Dr Archeville

Dammit, I'm in no shape to argue the point... and I do want to get away from that chain-thing. "Very well, let us go." The way back up and out was free of trouble. Kapetelis was still unconscious in the elevator, but the damage the elevator had taken rendered it inoperable. After some searching the duo found stairs going up behind a secret panel, and they were back on the ground floor. "I believe it would be in our best interest to confiscate or destroy the surveillance footage of us coming in," the demon said as they passed the security office. "Assuming the footage is kept here, and not some off-site location."

Doktor Archeville had been meaning to come to the mall for some time. Not to buy anything in particular, at least not on this trip, but to see first hand what Freedom's mall was like. He'd purchased a few small trinkets here and there, and had gathered a few followers as he went about his wanderings. This was always an issue whenever he went out in public: since he did not maintain a secret identity, since he was so famous (and moderately handsome), he often attracted autograph hounds and other fans. He had stopped at the third floor food court, and got a sampler tray from the Frank 'N Stein restaurant. Archeville flew down the escalator, stopping between the pile of people and the muscular man. "Is everyvon alright? Is anyvon hurt?"

100,000 feet (or 18.94 miles) radius.

"Float over there and hide us!" Doc's quick & dirty invention Blast 16 (Flaw: Distracting; Drawback: Reduced Range/5 increments) [15pp] in a Device 3 (15 points, Hard to Lose) [12pp] DC 27 Craft/Electronics to jury-rig, which he can automatically make. Will take 12 rounds, or 1 minute and 12 seconds. Stripping down guard's weapons, communicators, and other electronics, and one of their vests, to make a big chest-mounted blaster (like something DC's Orion might wear), a big sparking thing that he has to carefully regulate (Distracting) to avoid having it blow up.

Help me, Gossa-Mer Long-Hair-y, you're my only hope!

This came up when I did a search for D20 Poker. Or you could just do opposed Bluff checks, whoever has highest wins.

"Fool! Chk-chk! Kafka fears no metal-man! Chk-chk!" Something about the "Kafka"'s voice seemed vaguely familiar to RRG, but amidst all the clicks and chirps he could not place what it was. But that would have to wait -- already the Bug-Man was bounding towards him, having shoved aside his hostage, and seemingly growing in size as he neared! He reared back with one massive clawed hand, and struck... "RARGH! Chk-chk!" ... but missed!

Yay, we both suck! Initiative & Conditions 5 -- Bug-Man/Doktor Vile -- 2 Villain Points -- unharmed 3 -- Rocket's Red Glare -- 1 Hero Point -- unharmed Let's say we're about 60 feet away form each other at this point. Doc's current form Free action to blather. Free action to shove his grappled hostage aside. Free action to rage. Full action to charge. And spending one Villain Point to gain Power Attack for one round. With the +2 to attack, he'll be at +10. -5 attack for +5 damage. RRG is flat-footed, so his Defense is 14. Annnnd... he misses with a 9! Would've hit if he hadn't power attacked. Since Bug-Man charged and is raging, his Defense for your next attack will be 16.

Initiative time! Bug-Doc has a 5.

Cautiously starting out, RRG finds his way through the twisting and turning ASTRO Labs hallways is made somewhat easier by all the bloodied and battered bodies, clearly marking the trail of the creature. The trail stops at Biochemistry Lab C... and there was the creature! It looked very much like a humanoid beetle of some kind, iridescent green with a thick, spiked carapace, clawed three-digit hands -- which currently held a terrified young female scientist -- and a mouth that opened far too wide and had far too many teeth. Oddly -- and, perhaps, most disturbingly -- its eyes were completely human.

