Sharkguard: The Sea-Roaring Defender IC

[ripleycat]

Dr. Simhalan has you lie down to give her a better angle at the spot you'd indicated. She continues to talk as she preps.

"It's Miss, and please, just Saravati." She blushes again. "As for your 'technical' question, well, honestly, we just call it the Slicer. It's a one-off design. R&D sends a lot of failed prototypes our way. Seem to think the odd designs will help with the physiologies of our superhero patients. The original idea here was, I think, a surgical saw that automatically cauterized the cuts it made. Never mind how unnecessary such a thing would be in 95% of surgeries that even require a saw in the first place, but they built the thing like they were planning to cut through tank armor. It's seriously over-designed."

She flips the switch on the Slicer, which turns on with a loud whine. Sure enough, there's a narrow jet of blue-white flame just above the spinning saw. The chatty doctor continues talking over it. "It does come in handy about once a month, when we have to do something for one of you super-tough types. Now sit very still!"

It makes a horrible grinding noise, but the saw-torch does pierce your supertough hide. It doesn't exactly feel like kisses from kittens, either, but the actual incision is mercifully brief. Saravati is able to slide a needle into the cut, and collects the vials of blood she needs. "Ah, very nice. I'm so sorry we had to resort to that. It wasn't too awful, was it?"

Spoiler

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Sharkguard has a bruised condition from getting the sample. Treat it like any other damage you would receive in combat, including recovery time.

[Starsign]

Sharkguard does his best to follow along the technological conversation as he lies down. He didn't get all of it but understood the parts that sums up what the Slicer is, an over-designed surgical saw that's better off tearing through tanks and machines than superheroes in surgical operations. It is no more apparent here as Saravati uses it to cut through Sharkguard's scales. The shark-man ever so winces slightly from the pain and sound that the Slicer causes. The Slicer could very well have been heard throughout the entire building. Thankfully it is brief and mostly clean. In the hands of a less professional doctor, it could have been a lot messier.

With the operation finished, Sharkguard gets up as he covers the wound with his left arm. He looks hardly bothered by the cut after it is made. "Nah, that ain't been a problem. Ta sound was a lot worse than ta cut yarr Slicer made." He goes over to the sink with his medical kit to rinse out the cut and patch it up. Sharks can be quite sensitive to blood for their smell. Sharkguard isn't really much different and can get queasy around it, even in small numbers. It's more of an issue in the water where blood floats around freely, but Sharkguard makes sure to clean the wound anyway just to be safe.

As he works on wrapping the wound, he tries to take his mind off of it for a moment. He turns his head at the researcher with a bit of a curious look. "Saravati, if yarr don't mine me askin', how long yarr be workin' here for? Gotta say yarr be quite the professional from what I've seen." Being the one who thought up of the Hero Helper program, Sharkguard figures Saravati is one of the top researchers at Majestic Industries. It usually doesn't hurt to ask though.

[ripleycat]

With the doc's help, you are able to bandage the cut quickly once the sample is taken. For all the fuss, it looks like all that comes from it is a few minutes with a slightly sore arm.

"What?" Dr. Simhalan frowns, then takes a pair of earplugs out. "Sorry, I should have offered you some of these." She finishes labeling the blood samples and hands them off to a lab tech.

"I don't mind at all! Let's see... Well, I've been here for, what is it now? Seven years? Eight?" She does a quick count on her fingers. "Eight. Majestic hired me right out of med school. Worked my way up from being a tech like these guys to running one of our smaller specialty labs. In the genetics department, about 20 floors down. And being specialists, we had lots of contact with the... well, at the time we called them 'non-standard' clients. Superheroes, you know. Well, almost all of them were heroes. There was one kid from back then who's a villain now. Damn shame."

"And as its kind of easy to see, I'm just mad about you guys. So I made a big deal out of doing the best work possible whenever we worked with a super's data. And you can probably guess where it went from there. We came up with several interesting ideas based on the anomalies and changes in superhero samples we worked with. That caught the attention of Mr. King, and when we went ahead with the Hero Helper concept, I was tapped to head the whole thing up. And that's all there is too it, really."

She runs off a mental checklist. "OK, measurements and vitals? Done. DNA sample? Done. Blood sample? Done. Good good. X-rays and MRI. Not yet. Why don't we take care of that next? Something a little less... messy than that last debacle."

"Normally, we'd just pop in next door for that." She points to the room with the radiation warnings on the door. "But we do have a couple of machines that are designed..." Saravati goes scarlet and mumbles something under her breath. "Uh, they're in the um, the animal testing lab. I don't mean to offend, I just... well, I thought they'd be more comfortable for you. They're bigger, especially the MRI machine. I-I don't want to have to make you cram yourself into something designed for a skinny normal person. Is that OK?"

