[Masks] San Fransapporo: After Dark

[Razade]

The cover of the first issue of San Fransapporo: After Dark is solid black save the lettering. A rather bleak affair.

This cover however leads in media res, the following page showing the barest flicker of light then on to the next where large floodlights illuminate a figure hanging from a circular apparatus that pulls her arms and legs to either side. This disk like prison is suspended in the darkness. The figure, as the next page reveals, is well past middle age with light gray hair sweeping from her temples to run in ribbons through a tight braid. Her arms and legs are exposed, crawling black tattoos moving about iron strong muscles that flex in intervals as if being shocked.

"This gets us to Katakuri Town." a voice from the darkness states. The woman grimaces though from pain or the question it's hard to tell.

"No matter how The Worst Generation handled the fight, no matter the damage done to our most enshrined institutions...no matter your press conference and victory lap one question has remained in our minds. What were you even doing there in the first place?"

The woman gives another grimace as her body seizes, sweat beading on her brows. "To help The Worst Generation, they needed back up." she manages through clenched teeth.

Another voice, merely another text panel, appears. "We presumed that...but there was help you could have done on the mainland wasn't there? Bruja and Cindersnap were both coordinating with you, your place was here and there's no accounting of you at the final battle with the Storm King. So we have to ask again. Why were you there? What really brought you to Katakuri Town?"

The disk prison hums, panels flashing in bright reds as electrical current sizzles over the prisoner's form eliciting a scream of pain.

"The more you struggle the more this is going to hurt you Impact." the first voice, soft and calm, flickers in. "We want what's best for the city but we can't move forward without knowing the full consequences of the Storm King's assault and the resulting battle. This device was built for meta-humans like you. You can't simply break your way through."

The flickering red lightning subsides, Impact slumping against her restraints with heaving breath.

"Just tell us." The first speaker steps into the light, none other than Master Sun. Somehow standing on the darkness the slim figure of the immortal stands with an almost lazy posture. "We have all the time in the world."

The panels shoot to frame Impact's face. Wrinkles are only now setting in along the edges of her dark eyes, crows feet and laugh lines, but the wrinkles are more than merely skin deep. Her eyes are tired, the weight of time, the weight of friends lost and enemies too, a weight beyond measure lays behind those windows. "Fine." she says.

The entire rest of the first Issue of San Fransapporo: After Dark is merely pages and pages of the previous shot. Impact hanging in her prison, Master Sun hovering in the dark. Text panel after text panel filled with static.

The final page, a stark white of a typical comic, ends with these words. "Discover the truth in the exciting new team comic: Yami No Yojimbo!

Issue One: Called Out in the Dark

The River District is a lively place what with its open air river markets, narrow side streets choked with vendors selling all manner of odds and ends, river side storefronts selling bikes and boats and of course the numerous recreational craft that ply between the markets and other travelers. The ever present pleasure barge of the Warrior can be seen from almost anywhere on the shore of the Pepper River, smaller craft coming and going from the ostentatious beast as it lays anchor in the center of the river.

Adding to the lively and often almost carnival feel of the District is the sound of helicopter blades as they thrum through the air. The Weekly Herald, now a standard of journalistic integrity within the Super Community, has eyes and ears in the sky with their small fleet of helicopter drones. Several circle above one of the larger markets where the uneasy peace of the District has been broken. Televisions and radio alike are quickly overtaken by a breaking news report as smart phones everywhere in the city blare to life. A Meta-Human conflict has broken out.

John Booth Daily's recognizable and oft described as punchable face appears after the breaking news flash. Greetings San Fransapporo! John Booth Daily reporting that the nefarious Coyote Knight and her band of misfits have begun to take hostages in the central River District. Their motives are unknown at this time. They are presumed armed and dangerous. Heroes are cautioned to remain on protecting civilians until trained professionals can come and bring the conflict to a swift resolution.

The panels then break to Coyote Knight and her band, the lanky and limber young woman clad in a dark kimono, he face obscured by a coyote mask, weilding what appers to be a large parasol. Her band are similiar dressed though armed with very real, very sharp weapons. It appears they're searching for something, moving from stall to stall and pushing hostages on to a large speed boat which is where they must have unloaded from.

The mission is clear.

- Rescue the Hostages.
- Minimize damage to the surrounding area, as more civilians are certainly hiding and staying low.

Alternatively, finding what the Knight and her cohorts are looking for (and figuring a way out to do that) might end this without further issues.

The panels break to the team. What were you doing before you got the alert, where were you and how did you get here?

[DreadPirateH]

Hikari
Conditions: None
Potential: 0/5

Spoiler: Labels

Show

• Freak: +1
• Danger: +2
• Savior: +0
• Superior: +1
• Mundane: -1

Spoiler: Moves

Show

• [X] Devil or Angel on My Shoulder: When you provoke a teammate to violent action or drastic measures as your Hero Persona, roll with your Alias Label. When you discourage a teammate from going overboard or making an action they can’t take back as your Alias Persona, roll + your Hero Label.
• [X]Save the Light: When you step in to intervene, help a civilian, or stop a threat roll + your Hero label. On a miss, you’re made to look the fool. Mark a Condition and give ground. On a hit, you’ve got someone’s attention. Use it as an opportunity or provoke them to action. On a 10+ your foe must respond in kind or flee.

Sweeping away from the coyote-masked villain, the panels cut a bit further down the river to an outside view of a floating halohalo shop. Inside is all bright colors and plastic furniture. Hikari, dressed casually in her heather gray A Banditry pullover and jeans, sits eating a cone of blue sea salt ice cream with a young boy sharing her table. The fire burning on top of the boy's head in place of hair doesn't seem to bother him, or anybody else for that matter, as he enjoys a bowl full of crushed ice, assorted fruit, and a bright purple scoop of ube ice cream.

The news report flashes across the TV hanging from the ceiling in the corner of the room. The boy gasps and points his spoon at the TV. "'Kari, look!"

Hikari glances up at the TV and sighs. "Stay here, Roberto. I'll be right back. Keep eating." Ice cream cone still in hand, Hikari walks down the gangplank to a motorcycle parked on the street. Two helmets hang from the side, one of them child-sized. The bike is a modified Kawasaki Ninja, painted a dark purple. As Hikari bends down to retrieve something from a compartment on the bike, a close-up panel shows a small design painted on the right side of the body in red - a Japanese kanji 桜 and a cherry blossom.

The next panel shows Hikari from the front, standing on the roof of a nearby building. She's holding a pair of tactical field glasses pressed up to her eyes. An earpiece is hooked into her ear, the ice cream held close to her mouth. The magnified reflection of the scene up-river can be seen on the lenses of the field glasses. "Miho, I'm at the River Market. Are you seeing this? Get the others down here. It's go time."

[Captain Jak]

Ronin
Conditions: None
Potential: 0/5

Spoiler: Labels

Show

• Freak: +0
• Danger: +1
• Savior: +1
• Superior: +1
• Mundane: +0

Spoiler: Moves

Show

• [X] I'll Show Them: When you defend someone who doesn’t believe in you, you can always take Influence over them, even on a miss.
• [X]All The Best Stuff: You’ve compiled access to caches of equipment and weaponry other supers have hidden in the city. When you access a cache, say whose cache it is. If it’s a hero’s, roll + Savior. If it’s a villain’s, roll + Danger. On a hit, you find a tool or intel useful to your situation; the GM will detail. On a 7-9, you leave evidence that you’ve been here. On a miss, you tripped an alarm and they’re coming; prepare to explain yourself.

Smash cut to the suburbs, the panel depicts a very normal appearing street in a typical neighbourhood, with a quaint little bungalow a few decades old taking up the centre focus.

MEANWHILE….

Cut to the interior, our location is clearly the attached garage from the roll-up door visible in the background. Miho is on the garage floor, which is absent anything resembling a car but is quite clearly set up as a workshop…albeit one that has all of the work surfaces half a metre off the ground to accommodate someone who us using the floor as their primary seating surface.

She's dressed in a dark blue jumpsuit, close-fitting to avoid her dragging legs catching on anything as she hand-walks over to one of the computer terminals arrayed along the wall. Swivelling into a sitting position, she taps intently at the keyboard. A close up panel shows the look of concentration on her face, a smudge of something shiny on one cheekbone.

A cascade of small panels follows the arc of cables from the computer to the suit of armour hanging from its rack in the centre of the garage, currently splayed open like some manner of high-tech crustacean remains after a seafood binge.

The focus shifts back to Miho, where a display box pops up on the monitor to draw her attention.

WE'VE GOT A HIT, pops up in the box. This is Chisei, her AI that is, among other things, currently monitoring for certain keywords that could mean their intervention is required.

It clearly takes a moment for Miho to pull her head out of the tech-fugue she's currently in, but once she does her gaze sharpens.

"Show me," she urges, scooting back, and Chisei obliges by throwing up what we can tell is the same news report. The young inventor watches the byplay intently, then nods once the coverage ends.

"Yup, that's definitely in our jurisdiction," she agrees, hitting the big red smash button beside the computer that is totally unnecessary overkill but is also totally awesome. The cables pop loose from the armour, and it efficiently folds itself down into its chair configuration.

Grabbing the pair of glasses from behind the terminal, Miho slides them on before quickly handing her way across the floor to the chair, climbing into the chair and hooking into the shoulder straps. A close-up panel shows faint lines of data scrolling across the lenses of her glasses as Chisei continues to provide her with updates.

A phone rings, and is routed through the chair's sytem.

"I'm here; I'm seeing," Miho acknowledges. "Bad timing, though; I'm in the lab, and I've got the flight systems off-line. There's no way I'm making it out that way in time," she admits with clear frustration.

"I'll play overwatch from here, see if I can tap into any CCTV in the area. Alerting the others to the situation." Chisei obligingly begins to attempt the hack, while Miho types up a quick precis message to explain the situation and fires it off to the group.

