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Ari

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  1. Brushing a stray lock of hair from Judy's face, Leroy sighed tragically at her question. "How long to compose that trifle? Alas, Dee, it took me the better part of a month. I asked the Jargon, that shy, pale fellow? Always wearing that backpack? Well he understands computers passably well, where I do not at all, and is not aligned with any of my other friends. Together we arranged the music and set the triggers for when the handoff started. He has some sort of understanding with this great machine, I do believe, Dee. A link as deep as between any two living creatures. I do not regret paying in exact replicas of lost wax cylinders, though the strain was true." The prince carried his date in a gentle spiral through the air, smiling fondly down at her. "I said my goodbyes, Dee. To all of them. To all of it. I am ready to meet your family whenever you wish. I-! Wait. A spider?" Leroy's smile vanished and he turned in horror to the scene below. "Dio!" he shouted frantically, "Close your eyes and count to ten!" Down below, the seeming mass of students around the punchbowl wobbled and collapsed into a giant green reptile, staring into space, the slits he had along his snout in place of a central nose spasming in time with the contractions of his powerful lungs.
  2. Ari

    Mars Ultor(OOC)

    Dimensional Thing, on its turn, attempts to break free of the Grapple via phase-shifting. DC25 Concentration check: 16, nope! Justice's turn again!
  3. Ari

    Mars Ultor(OOC)

    Okay opposing DC37 Grapple: 23. Failed by 14 so Pinned and Helpless! Additional ten Ultio Suit users, assuming a taken 10 on the Initiative, come in on 15. They will go in after Robin now. 5 use the Blaster Pack, make a Combined Attack: Base is 19. Assistant Attacks: 19, 18. They add +2 to the resulting DC21 Toughness check: 18, failed by 3, a Bruise! The other 5 choose the Flight Pack and make a Combined Attack of their own, lead Attack: 20, assistant attacks: 15, 18 add +2 to the resulting DC24 Toughness Save: 23. Failed by 1, a second Bruise. Max Mars Power Attacks(+- Dmg/Atk): 20. DC21 Toughness save: 17, failed by 4, a third Bruise!
  4. OOC thread for this thread. Blackstaff dodges ghosts and ghouls tracking a missing person. @Spacefurry Initiative, please. The Yaoguai's using the Bruise Demon block from Book of Magic pg.85. Its initiative roll is: 13.
  5. GM April 20th, 2020, 4.45PM Blackstaff Investigations, Emerald City(Oregon), USA Vang flew unceremoniously across the office, propelled by a contemptuous backhand from the towering spirit. Baring its claws, slaver dripping from the mouths in its palms and white eyes rolling up and down along its arms, the horror turned on Blackstaff! "You see!" Vang yelled, pain and triumph mingled in the old man's voice, "I told you they were after me! They don't want you finding Soap!" This was sufficiently obvious that only the stress of the situation kept it from being comical. The wall behind Christopher's desk was shattered inward now, the warm afternoon air rushing pleasantly into the office with that Pacific Ocean salt tang. What had seemed like a simple enough case, finding a young shopkeeper in the Eastern District who had recently vanished into the twisted warrens of the District interior, had certainly taken a turn for the vicious. A saving grace was that the wards had peeled off most of the shells of shining gold armor that had bolstered the thing. Underneath, it looked thin and malnourished, the featureless head lolling and twitching as it got a bead on the occult investigator.
