Supercape

Interested! I kind of had Flux half in my mind when you first mentioned this. ALthough if you are going a bit lower Power setting, perhaps Lord Steam!

As per chat, I am not sure if it is bluff or diplomacy, probably a bit of both! He is being evasive and shifty, distracting from the question, but on the other hand not lying. Ill roll bluff but feel free to cut down score by 8 if you wish it to be diplomacy. Bluff: 1d20+15 33

Lament That was a good question, and not one he could honestly answer. He could swallow a heroic sacrifice, as long as his heroicism would be remembered. Swallowing an eternity of pain and agony...now that was another matter. The whole universe would have to remember his heroicism for ever. "It depends on the risks, of course" he replied in a mix of bluff and honesty (in his experience, the best bluff was honest, the best honesty was bluff). "I will risk much for much, and little for little.. But I cannot answer your riddle... Till I caught 'twixt the middle...." He said with another bow.

GM Kidd and Justice crept down the stairs, as quietly as possible. The background noise helped, and nobody heard them - or at least nobody seemed to hear them. It was a little warmer down in the basement. Full of pipes. There was a large boiler room ahead, and it was even warmer as they approached. Ahead, they could hear a group of people speaking in Spanish. "Don't look at me" whispered Kidd. "I only speak good old American!" Even closer now, they had the jump on the group. Five of them. Four were dressed normally, and had rather poor quality sidearms. The fifth was an enormous man in a coat, wearing a Lucho Libre mask. He was at least six foot six, as strong as an ox (quite possibly stronger), with a broad frame and a big belly. He would put a Sumo wrestler to shame just with his enormous size.

Lament Luther was too cool to blush externally, but he felt the flush internally. His face, however, was solid. Children stealing was beyond abhorrent, but...but yes, she did have a point. He really didn't want to be known in the history books for the bard of the great child theft scandal. It would eclipse him! "I see that you are not only a woman, but wise" he said, bowing again. "My motives, like any mortal, are a soup of herbs and spices" he said, elegentally moving his hands in artistic expressions. "There are bitter flavours, certainly. There are sour smells, most assuredly. But nevertheless it is quite palatable if taken as a whole. I cannot...nay, will not...stand by to see such vile theft take place under my nose! We must take responsibility for our inaction as well as our actions!"

They are not great: Three lazy rolls: 3#1d20 6 9 14 With bonuses Initiative 12, Fort 17, and Notice 22 But I am fine with some failure

GM "Huh, well I guess its the old fashioned way then..." He started forward, voice now low, and footsteps soft and quiet. "Word is, the Wall is holed up in the basement, recruiting the disgruntled" he explained as they crept through the half built complex. The walls were concrete, with electricity and water half-installed. Justice could see the flicker of electric lights in some areas, and the more natural light of fires elsewhere. It was half a slum, half a residence. Voices everywhere, usually low. But pleasant, for the most part. Conversations, the odd laughter, even some singing of Mexican folk songs. But in the distance, for Kidd and Justice wove a most discrete path until they came to an elevator shaft and some stairs. "What's it to be, Justice?" whispered Kidd, on the lookout. "You got a fancy zip line to get us down the shaft? would be less risky than the stairs, where we might bump into somebody. Hell, I'm open to suggestion...."

Lament "Verily and forsooth, I come with greetings and felicitations" said Lament, bowing deeply. He missed his top hat, for he most assuredly would have doffed. it. "I come to ask a boon, towith, your wisdom" he started, wondering exactly who this woman was. But enough pondering! It distracts my muse! diverts my flow! my words must be like jazz! "Although the tune was most pleasant too!" he added, a smile on his face. "To the point then, wise woman..." for she must be a woman, and she must be wise...ah! Archetypes, archetypes! "...I come to seek a thief. Not just any thief, no. I talk not of shiny baubles, nor even of handsome princes stealing hearts. No, a most nefarious theft. A child-snatcher! Not but a few minutes ago, a score of children snatched from some theatrical event. Quite the event, too, I should add...." He could not stop himself. "...the performer really was outstanding!"

If pertinent, taking 10 on perform (singing) to get a 21 result, copying the tune! Which would make a great performance...audience impressed!

Lament Lament was not over anmoured with marsh. My costume! Darlings! I cannot work like this! Where is my trailer? Still, it seemed a neccesity despite the bruise to his ego. Nay, my art! But...then again....the true artist must at times wallow in the mud, must he not? This seemed to stiffen his resolve, make the unpalatable palatable. The humming, yes, that must be the Bog Wife...wait! What is a bog wife? Is it somebody married to a bog? Or a bog that is married to someone? There was only one way to find out, and he did not much fancy going forward unanounced. Besides, which, he found his normal tic of humming and tapping along to a tune was still quite evident. He started singing along, and proceeding forth!

