Ari

Startled out of a dry bit of record that listed the inauspicious beginning of one of the Ogoun-bearers of 1815, Subito thought about that for a moment, answering slowly "No..no there isn't. Well, back then Europe was a lot closer to mind, especially French and Spanish stuff, so some of that might have filtered into their thinking? I mean, knights were a big cultural deal back then, and they still come up sometimes nowadays. But yeah..." he looked back at the paragraph detailing the event before flipping through the other pages about Puerto Rico's spirit, at last returning to the starting point with a baffled look "...the armor just vanishes after that. I guess whoever wore it sustained it or something? I dunno. I need to ask about this guy, he sounds pretty certainly magical. It does say that it took place on..El Yunque. Huh. That's ironic." he commented with a grin, before looking up and blushing slightly as he remembered John "Oh yeah! Sorry, 'El Yunque' is Spanish for 'The Anvil'." Leaning back in the chair he scanned the page again "Still can't believe she wouldn't tell me about this..."

Glaring at this new opponent El Heraldo stepped forward, pointing the Banner at him challengingly "Whoever you are, and I bet you're El Sierpe, given your motif, you will answer for your crimes, and you will be brought to justice!" the golden smoke wreathed around him and Glow, slowly sharpening them as he spoke "You will be made to answer everything that has been done by you and in your name, and your dung-heap of an empire will fall apart once and for all!" with a flash and a roar as of a thousand shouted voices he got into a battle stance "I doubt you'll come quietly. Anyone who would do what you did can't be humble enough to surrender. Fight, then, and get what satisfaction you can out of defeat to us!"

Using a HP for Inspire.

GM The front desk quickly answered "Good evening, ma'am. This is the Lab, how can we help you? Oh, three Grue? Mutated, potentially by unknown chemical agents? Well, this is on too short a notice to write you in for our more advanced facilities, but we can certainly help! Take the second service entrance, give your..name at the booth, they'll let you through." It took only a few minutes to lower the three aliens down, secure them in Catalyst's van and race off for the elongated egg-shaped skyscraper that housed the most prominent super-scientists in Freedom City while keeping within the posted speed limits. The late-night traffic hummed past the duo in the van, the red and yellow lights playing across the interior in rapid flashes. The weary-looking man at the booth nodded when Catalyst gave her moniker, opening the unassuming yellow gates for them into the loading dock, where a small team of coated and gloved assistants were waiting. The three Grue were quickly taken to one of the smaller medical examination rooms, hooked up and sedated to prolong their state of unconsciousness. Preliminary studies of their blood and the tissue around the mutated areas revealed that it held an astonishing amount of copper, and that the vials held copper dissolved in aqua regia. "So..." one of the Lab technicians explained to the waiting heroes "as far as we can tell, this is what happens to Grue when large amounts of copper-based metals are injected into their bodies. Do you have any idea why they would do this?" she asked, glancing back at one of the aliens on the medical slab, raising an eyebrow "Because this doesn't seem to actually help their biological processes at all."

Bayview Mall, October 1st, Monday, Noon. Subito waited outside the mall on one of the wood and concrete benches thoughtfully provided for the ease of pedestrians, awaiting the arrival of his friend Serge. He winced as he remembered the incredibly awkward way he had suggested that they "Y'-you know...um. Go out? Together?" he snarled incoherently and settled further back in the bench, hoping dourly that this wasn't a forecast of things to come. As one of his closest friends in the city, Subito dreaded the possible precedent his discovery about himself set.

GM Constance gave a short buzz that sounded vaguely agreeing. Jay had given her a lot to think about. The bizarre duo made their way unmolested to the cheering crowd before Riff's thundering stage, the final set quickly approaching, something that all of the fans could sense in the air, with all its attendant slight feeling of regret as the music began to draw to its final chords. Among the crowd Constance's faint thrumming became much faster, and Jay could catch snatches of song she was quietly singing along with the band on-stage.

