In Dreams to Come

[Grim ranger]

Being as he was right in front of Brava, Summit took the brunt of the sheer POWER of the woman's flex, left staring for a long, long moment. He admittedly felt rather put down by her casual disregard of his attack, so in that regard her show was a complete success... But when it came to the flex itself, there was thankfully a factor at work that helped him to snap out of staring slack-jawed almost instantly.

Namely, the growing utter loathing he harbored towards the maniac of a woman for initiating this kind of costumed mayhem out of sheer stupidity.

His bubbling anger reaching deep into the earth to drag the hardest rock and what volcanic materials he could find in such a place to the surface, Summit let out a growl of rocks grinding against each other. "Truly, your wit has never been equaled. Exceeded, often, but never equaled" he replied before the most durable stone he could find sprung out from the earth as simulacrum of himself, going on to blur into motion with rain of punches aimed against the annoyingly quirky villain.

Spoiler: Actions

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Using Earth my Armor and Besiege. Boosting Besiege with +4 from Power attack and +1 from all-out attack for full +5 before making routine attack against Brava.

[Dorni]

Behind his mask, Simon allowed himself a smile of respect for Asher. The man had recognized his chi-based attack for what it was and jumped in the way to parry the attack and protect Brava. Pity that Asher hadn't been nearly up to the task of actually pulling it off and the augmented force of the strike had launched him clear across the street and into the wall of the building with an ugly sounding crack. But he'd still identified the danger and leaped to his teammate's defense, and that earned the man at least a little of Simon's respect.

Then the moment passed and Simon returned to raining precise, chi infused strikes on the struggling Brava. "This is the best the great Brava Suldoon has to offer? How many more of your toadies do I need to go through to get to you?"

Spoiler

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Extra Effort: Attack Brava with Gentle Fist. DA 2 still in effect. Routine for 20. On hit, Dodge DC 23 + Multi-Attack vs Damage and DC 18 vs Move Object.

Status: +2 Defenses, Fatigued (Exhausted next turn)

[Quellian-dyrae]

Round 4

Asher had been performing martial arts since he was a child. While he had no personal proficiency with the Dymaran practice of Chi, he had faced practitioners many times. He recognized the move Simon was making, designed for taking down tough foes. Of course, it was worthless if it didn't land a solid hit.

It was honestly almost annoying. Two hard-core melee Sleepers, and now a Chi-user. Asher had so many people he wanted to fight here, he wasn't going to get a chance to punch out any Dreamers!

As Simon struck, the brawler leaped in. "Come at me br-" he challenged as he brought an arm around for a swift block that Simon, as a master martial artist in his own right but one who was augmented by a kinetic force suit basically smashed right through, sending Asher flying to slam into a building across the street.

"...Ow."

And then Makhana came charging back in, lunging for Asher, but even injured the master martial artist ducked and rolled beneath the strike. He came back to a ready stance, staring at the dust cloud that was now hiding Makhana.

Asher Sato had battled many and powerful enemies in his life.

But he had never fought a giant Perallan beast.

"No, you know what!? Screw you! Bring it! Bring it all on! LET'S DO THIS THING!"

...Yeah. He wasn't going to be punching any Dreamers out this fight.

Here's the thing. Ioudas was more prepared for Sheema this time. But, uh, Sheema knew his style too. And she knew his weakness. His one, critical vulnerability.

Getting run the flip through with a sword.

So she batted his spear aside, stepped into his reach before he could get back to a ready stance, and ran him the flip through with a sword!

Down went Ioudas. He hadn't even had the chance to tell her where he had gotten Galadhil. Sad.

Brace eye Gestalt for a moment, deflecting his strike with a gesture of his hand. "I'm sorry. Have we met?"

Raptor Attack unleashed his lightning on Brava...and the avian summon hit her hard. The electrical energy coursed through Brava's body like electricity was supposed to - without caring one whit how tough or how healthy you were. Brava began seizing wildly, jerking around spasmodically from the electrical attack.

"T-t-t-t-t-t-tingly!" she stammered out spastically.

Mandragora's vines crashed down upon her, giving her a solid battering, but the powerhouse endured, and even her wild spasms were strong enough to throw off his vines. Summon unleashed the full power of his terrakinesis upon her, but the rocks shattered upon her impervious skin - although there were plenty more where they came from. Simon executed another Chi attack, but Brava, while definitely stronger than she was quick, was still objectively fast, and managed to avoid most of it.

The powerhouse's eyes were shining with a gleeful fury, and she was wearing a fierce, wolfish smile.

"Ah-h HA-A!" she guttered out.

"Y-y-your p-p-petty ins-sults b-b-bounce off m-my invuln-nerable sk-k-kin as h-h-harmlessly as y-your p-p-puny f-f-f-f-fists!"

Through all her seizing, Brava raised her arm up and made a muscle. In fact, tensed every muscle in her body hard as steel.

"For I!"

The seizing. Stopped.

"AM BRAVA!"

Up went Brava's enormous arms, hands clenched into massive fists.

"SULLLLDOOOOOOOOON!"

Brava's brought her hands down hard, slamming the ground with unspeakable force, concussive shockwaves exploding out from both impacts, blasting everyone and everything nearby.

Human or not.

Enemy or not.

Conscious or not!

Burnscar got a psychotically wide grin on his face. So...they weren't caring about friendly fire anymore, were they? WORKED FOR HIM! The former surgeon raced into the middle of the fray and turned his aura up to maximum intensity. The very air around him ignited like napalm - and like Brava, he had precisely zero care who was in the area.

