Ari

Double head-desk because I just recalled that Subito has enhanced hearing on all the time, so he actually COULD have heard Kris and Jack Jackson of Jacktown, JN talking. Moving on, Subito is going to stop the boat, hoping the ruckus creates a window of opportunity for Kris to get on board somehow while he hides out on the underside of the prow.

Initiative roll: 23, huzzah.

With an exaggerated display of thought, Subito said "I don't believe we'll be needing the kitchen sink on this trip, so let's head off!" he grinned at Serge with undisguised excitement and enthusiasm before all but charging out the door they had come in through. Whipping out the map and squinting at it, he directed their course towards the rambling Watson Trail, which passed through numerous small hills and slender valleys that the map noted as containing almost a dozen caves, on its way to a waterfall-fed stream to the north and east of Freedom City. To Serge he explained "We'll take the outlying paths, the ones people will be most likely to hide stuff around without getting caught. That way whoever hid it could think it was safe at whatever weird corner it's stowed" The snow crunched under his boots as he strode briskly into the forest.

...Yeah, that's just plain awkward. I meant it to be an ironic thing where the jaded people of the city had no idea what Jay could do and don't expect much. I'll fix that, make it closer to something a human would say. The speaker is just some guy from the crowd earlier, no-one Jay's heard clearly before.

At the mention of his cousin, Subito stopped short, scowled for a moment before shaking his head vigorously, and resumed his pace "Rodrigo..I dunno," he said bluntly "lately eh's been acting weird, really shut in and quiet, sometimes he'll go all day without saying more than a word or two to Dad or me, and usually he never shuts up" he shrugged brusquely "Guess I oughta' talk with him, huh? Try and find out what's up?" his eyes lit up when he saw the neat white rack in the well-lit Lodge stuffed to the brim with maps. Bounding over to it, he slid his thick right index finger down the line blazoned "TRAILS", he picked out an especially imposing survey of the local geography, which he took to the nearby desk(done in a carefully 'rustic' fashion that argued several hundred dollars per feet of its decor) to pay for its temporary use, upon the exchange he tucked it in the most convenient pocket of his thick coat and returned to Serge's side. With that done, he asked his friend brightly "So Surge, you want to get anything here we might need or do you think we're all set?"

GM The resulting *clunggg* that echoed off of the robot's carapace as the young paragon's fist struck it rolled a dolorous note over the boat and the rest of the scene. Turning a spare eye towards its presumptuous foe, the pillar of metal released an arm from within itself, which it gave a short punch with into El Heraldo's left flank, a punch the boy only narrowly managed to keep from injuring himself. A desultory attempt at shooting the Dark Metal down led to another overheating of a Blacklight cannon, the possibility being entirely there that they weren't meant for such prolonged use, but rather as discouragements for pursuer. By now, the clamor and flashes of red and orange fire had gotten the attention of at least a few citizens in the reaches of the Waterfront district, who alerted the authorities of the bizarre disturbance at the docks. It wouldn't be more than about twenty minutes until they arrived...

At Fulcrum's cry, Subito stood stock still, glancing with renewed admiration at the gigantic heroine. Fired by her example, he decided to try his hand at fighting the bigger fish that had just shown up! Soaring into the air, he raced up to the first of the pillar-like robots he saw and punched it with as much precision as he could muster, wanting to make the punch count for all it was worth!-

GM In answer to her defiant call, one of the floating pillars slid over towards her and opened its chest cannon. In contrast to the gaping maws that they had previously employed, however, this one narrowed his to a fine, laser-like point, which had the definite effect of hitting Fulcrum in the sternum. Two of the metas around the cramped middle of the boat swiveled their turrets at the offending metal creature and fired, one shot going wild and the other discharging in the barrel, which turned the entire machine red-hot and nearly scalded the meta operating it, but they managed to throw themselves clear at the last moment. The agents in the back gibbered in fright as the other two sleek monsters slid through the night towards them...

