Gizmo

Security Guards Move Action: Draw pistols Move Action: Radio for backup Free Action: Stand around looking confused Katanarchists Alright, there's a lot of these guys, so I'm going to just break it down as it applies to the heroes. Eight ninjas Charge Gecks: Aid Attack. (5d20.each(5)=[3, 5],[19, 5],[19, 5],[6, 5],[16, 5]) Combined Attack. (1d20+5=25, 1d20+7=21) Actual Attack. (1d20+11=20) So... net result, they all miss him. Meanwhile, a bunch of them move into the display area itself. One goes for the sword, so Miss A's readied attack triggers. However, four more ninjas, hanging from the ceiling are using their Autofire shuriken to provide him with a total of +7 Defense. Another eight Charge Jack: Aid Attack. (1d20+5=6, 1d20+5=13, 1d20+5=6, 1d20+5=7, 1d20+5=18, 1d20+5=21, 1d20+5=17) Actual Attack. (1d20+13=19) More missing! Meanwhile, they'll double up on each of the security guard besides the one who hassled Chris. Sword Attack (1d20+3=20, 1d20+3=20) Toughness Save vs. DC 18. (1d20+2=11, 1d20+2=4) Sword Attack (1d20+3=16, 1d20+3=20) Toughness Save vs. DC 18. (1d20+2=7, 1d20+2=4) Sword Attack (1d20+3=19, 1d20+3=4) Toughness Save vs. DC 18. (1d20+2=5) Sword Attack (1d20+3=14, 1d20+3=6) Toughness Save vs. DC 18. (1d20+2=4) They're all down. 19 - Spellbound - Uninjured 17 - Jack of all Blades - Uninjured - 6HP 16 - Geckoman - Uninjured - 3HP 16 - Security Guards - x1 3 - Katanarchists - LOTS 3 - Miss Americana - Uninjured - 5HP

At the sound of breaking glass, Erik was already slipping inconspicuously into the crowd, a task made much easier by the sudden smoke filling the room. Within moments, the wool lined jacket had been switched for a royal blue greatcoat retrieved from his knapsack, a matching bandanna mask tied about his face. Backing up cautiously toward the center of the room and the Grasscutter display, Jack of all Blades flicked his lighter into one palm and coaxed a blazing rapier of angry flame into being, holding it at the ready. Past the red velvet ropes, he caught sight of a figure floating overhead. "Hey hey, Miss A! Can you see what's going on?"

Jack of all Blades Move Action: Auto 25 Stealth Heroic Feat: Quick Change Free Action: Change Free Action: Create Energy Sword [fire] Move Action: Move to display case. 21 - Miss Americana - Uninjured - 5HP 19 - Spellbound - Uninjured 17 - Jack of all Blades - Uninjured - 6HP 16 - Geckoman - Uninjured - 4HP 16 - Security Guards - x5 3 - Katanarchists - ???

Works for me. Get the IC posted, then Spellbound is up. 21 - Miss Americana - Uninjured - 5HP 19 - Spellbound - Uninjured 17 - Jack of all Blades - Uninjured - 7HP 16 - Geckoman - Uninjured - 4HP 16 - Security Guards - x5 3 - Katanarchists - ???

The lobby is filled with smoke (a visual Obscure) for this round. Jack and Gecks each get an HP for being caught in their civvies. Spellbound will share Gecks' HP pool à la Sidekick because it makes it easier for me to deal with, frankly. Miss A is up! 21 - Miss Americana - Uninjured - 5HP 19 - Spellbound - Uninjured 17 - Jack of all Blades - Uninjured - 7HP 16 - Geckoman - Uninjured - 4HP 16 - Security Guards - x5 3 - Katanarchists - ???

Returning the gentle kiss, Trevor allowed himself an actual grin. "Well. Flowers are beautiful, you're beautiful." With another shrug that would have been muted on most people but was clearly exaggerated for the reticent teen, he concluded, "Seemed appropriate." Reaching out for the young woman's free hand, his face settled back down in a relaxed expression. "Figured I maybe don't mention that enough."

Trevor snapped his fingers in sudden recollection. "Lilacs. Represent young love. ...heh." He offered Erin a slight, lopsided smile as the recited trivia had a chance to sink into context. "Did a favour for Fleur de Joie," the dark haired youth explained, nodding to the bouquet as though that explained the entire matter. "Was going to go for something more... useful," he admitted, shrugging sheepishly in his dark brown dress shirt, "but supposed to be something wouldn't get yourself. A... token."

"Yes," Trevor replied quickly, evidently not registering the absurdity of the question as he presented the vase. "Ah, there was a whole rationale to the choices, too. Hrm." Furrowing his brow slightly, the young man racked his memory. "The blue and yellow ones are supposed to match your costume, and I guess the long black ones," he indicated the sparse lilies, "are me? Metaphorically. Obviously."

