Fox

Dragonfly's mouth twitched at the corner in something like satisfaction or amusement, as she held up a little piece of steel that looked an awful lot like a watch face...with a really big cutout for a screen. "Can give it to you before you leave, if you give me a minute to attach this. Also, need to pick a movie clip. Have to burn it to the chip here...not very flexible. Serviceable, can make a better version with more time...mm. Interesting challenge. Card slots a relatively bulky, could maybe cut down on it with...nevermind. Had a movie in mind?"

Dragonfly's edits: Dragonfly gains an inch of height, for plotty reasons that will be revealed later (probably in a news thread). Short story: artificially delayed growth spurt. Five points to spend, and they all go on the gauntlets. One point adds Precise to the gauntlets, representing her growing familiarity with them, as well as some new and improved targeting/fine manipulation tweaking. The other four points add a rank to the Device itself, leaving five device points to distribute: [*:2up3nxds]Two points raise the spacial array to rank 9, boosting the three powers inside to ranks 9, 9, and 8, in turn. Nothing special there; her damage is now up to caps. [*:2up3nxds]One point into the Force Field, bringing it up to rank 7 (and her toughness up to her shifted cap). [*:2up3nxds]Two points onto the Shield. One to take it to rank 7 (and her defense up to her shifted cap), the other boosting Evasion to Evasion 2. Horray! Screw you, area attacks. Screw you. Math has been updated, as well as her combat stats and her dc block. Let me know if I missed anything. Sadly, her attack remains below caps until I can spare a point or two. C'est la vie. [b][u]Characters Name:[/u][/b] Dragonfly [b][u]Power Level:[/u][/b] 9 (133/133) [b][u]Trade-Offs:[/u][/b] +2 Defense / -2 Toughness [b][u]Unspent PP:[/u][/b] 0 [b][u]Gold Status:[/u][/b] 28/30 [b][u]In Brief:[/u][/b] Bitter young genius out to apply her mind on [i]her[/i] terms, and no one else's. [b][u]Alternate Identity:[/u][/b] Mara Hallomen [b][u]Identity:[/u][/b] Secret [b][u]Birthplace:[/u][/b] France (dual citizen, French/American) [b][u]Occupation:[/u][/b] inventor; full-time hero [b][u]Affiliations:[/u][/b] Ironclad, The Lab [b][u]Family:[/u][/b] Alexander 'Hollow Man' Hallomen (father) [b][u]Age:[/u][/b] 18 (born December 1991) [b][u]Gender:[/u][/b] female [b][u]Ethnicity:[/u][/b] Caucasian [b][u]Height:[/u][/b] 5'5" [b][u]Weight:[/u][/b] "I can build death rays, you know." [b][u]Eyes:[/u][/b] dark blue [b][u]Hair:[/u][/b] dirty blonde [b][u]Description:[/u][/b] On the short side, slim and modestly proportioned but not exactly muscular, Mara tends to take just enough care of herself to maintain her shape and stay alive, but not much else. She nearly always looks a little strung-out, hair disheveled and eyes tired, like she doesn't sleep well (which she doesn't) or spends long stretches distracted by some project or idea to the neglect of all else (which she does). Her clothing is simple, practical, and subdued in color (shades of gray and black being popular, dark reds, blues, and purples being runners-up). Very often what she's wearing hasn't been washed recently. Makeup is practically a foreign concept. When out fighting crime her outfit is a little more clean and constant: slim black pants, a short grey jacket with a stylized black dragonfly on the back, and her devices - currently a pair of large, heavy-looking high-tech gauntlets, a high-tech flexible chestpiece and belt, and a large headset which covers both ears and has a translucent blue visor over her upper face. She prefers boots with a little bit of heel to them – they're not very practical, but she's self-conscious about her height (especially when confronting criminals or working with your standard 6' bombshell heroine). [b][u]Power Descriptions:[/u][/b] When Dragonfly's Datalink is active small lights 'dance' behind her eyes; this effect is not very