Supercape

It is. They are lined up in pairs!

As Victory extracted his fists from the remains of the two smashed robo-elves, the two nearby robotic arms, which had been busy assembling presents, swung around. Their pincer like hands opened wide and advanced on Victory behind his back. With a resounding clunk, they hit his chassis, but alas, their grip was not sufficient, for as much as they scrabbled, they could not find a hold on the shiny sleek cyborg.

Well Smashed Sir. Toy Boy (for now) is hidden, and operating remote controls. In this case, two of the construction arms are swivelling round to try and Grapple Victory! 1d20+4=12 I was going to call that a surprise attack as its unexpected, but its a miss and Victory has Uncanny Dodge anyway. Victory is up again.

Its pretty mundane at the moment. If you wish, you can catch sight of Doctor Singh,. phD, preparing for his talk. He has the icon with him, dressed in a suit, and looks Indian.

Completely off the top of my head, I'll say two. As elves come in pairs, or something. And you can certainly take 10 to hit them. Toughness Rolls 1d20+10=18, 1d20+10=19 = 2 Elves smashed. I shall call this a surprise round, so its also time for initiative rolls. 1d20=6 Rene's Initiative 1d20+2=8 Toy Boy (who is hidden!) Initiative 1d20+5=13

They aren't exactly spread out together, but you could certainly get a pair of them. They are the Medium Robot archetype from M&M Core Book.

For reference, this is using his obscure-8 effect. Descriptor is "snow" (as he has variable descriptor feat), so infravision, and probably ultravision will counter it. Also, it won't be complete, at 5 feet range, obscure effect is only partial. 1d20=13it works first time - its unreliable. Not that it would have made a lot of difference as he could just try again, but rolled it anyway!

"A distraction, you say?" replied Rene, considering the options. "But of course I can!" he exclaimed delightedly, whipping out his magic paint brush. He closed his eyes, visualising the scene inside the construction facility. He started singing in a soft voice and French accent, whilst painting in mid-air. "Oh ze weather outside is Frightful But ze fire is so delightful And since we've no place to go... Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!" As if by magic, for that was what it was, the room was filled with countless heavy snowflakes, all falling slowly to the ground, reducing visibility to but a few feet, and providing ample cover for Victory's next move.

Mary clapped as Arcturus wrestled the Spider to its knees, or what passed for its knees. It was not easy getting traction in the mud, and the giant spider was slipping and sliding all over the place. Rene could only muster the most token of gestures and encouragement, engrossed as he was with his ritual, inscribing over the eye with umbrella yet again, as the pupil darted this way and that as if trying to escape the confines of the eye. "Well done, Monsieur!" he applauded, before turning his attention to Mary "stay focussed child! the boogeyman is coming, and we must be brave!" Arcturus' heroic efforts had seemed to bolster the child, who looked braver than ever.

Easy Hit. So, opposed Grapples! 1d20+18=29 You Grapple! Target is Bound this round.

The central room is full of various machines and conveyor belts, all assembling presents by means of robotic arms. At least eight man sized elves wander around helping with carrying and construction, all fairly obviously robotic. "See what I mean?" asked Rene. "Elves. Constructing very dangerous presents. Santa will not be pleased when he hears of this..."

"Oui Madame, I have" replied Rene. "Both in the classical sense, and in the not so classical..." He span his brush and started painting mid air. Between the two heroes, a giant sunflower grew from the ground, erupting from the wooden floor boards and emitting a faint golden glow. "Viola! un grande illusion!" he smiled "it takes some considerable artistry and magical acumen, but my brush here works as a sort of, 'ow you say... magic wand!"

Roll for unreliable on Create Illusion 1d20=1 Merde! As he is a show off, he will reroll using an HP, and automatically succeed!

"Its empty" said Rene, even before Victory had stuck his head through the hole. His mind could easily roam inside the building, viewing it in his own peculiar manner. Nudging Victory out of the way, he clambered through the hole with some fuss "oh my aching bones" he groaned "my knees aren't built for this, you know...mind you, its nice to be out of the fiendish wind. Make sure that hole doesn't get too big, won't you?" he asked. Looking around, the room itself was filled with Christmas presents like the ones on the Sleigh. He made very sure he didn't go near any of them. Innocuous piped Christmas music filled the room. "Come in, come in" he said to Victory, pointing at the door at the end of the room. "It appears most of the activity is through there. Some kind of distribution and manufacturing facility. With... elves, if I am seeing right".

OK Grapple time! Using House rules FIrst off, you need to make a melee attack roll. Its Defence is 16. It has +18 to Grapple rolls, will get to that of yo hit with attack!

"Excellent Idea" said Rene, shivering slightly "anything to be out of this damn weather. I forgot how cold it is in the Arctic" He pointed to the dome, and with a flash of inspiration, brought up his brush. With a quick flurry, a black "X" appeared on the wall in thick ink. "Take it away, sir!" he motioned, with an elaborate bow.