GM And so... Shotgun in hand, detective Kidd took Justice away from the chanting crowds ("Go...go...go! Back to Mex...I...co!"), the beaming smug face of Blowfish, and the lip licking opportunism of Jack Jackson. Back around the side of the Sunny Sunshine Refuge centre. Half-built, the lights were dim here, and the building looked clearly unfinished. And yet, people were living inside. It could hardly be said to be squalid, for it was not. But still, it was not far away, and the unfinished nature of the building clearly made living conditions unpalatable at best. "You got some stealth field or something?" asked Kidd, quiet now. Alert. "Because we need to do some top rate snooping. Tell me you got invisibility beams?" he asked, hopefully. His shotgun would certainly, if fired, be far from stealthy, and yet he was caressing it with loving fingers.

Search: 1d20+1 5 Notice: 1d20+8 19

Snakebite Despite the shouts, Cassie had not dragged herself away from the woman of the moon. She felt too...important. The moon made flesh.... It was poetic, and, Cassie felt, true...in an abstract way. Literally true? Who knew? And things did seem clearer now. It made a certain sense. When the moon was fullest, and brightest. Then, the sacrifice. But that did leave the most pressing matter of the now. As the moon goddess faded, the now became serious and present. Namely, the fact that the village was probably fighting of some terrible accursed creature. And, given the hideous strength of the beast, probably faring not so well. She pulled out her whip, and started running back to the village. If there was battle here, then she would be joining it!

GM Sonny Cho turned to Comrade Frost and gave a slightly startled, but most polite bow. "Respectfully, I am not sure it is your problem, sir" he said, most corteously. "On the other hand, I am not sure it is not" he added. "Dr Sin was indeed a criminal, but I regret to say that he did at least have a sense of honour. the Hornet, on the other hand, has all the vices of Dr Sin and none of the virtues" He turned back to look over Hong Kong, his voice and manner more wistful now. "Ah, things are never so easy. You have deposed one tyrant and a worse one seems intent on taking his place. And more so, it will be a bloody coup. Hong Kong does not have the resources of Freedom City, its super hero contingent is small. Before the Chinese took over Hong Kong we at least had the British. The Vanguard, if you remember them....I even may Headcase once, although I confess he was a strange fellow..." He shook himself from his many and long memories. "I believe then, that it is a request made of necessity. Mr. Murk felt that he..and by extention, you had some hand in the events of Hong Kong - benign by intent, I should add, and that given absence of any other force here, it would be a wise and noble intervention" "Although as you quite readily state, not an easy intervention. The Chinese would not openly approve of American or Russian superheroes...but perhaps they would not be opposed to them either, if it stopped a war...." "I, however, am not the Communist party of China" smiled Cho. "I am at your full disposal. More tea?" he asked politely.

Lament Punished, eh? By whom, I wonder...and why? Luther clearly had a lot to understand about Faeriefolk. Providing, of course, that this was not some clever trick. He certainly knew enough about sleight of hand and showmanship to know that appearances could be deceiving. The art of deception was redirection. In any case, atleast he had a road to take...although it be quite the gamble! What was this fog anyway? Where was this fog? Why was this fog? And who was the bog wife that knew all the answers? "Verily and forsooth, and thank ye for thy aide, fair lady. I shall venture yonder!" he bowed, deeply. He wished he wasn't so wet, but at least the Void, in its grumbling hungry way, kept him warm. And, his course thusly determined, and so to his will, he ventured forth, into the yonder!

Sgt Shark Victor put the communicator in and dutifully gave it a test tap and croaked out "testing testing...alpha bravo charlie" before giving a thumbs up. He took a look at Asad and Sea Devil. Both strange bedfellows, neither military trained by the looks of it. Never mind, I am sure they can handle themselves. Sea Devil, at least, looked like she was born for the sea. Or, at the very least, looked like she was born in the sea. Asad seemed too flippant for his disciplined mind, but, on the other hand, some jocular banter was no bad thing for a mission. As long as it had its time and place. No, what he ws most disturbed about was the lack of intelligence. It seemed...patchy....although some intelligence was better than none. "Well then. Down we go" he said, with a thumbs up.

GM And a commotion it was, indeed. Most of the passangers had backed away, scared or panicked. One brave soul had tried to intervene, and she was on the floor unconscious (although, as far as Gauss could see with a quick scan of the eye, not seroiusly injured). The one armed man had, in his cybernetic arm, a panicked and beaten small man with ruffled white hair and an unassuming manner who was bleeding from his nose, thanks - it seemed - to a swift punch. "Don't fight it, man. I don't want to hurt you..." said the large one armed man to his victim. However, hearing Gauss approach he spun round. "Aw shoot.... a cape!" he muttered, most displeased with the transpiring situation.

