Raveled

GM The green plastic general seemed taken aback by Changeling's solicitous words, the entire toy tank reotating to face the young woman. "Well. The young soldier did as he was ordered, no doubt. Can't maintain operational security if all my boys go blathering to every pretty lady along the way." The general paused and Changeling saw something that might have been a wink on the miniscule plastic face, but it was too small and the details too gross for her to be sure. "Still, if it'll avoid furhter violence -- we're looking for our C-in-C, on Vincnet Marinos. We have reason to believe that he's among the civillians here. If we can link up with him, we'll leave with him and that'll be the end of it."

There's still magical formulae and whatnot he can attempt to decipher.

Starlight kept a smirk off her face when M mentioned a 'mistress of disguse.' "The zepplin will be useful," she admitted. "As for disguises... well, I can't speak for my teammates, but." Her skin flowed like hot wax, her form becoming softer and rounder. In moments she was a mirror-image of M, down to the pattern on his jacket and a bundle papers stuffed in one pocket. "I believe I can suffice for myself on that front." She harrumphed, her voice a perfect match for the spymaster's. "What what. Tea and all that."

Liz Moya frowned and stepped back from the gathering crowd. A face-swapping killer on the loose? An assassin that could change shape at will? That bode ill for the Grue warrior; she needed to find out who was responsible for this and fast, before another hero started scanning the crowd -- or the city! -- for shapeshifters. She broke free from the crowd and circled the perimeter of the plaza quickly, her head on a swivel. If she could find someone else with Mrs. Thorn's face, she'd be on the right trail.

Starlight's going to make a Notice check to see if she can stop anyone else with the same face as Mrs. Thorn. Skill Mastery makes it 22.

"I think it would be a good idea to view the on-site living quarters," Jessica said, eying the computer and the internet line feeding out the back. She had an impulse to try and hack in now, while Wilkins was still waiting for a response, but her better judgement overrode that. Hacking in with her powers could leave her checked-out mentally, and she didn't want to have Wilikins suspect anything until the last moment. Still, with luck the bunks for patients would be monitored and that could well be a back-door into the system.

Liz Moya sat on a stone bench on the edge of the plaza, watching the tent city with interest. She was dressed in an ankle-length, wine-red skirt, a bright green sweater, and a white button-down shirt underneath that. A styrofoam container with the remains of a gyro lunch sat next to her. She had been following the Occupy Wading Way group with interest. In her life as a heroine, she'd assisted oppressed populations in overthrowing their rulers before, but it had always been a bloody, violent affair. Now she was seeing people angry at their leaders going about things in a peaceful way and it intrigued her. It seemed like they were fighting for everything she tried to embody, and they were doing it peaceably. It was forcing her to really reconsider how she approached things. And then a shot of 'Stop, police' interrupted her thoughts. She looked around and noticed security guards bearing down on a woman, not one of the protesters from the looks of things. Liz gathered herself up to teleport over -- and cursed as she remembered that she wasn't wearing her game face and would only blow her cover. Instead she crossed the plaza as fast as she dared, her eyes firmly fixed on the accused woman.

Ping.

Arcturus can make a Know/Arcane check on the book, but unless he can speak Lor or Grue he's not going to get much.

Starlight handed it over and crossed her hands over her chest. "It seems the musician wasn't much of a death mage at all -- until a few months back when he was contacted by a certain instructor. This man knew much more of magic -- all kinds of magic -- than him, and offered to teach the budding necromancer. In exchange, he wanted something called Zombie Powder." She frowned, brow furrowing. "I think I've heard of it mentioned as a street drug, but I can't fathom why any mage would want to look at it."

