[Masks IC] Sustainable Heroics: Sisyphean Motives [Archive]

Thanqol

2018-02-11, 06:19 PM

Pinky: Gee, Brain, what do you want to do tonight?
Brain: The same thing we do every night, Pinky - try to take over the world!
- Pinky and the Brain

Sustainable Heroics
A game of Masks

It's been a pretty bad day so far.

Captain Morpho and Stray! You are currently chained together, back to back, being gradually lowered into a giant tub of boiling chemicals. I'm not sure how you got to be here, but I'm sure you've both got opinions about who's fault it is.

Because it is someone's fault - how else did you get run over so badly by The Mountebank, of all villains? He's not exactly an A-lister; he dresses like the Phantom of the Opera and has a moustache that reminds you of Waluigi more than anyone. The bad news is that he's got his hands on an enchanted chain that has thus far resisted your combined strength - the good news is that he's not actually interested in you as anything more than bait. He's after Paragon, him and his goons, and he is currently shuffling cue cards, muttering to himself, and directing his minions as he choreographs his villainous monologue.

What do you do?

Marek and Source! You're currently climbing up an elevator shaft - it was the best way in to this rusty old warehouse you could find, and your friends are on the line. Problem, though - the elevator is coming down towards you fast and this place was not built to modern OH&S standards. You don't do something about it you're going to be crushed. Also, Source, your enhanced senses tell you there's someone inside the lift.

What do you do?

Windsong and Paragon! It's a trap; you know that for sure. They've got your friends and you've got no idea if Marek and Source have succeeded at their infiltration mission. But if you don't walk in, unarmed, hands in the air and everyone's going to take a plunge into a vat of chemicals. You've got no intel and no prep-work - but then, the catch of being a hero is that you work at the villain's pace.

What do you do?

Raine_Sage

2018-02-11, 08:14 PM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure

She hated everything about this. She hated that some drama club reject had gotten the drop on them, she hated this stupid chain, and she hated the idea that any minute now her teammates were going to burst in and she was going to be dangling here absolutely useless.

Not that breaking the damn thing would do much good now, there was nowhere to go but down and she couldn't exactly fly. Tua could though. Tua could do a lot of things, the reason he likely hadn't done them yet was because if the chain holding them went slack, he'd be home free and she'd drop like a stone. Could he lift her? That might have been a thing to try before failure meant getting dropped into a vat of whatever that was. Hindsight she supposes.

That was another thing she hated, that right now her heavy armored ass was potentially hindering their escape. He was going to harp on that, she was sure of it. Ok no, think. What was that stuff down there anyway? She didn't doubt that it was probably caustic, but she and Tua didn't exactly have normal human biology either. She doubted the Mountebank had picked up something specifically tailored to them. He looked like a 'grab whoever happens to wander into the trap' sort of guy.

She looks around, at the chemicals, at the villain, at the chain holding them. There had to be something she'd overlooked.

[roll0] Rolling with superior to try and find an out. Also love the in medias res opening. Good stuff. Alright a hit! My question: What here can I use to get the both of us down safely?

DyerMaker

2018-02-11, 08:36 PM

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure

Thinking back to a time on Cybelus Prime, Tua remembered the infamous Pits of Cyru. Several events required crossing the pits with flames licking the heels of the contestants. Crazy stuff, right? He didn't remember any events where being tied with an enchanted chain came into play. Tua began looking around—up, down, left, right; hey that Mountebank sure had a cool mustache. There's gotta be a way out of this...
ASSESS THE SITUATION [roll0]
1. How could we best end this quickly?
2. What here can I use to save both of us?

Eldest

2018-02-11, 08:48 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure

Source loved everything about this. She loved coming from unexpected angles to beat people, instead of having to rely on there-one-moment-gone-the-next powers. She loved being Source, and she loved that she was going to get to burst in and save the day in a moment.

First, however, there was the small problem of the elevator. She jumps down a floor, braces herself against the wall, and feels the concrete sides with her bare hands. Just a thought, and she's got the density and hardness of Industrial Concrete (Rebar Reinforced), and as she starts to fall she instead leaps for the bottom of the elevator, intending to put her fist through the floor. Nothing ventured, nothing gained...

Unleashing her powers with a -1 Freak. Fortuna be kind.
[roll0]

truemane

2018-02-11, 09:23 PM

As Source leaped onto the elevator and started wailing on the bottom, Marek decided to be the contingency plan. In case things went sideways. Which they often enough did. He also leaped up to grab hold of the bottom of the elevator, but instead of trying to punch through the bottom, he braced himself against the corner of the shaft and put his back to the descending cab, and used all the mythic power of Marek to slow the elevator. Or maybe even stop it.

At the very least, he could give Source a chance to escape onto a floor, or take another shot at getting into the elevator itself.

UNLEASH POWERS!
[roll0]+0

For my partial hit, I'll choose the GM telling me how the effect is unstable or temporary.

Mr. E

2018-02-11, 09:49 PM

Windsong
Potential: 0/5
Conditions: None

About half a kilometre away a power armoured suit floats on the breeze, broad wings slowly beating the air. Ami frowns grimly, her expression at odds with the seeming calm of the scene. Gloomily she surveys the list of names on one side of her HUD.

- Stray (Not Connected)
- Source (Not Connected)
- Marek (Not Connected)
- Morpho (Not Connected)
- Paragon (Connected)

There is a dull whine as the servo's in her wings compensate for her adjusted trajectory. She raises her hand, a small dart leaping from it. Arcing through the air, the black "node slug" smacks onto the stonework of building. Ami follows it at a slower pace, her glide taking her over the roof of the building. The various radar, infrared and more "exotic" sensor systems pulse automatically, building a picture of the scene below. She comes to a halt on the far side, hovering slightly above the ground.

"I can't raise any of the other team members. Shall we, uh, join the party?"

Looking over at Paragon, Ami waits for his response.

Going to assess the situation: [roll0]

Q's:
- What here is the biggest threat?
- What here can I use to free Stray and Tua?

Also, one of the resources from my Mentor is communicators. I'd forgotten about these, so I've assumed, as per the first IC post, that none of us are in contact. Presumably the building is blocking signals, or my teammates have left them at home...

TankLaser007

2018-02-12, 12:13 AM

Paragon (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22827926&postcount=93) | Potential: ◯◯◯◯◯ | Doomtrack: ◯◯◯◯◯ | Conditions: None | Team: (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pjOJcgrm724Pqz-S8E_giTSeEtrV_dKbqvQNZeEAuuw/edit) 3

The large man, physic the epitome of the Grecian 'ideal form' of classic sculptures hovers next to the armoured form, an alabaster cape fluttering in the wind.

"We don't have to," he says turning to face his teamate Windsong. "He only wants me. There is no telling what is waiting for us in there..." he doesn't think she'll let him go it alone, but its worth a try. "May be you could check on Source and Marek while I surrender myself to Mountebank..."

Looking into the nest of sensors, but trying to look where here eyes would be he continues, "Let me buy you all some time to get Cap and Stray to safety."

[roll0]

How could I get your character to let me go alone?

Thanqol

2018-02-12, 05:38 PM

She looks around, at the chemicals, at the villain, at the chain holding them. There had to be something she'd overlooked.

[roll0] Rolling with superior to try and find an out. Also love the in medias res opening. Good stuff. Alright a hit! My question: What here can I use to get the both of us down safely?

So let's talk about the Mountebank.

He's an old supervillain - possibly even the first - and in many ways he set the tone for the whole movement. He pioneered the deathtrap, blazed the trail of villainous monologues, and mastered the concept of the nemesis. He's also the first recorded sufferer of villain decay - a villain who has been beaten up and thwarted by almost every single hero, up-and-coming or established, over the years. It's almost a rite of passage, and as a result, has left the man without the air of menace he had when he was younger.

As a result it's easy to forget how shockingly dangerous he can be when he wants to be - hence your predicament. He has evaded capture for fifty years, after all, with all the best heroes of the world after him.

Your leverage is that he's become set in his ways. He's interested in the form of supervillainy more than the function. He's committed to the lifestyle of the moustache twirling villain, to the spectacle more than the results. That's your best tool in this situation - he's committed to the classics.

Thinking back to a time on Cybelus Prime, Tua remembered the infamous Pits of Cyru. Several events required crossing the pits with flames licking the heels of the contestants. Crazy stuff, right? He didn't remember any events where being tied with an enchanted chain came into play. Tua began looking around—up, down, left, right; hey that Mountebank sure had a cool mustache. There's gotta be a way out of this...
ASSESS THE SITUATION [roll0]
1. How could we best end this quickly?
2. What here can I use to save both of us?

The Mountebank is a planner. Everything here is following a tightly choreographed script. Everything is accounted for, including and especially his exit strategy. This means that if you can activate the if/then trigger for him to flee the scene then he'll do that regardless of the context. You suspect that the right move for that involves getting in The Mountebank's face - he's a lot of things, but he's never been known for his skill in close quarters combat.

And you've got the same analysis as Stray - the Mountebank is a traditionalist, even to his downfall. His thinking is not flexible, and he's going to follow his script. Getting into his head is your best escape route.

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure

Source loved everything about this. She loved coming from unexpected angles to beat people, instead of having to rely on there-one-moment-gone-the-next powers. She loved being Source, and she loved that she was going to get to burst in and save the day in a moment.

First, however, there was the small problem of the elevator. She jumps down a floor, braces herself against the wall, and feels the concrete sides with her bare hands. Just a thought, and she's got the density and hardness of Industrial Concrete (Rebar Reinforced), and as she starts to fall she instead leaps for the bottom of the elevator, intending to put her fist through the floor. Nothing ventured, nothing gained...

Unleashing her powers with a -1 Freak. Fortuna be kind.
[roll0]

As you're sweating to hold up the crushing weight of a descending elevator your phone goes off. What's your ringtone? Thankfully Windsong's communicator tech will let you take it to your helmet.

"James?" it's mom. "I need you back here now. I've got an emergency shift and you need to look after Mathew. Oh - where are my keys?" (You know: second drawer from the left)
"Taylor's busy, mom," your enhanced senses pick out his voice in the background, crystal clear. "She's fighting the butler."
"Shush Mathew!" she says. "Look, I can count on you right?"

As Source leaped onto the elevator and started wailing on the bottom, Marek decided to be the contingency plan. In case things went sideways. Which they often enough did. He also leaped up to grab hold of the bottom of the elevator, but instead of trying to punch through the bottom, he braced himself against the corner of the shaft and put his back to the descending cab, and used all the mythic power of Marek to slow the elevator. Or maybe even stop it.

At the very least, he could give Source a chance to escape onto a floor, or take another shot at getting into the elevator itself.

UNLEASH POWERS!
[roll0]+0

For my partial hit, I'll choose the GM telling me how the effect is unstable or temporary.

It's literally bench pressing a tonne of iron being driven down by a roaring motor. You can hold this thing up for a little while. Source had better move fast to get inside and stop it for good.

Windsong
Potential: 0/5
Conditions: None

About half a kilometre away a power armoured suit floats on the breeze, broad wings slowly beating the air. Ami frowns grimly, her expression at odds with the seeming calm of the scene. Gloomily she surveys the list of names on one side of her HUD.

- Stray (Not Connected)
- Source (Not Connected)
- Marek (Not Connected)
- Morpho (Not Connected)
- Paragon (Connected)

There is a dull whine as the servo's in her wings compensate for her adjusted trajectory. She raises her hand, a small dart leaping from it. Arcing through the air, the black "node slug" smacks onto the stonework of building. Ami follows it at a slower pace, her glide taking her over the roof of the building. The various radar, infrared and more "exotic" sensor systems pulse automatically, building a picture of the scene below. She comes to a halt on the far side, hovering slightly above the ground.

"I can't raise any of the other team members. Shall we, uh, join the party?"

Looking over at Paragon, Ami waits for his response.

Going to assess the situation: [roll0]

Q's:
- What here is the biggest threat?
- What here can I use to free Stray and Tua?

Also, one of the resources from my Mentor is communicators. I'd forgotten about these, so I've assumed, as per the first IC post, that none of us are in contact. Presumably the building is blocking signals, or my teammates have left them at home...

The biggest threat is Paragon's presence. The Mountebank has a plan and a script and the moment Paragon goes in it all goes off. Up until that happens he's going to pace around, grumble, and make threats and shows of force but his plan isn't going to ever go into full swing. You've got to delay Paragon for a couple of minutes so that everyone else can get into position first.

As far as you freeing Stray and Tua, you'll need Marek's help. Your scanners are indicating that the material used in that chain is similar to the divide-by-zero readings you get when observing his mystic weaponry; his spear may be able to break that bond where no superhuman strength can.

Raine_Sage

2018-02-12, 09:21 PM

DyerMaker

2018-02-13, 12:07 AM

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure

Listening to Stray calling down to Mountebank, he wonders, could this work? Whispering to Stray, "Hey, Stray. I'm going to try something. If it doesn't work, I'll try something else." Tua ponders the boiling chemicals. He's manipulated the density of thousands of substances and objects. He knows that he can solidify the chemicals, but nothing is guaranteed. Tua focuses intently on the boiling action, the bubbles and vapor created by the chemicals. Everything goes silent for Tua. Stay's voice, the wrenching of the chain, the boiling sound, the hum of the motor that lowers them down—he hears nothing. Tua focuses on rapidly changing the liquid into solid.

UNLEASH YOUR POWERS [roll0]

Mr. E

2018-02-13, 01:59 AM

Windsong
Potential: 1/5
Conditions: None

"Yeah, you're right. They are after you." Windsong's armoured head pivots, looking away from Paragon to peer at the building. "Nothing's going to happen until you go through that door." She hums a broken snatch of a tune to herself, then suddenly turns back to 'look' at the other super.

"Could you, uh, hold off for a bit? I just need five minutes to find Source and Marek, then you can do whatever stu-heroic thing you want."

She catches herself before she says stupid, but after the point at which she would start to feel embarrassed. Cheeks burning under her mask, Windsong turns away, descending slowly towards the roof.

Going to try and provoke Paragon into staying back:

rolling with superior +2, with an additional +1 from my assess the situation:

[roll0]

It appears the dice roller thought that was a weak attempt at being obnoxious as well. Oh well, Paragon's choice then...

TankLaser007

2018-02-13, 04:22 AM

Eldest

2018-02-13, 10:49 AM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure

As you're sweating to hold up the crushing weight of a descending elevator your phone goes off. What's your ringtone? Thankfully Windsong's communicator tech will let you take it to your helmet.

"James?" it's mom. "I need you back here now. I've got an emergency shift and you need to look after Mathew. Oh - where are my keys?" (You know: second drawer from the left)
"Taylor's busy, mom," your enhanced senses pick out his voice in the background, crystal clear. "She's fighting the butler."
"Shush Mathew!" she says. "Look, I can count on you right?"

Source normally doesn't answer her phone on missions. She normally doesn't answer her phone, period, but mom has two ringtones: normal, and a shrill emergency "dreeeeet". Startled, she almost slips, but catches herself. "Mom, I'm out with friends, like I said I was going to be. I'm halfway across the city. I'll be there as soon as I can, sure, but I can't promise fast!" She grunts, as the elevator slips a bit. "Check with the neighbors for an hour of Kevin watching, should be there by then, love you mom gotta go". With that she hangs up, before mom can object, or even ask why she's halfway across the city. Then she eyes the bottom, like she should have from the start, looking for a hatch or even a weak spot. She's not James, she's Source, dammit, and information was life.

Little wimpy, but affirming heroic identity to swap Mundane with Superior. Then rolling to assess. [roll0]
What can I use to get inside the elevator?
How can we best end this quickly, I guess?

Thanqol

2018-02-13, 05:11 PM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure

She turns an idea over in her head.

"Hey so, what happens if they no-show?" she calls down to the Mountebank from their position over the chemicals. "Do we just stay dangling up here? Do we get a lunch?"

"What?" said the Mountebank, thrown off his stride. "Oh - um," he looked down at his cue cards, "SILENCE! Paragon may be many things but above all he is predictable. He will fall into my hands, just like you fools did -"

Listening to Stray calling down to Mountebank, he wonders, could this work? Whispering to Stray, "Hey, Stray. I'm going to try something. If it doesn't work, I'll try something else." Tua ponders the boiling chemicals. He's manipulated the density of thousands of substances and objects. He knows that he can solidify the chemicals, but nothing is guaranteed. Tua focuses intently on the boiling action, the bubbles and vapor created by the chemicals. Everything goes silent for Tua. Stay's voice, the wrenching of the chain, the boiling sound, the hum of the motor that lowers them down—he hears nothing. Tua focuses on rapidly changing the liquid into solid.

UNLEASH YOUR POWERS [roll0]

The tank of bubbling froth crusts over. The Mountebank goes very quiet for a moment.

"What have you done?" he murmurs.

[Marking Angry]

Pain shoots through your bodies - intense and absolute and agonizing. The chain is being electrified and the Mountebank's finger is pushing down the button with pure ferocity.

After too long he releases it and starts talking.

"This is the problem with you children. You infants!" he said, punctuating every sentence with another jolt of electricity. "You're so stupid. You're these insipid little creatures crammed full of 'cool' and 'edgy' powers and no understanding of how to properly use them. You just went and showed your hand while you're alone and unsupported rather than waiting for your allies. You did it in plain view. You did it without understanding the consequences! You are no better off for this -" this particular jolt of electrification is particularly long, and while it's going on the Mountebank is giving directions to his goons. When he's finally done he resumes exactly where he left off "- and you do not understand what terrible consequences your impulsive actions have had for the world. You are dolts. Blunderers."

Two goons showed up with jerry cans of petrol. They start pouring it over the enormous tank full of concrete - and when they set it on fire you'll be roasted.

"I will just have to make do."

Take A Powerful Blow.
The Mountebank is telling you who you are; he wants to shift Superior down and Freak up. Accept what he says or reject his influence]

Source normally doesn't answer her phone on missions. She normally doesn't answer her phone, period, but mom has two ringtones: normal, and a shrill emergency "dreeeeet". Startled, she almost slips, but catches herself. "Mom, I'm out with friends, like I said I was going to be. I'm halfway across the city. I'll be there as soon as I can, sure, but I can't promise fast!" She grunts, as the elevator slips a bit. "Check with the neighbors for an hour of Kevin watching, should be there by then, love you mom gotta go". With that she hangs up, before mom can object, or even ask why she's halfway across the city. Then she eyes the bottom, like she should have from the start, looking for a hatch or even a weak spot. She's not James, she's Source, dammit, and information was life.

Little wimpy, but affirming heroic identity to swap Mundane with Superior. Then rolling to assess. [roll0]
What can I use to get inside the elevator?
How can we best end this quickly, I guess?

"Young man, you have responsibilities -" she gets out before you hang up.

[She wants to shift your Mundane up and Freak down, accept what she says or reject her influence]

Data flows. There is no hatch at the bottom but there is a weak point in the wall you can crush through and then just pull the elevator doors apart. Best way to end this quickly is to hit the emergency stop button in the lift - the villain waiting for you there can't fight the two of you at once.

But he can definitely fight one of you, and as soon as you're through the doors he reacts perfectly to knock you away from the buttons. You are facing The Valet - the former butler of Peacemaker turned criminal. He's a wiry blonde bruiser, red vest torn open to reveal special forces tattoos, smart bow tie incongruously contrasting with his rusty knife. His super power is the ability to read people's intentions and react before they can move. It's ruthless close quarters, just how he likes it.

Roll to Directly Engage a Threat.

Windsong
Potential: 1/5
Conditions: None

"Yeah, you're right. They are after you." Windsong's armoured head pivots, looking away from Paragon to peer at the building. "Nothing's going to happen until you go through that door." She hums a broken snatch of a tune to herself, then suddenly turns back to 'look' at the other super.

"Could you, uh, hold off for a bit? I just need five minutes to find Source and Marek, then you can do whatever stu-heroic thing you want."

She catches herself before she says stupid, but after the point at which she would start to feel embarrassed. Cheeks burning under her mask, Windsong turns away, descending slowly towards the roof.

Going to try and provoke Paragon into staying back:

rolling with superior +2, with an additional +1 from my assess the situation:

[roll0]

It appears the dice roller thought that was a weak attempt at being obnoxious as well. Oh well, Paragon's choice then...

[Missing a move doesn't mean that you fail the move, even if you were doing it against another player character. It means I get to make a move.]

As you're descending, a voice crackles onto your communicator - on the secure frequency. An old code but still in use. This isn't hacking, this is a legitimate password being used.

"Ah, Master DeVoight's latest pet project, I assume?" comes the smooth voice of The Valet - perhaps you've read about him in Peacemaker's archives. Former butler to Peacemaker, started off stealing silverwear and progressed to selling off Peacemaker's advanced blueprints to criminal organizations. "He always did have a habit of seeing if he could fix broken things with technology. Please, go fetch the Master for me - he'll want to deal with this himself."

[He wants to shift your Danger down and your Mundane up. Accept what he says or reject his influence.]

Raine_Sage

2018-02-13, 05:34 PM

Stray
Conditions: [X]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure

Roll to take a powerful blow: [roll0]
Roll to reject influence: [roll1]
Ow ow ow, wow botched them both. Ok then for the powerful blow, to avoid just passing the hell out I'll take two from the 7-9 list. Lash out verbally at Tua to give him a condition, and I'll mark two conditions. And then one more condition from the failed rejection roll. Stray is angry at Tua for setting him off, Afraid of the villain, and Insecure because she's still tied up and helpless to do anything to actually stop him. And of course I'll go shift my labels.

The pain is almost beyond comprehension. She knows she's screaming, but only because she can feel the rawness in the back of her throat. Her ears are filled with static and white starbursts cover her vision. When it passes her breathing is ragged and it takes her a moment to reorient. Once she does the next thing she manages is a litany of frustrated profanity.

"**** **** ****ing damnit Morpho what the actual hell?!" she gasps out, still trying to chase the spots from her vision. "Could that not have waited like five ****ing minutes?"

Eldest

2018-02-13, 06:36 PM

truemane

2018-02-13, 07:20 PM

Marek groaned under the weight of the elevator. He didn't want to damage it, or risk it falling once he let go.

"Uh, Source?" he said, the strain evident in his voice, "Maybe you could crack open one of those doors? Or, something else? Anything?"

Mr. E

2018-02-13, 08:29 PM

Windsong
Potential: 1/5
Conditions: None

The suit halts in the air, wings slowly beating to keep her stable. Wingsong doesn't even hear Valet, being too distracted with the possibilities offered by a secure connection. The code had been replaced for a reason, the handshake protocol being outdated and full of vulnerabilities. Angling her wings forward, she continues her glide towards the building.

A screen appears in one corner of her mental HUD, the black box rapidly filling up with text. Phones and communicators usually had a large enough battery to run for a few hours. In a pinch, a battery of that size could also act as an impromptu tazer, if you were foolish enough to hold it. There is a short burst of what sounds like static over the comms channel, as her package is delivered, and Windsong relaxes slightly, awaiting the results of her experiment.

As per my OOC post, I'm cancelling his influence and taking +1 forward against him,
which I'm promptly going to expend to try and transform his comms unit into an impromptu stun device.

I guess this is directly engaging a threat? Unleash your powers would also work, but I think the other is closer to what she's doing:

[roll0]

Bleh.

I don't like this one pass, one fail thing I've got going here...

DyerMaker

2018-02-13, 11:13 PM

Thanqol

2018-02-13, 11:30 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential [x] [x] [x] [ ] [ ]

Responsibilities! Mom thinks she knows all about responsibilities. Look, raising kids is hard, she's sure: she had to look after Mathew enough times to respect that. And yes, she has responsibilities. But it's to her team, not just her family. Time to go stop that damn elevator.

Seconds later, she was regretting her enthusiasm. Normally, reading what an enemy is doing as they do it is fantastic in a fight, which makes up for her being not the greatest in combat. When she gets sloppy, the Engine kicks in, souping up her reflexes or just straight up making her able to take a blow she shouldn't have. But that doesn't do jack-**** against somebody who reads further ahead. Cheater, she thinks venomously, without a hint of irony.

So I failed the engage rolls spectacularly, and did fantastic on the reject roll. Mom doesn't know what it's like, so canceling her influence, and then acting to prove her wrong about ignoring responsibility by engaging. This gonna hurt.

For a moment it's a really good fight.

You're perfectly matched, flowing off the same currents of intention and suggestion. You see sequences play out before your eyes, shift your stance to counter, and neither of you moves. Occasionally there are brief, rapid exchanges of blows but both of you know the outcome before you even start on them. Delicately you trade positions, motions, testing, exploring - an exchange of pure information. It's the best fight you've ever had. Your brain strains to keep up.

And then he takes off and throws his communicator at you.

You disregard it as a distraction. You can see the possibility space of the device; it's a totally normal looking hunk of plastic and wires. You can see his follow-up intentions, using the brief distraction to launch a devastating combo. You shift to adjust.

Then the data on the device changes - suddenly it's not a communicator but a screaming ball of electricity striking you in the chest and you spasm. Your muscles lock up and you can't move while the Valet wraps a silvery chain around your wrists.

"You gave me a good run, Taylor," said the Valet, giving you a brief smile that made the scars on his face unfold like cobwebs. He used your real name; he must have plucked it from the surface of your unguarded thoughts. "It's really rare to fight someone on my level. You could be a great warrior if you set your mind to it - better than me, easily. You put your mind to training and you wouldn't need to hide behind that silly mask any more."

His smile got wider for a moment. "Don't worry; I won't tell."

[He wants to shift your Danger up and your Saviour down; accept what he says or reject his influence. Also, your secret identity has been revealed to this guy so mark potential.]

Stray
Conditions: [X]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure

Roll to take a powerful blow: [roll0]
Roll to reject influence: [roll1]
Ow ow ow, wow botched them both. Ok then for the powerful blow, to avoid just passing the hell out I'll take two from the 7-9 list. Lash out verbally at Tua to give him a condition, and I'll mark two conditions. And then one more condition from the failed rejection roll. Stray is angry at Tua for setting him off, Afraid of the villain, and Insecure because she's still tied up and helpless to do anything to actually stop him. And of course I'll go shift my labels.

The pain is almost beyond comprehension. She knows she's screaming, but only because she can feel the rawness in the back of her throat. Her ears are filled with static and white starbursts cover her vision. When it passes her breathing is ragged and it takes her a moment to reorient. Once she does the next thing she manages is a litany of frustrated profanity.

"**** **** ****ing damnit Morpho what the actual hell?!" she gasps out, still trying to chase the spots from her vision. "Could that not have waited like five ****ing minutes?"

Source, when you come to, you're wrapped in a chain along with Morpho and Stray. Morpho, Stray, they must of got Source and lowered her down while you were on the pain train. Sucks.

Source, you're not really feeling any lingering effects of that shock, your only problem is that you're dangling from a chain above a giant vat of concrete. And your buddy Tua is going nuts.

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[X]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure

The electrical shock hurts, but Tua manages to keep going. Stray is in his ear with all manner of hip-hop language. He is Insecure because of Stray's rant and he doesn't like upsetting his teammates. He is Afraid and Angry due to Montebank's actions.

"Okay, OKAY! Miss Wu-Tang. I got it!", Tua responds to Stray, "It's not like you're doing anything but hang'n there." Then, he realizes and yells aloud, "It worked. IT WORKED. IT WORKED!" He directs his monologue toward Montebank, "Yo, Mr. Mustache, IT WORKED. All of those expensive boiling chemicals, FOILED. ... The best laid plans of mice and mustache! ... I'm MELTING, I'm MELTING! ... I did it like THIS, I did it like THAT, I did it with with the whiffle ball BAT!"

UNLEASH YOUR POWERS [roll0] Tua attempts to radically shapeshift into an exact clone of Montebank. (Fudgesicle-peach pops)

[You can shapeshift without a roll - what matters is your intention. Are you shapeshifting to provoke him? That's the Provoke move - and I'm fairly sure that'd be a miss with your newly lowered Superior. Shapeshifting to reshape your environment and wriggle free from the chains? That's Unleash. If it is Unleash you need to choose between marking a fourth condition or making the effect temporary.]

Marek groaned under the weight of the elevator. He didn't want to damage it, or risk it falling once he let go.

"Uh, Source?" he said, the strain evident in his voice, "Maybe you could crack open one of those doors? Or, something else? Anything?"

Source isn't coming, Marek.

For a second you waver and the weight of the elevator slams down on you. As the goons sent to check the scene out both agree, "No one could have possibly survived that."

Roll to take a powerful blow and then tell us how you survived that.

Windsong
Potential: 1/5
Conditions: None

The suit halts in the air, wings slowly beating to keep her stable. Wingsong doesn't even hear Valet, being too distracted with the possibilities offered by a secure connection. The code had been replaced for a reason, the handshake protocol being outdated and full of vulnerabilities. Angling her wings forward, she continues her glide towards the building.

A screen appears in one corner of her mental HUD, the black box rapidly filling up with text. Phones and communicators usually had a large enough battery to run for a few hours. In a pinch, a battery of that size could also act as an impromptu tazer, if you were foolish enough to hold it. There is a short burst of what sounds like static over the comms channel, as her package is delivered, and Windsong relaxes slightly, awaiting the results of her experiment.

As per my OOC post, I'm cancelling his influence and taking +1 forward against him,
which I'm promptly going to expend to try and transform his comms unit into an impromptu stun device.

I guess this is directly engaging a threat? Unleash your powers would also work, but I think the other is closer to what she's doing:

[roll0]

Bleh.

I don't like this one pass, one fail thing I've got going here...

You know it worked; the shock went off. But by the nature of weaponizing your communication channel the outcome is deliberately vague. You don't know exactly what's happened until a few moments later when you get a call from an unsecured cell phone in the warehouse.

"Hi ma'am, my name's Rocky, I work for Mr. Valet," said an unfamiliar voice, rolling and simple. "He wanted me to call you and say 'nice try, but technology is no match for instinct'. I don't know what that means. Hope you're having a good day. Lot of birds out today. It's really nice."

Raine_Sage

2018-02-14, 12:03 AM

Stray
Conditions: [X]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure

"You're just as tied up as I am you inconsiderate-" she notices Source mid angry rant and groans in dismay. At about this time Tua starts mcfreaking losing it at the Mountebank. They're going to get shocked again at this rate.

"Will you calm down for five seconds." She hisses at the excitable alien. "Before you get us all killed?" Raising her voice again she addresses the Mountebank once more.

"Look you're right. We're just kids. We've got no clue what we're doing. And is this what you want? The infamous Mountebank torches a group of teenagers too green to know not to walk into his incredibly obvious traps? I bet you'll sound like a real badass then. Definitely not like someone who should have retired thirty years ago while he was still ahead. Is this really what you want to be known for? As the guy who kidnaps children because he knows any hero over twenty is going to wipe the floor with him?"

If Tua decides to provoke then I'm spending a team from the pool to make it a hit. If you feel like this also calls for a separate provoke roll as opposed to just an assist, lemme know.

Eldest

2018-02-14, 12:37 AM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential [x] [x] [x] [x] [ ]

Source comes to, dangling from a chain over gasoline soaked concrete, chained to the people who she's supposed to have been rescuing, with the sidekick of the main bad guy here having beaten her in a game of mental speed-chess and knowing her true name, and both her teammates were working to piss off the guy who was going to light the fuse.

Yeah, today sucked. It was official.

When her teammates were done, Source coughs into the silence. "Look. I'm gonna go off script a bit, but... well, I'm disappointed. Not in the whole evil scheme, that was really well done. Honestly, props for that. But, well, you ever seen the Muppet's Treasure Island (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaQEuJxaSR0)? Whole song there about what sort of person you could be, how you could be all sorts of neat things... or you could be a pirate. And you know what, pirates are cool. Pirates are cool as ****. But you murder people. So, I suppose I gotta ask... why do this? Money, you coulda done that some other way, you've obviously got talent a plan, and organization down. Fame, seriously, you could have played for our team, and you'd be up there with the greats. Power, be a ****ing politician or something. Run for congress, you'd fit right in. So... why?"

Not resisting the adjustment from the Valet. Rolling to Pierce the Mask, with my current Mundane of 1.
[roll0]

Well fudge. You know what, I'd argue this is acting selfishly given that it's sort of blocking their plan from working, so I'm going to spend a team selfishly to lower Superior and raise Mundane. Raises it to a 7. How could I get the Montebank to change for the better?

Mr. E

2018-02-14, 02:17 AM

Windsong
Potential: 1/5
Conditions: None

"D***!" Windsong almost tazes the messenger, but stops herself from taking out her frustration on some random stranger. Disconnecting abruptly, she flies closer to the warehouse, looking for a possible entrance route.

"I'm gonna go find Marek and Source." Having updated Paragon, Ami drops to the ground, her wings automatically folding behind her. Cautiously approaching the warehouse, she spots a gap in the wall, where a section of corrugated iron has been torn free, leaving a ragged hole. Behind it her sensors inform her of darkness, and some irregular metallic shapes. Concluding that this must be the entry spot of the infiltration team, she leans forward, checking for movement before slipping inside. In the narrow space between the elevator (now at the bottom of the shaft), and the outside wall, Windsong halts, then checks her HUD.

- Stray (Not Connected)
- Source (Not Connected)
- Marek (Connected)
- Morpho (Not Connected)
- Paragon (Connected)

"S***." Putting two and two together, she swears rather more earthily, then leans back outside to get comms with Paragon. "Marek, uh, what happened? Where's Source? Paragon, I think you should come down here."

TankLaser007

2018-02-14, 01:06 PM

Thanqol

2018-02-14, 05:39 PM

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[X]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure

The electrical shock hurts, but Tua manages to keep going. Stray is in his ear with all manner of hip-hop language. He is Insecure because of Stray's rant and he doesn't like upsetting his teammates. He is Afraid and Angry due to Montebank's actions.

"Okay, OKAY! Miss Wu-Tang. I got it!", Tua responds to Stray, "It's not like you're doing anything but hang'n there." Then, he realizes and yells aloud, "It worked. IT WORKED. IT WORKED!" He directs his monologue toward Montebank, "Yo, Mr. Mustache, IT WORKED. All of those expensive boiling chemicals, FOILED. ... The best laid plans of mice and mustache! ... I'm MELTING, I'm MELTING! ... I did it like THIS, I did it like THAT, I did it with with the whiffle ball BAT!"

Between this, and Stray's follow-up, the Mountebank's cheeks are burning and his plan has slid out of focus; take Influence over him.

Stray
Conditions: [X]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure

"You're just as tied up as I am you inconsiderate-" she notices Source mid angry rant and groans in dismay. At about this time Tua starts mcfreaking losing it at the Mountebank. They're going to get shocked again at this rate.

"Will you calm down for five seconds." She hisses at the excitable alien. "Before you get us all killed?" Raising her voice again she addresses the Mountebank once more.

"Look you're right. We're just kids. We've got no clue what we're doing. And is this what you want? The infamous Mountebank torches a group of teenagers too green to know not to walk into his incredibly obvious traps? I bet you'll sound like a real badass then. Definitely not like someone who should have retired thirty years ago while he was still ahead. Is this really what you want to be known for? As the guy who kidnaps children because he knows any hero over twenty is going to wipe the floor with him?"

If Tua decides to provoke then I'm spending a team from the pool to make it a hit. If you feel like this also calls for a separate provoke roll as opposed to just an assist, lemme know.

