Ari

GM With a four-part wail of escaping air followed by a hideous screech of tortured metal, the speeding car swerved and groaned to a halt. The driver was a rough-hewn man in his early fifties, with the cold eyes and relaxed posture of someone used to being in bad situations. At a guess, a professional getaway-car man. The gunman, by contrast, was a slight and unprepossessing man only a year or two older than Velocity, the compact, dark-metal rifle clutched beside his head in lean gloved hands shining like new. Both stared at their captor in a second's silence, before digesting what had just happened(the shock of losing their tires and crashing to the road enough to baffle anyone), and things began to happen. Quickly raising his hands and securing them on top of his head, the driver hollered "You got me, cape! I'll go quietly! It was him, it was his idea!" For his part, the gunman's only reply was to grip the small amulet at his neck and start muttering Latin under his breath, staring into space dumbly. "You gotta take him away, Jenni Rocket!" went on the driver desperately "He threatened me! Told me I'd be next if I didn't get him to that safehouse!"

DC15 Reflex save to not be encrusted by barnacles: 10. Failed by 5, so Bound.

"BRAAAAUUUGH!" bellowed Wave-Eye as he burst into the room, eyes wide and burning dark, claws twisted outward and fangs bulging in his mouth. The nerve-wracking seconds when Captain Blood had seemed to have all the cards in hand had been bad enough, but the new monsters were something else entirely. They were an unknown, something unnatural to the universe, and even after seeing one spill open under Lady Temperance's wrathful blast and seeing many stranger things over endless years, a triton was raised to distrust and fight the unknown and unnatural when it threatened the world. Landing on one scaled foot hard enough to make the floor under it creak dangerously, he swung around a spined fist, driving it into the heart of the unfrozen barnacle beast with a shattering *crunch*, dragging his fist upwards in a slicing motion. Over his shoulder he called "Well hit, comrades! Let us drive this beast back into the depths!"

GM There was another murmur as the Cyberdragon took the surprisingly vicious blow to the neck, the Dragons suddenly sounding a little concerned that their 'greatest work' was currently spasming and swaying unsteadily thanks to the blows of an unpowered human. The thing wasn't down yet, though, and as its internal motors thrummed busily to get the dragon back into the game, their leader seemed supremely calm, his eyes drowsy(somehow, behind the bulky mask) and fixed on the proceedings in the moonlit ring. The rest were careful to follow his example, eyes front and a swiftly-conjured air of smug superiority. Except for one who glanced lazily up at something in the rafters...but that was hidden by their own mask, and besides, they didn't say anything, so what could have been up there anyway? Meanwhile, down below... Evading the knights brutal swing by a hair's-breadth, the now-silent Dragon Solvrytter had been aiming at rolled into a crouch...and lashed his staff out at the young man's head! As he did so, his comrade leaped to take advantage of what he thought would be an off-center adversary...only to hit the floor with a burst of sparks, his target retreating and preparing for a strike of his own!

Wave-Eye is your one-triton stop for all faux-Namor needs! I'd love to involve him with Shark Week and Kraken Unleashed. And El Heraldo would be useful in the Man vs. Nature one, thanks to his gift for understanding languages, healing people and making clothing damage mysteriously disappear.

They are Construct-type, so if they fail by more than 9, they effectively burst. 3. Okay then! The car stops in a blaze of screeching metal and flabby rubber.

Ol' Noches will then jump forward and try to smack one of the Golems on the nose with his fist: 26. Which makes for a DC23 Toughness save for the barnacle golem of oceanography.

A very merry birthday to you, Azuth65! May your secret identity never be compromised by those wishing to take over the Weave!

Aside from some really badly-rotted rafters and a dangerous-looking mass of cables strewn about the floor(except for a clear circle where Nevermore is battling the cyberdragon), she does not see any surprises.

