Raveled
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The police advanced into the room, the male officer chuckling dryly as he neared the scene of the fight. He knelt down next to the unconsious man and gave him a once-over. "Oh, that you did, lass," he said with a brogue thick enough to swim in. "The Red Right Hand -- a real bastard of a bruiser. I'm sure you lassies got a fight out of him." The lady cop didn't say anything, but merely followed close behind. "So you know who he is," Blue Jay said, her eyes tracking over the naked, scarred man. "Oh yeah. A two-bit thug and low-life who loses a hand jumping trains and replaced it with a jade artifact -- and suddenly he's the toughest Kraut on the mile, aye?" The archer pulled a confused expression, and not just over what a 'Kraut' was. "So why does he wear the glove?" "Oh, the Golden Glove's a real cape," the officer replied. "Street-pounder from Philly. Ol' Red probably sliced him up something fierce, stole his outfit, left him bleeding out some place when he hitched a ride up here." The officer stood up, dusting his pants off. "Alright then. Let's have a word with the Prince in private, aye?" Blue Jay hesitated. She wasn't used to dealing directly with the police like this. The officer's casual attitude towards a brutal attack didn't mesh with what Jay knew about this planet's inhabitants. And the fact that the female officer hadn't said anything yet was starting to creep her out.
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Tuesday, February 19, 2013 Claremont Academy Evening Evening. The end of another long day at Claremont Academy, surely the oddest school in the world. For Tona Baudin, the day had been full of learning, and exercise, and honing her mind and body into a singular, powerful machine. Many of the students had unusual powers of one kind or another and they focused on using them instead of their own physical talents, but all Tona had were her body and her skills. She kept herself in top form, because there was no other way for her to compete with her fellow students, and Tona was far too competitive to be anything but the best. And this day had been another success, one well earned and fought for, and Tona was ready to go to bed. She had showered and taken care of other matters in the floor's communal bathroom, and now she was standing outside the door to her dorm room. Hesitating. Inside was her roommate, Cerys Pefr, one od the few girls in the school who could understand just how hard Tona worked, and why. One of the few who Tona considered a friend -- except for that day almost a month ago, when a Curator drone masquerading as Tona had tried to kill Cerys, and a lot of other people. Now the air between them was tense, strained, and Tona had no idea had to fix things. But she couldn't stand outside the door for much longer without an RA coming over and asking questions and making things a thousand times more embarrassing. So Tona opened the door and stepped through. She kept her eyes firmly fixed on her bed and grunted a greeting to Cerys.
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"Aye, well here's the thing." The Captain scratched his chin in what must be a purely affected gesture. "The crew are a bit torn, you see. Some think you're a vessel o' an angry god come to punish them for a life of villainy and piracy." He grinned at Fleur before continuing. "The rest seem to favor their odds with rushin' ye, at least over dealing wit' all the angry bees outside. And as for turning things off, well." Kraken turned with his arms held out wide, taking in the wrecked ruined engineering section. "Ye blasted plants managed to sever most of the connections between the bridge and the engines. I suppose our chief engineer could land the ship safely -- oh, what's that o'er there?" Kraken picked his way almost daintily over the vines protruding from the floor to where the cyclopean engineer lay. "Well, let's have a look at what we have 'ere!" "We weren't the ones who went looking for a fight," Blue Jay said, not entirely truthfully. "He shouldn't have tried to attack our minds!" Kraken rounded on the archer, his face-tentacles standing out as he screamed at her, "Shut it, lassie! Unless ye've got a ship-mooring arrow on ye!" Blue Jay was so shocked at the naked display of rage that she actually did shut her mouth sharply.
