Ari

Examining the myriad of studded belts holding his outfit together, Marceau smiled fondly and shook his head. He looked like somebody doing costume play of Nick Cimitieré, whitened face and all done up in black leather, though the miniature supernova of his hair was a certain departure. "I am confident our soon-to-be fellows will agree, René! But we have our disguises on, and what splendid disguises they are. I am sure we shall pass wholly unremarked. So then, Detective Cooper," he said to Aaliyah with a bright smile, "what, in addition to your powers of deduction and skill with firearms, have you been allowed to help us with?" "And we must of course not be too late for the con. Lead on, please!"

Removed Changeling, Merge Trois and Philotherian due to their being Archived by their players, putting G-Force and Miss Grue's placeholder entries in their stead along with Tempest's.

Notice roll: 20. Bwahahahahaaaaaaa! Oh my goodness that is perfect.

A harsh shimmer in the alley's chill air was the sole warning before the man appeared. A swift gust of air blew around him, lifting his brown-white cape and several loose pieces of nearby trash for a moment, before settling. He raised his cowled head, sniffing the air and grimacing "Geh, that's some flavour all right. 'Least it ain't as bad as it could be. Could be home." he murmured, sliding yellow-lensed goggles into place and checking the note in his free left hand for a second before setting off down the alley, his bi-coloured costume blending oddly with the stark yellow light of the street lamps and dull gray of concrete. Osprey had first stumbled onto the source of the mysterious smuggling ring a little over a week back. 'At least its source country, city and district, which is still a fair bit of ground' he reminded himself dourly, bypassing a small huddle of Freedonians getting home late via a studied use of his grapple gun and its application to a nearby roof ledge. Alden Richards had heard that Americans welcomed their super-powered guardians as warmly as the French did, but wasn't keen on trying his luck with that tonight. Pausing to get an idea of the unfamiliar city's layout, his lips twitched upwards unbidden as he remembered how easily the smugglers had panicked when he had mentioned, so casually it had almost sounded like an afterthought, that he "could always take you to Synapse..." Vanguard's mentalist was a known quantity by now, and the thought of a psionic sifting through their very souls had the desired effect. 'Quite a few perks to being on a team, really.' Osprey mused as he took off at a brisk run in the direction his note had given him 'I've got mates who can help out when I'm stuck, get us places we couldn't go alone and it lets you tackle even bigger cases than you'd dream of elsewise.' The teleportation device they'd managed to get working again was also handy. There were times you didn't want to bother the others, small stuff like this for instance. A spot of international drug smuggling, nothing to get excited about. His boots scraped noisily on the last roof ledge and nearly made him swallow his tongue, but all was quiet, and he rappelled down to watch the streets below with eyes that pierced every shadow.

"Hello. What are you, now?" Wave-Eye murmured, tensing as he felt the unseen one pass by. Getting to his feet and staring into the black water, he sighed and tossed the fragmented cod into the sea. No beast that large would draw so near without surfacing if it was friendly, leaving unpleasantly few options. Either the Atlanteans had such unimaginably pressing business in Freedom City they had brought one of their oldest and most powerful craft to bear...or else some enormous beast from the Depths had awoken. With a flash of light his thick legs were replaced with a powerful ridged tail tipped by the dragon's spike, and in moments the son of Chachiuhtlicüe was soaring elegantly towards the city, following the unknown thing that tugged at the edge of his senses spread like spiderwebs through the moving water. The flash had revealed a broad grin spreading across the triton's large head, one that grew wolflike as he set off like a red dart. 'O Mother, She of the Jade Skirt, whose dominion is the endless sea,' he thought, black eyes glittering 'I shall never again raise my voice in sorrow or speak ill of my lot, whose destiny is eternal glory in death and Tlalocan!' Setting off as fast as his swinging tail could send him, he charged after what he knew would be an enemy worth the fighting...

Out of character thread for thread. Tempest battles the forces of the Green Man! Can the unrelenting storm defeat the unyielding oak? And on his first day?

