N/A

If Backup #3 wasn't beaten unconscious, Kingsnake isn't going to bother with the hostage yet.

I want to help those people. But I can't fly, or tear steel with my bare hands, or walk through walls or lift cars with my mind. All I can do is...this. Kingsnake grabbed both sides of the kneeling mercenary's helmet. "I told you. Killing people doesn't give you the right to give me orders. You're not in control here. Wanting to save them doesn't mean I won't stop you." He pulled the man's head down as hard as he could, while simultaneously driving his knee up into the man's faceplate. That armor is metal...but I'm betting that part you see out of in front is glass. Metal bends. Glass breaks.

Note: Backup #3 isn't Dazed anymore. He bought that off with GM Fiat. Should have one more round of Obscure before the cloud goes away. Move Action: Kingsnake attempts to Demoralize Backup #3 again. That's -1 Intimidate for doing it again in the same scene, and -5 for doing it as a move action, leaving his bonus at +9. I'll forego Skill Mastery and roll it. Intimidate check: 19. Coulda just taken 10 anyway. Backup #3 needs a 10 or better on his Sense Motive check. Reaction: Kingsnake burns a Hero Point to gain the Power Attack feat. Standard Action: Kingsnake attacks Backup #3. He All-Out Attacks for +2 Attack / -2 Defense, and Power Attacks for -5 Attack / +5 Damage. With his Fatigue, that leaves him at Attack +8, Damage +12 (DC27), Defense +11 (DC21). Attack check (DC12, need to roll a 4+): 15. That's a DC27 Toughness save. Let me know if that takes out Backup #3. If it does, then Kingsnake will Surge to grapple the "hostage."

"Bomb...Shell." Thrude sounded out the words in her heavily accented English, nodded to the mortal woman, and offered her hand. "Thou took up arms against my FATHER," she spit upon the ground again at the mention of Donar, "and the HORDE of mortal PLAGUE-RATS who bound him to their wagon like an OX. I thank ye." Thrude took the bottle of mead and downed another swig. "If Kantor's gods INSIST on sending him back to Midgard, then we can simply TAKE PLEASURE in the chance to KILL him OVER and OVER again. But if his Thule-wizards and his Übersoldaten have ESCAPED JUSTICE, then we must HUNT THEM to the FARTHEST REACHES of THIS world and ANY OTHER. Hast thou picked up the scent? Or is resuming the hunt not thy purpose this day?"

"Still ALIVE?!" Thrude bellowed up at the sky and clenched her fists. Bolts of electricity exploded from her eyes and writhed around her body in every direction, gradually slithering down to the ground beneath her. A *CRACK-KOOM* of thunder echoed in every direction. "The carrion-eating SWINE who PUT TO THE SWORD an ENTIRE GENERATION and BURIED my family name in BLOOD-SOAKED DUNG are STILL ALIVE?!" The goddess took a deep breath and slumped her shoulders, turning her eyes downward. "A better person than my father. This...on the tree of life, this is NOT a branch which sits HIGH above the ground. The climb is NOT a difficult one." She brought a hand to her forehead and dug her fingers into the edges of her scalp. "God and giant...living and dead. 'Common enemies' indeed. If this be another of LOKI'S TRICKS, then may I be FLAYED AND LEFT FOR THE CROWS, for unlike my father before me, I ally myself with the forces of darkness BY MY OWN WILL." Thrude looked back up at Frost. She took slow, measured steps toward him. "I SWORE AN OATH, to PROTECT Midgard AND its peoples from ALL who wouldst DARE threaten them. So long as ANY remnants of "the Reich" remain, that OATH stands UNFULFILLED." She extended her hand to Frost. "Help me shed their blood, and Hel can take their souls."

