Raveled

Section 13 was a part of the OSS, the forerunner to the modern CIA. Their mandate was coordinating the actions of the various superpowered beings the Allies had access to, especially those unaffiliated with either the Liberty League or the Allies of Freedom. The group was officially shut down at the end of WW2, though many of those involved went on to positions of importance within the CIA.

Jessica giggled as she kissed Blake, following him back to the bed. "They're all speaking French, Blake. They could be insulting our parents and you wouldn't ever know if they said it with a smile on their face. Faces. Collective face, whatever." She fell on top of him, kicking off her shoes. "C'mon. We still have time to make a few more good memories." The lovers spent the night in each others arms and were still up early, the energy of youth keeping them moving. In less than an hour they were on another train, heading more or less south. Jessica stayed quiet for much of the ride, simply watching Blake. "I'm sorry," she said suddenly, appros of nothing. "I feel like I'm dragging you all over Europe, searching for the perfect vacation."

The IC thread is up. Drop in and say hello!

September 25, 2011 Bayview, Freedom City Claremont Campus GM The Claremont campus was usually calm, no matter what was happening in the city. A Grue Invasion, the dead rising, squadrons of Metaceptors in the sky -- whatever it was, Summers worked hard to make sure it didn't get over the walls. However, the imminent destruction of the world wasn't something any one man could shield his charges from. He'd done the next best thing, though -- the students on teams were assigned around the city, and other students to wanted to were helping as best they could. Next-Gen was standing by at Blackstone; Young Freedom was protecting Freedom Hall while the League was busy elsewhere; the Alterniteens were keeping an eye on the Lab while the city's super-geniuses enacted their plan; and the Irregulars were holding the fort at Claremont. At the moment they were assembled in the zen garden, looking for a last moment of peace before the storm broke. The uneasy silence was broken by the sound of heavy, clomping boots on the path. Glowstar looked up to see a slim man wearing a black and white jersey shirt, loose slacks spilling over heavy boots. The new arrival took his headphones off an hung them around his neck, waving to the Irregulars. "Hey guys. Summers though you might need a little extra muscle, so." Christopher Beck slammed his fists together, and in a flash of light Megastar was standing there, towering over the group. "He called in the alumni. Cool, right?"