bright, but is highly piercing (being subtly noticeable even under her visor, which obscures most of her features). Failed attempts to penetrate her Mental Immunity are met with psychic 'static', resistance, and unintelligible echoes of her multiple running thoughts. Her technology-based spacial effects typically manifest as shifting, churning distortions or fragmented space. Some effects are tinted the same distinct neon blue her gauntlets emit at the seams and glasswork when charged. [b][u]History:[/u][/b] In certain parts of the underworld you don't buy or sell weapons without knowing the name Hallomen. Word is that for the right price he can get you anything: designer drugs like Max or Zoom, the very latest in illegal technology, and even, once in a rare while – if you can afford it – gadgets from caught supervillains that got 'lost' on their way to the incinerators or science labs. From the back alleys to high-class black market auctions, he supplies whole armies if the price is right and by luck, bribes, and exceptional planning he never seems to get caught; those who've dealt with him jokingly call him the “Hollow Man†(through rarely to his face) in honor of how the police raid into his storehouses and labs to find empty – 'hollow' – rooms. What customers only very rarely know is where most of the new and custom items came from. Hallomen is a cold and ruthless man but a man none the less, and around the turn of the 20th century had a short tryst with a villainess and frequent buyer. He was completely uninterested in the child she bore (what use did he have for a wailing, disgusting baby?) until several years later, when he got word that the child was displaying superhuman traits – signs of high intelligence (for a child of that age) and her mother's ability to control computers by thought alone. Now and only now was the girl useful to him and when the mother died (something he calmly claims he had nothing to do with, of course) she fell into his care. Little Mara Hallomen indeed was predicted to be brilliant when she grew older but that simply wouldn't be enough (or soon enough) for the Hollow Man – no, anything good can be made better. He invested considerable resources into her 'education', and so it was that young Mara grew up all but alone in a barely-staffed lab, under a constant regimen of 'vitamins' and 'medicine', supplied with a never-ending stream of knowledge and information, her only human contact a rare visit from her father, a scant few researchers or guards, and the occasional empath or psychic paid to enhance her mind in ways science could not. Even this was cold comfort, however: anyone who set foot in the building was under strict orders not to talk to Mara unless absolutely necessary so she could concentrate on her real purpose: designing new and improved tools of crime. From death rays to personal teleporters to battlesuits, she made them all. Old-school and cutting-edge, energy to gravity to good old bullets, she designed a veritable panoply and Hallomen made money hand over fist. Kept docile, driven, and borderline insane as an intended side-effect of her constant 'health treatments', the only thing her father could never have predicted was the net effect it was taking on her mind: redundant and parallel in some places, warped and enhanced in others, bit by bit her brain was growing resistant to outside influence. The older she got the more treatment she underwent and the more treatment she underwent the more resistant she became; the more resistant she became the more disquieting her life seemed. Finally, near her 18th birthday, she was resting in what passed for her private room when a lone dragonfly wandered its way through the barred window and caught her eye. To anyone else it wouldn't even have been a remarkable specimen of a dragonfly, but to her the darting little bug was the most beautiful thing in the world: free. Then and there she made up her mind to be as free as the