(Unleashing Machine Control = 6)

[Comissar]

Sunburst
Conditions: Afraid, Guilty, Hopeless
Potential: 1/5

Spoiler: Labels

Show

• Danger: +1
• Freak: +2
• Savior: +0
• Superior: +0
• Mundane: +0

Spoiler: Burn and Flares

Show

Held Burn

2

Shielding

You call up a fast protective field to stop a danger. Spend 1 burn to defend someone else from an immediate threat, rolling +Freak instead of +Saviour.

Moat

Spend 1 burn to create a barrier that will hold back threats as long as you keep your attention on it. The GM may call for you to spend another burn if the barrier is threatened by particularly powerful enemies.

Reality Storm

You channel a destructive burst with your powers. Spend 1 burn to directly engage a threat using your powers, rolling +Freak instead of +Danger. If you do, you will cause unwanted collateral damage unless you spend another burn.

Snatch

Spend 1 burn to use your powers to seize any one object up to the size of a person from someone within view.

There is a panel focusing in on Ronin's screen, showing the alert sending out to the rest of the team. The next panel has the screen fill the panel completely. The panel after pulls back to show that the alert was now on a phone screen, a phone in the hands of a teenage girl. Panning out further still, the final panel of the page shows Lanuola slowing to a stop, an all too comfortable look of worry on her face as she reads the message on screen.

She glances up, looking around her as life continued on, seemingly unconcerned by the supervillain escapades happening just a few blocks east. Anyone paying close attention would notice a brief flicker of white light playing across her skin. She couldn't waste too much time, right now people were in danger, but... Another brief flicker of light, this time a little brighter. She'd need to make sure Cindy knew as well.

Turning to make her way through the assorted afternoon shoppers, she did her best to make herself small, make sure she wasn't in the way. It came as second nature to her these days, half her attention ahead of her to make sure she maneuvered out of peoples way, snaking through the throng as she rapidly brought up Cindy's contact details. There's a focus panel, showing the contact information in full. A broadly grinning photo of Cindy serves as the profile image for this contact, and there's a moments pause as Lanuola's thumb hovers over the call button. Then the moment's over and she's speeding up, casting anxious looks up toward the skyline, spotting the news choppers circling like vultures above the action.

The phone rings out once, she's still in the crowd. Twice, the crowd is thinning now, a definitive movement against the direction she's trying to go. Thrice, there's barely anyone now, the few people there are look to be deliberately hurrying away from the same scene she's approaching. The answer machine message begins to play, Lanuola visibly begins to glow as she reaches a part of the street that is all but deserted. Cindy's voice rings out in her ear, assuring her that she'll get a call back as soon as her sister is free even as she's hurrying into a low crouch behind a wall. She casts a worried look out along the river front, taking in the hostages being moved from street to boat. And finally, she speaks. "Cindy, I-I... I wanted to make sure y-you knew what was going on. I-I'm at the River District. Near, uh..." She glances quickly up at the shops around her, eyes landing on a nautical themed clothing shop, "N-near Yacht Topic. See you soon."

She puts the phone into her pocket, silently adding I hope... to her message. She spends a moment just watching the scene, then closes her eyes, a look of concentration on her face. There's a beat panel where nothing appears to be happening. Then it looks as though her blood vessels are lit up from inside, then she's emitting light, her jaw clenched at the effort of maintaining control. "Remember to breathe, keep control..."

And at last, she lets out a breath. Looking up and over at the hostage takers, her eyes glow but worry is evident in her face. With a confidence she doesn't feel, she raises her phone again, this time tapping out a quick message to the group, Sunburst in position. Ready to help.

Spoiler: OoC

Show

Lanuola will be rolling to generate Burn!

(2D6)[5]

Woo, first miss of the game for Lanuola

Going to mark Afraid, Insecure, and Hopeless here. Lanuola is not confident at all that she's going to be able to help a great deal here.

[The_Specialist]

Tsunami
Conditions: None
Potential: 0/5

Spoiler: Labels

Show

• Freak: +0
• Danger: +0
• Savior: +1
• Superior: +2
• Mundane: +0

Spoiler: Moves

Show

• [X] Been Reading the Files: You’ve learned about the superhuman world through your mentor’s resources. When you first encounter an important superpowered phenomenon (your call), roll + Superior. On a hit, tell the team one important detail you’ve learned from your studies. The GM will tell you what, if anything, seems different from what you remember. On a 10+, ask the GM a follow-up question; they will answer it honestly. On a miss, the situation is well outside your base of knowledge; the GM will tell you why.
• [X]Be Mindful of Your Surroundings: When you assess the situation before entering into a fight, you may ask one additional question, even on a miss.
• [X]Venting Frustration: When you directly engage while you are Angry, you can roll + the label your mentor denies (Mundane) and clear Angry.

Sliding swiftly away, the panel cuts to across the river to a street lined with restaurants, and focuses in on a surprisingly dolled up Max. At least by Max standards. Sporting a button-down shirt and a blazer, Max peers down at his phone with an increasingly inscrutable look. Only half in frame, an even more formally dressed and redheaded figure stands to the side and slightly behind him, seeming to peer over Max’s shoulder at the screen, but only part of their face can be seen.
“...I have to go...”

On my way. Cutting to a close up of Max’s phone screen, it shows his equally simple response to the group chat.

The panel snaps ahead in time, to a pair of combat boots hitting the ‘ground’, steam jetting out from beneath the thick rubber soles on impact. Dress shoes have been quickly traded out, it seems. Tsunami stands up smoothly from his landing, seen perched on a rooftop as the panel zooms out, hazel eyes skimming the streets below. His normally hawk-like stare is not quite as focused and intense as usual, instead somewhat conflicted and distracted, though the Oni mask hides the rest of his face and thus the full extent of his expression.

The call could not have come at a worse moment. Despite his best efforts, Max finds that his mind is still only half present, the other part still reeling from his previous meeting. His stomach is unsettled, his heart racing already. Or had it ever stopped? He’d been riding adrenaline for a while now. Far too many emotions swim together in his head and chest; guilt, concern, uncertainty, and a myriad of others. He’s completely off balance and he knows it, and that only makes him angry. Which isn’t going to help anything.

D*mmit, FOCUS, idiot! Work now, personal sh*t later. C’mon! Max tries to mentally slap himself back into a state of concentration, though that churning feeling doesn’t leave his stomach, or even calm just a little.

Taking a deep though not necessarily slow breath, Tsunami tries his very best to re-center himself and figure out what exactly the Coyote cohorts were up to, his figure shown in silhouette as the panel zooms out, the handle of his massive kanabō held taught by one hand with the body slung across his shoulders for support. Steam curls away from the mouth of his mask like smoke from a dragon as he breathes out in a huff. Time was ticking. What was happening?

“I’m here. Getting a lay of the land.” Tsunami’s voice joins Hikari’s and Ronin’s in the voice chat.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Welp, rolled a 5 for Assess the Situation, but using the bonus of Be Mindful of Your Situation to ask:

What here can I use to: find out what they're searching for?

[Catastrophic_B]

Ground Zero
Conditions: None
Potential:0/5

Spoiler: Labels

Show

Freak: +1
Danger: +2
Savior: 0
Superior: +1
Mundane:-1

Spoiler: Moves

Show

In a China Shop: When you directly engage a threat, you can cause significant collateral damage to your environment to choose an additional option, even on a miss.
Physics? What physics: When you unleash your powers to barrel through an insurmountable barrier, roll + Danger instead of + Freak.
-Defender: When you leap to defend your love or rival in battle, roll + Danger instead of + Savior to defend them.

The panel shifts from rooftops to ground level, focusing on Kai, sitting near one of the river markets and enjoying some street food he could pronounce the name of. Only for his meal to be interrupted by his phone buzzing. He pulls the device out of his pocket and checks the alert, just as a tide of people go rushing past, seemingly desperate to get away from something.

I guess that's were the trouble is, he thinks to himself as he quickly wolfs down the rest of his food. Standing up, he starts to make his way through the rush of people, until the crowd starts to thin out and he catches sight of the Coyote gang. Slipping into an alleyway, he puts his earpiece in and joins the voice chat. "This is GZ, I'm on site. Does anyone know what that Coyote lady's deal is? I'm not too worried about the goons, but I really don't wanna take another shot from one of those rail-thingies."

[Mr. E]

Moonshadow
Conditions: None
Potential: 1/5

The next panel is a broad panorama, the borders steadily changing from stylized precision to flowing curves as the eye tracks along the page. A geometric pattern of black and white separates it from the next, a suddenly cut in to focus on a dumpster and the girl crouching behind it. Cautiously Cindy pulls her hoodie over her head, folding it up and squishing it into her backpack, while both eyes remain fixed on the masked figure* prowling nearby.

Flicking her ponytail back over her shoulder, Cindy reaches it for the second, larger case sitting on the ground, fingers pulling the zip back with just the faintest of clicks. Sliding a hand inside, she gradually lifts out the long-handled blade and begins to straighten up, eyes still fixed on one of Coyote's squires.

And then her phone rings.

She fumbles in her pocket, nearly dropping her Nifo Oti, while the dulcet tones of her ring-tone sound**. Ripping the black Nokia out of her pants, Cindy slams her fingers on the 'decline call' button, before abruptly freezing as the animal mask swings back her direction. Half-crouched in the shadows of the dumpster, Cindy holds her breath and hopes. The squire stares in her direction for a long second, then turns back, and Moonshadow thanks the lord that she'd had the volume fairly low, before slowly extracting the offending item from her pocket.

The call, was, unsurprisingly, from her sister, and Cindy fishes out her earbuds to listen to the message, leaving one in while sliding the second back into her pocket. Her face pinches slightly at the worry in her sis's voice, before she lifts the phone to her mouth and whispers quietly into the mike.

"I'm on the ground floor, having a look around. Where d'you want me to be?"

Then, her face melding into a faintly predatory smile, Cindy slips across the alleyway and slides into the shadows of a doorway, already planning her next move.

*Moonshadow is well aware that, despite popular opinion, one eye is not really enough to watch someone properly. This is especially true when that person is armed with a very large sword.

**https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV6_RMblYdc

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Just straight up Creeping... (2d6+2)[9]

I'm going to go for: who or what is not what they seem? and what's my best way in/out?