GM 10.50 AM, November 4th, 2013, 4500 Swan Drive, Ashton The Parson's Elementary School construction site was positioned on a small hill, just on the edges of Freedom City. To the north and west and mere yards away, the Wharton State forest loomed in a mass of reddening or yellowed oaks and ashes disrupted by the odd sentinel green pine. This site had been chosen, and the architecture modified after exhaustively-precise surveys, to present as little disruption to the beloved and vast national wood as possible. The concrete foundation had set by now, and the two-story frame was already getting into spindly wooden shape. Sounds of hammering and the sight of workers carrying boards and lengths of metal into place gave the scene an oddly old-fashioned quality despite the nearby yellow construction equipment. Jasom Ballard, head foreman of the local DeCosta Construction team, nodded shortly to Arnold Felt, the main foreman who had been overseeing the work in his absence, as he walked briskly up the hill to get a view of how things were going. "Any trouble, Arnie?" he asked hopefully. "None Mr. Ballard! Everything's been quiet this last week." Arnold smiled in relief. Everyone on the crew had heard the rumors, and it had taken a little bit of talking to keep people on schedule instead of leaving when the shadows started to deepen. Jason clapped him on the shoulder a few times and nodded in silent thanks and trudged on, all but running up the ladder onto the second floor framework to check out an iffy-looking bit of scaffolding. Everything was going well in the crisp morning light, until one of the amber-covered trees at the forest's border got up, cascading loose rock and soil in an explosion of dust, and started walking towards the school with heavy, slow strides on each formidable taproot that sent a faint tremor through the ground. At first the rest of the dimming trees were still. Then another, and another rose in a shower of dust and rock and joined the growing vegetable procession marching impassively onwards and churning up the ground as they went like a dark wave. The first had gotten the attention of the workers, who watched in growing horror as it approached and was joined by rustling, creaking cohorts. The rest sent them into a very soft and orderly panicking retreat. "Mr. Ballard? I think we should...um...go. And possibly take the digging equipment. Don't want to get them smashed." offered a nearby worker, edging away towards the ladder and trying to tug Jason along with her. The foreman shook himself abruptly from the shock of seeing walking trees, and said with quiet earnestness "Yeah, good plan. And we need to call for help!"

Taking the carpet bag with unusual grace Heraldo watched the other national hero curiously, edging unconsciously nearer in case the safe exploded or summoned a horrible creature. The idea of switching the Chains from one mystically-augmented state to another was frankly one that had not occurred to him, given his own relatively less varied abilities, and instantly set his brain whirling with other things this kind of storage could be used for. 'You could keep people in there while taking them to the hospital! Carry contaminated stuff without needing to worry about it affecting anyone! Maybe even imprison supervillai-' he paused, that avenue raising some uncomfortable questions, then plunged onwards 'anyway, you could at least move supervillains when getting them to the cops, less chance of their buddies breaking them out of the truck unless they're mystically-attuned. You could maybe even stick a bomb in one if you had to! That's not to mention all the stuff you could do with water or food or building stuff...' Aloud he said "Well as for plans, I was just thinking we ought to clobber Malaise when she shows up for the Chains, but from what Eldrich said that scheme's got unforeseen problems. Especially if her spirit's in that kid, that..." he scowled behind his broad cloth mask "...is kinda cruel. She'll know she has the upper hand, right? We're not going to beat on a little girl like that. So I guess we...I don't know." he glanced around the studio for a little while, weighing what their options were. Happening to catch sight of a marginally more cluttered(Zenith Studios had the usual problem of small buildings in that everything soon became gravitationally attracted to everything else and clustered together) corner he started, turning back with an excited grin "Hey, Why-Bee! I got an idea! What if we asked to meet her in person, instead of through that kid? She's gotta know she won't get anywhere if she keeps this up because now we know she's involved, and you have a bunch of pull with the super-mages who aren't bound like Mr. Eldrich. Then we could get her and her power barred from here forever! Maybe she could even be cut off forever from her realm of power!"

