Amelia

I was going to suggest they go out for some shawarma, but that works too.

Octoman "APPARENTLY freaky frog-woman's a former supervillain or something. You ever hear about that supervillain-to-superhero work-release type program they do with the ones who, like, didn't try to take over the world or didn't kill too many people? She's supposed to be one of their SUCCESS STORIES. I'd hate to see their freakin' FAILURES, right? Ugh." Ben slumped back onto his bed, leaning his back against the wall. "There were some of the not-quite-as-freaky-fish-people there too. Not just students, but I think, like, their dads or something. They kinda had my back. I'm like 'Hey, so, do y'all eat people or not' and they're all 'Yeah, Dawg, I think you should answer his question!' Frog-Lady starts talkin' about how the Deep Ones might HYPOTHETICALLY kill us and eat us and the Atlanteans came back with how they might HYPOTHETICALLY harpoon the Deep Ones and make themselves some fish-skin leg warmers, the whole thing got SUPER-tense. But I didn't hear anything popping off on my way out the door, so I guess they calmed down?" He shrugged.

GM The blue glowing man didn't respond, but he hovered over to the manhole cover Mister Strix had indicated, and waited beside it without incident. He moaned softly, and he didn't seem to react to Dead Head's greeting, or any other outside stimuli. Once Dead Head had worked the manhole open, the man simply floated down the shaft into the oversized and largely uncharted Bedlam City sewers. These were storm-sewers, so the shin-deep water rushing past didn't stink of biological waste. The air carried a slight odor of mold. The soft blue glow of the floating man was the only light, often reflected in the eyes of rats whose shrill squeaks echoed down the stone archways as they fled in his wake. After a dozen twists and turns, the glowing man led the pair of vigilantes to a raised platform, upon which flattened cardboard boxes and bundles of rags had been piled to create a living space. An old battery-operated combination television and video cassette player sat upon a large wooden spool turned on its side as an improvised table. The television was playing a childrens adventure movie from the 1980s, and, coincidentally, it was currently depicting a scene taking place in a sewer. A little girl the pair immediately recognized as the missing Emily Petrovic was sitting on the cardboard in the middle of the "room" in front of the TV, enthralled by the film. An empty plastic cup belonging to a local brand of convenience stores and an empty sandwich wrapper sat nearby. At the far end of the alcove from the television, an assortment of plastic milk crates, wooden shipping crates, metal trash cans, and other random junk was piled against the wall in such a way as to vaguely suggest a throne. Upon that throne sat a filthy man dressed in a motley assortment of ragged old clothes. A couple weeks worth of facial hair poked out of his flushed cheeks. He held a half-empty bottle of dollar-store wine in one hand, while his other hand gently petted the several rats sitting beside him. "*hic* 'Lo there," he slurred.

Mister Strix The man in white felt around the lower half of his face with his fingertips, then examined the sticky crimson residue. "It...looks worse than it is. You don't have to take my word for it. Here, look." He stepped back into the alley where the whole chaotic mess had started, knelt down, and lifted The Woodchuck Man's limp form up off the ground. The Woodchuck Man's glassy eyes were half-rolled up into his head, and he was drooling. The fur around his neck was matted with blood, among other things. But he didn't appear to be bleeding, not anymore. And he was breathing. Strix cocked his head toward a nearby manhole cover. "You mind shoveling that thing open while I have my hands full?" He turned toward the blue glowing man. "You're gonna show us the way home, like the voice in our heads told you to, aren't you?"

