Raveled

Since it's Stunned, Ironclad gets a free hit in on the robo. She'll Charge it and swing, for a little variety! Melee attack w/ Charge and full Power Attack, vs Drone's Def (1d20+7=16) That'll hit, for the DC 30 Toughness check. Drone's Toughness, vs DC 30 (1d20+7=13) And the drone bits the dust. Boom.

GM The dragon tilted in the air, Dragonfly's tailored distortions passing wide of its bulk. The creature screamed again and pumped its wide wings, hauling itself inelegantly through the air and towards the heroine. For all its mythic power though, the monster was unable to move very fast; though it stretched its long neck out to its full extension, its teeth chomped shut well clear of the inventor's armored figure.

After an eternity -- or four seconds, to go by her suit's internal clock -- the bright rained thinned around Ironclad, dribbling off. Her suit reported all systems intact -- in fact, it didn't report a single strike! She glanced around herself and saw that the floor, walls, and even ceiling were all pock-marked and marked with carbon where the bolts had impacted and burst, but miraculously she was unharmed. As dumbfounded as the heroine, the armored figure shook its huge cannon a few times, spinning the barrels and toggling some kind of laser finder that didn't seem to want to stay on. Ironclad didn't let him/her/it have the time to diagnose the problem. She took a wide stance, amped up the power on her wrist blasters, and let loose with a point-blank shot. Gratifyingly, it tore off the arm supporting the cannon and tossed it down the hall, while the creature -- a robot she saw now, sparks and fluid lines trailing out the sundered arm -- staggered against the wall.

Ironclad's Wrist Blasters, w/ full All-Out Attack and full Power Attack, vs Drone's Def (1d20+15=33) Yeesh. Times like these, I wish I had autofire on those blasters. Oh well, hits for DC 30 Toughness. Drone's Toughness, vs DC 30 (1d20+8=22) It's not down! It's Stunned + Bruised, but not yet down! Dragon attempts to chomp on poor, ol' Dragonfly. Melee attack, vs Dragonfly's Def (1d20+5=7) Nope! Oh, and Dragonfly gets a HP since there's nothing electronic around for her Datalink to interact with. Darn pre-industrial settings! Someone buy Quirk Mass Effect! (Or don't. Last thing we want is for the sequel of this thread to be the Interceptors vs. the Reapers.)

Fly is up. For all your referencing needs, you are fighting AA's Dragon build. Feel free to use it to check Defenses, Immunities, and the like.

Dragon's Initiative (1d20=20) I cannot believe that. Security Drone's Initiative (1d20+8=19) Well, obviously it goes first... Ironclad's Initiative (1d20+3=23) Yeah, sure, give me twenties now, IC. Well, at least she's not flat-footed... Drone's Attack w/ BFG, vs Ironclad's Def (1d20+10=14) ... It missed. Against a fully +Tou shifted character. Bwa?

GM Dragonfly, for her part, dropped straight into a disaster. The black void vanished as soon as she stepped underneath the arch, replaced by flames and chaos. The heroine blinked and took another look at her situation; she was surrounded by primitive huts, mostly grass and wood and turf, and most of them were ablaze! Humans, most of them dressed like extras in a Robin Hood movie, ran all around her, some carrying piles of goods and others toting buckets of water. Still others were sitting on the ground and cradling charred remains, wailing to the sky. There was an ear-splitting cry and everyone's attention, including the heroine's, was drawn to the sky -- the night sky, she noted. Most of her attention, though, was on the huge reptilian creature there, its scales reflecting the firelight redly, as it flapped through the clouds of ash. Its long form twisted sinuously in the sky for a moment before it dropped down and swooped at the village, belching a long stream of fire at a row of mostly-intact huts. It flapped hard and climbed again, returning to altitude and circling slowly.

