Gizmo
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Freedom City Guidebook
Freedom City PBP: A How-To Guide
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"I've got some real bad news about those chicken nuggets you like so much, Emmy-bear," Erik told his daughter dryly with a pointed gesture toward the partially concealed vegetables. "Don't kick your brother outside of training. Terry, you gotta remember to stay out of kicking range when you razz your sister, little man." They probably weren't the qualifiers most parents would have given but he wasn't really much more traditional in his lessons than Talya when it got down to it. "Bardic monkey, huh? That sounds fancy. We should get you a lute," he remarked as Merlin and Owain's conversation returned to English - or whatever Merlin did to make his meaning clear. He straightened with downplayed concern at Neko's glance and irritated tone as she walked off. "Whoop, are we good? Neko, really, you don't need to worry about the dishes, kid. You two have enough on your plate, pun intended!"
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"If they'd just let her read what she wanted to..." Erik started with the resigned huff of a parent who tried but did not always succeed in presenting a united front with his children's teachers. Mia was a voracious reader when left to her own devices but stubbornly took any excuse to procrastinate or 'forget' about the 'age appropriate' books she was given at school. Stories about cute magical animals probably would have been an easy sell for most seven year olds but admittedly Mia's day-to-day had set a high bar for wonderment. As Owain conversed with a somewhat hesitant Merlin and the girls began speaking in what he assumed was Japanese he scratched idly at the trim dusty brown beard he'd been experimenting with. "Right, okay. Good? I assume this is fine." Turning to Emily he pulled an exaggerated face. "C'mon, you don't want to eat your tiny trees? You gotta show them who's boss, like Mama does!"
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"Oh, uh... That's good? Yeah?" Ryder offered unconvincingly off of Charlie's shuddering recollection, exchanging an uncertain look with Utsuwa. Usually when his roommate described training he'd undergone before his time at Claremont by describing how it had taught him to avoid injury it fell under the broad category of what Ryder himself considered 'deeply messed up'. "Like... as in paintball? Oh, that's also a team sport, Hero. Like a war-game thing with toy guns that shoot colourful little balls of, y'know, paint! But yeah, lacrosse! That's awesome." He turned back to the Bernadettes with a dimpled grin, reflexively trying to keep the conversation rolling past any awkwardness to make the new student feel welcome. "They don't do a ton of that sort of thing here 'cause different powers and biology and stuff makes it tricky and it'd be a jerk move to compete with other schools that didn't know a bunch of our players were metahumans but hey! You could be a whole team on your own, yeah? Oh, wait! Could you be both teams? You'd be perfectly evenly matched, that'd be wild to watch!"
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"Guess the mummy problem is all wrapped up then," the patriarch of the household observed lightly from behind a large mug of coffee, the expression he gave Raina one of sublime innocence. Erik Espadas had spent the better part of the afternoon in the kitchen as evidenced by the variety of splotches across his off-white henley, the sleeves rolled up to just below the elbows and showing the strong hands and faint crisscrossed scars that their teenaged guests both recognized as the mark of a swordsman. "Welcome home, let me know when you want something to eat." Somehow he'd settled on a towering sandwich of loose ends and scraps for himself but he felt pretty good at approximating something Neko and Owain would find familiar with ingredients available in the West End. He tilted his head slightly to one side as the petite teenager let her illusory magic fall away. His own extra senses worked a bit differently from those of the witch, synaesthesia surrounding Neko with a low melodic hum the colour of a sunbeam reflected off of fresh snow. There was a faint shift from orange to red behind his eyes that made him think of stretching fingers wide as her ears unfurled; he'd tried to make it clear that she was free to appear however she wished while she stayed with them but he wasn't sure how well he'd gotten it across with the language barrier. Owain's magic tasted like the idea of clashing steel, the sound of metal against metal on his tongue without the reverberation of impact. There was another note that rose to the fore when the boisterous boy began chittering to Merlin, something of fur and feather. He had a sudden thought and gave the monkey a lopsided grin. "Oh, Boots, you gotta tell the kid your name. He's gonna love this."
