Ari

Wave-Eye had heard of the problem with the Darwin almost the hour it had begun, and had volunteered his aquatic expertise as soon as he knew who he had to offer it to. If asked, he would have had been forced to admit that a part of why he had volunteered was in the hopes that this would be at least slightly recognized, a first step on his path to being able to swear fealty to Siren. He also knew too well what being trapped on the sea was like. He was seated on the edge of the dock at the moment, staring out at the freighter, when Volodimir had asked his question. Turning his vast black eyes to the old human he wondered if the man had powers like so many of the others in the metropolis he had seen. In answer to whether he was certain he wished to go, he said in a hissing gurgle "I am not afraid of anything in the sea. Let us depart, if you and the rest of us are ready." This was not true, but he felt quite certain by now, months after his arrival, that he knew of everything that swam and scuttled through the waters around Freedom City. Adding to his answer he suggested "If you do not have a mission for me on the way, I would like to search under the hull of the ship, perhaps some sea beast has made a dwelling there." he glanced at the others, marveling at the two children(capable and strong though they looked), the well-dressed human with the cane and amazing layers of clothing, and wondered quietly what would happen if the surface race and the Atlanteans someday were on an even keel...

Sorry, forgot to post the check for disarming the things. :? DC5 INT check to follow the diagrams for defusing, Knowledge(Technology) DC12 to disable the magnets. If succeeded:

Also! For 'Clad and Cosmos, a DC15 Sense Motive check, if you would.

Very possible. Okay, hits cannon-Fodder #2. Their DC26 TOU save: 13, it's out. The other two make their attacks with the area Blast: REF save DC18, DC23 TOU save if that is failed, obviously. Order: Glow: Bruised(x3) Cannon-Fodder(x2): Unharmed

GM The people who had wandered into the hallway had begun to look more and more concerned as they overheard the heroes discussing the issue of the bombs. Killer robots were one thing, and a sight most Freedonians saw at least once in their lives, bombs set to destroy the building they were currently trapped within were another matter entirely. The situation the nervous, whispering people glancing worriedly at their currently only chance of rescue found themselves in had at least some precedent, but knowing the weapons of sudden death lurked somewhere in the skyscraper would have been unsettling to practically anyone. Ironclad found the bomb without difficulty, a large blue spherical thing attached to one of the doors with a large magnet. It had everything a bomb-defuser could wish for: a large digital countdown showing 'precise time to detonation' as the interface declared, with the count reaching into the milliseconds, an outer shell with easily discernable detachment points, even a diagram for which wires controlled which elements of the device with clear signs which to remove in what order. At present it was at 7.45.58.807 hours and counting. The Penitent 'heard' a sudden blare of red, vicious anger, a chorus of injured pride at being taken in, and at the intentional slight, that only barely covered the din of the furious Weissnacht as he vented his rage on the roof. With a whine and screech of static the monitors came back to life, showing the bandage-like helmet, bathed in the livid glow of the powerful force field. The security cameras turned of seemingly their own accord and fixed their lenses on the Penitent as he flew, and the younger man's cool voice slid through the sound feed. In Austrian the armored man said <"I see you've decided to actually back up your words. Please don't hurry, I need a few minutes to finish sketching out how much pain I'm going to put you through for that"> The feed cut out with a jolt of static. Meanwhile, the soaring Corporal Cosmos had quickly located a bomb identical to that Ironclad had discovered underneath an astoundingly expensive-looking car. Either Weissnacht traveled in style, or else he had unresolved issues with those who did.

It's not hard to spot with that many methods of detection used at once. Corp. can hear a high-pitched noise which, when followed, reveals the bomb hidden under an Aston Martin One-77 with a tarp over it.

Tagged!

"Well, whaddaya want to do besides fighting that Evil your family beats up?" Subito asked "I'm gonna be a diplomat, so I need to learn about how politics and civil governments work. Just knowing that might make it a lot simpler to figure out what you'd like to take" He slowed a little to match Cerys' speed, not wanting to finish eating before the others, though he couldn't have eaten nearly as fast as Morgan did. He listened with interest to the talk of a really good fencer, curiosity spurring him to the obvious(to him) question: "Who's the really good sword-fighter? I didn't know we had any besides mebbe Golbasto."

