Geez3r

The sound of weapons being readied snaps me back to my senses. The ring leader is finishing up his little speech. "Now don't get us wrong. We respect the guts you got to try and take us on. But your in over your head. So we're gonna make a little deal here. If you just go back inside, and keep your nose out of our business, we're gonna leave you alone. But if you step foot outside again, we're gonna have us a problem." A few of the other guys snicker at this line here. "So what'll it be, we gonna have a problem gramps?" More snickering. I swallow hard. My sense of self preservation wants me to just crawl back into my store where it's safe. My sense of duty and community wants to kick the crap out of these guys and get them off my street. But the winning vote goes to my pride; it did not like the gramps crack.

Now, I guess whoever is the ring leader steps up and starts taunting me about how he's wanted to meet me for a long time now, so he could teach me some manners or something like that. To be honest, I don't make out too much because it sounds like my heart is beating in my ears. I realize just how screwed I am. Yeah sure, I can take out two or three guys by myself, four on a good day, but 9 armed guys, who are expecting me? I don't think so. Now I don't think the ring leader is a master strategist or nothing, but when you're this outnumbered, "Get him!" is a viable strategy. Add in the fact that I'm not exactly the fastest on foot, I know I can't rum away from these guys, well actually kids by the look of it. If any of them were over 23 I'd be amazed.

So, like I had done quite a few times before, I go to intervene, grabbing a baseball bat I leave by the door for just such an occasion. I start creeping down the alley way towards the source of the voices. Now, had I really bothered to pay attention to what they were saying, I might have figured out that something was off about this particular night. Their argument seemed a little forced, and they were deliberately making themselves loud. But I didn't pick up on that. All I heard was people shouting, so I went to intervene. Here comes my second mistake. See most of these "street level" heroes always scope out the enemy before engaging. In my infinite wisdom, I decide to just blindly turn the corner, walking in on who knows how many goons and without knowing if they're armed or not. I count 9 guys, 4 crowbars, 3 knives, 2 baseball bats and 9 smiles. It was about that time that I realized I was set up.

"See, I've been saying all along that I'm awesome. And you guys were all like no wai, and I was all like ya wai. And then you guys were all like not sure if srs. And then I'm all like srsly. And then you guys are all like @_@, XD and wat. And then I lol'd." retorted Eli. "And if it makes you feel any better, if I did it in real time, that would have taken me about 5 months, straight. And I had a much easier time of it than other sciency types would because I get to ignore friction for the most part. See it's because I can dynamically alter the given mu of a surface when I-" Eli suddenly cut off and paused for a second. "Me eat friction. Me go faster."

It was July 25th, a Tuesday. It was just hot enough that people would complain endlessly about the heat, but cool enough for people to still go on about their day. It was a work day so I had just gone about my day as normal, though I had the door thrown open to try and tempt a non existent breeze into coming through. So it's about 8 o'clock at night, and the shop closes at nine. It's a slow night, but its thankfully gotten a lot cooler out. I'm sitting down, playing with some cards on the counter, when I hear a bunch of shouting coming from somewhere close by. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but it was definitely an argument and it was getting pretty heated. Backing up for a minute, by this time I had made myself a thorn in the side of a bunch of the local gangs. I had hospitalized a half dozen bangers and dealers, trying to send the message that they should all be clearing out. I hadn't been arrested for the same reason there were so many of them on the street; cops just look the other way in this side of town. But I had been fooling myself thinking that there wouldn't be any repercussions.

"Yeah, pretty much." piped up Eli. "If training comes off as a chore, you don't put your all into it. Make it into a game and suddenly everyone gets competitive and makes time in their schedule to do it." continues Eli, pointing out the method to the madness. "Making up the rules as you go along is pretty good practice too. It lets you be fluid and dynamic, while training your creativity." "... Or at least that's the line we fed Doc when he wondered what the heck we were doing." admitted Eli with a shrug. "Speaking of... LIGHTNING ROUND!" shouted Eli before joining in the fray.

