Heridfel

Archived due to inactivity.

Archived due to inactivity.

Grinning widely, Sean Parker hurls himself into the water. It’s nearly 95 degrees, but the water is at least twenty degrees colder. The sudden chill is welcome, even if he had to wade out quick a while before the water grew deep enough for him to dive in. He has traded in his battlesuit for a bathing suit today. Try as he might, he couldn’t get it to shrink enough to act as a pair of shorts, and he felt like he looked stupid when he made it into a wetsuit. He wasn’t going surfing, and besides, it’d be nice to work on his tan a little. When Talos did whatever he did to his body, he washed away years of neglect to his skin. Sean had avoided looking at himself in a mirror then, but he remembered glimpses of pasty paleness. He wasn’t about to let that happen again. This is the first Independence Day that he was able to celebrate openly. Instead of watching the fireworks from the abandoned oil rig that Freedom City’s villains used as a meeting ground, he could go out in public like a normal person. He had gone down the coast to a public beach early in the morning. He might not have his suit, but he could still fly a lot faster than any car could drive, and he didn’t have to follow the roads. Thankfully, he had remembered to pack a few bucks on him for food. He had forgotten that beaches charged people to be on them, so most of his meal money was already spent on a beach tag. Today, he wasn’t going to be Icarus, super-villain scourge of Freedom City. He was going to be Sean Parker, an ordinary guy, and throwing some teenager into the water because he was doing his job isn’t a good way to relax. The water is colder than he had remembered, and he barely avoids taking a breath in surprise. That would be a bad idea, he thinks to himself. He pulls himself to the surface and breathes in there, rubbing the salt water out of his eyes. He sees a couple of college-age girls looking at him, and when they notice that he noticed, they turn away, laughing. He looks down at himself, confused. Sure, there’s the tattoo there in the middle of his chest – he had found that he could fix it into a single shape if he concentrated, and he had left it as a cross – but he didn’t see anything to laugh at. He rubs his hand through his hair – no seaweed, or anything like that. Then it dawns on him. They think he’s cute. It has literally been years since anyone has thought that (unless you include the time travel, but that was technically in 1972 anyway). It comes as no surprise to anyone that a man in full Greek armor (including a helm that completely covers the face) isn’t a ladykiller. But now… he’s old enough to be their father. For a second, he’s afraid and does the math, but no, not old enough to be their grandfather. That’d be even more disturbing. Sean climbs out of the water and goes to his towel. Is it wrong? He looks like he’s still in his twenties, after all, and young women get with older men all the time. “Of course, those guys are also usually rich,†the little voice in the back of his head says. “You still live in your old apartment.†His reverie is interrupted by the clanging of the bells up and down the beach. The lifeguards are waving everyone out of the water, and someone on the shore is pointing to a large fin cutting out of the water. “That’s no dolphin,†Sean says to himself unnecessarily. He sighs as he realizes that they’ll probably be closing the beach because of it. Then another thought pops up into his head. He looks from side to side, then sprints down the beach past the lifeguard station. They see him, but they can’t get down from the tower before he’s already knee-deep. At that point, he makes himself heavier, surrounding himself with the peculiar energy field he can control, and flies straight into the water. This is the first time he ever tried to fly through water without a helmet on, and the first thing he notices is how much thicker it feels than the air. He has to hold his breath, too, but his target is fairly clear. The shark is swimming straight toward him, and he twists to the side to avoid its teeth. He punches it in the ribs, and even without all the power that his suit gives him, he can still feel something give. The shark starts to swim faster, and Sean can’t tell whether it’s to build up speed for an attack or get away from him. It strikes him that he is being the jerk here. The shark probably wasn’t going to attack anyone, especially with all the other people out of the water, and he just swam in and punched it. At this point, though, he’s sort of committed. He swims to the surface and takes a breath, then dives down again. He looks around again for the shark, and finds it as it bites onto his left leg. He can feel some of the teeth break against him, and he pulls himself free without even much effort. He feels even worse now – not pain, but just bad for picking on someone much weaker than him. That it’s a shark… well, he doesn’t go around kicking puppies either. He swims down and underneath the shark, then flies up and out of the water with it. The shark struggles against his grasp, but can’t escape. He just needs to get it far enough away from the beach that … that they might not close it all the way. He hadn’t really thought this through, and now he’s carrying a shark around. Sean’s about a half-mile offshore when he drops the shark back in the water and it quickly swims away. Rather than try to return to his towel, he just flies and swims away, back toward Freedom City. It isn’t until he gets back to his apartment that he sees that the left leg of his suit is all chewed up. For Sean Parker, the most lasting mark of the Fourth of July is that he’ll need to buy a new towel and pair of swim trunks.

