RocketLord

A young man is granted great power. He sets out to use his great power to become rich and famous. He learns a harsh lesson of great responsibility. He vows to use his powers for good. He fights the good fight, even as it wears him down over the years. He loses much, before rising to ever greater heights. Is that how you would expect the story to go? Not this time around. This time around, things are quite different, as the 28 years old Casper Church finds himself standing in a large seemingly empty room in an ASTRO Labs building. Casper looks up at window that overlooks the room. Doctor Benjamin Palmer, his mentor at ASTRO Labs, are looking down at him with a smile and a thumbs up. The other researchers around Doctor Palmer seems less enthusiastic. Some offers him patronizing smiles, others are talking amongst themselves. He knows that they think he is crazy for trying to breach the walls between realities. It is impossible, it is insane, and it is dangerous, but he can’t help himself. Just imagine the possibilities, the knowledge and discoveries that he could bring back, if successful. He looks down at the skintight white and grey suit that he is wearing. At first glance, it appears to be simple, clean and sleek colors, but if you look closer, you can see the tiny panels that make it up. Casper admires the work. He did not manufacture the suit, but it is his design, and it appears that the manufacturing division made it to his exact specifications. This time, at least. Each panel is designed to absorb and reflect aggressive external energies, keeping the wearer safe in an environment filled with potentially hazardous radiation, such as the so-called Z-Space that is theorized to exist as a buffer zone between realities. In theory, at least. Most people call it the Ghost Suit. Several cables are connected to ports on the back of the suit, providing it with energy and tethering Casper to the lab, connected to a massive machine that provides the suit the power it needs. A large circle in the middle of the room is, in theory at least, his point of entry into Z-Space. Doctor Palmer designed the portal. All they need to do is apply power, and send someone who is either brave, stupid or crazy enough to try. Casper supposes that he fits at least one of those categories, but right now, he’s not sure which. “Are you ready to make history, son?” Doctor Palmer’s voice is reassuring to hear. Throwing the final bit of hesitation behind him, Casper pulls on the white mask and pulls up the pair of protective goggles, then returns Doctor Palmer’s thumbs up. With only the slightest bit of hesitation, he steps into the circle. Turning back towards the men behind him, Doctor Palmer smiles. He says something that Casper can’t hear, but he see the others around him laugh, before the blast shields are lowered in front of the windows. They have to keep everyone without a Ghost Suit safe, just in case. Casper knows that they have a frankly crazy number of cameras inside the room, capturing every moment. The circle around him begins to hum to life. Light blue energy glows under his feet. It begins to crackle in the air around him, like lightning. Faint at first, then, gradually more powerful. More random and chaotic, with each passing moment. Casper knows what this is. It is how it is supposed to be. He and Doctor Palmer went through the process of what would happen. He has seen the machine in action before. He has seen things sent through. Seen them disappear, seen them come back. Some things were changed; different from when they went through the portals. The Ghost Suit should help with that. The lightning crackles around him. Well, not lightning. Interdimensional energies. This is just how they appear to his naked eye. He changes the setting on goggles, switching through various wavelengths on the visible spectrum. Once he his x-ray, everything around him stands out in magnificent rainbow colors. It is uncanny, and incredibly beautiful. Casper lets go. He disappears into the rainbow. Before his eyes, colors stretch and explode. He is everything and nothing, all at once. Breaching walls that man were not meant to even know existed. To everyone else, the light blue lightning dances around Casper’s body, as he turns translucent. He is neither here, nor there. In reality, and beyond it. Stretching, growing thin, disappearing, vanishing before their very eyes. And then, the alarm blares throughout the building, as it is rocked by an explosion. The entire building shakes, as the power goes out. Before Doctor Palmer can react, the machine that Casper is tethered begins to spark. Something overloads inside it, dark smoke begins to escape it. Casper screams, caught between the here and the there. The people in the viewing booth barely has time to help him, before the doors are kicked open. Multiple armored and armed men rush inside, shouting angrily and screaming at them. Casper is still screaming. It feels like he is being torn apart. They want knowledge, they want research, they want technology. They are very specific, but it doesn’t really matter what exactly they want. Everyone does as they are told. And Casper is still screaming. He can see through his hand. The apparent leader pushes Doctor Palmer to his knees. The doctor is to come with them. His protest is met with a punch to the face. He falls to his knees with a broken nose. The leader barks more orders. And Casper is still screaming. The rainbow colors are forming closely around him now. It is almost like he is passing through them. Rifles are raised, pointing at the researchers. Doctor Palmer looks up, defiant expression on his face as he yells at them. The first shots are fired. A man screams as he falls to the floor, clutching his shoulder. And like a vengeful ghost, a man clad in white appears through the wall, light blue lightning crackling around his body. He passes through the man that fired the first shot. The man screams and falls to the ground, twitching. Whirling around, almost moving in slow motion, the man in white turns to face the other attackers. They fire. Their bullets pass harmlessly through him. Casper is no longer screaming. He is smiling, as he moves from one assailant to the next. A single touch is all it takes, the energy reaching into them, their nervous systems shutting down, until, finally, the man in white stands before the leader, who is, by now, holding his rifle to Doctor Palmer’s head. He is still shouting. He is going to kill the doctor, or bring him along. One false move, and Doctor Palmer is dead. Not exactly a reassuring thought, but Casper has another idea. With a smile under the white mask, he focuses. He did it before. Passed through the wall. Now, he instead sinks into the floor, and he is gone. The man pushes from the gun at Doctor Palmer’s temple, looking around while continuing to shout threats. He is ready. He will do it, the moment he sees the man in white. Of course, he doesn’t see Casper coming from below, flying up through the man, passing through him. The man screams, dropping his rifle to the floor. Doctor Palmer looks up, utterly shocked, while Casper slowly manages to make contact with the floor. It isn’t easy, but he can do it. At least the doctor was right about one thing. They did make history. This has been Ghost in… ULTIMATE GHOST

