Shadowboxer

Nightrival watches Grim and Velocity eat and chat with one another through the office window. Grim tells a joke, probably something about his habit of disappearing without saying good-bye, and Velocity laughs in reply. Since Nightrival decided to take on Grim as his student, for the lack of a better word, she became a trusted friend. She started her career fighting in the streets and now she's having a late night dinner with a member of the Freedom League and joining a group of her own. Nightrival smiles to himself, allowing himself to be proud of the young hero. Sen and Hub will be welcome additions, too. Sen is a formidable warrior and he isn't afraid to speak his mind. Hub was a college football player when they travelled to Freeport and now he's a full-fledged superhero with incredible powers. With Velocity as a contact with the League, Nightrival is confident the group will do good work. He's still amazed he was able to get them together. He turns to leave, shaking his head, when he bumps into Monty holding a mug. "Leaving?" asks Monty. "My work here is done." "Not yet. No, you're not quite done." Monty takes a sip from his mug. "Whattaya mean?" "That young lady in there, all those heroes who came here tonight? They came 'cause you called. Now you have to make sure they can trust each other. Without that, you got nothing." Nightrival looks over his shoulder and glances at Grim laughing with Velocity. "They'll do alright. I know it." "You can't know it until you see it," replies Monty. He goes to take another sip and notices that Nightrival is gone. He shakes his head and returns to the garage.

Nightrival is taking a total defense action, making his Defense DC 32. I used two move actions to have him slip past everyone.

Nightrival kicks his street clothes under a shelf and immediately prowls back into the store by melding with the faint shadows. Having everyone's attention turned to the massive bruiser smashing up the place doesn't hurt either. He carefully circumvents the patrons and the bruiser like a snake gliding through tall grass. He climbs on top of the counter and stands right beside the elongated woman as she attempts to open the register. "Ya guys can just download this stuff from the internet, ya know?" he bellows. "Why don't ya let these folks go so we can dance all proper like?"

Another bruise and stun result for Nightrival. :(

Nightrival feels a sharp pain enclose around his arm and shoot into his head, filling his head with brilliant white stars. He clutches his arm and staggers backwards like he's terribly drunk. All he can do is fight to remain conscious and standing or else he'll drop to the ground in a helpless heap. Grim, still invisible and hiding in the shadows, grinds her teeth when she sees Nightrival suffering under the Hispanic woman's power. Besides, she always get grouchy if she doesn't kick at least one bad guy's butt by the end of the night. She stalks back down the hallway and slams her hardened claws into the woman's back. "You're not playing fair, lady!"

Welcome back, Warmonger. We kept your seat warm. :)

Nightrival strokes his chin as he ponders the situation. They have no valuables expect for Sen's sword, and its owner is understandably apprehensive about being seperated from such a powerful and dangerous weapon. However, they need to find Eldrich soon or else Freedom City will face a catastrophe. An idea strikes him. Since Nightrival had arrived in Freeport, he allowed Slathliss to steal so the group can accomplish their task. Why stop now? "Ya know, I've seen a few scams in my day," he finally says. He looks to Sen. "The bait-and-switch is a classic. We offer yer sword as the bait, then switch it with a fake. We just need another sword that resembles the one on yer belt."

Awesome. I'll be posting on Friday, most likely. Have fun! See you when you get back.

I apologize to the players and refs in my current games, I'm very behind on my posts. I will catch up in the next couple of days. School is keeping me busy. :(

I rolled a 22 for initiative. If Liam / Nightrival was able to sneak outside, he'll be in the alley changing.

I'm posting to check to see if my signature shows up. No worries. I appreciate you taking on the role. :)

Nightrival would be played by David Belle, actor and founder of parkour. The second picture really captures the character. Belle would definitely have the athleticism for the role. :)

" . . . yeah, I know. It's like everyone is rippin' off the Bay City Rollers these days," argues Liam, who is leaning on the front desk. A few CDs are stacked in front of him on the counter. As Nightrival, Liam followed a trail of drug stashes that begins in the Southside and eventually ends in Hanover. Or, it could be the other way around, which is much more dangerous. He's not interested in small-time drugs like marijuana; the stashes in the Southside occasionally have traces of Zoom and Max in them. What if these deadlier narcotics came from Hanover? He had to find out for himself. The clerk, a young man wearing a green hooded sweater and a pair of large headphones draped over his neck, stands behind the register, nodding in agreement. "Totally," he murmurs in reply. Liam ignores the argument behind him. He reaches for his wallet and smirks at the clerk. "So, how much do I owe ya?" Before the clerk can answer, a crate soars over Liam's head and smashes through the window. Both he and the hapless clerk duck to avoid the glass shards spraying across the room. I thought this place was a dead end, he thinks. I got some work ta do after all. While everyone is distracted from the sudden outburst, Liam slinks past the belligerent customer and out the back door.

