MBCE

Atlas and Doktor Archeville

The gremlin couldn't hold on to the flying Archeville and fell to the ground below. When it hit, its connection to the world broke.

The five creatures on Atlas fell off when he leaped into the air and his freezing breath managed to catch fifteen of the creatures. As they blast washed over them, their connections were broken and they disappeared. Only two of the creatures remained on the middle walkway.

More people moved away, running from the conflict in an attempt to escape the mall.

Boomer

Boomer transformed into his light form and entered the store. As he moved about and caught the attention of the gremlins, the creatures stopped what they were doing to stare at the strange lights. A few of the creatures were still immersed in their own activities and unaware of the flying lights within the store. Of the twenty that he counted only about fifteen had paid attention to him.

A soft cooing came from those that watched the light show. If they keep it up, it might draw any hidden gremlins into the open.

Leon Mighty

The jump was easy for The trained fighter and he landed without a problem. People scattered slightly as he came down from the second floor. Applause broke out as he began moving to the Center area of the floor where the information desk was located.

Behind the desk, two women watched as Leon approached, their eyes wide at seeing his topless form. Leon moved quickly but could just make out three of the creatures moving about the outside of the information desk. They were ripping into the walls trying to get inside. The workers hadn't noticed them.

The Ghost looked at Belphegor, letting the man rest. He moved into his back room and brought out the first aid kit. He placed it on the table. If he needed it, it'll be close. Ghost just didn't understand how the demon healed or recovered from such damage. It would be interesting to see though.

Not having anything to do, Ghost turned on the TV and flipped on the channels, waiting to get some kind of a sign from their employer. Unfortunately, there was nothing on and he soon fell asleep.

The sound of the doorbell awoke ghost from his sleep. He looked up at the clock and saw that it had been two hours since they had gotten back to his home. He glanced over at the couch and saw Belphegor, or was it Jos now, asleep. The doorbell rang again and Ghost moved to the door.

'Who could this be?'

Ghost opened the door to reveal a woman wearing a long hooded coat. She stepped into the room without waiting for an invitation. Ghost blinked in surprise ready to tell her to leave when he felt her presence. It was the employer.

She walked passed the couch and her passage was enough to awake Jos from his sleep. She sat in the love chair that Ghost was sleeping in before removing her hood.

"I see you both survived after all. And you're fast. Hmm, you're better than I gave you credit." she said softly eying both men.

Ghost closed the door and moved in to the room. He pushed Jos over so that he could sit down on the couch as well.

"Well, where is it? Where is the coin."

Twilight Gryphon

The young woman nodded her head. "Yes, a tourney. Every year, Lord Centurion holds a tourney to gather knights. This year seems to be different the ones in the past. There are rumors that some terrible force is gathering strength in the north. Some say, Lord Centurion is gathering warriors to help fight them. I'm going to the castle after I've finished here. They need all the people willing to help out the cause. I'm not much of a fighter, but my knowledge of medicine is quite extensive. I should be able to help."

She looked Olivia up and down. "Would you like to go with me? I'm sure that you would come in handy. Just look how you helped me!"

The woman deposited her books and grabbed Olivia's arm. With a quick word of magic, the library disappeared.

Olivia blinked her eyes and found herself before a walled castle. A large group of people were standing about waiting for admittance. In the crowd, Olivia could see a number of familiar faces. There was Captain Thunder as well as Bowman. Also in the group was Dark Star as well as Doktor Archeville. There was also a roguish looking man that could fit the appearance of Jack of all Blades. Things had turned very interesting.

Doktor Archeville

Archeville received greetings in return as he moved towards the castle. None of the people he passed seemed surprised that he was actually walking on air. Obviously, the people were used to seeing displays of power. Everyone looked to be in a festive mood as they prepared the town for the coming event.

It didn't take him long to reach the castle. A large group of people were waiting for admittance. Within the group, Archeville could make out a number of familiar faces. There was Captain Thunder and Bowman. And also intermixed was Dark Star. All seemed appropriately dressed for the present age.

