Dr Archeville

Dok's KO'd, his mind traverses unfathomable vistas. Squrms flop and gibber into the night. Three pick up random passers-by, two just flit on. (Where to? It would be obvious, if you were mad!) KC's up. Make a Notice check. At the beginning of KC's turn, the closest Squrm is (notice check result) x 10 feet away. (Ex.: you get a 23 on the Notice check, then he first sees a Squrm when it's 230 feet away.)

Archeville slumps to the ground, battered to unconsciousness. The flopping hordes continue their mad writhings though the sky. Two dive for a well-to-do matron out walking her champion purebred poodle. Shrieks and howls pierce the scene as the innocent bystanders are hefted into the air by hideous tentacles, and examined like bugs under a microscope by intelligences vast and inconceivable to them. A third pursues a yuppie jogger, waving its tentacles at its prey while it sommersaults through the air. The jogger feels his feet pedal air as he is lifted up by arcanokinetic force; he struggles against the force but find nothing to push against! The other two veer away, one headed south and one east.

"Ah, Herr Rift!" He waved the young super-roadie over. "So good to see you again!" Archeville's attention was instantly snared by Miss Americana. "Ah, willkommen, hello!" He zipped towards her on gravimetric distortions generated by his Belt, and shook her hand, "I do not believe ve haff met before! So glad you could come!" As Dyne approached, his mass sense went all wonky, which he expected Archeville's Gravimetric Belt would do. Before Archeville could approach the Nobel-winning professor, though, a striking woman in a baby blue dress intercepted him. "Alvays a pleasure to meet mein fans," he replied, taking her hand and giving a quick peck to the back of it. And then there was Liebniz. Archeville had considered not sending the sycophantic bottomfeeder a personal invite, but he knew his fellow countryman would learn of it via the public announcements anyway, and he would make a huge stink about not being invited. Ah, the hoops ones must jump through for Academia. "" he said with a forced smile, compelling himself to shake the leech's hand. "" He turned to Vivian, "apologies, fraulein, de... good Doctor und I vere merely exchanging greetings in our native tongue. A fine language, German; many scientific und technical journals are published in it." Archeville scanned the room, and plotted out how best to make his way to each and every one present. He wanted to personally greet each one before the meeting began in earnest.

Please note that it is 10:00am Sunday morning and we're in a (decent sized) private reading room of a public library There's maybe one caterer per PC here. And a roughly equal number of NPC scientists and techies (though they're mainly in the background and not saying much but oohing and oohing over the braininess of the PCs)

Perhaps the Doktor would set up a 'privacy screen,' blocking certain types of scans? Not all radio, though, since that'd block Gina's ability to pilot Miss Americana.

There is something she could get, depending on how perfect you wanted her disguise to be. Just as Detect Metahuman could detect that the human-looking Captain Thunder and Johny Rocket and the Atom family are all Metahumans, something like Detect Technology (or something specifically geared to her) should be able to detect that the human-looking Miss Americana is a gynoid. If you wanted her to be undetectable even to that, then I'd suggest taking some type Concealment. Director Horatio "Harry" Powers of AEGIS and Blackstone's Warden Joshua Drummer have something similar, a Permanent Close Range Concealment that hides them from Detect Metahumans/Metahuman Awareness senses. If not, then just saying "she looks human" (and not having a "looks freaky" Complication) is enough. ... though this gets to the matter of "in a room full of super-geniuses, are any of them going to be scanning each other's tech?"

Dok would've sent her a personal invite ;)

Sense Motive vs. Wander's Acrobatic Bluff (DC 28) (1d20+10=19) Though it doesn't matter, since Dok's not got his Force Field/Shield up, so his Defense is only 18 normally, so she'd hit even if he succeeded. I think that Fort save should be 29 -- 10 + Damage (14) + 5 from Power Attack. Fort save vs. Wander's Stunning Attack (DC 29) (1d20+4=19) Fails by 10, so he's knocked unconscious! He'll get to try nd make a DC 10 Constitution check after one minute (10 rounds) to try and shake it off (or use an HP to try and make one now). I'll let him get KO'd now, and let Wander and KC do their thing.

Cool, just wanted to get the 'ground rules' on her established.

The $64,000 question: what ways, if any, could this assortment of brainiacs tell Miss Americana is a gynoid? Notice check to spot tiny seams, or ever-so-slight jerkiness to her movements? Specific super-sense? (Infravision? Ultra-Hearing? X-Ray Vision? Detect Metal?)