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Fleur blocked up two of the doors, and Blue Jay kept her sights moving across the remaining entrances. Fleur's ultimatum produced a silence from the pirates, and the young archer felt her nerves begin to fray as the seconds dragged on. She had envisioned this as a surgical strike to cripple the pirate ship; she hadn't considered that they would completely disable it like this! It all seemed unreal, and Jay didn't know how to handle it, so she was uneasy. So when one door opened and the imposing figure of the captain stepped through, she almost loosed without thinking. The archer caught herself at the last moment, though, and for several heartbeats the two groups simply exchanged glares. Then the captain held up his tentacle-hands and began walking down the gantry towards the engineering floor. "We yield, lass. Dinnae destroy the ship; it be all we have to return home."
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Happy Russo!
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Jay was fascinated by the MREs. An entire meal that you could hold in your hand! If she had more of these, she could even eat meals on patrol without getting out of her costume, or having to resort to fatty, frost-covered food. She still checked the nutritional information on each package carefully, though. She didn't have superpowers to see her through, so she had to be careful to keep her body in tip-top shape. After a few moments' consideration though, she handed the barbeque beef back and opened the package of pasta. She followed Edge's instructions exactly and tasted the food somewhat hesitantly, but after the first forkful she dug into it. It was actually very tasty, much more so than some of the stuff that came in much brighter packaging! Edge's question caught her off-guard, and she had to swallow a mouthful of noodles before answering. "I was raised in the country," she said, which was only half a lie at most. "I'm much more comfortable out here than in a city. I guess Headmaster Summers thought I would be useful out here." She paused to take a swallow of the sports drink that came in the MRE. "I don't think I could do international work," she admitted. "Too much traveling involved."
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Blue Jay shook her head. Most of Fleur's plan flew over her head; those massive things over there were batteries? Like in her own commlink or flashlight? In any case, she knew all about sniping from a perch, though usually she was preparing to ambush someone who had no idea she was up there, not defend a place from an attacker who knew where she was. After some consideration, she settled on climbing an equipment rack stacked with hull plates. The entrance wouldn't be easy to cover; there were five doors, scattered over several levels of gantries and catwalks. She and Fleur had entered through the topmost one, but there was no way to tell which one the pirates would use. Maybe all of them at once. As Fleur's plants snuck through the conduits and accessways, dislodging any case lies in their way, electrical sparks would sometimes emit from the lights or from wall panels, and at one point the lights went out entirely. For a heartbeat or two the room was only illuminated by the glow of the power generators, but then red emergency lighting came on where the walls met the floor and ceiling. Fleur's vines crept up the massive power generators, but the heat and energy contained in them cookies the plants to cinders. They persevered at the insistence of the Fleur, however, and eventually they were only browning; and in time, the outermost layers were green and healthy and were being covered by even more vines. Blue Jay's attention was drawn away from the strange sight of power plants bigger than her dorm building being turned green and leafy, when a lower door woodshed open and a pirate stuck his head in. Jay has an arrow to hand and she quickly struck the pirate in the ear with blunted shaft. He retreated, howling, and Jay drew and nocked again. "Fleur," she shouted down to the floor. "They're starting to come in!"
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Seek, I need a Will save for Warp. Blue Jay's Will save. (1d20+7=19)
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"Merneptah did nothing! We didn't even know he was, uh, cognizant for years. He was discovered in the '30s and kept in the British Museum for decades. Then he was sent around the world as part of their Egyptology exhibit, and when it came to Freedom City Dr. Ford performed some scans of Merneptah, when he... sat up." "It was a stress for the old man," the prince put in, "when I climbed off the examination table. His heart gave out, and as there were no priests to give the final rites I gave benediction to his ka and ren, allowing them to pass on. His ba entered me, and came together with my akh to give me knowledge of this strange time I exist in." Cardigan sighed. "And then security came in and saw a mummy standing over Dr. Ford, who was dead. They overreacted, and he defended himself, and then the Freedom League got involved... and anyway, Merneptah was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, and a couple other things, I think. It was a whole big hooplah between us and the Egyptian government, anyway. But now he's here, helping us, as part of Project Freedom. And I have no idea who would want to kill him!" A cough drew the group's attention to a uniformed security guard standing off to one side. "Uh, beg your pardon, Dr. Cooper, but the police are here. About the, uh, Glove guy." Behind the guard, both heroes could see a pair of uniformed police officers enter the room; one was older and male, with a bushy mustache that looked right out a Prohibition movie. The other was shorter, younger, and female, with her peaked cap perched on blonde curls.
