RocketLord

Can I get a Sense Motive check?

Last batch of my certification course coming up. Won't be online much, if at all from 20th to 22nd. And days before that might see reduced posting too. Sorry for people I'll be holding up!

Go ahead

The Killbots? What? Was this lady serious? And then she ran off leaving Robin alone, and did she really talk about Killbots while going to call security about somebody flying down and attacking their roof? But right, whoever the figure was, they seemed really intent on getting into the building, so maybe Robin should actually try to use that and get inside, too. So, time for Justice, then. Ducking away and out of sight as best as she could, Robin reached into her jacket pocket to pull out her domino mask, quickly putting it on. No reason to have someone actually see her out of uniform when she transformed. Then, activate the program on her phone. Upgraded belt ready. Not the first time she took this upgraded suit out for a spin, but first time in public. Program activated. Command sent, and in no time at all, the new and improved Justice armor expanded out over Robin's clothes. First the red undersuit, then the new armor plating, finally the new helmet. The design was different from her previous suit, sure, but it was a huge upgrade. Better protection, better power. And with the red scarf appearing from her neck, she rushed forward towards the building. There had to be some way to get up to the roof.

Storytime The night was dark in the small home. The fading light from the starts outside the window barely illuminated the young boy's room as he sat in his bed, his grandmother by his side. "Grandmother, please tell me a story," the boy asked. "A story?" the grandmother replied, a smile on her lips. "Yes, please! You know the one! My favorite!" "Your favorite, you say? And which one would that be?" Of course she knew. She knew her child well, after all. "You know the one! Come on! The story about the Forever Boy!" "Well, I suppose I do. I guess you have been good." And so, she started telling the tale. --- "Once upon a time, there was a boy. He was not just any ordinary boy, mind you. He did not live with his mother or father, like you or every other child out there. In fact, as far as he could remember, the boy had never even met them. " "Did he ever miss his parents?" the boy asked. Of course he was not tired yet. "Maybe he did, maybe he did not. He never told me. Now, no interruptions." "As luck would have it, the boy was found by the Pixies while he was but a baby. So young, so small, all alone in the world. The Pixies were worried, but they could not find the child's parents. Despite their worry, they decided to leave the child behind. After all, while he might be a boy now, he would one day be a man, and the Pixies had learned to stay hidden from man. The boy was silent, watching the bright lights as they flew about him, watching the glowing dust as it fell around him. And then he laughed. And the Pixies could no longer leave the child." "The Pixies brought the baby to the Wish Isle, carried by dust, smiles and laughter. They named him Pan. There, the baby grew. He laughed, he learned, he flew. The Pixies were perhaps not the best to raise a child, but he wanted for nothing, and he learned much in the ways of trickery. He ran, he jumped, he swam and he grew. The baby became a boy, and the Pixies feared that one day, he would become a man." "What did they do?" the boy's voice asked, hidden under his covers. "Do you know why Pixies can fly and glow? How they never seem to grow and change? It is all because of their Pixie Dust. And sixteen years after they found the child, the Pixies gifted him with Pixie Dust. Like the Pixies, he would fly, and now, he would forever be a boy." "For uncounted years, Pan continued to live amongst the Pixies. Like them, he was now forever. Like them, he revelled in fun and laughter, in tricks and games, in adventure and stories. Until one day, when he saw a magnificent ship on the sky. Pan had never thought about the world outside Wish Isle. Why would he? As far as he knew, Wish Isle was the world. He was intrigued, he was amazed. There was a whole world out there, one that he had never seen. The Pixies did not approved, but they were small, and they would not decide for the boy. And so, the Forever Boy flew out into the world." The boy had peeked up from under his covers now, his long black hair standing in every direction. "He flew to New Avalon, where he followed the route that would one day become the Great Canal. He visisted Trader's Haven, flying amongst the shops and vendors, playing tricks on the guards and the working men. He would be seen, and he would disappear. He spent years in New Avalon, never aging, never changing, and the story of the Forever Boy spread." "In Victori, he flew amongst the stars, his Pixie Dust trailing behind him, charting new stars across the sky. He was a light in the darkness, a story told to children. Behave, or the Forever Boy comes your way!" The boy was shocked. "Was the Forever Boy bad?" The grandmother smiled, shaking her head. "No, not at all. But some times, grown ups tell stories to make their children behave, do they not? The Forever Boy was laughter and smile, he was adventure and story. He met the people of the seas, he saw the turtle islands. He was everything that he wanted to be, on an endless adventure, never ceasing, never ending." "And then, one day, he met a girl." "WENDY!" the boy happily chimed in. "Now, who is telling the story here?" She was not mad, of course not. "But yes, he met Wendy and her siblings. It was a coastal city, once a great and shining place of commerce. Until the Hooked Man and his Sky-Pirates came. They had all but destroyed the once shining city, reducing it to rubble. Few were left, and for the first time, the Forever Boy knew evil. He was horrified. How could he not be? After all, for longer than he knew, he had seen only good, and now, evil had come to his world. For a time, he travelled with Wendy and her family. He learned much in those journeys, he saw beauty and horror. He grew close with Wendy and her family. He protected them, learned of new ways to use the Pixie Dust that had once been used for nothing but fun and laughter. To Pan, time passed quickly, and one day, Wendy was no longer a child. She and her family had settled in a new place, and Pan bid his farewell." "He flew through the night, he flew through the world. Now he knew evil, and his adventure had changed. As his tricks and jests delighted the world, he fought for us all. He fought the Sky-Pirates across the clouds. He traded blows with Whale Hunter. Even the Hooked Man himself would come to know and hate the Forever Boy! He became a light in the dark, flying across the sky, and for the first time since the Hooked Man first appeared, we knew hope." The grandmother grew silent, smiling. The boy was almost sleeping now. Good. "But... grandmother... where is he now? The Hooked Man is still out there? What about the Forever Boy?" So tired, the words barely coming out. The grandmother smiled, lightly stroking the boy's hair as he laid on his pillow, his eyes almost closed. "Oh, he is still out there, of course. Still on his never ending adventure." --- With a sigh, the child gave in. And the grandmother stood up, a smile on her lips, before she abruptly turned away from him, made her ways towards the windows and threw them open, coming face to face with a glowing boy. "Hello Pan." "Hello, Wendy. It appears that you have grown older still." She smiled. Of course he meant no insult. "That is how time is, my boy. It catches up to all of us. Well, except for you, perhaps." He returned the smile, landing windowsill, looking in at the boy. "You left out quite a few things, did you not?" The old woman laughed, shaking her head. "He is a child. Let him have his innocence a bit longer." She paused. Something was wrong, she could feel it. "Why are you here? It has been years since your last visit." Pan was silent for a moment. "We might have found a way to stop the Hooked Man. I hope so, at least. If we can find the Crocodile... Even he should not be able to stop it. We have a lead, maybe we can finally end it." Wendy shook her head. "The Crocodile. I wish you best of luck, but you do realize how absurd that sounds, do you not?" Of course he knew. But it was an adventure, and the only thing that might work. And with his never-ending smile on his lips, the Forever Boy said "Goodbye, Wendy. I will see you soon." But even he knew that was a lie.

