Supercape

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...

GM "An intelligent barter" said Doctor Sparks, smiling, and handing her a data stick. He closed her hands around the stick, in a kind of handshake clasp. "And I have prepared just such a bargaining chip. A fair trade, then? My knowledge of the Circus Maximus is far from complete. It is an onion, secret later after secret layer. And yet, it is far from invaluable. And if you help take down the Circus, I can only benefit!" he said, bright eyed again. "And as for Hannah. She is skilled enough to leave her hacking untracked, I am sure", a sentiment that Hannah nervously nodded in agreement to. "She need to leave. This facility may not be the cleanest but I have antibiotics that could wipe out any known bug. And the device is already prepared..." He getsured Hannah to an operating table, and brought out his device. It looked rather ghastly, a tungsten needle and small web at the non sharp end. It was the size of his hand. A hand which, despite all his caffeine, looked steady. Doctor Sparks was not boasting about his ability in his field.

OK a few rolls OOC please: Knowledge [Physical Sciences] to get a feel for the explosive riggage. [DC 15] Untrained [DC 25] Also DC 20 Sense Motive Check

GM A short while later, Freedom City Library... Ms D had given the pair a ride in her black unmarked van, and had parked almost directly outside the Library. No doubt she would get a ticket soon. No doubt she would worm her way out of it somehow. Perhaps the Vehicle might gain a temporary fault, or something. Or perhaps she would just smile nicely. "There it is, Freedom Cities finest collection of paper and ink" she said, almost proudly, to Terrifica and Miracle Girl. "Now, ladies. I do love the spandex and cloak thing" she said to their costumes. "But you need to decide how to handle this. Maybe your stealth fields, or invisibility cloaks, or something...or maybe just a costume..." She had quite a collection of disguises in her van. Suitable for the spy and information gatherer she was. And she was not so different in build to the two heroines!

"Sheesh, they get a taste of my blood, they are going to go crazy..." said the Mess, truly scared for one of the few times in his life. He wasn't joking either, his blood was pumping, fizzing and bubbling with his mutant power. He batted his arms left and right, trying to fight the vampires off with fear and panic rather than his normal skill. Something sweaty and cold had hit him, and infected his spine. He tried to grab at them, but he was just reacting, his discipline flown. "Get offa me! Get offa me! Get these bozos off of me, Lucy!" he snapped at his undead friend.

Nothing Special then, trying to grapple a Vampire: 1d20+10=11 there we go!

GM Doctor Sparks face turned sour and stern. "Well...I believe you when you say you will not judge me. But still....my exit plan did not involve dealing with the authorities. It would not be a negotiation, no...it would be begging ...begging for leniency. I would have no leverage..." The microbots LED lights blinked, at it started hovering ominously closer to Endevour... "No, my plan here is to escape. Forged documents. Cleared passage...and my ticket..." Enter Hannah... "Is your...friend...here. Hannah. One of the worlds best hackers. We have struck a deal, her and I. My skill in cybernetics, to counteract her neurological disease. And she clears me a way to India. I fancy a change of scene, and I doubt even the Circus Maximus would find me in the sprawling cities of that chaotic land!" he finished, cracking his knuckles. "You...coulda waited for me before getting all cozy..." said Hannah, slumping on a lab chair, bruised and exhausted from her walk. Her arms were trembling from the effort. She gave Doctor Sparks a long hard look. "What did you say?" she asked him, harshly. "Just explaining out deal, my lovely" smiled Doctor Sparks, an uneasy, haggard smile, directed to Endevour. "What is it to be, Endevour? Would you allow me to operate? would you allow me to escape?"