dragonfly was: to escape and feel the wind under her metaphorical wings. Less than a month later, the guards came to wake her and found the room empty, the majority of her research and designs completely destroyed, and a very large sum vanished from her father's own personal bank account. She's managed to stay a step ahead of her father and his goons ever since, figuring Freedom City and its relatively high hero count to be the perfect place to hide out…and test some new designs on her own terms. [b][u]Personality & Motivation:[/u][/b] Mara's more than a little bitter about not having had much of a childhood, and not amazingly socially skilled (which she typically deals with using snark and mistrust). When presented with a puzzle or new idea to build she's energized and almost manic as her brain kicks into gear to solve the task at hand. She's very intelligent and highly rational, but a combination of chronic bad sleep and frequent headaches (both side-effects of assorted substances that are even now still washing out of her system) can make her snide and irate. Given her life so far, she has a fairly intense dislike of criminals. She's softer at heart than she'd ever admit, having an especially strong drive to aid children, but by and large she's more driven by the victimizers than their victims. It's occurred to her that she could accomplish many of her goals by villainy (at the very least as the sort of villain who hunts other villains as often as they break the law), but believes heroism's just more rational – being strictly on the hero side of things provides more advantages than disadvantages...not to mention helps her sleep a little easier, particularly if she gets her own creations off the streets. [b][u]Powers & Tactics:[/u][/b] Mara dabbles in many areas of technology but most of her combat tech is based on spacial distortions, something she developed under her father's thumb but didn't work the kinks out of until she'd escaped. Her devices, her gauntlets especially, are built to warp and fold space to provide any number of effects. Her Datalink power she finds useful, but more for utility than combat; her mind's resistance to outside influence is something she tries to keep well-hidden as her ace in the hole against manipulation. When given half a chance she plans her battles quickly and efficiently, well aware that she relies on her devices and that those devices have limits. Against an obviously inferior foe she might be careless, but against anything or anyone challenging she is methodical and deliberate, striking when she'll have the upper hand and analyzing the situation for any advantage. [b][u]Complications:[/u][/b] [b]Enemy:[/b] The Hollow Man. When she left she dealt a huge (if sadly not crippling) blow to her father's business, not to mention the very large sum of money she took with her. He wants her back, preferably in good condition, though the longer he has to pretend that the key to his most popular items has vanished the more and more flexible he gets as long as she's alive and her head's in one piece. [b]Hatred:[/b] People taking advantage of children, anyone using the creations she thought up, and to a lesser extent organized crime or high-end weapons dealers. [b]Legacy:[/b] Against her best efforts, some of her creations are still being made here and there, and there are still quite a number of older designs floating around through the underworld. Anyone savvy enough, or connected enough, can link this (often quite lethal or empowering) technology to her. [b]Secret:[/b] Identity. [b]Side-Effects:[/b] Powerful depressants and some other compounds (like Zombie Powder) react badly with chemicals and conditioning still in Dragonfly's system; depending on the dosage used she'll range from being slightly neurotic (as her sense of identity fights the old conditioning) up to complete if temporary regression to a happy and disturbing little worker bee that almost mindlessly devours any technical