Day of the Octopus

[Thane of Fife]

It is a brisk early evening in Manhattan, with the cool November air a reminder that winter is approaching. The city is as bustling as ever, with some people about their day-to-day business, some doing their holiday shopping, and others seeing the sights. Among those sights is Avengers Mansion - or, perhaps, the former Avengers Mansion, as it has sat empty since the Avengers were disbanded following the Battle of Washington*.

But if Avengers Mansion is now silent, New York City certainly has not fallen silent with it. Indeed, at this very moment, sirens are blaring as police cars race across Manhattan.

At the front of an electronics store, only a few blocks away, a display of televisions in the window has grabbed the attention of a small crowd, including, by pure chance, Hercules and Loki Laufeyson, each of whom had been considering getting dinner at the Chinese restaurant across the street. On the screen is Amelia Blaine, Channel 12 News:

"I'm here outside Werther's Bank, where police say that Max Dillon, the supervillain known as Electro, has holed himself up with several associates. It is believed that close to two dozen hostages are also being held in the bank. Police have surrounded the building and are currently waiting for Dillon's demands."

Across town, in a small building made up like a private clinic, the masked woman known only as Night Nurse is shaking her head at the same news report. "That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. Somebody's gotta do something about it. And I guess we better be ready to put them back together after, hmm?" She turns, expecting to see Sleeper behind her.

Meanwhile, another figure is already closer to the action than any of these three. About thirty stories up, on top of the building housing Werther's Bank, is a lone man who had been looking for a quiet place to be alone with his thoughts. Unfortunately, with the action below, Kaine suddenly finds it not to be such a quiet place after all.

*See Avengers vs X-Men II

Doom: 2D6

Spoiler: Administrative

Show

OOC thread is here.

[DammitVictor]

It doesn't take Kaine very long to work his way from the rooftops to the ground floor via the building's ventilation system. It takes him a little longer to reconnoiter the hostage situation: how many henchmen? what kind of weapons? where are the hostages and where are the exits?

It takes him just a little bit longer than that to seize an opportunity, when the stressed out failed armed robber is looking the other way, to drop silently to the floor between two of the hostages. He holds a finger to his lips and looks around to everyone who can see him... and then punches himself in the mouth, hard enough to draw blood.

Won't be long until one of Peter's do-gooder friends shows up, Kaine thinks. I'll just sit here and make sure it doesn't go pear-shaped before they get here. Just. In. Case.

[Kareeah_Indaga]

On the screen is Amelia Blaine, Channel 12 News:

"I'm here outside Werther's Bank, where police say that Max Dillon, the supervillain known as Electro, has holed himself up with several associates. It is believed that close to two dozen hostages are also being held in the bank. Police have surrounded the building and are currently waiting for Dillon's demands."

Across town, in a small building made up like a private clinic, the masked woman known only as Night Nurse is shaking her head at the same news report. "That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. Somebody's gotta do something about it. And I guess we better be ready to put them back together after, hmm?" She turns, expecting to see Sleeper behind her.

Sleeper was indeed visible (something that couldn’t be taken for granted with the symbiote, but was more often useful than not at the clinic) and at least at the moment of the news report in ‘disguise’ - using Tel-Kar’s face, with only a thin veneer of Sleeper’s own substance to turn the blue Kree’s skin to human Caucasian and mimic human clothes. A few tendrils threaded out from a sleeve and twisted medicine bottles shut as he replied.

“I replenished the gabapentin and the acetaminophen,” and then symbiote goo erupted and reformed into a creature that was still bipedal, still had two arms and two eyes, but would never be mistaken for human - a pair of vents where the mouth ‘should’ have been, the eyes a bright featureless red, with yellow-green ringing both and splashed liberally around the head and shoulders of a creature that was otherwise the deepest black, a few small tendrils reaching out from the main body to test the air. “I’ll go take a look.” And with that the entire monstrosity faded out of sight, followed a moment later by the clinic door opening and closing, seemingly of its own accord.

Something to do! Sleeper had been getting very frustrated; after that disastrous assault on the cartel base the leads on the higher-ranking members had dried up, leaving only the dregs of the organization for Sleeper to track down.

Sleeper remained invisible as he arrived at the scene of the crime-in-progress, and did his best to stick to buildings over the heads of the gathered police, where he could see the bank over the crowd and was also unlikely to have someone accidentally run into him. He kept his senses tuned for Dillon, while also looking for ways into the building - plus anything in the way of vents or holes he could use to pump in sleep gas.

