Raveled

Tona took Sam's hand and they walked out of the cafe, into the warming day. Nevertheless when they stopped she found herself standing close the other girl. Part of her knew that she should be keeping an eye out for Changeling, even looking for other exits from the cafe, but it was drowned out by the much larger part that wanted to stand here with Sam, just like this. "So. I'm not used to living in such a crowded place. What kind of things can we --" For a moment Tona saw a tall, raven-haired woman out of the corner of her eye, then then other woman bumped into Tona's back with enough force to send her tumbling forward, grabbing Sam and hugging her close so that neither of them fell. The other woman probably had some sort of apology, but Tona couldn't hear it over the blood suddenly pounding her in ears. ".. Can we do?"

Tona followed Fleur through the flower/portal/thing, holding her breath for whatever good it would do her. When they emerged on the other side, the first thing she noted was that it was cooler here, at least enough to chill her. Then she realized the skyline of Freedom City was, well, gone and most of the ground was covered in grass and flowering plants. She zipped her fleece jacket up to her chin as she turned in a slow circle, taking it all in. The young woman closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, instantly noting the lack of gas fumes, alcohol-based sprays, paint, garbage, and a thousand other stinks that had been a part of life in a city. Instead all she smelled was cold air and green, growing things. There wasn't even the distant sound or lights of the city over the horizon to intrude. She unconciously stood taller and easier, the knot of tension in her gut and shoulder loosening. For just a moment, she felt... at home. Then she opened her eyes and saw the village, saw the people going about their business the big animals in the pen. "D'accord. I want to see where the missing animals were kept first, please. The longer we wait, the harder it will be to find them."

Jessica blinked at the suddenly unmasked Bee-Keeper. A lot of thoughts swirled through her mind all of a sudden, some turning back to when she and Mara shared their identities so long (a year or two) ago, to Blake and all that nonsense, even to how the helmet must be internally constructed to fit his face. The thought that rose above it all though was simply, He's kind of cute. She blushed, looking away and across the city. "Um. Yeah, Chinese is... Chinese is good. Um." She looked over the side of the building. "We should probably get down first, right?"

Ironclad was moderately proud of the worm she'd whipped up in just a few minutes, so Kobalos's casual dismissal of her work stung. Not nearly as much as the purple-armored woman trying to put some moves on Baxter though, which carried with it a side order of confusion and conflict. Why should she care if Baxter thought a crazy robot villain type was cuter than Jessica (oh god why couldn't she stop thinking about this!). She resisted the urge to slam her head against a nearby wall and instead turned to the ruined laser cannon. With servo-assisted strength it didn't take long for her to extricate DTS's laser relay; at least the parts that weren't chopped into fine rubble. "Really did a number on this one, 'Fly," Ironclad said appreciatively. "Speaking of which." She toed the inactive robots with a metal toe. "Drop these off at the Lab, or ArcheTech? Or just let AEGIS pull them apart?"

"I spent some time with the Furions, oui. It was only a few days, but it's hard to mistaken a Furion as anything but a Furion. Um." She eyed Dorothy and Stratos, both of them tearing into the available rations. Intellectually, the young archer knew that she should get something to eat herself. She had burned a lot of calories these past few days, and while Wander was almost as good at scavenging in a city as Jay was at hunting in the forest it resulted in a lot of canned meals that weren't to Blue Jay's tastes. Now she had a shot at a whole new menu, but she couldn't bring herself to even look at the food. "Redbird, are there beds in back? I kind of want to go to sleep. And not wake up until we're home."

Tona giggled suddenly. "I'm sorry that was just... A very matter of fact way to talk about the end of the world." She grinned broadly, even as she eyed the (potentially treacherous) milkshake. "I know, I know, we're the ones who are supposed to worry about things so that other people don't have to. It's just that back home everyone thought about the Terminus, all the time. Everything and everyone was dedicated to one goal." She took a sip of the milkshake, paused to see if she would get another headache, and continued. "Now I'm here, and there's so many different things to do that don't have anything to do with saving the world. I hardly know where to begin!" She paused and smiled at Sam again, a little more shyly this time. "But milkshakes are a good start, I suppose."

