A life of Crime [M&M 2nd ed]

[ravenkith]

Looking back at the bank, some distance away, and the ruckus rising from it, Toxin thinks; "God I'm glad I'm not caught up in that mess."

[Blackbird]

Blur blazed back in to the bank, aiming to engage the construct he'd seen in there earlier. He was no expert on magic but he didn't like the vibes he was getting from the thing, not one bit. Picking up some assorted debris from the bank, the red and gold speedster lets loose a barrage of improvised missiles, throwing various small objects faster than the eye can follow. The storm of shrapnel hits Mage Bane hard and scrapes and dents can be seen on the magic-powered creation. Stunned by the lethal attack, Mage Bane is unable to answer to the attack.

Doubletalk has no such problems however as he lets loose a sonic blast at Blur, knocking the super speeding hero of his feet and into the bank wall behind, leaving him crumpled against the wall, bruised and staggered. Meanwhile, Crimson Bolt turned fully to face the two thugs attacking him. A sneer that spoke of nothing but contempt for the two before him was all that showed of the face hidden by the hood and domino-mask he wore under it as the grim avenger attacks. Rolling under the defense of one of the thugs, Crimson Bolt leaps up like a tightly coiled spring but his blow misses it's mark, his elbow jabbing the air beside the criminal. As he rolled to his feet, Crimson Bolt grudgingly admitted to himself that these were opponents who would bare watching, instead of the usual gun-waving dregs running rampant on the streets these days.

Zacharias' metallic tentacles snake over the surface of Ultima's battlesuit, failing to grab ahold of the metallic green and white armor. Ultima, on the other hand, has no such problems, grabbing hold of the robot and pinning him against the ground. "I've dealt before with deus ex machinae with god-complexes. What makes you different, Sparky?"

"Stand still, damnit!" Gravity Girl curses as she misses her target, letting loose another hammer blow -like blast of gravitic force at one of the thugs, this time aiming more carefully. Her effort pays of as she hits her target, the blast stunning and bruising the thug badly.

Dark Stars dazed head is already clearing as he wrenches himself free from Major Valor's pin, getting to his feet. The two titans of might both struggle to overcome the other. "I'm sorry Val. I don't want to do this, just like I didn't want to bring you with me to that cargo hold. But there are some things more important than you and me, Val. Make it easier on yourself and turn in quietly." As he speaks, Major Valor tries to immobilise Dark Star again, but the grey-skinned man puts his considerable strength to good use and manages to resist the attempt.

The remaining mind controlees, eager to do their master's bidding, charge Crimson Bolt together with the two thugs. Though the mind controlees don't pose a real threat to the grim avenger, their interference none the less help out the thug going in for the kill. Still, help or no help, the wild slash of the thug misses Crimson Bolt, just as barely as he himself missed when he attacked the thug.

Dragging Toxin behind him with the energy bands, Professeur Primat moves to take the villain in, only being able to make it as far as the edge of the roof, before having to stop to catch his breath. Suddenly the mighty simian turns around, pointing at his captive with an accusing finger. He seems to have seen through Toxin's deception as well as somehow resisted his pheromones, althuogh only barely. "You! You're the one behind this, this... épuisement." The previously so confident professor seems positively winded, the smallest task requiring great effort from him.

((I would have to say no to that, Ravenkith, you can't take 10 on that.))

[Green Bean]

Doubletalk grins to himself.

Speedsters. Always so fragile.

Noticing the difficulty one of his thugs was having with the gravity manipulator and the archer, he decides to lend a hand. He focuses his voice on Gravity Girl, gesturing once again with his device.

"Crimson Bolt has betrayed you! I will help you fight him!"

((Standard action to use single target Mind Control on Gravity Girl, move action to order her to attack Crimson Bolt))

[PsyBlade]

Over here! One thug continues to assist the Thug the mindless are helping. The other Thug tries feinting the Archer, before attacking.

Spoiler

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One Thug continues Aid Another. Other Thug takes a -5 penalty to Feint as a move action, then attack with his Strike power.

[RationalGoblin]

(OOC: He reversed the grapple, right? If so, I'm going to Extra Effort the Dazzle(visual) as alternate power off Electrical Control)

Zachariah gives a metallic groan as he is pinned against the ground. He barks his montone laugh at Ultima's speech.

"The others you fought were likely pretenders. I am the real thing, human, and you cannot stand against a perfect machine!"

