Raveled

GM Leroy glanced between Arcturus and the police officer, and decided that the man dressed in the leotard was easier to talk to. "I'm at Royal Station. The end of the purple line, you know?" He wheezed out a laugh, chuffing Arcturus on the shoulder. The police officer sighed and scratched his head. "The Royal Station was supposed to be the end of a new spur of the subway line. They were planning to finish it in the eighties but I think Moore... well, I'm not saying the office of the mayor of this city was ever involved in embezzlement, okay? I'm just saying that a lot of expensive projects went bankrupt while he was in office." He shrugged. "A lot of the homeless around here sleep there, when it starts getting cold. I guess they prefer having their own space to staying at a shelter, or something."

The thug raced away from Blue Jay, fear of incarceration lending him speed. He turned corners at random, trying to break the archer's line of sight, but she was always a few steps ahead of him, always rounding the corners before he could get away. Finally the wrong turn led him into a dead-end alley and Blue Jay slowed as she rounded the corner, feeling her heart beating fast and a sheen of sweat on her forehead. "Okay," she said. "Good run, bonus points for that. But now you're trapped, so just hand over the bag..." The thug lunged at a door leading off the side of the alley, and with a metallic crunch and a flurry of rust particles he broke through the latch and into the interior. "... You can keep running. Connard." Blue Jay approached the door and went through quickly. The interior of the building was dark and dilapidated, with moss growing on the walls and broken junk collecting in the corners. She could hear the criminal's footsteps echoing as he got further away, but it was harder to discern the direction. The archer slowed in her pursuit, prowling slower, inwardly cursing the need to move slowly but realizing that if she tried to hurry, she'd just make more noise and confuse the issue further. She heard conversation and stopped dead, straining to hear. She couldn't make out words, just the thug's voice and someone else, someone low and angry by the tone of it. She heard a strike and then the thug's body came sailing through a nearby wall, crashing through plaster and wood to half-embed himself in the next wall. Blue Jay looked through the hole at what had thrown him and was greeted by the sight of a large man, made of mismatched parts, his skin patches of grey and yellow and green. The dead man's eyes rolled in his sockets as they fixed on Blue Jay, and with a roar he lurched forward, charging her!

Blue Jay rubbed at her eyes and considered telling Bee-Keeper about the One Free Drone, but ultimately decided against it. "I think we should head back to Freedom Hall," she said. "The Freedom League had a space station, right? So they had to have some way to talk to it when it was a long way away. I think that's our best bet for contacting the Furions, or even the Overriders." Thoughts of Claremont flashed through her mind, images of the high wall broken and her friends dead or injured. Still, it was worth investigating. "Or, I can think of a place south of the river where there might be some survivors or supplies left. We could check out there."

The pair didn't have much longer to browse the clothes. Only a few minutes later Changeling emerged from the dressing room, her entire outfit switched out for a long dress with a floral print -- but with the same heavy bag still over her shoulder. Tona caught Sam's eye and the pair of them waited until Changeling had cleared the door, and then headed after her. The next shop was more up-market, filled with blown glass artistry and dangling charms. It was harder for Tona to spot anywhere to hide in this store, since most of the products on display were clear or colored glass. She kept to the edges of the store and tried to, as Sam had said, 'act natural.' She wasn't sure how to act in a store like this, though, so mostly she ignored the merchandise. What she couldn't ignore is how the older woman behind the counter was watching her; like Tona was already condemned, and the woman was just waiting to find out why. "What is her problem," the young archer muttered.

Blue Jay followed Kit, feeling the warm rain wash away the cold from the teleport. She felt safer in the rain, shielded from prying eyes, moving in her own bubble of silence. The group slipped between rows of well-lite warehouses until they came upon one where someone had methodically smashed every light surrounding it. The pool of darkness was almost as noticeable as the man standing outside, hoodie raised against the rain. Blue Jay looked around for a way to approach without being seen. Her eyes traveled to the roofline and she clambered up the side of one of the adjacent warehouses, her fingers and toes easily finding hand-holds even in the rain-slick cement walls. Once on top she made a running leap from the lit warehouse to the darkened one, thumping heavily on the other roof and hoping the sound of the rain would cover it. She crept up to the skylight on the roof and peered inside. The interior of the warehouse was lit with scattered LED lanterns, and Blue Jay noticed a number of sagging couches, with a couple dozen young, heavily-muscled men lounging about. They were all armed with at least a pistol, all dressed in similar green-and-grey hoodies. Blue Jay reached up to the commlink in her ear and signaled the other girls. "About twenty inside," she said. "All armed. I think we've found the gang."

Tona's emotions were in turmoil. She felt dread and apprehension over the idea of leading her friends into danger in her home, but she also felt hope and a feeling of belonging that her friends were willing to follow her into hell, regardless. She pulled Cerys and Sam into a hug, kissing each girl briefly on the cheek. "Thank you," she whispered to them, eyes brimming. "I don't... I don't know what to say." She pulled away and took a few steps into the forest. "I... I have to think about this for a little bit. Excusez-moi." She turned and cut into the underbrush, heading away from the little camp to find a place to be alone.