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Intramural Squad Assignments Red Squad - Angela Elgard - Tori Griffen - James Guthrie - Sharaf el-Jalil - Utsuwa Ranaga - Rosalind Sommaripa Blue Squad - Naomi Ellison - Danica Holmes - Leon Moore - Heroditus Stylianos - Wilona Tabana Green Squad - Ryder Fujioka - Owain Jones - Natalia Koschei - Neko Musume - Bernadette O’Connell Grey Squad - Simon Grey - Luke Landers - Charles Pym - Calliope San - Muirne Sceadusangere
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Magenta seemed very pleased to be called wonderful for any reason, preening as she followed after the girls into Danica's shell. The extra dimensional space didn't seem to surprise the Robug but then she might have just been distracted by the promise of a present. She accepted the tiny Rubix cube, taking it between the joints of her forelimbs. The rest of her form stayed completely, suddenly motionless as she silently brought it closer to her face, eyes glowing noticeably brighter as she analyzed it. While Danica and Neko chatted the little robot mantis stayed completely transfixed on the miniature puzzle.
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"Utsuwa! Man, I coulda said the same thing to you, ha!" Hurrying over he met his roommate's casual entrance with an enthusiastic hug with his free arm that threatened to lift the other teenager off balance. A questioning buzz came from the box under his other arm, then Yellow poked her almond shaped head out from the cardboard flaps. Seeing Utsuwa the robotic yellowjacket wiggled free and flew in a circle around the young swordsman then hovered nearby his shoulder with a relieved sounding hum. She not-so-subtlety kept Utsuwa between herself and Charlie's menacing drone. "So, that's where you went! I think she missed having, y'know, the voice of reason around." He turned to the R.V.D.'s operator and raised his hand palm outward with a disarming smile. "Hey, I'd never object to the whole monochrome look! Nat would know." He paused briefly before adding in a rush as if to avoid that promised detection, "Maybe an accent colour, maybe! Not gold, though. She'd know about that, too."
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There was a brief pause before Kimber appeared, beating anyone else to the roof by taking the most direct route, right through several floors and out into the open air. She was more obviously translucent in the direct sunlight, all pale blues that might have almost been a trick of the light. Her outline was further obscured by ankle length cardigan that billowed around her, untethered by any affectation of gravity while she focused on the new arrival with an ear-to-ear smile that was as impossible to miss as ever. "Ohmigoodness sweetie, you look outrageous! How do you feel, everything's a good fit? I know this sort of thing can be a lot all at once, so don't be embarrassed if anything seems off." She floated in a circle around the cape clad young woman to get a better look at her new body, lips pursed with auntly concern. "You computer bits are all 'online' or 'downloaded' or whatever? Powers are under control? Are your boobs sore?"
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Magenta swivelled her triangular head back and forth, multifaceted eyes trying to track whatever Danica and Neko were reacting to but her mechanical sensors were no more capable to detecting the illusory samurai than her fellows on the floor below had been able to see the bobtailed cat. She perked up when Neko began addressing her directly however, obviously pleased to be receiving any sort of attention. It was a little unclear how much of the specific words she understood until at the mention of the moon she straightened her long forelimbs and stuck them straight up on either side of her head to indicate rabbit ears and began hopping about the room in theatrical bounds. Her capering took her to the posts of Danica's bed and she quickly climbed up to give the posters a curious look up and down.
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Magenta took the invitation gladly, scuttling in a zigzag path back and forth across the hall as one thing or another caught her momentary interest but always hurrying after Danica to catch up with the scooter after a moment. She preened when Neko called her cute, mimicking the girl's tilting head when she smiled. The little mantis crawled up the front of Danica's scooter with ease once they stopped, perching on the handlebars and using the vantage point to survey the room. Neko's quiet singing caught her attention and she made a series of musical chirps along with the melody. Noticing the cat-like ears on top of the girl's head Magenta bent her forelimbs into triangles over her own head and trilled excitedly.