Character Name: Hooded Menace Power Level: 10 (160 PP) Trade-Offs: None Unspent Power Points: 0 In Brief: An aspiring archeologist, now the earthly avatar for Apep. Alternate Identity: Brandon Dunn Identity: Secret (the general public is unaware of the existence of Apep) Birthplace: Cedar Falls, Iowa, United States Occupation: Student, supervillain Affiliations: Freedom University Family: Father (estranged), mother (estranged). Description: Age: 22 (DoB: 1990) Gender: Male Ethnicity: Caucasian Height: 6' 4" Weight: 220 lbs Eyes: Black Hair: Black Brandon Dunn is a large, well-built man who towers over most anyone he meets. His skin is unnaturally pale and his eyes and hair are matte black and cut short. Apep's power provides him with any sort of clothes he can imagine, as long as its black; he usually appears in black jeans, a white muscle shirt, and a black hoodie with the image of a coiling serpent on the back, picked out in white. Brandon is not an agile man and prefers to stand in one place, glowering if need be. When utilizing his powers shadows boil around him threateningly, obscuring his features and seeming to leech the very light from the environment. Power Descriptions: Brandon Dunn has access to the collective powers and abilities of Apep, an ageless cthonic god. Or at least most of them -- Apep's power was divided ages ago and now Brandon seeks to gather them all. Primarily, he can summon snakes made of shadow-stuff; to strike out at people, to wrap them up, to create extra arms, or even to block blows aimed at him. History: Brandon Dunn was an inquisitive child, always digging deeper for answers. Often literally. He grew up on a farm in Iowa, and he was never happier than when he was digging along the property line, or in the fields and forests beyond. He grew to love history and the past, and nothing thrilled him more than turning up some stone arrowheads, or brass bullet shells, or some animal bones long picked clean. Once he found a half-complete dinosaur skeleton. He donated it to the local high school; they sold it to a collector for several thousand dollars. The money was spent to buy the football team new training equipment. That was the way things worked in Brandon's home town. Sports were the most important thing for most of the citizens. Brandon's parents sure didn't care what he dug out of the ground; they just cared that he was big and strong, but he was utterly indifferent to sports. Part of it was that he was simply clumsy, but an equal part was he simply had no desire to work hard at pushing other people around. As the end of high school neared and college loomed, all Brandon could think of was getting out of his little town. He applied to every single college that had a half-decent archeology department (even then he knew that he wanted to spend his life digging in the dirt) and tried for every scholarship that was vaguely applicable. When the replies came back, the best choice was Freedom College. Brandon had grand dreams for college. A meeting of minds, a place where he would be judged base on his genius. He thought it would be free of the cliques that plagued his high school experience and to a degree he was correct; at Freedom College, everyone belonged to a single clique instead, the party crowd. Brandon, though, wanted to study hard and a good job, so he once again found himself on the outside. So he persevered and studied hard, and landed an internship with the Hunter Museum of Natural History. It was announced that the museum would be participating in a dig in Egypt's Valley of the Kings, and Brandon volunteered. He was chosen and sent on his way. The expedition explored several tombs recently uncovered after a hard rain, including one that bore no dynasty markings; in fact it seemed to be from an era long before pharaohs were interred in the valley. Brandon worked hard and ingratiated himself to the scientists leading the expedition, so he was allowed to follow the first group to enter the tomb. They broke the seals and entered the stone structure, discovering that it was fairly small and in fact seemed to be a natural stone corridor leading to a single, square room with a low roof. The interior of the room was covered in hieroglyphs and other, more arcane symbols, and dead center was a single ceramic jar bearing the image of a coiled snake. As he was examining the jar, his clumsiness struck and Brandon tripped over his own feet, knocking the jar off its plinth and shattering it. A cold, dark fog filled the tomb almost immediately and Brandon felt like he was going to die. Instead a voice spoke to him, promising him power and revenge on his enemies if he just bowed to the will of Apep. The terrified student agreed at once and became heir to a power from before the beginning of time. Empowered, Brandon walked out of the Valley of Kings and traveled the world, hunting down more of the jars that held Apep's essence. Now he's tracked the remainder to Freedom City, so he has returned there. He lost his job at the Hunter Museum lost any chance of graduating, but he doesn't care. Now he has a new goal, a new purpose, and a new friend whispering in his ear from the shadows... Personality & Motivation: Brandon feels slighted by the world; with more supportive parents or a different home town or a better college experience, he could have become one of the great scientists of history! Now he's out for the revenge against all those who've wronged him. He often comes across as angry and bitter to others, but he knows in his mind that he's fully justified; or at least that's what the voice whispering in his ear tells him. Apep's motives are both impossible to fully comprehend and deceptively simple. It wants to destroy the world, indeed all that exists, and will do so by any means necessary. Not because it's angry at the world or because it lost something, simply because the order and life of creation is anathema to its existence and it wishes to return to the primordial chaos that existed before time began. That being said, Apep is not a raving monster of destruction. It is quite content to play the (millennial) long game, accruing power and resources before striking. Powers & Tactics: Hooded Menace has had time to explore his news powers and he's found that he has some distinct advantages. Usually he'll start a fight by blanketing the area in suffocating darkness, then striking at his enemies from concealment. He prefers to focus on one until it is dealt with, but he's not above tying down one or two foes to cut down on the number of attackers. If he's outmatched, he'll attempt to withdraw under cover of darkness and make good his escape. Abilities: 8 - 2 + 6 + 4 + 2 + 4 = 22PP Strength: 18 (+4) Dexterity: 8 (-1) Constitution: 16 (+3) Intelligence: 14 (+2) Wisdom: 12 (+1) Charisma: 14 (+2) Combat: 12 + 8 = 20PP Initiative: +3 Attack: +6 Melee, +6 Ranged, +10 Shadow Snake Array Grapple: +14, +18 w/ Additional Limbs, +23 w/ Super-Strength Defense: +10 (+4 Base, +6 Shield), +2 Flat-Footed, +5 Flat-Footed w/ Shield Knockback: -5 Saving Throws: 7 + 6 + 6 = 19PP Toughness: +10 (+3 Con, +7 Protection) Fortitude: +10 (+3 Con, +7) Reflex: +5 (-1 Dex, +6) Will: +7 (+1 Wis, +6) Skills: 80R = 20PP Climb 8 (+12) Concentration 4 (+6) Gather Information 8 (+10) Intimidate 12 (+14)Skill Mastery] Investigate 3 (+5) Knowledge (Arcane) 3 (+5) Knowledge (History) 7 (+10)Skill Mastery] Knowledge (Theology & Philosophy) 3 (+5) Language 4 (Ancient Egyptian, French, English [Native], Hebrew, Latin) Notice 9 (+10)Skill Mastery] Search 10 (+12) Sense Motive 9 (+10)Skill Mastery] Feats: 8PP Accurate Attack Defensive Attack Improved Grab Improved Pin Move-By Action Power Attack Skill Mastery (Intimidate, Knowledge [History], Notice, Sense Motive) Startle Powers: 12 + 4 + 7 + 35 + 12 + 4 = 74PP All powers have the Divine descriptor Additional Limbs 4 (8 limbs, +4 Grapple) + Elongation 4 (50 ft. Extra: Projection) [12PP] (Shadow Limbs, Shadow) Enhanced Feat 3 ( Challenge [Fast Startle], Fearless, Quick Change 2) [4PP] Protection 7 [7PP] Shadow-Snake Array 15 (30 PP array, Feats: Accurate 2, Alternate Powers 3) [35PP] BE: Strike 6 (Extra: Autofire [10], Linked [super-Strength] [+0], Feats: Affects Insubstantial 2, Mighty) + Super-Strength 5 (Effective lifting Str 40, Extra: Linked [+0]) [29/30PP] (Shadow-Arm Strike, Shadow)AP: Blast 10 (Extra: Penetrating) [30/30PP] (Boiling Shadow Toss, Shadow) AP: Snare 10 (Extra: Constricting) [30/30PP] (Shadow Snakes Bind, Shadow) AP: Obscure 10 (Visual & Mental, 10 000 ft [~2 miles], Extra: Independent) [30/30PP] (Shadow Fall, Shadow) Shield 6 [12PP] (Shadow Arms Intercepting, Shadow) Teleport 6 (20 miles, Feat: Subtle, Flaw Long-Range Only, Medium [shadows]) [4PP] (Shadow Walk) Drawbacks: -3 = -3PP Vulnerable(Light Energy, Frequency: Common, Intensity: Moderate) [-3PP] Abilities (22) + Combat (20) + Saving Throws (19) + Skills (20) + Feats (8) + Powers (74) - Drawbacks (3) = 160 Power Points

