Heritage

Grim nods her head in appreciation. "Oh that's cool; you're like one of those guys in those online fantasy games, what do they call it, when you 'buff' someone? I like it." She continues nodding, then frowns for a second before it turns into a wary grin. "Heyyy, you didn't really answer my question, did you?" She waves her hand. "S'okay, you want to play the mysterious card, that's fine by me."

Lynn listens to Ren's story, and as she does she finds she's less interested in the details of the events themselves than by the emotions that flicker across his face as he tells it; each little spark of joy or twinge of regret thrills her in a way she can't quite explain. She nods and smiles. "Yeah, we're good to go here." As she steps up to the window, she looks over her shoulder back at Ren. "So I remind you of a little boy, huh? Maybe I should start packing some of those California curves all the time, just in case you forget who you're dealing with here." She winks and pulls down her shades as she hops up onto the sill, crouches down to stick her head out the window and peer down at the street seven stories below. "So I guess I have a lot more say in where we eat now, right? I mean, of the two of us, I'm the one with the fully-functional digestive system."

As Grim starts to set out the chicken, biscuits and cole slaw fro those who what them, she gives Ren a nod. "I'm cool with demon-fighting, too, mostly 'cause I'm too dumb to know any better; also I think my powers are magic-based, so that might help. Or maybe make things worse." She shrugs and smiles. "Whatever." Now that the chicken is finally open, to Grim's hyper-sensitive nose the smell has gone from overpoweringly delicious to downright stupefying, and the young heroine digs in with gusto, piling her plate high with grub. Grim looks thoughtful as she noisily sucks her fingers. "Mmm, good question, boss; I think any name we pick should reflect either our types of powers, our tactics, or maybe both." She points at the various heroes in the room with a drumstick as she continues. "Like I know me and Nightrival are both kinda sneaky, but we shouldn't generalize based on just our powers, right? For instance, Ren, are you a sneaky demon hunter or are you more upfront about it, daring them to come out of the shadows and fight you? And Hub, other than making your eyes glow and peeping at people through closed doors, what exactly do you do, anyway? And where did you come up with the name 'Hub'? All I'm coming up with is bikes, hubcaps and wagon wheels."

Velocity clearly sees the bullets leaving both barrels; she easily dodges first one and then the other, doing little more than standing aside as the bullets slowly streak pass and bury themselves in the opposite wall. The three boys do not look very happy :shock: - - - - The two normal-sized boys see Blaster, and look rather panicky; in fact they both pull out pistols from their backpacks and point them at the young super, but the larger boy just grins and says into the phone, "Something came up; I'll call you right back." There's a frenzied squawking from the other end just before he closes the phone, drops it in his pocket and spreads his hands wide in welcome. "What do we have here? A Johnny Longjohns I've never even heard of! What's your name, sport?" He motions for the other boys to lower their weapons, and they slowly point them at the tile floor. - - - - Mr. Red Eyes cocks the hammer of his gun and levels it right at Kevin's head, focused as a laser. "Not an inch closer, or you'll be the first; the first of many." His voice is nasal and breathy; if he wasn't holding a gun, no one would even listen to him. The other two boys do the same, though the barrels of their guns wobble a little bit.

Go see it right now! Why are you still here, go! ;)

Sorry, I've had a busy weekend, but I should be able to post here Sunday night.

In reference to your special attack (which is pretty darn cool, by the way), I don't think your Drain will affect his STR save this round, since the effects are essentially simultaneous, but it would effect him on his initiative round and therefore your next attack. Do you still want to do it?

I don't have access to the die roller here at work, so look for first new post in a while tonight :D

Whisper shows that same creepy mortician's wax smile as she starts to fade from view. "Crystal." The door opens of its own accord, and she's gone... - - - - "Well," thinks Grim as she pads silently down the hallway. "This should be interesting."

From what I've seen myself and read here, I doubt I will be buying 4E anytime soon; if they hadn't released 3.5 I might be more willing, but having to buy the same three+ books three times in 8 years is asking a bit much. I've never played any MMORPGs, and I acknowledge that they're now targeting future generations who will be buying their products long after I'm dust and bones, but I am perfectly happy with 3.5 as it stands, and would prefer to spend my gaming dollars on MnM, Ars Magica and old Buffy RPG books. The new gaming license also sounds rather ominous :?

That is awesome! :clap:

Thankfully Grim is ready this time when Pete again lashes out, and easily fends off his attack. Deciding she'd rather not be clubbed in the face anymore, the young heroine fades to nothingness and quickly backs away into a corner of the kitchen, waiting to see the drug-addled cook's next move.