BOUNCE! "Well I don't know!" Mattie exclaims, before quickly rushing in for a tight hug, and then, pulling back, continues. "I'd heard it's rude to just go ahead and hug someone in case they don't want it, right? I don't wanna cause any trouble or make anyone mad or anythin' when we're just meetin'!" She is smiling widely by now. This is so great. Both Lynn and Mrs. Howell are so nice, it's everything she hoped for. "Yes, sorry Mrs. Howell! I'm ready when you guys are!"

The STORMCROW Charlie suppresses a frown as he looks down at Visor. Sure, makes sense. He didn't expect him to talk, anyway. Not unless he tries to use some of the Raven's methods for interrogation, and he honestly doesn't feel like doing that. "Sure. Talk to your lawyer and the cops, bad guy. We'll be watching." He stands up, turning away in time to watch the Star Khan set off and fly away. That was interesting. And maybe the kind of firepower that they team could need. He will have to look into who the Star Khan is, but he can't help but consider that he might be bad news. With a frown, he turns back to Bernie, and then the others. "What's going on?" Try as he might, he couldn't exactly be in two places at once.

The STORMCROW "I have never in my life suggested Jumper to anyone," Charlie says with an incredulous tone, as he appears around one of the corners while Leon leaves to let Neko and Vik in. "I mean, really. Jumper." He is just speaking to Bernie and her dupes by now, shaking his head as he walks into the room, whistling lightly at the extra couch she's carried in. He is wearing a pair of black shorts that go to just below his knees and a dark grey dress shirt with small white abstract bird motifs scattered across it. He hasn't buttoned it all the way up. "The pizzas are gonna be here in an hour. How are you all doing? Picked out a movie yet?" he asks, as he looks between Bernie and her dupes. It is not exactly easy to make out which of them is the real Bernie (but then again, aren't they all the real Bernie, in some way?), even with the time they've been together.

