Electra

Erin hesitated, then shook her head. "No, I'm gonna stay here and work for a few more hours, see if anything shakes loose. Mike might still be up and around, if you don't want to go out alone," she suggested, running a hand through her hair to push it off her face. Alex didn't have to be a psychic to catch the quick stab of lingering discomfort there, but they really had bigger fish to fry at the moment. "Make sure to get some food to soak up all that coffee, or you'll probably regret it later."

Erin shrugged, the look on her face the one she got when most of what Alex had just said had flown right past her. "I asked James once if there was more than one heaven or hell, if there was one for every different dimension, but he didn't know. Maybe there are, or you'd be there with infinite copies of yourself and that would be strange, but it would suck to get sent to the wrong one. Doesn't matter, I guess," she finished with a shrug. "We know there's at least one hell, and we've got to get James out. That's enough to worry about for now." She punched a button on the keyboard, bringing up a new screen of data.

"Real superpowers are weird," Erin agreed. "When you get shot up with something like I did, it's messed up to start, but at least you know you're not getting anything new after that. When it comes from inside your body, I guess anything can happen. Seems like these were mostly good changes though. That's lucky." She walked back over to her chair and sat down again, though she didn't quite focus on the screen yet. "I was wondering. If someone dies fighting demons, do you think God, if there is a God, might just give them a pass on their sins and let them into heaven? I mean, they were basically fighting directly on his side at the end, right? It seems like it should be worth something."

Definitely Nov 10, one day before my poor character's birthday. =)

Erin is extremely willful (or at least very distracted by the tongue-bath she's getting) Will Save 1d20+6=26 The tongue does give her a licking, but there's many a slip 'twixt tongue and lip. ;-) She beats the grapple check. 1d20+23=40

Stesha leaned comfortably against Derrick and listened to the music, sipping her shockingly pink beverage from time to time. She smiled and clapped enthusiastically for Taylor when the song was done. "We should go up there," she encouraged Derrick with a grin. "Everyone else is doing it. We could even just do happy birthday, if you don't want to do something longer. That one's easy, because everyone else will join in."

Stesha led Atlas into the house, where the wall-to-wall refugees somehow still managed to find room to make a wide path for the bloodsmeared giant. She took him down to the gym and peeked into the men's dressing room, which was relatively uninhabited. "There are showers in there," she told him, "and probably some workout clothes too, but I don't know if any will fit you. You can wash out your clothes and get, you know, the stuff out of them, at least." Leaving him to get cleaned up, she returned to the front yard just in time to see Jack's new Carrie-at-the-prom look. She stared at him for a minute, then darted away to the other side of the yard. Somebody else could find him a bathroom. She didn't know what was going on with him, but she wanted nothing to do with it. As more and more heroes began arriving, she returned to her work, trying to raise a perimeter of trees around the property. It was tiring, but she wasn't likely to be much good in the fight anyway. She would make her stand how she could.

After consultation with the refs to see whether this is legal or not, Erin is using the Defensive Attack feat combined with a Total Defense maneuver, to increase her defense by +9 for the coming round. The DC to hit her will be 31.

Erin took a deep breath in the moment of near calm before hell once again broke loose. Negative emotions made the demons stronger, she reminded herself, and even if she was in no shape to think happy thoughts, she could at least deny them one weapon. They wouldn't use her memories that way, she wouldn't let them. In one quick bound, she covered the last few feet that separated her from James, bringing them toe to toe, nearly nose to nose, but for their slight difference in height. She stood between him and the rest of the fight, with the gate at his back and its sickly light playing over her face. "Maybe you can take us all down," she challenged. "Maybe you have it in you to try, maybe you'll manage to do it. But we're stronger than you think, and we're not running away. We sent the demons running once before, even if we weren't fast enough to stop one from taking you along with them. I'd have done anything to save you, but it was too late. I don't think it's too late now. I think you can save yourself, and I'll do anything to help you. But if you want to keep up this fight, you're going to have to go through us. You're going to have to go through me," she repeated. "So come on, dammit, do something. Don't just leave us standing here."

"That's some growth spurt," Erin said with a bit of admiration. "And I guess it's one more tool we'll have to use if we do get another chance at this. James won't be able to tell them more than he knows, so maybe they'll underestimate both of you. It might give us a little advantage." She sighed at how small the advantage seemed right now. "Anyway, like you said, anything could help." She wasn't very good at giving encouragement, especially when she felt pretty hopeless herself, but it was a game try. "Maybe your mind will come up with something while you sleep."