[Hans Free]

The Lion
Conditions: *Hopeless (-2 on Unleash going forward)
Potential: 0/5

Spoiler: Labels

Show

• Freak: +1
• Danger: +0
• Savior: +1
• Superior: +0
• Mundane: +1

Spoiler: Moves

Show

• [X]Words of the past: When you seek the guidance of one of your elders or a member of your legacy, tell them a problem you face, and ask them a question about the problem. They will answer it honestly, and tell you what to do. Take +1 ongoing if you listen. If you go your own way, mark potential.
• [X]Never give up, never surrender: When you take a powerful blow from someone with far greater power than you, use this move instead of the basic move. Roll + Savior. On a hit, you stand strong and choose one. On a 7-9, mark a condition.

We hold on Moonshadow's smile as it fades into darkness. A caption, MOMENTS EARLIER, ACROSS THE RIVER...

Turn to a two-page spread. Golden, A vista of the Midday Sun casting its light onto the crowd of boats that dot the river around the Warrior's grand pleasure-barge. Tight in the foreground is an old asian-style rooftop; In the background the door to the building bears the clear marks of a Teleportal. Prince Mosi hangs from the building's sign as he gazes out onto the river, in-costume but mask-less; one claw on the sign and the other wrapped around the Mane of the Hunter. Its chin-strap dangles in the river breeze.

In the bottom left corner is an artist's rendering of a small Dial. It reads from 0 to 50 MPH. Its hand is at 0.

"I do not doubt she's dangerous, GZ. That is exactly why we're taking her out of the fight first! Ronin, can I get their coordinates? We got this, guys -- I'm going in hot."

Next page, we cut in close on a teenage girl sunbathing on a small yacht. Her headphones blare music; her phone screen reflects in her sunglasses as she looks up HOW TO EMANCIPATE YOURSELF FROM YOUR PARENTS. Behind her, her parents scream and shout. Her mother holds and points at a Blackberry equivalent to her husband, who waves his arms wide, his face engorged in veiny fury.

A series of burst panels: Mosi closes his eyes and smiles. He lets go of the sign and falls off the rooftop. He grabs at the brick behind him; sparks fly off the metal tips of his claws as he slides down. He pulls his helm on and clicks the strap shut; its mane sprouts out in a massive cloud of fur behind him.

Sekhmet, give me speed! The Lion bounces across rooftops, through a fire escape and just as he slides over a railing, he tosses out his spear. It flies through air and PIERCES the Blackberry with a THUNK! Mosi flies onto the boat and lands on the spear, planted at an angle in the yacht's wooden deck. It bends under his weight faithfully. He looks over at the girl.

"Sorry! Pleasedonotthrowoutmyspea-AHHH--!!"

Before he can finish, Mosi is gone! Flung by the recoil of his spear, he goes through the panel border, leaving it behind with another Dial -- clocking him in at 35 MPH! The Girl, sunglasses and headphones askew from the wind, stares in shock.

Cut back to the Lion IN MOTION as he grabs at a flagpole. We pull out to see it's on the tallest, most ostentatious yacht in the river -- The Warrior's pleasure-barge.

The Lion crunches his abs together with all his might, sending him spinning around the pole. He lets go. Shoots into the sky. The Dial breaks as passes its limit, HITTING 60 MPH, as Mosi soars into position -- high in the air above the Coyote -- The Lion grins. Flicks on his comm. Then waits for gravity to drop him in.

"Lion in place! Let's pounce!!"

EDIT: Mosi scans the market and sees Coyote's gang members with their swords drawn to hostages; Coyote herself barking orders. And no Yojimbo in sight. $%#! Just him against them all. Thoughts of THE BEAST CREEPS INTO THE BACK OF HIS MIND. Sekhmet, what have I gotten my team into... The memory of an impossible fight, his first fight, sinks into his gut -- A sense of dread tugs at and dulls his connection to his powers.

Spoiler: OoC

Show

The Lion rolls to unleash his power of Legendary Speed to reshape the river into a jungle gym, allowing him to get into position to strike the Coyote directly. (2d6+1)[7] I marked a condition to keep the effect from being unstable or temporary.

---

* post roll count doesn't match database

[DreadPirateH]

Hikari
Conditions:
Potential: 0/5

Spoiler: Labels

Show

• Freak: +1
• Danger: +2
• Savior: +0
• Superior: +1
• Mundane: -1

Spoiler: Moves

Show

• [X] Devil or Angel on My Shoulder: When you provoke a teammate to violent action or drastic measures as your Hero Persona, roll with your Alias Label. When you discourage a teammate from going overboard or making an action they can’t take back as your Alias Persona, roll + your Hero Label.
• [X]Save the Light: When you step in to intervene, help a civilian, or stop a threat roll + your Hero label. On a miss, you’re made to look the fool. Mark a Condition and give ground. On a hit, you’ve got someone’s attention. Use it as an opportunity or provoke them to action. On a 10+ your foe must respond in kind or flee.

"Good response time, people." As everybody sounds off, Hikari checks their locations on the map. A blow-up panel shows her map display of the River Market with chibi hero-heads of each teammember.

Something flashing out over the river catches Hikari's attention. She whips the field glasses around in time to catch The Lion catapulting through the air...right into the thick of things! Tell me he didn't. She sighs. He did.

"Look alive, everybody. The Lion volunteered for distraction duty. Sunburst, you're on defense. See if you can cordon the goons in the Lion's den. Tsunami, GZ, Moonshadow, see what he can do about the hostages on those boats. Civilians are priority, let's not make this bigger than it needs to be."

"Ronin, what do you have for me? Any idea who they are or what they want?"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Rolled 11 to assess the situation.

It seems pretty obvious what the biggest threat (mob of mooks + boss) is and what's in the greatest danger (hostage boats). Nobody seems vulnerable to me given that I'm nowhere close. So that leaves us:

1. How could we best end this quickly?
2. What can the team use to take control of the hostages?

I realize number 2 is modified from the standard question. I'm hoping that Hikari can see something from her vantage point to help the team out, maybe using the environment to our advantage?

[Razade]

Razade, The GM
Pool: 1

The panels snap back to Coyote Knight and her merry band of ne'er do wells and fellow villains, the panel framed as The Lion leaps into the scene feet first. "Oh no you don't." is all Coyote Knight manages to get out as she dives to the side, parasol unfurling like a large and colorful shield as her minions scatter. The panels then quickly cut to the rest of the team, divided though they might be.

Ronin

Your hacking attempts are thwarted, sadly, by the general firewalls one might expect in a city filled with various meta-humans. You've not tripped any alarms or otherwise alerted authorities to your attempts at various CCTV nodes but you're not getting the access you'd really rather like to have. To make matters worse whatever alarms you have of your own in your lab begin to indicate someone has approached your front door. This of course distracts from any real information you might glean from the cameras you do have access to.

Who are you expecting, or not expecting, on a nice Friday afternoon? The better question is, how are you going to handle their sudden appearance on your doorstep when your team needs you to be their eyes? Do you have contingencies just for these occurrences?

Tsunami, Hikari

The panels cut back to the River Districts streets and the team on the scene. First is Tsunami.

There certainly seems to be a system the Coyote Knight's people are using as they go street stall and small store to street stall and small store, bringing more people out from each and near the river. They're not searching people, the hostages seeming to be more insurance as they rip apart storefronts for whatever it is they're looking for. The panels are quick to Hikari, likewise using their vantage point to figure out the best avenue for assault.

Coyote Knight already seems primed with her hostages, the whole effort coordinated to be a mess for anyone trying to step into the situation. With The Lion already doing so, there's no doubt that the situation has taken a turn. Finding what she's looking for and denying her that would probably end the street fight. There's the issue of the hostages, taking control of the boat would be a fight. The Knight and her subordinates have quite a few guards standing ready to speed off. Taking them out would net you the lion's share of their bargaining chip however.

Moonshadow

Your vantage from the dark alleys affords you cover from the chaos slowly unfolding in the small square the Coyote Knight and her people have formed up in. The Lion's intrusion non-withstanding, or perhaps the only reason you might have caught this small detail at all, you see a momentary flash from one of the many second story windows that overlooks the quaint plaza. A lens of some kind, someone watching from the safety of a second story window. This is no navel gazer, not some youtube wannabe. The lens flare could only trace back to someone watching The Lion as they descend from the sky.

Your team are not the only ones with people playing overwatch.

It's a crazy idea but it seems the only one afforded to you. The Band member you've been stalking is just the right size for you. You could easily take their uniform and blend into the group. You'd have to get it from them however and it's unlikely they'll just give it to you if you ask nicely. What do you do?

Sunbust, Ground Zero, The Lion

The rest of the team seems silent on how best to proceed though for Sunburst and Ground Zero...that ship might have sailed. The Lion leaps into the fray with all the pomp and circumstance one might expect for a Prince in Exile, the crowd and the Coyote Knight and friends reacting as one might expect. As if someone had hit a hornet's nest with a shovel. It goes about as well as one might expect it to get for the person holding the shovel as well. A flurry of motion erupts from the Coyote's Band, several dead sprinting to the hostage boat as others square up with The Lion.

"One more step and this is all over, hero." The Coyote Knight snarls, parasol aimed at The Lion in a far more threatening manner than one would ever expect from such a tool. "This doesn't concern you, we'll let you go if you play nice. We're on the same side. You'll understand once we've got what we came for." She doesn't seem panicked, her tone as steady as her weapon.

The others are watching, certainly, the rest of you are in position for a fight. What do you do?

[Comissar]

Sunburst
Conditions: Afraid, Guilty, Hopeless
Potential: 1/5

Spoiler: Labels

Show

• Danger: +1
• Freak: +2
• Savior: +0
• Superior: +0
• Mundane: +0

Spoiler: Burn and Flares

Show

Held Burn

1

Shielding

You call up a fast protective field to stop a danger. Spend 1 burn to defend someone else from an immediate threat, rolling +Freak instead of +Saviour.

Moat

Spend 1 burn to create a barrier that will hold back threats as long as you keep your attention on it. The GM may call for you to spend another burn if the barrier is threatened by particularly powerful enemies.

