Cubist

I'm in.

Hmmm... Jubatus in Earth-Victoria... that could be interesting in more ways than one. I'm game if you are!

So you want characters to spend a long time in another universe? Hmmm... will there be a friendly Time Machine pilot to ensure that the characters arrive back in Prime at the same moment they left? If not, there may be certain practical problems...

Subtler stuff for a Hawksmoor-type character... In a city, he never hits a red light; maybe he 'persuades' the traffic lights to be nice, maybe he's just so 'in synch' with the city that he automatically gets the timing right when he's driving. "Money Sense" -- the city knows everything about the ebb and flow of financial activity within its borders, and the character can tap into that knowledge. Most people wouldn't look twice at a decaying storefront; this character can tell that $10K in small bills flows thru that storefront every day, even tho it appears to be a struggling pawnshop or whatever. Politics, power struggles, are part and parcel of a city's existence. The character has a sense of where the real power lies in any situation -- who's actually in charge, who's just a figurehead, etc. It's not uncommon for people to hide spare copies of their housekeys under doormats and such. The character knows where every one of those 'hidden' keys is. Everybody knows where the obvious roads/sidewalks/etc are; this character knows where all the physically feasible routes are. Which fences have suitably large holes in them, which walls can be easily scaled, which sewer manholes are or are not uncovered, etc.

Give him Terleport -- when he walks around the corner of a building, he can end up anywhere else in whichever city he's in at the time.

It was a novel experience for Jay, being the dumbest person in the room. Novel, and rather unpleasant. He wasn't sure how much of his present disquiet was bleedover from his fear of his mind decaying to a purely animal level, a fear that had haunted the first few weeks of his current life... Get a grip, Jay. You're not turning stupid; these guys just are that smart. It didn't help that he lacked the training or background to understand more than a fraction of what the doctor and the Doktor were saying to one another. "In most situations, that course of treatment would be recommended, yes," 'Most' situations? Jay thought (but did not say). Where's the 'but', Dok? "but recall the latest reports from ASTRO Labs, the work done on reversing the changes wrought on the bioweapons from the last Grue" What!? And now Jay upshifted, reviewing the doctors' conversation at high speed: Had they found evidence to confirm that the Grue genuinely were behind his transformation? No -- not that Jay could tell, at least. "invasion." They really were going to just let him keep wearing this damned body -- the enraged cheetah blurred in front of the two doctors. "Hold it," he snarled in their faces. "You two may have N times morre IQ points than me, but that does not give you the rright to play games with my frrigging life!" Dr. Rao stared at Doktor Archeville for a moment, then gave the feline a blank look. "Ah... excuse me..? I don't think I --" "Yeah, rright. What makes you so damn surre I am a Grrue prroject?" the spotted cat growled. "Yourr final answerr bloody well betterr not involve the rruddy date when I got this perrmanent five-o-clock shadow!" "Ah... no... genetic markers..." Rao began. Now Archeville spoke up; he knew very well that he and Dr. Rao had discussed the very evidence that Rao's patient was demanding. Clearly, Mr. Xavier had not grasped the information the first time it was mentioned. The Doktor went over it again, this time making sure that Mr. Xavier comprehended. As he listened, Jay's ears sank and his tail hung limp. "Oh. Right," he said, slumping against a table. Why You May Not Want An Overclocked Brain (#1 in a continuing series): Fast neurons jump to conclusions every bit as quickly as they perform any other mental function... "I... I'm sorry. I'll just, hrrrm, keep my damn mouth shut. Sorry."

Jubatus is not a Claremont student -- but since he's a speedster who can plausibly show up just about anywhere in Freedom City at any time of day, feel free to include him. Or not, if you don't think he'd fit the storyline you have in mind.

Jubatus I KAN HAZ HUMANITY? Murder on the Victorian Express GM A Star Is (re-) Born Other Have added a wikipage on KayJay's, the youth-oriented nightclub which will be the site of the climatic conflict in A Star Is (re-) Born.

Any chance you gonna make the concert? Every so often, the club manager's question echoed in Jay's mind. He didn't like to think about it. And for the most part, he didn't; it was easy to not-think about something, particularly when you had (lots and lots of!) other things to occupy your mind and focus your attention on. But still... every so often, just once every few clock-hours... during an occasional idle moment, when he wasn't working on freelance contracts, or patrolling the streets of Freedom as Jubatus, or dealing with clients, or 'feeding the beast' at one of the City's restaurants, or looking for new freelance contracts, or catching up on the technical literature, or... Any chance you gonna make the concert? Johnson had been right, damn his eyes: By checking over the sound system at the club, Jay had, in effect, taken on the role of sound engineer for Octopus Dropkick. And Jay had a responsibility, maybe not a legal responsibility but certainly an ethical one, to be there in case Something Went Wrong. Any chance you gonna make the concert? Yeah, there was a 'chance', alright. A line from a Star Trek novel passed through his mind: "So... your guess is that you're certain." Jay sighed... sometimes he thought life might be easier if he was one of those completely amoral atheists that Christians liked to make noise about. He'd never met one, himself. He opened his cell phone and dialed. "Hello, Kemen... Yeah, it's me... The Friday concert. Just wanted to let you know: I'll be there at 6 PM."