"Of course this isn't what I want!" hisses the Mountebank, walking closer. And then he gets close enough to see his face - really see it. From a distance the moustache and hooked nose and terrible hair just paint him as a caricature of a villain - but now you're close enough to see his eyes. Red, and wet - lower lip slightly trembling. The look of a man who has been drinking and crying at the same time. "I would never! I would never harm a hair on your heads! I'm a bad guy, but I'm not a bad person. I'm not - it's Paragon's fault!" the words come tumbling out. "This is just a temporary situation for you, while I deal with Paragon. I wouldn't ever really hurt you -"

In this moment, the Mountebank seems to be totally falling apart.

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential [x] [x] [x] [x] [ ]

Source comes to, dangling from a chain over gasoline soaked concrete, chained to the people who she's supposed to have been rescuing, with the sidekick of the main bad guy here having beaten her in a game of mental speed-chess and knowing her true name, and both her teammates were working to piss off the guy who was going to light the fuse.

Yeah, today sucked. It was official.

When her teammates were done, Source coughs into the silence. "Look. I'm gonna go off script a bit, but... well, I'm disappointed. Not in the whole evil scheme, that was really well done. Honestly, props for that. But, well, you ever seen the Muppet's Treasure Island (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaQEuJxaSR0)? Whole song there about what sort of person you could be, how you could be all sorts of neat things... or you could be a pirate. And you know what, pirates are cool. Pirates are cool as ****. But you murder people. So, I suppose I gotta ask... why do this? Money, you coulda done that some other way, you've obviously got talent a plan, and organization down. Fame, seriously, you could have played for our team, and you'd be up there with the greats. Power, be a ****ing politician or something. Run for congress, you'd fit right in. So... why?"

Not resisting the adjustment from the Valet. Rolling to Pierce the Mask, with my current Mundane of 1.
[roll0]

Well fudge. You know what, I'd argue this is acting selfishly given that it's sort of blocking their plan from working, so I'm going to spend a team selfishly to lower Superior and raise Mundane. Raises it to a 7. How could I get the Montebank to change for the better?

"I'M NOT A MURDERER!" shouts the Mountebank. "I'm not! I never! It's Paragon's fault - I was tricked! I didn't know - he's the real monster! Those chemicals wouldn't have even hurt you - they were for Paragon! You don't understand! I love children, I would never - not really -"

So the thing about changing the Mountebank for the better is, well... he's already trying his best to do that.

He has a line, a code, something he's never crossed in all his years of villainy. And then he crossed it. The guilt is destroying him. He's falling apart as a person and the only thing that's keeping him together is a psychotic obsession with blaming Paragon for it. He's desperate for redemption. The downside is that he thinks he gets that by killing Paragon.

If you can conclusively take that away from him then he'll have nowhere left to hide from himself.

Eldest

2018-02-14, 06:40 PM

Raine_Sage

2018-02-14, 07:50 PM

Stray
Conditions: [X]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure

It's really hard to remain willing to punch someone in the nose when they look like they might cry if you do it. Hard, but the memory of the electric shock is still very, very fresh so Stray isn't quite as sympathetic.

"Also I don't know what you thought that button was going to do but that sure as hell felt like 'hurting' to me." she snaps. "Or do shock collars just pleasantly tickle for you?"

Mr. E

2018-02-15, 07:52 PM

Windsong
Potential: 2/5
Conditions: None

The service elevator was sensibly designed, but sensible is rarely adequate when a super-villain decides to use it as a battering ram. Surprisingly, it appeared to have survived the initial impact, only giving way at the point that the steel cable ran off the reel and plunged onto the roof. Choking the bottom of the lift-shaft is a mess of shattered steel and a bent PSP plating.

Ami cautiously steps forward, peering upward into the lift-shaft, then pulls herself up and over, balancing on the edge of a torn plate. Looking up into the void, she speaks to Paragon through her helmet mic. "Can't find Marek. His headset's connected, but he hasn't replied, and I've got no telemetry. I think we're being jammed." Pausing to inwardly curse Valet, she continues, "It's not strong enough to interfere most of the time, but add a building, or something like that, and it starts to cause problems."

Standing in the centre of the elevator shaft, Windsong takes a deep breath. Two of her team-mates have been captured, one of them is somewhere, and another has simply disappeared. Part, no most, of her wants to go back outside, call peacemaker, and wash her hands of the whole business. Just give it away to someone who does this sort of thing for a living. But she doesn't, for some reason she can't name.

"I'm going to try and get a closer look. Paragon, uh, could you come and look for Marek?" Her wings do not fully unfurl in the cramped elevator shaft, and an automated prompt informs her that aerobatic manoeuvring would be unwise in this configuration. Desperately hoping that such flying will be unnecessary, she slowly rises up the shaft. Some way above her head is a door to what she expects is the control room for the lifts and cranes. Rising slowly towards it, Windsong waits till just her head appears over the lip, then peers through the mesh door, hoping to observe the scene in the warehouse without being detected.

Seems like her information is outdated, and Windsong needed to get closer so she could talk to her team-mates anyway. Gonna roll another assess the situation:

[roll0]

This time I won't forget Be Mindful of Your Surroundings, either :smallbiggrin:

Q's:

- How could we best end this quickly?
- What here is the biggest threat?

Thanqol

2018-02-15, 09:34 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential [x] [x] [x] [x] [ ]

Source breaths in and out, one deep gulp of air before the plunge. " Somebody got hurt then? Or killed? And... it was Paragon that tricked you into doing it? I'm guessing."

"Well, the Paragon out there? I've talked to him, and he's a different guy. Yours is gone, man. Went through a portal, didn't come out. I don't know whose fault it was that they died, I wasn't there, this is the first I've heard of it. But you can't get your vengeance. You'd just be hurting another kid, one who doesn't deserve what you're planning. You have a code. This isn't you." She swallows more words, most some variety of "please don't burn us all alive".

"Also I don't know what you thought that button was going to do but that sure as hell felt like 'hurting' to me." she snaps. "Or do shock collars just pleasantly tickle for you?"

"Oh, hush you. You're a superhero with some kind of alien symbiote," said the Mountebank, loudly blowing his nose. "You should be able to take a little zap now and then. Young people are so coddled."

The Mountebank put his briefcase on the ground and sat on it. He let out a long sigh and started fiddling with a necklace he wore as he talked.

"Did you know I stole the Eiffel Tower? They probably don't teach that in school - but I did. I hit it with a Shrink Ray and made off with it before anyone could do anything. The French Government didn't want to pay the ransom so they built an exact replica in its place, but I still have the original."

He held up his necklace - sure enough, there was a dinky little piece of shrunken French architecture dangling from it, no bigger than a keyring.

"And that's what crime should be! Daring - innovative - exciting! Something that can grip the world's attention and command the imagination of the masses! Something - something fun!" he said. "And I was good at it, oh yes I was. I was the best. I planted fake gold in Guatemala and sold excavation tools to the Americans! I gave the Spanish bulls super serum so that when they were released for the festival they levelled the town! I made the world... interesting!"

He coughed. "And I set an example. Supervillains, you know... they're impressionable. Most of them are lunatics. They need a role model. And who would you prefer that to be - me, or Walter White? So I did my bit. I gave them the idea that maybe success is more than body count. I worked with a lot of them... set them on the right path, you know? And then I met this young scientist called Dragonslayer."

He let out a deep breath. "Dragonslayer gave me this laser, see. Told me it could penetrate Paragon's defences. They said it would just stun him, but I didn't check - I should have checked. Dragonslayer lied to me but that's what villains do, I should have known - it's my fault. I pulled the trigger. And I killed Paragon." He stared blankly for a moment. "Except I didn't kill Paragon. I killed some kid. Some poor kid who Paragon was wearing like a suit. Paragon's not a person, see. He's not a hero. He's some sort of... alien dream monster, possessing children. Putting them in harms way. It was one thing if I accidentally hurt a grown hero who'd made his own decisions - but Paragon used a kid. And now he's using another one."

The Mountebank sniffed. Then he stood up, resolve hardening again. "And that's why he has to go down. To stop that from ever happening again. Thank you, Source," he said. "You've been a great help. And watch out for Dragonslayer. They're... not like me."

[Clearing Angry. However, the Mountebank now cares about what Source says, take Influence over him.

Everyone: He's telling you how the world works, and wants to shift your Saviour up and Danger down. Accept what he says or Reject his Influence.]

Windsong
Potential: 2/5
Conditions: None

The service elevator was sensibly designed, but sensible is rarely adequate when a super-villain decides to use it as a battering ram. Surprisingly, it appeared to have survived the initial impact, only giving way at the point that the steel cable ran off the reel and plunged onto the roof. Choking the bottom of the lift-shaft is a mess of shattered steel and a bent PSP plating.

Ami cautiously steps forward, peering upward into the lift-shaft, then pulls herself up and over, balancing on the edge of a torn plate. Looking up into the void, she speaks to Paragon through her helmet mic. "Can't find Marek. His headset's connected, but he hasn't replied, and I've got no telemetry. I think we're being jammed." Pausing to inwardly curse Valet, she continues, "It's not strong enough to interfere most of the time, but add a building, or something like that, and it starts to cause problems."

Standing in the centre of the elevator shaft, Windsong takes a deep breath. Two of her team-mates have been captured, one of them is somewhere, and another has simply disappeared. Part, no most, of her wants to go back outside, call peacemaker, and wash her hands of the whole business. Just give it away to someone who does this sort of thing for a living. But she doesn't, for some reason she can't name.

"I'm going to try and get a closer look. Paragon, uh, could you come and look for Marek?" Her wings do not fully unfurl in the cramped elevator shaft, and an automated prompt informs her that aerobatic manoeuvring would be unwise in this configuration. Desperately hoping that such flying will be unnecessary, she slowly rises up the shaft. Some way above her head is a door to what she expects is the control room for the lifts and cranes. Rising slowly towards it, Windsong waits till just her head appears over the lip, then peers through the mesh door, hoping to observe the scene in the warehouse without being detected.

Seems like her information is outdated, and Windsong needed to get closer so she could talk to her team-mates anyway. Gonna roll another assess the situation:

[roll0]

This time I won't forget Be Mindful of Your Surroundings, either :smallbiggrin:

Q's:

- How could we best end this quickly?
- What here is the biggest threat?

You can see the Mountebank finish talking to your allies. He's got them hanging above an, uh, a solid block of concrete. Your scanners pick up a bunch of mechanisms under it but it looks broken. If it was a threat, it's not any more. Right now your eyes are drawn to the Mountebank's big suitcase - it has a skull and crossbones on it and he's hauling it around himself rather than having a thug do it for him. You'd wager that box contains something pretty dreadful.

You can best end this quickly by releasing your team-mates. The Mountebank has a bunch of goons standing around but they're not exactly the League of Evil - a team of super-powered individuals will make short work of them, and you doubt the Mountebank will stick around for fisticuffs.

truemane

2018-02-15, 10:33 PM

MAREK THE ATLANTEAN
Potential: 0/5
Conditions: None

Meanwhile, the elevator came bearing down the shaft and slammed Marek the Altantean into the ground beneath it. Marek had no more than a moment to prepare himself or throw himself free or do... something... anything. But he passed that moment in indecision and the moment passed and a tonne of steel and metal was on him. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth and put his hands in front of his face and accepted his fate.

SLAM

The impact drove him into the concrete and he blacked out for a moment. When his vision cleared he saw that when he raised his arms the spear had been put at an angle such that it was wedged against a corner of the shaft and was holding the car a scant couple of feet off the ground - just enough to save him from being crushed to death.

But the spear was trembling. Vibrating. A high, keening sound was echoing in Marek's head. The Spear itself could not be destroyed. It was made in Old Atlantis by the Gods themselves, and contained a shard of the immortal spirit of Marek.

But its physical form could be damaged. Even broken. It could be returned to the small length of ornate gold-leaf that it was before the Words of Keeping were invoked.

It seemed about to break.

Marek, his entire body in pain crawled his way out of the shaft and into a maintenance recess beyond and collapsed just as the Spear bend and shattered into a rain of light.

The shock tore through their bond and, suddenly, he was Alastair again. With his remaining strength he reached out to take the spear from the ground and as his vision clouded, the last thing he saw was his fingers slip, and the spear roll out into the darkness as he passed out.

Raine_Sage

2018-02-15, 10:36 PM

DyerMaker

2018-02-16, 01:46 AM

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[X]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure

Tua is tired. He's tired of being chained. He's tired of all of the talking. The jabber, the postulating, the whining; blah, blah, blah. Talk is cheap. His head had never truly hurt before but now he understood those advertisements for Excedrin. Tua wanted some. He hangs his head and closes his eyes. He ponders how he arrived in this situation. He could not remember. It wasn't heroic. It wasn't what he imagined for his life on earth. Trust was breaking down. This wasn't the fight versus the Illusionist that brought the team together. This was something else, something opposite. There was no team; not from Tua's perspective. The hope he had felt prior when everyone depended on one another to use their abilities and get the job done; that hope was lost. Tua is less cheerful and growing more scornful. He considers morphing. Flying away. Doing his own thing. Why not? If the team couldn't perform; why not?

Tua attempts to free himself from the chains by shapeshifting into a much thinner version of himself, a human-sized pencil-thin kid. He's attempting to overcome the obstacle of the chains. UNLEASH YOUR POWERS [roll0]

TankLaser007

2018-02-16, 03:55 AM

There in the dark Kevin saw a flash of golden light and the elevator shuttered and slid down to the ground. He recognised that golden shimmer. Marek.

Like him, Marek changed, he had see his spear trail flecks and sparks of radiant gold coloured light in its wake, much like a comet's tail. Marek... maybe even Source were under here.

"Windsong..." he half mumbled in the communicator, 'Don't fail us now big guy -- don't fail them.' he thought as he crouched down, and drove his fingers beneath the lift, he took in a deep breath and then lifted, he only had to get it up a bit then he would use the Crystal Clouds to help do the rest of the work, and hold the empty car in place.

"Hold on guys..." he said through gritted teeth.

[roll0]

Trying to lift the car up enough to bring a Psychic Construct of a jack under the lift so that it can be raised and locked in place enough for Marek and Source (who he thinks must be under there) to get out.

Eldest

2018-02-18, 01:58 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential [x] [x] [x] [x] [ ]

Source groans as Tua's escape happens, and she reaches up to grab the chain, focusing on it. Material science was, by necessity, one of Taylor's hobbies. There haven't been all that much studied on magical materials, but it felt pretty dense. In the corner of her eye, as she absorbed it's properties, she sees her density shoot up from 1012 kg/m3 to... huh. 3940 kg/m3. That was Mar's density, exactly.

Something to think about later. Right now, she was on the floor, crouched, skin replaced with shining metal and a broken chain dangling above her. Now it was go time.

Mr. E

2018-02-18, 06:01 PM

Windsong
Potential: 2/5
Conditions: None

Ami hears Paragon say her name into the comm, and looks down from her elevated position. Sensors hum and click to themselves, syncing infrared, radar and other, more esoteric data on top of each other. A variety of metal alloys, some rarer energy signatures, possibly hinting at Marek's location and hidden behind a steel beam, the distinctive signs of 240 volt AC.

"Paragon, uh, some of those cables are live. Can you hang on until I-"

Windsong is about to fly down and assist, when all hell breaks loose in the warehouse. Tua slips out of the chains, then Source breaks them almost casually. Mountebank steps backwards, reaching for his briefcase, and Ami breaks out into a torrent of very unladylike profanity. Even from here, her sensors inform her that it would be "unfortunate" if the contents of the case were used in a confined space. With a roar, the rotors on her wings power up as she surges forward. Crashing through the mesh door and sending shards of metal spinning across the room, Ami drops towards the briefcase, hand outstretched. Grasping the handle with one hand, she desperately hoping her warning to Paragon is sufficient, and that Mountebank does not have any other similar weapons secreted on his person.

As per my OOC post, I'm going to bump Paragon's roll up to a partial success with a team,
then use my powers to fly down and make off with Mountebank's case.

Thanqol

2018-02-18, 07:00 PM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure

"Just because it's an alien or something doesn't make it non-conductive. And wait just a tick because what exactly were you even planning to do to him?" She protests, shifting irritably in the chains. "Because you've got your standards and we've got ours and we'd be pretty lousy heroes if we just sat quietly and let you dunk our friend in a vat of... of whatever the hell that was!"

Because the way the Mountebank is talking it sounds an awful lot like he'd be willing to sacrifice at lease one more kid if it meant stopping paragon for good, and that's still one dead kid too many. Even if Paragon wanted to stop being Paragon, that should be a choice he gets to make, not something thrust upon him by yet another adult who thinks they know what's best.

"Ha ha ha!" laughed the Mountebank, starting to get fully back into the swing of things. "You will indeed just sit quietly, puny heroes - for you have been outmanoeuvred by the Mountebank, the king of crime, greatest of -"

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[X]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure

Tua is tired. He's tired of being chained. He's tired of all of the talking. The jabber, the postulating, the whining; blah, blah, blah. Talk is cheap. His head had never truly hurt before but now he understood those advertisements for Excedrin. Tua wanted some. He hangs his head and closes his eyes. He ponders how he arrived in this situation. He could not remember. It wasn't heroic. It wasn't what he imagined for his life on earth. Trust was breaking down. This wasn't the fight versus the Illusionist that brought the team together. This was something else, something opposite. There was no team; not from Tua's perspective. The hope he had felt prior when everyone depended on one another to use their abilities and get the job done; that hope was lost. Tua is less cheerful and growing more scornful. He considers morphing. Flying away. Doing his own thing. Why not? If the team couldn't perform; why not?

Tua attempts to free himself from the chains by shapeshifting into a much thinner version of himself, a human-sized pencil-thin kid. He's attempting to overcome the obstacle of the chains. UNLEASH YOUR POWERS [roll0]

"- by the Moons of Manipoor!" shouted the Mountebank, leaping backwards. "Guards! Guards!" he shouted, rushing over to his control panel.

[Marking Afraid]

A set of goons storm towards Tua, slamming down brightly coloured pills as they approach. Their eyes begin emitting a yellow smoke and their muscles bulge grotesquely. The Mountebank's famous super-serum - it only lasts a few minutes, but while it lasts his bodyguards will be able to go toe to toe with a superhuman. What do you do?

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential [x] [x] [x] [x] [ ]

Source groans as Tua's escape happens, and she reaches up to grab the chain, focusing on it. Material science was, by necessity, one of Taylor's hobbies. There haven't been all that much studied on magical materials, but it felt pretty dense. In the corner of her eye, as she absorbed it's properties, she sees her density shoot up from 1012 kg/m3 to... huh. 3940 kg/m3. That was Mar's density, exactly.

Something to think about later. Right now, she was on the floor, crouched, skin replaced with shining metal and a broken chain dangling above her. Now it was go time.

The chain is not done with you. It surges like a snake, trying to re-connect at its broken joint and drag you back up to the ceiling, moving and lashing out like a cobra. Stray, you're able to get out as well, but you're both being harried by the magical chain which is going to lunge on any opportunity to bring you back into its clutches - a serious obstacle while also being attacked by goons.

There in the dark Kevin saw a flash of golden light and the elevator shuttered and slid down to the ground. He recognised that golden shimmer. Marek.

Like him, Marek changed, he had see his spear trail flecks and sparks of radiant gold coloured light in its wake, much like a comet's tail. Marek... maybe even Source were under here.

"Windsong..." he half mumbled in the communicator, 'Don't fail us now big guy -- don't fail them.' he thought as he crouched down, and drove his fingers beneath the lift, he took in a deep breath and then lifted, he only had to get it up a bit then he would use the Crystal Clouds to help do the rest of the work, and hold the empty car in place.

"Hold on guys..." he said through gritted teeth.

[roll0]

Trying to lift the car up enough to bring a Psychic Construct of a jack under the lift so that it can be raised and locked in place enough for Marek and Source (who he thinks must be under there) to get out.

Marek, you're free, and being shaken into consciousness by Paragon. There's a catch, though - your spear's on the fritz and your powers are fading in and out at random intervals. You need to take it back and get it properly repaired but right now there's no time for that. Just know things could go south for you at any moment.

Paragon, there's no sign of Source, but there's all kinds of chaos breaking out in the main room!

Windsong
Potential: 2/5
Conditions: None

Ami hears Paragon say her name into the comm, and looks down from her elevated position. Sensors hum and click to themselves, syncing infrared, radar and other, more esoteric data on top of each other. A variety of metal alloys, some rarer energy signatures, possibly hinting at Marek's location and hidden behind a steel beam, the distinctive signs of 240 volt AC.

"Paragon, uh, some of those cables are live. Can you hang on until I-"

Windsong is about to fly down and assist, when all hell breaks loose in the warehouse. Tua slips out of the chains, then Source breaks them almost casually. Mountebank steps backwards, reaching for his briefcase, and Ami breaks out into a torrent of very unladylike profanity. Even from here, her sensors inform her that it would be "unfortunate" if the contents of the case were used in a confined space. With a roar, the rotors on her wings power up as she surges forward. Crashing through the mesh door and sending shards of metal spinning across the room, Ami drops towards the briefcase, hand outstretched. Grasping the handle with one hand, she desperately hoping her warning to Paragon is sufficient, and that Mountebank does not have any other similar weapons secreted on his person.

As per my OOC post, I'm going to bump Paragon's roll up to a partial success with a team,
then use my powers to fly down and make off with Mountebank's case.

You grab the case out of the Mountebank's startled hands. Just one problem, though - he unlatched it the second before you did. Now the case is dangling wide open, revealing a science lab's full of beakers, flasks, test tubes and glowing liquids.

The Mountebank splutters and protests briefly ("Curse you, Windsong!") but he adjusts quickly - he produces a bulbous ray gun from his coat pocket, calls over a minion to rest the barrel on for stability, and starts tracking you in flight. He's not aiming for you - he's trying to get a shot off at the case. If that gun hits those chemicals then there's going to be some sort of reaction which probably won't be great for you holding it.

What do you do?

DyerMaker

2018-02-18, 07:18 PM

Raine_Sage

2018-02-18, 08:01 PM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure

Once again before the Mountebank can get out a complete monologue Tua decides to interject, this time slipping the restraints entirely and flying off. And for a moment Stray can feel the chains loosen and if she can just move maybe she can...

Nope the chain snaps back around her possibly even tighter. Then Source does something and it breaks again and this time she manages to slip free. Twisting like a cat midair to land on her feet with a very solid thud, thankful that there is no longer a vat of boiling chemicals directly underneath her. She can't stay put though, the chain apparently takes exception to this.

"Good going Source!"

She hones in on the Mountebank as he produces a raygun. Oh like hell he's shooting down Windsong, not while she's loose. If she doesn't get to whine about being electrocuted, then he doesn't get to whine about getting decked in the face. Fair's fair right? She sprints forward, doing her best to try and stay out of reach of the chain as she vaults herself towards the Mountebank. "Hey, not where your eyes should be right now!"

Rolling to Directly Confront a Threat: [roll0] (Using Punch Everyone, shifting Danger up 1 and Freak down one)
Sweet! I'll take something from him (the raygun) and create an opportunity for my allies.

The punch connects solidly, a good square right hook in the jaw. She was sure he would appreciate it if he weren't currently reeling back while she deftly proceeds to disarm him.

Eldest

2018-02-18, 08:46 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [x] [x] [x] [x] [ ]

Source whirls as she feels the Engine kick in. Snagging one end of the chain, she starts to blur into a weaving dance, moving parallel to it's attempts to try to capture her, avoiding it by a finger's width while staying near. As she does, she throws the end she has in hand at Montebank, attempting to ensnare him in his own trap.

Rolled to directly engage, got an 11. She will avoid his blows and take control of the magic chain from him, if I can.

Mr. E

2018-02-19, 03:58 PM

Windsong
Potential: 2/5
Conditions: none.

Seeing the raygun, Ami swears tersely into the comms, instinctively throwing the bag away from her person. Arcing through the air, the briefcase lands on a roof girder with a heavy thud, and she starts to curse as her mind registers exactly how foolish her actions had been. Demonstrating her linguistic ability, Ami cycles through several languages as she abruptly changes direction. Folding her wings, she drops into a steep dive, desperate to avoid the thing that may or may not have just become a bomb.

However, after a brief and terrifying moment, the case fails to detonate and she pulls up, hovering a few metres above the floor. Source and Stray seem busy trying to take Mountebank down, so Ami rises slightly further into the air. From her elevated position, she analyses her surrounds, sensors automatically flagging targets of interest. She is just about to target some goons, when a volley of alerts inform her that something is producing all the wrong kinds of energy signatures. Spinning in mid-air, she sees Mountebank draw a engraved dagger from his sleeve, the blade glittering with violet light. Dropping to the ground, behind him, Windsong lashes out with a quick blow, knocking the dagger out of his hand.

Right, Windsong's going to defend someone (in this case, Stray).

[roll0]

Another partial success will do fine. I'll be exposed to harm myself, as I'm "fresh" at this point, anyway.

Thanqol

2018-02-20, 04:55 PM

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[X]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure

Now floating free, Tua creates a bit of distance between himself and the magical chain. Seeing the goons popp'n pills and doing a bit of morphing of their own, Tua attempts to decrease the density of the floor beneath the goons, whatever its construction, to the viscosity of quick sand. He had recently seen the comedic film, Blazing Saddles, and thought the technique worth trying. If he failed, Tua could always fight them mid-flight or devise some other strategy. UNLEASH YOUR POWERS [roll0]

Goes off like a charm. The goons menacing advance turns into a menacing wade and then a menacing desperate attempt to swim through concrete. By the end of it they're mostly clinging to the side of the giant steel tub. The way is entirely clear for Stray and Source to blitz the Mountebank.

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure

Once again before the Mountebank can get out a complete monologue Tua decides to interject, this time slipping the restraints entirely and flying off. And for a moment Stray can feel the chains loosen and if she can just move maybe she can...

Nope the chain snaps back around her possibly even tighter. Then Source does something and it breaks again and this time she manages to slip free. Twisting like a cat midair to land on her feet with a very solid thud, thankful that there is no longer a vat of boiling chemicals directly underneath her. She can't stay put though, the chain apparently takes exception to this.

"Good going Source!"

She hones in on the Mountebank as he produces a raygun. Oh like hell he's shooting down Windsong, not while she's loose. If she doesn't get to whine about being electrocuted, then he doesn't get to whine about getting decked in the face. Fair's fair right? She sprints forward, doing her best to try and stay out of reach of the chain as she vaults herself towards the Mountebank. "Hey, not where your eyes should be right now!"

Rolling to Directly Confront a Threat: [roll0] (Using Punch Everyone, shifting Danger up 1 and Freak down one)
Sweet! I'll take something from him (the raygun) and create an opportunity for my allies.

The punch connects solidly, a good square right hook in the jaw. She was sure he would appreciate it if he weren't currently reeling back while she deftly proceeds to disarm him.

However, after a brief and terrifying moment, the case fails to detonate and she pulls up, hovering a few metres above the floor. Source and Stray seem busy trying to take Mountebank down, so Ami rises slightly further into the air. From her elevated position, she analyses her surrounds, sensors automatically flagging targets of interest. She is just about to target some goons, when a volley of alerts inform her that something is producing all the wrong kinds of energy signatures. Spinning in mid-air, she sees Mountebank draw a engraved dagger from his sleeve, the blade glittering with violet light. Dropping to the ground, behind him, Windsong lashes out with a quick blow, knocking the dagger out of his hand.

Right, Windsong's going to defend someone (in this case, Stray).

[roll0]

Another partial success will do fine. I'll be exposed to harm myself, as I'm "fresh" at this point, anyway.

[Remember Defend gets you an option from the list, Windsong!]

As you sock the Mountebank with a swing worthy of a two page splash page, he just barely manages to fire off a single blast from the ray gun. It looks like it's about to hit you in the chest - and then Windsong dives in. She lunges between you and the Mountebank in what looks exactly like a heroic self sacrifice, taking the blast square to the chestplate. A second later the Mountebank is knocked on his ass, dazed, and the ray gun is in your hand.

Windsong! Don't roll to take a powerful blow - this wasn't a death ray. This was, in fact, the Mountebank's famous Shrink Ray, set to a maximum full blast of its Enlarge setting. The case you took from the Mountebank was full of boxes of rats and vials full of viruses - a good hit from the grow ray would have transformed them into an army of giant virus monsters and rodents of truly unusual size. Instead you just took the full blast and you're getting very big, very quickly.

Not a great thing because in about thirty seconds you're going to outgrow this warehouse, and you're not sure what happens when you try to grow through reinforced iron and concrete. But hey, at least this counts as an opportunity, right? You've got a brief moment where you're the biggest, baddest thing in the room by a long shot.

[Mountebank: Marking Insecure]

"Oh..." sprawled out on the floor, looking at the chaos his warehouse has become, the Mountebank realizes that his plan has perhaps not gone as he expected it might. All of his gadgets, broken or stolen, heroes on the loose, eye black. He picks up a cue card, scattered everywhere like playing cards when he was struck. "What is this drivel?" he mutters. "What am I even doing here?"

He gets to his feet, nursing a massive shiner of a bruise. "Curse you meddling kids! You haven't heard the last of me!" he shouts, presses the button that triggers the building's self-destruct device, throws a smoke bomb on the ground, and uses the cover of the explosions and falling roof to race for the exit.

What do you do?

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [x] [x] [x] [x] [ ]

Source whirls as she feels the Engine kick in. Snagging one end of the chain, she starts to blur into a motion, moving parallel to it's attempts to try to capture her, avoiding it by a finger's width while staying near. As she does, she throws the end she has in hand at Montebank, attempting to ensnare him in his own trap.

The chain is self aware and dangerous enough to count as its own villain, not a part of Mountebank, and your attention is quickly consumed by engaging it alone. But you're back in that wonderful state where the giant monstrous bad guy is telegraphing its attack thirty odd seconds before it makes it and all you need to do is keep ducking and rolling until you've got the entire thing tangled into a knot with you holding the tail end.

It struggles pathetically for a while, and then it goes totally limp, like a dog playing dead. You're physically in possession of it now, even if it's not actively obeying you.

[Chain: Marking Hopeless]

Mr. E

2018-02-20, 06:52 PM

Windsong, the Protege
Potential: 3/5
Conditions: None

"I - uh - huh." Windsong looks around in confusion as, rather than it really bloody hurting, as she had expected, the blast has no impact. Then the floor apparently gets up and starts to move away from her, and she starts to swear with teenage uninventiveness. Stumbling backwards, Ami's wings fold and unfold reflexively, while she struggles to maintain a clear grasp of the situation.

As it turns out, it is difficult to balance while rapidly growing, and it is only by a stroke of luck that she avoids stepping on her team-mates. Craning her head, she finds the ceiling is way, way, way closer than she'd like it to be and Windsong starts to crouch down, hoping that she won't grow that far. The usual whine's and hums of power armoured servos are deafeningly loud as they are magnified to enormous proportions, filling the warehouse with tormented metal screams.

The roof is still getting closer, but Ami looks away suddenly, distracted by the small beeping device left behind by Mountebank and the sudden realisation that the small black bundles placed around the roof of the warehouse are, in fact, explosive devices. Her cursing suddenly increases in tempo, even as it homogenises into one long and continuous swear word, played through the voice grill in the chin of her helmet at deafening volume.

"Oh-s***-oh-s***-oh-***-oh-s***-"

With a roar, her wings full extend, spanning the width of the warehouse. Bending over slightly, Ami braces against the roof, hoping to hold it up and give others time to get free from the explosion.

I've honestly got no clue what kind of roll this should be. I'm thinking it's another defend,
but it could be an unleash, if you put supersize down as a borrowed power:

[roll0]

Ooops, that should be +1, but it's not like it matters, anyway.

To quote my character:

"Oh-s***-oh-s***-oh-***-oh-s***-" :smallbiggrin:

DyerMaker

2018-02-20, 07:02 PM

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[X]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 1/5

Tua notices that Windsong is growing at an exponential rate. In his minds eye, he sees the continued growth as overcoming the warehouse and bringing it down on everyone. Tua attempts to change the density of the ceiling, making it light and brittle, like a Doritos chip. Hopefully, this will work and save Windsong (his secret crush) from a migraine and the rest of us digging out of the rubble. UNLEASH YOUR POWERS [roll0]

Edit: Temporary perhaps. Just long enough for Windsong to break through?

Eldest

2018-02-20, 07:19 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]

Source, meanwhile, starts leaning on the Engine hard as she runs for the exit, as soon as she notices the building start to come down. She's tough, sure, but she has no idea about the upper limit and doesn't want to get anywhere close to finding out. She rushes for the exit as the building tumbles around her, hoping nothing blocks her route out.

Rolled a 6 on unleash, so something probably blocks her route.

Raine_Sage

2018-02-21, 12:53 AM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential: 1/5

"What the f-"

Stray leaps back hastily as Windsong begins to rapidly ascend towards the roof, and for once it's not because she's flying. She gives the raygun a cursory glance, but nothing on it is labeled and the risk of making things worse outweighs the risk of making things better. And also after all the trouble he gave them, the mountebank is getting away.

And she's about to chase after him, she's pivoted in his general direction, self destruct or no, when she sees Source. Running for the exits, deftly dodging the bits of collapsing building with an almost supernatural grace. Only there's more building coming down than she can reasonably evade. They both see the steel beam get shaken loose by the explosion, they both see it about to come hurtling down.

Stray abandons the Mountebank, fine let him have his stupid escape scene. The guy doesn't need another dead kid on his conscience. Someone will catch him eventually, but it's not going to be her today. Instead she runs full tilt towards her teammate. Hooking her arm around Source's waist and sweeping her up into a princess carry as they make it just past the beam, sliding to a stop as it comes crashing down behind them.

There's a beat where the two of them stand there for a moment, before Stray remembers she should probably put her down now.

"S-sorry. Come on lets get out of here."

Spending the newly acquired team point to push overcome to a 7. A temporary victory though, the rest of the building is still coming down after all.

Thanqol

2018-02-21, 06:24 PM

The roof is still getting closer, but Ami looks away suddenly, distracted by the small beeping device left behind by Mountebank and the sudden realisation that the small black bundles placed around the roof of the warehouse are, in fact, explosive devices. Her cursing suddenly increases in tempo, even as it homogenises into one long and continuous swear word, played through the voice grill in the chin of her helmet at deafening volume.

"Oh-s***-oh-s***-oh-***-oh-s***-"

With a roar, her wings full extend, spanning the width of the warehouse. Bending over slightly, Ami braces against the roof, hoping to hold it up and give others time to get free from the explosion.

I've honestly got no clue what kind of roll this should be. I'm thinking it's another defend,
but it could be an unleash, if you put supersize down as a borrowed power:

[roll0]

Ooops, that should be +1, but it's not like it matters, anyway.

To quote my character:

"Oh-s***-oh-s***-oh-***-oh-s***-" :smallbiggrin:

Things are coming down all around you, concrete is clattering against your helmet, you've got no idea where to put your feet, and you're still getting bigger -

A series of bright red flashes cut through the chaos. The roof falls apart in a neat grid. Your growth abruptly halts. And your mentor, Peacemaker, floats down in front of you.

"You panicked," he said. With the adrenaline still pounding it feels like he should be doing something but no matter where you look there's nothing to do. His opening volley just... sorted everything out. Now he's got nothing to do but float here, look you in your eye (which is almost as big as he is), and grade your attempts.

