Gizmo

Jack stopped fidgeting when the detective mentioned her father's connection to the recliner. Well, that's both touching an really, really depressing, he thought to himself. He was distracted from commenting on Colby's unusual dental work by a more pressing concern. "Woah-ho, am I going to be spazzing out with my powers here? You know what my skill set is, right? It's stabbing people. A lot. Often in the face." The fencer wasn't entirely sure what to expect from the ritual, but the idea of giving up control of himself like that was abhorrent to the rigorously trained fighter.

"Gah, tentacles," Jack grimaced as a flick of his fiery sword disposed of what was left of the charred plant monster. Tossing Hellion a vague, casual salute, the swashbuckler sprung on the remaining flora, burning a hole clean through it's stem with his blade. The wight of the creature's own head snapped it off to fall in a pile of the grass, flames licking about the remains. He turned his attention to the greenhouse at Fleur's warning. "I'll take 'creepy glowing rocks from the sky' for five hundred, Alex," he deadpanned as he strode forward and delivered a spinning kick to the structure's door, shattering glass and flinging the portal open. Stepping inside, Jack cast about with his sword, its flames illuminating the interior.

In the back yard, Jack's going to finish off Piranha 3 with a Power Attack 5 (1d20+12=30) Ooh, another crit! DC 36 with Autofire. Assuming that takes it out, he'll use Takedown Attack to take a shot at Piranha 1 as well: Power Attack 5 (1d20+12=30) Huh, go figure, another crit, same deal. Jack's being oddly consistent in this thread... three 18s in a row? If that deals with Piranha 1 off, he'll use his move action to kick in the greenhouse door! ...I mean, it's probably already open, but... y'know. Let me know how that works out before I make the IC post.

Jack gave the prince a bemused nod. Apparently my reputation precedes me, he mused. With a bit more surprise, he realized, Apparently I have a reputation. Myshel gave both the swordsman and Zakitaj a wry look. "There is no need to samespeak. The Flarerider has a softmild telepathic field that translates all languagewords," she explained, gesturing to her ship. The alien woman shrugged. "Tempesttalk just translates poorly." Introductions were made, and the group boarded the sleek vessel. Inside, the Flarerider had the sleek corridors and computer touch screens of the Enterprise mixed with the obviously jury rigged bare wires and components of the Millennium Falcon, all of it prominently featuring what looked like rich, dark wood paneling. Myshel led the group to the bridge, passing a pair of ladders which led to weapon emplacements on the top and bottom of the ship, respectively. At the head of the vessel, a panoramic screen simulated the view outside. Control stations displayed messages indicating rebooted systems at Myshel took a seat to the front left of the bridge, a pair of control sticks extending from the desk in front of her. Electricity rippled down the the Tempestian's arms as she gripped the controls with the ease of the supremely competent. She looked over her shoulder at the Earth heroes as though it were an afterthought, saying, "You may wish to bracesteady." With a shudder, the ship rose off of the ground and slowly rotated to point its nose upward. A flick of the pilot's wrist sent the Flarerider rocketing through the clouds, into the upper atmosphere and beyond. Holding onto the edge of a nearby console, Jack was distracted from thanking whatever technology was compensating for the tremendous strain of gravity they should have been feeling by the field of stars which opened up before them of the screen. "Well hot damn," he breathed softly.

...do you mean Disintegrate, quote? 'Cause that'd be one hell of an Intimidate.

Doktor Archeville: making obscure in-jokes for - and with - SCIENCE!

*grumble grumble* The worst part is that Jack's +16 isn't even that bad a Grapple bonus. He just can't catch a break when it comes down to the rolls. Boo. It's hard to boost that particular score without really focusing on it.

"Right, 'cause not delaying our horrible deaths sounds like such a good plan," Jack of all Blades quipped as gravity reasserted itself in the proper direction and he landed lightly on the floor. "Besides, weren't you planning of killing everybody anyway? You've made it clear you're 'v'ry, v'ry ev'l'," the swashbuckler added, throwing in a comical faux accent for good measure. His dimensional blade flashed forward, piercing the cosmic entity under the left side of his jaw and exiting out the right side of the top of his head. Jack swirled it around a bit as he withdrew it from the energy being, just for good measure. "This is your brain. This is your brain on energy sword," he announced.

