Thevshi

Mercs 5 and 6 move into a firing position and attack Giang. One hits, the other misses. Giang easily makes her toughness save. Glamazon is up!

Giang was equally surprised by the sight that she and Thaelia came upon. The Asian teen retained her calm, even as she felt feelings of shock and anger. She took a quick moment to study the scene before her as a thin sheen of water began swirling over her, providing the teen with protection, her eyes widening slightly as she focused on the closest of the men in the reinforced wetsuits. "I have seen men dressed like this before." She stated to her friend. "It was several months ago when they attempted to kidnap a number of Deep One infants from the Freedom City Aquarium. They were led by a dangerous mercenary named Natas." With that, Giang swam forward, closing with one of the nearest men. Bringing both hands up in front of her, she sent a powerful jet of water twisting through the ocean towards the man. The blast struck him dead center, knocking him backward and into the side of a building with the force of the impact. The man's body then went limp as he lost consciousness, floating near where he had stopped.

Round One: 22 Tsunami (unharmed, 2 HP) 21 Merc 5 21 Merc 6 20 Glamazon (unharmed, 1 HP) 20 Merc 2 19 Merc 4 16 Merc 16 4 Merc 3 The bad guys actually get some pretty good rolls as well. Tsunami moves forward some and blasts Merc 2, who is knocked unconscious.

HG, you can make an initial reaction post if you wish. Also, time for initiatives!

GM The two teen continued on towards Crantorium at a steady pace, not in a particular rush, but not dallying either. A short while later, they were almost through a canyon which led to the underwater town when a dull, muffled *BOOM* echoed down the canyon. The sound was quite clearly from some sort of explosion, causing the pair to speed up. Moments later, they rounded the corner of some rocks and came within view of the town. Several of the buildings had been damaged, and in a number of places, silt from the ocean floor had been kicked up by falling debris or collapsed walls, looking very much like smoke. A half dozen men in armored green wetsuits could be seen swimming over this part of the town, firing some sort of high-tech energy weapons at the few Atlanteans who were in sight. Another *BOOM* echoed from somewhere deeper within the town…

Giang swam alongside her roommate as they began the return trip towards Crantorium, nodding slightly as the other teen mentioned what her cousin had said about "spa days." "I can understand how a 'spa day' could be used in such a manner." The Asian teen replied. "My failure in taking part in one is mainly a result of lack of opportunity. Growing up in a remote village in Vietnam certainly did not provide any. Since I have been at Claremont, none have arisen most likely due to those I am close with. Besides yourself, Cerys, Mali and Kat are not ones I would generally imagine wanting to bond at a spa."

Velocity had been a bit surprised when her attack was completely ineffective, so much so that she had almost failed to get out of the way in time when "Robert" tried to attack her again. But then, it was quickly apparent that this was not Robert, first that it had spoken in a very different voice and referring to itself as "this unit," and then when its appearance shifted to that of an android, before it vanished from sight altogether. I hate it when they do that. The speedster thought to herself as she was rapidly taking in the video feed from her goggles that allowed her to see everywhere around herself at once. Then an idea came to her as she considered the relatively small space around the pillar. "Well, you just made a big mistake reveling what you actually are, now I know I don't have to pull my punches any." She said out load, appearing to glance around for some sign of the android. The effort to keep her molecules vibrating to help counter the cold had made the speedster a bit tired, but she took a deep breath, readying herself for what she had in mind. "And you think you know what all I can do? Think again." Velocity was then moving, becoming a faint yellow blur that seemed to fill the entire room at once. Numerous loud *CRACKS* sounded seemingly from everywhere, as the speedster launched a rapid flurry of punches, aimed at every empty bit of space in the room, while carefully avoiding Steed, the pillar and fragment, as well as the equipment set up with the Russians. The tactic worked, as with one of the punches she felt her fist connect solidly with the robot. "Ah, there you are!" She stated, as she skidded to a halt, still between the invisible android and the pillar. Of course, she had no idea how damaged it might be, if it was at all.