Octoman Ben held his hands up as he slowly walked backwards away from the sisters. "Whatever!" Dozens of lines appeared in the skin on the palm-side of his hands. At first, they looked like scars. But then, the opened up, revealing themselves as folds. When they un-folded, each one revealed a sucker. They ranged in diameter from a nickel to a pea. Each one squeezed shut and flexed upon rhythmically, though not in time with each other. "Y'all keep forgettin' I'm like the Big Bad Wolf over here, with a hundred-thousand little extra noses ta SMELL ya with. But hey, you do you, Chica." "Hey, it's cool. Don't start none, won't BE none. I ain't startin' nothin'. If some roid-raging psycho gets their undies in a twist and comes out swingin', I'll damn sure FINISH somethin'," Ben turned and glared at Ashley for a moment, "But I ain't startin' nothin'." The suckers retreated back into the folds in the skin of his hands, which themselves then vanished, as he turned away, catching sight of Micah. "Heyyy, Johnny Cash Junior!" Ben snapped a pair of finger-guns gestures at the boy. Ben's eyes widened, just a little bit more than they should've been physically capable of doing. "Man, what IS it with this place? Everyone thinks it's Prison Rules, gotta find the coolest cat and kick his ass on the first day. I totally get why everyone ELSE thinks that's me, but DAMN, man, you look in the mirror today? I'm not even TRYIN' ta compete with this whole Prince Akeem thing you got goin' on over here. But if you really wanna dance, I mean, all I really know how to 'build' is code. So, like, I can write a program or put a website together or somethin' like that. I can put a computer together if all the parts are there. But I'm not, like, soldering my own circuit boards or anything like that."

Sounds good. Persephone would also say "Yes" to the mayor, and yes, she's willing to meet up. It would probably be easiest if the meet-up just picked up directly where Storm of The Century left off, since everyone's in one place. @Avenger Assembled Should the PCs who accept the mayor's offer buy a Benefit feat to reflect their official backing, or is it strictly a fluff thing?

GM: 3 GM posts x2 = 6 IC posts Everyone Is From Somewhere (2) Siren Song of The Void (1) 3 to Persephone 3 to Mister Strix Dirge: 0 IC posts = 0PP Mister Strix: 7 IC posts +3 GM posts = 10 IC posts = 2PP Bedlam Burning: Beauty & The Beasts (1) Everyone Is From Somewhere (2) Golgotha Tenement Blues (1) Red Death Redemption (2) Siren Song of The Void (1) Octoman: 13 IC posts = 2PP Daka Rush (1) Freaky Fraternity (3) It's Moving Day (3) Rat Patrol (2) Tech Compliance (4) Persephone: 7 IC posts, +3 GM posts = 10 IC posts = 2PP, +1PP Guide Bonus = 3PP Dragon's Harvest (4) Rough Draft (3) Guide Bonus (1PP)

@Avenger Assembled Persephone is potentially interested in becoming one of the "municipal defenders", but she needs to see the fine print first, and she's probably not the only one. Can you provide any concrete details about issues such as: What is the time commitment for the character? Would they be able to maintain a full-time job or school schedule, or would they be too busy giving speeches at ribbon-cutting ceremonies when they're not subduing supervillains or helping with disaster relief? To whom does the character have to disclose their secret identity, if they have one? Related to the previous question, is any additional police protection or the like provided for the character's family? To what extent will the city government pry into the character's personal life, and what restrictions, if any, does the position place on the character's personal conduct? What sort of "morality clause" is there, if any? For example, is a municipal defender going to lose their job if some reporter snaps a picture of them at a strip club, or a political protest?

This doesn't have to be first-come/first-serve. If a fourth and fifth player express interest and one or more of their PCs is a better fit, I'm willing to give them my spot.

You mIght wanna check in with @Avenger Assembled to see if he had any kind of follow-up planned already. I'm potentially interested if there is some sort of specific goal or plan for the thread. I'm less interested if it's yet another meandering social thread that won't go anywhere and will eventually just fizzle out. I'm pretty sure I'm already in a few of those right now.

Octoman's available for this if you want him. His usual presentation to the contrary, his Enhanced Dexterity, high Acrobatics and Stealth, Insubstantial, Concealment, and Morph all combine to make him a superb infiltrator. He's got enough Knowledge (Technology) to at least know what he's looking at. And he's solid in a fight.

Octoman "She didn't say, like, they had a definite PLAN. But it's definitely on their to-do list. She spit a bunch of lines about how someday up's gonna become down and the haves are gonna be have-nots and some fools are gonna get stabbed, some real Gog-and-Magog stuff, and it sure sounded like the SUPER-FREAKY-fish-people think they're gonna get a power-up and when they do they're gonna come SHISH-KEBAB all the only-KINDA-freaky fish-people and take their stuff, like ya do, and maybe do the same up here. I gave her public relations on a freakin' silver PLATTER, Man. Just straight-up asked 'Hey, so, do y'all eat people?' ALL SHE HAD TO SAY WAS 'NO'. But she didn't SAY 'No'. She said a whole buncha stuff that WASN'T 'No'. 'Do we eat people? Well, that would be wrong.' NOT AN ANSWER. She was like half a step away from sayin' 'We're sorry that you're offended by us eating you' when I peaced the heck OUT."