PL 13 (10+) PP 205/205 Abilities 52PP Str 18 (+4) Dex 14 (+2) Con 26 (+8) Int 16 (+3) Wis 14 (+2) Cha 24 (+7) Combat 24PP Initiative +2 Attack +6, +16 Melee Damage +4 Unarmed Grapple +20 Defense +6, +3 Flat-Footed, +12 Dodge Toughness +8 Knockback 4 Saving Throws 18PP Fort +10 [2PP] Ref +10 [8PP] Will +10 [8PP] Skills 124R = 31PP Bluff 13 (+20) Diplomacy 8 (+15) Disguise 13 (+20) Gather Info 13 (+20) Investigate 2 (+5) Languages 4 (Cantonese, Dakanan, English [Native], French, Tibetan) Notice 18 (+20) Search 17 (+20) Sense Motive 18 (+20) Stealth 18 (+20) Feats 47PP Attack Focus (Melee) 10 Beginners Luck Benefit 3 (Wealth 3) Challenge 3 (Fast Task 3 [Feint, Taunt, Trick]) Connected Contacts Distract (Bluff) Dodge Focus 6 Hide In Plain Sight Improvised Tools Jack of All Trades Luck 4 Power Attack Quick Change 2 Setup Skill Mastery 2 (Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, Gather Info, Notice, Search, Sense Motive, Stealth) Sneak Attack Takedown Attack 2 Teamwork 2 Taunt Uncanny Dodge (Auditory) Well-Informed Powers 33PP Immunity 4 (Aging, Disease, Poison, Starvation/Thirst) [4PP] Regeneration 7 (Resurrection 7 [1 minute], Feats: Persistent, Regrowth) [9PP] Variable Power 2 (10PP Pool, Any Trait, Multiple Traits at Once, Extras: Action 2 [Free], Duration [Continuous], Flaws: Hard-To-Lose Device) [20PP] (Gadgets & Magical Artifacts)

Avenger Assembled Frost's shoulder devil whispers "Pick up the ax and see what happens!" ShaenTheBrain The answer is "Not much." Avenger Assembled Frost's shoulder devil mostly wants to see him get hit by lightning. "What about your shoulder angel, Dimitri?" "My what now?" Cabochard it got eaten by the shoulder devil alderwitch Talya worries that Frost has hit the 'lazily suicidal' stage of immortality Avenger Assembled Only with pretty girls, Talya! ShaenTheBrain almost had Thrude open up with the lightning, but figured it was a better idea to start with "talk" instead Cabochard psh zap first ask questions never 12:23 PM trollthumper You've changed, Thrude. ShaenTheBrain If nothing else, she's sure the Freedom League would've given her an EARFUL. alderwitch Talya already has to put up with that crap with Ace, Mitya! Avenger Assembled Well that's why he needs friends to steer him towards more healthy pursuits! ShaenTheBrain They'd be all "OMG, how could you just disintegrate him like that?" and she'd be like "DUH, undead MONSTER, HELLO?!" and then they'd be all "Don't be hatin'!" and she'd be like "Bitches, PLEASE, y'all HELLA BASIC" and it'd be this whole THING. Avenger Assembled The Freedom League would have been terribly broken up about Dimitri, just terribly, I'm sure. ShaenTheBrain (Thrude is, technically, an 18-year-old blonde white girl.) Avenger Assembled "Did you make sure to scatter the ashes on holy ground?" Tiamat asks, curious. Cabochard just disintegrate the ashes too quicker cleaner cooler ShaenTheBrain (Once Set hands her a pumpkin spice latte and an iPhone, and teaches her how to install Instagram, it's all over.) ShaenTheBrain (Pic of her as an adolescent, covered in blood, holding up the freshly severed head of a frost giant. #throwbackthursday)