Spoiler

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Medicine check succeeds.

[Starsign]

Sharkguard listens in on Saravati's story as he finishes cleaning up his wound. Being here for so many years sure does give a lot of experience. It definitely must mean a lot for Saravati to be in charged of this program. Being hired right out of medical school sounds surprising to the shark-man. He didn't think of Majestic Industries as one to go to people and hire them; usually he thought the workers would come to them. Of course then again, Sharkguard didn't exactly come here to be invited to the Hero Helper program either.

Of course right when once complication ends, another one arises; this time it's the x-ray machine. Something normally made for a human will probably not work at all for Sharkguard and what is designed for him is in the animal testing room. The shark-man crosses his arms and thinks for a moment. His neutral face may provide some sort of worry for the researcher. However a moment later and he brings his grin back. "Well it ain't ta most covenient of places, but I be set to use that specific X-Ray machine down at those labs." He then winks at Saravati as he says, "Course if yarr can see it possible, I'd like ta lab to be not too crowded. I be thinkin' that ta more privacy we can get, ta better." Having to be in such a machine down at that area might be a bit embarrassing, to say the least. This one time, he'd like to minimize attention.

Once that is set, Sharkguard is ready to head down to the animal testing labs. On the way there, he asks Saravati, "By ta way. Can yarr tell me what ta landlubb- uh, kid was like? Ta one that came here and then turned villain?" Sharkguard is interested in knowing what happened, how a child turned into a villain and what he was like before. Very often he looked at the present; there is the villain and Sharkguard is the hero that confronts it. He rarely considers what a villain was like before he or she went down that dark path; this might be a good chance to learn what and why it happened to one child.

[ripleycat]

The giggle she makes leads you to think Saravati may have taken the wink and request for privacy the wrong way, but she straightens up and smiles more professionally. "Glad to hear it. It's just two floors down, we can walk easily enough. And of course we can be discreet about it if you wish. Animal testing is half empty anyway. New laws and requirements have really slashed what they can do. Not a program I hate to see struggling, to be honest. Always made me sad seeing some of the things they did. All in the name of progress, and better animals than humans, I suppose, but I'd rather not have anyone or anything suffering more than necessary."

As you descend the stairs, Dr. Simhalan mulls over your question about the patient turned villain. "Well, I haven't kept track of every single person who came through here, so I suppose there might be a few others who didn't walk the straight and narrow. But the one I remember was a teenager. Couldn't have been more than 15, if that. This was years and years ago, when I was new here. Her name was Chell, Roxanne Chell."

"Claremont sent her to us. She was a mutant, a duplicator, to use the name the papers like to give that particular ability. They wanted a full examination, since duplication can be a very unstable superpower, wanted to make sure she'd be OK. Roxanne was the most bookish, timid little thing I have ever met. I swear, I've seen kittens who were braver and stronger than she was." Saravati chuckles softly.

"Such a sickly person with such a complex ability required many examinations, so she became kind of a fixture around here. Along with Claremont's phys-ed program, we were able to build her up. She was quite the athlete by the time her time with us wrapped up, but still terribly meek."

"I don't know what happened. I've heard several different versions of the story. Fire, car crash, some of the more sensational ones claim a supervillain attack. They all end the same way. One of her duplicates was killed. Roxanne was always aware of what her 'copies' were doing, what they sensed. Not quite a hivemind, but they are not independent beings."

"This time, she had the singular experience of quite literally living through death. And that changed her. That fear, timidity that had dominated her life, gone in a second, replaced by the most incredible adrenaline rush I imagine anyone has ever had. But replicating that feeling is all that matters to her now. A daredevil, completely amoral, willing to do anything just to see what it's like. She calls herself Proxy these days. Fitting, given her powers."

"No sense dwelling on sad stories, though. Here we are!" Saravati leads you through the door into the animal testing floor. Sure enough, it's half deserted. A skeleton crew of techs working in labs that don't look nearly as sleek or hi-tech as the Hero Helper floor does. There are a lot of rooms with the lights out and equipment covered, even some where spiderwebs and dust have begun to accumulate.

Dr. Simhalan leads you to a large room in the back. This one is still bright and clean, and has several large devices set up, veterinary versions of x-ray and MRI machines, designed to accommodate creatures even larger than you, like horses and zoo animals. "See, much easier! Private, too. I can run these myself, so it'll just be us." Saravati gets you set up in the MRI machine and cuts the lights, then ducks out to the control room next door.

It's... relaxing. Lying on a pillow in a dark room with the machine humming as it glides around you, it would be easy to drift off for a few minutes.

Spoiler

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If you want, Gather Information or Knowledge (Streetwise) rolls for what (if anything) you know of Proxy's villain career.

