Gizmo

Guy Fawkes II Move Action: Auto-DC 20 Acrobatic Bluff with Skill Mastery vs. Dragonfly. Standard Action: Knife Attack. (1d20+14=17) That only hits if she's caught flat-footed. If so, DC 21. Either way, Dragonfly is up!

Shifting his stance to wrap his arms around Erin's midsection, Trevor stooped his considerable height enough to rest his chin on her collarbone from behind. "Maybe. But your doubles aside, my Erin is the one who can take on the Terminus and win. Wouldn't worry about differentiating." That was a victory he'd be feeling the rush from for a while, regardless of what other disasters might arise in the mean time. "If you've got a new identity in mind, though, you know you have my support."

"Mmh," Trevor murmured, tilting his head slightly to one side, "or the same mask with a different face behind it?" He was certainly no stranger to musing on the odd nature of identity and the personas of their dual lives. He offered Erin a wry look. "Hate to suggest covering your face, but I do worry about security." There were several schools of thought when it came to the division between civilian identities and codenames, but Midnight naturally favoured erring on the side of secrecy.

Blinking for a moment, Erik dropped his stance and turned to look at Willow. "Oh. Ha, yeah, fair question," he laughed, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. The swordsman had to admit that he'd developed a habit of fighting well outside of his probably weight class; that was the premise of this whole exercise in the first place. "Well, part of it is my... background. I missed out on some of the details, but the broad strokes is that my old man's side of the family is a long line of French swordsmen who juiced up on mystic juju. They went up against your traditional fireball-chucking wizard types, so anybody who lasted long enough to procreate was contributing to some pretty serious natural selection." It hadn't been particularly fast or efficient, but the end result was that Erik's physique was practically designed for his chosen profession. "Beyond aptitude, though, it's training. All the talent in the world doesn't get you out of putting in the hours."

Frank made exaggerated grumbling sounds as he shuffled off to pack away the various tools and materials he'd taken out for the final fitting. Trevor straightened from his reclined position and walked over to where Erin was testing out the fit of her new uniform. "Does look good," he restated, brushing a brief kiss on her cheek as she righted from adjusting her cuffs. With a slightly wider smile he admitted, "Take a little getting used to, though. Started thinking of 'Claremont blue and gold' as 'Wander blue and gold."

Trevor's expression might have indicated a reservation of judgement or even disinterest on most people, but for the habitually stoic young man it was practically beaming. "Very nice," he commended with a faint smile and nod. "Like the darker colours." Frank made a short noise around the pins held between his lips. "Know your audience, I always say," he drawled as sausage fingers placed the pins and the rest of his tools aside on a nearby workspace. "Well, this oughta tide you over for now, but I've got a couple notes for the other copies." Stronger materials or not, given the rate Erin went through uniforms, having a few spares had seemed wise. "More importantly, when're you going to let me make you another dress, hm?"

While Trevor Hunter leaned against a wall of the quaint tailor shop's back room, the portly but genial Frank Jr. made a few final alterations to Wander's new uniform. With their Claremont days officially behind them, the new outfit was something Trevor had intended to have ready for Erin immediately after graduation, but with the steady stream of crises that had followed, they'd only now managed to make it in to see the portly but genial friend of the family. Fortunately Frank had already had Erin's measurements and had a very nearly completed version ready and waiting when they arrived.

Jack of all Blades (33) Brimstone and Whetstone (1) Dark of the Wood (4) A Fairy Tale (5) Bend to the Tempest (12) Applied Physics (6) Interceptors - New Recruit (1) [ArchEvil] Terrible Bosses (2) [ArchEvil] Omnia Mutantur, Nihil Interit (2) Midnight II (31) Graduation Day: The Earth Died Screaming (10) Grauation Day: There Won't Be A Next Time (12) Graduation Day: Summa Cum Laude (4) Graduation Day: What You Leave Behind (3) [ArchEvil] Revalations (2) Vignette - U and I and Centery Brdge GM (10/2 = 5) Acorns, Axes and Apparel (5) World Tour: Welcome to the Real World (2) World Tour: Way To Go, Wendigo! (3) NPC (8/2 = 4) Jill O'Cure Interceptors - They're Finally Getting Married! (1) Acorns, Axes and Apparel (1) Applied Physics (5) Vince Applied Physics (1)

