[M&M 3e] Defying the Future IC

[Abracadangit]

Kal is taken aback by the horrifying implications of Wrath's deal with Lockdown. He didn't just own her loyalty, it sounded like he owned most of her will. To be leashed to Lockdown almost like a real-life minion, with no ability to go against his wishes or leave. And all for what -- power?

"You know not why she needed that power," Ariadne reminds Kal. "People seldom enter such agreements because they wish to. When you are drowning, you have little time to consider the arm that pulls you out."

"They're all cowards, aren't they," Kal replies. "It's like every single one of them can't just be awful, they all... hide, behind something. Lockdown behind his crooked deals, Proxy behind his machines, Apophis behind his cult, and Manchineel..." She pauses. "...well, Manchineel's pretty honest about everything, I'll give her that. But the rest of them are pathetic." Ariadne remains silent, almost as if to say "No argument here."

Kal makes a mental note to speak with Nope later -- he needs to know not everything's his fault -- and listens to Floral's question with interest, before asking her own. "Are there none who have escaped his chains? Surely, there must be a way to undo that which is done. And if not, perhaps we might devise a way. We are a team of many talents," she concludes, gesturing towards Helios, Floral, and the path where Nope had left.

[Dorni]

Conflict creeped its way into Helios' expression.

The cult had served his family with "join or die", but that wasn't what had happened here. Wrath had taken the deal voluntarily. She'd wanted power, and she took the deal because she liked hurting people.. And since then she'd come to regret it. It had been a mistake. Not that she'd come to regret causing pain. Her words had been 'I like', not 'I liked'. He strongly suspected that the woman's anguish came from having traded her freedom away, of being reduced to a disposable attack dog. She didn't deserve sympathy or forgiveness.

But she did deserve some empathy. She realized she'd made a mistake and wanted out. Credit her for that. He could only hope that Dante did the same before it was too late.

Try as he might though, he couldn't sense anything about the pact binding her. Apparently Lockdown's powers worked on principles that his mystic sense couldn't detect. He looked to Nope; Nope's powers were all about negation. It didn't seem impossible that he could negate the pact that bound Wrath, but Nope had been much more cautious about his own abilities ever since the incident. It seemed impossible to Helios that Nope hadn't considered the possibility, but if he wasn't speaking up then he was probably uncomfortable making the attempt.

Which meant the most they could do was gather information. Lily's question was a great start, but... "This sense of when a super-powered person shows up. Does it include sensing conflicts that don't include members of the Chain Gang? Do the Gold Links have this sense as well?"

[Zelphas]

Wrath shakes her head. "I fight on Lockdown's side, and he doesn't care when his Gang's left out of it," she answers, partly to Helios and partly to Floral. "That's basically the extent of my contract. If I had to guess, just going off of how the Bronze Links and I work, I'd say that all of the Silver Links have two 'locks' on them to buy their power. The Gold Links... I don't know. More than two promises, probably, though how many more I can't say for sure. Oh, if you're going to lock him up,"" she says, indicating the fallen form of Pride, "You might have some trouble. I think he has to keep trying to recruit. I... don't know if he sleeps, but I've seen him go days at a time just to find someone he can pros--whatever, he can talk their ear off about joining the Chain Gang."

She rouses herself up enough to sneer a bit at Ariadne's question, though it's a weak effort at best. "If someone made it, I'd be asking them how, not talking to all of you. Most still like the work; the rest stay quiet, or..." she looks around, indicating the burned-out warehouse around you all. "Lockdown rules chains; they don't break."

She slumps again, then seems to think of something. "May as well. Do yourselves a favor. If Greed and Gluttony ever call in their boss, or if you ever meet someone wearing full medieval-style silver armor, just run. They were a death sentence even before they joined the Chain Gang and got Gold Link status."

Outside, Nope's... moment was perhaps interrupted by a fluttering noise and a slight embarrassed cough. "This would be a bad time to say 'thank you' again, right? Right, bad timing," Watcher's voice comes from a pigeon picking at one of its wings, studiously avoiding looking directly at Nope. "I think I have places ready for Pride and Wrath, though Lockdown's power definitely poses it's complications! The sheer strangeness of purely conceptual-style powers, coupled with their simple, internal logic, is just so--er, I mean... wrong time again. I'll just... be a bird, over here."

[Ridai]

It would be wrong to say the squatting Nope vents or breaks down outside or something like that. He is more attempting to release some of the pressure in his head without making a scene and completely losing it, and it is difficult and it hurts (physically even), but he doesn't really get to do that as Watcher is there again. So he has to bite everything back again and it causes him very real pain in his head, chest, and back, fingers applying white-knuckle pressure on his scalp. Pressed breaths, there's no time, there's no opportunity, screw your emotions, screw your problems, get crap together again, break down sometime later when nobody wants anything but you should be doing something productive instead anyway, screw your problems-

There is a building test screen noise getting louder, until it suddenly cuts off, followed by a pause, screentearing on his head area and static sound burst. Nope stands up and wipes through his face. There's some fluid, but also some blood. Actually kind of a lot of blood dripping from his upper lip. "Oh, that's probably bad," Nope notes without much of anything in terms of expression in his voice. "I'll fix it later," said with about as much concern as discovering a little bit of water having dripped on a counter top. "So where are we bringing them."

Once he has the answer, Nope just walks back into the building. His face is kind of a mess and the nosebleed is making one of indistinct clothes, but that's not the point. "Okay, I'll transport people now, 3, 2, 1-" And the long walk through zero-time begins. The nosebleed will stop at some point on the way, it's fine. Little side effect of the accidental removal or something. Everything should come back later or so, probably.

Once there, he goes "I'm going now. Am on clock before everything comes back, hard to go through zero-time then. Bye." And he disappears. Everything does come back, but it does in his room. It's a big mess, all in all, with a side of wondering/dreading whether he just accidentally lobotomized himself. Sadly, Uncle Bruno noticed, and there being a lot of blood makes this more alarming than it needs to be, so that moment goes right back into curbing things back down again. Real difficult though. "I maybe lobotomized my emotions away for a moment on accident, but I'm getting better" doesn't rank highly on the scale of things to say to de-escalate a situation.

[Zelphas]

Concerning emotional-slash-non-emotional reactions notwithstanding, Watcher soon enough organizes transport for Pride and Wrath to secure holding areas within the Obelisk. I'm certain that now that he's been divested with two of his most public, obvious Silver Links, Lockdown will act in a rational and reasonable manner.

(If you have any further questions for Wrath that you could see your character coming up with before Watcher takes her away, feel free to post them in the Side Scenes thread.)

Dihydrogen Monoxide

September 12th, 2018.

One thing can be said about the League of the Future; they are all, to a greater or lesser degree, creatures of habit.