Ironclad found herself in a broken, upright tube deep in some complex; inoperative computers and overturned tables abounded. The surfaces were brushed metal of some kind, possibly steel, but stained and corroding. The whole thing looked like a mad scientist's laboratory right out of a, well, video game. Specifically it looked like the aftermath of some monster's escape which lead to a ham-fisted moral about the folly of man or science or... something or other. Beneath her mask Jessica rolled her eyes at the abundant cliches. The floor at least seemed capable to supporting the suit's weight, and the hero walked through the lab. Overhead lights flickered or went out at random intervals, and the suit's built-in enhancements clicked on to compensate. There was a single door leading outside, the panels made of thick metal. She levered them apart and stepped out into a metal corridor that stretched away to either side, curving slightly. Other doors opened off the corridor at regular intervals, and the entire scene was bathed in more of the flickering, inconstant lighting Her suit picked up heavy, clanking footsteps and she turned in time to see one of the doors open and a heavily suited figure step out of it, lugging something that looked too much like a Vulcan cannon for the heroine's liking. The other armored presence -- a robot? Another person in a suit? -- stopped when it noticed Ironclad. Then it swung the cannon to and the barrels started rotating. She barely had time to bring her arms up in a defensive position and crouch behind them, before she was bathed in a furious storm of laser bolts!

Executive Office of Trans-Stellar Media, 2524 The two muggers, simple street scum, raced through the back streets and alleys of Freedom City. mostly it was dark, lights either broken or burnt out, or simply missing. The men moved forward more by instinct and fear than deliberate choice, bouncing off walls and choosing their turnings almost at random. Above them the sky churned with black clouds, almost as if something malevolent lurked behind them. The thugs stumbled into a brick-walled yard, less a deliberate construction than an accident of urban planning, leaving an open space where three buildings butted up against each other. The pair of criminals scrambled for an exit, bouncing off the walls and each other in their terror-fueled haste. Without warning the clouds parted and a baleful red sphere dropped towards the roofline, filling the alley with ruddy light. The thieves clung to each other now, crying openly. The light grew tighter and brighter, focusing on the street scum like a spotlight. The light grew blinding; the muggers screamed; there was a sizzling sound, like fat on a grill; and the light faded, leaving behind scorch marks and a light coating of ash on the accidental courtyard. The red sphere paused there, as if surveying its work. After a moment it ascended into the cloud cover, disappearing from sight once again, and if there was any mercy or humanity in that glowing star, none could say. The vid screen dimmed and retracted into the wall. Around the long table the executives, dressed the very latest fashions, turned to the figure opposite the screen. “Well? What do you think? The opinion of the artists is that the grittier focus will really add some punch to stories of your early days!†The eager young creature spread one of his non-talking mouths in a wide smile; he’d obviously read a book on human etiquette, but it hadn’t covered situations where one of the participants had three heads. Brian Harris, as was his custom, hadn’t bowed to modern fashion. In fact the silver-gray jumpsuit he was wearing had been mostly unchanged for the last five centuries – at least, visually it hadn’t. It was made of the very latest materials, which was why he had been able to retract the cape when he sat. The hero sat forward, fingers tented, resting his chin on his hands for a moment before talking. “I like the visuals,†he said, “but we need to have a discussion about the tone.â€

Jessica took her seat and deliberately looked away as Blake swallowed the British 'treat' whole. She still heard the slurp though, and suppressed a shudder. True, until last year he had been a slimy, squamous thing at least part time, but that didn't make some of his more disgusting habits any more bearable. She picked up her burger, looked at it, and felt her stomach quail at the thought. Instead she put it down and, glancing around, sighted Cobalt Templar. "Cobalt," she called out, her voice lifting. "So, you're going to be a senior this year? You must be pretty excited about that!"

Glowstar takes a full round to take a deep breath.

Glowstar watched the alien reporter dive into the lake and felt the anger and frustration rising in him. He stalked over to the lead 'reporter' and started jabbing him in his suit. "This is disgraceful," he said. "You can't even control your own people! How would you feel if I came to your planet and started wrecking things? Just started knocking over buildings and frightening your civilians!?" He shook his head and stepped away, toggling the radio on his belt. "Supercape! You're going to need to dredge an alien out of Lake McKenzie in a moment. Just FYI." The teen stepped up to the edge of the lake and stretched his limbs, rapidly exhaling before sucking in a big breath.