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Cyan flattened himself against the top of Heroditus' head as the R.V.D. flew into the room, momentarily ignoring that it was not a real bird nor he a real insect. Black eyed the similarly coloured drone with continued silence that somehow conveyed a turn toward icy disdain that made Ryder wonder how much he'd been picking up from Natalia. "They're my Robugs, right!" he replied to Charlie then added to the Bernadettes, "There's a joke about making friends but I'm sure you've heard it before! They like to explore but, oh, they know better than to go into anybody's room without asking! Of course my, y'know, design aesthetic is a little less subtle than Charlie's anyway, ha!" He craned his neck to get a better look at the underside of the R.V.D. as it circled overhead, making thoughtful little sounds as he parsed the design. Cyan was immediately distracted by the shiny cell battery Heroditus offered him, batting it into the air with his hind legs like it was a hacky sack. "Okay okay okay! Probably get, what, four or five mile range? Nailing the hovering action without bulking it up or making it too noisy is 'pretty slick!'"
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While Danica and Neko were comparing miniature magical animals the sound of metal and plastic lightly clacking against the floor drew their attention downward. Scuttling nimbly around the feet of students passing through the common room was a robotic praying mantis coloured in pearlescent white and eye-catching pink, roughly the size of an open hand. Magenta hurried up to the bottom of Danica's mobility device and hopped up and down to get her attention. Looking up, she scampered back a few steps in surprise then tapped her creviced forelimbs against the top of her triangular head, chittering approvingly.
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Looking over Ryder's shoulder Heroditus didn't see the Robugs exactly but did watch as a sizeable cardboard box hovered along just off of the floor, seemingly of its own volition. Once it reached Ryder's feet he stooped to pick it up, revealing a robotic cricket painted bright blue and a glossy black horned beetle, each about the size of an open hand. "Haha, well Cyan and Black are helping me carry in a few things but I think Magenta got bored and went exploring. I think Yellow is hiding somewhere; big crowds with lots of stuff going on stresses her out." Cyan bounded about the room in a few prodigious leaps, bouncing off of the arm of the couch before landing on top of the Atlantean's head, chirping cheerfully. Black simply walked unhurriedly toward the Bernadettes, horn swinging back and forth as he silently regarded them from the floor. "You got it!" Ryder confirmed Charlie's recollection, hefting the box under one arm and giving a thumbs up with his free hand. "Glad to be back at it, right? If you're looking to test out what you can do, you're definitely in the right place," he added for Bernadette's benefit. He tilted his head to one side with a curious expression and it was hard not to think of a big puppy. "Ooh, do you duplicate stuff you're holding when you split off? Like beyond your clothes?" Easily switching his attention from one thing to another he looked over to Cyan on Heroditus' head and told him as an aside, "You can see if that kitty wants to play but be careful not to spook her, okay? Like you learned with the fox kits." The Robug shifted back and forth on its eight legs and chirped back in confusion. "What do you mean 'what kitty'? You've got a ridiculous field of vision, my guy. Black, back me up." The beetle simply shook its head slowly back and forth. "...huh."
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"Woah! I was going to check if anyone needed a hand carrying anything but seems like you've got it covered, ha!" A junior with tousled strawberry blond hair and a broad, dimpled smile sauntered into the common room, raising a hand in greeting. "Good to see you, guys. And a couple new faces! Or face singular, I guess? I think I heard 'duplicate'?" The teen wore an open collared shirt with a bright green and pink watermelon pattern over a white tank top splattered with numerous colours of paint and machine oil. His belt buckle appeared to have been made from the remains of an old, spent printer ink cartridge. "I'm Ryder, nice to meet you!"
