Fox

"Possible," Dragonfly wryly commented as she brought her defenses up again, "but unlikely legal ones. Stolen, repurposed, drug transports...fortunate if some are legal. Police can follow the licences up the food chain. Maybe." mental note - study up on chemistry - knowledge weak - should be more familiar with common uncommon street drugs - establish contacts at police station? assemble chemistry lab - vents glassware build own machinery She cracked a knuckle, tilting her head to eye the lit window. "Shock and awe again? Worked well last time. Could get lucky."

Sorry, sorry...last couple of days seriously kicked my butt. Initiative Roll (1d20 + 6=24) I love you, Speed of Thought. Anything happening before-hand or should Dragonfly go ahead and start off combat?

Dragonfly just gave them a blank look with the visor for a moment - perhaps a little extra, she was rather enjoying being intimidating for once - before shrugging and letting the gauntlet release its charge and cool down. "Strange lie if it is one. No real reason to deceive - no benefit. Substance...is strange. New. Unusual. Can always confirm at next stop. Bad day to run drugs." Reaching back to her belt for some zip-ties, Dragonfly held them up. "One question before we tie you up and leave you for police. What's the 'new stuff'?"

As was her wont Dragonfly had arrived early but waited across the street until she noticed people entering the building, just to make sure she'd made no mistakes...and for the usual bout of convincing herself to go be social. With people. After a subjective age of arguments and counter-arguments - standing near the sidewalk in full costume, muttering to herself, too focused on the building opposite to notice the glances from the odd passer-by - reason and the temptation to meet the minds that would show up won out. Steeling herself, the young woman set her jaw and made her way across the street and into the library proper, quietly slipping into the conference room just in time to hear the words of a heroine that made her feel awfully inadequate. don't think about it - meeting for brains not bodies - still - would kill for that figure - maybe - draws attention? weigh benefits penalties - would still be awkward

"It's kind of a new thing," Gaian admitted. "I thought I'd give it a try. So far I think I'm better off just apologizing to road crews and taking an hour or two out of my day to lend a hand patching things up. It'd save me a lot of...trouble." He trailed off as he watched Jack go to work on the copies. Not to be entirely done he 'grabbed' a couple bricks that'd been chucked his way earlier, sending them spinning into the rapidly-thinning crowd on the other side of the force field. He had to admit, though, that he wasn't doing quite the impressive level of damage the swordsman was...and was fairly distracted watching said swordsman work. "You two," he observed, somewhat redundantly, "are a very impressive pair."

Would normally probably frame it as an aid action to Sil's intimidate, but she clearly doesn't need the help, haha.

Dragonfly shrugged, dusting her jacket off and stepping over some fallen bullets as she entered the other room. "Good advice." Pausing, she held up one of her gauntlets and added, "Well-armed." Whether or not it was a pun was anyone's guess. She tilted her head, impassively eyeing the thugs. "Going to jail. Can't stop that now; can answer her questions. Heroes have good relationships with police in this city. Look kindly on criminals who help heroes do their job. Look...less kindly on criminals who keep trying to kill heroes." Just to underscore her point, one of her gauntlets lit up again, emitting that same dangerous low whine. "'Try' is the operative word."

Dragonfly brought her other hand up as the thugs stood, palm out and fingers spread. A circular disk of light, neon-blue energy twisted into space in front of her; as bullets rained towards the door they hit the shield, turning into blurred, jittering streaks of grey metal as they shot across its surface to be flung away at the edge, harmlessly spinning into the walls beside her. Her free gauntlet made a dull whine as it charged up again, seams in the plating glowing the same pale neon blue as the shield. In her mind's eye Dragonfly visualized the room, estimating positions and running equations in her head - the beautiful mathematics of elegant arcing curves that only she could see...until a moment later, as she threw up the charging gauntlet and filled the room with streaming, lance-like distortions, each bending unerringly through the air towards a different target.

