Supercape

Rene pondered Stesha's words. "Nexus for our dimension, hmmm? Oui, that sounds appropriate. I should like to meet your friend Phantom, La gardienne de la dimension" He continued to paint away. It was coming on very nicely, he thought. Despite his speed, he was producing something of fine quality, even for him. The smile had captured some enigmatic quality, yet still full of all those attributes that Stesha had desired. "And so, Madame, tell me of yourself. What do you do? both as a woman, and as a heroine?"

Supercape nodded at the sight of Gaian Knight's Rocks. "You can indeed, your majesty!" he said, with a bow that ended up being somewhat clumsy due to the drag underwater. On reflection, he decided that a magnificent and huge cape, whilst of course very spiffy and everything, was not very practical underwater, what with the drag and everything. In the twinkling of an eye and a shimmer of sparkling light, it promptly folded itself up into the rest of his costume. Hmph. I'll just be Superbowl or something then he thought, thinking of the transparent bowl surrounding his head.

I am somewhat reticent about stunting to alternate saves without clear reason (especially to a continuous duration transform) - but I suppose reality warping will do. In which case, the Freezonium remains as it is, and consider Rasputin flesh and bone. With some freezonium in his chest. Ouch. If not removed, it will pretty quickly freeze him to death.

Sorry AA, I completely goofed that you had Evasion 2. In my defence, this was at the height of my man-flu when my brain was all over the shop! In which case, the Fort DC would be 23, which means only stunned and bruised I think. Blowing an HP to reroll fort or shake of stun? As for the Power Stunt, he isn't a construct and is immune to Fort Saves. The Crit hit can stand for whatever you want to stunt in its place, of course! Sorry to have goofed on this one! On the positive note, I have shaken off my flu so my brain should be a little less error prone!

"The captain, do you say?" replied Kraken, pondering the matter. His tentacled face fluttered in what was probably a mixture of vexation and thought. "Well, there be only room for one captain on this ship, mind ye. But if this Captain Cape of yours knows where the plunder be, then I guess to Captain Cape we must go. I am sure he will be willing to share, like I said" He thought some more "Captain Cape eh? Named after the Cape of Good Hope on Earth? He must be a mighty fine pirate in that ca..." At that moment, Supercapes voice spluttered over the communication channel of the Buccaneer. "I say, well done folks! Sterling work! I can see the Buccanner from here! I'll send a homing beacon. Errr... I mean, I'll send a homing beacon so you can rescue the man overboard, me swaggering scoundrel mates...err... Keel the jigging and raft the poles and all that!" Kraken looked at the crew suspiciously before ordering the ship towards the beacon. "That yer captain then? sounded like a landlubber to me!"

"Monsieur de Saens" replied Rene, grasping the man's hand firmly in a handshake. "A pleasure to meet you". "Forgive me, Monsieur Cimetiere, I wish our meeting could have been under more fortunate circumstances, but alas, it appears the fates have drawn us together under a rather dark cloud. And I do not refer to the miserable weather" he added, pointing at the starless sky black with cloud and a clingy, unpleasant rain. "It reminds me of London" he sighed. "No matter. I have heard you are an expert on necromancy. Non non, monsieur, do not be alarmed. I do not mean to infer that you practice the dark arts, so to speak, but merely that you are well versed in these matters. And, something tells me that what I have heard is quite correct. " he tapped his nose.

"Ah there you are!" exclaimed Supercape at the sight of Fusion. "What news? Any clearer? Vampires? The Shadow-Death? It all sounds terribly exciting... and, err... dangerous now I come to think of it" He paused. "Ummm, so are we actually dealing with vampires? their bite infects you or something? it looked like the young royal there got possessed, or something. Some kind of communal mind?" "You know, if this gets loose, we could be looking at some kind of zombie apocalypse, you know, like in those films. Very contagious. Nasty business. Bitey Bitey lurchy lurchy thing". He couldn't resist examining his costume again to look for any bite marks he might have missed.