Lend Forever Boy your power! Anything that can help him, anything to circumstance bonuses, be it knowledge or theatrics! And then we'll scam Baal out of his pants, if it comes to it!

At least Nicole backed down from signing the contract in one fell swoop, actually thinking it through a bit more. Good, great! Whatever troubles the two of them had from their past encounter, Pan did not wish to see her in a bad contract with a devil like Baal. No, that would be a most horrible fate. Pan listened intently, more focused than either of his fellow students had seen him yet. He read through the contract. There had to be something, some loophole, something they could exploit to turn the contract back on Baal. The weapon that Nicole were to make had to make a difference? Did it say anything about in what way? Weakening Baal's forces would be a difference, would it not? But of course he had clauses for that. Yes, Baal was good. A true trickster, it seemed. Pan had managed to speak fast and smart enough to give the devil pause so far, but this contract seemed ironclad. Nothing that could be done without making serious amendments, and he doubted that Baal would accept any of that. And then a light was lit, an idea was formed, as Nicole relayed her concerns. It was low. And Baal was supposed to be anything but low, was he not? He was not something like the three beasts that they had so easily dispatched, he was something much more. And he had pride, and he had peers, and they could see weakness, and according to Nicole, weakness was just what Baal was showing right now. His idea was half-formed by now, but rapidly growing. But he would need to know more. Just a little bit more. "Demons are prideful, and hide their weakness, then. I imagine there is lots of competition in Hell, and Baal is aiming to gain ground? I say we play to that desperation. No deal, we do not need it." If he was alone, Pan would have tried already, but he wanted to be sure. He was not alone, after all, and was that not a wonderful thing? "Tell me, who would come for Baal, and who could reach them? Anything that can be used, anything you know. Then I will scream and shout, if that is what it comes to. He will not take anyone here."