None of those can make it through her defense. Revenge time! May as well use one of those 3 HP. Burning a hero point to get an AP off her gauntlets' array: Damage 8 (Extras: Area [Targetted; Cone], Flaws: Action [Full], Power Feats: Selective) (spacial) [9/16pp] Ranged Attack Roll vs. Thugs (Targetted Area Attack) (1d20 + 7=24) Hm. Not a crit, but I'll take it! Assuming they don't have +14 defense, that's a DC23 save for each of them.

Dragonfly nodded, bringing the distorted outline back up around her profile. "Always do. Senseless risk not to." A quick systems check told her that her shield was standing by as well, and she tried the doorknob...only to find it locked. She frowned, one of her gauntlets lighting up as it charged; bracing herself she put one hand up next to the door's surface and unleashed a blast that took the door clean off its hinges, knocking it a couple feet back to land flat on the floor.

After a quick cell phone call to make sure the relevant authorities were on their way, Dragonfly gathered up any loose weaponry and stashed it away on their way out. The police would know where to look...but if any of the thugs woke up early, they sure wouldn't. ------ nice trick - multiple applications - stealth functional invisibility defense 'cutting' blows - difficult to adapt - still wonder at source Jogging to close the range a bit, Dragonfly threw up a hand and launched another churning, distorted shockwave past Silhouette and into the thug's chest. new system running well - surprised - usually more bugs than this

Ranged Attack Roll vs. Door-Guarding Thug (Blast) (1d20 + 7=27) Well! That's a DC28 Toughness save vs. Damage. Have fun with that, Mr. Thug. Why does she never get these crits when they'd be truly useful?

"Huh. Nice trick. I wish my walls did that...maybe if I had a lot of sand or something...." Now there's a thought. I'm going to have to head to the beach and try that later. Sweeping an arm out, Gaian sent a score of blunt rocks to mow down another line of copies. "I'm usually over in downtown," he explained, taking the chance to rub his shoulder. "There was a string of thefts over at Freedom City University. Televisions, laptops...you know, the usual stuff. Plus some...uh, some things a gentleman doesn't steal. Three days of watching to finally catch the guy in the act, and he makes me chase his sorry butt all the way to the West End. As near as I can tell this is his only trick, and the more of these things he pulls out the dumber they get. It was sort of a stalemate until you showed up - thanks, by the way. I'm trying to cut down on damaging the streets. It's a royal pain to put them back together again. Not-" He reflexively tucked at a thrown bit of wood, even though it just bounced off the shield. "-that this guy isn't making me tempted."

"Jack of...hmm." Gaian frowned, eyeing the pair. "No, don't think I know of you. ....sorry. I guess I really don't keep up with the news as much as I should." Well, this is awkward. He was almost glad when he saw someone hurl an empty beer bottle at them, pulling together a small wall of debris to block it. Anything was better than completely fail to recognize someone he apparently should. "Gaian Knight, pleased to meet you both. I'm afraid the only fame I have is sort of turning the bay into a lake a few months back."

Blinking, Dragonfly tilted her head. "Efficient. Nice." She made her way over to the prone thug, frowning. "Going to answer our questions now, or going...to...?" The thug stared blankly up at the ceiling, muttering nonsense as he didn't even try to get up. His hand was still reaching for where his shotgun was, trying to pull the trigger on a weapon he no longer had. Waving a hand in front of his sightless eyes, Dragonfly grimaced. "...to go on drug-fueled autopilot, able to shoot but not talk. Great." The young woman stood up and straightened her jacket, sighing. "Well. Can call the police. I suppose. At least the building is shut down now."

Gaian unconsciously rested a hand on the hilt of his sword, trying to clear out a group of the copies with a machine-gun fire of little rocks. A line of five or so fell, and didn't get replaced quite as quickly as lone defeated copies did. "Y'know, I would, but I'm really not sure it'd improve the odds." He glanced over at the fiery blade, raising an eyebrow (the distraction earning him a tear in his coat, though thankfully not his person). Well there's something new. "Neat trick. Is that you, or a fancy lighter?"