The King of Suits landed with soft steps on the thick roof of the old candy shop, eyes fixed on the retreating figure on the sidewalk moving towards the apartment building. With long, easy strides he kept pace with Stephen, making certain to be in that blindspot of peripheral vision that would keep him quite safe from being discovered. He had started work as soon as the news of the kidnappings had become widely-known, a little less than a day after the first had taken place. Cults were surprisingly common in Freedom City, though the number of snake cults he knew of were few enough to narrow the culprit group down to a handful. Stephen was a casual acquaintance of his, a man who kept just about everything close to the vest, and it had taken a while to find out by chance about his religious affiliation. A cursory investigation into the cult Stephen was a part of quickly revealed that they worshiped a snake god called 'Apep', 'Apophis', and variations on that theme, and so at last Marceau had a lead, and a promising one at that! He quickly brought himself back to the present, refocusing on keeping his steps as quiet as he could while he stalked the hurrying man. He needed to make sure he could follow Stephen right to where he was going, and giving himself away would quite likely destroy his chance at that.

"A pretty vast array of possible answers, ol' Skull Face" commented Wave-Eye as his tail sent them racing downwards. It was hard to tell as the light dimmed in the depths, but he was grinning. "I see no reason not to work our way down that list, I will ask those sharks you mentioned(and don't worry, if they attempt anything I will demonstrate their error) first, as they will most likely have the newest information about movement around these waters. That kraken you mentioned I shall go to second, as doubtless it has a great store of knowledge, and third I shall seek out that field of bones, as I dare say they will know much nobody else would, and understand more as well. The animals of the sea are not what I would term wise." He bent his body to the task of sending them rocketing further out to sea, feeling the water stream over and around him as he searched out the cunning predators of the sea, those which never rested, ever-hungering, who he had seen overwhelm many a strong position in the field.

OOC for this thread.

GM Starwick St., 2012, April 20th, 6.45 P.M. A rash of bizarre kidnappings had recently struck in the Fens and Theater districts of Freedom, three people of no obvious connection to each other had been taken from their homes within a week of each other, each time the walls of wherever they had been taken from marked with a rough pictogram showing a black snake holding a ball of fire in its mouth, and written underneath was the message "Apophis has them. Do not look for them." in neat letters it had taken the investigators only a few hours to determine were made with archaic printing blocks. As they so far hadn't found any trace of any aficionados of ancient printers they had instead turned to the exhaustive task of finding the kidnapped by less direct routes. A thorough examination of each crime scene had revealed that at least four different kidnappers were involved in each case, and the system hummed along, the officers struggling to find and piece together enough clues to get an idea of how, for example, the kidnappers had never needed to touch any of the doors or windows... 12 meters from the practically derelict Amundsen Apartments Building, Stephen Pareto, a young electrician with a lean build, cold eyes and immobile lips walked briskly home, unaware of the red and black figure silently following him from the roofs above... With a rattle on the loose pavement, the yard behind the shops was quickly filled by the compact black van, the driver constantly swinging his head about, eyes darting around at the growing shadows for anyone, his similarly jittery comrade leaping out of the van several seconds before it stopped moving, hurriedly unlocking the back door and disappearing inside for a few seconds filled with thuds, scrapes and muffled curses while the driver parked the vehicle and dashed into position, catching the end of a crate as it was shoved roughly into his embrace, which nearly knocked the wind out of him. In a moment the two were scrambling to get the box inside the back door of "Carl's Hardware Supplies", the door opened by someone unseen to their observer...

GM With a hissing roar, the powerful cutting tool burned its way into the ancient metal, which while initially yielding to the sudden introduction of the enormous heat, seemed to have sterner stuff underneath. Whatever the Preservers had built the place out of, the torch inflicted only light damage to it. But it was still permeable, and could be brought down all the same. Meanwhile, inside of the center, the lava-like creature was puzzling over an oddly makeshift surveillance system, observing Ironclad's attempted entry with no little surprise "They're quite persistent" he commented, surprise evident behind the chattering of apes that partially obscured it.

This is right up Wave-Eye's street, so he's in.

Indeed it is! The three robots make their rolls(using the standard medium Robot archetype from the Core with the added power of Blast 8(Extra: Area(Burst, 40ft.)[24PP] Roll: 4. Go ahead! They're quite close together. Around five feet between them.

I'm cool with that.