Spoiler: OoC

Show

Did Sleeper see Kaine go in?

Also keeping in mind symbiote racial memory, does Sleeper ‘remember’ anything about Electro from Spider-man and/or Venom?

[Plaids]

The crowd begins staring at the televisions, displacing their attention from the impressive man standing hand and shoulders above along with his juvenile companion to observe the active crime scene.

Hercules' attention shifts too, not long enough to gawk or passively but long enough to diagnose a classic heist spearheaded by a supervillain ringleader. He hurriedly jostles Loki aside from the crowd to share his plan in confidence with the diminutive Asgardian.

By Zeus's thunder Loki, do you know what this is Loki? The fates have given us an opportunity. Though you have proven yourself to the Asgardians. The trust of the magnanimous people of earth has eluded you. Until today. Come, let us show Spiderman's old ne'er-do-well the bite of the Lion of Olympus and the Trickster of Asgard.
Preparing to advance towards the bank in long strides Hercules anticipates the upcoming adversary.

A career thief with gauntlets generating forceful waves. A pale imitation Zeus's thunder but plenty capable collateral damage. Quite troublesome, with the buildings of this age being so much larger. Best to listen to what Loki may suggest. The regressed Asgardian would have to make contributions too to receive a share of the glory and Thor's trust would not be betrayed by the champion of Olympus.

Spoiler: OOC: General Plan

Show

I'm thinking of having Hercules make a big public display to capture the attention of the Shocker and his henchmen. Maybe have Hercules call Shocker out by directly challenging him. I'm open to other ideas especially if it would also use Loki's strengths.

[Lexiconjurer]

The juvenile God of Mischief is only half paying attention to the televisions and the mortal herald being broadcasted. His attention is primarily upon his phone, a quaint but oddly enthralling invention of Midgard. A scrying window, messenger, library, and more all at his fingertips. While sorcery could achieve many of the same things, it lacks much of the convenience that this purportedly 'intelligent' telephone possesses.

Loki is in the midst of taking what the mortals call a 'selfie', a portrait to be shared across their internet for all to see, when he finds himself being jostled by the oafish Olympian he had decided to spend his supper with. The picture is taken, a blurry photo of the diminutive Asgardian Prince bouncing off the massive frame of Hercules, accompanied by the text: #GloriousPurpose.

Loki scowls, regarding his fellow god dubiously. "The kingdom of New York is rife with the mortal heroes. Thou dost suggest we spend the evening with this knave of Midgard rather than partaking in the feast at the Palace of Dim Sum?"

He regards his phone again, brow furrowing as he sees the mocking replies to his unintentional post. Perhaps those who saw him as a rapscallion would do otherwise when he helped to apprehend one of the mortal villains. With a sigh, Loki follows after Hercules. "If this rogue of the jabbering Arachnid prevents us from having dinner, I shall be most vexed."

[Thane of Fife]

Hercules and Loki are the first to arrive at the scene (at least, outside the building), where they find a cordon of police around the entrance to the building. One officer, a slightly overweight captain, sees their approach and jogs over.

"Oh man am I glad to see you, Hercules." He casts an uncertain look toward Loki but doesn't say anything. "I don't think we've got enough firepower to keep Electro from just blasting his way out of there. He let most of the people who were in the bank go, but questioning some of them, they say there are still a bunch of hostages and maybe a half dozen men beside Electro himself."

Suddenly, reporter Amelia Blaine pushes herself into the conversation and puts a microphone in Hercules' face (she has to stretch a bit). Shining her bright smile at him, she asks, "Hercules, what's your plan to defeat Electro and rescue-"

Before she can finish her question, the officer gently pushes her away. "Sorry, ma'am, but this is police business."


Across the street from the building, and a few stories up, Sleeper is clinging to the wall, invisible. He can see Hercules and Loki on the ground below, though he probably doesn't recognize them. As far as entrances to the building go, the windows on the lower levels are barred, but Sleeper could probably slip in through a window a few stories up without any difficulty. Frankly, from up here, he could probably just jump over the police officers' heads and run in the front door.


Inside the building, Kaine makes his way easily to the ground floor. Looking down into the bank lobby from the ducts, he can see a crowd of hostages - mostly bank employees - along one of the walls. Scattered about the lobby, but keeping away from the windows, are five men with firearms - a mix of shotguns and Uzis. They seem to have skipped normal bank robber -chic in favor of outfits similar to Electro's costume, supplemented with gas masks.

