Gizmo

As expected, Mona quickly distracted the overly curious from the rest of the group, and if the eight foot tall heroine had some eccentric friends, well, that was hardly surprising. "Jeans are probably a good call," Ellie agreed, trying to gauge the goddess and dryad's approximate measurements as she glanced between them and the racks of clothes thoughtfully. "Should try to get a solid week's worth of outfits for each of you by the end of the day." Seeing the more subdued of the pair keeping largely to herself, the short haired girl walked over to stand next to Willow, looking at the fabrics the ancient guardian was examining for a silent moment. Eventually, she attempted, "So, ah, been settling into the brownstone alright?"

"We could use the door, but you seem to be forgetting the part where were awesome instead," Jack noted with mock pomp while his sister did a poor job of concealing how taken she was with their hostess's furry companion. The fencer scratched the light stubble on his chin with one thumb as Equinox and Nick discussed possible explanations for Ms. Smith's unease and the odd happenings in and around Haymarket. After a short pause he gave Jill a sidelong glance. "It means 'a really bad smell'," the young woman supplied obligingly. Making a sound on comprehension, Jack turned back to the others. "Well, don't normally work outside the city, but this sounds easy. Get in, work a little mojo to track the big nasty down, perforate it a bit and humbly let the townsfolk throw some sort of produce-centric festival in our honor. I'm thinking rhubarb, is that in season right now?"

Jill had remained silent throughout the exchange with Bee-Keeper with some difficulty, concerned that she would be tempted to speak too frankly to the frustrating madman. As the situation suddenly erupted into violence, however, she rushed to Hayzel's side with the speed of reflex and a string of curses of surprising fury. "You featherbrained idiot!" she cried as she withdrew a roll off clean bandages from her crimson jacket and did what she could to support the winged hero's weight. "Do you even have magic angel regeneration whatever right now?! Gah, don't touch it, is this a pencil?!" Despite her string of indignant words, the young woman's gloved hands worked with sureness and precision, wrapping the bandages around Hayzel's torso and the makeshift weapon, sealing the wound and putting firm pressure around it while she checked his chiseled face for signs of shock. Without looking away she called irritably to the would-be assassin, "'Snitches get stitches'? Seriously? I've jumped rope to more intimidating rhymes than that. And your aim is lousy!"

Alright! Well, with Skill Mastery, that Taunt is automatically DC 25.

"Hey, everybody likes you because of the awkward-cute," Ellie reminded her girlfriend with a brief smirk as she hurried after Trudy. "We might be able to work with this." Ducking into the shop after the melodramatic goddess, the shorter woman gave the startled cashier at the front of the store a winning smile. "She's mighty mighty, amirite? Brick... house, haha!" Getting a little closer she added more quietly, "Bear with her, she's German. You know how it is." Turning back to the statuesque blonde, she gestured to several racks of pants. "C'mon, we'll have to try some stuff on to figure out what you like the fit of."

Are you just handwaving the damage Hayzel took, AA? Unless he's dazed, stunned, unconscious or dying, there's nothing a Medicine check can actually do for him. If it's one of the first three, that's a full round action, if it's the latter it's only a standard action. Either way she can easily make the check with Skill Mastery, but if it's only a standard action, she can still get a Taunt in.

Initiative. (1d20+4=21)

Midnight turned off his sonic dampener just before Wander's bat cracked into the alternate Breakdown with an audible crunch. Leaving the others to see to whatever was left of the would-be Annihilist, the young man stepped calmly back over to the reality bomb and set to work. It was a much easier task now that he was familiar with the design, and in little time he had another cosmic lightning rod safely tucked away. "Should dispose of the remains," he noted to one of the scientists who'd been trapped inside when the fight had broken out.