"Brrrr.... chill me you say?" replied Slick, not overtly pleased with the solution. "At least I will have your healing hands to warm me up, eh?" He considered the options for a moment, before realising he really was in a position of both ignorance and helplessness. "Whatever you think best then, my knowledge of these things is only slightly better than the man off the street. I am in you hands. What a lovely place to be. " "Its actually quite comfortable like this, to be honest, although I wouldn't recommend it. And I am a patient man, err.. woman, err... well, blob, at the moment. "

"I guess the glitch happened in the Simulator Suite" replied Supercape, banging his head in a futile attempt to start his hearing again. "At least from these readouts..." he pointed at the screen. "That explosion may have caused some additional damage, but I think the simulator suite is our priority. And unfortunately, there is too much quantum disturbance to teleport there - at least from this distance. I think the particle collider at the basement is doing some very strange things with Tachyons. Which means things have become unentangled. Which means..." "...the stairs..."

GM The Stellar Buccaneer was fast, if nothing else. Its antimatter engines had soon accelerated the ship to over light speed, via its advanced alien technology. At that velocity (if it could be called velocity at such relativity - breaking speeds), it was only a few minutes before the cold distant dwarf planet of Pluto swam into view, and the ship dropped to more "normal" speeds. "There we are, me 'earties. That luvvly lump 'o rock is none other than Pluto!" Captain Kraken rubbed his hands in glee. His eyes practically shone at the thought of buried treasure. "Now than' Now than' lets talk about this 'ere plunder shall we. Fair's fair, I say. What's mine is mine, and what's yours is mine too. If you don't like it, no hard feelings, you are welcome to say farewell and step outside. "

"What?" yelled Supercape, as he saw Dragonfly's mouth moving but only a muffled rumble in his mouth. "I can't hear you!" he continues, again in a loud voice. Not that he could hear anything, including himself. He had never really tried to lip read. "What did you say? Cart in Battering Hater? I can't hear you. Iv'e gone deaf!" he pointed at his ears and made some nonsensical twirling sounds. Frustrated, he started typing text into the Computer Terminal Gone deaf from explosion. Can't hear you. What did you say? Wish we had some good old fashioned pen and paper... The computer started flashing up all sorts of warning alerts about the simulator suite A, Floor 13, and, most alarmingly, the particle collider in the sub levels. And to make matters worse, all the lifts were down...

GM Captain Kraken paced up and down, brandishing his cutlass. He paused by Kid Cthullu "I knew you weren't my cousin, you lying dog! even though you look similar, I'll give ye that. Not one of landlubbing earthlings". He put his cutlass under Kid Cthullus nerve and gave him a beady look "anyone tries to fool Captain Kraken, I'll Keel haul them, do you hear!" He turned his eyes towards Push. "Treasure ye say? Now that does sound interesting. Plunder and Spoils?" He sheathed his Cutlass and put his arm around Push in a jovial manner "Welcome aboard mates!" he laughed, before thundering some orders to his crew. "Set the Solar Sails, men! We are off to Plunder Pluto! Arrrr!" And with that, the Stellar Bucaneer's Engines rumbled into action, and the mighty craft off took off, speeding towards the edge of the solar system.

"Ah well" sighed Rene, wistfully, as he continued to study Stesha and paint. "I miss Paris, it is true". "But, I have never been to the new world. And for all the lack of culture and terrible wine and cuisine, it has much to commend it. It helped forge liberty for the world, and liberty is priceless. " "And at my age, I could not die without seeing, and living in, America" He paused, chewing on the end of the brush, closing one eye then the other as he studied Stesha. "And then... And then... I am also master of the arcane arts. And for two centuries I have helped defend this world from the threats that lurk... in the beyond. And I am not going to stop now. Freedom City is at a... how would you say... crossroads of time, space, and other things. It is here that I need to be. I do not know exactly why, or when, or how". He shrugged "but I have lived long enough, and know enough to be sensitive to these things. All the signs are there. And here. It is my fate to be here, and my purpose is here. "