Here be the zeroeth draft of the PL7 not-a-ninja character. If you think a "zeroeth" draft sounds like it should be sketchier/rougher than a first draft, you're right; at this point, pretty much all of the game-mechanical details are up for grabs. I fully expect that this sheet will go thru some massive changes-- for one thing, I know that this draft doesn't meet the caps for PL7. It is, how you say, a foundation upon which to build, yes? Advice is appreciated, welcomed, and requested. STORMSHADOW appears as a ninja-shaped black void, with uncanny, piercing bright eyes. == CHARACTER CONCEPT == Devastatingly skilled ninja is, in reality, the tech-enhanced prank of a playful geek. == ABILITIES == 8 STR (-2) 14 DEX (+4) 10 CON (-0) 16 INT (+3) 10 WIS (-0) 12 CHA (+1) == SAVES == +0 Toughness (-0) +5 Fort (+5) +5 Reflex (+3) +2 Will (+2) +2 Initiative == COMBAT == +0 Attack Bonus +0/+4 Attack (melee/range) -1 Grapple +3 Defense Bonus (+6) +0 Knockback Resist == SKILLS == +5 Bluff (+1 CHA, +4) +3 Climb (-1 STR, +4) +7 Computers (+3 INT, +4) +4 Craft/Electronic (+3 INT, + 1) +4 Craft/Mechanical (+3 INT, + 1) +7 Disable Device (+3 INT, +4) +4 Drive (+2 DEX, +2) +6 Escape Artist (+2 DEX, +4) +5 Gather Information (+1 CHA, +4) +3 Knowledge/History (+3 INT, +0) +3 Knowledge/Physical Science (+3 INT, +0) +3 Knowledge/Technology (+3 INT, +0) +4 Notice (+0 WIS, +4) +5 Perform/Comedy (+1 CHA, +4) +3 Search (+3 INT, +0) +6 Sleight of Hand (+2 DEX, +4) +3 Swim (-1 STR, +3) == FEATS == Attack Focus/Ranged 4 Eidetic Memory 1 Equipment 3 Fighting Style: Judo 7 -- Accurate Attack -- Defensive Attack -- Improved Disarm -- Improved Grab -- Improved Pin -- Improved Trip -- Stunning Attack Hide in Plain Sight 1 Improvised Tools 1 Inventor 1 Precise Shot 2 Quick Change 2 Weapon Break 1 Well-Informed 1 == POWERS == Blast 7 (Descriptors: Light, Technology) (DC 22) (14 pp) Dazzle 7 (Descriptors: Light, Technology // Affects all visual senses) (DC 17) (14 pp) Illusion 7 (Descriptors: Light, Technology // Affects all visual senses) (DC 17) (14 pp) Invisibility 4 (Descriptors: Light, Technology // Total concealment from all visual senses) (8 pp) == EQUIPMENT == Light Pistol (6 ep) Night-Vision Goggles (1 ep) Smoke Grenade (4 ep) Suppressor, for LP (1 ep)

A phone rang in the manager's office at KayJay's. As usual, the manager himself answered before the third ring. "Hola, and welcome to KayJay's! You're talking to the man, K-Jones. What can I do for you?" "Hello, Mr. K-Jones. My name is Tom Walker*, and I'm calling from Lazarus Auto and Industrial Repair. I wanted to let you know that your Cadillac is as good as new, and you can pick her up whenever you like. When would be a good time for you to reclaim her?" "You are calling to tell me this today?" the club manager said. "Dulce Jesu, you guys work fast -- I wasn't expecting to hear from you for another four days, maybe five! This is the most pleasant surprise I've had all day! Thank you very much indeed!" "You're welcome, sir! I'm sure you're anxious to take custody of your Cadillac once again, so..." "Oh, you know that I am. But..." Here, K-Jones' voice faded a little. "There is an embarrassing thing I must say to you, Mr. Walker. You see, there is money being transferred between accounts, and the bank insists on a waiting period for such transactions, and so I, ah... I cannot pay you in full right this very minute. However, the moment that bank-mandated waiting period is ended, and this will occur three days from now, I can and will pay you in full!" Three days? 'Tom Walker' thought. But we need that stall free this afternoon! "Well, sir, we at Lazarus wouldn't like your happy reunion to be delayed if we can help it. If we can work something out, you can be driving your Cadillac before lunch!" "Hmmm. 'Work something out', you say? Hokay... professionally speaking, I run a nightclub that caters to a younger clientele, as you may already know. Does this sound like a basis on which to work something out?" "It could be," 'Walker' allowed... and the two men started dickering. In the end, Lazarus Auto & Industrial Repair got cash equal to half the total charge (that being the bulk of KayJay's cash on hand) plus fifteen VIP tickets, each ticket good for any KayJay's special event. And just as 'Walker' had said, K-Jones got his car back before lunch.

