Unseelie against Steel (IC)

[Kaede Kimura]

GM

 

Sunday 19th May 8pm

Union Rail Yards

Greenville

 

The day had been been quiet, a train arriving around midday to offload cargo, some historic items bound for the Hunter Museum of Natural History being locked securely in a safe in the primary warehouse.

 

As the sun descended however the quiet was suddenly disrupted, the armoured form of the villain Steel Shade and his team smashing through the wall next to the safe, before the rest of his team got to work. Within minutes they were ready to depart, the teleportation device they'd made use of many times prior about to activate when a stone flechette tore through the delicate device, and a tide of small green creatures burst from the walls.

 

The combat quickly became a fighting retreat, leading deeper into the train yard. Gunshots and yells ring out across the evening air as the groups engage in their battle. For the first time in quite a while the heroes have time to respond to this latest robbery.

[Supercape]

Bloody Mess

 

The sound was enough to draw attention. Freddy ripped off his jacket, revealing a red t-shirt and the black "M" insignia. 

 

Bloody Mess, back in business. 

 

He reached down (metaphorically) to his gut, and supercharged his mutant blood. Muscles swelled to the size of giant watermelons, stretching his t shirt, pulsating his veins. And then, with mighty pumped up legs, he shot into the air in a huge leap. 

 

Gunfire wasn't good. Not da kind of thing a superhero could ignore. And this sounded like a lotta gunfire. 

 

He landed on an old train in the yard, crushing the roof into a crater sized dent, one hand on the steel to balance. It was a proper super-hero landing, and no mistake. He was lucky - had the train carriage been any more rusty, Bloody Mess would have gone straight through da roof. 

 

He scanned the streets, the rail track, looking for da source of da action. He had ta make sure he wasn't going ta punch da wrong guy, after all....

[Spacefurry]

Blackstaff

 

Blackstaff stood over the unconscious form of the sorcerer Batita. Ice was slowly melting all around the back alley not far from the railyard both had been heading towards. It seemed he wasn’t alone in having heard the rumors.

The Octavo. A unique grimoire said to contain 8 of the most powerful spells ever recorded.

It was a myth, of course. No one had any proof they had ever actually laid eyes on it. But it didn't stop the young and/or foolish from seeking it out. 

This time someone had started a rumor that it was among a shipment of items bound for the Natural History Museum being unloaded tonight.

 

Blackstaff shook out his shield bracelet, flecks of ice raining off his coat as he did. A staff of old blackened wood with runic carvings oddly held not a single trace of ice or water upon it. 

Turning towards the alley’s entrance he walked casually towards the rail yard again. He hadn’t gotten much further before a distance ruckus erupted from the direction of the yard. Sounds like explosions and gunfire never amounted to anything good in this city… or any other city he supposed.

He cursed and began to run.

[Kaede Kimura]

Shooting Star 

 

Alice soared on a ballistic trajectory across the city, tearing through the sound barrier as soon as she achieved enough height to avoid doing damage from the sonic boom. The journey took mere seconds, the wind roaring in her ears as her descent began. She stopped in an instant about three feet from the ground to catch her bearings and identify the situation.

 

It didn't take long to home in on the sounds of gunfire, arriving at the location of the battle at about the same time as Bloody Mess and Blackstaff. She looked down at the chaos unfolding before her, trying to identify both sides of the fight. 

[Kaede Kimura]

GM

 

In a long street between a pair of warehouses the four villains were moving quickly towards the more open train yard. Steel Shade was leading the way, snapping off shots with his railpistol through small gaps in the warehouses. The titan Anarchilles was taking up the rear several scratches present on his armour, while the last two members of the team, a short woman in a magician outfit and domino mask and a thin woman with platinum blonde hair in a white body suit were taking shelter between their two larger teammates. 

 

Suddenly a small green creature burst from a hole in the side of a warehouse ahead of the four, throwing a small stone blade at Steel Shade, which bounced away with a small flare of his shield generator before it dove down a drain.