ACH shoves his arm at Ultima's facepiece. Electricity arcs brightly from his pauldrons, down along his arm, and grows extremely bright as ACH blasts it at Ultima.

(OOC: 10 temp ranks of Dazzle (visual), then ACH uses Dazzle on Ultima.)

[ravenkith]

"Professor, whatever do you mean? is there something wrong?" he says a sympathetic look on his face, acting his part better than ever.

(Perform 20 - take 10)

Once again, his sincerity gives cause for the scientist to hesitate, distracting him.

(1d20+10)[14]

wow, that's some ****ty rolling.

Still maintaining my pheromones.

"Everything will be fine professor," Toxin thinks, meeting the man's eye. "Just go to sleep, and it'll be alright. You might be a little embarassed when your friends catch you napping, but I'm no killer, dammit. You'll be safe enough,"

[Ghal Marak]

Dark Star

"NEVER!!!" Locked in the titanic struggle, Dark Star tries to throw a punch at the Major.

[Blackbird]

Stirring in the rubble inside the badly battered bank, Blur groans in pain as he feels around to see how serious his injuries are. A look of confusion flashes over Gravity Girls face at Doubletalk's intrusion into her mind, but it's quickly replaced by a snarl as the brief battle of wills ends and she turns on Crimson Bolt. "I knew you couldn't be trusted, taking the law into your hands. Your only barely better than the thugs you hunt."

Surprise at her words registers on Crimson Bolts face, before he notices Doubletalk brandishing his 'mind control device'. Readying his crossbow, Crimson Bolt takes only a moment to steady his aim before firing. The bolt flies true and hits its target, but by some miracle Doubletalk manages to hold onto the device in his hand. Still resolute, Crimson Bolt pulls back from the thugs he's facing, readying for further attacks.

Ultima's answer to Zacharias is lost in a scream as the bright flash of light blinds him. Wildly flailing fists, regardless of the strength granted to them by the powered armor, fail to hit the robot. Gravity Girl seems to be ignoring everything going on around here in favor of focusing her power over gravity on Crimson Bolt. The grim avenger falls immeaditely to the ground as the pull of gravity on him increases greatly, leaving him lieing on the street, though still conscious.

As Dark Star and Major Valor struggle, the solemn hero gains the upper hand, hammering his fist into Dark Star jaw with no apparent result, leaving the patriotic hero to look in awe at his old friend now turned new enemy, uttering a single word: "How?"

The mind controlees and the two thugs pile up on the prone Crimson Bolt, the vigilante not flinching a bit at the torrent of blows and though his costume is torn and shredded at places, revealing nicks and scratches beneath, he seems to have suffered no serious damage from the landslide of attacks.

"Non, you insult me, monsieur Toxine. What do you confuse me with, une imbécile?" At the word imbécile, Professeur Primat lunges at Toxin, though his tired blow is mostly a slap against the force-field surrounding the villain, the huge hairy hand of the professor sliding of him. The professor still continues to stubbornly, and luckily, resist Toxin's fatigue-inducing pheromones.

((Doubletalk gets a VP. Dark Star, boost density or healing?))

[Green Bean]

Doubletalk knew that his control would only last for so long against the gravitational hero, especially when forcing her to do something so against her own nature. But getting rid of her would have to wait until Crimson Bolt was totally defeated.

Doubletalk grinned cheerily at Crimson Bolt, and began whistling a jaunty little tune. As he pushed a button on his device, the tune acquired a low undertone that was somehow damaging to the crushed hero.

((Using Blast on Crimson Bolt))

((Not that I'm complaining, but how'd I end up with a VP? Is it because I'm awesome? ))

[Blackbird]

((GM fiat on Blur. Even though you are awesome ))

[ravenkith]

Toxin looks down at the professor as the poor man sinks to the floor, but maintains his pheromones nonetheless.

"Professor, I'm just a thief. A thief with powers, to be sure, but a thief nonetheless. From the sounds of it, a massive battle at the bank is ensuing,"

He glances back in that direction.

"It doesn't sound too good for your friends. Nor does it look that great from here, either,"

He shrugs, as best as he can from within his restraints.

"You have two choices; either release me, and go and aid your friends, or else spend the next four hours or so up here sleeping it off," he concludes, once more attempting to distract the hero.

(1d20+7)[9]

WTH? The dice roller really hates me in this thread.

[RationalGoblin]

ACH-01

ACH is silent, merely snaking his tentacles around Ultima's battlesuit, trying once more to grab the armoured hero.

