thick, unbreakable canopy up top. His foe is weakened, vulnerable, and surely he will not withstand another good strike without dying of blood loss. If KGBeast escaped from the wall, he'd be back on the offense. He'd be shooting that horrid lance, plunging lead and iron into the reptilian's body if chance permit itself. The cyborg has to be held down; he has to be taken down. A staggering, sudden thought roars in Rene's head as if some moral reminder comes from his conscience.

Take down! Don't kill!

He hears it all in the same voice, his voice. The relentless hissing from his mouth drowning out the stomp of metal and ambiance remaining in Arkham Asylum. Rene isn't getting any sudden voices or alarming screams from those who invade his mind. It's just him, the beast, and his foe; it's just what the reptilian needs as he leaves claw marks on every bit of wood he suspends from. He needs it to stay focused, to stay in control; and with KGBeast wounded there is no better time to focus. Rene's hissing suddenly perks up, his red eyes and black pupils narrow fiercely before diving from above and down at the cyborg!

Been awhile for me since I last posted. Sorry if I'm not quite back into the swing of writing for Rene. :smallredface: Anyway, let's make an Unarmed Attack and try to grapple KGBeast! Going to use Accurate Attack +5/-5 to try and get past his Defend action: [roll0] DC 20 Toughness on hit, y'know, unless he has Impervious which he probably does. :smalltongue: Well shoot, that almost hit... Should I EE to boost the result by +2?

...Um, actually it's been awhile. Is a Grapple check made based on my Strength stat? If so: [roll1] ...Maybe not.

[Zelphas]

Gethsemane rolls her overlarge eyes at the Riddler's temper tantrum. If unwilling to create an actual game, why follow rules?

The Cheetah's words intrigue her, but she discards them for the moment; the battle is more important. Leaping forwards with her claws burning scarlet, Gethsemane attempts to capitalize on the momentary distraction of Spider-Man's needling.

Move Action: Close with the Cheetah.

Free Action: Switch to Claws of Rage.

Standard Action: Claws of Rage on the Cheetah, All-Out Attacking for 3, Power Attacking for 5. [roll0] on a hit, Parry DC 30+Multiattack vs. Damage. Secondary Effect hits next turn.

Status: -3 to Active defenses this turn.

[herodofcows]

In the darkened and deserted halls, the KGBeast and the Builder continue their deadly dance. The Builder's ricochet carries him into the waiting arms of the Slavic super-soldier, who manages to catch the reptile's grasping hands and halt the momentum. The drywall crunches as the Builder and the KGBeast's combined weight presses against it . . . and then gives with a crash, sending the two tumbling into a deserted office space.

The KGBeast rises like a flash, abruptly holding a wickedly curved blade in one hand and protruding another from his turret arm. He advances on the Builder, slashing methodically . . . but the reptile's sheer agility keeps him ahead of every cut and thrust. His masked face betrays no emotion, but the heavy breathing is thick with growing frustration.

"You . . . should . . . be . . . DEAD . . ."

Elsewhere, in the cafeteria, the Riddler is trying to regain narrative control of the situation.

"Ahh, Ms. Minerva! Better to go on that hunt yourself! You see, you are not the ONLY Beast on the prowl for-"

Unfortunately for him, any pending turn of phrase is interrupted by a well-phrased Thundercats reference from Spidey. Now, one might THINK that a mystically-empowered demigoddess would be immune to the mocking blandishments of a reasonably popular 80's cartoon series/toy-selling vehicle.

One would be mistaken!

"RRRRRRRRRRRRAAWRRR!" she howls/roars, even over the sounds of combat between Gladiator and Brock. She springs for the wall-crawler, ignoring Gethsemane's strike, ignoring her surroundings, ignoring everything but her desire to get. That. SPIDER.

She's quick, to be sure. Legendarily so. But Spidey is on his home turf when he's dangling from the ceiling. He handily evades her claws with micrometers to spare, like the world's most annoying piñata. Cheetah goes sprawling across the floor, narrowly avoiding the recumbent figure of the Chameleon (who is currently hiding beneath one of the tables).

"RRRRRRRNO! THUNDERCATS!"