Archeville had heard much, but sensed that there were volumes more left unsaid. That would not do. "First off, Herr Star, sometimes a bit of rocking is exactly vhat a boat needs. Ve need somevon like you to make sure ve do not fall prey to... 'ruthless pragmatism'. To make sure ve do de right dings for de right reasons; doing de right dings for de wrong reasons leads to as much corruption as doing de wrong dings for de right reasons." "Secondly..." now he shifted to look at as many people as he could, not just Dark Star, "can ve please stop talking around de issues und clearly lay out vhat started all dis? Dis obtuse manner serves no von's better interests. Vhat happened at de Riverside explosion to bring dis about? I know you sent out a transmission to everyvon saying Malice himself vas not directly responsible for de event, dat de explosives vere his but he did not set dem off; dat much is in de public record. Vhat else is dere to de tale?"

Most of the people in the lobby -- a roughly even mix of ASTRO Labs scientists, visitors, and security guards -- were in too bad a shape to reply, but one guard does hobble over to RRG. "Some big bug-man," he says, holding a nasty gash on his side, "said something about a catalyst, then took off that way." He pointed down one hallway, then partially collapsed against the reception desk. Looking down the hallway, RRG notes more bodies, all bleeding and battered, but still feebly moving.

I'm pretty sure we've shot this one down before.

Ecal is right -- Leaping 1 will do exactly this. A standing jump covers half the distance of a running jump; Leaping 1 doubles the distance you can cover.

Oh, another question: how much time passed between what we were doing and the battle we're about to enter now? Enough time for Doc to jury-rig something, either in a lab they pass by or from gear taken from the KO'd (and strangely bloodless?) guards?

"It vas made by a student here," Archeville explains, "but activated by a Grue signal from Erde." "Und just because your agent says it is unlikely dat dey vould vork together," he said to Ms. Harcourt, "does not mean ve should rule it out. It could be some splinter group of Grue vorking mit dem... or it could simply be dat de Nazis dere haff acquired Grue technology from a crashed ship und are using it to try und breach dimensions." He paused a moment, "ja, dat is probably de most likely scenario, dough ve should not rule out de others." "I dink," he continued as he peered closer at the device while hovering a few inches above it, "de first ding ve should do is attempt to backtrack de signal, und see if ve can pull de students back. If dey haff not traveled far from de transporter, it should be possible. If not, if dey haff moved too far avay... vell, let us to recall dem first!"

"What, you're telling me you're gonna pass all this up?" the battered and bleeding demon replied. "Not even gonna take one handful of coinage, one pocket full of jewelry? It's right here, yours for the taking!" I'd not mind having some of that myself. Can't quite tell from here, but some of those would look very nice in my shoppe. And better in my private collection.

Initiative is.... 6!

Good, he didn't catch how strong I really am. Need to keep my calm, for now; I can work out my aggressions later. But if we find the Woman, maybe I can slake another indulgence first.... Jos wrapped the frozen peas around his hand as best he could, "if you think you can do that, I am up for it." Mirror in his right hand, left covered in frozen produce and cradled under his right arm, Jos was ready to go.

Will Ember Paw see through Jo's ruse and realize he's not really hurt? Dun dun DUN!!!

... dammit! "... ah. Well... " Jos stammered, "that may be a problem. I did not anticipate her going to other dimensions, so I did not include the ability to scan other worlds into the scrying mirror. It can only rack her as long as she is in this dimension, and even then I can only search one city-sized area at a time, and... and... dammit!" Jos suddenly slammed his fist into the wall, and -- to Ember's surprise -- left a fist-sized hole in it. "... AUGH! OW! Oh, sonuva-" the shopkeep screamed as he pulled his hand out and cradled it. "There'd better be some ice in the freezer..."

The mind is the fastest thing of all!

Doc has a mighty 8! If HPs are re-starting for this thread, Doc has 2 Hero Points -- 3 for Luck 2, -1 used on the two computer checks from earlier. If we're keeping track since this whole interdimensional thing started (which, for Doc, was All Ways of Contending), he's got (3, -1 used on re-rolling Bluff, -1 used on re-rolling a Sense Motive check, +1 for cheesing off Odysseus, -1 to re-roll an attack, -1 on the computer checks here, equals... ) 0 Also, was Doc able to patch into the internal security cameras and scope things out?

D'oh! I'll post tonight!

I believe what we'll all be doing is to be hashed out IC. This thread's just to see who's still interested/able to participate.