There's the obvious main exit from the bank, as well as exits to the bank offices and down to the vault.

Kaine, of course, hasn't seen the news bulletin, but his spider-sense is warning him nonetheless that there's something here more dangerous than just five men with guns. In case their odd fashion choices weren't clue enough.

Doom: 2D6

[DammitVictor]

Kaine surveyed the situation thoughtfully. He'd planned to position himself amongst the hostages, posing as a bank customer... but he couldn't hope to pass himself off as one of the bank employees. The ridiculous costumes told Kaine immediately who the robbers were working for, and the release of the hostages and the gas masks told him that they were looking for something specific. None of it, unfortunately, told him where Dillon was hiding or what he was up to.

Not like I care, Kaine thought. As long as these idiots mind their manners.

Kaine nestled himself in a corner of the lobby, on the ceiling and behind a pillar, where he could watch the criminals. (Create an Asset: Lying in Wait 10/d8)

[Kareeah_Indaga]

Sleeper made note of the earlier arrivals, he thought he remembered seeing the big one in clips from the Washington fiasco…was that Thor?

But it seemed the reporter was making a nuisance of herself, and her voice carried:

"Hercules, what's your plan to defeat Electro and rescue-"

Hercules then. Sleeper wasn’t sure it mattered, and the chatter below was already stirring bad memories of M’lanz bickering with his human father while Tel-Kar got farther and farther away with his abducted Klyntar parent. But this time Sleeper didn’t have to wait for anyone else in order to act, so he didn’t.

Sleeper thought he ought to do something about the hostages first, unless a truly spectacular opportunity presented itself. The front door was closed, and had lots of armed eyes watching it: if he went in that way, someone would notice, and possibly start shooting. The windows on the lowest floor were too heavily fortified to be useful. Maybe he could smash his way out through one if things went sideways, but they would not be useful for sneaking in. The upper windows were less protected; that seemed like the best way in.

Sleeper stealthily made his way across to the bank building and located a suitable window, out of direct sight of the police cordon. The interior was dark; to some degree he’d have to trust the early evening gloom to hide what he was doing from those inside, because he couldn’t tell if anyone was watching this particular window and might see it open on its own. But there was one precaution he could take: he sprayed a tiny stream of lubricant around it to cut down on the noise before he opened it.

Once that was done he slipped inside.

Spoiler: OoC

Show

I guess this is where I roll dice.

[Plaids]

Hercules spares a glance at the reporter who had been abruptly ushered aside. Such an eager herald was simply trying to fullfill the insatiable appetite of the populace of the magnificent city state of New York for all things Hercules. She would get an interview in time.

"I trust you will thou will bring thine own gifts and boons to bear Loki. Now you will see how the Titans weren't felled with just indomitable strength." Hercules smirks encouragingly to Loki as proceeds forwards to the police barricade. Gesturing to an officer he procures his megaphone; the device was familiar enough speak through one end and a voice came out louder on the other.

"Shocker! I have borne witness to the discord your heist has induced. I you a challenge, a fair wager. Confront the Lion of Olympus, defeat me and I assure you will depart unimpeded. A fair contest for someone with mastery tremors worthy of Poseidon's earthquakes and the ingenuity to harry and befuddle the nimble Spiderman. Unlike the counterfeit static bolt Electro🤣. Cravenly colluding with near dozen a thief to commit miniscule burglaries. I have prepared myself to face the most prodigious foes and eagerly await the challenge of the most prodigious foe of Spiderman."

Spoiler: Action Plan

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Change of plans, I will try to have Hercules impose an 'afraid' condition on Shocker. I think the roll will be
affiliation buddy d10
1d8 maybe glory and honor

[DammitVictor]

The armed robbers don't say anything, but Kaine doesn't need them to; the sudden tension in their postures, the tightening of fingers on triggers, wary glances from the front door to the cowering civilians.

Ah, well, he thinks. A guy could hope.

He flicks his wrists at two of the robbers, sets his feet, and lets fly with two lines of his organic webbing. They connect with a soft splut on the backs of the robbers' gas masks, and Kaine yanks them with all of his strength into the walls behind him.

