Gizmo

Becky's face split with a smile too wide and containing a few too many teeth to be strictly human but for once she didn't care, slipping the ring onto Eve's extended hand with fingers made clumsy with emotion. As soon as it was one she surged to her feet and swept her fiancé up in her arms and showered kisses across jawline and cheeks and the bridge of her nose before settling on her lips and staying there until she was breathless. "I love you so much," the taller woman whispered as she pulled Eve closer against her, foreheads pressed together. "I swear, I am going to make you so happy. You... I..." At a loss for words Becky buried her face in the space between the telepath's neck and shoulder, her chest rumbling with a contented purr.

Don't worry about rolls, just coordinate with AA to see how he'd like to handle Nina getting knocked out. Say, that old historical building might be good cover!

26 - Tsunami - Bruised x1, 2HP 25 - Monsoon - Unconscious > 20 - Frostbyte - Bruised x1, 4HP 14 - Temperance - Bruised x1, 4HP 12 - Ardent - Bruised x1, 0HP 8 - Dam - Uninjured, Bruised x1 Blood Golems x6 - Uninjured Frostbyte is up. Feel free to get an IC post up for Monsoon getting knocked out if you like, AA.

Ellie blew out a long breath, much of the weariness that had creased her face before Mara's arrival returning with interest. "Ugh. Yeah, alright, not going to just abandon this guy, obviously. I guess." She put some exaggerated dejection into the last word, managing a small smile for the engineer. "C'mon, there's a couple rooms for folks to crash between double shifts and nobody uses the one on the floor above us 'cause it's basically a closet and the air ducts are all messed up. We can stick a sign on the door and set up there, nobody'll care." With another look up and down the room in case their evasive attacker suddenly reappeared she turned to lead the way, rubbing one eye with the back of her hand and stifling a yawn.

Just waiting on a Fortitude Save for Temperance, then. In the mean time: Dam Toughness Save vs DC 34: 1d20+13 31 That's a bruise! Feel free to post IC, Thev.

Reagent Fred is going to run out to one of the unconscious Deep Ones and try to take a sample. Dexterity Check: 1d20+1 16 Knowledge (Life Sciences) Check: 1d20+11 23 Knowledge (Physical Sciences) Check: 1d20+16 30 Craft (Chemical) Check: 1d20+20 26

In the face of the coordinated assault the towering blood puppets proved not to be particularly quick on their globulous feet, one slipping on Frostbyte's frozen hazard and bursting like a disgusting, viscous water balloon as it hit the pier, while two more dispersed similarly under the onslaught of Tsunami's unconventional fire hose. Almost as quickly as they added to the now shin-high pool of blood covering the the dock and spilling into the bay, however, they began to rise back up, as good as new. Even frozen solid by Temperance's abilities they collapsed like so much cherry flavoured shaved ice only to rise again. The pair of golems which had still been inside the curtain just before Ardent's glaive parted it focused on Monsoon, slamming huge fists toward the swordswoman. The impacts sent more blood splashing several feet into the air but the acrobatic princess remained a step ahead of their attacks for the time being. Unfortunately that gave the woman at the centre of it all the time she needed to regroup from her momentary surprise as her first line of defence collapsed. "Unclean demon!" she roared, the volume of her voice reverberating powerfully even with the note of petulant frustration at its edges. "You hypocrites are beyond shame or redemption! Only punishment remains! And Dam shall deliver it!" That was apparently all the explanation she felt like giving, thrusting out her chest and clenching both immaculately manicured hands into raised claws. Melodramatic or not the effect was immediate and brutal: the blood all around her surged as though a boulder had been dropped into from above and searing pain lanced through the gathered heroes as though they were being torn apart from within. Droplets of red began to well up under their fingernails and in the corners of their eyes, vision swimming as light-headedness threatened to overwhelm them. Monsoon better than any of them knew what was happening: Dam was pulling their very blood from their bodies, drop by excruciating drop.