A Notice check as well, please, for a totally different reason.

[Starsign]

Sharkguard keeps rather quiet as Saravati explains about the young girl who once came here, Chell. The shark-man has heard much about duplication and it's unstable problems, though he's never taken on one himself yet. Chell's "experience" with death via her duplicate is one such example. Sharkguard never figured such a rush of adrenaline could change a person. He found himself at a loss for words for once. The shark-man himself is, in a way, similar to the young girl; he enjoys the thrills and adrenaline of excitement and combat and has no fear of death either thanks to his willing confidence and invulnerability. Unlike Proxy however, any urges Sharkguard may have are always kept under control... If only he could teach Chell that...

As they reached the animal testing labs and it's private room, Sharkguard feels like he can relax a bit now seeing that it's just him and Saravati. The number of machines here and their variety are surprising. The MRI machine looks very welcoming for one as big as Sharkguard. As he gets in it and the lights dim, he does feel like resting. For a guy as tough as him, how much could a quick nap hurt? Just to be sure though, the shark-man keeps awake and instead letting his body rest as the machine does it's job.

Spoiler

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Notice check: (1d20+4)[14]

[ripleycat]

As much as you try to control it, the darkness and the peaceful white noise do make you a little drowsy. Eventually, though, you emerge from this twilight state, your senses telling you that something is wrong.

The only light in the room comes from the far wall, where there's a window into the control room, so the technician can monitor patients while they use the machines. You're not sure how long the imaging session is supposed to take, but you're pretty sure it's less than the nearly 20 minutes the clock on the wall says have gone past. More importantly, and more worrisome, the control room is empty, Dr. Simhalan nowhere to be seen.

[Starsign]

Having decided to tire out, Sharkguard finds himself awake in presumably the same room as before. However he didn't seem to notice anyone in the dark area. It must have been at most twenty minutes and the researcher wouldn't just leave the shark-man like this. Sharkguard had just gotten relaxed and settled with this day's events and now this unexpected turn tenses him again. "Hello?" His voice rings throughout the empty room? "Ahoy! Saravati, are yarr there?"

Seeing as he probably isn't going to get a response, Sharkguard gets out of the MRI machine hopefully without breaking it in the process. He checks out the control room that Saravati was in before and then takes his leave to examine the rest of the animal testing floor. He hopes that he really didn't fall into some sort of magnificently convoluted trap that he happens to see more often than he wishes.

[ripleycat]

There's no response from the doc (or anyone else). As far as you can tell, this is the same room, and there are no nefarious deathtraps sitting in the corners.

As you open the door, you notice a few things:

One, it's quiet, eerily quiet, even for a half-empty part of the building like this, and only a few of the lights are still on.

Two, there's a massive spiderweb blocking the hallway a couple feet in front of you, so thick you can barely see through it.

Three, there's a massive spider just behind the web, nearly as tall as a normal human and almost as big, body-wise, as you are. It seems to tilt its head to the side when it sees you emerge, and makes a curious low-pitched "chrrr" sound. It doesn't seem terribly aggressive for the moment. In fact, it seems content. If the sound it was making wasn't coming from an arachnid the size of a compact car, you might almost say it was purring.

Giant spiders! Hooray!

Spoiler

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The spiderweb is giving the rest of the room partial concealment and cover until you get past it. Toss rolls (if any) you want to make up in the OOC, and I'll resolve 'em before you post to streamline things a bit. We are not in combat time right now.

[Starsign]

Opening his way out of the MRI room, Sharkguard comes to see a very... surprising change in scenery. The empty and quiet part of the room is a little strange but what is more worrying is the massive spiderweb and massive spider in the way. The shark-man is in disbelief that one is in the building, much less right in front of him. If this area is quarantined, it'd explain why there is no one else here; it doesn't explain how the spider got here. Sharkguard's face is full of disbelief first, but after seeing the spider not being instantly aggressive, he brings a small smirk to his face. He figures that this is either a nightmare or an illusion and he doubts that a giant spider is scary enough to the shark-man to be considered a nightmare.

While he needs to get pass the spider, Sharkguard didn't want to anger it either. Breaking it's webs probably won't be the most friendly of actions but that is the shark-man's best plan right now. Sure he could blow the webs away with a little trick of his, but that will easily anger the spider if it's in range. First, Sharkguard walks up a couple feet right next to the spiderwebs. "Ahoy." He begins talking to the spider, as silly as it may seem. He keeps a friendly and calm tone as he raises a hand to greet it. "I be Sharkguard of ta thunderin' seas. Well met!"