 

The heroes had arrived in the train yard that the villains were running for, Blackstaff having run around the corner as Bloody Mess and Shooting Star arrived from the skies. Disturbed insects burst from hiding places, buzzing and crawling away. All three could hear the villains yelling to each other over the gunfire. Anarchilles sounded excited and slightly manic. 

"I'm telling you, they're Goblins. Like from-"

"We get it, but unless you've got some facts that'll help us beat them it's not much us use." The second speaker was Steel Shade, the leader of the group.

"Uh, they're not generally weak to anything in particular. They're normally low tier creatures for early level characters to-"

"Aww well that's just great! We're being punked by the jobbers of fantasy land. Remind me that if we're ever sent to the world of Basements and Basilisks to just give up and be a farmer." The woman in the magician's outfit piped up. The group had yet to reach the end of the alleyway and see the heroes, giving the three time to prepare.

[Supercape]

Bloody Mess

 

Nerds! They are a bunch of nerds!

 

Even a man of such limited cognitive prowess as the Mess could spot a nerd. He recalled shameful mockery of the nerds of his school - an attempt to prop us his ego as an academic failure and all round idiot. And a short one, at that. He wasn't the worst of bullies, but he couldn't confidently walk away from that tag. The shame brought a flush of super charged blood to his face. No! He was the Bloody Mess now, here to protect!

 

"Halt, evil-doers!" he shouted out, his voice projected by his enormous barrel chest. 

 

He slammed lefty (his left fist) and righty (his right fist) together to emphasise he was a hero and a tough one. 

 

Sure there were four of them, but hopefully he had the back up of the other heroes whose names he couldn't quite remember. That was life as Bloody Mess - there were a lot of things he couldn't quite remember. 

 

"Come quietly or there will be trouble!" he added, trying another stolen phrase. 

[Kaede Kimura]

Shooting Star

 

Alice had been floating above the train yard, thinking of trying to ambush the group when the big guy jumped in demanding that Steel Shade and his team surrender. Outnumbered four to one, barely higher than half the height of one of the bad guys and he still boomed out his lines without a moments hesitation.

 

She couldn't fault his guts, and probably wasn't the best person to comment on common sense.

 

Still she couldn't expect the man to face the quartet alone, especially with whatever was apparently going on. (Goblins, yeah right.) She flew down, settling quietly near the big man. "You're outmatched, Steel Shade. Stand down."

[Spacefurry]

Blackstaff

 

Blackstaff skidded to a stop as he came out of the alleyway and onto the street between warehouses. Almost as if on que two others arrived. It was a little confusing at first, he’d admit later, the wizard wasn’t sure who was who.

But, it quickly became apparent that the two that just arrived weren’t with the quartet running up the street. And, had they mentioned something about goblins?

That’s just what he wanted to deal with today. What could have brought goblins surfaceways?

 

The short, barrel-chested man in a bright red tee brought his fists together with obvious strength. But the young woman’s familiarity with one of the four was telling. She was familiar with at least one of them and he’d have to watch her for any reactions he might need to worry about.

 

Hopefully if it was three on four they could finish this with less trouble. He did find himself wishing he had had Lark come with him. Too late now, he sighed and shook out his shield bracelet. It already had a dim glow as he walked up to stand beside the other two heroes.

 

“Stand down and drop anything that isn’t yours.”

Blackstaff leveled the blackened wood staff at the quartet.

[Kaede Kimura]

GM

 

The quartet of villains stopped quickly as Bloody Mess made his appearance, tilting his head as he looks the shorter man over, sizing him up for a fight when the other two arrive. He takes a step forward and seems about to speak when suddenly a small green man with a wicked grin and crusty red hat appears behind him in a puff of smoke, an obsidian tipped spear at the ready. His shield flares for a moment again, but the spear pushes through with a sound like a mixture of glass breaking and radio static, puncturing the man's side before vanishing once more with a cackle.

 

As if on queue, dozens of similar individuals, although without the hat burst from the gutters and holes in the warehouses around the heroes and villains, with axes and blades made of stone, which they wave and point at everyone in their vicinity. Another red capped fellow looks down at the people below, crowing "Give us the treasures and die!"