Warlock gave a little cough, found himself entirely comfortable with his choice to add the Ranged Extra to so many of his powers thank you very much, and focused on Gestalt. The summoner could feel the oppressive sense of doom falling over him.

Asher, in abject defiance of logic, sanity, and his past performance in this battle, went at Makhana all out and without blinking, hammering on with a rapid flurry of blows while staying light on his feet and ready to defend against the rhino's return attack! One thing you had to give Asher Sato. A coward he was not.

--

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world.

Josh came racing in at full speed. There was Flashpoint, blasted into the Perallan cliffs. Injured, reeling. Helpless. This was it. The moment. With one final devastating blow, Josh would strike down his enemy in a defeat that would be felt across the fabric of Time itself!

He came within feet, and Flashpoint, dazed and disoriented, still hadn't moved.

Within reach.

Within inches.

Within millimeters...!

He saw Flashpoint suddenly smile.

There was no opportunity to correct.

Flashpoint was faster than him!

WHAM!

Josh slammed full-speed into the side of the cliff.

Flashpoint had dodged.

Off raced the injured speedster, seeking to put some distance between himself and Flashpoint.

The friction runner sauntered after him. Even as hurt as he was, wherever Josh tried to run, he followed behind him casually. There was no escape.

"Trick the faster speedster into running into border defense weaponry," Flashpoint said, and though there was pain - and anger - in his voice, he covered it mostly up with self-satisfied bemusement. "Not bad. I'll remember that one."

Even as he spoke, his cuts and bruises seemed to be fading away, rapidly healing thanks to his hasted metabolism.

"I still don't know what you ever thought to accomplish."

"But I guess it doesn't matter anymore."

It was starting to get uncomfortably warm...

Spoiler

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Brava:
Move: Dazed.
Standard: Shockwave Strike. Everyone in 60' (Raptor Attack, Simon, Aquila, Sheema, and Mandragora) give me Dodge DC 24 for half, Toughness DC 29/22 vs. Damage. Twelve ranks of this attack have a Secondary Effect.
Extra Effort - Additional Standard Action: DO IT AGAIN! The Secondary Effects overlap, but if you fail one Dodge save and succeed the other, the SE will carry its full twelve ranks rather than half.
End of Turn: Regenerate a Bruise. Brava can regenerate three more conditions this scene. Brava will use Ultimate Effort (Fortitude) to auto-pass the recovery check for the Affliction; Gestalt take a Hero Point.
Burnscar: Dodge: (1d20+13)[26]. Toughness: (1d20+16)[17]. Dodge: (1d20+13)[28]. Toughness: (1d20+16)[24]. Bruised
Ioudas Toughness: (1d20+11)[27], (1d20+11)[17], and gonna just roll his SE here: (1d20+11)[27]. KILLED!
Deathwish Toughness: (1d20+14)[26], (1d20+14)[34], SE: (1d20+14)[26]. ABOUT TO DIE!
And since this one pretty much destroys the building:
Judy: Dodge: (1d20+14)[30]. Toughness: (1d20+12)[30]. Dodge: (1d20+14)[30]. Toughness: (1d20+12)[28]. Hot dang Judy! Tanks it like a BOSS!
NOTE: Judy defaults to fleeing. She can be convinced to assist (taking support actions only) with a Persuasion or Intimidation check, DC 25 + 2 per degree of failure she receives on these resistance checks, or to fight with a two-degree success. This check cannot be Routined, and must be made as a standard action, or as a move action with a -5 penalty.

Burnscar:
Move: Into AA25.
Reaction: Burning Aura affects everyone in 30'. On a hit, Toughness DC 23 vs. Damage.
Brava: Impervious.
Ioudas: (1d20+16)[31]. Toughness: (1d20+11)[31]. Would have resisted that one, but already dead.
Deathwish: (1d20+16)[31]. Toughness: (1d20+14)[31]. Still only about to die!
Simon: (1d20+16)[20]. Miss
Raptor Attack: (1d20+16)[31]. Hit
Sheema: (1d20+16)[20]. Miss
Aquila: Impervious.
Standard: Heighten Aura. Everybody in 15' (Raptor Attack, Simon, Aquila, Sheema) Dodge DC 22 for half, Toughness DC 27/21 vs. Damage. This attack carries a Secondary Effect (separate from Brava's), and if you remain in the area at the end of your turn, you are subject to it again, pushing out the SE one round.
Brava: Dodge: (1d20+10)[29]. Toughness: (1d20+16)[30]. Tanked
Ioudas Toughness: (1d20+11)[19], SE: (1d20+11)[24], Cloud: (1d20+11)[25]. I don't think there's anything left...
Deathwish Toughness: (1d20+14)[17], SE: (1d20+14)[26], Cloud: (1d20+11)[30]. KILLED!

Warlock:
Move: Oh no, he's fine where he is, thanks!
Standard: Warlock's Curse on Gestalt. Fortitude DC 22 vs. Impaired+Vulnerable/Disabled+Defenseless.

Asher:
Move: Staggered.
Free: Give. Not. One. Single. Solitary. FLIP!
Standard: Attack Makhana(!) with Defensive Fighting, Power Attacking for 5, -5 for Total Concealment (I didn't give him Precise Attack? ) at (1d20+4)[8]. On a hit, Toughness DC 26+Multiattack vs. Damage. Asher is Deflected at 1d10+24. Oh, Asher.
End of Turn: Regeneration 5/10.

Flashpoint:
Free: Swap to Hasted Recovery.
Move: Staggered.
Standard: Chase Josh.
End of Turn: Regenerates a Bruise. Secondary Effect triggers; Flashpoint is Deflected one more time.

