Gizmo

For Avengemouse and Foalcrum! Yes, the intros are all the same. The gist is that the Ani-Earth heroes have arrived in Earth-Prime to bring back the Factor Fur, who are in Freedom City for their own nefarious purposes. To that end, Science Squid has given each of them a device which will home in on their respective human counterpart. The first part of each thread will be Ani-Earth heroes tracking down and meeting their Earth-Prime double. Then: fighting! Since it came up earlier, the Ani-Earth crew are anthropomorphic cartoon animals in the style of Darkwing Duck or Usagi Yojimbo. I'm taking a cue from the more recent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles iterations and saying that they average closer to five feet tall than six... er, except for Foalcrum, who's evidently been eating her oats.

A sudden wind kicked up in the middle of Liberty Park, followed the crackle of building energies and a blinding, blue-white flash. An oddly anticlimactic *blink* deposited a group of seven figures onto the jogging path, to the surprise of the locals. A furry creature wearing a long blue coat and a red bandana mask stepped forward to look around, smoothing a pair of long ears around the antlers which protruded from the top of his head as he did so. "An entire world of ladies who've never known the joys of Jackalope of all Blades?" the leporid fellow observed. "That’s positively criminal!". "You realize they’re not even your species, right?" asked one of his companions, brown and black furred with a canine muzzle and leather jacket. Jackalope grinned, revealing prominent buckteeth. "Lambkos, m’man, when has that ever stopped me?" A dainty clearing of the throat drew attention to the toga-clad white cat calmly adjusting her porcelain mask. [divine]"Does everyone have the homing devices Doktor Architeuthis gave us? We should be getting a reading now that we’re here,"[/divine] instructed Feline, examining her immaculate claws. "Wha-ha-ha! I’m getting a reading, alright!" cried a squirrel in a eye-searingly bright orange and and blue suit, bouncing up and down energetically. "In my pants!". A prominent bulge appeared in the front of his slacks; reaching inside he retrieved a wooden dowsing rod which jerked back and forth, pulling him along with it. "It’s a bigg’un, you betcha!" "Enough, Jestnut!" a gravely voice insisted. Concealed in the shade of a nearby tree, Avengemouse wrapped his leathery wings around himself and narrowed his eyes. "This world is no place for your foolishness. It’s dark, gritty, realistic." He paused briefly for effect. "My kind of world.". A loud snort came from the towering, equine figure hovering in the air nearby. "Oh, lighten up, bat boy," admonished Foalcrum, the cape rumour said that she’d inherited from the Centaurian himself flapping behind her. "It’s just a costume," came the reflexive response, eliciting a chorus of half-hearted placating agreement. "Regardless, we should get going," Foalcrum continued. "People are starting to stare." Flying beside her, Calico Angel flapped her broad, feathered wings and stretched in the sunlight, patchwork fur rippling. "Some of us are used to stares, dear," she remarked smugly. Before the horse-headed heroine could respond, small devices each of them carried began to beep, a round screen indicating direction. "Gotta go go go!" cried Jestnut, bouncing off on a bushy tail which had suddenly acquired spring-like qualities. "Try to keep him under control," Foalcrum called to Lambkos as she and Avengemouse flew off in the opposite direction. The wolf gave the departing paragon a doubtful look as he started off after the squirrel. "I’ll do what I can... Although I think a panzer division would have a tough time keeping Jestnut ‘under control’." Feline slipped in next to him as they continued to walk. [divine]"Don’t worry, honey, controlling men is what I do best,"[/divine] she purred coyly. "Guess that just leaves you and me, wings!" Jackalope called up to Calico Angel. The lithe shorthair rolled her eyes as she flapped off. "Being part succubus doesn’t mean I don’t have some standards, antlers-for-brains." Hopping hurriedly after her, the rabbit spread his arms pleadingly. "Aw, c’mon! You’re breaking my heart, here!" Within moments, the odd group had dispersed, leaving Liberty Park’s local visitors wondering if it was going to be another one of those days in Freedom City.

