Raveled

Both you suddenly remember a bunch of Deep One eggs that are being incubated at the Aquarium. There's been some recent controversy that the eggs, or at least the resulting juveniles, should be returned to the Snake People, but public opinion seems to be on the side of the Freedom League, who wants to raise them with surfacer values.

"You heroes think you're so high and mighty," Dahlia said. "Standing up on your pedestal, looking down at everyone else and telling them how to live their lives. But when it comes down to the nitty gritty, you heroes will do anything you think you need to in order to 'win'! Well, mark my words. The Serpent People will get those eggs back, and the Deep Ones will be able to raise their kids! And when they grow up, that'll be a whole generation who thinks of Freedom City as the place that kidn--" She stopped suddenly, as if she was only now hearing her words. "Oh, damn. Did I say too much again?"

Could I get Gather Info and Know/Current Events from both of you? DC 15.

After discussion amongst the members, Voltage has been inducted into the ranks of the Lab. I'd like to run a thread to welcome him in, but I think we need something more than just punch and fingerfood with the rest of the super-genius crew. My idea is that they throw a party welcoming him, when the Lab is attacked by outside forces who seem to want to raid them for high-tech goodies. A couple of members (I'm thinking maybe Ironclad and Dragonfly) get nabbed. Then the thread splits into two; the heroes on Earth who have to figure out what happened, and the heroes who have been kidnapped who have to banter with the villain and work to foil his plot. Any thoughts on this, Lab buddies? Votes yay or nay?

Tona sat back in the seat, focusing on her breathing, trying to keep herself under control. Her hand sought out Blod's and squeezed until her knuckles turned white, but she managed to keep herself under control. Keeping the top up did help her manage her fear. "I don't know much about music," she admitted. "I heard lots of different types of music growing up, but I don't know how much I can tell you about them all."

A few dazed and scared-looking faces poked out of their dorms at Silvia holds the undergraduate aloft. "That's Vinny," a woman said. "Vinny, what's going on? Should we call the cops?" Vincent, for his part, seemed more interested in just getting away from the pirate. "See, I told you! Tory isn't here, he's at work. I already gave you the address, dammit, now let go of me!"

"Not as much as that metaphor was frayed, I bet" Jessica's gaze dropped back down to her lap, and her smile shrank to a shadow of itself, but at least this time it seemed genuine. The whole situation weighed heavily on her, though. How could she explain it to Corbin? If she failed at being a superhero, that meant her mother was right and this whole endeavor was pointless. Moreover, it meant her grandfather was wrong when he put his faith in her. It was a burden she felt keenly at moments like this, and while usually she used that to push her forward there was no real forward to go, at the moment. Just lots of time to sit in bed and worry. Still, there wasn't anything she could do about it, and letting it prey on her mind would only lead to second-guessing herself. She looked up and forced a smile. "So, how are you doing? Still together with Quo-Dis?"

Bluff check. (1d20=3) "Of course I am just doing this to help Kristen. Who is my friend. That I am helping. Because we are such... good... friends. :ninja:"

Tona felt herself flush when Erik's eyes fell on her. She couldn't hardly say, 'I'm here to learn how to kill people more efficiently, because right now I'm only good at doing it was a bow and arrow.' Killing was frowned upon by heroes on this world, and in any case it would be bound to draw more attention than was good. "I'm friends with Kristen," she said eventually. "She said she was coming down here, and it sounded like fun." Her tone was anything but fun, almost like she was challenging Erik to poke holes in her story.

Tona rubbed at her eyes, sniffling slightly. "It's just... it's really very fast!" She tried a laugh, but there was no heart behind it. "I drove up to Claremont in a car, but it didn't seem so fast! Maybe... maybe if you put the top part of the car back on, it will be better?" Sam's suggestion made her sit up straighter, stiffer. Part of her wanted to lash out at someone trying to coddle her, but she stifled that response. "Merci, but I will manage to cope," she said. "There are cars everywhere in this world, right? So I have to learn to deal with them, then. It's as simple as that."

Kit's illusion wove a different world around her, one that was safer and contained -- but Tona was not one to reach for false safety when there was a real threat. The wind was not coming from a fan, it was coming from every direction at once; the car was not on a belt, the ride was too bumpy for that; and the light was not from a lightbulb overhead, it was too diffuse for that. They were outside, actually driving, and going way too fast! At least until Mali slowed the car down, stopping it on the side of the road. It took a minute, but once she felt the car stop Tona slowly straightened, peeking over the lip of the vehicle and making sure they weren't going anywhere (so fast!). Her eyes were wet as she blinked back tears, shivering slightly. "I'm sorry, it was just... it was fast! Do you have to go so fast, Mali?"

Blue Jay's very first roll. *Sniff* They grow up so quickly... Blue Jay's Will save, vs DC 16. (1d20+7=24)

Can I get a Wisdom check from Strombreaker and KoS?

Tona sat back and tried to enjoy the ride. The road down from Claremont Academy into the city was mostly curves, following the lay of the land, which up here was hilly. Still, Mali managed to get a good turn of speed up and soon they were moving fast enough to feel the force of the curves pushing them into their seats. All of this was a new experience for the young woman, and she was not taking it well. She was sitting straight up in her seat, hands gripping the head rest in front of her in lieu of anything else to hold on to. Her eyes were already wide, and she whimpered as they went into every turn. When the first car driving in the other lane passed them, she lost it entirely and screamed, ducking below the lip of the vehicle and hugging her knees. "Trop rapide," she said, muttering the words like a mantra. "Trop rapide. Trop rapide."

