Electra
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Freedom City Guidebook
Freedom City PBP: A How-To Guide
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"Wait, it's not a dinosaur?" Wander was already in midleap when Edge made his pronoucement, and was startled enough by it that she flattened out too early, skipping off the dinosaur's back like a flat stone and bouncing away, She saved herself by catching the rail that surrounded the open balcony on the second floor and flipping upright once more. To an observer, it might even have looked like she meant to do that, rather than an embarrassing mistake. She shook herself off and glared at the skeletal beast. "It looks a hell of a lot like a dinosaur," she observed. "If it's not a dinosaur, what is it? And what has it got to do with the Nazis, anyway?"
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The tough plant layer covering the shelter resisted the Simurgh's claws for a moment, but even supernaturally strong greenery couldn't withstand the creature's force forever. They gave way with loud wooden cracks and the snapping of vines, broken edges naked in the air as the Simurgh tried to dig past them. "All right, nice birdy," Fleur muttered, watching the massive animal at work. "Just a little closer..." With a quick wave of her hand, the plants were in motion, weaving themselves back together again, this time into a net rather than a shell. In seconds, the wings of the creature were pinned, and then its body a moment later. Before long, it was hard to pick out the Simurgh under its leafy covering. Beneath it, the Simurgh would be in a similar fix, unable to hear or see much of anything from where it was.
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Miss Americana's silver robot minion climbed through the hole after the others, its blank face turning from side to side as it took in the ship's interior. Apparently not having any eyes was no impediment to its vision. It scanned the room until it found a computer interface, then walked over to it and began examining it. "The ship's internal sensors and cameras, if it has any, might offer some clues as to what happened," Miss A's disembodied voice offered over the radio. "Most of these types of ships have the equivalent of flight data recorders, I'll see if there's one we can have a look at. Just make sure not to get sucked through a portal into another dimension or solar system," she advised the others.
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Fleur is going to attempt to snare the dragon while it's busy burning a hole in her treehouse. Bad dragon! Her attack roll is a 27! That's a DC 30 Reflex Save.
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Well, that last attack was pretty successful, so I think we'll do it again, but without the charge. She regenerates the bruise from the attack as well. Acrobatic Bluff, DC 32 to beat. (forgot the inspire last time!) Inspired Power Attack: Ugh, it's awful! A 13 I'll let it ride, hopefully one of the guys can score on the dinosaur.
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Fleur shot Comrade Frost a level glance, warning the cultural attache that now would be a fine time to practice a little diplomacy. Settling her features once more, she folded her hands on the table. "We're certainly accustomed to welcoming visitors in Freedom City," she told Set and Sekhmet, "including those who have powerful enemies looking for them. I think we've proven already that we're willing to protect you, but that will be much easier if you're frank with us about why you're here on Earth and who might be interested in looking you up over old bad feelings. That fight just now was pretty public, so keeping your return a secret is probably not going to be possible. Anyone who is interested will likely know of your arrival within a day or two."
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Erin sighed. "Well, it means she's not actively delusional, as far as we can tell," she offered. "And that she's not as paranoid as I was worried about. It doesn't mean she doesn't still need help, but maybe it won't be as difficult to get through to her as it would be if she couldn't tell bad guys from regular guys anymore." She reached out and gave Mark's shoulder a light and awkward pat. "And maybe this will be good for her," she suggested, trying to sound positive. "A lot of bad things happened that she couldn't control, but this time she shone a light on a really bad guy before he could hurt someone. And you believed her and helped her. So maybe she'll believe that things can be better for her, and that you'll help her now, right?" Privately Erin worried that having one of her fears proved real might make Martha even more intransigent on the rest of them, but there was no sense borrowing trouble. "Anyway," she said, folding her hands into her lap, "seems like the party's pretty much over in there. You ready to hit the road?"