Jack of All Blades

Jack's grin had the desired result of the serving girl. She blushed as she moved to complete here work. The man at the bar spoke up. "Yeah, the tourney. Lord Centurion calls forth knights to participate in the tourney every year. Those that win, are accepted into his circle to protect the realm. Knights from all over the land come to take part in the tourney. Each year it's different and we like to take bets as to what the tourney will entail."

"Well, I heard this year was different," said one of the other patrons in the bar. "Rumors are that this year, Lord Centurion is gathering an army to fight off the darkness that has been gathering in the north.

The bartender shakes his head. "That's nonsense. Ain't no force in the north. Well, Mister, if you plan in participating, you need to head up to the castle and sign in. You'll get better information straight from the horse's mouth than talking to this bunch of drunk fools."

After having a drink, Jack said his good byes and moved down towards the castle. As he went down the streets, he saw the people preparing for the event. It didn't take long for Jack to reach the castle.

The castle was located in the center of the town with another wall around it. At the main gate, Jack could see a large group of people standing about waiting for admittance. Within the group, he saw a few familiar faces. Wasn't that Bowman over there? And Captain Thunder! Oh, and Dark Star!

Opposed grapple check... only a 10.

I'll keep it. Give us a chance to see just how nasty these lil' things can be.

Well your 10 beat it's 1 so you shake it off. :D

I'm using this fine feature of my HQ

in order to get a grasp of what (and who) is outside my own quaint little home.

ESP search of city (1d20+20=25)

Your HQ isn't there. You are in a building but it is no longer the Mansion.

EDIT: Let me clarify. You are not in the Gentle Mansion but there are pools used to scry the area with. I'll be putting up an IC post later.

EVERYONE

Leon can jump down to the first floor with an Acrobatics check to lessen the damage. The distance to the first floor is 20 ft so DC 17 toughness save.

Atlas has five gremlins on him while twelve are all around.

Doc has to make a grapple check to shake off the gremlin on him.

Zealot, the source of the creatures are on the first floor somewhere. Also, keep in mind that your nullify stunt will be dampened by walls and other objects in the way. So the blast would affect the creatures in your area, and most likely everything out in the open on the second floor, but have little effect to things on the first and third floor.

New round.

Status

Leon -- 1 HP

Boomer -- 1 HP

Dr. Archeville -- 4 HP

Atlas -- 2 HP 129 rnds left

Zealot -- 1 VP

1)Gremlins are all minions.

2)DEF +4 (Elusive Target), Toughness +2 [Protection 3],F+2, R+2, W+3 [Fearless]

Zealot

Zealot easily smashed one of the nearby creatures sending it back to wherever it came from. Still there were plenty of the little buggers all around , unable to hide from his senses. Concentrating more on the jumbled trail, he noted that most of the trails came from the first floor. He still couldn't make out where the starting point was, but he could narrow the area to the first floor.

The five of the creatures moved in on Zealot, striking out with their claws. The first strike came extremely close but Zealot managed to bat the attack away with his scourge.

The other four failed to do any better, allowing Zealot to escape their touch. One of the creature touched a nearby wall and Zealot saw a hole appear suddenly at the touch. If they managed to touch him, there was little that his armor would do to protect him.

Doktor Archeville and Atlas

Atlas begins to enlarge just as the Doktor lifts into the air. The sight of the mechanical device within his hands was too much for the gremlins to resist. The twenty gremlins that were the closest tot eh pair, surged forward from all sides. Their eyes only held the floating Doktor, ignoring the large red man nearby. They moved quickly into position and began climbing over the large red man in an attempt to reach their target.

Three of the twenty managed to reach Atlas' head and leaped towards the Doktor. The three creatures flayed their arms and legs but only one managed to even touch the floating Doktor. The other two fell to the first floor where their connection to the world dissipated once they hit the ground.

Atlas could feel five more of the creatures trying to use him as a stepping board to the Doktor. The remaining twelve were gathered around his feet, covering the walkway that connected the eastern and western sides of the mall.

Boomer

Hearing the message and having warned the woman from using the escalator, Boomer turned and headed back into the Gadgets R' Us.

The store was in chaos! The gremlins were everywhere. People were screaming and trying to force their way out of the electronic store. The green creatures were throwing media discs everywhere, turning the once benign items into deadly weapons. A few gremlins were dancing to the loud music blaring from the stereo section. Boomer could even see a few of the creatures sitting in front of the large screen TVs playing video games.