GM "Right. No point in looking for that Talon guy. Guy probably didn't do it anyway, and he's far away by now." At least the guard seemed to be on Talon's side in this, even if the officers didn't seem fully convinced. "Sure." The lead officer moved closer to the body. "Hey, look at this. Guy's got something stuck in his mouth." Another officer reached up for it, but the lead, a man with a brown greying moustache, stopped him by slapping away his hand. "Gotta wait for forensics, buddy." With a sigh and a muttering about newbies, he made another command. "Alright, spread out and search the area. See if you can spot anything. You," he paused and pointed at the guard, "stay right here, make sure nobody messes with the vic. Forensics should be here soon." Then he turned away, spreading into the darkness around the train car with the rest of the officers, leaving just the guard behind.

Police notice roll: 12 Silent as ghost!

GM "Yeah! What he said!" Tricia Thorne piped up, standing up straight before a strong hand on her shoulder pushed her down to sit again. "Shaddup and siddown!" the gunman behind her yelled, keeping her down with the hand on her shoulder. "You'll get yours, Thorne." It looked like it had hurt. Tricia winced, at least, grimacing at the feeling, and glared up at the man. If looks could kill, or she had laser eyes, the man would be very dead. "We want money, of course," the leader finally replied. He didn't seem to be hiding anything here. "Remain calm, and no one gets hurt."

"Yes. Yes I do." Pan's reply to the Black Rose was short and precise. Yes, he did indeed mock him, and he did indeed intend to mock him much further, if it came to it. But he had little to gain from becoming a king of fungi, and it seemed to the Black Rose's desire, so perhaps he should aid him. Then they could commence with the cutstabbing later. Pan moved to Lorenzo, and whispered to him. "Try this one, then. See how the fungi that you adore will react. Who knows, they might just make you king?" After a brief pause, he whispered the joke to the Black Rose. "Knock knock. Who is there? Etch. Etch who? Bless you!"

GM "EVERYBODY FREEZE!" one of the gunmen shouted, firing a few shots into the ceiling to make a point. A few others had scampered behind the table that Buddy had upturned, hiding with him, but if anything, the quick act had only gotten the attention of the gunmen. "You! Everyone behind that table, get out right now, hands where I can see them! We're not playing around here!" Around the room, the Buddy could see and hear the other gunmen shouting. The kitchen staff and waiters was led into the room, no loose ends behind. Whatever guards were around were quickly disarmed. Nobody being hurt. Not yet at least.

Time passed slowly, even as Robin did her best to move around, stay active and out of sight. Honestly, it was not quite the exciting caper that she had perhaps hoped for, but honestly, what had she expected? Going in guns blazing and fixing everything? That wouldn't work at all, would it? Some of the people that appeared busy might be a way in. It seemed like they kept the exact same papers on hand all the time, and the way they kept fumbling back and forth with their ID cards. Robin considered trying to steal one, when she heard the loud noise from above. Now what was that? It seemed large and armored, but was it human? A robot? Some weird monster? "Hey, what's that up there?" she called out to a random employee. She was just a random passerby, after all. She tried to change her voice just a little bit, make it a bit deeper. "Neutron building robots now?" But maybe whatever it was had the right idea. Get in from above? That could work.

"I had hardly noticed," Pan replied with a smile and a wink, as he thoughtfully tasted the different dishes and drinks that had been presented. While Corinne did not seem the sort to be easily embarrassed, he had not wanted to mention her eating habits. Truly, it was impressive, but with powers like hers, and created by her own body, he supposed it made sense. Fuel to keep her engine running. And then, her dancing of course. Exercise, training. Yes, yes, it all made sense. Truth to be told, he did not care much either. He did not easy quite as messily as her, but that was more due to the fact that he wanted to get the full taste of everything. The crisp nachos! The molten cheese! It was delicious! "I will!" he replied, reaching for the lime soda. It was filled with bubbles, much like the other soda of this world. Such wonderful drinks, so many different variations, so sweet and bubbly! This, however, was not sweet, was it? No, the taste of lime was somewhat bitter, different from what he had expected as he emptied the bottle in a single long gulp. He looked perplexed for a moment, then grinned widely. "Wonderful! What next, then!?"

DC25 Notice rolls, please. Read spoiler before you post if you make it.

GM So they followed, into the cold sea water. The lead squid and one of the armed squid at the front, followed by Asad, then Sea Devil and Sgt. Shark, with the second armed squid following them at a short distance. Despite the alien nature of the creatures that surrounded them, even Asad would get the feeling that they were nervous, becoming increasingly so as the group approached the crashed space ship. At first, it appeared to half of a giant plate, simply sticking out from the ocean floor. Approaching, it became increasingly clear that the flying saucer-like ship had numerous carvings all over. Intricate designs, most of which had sadly been ruined in the crash, but at least it seemed to show various shapes and sizes of squids, much like the group that currently escorted them. As they approached, the scale of the ship became clear. It was at least 820 feet in diameter, perhaps more. As they neared, a gate opened on what would have been the bottom of the ship, if it had been upright. It was dark inside, but the light from several squids lit up the way. Would the group approach and enter, or find another path?