Velocity had just finished calling in the device she had found and was about to resume her search when the tall, imposing figure suddenly appeared. She had briefly tensed up, expecting an attack, but that passed quickly as the unusually armored figure introduced himself as Graft and offered his assistance. While she might normally have been a little bit more suspicious, the speedster had in fact read about a new hero operating in Freedom City called Graft, and the description generally matched the armored figure before her. Relaxing slightly, she gave Graft a small smile. "Nice to meet you Graft. I have read a bit about you, you’re a long way from Freedom City." "But we could certainly use some assistance right now. There is something going on here at the carnival, there have been attacks with tear gas, fires, food poisoning and other incidents. We have no idea who might be behind this, though it does appear that someone, or some group, is behind all this." "I am currently searching the area in the carnival for any prepositioned devices, such as the one used in a tear gas attack, and have found this one." She indicated the fireworks display that had been tampered with. "I put a call into the police to come try to deal with it and was about to continue my search."

Okay, Velocity will use her new hero point to take care of the Fatigue she has. Then she will stunt off her Superspeed Array (which leaves the stunted power off her Speed still in place). She will go with: Strike 10 (Extra: Area, Selective) [30/30pp] This is like the Rapid Attack AP she already has, but is not targeted, but, as it is a smaller area (50’ radius area), she is literally punching everywhere in a split second, except any space that she chooses to not hit. The android of course gets a DC 20 Reflex save to take half damage (of avoid all damage if it has Evasive). DC 25 toughness save. She will of course not punch Steed, the pillar, the fragment, the equipment, anything she can see, she is not hitting, otherwise her fist will be everywhere else.

Velocity makes a Gather Info roll (via Well Informed) about Graft, getting a 25

Robert’s continued comments did little to encourage Velocity, as she dodged aside his attempts to brush her out of his path, managing to continue to remain between him and the pillar and stopping his advance. At least for the moment. "I do not want to hurt you either, but you are leaving me little choice." She replied as her right hand shot out at him, breaking the sound barrier with a loud *CRACK*. Just as she had in Switzerland several months ago, she was not aiming to hit him, but instead produced a small concussive shockwave that slammed squarely into his chest. However this time, he was not phased by the attack at all.

Velocity will make a reluctant attack on Robert, using the Stunning Attack feat of her Strike power. She gets a 23 on the attack roll. How sad is it that she has only used this aspect of her power on her ex-boyfriend/boyfriend so far? (assuming it is her boyfriend at the moment)

Wow, a low initiative roll, a 48.

Velocity felt her heart sink at Robert's words. While she could certainly understand the desire to want to ensure there was no Collapse, the glazed look in his eyes and his monotone voice were less than encouraging. His words sounded awfully like what the time agents had said when they had tried to seize the Stopwatch in Switzerland, so it was possible they could be exerting some sort of influence over Robert to gain control of this fragment. And of course, there was always the possibility the fragment itself was exerting control over Robert, causing him to say things that would make it less likely for her to try to stop him. The speedster held her place between him and the pillar, continuing to scan the area around her for any sign of time agents, temporal anomalies or any other trouble, while still facing Robert. "Robert, I understand the threat Collapse poses, but can we be certain these fragments, or the Stopwatch, can really be used against him? You certainly are not acting like yourself. Please stay back." "Where are Captain Lvov and Professor Sobchack?"

"Oh, a Ouija board could be loads of fun." Vince stated, giving Carmen a sly grin. Several of the other members of the family gave the young man a rather disapproving look. Among those was Jonathan, who quickly turned to focus on Nick instead of remaining focused on his West Coast relative. "Mr. Cimitiere, is there anything you need of us at this point?" He asked. "Anything we should be doing to assist you?" "I certainly have other things I should be doing instead of sitting around here until dinner." Paul stated with an inpatient tone, which caused a few of the others to roll their eyes slightly.

So Velocity is not somewhat concerned, so she will be making a bunch of free Take 20 Notice checks all around her at regular intervals as she talks with Robert.