[Starsign]

Rene's yellow-and-green reptilian body thrashed across the iron floor and into the strong wooden desk as he and KGBeast smashed through the drywall. The tumble caused a tearing of the floor in white marks as Rene's clawed hands and feet scratched it. His mind reeling out of his insane state of reality and the atmosphere and wood of the rainforest disappeared in an instant under the force of the launch. His body stopped upon the other side of the room; the over-sized scales on his back press against the wall as he is covered in broken wood pieces; his heavy tail left a small crater in the wall where it violently collided. The impact and landing left him breathing frantically for a moment; his reptilian eyes again twitched frantically as they tried to focus.

Were Rene a human or a creature unprepared for battle, he would have been quickly and effectively sliced into pieces by KGBeast's methodical and sharp blades' however that cyborg carried them within the robotic part of his body was beyond Rene's imagination. Yet intelligence was not what Rene needed as his instincts returned just before the first slash managed to cut across his reptilian snout. A familiar-yet-impressively frustrated voice screamed in Rene's head.

DODGE!

Just like that, the speedy reptilian was back on his clawed feet and evading the sharp blades that came his way, finding a moment to dig his clawed hands and feet into a nearby wall as the half-robotic inmate spews in frustration. KGBeast isn't exactly wrong, Rene has either been exceedingly lucky to have not died throughout his career of hero work, or exceedingly unlucky to have encounters and been traumatized again and again by beings he doesn't understand. The reptilian's eyes looked on at the blades, seeing their sharp edges. They could cut Rene's scales with barely any resistance if given the opportunity. The image of those blades cutting his muscles and organs apart flashed through his mind out of minor fear. His own mind constantly told him, 'Don't imagine it, don't imagine it, don't imagine it!

In an attempt to hide his momentary fear, the reptilian hisses with a fevered strain at KGBeast. "i... know," he responds in admittance to his own circumstances. The fearful-yet-brave reptilian no longer is the talkative and understanding beast who had talked with the armed inmates half a minute ago. The villain forced a fight on Rene and the reptilian has no reason to relent now. Even as his limbs slightly shake, he remembers that he's not in this asylum to survive, he's here to help people, both the heroes trapped and the inmates here!

Rene's hissing heightens briefly before he suddenly leaps out and around the room again, jumping to the walls again like when he believed them to be trees. His swift movement avoids any swipes KGBeast tries to make in passing before the reptilian trusts his instincts and dives forward with a clenched left fist towards KGBeast's face! The sudden change of attack only makes sense for those who know Rene: KGBeast is already bleeding pretty badly from those prior clawed wounds; Rene can't bring himself to slash anyone to the point of death.

So Rene's dodging so far has worked out in his favor, so I'll be sticking with attacking without any modifiers. [roll0] DC 25 Toughness on a successful hit.

[Zelphas]

Gethsemane looks up at Spider-Man, her ring, staff, and markings glowing a bruise-colored orange-blue as the flames on her claws dies. She walks nonchalantly past the Cheetah as the cat-woman lands on the floor, her eyes now on the battle between the Gladiator and Eddie Brock. "Have not heard of this 'Thundercats'," she comments lightly, her tone one of polite interest. "Seems an odd name for a play or motion picture."

Move Action: Close with Cheetah.

Free Action: Switch to Sting of Greed.

Standard Action: Sting of Greed on the Cheetah, All-Out Power Attacking for 5. [roll0] On a hit, Fortitude DC 25 vs. Dazed/Stunned/Paralyzed, Will DC 25 vs. Weaken Toughness and Will. Perception DC 20 to notice the attack.

Status: -5 to Active Defenses this turn.

[TheIronGolem]

A quick tug on the web-line sends Spider-Man bouncing just out of the Cheetah's reach. The webslinger does a 180 as she passes harmlessly by, getting a great view of her undignified sprawl on the floor. He aims his free hand to spray her with webbing, but seeing that Gethsemane is already closing in on her he decides his attention is needed elsewhere.

A quick glance at the other side of the room confirms that yep, Brock and Gladiator are still at each other's throats. He's going to have to hurt them a little, before they hurt each other a lot. One super-strong pull on a web-line fired at the wall through the space between the two, and Spider-Man is hurtling through the air, legs scissoring out to strike at the two delusional combatants.

Multiattack Spider-Strike on Azrael and Gladiator (Damage DC 26):
Azrael: [roll0]
Gladiator: [roll1]