  6. "A dance?" Leroy tapped his chin, looking grave and thoughtful. "Why, sapphire, there is only one dance I know." Taking Judy's hand in his, and resting a blessedly cool hand on her back, Leroy swept in close, smelling like spiced wine as he smiled down at her. "Foxtrot!" With that they were off, gliding across the floor, weaving between other couples or singles pounding the illusory boards in a smokey joint rattling and wailing with the sounds of a generation in turmoil, the otherworld boy looking completely at ease in his costume belonging to another time and land. "Such a lovely pair, those two," Leroy said, nodding at Kam and Robin, "but, my love, there was something you wanted to say? If it was important, I would like to know." The taller boy led at a gentle pace, smiling like he hadn't a care in the world as their feet began to leave the floor and the two floated gently into the air. But by now Judy was accustomed to the subtler tells of her boyfriend, and his pupils had slitted noticeably. "If it is nothing...well, it would be nice to know that too!" He cocked his head as a gang of teenagers started rolling and chatting over to the snacks table, heading for the punch. The ground seemed to shake under them a little, and their pace was oddly slow. He suppressed a grin. "Dio. The sly snake, bending his vows about delights of the tongue."
  7. Suddenly the music stopped and the lights dimmed, excepting the ones around Judy, Ashley, Robin and Kam. The singer's spotlight was off as well. Over the microphone a soft voice murmured "And three and four and-!" The lights roared to life, revealing Leroy in a night-black suit glittering with stars, his hair contained under a tilted homburg, his face dusted along the jaw with the beginning of a beard and his golden eyes shining bright as his perfect white smile. "This," he said as the music swung into a slow twanging of guitar strings, "is for you, Judy." Like her, he didn't need to inhale before he began to sing. It was unusually somber and simple for the Dragon Prince of Earth-2. "Ja pense a toi, mon amour, ma bien aimee! Je ne t'abandonnerai jamais, mon amour, ma Dee, It wasn't hard to guess what this was about, though his clasping his hands together on the second line helped underscore the point. "Quand je suis dans man lit, je ne reve qu'a toi! Et quand je me reveille, je ne pense qu'a toi, This was a little more difficult, but closing one's eyes, brushing your fingertips across your temples and then gesturing to someone with a smile does wonders for bridging such gaps. "When we are apart my voice is silenced, Without you my strength fails, hope dims, Without you this world is dark, light banished, I think of you and then the dawn begins, "You have been promised by so many, Some offer the world, others heaven, or the Moon I can offer only one heart, scarce worth a penny, And this, a simple, honest, little tune." Stepping away from the microphone and bowing politely to the smattering to slightly puzzled applause, Leroy headed down to meet the little quartet. Kneeling and taking Judy's hand(after a glance at Ashley to gauge her mood), he kissed it tenderly. "Dee," he said, "I was delayed. I hope you can forgive me?" To Kam and Robin he nodded "Hello, Mr. Kingdom. Wondrous warrior unknown to me. I am glad you have found him, he is honest, kind and true. My name is Leroy, I am his roommate. I hope he will forgive me all the practicing."
  8. GM The hit to the leathery hide rebounded, the creature's ugly avian head twisting about in mingled surprise and anger, the dimensional being turning from the large crowd of intruders to focus on the member of the herd who'd come forward to answer their challenge. Before they could do more than croak, however, a barrage of scintillating light sizzled against its skin! Below, Max Mars stood resplendent in his draconic armor, the snarling snout jutting from his head smoking around the emitters, the jovial inventor straining against the force of his creation's furious attack! Unfortunately, as the haze and smoke cleared, the winged creature flew past Robin, unharmed and maddened, focused now on the thing that had stung its eyes! Mars turned, and his amplified voice blasted across the dismembered city street "Everyone! Listen! There's nobody coming to save us! we're the only heroes here! Who wants to save the day?!" For a second, everyone looked at each other. The call never comes to a group, right? The monster let loose an ear-splitting scream, jaws unhinging to reveal a mouth brimming with crooked fangs! Some people ran, others froze, more began to cry. Then an old man yelled into the silence "Max! I'm in!" his battered, salt-stained coat and weatherbeaten face revealed him to be one of the Jadetown fishermen, even besides his thick Cantonese accent. "Me too!" A young Clatsop woman in a crisp new suit dashed forward through the crowd, jumping to be seen among the bodies, "I'm in, Max!" Galvanized, most of the crowd surged forward, compact cases flung to outstretched arms by Mars and a few loyal stagehands, grey armor snapping and sliding into place around old suits, new winter wear, jet boots forming over sneakers, mighty gauntlets coalescing over hands of every shape, size and colour in the human spectrum! "Avengers!" Max shouted, pointing a dramatic claw at the freshly bewildered beast, "go!"