The Western Badlands The priest looked out into the audience as the last of his parishioners filtered into the simple stone church. Though much rebuilding had begun in recent years, this was still one of the most blighted lands, and the sturdy building was one of the few to survive, rows of faded red seats in a wide arc around the stage, each row of creaking folding chairs placed slightly higher than the one before so that all could see the speaker at the front of the room. All wore tattered, hooded cloaks against the blasting sands and unrelenting sun outside, but in the church it was dim and cool. There were enough seats for perhaps ten score, but even so the aisles were filled with those standing or sitting on the steps. It did the priest's heart good to see them gathered so as a hush fell over the crowd and he began to speak. "In the beginning, there were the People of the West, and they were much besieged by monsters and devils and the wicked among their own number," the bearded man began, looking out into the crowd and meeting the eyes of his flock. "And so they prayed to the gods for deliverance, but the gods were occupied with their own battles and wars, and only one heard the People of the West and came to their aid: the Trickster." Waiting for the murmurs to die down again with a faint smile, he continued. "The Trickster knew this would be a great task, and so called his sister Death unto him, for she was the patron of doctors and other fools. He then went to each of the elements and with his silver tongue fooled each into his service: fire and air and magic itself. Only ancient Earth Mother was too clever to fall for the Trickster's ways, but she was taken with his charms and agreed to aid him even so." The brought forward a few chuckles from the younger men in the crowd, who were quickly quieted by the elbows of the neighbours. "With his sword arm strengthened, the Trickster now called allies to him. The Lightning Messenger of the East and the Thunder Beast of the North. From the South, the God of the High Noon and his bride the Crescent Moon." Each title reverberated in the church, and the priest could see wonder on the more youthful faces before him and soft, muttered prayers from the elders. "From the prison pits of the great Titans to the transcendent digital fields where all our tales are recorded for all time, he called those who would join him in arms to his side and together they were mighty." The priest clenched a fist before him, his robes flapping with the movement. After a silent moment, he lowered his arm and continued more slowly. "But the Trickster defied the other gods once too often, and made many enemies as well. There came a day when his allies were waylaid and distracted, and the elements deserted him, all but Earth Mother. And when the Trickster's words could do no more good and his foes aligned before him, he fought bravely still! But there were too many and he was but one, though a god, and he was struck down." The church was utterly without sound for several long beats before the priest spoke again. "And as he lay dying, the Trickster saw a vision of what was to come, of the trials of the People of the West, whom he had promised to protect, of the horror and the death and the suffering. And though he was a Trickster, his promise was his bond and his rage grew into a towering flame and he said to the Fates, 'This shall not be!' And on that day, the Trickster was reborn a God of WAR!" With that last word, the priest threw his cloak to the floor of the stage, revealing armor that appeared crafted from wood and vine that twisted slowly about his limbs, still alive. "And he called unto him his warrior apostles, and they numbered five tens and two, and their strength was terrible! The Trickster of War bade them kneel and said thus that those who lived by his sword and his alone would never die, but be filled with his power!" The bearded man raised his fists into the air and they were suddenly surrounded by flickering blue flame, while the same tongues of unnatural fire licked about his growing plate mail. "And Earth Mother saw their strength and gifted unto the apostles living weapons and shields, and Death herself taught them the killing arts! And the other gods, in their halls and temples, trembled to see this!" The excitement in the crowd built slowly until the priest had to shout to be heard over the low roar. "WHO ARE YOU?" As one, the answer came in hundreds of voices, a sea of fists raised into the air. "WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE FIFTY-TWO! WE ARE THE PEOPLE OF THE WEST!" "WHAT ARE YOU?" the priest cried back, the blue flames around his right hand growing hungrily and taking on the clear shape of a long, straight blade with a curving handguard. One by one, the raised fists in the audience lit up with power, some with fire but others crackling with electricity, glowing with pale green light or pulsing an angry black. "WE ARE HIS ARMY! WE ARE HIS SWORD REFORGED!" The priest smiled, then, wide and genuine as he instructed his flock. "Gird yourselves, brothers! Take up your arms, sisters! The People of the West shall take back their lands! The Army of the Trickster goes to war!"