Boomer could make out twenty easily just from his position at the entrance of the store. There was no telling how many more were deeper in the store out of direct sight.

Leon Mighty

Leon called back at the light wielding hero, informing him that he would work on clearing the building. The shirtless hero knew that the main information desk was located on the first floor. Getting there of course was the real problem. Taking the central escalator would be the sane way to proceed, but Leon could see the muscle man suddenly enlarge and his skin color change. The newcomer floated into the air, enticing the creatures to follow him which meant that the area would soon be overrun with the creatures.

He could travel on to the northern end near the bookstore. The armored figure he noted there earlier was no longer in sight though. Getting to that escalator would take precious time though. Heading back towards the southern end, which was closer, would cut down on time greatly. Even closer were the central elevators but there was no way of knowing how dangerous that would be.

Leon moved over to the edge where he could see the lower level. Of course, jumping was always a choice.

Ghost lifted an eyebrow in surprise. "Now that's what I call be prepared. A second set of clothes in the trunk. Aren't worried that someone might take off with your car?"

Ghost took a moment to take in the vehicle and smiled. "Naw, on second thought, no chance of that happening."

Ghost got into the car and waited for the demon to finish dressing. Once he had entered the car, Ghost spoke quickly. "The only thing we have to do now is figure out how to get this coin to them. I suspect we're still under observation and now that we're beyond the protected grounds, we should be hearing from our mysterious employer any time now. We hand over the item and then go our separate ways."

Ghost looked out the window and sighed. "Might as well head back to my place. At least she knows where that is."

'I'll probably have to move now. Too many people know where I put my head down. That's not really helpful.'

The creatures jumped upon the car wreck and began ripping it to shreds. The woman in the car screamed and the high pitched noise reached the creature with the strange ghost shaped marking under its eye.

The creature ignored the sound and lifted it's head into the sky. It sniffed the night air identifying the various scents. It caught the smell of car oil as well as gasoline. These were the strongest. Hidden just underneath the rich aroma was an unfamiliar scent. The creature registered the strange scent but it could also make out the sweet scent of more machines closer to the casinos. There the small group could feat on more wonderful machines. It pointed out the group's direction and began moving.

Deep inside the strange creature, that strange scent that it would never be interested in found purchase on a very dormant aspect of its mind. That scent of fresh blood, mixed with the woman's perfume, and the rich smell of menthol tobacco had the the strangest effect on this dormant aspect. It was just the right scent needed to awaken what was left of Sammy Cosentino. It seemed Lady Fortune had decided to answer Sammy's prayers after all.

The leader watched as his minions began ripping into the two wrecks. A gleeful laugh escaped its lips as it slowly began moving towards the destruction. The creature once known as ghost, jumped into the mess and began ripping into the cars. Metal seared away from like a hot knife cutting through butter. Its claws were sharper than anything it had witnessed before.

Screams from the woman inside of the car barely registered to Ghost. Flesh did not interest him while now. Only metal would satisfy his thirst. In a relatively short amount of the time, there was very little left of the two vehicles. Both the woman and her husband laid exposed to the creatures. Ghost looked down at the woman and smiled widely. She screamed once more before the terror caused her to lose consciousness.

Ghost turned his head up and sniffed the air. The smell of machine oil was heavy in the air tonight. He smiled and pointed towards the casinos. "Food."

The five gremlins turned to look in the direction their leader pointed. They jumped up and down in excitement before moving in that direction. Again Ghost followed more slowly. The night was still young and there were more delicious items to partake in.

Dark Star

The man thinks on the questions for a while before answering. "Hmm, I think the tourney should be starting in the next day or so. Each year, the tests that Lord Centurion puts into place changes. I'm not sure what this year will look like, but it's bound to be very interesting."

"Not much to say about the darkness, though. It's all rumors to people like myself and all. Only Lord Centurion's closest advisors would have any real information though. Rumors are that a rift has opened and demons are making their way into our world. Some say that the dragons have banded together to regain their place as the most powerful creatures of the land. Which is true, I don't know. I lean more towards the idea that the land is full of undead creatures coming forth to suck the life-force out of us normal people. They would find people like yourself prime meals." The driver gave a short laugh at his own comment.