"Of COURSE." Thrude shook her head at the ground and chuckled. "PRIDE and PETTY VENGEANCE. Those RARE THINGS which could turn the WRATH OF HEL, or ANY of Loki's MISBEGOTTEN SPAWN, away from US." She reversed her grip on her battle axe and dropped it to the ground. It landed on its head with a mighty *THUD*, the haft standing straight up. "These 'NAZIS' who yoked my IDIOT FATHER'S strength to their DOOMED CAUSE almost IMPRESS me. They were able to make enemies NOT ONLY of this ENTIRE MORTAL WORLD, but ALL THOSE BEYOND IT as well. RARE IT IS that god AND giant, dwarf AND elf, share a COMMON foe." She took the glass from Bombshell's outstretched arm, closed her eyes, and sniffed it. "I thank ye," she whispered as she looked Bombshell directly in the eye for the first time. Then she downed the whole glass in one gulp, hurled the glass to the ground, and turned back to Frost. "But were these MOST FOOLISH of mortals not CONQUERED and BROKEN in days PAST? What further need hath Hel of ye in this world?"

The vortex of mist swirling around Thrude's legs vanished the instant her boots touched the ground. She glanced over her shoulder at Bombshell, then fixed her gaze upon Frost. She hesitated for a few moments. "...'Thule'..." She spit upon the ground. "...is a name I have come to know well since my return to Midgard." She lowered her battle axe. "What quarrel hath Hel with their wretched sorcery? Did they not do her bidding when they disgraced my family? Did they not fill her realm to the brim with armies of slaughtered children? How can thou defy her will, when it is only by her hand thou doth rise to wreak your vengeance? Is my cousin truly so reckless with her power? Thou hast the eyes of one who means that which he doth say. Yet thy words, like most of this new world, make little sense."

"CEASE thy movement, AND thy PRATTLE!" Thrude stood her ground and swung her battle axe around, pointing the head at Frost. She turned her glare briefly again to the summoning spell as his boot smeared it. "First the RUNES, then MEAD. Art thou DETERMINED to sully ALL the All-Father's GIFTS to mortal kind?!" Her eyes narrowed at his words, and blue sparks danced between them. "ONLY by my cousin's FOUL SORCERY canst thou TREAD upon Midgard, spreading thy BLIGHT! Yet I am to BELIEVE thou doth DEFY her will for MY sake?! Thou speakest either RIDDLES or MADNESS. I give thee only THIS for 'PARLEY': Say NOW to what end I am summoned here, OR BE DESTROYED!"

"FROST!" Thrude's squint of confusion hardened into a glare of rage as she landed before the Russian vampire. "PARLEY?! Thou wouldst have me COURT DEATH as THOU HAST?!" She pointed her enormous axe toward the runes carved into the ground. "How DARE thee PROFANE our tongue with thy CADAVEROUS CLAWS?!" She then hefted the axe behind and above her in a fighting stance. Lightning crackled down onto her from the axe like a waterfall. ""I know NOT why the Freedom-Warriors have SUFFERED thy FOUL PRESENCE for so long, but thou shalt DEFILE the mortal world NO LONGER!"

