Ari

DC21 TOU save: 25! Many thanks IC!

He hadn't been expecting human tech to be so...fast. With a muffled grunt of pain, Wave-Eye collapsed to one knee, the shock and pain of the blistering attack radiating through him. He had managed to evade one of the shots by the simple act of jumping up, and another by ducking down. The third proved to him that they had basic pattern-recognition, at least. With a sharp hiss of expelled breath he gurgled out "Heh...heh..heh..urgh" he managed, unable to form a coherent sentence even he could understand. Through the mist of pain he suddenly felt something, a heavy pounding approaching rapidly, something FAR heavier than any human he had ever met... Could it be...? he wondered, jaws gaping as he stared at the floor.

Marceau dealt with people who had fallen through the cracks of society with some regularity, and it was something of a relief to catch up on the word on the street with people like Old Will. "I know how it is, Mr. Williamson" he answered breezily, leaning in a relaxed fashion against the alley wall "I have dealt with similar matters many times. silver rings though..." he examined the specimen the vagrant bore "..they were much rarer. You found this in your cap after hearing footsteps though? And saw nobody? Hmmmmm" the lean Frenchman held it up to a critical blue eye for a few moments before lowering it and smiling at Williamson, clapping him heartily on the back "Old Will, my friend, this settles it: so far a lot of these sorts of items have been appearing in the hands of folks in your position in life, and all have been of around this quality or better. The genius thing though?" he said grinning his white smile "Is that this is precisely the same as a ring I saw advertised as missing by a Ms. Janet Houlstrough, According to a little detective work of mine, she lost it shortly after a visit to the Supremo Theatre, at a show by the magician DIamondlight" he put an arm around Old Will's shoulders, staring directly into the other man's eyes "just as several other notable socialites and family of wealthy persons have since Diamondlight first began performing. By this point, I have ruled out entirely the thought that this is a coincidence. This is all connected. It's time for me to see a magician about a thieving spree" he drew himself up to his full height, swept his cape about him and stalked off in the direction of a fire escape, slipping Old Will a slim packet of (very tasty!) rations he had devised himself and a small note, on which was written in neat cursive See me when this is reported solved at the old ratcatcher's.

Yes.

Tagged with sleuthing. Gather Information: 30! Investigate(If allowable): 26. Knowledge(Streetwise): 30.

GM Parsinkle stared at the two with a look of mild disbelief before tossing back his capped head and laughing heartily, a deep, booming laugh that echoed through the forest and seemed to come from behind the trees that ringed the small band. As the last chuckles died away his head sank back to its usual resting place, and he smiled at the two humans, saying generously "But of course! Rest a while as you need. I will send a beast to fetch you if you stay overlong, however" he added with a touch of steel in his kindly voice "So have a care and keep your ears open!" he finished with a merry twinkle in his eyes as he nudged his horse into a walk, proceeding into the sparkling trees, the silent attendants marching after him with plodding feet, the party soon swallowed up by the beauteous woods. A few cautious chirps began to sound out.

"Sure thing Blod'" came the energetic reply. Sitting up with better posture in the chair he added suddenly, slight concern on his face "Er..it's okay if I call you that, right? It's not offensive somehow?" Listening with due care to her brief instructions, he nodded emphatically to demonstrate he'd understood, though the throb of the beat and the various distracting noises going on all around made that task a little more difficult than if he hadn't had his powers. "So I oughta say we just met and I don't really know you?" he grinned openly "Well, I'd say that is pretty much true, I've no problem with that." A sudden thought crossed his mind and he asked "Do you expect a fight is gonna happen?" glancing anxiously at the door. He was primarily concerned by the whole 'lots of people in an enclosed space potentially in danger' thing.

May I? Don't know if any of mine would actually be helpful, but if One of them fits, awesome!