[Supercape]

Bloody Mess

 

Now Bloody Mess was not da smartest of heroes, and he knew it. But... Red Cap? Treasures? 

 

It reminded him of old folk stories his parents told him. Back in eastern Europe. 

 

He shook his head. No way these crooks could be goblins... could they? 

 

Not that he was sure dey were goblins. Goblins, ogres, what was da difference? Could even be those short fellaz, like in da movies. 

 

"We ain't givin ya nothing, ya bozos!" he called back, slamming lefty and righty together. "You gotta earn treasure. By workin and stuff. Ya can't just steal treasures. Da'ts what theives do!"

 

He thumped lefty and righty together once more, and let his supercharged blood swell his muscles...

[Spacefurry]

Blackstaff

 

Blackstaff watched the quartet as they stopped to consider the heroes. Suddenly, goblins sprang from hiding, and he swore.

 

Not just goblins, but redcaps as well. Goblins were bothersome, but the redcaps could be just murderous… at best. They could push their less hostile cousins to more violence.

 

He chanced a glance at the shorter man in the red shirt. Well, his sentiment seemed to be in the right.

 

He slowly turned his head to scan his flanks and back. Almost two dozen that he could count.

“You shouldn’t be up here.”

The wizard addressed the goblins and caps, knowing better than to try correcting their demand. They meant what they said.

“Leave now, and I promise none will follow.”

Blackstaff tried to sound authoritative, and totally not worried. They were smaller, but if they swarmed…

[Kaede Kimura]

Shooting Star 

 

Alice took half a step forward when the red capped creature appeared behind Steel Shade, but hesitated before her reflexes could kick in and instead of interposing herself between them just watched as the Gremlins reject stabbed her brother.

 

Her jaw creaked from clenching it, trying not to let it show how seeing him hurt upset her when the rest appeared. Truly masters of negotiation this lot. The other two heroes each responded in their own way, Big Red by... spouting a worker's creed or something, the more interesting in one was the guy who clearly knew what they were up against. Still, she couldn't resist a quip. "Hey! You lot are trying to rob what they've rightfully stolen!"

[Kaede Kimura]

GM

 

With the heroes rebuttals the Redcap wasted no time in his response, sneering "Our prince comes to these lands, our time is at hand!" at Blackstaff in response to his comment  before casting a flint arrowhead at the mage. The Elfshot flickered in and out of visibility to those without magical senses, but with a flare of the wizard's shield bracelet it bounced away, skittering to the ground. At the same time, the first Redcap appeared from thin air with two additional cohorts. Each attacked one of the supers to varying effect:

 

The one after Anarchilles apparently aimed as if he were attacking a normal sized human and instead struck air to no effect, while the one that attacked Bloody Mess found that the hero's boxing training assisted against pikes as much as fists, and the one who once more struck at Steel Shade drove his spear into the man's thigh. Having committed their violence the quartet of Goblins vanished into smoke once more.

 

The woman in the magician's outfit looked slightly shaken as the rapid assault, air hissing through her teeth as the team's leader was stabbed repeatedly. 

 

Almost too fast to see she pulled a card from her sleeve, swinging it at the nearest goblin. With a small surge of light it morphed into an anvil, her hand clutching it's horn as it slammed into the little green creature. Before it left her grasp it turned back into a card, which she tucked away again.

 

"What's the plan Shadey? My bucket list doesn't include being a pincushion."

[Supercape]

Bloody Mess

 

The Mess could smell blood. Not as a euphamism. He could literally smell blood. The caps! the caps the goblin-things wore. Blood! HUMAN BLOOD!

 

That nailed it. These creatures were scum. Villainous scum. There wasn't any good reason to paint your cap with human blood. 

 

"You crooks gonna get a good taste of lefty and righty," said the Mess, shaking his fists in turned. "I seen some screwed up things, but paintin' ya caps with blood? Dat's just wrong, ya bozos!"

 

With that, he ducked under the villain who had attacked him. "Gotta improve dat swing, bozo! Ya telegraphed dat from a mile off! Let me show ya how its done!"

