R. Bluefish
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Echo Deadbolt Late Night Out Starlight Gang War - Even Vampires Get The Blues Nothing Fancy, Just Hanging Out A Performance to Die For
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The Helm of Truth steered her aim truly. The vampire's head exploded in a shower of ash, and she was blasted backwards into the wall, only to slump onto the floor and dissolve fully away into smoking cinders. Alec Card was now apparently a one-man band. And the janitor was surely in for a fun time. His eyes now completely blinded by Starlight's conjured bands of shadow, Card continued to rage and fight against his unnatural bonds. "Release me! Release me, mortal!" Ignoring him, Starlight took the opportunity afforded by his incapacitation to take stock of the situation. Seeing the pile of ash that was once the pink-haired vampire, she nodded to Shrike. "Nice shot," she said, casually making a fist with one hand, which glowed brighter and brighter with each passing second. Card continued to rave. "Human worm! Release me! I will feast on your firstb-" Without looking, Starlight slammed her fist into his chest and released the pent-up energy. "Shut the #&$@ up." There was a blinding flash, the faint smell of cooking meat, and Card's entire body buckled. Say that again. I dare you.
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Oh, it would probably help if I rolled a Toughness save for her, wouldn't it? Man, I don't know where my head's at these days. Vampire drummer's Toughness save: 1d20+5 13. Scratch one vamp! Starlight's up again. She'll use Photon Blast on Card once more: 1d20+10 28 Alec Card's Toughness save (DC 27): 1d20+10-2 17. He's Staggered and Dazed. Which means he forgoes his next turn, so Shrike's up again!
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Sure is!
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"Eh." Starlight flicked a hand almost absentmindedly as she crunched on a stalk of celery, and a mote of light danced off the end of her finger. "Stuff with light. Some stuff with darkness, too. Nothing too special." Unconsciously, she moved one hand over to scratch at the flesh on the inside of her arm, where her track marks used to be. "Powers are inborn, I think. Got...activated a year and change ago, which was when I picked up the cape." A slightly condensed version of the story, but one that was far more suitable to party conversation than the full one. "How about you? What's your story?" She fiddled with one of her studded earrings, always restless when sitting still. "Magic, you said it was. Taught? Innate? What made you start playing the hero game?"
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Magic. Samantha snorted, amused despite herself. The universe seemed to be determined to make her get over her unease around magic, via exposure therapy. Come to think of it, who did she know that didn't use magic? "Lived here all my life," she said, leaning back and crossing her legs. "Freedomite, born and raised. Hell, up until I got my powers, I'd never so much as left city limits." Saying that would have made her feel embarrassed once, but she now stated it in a matter-of-fact fashion. "Didn't exactly have what you would call the picture-book childhood, you understand. Wasn't in a much better place when I grew up, either - 'til Lynn and I crossed paths, and she gave me my first actual job in years." She shot a brief, rueful smile at Lynn. "Beats me why she did that."
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"Cider's fine for me too," Samantha called after Gretchen. "Or whatever you have that doesn't have booze in it." Alcohol would only be wasted on her immune system - if it could really be called an immune system anymore. Which was probably a good thing, frankly. "And happy birthday, by the way," she added to Lynn. "Hope I look as good as you when I'm past a hundred." Sitting on the couch, she took the toothpick from her mouth and snagged a slice of meat for herself. "Samantha it is," she said, biting the meat off the improvised skewer with table manners befitting her background. "People call me Sam, but that would probably get real confusing real fast in here. Good meeting you." She chewed, at the same time surreptitiously testing the softness of the sofa. Nice. "So what happened with your saving-the-world thing? Aliens? Gods? Death ray? 's usually one of those."
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Works for me. Shrike is up, so let's see if it works!
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We can figure out how that works in a second - first, got a few more actions to get through! The vampire girl will change tactics, instead imitating Card and attempting to grapple Gretchen. Vampire Drummer's melee attack: 1d20+5 15. No dice! Starlight will attack the helpless Card with Photon Blast. Photon Blast vs. Alec Card: 1d20+10 26 Alec Card's Toughness save: 1d20+10-2 27. Whoah. Tough bastard. No longer Dazed, Alec Card will attempt to use Insubstantial to escape from Starlight's Snare! That requires a DC 20 Concentration check on his part. Alec Card's Concentration check: 1d20+11 13. Not rolling so well now, I see. Failure! Right, now Shrike's up again. I'm honestly not sure either how your action would work out rules-wise. The vampire girl doesn't have any sort of Concealment, or even a particularly high Defense - should we just make it a straight attack, and if it hits, then yay it worked? If you have suggestions as to how to do it, though, I'm all ears.