The possibility of making a run for it, or indeed a swim for it, was tempting indeed. But running, running, forever was not an option. Especially for her. Sooner or later, their luck would run out. And the more they ran, the more tired they were get. "No...no..." she gasped, fighting for breath despite Tazels power bubbling up in her. "We can't keep running...keep hiding....we have to find..." pant pant "What is going on here. We have to stop it. If not for ourselves, then the world. This place is overrun...and we don't know why....it could spell disaster...." She steeled herself and controlled her breathing. "This has to end...one way or another! That bell....that man....he may just have the key. In any case, I have to know. We have to know!" Biting down on the pain and her will, she stomped forth to the tower...

GM Doctor Sparks chuckled when Endevour gave her insight into Hannah's identity, but his temper quickly soured when she mentioned the Circus Maximus. "Yes. On that issue, you are not wrong" he said, rubbing his tired eyes. "In truth, I underestimated their determination on the matter. I had expected antipathy, but not to this magnitude. I find myself in quite a bind. And in danger of being ripped in two in a farcical arena fight against one of the very cyborgs I helped modify" he confessed. "The smell, I can manage. It is more palatable than dismemberment" he said, regaining some defiance. "But tell me, how could you protect me? I am a criminal, after all. My experiments and employers have hardly been legal. And whilst I am no murderer, I aided and abetted gruesome fights, fights to the death. I would ill stomach years in prison..." "So tell me, do you offer an escape from my bind? And one without me facing the justice of this country?"

No harm, no foul.

I dont think Red could Stealth blind...so she may end up being target practice!

GM "Hannah... you m-m-mean..." mumbled Dr Sparks, his words almost tripping over themselves. He consulted the cameras on his control panel. Sure enough, Hannah was defiantly moving towards them, sticks in hand, grit in her teeth. "You mean your...wait...you don't know who she is, do you?" he spluttered, just catching his tongue. "I know her, though. Wait...this will be interesting to say the least..." he said with an almost demented chuckle. Whether that was his very nature, or sleep deprivation and caffeine intoxication was hard to say. He wiped the cold caffeine sweat from his brow. "Yes...yes...well she will need another minute to limp over here" he said, harshly. "So, tell me what you were going to say...I will certainly listen!" he said with a smile

It is indeed, lets parley for a few posts!

Ok trying a Victorian Bartitsu technique! So move action, a Feint! at +10 due to a move action. 1d20+10: 24 [1d20=14] Pretty good. Standard Action, an unshifted unarmed attack! Steam Attacj#ks Ninja: 1d20+13 19 now with a link! Not sure if that hits - maybe, if the feint works. If it does hit, a DC 18 Tough save and initiating a grapple: Steam Grapple: 1d20+21 34

So lets see about some drunkedness rolls. Essentially I think best done by the nauseate effect. The wine is flowing evenly, so if you want to keep pace, its a DC 5 Fort Roll. For reference, Sasha is a reporter (M&M COre book) just with +2 INT, WIS, CHA (because she is a good one), which gives +1 to various skills and Will save, and also with the attractive feat. Also giving her a +2 Bonus on Drunk saves, because, you know, hard hitting alcoholic reporter. 1d20+2: 22 [1d20=20] she is drinking like a trooper.

GM "Thats pretty vague" said a dissapointed Sasha, pushing her oysters to one side. It seemed she did not like them easier. The wine slipped down her throat easily enough, however. And she made a point of pouring as much into Geckomans glass, and, by urging, into his mouth, as possible. "Science...stuff..." she said, waving her hand. "Well, science isn't really my field. People are, though. Come on! Give me a break. A morsel. You never know, Loeb might even print an oasis of truth amongst the venom tomorrow. What harm can it do? Sell a little story, get a little fame. Next thing you know, you can be endorsing your own shampoo!" she said with an easy smile and a possibly genuine laugh.

GM Dr Ring paused, coughed unpleasantly, and wheezed. There were a few flecks of blood on his shirt sleeve, but he ignored his discomfort, pressing forward urgently. "Yes, and no. It will not, in its infantile state, act violently. Only in self defence. After all, it is carrying, or would carry, the thoughts and feelings of a human. It will protect itself" "Of course" he continues, " the matter changes when and if it absorbs the minds of others. Something of that mind will be imprinted in its anti-positronic quantum architecture. How it behaves then...depends on who it absorbs. You would do as well to study psychology as engineering if this happens" he finished.