Octoman "TIGHT. Only pockets I have are the ones I make outta my own skin. I basically have to keister my phone every time I go out. Not, like, in a gross way. I mean, it's not REALLY like a butthole inside here, see?" He pulled open one of his pockets. It looked like any other pocket. But then it squeezed itself shut for a moment, a seemingly involuntary movement. "...OK, it's a LITTLE like a butthole." Ben raised an eyebrow. "Whaaat about stuff that IS illegal to make? Does your power have, like, some kind of built-in leash that keeps you from making NAUGHTY STUFF? Or do you just CHOOSE not to synthesize contraband, because rules and stuff?" "DUDE. SERIOUSLY?! 'TECH CLUB'?! You had me at 'TECH'! And then again, at 'CLUB'! And you didn't lose me in between, so you got me with both hands! Yeah, I'm 'interested in computers' like Steve Jobs was 'interested' in making his turtlenecks black and everything else white and round! C'mon, where do we sign up?!"

Octoman "Yeah, I get that a lot. Most people can't keep track of where I'm goin'. Just go with it and you'll be fine. I always know what I'm doing." "Tip of the iceberg, Amigo. I got so many powers outta that accident even I don't know everything I can do. Seriously, I feel like I find a new power every other week. I'm strong, I'm fast, I'm flexible, my blood is weird, the other day I found out I have more than one heart..." "Hey, they don't come flashier than yours truly. Or they didn't until I saw that 'Leroy' kid. Brother's got MAD style. Like he just walked off a freakin' RUNWAY. Is he, like, an alien prince or something? I know they got aliens that look just like us. Not like the Grue, where they CAN look like us, but, like, ALL the time." "DUDE, SICK!" Ben was smiling from ear to ear, almost completely hypnotized by Claude's prestidigitation. Almost, but not so mesmerized that he couldn't follow along enough to start nodding his head and repeating the Time Enough For Love quote in unison with Claude. "...butcher a hog, conn a ship, yeah, Heinlein, The Moon is a harsh mistress but she only charges a hundred and fifty bucks an hour. Man, I wanna learn how you did ALL of that."

Octoman Ben pressed his hand against his own chest. "Hey, Man, what I have, I'm not sure it can be taught. But the first step is just, like, putting yourself in the mindset. Pretend like what you're saying actually IS true. You make YOURSELF feel it, and you'll make THEM feel it." "Hey, and if it ISN'T OK, just PRETEND it is so you don't hurt my feelings!" Ben slapped Micah's shoulder and laughed. "NAHHH, if you guys wanna be alone, just tell me to go lick a wall socket. I don't have FEELINGS!" Ben held his hands up. "Heyyy, don't worry about it, man, audience isn't as big as you think. I mean, if you really want me to appreciate the performance, I can stick my hand on your guitar the whole time you're playing, 'cause I'm not feelin' it unless I'm FEELIN' it, ya dig?" He waved a finger in a circle next to his ear. "Had a little accident last year, turned the volume down and broke the knob off. Gonna need you to speak into THESE." He pointed two fingers toward his own eyes. "And guitar strings don't have lips." Ben distributed an array of fist-bumps and high-fives to the assembled teens. "What up, thanks for lettin' us crash this little shin-dig. Benicio Wang, the one and only. Brooklyn born and bred, that's my main superpower. Also a LEET HAXXOR extraordinaire, and MASTER OF ONE-HUNDRED HANDS KUNG FU!" He jumped into a fighting stance, and eight tentacles burst out from under his shirt, aligning themselves roughly with his arms. "Just kidding, I took Silat." He dropped out of the combat stance and the tentacles quickly retracted, making wet slurping sounds as they slid back into his body.

