Supercape

Damn...caught between the bulls of a horn. If I help clear the rubble, our assailant will get away... If I follow the trail, we are divided and weakened... There would be no decision that would sit well. And no decision would be a decision. And the worst of the lot. On instinct rather than judgement, the instinct of a hunter rather than the hunted, he sped into the jungle, spear in hand, to follow the trail. A dangerous, bold, and no doubt foolish ploy, and one that would not sit well with the fiery temperaments of the youths he was with. But if they sat tight, being picked off, weakened, injured, they would surely perish. "Fortune favours the bold!" he said aloud, wondering if the kids could hear him, hoping they would, and they understood. And then he was off.

"By Vishnu!" said Lord Steam as the bullet whizzed past him. He swore he could feel it swim through the air. "You rotter! Firing on an unarmed man! It's not cricket!" he swore at the leather coated man. Come to think of it, a cricket bat would be rather handy right now. It was not just the thought of a bullet splintering open his face, but the sound. The crack of gunfire was hardly a bizzarre rarity in Freedom City, but on the other hand it was uncommon enough, and dangerous enough, to pull police in. Not good news for a wanted man. He had to finish this. What a mess! He stabbed the man's shin with his shoe to distract him, and reached over to pull him into a Bartitsu hold.

"I heard some crazy in my time, but that sounds plain loopy, mister!" blurted Pitch. "All the humans replaced by another dimension? What is this, the twilight zone?" Well, it sounded crazy enough. Sounded like the kinda crazy you get in a lunatic bin. But on the other hand, whilst plenty of crazy was simply crazy, just so often, just so every now and again, crazy was right. "This town must be sitting on a whole heap of twilight zone, then. But why? why here, why now? And whats this here cult of the Demiurge?" she asked pointedly. "Burning giant snakes and stuff like that? I gotta take a look. We all gotta take a look. If troubles brewing, I'm a-lookin!" she explained. "I never looked for trouble, but I never ran!" she quoted.

Suggestion: Enlarge your brain to more than its current peanut size! ordered SLAVE to the Ape-Rat... "Mmmmm....Peanuts! Can I have peanuts?" asked the Ape-Rat to nobody in particular, scratching her hairy armpits. No! No! NO! You imbecile! My circuits cannot withstand such a MORON! screamed the letters in front of the Ape-Rats cybernetic eyes. Ignored completely. "Yes. I have bright idea! Shadows go when you make light! We start fire and make shadows go away!" smiled the Ape - Rat, hopping from foot to foot infront of Grimalkin and Terrifica. Bright Idea...Flashed Slave infront of her vision. It somehow conveyed and agonised sigh. "Me do what you say. You more smarter than me!" conceded the Ape-Rat to Grimalkin and Terrifica. Faint praise indeed.

Feel free to narrate any disguise you wish! (for both of you).

So I am guessing a modern cybernetic hand weighs about 5lbs/10kgs, so I am doing a silly trick just for fun. Throwing his hand ahead of him to fire up the ships engines. I make that a 100' throw, saving a few pointless seconds. Any probs with that, ill gladly edit!

"Look out! Him! No...no her!!!! She's going to shoot us! No...no look at HIM!!!" Mask gave a shrieking tinny accompaniment to their retreat, petrified that any passer by would be holding a concealed Voorik Disintegrator stick, or a Microwave K-Grenade. It was distracting and irritating, but Starshot had to concede, right now, that kind of vigilance was not misplaced. He made Mask scan everything he could. "Fingers, get her started!" he told his hand, which promptly detatched from his stump. Taking it in his other hand, he hurled his cybernetic hand ahead of them, on to the Xeno...

Pitch ducked down behind the abandoned car. A pristine antique, she noticed, with some guilt. If some stray animated statue threw something at her, it would be totalled. Nice as it is, better it than me... She slid down out of view, still concentrating. The molten metals of the Infernal Forge poured into this dimension. She forced the heat to slide down the bones of the statue, sloughing its steel as it went...

So whilst Agna certainly knows the history, you may (if you wish) roll a DC 15 (History) roll to see if you can recognise Dead Ice as a native Greenlander. DC 20 to recognise him as a Thule Culture Shaman (which Agna does, bless her). Mainly for fluff, of course!

GM With the faint dawn, a sun low and heavy hinting at its presence, peeking over the horizon, the view was magnificent. For all its cold and dark, the air in Greenland was of unmatched clarity. At this height, one could see for miles. The air even tasted clean. A return to Freedom City would seem dirty and filthy after this, one would not notice it normally, but when pure air was inhaled, it would show the contrast. So, a pause, a moment, atop a mountain, with perfect clarity, and perfect cold. And then... From the Icy summit, a figure emerged. He could not have been much more than five foot, and thin of build. Dark, withered, with eyes as black as a starless night, bedgraggled hair, wearing ragged and soiled furs. Around his waist, a leather belt and knife. In his hand, a long and sharp spear. "<What devils are you, that would stop the dead from rising? What devils are you that would stop long awaited vengeance? This land is mine, part of me and my kin, and still it suffers the shame of foreign plundering!>" he said in old Icelandic, his voice cold, empty, and without breath, yet full of will.