All PCs are on turn.

[manwithaplan]

Darting through the Perallan undergrowth, Josh barely had the strength left to stand. His mask was yet to be removed - his plan was still in one, albeit pathetic and mangled, piece. But the facade of the Prophet was gone - there was no more energy for bravado. And looking behind him now, he finally saw what was missing between him and Cyrus.

Power. To a certain extent Josh had always believed Dreamers aged like wine. He himself had certainly seemed to, even though he was still young. He had been delighted to discover that Flashpoint, without as many years under his belt, was not the behemoth he would soon be. It made hin more assailable. It also entertained the illusion that Josh would be somewhat like him, ten years down the track.

But a skeevish glance over his shoulder as they sprinted around the trees was enough, because he watched the very wounds Marketh had inflicted as they began to reknit themselves, Flashpoint's very physiology too fast to be concerned with such trivialties as wounds. They would leave his presence like just as many pests. Power, Josh begrudgingly noted, was something you were, not something you achieved when you hit a certain level of Spiritual Energy or miles per hour. Josh had an incredibly fast metabolism, but he could still be hurt. He was easy to hurt. To feel like Flashpoint did at that moment, to be outsmarted and outmatched and still be winning because you are better, was completely outside of the boy's nature. And at the thought of it, a tear pricked up in his eye, his own future of tricks and luck and bare survival in spite of weakness becoming a reality.

But it also made him angry. And anger let him focus. He'd be unconcscious soon, but right now he was clear.

"You had to be warned," he spat over his shoulder. "It's only fair. Five years, and I'd say don't be late, but that's unbecoming of us. Just be prepared."

Sprinting ahead with a final call of agony, the Prophet got some distance and then grabbed a small tree trunk, twisting himself around it and throwing himself back towards his antagoniser in a final charge.

"Haaaarghh!"

Spoiler

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Using my own Hero Point to come back from Incap.

Standard Action: Ready to hit Flashpoint on his turn with Body Slam, All-Out Power Attack 2.
Extra Effort Action: Aiming.

On Flashy's turn, Attack (1d20+13)[30] for DC 29+Multiattack Damage, Secondary Effect, Josh Toughness (1d20+3)[15].

Status: Bruised, Staggered, Exhausted, Unconscious next turn, -2 Defence.

[Dorni]

As Brava brought her fists crashing down, Simon lept up and over Brava, turning in a flip. It wasn't only for style; the shockwaves from Brava's attack would radiate primarily outward from the point of impact and be at their weakest directly above her. The shockwave still buffeted him, but the maneuver let Simon avoid Brava's attack mostly unharmed.

It also afforded Simon a moment to reassess the battle. History indicated the 'Omega Force' had never been a long lived group or known for having tight bonds between members, but being fully willing - and in the case of Burnscar, eager - to kill their own teammates changed the calculus. It forced him to revise upward his estimate for potential collateral damage and appropriate response.

"Princess, Raptor, with me," Simon barked, lunging into the heart of Burnscar's firey aura to assault the Dreamer himself. "Vines, go for Warlock. Summit; Brava."

Spoiler

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Move: To AA24
Standard: Team Attack Burnscar with Sheema. Using Gentle Fist: (1d20+12)[27]
If Raptor Attack attacks Burnscar, please resolve Raptor Attack's strike first.

[Starsign]

Sheema had just reached for Galadhil, once again with its original owner down on the ground, when a devastating shockwave propelled her away and into the wall. She hits the cement wall with a painful, awful thud; her dark-skinned body rattles in pain. Ugh, that Brava woman hits harder than Sheema thought, and she was aware that Brava smashed Makhana into buildings! The napalm blast coming from that other villain was hot air by comparison!

The Heiress groans as she comes out from the small crater her body made from the shockwave. She reaches over to grab Galadhil, now stuck on the wall, and checks over to see whether Ioudas-

...Oh, he's a pile of ash now. Hope the Highland Rooks won't mind being one member short!

Sheema grimaces slightly in her scratched up kelvar as she pulls out Galadhil, now having a proper new owner, as she wields it once again. The spear feels as natural in her hands as it's always been. If the legend about Galadhil is true then Ioudas must not have had it for long. With any luck, Sheema will live longer with it.

She gets ready to hold her breath as she twirls Galadhil out in front of her to repel some of the napalm air. "It's Heiress!" she retorts to Simon, deciding to take up that name, as she charges in with him to help take down Burnscar before he turns the entire building into a deadzone. Flanking the villain, Sheema rushes with a fast flurry of quick stabs, forcing the villain to either take the blows or run into Simon's strikes instead.

Makhana, meanwhile, is uncharacteristically sitting out of the napalm problem and instead is stuck dueling a human. To say that she's unimpressed is an understatement. The giant dire rhino gives a harsh, rude glare to Asher as he threw a series of attacks that are fast; she has to give the fool credit to his speed. However, a fool is still a fool, and his strikes and blows hit nowhere neat his target as the rhino casually parries them with her horn!

The two pause as his right foot ineffectually hits the hardened material of her horn. Makhana grunts with a fierce look, unimpressed and unhappy. She likes fighting strong enemies, not some thin Sleeper that can't throw a clean punch! She expresses her displeasure by stomping forward, swinging her horn upward and then trying to stomp Asher down with her front-right hoof; sand continues to fly around her with every violent move made.

Spoiler: OOC

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Alrighty, Sheema will Team Attack to boost Simon's DC, using Galadhil and Frenzied Fighter if that means anything. But given she's just boosting his DC, I don't think it is. Accurate Attack +5/-5 to try and give Simon the maximum bonus: (1d20+19)[31] Should still be 5 within Simon's DC to apply.

