Geez3r

Maxima >Bright Lights and Good Cheer (9)

Maxima and Crusader exchanged a few more pleaseanties before they parted ways to mingle with the other heroes in the crowd. Maxima took a few moments to eat what was on her plate before swapping the dish out for a glass of sparkling apple cider. Her conversation with Velocity kept playing over in her head, about how she started out as a super-hero while she was still in high school. It got her curious what it must be like to be a teenage super-hero. Sure she had powers back in the day, but fighting crime never even crossed her mind. She wanted a little more insight into the matter and figured she would invite herself to chat with some of the younger heroes that were present. Maxima made her way over to the group, stooping low so she was only slightly towering before introducing herself. "Hello. I don't believe I've met any of you before. My name's Maxima, I'm just making the rounds, introducing myself to everyone. And who might you all be?"

Maxima shook her head laughing. "Guess that makes me the newbie. If you go by when I put on the tights, I'm still a rookie." confessed Maxima now having even more of a respect for the people standing around her. I couldn't image going to school and trying to be a superhero at the same time. Who would have time for-- oh, right. Super-speed. thought Maxima now a bit envious of Velocity, and also annoyed that her own experiments into developing anything other than increased strength and toughness had gone precisely nowhere. "I've had my powers for a little longer than a decade now, but they didn't start becoming as... pronounced... as they are until recently." continued Maxima, now realizing that she could have been training for this lifestyle for a couple of years now, rather than come into it raw.

"Don't worry, I'm in the same boat with you there; I look around the room and the only names I know are from the news." replied Maxima, feeling quite glad that there was someone else here in a similar position. Eager to have a more casual conversation she continued saying "I'm more or less done with all my shopping. Still trying to grab a few small stocking stuffers here or there, but I got the bulk of everything else last weekend. I've got people that are easy to buy for though." she answered distractedly. Right now her main focus was deciding whether she should continue this conversation at full height or stoop down a bit. Deciding on the latter, she dropped to one knee so that she could talk to the other heroes more or less at eye level instead of them talking to her navel.

OK. You're here, on time, and you haven't made a complete fool of yourself. So what the heck was step two? thought Maxima to herself as she left with side conference room with her plate of food. She stood off to the side for a moment while she got the lay of the land from her vantage point. It seemed like everyone knew at least a handful of people there, or were at least braver than she was. Deciding to bite the bullet, Maxima made her way up to one of the groups to introduce herself. She figured a good place to start would be the hosts since they would be there to help smooth over awkward greetings and the like, plus they were probably the ones to know everyone in attendance. For the moment, the yellow speedster seemed to be mostly still chatting it up with another woman and a male super hero. "Hello." said Maxima as she walked up to the group giving them a small wave. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything, but I just wanted to introduce myself. The name's Maxima."

Good timing. thought Maxima to herself as the doors swung open to the conference room. "Oh, it just looks wonderful." she said off hand to the petite Fleur as she walked into the room, leaving Fleur to greet the other guests. She had come in here with the express intention of getting something to eat, but was immediately side tracked when she saw the section for alien cuisine. She hardly saw anything there appetizing to her palette, but from a biologist's perspective it was absolutely fascinating. You could learn a lot about a species by their food of choice, and the presence (and even absence) of ingredients and flavors gave insight into their metabolism and their natural environment. And unless her eyes deceived her, which may very well be the case given how precisely nothing on the table looked like anything she had seen before, some of the dishes contained items of extraterrestrial origin. Maxima had to fight the urge not to take samples so she could run some tests back at her lab. But seeing as how this was the holidays and there was a relatively limited selection to begin with, that would fall under the category of Grinch-like behavior. Keeping a weather eye out for anyone sampling the alien cuisine, Maxima went about loading her plate with a lot of the healthier options, but also made room for a brownie and a slice of apple pie. Having hands the size of dinner plates certainly made the balancing act easier.

