RocketLord

Forever Boy

The Forever Boy stares at Tun for a moment, while Diamondligt makes his choice in game, and Shooting Star decides to fight.

"I don't know your audience," Pan says with a shrug of his shoulders. "Tell me about them, Miss Tun. Who are they? Humanity is easy enough, give them excitement and thrills, but something tells me that your audience is a bit more demanding, no?"

"But perhaps I should join the lovely women in your area? That sounds kind of interesting."

The STORMCROW

"Don't look at me," Charlie says, holding up his hands. "I'm agnostic."

Well, maybe no strictly agnostic, but he honestly doesn't know what he believes there.

"Our kitchen," Charlie tries to correct Vik. "C'mon, it's not just my place. I really try to make that clear, don't I?"

Looking back and forth between Bernie and Vi, he throws his hands up again. "Sure, but I'd like to point out that I'm the only one here that doesn't have some kind of super strength, so, y'know, maybe try to not hit me too hard in the face?" He is grinning anyway. Maybe this'll help lift Bernie's spirit a bit, not that he blames her. Still, he's more used to fighting with his staff than without, so maybe he should just focus on none of them taking his head off?

GM

As the heroes begin to arrive, the action is already on. Scarlet Mist and Purple Haze has already dissolved into their mist forms, rampaging around the Devil's Advocates, as they fight back. It seems that their demonic powers is enough to at least hurt the siblings. 

As the Born Loser is thrown back by Scarlet Mist crashing into him, he crashes into a group of fleeing bystanders. While cuts begin to appear on his body, he laughs. While he begins to heal, everyone around him fall to the ground, suddenly skeletally thin, as if they are starving. The villains doesn't care, not in any way but finding it amusing, it seems.

Fighting these villains won't be enough. The heroes will have to save everyone around them as well.

Alright, I'll adjust things a bit, since it seems like there's only 4 heroes in this thread, but anyway... let's see some initiative rolls.

Spaceman

"I think so," Parker responds to Michael's question about the interior decoration. He is probably right, but it's honestly not something Parker has paid too much attention to. The company has always been more his sister's thing. With his powers, he always had other things in mind for what he would do, and besides, Tracy is the heir apparent.

Parker shrugs lightly in response to Iris' question. "So many things, I'm honestly not even sure. My parents are really into trying to use their money to help everyone, so, they bring in anyone that wants to do that." He smiles fondly, as he looks up at the building. "Renewable energy, medicine, anything they can try to fund in some way."

Leading the others into the building, he stops at the reception, where the young man sitting there already have visitor badges ready for them.

"My sister, Tracy, asked me to bring you. She's in charge of a few teams, one of them is doing something with psychics. I don't really know the details, but apparently, having some real psychics like you to help out could really help them out."

GM

All the ninjas that the group can see on the ground is down, unable to stand the barrage of Paper's hardened paper balls.

Up in the rafters, the four ninja drop down, away from the horrible illusions that Neko is conjuring and leaving her to fight the newcomer. Instead, they turn their attention towards Paper and the band. As they fall, two of the ninjas throw shuriken at Paper, while the other two immediately start moving once they hit the floor, setting off in the direction of the band, throwing shuriken of their own towards the dupe as they move around her to a better position.

Thanks for rolling with my mistake, AA!

On to the ninjas, then! 

Unable to see due to the illusion, the 4 ninjas in the rafters drop down to the floor, where two go for Paper with ranged attacks, and the other two rush back for the band, both attacking the dupe with ranged attacks.

Attacks vs. Paper: 22, 17

Attack vs. Dupe: 9, 18

That's 1 hit for each! @Spacefurry give me a DC21 TOU save, and @Thevshi give me a DC21 TOU save for the dupe, and then @Thevshi is up!

