Ari

Marceau shrugged awkwardly "With so little time to prepare, very little idea of what was going on, and no idea what they were doing, it could have turned into a tragedy on a much vaster scale. I really don't know what we could do over to make it right, besides going back in time to convince that guy it would be a bad idea by bringing him to meet this future self or something" he suddenly shook himself briskly "That aside, what's done is done after all. I'll be sure to bring more anti-explosives in the future, and I'll read up on how to disable machinery. Mistakes like these can serve as terrible examples, if nothing else" he swathed his cape around in front of his arms and turned to go, adding "It's a shame this was our first meeting Voltage, you strike me as a bon hom-as a good guy to have your back. I hope we can meet again sometime, I mostly patrol around the Fens, West End and the Theater District, and I'd be glad for the assistance" he saluted the grey-clad genius "Hope to see you around, and that the rest of your evening is less eventful" With that he slipped out of the warehouse and swung off into the greying city, the chill wind and grisly future for the burned man evaporating whatever good cheer remained in him that night.

"I'd say it was because someone helpless got terribly hurt" Marceau said dourly. looking at the wreckage from the explosion. The damage it had done to the warehouse was amazingly small, the only real signs being the shattered pieces of the tank, the burn marks on the floor, and the acrid smell of the burnt chemicals. "Still," he added more cheerfully "at least nobody lost their lives here today, it could have been far worse. Hopefully your friend will be wiser about the dangers of trying to get powers on the black market" he swept a hand over his head, wondering if that really would be the lesson he took from here. "I don't know him though, you seem to. How do you think he'll feel about this?"

The King of Suits had followed Voltage, but had decoded to look down through the skylight and look over the wreckage from a distance. He didn't want to have to be right next to someone if he had to look at a charred corpse blasted to pieces. To his shock, he heard Voltage's cry that the man who had been right at the epicenter of the explosion was still alive. Paralyzed with joy, it took the reminder that he still was badly injured to sober him up. Hearing the sirens of the emergency vehicles, he gave a sigh of relief and swung down to the front door, where he made sure that the guards weren't hurt. After making sure of that and answering any questions he could answer that were put to him he walked inside to join Voltage. Looking over his shoulder at the burned body of Andrew he cringed and asked nervously "He's going to be alright I hope?"

A feeling of nightmare descended on the King of Suits. He was used to crime-fighting that ended with the defeat of the bad guy, maybe a few cuts and bruises, but everyone ended up alright. He wasn't used to being taken back to the old days when he had to choose between getting stabbed and letting someone else get terribly injured. Almost without thinking, he raced for the flickering tank, and after a few frenzied seconds located where the chemicals were stored for infusion with the patient. Unzipping a pouch he took a bag of crystallized particles from it, and dumped them all into the tank, chasing it down with a black sludge that he all but threw in with its vial. He prayed fervently as he retreated from the sudden flare of their reaction with the compounds already present, hoping desperately that they would limit the damage as much as he needed. As he ran he shouted to Voltage "I'm sorry! That's all I can do!" Tears running down his cheeks, he ran out of the warehouse, firing his grapple gun at a far roof to swing furiously away from the site of what he feared would be a terrible tragedy.

"I can go at about 200MPH if I need to, it should be enough to get those people to safety" came Subito's whispered reply. He was quite surprised at Kristin's temper, she hadn't struck him as the kind to use much in the way of harsh language. Australia must have different rules for that stuff he guessed. He pondered if he should tear off a piece of his own costume to make a mask for Kristin before turning back to gaze up at the ship and ask "What do you remember of your time on that sir?" He was pretty done with rushing ahead, if nothing else it would get Kristin angry, and he wasn't up for facing that. However, the words between Diamond and the guard did supply something useful: "Diamond's gone to the captain's quarters. Whoever they are spooks our friendly neighborhood playboy"

