Raveled

gives you superpowers!

GM The little knot of teen heroes was about the only group not fleeing in terror; why the sharks chose them, no one could say. Maybe it was that they were simply the closest. In any case, the shark on the stage rushed for Wisp, but the Russian-American heroine slipped nimbly aside. Flora wasn't so lucky. The man-shark leapt up and fastened onto her leg, abrading the flesh and vines there before dropping down into the midst of the heroes.

Shark 1 & 2 melee attack, vs Flora and Wisp's Def, repsectivly. DC 25 (1d20+10=29, 1d20+10=22) Be happy that they don't have Improved Critical. Okay, Flora needs to make a DC 25 Toughness save, and Wisp is up

Everyone but Glowstar notices this. Also, Initiative. 31 -- Flora -- Uninjured -- HPx4 23 -- Shark 1 -- Uninjured -- GM 23 -- Shark 2 -- Uninjured -- GM 22 -- Wisp -- Uninjured -- HPx2 19 -- Shark 3 -- Uninjured -- GM 14 -- Crow -- Uninjured -- HPx2 12 -- Glowstar -- Uninjured -- HPx4

Jessica leaned into the kiss, returning the affection eagerly. When they separated she wrapped her arms around him and sighed happily. "I think this vacation is just what I need. Just a chance to get away from all the craziness of our lives." She smiled at Blake. "Of course, some of us manage to find craziness anyway," she teased. The Eye went around several times, giving the young lovers plenty of time to snuggle and tease each other. When it finally stilled and they were let off, they grabbed a quick dinner at a street vendor and headed back to the hotel. Jessica moved over to the window and put her forehead against it, staring out at the traffic on the street. After a minute she turned back to Blake, watching him move around their room with half-lidded eyes. "I'm really happy we came on this vacation together," she said quietly.

"Pretty big," Brian allowed, starting to retract his energy from the catwalk and letting the fastenings and fittings take more and more of the weight. "Last time I made a dome about fifty feet across and the team was still able to fire through it and hit the targets. As for complicated," he added, "well I've been keeping it pretty simple. Domes and planes and cubes, mostly. Don't want to overextend myself." "Not really. Mr. Archer's trying to get me to do it, and I know I'm scheduled for some art classes next semester, but it's just not my thing, you know? I'm a doer, not a thinker." He stopped and thought about what he'd just said. "And that makes me sound like an idiot. I should really stop doing that." Brian glared at his roommate. "Morgan's being an ass. I don't know if I'd inflict Mr. Archer on anyone."

The four teens settled down to watch the show. While the visuals and some of the names had been updates (King Duncan had become Capo Danny) but the language has stayed almost unchanged. It was odd listening to people in natty suits and trilby hats throwing around 'thee's and 'thou's, but it certainly kept everyone's attention. Well, most everyone's attention. Brian's was more on his (possible, maybe, crossing his fingers) girlfriend. Through the show he'd inched his hand closer to hers, and by the send of the first act they were holding hands. His heart was thumping and he could barely keep his eyes on the stage -- he kept sneaking glances at Gwen. Things progressed normally (well, as normally as Shakespeare recited by gangster could be) into the third act. The hired killers laid in wait for Banquo (Mr. Banks) and Fleance (Fletty). As they rose to strike down the Scottish nobles, a shrill scream split the air, quite close. The actors stumbled suddenly and the audience stirred, suddenly uneasy. The feeling peaked when a stream of thespians bolted from backstage and into the crowd, eyes wild. With a sudden noise, the backdrop to the stage was torn down by a horrific figure -- a shark, seven feet from tail to nose, standing on two human-like legs! Behind it two more were struggling out of the water of the bay. Brian swore and dropped Gwen's hand, bouncing to his feet. "Looks like date's on hold," he muttered. "C'mon, let's take these guys down!"

Time to get some Initiatives up in here. Glowstar's Initiative. (1d20+6=12) Initiative for 3 Sharks. (1d20+6=23, 1d20+6=19, 1d20+6=23) Well. That's not good. Also, Notice checks from folks, if you please.