Octoman The tinny sound of one long airhorn blast erupted from the doorway, followed by four short ones in rapid succession as Ben Wang thumbed the screen of his smartphone. "There really IS an app for everything. Don't you just LOVE living in THE FUTURE?" He stuffed his phone into his pocket and strutted into the room, lugging an enormous laptop with a green case in his other hand. He stopped to lean to one side and point with both hands at Heroditus. "HEYYY, from one NON-CANNIBAL fish-guy to another, SOLIDARITY." He tapped his own chest for emphasis. When he saw Nick, he kept talking out loud, but he augmented it with hand signs. "Nick, my man, what's the word?" His hand signs, "None of these idiots know sign language why would I be signing when you can hear me just fine blue turtle hungry sock", did not match up with his spoken words. He winked at Nick. Then he pointed dual finger-guns at Leroy. "Sir Leroy, thou art lookin' fly as usual, Hashtag: Goals, not sure I could pull it off but thou shalt do thine." His next stop was by Mia's desk, where he held his fist up for a bump. "Dude, thanks for the 4-1-1 on this place." Ben stopped in his tracks when he saw Ashley and Judy. Oh hey, Secret Robot-Girl! Wait, in TECH CLUB? Seriously? How is this still a secret? I guess Superhero School doesn't do Detective Class until senior year? He set his laptop on a desk, glanced around, then crept over to them and whispered. "Hey, so, uh...I kinda figured it out when we met the other day. Super-senses, you know how it is. And your secret's safe with me! I'm not gonna tell anyone, but...isn't THIS a little obvious? I mean, this is the FIRST place in the school anyone would expect...someone like you...like, this is the first place they'd look."

You have 101 skill ranks, not 96. The Power Thief power is currently busting through PL caps. You have a melee attack bonus of +9 (+5 base, +4 Attack Focus), and it's a touch-range attack with Accurate 5 for another +10. That's a +19 attack bonus on a rank 5 effect, a PL12 attack on a PL10. "All powers at once" is the 4PP/rank tier of Mimic. With -Tainted, that should be 3PP/rank, and at 5 ranks, that should be 15PP. Fatigue 5 at 2PP/rank is 10PP. 7PP worth of feats: Accurate 5, Sedation, Subtle. 15 + 10 + 7 = 32PP, not 37PP. If you drop one rank of base Defense and trade it out for another Dodge Focus rank, then her flat-footed defense will still be +3, and you'll save 1PP. You could spend that 1PP to get Grapple Finesse and get her a higher grapple bonus. You're investing in enough Dex-based skills that one more point of Dex bonus would be cost-effective for you, and would also increase your Initiative (which clearly matters, since you invested in Improved Initiative), and (if you buy the feat) your grapple bonus. Dex bonus costs 2PP per +1. Reflex save costs 1PP per +1. Skills cost 0.25PP per +1. Initiative costs 0.25PP per +1. So as long as you're investing ranks in Reflex and in at least 4 Dex-based skills (or 3 Dex-based skills and Initiative), then Dex pays for itself. Once you're no longer doing that, Dex starts losing money. That martial arts attack is crying out for two ranks of Improved Critical. Formatting it like that makes it look like it's an Enhanced value and then a normal value. I'd write it as "Toughness: +5 (+3 Con, +2 Defensive Roll), +3 Flat-Footed".