From there, Sharkguard found himself at a bit of a roadblock regarding what to say next. It's one thing to talk with a person, it's another to a large spider that the shark-man has never seen before. He isn't sure if the spider could speak the human language, but he's hoping the spider can at least understand. "If yarr don't mind an old sailor's job, I be needin' to get over there." He points out his arm at the other side of the hallway, intentionally moving it into the spiderwebs in the process. "Do yarr speak my language or understand it?" Sharkguard begins using his arm to move inside the spider's webs and to begin clearing a path for the shark-man. With both arms he moves and/or tears out the webs only in front of him. Sharkguard takes it slow to avoid an immediate attack from the giant spider.

Spoiler

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Made a Diplomacy check on the OOC, result of 21.

Gonna make a strength check to move and/or tear out the spiderwebs in front of Sharkguard, will make on the OOC.

Not making a move action.

[ripleycat]

"Chrrr?"

The spider approaches cautiously as you start talking, then scrabbles a few steps back, making a slight growling sound then hissing loudly. It calms down quickly enough, apparently taking no further offense at the destruction of the web. The web itself is tough, really tough. It's like tearing through metal cables, and it's sticky to boot, adhering to you as you touch it. The spider approaches again. It doesn't appear to be able to speak, and it's unclear if it understands you. It raises a leg and prods at you several times, its mandibles wiggling while it sniffs the air. At least, that's what it looks like it's doing.

Apparently having determined that you aren't currently a threat (and also that you aren't edible), the spider stares up at you and makes that same curious trilling noise, shuffling back and forth in a little semicircle in front of you. It's not acting much like a giant predator. It's acting kind of like a stray dog. "Chrrrr..."

With the web out of the way, you are able to get a better look at the state of the room. It is not encouraging. Webs like the one you tore through are strung across nearly every passage and doorframe and between light fixtures hanging from the ceiling, and new ones are being strung, because your new friend is not alone. It is one of the biggest ones, to be sure, but there are three or four other spiders near the same size crawling around in the background, and at least a dozen smaller specimens, ranging from refrigerator-sized down to the diameter of a basketball. A literal stream of normal-sized spiders is invading from somewhere further down the hall, skittering about and beginning to build their own webs in the places their monstrous brethren have not already staked out.

Spoiler

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The Strength check succeeds. Sharkguard is able to tear through the web.

Diplomacy check moves the spider from Indifferent to Friendly.

[Starsign]

Sharkguard manages to relax a bit as he finds the giant spider to be quite docile... Almost cute. Between it's proding and it's actions being that of a stray dog, the shark-man almost wishes that he could have it as a pet of sorts. Either way, it's not instantly hostile so it shouldn't be deemed a danger. All those B-movies that say and show how dangerous spiders are clearly did not do their homework on animal behavior.

Sharkguard has always thought the same about Jaws after all.

Not worrying too much about the spider, Sharkguard lowers a bit to pet the giant creature before taking a very good look at what else is here. To say that it isn't pretty is an understatement and his reaction, mixed with deadpan and shock, is quite fitting. "By Poseidon's trident... This floor's become a ghost ship!"

Tons of similarly-sized spiders and hundreds of normal sized spiders populated the room. Sharkguard almost loses his relaxing pose as he views this. The lack of people-sized cucoons, or people in general, gives him the assumption that they all got out fine. It means that Sharkguard had been left behind by the others, possibly to take care of this mess, but the rest should be fine.

Right now however, Sharkguard needs to figure out what happened and how to get out. Seeing as how the windows are completely webbed up, Sharkguard probably won't be able to know how things are outside unless he smashes one of the windows. He'd rather limit the damage, both to the building and to the ears of the spider's, as much as he can. Instead Sharkguard moves to on to explore the rest of the floor to see if he can find anyone or anything of interest. Obviously the spiderwebs won't make it easy, but Sharkguard has the strength to move or tear it aside.

[ripleycat]

The other giant spiders don't seem to be as friendly as the first one, who follows you curiously as you make your way across the room, but for now they don't do anything except hiss and skitter away as you push and tear your way through the webs. The stream of little regular spiders ignores you completely, going about the business of being little regular spiders.

As you get to the hallway leading to the rest of the floor, the source of the spiders becomes clear. The elevator doors are forced open, and the little ones are marching up from 50+ stories below, somewhere down in the sub-basements. You can't even see the bottom from here, but it's a fair bet the giants climbed up the elevator shaft as well.

A few more of the monster spiders have occupied the hall and the offices opposite the elevators, and have blocked off the stairs you and Saravati used to get here as well. Beyond the elevators are more lab areas and offices, mostly the ones that weren't being used even before the floor turned into a bad b-movie. The question of why this floor, more than halfway up the massive skyscraper, has been infested first remains unanswered for the moment, as does the situation outside. Besides the windows, there are phones and computers, of course, but even if they any still work, you'll have to disturb some spiders to get to them.