"Aw, Blodeu, you big softy, you just felt sorry for him" Subito teased, gently putting an arm around her waist and soaring up into the air in a flashing arc, aiming for the woods. "Really though. I know what you mean, it's probably why so many super-criminals are nervous about fighting the bigger teams. They know what's gonna happen when they try." He didn't respond to her second comment just then, though he seemed remarkably unphased by it. Landing a short distance from the grassy field where the picnic party was calmly returning, evidently as steeled as most Freedonians were to sudden onslaughts of super-powered troublemakers, the muscular teen let Cerys go before his costume evaporated in a whisper of light. He then stopped to look over at her with an expression of wry humor mingled with world-weariness "Oh my God Cerys, you have no idea. It's like Mom and Dad and Galanta are convinced we engage in passionate love-making every day we're out of their sight and I'm just too shy to admit it." Taking a breath he added seriously, but with a warm smile brightening his handsome face "If that's something you want us to, you know, do sometime, I'll be there. And next time maybe somebody won't start barking in my head!" Laughing quietly he slid a hand behind her head, fingers tangling among the dark hair, and gave her a much deeper kiss than was his wont, the other hand at her hip. Breaking away regretfully he murmured "We should...get back. The others will wonder about us vanishing and those two supers showing up, but Dad and Mom are good at keepin' rumors like those down." Taking her hand in his he added gleefully "Anyway, today's about celebratin' freedom! We can kiss all we want on the beach after an awesome day of football, racing, fifteen different kinds of tacos, party games, and I'll bet you won't say no to a li'l swimming too!"

Right, dropping Philotherian and Changeling cause I'm doing absolutely nothing with them. I thought you were just super-busy with real things. Also, Philos? You heart-breaker! Minor note, the Character Name IS their superheroic name, and the Alternate Identity is their real one. At least from my experience and observation. Some of the Complications seem a little like non-issues. I can't see very clearly what difficulty being absent from home or far from her boyfriend would present, unless some bad guy just so happens to threaten the right people or learn about that little incident with the attempted mugging. Flincher: Even if she can take a hit, the fact that a fist and bullets coming towards you is pretty unnerving. Interesting idea! She's not used to the sometimes vicious reality of fighting, and may freeze at just the wrong moment? Attributes and Combat look good, though her Defence bonus is listed as +9 when the Tradeoff is +1 DEF/ -1 TOU for a PL7. Saves add up though for Reflex and Will you put the bought ranks where the Attribute bonuses are supposed to go. Skills are good and broad, I'd have put the Computers into Knowledge(Current Events) or something similar but your way is probably smarter. Feats add up. Guessing she did some training before the mugging incident? Powers add up, though you need to make clear what it is you're Draining and possibly put [array] tags around that Array so her Immunity and Leaping aren't jumbled in there..

Jerking awake at the sudden blaze of light, Subito blinked in confusion for a moment before the prison became all too real again. Sitting up and rubbing his eyes he asked grumpily "Oh yeah? What's old Stoneface want?" The defiance was half-hearted though, he knew there wasn't much point antagonizing people. Not yet anyway. Maybe later when they figured out the collars and evened the playing field. Eating with relish despite the honestly bland fare('Man, they need to get Mali on the phone so she can give 'em some tips...'), Subito leaned against the wall, chatting casually with his schoolmates. Nothing particularly important, besides a question he put to Giang "Hey Giang, you want us to leave the talkin' to you?"

With a noisy splash and a guttural sound deep in his throat, Nochehuatl burst from the grey North Atlantic water and landed on a small patch of almost invisible shoals close to the Bay's southern edge, his mighty tail, tipped with a dragon's arrowhead, turning with a flash of light into a pair of inhumanly muscular legs with which he sank down to sit cross-legged upon the rock. In centuries past sailors from the Carolinas and Virginia had studiously avoided this part of the natural harbor, instead banking to the north and east before swinging around into the safer and deeper central passage; "They learn quickly" Wave-Eye thought as he stared towards the glittering towers and blazing streets. The demigod triton glistened dully in the gray half-light, this far from Freedom City's light pollution and the deep red of his naked scaled body was hardly more than a rumor of color, though several of the vivid tattoos that covered him from fanned head to clawed toe shone alongside his numerous piercings. He looked like a codex painting come to life, which was actually rather near the truth. A large cod was gripped between the powerful fingers of his left hand, quite dead. Its backbone was neatly severed and the throat opened to let a thin stream of blood flow into the sea. With a melancholy sigh. like surf pounding a beach. Wave-Eye took the heavy conch shell draping at his side by a leather cord and breathed into the narrow end. Holding the fish and conch in his spined, claw-like hands, he delicately cut apart his meal and washed it from the clear water pouring out of the magic shell. This done he opened his mouth, reflected light gleaming on a multitude of fangs, and calmly ate the fish. "Nothing. Nothing to be found. I would have thought the coming of Winter would surely cause trouble. Something." He was watching the city again, leaning on massive arms as he peered across the water. As he usually did when nobody else was around, he was talking in his harsh, grating form of Holy Speech that reformed itself into the ears of any sapient being who could hear him. "Those young travelers with a broken mast, that man who fell off the ferry, surely there is more I can do. The Merry Land is but a short distance from here, even shorter if you fly, but as soon as one gets a few miles from this city..." he shook his head, the narrow fans crowning it waved back and forth gloomily. "Two years. Soon I shall have been here two years...and to what good? The fell souls below are warded off by Drowned Atlantis, Mighty La Siren and her Freedom League traverse the globe in power, I have embarked on no grand adventure, encountered only scrapings of the horrors I know will arise, and...I have and can do so little more than I could then. I should give up my dream, La Siren will never want some old butchering relic of a triton in her service..." He smiled bitterly "Strange that someone who has seen ten thousand years of this world should mourn two," he said, "but the world has changed. Things happen faster now, as though the pulse of the omniverse itself has quickened and some vast scheme falls into place. More and more I see, and more surely I know my time is past." Stirring on the rocks he shifted position, heedless of the black waves pounding his brawny shoulders and back. Smugglers still visited the city now and again. It would have been unbearable to miss them because he was so absorbed in self-pity. His depthless black eyes dimmed "If only something could happen where I would be useful..."

