Gizmo
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Freedom City PBP: A How-To Guide
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Taking a step forward Midnight closed the door behind him with a soft click, never taking his eyes off of the three armoured figures. In a single fluid motion he drew a pair of segmented batons from lengthwise compartments in his belt, snapping them into rigid alignment with a flick of his wrists. Being outnumbered wasn't ideal and having to restrict his movement to remain in front of the door was worse but nothing in the masked man's stance betrayed those concerns. "Missed visiting hours," he grated, breaking the tense silence. Anything that wanted to step foot into that waiting room was going to have to go through him first.
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Hands flat on the table, head on a swivel, Winifred watched as first Raina and then Robin along with Riley slipped out of the booth and made a small distressed sound in spite of herself. If they hadn't been conspicuous before she certainly was sitting all by herself. On the other hand she was neither an actor nor a dancer and while she might have muddled through the latter in normal circumstances pretending to be someone who wanted to dance was a layer of complexity she couldn't help but overthink until she felt paralyzed by indecision. She didn't think an episode was imminent but who knew how the band's bizarre powers of suggestion might effect her after continued exposure? "Hnnnnh..." Swallowing thickly but doing her best to keep her expression impassive she slid awkwardly out of the booth and maneuvered hesitantly out toward the dance floor. Really not feeling competent enough for any hip swinging she settled for shifting her weight from one side to the other, aided at least by a passable grasp of rhythm and tempo. She had no idea what to do with her hands. She was certain there must be something she was supposed to be doing with her hands.
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Jack of all Blades / Jill O'Cure (3) Interceptors: Sounds of Silence (3) Midnight II (2) You May Not Believe In Me (2) Ghost Girl (7) Horrorshow (2) The Nothing From Coming For You (5) Set / Sekhmet (2) Set in His Ways (2) Reagent / The Alkahest (10) Quarrel in the Quarry (5) A to Z (Everything Changes, Except When It Doesn't) (1) Elevator Pitch (1) Interceptors: Handclap (3) Lou Lubrano (3) Knock on the Door Job (3) GM / NPCs (1*2=2) Interceptors: Sounds of Silence (1) Ref Point can go to Reagent, Rollover can go to Lou, thanks.
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Kimber let her head loll back as she groaned, the sound dragging out just long enough to take on an unsettling bone rattle as it trailed off. "What a jelly doughnut," she muttered in the same tone most people would have reserved for questioning someone's parentage. Knowing that someone who'd looked them in the eye and asked for help had snuck off with the prize while they were busy elsewhere put a sour taste in her mouth but at least everyone was in one piece and they'd taken a lot of very dangerous hardware out of circulation along with its creator. "Well, parts of that were still fun," she opined to Indira, putting her scythe away with an overhead twirl. "We really need to set aside more time for making people wet themselves."
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Jill gave Miss Americana a sidelong look, detecting a note of press conference diplomacy amidst the vented frustration. It was hard to know if Steve hadn't mentioned this woman to any of the Interceptors or if she'd just been out of the loop and it was harder still to intuit what that might mean either way. He was the sort of person who wouldn't bring up something he thought wasn't important but also wouldn't bring up something that was so important that people would feel compelled to help him. Really he just didn't talk much about anything. It was still a novel concept. "Well #$%@," she decided eventually, one eye squinting behind her mask. "That's pretty messed up. Do you think she wants the stuff buried here or would she just be worried about getting caught by her old bosses? What about the other one with her?" - - - - - Beneath the pillar of rock Kimber divided her attention between Tarva and Caradoc, ready to intercede if necessary. In the bitter cold of the antarctic her translucent blues were more vivid, more real than normal even without the power of her soul scythe. Her coat billowed about her ankles and the ice crystal patters on the shoulder glittered in the light cast by Dragonfly's armour. She was familiar enough with the major players of the Terminus to know who Mandragora was and feel a twisted sort of appreciation that they were only contending with the one who burned whole worlds to ash. The poltergeist didn't want to deal with the sorts of boobytraps Steelgrave might leave behind any time soon. She turned her attention briefly to the projected slideshow, seeming interested in the little floating drone. When Dragonfly finished speaking she crossed her arms and cleared her throat in pure affectation. It took a long, awkward moment to realize that she was still expecting some sort of apology for their rude welcome, now that the immediate danger had passed and their intentions had been made clear. It might have been a cultural thing.