GM Arcturus: At last, the copying was complete! The Circle of Salt turned out to be a thin bronze band, wrapped around with a thin series of iron wires, with a spell laid on each that repelled all spirits from the body when used in conjunction. Waker inspected Marcus' work with a critical eye, peering over each detail individually before stopping, leaning away from the workbench, and clapping the runemaker on the back with a smile as broad and bright as a sunrise. "Great work, young man!" he said, only just managing to keep his voice down out of earshot of the captive "All I'll need to do is get some golems to work on making more copies like you did, and never again will we need feat the living dead!" he suddenly became much graver "Now, is there anything I may do for you? I am sorry for my earlier actions and words, and will gladly repent of them in whatever manner you see fit." Glow: Lucy nodded excitedly, flickering experimentally in and out of vision before regaining solidity. Frank turned out to be a wiry boy with look of constant bewilderment and vague alarm. He let out a stifled whimper of fear when his door was torn off its hinges by Kristin's telekinetic assault, only regaining composure after she'd spoken to him and he realized precisely what was going on. He didn't give nearly as much positive feedback, but he did whisper "O.K." and hurried to Lucy's side, activating a translucent and colorless shield around the trio as they hurried for the exit. The place seemed a lot smaller to Glow now that she'd seen its layout, and had a rough idea of where was where. It took barely any time at all before she was abruptly halted by three robots stalking into view. Lucy gasped and turned invisible in a heartbeat, while Frank became as pale as death, his shield seeming to waver slightly before the metal sentinels that had just appeared.

For his part, El Heraldo had no idea what was wrong with the things. All he saw were automatons staring at the wall and jerking slightly at times, the reasons for this not nearly within his grasp as it was to Net Fly. Glancing at his friend to get his opinion of the matter, he saw the gesture for silence just in time, closing his just-opened mouth with an audible 'click'. A soft nimbus of golden light shone about him as he followed the mutant over the heads of the robots, staring down at them with no inconsiderable confusion and vague annoyance. H wished he could talk to Serge's mind, it would have been handy.

+10 TOU bonus, due to advanced age and all. An Injury.

Succeeds. The best places turn out to be a slight structural oddity near the base, around parking-lot level. The other is a third fo the the way up the elevator shaft, where the pressure on the supports arrangement at that level means their displacement will almost certainly mean a nigh-instant collapse. For reference, the palce looks similar to Strawberry place Tower, only a few hundred feet wider, and minus the bridges.

Subito had just begun to get back on course when the voice behind startled him out of a brief reverie, the subject of which was almost instantly forgotten, much to his inner dismay. Not letting it show all that much, he sauntered over to Karly, extending his left hand when he got close enough "Nice to meet you Karly" he said warmly, with only a shade of grump left at the altercation from several seconds ago "My name's Subito Sondo, not really sure I'd call that a 'kindness', they were kinda bein' a danger to the rest of us, more like a 'duty' I'd say" he put his hands in his pockets and regarded the girl with puzzlement "A ride? Well, I was just gonna take the bus to Lincoln, but since you offered sure! I-" he stopped, snapping his fingers as he realized something rather important "Right! I need a few things for this fishing trip I'm going to take a friend of mine on, you wouldn't mind taking me down to the Bayview Mall, would you?" he asked politely(which compared to his regular manner of speaking was..unusual) "It's just a few miles down that road and to the right, can't miss it, and we won't need be there long at all" he said, gesturing down the glistening tarmac humming with the gentle stream of cars passing by. The day was still sunny, the breeze drifting in from the sea was gently stirring the leaves and bushes, and Subito suspected he might make a new friend by the end of the day.

"Yeah, that's fine, I-huh" Subito started when Janis removed her hand from his "Oh! yeah, that can be a problem." Walking on for a few steps an idea struck him, and he turned back to her "Tell you what, hows about we just do this?" so speaking, he slung a heavy arm carefully over her shoulders, keeping step as he did, and making sure not to lean on her. "This way we're still connected, and don't have to worry about sweaty palms" he flashed her a broad grin "And I know what you mean, my stomach is filled with like a bajillion butterflies right now" He gently steered them both towards the shorter route leading to the store "So, the disks we need are...?"

Wait. I should probably ask the others about this, make sure everyone's on board and all.

King doesn't have opposition at all and neither do I, welcome aboard Corp!

Subito proudly thumped down a plate heaping with the day's special stir-fry, and with a silent prayer and a bowing of his head began the daunting task of turning it into fuel. Between bites he affirmed what John had said "If you've got any questions at all, feel free to ask! I'm not wholly clueless about his place, and Mr. Smith here is a veritable" he enunciated every syllable of the word, though he knew it well enough to use it in everyday speech "ver-it-a-bull fountain of useful information. I got lost like every day before I decided to ask for directions from him, and I have never gotten lost since" he nodded sagely, seeming to remove a large pile of noodles and vegetables from existence.