Not long after Nick arrived below, the sound a fabric flapping in the wind overhead drew the eye upward to a pair of silhouettes in royal blue and crimson swinging from building to building on grappling lines with acrobatic ease. Jack and Jill landed lightly on the side of Equinox's apartment building, crouching nimbly on either side of her window and peering in at the unruly stacks of books and magical equipment strewn all about. "Sheesh, and I thought my room was a mess," Jill remarked quietly. "Your room is a mess," Jack retorted as he rapped on the glass with one gloved knuckle.

"Festering? Well now I wish I'd gone with my Janine Melnitz impression," Jack sighed in exaggerated annoyance. "Hmm? Oh, that's just my sister. Cut it out, Equinox needs a hand." "Then let go of my foot," his younger sibling insisted through clenched teeth. "Oh, right." Releasing the limb in question, he turned back to the intercom. "We'll be right over, Noxie, sit tight." Tapping a button to hang up the call, he jogged out into the hallway. "Get changed quick, she wouldn't have called if it wasn't big."

"Hnh, silver on green is slick," LaMarr noted approvingly as he accepted the card and turned it over to examine it from different angles. It occurred to him that printing on non-white cardstock probably ratcheted the cost of producing additional cards in the required quantities, but didn't suppose that would be much obstacle for the young heiress. "Ah, wait, I can put it in my phone's contacts," he recalled, snapping the fingers of his free hand in realization before digging a simple cell phone out of his pocket. It clearly wasn't a true smart phone, but it did have a fair sized LED display, leading the aging educator to begin navigating its menus. "Fool buttons are too small..." he muttered as he squinted downward; indeed, the keypad had certainly not been designed with someone of LaMarr's proportions in mind.

In the training facilities of the Interceptors' underground base, the sibling duo of Jack of all Blades and Jill O'Cure were in the Wreck Room, practicing hand to hand combat. As the latter let loose a high snap kick, the intercom on the wall let out a sound like an antique rotary phone ringing as Vince routed and incoming phone call to the only members of the team actually present. Catching his sister's foot in one hand, Jack continued to hold it at shoulder height as he walked over to take the call, forcing Jill to hop after him with a string of particularly scathing expletives that could be heard in the background as he pressed the button to answer. "Interceptors, bad guys thwarted in thirty minutes or less or your pizza is free. Ask about our two for one sidekick special!"

Metamagi awareness barking a shrill warning split instants before the first demon appeared, Jack spun on his foot and slid backward, fragments of bark bouncing off of his greatcoat as he raised his left arm in a shielding motion. Even as he recovered, the second demon was upon them, sending Equinox flying backward with brutal force. "Dammit," the swashbuckler swore, feeling the weak flickering of the witch's protective magics even without taking his eyes from the advancing monsters. Immediately throwing their previous strategy out the window, he squared his shoulders and slipped one booted foot backward into a ready stance. Springing forward, he drew as much fire from the clawed abomination as he dared, causing it to rear back as his delicate rapier flared into a roaring, two-handed falchion. With a roar, Jack launched himself into the air and brought the blazing blade over his head then down a first brutal slash. "That... wasn't... nice," he intoned, punctuating each word with another lightning fast slice, igniting through leathery wings and tearing across red hide and empty black eyes, patches of dripping acid hissing at they caught fire. "Take a timeout!" As he swung his weapon in a final, diagonal blow, he willed the flame to be more solid, anger fueling his swordarm as he caught the demon in its center of mass and sent it tumbling backward into it's dragon like comrade. The two collided in a screeching heap, fire and acid splashing against each other angrily. A considerable amount of energy expended, Jack let his sword reform at its regular size, cracking his neck as he eyed the approach of further horrors. "Hope you're getting your second wind back there, Noxie," he called, setting his jaw.