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Tona took a deep breath and got ahold of her emotions before she broke down sobbing. She turned a smile on the other girls, hugging herself tightly. "I'm sorry," she said. "You all had a great night planned out for me, and I had such fun tonight! So I didn't want to be lying to you anymore and I thought I would tell you all everything, but I'm just dragging everyone down." She leaned forward and hugged each girl in turn. "I had a really, really, really great time tonight. Thank you, all of you."
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Tona dropped her hands in her lap and looked down at them, fingers twiddling. "They are. Me pere is... He runs... A lot of people in the Terminus have given up all hope. They... They worship Omega and their Annhilist." She spat the word angrily, her hands curling into fists for a moment as righteous anger boiled up in her. "But on every world there are some people who fight. Me pere leads the fight against that all. He leads the Resistance on my home world. "Ma mere..." Tona's shoulders slumped and she spoke slowly, haltingly, dredging up bad memories and tip-toeing around the worst ones. "I was born after the invasion. I learned that most of the people with... special powers died then. But not ma mere. She was strong, tough, could fly, could rip whole trees out of the ground. She was --" Tona glanced around at the other girls, suddenly grinning, as a bright memory temporarily pushed by the black emotions. "She was Lady Liberty. And after the invasion, when was the most powerful person in the world." Tona looked down at her hands again as clouds drew over her expression again. "But she got angry. Got dark. She would go out with very little backup, or with none at all. And one day she... never came back." Tona squeezed her eyes shut against a rush of emotions, as for a moment she was six years old again and wishing more than anything that her mother would come home just one more time.
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"Some court documents," Cardigan said with a shrug. "They were pertaining to the succession of the position of the high priest of Tooth, from one --" "The usurpation of the position," Mernepath insisted, rising to his full height and shaking his wrapped fists at the sky. "It should have gone to Hebeny, not that upstart Sekhimib. Oh, woe unto the land of my ancestors, for they have buries their wisdom with my body!" The outburst effectively silenced the room, and when the mummy slumped back down (the villain's blows had evidently done something to it) it still took a minute for Blue Jay to speak up again. "Okay. But why was a dead man translating old scrolls?" "Because he can read it like we read the morning newspaper! These aren't just dusty names to him, they're people he lived and laughed and loved with." Cardigan paused and cleared his throat. When he spoke again it was slowly, like he was ashamed of what he was saying. "And then there was the incident with Dr. Ford."
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Jessica slowed down as they reached the entrance to the mall, letting Baxter come abreast of her as his words sank in. She was trying to continue their relationship like nothing had happened, but something big had happened, something so big it meant she had never actually had a relationship with this boy at all. "College sounds like a good idea. A four-year diploma is always useful," said the girl who had had her bachelor's at eighteen. "I didn't know you were looking at art school though. Um. I guess I kind of don't know a lot about you. And you probably don't know anything about me." She paused and they walked along in silence for a few yards. "Is there anything you'd really like to know?"
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Tona let out a long breath she hadn't known she had been holding. She almost felt giddy; she had been prepares to be rejected, to be ostracized, as a liar even if not as a Terminus native. The simple and frank way the other girls handled the information was a lot better than what she had dared hope for. "Merci," she said. "I mean... Very much, thank you. When I came to this planet, the people with the Freedom League suggested that I not tell people that I was from the Terminus, but I've never been very good at lying." She slumped slightly, tension going out of her body, then she suddenly sat up straight again. "Um. Can you not tell anyone else?"