Take Manchineel, for example. She had claimed all of the forests as her own, first driving people out of the woods with attacks and mutated creatures and then slowly removing all traces of human habitation from the wooded areas within the Dome. It se4ems like she had planned to take over Forester Park in the same way; for nearly a month, the amount of missing persons and strange occurrences in the area had been steadily rising, and dedicated trackers finally discovered the source; a mutated mustelid, probably a weasel originally, that had grown to enormous size and been able to ride the wind in some unknown way to move at supersonic speeds, striking without warning. This thing had been working in tandem with a fish creature that might've been anything at first, but was now a monstrosity of teeth and mud-brown scales that blended completely into the bottom of the ponds in the park and could travel between them at horrendous speeds itself. The two had been making the park uninhabitable to humans, but in the end they turned out to be just animals; the police (tipped off by the burgeoning Hero Support Group that has sprung up around town) were able to use careful observation, a lure, and heavy doses of tranquilizer to defeat the two beasts themselves with only minor casualties. Nigel Clarke, the town mayor, gave one of his brief talks to warn of the danger in the parks and urge citizens to be vigilant when crossing them, and Dean Falkenrath used the moment to decry Clarke's "poor leadership" and lobby for himself in the upcoming election that, yes, is still happening. Business as usual in the controlled chaos that is Forester's Bay.

All this is here to say that when several Proxybots are seen setting up something that suspiciously looks like it's going to siphon water out of Lake Michigan instead of smashing up another museum, it's strange enough for our heroes to take notice.

Whatever purpose this desolate little area once served, it serves it no longer; the entire area looks like it was abandoned long before the Waste came, and even the overcrowding of the city hasn't quite touched these dark buildings and this lonely bit of land jutting out into the middle of Lake Michigan. The entire dock and much of the area around it is covered in a thick purplish fog, the tell-tale sign of a Waste taking up residence. The Waste itself is situated above the dock, roughly halfway along the concrete surface's length. A perfectly spherical bit of polished chrome, the Waste is roughly four feet in diameter, with several holes places regularly across its entire surface; most of these holes are currently spewing a concentrated form of this thick purplish miasma that fills the air. Through the haze, you can make out the etched numbers 18782 on the surface of the Waste; Doctor Proxy's arcane numbering conventions, once again.

The device is surrounded by three Movers. It is essentially a squat black box, seeming to be too small when surrounded by the huge robots, with a flexible white tube coming out of one end and dropping into Lake Michigan while two cylinders sit on the dock at the other end. The cylinder on the left, attached to the device by a red hose, is vibrating more violently than the one on the right, which has a blue hose between it and the device. The two Movers hovering over Lake Michigan are stacked high with cylinders that look identical to the ones attached to the machine, while the Mover on the dock has only about ten or so cylinders on its flat surface. There is a constant, low sucking noise, and the water near the white hose is swirling ever so slightly.

Two AKuma stand on either end of the dock where it touches the rest of the ground; for all of their movement, they may as well be statues. And yet, as Nope appears on the scene, the Waste flashes with grey light, which echoes in the eyes of the two AKuma. The two-toned, grinning bears make no other movement, however. The air is still ,smelling slightly sour. The only sounds are the hum of machinery, the whoosh of gas being expelled from the Waste, and the low sucking noise of the strange machine. Another sound intrudes; a quiet ping, like a microwave timer. The Mover on the dock begins to stretch one mechanical arm forward towards the cylinder on the right of the machine, while the Mover on that side of the machine out on Lake Michigan fires up its jets, and begins to move forwards as well.

Spoiler: OOC

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Map here. The purple is the Waste's cloud of poison; light purple is concrete, and dark purple is water. This is a Cloud Area effect. The Waste will refresh this effect every "round" out of combat unless interrupted.

The Proxybots are not currently hostile. They are also not stopping whatever it is they are doing. Destroying all of the Proxybots will halt their actions, but reinforcements will be called; destroying the machine will cause the remaining bots to scatter, but will also... well, destroy the machine, making it somewhat harder to discover what it was for (though not impossible).

All PCs are up; no battle is currently happening.

[Ridai]

Nope's lips are pressed into a line, with the customary sigh through the nose, as the bots seems to specifically react to him. But at least it is just bots, as dangerous as they may be. Somewhat lower stress apart from trying to stay alive.

Standing there with his hands in his hoodie pockets, given the bots don't attack immediately, Nope glances to the others. "Unless you folks have a plan, I'll just start things." He doesn't sound very enthusiastic, but it is what it is. At least he isn't freaking out, just a little gloomy.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Lily looked over the dock that would shortly be a battlefield. They had battled AKumas and Movers before; two AKumas and three Movers were a non-trivial concentration of fighting power even before counting the Waste. Nothing they couldn't handle, but it would be good to have something of a plan.

The obvious move seemed to be focus-firing the Waste down from range. She hadn't faced one before herself, but from what she'd gathered they weren't all that tough, and getting rid of its cloud could only make things easier. The AKumas were weaker than the Movers, so if they could double-team them they should go down pretty fast. That would just leave the three Movers, which was strictly less fighting power than the team had faced at the museum that time, so shouldn't be that big of a problem.

The two main issues were potential reinforcements, and direct interference by the Movers to protect the more fragile robots. Any reinforcements that arrived fast enough to matter would be moving at superhuman speeds, so even Lily's nose likely wouldn't offer much warning. If the Movers were quick enough to interfere, it'd probably be more efficient to just burn them down first, but they might need to do some maneuvering to avoid the Waste's cloud while they did. Possibly sectioning them off with one of Ariadne's barriers would buy them some time...

Except the Movers seemed to be going for the machine now. So evidently they didn't have any time to either prioritize the lesser robots or coordinate on a plan. So Lily just answered Nope with a shrug and pointed her staff at the machine, launching a pinecone across the field, lobbing it clear over the machine...where it promptly split into three vines, one lancing at each of the Movers. The vines were tipped with thorns that drizzled acid, and were aiming straight for the Movers' engines, aimed to disable.

Spoiler

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I went back over our previous fights; if I'm reading right, it looks like the AKuma was PL 10 with a two-point Defense shift, and the Movers were PL 12 with a two-point Resistance shift. The Minions of the League suggests the Wastes at the very least have sub-PL 10 defenses, so at a guess it might be PL 8ish. I wouldn't be super surprised if it's higher PL but below-caps on defense, or it may just be below our PL and mainly intended to curtail more mundane interference.

If the Movers have Interpose, which I put pretty high probability on, then as long as they can use it attacking the AKumas would be equivalent to attacking against PL 13 (Defense 12 to hit, Mover Interposes for Resistance 14). If the Waste's Defense is 10 or less, though, attacking it would be at least no worse than attacking a Mover directly. Either way, if we can keep the Movers from Interposing for a round or so, that might be big game, and since they're further back, a Created wall to block their line of sight might do it. Or it might not, I'm not sure what senses they have.