GM The comparatively confident grins the three men bore when Jay first exited the alley rapidly disintegrated when he downshifted to their tempo, and they saw the belt pouches hanging from his mouth. Glancing at one another with evident sock(and not a little fear), their apparent leader said hurriedly "Amazing! Such an incredible feat he has performed" from the way he stressed the word 'incredible' he clearly meant it both as a superlative and as a simple fact: nobody alive was likely to believe something like that unless they saw it with their own eyes, and then at least twice. Many of the people moving through the market had stopped short at the bizarre scene, glancing uncertainly at each other and at the fastest creature on the planet. Moving quickly, the Putative Leader walked over to Martin just as the younger man was leaving the alley to see what Jay had done. Embracing and kissing Martin with all speed, the other man announced with as much false cheer as he could muster "Sir, I must ask your pardon for any tragic misunderstandings that might have arisen! I am Ector, and these are my comrades Adeipho and Otis" these two worthies made it known that they were "Entirely at your service", which intrigued the coalescing crowd to no end, leading to the inevitable questions. "What was going on here?" asked a burly seller of meat, his heavy bronze cleaver(which had an uncanny similarity to his own skin's sheen) held absently in his hand. This question was repeated by several others in the growing mass, clearly signifying that this was a weighty concern for them, too. The would-be brutes quickly began the expected flurry of disclaimers about any inkling they had had that Jay was anything other than a 'huge cat, like a mini lion', and that they had never had the least thought of bringing harm to either Martin(who was all too glad to introduce himself properly) or 'his amazing pet', at which Martin was very clear about theirs' being a 'partnership', a source of great amusement to the trickling crowd of Segestans and visitors. After that was cleared up, Martin was quickly guided to the largest inn the city could offer, an imposing red and white three-story structure that looked exactly like it ought to have, with a vacant arch for a doorway and surprisingly clean walls. The inside was less clean, drifts of dirt spread over the floor, bits of broken earthenware swept carelessly into the corners, and the walls were stained with streaks of purple wine. The chubby, though by no means jolly, innkeeper listened to the enthusiastic reports of the townspeople with undisguised skepticism, though the fact that Martin and Jubatus were some kind of performing duo went over fairly well with him, to the extent that he permitted the two to room and board at his establishment until they failed to appropriately entertain somebody he knew. With that minor regulation done, he shooed away the literally three dozen people who had crowded around the inn to get a look at the odd pair, with many snickers at Martin's unkempt and immense beard. Most of them needed little encouragement to leave, their curiosity sated by a cursory glance at the pair. As they were shown with polite apathy to their room by Hermes(as the innkeepers' name turned out to be), Jay heard a laughing "Sure I'm going, but I won't see much!" from outside in the streets.

"That makes a lottta' sense" the stocky youth agreed "and I have tried that: it was pretty darn dull" slowly returning to his weight, he stared at the wall opposite him, evidently deep in thought, which obviously was an uncommon occurrence for him. He really had no idea how well something like that would go over at Claremont, which a cursory examination of its general ethics appeared to cast a cold eye on stuff like video games; he also honestly doubted many of the teachers would really be that interested in supporting such a club. On the other hand the vast array of games that directly or indirectly stimulated creative problem-solving could be a helpful fact. On the third hand, there was already a dedicated course series for just such a purpose, not to mention a large part of the school's philosophy. Recalling that his thoughts rarely led anywhere very good the longer he dwelt on them, Subito decided to drop the pondering and focus on more immediate things. "Hmmm..remind me where we'd set this up again? It would have ta be a place with a load of outlets, and I'll bet you know the school a lot better than I will"

GM "Sure thing Kristin!" came the enthusiastic response over the loudspeaker "Try these out, see how they do" after a few seconds a circle of large irregularly-shaped boulders appeared from out of the ground, each of them about half as tall as Kristin and twice as wide. The slightly crackling voice called out "Go to town! Hope those work out!"

Subito put a companionable arm around Serge's shoulder, practically radiating warmth in the frozen weather. "That's easily answered: the treasure in that cave, you know? The treasure everyone at school was talking about? Rumors have been flying around for a week now about it, and nobody seemed to actually want to go look for it, not even that Kimber girl or the red-haired one with tree powers or whatever. If we can find it, we'll keep it from falling into the hands of some villain down the line and ensure the safety of Freedom City that much more" guiding the two of them towards the inviting doors of the Lodge he continued "An' that's not all: this is perfect weather for a hike through the forest. The cold means most of the animals will be holed up in their dens hibernating or sticking close to keep warm, we won't have to worry about skipping off the beaten paths, losing our way because all the trails look the same, etcetera and so on" he concluded grandly as they stepped through the doors into the blessedly warm Lodge.