A pair of light raps sounded on the door to Erin's dorm room, a concise announcement she'd come associate with Trevor's arrival. Out in the hallway, the young man waited with a vague nervousness. He was reasonably sure he'd done well, retrieving the bouquet of lilacs, interspersed with blue irises and yellow roses, from Mrs. Lumins' flower shoppe and depositing it in what had struck him as a suitably tasteful glass vase, which he carried before him. The flora was certainly colourful and fragrant, albeit impractical. That's the point, he reminded himself.

Roll initiative, peoples! Jack of all Blades: Initiative. (1d20+9=17) Security Guards: Initiative. (1d20+1=16) Katanarchists: Initiative. (1d20+2=3)

One of Erik's eyes squinted slightly in a vaguely appalled expression as the youth in the absurd coat launched into a nonsensical tirade. "Dios. Teenagers..." the older young man grumbled to himself, rubbing his eyes and preparing himself for a suitably proportionate response from the guard. Before the security team member could do more than turn an ugly, angry shade, the sound of shattering glass was followed immediately by soft metallic pings, then a sharp hissing as clouds of dark grey smoke began to fill the lobby. As people in the crowd began to shout and scream, silent silhouettes dropped down into the building from all sides, surrounding the Grasscutter exhibit!

Erik cast an amused glace at the antics of the couple who managed to bustle their way through the crowd to stand next to him despite a few annoyed looks from their fellow attendees. The hot potato line cut. Nice. Turning his head also alerted him to a more familiar face on the other side of the display. Guess there's not much point in Miss A trying to go incognito. The patriotic paragon was bound to stand out regardless of the company. A few moments after Chris had set Liz back down, a burly member of the exhibit's security team followed them through the crowd, folding his arms imposingly. "You two are going to have to come with me." "Hey buddy, chill," the athletic young man next to the teenagers interjected, tilting his stubble adorned chin up slightly. "They're not hurting anything." The guard made an expression somewhere between a snarl and a sneer. "We received a complaint, sir. Maybe you'd like to step this way, too?" Power trip or not, clearly UtiliTek wasn't taking an chances with disruptions to the event.

For a moment, Midnight's eyes flashed an angry crimson behind his tinted goggles as he prepared to to leap at the Tiger. Considering Edge's last minute save however, and perhaps more effected my the cheerleader's defiant call to action than he might have cared to admit, a somewhat unfamiliar thought process stirred in the black clad vigilante's mind. With surprising speed, he slid away from their foe and instead brought his tonfas down in a pair of crashing blows across the bonds that anchored Sage in place, shattering them. "Teamwork, hnn?" he noted to Edge with a slight smirk hidden by his featureless mask.

Paragons!Midnight Free Action: Switch to newly minted 'supersaturated muscle tissue' AP. Free Action: Rearrange Gadgets: Enhanced Strength 10 (10PP) Enhanced Dexterity 2 (2PP) Enhanced Constitution 2 (2PP) Speed 1 (1PP) Move Action: Move! Standard Action: Take a Power Attack 5 crack at the Snare around Paragons!Sage, for 15 + 10 Strength + 3 'Tonfas' + 5 Power Attack = DC 33. Extra Effort: Surge! Standard Action: Hit it again!

Jack of all Blades, Miss Americana, Geckoman, Spellbound, Crimson Katana, Freebooter and endless hordes of ninjas. Oh yes.

After long years of negotiations, UtiliTek, a proud subsidiary of the Grant Conglomerates, had been granted permission to bring Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, the legendary Grasscutter, from Japan to the United States for analysis in their Freedom City-based facilities. Part of the Imperial Regalia, the longsword had surfaced a handful of times in more recent history as the focus of various supervillainous plans and at least once as the instrument by which a particularly close near-apocalypse had been averted. It's impossibly shard edge had garnered it a reputation as perhaps the finest example of its kind ever forged, and piqued the interest of a variety of groups. UtiliTek hoped to discover the process through which simple steel could be made cut diamond, to be applied in any number of industrial capacities. The Japanese government had not surprisingly been reluctant to agree to the loan, and Grasscutter's arrival in Freedom was nothing short of the publicity coup for the company. As such, before the test were conducted, the blade was being put on display to the general public for one weekend along with an extensive collection of other cultural artifacts on the ground floor of the UtiliTek head office in Hanover. Amid the crowds of viewers was Erik Espadas, a young man from the city's West End with a particular interest in all things related to swords and their use. Wearing a wool lined brown jacket against the February cold and with a knapsack slung over one shoulder, the fencer studied Grasscutter from the other side of red velvet ropes and a glass case. Hm. Doesn't feel magic... at least, I don't think so, he mused to himself, extended his metamagi senses outward with a faint frown. I should really practice this stuff more.