Makhana, meanwhile, will use Defensive Shockwave on Asher again. This time she is using Defensive Shockwave, +3/-3 Accurate Attack in an attempt to both damage and grab Asher: (1d20+10)[23] DC 26 Toughness + DC 19 Fort vs Impaired/Disabled/Incapacitated on a hit. Makhana has Concealment 4, Evasion 2 and Improved Crit 2.

[Born]

Brava's two massive shockwaves shot through the building, hammering the wall and shooting through Mandragora. When the wall threatened to give way, Mandragora was forced to let go (an act that was helped along by the sudden pain that was shooting through him). He unfolded his broadleaf wings to glide safely to the ground.

Simon's command to wrap up Brace did not come as a surprise, but Mandragora had been hoping not to antagonize Warlock in the hopes that he would leave after Brava was defeated. At this point, though, it was looking like Brava was still going to take some punishment. He extended his vines far past the burning brawl to slam into the spellcaster, and yelled out "Please don't take this personally!"

Spoiler: Actions

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Free: Begin glide
Move: Dazed
Standard: Vine Lash on Warlock. (1d20+11)[28]. On a hit, DC 26 + Multiattack Toughness vs. damage, and DC 26 Strength/Dodge vs. grab.

[DukeGod]

"Aye aye, Field Commander!"

Raptor shoots forward. Flying straight towards burning death is much less harder than attacking Brava Suldoon after all.

It zig zags a bit in flight, evading the weird air currents and drafts generated by the heat, before finding a nice spot, and with a flap of wings, throws itself full speed towards Burnscar, claws first, as it carves one of its feet into her arm, repositioning and going with the other at her chest

Gestalt meanwhile decides to pull off the old trick, it seems they were approaching the end and getting tired. With a flash of light, his multihued holographic cape appears as he floats slightly in the air

"It's almost over now! PUSH THROUGH THIS WALL, ENDURE, FALL AND RISE, FOR WE CAN DEFEAT THEM!!"

Spoiler

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Raptor Attack
Standard: Charges Burnscar, attacking with Shock Claws

Gestalt
Move: Floats 10 feet of the ground. Because he can
Standard: Activates Caped Hero, spending his last

[Quellian-dyrae]

Round 5

Flashpoint scoffed as "the Prophet" rushed him in a last, desperate attack. Did he not understand? Flashpoint was stronger than him. More powerful than him. Faster than him! There was nothing that the lesser speedster could do, no attack he could mount, that Flashpoint could not react to.

It was time to end this.

Flashpoint struck back, no desperate lunges, no dramatic shouts. Just a straight, hard punch right for the Prophet's face, confident he would be fast enough to strike his opponent down before his attack so much as touched him.

And, you know, it was true. Flashpoint was faster and more powerful than Josh. He was ludicrously, stupidly fast and powerful both. Even now, years before he would achieve his maximum potential, he had all the power and all the speed he could possibly ever need.

But that was the thing, wasn't it? It was all he would ever need. Flashpoint could dominate nearly any opponent through the sheer strength of his Dreamer power. He didn't need anything other than that. No fancy gear. No special tricks.

No particular skill.

Josh's fist, already raised to strike, shifted with the subtle, instinctive grace that could only be earned with devoted, repeated training. It moved at just the right moment, that flickering fraction of an instant between when a speedster made the decision to act, and when its body instantaneously performed the action it had decided on.

So instead of meeting Josh's face, Flashpoint's fist connected straight-on with Josh's own, the full force of both inestimable velocities slamming directing into each other.

But although Flashpoint was moving faster, he was only moving that one arm. Josh had the full weight of his body and the full momentum of his charge rush behind his fist.

The impact shocked through Josh painfully, knocking the breath out of him even though the impact had not struck anywhere near his chest.

But the force of it shattered Flashpoint's wrist and deflected his fist inches past Josh's head.

Josh's momentum, fully committed, continued on unhindered.

*WHAM!*

Josh slammed Flashpoint full in the chest at his full speed, cracking every rib in a dozen places and sending Flashpoint flying over a dozen yards back until he slammed into a tree with a sickening crunch.

In what seemed like torturously slow motion to the senses of a speedster, the sluggish force of gravity took hold, and the friction runner dropped, millimeter by millimeter, to land face-first to the loamy ground of the Perallan jungle.

And did not stir.

--

Back in Adaros, Raptor Attack swooped at Burnscar with his crackling claws, but the superheated air around the pyrokinetic caused an updraft that sent the avian up too high. Undeterred, Simon and Sheema braved the flames of his aura, Sheema putting her full weight behind the indestructible tip of Galadhil while Simon unleashed a rapid barrage of blows striking his Chi channels.

But Sheema couldn't get close enough to score a deep wound without risking ignition, and even protected by his suit, Simon couldn't land a solid enough blow without risking his hands burning to stumps from the duration of contact. The attacks hurt, sure, and even forced him back a step. But this was Burnscar, and pain was an old friend.

Makhana came down on Asher with a crushing stomp, but even injured, the brawler was quick on his feet, leaping back. No fancy flips or wasteful displays; his movement was quick and expended the absolute minimum energy he could, while still carrying him out of her way with graceful economy of motion.

Warlock's wards held off Mandragora's vines, but the phytomorph was a more experienced combatant than he had been in their previous battles - and in particular, more experienced at dealing with Warlock in particular. This time he was ready for the deflective field that caused his vines to slip away, and counteracted it by grabbing high around the mage's limbs and expanding his hold outward once he had gotten a secure grip. In moments, Warlock was securely bound spread-eagled in the air.