Crouching slightly to support his own weight, Jack ran the back of one hand across his mouth for a silent moment before looking up and snarling to Fulcrum, "Then you'd better work fast." Without further preamble, he launched forward in a blur of royal blue, a spike of white hot flame appearing in his fist too quickly for those without accelerated senses to watch it materialize from the sparks flying from the black armor of his target. The violent construct pierced those protective layers with a sickening sound of tearing and steaming metal. "We trusted you and you killed them!" Beneath his bandanna mask, the young man's face was contorted with rage as the fiery spike shifted into a curved slashing blade tinged at the edges with propane blue. If the mind control had stripped the swashbuckler of his affected joviality, this now was the embracing of a purpose forged over centuries of generations, a living weapon without peer. Slashes rained across Archeville's chest, peeling away armor and battering the body within. The furious assault only paused when a second blade, this one a translucent blue construct crackling with bioelectric power and massive in scale, crashed into the corrupted scientist, briefly knocking him back and out of the fencer's reach. Toward the back of the chaotic melee, Jill's hands buzzed with light and energy as she manifested a force field claymore the size of lamppost and brought it crashing down like a sledgehammer. The medic's face was tight with determination and arrested emotion, but she said nothing as the glowing blade lifted into the air for another attack. Shifting on the balls of his feet to coil his lithe frame for a renewed offensive, a cold, humourless smile touched her brother's lips. "'You know?' Cabrón, you don't know Jack."

Alright, let's do a thing. Jack of all Blades Move Action: Auto-DC 36 Feint with Skill Mastery and Fast Talk Standard Action: Energy Blade; Power Attack 5. (1d20+15=22) Surge: Standard Action. Standard Action: Energy Blade Flurry; Power Attack 5. (1d20+15=29) That's a DC 22 Drain Toughness followed by a DC 30 Toughness Save, then another DC 30 + up to 7 Autofire Toughness Save. Jill O'Cure Move Action: Auto-DC 25 Taunt with Skill Mastery Standard Action: Create Object for Damage (Rank 12 Area Attack) That's a DC 22 Reflex Save for half damage and a DC 27 Toughness Save.

A nearby map of the local public transit and a long list of times made it clear that it would be a simple enough matter to get to the edge of the campgrounds nearby their destination, as white and blue buses headed for other parts of the city rolled toward and away from the airport. It was also a simple enough matter to calculate that, as late in the day as they'd arrived, it would be getting dark by the time they made it even that far, and with their luggage in tow it made more sense to find accommodations and set off in the morning. While Eve may have done a good job of hiding any colour in her cool complexion, Becky's cheeks turned an immediate rosy hue at the French girl's proposition. "Oh! Ah, I mean... okay." The lean airport employee seemed to make a decision to throw caution to the wind, grabbing a pad of paper and quickly jotting down a few lines of information. "Right, um, there's a jump of hotels right near here, but I know this one has a bunch of rooms after a convention cancelled on them. There's a care service we have a contract with I can call, and if you weren't expecting a hike, there's a equipment store down there on the left." Becky pointed down the wide corridor lined with shops. "They jack up the prices, but it's worse if you try picking stuff up at the actual camp sites. And... there's my number, too." Blush renewing, she offered the paper to Eve with a sheepish smile. "I get off in half an hour."