Reality Storm

You channel a destructive burst with your powers. Spend 1 burn to directly engage a threat using your powers, rolling +Freak instead of +Danger. If you do, you will cause unwanted collateral damage unless you spend another burn.

Snatch

Spend 1 burn to use your powers to seize any one object up to the size of a person from someone within view.

Lanuola belatedly realised she ought to be joining the group call. The group call that she'd been specifically told to use in these situations. The one meant to let her co-ordinate with everyone else. She was fumbling with her ear-piece when she heard sounds of alarm and shouting breaking out up ahead. There's a close up on her face, showing a startled reaction to Lion's brazen assault. She hurries to a building corner, pressing up close against it, attention flicking from Lion and the lady with the parasol to the goons sprinting to the boat with the hostages.

There's a beat panel. Lanuola looks scared. Uncertain. Completely out of her depth. In the next panel her eyes have lit up again, glowing bright white. And then she's moving again. Hopefully Lion could handle the attention he'd drawn to himself. More important to keep the hostages as safe as she could. She skidded to a stop when she had a clear view of the docked boat. There's a panel where she exhales, arms outstretched. Then her arms glow brightly, whiting out through the fabric of her top. An overhead shot shows the boat, goons running to reach it. Then a wall of light erupts upward from the water, curving around the boat, encircling it. The wall at first glance looks to be solid white, but a closer look shows geometric patterns etched into the wall, the patterning reminiscent of Samoan tattoos.

The focus shifts back to Sunburst, her arms trembling slightly. She's managed to get her earbud in, maintaining the wall with a single shaking hand and a look of intense focus, her other hand on her earbud. "I-I'm keeping the boat locked down." Not the most decisive voice at the best of times, the strain of maintaining the barrier brings an extra tremoring note, "Will keep it up a-as long as I can."

Spoiler: OoC

Show

Sunburst will be spending a point of burn to create a Moat around the boat with her powers, the intention being to keep the people on the boat, and those off of it separate. She'll be trying to do this before any of the people running away from the conflict between Lion and Coyote can get there.

[Captain Jak]

Ronin
Conditions: None
Potential: 1/5

Spoiler: Labels

Show

• Freak: +0
• Danger: +1
• Savior: +1
• Superior: +1
• Mundane: +0

Spoiler: Moves

Show

• [X] I'll Show Them: When you defend someone who doesn’t believe in you, you can always take Influence over them, even on a miss.
• [X]All The Best Stuff: You’ve compiled access to caches of equipment and weaponry other supers have hidden in the city. When you access a cache, say whose cache it is. If it’s a hero’s, roll + Savior. If it’s a villain’s, roll + Danger. On a hit, you find a tool or intel useful to your situation; the GM will detail. On a 7-9, you leave evidence that you’ve been here. On a miss, you tripped an alarm and they’re coming; prepare to explain yourself.

Text box in the panel's corner, a chibi-Hikari head indicating she's the speaker.

"…Ronin, what do you have for me? Any idea who they are or what they want?"

A close up panel on Miho's face shows a furrowed brow that suggests frustration on her part.

"I've got nothing but—" She's interrupted by Chisei popping up an alert on her smart glasses about the front door motion sensor. "…but a poorly timed visitor. We'll get you some info, wait one," she requested. A dramatic low-angle action panel, complete with speed lines, shows her whirling the chair toward the door into the house proper.

"Chisei, data search; track down all references online to the Coyotes in the past two years and analyze for patterns that might suggest what they're looking for," she asks of her digital friend. "Route any results to Hikari; monitor and notify me if anything critical happens with the team that needs me." The next panel has her entering a kitchen, still in motion as she heads for the front door.

UNDERSTOOD; WE HAVE GOT THIS COVERED, MIHO, Chisei prints in bold across her glasses. Close-up panel of Miho's finger hitting a MUTE button on her chair's controls, and then she's at the door with its camera display.

Chisei, take a note; we need to duplicate the door camera feed to the lab."

NOTED.

Taking a breath, she keys the controls for the front door camera to see who has come a calling. At the least opportune time, too! Who could it be – Girl Guides? Neighbourhood Watch? The neighbour wanting to borrow a cup of sugar? Lightbringer herself?

Hopefully not that last one. She's not exactly dressed for it.

Spoiler: Crunch

Show

Machine Control to have Chisei search out and look for patterns in past Coyote criminal activities, monitor team network and keep her apprised of critical situations: 11

[Catastrophic_B]

Ground Zero
Conditions: none
Potential: 0/5

Spoiler: Labels

Show

Freak: +1
Danger: +2
Savior: 0
Superior: +1
Mundane:-1

Spoiler: Moves

Show

In a China Shop: When you directly engage a threat, you can cause significant collateral damage to your environment to choose an additional option, even on a miss.
Physics? What physics: When you unleash your powers to barrel through an insurmountable barrier, roll + Danger instead of + Freak.
-Defender: When you leap to defend your love or rival in battle, roll + Danger instead of + Savior to defend them.

Back at the River Market, as everything begins to happen, Ground Zero takes to the sky, looking for the hostages Hikari mentioned. Not a particularly difficult thing to find as Sunburst had created a giant ring around it. He flies towards it, coming in over the open.
"Relax guys," he tells the hostages with a smile, "the heroes are here. Now if you'll just hold on tight, we'll have you out of here in no time."
With that said, he places his hands on the boat's hull, putting it under the control of his tactile telekinesis. He goes to lift it out of the water, but boat is heavy just by itself, now full of people, that weight had increased significantly, and lifting it would be no easy feat.
"Come on, you got this. You got this!" he quietly says to himself as he drops concentration on the barrier meant to protect him, and focuses everything he has on lifting both the boat and himself. And it Works! The boat rises up out of the water and over Sunburst's barrier as he starts to fly it away from the danger.
"Thanks for keeping them safe Sunburst!" he calls out over the com channel, "But I've got them from here."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Rolled 9 for Unleash Your Powers in the form of being able to lift and fly the boat out.
Went with unstable, as to do this, he had to make himself, the only thing keeping the boat in the air, vulnerable to attack in order to pull this off.

[Captain Jak]

Ronin
Conditions: None
Potential: 1/5

Spoiler: Labels

Show

• Freak: +0
• Danger: +1
• Savior: +1
• Superior: +1
• Mundane: +0

Spoiler: Moves

Show

• [X] I'll Show Them: When you defend someone who doesn’t believe in you, you can always take Influence over them, even on a miss.
• [X]All The Best Stuff: You’ve compiled access to caches of equipment and weaponry other supers have hidden in the city. When you access a cache, say whose cache it is. If it’s a hero’s, roll + Savior. If it’s a villain’s, roll + Danger. On a hit, you find a tool or intel useful to your situation; the GM will detail. On a 7-9, you leave evidence that you’ve been here. On a miss, you tripped an alarm and they’re coming; prepare to explain yourself.

BACK TO THE SUBURBS....

Miho blinks.

”I take that back; Lightbringer would be preferable,” she mutters. The perspective in the next panel is a bit cockeyed, indicating Miho’s distress; groping at her door with sightless tenacity is a giant, slimy-looking, faintly green-glowing blob with long tentacles!



If it’s trying to take her door off it’s hinges, it’s in for a struggle; a small panel shows a cutaway of the door; while it’s sheathed in the standard front door materials, the core is reinforced steel, as is the door frame.

Not all is good, however; the next panel focuses not on the struggling blob, but past it to the view across the street; at least two more of these things are visible, and they’re definitely taking down the doors of her neighbours.

"Oh, crap," Miho sighs, trying to peer past the blob filling much of the view screen. If these things are out there, then there must be—

Yes, there he is. In white lab coat and gas mask, it's The Biolator, criminal genius with a specialty in microorganisms, whom he believes are the superior life form and – with his help – will take their place as the supreme life form in this world. If he engineered super viruses he could be a threat to humanity as a whole; as is, he can't seem to get past creating giant versions of his beloved microorganisms, and seems equally incapable of seeing the irony in his course of action. As such, he's viewed as a D-lister; yes, his creations can pose a danger to civilians, but just about any hero or villain can deal with them easily enough. Most cops and gang bangers too, for that matter.



"Like I have time for this! Miho exclaims. Clearly, she's going to have to clean up this mess before one of her neighbours gets hauled off for...whatever reason they were here for.

Her hand comes down on the phone controls, un-muting her call briefly. "I'm going to be a minute; Chisei will keep you updated." Hitting the mute button again, ignoring the scrabbling sounds coming from the other side of the door, she blows out a breath and removes her glasses.

"Flight systems disabled for maintenance, no time to get them back up again. We do this on foot, I guess. Chisei – Launch!"

With the command given, her chair whirs into action! Standing her upright like the high-model chair it emulates, it doesn't stop there. Components shift and slide over one another, swarming up her form and encasing her in the bright armour of her heroic persona – Ronin! The HUD rapidly cycles through its start-up sequences, all lights coming up green.

"Power to the Ionic Pulse Canons," Ronin instructs Chisei, our panel's frame inside the helmet, then hits the door release. Time to go squash some really, really big single-celled organisms.

[Hans Free]

The Lion
Conditions: 1, Hopeless (-2 on Unleash)
Potential: 0/5

Spoiler: Labels

Show

• Freak: +1
• Danger: +0
• Savior: +1
• Superior: +0
• Mundane: +1

Spoiler: Moves

Show

• [X]Words of the past: When you seek the guidance of one of your elders or a member of your legacy, tell them a problem you face, and ask them a question about the problem. They will answer it honestly, and tell you what to do. Take +1 ongoing if you listen. If you go your own way, mark potential.
• [X]Never give up, never surrender: When you take a powerful blow from someone with far greater power than you, use this move instead of the basic move. Roll + Savior. On a hit, you stand strong and choose one. On a 7-9, mark a condition.

We cut back to the Market...

"One more step and this is all over, Hero." The Coyote Knight snarls, her parasol aimed at him in a far more threatening manner than one would ever expect from such a tool. Mosi is frozen, his head hung low, his arms stretched around where Coyote Knight used to be as if in shocked belief. For a single panel, we only see what Coyote Knight sees -- the Lion's share of his helm, bouncing up and down.

