Heritage

So what targets are close to Shift right now?

GRIMALKIN 

"Actually...I own the place."

Lynn Epstein appeared right behind them, wearing a vintage sky-blue Star Wars T-shirt beneath her brown Silbermann's Books apron, as well as comfortable jeans and and a pair of light hiking boots. Her big brown eyes and warm smile were framed by an artless mop of curly brown hair. Even in human form, there was something elfin about her; she stood about a head taller than Carrie, slender and graceful, but seething with mischief just below the surface.

The bookseller offered the young girl a warm handshake. 

"Hi, I'm Lynn, and can't tell you how happy I am to meet you!"

Grapple check vs Big Horn: 1d20+29=44

"Get over here!"

Shift

Despite all the bracing she'd created to allow her big swing, Big Horn plowed into Shift and knocked her completely off her feet, temporarily scrambling all her sensors in the process. For a few precious seconds, the young robot could not differentiate between up or down or find magnetic north. But in the time it took for her friend Bernie to step in and lay a solid punch on the massive villain, Shift did a rapid reboot, and both her arms shot out and wrapped around Big Horn several times as she formed a face just to stick a tongue out at him.

"Gotcha!"

Grapple check (including +5 for Elongation): 1d20+29=38

Spending one HP to shake off Dazed condition.

Shift rolls to hit: 1d20+8=15 

She'll spend her last HP on a reroll.

1d20+8=11 (+10=21)

Does that hit Big Horn?

Grimalkin

Lynn sighed and looked thoughtful as she pulled Dok's espresso shots. "Well really, the only popular Chanukah song is 'Ma'oz Tzur', which I think is also sung to the tune of an old German folk song." The changeling hummed a few bars in her pleasant but not very powerful singing voice.

"Now if you're talking about Christmas songs, those disgustingly cheerful tunes that I've been forced to listen to by the gentile world for the last two months of the Christian year...I like 'White Christmas'...and 'The Liitle Drummer Boy'. 'Silent Night' is kinda pretty."

The elfin shopkeeper did a very smooth steamed milk pour, and even added a bit of foam art in the form of a snowflake before handing her houseguest his drink.

Grimalkin 

Lynn sighed. "Yeah, I get it." She clucked her tongue and shook her head "Still, it sucks that you just come off as a deadbeat dad, and not the super cool dad you really are." Then the changeling frowned. "Does she know you have a job? Like, what does she think you do for a living?"

While she waited for Ghost to answer, the restless fae amused herself by conjuring up several dioramas on the rooftop, miniature scenes of the middle-aged crime fighter working various regular jobs: Ghost-as-construction worker, balancing on a girder; Ghost-as-pizza chef, spinning a disk of dough...

Reroll: 1d20+12=23

About as low as you can roll and not get to add 10.

Sorry for the long delay!

Toughness save: 1d20+12=19

Oof! Is this one I'm going to want to reroll on?

Crystal-Gazer  0 posts = 0pp

Test Your Might (0)

Shift 0 posts = 0PP

Dance Beneath the Stars (0)

Meanwhile, at the Guardians Mansion! (0)

The Eel  0 posts = 0 PP

--Titanium Characters--

Grimalkin  0 posts = 0PP

Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow (0)

Ghosts and Grimalkins: Dancing Star Night (0)

Grim's posts split between Eel and Shift

Shift

Robots don't feel pain the way organic lifeforms do, but that doesn't mean they enjoy being hit by violent blows. Shift's internal sensors could detect several million nanobots destroyed by the arrogant duplicator's blow, and even though that was a drop in the bucket of her total nanomass, it meant time and energy to repair, resources better used to help her teammates or innocent civilians. 

"You are very irritating. I think I'd like to shut you up."

Shift planted her legs, which sent out several bracing struts, and her whole upper body formed into a massive hammer-like bludgeon that swung on a sturdy pivot, plowing into first one Legion and then the next, passing completely through them both like they were made out of tissue paper.

Rolling for Takedown Attack

 1d20+8=22

That may take out the second?

Shift is taking a swing at one of the Legions

1d20+8=21

DC 27 Toughness save if it connects.

Toughness save: 1d20+12=19

She has Impervious 8, for what it's worth.

