Royal [IC]

[Business Scrub]

@Axon: Struggling against the resurfaced ability to feel, you charge down the stairs again, down to 3BW. Down a hallway, left, another left. 3E-07, 3E-08. There it is: 3E-Medical.

You jimmy the door open with your paws, and step into what looks like a simple doctor's room. Quite neat and organized, untouched from the chaos outside. You dart around the cushioned chair, looking at the various shelves full of pharmaceudic names you don't recognize. Thankfully, they seem to be in alphabetical order. You pull open the drawer labelled HAMP, Hophusus, Horus Extract, Hydrexaline and grab a syringe of amber liquid in the back with the right label. That's when you feel the creature, or rather the person, who'se body you hijacked begin to rebel against your influence.

Spoiler

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Power Check versus opposed roll DC 5
Also, jesus he sucked up that roll.

[pyrefiend]

No I still need this! If you're actually a good person I'm really sorry!

Spoiler

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Power Check: (1d20+4)[20]

EAT IT

Axon forces down the internal rebellion and bolts back upstairs.

[Business Scrub]

@Axon: You force the other consciousness back and charge up the stairs once again, coming back out on 1BW. For a heart stopping moment, it looks like Rachelle has stopped breathing. As you aproach, she coughs a bit, and gives a weak smile. Not pausing to speak, she takes the syringe out of your maw and shoots it into her arm, breathing back a sigh of relief.

She ruffles the fur beside your cheeks a bit, and smiles more warmly. "Aaah, you're a lifesaver. Go get 'em, kitty."

[swrs3d]

Hourglass follows Everto's finger up to the ceiling.
Oh that can't be good.

Spoiler: Strength Check

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(1d20)[4] This isn't going to go well...

Edit: Called it

[swrs3d]

Hourglass is slammed back into the wall of the dome, having been completely over powered by the blast.

Owwww, that sucked.

From where he lays he surveys the scene, and decided it's best to stop the drill from leaving. The agents about to get crushed knew what they were getting into, even though he's the one who froze several of them there...

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Paralysis 2x on the engine of the drill and the cockpit (I assume that fits within my area of effect, if not then just the engine) Will DC 14 for the agents if they get hit.

How does that effect the engine? Since its slowing down time it would cause the pistons to fire really slowly and the drill to either move at less than snail pace or not at all. Assuming it works that is, which it should since objects can't make will saves.

Lets see them get away without an engine...

[Business Scrub]

@Hourglass: You focus on the drill, and the machinery that you figure must lie beneath it, willing it to grind to a halt.

Yet it churns on, gaining a bit of speed and digging into the wall of the earth and out of your view.

Frustrated, you try to imagine what went wrong. That should have worked, atleast in theory. But in the last few moments, the vehicle felt... off. Your hyperactive brain has plenty of time to think while the ceiling threatens to fall: now that you think of it, the drill had never spewed smoke, as you were expecting. Actually, it didn't even have an exhaust as far as you could see.

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Besides the fact that the drill happens to be straight up immune in this case, this is an excellent time to point out where flavor and crunch differ.

What Hourglass tried to do makes perfect sense. However, that application is best described as the Drain(Burrow) power. Much in the same way that you had to use an alternate power (disintigrate) to give Time Control a specific focus, you also must have the appropriate power for something like this. Gaining a momentary Alternate Power is a pretty staple use of Hero Points.

Meanwhile, most of the metahumans are getting to their feet, very disoriented, and push and shoving their way loudly towards the door. A rumble goes through the complex, as chunks of concrete begin raining down.

Spoiler

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A few more people make it to safety, however the vast majority are still in the dome.

The three of you will go, then the metahumans will get one more turn to move before the ceiling collapses. They currently have barely enough movespeed (all the once with ways to travel quickly have already escaped) to make it to the door, but it is quickly becoming very congested.

[El Zombi]

Well that didnt work quite as well as I'd hoped.

Malice looks over at the crowd of people attempting to escape the dome.

"Ok screw this, we have to get these people out of here."

Malice makes his way over to the exit, and tries to alleviate the congestion by making an alternate route.

Spoiler

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Power check (corrosion) [ roll]1d20+4 [/roll]
Edit: stupid phone

[El Zombi]

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Power check (corrosion) (1d20+4)[18]

Edit: I should probably also note that I leave the dome as well.

[pyrefiend]

Axon tries to fight through the skeezy feeling in his stomach. It's one thing to borrow this body for practical purposes, another thing entirely to be mistaken for the person to whom the body belongs. Especially since this "Clint" and Rachelle are clearly in a relationship.

"Kitty." God, I'm so creepy. Why couldn't I just get the ability to shoot lightning, or something?

He looks around the hallway for other threats.

I don't even know what's going on. "Go get 'em?" Who is "em"? Oh well, I'm in this deep. Might as well keep going.