A small panel cuts in. Mosi is... trying not to laugh? Hahaha, 'Hero', if Mami heard that, she'd be sure to tell her that 'idiot' is more apropos. What a sloppy entrance I've made for myself. He looks down at the ground and sees the concrete cracked from his impact. As his eyes are down, several of Coyote Knight's goons sprint past him towards the boat. He pulls both his arms up too late. And appears frozen in panicked surrender.

"Hey! Wait a second!" Lion shouts to them, his eyes not leaving the gang of thugs -- and their master in front of him.

"This doesn't concern you, we'll let you go if you play nice. We're on the same side. You'll understand once we've got what we came for." She doesn't seem panicked, her tone as steady as her weapon. Mosi, hands still raised, meets Coyote Knight's eyes. We see his eyes glowing golden, the pupil looks almost slit. His eyes are intense, just like her's.

"Oh well, in that case, go right ahead with what you were doing -- Please! I won't be falling for that 'we're on the same side' crap." Not again, at least... He sighs. "You all are clearly up to no good." Mosi dismisses her with a wave, rolls his eyes and gestures back towards the hostages on the boat. His hand shifts from stop, to a thumbs up, as he smiles honestly. Winks. Every gesture its own panel. "It doesn't have to be this way though. Everyone here could turn themselves in. You know, make it easy for yourselves."

"You come in like some hero," one of the mooks gloats, venom dripping as he says the word. "but you're surrounded on both sides. Coyote Gang's got the whole Market on lockdown. And we still have the hostages. Some hero, who likes to play dress-up as his old man. His old, dead man."

The six or so members of the Coyote gang between Mosi and the Coyote LAUGH. Their masks bob. Mosi's brow visibly furrows under his mask. Coyote Knight doesn't let her gaze drop from Mosi, watching his every expression and hand movement with precise, expert dedication. She releases one hand from the Parasol, waves it sharply. Her men fall SILENT. Then --

BLFFFFTT!!! A wall of LIGHT patterned like a Samoan tattoo bursts up behind Mosi, shielding the boat from the incoming men. Sunburst! Ground Zero soars through the air and yanks the whole boat up into the air. GZ! Thanks for having my back, peeps... Mosi closes his eyes and wags his finger.

"Your men said you had things on lockdown. Aww, what happened--?"

Coyote Knight snarls as she unleashes the full power of the Parasol at the Lion while he isn't looking. While she thinks he isn't looking.

Small panel, MOSI'S FOOT, lodged perfectly under a piece of concrete! He cracks one eyelid. Big mistake underestimating me, Coyote Knight... Mosi grins. ...the best part is that, if I don't die, she'll probably think I had planned this from the start...! Suddenly, The Lion's eyes fill with divine light--

--And he lets loose the full Strength and Speed of Sekhmet!

Cut to a big, splashy panel of their attacks crossing -- the swirling overwhelming Kirby Crackle Death Ray of the Coyote Knight's Parasol and Mosi's small chip of concrete, shot like a bullet -- its path ringed by an echo of golden pulses of sand-like light. Caught between their incredible power is her gang -- frozen in horror.

SSSSSSSSSSSssssshhhhhhBBBBBBLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAMMM!!

Coyote Knight's parasol goes sailing over a nearby rooftop with as Mosi is sent backward by the force of its blast.

His eyes go wide.

Spoiler: Crunch

Show

The Lion rolls to directly engage Coyote Knight. I rolled my danger* at +0, to a 10. Full success! We trade blows and I pick two:

-- Impress, surprise or frighten the opposition, allowing him to trade blows with Coyote Knight while ignoring the mooks in front of her.

-- Take Coyote Knight's Parasol from her.

*See OoC for original roll. I will start linking to rolls after I meet the GitP post minimum to be able to do so.

[DreadPirateH]

Hikari
Conditions:
Potential: 1/5

Spoiler: Labels

Show

• Freak: +1
• Danger: +2
• Savior: +0
• Superior: +1
• Mundane: -1

Spoiler: Moves

Show

• [X] Devil or Angel on My Shoulder: When you provoke a teammate to violent action or drastic measures as your Hero Persona, roll with your Alias Label. When you discourage a teammate from going overboard or making an action they can’t take back as your Alias Persona, roll + your Hero Label.
• [X]Save the Light: When you step in to intervene, help a civilian, or stop a threat roll + your Hero label. On a miss, you’re made to look the fool. Mark a Condition and give ground. On a hit, you’ve got someone’s attention. Use it as an opportunity or provoke them to action. On a 10+ your foe must respond in kind or flee.

"Roger that, Ronin."

Hikari calmly watches events unfold on the river as her team moves into position. The action panels are interspersed with panels of Hikari taking bites of her ice cream and her dialogue is interposed on the action panels.

"Good job, people, keep it up. GZ, just get the goons out of range of their back-up. Police are on their way, just take the boat up-river toward the precinct to turn them over. Sunburst, you can drop the ring. No need to exhaust yourself holding it up longer than you have to."

"Tsunami, Moonshadow. The goons are tearing up shopfronts, seems like they're looking for something. No clue what, but maybe we can find it first?"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Rolled a 3 to support Sunburst. Apparently Hikari's not super aware of how tough she can be without meaning to. Marking Potential.

[Comissar]

Sunburst
Conditions: Afraid, Guilty, Hopeless
Potential: 1/5

Spoiler: Labels

Show

• Danger: +1
• Freak: +2
• Savior: +0
• Superior: +0
• Mundane: +0

Spoiler: Burn and Flares

Show

Held Burn

1

Shielding

You call up a fast protective field to stop a danger. Spend 1 burn to defend someone else from an immediate threat, rolling +Freak instead of +Saviour.

Moat

Spend 1 burn to create a barrier that will hold back threats as long as you keep your attention on it. The GM may call for you to spend another burn if the barrier is threatened by particularly powerful enemies.

Reality Storm

You channel a destructive burst with your powers. Spend 1 burn to directly engage a threat using your powers, rolling +Freak instead of +Danger. If you do, you will cause unwanted collateral damage unless you spend another burn.

Snatch

Spend 1 burn to use your powers to seize any one object up to the size of a person from someone within view.

Lanuola's heart almost stops as she sees a distant figure racing forward to bypass her barrier. Her mind races, had she just made a terrible mistake? Had she left the boat to be claimed by Coyote Knight's gang?

And then relief set in. It was Ground Zero. The chatter on the communication channel confirmed it. The boat was out of harms way. A close up panel shows a relieved, though strained, smile on her face. Her arms still tremble, and her breath still comes in short, sharp bursts as she glances over to see how Lion was faring. Then Hikari sounds in her ear. "Sunburst, you can drop the ring. No need to exhaust yourself holding it up longer than you have to."

Stupid... Just wasting time and energy...

She releases her wall with a gasp, taking a moment to catch her breath as her eyes lose their glow. In the water where the boat used to be, her wall of light dissolves into nothingness. Once she feels able, Lanuola raises a hand to her earpiece, "Where, uh, where do you need me..?"

[The_Specialist]

Tsunami
Conditions: None
Potential: 1/5

Spoiler: Labels

Show

• Freak: +0
• Danger: +0
• Savior: +1
• Superior: +2
• Mundane: +0

Spoiler: Moves

Show

• [X] Been Reading the Files: You’ve learned about the superhuman world through your mentor’s resources. When you first encounter an important superpowered phenomenon (your call), roll + Superior. On a hit, tell the team one important detail you’ve learned from your studies. The GM will tell you what, if anything, seems different from what you remember. On a 10+, ask the GM a follow-up question; they will answer it honestly. On a miss, the situation is well outside your base of knowledge; the GM will tell you why.
• [X]Be Mindful of Your Surroundings: When you assess the situation before entering into a fight, you may ask one additional question, even on a miss.
• [X]Venting Frustration: When you directly engage while you are Angry, you can roll + the label your mentor denies (Mundane) and clear Angry.

The panel zooms out over the scene again, framing distantly the Lion and Coyote Knight, before focusing on a close-up of a tense Tsunami’s face. Hazel eyes watch the Lion from afar, brows drawn together in concern. At first, he’s not sure how much of the Prince’s antics were legitimately planned and for show, and how much is Mosi being over eager and potentially in over his (gloriously maned) head. Tsunami almost calls out to check on him, but then hesitates, wondering if that would undermine the Lion’s confidence, or maybe distract him, neither a good thing. They were supposed to trust each other, right? It wasn't his place to micromanage either.

The outlines of the panels are less even and crisp, drawn a touch more erratically while focused on Tsunami, as he struggles to collect himself. Everything is unfolding so quickly; Max grits and grinds his teeth behind his mask, closing his eyes tightly for just a moment as he chides himself more harshly. Keeping up with the action is not normally a problem, but despite his effort to simply will himself into a state of concentration, his reaction time remains sluggish, and his focus lacking.

Get it together!!

At least the others are moving with purpose, and he allows himself to feel a temporary hint of relief when he sees Ground Zero lifting the boat out of the water, and a luminescent barrier cutting off access for any more of the Knight’s cohorts to close the distance and intervene. That must belong to Lanuola. “...Nice, GZ. Good going, Sunburst. Solid teamwork...” Max utters quickly, though it seems simply to be on instinct and genuine, not intentionally echoing Hikari.

It seems that the combination of teamwork and distraction has given the Lion an opportunity to even his own odds as well, and so Max decides to trust his team mate to handle himself for the time being. And trust that Mosi or Hikari will speak up if the Lion needs some extra pack mates immediately on hand. Trust is such a tricky thing.

“I see it too,” he confirms Hikari’s observation. “The hostages were just distraction then. Not sure what they might be looking for in these buildings though... Maybe something was stashed?” It was definitely a lot of risk and effort being put in, so it was worth finding out what it was for. “...I’m going to go ask.” Tsunami decides, slinging the kanabō off of his shoulder as he prepares to definitely not just ask. The linework of the panels begin to steady as Tsunami gains purpose and a target to focus on.

