Supercape

22nd December "Breaking News brought to you LIVE by Amy Feng, WCZA Channel 7" screamed Amy Feng on the television. "Santa is in town. Repeat. Santa is in town. Riding a huge rocket powered sled, a giant santa claus is thudering across Freedom City dropping presents on the streets. Except these aren't the kind of presents you want to open kids... stink bombs, flash bangs, all nasty and potentially harmful. Santa has a bad idea of practical jokes... here he comes again..." The TV camera swooped up to see the blurred image of a giant santa streak down to Amy Feng and the Road. At that point, a horrible screeching sound of bells emitted, fortunately the TV could not convey the worst of the sound, for it clearly had a terrible impact on Ms. Feng, who started bleeding from her nose and ears, and passed out from the pain. "HO HO HO" came the booming voice, as Santa leant out of his sleigh to snatch up Ms. Feng. "MERRY CHRISTMAS, FREEDOM CITY! HO HO HO!" Elsewhere... Rene deSaens didn't usually watch TV, but he had to catch this. He had strolled past a wine bar and decided on a mdeiocre glass of claret that afternoon. Everyone was craning their heads to the screen, and much as he despised the rubbish on TV, he was curious enough to look. Thats odd he thought that's not the Santa I recognise... The TV showed some AEGIS agents on the scene, trying to defuse the parcels that had landed. "Call up Victory" shouted one after consulting his earpiece "Santa is heading to the North Pole!"

"Very quickly!" replied Supercape, keeping one eye on Dragonfly and another on the vast illuminated Simulator Suite. The flush programme had finished, at least. He wasn't ready to banish the quantum matter quite yet, however. "Advanced architectural design, Archetech helped out, and we had some superpowered help too. With the will and the resources, these things can be built very quickly. Some of the brightest heroes in Freedom met up to discuss solutions to the problems of the world, and the Lab was one of the outcomes. Its where we can pool resources, thinking, and experience. Not just amongst ourselves but with the scientists around the world. " "And of course, in the event of any catastrophe of science, we are here to sort it out."

Felix walked up to Victory, slapping the cyborg with surprising strength on the back "You are some kind of pilot, son! way to go! got some real cheers from the crowd there, I hope you heard them over those jets!" He took a swig of his martini. "Got a lovely lady here, just dying to meet you..." he leaned in a bit closer, and whispered, in a conspirational tone of voice "...think she's got a thing for the metal, if you know what I mean..." He took the young lady by the other hand and made the introduction. She was a beautiful woman, classy and understated, quite unlike Mindy and Cindy, but beautiful nonetheless, and not afraid to show it. Dark black hair, an olive skin and small features that made it hard to place her ethnicity. She was wearing a shortish cocktail dress and had her hair down, although it had clearly been worn up earlier. Her green eyes sparkled in the light. "Victory, may I introduce Ms. Natalie Nicole, don't know what she does, but she is quite charming!"

I'm not suggesting raising to 11, yoikes! It's fine as it stands really, just a few suggestions about a few extra PP here and there. The only I personally find a little difficult is the spirit shout not having a will save, but it does depend on how you conceived the power.

Few points: (By the way, looks good fluff wise, and ties in nicely with story!) It looks on first glance to be PL 5, but Favoured opponent: Evil Spirits will break that, by adding +1 to damage against evil spirits. Thats not particularly a problem in this case: you can raise Crustus up to your own PL in fact. In my opinion it works out quite nicely, as most of the time you can say he is just PL 5, whilst noting Favoured Opponent feat. On that subject, you can buy up to 5 ranks of Favoured Opponent feat! Similarly, you may wish to consider the feat: Favoured Environment: Hallowed Ground, giving +1 to attack or defence. Again, it will put PL above 5 in that situation but I don't think that's a huge issue. Other points you may wish to consider: Spirit Roar: I dont know what effect you were thinking of here - it may be fine how it stands as a kind of sonic blast. If its a true Soul effect, it may need an alternative save (will). You could possibly build some AP's off it such as: Strike 5: Extras: Will Save, Cone, PF: Affects Insubstantial 2, Limited: Magical Creatures Only [12 Points] as a true "warding shout" striking the souls of magical creatures. Dazzle 5 [Auditory] Extra: Cone, Selective, Flaws: Range (Touch) as a Large Warding Shout. Emotion Control 5: Extras: Burst Range, Selective, Flaws: Fear Only, Sense Dependent (Auditory) as a "Shout of Warning", scaring of possible intruders. Also, you may wish your minion (and yourself) to get a mystical communication link (1 PP Supersense), always handy. I know I have added a few extra PPs here and there. I don't know if you wanted this to be a minion 2 feat (for 30 PP), or a sidekick 6 feat - the latter would of course make the minion more expensive!

1d20+9=10 GM Fiat time, not in the mood for a one hit KO! HP to Push. 1d20+9=16 stupidly forgetting to make it 1d10+10, that makes it 17+9=24, just bruised. At this point, need to wait for KC and PH to post initiatives.