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Fleur joined the applause for the successful hero, even as she took in the scene all around them. The world was so bizarre, so different-yet-similar that it was hard to take it all in. She was sure she wouldn't understand what passed for technology here, so instead she concentrated on the people. On the surface they seemed surprisingly happy. Nearly everyone wore a smile, and there were frequent bursts of laughter and happy chatter from folks as they passed by. A couple of years ago Stesha might have accepted that at face value, but now something about the whole picture sent a slow chill up her spine. Many of the smiles were a little too wide, the laughter a little too loud and edged with something strange. All at once, she began to wonder at the composition of the heady floral fragrance that seemed to be everywhere. She knew firsthand how scents and pheremones could change peoples' minds, but she'd never seen it attempted on such a large scale. This could be even more of a problem than she'd thought. "It's always good to see heroes at work to protect their cities," she commented mildly, then began moving on. She wasn't sure how much longer she could maintain this facade, especially if her friends were having any success at breaking down the machine.
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Erin studied the crowd, her brow furrowed as she realized that some of the people were taking pictures, others already drawing. Their secret identites were already thin with this crowd, much less if a bunch of artists started studying them closely. "Good call. We shouldn't need to make a statement, it pretty much speaks for itself." Pursing her lips, she considered the logistics of their return. "There's a big coat-check closet just outside the hall that nobody ought to be using right now. If you pop us in there, back in dress clothes, we can just step back into the room and get lost in the crowd," she suggested. "And absolutely not one joke about you and coat closets during parties!" she reminded him in an undertone.
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Erin nodded, checking the bonds on Curtis one last time, even as he squirmed and tried fruitlessly to chew through the gag. "This should hold him well enough till they get him wrapped up. If one of those in the green room was his accomplice, Eldritch can ferret that out." She spared a glance for the crowd, but didn't acknowledge or even really internalize the cheering. An audience was always the low priority concern until a mission was over, and she wasn't entirely sure they were out of the woods on this one yet. Rising, she took Mark's elbow, angling them so they faced away from the people in the seats. "You okay?" she asked the reality warper, her voice low enough to be for his ear only . "Keeping it together?" It wasn't the most comfortable question to have to ask or answer, but her teammates had done it for her before, and she could return the favor.
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Koshiro shook hands reluctantly, then folded his arms across his chest and gave Kimber a raised eyebrow for her enthusiasm. Maybe it was because she'd been dead longer than he'd been alive, but it sometimes seemed like Kimber's survival instincts had atrophied completely. He sighed. "First off, Hermetic is not the same as hermit. It's a kind of magic. If they were hermits, they wouldn't exactly be throwing parties. Second," and here he turned back to the stranger, "we've got your word that this party is safe because you know the host and have been to one before." He smirked. "Unfortunately, that doesn't mean a damned thing since we don't know who the hell you are and if you can be trusted. How did you find out about us anyway?" It took some effort, but Koshiro managed to swallow the comment about not trusting anyone who looked that much like Willy Wonka. Who said he had no manners?
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Fleur frowned slightly as Set went over to engage the crowd; that didn't seem like the wisest idea under the circumstances. It seemed like he had a lot to learn about Earth as it was these days before he went running around and got himself tazed or hit by a car or something else unpleasant. "Yes," she agreed, loud enough for her voice to carry, "let's take this into Freedom Hall and let the cleanup crews get to work." Seeking the path of least resistance, she motioned her colleagues over to join Set and Sekhmet on the edge of the crowd. "Don't worry," she assured the visitors, "this is just a transport, it's perfectly safe and won't hurt." With that, she opened one giant flower over all of them, and with the overwhelming scent of magnolia blossoms surrounding them, they appeared a moment later in the lobby of Freedom Hall. "This is Freedom Hall, our base of operations," she told Set and Sekhmet, gesturing around at the vaulted lobby with its many statues. She led the way across the lobby and down into a much less grandiose hallway, into a nicely equipped but unremarkable conference room. Dropping casually into a seat at the round table, she smiled at the newcomers. "Now maybe we'll have a chance to catch our breath and you can tell us a bit more about yourselves?"