The STORMCROW Twirling the staff in his hand, Charlie smiles while Bernie's dupe weighs her options. He seems almost more interested in spinning the staff around than actually sparring. Of course she tries to get in close. It'd instantly eliminate any distance advantage the staff might provide him. It's good, it's smart, and she's fast enough to make it work, but Charlie follows suit, rushing towards Bernie himself, planting the staff down a bit in front of her and using it to leap over her, landing in a crouch behind her. "C'mon, gotta work harder than that to get your hands on me."

Spaceman Parker smiles lightly at Iris' question, shrugging. "Busy, mostly. Always something to help out with." Noticing some dirt on his shoulder, he frowns and brushes it off. "It's nice to have a chance to just relax for a bit." He nods at Michael's Collapse explanation about Lynn. It usually means they don't have to explain a whole lot, not with the things that Lawrence has explained already, and the things that they have seen, but still, it is strange that his friend now has a sort of sister. "Sure, I'm up for anything. Been a while since I've been anywhere like this. Anything you want to give a go, Iris?"

Spaceman Parker looks up at Michael, when Vueriz and Lawrence both agree that things might go bad soon. He can't say that he disagrees. He has faith that Michael will do his best to talk them down, and he is usually good at it, but the Atlanteans and the Deep Ones are different. Not human. Who knows how they will react? "Sounds like the platform might come in handy. It's better to have it ready, anyway," Parker praises Vueriz. "How about we join Sea Devil and Ms. Harcourt again? It's probably better if we all stay close."

You will need to get in close, covering the 100 feet or so that's between you. If you can do that, you can establish a grapple (automatic hit), and that will increase the clock by 1, to 4, so give me an IC post @Tiffany Korta, and then @Kaede Kimura is up! 25 - Rex Atom (Miniscule Size) - 4HP - Unharmed 20 - Hole In Reality A - Unharmed 17 - Hole In Reality B - Unharmed 17 - Madame Raven - 4HP - Unharmed 16 - The Dreamer - 1HP - Unharmed 16 - Hole In Reality C - Unharmed 13 - Hole In Reality D - Unharmed 9 - Devon 51 - 3HP - Unharmed Save the Woman: 4/8

Well, go for the dupe too then, so, I'll place her before Charlie for ease of posting. 29 - Shadowborne - 3HP - Unharmed 26 - Multi-Girl - 3HP - Unharmed 25 - Multi-Girl Dupe - Unharmed 25 - Stormcrow - 5HP - Unharmed 20 - Purple Haze - Unharmed 19 - Cueball - Unharmed 19 - Ghule - 2HP - Unharmed 17 - Paper - 4HP - Unharmed 15 - Scarlet Mist - Unharmed 12 - Buddy - Unharmed 10 - Angel - Unharmed 8 - Nightscale - 4HP - Unharmed 7 - The Born Loser - Unharmed

SUMMER SCHOOL'd by Fox Stormcrow Gonna reshuffle Stormcrow's skills a little bit, increasing Dexterity, lowering some skills and increasing others. I currently have 15PP to spend. Dexterity +4, to 24 (+7): 4PP. Lower base Reflex by 2, to +7, keeping the total score at +14: -2PP. 2PP total spent Lowering the following skills: Acrobatics -2 to 13, keeping total +20 bonus Drive by -2 to 3, keeping total +10 bonus Pilot -2 to 3, keeping total +10 bonus Stealth -2 to 13, keeping total +20 bonus Total -8 skills points, equal to -2PP 0PP total spent Increasing the following skills: Diplomacy +8 to 10 (+15) Disable Device +8 to 8 (+15) Escape Artist +3 to 8 (+15) Gather Information +3 to 10 (+15) Medicine +3 to 3 (+6) Sense Motive +1 to 17 (+20) Sleight of Hand +3 to 8 (+15) Survival +7 to 7 (+10) That's 36 skill ranks, spending 9PP. That should put me at 244/250 PP spent. Skills should now look like this SKILLS 176R = 44PP Acrobatics 13 (+20)Acrobatic Bluff, Skill Mastery Bluff 10 (+15) Computers 13 (+20)Online Research, Skill Mastery Diplomacy 10 (+15) Disable Device 8 (+15) Drive 3 (+10) Escape Artist 8 (+15) Gather Information 10 (+15)Well-Informed, Skill Mastery Investigate 13 (+20)Skill Mastery Knowledge [Tactics] 8 (+15) Language 4 (American Sign Language, Chinese [Mandarin], English [native], Japanese, Russian) Medicine 3 (+6) Notice 17 (+20)Skill Mastery Pilot 3 (+10) Search 8 (+15)Skill Mastery Sense Motive 17 (+20)Skill Mastery Sleight of Hand 8 (+15) Stealth 13 (+20)Hide in Plain Sight, Skill Mastery Survival 7 (+10) Thank you!

