Ari

Awesome, no bruises! Post away when you can.

Treading lightly on the decaying hallway floor, the King of Suits was thoroughly alert, and thus heard the reverberating noise of people talking long before he saw them. Hugging the wall, he sped noiselessly through the building towards the tell-tale sound, his long legs carrying him under, through and around patches of light that would have revealed him, and levering the weight of his feet with finely-honed care to keep from pressing down hard enough on the boards to make more than a gentle sigh, keeping his weight always in motion, never resting for an instant as he raced like a dusty zephyr upwards and onwards. The dim hallway lighting system, its outlets dimmed and some flickering dully, cast a shade of amber over the darkly-clad man that gave him far better cover than he would have had in a better-maintained building(something he found simultaneously gratifying, and troubling). A place like this would be useful to a demon he speculated internally as he hurried on padding boots perhaps they draw strength from the despair of those who live here? With a swirl of his cape, he stopped sharply around the corner from the voices he had been following, leaned almost around the bend, and listened, hearing voices unfamiliar and... Revenant?! Here? he thought in amazement, the undead investigator was known to him, they had met once upon a time when they and three others had attempted to put a stop to a scheme being carried out by the Conqueror Worm. They hadn't exactly been close, but he at least knew her vaguely. He was just mulling over the proper etiquette for such situations when he heard the words of Starlight: Well, that settles it he stepped around the corner, smiling politely at the small group "Good evening, I am the King of Suits, I happen to be investigating this distressing incident, and came here to ask the Penitent some questions" he nodded with a warm smile to Bram "...But as it seems he is currently under the Light's protection, I shall await his pleasure on that." So saying, he leaned against a handy wall and made a small wave at Revenant.

GM El Heraldo: The cold silence burst at the young paragon's words, and as if it had never been Strongarm's malicious mien evaporated, and he turned his smiling eyes on the gaudy figure before him. "Oh, I was in a laboratory in Sweden working on a proton cannon when it exploded, I got superpowers out of it due to my specially irradiated skeleton" leaning against the vertically flipped car he added mildly "And I'm here to kill someone someone else has payed me to, it's that simple." Another kindly smile. Net Fly: The trip to the Main Computer of the robot ship was hazard-free. For a robot. For the young human being carried, it all but threw its passenger around a labyrinth of tubes and seemingly endless drops that were by good fortune arrested quickly enough after they were begun to negate any chance of harm to the passenger. It was still a jolting, rattling ride however, with many incidental hooks and low bars requiring hasty dodging along the way to avoid a painful bruising. At last, the ride was over, and with a gentle decrease in speed Net Fly slid to a halt head-first into a meticulously-polished circular room, onto a long walkway that ran the entire diameter of a vast hovering hovering ball. The tubes connected to it pumping fluid inside were marked 'coolant'. There were well over a dozen robots standing and staring at it, with smaller lines coming from their heads and connecting to the gently humming sphere, typing busily into flat panels suspended in the air somehow. A small camera-like device directly above his head was pointed at the wall.

Okay, REF check for Net Fly, DC12.

The ride had been a lot more fun than Subito had expected. Gotta remember to try and be a passenger on bikes more often, it's a lot less stressful than even flying he thought cheerfully, taking off the helmet as he carefully disembarked, swinging one leg over the back and planting it firmly on the ground before he followed it with the rest of his tough weight. Giving his head a shake to get his springy hair back into its accustomed mass of curls. Rubbing his head and tossing the helmet back onto the seat he said to Karly "Thanks a lot! I barely ever get to ride a motorcycle, forgot how fun it is!" He glanced at the mall, continuing "Alright, shouldn't take too long to find the....what..?" he stared dumbly at the people on the roof for a moment before saying bluntly "That's bad. We should get those people down before something awful happens" he glanced worriedly at Karly, asking her nervously "Do those look like anyone you know from Claremont? I can't tell from here."