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Midnight gritted his teeth behind his mask as the video feed cut out. It couldn't have just been rebellious future teens photobombing their friend's birth. "Three. Armoured," he radioed to Wander while he ran quickly and silently to head the figures off before they could get to the suite. "Concealed somehow. Appear on camera, staff ignored them." They might have been using a psionic ability; Eve could similarly edit herself out of people's perceptions and if she hadn't been currently enjoying her wedding night he might have been tempted to 'call' her for help. Instead he was going to have to hope the interlopers hadn't done their research well enough to expect his uncommonly high resistance to that sort of ability. Rather than take any chances he tapped the side of his mask and activated the broad spectrum sensors in its lenses, wishing he had his full costume with him rather than the backup equipment from Redbird's glove compartment.
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Time travel was a possibility Trevor had considered while planning for Nina's pregnancy but one he'd been careful not to mention out loud. He'd carefully gone over the manor's footage from the a half dozen offspring from potential future timelines had arrived more than once and if one took the offhand mention one of them had made to an acquaintance name Gail to instead be Gale it wasn't much a leap infer a connection to a certain tradition of storm related codenames. It was that lineage that fed the pit of worry sitting deep in the back of Trevor's gut as he slipped unseen into a dimly lit corner of hospital corridor. Nina and Iyar had not doubt that the child would one day lead Socotra and if that were true there were two very different reasons someone might wish to travel back and strangle him in his crib. The masked, black clad figure that stepped back out of the shadows didn't care much about the motivations of anyone from a future that hadn't happened, however. Anyone who tried to lay a hand on his friend's family was going to answer to Midnight. "Get back to room," he responded to Wander, hoping their communications equipment could manage through whatever interference was garbling the autonomic machine intelligence's warning. He rolled up one sleeve to reveal the wearable computer wrapped around his forearm while moving to follow his own suggestion. "Accessing cameras."
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"Hopefully it's not Plan Three because it wasn't good enough to be Plan One," Jill quipped, standing to Miss Americana's left with her arms crossed. Whatever the evacuation plan she wasn't going far from the audio feed to Dragonfly until they had a better idea what was going to happen. Pitching her voice a little quieter so as not to carry to the team of scientists preparing themselves she added, "So Steve isn't normally so, uh..." She pursed her lips briefly while considering her choice of words. "I guess I didn't really think he knew how to throw shade. He has history with the melodramatic one from the bad old days?" Anybody with that distinction seemed like they'd qualify for 'shoot on sight'. From what she could hear the former Omegadrone might have been considering it. - - - - - "Excuse me, you would know if we were using any powers!" Kimber shot back tartly, increasingly agitated by the accusatory tone and ratcheting tension. "I'm literally not even breathing on your precious 'potential apocalypse,' alright?" With a finger raised and her ethereal form floating a little higher in the air to have a slight height advantage on Dragonfly she was about to continue but stopped short suddenly and bit her lip. "...although I am carrying a scythe that can cut through reality that was forged in large part using ancient ambient magics on another plane, which when you say it out loud seems like it could probably combo badly with a bunch of leftover junk, yeeeaaah. I still think everyone's being totally rude but maybe better safe than sorry?"
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The Alkahest spun its whole body about at the sudden shout, shoulder down and one hand clawing a trough through the rocky earth to propel it. As the rapidly expanding cloud of smoke washed over it the behemoth reared back with an angry bellow, trashing at the confusing sounds and scents. As Riley dashed for cover he could hear a crack of splitting stone, another splintering tree and an impact of something against the water at the bottom of the pit, all interspersed with sounds of inarticulate rage from massive lungs. The crashing cacophony slowly headed toward the spot where he'd detonated his distraction, blind stomping seeking to crush the irritant underfoot.
