Raveled

She is still at home, and still asleep! What a heavy sleeper, ehn?

Ironclad stood in a ragged line with the other Earth heroes, taking in the Admiral's remarks. Really, for someone who was renowned for not liking Earthlings, he was markedly polite to them -- except for referring to them as 'witnesses' to an 'investigation.' And then his last remark... "Doktor von Archeville recently suffered an attack by a villain who managed to suborn his technologies for the sort of dastardly things villains always do, yes. I wouldn't say that it was his fault, but he did step down as CEO of ArcheTech in apology." She took a deep breath and continued speaking. "Also. I thank you for recognizing my intelligence and skill. Many people disregard me because of my age. However, I have to correct you on one point. Earth has many great minds that have been to the stars. Daedalus, Archeville himself, and I understand Dark Star was no slouch when it came to the physics that were so important to him. Not to mention my ally Supercape, who is far and away above me when it comes to theoretical maths." It was impossible to see, but underneath the helmet Jessica was breathing hard and had her eyes closed. Social confrontations were not her thing, but she wasn't about to let an alien bad-mouth Earth's heroes, either. "In fact, I'd wager that more often than not, the heroes of Earth that venture out into the stars are quite bright."

Ironclad hesitated. Truthfully, her part in things was done here. She could go back to bed and just wave the whole encounter away as just another oddity of living in Freedom City. However, she was the sort of person who could never fall back to asleep once she woke up, and if she was being truthful Asad was likely to feature in her dreams for the next few days anyway. So she shrugged and closed the door behind him. "I'll follow you," she said, setting her armor's systems to record. "No offence, but if Larceny knocked you out once you might need back up."

Derin, if you want, feel free to have Whiplash make her entrance at the apartment Asad woke up in.

"There is no reason to overstress the mechanism," Starlight said, stepping forward. "We may need to be retrieved as a group. It would not be good if the machine was broken merely sending us to our destination." She took a deep breath and stepped into the box, shrinking herself slightly to fit. "I shall go first. Whatever is on the other side, I believe myself most able to handle it and adapt to it." In the privacy of her own head, the heroine added, And I'm the one who would be least missed if she died.

A thin smile crept over Brian's lips. "So if I just be a normal guy," he said slowly, "or sit here worrying about my powers when I could be helping folks, that means the Terminus wins? That's a way of thinking I haven't run into before, Mr. Murdock." He scratched his nose as he turned the thought over and over in his head. Was he betraying the very people he tried to emulate by acting like this? He couldn't imagine Daedalus or Lady Liberty sitting around and moping over their powers. But then again, they didn't have to worry about where their powers came from. Brian licked his lips. "I never really thought of being a hero because you have to be, or to spite someone. I help people because I want to be thought of as more than just my parents' child."

Jessica shot a look at Jasmine, and then returned her critical eye to the puddle of goo still oozing out of the drain. "Riiiight," she said. "I'll just ask it to lay quietly on the exam table, shall I?" She touched her titanium bracelet and was enfolded in light and energy. When it faded, it revealed the Ironclad armor in place around her. She powered up the jets and hovered in the air, bringing one of her wrist blasters to bear on the gooey mass. Her shots caused the thing to ripple and squirm unnervingly, but also cauterized a portion of the slime. "I think you may have to settle for charred bits," she said to Jasmine.

Ironclad's ranged attack check vs. Blob's flat-footed Def. DC 25 (1d20+10=27) That hits. Blob's Toughness save, vs DC 25. (1d20+14=24) Exactly enough! Bruise x1

If Siphon can pick and choose which powers he copies, fine. If it's a grab-everything notion, Starlight (not Glowstar) is going to be rather more wary about letting him work his mojo on her.

"Oh. Okay." Ironclad's helmet sealed up, partly to prevent her showing further embarrassment, and jumped down to the floor, jets flaring at the last moment so she didn't fall through the floorboards. Every wall in the apartment seemed to be made of glass cubes except for French doors set at the compass points. Ironclad walked towards one, connecting to her security system remotely and deactivating the alarms; the last thing she wanted was to come home to find her place warming with cops. "This is actually Parkside. On the south-east end." She walked through the door, out onto a concrete balcony that ringed the penthouse apartment. "If you can give me a street address, I can lead you there." She took a deep breath and once again wondered how to fit a coffee machine into her armor. "But if it's Larceny Inc., I wouldn't worry too much. They're thieves, yes, but they don't have a reputation for being violent."