projects put in front of her. [b]Visor:[/b] The visor device communicates most of its powers through Dragonfly's normal senses, and thus may be lost to the appropriate dazzle or similar sense-impairing attack (eg, all visual senses and Uncanny Dodge are lost when visually dazzled; radio signals cannot be 'heard' if deaf; etc). [b][u]Stats:[/u][/b] 0+4+0+12+2+2 = 20pp Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 10 (+0) Int: 22 (+6) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 12 (+1) [b][u]Combat:[/u][/b] 8+8 = 16pp Initiative: +6 Attack: +4, +8 Gauntlets Grapple: +5 Defense: +11/+4 (+4 Base, +7 Shield), +2 Flat-Footed Knockback: -0 Base, -3 with Force Field [b][u]Saves:[/u][/b] 4+4+6 = 14pp Toughness: +0 Base, +7 with Force Field (+0 Con, +7 Force Field) Fortitude: +4 (+0 Con, +4) Reflex: +6 (+2 Dex, +4) Will: +7 (+1 Wis, +6) [b][u]Skills:[/u][/b] 68r = 17pp Computers 10 (+16) Concentration 4 (+5) Craft (electronic) 9 (+15) Craft (mechanical) 9 (+15) Knowledge (physical sciences) 10 (+16) Knowledge (technology) 10 (+16) Languages 3 (English [native], French, Japanese, Russian) Notice 4 (+5) Perform (stringed instruments) 9 (+10) [b][u]Feats:[/u][/b] 14pp Ambidexterity Benefit (wealth) Eidetic Memory Equipment 4 (20ep) Fearless Inventor Luck Master Plan Online Research Skill Mastery (Computers, Craft (electronic), Craft (mechanical), Notice) Speed of Thought [quote name="Equipment"]Masterwork Double Bass [1ep] Masterwork Violin [1ep] Multitool [1ep] The Lab (1pp contributed to [url=http://www.freedomplaybypost.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4400]The Lab[/url]) [5ep] Warehouse HQ [12ep] [device][i]An outwardly-unremarkable warehouse tucked away in Greenbank, no local gangs or criminals seem to want to talk about it. Funny, that....[/i] Size/Medium Toughness/10 Concealed Computer Defense System Fire Prevention System Garage Laboratory Living Space Power System Security System Workshop[/device][/quote] [b][u]Powers:[/u][/b] 2+4+36+6+4 = 52pp [b]Datalink 2 ([/b]100ft, mental; mutation[b])[/b] [2pp] [b]Device 1 ([/b]Visor, 5dp; technology; [i]Flaws:[/i] Easy to Lose; [i]Feats:[/i] Restricted [Datalink][b])[/b] [4pp] [i]A blue, obscuring visor attached to two ear-covering mounts and covering much of the upper face. It requires the wearer to have Datalink to be used properly.[/i] [device][b]Super-Senses ([/b]Radio; Uncanny Dodge[b])[/b] [2dp] [b]Super-Senses ([/b]Visual; Analytical 2, Infravision[b])[/b] [3dp][/device] [b]Device 8 ([/b]Gauntlets, 40dp; technology; [i]Flaws:[/i] Hard to Lose; [i]Feats:[/i] Accurate 2, Precise, Restricted [Datalink][b])[/b] [36pp] [i]A pair of heavy, high-tech gauntlets capable of warping and folding space. They require the wearer to have Datalink to be used properly.[/i] [device][b]Spacial Array 9 ([/b]18pp array; spacial; [i]Feats:[/i] Alternate Power 2[b])[/b] [20dp] [list] [b]Damage 9 ([/b]blast; [i]Extras:[/i] Range [Ranged][b])[/b] [18/18] [b]Damage 9 ([/b]spacial 'blade'; [i]Extras:[/i] Penetrating[b])[/b] [18/18] [b]Dimensional Pocket 8 ([/b]25 tons; [i]Feats:[/i] Progression 1[b])[/b], [b]Enhanced Feat ([/b]Quick Change[b])[/b] [17+1= 18/18][/list] [b]Protection 7 ([/b]spacial; [i]Extras:[/i] Force Field (+0); [i]Feats:[/i] Selective[b])[/b] [8dp] [b]Shield 7 ([/b]spacial[b])[/b] + [b]Enhanced Feat ([/b]Evasion 2[b])[/b] [7+2= 9dp] [b]Teleport 1 ([/b]100ft; spacial; [i]Feats:[/i] Turnabout[b])[/b] [3dp][/device] [b]Immunity 10 ([/b]Mental Effects; [i]Flaws:[/i] Limited [Half]; [i]Feats:[/i] Innate[b])[/b] [6pp] [b]Quickness 6 ([/b]x100; [i]Flaws:[/i] One Type [Mental]; [i]Feats:[/i] Innate[b])[/b] [4pp] [b][u]DC Block:[/u][/b] [code]Unarmed 15 DC/Toughness damage Blast, Blade 24 DC/Toughness damage Pocket 18 DC/Reflex trapped 18 DC/Will, -1 per save failed to escape (Dimensional Movement grants automatic escape) Costs: Abilities (20) + Combat (16) + Saves (14) + Skills (17) + Feats (14) + Powers (52) - Drawbacks (0) = 133pp Sneergalated!