A sudden wind kicked up in the middle of Liberty Park, followed the crackle of building energies and a blinding, blue-white flash. An oddly anticlimactic *blink* deposited a group of seven figures onto the jogging path, to the surprise of the locals. A furry creature wearing a long blue coat and a red bandana mask stepped forward to look around, smoothing a pair of long ears around the antlers which protruded from the top of his head as he did so. "An entire world of ladies who've never known the joys of Jackalope of all Blades?" the leporid fellow observed. "That’s positively criminal!". "You realize they’re not even your species, right?" asked one of his companions, brown and black furred with a canine muzzle and leather jacket. Jackalope grinned, revealing prominent buckteeth. "Lambkos, m’man, when has that ever stopped me?" A dainty clearing of the throat drew attention to the toga-clad white cat calmly adjusting her porcelain mask. [divine]"Does everyone have the homing devices Doktor Architeuthis gave us? We should be getting a reading now that we’re here,"[/divine] instructed Feline, examining her immaculate claws. "Wha-ha-ha! I’m getting a reading, alright!" cried a squirrel in a eye-searingly bright orange and and blue suit, bouncing up and down energetically. "In my pants!". A prominent bulge appeared in the front of his slacks; reaching inside he retrieved a wooden dowsing rod which jerked back and forth, pulling him along with it. "It’s a bigg’un, you betcha!" "Enough, Jestnut!" a gravely voice insisted. Concealed in the shade of a nearby tree, Avengemouse wrapped his leathery wings around himself and narrowed his eyes. "This world is no place for your foolishness. It’s dark, gritty, realistic." He paused briefly for effect. "My kind of world.". A loud snort came from the towering, equine figure hovering in the air nearby. "Oh, lighten up, bat boy," admonished Foalcrum, the cape rumour said that she’d inherited from the Centaurian himself flapping behind her. "It’s just a costume," came the reflexive response, eliciting a chorus of half-hearted placating agreement. "Regardless, we should get going," Foalcrum continued. "People are starting to stare." Flying beside her, Calico Angel flapped her broad, feathered wings and stretched in the sunlight, patchwork fur rippling. "Some of us are used to stares, dear," she remarked smugly. Before the horse-headed heroine could respond, small devices each of them carried began to beep, a round screen indicating direction. "Gotta go go go!" cried Jestnut, bouncing off on a bushy tail which had suddenly acquired spring-like qualities. "Try to keep him under control," Foalcrum called to Lambkos as she and Avengemouse flew off in the opposite direction. The wolf gave the departing paragon a doubtful look as he started off after the squirrel. "I’ll do what I can... Although I think a panzer division would have a tough time keeping Jestnut ‘under control’." Feline slipped in next to him as they continued to walk. [divine]"Don’t worry, honey, controlling men is what I do best,"[/divine] she purred coyly. "Guess that just leaves you and me, wings!" Jackalope called up to Calico Angel. The lithe shorthair rolled her eyes as she flapped off. "Being part succubus doesn’t mean I don’t have some standards, antlers-for-brains." Hopping hurriedly after her, the rabbit spread his arms pleadingly. "Aw, c’mon! You’re breaking my heart, here!" Within moments, the odd group had dispersed, leaving Liberty Park’s local visitors wondering if it was going to be another one of those days in Freedom City.

A sudden wind kicked up in the middle of Liberty Park, followed the crackle of building energies and a blinding, blue-white flash. An oddly anticlimactic *blink* deposited a group of seven figures onto the jogging path, to the surprise of the locals. A furry creature wearing a long blue coat and a red bandana mask stepped forward to look around, smoothing a pair of long ears around the antlers which protruded from the top of his head as he did so. "An entire world of ladies who've never known the joys of Jackalope of all Blades?" the leporid fellow observed. "That’s positively criminal!". "You realize they’re not even your species, right?" asked one of his companions, brown and black furred with a canine muzzle and leather jacket. Jackalope grinned, revealing prominent buckteeth. "Lambkos, m’man, when has that ever stopped me?" A dainty clearing of the throat drew attention to the toga-clad white cat calmly adjusting her porcelain mask. [divine]"Does everyone have the homing devices Doktor Architeuthis gave us? We should be getting a reading now that we’re here,"[/divine] instructed Feline, examining her immaculate claws. "Wha-ha-ha! I’m getting a reading, alright!" cried a squirrel in a eye-searingly bright orange and and blue suit, bouncing up and down energetically. "In my pants!". A prominent bulge appeared in the front of his slacks; reaching inside he retrieved a wooden dowsing rod which jerked back and forth, pulling him along with it. "It’s a bigg’un, you betcha!" "Enough, Jestnut!" a gravely voice insisted. Concealed in the shade of a nearby tree, Avengemouse wrapped his leathery wings around himself and narrowed his eyes. "This world is no place for your foolishness. It’s dark, gritty, realistic." He paused briefly for effect. "My kind of world.". A loud snort came from the towering, equine figure hovering in the air nearby. "Oh, lighten up, bat boy," admonished Foalcrum, the cape rumour said that she’d inherited from the Centaurian himself flapping behind her. "It’s just a costume," came the reflexive response, eliciting a chorus of half-hearted placating agreement. "Regardless, we should get going," Foalcrum continued. "People are starting to stare." Flying beside her, Calico Angel flapped her broad, feathered wings and stretched in the sunlight, patchwork fur rippling. "Some of us are used to stares, dear," she remarked smugly. Before the horse-headed heroine could respond, small devices each of them carried began to beep, a round screen indicating direction. "Gotta go go go!" cried Jestnut, bouncing off on a bushy tail which had suddenly acquired spring-like qualities. "Try to keep him under control," Foalcrum called to Lambkos as she and Avengemouse flew off in the opposite direction. The wolf gave the departing paragon a doubtful look as he started off after the squirrel. "I’ll do what I can... Although I think a panzer division would have a tough time keeping Jestnut ‘under control’." Feline slipped in next to him as they continued to walk. [divine]"Don’t worry, honey, controlling men is what I do best,"[/divine] she purred coyly. "Guess that just leaves you and me, wings!" Jackalope called up to Calico Angel. The lithe shorthair rolled her eyes as she flapped off. "Being part succubus doesn’t mean I don’t have some standards, antlers-for-brains." Hopping hurriedly after her, the rabbit spread his arms pleadingly. "Aw, c’mon! You’re breaking my heart, here!" Within moments, the odd group had dispersed, leaving Liberty Park’s local visitors wondering if it was going to be another one of those days in Freedom City.