Dark Metal 2's Don't Mind If I Do! Attack against Fulcrum, an Accurate Attack(-3 DC +3 Attack Bonus) Blast: 22, hits. DC27 TOU check please. Meta 3 Attacks Dark Metal 2 for that(and for all the shooting previously): 17, miss. Meta 2 does the same: 1. Critical failure! The cannon overheats and cannot be used next round. Heraldo decides that today is a good day to do something, Makes an Accurate Attack against one of the Dark Metals(-2DC, +2 to Attack: 21, hits. DC20 TOU check for the Dark Metal 2: 35 "lolno" Dark Metal 1 Attacks El Heraldo(Unarmed): 21, hits. DC28 TOU check for El Heraldo: 12, rerolling. Using a HP(1 left) to re-roll the check: 30, succeeded. Metas 4 and 1 Attack Dark Metal 1: #4: 1, another overheating., #1: 9, miss. End of Round Two, beginning Round Three once I get the posts up.

Okay, an Intimidate attempt on..well, I guess the lot of them: 30

<"Stay down Fred!"> Marceau hissed as the statue's grinding voice echoed over the roof of the Arc, <"It won't do anyone any good to panic"> stepping a little away from the cowering would-be mage, the cowled man spoke in a loud voice to the statues <"Halt! Stand your ground! You have no right to do this whatever! Return to your posts, watch the Earth beneath your gaze, and rest"> relaxing his left hand to his belt where his grapple gun rested, he added <"Gallu no longer has any claim over this Amulet. It shall go to those who understand his power too well to fall for it"> he tensed as eh watched them <"I say again: REST"> He knew this wouldn't work. If statues could be so dissuaded, what good would they be as servants? He knew he would have to either fight or flee, and a quick glance at Frederick told him that neither would be that easy with him around. But, he reminded himself grimly if this was easy there would be no real need to do it. Let's see how this pans out As an afterthought, he yelled out <"Let Gallu come himself to claim it, if it is so precious he sends you to retrieve it!">

OOC thread for this thread.

GM January 14th, 2012 The trip to the well-made Kurtz Lodge almost 7 miles into Wharton State Forest hadn't been a quick one for the bus. The peril of an accident on account of the still-slick layer of impacted snow on the road was high, and had crept along at about 35MPH on its way there. The thick ranks of evergreen trees worked wonders to make the trip feel all but wholly real, and as the bus plowed into the dark woods a feeling that they were going nowhere had settled with varying degrees of fastness on the passengers, that the forest was just an infinite greeness dusted with snow, that the bus would run out of gas long before they got to where they were going, that.. They arrived forty minutes later than the time-table set by the lodge maintainers suggested. Much earlier than had been thought. The day's hikers sorted out of the bus in a drove of scarves, heavy coats and forbiddingly-thick boots. Among them were a stocky Hispanic youth with an upright posture unusual for his years; and a leaner Caucasian boy with a fair complexion and a pair of glasses. After disgorging its passengers, the bus rattled cautiously off down the road, the driver being needed to carry a freight of campers who's day and night of frozen bliss had done.

GM Apparently deeply gratified by the assurance given by the heroes(and that there wasn't any trouble with the meal selection), captain Mirta said with fresh vigor "Thank you all. Ironclad," she added, turning to the technically-adept heroine "The current team will be removed until the complex is guaranteed to be safe. If you wish I'll have the bridge crew set up a link to the Discoverer's sensor array with your armor, Supercape" she turned to the quantum-manipulating academic "I understand you can communicate over vast distances, could you keep in touch with us as you go? That plus your capability to transform matter into alternate states should be invaluable in getting you four through the complex. Paragon," to the enhanced human "For just such a purpose, if I may make a suggestion, please don't tamper with any Preserver technology yourself. It seems to do routine scans of a user's DNA and RNA, it might detect your alterations and attempt to capture you. Phalanx" she said finally to the experienced Claremont graduate "We are detecting some kind of regular energy surge, some sort of Terminus radiation mixed with something else totally unknown to us, it may be that there is a portal to the Terminus down there" Inclining he head slightly to the humans, the Lor captain declared "That is all I have for you beside the records from the suits of those killed. I will meet you at the Transportation Bay once you have gotten or done what you wish. Seeing as Admiral Kalf is in an uncharacteristically good mood, I shall do my best to capitalize on this and get some much-needed work done" another inclination, and the captain walked out the door and into an abruptly-opening chamber, in which she vanished in a wash of green and blue. The dark room hummed away as per usual.

And Heraldo's because I forget everything: 5. Meh. ROUND ONE order: 1. Steeljack 2 2. Glow 3. Net-Fly 4. Arcturus 5. Steeljack 1 6. El Heraldo Steeljack 2 take s a Move Action to fly into the air near the roof of the Doom room. Standard Action to enact Total Defense, granting a +4 to its Dodge Bonus, which bumps its DEF up to +9. Glow's up.