Maxima raised her right hand "I do hereby swear I will not tear through any walls tonight." she said jokingly. "I would love to take part in a tour, but as you said, for later on tonight." She spots a clock off in the distance and notices it's getting close for the next round of her chemical regimen, which means she'll need some food in her stomach. "Well I do believe I'll sample some of your teammates' handiwork then, and try the refreshments." she said gesturing further into the ball. "Join me if you'd like, otherwise we can meet up after your hosting duties die down. Finding me should be easy; I'm rather hard to loose in a crowd." she added with a smile. "I'll probably grab a seat somewhere so people don't have to kill their necks looking at me." she added. She took about a half step towards the refreshments before turning back to Gabriel, and stooped down low, whispering "Actually, uh... can any of them support my weight?"

Maxima followed Gabriel to the side of the hall, without paying it any mind. She seemed to relax quite a bit now that she was talking to someone; a person she was getting to know she could handle, a crowd of strangers, not so much. "Yeah I can imagine that would be a rather rough interview." said Maxima, recalling some of her own past interviews. Changing the subject somewhat, she turned her attention to the hall itself. "You guys really did a number decking this place out. Probably helps you got someone on the team with superspeed." says Maxima as she gestures in Velocity's general direction. "Is there any place off limits here, or can I just wander around? Might put a damper on the holidays if I set off the alarms while poking around." she asked suddenly. "I don't want to be rude to the party guests or anything." she said backpedaling. "It's just, you guys have got to have some impressive, and I'd be kicking myself through to next year if I didn't try to get a peak. I understand if you can't for security reasons, but I figured I'd ask before we really got into the swing of things."

"Trust me, you're not alone in that boat." chuckled Maxima as she stooped a little to shake Gabriel's hand. "The name's Maxima; I'm glad to make your acquaintence, and Happy Holidays to you as well." replied Maxima as she flashed another smile. "I may have to lean on you a bit here, I don't really know anyone here." she confessed. "I'm just kind of nervous about being, well, here." she continued gesturing around the Hall. Maxima honestly had no idea why she was telling Gabriel all this. Maybe it was nerves, maybe she just needed to get this off her chest, or maybe she just felt she could trust Gabriel.

Maxima could hardly believe that she got an invitation to the party. To be honest, it seemed like she always missed out on these big events and team ups. She did however lend a hand whenever she could. Her most common appearance would be after the fight, where she would lend a hand with the clean up. Sure, Dr. Metropolis could handle a lot of these sorts of things, but if he was injured or busy, or if the streets were simply littered with mechanical dinosaurs, a helping hand never hurt. But never the less, when the hour arrived, Maxima made her way to the League HQ, one jump at a time. She mounted the steps and was immediately thankful that the robust architecture meant that she didn't even have to stoop down to make her way inside, nor did she have to duck once inside. It was an odd feeling to stand at her full height indoors. Maxima had opted for more of a dressed down approach, as she wore her full costume; she had a nagging doubt that she wouldn't be recognized if she ditched the blue and white singlet. But to get a little into the festive spirit, she did put on some candy cane earings and had her nails done up in a festive red and white. While she beamed and waved at anyone who caught her eye, she had the sudden realization that even though she knew the name of pretty much everyone in the room from the news and TV, she had never had an honest to goodness conversation with any of them.

Maxima [3] (1 IC / 1 GM)

Cassandra breathed a sigh of relief when she saw on honest to go EMT already on scene treating the injured man. But now she had the problem of trying to find the shooter. That part would be significantly easier than treating a bullet wound as it would happen, as the White Knight made his presence known. Well that escalated quickly. thought Cassandra darkly to herself as she began eyeing the crowd looking for a quick place to change. Unfortunately, at an even like this there were hundreds of people milling about and now that a meta-fight was about to break out, everyone would be scattering to every nook and cranny, meaning she wouldn't have any place to privately Max-out. Cassandra tried to get away from the crowds to try and find someplace to Max-out away from prying eyes, putting her faith that Ironclad could keep a lid on things for a few moments.