"Villains have access to a variety of effects that will assault your mind and body. This should not be a surprise to you, and yet it was," he said. "If you rationally analysed the situation you would have realized that your enhanced size gave you a temporary combat edge you could have used to shift the fight decisively in your favoured direction. You fixated on minor explosive devices despite the fact that they were no threat to you. If your decision making matrix can be thrown out by such a simple alteration to your physical attributes you will not last in this business."

[He wants to shift your Superior up and Mundane down. Accept what he says or reject his influence.]

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[X]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 1/5

Tua notices that Windsong is growing at an exponential rate. In his minds eye, he sees the continued growth as overcoming the warehouse and bringing it down on everyone. Tua attempts to change the density of the ceiling, making it light and brittle, like a Doritos chip. Hopefully, this will work and save Windsong (his secret crush) from a migraine and the rest of us digging out of the rubble. UNLEASH YOUR POWERS [roll0]

Edit: Temporary perhaps. Just long enough for Windsong to break through?

Your alteration allows you to punch through the ceiling, and as a happy side effect, saves any trapped goons from being buried. The superhero Peacemaker is nearby, talking over a closed link with Windsong. He turns to look at you briefly. "Tua—IX2.71—17L," he says. "You did well. Good job."

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]

Source, meanwhile, starts leaning on the Engine hard as she runs for the exit, as soon as she notices the building start to come down. She's tough, sure, but she has no idea about the upper limit and doesn't want to get anywhere close to finding out. She rushes for the exit as the building tumbles around her, hoping nothing blocks her route out.

Stray[/SIZE]
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure

Stray abandons the Mountebank, fine let him have his stupid escape scene. The guy doesn't need another dead kid on his conscience. Someone will catch him eventually, but it's not going to be her today. Instead she runs full tilt towards her teammate. Hooking her arm around Source's waist and sweeping her up into a princess carry as they make it just past the beam, sliding to a stop as it comes crashing down behind them.

There's a beat where the two of them stand there for a moment, before Stray remembers she should probably put her down now.

"S-sorry. Come on lets get out of here."

Spending the newly acquired team point to push overcome to a 7. A temporary victory though, the rest of the building is still coming down after all.

You stand together on the outside of the burning warehouse, watching the Mountebank's armoured black zeppelin fly away towards the sunset. It's a lovely moment. Triumphant.

Unfortunately the moment can't really last. Source, that final sprint to safety really taxed your abilities and you won't be able to rely on your powers to get you back home. Instead you're going to be at the mercy of peak hour Halycon bus traffic and unless you get moving immediately it's going to be hours before you get home to Mathew. Do you linger?

Eldest

2018-02-21, 07:14 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [x] [x] [x] [x] [ ]

Taylor lets out a yelp as Stray scoops her up, but lets herself be carried to safety. She sits in Stray's arms, watching the building fall as Montebank flees, and gives an absent squeeze when Stray lets her down. "I, um. I've gotta run and look after the little one that must not be named. But thank you, and if you want to come over tonight she who must be obeyed is gonna be out of the house?" She scratches at the back of her hood, looking sheepish. "It's not what I wanted to be doing, but hey. Duty calls, right?"

This is a mangled attempt at invoking the team move...

When you share a triumphant celebration with someone, ask them if they see you as the person wearing the mask or the person underneath. If the former, mark potential and clear a condition. If the latter, take Influence over them if you reveal yourself.

So, assuming the GM doesn't shoot the idea down, whatcha picking?

Raine_Sage

2018-02-21, 09:14 PM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential: 2/5

"Nah I get it, you've got actual responsibilities and stuff. Might see if Tua can fly you, he could probably carry you no problem. And maybe I'll swing by later with pizza or something, say hi to the niblet." She groans and sits down hard on the grass, looking up at peacemaker hovering in the sky next to the gigantic Windsong. "After I take a long hot bath and try to get my muscles to un-clench a little."

Honestly she wants to forget most of today even happened. Sure they won, technically, but the whole thing still felt like a clusterf*** of epic proportions. She got captured, she got shown up by the alien, Ami took a raygun to the chest for her. Sure it was just a growth ray but she didn't know that at the time. And she's still sore all over, as it turns out getting electrocuted feels like the biggest full body cramp. She really wants to drop the suit, but she doesn't need Peacemaker lecturing her about carelessness again. It can wait.

"You were really impressive though, thanks for the save."

OOC: I think it works, even if we're not celebrating now we're committing to celebrate a little later. Given the context I'll say I see you as the person under the mask, since we're talking about you rushing home to babysit (and later hanging at your house). You already have influence over me so you get mess with my labels. For my team move I take Influence over you, and mark potential since you're already in the lover slot.
Edit: It looks like I already have influence over Source, so I get to shift one of your labels up and one down. How about Savior up and Mundane down.

Mr. E

2018-02-22, 02:51 AM

DyerMaker

2018-02-22, 11:51 AM

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[X]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 1/5

Seeing Peacemaker and hearing the compliment of "You did well. Good job." reminded Tua of the film Hancock, which told the story of a drunk vigilante superhero who eventually turned things around with the help of a public relations manager. Tua took the words as a compliment and responded with an awkward salute; a gesture he had picked up from the popular comic, Captain America. Briefly, Tua wondered if Peacemaker had ever been drunk.

Tua was confused. He was confused by the events that had transpired with the Montebank. His team was inconsistent but they did come through at the end with a victory. He supposed it was a victory. This was not abnormal for human behavior, especially in popular culture, but Tua's expectations were high. He wanted to experience all of the radical superhero fun without the pitfalls and mediocre response from the team. In this moment, Tua realized that this happening was okay. This was Earth. It was where he wanted to be. He was accompanied by humans. The race of beings he had waited so long to interact with. This was to be the norm and he could accept that. The unknowns and the imperfections of humankind made for less predictable and more thrilling outcomes.

Tua flew over to Source and Stray. Hi Stray. It's nice to no longer be bound to you. Source, you look ... haggard. Not like the American country singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler Merle Haggard, but ... exhausted. Might I be of some assistance?

Raine_Sage

2018-02-22, 12:15 PM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential: 2/5

Haley snorts somewhat derisively at Tua's comment. "Yeah nice to no longer be chained to you too buddy."

A brief pause.

"Hey look I'm... sorry I snapped at you. It was already a lousy day and the shock didn't help anything, but bricking his giant deathtrap was objectively a pretty solid move. I wasn't being very fair."

Eldest

2018-02-22, 03:53 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [x] [x] [x] [x] [ ]

Source silently stiffens minutely, before slowly shaking her head. "I should be fine, thank you, but I really do have to get going. Stuff to do, people to see, all that." She gives a weary smile.

For the shifts to Stray, I am going to say Savior up (carrying somebody out of a collapsing building will do that) and Superior down.

Thanqol

2018-02-22, 05:05 PM

Windsong, the Protege
Potential: 3/5
Conditions: None

Peacemaker rants for approximately the average length of time. Judging from what she has stored in her archives, this one's slightly longer than normal. Unfortunately, being used to them doesn't make them any less annoying. Mechanical fingers twitch irritably, hissing and grinding. Ami shifts one foot, tearing long jagged scars in the concrete. "I-"

She cuts herself off almost immediately, then looks at him for a moment, though her oversized sensors only show him as an amorphous blob. Her shoulders slump slowly, the fight going out of her as the adrenalin rush slowly fades away. "I did lose control, yeah. I'll make sure I'm more prepared next time, run some combat simulations."

She's not entirely sure that holding up the building was the wrong move, considering the relative fragility of her team-mates, but the rest of his critique still holds true.

"Uh, any idea when this will wear off? I wanna know how I'm going to sleep tonight..."

"It does not wear off naturally," said Peacemaker. "We will need to go by the medical lab at the base while I devise a counter. You will need to exercise caution as we make our way. Take a moment to reconfigure your suit's sensor array and thrusters to account for the change in mass and increased potential for collateral damage. I will go and begin my work; meet you there."

His wingsuit flared, and Peacemaker rocketed off through the skies.

Mr. E

2018-02-22, 06:54 PM

Windsong
Potential: 3/5
Conditions: None.

"Was worried it was going to be like that." Windsong shrugs her shoulders with a mechanical whine, then nods. She waits until the older hero has vanished into the distance, then cautiously extends her wings. Expecting the process of reversal to take hours, she forwards a set of her bio-data to the medical lab, then slowly rises into the air, wings barely moving.

Ascending slowly towards the cloud layer, Ami plans to rise above the height of buildings, then cruise towards the 'office', as she calls it. Switching her mike to the open channel, she tells the rest of the crew her intentions. "I'm off to base to get shrunk back to normal. If anyone else has injuries, uh, feel free to join me."

DyerMaker

2018-02-22, 10:59 PM

"Hey look I'm... sorry I snapped at you. It was already a lousy day and the shock didn't help anything, but bricking his giant deathtrap was objectively a pretty solid move. I wasn't being very fair."
That is quite fine. The move was solid and the proper artifice, even if the Montebank babbled that it was without danger.

Source silently stiffens minutely, before slowly shaking her head. "I should be fine, thank you, but I really do have to get going. Stuff to do, people to see, all that." She gives a weary smile. It is counterintuitive for you to travel by wheel or rail when I am more than able to fly you to your destination.

Tua transforms each calf muscle into a step for Source and morphs a Y-bar from his back. He then transforms, creating a pair of Beats by Dre, white in color, upon his head and cranks the following track (https://youtu.be/ilnnMzK_m8w?t=68). If Source joins, he will fly her to a proper destination. If she refuses, he will simply fly over to a remote, inner-city roof.

Raine_Sage

2018-02-23, 09:50 AM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential: 2/5

Switching her mike to the open channel, she tells the rest of the crew her intentions. "I'm off to base to get shrunk back to normal. If anyone else has injuries, uh, feel free to join me."

Hearing Ami over her earpiece, while also being able to hear her normally from where she's sitting on the ground, is an uncanny experience. Her voice doesn't even sound deeper so much as it sounds bigger in just about every way.

"I'm fine, sorry you uh, took a growth ray to the chest for-" her thought is cut off as Tua morphs himself into a human hovercraft and starts blasting beastie boys. The rest of the statement dissolves into laughter over the commlink.

Eldest

2018-02-23, 10:35 AM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [x] [x] [x] [x] [ ]

Source, on the other hand, takes the chance to quietly vanish while Tua is distracted. It's not that she doesn't trust him, it's just... that'd mean he knows where she lives. Which is large one step closer to knowing who's behind the mask.

Once she's on the bus, she starts having a giggle fit, though.

Mr. E

2018-02-24, 12:34 PM

Windsong
Potential: 3/5
Conditions: None.

"Aw, it's fine, don't worry -" Ami cuts herself off as Stray starts to laugh. Looking down on the scene from her elevated position, she stares confusedly at the group. Tua 's playing music, and has clearly done something funny, but her limited sensors are not showing the scene in adequate detail.

There is a brief pause before Windsong laughs too, although the sound is slightly plastic, a poor imitation. Chuckling to show her connection with the team, and to pretend to know what's going on, she resumes her slow ascent, hoping someone will take pity on her, and rid her of what looks to be a dull afternoon.

Thanqol

2018-02-25, 04:15 PM

That is quite fine. The move was solid and the proper artifice, even if the Montebank babbled that it was without danger.

It is counterintuitive for you to travel by wheel or rail when I am more than able to fly you to your destination.

Tua transforms each calf muscle into a step for Source and morphs a Y-bar from his back. He then transforms, creating a pair of Beats by Dre, white in color, upon his head and cranks the following track (https://youtu.be/ilnnMzK_m8w?t=68). If Source joins, he will fly her to a proper destination. If she refuses, he will simply fly over to a remote, inner-city roof.

Source has ghosted you so alone you fly. Where are you going and why? What do you normally do there, and what do you expect to do there?

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [x] [x] [x] [x] [ ]

Source, on the other hand, takes the chance to quietly vanish while Tua is distracted. It's not that she doesn't trust him, it's just... that'd mean he knows where she lives. Which is large one step closer to knowing who's behind the mask.

Once she's on the bus, she starts having a giggle fit, though.

Take a moment to tell me about your street, your house, your neighbours and the general area. Set the scene for me and let me know who the players are.

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential: 2/5

Hearing Ami over her earpiece, while also being able to hear her normally from where she's sitting on the ground, is an uncanny experience. Her voice doesn't even sound deeper so much as it sounds bigger in just about every way.

"I'm fine, sorry you uh, took a growth ray to the chest for-" her thought is cut off as Tua morphs himself into a human hovercraft and starts blasting beastie boys. The rest of the statement dissolves into laughter over the commlink.

The team has atomized, you're left by a ruined warehouse alone, watching as cops roll up and start pulling giant Styrofoam blocks off goons and trying to figure out how to get them out of solid concrete. Insurance assessors, paramedics and news crews aren't far behind. If you stick around, especially if you're still in costume, you're going to get mugged by The Media; do you?

Windsong
Potential: 3/5
Conditions: None.

"Aw, it's fine, don't worry -" Ami cuts herself off as Stray starts to laugh. Looking down on the scene from her elevated position, she stares confusedly at the group. Tua 's playing music, and has clearly done something funny, but her limited sensors are not showing the scene in adequate detail.

There is a brief pause before Windsong laughs too, although the sound is slightly plastic, a poor imitation. Chuckling to show her connection with the team, and to pretend to know what's going on, she resumes her slow ascent, hoping someone will take pity on her, and rid her of what looks to be a dull afternoon.

So you find yourself sitting on a hill outside of town, waiting while Peacemaker does his work. And the news choppers find you soon after.

They're buzzing around your head in that suicidally brave way that news choppers in this genre do, reporters in suits and ties performing death-defying leans from open side doors to hold out microphones and bellow questions over the buzz of engines.

"Miss Giant! Are you here to terrorize the city and bring ruin to its inhabitants?"
"Do you have any words for the heroes you want vengeance upon?"
"What do you intend to do with the survivors of your bloodthirsty rampage? Will they be forced to build monuments to the slaughter, or will you hunt them through the wasteland for sport?"

To be fair to them, they are working from past experience.

Eldest

2018-02-25, 06:02 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [x] [x] [x] [x] [ ]

Take a moment to tell me about your street, your house, your neighbours and the general area. Set the scene for me and let me know who the players are.

Taylor's street could probably be best described as "aggressively mundane". Rows of off-white, beige, brown, and sandy townhouses fill out both sides, there's a small branch library down a few blocks, and all in all it's a relatively quiet place. 15 Culpepper, one of the off-white townhouses, is Taylor's current destination, but for right now she needs to pick up Mathew. Three doors down is the Hardimans, an older couple that sometimes watched her brother when Taylor couldn't. Of course, the next one up the road was Karla, a stay-at-home mom who was entirely too curious for Taylor's preference. She heads towards the Hardimans, aiming to duck any attention on the way.

Mr. E

2018-02-25, 08:18 PM

Windsong, the Protege
Potential: 3/5
Conditions: None

The hill is surprisingly pleasant to lean on, soft and springy, like a couch, if couches were made in Brobdingnagnian dimensions. Windsong checks it carefully for stray sheep, then slowly relaxes against in, lying comfortably on the gently angled surface. She closes her eyes, wishes she could lift the faceplate, and distract herself with the sun on her face. Instead, however, the sound of choppers interrupts her comfortable half-slumber.

Raising her head and propping herself on one elbow, she looks out at the amorphous spots that swim around her vision. "Really guys? Is that - must you -" It is only with some force of will that she stops her gut reaction to swat the buzzing flies away from her. Resigning herself to sitting very still for the next hour, she pauses to listen to exactly what the shouting people are saying. There is a noticeable pause, followed by a strange rolling, thunderous sound.

Laughing merrily inside her helmet, Ami retrieves the helmet-cam footage of the incident before sending it to the rest of the team. Internally, she figures that a spot of absurdist humour should do the rest of them good. Leaving the cam recording, she pauses again, then answers the question.

"I'm really, and I mean really and truly, just here to sunbathe. I don't want vengeance on anybody, and no monuments of me will be necessary. Although, if you want to build a statue of me, I'm totally down for that."

The temptation to make a facetious comment is high, but, not wishing to be misinterpreted, Ami refrains from smart comments. Still chuckling to herself, she relaxes back onto her back, although not without first checking for any mad reporters on foot.

Raine_Sage

2018-02-26, 09:52 AM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential: 2/5

Haley is not about reporters right now, so as the rest of the team scatters to get back to mundane living, she does likewise. Ducking down an alley she lets the protective casing dissolve away. It's a feeling that never stops being uncanny, like briefly having a second layer of skin as the stuff softens and reabsorbs back into her body. Shivering a little she heads towards the nearest bus stop.

Celestine lives in the city's historic district. Lots of older houses with impressively out of date architecture, long trailing Ivy trellises, and in the case of her current guardian some very well maintained rose bushes. Haley goes up to the door, punches in the security code, and lets herself in as the lock clicks open. Unlike most of the buildings on this street, this one has some fairly substantial extra protections. The general package for retired heroes.

She doesn't bother announcing herself to the house, instead opting for a shower and a change of clothing. Next order of business is grabbing an apple from the bowl on the counter and grabbing some paper to leave a note letting Celestine know where she'll be.

DyerMaker

2018-02-26, 12:20 PM

Thanqol said it like this: Source has ghosted you so alone you fly. Where are you going and why? What do you normally do there, and what do you expect to do there?

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[X]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 1/5

The enigmatic Source had found other means of transportation to, wherever. Tua abandoned the appendages he'd shifted to help Source, keeping only the headphones for his musical enjoyment. Boom. At 300 knots Cap'n Morpho was in euphoric flight that took him directly into a third floor window of the four-story Orpheum Building. The first floor of the building was opened on January 23, 1913 as the Orpheum Theater. The theater was commissioned by vaudeville operator Solomon Moss. When Moss retired in 1928 it was converted to a movie theater with commercial office space leased on the upper floors. The fourth floor was converted into a nightclub, Snakehips, which included a rooftop bar and dance floor. In 2000, the exterior of the building was named a city landmark. Tua likes to spend time here. The history of this city ruin is rich in celebrity and culture of a more romantic time. The golden age of theater and film. Tua splits hours on the first and fourth floors. He can recall those recorded performances of era's past and consider what it would take to reopen this place of reverence. The building is only inspected by city officials once per year and always within the same summer month. Tua can think here. He can relax.

Thanqol

2018-02-26, 06:56 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [x] [x] [x] [x] [ ]

Taylor's street could probably be best described as "aggressively mundane". Rows of off-white, beige, brown, and sandy townhouses fill out both sides, there's a small branch library down a few blocks, and all in all it's a relatively quiet place. 15 Culpepper, one of the off-white townhouses, is Taylor's current destination, but for right now she needs to pick up Mathew. Three doors down is the Hardimans, an older couple that sometimes watched her brother when Taylor couldn't. Of course, the next one up the road was Karla, a stay-at-home mom who was entirely too curious for Taylor's preference. She heads towards the Hardimans, aiming to duck any attention on the way.

With a place this mundane and suburban nothing's about to lunge out at you. Feel free to montage through your evening until your mother arrives home; things will generally be pretty sedate and normal until then. Tell us a bit about your routine and family life.

When you do hear her arrive, your enhanced senses tell you that she sounds happy (deeply unusual, very suspicious) and that there's someone with her. What do you do?

Laughing merrily inside her helmet, Ami retrieves the helmet-cam footage of the incident before sending it to the rest of the team. Internally, she figures that a spot of absurdist humour should do the rest of them good. Leaving the cam recording, she pauses again, then answers the question.

"I'm really, and I mean really and truly, just here to sunbathe. I don't want vengeance on anybody, and no monuments of me will be necessary. Although, if you want to build a statue of me, I'm totally down for that."

The temptation to make a facetious comment is high, but, not wishing to be misinterpreted, Ami refrains from smart comments. Still chuckling to herself, she relaxes back onto her back, although not without first checking for any mad reporters on foot.

"You heard it here first, folks," said the television broadcast. "The giant robot is here to power up by absorbing our earth sunlight. Then, perhaps, will it eat the sun itself? We can only speculate! What we do know is that the giant has demanded statues be built, and all citizens should keep that in mind if the heroes are unable to stop it! And here they come now..."

Windsong hears them even over the buzz of the choppers; thumping rock music and the roar of a high performance sports car making its way down a dirt road. Atop the car, posing for the cameras, skintight spandex, motorcycle helmet and dramatic red scarf comes Dirk Uppercut - Saviour of the Universe.

Mr. Uppercut is the kind of hero who upon literally saving the universe demanded everyone call him the Saviour of the Universe. He's currently kissing his biceps and flexing as the sports car is driving towards you, what do you do?

Celestine lives in the city's historic district. Lots of older houses with impressively out of date architecture, long trailing Ivy trellises, and in the case of her current guardian some very well maintained rose bushes. Haley goes up to the door, punches in the security code, and lets herself in as the lock clicks open. Unlike most of the buildings on this street, this one has some fairly substantial extra protections. The general package for retired heroes.

She doesn't bother announcing herself to the house, instead opting for a shower and a change of clothing. Next order of business is grabbing an apple from the bowl on the counter and grabbing some paper to leave a note letting Celestine know where she'll be.

Well, I suppose it is incumbent upon me to ask: Where are you going to be?

Oh, also, you've got fan mail. There's a whole stack of it. Some of it's mouth breathing creepy, some is shy rambling with some sort of extremely forced question at the end, some of it is just effluent and nonspecific praise. Honest to goodness fan mail. What do you do with it?

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[X]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 1/5

The enigmatic Source had found other means of transportation to, wherever. Tua abandoned the appendages he'd shifted to help Source, keeping only the headphones for his musical enjoyment. Boom. At 300 knots Cap'n Morpho was in euphoric flight that took him directly into a third floor window of the four-story Orpheum Building. The first floor of the building was opened on January 23, 1913 as the Orpheum Theater. The theater was commissioned by vaudeville operator Solomon Moss. When Moss retired in 1928 it was converted to a movie theater with commercial office space leased on the upper floors. The fourth floor was converted into a nightclub, Snakehips, which included a rooftop bar and dance floor. In 2000, the exterior of the building was named a city landmark. Tua likes to spend time here. The history of this city ruin is rich in celebrity and culture of a more romantic time. The golden age of theater and film. Tua splits hours on the first and fourth floors. He can recall those recorded performances of era's past and consider what it would take to reopen this place of reverence. The building is only inspected by city officials once per year and always within the same summer month. Tua can think here. He can relax.

What do you think about? How do you relax? You've got some time and the initiative here, for a moment no one's kicking down your door and putting you in the spotlight. You've got time to be proactive for once.

Mr. E

2018-02-26, 08:35 PM

Raine_Sage

2018-02-26, 09:07 PM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential: 2/5

Haley is going to head over to Haley's in order to hang out, probably until her mom arrives home. She thumbs through the fan mail with mild curiosity. Huh this is... well not entirely new but there's certainly a lot of it this time. The creepy stuff goes right in the trash, the rest gets put on her nightstand for later perusal, but it's definitely something of a morale boost as she heads out the door to go grab a pizza and head to Taylor's house.

After about an hour of navigating bus stops and chain restaurants she rings the doorbell, wearing mildly distressed jeans, a light jacket, and a loose t-shirt. Incredibly casual.

Eldest

2018-02-26, 09:38 PM

With a place this mundane and suburban nothing's about to lunge out at you. Feel free to montage through your evening until your mother arrives home; things will generally be pretty sedate and normal until then. Tell us a bit about your routine and family life.

When you do hear her arrive, your enhanced senses tell you that she sounds happy (deeply unusual, very suspicious) and that there's someone with her. What do you do?

After picking up Mathew, who is absolutely bubbling with questions about the fight, she picks up a stack of three pizzas: one for each of her, Haley when she gets there, and Mathew (who wouldn't eat the entire thing, unlike her and Haley, but hey that's growing teens for you). She then goes home and starts to actually answer Mathew's questions, walking through the fight step by step (bypassing some of the non-appropriate-for-8-year-old), when Haley comes over. A few minutes after that, when they're starting to get settled in her room when her mother comes in.

So naturally she goes downstairs to find out what's going on. After all, there's pizza to offer her.

Thanqol

2018-02-28, 05:28 PM

Windsong
Potential: 3/5
Conditions: None

"What have I done to deserve this?" Ami asks the question rhetorically, disabling the mikes to prevent her grumbling being recorded live, then rotates to look at Dirk more closely. Just about every other hero team in the city agrees with her analysis that the "Saviour of the Universe" is an arrogant asshat, which probably explains why he is coming alone. Part of her is tempted to roll over and ignore him, in the hope that he will leave, but she suspects that this will just lead to more posturing on his part. Sighing angrily, she rotates her head to look at him through her over-scaled sensors.

"Hello, Dirk." Mike back on, she glares at the interrupting hero through her visor. "I'm not here to fight you, so let's please skip the posturing and shouting." Her voice, massively magnified, thrums and vibrates, blowing odd patterns in the grass around the speaker grille.

Going to try and provoke him into cutting to the chase:

[roll0]

Alright! Ami basically wants him to tell her whether he actually going to do anything if she just keeps on lying there.

EDIT: Actuallu I'm not sure I have leverage in this situation. She's explicitly not trying to threaten anyone, so I don't think it counts. I'll leave the roll, just in case.

"Ah, I see even space giants have heard of the mighty Dirk Uppercut, Saviour of the Universe," boomed Mr. Uppercut. "I intend to throw you back into outer space where you belong, space giant! You are wise to not resist - mightier foes than you have tried and failed. See that, everyone?" Mr. Uppercut grabbed a nearby reporter and held him up so he could bellow into his face/the microphone, flecks of spit fogging up the reporter's glasses. "So great is the reputation of Dirk Uppercut, Saviour of the Universe, that crime itself is laying down and waiting for the inevitable!"

He does fully intend to throw you into outer space. What do you do?

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential: 2/5

Haley is going to head over to Haley's in order to hang out, probably until her mom arrives home. She thumbs through the fan mail with mild curiosity. Huh this is... well not entirely new but there's certainly a lot of it this time. The creepy stuff goes right in the trash, the rest gets put on her nightstand for later perusal, but it's definitely something of a morale boost as she heads out the door to go grab a pizza and head to Taylor's house.

After about an hour of navigating bus stops and chain restaurants she rings the doorbell, wearing mildly distressed jeans, a light jacket, and a loose t-shirt. Incredibly casual.

After picking up Mathew, who is absolutely bubbling with questions about the fight, she picks up a stack of three pizzas: one for each of her, Haley when she gets there, and Mathew (who wouldn't eat the entire thing, unlike her and Haley, but hey that's growing teens for you). She then goes home and starts to actually answer Mathew's questions, walking through the fight step by step (bypassing some of the non-appropriate-for-8-year-old), when Haley comes over. A few minutes after that, when they're starting to get settled in her room when her mother comes in.

So naturally she goes downstairs to find out what's going on. After all, there's pizza to offer her.

Stray, you arrive just as a man in a nice car pulls up outside Taylor's house. In an extremely gentlemanly fashion he opens the door for Taylor's mother and walks her to the front date. He's smooth and stylish; definitely a silver fox type, and she seems very taken as he wishes her a good night.

Source, that's the f*cking Valet romancing your mom. He winks when he sees you. What do you do?

Eldest

2018-02-28, 06:18 PM

Raine_Sage

2018-02-28, 09:28 PM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential: 2/5

As Taylor goes to greet her mom, Haley wanders after her still munching on a slice of pizza. It's always a little weird hanging at her house since she has to pretend to be a guy here. And there's also this weird nostalgia thing happening because "James" was how Haley knew her first and it's tripping some old memories seeing her in boys clothing.

However the instruction to Matthew is... strange. Hide? Haley looks over the older gentleman in front of her with some mild confusion. From this dude? Still she trusts Source to know what's what so she just positions herself subtly at her back in case she's needed.

DyerMaker

2018-03-01, 07:53 AM

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[X]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 1/5

Sunlight shown through the partially boarded windows of the theater. Tua had spent more than an hour processing the encounter with the Montebank; playing scenes repeatedly in his minds-eye. What could the team have done differently? What could he do better next time? There would always be unanswered questions. His curious nature turned him toward a more public setting. He yearned to be around humans and learn from them. While still on Cybelus Prime, Tua had become fascinated by ESPN's X Games. Spending hundreds of ours on his own interpretation of a skateboard, Tua was prepared to shred with the locals.

The Shuvit Skatepark was like nothing he'd personally witnessed. Tua morphed into a human of Polynesian ethnicity, wearing a Rockwell's tee of Kurt Cobain, black Twill Joggers, and a pair of red Vans. Per the rules of the park, he also shifted a pair of pads and a matte black helmet. His eyes were now brown instead of chrome. Local kids shred on the street course, tricked within cavernous pools and bowls, and sped through the flow. This was radical jazz and Tua was loving every minute of it. He approached the skate shop to rent a board and style his own 'nollie flip crooked grind. He started off with mid-level tricks and looked for possible human interaction.

Mr. E

2018-03-01, 02:50 PM

Windsong
Potential: 3/5
Conditions: None

"Dirk you are such a moron." Ami shakes her head helplessly, overwhelmed by exactly how idiotic the hero in front of her actually is. Switching to her headset, she sends a quick text message to the rest of the team.

Somebody give me a hand dealing with this guy? I'd prefer not to actually punch him, even if he is making it really tempting right now :smallfurious:

Appending a picture of Dirk to the text, Ami presses send, then rolls over and slowly gets up, avoiding any flying helicopters. Glaring at her self declared foe, she looms over him, but does not immediately make any moves, trying to remember what she knows about him.

Going to assess the situation:

[roll0]

Q's;
- How could we best end this quickly?
- What here is in greatest danger?

Thanqol

2018-03-02, 08:33 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [x]Insecure
Potential [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Taylor pales in shock as she realizes who is with her mother. Then she takes a deep breath, strangely calm. She's disconnected, even from her powers, as she feels the world mute and the usual data stream slow. Voices in the back of her head argue with each other: "Run run run" "this can't be happening this shouldn't be happening" "fight him kill him save them" "that's not fair".

Instead, she taps Mathew on the shoulder, praying that the Valet hadn't seen him yet. "Hide. Now, small stuff. It's important. And if that man ever comes near you alone... hurt him, as bad as you can. Then scream, and run."

That taken care of, she moves forward out the front door, almost as if in a daze, and reaches out with a hand. "Evening. I'm James. Nice to see you again, I didn't catch your name the first time around?" The inflection puts a quiet emphasis on the name, before turning a statement into a question.

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential: 2/5

As Taylor goes to greet her mom, Haley wanders after her still munching on a slice of pizza. It's always a little weird hanging at her house since she has to pretend to be a guy here. And there's also this weird nostalgia thing happening because "James" was how Haley knew her first and it's tripping some old memories seeing her in boys clothing.

However the instruction to Matthew is... strange. Hide? Haley looks over the older gentleman in front of her with some mild confusion. From this dude? Still she trusts Source to know what's what so she just positions herself subtly at her back in case she's needed.

"Emmanuel Tosh," said the Valet, smooth as silk. "But that's not important - I'm really just giving your mother a lift home after her car broke down. Nice meeting you, James,"

Your mother sighs a little as he heads back to his car. "That's the kind of hero the world could use more of!" she said. "None of this big flashy stuff, just a simple, every-day act of kindness. Here, carry these groceries inside for me, would you? Oh, and hello there Haley, I'm sorry if my shift ruined your little date with James,"

[Source has already cancelled her mother's (let's call her Margaret) influence, but Stray hasn't, and she's telling you how the world works. Shift Mundane up and Freak down, or Reject Her Influence]

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[X]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 1/5

Sunlight shown through the partially boarded windows of the theater. Tua had spent more than an hour processing the encounter with the Montebank; playing scenes repeatedly in his minds-eye. What could the team have done differently? What could he do better next time? There would always be unanswered questions. His curious nature turned him toward a more public setting. He yearned to be around humans and learn from them. While still on Cybelus Prime, Tua had become fascinated by ESPN's X Games. Spending hundreds of ours on his own interpretation of a skateboard, Tua was prepared to shred with the locals.

The Shuvit Skatepark was like nothing he'd personally witnessed. Tua morphed into a human of Polynesian ethnicity, wearing a Rockwell's tee of Kurt Cobain, black Twill Joggers, and a pair of red Vans. Per the rules of the park, he also shifted a pair of pads and a matte black helmet. His eyes were now brown instead of chrome. Local kids shred on the street course, tricked within cavernous pools and bowls, and sped through the flow. This was radical jazz and Tua was loving every minute of it. He approached the skate shop to rent a board and style his own 'nollie flip crooked grind. He started off with mid-level tricks and looked for possible human interaction.

There's a chick with rainbow hair - like, her hair is weird free-flowing globs of multicoloured paint, like a low level superpower thing - who immediately starts competing with you. Rather buff, tattoos with kind of the same deal as the hair, and you could swear that's a bloody tooth embedded in the body of her board. She's doing alpha posturing, "I'm the king of this rink and you ain't nothing" kind of stuff, how do you react to that?

Windsong
Potential: 3/5
Conditions: None

"Dirk you are such a moron." Ami shakes her head helplessly, overwhelmed by exactly how idiotic the hero in front of her actually is. Switching to her headset, she sends a quick text message to the rest of the team.

Appending a picture of Dirk to the text, Ami presses send, then rolls over and slowly gets up, avoiding any flying helicopters. Glaring at her self declared foe, she looms over him, but does not immediately make any moves, trying to remember what she knows about him.

Going to assess the situation:

[roll0]

Q's;
- How could we best end this quickly?
- What here is in greatest danger?

The greatest danger here is that the collateral damage from a giant fighting a superhuman knocks over enough hills to reveal Peacemaker's secret lab. That'd be bad, and it's a very real possibility.

The best way to end this quickly is, well, it's calling Peacemaker out to explain the whole thing. Catch is that he's not super good at explanations or human interactions at the best of times and you doubt he could gracefully navigate this whole thing. I seem to recall one of his weapons is terror and fear? But it would end it quickly.

Eldest

2018-03-03, 07:42 PM

Mr. E

2018-03-04, 10:52 PM

Windsong, the Protege
Potential: 3/5
Conditions: None

Ami sighs, still glaring at the "saviour of the universe". Part, maybe even most of her wants to call Peacemaker out and get him to fix her problem. He certainly could, and she's not entirely sure that she would object if Dirk got scared into next week. She fiddles with her mike, switches to her private frequency with her mentor, then pauses.

For a moment she hangs in balance, torn between getting someone else to deal with her problems and trying to solve them herself. Then she rapidly turns her mike off, turning away from Dirk and the news cameras looking at the city rising in the distance. Suddenly her wings open, powerful gusts flattening the grass. Sensors flag the location of each helicopter, plotting her an escape route. Turning back to the saviour of the universe, she looks at him for a moment, then suddenly speaks.

"Actually, this ain't worth my time. Goodbye, Dirk."

Right, Windsong's going to unleash her powers, and try and just fly away from them all.

[roll0]

(+1 from her assess)

Raine_Sage

2018-03-05, 09:44 AM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential: 2/5

Haley coughs a little at the suggestion this was a date, but Taylor's already shutting that down so she just goes to grab a couple of grocery bags and hopes that her face isn't too red. She quite easily manages to lift two very full bags up and carries them in to the kitchen table.

The moment her mom is distracted again with putting away the groceries she leans in and whispers "Hey, so uh, what was up with that? That whole thing with you and your mom's new boyfriend or whatever."