Okay, my original roll was the uber-suck, so I will spend my HP for a reroll, and pray for something better - and it pays off! :D

Yes, I got a 24! :D

At first Lynn is shocked by the frankness of Ren's comments, but by the time he's finished she's smiling, and it is indeed a beautiful smile. "Okay. Message received." She bobs her head a few times in agreement, then gives him a mischievous look. "Of course, I think of it as a happy story, because I don't die in the end; I love the ones where I don't die." She plants both her hands on her knees and leans back. "Okay, I will give you a happy story from my life, that doesn't involve rape, death and broken glass, and then we can go." Lynn starts stroking an imaginary beard as though deep in thought. "Happy story, happy story...gosh, I keep thinking of all these horrible things I've seen and done; where do I keep all my happy stories?" She gives her boyfriend a wink and then sits up a bit straighter. "Okay, I've got one." Then she raises a finger and wags it. "Technically this is after I ran away, but it's all good stuff, no bad." She takes a deep breath, then begins. "One of the things I was determined to do when I finally left home was to go to California and see the Pacific Ocean; I watched all these shows on TV growing up, and seen a lot of movies, and it just looked awesome." Lynn claps her hands together and rests her chin on her steepled fingers. "So! I rode the rails out West, across the Rocky Mountains, which are beyond beautiful, by the way; we seriously have to go some time. Aaaaand I end up in LA, which is way too sunny for me, or at least it was back then, when I was in my 'runaway goth' phase." She laughs and shifts herself a few years younger, a bit more scrawny, with cartoonish circles of dark makeup around her eyes. "Screw you man, I'm living my own life now! Stupid sun!" She shakes her first up at the ceiling in mock-outrage, and then shifts back to her more summery look. The black baby tee is now bright orange and sports a picture of Beaker from the Muppet Show; even Lynn's clothes are in a better mood. "So I get out there, and I walk and walk and walk, and finally I make it to Venice Beach, and there all these blonde girls in tank tops on Rollerblades zipping around, and everyone's tan with perfect teeth, and I am pissed off. It's like all the popular kids in my old high school, but turned up to eleven." She becomes one of those girls now, right down to the tank top, Rollerblades and a mock-iPod clipped to the belt of her Daisey Dukes; she closes her eyes and bops along, humming and snapping her fingers before becoming Lynn of the Beaker shirt once more. "Yikes! So basically I'm in hell, right? It's a disaster. So I clomp on over to the sand and drop down to my knees in utter misery like a little drama queen." Lynn stops and waves her hands. "I know what you're thinking, but this is a happy story, I swear; we're getting to the happy part right now!" She smiles and rubs her hands together. "So I'm sitting there on the sand, thinking my crappy thoughts, and I start, like, digging in the sand. Y'know, idly with my fingers. And then this little kid runs up to me, maybe six or seven, and he drops down to the sand right next to me, and he looks down at me digging, and then looks up at my face, and says, 'Can I play, too?' And it's like this cloud that was hanging over my head just seems...so stupid, y'know? So pointless." Lynn closes her eyes and smiles at the memory. "That was such an awesome day." She opens her eyes and spreads her arms wide. "And you should have seen the castle we made, dude; it was freakin' huge!" The small girl drums her fists on her legs then stands up smartly. "So, I hope you can file that under 'Lynn's Happy Stories', because I have a bunch of them, and I want you to collect 'em all."

She nods her head as she coughs a bit more before replying in a breathy whisper. "Yeah, I think I missed the worst of it, though I bet I get cancer from it some day."

Grim is gathering up the chicken to bring back into the meeting, unconscionably eavesdropping as is her bad habit; she smiles when she hears what both Nightrival and Velocity have to say in her absence. Thankfully this means she's expecting the speedster's sudden arrival, which is good because otherwise she'd probably have a heart attack when she showed up. Grim nods and smiles. "Yeah, that would be cool; we'll have to exchange cellphone numbers or something, or maybe I can make like a big 'Velocity signal' to shine on the side of Pyramid Plaza, y'know, to summon you." She giggles as she picks up the food, then speaks in a fake announcer voice. "Whenever there's boyfriend trouble or she's just down in the dumps, Grimalkin activates the 'Velo-Light', knowing full well that Freedom City's Fastest Teen will soon be there, double chocolate ice cream in hand, to make things right!" She busts out laughing as she comes back into the room, holding up the KFC. "Hey, I'm not screaming or yelling, and I brought chicken! It's like a whole new Grim!"

This may be a dumb question, but should I have Grim reply to Nano yet, or are we still initiative order?