Anyone else want to try those rolls?

You could try Know/Civics or Know/History.

That changes all of their attitudes to helpful (well, at least to Freedom Angel). Initiative order (Not that we should need it for much longer). 23 Protectron -- Uninjured, Separated -- HPx0 18 Spider -- Bound (Helpless) -- GM 18 Elephant -- Uninjured -- GM 17 Glowstar -- Uninjured -- HPx4 13 Cobalt Templar -- Uninjured -- HPx3 12 Chimp -- Uninjured -- GM 6 Gorilla -- Uninjured -- GM 4 Freedom Angel -- Uninjured -- HPx1 Protectron's up.

Indeed he be.

GM The gorilla's beefy arms were pinned by the experienced Claremonter, bands of blue energy flaring as the two wrestled. "So you say," the gorilla rumbled. "But we don't have any way to know. So if you'll just let me go we--" The heroes never got a chance to find out what the animal-men would have done. The chimp leapt from the top of the truck to the top of Cobalt Templar's head. "Let go of him," he shouted, smacking the blue-armored hero around his head and shoulders. "Get away from him," the smaller monkey shrieked. "Get off of him, you brute!" The gorilla heaved suddenly, taking advantage of the distraction provided by his smaller ally. "I'm free! It worked, Three! Now let's get out of here!"