Dragonfly turns on her force field and preps her shield. Horray! And because we're gonna need it soon, I suspect: Initiative Roll (Speed of Thought) (1d20 + 6=8) ...oh, hell no. Invisible Castle! Sigh. I'll leave it, for now, but I suspect I'm going to end up coughing up a hero point before the first round's through....

Dragonfly was in the middle of an experiment when her computer went off - not your normal alarm, but a full on red-alert-type warning that took immediate priority, turning every monitor in the warehouse into a map of the city with four large, angry red dots. Half a second to realize what was happening and less than a minute to grab her gauntlets and shift into her costume, leaving the rest of the minute to grab her motorcycle and leave. Some things were just more important than others. Even considering that she didn't even have to leave her part of town, Dragonfly made pretty good time, pulling up less than a block away and folding her bike into her dimensional pocket before it even came to a full stop. A force field like a twisted outline an inch around her profile bent into being as she kept her momentum, marching up to maybe a quarter block away from the carnage, hand raised and gauntlet charged. Setting her jaw as she surveyed the damage, Dragonfly called out in a voice that was all business and some barely-restrained fury: "Don't know who you are. Don't care. Have twenty seconds to remove the suits and surrender. NOT," she emphasized, space visibly twisting around the raised arm, "a negotiation."

Gaian Knight sighed, raising his hands. "Alright, alright. Jeeze. Hold still, I'll try to make you something more comfortab-" That thought was lost completely when the big monkey shot something at the woman with the staff - and, from the looks of things, actually hit. "Hey!" For all his shouting and struggling, the electric captive was pretty forgotten, now; the elemental hero swung his platform of rock around and leaned it back, holding onto the edge as a stream of rocks and debris tore off the bottom to hurl themselves at the ape with the temper. "You guys just don't know when to quit! None of that. You keep your creepy energy to yourself."

Ranged Attack Roll vs. Gorak (Autofire Blast) (1d20 + 11=25) Mmm, autofire. So that's a DC25 Toughness Save if it hits, plus 1 for every 2 points over Gorak's defense that attack roll is, up to DC30. (So, say, if Gorak's defense is 20, 25-20 = 5, 5/2 = 2, so the DC would be 25+2 = DC27.)

Dragonfly shot Gossamer a grateful look, extraordinarily relieved to not have to go first. She'd managed to get her finger to stop its incessant tapping, though she hadn't gone so far to move her arms. And she grimaced when Supercape mentioned tea. hot water - ugh "Not for me. Prefer coffee...stimulants probably unwise for me anyway. Vocal cords will likely be best-off with calm nerves." "Thank you, anyway," she added, mostly as an afterthought. thanking for rebuffed offers - very odd - social conventions are annoyingly complicated

Dragonfly tapped a finger on the table, thinking that one over. "Escalation....mm. Probably not as big a problem as it's made out to be," she started. "Offensively, police are already under-equipped for major threats; villains are better armed: 'super'-science, mutations...magic.....obviously, not trying to equip them to replace us. But equip them better. Even minor, normal threats....police forces are at a disadvantage using sub-lethal force. Handicap is optional for criminals. Less escalation, more leveling the field. Equalizing." She paused, adding as an afterthought, "Medical technology - current, specialized, topic - exempt from that concern, largely. Obvious reasons." Back to tapping the finger now, frowning. "Ethics...mm. Individuals will likely decide that on their own. Some run companies, some public, some secret...private technology in private hands. Should be. Better that way. Group designs...would require organization to sell or manufacture as a group. Defeats the purpose of informal meetings. Assumed - would recommend - supplying designs. Give ideas and schematics to public agencies that can use them. Let them decide whether to edit, manufacture...best not given directly to private organizations. Can't speak for everyone, but the thought of a company owning rights to and making cut-throat profit of personal designs is -" familiar - nauseating - panic-inducing - nightmare-causing "...uncomfortable. It's not...how...I...." She slowed down, realizing how much she was talking...how much she had been talking. To a group like this, no less! She shrank back into her chair a bit, pulling her hands off the table like it was uncomfortable to touch. "Just how...how I see it. Personal opinion...."

The young woman made an expression distantly related to a smile - third cousin twice removed, perhaps - and shifted her weight a little. "That's -mm. Thank you. Both." She nodded to the two women in turn, shrugging a little. "Should probably stay here unless it kills me. Good...practice. Sink or swim?" Dragonfly blinked behind her visor, tilting her head to look at her friend and the ooze. "Don't...not on the carpet? Dripping concern. Poor opening if someone slips and falls two minutes in. Showers are available if you think you have time. Wind tunnel, maybe, if it's cohesive and the viscosity is-" Her's head immediately whipped around. what's the phrase "Not it."