Dragonfly turned her gauntlet on the last one standing, winding it up with an ominous hum. "My companion has questions. Suggest you answer them. Start with what's wrong with your friends." The thug blinked, slowly, reaching back for his shotgun. Apparently he wasn't very impressed through the drug haze...or possibly Dragonfly just wasn't an imposing figure. Either way, it wasn't quite the reaction she'd hoped for.

Round One Status: 24 Dragonfly 3HP 23 Silhouette 1HP - Thug 1 (Unconscious) - Thug 2 (Unconscious) - Thug 3 (Coma) - Thug 4 (Coma) 12 Thug Leader Dragonfly intimidates: Intimidate vs. Thug Leader (1d20 + 1=18) No intimidation bonus for taking down his friends because a 5'4" blonde girl isn't awfully scary at first impression, even if she just KO'd your buddy. Thug Leader (basically the Gang Leader archetype from the core book, with a shotgun): Thug Leader's Will Save vs. Dragonfly's Intimidate (Zombie Powder bonus) (1d20 + 2 + 5=21) Curses. Zombie powder saved him.

Gaian blinked, glancing up at the voice while he dodged another board. Where do they get these things? "Wouldn't mind it if you're offering!" he called back, another copy of the guy getting in a hit to his shoulder - that one actually hurt. "I'd kind of like to not destroy the street, you know? They keep popping up a little faster than I can put them down without property damage." The one that got in the shoulder hit was rewarded with a rock to the noggin, but the copy to his left just split into two again when their injured comrade faded away. The coat-clad scowled behind the mask and goggles, bringing a couple rocks back up by his shoulders. "You guys are really, really annoying."

"Hmph," was all she said as she entered the building. tactics? - shock and awe - maybe get some answers before it's over Carefully making her way towards hushed voices, she paused, took a deep breath, and turned around the corner. Throwing a hand up and firing a twisting distortion, like someone has cut apart space and reassembled it in all the wrong order, at the nearest thug; he barely had time to turn around before collapsing in a heap. so far so good

Dragonfly rounds the corner and starts a surprise round! Roll initiative, though, 'cos we'll need it on the next. Standard action to Blast the nearest thug. Attack Roll vs. Thug 1 (1d20 + 7=14) That's a hit. He's a minion and actually incapable of making that toughness save, so he's immediately knocked out. Horray! And because we're gonna need it soon (though probably not for very long): Initiative Roll (1d20 + 6=24)

Dragonfly trotted across the street, tilting her head as she quietly came up beside Silhouette. "Place checks out?" she asked, as quietly as she could. Already she was studying the door - calculating how much force it'd take to break in if necessary, how many easy exits the house probably had, possible layouts given the neighborhood and style. She didn't expect much of a fight, but it never hurt to consider the angles.

Dragonfly stood out on the streetcorner, waiting. She wasn't awfully fond of waiting, but she took the opportunity to run some checks on her gear. should have grabbed new visor - almost complete - could have used time for field adjustments - too late now - will make do with inert model She tapped a foot against the ground, a careful eye on the house Silhouette had vanished into. The longer she waited the more she tapped the foot; though it had barely been a few minutes she brought her force field up as a distorted line around her profile, checking her system to make sure the shield was on standby as well. just in case

The four standing thugs seemed to have invented a game of flicking burnt-out cigarette butts and bits of trash at the fifth, breathing shallowly on the couch. They were all completely and totally oblivious to Silhouette's presence, preferring instead to keep score in unnaturally calm, detached voices. The powder on the table - which they'd obviously been making use of - had been cut through with some sort of fine grey substance, giving it the unusual hue and an odd mix of textures. As Sil watched, one of the thugs - somewhat better-armed than the rest - made his way over and availed himself of a bit, mumbling something about how it was the best stuff they'd seen in a long, long time. The others nodded, one of them commenting that it wasn't a surprise it was moving so fast.

Gonna go right ahead and assume coma-boy isn't in a state to notice anything. Playing these guys as pretty low-level thugs, just to start things out easy. Building up bruises right off the bat is going to suck if we run through more than one building. Notice checks vs. Silhouette's Stealth (1d20 + 0=16, 1d20 + 0=14, 1d20 + 0=11, 1d20 + 0=14) They see nothin'.