Yep. Misses by 2 since they're flat-footed.

Tagging.

Hail ImpliedSpider! I don't like spiders much but you're cool! May you return to this day many times, each with happiness and a joyous spirit.

Osprey stared up in momentary shock up at the blazing emblem of patriotic light, too surprised to say a word. Then he heard the voice, more like a howl of animalistic rage than something a thinking being used, and his blood chilled. He jerked forward, syllables forming as he saw the creature behind her stretch his wings, leap off and slam into her, wincing in sympathy pain as the talons curved around Young Britannia and carried her into the sky. He closed his eyes. "...Of -ing course it's you. Why did I ever doubt you, Tylluan?" he said between gritted teeth. Almost at once his body began to twist and warp; his face behind the mask stretched and swelled, sprouting feathers and a savage beak. Yellow eyes opened as the mask slid back entirely, fixing themselves on the metal bracelets now holding limbs of feathered iron mounted with black talons. Staring at the handcuffs for a moment, he let out a soft hiss and suddenly was a whirl of motion, ripping and clawing out of the restraints until they bent with a tortured groan of steel and snapped into pieces! With a satisfied chuckle, he shot to his feet(breaking open the van's roof in the process) and launched into the sky! Massive wings banded brown and white unfurled from his back and beat the air, sending the avian avenger straight at the massive owl-man! As he reached Tylluan Osprey swerved, lashing out with a talon at his enemy's side, attempting to use his momentum to inflict much more damage than he normally could. He'd need every advantage here.

First things first, time to get out of the handcuffs the old-fashioned way. Escape Artist check: 16. Intimidate roll to convince Nelson and his buddies that maybe they shouldn't try to stop him: 24. Edit: I did not see that offer Supercape made. I will take that! Transforming into his Alternate Form and snapping those 'cuffs. Osprey is now Bruised. Move Action to get out of the van, and SURGEing(Fatigued) for another Move Action to fly up 200ft. and attempt to claw Tylluan: 21. Should that hit Tylluan suffers a DC27 Toughness save.