I'll go ahead and accept that influence, Haley's cool with things that make her feel more normal.

DyerMaker

2018-03-05, 12:04 PM

There's a chick with rainbow hair - like, her hair is weird free-flowing globs of multicoloured paint, like a low-level superpower thing - who immediately starts competing with you. Rather buff, tattoos with kind of the same deal as the hair, and you could swear that's a bloody tooth embedded in the body of her board. She's doing alpha posturing, "I'm the king of this rink and you ain't nothing" kind of stuff, how do you react to that?

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[X]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 1/5

Tua smirks within himself. For one, this female is an obvious poser. Two, she doesn't take care of her board. Three, perhaps this is some primitive, human mating ritual because her competitive nature is lacking. Tua takes to commentary, Yo, Dori ... Rainbow Girl, is that a tooth stuck in your board? Tua steps up his repertoire with hospital flips, 360 popshuvit kickflips, and fakie beta flips. These tricks are advanced. Tua also shreds the big bowl on the heels of the rainbow coiffured girl. He taunts, Can you keep up?

Eldest

2018-03-05, 12:28 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [x]Insecure
Potential [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

"That would be the Valet, showing he knows exactly where I live. God this is bad this is so bad..."

Raine_Sage

2018-03-05, 05:23 PM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential: 2/5

"What seriously?"

She groans and runs her fingers through her hair. "And you can't even warn your mom because that'd give the whole thing away. That's a low blow."

She wants to offer to stay the night, but as long as she has to pretend to be a guy that's probably not going to fly with her mom. "Look you've got my number, if trouble happens I'll be here ok?"

Thanqol

2018-03-05, 08:48 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [x]Insecure
Potential [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Taylor winces, but doesn't say anything about "Emmanuel". The idea that this was a date, however, she'd probably better quash. "Maya'd have my head if I was cheating on her, mom, this was just hanging out." They'd never really talked about it actually... hm. Something to bring up next time she saw Maya: in theory it wasn't a closed relationship, but communication was important. She ponders on how to bring that up while taking in groceries, making sure to check them over for anything Valet put there. No such thing as too paranoid when it came to precogs.

"Oh, that's a shame," said Margaret as she bustled away. "I don't much like that Maya girl. I think I smelled pot on her once. You can't trust an addict."

Windsong, the Protege
Potential: 3/5
Conditions: None

Ami sighs, still glaring at the "saviour of the universe". Part, maybe even most of her wants to call Peacemaker out and get him to fix her problem. He certainly could, and she's not entirely sure that she would object if Dirk got scared into next week. She fiddles with her mike, switches to her private frequency with her mentor, then pauses.

For a moment she hangs in balance, torn between getting someone else to deal with her problems and trying to solve them herself. Then she rapidly turns her mike off, turning away from Dirk and the news cameras looking at the city rising in the distance. Suddenly her wings open, powerful gusts flattening the grass. Sensors flag the location of each helicopter, plotting her an escape route. Turning back to the saviour of the universe, she looks at him for a moment, then suddenly speaks.

"Actually, this ain't worth my time. Goodbye, Dirk."

Right, Windsong's going to unleash her powers, and try and just fly away from them all.

[roll0]

(+1 from her assess)

Dirk Uppercut doesn't give chase - he just roars with laughter and starts flexing for the cameras. You're dimly aware of him bragging about how great he is that he terrified a steel giant into fleeing without even throwing a punch. Giving chase doesn't seem to be on his mind - he's just soaking in the questions and praise of adoring reporters and with a little editing this whole sequence will be going on his highlight reel.

Once you've flown well out of sight, Peacemaker de-cloaks besides you and without ceremony hits you with a shrink ray built into his armour - something that he clearly must have had all along.

"You avoided a senseless conflict, which is good," he said. "But you didn't take the opportunity to build any sort of alliance, create a false trail, or work on the bigger picture. Heroes like The Saviour of the Universe are powerful weapons when properly directed. It is good that you were the bigger person -" not even the hint of a smile "- but our job is to save the world, not to be reasonable and mature people. Think bigger next time."

[He wants to shift Superior up and Mundane down, accept or Deny]

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[X]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 1/5

Tua smirks within himself. For one, this female is an obvious poser. Two, she doesn't take care of her board. Three, perhaps this is some primitive, human mating ritual because her competitive nature is lacking. Tua takes to commentary, Yo, Dori ... Rainbow Girl, is that a tooth stuck in your board? Tua steps up his repertoire with hospital flips, 360 popshuvit kickflips, and fakie beta flips. These tricks are advanced. Tua also shreds the big bowl on the heels of the rainbow coiffured girl. He taunts, Can you keep up?

She can't - not really. She's not actually that good with the board, and she's getting madder and madder as you're showing her up.

Tua, tell me: On your planet, what's the protocol when you're getting your ass kicked? Are you meant to be like 'cool man, you got me, I'll train harder for next time?' Do you accuse the other guy of cheating and kick up a stink? Relentlessly escalate until your ass is too kicked to continue? I know your people are competitive, but how do they react when they lose the competition?

Eldest

2018-03-05, 11:15 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [x]Insecure
Potential [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Taylor glowers after her mother, before stomping upstairs. They'll watch cat videos and munch pizza in her room, dammit.

Raine_Sage

2018-03-06, 02:33 PM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential: 2/5

Haley winces as she follows Taylor upstairs. Ouch.

"For what it's worth I think Maya's pretty great." She offers once they're behind closed doors again. "I think the only other time I see you that happy is when you're being source, so anyone who can do that for you has to be good news."

The attempt at comfort feels mildly inadequate so she adds. "Parents just kind of suck sometimes, it's like, one of the laws of the universe. There's gravity, magnetism, and 'Your parents will say something that makes you want to scream into a pillow.'"

[roll0] Well lets put that shiny new Mundane mod to use and see if maybe I can help clear that last lingering condition. Sweet! You can clear insecure if you want Eldest, or mark potential/shift labels if you're not super concerned about Insecure.

DyerMaker

2018-03-06, 03:10 PM

She can't - not really. She's not actually that good with the board, and she's getting madder and madder as you're showing her up.
Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[X]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 1/5

If applicable, Tua will clear Angry by breaking down Rainbow Girl with one advanced trick after another. In the bowl, the pipe, flow, and street. Wherever she goes in the park, he will show-her-up, taunt her, destroy her pride, etc. to clear his anger.

Eldest

2018-03-06, 03:57 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Taylor nods and gives her a quick squeeze of a hug. "It's pretty much you, Mathew, and Maya that I can be, well, me in front of without needing a mask. Thank you."

Clearing insecure.

Mr. E

2018-03-06, 08:48 PM

Windsong, the Protege
Potential: 4/5
Conditions: None

Windsong floats in the air, wings slowly beating the breeze. She checks the surrounds for any possible watchers, then snaps her visor up to look at the other with her own eyes. The coldness of the air hits her in the face, making her blink in surprise. Ami turns her head to look at the other appraisingly, who hangs in the blurry space. She pauses, slowly putting her thoughts in order.

"So, you chose to not shrink me, just to see what would happen. This was all a test, wasn't it. You got me hunted by some moron-"

She pauses, pops off one of her gauntlets so she can rub her face with a real hand. Letting out a deep breath, she mentally turns down the volume, then continues at a more level tone. "I met one of your old friends down at the warehouse. Called himself the valet, I think. Predicts what's going to happen before it does. I'm willing to bet that he cut and run 'cause you treat people like this." She realises almost immediately that trying to point out the problem is a dead end, and changes tack. "He'll be back, and next time I want to be ready for him. Tell me how you beat him, last time you fought."

Per my OOC post (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22897413&postcount=340), I'm going to reject with an 8. She's going to act immediately to prove him wrong by showing that she is clever enough to think ahead to the next problem.

That turns into a Fireside Chat

[roll0]

Alright, +1 ongoing to beat him Peacemaker's way, and mark potential when I try. Sweet...

Thanqol

2018-03-06, 10:10 PM

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[X]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 1/5

If applicable, Tua will clear Angry by breaking down Rainbow Girl with one advanced trick after another. In the bowl, the pipe, flow, and street. Wherever she goes in the park, he will show-her-up, taunt her, destroy her pride, etc. to clear his anger.

That sounds like a fair trade - but you've clearly made an enemy in the process. For a moment she looks like she's about to pick up the board and add some more teeth to it but two friends grab her arms and pull her back. She storms off in a huge huff as you bathe in the respect and admiration of the various other denizens of the skate park.

Windsong, the Protege
Potential: 4/5
Conditions: None

Windsong floats in the air, wings slowly beating the breeze. She checks the surrounds for any possible watchers, then snaps her visor up to look at the other with her own eyes. The coldness of the air hits her in the face, making her blink in surprise. Ami turns her head to look at the other appraisingly, who hangs in the blurry space. She pauses, slowly putting her thoughts in order.

"So, you chose to not shrink me, just to see what would happen. This was all a test, wasn't it. You got me hunted by some moron-"

She pauses, pops off one of her gauntlets so she can rub her face with a real hand. Letting out a deep breath, she mentally turns down the volume, then continues at a more level tone. "I met one of your old friends down at the warehouse. Called himself the valet, I think. Predicts what's going to happen before it does. I'm willing to bet that he cut and run 'cause you treat people like this." She realises almost immediately that trying to point out the problem is a dead end, and changes tack. "He'll be back, and next time I want to be ready for him. Tell me how you beat him, last time you fought."

Per my OOC post (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22897413&postcount=340), I'm going to reject with an 8. She's going to act immediately to prove him wrong by showing that she is clever enough to think ahead to the next problem.

That turns into a Fireside Chat

[roll0]

Alright, +1 ongoing to beat him Peacemaker's way, and mark potential when I try. Sweet...

"Everyone is moral when their stomach is full," said Peacemaker. "Anyone can be a hero with the right powerset and the right villain. Anyone can seem friendly with the right words of flattery. But take those things away and you'll see the difference between the heroes and the rest. Some men will centre themselves and do their jobs when treated coldly. Some men will get back at you by stealing your silverware. Mr. Tosh was the latter sort. He has a chip on his shoulder, a need to have his ego stroked and flattered, a belief that the world owes him. When anything goes wrong he takes it upon himself to even out the scales. He's the model for Psychological Profile #008."

Peacemaker had a catalogue of various psychological profiles and their pressure points and fear responses.

"He seems faultless. Cold, professional, adept, stable - but villains never are, deep down. They're all broken somewhere and Mr. Tosh's personal weaknesses make him hypersensitive to the perception of unfairness. Applying any pressure to the concept of inequality around him and he will become progressively less stable, even if you do not seem to be the source of it. When he was in my service, I had the theory that he was stealing from me but I could not prove it - he was always excellent at covering his tracks. So I subtly engineered a few inconveniences in his home - cut off the water, a power outage. He responded to these issues by escalating his acts of theft, "taking his due" back from a world that had let him down. Eventually, after I arranged for his car to be towed and crushed, he responded by attempting to steal weapons blueprints which was a bold enough move that I finally caught him."

--- MEANWHILE... ---

The Illusionist was being dragged along by his feet, face raw red from the carpet burn. He blearily blinked, appreciating the brilliant colours woven into the floor - eerie black glyphs over prismatic fabric, so black that they seemed almost to levitate above the ground. The man dragging him by the ankle with just one hand was easily over nine feet tall and had a jaw like a cheese grater.

Then he was flying through the air in a tangle of robes and trinkets and landed with a splash in a pool of water.

He struggled to the surface - it only came up to his waist, but he was soaked through, and his false beard was hanging loose and scraggly from his chin. His dark, sleepless eyes darted about - and only after a moment separated the checkerboard pattern of the dress from the chaos of the carpet and walls. The strange rainbow pattern and associated glyphs crawled all up the wall and over the ceiling, padding the entire room - and just as overwhelming was the dress, a chess-board pattern with ten thousand unique colours paired with that same sucking black that caused a headache whenever it moved.

It was waterlogged, like he was - its owner was also standing waist deep in the water. Heavy glasses and hair tangled enough to murder a dozen combs framed an incongruously gentle face. The whole scene was so busy, all the colours so shockingly vibrant, he could hardly focus on her for more than a second - but a second was all he needed to realize he was talking to.

The Illusionist fell to his knees - only his head above the water. "Dragonslayer," he whimpered. Then he kowtowed - bringing his head to the bottom of the lukewarm water and pressing his forehead against the underwater carpet as hard as he could, as long as he could. He stayed down until his vision started to blur and then he broke the surface, took in a single gasp, and then ignoring his body's screaming for more air pushed his head back down under the water and pressed his forehead into the carpet once again.

The fourth time the Dragonslayer's hand caught his jaw, not unkindly, and held him above the water as he gasped.

"Tell me what happened to the Artefact," she said.

[ISSUE END]

Thanqol

2018-03-12, 05:38 PM

Issue Two: Landfall

It's been a really weird day.

Two weeks since the Mountebank got away and until now it's been totally normal. Usual minor crimes and the beat of ordinary life. But today when you wake up there's a strange scent in the air, like cheap chemically-flavoured candies that have been left out in the sun. It's soaked into everything in the entire city and it's making everyone, everywhere super chill.

Remove Angry as a valid condition and replace it with Languid. When you have Languid marked you're being overcome by the suppressive scent and you find it difficult to muster the motivation to take decisive action - you cannot Directly Engage or Unleash Your Powers, unless someone Provokes you into doing it. If you have Angry marked, clear Angry now.

Naturally, the city's scrub-tier supervillains are taking advantage of this to get some looting done. Shops are open but most people can't seem to be compelled to call the cops when the Crimson Boomerangs of the world start filling their shopping trolleys with plasma TVs and running down the street. Heroes occasionally swoop in to try and stop them but the exertion tends to make both heroes and villains overcome by the scent and it tends to end with fights petering out and the heroes and villains just giving up and wandering away.

Windsong and Source! Peacemaker had summoned both of you via the comms network. Presumably he'd wanted to do some sort of investigation, but by the time you've arrived he's just bouncing an orange ball against the wall and yawning, only really saying that 'the lab equipment is over there'. And right when he says this there's a crash, the hazard lights come on, and all the security doors in the place slam shut, and the robotic voice of Peacemaker's lab helpfully informs you that something is trying to chew through the exterior blast shields. What do you do?

Tua, Stray and Wallflower! There's a lot going on right now, but the thing that you happen to be dealing with is the villain Brawnest stealing Major Tower. As in, he has ripped the entire armoured twelve-floor building out of its foundations and is carrying it overhead as he jogs down Main Street. Major Tower is like a prison for tech - supervillain suits, dangerous relics or artifacts, all kinds of classified junk is stored inside. It sealed itself into a giant closed metal box when it noticed a crisis hitting but that didn't stop Brawnest.

Brawnest looks like a boxer who's let himself go - he's in his fifties, with a beer gut, heavy white stubble, reflective silver-teal goggles and a set of weird boots that aren't part of his normal getup. Still wearing the Championship belt he stole ten years ago. The building isn't weighing him down at all - he can toss it from hand to hand and even swing it like a club. What do you do?

Raine_Sage

2018-03-13, 08:24 AM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 2/5

Stray has to wonder what it is with her and getting the retirement brigade lately. First the mountebank and now this guy, only unlike the mountebank he's probably a lot harder to run off. Being able to lift buildings up out of their foundations tends to give people some serious confidence boosts. And to top it all off that weird smell is making it hard to focus, and it's doing weird things to her rider.

"Ok so, need a game plan here. Morpho if he busts that thing open it's bad news for everyone so if you do anything to the density of that building make it harder to crack, not easier. Making it as light as cotton candy would make getting hit with it less bad, but not if it bursts open like a pinata full of illegal tech."

She glances at wallflower. "This probably goes without saying but you getting hit with that is a lot worse than me or Morpho getting hit with it, we're more durable. If you can distract him though one of us can probably get him to drop it."

And from there it'd be a good old fashioned fist fight, albeit with someone who can almost definitely punch you to the moon. It'd probably be fine.

Eldest

2018-03-13, 02:03 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential [X] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Source should probably be worried. She'd left Mathew taking one of his rare naps, and the building she was in was currently under attack, but frankly she was sorta wishing she'd stayed and taken a nap too, it felt like that kind of day. She finishes off a hot dog she'd picked up on the way out, pressing a few buttons seemingly at random, trying to bring up security cams or any other kind of sensors, before giving up and just listening to whatever was chewing on things. While she gets all sorts of nice information about the hum of the air conditioner and the type of deodorants in the room, but nothing as far as the thing chewing it's way in. She sighs and wishes she'd gotten a second hot dog, she was still hungry.

Failed a move to unleash her powers to observe the thing chewing it's way in.

Mr. E

2018-03-13, 08:06 PM

Windsong, the Protege
Potential: 4/5
Conditions: none

Turns out that Ami really hates drugs. The sensation of languid boredom is countered by the part of her brain that is screaming that something is wrong. Her eyebrows slowly contract down into a frown as Windsong stares at the wall, waiting for the painfully slow moving machinery to suit her up. The sounds of a mechanical arm settling her mechanical wings on her shoulders seem to take forever, especially when alarms are blaring and the most obnoxious of mechanical voices is informing her that someone is trying to break into what she thinks of as her base.

She slips her arms through the shoulder straps, then obediently raises them to shoulder height as the machine clips on the breast-plate and greaves. The helmet is always a moment of claustrophobia as it closes slowly over her head, a brief second of pitch blackness before the display lights up, painting the world in a mass of monochrome hues. The canned air kicks in a second later, and she turns her attention to the world outside, hoping the fog inside her head will clear soon.

She glares at the supine form of Peacemaker slumped over a desk, putting together a plan in her head. The facility is fitted with a suitably advanced medical centre, that will no doubt synthesize a counter-agent to the product in the air, but that takes time that she does not believe they have. On the other hand, the same laboratory also contained bottled oxygen, and Peacemaker's suit. Peacemaker's suit. Peacemaker. Ami spins on her heel, rapidly analyzing the layout of the lab. While the older hero looked unlikely to move at this point, she knew the facility was designed to automatically strip his armour, even if he was too injured to do so by himself. Which meant, if she knew what she was doing, she could reverse the process.

But how the chemical worked, that she didn't now. Would suiting up even help? Her own head feels the same spongy consistency it was before sealing herself in, and she glares at her surrounds. Interfacing wirelessly with the bases's computer, she trawls the databases for useful information.

Bleh, not my finest post, but it'll do. Also, does Ami breathing her suit oxygen reverse the effects of the drug?

Going to assess the situation:

[roll0]

Alright, 2 Q's then:

- What here can I use to reverse the effects of the drug?
- How can I best end this quickly?

Daffodil

2018-03-13, 09:39 PM

Wallflower
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 0/5

"Need I remind you I am literally untouchable? I'll gladly lead though, can one of you film this? I need new material for the blog since apparently I wasn't invited to the last mission. It's like, just give me a call, but it's whatever."

Wallflower does a couple of quick stretches, touch the toes, arm across the chest, side bends and okay, here we go, show time. This is what we've been waiting for, let's get the show on the road. Wallflower sprints towards the out of shape villain, hand on their belt. A quick poke of the bear and then just some smooth sailing through his sloppy swings and that's that, right?

"HEY MUHAMMAD BALDY, YOU FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERBALL AND STINK LIKE FEET, WHAT'RE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT?"

And with that B- pun, Jonesy Wyatt barrels closer to the boxing baddie with a heart full of gumption and the desperate hope that they can slip through one of the most secure buildings in the city without getting totally crushed to death. Watch out Brawnest, here's Wallflower!

That's gonna be a Provoke of mildly comedic proportions: [roll0] to be the sole object of Brawnest's attention.

What a miserable little roll that is. I don't see an immediately satisfying way to make this all about me, so I'll decline to act selfishly, but I'm open to help I suppose.

Raine_Sage

2018-03-13, 11:39 PM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 0/5

"Oh for the love of..."

She sees Brawnest gearing up for a swing, and she's pretty sure that lockdown is meant to stop phasing on top of everything else. Before he can bring it down on their head she steps in and tries to catch the building.

Roll to Defend: [roll0]

The impact shakes her to her core, and her feet sink into the concrete as she slides a good six inches backwards, but she manages to stop the swing in its tracks. Of course holding up a building is about all she can do for the moment, even if she's a little surprised she actually managed to pull it off.

I'll defend Wallflower from taking a blow, and add one team to the pool. Current team pool is at 2 right now. Of course I've opened myself up to danger and/or escalated things in the process.

DyerMaker

2018-03-14, 11:51 AM

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[X]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 2/5

Tua marvels for a moment. Watching Brawnest lug an entire building down the street was something he'd never seen prior. He'd seen competitions on Cybelus where massive javelin-like projectiles were thrown for great distances. Tua had also seen television footage of the Cowal Highland Gathering; viewing large contestants tossing a caber on a grassy field. These were both inspiring, nail-biter events. However, Brawnest was charging ahead with the Tower. Impressive.

Seeing Wallflower taunt the big fella and Stray move in to defend a swing, Tua thought it time to snap out of his awe and do something. But, what? Tua flew closer to Brawnest, keeping a 20-meter, altitude distance at 30 degrees west of Brawnest. Next, he had to crank some tunes. Tua chose Eye of The Tiger (www.youtube.com/watch?v=btPJPFnesV4) by Survivor. The track seemed more than fitting. Tua, thought about trying to manipulate the building in some way, but that approach didn't truly ping his pong. What if... Tua would attempt to decrease Brawnest's bone density, causing his skeleton to become slightly brittle and fragile enough to break a leg or two.

Unleash Powers [roll0]

Thanqol

2018-03-14, 07:04 PM

Windsong, the Protege
Potential: 4/5
Conditions: none

She glares at the supine form of Peacemaker slumped over a desk, putting together a plan in her head. The facility is fitted with a suitably advanced medical centre, that will no doubt synthesize a counter-agent to the product in the air, but that takes time that she does not believe they have. On the other hand, the same laboratory also contained bottled oxygen, and Peacemaker's suit. Peacemaker's suit. Peacemaker. Ami spins on her heel, rapidly analyzing the layout of the lab. While the older hero looked unlikely to move at this point, she knew the facility was designed to automatically strip his armour, even if he was too injured to do so by himself. Which meant, if she knew what she was doing, she could reverse the process.

But how the chemical worked, that she didn't now. Would suiting up even help? Her own head feels the same spongy consistency it was before sealing herself in, and she glares at her surrounds. Interfacing wirelessly with the bases's computer, she trawls the databases for useful information.

Bleh, not my finest post, but it'll do. Also, does Ami breathing her suit oxygen reverse the effects of the drug?

Going to assess the situation:

[roll0]

Alright, 2 Q's then:

- What here can I use to reverse the effects of the drug?
- How can I best end this quickly?

Your suit, by default, won't channel out the compound's effects. It's beyond the scope of the suit's default defensive settings, but it is possible to fix - you'd need to do an emergency field hotwire (Unleash Your Powers). That itself is useful data; this isn't something your suit is familiar with and doesn't have antibodies ready.

The medical lab has what you need to synthesize a cure; this is indeed what it's for. But you're going to need to spend a bunch of time doing Science, which makes the whole imminent hull breach problematic. The best way to end it quickly, though, is to get Peacemaker to snap out of his funk. He'll be able to add a lot to the process.

One other thing - containing it from the air and your own biosamples will be tricky. Ideally you'd want to get some sort of physical organic matter related to the source to work on. Fortunately, some has just arrived!

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential [X] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Source should probably be worried. She'd left Mathew taking one of his rare naps, and the building she was in was currently under attack, but frankly she was sorta wishing she'd stayed and taken a nap too, it felt like that kind of day. She finishes off a hot dog she'd picked up on the way out, pressing a few buttons seemingly at random, trying to bring up security cams or any other kind of sensors, before giving up and just listening to whatever was chewing on things. While she gets all sorts of nice information about the hum of the air conditioner and the type of deodorants in the room, but nothing as far as the thing chewing it's way in. She sighs and wishes she'd gotten a second hot dog, she was still hungry.

Priorities, right? You're right to be chill about this. I mean, just another day in the hero business - no need to get worked up. Why not just focus on the important things? Go ahead and mark Languid. It's the way things should be.

The good news is that you're currently sufficiently chill that when an acid-dripping alien biomorph tears its way through the security panel and roars directly in your face you don't even blink. Kinda badass, really. You dimly note all kinds of useful information, like the Ultracorp logo on its forehead, and the fact that it looks like a monstrously enhanced version of Stray's symbiote. Neat.

(For reference, if you later show this to Stray, Ultracorp is straight up Omegacorp's logo except upside down)

Wallflower
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 0/5

"Need I remind you I am literally untouchable? I'll gladly lead though, can one of you film this? I need new material for the blog since apparently I wasn't invited to the last mission. It's like, just give me a call, but it's whatever."

Wallflower does a couple of quick stretches, touch the toes, arm across the chest, side bends and okay, here we go, show time. This is what we've been waiting for, let's get the show on the road. Wallflower sprints towards the out of shape villain, hand on their belt. A quick poke of the bear and then just some smooth sailing through his sloppy swings and that's that, right?

"HEY MUHAMMAD BALDY, YOU FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERBALL AND STINK LIKE FEET, WHAT'RE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT?"

And with that B- pun, Jonesy Wyatt barrels closer to the boxing baddie with a heart full of gumption and the desperate hope that they can slip through one of the most secure buildings in the city without getting totally crushed to death. Watch out Brawnest, here's Wallflower!

That's gonna be a Provoke of mildly comedic proportions: [roll0] to be the sole object of Brawnest's attention.

What a miserable little roll that is. I don't see an immediately satisfying way to make this all about me, so I'll decline to act selfishly, but I'm open to help I suppose.

Brawnest looks down at you. He's not huge, not like the titanic bruiser heroes or villains you see sometimes - he's just kind of big. When he speaks it's slow and slurred, with an economy of effort analogous to napping. "You shouldn't disrespect Mr. Ali," he said simply, and dropped a giant block of iron on your head.

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 0/5

"Oh for the love of..."

She sees Brawnest gearing up for a swing, and she's pretty sure that lockdown is meant to stop phasing on top of everything else. Before he can bring it down on their head she steps in and tries to catch the building.

Roll to Defend: [roll0]

The impact shakes her to her core, and her feet sink into the concrete as she slides a good six inches backwards, but she manages to stop the swing in its tracks. Of course holding up a building is about all she can do for the moment, even if she's a little surprised she actually managed to pull it off.

I'll defend Wallflower from taking a blow, and add one team to the pool. Current team pool is at 2 right now. Of course I've opened myself up to danger and/or escalated things in the process.

Luckily, Brawnest isn't the only brawner around. Stray saves your ass, Wallflower - that's what it is and what it looks like, both to you and everyone who might be watching. Brawnest looks at Wallflower, and then looks at Stray, and he rightly figures out who the real danger here is. With idle contempt he turns away from Wallflower and starts walking towards Stray, who's currently caught desperately trying to hold a building above her head. Stray, you're pretty much trapped right now.

What do you do?

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[X]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 2/5

Tua marvels for a moment. Watching Brawnest lug an entire building down the street was something he'd never seen prior. He'd seen competitions on Cybelus where massive javelin-like projectiles were thrown for great distances. Tua had also seen television footage of the Cowal Highland Gathering; viewing large contestants tossing a caber on a grassy field. These were both inspiring, nail-biter events. However, Brawnest was charging ahead with the Tower. Impressive.

Seeing Wallflower taunt the big fella and Stray move in to defend a swing, Tua thought it time to snap out of his awe and do something. But, what? Tua flew closer to Brawnest, keeping a 20-meter, altitude distance at 30 degrees west of Brawnest. Next, he had to crank some tunes. Tua chose Eye of The Tiger (www.youtube.com/watch?v=btPJPFnesV4) by Survivor. The track seemed more than fitting. Tua, thought about trying to manipulate the building in some way, but that approach didn't truly ping his pong. What if... Tua would attempt to decrease Brawnest's bone density, causing his skeleton to become slightly brittle and fragile enough to break a leg or two.

Unleash Powers [roll0]

You're just starting to focus when your vision cuts out. Your soundtrack garbles. Your reality is over-written with a Hardbeam communications array - a pretty intense experience without any sort of moderating tech in the way. It's like you're getting a phone call to your skeleton.

"Student Tua—IX2.71—17L. This is Development Pod overseer Tau-109.11-55L," in other words, the school Principal. "We have identified a development opportunity. The building you are engaged with contains Cybelus probe assets thought lost. You are now engaged with student Kana—VIII4.66—17L in a Crisis Contest to reclaim the assets from the human population and return them to the Cybelus Authority. Glory to the victor."

What do you do?

Raine_Sage

2018-03-14, 07:49 PM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 2/5

Holding up the building is... an odd sensation. She can feel her muscles exerting themselves, but also the way her suit threads itself through her. Like having steel cables woven into her body that keep her from snapping in two like any normal person ought to. Unfortunately it's playing havoc with her center of gravity. She doesn't think she can move without faceplanting and bringing the whole thing down on top of her.

And now Brawnest is coming her way and he looks like he means business. Ok, first order of business. Set the building down. Carefully. Luckily she manages to parallel park that bad boy, it's still not where it should be obviously, but she manages to avoid squishing any cars or pedestrians too mellow to have the sense to get out of the way. Straightening up again she cracks her neck.

"Alright buddy, lets make this short. There's like, a dozen of your malcontent friends that still need rounding up."

I'll roll to unleash, overcoming the obstacle that is 'stuck under something heavy' [roll0]

DyerMaker

2018-03-15, 10:47 PM

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[X]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 3/5

Tua's ears rang briefly before the burst of information settled in his mind. A probe. A Crisis Contest. And, Kana. Great. That's just what he didn't want to hear at this moment. What was Kana doing here? He thought this kind of fun would be beneath her. Doubt ran through him like a river cutting through a western canyon. Then, a smile crossed his face. It was wide, like the Hoover Dam. He had outsmarted Kana once before. That was a solo effort. Now, he had friends.

Tua adjusted his audio amplifier to address his teammates as Sloth from the Goonies, Hey You Guys!, before returning to his normal voice and yelling to Stray and Wall, We are going to have more company, like seriously unwanted alien company.

Tua's inner monologue went into overdrive and he chose a new track to play, Survivor let me down. It's time to go with Green Day (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr2T-Rcgq1c). The first attempt to affect Brawny didn't work. Perhaps he's stronger than I thought. What if the air around him, even as he moves, was so thin that in breathing it in he'd collapse? Incapacitated? Maybe. I should've turned into The Police. We need to take care of this guy, then find that probe before Kana does.

Unleash. Thin air. [roll0]

Daffodil

2018-03-16, 07:42 AM

Wallflower
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 1/5

Wallflower crosses their arms as the massive man begins to turn away, this is dumb, he was supposed to look over here. He was supposed to go down fast so they can work on their victory poses. There is no universe where a gross old dude is gonna get the better of Wallflower.

"HEY! You don't get to ignore me! I'm the hero here! You're supposed to make a speech, go down, and then everyone claps for us! I don't have time for you to ad lib you're little midlife crisis any more than you have, you jerk."

As Jonesy lets there frustration begin to seep into the air they also begin knocking away the temporary fencing and cones that surround an area of sidewalk construction. The hole in the sidewalk where something was ripped from the ground by another fight and another hero on another day was about bad guy sized they thought, and this is a classic move, so it had to work right?

"Yo Stray! Let's teach this guy a lesson playground style, you go high and I'll go low!"

Jonesy gets close to Brawnest, crouched down behind his legs to trip him, a childhood prank gone superheroic, and braces for impact.

Directly Engage a Threat [roll0]

Raine_Sage

2018-03-16, 10:05 AM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 2/5

It's a beautiful setup and Stray is happy to take it, moving to meet The Brawnest slugging him good and solid in the chest and sending him stumbling backwards over Wallflower. It helps that he looks kind of dizzy for some reason. That little manuver accomplished she looks up at Morpho.

"What do you mean more company? Is it another villain?"

OOC: Spending 1 team from the pool to bump Wallflower up to a 7

Mr. E

2018-03-17, 02:32 AM

Windsong keeps glaring. She's fairly certain that she likes strange disease's less than she likes drugs, although it is a close run thing. Also, giant alien monster things? Another strong contender for the the top spot.

Shaking her bleary head, she focuses on the immediate threat. The monster needs containing, ideally without killing it. She focuses on the leveraging the lab equipment, searching for a simple and effective method of restraining her target. Her brain hurts, and everything moves so slowly, while she emits a steady stream of slightly slurry curses. Still, the lab is a complete treasure trove of tools, so it doesn't take long to find a suitable option. With a whine, the heavy automated arms that arm and disarm Peacemaker's suit surge from their mounts in the ceiling, aiming for the incoming alien symbiont.

Mechanical jaws snapping open and close, they aim for the creature's arms and legs, planning to lift it into the air, there to do no damage to the vulnerable elements of the lab or the superheroes that are lying around nearby.

I'm really not happy with the quality of my writing, here, but sometimes the inspiration just doesn't come.

Going to Unleash My Powers to try and restrain the beastie, as per the questions from before:

[roll0]

Eldest

2018-03-18, 01:34 AM

Source
[ ]Afraid [X]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential [X] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Source steps rapidly away from the creepy biohorror looking thing: she's not particularly scared, she's a bit too out of it for that, but it was gross and she wasn't exactly able to afford repairing or replacing her costume that often. Stray sometimes dripped acid when she got excited in her exoskeleton form, no reason to assume this wouldn't do the same. She peers at it while Windsong works to restrain the intruder. What was it after?

Rolled to pierce the mask. Got a 7. What is it really planning?

DyerMaker

2018-03-19, 10:23 AM

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[X]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 3/5

With a hit on Brawny, Tua chooses to Frighten and Resist a Blow from the villain.

"What do you mean more company? Is it another villain?"
In answering Stray, No. Something worse. Be prepared.

Thanqol

2018-03-19, 05:07 PM

And now Brawnest is coming her way and he looks like he means business. Ok, first order of business. Set the building down. Carefully. Luckily she manages to parallel park that bad boy, it's still not where it should be obviously, but she manages to avoid squishing any cars or pedestrians too mellow to have the sense to get out of the way. Straightening up again she cracks her neck.

"Alright buddy, lets make this short. There's like, a dozen of your malcontent friends that still need rounding up."

I'll roll to unleash, overcoming the obstacle that is 'stuck under something heavy' [roll0]

You know, I've always wondered about those empty lots you sometimes see in the inner city - those little patches of gravel, weeds and cigarette butts that sit incongruously in between two blocks of apartments. Turns out they're in case you need to drop a loose building in on short notice.

Brawnest nods, impressed, and cracks his knuckles.

Tua's inner monologue went into overdrive and he chose a new track to play, Survivor let me down. It's time to go with Green Day (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr2T-Rcgq1c). The first attempt to affect Brawny didn't work. Perhaps he's stronger than I thought. What if the air around him, even as he moves, was so thin that in breathing it in he'd collapse? Incapacitated? Maybe. I should've turned into The Police. We need to take care of this guy, then find that probe before Kana does.

Unleash. Thin air. [roll0]

Brawnest is rolling his shoulders and advancing, gearing up for a fight when the air itself deserts him. He blinks, gasps, and his eyes widen. He's got no air to talk tough or question what's going on so he just turns on his heel and runs.

[Marking Afraid]

Jonesy gets close to Brawnest, crouched down behind his legs to trip him, a childhood prank gone superheroic, and braces for impact.