Hearing the ruckus inside the mansion, Heraldo redoubled his efforts, quickly disabling the cars and laughing at the tickle of the bullets ricocheting off his costume "HaHAHAHAHAha!Go and warn your leader! Tell him that his DOOM approaches!" he shouted happily at the blind windows of the house, watching with delight as Glow sent the helicopter crashing in front of the gate. Now for the Serpent and the Doctor, who could only be the man that had eluded he and Glow those months ago. Squaring himself with the front door, he flung himself with a battle cry straight through the two mighty slabs of oak, crashing into the front hall in a shower of splinters and landing in a crouch, slamming the Banner into the floor and calling out "Come forth! If you would save yourself, than face Glow and me! You have no other path of escape, El Sierpe!"

GM At the tell-tale snicker coming from Crow's vantage point three of the remaining Super-MAX Crusaders dashed headlong at the lamp, leaping slightly into the air trying to smash their crushingly-powerful fists into where they had heard the sound, all of their mighty limbs missing their target with room to spare, shouts of anger and confusion echoing throughout the street as they landed back on the pavement, disproportionate heads whipping around at the fog that blanketed the world around them as they tried to catch some sign of their attacker. Meanwhile, two others had decided to follow where the binding steel cords had come from, hurling themselves into the air and landing with resounding thuds on the roof right next to the King of Suits, "Say g'night, frog!" one of them cried, throwing back his fist and hurling it at where the accented voice had come from, slamming it into the concrete with a howl of pain, his ally attempting to strike where their target had evaded to, but merely ending up bruising his own knuckles. The sixth listened briefly to the furious bawls coming from the other two directions, and dashed out of the fog into the clear, stumbling over the bodies of his fallen comrades before blindly jumping entirely free of the alley, quickly getting himself into a ready stance as he scanned his vicinity. The two non-mutated Crusaders were much more badly shaken by the shocking attack, and dashed back inside, heading for the basement and their phones. "Gotta tell White Knight!" one of them gasped to the other "This is gettin' too crazy for us!"

"Eh, just that the loser of a race we had in the woods had to go to dinner at the winner's parent's house, and the movie of the winner's choice" Subito explained breezily, jumping over to the cabinet and rifling through the narrow plastic and broad cardboard covers that crammed it nearly to bursting, retrieving a slim disk case bearing the name of The African Queen "and my choice is the best Humphrey Bogart movie ever made" he declared fervently, to considerable kindly murmurs from Pavor who was busily reading a technical manual on electric wiring, a mutter of irritation from Rodrigo who was curled up with one of the Asimov Foundation books, and a casual "If you think the guests would like, Subito, then yes" from Broma. Slipping the disk into its player he took his seat next to Serge, snatching the remote from its concealed place in a drawer of the cabinet as he went. The grand drama of the sister of a missionary, the steamboat captain, and their struggle against Nazis unfolded with great style despite the necessary lowering of the television's volume to keep from annoying the neighbors. The stocky young paragon was all but glued to the unfolding tale, tearing up at all the right places while his much more stoic sister patted him kindly on the back. During one especially affecting scene she bent over to Victoria and whispered confidingly "I think he's seen this part about twelve times now" she glanced furtively back at her brother, adding "By the way, how has he been doin'? With..people at school? Has he met someone?" she asked vaguely, obviously uncomfortable with the question.

That hits. DC20 Reflex roll: 6. Bound. DC20 Fortitude save: 14. Failed by 6, so Dazed and Bruised. The other 6 Super-MAX Crusaders make their moves, 3 of them attacking the invisible figure of Crow, 2 leaping up onto the roof where King is and 1 running out of the fog. First three attack rolls: 13, 25, 11. One of them attempts to counter the Concealment: 3. Missed. Other two rolls: 15, 21. Neither hit. The Crusaders still inside...go back in, moving to call the White Knight so he can get there faster.