(OOC: As you can see, a grapple check. EDIT: Oh, and are there any cars around the battle that haven't been destroyed?)

[PsyBlade]

Thug 1 points, and Thug 2 looks. Thug 2's head returns to 1 and nods. He heads off towards Ultima. Thug 1 continues to work towards rendering the archer unconscious.

Upon arrival at the machines' spot, Thug 2 tries to assist the Villainous Machine with the Moronic one.

Spoiler

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Thug 1 continues to hammer away at the Crimson Bolt.

Thug 2 uses Aid Another on Zach, or attacks Ultima, whichever would be more effective.

[Ghal Marak]

Dark Star

((Boost Density please. ))

"HAHAHAHA!!! I would have thought it would be obvious to you!" Dark Star attemps to pick up Major Valor and throw him into any nearby wall or object.

[Blackbird]

Edit:

A wave of relief washes over Blur as he gets up shakily, leaning against the wall of the bank to catch his breath. He was bruised but not beaten. Crimson Bolt grits his teeth as Doubletalk's sonic blast hits him, the attack stunning the battered avenger. Zacharias and Ultima struggle in hand-to-hand, but the battlesuited hero seems to simply be stronger than his robotic opponent, slamming the villain into the concrete, though with little to no effect.

Gravity Girl seems to wake from a sleep as she manages to break Doubletalk's mind control on her. She looks around her with the air of someone who wakes up from a bad dream with blood on their hands, only dimly aware of how it got there. Seeing the battered Crimson Bolt on the ground, she screams in horror, turning to Doubletalk. Hovering over the villain like some angry goddess, she seems barely able to speak because of her rage and settles for just one word. "You!" Her rage-fuelled blast of gravitic energy misses Doubletalk only narrowly, though she seems to calm down after this. "What's wrong, you're not afraid of a girl, are you?" she taunts him while she floats a few feet above the street, though it doesn't seem to have much effect on the sonic villain.

Beads of sweat form on Major Valors brow as he struggles to hold Dark Star back. After what seems like a small eternity, Major Valor lands another titanic blow. This time it seems to have an affect, bruising Dark Star and stunning him. Now free from the crushing increased gravity, Crimson Bolt manages to roll clear from the attack of the mind controled bank-people and one of the thugs, while the other distracts Ultima long enough to give Zacharias an edge over his opponent.

"Non." Professeur Primat shakes his head, doing it again to try and wake himself up, with little success. "Non, le major can handle the situation, I am bringing you in." A blow from the simian professor manages to actually break through Toxin's forcefield, although it only bruises him lightly. The attack seems to have taken the hero's last strength, though as he falls unconscious on the roof, asleep atlast as the energy field that had bound Toxin finally dissipates, freeing him completely.

((There's the armored car near the bank the guards were loading up before the robbery as well as a few civilian cars.))

[RationalGoblin]

ACH

ACH's optical receptors glow green, as he turns his head towards the armoured car that was carelessly left unattended. The roar of the engine starting up again fills the ears of those nearby. The car accelerates quickly, moving towards Ultima while the armoured hero is distracted, seemly wanting to run the battlesuit over

((I'm going to run Ultima over with the armoured car using Machine Control! Note, if that doesn't work, the next few rounds are going to be me trying to run random heros over. I do love Machine Control.))

[ravenkith]

Toxin looks around, and crouches down over the professor, still pumping out sleep pheromones.

He immediately checks his pulse, to make sure he's ok.

He then checks the superhero for useful items, and looks for the guys wallet, lifting everything of value, and adding it to his growing pile of stuff, including any technological devices the professor may have.

"Can't chance keeping these...they may have homing devices in them," he thinks. "But I can take them away from the prof and destroy them when I get further away...that way he'll be out of action for as long as it takes him to rebuild his arsenal,"

With that, he takes off into the night sky, still invisible, looking for a quiet place to set down long enough to dust the Professor's tech before heading to the rendezvous.

[Green Bean]

Despite the close shave with a blast of gravitational energy, Doubletalk was all smiles. Angry people got sloppy, his foe certainly looked the part.

"Please, young lady. I barely had to exert myself to get you to attack him. Deep down, you obviously wanted to do it. I'd let it out. Repressing things like that is enough to drive you...crazy"

At his last word, he presses a button on his control panel while emitting his brain scrambler sonics.

