Raveled

Jessica shrugged. "Some of the stuff I have to do is in different cities around the country," she said. "I could just fly there, either in a plane or in my suit, but part of me wants to drive. I don't have a real, concrete reason, but..." She fiddled with her fingers, not used to talking about hunches and intuitions. "It just feels right, you know? Take my time, have to think about some stuff."

Everything between the < and the > is in French.

Tona set her jaw at Erik and Kristen's remarks, but at least she was smart enough not to rise to the bait again. She did mutter under her breath as she stretched, settling her feet in a wide stance and bending down to touch her ankle, alternating and standing upright between them. "" she whispered under her breath in a language she was more comfortable with. "" She could feel a good tension in her muscles and jogged in place briefly, feet thumping the pads and giving them a bit of a work-out too. She raised her voice as she addressed Erik again. "Are we not going to have, ah, pads for the practice fighting?"

Ironclad raised her fists and energized her weapons systems, taking in a hissing breath. "I don't back down from fights," she said, nevertheless backing away warily. Ace's blasts had hurt her like few things did. Ever since he was shocked by... ... By something that came off the chair. She scanned her sensorium around until she could see Joe, sitting in his wheelchair. Wherever these powers were coming from, they seemed to be using the chair's electronics as a conduit at the very least. That made him dangerous, but it also made him an asset. She edged sideways, trying to put herself between him and any incoming electricity.

Starlight turned suddenly when a newcomer entered the room, aura flaring, but it and she settled down once she saw it was Agnes. "Not much of anything," she said, pointing at the screen. "Earlier they were emptying the money out of the big bin, and when I came in here there was a man standing at the computers. He did not have any sort of costume on, but when I attacked the Merge-copy here he vanished. I can only assume he teleported somehow." She tapped her chin with her fist. "I suppose we could try to charge in there, proverbial guns blazing. However these creatures seem to be selectively immune to the energies I and you control. It is impossible to say if we could harm them at all." She paused and added, "Of course they have released the hostages, and we can see them. It might be simplest to wait and see what they intend to do."

Hive Tyrant's Toughness save, vs DC 25. (1d20+10=22) Bruise x1.

Tona stopped several metres away from the couple, hiding partially behind another tree. The woman didn't seem like she was moving anytime soon, a view confirmed when the blond man reappeared and sat down next to her. Part of her wanted to get closer to the pair, but her hunter's experience warned her away from it. She bit the inside of her lip, worrying about her next move. After a few moments she hauled herself up into the boughs of the tree once again. Once safely braced she dropped her bag into her lap and started rummaging around in it. Her bow was near the top and she pulled that out, setting the folded length of carbon-carbon fibres aside for the moment. Next came a folded coat in the Claremont colors. Tona had considered packing a complete costume, but eventually decided against it and just went with the light jacket. That slipped over her shoulders and she fastened up the front, tugging it into place over her shirt. With the mask slipped over her eyes, the only thing left to identify her was the tight jeans, and lots of people here were wearing those. The interior the bag lifted up and out, revealing itself to be a pouch suspended from the sides of the backpack. She tied the top of the pouch together and set it next to her bow; then she undid the fastenings at the side of the backpack and flipped it inside-out, revealing the numerous arrows attached to the side. The newly-revealed quiver went over her back, and then the pouch went next to it and slightly higher. The whole arrangement wasn't graceful, but Blue Jay wasn't in the habit of leaving any of her equipment behind. The archer peered through the tree's leaves at the pair on the stone bench, reaching out for her bow without looking. A quick jerk unfolded it and then she settled back, waiting.

So tempted to have Jay sit down next to them and start babbling in French. Sadly, she's not built for that sort of thing, so instead she'll climb another tree (What? It's a park!) and start getting into her costume.

Ricochet's Fortitude save, vs DC 20. (1d20+6=26) !!! Initiative Order 13 - Starlight -- Bruisex1, Entangled -- HPx4 8 - Siroccoro -- Unconscious -- GM 10 - Silver Spider -- Bruisex2 -- HPx1 8 - Hooded Menace -- Bruisex1 -- GM 3 - Ricochet -- Uninjured -- GM 15 - Bee-Keeper -- Fatigue -- HPx3 Starlight Standard Action: Blast against Hooded Menace, +5 All-Out Attack. Starlight's ranged attack check w/ +5 All-Out Attack, vs Hooded Menace's Def. DC 25 Tou (1d20+13=21) That will hit. With the Vulnerability, that's actually Rank 15 and DC 30. Hooded Menace's Toughness save, vs DC 30. (1d20+9=18) That's Staggered + Dazed. Sirocco is out, so Silver Spider is up next.

How is YB communicating with Starlight, exactly?