Flinching backward as he saw Carl raise the gun, Marceau braced for the impact, swiveling to the side just as the roar of the gunpowder began...and crashed to the ground. Staring up at the sky with an odd, dizzy feeling, the King of Suits struggled to understand what had just happened. 'So...let us see, I turned, the gun fired, I felt it hit my side(left flank, eighth rib up), why am I down? I...guess I should check?' Ignoring the vague, distant sight of Carl running off over him, he began calmly patting his chest, carefully removing a glove so he could loosen one of the plates and probe under it with an exploratory hand. He jerked it out with a startled cry when he felt the warm wetness and faint twinge of pain, and looked in growing horror at the red liquid dripping from his fingers. Marceau wasn't unused to seeing his own blood. The man had endured several deep wounds that wiser heads warned him would make for a hell of an old age, but the location, speed of blood loss and an increasing awareness of the deep pangs warning of a serious injury made even his heart quaver. Forcing himself to stop screaming, he swallowed hard and got slowly to his feet, trembling and weak enough that fumbling up the nearby wall was his only hope for those first few seconds. Once upright, he bowed his head, closed his eyes, and began to think. 'No use getting hare-brained, approach this like every other problem needing a solution. Be calm. Be collected...breathe in, breathe out...' The King of Suits cleared his mind, focusing on the dark stillness beyond thought, willing his body not to squander its might on feeble grabs at life, to gather, to contain. At last the young man felt his legs grow stronger under him, but dangerously weaker than before. Then he remembered the bullet-hole and the blood spilling from it with a jolt. Removing the plate covering his left torso, he scrutinized it. Two narrow holes five inches from each curved edge, a 45-degree angle of entry. That meant the shot had passed close to his lung. 'Merci, Dieu, for your small miracles' he thought, even as a razor card flicked into his hand and long fingers retrieved some bandage strips from his belt. A quick check with his fingers(fresh glove) revealed to his relief that the exit wound was just as small as the entry, and through a nauseating stab of pain he smiled faintly "Well, Carl, now I know who your dealer must be. Not many street dealers carry bullets that solid." Just the fact that the bullet wasn't in him was a relief...for now. Preparing the bandages took two unending minutes. 'First thing to do: slow the bleeding.' Opening the ballistic cloth underlay and fumbling with his undershirt, he passed the treated strip carefully around his narrow chest, gritting his teeth as it pressed against the tender wound. It was weary, ugly work, but at last the clean bandages were soaking up the escaping blood, and not his armor and clothes. 'Now, to business' he thought, stepping away from the grimy alley wall and glancing hastily up and down the way 'This should hold for the hour or two I need to track down Carl and take that pistol off his greasy hands,' he clenched his fist 'maybe give him a few scars for this-no. He's scared and angry, and I-I can't forget that. I am not his enemy, he is not mine' he relaxed, breathing slowly again as he felt his heart begin to hammer, and then suddenly remembered something that widened his eyes. Turning around, he surveyed his bloody hand-print on the wall. "This cannot be left here, it would be plain bad manners" he announced to no-one in particular, taking a flare-up card from its holster and cutting it open a crack with the razor, spreading the gel within over the mark. In seconds the hissing substance had erased that deadly sign. "And now," he said much more happily, "to work!" and set off after his scurrying quarry! He had to pause at the alley's mouth, though, waiting for what felt like an invisible man beating his chest in to stop.

GM "Well..." the waters bubbled a little, and the mental voice grew much more hesitant "what could I need? I am a thinking spring, all I require is shade and not having my spirit devoured, and people to talk to. The list of material or spiritual wealth that would be of any use whatever to me is very slim. Not to mention how little there is that would remain intact once tossed in-that's it!" The waters suddenly began frothing with excitement in time with the voice's glee "I have it! From observing the stream of time I have seen humanity toss coins into fountains, and with the right spell, I could send that money to one of the organizations meaning to better the world! It is genius! 'The Wishing Spring', just a coin and you have your heart's desire!" "What do you think? Is-is one coin too much? I would not wish to give people burdens or make any trouble." It added worriedly, though the voice soared with hope "We could test it, if you so wish. I cannot imagine the knowledge I give harming anyone. In truth, I do not think the magic even allows it."

GM The helm was one of those super-modern ones, with some of the most intuitive panel setups seen outside luxury cruisers. Thanks to that, the invisible Star Knight was easily able to follow the simplified readouts and dati-splays. The occasional angry word The Blue Star had an entire monitor to itself, in pride of place above and between the two big chairs, and for good reason. Judging by the warp of gravity around the ship, not to mention the exotic energies helpfully detailed in a scrolling list beside the pulsating crystalline cross-section, some kind of dimensional anchor was keeping the gargantuan gem both inside and outside the space occupied by the ship, allowing for nearly weightless transport and near-perfect security. The power source for this mind-boggling setup was, of course, the Blue Star itself, though thanks to the conflux of power the Celestia's own deceptively small fusion core was involved, keeping the current of invisible energy going. There wasn't much record for what happened when you forced a shut-off for something like this, but the problems were both immediate and hard to work around. Of course, there wasn't much to stop Kyle from moving the Blue Star out of the ship(the current of otherworldly power between the two could be likened to ropes tying a pair of rocks together), and then making with the sabotage... ...Besides the issue of doing it on the fly, with nobody(including the robot) noticing, and leaving him on board with a bunch of people that much more inclined to hate his guts.

Driver's Driving Roll of Driving, 1d20-9: 11. Well...they tried! The tires are TOU 3, popping them with the bullets would be child's play even without the addition of super-speed. Feel free to make with Interaction Skill rolls once the miscreants are grounded.

'Well, that was...a sight. Warrants a little note-taking.' Fiddling with the small device, checking its construction and how it sat on his arm, Osprey nodded absently to the chemist's excited exposition. Looking up at last he said "This should do it, Dr. Blackpool" 'Incredible, not even a murmur when I called him 'Tom'. Must be big for him to get to work here.' A goggled eye flicked back to the small watch "You say I can control it, so...I can shut off the production of the pheromone? Maybe take a shot that stops it dead?" Folding his legs under himself, the small medical table rustling and creaking, he inspected the watch again, carefully noting the speed of the numbers ticking down. 'Time-sensitive, sweet of him. And if he can get the numbers this precise I'll need to be on my toes if I want to find out more about Dr. Blackpool's magic potion' "One more thing: what would the Vanguard need with cyborg security blokes? And when did they get access to the formula?" Alden studied Blackpool and Eileen closely "Can't exactly see Champion going "Ooh my back, please help me fight this burglar Mr. Superhuman Killing Machine", you know?"