"How am I supposed to not take this personally!?" he shouted back, struggling futilely against the hold.

Aquila kept up his assault, hammering Brava with blow after crushing blow, even as he built up his earthen armor even more. Brava was a beast in terms of direct physical combat, but even she couldn't ignore the tremendous power of the Prince of Earth indefinitely.

She faced him directly. "AH-HA! So, little crumbly man, you want to slug it out with Brava Suldoon!?"

A huge grin split her face as she clenched both of her enormous fists, his muscles snapping taut as steel. "Very well! LET'S SLUG IT OUT!" she yelled exultantly, coming at Summit in just a straight-up barrage, blow after crushing blow hammering down on his earthen armor, even as he continued maintaining his siege, sending fist after stony fist right back at her. Physical powerhouse and terrakinetic powerhouse met in a straight up pummelling contest that would reduce most any Dreamer to paste, and neither looked inclined to let up until the other had stopped moving!

Meanwhile, the aftershock of her previous shockwave rocked through the area.

Asher grimaced as he saw Mandragora bind the Warlock. No way the unathletic mage was going to get out of that. "Fine then! Looks like it's up to me..." he muttered darkly, almost as if he was under the impression that he had had, like, any meaningful effect on this battle at all.

Asher rushed Mandragora at top speed, leaping into the air a solid thirty feet away and coming at him with a devastating flying kick, aiming to knock the plant-man away with such force that he would lose his grip on Warlock. "HYAAAAA!"

...I'mma be honest, most likely that wouldn't work, but on the off chance it did, Warlock would follow up by making a grasping gesture at Gestalt, attempting to drain his life force and absorb it to heal himself.

Burnscar was, on the one hand, being beset on all sides. On the other hand, he was standing in the middle of his aura on full intensity, which totally worked for him. He unleashed blasts of flame at each of his attackers in turn even as his aura continued working to fry them to a crisp.

Judy looked over the destroyed building, the cloud of fire, the dead bodies, the complete and total war going on between the Heroes and OMEGA FORCE!!!!!, and seemed about to run, but Gestalt's exultation boomed over the field, and the artificer narrowed her eyes with determination. She assessed the field, and ran bravely into Burnscar's fire, splashing Aquila with a healing potion on the pass.

Spoiler

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Aquila:
Free: Swap to The Earth My Guardian.
Move: Staggered.
Standard: Concentrate. Brava takes Toughness DC 36 Damage (rolled previously).

Flashpoint:
Standard: Attack Josh with- Interrupted by Readied Action. INCAPACITATED! FLASHPOINT IS DOWN! Josh take a Hero Point and 15 bonus Harry Flashpoint successes!!!

Brava:
Move: Attempt to Startle Summit, Routine Intimidation for 29 opposed by (1d20+17)[33]. Resists
Standard: Attack Summit with Assault and Battery, Power Attacking for 4, at (1d20+6)[17]. On a hit, Toughness DC 26+Half Multiattack ((1d20+17)[27]) vs. Concentration Damage. Hit. No Multiattack. Resists.
End of Turn: Regenerates a Bruise. Brava can recover from two more conditions this scene.
End of Turn: Secondary Effect triggers. Simon and Sheema, Toughness DC 27 vs. Damage. Raptor Attack, Toughness DC 21 vs. Damage.
Burnscar Toughness (DC 21): (1d20+14)[25]. Resists
Summit Toughness (DC 21 after Half Immunity): (1d20+17)[25]. Resists

Asher:
Move: Staggered.
Free: Mobility to Increase Speed. Can't fail
Standard: Charge Mandragora and attack with Mixed Martial Arts at (1d20+8)[11], critting on 16+. On a hit, Toughness DC 25 vs. Damage, Fortitude DC 20 vs. Impaired+Vulnerable/Disabled+Defenseless, and he'll use the Linked Move Object to attempt an Escape maneuver for Asher at (1d20+11)[31] (DC 26). Oh my god Asher you are so useless. SO! USELESS!
End of Turn: "Regenerate" a Bruise.

Warlock: (if freed, otherwise he's basically useless)
Move: ...No?
Standard: Life Leech on Gestalt at (1d20+12)[14]. On a hit, Toughness DC 27 vs. Incurable Damage, and Warlock receives Healing at (1d20+12)[30], with degrees capped by degrees of damage inflicted. ...Would have missed even if Asher wasn't SO USELESS!

Burnscar:
Reaction: Aura triggers. Toughness DC 23 on a hit.
Raptor Attack: (1d20+16)[24]. Hit
Simon: (1d20+16)[27]. Hit
Sheema: (1d20+16)[26]. Hit
Summit: (1d20+16)[17]. Toughness: (1d20+17)[23]. Miss, and would have resisted even if it didn't. Inspire looks good on Aquila.
Brava: Impervious.
Move: He's in the middle of a lot of enemies and even more fire. THIS IS EXACTLY WHERE BURNSCAR LIKES TO BE!!!
Standard: Burning Volley on Raptor Attack, Simon, and Sheema. On a hit, Toughness DC 27 vs. Damage.
Raptor Attack: (1d20+12)[19]. Miss
Simon: (1d20+12)[23]. Miss
Sheema: (1d20+12)[32]. ...Crit. DC 32.
End of Turn: Cloud Area triggers. Raptor Attack, Simon, Sheema, Toughness DC 21 vs. Damage.
Brava: Impervious due to half effect.
Summit Toughness (DC 27): (1d20+17)[35]. Resists

Judy:
Free: Mobility to increase speed. Can't fail due to Inspire.
Move: To Aquila.
Burnscar Attack: (1d20+16)[29]. Judy Toughness (DC 23): (1d20+17)[19]. Bruised
Judy Dodge vs. Cloud: (1d20+19)[32]. Judy Toughness (DC 27/21): (1d20+17)[26]. Resists
Standard: Healing Potion on Aquila at (1d20+15)[20]. Three Bruises healed
Move-by Action: Into AJ27.