"Right. Pick him up. Ssssssssure." Ironclad approached the ensnared criminal, eying him closely. There didn't seem to be any part of his body that the sticky pellets hadn't covered, or at least not enough for Ironclad to get a handle on. "Okay, plan B then. If you move, Kobalos, I'll start unplugging things, so help me God." She approached him and reached out, a nozzle appearing from the wrist of her suit to spray... something on his legs and ribs. Whatever it was the foam began to bubble again and flake away, letting the armored heroine get a good grip on him. Lifting the assumed-cyborg over her head, she marched down the hallway, into the room where the other armored heroes had congregated. She leaned him against a nearby wall, pointedly dusting her hands off before turning to the computer Fenris was working at. "We should insert a worm as well," she pointed out. "Something that can get a GPS coord wherever it ends up and email us back. Might figure out who these guys were working for." She paused and added, "Did anyone find the orbital vessel?"

"Local... dragon. D'accord." Tona had a feeling she'd be saying that a lot. "Well then. I can go and took a look at it, yes. I don't have to be back before Monday, so I can stay longer than a day or so if you need me." She glanced around at the bare trees and the city rising beyond them. In fact it might be good to be away for a few days. "If something is nearby your village, I'm sure I can find it and feather it. Um." She glanced back at the tree. "I don't think I can walk through plants, though."

"... D'accord. Yes, I am Blue Jay." She stepped forward and took the green-haired woman's hand, squeezing rather than shaking it. "I am Blue Jay, but only when I'm wearing my mask. Right now, you can just call me Tona. I do know a little bit about tracking, yes," she said. "I was raised as -- by a hunter. I spent most of my life bow-hunting, so I know more than most about tracking animals. And tracking machines isn't very different." She looked past Fleur, to the plant she had stepped out of. "Headmaster Summers told me to bring anything I'd need for an overnight trip, but... you don't live in the tree, do you?"

A thread for finding folks with rarely-applied skills. OOC for thread.

February 1st, 2013 Freedom City, United States Liberty Park Late afternoon Tona Baudin made her way through Liberty Park, choosing a path to avoid the few determined joggers and dog walkers. The boles of the leafless trees didn't provide much cover, but the young woman didn't want to be around people very much just now. It hadn't even been a month ago that an artificial duplicate of hers had a rampage just south of the river, attacking her friends and a group of young Terminus mutants, even killing a few. While most citizens didn't know to connect Blue Jay with Tona, she still felt a twinge of guilt at walking around free after something modeled after her skills had killed people while she was stuck an unimaginable distance, captive to an alien intelligence. It didn't make a lot of sense. Tona knew that, admitted that it didn't make any sense. That didn't make her feel any less guilty. In almost no time she came to the center of the park, near where the lake split into two tributaries. She hitched at the pack carrying her bow and quiver (Headmaster Summers had reminded her to bring her gear) and looked around. She had been told that she was to meet someone here, but she seemed virtually alone.

"If no one complains about Lady Liberty," Starlight said to Young Britannia, "I cannot see why they would complain about your outfit." "I can make light, for anyone that needs it," she pointed out. "And the cold and the pressure don't bother me. I would ask how many non-empowered individuals Malory has on-board. My first tactic would be to simply punch a hole in the side of the ship and let it sink, but if there are too many non-combatants on board, we shall have to take control of the vessel and tow it to a safe harbor."

"It's just... this whole world can seem overwhelming sometimes. I mean, look around." She waved a hand, encompassing the people sitting at their tables, the barristas behind the counter, and even the folks walking on the street outside. "At the moment, right now, there's at least seven people on this planet who could wipe out this city if they chose to. And at least half of them aren't even in Blackstone! Yet everyone just seems to ignore it, somehow." She shook her head in disbelief. "Where I come from, all life is about the Terminus. About fighting from it, or running away from it, or getting ready to fight it. That there are people here who go entire days without worrying that they could be obliterated at any moment... I can hardly believe it." While they talked, the pair saw Changeling fold up her newspaper and stuff it into her bag. She stood and walked inside, making her way through the cafe and towards the back, where a handy RESTROOMS sign was hanging.

Blue Jay felt the bottom drop out of her stomach, and she sorely wished the woman before her was solid so she could have someone to hug. Instead she leaned against a wall and rubbed at her eyes. "I'm sure I was... I mean, I hope I didn't... dieu bon sang tous en enfer." She took a deep breath and tried to push the welter of emotions she was feeling into a part of her brain where she could lock it away, and deal with it later. After a minute or so she looked the holographic woman over. "You're, um. You're a Furion, aren't you? Don't tell me the Terminus tried to sneak in here while the heroes were distracted."