Knowing is half the battle! At least, that's what I hear. Jack will try layering on another Taunt as a move action; that's DC 26 (nothing like working with Ace to make a Bluffer feel inadequate). Then he'll go for another Power Attack (unfortunately I assume his upgrade to PL 12 doesn't apply here, so I'm using his older stats): Power Attack 5 (1d20+10=15) Wurgh, reroll: Power Attack 5 (1d20.minroll(11) +10=28) His expanded threat range makes that a crit, for DC 32 plus up to +4 Autofire. Hurm, not sure how many HP he's got left now, so I'll leave it at that.

That's what Taunting does, Cy. It's the same as Demoralizing, which confers -2 on Attack Rolls, Checks and Saves, including Toughness saves. It doesn't do anything to Defense - that's what Feinting is for. In any case, I'm pretty sure it's his turn now. If I'm not mistaken, we're going EDS, JoaB, Phantom, Avenger, Ace.

Wait, did EDS save against Ace's Taunt? 'Cause that'd be the difference between another bruise or not, if he only got a 24 on his Toughness save. Also, what's going on with that snare? Is he entangled or helpless or what? Is Jackie B up in initiative? Argh, I don't know what's going on.

Well, I'm pretty sure a natural 20 makes that grapple check an automatic success, but: Grapple Check (1d20+16=18). ...yeeeah. Stesha! Kill it! Kill it with fire!

Jack gave the recliner a long look. "Golly, Detective, try not to overwhelm me with all of this impressive mystic spectacle," he drawled, raising a single eyebrow. Nevertheless, the acrobat took a seat. Shifting around reflexively to get comfortable, he spread his hands. "What now?"

"Don't question it," Jack told Colt. "Don't ask, don't argue, don't even react. It'll only encourage him." Nonchalantly, the swordsman stepped past the double Jester had left behind like a shed skin, ending up in front of the Temple and doing his best to ignore the chorus of kazoos his energy awareness was insisting were playing a very touching rendition of Amazing Grace.

Jack opened his eyes with a grimace. Necromancy always squicked him out; the animating magics felt almost like normal humans, but just a little bit off, like a piano out of tune or rotting fruit. It made his skin crawl. Flippin' uncanny valley... Shaking it off, he turned to the man on the floor as he called to the others. "Good news, bad news time, kids. Those things are dead enough we can go all out, and they're pretty weak, but whatever's got them doing the Thriller reenactment, this punk's got it too. It's like... an infection or taint. Only he's still kicking. I don't really get what the deal is, but I'm thinking we don't want to risk getting bitten or anything. I'm way too pretty to be a rotting corpse."

Jack winced as he watched Colt wave the sword around. It was like watching someone pluck a Stratovarius like a ukulele. To be fair, the cowboy's extensive and varied combat experience gave him a substantial edge over the average person, to the point where his immediate grasp of sword fighting would have been impressive to anyone judging it objectively. The swashbuckler, however, couldn't help but feel a little protective of his particular specialization. "Uh, sure, buddy," he said aloud, retrieving the sword the third thug had dropped in his haste to flee and slipping it into his sash. "I can show you the basics, if we get a minute."

*face palm* Well, it's certainly in keeping with Animaniacs and the like. "Hello, Nurse" indeed.

No worries, post as you're able!

Jack gave the creature who had caught him a nonplussed look. "Miss, I don't mean to alarm you, but I appear to be 'on the drugs', as the kids say," he deadpanned. As he regained his bearings, it dawned on the swashbuckler from where he recognized the winged cat's voice. "Wait... 'Angel? What the heck happened to you, girl?!" Nearby, Jackalope sprung from an awning to a flagpost, ending his series of leaps on the rooftop of the building his human counterpart had been swinging towards. Collecting the dropped grapple, the swordsrabbit waved his compatriot over.