All PCs are on turn. Aquila and Raptor Attack used their Inspire rounds already, and Gestalt doesn't affect himself, and Josh isn't here. But everyone else still gets +5 to rolls! Make it count!

[Dorni]

Simon grit his teeth. He could land a strike, but the heat rolling off of Burnscar was too intense for him to maintain contact long enough to land a decisive blow without risking a serious burn. He briefly considered pushing through the pain anyway - His hands might get seriously burned in the short term, but he could employ his own abilities to quietly ensure the damage wasn't beyond Mandragora's ability to heal. It would be a calculated sacrifice to bring Burnscar down. He discarded the idea immediately. Illessia's interests weren't at stake. Knocking out Burnscar wasn't an objective worthy of even that sacrifice.

Simon changed tactics. Burnscar's powers were a problem, so he'd start by tearing those down. Simon's next flurry of strikes fell just short of Burnscar, using the suit to carry the force to the man's nerves and chakra points.

Spoiler

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Start of Turn: Spend HP to downgrade Exhausted to Fatigued
Move: Charge Target the Spiritual Energy Pathways
Standard: Attack Burnscar with Target the Spiritual Energy Pathways, AoA 2, PA 5. (1d20+14)[16] 34.
On hit, Will DC 23 vs Affliction [Dazed/ Stunned / Incap], Extra Effect [Impaired / Disabled] (Limited: Only against this attack). This attack is Cumulative, Progressive, Powers Only.
And Toughness DC 28 vs Damage.
Athletics or Acrobatics (1d20+13)[32] 37 vs Trip

End of Turn: Regenerate a Bruise.
Status: -2 Defense this turn. Fatigued, Bruised

[Starsign]

The next time Sheema dives into a nuclear cloud, she'll put on a full, protective suit first. After being unable to strike Burnscar, Sheema twirled Galadhil in front of her to deflect the worst of the heat in front of her, letting the aftereffects blow through her body and armor. Besides some charring up on her kelvar, the heiress came out relatively safe where that aura would have disintegrated many other people. She should stick with attacking more agile, less destructive villains and leave these to Makhana.

The dark-skinned princess looks over her shoulder Asher, that unarmed fool, try to attack Vines; not a good thing when the plant-based hero has one other villain tangled up. With her rather large beast of a friend lacking an opponent, Sheema backs up from Burnscar and out of his awful aura. "Tag out!" Sheema cries with a small, if tired smile as Makhana begins running past her; the heiress pats her hand on the rhino's horn as they pass each other. The two coordinate very well when they're close by.

So Sheema, changing targets yet again, runs over and reaches out with the blunt end of Galadhil to catch and stop Asher as he reared back to swing at Mandagora. "That's enough of that," she taunts at the bare-fisted man as she makes a lunge with her spear aimed right at the muscle joints of his right leg!

Makhana, meanwhile, demonstrates why one should be careful before crossing an ancient dire rhino. One of the most important things to know is to never be on your back when fighting an animal of any kind. Perallan beasts know how to kick a foe when they are down; anything goes when there's no honor in life-or-death battles. Makhana did not live by letting her enemies get back up and she won't treat Dreamers any different; they should feel honored that the matriarch fights these human beings like they are great beasts.

So this Burnscar should be proud that the ancient rhino stomped through his own, laughably warm aura as she brings her right hoof down on his head.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Made the rolls in the IC. Makhana's attacks worked; Sheema's, less so.

[Born]

Asher soared through the air with a flying kick... right past Mandragora. That's pretty embarrassing.

Mandragora reached over to Perellan princess to grant her much-needed healing following her brush with Burnscar's flames. He was also about to extend his vine past to take advantage of Burnscar's vulnerable position when he noticed that Makhana had already stomped him flat. Even someone like Burnscar wasn't going to get up after being flattened by Makhana.

Meanwhile, Warlock continued to struggle against the vine man's hold. Mandragora prayed that he would be able to hold the mage until SIDE came around. With that in mind, along with Gestalts inspiring words, he lashed a vine out at Asher to (hopefully) finally knock the strong man out of the fight for good.

Spoiler: Actions

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Free: Keep holding Brace.
Standard: Embrace of the Woods on Sheema. Healing for (1d20+16)[31].
Extra Effort Standard: Vine Lash on Asher. Power Attacking at -5. (1d20+11)[23]. On a hit, DC 31 Toughness vs. damage and DC 26/21 Strength/Dodge vs. grab. Mandragora will only commit one vine to Asher if the grab succeeds.
End of turn: Fatigued.

[Grim ranger]

His attention completely focused on the foe before him, Summit could barely feel the healing potion being splashed on him by Judy or the heat of Burnscar's flames. No, for now Brava had his full and undivided attention, as much as he loathed to grant the narcissistic supervillain that much. Denying her strength would be exercise in sheer futility at this point: even with the power of earth itself reinforcing his form inside and out as well as surging to attack at his command, he was barely having any effect at all on Brava. Invulnerability of her level was just amazingly frustrating to battle against, and he did not even consider retreat.