"That seems most sensible," Starlight agreed. "The Tine no doubt have an exaggerated idea of their grievance with me, and it is just possible that if we were to contact them directly they would try to attack this ship and take me prisoner. Meanwhile, Lor," she continued, "are the ones who seem to be presiding over all of this. It is ultimately their opinion that I -- that we," she amended quickly, glancing at Synth, "will have to sway."

Liz Moya was relaxing on one of the few stretches of beach open to the public in the upper-class neighborhood of North Bay. Class distinctions meant little to the shapeshifter from another world, but she was cognizant of a greater number of boats in the water, along with nicer cars in the parking lot, and the toys being played with looked both newer and more uniform, like they were from a single line of water toys instead of the ramshackle collections she'd observed elsewhere. Liz was a careful observer of this curious creature that called itself humanity, which is why she was visiting the beach instead of on one of her usual routes in the city core. At the moment she appeared to be wearing knee-length shorts, flip-flops, and a bikini top, and she was slowly devouring an ice cream sandwich. The day was getting to its hottest point and even if the power of the Light kept it damaging her body directly, she still felt the heat of it. The pressure caused her attention to waver, and she started walking down the sand, away from the main concentration of people. Down the curve of the shoreline, she could make out what appeared to be a gathering of the sort of people endemic to the city: a large, grey-skinned figure with spikes protruding from his body, and a pair of even taller scaly figures also shaded red. It was possible these people were heroes, but it was equally likely that they meant the beach-goers harm. She frowned slightly and increased her pace towards them.

GM Hooded Menace stepped back from the blast of light. He handed the jar off to a tentacle of shadow and gathered more of the boiling darkness between his hands. He threw it overhand and it bounced once, leaving a sticky patch of something not entirely unlike tar, and landing at Starlight's feet. Whips and tendrils of shadow shot up and grabbed the heroine, trying to drag her down, but once again her aura flared up. Many of the tendrils were burned up, but she still found herself wrapped partially in shadow and blackness. Ricochet called up another ball bearing, but considered Silver Spider carefully for a moment. The heroine was reeling and seemed out of the fight for the moment. So, after considering her options, Ricochet sent the projectile careening towards Bee-Keeper III, bouncing off the hero's helmet.

Hooded Menace Free Action: Switch Shadow-Snake Array to Snare. Standard Action: Attack Starlight with Snare. Hooded Menace's ranged attack roll, vs Starlight's Def. DC 20 Ref (1d20+10=25) Starlight's Reflex save, vs DC 20. (1d20+7=19) Entangled but that's all. Ricochet Free Action: Switch array to Stun. Standard Action: Attacking Bee-Keeper! Ricochet's ranged attack check, vs BK's Def. DC 20 Will. (1d20+10=24) That will hit. Bee-Keeper III is up next.

Tona stared down at the pair, banana chip halfway to her mouth. She wasn't exactly sure what a berk was, or what 'the sonic' referred to, but she knew that capes were superheroes, like herself. If these people didn't want superheroes around when whatever they were planning went down, then it seemed like their plans weren't going to be good for anyone caught in them. Likely the people at the festival. The young archer snacked on the banana chip as she watched the pair part ways. Once they were a good distance away she dropped to the ground and set off after the woman, her hunter's training allowing her to slip from cover to cover and shadow to shadow easily.

Blue Jay's Stealth check is Skill Mastery'd at 30.

Tethys seemed obsessed with getting a taste of the young paragon's blood. She came in again, fast and low, her limbs moving with a blur of speed. She grabbed his arms and forced them back, stepping forward until their faces were inches apart. "Come swim with me, child," she hissed, "and I will show you why your ancestors fled the seas!" She clamped her arms around El Heraldo and leapt, propelling them up and into the air, curving around and making a splash dive into the shark tank. Shredded bits of fish floated around them as they struggled together under the water.

The swarms inside the lobby wasted no time in deciding who the more threatening target was. Two augured in on Ironclad as she was still assessing the situation, one attacking the seals and joints of the armor while the other tried to batter at the superheroine, forming its mass into huge hammers that smacked her from side to side. Thanks to her armor and padding the attacks didn't mean much to her, but her armor popped up a warning in the corner of her vision; the swarm's biting mandibles were beginning to work through her armor. That was a problem that needed an immediate solution. Ironclad mentally flipped down the list of her weapons and discarded most of them. She didn't need to destroy the swarms one-by-one, she needed to get them all! Her only option seemed the cluster munitions, so she popped the seals on her armor's back and shoulders, and fired the many, many small rockets. They found the centers of the warm and detonated, sending shockwaves through the enemy groups. It even drew the attention of the tiny robots chewing at the building's reinforcements, and it augured in to attack her.