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Starlight stood and made her way to the open door -- or maybe it was a hatch. They were on a plane, but that plane was floating in the ocean like a boat. Did that change the terminology? The thought flashed through her mind and she shoved it aside; there'd be time for questions later, once Malory was safely in custody. She looked at Young Britannia and gave the woman a slight nod. "I shall meet you inside," she said, and that was all. She stepped out of the plane and took off, the yellow-white glow of her mystic aura reflected in the water of the ocean as she skimmed just above the surface. Before long the bulk of the East heaved over the horizon and she dove, leaving a tall rooster-tail of water in her wake as she cut into the surface of the ocean, and then nothing at all as she sake deeper. Under the waves it quickly grew cold; this was a fact she was aware of, like the searing heat of reentry or the crushing depths of a gas giant or the odd feeling of carrying a communication device inside her body, hooked up her inner ear from the inside. She was aware of it, but she didn't let it bother her as she approached the curving hull of the submarine. Once alongside she laid her hand on the hull and once again pondered cutting though it with her own cosmic energies, but that plan had been discarded. Instead she discorporated and a cloud of light assaulted the hull, seeking out any crack or seam. She didn't need to reform inside the sub's control room, she just needed to get inside.
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"He's the Mighty," Blue Jay said to Jubatus. "He fought alongside the Brave, the Marksman, the -- oh, wait." She listened attentively to Edge's words, nodding slightly, and then switched her focus to Lidimo. She frowned at the mention of MREs, since some of Mr. Archer's jokes had revolved around how terrible they were, but she decided that anything Edge could endure, she could. At Dr. Conte's warning about water, she unhooked the canteen from her waist and took a long pull on it, sloshing it around afterwards to try and judge how much there was left. "Do we have a fresh water supply," she asked. "And what about hunting? If we could live off the land, we wouldn't need to eat the MREs."
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"... Right." Blue Jay relaxed her grip on her weapon and stowed the arrow, but she kept the unconscious man with the red hand between her and Warp. "What is going on here, exactly? This guy painted himself up and found a mummy to punch?" "Well, I don't know about the painting, but the rest of it is pretty much how it happened." The man in the cardigan had finally hauled the mummy to its feet and was now readjusting his sweater and tie as he addressed the heroes. "Merneptah as translating some hieratic scrolls, when that man burst through the door, announced he was the Golden Glove, and tried to punch out the prince!" "Oh. Well then." Jay threw her hands in the air. "He did just paint himself up to find a mummy to punch. Wonderful. So why would he do that?"
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Blue Jay's face went pale as Warp emitted a strange, red light -- the same kind of light she remembered from her homeworld. It entered the body of the ersatz superhero and his mouth stretched wide in a silent scream. He fell to the ground suddenly, shuddering and making small sounds of pain as the ball of entropy tore him up from the inside. His clothes and even his skin began to smoulder, slowly shriveling and burning off him -- and then his skin burned, its healthy tan fading and being replaced by a sickly white, scars appearing on his back and arms as he went face-down. The odd transformation continued as his old skin -- skin paint, maybe? -- pooled on the ground underneath him. His golden gloves burned away as well, revealing one fairly-ordinary hand and one hand that looked to be made of red stone, with long, claw-like fingernails. Blue Jay slowly came down from her perch, arrow nocked and aimed, but no matter how close she got the pale man with the crimson hand didn't move. She looked between Warp and the newly-revealed man, as the civilian tried to help Merneptah get up. "What.. what was that, Warp," she whispered to the other heroine.
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DC 22 Fort vs. Drain (Toughness) and DC 27 Tou vs. Damage.Golden Glove's Fortitude save, vs DC 22. (1d20+7=19) 3 points less Toughness. Golden Glove's Toughness save, vs DC 27. (1d20+3=8) Lucky, lucky, lucky, luck. He's down for the count.