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Erin's eyes went a bit wide at Mark's impassioned declaration, but there wasn't much she could do to stop the lightning that arced from the ceiling and into the trapped magician's body. She quickly laid Curtis down and put two fingers against his neck, reassured by the heartbeat she felt there. "Okay, that's enough," she reminded Mark, just to be on the safe side. "He's down, we're done here." Indeed, whatever Eldritch had done was already clearing the air of its magic tingle, and whatever was being summoned was safely back on the other side of reality. "Let's get the STAR Squad in here to lock him down before he can regroup." She looked at her comrade, obviously expecting him to make the call.
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Erin spared half a glance for the audience, most of them still frozen in place by the events unfolding in front of them. Even in Freedom City, some people didn't have nearly enough in the way of survival skills. With Curtis' attention momentarily on Mark, she launched herself across the stage in a dizzying series of handsprings that would've guaranteed her a standing ovation if she'd been part of the talent show, finishing in a midair twist that sent her plummeting into the would-be demonologist. Using her bat for leverage, she pulled them both to a kneeling position on the stage and twisted his arms up behind him. "Okay, Curtis, you're done!" she told him, loudly enough that it carried to the audience. "You're not going to summon any demons, or terrorize any more innocent people."
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All right, let's see if we can get this guy restrained long enough for Eldritch to take hold of him, or if he's going to need some punchinating. Her array is currently in the Damage position. Move Action: Acrobatic Bluff, DC 27 with skill mastery Standard Action: Charge Attack to Grapple: A terrible roll! Result is 22 If she hits anyway, her grapple roll is... it's terrible. Spending an HP! The reroll is a respectable 42.
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Okay, initiative time! Erin goes on 19
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"Let's take the backstage door again," she suggested. "That's his quickest escape route, and we need to get an idea of who's back there before we risk chasing him. And if you teleport us in too soon, it could ruin everything." Mark's phenomenal luck was probably enough to forfend that possibility, but even now Erin didn't care to trust to luck. Drawing her bat, she raced down the hallway they'd come down earlier, still deserted with everyone watching or part of the show. "Clear as much of the backstage as you can," she instructed as they paused for a moment outside the door. "Get them back to that green room or the parking lot or wherever. Then if there's a fight, we have someplace to push it besides into the audience."
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"Yeah, I know," Erin told Mark, apparently more willing to be talked down to by the Master Mage of Earth than by her flighty teammate. "We took the same civics classes, remember? Now that we've got the proof nailed down, we just need to grab him. We'd better be ready." She looked around the table, where people were mostly focused on the stage. She picked up her glass of fruit punch and took a sip, then suddenly fumbled the cup. Red punch splashed down her front in a long arc, soaking right into the fabric. "Oh no!" she moaned quietly as their companions turned to look at her. "And this was brand new!" Looking rather more upset than Mark had ever seen Erin look about an outfit, even back in the days when she'd barely had enough to fill a dresser drawer, she rose from her seat. "Help me find some club soda before this sets," she told Mark, "otherwise it's going to be ruined."
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"You're right on time, and thank you for coming," Erin replied, her voice a murmur. Despite her years in uniform and all she'd seen, there were still a handful of people in Freedom City she still held in some awe, and the Master Mage was one of them. "Edge and I don't know much about magic, but this setup was much too elaborate to be a stage piece, and he's been bragging where he didn't think he'd be in danger of being caught. He told Martha Lucas all about it, assuming no one would believe her." Erin's voice, still quiet, filled with anger and guilt. She'd been first in line to disbelieve, hadn't she? Briefly she explained the layout they'd seen behind the curtain, her descriptions of the size and location of each piece detailed, her description of actual runes vague. Her observational training hadn't included magical languages. "But we're here in our civilian identities, and without an expert or the show going on, there's just no proof," she finished. "We have to stop him, but we also have to expose him."