"Ah, metahumans! pffft! what a name! I am human, you are human! why the name? always we have to name!" he threw his hands up in momentary exasperation. "What does that make my neighbour? a subhuman? ah! listen to me, talking on like a fool. I shall answer your question. Because you are beautiful and because the sun glides through your air like honey". He paused for a moment, then continued daubing away at the canvas, talking as he did so. "I have only moved to America in the last few months, Madame, and I came directly to Freedom City. I may well visit other places, but I thought this the best place to start. For the rest of my life, I have lived in Europe. In many cities, London, Paris, Berlin, Stockholm, Rome, and Barcelona to name the longest and biggest residences. I am a painter, Madame, and I trained in the finest Schools in Paris. But, also, and perhaps more importantly, I am a magician. A sorcerer, a warlock, a witch, a mage, a mystic... whatever you wish to call it. Whatever the name, it is the case that I am schooled in and can command forces beyond the will of what you might call 'normal' men. " He smiled "but there is a little magic in all of us, is there not?"

For the production of the piece: 1d20+14=32 Wow, I was going blow an HP to boost it up, but thats a good roll. It may not be a Vangough, but its clearly a very good piece (equivilant to an expert painter taking 20)

"Madame, It is mon pleasure" said Rene, as he wrestled with the zipper. "The dress is beautiful, as is the bride!" She better have this wedding soon, or that bump is going to play havoc with the zip... he thought, despairing at the thought of Stesha not fitting into a dress that she had obviously taken a lot of time to choose - and time well spent, he thought. "And now, we must continue! this stage iz a little bit more complicated, and lengthy. So relax, and just be yourself. We can talk, it helps me to get to know you. " He lead her back to the wooden stool. "The same pose now, but you needn't hold it. Just remember how you where... yes...yes... that is it!" he said, gently guiding her to an equivalent pose to the original. "I know have to make a more detailed sketch, match some colours, but ze finished work will take more time than we have today, alas." He stared at the easel, and at Stesha, and brought out a selection of brushes, paints, and pencils. "To start with, I must capture that hair!" he said with eager eyes and a smile.

Slick gave Wesley a sideways glance. Well I never...is he...? The radio started to blast out "Dude looks like a lady" which Slick cheerfully slang along to. He was tempted to change shape, but resisted the urge. "Thirteen to Fifteen eh? It is, of course, possible they ran away. Have to keep an open mind about that. Orphanages are not the most fun of places. And childhood not always, despite what they sun, the most fun of times. " The car swerved through a red light, just on the edge of legal justification. "So, what do we actually have? how do we know they where kidnapped? where from? any witnesses?" "Have you looked through the file at all? Any thoughts? I'm sure you are just as smart as you are handsome. "

Rene scribbled away for only a few moments, just getting the outline of Stesha whilst giving her encouragement. After what was probably quater of an hour, he stopped, and called her over. "Ze preliminary sketch!" he announced. "Done quickly, in order to capture ze moment, ze feelings". The sketch was indeed very basic, a series of lines depicting the main flow of her body, the room, and the light. One could barely recognise a body, let alone Stesha. However, there was something indefinable about the way the lines moved. "A short break now, and onto ze next stage. For this, we will need ze dress!" he gestured towards some screens at the end of the floor. "I can assure Madame, there will be no, as ze English say, Peeking of the Tom!"

Rene grinned from ear to ear. "Madame, you have made my day. Non! my year! Non Non NON! my century!" he proclaimed with obvious but well meaning exaggeration. "And the rose! we must have the rose!!!" he pulled up a slightly rickety old chair. "And the sunlight, yes... yes... the sunlight!" he set about placing Stesha on the stool, continuously adjusting her face, her angle, and her posture, until she was half sitting on the stool, her face towards him, her body at an angle, and a hand with the rose on it over her lap. The sunlight beamed across half her face. "And now... the smile!" he gestured, producing his own, unforced, one, and enthusiastically demonstrating its shape with his hands. "Just think of ze feelings you have described! let zem overcome you! let zem flow through you and out of you! and, madame, I will paint zem!" Glancing between Stesha and the canvas, he started the preliminary sketches with fury and passion.