OOC: Attack on Mob 3d6. 20/1d8+1d8

[Lexiconjurer]

"Please excuse me, Herald. I must borrow thy voice amplifier." Loki adresses to the Newswoman, moving to speak into her microphone. He clears his throat and begins, his young voice full of contempt, "I am Loki of Asgard! And I am burdened with inglorious purpose on this night! It had been our intention to enjoy a meal at one of thy many feast halls, but this jackanape, this jester of jolts, has seen fit in his infinite foolishness to cause unwarranted chaos. Come forth and test thy meager might against a real god. Let us end this, lest the buffoonish Spider-Man arrive to embarrass thee again."

[Thane of Fife]

As Sleeper slips in through an upper window, and as Kaine begins picking off Electro's goons, Electro himself emerges from the stairs leading down toward the vault, along with two more thugs. The two men are carrying big sacks of money, but Electro is carrying something that looks kind of like a briefcase in size and shape, except that it has a row of blue lights lit up along the top of it, and printed on the side are the words STARK HYPERCELL BATTERY.

Electro does not look happy, and the lights in the bank flicker as he comes up into the main lobby of the building.

"Hey, boss," says one of the men as he comes up. "Did you hear-"

"Yes," growls Electro. Then he looks toward the hostages. "Well, I guess this is why you're here." One of the security guards among the hostages stands up and approaches him to the protests of the other hostages. But one of the bank robbers approaches and offers him a brown sack, rather than the expected threats or violence.

The guard turns toward the other hostages. "And now, cretins, witness the greatest spectacle of your lives!" Reaching up, he pulls his own head off, then reaches into the sack and withdraws a crystal ball. He sets it on his shoulders and strips off his guard uniform in favor of the green bodysuit under it, revealing himself to be Mysterio.

A moment later, Electro appears from the front door of the bank. "Tough words! But you're no match for Electro!" He hurls a lightning bolt at Hercules. Moments after that, the street erupts suddenly into chaos, as seemingly hundreds more thugs appear in the windows of the buildings around the police cordon and open fire. The real goons, still in the bank, merely take their opportunity to add to the chaos.

Doom: 5D6, 1D8

[DammitVictor]

Kaine stepped around the decorative marble pillar with his hands raised to about shoulder height. "Beck, yo, Beck! Cease fire a sec, man, you and me gotta talk. We gotta problem, here." Raising his arms allowed his coat to fall open, revealing a dingy flannel shirt and a distinctive red tee with a simple slogan: "MAGNETO WAS RIGHT".

He waited for Mysterio to respond, or to at least show some acknowledgement. Can't let them kill the hostages, but if I start swinging now, there's gonna be casualties. Of its own accord, his right leg started bouncing nervously, jangling the honest-to-god sterling silver spurs on his snakeskin riding boot.

Kaine smiled to try to show his good faith; the final effect was... ghoulish, to say the least.

[Plaids]

Hercules flashes a swaggering grin display brilliantly white ivory teeth to Electro and the onlookers.
"Not who challenger I sought but"
Vengeful lightning was the first sign that Electro wasn't interested in bantering any further. Acting quickly from experience from previous battles Hercules swiftly wrestles the front tires from the nearest police vehicle and wedging his forearms along their circumference.

"Worry not magistrates, I have become accustomed to besting the sting of lightning. Not that Thor will ever"
He pauses as second figure emerges and reveals himself and begins weaving some contemporary sorcery.

"No, must focus."
The Olympian looks to Amelia Lane and her crew. Scrambling for cover as unkind forces assaulted the city threating to render it askew.

"Please, Megra. "
He visualizes a woman in violet robes framed by a marble column as a wave of vertigo comes over the demigod.

[Thane of Fife]

Kaine stepped around the decorative marble pillar with his hands raised to about shoulder height. "Beck, yo, Beck! Cease fire a sec, man, you and me gotta talk. We gotta problem, here." Raising his arms allowed his coat to fall open, revealing a dingy flannel shirt and a distinctive red tee with a simple slogan: "MAGNETO WAS RIGHT".

He waited for Mysterio to respond, or to at least show some acknowledgement.

Mysterio whirls toward Kaine. Seeing him, he raises one hand to point dramatically in Kaine's direction. "Kaine," acknowledges Mysterio, "I do not know what brings you back to New York, but I advise you not to stand in our way." Some of the remaining thugs turn to see who he's talking to.

[DammitVictor]

Mysterio whirls toward Kaine. Seeing him, he raises one hand to point dramatically in Kaine's direction. "Kaine," acknowledges Mysterio, "I do not know what brings you back to New York, but I advise you not to stand in our way." Some of the remaining thugs turn to see who he's talking to.