Directly Engage a Threat [roll0]

[Marking Languid]

And as he runs he trips over some kid and then gets socked in the face and sprawls face-first on the ground. And then... he just gives up. He just mumbles something about "freaky kids" and puts his hands over his head. The air's gotten to him like everyone else around here and he won't resist when you cuff him.

Unbelievably sweet. Took him down like he was nothing.

(One catch, though. Jonesy, you're not the buffest stuff and when you took a kick in the ribcage from Brawnest's high tech boots it's left a bruise the size of your ribcage over your ribcage. Roll to Take A Powerful Blow]

You've actually got a moment before the next thing happens, you might want to take the chance to have an exchange of high fives or other field celebration.

Windsong keeps glaring. She's fairly certain that she likes strange disease's less than she likes drugs, although it is a close run thing. Also, giant alien monster things? Another strong contender for the the top spot.

Shaking her bleary head, she focuses on the immediate threat. The monster needs containing, ideally without killing it. She focuses on the leveraging the lab equipment, searching for a simple and effective method of restraining her target. Her brain hurts, and everything moves so slowly, while she emits a steady stream of slightly slurry curses. Still, the lab is a complete treasure trove of tools, so it doesn't take long to find a suitable option. With a whine, the heavy automated arms that arm and disarm Peacemaker's suit surge from their mounts in the ceiling, aiming for the incoming alien symbiont.

Mechanical jaws snapping open and close, they aim for the creature's arms and legs, planning to lift it into the air, there to do no damage to the vulnerable elements of the lab or the superheroes that are lying around nearby.

I'm really not happy with the quality of my writing, here, but sometimes the inspiration just doesn't come.

Going to Unleash My Powers to try and restrain the beastie, as per the questions from before:

[roll0]

As everyone knows, the counter to aliens is industrial walkingsuits and you're hanging out in the walkingsuit manufactory. And turns out Peacemaker's even made his robotics acidproof pre-emptively so it can't even chew its way through.

"Well done," said Peacemaker, making his way over and looking at the monster with a distinct lack of urgency. He directs an arm to extract a small biosample. "Clever. I upgraded my arming chamber to be able to detect and secure invasive biologicals that might be attached to my armour after my trip to the Destruction Dimension. Glad to see I went overboard."

Source
[ ]Afraid [X]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential [X] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Source steps rapidly away from the creepy biohorror looking thing: she's not particularly scared, she's a bit too out of it for that, but it was gross and she wasn't exactly able to afford repairing or replacing her costume that often. Stray sometimes dripped acid when she got excited in her exoskeleton form, no reason to assume this wouldn't do the same. She peers at it while Windsong works to restrain the intruder. What was it after?

The data sloughs off it easily. Something this purpose built can't lie; it screams its purpose with every fibre of its being. It's built for durability and precision - devoid of any long, lashing tendrils that could cause collateral damage when fighting in a lab environment. It's designed to take punches and regenerate while still being a scary combatant.

A distraction, in other words. Something that'd keep you occupied and not wreck Peacemaker's lab while someone else does something else. And the fact that it's designed to avoid collateral damage implies that the collateral is the target.

Daffodil

2018-03-19, 08:51 PM

Wallflower
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 2/5

"YEAH! GET SOME!"

Jonesy stands careful and rubs their side gingerly, they limp careful towards their teammates and smile a massive smile. They lift a fist and pump it, only wincing a little, and point at Stray, perhaps a little too close all things considered,

"You laid him out my dude! You one shot that old geezer, that was beautiful. Of course, it was all my plan, but you did it perfectly. That was so spicy, do you think the alien got it on tape? TUA! DID YOU FILM THAT SICK PUNCH?! I NEED IT FOR MY BLOG!"

Jonesy shouts across the street, perhaps unnecessarily considering they're not terribly far apart and everything is pretty quiet post-scrap. Jonesy's heart is beating a mile a minute still, but they don't seem terribly off kilter, sore torso not withstanding. As they lower their hand, Jonesy slumps into Stray, stumbling a little as they wince again,

"I swear to god I hate that guy, my guts hurt so much right now, can we take a second before we go after the Captain's mystery date? We're not all carved out of marble like some people."

Jonesy moves to push themself off of Stray, their hands lingering on those strong arms a little longer than is entirely necessary. Though that shouldn't be a huge surprise, Jonesy is a little more than necessary in everything.

So with that 6 on Take a Powerful Blow, I'm all good, I mark potential, and complimenting Stray's sick punch and superheroic physique trigger my heroic celebration, that's a team in the pool and another if Stray pays a compliment back.

Raine_Sage

2018-03-19, 11:53 PM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

"Oh yeah? What happened to literally untouchable?" It's ribbing, but it's playful ribbing. And even though not five minutes earlier she'd lifted a building over her head, and decked a guy twice her size hard enough to send him sprawling, as she helps Jonesy stand up again she's so incredibly gentle. Careful of the bruised ribs as she gives them a congratulatory pat on the back.

"I mean, good thinking though. And good follow through." As much as the focus on the blog and the aesthetic of heroism rubs her all the wrong ways, at the end of the day Jonesy still put themselves directly in the path of someone who could probably have flattened them like a pancake in order to help give her an advantage. She's not as effusive as her teammate, but it's clear she's appreciative. Maybe even mildly impressed. "I did warn you about the not being made of marble thing though, you can't say I didn't do that."

She looks up at Tua. "You too, I don't know what you did but whatever it was he looked like he was going to faint or something. So you know, good job making the laws of physics sit in a corner and cry. As usual. So what's the thing heading here. You said alien. Like... you alien or a different kind of alien?"

I'll go ahead and make Jonesy my rival for the time being and mark potential. Stray's giving kudos for being willing to get banged up, but I think the deeper philosophical disagreements aren't overcome by a boot to the ribs. Stray's very much a 'good deeds for the sake of good deeds' sort of gal. I can see it being a point of contention in the future.

DyerMaker

2018-03-21, 04:24 PM

Eldest

2018-03-21, 10:59 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [X]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Source looks about. "The big nasty is a distraction. Something else is here to steal your tech." She stretches and yawns, going back to poking at the console. You think she's trying to bring up the cameras again, but just about every error message ever pops up as she taps the keys, along with a mix of solitaire, Clippy, Firefox, several classified files, and Peacemaker's music library. "Shoot."

Man, she's bad at unleashing right now. Rolled a 4, so failure at unleashing her powers. Can't unleash because of languid, right, so instead this will be a flavor thing. No move here.

Thanqol

2018-03-24, 06:37 AM

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[X]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 3/5

Ignoring the pleasantries of his teammates, Tua intently focuses on the building. Speaking aloud, There's tech in here we need to find. It is of the utmost priority. An alien species will try to take it. We have mere moments before they arrive.

Tua will focus on the building. ASSESS THE SITUATION [roll0]

1. What can I use to find the probe?
2. How could we end this quickly? (Building access, perhaps?)

The answer to both your questions is: Ask an adult. This is a hero facility, it's run by heroes, heroes have the passcodes and can check things in - and even out - in an emergency. Find the right guy and they can just wave you through and disable the security on your behalf. The heroes are out in force right now so finding one won't be hard, convincing them that you aren't an evil shapeshifting alien robot may be more in the air but it's certainly an easier prospect than going through the sentry guns.

Speaking of evil shapeshifting alien robots, a shadow passes across the sun. Kana's modifications give her the same affinity for forces that you have for matter - and with a brief flash she descends in the form of a pillar of molten fire and begins cutting her way through the reinforced steel. It's like a man sized welding torch being applied to the building's exterior. What do you do?

Source
[ ]Afraid [X]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Source looks about. "The big nasty is a distraction. Something else is here to steal your tech." She stretches and yawns, going back to poking at the console. You think she's trying to bring up the cameras again, but just about every error message ever pops up as she taps the keys, along with a mix of solitaire, Clippy, Firefox, several classified files, and Peacemaker's music library. "Shoot."

You have access to a realm of infinite information and sometimes it's fine to just float along its surface. Perhaps you're the index - the function that accesses that supreme archive and decides what's important. In moments where you're not performing that function the information just rolls out in service to your id rather than your directed thoughts.

Ask a couple of questions on behalf of your id. Deep and primal kinds of questions, not the sort of stuff you'd normally use your powers to find out. Your subconscious can get some good answers right now.

DyerMaker

2018-03-25, 02:29 PM

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[X]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 3/5

Tua shouts to the team, Ok guys, see the crazy chick welding her way through the building, that's Kana. We need to let her break in and then trap her when she comes out. Got it? Any ideas? She'll be carrying some tech that we need.

Tua wants to see how Kana does with the Tower's defense system before he attempts to stop her.

Eldest

2018-03-25, 07:52 PM

Mr. E

2018-03-25, 11:21 PM

Windsong, the Protege
Potential: 4/5
Conditions: none

Windsong looks between Source, the 'thing' now hanging from the ceiling, and Peacemaker, perplexed. Vague mentions of an equally vague threat are of almost no use, even with her own capabilities. She sighs, reaching up to rub her brow, once again cursing the fuzzy sensation that creeps through her mind. Her hand meeting metal, she swears in a fumbling fashion, then recalls her mind to duty.

The whole base is on lock-down, which should limit access to any wannabe tech-stealers, although the security features worked better when their wasn't a gaping whole in the wall. That, well, while she couldn't fix it, she could work with it. The security system was optimised for a fully functioning base, but she could re-route power to the damaged sections, modify the arc of camera's #4 and #6, reconfigure the infrared sensors for the new heat source...

She raises one hand, manipulating a display only she can see. Windsong ignores the fuzzy feeling, diving deeply into the bowels of Peacemaker's security system, hoping to flush any hidden threats into the open.

Going to unleash my powers to extend my senses:

[roll0]

Raine_Sage

2018-03-26, 08:02 AM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

"Is she another you? Cause if she's another you I'm not sure I'm super equipped to deal with that. What tech even is this anyway?" Stray watches Kana weld her way into the building, thankful to have an excuse not to immediately try and apprehend the person made of superheated metal right now.

"I mean that thing's alarms are going to start going full force in like five minutes and if a Pro shows up I don't think they're going to let you walk off with an armful of alien Nukes. On that point I'm not sure I'd let you walk off with an armful of alien nukes. So is this stuff like... benign or...?"

DyerMaker

2018-03-26, 10:41 AM

"Is she another you? Cause if she's another you I'm not sure I'm super equipped to deal with that. What tech even is this anyway?" Stray watches Kana weld her way into the building, thankful to have an excuse not to immediately try and apprehend the person made of superheated metal right now.

"I mean that thing's alarms are going to start going full force in like five minutes and if a Pro shows up I don't think they're going to let you walk off with an armful of alien Nukes. On that point I'm not sure I'd let you walk off with an armful of alien nukes. So is this stuff like... benign or...?"

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[X]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 3/5

Tua responds to Stray with a sense of urgency, She is... another me. We need to stop her. She can't leave with that tech. It's a probe, nothing more.

Tua will attempt to change the surface of the tower into something like vibranium; too hard to weld.
UNLEASH [roll0]

Raine_Sage

2018-03-26, 11:07 AM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

So it's just a probe, but somehow Tua sounds incredibly nervous about losing it. Of course if Kana's from the same planet he is then this kind of reeks of some weird competition thing.

Aliens

And as she watches the outside of the building ripple and change as Tua directs his efforts at slowing down his rival, she feels a little conflicted about getting wrapped up in this but.. well he's a teammate right?

"Hey Wallflower, when you do the phasing thing can you take people with you? Like, make them intangible too?" Because he's just changed the composition of the building, it might be that's enough to give them an opening. "You could go in with Morpho and I can be a distraction."

Thanqol

2018-03-26, 06:42 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [X]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential [X] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Source looks up at the biohorror, and purses her lips under the mask, deep in thought. Some people, obviously, thought that violence as a means to a goal was acceptable. The... wierd creature thing was an excellent example of that. From a certain perspective, even, she thought that: she would protect others by violent means, even if what she was protecting them from was violence. And it wasn't, after all, and easy question of which person has the right of it. With Montebank, at least, it had been an easy question: stop him (violently), protect somebody else. But sometimes you were stopping somebody who was robbing a bank with an unloaded gun, just because she wasn't able to get money to feed herself or her family any other way. And that was... less fine. Because the chick you were hitting is just as much a victim as the people she's robbing, from a certain perspective. The entire system sort of... self perpetuates. She wanted to stop it at the roots, somehow. Just no idea where to start.

"Why do we have knights?" asked a voice, vibrant and sharp, like dazzle camouflage. "To slay the dragons, of course."

"It's a good answer. A pleasant, reassuring answer. It lets an entire aristocratic system pass by without question by creating a monster too fearsome for ordinary people to cope with. As long as there are dragons there must be knights, and as long as there are villains there must be heroes. As long as the world is defended by heroes then the world finds it impossible to criticise the administration of the heroes. Nothing will change so long as civilians are held in the chains of helplessness and gratitude that bind them to their saviours. Complex questions become so simple. So long as you've stopped the Mountebank today you've done a good thing and that's all there is to it. No need to self reflect or ask about any deeper problems."

An image comes to light but it's all sharp edges, a shape hidden inside a bladestorm of other shapes. Like a magic eye trick, from a certain angle it seems like a person, or possibly a sword.

"The whole system is propped up by the dragons. Without them the knights would go to war with each other."

[She's telling you how the world works, move Superior down and Danger up or reject her influence.]

Windsong, the Protege
Potential: 4/5
Conditions: none

Windsong looks between Source, the 'thing' now hanging from the ceiling, and Peacemaker, perplexed. Vague mentions of an equally vague threat are of almost no use, even with her own capabilities. She sighs, reaching up to rub her brow, once again cursing the fuzzy sensation that creeps through her mind. Her hand meeting metal, she swears in a fumbling fashion, then recalls her mind to duty.

The whole base is on lock-down, which should limit access to any wannabe tech-stealers, although the security features worked better when their wasn't a gaping whole in the wall. That, well, while she couldn't fix it, she could work with it. The security system was optimised for a fully functioning base, but she could re-route power to the damaged sections, modify the arc of camera's #4 and #6, reconfigure the infrared sensors for the new heat source...

She raises one hand, manipulating a display only she can see. Windsong ignores the fuzzy feeling, diving deeply into the bowels of Peacemaker's security system, hoping to flush any hidden threats into the open.

Going to unleash my powers to extend my senses:

[roll0]

Two teams of ten. Special forces type guys, black armour, high tech laser rifles connected to bulky backpacks by thick power cables, glowing goggles. One guy in each team is a huge, muscled brute with chitinous bio-armour - a midpoint between a tactical goon and the monstrous biomorph. They're well equipped and following incredibly precise tactics - every room gets a flashbang grenade and a full breach and clear sweep before they move on to the next one. No chances, no mistakes - as professional as humans can be - but it's drill rather than creativity and you've got a good sense of their tactics and motions.

One team is heading towards the Peacemaker's archives, the other is heading towards the R&D section. They're at opposite ends of the facility so you won't be able to take them both out by yourself.

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[X]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 3/5

Tua responds to Stray with a sense of urgency, She is... another me. We need to stop her. She can't leave with that tech. It's a probe, nothing more.

Tua will attempt to change the surface of the tower into something like vibranium; too hard to weld.
UNLEASH [roll0]

The sparks flying from the building change colour, becoming a sharp green - and then there's a brief explosion and Kana emerges from the smoke cloud covered in scorch marks. The whirring turbine of her Energy Sculptor is winding down, shedding waves of heat so intense that it makes the entire street uncomfortably warm. Glittering pink eyes dissect the scene and rapidly focus on Tua.

Then her eyes slide to the downed Brawnest. Her hand extends and vibrant pink energy arcs out from it like lightning. The defeated villain groans and unsteadily sits up, eyes glowing that same neon pink, and at a zombie's shambling pace he begins stomping towards the Vault. Kana levitates into the air, turbine beginning to pick up speed again. She's hard to look at - like no matter where she floats it's like the sun is burning directly behind her.

Daffodil

2018-03-26, 08:24 PM

Wallflower
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 2/5

"Nooo... Uh... I don't think I can, but I'm not too proud to get in there if it means getting away from little Ms. Lens Flare and her zombie Punch and Judy show..."

Wallflower pulls at their shirt, soreness fading but sweatiness reaching defcon 1. They sigh and start inching towards the building, doing their best to keep an eye on the alien baddy and the zombie bad guy and their two team mates.

"How about I go. And y'all tango with Master of Puppets and company. Tua can like air traffic control over our communicators or whatever, it'll be fine. You probably couldn't take, like, both of them. Besides, laser necromancers are not my department..."

Wallflower sighs again and taps their belt impatieltly, ready to sprint off as soon as the get the okay and slip into the wonderful world of Disney that is the tower of tech. The thought of going toe-to-toe with another alien as strong as the good Captain was simultaneously the most exciting and most nerve-wracking notion they'd come across in recent memory. Jonesy nervously wipes the sweat from their eyes and taps a little faster at the module that grants them their magnificent wall passing abilities. As Kana's lasers and energy and heat and power wind up back to a modest blaze, our hero sighs for what feels like the hundredth time,

"Yeah... Not, uh, not my department..."

Raine_Sage

2018-03-26, 11:08 PM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

"Oh come on...." The one saving grace to all this is that Brawnest seems even less "there" than he was before. This is still not good though. "Great not just another Morpho, she's like... Morpho Plus."

She glances at Jonesy. "You're already hurt, and that place has Security like no one's business. If you could've brought someone in to cover you that'd be one thing but alone..." she trails off, looking back up at Kana. Not like it's currently much safer out here though all things considered. She doesn't like it. However Wallflower is really their only way in that doesn't also let Kana inside.

"If it's too much you come back out again. Immediately. Or I'll kick your ass myself got it? We'll cover you."

Mr. E

2018-03-27, 08:41 PM

Windsong, the Protege
Potential: 4/5
Conditions: none

"Well, that's mildly s***." Ami says blandly, then realises that the drug is really getting to her. Peacemaker prefers to 'act like an adult' among her peers, presumably as part of some strategy for giving her 'a pre-eminent role in the decision making structure of your unit'. She shrugs, fairly certain that he is unlikely to tell her off in her current state. In fact, he is unlikely to be of more than minimal use stopping the intruders. Suddenly recalling her mind to her current foes, she looks around the facility.

Source is staring into space, apparently distracted by something intangible. Given the current situation, the intangible is probably late stage infection.

"Hey," Ami pokes her in the shoulder with an armoured gauntlet. "Source, I kinda need a hand here. That stuff, whatever it is, it's in your head. I know you want to sleep right now, but I need you to help me. Don't let whatever's out their beat you."

She thinks the last sentence is a touch too much, too cliche, too obvious, but Ami's not great that this talky thing anyway, so she lets it hang.

I'm not sure whether this is closer to being a Provoke, or a Comfort. Over to you, Thanqol?

Assuming comfort or support:

[roll0]

Daffodil

2018-03-27, 10:29 PM

Raine_Sage

2018-03-27, 11:29 PM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

As Wallflower sprints for the building, stray turns and makes for Brawnest. He's clumsy, moving like a drunken elephant, while Stray is sleek and fast and she gets in close to grab him by the front of his outfit.

"Should've stayed down, but I realize it's not really up to you right now."

She hoists him up, spins once, twice, like she's participating in the olympic hammer toss. Releasing him at the height of her momentum and sending him sailing through the air towards Kana.

Roll to Engage: [roll0]

I'm just killing it with these rolls today. Alright let's go with "take something" that being her position in the air, and "avoid their blows" so Dyer doesn't feel obligated to spend a turn defending me.

Thanqol

2018-03-30, 04:53 AM

Wallflower
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

Jonesy grins at Stray, confidant as ever,

"Now don't go gettin' my hopes up, this'll be fine."

With a quick moment to center themselves, Wallflower exhales deeply and then sets an eye on the tower. In an instant they're off sprinting, they avoid looking at the big baddies just a few yards away, they pump their arms Olympic style, and take a diving leap right for the hulking pile of treasure and concrete.

So with a 4-1 that puts me at a solid miss on going through the wall. I think getting stuck hallfway would be fun for a tick, but dealer's choice.

The Butler: "Good heavens, sir, a guest, a guest!"
The Choir: "A guest, a guest, a guest!"
The General: "Now lads, calm down, a young soul like this has seen the rest!"
The Choir: "The rest? A mess! He is our guest!"
The Butler: "And by these scars he has passed the test!"
The Choir: "He's past the test and now will rest here forever as our guest!"

Good news and bad news.

Good news is you made it through the wall! The bad news is you've come out into one of the cells. And it is indeed a cell here - a roomful of antique furniture, paintings, candelabras and other paraphernalia are all alive, animate, and singing at you. Full on Beauty and the Beast animate furniture. Behind the nearby laser grid blocking the way out you can see the sleek corridors of the vault's interior.

Also the big stuffed walrus wearing the pith helmet is levelling a blunderbuss in your direction.

What do you do?

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

As Wallflower sprints for the building, stray turns and makes for Brawnest. He's clumsy, moving like a drunken elephant, while Stray is sleek and fast and she gets in close to grab him by the front of his outfit.

"Should've stayed down, but I realize it's not really up to you right now."

She hoists him up, spins once, twice, like she's participating in the olympic hammer toss. Releasing him at the height of her momentum and sending him sailing through the air towards Kana.

Roll to Engage: [roll0]

I'm just killing it with these rolls today. Alright let's go with "take something" that being her position in the air, and "avoid their blows" so Dyer doesn't feel obligated to spend a turn defending me.

[Marking Hopeless]

There is a shining thunderclap of electricity and Brawnest soars away from Kana on a pillar of ultrapink lightning. He crashes through the upper floors of a skyscraper which detonates, sending a hail of glass and masonry tumbling to the ground. The whirring energy hum ceases its ominous wind-up and that burning star sweetly touches down on the ground. The asphalt melts and bubbles under each footstep, filling the air with a toxic stench.

Secondary detonations rumble through the building. The sound of an elevator cable snapping can be heard over the sudden rush of flames. Faces appear in the windows of the building, shouting for help.

The whine of that power core intensifies, climbing higher, and that brilliant shining solar energy intensifies again. Kana turns her back on the battlefield and makes her way back over to the hole she was burning through the building before, generator screaming as it's pushed past its safe limits.

What do you do?

DyerMaker

2018-03-30, 02:07 PM

Raine_Sage

2018-03-30, 06:02 PM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

Stray watches in horror as Kana sends Brawnest colliding with the side of a building like he's a human bombshell. That was not what she expected to happen, what did Kana even...

Her head is swimming with worst case scenarios, people could die. If she goes to help them, Tua is left here alone with someone who's got a chunk of the sun strapped to their back. The heat is blistering, the smell of hot tar sharp and acrid. The fuzzy feeling in her brain punctuated now with short sharp bursts of panic. Breath, think, there has to be a way to deal with this.

Rolling to Assess the situation: [roll0]
Questions: Who here is in the most danger? The people in the building, or Tua?

Daffodil

2018-03-30, 10:15 PM

Wallflower
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

"Sorry to disturb you President Taft, I'm just here on some official hero business."

Head spinning? Check. Talking furniture? Check. Recent brush with a powerful alien? Also check. So what does this mean for Jonesy? Well, they're probably dead. And since the living furniture is singing terrible show tunes, this is probably hell. Makes sense there'd be an old US President here in that case. Wait, getting side tracked.

"Um, I thought this building was full of stuff, not like alive things. But whatever, I'm, uh, I'm a hero."

WF shakes their head a little and stands a little taller, hands on their hips, putting on their primo confident voice,

"What I mean is, ahem. Don't fear citizen, Wallflower is here to save the day!"

I'm gonna use Pretty much a superhero to impress this insane Night at the Museum posse into helping me or at the very least not ruining my beautiful face.

[roll0]
Pretty much a superhero: When you bring up your superhero name to someone important (your call) for the first time, roll + Savior. On a hit, they’ve heard of you; say which of your exploits they’ve heard about and which Label they think applies. On a 7-9, the GM will tell you something else they’ve heard, and pick a second Label they assign to you. On a miss, they don’t take you seriously or mistrust you moving forward.

Alright, that means they've heard of a time I did a thing and I get to pick a label they think applies to me. This crazy company of cutlery has heard of Wallflower and the Case of the Cursed Cryptex, where WF cracked the code of a cursed puzzle box that had been making museum guests disappear mysteriously. Opening it up revealed a secret piece of evidence that absolved the long thought murderous founder of the museum and his vengeful spirit was allowed to move on and all the missing guests were found. They think that our little Wallflower is the next Sherlock Holmes and therefore, Superior.

Eldest

2018-04-02, 10:40 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential [X] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

"Why do we have knights?" asked a voice, vibrant and sharp, like dazzle camouflage. "To slay the dragons, of course."

"It's a good answer. A pleasant, reassuring answer. It lets an entire aristocratic system pass by without question by creating a monster too fearsome for ordinary people to cope with. As long as there are dragons there must be knights, and as long as there are villains there must be heroes. As long as the world is defended by heroes then the world finds it impossible to criticise the administration of the heroes. Nothing will change so long as civilians are held in the chains of helplessness and gratitude that bind them to their saviours. Complex questions become so simple. So long as you've stopped the Mountebank today you've done a good thing and that's all there is to it. No need to self reflect or ask about any deeper problems."

An image comes to light but it's all sharp edges, a shape hidden inside a bladestorm of other shapes. Like a magic eye trick, from a certain angle it seems like a person, or possibly a sword.

"The whole system is propped up by the dragons. Without them the knights would go to war with each other."

[She's telling you how the world works, move Superior down and Danger up or reject her influence.]

Source blinks. This is a first. Normally her powers consist of just... knowing. She frowns and glares at the screen, moving the classified files into a pleasing diagram on the screen as she works through what the mystery woman was telling her. What would a war between heroes look like?

Source is staring into space, apparently distracted by something intangible. Given the current situation, the intangible is probably late stage infection.

"Hey," Ami pokes her in the shoulder with an armoured gauntlet. "Source, I kinda need a hand here. That stuff, whatever it is, it's in your head. I know you want to sleep right now, but I need you to help me. Don't let whatever's out their beat you."

She thinks the last sentence is a touch too much, too cliche, too obvious, but Ami's not great that this talky thing anyway, so she lets it hang.

She shakes her head, drawn back to reality from the noosphere. She was needed. Infection. That's what this was. Something to beat, something to fight, something that she needed to win over in order to help Ami. She takes a deep breath in, and then back out, refocusing. "Okay. I think I'm good. It... it felt good to let go for a bit. But I can't."

Using team to bump that to a 7, and we're back in the saddle proper.

Thanqol

2018-04-03, 12:35 AM

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[X]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 3/5

Things seem to be heating up around here. Tua thought Kana would be miles away conducting some high-brow experiments or doing anything but hanging out in and around Earth's heroes. But, that wasn't the case. Tua didn't really care whether he delivered the probe to his own people, but Kana getting it would not do.

Tua moves in closer to his rival, Ohhhh Kanaaaa! What's the matter? That building too tough for the mighty Kana to break through. Is Earth everything you hoped and dreamt it would be? Isn't all of this humanity beneath you? Tua continues to taunt in the hopes of provoking Kana to do something dumb.

PROVOKE SOMEONE [roll0]

Kana doesn't speak or show any other immediate sign that she's heard you - she just extends her hand and fires a full blast at the side of the building she was cutting through. Fire and heat rocks the city street.

Maybe you did get under her dermal carapace, though, because she's let the power go too early. The blast rocks the building but doesn't finish cutting its way through, and she emptied her generator to do it. The whir vanishes as it spins down to nothing, and only slowly begins gathering power and momentum again. She's still a deadly opponent but it's going to take her a long time to build up enough power to penetrate that building by force now.

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

Stray watches in horror as Kana sends Brawnest colliding with the side of a building like he's a human bombshell. That was not what she expected to happen, what did Kana even...

Her head is swimming with worst case scenarios, people could die. If she goes to help them, Tua is left here alone with someone who's got a chunk of the sun strapped to their back. The heat is blistering, the smell of hot tar sharp and acrid. The fuzzy feeling in her brain punctuated now with short sharp bursts of panic. Breath, think, there has to be a way to deal with this.

Rolling to Assess the situation: [roll0]
Questions: Who here is in the most danger? The people in the building, or Tua?

Tua is in a lot of danger for sure, but he can defend himself and the people in the building can't.

Wallflower
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

"Sorry to disturb you President Taft, I'm just here on some official hero business."

Head spinning? Check. Talking furniture? Check. Recent brush with a powerful alien? Also check. So what does this mean for Jonesy? Well, they're probably dead. And since the living furniture is singing terrible show tunes, this is probably hell. Makes sense there'd be an old US President here in that case. Wait, getting side tracked.

"Um, I thought this building was full of stuff, not like alive things. But whatever, I'm, uh, I'm a hero."

WF shakes their head a little and stands a little taller, hands on their hips, putting on their primo confident voice,

"What I mean is, ahem. Don't fear citizen, Wallflower is here to save the day!"

I'm gonna use Pretty much a superhero to impress this insane Night at the Museum posse into helping me or at the very least not ruining my beautiful face.

[roll0]
Pretty much a superhero: When you bring up your superhero name to someone important (your call) for the first time, roll + Savior. On a hit, they’ve heard of you; say which of your exploits they’ve heard about and which Label they think applies. On a 7-9, the GM will tell you something else they’ve heard, and pick a second Label they assign to you. On a miss, they don’t take you seriously or mistrust you moving forward.

Alright, that means they've heard of a time I did a thing and I get to pick a label they think applies to me. This crazy company of cutlery has heard of Wallflower and the Case of the Cursed Cryptex, where WF cracked the code of a cursed puzzle box that had been making museum guests disappear mysteriously. Opening it up revealed a secret piece of evidence that absolved the long thought murderous founder of the museum and his vengeful spirit was allowed to move on and all the missing guests were found. They think that our little Wallflower is the next Sherlock Holmes and therefore, Superior.

The building rocks and shakes, and the lights begin flickering uncertainly. You might even see a small twitch in the laser grid.

"Oh, a hero? Here to save the day?" said the Butler - an ominous collection of brooms with the form and mannerisms of an enormous spider.
"He caught the ghost and lit the way and he's here to fight another day!" sang the chorus.
The General's blunderbuss holds steady, but there's uncertainty behind that moustache.

"What's your game, Wallflower? You didn't come here by mistake. You must want something from us," he rumbled.

So, the good news is they're not lunging at you right now because they think you're here as part of some scheme - they don't think you're dumb enough to have warped into their prison cell by accident. They still probably want to tie you to a chair and make you listen to showtunes forever but they're wary enough that you've got an advantage and some mobility before they work themselves up to that. What do you do?

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential [X] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Source blinks. This is a first. Normally her powers consist of just... knowing. She frowns and glares at the screen, moving the classified files into a pleasing diagram on the screen as she works through what the mystery woman was telling her. What would a war between heroes look like?

She shakes her head, drawn back to reality from the noosphere. She was needed. Infection. That's what this was. Something to beat, something to fight, something that she needed to win over in order to help Ami. She takes a deep breath in, and then back out, refocusing. "Okay. I think I'm good. It... it felt good to let go for a bit. But I can't."

Using team to bump that to a 7, and we're back in the saddle proper.

Great, in that case you've got one of two enemy teams to go after - the archives or R&D. Windsong will go after the one you don't. What's the play and how do you approach?

Raine_Sage

2018-04-03, 11:03 AM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

"Morpho we've got a situation here!" Stray gestures to the damaged skyscraper frantically, "They need help!"

The implication of course is which one of them should attempt to delay Kana and which one of them should attempt to solve the building crisis. While it's possible Tua might take a third option, saying they should both prioritize Kana and ignore the building, he also knows Haley well enough by now to know she would Not Take That Well.

Want to give Tua a chance to weigh in, but short of "I'll take the building you deal with Kana" Stray is probably going to duck out of the fight proper to make sure civilians don't die.

DyerMaker

2018-04-05, 11:14 AM

Raine_Sage

2018-04-05, 01:32 PM

Daffodil

2018-04-05, 07:41 PM

Wallflower
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

This is a chance, this an opening we can work with.

"Well Mr. President, as it so happens I've got a mission of great importance . Tell me, how did you and your cabinet end up here in the slammer? Political assassination? Wrongful imprisonment? Maybe we can help each other."

Jonesy glances around frantically trying to compile any sort of indication as to what they could give the walrus who has everything. The lasers flicker when the building shakes, the little guys follow the big guys lead, and we still have to find the stupid space junk. This is fine. This is a classic hero sitch. Just think.

Assess! That! Sitch! [roll0]

Let's see.

What here can I use to convince the Former President William H. Taft and the Insane Couch Posse to lend a hand?
How could we best end this quickly? That is to say, how can I find that probe I suppose.

Eldest

2018-04-05, 08:30 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Great, in that case you've got one of two enemy teams to go after - the archives or R&D. Windsong will go after the one you don't. What's the play and how do you approach?

Now look, Source is good. Source is very good at the whole fighting people thing.

Source is not "full spec ops team" good.

So, time to cheat. She looks around, trying to find something to use to beat the team going to R&D, going over the different inventions in the lab.

Failed the roll to assess. :smalleek: Using Game Face to commit to beat the spec ops team anyway, marking Insecure (she's in now way sure she can), and getting a +1 ongoing to rolls targeting them till i beat them. (if they don't count as a terrible enemy, that's cool)

Thanqol

2018-04-05, 10:52 PM

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[X]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 3/5

Responding to Stray aloud, I hear ya Stray. Kana's premature power release may be the window we need.

Tua shifts both arms, from his elbow to his fingertips into large circular saw blades. Then, he flies straight at Kana in the hope of engaging her long enough for Stray to help the people in the building.

Stray, I'll distract Kana. Help those people.

DIRECTLY ENGAGE A THREAT [roll0]

Edit: If we have a team point, I'd like to use one to bump the 6 to a 7 and Create An Opportunity For Stray.

You can't spend Team to give yourself a +1 - you can use it in an assist to give an ally +1. You can alternatively use it selfishly to shift your labels towards danger, effectively making that a success, but you need to insult or ignore your team mates to make that happen.

If that's not your style then this is going to go pretty badly for you.

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

Satisfied that Tua has been sufficiently alerted and is prepared to engage Kana solo for the moment she makes her way to the skyscraper. Hardened fingers and almost claw-like feet dig into the concrete like it's soft clay, essentially creating her own series of handholds as without reservation she scales her way up the side of the building to the damaged floor. In a manner not dissimilar to a lizard scampering up the side of a house.

She swings herself up through the shattered windows, through the hole made by Brawnest and surveys the damage. Trying to determine who needs help and what kind of help.

"Is anyone injured?"

If I need to roll unleash to scale the building because the situation is perilous here's that roll [roll0] If it's below 10 I'll opt to take a conditon rather than have the effect be temporary or unstable. If roll isn't needed then just disregard.
I also want to Assess the Situation to see who here is in the most danger. [roll1]

Welp

Neither of those rolls are relevant; rescuing people from a burning building is just a straight up Defend roll and there's no need to zoom in on the exact step by step of you doing that.

Wallflower
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

This is a chance, this an opening we can work with.

"Well Mr. President, as it so happens I've got a mission of great importance . Tell me, how did you and your cabinet end up here in the slammer? Political assassination? Wrongful imprisonment? Maybe we can help each other."