Security was trained to stop people trying to force their way in, and besides that Jasmine could be very fast when it suited her. She pounded down the emergency staris and dashed past the front desk, making a hard turn a sprinting into the underground garage. There she slowed down a bit as she approached her van and slipped in through the double doors at the back. A few minutes later Catalyst emerged, adjusting the bandolier that ran across her chest and between her breasts. She prepared to make the run back up to the chem lab to back up Ironclad -- when she noticed the head of the closest fire sprinkler pop off. Goo began to fall out of it, the same shade as the blob that had appeared in the lab and attached Ironclad, and the heroine watched as it began to shudder to life! The ooze formed several distinct pseudopods and lashed out at Catalyst, but the hazard-suited heroine was agile enough to dodge to the side and avoid the blow. Back up in the lab, Ironclad took to the air but found she had precious little room to maneuver in the close confines of the room. She took a gooey tentacle across her chest and slammed into a wall, popping several pipes free and spraying water into the air. She sucked in a deep breath and winced at the pain. A bruised rib, maybe? Whatever it was, she couldn't let it slow her down. She rocketed across the room and punched the beastie square in its center mass. The horrible goo writhed in something like pain and the heroine retreated, wondering just how she was going to defeat something like this.

That'll be Catalyst's entire turn. And look, a new challenger! Octopus Blob's Ini. (1d20+7=25) Ironclad's blob swipes at her. Hulk's melee attack check, vs Ironclad's Def. DC 25 Tou (1d20+10=19) That hits, because Ironclad is Toughness-shifted. Ironclad's Toughness save, vs DC 25. (1d20+15=16) ... That is very deserving of a reroll. Minimum result of which is 26, so she takes no damage. Ironclad takes the time to hit it back. Ironclad's melee attack check, vs Hulk's Def. DC 25 (1d20+10=17) That barely hits. Hulk's Toughness save, vs DC 25. (1d20+13=27) He saves this time. Octo-blob goes before Catalyst, but at least she's not flat-footed! Octoblob's melee attack check, vs Catalyst's Def. DC 25 Tou (1d20+10=15) Misses. Now how do things look? Initiative 25 Octo-Blob -- Uninjured -- GM 25 Ironclad -- Uninjured -- HPx3 17 Catalyst -- Uninjured -- HPx2 6 Blob -- Bruisex2 -- GM Catalyst is up!

The General starts at Unfriendly, so result of 35 moves him up to Helpful! I'd rather not end things with "please go back to being toys," though, so we'll make it Friendly and Changeling picks up a HP.

Ironclad frowned under her armor as Admiral Kalf turned to address Phalanx? She hand't pegged the big man in blue and gold as the science type, but hey! The more, the merrier. She resolved to talk to him about it -- then the admiral handed out the maps and she forgot about everything else. Free run of the ship! she excused herself politely but hasitly and made a beeline for engineering and the egnines. She had to fight against the impules to kick in her thrusters and fly down there.

GM "Greg Tate," the officer replied, gazing up at the hole in the apartment wall. "Damn. It's bad enough when the bad guys are just knocking over banks or stealing from some big research lab, but it really hurts when they hit the folks on the street. Excuse me." The officer walked back to his squad car and spent a few moments on the radio, calling in the details of the scene. After that he picked his way carefully around the debris, heading for the front door of the building. "I'm going to go up and talk to the family," he said, "but if you need anything, give me a shout."

In a short time the dead and pieces of the dead were laid out in the back of the theater, and not long after that the police arrived and began sorting everything out. The threadbare necromancer was handed over to the police, but at the last moment Starlight noticed a slim book in an inner pocket. She took it out and opened it up; it seemed to be the mage's journal, and was mostly full of mopey poetry and scattered notes of his own meagre, necromantic ability. Towards the middle, though, she started noticing symbols that, frankly, originated from the stars. It stopped her cold for a moment, then she turned and addressed Arcturus. "Have you ever run into something called 'Zombie Powder'?"

I'll allow 10 EP of stuff, though it might not be a terrible idea if Jasmine ran down to her van for her things. *Nudges*

Starlight stepped lightly around the medical machines. The Grue Unity was more focused around biotechnology, and while she remembered virtually nothing of her time with them she still had an instinctive distaste for the cold, sterile technology of the Lor and, it seemed, Earth. "No," she said flatly. "The Light grants me the power to heal their wounds, but I do not have the training to understand their bodies, or how it works. I merely know that it does, and act as the Light's servant in this matter."