GM Working together, the group of teenaged heroes fight their way through the hordes, though they are soon overwhelmed by the seemingly unlimited onslaught of freshly made clones. Meanwhile the woman that was once a child grows older with each passing moment. In a final blaze of glory, she explodes, taking out enough of the remaining clone soldiers to let Gamma Buzz and Timeout stop the rest, finally joining Spaceman in fighting Doctor Deviation himself. Alone, Doctor Deviation is more than a match for Spaceman, either countering or resisting his every strike, but when faced with the combined might of the three heroes, he falters, even as he seems to have a device that counters each of their powers in turn. Finally, he makes his escape, disappearing towards the sky in a burst that leaves a gaping hole towards the sky. Instantly, a self destruct mechanism begins. An explosion rocks the underground base, destroying any evidence, anything that could be traced back to the Doctor, all the research and the cages and vats used to hold the clone soldiers. Through their combined powers, the heroes escape... but it is unlikely to be the last they see of Doctor Deviation.

That's a miss, which means @Thevshi is up next!

BOUNCE! "It was awesome!" Mattie is beaming, her hair and eyes shifting to purple while she's speaking. "I've never flown before! And we got peanuts, and drinks and everythin', and the headmistress had paid for everythin' so I didn't even have to pay or anythin' and it was awesome! I'd never been that far above the ground before, and we had turbulence and the nice old lady sitting next to me was telling me all about her grandson and..." Noticing her hair, she smiles sheepishly. "Whoops, sorry. I keep forgettin' that whole secret identity thing!" It quickly shifts back to black. "So, uh, can I, like, give you a hug?" she asks Lynn. "It's been great talkin' and textin' and all that, but back home, we always give our friends hugs, but, I don't want to overstep or anythin' and I'm not sure if that's how we do it here and I'll stop talkin' now."

Diplomacy: 19 And Sense Motive with Skill Mastery for total 29 for any attempts at lying on his part.

The STORMCROW After every name that Paper calls the villains, Stormcrow corrects him with the actual names. "Big-Horn. Mindfire. Legion. Visor. Sureshot." He is smiling lightly at Leon's jabs at them. He's not complaining, but he is wondering about them. Some of them are known to work together, but not all. Is Visor trying to grow his group? Vik's issues are... not ideal, but Leon and Muirne are trying to help her out, at least. That's good, then he'll be able to try to deal with the other pressing matters, at least for now. "Hey, you were a big help too. Star Khan, was it? I'd love to compare notes and everything in a moment, but there's something I gotta check with this guy," he says to the Star Khan. There's something about that name that he feels like he should keep a note about, but he also seems like a space guy, and that isn't exactly his area. People like Visor, though? They're more in his wheel house. Getting a gadget out from his belt, he makes sure that's he bound tight, and his visor is covered. Then, he taps him lightly, trying to wake him up. "Visor, right? That's a nice crew you've gotten here. Looking to add Mindfire, huh?"

Then @Avenger Assembled is next!