Jonesy glances around frantically trying to compile any sort of indication as to what they could give the walrus who has everything. The lasers flicker when the building shakes, the little guys follow the big guys lead, and we still have to find the stupid space junk. This is fine. This is a classic hero sitch. Just think.

Assess! That! Sitch! [roll0]

Let's see.

What here can I use to convince the Former President William H. Taft and the Insane Couch Posse to lend a hand?
How could we best end this quickly? That is to say, how can I find that probe I suppose.

So, here's the thing about possessed musical furniture - they are cursed to think entirely in broadway numbers. If you turn this into a song piece then they won't be able to help going along with it. They'll betray you the second you miss a beat but until then you'll be able to sweep them along wherever you need.

The best way to get to the probe quickly? Well, this is a vault full of dangerous supervillain tech. You reckon you're sharp enough to grab some tech from the shelves that could give you an edge when you need it. You can take the move No Powers And Not Nearly Enough Training for free while you're in here, and refresh it as often as you want. You'll lose the move once you leave the Vault unless you buy it as a permanent Advance with XP.

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Now look, Source is good. Source is very good at the whole fighting people thing.

Source is not "full spec ops team" good.

So, time to cheat. She looks around, trying to find something to use to beat the team going to R&D, going over the different inventions in the lab.

So you're in the Peacemaker's lab and... and this stuff is beyond you. The stuff here is alien - extra-terrestrial, Tua-style weirdness. Some of it is in the process of being refined into suits of armour like Windsongs', or weapons, or stranger things, and the thought-form symbols are overlaid confusingly. It's all in a state of transition - half one thing, half something else. The intention Peacemaker has for these projects burns strongly against their original natures and the data is overwhelming. This thing could be an alien scanning device or it could be a thermal inhibitor; your senses say it's both/neither/between the two.

You can start picking stuff up and pulling the trigger when that team puts a flash grenade through the door in approximately 12 seconds. You reckon that you'd absolutely wreck the lab by doing that - but your instincts tell you that you'd come through that basically all right. What do you do?

Eldest

2018-04-06, 11:10 AM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Source looks at the alien scanner/freeze ray gadget, and reluctantly puts it down. She's here to defend the lab, not total it, and taking that route would be the coward's choice.

So instead she kicks the grenade back outside as soon as they lob it in. Go time.

Rolled a 12 (forgot the Game Face modifier) on directly engage. Going to avoid their blows, and impress/surprise/frighten them.

Thanqol

2018-04-08, 11:23 PM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

Satisfied that Tua has been sufficiently alerted and is prepared to engage Kana solo for the moment she makes her way to the skyscraper. Hardened fingers and almost claw-like feet dig into the concrete like it's soft clay, essentially creating her own series of handholds as without reservation she scales her way up the side of the building to the damaged floor. In a manner not dissimilar to a lizard scampering up the side of a house.

She swings herself up through the shattered windows, through the hole made by Brawnest and surveys the damage. From there she prioritizes. She holds a dangling elevator in place long enough for those trapped on it to disembark. She can't carry out the entire upper levels but she can clear hazards, help them navigate the stairwells, get them safely to the ground floor, dig out people who were trapped by debris. It's nervewracking, it's tense, during the slow parts her mind constantly goes back to Kana outside.

"Who decided I get to be responsible for the wellbeing of all these people?" She thinks it frantically to herself as she moves a section of caved in ceiling blocking a door. It feels like too much. And yet somehow they make it outside.

Rolled a 10 for Defend in the OOC (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22973652&postcount=431) and I'll add one team to the pool. Not that it's going to help Tua much in the moment.

And you do get them out - every one. One old man even pauses to take his hat off and say "Thank you, ma'am, you're a real hero," as you usher him out through the door.

And it's right, isn't it? All that destructive power being used as a shield rather than a sword. You standing against the force of crumbling fire and stone and making your alien symbiote do something unambiguously good.

[Shift Saviour up and Danger down, or reject his influence]

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[X]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 3/5

Responding to Stray aloud, I hear ya Stray. Kana's premature power release may be the window we need.

Tua shifts both arms, from his elbow to his fingertips into large circular saw blades. Then, he flies straight at Kana in the hope of engaging her long enough for Stray to help the people in the building.

Stray, I'll distract Kana. Help those people.

DIRECTLY ENGAGE A THREAT [roll0]

Kana was always better than you in direct confrontations. With no allies at your back and no cunning plan in your head she mops the floor with you. It's a thoroughly one sided exchange of combat algorithms and it ends with you in a headlock, her palm against your dermal data intake, and ultrapink lightning coursing through your system. The corrupt data spike overrides your dazed willpower and you can only watch helplessly as your own arm raises, aims at the Vault, and alters the composition away from its invincible structure back to far more ordinary concrete and steel.

With that done, Kana kicks you aside, burns through the hole she was working on before, and flies into the vault.

Roll to take a powerful blow while you're at it.

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Source looks at the alien scanner/freeze ray gadget, and reluctantly puts it down. She's here to defend the lab, not total it, and taking that route would be the coward's choice.

So instead she kicks the grenade back outside as soon as they lob it in. Go time.

You can see the sweeping arcs of their laser sites and the flow-charts of their combat training - and you need to. There exists a path through those overlapping fields of fire and drilled close combat techniques and you need to walk it absolutely perfectly. You're not the kind of hero who can walk through rifle fire as though it's nothing and you're endlessly aware that it's only the most razor thin of margins that takes you through that wall of armour, bullets and training. More than once you feel the rush of wind as bullets pass by your cheek or through your hair.

But despite how insanely close it is you never once feel in danger. It's not like there's any randomness here. If you can perceive the path through this team there is absolutely nothing stopping you from walking it with perfect confidence. Reality is a deterministic system.

You finish the equation. Ten special forces guys are on the ground around you. "God! Stop! We surrender! Don't kill us!" gasps the squad leader raggedly.

[Marking Afraid, which is sufficient to defeat them. They are no longer a threat.]

Raine_Sage

2018-04-10, 08:10 AM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

Stray is thankful her face is completely hidden by the suit because she is so flustered. This guy looks like someone's sweet old grandpa and she's not sure how to deal with his gratitude aside from feeling kind of warm and fluttery about it.

"I'm glad everyone made it out alright, you should all wait here. The fire department is going to be here soon and they can look everyone over. I need to go. I have a teammate waiting on me."

It's a bit abrupt but she's too anxious about Tua to linger for further conversation, and she dashes back off to where she left them. The scene she finds does not reassure her. Tua, singed and still kind of smoking, the building back to normal, and a very obvious hole melted into the side. Kana nowhere in sight.

"Morpho!" she's over at his side, trying to help him up in a matter of seconds. "S---- I knew I... are you ok? Where's Kana?"

DyerMaker

2018-04-10, 11:32 AM

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[X]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 5/5

Kana had used and abused Tua, turning his own power inside-out to normalize the building's exterior. She was inside. Kana's parting shot was quite powerful, but she had underestimated Tua's willpower to see the fight to its finish. At her best, Kana was selfish. A product of strict conditioning. More machine that individual. She didn't care about humans nor did she understand what it meant to be a friend. Tua was able to absorb the blow, in part, through his value for human life.

Stray's voice came into tune as Tua checked to make sure all of his parts were in their proper places. What's the point of being heroic if you don't look good while doing it? His shifted form was fine. Tua flew over to Stray, "How do I look?" "Kana doesn't have a pause button. We're going to have to stop just shy of killing her."

Raine_Sage

2018-04-11, 10:45 AM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

"You look like you just ran into a bug zapper. I'm sorry I should have..." there's no real way to finish that sentence. Should have ignored the other people? Maybe he wouldn't have been overwhelmed if she'd been there, maybe they both would have gotten their asses soundly handed to them, but it wasn't a good situation to begin with. She can't agonize over what ifs.

"I've got your back." She sounds firm, resolute. "She's not going to get a second chance to fry you. Or Wallflower. Come on lets get in there before she finds something dangerous."

Rolling Comfort to see if we can't clear Afraid before the confrontation. Stray is trying to reassure Tua that he doesn't have to worry about engaging while she's there to support him. Let's see how that works out. [roll0]
A resounding success, Dyer you can clear Afraid, or take potential/shift labels instead if you want. And the team pool is at 3.

DyerMaker

2018-04-12, 01:53 PM

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 5/5

Tua appreciates the encouragement from Stray, even though it still seems a bit over-the-top from his perspective. "Let's go." Flying toward the opening in the tower, Tua is ready to deal with Kana. Looking at Stray, "Go for what you call ribs. She'll feel that for sure." Thinking to himself, If I destroy the actuators in her neck, she'll live. Her head will sway like a bowling ball balancing on a drinking straw.

Mr. E

2018-04-12, 05:22 PM

Windsong, the Protege
Potential: 5/5
Conditions: None

Peacemaker never designed his lab, not in the way you would expect. Parts of it are reinforced concrete, expertly engineered structures created for a single purpose, and other parts of it are not. Alien design weaves it's way throughout the mundane, twisting and curling up walls and down corridors, exposing itself in the fluid sweep of a conduit, before once again burying itself in the steel. Navigating the computer architecture is like dancing in a room full of knives, except some of them are moving, and a rare few are actively trying to kill you. Shards of alien AI are imprisoned inside the frame of terrestrial computing, jostling and a cutting each other for space.

On the other hand, the mad architecture, both human and alien, designed for the mind of a genius and nobody else, without safety mechanisms, directions or failsafes, is very easy to get lost in. All it takes is a few subtle tweaks, some nudges, to funnel attackers down easy paths, ones that lead towards their goal in straight and obvious ways, ones that are so simple and straightforward, till the blast doors slam shut. She's not sure the facility will hold them forever, what with the weapons they are carrying, but it is not as if they know that.

Right, getting slowly back into the groove. My writing feels kinda rusty after a couple of weeks not posting anything. Going to unleash my powers and lock the strike team up, hopefully manoeuvring them into a position where I can provoke them into surrendering.

And I just forgot to roll :smallredface: Like I said, rusty...

Rolled in the OOC: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22990554&postcount=450 Failed abysmally, but now with 5/5 potential, so at least I can do fun stuff with that. I'll think about what I want and get back to it.

Thanqol

2018-04-12, 07:25 PM

Tua, Stray, you enter the Vault through the still red-hot mess of molten metal and concrete. It's chaos in here. Sentry robots designed by Peacemaker are roving around trying to contain the chaos but they're as quickly becoming vectors for it as cursed items and strange technologies break loose from their containment. The good news is that Kana is leaving a trail of destruction as she goes which makes her easy to follow. The bad news is that she's specifically blasting open cell doors behind her to clutter the corridors and slow any pursuit down.

What do you do?

Windsong, the Protege
Potential: 5/5
Conditions: None

Peacemaker never designed his lab, not in the way you would expect. Parts of it are reinforced concrete, expertly engineered structures created for a single purpose, and other parts of it are not. Alien design weaves it's way throughout the mundane, twisting and curling up walls and down corridors, exposing itself in the fluid sweep of a conduit, before once again burying itself in the steel. Navigating the computer architecture is like dancing in a room full of knives, except some of them are moving, and a rare few are actively trying to kill you. Shards of alien AI are imprisoned inside the frame of terrestrial computing, jostling and a cutting each other for space.

On the other hand, the mad architecture, both human and alien, designed for the mind of a genius and nobody else, without safety mechanisms, directions or failsafes, is very easy to get lost in. All it takes is a few subtle tweaks, some nudges, to funnel attackers down easy paths, ones that lead towards their goal in straight and obvious ways, ones that are so simple and straightforward, till the blast doors slam shut. She's not sure the facility will hold them forever, what with the weapons they are carrying, but it is not as if they know that.

Right, getting slowly back into the groove. My writing feels kinda rusty after a couple of weeks not posting anything. Going to unleash my powers and lock the strike team up, hopefully manoeuvring them into a position where I can provoke them into surrendering.

And I just forgot to roll :smallredface: Like I said, rusty...

Rolled in the OOC: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22990554&postcount=450 Failed abysmally, but now with 5/5 potential, so at least I can do fun stuff with that. I'll think about what I want and get back to it.

"Wait, Windsong -" says Peacemaker but it's too late - a section of dead and inert code crackles to life. One of those alien AI shards was hiding in a wall of otherwise mundane code and as you cleared your way through the system it surges into life. It floods out over the system instantly - and just as quickly takes refuge somewhere designed to accommodate it.

The wall opens and a suit of armour similar to yours steps out, eyes glowing neon pink. Immediately it raises its wrist and Peacemaker ducks behind a console as it begins spraying the room with a volley of energy blasts. What do you do?

Mr. E

2018-04-13, 04:47 PM

DyerMaker

2018-04-16, 08:35 AM

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 0/5

"Geesh, what a mess. I do not want to crawl over all of that debris.", Tua mentions to Stray. He then begins to quietly mumble part of the song, Without Me.
"Now this looks like a job for me
So everybody just follow me
'Cause we need a little controversy
'Cause it feels so empty without me"

Cap'n Morpho would like to turn all of this debris to...microscopic dust.
UNLEASH YOUR POWERS [roll0]

Eldest

2018-04-16, 02:10 PM

You can see the sweeping arcs of their laser sites and the flow-charts of their combat training - and you need to. There exists a path through those overlapping fields of fire and drilled close combat techniques and you need to walk it absolutely perfectly. You're not the kind of hero who can walk through rifle fire as though it's nothing and you're endlessly aware that it's only the most razor thin of margins that takes you through that wall of armour, bullets and training. More than once you feel the rush of wind as bullets pass by your cheek or through your hair.

But despite how insanely close it is you never once feel in danger. It's not like there's any randomness here. If you can perceive the path through this team there is absolutely nothing stopping you from walking it with perfect confidence. Reality is a deterministic system.

You finish the equation. Ten special forces guys are on the ground around you. "God! Stop! We surrender! Don't kill us!" gasps the squad leader raggedly.

[Marking Afraid, which is sufficient to defeat them. They are no longer a threat.]

Source has to resist the impulse to giggle in sheer relief. She'd pushed the envelope there, make no mistake, and the fact that it was paying off made her giddy. But she had to focus. Doing her best growl, she looms over the fallen squad. "Who sent you? What were you after?"

Provoked with a 9.

Raine_Sage

2018-04-16, 02:38 PM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

"Yeah I wasn't really up to parkour in the high tech vault either." Stray watches as the debris in their path turns brittle and then to dust, her and Tua hurrying down after Kana. This is such a mess, this place is a hodgepodge of absolutely insidious stuff and she just knows half of it is going to be back out on the streets after this. More with every ripped open vault door. She sticks close to Tua on high alert for anything trying to get the jump on them.

"So is that what you normally look like? All roboty like Kana I mean, when you're not trying to blend in?"

DyerMaker

2018-04-17, 11:03 AM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

"So is that what you normally look like? All roboty like Kana I mean, when you're not trying to blend in?""Sorta. I'm a bit more dashing with better fashion sense. Kana's a hammer looking for nails."

Thanqol

2018-04-17, 07:52 PM

"F***ing Hell!" Windsong dives sideways to avoid getting nailed by some psychotic alien toaster, wings reflexively expanding into flight mode. Engines thundering in the confined space, she dives down a corridor, eager to get away from the approaching threat. Ami twists right as her steel feather scrape the concrete, jinking to avoid another volley from her new foe.

She curses, her mind still feeling to slow, too stupid to keep up. Dodging around a steel beam, she weaves across an open space, swearing inwardly. Her own foolishness has created a new, completely unrelated threat, doubling the number of enemies that want to kill her. Two different sets of "people", only united by their shared hatred for everybody else. The beginnings of a grin slips across her face as she realises that the situation may yet be salvageable. Abruptly changing direction, Windsong sets course for the interlopers, aiming to draw her new enemy into the midst of her previous foes.

Alright, so Windsong is going to try and draw her new friend, the flying doppelganger or robotic doom, into the evil mercs. Hopefully the two will fight each other, leaving her with some time to make a plan.

Using my brand new move to trick the robo-suit into attacking the mercs:

[roll0]

I want to avoid further entanglement and confuse them for some time.

The alien artificial intelligence core expects to be fighting some human XCOM spec-ops team. The corporate mercs expect to be fighting some weird Peacemaker designed robosuit. It's a wonderful moment where everyone agrees on exactly what they're meant to be doing here and they get right to the fighting sans même demander la permission. Short, sharp spec-op gunfire overlays with the sci-fi sounds of laser beams.

You've got free run of the place, either to lurk in the shadows and wait for a victor or get ahead of them to the archive.

Source has to resist the impulse to giggle in sheer relief. She'd pushed the envelope there, make no mistake, and the fact that it was paying off made her giddy. But she had to focus. Doing her best growl, she looms over the fallen squad. "Who sent you? What were you after?"

"Dragonslayer!" said the mercenary, selling his employer as easily as he'd sold his gun. "We were after the golden triangle -"

The world goes jagged for a moment. The data-symbol representing time distorts and shatters. For a moment reality is utterly out of sync with itself, the constant flow of information you're open to just gone and all that's left is the cosmos' blue screen of death.

Then it snaps back. Distorted, jagged, pixelated, reality still trying desperately to reboot over the chronological rift. Electricity is haywire here and all the lights flicker on and off. Through the chaos it looks to you like someone - just for a moment - stopped time.

All the mercenaries are dead where they lie. Blood pools around long, precise sword wounds. And the trail of distortion is continuing off down the corridor towards the lab. Whoever came through here went that way.

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 0/5

"Geesh, what a mess. I do not want to crawl over all of that debris.", Tua mentions to Stray. He then begins to quietly mumble part of the song, Without Me.
"Now this looks like a job for me
So everybody just follow me
'Cause we need a little controversy
'Cause it feels so empty without me"

Cap'n Morpho would like to turn all of this debris to...microscopic dust.
UNLEASH YOUR POWERS [roll0]

Your way through the Vault is mostly cleared. You still have to deal with the occasional sentient freeze ray or vent of laughing gas, but this is ultimately a prison for dangerous stuff not dangerous people, and the threats they pose aren't very directed. Soon enough you arrive at the otherwise unremarkable Cell 4351 - occupant, one Cybelan Research And Surveillance Satellite. It's a boxy and chromed device about the size of a large car, pitted and scarred from the debris of space and with sweeping long wings. Vaguely reminiscent of a heron in flight.

Kana has just ripped the door off the cell when you arrive. While her reactor is still spinning, the whine is less threatening than it was before. You're not sure why, has she used too much power? A bluff? Either way, she seems too wary to make the first move right now, waiting to see what you do before launching a counterattack.

Eldest

2018-04-17, 08:54 PM

Raine_Sage

2018-04-18, 10:07 AM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

"Sorta. I'm a bit more dashing with better fashion sense. Kana's a hammer looking for nails."

"I don't think I'd mind seeing that sometime."

They arrive at the vault in front of Kana, a tense standoff. But she's not immediately moving to engage them and maybe that's an opening. Stray steps forward, hoping to distract her a little from Tua.

"I'm going to give you one chance to surrender and come quietly. You've got enough to answer for as it is, this doesn't need to get any worse. Is this thing really worth it?"

Not that she particularly expects Kana to comply. If there's one thing she's demonstrated in spades, it's that collateral damage isn't remotely a consideration. However you can usually get something from how a villain responds to being called out. Denial, anger, silence. Whatever the case, Kana wasn't just some unthinking unfeeling machine. However Tua painted her, they were part of the same race and that meant she was theoretically capable of being reasoned with.

I'm going to try and pierce the mask here, Stray wants a better understanding of Kana's thought processes. [roll0]
Alright one question: How could I gain influence over you?

Mr. E

2018-04-18, 01:22 PM

Windsong flits down the hallway while violence erupts behind her. She lands softly around a corner, her wings folding up behind her. Slipping away from the battle, Ami sets course for the archives. One of the two will be coming to hunt her, she's sure.

Opening the door, Windsong looks around the dusty room, plotting. She steps inside, closes the door, and looks around the room, while speaking into her microphone. "Source, where are you at? I could use a hand on my end..."

It pains her to ask for help, but she knows that she is no fighter, and she'd rather avoid a brawl with either foe, especially if they are using her suit technology.

Felt like we were under-using our communicators, might as well get a conversation going between the two heroes in the base. Also going to assess the situation and see what I can see.

[roll0]

What here can I use to set a trap for my enemies?

DyerMaker

2018-04-19, 02:34 PM

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 0/5

Morpho doesn't want to mess around with Kana. Those who poke lions end up bloody. Better to go all in.
Shifting his fists to double their size, Morpho swings a left hook at Kana.
DIRECTLY ENGAGE A THREAT [roll0]

Pick one: Avoid her blows.

Thanqol

2018-04-20, 10:41 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Taylor probably shouldn't be chasing. In fact, she certainly shouldn't be chasing: whatever it was, probably this "Dragonslayer" guy, was able to stop time and showed absolutely no remorse about killing their own hirelings. But her feet didn't seem to be talking with her head, as they raced down the corridor after him.

You can commit to following Dragonslayer, but Windsong is asking you for backup. Which do you choose?

Windsong flits down the hallway while violence erupts behind her. She lands softly around a corner, her wings folding up behind her. Slipping away from the battle, Ami sets course for the archives. One of the two will be coming to hunt her, she's sure.

Opening the door, Windsong looks around the dusty room, plotting. She steps inside, closes the door, and looks around the room, while speaking into her microphone. "Source, where are you at? I could use a hand on my end..."

It pains her to ask for help, but she knows that she is no fighter, and she'd rather avoid a brawl with either foe, especially if they are using her suit technology.

Felt like we were under-using our communicators, might as well get a conversation going between the two heroes in the base. Also going to assess the situation and see what I can see.

[roll0]

What here can I use to set a trap for my enemies?

You've actually got the advantage here that none of your opponents are really superhuman. They're all extremely well equipped but not unnaturally strong or tough. One of Peacemaker's fire suppression systems deploys a heavy blast of rapidly expanding and hardening foam, which when deployed in a contained area can essentially trap people against the walls or floors. It'd even work on a wingsuit which as you know is designed for flight and agility, not tearing through extremely thick putty.

So my advice is strategically set off the smoke detectors.

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

"I don't think I'd mind seeing that sometime."

They arrive at the vault in front of Kana, a tense standoff. But she's not immediately moving to engage them and maybe that's an opening. Stray steps forward, hoping to distract her a little from Tua.

"I'm going to give you one chance to surrender and come quietly. You've got enough to answer for as it is, this doesn't need to get any worse. Is this thing really worth it?"

Not that she particularly expects Kana to comply. If there's one thing she's demonstrated in spades, it's that collateral damage isn't remotely a consideration. However you can usually get something from how a villain responds to being called out. Denial, anger, silence. Whatever the case, Kana wasn't just some unthinking unfeeling machine. However Tua painted her, they were part of the same race and that meant she was theoretically capable of being reasoned with.

I'm going to try and pierce the mask here, Stray wants a better understanding of Kana's thought processes. [roll0]
Alright one question: How could I gain influence over you?

So right now, Morpho and Kana are operating on the exact same alien robot logic. You can see it in the way they fight - this is totally normal to both of them. They've done this before, they'll do this again, this is literally a day in the office for both of them.

If things went differently, things might be reversed. It could be Kana on your side and Morpho over there. You can get influence over Kana by injecting some raw, chaotic Human into this alien combat ritual thing - step in to Defend her from Morpho and you will rock her paradigm.

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 0/5

Morpho doesn't want to mess around with Kana. Those who poke lions end up bloody. Better to go all in.
Shifting his fists to double their size, Morpho swings a left hook at Kana.
DIRECTLY ENGAGE A THREAT [roll0]

Pick one: Avoid her blows.

You're winning! Decisively. For whatever reason, Kana's power-field generator is at a much lower capacity in here and she isn't able to unleash those blistering heat blasts she used outside. She's trying to stick you with her thought probe but she's just used that trick on you and you know what to look for. She's being backed up against the ropes.

That said, I'll hold off on reporting your success or failure based on Stray's decision.

Raine_Sage

2018-04-21, 12:39 AM

Eldest

2018-04-23, 07:22 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Source taps the communicator in her ear. "I've got a lead on the merc's boss. I need to chase it down now, or else it gets cold. I got rid of one squad, though, so I'm sure you can get the other with your suit!" She responds brightly, if a bit out of breath.

Mr. E

2018-04-23, 08:15 PM

Windsong, the Protege
Potential: 0/5
Conditions: None.

"Uh, okay..." Windsong trails off, slightly disturbed by Source's upbeat mood, and not entirely sure that her optimism is justified. "Wait, did you say their boss? Have you seem them? What are we dealing with?"

Feeling slightly helpless, she hurriedly turns back to the problem at hand, still anxiously waiting for Source's reply. Smoke means fire, but controlled fire. Actually burning the archives down would be regretable. Fire starting sources in this environment include; paper, selected chemicals - paper was not an option, considering her stated goal of protecting the archives, which limited her to chemicals. The optimal fire starting tool in this environment would be the flares fitted as part of her ECW suite.

Discharging one in a controlled manner would be challenging, given the size of the environment she was limited to. Ami overrides the safety protocols with careful thought, then slips the small cylinder into her hand. By reworking the command paths, the flare could be set to detonate on command, creating a small, but controlled fire that would be adequate to trigger the overhead sensors and release the foam. Rolling the device along the floor, she takes cover behind a row of shelves, then switches her attention to the bases's sensors, waiting for either a reply from Source, or the arrival of either the team or her renegade suit.

Alright, she's going to get ready to trap the threat's when they arrive. This seems closest to an unleash, so rolling + freak:

[roll0]

Eldest

2018-04-24, 08:02 AM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [ ] [ ] [ ]

"The guy who tricked Montebank into killing the previous Paragon. He broke the Pattern, somehow. Timestream interruption, cosmic BSOD, deletion and restoration of a concept-symbol, and that's bad. Need to figure out how he did it, and stop him from doing it again, reality can only handle so many crash-and-reboot cycles."

Thanqol

2018-04-25, 06:26 PM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

It feels like she's barely even said anything before Tua goes in swinging and the two of them get locked into some weird competitive aggression dance. And it stings. Not just because she has the ever increasing suspicion that nothing particularly bad would happen if Kana got the probe. That the only reason Tua was so antsy to keep her out was because it meant losing some personal game the two of them were playing. No it stings because they'd been functioning as team members and then suddenly they weren't anymore.

She steps in, catches a blow meant for Kana's head.

"Will the two of you calm your non-existant tits for five seconds? She wasn't even attacking us, or will you literally short circuit if you let me try and actually talk to people?"

And that's a 7 for defending Kana. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=23011941&postcount=479) Stray is focused on Tua right now and not actually paying close attention to the alien behind her. Which she really should be.

[Stray, take Influence over Kana]

You had her on the ropes, Tua - but then Stray is there. I don't need to be the one to tell you that it stings. I mean, this was the first time you've ever actually done this well against Kana in a straight up battle. Normally she's the one who's winning these competitions when waged directly and you need to think of indirect tactics. And hey, no prizes for 'close'.

Kana falls back, catches her breath, reorients herself. With Stray between the two of you she's only a couple of steps from the probe. She can grab it at any moment but at the moment she's trying to figure out what's going on here. It doesn't fit into her worldview. You know that look.

Windsong, the Protege
Potential: 0/5
Conditions: None.

"Uh, okay..." Windsong trails off, slightly disturbed by Source's upbeat mood, and not entirely sure that her optimism is justified. "Wait, did you say their boss? Have you seem them? What are we dealing with?"

Feeling slightly helpless, she hurriedly turns back to the problem at hand, still anxiously waiting for Source's reply. Smoke means fire, but controlled fire. Actually burning the archives down would be regretable. Fire starting sources in this environment include; paper, selected chemicals - paper was not an option, considering her stated goal of protecting the archives, which limited her to chemicals. The optimal fire starting tool in this environment would be the flares fitted as part of her ECW suite.

Discharging one in a controlled manner would be challenging, given the size of the environment she was limited to. Ami overrides the safety protocols with careful thought, then slips the small cylinder into her hand. By reworking the command paths, the flare could be set to detonate on command, creating a small, but controlled fire that would be adequate to trigger the overhead sensors and release the foam. Rolling the device along the floor, she takes cover behind a row of shelves, then switches her attention to the bases's sensors, waiting for either a reply from Source, or the arrival of either the team or her renegade suit.

Alright, she's going to get ready to trap the threat's when they arrive. This seems closest to an unleash, so rolling + freak:

[roll0]

An under-appreciated part of technology is the acoustics. After all, this entire exchange would be much less satisfying if those whmp-thump noises weren't as perfect as they were. And while the merc team had reacted perfectly if you'd thrown a grenade at them they weren't expecting the ceiling to fall on their heads and now they're all there, stuck to the wall.

"Cornel!" you hear one say. "Damn it, we need to destroy that record or Dragonslayer will have our heads!" This is followed by a lot of ineffective struggling.

No sign of the Wingsuit though.

[Marking Guilty, squad defeated]

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [ ] [ ] [ ]

"The guy who tricked Montebank into killing the previous Paragon. He broke the Pattern, somehow. Timestream interruption, cosmic BSOD, deletion and restoration of a concept-symbol, and that's bad. Need to figure out how he did it, and stop him from doing it again, reality can only handle so many crash-and-reboot cycles."

You rush into Peacemaker's R&D lab. Perhaps it's a misleading phrase, though, because this lab is a reverse engineering lab, and what it's reverse engineering is a crashed alien spaceship. And it's not a small one. You're on the inside of a cavern facing a space ship the size of an aircraft carrier, burned through with deep, jagged scorch marks, components and fragments scattered everywhere. Lighting arrays and catwalks have been constructed around it. Very Area 51.

And there, on the opposite bridge is... something.

Have you ever seen dazzle camouflage? It's about using sharp lines and bright colours to break up three dimensional shapes and confuse your sense of direction. Like a magic eye trick, it plays games with perspective to take something that should be sleek and simple and make it an incomprehensible jagged ball. Every sharp corner becomes a razor blade, every jag of colour breaks up the smooth natural flow your eyes evolved to process.

Not everything in the room is camouflaged. However, your opponent is, and she is by way of a broken concept symbol. You can see the outlines of it - she's taken her Name and shattered it somehow. So now whenever you look at her, no matter how you look at her, you can't see her. Not because she's invisible, but because the information you're trying to collect doesn't exist. No matter how you searched, over what spectrum or with what senses, you wouldn't be able to pick Dragonslayer out from the world around her. The best you can manage is knowing that she's there. Anything else is just a headache waiting to happen.

"Have you heard of a 'Test Cut'?" says a voice - not broken, a normal middle aged female voice. "When a Samurai got a new sword back in the day, they would go out and wait by a crossroads for someone to walk by. Then they'd cut him down. To make sure the sword was up to their standards.

"I've just tested my sword and it seems to be just fine. Not the sort of thing you'd want to go up against."

Eldest

2018-04-25, 06:47 PM

Mr. E

2018-04-26, 09:49 PM

Windsong, the Protege
Potential: 0/5
Conditions: None.

Windsong wants to stop, she really does. The goons are providing far too interesting information to really leave alone, but she doesn't feel like she has any choice in the matter, so with regret, she leaves the sensors set to record audio, and slips hurriedly from the room. Her mirror image counterpart must be somewhere nearby. The entire facility is fitted with sensors, and its not like an exact duplicate of herself is exactly subtle.

Gritting her teeth, she takes a deep breath, then plunges back into the information matrix of the facility. Because, if something went wrong last time, it surely won't happen again. That and the awareness that every second keeps her from helping Source with what does sound "bad", as the other hero puts it. Trawling the data-net, she searches for hints of the other's presence, while speaking into her mike.

"Okay then. I've got problems of my own, but I can probably drop everything if you need back-up."

Right, feel like I'm using this move a lot, but:

Unleash my powers: [roll0]

Thanqol

2018-04-29, 11:34 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [ ] [ ] [ ]

She blinks and squints, trying to make the shattered remains of a Concept align into a solid, dependable information dump. And she's got nothing. "We seem to have skipped over a few things. 'Hi, I'm Source.' I'd say nice to meet you but you just murdered your own people so..." she makes a face under the mask. She pauses, frowns, but keeps going, riding high on the remains of whatever it was that made her... lazy, making her resolutely cheerful right now. "You wouldn't happen to be linked to Outside, right? Because that would suck. Like, exceptionally so, given you broke at least two things that I didn't know could be broken, and that implies things about being able to reach Outside, and I'm pretty sure Outside is bad for us on the Inside." She prattles onward, trying to take a look at the shattered symbol, giving up on resolving it into one thing, and instead looking at the pieces, seeing what she can learn, if anything.

So you know how you said that the Universe couldn't take too many hard reboots?

You were right on the money.

Dragonslayer has been making a mess. You get to watch her do it. It doesn't look that complicated, you might be able to do it if you tried. But she reaches into that arcane platonic symbol-dimension and breaks something. It makes the sound that a klutzily dropped jar of parental ashes might make. The sound that indicates that something really, really expensive in ways you can't really understand just broke. And seeing her do it and the after-effects makes it really clear that this is serious damage to the timeline that Dragonslayer's inflicting. All kinds of temporal paradox stuff is going to show up down the road due to this.

And she does it to give herself an escape route. Classy. Like building a sled out of Whistler's Mother. Ouch.

She doesn't lay a finger on you as she goes, though. If she has a sh*tlist you're not on it. You do get the vibe that she just went and killed the other corporate team on her way out, though. Straight up chewing through her henchmen.

Windsong, the Protege
Potential: 0/5
Conditions: None.

Windsong wants to stop, she really does. The goons are providing far too interesting information to really leave alone, but she doesn't feel like she has any choice in the matter, so with regret, she leaves the sensors set to record audio, and slips hurriedly from the room. Her mirror image counterpart must be somewhere nearby. The entire facility is fitted with sensors, and its not like an exact duplicate of herself is exactly subtle.

Gritting her teeth, she takes a deep breath, then plunges back into the information matrix of the facility. Because, if something went wrong last time, it surely won't happen again. That and the awareness that every second keeps her from helping Source with what does sound "bad", as the other hero puts it. Trawling the data-net, she searches for hints of the other's presence, while speaking into her mike.

"Okay then. I've got problems of my own, but I can probably drop everything if you need back-up."

Right, feel like I'm using this move a lot, but:

Unleash my powers: [roll0]

So, no matter how hard you hack you won't be able to stop Dragonslayer's time-breaking shenanigans. You're in no position to stop her from taking what she wants and leaving. But. But.

You are just sharp enough to realize that when she broke time she took a book from the archive when she went. If you weren't as totally tuned into the data flow as you are you wouldn't have noticed - it's actually a miniscule change in the library's weight sensors that lets you know. And because it's The Future (and because you've been doing a lot of boring scanning when Peacemaker can't think of anything better for you to do), you just so happen to have a PDF copy of that book on the facility network.

Would not have known to look at it before this. No connection between Anna Armisen and this Dragonslayer character would have ever jumped out at you if you hadn't known to look. But now you do. Oops.

You can tell a detail and ask questions as though you've Been Reading The Files and rolled a 10+

DyerMaker

2018-04-30, 03:37 PM

Thanqol

2018-05-01, 06:16 PM

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 0/5

Tua is in a state of anger, maybe confusion, the emotions aside he doesn't know what Stray is up to defending Kana. After all, Kana just attacked him moments earlier, a fact to which Stray was aware. What was it about this probe that was so important. Tua didn't care at this point. He could win in a different fashion. What was the earthling saying? "There is more than one way to skin a cat." Tua reached out with his right hand in an attempt to convert the probe to nothing more than dust. UNLEASH YOUR POWERS [roll0]

This seems like the sort of dose of raw, concentrated confusion and disruption that gets a person angry. For a moment you can see the outlines of an emotional reaction begin to roil on Kana's expressionless cybernetic features - and then abruptly stop. Anger is fortunately not an option right now. Instead a sense of resigned indifference takes hold of her and she just folds up and flies away and out of sight.

