Veiled Malice

Approved.

I'm with Barnum here. Also, a ton of movies have come out recently that have built on old franchises - Die Hard, Batman, James Bond. All of which, in my opinion, have been good. Just because time has passed doesn't mean the new films will be flops.

Wary of any further traps, Nightrival carefully opened the hatch. Inside was nothing but darkness, with barely the lip of the portal lit by the flickering flames from the nearby bonfire. Blessedly cool air seemed to positively rush out, propelled by a sudden variance in air pressure to stave back some of the blistering heat that still lay all around them. While Nightrival was unfortunately blind due to the darkness in the next room, Grimalkin could see the vast majority of the expanse without external aid thanks to her cat-like eyes. The floor lay about twenty feet down. High enough so that jumping might be painful, but not in any way deadly. She could also see that the walls of the new room were shear, but had ladders along each side, and even along the ceiling, all leading up to the hatch they were now looking into. The room seemed to be a perfect cube, twenty feet to a side. Hatches similar to the one they were at lay halfway up each wall, along with one at the very center of the floor.

The smell of cordite and concrete dust filled the air as yet another burst of high caliber gunfire shattered more pieces of the pillar Nanowire was taking cover behind. the man in mecha form thought to himself. That was, of course, the worst thing about this situation. He couldn't blame anyone but himself for it. This plan, unlike the past one at the museum, had been extensively researched and mapped out beforehand. Higher security required more stringent measures to overcome them, which meant that for the past few weeks, this particular lab had seen a new user in their computer banks, one that they couldn't track or catch no matter what they did. Seeing as how Nanowire could hack their systems from the moon if necessary, even the best encryption couldn't keep him out forever. So after a lot of prep work, Ren moved in, opening doors and gaining access to restricted areas on the fly. He'd just gotten into the section of the labs he wanted - weapons development - when all of a sudden, the entire place locked down and security forces started swarming the place. Ren, still in his more vulnerable human form, had to take cover behind a workstation when the assault rifle wielding troopers began blasting without preamble. There was only one way in or out of the weapons lab, which meant Ren really only had one way to go; through the men currently shooting at him. One transformation using the ample machinery at hand, and Nanowire began rampaging through the labs, looking for the way out. He had just plowed his way through another checkpoint when he found himself inside an area that appeared to be an underground parking lot. An underground parking lot filled with power armored security personnel, all pointing guns at him. Nanowire barely got behind a pillar in time before a fusillade of gunfire tore through the area he had occupied only moments before. he grumbled as a little more of his cover disintegrated around him.

I just saw "No County for Old Men". I want my freaking money back, and then I want to physically harm the Coen brothers for making a movie without an ending, along with every single person who reviewed it and gave it an awesome rating like the good little paid for automatons they are, and every single person who passed this drek along by word of mouth. I will hunt each and every one of them down, should it take the rest of my life, and tell them it is not acceptable to laud this... pathetic excuse for a film as the best thing ever. I want my money back. :evil:

Love the hair. She's got some intense eyes, too. Good job!

Yay! :clap: (I'm playing Barnum. )

I'd be down with the second PL 10 as well.

Daisuke pulled the collar of his coat up a little more to hide his face from view. No need to let people know that they had a metal boy running around amongst them - they tended to get a mite twitchy. He'd kept to the back alleys of the city, just wandering and taking in the sights. That was, until he ran out of back alleys and emerged into the suburbs. He knew he should have turned back then, but he wanted to see all of the city. Who knew, his onii-chan could be here instead of in the city proper. Darting through backyards instead of back alleys, Daisuke made his way across the impeccably manicured lawns of the upper class homes in Ashton. It was actually kind of exciting, moving and hiding like this. Daisuke pretended he was Solid Snake, infiltrating the enemy's hideout before taking on the forces arrayed against him. The urge to resist humming the theme song became almost irresistible as he crawled through what he assumed to be a pet door... ...And came face to face with a dog. A big one. Both boy and bog blinked, equally surprised to see one another. "Er... good doggy?" Daisuke tried, hoping it wasn't as mean as it looked from this vantage point. For the dog's part, it merely sniffed about the metal boy's face, and then, satisfied Daisuke wasn't an intruder, snorted and turned around to go back towards it's doghouse. "Hey wait!" Daisuke hissed under his breath, struggling to pull himself the rest of the way through the doggy door so he could greet his new canine friend on more equal terms. He had always wanted a dog back in Japan! And that's when he heard the voices. Two of them, kids, around his age. Daisuke pulled back into whatever shadows he could find around the doghouse to see if they were coming over towards him.