What you do see that raises the stakes is one of the big spiders dragging something around the corner into the other wing of the floor. Something completely wrapped in a mass of webbing, like the little ones do with their prey. Something human-shaped.

Spoiler

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Because of the crit, I rule you don't piss off any spiders as you make your way through the room. The elevator lobby is in the middle of the two wings of the floor, and the hall narrows there. The other side is a mirror image of the area you just left, with offices and labs. The floor plan widens back up, and you can't see the entire area without actually walking into it. Think of a dumbbell or a dog bone or this tiny, terrible diagram made with smilies.

:::::

[Starsign]

Moving through the spiderwebs, Sharkguard realizes that he might have the problem of dealing with the other spiders. In a way, the shark-man shouldn't be surprised. Him moving through and breaking apart the spiderwebs is like a stranger suddenly entering your house and trashing the place up. At the very least however, he manages to reach the elevator and stairs where he sees what happened. It doesn't explain why all the spiders are on this floor but it does say where they came from... What Sharkguard needs to figure out is HOW they came to be like this. Just what kind of experiment happened way down there?

Unfortunately for Sharkguard, he doesn't quite get the chance to think of a way down. A chance turn of his head makes him see some human-shaped webbed up figure being dragged by one of the bigger spiders. Immediately, right then, Sharkguard realizes that things were going to get ugly very quickly. He didn't want to aggravate the spiders any more than he did, but now there just isn't any way around it. With all the spiderwebs separating him and the webbed figure, the shark-man has another plan to clear the webs aside from his arms.

Sharkguard gives a loud, commanding, almost angry yell to the spiders. "Move aside landlubbers!" Then the shark-man takes in air and exhales a powerful blast of salt water in the direction of where the spider with the webbed figure rounded the corner. The salt water comes out like a breath of super-strong air, threatening to tear down the spider webs in range through the force of the water... In addition to any spiders who may not have made it out soon enough. Hopefully this will leave an open area to move around in a bit.

Spoiler

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Despite the yell, there is no intimidate attempt made on the spiders. Using my Super-Strength's power feat Super-Breath (fluffed as a water-breath now) to try and remove/move the spiderwebs (and trip any spiders caught) in the way. Cone 120ft; DC 22

[ripleycat]

The mighty shout and spray of seawater rattles the walls and knocks several of the spiders from their perches. Three are struck hard enough that they fall to the ground, motionless. The spider with the human prey weathers the storm better than the others, and pulls its quarry away, into the lab. The webs, on the other hand, remain mostly intact, much of the water simply passing between the strands.

A chorus of growls and hisses erupt from behind you, as the other large spiders begin moving toward the intruder, now undeniably hostile. Your big friend growls at the noise, but does not attack, simply skittering up the wall and clinging from the ceiling.

Spoiler

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The spiders in the hallway (there are 4, including the one dragging the body) are knocked prone, and three are knocked out. The webs caught in the blast are "injured", but still intact.

The remaining spider takes two move actions, one to stand up from prone, and the other to drag the wrapped body fully into the lab room.

The hostile spiders behind you take move actions to approach, but have not reached you yet.

[Starsign]

Sharkguard sees that blowing incredible bursts of water at the spiderwebs did not do much, though it did knock out the spiders. Without an open area to move it, he's going to get surrounded very quickly. In the end, the shark-man needs to decide whether to prioritize the hostage over being in a better position to react to danger; naturally for him, he'll always focus on taking care of the hostage over his own safety.

Sharkguard only gives a quick look to see the spiders advancing before focusing on the spiderwebs. He throws his arms and later, body, at the webs. He uses all his strength to break past while they are still wet from the blast of seawater. The shark-man knew it would leave him open to attack but he did not care by this point. Someone is captured, Sharkguard can't simply leave that person for dead, and frankly the shark-man would enrage the spiders eventually no matter what he did. He has a nigh-invulnerable body; he's going to make use of it as much as he can.

Spoiler

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Going to break as many spiderwebs as Sharkguard can that are in the way of him and the corner that the spider rounded. If I can move at least 10 ft, I'd like to perform a Rush as part of a Charge (Pg 158 of the Core Book allows it as part of a charge IIRC) on the spiderwebs in the way. Not sure if he can move back a bit to do so, but if he can he'd go for it.

...If that's a legal action in the first place. If I can't Rush and Charge for any reason, I'll just break the webs right in front of Sharkguard.

Normal/Opposed Strength check: (1d20+29)[38]

[ripleycat]

The soggy webs prove no match for the might of Sharkguard, as you push through to the end of the hall to the entrance of the other lab. The spiders behind you, though, aren't hindered that way, and catch up quickly. Two hit you from behind, one simply trying to bite a chunk out of your leg, the other attempting to sink its venomous fangs into your shoulder. The third, however, hangs back a bit and throws a mass of sticky webbing at you instead of rushing into melee.