Octoman "Yeah, I'm a, whatta ya call it, a CONNOISSEUR of frozen microwave burritos. I could write a listicle about my top five brands, pros and cons. Mamá's a lawyer, so SHE's only cookin' two things: Diddly, and Squat. And we're all outta Diddly. She used to say she married Tatay for his cooking, but that feels like a long time ago..." "I WAS into music, before, y'know..." he twirled one of his fingers in a circle next to his ear. "And I still AM. Just not, like, NEW music." He pulled his phone out of his pocket. "See, there really IS an app for everything. Whenever the speaker picks up a loud noise, like a scream or a car crash, it starts doing this." He pressed a button on the screen. His phone and watch both started buzzing, and their notification lights both started blinking. "And when I wanna groove on some tunes..." He pressed another couple of buttons, and a techno song featuring a lot of video game samples started playing. His phone and watch blinked and vibrated along with the beats, and he started nodding his head back and forth, jumping on his feet, and waving his arms as if he were scratching records on a turntable. "It's not a GREAT substitute, but it's better than nothing. Helps when it's a song I knew before. My memory fills in the gaps. With new stuff, I can kinda tell there's a lot I'm not getting, even if I get a chance to read the lyrics. It's better at a concert or a club, 'cause you can feel the vibrations all over the place." "But computers, THAT's something the accident DIDN'T take away. I freakin' LIVE on my computer! You ever see 'geckofan', that's me. Can you believe I got that username on EVERY site? HeroHouse, TroubAlert, EVERYTHING. I figured I'd at least have to throw in a number somewhere, like 'g3ck0fan69' or somethin', but I guess I was just quicker on the draw." He mimed yanking a pistol out of a holster at his hip and popping off a round. "BANG! Pulled off some RIGHTEOUS hacks, too. Seen the inside of all kinds of places we're not supposed to see the inside of. I never, like, messed with anything or hurt anybody. But, y'know, information wants to be free and all that. My parents STILL don't know I check their email. If one of 'em ever, like, cheats on the other one, they're gettin' DESTROYED in the divorce, I'm-a make SURE of THAT. I didn't know I was gonna get powers, but I've wanted in on the whole superhero thing since I was little, so I figured becoming a super-hacker was my best bet. Nah, I can work on my own rig. But you should show me whatchu got sometime. I might wanna copy your layout or somethin'." "Oh wow, that was awesome! Can you just, like, do that with everything? Are you pulling a water bottle that already existed from somewhere else, or turning the air molecules into water bottle molecules, or what? Nah, believe me, there's nothing I could use in this world more than help with my chemistry homework. I can write code that'll make anything with a CPU roll over, fetch, and play dead, but the whole ionic-versus-covalent thing makes my head hurt. I freakin' GUARANTEE I'm not smarter than you, just ask anyone. I mean ANYONE. I got into this place 'cause I ran into some superheroes and they thought I didn't know what I was doing and I was gonna get killed if I didn't come here and learn the ropes, so they pulled some strings. It wasn't 'cause of my GRADES."

Octoman Ben crossed his arms, cleared his throat loudly and raised an eyebrow at Mia for a few moments, then turned his gaze downward. When Mia finally let her gaze slip as well, she could see that the front of Ben's pants now appeared to have been embroidered with block letters reading "MY EYES ARE DOWN HERE". Once it became clear she'd seen it, he cracked up and doubled over laughing. When she looked again, the lettering had vanished. "HELL YEAH I'm down for lunch. ALWAYS down to get my grub on! ESPECIALLY here. Falk's almost as good as Tatay's deli, and I don't even get THAT all that often. You'd think a guy who runs a freakin' BAKERY would do more home-cooked meals, but it's almost EMBARRASSING how much take-out we eat. It's cool for the first couple of days, but after that, it's like, nah, I'd rather just have some cereal or make a sammich or somethin'. Some people just don't like bringin' the work home with 'em, y'know? "

Octoman Ben grinned. "I mean, it ain't like I'm HELPLESS or anything. I can pick up a parked car and throw it clear to the other side of the STREET. And I'm not talkin' some little one-and-a-half lane suburban back road. I mean MAJOR. THOROUGHFARE. But I feel you. Thanks. Yeah, it's like Socrates said, 'Haters gonna hate'. I gotcher back too." He returned her light arm-punch with one of his own. "But, like, seriously, please do NOT do that clothing-disintegration thing with me, like, not EVEN as a joke. Real talk..." He glanced around and dropped his voice to a whisper, but continued to gesticulate wildly. "The dirty secret about shapeshifters? Ya ever wonder how we change, like, our clothes too?" He waved up and down at his own body. "Well...we DON'T. The 'clothes'..." He made exaggerated air quotes with his fingers. "...are US. So, like, if you try to fry off 'my clothes', or even, like, turn 'em into something else, what you're ACTUALLY gonna do is burn off is MY FREAKIN' SKIN."