Midnight II and Wander U and I and Centery Brdge Freedom City, North Bay With the Scarab and Arrowhawk off on their own assignments, Wander lost no time getting back to the stately manor in North Bay that she was currently calling her home base. She had to stop a few times to fight off some of the bizarre critters attacking the city, but today all the heroes of Freedom City were out in force and not too many seemed to be getting through the lines in North Freedom yet. How long that would continue was anyone's guess. Her first priority was to make sure that the Manor was secure, and after that they could get a tactical analysis of the situation and figure out what needed to be done. That was Midnight's strong suit, not hers. As she made a final leap from Kingston into North Bay, she picked up the phone again. "I'm coming in now," she told Trevor. "Be there in sixty seconds." "Opening the garage now," the clipped, precise response came over the line, the calm baritone accompanied by the faint sounds of typing and punctuated by the whir of motors. The second Hunter to take the mantle of Midnight didn't bother with the gates to the estate, given Erin's bounding trajectory, but the door to the sizable garage slid softly open while the floor descended into the subterranean base below. Despite their retro stylings, the bank of computer screens Midnight stood in front of, mask unfastened and hanging about his neck, was able to display most of city and the chaos spreading across it. A few dials turned caused several of the scenes to shift to the Centery Bridge shown from different angles, under siege and on the verge of collapse. Erin took a moment to hurry into the house itself and grab her uniform from her bedroom, pulling it on before running for the basement. It just felt better to be in uniform when everything around them seemed to be falling apart. She came to a stop next to Trevor and took a moment to study the monitors as well. "Looks bad," she observed. "Where do they need us first?" "Hnn. Fighting everywhere, but response time has been good," he noted, taking a brief moment to look over his shoulder to confirm that Erin was alright. He'd been understandably concerned when it had been revealed that her new employer was the mastermind behind this global attack. There would be time for careful sweeps for malicious nanites and mental scans courtesy of Sage later, for now it was enough that she was whole and beside him. "Robot squid destroyed center of bridge," he continued, indicating the grouping of monitors showing the Centery Narrows. "Rest is collapsing. We’re close." Erin nodded, looking towards the bridge. "Bridge collapses are tricky," she observed with the air of someone remembering personal experience. "We can get the people off, but I'm not sure about the bridge. We don't have Edge with us, so we'll have to do it the hard way. You got equipment that can help stabilize the bridge til the crisis is over?" "It hurts you have to ask," Trevor replied with the faintest ghost of a smile, stepping over to another section of the massive bank of controls and pulling down a lever with an audible shifting of mechanical components. As it slid into place, light abruptly lit up further back into the Manor, illuminating a large helicopter, unsurprisingly detailed in shadowy matte black. The craft was one of the largest vehicles in the smoothly carved cavern, two sets of blades resting on the ends of slightly inclined wings, while a third adorned the tail. "Redbird is already getting settled." As if in response to those words, the morphic molecule paint on the sides of the great aircraft rippled, forming stylized representations of a predatory bird's wings in dark sangria. "Integration successful. I am ready to deploy," the Furion artificial intelligence announced, its voice playing though the helicopter’s ample speakers. Despite everything Erin had seen Trevor come up with in response to the needs of a situation, her mouth dropped open a little when she saw the helicopter. "I guess I should've expected this, after you already told me about the flying saucer. We load that up with steel cable, then all you’ve got to do is tell me where to anchor it. No problem." Still shaking her head a little, she headed for the storage room and began carrying out spools of cable, two at a time, and loading them into the helicopter. "Your grandpa good to hold the fort down here?" she asked. "Feed the cable into the harpoons," a gruff but perfectly articulated voice noted from off to the teenagers' right. It was hard to say how long Travis Hunter, the original Midnight, had been standing there; even in his advancing years there were some habits and skills that hadn't deserted him. "Damn bridge. Think it was made of crêpe paper." The old man stamped his cane in annoyance. Erin startled when the voice came from nowhere, reaching for her bat, but managed to check herself before actually drawing it. It wasn't the first time Travis had managed to sneak up on her despite his age, and what was she supposed to say about it? That was the price to pay for living with the reigning kings of stealthiness, even