Kevin grins to himself and a couple of the other guys also staying at Freedom College over the summer. A part-time job at a local bar waiting tables (unfortunately, not tending the bar – the bartenders make a lot more in tips) gives him enough money to celebrate Independence Day in style. The three of them sit in the back of the bus where they’ve been for the last hour and a half. “Now, if we were in Texas, this would’ve been a lot easier,†he says to Don. Don just rolls his eyes and nods. “I know; you been telling me this for hours,†Don says. “Texas has real fireworks, and we wouldn’t’ve had to take the bus out of state to get something bigger than a sparkler.†“Or if one of us had a car,†Matt says. He glances from side to side as he re-arranges the duffel bag on his shoulder. “I just wish we didn’t look so suspicious. The only way it could be worse is if we were all wearing trenchcoats.†Don elbows him in the ribs, then gives him a glare as he starts to protest. Then Matt realizes who he was speaking around. He looks over to Kevin. “Oh, sorry man. I didn’t mean… you know…†Kevin sighs and waves it off. “It’s cool. I know what you mean. It would’ve looked a lot worse if I was carrying all of them, though. This way, we can get set up for tonight in style. Either of you guys ever lit off big ones before?†he asks. Don and Matt both shake their heads. Don says, “Sparklers only. That’s how you convinced me to come out all this way. I want to be right under something big.†Kevin chuckles, “You do that, you get your ears blown out. Trust me, a couple hundred feet is still plenty close.†He starts going through the list of things that they bought. Since he planned the whole thing, he is now the one responsible for making it look good for all the people who are going to be watching. Don and Matt aren’t the only ones who will be there. There are a few girls who were looking for something to do, something a little more intimate than the huge fireworks displays that happen in Freedom City every year. He wants to make his show as good as he can, for his own sake as much as anyone else’s. This is the first Independence Day that he isn’t celebrating down in Texas, and he’s feeling just a bit homesick. Bringing a little piece of Texas up north is just what the doctor ordered. Eight o’clock has come, and Kevin is putting together the finishing touches on his display. It’s still light enough out to see, but it’s pretty dumb to try to set things up when it’s already dark outside. Besides, Don and Matt are both better as lookouts when they can actually see who’s coming. Kevin didn’t share how he got on top of Baker Hall – there’s no need to let Don and Matt know just how easy it is to climb up there – but he knew that everybody on campus would appreciate his efforts at bringing the fireworks to them. He does one final check of all the fuses, then heads to the side of the building. Going up is a little easier than down, but quick reflexes get him back inside the window that he left open. He was never afraid of heights, and given the other part-time job he has, that’s a good thing. It’s ten o’clock, and Don and Matt are both sitting in the grass near Baker. They’re both having better luck with the girls than Kevin – his usual curse of being a nice guy, but one who doesn’t put himself out there. He clears his throat, and the four of them look over. “Ok, I think it’s dark enough that we can shoot them off. After it finishes, we should go before campus police comes to investigate. You guys ready?†he asks. “Born ready man. Light it up,†Don says as he leans back and puts his arm around one of the girls. Kevin nods, then pulls out a small remote control that looks like it was stolen from an RC car. It was, in fact, since that was the cheapest thing Kevin could find to get a signal from as far off as they are. Immediately, the screech of fireworks can be heard from the roof. Kevin smiles as the show starts and leans back into the grass. “Happy Fourth of July, everybody,†he says as the pinwheels and screamers begin to explode.

Hello everyone, I have posted all of the vignettes received to their respective areas of the city. Links to each of them can be found below. Hub: Fireworks are more fun when they're illegal Icarus: A day at the beach Grimalkin: Moving on up (and out) Nanowire: Alone again Lullaby: On the way to a gig Malice: The Mantle of Freedom The Emissary: A conversation with Cynthia

Knowledge (current events) is the best one there. It's not a hard check, so you could succeed untrained.

We are out of initiative unless Bloodseeker chooses to follow Nanowire, Rant, and Grimalkin on foot. I presumed that Nanowire was making some noise as he fled, but I left it open as to whether he's going by air or land.

Foreshadow leaps off a wall, grabbing onto a fire escape and quickly climbing up two flights of rickety metal stairs. By the time that Bloodseeker next emerges from the ground, the alleyway has been cleared of the foes that he had been attacking. The sound of a rocket blasting away gives some hint as to where some of them may have gone, but they certainly seem to know how to retreat.

You guys just ended up behind everyone in initiative (save some of the followers of the main villain). Dryad is up now, followed by Dr. Archeville.