Shift

"Sorry," mutters BerniPol, her eyes downcast as she resumes her own usual form. After Charlie gives his orders and Bernadette relays the enemies' order of battle, the robot nods, her mouth a firm line. 

"I will take on the man with the horns. It will keep him from crushing our squishier teammates."

She shifts into her purely robotic form, and with surprising speed charges at her target, driving one metalic fist into the man's gut.

Shift is going to boldly advance on Big Horns to try to hit him, as she can hopefully go toe-to-toe with the doofus.

To hit: 1d20+8=11

I'm going to assume that's a miss, and spend an HP on a reroll.

Reroll: 1d20+8=20+10=30

That's a DC 27 Toughness save

Grimalkin

Lynn smiled as Ghost kvelled about Cassie; clearly she was the center of his universe, as she should be. She wasn't surprised to hear she was a reader; Casper was the sort of father who wanted his child to flourish, and books would be a part of that world.

"Have you thought about telling her, or did you want to keep that part hidden from her? I know it's a very personal decision for any, y'know, hero."

She shrugged as she poured herself some more champagne.

"When Bill and I had our kids, we were living on a different world, with a different set of values. Heroes didn't really exist the way they do here, so there wasn't really a secret to hide."

Then she got a very far away look in her eyes, and her voice became wistful.

"I sometimes wonder what we would have done, if we raised them over here..."

Shift

As a synthetic being, Pol is completely oblivious to the psychic scream, and looks around in confusion as the organic creatures all wince and clutch their heads. Her mechanical body reconfigures itself into a bipedal humanoid frame, and she walks over and gently puts a hand on Charlie's shoulder.

"Is everything all right, Stormcrow? I think we won."

Crystal-Gazer

Seeing nothing alarming in the area, Lulu blinked a few times as her vision returned to normal. She playfully slapped Davyd twice on the back as she turned her attention back to the monks. "Well it's a real pleasure to meet y'all; you take real good care of all the decorative plants and such."

The redhead stood there for a few seconds, hands on her hips as she nodded, until she cleared her throat.

"Uh, not to impose or nothin', but do y'all have anythin' to drink? Heck, jus' water would be fine. Ah worked up a mean thirst lookin' for this one."

She pointed at Rex and winked.

Grimalkin

It was rather shocking to hear German vocals coming out of the speakers; for a minute there, Lynn thought it was a weird remix! But then Viktor came running up to her, and the changeling had to laugh as she poured out her latte.

"It's alright, Doc, it's okay! I'm used to bizarre phenomena in my store. Hey, you want I should make you something while I'm behind the counter? Eine kleine espresso, maybe?"

Then she paused for a moment as she thought about the song he'd been singing.

"'Grief and harm are silent, worries of life fade away'; interesting lyrics. Who originally sang it?"

The two enjoyed their meal together, mostly in silence. Theirs was a lonely line of work, especially in a place like Bedlam. It was nice to take a little breather, even if it was just a few hours. And in a town like Bedlam, friendships, even just professional ones, were more valuable than gold.

                                                                  END

Silbermann's Books. Tuesday, January 15th 2024. 1:05 pm

The snow just kept coming down! With 12 inches reported at 8 am and no signs of slowing down, Lynn Epstein decided to send her staff home while they could still see; no one was crazy enough to face a winter storm for a muffin and newspaper anyway.

So Lynn took the opportunity to do a little bookkeeping in the store for a few hours before deciding to take a break. She left her cozy office to make herself a cinnamon chai latte behind the counter. As the milk steamed, she turned on the store's stereo system to play an old playlist, with a lot of her early 2000s faves. She didn't realize how loudly she was singing Gwen Stefani's "The Sweet Escape."

"Woo hoo. Yee hoo!"

"Woo hoo. Yee hoo!"

Shift

Pol saw the portal waiting for their dreadful foe. With but a thought, she formed a set of bracing arms to extend down to the floor, locking her in place. Then she shifted part of her nanomass into two powerful hyraudlic pistons. With all her might and focus, she launched the Conquerer Worm at the portal, praying that her rapid-fire calculations were correct.

Initiative: 1d20+6=13