Spoiler

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Neither of those options really works for a corridor filled with things you have to break through, as you can't move the requisite 10 feet without hitting a web, but they're already damaged and this is in danger of getting tiresome, so I rule you get through.

Attack rolls are (hopefully) visible for you in the OOC. If not, they are a 17, a 19, and a 12. That is a DC 18 Reflex save, a DC 18 Fort save, and a DC 19 Toughness save, in that order, should any of them hit.

[Starsign]

Sharkguard
HP: 2
Cond: Normal

Sharkguard does his best to ignore the spiders coming at him as he does his best to move through the spiderwebs. Focusing solely on the spiderwebs meant that he is a complete, open target as he hears the spiders closing in. A quick, almost reactive step forward avoids one spider from biting his leg as the second one sinks it's teeth into his body. Whatever venom the spider may have however is wasted on the shark-man's hardy body and immune system. It would take a poison much greater than that to effect Sharkguard.

Of course what comes with the shark-man's great frame is a lack of evasion. It takes Sharkguard a little too long to realize that another spider has shot out spider silk in the form of webbing. the snare-like webbing entangles his lower body to the ground. If there's anything Sharkguard didn't want, it's to be delayed when someone is in trouble.

However all it is is webbing, just like the ones that he tore down before. With a great heave, Sharkguard tears his way out of the webbing as he continues to bolt his way down the entrance of the other lab and around the corner to follow another spider was dragging a human-sized wrapped object. As if the shark-man expected someone, he gives a boisterous shout, "Ahoy!"

He won't be surprised if he gets ambushed the moment he opened his mouth.

Spoiler

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Made a Strength check of 41 to break the snare. Using my Move and Standard actions to catch up to the spider Sharkguard is following... Provided I don't need to make another Strength check for any more webs in the way of course.

[ripleycat]

There isn't an ambush waiting for you, though the spiders behind continue to pursue, biting at you again while the one further back scurries to catch up. The one with the human prey drops its quarry and scuttles onto the ceiling, frightened by the boisterous shout.

The other lab is covered with webbing, just like the rest of the floor. Another pair of the giant spiders sit motionless at the far end, watching you warily, but not yet attacking. The wrapped-up person lies on the floor just around the corner. So do five others, all wrapped up like the one you were chasing, piled in the corner and surrounded by webs. None of them are moving, but after a moment, a muffled, pained groan escapes from one of the packages.

It's quiet, but over the growls of the spiders, you can also make out a steady, rhythmic tapping or clacking, kinda like someone wearing hard-soled shoes on a wood or concrete floor. The tapping stops, then the unmistakable metallic twang and hiss of snapping cables suddenly echoes through the lab, followed several tense seconds later by an earsplitting *CRASH* that shakes the entire building. Dust billows out of the doors forced open in the hallway. If you want to get these people out, you're not taking the elevator. And neither is anyone else.

Spoiler

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Biting spiders: (1d20+6)[8](1d20+6)[11] DC 19 Toughness saves if they hit.

[Starsign]

Sharkguard
HP: 2
Cond: Normal

The two spiders right behind Sharkguard just miss with their teeth as he rounds the corner to the webbed figures. With six of them there, Sharkguard can't remember if that's all of them when he entered with Saravati. By the looks of it however, it seems that this situation is either a lab experiment gone horribly wrong or the Dungeon Master is trying to repeat his performance at turning Majestic Industries into a horrific fantasy catacomb.

...Probably not the latter. The lab isn't a catacomb for one.

Hearing the groan from one of the webbed figures has Sharkguard relieve himself of some worry that the spiders had killed their prey. It wouldn't be pretty to explain to King how some of his employees turned up dead during what should have been a simple examination. The crash of the elevator means that escape has gotten a lot more complicated if he didn't want anyone outside to notice what is happening. Before Sharkguard can get the hostages out of their webbed coffins however, he has to deal with the three hostile spiders still trying to drive their teeth into him. He didn't exactly have the time or patience right now to try and calm all of them down normally. If anything he is getting a little agitated and in need of letting it all out.

Turning around with a serious expression, Sharkguard looks at the four or five spiders in view and roars in anger. "ENOUGH!" If there is any point where Sharkguard drops his accent, it's here. His voice calls out loud enough that he could have brought the entire building down if he was a sonic controller. Almost forgetting about common sense, the shark-man throws his fist at the wall of metal right next to him to prove his point to the spiders to back off and stay out of his way.