28 - Stormcrow - 7HP - Unharmed

27 - Elite Ninja - Unharmed

24 - Paper - 4HP - Unharmed

23 - Multi-Girl Dupe - Unharmed

17 - Ninjas - Minions - 8x Defeated, none visible on the ground, at least 4 in the rafters (under effects of Obscure)

17 - Multi-Girl - 2HP - Unharmed

9 - Neko - 2HP - Unharmed

The STORMCROW

The tide's finally turning... and all it took was a lucky hit and a guy from space showing up. Bernie is back in action, Pol and Leon are taking down the big guy with the horns, Luke got the fire lady with the mind powers. Vik needs help, they will have to get to her, but right now...

Stormcrow takes a step back, swinging his staff around as the identical people near him try to taunt him about what would happen if they take him down. 

"That's a big if," he quips, as he takes a step a step back, then slams his staff down on the prone dupe, before spinning to attack the next one.

"Somebody back up Ghule! Nightscale, KO the telepath before she tries to whammy anyone again!"

Gonna strike the Legion near me that's prone with 3 bruises with Charlie's staff. Since he's prone I get +4 to hit, so I'll do a +2 Power Attack, which means +16 to hit, DC27 if 21 hits.

Just in case he goes down, I'll use Takedown Attack to then attack the other prone Legion, the one with 1 bruise, with the same +2 Power Attack since he's prone as well, going for 36, which is a crit, for DC32... so I really hope the first guy goes down. I'll edit my first post in case the first guy goes down to include this.

Spaceman

Show that they are strong so the Deep Ones don't try to eat them? Parker frowns. He is not fond of showing off. It feels wrong to use his powers like that, but it sounds like they have to. He could try many things. Vueriz bares her fangs, Iris and Daniel use their powers, Michael tries to be polite and talk to them. Parker could do that, too, but is that effective with the Deep Ones?

He walks towards a whale carcass. He doens't like the smell, doesn't like how it will feel to touch, but... Sea Devil wants strength? He can do that.

Reaching out with one hand, he grabs hold of the carcass and lifts it up over his head.

"Is this strong enough, Sea Devil?"

GM

Inside the room, everything continues to shift and change between the two states, back and forth as they watch.

With some reluctance, one of the technicians hands the tablet with the data over to Rewind, while another adresses Madame Raven. "No, we don't know what will happen. No one has been in there since the shifts began. Z-Space Radiation can be... tricky. What if it pulls your arm to the other side, but not the rest of you? We don't even know what will happen in there if... If we step inside, I mean."

He pauses, looking at the others. They all seem to agree. For the mockery of not being a part of the family, they seem more than happy to let this newer group take the reigns.

Inside the room, a teddy bear appears on the bed.

It is holding a piece of paper.

Rex Atom

Rex crosses his arm, a slightly crooked smirk spreading over his lips. He wouldn't be surprised if anyone here thought he had set this up to test them, but no, he hadn't. He's not surprised that Rewind can explain a bit about Z-Space, while Madame Raven and Dreamer wants to experiment.

"I... thank you?" he says to the Dreamer, as he accepts the teddy bear, looking at it.

"Z-Space is what we call the space between realities. If you reach Z-Space, you can, theoretically, reach any other reality... or another reality can reach us. But this is new."

He pauses, and looks over to Rewind.

"But I'm not an expert, so... what do you got, Rewind?"

@Epiphany give me a Physical Sciences roll, and let's see what you learn.

Spaceman

They are everywhere around them, buzzing and zapping and slashing. Parker can take it, having made his body dense enough to withstand it, but for how long? His shirt has been all but torn apart by the continued strikes by now, black krackle seeping continuously from his body. That one hit was almost enough, and they are not letting up in the slightest.

This is all crazy. They should have been home, not here, not fighting like this. He notices someone else there, someone close to Lawrence. A quick glance shows a man in robes. The guy behind all this, probably. Parker is just about to shout for Michael to throw him, or to start flying himself, but then, a blur smashes into Captain Thunder. Takes him down, crashing into the ground far below. He is... is he even breathing? Someone took out Captain Thunder, just like that? Real or not, that is... Can they do this? Can he do this?