Hmm. Is there any point in stunting tracking of Jack's energy awareness?

Cold open saves time!

On a very special episode of The Interceptors... "You always have all the answers, Grimalkin! Well, what's your answer to that?" "My cowboy is a JUNKIE!" I'm fine with any of the titles.

"Yeah, supervillains can be totally inconsiderate like that," Jack drawled, largely dismissive of the mild-mannered older man. The swashbuckler stepped inside the warehouse to get a better look what was left behind, keeping an eye out for a dust-free spot indicating the previous location of whatever Dash had made off with. "Looks like a bunch of tech stuff. Gotta figure Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde weren't just looking to set up their new flatscreen, so they're probably working for somebody." Jack shook his head. "Everything in here's been here a while, though. Why now?"

Jack waved Colt's apology away. They were friends and comrades; nothing more needed to be said. After the elder Colby made her brief appearance, the fencer continued to look up the stairs for a moment, nonplussed. A handful of Psycho jokes popped into his head, but ultimately he just turned back to the others in the basement and rubbed the bridge oh his nose. "I swear, when this is over, next sunny day we have I'm just gonna soak up some nice, normal UV rads, and screw all this Terminus and necromancy and chaos magic bull that keeps getting up in my face."

This seemed relevant enough to share: "Let's get dangerous."

Interpose doesn't let you move as a reaction, does it? I was just saying he's not adjacent to Physicus yet based on the IC description of him not walking all the way into the thick of things. As for the party makeup, I think it turned out pretty well for the genre! Every space pirate crew needs a designated Big Guy, but overall the feel should skew a little more towards evasion, I think. Actually, if we accept Jack as The Kirk of this little romp, then Arrowhawk and Physicus provide Lancers on the gritty, 'whatever it takes' and the idealistic, 'we're better than that' ends of the spectrum respectively, while Gossamer is a combo Smart Chick and the Tepestian lady (she has a name, you just don't know it yet) fills in as The Pilot. ...I may have given this too much thought.

Breakdown, Jack is trying to be Stealthy! God. I guess we could say Eddie shifted some of his VP into ranks of Notice? 'Cause otherwise he probably wouldn't be able to make that DC 25 check.

In Soviet Russia, meat shields you! He's not next to anyone right now, but he's a within a move action of Physicus, for the sake of argument.

Altlas' mighty shockwave ripped across the clearing, sending rain along with loose sticks and dirt flying forward. It struck the Broan signaling for reinforcements first, knocking the mighty alien warrior off of his feet and slamming into the recipient of Physicus' kinetic blast. The pair of the them tumbled through the air towards the arrow-shaped vessel. Seeing them coming, one soldier slammed his staff into the ground steadying himself, while his compatriot was too busy nursing a bump caused by Arrowhawk's precise aim. He too was caught up in the Russian's blast, and the trio of Broans crashed against the hull of the ship before landing in a painful pile.

