KnightDisciple

Gabriel took in the honey-soaked scene with a frown. Those hostages made things a bit tenser than he would have liked. But that was the nature of the beast, in the end. He eyed the man in nullifier cuffs with a frown; that could be a wildcard they didn't need. The sight of the Bee-Keeper covered in honey made him give out an involuntary sigh of long-suffering. 'This is going to be a long day, I just know it.' He was content to let Bowles speak his piece, though he flinched a bit as Fleur's temper clearly frayed even more. But when the man started speaking of what led him to Blackstone, Gabriel's expression grew grave. He just knew that the man was speaking truth. As the Bee-Keeper...No, as Barry Bowles described seeing the woman die in front of him, the hero in white closed his eyes for a moment, crossed himself, and muttered a brief prayer for the departed. When he spoke of simply being thrown away without investigation, Gabriel couldn't help it. Anger showed through his features; lawbreaker or no, this man had been done an injustice. Gabriel walked to the front of the group, sparing a moment to lay a calming hand on Fleur's shoulder. He finally stopped a couple of paces forward of the rest of the group. He was looking Bee-Keeper in the eye; despite his mask and hood, his face showed genuine compassion. When he spoke, said compassion laced his words, as did conviction. "Bee-Keeper...No. Barry Bowles. Look. I won't say you were wrongly imprisoned in Providence. You broke laws, you paid the price dictated by society. You seem to realize this. But the events that led us here? Those events were not fair. Your sentence here was not in accordance with the basic concepts of our legal system. I hear nothing of a second trial; of any actual investigation. They told you there was no evidence, despite a woman's body containing absurd amounts of bee venom. Something you wouldn't have access to in your cell. You're right. You are innocent of this woman's death. I believe you. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry you were sent here. I cannot speak to how difficult it is to watch another human being die in your arms. I have never lived through such a thing. I have seen death from afar, I have seen the aftershocks of death. I have faced many terrors, but not that one. I do not know what I can do to ease the pain it must have caused you. I can only swear this. I will do everything I can to see you given justice. I will work within the system to ensure you are given true justice. That you are sent back to Providence as a man innocent of this crime. Furthermore, I will see what I can do to search for this dark, armored man. I do not know how successful that search will be, but that promise is the best I can do. Now, come. Let us sit, especially Lady Fleur de Joie. We traveled down a lot of stairs." He gestured to some of the chairs nearby, hopefully with enough to hold them all. "We shall sit, you shall speak a bit more, and I shall do my best to listen."

Right, so, in concert with word that will hopefully soothe the savage beest (please don't hurt me), I'm going to use a Diplomacy check. With powers gone, Gabriel has +15 to Diplomacy. Theoretically, I could take 10 with Skill Mastery, but...I'm an overachiever with Hero Points to spare. Natural 20, for a 35; if not for that blasted penalty, he'd be downright helpful now!

There was a snarl that grew into a rippling growl, a flash of light, the sound of rushing air and metal, an suddenly Fenris was right there. Quicker than one might think, he had Katkvinna's neck gripped in one metallic hand. Moments later, she was shoved up against the wall; he wasn't squeezing hard enough to cut off her air yet, but he was also clearly agitated. He snapped his metallic jaws once before speaking. "You waltz in here...assault those guards...try to steal all that hard-earned research, all those discoveries people put their life into achieving...risk the lives of people here, including CHILDREN! Then, you expect us to just play nice because you've had enough? Are you as stupid as the drunk one over there?" His grip tightened fractionally, and he lifted Katkvinna off the ground, dragging her back along the wall. His other hand came up, and the claws started to glow a bit, crackling with traces of the energy he'd been firing before. "You people take and take, and keep wanting more! Well, you don't get any more!" The armored hero, whose suit was showing signs of strain, and even a few sparks and fluid leaks in a couple of places, was almost in a trance as he was ranting.

Considering Katkvinna just surrendered, I'd say we're out of initiative. Which is good, considering I'm about to do an IC post. 8-)

Gabriel was silent during the discussion of the nature of free will versus programming, so far as it concerned natural and artificial giant bees. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself when that though crossed his mind. 'Never thought I'd see the day I considered any sort of giant bee "natural". I suppose some things are relative; the ones on Stesha's planet do seem to be able to act like normal, if more intelligent, bees at least.' When Stesha asked her question, he perked up a bit. He was curious himself, even as he spared the pregnant woman another worried glance. "I'm actually curious myself. Well, about that, and about where he found all this honey. Because...I mean, shoot, this is a heck of a lot of honey."