Dragonfly tilted her head, scanning her shelves as she paused her work. "Mm. Good idea. Good luck explaining....should have them around here somewhere. Recovered but they were never used, nonlethal, should have...ah." She gestured with one hand toward one of the shelves on the wall, which stocked surprisingly organized and clutter-less silver and black cases. "Small black plastic case, second shelf, by the end. Tracker and beacons. Old but durable...should work. Don't...don't touch the other cases." She paused, before adding an uncharacteristic, "...please."

"Mmm...." Dragonfly squinted at the face plate she was trying to use, and sighed. "Too small," she muttered to no one in particular. "Why I don't work in plastics. Could recast....dislike the machinery. Loud, generates too much heat...." She was already on her feet, brushing some bits and wire aside and lifting a thin sheet of scrap metal. She gave it a good squint, calculating angles and force. mmmm.... She took the opportunity to check in on the computer upstairs as she laid out her metalworking tools, screen flickering slightly as she took a look at the browser. "Not bad," she echoed, disembodied, from the speakers on that desk. Down on the workshop floor, the sound of a hammer on steel could be heard. "Nearby, safe neighborhood. Hope your parents are reasonable."

Dragonfly: Welcome to The Lab! (5) Black Markets are Easy to Find (18) Crack is Whack Part II (11) Double Features (8) Brainiac Brunch (1) Beware of Geeks Bearing Gifts (19) The Marvels of Science (22) Too Many Questions, Too Few Answers... (8) Beginning of New Things (41) Crisis on Infinite Holidays (10) December Vignette - musical! 8+18+11+8+1+19+22+8+41+10= 143 posts (!!), plus the vignette Gaian Knight: When Animals Attack Part 33 (5) The Dark Mother (9) Bee It Ever So Humble (22) December Vignette - PSA 5+9+22= 36 posts, plus the vignette

Dragonfly was in her normal costume and gear, though she'd apparently either dedicated some time to cosmetic repair on her gauntlets, or just built a new set; they were suspiciously dent-and-scratch-free. Her arms were wrapped around her stomach, one finger tapping on her ribs as she looked out at the crowd. She bit her lip, her visor (against her better judgement) calculating just how many people were in that crowd. "Many-" Her voice stopped on her, and she cleared her throat to try again. "Many people. Didn't expect it to be so...mm. Popular."

I'm not even in college anymore and I'd take this course.

Dragonfly barely finished making sure her systems were back and charged before someone shouted something and the ground...lurched. She threw out a hand to try to land on the shield that twisted into being at her fingertips but she was too off-balance - the edge of the shield caught the edge of the ground and only served to twist her to the side, pulling her off her feet. The floor was, helpfully, there to catch her fall. All she remembered was the warehouse turning upside-down, rushing up at her (awfully dirty - ought to get it cleaned - encourages rats - took forever to get out of my home) before her head met concrete and she blacked out, a crack shooting across her visor as it, too, learned that warehouse floors aren't very forgiving. Her force field stuttered, confused, and unfolded back into normal space; as her visor similarly stuttered and dimmed and her gauntlets powered down, the little icon that showed her active link to Ironclad's suit froze and then blinked out of existence, complete and utter silence on the crumpled, surprisingly frail-looking figure's end of the data stream.