The grubby, weather-beaten man in the rumpled old clothes named Nicholas was someone Marceau almost dreaded meeting with on his informant rounds. He was possessed of a vagueness that made the simplest reports teeth-pullingly difficult to extract, and a paranoid sensibility that tinged what information he did divulge with elements of fantasy bundled with every gram of fact, leading quite often to the vigilante over-preparing for simple thieves and low-ranking powers, on the off chance that the tale about blazing golems and or rumor of a master assassin were true. His tales had been no less immense this time. This place is ridiculous! he thought in exasperation while he swung from the roof of the small office building over to perilous ledge bearing a ruminating gargoyle. Landing with a *clik* of his hard boots on the concrete, he surveyed his position. It was on a short Art Deco style skyscraper housing a number of local businesses that served the nearby Freedom University, all tan and beige, with a little gray moulding to liven things up. The edge he was standing on looked over to the Suzerain lab with a vantage few other buildings in the are could boast. Nodding in satisfaction and patting the head of the gargoyle affectionately, he affixed small pads to his boots fired his grapple gun at the roof of the structure and rapidly dashed up the side, his feet now cushioned to the point where he made next to no noise. He knew of old how embarrassing it could be to make a slight mistake with you footing, and end up getting the attention of dozens of people below while on a stealth mission. "<No need to take chances>" he muttered to himself absent-mindedly, rolling dexterously over the edge, smiled at the rush and grace of it and crouched just behind the lip after adjusting his cape and collar to block the stiff sea-breeze. Taking out his binoculars he commenced to scan the area, finding other roof-dwellers in strange garb would be invaluable in case the thieves struck tonight. He might even get a lead on them!

Just as the Lorenzo attempted to bind the Spirit of Justice in servitude to the cold power of Lemuria, EL Heraldo shot forward to where he guessed the man was in the darkness, the glowing Banner whistling viciously around in an arc through the pitch blackness toward the sorcerer's legs as he shouted "Will you listen for once? We'll never fall to the Serpent People again!". If I can knock him off his feet, the fight will be all but finished! thought the young paragon. He bent the muscles of his back and arms to the task, to make up for the fact that he had no idea if he could even hit the man. As it turned out, the flagpole swung harmlessly short and to the left, bouncing off the wall with a startling *gongggg!* El Heraldo scowled into the blackness before realizing how stupid that looked and stopping, instead calling out "Young Britannia! You alright?".

In which case, he's going to use the Trip power on the Banner to try and trip him up. Move Action as needed to close the distance. Accurate Attack(+-2) roll: 16. That doesn't hit, does it?

With a grinding mutter of "Ah, robots, the genius of Man in physical form" to himself, the triton unslung the conch from his side, walked unconcernedly towards the squat metal bodies, and raising the eons-old shell to his lips let forth a blast that rattled through the air like a physical wave to match the red-streaked crash of water that erupted from the wall behind...and splashed harmlessly onto the floor next to it. After a short moment of silence he said coolly "Spectacular. A grand start to this epic conflict" he watched the three things with care, tensing his muscles for a sudden leap away from..whatever it was they would do, he had no idea.

Okay, two DC21 TOU saves: 27, 13. So he shrugged one off, but is Dazed and Bruised by the other.

That hits! Ultragoblin's DC24(?) save 33! Okay...it will pick up a railway track tie and throw it at Crusader. Attack roll: 12, misses! Round Three of the combat. Order: King of Suits: Unharmed, 3HP Crusader: Unharmed, 3HP Ultragoblin: Unharmed-GM Kingy will attack with a Razor card. Attack roll: 15. Rerolling that (2HP) 25!, DC24 TOU save for Ultragoblin: 32!, not happening. Crusader is up!

Understood. Initiative Roll: 16! Moving over to the Counter drones. Going to use the Conch Array, using the Damage power. Indirect attacking the nearest one with a blast of water from behind it. Attack roll: 6,bedanged.

Marceau glanced with a quirk in his lips at Rene as his friend did the "helpless old man!" routine, which never failed to impress on him that there was still a lot he didn't know about the older man. Still, he guessed that this was a ploy of some sort, and thus played along with will. "I beg of you, prince! Have pity on my friend's weakened limbs and failing heart!" he implored Parsinkle with an utterly straight face, pretending to support Rene's old body. He was still a little rattled by the bizarre exchange with the tree, however, and his words were tinged with a genuine worry.