Rene closed his eyes, remembering the Cathederal in Venice. The roof had taken him six months, and he had needed to construct a special magic belt, in case he fell. And he had fallen, fortunately like a wafting leaf rather than a sack of potatoes, thanks to the enchantments he had put in his safety harness. "Oh nothing, nothing much" he said, twirling his brush "just the odd Cathederal roof" damn this woman, she erodes my modesty. How charming of her! I love it! He snatched up his paintbrush again, and pointed it in mock ferociousness at Stesha "and no moving! I will not have you mar your perfectly natural beauty!" He continued daubing. It was coming on nicely. "Of course, with this" he briefly elevated his brush again "I could paint the whole city red". He paused, and whispered almost inaudibly, but carefully enough so Stesha could just about hear him. "Literally".

So 3 Rounds till ritual complete and Boogeyman arrives. Rene is tied up, hopefully not with the spider's snare, he wont be doing anything but ritualising. Initiative for giant spider is 1d20+3=4 beat that! ;)

"Now Mary, be very brave, and look at this" said Rene, softly, pointing at the Eye. "Think very very hard about the boogeyman. Don't be scared. We have to see him and fix all of this". Under his breadth, he started muttering some latin and greek phrases, alongside words not meant for any human language. A hissing noise started, and a green black fog started swirling around the three figures. The crudely drawn mud eye steamed, and the pupil shifted this way and that amongst the mud. "Neverrrr.... I will neverrrr come to youuuuu...... I will feeeed on you....." hissed the horrible voice. "He is coming" said Rene, his mind fully focussed on his incantation and the mud eye. "It wont be long, I just have to finish this off without any..." A scuttling sound was heard as the giant king spider ran across the mud towards the three "...distractions" he finished. He elbowed Arcturus "don't let that thing stop me, will you?"

Rene is going to start a Ritual here. There is no particularly good way I can build this power wise, and it is more of a plot device. Perhaps the best way is: Mind Control: Limited One Command (Appear), No Range, Burst Area, Progression 8 (x500 Range) for 12 PP. Its going to be a Jury Rigged Ritual DC 27 1d20+14=17 is a fail, so HP reroll time 1d10+24=33 and Rene down to 3 HP.

"I see" replied Rene "well, the Souffle may have to wait, Mon bon ami, at least until we can stop this Toy Boy of yours. I don't know if you saw what his 'presents' did in Freedom City... explosions, laughing gas, fireworks, all sorts. AEGIS have their hands full cleaning up the mess - no doubt part of his plan. " He walked up to the steel dome and tapped it lightly. "I would imagine we are detected anyway" he noted, nodding towards a repair robot that trundled past on tracks. It was only a foot tall and no threat, but there were dozens of the things scooting around all over the base, all with cameras, and presumably other sensors too. "So the first order of the day is getting in here before I freeze to death. I'm an old man you know!"

Rene peered at Victory carefully, with more than just his eyes. My Gods, the man is serious! he realised, with a mixture of shock and admiration. When you live to over two hundred years old, you get to have a certain flexible view on the law, but this guy was untouched by cynicism. He shrugged mentally. So much the better. "Rene de Saens" he held out his hand. "Mystic Protector of Earth, Sorcerer of the Coil, Order of the Eight Thaum of Summeria, blah blah blah. Master painter, and I make a nice Souffle when I put my mind to it. You must come round. What was your name again? Victory. Good, I like optimism. " He pointed at the dome. "My fate, it seems, is intertwined with yours. I came here on the trial of Santa, or rather, his imposter. Have you seen him?"

Rene could barely see the figure that approached him, and no sooner had he spied the man amidst the falling snow than Victory had clamped his hand on his shoulder. "Ow!" he exclaimed, turning to face Victory face on. "Who are you?" he asked, dimly recalling some name and talk of a super cop, or something like that. "And what are you doing here, may I ask? And why do you refer to me as Civilian? Does the North Pole have an Army? A Police Force? Hmm? Hmm? What would Rousseau say eh?" He doesn't look dishonourable, but always find out before opening your mouth...

OK, I'm anticipating Rene being out here at least a minute. Fort Check. 1d20+7=20 Easy, and I forgot to give him the +2 situation bonus for dressing warmly.

"Oh dear" remarked Supercape under his breath, before collecting his courage "We are right behind you, your majesty!" he shouted "Or indeed, before you! your safety is paramount!" Every sense at the alert, he flew (as well as he could, underwater) after the King. It was getting slightly easier, moving underwater, once one got the hand of utilizing hydrostatic forces. Anticipating danger, he formed the quantum lattice of force around his body that served as a protective field. He had no desire to get chomped by vampiric manta ray's again.