(17:41:35) Ecalsneerg: Oh god. I've accidentally used a demon build which could feasibly resist Jack's Bluff (17:41:39) Ecalsneerg is gooood (17:43:50) Gizmo: (17:44:08) Ecalsneerg: Resist Distract DC 36 and Taunt DC 31 (1d20+20=29, 1d20+20=21) You win, Gizmo. For now *glares* (17:44:32) Gizmo: (17:44:52) Ecalsneerg: You better hope this thing goes down in one hit (17:45:17) Ecalsneerg: Otherwise it's Skill Mastery means you're going to have to stop Move Action taunting, or actually roll (17:46:08) Gizmo: If that demon build up on the boards somewhere, Ecal? (17:46:31) Ecalsneerg: Shiny happy demons laughing (17:46:49) Ecalsneerg: Shiny happy demons holding taaaaaalons! (17:47:04) Gizmo: Upped in PL, I assume? (17:47:37) Ecalsneerg: Giz: actually, no, but they're not Minions (17:47:56) Ecalsneerg: Which means... ROLLING (17:49:03) Gizmo: Ah, well, fair enough. (17:49:03) Quinn: They see you rollin', you hatin'... (17:49:12) Ecalsneerg: Jack's Autofire extra extends to his Strength bonus, right? (17:49:15) Quinn: Sorry, had to make that gag. (17:49:20) Gizmo: It does not! (17:49:29) Gizmo: That stuff's expensive! (17:49:35) Ecalsneerg: So the Autofire bonus caps at +7... thank lord (17:49:42) Ecalsneerg: Quinn: I hate that song so much (17:50:00) Gizmo: AP Energy Sword Flurry 7 (Damage, Power Feats: Improved Critical (18-20), Mighty, Variable Descriptor 2 [Any Energy], Drawbacks: Limited [Available, Concentrated Energy Types], Extras: Autofire 3) [31PP] (17:50:05) Ecalsneerg: Unless it is actually satire, then it'll become merely average (17:50:56) Gizmo: 7PP for the Damage, 4PP for the Power Feats/Drawback, 21PP for the Autofire.( 17:51:04) Ecalsneerg: Weee (17:51:14) Quinn: I know there's a Tabletop filk version of that song somewhere... (17:51:17) Ecalsneerg: Arrowhawk has Autofire on all his Strength (17:51:25) Gizmo: Yeah, well. (17:51:47) Ecalsneerg: This could have all been avoided had Jack not been magical (17:51:55) Ecalsneerg: Otherwise they'd be Impervious (17:52:11) Gizmo: Once I hit Platinum, I'll buy off some of Ellie's Sidekick ranks again and maybe think about putting another 9PP into it for the remaining Autofire. (17:52:21) Ecalsneerg: I'd not bother, really (17:52:29) Ecalsneerg: He can already blender up pretty much anything (17:53:18) Gizmo: It'd give him more to stunt from is the main reason. (17:54:40) Ecalsneerg: *grumbles about failing saves by 13* (17:54:45) Ecalsneerg: Wanna inflict Knockback? (17:55:11) Gizmo: Can he knock it... into one of the other demons? (17:56:13) Ecalsneerg: He hasn't got the distance for it (17:56:44) Gizmo: Not even the fire demon? (17:57:04) Gizmo: Ah well. Still, back would be good, since he's trying to hold them off temporarily. (17:57:25) Ecalsneerg: That'd work, but you'd need to wait until Shaen comes back unless you want the attack bonus used for this to potentially be horribly wrong (17:57:57) Ecalsneerg: See, it says knocking things into other things is resolved as a slam attack, but that's... about all the rules say. So I'm inclined to say ranged attack bonus (17:57:57) Gizmo: SHAAAAAEEEEEAN... (17:58:35) Ecalsneerg: Because IMO the skill needed for +20 with a sword is not the same skill as +20 to play baseball with semi-conscious demons (17:59:30) Gizmo: That's fair. (18:00:10) Gizmo: Jack does still have +7 ranged attack, so it's doable. (18:00:14) Ecalsneerg: I'm also working under the assumption that Autofire doesn't add to Knockback because otherwise the distances just get silly (18:00:40) Gizmo: Well, it wouldn't, since logically only the last hit could be pushing it back. (18:01:07) Ecalsneerg: But yeah, fiery guy is in reach (18:01:44) Gizmo: Heh. Don't suppose that acid is... flammable. (18:02:01) Ecalsneerg: Dude, they've all got Aura attacks (18:02:41) Ecalsneerg: Well, the acid demon has his one up... (18:02:50) Gizmo: Good enough! (18:02:56) Ecalsneerg: Either way, if you hit, flaming guy takes damage and acid burns (18:03:08) Gizmo: Let's do this. (18:03:21) Ecalsneerg: Let's... plaaaaaaaaaay baaaaaaall! (18:04:23) Gizmo: So, I'm rolling... what? (18:04:27) Ecalsneerg: As a Scot, I can now safely say the closest I've been to playing baseball is over the internet with a Canadian playing a French-Hispanic hitting a demon into another demon with a magical flaming sword. (18:04:44) Gizmo: You say that like it's a bad thing. (18:04:48) Ecalsneerg: You just need an attack roll. The DCs and stuff are all just functions of your Knockback result (18:04:53) Gizmo: Ranged, but does the sword specialization come into effect? (18:04:59) Ecalsneerg: Namely, rank 4 (18:05:06) Ecalsneerg: I'm going to say no to sword specialisation (18:05:45) Gizmo: Well, nuts. That's gonna take a reroll. (18:05:48) Ecalsneerg: (Well, the knockback was rank 10, but they're quite beefy) (18:06:06) Ecalsneerg: If you miss, he's still gonna hit a tree (18:06:16) Ecalsneerg: Although you can re-roll if you want (18:06:57) Gizmo: HP reroll. (1d20+7=27) (18:07:17) Ecalsneerg: ... did you just critically hit a demon with another demon (18:07:34) Gizmo: That's what I call... (18:07:36) Gizmo: 8-) (18:07:41) Gizmo: ...a grand slam. (18:07:44) Gizmo: YEEEAAAH