GM "So you speak French? Enchante!" smiled Sasha. "I must take you to Paris one day. Such a Romantic City, do you not think? Perhaps a river boat, with champagne and oysters. Perhaps a night at the Moulin Rouge..." "Ah here comes our starters!" Sasha had preordered. Perhaps predictably, oysters, and a variety of accondiments. "mmm...are you sure you would not like to try one?" she said, gulping the first down. "Well I would love to see you with those goggles off. They hide your good looks" she said, huskily, from the oyster or...perhaps just huskily. "But also...what kind of man are you? Brave? Stupid? In love with spandex? How did you come to gain the proportional strength and agility of a Gecko? Did a radioactive one bite you?"

Time to pounce! Patience was all well and good, and something Lord Steam could exert. But there came a moment in every conflict of will or muscle that action was called for. And at the end of the day, Lord Steam would never lose the thrill of those precarious moments. In fact, he lived for them. His shuffle turned into a walk, and then a lengthened stride. On the wet and stone beneath his leather soles (a fine Italian make, now ruined by his swimming) he trod, as lightly as he could. But he was an investigator, not a ninja. He was in exceptional shape, but sneaking was not his style. Flamboyance would. Tap tap tap, his soles danced on the street as he sped up to pounce!

Hrm. Lets grab the bull by the horns. Pouncing! 1d20+5: 6 [1d20=1] awesomely bad, but lets go for it! In case initiative needed, rolling that too: 1d20+8: 22 [1d20=14] Better.

The Rat kept her pistol up - but there was nothing to aim at. They were gone. And who knew how. She put her pistol back in her belt holster and walked up to Revenant, "Well, that was flashy" she commented, scanning the area with X-Rays, Infrared, and magnified mode. "Some kinda teleport gun, I guess. Shooting yourself in the head has never been so much fun. And I come from the land of Russian Roulette" she said, on her haunches, brushing the ground where the vanishing act had happened. "Which leaves Ferretti..." she finished, hoping the lawyer could give some answers. She spun round to the beat up Lawyer, who looked in pretty bad shape, and started tending to him, scanning for broken bones. She was no medic, but nobody complained of a bit of loving care in that state. "Hey Mister, how are you? What happened here?"

The Plot Thickens... Lord Steam was disinclined to jump in. He was confident enough in his martial prowess to take a few thugs, but a group of police officers was both dangerous physically and legally. He could brush away a few minor offences like setting off fire alarms. Assault on Police Officer would be a more permanent stain. So...Reginald Worthington IV. He was tangled up in this. Now was not the time to jump to conclusions, but he would very much like to have a word with Worthington. Very much indeed. He kept his distance, watching and waiting. He was cold and wet, but patient and acute. Worthington was more interesting than the mystery man, for sure. But...he could follow up on Worthington later. Right now, despite his interest screaming towards Worthington, he would have to tail the mystery man. And question him...

"Bravo, Blakely, old chap!" said Lord Steam, punching the air in a side hook enthusiastically. Arson, yes. Most likely. But in the grand scheme of things I can live with a little bit of smoke and fire. Pay the poor blighter who owns the pub. Swing the old Diplomatic Immunity for it. At the end of the day, relative to murder, its a trifle! The problem now was that the establishment had more than one exit. And he only had two eyes. Good as he was at using them, he was rather attached to his eyes and disinclined to separate them for the purposes of multiple surveillance. All that he could do was follow the transmitter he had placed on his target of observation. "Come on, old thing, don't let me down!" he said, caressing and shaking his copper and brass compass..

The big mystic dude who summoned the shadows. Its about as smart as he gets! I think technically the Mess is sedating him with blood control array?