Mechanics to come in OOC since editing.

[Ridai]

"Okay," Nope says as Floral attacks the bots. Another sigh, this one puffing his cheeks, and his face scrunches up in concentration, leaving only one eye open. Tag the six bots, hope for the best. Week of migraines and attempts to fix things haven't made things easy, but you gotta do what you gotta do. So when he is reasonably okay with his focus, Nope looks to each targeted bot and gives it a go, sounds flaring up and dropping out as the light smells like chocolate. He gets a rub of the forehead in for good measure. Could float up, but honestly, not feeling doing that as well. And better he gets attacked than anyone else.

Spoiler: Actions

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Free The classic Remove Second Guessing & Hit Points, Mass

Move Migraine avoidance.

Standard Attack all bots. DC 25 Damage (240ft bendable line, Multiattack [single target], Penetrating [Pierce Immunity], Ranged, Improved Critical 4)
Attack vs AKuma 1 [/roll]1d20+10[/roll] 18
Attack vs AKuma 2 [/roll]1d20+10[/roll] 25
Attack vs Waste [/roll]1d20+10[/roll] 21
Attack vs Mover 1 [/roll]1d20+10[/roll] 16
Attack vs Mover 2 [/roll]1d20+10[/roll] 18
Attack vs Mover 3 [/roll]1d20+10[/roll] 12
Link to the actual rolls

[Abracadangit]

Kal flicks a pair of needles into her hands and gets to work, hovering just above the ground on a web of ghostly threads.

Red patterns crisscross and spiral through the air around Kal as she weaves, encasing her in a translucent cocoon of thread from which she can plan and coordinate her assault.

"Don't forget," Ariadne says. "The thread will purify air tainted with poison, when worn over your mouth."

"I did forget that, thank you," Kal replies, honestly. "Was toxic gas such a problem, in times of old? Seems awfully modern."

"A great many malefactors made use of windborne miasma -- King Minos of Crete pumped it into an entire subsection of his wretched labyrinth. Villains may change, over the eons," Ariadne remarks, dryly. "Their tactics, however, do not. Hnn, hnn, hnn."

Spoiler: OOC

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Move: D15.
Threadwork: Set to Dual Needle Weaving.
Action: Dual Needle Silken Shields, centered on Ariadne, but should cover Floral as well.

[Dorni]

Helios regarded Proxy's strange machine with some degree of curiosity. Sure, it didn't look all that intimidating just sitting at the end of the concreate dock like that, but it was still a Proxy device. It seemed their impromptu informants were right -there was one hose sucking up water from the lake, and Helios didn't see an exhaust anywhere. So what exactly was it doing with the water? With no fewer than 3 of the massive Mover bots around his first guess was it was just collecting water for them to haul away, but this was a Dr Proxy creation. Besides, they'd be able to confirm it once they got a better look.

The miasma surrounding the machine didn't help with that. It wasn't a big deal though. The poison mist would certainly be effective for keeping away any random passerby or perhaps even Manchineel's minions, but Helios was confident he could disperse it with a good wind spell. As long as the Waste was there to keep pumping out the mist it would come back right away, but the mist wasn't thick enough to hide the machines within.

So Helios skimmed over the grass to join his allies, meanwhile gathering energies and unleashing them on the already damaged Mover, which promptly burst into flames.

Spoiler: OOC

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Free: Set Spells array to Damage (Penetrating, Perception, Secondary Effect)
Move: To E14
Standard: Attack Mover 2 with PA 5 at [roll]1d20+10z[/roll] Rolled OOC. 10. On hit, DC 30 vs Penetrating Perception SE Damage. So technical miss, but DC 25 with Perception.

[Zelphas]

The two Movers already in motion are able to maneuver quickly, slipping to one side with a speed and grace that belies their large, blocky frames to avoid Floral's burst of clinging vines. The Mover that had only been hovering, however, is not as quick, and the vines quickly entangle its engines and bind around it. There is a metallic cough, and the engines that hold it up suddenly die. The vines only manage to gain greater purchase after the air becomes a lemon cake of chocolate for a moment, taking the outer plating of that mover with it as the strange sensation goes. For a final indignity, flames appear over the Mover's surface, causing some electrical sparking before the entire vined, burning mass drops unceremoniously into Lake Michigan with a soft splash and a hiss of steam, vanishing from sight in moments.

The Mover that had been traveling from the lake accelerates swiftly, Blocking Nope's line of sight to the Waste an instant before he strikes. Several hairline cracks appear all over the heavy plating of the machine. One arm selects a cylinder from its load and reaches backwards, handing the cylinder off to the Mover closer to the machine; the other arms run over the cracks on its surface as it tries to orient to the new threat nearby. The Mover closest to the strange machine, accepting the cylinder from the other Mover, reaches to the machine again and exchanges the cylinder on the machine for the one it was just given, placing the machine's cylinder upon its back. The machine stops beeping. The untouched Mover rotates on its axis and then blasts away, moving north at an angle away from Lake Michigan and the fight.

Next to one of the AKumas is a pile of half-melted... something; judging by the way that AKuma is smoking, it used to be inside it, and was somewhat vital. That AKuma's eyes flash grey once more, and it turns towards Nope, its mouth opening in slow jerks. a spear, seeming to be made of swirls of light and dark chrome and roguhly three times the length of the AKuma itself, leaps out of its mouth, aiming to transfix Nope from across the field. The second AKuma races forward, its ball-shaped fists firing out like pistons as it leaps towards Nope as well.

The Waste drifts forward to the end of the dock, trailing its heavy cloud of mist. It simply continues to fill the air, bringing it forward until it the air around our heroes is filled with purple, too-sour air.

Spoiler: OOC

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Map.

Mover 2

Move Action: Staggered, Immobilized; fall into Lake Michigan.

Standard Action: Defend.

End of Turn: Resistance to Remove Immobilized & Vulnerable (DC 25): (1d20+9)[18] Haha, no.

Mover 3

Move Action: Dazed.

Free Action: Hand a cylinder to Mover 1.

Standard Action: Defend.

Mover 1

Free Action: Take the cylinder from Mover 3.

Move Action: switch cylinders.

Standard Action: Move Distance Rank 10 away, roughly north-northwest.

AKuma 1

Move Action: Shift to F43.

Standard Action: Use Bear Punch on Nope. (1d20+10)[11] On a hit, Resistance DC 25/20 + Multiattack vs. Damage Linked Dazed & Vulnerable/Stunned & Prone. That's a miss.

AKuma 2

Move Action: Staggered.

Standard Action: Use Bear Spear on Nope. (1d20+10)[29] On a hit, Resistance DC 25/20 + Multiattack vs. Damage Linked Immobilized/Stunned. Hit, full Multiattack; DCs become 30/25.