Dam Full Round: Exsanguination. Damage 13 (Extras: Alternate Save [Fortitude], Area [General, Burst], Range [Perception, +2]; Flaws: Action [Full-Round], Distracting) For the purposes of Concealment or Obscure, the sense she's using for that Perception is Blood Awareness with the mental sense type. In the meantime, though, that's a DC 28 Fortitude Save for everybody! Blood Golems The golems dealt with in the previous found spend their turn reforming, thawing and standing back up respectively. Tsunami, Frostbite and Temperance each get an HP! Meanwhile, the two still standing will take swings at Monsoon! Aid Attack: 1d20+7 19 Unarmed Attack vs Monsoon: 1d20+9 10 They miss! > 26 - Tsunami - Uninjured, 4HP 25 - Monsoon - Uninjured 20 - Frostbyte - Uninjured, 5HP 14 - Temperance - Uninjured, 4HP 12 - Ardent - Uninjured, 0HP 8 - Dam - Uninjured, Demoralized, Flat Footed Blood Golems x2 - Uninjured Blood Golems x2 - Reforming Blood Golem x1 - Uninjured, Prone Blood Golem x1 - Frozen

12:15 AM Of the small group gathered in the whiskey club’s back room the machine intelligence and the probability manipulator weren’t the first people one wanted to see sitting across from them at the poker table. That was probably part of why Mark offered to physically go and pick up the next round of drinks between hands and why Redbird’s hologram rose to accompany him even if her lack of physical form outside of a vehicle made it more of a symbolic gesture. The somber expression framed by a few locks of fiery red hair allowed to hang free from the bun pinned with ornamental chopsticks behind the warrior’s head suggested an ulterior motive, however. The avatar subroutine translated Redbird’s hesitation into absentmindedly straightening the dark red cuffs peeking out from beneath her suit jacket before she blurted, “Luck-weaver, I require you to explain ‘weddings’.” “Weddings? Oh, okay!” said Mark ebulliently. He was being a good best man and so had had only a drink or two himself so he could be there for Trevor. He didn’t drink to excess much anyway - with his powers, it wasn’t a good idea. “Weddings are when two people who love each other decide to unite together in front of everybody. Sometimes people do it in a church or a mosque, sometimes they do it some place that means something to them. Why?” he asked curiously. “Didn’t they tell you?” Redbird’s avatar waved a hand impatiently while nodding. “The concept is clear enough!” She’d eventually learned to be judicious about sourcing her information about human culture and even if the litany of often mutually exclusive rules for weddings were perplexing she was confident she had the basic idea. “I do not understand the why of it. The shadow-walker and sheildmaiden already acknowledge each other as battlemates and neither holds closely to ceremony nor favours large gatherings!” She planted her hands palm down along the bar and gave Mark a brooding look that reminded him from where the autonomic being’s last imprint had come. “It seems deeply out of character. Perhaps even… sinister.” Mark leaned on the bar and resisted commenting that after years of living in the same house as Trevor and sleeping in the same bed, Erin probably wasn’t a maiden, amazed at how clearly the bat coming at his head appeared in his mind’s eye even at the thought. “Well...it’s something we do, I suppose. It’s a way of declaring that you love someone in front of everyone else, and that you always want to be with them. People feel better when they make a ceremony out of things - it makes it harder to break those bonds. My...my parents had some problems, but they were always together when it mattered, because they’d made a commitment to each other that way.” There was a moment of silence as a tray of drinks arrived on the bar in front of Mark and Redbird considered his words. She had only a second-hand understanding of parental relationships but it didn’t require any great insight to recognize the weight of any topic which could consistently give the gregarious luck controller pause. “Hnh. Then it is a sort of communal meditation, mental preparation for expected challenges. I had underestimated the dire import of this ceremony, then.” “Well, kind of,” said Mark. “There are parts where they vow to be together, in thick or thin, till death do them part, and we take things more seriously when we’ve vowed to do them. It’s also like a challenge to the world, like you’re yelling ‘Here we are! We’re married! Come at us, world!’” He smiled, then said, “Hey, Redbird, do you want to know a secret about weddings?” He was briefly interrupted by the need to ‘helpfully point out’ the bottle of grenadine behind the bar that they needed for Mike’s Shirley Temple. “Of course!” Redbird shouted, enthusiastically slamming her fist into the bar even if her audio inducers needed to fake the sound of impact. Framing the wedding as the ultimate challenge to battle had clearly won her over to the idea in general and the promise of some hidden technique or bit of forgotten warrior’s lore had sealed the deal. “Tomorrow morning,” he looked at his phone, “Or, no, this morning! Yikes, better make this the last round for real,” he put his phone away and went on, “before Nina and I arrive for the wedding, I’m going to ask her to marry me.” He opened the box in his pocket and showed her the ring - a carefully selected one whose recessed diamonds wouldn’t interfere with Nina using her sword or her hydrokinesis. “And I’m pretty sure she’s gonna say yes. Just don’t tell anyone, okay? There’s a lot going on - and this is going to be Erin and Trevor’s big day, not ours.” Redbird’s response boomed through the otherwise restrained atmosphere of the bar as she pumped her fists in the air. “Excellent!” The smattering of other patrons looked over in their direction but the machine intelligence either didn’t notice or didn’t care. “Already our war party is unbeatable; so strengthened there shall be no foe beyond our abilities! Merely say the word, luck-weaver, and you shall have the assistance of Redbird!” Her toothy grin said that she hopes that assistance would involve violence or explosions in some capacity. “I’ll tell you what,” said Mark, “if we get married in America, I’ll see if Nina will let you be in the wedding party.” He grinned. “We could probably use a warrior for our wedding. Hopefully at this one, they’ll just need some friends.” He led the way back into the poker room, carrying their tray of drinks, and called, “Hey guys, it’s after midnight! Better make this last call…”