Vocal Log, code: Dragonfly. Access granted. Retrieving data.... There's another pause as she - from the sound of things - fills a glass, but doesn't drink. "So. Easy enough process. Requires strong power cells, clever engineering. Two new kinds of math. But an interesting challenge. A better challenge: using it non-lethally in combat. "Was helped there by reality itself. Very odd. People leave...an imprint. A hole, mold, impression. Lower creatures less so. Inanimate objects only rarely. Cause not entirely known...difficult to experiment without breaking ethical boundaries. Regardless. Living tissue - even recently-living tissue - resists being...scrambled. Rearranged by manipulating the grid of reality. It's...cohesive. Stubborn. Elastic...mm. Even scrambled, reasserts itself - its local reality - quickly, 'knows' how it 'should be'. Phrasing annoying. Helpful. Ranged attack mode on the gauntlets is essentially balling the 'lines' up in a scrambled knot and throwing it. Reality tries to follow the lines. Works for defense, too - weave a barrier out of the lines. Incoming projectiles react differently. Particles - energy, air, plasma - impact and scatter, pulled in several directions at once. Small objects...usually bullets...scatter or zip across the force field. Smaller surface area, pulled in fewer directions at once, goes...heard a good word recently. Careen? Go careening off. Lose all their energy trying to stay in one piece or find a path, eventually spin off without dangerous kinetic force. "Larger physical attacks...also get pulled in several directions at once. Matter wants to stay in one piece. Loses all its energy remaining cohesive - one pull cancels out another. Interesting effect. Damage is similar - 'tangle' is more aggressive. On impact, tries to pull touched matter in too many directions. Weak materials - paper - shreds. Elastic material deforms into swirls of least resistance...very useful for mapping effects. Thin metal bends and twists open. Living or post-living flesh remains, due to...imprint reinforcement. Lack good terminology. Very interesting effect, very useful. Not lethal unless I adapt to counter the resistance, which I don't. Bio-electric charge helps, too...present in all living things. Low-level but reacts in very fascinating....mmm. Hm. "Real damage is caused by body itself, almost. Fights very hard to remain in one piece and...sane order. Very little physical damage - bruising, rarely broken bones - but puts large strain on system. Shock-like, almost. Body eventually shuts down - unconsciousness. Little lasting damage. Very useful, probably less violent than using uncovered fists. Hear it's very unpleasant, however."

Vocal Log, code: Dragonfly. Access granted. Retrieving data.... There's dead air for a moment as the audio file plays, though one can faintly hear the sound of a glass being put down on a table. When she talks Mara doesn't sound tipsy, but she does sound uncharacteristically relaxed. "Still need a better name for my little 'warp engine'. It's just...that's what the technology does. Imagine...mm. Imagine space...dimensional space, length width height and so on, not outer space...is made of lines. A 3-d grid. Like you'd see in a video game. Coordinate system. Absurd, simplistic...will do for the example. Imagine space is made of lines, and you can reach out and grab them, move them. Teleportation is as simple - mm. Not simple. But easy enough. Bend the 'lines' in to touch - attach yourself to the lines you just bent in, let them bounce back to being normal. Takes a lot of power to maintain a warp in reality. Remove the control, reality reasserts, usually. Appear in a different place. A dimensional 'pocket' is made by wrapping up the lines in a way that's stable - form a sub-dimension out of material at hand. "Possible dangers, of course. Reality is...resilient, elastic. But only stretches so far. Have to be careful with that. Small tears lead to big tears lead to...bad things."

Reflex Save vs. Area Attack, DC20 (Evasion) (1d20 + 6=10) Sigh. Spending her last hero point to reroll that. Reflex Save REROLL vs. Area Attack, DC20 (Evasion) (1d20 + 6=19) Nnnnope. Toughness Save vs. Push's Area Attack, DC25 (Bruised 3) (1d20 + 6 - 3=5) Well, then. I assume her trip check doesn't matter at that point, as she's quite unconscious. Fail by 20 - Dragonfly's KO'd.

She saw the zombies coming. She truly did - they were awfully hard to miss - but she'd stood her ground, throwing up one hand, spreading her fingers, and.......nothing. The next second or so was a blank stare, her mind racing. what - shield down - know I readied it - where is - attack drained too much power! - won't be ready for several - oh god There was a lot of cursing across two languages as she disappeared under a small pile of zombie flesh, ranging from generic epithets to accusations about the zombies' maternal ancestry. Then a moment of terrible silence...before a twitching, neon blue blade-like construct of broken space burst out of the back of one of the zombies (oddly, without actually causing a hole; the way the flesh buckled around it was fairly gut-wrenching, though) and swept across through some of his friends. Having bought herself a little room, Dragonfly bent space around herself and disappeared, reappearing in a matching distortion a good ways away from the nearest zombie or cultist. She winced, holding one of her arms with one steaming gauntlet as the blade fragmented and disappeared. "Hate. Zombies."