Starlight crossed her arms and shook her head slightly as the spectacularly caped hero disappeared with the two troublemakers. Suddenly, she dissolved into a cloud of bright motes of light and whisked away, traveling far faster than the unaided eye could follow. The cloud sped over the college campus and across the river, coming together in the Lab's lobby. She took a moment to get her bearing -- traveling like that was fast, but not particularly gentle or pleasant -- and anyway she didn't want to make the building's security too twitchy. She walked up to the front desk, moving slowly so as not to catch any bullets, and addressed the secretary there. "I believe," she said, "that one of your executive officers is waiting for me."

Rolling Thunder's Toughness save, vs DC 25. (1d20+7=27) Whups! No can do, Asad.

Young Britannia's appearance drew no further reaction from the remaining villains; once opposition reaches a certain threshold, anything more is just overkill, and the heroes seemed to have the situation well in hand. Her blast picked Rolling Thunder up and slammed him against the wall again, leaving a deeper imprint. The doors to the kitchen slammed open, leaving their own imprints on the wall, and a white-and-black blur streaked across the room; apparently another of the New Confederates had decided that the fight wasn't worth it anymore. Ironclad hovered above the fight, considering her options. Several of the Confederates were down or escaped, and the one in the middle of the room seemed intangible, at least if Victory's charge was any indication. Still, Rolling Thunder was looking around with a glassy stare, so it would probably be best to handle him. She powered up her servos and zipped over, making to land right in front of him. Before she could, though, he let loose with whatever he had been holding in his stomach, making her landing slicker than normal. She slipped and ended up sitting in the mess. "Oh god. That's just beyond the pale. I'm sending you guys the cleaning bill," she said, pointing and angry finger at the dazed and confused villain.

Rolling Thunder's Toughness save, vs DC 20. (1d20+8=16) Bruise x3! Zippy is going to GTFO. Ironclad can't hurt the Ghost, so she'll lay into Thunder and maybe knock him senseless. Ironclad's melee attack check, vs Rolling Thunder's Def. DC 25 (1d20+10=11) Soldier is out of it, so Asad is up next.

Ironclad blinked as she took in the man sitting on her staircase, and after a moment her helmet folded back so she could get a better look. Underneath, her hair was rather mussed and she blinked at him blearily. "Wait a second. You're... Asad, right? Amir al-Misri? Um... What are you doing in your underwear?" Ironclad looked away, blushing. He really was a good-looking man, and she wasn't used to have single, unattached, attractive men in her apartment, especially not their underwear. "Wait, what exactly is going on here?"

Initaitve 22 Cold Front -- Uninjured -- GM 21 Heat Wave -- Uninjured -- GM 13 Young Britannia -- Uninjured -- HPx2 10 Starlight -- Uninjured -- HPx3 Bad gals are posturing for a bit, so let's just go to YB's turn.

Power Level 8 (108 pp) Abilities: STR: 26/18 (+8), DEX: 10 (+0), CON: 26/22 (+8), INT: 8 (-1), WIS: 12 (+1), CHA: 10 (+0) [20PP] Skills: Notice 4 (+5), Sense Motive 4 (+5), Survival 4 (+5) [3PP] Feats: All-Out Attack, Power Attack, Teamwork [3PP] Powers: [49PP] Growth 4 (Extra: Duration/Permanent) [12PP] Leaping 2 [2PP] Protection 2 [2PP] Immunity 6 (Cold Environment, Cold Damage) [6PP] Snow Array (Feat: Alternate Power) [25PP] BE: Blast 8 (Extra: Autofire) - Snowball barrage [24PP] AP: Snare 8 - Engulfing snowball [16PP] Super-Senses 2 (Counter Obscure [snow/Ice]) [2PP] Combat: +8 Attack, +6 Defense (+3 flat-footed), +20 Grapple, -5 Knockback [28PP] Saves: +10 Tougness (+8 Con, +2 Protection), +8 Fort (+8 Con), +4 Ref (+0 Dex, +4), +6 Will (+1 Wis, +5) [9PP] Drawbacks: [-4PP] Vulnerability (Fire Effects, Frequency: Common, Intensity: Major) Abilities 20 + Skills 3 + Feats 3 + Powers 49 + Combat 28 + Saves 9 - Drawbacks 4 = 108