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“I’m fi—“ Chitin began before being interrupted by a portion of damaged thigh armour falling to the ground with a sad thump, followed by a violent crackle of electricity as that leg nearly gave out from under him. “Ah! Black!” He hurriedly toggled the chambers of his belt, dismissing the Kabuto Beetle Instar armour back to its pocket dimension berth and disengaging the Robug from his base suit’s helmet. Black folded in on himself back into his usual form and landed at Ryder’s feet. His usually glossy shell was marred by little pockmarks and little wisps of acrid smoke were rising intermittently from his left side. Scuttling a little closer he knocked his long horn into his inventor’s ankle reassuringly. Chitin dropped down to his knees to scoop the robotic beetle up into his arms. ”Buddy I’m so sorry! We’ll get you patched up, I promise.” From closer to the ground he looked over at Apocalypsette’s unconscious form where Forever Boy had dropped her. “Ugh, man. I should have tried harder to talk her down. And that other armour, I just— I don’t know what to think about that. I really messed this one up.” Nocturne’s observations seemed to bring his attention back to the present and he gave his helmeted head a shake. “Right, yeah! I can let Dragonfly know what’s going on and look for anyone stuck in there at the same time!” He clamoured back to his feet unsteadily, eager to be helpful.
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As the HUD in Chitin's helmet came back online with a stuttering flicker the glow coming from the multifaceted eyes of his faceplate followed suit. Groaning, he pushed himself out of the ruined remains of a bass drum and nearly toppled to his knees as on leg of his armour reported a critical failure. Looking around in alarm he spotted Nocturne, far enough back to have suffered no more than ringing ears and Angelic, with the last remaining motes of the Melod-Oni's light drifting fingertips. Across the park the last remaining unconscious audience members were waking up, while others had rushed back now that the scene appeared relatively safe to help their compatriots move away from the immediate danger of the collapsing bandshell. The only sign of Canister was a message sprayed across the patchy grass in still-wet crimson paint, letters each about two feet tall. NEXT TIME Placing his hands on his hips and looking the message over, Chitin stood in nonplussed silence before saying aloud, "Well $*#%."
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The further from the outer edge of the monster Angelic reached the less defined it became, finding less of a throat behind its maw than a tingling field of energy that violently vibrated the components of her submerged hand until they threatened to tear apart. Instead she found something solid to grip onto: the base of one of the distinctive, curving demonic tusks protruding from the weirdly human mouth set into its hammerhead shark face. Sinking her ferrofluid stained fingers in she pushed backward with a mighty flap of her wings and pulled it lower jaw down pulling its mouth apart at the seams. The massive Melod-oni might have been able to move along with the yank on its jaw if the bulk of its form hadn't been rooted in place by Nocturne's gravimetric stakes, spiralling motes of black and gold showing where physics had warped push down on the domed crab-like body. "CYMKudgels!" Expending the last of his suit's reserves Chitin threw himself into on of its segmented legs, knocking it off balance with a football tackle. Without its stable footing the gravity anchors pulled it backward and down into the ruined bandshell stage, away from Angelic. It's head was thrown back as its translucent jaw and teeth ripped free in her hands! And on the park grass Canister gave their blue-capped can another vigorous shake before slamming it back into their belt. “Rattle them bones! P-P-PRESSURE!” The same compressed ball of light left their gauntlet, sailing higher and faster than their previous attack and directly into the hole of the monster's ruined mouth. There was a beat of anticipation, then an explosion of blinding multicoloured light and deafening sound as the gargantuan beast turned into a wild fireworks display!
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Giant Crab Meolod-Oni Toughness Save vs DC 33: 1d20+16 21 Since it was already staggered that'll do it! Feel free to get an IC post of setting up in for Nocturne @Fox, then I'll get in the big combined attack post.
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Apocalypsette Toughness Save vs DC 32: 1d20+12 22 Fortitude Save vs DC 27: 1d20+14 26 Now, the Paralyzing Attack on Forever Boy's Forever Blade gives him the option to inflict Paralyze instead of Damage, unless the Fort Save is from something else I'm not seeing? EDIT: Clarified that it's the save from the Coup de Grace! She is indeed knocked out after the second failure. Angelic is up next, @Avenger Assembled.