"Nah, if I was getting paid for that-- well, you know who I am, you know how that ends." Kaine offers a half-apologetic shrug. "Nah. My client, she's only interested in one of your hostages. You might call it a vested interest, you get me? She's had me sitting on this bank since you been planning this thing. Thought it was gonna be easy money until Bullfinch's Mythology showed up out front."

"So, anyways, here's what I'm thinking. You go out the front door and help Dillon resolve his little 'crisis of faith', I go out the back door with the hostages-- make it look like a rescue-- and everyone gets what they want. Call it a 'professional courtesy', if you like, and I tell my client you're a regular pair of gentlemen."

Kaine stands there, hands at his sides, like he's haggling over bootleg DVDs in front of Rockefeller Center.

edit: Create an Asset: Undivided Attention 10/d8, 1 potential Opportunity)

[Lexiconjurer]

Loki starts to take cover as the veritable army of weapon wielding thugs appear in the windows, but something about it gives the young Asgardian pause. It takes a moment, but then it clicks: they're illusions. The juvenile god of mischief smirks as he crouches out of view, weaving a spell. If these mortals wish to test their skill at legerdemain with him, then Loki will oblige.

From around a nearby building swings a figure familiar to the people of Midgard, clad in red and blue spandex with a web-like pattern across it. The Spider-Man, or rather a complex illusion of the meddling arachnid. Loki focuses, straining his sorcerous talents to their limit, having to compensate for the lights, the shadows, and all the subtle interactions involved. Swinging on a line of webbing, the image of Spider-Man calls out, "Hey, Fish Bowl Head! Is it just you and Sparky? Lemme guess, the rest of the Sinister Six were busy washing their hair tonight? Or are you going for a partnership thing? The Tantruming Two? The Dimwitted Duo? Just doesn't have the same ring to it, does it?"

Creating Meddling Illusory Arachnid Complication with total of 14 and effect die of d10

[Thane of Fife]

The plaza, already confused, gets even more chaotic as Electro begins throwing lightning. A police car explodes as it takes a lightning bolt, sending officers diving for cover. Electro prepares to send his next bolt at the news van, but before he can, Hercules has crossed the plaza and pounds him with a tire-clad arm. There's a huge arc flash and the smell of ozone and Electro goes flying through one of the plate glass windows back into the bank.

The (real) thugs still in the bank open up with their uzis on the Olympian.

Also in the bank, Sleeper, first invisible, and then in the guise of Sue Storm, lowers himself down to the hostages. Working to free them, he sets off an explosive booby trap, though fortunately(?) he absorbs most of the blast, sparing the hostages.

Mysterio, alerted by the explosion, spins about to see Sue Storm. This might present Kaine a fine opportunity, but it's at this time that Electro is thrown in through the window. He stands up, furious, and starts throwing lightning at the first unfamiliar person he sees - in this case, that's Kaine. "This place isn't gonna have two bricks left together when I'm done with it!"

At this point, Loki's illusory Spider-Man shows up, drawing Mysterio's attention away from Sleeper. "Is there no peace from that meddling arachnid?" Smoke begins rapild filling the bank as Mysterio's smoke generators kick on.

Doom: 2D6, 3D8
Electro: D10 Physical Stress, D8 Emotional Stress
Mysterio: D10 Meddling Illusory Arachnid Complication

[Kareeah_Indaga]

Spoiler: OoC

Show

Just in case I need to post a reminder, this is me getting caught up from last round.

Sleeper caught sight of the gas masks before Electro’s arrival, and while slightly annoyed he also mentally congratulated himself - clearly he was moving up in the superhero world, if the supervillains were already taking steps to protect their lackeys from his powers.

Wait, something was happening down below. Oh, the masks were just for Mysterio, and whatever smoke-and-mirrors trickery he was up to today.

Sleeper sulked internally while he spun a webline from the window to a spot outside the growing chaos on the ground, for the hostages to climb down later. Sleeper ignored the illusionary grunts outside - if they’d actually been there hiding invisibly the whole time, he’d have seen them on the way in and anyway, if the pair of super villains could afford to hire that many goons they wouldn’t have needed to rob the bank.