Lynn stops and pulls down her shades, the better to glare over them. "Yeah, no kidding." She sighs and flips her sunglasses up on top of her hair, and has a seat on top of the dead radiator by the window. "I'm sorry to be such a hag all the time; it just felt...like I was sharing this big thing with you, and then it's like milk shoots out your nose or something." She sighs again, nods to herself, and then looks her boyfriend right in the eye. "It feels like death, when I'm around it." She starts scuffing a patch of natty carpeting with her shoe. "One time when I was maybe five or six, my brother was chasing me around our old house, and we're both laughing and having a great time. But then I slip and my hand goes right through one of the French doors." She holds up her left hand and a frightening simulation of the old injury appears; there is no actual blood, but the skin between her middle and ring fingers seems to split almost halfway up the back of her hand, forming an angry red gash. The pale young woman stares down at it calmly. "There was blood everywhere, and I mean everywhere. We were home alone; my parents had taken Eddi to ballet class, so we were horsing around totally unsupervised. And I tell Benjie that I'm starting to feel all cold and tingly, so naturally he freaks out, right? And he's going, 'Oh my god, Mom's gonna kill us, oh my god!'" And here she stops, and there is a touch of pride in her voice as she continues. "But then my brother Ben...he whips off his belt and wraps it around my arm real tight. And he tells me to hold it while he grabs the phone to call 911." Lynn gets very quiet for a moment, then she holds up her unmarred hand and smiles, though her eyes are slightly moist. "And that's how iron makes me feel." She laughs and wipes her eyes. "I think I told it better this time."

Gossamer has been studying the map for some time, idly stroking her lower lip; at the suggestion of the autograph and kissing booths, her bright blue eyes go wide for a moment, then she laughs loudly. "Wow, I guess I hadn't...yes, definitely. Velocity, I think you underestimate both yourself and young people; I think they'll be lined up for blocks they'll be so interested. And as for you, Dr Archeville, I for one would certainly line up for a peck." She gives him a friendly wink and then returns to studying the map, hands on her hips; after a few moments it's clear an idea has struck her, but she's not sure what to make of it. "Well, I could...well, this might sound fairly bizarre and vaguely inappropriate, but in a sense, I could actually be a sort of ride." Her golden mane fashions itself into a dozen limbs some fifteen feet long, radiating out from her head like the rays of a cartoon sun but each ending in a sort of shepard's crook; they start to turn slowly, not unlike a miniature Ferris wheel. "I can extend these out to about a hundred feet, and any, ah, passengers would be completely safe; a demonstration of my powers that could be highly entertaining." Then blonde heroine furrows her brow and starts stroking her lip again. "Though I suppose there might be some insurance concerns..." But then she smiles again and shrugs. "I could also do a puppet show, like I did for my niece's birthday; it was a big hit with the little ones, believe me." She pulls in all but one of her tendrils, several fine strands of which dart out to grab an unused chair and make it 'dance' like a marionette; she continues speaking as she moves the chair through its paces, smiling to herself as she make it skip and pirouette about the room. "And certainly dramatic combat would be impressive and draw quite a crowd, but it goes without saying that safety is the highest priority; we should practice working with each other's powers as much as possible before performing in front of a live audience."

Nightrival is going to kill me...as soon as I get out of prison. What am I going to do, say no to the payment and totally blow my cover? Whisper nods her head a fraction. "The plan and terms are acceptable to me." She then raises her water in salute as well. "To the smooth execuation of our plan."

Okay, going back over everything via links and comments in OOC, I think I have a fairly good idea of whats going on here, but I'm still puzzling out some stats for the baddies. I was hoping to post here tonight, but it's getting a bit late and I have a long 7 or 8 hour drive tomorrow. I think I will be able to post something on Sunday, sorry this is taking so darn long, Herid :(

For a second, all three boys just stare at her in disbelief, but then the two with their hands in their bags pull out automatics and each take a shot at Velocity! - - - The group by Blaster still have not noticed him yet, so busy are they in their dark preparations; the large boy seems to upset with whomever is on the other end of the phone, and shouts "I don't care what you think!" - - - The boy giving Kevin the heebie-jeebies reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a 9mm pistol and grins even wider; when his two companions notice he's drawn his weapon, they look startled and draw their's as well, but they are holding their weapons much more awkwardly than the first. The sight of three students with drawn pistols does not surprisingly cause Kevin's entire group to instantly freak out and make a mad rush back towards the entrance, screaming "They've got guns!" in blind panic. :o

Okay, the big guy got a 14 and the other, more mookier lads somehow finagled a 20 - well done, lads! Okay, I'm a firm believer in posting in initiative order, so here's what where looking at: The Lads: 20 Velocity: 49, but held her action The Big Guy: 14 Oliver: 7 Kevin: 6 The Lads are up, so posting now! :clap:

Might want to edit that last post, SB ;)