"No fear of that Serge" the stocky teen assured his friend, getting up off the rock and settling him down on it to rest "not much of a horror guy myself. I like science fiction mostly, maybe put on a Dr. Tomorrow serial from the 50's the start things off?" he laughed out loud at the last part, those serials had been out of print for years, and mostly ran on late-night cable if they aired at all. Looking around he added "No hurry man, and that cave there looks pretty unfriendly. Let's not get into any more trouble than we have to..." a casual glance at his coat turned to horror when he saw the cuts and marks on it "...which in my case is gonna be a lot when I get home if I don't fix this" Looking over at Serge he asked casually "By the way..why don't you like horror? I just don't like watching people being tormented, even if its faked and all"

"If we don't he'll be killed" Marceau called over to him, bounding over to the power cables and quickly tugging them out of the sockets. Frantic, he hurried to the machine assembly and started to tug out circuits, pulling plugs and slicing through the iron-lung-like thing that was encasing the boy. His blows weren't aimed at a light, nimble robot, but a heavy and unmovable piece of equipment that could withstand small-arms fire. His desperate slices couldn't keep it from continuing its dreadful work on the man inside, and even as it lost outside power it simply switched to batteries hidden within. The masked man realized with horror that the situation was nearly hopeless! "Voltage, quick!" he screamed "Stop it! I can't!"

For his part, Marceau ran, and ran as he had never done before, legs eating up the ground as he sailed through the street, his breath growing more labored, his feet slowly numbing from the sustained pounding on the hard ground, and the terror of knowing that the statues could easily just turn aside and start attacking civilians if it suited Gallu's fancy, and which besides would obviously make him turn to at least try to stop them. He wondered again why he hadn't asked Rene to send someone along who could call for aid in case of insurmountable danger. Now he was running for his life, and probably endangering others too! His bounds grew shorter, his breath came from his lungs in gasps, his feet slowed and ached, his arms drooped as he he found himself losing speed, momentum and hope. He couldn't run for more than a few more feet, and besides, maybe if he stopped for a bit, he could encourage Gallu not to attack anyone else..maybe. He was almost too tired to care.

Going for 14 rounds of Moving All-Out. 4 are 'free' due to his CON bonus. Failed the 9th check. Moved All-Out for 12 turns(or 1440ft.) Exhausted!

Smiling thinly at the robot in front of him, the King of Suits leaped forward, bringing his armored fist into the tell-tale dent he had left with his last strike with colossal force, putting every inch of pressure on the robot's chassis that he could, straining against the hard metal with all his might to break the thing and crush its circuit boards. He made sure to follow the golden rule of punching: the impact is not the last part of the attack, you step forward, punch, and keep on going, aiming for a space several inches behind your target for maximum force. It had served him well in the past, and did so now. He was not a fan of robots, and that moment, with the hazy red glare of the sun streaming in, the smell of ozone from the recent electrical attack Voltage had unleashed on the scientist who appeared to be behind this, and the ache of his gut, he didn't feel much more inclined to appreciate their contributions to the world. His fist crashed deeply into its inner workings, and he felt the metal within give and twist under the punch. He pulled his hand free and regarded the robot warily, ready for any retaliation it made.

Subito charged eagerly into the forest, and almost instantly fell into a drift hidden by a small hillock. Struggling to his feet, he plowed through the forest like a very happy bull, slipping and tripping as he went on, none of doing the slightest to slow his momentum. Branches smacked him with enough regularity to leave his face lined with scratches and small cuts, tough bushes from the dying year cut small rips in his coat and his snow pants, and a near miss of a frozen pond sent him crashing into an abandoned den of some hibernating predator. At last, eyes watering slightly from the glare of the pale sun on the whiteness all around, he stumbled to a halt in front of a sudden hole in the ground, set at just the right angle to let in water from the quiet stream, tree-lined and passing by a few feet. Looking about him, he realized that he had gotten there first. "Well I'll be" he muttered, and sat down on a dry rock to rest and wait for his friend, keeping an eye out in case something stupid had attacked him.

TOU check: 20. Attack with a pair of bolas at Dr. Green. Attack roll: 26, DC14 REF save. EDIT: Wait, the hell? Nevermind, attacking the robot that's right in front of King's face. Attack Roll: 28, critical hit. DC30 TOU check for the robot.