Okay, let's see how Cyclone does against Fulcrum's continued sleeper hold first Toughness save, DC 29 (1d20+8=20) Fails by 9, so that puts him at bruised and stunned. And still Pinned/Helpless and Staggered. Let me know what Fulcrum decides to do, then I'll start in on my end.

Alright, so we're at Round 1 30: Wander -- unharmed -- 4 HP 25: Dok -- unharmed, fatigued -- 6 HP 24: Squrm D -- unharmed 21: Squrm E -- unharmed 17: Squrm A -- unharmed 10: Squrm C -- unharmed 7: Squrm B -- unharmed 6: Kid Cthulhu -- unharmed -- 3 HP and Avenger exits, pursued by a baby. Wander is up!

The Doktor could tell that she was holding things back, probably stressors in her marriage and personal life. And that she gets uncomfortable when the subject of kids comes up. But her own reporter's sense detected an unease the Doktor himself had when discussing family; given his history, this was not unexpected. "A fine attitude. So!," the Doktor said, quickly shifting the subject, and tone to a somewhat lighter one, "let us get you started mit some basic readings, blood pressure und heart rate und respiration und all dat, check your vision und hearing und electroreceptors, und den a trip to de lab for some blood und ink samples." He clicked off the holoprojector from his Screwdriver, then set it to record, a large holosheet dictating every word her and his patient said, then went to a nearby sink and washed hs hands. "Is dere anyding in particular you haff noticed different of late? Rashes or changes in vision or hearing, or in how dings feel or taste? Anyding?"

Horrors! I meant to get these submitted to the RefCave before we got to this point, but this point's been too long in coming. So, here's the stats, so I'm at least somewhat on the up and up Five Squrms, A-E. B-E will be treated as Minions, A's a non-Minion. Need initiatives. Initiative for Squrms A, B, C, D, E (1d20+4=17, 1d20+4=7, 1d20+4=10, 1d20+4=24, 1d20+4=21) initiative for Dok (1d20+7=25) 25: Dok -- unharmed, fatigued -- 5 HP 24: Squrm D -- unharmed 21: Squrm E -- unharmed 17: Squrm A -- unharmed 10: Squrm C -- unharmed 7: Squrm B -- unharmed GM Fiat for the squrms get a surprise round (HP for everyone!), which they use to bolt out of the library.

Two things were very, very wrong here. One was that Jack Faretti and Viktor Archeville saw two different things. Archeville saw himself pick out an old, leatherbound book from one of Phantom's many, many shelves, scanned the pages as he flipped through it (thanks to his superhumanly fast mental processes), and read aloud a passage of doggerel Latin from a page describing how to summon a minor air elemental. Avenger saw Archeville reach into nowhere -- into one of the extradimensional pockets his wife kept the really dangerous tomes, the ones she hadn't yet figured out how to destroy -- pull out a black-bound tome, and read aloud a passage that was in no language he had ever heard. The fact Archeville was able to pronounce the stomach-churning syllables so proficiently was even odder. The second very, very wrong thing was that the spell Archeville cast worked, despite the fact that A) it shouldn't work in Phantom's warded library, and it shouldn't work for him. But work it did, as a sound like wet burlap ripping echoed through the chamber, and five swirling vortices opened. Out of each flopped a huge squid-thing, looping, twitching and twirling on slimy, membranous wings, wings clearly insufficient to hold such bulks. They were black as sin, streaked with putrid yellows, greens, and browns, and each held a single, twin-pupiled eye, cloudy and yet focused with mad intent. The things somersaulted through the air, shrieking in mad ululations, then suddenly bolted, blasting their way out the windows and flopping off into the night. Archeville remained standing, barely, the eldritch tome in his hands still smoldering with power. His jaw hung loose, and his eyes were unfocused, seeing hideous vistas man was not meant to know. Far off, in another part of Freedom City, Blake Salazar felt a white-hot railroad spike stab the back of his brain.