Spoiler

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Intimidate on the spiders: (1d20+14)[30] Not sure if a check needs to be made for the wall or not but lemme know if I need to.

[ripleycat]

The thunderous shout and the crash of your fist smashing into the steel wall does the trick. The spiders hiss and growl in alarm, all fleeing wildly down the hall into the next room, leaving you and their unfortunate prey alone for now.

Spoiler

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Spiders can't beat that result. Intimidation succeeds. No need for a roll for the punch. Combat time is over for now.

[Starsign]

Satisfied with the result of his shout and smash, Sharkguard turns around to the webbed figures. Being in such a "container" must be uncomfortable at best; can they even breathe under all that webbing? The shark-man kneels down next to one of the figures and tries to tear the webbing off. Sharkguard knows he needs to be careful; he has no clue how think the webbing is and his strength can end up harming the trapped person inside. While working on the webbing, Sharkguard tries to see if anyone is even conscious right now. "Any of yarr can hear me?" He is still tense from the situation at hand but can still use his accent just fine. "It's yarr brave sea captain, Sharkguard! Come on, I be needin' a sign that ain't a groan." It's probable that none of the trapped people can speak while under that webbing, but any sort of moment would do just as fine.

[ripleycat]

Your pleas get a mixed response. A couple of the silk-mummies, including the one you are tearing into, don't respond at all. Another simply groans again. One flops onto its side and tries to speak, but the words are too muffled to make out. The last makes an excited squawk when it hears your voice, sits up suddenly, smacks painfully into the wall, then falls back over.

The silk is quite thick and like the many webs you've torn through to get here, much too strong for a normal person to hope to break free. It's delicate, tedious work, and the person underneath gets a few bumps and scratches, but nothing serious. As you tear it away, you reveal the face of a young lab tech, a college-age kid with freckles and a peach fuzz goatee. He's unconscious, his skin is discolored, so pale it's practically blue, and his breathing is extremely shallow and irregular.

At that moment, something brushes against your back, making you nearly jump out of your skin. "Chrrr?" It's the first spider you "met." It seems more curious than defensive, making no effort to stop you, simply watching what you're doing and making that odd trilling noise. You get the feeling that if the giant arachnid had a tail, it would be wagging.

[Starsign]

Working through the spider silk is certainly not a comfortable time for Sharkguard or the trapped person. The amount of focus there is on the shark-man's face is something very rarely shown. While not exactly graceful, being able to get the face of one figure free from the webs. Based on the pale color and irregular breathing, Sharkguard can guess that they can't breathe in that silk coffin. This one should be fine in a little time but the rest will need immediate attention.

However the shark-man finds himself distracted by the spider from behind him. He almost made one of his hands into a fist before he notices it's the first spider he noticed. Seeing as it looks in such curiosity, Sharkguard pats the spider gently as he makes a small smile. "Brave little guy, aren't yarr?" Sharkguard turns back to the other webbed figures and starts working around getting their faces out of the webbing. He can completely free them afterward but for now they will be in need of some oxygen.

While working on the second trapped person, Sharkguard looks up to the spider watching him. In his own curious and optimistic tone he asks the spider, "Can yarr do me a favor and assist with gettin' this silk off?" He could almost plead if the humans couldn't hear him. "It'd be a great help for this old sailor, if yarr understand." Considering none of the spiders have spoken an actual word yet, the shark-man doubts that the spider understands English. Hopefully this might be a case of "spider see, spider do."

[ripleycat]

The spider tilts its head to the side when you start talking to it. After a few moments of watching you tear away the silk from the second person, the spider approaches and begins biting at one of the cocooned people, though this has the opposite effect from what you wanted, as the person inside screams and tries to roll away when they feel the spider jaws. The spider in turn skitters away, growling. It plants itself on the far side of the room, content to just watch.

As you tear open a breathing hole for the second victim, you see that they are also pale, discolored, and breathing shallowly. It's only then that you realize the first victim hasn't improved any since you tore away the wrappings. And being the well-trained medic that you are, it doesn't take long to figure out what's up. The unconscious pair have been poisoned, bitten by the spiders. Fortunately for them, you have antibiotics and a couple of doses of antivenom in your med kit. A couple of quick needle pokes and some forced swallowing of pills are applied, and while neither wakes up yet, both begin breathing more regularly, and a little color even returns to their skin.

[Starsign]

Trying to get the spider to help was a really bad idea as Sharkguard gives a one-in-a-lifetime, blink-and-you-miss-it look of panic. There has been many times where Sharkguard has had his eyes open in surprise or his face grim at the situation; this is one of the times when one realizes they made a mistake. Watching the spider moving to the corner at least means it will hopefully not be an issue. The bitten man will need to be treated next though, considering the bite mark.

...And the poison.