Before he has a chance to try to decide what to do, Michael is by his side. He knows the woman, and it isn't good. One of the strongest beings in the cosmos, and she is going to kill everyone if they don't stop her and keep her from moving even an inch? Can they even do that? Does it matter?

"Alright. Then we'll keep her in place."

It doesn't matter if they can. They will do it. 

Pushing everything away, everything into strength, Parker feels it, the golden energy rushing through his body. Is this what Michael feels like all the time? It is a rush, it is... It is what they need. 

And then they're there, Michael doing all he can, throwing Parker. The black krackle explodes from his golden glowing body, it looks almost like he is dissolving into it, as it spreads out behind him like a black cape. Michael is shouting something at Paradigm as he grabs onto her. Parker can't hear him.

Spaceman catches on around Paradigm's body, locking around her arms and slamming her into the ground with enough force to create another crater, a shockwave that explodes out from them. 

He has no idea how long he can do it, but if it's even for a moment, he will do it.

Alright, that means Bound and Helpless, in case anyone want to try to Coup De Grace.

I'm gonna use Chokehold, so Paradigm gotta hold her breath.

Alright, with the extra 8 ranks of Super-Strength, I'll put everything into enhancing that grapple bonus.

Shifting Personal Space Control Array to Super-Strength, Space Control Array sticks at Elongation + Enhanced Strength, and gonna keep my Selective Area stunt up so I can attack everyone else too. 

That should bring me to +41 to Grapple, if I hit.

So let's see how many I can hit in a 40 ft. radius with +10 hit thanks to Michael's Aid: 23

Since I've been informed that hits, that's a DC23 TOU save to Paradigm (and anyone else in the radius that it hits)

Then, grapple at +41: 50, also applying to all bad guys in a 40 ft. radius

Spending a HP to reroll that, since it can only get higher: 58 even better!

I might want to do more depending on how that goes.

@Thevshi: Rolling and missing on 1-10: 17, 15, stilling hitting, so let's see some rolls!

28 - Experimental Soldiers x7 - 4 unharmed, 2 slowed, 1 paralyzed

21 - Timeout - 1HP - Unharmed

20 - Spaceman - 2HP - Unharmed

19 - Gamma Buzz - 0HP - Unharmed

9 - Doctor Deviation - Unharmed

GM

The Scarecrow stands ready. It seems perplexed at something that tries to fight, rather than evade it.

"Unauthorized access detected. Purging infection."

Brute force, or something more insidious? What will Haven's solution be, as his virtual self is launched towards the Scarecrow?

Initiative: 23

Combat will, for the most part, work as normal, though you will be able to use your Computers skill to interact with things. I'm open to input on when to do that, though I'll also present some options. 

You get to go first.

24 - Haven - 1HP - Unharmed

23 - Scarecrow - Unharmed

Alright, you get 6 ninjas on the ground with that

Rolling vs. DC25 TOU: All well below, they go down

That means that there's no more ninjas on the ground at the moment, and @Thevshi is up with the dupe!

28 - Stormcrow - 7HP - Unharmed

27 - Elite Ninja - Unharmed

24 - Paper - 4HP - Unharmed

23 - Multi-Girl Dupe - Unharmed

17 - Ninjas - Minions - 8x Defeated, none visible on the ground, at least 4 in the rafters (under effects of Obscure)

17 - Multi-Girl - 2HP - Unharmed

9 - Neko - 2HP - Unharmed

GM

The gamma glowing articles spread through the air. A single soldier manages to get out of the way, while others are start screaming, their bodies starting to dissolve once the radioactive particles make contact with their bodies, like they cannot handle the stress, their bodies rapidly aging.

If Doctor Deviation is affected by the horrible demise of his soldiers, then he doesn't let it show. More soldiers come out from the cells, rushing towards Timeout and Gamma Buzz. While four get up to Timeout and start hitting him, two more jump towards Gamma Buzz on the ceiling, slamming their hands into it and then tries to strike him.