Groovy! The curtain comes down in a harmless but extremely gross and messy wave. Go ahead and get Phae's IC post up and I'll let Dam and the golems act for the round!

Her Nullify is Touch ranged but since she's striking the curtain itself I think we can skip the Attack roll and go right to the Opposed Check. Dam Opposed Power Check: 1d20+13 16 Ardent is making a roll against that with a +10 bonus from her Nullify rank.

Alright, I think I know how to edit the IC post to fit that better, I'll get on that this evening! EDIT: Made the appropriate edits, let me know if that works better for you.

Ah, misunderstood that. But the big bad is close enough to both that Set can see him and Riley can target him with arrow...?

Midnight's expression was unreadable behind his mask as Jessie disembarked, then Aquaria and the ship's crew. The grey, sunless day seemed a little bit darker around the imposing, black clad figure as he took in the new arrivals with an unnerving focus. It wasn't until the Deep One spoke that he moved from a pace behind Wander, taking two smooth strides forward. When he spoke it was quiet, barely reaching past the immediate group and filtered of any emotion. "Once lost a White in space for months," the taciturn vigilante confided, tipping the brim of his fedora up slightly from his face and tilting his chin toward Erin. "Did a good job." There was a brief pause before he gave Aquaria a thumbs up to make sure his meaning was clear, the gesture managing to be only a little bit awkward.

"Sure, been that sort of day," Jill O'Cure decided blithely as she watched the animals smashing themselves against the glass. Catching back up with Geckoman she pursed her lips and began gathering power about her flexing fingers. "I'm going to hate myself for saying this later, probably, but I think we need to split up. I'll take force field duty down here but you've got a better chance of tracking down our Talky Tommy. Just keep in contact, yeah?" She tapped two fingers to her ear and the unobtrusive communication device tucked inside. With a final nod she took off toward the emergency room, passing the shouting, flying cafeteria worker without taking time to make so much as a food fight pun. "Hey, what do you do?" she called over without preamble as she ran. "That energy field get any bigger?" * * * * * On the rooftop of the building across the street from Trinity a solitary figure watched as another black feathered bird dive bombed the hospital. With one boot atop the ledge circling the roof he leaned forward enough to get a better look before producing a grappling line launcher from his belt. "What'd you get yourself into this time, hermanita?"

