Sacerdos

"Every once in a while, science rules."

Nope. Science rules every minute of every frickin' day.

No, I think the sides are roughly even now--but only 'cause Malice is starting handicapped. :P

Well that still raises a conversational point... Either he was using the autofire ability...or he was using the rapid attack ability. in one case he gets autofire against a single target, and in the other he gets no autofire but gets to attack both targets... Which one is it Av?

AF can be used to attack multiple targets.

I believe it comes from this AP of his magic array:

-AP: Strike 5 ("The Obsidian Blade"; Extras: Autofire [+1], Penetrating 5; PFs: Affects Insubstantial 2, Improved Critical, Mighty)

Stop being logical and correct and stuff!

:oops:

Angrydurf speaks truth. You don't get extra damage when using autofire for anything other than attacking a single target.

ETA: And Super-Speed (Rapid Attack) doesn't give you autofire. It allows you to attack multiple targets in a radius around you.

"Nice shot!" Thunder noted appreciatively, resolving not to be caught flat-footed again.

Suddenly, she was airborne, doing some kind of spinning flip that left Pompadour with no idea where the heck she was going to land. Which she didn't. Instead, she lightly kicked him in the shoulder and used the nearly imperceptible force of the attack to send her flipping head over heels, only to finally touch down off to Pompadour's left side.

Her forehead creased slightly in surprise at how easily she had tagged him in return. Perhaps that first hit was just a lucky shot.

Thunder's taking 10 on her Acrobatic Bluff roll, giving her a 25. The best Pompadour can get is a 24, so I'm just pressing on under the assumption that he's surprised during Thunder's attack. If you want him to do something funky to counter that, just say so and I'll edit appropriately.

ETA: Since Thunder's doing the feint as a move action, she has a -5 to her roll. So, it's actually a DC 20 Sense Motive roll, not DC 25.

Sunlight glinted and glowed across the gigantic marble frame of the Centurion statue. The godlike man had proven mortal after all, giving his life to defend his adopted people. All too many men would have succumbed to hubris with such power as he had at their command, but he had not. His efforts served the demos and the polis, as was proper. Though fallible, the cosmic Roman had displayed the cardinal virtues of decorousness, wisdom, justice, and courage--especially courage--through to the end. Standing atop the gentle waves of the Centery Narrows, the Mariner looked up, both at the monument and to the man, praying that he, too, would rise to his duty in such a commendable fashion.

Next to the Mariner's feet, the dolphin named Aristo stared up at him with its unreadable black eyes, seeming to ape him as he gazed upon the statue. Abruptly, something caused the sleek gray creature to turn, squeaking and clicking, toward the shoreline.

Trouble.

A moment later, the water dutifully carried news of a hammer blow to the city even as the air brought the deep, rolling report of an explosion to the Mariner's ears. The blast had been close. Ignoring the knot that suddenly gripped his stomach, the defender of the depths narrowed his piercing blue eyes and scanned the nearby skyline. Soon, a rising plume of inky smoke rose toward the clouds like Zeus' finger in reverse, pointing to the place where he was needed.

Obediently, the water of the bay rose beneath the former sailor, propelling him quickly atop its swell and wrapping him in its protective embrace. Soon, he was racing along as fast as a sports car, a prayer to Poseidon on his lips and ocean water whirling about him in wild eddies and currents, grimly set upon reaching his destination as fast as possible.

Only if your chars have absolutely no other way of learning of the blast. There's lots to do in Riverside, several reasons either of your chars might already be in the area.

Well, Thunder's just waking up and checking the news right about the time of the blast. I think I'll take the (probably unintended) hint and assume that she's in the shower through the whole thing. Time to introduce the Mariner. :D

Is this thing on the news yet, or has it just happened?

In other words, should I wait 'til I see a post mentioning a news chopper or the like before assuming that it's become common knowledge?

Thunder watched Pompadour's hair do its thing, contemplating how useful it would be in a ground-and-pound. "Bring it," she replied.

"WHY YOU GOTTA BE THAT WAY, HUH?"

Best. Dialogue. Evar!

Thunder chose that moment to step out of the bathroom. She was clothed in her crime-fighting black unitard, leaving even less of her spectacularly chiseled body to the imagination than her slinky dress had done. The catsuit looked a little silly in combination with her bright red stiletto heels, but her previous attire was clearly no longer up to the task, as its shredded remains were still clutched in the heroine's left hand. That was more money down the drain than Thunder wanted to contemplate, but the catharsis of killing an inanimate object had been worth it.