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The vampire girl was on Gretchen again in an instant, striking out with her arms, trying to grab her from behind. Gretchen sensed that one coming, and was able to duck, the girl's arms closing on empty air. Anger made Starlight grind her teeth together. Gretch seemed to have her hands full with Hair Chick, and every one of Starlight's instincts told her to help - but if Card got free, that might be it for both of them. Like it or not, only thing to do was take him out of the equation first, and fast. Channeling her frustration, she let loose with another white-hot blast of energy from both palms, striking the struggling Card square in the midde of the chest. Could you stake a vampire with a laser beam? There was only one way to find out. The beam of energy hit his chest and burst, scattering spikes of light in all directions. "Ha!" roared Card, his shirt all but destroyed now. "You'll have to do better than that, woman!" Even as he spoke, his form seemed to be growing...thinner somehow. Smokier. Wisps of mist were creeping forth from his body. Starlight realized what he was doing in a moment, and lashed out her hands, flexing her fingers in command. The bands of shadow that held him tightened, snaking around his eyes, jerking his head from side to side, anything to break his concentration. Her improvised tactic seemed to work - his form pulsed, then solidified again. "Stop that!" howled Card in frustration.
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Echo could feel a knot of tension in her gut, growing tighter with every word the man - Deadbolt - said. Alien madness virus? She was definitely getting in over her head. In so far over her head she needed a snorkel - or maybe a submersible. You know I was kidding about 28 Days Later, right, universe? "Okay," she said slowly. "That's a lot to take in right there. You're a doctor from a parallel universe that got torn apart by an alien violence-virus. And you got infected and escaped to our neck of the woods." She rubbed her temple. "So where does Neutron come in to all this? What do they want with you? They think you have some sort of power that they can harness?" An unpleasant thought occurred to her. "And...you're infected. So this virus has now been introduced to our world?" Thanks for that, that was a real nice human civilization we had once.
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Sure thing. Echo's Diplomacy check: 1d20+10 26 Echo's Sense Motive check: 1d20+10 26 Heh. How about that.
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Echo had risen quickly to her feet when he did. "My name's Echo," she said, doing her best to keep her voice level. "I'm a superhero." In case you couldn't tell from the outfit and hair and, uh, tinfoil hat. Right now, calling herself a superhero felt a bit generous, but it wasn't the time for caveats. "I'm here to help you. I already ran into the snatch squad, and let's just say they're not going to be bothering anybody for a little while, if you know what I mean." She tilted her head inquisitively. "Who's 'them?'" she asked. "What were you trying to cure?" There's also a bit of a "are you dead" elephant in the room, but we'll leave off that for the moment. They needed information badly right now, but it was probably best to take things one little baby step at a time. She wasn't even sure if they were safely past the "try to kill each other" phase yet.
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Okay... Echo took a deep breath. Here we go. "Hey. Hey there," she said, approaching the man slowly, even more cautious than she had been with Tin Hat. If the feeling in the air was anything to go by, she was going to need to tread very carefully here. She didn't feel like getting barbecued or whatever today. She squatted down to put herself on the same eye level as him, still keeping her distance. As she did so, her mind was racing. What was her plan here? She was not qualified to be dealing with situations like this. Purse snatchings and Zippy Mart robberies were her thing, not radioactive mentally ill zombies living in the sewers. Heck, she got into a big barney with a jester outside a gym once, and it nearly killed her. Probably should have thought of that several hours ago there, Stein. Swallowing, she spoke again. "Can...can you tell me your name?"
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We can indeed! She may not be much of a vampire, but she's still a vampire, and super-reflexes are pretty much a part of the package.
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"I'm always up for creepy group hugs," said Echo jokingly, waggling her eyebrows even though no one could see the motion through her mask. "But nah, whoever I'm taking with me just needs to be touching me at the time." She paused, then added, "er, and when I say 'touching,' I mean, like, hand-on-shoulder touching. 'Course, it's pretty short-range, so we'll need to actually go there before I can get us inside. I, uh, probably should have mentioned that first. But hey, it'll save us from having to jimmy a window, right?" Casually, she shot a glance at the Cole and the unconscious heap of thugs. "As for them...eh, I'm fine with just tying 'em up and dropping the coppers a tip, but if the two of you have another way you'd rather go about it I'm flex. I know my approach is a bit on the lazy side."
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Round 2 Initiative Character HP Damage condition 19 Alec Card GM Bruised 2, Dazed, Bound and Helpless 10 The Shrike 0 Unharmed 9 Vampire drummer GM Unharmed 8 Starlight 1 Unharmed Card is up - or rather, he would be if he wasn't Dazed. But he is, so Shrike is up again!
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Card's head snapped back like a speed bag from the impact, has mouth flying open wide in pain and shock. His grip on Starlight slackened and she broke free, clawing reflexively at her throat. Card was obviously stunned by Gretchen's blast, reeling visibly and scrabbling at the wall to remain upright. "You will...pay for that!" he spat. His trendy sunglasses had been shattered to pieces by the shot, and his yellow eyes glared wildly at the two heroes. Seeing Shrike's attention focused on Card, the girl with the pink-and-black hair was on her in a moment, raking viciously at her throat with fingers that seemed suddenly closer to claws. "Die!" There was an audible screeching noise as her finger-claws skated harmlessly off the magical protection afforded by Shrike's enchanted cloak, and she recoiled in frustration. Starlight, meanwhile, wasted no time in taking advantage of Card's state. "#$%@ing try that again," she snarled, spinning away from him while at the same time making a fluid, sweeping gesture with her right hand. Instantly, the shadows in the room thickened and grew darker - then lashed forth in seeking tentacles, coiling themselves around Card's arms and legs, holding him fast. Starlight's eyes had lost their white glow - they had now gone completely black.