Stesha pursed her lips and nodded at the grim statement. It was about what she'd expected to hear, after what she'd seen and the reports that had been trickling in all afternoon. They'd run out of options, and were rapidly running out of time as well. She followed Dark Star's attention and looked at the other Knights, giving a double-take first to the talking pile of bones, and then another, more severe one at Jack's inhuman appearance. The... whatever the bone man was, was unusual, but she'd thought Jack was at least human. He didn't show a lot of signs of being a regular guy just now. He was scary. She edged backwards from him, staying out of arm's reach for all the good it would do. While Dark Star dealt with the... unusual cases, she turned her attention to what she could do. Tugging off her cowl, she draped it over Phantom like a blanket, covering the burned-away clothes and healing wounds. Without the hood, she looked even less like a superhero, wearing simple green clothes and with her matching hair coming loose from its braid in a dozen places. "Just rest for a minute," she told Taylor, "and I'll find you something to wear if you need it. I'm sure Ace has plenty of spare clothes inside." Turning her attention to the big, bloodcovered stranger who looked more shocked than scary, she said "Come on into the house, we'll find someplace for you to get washed up. It's crowded, but there's about fifty bathrooms. One will be free, I'm sure."

Stesha, who had by now extended her ring of foliage around more than half the property, abandoned her project for the moment when she saw Dark Star coming in for a landing. She raced across the lawn, bushes and flowers getting out of her way as she hastened over to where he'd landed the team. "Oh my god," she gasped, kneeling down next to Phantom. Derrick could heal the wounds, she knew, but to see all these heroes in such bad shape was really not a good sign. She looked up at Derrick. "Are you all right?" she asked him. "How bad has it gotten out there?"

Erin watched the cup make its way across the room, then looked back at Alex, who was glowing at least as much as the computer terminals. "Do you know if that power is going to stick around?" she asked, curious despite all the other things she had to worry about. "I mean with the glowing and being able to fix things? Do you think it was just something to do with the fight?" She herself had felt strange energy when she'd handled that whip, but it had gone away with no aftereffects, that she could feel, anyway.

Erin shook her head, carefully coiling the wicked whip into a shape she could safely carry. "It doesn't hurt," she replied woodenly. Indeed, though her uniform was torn and bloody in several places, she didn't look to have a scratch on her. The red glow of energy had faded when the demons did, though the whip still tingled a little in her hands. She walked over to where the big demon and James had disappeared, dropping to her heels to study the ground. There was no fissure now, not so much as a crack to show where they'd gone. Erin pressed her knuckles against her forehead for a minute, leaving a muddy smear on her face. "Where do we go now?" she asked of everyone or no one. "How do we get him back?"

Erin flinched at James' words, her eyes drawn unconsciously towards the gate for a moment, in spite of herself. Had he really seen them? They didn't deserve that... Close behind the agony was furious anger, which was a much more solid footing to stand on. She wanted to wipe that stupid smirk right off his face, make him take back what he'd said, make him not say anything about the people she'd loved, ever again. But that was what he wanted, she realized. It was hard to care at the moment, but she forced herself to be rational. He wanted her to attack him, and he knew what buttons to push to make her. She wasn't sure how much she could make that matter to her right now, though. But behind that, under that, it was still James. He still had to be in there somewhere. For all that Erin's thoughts were chaotic, Alex knew her well enough to be able to sort through and draw out the good memories from the swirling mess. A friendship built cautiously over videogames and the strange camaraderie of sleepless nights, one restful place where neither of them had to put on an act for a little while. She passed along Erin's heartache for James when she realized his dreams were even worse than his own, and her determination that there must be some way to stop the invasions, if they could only find it. There was her initial caution that had turned slowly into trust, until she thought of him more like a brother than just a friend. Alex dug out the grief and guilt over not saving James in the cemetery and passed it along, and the grim determination that it wouldn't be the end, the sentiment that had led them here tonight, to the end of the road.

Erin gets a 25 on Sense Motive

Fleur de Joie: These should be easy, I'm just going to concentrate on the things I forgot in the upgrade. 2pp for two extra points on Reflex Save 2pp for two extra points on Will Save Wander: It's time to boost Wander to her PL 12 caps, yay! Feats: Dodge Focus: 2 additional (2pp) Attack Specialization: Bat (1pp) Attack Specialization: Lethal Strike (1pp) Power: Strike 2 (PF: Mighty, Drawback: Lethal Damage Only) (2pp) She also has some complications to add: Obligation: Wander is a member of Young Freedom. She has to be available when the team is called on and able to work with her teammates. She also must maintain a public image to comport with being a superhero, as much as anyone ever notices her. Friendship: Alex, James, and Mike are her only good friends in the world. She would pretty much go to any lengths to protect them. Destitute: Erin has no money and she is too busy with schoolwork and training to get a job right now. She has about thirty dollars to her name, and often less than that. New Identity: Erin's new papers call her Keeley Erin White, and her history and records are sketchy at best. Until that gets fleshed out, she will have a hard time using it for anything without the powers that be at the school finessing it. Self-Sacrificing: Erin is not suicidal, but she will act quickly if the opportunity arises to save others at substantial peril to herself, even if the odds might not justify it. She is, after all, only an extra copy. Remove the "Confused" complication as well. Sandman gives you the red text.