Uh... sure! Yes. Okay. I can do that. Erm... Jack's put himself between his group and the rest of the fight, so Atlas can't hit them without hitting Jack (he could probably make the Reflex save, but let's save that for a last resort!), and there's a pair in melee combat with both Physicus and the Tempestian woman, but the remaining four (two Arrowhawk stunned, one Physicus stunned and the one calling for reinforcements) should be fair game. Reflex save vs. DC 22 (1d20+5=14, 1d20+5=14, 1d20+5=16, 1d20+5=13) None of them make their Reflex save, so: Toughness save vs. DC 27 (1d20+8=20, 1d20+8=28, 1d20+8=17, 1d20+8=22) One of the ones near the blue lady makes the save, but the other get sent for a loop. His buddy is bruised and stunned again, the one Physicus originally attacked is now stunned and staggered and the one who called for help is bruised and stunned. As for Knockback, they've got -4, and that attack was +12, so that'd be, uh, 250 feet. Hmm. The three who took damage get slammed into the side of the fallen ship, for DC 23 damage. Toughness save vs. DC 23 (1d20+7=11, 1d20+8=20, 1d20+7=20) Ouch. The one next the the Tempestian is bruised, stunned and staggered; the other two each pick up and extra bruise. 25 Tempestian Lady - uninjured 22 Arrowhawk - 1 HP - uninjured 16 Physicus - 0 HP - bruised 13 Jack of all Blades - 3 HP - uninjured 13 Broan Soldiers [*:323kpluv]7 uninjured [*:323kpluv]1 stunned [*:323kpluv]1 stunned and bruisedx2 [*:323kpluv]1 staggered and stunned, 2 staggered, stunned and bruised 13 Atlas - 4 HP - uninjured 6 Gossamer - 1 HP - uninjured To recap, Jack is on the left side of the clearing with 1 stunned and staggered and 3 uninjured enemies. To the right, Physicus has 2 uninjured Broans in his face. In the middle, the Tempestian is surrounded by 2 uninjured and 1 stunned, while 1 stunned and bruisedx2 and 2 staggered, stunned and bruised were smacked into the ship, nearby. Got it? Good.

Standing atop the corner of a building's roof, Jack of all Blades tugged the collar of his greatcoat up against the the omnipresent mist of the wet night. As he surveyed the streets below him, a sudden light caught his attention in the skies above. A green spec arched across the sky, bursting as it fell into a handful of smaller pieces which continued downward to collide with the city. Even given the falling objects' odd colouration and light, the swashbuckler might have been inclined to let it pass, if not for a distant wave of discomfort tugging at the edges of his metahuman senses. Like oil on water, he mused with an involuntary grimace. Definitely nothing I want in my backyard. Assisted by his grapple, the acrobat leapt from rooftop to rooftop, moving towards Lantern Hill and his best estimate for the impact site of the closest green fragment. Arriving in Erin Drive, Jack kept to the shadows offered by the old fashioned architecture. So, this is how the other half lives, he mused as he swung himself into a crouch next to a brick chimney. It was a nice enough neighbourhood, but the precise landscaping and uniform fences brought to mind a couch with a plastic cover; immaculate, perhaps, but lacking the signs of being lived in which the West Ender was more familiar with. Gunfire snapped the fencer out of his contemplation, and he hurriedly made his way towards the source. Spotting the police cruisers, he peered at the group of residents with oddly vacant expressions. "Woo-ee-ooh," Jack muttered to himself quietly, mimicking a classic science fiction score. Anywhere else, the first assumption might be a gas leak or simple shock, but in Freedom the most likely explanation for their behaviour was a little more exotic. "Mind control," he sighed. "Fantastic." The group below seemed to be waiting for something; staying concealed, Jack decided to follow suit.

"That's crazy talk," Erik dismissed. "I'm freaking gorgeous." He rubbed his chin contemplatively. "Actually, I've been giving that some thought. Maybe we're looking at this the wrong way." The fencer gestured to illustrate his point. "Don't get me wrong, we could use some more full timers, but our problem in the first place was that we were trying to get a bunch of people used to working alone to act like old pals. Teaming up when there's a threat is one thing, but off duty?" He shook his head. "Maybe what we should be going for isn't so much a team as, like... a network. Pooling our information and calling in help on a case by case basis."

Man, remind Jack not to invite Colt to ever visit him in the hospital. "Surgery?! I reckon y'all could die from that! Maybe the operation goes alright, but an infection gets ya! Or the doc leaves his watch sewed up inside ya, I hear tell that c'n happen too!" Supporting your friend: ur doin it wrong. Anyway, don't worry about the energy sense thing, H. I try not to over use 'glowing' and 'light' descriptors, but the searchlight thing makes sense.