temporarily. She hoisted the spools into the copter as though they weighed nothing, then nodded to Travis. "You'd think they'd make them stronger after the first few times they fall down." She hopped into the cargo bay of the helicopter, noting the first aid kit and rescue equipment with a nod. "Looks like this is everything we should need," she observed, feeding the ends of the cables into what were obviously aftermarket harpoon launchers. "Let’s get going." She didn’t ask whether Trevor or Redbird would be flying the copter, and wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know. Midnight fastened his mask, nodded briefly to his grandfather and took a seat behind the aircraft's controls. While he grasped the yoke and flicked the switches that started the great rotors spinning it was clear his extradimensional copilot was doing a considerable amount to help, as several of the controls moved and adjusted on their own. A significant ways from the Hunter estate, the rocky cliff wall at the edge of the Centery Narrows split in two and slid apart, revealing a carefully constructed tunnel. With a surprisingly quiet thrum, the great helicopter slid out into the night, the stone walls rumbling seamlessly back into place. Erin breathed a sigh of relief as they slipped into the open air and stopped with all the pitch-darkness and the jouncing. She didn't like to fly that much either, come to think of it. All secondary considerations faded away, however, as the bridge came into view. Far away on the peninsula of Midtown there were signs of an ongoing battle, but here there were only the alarmed cries of civilians still trapped on the bridge, and the fearful creaking of stressed cables and pylons as the two unsupported halves tried to hold themselves upright. "I'm going to clear the civilians!" she called to Midnight. "Start placing the cables, and yell when you need me to drag something!" Grabbing the first aid kit, she slid open the cargo door and leapt gracefully from the helicopter to the precarious footing far below. Taking a brief moment to watch Wander's nimble landing, Midnight narrowed his eyes beneath his featureless black mask and smoothly jockeyed the helicopter into position. With the press of a muted red stud, precisely aimed harpoons fired in opposite directions, biting into the remnants of the bridge on either side and trailing woven steel behind them. Another button disengaged the cable from the helicopter itself, leaving the gleaming line taut across the chasm. Repeating the process, he gradually replaced the missing section of the bridge with a web of lines. It wouldn't hold the crumbling structure together on its own, but it would buy them enough time to get everyone safely away. Wander moved quickly once she was on the bridge, shifting debris and righting a couple of overturned cars. She could only hope that no cars had gone into the water, as it was surely already too late to save them, even if she could've found them in the dark. There were plenty of people who did need help, people who were very grateful to see any hero come to save them. She passed the first aid kit to a woman who said she was a nurse, and herded civilians through the fallen pillars and buckled roadway to the comparative safety of the shore. When she’d gotten the North Bay side fully cleared, she jumped the gap and headed to the Bayview side of the span. As she went, she looked to the sky, watching the black helicopter as Midnight carefully wove the bridge together with a spiderweb of steel. She took a moment to be damn grateful he was up there before turning her mind back to the task at hand. The crumbling materials one of the harpoons had embedded itself into finally collapsed into the water as Wander evacuated the last of the trapped commuters, the sharp metallic twang of the cable going abruptly slack heralding a chain reaction that brought the center of the bridge to ruin, leaving only the sections immediately next to the shorelines. Leaving reconstruction for another day, Midnight flicked through the reports coming over the radio as he brought the helicopter down to hover near Erin's location. The city’s heroes seemed to finally be making progress pushing the aquatic invaders back, though the information available was scarce and disjointed. Erin settled one last somewhat-injured civilian into the back of a pickup truck for a trip to the nearest hospital, then took a look at the scene. The bridge was clear, well, what was left of it, anyway. The injured were being cared for, the others were making for home as quickly as they could. There were no monsters immediately visible, and the noise of fighting was far away and dying down. With a last wave to the folks she'd helped, she leapt from the truck and raced for the copter, jumping neatly into the open door as it hovered fifteen feet in the air. "Nice shooting," she told Trevor with a small smile, settling into the copilot seat. Extending a thumb and forefinger into the vague shape of a pistol, the masked vigilante gave her a subtle, wry salute as he lifted the helicopter back into the air and pointed them toward the center of the city.