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The remaining vampire girl will attack Shrike. Unfortunately for her, her unarmed damage is a mere +5, while Gretchen has Impervious 6, so there's no point in even rolling! Starlight will attempt to use Snare on Card. Shadow Bind vs. Alec Card: 1d20+10 26 Alec Card's Reflex save (DC 22): 1d20+10 15 Card is bound and helpless!
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It was emblematic of how strange her day had been that Echo hardly thought twice about putting on the proffered tin hat. Hey, I'm not going to argue with the expert when it comes to beamatrons. If she looked strange in her costume and wig before, adding a tinfoil hat to the ensemble pushed her appearance into "downright bizarre" territory. I hope none of the Interceptors see me wearing this. "Okay," she said, fiddling with her new headgear - she could tell that incessant crinkling sound might get a little old, but it actually wasn't that uncomfortable - "we're all armored up." She was trying not to think about what she was going to have to do when they found the whatever-it-was. She'd never thought ahead before, and she wasn't going to start now. Addressing Tin Hat, she said, "Can you take us to where you last saw the zombie-guy?"
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Fast? Great. Looks like it's about to get all 28 Days Later up in here. "Do you remember where you saw him?" she asked. "Even just a general direction? I'm not kidding when I say we need to find him before Neutron does." She cracked her knuckles. "Heck, if all of their goons are as wimpy as they were, I'd even settle for finding him at the same time Neutron does." Hesitating, she then added, "Unless they have gas grenades. I hate gas grenades now." Belatedly, another problem occurred to her. Half-turning away from Tin Hat, she addressed Jack in a slightly muted tone. "Er, Jack...have we thought about what we're going to do when we actually find this guy? Or thing, or zombie, or whatever it is that Neutron's after? From the sound if it, he might not be entirely stable himself, and he's probably juiced up on powers just as much as I am or more." I really need to learn to start thinking ahead. "I mean, just beating the crap out of him might not solve anything, and he probably doesn't even deserve it. But we still need a way to keep Neutron from ever getting their hands on him." She ran a hand through her hair distractedly. "Or do we just cross that bridge when we come to it?"
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ic Gang War - Even Vampires get the Blues (IC)
R. Bluefish replied to Tiffany Korta's topic in West End
Starlight took the coffee, the heat of it not bothering her in the slightest. "Thanks," she said shortly, either too polite or too taciturn - most likely the latter - to mention that caffeine affected her about as much as room-temperature water did. Whatever the case, she was also apparently too secretive to remove her mask to drink, so she only stood with the cup in her hand. "What's the plan?" she asked. "Just wait for them to raise up, then take 'em out?" She wasn't sure if that would be exactly smiled upon by law enforcement, but frankly, half of what capes did in this city wasn't exactly smiled upon by law enforcement. -
"Cut him some slack, he's some poor mentally ill guy living in a damn sewer," whispered back Echo, glad that her mask hid the movement of her lips. "We're not exactly a hundred percent sure what's going on ourselves, actually," she said at regular volume to Tin Hat. "We'd appreciate any light you could help shine on what's going on - you seem pretty, uh, wired-in to everything that happens down here." Hmm, how to sum all this up? "Okay, so here's the gist of what we've got," she said, looking to Jack and motioning for him to chime in if she missed anything. "Neutron is bad." There's an in-depth recap for ya. "They're after some kind of dimensional anomaly that's supposed to be down here in the sewers somehow. I've heard it called a...radioactive sewer zombie?" That ring any bells? "They seem to think they can harness its power somehow - maybe use it as an energy source - but it's supposedly done nasty things to the team they sent after it." She jerked a thumb at Jack. "This here's Jack Longwheel. He's the reporter who cottoned on to the whole thing. And I, of course, am a superhero. We need to find this zombie-thing before Neutron does, or there's no telling what might happen. And word on the street is that nobody knows the sewers like you do." She looked at Jack. "That pretty much sum everything up?"
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She's not trained in either of those, so it looks like a straight Intelligence roll. Echo's Knowledge (technology) check: 1d20+2 10 Echo's Knowledge (behavioral sciences) check: 1d20+2 21. Hey, looks like she may have picked up a thing or two through knowledge osmosis!
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That is indeed a hit - his Defense is only 20. Alec Card's Toughness save: 1d20+10-1 18 He's Bruised again, and Dazed for one round. And since he can't take free actions while Dazed, Starlight is freed from his grapple! Nice shot - go ahead and post IC.