Ari

GM The armored man got into the groove of sidestepping the feinted slashes, and indeed, he almost managed to evade the flashing blade, to the point where he actually looked up from it for a second to laugh at the dragon who wielded it. Which was what let the blade strike home. He stopped, face frozen into belligerence, and he looked down at the weapon sticking out of his leg before looking up at Stormbreaker with a look of very real fear, his old bravado vanished like a puff of smoke and he said very quietly and seriously "Oh God." He then fainted dead away. With an explosion of amber-colored power, the armor dissipated, flying into the orb(that remained lashed to him on the belt) along with the energy suffusing his body and followed quickly by the platform, the whole disk flowing like quicksilver into its parent. He wasted no time starting his descent, and as he did the eye began to pulse ominously as it trailed behind the body, the Amber Curse's unconscious form. What that meant could only be guessed at, but it was plain he wouldn't survive hitting the ground from that height.

How about this: Glow and Heraldo(or just Heraldo, 'cause he's a moron) try to find a local lead on El Sierpe. He gets captured, but not before managing to send a message to Glow through the Blue Dame that he's in trouble.

Very well. Let's go with the Super-Breath Trip thing, that worked out pretty well last time. STR roll: 16. Bedratted!

DC25 TOU save: 11. Dayum. Okay, the Amber Curse is down. Bravura! However, as he loses control over the eye of Argon due to losing consciousness, and goes plummeting towards the ground, from a height that even if he hit the ground with his armored body would surely be fatal to him.

Looking with surprise at Jubatus, the King of Suits checked an expression of that sentiment before it reached even halfway to his throat, replying instead "Mass transit, you say? That explains a lot. Many of the people I found in the Fens weren't exactly in the habit of frequenting public places, but they did rely on bus routes" he frowned at the mention of a 'meta-virus', commenting "From the sounds of it, I would bet a great deal that is in fact what has been unleashed. An attack of this kind would benefit enormously from extending the lifespan of the plague so," he shrugged lightly "I would be glad to investigate the cult, it sounds right up my street in fact. If they are indeed even partially responsible, I will be certain to discover it" he said with pardonable pride.

Nodding with a crinkling of his forehead, Subito followed Blodeuwedd's eyes to the becoated man, staring for several seconds at the guy in bemusement at his rather obvious 'incognito' attire. "A family friend, huh? Those are good to have, no matter who you are" he commented with a grin. "Thanks Blodeu, that means a lot more than I think y'know. To be honest I've been a little worried lately that your family wasn't entirely on the up-and-up, despite their admiral goals and aims" he said with unconscious redundancy. As she headed off to speak with the informant, Subito called over softly "Buena suerta, Blodeu", giving her the thumbs-up as she left the table, relaxing in the chair and listening with great care to the sounds pulsating through the throbbing club. Something suddenly dawned on his conscious mind, an odd, insistent tone. It had only been heard for a short time, but already the young paragon was sure he hadn't detected it until just now. Shaking his head to try and clear it, he wished he had trained a little, tried to bring his hearing better under his control. As it was it hummed infuriatingly just out of range of what he could identify, and he realized with a jolt of irritation that he would have to try and listen around it and everything else to hear what the two said. Though...it's not like it's really any of my business he admitted to himself.

DC10 Notice roll!: 14! Yes.

"I am sorry to have helped stir up such memories" Marceau told Veronica apologetically "what you have told me is immeasurably helpful, but I am sorry to ask all the same." Years of doing this kind of work throughout Europe made those words almost trip glibly off of his tongue, and it caused a twang of guilt in Marceau's gut when he realized the effort that had gone into making the words sound as genuine as they were felt. The King of Suits sat quietly for a moment, writing down short reminders of what Veronica had told him. Once that was done he looked up and said gently "If there is nothing else you can recall at this moment that you think might be of aid in this search, I will depart and start looking into this" rising to his feet he shook her hand warmly, saying "I am sorry for you loss. Let me assure you that this was not done by the Penitent and that his imposter will be speedily brought to account for these and the other crimes committed. I have one last question" he added as he prepared to go, flicking his clothes into preparation for rejoining the Penitent "you said your husband Colm knew about the Penitent, and believed that he was after him; did he ever make any mention, as far as you can recall, about how he knew the man?" It might be nothing, but still...