“Moonshadow, gonna put them between us. Welcome to make this a group hug, if you like...” He offers, any ‘joke’ delivered in the same serious tone he uses for anything else. Having watched their pattern for a few moments he’s confident he can land directly behind a pair of the goons and leave them a limited number of escape routes that should work to his favour. Through Tsunami, into the store and essentially trapped, or funneled towards Moonshadow. “Or use the distraction as you like...” The speech bubble extends across two panels, the first showing Max with one foot already stepping off of the roof top, and the second panel merely showing the space empty where he’d previously stood, only a trail of steam suggesting his trajectory.

The next page is split, a wide shot of the street showing the goons scurrying across and towards the next storefront in their pattern. The next panel shows the exact same frame, but the goons are standing up bolt straight in surprise, the rest of the street behind them obscured in a sudden bloom of steam, emanating from the point of impact. Tsunami stands slightly bent, rising up from his landing. The panels zoom in on the trio, Tsunami now standing fully and stepping forward out of the mist. With the kanabō held in one hand only in a deceptively lazy manner, his pose is one that would almost seem casual if not for the obscene size of the weapon.

“...Can I help you find something?” He offers, the sarcasm lost a touch in the coldness of his tone.

Spoiler: Service with a Snarl

Show

Rolled an 8 to Provoke the goons and try and intimidate something out of them. Allowing Raz to choose the result!

[Mr. E]

Moonshadow
Conditions: None
Potential: 0/5

Moonshadow is almost used to her teammates, and is thus almost not surprised at the elegant curve transcribed by the Lion as he arcs across the river and into the center of the battlefield. As a result, she almost retains her poise, and only briefly stares open-mouthed at the spectacle. Shaking herself after a moment, Cindy slinks across the street as the mooks scramble into action. Focusing on her own task, she keeps moving despite the sudden burst of coloured lights up ahead and the outbreak of chatter in her earbud.

Then panels compress into jagged shards as Moonshadow flits from market stall to stall, interspaced with scenes from her team-mate's positions. Closing in on the mysterious figure in the window, Cindy raises one hand to push her earbud further in as she hears her name called.

"I'm always down for a group hug, but I'll have to skip this time. Somebody's trying to snoop on us, so I reckon I ought to do something about that. Anyway, pretty sure you can handle it yourself, uso."

The next panel shows Moonshadow pressing herself into an alcove, directly beneath the window and the shadow lurking behind the glass. One hand slides up to the necklace around her neck, extracting a set of thin metal plates. Sticking her tongue out just slightly, Cindy bends down and slides a lock pick into the blue-green door, working it back and forth with determined concentration.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I think an unleash is probably called for, so as to sneak up on the mysterious figure without attracting undue attention to herself. Let me know if there's something else you'd prefer:

(2d6-1)[3]

[Razade]

The panels work side by side, showing Miho and her guest alongside the fight taking place at the River District. Both unfolding in real time. Data images flash by with Coyote forming the relative nexus of information even as the panels show the fight between herself and The Lion.

Coyote’s been a criminal element in the city for a year at least, a former member of The Worst Generation and one of the instigators for both the fight at the Monsoon, the subsequent robbery of artifacts from The Weather Report, the revival of The Black Emperor and the death of Sun Wukong and the final confrontation with The Storm King in Karakuri Town. Details on her ability stealing powers are also highlighted, the thief theme seemingly everywhere.

She’s gotten around. Her crew are new, relatively speaking, only having gathered in the last few months for some substantially big job. This must be it.

All of this would be good information to give to the team as the Lion and Coyote square up. Sadly Miho is occupied though the same can't be said for Coyote. Even disarmed, sent sprawling, the villain keeps their composure enough to make landing in a fruit cart seem graceful, planned.


Coyote stands slowly from her momentarily off balance position, the rest of the goons still standing taking a step back from The Lion even as the shimmering band of energy incircles the boat...and the boat lifting into the air thanks to Ground Zero. The agile villain, even sans weapon, stands her ground.

“Not bad...not bad. I must have some luck with you animal themed family men...just my luck. You’ve got us good though. You and your pal over there.”

A slender finger motions to GZ as he makes to move off.

“Thing is, this isn’t my first rodeo with your sort. You wanna-be heroes, sticking their nose into business that doesn’t concern you. We gave you the choice to walk away, you meddle anyway. That doesn’t make you a threat. It makes you a nuisance. You’re not heroes, you or your laser light show friend wherever they are. You’re just kids playing pretend, even you, your highness. Doesn’t matter though. We came here knowing what was on the line. If we go down, you’re coming with us. Take the shot, make’em pay.”

The last bit is obviously meant for someone other than you, Lion, as the panels shift suddenly to Moonshadow and the storefront she’s trying to break into before panning up to one of its windows where a lance of energy screams out before striking Ground Zero in the side hard, the sfx on the page alongside the snap of Moonshadow’s lockpick as the old steel lock stands resilient. Whoever’s up above will have to find another way out...but that way in is out as well.

The panels then move only a storefront down to where Tsunami has landed, surprising several of Coyote’s goons as they work to overturn pretty much everything in the store. “You saw her run in here…” one says, unaware of the looming threat, the other only nodding. “Right when Coyote started shouting at us to get her. She’s quick but we have other people posted on the back do...ahhh!”

Both shriek as Tsunami speaks, fumbling for their weapons while trying to keep some distance between you and them.

The panels again move to Hikari, her vantage showing the general overview of Murphay’s Law in action. Even with good planning and team coordination, if the enemy has a plan chances are you’re going to lose out in the initial scuffle. What do you do Hikari?

The panels at last return to Ronin who, having suited up, is greeted with lime green jello like limbs as her front door opens before she’s tossed into the quiet suburban street. Super fights are rarer as one gets further away from central San Fransapporo, some Wards downright peaceful. That isn’t happening today however as the Biolater cackles madly from the sidelines. “Make her pay, my precious paramecium!! She knows what we’ve come for, don’t let her slink away without our just rewards!”

The D lister isn’t known for his solid grasp on sanity but there has to be some reason he’s come all this way for you. What is it? What history do you have with a fairly low rung bottom feeder?

Spoiler: The Lion

Show

You didn’t take “Resist their Blows” so mark a Condition of your choice. She is also telling you how the world works. You can reject her Influence or shift your danger down and your mundane up.

Spoiler: Sunburst

Show

She’s telling you how the world works, reject her influence or shift your danger down and your mundane up.

Spoiler: GZ

Show

Roll to take a Powerful Blow. The roll will determine if you manage to hold on to the boat or not.

Spoiler: Tsunami

Show

They err. Gain +1 forward against them/

[Catastrophic_B]

Ground Zero
Conditions: none
Potential: 1/5

Spoiler: Labels

Show

Freak: +1
Danger: +2
Savior: 0
Superior: +1
Mundane:-1

Spoiler: Moves

Show

In a China Shop: When you directly engage a threat, you can cause significant collateral damage to your environment to choose an additional option, even on a miss.
Physics? What physics: When you unleash your powers to barrel through an insurmountable barrier, roll + Danger instead of + Freak.
-Defender: When you leap to defend your love or rival in battle, roll + Danger instead of + Savior to defend them.

The panel focuses in on the beam of energy, as it screams across from the newly broken window, straight towards Ground Zero. Focused as he is on keeping the boat in the air, he doesn't notice the beam until the last second. His protective barrier slams back into place not a moment before the beam burns into his side.

"GAAAAAAAAAAH!" Ground Zero cries out in pain, as the panel focuses in on his side where his jacket and shirt have been burnt through, revealing scorched skin beneath. But the pain isn't the worst part of it, as with his attention fractured, both he and the boat start to plummet.

The screams of the hostages drown out all oher noise as he struggles to recover his focus, pushing past the quickly fading pain and giving everything he has to keeping the speedboat in the air. "COME ON!" he screams at himself as the surface of the river, or more specifically a particularly unfortunate river barge that happened to be underneath them, rushes up to great him.

And mere inches above impact, he pulls it off! The boat comes to a stop and returns to floating in the air once more, and he allows himself a moment to laugh in relief. With a quick "Sorry!" to the man on the barge he almost crushed, he continues the controlled flight down the river as per Hikari's instructions.

As the screaming onboard dies down, he speaks into his earpiece, realising in hindsight that he'd been screaming into their ears. "I'm good. I've got everyone, but could someone please explain what the **** just hit me?!"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Rolled Take a Powerful Blow (+conditions) and got a 6.

[Comissar]

Sunburst
Conditions: Guilty, Hopeless
Potential: 1/5

Spoiler: Labels

Show

• Danger: +1
• Freak: +2
• Savior: +0
• Superior: +0
• Mundane: +0

Spoiler: Burn and Flares

Show

Held Burn

1

Shielding

You call up a fast protective field to stop a danger. Spend 1 burn to defend someone else from an immediate threat, rolling +Freak instead of +Saviour.

Moat

Spend 1 burn to create a barrier that will hold back threats as long as you keep your attention on it. The GM may call for you to spend another burn if the barrier is threatened by particularly powerful enemies.

Reality Storm

You channel a destructive burst with your powers. Spend 1 burn to directly engage a threat using your powers, rolling +Freak instead of +Danger. If you do, you will cause unwanted collateral damage unless you spend another burn.

Snatch

Spend 1 burn to use your powers to seize any one object up to the size of a person from someone within view.

Lanuola stands hidden as she overhears Coyote Knight's words. Her gaze is downcast, arms folded in front of herself as she considers them. She had often felt like she was just playing pretend. Going along with Cindy, but... She shook her head. They were making a difference. With her help, Ground Zero had saved all the people on that boat! With a new determination, she swallowed back her fear, stood up straighter, then gave a surprised yell as GZ abruptly screamed in her ear. Reflexively, she yanked the earpiece out, then looked over to where he was flying. Or falling. Quite fast, too.

Her eyes widen, and she tenses to run to try and help, but he recovers. Continuing to safety. Which just left Lion in the vicinity that she could help. Without quite as much determination as when she tried the first time, Sunburst comes out from her hidden position to face Coyote Knight alongside Lion.

