Ari

GM It took only a little while longer for the sapient soundwave to figure out what Warren's lengthy silence entailed. she wandered over to the speakers, tracking them by the faint buzz that emanated from the large banks of sound amplifiers, asking hesitantly

Subito was entirely unprepared for Cerys' out-of-the-blue request, and before he knew it he was jerked to his feet and following along ungainly behind her with a bark of "Whoa! 'Little warning next time?". He quickly settled into an even pace for all that, and struggled not to grin at her muted threat to Elias. Enjoying the quiet buzz of the few insects that were still around that late in the year, he sauntered after her into the clearing and began "So-mm!" He looked at her quietly for almost a full minute, blinking several times before smiling gently at the taller girl. Normally he would have been at least a little too self-conscious to try something like it, and knowing that Elias sometimes had problems keep people's thoughts out would have made it awkward, if he had remembered that little detail. With a smooth movement he took her hand in his own and kissed it before answering her "Princess, don't feel like you have to do this for me. We still don't know each other really well. And I don't mean like about our pasts," he added quickly, lowering her hand to his chest as he spoke "I mean our personalities. We've gotten to know each other a bit over the year, but it's not like we've forged a bond between us in fire and steel that has granted us insight into the deepest waters of our souls. For all I know you're just after my body." He looked stern for a second before laughing aloud for several seconds, recovering his composure hurriedly "Okay, okay, seriously though, I'm honored that you think that I'm worthy of joining your family in fighting Evil. If you're that confident in me I gladly accept the offer, and promise I will never let a single one of the secret truths past my lips without your say-so." he shook her hand powerfully before letting go. Barely hesitating he gave her a quick, warm hug "And I agree about the couple thing, with you it cannot be borin'!" he added with a even bigger smile than before. He glanced at the camp "Oh hey, Mr. Landis brought his wok!" he looked hopefully at Cerys "D'you like mushrooms, Blodeu? Ooh! When I'm your boyfriend after becoming an Associate of your family, can I cook for you too?" he asked with an eager look in his shining hazel eyes, offering her his hand as he began walking back towards the camp.

"There was that part!" Heraldo agreed, clutching the other boy a little tighter as he swung over the river, a trail of smoke glittering and wreathing in the air behind them as it slowly spun out like a dying galaxy. Dropping gracefully until the two were only a few inches from the water rushing past them, he slid to a halt. He looked down at Errant "Okay," he said to the other boy earnestly, face set with determination "What do we do next?" he asked, ready for the next demand on this crazy mission. He loosened his grip slightly, looking a little embarrassed as he realized how closely he had been carrying his schoolmate "Er, sorry about that. Wanted to..um...keep down air resistance." he offered awkwardly.

Not ceasing his rapid walk as the two marched in, El Heraldo set his jaw and paced briskly around the desk, gently grasped Ms. Grady's shoulders with his hands, got on one knee and said very gently "Miss Grady, I beseech you: the lives that hung in the balance on our last visit? They are endangered once again-!" he stopped and thought what he had just said over. No, that wasn't what needed to be said. He could do better than that. 'Do not forget.' "The lawyer Mr. Cloak was once enslaved to a man with devilish intent." he began, looking intently into the older woman's eyes "He has concealed evil, and tried to hasten the passage of innocents into the hands of a little tyrant. Now, he has the chance to make amends Miss Grady!" he stood up, bringing her with him, his hazel eyes imploring her for help as he cried "Ah, lady in our hour of need, please let us see Mr. Cloak! Only you can make sure that the evil one is brought to justice, and the ones in peril are delivered! If we bypass you, our words will be for nothing!" he knelt before her, taking her hands in his gloved ones and pressing them to his forehead in silent plea. 'Lord, I hope this works.'

Diplomacy roll: 14. The shock. HP reroll: 19. With the bonus, a 29.

