Raveled

Brian blushed, the different parts of the catwalk flying apart and floating inside of the greenhouse, while the teen marched along underneath them. "Right, right. It's a catwalk, not a widow's walk. Oh, and I'll take whatever pizza you order. It's all good, right?" Once inside the mostly-completed building, he levitated the pieces upwards and started slotting them into place, much as he had done with the foundation outside. "Feel free to scramble all over these, guys," he called out to Corbin and Morgan. "Mr. Archer's had me juggling buses for practice."

Jessica turned at the sudden intrusion and rolled her eyes, even as the energy wave unfolded from her bracelet and wrapped around her body. An eyeblink later it faded to reveal her armor. "Seriously, Bres? Crow took you down when he was all on his own. Now you've got all of us to fight -- do you really think it's going to go much better for you?" She leapt into the air and brought her wrist blasters to bear. "Even with those creepy little friends of yours, I bet you won't even last two minutes." She blasted the vine creature closest to the group. "Make that one."

Bres is a big, bad nasty, but he's not much without the Eye. Still, he does have some nasty henchies with him, so let's focus on them, shall we? Free Action: Summon armor. Move Action: Fly up to get angle on Creeper 1. Standard Action: Blast Creeper 1. Ironclad's ranged attack, vs Creeper 1. DC 25 (1d20+10=26) Sure hope that hits.

Brian took a deep breath when he saw Gwen in her all-green ensemble. He stepped up close and took her hand, squeezing gently. "I'm so glad you came. You look absolutely amazing." He stood there, drinking in the sight of her, and only after minute realize he was kinda staring at her creepily. He backed off and coughed into his fist, blushing redly. "So we've got maybe ten minutes before the show starts. Do you want to try and grab some good seats? Or they've got a rose garden here we could check out?"

Jessica rested her head on his shoulder, staring into his eyes from very close. "It's the life we chose," she said softly. "We could stay at home and watch TV and worry about our stocks, but we don't. We chose to get involved, and that's part of what I love about you." She smiled and swatted his chest. "Badass sightseeing, sure. C'mon, I've had my nap and now I want some food. I bet you that we can find some really disgusting European food to try." Several minutes later they were outside the hotel, Jessica looking over a map of London in her head. She stopped short when she noticed the police vans parked across the street and Ludwig's underwear-clad droogs being loaded up into them. Ludwig himself was nowhere to be seen, though, and neither was the Fisher King. "Wow," she breathed. "Did you take out all of them?"

Once Blake seated himself facing the window and it was obvious that he wasn't going to turn around, Jessica felt safe enough to pad back out and start pulling on her clothes. As she dressed, she listened to his story, sighing quietly. Already their quiet vacation was turning into something more complicated. Still, she knew it wasn't his fault. "Honey," she said, her voice slightly muffled as she pulled on a tee-shirt, "if I had a problem with you fighting bad guys, I don't think we would have ever hooked up." She walked into his line of view dressed in dark slacks and a short shirt with the periodic table printed on it, below the phrase "FOR SCIENCE!" She sat in Blake's lap and draped her arms around his shoulders. "Remember? Saving my life from Frankenstien's monster?" She leaned in and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Besides, I think I'd be a lot more angry with you if you ran away from a fight and let folks get hurt."

Brian paced in front of his friend, literally wringing his hands. "I dunno. I mean, this is out first real date date, you know? I mean we went out for coffee a couple of times and I took her to the Boardwalk and she's still tutoring me, but... Is this too far?" He stopped in front of Morgan and faced his friend. "I mean, getting dressed up and going out to Shakespeare with you and Vicky? Is this just too much, too fast?" He resumed his pacing again. "Oh, god, it is. Man, Vicky's gonna show up alone and I'm gonna feel like an idiot and then I'm gonna fail Bio..."

Ironclad's Initiative. (1d20+3=23) Yowza!

Ironclad gave Solarum a respectful nod and brought up her wrist blasters, charging up another shot. "You're a pretty tough opponent," she allowed. "You think on your feet a lot better than I do." With that the hovering heroine loosed the blast at the golden woman, lighting the entire arena as she did so. "I wish it didn't have to come down to fighting like this," the heroine muttered to herself, in the privacy of her helmet.

Ironclad's ranged attack roll w/ full All-Out Attack and full Power Attack, vs Solarum's Def. DC 30 (1d20+10=12) with the Stun and the Stagger, that should hit her.

The OOC for this thread. Villains attack during a date! How dastardly of them!

August 21, 2011 Riverside Park 5:46 PM Riverside park was a little bit of beauty set at the tip of the city, jutting out into the waters of the Centery Narrows and greeting anyone who approached the city by the water. It boasted what was probably the city's most famous landmark, a statue of the Centurion holding a sword, facing out to the sea and prepared to greet any visitor, face any challenge. In fact, the park was so famous for the statue that some people forgot it still had several thousand feet of open green grass, but the Freedom City Players hadn't. Their stage was set up on a peninsula near the Tomb of the Unknown Hero, and a few hundred people were killing time in the Rose Garden or by one of the monuments, waiting for the show to start. For his part, Brian Harris felt like he'd paced the entire park a dozen times. He stopped near the Sentry Statue, glanced up at it, and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He was dressed in a yellow polo shirt with the Claremont emblem over his heart, a pair of pressed khaki slacks, and his dress shoes, polished to a shine. He turned to his friend Morgan Crow and brushed bits of invisible fluff off his pants, then transferred the blanket he was carrying to his other shoulder. "How do I look," he asked for probably the hundredth time that night. Privately he thought he looked like some preppy college student, but he wanted to look nice for this double-date. He didn't have a lot of fashion choices -- most of his wardrobe was jeans and tee-shirts, until one hit his only suit. "Where do you think the girls are," he asked. "Vicky said she'd bring Gwen along, right?"