  9. With his hair frizzing out for close to a foot in every direction, the flatcap perched on top of Leroy's head looked deeply sad and lonely. Tipping it at an especially rakish angle, the boy hopped off the bench as the music started, snapping his fingers in time with the beat and throwing himself into an energetic dance, arms and legs swinging and skipping with abandon in his period getup. For someone who was usually seen in a suit or gaudy/glorious robes, the cotton shirt, corduroy trousers held up by suspenders and short leather boots were as strange as they were worn very well on the elegant young man. "Ah! Good Kam! And a glorious person unknown to me! Welcome!" Robin and her incognito royal boyfriend were suddenly accosted by a tall, dark boy with golden eyes and six long scars on his cheeks, smiling so wide he looked likely to split them open then and there. "My name is Leroy, roommate to the good Kameron Kingdom, and I am so happy to see you have found someone like him! He is kind, honest and true!" Dancing vigorously to the music, he bobbed his head in time with the underlying throbbing bass, eyes sparkling with unrestrained joy, "I do hope you have a wonderful time, warrior! See you later, good Kam!" Blowing him a kiss, Leroy spun laughing onto the main dance floor.
  10. Ari

    Mars Ultor(OOC)

    That does indeed strike true. DC23 Toughness save: 31. Max will use the Blaster Pack, and modify it with Autofire. Attacking Dimensional Thing: 19, overcomes Defence by 3, that's +1 to DMG, so DC22 Toughness: 31. Seeing the initial ineffectiveness of their attacks, Mars will disperse Ultio suits to the crowd. Ten additional allies per turn. Dimensional Thing lets loose a shuddering shriek. Max and Justice need to make a save vs an area Intimidate check at DC22. Max: 30. Unshaken. Justice is up again. after hero go, the rest will be rolled in.
  11. Lighter on his feet, and stepping with grace, Leroy tied his own scarf in an elaborate bow around his gold-threaded neck, extravagantly beckoning Kameron to the dance with a flutter of his long eyelashes.Twirling into the women's side of a stately(if somewhat overly simplified, to Talya's trained eye) waltz, the Dragon Prince bounced energetically through the steps, spinning and swooping with an abandon that coincidentally kept the bow out of Kameron's reach. "Ooh, Mr. Kingdom, you could conquer me any day!" he said, laughing uproariously as his roommate swept him into another deep dip that had his long hair nearly sweeping the floor.
  12. Nodding seriously, the shorter boy took a pause to collect his thoughts, glancing over with a loving smile at the flitting flier and curt cyberbeast chasing each other around the room. Turning solemn as he returned to Klara, Leroy began at once, "I am engaged to a young woman of this Earth, while I myself am from another. You see, mighty Zenshchina-voin, the world I know is similar to to yours in certain respects, at once more isolated and more connected than this one. Such as marriage ceremonies, apparently, um" he coughed into a fist, the white scars on his cheeks blushing pink, "one is expected to...nevermind! The problem I have, glorious one, is that contradictory and nested complications assail me at every turn, and to overcome them is the only path to bliss with the one I have pledged my life to!" Leroy's eyes shone like molten gold "You returned to your world with your love, I have heard. This way is closed to me. I beseech you, warrior, to forge thy tongue to a blade, and cut to the heart of this confoundity, this bedevilment without end!" "If I cannot do this, I will prove unworthy, weak. It would be more tolerable to perish."