Knock the acid demon back INTO the fire demon. (1d20+7=9) HP reroll. (1d20+7=27) That'll work.

"Hah," LaMarr chuckled in a resounding bass rumble. "Just wandering around at night seems to pan out more often than it really should, frankly," he admitted with a smile that tugged on the corners of his beard. "Course, we set ourselves up with a toll-free number, so the crime came to us." He shook his head slowly, eyes unfocusing slightly. "1-800 numbers were actually pretty new at the time. You'd think Jav would've been the one to come up with the idea, but Yelena was convinced it was going to be the next big thing. 'They can dial a word instead of a number', she said, 'so easy even a child could do it!' When the sister with the robot arm starts talking 'bout the future, you give her the benefit of the doubt."

Okay, sorry for the delay. I was trying to figure out some clever way of having Jack cover Equinox for a turn, but she's too far away for Interpose after that knockback and he can't stunt enough Deflect or Reflective Impervious to be particularly useful. So! This is assuming he can speed up Distract to a move action with a -5 penalty. Jack of all Blades Move Action: Auto-DC 31 Distract vs. Fire Demon. Standard Action: Energy Blade Flurry. (1d20+20=35) That's with the Autofire, natch. EDIT: Okay, so Fast Distract is out, so: Standard Action: Auto-DC 36 Distract vs. Fire Demon. Move Action: Auto-DC 31 Taunt vs. Acid Demon. Extra Effort: Surge. Standard Action: Energy Blade Flurry vs. Acid Demon. (1d20+20=35)

Letting out a long breath, Ellie stepped over to drape her arm over Mara's shoulders as they walked. "Thanks for coming, muñequita," she murmured quietly. "This might be a long day." Raising her voice a little, she turned her head to address Thrude. "She's got a point. Just... try to at least downplay the goddessosity, that's all I'm asking." The Asgardian's bombastic personality was actually starting to grow on her; she had a way of making even routine tasks exciting and was surprisingly open-minded and accommodating for someone coming from a radically different culture. Willow was a bit more of a mystery to the young woman, who hadn't had much opportunity to speak with the ancient dryad. Partly because it's tough to come up with a conversation starter that isn't 'So, I hear you're having fantastic sex with my brother', she admitted inwardly. Still, since neither of the recent additions were directly familiar with the need for a civilian identity, or even the concept, it occurred to her that an explanation might be in order. "Look at it like this: most of us have friends and family without any powers, and if the bad guys we cheese off day to day knew who we were and where to find them, it'd be really, really bad. Even if you just want to be able to go out and do normal stuff now and then, it's good to be able to avoid drawing too much attention."