Sharkguard should have guessed that the people here were poisoned. He just didn't think they would be cocooned at the same time. Thankfully he always keeps his first aid kit with him; the only problem is if he runs out of antibiotics and antivenom... Either way, the shark-man didn't have time to spare. Focusing, he goes over to the bitten cocoon and moves away the webbing both on the man's face and the area where he was bitten. He'd apply the antivenom and treat the wound and move onto the next victim until all 6 are treated. Only after they are treated will he begin to remove the rest of the webbing on each human in here.

[ripleycat]

As you go from person to person, you find that only four have been bitten, five if you count the one your spider friend just nibbled on. You have just enough supplies to treat them all, though if anyone else gets poisoned, you'll just have to hope Majestic has an aid station somewhere or get them to an ambulance or hospital.

After an eternity of tearing away at the silk, all six are more or less free, though only two are really mobile on their own. The one who knocked themselves out by running into a wall when they heard your voice is, unsurprisingly, Dr. Simhalan. She glomps you in a relieved hug when her bindings finally come free.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou! I knew you'd save us! We didn't even have time to call for help! The elevator doors opened and those... things just started boiling out. We've got to get out of here, as quickly as possible. Aaaaah!" She spots the one sitting calmly in the corner and freaks out again.

[Starsign]

Finishing with the treatments, Sharkguard looks at his first aid kit to see that he'll need to restock on supplies after he's done here. He'd also need to find a place where the scientists can be safe. First things first however is to get everyone organized and out of this floor. Sharkguard places his hands to his side with a confident, yet relieved smile as Saravati squeezes his body in a hug. "Yarr think I was forgetting everyone? Gotta be sure that civilians are saved by ta end of ta day now!" He winks to the scientists.

Upon Saravati's little scream, Sharkguard turns around to see the friendly spider. He raises his hand to tell the scientist to calm down. "No need to worry about this youngling. Met it soon as I been out of ta MRI room and he became part of my motley crew." The shark-man pauses for a moment before rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, only member so far. The others here didn't take well to havin' their prized webs cut and then fled at my thunderin' roar. Point here is that this one's friendly; just don't be antagonizin' it or get close just to be safe."

Once Sharkguard calms down the scientists, he explains the situation at hand regarding the floor. "Alright, far as I know no one else are aware of what's happenin' to this floor. Ta elevator took a dive into black waters while I had been untanglin' yarr all however, so far as I know we're gettin' out through the stairs... 'Cept there's somethin' I gotta know." He narrows his eyes a bit on Saravati. "Mind if I ask what's hidin' in those sub-basements of Majestic Industries? Had a look down ta elevator shaft and I notice spiders comin' from there."

[ripleycat]

Despite your reassurances, the doctor gives the big spider a wide berth. She seems genuinely troubled by your question and the somewhat accusing tone.

"W-what? That's more than 50 stories. Why would they climb all that way, and why this floor?"

"Don't know. We haven't done anything with spiders here in... well, ever, really. They're not useful testing animals. The only labs I can think of that would have them at all are the ones that test products from animals, and it's pretty harmless, standard stuff from what people say. I think they've done some tests with spider silk, and they make antivenom for one of the medical supply subsidiaries. Nothing that would lead to... this." The other scientist who's up and aware chimes in.

"As for what's in the sub-basements, um, storage, maintenance, a few departments that do stuff that can't be exposed to light. Honestly, I don't go down there much, it creeps me out. I seeing like the sun. But there's nothing I know about that would..." Saravati pauses, distressed. "Sharkguard, I know Majestic has a lousy reputation but we're a medical research and heavy industry corporation, not a nest of supervillains. We don't go making giant spiders just because. I don't know what's going on. We can get access to the building blueprints once we're out of here. I'll help you as much as I can, honest."

[Starsign]

Sharkguard crosses his arms as he listens to what Saravati and the other scientist has to say. All the time during it he keeps a neutral look, as if he'll switch to any other emotion at any time. By the point Saravati is finished explaining, the shark-man is utterly still for a moment before breaking out a smile. "Well to be honest? I don't believe anyone who works in this building would do it. Even if they did, I'd not be one to be on the lookout for payback. Somethin' like that goin' public will be bad for everyone." He puts his hand gently on Saravati's shoulder. "Besides, Majestic Industries' copyright is there to help protect yarr and I don't like leaving people to fates that they may or may not deserve." He winks in a friendly manner. "I do gots a favor to ask later, but now let's get everyone else here up on their feet so we can get out of this floor, aye?"

Once everyone is able to stand and walk, Sharkguard tells the scientists to stay for a moment and motions the friendly spider to follow as he heads outside the lab. He checks the area near where the stairs are and looks to see if the passage is clear enough to go up or down a floor.