Brian followed Gwen over to the box of paving stones. He touched each one and enveloped the boxes in the same red energy as before. After that they were effortless to move away; he parked them around the rear of the half-finished greenhouse, where they would be out of everyone's way. Opening up the next box down, he manhandled several of the pieces aside until he found a sheet of directions. The young man stepped back and opened the sheet. While he read and reread how to put everything together, the pieces of the kit zoomed out of the box and danced in the air, fitting together and falling apart as Brian worked his way through the instructions. Finally he had everything how -- he hoped -- it went together and he stood back, the catwalk hanging in the air in a film of red energy. "Is that right," he asked, cocking his head to one side. "It doesn't look big enough to go on the outside."

Steelshanks' Toughness, vs DC 25. (1d20+12=19) Bruise x4 + Stun refreshes.

Steelshanks' Toughness save, vs DC 29. (1d20+13=21) Stunned + Bruised x3.

GM With the fog bank down, Steelshanks returned to trying to squish Flora but didn't have any more luck; the florapathic mutant continued to bounce and evade her opponent nimbly, while the huge metal's woman's huge metal hands closed only on air. Targeter, for her part, did a little better. She ripped off several bursts at Catalyst which tore up the roof and side of her van. It also tore into the woman herself, and the criminal gave out a triumphant shout.

I think we need an update of this. Initiative order is 24 Flora --- Uninjured -- HP x4 20 Catalyst -- Uninjured -- HP x3 10 Steelshanks -- Bruise x2 -- GM 9 Targeter -- Uninjured -- GM Okay, Roo can roll now.

Steelshanks is going to try and grapple Flora again. It worked so well the last time! Steelshanks' melee attack roll, vs Flora's Def. (1d20+10=28) Yikes. That... that sure hit. Steelshanks' grapple check, vs Flora's opposed grapple. (1d20+17=31) Targeter's ranged attack roll, vs Catalyst's Def. (1d20+13=27) Catalyst has a +4 Def due to cover, but that still hits. With Autofire, it's a DC 23 Toughness check. Please don't roll yet, Roo.

Steelshanks' Toughness save, vs DC 22. (1d20+14=18) Bruise x2.

Steelshanks Toughness save, vs DC 25. (1d20+15=24) A bruise! First blood to Flora.

GM Targeter hunkered down and took the shots on her arms and shoulders. The chemicals crackled and popped on her skin, but they did more to blister her vest then hurt the rifle-wielder. "Steelshanks! Now!" The metal woman turned away from her personal match with Flora and inhaled deeply, then blew out a prodigious wind over the proposed area of the garden. It easily blew away the concealing fog, leaving Catalyst out in the open. Targeter smiled nastily and reached into her vest, pulling out an oversized bullet. She fitted it into the weapon's chamber and fired it at Catalyst. Mere breaths before impact it broke apart, revealing a sticky mass at its heart that quickly expanded. The hazmat-suited heroine was quick on her feet, though, and managed to leap and avoid the glue round.

Targeter's Toughness save, vs DC 22. (1d20+7=23) Not good news. Targeter delays her action; Steelshanks fiats to get Superbreath on her Density. Obscure goes away, everyone gets a HP. Targeter's Snare attack, vs Catalyst's Reflex. (1d20+13=21) That just barely hits. I need a Reflex check from Catalyst vs. DC 17.

Targeter's Reflex and Fort save, vs DC 15. (1d20+10=17, 1d20+6=25) Evasion again! No dice.

GM The woman in military garb quickly ducked out of the way of the yellow gas, rolling to the edges of it; it had the secondary effect of letting her dodge Flora's attack. Clear of the blast, she sprayed fire into the fog Catalyst was hiding in but none of her shots even came close. She gave a yell of frustration and glanced over her shoulder. Behind her, the metallic woman was trying to close and grapple with the green-clad heroine, but she wasn't having any luck. "Steelshanks!" The woman toting the rifle had to call out to her ally several times to get the huge woman's attention. "I could use some help here!" Steelshanks, for her part, was taking lumbering strides and sweeping her arms around, but couldn't seem to tag the more nimble heroine. "Hold onto your pants, Targeter! Just let me crush this little weed, first!"

Targeter's Reflex and Fortitude save, vs DC 15 for each. (1d20+10=25, 1d20+6=8) With Evasion, the Targeter takes no damage. Steelshanks' melee attack w/ All-Out Attack, vs Flora. (1d20+10=17) Miss. Targeter is going to fire ineffectually into the fog. Whee!