Chimp's up, and he's gonna start things by smacking CT. Standard Action: Chimp's melee attack, vs CT's Def. DC 25 (1d20+8=12) Heh. Well, that actually hits this round! DC 25 Toughness for CT. The Gorilla's going to try and break free of CT's grapple. Gorilla's escape attempt, vs CT's grapple bonus. DC 20 (1d20+22=34) Gorilla escapes.

Gorilla's counter grapple, vs Cobalt Templar's 36. (1d20+22=28) He is not Helpless, but his is Bound!

Ping.

"Right! Rendezvous! Means run away!" The spider-creature leapt twenty feet into the air from a standing position and fired a stream of sticky, ropey webbing at the nearest building. As it came down physics took over and the creature swung away; it repeated the process a few more times in just a couple of seconds, building up a fair turn of speed. The elephant either didn't hear or couldn't turn his bulk away from the charge. In any case he slammed all of his mass into Protectron's abandoned body, only to find it much stockier than he was prepared for. The huge man-animal bounced off the golden robot and stumbled back several steps. Glowstar decided to let the other heroes take care of the truck and sped after the spider. He reached out and closed his hands, and red, semi-transparent fingers formed out of mid-air to grab the creature at the apex of a swing. It struggled, but it was too well pinned to escape so easily.

Ho-kay then! Guy gets knocked back five feet and ends up eyeing the headless robo-body! Glowstar's gonna try and snag Spidey, on the intuition that maybe they should keep all these guys kinda contained. Standard Action: Create Object around the fleeing Spider-Person. Perception range so no attack roll. Glowstar's CO Grapple, vs Spider's grapple. (1d20+22=39) Yikes. Spider's opposed grapple, vs Glowstar's DC 39. (1d20+16=29) Okay, he is so friggin' grabbed. Time to get an IC post up, and then it's CT's turn.

You recognize the cashier as a junior at Joesph Clark High School and a student of yours, Lamont Desmarais. 'Des' (he thinks his first name sounds stupid) is an unusually active debater; he rarely takes a fact at face value, but instead digs for facts. You're not sure what he's doing with a gun that turns people noir, though.

Spider is gonna run like he was ordered to. Full Round Action: Flee! Flee as fast as his webby webs can take him! Which is 400 ft. Elephant's going to try and Overrun on Protectron. Standard Action: Melee attack to Trip. Elephant's melee attack, vs Protectron's unattended body. Trip (1d20+5=14) If my reading of the rules is correct, Protectron's body retains its full Def, so that should miss. Correct?

Jessica laughed softly at Blake's enthusiasm. "I'm pretty sure the Riviera is all beaches," she said, spearing a radish. She bit into it and waved it around while she talked. "Resorts and beaches and casinos and vacation houses for people that have more money then they know what to do with." She flashed a smile at Blake. "So you get to see me in a bikini, and I get to see you in a European man-thong," she added good-naturedly. Dinner passed quietly and by the time they ventured out onto the city, the rain had stopped, leaving slick streets and a cool touch over the city. Jessica burrowed close to Blake as they walked the banks of the Seine, and if their trip back to the hotel was slower than it had to be, neither of them was going to complain. Back in their room Jessica closed and locked the door before closing with Blake and locking him into a long, slow kiss. When she pulled away her face was flushed but she was smiling. "So," she asked. "What do you think of Paris?"

Initiative order 23 Protectron -- Uninjured -- HPx1 18 Spider -- Uninjured -- GM 18 Elephant -- Uninjured -- GM 17 Glowstar -- Uninjured -- HPx4 13 Cobalt Templar -- Uninjured -- HPx3 12 Chimp -- Uninjured -- GM 6 Gorilla -- Uninjured -- GM 4 Freedom Angel -- Uninjured -- HPx2 Protectron's up.