The powerfully-built young paragon had grown closer and closer once they were actually inside the floating fortress, watching every corner in case sudden..something, anything, lay behind it. The sparsity of furnishings compared to the Cressida made it all the more unfriendly along with what it was made of, and he was nearly happy to turn that last corner, face that last door, and enter into the heart of this woman's flying palace. He glanced sharply at the food and drink on the table after seeing the first blur of their host, wishing his powers allowed him to see and smell as well as he could hear. He glanced back up at Madame Vapeur and started a little obviously, not expecting that she would be so..grand in person. Seeing her clothes he suddenly realized how shabby he looked, and for an instant he toyed with the idea of transforming, to- 'Subito? No.' -remain as he was. Unsure what the protocol for paying their respects was he said as politely as he could "Madame Vapeur, it is beyond even our highest hopes t'be given such a bounty as this. Thank you." he sat down and quietly selected some of the more fishy dishes and letting the adults do their thing. He had at least a little sense.

GM Putting a hand on the younger Agent's shoulder, stepping backwards into the crowd and neatly donning the Gwyddbwyll over her hat, Agent Branwen peered briefly though the lenses, scanning the lake for a moment before she breathed in sharply "Yes, that would seem to be the case. I'll try and bring the conversation around to..well, to that" she said, gesturing discreetly at the rictus hanging invisibly above the lake. Turning back to the barge she advanced into her old place, watching the Otherworlders on the boat and glancing every now and then at where she had seen the ones standing among the trees. Medraut signaled again to Branwen, this time downright savagely, saying pointedly <"My right hand will proceed">. Giving him a quick placating smile the Agent adjusted her hat and spoke to the queen <"O Queen, I am called Branwen. We were unaware that you had obtained this lake from the Prince, and I promise you that we had no intentions other than to remove the troublesome animal"> she smiled at the crisp woman hopefully <"if you will allow it, we will send a delegation to retrieve the Afanc and our..associate as soon as you will give your permission."> There was a long silence broken only by the shuffling feet of the Order agents and the splashes of the barge oars. "We will grant it. On the condition that you bring something of equal worth. They are both my property now, after all. I will leave this" she removed a ring from her finger and threw it onto the shore where it bounced and sparkled to a halt "until you are ready. Throw it back into the water when you have come to your decision of what to bring in exchange. Now, if any of you have any desires , speak them now. I grant you all permission to proclaim" she added magnanimously.

Subito's face fell at Cerys' account of her lack of talent in keeping plants alive "Aw, that's really too bad. Gardenin' is pretty rewarding, and super useful! We had a garden back home in Adjuntas, tiny patch of vegetables that we pretty much manicured" he smiled fondly at that memory, looking up at the blue sky...blinking suddenly and looking back at the studenhts sheepishly "Ah! Right, the Greenhouse. This way!" Leading the way northwards and across the rolling lawn to the Greenhouse, which had been built a short distance from the main Academy Quad, Subito gestured grandly to the neat, hexagonal glass and recycled plastic construction with his free hand, the other in his pocket"Behold! Built by strength, grit, persistence, lots of friends and a good handle on geometrics: the Greenhouse!" holding open the door for the small group he nodded to Crow "You know a lot more about this place than I do, Morgan. Could you tell her about it?" he asked hopefully "I'd do it, but I don't want my gaping ignorance to lead her astray!" he added laughingly.

GM Was her only reply on that front. As they got to the gate of the park she went on They passed by the car that Pawn had thrown on top of the other car, both of them perfectly pristine and not damaged in the slightest. As the two altered humans sped by Constance suddenly spoke up she asked nervously, the Fastest Cat Alive and the living sound proceeding apace through the startled crowds of music-lovers, sweating families and general convention-goers from all over the city, Freedonians stepping back to let the strange cat pass by, a few of them recognizing Jay and offering cheerful hollers as he loped down the twisting paths to Riff's stage, which stood out from the even more eclectic and enthusiastic crowd cheering the band's performance.

'I do not like Madam Vapeur' Subito thought to himself, glancing back at the image winking out of view before turning back to the amazing sight before him. Cerys' words drew his attention sharply back to her as the other airship drew nearer and nearer to them, and their unsettling host with it. "Blodeu, you better bet we won't be dead weight you'll have to drag out. We'll keep our heads on straight, figure out what's going on and what these figurines have to with anything, and stop Vapeur if she's up to somethin' sketchy" he smiled and clapped her on the shoulder as he began to follow Lord Steam, keeping in step with her "I'm sure everything will work out if we put ourselves to it". He looked up at the towering structure they approached, his smile not wavering in the least and his legs thudding on the walkway. 'With these two, we can't fail. Nor will I.'