"I might be little, but what does that say about you when you won't take me down?" he asked, gritting his teeth behind his stone mask as his armor cracked and groaned under Brava's fists time and time again... only to re-form with additional material as the ground underneath him flowed into it like river, his feet seemingly fused to the very earth. "Because you never will. Boast all you want but remember this: long after your legacy has fallen from living memory, my power will still flow through this planet. I am Summit, and YOU WILL NEVER REACH ME!"

Spreading his arms to his sides, Summit focused on offensive once more as he weathered Brava's crushing strikes. Bindings and weights pushed and pulled against Brava's limbs to slow her down even as his earthen copies stuck at the invulnerable woman again and again, shattering their fists and earthen weapons against her again and again. One strike was unlikely to even get through to her, but he had found that he held certain advantage in battles of endurance. He would simply GRIND Brava Suldoon down onto her knees if he'd have to!

Spoiler: Action

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Summit does not move, and maintains Concentration to force Brava to keep making that DC 36 Toughness save

[Quellian-dyrae]

Round 6

Without having direct contact with the pyrokinetic to worry about, Simon effortlessly tossed him hard to the ground. But more importantly, he cut off the flow of his Chi to his Dreamer powers. His aura still blazed around him - there was enough heat stored up in him that even cutting off his powers wouldn't suppress it entirely - but without any active powers he'd be much less of a threat.

If you thought Asher was defeated, you don't know Asher Sato. Sure, he was bruised and battered all over with a few cracked bones, but this was a guy who regularly fought Dreamers with nothing but his fists. This was a state he was used to, is what I'm saying. He leaped into the air, throwing himself in a sideways corkscrewing spin that managed to carrying him both over Sheema's spear and get him through all of Mandragora's vines, landing on his feet untouched with a challenging smirk on his face.

Makhana, evidently, was done with these people. Pretty much straight-up ignoring both Burnscar's aura and the cloud of ignited air around him, the dire rhino charged in and, just, trampled the guy. And, you know, sure, a powerful Dreamer's Spiritual Energy coupled with constant exposure to pain could leave one remarkably tough. But let's be clear, it's still not "getting stomped on by a dire rhino while you're lying on the ground" tough. Burnscar wouldn't be getting up again any time soon, that was for sure. Although to be fair, that didn't exactly stop the people who were already on fire from being on fire.

Raptor Attack flew to assist his master, lightning-charged claws tearing into Brace, leaving him seizing helplessly in Mandragora's vines. Gestalt followed up with the ol' Hero Corps standby, the one-two straight punch! He smashed through Brace's wards to deliver punishing body blows, while the mechanical arms of his powered armor bound him even further!

Summit continued trading blows with Brava, his stone soldiers raising to strike again and again even as they crumbled away upon impact. Brava's flesh may have been harder than stone, but even she couldn't ignore that level of offense for long. Blow after crushing blow wore away even her invulnerable flesh, until the stone spears began to actually punch through, drawing blood.

The sight of her own blood only seemed excite her. Brava could not remember the last time she had faced a foe who could simply exchange blows with her without being splattered immediately. "Haha! Yes! Come then, little crumbly man! Let us see which of us has earned glorious victory, and which has earned an honorable death!" she shouted joyously, even as she continued to rain down blows that struck like falling meteors against Summit's mighty earthen armor.

"...I think I should like to surrender, if it's all the same to you," Brace said woozily.

"Screw that!" Asher shouted. Now was his time! The only option was to get Brace back in the game. It was time to show these Dreamers the true power of a Sleeper with nothing to lose!

"We're OMEGA FORCE!!!!!" he unleashed his full fury on Mandragora, a crushing assault of blow after blow aiming to completely overwhelm the vine man and leave his binding vines slack.

"THERE IS NO SURRENDER!" he rushed doggedly at Gestalt then, launching into a full-on Liu Kang style butterfly kick to try and send him staggering away from Brace - and with any luck, force him to lose concentration on his summon!

Warlock sighed and...got ready to cast a spell if Asher managed to get him free, I guess?

Her healing potion delivered, and with the team seeming to have things pretty much in hand, Judy did the sensible thing and turned invisible.

Spoiler

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Brava:
Move: Staggered.
Standard: Concentrate. Summit give me another DC 26 Toughness check.
Extra Effort - Additional Standard Action: Recover from Staggered. Brava is Fatigued.
End of Turn: Regenerate a Bruise. Brava can regenerate one more condition this scene.

Asher:
Move: Staggered.
Standard: Attack Mandragora with Flurry of Blows, All Out Power Attack for 5, at (1d20+14)[15] 31. On a hit, Toughness DC 26+Multiattack vs. Damage, Fortitude DC 21+Multiattack vs. Cumulative Vulnerable/Stunned/Incapacitated. Rerolling. Mandragora take a Hero Point. Hit.
Full Multiattack. DC becomes 31/26.
Extra Effort - Additional Standard Action: Charge Gestalt and attack with Flurry of Blows, All Out Power Attack for 5, at (1d20+12)[29]. On a hit, Toughness DC 26+Multiattack vs. Damage, Fortitude DC 21+Multiattack vs. Cumulative Vulnerable/Stunned/Incapacitated. Gestalt take a Hero Point. Hit. Full Multiattack. DC becomes 31/26.
End of Turn: Regen 5/10. [b]

Warlock:
Move: Staggered.
Standard: Ready an action. If both Mandragora and Gestalt are either Stunned or Incapacitated at the start of the PC turn (ending their grabs), use Hypnotic Gaze on everyone left. Dodge DC 22 to negate, Will DC 22 vs. Entranced/Compelled/Controlled. This is extremely unlikely to actually occur.