  13. Leroy stepped forward at once, his eyes bright. "Dio," he said, "your time is come." The green dragon balked, looking nervously around the station. Seeing no obvious way out, the giant reptile cleared his throat, clacked his giant cleavers of teeth together, and began. "Before the Great Joining, before the wars, a time of nothing, cold hills and shores," he croaked, fighting a serpentine smile, "the ghosts of wonders, the fountains dry. No eyes, no voices, beyond the sky." "Believers slept," Leroy said, his voice deepening, "through eons gone, their minds clouded, curtains drawn." Dio took it up, more certain now, rising tall above the party, a tongue of flame darting between his lips. "The Gardeners were poisoned ,from heel to crown," he chanted, "and their charges scattered, butchered and drowned!" "A crumbling white city!" "The outcast, she found! A god woken, her children spellbound!" "A wonder!" "A horror!" "A place with no rules!" "With chances slipping, its fate hers to choose!" Together, man and dragon raised their forelimbs to the metal sky and shouted "Lo! Her dreams inspire! Lo! Ghorummaz soars! Lo! Wakes the Age of Fire! Lo! The dragon ROARS!" At the last, both threw their heads back to let loose a coruscating torrent of fire, red from Dio, black from Leroy, that spiraled like spitting snakes and scorched the air. "Of course, I think it is pagan nonsense to worship a dragon," Leroy added, patting his mentor companionably on the claw, "but it can be a right rousing exercise! How did you like it, sir?" he asked their host eagerly, the tall boy grinning.
  14. Guide point to Salmon Parhelion: Cosmic Love 1 IC post Ikorni Saga 1 IC post Intergalactic Sightseeing 3 IC posts One by One 3 IC posts Phone a Friend 6 IC posts Spring Break 1: To Remove is to Improve 15 IC posts Strange Like Me 3 IC posts
  15. Dropping onto all fours, the Defender of Space snuffled busily in a loose semi-circle around the epicentere of the ash remnants. Without raising up, he scuttled back and forth along the road, long, rough rongue rasping at the asphalt, nodding as the pieces fell into place. "It's a multi-ton...mostly steel...some kind of sap paste...all right!" Hopping back to his feet, Squire B'Ka turned to Hazmat, the faceplate over his bristly snout rectractsd to show his big brown eyes and toothy smile. "It's about two metras shoulder-to-shoulder, five nose-to-tail, found some flecks of a red pigment. Uses a diesel engine and fossilized plants for fuel, but what'd really set it apart is whatever they used to dust that Terran." B'Ka pointed at the pile. "I can rewire the armor to track energy signatures, screenin' for ones they don't use 'round here. Uh," he scratched his nose, frowning deeply, "it'll probably hurt, but this is for the innocents of Terra! Can't back down from a li'l pulse!" At the prospect of Rebellion joining them, the astrobull looked horrified. "Hazmat, the guy's clearly not with their law enforcement! We can't drag some little thing like that into somethin' like this! what if he gets hurt? That'd be on us!"
  16. "Such a glorious place!" Leroy was all smiles, practically bouncing down the halls, with Dio lumbering moodily at his side. Something about the metal composition in the walls was putting the dragon on edge, and they'd nearly had a nasty accident when he spooked at nothing and leapt claws-first onto the ceiling, taking several heavy vanity plates with him on the way down. Parhelion's solemn word that nothing like that would happen again, and his very strong arm around Dio's neck, had won a very narrow reprieve from the draconic acolyte going back to the ship. "The time, the labour, the coordination, why Paradigm Amara, I should be amazed if this was not one of the greatest building projects in recorded history!" He inclined his head solemnly "It is an honour to see what becomes possible when unity takes precedent over pride." "Why one big station?" Dio eyed the miniature world beyond the window with no little suspicion, as if it might suddenly bite him, "The big attack was so bad because it took out your centralized leadership, right? Something punctured this place, wouldn't that be the same mistake?" Leroy suppressed a grin, nuzzling his dragon's neck. "Many small stations are easier to overwhelm and destroy than one big one, Dio. This is not Earth forts, there is more power here to defend more people."