"I've got a coin!" Quirk pulled a golden coin out of the air -- literally, Jessica was willing to believe, even if he did flourish his hand like a stage magician's trick -- and tossed it to the young woman. She caught it and examined it; on one side was what looked like a shed sinking in the water, but from the legend of C.S.S. Virginia she took it to be the very first iron-hulled warship. On the reverse was a rough drawing that declared it to be ischnura heterosticta. Jessica glanced at Quirk, who bowed his head with a smile. She rolled her eyes in return and flipped the coin in the air, catching it deftly and slapping it against the back of her hand. Sure enough the ship was showing, and as soon as both women had a chance to see it the coin literally evaporated back into thin air. Jessica glanced at her friend and shrugged before turning to regard the arches. One seemed to be made of some red-veined sandstone, all rough edges and facets. The other was sculpted metal, glowing softly from within and humming just on the lower register of perception. The heroine touched the slim titanium bracelet she wore at all times and was enveloped in a shell of blazing energy. A heartbeat later it faded and revealed her in full armor. "I'll take the metal door," she said aloud and strode over to it. She didn't pause as she walked through, even as a fog swiftly grew and enveloped her. A minute later it dispersed, leaving Mara alone with Quirk and the second arch.

Quirk spun in the air, apparently unable to contain his eagerness. "The rules are simple," he said. "It's a race! Each of you picks a door to go through and each of you gets a different bunch of baddies to fight! The one that gets through first, wins. Simple as that, right! And as for prizes, well. I've been watching you gals for awhile now and I think I've got some pretty good prizes lined up for you." Jessica blinked at the idea of Quirk watching her 'for awhile now' but reigned in her instinct to delve deeper into that. She had a distinct feeling that no matter what she learned, she wouldn't sleep any better because of it. Instead she just looked down at Mara and shrugged. "Flip a coin," she suggested, "or roshambo for the choice?"

"Distraction? I can do that." Glowstar cracked his knuckles, his force field flaring in sympathy, before positioning himself over the hole and floating down. Red light streamed off him, pushing the shadows back and making the bots look like they were made of copper. "Doctor Wyrd," he called out, purposefully mangling the man's chosen title. "I'm from the city planning council. I'm afraid that this neighborhood isn't zone for subterranean excavation! If you'd just come with us over to Freedom Hall, I'm sure we can get this all straightened out."

The floating child smiled at Mara and spread his hands. "I am Quirk," he announced, somehow bowing while staying 'seated' in midair. "The great and beneficent protector of Freedom City!" His smiled faded by degrees, replaced by a sullen look. "Well. I mean. The Freedom League doesn't really like it when I help. I mean, how was I supposed to know humans can't breathe underwater? You live so close to the stuff and you're mostly water anyway, so why would it be a big deal to use the Great Bay to put out a few fires? All at once?" His expression quickly rebounded to smiley and sunny as he focused on the present. "But that's why I help the heroes in smaller ways now! Like you two?" "Us, two?" Jessica had been quite throughout the boy -- being's? -- speech, more than a little dumbstruck that their kidnapper looked like Dennis the Menace. "How, exactly, do you think you're gonna help us?" "You like playing video games, right?" Quirk barreled forward without giving the girls a chance to respond. "I watched you play them, but you're so good and you get so into the games -- literally -- that they're not really fun, right? So I made the ultimate challenge! A real life video game, with real live monsters and real live prizes!" Jessica glanced at Mara and moved closer to her friend, leaning down and whispering to the other woman. "I think it's best just to humor him for now," she said. "At least until we can figure out how to get out of here."

Ironclad hefted the Deep One over one shoulder and lead the way out of the caverns, leaving Warlock to drag the scientist out. She was quiet as they climbed out of the tunnels, choosing to move up the path that her boyfriend had taken down. By the time they emerged in the hallways underneath the museum, the police had already formed a cordon around the hole. They had power nullifier cuffs ready for the Deep One and the scientist. Ironclad watched as the police trucked them away, then armored down. She stood there for a moment, hugging herself and watching the police vehicles depart. After a minute she turned around and walked back to Blake, her expression downcast. "I'm sorry, babe," she said. "It's just that stuff like this can make me so damn angry."

GM A pair of arches, identical to the icon that had populated the genius' computers, appeared underneath the torches as the head faded from view. A figure popped into existence before the arches; it was clad in the same robes as the oversized head had been, but this one was human proportions -- actually, it was short. Shorter than Mara, even, and when the figure tossed back its hood it revealed a face that was still chubby with baby fat. Altogether, the person looked that they couldn't be more than twelve years old. Evidently this child had some power behind him, though, as he floated into the air and folded his legs underneath him. "Hello, heroes! Isn't this so cool?"