GM Jail Bird blinked up at her for a moment, his drawn face tightening just a little more, and nodded silently, getting slowly and ponderously to his feet. Waving them away he gestured to the rough center of the village where the elders would be "We must be coordinated. Go speak with Leda and the rest. I will go with the other sick and wounded." He smiled briefly through another stab of pain "We'll be alright, little bird, be quite anticlimactic for it all to end now, eh?" "Yes, that's one of the gathering tools. It might just be another sweep but..." Leda glanced at the rest, the oppressive silence getting just a little deeper as they looked back. There weren't any suspicions on the quartet, which they would be when Bloduewedd got back, but them arriving so soon after the strangers had raised eyebrows. Clearing her throat, the rawboned woman plowed on, looking back to Tona "We can be ready within an hour, if all goes well and the 'drones are no faster than before. Should we get close, or leave this campsite? We have never before made this kind of journey," she added drily "it's not something we have many plans ready for."

GM The seeming leader smiled when Lara caught his attention, relaxing his grip on the young man below him to turn his gun on the tube of steel and glass, and the seemingly ready-made victim within "If you want us to prove how serious we are that badly, well...allow me to demonstrate." With great precision and care for all its speed, the masked man leveled his pistol on Lara, glanced down the barrel, and fired. Almost before the first *BANG* had cracked through the hall, the noise of shattering glass and water bursting free filled the air, the contraption falling apart with all the theatrical grace of a drunken elephant, water spilling out onto the stage as massive hunks of glass fell out of the steel bands. A large patch of red streaked the main pillar where Lara's head had been moments before, the illusionist nowhere to be seen amidst the wreckage. "As you can see, " the leader began, turning once more to the shocked audience, their mouths gaping and eyes bulging "we are quite serioooouuuuaaaaagh!" The leader had had exactly five seconds to look smug before the wires swept around him, and in moments he was struggling madly in a mesh of wires suspending him just above the floor, his arms and legs bound hopelessly together. One of the other soldiers laughed openly at the sight, only to be given a quick knuckle-sandwich by his fellow, a stocky man who boomed "Eyes open! Watch the walls and the crowd! You see someone moving, yell once and open fire if they don't stop." With that he lunged onto the stage, drawing a knife as he advanced on the jerking figure of their leader beautifully illuminated by the stage floodlights.

Snorting a little, Osprey eased up just enough to keep from suffocating his enemy. "Think it's the gun business, Mitchie. Grabs the worst sorts of bastards, makes 'em scared to stick around in case they get murdered. Just a theory." Wrestling Rupert around so their faces met, he went on "And a 'quid'? That's just insulting. Tell you what, I give you a free not-beating, you tell me what all this **** is and how you're involved." The altered vigilante tilted his head to the side, for a second looking more like a monstrous bird observing a field than a man talking to another. "I get the feeling this might be important, so pipe up. Quick as you please."

Intimidate roll to try and rattle Mitchell into letting slip some information: 14. Not much chance there!

GM For a dangerous second, the car slowed enough for Velocity to dimly make out the stunned faces of the pair inside...and then the driver apparently found where the right pedal was, and the car exploded down the road, the gunman vanishing back inside and rolling up the window as fast as he could! Around her, the crowd were also frozen, blinking in shock at the superheroine with a fistful of a bullets and the echoes of gunfire ringing in their ears. After a second one of them caught sight of the kitty shivering and wide-eyed in her other hand, and raised an excited cheer "Great job, Velocity!" the rounded young man hollered, glancing uncertainly at the others, who quickly took up the cry and clapped enthusiastically at what they knew must have been a phenomenal display of superhuman prowess. A few of the older ones had even caught a vague glimpse of the superheroine in motion! Once the shock had worn off, the young man added nervously "Uh...do you know why that happened? And what it was?" as the car raced desperately for the corner.

Actually, the car's still going, evidently not wanting to try their luck again. Going a fair clip, but probably pretty easy to catch for somebody who can go at 25,000MPH normally.

Removed Archived characters, and entered entries for Bee-Keeper III, Changeling, Lara Drake, Springpine and Triaskosia.

Their general Notice roll(-2 thanks to the fascinating display from Nevermore & Cyberdragon): 13. None observe her. Feel free to make whatever rolls seem most suitable! Seeing as she's not busy having her night-vision ruined by crackling lights, she can potentially see a great deal.

The Knight commences...by taking a Total Defense(+6 to Def) stance, and Bluffing Blodeuwedd to try and Trick her into striking the first blow: 30. Sense-Motive or Bluff check, please.

[Rubber-stamp and mention that the assassin archetype from the Core cannot best that with all the powers of Heaven at his beck]

Mea Culpa, I should not leave this so long. DC23 Sense Motive roll for the Thug: 10. He fails like whoa. And shoots the glass. Going to just assume it shatters. DC18 Reflex save: 8. Again, massive failure. He is Bound.