Nightrival nods his head. "Alright. I'll be right behind ya." He sneers at the gnome. "I'll catch ya next time, garden boy." He walks a few steps backwards and then turns around to swagger out the door. He stands at the entrance and crosses his arms. He knows they have to find these elven traders. Where exactly does somone look to find elves in a city like this? Asking random people, or things that look like people, is obviously a dangerous enterprise in Freeport. Nightrival scratches his head. Trackin' down crooks in the Southside is much easier than this gig. "Any of you got a clue as to how we hunt down these elves of ours?" he asks the group.

The metal insects crawl all over Nightrival and he can feel their needle-like legs dig deeply into his flesh. He twists his shoulders back and forth and pulls off as many of the robots he can before their mandibles tear him apart. He throws them on the floor with disgust. Withdrawing two escrima staves hidden in his gloves, he swats at the horde in a wide arc. "Get us through that panel or we're gonna get ventilated," he shouts at Grim.

Though she doesn't know her opponent, Grim senses that this lady is not someone she can push around like a common criminal. Grim will have to rely on stealth and power if she plans to walk away from this fight. Her face still stings from the unexpected, savage attack from Twitchy Pete. She terrorized punks in the Fens with her supernatural abilities and she's learned a trick or two in the last few months. Grim needs to play on her strengths. Grim remains invisible and inches towards the woman like a spider, lashes at her unsuspecting victim with her viscous claws, and then skitters back to the corner of the kitchen.

I am. I'll be posting tonight. EDIT: Grim is using her Strike power against the baddie. And I rolled a crit! :D

Sure thing. Though it doesn't seem to be working for me. Thanks for taking up on this game, Dr. A. :)

Don't forget to include Hub in the roster! He's a valuable founding member of the original line-up. I don't mind playing the mentor role, as long as I don't overshadow (no pun intended) other players. I'm fine with having Nightrival (accompanied by Hub?) bumping into the other characters. To make things exciting we can start the game with combat. NR and Hub are fighting a villain and the other characters stumble upon the fight and help. We can use a high-powered villain from Freedom City to even the odds. Or, if a player or two running a villain wants to jump in for guest spot that could be another option. Force Ops is a great suggestion, though didn't they become overly violent and later condemned by superheroes and the police? I'm not well versed in the Iron Age setting. Nonetheless, that may not be the image we want for the group. From what I know, our current roster does parallel the former Force Ops. The name will also connect us to the canon. If folks are into adopting the name I'll gladly jump abroad. Someone can write a post in the GM Request Thread, or I can just start a thread with the scene I suggested. The latter option means we can start gaming right away. Thoughts?

I think this game is pretty much finished. I'll leave it up for a few more days to let the remaining players write any concluding posts.

That's great news. Thanks Heridfel!

I hope the gnome has a badger and bag of gold under his chair. I rolled a 21 for initiative but I'm going to take a delayed action. If the gnome attacks Nightrival, he's going to give the little guy a righteous kick to the head.

Nightrival recoils when the gnome lashes out at him, but he remains firmly planted on the ground despite the surprising reaction. He puts his palms out in front of him and slightly lowers his head. "No need ta get all grouchy," he says quietly. "I know bakin' cookies in a giant tree is a rough gig, so we'll just be goin' our way." He steps backwards. His hands are still poised ahead of him and his eyes carefully watch the growling gnome.

Nightrival shakes his head at the sleeping gnome. "That's a good a question," he replies. "Eldrich was here about three days ago and then left ta see those elven traders. We're gonna have ta ask around an' find out where they're camped." He examines the empty inn a few times and his eyes continue to fall on the gnome. He shrugs his shoulders. "Well, we gotta start somewhere." Nightrival walks over to the gnome and gently prods him with his foot. "Hey!" he shouts. "Time ta wake up. Shouldn't ya be helpin' some poor cobbler right about now?"

Nightrival looks at the panel then looks back the large robotic ants. The constant tapping from their legs begins to drill into his head. He needs time to break through the panel, and to do that he has to keep the little metal monsters at bay. He remembers one of Grim's many talents: shapeshifting. She can not only change form, she can also turn her hands into deadly weapons. He's seen her use them against bad guys on many occasions. He could certainly punch his way to the other side, but he would have go hand-to-hand with the robots at the same time. He needs distance. A plan emerges in his head, though he's unsure if it'll work. Only one way ta find out, he concludes. "Grim," he says sternly over his shoulder, "get ta work on this here panel with those fancy claws of yers." He points to what he means. "I'll keep these can openers busy." He shifts a few steps forward and draws out a handful of his slim throwing knives from under his belt. He holds several of them at their tips, takes aim at the closest robot, pulls back his arm, and then snaps it forward. The knives fly towards their target with lightning speed.