Red Moon could only guess at what was going on above, but she could at least track the Bee-Keeper's movements in the room above, and seeing him rush across the floor and strike at something near the door alerted her to the very valuable fact that the robot was trying to escape! Without taking a moment to consider something very important about her powers, she took a few steps in the floor, and hurled herself clean out into the air, swooping out of the smooth metal without so much as a ripple to betray her attack, landing beside the robot, pulling back her arm and bringing it down with tremendous power into the hide of the mechanical monstrosity! Her psychic claws tore straight for.... ...the mindless automaton. Her hand bonked comically off of the creature's hide, leaving not so much as a mark on the beast. Staring blankly at the thing with the edge of her palm still against the cold metal she said very irritably *krkrash*"Damn it."*grmmmkjhk*

GM Looking just as giddy, Jessica turned to back to the mirror and began to make the final adjustments to her wig, and turned white as a sheet. Staggering backwards and pointing at the mirror in silence for a few seconds, she slowly turned to Kat before whispering "D-did y-you see that? It was a...it looked like a woman's face. In the mirror I mean" she looked back at the sheet of glass, eyes wide before regaining her composure, muttering "I'm sorry, it was...it looked like there was someone there, like gh-ahem!" she quickly made the necessary fiddlings to her headpiece, grabbed her bundle of flowers, and weighed down by the preposterous dress scuttled over to the side of the stage where their entrance was about to be made, saying quickly "Nevermind! I'm sure it was just my imagination, ghosts don't haunt this place. I hope." With a thunderous crash from the cymbals of the orchestra, the heavy red and gold curtain rose a few feet, and swung gracefully through the air, revealing the set of the churchyard cemetery, where the two sisters were bringing bouquets to the grave of their brother. With a solemn funeral march Jessica stepped delicately forward, declaring grimly to the air "I fear, my sister, that the Judge has buried his family evils in the same grave as poor Solomon here! Would that we could raise both..." Meanwhile, above.... The Silver Scream hovered in the air, glowering down at the stage. 'Call that acting?! as poor a work as ever your grandmother did. Let me put it in a better light...'

GM The Queen gave a silvery laugh, raising a finger and crooking it gently as she took a large bite of the aromatic fish on her plate. The chains smoothly tugged Subito next to her chair, and with a sigh she slid an arm around his waist, resting her head against him while smiling sunnily at the three agents. "I am generous, with the rooms of my palace, and the bounty of my fields and flocks..." she gently pulled Subito down next to her, murmuring as she began carefully arranging the curls that stuck out of the feathered cap "..and with myself. Tell me, O emissaries of the Order, how would you like to play a little game while we discuss our bargain?" she asked with a sudden whirl and turning to the other guests a brilliant grin that reflected her odd eyes, pulling the Claremonter onto her lap with a giggle. Nisien looked away with a vague look of politeness, examining the nearby curtain with fascination. Cigfa spoke up with a subtle roll of her eyes to Blodeuwedd "A game would do well to pass the time, but only so long as there are no stakes. We cannot make any further promises as of yet. As we are your guests, might we suggest where the game takes place?" she asked casually, which got a truly disconcerting smile from the Fey royal, who flashed her teeth as she answered "Of course!" With great care the agent gave every appearance of thought "What say you to...the surface of the lake?" The dining hall was suddenly very quiet as the last syllable echoed softly through it. Tossing Subito off her without noticing it, the Queen rose to her feet, observing the agent with a terrible scrutiny behind the smiling eyes. With a flare of her magnificent aquamarine and silver gown lined with diamonds, she sat back down with a bright "But of course!" she clapped her hands and called out after chewing a hearty bite of the fruit that lay on her plate "Bring forth the Afanc!" The doors to the hall opened, and six strapping young fairies entered, bearing on their shoulders a large silver board on which, bound in chains, the lake monster lay looking fairly miserable. Placed on a small dais in the center of the hall, the Queen's voice rang out once more "Give praise to the kindness of your hosts!" she said with a merry laugh, at which the Afanc twitched and shrank down, calling out in a deep voice "I thank you, O majesty, for the food you have given me, for the bed you have allowed me, and the life you have permitted me to keep." it burrowed its monstrous head in the board. None of the Fey that crowded the beautiful hall made any sign that they had even noticed it besides a look of cool triumph. "Tell me, agent" the Queen asked Blodeuwedd warmly "What game would you like to play?"