In that case, we are currently looking at something like this. Initiative 31 - Sage -- Uninjured -- HPx6 28 - Victory -- Uninjured -- HPx2 26 - Hecate -- Gone -- GM 22 - Bonnie Blue -- Unoncious -- GM 21 - Lord Steam -- Bruisedx1 + Staggered -- HPx3 19 - Young Britannia -- Uninjured -- HPx2 18 - Zippy -- Gone -- GM 17 - Ironclad -- Uninjured -- HPx5 16 - Rolling Thunder -- Unconcious -- GM 15 - Last Loyal Soldier -- Unconcious -- GM 8 - Asad -- Uninjured -- HPx1 6 - Ghost of the Confederacy -- Uninjured -- GM Sage is up. And wouldn't you know it, she has Affects Insubstantial!

Glowstar relaxed as the last of the civilians were gathered safely in the department store and the secuirty fence was locked into place. He turned to Changeling to make a quip about usually locking up the bad guys when he noticed some movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned and witnessed a veritable army of green, plastic men pouring forth from the mall's hallways and stores. Tanks lined up in regiment and soldiers took cover by squads; before long the two heroes were surrounded by at least a couple hundred tiny green weapons. Glowstar inhaled deeply and a wall of energy blinked into existence behind the heroes, further protecting the civilians in the store. "This... could be interesting," he murmured, levitating into the air and drawing his power in. "Wait!" A strident cry halted the teen hero just as he was about to unleash a blast on the nearest toy soldiers, and he managed to hold off as a larger, more intricately worked tank rumbled its way forward. Riding high on top was a soldier figure with a... pipe? And a peaked cap, it looked like. The new tank halted a few feet from the teen heroes and the pipe-smoked looked back and forth between the pair of them. "Right," he barked. "I am the General, commander of these forces. And you folks have fought hard against my tropps. So, I'm inclined to give you one last chance to surrender peacefully, and honorably!"

Starlight took a few moments to get her feet back under her from the interdimensional transition, but when her vision stabilized the first thing her eyes fell on was the tea. She felt queasy even contemplating food and waved the drink off as politely as she could. "I was informed that we would not be acting as agents of this government while we are here," she said icily. "I am not interested in infringing on the rights of others, especially for a few bits of pressed metal."

Ironclad followed behind Asad, her thrusters making a bright star against the night sky as they arched over the city. Approaching the apartment of Asad's lady-friend, they could see signs of damage from the outside, like the line of smashed windows leading to the balcony or the cracked tiles within. They could also see the lean woman with the coiled bullwhip on one hip, examining the crime scene and standing in front of the opened wall safe. Ironclad hovered just off the balcony and began warming up her weapon systems. "Halt, yo-- Hey, wait a minute. I've heard about you, you're Whiplash. Right?"

GM The battle was all but over -- all but, as there was still one villain on his feet, or rather floating over the dance floor, glaring at the assembled heroes with all the hate of pent-up rage. The Ghost of the Confederacy laughed as Victory flew through him, his smoke-like form swirling gently in the AEGIS hero's wake. "You can't touch me," he crowed, "but I can touch you!" He drifted towards Victory, reaching out with spectral hands. "Open your mind to me, soldier, and the South shall rise again!"

Ghost is going to try scaaaarey ghosty powers vs. that all-American hero, Victory! Specifically, Possession. GotC's melee attack check w/ +2/-2 All-Out Attack, vs Victory's Def. DC 18 Will (1d20+10=29) JP, DC 18 Will save from the big lug(nut), please.

Cold Front's Sense Motive, vs DC 18. (1d20+10=24) Heat Wave's Sense Motive save, vs DC 18. (1d20+8=12)