Sekhmet's roar of frustration as her target failed to crumble beneath her righteous fury was briefly drowned out by a clap of thunder somewhere overhead. Simultaneously a streak of crimson lightning cut through the preternatural darkness like a blade stabbing through a heavy curtain, striking one of the shadow creatures squarely in the chest. The flash last just long enough to illuminate Choshech's minion as it was torn apart into scraps of blackness that blew away of the accompanying gust of hot, desert wind and the cold expression on Set's face. "I had a pithy insult prepared but a cloud of bear piss to the face conveys the sentiment rather more fully, methinks," she mused at the edge of Sekhmet's little bubble of light. The godling hunched forward for a moment as large, avian wings sprouted from her bare shoulder blades, the rich hue of the feathers matching her lightning. They flapped once experimentally as she looked back up at the being attacking the Academy, divine eyes no more inconvenienced by Woodsman's distinctive tactics than the shadows. "Tis no time for pride, sadly. Mayhaps a change in stratagem, She Who Mauls." "Rrraaagh, and what suggestion have thee, then?" Sekhmet growled as she continued to lash out at the growing number of shadow creatures. The fires around her fists seemed to burn at them where conventional attacks failed but they were still uncommonly quick and sturdy and in her diminished form the warrior goddess was having little success beating them back. Her nose wrinkled at the odour descending from overhead, doing nothing to improve her mood. "Be we not gods?" Set spread her wings and tried to calculate from where the arrow had been launched before looking to Huang with a smile that was less confident than either of them might have liked. "Tis the handiwork of your angry classmate with the crossbow, aye? Might you describe him as an outsider from a inhospitable, faraway land? Tasked with the slaying of beasts whether his efforts are appreciated or understood, so on, so forth?" She placed on hand on her hip and gesture grandiosely with the other. Calling out to Sekhmet again she added, "And surely we can find someone generally violent and in possession of freakish upper body strength. Tis just such an institution, after all."

Set Standard Action: Lightning Bolt vs Shadow: 1d20+7 25 AP: Damage 7 (Extras: Autofire, Linked [+0], Ranged, Power Feats: Accurate 1, Affects Insubstantial 2, Homing 1, Indirect 2) [27PP] + Drain Toughness 7 (Extras: Affects Objects, Linked [+0], Ranged, Flaws: Limited [Electronics, -2]) [7PP] (lightning bolt; chaos aspect, storm aspect, electricity) Move Action: Shapeshit Flight 3 (50 MPH; Drawbacks: Power Loss [Restrained]) [5PP] (raptor wings) The Drain portion of the effect obvious doesn't apply here but Affects Insubstantial 2 should at least force a Toughness Save! DC 22.

Phoenix, I'm not really cool with Ellie's secret identity being compromised like that, not when she's explicitly being discreet and without any OOC discussion.

26 - Tsunami - Uninjured, 3HP 25 - Monsoon - Uninjured 20 - Frostbyte - Uninjured, 4HP 14 - Temperance - Uninjured, 3HP > 12 - Ardent - Uninjured, 1HP 8 - Dam - Uninjured, Demoralized Blood Golems x2 - Uninjured Blood Golems x2 - Reforming Blood Golem x1 - Uninjured, Prone Blood Golem x1 - Frozen Ardent is up!

Rather than have the golems make the Fort save directly, I'm actually going to call for an opposed power check, troll! Dam will pit her hemokinesis against Eliza's powers! Temperance gets an HP for the inconvenience but needs to make a 1d20+9 roll for her Transform rank. Dam Opposed Power Check: 1d20+13 22

Her expression drew a light laugh from Becky, trepidation washed away by a tidal wave of affection. "God, you're adorable." Fumbling for a moment she popped open the jewelry box to reveal what was very clearly a diamond engagement ring. If she'd had to hazard a guess the telepath would have pegged its value at about two months salary for a True North page - perhaps a bit more since a significant portion of Wendy Go's compensation came in the form of benefits. From the ginger way Becky was presenting it, however, it was clear that it represented something far more valuable than that to her. "Marry me. We can deal with the distance and the travel and everything else but I never want to let you go again. When we're together, that's when-- when I feel like I'm home." She put a little extra emphasis on the last word and gave Eve a hopeful smile. "Too goofy?"