 

With that, and his skin errupting in blood filled boils, he propelled himself up straight and unleashed a mighty uppeercut!

Edited May 29 by Supercape

[Kaede Kimura]

GM

 

The Goblins cackle at Bloody Mess' outrage, a cacophony of jeers and mocking echoing through the street ss the Redcap teleports just in time to avoid his strike. This was followed by a tide of blades as they slashed and stabbed with stone daggers. Many failed to find their marks as the creatures fought to be the first to draw blood, others failed as the heroes dodged and used defensive powers. Still some found their marks, one blade deflected by Steel Shade's shield generator, another two failing to pierce the glowing woman's costume and one bouncing from Blackstaff's shield. But with a yowl of victory one jumped ahead of its compatriot to strike the woman in the magician's outfit across the head, a thin gash opening as she cried out in pain and staggered back from the strike.

 

The jeers turned triumphant at the green tide's first blood.

[Spacefurry]

Blackstaff

 

And like that, they swarmed…

 

Heroes and villains dodge, blocked, or just shrugged off the hail of attacks. Blackstaff’s shield bowed for a moment as his mind tried to follow everything, but a quick reassurance of his will solidified his barrier and shoved the attack aside. He brought the tip of his staff around squarely before the face of that goblin.

The tip began to glow with magic force as the wizard muttered quickly under his breath.

 

Suddenly, a woman’s cry carried over the din and the wizard’s attention snapped around. A goblin waved a blood flecked stone blade as one of the women (ironically the one dressed as a Vegas stage magician he thought somewhere in the back of his mind) had a nasty gash.

 

The staff seemed to move of its own accord. One moment it pointed at the goblin before him, the next it was aimed across the chaotic little battlefield without seeming to have passed through the space between.

The carefully measured tone of whatever he had been casting cut off and a single word no human should have ever known snapped from the wizard.

 

Sulphur and brimstone stained the air, lingering in the noses of anyone near the steaming trail left in the wake of hellfire.

Red-lit runescript was already fading from the staff as the hellfire took the goblin from its feet and slammed it into ground several feet away, where it laid charred and unmoving.

 

Blackstaff snapped out of some brief fugue state and cursed to himself.

[Kaede Kimura]

GM

 

There is a moment of stunned silence after Christopher's spell of doom, the Goblin he had struck smouldering dimly against a dumpster down the street. The pause is only temporary however, before the glowing woman floated slightly higher and glowed more brightly, an incoherent yell quickly being drowned out by the hum of thousands of insects. A swarm of flying insects laden with what quickly becomes apparent to be spiders spinning cocoons of webs around the Goblins that don't dodge and take cover in time. By the time the swarm pulls back a half dozen of the creatures are squirming feebly against thick layers of spider web.

 

In the confusion caused by the insects' sudden attack Anarchilles acts quickly, kicking a Goblin which sails off into the sky, vanishing from view. He whoops, throwing his hands into the air to celebrate. "Haha! Trash mobs just like I said!"

Steel Shade for his part doesn't dignify his teammates crowing with a direct response, instead lifting the woman in the magician outfit off the ground. "Anarchilles, help Mothlight get clear. If they keep coming we'll get overwhelmed if we stay here, open ground will help us take them out before they get close." His instructions given, his jump pack flared, rockets propelling him beyond the confines of the alleyway.

 

Before the giant could act upon his instructions however, the latest threat emerged a pair of Goblins in white robes. They grin evilly as they wave their hands, chanting in a tongue only Blackstaff recognizes before a black miasma spreads over Bloody Mess and Anarchilles. Acting quickly, Shooting Star bolts forwards, blurring in a moment faster than the speed of sound before her fist makes with the one who cast his curse upon Fred, her hyperdense fist sending the little man flying into the far wall of a warehouse where he slumped to the ground, unconscious.

 

Despite the efforts of both the heroes and villains, seventeen fresh goblins poured from the holes that their fellows had burrowed out from the ground, while the Redcaps returned to strike the heroes and Mothlight, although most of them missed or failed to pierce hyperdense flesh before they teleported away into cover.