Cobalt Templar frowned as the crowd got hostile at the policeman. Not that he wanted to get arrested, but the poor guy seemed like he was just trying to do his job. He took a couple of steps forward, hands raised in a soothing gesture. "Hey folks, ease up a bit. The poor guy's just trying to do his job, you know? He's just trying to-" Then "Radio Freedom" arrived, and he saw just what they were wearing. That was when it really sank in just what this world was like. "Hey, that fella looks sorta like me! The one with some weird King Arthur groove goin' on!" Cobalt Ranger flew down closer to Cobalt Templar, curiosity and amusement playing over his features. When he got closer, CT noticed a few more details. For one CR had a blue and black scheme going on. For another, the hat on his head was fairly "permanent". Oh, and he had a mustache worthy of Burt Reynolds in his prime. He had the swagger to match, which was probably the only reason his just-thicker-than-spandex outfit didn't look even worse. None of which mattered to Cobalt Templar. His face was a frozen expression of shock and horror. "I think we're in Hell." With that, CT promptly conjured a small piece of "wall" and smacked his head against it several times. CR got concerned and came over, reaching to put a hand on CT's shoulder. "Hey partner, chill! Take it easy! This place is too cool to be Hell, ya know? Step back and enjoy it. Go with the flow. 'Sides, too many lovely ladies around for it to be such a bad place." CR turned and gave Wander Prime and Sage Prime a wink and a smile. CT just blanched. "Can we please hurry up and do what we need to? Please?"

Gabriel Making a Splash: 1 IC Post Unstuck In Time!: 3 IC Post Manic Pixie Dream Girls: 6 IC Posts The Great Escape: 24 IC Posts Smile for the Camera: 8 IC Posts Total: 42 IC Posts Viginette: A Life of Sacrifice Cobalt Templar Graduation Day: Worn-Out Places: 2 IC Posts Graduation Day: The End of the Beginning: 9 IC Posts Graduation Day: Familiar Faces: 6 IC Posts Graduation Day: Leaves From the Vine: 6 IC Posts Graduation Day: The Earth Died Screaming: 2 IC Posts Fun In The Sun: 4 IC Post Nightmare on West End: 1 IC Post Total: 30 IC Posts Viginette: Horse of a Different Color Fenris One Out Of All Things: 13 IC Posts Murder on the Victorian Express: 3 IC Posts Total: 16 Posts GM IC Posts One Out Of all Things: 10 IC GM Posts All GM Post counts go to Gabriel Totals as of 10:33pm CT June 30, 2011

GM Katkvinna looks around. None of her teammates are conscious. She has three heroes standing around her; none in perfect condition, but all of them in good enough condition. With a sigh, she raises her hands in the air. <Fine. I surrender. Not like I did that much to hurt anyone besides you folks; those guards would have woken up in 20 minutes anyways.> At Citizen's passionate questioning, she can't help but laugh a bit. <If you heroes hadn't busted in, we'd have been out in even less time! We never cut the power, only the cameras. This lab is fairly isolated, with no nearby patient rooms. No one was in any real danger. As for why? It paid good money, and should have been fast and easy. We didn't think there'd be heroes to crack down on us. Besides, we're just middlmen. Women. Whatever. Someone else was willing to pay for a few juicy corporate secrets. Maybe I'll tell you who. Maybe I won't. We'll have to see, now won't we?> She gave them all a coy smile.

Suddenly, a voice roared from further down the hall; literally roared, in fact, as there was a heavy animalistic quality to the speech. "Fall, damn you! Fall!" A searing blast of artificial lighting made its way into the rather tempting target of the thoroughly bamboozled morphing burglar. The hairs of all those around stood up on end a little bit as the blast passed by them. Meanwhile, Fenris was cursing at his armor as alarms kept blaring at him. Thankfully, he had the presence of mind to turn of his external speakers. 'Shut up, damn it! I don't care if I burn out three-quarters of the circuits, that bitch with the gun isn't getting away! Nobody attacks my hospital, my staff, or my family, and gets away with it!' Externally, the suit just kept emitting growls of various pitches that would make a timber wolf green with envy.