DC25 Toughness save: 28. ANY DAY NOW. Stormbreaker is up!

Wreak is Hostile, King of Suits is going to try for an Intimidate roll opposed by Wreak's to keep him from attacking: 22. Wreak: 10. Success.

Staring briefly at Errant with a look on his face that spoke volumes about his thoughts on nanomachines(deadly), the close proximity of Southside to the South River(a Godsend), and what he thought about a man with a metal hide wandering around with random nanites in his pocket(what in even the Hell?), El Heraldo said urgently "Let's not hang around then! Hold on tightly to me, Errant!", flinging one arm back around Elias' well-toned chest and under his arms, gripping with a hands like iron as they both hurtled a few yards straight up into the cooling air, the sun reflecting brilliantly off the sea that spread to their right, and luckily lit a vast swathe of the South River as well, towards which the young boy soared with all the speed he could muster. Over the rushing wind that howled around the pair, the rooftops of Southside flashing by at an incredible rate, he yelled out to Errant "I'm beginning to think Kristin should have been the one to show you around! She knows folks, with The Lab! I bet they could disable some nanites no problem!" he flew on in silence before adding "You know, I bet there are people who never stand the least chance of having to fly over to the river with a psychic holding a jar of nanomachines so they can avert a catastrophe. I envy them!"

While the trio of them were being thrust forward, Subito said gently in a voice that carried through the air "Easy now, we aren't here to hurt you. Lead on. " he smiled at them brightly "We're gonna see Broken Crow already? Whoa, I hope we don't screw this up, I'd hate to go down in history as "One of those two jerks who failed at rescuing the Master Mage from a swamp woman."" he muttered, a look of deep nervousness on his face that quickly vanished into another beaming and beneficent smile at their captors. "So Agnes, how do you want to play it when we meet Madame Malaise?" he asked the older woman with a careless grin, adding with a cheeky wink "Does it involve us pretendin' to be a married couple again?" He slapped irritably at the insects that droned and stabbed about him, wishing for the tenth time that day he was one of those heroes that had a supremely tragic past that would have made him able to ignore the ceaseless attack.

"Extraordinary..." murmured the King of Suits at Beatrice's relating of the woman's life, inspecting the brushwork around the eyebrows with considerable admiration. They successfully gave every impression of the hair and skin belonging to the real Comtesse. Marceau felt he could have picked her out of a crowd based on the painting alone. He turned to see how his friend was faring, and grew deeply alarmed when he saw the old man staring into space, talking to thin air. He struggled with the urge to walk over, embrace the ancient painter, try and comfort him somehow...'Ã doubt I could make any difference in that. The poor fellow has probably gotten over more than I will ever suffer. He needs no young fool who will only speak nonsense to him. he thought gloomily. Shaking himself he smiled apologetically at the Lady Martel "Please forgive monsieur de Saens. He has had a hard life, and a long one." he looked back up at the painting, "Perhaps he met her once?" he wondered aloud "He has had strange travels..." That was odd. "Might she have fled the country after the failure of some mission of hers?" the dark-skinned Frenchman offered, turning his bright blue eyes back to their guide "It seems incredible to me that someone with such a charismatic and persuasive character would simply vanish with no trace." "As well, wherever was this work found?"

"...Ach. This is more delicate than I am any use for." Wave-Eye grumbled, sitting with a heavy thud onto the floor, staring at the map "I suppose Ironclad could simply avoid the Nazis' eyes, I have no such ability. Hrmgh. Tell me General, have they made any contact with you? Perhaps they could be deceived into sending some portion of their forces elsewhere for an easy capture or to allow us more graceful entry into their camp, if only you have some scrap of a message with which these thoughtful ones" he jerked a vicious thumb at Ironclad and Victory "can work with." he looked around at the base they were in "...Or else maybe the answer lies in some communications device that they had, and was undamaged during your attack?" he asked, black eyes gleaming with hope.

