Electra

"You can fix it," Erin told him, her hand tightening on his shoulder. "You're the key, you can close the door again. It isn't too late." Part of her wasn't sure she believed that, but Alex's hope was still there, and there had to be a chance. She couldn't see another world lost. "This isn't your father's world, James. It's your world. It's our world, and you're more powerful than he is here. You thought you had to fight him alone, and that was stupid, but you were wrong. We're all here for you and we'll help you, whatever it takes," she promised. Erin dug deep, managed a laugh. "I'll even give you back your car when this is all done."

Stesha was barely conscious as Ace carried her into the manor, colors and shapes blurring senselessly in front of her eyes as every part of her body simultaneously tried to inform her brain of how bad things were. She could remember what she'd seen outside, but it was all a jumble still, sensations and images that slipped away as she tried to grab them. It would be so much easier to just let go and fall into the welcoming darkness, but for some reason she couldn't let herself do that. She still had a job to do, something... Suddenly she wasn't moving anymore, she was laying on the ground, someplace she'd been before. She blinked hard a few times as a bright light shone down into her face and another one focused on her ravaged body. It felt good, distantly good, as though she could fall asleep here and wake up and be all better, if she could just sleep long enough. But there wasn't time. Why? Because something bad was happening outside, of course, something horrible. Stesha closed her eyes and tried to remember, and nearly fell back into that darkness by accident. Before she went, though, she heard a familiar wordless whisper. It was strange enough to catch her attention. She focused her attention on it, for all that her eyes were still closed, her body lax. It was the mankana plant, at Ace's house. Of course, how could she forget? It wanted to help her. That was so nice of it. She could feel that it was in trouble, but she was in trouble too. That was sad for both of them. Everyone was in bad trouble, the plant knew that as well as she did. It was important for her to get better, so she could help. That made a lot of sense to her. On the outside, Stesha closed her eyes and did not move for long moments after Ace set her down in the dirt next to the plants. Her hair greened under the lights that mercilessly showed off every bruise and gash, but nothing seemed to be getting better. Then suddenly the leaves of the mankana plant began to droop, then wither entirely. First the small new leaves on top began to dry like paper and fall off, then the broader, lower leaves as well. Stesha took a deep breath as color came back to her face and some of the bruises suddenly began to fade. Her eyes opened, and she looked around for a moment before focusing on Ace. For a moment she seemed confused, then memory came flooding back, along with grief. "Oh god, Derrick," she murmured, her eyes filling.

Erin could hear what was going on around her as her teammates kept up the fight, but she kept her focus centered on James. It suddenly seemed possible that they might make it through this after all, that they'd take the right actions and things would somehow be okay again. Maybe it was irrational, but she held onto the feeling as hard as she could. She put a hand on James' cheek, nudging his face up so he looked her right in the eyes. "It's really me," she promised him. "It's really all of us, we're all here for you. Anything else they told you was a lie. You said before that you could look into my soul if you wanted to. Go ahead, then you'll know it's real."

It's the remaining demons, then Psyche, Phalanx, and Wander.

It hadn't taken long for Stesha to stop worrying about the idea of being in her first really big fight. That had been wiped away by sheer, numbing fear as the first waves of demons had swept down on them. She could see Dark Star out of the corner of her eye, fighting next to her, and there was Phantom over there, and Ace, and the others, so few others, all of them surrounded. There was nothing to do but fight, so she fought, until even the fear was replaced by a hollow sort of dread. They were never going to get out of this. No one was coming to save them, and her family wouldn't even know what had happened to her. Why hadn't she told them? It seemed so stupid now. The nets of vines and brambles she put up didn't hold the demons back for long, and soon the enemy was upon her and the others, clawing, ripping, and tearing. Stesha used every self-defense technique she'd ever been taught to try and fight them off, even as her flowers valiantly tried to help, but it was like trying to swim out of a riptide. She knew she was bleeding, but couldn't even pinpoint from where, knew she was dizzy, but couldn't think of the word concussion. Her fights with the Beekeeper suddenly seemed very far away. Irrelevantly, she wondered where he was now. Had the villains tried to fight as well, or had they run away, or been overrun? A momentary break in the fighting left her doubled over with exhaustion and nausea, trying to work up the strength to do anything, even teleport away. She dimly though of the civilians behind her, of the children on the upstairs floors, but couldn't quite decide what to do about that. Stay, go, did it make any difference anymore? Where would they go? Stesha never even saw the scaly hands that reached out for her, snatching her by an arm and a leg and jerking her back into the masses of demons. "Derrick!" she screamed, reaching out instinctively for his arm. Her hand passed through the darkness of his body, and in an instant she was gone, lost in the tide.