"Strange dimensions are not my deal," Jessica reminded her friend. "Now, if some huge robot is rampaging through downtown, I'll own up to that." She walked around the edges of the space, trailing one hand along the -- well, it wasn't a wall, not exactly. It was almost like some kind of force field, or congealed fog; it resisted her hand slightly, then with more and more force as she pushed further into it, until her arm was elbow-deep in the substance and her fingers were resting on something like glass or smooth stone. Jessica pulled her arm out and rubbed at it, noting idly that whatever it was, the stuff was nearly freezing. "I'd say this was magic of some kind," she admitted, "but I've never heard of a magical computer virus before. Maybe we can't trust our senses? Maybe it's a case of shared --" The young woman cut herself off as torches -- actual torches, set in metal sconces -- appeared out of nowhere, flaring to sudden, crackling life. A hooded, disembodied head appeared between them, many times larger than was natural. "Prepare yourself," a low voice intoned, "for the ultimate challenge!" The torches flared again to punctuate the sentence, casting shadows on the floating head.

I haven't set a precise date, but I was thinking somewhere around late June/early July.

The exo-skeleton's claw reached out and grasped the haft of the hammer. The gripper rotated and the machine stepped away from Push, pulling the weapon from the hero's grip. As soon as the kinetcist's fingers slipped off it, though, the hammer slammed into the floor, making the walls tremble with the impact. Behind her goggles, Alice's eyebrows went up, but she put her thumbs on the control surfaces and hauled, toggling for more power. Secure in the control booth, Jessica mentally monitored the lifter's systems, frowning as it crept closer and closer to the red-line, eventually touching it and even jittering past. The young genius let Alice heave for a minute, then broke in over the intercom. "Okay, that's enough. Just get a gurney and we'll wheel it over." Alice disengaged the clamps with a dejected air and piloted the exo-suit back into the hall. Meanwhile, Jessica was setting up the next test. "So you're pretty good with solids," she said to Push, the cubes retracting into the floor one after another. "How are you with fluids?" Panels on the ceiling parted and a white plastic tube protruded into the room, wide enough for Push to crawl up it comfortably.

Glowstar broke off the gaze long enough to glance over the other civilians. They seemed rattled, but basically unharmed. Baldie was checking all of them in turn, and the hero lent his own skills at first-aid to the job. Between the two of them they finished the work twice as fast. Baldie shook Glowstar's hand gratefully. "Thank you for giving Angel a trouncing," he said. "She'll think twice before trying to strong-arm us again." For his part, the hero shrugged and flashed a smile. "All in a day's work," he said. "Besides, I think her thoughts are more on surviving Blackstone than getting revenge." "I don't think so," the man responded, pointing past the hero's shoulder and out to the street. Glowstar turned and saw that, indeed, Angle was nowhere to be seen. He raced outside and looked all around, but the villainess had already disappeared. "She was playing possum," he said aloud, leaning against the storefront as the full realization hit him. "I just got played by Dark Action Girl Barbie."

I will very soon be wrapping up a thread that started aaaaaaaaall the way back in March. Of, er, this year. In preparation for this sudden hole in my posting schedule, I'm looking for heroes with some money behind them. Specifically, this is going to be a charity shin-dig that, can you believe it, gets crashed by supervillains! What knaves, ehn? Anywho, are there any wealthy PCs out there who are looking to do some good?

"Oh-kay, then. Why don't we try a little -- mm?" Jessica glanced at her control panel, where a single light was blinking insistently. She pressed it and the door to the testing chamber opened. In stalked a construction-yellow exoskeleton that had to be at least ten feet tall. It walked forward with ponderous steps and the hero almost missed the petite blonde with a pair of fancy goggles strapped into the middle of it. "Okay, April here will take your hammer, Push! April, you've got the whole list of tests, right?" The suit's operator disengaged from one of the hand controls and saluted -- well, the ceiling, actually. "Yes, Miss Parker! Full photography and then materials testing!"

"Magic and gods generally aren't considered proper topics for a science class," Ironclad said, absently running a hand over the dents and dings in her armor. "Nor is philosophy, really. But these creatures seemed unafraid of the idea that Guan Yu would have brought a number of world-class fighters across the planes for this tournament. Ergo, I doubt that these are the ringleaders." She bowed slightly to Son Wukong. "If you find out who's behind them, please let me assist you in kicking their asses to a lower plane of existence."