"Yeah, poor you," Jack drawled sarcastically. The fencer felt a flash of anger and annoyance at Colt. The cowboy had established himself as a constant source of unflappability, and now was hardly the ideal time to prove otherwise. "So I've got some brimstone brand PMS - 'scuse the metaphor, ladies - it's not like we weren't expecting something like that. At least now it sounds like there's something we can do about it." Admittedly, having someone else to reprimand made staying calm himself much easier. Jack glanced at Colby. "I use 'we' loosely, 'cause I'm guessing this is a 'center of the mind', 'inner battle' sorta thing, yeah?"

Jack makes the Notice check automatically with Skill Mastery. He'll make a DC 25 Stealth check by the same token, hiding out on the rooftop across the street from the mob. We probably won't need this for a while, but since I'm not sure how frequently I'll be on over the next couple of days, here's an Initiative roll in advance: Initiative. (1d20+9=19)

Some call it a gift, some call it a curse.

Updated the initiative post to reflect that result. Atlas is up!

The blast caught one of the Broans hard in his stomach, knocking the warrior onto his back. His fellow soldiers rounded on the prince with snarls. Nearby, Jack of all Blades wove effortlessly past the group of aliens closest to him. "I gotta ask, why does anybody up there still think coming to Earth is good idea?" the fencer quipped as he tumbled under a swinging halberd and flipped through the air to position himself between the Broan's and the downed vessel. "The collective track record for alien invaders around here? Not great." A quick slash of his electrical blade passed easily though the defenses of one oh his opponents, who bellowed as he convulsed from the shock. In front of the starship's boarding ramp, the Broan's who had shrugged off Arrowhawk's assault swung their staves with violent energy, looking to finish off the last of the crew. The white-haired woman, crackling with energy, evaded their blows and prepared to return them in kind. The Broan standing next to the soldier Physicus had felled slapped a hand against a button on his heavy bracer. "The pirates have allied themselves with the Khaladi prince! It was a trap!" As he did so, his two remaining fellows charged forward. The first attack appeared sloppy, but the armored hero realized too late that it was merely herding him into the second blow. His foe's staff connected solidly with the prince's side.

Toughness save vs. DC 25 (1d20+8=17) That a third one stunned. Jack will move forward, making a Skill Mastery Acrobatics check to slip past the four Broans closest to him and put himself between them and the rest of the fight. A Power Attack +5 (1d20+12=18) seems to be the appropriate response. Hmm, not much Autofire on that, sadly; the DC will be 28. Toughness save vs. DC 28. (1d20+8=14) Ooh, staggered and stunned. For the sake of argument, the clearing is big enough to accommodate the downed ship: a little less than 200' long and closer to 120' wide at the rear, which is where we're fighting. The point being, it'll take a move action to get to the outer Broan soldiers, and two move actions to get all the way to the Tempestian woman, assuming you can get around the enemy without issue. Now, the bad guys! They all have enough Regeneration to shrug off a single bruise automatically. The two next to our blue friend who aren't stunned will each take a swipe at her: Attack (1d20+5=7, 1d20+5=15) Those both miss easily. One from the group Physicus attacked is going to spend the turn sending for help, while two others charge forward and attack the prince. Attack (1d20+5=6, 1d20+5=23) That second one hits, alright! That's a DC 26 Toughness save for Physicus. Two from Jack's group flank him to aid their pal: Aid (1d20+5=21, 1d20+5=15) That's +4 to the third soldier's attack: Attack (1d20+9=16). That's a miss by a wide margin. 25 Tempestian Lady - uninjured 22 Arrowhawk - 1 HP - uninjured 16 Physicus - 0 HP - bruised 13 Jack of all Blades - 3 HP - uninjured 13 Broan Soldiers - 8 uninjured, 3 stunned, 1 staggered and stunned 13 Atlas - 4 HP - uninjured 6 Gossamer - 1 HP - uninjured

"Not the reaction I usually go for after a lady examines my body thoroughly," Jack snapped off reflexively with an airy tone. Given Colby's reaction, he had to assume the results of her analysis weren't going to be anything he wanted to hear, but he didn't appreciate the detective delaying her explanation. The examination itself had been uncomfortably like being aware of x-rays passing through one's body to someone aware of the magical energies at play; the fencer had a momentary fear of getting some sort of supernatural radiation poisoning. Allowing the soothing ambient power of the basement calm him, he folded his arms, simply asking, "Well?"