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Kimber, who had been taking a moment to enjoy the frigid weather, covered her face with her palm as she recognized who was shouting at them. "Sweet strawberry preserves, every time she leaves the house. Unbelievable," she muttered softly to herself, bracing for another deeply unpleasant interaction. Keeping her voice low she added to the woman beside her, "Tarva, boon, maybe this is a glass houses situation, eh? You two can go back and forth all day but you said we're on a schedule, right?" She offered a guilty little look of apology before floating forward a few paces, translucent blue coat glittering in the uneven light. "Hiiiii, I'm Kimber," she greeted with a slight singsong and a wave, not looking at all concerned by threats of holding cells or Omegadrone weaponry. "I'm a ghost, since that usually comes up anyway and I know people who say stuff like 'exotic energies' usually have some issues with it so just getting that out of the way up front! This is Tarva." She looked over her shoulder to exchange a look with the shadow priestess before correcting herself against her better judgement. "Tarva the Black. She defected from the Annihilists years ago..." The emphasis was pointedly directed at Caradoc as the poltergeist folded her arms across her chest. "...so when she got a vision of something nasty - she gets visions sometimes, also a magic thing, sorry - she thought we should go help." That was maybe a generous interpretation of the motivations at work but it was true enough. Looking past the armoured woman with the flickering wings she gave Caradoc a tight smile. "Heeey, good to see you again, always suuuper fun. Is Miss Americana around, too? Because that would be, like, extra perfect." Kimber could appreciate the bad blood the former Omegadrone harboured and even if she didn't enjoy dealing with it she couldn't fault him. After the last time they'd worked together her empathy toward his star spangled partner was stretched a little thinner.
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The Alkahest cast about for the next target for its roiling fury and failing to find one immediately seemed only to stoke those fires. It gripped the rocky outcropping Winifred had been using for cover and with a grunt tore it from the earth, leaving a hole the size of a bathtub. "Hnnhh-- NRRRAH!" The twisted ogre hurled the rock into the pool of water. The geyser from its impact sprayed outward and the Alkahest bellowed back at it in directionless aggression. Grabbing at smaller stones it hurled them about like a child throwing a tantrum with its toy box, though most tantrums didn't result in trees splintering in half with resounding cracks when an errant boulder crashed through its trunk. Eyes wide and taking deep, ragged breaths it turned one way then the other in violent starts, searching.
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THE ALKAHEST Notice Check: 1d20+10 17 The Alkahest also has Super-Senses 4 (Olfactory; Accurate [+2], Acute, Tracking 1) [4PP], let me know how you want to factor that into its ability to notice him if for now he's just hiding visually.
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Kimber didn't actually need to breathe but she suppressed a sigh all the same. "Hey. If there was a problem with your touch I'd've brought it up by now," she chided softly, briefly pressing her forehead against Tarva's. She swatted lightly at the taller woman's knees until she'd moved enough for Kimber to sit more comfortably in her lap, arms draped over her shoulders. "I don't remember signing up for 'boon companion except-when-maybe-it's-a-bit-dangerous.' It was more of a 'boon companion, full stop' situation." She tightened the embrace enough to press their bodies together, one hand snaking up through the back of Tarva's hair. Her voice was no more than a whisper but right next to her lover's ear it may as well have filled the room. "I'll keep telling you as often as I need to, you don't have to face these things alone any more." She planted a kiss on her neck just under that ear, lips cool and soothing. "Now. Do I have time to take care of you first or do we need to leave right away?" - - - - - "I think we'll all sleep better after that, yeah." Ellie didn't do much to hide the sidelong look she gave Steve, trying the gauge his state of mind from his body language. "I'm glad you called us. I mean, maybe not glad; could have lived without freezing my delicate bits off during this whole thing." She let a sardonic drawl into her voice to make sure the stoic cyborg understood which part of that statement was a joke. "But it beats the hell out of you trying to deal with this on your own because you didn't want to inconvenience your friends. We've got your back." It hadn't been that long ago that that would have probably been his first instinct. Being part of a team and a family had gone a long way over the past few years. She wasn't really sure of the details of his relationship with Miss Americana but they seemed to do each other good as well. The medic cleared her throat before the exchange could turn too introspective. "Besides, after what we saw on Yoyo's Earth? If all we do is piss on Mandragora's grave? Worth it."
