Supercape

He ain't normal!

"Veritably!" agreed Rene "I've had enough of this!" Unfortunately they were in a room full of what appeared to be an arsenal of weaponry at Toy Boys disposal. He was just glad none of it seemed to be lethal. Clearly Toy Boy had decided that TNT or arsenic bombs weren't quite "fun" enough to deliver to Freedom City. The presents lined the walls and lay in stacks nearly everywhere. Toy Boy could be almost anywhere in the room... "Search the room!" he decided "he must be hiding here somewhere. Why, he could even be in one of the presents themselves!"

"Oh dear" muttered Supercape at Etain's admission. Must be some psychic magic thing... should have guessed... he cursed to himself. Why couldn't magic be more, well, logical? He eyed the two cleaner bots as the slowly patrolled the simulator suite. He was exhausted, hurt, and rapidly becoming demoralised too. Most of all, he was highly ashamed of the experience Etain was having. What a disaster! "How long till those repairs are done, Dragonfly? no pressure or anything... If I can just overload their sensors that should delay them for a while..."

"I'm not entirely sure a weapon is required my dear" replied Supercape. As he spoke, a hatch in the ceiling opened, and two small flying robots came buzzing out, equipped with mechanical arms and various other limbs. They didn't look particularly dangerous, but Supercape knew they were equipped with chemical and laser devices for sterilization of hazardous materials. Normally, they would be no challenge for the hero's, but they were exhausted, ill, and in Dragonfly's case, quite literally burnt out. Besides, they were expensive. "This may call for a simple case of concealment, if you can manage it..."

Rene didn't understand what the probe was, but he had had quite enough of Toy Boy's japes. Without exception his presents had been, if not lethal, then painful, disruptive, and malicious, and he had no reason to suspect this contraption was any different. Whatever it was, he quickly formed a bolt of lightning which whisked from the ceiling in an arc and struck the orb in a shower of sparks, leaving a smoking remain. "Someone has been a very naughty boy!" he proclaimed to the room "and its time for a smacked bottom!" Lets have some good old 18th Century discipline he fumed to himself.

Dazed! Rene will blast the Probe, just to be sure. As its immobile, and fragile, I will handwaive this

Supercape felt the massive and complex shifts in gravity that danced around Dragonflies gauntlets. It would take a professor of quantum mathematics to even begin to understand what actually happened. Fortunately, he was one. And that was all he could actually do: begin to understand. There had been some shift somewhere, and oxygen was coming from somewhere, presumably a reality other than their own. At least that was his guess. He was a little to distracted, and little to exhausted, to really do the maths in his head. "Necessity really is the mother of invention!" he remarked. "Bravo, Dragonfly! that was quick thinking. You must explain how you did that!...err... maybe now isn't quite the time to go through the maths of course!" He nodded at Etain "That the Marvels of Science for you, my dear!" he said with a broad grin "can be quite life saving! takes your breath away, or puts it back!" With a hiss, the simulator suite started to pump back normal atmosphere. "Decontamination Complete. Prepare for final sweep with cleaner robots"

Nice Stunt!

The Horror The Horror! EMP Blast affecting the nervous system (hey, its mad science). Its also a Radar Sense dazzle, but seeing as nobody has radar senses... Stun 10, Magnetic Descriptor! Which for Victory is the pain! DC 30 Stun! 1d20+7=20 Rene Just Makes it. For reference, the Probe is a one-shot device.

GM "Its the Most...Wonderful...Time....Of the Yeeeeeear!" came the piped music, in what could only be described at a pitch, resonance and tempo that had been carefully calibrated to annoy all but the most tone deaf, musically tasteless of creatures. A squeaky, high pitched, but unmistakably nasal voice pitched in "And I want my lovely present! All that lovely toy stuff! Even if I have to take it from the nasty solider that it's welded too!" With that, another toy burst open, followed by another rant from Toy Boy "And I've worked out how to get it from you! I'm so clever! One of my special presents. I was going to give this to all the nasty boys and girls, to stop them playing with their toys that they didn't deserve!" With that, a present popped its lid, and an ominous looking probe rose slowly from the box, beeping and flashing. With a sudden spark, it released a wave of barely visible energy across the room.

I'm liking the IC post. Win the grapple, and if by the strange laws of dreaming, you can throw it to "whence it came!" i.e. out of thread!

Round 2! Supercape 2 HP - Fatigued, Injured, Bruised Etain - 1 HP - Sickened (I think 1 HP anyway?) Dragonfly - 0HP - Bruised, Fatigued, -1 Con

"I don't think so..." shouted Supercape, his voice weak through the thin air. He turned to Dragonfly, to see how the mechanical marvel was doing with the wires, which seemed to be breeding as far as he could determine. He could only assume, and hope, that within all the mess she was making some headway. "...and yes, we really should take more care with the safety protocols!" he shouted, feeling sorry for his two comrades. He scanned the bleak simulator suite, wondering if he should detonate an atom here, and wreck the whole place. On second thoughts, that mike make things worse given the reactor on the sub levels below. Still, if things got really desperate...