My idea is to start each hero with a thread where they're being pursued by another hero/Freedom City police for whatever the Meta-Grue did while using their forms. Then once everyone is together, they'll find the Meta-Grue and expose him as what he is.

Blue Jay had watched the space battle in wide-eyed wonderment. So many huge creatures dancing through the void, throwing around unbelievable energies. It took her back to her days among the Furions, but these warriors did not attack with song and boasting. There was a cold silence to these actions, and a focused anger to it all that made her shiver. She made sure her weapons were stowed before crossing over to the new ship. She moved to follow the hologram (at least she knew what those were) and in moments it seemed like she was surrounded by tearful reunions. It tugged at her heart, and she moved to speak to the woman in the black uniform. "Excuse moi," she said, "but is there a girl here from Claremont Academy? Green eyes, pale skin, keeps her back bare?"

Berserker's Sense Motive check, vs DC 24. (1d20+10=17) Nope. Berserker's Toughness save, vs DC 26. (1d20+10=18) Staggered + MOAR Daze! Berserker's Recovery check, vs DC 10. (1d20+8=27) Recovered from Staggered.

Blue Jay ground her teeth at the suggestion that she retreat first. On the one hand it did make a lot of sense, in a group that included a heavy Omegadrone and Wander the Brave she wasn't exactly a heavy-hitter, and as long as Jill O'Cure kept her force fields up she could probably take a great number of hits herself. On the other hand it was her arrow in the Curator's skull, her blow that had awakened these defensive systems, and retreating felt like running away from her responsibilities. Besides, rankled to take an order from an Omegadrone. In the end though, it was a rational decision and a good one. She backed towards the teleportation circle, arrow still nocked as she waited for the defense systems to start attacking. She paused at the edge of the circle to call out. "Just... make you you do get back, alright? You don't want to have to tell everyone that you had to send me back just to call me out again!" And then she took the last step back, and was gone.

I think I'd go with the same general idea: Meta-Grue impersonates already bestial or scarey-looking heroes heroes in order to erode the public's faith in their protectors. I don't know how continuity works around here with abandoned threads, but since the previous one got to all of 2 pages (if that) I'm fine ignoring that it ever happened. The big change is that I'd want to do some pre-threads going into detail about what exactly the Meta-Grue did while impersonating each PC and how they handled the resulting backlash. Then do a big team up thread where they get together to kick his ass.

SHOT BY SUPERCAPE Blue Jay :arrow: Added Complication, Wrathful. :arrow: 1 PP into Feats, buying Ranged Pin. :arrow: 2 PP into Skills, buying 8 ranks of Swim.