GM Det Kidd gave a big grin. "I got shot up five years ago. Busted a cult. Got shot right in the heart. Miracle I survived" he said. "That's when I first met Jack Jackson. Now...I survived...does that make me bulletproof?" he asked. "Never got shot again" he added. "As for the Wall, well, I fancied a word with him. Tell him to keep his filthy Mexican hands out of this part of town. Sure, he and his friends may built this place, but I'm guessing he would tear it down just as soon" he explained. "So, if you want to live up to your name, maybe you and me can go kick some sense into him. With bullets...."

Starshot Phalen... The man had bothered Starshot for days now. What was he? Insane? Shell shocked? He had seen, of course, some victims of WW2, but his knowledge of clinical psychology was essentially nothing. He had no idea how to deal with the man. One thing was for sure, he didn't think that bringing Phalen on a scounting expedition would be of any use whatsoever. Quite the reverse, probably. The man was dead weigh as it was - but they needed stealth and guile, on this expedition and he would be a liability. Still, it was worth trying one more time. He approached the man again, and tried his best to be patient and kind. Not his strength. "So...Phalen...is it?" he started, not comfortable with this. "....how are you holding up?"

GM Hong Kong Airport "<Not so much>" said Jackie Wu, frowning. He was, however, happier speaking Cantonese. "<As far as I know, they come from Cairo. Most of the information we got from W.E.S.T...agent Sunny Fields. Apparently...>" he consulted his note book. "Reversed polarity anti-crystalline energy weapons with Heisenberg instability decompensators...." He looked up. "<No idea what that means. But the short of it is, dangerous, explosive, and not wanted in Hong Kong. Especially not in the hands of the Hornet>" he added. "<The Hornet, thats one of Dr Sins henchmen. He's making a power play for Dr Sins organisation and its going to be a bloodbath in Hong Kong if we don't stop it somehow....>" He frowned again. "<Although stopping it seems a tall order....I'm going to try drilling one of my contacts for information. Man called Sonny Cho>"

Snakebite Well there was some small comfort in knowing she was the not first, mused Cassie. She wasn't wrong about the greed, but Cassie was damned if she was going to respond to that jibe, even if it was true. In fact, this moon diety seemed to know an awful lot about everything. Which, given she was a diety, was perhaps not surprising. "Sacrifice yourself?" she asked, a little suspiciously. "You would do such a thing? Noble, to be sure. Bold and brave. But why? Is it to reborn, reincarnated? or transformed somehow?" she asked. "Or would this sacrifice lead to your end? Oblivion? That's a heavy price for anyone to pay, especially if they would otherwise live on for eternity" She hardly dared ask these questions...the figure was mesmerisingly beautiful....but she was obstinate when it come to inquisition...

Lament "Then who did?" asked Lament, insistent and desperate. If the elf ran, he doubted he could catch her. "Please, I beseech thee!" he rumbled. "This is children we are talking about, innocent by any measure, full of delight and promise!" And tantrums and tears and all manner of horrors too he added to himself, but kept his thoughts to himself. He was too young to have children. He wasn't sold on the idea at any age, if truth be told. "Please, help me! two dozen children went missing after the children, and I would seek them. They have homes and families to return to. If you know anything, anything at all, please help me!"

GM "I am taking down Blowfish the right way" said Kidd. Extraordinarily, he turned his shotgun and, with the safety off, stared down the barrel of the gun. "Are you down there, Blowfish? How did you crawl down there? Maybe I should flush you out!" he said, fingering the trigger. With a laugh, he pulled the shotgun away from his eye. "Evidence? Dude like Blowfish don't leave evidence just hanging around. Maybe if ya got a degree in law and acounting you could get him for tax evasion, if you could find his accounts" he said, not so happy at the thought. "Maybe if you got one of his lackeys to squeal. But Blowfish is a top dog. He seals himself behind his minions who do the actual dirty work. Although he was a tough nut back in his day" he explained. "You ain't going to put Blowfish away, 'sfar as I can see. On the other hand, you might get to break down this refuge centre. Get some pigs to squeal, maybe how he set up this place. Maybe how he is recruiting. And then theres the other side of things, the immigrant gang who is trying to grind his teeth in a sawmill. This fella called the Wall...as far as I heard, they are just as violent as Blowfish, except they ain't even American..."

For the delay caused by changing costume (super secret ID) and not quite catching up before stuff...(a combination of GM fiat and complictaion, if you will), awarding an HP. Gauss - 4 HP - Unharmed

GM The monorail car pulled away smoothly, and started picking up pace. Too fast for Selena to jump into on foot. But then, she didn't have to go on foot did she? No, for she flew! And flew fast, soon matching speed with the monorail car. But inside, there was some commotion, some screams. The car didn't stop, but she saw glass shattering, with the tinkle of falling glass as it hit the street a few dozen feet below. Whatever happened, it had happened fast, and presumably furiously!