"I believe you are standing dere before me," he replied with a slight smirk, leaning against one of the library walls, "even if many of mein sensors cannot read you. Und I believe your lovely vife is able to channel und manipulate some form of energy, dough de nature of dat energy, und de means she uses to do so, remain unknown to me." "It has long been mein desire to aid de metahuman community, help ozhers to understand und explore deir abilities," he continued, pacing a bit more, "for so many haff been victims of ignorance und misunderstandings. Not as bad as it could be, of course -- dat is von of de dings I love about dis city, how accepting it is of everyvon! -- but furthering education is alvays a noble goal, as it helps everyvon involved. Und, why not expand dat to de..." He paused and smirked at Avenger again, "de so-called supernatural, de inhuman or unhuman, community?" "Surely dere are some vampires und verevolves who vish to be rid of heir hungers, heir rage, heir bloodlust, ja? Und surely a more scientific approach to de 'spellcaster's' art, cutting through de archaic jargon und codifying dings in a logical und comprehensive manner, vould be of benefit to all, ja? I mean, even if de 'spell formulae' encoded in de spellbooks are just mnemonic exercises for particular manifestations of some existing metahuman talent -- if only certain people can use dem, dose mit de active 'magic' genes -- den getting ozher experienced metahumans to look over sem, as vell as a few cadres of behavioral scientists to unlock de logic behind de symbols, vould help future generations. Und if dose 'magic' genes can be isolated... vell, it vould probably be as difficult to handle as de 'standard' metahuman genes, und heir's still lots of trial und error dere, but it vould be a start!" "Und before you say 'but, Herr Doktor, people haff tried studying it before, und all failed!'," he went on, still pacing and gesturing wildly, "I vould say 'ah, but never before did dey haff de resources I do!' It vould not just be me doing dis, I vould devote whole sections of ArcheTech to it, in branches all over de vorld! Und before you say, 'but magic is not like dat, anyvon can use it, mit proper training und discipline'... vell, you mean to tell me dat anyvon can pick up dis book, und mit enough study chant de vords-

You're over the Black Forest, so, yeah, not a lot of cables or girders to wrap around him If you KO him or render him helpless, you can try and remove his armor. EDIT: Road sign works, too. There are some roads that she could steer him towards.

Trevor's unnatural eyes adjusted to the gloom of the cave, and he could see that not ten feet beyond the mouth the floor was wet. If it was high tide there would be a small river going through here, but for now it was more a lagoon. The roof of the cave sloped down, so that he and his foul-smelling friend would need to dip into the water to go further. Once under, two paths became clear, one leading left and one leading right. Both had the remnants of tracks, but a moment's study (perhaps interrupted by a quick return to the surface for some air) showed that the ones to the right all went further in, while the ones to the left all went out.

"Seven months? Really? Mein gott... but, I vould know dat," Archeville said with a hint of regret, "had I visited you more often. I-" "Right, everyvon get close!" the Doktor yelled as he furiously readjusted the settings on his Gravimetric Belt, "I should be able to open a vormhole big enough to teleport us all-" A flash of light, a feeling of vertigo, and everyone was up top again. Arrowhawk, the Doktor, Jack of all Blades, Malice, Phalanx, Sarah Prescott... but no Knievel! "Vas?! He should haff..." he quickly reviewed the logs of the Belt, "some energy field around Knievel interfered mit de vormhole! Probably a crack in de power core of his Adrenaline Cannon..." he thought aloud, then snapped back. "I can go back in, correct for de interference, und-"

Fulcrum's sleeper hold appears to have done just that: Cyclone drops, and appears wholly unresponsive! Thunderbolt, sparking wildly where the glowing steel wire wraps around hm, powers through his pain and decks Archevile with another blinding lightning-punch. Again the Doktor's force field protects him from the shock of the blow, but not the intense light of it, and he is once again blinded! Which meant he could not see the electrical fiend exit the lab via the Castle's electrical grid, teleporting out of the steel snare in the process! Radium and Blackstar continue their work on demolishing the courtyard of Scholss Wissenschaft. Radium's irradiated touch dissociates the bonds between the bricks and mortar, weakening it enough so that one final double-fisted punch from Blackstar opens a hole big enough for them to slip through!

Come back soon!