20Q Where are you from? I was born and raised in Freedom City, New Jersey. I went to prep school in a limo every morning. How would you describe yourself, physically? Broken, and reforged. Olympic athletes have to train for hours a day to maintain my body's default state. I'm built like Rambo. I can still feel the scars lining my face like cracks in a broken window around the place where my eyes used to be. Do you have any distinguishing speech characteristics or recurring mannerisms? When talking to civilians, police, or other vigilantes, I speak as little as possible. When talking to criminals, I say as little as I need to in order to scare them. I try to let my actions (and fists) do the talking. I don't like to waste time on idle chatter, or give people more information about me than I have to. What is your motivation? Redemption. Revenge. Leaving the world looking a little better than I found it. And a little bit of sadism. What is your greatest strength? Your greatest weakness? The same thing: My heightened senses. I can hear and smell and feel everything. It's overwhelming, exhausting, and disappointing for everyone's dirty laundry to be right up in your face. What/Whom do you love? What/Whom do you hate? I loved my brother. I loved the people I thought my parents were, who they tricked me into thinking they were, and I hate who they actually are, who they were the whole time. I love Dina, though she'd probably never believe that, because of the way I left her. I didn't say goodbye. I love the feel of a snakehead's bones splintering under my fists. I love smelling the urine in his pants when he realizes that his sins have caught up with him. I hate crowds. Too loud. Too many smells. Too much vibration, shaking me to pieces. How would you describe your emotional state? I don't have enough scar tissue to keep my emotions buried yet, but I'm working on it. What do you fear the most? Dying before I can repair the damage my family inflicted upon this city, and this world. Becoming like my father. What is your greatest ambition? To erase every trace of Frank Brubaker from the face of the Earth. How do you feel about the state of the world, and your place in it? The world is a pile of dung, and most of the people writhing in it are pigs who want their slop, and who will gladly eat each other if getting that slop is even slightly inconvenient. Do you have any prejudices? How do you get along with others? No prejudices that I know of. I'm less indulgent of crime and criminals than most vigilantes. I don't make excuses for bad people who do bad things. I'm too busy helping the people they hurt, and making sure they can't hurt anyone else. I don't get along with others. I prefer to work alone whenever possible, and when I'm forced by circumstance to work with others, I speak to them as little as possible. Where do your loyalties lie? To the abstract concept of "justice," then to my own desire for redemption and revenge. I've tried to cut ties with any actual people who might complicate my mission. Do you have a lover or a partner? What is that relationship like? I had a girlfriend in college, Dina. When I left the country after my brother's death, I didn't say goodbye. I didn't have the guts to face her. I hope she's forgotten about me and moved on with her life. Do you have a family? What is that relationship like? I had a family. Not anymore. My father used to be my idol. Now I know that his self-starter narrative is bad fiction. He's a monster, preying on the weak and defenseless. My "doting, loving" mother was just like him. My little brother Wade was the only decent person in our whole family, and he died, caught in the crossfire when my parents sins tried to catch up with them. Dad dodged his karma. I won't let him do that again. How would the people closest to you describe you? No one is close to me. Not anymore. My father always said I was "A chip off the old block." Thinking about that now makes me throw up in my mouth. My little brother wanted to be just like me. I don't even want to be like me. Dina said I was the nicest guy she ever met. That guy died with his family. I'm just the ghost walking around in his body. Are you a role model? Absolutely not. How spiritual or religious are you? Mom and Dad gave lip service to Christianity because it was good for business. They never believed in anything. I never bought into it. The monks in Shambala Vale can do things that science can't explain yet, but like the old man said, any sufficiently advanced tech seems like magic. Are you part of a team? Would you like to be? Why? No. Never. Other people get in the way. Other people lack the fortitude to do what needs to be done. I'm trying to get rid of my liabilities, not accumulate even more. How do you feel about the place of metahumans and aliens on Earth? They can help, and we'd be stupid to turn that down. But nothing is free. You can't even trust the people who don't have powers, let alone the ones who do. There's always dirty laundry. If something seems too good to be true, it is. If you could give one piece of advice to Kingsnake, what would it be? Get into some counseling. Try to see the best in people instead of just the worst. Try to see things from their point of view. Stop thinking that you're special, or different from everyone else.

Contents 20Q

Nitpick: Kingsnake's not Fatigued until his turn comes up.

FYI, Kingsnake has reputation tables now.

FYI, Kingsnake has reputation tables now.

X

OK, I think the index is up-to-date now.

"My suit's new armaments are focused on energy based ordnance, rather than traditional kinetic rounds as was true in the previous model." Not only did they let him out, they let him upgrade. This keeps getting worse by the minute. Kingsnake grabbed the top edge of the energy-cube and vaulted himself up over the "wall" and inside. Right into the hungry lion's mouth. Better me than them. "If you can convince the fairy to take you to wear the weapon isn't, then feel free and good luck. Otherwise, you follow us, and the hired guns live to fire another day. Michaels, let's go. And if your old toy has any weaknesses, tell us on the way."