As Dr. Archeville and Dryad speak to one another and the guards, Victor lets out a couple of shots. Dr. Archeville can recognize that something sounds unusual about them - they probably aren't normal bullets, though exactly how they aren't normal would require more observation. Victor's shots are answered decisively. A torrent of flame surrounds him and blasts him back into the table that Dryad had been examined upon. It looks like his armor held, but the blackened plates and sparks make it look like it won't protect him against another blast like that. A blond man in an orange prison jumpsuit walks in through the door. "What did I tell you - we got hostages here," he says, looking at Maria and the nurse who hasn't quite hidden herself away. "Now, don't do anything stupid, and we'll all get along fine." A number of other super-powered villains look over his shoulder and smile. Dryad recognizes some of them - most are just strong and tough, though one of them had said that he had some other sort of power. She can't recall what he had said though - it wasn't very important. Both Dryad and Dr. Archeville notice that the men behind the leader of the ring are all white. His next words to them, "See, only the white man thinks of going to the infirmary for hostages" give a strong hint to his identity. One of the people behind him says, "And a green woman, looks like." Maria brings her gun around to aim at the group. The bullets come out fast, but most of them just bounce off. They're rubber, not metal, and ineffective against those with powers at full strength.

We came to the conclusion that a) Area wouldn't exactly work like that and +1/rank is an acceptable cost for an extra that allows you to teleport non-living objects that you aren't actually touching. The net result is that the cost is ok as you have it.

Yep, I am. My Defense is still reduced accordingly.

That looks good to me. You have your first approval.

Approved.

Really, this is the same as taking the Action drawback to increase the Mimic time to an hour, but only if and when you need to mimic the colors of your target. I would call that a -2 drawback (1 pp for the extra time, and 1 pp for requiring materials). The frequency of use of your power isn't what determines that part of the drawback; it's how often that drawback would pose a hindrance.

Kevin stops walking forward and raises his hands. Maybe he could have rushed the guy, but trusting his football reflexes against a gun at point-blank range is more dangerous than he wants. It's better to stall them and make sure that the other students and visitors can get out of range. If he gets distracted, then maybe he'll make a move. "Easy man. Easy. Look, I don't know why you've got a gun, but think about it. What are you going to get out of shooting a bunch of people?" he asks. His voice is calm for someone with a gun pointed at his head, and the Texas twang makes him sound empathetic, rather than someone trying to talk his way out of being shot. It's almost disconcerting.

This is just another use of the Groundstrike that I used earlier, albeit with a slightly different descriptor. They should be the only two affected by it, and get the same Reflex-type save as before.

Icarus reaches down and slams his fists into the pavement. He lifts up a piece of it and then makes it ripple beneath the two super-skinheads' feet. If the armored truck should happen to fall on them... well, that's their own fault for lifting it in the first place. It shouldn't kill them, at any rate.

Since the mythical lamia was a half-woman/half-serpent (similar to a naga, but not exactly), neither of the other conceptions make sense. Might as well be a hideous half-insect swarm; that's creepier than what it used to be.

Nareik, when you roll initiative, the main fight starts. The fight is coming to you at this point, rather than the other way around.

Hub smiles, though it isn't easy to tell behind the mask. "Let the papers name us. It's not like we're going to get a bunch of cheerleaders chanting our name when we're out fighting one of the Crime League, after all," he says. He looks around a little to see if he sees a glass for some water. If he can't find it, then he'll just let it go. In response to Grimalkin's question, he just smiles again. "Sen and Nightrival can tell you. I'm no great shakes in a fight myself - though I can hold my own - but I can help everyone around me. I tend to be the center of a team, even if the other team doesn't realize it."

Rant cries out in pain as Bloodseeker slices at him viciously. He falls to the ground, bleeding heavily. He isn't unconscious, but the way he's blinking looks like a deer that was just hit by a car. Another hit like that could easily kill him. Foreshadow shouts out, "Nanowire, get him out of here. We will regroup in one hour!"

You would need to have the attack readied in order to do anything about it. Remember that you can only ready a standard action - that means that you want to stay near the person you are trying to protect, or else ready a ranged attack. Rant's Toughness save doesn't get the benefit of his Defensive Roll, bringing him down to 11. This leaves Rant Disabled and Stunned.

Kevin looks to Sen and Nightrival, then frowns. "I need a break, guys. I can't keep going tonight... and honestly, this is the sort of place I don't really want to be walking around in the dark. I got jumped in daylight and no one did anything; it'd probably be worse now when there's no one watching," he says. Slathliss looks to them and shrugs. It seems like he'll let the other two make the decision for the group. For his part, Kevin doesn't look like he's exaggerating. The shadows under his eyes look even darker than they should be, and he can barely keep his eyes open.

Unknown to Fawcett, he isn't the only one getting ready to see the play. Cloaked behind a glamer of an ravishing young woman with short auburn hair, Medea flirts with the ticket attendent as she stands in line. He blushes from the attention, and nearly forgets to ask her for her money before he hands her the ticket. Her face grows stormy, but she decides that his earlier worship was enough. After all - she isn't hurting for money, and she did come here to see the show. She pulls out a 20 dollar bill from her purse and tucks it in the attendent's shirt, then strolls off, laughing.