Archeville's vision cleared in time for him to see Thunderbolt winding up for another punch. Despite the binding resin h was able to retrieve an item from his labcoat, a set of steel wire bolos. Thunderbolt was perhaps not expecting him to continue fighting, so even with the resins restricting his movement he was able to throw the bolos and entangle the bioelectric braggart, who then sparked violently as he began to "ground out"! "" Archeville took the moment's distraction to attempt to reprogram his Belt's teleport function, setting it on a trigger in case certain conditions were met. In this case, that trigger was when it detected his arms were firmly around someone, as in a grapple. The Doktor tried to do just that, heedless of harm from the sparking villain, and still slowed by the resins, but Thunderbolt's pained thrashings made him too elusive to grasp. The Castle's defenses, unable to target Radium due to the intervening suits of armor, targeted the next priority target: Blackstar. A potent blast of energy washed over him, but when it cleared, he still stood, barely smoldering!

The young purple-clad speedster appeared again, right in front of the blinded Archeville, and reached for the Doktor's Electromagnetic Screwdriver! This was a favored tactic of Slick's, because his control over friction allowed him to coat objects in a frictionless field, making it slip right out of its owner's hands and into his -- which is exactly what happened here! The lightsaber-like beam cut off as it transferred over, and the controls were too advanced for him to use... or were they? If he was hanging out with the Science Squad, he was probably quite brainy himself- "," he taunted in the Portuguese equivalent of Surfer-Lingo, "" Okay, maybe he wasn't that clever. Still, he had the Doktor's Gadget... and now he was on another floor of the Castle. As Archeville looked on (or tried to, still being blind) in shocked disbelief at the theft of his Gadget, Binder seized the opportunity and fired his glue gun, binding him in fast-hardening resin and cementing his feet to the floor! "" he gloated, then turned and jetted off down the hallway. "" Now it was just Thunderbolt and the blind, entangled Doktor.