Diehard Toughness Save vs. DC 22. (1d20+7=12) Staggered and Stunned! For those keeping track, Diehard currently has: -3 Attack, -7 Defense, -2 Strength, -6 Dexterity, -1 Constitution, no Dodge Bonus and can only take a single move or standard action per turn. His total Defense is 7. Whee! 21 - The Daka Man - Uninjured - Bound, Helpless 18 - Thrude - Uninjured - 3HP, Raging, All-Out Attack 2 18 - Diehard - Uninjured - Fatigued, -1 Constitution, Entangled, Charged, Stunned, Staggered 18 - Khania - Uninjured 18 - Willow - Uninjured - 1HP 17 - Guy Fawkes II - Uninjured 17 - Dragonfly - Uninjured - 2HP 17 - Jill O'Cure - Uninjured 16 - Fulcrum - Uninjured - 3HP, -1 Constitution 9 - Heka - Uninjured 8 - Blackfire - Uninjured - Bound, Helpless

The attendant, a reedy brunette closer to Corbin's height than Eve's and sporting a uniform that did her otherwise attractive features no favours, perked up noticeably as the petite telepath addressed her. The Orléans accent marked Eve as much more recognizably interesting that the vaguely unusual behaviour of her companions, and Becky, as her nametag proclaimed her, straightened slightly even as she looked a little sheepish. "Oh, no, sorry! It's just that I was pretty curious about-- People don't usually leave maps for us to pass on like that, right?" she stumbled over herself in explanation. "There's some local legends about a cabin around that spot. Y'know, goofy campfire stuff. 'And he had a hook!'" Imitating an overdramatic narrator, she crooked one finger with mock menace before self-consciously using the same hand to tuck hair behind her ear. "Gave me the heebie jeebies as a kid." Studying the map as he and the others stepped outside, Corbin found that they were going to have to catch a cab or bus to begin with unless the flight capable youths wanted to reveal themselves by traveling under their own power. Even then, following the winding trail laid out for them was probably going to be easiest from the ground.

Erik was a little surprised Willow had never heard that particular idiom before, and briefly wondered just how little she'd actually spoken to humans over the millennia, but mostly he was pleased to have found an explanation that worked for her. "Okay, so the trick here is that we want to block and get the other guy's arm out of the way to open him up for attack," he continued the less, snapping one of his arms up in a curving motion that ended with his forearm horizontal at eye level. He let out a sharp grunt as he did so, pooling his strength in his chest before sending it outward. "You don't need to out-muscle your opponent, just nudge them a bit and let their own momentum do the rest."

What a bunch of shmot guys! Corbin is familiar enough with North American history to have a firm grasp of Thunder Bay's history, first as fur trading posts, bolstered by the Canadian Pacific Railway and eventually amalgamated into the current city in 1970. It's now a sort of hub for Northern Ontario, with all the services, government buildings, schools and so on that smaller, more remote communities might not have themselves. More immediately relevant, he knows that Northern Canada has had a reputation (in-setting) for the supernatural for centuries; not flashy, fireball slinging type stuff, but beasties that shouldn't exist. Most of that was considered folk tales for a long time, but in today's increasingly metahuman world, those stories are given a little more credence, and Thunder Bay is right along the Southern edge of that supposed zone of strangeness. Without an Arcana check, however, he doesn't know any specifics, or which stories may have more truth to them than others. I'm assuming Sharl has access to any information about Canada, Thunder Bay, the airport and the surrounding area that he could dig up on Wikipedia, to start with. He knows Canadian money is pretty colours, that Tim Horton's is a coffee shop chain named after a hockey player, and so on. How much context he has for any of that is up to you, AA. If he's looking for any references to the specific location on the map, he'll find that it's a in an area fairly popular for camping and hiking, dotted with the occasional cabin. He'll also find that that specific area has become less popular in the past fifteen years or so, though it doesn't seem to say anywhere just why that might be. Every few years someone goes missing while out there, true, but usually tourists who aren't familiar with the winter weather and the woods in general. Sage gets an Auto-30 Sense Motive against the information desk attendant, and can easily tell that she's a little spooked. She's only maybe a year or two older than they are, probably working at the airport during her summer vacation. She's not terrified by the location on the map or anything, just the sort of hesitation even perfectly rational people get when they're about to walk under a ladder or jinx themselves. It doesn't seem important enough for her to say anything to them unbidden, but there are some definite heebie jeebies at work.