Ironclad slowed down as she approached the power plant and the armored knight -- Caradoc? I've seen him around the Lab, haven't I? -- pulled ahead of her. She saw the clockwork robots fire on Caradoc, noting the flash of electricity. That gave the armored heroine pause; her suit could dampen the sensation of physical pain and stop bullets, missiles, acid, and even magic spells from overloading her mind with agony, but for some reason electricity always overloaded any defenses she could come up with. "Get in the game, Ironclad," she muttered to herself. "No guts, no glory." Still, she reflected that she didn't need to make it easy for the steampunk monsters to hurt her; she stopped at the very edges of her own range and examined the scrap metal shield, looking for a weakness to exploit.

Glowstar fought down a smile at the police lieutenant's accent. Some kind of Irish by way of Manhattan by way of Harry Callahan, if he was any judge of it. "Right, hostages go into the ambulances. Hope the bad guys can't see 'em." When Crow's instructions came over the comms, though, he pressed his lips into a thin line. "Right. Distract the bank robbers." He spotted a megaphone resting on the hood of one of the cruisers. "I can do that. I'm big and distracting." The teen hero flew up until he was clear of the force wall, though his own personal force field crackled and snapped. He raised the megaphone to his lips and addressed the street. "Attention, bank robbers! This is Glowstar, of the Irregulars! Throw down your weapons, let the hostages go, and come out peacefully. We don't want to inflict more property damage than necessary."

I'll let Archy decide if Protectron's going to charge in; if he does, Clad'll back him up, but otherwise she's going to hang back and chat with the G-men.

Initiative time! This is against AA's Elephant Hero, Dr. Gorilla, Chimpanzee Champion, and Acrobatic Arachnid. Spider's Initiative. (1d20+11=18) Gorilla's Initiative. (1d20+3=6) Chimp's Initiative. (1d20+10=12) Elephant's Initiative. (1d20+5=18) Glowstar's Initiative. (1d20+6=17)

Glowstar felt like he'd walked into an impromptu convention. A big golden robot, someone with a halo and freaking angel wings, and Cobalt Templar were all on the scene, not to mention the usual gaggle of civilians standing around and watching (less than normal because of the hour, but there were still a fair number). The junior Claremonter felt his chest swell with Cobalt Templar's words of approval. "Well," he said, "I deflected it from hitting the civvies inside. I think physics took over from that point. If you mean 'why was an armored truck smashing through the wall,' I don't know. I haven't have a chance to peek inside y--" The hero was cut off when one of the rear doors, a slab of steel at least six inches think, tore off the truck and landed a good foot away. A huge, hulking figure with dark gray skin and enormous, hanging ears shouldered the remaining door out of the way and stood up outside. A prehensile trunk hung off his face and an ill-fitting set of black fatigues was draped around his body. He squinted in the bright daylight and said, "Toldja you couldn't drive that." The elephant-man moved away from the door, apparently unaware of the heroes surrounding him. "We should've grabbed one of the guards and made him drive us out." "All the guards were robots," a prim voice from inside the truck responded. A moment later a black-furred gorilla in a loose gray uniform walked (and knuckled) out of the truck. "We would've lost more time in reprogramming him than... oh my." The ape scanned the assembled heroes. "This... wasn't in the plan." "What wasn't?" A scrawny head covered in coarse brown fur appeared in the back of the truck, and a moment later a chimpanzee in another set of fatigues crawled out and perched on top of the truck. "Oh man, oh man. Who are these guys!?" The last figure out of the truck was the most bizarre. Vaguely human, it was covered in black chitinous growths, with several red eyes crowded onto its head. "Does it matter," the spider-person asked. "They have to be working for Section 13! Let's get out of here!" "Right," the gorilla said, nodding sharply. "Meet at the rendezvous!" With that the party of hybrids exploded, each taking a different direction; the gorilla loped off to the west, the spider-thing zipped a line and swung south, the chimp scrambled up a nearby building and raced to the east, and the elephant man charged north -- straight at Protectron!

"I'd prefer to avoid having to pay to rebuild any buildings," Brian said dryly. "What about, like invisibility dye?" He started tapping his toe, really getting into the idea. "Yeah. Wait until he's got a big date planned and leave him with a pair of sweatpants and a jersey!" He caught Corbin's look and shrank down in his seat. "Uh, listen Morgan. Why don' we go over to the cafeteria or someplace to plan this, huhn?"