GM The newly-christened, hunchbacked villain turned and saw the black-clad hero floating above him. He lifted a metal-clad arm and two extra arms sprouting from the back of the armor did the same. "Hero! Stand aside! This is my day of reckoning, and I shall not be denied my vengeance!" The Hive Tyrant gestured and the glinting swarm of nearly-invisible robots floated through the air until they engulfed Voltage. They attacked him from every direction. Some dive-bombed his eyes and ears, others grabbed pieces of his suit or skin and tried to rip and pull. Still others merely alighted on any scrap of bare skin they could find and started doing their best to burrow into the young man's body.

Outside combat! Swarm Move Action: Getting next to Voltage. Standard Action: Corrosion. Swarm's melee attack check, vs Voltage's flat-footed Def. DC 20 Fort. (1d20+10=22) That will hit Voltage handily.

Invoking Ironclad's Responsibility Complication. She's not leaving until these Swarms are done and dusted. Lobby Fight Ini 21 - Swarm 1 - Uninjured - GM 21 - Swarm 2 - Uninjured - GM 15 - Ironclad - -1 Tou- HPx3 11 - Swarm 3 - Uninjured - GM Outside Fight Ini 27 - Swarm - Uninjured - GM 16 - Voltage - Uninjured - HPx3 10 - Hive Tyrant - Uninjured - GM All those Swarms going. Okay, big post here. Swarm 1 Move Action: Move close to Ironclad. Standard Action: Corrosion. Swarm's melee attack check, vs Ironclad's flat-footed Def. DC 20 Fort (1d20+10=15) Yeah, not like she's hard to hit, guys. For reference, I'm using a saved sheet of Ironclad pre-posthuman surgery, so she's still got the cyberpath goodness going on. And no half Fort Immunity. Ironclad's Fort save, vs DC 20. (1d20+7=19) Only loses one point of Tou, glorious. Swarm 2 Free Action: Switching array to Strike. Standard Action: Strike'ing Ironclad. Swarm's melee attack check, vs Ironclad's flat-footed Def. DC 25 Tou. (1d20+8=22) That'll hit, no problem. Ironclad's Toughness save, vs DC 25. (1d20+16=20) No. Not getting Dazed first round of combat. Rerolling that. Ironclad's Toughness save, vs DC 25. Reroll. (1d20+16=21) Minimum result of 27 means no damage. Ironclad Free Action: Switching Weaponry Array to Cluster Munitions. Full Round Action: Attacking the three Swarms with Cluster Munitions. Hey, guess what Ironclad's going to be doing for pretty much the whole fight! Ironclad's ranged attack check, vs Swarm 1, 2, & 3's Def. DC 27 Tou (1d20+12=20) That barely hits them. Thank Finagle. Swarm 1, 2, & 3's Toughness save, vs DC 27. (1d20+10=23, 1d20+10=13, 1d20+10=30) So 1 is Bruised + Dazed, 2 is Staggered + Dazed, and 3 is untouched. Lovely-jubbly. Swarm 3 Free Action: Switching array to Strike. Standard Action: Hitting Ironclad. Swarm 3's melee attack check, vs Ironclad's Def. DC 25 Tou. (1d20+8=21) That'll hit even her full defense. :? Ironclad's Toughness save, vs DC 25. (1d20+16=29) Say it with me: This Is Why We Toughness-Shift. Outside will be done in a different post.

Tethys is up next. Hm, what can she do besides bite? *Checks sheet* ... Not a hell of a lot. Okay, biting and punching it is! Tethys Standard Action: Grapple! Tethys' melee attack roll, vs El Heraldo's Def. Grapple (1d20+9=20) That will just barely connect. Tethys' grapple check, vs opposed. (1d20+17=35) Much better than last time. Move Action: If she wins the check, Tethys will try to pull El Heraldo into a nearby water tank. Tethys' Strength check, vs opposed. (1d20+9=23)

Jessica took a deep breath, laughing weakly. "Heh. I'm just a big bag of hard questions today, aren't I? I try so hard to keep a positive attitude towards everything, but it's hard. Sitting here in bed, sometimes I can only see the things I've done wrong. And it makes me think of all the stuff I've been meaning to do and putting off." She rubbed at her eyes, sniffing back tears. "When I get out of here, I've got some things I need to take care of." She looked up at Corbin suddenly. "Corbin, have you ever wanted to travel across the country?"

Tona pulled Mali into a strong hug. "That's the way. We'll all be amazing tonight!" She moved out into the store, browsing idly. She didn't know much about fashion or what went with what, but she had a feeling for what she liked. Still, she staid close to the dressing rooms so she'd be there when Mali came out. Tona still didn't favor dresses, but she knew that she had to support her friend. "You look incredible, Mali," she said. She paused and added, "You're going to knock the boys off their feet!"

School starts up today. Expect a communsurate drop in posting.