  17. Unlike before, the myriad milling spheres didn't reform, dissipating instead into a green haze...and an almost gory aftermath of shattered metal and splattered grease. "Forlat, forlat," they chanted, synthesized voices smoothing effortlessly over the actual pronunciation, "Snalla, forlat." There also wasn't another explosion after the first burst in numbers. Slowly but steadily, their fleeing was becoming futile. Eira could feel the changes, adjustments in velocity(the magnetic pulses were really getting quiet heady now), in durability, in shape and size and even picking up her language in surprisingly short order...but there didn't seem any real way to bridge the gap between a mindless drone and a sapient super-robot driven by a mind like Angelik's. People on the backs of mythical creatures, on inventions of super-science, or under their own power began to fill the sky. Most of them just dodged out of the way as she came swooping in, laughing and applauding her efforts, cheering her on in the destruction of the drones. Some took pictures, but to most she apparently was just part of, if welcome to, the world they lived in. This close to the maze of spires, Cyclopean hero-monuments and overlapping parks, the drones seemed to be really leaning into the speed. Evidently, they saw it as cover, and not what it really was. The end of the line. ------------------------------- "Have fun, you two!" Leroy leapt with more energy than grace up onto his dragon's back, clambering up the neck to sit behind the head. "Let us be off! Hop on if you like, good Davyd, or change to a more avian face. We are going shopping! For goodness!"
  18. "Ah! Good Zev!" Somehow the boy in white from earlier had reappeared, smiling and positively vibrant next to the cool, super-swift science hero. "I am glad that was not our last meeting! In case I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Leroy! As it happens, and I do hope you will forgive my bringing your work to a time of play, I was wondering your views on..." the boy quickly, surprisingly clearly, explained a problem where a particular amount and wavelength of solar energy needed to be moved from one container to another, with minimum loss ("Ideally none, obviously!") in the transfer. In the course of it, the formerly slouching, tongue-tied young man slid easily between several different languages, animatedly explaining the parameters of the problem, drawing a scale model out of coloured foam produced from a small black crystal. Ensuring continuity was, he stressed, of paramount importance... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Soon after, Klara felt the unfamiliar sensation of someone tapping her on the shoulder. "Hello!" A smiling young man in white came into view, eyes sparkling gold "My name is Leroy! I had heard you come from a very different place than many here. However did you grow accustomed to it, until it became something natural and comfortable?"
  19. B'Ka hopped from from to foot, shuffling as he watched the others nervously. Kath'lana heard him muttering "Don't wreck this don't wreck this" over and over through the armorcoms, the crunch and clang of his hooved boots clattering across the unweathered stone of the Temeura II. On planets like this, sapients without soft pads on their feet welcomed any extra protection from splitting and embedding, the lack of liquid motion, heavy atmospheric pressure and the activity of other lifeforms unable to chew up and soften the surface. Hearing the order from the leader of their little herd, the Star Squire had nodded gratefully and raced to fetch the Dirge, honestly not managing to get out much intelligible thanks to a simple inability to stop talking once he started. Luckily the gist had gotten across, and Kanemu hadn't noticed the awkward thanks wedged into the babble. Almost vibrating with anticipation, the hornless Hapisian tested the jets of his suit. He knew he'd need them soon.
