Gizmo

Erik didn’t bother to interrupt Viktor’s itemized clarification. Of course he already knew who’d been involved in the mnemonic surgery and in what capacity but the other man no longer knew that Dragonfly was his sister-in-law, that he’d traded babysitter recommendations with Phantom, that Miss Americana… was also basically his sister-in-law. Erik didn’t really ever talk to Scarab if he could help it but that was because of personal ties not the lack thereof. All the connections that made the difference between simple utility and a life lived with other people in it. With a discontented grunt he raised a hand over his head to catch the attention of the wait staff. “Told myself I wasn’t going to order anything in case you got here first and spiked it with nanobots or whatever but I’m going to need a drink after all.”

“Yeah, &#!% sucks,” Erik responded dryly as Viktor trailed off. It wasn’t the showboating, rapid-fire verbal gymnastics he remembered through the veil of obfuscated memories of the younger swordsman but there was still a note of performance. He’d seen what Erik looked like when he was genuinely, viscerally angry. The scientist’s musing on the utility of building a place for himself or not, however gave Erik genuine pause. He realized that he still thought of Viktor as a builder, someone who brought people together and made a place for them. More than that, though he realized the gulf between what had become of Viktor and the family and community he’d surrounded himself with over the years. He opened his mouth for a moment before finding the words, falling back into a bit of irreverence to make the rawness of feeling a little more palatable. “You really microwaved your brain about it, huh? How much did you keep? About all of us?”

“If we’re honest, I put it off,” Erik replied, leaning back and lying one arm across the back of the booth. Without really meaning to he put a little emphasis on the words to give it a note of challenge, of question. *If* they were being honest. Not a given. His mouth tightened in self reproach; he tried to put it down to the potpourri of frequencies rolling off of Archeville registering like too much cologne, if cologne was made of nervous bees. ”You adjusting to being back in the city?” It would have made more sense to ask how he was adjusting to being back on Earth but they both knew that wasn’t the part that mattered. Erik could have asked Lynn for updates since he and Archeville had last seen each other but he hadn’t. It had been a long time since he and Lynn had been close like that, much longer from her perspective. He thought about Bill, passing away in another world and leaving him family behind. Erik’s mouth tightened again.

The Amber Lantern Sunday, December 1, 2024 The repurposed beer mug-turned-light fixture that served as its primary signage was the bar’s only real distinguishing feature. Not old enough to be historical, no novel gimmick or theming, The Amber Lantern was nothing more nor less than a place to get an anonymous drink in Freedom City’s west side. Being a few blocks out of the West End proper and into Lantern Hill was another point in its favour in this case, so far as Erik Espadas was concerned. A bit petty, perhaps but he felt justified as he stepped inside the dimly lit watering hole. He wore a weathered jacket with a wool lining over a plain white shirt, dusty brown hair a little longer in the colder months, blending into a neat beard. He took in the other people in the room with a carefully casual glance before heading to a booth in the far corner and silently sat down across from the man waiting for him.

APPROVED

“Rock,” Rock agreed amiably, kicking his left foot in the air as he ambled back into the midst of the discussions, trying to dislodge a glob of molten ore from his heel like wet toilet paper. He offered a stoney hand to his captain to relieve her tail of the overheating weapon while looking between the Khan, ambassador and locals. “Rock…?” he asked Talisyn in as soft a gravely whisper as he was capable, wondering whether or not he should take the polite negotiations at face value.

Off balance, Rock took the walking tank's renewed attack badly, the plasma blade slipping between the uneven edges between stacked stones and sending a grimy grey piece the size of a dinner plate flying from his side. The loosened shale skipped off of the dusty plain for a few bounces, breaking apart into gravel. The recesses below Rock's brow narrowed. "...ro-CCK," he spat with a sharp crack that indicated he was now taking the conflict more seriously. The faint pinpricks of his 'eyes' glowed brighter, the brighter still, turning incandescent as he threw his arms back like a sapient with a respiratory system inhaling deeply. The core a superheated magma inside him erupted from his mouth in a gushing torrent that a more semantically inclined individual would have noted converted it into lava. All Rock concerned himself with as he panned his head from side to side was turning the ground beneath the Hunter mech's feet into an inferno.

Rock Toughness Save vs DC 25: 1d20+17 22 That's a bruise! Full Action: Eruption That's a DC 22 Reflex Save followed by a DC 27 Toughness Save with Secondary Effect in a 120' cone. If he can catch both Hunters in it he will but it's fine if it's just the one!

APPROVED

Just a couple quick formatting points for readability: I’d like to see his alternate form’s trade-offs explicitly stated up top since he’s under-capped in human form and the Growth penalties are a little counterintuitive at a glance. Just popping in “-5 Defence/+5 Toughness” would do it! His Toughness line could also be tweaked for clarity: Toughness: +6 (+3 Con, +3 Protection), +13 AF (+5 Con, +8 Protection) His Skill section should include: Stealth 0 (+0/-4 Growth) Otherwise the actual math looks good!

The superheated energy weapon sunk into the part of Rock’s shoulder that would have been shaped by a clavicle in a being with a conventional skeleton, immediately liquifying stone and turning moss into acrid smoke. The mercenary glanced at the seemingly grievous wound from the corners of his eyes and let out a gravelly scoff. Rearing back he let loose a haymaker toward the articulated joints of the Hunter’s nearest leg… and nearly tripped over his own feet as he was snagged by the plasma blade still lodged in his shoulder. Flailing to regain his balance, he jerked his arm to try to free himself but with the blade embedded several centimetres into already cooling stone he found himself jerking about in an awkward tug of war.

Rock Toughness Save vs DC 25: 1d20+17 34 Move Action: Startle vs Hunter: 1d20+15-5 25 Standard Action: Unarmed Attack vs Hunter; All-Out Attack 2: 1d20+9 10 He's having a time.

Rock jogged across the uneven landscape at about the highest speed he could manage without doing a passable impression of seismic activity. Once he'd closed the distance he dropped his shoulder and threw himself into a somersault, tucking his blocky knees to his chest and becoming a massive, self-propelled boulder headed for the closer Hunter mech's legs. Unfortunately the highly telegraphed attack gave the suit's pilot ample time to simply step over Rock as he rolled by, the Hunter's massive gait clearing the stoney mercenary with surprising agility. Springing back up to his feet on the other side of his target Rock ground the flat edges of his jaws against each other in annoyance, exhaling a little puff of dust.

APPROVED

I think there’s a good argument for the established benefits of Temporal Inertia being covered under immunity to Temporal Effects so paying the difference would be a totally reasonable upgrade edit down the line, sure!