Waste

Move Action: Shift to 028.

Standard Action: Use Toxic Cloud. This hits everyone but Nope.

Floral: (1d20+12)[13] vs. 20 or Deflect: (1d20+10)[17] Miss straight out
Ariadne: (1d20+12)[25] vs. 20 or Deflect: (1d20+10)[27] (not that it matters because of your immunity, but still) Deflected, too
Helios: (1d20+12)[13] vs. 20 Miss
Nope: (1d20+12)[18] vs. 18 Just barely hits.

On a hit, Resistance DC 18 vs. Cumulative Dazed/Stunned/Paralyzed. This is a [Physiological] [Poison] effect. The area that is currently under the toxic cloud is marked on the map.

All PCs are on turn.

[Ridai]

Well, he did think it was better to be attacked than anyone else getting attacked, so that is a good thing? And given he was neither mauled (scrambled out of the way of that one) or impaled (just a bit dented) by the AKumas definitely is a good thing. Same with the ominous noxious cloud losing just enough concentration where he is standing to mostly make his nose itchy and his eyes watery. This is an awful lot of luck in one moment.

One of the Movers dashes off with a cylinder filled with... stuff. But there's still too many bots here. So since the AKuma are already gunning for him, well... he stands there and tries to take out the creepy machines he can see of the even more creepy Proxy. Hopefully, this will let the others do whatever it is they want to do, without getting harassed by two angry mechamurder bears.

Concentration it is, one target after another, made easier by fewer targets (in range) being visible, but harder by half of his view being filled with bear.

Spoiler: Actions

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Same procedure as last turn.

Standard Attacking the AKumas, the Waste, and Mover 3 with Remove Hit Points, Mass. DC 25 Damage (240ft bendable line, Multiattack [single target], Penetrating [Pierce Immunity], Ranged, Improved Critical 4)
Attack vs AKuma 1 (1d20+10)[23]
Attack vs AKuma 2 (1d20+10)[26] Crit?
Attack vs Waste (1d20+10)[24]
Attack vs Mover 3 (1d20+10)[18]

[Quellian-dyrae]

The Waste's poison gas probably would have been deadly to a normal human. Lily Woods was neither. She didn't even cough.

The Movers exchanged cannisters with the machine and one of them fled with the full ones. Interesting. That meant Proxy was collecting samples from Lake Michigan for...some reason. In principle, that might have been all they needed to know. If there was something notable about or in the water, Lily could take her own samples, run some chemical analyses, and maybe deduce it.

Possibly Proxy's machine was also treating the water in some manner, but the machine was still there, with new cannisters attached and collecting water, so they could still examine that. There wasn't all that much reason to assume those particular cannisters would be especially important. Even so, when acting in opposition to an intelligent adversary, it was generally a good idea to prevent them from accomplishing their goals. The Mover was trying to retrieve those cannisters for Proxy. It was in their interests not to allow that.

"I've got the runner!" she called to her team, squashing the little voice of the Flower Girl in her head that chimed in with doubt about taking on a Mover solo. She could deal with one uppity robot.

A beat of her petal wings and Lily shot after the fleeing robot. She was about as fast as it was, but further north and further west, the directions it was traveling. That gave her the opportunity to close the gap. She rushed it spear leading, acid dripping from its tip, once again aiming less to cause massive structural damage, more to damage the thing's engines.

Although I mean, to be fair, it was a pretty potent acid. Structural damage wasn't outside the range of possibilities here.

Spoiler

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Free: Reconfigure Flower Power (+10 for Direct Sunlight). 10 points to Petal Wings, 10 points to Acidic Nectar, 5 points to Overwhelming Scent, 5 points to Heady Scent as Extra Condition, 10 points to Concentrated Scents, 10 points to Potent Scents, 10 points to Floral Blood. Descriptors to [Energy] [Acid]

Move: Fly after Mover 1 at Speed 10. Since it's moving north northwest it's heading further in my direction rather than away from it, so I imagine I should be able to get into Close range.

Standard: Attack Mover 1 with Acidic Nectar, All Out Attacking for 5, at (1d20+15)[22]. On a hit, Resistance DC 25 vs. Damage. This attack roll at five points lower also delivers a DC 25+Penetrating-Perception Immobilized+Vulnerable/-/- Affliction.

Might EE if it is neither Immobilized nor Dazed. EDIT: See here.

Current Status: Normal, Fatigued as of next turn, Floral Blood +5, AoA -5 (Defense 0, Resistance 15). Triggered Healing.

[Dorni]

Helios watched Floral fly off after the fleeing robot and weighed going after her. The toxin based portion of her powers would have little effect on the giant robot, and things could get bad fast if Manchineel's minions caught her alone while the team was still fighting. Maybe... no. He'd trust her to handle it. She was part of the team and he ought to trust her to know her own limits. Besides, Proxy's machine was still here.

"Watch yourself!" he called, then turned his attention back to weaving energies into another fiery blast while flying out of the poison.

Spoiler: OOC

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Free: Set Spells array to Damage (Area[Burst]) Affliction [Vulnerable/Defenseless] (Cumulative)
Standard: Cast at S29 to catch Waste, Mover 3, and Akuma 2. AoA/PA 2. On hit, DC 27/22 vs Damage & Cumulative Affliction [Vulnerable/Defenseless]
Move: To F8, 60ft up

Waste: (1d20+10)[14]
Mover: (1d20+10)[30] Crit
Akuma: (1d20+10)[15]

[Abracadangit]

"Time to strike," Kal says ominously, as she spirals away from the poisonous cloud and aims a cloud of razor threads at one of the Movers, who appears to have taken a beating.

Spoiler: OOC

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Move: Move to C14.
Action: Thread Lash Cloud on V28.
Mover 3: (1d20+10)[28]

[Zelphas]

Both of the AKumas and the Mover still visible on the scene lose noticeable chunks of their outer casings as the sky considers its existence thoughtfully for a moment... which was most likely the way the human mind decided to interpret Nope's powers at work at that current time. None of the machines drop, however, until a tandem burst of Helios' fire and Ariadne's weaving lashes rip the Mover to its component pieces and scatter them across the poisonous-fog-shrouded dock. Throughout all of this, the Waste continues to float calmly and steadily, somehow still untouched by the chaos around it, and the machine in the back keeps on drawing up water and humming softly.

Sparking and obviously breaking down, the eyes of both of the AKuma begin to glow red... before the red glow is displaced by grey and they turn resolutely back to the attack, going through the same motions as before in attacking Nope with simple, robotic efficiency. The Waste floats forward another several feet, covering all of the Heroes remaining at the dock with its poisonous exhalations. A few bubbles appear in Lake Michigan, released by something within the Mover's inner workings, though the robot itself does not surface.

With far too little noise for their metallic frames, a pair of AKuma appear from the south, racing into the battle side by side.