Hm. Still stuck with Fatigued...-1 to attack. All Out Attack 2: Attack effectively 10, Defense is a whopping +2 (between All out 2 and Fatigued) Power Attack 2: Attack +8, Blast DC 25 Standard Action: Blast at Sneak Thief 15, which hits her Stunned little Self. DC 25 Toughness Save. Hallway/Lab Fight, Round 7: 22: Dragonfly: 4xBruised, Staggered, 0 HP 21: Sneak Thief: Staggered, Stunned 20: Fenris: 1xInjured, Fatigued , 0 HP (Bruise gone due to Regen) 17: Citizen: Uninjured, 0 HP 8: Katkvinna: Unhurt 8: Valvportmann: Unconscious Citizen is up.

Cobalt Templar arrived in this new world rather tense; after all, Nazis in power armor busting through a nearby wall will set anyone on edge. The distinct lack of Nazis, guns, or explosions when the appeared in their next world made it fairly easy to relax most of the way. After a short while, he was mostly struck by avid curiosity. "Why are we stuck in some weird version of the 70's? Is this the "Lucas-M" world they-" And then a walking caricature of a police officer raised the alarm when he saw them. CT stood there, blinking in confusion. "Counter Freedom? What's he talking about? Why are we suddenly considered criminals?" The poor boy was clearly confused.

"Lady, we're weeping when we're looking at you right now." Gabriel floats near the ceiling, putting a bit of distance between himself and the armed Knights. He tilts his head in thought. "Actually, that's an insult to ladies everywhere, to call you one." He takes a wide "stance" on the air, lining up his hand as he aims at the Sidhe "noble". "Only think I'm hitting this frost queen with is a 20 foot long pole of sound." And that's just what he does, as another of his concentrated sound bursts fly out to strike the Lady of Beautiful Torment. Gabriel clearly hopes to take out the proverbial head of the snake.

Hm. Move Action: Stay floating near the ceiling, move away from any of the Knights. All Out Attack: Defense now +10, Attack now +14 Ranged Power Attack: Attack now +12 Ranged, Toughness Save DC now 29 Standard Action: Ranged Attack via Blast on Lady of Beautiful Torment 18; not earthshaking, but it hits. DC 29 Toughness Save.

Cobalt Templar had tried to stay vigilant. But he couldn't help but get caught up in watching Trevor disarm the bomb, especially when he withdrew the core pieces. He raised an eyebrow as the young man in black tucked away the pieces, and was about to ask why he didn't just disable that part, too, when the shots rang out. He turned to face the sound...and saw the owl crumple the the ground, bleeding out and gasping as his life left him. CT was transfixed, a slightly shocked, even horrified expression on his face. He felt a bit of bile rise up in his throat. After all, Nazi or no, this was the first time Corbin had seen someone die, really. Oh, the Terminus energies may have erased reality, but that was a bit more abstract. Here, he could see the light fade from another human being's eyes. Listen to his last rasping breaths. Smell the pooling blood. It was almost too much, and he had to turn away and spend a few long moments taking deep, calming breaths. 'He was a horrible man who did horrible things. He was a horrible man who did horrible things...so why do I feel sick to my stomach. Have to focus on something else.' He started to focus on his ring, for a very brief meditation...when inspiration struck. He whirled around to look at the original Midnight. Confidence suddenly in his posture, he strode over to the other man, and held up his ring hand in a non-threatening pose. He spoke in a volume just above a whisper; who knew who might be watching or listening. "If you can get word out to others, and they can at all travel the world...tell them to go to Masada. In...shoot, I guess it's just "the Middle East". But it hasn't been dug up yet. They won't know about this. But if someone can get in there, try to get into some of the deeper passages...it might be just the thing one day. If not tomorrow, then some day."

Gabriel blinked as Fleur spoke rather snappily to the group. He blushed a bit and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, tucking his taser away with the other. He gave out a nervous chuckle. "Heh. Sorry about that. I think we all just sort of...reacted, you know? Instinct, reflexes, all that. Plus, it wasn't really giving us a chance to just ask it for a ride..." He trailed off as Stesha asked the bee to come back. 'I guess I'll play along if the giant robot bee plays nice. Hn. There's a sentence I didn't believe I'd be thinking today.'