1d20+8=14 It does indeed, you may swipe the creature! 1d20+1=7 for his scurvy dogs! I cant really call this a surprise round, as Kraken (at least) is expecting trouble at this juncture, as are his pirates. Supercape I will say is surprised, as a complication for being a man of inaction, and give him 1 HP. Kid Cthullu and Powerhouse should make Initiative Rolls at this point. If they roll above 20, for the sake of narration, I will lower the scores to 19 and say they delayed. (Not sure if that is 100% technically correct but seems good enough to wing it!)

"What a figure!" remarked Slick at the sight of the mannequin. "I know I like curves, but this is ridiculous!" He wasn't really in a position to argue. At this point, just being able to move again would be a welcome change from lying around helpless. "Can't say I am in a position to argue however. And I'm always open to new experiences" He tried to wiggle around, only succeeding in creating a ripple in his body. "If this works, you have my thanks. If it don't, well you have my thanks for trying, and you can have me begging for you to carry on trying! I don't want to be a puddle for the rest of my, probably rather long, life. Not much good to anybody like this, other than greasing your mechanical contraptions, or fuel for your cooker. "

"The boogeyman said it was mine" said Mary clutching on to it instinctively. "Its mine, and nobody else can have it! mine mine mine!" "I want my mommy and daddy!" she screamed as she clutched it more tightly than ever. Rene tapped Arcturus on the elbow. He couldn't reach the shoulder, so he thought that would be the most appropriate joint. He pointed at the trees, where the spider shuffled silently from side to side, glaring at them. In the grey webs two figures could be seen. Although only briefly seen in the real Park of Freedom City, they were quite recognisable as Mary's Parents. The King Spider crawled over to the two struggling and bound figures, opened his slobbering jaws, and spat out a stream of baby spiders which streamed over Mary's parents like a wave. "This is both bad and good" said Rene. "The Boogeyman hungers for fear, and the more afraid Mary gets, the more he will find the smell irresistable. He will come, sure enough. " "However, The Boogeyman will feed on fear, it makes him strong. And as Mary gets more frightened, she will... break. If she sees too many horrors... well, Mary is a door between our world and the dreamtime. And we don't want that door broken down. " He looked down and the terrified, crying girl. "And little girls should not be scared of monsters" he added.

"Ah, yes" replied Supercape "Consequences. Thats right, you scurvy dogs!!!" Supercape made a move to the ships controls, although as he scanned the mixture of antique terran and advanced alien decor, he doubted he would be able to make much sense of them, without a fair bit of study at least. "Not so fast, Captain Cape!" roared Kraken, blocking Supercape's path with his cutlass "I don't trust ye, not one bit!". With his other hand he waved his flintlock at Kid Cthullu, Pirate House, and Push "nor your lapdogs here!" He thrust his flintlock into his sash, and pulled out another gadget, which looked something like an old navigational device. He pressed a button on it. "I've locked the controls on the Bucanneer now! and only the Stellar Sextant here can unlock them" with another click and slide of the Sextant, he laughed again. "And now, you will tell me where that plunder is, my hearties, or you will be walking the plank!"

Rene stepped out of the Lake with its horrible rising waters. The land seemed more muddy now, and he sank to his ankles when he walked. "The small spiders have gone" remarked Mary, without much enthusiasm. "The... small spiders?" asked Rene, looking at the girl with trepidation. "Oh yes, I am very scared of spiders. You know in scary dreams how they get scarier and scarier? Well, in my scary spider dream, the small spiders are scary, but then it gets scarier. The king spider comes along..." In the trees of the park, thick spider webs had formed. The light had dimmed, as if only moonshine played on the park. Two large glowing compound eyes could be seen, at first, until an enormous spider, larger than Arcturus in body alone, not counting the eight spindly legs that protruded, detatched itself from the trees and gave the heroes a baleful look.

Arc will recognise the device as some kind of portal device between dimensions, and a scrying device of some sort.

And hit harder was precisely what happened. The burst hit the thug squarely on the chest this time, with no evident blooming of the energy or dispersal. The Thug was lifted off his feet to land squarely at the feet of Slick, out cold. "Nice shot" commented Slick, prodding the man and kicking his machine pistol away from him just to be sure. "As for that trick" he said, referring to Nick's mystic assault "I'm not sure I even want to know what happened there. Or where that goon went. I would guess I wouldn't want to join him". All in all, it had gone well enough. The guards had been dispatched without a shot being fired. "Now, to get in. Quietly does it. There may be innocent civilians in there" Slick said. "Well, relatively innocent" he added, on reflection "don't look like a house the pure of heart and soul would visit socially".

No chance of making that, so down he goes.

Feel free to make an Arcane Knowledge roll at this point 1d20+13=30 for Rene... Invisible Castle likes me!