U.F.O. "Designation: Traveller. Classification: Praetorian. Sub-classification: Designer. This unit remembers you." 777 had served the Praetorians directly. Even if the designer did not remember, it most certainly did. It was understandable, and 777 was not upset. After all, much longer time had passed for the Praetorians than for itself, and 777 had many fellow units, after all. It paused, remaining hovering before the designer as she thought of what to do. Still folded neatly into the shape of a flying saucer. The red eyes on the digital display lit up in a smile, shifting color to green for a moment, as it surveyed the battle happening close by. "This unit is ready and willing to assist. Query: What title should be used for designation: Amara?"

"Nice!" the Giant Santa shouted, pointing down at Micah from above, while Pan flew by with a wink and a grin to him. Pan honestly hadn't paid much attention to what had happened between Micah, Corinne and the headmistress, but he had heard his name and Santa mentioned, so he made his way over there. On the way, the Santa pointed out Zenith, deeming her "Nice!" as well, before Pan stopped in front of the headmistress, standing in the air to be just a bit taller than her. Not a lot, but just enough. The Giant Santa pointed to Summers, was about to say something, then stopped and shrugged, as if he couldn't decide whether she was naughty or nice. Up close like this, the headmistress would most likely notice the scrapes and cuts from the tree, but Pan's smile and energy didn't seem diminished. "I heard my name! What is the plan? Should I send Giant Santa into the city? Create a Giant Krampus? Maybe some reindeer? Oooh, put up a whole show of random giant holiday creatures all over the city, make it seem like the school being attacked was completely random in the madness of the holiday destruction!?"

Cultist 2: Opposed Intimidate: 19, demoralize resisted. And that's a hit, ultist 2 got Protection 5 with Impervious, lowered to Impervious 1, so Toughness: 21 Makes the save. @Avenger Assembled, you're up. EDITED based on Cape's post below, I'd misread/misunderstood/misremembered how Impervious and Penetrating interacted. Fixed now.

Indeed. +1HP, let's see what you do

Well, its all up to you. The gunmen has attention, obviously, but there's a lot of people in the room, and the question is whether or not you want to take the risk of someone seeing you.

GM Tricia made a loud "Tsk!", clearly annoyed with Buddy's deadpan excuse for leaving. She might not be the brightest, but she got his bad excuse, at least. With that, she turned away, turning to the next person to catch her interest. She seemed to quickly forget him. The sounds of the party continued as the dessert was brought in, and everyone returned to their seats. Amaretto meringue cake with various fruits and berries, different kinds for each table. It all tasted very well. And scream broke the party atmosphere in an instant. It came from the kitchen, followed by the sound of gunfire and loud cursing. Then all the doors to the ballroom was kicked in one by one, at least 12 men clad in black ski masks and camouflage fatigues, each wielding various rifles or guns.

Robin made her way around the outside of the Neutron Industries building. She'd added a baseball cap to her outfit, but otherwise, she was dressed the same. Best way to blend in was to not stand out, right? And there were plenty of people around in this part of town. So, she moved around outside the building, flowing with the crowds, redirecting a bit, then coming back. No reason to go too far here, right? Not yet at all. Honestly, she wasn't quite sure what she should do here, or what, but she would have to figure it out at least. So for now, she waited and watched. She didn't have one of those ID badges, and snatching one would be a gamble. She could pretend to be doing a paper on Neutron Industries or something like that, but they'd probably want an appointment for that. And check with the university. Go in guns blazing, full Justice mode? Not really what she hoped for, here. So, she waited and watched. Took her time. There had to be something that could give her an idea.

That's a hit, but Cultist 3 has Insubstantial 4 (shadow form; Continuous, Permanent), so no effect. @Supercape, you're up, followed by @Avenger Assembled 31 - Ronin - Uninjured - 1HP 24 - Lady Horus - Uninjured - 1HP 24 - Wadjet - Uninjured 24 - Cultist 1 - Uninjured 21 - Cultist 2 - Uninjured 12 - Mr. Strix - Shaken - 2HP 10 - Cultist 3 - Uninjured 7 - Dr. Thorne - Uninjured - 2HP

GM Sometimes, the simple might be the best choice. The thing that you would go for before trying the more complicated. But this time, it did not appear to be the ideal choice in any way, as Liam's hand passed straight through the shadow cultist, almost as if he wasn't there at all. And yet, he felt a chill in his hand as it passed through the cultist. Something was certainly there. But not something that could be brought down with a simple punch, it seemed.