There, that should do it. One last thing before he slipped down - it was likely that the hostages would panic if he just snatched them invisibly, possibly driving them to do something stupid, or at the very least drawing attention back to them when they needed to remain quiet and unobtrusive until Sleeper could get them out. He should probably make contact first, but the general reception to his species turning up tended to result in the screaming and panic Sleeper wanted to avoid.

So he needed a disguise.

He rearranged his substance to resemble Sue Storm: she was a known hero, and had invisibility powers of her own, which ought to cut down on unnecessary questions along the lines of ‘who are you and how did you get in here’. Of course Sue was shorter and had less mass than Tel-Kar…Sleeper hid the difference by making an environmental suit in place of the usual skin-tight outfit, but kept the usual Fantastic 4 color scheme and branding. Sleeper wasn’t exceptionally familiar with their extraterrestrial or extradimentional gear, but figured odds were good neither were the hostages. And it didn’t really matter if it wasn’t a perfect facsimile - he didn’t need to pass himself off as Sue beyond communicating that he was here to help.

Sleeper climbed down the wall and took cover behind a pillar out of sight of Mysterio and the goons, but positioned himself so he’d be visible to the hostages if he were visible. The fight outside was gaining momentum judging by the noise, and Sleeper took a moment to take stock of the situation - was that Kaine? - Sleeper had some recollections of him inherited from Venom, of fights that had occurred with Parker before the latter had bonded with his parent, but nothing recent. Venom had never crossed paths with the man.* Kaine and Mysterio were chatting like old co-workers, but Sleeper doubted Mysterio or Electro had been the ones to knock around their own hired guns, so whose side was he on???

…Never mind. Sleeper could use the time they were chatting to get the hostages out. He phased his face - Sue’s face - and one hand into visibility, tried to catch the eyes of some of the hostages, and held a finger up to Sue’s lips to indicate silence.

Once that was accomplished Sleeper faded back out of sight and slipped over. There was a moment or two of the hostages’ bonds seeming to undo themselves - one bit of rope was being stubborn and Sleeper snapped it impatiently -

- then he had a split second to note the taste of combustibles and the shining bit of wire among the rope and realize that was an explosive.

Fortunately for the civilians, his reaction time was excellent. Sleeper reflexively covered the nearest hostages.

BOOM.

Sleeper clamped down the urge to scream; that had hurt. Night Nurse was going to be giving him grief for that…

But the hostages seemed to be uninjured, so good enough for now.

Unfortunately, he seemed to have grabbed a bit of attention with that. And he was covered with dust and bits of shrapnel from the blast, outlining him and making the embossed ‘4’ on his phony environmental suit stand out briefly.

Sleeper absorbed the dust and dirt, fading out of sight again as Electro unceremoniously reentered the building. An especially sharp eye** might have also noticed the dusty outline of an invisible tendril plucking one of the larger splinters out of the ‘environment suit.’

Spoiler: OoC

Show

*DammitVictor if I got the history wrong let me know and I’ll edit!
**Superhumanly sharp, one could say.

Physical Stress: D8
Plot Points: 2
Assets: None

[Plaids]

Hercules Action 3
Hercules stumbles forward shaking his head to abate the vertigo and splitting headache imposed by the duplicitous Mysterio's illusions.
Stumbling forwards he enters a gait of an Olympic athlete, befitting an Olympian like himself, in pursuit of Electro and Mysterio.

The concrete sidewalks quake and the remaining glass windows shudder as upon Hercule's approach.
Such callous villains they took everything from me! Then they relegated me to subservient bondage. Spiderman, together we will rend them to pieces!

As a hail gunfire greets Hercules the modern projectiles fail to register as bullets in his dazed state. Instead, a lurid scene of metallic beaks and feathers projects itself to scene. You wretched birds. I'll twist all you necks again if I have to!

Spoiler: OOC Planned Dice Rolls

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• One affiliation___________________________________- 1d10 buddy affiliation. Either with loki outside the building or with sleeper insider the lobby
• Up to one relevant distinction______________________- 1d8 glory and honor
• Up to one relevant power from each of your power sets_- None
• Up to one specialty_______________________________- Menace Expert D8
• Up to one complication or stress die from your target___- NA?
• Up to one asset_________________________________- None
• Up to one push die, stunt, or resource_______________- 1d6 from pushing with a plot point

Attempting to impose an 'afraid' complication on the henchmen.
Using one plot point to make the asset last the rest of the scene.