Give me a Stealth roll for that @Kaede Kimura, and @Supercape is up

Still, give me the Notice or Sense Motive too @Supercape

The band should all be to safety now. The last two ninjas escape, while the intimidated one stops moving for the moment, unsure what to do. @Thevshi is up, I don't have anything to add in a new GM post. 28 - Stormcrow - 7HP - Unharmed 27 - Elite Ninja - Bruise (x1) 24 - Paper - 4HP - Unharmed 23 - Multi-Girl Dupe - Bruise (x1) 17 - Ninjas - Minions - 12x Defeated, 1 stopping due to being intimidated on the ground, 2 running away 17 - Multi-Girl - 2HP - Unharmed 9 - Neko - 1HP - Unharmed

Superior Initiative: 21, 15 Superior Soldiers Initiative: 9 I hope its alright that I put them before the dupe, so that @Thevshi don't have to wait for me to do posts between actions! To make things clear: Superior is incredibly powerful, and while you might be able to slow him down, you will be unable to fully defeat him. The woman that Puma is by might be able to help, if you can get through to her, or at least help you figure out what Superior and the soldiers are up to! There are currently 12 soldiers around, but their numbers might be increased. At any rate, @Kaede Kimura is up, though mind that actual combat haven't started yet. 31 - Blue Bolt - 3HP - Unharmed 21 - Gamma Buzz - 1HP - Unharmed 21 - Superior - Unharmed 18 - La Puma Negra - 3HP - Unharmed 15 - Superior - See above status 9 - Superior Soldiers - 12x Unharmed 9 - Multi-Girl Dupe - Unharmed 7 - Multi-Girl - 3HP - Unharmed

Alright, in that case... @Kaede Kimura is up! As previously mentioned, there are civilians around that can and will be put in danger. I will introduce Clocks that will need to be filled through heroic actions to save them, if the villains take actions to put them in danger. Aside from that, the villains will be fighting each other as well as the heroes, so we'll see what happens. 29 - Shadowborne - 3HP - Unharmed 26 - Multi-Girl - 3HP - Unharmed 25 - Stormcrow - 5HP - Unharmed 20 - Purple Haze - Unharmed 19 - Cueball - Unharmed 19 - Ghule - 2HP - Unharmed 17 - Paper - 4HP - Unharmed 15 - Scarlet Mist - Unharmed 12 - Buddy - Unharmed 10 - Angel - Unharmed 8 - Nightscale - 4HP - Unharmed 7 - The Born Loser - Unharmed

GM Purple Haze laughs as he recognizes Nightscale. "Look, sis. It's the overgrown lizard again. What's the matter, big boy? Here to to try to hit on my sister again?" Scarlet Mist doesn't seem to share her brother's mirth, instead staring angrily at Nightscale for a moment, before turning to look at the Devil's Advocates again. "Ignore him, Haze. We need the Doomforge. Nothing else matters." She is already beginning to spread into mist. Finally, Angel motions towards both the rival villains and the heroes with an outstretched hand. His voice is barely a whisper as he speaks. "kill them all."

GM "A lab, hmm?" Tracy responds to Daniel and nods, quickly jotting down some notes. "That's good. Perfect for this, actually." She stops in her tracks and stares at Michael. "Well, yeah. Of course I'm gonna take you to the lab and show you things. It's not like I can lug all the equipment around, right? But sure, I can show you some of it, but you'll have to sign a NDA." There's the business part of things showing up, as Tracy brings a NDA up on her tablet and shows it to Michael, before she starts leading the teens towards the laboratory that she had mentioned. Inside, there is a number of screens, showing various diagrams of human minds, highlighting different parts. Several tables and computers are in the room, with one of the tables holding a large round helmet, connected with a number of cables to a large machine. "All of these," Tracy says, gesturing to the screens. "Are regular human mind scans. Nothing that stands out. If we want to establish telepathic communication, we need to see what a telepathic mind looks like." She turns to look at Daniel and Iris. "So, who wants to go first?"

Spaceman "When she gets excited about a project, at least," Parker whispers back, leaning closer to Michael. He honestly haven't given it much thought, it's just been how his life has been the entire time. He can understand why Michael is hesitating when Tracy goes like this, at least. He is kind of starting to wonder if this was a bad idea.

Alright, let's see what Charlie knows about them the bad guys before I post, with a Skill Mastered Computers check for Online Research with Well Informed, for a total result of 30.