Axon intuits that this body can take on a humanoid form, and he does so. Time to figure out what the hell is going on.

How can I ask this? Should I pretend one of the metahumans mind wiped me? No, better keep it simple...

"What's going on? I mean, what's happened up here since we last talked?"

[Business Scrub]

Rachelle gives you an odd look as you transform, which changes to concern as she realizes - or rather, figures - your memory has been tampered with. You shift back into a human form. You have no idea what you look like, of course, but this body is taller than your own body. Judging from your bare arms, decently fit as well, though nothing spectacular. Wait... bare arms? Of course. The cat form wouldn't fit in regular cloths, and apparently you weren't wearing anything that could transform with you. And so you stand stark naked before her, and try to figure out what happened.

"Oh... oh gosh. Ok. We met for lunch. I went up to HQ, and you got a text about a problem in a lab and went downstairs. *Cough* Anyway, work as usual. Then Voigt - I'm sure it's Voigt. I haven't seen him yet, but this has his stink all over it. He must have broken into the Grounds somehow I have no idea how. And then all hell broke loose. They ripped through security. We called all hands down there. Maybe that's why you were down there. Some of his men came up here and... Did all this. I took one of them down, but the other three are still running amok. You have to stop them."

She waves her hands towards the downed agent in the purple suit, as if that explains it all.

[Business Scrub]

@Malice: You push your way through the mass, and spew acid over the heads of people at the doorframe, earning an angry "What the f**k dude!" from someone in front of you.

However, your acid does it's job as the doorway widens slightly, allowing more people to push through. Not everyone yet, but it's better than before.

[swrs3d]

Oh that's bad. Ok, what resources do I have? The ceiling can't come down on the drill, too many metas in there, and we can't seem to hurt it at all anyways. Basically nothing that can stop the drill.

Hourglass turns away from the drill with a sigh, and scans the battlefield for every metas in a spot the ceiling could fall.

Spoiler: Readied Action

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Readied action to use time control to slow down any objects that are going to fall on a meta who is trying to get out of the way. Which I presume I can do twice since its a move action?

[swrs3d]

Spoiler: Power Check

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Sum of powerchecks: (2d20+8)[35]

[obilisk260]

Perceptus flies after the drill, trying to catch up. When it is in sight again, he looks for something to hold onto.

Spoiler

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Notice check: (1d20+10)[24]
Perceptus wants to hold onto the drill, preferably somewhere he won't be crushed by dirt as it drills.

[Business Scrub]

@Perceptus: You speed up to the drill, invisible as always. It's a fairly simple matter of grabbing onto a cage and holding on for the ride. In front of you, you can see the drill working. Some of the rock and dirt rains down on you and bounces off, but the vast majority seems to be being vaporized once it is ground up. You hear a cacophonous boom behind you, and watch as a massive slab of concrete falls, blocking off the way you came, and sending a rush of air into the tunnel. Hopefully you won't need to come back that way... right?

It's dark in the tunnel, the only light coming from the occasional shower of sparks from the drill. After a bit time, you begin to hear some of the metahumans beneath you stir. Then, to your surprise, a familiar voice in your head.

Mark? Is that you? I felt someone familiar. But... why are you above us?

@Hourglass and Malice: Back in the dome, the mad rush to escape continues. Malice's acid has chewed away more wall, but Hourglass quickly realizes that won't be enough by itself.
Hourglass stands as the ground above you shakes and descends. In one hyperactive instant, you see the trajectories of the falling rocks. The speed of the running metahumans. It's time to give them a fighting chance.

As the concrete comes down, you push time around each boulder. Some start to fall slowly, some slam down more rapidly than they would naturally, hitting the ground before someone runs under them. Some many of the smaller piece stop entirely, floating eerily in the air. And for an elated moment, it seems everyone's going to get out safely. Then, things start to slip. The effort takes an incredible strain on your body and mind. You let go of a boulder as a man runs beneath it, and crush him. Another is mistimed, and slams down too soon on a woman's back. Then you turn to the side, too late, and realize you've entirely neglected a group of three as the ceiling falls on them.

And... why is everything getting darker? You glace upward, exhausted from the strain, and gasp. Damnit. You're in the middle of the room too. Then, that's the last thing you remember as your vision goes dark.

People outside the room look inward as nearly every metahuman escapes as that one man stands in the middle, seemingly moving the concrete up and down at his will. Then, the block above him falls, and slams down on him, burying him beneath a high mound of concrete. With a resounding boom, the earth quakes, and dust and debris rise high into the air.

Spoiler

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Hourglass sacrifices himself to save others! Earn a hero point.

Hourglass is unconscious and dying. As per dying conditions, please make a DC 10 fortitude save. (Remember that you can use a hero point to reroll or add 10 to a roll.)