*

Dragonslayer is gone, Kana is leaving, the possessed Wingsuit is nowhere to be seen, and the situation has reached a point of calm. Overall for the city the whole thing is kind of a wash - supervillains attacked in the chaos but fell victim to the same effect they were trying to take advantage of. Some part of this was planned, but what part was deliberate action and which part was craven opportunism is hard to tell apart.

Peacemaker cracked the cure. Unfortunately he had to cludge some things to get it working fast and on a large scale, so he piggy-backed the cure onto the common cold. That means that being cured comes with the gross runny nose, cough, sneezing, etc that comes with having the flu, and rather than settling down in bed you're expected to walk around the streets coughing on people to 'infect' them as well. Hero work isn't always glamorous.

So you'll be settling into a fairly miserable and mundane afternoon acting as counterbioweapon carriers; plenty of time to walk together, meet up, see the sights and discuss what you've learned. Organize yourselves from here.

Also, Ember - tell us where you've been and what you've been doing during this outbreak, and then roll in and meet up with the team.

Swami Monsoon

2018-05-01, 11:36 PM

Ember
Potential: 0
Conditions:

Anwar still doesn't know exactly what had gone down the other day, and the stories told by the rest of the team, from wildly different perspectives, don't help much. An assortment of super bad guys, a grumpy alien robot, a haunted suit of power armor, a posse of hired guns... it sounded like something out of one of those old slapstick chase movies like Gumball Rally or It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World. Except for all the dead people, that is... Anwar had been busy putting the fear of God, the fear of Karl Marx, or whatever into a bunch of Russian mobsters who thought they could shake down Council-licensed businesses. It wasn't much more involved than working in the Halloween spook house when he was in high school... the remarkably high pitched screams coming from the bratva goons as they were surrounded and lifted off their feet by a cloud of smoke filled with glowing eyes would have done those middle school kids proud. He doubted that they would be back any time soon...

And now for today's business. Lacking anything resembling a human metabolism, he couldn't spread the bugs the conventional way. But they'd found out that he could carry a load of viruses with him while dispersed. So he's spent most of the day hanging out on pedestrian overpasses and near subway entrances, spread out as much as he can muster, into a thin haze that smelled faintly of smoke... something that could be mistaken for a whiff of smog or diesel fumes. The lack of wind today made it bearable, but being stretched out like that for so long eventually left him with a feeling like the aftermath of too much exercise. An odd stiffness... not that he has real muscles and bones anymore. Maybe it was like feeling a phantom limb after an amputation. He finally allows himself a break, returns to the quiet alley where his mundane clothes were stashed and resumes his human form. He walks around, trying to find the others on their rounds until he discovers the the rest of the team already gathered.

"So how goes the, uh, mission? Making lots of friends?" He lets his voice trail off. Best the crowds don't know about the... gifts... that are being distributed. Even if it's for a good cause.

Mr. E

2018-05-02, 03:43 AM

Windsong, the Protege
Potential: 0/5
Conditions: none.

"It goes nasty." Windsong half-coughs, peeling a tissue out of her pocket to blow her nose. She leans against the concrete wall, holding her white stick in one hand. With a noisy squelch, she finishes blowing the tissue, folding it up and stuffing it in her pocket. "I think, though," she says, voice grindy with her cold, "we're doing pretty well. Peacemaker thinks the virus will spread by itself now."

"How was your," she pauses to consider how to ask her question, "afternoon?" Ami trusts the council less than she can throw them, but feeling that it would be uncivil to say that in public, she keeps her tone neutral. Shrugging her shoulders, she picks up her stick again, running her fingers down the smooth plastic handle.

Eldest

2018-05-02, 08:22 AM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [X] [ ] [ ]

Source is muttering darkly to herself: she hated being in civvies around the rest of the team, even if she had to. Long hair and makeup only did so much, and she felt every glance from bystanders. She had her hood up and her face down, walking with the others, speaking quietly. "It was bad, yeah. I think I need to do some research into Dragonslayer."

Raine_Sage

2018-05-02, 09:02 AM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

"Thirding that this freaking sucks." Haley wishes so much that she didn't feel like a walking ball of phlegm. Also she's pretty sure Tua is still mad at her. She's not sure if she's still mad at him. She's not sure if she feels guilty or not. It's hard to tell what your emotions are doing when mostly you just feel tired and irritable and like you want to cocoon yourself in blankets and never come out.

They'd caught her up on the situation with Dragonslayer, and Source had shown her the logo from Ultracorp and told her about the weird mindless symbiote monster. And the sense of cold dread hadn't really left her yet. If she'd been there would they have recognized her? She's trying not to think about it.

Swami Monsoon

2018-05-05, 11:27 PM

Anwar listens to them describe the other day's goings on.

"So it looks like this Dragonslayer person arranged to have the goatee universe version of each of you in play... a suit of armor, a symbiote, an alien. I wonder if there's one out there for me?"

Raine_Sage

2018-05-07, 08:49 AM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

Haley makes a slightly amused noise which turns into coughing before she gets her voice back. "If she doesn't already then don't friggin jinx it. That council thing is already breathing down your neck, do you honestly want more djinn getting up in your personal business?" she pauses a moment to blow her nose again.

"Besides I don't think Kana was with Dragonslayer. I think Kana was just in it for Kana. I still don't know what was important about that probe, but Tua isn't talking to me currently so..."

She feels bad about it. It was a stupid rash decision because she was angry, and maybe it torpedoed a friendship for no good reason.

Eldest

2018-05-07, 10:46 AM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [X] [ ] [ ]

"I'm pretty sure the only one that matched me was Dragonslayer if we're doing the evil opposite thing, and I don't know that I want that. She... breaks things that Should Not Be Broken." She makes a face of revulsion, before breaking into a coughing fit.

Mr. E

2018-05-07, 04:53 PM

"Yeah, so what is it that she breaks?" Ami has a suspicion that the answer is going to confuse more than explain, but she pushes on regardless. "Like, you mentioned concept-symbols, and I've got not clue what one of those is. Can we have it in layman's language for those of us who's superpowers don't include metaphysics?"

Eldest

2018-05-08, 07:50 AM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [X] [ ] [ ]

"Okay, so. Simplest, least technically accurate version. According to the tiny amount of information I've been able to dig up, there was a very paranoid group of scientists called the Curiosity Group, who had one main goal, the Source Project. I've basically got a manifesto and a few memos about research to go on, but the idea was that reality wasn't. What we see and think of as reality is like the shadows in Plato's Cave. Uh. If you don't know that, it's the idea that people would grow up chained in a cave, looking at shadows on the wall instead of real things, because they couldn't see the cave entrance. So when a cat chased a dog past the cave entrance, they would see the cats shadow and the dogs shadow and think they were the cat and the dog. In this metaphor, I can see the cave entrance, and Dragonslayer shot the dog to make the cat stop running." She sneezes, and then continues. "So that's the basic idea, the more ideal model is that of a 11th dimension projection from a ideal gem-surface with a fractal number of facets. At least, that one explains the double slit experiment, as well as multiversal bleed and the aproximate nature of the worlds implimentation of the three body problem."

Raine_Sage

2018-05-08, 08:08 AM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

"I'm too foggy to understand most of that, but I get the cave thing at least. So what happens when Dragonslayer shoots too many dogs?"
Haley has a suspicion it's something like 'reality unravels like a moth eaten sweater' but she would be happy to be proven wrong on this one.

Swami Monsoon

2018-05-09, 08:12 AM

Anwar winces at the thought of what kind of nemesis might be waiting for him.

"I'm curious, but not in a good way. I can't imagine finding out will be much fun..."

Eldest

2018-05-09, 08:45 AM

Mr. E

2018-05-09, 12:57 PM

"Well," Ami says, thinking rapidly to herself, "clearly some research is required. What authors can you recommend for an introduction to field? I'll hassle Peacemaker for some copies and get started."

She fumbles in her pocket, removing a tissue and blowing her nose wetly. "Unless anyone else has any important issues to discuss, may I move to adjourn? I want a coffee, and somewhere warmer than this street."

DyerMaker

2018-05-09, 04:47 PM

Tua / Cap'n Morpho (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22828853&postcount=99)
[ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure . Potential 0/5

Tua bolts moments after Kana heads skyward. He doesn't follow her. He simply doesn't want to socialize or be anywhere right now. All of these hero moments are akin to a rollercoaster for Tua. Given the capacity to vomit, he would. Instead, he decides to shift into what he considers the typical 90210 teen stereo-type and hit the nearest Steam Arcade. Let's play a bit of Fortnite until boredom sets in.

Raine_Sage

2018-05-10, 09:05 AM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

"Well," Ami says, thinking rapidly to herself, "clearly some research is required. What authors can you recommend for an introduction to field? I'll hassle Peacemaker for some copies and get started."

She fumbles in her pocket, removing a tissue and blowing her nose wetly. "Unless anyone else has any important issues to discuss, may I move to adjourn? I want a coffee, and somewhere warmer than this street."

"Yeah sounds good. I could go for a starbucks or something honestly. As long as you're researching things though, you said this was some kind of infection right? The brain fog thing? I'm kind of wondering what stages 2 and onward would have been." Haley glances at the others. She isn't particularly keen on being by herself right now, not when she knows Omnicorp, or Ultracorp, or whatever the hell they're calling themselves right now, is skulking around the city somewhere. It feels selfish to try and lean on the others for support though, they're feeling just as poorly as she is right now. She knows Taylor in particular must be incredibly uncomfortable.

She settles on Anwar. Well maybe not all of them are feeling awful right now. She gets up and stretches nonchalantly. "I dunno, what about you Anwar? You still do hot beverages right?"

Mr. E

2018-05-10, 04:14 PM

"I'll add it to the list." In response to Haley's research suggestion, Ami extracts an oversized phone from her pocket, pushing the plain black sunglasses up and holding the screen inches away from her nose as she types. A few seconds of squinty, why-do-they-make-the-font-so-small, typing follows, before she slides it back into her jeans.

She slides the sunnies back down, then looks around at the rest of the group. "Yeah, you joining us, Anwar?"

Eldest

2018-05-10, 04:40 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [X] [ ] [ ]

"Like I said, this was a few files I spent a while digging to find, not something I really know where to start looking for. If we could find the Curiosity Group, it'd probably lead to more detail, they were the ones studying it after all. And I could go for a cheap coffee, sure." She mentally adds up how much she has on her, subtracts dinner and bus fare, and winces. Cheap coffee it is.

Swami Monsoon

2018-05-10, 08:30 PM

"I still have all my senses... actually much keener then they were before. I don't need food or drink... it just turns to ash and steam. But it still tastes just fine. Better than fine, now. So coffee sounds great... although I can't offer much insight into the whole reality bending tech thing. STEM was never my thing."

Raine_Sage

2018-05-11, 08:36 AM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

"Well that's lucky for you then, there's a pretty good little local cafe about a block that way." She gestures down the street before hooking an arm around Taylor's.

"And if you're coming then I'm buying, seriously. Life is too short for watery coffee."

Thanqol

2018-05-15, 02:21 AM

Unfortunately plans for coffee and socializing are cut short when Peacemaker puts out the call. He is your team sponsor and you are all in serious trouble if you don't attend when he comes at you through official channels - and this is an official channels kind of thing. When you get there, Peacemaker has two other heroes standing alongside him - Tanzsprache the hypnotic and ravishing bee-themed tango dancemaster, and Ms. Mayday, an elite secret agent with a suitcase full of serious business. Heavy hitters.

"Hello, everyone," said Peacemaker, as unreadably bureaucratic as he always was. "I have been reviewing your team's actions during the recent crisis. Before I begin, does anyone wish to volunteer any commentary or opinions on any matter?"

Eldest

2018-05-15, 04:18 PM

Raine_Sage

2018-05-15, 04:33 PM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

The presence of two pros already makes her nervous, but peacemaker's comment about 'reviewing' their actions makes her stomach want to drop about a foot lower because this sounds so much like a trap question. This sounds like it's waiting for one of them to say 'well I actually thought it went pretty well' and then he gets to drop a big old "WRONG" on them. There had to be security cameras in that vault. Does he have footage of her messing with Tua's fight? Are they in trouble for breaking in in the first place? Dusting the probe? Did important tech get stolen while they weren't paying attention? Her brain started running through every potential screwup the moment Peacemaker stopped talking.

She shuffles nervously, electing to remain quiet, giving Tua the occasional sidelong glance like she's waiting for him to be the one to volunteer that information. It's not like he'd be wrong.

Mr. E

2018-05-16, 02:30 AM

Ami stays silent, wearing her sunglasses down, to avoid showing Peacemaker and friends the annoyance in her eyes. Glaring under her dark shades, she leans her stick against her leg, waiting as placidly as she can manage. Part - well no, most - of her wants to start by pointing out the established heroes own incompetence, but she refrains.

After all, Windsong commiserates herself, they might be about to praise their performance. It could happen...

Swami Monsoon

2018-05-16, 08:51 AM

Anwar senses that this is going to be a serious scolding, but since he had no part in the events in question he can do nothing but wait quietly...

Thanqol

2018-05-16, 10:30 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [X] [ ] [ ]

Source raises a finger. "Can I request information on Dragonslayer? For after the meeting, of course. I think she might be far more dangerous than I thought she was."

"That is the second matter we will discuss," said Peacemaker. "First, Ms. Mayday would like to tell everyone what the council has decided regarding your accomplishments and development."

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

The presence of two pros already makes her nervous, but peacemaker's comment about 'reviewing' their actions makes her stomach want to drop about a foot lower because this sounds so much like a trap question. This sounds like it's waiting for one of them to say 'well I actually thought it went pretty well' and then he gets to drop a big old "WRONG" on them. There had to be security cameras in that vault. Does he have footage of her messing with Tua's fight? Are they in trouble for breaking in in the first place? Dusting the probe? Did important tech get stolen while they weren't paying attention? Her brain started running through every potential screwup the moment Peacemaker stopped talking.

She shuffles nervously, electing to remain quiet, giving Tua the occasional sidelong glance like she's waiting for him to be the one to volunteer that information. It's not like he'd be wrong.

Ami stays silent, wearing her sunglasses down, to avoid showing Peacemaker and friends the annoyance in her eyes. Glaring under her dark shades, she leans her stick against her leg, waiting as placidly as she can manage. Part - well no, most - of her wants to start by pointing out the established heroes own incompetence, but she refrains.

After all, Windsong commiserates herself, they might be about to praise their performance. It could happen...

"The first thing that we are here to discuss is your apprenticeship paths," said Mrs. Mayday. Imagine superhero Maggie Thatcher for voice and mannerisms. "Heroes need to specialize. You need to know your strengths and your limitations, and recent events have shown many of both. These are not yet finalized but I, for one, believe I have a fairly accurate view of who you are and how you will be best used in service to society."

She produces a set of carefully typed report cards. "Stray. The most recent events showed you masterfully handled civilian evacuation of a burning building, but later demonstrated a shocking lack of judgement when it came to dealing with alien allies endangering the mission. You seem like you will do best when you are given direct orders in a regimented environment and don't have to do any thinking you are not suited for. Your apprenticeship is currently slated to be with the Disaster Recovery Corps."

[She wants to shift Saviour up and Superior down, accept the shift or reject her influence.]

"Source. You have demonstrated a high level of combat abilities, including the notable achievement of dispatching an entire fire team in a direct engagement. You do not, however, seem to be able to actually thwart individuals with advanced understanding of their powers. You seem best suited as a brute force combatant working in conjunction with more technical specialists, so you will be assigned to Battle School."

[She wants to shift Danger up and Freak down, accept or reject her influence.]

"Windsong, you have thus far been following Peacemaker's strategies of remote action and combat oversight, but the rest of the council believes that his training is stopping you from becoming a well rounded person." Ms. Mayday casts a deliberate glance at Peacemaker who seems to be concealing irritation in return. "You have antisocial tendencies, they are getting worse from your exposure to an extremely antisocial hero. You are, however, the most effective potential leader the team has so you need to become better at managing and controlling your subordinates. You will be placed in charge of a basketball team and be required to lead them to victory."

[She wants to shift Mundane up and Savior down, accept or reject her influence.]

"Ember, while Windsong is undergoing remedial social training, you are hereby promoted to team leader. You will henceforth be responsible for all success and failure, and everyone will be required to follow your instructions. No apprenticeships are necessary for a member of such a storied dynasty, so instead you should devote your full attention to your duties as a hero."

[She wants to shift your Superior up and your Freak down, accept or reject her influence.]

Ms. Mayday looks pointedly at Tua, looks down at her cards, and then folds them and puts them away. She's making it painfully obvious that you aren't a part of this process.

[She wants to shift your Freak up and Savior down. Accept or reject her influence.]

Raine_Sage

2018-05-16, 11:38 PM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

This is somehow both better and worse than what she was expecting. The phrase "direct orders in a regimented environment" makes her insides knot with a cold dread. It brings back memories of a sterile lab and people in uniform directing them through combat drills... And then of course that bit about 'any thinking she's not suited for.' That manages to sting in a new and entirely unexpected way because she's pretty sure a pro hero just called her an idiot in the most polite way possible.

And it sucks too, because Disaster recovery sounds like something she might have liked, under any other circumstances. It sounds like a more intense version of some of the volunteer work she already does. The exact kind of thing she wanted to put her powers towards. And now it's tainted because it feels like a punishment. Like an insult.

"Ma'am, when you say currently slated," she replies, her voice and expression as inoffensively neutral as she can get them, "does that mean these are subject to change? I feel like I'd like to know what exactly my options are before committing to one of these programs."

I think we're rolling to reject. Got an 8 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=23077241&postcount=523) so shifting savior down and superior up, since she's turning down rescue internship in favor of actually seeing what's available as a whole.

Mr. E

2018-05-18, 03:49 AM

Windsong, the Protege
Potential: 0/5
Conditions: none.

Ami thought she was mad before. This was not entirely untrue, but she's definitely mad now. Her fingers grip the white shaft of her stick more firmly, with the faintest hint of a white knuckle emerging. Windsong takes a deep breath, summoning her thoughts more thoroughly, and then opens her mouth.

"With all due respect, Ma'am, the decision on mine or anyone else's apprenticeship is not yours to make. As you'll remember, the team's legal overseer is Peacemaker, and only he is technically responsible for our arrangements. A point of order, to be sure, but I think you would agree that it is important that laws are followed." Ami takes a moment to let the needling hang in the air. "Secondly, as you would know if you read my file, I suffer from a condition that reduces my vision. More specifically, I am legally and functionally blind, which might, unfortunately, impact on my effectiveness at basketball, regardless of the development of my social skills."

"While," she says, realising that in some ways she is probably proving Ms. Mayday's point, "I am prepared to accept my mentor's decision regarding my status as team leader, I might suggest that the position on the basketball team be changed for something where I am actually capable of contributing."

As per the OOC (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=23077511&postcount=524), Ami rejects, with force and vigour. Is acquiescing to being demoted from team leader enough to let me prove them wrong and mark potential?

Swami Monsoon

2018-05-18, 09:44 AM

Anwar does a long double take. Basketball? Does Ami even play basketball? Why does it even matter who's team leader if the team is scattered? And why does it have to be him? His 'dynasty?' If these people think the Council is a paragon of super heroic organization, they've clearly never met them...

"Ma'am I don't think this is a good idea. I'm the newest member of the team. The least experienced. Windsong has been doing a fine job, and despite what you might have heard, Peacemaker is a much better trainer of modern superheroes than the Council is. Of course it won't matter who's leader if we've all been sent to different corners of the city."

Anwar will reject.

Eldest

2018-05-18, 02:16 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [X] [X] [ ]

Source sits quietly, getting more and more angry at this woman as she goes on. She didn't know anything about her teammates, did she? She didn't think she was particularly good in combat, in spite of the experience with the mercenaries. While Mrs. Mayday might well know more about her capabilities than she does, she's still wrong about the rest of the team.

Failed to reject influence: marked Angry, and shifted the labels.

Thanqol

2018-05-20, 11:18 AM

"A-tut-tut-tut-tut-tut!" said Ms. Mayday, raising her voice over the chorus of objections. "I assure you, every single one of your assignments have been considered carefully with regards to your personal development and the good of society. A little discipline and structure in your lives will no doubt do you well. After all, just because you're super doesn't mean you're special."

She gazed about with a severe sort of look that indicated she wasn't interested in listening to any objections.

Peacemaker gave a deeply exasperated roll of the eyes behind her back. It's clear he's no happier with this than any of you are.

"Now, Ms. Stray has asked a reasonable question in a polite way, and that deserves a polite answer. Yes, these postings can be changed. You are all welcome to put in an application of your own to any of the young hero programs in the city. However, all the selection councils value my opinion very highly and you will need to go out of your way to impress them. Is there anything else, or may I continue?"

As per the OOC, Ami rejects, with force and vigour. Is acquiescing to being demoted from team leader enough to let me prove them wrong and mark potential?

Ms. Mayday implied that you're picking up antisocial habits from Peacemaker, and you immediately responded by quoting the law at her. I don't think that goes any way towards proving her wrong on this specific point.

Raine_Sage

2018-05-21, 09:36 AM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

She finds the idea that Ms. Mayday's input is regarded highly incredibly laughable. She can't think of a person less suited to giving career advice, with a personality so abrasive that it borders on incompetent. There are the suggestions of good ideas smothered by so much condescension that they turn toxic to the recipient. Ok fine though, if she wants to be the tone police then Haley knows how to play that game.

"Um, sorry, I am kind of wondering about the question Windsong raised regarding her vision? It seemed like a pretty valid question, and I don't think it's out of line to want to know what kind of accommodations, if any, are being made. Also, is Tua not participating in an internship? I thought he was sponsored by peacemaker too, same as the rest of us."

Despite having literally lifted a building over her head not all that long ago, she finds keeping up the polite inoffensive neutrality in her voice a much heavier load to bear. She hates this, and she hates knowing that the moment she lets on that she's having any kind of emotion it will be grounds to disregard anything she says. As if being upset when someone else says upsetting things is some kind of character flaw.

Mr. E

2018-05-22, 03:11 AM

There comes a point where anger loops back around, becoming cold and frosty and assessing. Ami deliberately loosens her grip on the stick, then moves one hand up to remove her sunglasses. Previous evidence has shown that people find her eyes unnerving, despite the fact that they look perfectly normal. She suspects it has something to do with her tendency to look past people. Usually this is embarrassing, but right now the young hero is well past caring.

Looking around at the blurry scene and blurry people, Ami considers. If Ms. Mayday wishes to ignore her, then she will happily ignore the other right back. This is, as even she recognises, a little bit petty, but Windsong writes her out of the social equation anyway. Instead, she hones in on one of the other variables. Her mentor has been oddly passive throughout this conversation, which does not tally with her understanding of his motivations. After all, he likes nothing better than to deliver advice and opinions, wanted or otherwise. Considering this a possible weak point, it merely falls to her to formulate the appropriate leverage.

"Yeah, Haley, that's a good point. Where do you think Tua should be assigned, Peacemaker? If I remember correctly, it was your decision to add him to the team?"

Ami is trying to Provoke Peacemaker into sharing his opinions about Tua, and more generally about Ms. Mayday's ideas:

[roll0]

Also, since I won't be marking potential, Ami will cancel Ms. Mayday's influence, because she's petty and hopping mad about being ignored and ordered around.

Eldest

2018-05-25, 11:54 AM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [X] [ ] [ ]

Source stays silent still, but cringes at the idea of "discipline and structure". It's the worst parts of authority, in her mind, that wants order for order's sake.

Swami Monsoon

2018-05-25, 01:08 PM

"However this works out, we should stay together. If there is training that we need, we should go through each stage as a team. That includes Tua. He's as much a part of this team as any of us."

Thanqol

2018-05-26, 01:52 PM

"Um, sorry, I am kind of wondering about the question Windsong raised regarding her vision? It seemed like a pretty valid question, and I don't think it's out of line to want to know what kind of accommodations, if any, are being made. Also, is Tua not participating in an internship? I thought he was sponsored by peacemaker too, same as the rest of us."

"Yeah, Haley, that's a good point. Where do you think Tua should be assigned, Peacemaker? If I remember correctly, it was your decision to add him to the team?"

Ami is trying to Provoke Peacemaker into sharing his opinions about Tua, and more generally about Ms. Mayday's ideas:

[roll0]

Also, since I won't be marking potential, Ami will cancel Ms. Mayday's influence, because she's petty and hopping mad about being ignored and ordered around.

"Oh, I'll tell you what I think," said Peacemaker, starting to raise his voice. "I think that this whole thing is -"

Ms. Mayday turns around.

Windsong, you have never seen Peacemaker back down like this before. He flinches. He grits his teeth. He opens and closes his mouth, struggling deeply between a very passionate rant that's on the tip of his tongue and... something else. Fear? It's a set of emotions you didn't even know he had. Take Influence over him.

"Yes, Simon?" asked Ms. Mayday.

"I - I think this whole thing is a good idea and you should all listen to Ms. Mayday," said Peacemaker, gritting his teeth and looking away. "She's done more to keep the world safe than almost anyone. You should learn from her."

"Thank you," said Ms. Mayday. "Now that we've dealt with your, frankly, shameful lack of gratitude let's move on. We're going to discuss this "Dragonslayer" character and the process by which we shall defeat her. Come with me - it's time for you to learn about one of AEGIS' most important secrets."

Mr. E

2018-05-27, 10:23 PM

Ami blinks a couple of times, raising her eyebrows in response to Peacemakers unusual body language and vocal patterns. She smiles thinly, mentally noting to research Ms. Mayday more thoroughly at a later date. Sliding her glasses back down onto her head, Ami shrugs in response to the female hero's comment, then stands straight, obviously waiting to be shown this "greatest secret".

Eldest

2018-05-27, 10:56 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [X] [ ] [ ]

Source follows, silent as normal when meeting "real" heroes. But anybody who knows her knows that she's furious from the set of her shoulders. Mrs. Mayday might well be an excellent hero. That does not make her a good bureaucrat or organizer of people.

Thanqol

2018-05-31, 04:00 AM

"Naturally, it goes without saying that what I am about to tell you is highly classified," said Ms. Mayday as she walked down the corridor. "During the second world war, AEGIS researchers working with Miracle Man created an interdimensional portal to Reality 2. Reality 2 is a parallel dimension similar to our own but with one important change: everyone's ideology is reversed, but their actions and outcomes are still somehow the same. The Soviet Union, for example, was based on radical anarcho-capitalism instead of communism, and the German chancellor believed in the inherent racial superiority of the Jewish people and that they were the only ones worthy of world leadership. And so on. Every villain is a hero, and every hero is a villain."

She waved her hands about breezily. "Naturally, we don't have the resources to intervene in another dimension's affairs on a scale that matters, but AEGIS quickly negotiated an information sharing deal with the other side. We can approach that dimension's heroes - our dimension's villains - and ask them what their strengths and weaknesses are, and how their powers work. This lets us gain incredible amounts of intel on our opponents directly from the horse's mouth. This is our secret weapon when dealing with scheming villains, and those with strange powers or ties to organized crime."

"The reason why we prefer sending junior heroes to make contact is simple enough - actions are mirrored on the other side to some degree, and if I, say, were to go through that portal it might trigger a full scale assault on our allies. If you go through it is possible you will face bizarro versions of yourselves - which I advise you to treat as a learning opportunity, before retreating swiftly. Remember, your goal is to gather intelligence on Dragonslayer and her cronies, not to make any changes to a, frankly, very silly secondary dimension. Are we clear?"

Eldest

2018-05-31, 10:09 AM

Source
[ ]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [X] [ ] [ ]

Source is actually too shocked here to stay angry, for the moment. She wants to see this portal, badly, and understand how they did it. She spends about three minutes worth of walking in silent thought, working through how that portal would work, and where in the matrix of realities would "Reality 2" fall, based on her (limited) understanding of the subject. Then... have you ever had a really giddy, happy day, and then all of a sudden you remember something bad and go "oh". And then there's a small tidal wave of negative emotions, just smashing into you? That's Source. She's upset and unsure of herself and it's a nasty combination, so she's just going to go with the flow right now. Maybe sneak a peak at the machinery for the portal before going through, see if she recognizes anything from the Curiosity Group designs.

Mr. E

2018-05-31, 06:00 PM

Eldest

2018-05-31, 06:10 PM

Windsong listens to Ms. Mayday's spiel, but like Source, is really more interested in the machinery. She scans the equipment for signs of alien technology, wondering what, exactly, A.E.G.I.S uses to create portals. After all, she'd read papers on the subject, but they were purely theoretical in scope, and most involved impossible quantities of mass or energy to function.

Not that she can really see anything, of course, without her suit, which hopefully Peacemaker has brought with him. The prospect of journeying to another dimension without the ability to see properly is less than appealing to say the least. Leaning over, Ami nudges Source with her elbow, dropping her voice to a quiet whisper.

"What does it all look like?" Gazing around and squinting through her sunglasses, she wonders whether the blurry box thing in the corner is the containment sheath for a self-sustaining proton loop, or just the cupboard where they keep the cleaning gear.

Source
[ ]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [X] [ ] [ ]

Source nearly slaps herself: of course Windsong wanted to know. She starts rattling off technical descriptions as she goes, with an evil grin beneath the her mask: this ought to show Mrs. Mayday that she doesn't know everything about her or the team.

Provoking Mrs. Mayday, if possible, into re-evaluating her or (preferably) the team's roles. Got a 12.

Mr. E

2018-05-31, 06:24 PM

Windsong doesn't say anything in response, except the occasionally muttered "hmm" or request for more detail, but the frown lines on her forehead smooth slowly away as the conversation continues. Feeling slightly less like dead-weight, she nods along to the technical information, putting together an image of the chamber in her head.

Swami Monsoon

2018-05-31, 08:17 PM

Anwar tries to process all of this.

"You first told us that we would be assigned to various locations for training. Now you're telling us about this secret mission. Which part comes first?"

He can't imagine how Opposite World came to exist. He'd have to ask one of the Council mages about that when he got a chance. Cause and effect simply didn't work that way, so that place must be the result of magic, not anything that could be measured scientifically...

Raine_Sage

2018-05-31, 08:48 PM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

Haley wonders what it says about her that she's kind of excited by the prospect of meeting her evil double. It's not too hard to imagine how that came about either, if everything about how she got her powers is more or less the same. Though in that world would Ultra or Omega corp or whatever be a legitimate hero organization and nega her went rogue for some reason? The mind boggles.

Conversationally she doesn't have much to add, she's impressed by Source's breakdown but she can't say she understands most of it. Nor is she particularly inclined to protest their mission.

"I think it's bizzaro world first then interns." She offers helpfully to Anwar. "At least I hope so."

Thanqol

2018-06-04, 05:27 AM

Source
[ ]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [X] [ ] [ ]

Source nearly slaps herself: of course Windsong wanted to know. She starts rattling off technical descriptions as she goes, with an evil grin beneath the her mask: this ought to show Mrs. Mayday that she doesn't know everything about her or the team.

Ms. Mayday is a hard read, even with your senses. Her mind and mannerisms are so disciplined and directed she comes across as a featureless grey cube - everything precisely within expected parameters.

However, when she subtly pulls out her clip board your senses let you see what she writes on it, even though you don't have a direct angle to see it. She only writes a single character, at the end of your profile: ?

Anwar tries to process all of this.

"You first told us that we would be assigned to various locations for training. Now you're telling us about this secret mission. Which part comes first?"

He can't imagine how Opposite World came to exist. He'd have to ask one of the Council mages about that when he got a chance. Cause and effect simply didn't work that way, so that place must be the result of magic, not anything that could be measured scientifically...

"It is best for everyone that we send you in as underprepared as possible," said Mrs. Mayday. "This is why you will receive no further maps, briefings, training or advice because that would somehow be reflected in your opposite numbers."

Miracle Man's technology is a mishmash. What made him such a legendary inventor was not his ability to envision new devices, but to combine seemingly unrelated things to produce incredible effects - a bit like Super Macgyver. To a more modern audience, his inventions seem to work on adventure game logic - he combines every item in his inventory with every other item in his inventory to create the miraculous chain of events that results in a bizarro-logic solution to a problem.

As a result the interdimensional portal is made up of a room with ten old refrigerators, all open and spilling cold air out onto a model railroad that is being powered by a screaming jet turbine covered in christmas lights. Every five minutes exactly a security goon in a suit stands up, walks over to a light switch, and turns it off and on twice. He then opens an ordinary seeming door to a room that looks a lot like this one except everything is upside down.

"I cannot emphasize enough," said Ms. Mayday, "don't try to fix anything over there. It is an absurd dimension and you have no obligation to it or its inhabitants."

Mr. E

2018-06-04, 04:51 PM

Ami looks around, listening to Source's description and idly wondering what, exactly, her counterpart would look like. Deaf with the ability to burrow through the ground, maybe? Amusing herself by visualising the inverse of Peacemaker, she grins slightly, then recalls her task to the mind at hand.

"Peacemaker, I'm gonna need my suit..."

Extending one hand towards the older hero, she waits for him to pass her the key, while gazing intently at the portal. In her mind she already is visualising possible outcomes, and planning the optimal way to take herself out. After all, her clone is probably doing exactly the same.

I imagine that Peacemaker has Iron Man style suits that pack down in a suitcase or a wristwatch, but also that Ami is definitely not given access to those, at least without him overseeing her. After all, she did have a past career as a super hacker, at least until he took her on.

Eldest

2018-06-04, 05:18 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [X]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [X] [ ] [ ]

Source keeps up the running litany of what all the machines are, up until they get to the final room. There she just... stops dead. "There's... why is there... what in the... that is so stupid why the fudge does it work?" She stands next to one of the refrigerators, staring at it. "There are refrigerators. I kid you not, 1940s refrigerators! This just... ugh. Fine!" She stomps over to the door and sits by it, waiting for Mrs. Mayday to either leave or let them go through so she can have some bloody privacy with her friends.

Raine_Sage

2018-06-05, 09:49 AM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

If she thought Ms. Maydays comments had gotten under her skin, it's increasingly clear to Stray that Source was even more nettled than she was. Which was impressive, it wasn't exactly easy to throw Source off her game like that. While she's loath to give Mayday any more leverage than she already has, she still goes over and gives Taylor's shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"Well hey, silly or not it seems... stable enough. Besides we maybe get to meet our evil AU selves, that's pretty exciting right?" Stray tries her best at a reassuring grin before stepping back and letting her exosuit spread out over her body in preparation. "Bet you mine's like, a total edge lord. Yours it probably the cool mastermind."

Going to offer some Comfort by trying to cheer up Taylor a bit with some light-hearted banter before jumping through the portal. [roll0] (+1 because influence over Source)

Swami Monsoon

2018-06-05, 07:05 PM

Eldest

2018-06-05, 10:43 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [X] [ ] [ ]

Source nods and gives Stray a quick hug. Mrs. Mayday be damned, she needed one. "Thanks, it's been a day and then some, and it's what, midafternoon?" She chuckles. "God, I hope they're not. It's bad enough having to improvise on a regular day, against an actual plan it's going to be hard." With that she does a few stretches, a toe touch or two, and heads towards the door to Reality 2.