Jubatus has something of a tech background, and it's arguable that his speed would make him desirable for testing the efficacy of military hardware even if he didn't have any tech skill.

It looks like the thread has reached a point where it would make sense to fast-forward all the way up to the concert proper. So all them what's coming about, how about you make one post to the thread which covers whatever relevant (or interesting) stuff you might be doing in the days leading up to 4 March, the date of said concert, after which the camera zooms in on that very self-same concert? I'm looking at Grimalkin, Push, Breakdown, and Jubatus...

Jay held onto a bland smile and waved at Eddie until the young musician had left the building and shut the door. Then he slumped up against the wall of the booth, and muttered "Good friggin' riddance," under his breath. K-Jones shook his head. "Uncool, bro'. And not called for, either." The cheetah sighed. "I know." A weak smile: "Hey, I didn't even come close to ripping his throat out. That's gotta count for something, right?" "Not funny, man. You need help." "Too late," Jay said. "Being there and doing that. My shrink says black humor is a decent coping mechanism; as long as I can make sick jokes about that sort of thing, there's minimal chance of its actually happening." "I see,"K-Jones mused. "And you did keep it together while Eddie was here... so I guess your head-doctor's doing you some good, si?" "Yeah. He is. I mean, six months ago, I was really bad. One step at a time, y' know? Anyway, I should get back to work -- finish up the checklist." "Hokay, you do that," K-Jones said with a nod. "One last thing: Any chance you gonna make the concert, Jay? No pressure; either way, it's okay by me. Just like to know, is all." "Hrrrmmm... Maybe. No promises. See you later, Kemen." "You, too, Jay."

Oh, yeah: After a note from Quote about Eddie's schedule, I've edited that one post so that the concert is scheduled to occur on 4 March. Hope this doesn't mess with anybody else's plans.

[nods] Sounds like a plan to me.

It hurt, the direct reference to the musical ability he'd lost... but it wasn't as bad as he'd feared. "Thanks, but I don't sing any more. The reasons should be obvious, yes?" "Backstage is good; the tech is actually fairly solid," Jay replied. "Unlike some other clients I've had, K-Jones here isn't afraid to spend a little extra to ensure he gets it right. All I've done today is look for any glitches or breakdowns that might've occurred since the last time I was here, and so far, I ain't found nothin'. Assuming I continue to find nothing, my work will be done before midnight. As for your personal sound guy," Jay moved his shoulders in what looked like a shrug, "bring him in if you like. I probably know the setup better than he does, so if he's got any questions, me cluing him in is going to be faster than him flailing around in the dark."

The club owner rolled his eyes and gave an exaggerated, theatrical sigh. "For this I kept your ragged butt out of Juvie Hall!" he declaimed, the laugh lines in his face decidedly incompatible with his disapproving tone. "Hokay, the sound tech. He's not what anybody would call sociable, but he really knows his stuff, si? Hang tight, and I'll see if I can pull him away from his cables and voltmeters." When K-Jones arrived backstage, Jay Nelson Xavier had just finished checking the noise levels on all the club's signal pathways. "Hola, Jay! Am I interrupting?" The cheetah put on a half-smile and said, "Yes, but it's alright -- I've hit a natural breakpoint in the workflow, so no harm done. What's up, Kemen?" The human's face bore a neutral expression. "Eddie wants to talk to you." "Does he," Jay said, his demeanor clearly indicating that he did not share Eddie's desire for conversation. "That's nice; it's good to want things." "Come on, bro'," said K-Jones. "What you're doing here, you're being the man's sound engineer, no? So what's the problem? I mean, I really and truly get it, your voice is crap now, and you don't want to deal with somebody who can still sing." "Only for values of 'don't want to deal with' that include 'must suppress the urge to tear out the throat of'," was the cheetah's instant, snarled, reply. Then he upshifted, buying himself the time needed to calm down again. When he returned to the normal tempo of 1, K-Jones was saying, "-- not one of your better jokes, mi hermano." "I know," Jay said quietly, nodding his bowed head. "And I'm sorry." And I also know how bad I scared you just now, because I can smell your fear... "Alright, I'll be good. You go on ahead and I'll, hrrm, join you both for a nice, civilized chat. Okay?" K-Jones was in one of the club's semi-private booths with a younger man whose face Jay didn't recognize. The feline hero tapped the booth's sidewall to announce his presence, and said, "You must be Eddie Ozan. My name is Jay Xavier."