The fishman rolled his eyes at the reaction "Understand this: when asked a question, it is not befitting the questioned to question the questioner" he slackened his posture all the same "But since you asked...I am called Wave-Eye, I am a protector of human interests in these waters for now. As for what I am doing here" he glared at 'Dr. Chambers' openly "it seems that you have imprisoned someone here against their will; I will release them, if you don't mind" he shrugged "or if you do, it makes no difference to me." Starting at the jangling noise and jolting tremors through the highly conductive flooring as the alarms blared, he winced as the clear orders filtered into being. "Now," he said sternly to the coated humans "you will not leave this room without telling me what I ask: what are you doing with that Omegadrone? And where is the device that uses Terminus energies? Quickly now!" he growled, flexing his claws.

There was a prolonged silence on Subito's end as he absorbed this new information. He tapped his foot unconsciously in time to the beat as his head lowered. Raising his head after a moment he smiled at Blodeuwedd, saying earnestly "Thank you Cerys. It's a pretty big deal to me that you'd reveal a secret like that, and I'm really glad you did it. Don't worry" he added with a serious look "I'll never tell anyone what you told me without asking you first, I promise." Leaning his folded arms on the table before him he bent closer and went on "So...you reavelin' that means I get to help with whatever it is that's going on?"

With a grunt of exertion, the King of Suits clambered to his feet, the ache in his side receding a little, enough to let him stand at least. Glancing at the battlefield he shrugged at the sight of the giant monster cats still running around the fairground and animal enclosures. Well, can't expect these things to end quickly, they need to be worked at he reminded himself briskly. Quickly catching sight of one massive feline in perfect range of his throwing arm, he seized a card from his belt ornamented with the suit of Diamonds, made a small cut in the body with a razor card, and drawing back his arm with care threw it with impeccable precision straight into its enormous face, just halfway between the eyes and nose of the beast. "Take that!" he called out, his long legs carrying him several yards away from it so he could get into a good defensive position. He glanced at the winged woman flying close enough to touch one of the massive cats, wincing as he saw her do so. "Braver than I am" he muttered to himself as he watched her soar again into the air, before quickly turning his attention back to more earthbound matters. I need a plan, but what...?

Requested Sense-Motive roll: 12!

Alright, I'm thinking the Daze has worn off, time to show these jerk giant cats who's boss! Using the Dazzle power from the Device Array on the closest big cat. Attack roll: 27. DC19 Fort save for the big kitty. Move Action to move away from the cats, around 20ft.

GM Halting his steed with a twist of the bridle, Parsinkle turned in his seat to address the ancient painter. "Oh, we are near the border of my domain, a short distance from the river that this stream" he gestured to the gurgling channel of water "feeds with itself. The camp of the hunters should be only a little ways from here, near the base of that hill ahead, with the four skeletal trees arranged like a crown." The low mound of earth, rock and trees didn't look very friendly from afar, with a head wreathed in a thin layer of mist, and with those trees solitary on an otherwise bare patch of what looked to be level rock. With an air of unconcern, the red prince casually checked the edge of his sword as he spurred his horse back into a light trot. The birds had stopped singing.

Going to rule that Stormbreaker happens to land on the floating disk. Lucky breeze is my guess.

"Oh, no worry about that!" Marceau laughed quietly "I am very careful when putting the mixture together into the cards. If it does stick around you for any longer than a few minutes, just tell me and I'll get rid of it" the King of Suits took a razor card, made a small incision in the one he had already drawn, and hurled that card into the mass, the tunnel erupting in a lightning-quick blaze of light that was almost immediately partially obscured by a thin haze that began to quickly fill the tunnel. With utter fastidiousness he then pressed his nostrils together with his right thumb and forefinger, and opening his eyes slid the night-vision goggles back on. His knees were already aching a little from the strain of crouching in that abominable 'not high enough to stand' position that he found maddening. Pleaseworkpleaseworkpleasework... To his delight, the goggles revealed the smoking shreds of living shadow, shrinking into a small grate in the side of the tunnel even as he watched. "Hurrah!" exclaimed Marceau with unrestrained glee as he began stalking forward on his hands and feet, calling back nasally "I will go first, if it's alright with you" He went forward as fast as he could, wanting to get out of the cramped place and get on with the rescue mission, though he wondered what else they would need to bypass to have a chance at that.

In accordance with House Rules, that's actually just a Bruise and a Dazed condition!