GM While Wail was examining the unconscious bodies of the soldiers who abducted Lamont, he could hear the wailing of a police siren drawing nearer. He turned just as the cruiser was pulling up to the landing sight and the officer within stepped out. To the hero's surprise, it was the same thick-around-the-middle officer who had been at the convenience store. "Hey there, Mr. LaMarr. Small world, huhn? You and me meeting twice in one night like this. But then I guess this sort of stuff is second nature to you." He circled carefully around the unconscious bodies. "So, uh. Mind giving me the run-down on what happened here? We got some reports of an explosion and gun fire."

Glowstar winced at the idea of bringing a huge, animate statue inside the confines of the mall. "I don't think Headmaster Summers would appreciate us leveling the mall. Even if it was in the cause of destroying a giant toy army. Um." He watched the monitors for a moment and then retrieved a map of the mall, spreading it out over the control panel. He poured over it for a few minutes, trying to reconcile what they were seeing on the TV with the paper map. "It looks like all of the army dudes are avoiding this one store," he said, pointing at one of the anchor stores. "If we can get the civvies in there, then we can lock the gates and at least we won't have to worry about anyone getting in the crossfire."

Ironclad worked at a furious pace but she could only do so much. In frustration she brought both metal fists down on the control panel, smashing it and sending sparks flying. "Damn failsafes," she shouted. "Fail. Safely!" With the control panel a loss she flew back out into the larger room, swooping around the huge robot as Caradoc kept up his assault on it. "The robot's a stalling tactic," she shouted. "This guy's making a magnet big enough to attract every piece of space junk in the sky. All of it on Freedom City! We've got to take it out before it finishes powering up." She suited words to deeds as she spun in the air and unleashed both wrist blasters on the towering mechanism, pummeling it with everything she had.

So we can see the big electromagnet? Okay, Clad's going the direct route -- hero smash! Ironclad's ranged attack check w/ +5/-5 All-Out Attack & +5/-5 Power Attack, vs. electromagnet. DC 30 Tou (1d20+10=12) Oh you . Rerolling that. Ironclad's ranged attack check w/ +5/-5 All-Out Attack & +5/-5 Power Attack, vs. electromagnet. DC 30 Tou. Reroll (1d20+10=29) Why, IC? Why do you make me hurt you?

Brian sighed. "Yeah, but... this is the sort of power that killed the Centurion, you know? It's hard not to feel guilty when you're staring down guys with Uzis or something, and to hit 'em back with... With something the destroys worlds." He clenched his fist and a res light leaked out from around his fingers. "Can I even be a hero with these powers? It seems like all they're good for is destroying things."

Liz took the card and made polite noises to the pair of officers. Yes, it had been a harrowing experience. No, she wasn't going to be leaving the country anytime soon. Yes, it had left her number with the desk sergeant. In a few minutes she was out in the sunshine and inhaled deeply.It had been a very long day, and it wasn't even lunchtime yet! She shook her head and flagged down a cab. On her way back to her apartment, she dialed a number that would've cost an astronomical amount if it showed up on her bill. It rang twice, then went to a machine with a hard click. Liz left a report on the morning's activities in her native tongue. By the time she was finished the taxi was pulling up in front of her building. She paid the driver and made her up to her unit, deftly avoiding her neighbors. The last thing she wanted to do today was spin out more lies. All she wanted was a hot shower -- and then to get onto the real business of the day.

Starlight stepped away from Arcturus, moving the necromancer out over the seats and high enough into the air to make the thought of a jump less than appealing. "This man will be delivered into the hands of the authorities," she promised the hero. "He will be judged and punished, according the laws of this land. Now." She turned to face the pile of dismembered corpses clogging the aisles. "If you wish to do honor to your friend, I suggest we start by disentangling his parts. And all of the other victims of this death mage."

Does his Force Field... Glow? Like a star? - Ecal Glowstar :arrow: Replacing Protection with Force Field. Stuns be damned, it's a force field!