Thanqol

2018-06-07, 07:34 PM

Anwar stares at the odd contraption. He doesn't have to be a STEM major to know that it makes no scientific sense. So, definitely magic...

"Will this portal deliver us to a secure location, or will we have to find our way to the contact?"

"You will arrive within some sort of resistance base, similar to the facility here but appropriately upside-downed," said Ms. Mayday. "I understand from descriptions that it's a bit of a garbage dump."

And with that the young heroes step through to the strange and alien world of Reality Two - where The Critic is finishing its 29th season and The Simpsons languishes in obscurity, Blackberry killed the iPhone, and the bleeding edge of the indie game market is finally stepping away from emotional story-driven games and dipping its toe in the water of mindless FPS violence. You are entering a world where environmentalists urge the government to burn more fossil fuels to combat the scourge of global cooling, where the United States government sponsors international piracy (musical and nautical), and Disneyworld is the land where nightmares are reality.

A quick in and out. It'll be a walk in the park.

[ISSUE END]

Thanqol

2018-06-11, 08:28 PM

Alpha Corp seems like a nice place to work. Standing desks, ergonomic furniture, office cork boards announcing charity fun runs, casual Fridays. Very milquetoast public service-y.

Pity the building is being hit by mortar fire.

Evacuation sirens are howling, lights are flickering ominously, and combat armoured corporate security goons are running around everywhere. Staff are putting on biohazard masks and suits and heading down for the basement. It's dark outside, only illuminated by the burning wreckage of cars in the parking lot. "All staff. Please evacuate immediately to the armoured personnel carriers in the basement. This is not a drill."

Despite the physical chaos, the staff are responding very calmly - not just 'drilled' calmly, 'have done this before' calmly. The dudes who are not calm are the fifteen security goons who are aiming assault rifles at you in the green light of the vanishing portal.

"We may die here, men," said the officer, buckling up his bulletproof vest. "But we will buy time for the noncombatants to evacuate. We will die as heroes." And then, directly at your team, "Do your worst, villains. We're not intimidated by thugs."

Eldest

2018-06-11, 08:53 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [X] [ ] [ ]

Source blinks. This was... not what she had expected. "Right. So. I have a point to make. One, we just came through the portal from the Bizzaroverse back there," She hooks a thumb over her shoulder. "So whatever the evil versions of us did in this world, we haven't done, and I'd like to think we're actually nice people." She carefully has her hands out to the side, palm facing the guard: nothing up her sleeves. "So... I'd rather not get shot, if it's all the same to you, it tends to hurt a lot I'm told." She's looking at the guards possibility space as she talks, trying to feel her way through to an endpoint that doesn't end with them opening fire.

Accessed the situation: got a 10.
What here can I use to persuade them that we're not their enemy?
What here is the biggest threat? I'd assume it's whoever is mortaring the building, but I'd like to be sure, and plus hopefully I get more info. :smalltongue:

Raine_Sage

2018-06-12, 12:15 PM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

"A bit of a garbage dump. Understatement of the year." Stray grumbles and puts her hands up, hoping not to get shot. Dropping the armor would go towards putting them at ease, but in the even this all goes pear shaped it would also go towards preventing her and her teammates from turning into chunky salsa. She elects to keep it up.

"Seriously, we're just here to talk to some people." she adds. "Nobody's dying."

Swami Monsoon

2018-06-12, 02:54 PM

Anwar raises his hands...

"We're not the problem. Whoever's shooting up a building full of civilians... that's not us. Were you not told to expect visitors? As in guests, not uninvited jerks bringing guns and bombs..."

Mr. E

2018-06-12, 07:36 PM

Windsong, the Protege
Potential: 1/5
Conditions: none.

Ami is busy, distracted from the conversation in front of her by other things. Well, distracted is too harsh, rather she rests confident on the assumption that some other team-mate will deal with it. Anyway, it wasn't like even one of them couldn't take down these fairly second rate thugs on their own. She raises her hands slightly as well, tilts her head to the sky, and sets her sensors too work.

Even a corporate office like this one is a theoretical mine of information. Scanning the scene, Windsong mentally looks for every interesting fact, creating a data-base of useful stuff.

Not a lot to really say, but Source is going to assess the situation:

[roll0]

Really don't need that many questions (especially with the extra from Be Mindful of Your Surroundings)

- What here can I use to get up to date?
- What here is in the greatest danger?
- How could we best end this quickly? (the overall mission, not the immediate situation)

Thanqol

2018-06-13, 10:36 PM

"You're from Reality Two, huh?" said the security officer.

Evidently the two dimensions didn't agree on which one of them was Reality Two.

"We heard you were coming, but damn it. You bastards always show up at the worst times," he said. "If you are what you say you are."

Source
[ ]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [X] [ ] [ ]

Source blinks. This was... not what she had expected. "Right. So. I have a point to make. One, we just came through the portal from the Bizzaroverse back there," She hooks a thumb over her shoulder. "So whatever the evil versions of us did in this world, we haven't done, and I'd like to think we're actually nice people." She carefully has her hands out to the side, palm facing the guard: nothing up her sleeves. "So... I'd rather not get shot, if it's all the same to you, it tends to hurt a lot I'm told." She's looking at the guards possibility space as she talks, trying to feel her way through to an endpoint that doesn't end with them opening fire.

What here can I use to persuade them that we're not their enemy?
What here is the biggest threat? I'd assume it's whoever is mortaring the building, but I'd like to be sure, and plus hopefully I get more info.

To persuade him that you're from Reality One (or two, depending on where you're standing), just outline some basic Reality One facts. Mentioning that you're still on the Gregorian Calendar, or that you use the Metric System (as opposed to the French Revolutionary Calendar/decentralized Imperial weights & measures) is enough to establish baseline trust.

The biggest threat is - well, I'll turn that back to you! Which member of the team does Source regard as her biggest threat?

Windsong, the Protege
Potential: 1/5
Conditions: none.

Ami is busy, distracted from the conversation in front of her by other things. Well, distracted is too harsh, rather she rests confident on the assumption that some other team-mate will deal with it. Anyway, it wasn't like even one of them couldn't take down these fairly second rate thugs on their own. She raises her hands slightly as well, tilts her head to the sky, and sets her sensors too work.

Even a corporate office like this one is a theoretical mine of information. Scanning the scene, Windsong mentally looks for every interesting fact, creating a data-base of useful stuff.

Not a lot to really say, but Source is going to assess the situation:

[roll0]

Really don't need that many questions (especially with the extra from Be Mindful of Your Surroundings)

- What here can I use to get up to date?
- What here is in the greatest danger?
- How could we best end this quickly? (the overall mission, not the immediate situation)

Right now, Alphacorp people are going around slamming magnets on all the computers they can't take with them. Get to one quick and drain the central server and you'll instantly get enough data to take you up to peak combat effectiveness.

Right now the greatest danger is to the parking garage. Your feeds show a number of armoured cars that the Alphacorp staff are piling into - and if you can see it, you expect your evil robot uss-es self can see it.

The best way to end the mission quickly is to get these guys to take you to Dragonslayer. If she's some sort of bigshot villain in your reality, odds are she's the hero behind Alphacorp here - and if she's at the top she can give you all the other information you're here to get.

Eldest

2018-06-14, 12:04 AM

Source
[ ]Afraid [X]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [X] [ ] [ ]

Source rattles off a few facts staring forward into possibilities. "Firefly got canceled ages ago, the French revolution was bloody and terrifying, bagels go best with cream cheese, weed is illegal but booze isn't" she's feeling like she's on a roll "the US has three branches of government, slavery lasted for hundreds of years, we've only used the atomic bomb twice, and I'm... a... hero..." She finishes the statement, seeing her own symbol in the possibility space for this moment.

Being trans, there was a special kind of hell she'd dealt with, that of a few people who knew that she was a chick, but still called her by her deadname, maliciously. It's a sort of negation of who you are, what you're like, to have somebody do that.

Now take that, and ramp it up to 100%. The symbol she just saw was an inversion, a denial of everything she was, everything she claimed to be, while still being unmistakably her. She jerks back, in shock, only noticing a few minutes later that the guards were staring at her, hell her team was probably staring at her. She smiles weakly, gulps some air, and continues. "And I'm a hero."

Mr. E

2018-06-14, 03:08 AM

Windsong, the Protege
Potential: 1/5
Conditions: none.

Source finishes her scan of the scene, then turns back to the confrontation in front of them. They don't have time for this kind of prolonged argument, and Source looks like she needs a moment to get her head back in the game. Or rather, they do, but these other people, these people who half exist, smoke on the mirror, don't. Windsong clicks her visor up, steps forward slightly, moving alongside Source. The building rattles with another impact, and she grits her teeth.

"You okay?" Even with what she admits is her poor ability to read emotions, Ami knows when something is up. Most likely, inferring from what she knows, it has to do with Source's ability to visualise ideas, however that actually works. Like most things that require a degree in dimensional metaphysics, Windsong suspects that attempting to visualising it will result in a headache and a lot of wasted time. She makes eye contact with the lead PMC, picking the right combination of words to make him leave.

"Do you trust her, or not? They, the real bad guys, are going to attack the convoy as it leaves the facility. You need to be there, if you want to have any chance of stopping them." Windsong puts her very best authority voice on, crisply throwing the words at them, each one picked to be razor-sharp.

Alright, I guess I'm trying to Provoke these Alpha Corp goons into going and supporting their compatriots in the car-park.

[roll0] (Not sure if the +1 from the assess applies)

Ooh, better help it does.

Thanqol

2018-06-17, 12:01 AM

"And I'm a hero."

"Fine," said the man, lowering his gun and offering his hand to shake. "Commander Doyle Brigadier, Alphacorp security chief. I expect you're here because you've got beef with my double. Help me get these people to safety and I'll tell you anything you want to know."

"Do you trust her, or not? They, the real bad guys, are going to attack the convoy as it leaves the facility. You need to be there, if you want to have any chance of stopping them." Windsong puts her very best authority voice on, crisply throwing the words at them, each one picked to be razor-sharp.

Alright, I guess I'm trying to Provoke these Alpha Corp goons into going and supporting their compatriots in the car-park.

[roll0] (Not sure if the +1 from the assess applies)

Ooh, better help it does.

"Damn it!" said Brigader. "Alright ladies, no time to waste. Get down to the basement and apparently we should be packing armour piercing."

Everyone's hustling away, double time. You've got run of the place. What do you do?

Swami Monsoon

2018-06-17, 08:30 PM

Anwar tries to ask one last question as the guards depart...

"Is Dragonslayer on the case? Is she coming here to help, or are you going to find her?"

Eldest

2018-06-17, 09:29 PM

"Fine," said the man, lowering his gun and offering his hand to shake. "Commander Doyle Brigadier, Alphacorp security chief. I expect you're here because you've got beef with my double. Help me get these people to safety and I'll tell you anything you want to know."

Source shoots a glance at Stray: she knew a fair bit of what happened to Haley, and it wasn't hard to guess that this Commander might have some knowledge of what she went through. She nods and jogs after the commander, explaining to Ami as she goes. "It was like... look, I saw my inverse, in more detail than I wanted to. She's nihilistic, thinks that there's no point to life other than what you made of it, and she might as well do what she wants because why not?" She carefully doesn't mention the second part that had upset her: nega-her had the sort of connection to her family that she'd dreamed of, she intuited. That just wasn't fair.

Mr. E

2018-06-17, 11:53 PM

Windsong, the Protege
Potential: 1/5
Conditions: none.

"Ah," Ami says, following the Alpha Corp guards down the corridor at a brisk jog. "I get it. For what it's worth, though, she's your inverse. Blaming yourself for what she is or does would be..."

The last sentence drifts off into oblivion, Windsong suspecting that there would be no way to finish it that didn't sound like she was calling Source illogical. She shrugs awkwardly, then spins around, walking backwards down the corridor to the garage and looking around at the team she secretly calls 'hers'.

"We need a plan, guys. This is our best shot to earn some trust with Alpha Corp, so let's not stuff it up." Ami, the visor still flipped up, looks around seriously, then suddenly grins, a slightly predatorial expression. She'd always thought that using out her contingency plans for fighting team-mates would be a sign that something had gone very badly wrong. But, and she cannot deny the faint tinge of excitement at the thought, this would be an excellent opportunity to test out some of her theoretical work, she must admit.

"We'll quite possibly be facing the complete inverse team, which means that there are certain optimal engagement patterns. Assuming identical powersets, the most obvious threat in terms of pure damage potential is inverse-Haley, or iHaley, for short. Anwar, thanks to your unique," Ami pauses for a moment, searching for the tactful phrase, "make-up, you stand the best chance of neutralising her. Their secondrary striker is most probably iSource, which makes it your job, Haley, to disable her. iWindsong is most probably going to be reluctant to engage, if she's like me, and will try and use her mobility to perform hit and run attacks on us. Source, your capabilities should allow you to out-predict her, or at least gives us some warning. iAnwar is the hardest member of the team to disable, but I stand the best chance. My flight gives me some options above direct engagement, and I'm may be able to disrupt his form with my contrails. Control the tempo of the engagement, and keep your target stuck fighting you. Don't let them reverse the paradigm and use it against us."

Ami finishes her spiel, switching files in her mind, pulling up a set of less pleasant outcomes, preparing for the worst. "There's a small risk that they may be accompanied by iPeacemaker, in which case I recommend retreat. His suit packs a considerable amount of lethal weaponry, and I'm not sure any of us are survivable enough to take him and the rest of our team at the same time."

She looks around one final time, then flips her visor down, the metal hinging shut with a series of small metallic clicks. "Anybody have anything else to add, or suggestions for improvement?" she adds, gesturing around the rest of the team.

Ami's a bossy girl, isn't she?

I was planning to harvest some data from the computers, but I think that it makes more sense for Ami to focus on building her team-mates up. Which is probably going to end badly, since I haven't taken Heroic Tradition yet, but it's worth a shot:

[roll0]

Ha-hey, a success. Although, there's no guarantee that Source will open up, so...

Raine_Sage

2018-06-18, 09:41 AM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

Stray's head is still spinning a little from the implication that not only are the working with the inverse versions of Omegacorp, but dragon slayer is perhaps more intimately connected with them than first thought. When she'd heard the villain had shown up with a bunch of mooks from there, she'd figured she'd hired them. Rent-a-henchmen. This painted a different picture.

"iHaley makes me sound like a phone. So.. should we be assuming iWindsong came up with basically the same strategy in reverse?" She offers when Windsong asks for feedback. Also the idea of fighting source feels... weird. Like deeply weird and uncomfortable. She's always kind of wanted to see who would come out on top in that match up, but not in a setting where either was actually trying to hurt the other.

She can't say anything about it though, Ami would want to know why she was opting out of her designated opponent. And "I can't punch a friend" wouldn't ring entirely true if she has no problems fighting another member of the evil team. And Taylor can't know about the crush. She has a girlfriend. She is the definition of not available, all knowing would do is make things weird and awkward and maybe they'd have to stop hanging out at each other's houses...

Eldest

2018-06-18, 10:56 AM

"Ah," Ami says, following the Alpha Corp guards down the corridor at a brisk jog. "I get it. For what it's worth, though, she's your inverse. Blaming yourself for what she is or does would be..."

The last sentence drifts off into oblivion, Windsong suspecting that there would be no way to finish it that didn't sound like she was calling Source illogical.

Ami's a bossy girl, isn't she?

I was planning to harvest some data from the computers, but I think that it makes more sense for Ami to focus on building her team-mates up. Which is probably going to end badly, since I haven't taken Heroic Tradition yet, but it's worth a shot:

[roll0]

Ha-hey, a success. Although, there's no guarantee that Source will open up, so...

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [X] [ ] [ ]

"It's illogical, yeah." She keeps following the guard commander, nodding. "But she's still a possible version of who I am. And that's... distressing, to say the least."

Opening up a bit to clear angry: calmly discussing the worst that could happen helps.

Mr. E

2018-06-18, 04:08 PM

Windsong, the Protege
Potential: 1/5
Conditions: none.

"I think so?" Windsong responds to Haley's question, although with a distinctly unsure tone to her voice. "I don't know enough about what my inverse would be like, and this assumes a lot about how they work. But it's my current working theory that she does, in which case they'll be trying to engage us on their terms."

"We have the advantage, though," Ami adds more confidently, "because they have a secondary objective to attack the convoy, whereas we just need to win. We can wait for them to attack before we show ourselves, and hopefully control how and where we fight them. This should, I think, be doable, barring unexpected variables entering the equation. Any other questions?"

Raine_Sage

2018-06-18, 04:30 PM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

Stray vaguely wonders how engaging their doubles like this fits in with Ms. Mayday's warning to not try and fix anything while they're here. Does rescuing the convoy count as fixing things? It seems like it's going to be kind of necessary to fix it if they want time to talk though. It's probably fine.

"I uh.. I think I'm good then yeah." She glances at Source. "I'll make sure inverse you doesn't get on your case ok?"

Swami Monsoon

2018-06-18, 08:49 PM

Anwar nods and frowns at the same time.

"That all makes sense. But if they're really us in every way, will they know what we're planning? Living in a totally different world they should be different people entirely... but this place appears to have been designed to defy logic. Just thinking about it makes my head hurt..."

Eldest

2018-06-18, 09:39 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [X] [ ] [ ]

"I uh.. I think I'm good then yeah." She glances at Source. "I'll make sure inverse you doesn't get on your case ok?"

Source nods and smiles, relieved. They've got her back, Stray specifically and the team in general.

Thanqol

2018-06-19, 12:02 AM

Anwar tries to ask one last question as the guards depart...

"Is Dragonslayer on the case? Is she coming here to help, or are you going to find her?"

"We can only hope she's coming," said Brigadier grimly.

*

We cut to a column of black armoured vans driving up out of the basement. Each is loaded with AlphaCorp gear and staff, flanked on either side by security goons on motorcycles. The metal gate swings open and the convoy begins flooring it, heading out for the highway.

And that's when the attack begins.

nega-Stray and iSource come in as a unit, dropping from above to land on the roof of the central AlphaCorp van*. iSource is wearing an orange and black jumpsuit with two X'd out circles over her eyes. She's being princess-carried gently in the arms of nega-Stray - who you only recognize amidst that hulking mass of chitin and talons because of the process of elimination.

iSource smiles widely at seeing you. She casually kisses the slavering jaws of nega-Stray and flips acrobatically around to sit on nega-Stray's back, Master Blaster style.

"Hey, Windsong, you seeing this?" said nega-Stray. "Evil robot usses!" she made a Bill and Ted electric guitar riff with her fingers. "Hello!" she said, turning her attention towards you, grin still growing like she's having a fantastic time with this. "Me am Source! You am bizzaro Source! We come in war, which is bizzaro for peace!"

* it should be noted that, among other things, physics in this universe operate like a Mortal Kombat stage. So people are entirely capable of having conversations and elaborate kung-fu battles while standing on top of speeding APCs at night while wearing sunglasses.

Eldest

2018-06-19, 02:06 AM

Swami Monsoon

2018-06-19, 09:19 AM

Anwar is keeping pace with the convoy about 50 feet above when the two enemies appear. There's still no sign of his opposite number, but his assigned target is now in sight. As he swoops down he hears evil Stray's ridiculous monologue, and he can't stop himself from sighing so hard that sparks fly out his nose. But the weird spirit of this place appears to be getting to him, because the next thing out of his mouth is "We interrupt this monologue for a very important message." He then aims a hurricane force gust of smoke and glowing ashes at the two enemies, trying to blast them off of the truck...

Directly Engage
[roll0]

Raine_Sage

2018-06-19, 10:35 AM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

Anwar nods and frowns at the same time.

"That all makes sense. But if they're really us in every way, will they know what we're planning? Living in a totally different world they should be different people entirely... but this place appears to have been designed to defy logic. Just thinking about it makes my head hurt..."

"I'm pretty sure the answer is don't think about it too hard. That way lies migraines. Good luck fighting... er, me I guess. For what it's worth I think Windsong is pretty dead on with that match-up. You can't exactly punch smoke in the face. If you want a tip about offense, this thing here..." she taps the outside of her head. There's a clack of chitin on chitin.

"It filters the air for me but only so much, and the symbiote needs to breath too. I've never tested this theory but if you choke it with enough smoke it should retreat back inside my... her body."

She goes to join Source over by one of the vans. "I guess I'm hoping nega-me never told Nega-you that. Here's to the element of surprise maybe."

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

Of course their dopplegangers don't waste any time in making an entrance, so Stray doesn't waste any time swinging herself up onto the roof of the van while Source scans the skies for iWindsong. However seeing the two of them paired together, watching iSource kiss that big mess of claws and menace...

Are they...?

Is she...?

Oh dear. It doesn't help that Source's counterpart seems distressingly similar, albeit more bombastic. She'd been hoping for more divergence than this, not least of all because it means her own double is probably going to take it very personally when she punches her girlfriend.

"Well hey glad to see you're having fun with it, I guess some things really do stay the same over here. We kind of need this convoy in one piece and not blasted to hell though, so I'm guessing there's no universe where this ends in a friendly handshake."

Actually scratch that waiting to see what choice Anwar picks.

Raine_Sage

2018-06-19, 02:55 PM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

Apologies for the double post, directly engaging with Punch Everything as initially planned to take advantage of the opportunity created by Anwar. Shifting Danger up and savior down [roll0] Ohh lucky, we'll avoid blows and take something from them. Namely her position atop nega-stray.

Of course shortly after she says this Ember drops in with a particularly choice one liner and blasts the pair of them with a gust of wind. Stray can see them teetering towards the edge of the Van and she darts forward as they're distracted to grab iSource by the back of her jumpsuit in an attempt to haul her physically off iStray. This would also keep her from going over the edge of the van and potentially suffering a more severe injury, which Haley will tell herself is only a coincidence.

Source can see a lot of things, but what she sees still needs to be interpreted. She's good at cold reading, but cold reading is harder when the book is throwing itself at your face. Don't think, don't waffle, just do it. The more she lingers means the more time iSource has to counter her. And the more she thinks about what she's doing, the more likely it is she makes a mistake.

This is easier said than done when iSource hits the metal roof of the car with a distressingly solid thud. Oh god please don't let that have cracked a rib or something.

Mr. E

2018-06-19, 03:32 PM

Windsong, the Protege
Potential: 1/5
Conditions: none.

Windsong is sitting inside one of the vans, although close enough to a window to see the scene as it unfolds, for, after all, she sees no reason to show all her cards just yet. The attack, Ami reasons, must be a distraction. For starters, if the intention was to disable the convoy, it would make logical sense to target the lead vehicle, for maximum disruption. Not that, to Windsong's mind at least, either Stray or Source's body doubles seemed particularly like to be rational thinkers, but her own duplicate ought to be another matter.

Which meant that the real thrust of the attack would probably come from either iAnwar or iWindsong. Source's job was to detect one, so Ami focused on the other, infrared sensors scanning for hot spots likely to hide an ambush. Her wings flex spasmodically, eager to be out and flying, while she pivots her head to survey the scene. It didn't, despite her own nervous tension, make any sense to deploy early, and she forces them closed with an effort, concentrating on her surroundings even as the sounds of fighting grow louder.

Not my finest post, but ehh.

Ami will assess the situation: [roll0]

Okay then, three questions:
- What here is in the greatest danger?
- What here is the biggest threat?
- How could we best end this quickly?

Thanqol

2018-06-21, 07:49 PM

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [X] [X] [ ]

Source stays where she is, leaning out of an opened van door and staring around, watching for Windsong2. She was iffy on this plan, it left her unable to support Haley if she needed it, but Windsong1's plan sounded solid. So she waits, ignoring her hindbrain gibbering about the ground rushing by less than a foot below her boots, and watches the sky, Engine idling.

Got a 7 on unleash to spot Windsong2, will not be taking a condition so it's unstable or temporary.

So the good news is you spot her.

The bad news is that it's moments before she comes at you. With a sword. A sword that's on fire. Made out of metal from space.

You get a single good look. Windsong2 isn't just practical, form-fitting power armour. She's still got the wingsuit but the theme is, well... gold. And white. And angelic. You're being attacked by a literal glowing angel with a flaming sword. Who turns invisible whenever she stops moving for a few seconds. There's no dialogue or banter there, just a furious assault.

She's got a combat style that emphasises sudden flurries of attacks, then she stops and becomes invisible, takes a second or two to assess, and then launches into another set of attacks from a different angle. It's incredibly disorienting and not at all what you were expecting when you were told to go up against Windsong.

Here's your unstable effect: you can track the sword, but not Windsong2 herself. It's giving off too much heat and light to be fully containable by the cloaking field. So you'll be able to fight and defend yourself, but if your opponent does any dirty tricks using her off-hand you won't be able to see it coming.

Anwar is keeping pace with the convoy about 50 feet above when the two enemies appear. There's still no sign of his opposite number, but his assigned target is now in sight. As he swoops down he hears evil Stray's ridiculous monologue, and he can't stop himself from sighing so hard that sparks fly out his nose. But the weird spirit of this place appears to be getting to him, because the next thing out of his mouth is "We interrupt this monologue for a very important message." He then aims a hurricane force gust of smoke and glowing ashes at the two enemies, trying to blast them off of the truck...

Directly Engage
[8]

"I am not monologuing, I am engaging in witty Joss Whedonesque banter!" protests iSource, as the two of them are blown step by reluctant step unsteadily back to the edge of the truck, leaving deep talon marks in the roof. You have them cornered on the edge when nega-Stray counter-attacks. Her chitin armour forms a line of razor sharp impaling spikes and launches them across the truck at you - roll to take a powerful blow.

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Languid [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 3/5

Apologies for the double post, directly engaging with Punch Everything as initially planned to take advantage of the opportunity created by Anwar. Shifting Danger up and savior down [roll0] Ohh lucky, we'll avoid blows and take something from them. Namely her position atop nega-stray.

Of course shortly after she says this Ember drops in with a particularly choice one liner and blasts the pair of them with a gust of wind. Stray can see them teetering towards the edge of the Van and she darts forward as they're distracted to grab iSource by the back of her jumpsuit in an attempt to haul her physically off iStray. This would also keep her from going over the edge of the van and potentially suffering a more severe injury, which Haley will tell herself is only a coincidence.

Source can see a lot of things, but what she sees still needs to be interpreted. She's good at cold reading, but cold reading is harder when the book is throwing itself at your face. Don't think, don't waffle, just do it. The more she lingers means the more time iSource has to counter her. And the more she thinks about what she's doing, the more likely it is she makes a mistake.

This is easier said than done when iSource hits the metal roof of the car with a distressingly solid thud. Oh god please don't let that have cracked a rib or something.

[Marking hopeless]

For a moment, iSource is dazed by the force of the impact. You're still holding her by the collar, lying on top of her, pinning her to the roof of the car.

Then she looks up at you, with that crazy calculating look you see Source get from time to time when she's trying to figure out a problem. A swirl of information and possibilities passes across her eyes and she's seeing everything about you. And despite everything, you can't help but realize vanilla Source has never looked at you quite that intensely.

Then her face turns into one of sympathy. "Hey. You know she's deliberately stringing you along, right?" said iSource. "Jesus. What a bitch."

Anwar, nega-Stray hasn't noticed that iSource has been grabbed yet, she's still coming right at you.

Windsong, the Protege
Potential: 1/5
Conditions: none.

Windsong is sitting inside one of the vans, although close enough to a window to see the scene as it unfolds, for, after all, she sees no reason to show all her cards just yet. The attack, Ami reasons, must be a distraction. For starters, if the intention was to disable the convoy, it would make logical sense to target the lead vehicle, for maximum disruption. Not that, to Windsong's mind at least, either Stray or Source's body doubles seemed particularly like to be rational thinkers, but her own duplicate ought to be another matter.

Which meant that the real thrust of the attack would probably come from either iAnwar or iWindsong. Source's job was to detect one, so Ami focused on the other, infrared sensors scanning for hot spots likely to hide an ambush. Her wings flex spasmodically, eager to be out and flying, while she pivots her head to survey the scene. It didn't, despite her own nervous tension, make any sense to deploy early, and she forces them closed with an effort, concentrating on her surroundings even as the sounds of fighting grow louder.

Not my finest post, but ehh.

Ami will assess the situation: [roll0]

Okay then, three questions:
- What here is in the greatest danger?
- What here is the biggest threat?
- How could we best end this quickly?

What here's in the biggest danger is your own emotional coherency, individually and as a team. Everything about this weird reality is going to throw things you're certain about into doubt. You're also in danger of being tempted or persuaded to stay here and help more, which may do good... but it will put the mission in continued danger.

What the biggest threat is? Well, I'm going to do the same I did with Source earlier and turn that back on you. Which team member do you think is the biggest threat, and why?

You could best end this quickly by ramping up the pyrotechnics. Make a big, obvious show about where you are and what's going on. If there are any heroes in the area then the quickest way to draw them to help out is through light and sound. And we're talking on a bigger scale than 'just' a superhero fight scene on the top of a speeding APC convoy, the bigger the better.

Swami Monsoon

2018-06-21, 09:31 PM

Raine_Sage

2018-06-21, 09:34 PM

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 4/5

"She's not deliberately anything," she hisses. Barely audible over the background noise of the fight. She's got her down, she could knock her unconscious. One quick blow to the temple. But... this is Source, source's face looking up at her so sympathetically, wearing the expression of a concerned friend. Her concerned friend. She's not even trying to hit her back and with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach Stray realizes that she knows exactly what she's doing. This is the kind of fight Haley is terrible at, and they both know it. iSource is already in her head in a bad way.

"Though I guess if you're feeling chatty, I have to ask, is your Maya as down on Villainy as ours is on the heroics? Or are you just into spiky things?"

Alright come on think, there has to be a way to figure out what reaction she's fishing for before she actually gets it. Maybe she doesn't have the Engine, but Stray still knows her better than most people.

Let's go Pierce the Mask, [roll0] Yeah I figured that was going to fail.

Eldest

2018-06-21, 10:09 PM

So the good news is you spot her.

The bad news is that it's moments before she comes at you. With a sword. A sword that's on fire. Made out of metal from space.

You get a single good look. Windsong2 isn't just practical, form-fitting power armour. She's still got the wingsuit but the theme is, well... gold. And white. And angelic. You're being attacked by a literal glowing angel with a flaming sword. Who turns invisible whenever she stops moving for a few seconds. There's no dialogue or banter there, just a furious assault.

She's got a combat style that emphasises sudden flurries of attacks, then she stops and becomes invisible, takes a second or two to assess, and then launches into another set of attacks from a different angle. It's incredibly disorienting and not at all what you were expecting when you were told to go up against Windsong.

Here's your unstable effect: you can track the sword, but not Windsong2 herself. It's giving off too much heat and light to be fully containable by the cloaking field. So you'll be able to fight and defend yourself, but if your opponent does any dirty tricks using her off-hand you won't be able to see it coming.

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [X] [X] [ ]

Source feels the Engine kick in as she notices the sword diving at her. She kicks up and out, heaving the van onto two wheels just for a second as she grips onto the roof, ending up crouched on top of it just in time to slap the sword aside, watching as it carves through the APC's top armor with a hiss. She avoids the glowing rend in the roof, backing up just in time to follow her instincts and kick upwards, above her head as the sword passes by, hitting where she knows it will cause the most damage to the cloaking that is causing so many issues with her sight.

Seconds later, she regrets that decision. Her sight, helpfully, informs her of how keen the edge is (sharpening from .7 cm at the thickest point to a monomolecular edge) and the density (3940 kg/m3, same as Mars and that bloody Atlantean chain from several weeks ago) but not where the bloody thing is, as the collapsing stealth field has Windsong2 flicker in an out of visibility like a strobe light revealing a club dance floor. She whirls backwards, on the defensive and not sure it's going to be enough.

Rolled a 7 to directly engage. Taking something from her, her stealth capabilities (if that's not okay, I'll edit and change her choice). Here's hoping the sword doesn't hurt too badly.

Thanqol

2018-06-25, 09:46 PM

Anwar sees the volley of blades coming just in time and dissolves into a cloud of smoke, letting the attack pass harmlessly through him. This seems like a great time to follow up on good Stray's advice... still intangible, he wraps himself around evil Stray and tries to force tendrils of smoke into the vents on her mask...

Take a powerful blow [4]

[Marking Angry]

Nega-Stray snarls as the smoke fills her lungs, but when her claws catch only empty air she hesitates. Then, with a shockingly normal human voice for a ten foot tall alien monster she says "Bugger this for a game of soldiers," and clears her lungs by way of spraying acid everywhere. Over everything.

It hits two of the trucks, the deep acrid chemical smoke of dissolving composites mixing hideously with your smoke form, and the trucks start swerving wildly as the people inside start to panic. Roll to Take a Powerful Blow, and this whole convoy is on the road to crashville. What do you do?

Stray
Conditions: [ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential: 4/5

"She's not deliberately anything," she hisses. Barely audible over the background noise of the fight. She's got her down, she could knock her unconscious. One quick blow to the temple. But... this is Source, source's face looking up at her so sympathetically, wearing the expression of a concerned friend. Her concerned friend. She's not even trying to hit her back and with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach Stray realizes that she knows exactly what she's doing. This is the kind of fight Haley is terrible at, and they both know it. iSource is already in her head in a bad way.

"Though I guess if you're feeling chatty, I have to ask, is your Maya as down on Villainy as ours is on the heroics? Or are you just into spiky things?"

Alright come on think, there has to be a way to figure out what reaction she's fishing for before she actually gets it. Maybe she doesn't have the Engine, but Stray still knows her better than most people.

Let's go Pierce the Mask, [roll0] Yeah I figured that was going to fail.

Let's turn this right around.

How could iSource gain influence over you?
How could she get you under her thumb?
What do you want her to do?

Source
[ ]Afraid [ ]Angry [ ]Guilty [ ]Hopeless [ ]Insecure
Potential [X] [X] [X] [X] [ ]

Source feels the Engine kick in as she notices the sword diving at her. She kicks up and out, heaving the van onto two wheels just for a second as she grips onto the roof, ending up crouched on top of it just in time to slap the sword aside, watching as it carves through the APC's top armor with a hiss. She avoids the glowing rend in the roof, backing up just in time to follow her instincts and kick upwards, above her head as the sword passes by, hitting where she knows it will cause the most damage to the cloaking that is causing so many issues with her sight.

Seconds later, she regrets that decision. Her sight, helpfully, informs her of how keen the edge is (sharpening from .7 cm at the thickest point to a monomolecular edge) and the density (3940 kg/m3, same as Mars and that bloody Atlantean chain from several weeks ago) but not where the bloody thing is, as the collapsing stealth field has Windsong2 flicker in an out of visibility like a strobe light revealing a club dance floor. She whirls backwards, on the defensive and not sure it's going to be enough.

She stabs you! With a sword! From space!

The pain is offset by the fact that there was a satisfying crunch as her cloaking device collapses, but you're still stabbed (by space metal) and also are now on fire. Roll to Take a Powerful Blow.

[Marking Afraid]

But with her protective device gone, Windsong2 steps backwards off the speeding van, spreads her wings, and soars back out into the night. You lose track of her in the speed and rush (and also, being on fire) for now.

Also there's now acid everywhere, and I gotta tell you, that makes being on fire pretty unremarkable if you're looking for sympathy.