The elfin prince preened himself elegantly at Rene's compliments, seeming quite pleased at the words of praise. "I will at least insist that you see some small part of my realm! This wasteland is no place to entertain friends of Parsinkle. My castle is barely a half-day's march from here, and I can cut that time short by several hours. These ingrates," he said, gesturing to the Redcaps below him in the cage "have become convinced that some sort of deliverer has arisen, who will rescue them from their servitude to Fey lords such as I. As you have seen yourself, these renegades have not a righteous bone in their stocky bodies, else why would they have stolen your people to feed their gluttonous bellies? No, no, they just wish to be free to commit whatever atrocities they want, free from the civilization we higher Fey have brought them, free from the order we enforce on their scurrilous race!"

GM <"Yes, this is definitely helpful for that."> agreed Branwen nervously, tilting back her bowler hat as she examined the incoming boat <"As for pacts and treaties..we have the usual nonaggression pacts and an agreement to guide any members of the others' world that get lost back home, but none of the 'special' treaties. This makes no sense, they shouldn't have any reason to do this, or the power to pull it off..."> she bit her lip as she scanned the painfully slow barge <"They follow a very strict 'speak only when spoken to' code of conduct, with the most important speaking before their right hand can speak, then their left and so on. Mr. Medraut will have to negotiate here, unless he delegates that to one of us."> <"I dare say that will be Nisien, he has the most experience dealing with the Otherworld. If this is the Queen of Conwy's new hunting round, we will be in rather deep trouble regardless"> said Cigfa dourly. With a creak of oars, the barge came to within twenty metres of the shore, the seated woman smiling pleasantly at the humans on the shore "I bid you welcome, Defenders of the Line of Lleu Llaw Gyffes. What brings you to my realm?" Gulping a little, Medraut adopted a friendly smile and called back <"We thank you for your kind greeting, O Queen. We have merely come here to rid you of a troublesome pest to you, an Afanc that had awakened and begun to cause problems that must have troubled even your magnificence."> She raised her right hand, and the Fey who had caused Subito and the lake monster to vanish said in a voice that echoed across the lake "We were preparing to hunt the Afanc ourselves when your agent trespassed into the royal Court. He shall be held until he has understood his crime and rendered appropriate service" she raised her left hand, and the other armored Fey declared "If you wish, you may see him, and know for yourselves he is being treated without cruelty." The Otherworlders looked at the Supervisors expectantly. Medraut forced himself to look calm, glancing suddenly at Blodeuwedd and raising his right hand, muttering to her <"We need to get both your schoolmate and the Afanc out, we still don't know what the spell is and we need to protect against it.">

The man's story was truly pitiable, but Subito was still wary "You can talk to these guys, I can't. I would vote we go and find these Serpent People, see if there're any others with this story. If so, we can find out more about this Madame Malaise..that's a great name for this lady, by the way. No matter what she's really called, I'm gonna call her that" he laughed, an odd sound in the close and dreary swamp. Quickly regaining his sternness and fighting back a handsome grin he went on "Anyway, we should ask this guy where these other folks are, I bet he could lead us straight to them!" he declared excitedly.

Success! She sees that the forest around the lake is filled with the figures of the Twylyth Teg, who are using their glamours to conceal themselves from sight, the Chessboard showing them as blobs of roiling magic. The hazy outline of a giant's skull lies over the lake.