Your result for The Fantasy RPG Class Test... The Ninja Sennin 10% Strength, 5% Bloodlust, 38% Intelligence, 42% Spirit, 28% Vitality and 57% Agility! Ninja Sennin are able to become one with nature and absorb the energy of the world around them to enhance their strength, stealth, and agility. By becoming one with nature, the Ninja Sennin are able to feel, connect with, and channel the lifeforce of all living creatures surrounding them, thus raising their senses, powers, and abilities to godly levels. Ninja Sennin often have some skill with the basic elements though certainly not as much as the spellcaster classes. Usually, Ninja Sennin have a natural affinity for one or two different elements and will try to train those exclusively. However, by combining their weak elemental magic with their own energy and the energy of the world around them, they can create devastatingly powerful techniques and spells that no other class can perform. Their stealthiness and formidable power may make them seem like dark and ferocious foes, but deep down they are often truly benevolent and wise; however, Ninja Sennin that cannot control any darkness and hate within them will certainly fall into madness and chaos. Those who can master this darkness will know what it means to be truly alive and at peace with the world. Congratulations on reaching this high class!

Feel free to make any Knowledge, Gather Information etc. checks you think would be relevant!

The growing group of young metahumans and aliens found the flight to Canada considerably less eventful than the one to India, but their reception was equally less warm. There was no one to greet the four teenagers as they disembarked at Thunder Bay International Airport after a brief stop over on the west coast, walking through the long corridors of shopping establishments before finding a local map and a set of hastily scrawled directions left for them at the information desk. The path marked for them in ballpoint pen left the city and traveled northward, into what looked like a wooded area. The desk attendant's sunny smile flickered briefly as she glanced at the location of the broad X indicating the route's destination, but she was evidently too polite to say anything unbidden. At the bottom of the written direction, on a page that had clearly been torn out of a journal, the scratchy penmanship finished, DON'T stray into the woods. And thanks. --DS

Thurde's mighty blow crashed into the alien princess with crushing force, shattering the ice that were restraining her. With the bonds taking the brunt of the force, Khania's superhuman resilience was able to shrug off the rest of the attack, and quickly recovered from her airborne tumble and surged against the rain and wind toward the one-eyed goddess, eyes glowing with furious red energy. "WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW OF WRATH, EARTHLING?! I AM THE CROWN PRINCESS OF ZULTAS AND THE STELLAR KHANATE! WORLDS FAR GRANDER THAN THIS MUDBALL BOW AT THE MENTION OF MY NAME! I AM KHANIA, AND YOUR DOOM!" With that, she launched twin beams of burning light squarely into Thrude's stomach, knocking the wind out of the daughter of storms for a moment. "Great. Stereo," Blackfire groaned as he continued to struggle futilely against his icy prison. Nearby, Diehard's eye went so winde they looked as though they were about to burst from his skull as the disoriented and mentally unbalanced martial artist similarly failed to break free of frozen rain pinning his arms to his sides. With an inarticulate scream, he charged the assembled heroes, rushing past Fawkes to make a running tackle at Willow, missing by a wide margin.