"And why not?" laughed Natalie, taking him by the hand. Before Victory knew it, he was engaging in a slow dance with the beautiful woman, who held him in a warm yet courteous embrace. "You do just fine" she said, her eyes twinkling and with a large smile on her face. "How does it feel?" she asked, after a pause "all that power? to be so.. different? you have lost so much, and gained so much too. Do you miss your old self? I mean..." she looked away, a little flustered "...how do you feel about being human, a man, with all this" she gave a warm hearted gentle knuckle rap on the metal that peppered his frame. "Sorry for being personal, its just you intrigue me so much. And you are brave. Very brave. "

The crowd looked at Nick dressed in his garb in a surprised way, but remained motionless, as if overwhelmed with apathy. Dr. Singh was did not appear to move a muscle in his face, his features quite unremarkable. "Well sir, have you come for the lecture, please do take a seat, and I will continue" he asked politely, as if nothing had happened. What was this? thought Rene to himself. He had seen some odd personalities in his time, but this was something new. The man was out of sorts for certain, no normal person would act like that, but he could not put his finger on what was wrong with him. Drugged? Possessed? Mad? His gaze was drawn back to the ominous black sheen of the idol of Kali. Somehow, that well of souls must hold the key!

Indeed it is! Dr. Singh is only an academic, so I will handwaive anything you wish to do in terms of combat. He is but a pawn! muahaha! Sense Motive rolls 1d20+8=15 for Rene

Rene observed, from the corner of his eye, the Spider flailing away, trying to break free from the bear's grasp. Now there's a sight you don't see every day he conceded... From the muddy eye he drew on the ground, a crack of misty blackness emerged, and in its centre, the faintest of red glows. The crack was only hairline thick at the moment, only the whisper of an imagination, but it was growing steadily. "The boogeyman" squealed Mary, hiding her face in Rene's jacket. Rene peered at the black crack, which grew with every second. "What do you want, hmmm?" he asked of the blackness, to which the hissing voice replied "I grow hungry. I want the world...."

Giant Spider is going to try and ungrapple itself, so its opposed grapple rolls again: 1d20+18=21 Not good!

Supercape stood up to the podium, gave a smile, a cough, and a tap of the microphone. "I say, is this thing working, ah yes, so it is, splendid!" He reached up to adjust his bow tie, before realising he didn't have one on, and he was not giving a lecture at Freedom City University. "Ladies, gentlemen, and esteemed labotorians" he had made that word up, but it sounded suitably Etonian, he thought. "Welcome to our pride and joy, the Lab. You are inside what must surely be one of the finest research centres in the world, dedicated to the advancement, implementation, and dissemination of science for the good of mankind. It is through science that we hope to build a better future for ourselves, and for our children, and for our children's children, and for our children's children's childre..." "*Ahem*" "Suffice to say that we hope that the Laboratory will be one of the guiding lights as we build a better tomorrow. And more. For the laboratory is also our shield against scientific errors, and accidents, be they natural or man-made. Should disaster strike, it is here, at the laboratory, that the fine minds of the city, or even the world, that the tools of science shall be wielded as sword and shield against whatever ill fortunes may befall us. " Not bad. A bit Shakespeare in flavour, but I imagine they will lap it up... he thought, as he conceded the floor, looking around for the last member, Ironclad...

Russians defeated! Moving out of combat!

"Noooo!" Screamed the Young Tsar at the thieving hands of Carrie, before running over to his dying father. "Father!" he sobbed, dropping his sword and wailing. "I did it all for you! to revenge ourselves on the treacherous British! for mother Russia! and now..." He glared at the heroes "these... vile... and uncouth...and traitorous...poisonous!...soldiers of fortune. They have ruined us! RUINED US!" He collapsed sobbing on his fathers chest, as the man closed his eyes and breathed his last, muttering a few half heard Russian words in his ear.

This is a plot device power: Will Drain, Slow Fade (1 hour), Subtle, Insidious. DC 20 To soften us up for later problems! 1d20+8=23 for Rene.

Dr. Singh continued on, his voice becoming strangely hypnotic and developing an odd, disconcerting rythmn. Rene glanced down at the compass, watching the needle wobble and shake, whilst still resolutely pointing at the direction of the compass. "This feels strange" he said, rubbing his eyes. "Something... about the way he is speaking...I feel all cold inside..." he muttered, his eyes bloodshot and bleary. He gazed around the crowd, who all looked engrossed, in a rather mindless, apathetic way, as if they were watching some endless repeat on TV and had no interest in anything else. There attention was completely focussed on the talk, but not in an enthusiastic way.

"Catch anything?" Rene inquired under his breath, leaning over to the younger man. Dr. Singh was giving his speech, talking about the Kali death cults of India, and the Thuggee during the British Raj. Much of this was regular history, although Rene kept his ears and eyes open. Nothing directly suspicious, but of course it had the flavour of necromancy written all over it. He gave Nick a gentle elbow and nodded at the compass he held at knee height "whatever the good doctor is saying, it seems that the icon is full of necromantic energies. What I don't get is what its doing here, and what Dr. Singh has to do with it all..."

GM As Nick was prowling the hallways, a middle aged man, of Indian descent, walked straight past him, carefully holding the icon itself! He was wearing a neat, clean and professional suit and tie, alongside a neatly trimmed beard and functional spectacles. He was muttering to himself in some language he didn't understand. As he brushed past Nick, a slight chill ran up the hero's spine. Something quite new. Doctor Singh took the podium to polite and enthusiastic applause of moderate volume. Rene had joined in. Looks respectable enough he though, scrutinising the man. He glanced down to his compass, noting the dial had swung straight towards the icon that now rested on the table besides Doctor Singh.