Gotcha. Although it'll be less "to the resuce" than "bumbling around and getting smacked about by someone three full PLs above him." :)

"Well, you realize it's not going to stop there, Lynn," Ren replied conversationally. "Moving into the building, even if there are places open, is just one step away from moving in with me. I've thought a lot about this, and it just doesn't make sense for you to do it." He shrugged without looking back at the girl. Then he glanced over his shoulder, a grand smirk on his face. "So I guess you'll just have to move in with me." His expression turned hopeful as he slid in next to Lynn and started laying out his plan in an exited tone. "The place I have used to be a flat of some kind, way too big for me and my stuff alone, and I don't have much. I've got most of the big stuff, too: washer, dryer, dish washer, oven, microwave. It's all left over stuff from the last tenant. Guy had to leave in a hurry, you understand." He winked Lynn mischievously. "It'll be an adjustment, no doubt, but as long as you can keep your cats from attempting to claw my eyes out while I'm around, I think it'll work." "So what do you think?"

Do you want to post first, or should I? I'm just wondering how you want to start this out. Well, other than the start Barnum was so nice to have given us. :)

The cleanup commenced almost as soon as the trio had reached the outer warehouse. Most of the Freedom League had shown up, prompted by the appearance of one of their deadliest enemies. Also in attendance were several independent heroes from the various boroughs of FC, likely called in to lend a hand should the rest of the Tyranny Syndicate put in an appearance. Conspicuously absent were law enforcement authorities from inside Freedom - for obvious reasons. No one knew just how far the Syndicate had penetrated into the strata of the city's management, and thus, no one outside of proven allies could be trusted. This meant that the cleanup and re-installation of the rightful persons into their lives took a bit longer than it might have otherwise, but for all the quantity of personnel, the League and co. more than made up in quality. Before long, the area had factory had been emptied and Raven took Velocity aside to speak to the girl. "All right, we're almost done here. From the goons we've questioned already, it seems Speed was the manager of this little operation. It's been going on for some time now, people getting grabbed up and replaced like this. It only got into the kids recently. Apparently, Speed thought the progress 'wasn't going fast enough' and handed down orders to grab kids up after doping them with some spiked Zoom derivative. His people, dressed up as paramedics, then make the switch before they reach the hospital. Something went wrong with this latest batch, though." She considered Velocity carefully. "I think that something was you. For whatever reason, Speed seemed to be afraid of you." Her shoulders shrugged incrementally, indicating... approval, perhaps? "It seems his fear was justified. For the record, however, Speed was nowhere near sharp enough to pull a job this big. He's barely qualified to dress himself from what I've seen, which means someone else was the mastermind here. All this was a big departure from the Syndicate's usual fare - far too subtle. It's more like something my own analogue from their universe might think of." A hint of something crossed Raven's lips, and Velocity was amazed to see it might have actually been a smile. "Don't worry - Pseudo has already confirmed I am who I say I am. Can't be too careful." The smile vanished as quickly as it came on, and instantly, Raven was all business again. "For right now, we're focusing on getting everyone back where they need to be. Fortunately for us, the people in stasis pods had the memories of their capture erased, and Pseudo is helping to fill in the blanks they missed out on in the time they were away. If we're lucky, no one outside of us will know this ever happened. We don't need people panicking, wondering if their neighbors or family have been replaced by evil clones or something." "All the replacements are being scooped up as we speak and delivered to a detention facility. The problem is what to do with them. We can't let them go, obviously, and we can't exactly send them back either. Detaining them indefinitely isn't an option either. But that's not your problem." She turned to a very nervous looking Robert Luciano beside her. "He... is your problem. Robert here has been very forthcoming about Tyranny's plans, what little he knows of them, and we're satisfied he had no part in them. No willing part, anyway. Sending him back is even more of an impossibility for the others, however. It seems the Mr. Luciano of this dimension is a... less than ideal human being, and being his mirror opposite, Robert here doesn't belong." For his part, the boy simply clung to a backpack in his arms and looked even more miserable than before. "We're setting him up in Freedom City - in a different area of the city of course - and we want you to look in on him every so often. Consider it a probation of sorts." She handed Velocity a slip of paper, on which was written an address - 1609 Caniff Rd, apt. 139. "It's his new place. It's in Riverside, so it's not too far away from the city center. Should make it easy to keep track of him." She stepped in closer to Velocity and drew the speedster aside, and spoke in low tones, "This is your official invitation to the League, Velocity. You impressed me out there today, and that's something I don't say a lot. Part of the League is responsibility for others, which is why I'm assigning Robert to you. Any questions?"

This is my little thread to introduce my two characters to each other again. It'll wrap itself up soon.