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A choked off scream turned into desperate retching as the scalding liquid slid down Winifred's throat, cutting off her air even as it blinded and burnt her face. Doubled over she clawed at her eyes with one hand while the other dug into the dirt and loose rocks, fingers convulsing as her whole body spasmed violently from far more than mere pain. Her tiny frame reared back as the scream became a bellow that didn't quite manage to drown out the sickening crack of bone as her body tore itself apart. In uneven spurts twisted grey muscle exploded down her limbs while her torso caves in then erupted to several times its original size, reducing most of her clothes to loose shreds and her white coat to tatters. The beast that staggered to its feet in her place mere seconds later towered over the injured rock creature even with its hunch, viscous liquid gold still dripping from milky white eyes and from between uneven teeth. The Alkahest's nostrils flared, its ghastly visage contorted as it identified the target of its raw rage. With a roar that shook the trees around the quarry and churned the water from which the aurans had emerged it surged forward and enveloped the creature's head and shoulder in one massive hand. Lifting it into the air the Alkahest grabbed its legs with its other hand and with a single motion tore the auran in two, smaller stones scattering like spilled entrails. The upper half was tossed unceremoniously into the water while the lower pieces were sent in the other direction. Seeming only more furious for the ease with which its enemy had been dispatched the misshaped titan threw back its head. "RAAARGH!"
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THE ALKAHEST Regeneration: Recover from Bruise. Move Action: Startle Monster 3: 1d20+22 28 Standard Action: Unarmed Attack vs Monster 3: 1d20+10 12 Hero Point: Unarmed Attack vs Monster 3, HP Reroll: 1d20+10 22 If that manages to hit that's a DC 35 Toughness Save.
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Reagent Will Save vs DC 25: 1d20+9 17 Whelp.
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"Damnation!" Winifred hissed through clenched teeth, scrambling across the uneven ground and trying to figure out where Riley was without taking her eyes off of the golden creature stalking her. Her vision swam in and out of focus and she couldn't tell which of her flasks her fumbling fingers were brushing against as she rummaged through her bag. Deciding to apply straightforward physics in lieu of a more elegant solution she redoubled her grip on her walking stick and lashed out, the length of chemically treated wood flashing with a speed and sureness that did credit to the physical training to which she'd been subjected at the Academy. The heavy tip cracked against the stones where a human's ankle would have been, jarring it loose. The monster stumbled and she took the opportunity to put more distance between them!
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Reagent Standard Action: Bartitsu Cane vs Monster 3: 1d20+10 23 Move Action: Scramble away again! Assuming that hits it's only a DC 21 Toughness Save.
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Gotcha!
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What are the chances of Kimber being able to track Bole using Super-Senses 6 (Fear Awareness [Mental], Extras: Acute, Analytical, Radius, Ranged, Tracking) [6PP] ?
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"Crocodiles," Set corrected casually, turning away from the approaching creatures with a shrug. "The Nile tis not merely a river in Egypt but tis still a river in Egypt, should you take my meaning. Big fellows but nothing worth ruining a perfectly good party over." A pair of overlarge reptiles was hardly the wrath of Sobek made manifest after all and the godling didn't care to risk their hostess deciding that an appearance cut short meant she didn't need to uphold her promise of charitable donation. "Come on then, Ms. The Scarab. You seem new to your position and a bit of glorified animal control tis a lovely way to get your metal booted feet wet. I'll even coach you through the process, you fortunate thing."