Recap:
All but five of the metahumans were saved, and unfortunately no agents survived the ordeal. Malice and Hourglass worked together to get most to safety, but Hourglass sacrificed himself in the process and lies buried.

Erik was killed, but Everto escaped with over thirty of your peers. Perceptus rides the drill, invisible and seemingly undetected, as it rumbles towards it's mysterious destination.

Meanwhile, Axon prowls the upper portion of Royal Laboratories in the body of a man named Clint, learning more behind this attack, and possibly hunting down those responsible.

Stolen Goods

5 power points +
2 power points (majority of metahumans saved) +
1 power point (Clint saved) +
1 power point (Rachelle saved) +
0 power points (agents spared)

Everyone gains another hero point, and 9 power points, which brings your power level up to 5

[swrs3d]

Spoiler: Stabilization check

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DC 10: (1d20+2)[14]

Whew, glad I didn't goof that up.

[El Zombi]

Malice looks back as the dome collapses watches helplessly as Hourglass gets crushed by the falling ceiling.

He begins frantically blasting away at the rocks, melting the rock in front of him in an attempt to reach Hourglass.

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Malice is making use of his alternate power, burrowing! I was going to just use a hero point to extra effort it but we got new power points so I just added it. If you want me to still use the hero point that's fine, but I was just going to get the ability afterwords anyways.

When he actually comes across Hourglass Malice will drag him out of the rubble, and ask any of the by-standing meta-humans if they can heal, if not, he will begin searching for a way to transfuse blood (being that Malice happens to be -O and is trained in medicine) and use heal checks on Hourglass. Since Malice has use of the improved tools feat, even a crudely constructed rig will help (or at least not hurt) his medical abilities.

[pyrefiend]

Damn. Alright, this body definitely belongs to one of the good guys.

Axon stands in front of Rachelle feeling very award and very naked.

"...OK. Thanks. This is a bit of a weird request, but I'm going to need you to repeat that in about three seconds."

Then he shoots out of the possessed body directly upwards, moving through the ceiling to try to find one of the attacking metas.

[Business Scrub]

@Malice: Desperate to save your friend, you throw yourself at the rubble as soon as the dust clears, and begin melting it away. One of the metahumans speaks up at your request.

"Yeah... yeah, I can help. Err, quickly people, maybe someone survived that."

Eventually, you pull a broken and bloody Hourglass out of the rubble, and call the man over. From his hands extend vine-like tendrils that crisscross over Hourglass and help to set his spine and repair his broken bones.

Spoiler

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Hourglass: Immediate recovery check at +6 bonus.

Others fan out to the unfortunate metahumans, when you hear, "Hey, I've got one!"
The man near Hourglass runs over once he knows that he won't die.

Meanwhile, most of the gathered people talk quietly in a circle not too far away.

@Axon: You leave Clint's body and fly upward, as you hear an outraged, What the hell?!, followed by shouting. The floor above you seems fine, if abandoned. If you remember correctly, this building had four above ground floors, and this seems to be the first.

[swrs3d]

Spoiler: Recovery Check

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(1d20+6)[23]

Hourglass shutters awake, visibly in extreme pain. Seeing Malice next to him:
"Thanks for digging me out, I was in deep trouble there. How long was I buried? The last thing I remember is a huge shadow falling over me and a lot of screaming...which might have been me, I can't remember."

[swrs3d]

As he lays there Hourglass' various scrapes and cuts fade away into knowing, seemingly of their own accord.

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Healing power, he was thinking about the injuries so his powers acted on them. They we're all minor (uninjured at the end of the fight) so I didn't roll.

That isn't normal...
"Ah! Maybe I can do that to the others! I pulled chunks of rock back in time, why not a person!
I hope.

With that, he jumps up and runs to the nearest seriously injured or dying meta.
Ok, I don't know anything about biology, and now I'm a field medic. Great. Uhhh. Ok.
He grabs the person's shoulders in both hands and tries to pull them back to before they got hurt.

Spoiler: Healing check

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Healing check: [ROLL]1d20+5[/ROLL]. They can regrow limbs and stuff from the healing, and can recover multiple conditions in one check if it succeeds by enough.

[pyrefiend]

Leaving a body behind feels like jumping into cold water.

Ahh, I never realized how confining it is to be wearing all those organs all the time. Let's see... I can deal with those agents later. Where's black flame guy? I saw him come up the staircase, I guess I can start there.

Axon scouts around the hallways, trying to find more of the strange flames he saw earlier or the person who's creating them.

[El Zombi]

Once Hourglass has recovered, Malice breaths a sigh of relief. His job is not over yet, so he goes about the rubble looking for those injured or dead to bring to Hourglass (or that other meta) for healing or resurrecting.

Spoiler

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Search check for the area: (1d20+4)[20]

Also, Malice's rage is wearing off now, so he's fatigued, which will slow down his searching at least for the next ten rounds.