  20. GM The slimy muck making up the silent, watchful shapes was heavy with topsoil, worms wriggling through the mass and chainmail meshes of roots threading delicately beneath the slick surface. The one Tabitha touched didn't move, except for the pebbles where eyes might have been. Looking down at where they'd been touched, the muddy creature reached out a long, dripping arm of their own and returned the favour, leaving a smear of itself on her hoodie. Gentle squelches all around the teens announced the sudden appearance of more muddy creatures, sliding from the shadows and swaying almost silently, creeping towards them... "Hi! Git!" An old scarecrow of a man in oil-stained overalls rolled into the quad, carrying a brass tube attached to a wheeled contraption. Waving the tube threateningly he barked "Go on! Shoo! 'Less ya want the hose again!" For emphasis, he pulled a trigger to let loose a roar of blue flame! At the sight the mud things moved, collapsing into snake-like trails that burrowed rapidly underground, leaving only pools of water where they were standing moments before! The old man tore off his blue cap and gave it a stamp, gnashing yellowed teeth under a hookéd, thrice-broken beak of a nose. "Danged elementals! Giving us decent folk barely a week's peace! You keep an eye out for any more o' those, kids!" he pointed sharply at Louise and Tabitha in particular, "they're liable to come back...and next time, a little fire might not scare them so easy! A hero's got to be alert, got to be ready, if'n you need any help with either, you know where I'd be!" Changing his manner in an instant, he re-donned his cap to take it off for a dramatic bow and a gracious smile to Leon and Callie. "An' a wonderful morning to you two! Welcome, welcome to Claremont Academy. I'm Fawks, the facilities manager. Anything's out of place or not working like it should, I'm in the shed up by the athletics field most days. Please, enjoy your stay." With another smile and nod to the two newcomers, and a swift, savage 'keep your eyes open' gesture to Louise and Tabitha, the man rolled swiftly out of sight. Somehow, the air felt drier, the Sun warmer, the ground sturdier. Like a chance for a fresh start had come.
  21. Shoving the shelves back onto their feet, Big Em gurgled with rage, eyes like portals to a furnace, her badge of the silver Emerald City Police Department diamond shimmering in the low light. The big crystalline Cryptid wasn't a fan of fights that involved guns, and especially not ones that put 'softies' in harm's way! Stomping to the front of the store, she grabbed the pile of rubble in one giant armful and bodily hurled it across the street. Rounding on her partner, fake mustache bristling, the green Magmin reached up and planted herself like a caryatid in the doorway, massive arms easily bearing the strain that would have collapsed most non-Cryptids! She wasn't much for talking, and in fact due to her physiology, couldn't talk at all. But the look she sent her partner was a clear, nearly audible demand for one thing: A plan, for JUSTICE!
  22. "Hold...hm..." Scuffing the sand with his foot, Leroy looked between the others. "We...Mustafic-Markov, I have a suggestion: what if both you and Beaumont accompanied Night on her hunt? It would behoove each other to engage with our interests, and strengthen our bonds beyond mere like or dislike. If something does happen, the most competent members of the team will be in a bloc, rather than scattered." The slender boy patted his dragon on the flank. "Dio, Davyd and I would spend some time in the plaza before the Nightspire. We could meet there!" "Just so long as we're moving," Dio yawned, "burning daylight here, folks."
  23. Ari

    Mars Ultor(OOC)

    Yes. Later more will be unlocked.
  24. "Good Davyd, I have not the faintest idea how this works. I can swallow food, yes, but that merely drops it into a gravitational anomaly. The best I can tell you is that this junior star has consumed and replaced some of my internal functions, and will do so until maturity forces it from my body. Sometimes it is unpleasant, though hardly unbearable!" Turning blithely from that subject, Leroy followed the face dancer's gaze up into the clouds. "Oh, no harm can come to her, not unless she wants very much to be hurt. Mother had the Blood Eagle do away with accidents ages ago! Well," he paused, stroking his chin, "in Sky habitats such as New Atlantis. If she somehow got beyond the sphere of influence, then we needs must worry. Be at rest, Squadmates, none here wish you any harm or ill." -------------- Again the chrome, glistening mass scattered into the void, and again it flared with a corona of green haze and snapped back whole. Casting an appraising look at Angelik with its one viridian eye, the thing rattled, the colour contracted, and it burst into dozens of whinging, whirling, shimmering spheres! Each hazy ball rocketed in a different direction, one flying past Eira's shoulder only to audibly pancake itself against the miniature Sun. Most of them hurtled through the sky in the general direction of what looked like New Atlantis downtown, a forbidding mass of spires, titanic sculpure and air thick with bodies in flight.
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