Meanwhile, approximately four miles or so away from the dock, there are a few screams as those few people who still have some work to occupy them in the Industrial Block dive away from the Mover and Floral's sudden appearance. Floral's first stab with her spear manages to dig under a plate of the Mover's armor, exposing wires and circuitry; unfortunately for her, the second stab is deflected by a swinging arm, doing little more than gouging a thin scrape along the Mover's chrome plating. The Mover doesn't even give Floral the living dignity of reacting to her attack, simply changing course without even a pause and rocketing away as fast as it can go.

Spoiler: Expertise (Biochemistry DC 36)

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It's a split-second glimpse in the middle of combat, but the active wiring of the Mover under that metal plate looked an awful lot like a living creature's circulatory system, not its nervous system as you might expect from a possible advanced robotic creation. Maybe nothing, but definitely odd.

Spoiler: OOC

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Map.

Mover 2

Move Action: Staggered; hit the bottom of Lake Michigan where it is.

Standard Action: Defend.

End of Turn: Recovers 1 Resistance, Resistance to Remove Immobilized & Vulnerable (DC 25): (1d20+10)[11] It is a denizen of the waters now. They have claimed it.


AKuma 1

Move Action: Staggered.

Standard Action: Use Bear Punch on Nope. (1d20+10)[12] On a hit, Resistance DC 25/20 + Multiattack vs. Damage Linked Dazed & Vulnerable/Stunned & Prone. Miss

AKuma 2

Move Action: Staggered.

Standard Action: Use Bear Spear on Nope. (1d20+10)[27] on a hit, Resistance DC 25/20 + Multiattack vs. Damage Linked Immobilized/Stunned. Hit, +2 Multiattack; DCs are 27/22.

AKuma 3 and 4

Full-Round Action: arrive on the scene, at D50 and G50.

Waste

Move Action: Shift to J28.

Standard Action: Use Toxic Cloud. This hits everyone but Floral.

Ariadne: (1d20+10)[16] vs. 20 or Deflect: (1d20+10)[19] Miss
Helios: (1d20+10)[27]vs. 20 Hit
Nope: (1d20+10)[29] vs. 18 Hit

On a hit, Resistance DC 18 vs. Cumulative Dazed/Stunned/Paralyzed. This is a [Physiological] [Poison] effect. The area that is currently under the toxic cloud is marked on the map.

Mover 1

Move Action: Shift Distance Rank 10 away, roughly southwest-west.

Standard Action: Move Distance Rank 10 again, in another direction.

All PCs are on turn.

[Ridai]

The AKuma still focus entirely on Nope, which is alright with him at the moment. The Waste is coming closer and closer as well, so Nope walks pushes off the ground to move a little back, out of the fog, but sticking to the AKuma. Probably pushing his luck a lot, but, well, better him than anyone else. Moments later, he gets back to removing, leaving the odd trail through the fog. Not that it changes much, as air rushes back in to fill the space, causing turbulences.

Spoiler: Actions

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Move Use Remove Acceleration to move from F44 to B51

Standard Same as last round, attack all visible enemies. DC 25 Damage (240ft bendable line, Multiattack [single target], Penetrating [Pierce Immunity], Ranged, Improved Critical 4)
Attack vs AKuma 1 (1d20+10)[30] Nat 20 Crit?
Attack vs AKuma 2 (1d20+10)[20]
Attack vs AKuma 3 (1d20+10)[14]
Attack vs AKuma 4 (1d20+10)[12]
Attack vs Waste (1d20+10)[26] Crit?

[Quellian-dyrae]

The Mover kept, well, moving, which was something of a problem. If Lily continued giving chase, it would draw her even further away from the fight. The value of retrieving the cannisters it was carrying remained somewhat uncertain. Her team might not be able to afford her not being present for too long.

...LOL yeah sure they wouldn't.

Besides, Lily had way too much stubborn pride to let the Mover get away. She didn't even slow down to think about it. The Mover kept moving and she kept moving right along with it, matching its speed. It took effort, but not so much that she couldn't keep stabbing it with her acid-branded spear, albeit with somewhat less accuracy on the move.

It would either have to reach its destination (thereby revealing it to Lily), stand and fight, or just allow Lily to keep making free stabs at its back until she melted away enough of its armor to lock it down.

Spoiler

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I'm operating on the assumption that since in-game we don't actually patiently wait six seconds for our enemies to act and then they patiently give us six seconds to do our thing, I can basically just chase the Mover since I'm moving just as fast as it is. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Free: I guess let's go a bit more offensive to incentivizing fighting rather than running. Reconfigure Flower Power. Basically the same as before but swap Floral Blood for Lingering Scents.

Hero Point: Buy off Fatigue.

Move: Chase the Mover.

Standard: Charge the Mover and attack with Acidic Nectar, All Out Attacking for 5, -2 for Charge, at (1d20+13)[32]. On a hit, Resistance DC 25 vs. Damage. This attack roll at five points lower also delivers a DC 25+Penetrating-Perception Immobilized+Vulnerable/-/- Affliction, which carries a Secondary Effect.

Current Status: Normal, AoA -5, Stubborn.

[Abracadangit]

Kal watches the goings-on, trying to follow everything at once.

As the poison gas washes over and through her silken barriers, she wonders how much longer they can keep her safe. With a quick needle swipe this way and that, a surgical-mask-shaped web of red thread appears over her nose and mouth.

She spies an AKuma some distance away, and estimates it shouldn't be able to take too much more of a thrashing.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Free: Changing array to Defensive Thread, toggling on that poison gas immunity.
Standard: Thread Lash on AK2.
Thread Lash vs. AK2: (1d20+10)[15]

[Dorni]

Helios sent a burst of wind forward to blow back the encroaching mist and floated backward before the poison could rush forward and fill in the space again. From on high the fight seemed to be going pretty well. The team was in good shape and the robots were steadily dropping. Speaking of which, Helios wove Fire once more, gathering it around the beat-up robot hiding in the mist until it erupted in flames.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Free: Set Spells array to Damage (Penetrating, Secondary Effect) Linked Weaken [Resistance] (Penetrating)
Move: Float to E7
Standard: Cast Combust on Akuma 2 at AoA 5 (1d20+15)[27]. On hit, DC 25/20 vs Pen SE Damage and Pen Weaken [Resistance]

-5 Defenses

[Zelphas]

The air plays an impressive bass note in your nose for a moment, and when reality returns the Waste and one of the AKumas are a barely-recognizable pile of chrome-colored scrap, falling together in a place roughly equidistant to where the two were before they were Noped. The thick, sour-smelling purplish fog still hangs in the air, but it is rapidly diminishing; it may be unhealthy to breathe it still, but that should change fairly soon. The other damaged AKuma manages to avoid Ariadne's seeking threads, the movement saving it from the worst of Helios' fiery blast moments later as well. The magical fire still settles on the mechanical bear, though, ready to sear further into it. The damaged AKuma's eyes glow red.