Spaceman has a distinct feeling that the doctor is smiling under his helmet, before blasting a shockwave at him, that Spaceman only barely manages to hold back against.

The no-longer-young woman that brought them there shrinks away from the fight. She is looking at her hands. They are starting to seem so old.

You can get them all with that:

Reflex saves:

1x Unharmed save: 8

4x Slowed: 17, 14, 19, 10

3x Paralyzed Save: Autofail

Fort saves

1 that made the save: 11

7 that failed the save: 24, 24, 10, 9, 7, 9, 23

So that's the unharmed taken down, along with 2 slowed and 2 paralyzed, which means there's 3 experimental soldiers yet.

Doctor Deviation spends a move actions on getting 4 additional experiment soldiers out there, then a standard action to attack Spaceman: 18, that's a hit, for a DC25 TOU save.

Spaceman TOU save: 14

I'll spend a HP to reroll, cus I refuse to let a 1 stand: 28

Next round:

2 slowed and 2 unharmed experimental soldiers attack Timeout. First two rolls will receive a -1 to the actual roll for being slowed: 22, 18, 8, 23

That's 2 hits, so give me 2 TOU saves vs. DC21 @Thevshi

Then, 2 unharmed soldiers leap towards the roof next to Gamma Buzz, holding into it by slamming a fist into it, and attacks Gamma Buzz: 10, 19

That's 1 hit, so give me a DC21 TOU @Supercape

@Thevshi, you're up next, after your turn the 2 slowed and 1 paralyzed soldiers get to roll to recover.

28 - Experimental Soldiers x7 - 4 unharmed, 2 slowed, 1 paralyzed

21 - Timeout - 1HP - Unharmed

20 - Spaceman - 2HP - Unharmed

19 - Gamma Buzz - 1HP - Unharmed

9 - Doctor Deviation - Unharmed

Spaceman

Parker has to remind himself that this is all to help out Tracy's team, and to maybe help out Iris and Daniel. He doesn't like to flaunt his family's wealth or status. They are doing good with their resources, but it still feels wrong, when he knows that many of his friends have had to deal with poverty or worse during their life, something he has never tried. 

Stepping out of the car that had come to collect them (it is a nice car, though not overtly so. A generic model, nothing too fancy), he is wearing a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt, with his bomber jacket held in one hand. It's never cold inside and the weather's nice enough, anyway. 

"So... yeah. This is it, I guess. Powers Holdings' big Freedom City office building." 

He is feeling awkward. It's the first time he has brought any of his friends here.

OOC for this.

@Poncho @Dracostern

GM

3:30 PM, Friday April 12th, 2024

City Center, Freedom City

Powers Holdings Office Building

It started innocently enough. Parker had been to a family dinner, his family had asked him about his friends and students, and he had mentioned a few of them. When he mentioned Iris and Daniel and their telepathic powers, Tracy, his older sister, had perked up and asked more about them, how powerful they were and so on. Apparently, one of the R&D teams under her is working on a device that should, hopefully, be able to expand the scope of telepathic powers, potentially allowing a telepath to aid rescue efforts in a much wider area in terms of catastrophes. So... Parker had asked Iris and Daniel to come with him, explaining things as well as he could, and when Michael had overheard, Parker invited him along as well. 

The weather is nice for mid-April, as the group exits the car that had been sent to get them once classes were over for the day, once it has stopped in front of the Powers Holdings office building in Midtown. The building doesn't particularly stand out. Sure, it is tall, but so are most of the buildings in midtown, and the area is dominated by Freedom Hall, City Hall and the DuTemps Building, so, it doesn't particularly stand out.

Still, there is a big POWERS HOLDINGS INC. name plate over the revolving glass doors, and on the window next to them, the large P with an explosion inside the upper part of the letter that makes up the Powers Holdings logo, which makes it easy to identify the building, at least.