Spoiler: Hercules Status

Show

Stress: 1 Mental Stress
Complication: D12 Mass Confusion
Assets: None
Plot Points: 1 start + 1 taunting electro +1 resist electroshock attack + 1 resisting Mysterio's illusory confusion +1 physically attacking electro.
Soon -2 plot points.
XP: 1/10

[Kareeah_Indaga]

Sleeper was reasonably sure he’d been spotted. His first instinct was to rip the throat out of whichever stupid supervillain had blown his carefully-fostered stealth with that trap, but then Night Nurse would give him a look when he got back to the clinic, and Daredevil would judge, and while Sleeper was adamant that he didn’t need either of them they were useful, and if not friends then at least friendly, and the same mental calculations that had determined that Tel-Kar was more useful alive than dead despite his attempted crimes justifying the latter also determined that it wasn’t worth burning those bridges, at least not yet.

Also, there were still hostages to escort out, hostages which some braindead supervillain had idiotically decided it was perfectly acceptable to blow to bits if, for example, one of the henchmen had been clumsy with the ropes.

But Mysterio had just given him a wonderful gift in the form of a chemical reaction generating lots of smoke. Sleeper was perfectly pleased to commandeer that, and used his chemokinesis to tweak the reaction so that the smoke cleared around the two supervillains (Sleeper was giving Kaine the benefit of the doubt – certainly Electro seemed to think he was an enemy) and hid the hostages from view.

“Hold hands, move quietly and follow my voice.” He started shepherding them to the most accessible unguarded exit.

Or tried to, anyway. “Why are you not moving?!”

Spoiler: OoC

Show

My thought was they’re just too terrified to move with the fighting being basically on top of them, but I don’t think I’m allowed to control the hostages’ reaction.

Physical Stress: D8
Plot Points: 3
Assets: None

[Thane of Fife]

The thugs' bullets bounce off of the Olympian as he approaches, and it's too much for them - the goons throw down their weapons as Hercules enters the bank, and flee right out behind him into the arms of the police.

Meanwhile, Mysterio's cloud of smoke seems to swell out of his control to encompass the hostages as Sleeper manipulates it with his chemokinesis. The cover does not seem to incentivize the hostages to get moving though. If anything, they seem more confused. Perhaps it's the loss of vision, or perhaps Mysterio's smoke has a touch of hallucinogens mixed in.

Kaine leaps into the cloud of smoke to dodge Electro's lightning. He aims for the shadowy figure of Mysterio as he dives through, and tackles him into the fountain in the center of the bank. But when he pulls the man out of the water, it's not Mysterio in his hands but one of the tellers from the bank.

To Sleeper, it looks like Kaine tackled the man into the fountain deliberately. In any case, no one has much time to think things over, because as soon as Kaine emerges from the smoke cloud, Electro has another lightning bolt coming his way!

Doom: 4D6, 2D8
Electro: D10 Physical Stress, D8 Emotional Stress
Mysterio: D10 Meddling Illusory Arachnid Complication

[Plaids]

Loki

Seeing Hercules barrel forward and pummeling the bank's door Loki slinks behind the stampeding demigod towards the fray.
He see's the billowing green mist surrounding Mysterio and sneers in disdain at the man attempting imitate his domain. He speaks to himself attempting to find what motivates himself most, repaying all the ungracious slights hurled from those conceited abusers.

"Bluntly wielding illusions to have your way? I will show you your better."
This wouldn't be too difficult he had seen the japering spider jester enough on the glass framed scryers. A bit of bravado and wit coalescing from small fingertips.

[Kareeah_Indaga]

The nearest hostage’s eyes were looking straight through Sleeper. “Oh no, Joel!”

Sleeper glanced in that direction just in time to see Kaine tackle an indistinct figure into the fountain, and there was movement – blows landing, the smoke in the area had cleared enough for Sleeper to see a broken nose and splatters of blood on someone who clearly wasn’t one of the supervillains –

And then there was a blur of red and blue overhead, which vanished as quickly as it appeared. “You know, Beck, you should really lay off the smoke, it does a number on your lungs!”

And during the momentary distraction one of the pummeling ‘arms’ clipped right through the hostage’s body like it wasn’t there.

Because of course it wasn’t. One of Beck’s usual tricks. Sleeper was losing patience; clearly the illusionist supervillain was going to make himself an annoyance until he was dealt with. He strode towards Mysterio with hostile purpose and snatched at the supervillain’s legs, intending to send him flying into Electro.