Stesha fails all her saves. Heck of a learning curve.

So as to avoid anyone having to go on an Easter Egg hunt to find the products of our October creativity, here's the list of vignettes with links. Arrowhawk: Arming Up Atlas: The Simple Answer Avenger: Hockey Mask Blink: Sanctum Sanctorum BreakdownStarlight Colt: Knights of Cydonia Dark Star: On The Air Doktor Archeville: Accentuate Edge: Behind the Masks Fleur de Joie: Fashion Show Geckoman: Keeping Secrets Gimalkin: Halloween Hellion: The Letter Jack of All Blades: (Untitled) Phalanx: Master Tailor Phantom: The Cloak Psyche: The Manor Spitfire: Max Tarantula: The Amazing... Tempest: Great Burden Wander: (Untitled)

Erin hissed as the mouth-covered demon bit into her shoulder, feeling the burn of its venom even as her super-efficient metabolism worked to clear it from her system. She turned to attack it, just in time for the demon Mike threw at it to knock it clear across the park. "Thanks," she called, rubbing her shoulder as it healed, then turned to other matters. The tongue demon was still dazed, but looked likely to be bouncing back soon. That was the last thing Erin wanted. Learning from her past mistakes, she gathered up the end of the tongue near her and swung it like a lasso, sending the demon flying up, up and away, over the trees and out of the fight, at least for now. When it was just the two of them on their side of the fight, Erin stepped up to James. He still had the blade in his hand, but she took a risk and put her hands on his shoulders, looking at him. "I know this isn't what you want, James. This isn't how anything was supposed to happen. You can stop all of it, right now, before anyone else gets hurt."

Erin is going to make a three point power attack on Tonguey, using her lethal unarmed strike. His defense is down by two and he's flat-footed, so he loses all dodge bonus. Erin's handicapped attack is +8, her damage is +15, her defense is unchanged. She shakes one level of bruised, keeps one level of bruised. Power attacking for 3, bonus decreased by 1 for Bruised. (1d20:10+8=18) That's a DC 30 toughness check, and I believe Tonguey is down by two for his injuries for that.

((Stesha's vignette should've been posted right around in here, but yeah. So onward, ever onward!)) "No traffic," Stesha assured him with a smile, shaking his hand, "and your directions were just fine. Thanks for the landing spot." She gave the ficus an absent pat, making it turn greener and unroll a few new leaves while she brushed herself off and made sure that her costume was on straight after the quick trip through the foliage. "It looks like you've got a good turnout, from what I saw. So what's the plan?"

Better late than never... Erin Invasion: Riverside Gate Giving Thanks Fallen Friends Another One Bites the Dust Stesha Invasion: Danger Manor And Blackjack

Toughness Save, down one for Bruised (1d20:14+11=25) Missed by two, another bruised level.

Distracted with her other fight, Erin didn't notice James' movement until it was too late. She jerked back and away from the burning blade, but not fast enough to avoid contact with the unearthly fire that blanketed it. She yelped in pain and stumbled backwards as the intense heat melted the fibers of her uniform and raised a line of angry blisters along her chest and stomach. For a moment she seemed stunned by the pain, but she shook it off, raising her head and coming up ready to fight once more.

Erin saves against the DC 35 pummeling: Toughness Save (1d20:17+12=29) Bruised and stunned, spending HP to clear the stun. The bruise will clear at the top of her action.

Fleur kept working on the line of trees until the last possible moment, her heart in her throat as she watched the white light flicker and fade. Twelve seconds a tree wasn't so much, really, but it seemed like an eternity now. So close, so close... Brambles and vines intertwined and wove themselves through the trunks of trees while she worked, hastily extending the barrier that, for all it was wider than a man laying down, seemed so flimsy against the horde. Before she could finish, though, the white light sputtered and died, and with a scream of triumph, the demons poured through that last fifteen-foot gap. Instinctively, Stesha teleported away, putting her back up against the house and going to work from there. This wasn't the sort of fight she'd ever expected to find herself in. It certainly wasn't a fight where she seemed likely to do much good. But there were people out there with no powers at all, willing to fight and die to protect the city. How could she do less? She activated the defenses she'd sown earlier, doing what she could to create confusion, at least. The topiaries around the property suddenly bloomed with big red flower mouths, eating and swallowing the demons that came too close, their stamens moving like hungry tongues. The vines in the barricades bloomed with pollen-filled yellow flowers, knocking some of the small demons unconscious as they tried to hack their way through. It wasn't much, but each demon she took out of the fight was one less for someone else to handle. It had to help somehow... When Phantom teleported into the midst of the fight, Stesha turned her attention fully in that direction, snaring and pocketing all the demons she could. Her head began to pound with the hours of continuous effort, but if now wasn't the time to use everything she had, when was?