"Hey I resemble that remark!" said an "indignant" Eli to... well basically everyone in the room. Deciding to answer Fulcrum's question first, Eli continued "A resonance cascade is a hypothetical scenario in which an infinite energy source, me, interacts directly with an infinite source of entropy, you. No one knows for sure what would happen, but there are a few theories. First, nothing would happen, they'd just cancel each other out. Second, when they canceled each other out, they'd take everything with it. That would create an Absence, not a Void, an Absence. The difference being that in an Absence, time also dies. And then we come to door number 3. You have an infinite energy source, an infinitely efficient conversion process and infinite mass. You effectively become god. This is because in order for such a state of affairs to exist, you have to divide by zero. It is impossible to divide by zero. In order to do so, you would have the ability to edit the very structural forces of the cosmos and all reality. A resonance Cascade is doing all 3 options at the same time. You have an infinite ability to take no action on Nothing because if something were to happen to Nothing then that Nothing would no longer be Nothing, so it would have to be Something, but the Something had to created from the Nothing because the Nothing has the Infinite energy because the one Something that a Nothing has is the ability to not be Anything. Simple right?"

We're gonna go ahead and extend my spotty appearances until next Thursday. Got a project and a paper due then so I'm gonna be a bit busy writing many walls of text.

Eli actually looked a little hurt by that comment, and got a bit of a sad puppy dog look in his eyes. And that look was almost immediately replaced by a great big smile on Eli's face, and his ears got rather red. From the way his eyes lit up, you could tell that his day was just made. "Aww. Is that true Jack?" said Eli, who actually sounded a little chocked up. "Come here Jack. Gimme a hug." says Eli as he spreads out his arms. Seeing Jack's hesitancy he adds "I'll settle for a brofist.... no? Okay, how about a high five?... Low five?"

Taking a 20 on Knowledge: Physical Sciences for DC 28.

Eli for his part, just cocked his head to the side at Fulcrum's speech, before eventually nodding like he finally understood something. "Yeah I was wondering about that. I seemed to feel the energy I generate was a little more prone to leak out when I was around you. I didn't want to say anything because it was a relatively negligible amount. I'm basically a perpetual motion machine, or as close as we're going to get for the forseeable future anyways. Though that gives me an idea.. hang on a second..." says Eli before he dashes out of the room and he comes back with a giant white board, several rather meaty looking text books and quite a few markers. Eli then proceeds to hang up the white board on the wall, and begins scribbling a pace too furious for even Fulcrum's eyes to follow. After a few moment's work, Eli steps back from the board, which has been completely filled in with a series of highly complex equations, tapping one of the markers on the chin. As far as you can tell, it's a combination of theoretical physics and electrical engineering. "Nah, doesn't work. Even if we managed to avoid killing one another, we'd probably make a resonance cascade. Though we may be able to bypass that particular hiccup if we could... nah forget it. This is giving me a headache. Oh, bee tee dubbs, I do Science! now."

"That is a trait many humans have." remarked Tempest. "Humans are able to achieve a great deal of knowledge and understanding, but are hesitant to broaden their perspectives, even if subconsciously. Accepting that you world view is flawed is an action that humans do not undertake as often as they should. You show maturity beyond your years by taking this first step Equinox human, take pride in that knowledge." said Tempest comfortingly. "I can understand your tendency towards fire; humans have often associated that aspect of nature with aggression and it was the first of the elements humans learned to weaponize in its raw form. It may be easier for you to believe in that element's offensive capability than it is for the other elements. So long as you realize that other elements have their applications as well, you show promise for the future."

What you can buy with the Variable Power is defined by what the Variable Power in question is. A Shapeshifting power allows you to buy any physical trait under the sun, it is often constrained to a narrower focus such as Only Animal forms. Breakdown's Music Mastery is basically anti-Shapeshifting. Jester's Gadgets allow him to create any effect with the wacky or zany descriptors. Variable Powers have a premium because they allow you to essentially change your character sheet every round if you so wish. Alternate Form is essentially 1 singular form you change into, as Shaen said, and this form has the same traits every time. A Variable Power is exactly that, Variable.

