Raveled

Robin whipped her head around when the crashes and slams filled the air. She was shorter than most of the crowd, so the sorceress resorted to standing on a bench and looking around. When she did, the giant alligators were obvious to see. She slid her shopping bag underneath the bench and raced towards the creatures; with a word and a hurried gesture, she was suddenly holding her staff in her hands and was ready for anything.

If he's PL 10, why are you worried about him hitting 180 PP?

Robin dithered. As a business woman, she knew that it was foolish to provide a service without charging for it. On the other hand, as a mystic it was in her nature to desire more information, and the powder had piqued her interest. There was something in there that she had never seen before, and the sorceress wanted dearly to tease its parts apart and learn everything about it. She shifted on her feet for a bit, trying to resolve those two conflicts, and then she finally spoke. "I'll cut you a deal," she said. "Lunch, for what I find out."

Clad is taking 10 on her Knowledge check. Gives her a check of 21 to identify the guns and discern if there's anything weird about them.

Ironclad moved away from Kid Cthulhu, ignoring the cries and pleas of the trapped woman and instead knelt down to examine the guns that had been used by the robbers/terrorists/whatever. Her hands worked quickly over the weapons, opening breeches and popping out magazines to check the caliber of ammunition. She wasn't actually all that knowledgeable about firearms, but her suit fed her a constant data-stream, showing her what to push and where to pull to examine the fiddly inside bits.

Jessica laughed, standing at the edge of the parking lot with Blake. "I think I might last, oh, twelve seconds in the wild," she said. "No, Blake, I like the city. It's got shopping malls and Starbucks and air conditioning -- it's civilization, baby." She walked off onto the pavement, weaving her way through the parked cars towards the black bulk of her truck. "I'll call you up in a couple days, okay?"

Jessica retrieved her pack and shrugged it on, walking slow and close to Blake. She smiled and hummed tunelessly, mulling the idea over. "I think I'd like it," she said after awhile, "but I don't think Grandpa would." She giggled, lifting a hand to her mouth. "We could, ah, go camping in the state park, though. Wouldn't be anyone to watch us out there." She bumped Blake with her hip, grinning widely at the idea.

Jessica rested her head against Blake's shoulder, and within moments she was sleeping soundly. A police officer came by once, saw that his girlfriend was sleeping, and just smiled at Blake and backed away, but mostly they were left alone. About fifteen minutes later, Jessica stirred against her boyfriend's shoulder, raising her head and rubbing idly at her eyes. She turned to him and gave him a warm peck on the cheek. "Thanks, honey," she said, still leaning against him. "I really needed that. And now I think I'm good to head back home." She didn't make any effort to stand up, though, preferring to sit with Blake a little while longer.

Jessica chuckled and kissed Blake again, smiling against his lips. "You know, you could drive me home. Tuck me in, watch me while I sleep... Wait until I close my eyes, then slip in." She folded her arms around him and held him closer. "We could end up sleeping together before we, you know, sleep together." She looked out over the water again, her eyes dropping closed and her breath growing slower.

Jessica smiled at Blake's sentiment, walking over with him to a nearby bench. She slid her pack underneath and sat, holding Blake close. They kissed a few times, cuddling close in the sunset, but each time she closed her eyes it was a struggle to open them again. Not to say that she didn't enjoy kissing Blake with her eyes closed, but her body was too tired to enjoy it totally. She separated and rested her forehead against her boyfriend's, looking him in the eye. "I'm sorry, hun," she said. "I think I'm more in the mood for a nap than anything else."

Jessica felt a flutter in her chest as Doktor Archeville turned and talked to her, actually addressed her directly! She straightened her spine and stuck out her hand. "Jessica Parker, Doktor sir. You might know my grandfather, Malcolm Dawes. He started Dawes Tech, and before that he did a lot of top secret stuff with the government. Actually Dawes Tech still works closely with the Us government. Is Archtech associated with that sort of thing?" She was so star-struck to be talking to someone like Doktor Archeville, her tongue went running away from her.

Using Accurate Attack to shift 2 pts of Dam to Att. Taking 10 on the attack makes it a 19 to hit, and DC 22 Toughness save.

Fully armored up, Ironclad blasted out of the dressing room and back into the food court. Her targeting systems quickly zeroed in on the two remaining gun-wielding mooks, and she quickly lined up a shot on one of the survivors and unleashed a well-aimed blast at it. She chose to land next to Kid Cthulhu, reaching out to briefly touch hands with her boyfriend. She glanced around and whispered to him, "Where did the rest of the hostages go?"