LaMarr gave Eve a few moments to absorb his brief retelling, sipping from his mug calmly. The years had given him some perspective and objectivity regarding his many tribulations, though some still hurt much more than others. He'd found that the scope of his experiences tended to have a not inconsiderable effect on more youthful listeners who were willing to hear him. "Well, that's the short version, naturally," he noted finally, offering the archer a small smile. "Left out the boring bits. Hmm. Well, tell me this: do you have an idea what you're most keen to learn?"

"Oh, look," Midnight deadpanned, calmly pulling a pair of components from his belt as the room erupted into chaos. "Ozan is an idiot. Shock. Disbelief." The engineer slotted together the two modular components, the first a sound analyzer he typically used for translating alien languages or examining recordings, the second a miniaturized but surprisingly powerful set of speakers. Combined, the resulting device looked not unlike a flashlight as Midnight aimed it at the alternate Breakdown. He took a moment to make sure he had the musical manipulator's attention, staring impassively into the madman's makeup surrounded eyes and thumbing the activation stud. All at once the sound in the room was replaced by the faint hiss of white noise as the gadget replicated every noise precisely inverted, cancelling it all out. At the same time it pushed all of that sound back on Midnight's target, briefly assaulting Breakdown with all the fury of a jet engine taking off next to his eardrums. The entire room may have been silent, but the villain himself was well and truly deafened. Lowering the device, Midnight turned to Sage and signed with his free hand, <Heh. Hit with a car. Classic.>

Midnight II Free Action: Arrange Gadgets Obscure 6 (auditory, 250' radius, Extra: Linked, Flaws: Action [Full Action], Range [Touch]) [2PP] Dazzle 20 (auditory, Extra: Linked, Flaw: Action [Full Action]) [10PP] Standard Action: Auto-DC 30 Startle vs. Breakdown. Extra Effort: Surge. Full Action: Unmake Some Noise. (1d20+9=12) HP Reroll:HP reroll. (1d20+9=24)

Willow and Thrude need pants badly! Also, some supervillains show up, because that's how these things typically go.

Standing on a Riverside street corner with her hands placed dramatically on her hips, Ellie Espadas turned to the eclectic group of women behind her and announced, "Alright, ladies, welcome to Meadow Street. A sensational hive of thrift and fashionability." Indeed, the line of shops behind her featured a generous quantity of second hand, vintage, handmade and fair trade clothing boutiques, several of which fell under two or more of those headings. "So, we've got two goals here," she reminded them. "First, to get Will and Trudy some actual people clothes." The dryad and goddess's limited wardrobes had become inconvenient enough that they'd quickly reached the limit of practical sharing and borrowing from the other Interceptors. "Second, we're practicing the 'secret identity' thing. Obviously Mo' is a little conspicuous, so if you get busted, we'll just say you're hanging with your girl Fulcrum on the downlow, but we're going for subtle, okay?" The young medic could perhaps be forgiven for directing the last part of her comment more to Thrude than anyone else.

"Smoothtalker," Jill grinned, shifting her weight so she could reach over with her free hand to brush the blonde hair back from Dragonfly's face to plant a light kiss on her cheek, the taller girl's lips only a little sticky from the creamcicle. "May have been trying to make an impression," she admitted, her cheeks reddening for a brief moment in a way that had nothing to do with the sun. "If you need a break from all the people, we can duck out to the water for a while, okay?"