All PCs are on turn

[Dorni]

"Smart move," Simon replied flatly at Brace's surrender, just in time to witness Asher's tirade. Points to the idiot for effort, but Asher was considerably less of a warrior Simon expected. Winning the battle was never more important than winning the war.

Simon tilted his head and loudly sighed. "Have it your way." Then Simon raised his hand toward Asher and snapped his fingers.

The snap was purely performative, but it seemed appropriate. Asher was pushing himself hard to perform the outwardly impressive acrobatics in his assault. Simon simply harnessed a portion of all that energy and redirected it into Asher's face.

Spoiler

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Move: Not really seeing a use.
Standard: Kinetic Sunder on Asher. Perception attack. DC 25 Toughness vs Damage, Secondary Effect, Penetrating 6.

[Born]

When Leviath's summon flew in unexpectedly and sent Brace into convulsions, Mandragora muttered "I would have preferred to avoid zapping the one guy here who'd rather not fight...." He sighed, just as Asher's barrage hit him. He could feel the blows coming in, but frankly they weren't doing much. The vine man lashed out once again at the martial artist, this time with a little more focus on accuracy than power. Asher's bravado was a danger to society, and he needed to be stopped so he could be taught a better way.

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Move: Probably not helpful right now.
Standard: Vine Lash on Asher. Power Attacking at -2. (1d20+9)[29]. On a hit, DC 28 Toughness vs damage, and DC 23/21 Strength/Dodge vs grab.

[Starsign]

The remaining burns from Burnscar's awful aura is dealt with swiftly; Sheema does a quick dodge roll across the ground to smother the remaining flames while Makhana... just brushes it off like it's nothing. By this point, however, it should surprise no one that Makhana cares not one bit about fire. Evidently, fire seems like one of the last worries both of them have, for their eyes turn toward the large, boisterous woman that happens to be fighting Summit at this very moment. In Sheema's eyes, she sees a friend in need of help. In Makhana's, she sees a worthy opponent occupied by that earthen boy... Sigh, maybe next time.

Forfeiting the right to face Brava on her own, Makhana stomps around the great powerhouse while Sheema encircles the villain on the other side. "Don't mind us," she tells Summit as she passes by him, "we're just here to help!" If Makhana had trouble hurting Brava than there'd be no way Sheema can do much. So instead she attempts to distract and confuse Brava into ignoring Gestalt and his little friend's inevitable attacks.

Makhana, on the other hand, sees no real opportunity to break in with her own attack. The earthen boy has the villain down quite well; impressive, if nothing else. But the sheer grind quickly begins to dull the rhino, given all she is doing is watching. So in an affront to help Summit, the dire rhino charges at Brava from behind. But instead of the "all-in" style of charge one might expect, Makhana's one is a horn strike that merely disorients durable enemies such as Brava. The whole point of that is to disrupt her guard and give Summit an opening to strike at!

Spoiler: OOC

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Alright, time for some support. Sheema will Agile Feint Brava as a Move Action, and then as a Standard Action. Both are to Set Up for Raptor Attack as I suspect Feinting may not be likely against Brava.

Move: (1d20+16)[31]
Standard: (1d20+21)[39]

Makhana will Team Attack for Summit, going at All-Out Attack +5/-5 and Power Attack +2/-2 to be in range of his effective 21 Damage effect. Teamwork also adds +5 to Makhana's roll. (1d20+16)[28]

[Grim ranger]

Meeting Brava's relentless assault fist to fist, Summit grit his teeth behind his mask, but remained strong: whatever changes his new powers had caused in him, it seemed he was better equipped to withstand hardship and fists to the face than before. If nothing else, the fact that a woman who could be shot with a tank and likely be perfectly fine failing to beat him unconscious seemed to hint towards that... especially with his less than impressive history regarding physical confrontations before awakening to his new terrakinetic might.

Still, if superpowered lunatics would keep challenging him to fights to the death just because he was there, perhaps the powers were more trouble than they were worth after all.

"Don't flatter...yourself...!" he grunted out, his forearm blocking a strike from immensely strong villain just before he returned the attention with hard jab of his own. "You are nothing more than mental case... and you will find neither glory nor honor. Besides, who would waste time with killing YOU?" he asked bitingly as they continued beating the stuffing out of each other, earth cracking and quaking underneath their feet from the forces unleashed by the test of battle prowess.

Grinning a bit in relief as he got some slightly needed support, Summit nodded thankfully just as Makhana struck Brava from behind, attempting to clothesline her into the ground should the distraction cause moment of imbalance for the villain. From there, literally pounding them into the dirt with his fists until they'd stop moving should be simple enough matter.

Spoiler: Actions

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Maintaining the Concentration to keep forcing that sweet DC 36 Toughness on Brava

[DukeGod]

Gestalt was going to reply that Brace could surrender just as much while incapable of doing anything, but Asher's strike brings his attention aaand...

The Princess's Rhino takes the hit.

"Thank you, Perallan Beast" he has to make do with words, as the Feynmen aren't around to give speakers to his armor

"AAAND...In a SHOCKING twist, once more, the heroes make their way to win this ELECTRIFYING battle!"

Gestalt turtles up. He has to survive and keep Raptor messing with Brava's nervous system

Spoiler

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Raptor Attack
Standard: Extra Effortsand Charges Brava with Shock Claws. At QD's words, Attack Bonus is Attack Bonus...
(1d20+11)[21] (-2 from Charge, +2 Extra Effort) on hit Dodge vs DC 20 vs Impaired+Vuln/Defenseless+Disabled

Gestalt: Defends (1d20)[13]