Well as they're rapidly losing their numbers advantage, bad guys are going to change up their strategem and instead just go for collateral and endager civilians. Hero Point for the Complication. Hellfire takes a 10 on her Acrobatics check from Skill Mastery to stand from prone as a free action. Condition Summary 20 - Hellfire - Bruised x1 19 - Goons - 3 Remaining 17 - Graft - HP x2 - Unharmed 16 - Maxima - HP x3 - Unharmed 11 - Brimstone - Unharmed - Rage (8)

GM Post Seeing things were clearly not going their way, Brimstone shouted at Hellfire "Get up! We still got a job to do! Plan B!" before he took to the air and started streaking across the campus straight towards a group of expo attendees who had fled the scene. Brimstone for her part dusted herself off, cursing Brimstone as he took flight. She lept back into the air and headed back at a 90 degree angle from her partner over to the nearby parking lot. As she flew over it, she strafed it with fireballs, blowing up four or five cars and lighting a handful more on fire. The gang members for their part made a big show of continuing to smash up the outdoor displays.

Meanwhile, inside the building Graft was protecting, Cassandra had finally managed to untangle herself from the crowds. She ducked into one of the side rooms which she knew had a door on the other side of the room, and after going through that door she arrived in an almost deserted hallway. She quickly darted into the nearby women's locker room, and finding it similarly empty breathed a sigh of relief. She stashed her pack in one of the lockers, and gave one more last look around. Alright. All clear. she thought to herself. As she Max'd out, muscles pretty much exploded from her body as she practically doubled in size. As always, she was half frightened at how quickly the change took place. She just thought about the change and then, bam, she's nearly 9ft tall. A few moments later she made her way out the side door before a quick leap put her in the midst of the action on the campus green. She surveys the surrounds before raising her dukes and asking the air "Alright... who's first?"

Martial Artist – PL 12 (190pp) Abilities: 14 + 14 + 14 + 2 + 6 + 4 = 54PP Strength: 24 (+7) Dexterity: 24 (+7) Constitution: 24 (+7) Intelligence: 12 (+1) Wisdom: 16 (+3) Charisma: 14 (+2) Combat: 24 + 24 = 48PP Initiative: +15 Attack: +12, +17 Melee Grapple: +24 Defense: +17 (+12 Base, +5 Dodge Focus), +6 Flat-Footed Knockback: -3 Saving Throws: 3 + 7 + 6 = 16PP Toughness: +7 (+7 Con) Fortitude: +10 (+7 Con, +3) Reflex: +14 (+7 Dex, +7), Evasion 2 Will: +9 (+3 Wis, +6) Skills: 100R = 25PP Acrobatics 15 (+21) Diplomacy 8 (+10) Drive 5 (+11) Intimidate 8 (+10) Knowledge (arcane lore) 9 (+10) Knowledge (Theology & Philosophy) 9 (+10) Language 2 (1 Native, Plus 2 others) Notice 7 (+10) Sense Motive 7 (+10) Sleight of Hand 15 (+21) Stealth 15 (+21) Feats: 47 PP Acrobatic Bluff Attack Focus (Melee) 5 Challenge (Acrobatic Bluff as a Move Action) Dazing Attack Defensive Attack Defensive Strike Defensive Throw Dodge Focus 5 Elusive Target Evasion 2 Equipment 2 Favored Opponent (Ninjas) Fearless Follow up Strike Grappling Finesse Hide in Plain Sight Improved Critical (unarmed) 2 Improved Grab Improved Grapple Improved Initiative 2 Improved Throw Improved Trip Luck 3 Move-By Action Paralyzing Attack Power Attack Redirect Set Up Stunning Attack Takedown Attack 2 Uncanny Dodge (visual, auditory) 2 Equipment 2 Ranks - 10 EP Commlink [1EP] Motorcycle [9EP] Powers: 00pp = 00PP Drawbacks: (-0) = -0PP Abilities (54) + Combat (48) + Saving Throws (16) + Skills (25) + Feats (47) + Powers (00) - Drawbacks (00) = 190/190 Power Points So more punching. At PL 12, this martial artist has hit what I consider to be the cap for normal human characters in comic books. In my head cannon, realistic characters are PL 8, and can only hit PL 9 in very specific circumstances, ie: Muhammed Ali while in a boxing match. But seeing as how Martial Artist character can very conceivably run up against demons, monsters and robots on the regular, they get kicked up a notch. With this interation, I started digging more heavily into the splat books for their Feat selection. Martial Artists get to the point where they just start stringing feats together into one massive combo, which I feel is appropriate. Example: An foe attacks you in melee and misses. With Defensive Throw, you can immediately make a Trip Attack against them. Defensive Strike provides a +4 bonus on this attack roll, Improved Trip provides a +4 on the actual Trip attempt itself, while Improved Throw means that the opponent opposes with the lesser of their Strength or Dexterity. Chain that with some full Defensive/Power Attack on the next round to finish them off, using Improved Grab to restrain them if need be, keeping in mind that Grappling Finesse will keep you with your full Defense Score.