Hands in his suit jacket pockets, Trevor allowed Mark to lead the way, replacing his fedora atop his head and sauntering calmly along. He wasn't entirely clear on the etiquette at this point, now that the ceremony was over, but his considerably more gregarious friend never seemed to have any trouble getting my regardless of the social situation. Point in case, he sighed inwardly as the probability controler began making eyes at one of the bridesmaids. Does this make me the wingman? Hrn.

As Curl-bee dropped, Jack abruptly released his hand hold and kicked upward, free falling while his sprawling greatcoat slowed his decent slightly, widening the gap between him and his ride. Turning himself over midair so that he was facing downward, the swashbuckler fired his grapple with practiced precision to loop around one of the massive insect's rear legs. Holding onto his end of the cable with both hands, Jack whooped loudly as Curl-bee changed direction, dragging the human along behind him like a parasailor. When the bee suddenly reversed direction, the swordsman had a split instant to release and retract the line before landing once again on the returning behemoth's back, just in time to hang on for dear life as they spun about.

"Pfft, yeah, I'm a mystery wrapped in an enigma," Erik snorted flatly at Archeville's assessment, though the dry tone carried a note of good-natured amusement. "I'm fine letting Vince run the show; guy's got eyes on the big picture, just makes sense to have him coordinating." Easing up on his rapid attack, he gave the Doktor enough room to do more than focus on defense. "He seems fine with it, but it can be tough to tell with him sometimes, y'know? Never totally sure how much of the talk show thing is just him being the class clown."

Jill's expression froze in a slightly forced smile at being caught. "Yyyyy.... usted habla español. Haha... Fantástico." Her complexion hiding the better part of a slight flush, the medic cleared her throat lightly and resolved to roll with it. "Ah, yeah, go us," she replied to the tentacled woman, a little bemused by the older woman's vocal approval. Exchanging a look with Dragonfly, she considered. "I guess... a month on Sunday? And Sage is good people," she confirmed Grim's assurance. "She only speaks telepathically, fair warning."

It took the work weary teenager a few blinks to fully grasp the meaning of Lynn's sign before she placed her hand over her face. "Fffff..." Ellie hissed to herself under her breath, massaging her eyes roughly. "Totally blanked, sorry, sorry!" she hastily apologized to the pixie as she moved quickly to retrieve he satchel and the costume inside. Throwing on her short, crimson jacket and matching bandanna mask, she shot Grimalkin a brief grin. "Oh, and I know, right?" Taking a moment to brush disturbed bangs out of her eyes, Jill pointed a warning finger at the older woman. "Just remember you promised not to make a big thing, hermana mayor." So assured, she jogged after the shapeshifter down the stairs. "Hi! Sorry I'm late, duty calls, huh? I'm Jill," she greeted those already there with a brief wave before moving to stand next to Dragonfly, adding more quietly, "Hey, muñequita. Meant to be here when you arrived, sorry."

A key turned in the front door of the brownstone apartment building before it pulled open, followed by the weary trudging of heavy boots and the loud sound of a heavy satchel full of textbooks dropping unceremoniously to the floor. Ellie Espadas pulled off her black pea coat and unwound he deep red wool scarf to hang them up in the closest, calling inward, "Anybody home?" Cracking her neck and rolling her shoulders with a grimace, she wandered into the living room. "Got stuck at the hospital for like forever trying to convince one of the staff that Little Timmy's arm must not have been broken in the first place."

"Oh, bring it on, Legs!" Jack called back down to Curl-bee from his stance, crouching enough to a grip on the coarse hairs on the insect's back, anchoring himself in place as he shifted his weight back and forth against the sharp movements. Luckily, it wasn't too different from balancing on the back of Colt's flying motorcycle, with the added benefit that nobody was actually shooting at them. That didn't stop him from making sure that his grapple was ready in his free hand, however.

"Wise decision," Trevor told Mark with an approving albeit terse nod. The dark haired young man was clearly still more withdrawn than usual, but there was a note of something akin to pride in his expression. Flighty though he may have been, Mark's dedication to helping others and doing good never failed to bring out the best in him, and this decision had clearly been a long time in the making. Glancing briefly to Jill, he noted, "Lovely ceremony."

Jill blinked several times before exchanging a look with Mara as Eve's abrupt offer. "Uh, yeah no kidding," she started. "I was kinda surprised Mr. Star's wedding went off without villainous shenanigans." Addressing the question of the trip itself, she shrugged, a bit bemused. "It might be tough to swing the time away, but does sound pretty cool, Eve. Actually, Mara's from there originally and I've been working at learning French." Mentally, she added, --So, whatever happened to, and I quote, "it's better and easier to just keep people at an arm's length'?--