Don't be scared, you can do this. Just remember what Cindy taught you.

Raising her fists and taking a stance that would have Cindy facepalming, Sunburst called out "W-We're not going anywhere! You're going to have to pay f-for what you've done today!"

Spoiler: OoC

Show

Rolling to reject influence. Post will be edited in pending results.

(2D6)[7]

Cindy will be clearing Afraid by showing that she is a true hero! Gotta stand up to those villains.

[Captain Jak]

Ronin
Conditions: None
Potential: 2/5

Spoiler: Labels

Show

• Freak: +0
• Danger: +1
• Savior: +1
• Superior: +1
• Mundane: +0

Spoiler: Moves

Show

• [X] I'll Show Them: When you defend someone who doesn’t believe in you, you can always take Influence over them, even on a miss.
• [X]All The Best Stuff: You’ve compiled access to caches of equipment and weaponry other supers have hidden in the city. When you access a cache, say whose cache it is. If it’s a hero’s, roll + Savior. If it’s a villain’s, roll + Danger. On a hit, you find a tool or intel useful to your situation; the GM will detail. On a 7-9, you leave evidence that you’ve been here. On a miss, you tripped an alarm and they’re coming; prepare to explain yourself.

The glow coming from the Ronin helmet’s eyeslits narrows; yes, it may seem like a bit of frivolous effort to design, but without facial expressions a lot can be lost. Having variable ‘eyes’ is worth it, in the armored heroine’s opinion.

”You’re going to have to let this go, Mikey,” Ronin replies, her voice lowered and modulated by the helmet into unrecognizability. ”We both know your macroorganisms--” what a stupid, if technically accurate name ”--don’t have a chance of prying me out of my suit.” She can, unfortunately, understand his beef with her.

Infodump panel! In a few rare places in the world, there can be found fossilized phytoplankton of a specific genotype in a wafer-thin geological layer. Unsurprisingly, there is limited collection of this particular substance, but with a few rare exceptions the demand is small, used for fringe medical research.

One of the exceptions is Dr. Michael Rhobe; it’s a key component in his mad-science growth process for his beloved microorganisms.

Another exception, of course, is Tohya Miho; in her case, it’s a critical component in what she’s currently using as a power cell. There’s a bunch of sciencesciencescience, but what it boils down to is a vastly superior power generation capability than anything else she is aware of at the moment.

And she’s not only basically bought out the entire market, she’s got the next six months worth of collection pre-paid for as well. If Rhobe wants to resupply, he needs her power cell.

Which is currently sitting about two inches above the small of her back at this moment.

It's funny how a flame war in an online scientific journal's comment section can end up like this. Rhobe certainly hadn't expected what he'd gotten when he'd tracked her down the first time; neither had she been expecting to have her place crashed by giant brainless blob monsters. Apparently a new address in an unlikely neighbourhood isn't sufficient to shake him.

Now a wide panel, running the breadth of two pages, surrounded by the info boxes above and below. Part of Ronin can be seen in the extreme foreground, our perspective with her; off at the other end looking small with the distance, the Biolator's white-clad form faces off with her.

Time to stall. ”Transfer a summary of those search results to Hikari,” she instructs Chisei, having cut her external speakers for a moment. ”Hopefully they'll give her something to work with.”

Cutting the externals back in she addresses the Biolator, playing for a bit of time while the data is transferred, shifting a few steps to keep her distance from the macros.

”Look, if I'm going to have an arch-nemesis, it's by Ghu going to be someone more impressive than you,” she begins, but is interrupted when the oversized paramecium moves much more swiftly than she expects, slamming its entire panel into her and sending her sliding down the road. Some manner of power connection blips, and the data transfer bar flickers to a broken link. Argh!

Spoiler: Crunch

Show

Unleash: Machine Control 5. Marking Potential

[Razade]

Razade, The GM
Pool: 1

The Biolator laughs as the large microbe rears up to build a wall between you both. "I think you have more to worry about than arch-rivals Ronin. You can't have one of those if your career as a hero won't go past today! You mocked me!" The Biolator's already shrill voice a particularly grating whine as he stamps his foot in someone's well manicured hedge. "You denied me my most needed supplies but I'll have my revenge. I've found something better, I thought you might like to see it before my pet pries you from your precious armor."

With a flourish the "good doctor" brandishes a large syringe filled with bubbling black goop, launching it at the microbe which begins to pulsate and mutate. The "beast" swells, growing a darker shape of green until it's almost black as the asphalt beneath it starts to melt, bubbling into the thing to form a rocky shield. "Now behold! The start of this world's new masters!"

[Captain Jak]

Ronin
Conditions: None
Potential: 3/5

Spoiler: Labels

Show

• Freak: +0
• Danger: +1
• Savior: +1
• Superior: +1
• Mundane: +0

Spoiler: Moves

Show

• [X] I'll Show Them: When you defend someone who doesn’t believe in you, you can always take Influence over them, even on a miss.
• [X]All The Best Stuff: You’ve compiled access to caches of equipment and weaponry other supers have hidden in the city. When you access a cache, say whose cache it is. If it’s a hero’s, roll + Savior. If it’s a villain’s, roll + Danger. On a hit, you find a tool or intel useful to your situation; the GM will detail. On a 7-9, you leave evidence that you’ve been here. On a miss, you tripped an alarm and they’re coming; prepare to explain yoself.

A close-up panel on Ronin, hands planted and about to push her upright again. A yellow text box shows her thoughts; Thank goodness a villain can’t seem to resist the opportunity to monologue.

Pushing herself to her feet, she marvels anew at being able to move like this again. Yes, she still lacks any sensation below her waist, but the sophisticated electrical induction system built into the lower half of the armour is able to trigger her muscles as needed from their external stimulus, rather than evolution-crafted nerve impulses.

”You really need a new hobby, Doc,” Ronin tells him, warily watching this new ‘wall' format. Although strictly speaking, she isn’t especially concerned about a variant that locks itself into place.

”Tell you what; as a good faith gesture, I’ll help you stress test it,” she informs her foe. Turning the page, the first panel shows a status bar labelled ‘KINETIC LANCE' that’s showing twenty percent; the impact from the paramecium and subsequent slide has charged it that much, at least.

The small over-the-shoulder emitter flips up and locks into place a bare instant before she targets and fires upon the centre of mass of this tarry, organic wall.

Although...20% might not be enough, come to think of it....

Spoiler: crunch

Show

Directly Engage a Threat: Kinetic Lance vs Asphalt Paramecium: 4. Marking yet more potential....

[The_Specialist]

Tsunami
Conditions: None
Potential: 1/5

Spoiler: Labels

Show

• Freak: +0
• Danger: +0
• Savior: +1
• Superior: +2
• Mundane: +0

Spoiler: Moves

Show

• [X] Been Reading the Files: You’ve learned about the superhuman world through your mentor’s resources. When you first encounter an important superpowered phenomenon (your call), roll + Superior. On a hit, tell the team one important detail you’ve learned from your studies. The GM will tell you what, if anything, seems different from what you remember. On a 10+, ask the GM a follow-up question; they will answer it honestly. On a miss, the situation is well outside your base of knowledge; the GM will tell you why.
• [X]Be Mindful of Your Surroundings: When you assess the situation before entering into a fight, you may ask one additional question, even on a miss.
• [X]Venting Frustration: When you directly engage while you are Angry, you can roll + the label your mentor denies (Mundane) and clear Angry.

“You saw her run in here...”

The panel switches to a closeup of Tsunami’s face in partial profile, his eyes betraying surprise at the revelation. The first thing he hears immediately changes the gameplan in his head. They are looking for a person, just a very specific person, it seems. And it is very possible this person is also in the store, hiding. He has to be careful where he swings. And he has to try and identify and hopefully rescue the person as well. Unfortunately, now there’s no time to look.

“Hikari, they’re looking for a person. Female.” Tsunami mutters quite hastily into the receiver within his mask, as the two goons scream. He does so quietly, hopefully low enough so that they don’t hear precisely what he says, trusting that the intimate proximity to the mic and the material of the mask mean that the shrieks won’t drown out the message too much for the team.

There is a certain satisfaction Max feels though, in catching the goons by such surprise that they so blatantly fumble; not because he enjoys scaring people, but because he does like to remind the dastardly and wicked to remain humble.

Understandably, they are trying to free their weapons. There is very little time to stop this from becoming a direct confrontation, a spare moment gifted only by their fumbling. Had he wanted to make the first move and make a trading of blows a certainty, he certainly had the chance when their backs were turned. But he doesn’t.

Tsunami lowers his kanabō enough that it hits the floor with a noisy clunk, the kind you can feel vibrating through the floor. The sound betrays its weight, and gives a first impression for the imagination to extrapolate how it might sound connecting with an organic body instead of linoleum and concrete.

“Drop your weapons, or I’ll make you. We don’t have to fight. But those weapons are going on the floor one way or another, your choice.”

Steam begins to hiss out from beneath the soles of Tsunami’s boots again in faint spirals, not enough to be dangerous yet.

Max certainly isn’t afraid of a fight, far from it, but given the chance to stop one from happening at all, he’ll always take it. Having no fight at all is always the best option. Granted, Coyote Knight already started a conflict, but with these two, right here, there’s some small chance of deescalating and getting what he wants without more damage. This shop is someone’s livelihood after all. These two girls are someone’s daughters. Misguided and criminal daughters. But if they want to make the decision not to be thrashed, he’ll gladly respect it. There’s no being delicate once he starts swinging.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Rolled a 10 to Provoke the goons into standing down. Hopefully? :D

[Mr. E]

Moonshadow
Conditions: None
Potential: 1/5

"Frick!" Cindy manages to avoid swearing as the thin lock-pick twists instead of turning the tumblers, before abruptly pressing herself into the doorway as, about a foot above her head, a beam of sizzling light crackles with the distinctive sound of something that would have reduced her to smoldering ex-Cindy.*

Glancing over her shoulder, Moonshadow tracks the path of the beam, then winces as a burst of screaming tears tears into her right ear, and the flying boat, in itself somewhat alarming, bounces suddenly. Pressing her earpiece in in, she listens to the sudden burst of radio chatter, before responding hurriedly as she steps out of the doorway, assessing her options.