Dex: 12. Con: 13. EDIT: As it was explicitly told to me that Serge is using his Enhanced CON, I'm adding Heraldo's to his roll, making it 18. Thus winning the race.

Okay, the Race! will be decided by a DEX roll(to navigate the forest quickly) and a CON roll(to slog through the snow in winter stuff). In case of a tie in one of the rolls(unlikely), a simple tie-breaker 1d20 roll by both parties, with the higher roll the winner of that category. Sound good? Also, if you want to fly, a WIS roll to predict the best route to fly.

Stars exploded in Marceau's eyes as the metal knee slammed into his trunk, and the world wheeled around him as he fell on his back out of a desperate desire to not fall to the ground and break his skull. In the vagueness that followed, he suddenly realized that the robot was bringing itself into a posture that signaled another attack! Bringing up a leg he deflected the blow onto the armor plate protecting his chest, noting with a wince the dent it made on the white heart over his sternum. Getting unsteadily to his feet, he lashed out with a gauntleted fist, only for it to swing past the robot and almost cause him to fall off the rafter. With a hiss of irritation, he let his momentum carry him off his compromised perch, firing a grapple line over it to slow his fall to non-lethal speeds. The robot was proving a surprising opponent. It was far faster than the ones he was used to, but also more fragile. He put it down to a need for lighter materials as he landed neatly on the concrete floor, looking up warily at the mad scientist and his ray gun before focusing once more on the robot above. An idea began to quickly form in his mind...

Okay, Accurate Attacking the Combat Robot with the Gauntlets(+3ATK -3DMG). Attack roll: 12, roled a 1. Miss. Grapple-gunning to the GROUND.

DC20 TOU check, -1: 10 Rerolling. 2 HP left. 25

For the record, KoS had 3 HP remaining.

TOU save: 13

The piercing light of a ray gun drew the King's attention immediately, and with only a couple second's worth of fumbling he took a small silvery grenade from his belt and threw it at the feet of the mad(?) scientist, where it exploded in a blazing light intended to temporarily blind. He couldn't get a powerful enough explosion to make a useful bang, but at least he could get a flare from his chemistry dabbling. He glanced in surprise down at the robot, which seemed to be having trouble moving. He guessed he'd hit something important, and made a mental note to try for that section again. Although, he reminded himself, the modern roboticist might just be able to make allowances for repeated attacks at certain points, and provide an appropriate repair system. At any rate, he wasn't going to hang around the rafters forever, just until he was ready.

Alright, using a flash grenade on Dr. Green. Attack roll: 27. DC14 Reflex save.

The sight of the combat machine barreling towards him caused more than a little terror in Marceau's heart. He knew fully well that if the machine managed to hit him, it would beat him into the ground without any of the twinges of pity that might stay the hand of a more sapient foe. It was with great relief that as he jerked backwards from its attack that the arm swung past him. He could hear its inner workings however, and that was more than close enough for him. Tensing himself, he lashed out with a sharp, singularly-focused strike aimed at the robot's midsection. Long experience told him that most modern roboticists put the more fragile and higher function-enabling chips and boards in the place most well-defended, and from the feel of the metal plating it was well protected indeed. The jar of the impact with the metal on his flesh and bone was far worse than that he had just felt punching the guard, though he barely felt it through the gauntlet. Whupping out his trusty grapple gun, he latched onto a support rafter high above both of them, and shot off for the roof, swinging nimbly onto the board and peering down at the battlefield, planning his next move...

Accurate Attack(+3ATK -3DMG) with the Gauntlets: 28. DC22 TOU check. Move action with the grapple gun up to a convenient rafter.

Initiative roll: 20.

"Right on!" said Marceau, inwardly wondering how Voltage had figured out what it was. At any rate, stopping a potential explosion was extremely important, and the sooner it was stopped he could find out what precisely was going on. He had a suspicion it would have something to do with some rich family being out of money and turning to crime to pay some fantastic debt. Tightening the gauntlet's straps, he followed Voltage with his grapple gun, swinging at top speed towards the forbidding assembly of electronics and machinery.