Daisuke had been out on his own for a while now, and honestly, he found it only got easier as he did. Over the past month, he'd seen a lot of Freedom City. Although his whirlwind tour had started out with getting kidnapped by a creepy circus and forced to be one of the attractions, things had started looking up again when he got busted out by that super nice magical girl, Darla. He also got to meet that mermaid girl, Droplet, and Dale, Darla's brother, all of whom were pretty cool. Of course, it couldn't last. He couldn't just hang around with them all the time. They had their own lives to go back to, their own worries to deal with. So he said goodbye, and took off into the city to make his own way. It hadn't been easy, but in his current metal form, he didn't have to eat or drink, cutting two of the biggest worries out of his day to day life. Back in Japan, he'd had to dumpster dive all the time in order to remain fed. That always led to getting chased around by angry restaurant owners. Hey, they were the ones who threw the stuff away in the first place! It was just going to go to waste otherwise! But without the necessities of life needing to be seen to, Daisuke found his days more or less filled by aimless wandering. The search for his idol was not going to plan. By now, he had expected to hear something about the fabulous Nanowire, hero and saviour! His onii-chan should be in all the newspapers, proudly proclaiming his dedication to peace and justice! Evil should be reeling back on it's heels, running from the glory that is he! Okay, maybe that last one went a little over the top, but as Daisuke eased himself into his improvised shelter for the night, he couldn't help but wonder... "

Thanks for putting up with me on that. Approved. You're all set to play.

Ren's heart dropped into his stomach at the sight of Lynn's violent reaction to his mention of children. From the stories she'd told, he knew she had it rough, but this... this was on a completely different level than what he'd expected. Compared to her - compared to damn near everyone he knew - Ren had led an idyllic life. He just wasn't prepared to deal with her pain from a position of experience. All he could do was crawl over next to the girl and hold her as she cried. At least he could still comfort, even if he couldn't understand. "You know me too well," Ren said, squeezing the girl lightly as she came out of her funk completely. Normally, one would have to pay admission to get onto a roller coaster ride like that. She'd gone from furiously angry to out of control sobbing to patiently explaining to ardently optimistic to charmingly arrogant in the space of a few minutes. Each change in her attitude brought out a corresponding deep, pressing need to support her in her venting, no matter where it might lead. And by the end, Ren knew that he'd made the right choice by telling Lynn everything. "It's good to know that you're on board with this. I... I was a little worried, but then, when am I not worried?" Ren chuckled and rubbed Lynn's back a little, right around the shoulders. "But I think I like that idea you had about literally making a baby. It reminds me of that one CG movie a while back - Robots? Was that it? Anyway, I really remember the part" the chuckling started getting more insistent "when *heh* when the parents pulled out the *hehe* the boy/girl adaptor! *hahaha!*" At that point, Ren broke down into peels of laughter. After a while, he pulled himself back together and got to his feet. "C'mon, we'd better clean this place up before the kitties start wondering if we're leaving food out for them," he said, pointing to the area where Lynn's temper tantrum had deposited her meal.

"Indeed?" Raven said noncommittally. For a moment, she considered the scale of the factory, and Velocity could almost see her mental gears churning, calculating exactly how many individuals might be imprisoned within these walls. Her gaze fell upon Robert again, who seemed to shrink under her sight. "And I suppose you are a part of this?" "It's not like it was my idea!" the boy protested. "You've fought them before! You know what they're like! You follow or you die! It's just that simple!" His voice went from demurring to pleading. "Listen, just let me go, alright? You don't need me. You've found them out, so shut this down. I'll disappear! You'll never see me again!" "It's not quite that simple," Raven countered. "But I'll take it into account that you were likely forced into this. Velocity, are you ready to go? The League will be here soon, and we need to lock this place up until they arrive."

Ren got the distinct feeling that Foreshadow knew more than he was prepared to let on, which at the moment, was nothing at all. From what the man hadn't said, however, he could draw a few possibilities. First, hesitation meant that something bad might have happened to his dimensional duplicate. Judging from the world around them, that was the most likely scenario. Beyond that, he didn't care to speculate. He made a mental note to smack Rant upside the head for that "you all look alike" crack, though. The sudden motion from Foreshadow made Ren go for whatever shadow he could get to and check his internal radar. Hopefully, even if his eyes couldn't see whatever was coming (if anything was) before it got there.