Velocity watched as Steed repeated herself, clearly caught in a localized time ripple. The speedster had a bad feeling about the increased activity, possibly tied to the ever increasing proximity of the other pieces as she and the others had flown south. At the sound from up in the tunnel, she turned that way, though she already could see the entrance thanks to her goggles. As Robert landed at the bottom, she started over towards him, but stopped a short distance away as he spoke up, his statements sending a chill through her spin. "No one is touching the fragment Robert." She stated firmly, positioning herself between him and the pillar of ice. "And certainly not you." "Please fight this Robert." She then added, her tone pleading.

Velocity does not make the Sense Motive check.

Velocity gets a 12 on the Notice check.

Velocity gets a 19 on her Kn: Physical Sciences check.

It only took Velocity a fraction of a second to reach the tunnel. As the nauseating feeling of time warping reached her, the speedster moved off to one side of the tunnel to observe the large fragment while waiting for the others to descend. Seeing the size of the fragment, she really wished Robert had taken her advice and remained behind with Hronos. She had the distinct feeling that he was not going to react well with such a large piece, and considered that she might wish to keep a close eye on her to be sure the device was not able to assert some sort of influence over him like the other Stopwatch had been able to. Glancing at the screens displaying the readouts from the monitors, aided greatly by the magnification her goggles provided, Velocity was able to determine that the power surges from the fragment had been increasing in power over the last few minutes. Oh, I really do not like the look of that. Cannot just be coincidence. The speedster thought.

GM "Well, at last the fly I was after has wondering into the spider's lair." Came Warden's voice over a speaker hidden somewhere within the room. "How very noble of you and your friends to rush in headlong to save anyone trapped within the 'fire.' But of course, no one was ever in any danger, save you and your friends." "I have already captured them, but my contract is specifically for you. Why don't you save yourself the trouble and just surrender." Warden added as his hand hovered over some of the other controls before him. The Asian teen in the room turned back towards the metal sheet that had slid down over the doorway out of the room she was in and into the hallway beyond, sending a blast of water that hammered heavily into door and leaving a large indention as the frame around the sheet splintered slighty. "I didn't think so." Warden replied quietly as he pressed a series of buttons. In the sealed off room, several ports opened along the walls, partially concealed by the smoke still hanging in the air. Two sizable rocks were launched from two of the ports towards Tsunami. The Asian teen managed to dodge the first, but the second clipped her back shoulder, spinning her around slightly as she was knocked to the floor, dazed despite the thin sheen of water that swirled around her as a protective layer. "It is interesting," Warden continued over the speakers as the teen tried to push herself back to her feet, "but my initial reaction upon receiving this contract was to begin designing fire traps that I could use to capture you. But my employer provided some interesting information on how there was an even more effective way of dealing with you." The ports each fired another set of large rocks at Tsunami, both striking squarely this time. The Asian teen was knocked backward, a small cry of pain escaping her lips before she collapsed to the floor, unconscious. "Who would have guessed the earth itself would be particularly effective against a water controller." Warden commented out loud as he saw the results on the screen with a smile of satisfaction beneath his mask. "Time to collect you all for delivery." He added, as he rose from his seat…

It is good to hear from you Dok, and look forward to your return!

Velocity shivered some as she stepped out into the cold and waited for the "bug" to start making its creeping way towards the site of the fragment (well, creeping from her perspective anyway). While her rather considerable constitution and the survival jacket from the Pegasus likely would allow her to operate for awhile in the cold, the speedster decided it was not worth taking that risk. So instead, the young woman focused a moment, as her molecules began to vibrate at tremendous speed, giving of heat from the friction which helped counter the cold. Running alongside the vehicle, Velocity was easily able to retain her footing even over the very slick and icy surface. When they reached the tunnel the Russians had made down to the fragment, the speedster considered it for a moment as he waited for the others to exit the "bug." When Professor Sobschak mentioned the anomalies rising, she frowned slightly. But, they were not going to learn much more up here. "I'll see you all down there." She said, before speeding off in a blur and running easily down the sloped tunnel as if it was a flat surface.

As discussed in chat, Velocity is power stunting off her Speed 10 power (as she actually is not immune to the cold), taking the Fatigue for the moment. She is going with: Speed 9 + Immunity 1 (Cold Environment), as she vibrates her molecules to keep herself warm. With her other array turned on Max Velocity, she has Sure Footed 2, so the icy conditions should not hamper her.