Supercape stood up carefully. A Robotic Arm had just bounced off his chest, fortunately not flying too fast, but enough to hurt. The poor arm looked broken and twisted. "What the...?" he started, until he realised he couldn't hear a blessed thing. The noise had completely blasted his eardrums. He shook his head for a while, but he could only hear the faintest of sounds, all muffled. Dragonfly looked pretty shaken. Fortunately Etain looked like she had had the presence of mind to duck. Perhaps as he and Dragonfly had thought there was no danger, they hadn't been prepared. Etain was relatively ignorant. And in this case, relative ignorance may have lead to relative bliss. The flashing lights continued, and Supercape scrambled to the nearest computer screen that was still working. "Multiple errors" he said, without hearing "looks like something screwed up when we were in the simulator suite. Loose connection or something, I don't know. Stupid floor 13 I guess. " He looked at Dragonfly "and now that explosion has caused all sorts of havoc. We best repair what we can before things get out of control. "

Stunned is kind of irrelevant, but feel free to post accordingly! Deafened, we will get saves at 1 min / 5 min / 20 min.. etc... after that, it won't matter too much!

"I'm sure I can conjure up a... distraction..." mused Slick. With the characteristic streaks of oil, bulging and contraction of flesh, Slick transformed into a lady of the night. She was tall still, latino looking, with dolled up hair and a little to much make up. Whilst the effect oozed tramp, she was still overtly beautiful and sexy even, in a cheap way. "How do I look?" she asked the two heroes, with a wink. "If I can just distract them for a bit, I'm sure a handsome guy like you, and a sassy sexy chick like you can handle those two goons" she smiled, referencing Cannonade and Dragonfly respectively.

"I see, I see..." replied Rene "I understand" he smiled, patting her on the shoulder "Life does not always work out ze way we want it to, oui?" He took a few steps back and looked her up and down "I can make a portrait of the face, if you wish, or a full length portrait, perhaps with madame sitting, or at an angle. In any case, I can make the bump... a hint maybe? you would know, others would not. Perhaps that is ze best?" He nodded at himself. "And yes, proud, and strong, and happy. Are you those things? or are those the things you wish to be? Do not take offence, Madame, but these things are the essence of my work. "

Rene looked down at Stesha, examining her midriff. "Happy... oui...." "Madame need not, of course, answer, but as an artiste I must ask, for art's sake. Is Madame Pregnant?" He held up his hand "Please do not get offended. These things are private, I understand. But if Madame is with child, then it may explain your feelings, and how you want me to capture them. Proud, Happy, and...oui...Powerful! that is the state of the Mother, is it not?" He shrugged "and of course, Madame must instruct Rene: is this something for the portrait?"

"Zut Alor!" exclaimed Rene "Aliens? Escaping from a Ship? How romantic!" he grasped Stesha's hand. "How artistic! How noble! How brave!" He gazed into the distance for a moment before regaining his senses. "Well, Madame Stesha, ze right pose, ze right pose... hmmm. Let me look at you..." He took a few steps back and gazed at Stesha. It was a few moments before she noticed he actually had his eye closed. Despite this he seemed to be scrutinising her, and held his hands up as if framing the picture, occasionally stroking his white beard. "Ze portrait must capture ze woman, not merely ze image of ze woman" he exclaimed with a waggling finger that suddenly circled in front of his nose. "So, so, we must reveal ze woman!" He circled around Stesha, his eyes open now, with his hand behind his back. He had a frentic energy and enthusiasm that oozed with every pace. "And what would be revealed in such a painting? Who is Madame Stesha?" He paused, and looked directly at her. "What would you say, hmmm?"