Dropping the distressed fabric into the waste can near the door, she caught sight of the bulked out Grimalkin. With a grimace and a sigh, Thunderstanding strode purposefully toward the young woman. As she approached, ignoring the others, she stuck out her hand for a handshake.

"I'm a bitch, and I'm sorry. We cool?"

Hey, cool. A surfeit of interviews sure beats the alternative. Fingers crossed for you and all that.

Oh, and I'm not bothering with initiative. Thunder's ceding the first move to Pomp if he wants to take it.

"Okay." Thunder nodded. "You can change behind the screens over there." She pointed to a corner near the spiral staircase that led to her loft living area. A collection of folding screens printed with Oriental scenes rested against the wall next to a couple of chairs and some shelves.

While he changed, he could hear Thunderstanding moving equipment about. She called over to him as she worked, "So, what kind of experience do you have? You said you know some basics. Did you train with anyone, or did you just pick that up here and there?"

[?????]

After he'd switched out of his street clothes, Pompadour found Thunderstanding waiting in a largish clear square area of the gym. The floor was slightly padded with some kind of foam wrapped in blue plastic. Thunder was dressed in a black unitard that covered her from neck to mid-thigh, but left her arms bare. She wore a pair of open-fingered padded gloves.

Gesturing to the far corner of the makeshift ring, Thunder said, "Okay Pompadour, let's see what we've got to work with."

Sooooo, I totally missed the fact that it's my turn. Sorry about that. :oops:

"Now we know why zombies are always moaning."

ROFL!

Yeah. Considering how new he is to his powers, he's taking Albright up on their offer in an effort to better understand what he can do.

D'oh! Thanks for reminding me to put it in my sig.

One link to the Mariner, as requested.

I wouldn't mind one of these for the Mariner...

"I'm really, really sorry, and I promise you that if we ever work together in the future, you can, I dunno, push me off a bridge or something. Whatever you wanna do."

As she reached the bathroom door, Thunder stopped so abruptly that Grim nearly ran into her. The larger heroine turned to face her smaller tail, smiling sourly. "Would you, y'know, shut up?" She splayed her hands out in a semi-aggressive not-quite shove as she spat out the last two syllables. Waving her hands back and forth tensely, she added loudly, "Christ on a freakin' crutch! It's just a freakin' dress!"

After a beat, she turned back toward the door and spoke in a low growl, "Don't follow me."

With that, she slammed the rest room door open and stormed inside. Fortunately, the party was swank enough to merit real towels in the powder room, and Thunder began using them to wet the stained area of her dress as she fumed. She'd been under control until Grimalkin had followed her. My God, she's annoying! As soon as the thought arose, Thunder admitted that it was unfair, a product of the infamous Whiting temper. The realization, of course, did nothing to improve the pugnacious heroine's mood.

Crap on a stick! Okay, gonna due a quick edit before anyone else posts; Sac, I hope you don't mind taking one for the team

Oh, sure! Pick on me, why don't you?

More to the point: a chance to throw in some more roleplaying? Ow! Stop twisting my arm! ;)

"What we need to do is work together to make this legit, not just one scrawny pixie girl with a bag of crumpled twenties in her closet; we need to do this thing now, not-"

And there it goes, out of the glass, and all over the front of Thunder's dress.

"Oh man, I'm sorry! I get all worked up over this stuff. Can we get some towels over here, or lots of napkins?"

For an instant, perhaps a second, maybe two, Thunder looked like she was about to shove one of her fists deep into Grim's face. It was a silent violence, the kind that was all about inflicting damage rather than protecting injured dignity. And it was gone as rapidly as it appeared, replaced by the former fighter's easy smile and a deep sigh.

"Don't worry," she said, simultaneously amused and annoyed, "it's only silk."

The muscular heroine said, "Excuse me," to nobody in particular and headed toward the bathrooms.

That's fine by me. Thunder's slate is pretty clean, so moving things about doesn't muck her timeline up.

The video link is no longer loading properly.

...I hadn't wondered what would happen... but now I do.

Huh. She still workee for me. *shrug*

In any case, the big ball of Silly Putty shatters, pretty much as though it were ceramic. Then, the professor gives a pretty good explanation of why.