In the Industrial Block (much closer to the Residential Quarter, at this point), the Mover reverses its direction seconds before Floral arrives, taking the spear head-on and barreling through it to slam its not-inconsiderable weight against the plant superhero. It then just keeps accelerating, continuing too run in a seemingly-erratic pattern through Forester's Bay.

At the dock, the other two AKuma spin instantly as the damaged one glows, one of them turning to fire a spear at Nope from its gaping maw before moving quickly down the wharf several hundred feet. The other simply turns and runs, vanishing roughly westward into the city. The red glow in the damaged AKuma's eyes spreads downwards, coming out through its mouth, and an instant later it disappears in a fireball explosion that strikes everything around it... including the machine at the end of the dock.

Seconds after the Mover strikes at Flooral and keeps running, an AKuma zips onto the scene. It hardly stops to orient itself before firing a chrome-colored spear directly at Floral's center of mass.

Spoiler: OOC

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Mover 1

Standard Action: Use Ram on Floral. (1d20+10)[13] On a hit, Resistance DC 29/24/22 vs. Penetrating Damage linked Dazed & Impaired/Stunned & Disabled Linked Strength to throw Floral east. Miss

Move Action: Shift Distance Rank 10 due west., approaching the western edge of the city proper.

Mover 2

Move Action: Staggered, Immobilized.

Standard Action: Become the lake coral Defend.

End of Turn: Resistance to remove Immobilized (DC 25): (1d20+11)[15] No.

AKuma 4

Move Action: shift 300 feet south down the dock.

Standard Action: Use Bear Spear on Nope. (1d20+10)[22] On a hit, Resistance DC 25/20 + Multiattack vs. Damage Linked Cumulative Immobilized/Stunned. Hit, no Multiattack.

AKuma 3

Move Action: Shift to Floral (speed 12 lets it make the distance).

Standard Action: Use Bear Spear on Floral. rolled 11 in OOC On a hit, Resistance DC 25/20 + Multiattack vs. Damage Linked Cumulative Immobilized/Stunned. Miss

AKuma 2

Move Action: Staggered.

Standard Action: Use Bear Bomb. This hits everyone in a 250 foot radius, which is everyone but Floral, Mover 1, and the other two AKumas... but includes Mover 2!

Ariadne's Created structure: (1d20+8)[27] Resistance (DC 32 + Multiattack after auto-crit): (1d20+10)[12] Destroyed!
Ariadne: (1d20+8)[18] Miss
Helios: (1d20+8)[12] Miss
Nope: (1d20+8)[15] Miss
Mover 2: (1d20+8)[26] Resistance (DC 27+ Multiattack): (1d20+11)[23] Hit, full Multiattack; roll should be 2 lower due to Bruises, so Staggered x2 = INCAPACITATED.
The Machine: (1d20+8)[16] Resistance (DC 32 + Multiattack after auto-crit): (1d20+12)[21] Hit, no Multiattack; Breached (Heavily damaged, but salvageable).

On a hit, Resistance DC 27 + Multiattack vs. Damage.

The AKuma also rolls Resistance against this damage as a Side Effect (DC 32): (1d20+5)[7] Utterly Gone.

All PCs are on turn.

[Ridai]

Nope would be lying if he wasn't a bit put off by the results of the proxybots getting Noped. Maybe he had hoped they'd just fall apart into mechanical bits, but either these bots just aren't built that way (he doesn't know, he is no robotics expert, or super scientist!), or the Removal does some messed up things to them.

What really snaps him out of his passive behavior of just enduring with some counterattacking is the fact that an AKuma just blew itself up, and apparently was willing to take the machine with it. That's really bad! He wasn't fast enough to try and get to it, already cursing himself, only for Helios to save the day by shielding the device.

Yeah, better start not letting the party down, right about now. Floral already flew after the escaped Mover to get that cylinder, Ariadne has been busy protecting the group and taking bots out.

Attacking once more as a parting shot, Nope disappears from one moment to the next, and so does the machine + cylinders. As he slowly pushes the whole thing through zero time, which takes some doing because it is not only large and heavy, but also very rounded (), Nope has plenty of time to consider where to put it. He thinks about stashing it on a roof somewhere, but there's water and unknown substances involved, that might not be okay. And if an AKuma finds it and blows itself up again just because, that's also no good. So putting it in a public park or something is also not good. ...maybe Camp Bubble Broo- no, no, not good.

In the end, he dumps it in a pavillon on what he assumes to be a private pier not currently used because brrr weather. And dividers just so happen to have been put around the sides to not allow one to look into said pavillon. No one will ever notice the hoses in the water. Perfect disguise.

...Yeah it's not the best, but hopefully it will buy a few minutes.

And with that done, he blinks back into existence at the pier where the fight is happening, near Ariadne and Helios, and saying "We probably should get going immediately after the fight."

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Attacking all present AKuma, the same way as last round. DC 25 Damage (240ft bendable line, Multiattack [single target], Penetrating [Pierce Immunity], Ranged, Improved Critical 4)
Attack vs AKuma 3 (1d20+10)[29]
Attack vs AKuma 4 (1d20+10)[14]

Free Switch to Remove Travel Time, Remove Hit Points

Move Teleport, move the machine and cylinders to a Totally Inconspicuous Location Just By The Water Proxy Will Never Ever Look At™. Then move back to C7.

[Dorni]

Helios regarded the remaining robots with self-assured detachment. The majority of the Proxybots had already gone down without too much of a fight. Sweeping up the remaining bots was just a matter of time and he was itching to get a better look at this machine Proxy had gone to the trouble to set up. Even the bots seemed to project that the fight was hopeless. One of them was fleeing, and the burning one started glowing red almost li-

"Watch out! Its gonna blow!" Helios plummeted from the sky, diving down towards Proxy's machine. The Akuma was trying to destroy the evidence. He spun in the air just above the machine, weaving a defensive barrier around him and it just as the bot exploded. The ward instantly quaked under the hit, threating to buckle in a dozen places. Helios pulled aether from his healing ward, redirecting the potent aether to reinforce the defensive shield.

It held.

Helios exhaled.

That had been a close one. Whether by calculation or by spite, the Akuma had almost cost them their prize. "You guys ok?" he called out while the smoke cleared. He eyed the fleeing Akuma but didn't persue, not wanting to abandon Proxy's device. He wove Air to trap the bot instead.

