Raveled

Fort save, vs DC 20 (1d20+5=12) So he is Stunned for now! Steam's up; technically his action comes before Myr's, but I'll let it slide.

It was a beautiful day outside, but Jessica Parker didn't notice. The young inventor was elbow deep -- literally -- in a new project. A holographic projection of something fiendishly complex occupied the center of her office. Hoses, struts, beams, and all other sort of structural elements intersected and brushed past each other, and the young inventor walked through it all like a ghost. From time to time she rotated a piece, or touched a different part and switched the material composition with a thought. Numerous infinitesimal changes accrued and she switched and swapped them hundreds of times a second. A normal intellect would have been overwhelmed -- but hers was no normal intellect. If anyone had been in the room and close enough to listen, they might've heard her singing to herself, quietly, absent-mindedly. "I see a red door and I wanted it painted black..."

GM Glowstar touched his hairline, giving his friend -- his friends, really -- a perfunctory salute. "I can just see the two of you riding in to save her. Well, maybe more 'breaking through the wall,' but you know what I mean." The pair left him floating above the portal, force field crackling, turning his head to watch every direction. Myrmidon and Crow ghosted through the city streets, taking advantage of the runemaster's teleportation skills to scout out the city from the rooftops and keep oriented on their target. Not that it was hard to see; a massive temple in the grand Greco-Roman style, larger in every aspect than even the Parthenon. The pair of teen heroes got to the steps without any trouble and paused there. Something about this wasn't right. For one, it was way too easy... Inside the temple, Victoria Knight was having the time of her life. She didn't really remember a lot about last night; she'd gone on patrol, stopped to break up a mugging, and then someone had thrown a... net over her? It all got fuzzy at that point. What she was sure of was that when she woke up she was back home, back in her old bedroom! Her mom and dad were there, and after a morning spent... doing something, they must have done something even if she didn't remember it, they had made a trip back to Victoria's old high school. Rather than the ostracism and bullying she remembered, everyone wanted to be her friend! They had even set up a career day for Victoria to talk to everyone -- or, rather, for Wisp to talk to everyone. The school auditorium was packed, teachers even standing in the aisles, and they all applauded as Wisp took the stage. From the bottom of the steps, Crow and Myrmidon could hear the sudden sound of... clapping?

Jessica's heart leapt as she listened to the two voices -- two conspirators, it seemed -- started towards her location. She felt a surge of adrenaline and triggered the suit with her mind, stepping out around the corner as the green and gold plate enveloped her. She saw two ugly humanoids coming towards her and switched around her suit's systems, rerouting power to the servos and raising her fists in a boxing stance. "Don't forget," she said to them, "Guan Yu picked me from all across the cosmos to come fight here. Don't expect me to go down easy."

Melee attack w/ All-Out Attack and Power Attack, vs first target to come within melee range. (1d20+10=11) Oh Jesus on a crutch. I knew there would be backlash for that 19...

Initiative for Ironclad (1d20+3=22) ... A-hahahahaha! Oh man, when you need the dice they come through for you. Props, IC, props. Okay, first round! Call up the armor, switch to Enhanced Strength, and ready an action. If either of them come into melee range, she attacks. Want me to make the attack roll beforehand, TT?

Glowstar stood back and shook his head at the three aliens. "You know, you guys are terrible reporters. You're supposed to be here, observing how humans live, but all you do is complain about how boring it is! A real reporter doesn't care if something's boring, they report what they see! The truth, man, no matter what!" He craned his head back and stared at the clod of dirt, already at the limits of his vision. "If that comes down on a boat or something, I swear I'm gonna blast the heck out of you."

Actually, Animus is up now.

Jessica smiled, showing her teeth. "Such a spontaneous man," she said. "Just ready to take off at any time. I hope you don't act this way around all the technopathic super-geniuses." She sat back and pulled her hands free of his, folding them in her lap and playing with the ring on her finger. "All of America, huh? Well, how about the beginning of June? That's right around my birthday, and I can't think of a better time to take a vacation. And I definitely can't think of someone I want to spend it with more than you."

Glowstar caught Supercape's look and shrugged helplessly. His powers were certainly flashy, but he didn't think the aliens would enjoy seeing him create craters on the beach. "People like coming to Lake MacKenzie," he said, "especially in the summer months. They fish, or go out on a boat, or even just sit out on the beach for a while. It does folks good to get out of a the city for awhile. I, uh, take it that your species doesn't really go out for nature stuff?"

Yes, Lord Steam is currently still flat-footed.

"Ah. That... that would be bad, right? Because then the angry fairies could get through to Parkhurst and then into... Hm, yeah, that's bad." Glowstar folded his arms and put his head down, staring at the spitting and hissing spot for a minute. Eventually he raised his head and moved to stand over the spot. "Okay. Crow, you and Myrmidon can do the stealth thing, get to where Wisp is. I'll stay here and keep the door open. Okay?"