Well, it seems that this place isn't the biggest baddy pull in FC, but it'll have to do. There's not much here except residential housing and shopping malls. Real upper-middle income stuff. :)

No problem. Here's how it shakes out: for Toughness saves, ie, what you have, it would be 15 (the starting DC for toughness saves) plus whatever rank you damage effect is. So, you would have a DC 17 attack. (15+2) It inflicts bruises instead of some sort of other save, so you'd write it like this: ATTACKS: SAVE DC: DAMAGE TYPE: Unarmed DC 17/Toughness Bruise Also, remember to write down your other attacks, like your snare. Unlike toughness saves, reflex saves start at 10, so your DC for that attack would be 14, and be written like this: ATTACKS: SAVE DC: DAMAGE TYPE: Ice Bonds DC 14/Reflex Snare If you still need help, I'll be around for a little while longer.

For a moment, when the heat prickled on his skin and the flames only seemed to grow louder as he descended, Nightrival thought he might be making a mistake. There was no other way out, though. Fortunately, the lower they descended, the cooler it seemed to become. That's not to say that the interior of the shaft didn't still feel like a blast furnace. If there wasn't a way out down below, both of them would be in trouble of a different kind. The rappelling pair reached the periphery of the violently twitching flames below in short order, and it became obvious now that they were here that something was wrong. Just as Grim has said, the flames were not as large as advertised. It appeared that one flame pyre had been placed in the center of the room, then copied and pasted in using some sort of illusion machine to make in seem like the entire floor was wreathed in flame. Once they pierced the outer edges of the illusion with their feet, the entire thing went away, excepting the actual bonfire in the center of the room. Near the center, but thankfully farther away from the existing fire, lay a hatch, similar to the one on the ceiling.

I'd like to see the DC Block filled out before you start playing, honestly. If you need some help decoding the various scribbles, I'll be more than happy to oblige. :)

Changed that. And *whew*! That took a while to write!

Ren chuckled; it just figured that Lynn would be into video games. "Heh. Well, in light of that, I guess you have a standing invitation to pop in. I wouldn't want to deprive you, after all." He grinned over at the table at the girl. "I have to warn you, I play a mean game of Super Smash Brothers Brawl. It's the new one, y'see." And there it was. She was asking about moving in closer, but Ren, as inexperienced in relationships as he was, knew what she was really asking about. It would start out as being in the same building, yes, but with the two of them being that close, one of them would invariably be over at the other's place, and it would dawn on them that they should eliminate those last few walls that held them apart. It's not even like he didn't want that; hell, he'd suggested it himself months ago. But ever since then and now, he'd been thinking about all the things that could go wrong with that kind of arrangement. Would they be able to live together, hero and villain, under the same roof? It was true he hadn't exactly gone out of his way to do the villain thing in some time, but the urges were still there. Then there was just one more... problem. Ren's smile throughout Lynn's proposal became strained all of a sudden, and he put his food down. He'd need all his nerve for this. "It's just as well you brought that up, Lynn. Because there's something else you need to know... about me." He took one deep breath, then dove in head first. "Lynn, I'm not human." "And I don't mean in that I'm some kind of alien. I mean I'm not organic, like everyone else. Ever since I became... well, able to use my armor, all the stuff I've absorbed, it's all inside me." He tapped his chest. "This might look real, but it's all wires and plastic and metal inside. I don't need to breathe, or eat, or drink. I can do it, and it gives me the same sensations I had back when I was human, but..." Ren shook his head ruefully. "I don't even sleep now, you know? For the past year, I haven't gone to sleep; haven't dreamed at all. And it's not because I don't want to - I'd give anything to be able to do it again - but I'm physically incapable of doing it. The chemicals in the brain that tell it to switch off for a while so it can rest just aren't there anymore. Everything unnecessary to make myself appear human has been cut away; deemed 'obsolete' by whatever part of my powers that made me like this." "And... that includes children." He shrugged, then sagged back against her bed. "I haven't tested it, of course, but all the glands required are gone. I've seen the X-rays. I'm still anatomically correct, and everything works, but nothing..." Ren ran a hand through his styled hair." ...well, I just can't do it. I know you're probably not even thinking about kids yet, and neither am I, but it's something you need to know." "There is... one more thing..." Ren leaned forwards once again and took one of Lynn's hands in his. She was surprisingly warm. His hands duplicated that warmth. Another feature of his body. Another counterfeited biological function. "I don't age anymore. At least, I don't think I do. Metal and plastic take a lot longer to wear out than flesh and bone, and since it seems that I 'repair' myself automatically, I have to assume I'm effectively immortal. And unless there's something I don't know about your powers..." His eyes flashed with a sudden bust of repressed pain. "You aren't." Ren's eyes clouded over, and it became obvious he was having trouble continuing. "I'm sorry to dump all this on you at once. I thought I'd have more time, but with you asking about moving... close... I thought you deserved to know. I didn't mean to deceive you, and I really want you in my life." "I just want you to make sure you want me in yours."