Wait...okay then. "Whoa, so this thing is pretty out of the norm, even for you?" Subito asked in startlement, turning sharply back to Blodeuwedd with widened eyes "Huh." Biting his lip he went on uncertainly "If he's really in trouble, would he have asked for help from some of the other heroes in the city too? I mean, I'm not very knowledgeable on all of them, but I'd bet there are a lot of people who would be glad to help out with something like this, and be pretty sublte about it too. Or is this somethin' best kept on the really down-low?" By now the entire situation was looking more and more like something he had no business being in, and he almost regretted geting involved. That was fiarly easily kept at bay by him simply reminding himself Neither of us are alone in this. Together, we have a much better handle on this though he still shifted to a posture that would let him easily get out of the chair in case a fight broke out. No need to tempt misfortune in times like this. He also had noticed that he hadn't been told just what it was that was that could have gone wrong Must be something really out of the ordinary for these people

It-it's working! Okay okay, let's see now... "h you know, living around the sea most of my life, so I've flown into my share of seagulls"El Heraldo said, swinging lightly in the iron grip of Strongarm "Mostly I can hear them from far enough away that I can avoid crashing into them and hurting 'em, but sometimes..." he shrugged a little glumly "you know how it is? You forget some of the stuff you can do sometimes, because it's not like you use it all the time or anything." Looking down at the dizzying drop he was being dangled over he suddenly asked in puzzlement, twisting around to look at his towering captor "Also, how do you plan on keeping me from just...flying off if you drop me?"

Ouch! You sure you don't want to spend a HP to reroll that one knocking Butterfly unconscious, Magic?

I think so, just be sure to ask permission before you start!

GM Verlee Mirta looked almost offended at Supercape's words "Sir, if it says that it's some kind of caretaker left behind by the Preservers, as it did to us, then we can hardly be blamed for being a little suspicious, can we? I'll tell you if I find anything out about this matter once your meeting with Admiral Kalf is concluded. Step firmly" she added, apparently as some kind of departing pleasantry, before leading the group bearing Hrnnngsh's tank to an industrial-strength transporter, which whisked the seven of them away in a flare of green sparkles. ----------------------------------- Admiral Kalf was in the mission hall poring over a display of the complex, its architectural secrets revealed at last, with a look of deep concern on his face. The short purple man looked up sharply at the soft tone of the door's opening, and bowed slightly when he saw who it was. Gesturing for the four heroes to be seated he told them without ceremony "Thank you for your assistance in this matter. If I had known that..creature" he spoke the word with a vicious snarl that distorted his solemn features "had been fiddling about with a Terminus portal, I would have never even dreamed of sending you in there. I am deeply sorry for the lack of intelligence gathered and displayed on this assignment, I promise you, and ask that you tell the authorities of Earth, that such mistakes will not be allowed to crop up on future collaborations between us." He stalked over to the window, scowling at a slightly sleeker vessel that was probably his flagship "I will arrange for the Discoverer to take you home as quickly as possible once all that can be persuaded out of that thing can be" he turned back to the four "Any questions?"

That hits! DC27 OU save: 22! Dazed and Bruised again! New round: Amber Curse: Bruised(x3), Dazed-GM Stormbreaker: Bruised(x1), 1HP Voltage: Unharmed, 3HP The Amber Curse is Dazed, can take no action. Take it away Blue!

GM With a whirl of red and white, the shield flew through the air, humming its fearful song. With unerring am, it struck the large creature with impeccable precision on its brow with a clanging thud, twirling back to its master. The huge goblin stood stock-still for a few seconds, staring dully into space before its eyes snapped onto the heraldic-colored man who had hit him, snaring with anger as it groped with a mighty claw at a track next to it, never taking its boiling gaze off of Crusader. Tearing off a shred of rusting steel, it balled the piece of metal in its hands before throwing it with great power and violence into the freight car next to Clark, knocking the thing over onto its side with a great *BONG* as it toppled to the gravel. The Ultragoblin spat furiously at missing, eyes glowing in the dark as it cast about for another missile to make its attacker unable to hit it. Permanently.

Marceau listened with care to Rene's cautionary words, nodding and saying "<I understand. It is a shame i have had no encounters with the Fair Folk>" he said ruefully, glancing nervously down the way he had seen Parsinkle and his troops go, wondering if they were listening even now. He slid a razor card up one sleeve, just in case. Walking in step with Rene through the idyllic trees he continued dubiously "<How much of the truth do you think Parsinkle was telling? Could those people have been caught by his orders?>" he looked up at the far-off hill "<Maybe he wants sacrifices...>"

Oh, it means 'flower'! Awesome! Would have sucked if that meant something bad "I don't really go for the 'always expect crazy stuff' thing a lot of the other students do, but I get why you would, sounds like a pretty dangerous life you live" he commented, sounding almost admiring/ Everything felt wrong? Subito looked very confused at that. "How do you mean? Were they not actin' like they usually do? Were they supposed to already be here?" he had little to no experience with meeting informants, but he had the idea that stuff like that was pretty important. On the other hand, she might have spent so much time dealing with magical business that she could sense it to a degree, like that one guy in that one series the sturdy youth had read a few years ago. Glancing over his shoulder at the dance floor in a casual fashion he asked "Can ya tell me what you think's gonna go down, Blodeu?"