Oh no Subito thought, eyes widening as he realized what kind of person Strongarm was. Quickly stepping between the civilian and the super-powered hired killer, he continued hurriedly "No! It isn't, but it does give me a stronger connection to the power that strengthens me. Er..how about you?" he asked with attempted casualness "Where do you get our powers from, and why are you doing his anyway?" He searched his brain for what the answer to his problm was supposed to be. Technically he had already accomplished his stated goal: he had gotten the man to stop his attack, but if left things like they were...Wait; I've got to get this guy to surrender? How do I do that? he figured he could spin this out for a little while longer, just to get enough time to figure out what needed doing. So long as they man didn't go back to the attempted assault.

El Heraldo's incredible hearing meant he heard every whispered syllable as clearly as when Todd hayden had been speaking normally, so it took him a second to register the change in volume. Dropping his own voice to a similar level he murmured "Who's behind this? You can tell us, we'll gladly help you deal with them, but we need to know who they are first!" Subito glanced furtively at the doorway, hoping not to see a hint of Ernest there.

GM "They value their secrets" the woman said placidly "and the prisoners will be sent back soon anyway, so the priests won't have any reason to refuse an exchange like that, from what I've heard they were only taken to intimidate them and that's been done, so..." she rolled her shoulders to try and make the metal bands settle more comfortably around them "...the only reason they're even still here is as bargaining chips, you know." With a grunt she relaxed her arms, her efforts simply tightening the constraints. With an aggravated sigh she looked sharply at the King of Suits, snapping "We worship a god of darkness, yes they are shadow monsters." After a moment's thought she added casually "I'm Jane Guan. by the way, if you need a name for your report or whatever." With a soft noise of grinding rock, the shudders ceased, and Jane smiled at the pit "They must be done" she murmured to herself.

Seeing as he has Skill Mastery, going to take 10 for a result of 25(he's got a +15 bonus).

Sliding out of the night, and up to the lightly rusted back door of the apartment building with its fitfully flickering light, Marceau hummed softly to himself as he quickly tested the handle for that locked quality. When it gave under his hand with considerable wobble, he glanced almost shamefacedly at it as he he went inside. Once within he closed the door behind himself with utter silence, gently easing it back into place before making his way towards his goal. He knew by experience that those who could fly liked being high up so they could slip off into the sky quickly, but he had begun on the ground floor to make certain he didn't miss the fellow. Squaring his shoulders in the dim amber coloring(calling it light would be too generous). he walked softly with long, heron-like steps down the hall, following the voices he could hear ahead, including one dimly familiar to his ears. Might be fortuitous gossip he thought, eyes searching the way before him with the utmost care.

The red and black-liveried vigilante known as the King of Suits leaned against an alley wall, unknowingly observing the same building Starlight was. He had an extensive network of informants in the homeless and dispossessed around the city, and had thus heard quickly about what had happened. The reliability of his sources, however, left something to be desired, and Marceau Suvou had a feeling as he pulled his mask into place that he was lacking a truly crucial bit of information. "Alright, demonic, most likely can fly, flame powers are just about inevitable..." he muttered as he checked his weaponry, at last nodding once he was sure nothing would immediately blow up when he used it, and walking towards the back door This doesn't make any sense he thought in confusion as he approached the structure everything I've heard about this 'Penitent' speaks of a charitable and gentle man. Could he be required to do evil to do good or something... he shook his head, grumbling "I need to get more sleep sometime, I'm talking nonsense." He continued the quiet, rapid walk, deep in thought.

Gather Info. check: 18. 'Kay.

None from me.

Swaying gently as the reverberations passed through the room, the King of Suits glanced through his mask at the ceiling, noting the increased swaying of the hanging lamps. With an edge of worry to his voice Marceau asked what seemed to him the obvious question: "Exchange hostages? We have only one, surely the priests of Apep are good enough at arithmetic to know they have the advantage? Besides, three known prisoners are likely to be dearer to their hearts than one worshiper." His eyes flicked over the hole in the floor, asking the next-most obvious question "Also..are these 'children of Apep' by any chance normal everyday giant snakes? Or do these disciples summon shadow monsters?"