Cyclone cannot beat the Grapple check. Toughness save, DC 29 (1d20+8=16) fails by 13, he's staggered & stunned. Since he's stunned, he can't take any actions other than reactions. His Sustained effects may also conk out. Concentration check to maintain Sustained Flight (DC 19) (1d20+1=13) His engines cut out and he falls. Well, would fall if Fulcrum weren't holding him. You bring him down 100 feet. 20 -- Blackstar -- Unharmed 18 -- Fulcrum -- Unharmed -- 2 HP 16 -- Slick -- Unharmed 14A -- Binder -- bruised, stunned, fatigued 14B -- Dok -- Unharmed, Blind -- 4 HPs 11 -- Cyclone -- Unharmed, Pinned/Helpless, Staggered, Stunned 4 -- Thunderbolt -- Bruised x2 4 -- Radium -- Unharmed, Entangled (Snare 6), fatigued Slick Move Action (Partial): Race up to Archeville. Standard Action: Attempt to Disarm the blinded Dok of his Electromagnetic Screwdriver. Melee attack vs. blinded Dok (Defense 12), +1 from Master Plan (1d20+5=9) Fiat re-roll, Dok gets the HP. At minimum, that automatically hits Dok. Slick's Disarm check (1d20+8=25) Dok cannot beat that with his opposed Str check, so Slick now has Dok's Gadget! Since Slick does not meet the requirements for using the Restricted Gadget, though, it shuts off. Free Action: Taunt. Not Taunt as in using Bluff, just general taunting. Move Action (Partial): Race off. Binder Fiat to shake off Stun. Dok gets the HP. Standard Action: Attack with Snare. Attack vs. blind!Dok (Defense 12); -1 from fatigue, +1 from Master Plan; power attack for -2 attack/+2 effect (1d20+4=14) Reflex save vs. Snare (DC 22) (1d20+6=19) Fails by 3, he is entangled. Binder anchors it to the ground, so he cannot move. (Hunh, you'd think being blind would impose a penalty on Reflex saves, but it does not.) Free Action: Gloat. But not much, as he knows Dok is still a threat. Move Action: Jet out of lab. 20 -- Blackstar -- Unharmed 18 -- Fulcrum -- Unharmed -- 2 HP 16 -- Slick -- Unharmed 14A -- Binder -- bruised, stunned, fatigued 14B -- Dok -- Unharmed, Blind, Entangled (Snare 12) -- 6 HPs 11 -- Cyclone -- Unharmed, Pinned/Helpless, Staggered, Stunned 4 -- Thunderbolt -- Bruised x2 4 -- Radium -- Unharmed, Entangled (Snare 6), fatigued Doktor Archeville HP to get an immediate attempt at a Fort save to dissipate blindness (DC 21) (1d20+10=30) success! Binder and Slick are gone, but Thunderbolt's still there, and in melee range/right next to him. Free Action: Draw steel wire bolos (Snare 4) from Utility Labcoat. Standard Action: Attack vs. Thunderbolt (Defense 14); includes -2 from entangled; Thunderbolt must make DC 14 Ref save if it hits (1d20+6=10) HP to reroll. Minimum would be 17, enough to hit. Reflex save (DC 14) vs. Snare 4 (1d20+7=10) fails, so he is entangled. This also triggers his Weakness (to being restrained with metal, -1 cumulative drain on Constitution per round)! Free Action: HP to gain Alternate Power power feat, APin'g off his Flight Teleport 7 (700ft per Move Action, 200 miles per Full Action; PFs: Turnabout, Triggered [when he grapples someone, teleport 350 ft. straight up, wait long enough for him to release, then teleport back to starting position]) Extra Effort to SURGE. Will be fatigued at beginning of action next round. Standard Action: Attempt to grapple Thunderbolt. Attack to grapple Thunderbolt (Defense 14); includes -2 from entangled (1d20+6=26) natural 20! Dok's grapple check; includes +5 from critical hit on initial melee attack (1d20+13=17) Already used HP to re-roll once this round, cannot do so again. Thunderbolt's opposed Grapple check (DC 17) (1d20+7=22) He makes it, so is not grappled by Dok. Castle Defenses Unable to target primary threat (Radium). New target: Blackstar. Attack vs. Blackstar (Defense 14); DC 27 Toughness if it hits (1d20+14=18) Toughness save (DC 27) (1d20+10=25) A mere bruise! 20 -- Blackstar -- Bruised 18 -- Fulcrum -- Unharmed -- 2 HP 16 -- Slick -- Unharmed 14A -- Binder -- bruised, stunned, fatigued 14B -- Dok -- Unharmed, Entangled (Snare 12) -- 3 HPs (will be fatigued at beginning of action next round) 11 -- Cyclone -- Unharmed, Pinned/Helpless, Staggered, Stunned 4 -- Thunderbolt -- Bruised x2, -1 Con 4 -- Radium -- Unharmed, Entangled (Snare 6), fatigued Cyclone is pinned and stunned, so does nothing. Thunderbolt Standard Action: Pummel Dok some more with Lightning Fists! Attack vs. Dok (16); includes +1 from Master Plan; DC 26 Toughness (Strike) & DC 21 Reflex (Dazzle) if hit. (1d20+4=17) Dok's Impervious protects him from the Damage, but he could still be blinded. Reflex save (DC21) vs. Visual Dazzle (1d20+6=19) He's blind! Again! Free Action: Gloat Move Action: Transmit through the castle's electrical systems to ??? Radium Fiat to nix Fatigue. Fulcrum gets the HP. Standard Action: Uses Corrosion 7 to completely destroy the remained of the Snare 6 that's on him. Extra Effort to SURGE; will be fatigued at beginning of action next round Full Round Action: Use Corrosion on ground Blackstar is beating. This reduces the Toughness to 6. Radium's taking a full round to destroy it, so it "takes 5," for a total of 11. DC of the Toughness save of the Damage portion of the Corrosion is 22, so it fails by 12 ( (includes -1 from the damage it's already taken)). That puts it as disabled/badly damaged, enough for there to be noticeable holes in it. Begin Round 6 20 -- Blackstar -- Bruised 18 -- Fulcrum -- Unharmed -- 3 HP 16 -- Slick -- Unharmed 14A -- Binder -- bruised, stunned, fatigued 14B -- Dok -- Unharmed, blind, Entangled (Snare 12) -- 3 HPs (will be fatigued at beginning of action next round) 11 -- Cyclone -- Unharmed, Pinned/Helpless, Staggered, Stunned 4 -- Thunderbolt -- Bruised x2, -1 Con 4 -- Radium -- Unharmed Blackstar Full Action: Pummel ground. Blackstar's taking a full round to destroy it, so it "takes 5," for a total of 9 (includes -2 from the damage it's already taken). DC of the Toughness save of Blackstar's Strike is 25, so it fails by 15. That puts it at dying/destroyed, so there's now a hoe big enough for him to go through.

I was under the impression this was the following round (skipping Arrowhawk, Joab, Sarah and Phalanx, since they've not posted in weeks), after Dok had used his Standard action to disarm all the bombs.