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“Great. Different decade, same bougie pigs getting bent about anybody else playing with their toys," Canister grumbled as they rolled out of the way of the giant Meold-Oni's trashing, the red X of their faceplate glowing ominously though Forever Boy's billowing golden mists. "I mean, obviously I've got a lot of technical questions but like, you're kinda nailing the aerosol can vibe," Chitin called from across the ruined bandshell. He tried not to make it too obvious he was leaning heavily against a toppled pile of amps while warning notifications blinked all across his HUD. "I'm getting spray paint but also bug spray, 'cause I've got an insect theme, yeah? I don't, y'know, love that part but--" “Not looking for constructive feedback from the father of modern war crimes," the purported time traveller interrupted, side-stepping to try to get a clear shot at Ryder. No matter where they moved either the towering monster was providing cover or they'd be leaving themselves open to an attack from one of the other heroes. It was subtle but from up above Pan had a clear enough to view to notice Canister clock the positions of the remaining unconscious audience members, increasingly in danger as the structural damage worsened. “Tch. Fine. First the fish monster." Before the Forever Boy could comment on what he'd seen the crab-thing pointed its hammerhead shark head in his direction and let loose a high pitched shriek that lanced toward him with physical force. He easily dodged the attack even as he split his attention between the complex situation on the ground and Apocalypsette futility trying to bash her own head into Angelic's face while spewing a string of frustrated expletives.
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Apocalypsette Headbutt Angelic: 1d20+10 14 Giant Crab Meolod-Oni Sonic Shout vs Forever Boy: 1d20+10 12 22 - Forever Boy - Uninjured, 2HP 21 - Angelic - Injured x2, Pending Fatigue, 1HP 17 - Nocturne - Bruised x1, Fatigued, 1HP 16 - Chitin - Bruised x1, Staggered, -4 Toughness, 0HP 11 - Canister - Uninjured 10 - Apocalypsette - Bruised x2, Dazed, Pinned - Crab - Injured x1, Staggered
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Canister Sense Motive vs DC 22: 1d20+10 12 Their one weakness: oh no everyone is hot Combined Attack vs Giant Crab Melod-Oni: 1d20+12 24 That's a DC 27 Toughness Save, so cumulative DC 29 with Chitin's attack.
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Chitin Going to hold for a combined attack with anyone else who attacks the Giant Crab Meolod-Oni before his next turn. Combined Attack vs Giant Crab Melod-Oni: 1d20+6 15 Combined Attack vs Giant Crab Melod-Oni; HP Reroll: 1d20+6 23 That's DC 25 for the purposes of combining DCs. 22 - Forever Boy - Uninjured, 2HP 21 - Angelic - Injured x2, Pending Fatigue, 1HP 17 - Nocturne - Bruised x1, Fatigued, 1HP 16 - Chitin - Bruised x1, Staggered, -4 Toughness, 0HP 11 - Canister - Uninjured 10 - Apocalypsette - Bruised x2, Dazed, Pinned - Crab - Injured x1, Staggered
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Just hits! Giant Crab Melod-Oni Toughness Save vs DC 25: 1d20+16 27 22 - Forever Boy - Uninjured, 2HP 21 - Angelic - Injured x2, Pending Fatigue, 1HP 17 - Nocturne - Bruised x1, Fatigued, 1HP 16 - Chitin - Bruised x1, Staggered, -5 Toughness, 1HP 11 - Canister - Uninjured 10 - Apocalypsette - Bruised x2, Dazed, Pinned - Crab - Injured x1, Staggered
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Apocalypsette Opposed Grapple Check: 1d20+12 21 Toughness Save vs DC 27: 1d20+13 21 22 - Forever Boy - Uninjured, 2HP 21 - Angelic - Injured x2, Pending Fatigue, 1HP 17 - Nocturne - Bruised x1, Fatigued, 1HP 16 - Chitin - Bruised x1, Staggered, -5 Toughness, 1HP 11 - Canister - Uninjured 10 - Apocalypsette - Bruised x2, Dazed, Pinned - Crab - Injured x1, Staggered Nocturne is up @Fox!