Standard Action: Smoke pellet. That's visual concealment for, and from, everyone within 20ft (that's 4 Medium-sized creatures in every direction). So Kingsnake, everyone he's within melee reach of, and probably everyone within melee reach of any of them. Anyone blinded by the cloud loses their dodge bonus and suffers -2 Defense on top of that. Anyone who can't see through the cloud who's attacking someone covered by it has to pick the right 5ft square to target with an attack, and has a 50% miss chance if they do pick the right spot. (But if the target is also blinded, then they still have the aforementioned defense penalties.) As far as I'm aware, Kingsnake, Phalanx, and Gauss all have Accurate super-senses that can ignore the cloud, and the Power Corps knockoffs don't. Move Action: Move over one 5ft space, so he's still within melee range of all the same people, but he's not standing in the same spot as he was before the smoke went up. Free Action: Extra Effort to Surge. There'll be no buying off the Fatigue this time. Standard Action: Attack Backup #3. Power Attack for -2 Attack / +2 Damage. Attack check (DC12, he hits on literally anything but a natural "1," Orokos, I will kill your family...): 22. That's a DC25 Toughness save.

Kingsnake reflexively twisted his torso and hips to the side like a dancer as the armored fist landed, while swinging his forearm down in an arc to divert the incoming blow, and tensing his abdominal muscles as hard as he could. He still exhaled sharply and staggered half an inch from the force of the punch. That hurt...but at least all my organs are still where they should be. He pulled another smoke pellet out of a a hidden pocket on his jumpsuit and hurled it to the floor. Stop screwing around and end this. Too much at risk here to fight "fair." The "ting" of metal on metal rang out for a second, and the train car once again filled with a hissing sound and the black smoke it heralded. Kingsnake stepped forward at a 45-degree angle toward his attacker. He reached his fingers behind the armored plate on the man's arm, grabbing the inside of the man's wrist with his left hand, while simultaneously pushing against the man's elbow with all his might, forcing it to bend in the wrong direction, forcing the edge of the plate against the man's flesh. At the same time, he kicked down as hard as he could at the side of the man's knee, behind the armor plate jutting up over his shin. Weakest part of any suit of armor...the joints.

Toughness save (DC24): 27.

"COWARDLY BEAST, hiding its foul deeds under cover of DARKNESS!" Thrude roared as she shook her fist at the sky. "THY RECKONING HAS COME!" She turned back down at the weathered longshoreman and vigorously shook his hand. "I thank thee, brave sailor. Fear not!" She took a step away and raised her axe above her head. "For I SWEAR on the BLOOD of Grandfather Odin the All-Father HIMSELF, I shall leave NO STONE UNTURNED in my search for this SAVAGE BEHEMOTH! A search which I SWEAR will end only in MY death, or HIS!" A bolt of lightning surged down from the sky, breaking against the axe's blade and showering Thrude in sparks. Thunder roared directly overhead. A vortex of mist swirled around her legs and buoyed her into the air. She flew in a circle around the area, descending whenever she neared a field to look for signs of the monster's passing.

Subscribed.

The goddess smiled and closed her eyes for a few moments at the feel of the Northern winds upon her face while she soared across the Northern skies. These days, those few who kept to the old gods were spread far and wide. But if there was any place on Midgard she could truly call "home," it was the peninsulas and archipelagos of Scandinavia, the cradle of the civilization built by her grandfather's students, the mortals to whom he taught the hunt and the runes and even the brewing of mead, at the cost of his very flesh and blood. The ground shook beneath her feet when she landed near the busiest port she could find. Stray bursts of lightning danced along her massive axe Hridgandr and up and down her body. She shouted in the local tongue to no one in particular, "RETRIBUTION IS AT HAND! TELL ME OF THOSE WHO PREY UPON THEE, THAT I MAY SMITE THEM IN THY NAME!"