Spoiler: OOC

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Interposed last turn, moved to AI28.
Free: Set Spells to Ranged Strength, Affliction [Impaired & Fatigued / Disabled & Stunned / Incap].
Move: Keep on puppy-guarding
Standard: Cast at Akuma 3, AoA 4 at (1d20+14)[19]. On hit, DC 20 vs Grab & Affliction [Impaired & Fatigued / Disabled & Stunned / Incap]

[Quellian-dyrae]

Lily cursed as once again the Mover was able to interpose its heavy armor against her spear, preventing her from landing a decisive hit to its engine. It struck back at her, but even as committed as she was to her attack it wasn't hard to just skip a beat of her wings and drop beneath it, and by sheer luck the next hard beat to regain her previous altitude carried her above the sudden strike from the newly arrived AKuma.

That changed the game. It definitely meant Lily couldn't afford to take risks here; a Mover and an AKuma together were a serious threat even to her. However, while she might not have been one of the offensive powerhouses on her team, she had fairly tremendous capacity for self-healing. These two weren't a trivial threat, but she didn't think they were insurmountable either.

So she flew on, keeping up with the Mover and firing a short-range spray of acid at it from her spear. That reduced the chance that she'd deal much in the way of structural damage, but some of the spray might yet hit its engine to disable it, or it might weaken its armor sufficiently that the acid still clinging to it could eat its way there.

Spoiler

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Free: Reconfigure Flower Power (+10). 5 points to Overpowering Scent, 5 points to Heady Scent, 10 points to Poisonous Nectar, 10 points to Potent Poison, 10 points to Potent Scents, 10 points to Lingering Poison, 10 points to Concentrated Scents. We are still all acid all the time.

Move: Give chase!

Standard: Attack Mover 1 with Flower Power at (1d20+5)[14]. Resistance DC 25+Penetrating-Perception/25-Perception vs. Impaired+Immobilized/-/- Affliction Linked Weaken Resistance (capped at one degree). The Weaken carries a Secondary Effect (but note is not Penetrating).

End of Turn: Secondary Effect triggers. Mover 1 gets Resistance DC 27 vs. Vulnerable+Immobilized Affliction.

Current Status: Normal.

[Abracadangit]

Kal watches where Nope takes the machine, and decides the gizmo could use an extra measure of protection.

"I will shield the device," Kal says, as her flickering needles build their barrier. "And perhaps my magic can block out prying eyes."

"Do not count on this," Ariadne thinks, cautiously pessimistic. "Magics and strange science do not often speak with one another. And when they do, they do not have much to say."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Move: C8, getting out of that miasma.
Free: Switching Threadworks array back to Dual Needle Weaving.
Action: Silken Shields, centered on wherever Nope dropped the machine. Assuming that Ariadne knows where that is, but let me know if that's problematic for some reason.

[Zelphas]

The tube coming out of the end of the machine is much longer than it looked from above the water; much of Nope's travel time is spent grabbing more of the seemingly-endless rubbery tubing and coiling it around the main body of the machine in an ever-higher spiral. Even in Nope-time, he doesn't have the means to make an accurate measurement, but it seems like there's miles of the stuff; its a good thing that the entire tube is able to fold into itself, and indeed it begins compressing together on its own moments after it is taken out of the lake.

The final AKuma still at the docks is already in motion as Nope returns from suspended time, its bear-shaped head turned unerringly towards the location of the machine in its new gazebo... but Nope's last strike had taken effect, and had apparently removed something integral to the AKuma's physical integrity. Starting from its feet, the AKuma... unspools, becoming a shining string of black and white chrome plastered across the docks of Forester's Bay by its own momentum in mere seconds. Ariadne flies off to the machine's new location while Helios catches his breath; both he and Nope see the now-familiar blur of a new AKuma running right past them from the north. Ariadne has barely gotten her shielding up before the bear robot arrives; without even pausing, the AKuma summarily explodes. It seems that Doctor Proxy may have given up on reclaiming the machine intact.

Meanwhile, Floral catches up to the fleeing Mover just as it shakes off the last of her clinging acid into some shrubbery in the midst of Forester Park (the shrubbery almost immediately wilts). It "sees" the plant hero coming (no one's exactly sure where the sensors are on these things) and grinds itself edge-first into the ground, flipping itself up to take Floral's acid spray on the heavily-armored bottom of its chassis without noticeable effect. With a creaking groan, the Mover rights itself, trying to simply land atop Floral before rocketing away once again. Most of the cylinders atop the Mover somehow remain in place, despite the acrobatics and the lack of any visible securing apparatus, but one of them falls from the top of the machine and rolls away into the park.

A frenetic slamming of metal feet announces the arrival of the AKuma, which pauses for a split second to fire a chrome spear at Floral before pouncing after the fallen cylinder.

Spoiler: OOC

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AKuma 5

Move Action: Arrive at the machine.

Standard Action: Use Bear Bomb; Ariadne and the machine are the only things close enough to get hit.

Ariadne: (1d20+8)[23] vs. 20 or (1d20+10)[17] On a hit, Resistance DC 27 + Multiattack vs. Damage. Hit, no Multiattack
Created Structure: (1d20+8)[19] vs. 20 or (1d20+10)[30] On a hit, Resistance (DC 27 + Multiattack): (1d20+10)[18] Deflected
Machine: (1d20+8)[23] vs. 20 or (1d20+10)[29] On a hit, Resistance (DC 27 + Multiattack): (1d20+12)[25] Deflected

Gazebo: (1d20+8)[20] Resistance (DC 32 + Multiattack after auto-crit): (1d20+6)[21] Gazebo DESTROYED!

The AKuma rolls Resistance vs. DC 32: (1d20+8)[27] 1 Bruise.

Mover 1

Standard Action: Use Ram on Floral. (1d20+10)[26] On a hit, Resistance DC 29/24/22 vs. Penetrating Damage linked Dazed & Impaired/Stunned & Disabled Linked Strength to throw Floral south. Hit

Move Action: Shift Distance Rank 10 due north.

AKuma 4

Move Action: Shift to Floral.

Standard Action: Use Bear Spear on Floral. (1d20+10)[28] On a hit, Resistance DC 25/20 + Multiattack vs. Damage Linked Cumulative Immobilized/Stunned. Hit, +2 Multiattack; DCs are 27/22

All PCs are on turn.

[Ridai]

There is just no end to the damn hoses. Why does Proxy need this much hose. There's a damn lot of water in the lake, how deep do you need to not get the surface gunk (and instead only get the ground gunk)?! He even attempts simple knots to have the giant bundle of funny-colored hoses under control and in an easier to grasp area to continue all the zero time shenanigans, until 2/3 of the way to the destination, it comes loose (slapping Nope in the face no less), followed by shaking his arms to the sky and making angry closed-mouth noises. From then on, he just pushes the machine as is, with the hoses dragging through the water, which is slower going, but he is not winding all that nonsense up again.