Persephone Usually, when she turned into Persephone, Camellia left her clothes somewhere she could retrieve them from after. The last night's hurricane had made that impossible, so she had to improvise. After forcing the chlorophyll down from her skin and growing a different arrangement of leaves that might pass as normal clothing if you didn't look at it too closely or for too long, Camellia staggered into her rented house, drenched and exhausted, but grateful for her previous decision to invest in a keyless touchpad lock for her front door. While grabbing fresh clothes, she permitted herself a few moments to stare longingly at her bed, wanting nothing more than to collapse into it. But she had other obligations. With her phone still at the shelter along with her keys, she couldn't arrange a ride share, and instead she had to use her land line to call a taxi, something she'd seen in movies but wasn't sure she'd ever done in her real life. The taxi dropped her at the shelter, where she was able to retrieve her car and personal belongings, and reassure her worried fellow volunteers that, while she was swept away in the storm, she was alright. In fact, she'd been saved by a couple of the superheroes who'd made such a stir last night. After that, she had to drive all the way back to her house to get properly cleaned up. Having driven back and forth across Far Weston, she then made the trek more than halfway across town to the border between the Financial District and Inner Easton where City Hall lay. She stopped on the way for a latte, not bothering with more than a single espresso shot, since all the coffee beans in the world wouldn't provide her more than a placebo effect these days. It was the chemical fertilizer she'd retrieved from her home and now added to the drink that gave it the stimulating effect she was accustomed to associating with the smell of a fresh-brewed cup. She could have just ingested the fertilizer directly, but these little rituals helped keep her grounded. She parked a few blocks away, stowed her clothes and personal effects in her car, made her transformation back into Persephone, and let the local trees carry her over the downtown streets to the seat of Vibora Bay's government. Persephone's eyes widened and glowed slightly when she walked into the mayor's office and the first person she saw was The Woodsman. Her jaw fell open. "Well fry my feet and call 'em 'drumsticks', isn't THIS a pleasant surprise!" She offered him a handshake, but she didn't let the offer linger, preparing herself to disguise the gesture as something else if he didn't reciprocate. "I'm happier than a clam at high tide to see you here." She turned to the other occupants of the room. "You should have seen this man last night. A monster bigger than the Crabtree Building, and he brought it down with nothing but Isaac Newton and a bit of rope!" Then she made her way to the other person she recognized from the night before. "'Torque', right? Great to see you again. There's a lot of people alive this morning who wouldn't be if she hadn't been there to fly them to the hospital." Only after greeting her fellow heroes did she turn her attention to city officials. "Mayor Barker, it's a real pleasure to meet you. You had my vote four years ago, and you'll have it again next time." "That's mighty kind of you, Madame Mayor, thank you. But we only did what any decent people would've done if they'd been standing in our shoes. The folk who live here coming together in times of need, that's what makes this a city, a home. Without that, it's just a pile of buildings."

Mister Strix Move Action: Demoralize the Bossman. Intimidate check at -5: 14, or 16 if Strix's Deathly Aura comes into play. Free Action: Switch his Vampire Power array to the Autofire slot. Standard Action: Charge the Bossman with an unarmed attack. That's +2 Attack and -2 Defense. He'll All-Out Attack for another +2 Attack / -2 Defense. Attack roll: 29. If that hits, then it's a DC24 Toughness save, +1DC for every 2 points over the target number. He's at +5 Defense until his next action.

Mister Strix The man in white twisted his body around at the last possible fraction of a second, so the wooden bolt shattered against his rib instead of slicing through his heart. "You came prepared," he hissed. "It won't be enough to save you." Mister Strix let slip a tiger's roar which filled the warehouse as he ran toward the crossbow-wielding Yakuza thug. His flailing fists left white streaks in the air behind them as he swung at the man. "This city...my city...already has enough scum peddling filth on its streets and taking what doesn't belong to them!"

Dead Head gets a Hero Point for the crazy-awesomeness of using his head as a projectile and then initiating a grapple with it. We're out of combat rounds now.

Mister Strix "Yes, I heard it too. Someone's been trying to break down the doors to our minds, but they finally gave up and just knocked." "No, I didn't kill anyone. Just a few drops. Enough to learn the truth." The man in white lifted a thumb and pointed over his shoulder. "He's sleeping it off in the alley." Then he pointed his thumb to the side, at the blue glowing man. "The Woodchuck Man. This...gentleman. And the voice in our heads. Say 'Hello' to The Nowhere Men. They're not setting the fires. They're trying to stop them. They're defending their home, D. They took the girl, but they haven't hurt her. I think it's just a...misunderstanding, all around."