GM Blodeuwedd's attack struck squarely, but instead of the flashy woman's unarmed torso hit her upraised arms with a soft *whump*. Stumbling back, the Chocolateer rubbed her forearms vigorously and glared at the younger woman "Honor? Do you talk with 'thee's and 'thou's too, missy? Get with the times!" she added while adjusting her floppy hat. All the same she looked worriedly at her failing monster, bubbling and melting and cracked in the middle of the street. She looked back at her opponents, undiminished in number and more than a little angry. "In fact, I'll take my own advice! Bombs away, Marcel!" she cried with great bravado as a hand thrust into her left pocket and reappeared with a small remote, which she pressed just before she started running. The giant chocolate bar of sugary doom suddenly glowed. Sunbeam looked at it critically "I thin-" she began, the rest of the sentence drowned out in the catastrophic explosion of chocolate that spewed in a molten wave over the teen heroes and several yards of road. It stuck, clung and hampered their every move. Alarms blared as the liquid confectionery slammed into the hastily-abandoned vehicles, and in a few seconds what was at first a battleground became a complete and total mess. "Blach!" Aidah spluttered as she furiously(if clumsily wiped away the dripping goo from her face "If this is how all your supervillains are no wonder you-wait." Holding up an oddly spotless hand she wiped experimentally on her slathered arm. The chocolate came away without leaving so much as a smear. "But...how is this possible? This defies at least three natural laws I know of!" A look of determination came over her face as the chocolate fell away "My friends, we must go and-" "-actually get to Claremont Academy? I agree Ms. Sesay." Mr. Pao and the Dakanans had returned, politely waiting for the chocolate to fall off the van before getting inside. The former diplomat smiled wryly "The police will probably want to collect your statements, but I've heard that superheroes in this city can vanish without warning. Let's get going, just a little way to go before we're at the Academy." With a snort and haughty toss of the head at being denied the chance to chase down the Chocolateer, Aidah dropped to a cleaner part of the road and dispelled her flowing costume with a wave. Walking back to the van she glanced over at the others, her face softening a little. "Thanks for your help, if I had been alone it...might have ended badly. Unlikely, of course!" she added with a return of her confident smile, sauntering back into the van.

Sad to say, Supercape, Roi can pass that Bluff by taking 1! Stealth is more likely. Let's see: 31. You have failed me Invisible Castle! Failed for the last time until the next!

GM Tsunami's out-of-nowhere attack had shaken the Serpent guards' nerves, weakened their formation, and Blodeuwedd's follow-up scattered them like nine-pins around the hallway. Leathery thuds resounded in the cramped hallway as the soldiers toppled and crashed, light wounds, sprains and minor concussions the only sign the attack had happened at all. At once the four robed creatures following the Queen halted, and forming a silent barrier of wicked spears they prepared for the onslaught. In contrast to their comrades they were cool as cucumbers. "Thisss changesss nothing" the Queen announced primly, tightening the knot holding a cloth gag over Subito's mouth. He'd opened it to call out something to Giang and Cerys, but the reptilian royal had seen the movement and snapped his jaws shut, tearing off a piece of his robe to silence him better "the ssacrifissse will be given, and order restored!" This done she kept him close, the fiery heart of Viracocha blazing in her hand.

That does it, they cannot make that save. They are down, at least the basic troops. Tsunami: Unharmed, 2HP Blodeuwedd: Unharmed, 2HP Serpents(x5): Unharmed-GM Go to it.

DC19 Toughness save: 23. No damage, but Fiating that she decides discretion is the better part of valor and causes her giant chocolate bar monster to explode and cover her escape! We are OUT of rounds.

Thank you! Shadows(x4): Unharmed-GM Young Britannia: Bruised(x1), 2HP Two of the Shadows make an attempt to catch YB in more snares, the other two just attack with blasts: 14, 15. So two DC19 Reflex saves please. 11, 28 A DC23 TOU and a DC28 TOU save. Yeesh. Anyway, if you fail one or both of those things will proceed apace. Sorry it's not a fairer fight Tiff!

If he had been fully honest at that moment, the young tailor would have flatly said he didn't think that was a good idea. Disregarding for a moment that if he showed up seemingly drunk with a young woman in tow that would alert the more serious crew members and make them more than a little anxious to keep him out of the ship's innards, there was the problem of how that would square with the policemen following. At best it would invite unwelcome attention, at worst it would indict them of crime through rumor alone. Agnes was, however, a very persuasive lady when she needed to be. Blushing, but less than he might have, Roi at first tentatively then warmly reciprocated the embrace. Staggering up the gangplank while laughing almost as unsteadily, he picked his way on deck. "Allonz, ma'mshelle, le chambre is just this way!" he slurred in a way that clearly advertised drunkenness, giving her a lecherous grin that only the darkness kept from looking wholly alien on his face. Instead it was merely out of place and awkward. Stumbling purposefully towards the cabins he whispered in the singer's ear "The passenger log, it must be in the captain's quarters."

Osprey's Initiative roll: 28. Darn it Tylluan! Go back to Cornwall and freak people out for no reason there!