That misses pretty badly.

Brian shrugged. "Red energy," he said. "With little black bits in it, as I'm sure you've noticed. Mostly I've just used it to blow stuff up -- it's really good at that -- but lately I've been doing some, uh, training under Mr. Archer, and I've figured out how to make shapes out of it." Brian's eyes goggled as the upperclassman -- and a member of Young Freedom! -- offered to spend time with him out of the other boy's own free will. "Yeah. Totally! I'd love to see what you could come up with."

GM Steelshanks, for all her unsteadiness, managed to put one heavy foot in front of the other. She oriented on Catalyst's van and stomped towards it, obviously intent on doing some harm to the paintball-wielding heroine. Targeter, for her part, switched to the plant-manipulating heroine once Catalyst sunk out of view. She switched magazines with practiced speed and ripped off a burst at Flora, clipping her vines and drawing pale green cytoplasm.

Steelshanks' Stun is gone, but she's still Staggered for 8 more rounds so she's not going to be doing much. Move Action: Walk 30 ft towards Catalyst's van. Still 70 ft away. Targeter's gonna switch targets to the lady hero she can see. Standard Action: Shoot Flora. Targeter's ranged attack, vs Flora's Def. DC 25 + Autofire (1d20+13=23) With Autofire that's a DC 23 Toughness save. 24 Flora --- Uninjured -- HP x4 20 Catalyst -- Injured x1+ Staggered + Stun -- HP x0 10 Steelshanks -- Bruise x4 + Staggered + Stun (Catalyst's action) -- GM 9 Targeter -- Bruise x1 -- GM Flora's up.

Brian lowered himself to the blanket, careful not to sit on Gwen's dress or hair. "I did," he said. "Classes start back up next week," for those of us who weren't in summer school, he added silently, "and this seemed to be a nice thing to see before school take up all our time." Of course, for him and Vicky and Morgan, training took up all their time anyway. "Besides," he said, "we've spent so much time studying, you and me. I wanted to show you that I'm more than just a jock. I can enjoy Shakespeare, too!" He reached into a back pocket and pulled out a folded program, handing it to his date. "It's MacBeth, but updated to a 1920s gangland setting. Tommy guns and zoot suits, not swords and chainmail, right?"

that barely misses, Bree.

There were plenty of restaurants to try and the young couple hit most of them, sampling a little bit at each place before moving on. Jessica made a point of ordering the most ridiculous sounding thing on the menu each time and foisting most of it off on Blake. Once their hunger was sated they moved to more touristy activities: they stood in the shadow of Big Ben and covered their ears as it rang the hour; they craned their necks to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham palace (Blake tried to whip up a viewing portal closer to the action, but wards around the palace caused it to fizzle and got them some black looks from the Queen's Guard); they admired and were creeped out by the figures at Madame Tussauds. That evening found them high in the sky, riding the London Eye. The lights of the city reflected in the waters of the Thames, and spread out before them like a glittering blanket. Jessica sat closer to Blake then was strictly necessary in the warm night, arms wrapped around him and head resting on his shoulder. "This is really nice," she said softly, eyes unfocused and staring at nothing. "Heh. Do you remember the last time we tried to go up in a Ferris wheel?"

GM Steelshanks wobbled to her feet but didn't seem up to doing much else; in fact the metal woman seemed to be having enough trouble staying on her feet! Targeter, for her part, did her best to stay between her partner and the heroes. It might've been amusing, seeing the much shorter woman trying to shield the much larger one, if it hadn't been for Targeter's grim expression. The woman turned on her heel and ripped off her remaining clip at Catalyst's van; the bullets easily punched through the thin metal of the doors and into the heroine's suit.