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ic A to Z (Everything Changes, Except When it Doesn't)
Gizmo replied to TheAbsurdist's topic in Bayview
"He and his fellows seem to delight in being intentionally crass," Winifred scoffed with a dismissive wave, paying considerably more attention to Corinne's demonstration than any excuses for boorish behaviour. She'd always been rather cautious about altering the properties of air itself in her experiments - a little too easy to suffocate oneself or ignite an entire room - but the excitable girl's intuitive control seemed to account for that. The danger presented by those abilities being used in anger was quite evident, however. She tapped a finger to the side of her head idly, considering what she'd observed in relation to what Corinne had explained of her own experience. "The precise alteration of your clothing should be fundamentally more taxing than the wholesale transmutation of the gasses under your hands in terms of expended energy but it is perhaps more easily conceived, more easily held in your mind as a concept." The speed of her words was beginning to pick up again and it seemed she was musing aloud as much as she was conversing with Corinne. "The stress you describe would then be psychosomatic in nature or rather a chemical change triggered by what you perceive to be 'larger' effects, based on scale and consequence. An outcropping of your natural fight or flight response in which you unconscious alter yourself rather than your surroundings. That would be not dissimilar from my own condition though I'm applying a tremendous amount of conjecture, obviously." -
"Works for me," Erik agreed, stepping over to Talya's other side and laying a brief kiss on her forehead. "I'll call in some friends to watch the kids here then we can pretend we're heading for a safehouse. I'm willing to bet this @#$% didn't write the book on getting pulped by six hundred pounds of motivated ex-Omegadrone. Just have to make sure Steve leaves some for us." There was a dark edge to his voice that suggested he wasn't really joking about that. Between them he and Min wrapped the blonde in a blanket of protective muscle and light touches. "This is not your fault, mi cielo. We make a habit of kicking assholes' teeth in, sometimes they're going to get it into their heads they can try kicking back." The swordsman let a wry smirk pull at his lips. "If we count the time with Downtime and Wild Card as one of mine I'm still way ahead on numbers. Although Min's big sister is probably worth more points. We'll work out a scoring system after." Vince reappeared on the tablet screen with an affectation of clearing his throat. "Sorry," he apologized vaguely, still looking deflated. "As far as Blackstone's records are concerned they've never even heard of Bennet, Carmichael or Witbeck. So that's probably not the greatest." "Guess that makes sense." Reluctantly Erik stepped away from his partners to retrieve his phone. "Do we need to have somebody check in with Raina? I know the note said she's alright but that kid wouldn't ask for help if her foot was in a bear trap."
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Winifred watched Phaedra lead Cathy away from their booth, then as Corinne wasted little time peeling away from the rest of the group to head to the dance floor. The alchemist worried on her bottom lip for a moment before catching herself and straightening her back reflexively. Better to sit back and watch for the time being, she reasoned, rather than almost certainly making a fool of herself. Besides, still boxed in between Robin and Raina there was no graceful way to slip out. Unless Smith pulls Robin out to the dance floor as well, she supposed. Which would leave her sitting alone with imperious blonde, which was fine and a perfectly normal situation and she really needed to come up with a plan of action before that happened. She looked to Riley to gauge the timeframe she was working with an immediately saw the agitation written across his face. Robin had tensed up in much the same way and if the two of them sensed some danger that was more than good enough for her. Scanning the room she too spotted the security team's odd behaviour with a frown. She hadn't brought any of her flasks or equipment with her, not even her cane and she immediately felt terribly exposed. "Hypothetically, you wouldn't have prepared a strategy for a quick exit, would you?" she asked Raina, voice just loud enough to be heard over the music.
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Winifred accepted the slip of paper and considered it for a moment before pointedly but without comment pulling out her mobile telephone and entering the numbers into the contact information application. She took too many notes in actual notebooks to throw many stones. "Paying me ahead of time so that I'm in an advantageous position to negotiate greater pay from your company going forward seems an inefficient business strategy but I am beginning to intuit that you have different metrics for success," she note dryly. In the emotional exhaustion that came from their more sensitive discussion, however, she didn't bother to hide a grateful expression. After a pause she added, "I, ah, expect I already know the answer but... I trust I can rely on your discretion on certain other topics?" She wasn't really sure who the couple was likely to speak to about her love life or lack thereof but she'd feel better for asking.