"Oh, looks like we're here. Just head to the Castle and let them know there that you're here for the tourney. Good luck to you."

Dark Star looked up to see the walls of a town before him. though it was no where near as large as Freedom City of his time, this would be a major sized city here. He could see beyond the guarded gates an inner wall that surrounded a tall castle. The roads that he could see leading to the castle were decorated for the upcoming event and the people he saw around him seemed to be in a festive mood.

Dark Star said his good byes and began moving towards the castle. As he went by, various people called out welcoming words to the hero, his dark form an obvious indication of his knightly bearing. Reaching the inner wall, Dark Star was stopped at the gate with a group of other strangely dressed people. A few of the figures looked very familiar to Dark Star, Captain Thunder, and was that Bowman? It seemed that Dark Star was not the only hero brought back to this time.

And we're officially on the clock. 130 rounds from now, Atlas will need to take a serious nap. Unless MBCE says otherwise, I'll be using the "old" version of Atlas, so no Dynamic Array, and he has a grand total of Leaping 4.

Which is the old version? I only have access to the one that you're linked to in your sig line.

Nothing pertaining to the Story or Playstyle.

Though there is this

going against this

Minor point. Just needed something to get you into the story. Consider it to check what you read, I've edited the post to reflect that.

Wait a minute! Don't just rip it out!

Does he even understand the meaning of subtle? One of these days I'm going to have to teach him how to do things with style and not brute force.

At least Belphegor has the muscles I need to handle this caper. I would have been a goner already if he wasn't here to take part of the load off of me. Everyone's got a use, I guess.

Hmm, stairs. I wonder where they lead.

August 31, 2009: Ghostly Highjinks ensues as small green creatures disturb life within the Boardwalk.

(Continue form Ghostly Insights)

August 31, 2009

The Boardwalk was one of the most visited areas by tourists of Freedom City. The Casinos often drew people in search of a good time. Not everyone came to gamble. The shows at the Golden Calf Casino brought both young and old to enjoy the entertainers. It was what brought Bell and her husband Jack to the area.

"I think you need to turn left on Adams, Jack."

"Honey, just let handle this. I know where we're going."

The car stopped at the light and waited for it to change colors. Bell reached into the glove compartment in search of the map that came with the rental car. She turned her head towards the window suddenly.

"What was that?" Bell asked her husband, concern in her voice.

Jack turned to look at his wife. "Huh? What was what?"

"Didn't you hear it? It sounded like something was moving under the car.

"I didn't hear anything," Jack said as he turned back to watch the traffic light.

Suddenly a small green creature landed on the hood of the car. It struck out at the windshield, its claws easily breaking through. Bell screamed in fright at the sight as Jack stepped hard upon the gas pedal. The car jerked forward into traffic only to get hit by another car coming the other way.

Nearby, a different green skinned creature watched the accident. It smiled at the destruction. Now there were two vehicles just right for the taking. It gave a high pitched screech that brought out four other creatures. The four smaller creatures moved quickly to the crash site and began ripping into the vehicles. The larger one concentrated and another smaller green creature appeared next to it.

"Feast," it muttered in its strange language before moving to join the festivities. As it entered the light, a small dark mark could be seen under its eye. The mark seemed to be in the shape of a ghost.

This is the OOC thread of the Ghost's actions while transformed. Continuation from Ghostly Insights.

Doktor Archeville and Atlas

Doktor Archeville reached the second floor with no problems. He landed safely and at his question a few of the people in the pile up moaned that they were just bruised. There didn't seem to be any major physical damage.

The two men began helping untangle the group of people when one of the women pointed across the way. "What is that thing?"

The two men turned to look and saw one of the green creatures staring at them. It's mouth was opened wide with saliva dangling out of one side. It looked hungry and it seemed to have its attention focused upon the good Doktor. It gave a sharp shriek of sound that brought out a number of creatures. The newcomers looked about trying to see what had gotten their companion so excited. When their eyes landed upon the Doktor, they began screaming their excitement as well. At the moment, there were no gremlins in the immediate area, but with their speed, Doktor Archeville and Atlas could find themselves surrounded by at least twenty of the creatures.