Excellent work Bee-Keeper!. Red Moon: Moving up out of the ground next to it, switching to Bob Page's own Strike power on the Array, Power Attacking(-3 Attack, +3 Damage): 21! With Fatigue, that's 20. As we can see, Mr. Page is no friend of the moon's. Also SpicyWaffle, you forgot to add in the Fatigue condition she suffers currently.

"Citizens!" Heraldo shouted, spinning on his booted heel and addressing the crowd of edging Southsiders "Please get away from here and this man! Keep this area clear for the next block or so if you can, and tell everyone you meet not to pass through this street! Ms, please inform the police of this new situation!" He hooked an arm around Errant's waist and flew onto a nearby rooftop. "Okay El, what's going on with that guy? Where do we need to go?"

DC25 Toughness save 29. When you feel up to it, Kaiser. Round eight. Kaiser: Bruise(x2)-GM Voltage: Bruise(x1), 1HP Stormbreaker: Bruise(x1), 0HP Our Imperial Friend will use the Area Blast Alternate Power, Rank 5. DC20 Toughness saves for both heroes. Voltage is up.

GM "Yeah, that's m-gragh!" The sword slash tore cleanly through the many-armed woman with a sound like ripping paper, taking her completely by surprise and freezing an expression of shock and anger onto her face, Kaiser gripping that smooth gash stretching across her torso with for a moment before turning savage eyes onto the dragon. With a growl she staggered to her knees onto the muddy grass, just in time for Voltage's dart of lightning to blast inches over her head, leaving a trail of ozone hanging in the air. Closing her eyes the terrakinetic struggled briefly to get to her feet, but clearly the wound was, for the moment, enough to keep her from striking back at the two heroes.

I'll hold off on that because this is already a lot of players.

Edited to reflect that.

From the shallow water Wave-Eye gurgled "So, there is even more than Leviathan afin? Dire news indeed, for everyone..." he grated dourly, raising his head and back, though he kept his head gently inclined. "Is Dagon yet awake? If so we or others will do their best to return him to his slumber. Then again...might he and Dread Leviathan have been drawn by the same power?" he asked dubiously "Have you heard of any new powers in the waves?"

Sadly no, she has a +11 bonus to Defence. Stormbreaker is up.

That hits! DC23 Toughness save: 18. Bruised and Dazed. Round Seven. Kaiser: Bruise(x2), Dazed-GM Voltage: Bruise(x1), 1HP Stormbreaker: Bruise(x1), 0HP Kaiser is Dazed so no turn. Voltage is up! EDIT: Curse me, forgot the other Bruise. Apologies.

The rushing power that blazed forth from the metal bee jolted the Farsider back into full awareness of the battle, a dry wheeze of air disturbing the smoke that swirled around her head ensconced within the helmet, her pale blue eyes glowing dully as she slowly, so slowly, got back to her feet. Taking a quick look at her comrade she gave a wholly perfunctory and unconscious sigh of relief when she saw he was still moving, and the armor looked it had only been partially damaged. 'Good, we can still fight.' Red Moon turned her attention back to the human favoring her with a murderous glare. With a darting movement she leaped towards him, slicing straight at the psychic web that connected his mind to his body...and slammed her fingers with what would have been a painful impact into the metal wall behind him, the leader of the robbers dodging aside with a contemptuous ease that showed on his face. Gritting her fangs Atraxia rebounded off the wall, slashing with a powerful stroke clean through the threads that shimmered before her mind's eye, rejoicing internally as they all but broke! Landing beside the would-be bank robber with a soft thud just before he fell, Red Moon realized suddenly that her elation was considerably premature. *kommmjcrsshhh*"I will strike at it from below, do not lose hope."*kahhhhcjshz* she called over to the third Bee-Keeper, shimmering and sliding straight through the debris-littered floor.

Okay, this is not the best of situations, but hardly bad. Going to Attack the master of the Malanti robbers, Power Attacking (-3 Attack, +3 Damage): 12. Surging for another Standard Action for another Attack(Fatigued), still Power Attacking: 27! Critical hit! DC33 Will save for the Malanti Leader. Free Action to shift to the Super-Movement Power, using Permeate in my Move Action to slide down into the floor!