"Well." Jessica took Victory's artificial hand and shook it lightly, doing the same with Dr. Volk. "It was a pleasure meeting both of you. But if you'll excuse me, there's a lot more I want to see at this conference." Excusing herself with as much grace as she could muster, the young inventor drifted through the appointed space until she noticed a crowd of people, including Doktor Archeville himself! Moving closer, she noted that it was Dragonfly who was the center of attention. She stood back a bit, familiar with how her friend's spacial rifts looked, and just listened to her explanation.

Jessica raced into the shop, overturning a few displays as she dashed into an open changing room. She dumped her pack on the provided bench and didn't even bother to close the door as she stripped off her shirt and slacks, revealing the printed circuitry of her interface suit underneath. Next she pulled the various pieces of her suit out of the pack, shedding some bags full of packing peanuts that she used to give the sack shape. The different parts of her armor clicked into place, and the armored shell expanded to cover her body while the suit's start-up flashed in front of her eyes. She flexed her gauntleted-hands, willing the system to cycle faster.

Getting into the suit is a full-round action, so that's what Clad's gonna be doing for now.

So post or something! Save those poor folks!

Robin quirked a smile at Fusion's question and the tone it was asked it. The doubting tone was common when straights encountered the world of the mystic. Still, this wasn't the time or the place to educate the heroine, so she simply waved her hand through the air, brushing aside the woman's contentions. "He was wearing a gold watch," she informed Fusion, "around his left wrist. Besides, you get into the area and don't find anything, I think we can rule out an attack, anyway."

Jessica stood and brushed off her slacks, giving Victory another appreciative look. "That's a heck of a top speed. I'd love a chance to try you agai--" Jessica's mouth snapped shut as she abruptly cut herself off. It would be very reckless to mention her alter ego in casual conversation. Truthfully, she would probably be outstripped if he could really hit better than a hundred thousand miles per hour, but that didn't stop her from wanting to test her suit against someone else. "So then," she said, her voice quiet, "how do they feel?"

Robin walked through the waterside neighborhood, shopping bag in hand. One of her contacts in the city's mystic underworld had invited her to a 'pre-Halloween' party on the 30th of the month, and she had to assemble her costume. It was cheaper to design it and sew it herself, but she had to collect the supplies first. Sure, she could've gone to a big craft store in the city or even a mall, but she enjoyed the bohemian atmosphere of the neighborhood, so she took the afternoon off and went shopping.

OOC for this thread.

Mid-day in the bustling heart of Freedom city and everything is right with the world. Citizens bustled back and forth on errands, or simply enjoyed the fine weather on the weekend. For a few brief hours everyone forgot about drug wars, the walked dead, and super-powered plots to take over the world. The peace was broken, though, when a woman's scream rang out across the air. She raced through the park, upsetting several late-season picnickers as she went. Irritation turned to fear, though, and chaos spread as the woman's attackers appeared. They were all men, dressed in tattered street clothes and lab coats. The had been white, black, Hispanic, and Asian, but not their skin was a pale, pasty shadow of its former self, or else discolored by a sickening green growth. The men moved forward slowly, their gait awkward, their mouths fixed into an open hole as they moaned and howled, stalking towards their prey. Despite he relative speed advantage, several civilians were in immediate danger from the lurching horde. Some had fallen and were apparently unable to stand again, while other had burst through bushes or dodged around heavy trees in their flight only to run headlong into another group of shamblers. If someone didn't help them soon, these civilians were in for a gruesome death.

Jessica completed her slow circuit of Victory, openly admiring the flight vanes and the large V attached to his chest. "It's a fascinating build," she said, squatting on her heels to get a better look at the vanes on his legs. She took out a pen and tested the angle of movement on the control surfaces; glancing up at the big man, she asked "How fast can the system go, when you really open it up?" There was a big, silly grin on her face as she examined every aspect of the system -- any social awkwardness had been completely forgotten.

Jessica's head whipped around as the situation descended towards chaos, trying to keep track of everything going on. When gunfire erupted and the thugs started getting blown around by someone in what looked like full plate armor, she figured it was the best opportunity she was going to get. She gave Blake's hands one last squeeze and slid off the bench seat, making a bee-line for her pack. If she could get that and get into one of the food court booths, she should be able to change.

Clad's Ini, if it's needed. 1d20+3=16 Not bad at all, I say.