[swrs3d]

Spoiler: Healing roll that I didn't do before

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(1d20+5)[23]
Must add extra text...

[Business Scrub]

@Axon: Finding the flame spitting man is not hard. You rise up to the next floor, hearing a bit of commotion up there. The second floor is in flames, and you spy the man laughing manically as he reduces a security guard to a blackened skeleton. Beside him, another purple-suited man with fingers like long claws, growls angrily as he scraps at a closed metal door.

The flaming man notices you as you arrive, and speaks to you in a distinctly British accent.

"Hahah-- Oh, hello! You here for the show as well?"

Spoiler

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Initiative:
Jack the Ripper
Axon
Singed

Jack spent his turn clawing at the door, so it's Axon's turn.

@Hourglass and Malice: You look around the room at the other crushed people. The man that healed Hourglass before seems to be bringing one other back to consciousness, but the others seem to have shuffled off.

Meanwhile, a man stands on a block of concrete and addresses you all. You recognize him from earlier today: Mitch, one of the people from the same flock as Jamie and Alice.

"Echem. Alright everyone, listen up. Look, I don't know what the hell happened here. I don't think anyone else does either. But one thing's for sure: we have to strike back. I was talking to some of the others. These whackjobs in the masks? They're just regular people. You all might not know what you do yet, but clearly you're better than regular people. And we need them to know this! So whose with me?"

The assembled people, looking for direction, seem to nod and agree with him.

[swrs3d]

"Woah now, lets not start feeling all superior. Just because we paid to get a few new skills doesn't make any of us any better than we were before. Judging by how quickly you made this into us versus them, I'm guessing you think you've got something to prove here. Just why are you 'Better' than anyone else because you can throw fire, or fly?"
Turning to address the crowd.
"Now, let's not start any fights until we've figured out what just hit and killed a good number of us. A bunch of them ran off into the main complex. Do you really want them to get the technology to make more of us? Anyone who wants to get come with be now. I need anyone fast to run ahead and act as scouts. Anyone who can dig get to it, I saw at least five of us go down under the rocks. I survived, maybe they did too."

Hourglass turns and starts walking slowly towards the entrance to the complex. Listening for the crowd, and most importantly Mitch's reaction, ready for an attack.

Spoiler: Readied action

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Paralyze on Mitch if he tries to come at me. Area around him since he's standing apart from others enough that I can safely just hit him.

[El Zombi]

"Agreed. these "normal people" took out quite a few of us, imagine what they would do with powers like ours?"

Malice turns to follow Hourglass. He speaks quietly so the others can't hear: "Hourglass, we also need to find that psychic that contacted us just before the attack started. She may be able to contact Perceptus and Axon and give us an idea of where they went. We don't know if Perceptus was successful, and Axon could be anywhere."

Spoiler

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I'm pretty sure you spotted her earlier Hourglass, so you should check to see if she's still here.

And I know Perceptus said he'd meet us in the city center in a few hours, but having a direct line of communication would be super useful in the short term.

[Business Scrub]

Mitch laughs humorlessly.
"You mean Alice? Yeah, she was one of my group. I watched those bastards gun her down and throw her into a cage."
He looks at Hourglass.
"But don't you get it? You don't just feel superior. You actually are better. Those were coordinated, trained men. What were we, a ragtag group of misfits? And yeah, a lot of us got taken. Too many. But you drove them back because we were better. Imagine what you could do with a bit of practice."

He looks at the crowd now, which seems to be listening to both sides.

"Here's what I say. I say f*ck Royal. Did you see one single member of security down here when all that happened? No. I bet they're busy covering their own asses. Look, my family owns a big house by the coast, a ways away from the town, but we've stopped using it forever ago. I say we all go there. You learn to control whatever this is. And then we show them why they shouldn't f*ck with us again!"

His conviction is a bit infectious, as many of the people on the ground shout their agreement.

[swrs3d]

"Well that isn't the best news I've heard all day. Perceptus will figure out to have her contact us though, assuming she's conscious."

"There were also four times as many of us. Image what happens if actually security forces get involved and if we were out numbered? That isn't a fight I feel like picking. Enough people got killed in this small skirmish. There is no reason to be hostile to normal people, who don't even know we exist. We are in the unique position to set the ground rules for being a metahuman in society. If we come out guns blazing from a remote house in the woods you can bet our cause will be set back by decades. People fear change like nothing else, why give them reason to?"

"As for Royal, yeah to hell with them. The company can burn to the ground for all I care, and it probably is actually, right now. That doesn't mean we should let whoever attacked us get a hold of the technology that made us. At the very least if we can't get it into safe hands we should destroy it so we don't have to fight a flood of super powered thugs in the coming weeks. Everto's men are strong enough without powers."

[swrs3d]

Spoiler

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Diplomacy Roll:(1d20+5)[6]