Wave-Eye surveyed the multiplying forces rising against him. "No," he said to Skull Face "I cannot." He looked about himself morosely, at the vast battleplain slowly swallowing the strong bones and mighty weapons that once sped through the waves and colored miles-wide patches of water nearly black. Shaking his head vigorously he said "There is no victory to be gotten here; I have you, and can give you the end you deserve." In a red flash he shot over Skull Face, grabbed him witha spined claw, and shot upwards for the crevasse leading out, the force needed to move at such speeds underwater making his limbs a touch weaker than he would have liked, considering how much peril he was still in. What a day he thought bitterly I killed a giant squid for no purpose, appeared before a kraken who might recall me at the worst time, and revealed myself to some sharks. With any luck this won't destroy my chances at getting into the Lady Siren's service. he glanced at the manic skull he clutched And my oath is all but answered for.

Initiative: 19.

Chequer, Black

The crazy things coincidences can do! I had almost forgotten about Sleeping Worms...

That is seriously astounding. Okay, hundreds of these things are pretty surely beyond Wave-Eye's current PL, so he's going to try and convince Skull Face to lay off with the raising of the dead by grabbing him and taking him to a nice coral reef somewhere, move action to reach the guy, standard to pick his head up, then Surging for another Move action to begin his escape. That sound good?

Again, if you need a passable Batclone, King of Suits would fit in fairly well. Of course if someone else good at investigating shows up I'll be gald to wait until next time

"You should know, if you know enough to dub me 'godfish', that I have been the interferer of many quarrels that have had nothing to do with me" snarled Wave-Eye in return, "and if I can understand your garbled tongue correctly you have become possessed by some old ghosts who wish to continue a long-dead war." Making a long scar on the wall next to his left hand Wave-Eye hissed "Is the 'Horserider' leader the captain of this ship? And who is this Priest? If they desire a war to contine beyond the grave surely they know the powers that will descend upon them for such a sin?" he glanced over at Lord Steam "An ancient struggle between humans thousands of years ago, on the land of Europe. Invaders from the eastern lands defeated those who already lived there. The human soul possessing the man before us is from the tribes the invaders defeated."

History check for Wave-Eye to recall him some knowledge: 22. What he recalls:

Good point, I'll take 10 for a result of 14.

GM El Heraldo: Strongarm beamed even more brightly at Subito, if that were possible. "Oh, this thing? I got it from a tailor somewhere in Lincoln, fairly confidential fellow I must admit. He suggested the green Doric theme" Strongarm explained, gesturing to the pattern on his shoulder-covering cape. He never took his eyes off of El Heraldo though, and continued to lean more heavily on the car than someone who could fly would really need to. "So that...getup comes from the banner, hm? How so? Is it sapient?" Strongarm asked casually, inspecting his nails with minute care. A slight rattle of metal caused him to look up sharply, right into the eyes of a bystander who had come creeping a little closer to get something from their trashed car. A slow increase in tension began as Strongarm silently observed the woman frozen in mid-search for something she had left under a mangled seat. Arcturus: The prince absorbed what Marcus taught perfectly well, but actually implementing the theory proved to be a recurring difficulty for him, and things that the rune-maker had found quite easy and intuitive had to be explained and demonstrated several times before the sniffy pupil grasped the concept fully. For all that, he made passable progress and showed some potential with wind runes. At the question of his identity, the prince answered proudly "I am Drahoch Bier, son of the great king Hockblaze, unchallenged master of five of the twenty seas!" he spoke the words as one long practiced in them, beaming haughtily at Marcus "My father is a great man, renowned for his wisdom and unsurpassed hand of judgement, he has ruled against many mightier than he, and in favor of the destitute on a multitude of occasions. I search for power that I might become as heralded as he." He spoke with utter conviction and gravity, though with a trace of snobbishness all the same.