"Mm. Okay then." He was pretty sure people like himself would be best kept as far away from proactive and deterrent approaches as possible. Joseph had at last asked the loa to leave him and choose another cheval, as the distance from his old life was slowly leading the man into a deep depression. Ogoun had agreed and found another bearer in the form of a middle-aged woman from northern Haiti. The next hour and a half was spent in the tangled minutiae of the two-year long struggle between the steeds of Ogoun and Chango over the direction the Orichas should take with their newly-liberated worshipers, with Ogoun encouraging them to consolidate the island and strengthen their holding, and Chango arguing for them to take the fight to the other slave-holding islands, neither willing to give any ground but nor was either one really eager to destroy each others' works. At last both were depowered by Olokun in 1806, who put a moratorium on the practice of riding mortals for the warlike loa. The years from 1806 to 1818 were mostly without the presence of the loa, though one odd thing was known to have occurred: "Huh, this is weird. Apparently in 1815, just after the passing of the Royal Decree of Grace, a knight in blue armor was found washed up on the beach of Puerto Rico, mourning the death of their companion and claiming to be the steed of 'an unknown god'. When questioned by a young practitioner they refused to answer any specifics, asking repeatedly to meet the ruling spirit of the land. The spirit was pretty fragmented back then," he added by way of explanation to John "Sh' barely had a personality, much less a form until about 1890 or so, when the big push for independence was getting in gear. She could could communicate back then though, so this next part at least makes sense: the blue knight went into the hill country and was seen to vanish in a flash of gold, leaving the armor behind. He was never seen after that." he looked puzzled "She never mentioned anything like that, and I totally asked about everything she could remember from the 19th century" he shrugged it off "Anyway, back on track: in 1818, Ogoun was permitted back into the world to help stave off an incursion of the Serpent People living beneath the island, who had infiltrated the government and were trying to thwart unification..."

GM The empty hallways echoed Asad's taunt back to him and sent it resounding to the ears of Silver Spider, Starlight and the OVERTHROW agent crouched next to the alien. She started up in surprise, almost dropping her gun as she got to her feet, staring down the hallway and quickly finishing the tuneups she had almost concluded before switching off the safety. She still hadn't noticed Starlight. Freedom Medical Center was as busy as the premier hospital servicing Freedom City could be expected to be, with single, pairs and small groups of Freedonians making their ways down the halls. The crisp, ramrod-straight suited man and woman with the short and impeccably cut hair standing in the lobby were definitely out of place by virtue of their not moving until they saw Omen. Walking up to him the woman offered her hand "Agent Anthea of AEGIS, this is Agent SIlas, of the same agency. You're Omen? If so, please deposit the files on the front desk and tell them 'Proteus', they'll understand" she gave him a brief smile "After that, we'd like to talk with you for a bit in the parking lot." With a slight nod from the otherwise silent Silas, the two walked out the door.

"Not now or ever!" added El Heraldo, bursting out of the mystic bonds with an explosion of mingled green and yellow light, rising to his feet, catching up the Banner and hurling himself into the now stumbling and unfocused sorcerer of the Serpent People, striking the vicious mage with his shoulder like a flying, patriotic battering ram! Rebounding from his foe and skidding to a halt on the floor, the powerfully-built teen doffed his feathered hat and bowed to Glow with a sprightly flourish, "If you would do the honors, Glow!"

Sure thing. SURGE(Fatigued)ing for another Standard action after his Move action over to Iapetus. Attack roll: 20! if that hits, DC26 TOU save as per usual.

Looking with satisfaction from the roof down at the trap that he and Crow had set up(wincing a few times at particularly harsh impacts or invectives), the King of Suits narrowed his eyes the space between his eyelid and cheek at the challenge, drawing a slim card from his belt, calling back "No, I do not think that is appropriate. The likes of you do not warrant a fair fight!" punctuating that statement of words that were emitted from his mouth at the speed of sound with a powerful toss of the card at where the grotesque man stood, the thing splitting in mid-flight and twisting into a coiling snake of metal that bound securely around the man, restricting his movement from shoulder to ankle with its winding length. How it had been packed into the size of a playing card was a mystery for the ages.

So round 1: King of Suits: Unharmed, 3HP Crow: Unharmed, 2HP Super-MAX Crusaders(x8): Unharmed-GM Crusaders(x2): Unharmed-GM Tenebrous: Unharmed, 3HP Snare attempt against one of the MAX Crusaders. Attack roll: 21. Hits. DC19 Reflex save for the Crusader: 9. Failed. Crow is up.