"Hey! Back up from the pregnant lady! We're coming in to talk anyway, tin can!" With that, Gabriel dashed forward and jabbed at the robotic construct, managing to strike the bee with it. "This thing's handy, but no replacement." He made sure to hold the "trigger" down for a couple of extra seconds. "Come on, robo-bee. Go run and tell your boss we're coming to talk, and he just needs to chill out a bit!"

I considered punching it. But, at most it'd be a DC20 save. So, I'll just run up and stungun it. Move Action: Move close enough to use taser. All Out Attack: Defense is +10, Melee Attack is +12 Standard Action: Attack with taser. 17. And that's a hit!

Cobalt Templar stood there for several long moments, a mass of fiery blue energy collected around his ring hand, obscuring the hand itself from sight. His gaze seemed unfocused, and his free hand flexed and un-flexed rapidly. Slowly, his gaze sharpened, the flexing slowed, and the fire faded. After over a minute, he was standing there, calm and dispassionate again. "Damn Nazis." He floated over to the others, staying back from Midnight as he worked at the reality bomb. "Uh...I guess let me know if you need anything. I'll just help keep watch otherwise." He floated higher, though staying inside the building for a moment. He did his best to keep an eye open for possible Nazi attacks coming from one direction or another.

Cobalt Templar narrowed his eyes at the one remaining Nazi "Ãœbersoldaten". Die Eule's boomerang was no real threat, but it had annoyed him. Not that it took much right now. Now he took a single step forward, falling into a slightly odd stance, his right hand held high and back, like he was going to punch someone. Even though he was a good 20-30 feet away from The Owl. "Hero of the Fatherland? Soldiers in power armor? I'm not impressed. Wrong day, wrong place, buddy. I'm in a bad mood, and stomping Nazis is just what the doctor ordered." With that, his fist flew forward. So did a fist three times larger and burning with bright blue flames. It struck the German "mystery man" head-on. "You won't get the satisfaction of dying by my hand today."

Right then! Time to blast me some Narzis! I think I'll have CT stay where he is, and just blast the guy. And because it's a Narzi, and CT's in need of blowing off some anger... All-Out Attack: Defense is now +3, Attack is now +11 Power Attack: Attack is now +9, Toughness Save is now DC 26. Standard Action: Attack Eul with Blast 17; not quite enough. So, time for an HP reroll 28. Really wish I had improved crit. DC 26 Toughness Save.

Right then! 28! Cobalt Templar laughs off the efforts of the Nazi scum!

The blade that was sent toward Gabriel found itself scraping along his left side. It didn't manage to penetrate the portion of the coat it struck after that, so he was at least safe from being pinned or the like. Gabriel smirked up at his chilly opponent. "Stings. But you're just hitting old scars right now, Keebler man." With a rather noticeable *hum*, Gabriel is suddenly floating in the air very close to the ceiling. He points his right hand down at the Sidhe Knight. "Let's see if you like this tune." Of course, instead of music, it was a bone-rattling blast of sonic energy concentrated on the faerie in question. "You Sidhe knights all seem to fall down easily enough. I've beaten your ilk in the past, I can do it again."

Righto then. Move Action: Gabriel will float up to the Ceiling with Flight 1. Standard Action: Ranged Attack with Blast 12 at Knight 2. 24, which trollthumper says hits. So, DC 27 Toughness Save!

*Crosses fingers* I guess 12 will be okay. Gotta keep the pregnant lady safe! :o

GM Katkvinna took stock of the situation, and cursed under her breath. <I'm not getting paid enough for this crap.> Suddenly, she dashed over to Dragonfly, delivering a powerful palm-first blow to the disoriented heroine's sternum. She then yelled over at the drunk morphing theif. <Snap out of it, darling, or I'm leaving you here! We've got to move, now!> If she played her cards right, she ought to at least stay out of prison. She hoped. <Listen kid, this shouldn't be anything personal. But I guess I'm the only professional in this whole place.> She tilted her head in thought for a moment. <Well, the only professional in this fight, I suppose.>