I'm not sure I like your die roller anymore, Durf. Intuition (1d20:3+0=3) Erin is too busy to be intuitive.

So, is James not gonna be such a wuss now that Wander's dropped her defense? :D

Erin gagged a little as the thick prehensile tongue wrapped around her, the slippery warmth blinding her for a minute as the demon tried to pull her in. She tucked and rolled instinctively, twisting the tongue around and around until the demon was forced to let her tumble out onto the ground. In a heartbeat, she was up again, wet and sticky, but unharmed. Without moving from her faceoff with James, Erin grabbed hold of the tongue and pulled on it as hard as she could, aiming to jerk it from its moorings if she could. Unfortunately the demon wasn't as strong as she'd hoped, and by grabbing the tongue she yanked the whole demon forward, throwing it to the ground tongue-first.

Erin is going to grab the tongue that just tried to grab her, and attempt to rip it out of the mouth of the demon. She's using her lethal unarmed strike, which adds +2 to her attack. She will make it She will power attack and all out attack for three apiece, which will make her attack +12, her damage +15, and her defense +9. (20:56:14) Electra: Man, I need Invisible Castle up again. I can't take the pressure of rolling in chat! (20:56:27) ChatBot: Electra rolls 1d20 and gets 13. (20:56:35) Electra: Meh. (20:56:42) Heritage: Don't mind us, we're only watching your every move 1d20+14 (including Master Plan) =27.

That set Erin back once again, blinking in surprise. "Um, well, Thanksgiving's really a time to just spend with your family, isn't it?" she fumbled. "I mean, it's nice of you to ask and all, but you'll all probably have a better time just among yourselves." In her lap, Oliver yawned and stretched, purring louder as he kneaded her blue jeans. Without really thinking about it, Erin started petting him again. "Especially after what happened the other week," she added.

Erin held the pillow up to her nose, smiling a little at the silly picture. "It smells nice," she said, a little bemused. It was probably the least useful thing she'd gotten since she came here, but it was cute in a way, and brightened up the room. And it was the fact that he'd remembered that really meant something, and that he'd cared enough to get a present at all. He'd even wrapped it, or gotten someone to do it for him. Oliver reached up and batted at one of the corner tassels, his face a study in concentration. "I really like it," Erin told Mark. "Thank you."

Erin blinked and took the package from him, looking it over without opening it for a moment. "Thank you," she told him, sounding a little baffled but not displeased. "I didn't think anybody would remember, after everything that happened. That's really nice of you." She started to reach for the bow, then remembered her manners. "Ah, should I open it now?"

This cat wasn't going to win any prizes for cuteness; he was a gangly half-grown orange cat with fur that was a little scraggly and bones that were a little prominent, but at least he was personable. Putting his ears forward, he leaned his chin into the caress, giving Mark an encouraging purr. It was actually a very relaxing experience, just to pet an animal and not have it turn into something else or try to take his hand off. "I found him a few days ago," Erin told him, "right after the invasion, when everything was still so crazy. He seems to like it here. He doesn't have a collar or anything, but I've been calling him Oliver." Erin seemed more relaxed than usual as well, or maybe it was just that she'd been so very tightly wound for most of the month that any reduction in stress seemed like an improvement. She looked over towards the package in Mark's hands. "What have you got?"

Erin's schedule was fairly reliable, and as he'd expected, he found her in her room, sitting at her desk with a physics textbook open in front of her. The orange cat in her lap was a new addition, though. He'd obviously made himself at home. Erin was stroking his head absently as she worked, the cat's loud purring the only noise in the room. Both girl and cat looked up as Mark knocked on the half-open door. "Hey Mark," she greeted him. "Alex is out somewhere, she should be back in a couple hours."

"We'll go," Stesha volunteered, setting down her drink. She gave Derrick a kiss on the cheek and smoothed his hair back behind his ear. "It won't be so bad, I promise," she told him with a laugh. Keeping her arm twined in his, she led the way up onto the stage. Queuing up the music, she took the microphone. "This next song is for our friend Taylor, who is celebrating a very important birthday tonight. Since we're all in a bar, you can probably guess which one. Let's all give her a hand!" She gestured with the microphone, then cheerfully led the house in a round of applause. "Everybody knows this one, so you can sing along." Turning on the music, she leaned against Derrick to share the microphone with him, sliding one arm around his waist. A rather embellished version of Happy Birthday came out of the speakers, complete with words on the little television screen. Stesha wasn't a great singer, but she found the right key to lead off in, and she had a lot of enthusiasm for the piece.