Back in real-time, the AKuma clearly just move at the speed of Don't Bother, which is about as concerning as Nope wondering if he just black hole spaghettized a robot. Also the AKuma immediately tracking the machine. Also a distant location looking suspiciously like the place where he "hid" the machine experiencing a sudden explosion, along with the leftovers of a gazebo engaging their best attempt at a space program. But there's a lot of red thread! Ariadne with the save!

So Nope jogs right back to where he just came from. No idea how many more AKuma will come, so he should probably get on somehow disabling whatever is allowing them to track the machine. And trying to keep the freshly exploded bearbot from paradoxically exploding again.

Proxy's just scary, man.

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Move back to the machine

Free Reconfigure Rote Removal to Remove Second Guessing

Standard Use Remove Hit Points on the AKuma present. DC 25/20/20 Damage (Ranged, Improved Crit 4), Linked Weaken Resistance, Linked Affliction 10 (Impaired+Vulnerable/Disabled+Defenseless/Incapacitated)
Attack vs AKuma 5 (1d20+10)[15]

Free Reconfigure Focus Removal to Remove Crux

EE Standard Use Remove Crux on the machine to hopefully nullify whatever allows it to be tracked. Broad Technological Nullify, Concentration. Technically he can use more extras right now, but he needs to switch off of Remove Second Guessing to maybe hide the machine away again next round, so that feels kind of like a no-go.
Nullify check (1d20+10)[26]

[Dorni]

"Ok," Helios called back to Ariadne. "I'll handle the runner."

He wove a veil of Air, vanishing from sight and suppressing the sound of his passing, and took off after the fleeing Akuma. The the robot had a head start, with his wind magics strengthened he rapidly gained ground. Helios started to gather his magics for a surprise attack when movement ahead caught his eye - Floral and the Mover.

So, the Akuma hadn't been trying to escape at all. It had gone to help the fleeing Mover. How it had managed to find the Mover so easily confirmed the robots were able to communicate - not surprising since they were robots - but good to know. Wait, that meant that any other proxybot in town had also probably been alerted to their attack at the docks. With how fast these things could move any number of them could be on the way. He had to warn Ariadne and Nope to get out of there. No, the Mover with its cargo was right there. He couldn't abandon this chance to reclaim whatever it was they'd taken, and Floral looked like she could use the assist.

He grit his teeth and started weaving his magic. Nope and Ariadne were capable. He'd just have to trust that they could handle it. Under his veil he finished his spell, providing almost no warning as the air around the Mover's canisters congealed and yanked at them while a hammerblow of air smashed down on the Mover to smash it away.

Spoiler: OOC

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Free: Set Spells to Damage, Strength 10, Concealment 5 [All Visual, Auditory], Enhanced Flight 8
Free: activate Concealment
Retcon last turn action: Chase the Akuma that fled, shift over to Floral

Move: Continue chasing the Akuma
Standard: Cast Hardened Air, attacking Mover 1 with AoA 2 / PA 4 Damage at (1d20+8)[24] Crit and using Strength to attempt to take the canisters. On hit, DC 29/24 vs Damage & Disarm. Attack does not take into account surprise.

If Disarm is successful and Lily is freed of the Immobile affliction, Helios will use move-by-action to return to the dock. If not he'll move a bit to disguise his position but still be near.

Note: SE Healing already went off. Effect was lost as there were no conditions to heal.

[Quellian-dyrae]

No sooner had Lily thought about the advantage of durability provided by her self healing than the universe had laughed at her for daring to believe her dinky little flower powers could possibly matter when it counted. She managed to mostly dodge the Mover's attempt to land on her, taking only a glancing blow that Helios's invested healing cured basically before she could even feel it...and then took an electrified spear straight through her delicate wings.

When Lily had first transformed herself from the anthropomorphic flower that Manchineel had originally turned her into back into a human form, she hadn't left those four flower petals growing from her back because she had thought they would provide utility as wings. That had been before she had understood what she could do with her new powers. She had left them there because even for someone who had been able to endure the reshaping of her body two pounds at a time, reshaping those petals hurt too much.

So when the AKuma's spear tore through them, Lily crashed to the ground with a scream, barely able to move from the pain. The Mover she had been chasing went flying off. Her brain was currently too occupied by agony to process the scents to let her know that an invisible Helios was flying after it. It was hard to say whether that information would have made her feel better or worse.

But the Mover had dropped one of the containers. The AKuma was going for it. She couldn't move. Even if she could, the AKuma was faster than her. She had one chance to stop it.

Wavering shakily on her feet, breathing raggedly, leaning heavily on her staff for support, Lily lifted her trembling hands towards the AKuma.

Took all the pain, both the physical pain of her injury and the mental pain of her failure, and fed it as fuel for anger.

And cut loose. Literally, as both of her hands exploded off of her wrists, twisting and warping as they flew through the air into enormous braided thorns trailing streams of acidic nectar, and shot straight at the AKuma in a last-ditch effort to destroy it before it could flee with the fallen cannister.

Spoiler

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Free: Reconfigure Flower Power (+10). 10 points to Acidic Nectar, 10 points to Poisonous Nectar, 10 points to Heady Scent, 10 points to Floral Thorn, 10 points to Potent Poison, 10 points to Miasmic Scent. We remain acid-exclusive.

Move: Dazed. Also Immobilized.

Standard: Attack AKuma 4 with Acidic Nectar, All Out Attacking for 5, at (1d20+15)[30]. On a hit, Resistance DC 25/20+Penetrating/20 vs. Damage Linked Weaken Resistance Linked Cumulative Immobilized/Stunned/Incapacitated Affliction. On a miss, Homing 1.

Extra Effort - Additional Standard Action: DO IT AGAIN! (1d20+15)[32].

End of Turn: Resistance to remove Immobilized+Vulnerable (DC 22): (1d20+10)[14]. Nope

End of...I guess the next enemy turn? Secondary Effect triggers for Healing at (1d20+6)[25]. Looks like Helios's Healing is Restorative, so 10 points to remove Immobilized, 5/10 points towards Vulnerable

Current Status: 1 Bruise, (Dazed ends), Vulnerable (DC 22; 5/10 RP), Fatigued as of next turn, AoA -5.

[Abracadangit]

The concussion from the AKuma's explosion hits Kal like a truck -- some quick weaving protects her from being knocked completely unconscious, but she doesn't feel good.

"I am... not well," Kal stammers, as she lurches around dizzily in the air via her threads, her sense of direction completely jarred. But is the machine intact...? It appears as though her barriers did the job.

"Once more, I shall protect it," Kal explains. "But if you should move it again, Nope, perhaps it is best I stop drawing attention to it."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Move: Dazed, via Stagger.
Action: Re-applying Silken Shields on machine. Is there a way I can get in there, too? I'll confess, I don't know from a map standpoint where the machine is, since Nope moved it, but I probably missed something.

Status: 1x stack of Stagger, Dazed, Hindered