"Oui, Mon ami ursine" replied Rene. "Survive" Even as the spiders appeared to recede, the waters started to rise, slowly but perceptibly. Rene turned to the little girl. "Little girl, could you tell me your name?" he asked her gently. "Mary" she replied quietly. "So, Mary, when did these nightmares begin?" he asked her, as kindly as he good, whilst the dank waters started lapping against his waistcoat. "When the boogeyman gave me this" she replied, showing the two heroes a medallion, forged from bronze, that wrapped around her neck. It was not of particularly good workmanship, but was rather complex, all odd folding chains and hoops, wrapped around a central pearl with a black flaw, that looked like a lidless eye. "I see... the boogeyman... we had better find this creature. It sounds like he rather wants to find his way into the real world, and swap places with you, Mary. Where does he live?" Mary paused "I'm not sure. He normally lives in the centre of the town, or the centre of wherever I dream of. There's no road there. But I always find it somehow. "

Supercape felt better, as the numbing effects of Etains Illusion hit him. "Wha..?" he started, before his brain clicked into gear. "Oh!... Ah!!!! That feels better!". The stinging sensation over his chest didn't sting any more. The injuries were not particularly serious, but electrical burns - damn they could hurt. He looked over at Etain gratefully. "Thanks my dear, I guess that was your doing". As the nauseating lights continued to dance away, now dimmed by the bubble, he turned to Dragonfly. He had little idea about the ins and outs of the technology, but it looked the mechanical marvel was making good progress. "Looks like we should get this sorted soon enough eh? Well done, chaps!"

Distances were convoluted in this strange dimension, as was the sense of time. It was hard to tell if it was a second or an hour before they reached the lake, all the while chased by the horde of spiders. "I don't like the creepy crawlies" said the little girl, stating the obvious. The lake did indeed offer refuge from the creepy crawlies, who avoided the water edge. Rene, who was continually batting off the spiders with his umbrella, sighed. It was going to be a horribly cold experience, and one he was sure he wouldn't enjoy. "Ce sera un jour froid en enfer" he shouted, before taking the plunge, holding onto his beret as he did so. It will be a cold day in hell... Indeed it was, the water seemed to chill his very bones. Still, it was better than being poisoned by a horde of nightmare spiders. At least the water was not deep - he was only waist high. "Come on, Monsieur...!" he yelled at Arcturus who seemed less than keen to submerge himself.

Hero Point for Arcturus fear of water comes into play! As for the spiders, they are going to start nibbling and biting soon! Reflex save DC 12 to keep away from them for now. 1d20+0=19 Rene is brushing them away.

Rene was not a fan of spiders either, and was brushing them off as fast as he could with his umbrella. He shuddered at the size of them. For every one he flicked away or stamped on, three more surged from the earth. It was no good. "Zut Alors!" he shouted "They are everywhere!" He started to run, following Arcturus as fast as he good. Unfortunately, that wasn't particularly fast, given his age. Everywhere, the spiders continued to swarm. "The lake!" he shouted to Arcturus "it should be free of them!" "Should" he muttered to himself.

Supercape is only injured x1, he is hurt but not seriously so. The illusion can certainly act as an anasthetic, which would be kindly. However, ETain may well be needing those illusions in a bit... ;)

GM Whilst Dragonfly's aim was true, the thug was tough, and seemed to shoulder the blast and is it seared over his chest and shoulder. He took a step back in surprise, and pain, turning to face the source of the assault. His unhurt comrade turned in unison, but no amount of street - experience and hardship could prepare him for the creeping blackness of Nick's magic. With a scream of terror, he fell into the blackness and was gone.

New Round, Dragonfly up 22 - Dragonfly 2 HP (I think?) - Unharmed 20 - Slick 1 HP - Unharmed 18 - Thug - Unharmed 14 - Nick 2 HP - Unharmed

He is consumed! 1d20+1=7 He would normally get a will roll every round to escape, but that isn't really relevant here, as the point is to incapacitate them without them raising the alarm. In this case, mission successful, so you can do what you want with the thug, although he will pop out at some point.

"Error... Error" came the calm voice of the Simulator Suite, as the Forest Programme faded away. Of course, the damn gravity dosen't come back on cursed Supercape. "Simulator Programmes Contam...am...am...am...aminatatatatated... Commence holographic flush sequence" With that, a sudden stream of light hit the whole suite, gaudy waves of horrible mish-mashed colours that washed this way and that, and, combined with the absent gravity, gave a horrible sense of plunging into infinity an in impossible directions. Supercape closed his eyes as soon as the light hit him, on reflex alone. Even a second of the effect was enough to cause the bile to rise to his throat and he was glad he had witnessed no more. He doubted Dragonfly could cope with the repairs under such a barrage of visual stimulation, however - and, skilled as she was, he doubted she could do it blind. With a moments focus, he created a bubble of quantum matter around the three heroes, enough to shield out the visual insults the flush sequence was treating them too. "Nothing worse than bad art, eh?" he quipped, swallowing down the traces of vomit he had unconsciously thrown to his mouth.