"Sounds beastly," Winifred commiserated before immediately pulling a sour face. "Poor choice of words, my apologies." She opened her mouth to make some excuse to usher Raina out into the hall but something about seeing Riley so deflated - as deflated as the stubborn survivalist had ever been in her presence, at least - made her press her lips into a thin line instead. She'd wanted to fix the whole affair as efficiently as possible but she realized now that no amount of alchemy was going to entirely undo the consequences of the disastrous encounter. She'd have hardly wanted Sanderson to intentionally go behind her back to cast some potentially dangerous bit of spellcraft because it was easier than honesty. With a look over to the injured Robin she inwardly cursed the cowardice of her initial plan. For a moment she said nothing, focusing on controlling her breathing until she was confident in her composure. Then she retrieved a cheap, plastic pencil case from the backpack that had transported her roommate's possessions. The zipper hitched slightly as she pulled it open and the feline caricatures emblazoned across its slick surface wouldn't have been her first choice but there was the idiom about beggars. Its contents clinked softly against each other as she produced a stoppered glass tube filling with a vivid golden liquid that caught the light in such a way that it might have been faintly luminous itself. "I, ah, may have an alternative plan, ladies," she announced, holding the vial up for them to see. "A lesser elixir of my own devising, based on what little genuinely reputable documentation of the Philoso-- ah. Well." The petite scientist cut herself off, suspecting that just then was not the time for a full explanation of her process. "The crux is that it facilitates the conduction of qi in the body, enough to noticeably decrease recovery time. I've successfully tested it on myself, naturally, enough to confirm repeatable success with regards to minor cuts and mild burns." She powered through that detail before anyone could ask for clarification. "Given Robin's already prodigious capacity for healing, however, I believe the effect on her would be markedly more dramatic. Should you consent to he attempt." Squaring her shoulders, she set her jaw and tried to look less hesitant. "It will work, I'm positive. I'll quite understand if you'd rather not chance it, though. I realize I... I would understand."

That's a big enough area to target all of the golems but Cathy's going to find that her ice can't get through the blood curtain from the outside. Have an HP! She still has a chance to trip up two of the golems, however: Blood Golems Reflex Save vs DC 21 to Halve: 2#1d20+7 19 12 Opposed Strength Check: 2#1d20+14 24 21 26 - Tsunami - Uninjured, 3HP 25 - Monsoon - Uninjured 20 - Frostbyte - Uninjured, 4HP > 14 - Temperance - Uninjured, 3HP 12 - Ardent - Uninjured, 1HP 8 - Dam - Uninjured, Demoralized Blood Golems x3 - Uninjured Blood Golems x1 - Uninjured, Prone Blood Golems x2 - Reforming

Midnight, predictably, said nothing but did raise the fingers of one hand to massage his right temple through his featureless black mask. It hadn't been the strongest opening line, no; it wasn't so much the biological impossibility of it he would have called out as the specificity. Blades weren't his oeuvre but Woodsman seemed much more confident with an ax in hand; better as a rule to let the target of his intimidation imagine what that blade might do than make a specific promise. Still, he shifted his hand just enough to suggest he and Wander hold back and give the teen a chance to recover. Riley's physical skills were considerable and developing well but while he had anger and bluster in copious amounts he needed a chance to build up some real confidence for this sort of work.

Winifred reflexively returned the gesture with a slightly stiff curtsey that lost some of its effect in trousers before turning her eyes to Peshkov with the wary curiosity of someone observing a potentially fascinating but definitely dangerous specimen in the wild. The record of 'Comrade Frost' had been public enough - though she still found the present day's attitude toward scholarly reference worrisome - but decidedly mixed. It certainly hadn't been lost on her why someone might think him a suitable mentor figure for herself and Morningstar. 'Decidedly mixed' indeed. Still, that was no excuse for rudeness. "Hello, Doctor. The ride was uneventful." That was a careful bit of wording to describe the mildly awkward silence of the trip. She knew Phaedra was seeing Cathy in a romantic sense and it wasn't that she disapproved but between the Hallowe'en party and Sanderson's vocal opinions on the subject Winifred didn't entirely trust herself not to say the wrong thing. The ride from the Academy wasn't a particularly long one but it had been long enough for the most banal of conversation topics to dry up. She straightened her white coat and stood a little bit straighter. "We appreciate your time."