I see this scene as happening a few days before the 25th -- I don't see that the specific date matters, but I can just declare the specific date if anyone asks. And again, if you'd like to have Grim show up in this scene, I'm amenable; a bit of retroactive editing may or may not be advisable, but that would be thoroughly doable.

"If I'm honest, the real answer to both those questions is 'whatever's best for Eddie'. So let me tell you what I'm thinking, and if there are any parts that don't work for you, we can fix the problem now, si? Hokay: The concert, I'm thinking it occurs on March 4th. That's a Friday, so it won't matter so much if the kids sleep in the next morning. Start things rolling at 7 PM; first half-hour is a local band for an opening act, then fifteen minutes to let you and your bandmates do whatever setup you need, and the rest of the night belongs to Octopus Dropkick. Does that sound good to you, Eddie?"

I don't see the not-a-ninja as a socially crippled type; rather, I see him as a prankster. Think Steve Wozniak, who (in his pre-Apple days) once called the Pope pretending he was Henry Kissinger, and who sells $2 bills for $5 for a perforated sheet of four (and the bloody things are legal tender!). The guy's major motivation for being a not-a-ninja is, "how long can I keep the gag running before someone figures out what's really happening?" Okay, doing the hero thing is good, too...

Jay Nelson Xavier, aka Jubatus Gather Information [table] 10Jubatus is a speedster and a cheetah/human hybrid 15Jubatus makes little effort to conceal his identity; he doesn’t mention his real name (Jay Nelson Xavier) while engaged in superheroing, but that’s about it 15The human Jay Xavier was transformed into the cheetah-like Jubatus in early May of 2010—right around the time of the Grue Invasion[/table] Knowledge (Arts) [table]15Jay Nelson Xavier is the real name of ‘Jinx’, a musician of eclectic tastes & styles who sells his tunes over the Internet 20There are seven Jinx CDs, the last one of which was released in March of 2010 25Sales of Jinx CDs are small, but reasonably steady; each disc sells 100-200 copies per year[/table] Knowledge (Business or Technology) [table]10Jay Xavier is a freelance troubleshooter and technical writer 15Jay’s rates are higher than average—and so is the quality of his work[/table]

Quote's last post doesn't seem to provide any indication that Eddie had taken anyone with him when he dropped in on K-Jones. If you and Quote want to do a teeny-tiny retro-edit to bring Grim in now, I say go for it; alternately, would it be in character for Grim to just kinda show up without letting Eddie know in advance? Either way is fine by me...

"Eddie?" came a voice from somewhere deeper inside the club. "Ay-ay-ay! Come on in, make yourself at home!" And after a short conversation that was too quiet for Eddie to follow, K-Jones emerged from a backstage door. "Well, look at you, muchacho!" he declared with an expansive arm gesture that led, naturally enough, into a brief hug. "Sorry about not meeting you -- I got a tech in, checking over the electricals to make sure everything's gonna be okay. So tell me, what have you been doing with yourself, hmm?"

So, a tech-dependent not-a-ninja. Dude's a genius inventor type, in and of himself -- designed and built his own toys. A lot of his power-granting gizmoes, maybe all of them, have the same Descriptor, that being "Photonic technology". He's gotta have Invisibility vs. the entire EM spectrum. So, 8 pts there. Also gotta have Illusion vs. the entire EM spectrum. Am unsure why the Core rules for Illusion say that "visual senses count as two sense types", but fine, it's Illusion vs those two sense types. So, 2 pts/rank for this Illusion power. He's got a laser Blast that looks like mystical, glowing shuriken. He should have a Flight gizmo -- 3-4 ranks at most, but that's okay, since he's mainly using it to support the "uber-skilled ninja" persona he's tryna portray. Ninja gadgets: Smoke bombs, of course. Trivial application of photoonic tech -- just neutralize the energy of photons in whichever region. Shuriken, I've covered. Hmmm... Swords, of course. Can you say "light sabre"? Sure you can. The "ninja" that people see is a holographic illusion; the actual person may or may not be in the same location as the 'ninja'. He usually projects the 'ninja'-illusion around his own body, because otherwise, people with exotic senses can see thru it real easy. But at the same time, he is perfectly capable of sneaking off to one side and letting the 'ninja' wade thru a battlefield without getting hurt or touched, heh heh heh...