"Kai, I've got eyes on whoever's trying to shoot you. I bet they're the one that all these thugs are looking for, too. See what I can do."

Which is, of course, the question. With the doorway blocked, another route is needed. Cindy glares up at the window overhead, spinning her knife in one hand. While she's done enough pull-ups to be certain that she could get up there, the question was how fast? That, and whether the person on the other side would shoot her as she came over the window-sill. On the other hand, it seemed unlikely that the light-show had gone unnoticed at large, and Cindy had a nasty suspicion that there'd be goons aplenty if she stood around.

With that cheery thought hanging in her mind, Cindy takes a step back, then launches forward, hooking the edge of her Nifo Ito over the windowsill, while latching on with her other hand. Either, she thinks, she'll spring over the sill with weapon drawn, or she'll end up sliding over the bar and falling flat on her face.**

'But'll it'll definitely be the first one, 'cause I'm just that cool. Right? Right?

*At this point some obscene language might have passed her lips, but if you don't tell her parents, that can be our little secret.

**Any resemblance to her brief flirtation with competitive pole-vaulting in fifth grade is purely coincidental.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I really struggle to write scenes which involve working the scenery, which is why I kept on postponing writing this post. At least I got it out, I suppose.

Anyway, I feel like there should be a roll here, but I'm not sure what label applies, so Raz can add the appropriate modifiers as necessary:

(2d6)[3]

And, no matter what happens, that's not going to be a success. Yay, more potential, I suppose...

[DreadPirateH]

Hikari
Conditions:
Potential: 1/5

Spoiler: Labels

Show

• Freak: +1
• Danger: +2
• Savior: +0
• Superior: +1
• Mundane: -1

Spoiler: Moves

Show

• [X] Devil or Angel on My Shoulder: When you provoke a teammate to violent action or drastic measures as your Hero Persona, roll with your Alias Label. When you discourage a teammate from going overboard or making an action they can’t take back as your Alias Persona, roll + your Hero Label.
• [X]Save the Light: When you step in to intervene, help a civilian, or stop a threat roll + your Hero label. On a miss, you’re made to look the fool. Mark a Condition and give ground. On a hit, you’ve got someone’s attention. Use it as an opportunity or provoke them to action. On a 10+ your foe must respond in kind or flee.

Hikari continues to watch events develop on the river, suddenly much less calm. A beat panel shows her staring mutely out over the scene, Ground Zero wobbling in air, static blaring in her ear, the half-eaten ice cream cone halfway to her mouth. Pulling her shirt up, she looks down at a red sash tied around her waist, hidden underneath her clothes. No. Trust your team.

Looking back up, Ground Zero has stabilized, and Hikari breathes a sigh of relief. "Take it easy, GZ. Shadow's on the shooter, she'll take them out. Sunburst, stand by to assist. Try to defend against any more shots, but be ready to bail out Lion if it gets too hot." Then she's over the side of the building, sliding down the roof access ladder with one hand, the other hand still holding the ice cream and the field glasses dangling from her neck. She stashes the glasses and retrieves Chidori and Honoo, strapping them to her back and throwing on her dark purple helmet. The next panel shows her mounted on the motorcycle, the left side of the purple body sporting a similar design to the right - the word Sakura and the same cherry blossom. A close-up panel shows the bike's dash as Hikari turns the ignition. Along with the usual dials and read-outs, a digital HUD appears on the inside of the windshield, showing the map of the fight complete with chibi-heads.

"Roger that, Tsunami. I'm headed to your 20. Let's see if we can't find our girl before they do and end this thing."

One more set of panels shows her peeling out on Sakura, still holding her ice cream, with Roberto cheering from the window of the halohalo shop.

[Razade]

Razade, The GM
Pool: 1

The panels remain split up as the team begins to divide into smaller groups. The first panels move to

Ground Zero

Pretty much everyone screams. The people on the boat. The people on the boat below you, you...obviously as you're struck by the blinding crackling bolt of energy...but you stead yourself even if the screaming doesn't stop as quickly. The question now is...where are you going with your cargo? Has it ever occurred to you why people call it cargo when it's on a ship but a shipment when it's on a car? That's a digression, what's probably more pertinent is...can you risk taking another shot from whoever or whatever that was? Your team's silent on the matter...they could probably use your help.

So Ground Zero, what do you do?

Next, side by side are

Hikari and Tsunami

The goons inside the shop are quick to drop their weapons, a side long look between the two confirming that they really don't want anything to do with the armored club wielding teen. "Boss isn't paying us enough for this, it was supposed to be an easy job." says one as they find somewhere to sit and await the police whose sirens are already blaring in the distance. "We were lookin' for someone...Boss got'em good when they crossed swords but she's ran off. Won't matter...doubt she'll be standing for too much longer." the other says, the pair finally falling into sullen silence.

The shop is a mess from their previous work, some fashion boutique by the look of it. With time to look and no baddies to distract you however the out of place is easy to spot. A trail of blood, fresh and red, leads a trail out through the supply room and into one of the many back alleys of the River District. Once outside the familiar sound of Sakura, and Hikari, can be heard. Perhaps she's already on the scene as you step out the door?

Either way, the scene is the same when you both meet up in the cluttered trash filled alley. There, sprawled out in some boxes and trash bags is a prone figure. Young and in a kimono not at all unlike Coyote out in the square, another woman. She's clearly seen better days, her pale skin drained of any remaining color. The trail of blood that led you here is fresher, larger and ends in a pool beneath her. Her chest moves shallowly with feeble and hard fought breathes.

She won't be with you long.

What do you do?

Moonshadow

Acrobatics and mild profanity get you only so far. The only one around to hear the latter is up in the window and with your swing up you find yourself face to face with the shooter. You recognize her, skull face paint and wild purple mohawk that practicaly glows in the dim light of the small room she's found as her vantage point. Bruja. The latest of them it would seem, the young lady no much older than you. The Bruja are a Legacy of their own in the city, several former members having changed their tune and joining up with the more heroic elements of the city. That doesn't seem to be the case with the newest of them.

A momentary look of shock crosses her features as you swing up from below, the crackling energy that rang out from the window pulsates about her hands. "Hi there." she chirps, raises them and placing a blast as your feet plant on the window sill.

Spoiler

Show

Roll to take a Powerful Blow.

Ronin

Your kinetic lances strike the large mass of the creature, it wobbling for a few moments as the energy punches holes in its outer layer of tar and gravel only to be diffused within. Several more psuedopods strike out in defense, not enough to knock you back to the ground but certainly enough to shake you up inside your suit as the monster continues to devour the road and sidewalk as it adds concrete and soil to its growing mass.

"Is that the best you've got? All that stuff to say when you're behind a screen but when the fight's brought to you you're all hot air." The Biolater taunts from behind his shield, his air of self assured condescension even more grating in person...and he's not even using smiley emotes to passive aggressively bait you!

"Your Grandfather promised me a fat grant if I brought you in, I don't think he really thought I'd be able to. Said you were too dangerous for me, laughed at me. Said that even if you were a weakling and a run away, you were still one of his family. But you're not, you're not dangerous and you're not the same as them. You're just some weak kid and when I'm done with you, prying you out of that tin can, they can have the rest."

Spoiler

Show

Mark a Condition. On top of that, this loser is using his influence on you. You can either reject or shift your labels. Mundane up and Danger down.

[Captain Jak]

Ronin
Conditions: Angry, Insecure
Potential: 4/5

Spoiler: Labels

Show

• Freak: +0
• Danger: +0
• Savior: +1
• Superior: +1
• Mundane: +1

Spoiler: Moves

Show

• [X] I'll Show Them: When you defend someone who doesn’t believe in you, you can always take Influence over them, even on a miss.
• [X]All The Best Stuff: You’ve compiled access to caches of equipment and weaponry other supers have hidden in the city. When you access a cache, say whose cache it is. If it’s a hero’s, roll + Savior. If it’s a villain’s, roll + Danger. On a hit, you find a tool or intel useful to your situation; the GM will detail. On a 7-9, you leave evidence that you’ve been here. On a miss, you tripped an alarm and they’re coming; prepare to explain yourself.

The following panel is close in on Miho's face, faintly overlaid in places by cerulean information cast by her HUD. A throbbing vein is prominent on her forehead; clearly her scientific rival's words are fanning the flames of anger within her.

Next panel, cut even closer, centring on the throbbing vein. Almost hidden by the now huge-appearing protrusion, a trickle of sweat rolls down along its length. Angry, yes; but it seems some words hit home as well, and she discovers it's a great deal more difficult to stand on one's own two feet and cast defiance in the teeth of adult superiority than one imagines when boasting about it with friends and colleagues.

”You...you can talk all you want,” she blusters, the slightly jagged edges of her speech betraying her uncertainty. ”That doesn't mean you know what you're saying. I'm not a runaway; I'm free of them, clear and legal,” she debates hotly, her anger fuelling her words even as her insecurity shapes them.

Her body language shows her uncertainty; no longer quite so defiant a figure, the Ronin armour seems less a powerful warrior and more a too-smart-for-her-own-good girl's toy. She shakes her head; she's better than this! Everything she has, everything she's accomplished, she's done it on her own, and that makes her mighty!

Her furiously racing brain catches up to what it's been rambling, and an idea strikes her.

”But who am I to argue with you; I'm just a weak kid,” she goes on, throwing his own words back at him in a taunting manner. ”Stop hiding behind your ugly bags of cytoplasm and come pry me out of this tin can with your own, two hands – if you can!” There's a lot of bravado in her words at the moment; she's not feeling as sure as she should be that he can't do just that.

But it doesn't take a genius intellect to realise that she has a far better chance against him alone than she does against him and his array of abominations against nature.

Spoiler: CRUNCH

Show

Mark Condition: Angry. Reject Influence: 6. Mark Condition: Insecure, Move Mundane up, Danger down.
Provoke Biolator into standing his macros down and taking her on with his own two hands: 11