Cassandra stood there stunned for a moment as what just happened washed over her. When her mind finally caught up, she found herself already pushing her way through the crowds towards the source of the gunshot. She wasn't a practicing medical doctor, butt she knew more than enough to stabilize someone long enough for a true EMT to get on site. Please let them be okay. she pleaded mentally as she found her progress through the crowd to be painfully slow. She tried to follow in Jessica's wake, as she seemed to have an easier time getting through the crowd.

Cassie looked at Jessica a little cock-eyed as she started to stammer. Why is she the nervous one? Cassie pondered to herself. But when Jessica gave her reason, Cassie couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Oh I'm sorry! I didn't mean to embarrass you." said Cassie as she put her arm on Jessica's shoulder to console her. "I forgot how young you were Jessica; you've done just so much in your life that it's hard to believe you're practically still a kid." she explained pointedly with a smile. "And to top it off, most of my coworkers are married, so 'Mrs.' is kind of the default for me." "That little faux pas aside, how are things going down at the Lab now? Any little projects I should be jealous of?" she added with a smirk.

GROWN UP BY SUPERCAPE Alright, I've got 3pp for Maxima to spend. 1. Spend 1pp to buy Interpose. 2. Spend 1pp to buy 1 rank of Equipment to purchase the following: Commlink [1ep] Handcuffs [1ep] Masterwork Tools 3 (Disable Device, Investigation, Medicine) [3ep] The tools and handcuffs are of course to be carried in a utility belt. 3. Get rid of the Dynamic Power Feat on Super-Strength and the DAP of Leaping, and just buy Leaping 4 outright. I figure with her increased size and weight, she'd smash anything to pieces if she tried jumping any farther. I also noticed that the Intimidate line didn't take into account the bonus for increased size category. Updated sheet

Cassie was going about her warm ups, while also mentally going over a problem she was having a work. A reaction wouldn't catalyze, she was hoping this run would give her the time to mull over some solutions to try in the lab on monday. Then it appeared that she had another visitor appear out of the crowd. This time however, it wasn't their first meeting. True they had met only very breifly, but a founding member of the Lab and the big boss of one of the largest tech companies in the city is someone you remember meeting. "Yes I am. A pleasure to see you again Mrs. Parker." she replied beeming and extending her hand to the other scientist. "I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again, I am so thankful for that opportunity. It really fostered a lot of connections in the community." she said humbly, trying to get that out of the way first so she could gush about the Lab's facilities.

A lot of things happened very quickly in that conversation just now. "Uh... I'll follow up on that. Thanks..." Cassie said slowly as she took the card out of reflex. What the heck just happened? she said, her mind reeling once again. And on top of everything else, did he just hit on me? How does he switch gears like that? she thought incrediously. "Yeah, I'm going to have to get back to you on all this." she said as she gave the card a once over and put it in her pocket. "I need to get back to warming up and focusing on the marathon here. It was... interesting... talking to you." she said excusing herself from the conversation.

Cassandra's brow started to furrow as Jack continued on his speech. Her suspicions seemed to be confirmed as he finished. "I'm usually not this blunt, but, are you trying to recruit me Mr. O'Conner?" she asked flat out. "Because if you are, I can save you a lot of time by telling you that it's not going to happen." she continued being way too honest for her own good. "No disrespect to you, or your company, but I'm quite happy at Grant Co. Whether or not people decide to see it, we do good work. We're furthering the cause of science and helping those in our community. And on a personal note, they're the ones who gave me my first real shot, and they've always treated me right. I'm not going to betray that trust. So thanks, but no thanks."