As Jack landed in the yard lightly, it took him a moment to remember where he recognized Fleur from. "Hey! Dead green-haired girl! You're looking, y'know, not dead." Leaping over her head, he flipped through the air, coming down atop the nearest plant-creature flaming blade first. "So," he asked casually, "friends of yours?" The swordsman was surprised to see Phantom's friend up and about, but next to the night's other oddities, it seemed prudent to leave that particular question unanswered for the time being.

Hmm, not sure if these things are even smart enough for this, but Jack will dish out a DC 26 Feint against the closest plant beasty, then give it a Power Attack 5 (1d20+12=30). That's a crit thanks to his extended threat range. If the plants are vulnerable to that sort of thing, it's DC 32 - 36, depending on Autofire. Let me know if that take it out in one shot; if so, it's Takedown Attack time!

After a moment, the alien woman accepted Physicus' hand as he helped her to her feet. Her expression conveyed wrestling with a great dilemma, with responsibility winning out over her personal vendetta. "...no. Broanfoes will pay," she promised, clenching a fist as electricity crackled between her antennae briefly, "but I must oathhonor our mission first." She gestured to the ship behind her. "The Flareriders are... were... it is difficult to truthtell. Some called us pirates, but we did much good on many planetworlds. The Lor Republic hirepaid us as... privateers." Pushing up the left sleeve of her navy blue jumpsuit, she tapped a button on the bracer on her wrist. A small hologram appeared from the device, depicting a dark skinned girl in flowing robes, not quite into her teens. "This is Iana Th'emme; she is royalborn, high-castedaughter to the monarchy." "A princess," Jack of all Blades supplied, listening intently. The Flarerider nodded. "Yes. A tencycle ago, she was abducted. The Republic is led by the Senate, but many are longloyal to the old families.". She shook her head sadly. "Her ransom could sparkfire a civil war, or worse. " Another tap of her bracer changed the image to that of a tentacle-faced visage well known on Earth. "The Lor believe Krak-En Vas is responsible, and who better to catchtrack a pirate than other pirates?" The corner of her mouth almost twitched up into a smile. "The Broanfoes wish the... princess for themselves, and set a cowardambush." She looked to each of the heroes. "I must rescue Iana. I cannot ask new allyfriends to join me -" Stooping to gingerly pick up the body of the fallen Flarerider captain, Jack interrupted her. "You don't have to. As a buddy of mine would say, saddle up. I'm Jack of all Blades, but my, uh, 'allyfriends' call me Jack." Seeing that the rest of the locals were no less willing to lend their aid, a faint smile touched the Tempestian's lips. "I am Myshel Czak, pilot of the Flarerider. I am in your oathdebt, all of you."

I thought that was clear. For most practical purposes, they're the same person as their Earth-Prime self, just slightly exaggerated for the sake of comedy. The Ani-Earth crew are as heroic as your regular characters - maybe a little more so, in this case, seeing as you three comprise the 'vaguely morally ambiguous' team, comparatively speaking, and Ani-Earth errs on the Super Friends side of things in terms of good vs. evil. Remember that episode of Justice League Unlimited where they get turned into kids? They act like kids, but they're still the same people. It's like that, only instead of kids they're Looney Toons characters. If that makes sense.

"What, you have extra guns just on you?" Jack asked Colt as he moved to the center of the room. "Just in case you need a housewarming gift or party favours suddenly?" There wasn't much the swordsman could do to battle the horde outside until they broke into the building, so he resolved to take the opportunity to concentrate solely on his metahuman energy awareness, extending it to it's outer limits and searching for an explanation to their unbelievable situation. Are these things the same as Dead Head, or are we dealing with something totally different? And what's their connection to this drug lab?

There's not much Jack can do until the zombies get inside, so he's going to take the full round to examine the room and the undead horde outside with his energy awareness, see what he can turn up. He gets an automatic 20 on Notice, if that's relevant.