GM As the Fulcrum-powered boat raced for land at speeds it never obtained under its own engine's efforts, the three metal beings followed. One of them, marked by a blistered paint-job from a near-miss, fired a concussive blast of burning energy(which was later found to be a suicidally-overclocked version of a standard battle robot's blaster) at the blue, gold and white supporter of the craft, which blazed over her shoulder and took out most of the roof of the warehouse ahead of them. This attempted affront was retaliated by a barrage from the cannon directly at the prow of the small, disreputable vessel. The pulse of the Blacklight cannon slammed into the robot with enough force to cause a small sonic boom, assisted by the fact that the robot had effectively flown right into it. Sadly, as the reddish haze lessened, the thing was no less mobile or deadly, and in fact a dying shimmer about its chest blaster suggested it had lessened the shock disrupting its force. The other two came quickly on, silent as the grave...

The Pawns(going to call them Steeljacks) roll Initiative: #1 gets an 8, #2 gets a 22.

Okay, the next contenders are the 'Pawn' archetypes, also from the Crooks! 2E book.

GM Over the loudspeaker the bright, chipper voice of the teacher Aaron Cage rolled off "Good job, kids! But that's the easy kind of fight, and most supervillains put those guys to slow down your efforts, not stop you outright. That's where the next kind of guys come in. I talked it over with Summers, and he thought two stronger opponents would be a good balance considering the increase in power you'll see" the silhouetted figure moved noticeably, apparently answering a call from landline connected to the operating board. Bits and snatches of the conversation made their way through the loudspeaker "...Yeah Duncan, just fin..." "...nah, the're alright, just need..." "...the surges have settled down...". After a few minutes, Aaron said cheerfully "Sure thing, Duncan! I'll dial it back three notches, that should do it, I'll send you the live feed so you can see how they do for yourself!" Addressing the students, Cage said "Okay kids, head back to the antechamber, rest up, get a snack or drink if you need it, talk strategy and head back out here in about ten minutes!" ----------------------------------------------- After the four Claremont students had filled the given time and returned to the field, the dull drone of the Doom Room's computer announcer spoke: "next opponents are substantially more powerful versions of previous foes. general 'type' could be considered a lieutenant of the robots just defeated. equipped with stronger blasters, can fly, see in the dark and detect radio-waves. too tough to defeat individually expect potential case of student Marcus Irons. be safe" Witha soft *beep!* the message ended and the Doom Room's projectors gave rise to two robots outwardly indistinguishable from the ones that had just been beaten, expect for the small thrusters attached to their torsos and feet. The robots looked at the teens assembled and began a smooth march towards them. In mid-stride the one to the left hand of the students activated its thrusters and soared elegantly into the air, where it quivered with the force of the jets, its single eye widening and visible splitting to track each of the students at once.

The King of Suits dashed over to Omen, panting slightly at the sudden bursts of exertion he had needed to make. "Thanks for your help Omen," he said happily, holding out his left hand in an invitation to shake it "Always glad to meet someone else in this business when stuff like this goes down, I hope to meet you sometime later, do you have any areas you frequent more often than others, patrol-wise? We could meet up around there if either of us need any help. I patrol mostly from the Fens, Midtown and West Side" Cocking an ear at the distant sirens he added "Also, I'll need to thank that archer fellow for his help, he's a genius with that bow of his!"

The voice that whispered to him, Marceau felt with deep shame, was almost obeyed. It seemed so simple and easy a thing, all he had to do was put the amulet about his neck, and he could fight Gallu with a measure of power that otherwise he could never hope to muster, though he trained for a century unabated. It was only the grim reminder that the Amulet was somehow linked to the bull,else why would the demon encourage him(and Frederick) to use it? Instead, he put Klinefelter on the ground with all care, scanning the air about him for some forecast of the demon's approach. The creaking sent shivers through his spine, mainly because he had not the faintest idea what could possibly be the meaning of that sound, whether it was the signal of some monster rising up the Arc to strike at him and the power-hungry man, or else if was the sound of something totally foreign to his experience and knowledge. At any rate, he spoke calmly enough to Fred. <"I need you to keep watch, Frederick, if you see something obviously evil, or like a bull, rat, or fly, shout out instantly. I will NOT use the Amulet, however Invincible it might be or might make me if I wear it, I suspect it is powered or connected in some way to the demon Gallu who hunts us, and I don't want to find out the hard way"> With that, he drew out one of his razor cards, flipping it between his fingers as he watched with all care. He regretted not telling the local chapter of the House the day he had arrived or bringing Rene along, it would have been nice to have backup of some kind.