Kris is pretty awesome at this, I'll have to ask her for pointers on questioning dudes thought Subito with an admiring glance at Glow. To Mr. Cloak he said sternly, forcing himself not to thrust the lawyer away from his person "Only one problem with that point of view: her and I are involved. I'm practically bulletproof, Glow here can crush things astoundingly hard with her telekinesis powers, neither of us are friends with whoever wants to get those people back under their thumb, and we will fight to our last breaths to keep them safe. Now, you can keep on refusing to help, but if you do we lose one of our few chances of finding out who's behind this and if they're related to those monsters who ran the prison ship" disentangling himself from the lawyer he added crisply "But if you help...we can defend you. And you'll get a reputation for being the sort of guy one can go to for help, which will only help your business, won't it?"

Marceau looked glumly at the 'Sold Out!' sign, shoving the bills deeper into his pocket, to await their appointed destiny. Today, it seems their destiny is takeout for the posse he decided, beginning to turn back to the entrance and prepare to get a less legal seat, when the ticket tout appeared. Glancing at the man with no obvious concern to belie the alarm bells clanging inside his head, he wandered over to a nearby red-headed young lady who happened to be standing in the perfect place to let him watch his target no matter which way he tried to escape. "Good day, miss!" he said brightly, flashing her a hearty smile "A shame about the selling-out for the Diamondlight show, eh? Quite a shame! It seems immensely popular. Were you coming to see it, by the way? I was, I've heard he's excellent!"

El Heraldo Vignette: NPC Limelight, Galanta Sondo Blod on the Dancefloor 6 IC posts. The Serpent and the Devil 8 IC posts. Two's Company, Four's a Party 1 IC post Shark Week: Ghost Sharks! 3 IC posts. Slave to Time 12 IC posts Venture into the Forest 3 IC posts Y Dderwen 1 IC post 6+8+1+3+12+3+1= 34 IC posts. King of Suits Vignette: NPC Limelight, Ace of Suits Behold the Hunters 1 IC post Crikey! 1 IC post. Diamonds are so Clever 2 IC posts. Goodbye to Gravity, and to Death 6 IC posts. Medical Maladies 2 IC posts. The Snake-Charmers 3 IC posts. The Sins we Share 5 IC posts. anguard#1: Kings and Shields 1IC post. 1+1+2+6+2+3+5+1= 21 IC posts. Wave-Eye First and Final Voyage 2 IC posts. Threat to Society 18 C posts. 2+18= 20 IC posts. GM (Please direct all PP earned to King of Suits) Behold the Hunters 1 GM post. Goodbye to Gravity, and to Death 7 GM posts. Quick to Err 1 GM post. Seal of Sedna 3 GM posts. The Snake-Charmers 1 GM pst. Two's Company, Four's a Party 1 GM post. Vanguard#1: The Inevitable, the Inexorable... 5 GM posts. 1+7+1+3+1+1+5= 19 GM posts.

Quinn's been busy, as has Blue. Vahn too. Just one of things I guess.

GM As the dragon plummeted downwards, something quite unexpected happened. A fierce blast of air came from behind her, propelling her just far enough forward to land with a loud thud on the disk of force, sending short ripples through the construct. The Amber Curse stared blankly at this baffling occurrence for a moment before shrugging and proclaiming "Ha! It all goes exactly as I have planned it! To the very second!" he added offhandedly, like one very happy about finding a pebble they had lost a while back and had some small affection for with no discernible logical basis whatever.

"Is that a fact?" EL Heraldo asked Glow with definite interest, deciding the game might as well continue "That is something I'm sure would be of interest to the Mexican authorities, not to mention American ones." Abruptly turning on Mr. Cloak he said furiously "How did you receive the bribe? In the mail? Electronically? Be truthful, or we'll find the truth without your help and beyond your desire!" he stamped the Banner on the floor for emphasis as he glared openly at the lawyer, fuming internally at the callous disregard for why someone wanted those people back so badly as to bribe someone to get them. "Did you even wonder why you were being bribed?" he demanded passionately "Or are you the kind of guy that needs a little grease to get moving at all?" there were rumors that several Puerto Rican villains were lawyers in civilian life, and now that he looked at it it seemed terribly likely.

Having resumed his everyday clothes(today with the ochre coveralls and clean boots) overtop of his heroics garb, the tall man gave the theatre a very appreciative look. He had attended countless performances at such places in Europe, many of them interrupted by attacks from threats by the living or the dead, and once a bizarre mixture of the two. Something that reminded him so strongly of home was a welcome experience to the young vigilante, who smiled unconcernedly as he stared up at the lofty ceiling, soaking in the feeling of age and peace. Sticking his hands in his pockets he began wandering over to the ticket booth, twirling the bills in his pocket around his fingers. He took a little time to look around himself at the crowd, carefully noting which patrons might end up a few jewels lighter in the coming days.

I will delay action until after Harrier goes, if that is permissible.