The Victorian Detective's chemical sniffer led him towards a guard booth at the front of the complex. As he drew closer, he could see the bullet holes in the glass, and another few steps brought him close enough to smell the blood. As Lord Steam raised one hand to cover his nose, he heard several small poping noises and felt a hard tug at his sternum. He looked down to see a piece of metal, crushed flat against his vest, tumble down to the ground. Another round of pops and something zipped past his ear -- someone was shooting at him! The cads! Farther out, still under the cover of the trees, Animus could see several grubby figured deeper in the complex. They had taken cover next to various corners and pipes and had drawn revolvers and at least one short rifle. They had opened fire on the well-dressed figure with the odd brass rod, but most of their shots seemed to be going wild.

Notice check for Night Crawlers (1d20=17, 1d20=16, 1d20=14, 1d20=18) Ha. None come close. Pistol attacks, vs Lord Steam (1d20+2=11, 1d20+2=3, 1d20+2=12, 1d20+2=17) One hits. Toughness DC 17, please. Also, Initiative for Night Crawlers (1d20+1=19)

Oh noes! A complication!

Myrmidon's sonic assault lasted several of the robed fae women off their feet, tossing them heads over heels and and out of sight over the surrounding buildings. Corw, though, was a whirlwind, moving through the faerie ladies, and when he was done none of them were left standing. As the last of the women fell, the fae warrior raised her head and fixed her gaze on Crow. "You... you will never survive. My Lady... will freeze you solid... and smash you to pieces." With that she collapsed onto the floor and passed out. Glowstar gave her a good glare and turned away -- then did a double-take at where the three heroes had appeared. The ground was... glowing and spitting and hissing, like fat on the fryer, sending up multicolored sparks. He approached to within a few feet, his force field ripping. "Um, Crow? Is this supposed to do that?"

The OOC for this thread.

The Fraud-Druid Water Treatment Plant looked less like an industrial park and more like a concrete waterpark. Nearly a dozen large cisterns filled with water covered the grounds, stirred by constantly moving meshes. Pipes linked the cisterns, both to each other and back to large metal towers. It was incongruously placed in the hills above Hanover, surrounded by trees and natural wilderness, but the city planning commission had decided to hide the 'eyesore' as far away from the voting public as possible. That probably wasn't a good idea. It meant that when a shabbily-dressed woman stumbled up to the front guard shack, she was able to shoot both the rent-a-cops without a chance of anyone hearing. It meant the woman's army of smelly, bedraggled men and women were able to swarm over the compound, herding the employees where the bum army wanted them to be. And it meant that the woman in charge of it all, with the shotgun still smoking in her hand, felt save to pull a vial of some white powder from her dirty trenchcoat. She held it up the sun, grinning and basking in the moment before heading deeper into the compound.

Reflex save, vs DC 17 (1d20+5=14, 1d20+5=8, 1d20+5=17, 1d20+5=9, 1d20+5=10, 1d20+5=20, 1d20+5=25) So 4 are affected by it. Okay. Str check, vs DC 17 Trip (1d20+1=6, 1d20+1=18, 1d20+1=13, 1d20+1=19) And 2 are knocked back! Okay!

Glowstar barely registered the fae swordswoman's movements as a blur in his vision, but he heard her sword ringing against Crow's metal bracers and saw his friend recoil from the blows. The teen hero rushed forward after the warrior, force field springing up in and instant and more ruddy energy enveloping his fists. She brought her weapon up to block but he batted it away, the otherworldly metal corroding and falling apart in seconds. His other fist slammed into her gut, and her face became -- well, it had been white before, but the white of milk. Now it became a fish belly-white, an unhealthy, sickly color. She fell to her knees, arms wrapped around her mid-section, breathing in short gasps.

Glowstar charges to the rescue! Literally! Entropic Strike w/ Charge, vs fae lady's Def (1d20+12=25) Ha! Hit! DC 25 Toughness. Twice, actually! Double Toughness save vs DC 25 (1d20+7=23, 1d20+7=14) Bruised, but she also loses 11 points of Toughness. So basically the whole thing! Crow, you're up.

GM The fae warrior's eyes narrowed at Crow's words, apparently unafraid of his threat. "You would come into my Lady's domain," she hissed, "throw around threats, and demand that I lay down my duty and stand aside? You ignorant mortal worm. I shall take pleasure in cutting off your head and laying it at my Lady's feet!" She leapt forward, the sword clearing its sheath impossibly fast, and landed in front of the enraged Crow. Before he could respond she had landed a dozen blows and backed up out of range, weapon held in a high guard.

Swording, vs Crow's flat-footed Defense (1d20+15=23) That hits. Autofire 1 gives +5 Tou. Crow needs to make a DC 25 Toughness save flat-footed.

Forgot the minions. Ladies? Initiative for Minions (1d20+2=3) Well, they go last. Ini order is: Fae Swordswoman -- Uninjured -- GM Glowstar -- Uninjured -- HP x 4 Myrmidon -- Uninjured -- HP x 3 Crow -- Uninjured -- HP x 2 Fae Ladies x 50 -- Uninjured -- GM

Stealth check for Ironclad (1d20+3=13)