"Look at this here, it's a character sheet, now look at me, now look back at it, the character sheet is now diamonds!" Sorry, couldn't resist. Quick look over things: Creating and Moving just diamonds seems very limiting. Why not just stick the Move extra onto Create? Transform looks powerful, and possible broken. The character can turn anything they can touch into diamonds, permanently? Okay, I suppose the power can be Nullified, but how often do you think the character will really be turning things into diamond? It's not like turning them into paper or wood where they'd be weaker, after all.

Ironclad Vignette - Mind vs. Mind Re-Gifting Chaos, Steel, and Wolves Glowstar Street Sharks Starlight Yanks in Tanks OVERTHROW in Freedom Hall Blue Jay Roughin' It Test Site I Test Site II Test Site III Paint the Town (also GM) Mistaken Identity Last Stop (also GM) Pale Moonlight GM Last Stop (also IC as Blue Jay) Medical Maladies Party Time Paint the Town (also IC as Blue Jay)

Blue Jay had slept lightly, always alert for the sound that meant an enemy was creeping up on her. It had been how life was back on her home world, but after just a few months at Claremont she awoke feeling sore and Dorty, having slept in her jacket all night. One look at the Bee-Keeper still encased in his metal shell, however, ensured that she wasn't going to complain about her situation, though. Nevertheless, she took off the jacket and hung it up to air out a little as she searched for breakfast. There were plenty of bottles of water still around, and with a little searching she found some packets of in stand coffee. Normally she avoided the stuff -- more chemicals that couldn't be good for your body! -- but she knew how effective the stuff could be and she didn't need to be drowsy on top of being hungry. While she was making up a second bottle of cold instant coffee for the Bee-Keeper, the Omegadrone came back on the broadcast. She listened to his words, feeling her stomach sink as some things began to come together for her. She'd stayed with the Furions for several days and had heard about the One Free Drone. If this really was him, then why had he attacked the Bee-Keeper? And why had the Bee-Keeper been recognized so readily by Stratos, anyway?

A low-grade churning had settled in Tona's gut as Certs started talking about friendship, and when Sam came over and added her opinion the churning migrated upwards to become a hand squeezing her heart. For a moment she couldn't speak. "You, you all... trip bon amis. But no I am not going to let you all do this, I am not..." She choked up as emotion washed over her, and she squeezed her eyes shut to stop the tears she could feel coming. "I will not[\i] let you foolishly follow me. Do you understand?" She sniffed. "I couldn't... I couldn't bear it if I was the reason you... you died."

A slow corruption and investigation seems to speak to Starlight's strengths rather well. If there needs to be some done, Ironclad is always around.

Blue Jay followed the Bee-Keeper to the supermarket, making a face as the pair walked through the aisles packed full of junk food and candy. She routinely found herself disgusted with the food of her new world, with all the fat and sugar and salt and chemicals pumped into it. It tasted good, sure, but there was no way it was good to eat it for every meal. She tried to stay with natural foods, but in this situation... She picked up some fruits and vegetables and rummaged through them, hoping to find something that wasn't rotten or dried out, but she wasn't having much luck. In disgust she started throwing rotten apples and oranges as deep into the building as she could, listening to them bang off walls or the ceiling. She made another face as the Bee-Keeper started pulling canned goods off the shelves; at this rate she'd have to find a rat or something just to shoot it and eat it. "I suppose if you can find some honey, that never goes bad," she said to him. "And get some bags of chips. We can sprinkle them around wherever we end up sleeping, as an alarm." She shut up abruptly as Wander's message came over her commlink. She pulled it out and shut it off. "I can't believe this people," she said. "Working for Omega and trying to talk about how they want to work with people! I'd laugh at how transparent the trap is, but if someone hears that broadcast they might actually be suckered in by it."

Well I was going to point out that Blue Jay can hit DC 15 without rolling, but I think it'd be funnier if Baxter just started pulling frozen pizzas off the shelf.

Blue Jay rubbed her face, trying to bring her thoughts back to something as mundane as surviving the night. It struck her that the safest place was probably either underneath the city or far outside of it, but she didn't think the Bee-Keeper would be too crazy about marching out and going down to the panhandle or up the Appalachians. If Freedom Hall wasn't a defensible location, then Claremont Academy certainly should be -- but she couldn't be sure if it existed here or if it was still standing. And if her new ally didn't know about it, should she really reveal its secrets? "I could think of a few places to stay for the night," she said finally, "but if you have a place in the city it's probably closer than anything I know."

Tona glanced up as her friend approached, but her eyes went wide when Cerys starters talking about going back with her. She stood up quickly, dropping the squirrel skull on the ground. "No no, that's not... You don't need to do anything like that, Cerys." She gave Subito a look. The girls knew where Tona was from, but neither of the boys did and Tona was happy to keep it that way. She grabbed Cerys's hand and dragged hr roommate away from the fire and listening ears. She was still careful to keep her voice pitched at a harsh hiss, though. "I'm not asking you to come to the Terminus with me. You could be killed there, any of us could!"

I do believe Deathwatch at least has a free scenario with the basic rules and whatnot. At least I have one such lying around. Check FFG's website.