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The eagle's sudden flight made Koshiro jump in a very unheroic fashion, which in turn startled the paper rabbit into taking off across the field with a flash of its blue cottontail. The moisture in the air and condensation on the grass ensured that the little paper critter didn't make it very far, just long enough for Koshiro to recover his equilibrium and pretend he hadn't even been surprised. "Yeah, all right, fine." He left the path and skirted around the edge of the trees, He was nowhere near green enough to take the eagle into the secured dormitories, and instead ducked behind the chapel into what had apparently once been a reflection garden but was now overgrown and seemed to be used mainly for storing broken gym equipment. "All right, bird," he said, extending an arm in the hopes the eagle would get the message and jump down, "how do we even know this is legit? This could easily be a trap from some villain."
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Koshiro dodged Kimber's parasol to read over her shoulder as she opened the letter. "Okay, that's weird," he decided, "even by the high standards of weird they have around here. We're not either of us the sort of magic people that wear robes and read ancient languages and that sort of crap." He snorted and concentrated for a moment, making the abandoned paper shield fold itself up into a dizzying new configuration. In seconds, a blue paper bunny rabbit sat on the path, scratching its ear with a hind leg and making a noise that sounded like book pages flapping. "Maybe they want our help with a magic show." Despite his dismissive tone, the invitation had caught his attention. He really didn't know anything about magic, but he had questions that needed to be answered by people who did.
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"...but I mean, it's like she doesn't even pay attention to me," Koshiro admitted, his brow creased and his jaw tight with frustration. "Sure when we're training or on a mission, but otherwise it's like not a look, much less a smile." He kicked a rock along the path, not quite looking at his companion. "it's not like I've never dated before. I think I can tell when a girl's not really interested. But I guess it's okay, not like there's even much time left here." He broke off suddenly as what seemed at first to be a projectile came rocketing towards them. Instinctively, he grabbed a square of paper from his pocket, the thin blue sheet growing instantly into a shield over both of them, but it was unnecessary. Lowering his paper guard, but not dismissing it entirely, Koshiro stared at the bird. "What the hell?"
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"Don't think about it right now," Erin reminded him, adjusting the straps on her new shoes and opening the car door. "We've got to get back inside and act normal, like we're expecting to see some tacky magic show at a second-rate office party. Keep it together for another eight and a half minutes, and we'll nail the son of a bitch to the wall, and he'll never get anywhere near your mom again. If we're lucky, he'll look like a fool and piss off his demon master in the process. Now smile," she ordered, plastering one of her own across her face as they headed for the door that would take them back into the party hall.
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Erin ran through the timing in her head, the last minute preparations, the emcee introducing the show, the inevitable sparkle and flash that someone who felt compelled to summon a demon in front of an uninformed audience was sure to add. "I think so," she said in a low voice. "But if the ritual goes ahead too far, we're going to have to step in and try to stop it. I've seen demons summoned into Freedom City before and it was a horror show. I just don't want there to be a lot of collateral damage and no proof left behind if it comes to that. We'll try and stretch things out. Thank you." She looked over to Mark. "One more minute, then let them back in, and you and I teleport to the parking lot and come back in," she told him. "Make sure to get my shoes. We'll want to be visibly in the audience at the start of this show."
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Erin muttered an imprecation as she looked over the vulgar display. "This is no stage show," she agreed. "I don't know what it is, but it's obviously no balloon-animal and magic hat show. I don't know what your mom saw from him, but it looks like at least some of her intuition was on the money." She pursed her lips at that admission, suspecting that was just going to make everything a lot more complicated. But first things first. It was easier to come up with a plan, Erin discovered, if she came at it from her security training, rather than her hero background. "The first thing we have to do is shut him down before he manages to do whatever he's planning," she began, starting with the obvious for Mark's benefit. "If this were a hero work gig, I'd say we just pick him up and haul him in before he has a chance to do anything. But if we do that here and now, as civilians, we're not objective witnesses. You've got too much at stake with your mom, and I'm helping you. We'd have no proof that he was up to anything bad, and he's the injured party by default, because of the scissors thing. But we also can't risk letting him do his ritual if we can stop him. That's putting people at risk just so we don't look like jackasses, and that's wrong too." She rubbed her chin, staring at the statue. "What we need is an expert," she decided. "Someone who knows magic, someone who's integrity is beyond question." She looked at Mark. "We need to get hold of Adrian Eldritch."