Ringworld Campfire A forest was a forest was a forest was a forest. That was something that Antoinette Baudin had clung to all throughout her short life. She had been born in a forest, and had learned early on that it was a place to shelter from danger. The forests of her home were made of wood and silvery metal and the forests of the Furions had been shining steel and crystal, but there had still been a sense of stillness and shadow there, still a nearly-silent web of life that the young girl could tap in to if only she could find the right signs. It had made her feel powerful, and connected to a larger world that other people couldn’t even glimpse. She could track a predator’s movements for weeks just by seeing which trails it had taken, what kind of bones it left behind, what was in its spoor. On the other Earth, the one that was beginning to think of as home, she had met people who looked at a forest and only saw a grouping of trees, but Tona knew that there was life there; even when the trees were bare and all the undergrowth was brown and dead, there was life there just waiting to burst out. She had always hoped to be like that, that no matter how bad things got there was always a way out if you just looked. Except here, on this crude mock-up Earth, there wasn’t any life. The trees were dead, and the brush was dead, and any signs of animals were dried up and dead. Tona had walked out into the forest around their campfire as far as Wander would let her, and she hadn’t seen any signs of genuine life. The whole thing was like a museum piece, poised in an unreal mockery of life. The Curator had a lot of knowledge about Earth, but it clearly didn’t know a lot about forests. Except it knew a lot about Tona. At least, enough for a not-real Tona to walk around Earth and fool her closest friends (And Sam a tiny part of her sobbed) for long enough to… to do what? To attack someone like the false Dorothy had? Was it using Tona’s face and body and skills as a weapon? The young archer had killed before, but she tried to keep that fact away from her new friends. The new Earth placed a lot of emphasis on not killing others no matter how dangerous things got, and Tona tried to live up to those standards. Was that why the Curator had chosen Tona? She knew Wander the Brave had killed Physician Friendly, and Harrier was an Omegadrone so of course it had killed, and Stratos recognized the Bee-Keeper as a fellow villain so maybe he had killed before. Had the Curator picked people from Earth that could kill, that had killed in the past? If so, what was it that it wanted their duplicates to do? Was Blue Jay going to be used to kill someone? Wander started handing out soup, and Tona was quiet as she took her portion. She sat apart from the others, trying to imagine what was going on back at Claremont. Mali was probably training with Young Freedom, and Cerys might be heading home for a few days. She mentioned something about going home for “the holidays,†but Tona had never managed to ask her what holidays she was talking about. Sam was undoubtedly -- facing a drawn arrow, ready to bolt but looking for options -- Undoubtedly looking to cause trouble for someone. She always seemed to have a plan to make life a little hell for -- the woman with the bow had already covered the angles. She smiled, savoring the moment for the kill. “You should know better than to trust someone from hell, Kit,†the woman with Blue Jay’s face taunted. “We’re all bad in the end.†–- Making life hell for a teacher, or an RA. Always had some plan going. It was almost like a reflex for her, like how Tona always had an eye on the exits from a room. And Mali would be getting to know her new teammates better. It made Tona a little sad to realize that she wouldn’t see her friend as much anymore, but Young Freedom seemed like a big deal and Mali certainly was good enough to -- Kit made her move, lunging for a shadow even while she threw a ball of blue fire at her attacker. But Blue Jay, or the thing everyone thought was Blue Jay, knew exactly how much that didn’t hurt and simply fired through the ball. She didn’t miss, because how could she at this range? And the arrow punched straight through Kit’s -– Tona started, spilling her cupful of soup on the ground with a clatter. She acutely felt the eyes of her companions on her, as she bent down and tried to recover the dish as casually as possible. “Sorry,†she said. “I… didn’t really like the taste.†She winced internally at how lame the excuse sounded. “I’ll just… sit on watch.†And she moved away from the fire, looking out at the darkness of the dead forest, and tried very hard not to think about what was happening back home.

Ironclad floated in the air and quickly ran through her options. She could continue trying to dismember him, but those cybernetic upgrades were a work of technological art; she didn't want to destroy them, especially if they could lead back to the ones responsible for this whole mess. So with a blink-click she switched her suit over to a less-than-lethal option, and came to almost a dead stop in the air as she focused both hands on Kobalos. A pair of tiny oblong pucks tore through the air, exploding centimeters from Kobalos and covering him in sticky foam, which expanded and dried in the air. "I'd make a 'stick around' pun," Ironclad said, "but I'd really rather know where you do your shopping. I could use sunglasses like those."

Ironclad Well if a 20 hit Kobalos last time, let's try something fancy. Going to try full All-Out Attack, full Power Attack, and Snare. Ironclad's ranged attack w/ +5 All-Out Attack and +5 Power Attack, vs Kobalos's Def. DC 27 Ref (1d20+12=23) Yeah, those are the rolls we need, Castle!

What about Changeling vs an honest-to-iron fae? One of the ones who reminds us why they're terrific (because they inspire terror).

I have a few plots that I really need to flesh out and pin down. The Other White Light A story involving TT's Light of Truth. Essentially it reemerges and gets up to its old tricks. Starlight would be a natural here, since a bearer of the Light of Truth would fall into her Evil Opposite slot rather neatly; both Green Lantern expies, both from space, both bearing white-energy-manipulating abilities. Except one fights for personal liberty and the other is a tyrant with a ring. Crystals and Tigers, Oh My! The PCs investigate a daka smuggling operation, eventually coming into contact with the White Lion who's following the trail from the other end. They all team up to find the villain behind it, and make sure he doesn't do it again! Freaks & Monsters I want to receive an idea that was tried once but fizzled, to create a team of PCs who have monstrous/scary forms. Starlight would be on it, and probably Jubatus. Not sure who else ATM.