The shining figure banked through the sky, keeping its speed well below the mach barrier so as not to shatter windows in the city below. Jessica Parker hadn't been up in the sky since her mistake and the surgery to fix it, and for a good long while she simply played with the new functionality in her suit. Having an on-board radio to play with was a novelty for the young genius, and she was having fun setting various pre-set frequencies. She flipped through them quickly and landed on the police band, where she listened in on a sudden appearance in Liberty Park. That certainly seemed something worth investigating. The Park was minutes away, if one could fly over the city's buildings instead of routing around them. Ironclad flew up to the gathering police officers and landed almost daintily, if that word could apply to a suit of armor tougher than a main battle tank. It wasn't hard to find the visitor and Ironclad approached her slowly, hands in the air and open palms facing the woman. She greeted the woman, quickly moving through the half-dozen languages she spoke, waiting for the strange visitor to respond to one of them.

Tagged with post-surgery funness.

She hits 22 with Skill Mastery.

"It's not exactly easy, or cheap," Jessica said. "They had to image my entire spine, and then examine the vertebrae closely to create the designs for the replacements. The replacements are each unique, and since there's going to be a stiff piece connecting them I won't be able to bend or twist that part of my back again. I couldn't imagine if someone had to have this up their entire spine, they wouldn't be able to flex their upper body at all!" At Corbin's question, Jessica squeezed her lips together until they went white. One hand curled into a fist and thumped on the table. "I screwed up. Badly. I went into a situation when I should've left well enough alone, and now... now I'm stuck in this damn bed." She looked up suddenly, smiling, her expression manic. "But it's okay! Because I'll fix it, and then it's like it never happened, right? And it'll all be... in the past."

The young man stared at Stormbreaker and King of Suits for a moment, then barked out a laugh. "Vetto? No no, Tory's my roomie! He's, uh, I think he's out at his job. He's a bartender, down in Riverside. Here, wait a sec." The young man fumbled in his pockets and came up with a matchbook with the name of a club on it; 'The Drunken Mule,' showing a donkey walking on two legs, a bottle in one hand. On the flip side was an address near the docks. "My name's Vincent MacBride. I'm just, uh, going to visit some family out of town! You know?"

Tona followed Kristin over to the wall, picking a spot and dropping her bag off, then sliding to the floor and starting to untie her boots. She leaned close as she was tugging the shoes off, setting them carefully on the floor by her bag. "Why are we taking out shoes off," she asked the other girl. "We're learning to fight, right? With kicking, too."

Tona frowned at the idea of drawing attention to herself. Her whole life had been training her to do the exact opposite, to move unseen and unnoticed until she chose to strike. Still, this was a new world, albeit a strange and confusing one at times, and Tona was not one to shy away from new experiences. She took a deep breath and said, "Okay. Clothes shopping. For... attention-grabbing clothes, yes." She blinked and added, "As long as it's still useful clothes."

If Starlight noticed the young man slipping away in the confusion, she didn't react. Instead she raised her hands to ceiling, feeding her unique power into the air and shaping two large hands made of solid, golden light. She moved her hands and the constructs reacted appropriately, moving down to the ground floor and slamming together at, well, light speed. Sirocco, for all his speed, was unable to move in time and found himself neatly trapped, struggling in vain against the constructs. "Your crime ends here," Starlight proclaimed, her lipless mouth curving into a slight smile despite herself.

Ironclad will Grapple with Sirocco. Best thing to do with speedsters, slow 'em down! Starlight's ranged attack check, vs Sirocco's Def. Grapple (1d20+10=27) That will hit. Starlight's grapple check. (1d20+17=35) Nice. Sirocco's opposed grapple check. (1d20+7=10) Nope. He is now Bound and Helpless.

Device 4 (20 PP, Hard to Lose) [16PP] (Armored Costume, Grapnel) Concealment 2 (Infravision, Flaw: Partial) [2PP] Grapnel Leaping 2 (x5, move action) [2PP] Speed 1 (10 MPH) [1PP] + Super-Movement 1 (Swinging) [2PP] Super-Movement 1 (Slow Fall) Immunity 7 (Environmental Conditions [All], Suffocation Effects [All]) [7PP] Super-Movement 2 (Wall-Climbing 2) (Gecko Pads) [6PP] Device 2 (10PP, Hard to Lose) [8PP] (Mask) Super-Senses 3 (Extended 1 [100 ft increments], Infravision, Ultravision) [3PP] Super-Senses 3 (Extended 1 [100 ft increments], Radio) [3PP] Communicate 3 (1 000 ft, Radio, Feat: Subtle) [4PP] Device 6 (30PP, Easy to Lose, Feat: Subtle [Collapsible]) [18PP] (Furion Bow) Arrowing Array 11 (22PP, Feats: Alternate Power 4, Improved Range 2 [Rank x 50 ft increments], Variable Descriptor 2) [30PP] BE: Blast 5 (Extra: Autofire [7], Feats: Mighty 2, Improved Range 3 [500 ft increments], Ranged Disarm, Ranged Pin) [22/22PP] AP: Blast 5 (Extras: Area/Shapeable [Targeted], Selective, Feats: Mighty 2, Improved Range 3 [500 ft increments], Ranged Disarm, Ranged Pin, Flaw: Action/Full) [22/22PP] AP: Stun 7 (Extra: Range/Ranged Feats: Improved Range 3 [500 ft increments]) [22/22PP] AP: Drain Toughness 7 (Extras: Affects Objects [+1], Range/Ranged, Feat: Slow Fade [1 minute]) [22/22PP] AP: Snare 7 (Extra: Constricting, Feat: Reversible) [22/22PP]

Well I'm not sure how Blue Jay going to Claremont and being a minor would affect all of this, but I would totes love to throw her in here if there's room.