Steelshanks' Stun is still there, so she's lying in the street and moaning. Targeter's gonna shift targets again and blast away at Catalyst's van. Standard Action: Shoot Catalyst. Targeter's ranged attack w/ All-Out Attack, vs Catalyst in cover. (1d20+18=34) Yikes, that's a hit. It beats Catalyst's Def by enough (even with the cover) to use full Autofire and force a DC 27 Toughness check. 24 Flora --- Uninjured -- HP x4 20 Catalyst -- Injured x1-- HP x0 10 Steelshanks -- Bruise x4 + Staggered + Stun (Catalyst's action) -- GM 9 Targeter -- Bruise x1 -- GM Flora's up.

Jessica panicked slightly as Joe slipped away from the group and they fragmented into the crowd. She took a deep breath, which wasn't the best idea in the close confines of the club, and moved out onto the dance floor. She tried to groove and shake like the rest of the nubile teens on display, but her acute awkwardness at the whole situation meant that she quickly abandoned that idea. In fact she soon found herself sitting at the bar, letting her spine conform to the shallow curve of the pew. Something caught her eye and she glanced up at a corner, where a cheap webcam was apparently playing the part of a security camera. The young genius' mouth curved into a wicked smile and she reached out with her mind, diving right into the club's security system. It was child's play to brush past the bog-standard firewalls they'd installed and take control of the system. She panned the cameras around (well, as much as she could when they were effectively taped into place) and scanned the crowd from several different angles. She wasn't entirely sure what they were looking for, but she was sure that she'd find it first.

Ironclad can use Skill Mastery to Take 10 on that Notice check, for a result of 20. As for Gather Intelligence... Ironclad's Gather Information check. (1d20+2=11) Yeah. There's a reason she usually talks to computers instead of people. Time for the tech-head to do what she does best. Using Datalink to hack into the club's computer system, Skill Mastery on Computers nets her a 30 for that, and her Mental Quickness lets her do it 100 times faster than normal. Until then she'll chill back at the bar and watch. Oh yeah, and use that same Mental Quickness to Take 20 on Notice checks through the cameras every round, for a result of 30.

Yes, Flora's up.

Steelshanks' Toughness save, vs DC 25. (1d20+11=15) Stun refreshes + Staggered Targeter's Toughness save, vs DC 22. (1d20+7=18) Bruise x1.

That's a miss.

GM It was hard to imagine the large metal woman actually being injured by the barrage of plastic pellets and green vines, but Steelshanks was certainly getting disoriented. She swung for Flora again as Catalyst sprayed her face with more acid pellets, she tripped over her own feet and fell heavily against a building. The wall crumbled around her, but she stayed on the ground, shaking her head to clear it. Targeter's head snapped around at the sudden commotion, and her eyes went wide. "STEELSHANKS!" Her gun swung around and she sprayed a line of bullets at Flora that failed to connect. Nevertheless, the rifle-wielder moved to stand over the metal woman's body, still tracking the acrobatic florapath with her weapon.

Steelshanks is Stunned, so she's not doing anything this round. Targeter's gonna try and take down Flora. Standard Action: Attack Flora. Targeter's ranged attack, vs Flora's Def. (1d20+13=19) Nope, no hit. See how important it is to hit those caps? Move Action: Moving over to shield Steelshanks. 24 Flora --- Uninjured -- HP x4 20 Catalyst -- Injured x1-- HP x2 10 Steelshanks -- Bruise x4 & Stun (Flora's action) -- GM 9 Targeter -- Uninjured -- GM

"Sure, okay." Brian took Gwen's hand and lead them over to the little peninsula where the stage was set up. It wasn't much -- a raised wooden platform with supports for a backdrop, and ramps on either side. A banner up top had the classic tragedy/comedy masks, and underneath that the words "FREEDOM PLAYERS PRESENT: MACBETH." Several couples and larger groups had already staked out places, but by luck there was a tree just a stone's throw from the stage that was unoccupied. Brian shook out the blanket over his arm, a blue and yellow checkerboard pattern, and did his best to cover the lumpier parts of the ground where the tree's roots broke the surface. He made to take a seat, then stopped himself and faced Gwen, making a sweeping gesture with his arms. "Would you like a seat?"