Khania Toughness Save vs. DC 27. (1d20+10=27) ...huh. 21 - The Daka Man - Uninjured - Bound, Helpless 18 - Thrude - Uninjured - 2HP, Raging, All-Out Attack 2 18 - Diehard - Uninjured - Fatigued, -1 Constitution, Entangled 18 - Khania - Uninjured - Entangled 18 - Willow - Uninjured - 2HP 17 - Guy Fawkes II - Uninjured 17 - Dragonfly - Uninjured - 2HP 17 - Jill O'Cure - Uninjured 16 - Fulcrum - Uninjured - 2HP, -1 Constitution 9 - Heka - Uninjured 8 - Blackfire - Uninjured - Bound, Helpless Diehard Okay, Fatigued and Entangled mean -3 Attack, -3 Defense, -2 Strength, -6 Dexterity... He's pretty messed up, folks. But he's also insane, so! Move Action: Running against the wind like crazy! Standard Action: Charge Willow like crazy! Unarmed Attack. (1d20+11=12) A Natural 1! He misses, obviously, and now has an extra -2 to Defense. Khania Fiat: Khania breaks out of her Snare. Fulcrum and Thrude each get an HP. Standard Action: Eye Beams; Power Attack 5. (1d20+7=26) That's a DC 28 Toughness Save for Thrude, then Willow is up! 21 - The Daka Man - Uninjured - Bound, Helpless 18 - Thrude - Uninjured - 3HP, Raging, All-Out Attack 2 18 - Diehard - Uninjured - Fatigued, -1 Constitution, Entangled, Charged 18 - Khania - Uninjured 18 - Willow - Uninjured - 2HP 17 - Guy Fawkes II - Uninjured 17 - Dragonfly - Uninjured - 2HP 17 - Jill O'Cure - Uninjured 16 - Fulcrum - Uninjured - 3HP, -1 Constitution 9 - Heka - Uninjured 8 - Blackfire - Uninjured - Bound, Helpless

The faint ghost of a smirk was too slight a gesture to carry over the phone, but Erin heard it anyway in the tone of Trevor's flat snort. "Most tech in here was installed before Archeville was born." The equipment in the Midnight Manor was considerably more advanced than what should have been available in the time of its original owner, but then Travis Hunter had spent a considerable amount of time working with Dr. Tomorrow. "Fooled you for a few minutes. Fooled everyone for much longer," he pointed out. His girlfriend's strong sense of personal responsibility was one of her most attractive features, but guilt would do them no good just then. It wasn't clear if Archeville had revealed his true nature or been overtaken by some outside force, but the coordination of the planet-wide assault suggested careful, long term planning. "What do you need from me?" Erin seemed to have been caught up in the center of events as they unfolded, and the young tactician deferred to her better view of the larger picture.

"Must be Friday," a calm baritone replied over the phone. Trevor Hunter had made his way down the hidden staircase behind the ornate grandfather clock and into another underground lair as soon as the aging but still fully functional monitoring systems housed there had alerted him to the broadcast. It didn't take much to recognize the distinctive silhouettes standing behind the oddly piscine speaker, particularly given the statuesque nature of Erin's sometime-mentor, Fulcrum. Mind control radically altered the equation of any attempted conquest, he reflected. "Hnn. Robotic squid surfacing in the harbour," he reported, balancing the cellphone between his shoulder and cheek as he tapped precisely at the keyboard before him, viewing the scene from multiple angles. "Large force of fish creatures. Incursions by... Grue drones? Modified with multiple powers, worldwide, teleporting out of..." Scanning the panicked reports coming in from all corners of the globe, his eyes widened in the first physical sign of concern. "Where are you now?"

As per the News post and using the Midnight Manor: Midnight makes the DC20 Notice Check with Skill Mastery. He can also see what's going on elsewhere in the city using the Manor's monitoring systems: I'm assuming the Computers function lets him see public news reports coming in from around the world, as well.

Jack of all Blades Initiative. (1d20+9=17) Jill O'Cure Initiative. (1d20+4=8)