Spoiler: OoC

Show

18/d8 with one potential hitch for the Watcher. Spending a Plot Point to hit both Mysterio and Electro.

Sleeper’s Status:
Physical Stress: D8
Plot Points: 3 2
Assets: None

[Thane of Fife]

"Don't you dare turn your back on me!" snarls Electro, hurling a lightning bolt at Hercules as the Olympian works to evacuate the hostages.

Meanwhile, Kaine webs the hostage he was holding to the ceiling - up and out of the way. Sleeper grabs for Mysterio, but only manages to trip him, sending Quentin Beck sprawling across the bank floor. Mysterio scrambles backwards away from Sleeper between glances at the illusory Spider-Man, then points up over his shoulder - "Shouldn't you be worrying about them instead of me?"

Behind Sleeper and Kaine, a stray lightning bolt from Electro has hit the ceiling above some of the remaining hostages, threatening to collapse on them. Or has it? Maybe it's just another of Mysterio's illusions?

Doom: 4D6, 1D8
Electro: D10 Physical Stress, D8 Emotional Stress
Mysterio: D10 Meddling Illusory Arachnid Complication

[Plaids]

Before the electric shock released

Cutting through the smoke Hercules hefts a large bench and gingerly sets it down before a group of fearful hostages.
Fear not citizens. Your escape and providence have arrived.
He gently guides as many hostages as possible to the bench before the remaining ones disappear in the thick haze dodging debris and superpowers.
Unable to help any more hostages Hercules gives a swift kick to the bench. The elegant filigree imbeds further into the furniture and the wood splinters over the concrete as the bench careens toward the police barricades.

[Plaids]

Treacherous green mist continues to unfurl obscuring the landscape and combatants within. A lightning bolt flies from the mist spooling around Hercules before violently rebounding into and blackening a wall. Bodies fly in and out view as they dart through the wafting clouds of mist. Each brief potential sighting of an adversary growing more tantalizing than the last.
I tire of this. Allow me to bereave thine self of this contemptible mist!
Hercules loosens his core to extend to his arms in preparation for a titanic thunderclap.

[Kareeah_Indaga]

Sleeper flinched at the loud thunderclap - if that had been aimed at him it could have done real damage. As it was, the half-dressed muscle man probably got a glimpse of red eyes and blackened skin before Sleeper managed to reconstitute both levels of his disguise.

But he wasn’t worried about that now. The prey was on the ropes!

"Shouldn't you be worrying about them instead of me?"

Beck struck Sleeper as just a little too desperate for that to be believable…but he could play along.

Sleeper pretended to look over his shoulder…and then dropped before the man in the globe could react. Then he turned the momentum into a kick in Mysterio’s direction.

[Kareeah_Indaga]

Spoiler: OoC

Show

Sleeper’s Status:
Physical Stress: D8
Plot Points: 2 1
Assets: None

The kick landed with a satisfying amount of force, sending Beck flying and screaming into Electro. There was a crash that echoed around the ruined lobby before both supervillains hit the ground and slid several paces. Sleeper slipped forward, ready to administer another beating if necessary, but neither moved afterwards.

Once he was certain they were definitely not getting up any time soon, Sleeper straightened up and faded into visibility, muttering to himself. “I don’t know why Spider-man has so much trouble with these two,” He waved the remaining hostages in the direction of the exits.

Now that the fight was over, the injuries he’d sustained from the earlier explosion were starting to make themselves felt, and he was getting hungry as a result. Maybe when he got back to the clinic he could convince Night Nurse to break out the chocolate bars instead of the phenethylamine tablets…

[DammitVictor]

As the mists recede, Kaine comes flying out of them, howling in bloodthirsty rage, in the direction of nobody in particular. Whomever he's fighting must count themselves truly lucky that they do not exist. His sunglasses have gone missing, and his eyes-- the human one and the other one-- are wild and darting.

He skids to a stop and looks from Sleeper to Hercules and back again. He looks at Beck and Dillon, piled where they fell.

"Excuse me, Susan. Hercules." He grabs the unconscious would-be bank robbers by the ankles and drags them to the spot underneath where the bank manager is webbed to the ceiling. "Just in case, y'know?"

"So, uh, I should make myself scarce before the police get brave enough to come in. Welcome back to Earth? I'd take it as a kindness if you didn't tell anyone I was here. I'm not here to bother the Spider any more, so I don't want him to bother me."