"She... seems to like messing around with what people see. With what they know, or at least what they think they know." His question about Bowman made her frown. She had met the older archer when she arrived at Freedom Hall, fresh from the Silver Tree. It had been interesting to talk with someone whose life was so much like her own, and yet so very, very different. "I've never really thought of joining the Freedom League after graduation," she said. "Truthfully, I'd like to kind of... go back home and take care of a few things." Maybe it was a silly hope, but she didn't want to simply ignore her home world. If she couldn't go back and save anyone, then what was she training at Claremont for?

Dragonstar is awesome. That is all.

Tona worked on scraping off the muscle and ligaments off the skulls and tried to get the eyeballs and juices out with the tip of her knife. She was a bit at a loss at how to get the brains out; if she could dislocate and remove the jaws, perhaps? But she didn't want to break them... Subito's question gave her a reason to set the skull aside and clean off her knife as she thought. "When we were waiting for Mali one time," she replied, lowering her voice as Subito had done, "she switched mine and Cerys and her own image around. So we all looked like different people when Mali showed up." She shrugged. "Mali saw through it right away, so it's not like anything came of it." She looked up at the bigger man and grinned. "It's just a little story, Subito. Besides, would it be so terrible if you and Cerys had to sit up on Indian Ghost watch?"

Tona followed Sam deeper into the store, making sure to keep a few display cases between herself and Changeling despite the magical disguise. She picked a few pieces of clothing up and put them back down again almost immediately. She looked at the stuff Sam had picked up and made a face. "Dresses. Skirts! I like pants just fine. They have pockets, and they show off my ass." She turned to watch as Changeling disappeared into the dressing rooms, heavy bag over her shoulder. "I worked on my ass. I have a good ass, and I like showing it off." She glanced back at Sam. "What's a tux, anyway?"

Blue Jay stared at Bee-Keeper as he simply yelled at Stratos, and Stratos flew away. She waited a few moments to make sure that it wasn't some kind of trick, then stood up and looked the other hero over appraisingly. "Remind me never to make you mad," she said, stepping over to the computer consoles. After a little bit of trial and error, she managed to get the scene of the attack play out again. The sky opened, Omegadrones poured through, the city's heroes rose up to fend them off, and then a flash and it was all gone. It was a horrifying scene, but something about it didn't seem right. She pushed her feelings aside, reaching for a sense of detachment that her father had drilled into her. It was normally for fights, when life or death hung in the balance and you couldn't let feelings slow you down, but now she needed to see what was wrong in this footage a world dying. She frowned and played the footage back, leaning forward until she could see the individual pixels on the monitor. The images on display were horrifying, but that wasn't what put her off. Finally she stepped back and went over to the hole Stratos has made in the side of the building, looking out over the city. "... It doesn't match up," she said finally. "The attack was going on, and then there was a huge explosion and nothing." She turned back to the Bee-Keeper, throwing her arms open to emphasis the still-standing city. "So where's the crater? Where's the rubble? There's buildings torn down, sure, but an explosion big enough to kill all the superheroes and Omegadrones? The city should be flattened! And another thing." She started pacing, unable to keep still. "Where are all the animals? I haven't seen one rat, one wild dog or cat, even a pigeon, the whole time we've been here. It's like there was a big riot, and then everyone just left the city and disappeared. This isn't a world that's been invaded, this is a world that's been abandoned!"

Tona sat by the fire, skinning the animals, and listening to the back and forth between her fellow students. The idea of an Indian burial ground nearby confused her -- why would that be something to worry about? She'd visited burial grounds back in her home world, and while they could be creepy places to be around so could a lot of places on Tona's homeworld. She didn't understand why Sam would make up stories about such a place, though, if one didn't exist. She was surprised that Elias knew anything about skinning and leatherwork, but accepted the salt with a nod. "It's Tona, Elias," she called over to him. She laid the skins out and applied the salt liberally, massaging it into the folds of the skin. She picked up the squirrel meat and carried it over to where the boy was preparing the food. "Only ma pere calls me Antoinette, anymore," she told him, placing the meat near to hand. She picked up a pair of squirrel heads off the pile and went back to the fire, beginning to scrape the meat off them carefully and clean the bone as best she could with just a knife. She had half a mind to polish the skulls and keep them in her room; it reminded her of hunting with her dad back home, and they'd be cool trinkets to keep on her shelf at Claremont.

Blue Jay sprinted for cover as the wall exploded, getting behind a nearby console and snugging in behind it. She peeked out to see Stratos floating the air, the lightning and the dust combining to make a dramatic corona around him as he challenged the whole world to a grudge match. "Merde," she spat quietly, then raised her voice. "Stratos! What are you doing? We need these machines. I thought you were going to work with us to find a way home!" Even as she tried to calm him down, though, she was figuring out the proper angles to take him down. If Bee-Keeper could take his beating and she could get behind him...

Blue Jay Full Action: Jay will go Total Defense this round. Def rises to +15.

Blue Jay's Ini (1d20+15=21) I don't know, we could be testing just who gets cake first. Don't jinx it, bee-man!