Keeping up the concentration Melt on the statue (As above)/

GM "Bah! Bugs!" sneered Doctor Sparks, injecting Hannah with a large injection of some viscous purple liquid. Antibiotics, presumably. He moved his scalpel slightly in response to Endeavours suggestion. With hook and with crook and with scalpel and diathermy, the operation was completed, and was a success. A harrowing experience for Hannah, who was white and covered in sweat. "Well, its in and good to go, my dear" said Doctor Sparks, wiping his hands. "Give it a go, give it a go..." Nervously, Hannah closed her eyes, and concentrated... And then seized up, in a spasm of pain, screaming in agony... And her eyes flitted open. "Oh dear God it hurts..it hurts..." she said, clenching her fists. But despite it all, her ataxia had gone. Her movements were fast, controlled, in fact...perfect... She bounced of the bed, like a cat, landing in a crouch. "Everything fast...my mind...it's supercharged...." she said, looking directly at Endeavour. "This was how I was meant to be...just like you!" she continued, accusingly. "In fact, better than you!" Dr Sparks looked alarmed, backing off, ordering his floating Microbots infront of him. "Careful now, no rash decisions, my dear!" he told Hannah, wiping his brow. Hannah just straightened up, a fluid quick motion, and smiled. "Nothing rash. No, my mind is faster than you could ever comprehend doctor. This is a decision that has been tasted for years. Your little device is a marvel, but the shock it delivers...is both unpleasant and transitory, is it not?" "Yuh--yuh--yes!" blubbered a worried Doctor Sparks. Hannah shook off the last of the pain with her clenched fists. "What I really need is the genetic material of my dear sister here...." she finished, pointing right at Endeavour.

1d20+25=42 Its a success, doctor!

GM "Don't listen to her, kid" implored the Handyman, opening his hands out wide. He gave an honest smile, but the sheer silliness of the situation, the pure good fortune of having two hero's slug it out for him rather than arresting him - that gave his teeth and eyes a shimmer of out and out laughter that he could barely contain. "You got her, plain and simple. That makes you a hero, a real honest to God hero. One flick of that magnificent ring of yours and bam!" He snapped his fingers into a gun and shot from the hip, pointing once again to that very same magnificent ring of Stronghold. Once again, there was a tugging sensation, faint but present, that threatened to warp that very ring...

So Handyman is going to try to bluff his way out of this to Stronghold: 1d20+7=20 feel free to use a sense motive roll to get a whiff of something funky, horngeek. I am going to give you a +0 modifier on that roll for Argonauts totally average Charisma! In the mean time, he is going to try to whup the Ring from you again: A DC 20 Reflex Save please.

"Demons and Sorcerers. I feel like I'm in the middle ages" sniffed Pitch, giving the command... FIre me up! To the scurrilous demon dwelling inside her. The flames and smoke bubbled and hissed, and the sulfur and warmth spread through her bones and flesh. "And this guy knows far to much about me" she commented, hand gripping the Cantos cane. He was not wrong. It was a devil stick that brought more woe than it was worth. Still, once you dove in... "Well, I'll be the judge of that, Mister spooky!" she shouted up at the floating robes. Whatever it was. At least it wasn't throwing lightning bolts or fireballs down at her. "Ring a ding dong! I'm gonna take a look at that bell!" she said defiantly, and marched towards the sentry demons!

The wine is super flowing now. The DC has risen to 10! 1d20+2=3 Sasha is drunk! (Sickened). For the sake of narrative, lets call that a DC 15 Sense Motive or Behavioural Sciences roll to notice. Its highish because she is essentially very good at pretending to be sober!

GM "Hrm, I have no idea. I suppose a super strong green hero would be a bit silly, huh? But I'll look it up tonight!" replied Sasha. More wine was ordered, a pinot noir of ludicrous expense, and then steak was served. A very good steak too. The High Steaks was not some cheap French Restaurant. It served the best steak in Freedom City. Taste buds were seduced. "Still at least I have got something out of you" she suggested, her tongue wallowing around her mouth. "I wonder what else you would care to divulge? What have been the highs and lows of your career?" she said, ensuring that Geckomans wine was always full to the brim of delicious and rich wine...

Feel free to assist with the surgery! Its a complex operation, DC 30. Fortunately, Doctor Sparks gets a +5 Situational bonus on that roll, because that is his speciality and he designed the whole thing. He also has a +2 Bonus from masterwork medical equipment. His base bonus is +16 (WIS 14, 14 Ranks of skill, a world expert!) so he gets a total bonus of +23. Will he make it? If you want to assist, the standard aid rules apply!

GM The operation begins... Hannah only had local anaesthetic. "It is vital to monitor her neurological functions...here, hold this..." said Doctor Sparks, engrossed in his work. The patient, Hannah, was lying on a makeshift bed, staring at some lights above her. The operation was not for the faint of heart. It required removing part of Hannah's skull, and delicately, via steady robot hands remote controlled, inserting the device in her. "A quantum lithium battery, should last for ever. And we have carbon-tungsten alloy nano tendrils radiating to the cerebellum and the substantia nigra, forming a stabilising super fast system!" said Doctor Sparks, looking up at Endeavour from his operation, his white coat splattered with blood and cerebrospinal fluid. At least he seemed to be enjoying himself. Hannah was deathly pale from fright...

Could we treat the IC post as a delayed action? essentially an electrical control counter to the explosives going off (if activated?) It may not come up but seemed reasonable to me.

For record: Endeavour: 2 HP

Ok, lets go for this then: You can still judge that the structures above are safe (or very likely safe) but cant do the judgement of exactly what strength the explosives will be.

Lets go for moving all out to the Xeno - at least until the fatigue hits in!

Starshot pulled up Trigger. "Damnation to the hells! I had her! I had her! " screamed Trigger, a frustration only slightly more than Starshot himself, who swore under gritted teeth. Mask tracked her, its X ray vision and HUD locked on to her departing form. He steadied and instict to follow her. "Another day cat girl!" he shouted at his adversary, his voice distorted from speaking through Mask. "Balus, Ana! We need to get to the Xeno, now! Get the hell away from this planet and hyperspace out of here! Nothing can catch the Xeno..." nothing I know of... "Cat girl is for another day. Right now...move!" he commanded, like the old German Captain of old...