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Once the helicopter had set down Blue Jay was rocking in her seat, wanting to get out and feel real dirt under her feet again. Once the way was clear she was out like a shot. Once she was out of the vehicle and stomping around in the sun, she visibly relaxed and took to scanning the horizon. Africa was much hotter than she was used to, and there was more grass and less trees than she could see. Still, if she turned her back on the strip of packed dirt and tuned out the idling machine, she could almost believe that this was some place she could understand. Then someone called her name and she turned and her jaw dropped. He was standing there, cape flapping in the wind, smiling and greeting them all by name like they were all old friends. When she heard her name her mouth went dry and she had to swallow a few times before she could respond. "It was very long. But now we are here to help, but I don't know what we can do that the Mighty can't."
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The captain chuckled, but his expression was anything but friendly. "Now, lass. Ye must think this through. We be pirates, see? Giving things away... isn't exactly our style. In fact." The captain stepped back and the two other visible pirates stepped up. The one in the NASA suit raised his arm and a jet of white-hot fire erupted from the suit's wrist, quickly washing over Fleur's leafy guardians as they lumbered forward to take the brunt of the blow! Jay let out a truncated scream as the plant controller grabbed the archer and the entire group reappeared in the engineering room. Jay her scream off and took a moment to compose herself, as the tree beasts pulled flaming branches and leaves off themselves and stomped out the fires. "Okay," she squeaked, then swallowed and said started speaking again in a more normal tone. "Okay. So, the pirates are mad and we can't trust them. Duh. So what are we going to do next?"
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The imposter went to one knee under Warp's assault, but her blow didn't seem to phase him. "You won't have to worry about the real Golden Glove anymore," he rasped, his voice suddenly high and harsh. "I dealt with that fool easily. Come here and I'll show you how!" He twisted and tried to leap at the young heroine, but his leg wouldn't uncurl. He looked down and realized there was an arrow in the ground, pinning his pants leg to the floor. From her perch, Blue Jay grinned and tapped her commlink. "Feel free to beat him up some more, Warp," she said to the other Claremonter. "It's pretty fun to watch from up here."
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Initiative 32 Blue Jay -- Uninjured -- HPx3 22 Golden Glove -- Pinned -- GM 18 Warp -- Uninjured -- HPx2 11 Merneptah -- Staggered + Disabled -- GM Mernepath is being helped off the field by Doctor Professor. Blue Jay She'll try a Ranged Pin on GG. Blue Jay's ranged pin attempt w/ +2 Accurate Attack & +2 All-Out attack. (1d20+19=21) F--- you too, IC. Golden Glove's Reflex save, vs DC 21. (1d20+7=19) Well at least he's Pinned. Golden Glove Golden Glove's Strength check, vs DC 21. (1d20+6=20) Well he'll stay tied down for one turn, anyway.
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I had nightmares, the last night on the Curator's world. I dreamed that I was at Claremont, in class. I would look over to talk to Cerys or Mali or Sam, but they wouldn't be there. It would be an Omegadrone, or a steam soldier, sitting in their seat instead. Except it would still be wearing their clothes and talking in their voice, before it reached out and killed me. We ate breakfast on the outskirts of Chicago. Just before we headed in, a Curator ship came out of the sky and crashed in the city. We went in to take a look, and I crawled inside to look around. Jill O'Cure had some machine that she called Vince that could pilot the ship, so we took that one instead of searching for the Champions' ship. We flew up to where the Curator lived and controlled everything, but before we could find it, a Lor ship appeared and teleported us on-board. The Lor said that they were there to explore why the Curator suddenly shut down. We were put back in the Curator's place, right in front of him, but before we could do anything the defenses woke up and we had to get back to the Lor ship. It was about then that the Earth heroes arrived, in Midnight's ship. Kit wasn't with them, but we went over anyway and we and the Lor ship escaped. Everyone else was happy to be going home, and I guess I was, too, but I wasn't sure I wanted to go home. It would mean facing whatever my impersonator did while I was away. I'm still dealing with all of that. The Freedom League said that none of the Wrathful were responsible for what we did since it wasn't really us, but that doesn't help with everything. I don't know if I'll ever deal with absolutely everything.