Erin ducked as one demon rushed her, then neatly jumped out of the way of the long, nasty tongue of the other, not taking her eyes off the goal for more than a second. She still didn't take out her bat, though her hands flexed open and closed a few times as though looking for something to hold onto. With the two demons closest to her slightly unbalanced from their unsuccessful attacks, she took a few running steps and vaulted over them, in a tumbling leap that put her down just a few feet away from James. "I know you don't want to do this," she told him, meeting his eyes and speaking frankly. "There's part of you that remembers that. We'll help you, whatever it takes, I promise. Just help us close the gate and everything will be okay."

Erin fails the will save.

Erin wiped the filth from her eyes just in time to see James and the demon disappearing under the dirt. She cried out in inarticulate protest, reaching out futilely even as they vanished. Her first impulse was to dive after them, but it was already too late, and the strong instinct to survive was taking hold. Standing and turning, she saw the three demons surrounding Edge, one of them reeling, but the others looking ready to pounce again. It was impossible to tell whether Mark was even conscious. She took a step forward, intending to go after them with her bat, but reconsidered. She could reach one from here, if she wanted to. The whip in her hand was oddly cool and hadn't gotten muddy when she'd fallen. It sat snug in her grip as though it wanted to be used. Fair enough. She'd played a bit with whips during her training, and though they weren't her favorite, she knew how to wield one. And she got the oddest feeling that this one would help her... With one deft snap of her wrist, she sent the lash of the whip racing towards one of the demons, where it wrapped itself securely, almost as though it wanted to be there. Several things happened almost immediately. The demon shrieked in the voice of nothing that had ever come from earth as the whip wrapped around it, tighter and tighter, more like a snake than a weapon. As the whip tightened, the demon seemed to grow thinner, then paler, almost translucent, while the whip began to glow with a sickly red light. As the demon crumbled to ash and the whip released, the red energy raced up its length, over the crop, and into Erin. She stiffened, but couldn't seem to drop the whip. Her hand wouldn't quite obey. The energy didn't hurt, though. It felt sort of good, knitting together the last of the claw marks on her skin, wiping away even the smudges of scars that would normally take a few minutes to fade. The red energy was power, she realized, and it was inside her. She could use it, if she wanted, she could make things happen with it... She shoved the thought aside. It was too dangerous, even now, to use that sort of power. Behind the initial rush of confidence came an almost nauseating feeling of sickness and fear. What had she done to herself? What had she let inside? There wasn't time to consider it now, though. Still glowing a little all over, she called to Phalanx, "Help Edge!"

It's time to do something reckless! Full power attack, full all-out attack on one of the demons around Edge, one that is not stunned this round.That puts her attack at +10, grapple at +28, and defense at +5. That's before whatever the whip is going to do, because she's using it. She is attempting to grapple. Attack roll is a 25. Grapple check is a 52. Will Save is 25.

With the topiaries ready for action, Stesha stepped closer to the line of the forcefield. This cause a stir among the demons on the other side, who threw themselves against the barricade with even more force, but she made herself stand up straight and not step back. Staying about twenty feet back from the barrier, she dropped a seed onto the ground and took a few giant steps away. The seed quivered, then seemed to explode, diving into the ground and bursting into the air at the same time, wood groaning as a stem turned into a trunk that thickened by the moment. New layers of bark sheeted onto the trunk like water as it skyrocketed, with branches bursting out and into leafy life as though the growth of years were being acted out in fast motion. In a little over ten seconds, the growth was complete. Other than a little bit of quivering in the leaves, the tree was indistinguishable from one that had been there a hundred years. Nodding in satisfaction, Stesha walked ten feet away and did the whole thing again, then another ten, then another ten, until there was a triple line of giant trees in an alternating pattern along the whole backyard perimeter. It didn't exactly match the look of the garden, but these were desperate times. Sowing more seeds among the giant trunks, Stesha raised brambles, thornbushes, creeping ivy, anything that could wrap from tree to tree and create a nearly impenetrable wall between the house and the demons, right up into the branches of the trees themselves. After that, she had to sit down for a little bit, but she was impressed by her own work. She hadn't known she could do that.

"You could ask Mike to fly you home for the night," Erin suggested, pushing away from the wall and going back to her seat. "It's probably a lot calmer there, mentally and otherwise. Even if you do slip, you're less likely to drop in on someone's bad dreams. Or you could just go upstairs with your grandpa, give yourself a little distance. You're going to miss things if you work past exhaustion."

Well, that was a really terrible initiative roll. 1d20+13=16

Erin didn't so much as startle at being touched from behind, a considerable improvement. Alex could feel her trying to sort her thoughts and emotions back into enough order that she could do something productive with herself. It took a few moments. Finally she turned back towards Alex, pushing her hair out of her face with one hand. "All right," she said resignedly, "we'll keep working. But you need to get some sleep. I can keep at this for the rest of the night, but you look like you're about to fall into your cup."