Atlas Confronting the Past Dynamo Meet the Interceptors Welcome to the Interceptors, Jill O'Cure Stay on Target News Thread GM & NPC Classic Elementals GM posts go to Dynamo.

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From there she did a few under the table sort of deals, and got to know all the skeletons in some very important people's closets. She did some quite frankly nasty work, some Black Ops stuff, I don't know any specifics obviously or else she'd have to kill me, and I'm pretty convinced that she could if she really wanted too. But time marched on and Vera was reassigned. She works with the Justice Department, so basically she gets to put the bad guys away in the daylight now. And I've pretty much related my story. Which was far more boring than hers up until about a year ago, give or take. But I'm real hesitant to tell her about it. I can't honestly say why. It's probably pretty common knowledge at this point, and she just bared her soul to me. So we both stop talking for a moment, and we just kind of sit down in her living room, she's kind of realized that we've got to the whole point I'm here, and I just sort of need a minute to collect my thoughts. And Vera's whole body language has changed by this point. She's still horribly mad at me, but she's gone into like I don't know, officer mode. She's seen some nasty stuff in her life, but it came a little bit at a time, and she's had people to see her through it. She's a soldier. I'm a civilian.

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After that the flood gates sort of open up. We’re not yelling at each other or even really talking to each other. We’re just venting, and not even angrily. We’ve just got so much stuff stored up within in, and now we finally have a reason to just let it all go. I honestly don’t remember the rest of the ride. I actually don’t remember much about the next couple of hours to be honest. I remember us talking, and bits and pieces about the life Vera’s lead while I’ve been gone. After the government desegregated the military, she joined up almost immediately. She was practically part of the military since she could walk, all she was really missing was the uniform. She acceled in basic training, and by the end of it had broken every record there was, not just for women, but for all enlisted personnel in general. She got on the short list for officer training, and she absolutely soared through the ranks. She showed an aptitude for the legal process and was transferred to that division. She basically became a pencil pusher, and she got pretty depressed. But a couple of years ago, she got recruited by General Stormbringer, his real name being General Kirak Nazulkav. They call him Stormbringer, because nothing’s ever calm when he’s around. He's got a real reputation for stirring up the hornet's nest, but he gets results. And this is what I figured out as a kid, Lord knows what gets said behind closed doors between the brass.

Hide in Plain Sight is useful for mundane ways to hide. If the person you're hiding from has scent or some other way of detecting you, HiPS does nothing for you. At least that's the way I interpret it.

I got 3 midterms next week so I won't be around too much.

Angry Joe Agrees

You have to spend all 150 power points at character creation. Also, you've got 11 points in feats, not 10.

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"Indeed." answered Tempest. He held his hands out in front of him, palms facing one another. Gouts of flame passed between his hands, before being focused in a concentrated ball of energy in his hands. While maintaining that ball, the flames became replaced by a frigid blast of ice, which joined the flames in the ball, without canceling one another out. "I am able to perform a similar action in a concentrated offensive action to a single adversary, blanket my surroundings in a similar flux of energy, without harming innocents or allies, or line the exterior of my body with such energy. I am also able to manipulate wind, lightning, earth, water and wood in a similar fashion to how I handle this combination of fire and ice." explained Tempest, eager to see Equinox human's reaction to this variation on his "magic".

"Well... yeah, I'm a Junior in FC." said Eli a little taken aback by Ellie's question. "What you thought I just spent all my time running around the city punching guys in the face? That's your brother's shtick by the way" He added in an undertone. "There's one thing my dad pounded into my head, that I'm kind of now only starting to appreciate: no matter what you lose in this life, no one can take away your education." said Eli as he recalled the quote he's heard a few dozen times before. "Now don't get me wrong, I'm not gonna be winning the Nobel prize any time soon, but some of this stuff is pretty cool. Not this stuff..." he said showing the cover of his Principles of Microeconomics book. "... but stuff like chemistry and physics is just wild, because you can really like see the applications of it, me especially. Hurts your brain a bit, but that's the cost of admission. I don't know, I guess I'm just trying to find something that's really worth my time you know?"