Well, they're in melee range anyway. Time to play with her rarely-used toy! Standard Action: Melee Attack Roll vs. Zombie (Spacial Blade) (1d20 + 8 + 3=31) On a minion? Haaate. Wait, no. House rules on crits. ...ahaha. Ahahahaha. WHAAAAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAH! Ahem. Per the house rules: choosing Alternate Effect for the crit effect. Functionally, she's stunting off her spacial array for free - stripping Penetrating off her spacial blade and trading it for this: Damage 8 (spacial 'blade'; Feats: Takedown Attack 2) [10/16pp] So she's making a critical attack on all the minions around her - or, at least, as many as she can reach at melee with minimum movement. GM's call on how many zombies get snicker-snacked, though it's thematically appropriate to note that her blade does damage but doesn't literally cut things. Unless she specifically turns it to lethal damage, anyway. Move Action: Dragonfly is getting the hell out of dodge. Teleporting to 100 feet away from all threats, or as near to that as she can get without leaving the warehouse. Speaking of dodge, she has her dodge bonus back! Yaaaaay!

And it's a good thing, too, what with her lacking her dodge bonus. She wasn't expecting zombies to cover that much ground that quickly. A dodge-less Dragonfly has a defense of +2. Zombies 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10 hit. Toughness Saves vs. Zombie Attacks (1d20 + 6=13, 1d20 + 6=8, 1d20 + 6=17, 1d20 + 6=10, 1d20 + 6=17) Bruise, stun+bruise, save, stun+bruise, save. Ouch. Invisible castle wasn't kind. Too many to reroll for without burning through all her hero points. Dragonfly picks up three bruises and spends a hero point to immediately shake off the stun. She'll be very happy to get her defense back. No more Distracting for her in this thread, I think.

Bookkeeping: in round 2, Master Plan will still afford the whole group a +3 to their skill and attack rolls. Use it well!

I hadn't even considered how she'd have that computer set up. But assuming they'd just know how to use a proper command line seems very Dragonfly-ish, and that post was hilarious. It's official, then: most (if not all) of Dragonfly's computers either lack keyboards/mice, or are stuck with a command line unless you can get them to switch to something more user-friendly. Yeah, with a 30 on an already-logged-in computer you could certainly find your way around whatever ungodly customized system Dragonfly runs. Certainly enough to either bring up the browser, or switch over to a 'normal-looking' operating system. That computer has a lot of games (mostly old first person shooters) and a solid internet connection, and hooks into the warehouse's larger computer network, where Dragonfly keeps things like logs and designs. Fair warning: if she catches you playing her logs she'll give you such a pinch, you'll wish she hadn't pinched you so bad.

GK notes that two villains are down and the last is up against at least two heroes, and was already pulled to the ground once. Robin took (appeared to take? no actual damage, not that GK knows that) a hit but isn't a target at the moment, so he uses the opportunity to try reasoning with Striker. Because he's a fool that way.

The begoggled professor shook his head, sweeping in a bit closer to the cocooned Striker. "Would you just calm down? You're not being killed. You're perfectly fine." His attention wasn't on the electric criminal, though; it was on the wolfman, who was apparently more stubborn than his friends. Gaian Knight was kept a critical eye out just in case the others needed help. "Well, I mean, you're stuck in a bunch of rock, and you can't see anything," he continued, after a pause. "But other than that, you're fine. I don't suppose you want to discuss surrender now? I know you can't see it, but your friend the gorilla over there isn't doing much better than you are. It really would be for the best if you'd just calm down and wait for the police." Who, hopefully, bring a lightning rod to attach to their cuffs. "This whole thing really doesn't need to be any more complicated than it is already."