((Confusion area effect, excluding the villains and my various minions))

[Ghal Marak]

Dark Star

((Sorry for my lateness. I'll use the Villian Point to remove the stun, and I'll channel that damage into healing.))

Dark Star laughed when he felt the blow from Major Valor. "Congradulations! You have managed to wound me a little! Let me return the favor!!!!" Dark Star attempts another punch at the Major.

[PsyBlade]

OOC: There's little for me to post at the moment. The Thugs continue what they've been doing, and I'm frying my brain on how to type that up to sound good. Sigh, that's the problem with playing a 'Minion Man'.

[Blackbird]

Hurriedly gathering debris from the battered bank, Blur flings them at amazing speeds at Doubletalk, the barrage of deadly objects missing the sonic manipulator barely.

As Doubletalk speaks, his powers spread out around him, intruding the minds of his enemies around him. Gravity Girl, hovering so defiantly above the street just a moment ago, falls to the ground. "No. No, you lie, you lie..." Major Valor's grip on Dark Star slackens and quickly breaks as the paragon of Fort Garth is likewise overtaken by the effect. "Val. I'm sorry, I..."

Ultima and Blur manage to resist the creeping tendrils of madness in their minds, while Crimson Bolt faces the other extreme of the spectrum as a cold fury overcomes him. Still able to keep his cool, the grim avenger moves to feint his opponent before delivering a precisely aimed kick to the stomach but the skill of the thug wins out again.

The still-blinded Ultima fails to notice the armored car starting up behind him before it's too late. The speeding vehicle only clips the hero however and the battlesuit absorbs much of the impact. Still, the stunned armored hero can feel bruises along his sides.

Meanwhile, Dark Star shakes of the effects of Major Valor's last blow before returning the favor. Returning the favor, the dark titan lands a blow to match the one dealt to him, bruising the paragon of Justice. The thug aided by the mind controlees fails to catch the fleetfooted Crimson Bolt while his partner also fails in distracting the battered Ultima.

Toxin, meanwhile, is preoccupied with the unconscious form of Professeur Primat. The scientific simians pulse seems to be steady and he appears to be completely fine, apart from being unconscious. He has a French passport in his wallet, although there is very little money there.

The many, many pockets of the professor's white labcoat contain an endless seeming suply of all kinds of technological gadgets and parts you can barely begin to understand, though few of them seem to do much on their own. Add to that the prototype-helm and the energy-manipulating glove, both designed for the professors larger physique, and you've got a veritable treasuretrove of technological wonders with you. Now if you only knew how they all worked... You easily find a quiet rooftop to sort through your new belongings, though, with the police cruisers heading for the bank none the wiser to your presence thanks to your invisibility.

[Green Bean]

Doubletalk narrowly dodged the flying barrage of bank wreckage. Noting that his gravitational foe was distracted, he focused on the most immediate threat.

"Didn't we just do this?"

Doubletalk again presses the button of his disguised calculator, while matching a silent scream to Blur's exact resonance.

[PsyBlade]

Over here! The Thug attacking Crimson Bolt tries to feint the cape then attack him.

The Thug assisting against Ultima takes a step back and refocuses his attention.
Re: He refocuses to get a better position in the Initiative ranks.

[Ghal Marak]

Dark Star

"S-sorry? SORRY?!?! Sorry does not even begin to help what I went through! I had to free fall through the earth’s atmosphere! I then struck the bottom of the ocean! THE &($*^#@ BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN!!! You did this to me, and your going to pay for it." Dark Star grabbed Tom and lifted him over his head.

Spoiler

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Okay, actions. Dark Star tries to grab and pick up Tom, and if successful he throws him at the closest hero to him.

[ravenkith]

Toxin takes a moment to destroy the professors equipment before flying to the rendezvous point.

[RationalGoblin]

ACH

ACH laughs as the car clips Ultima, and raises his arm as it is wreathed with crackling electric sparks once more, this time not as bright, though much more intense. He utters a single word as the electricity flies towards Ultima, "S-Suffer!"

(OOC: Since it seems like cheating, as I am immune to fatigue, this will be my last Extra Effort in this battle. Or is it okay to do more? Either way, 2 extra ranks of Electrical Control, to Blast Ultima. If I do not damage him, I use a VP to re-roll. If I miss, I instead use the VP for that. Is that okay?)

[Blackbird]

((New initiative:
Initiative:
Blur
Mage Bane
Duplicate 2
Doubletalk
Crimson Bolt
Cubit
Zachariah
Gravity Girl
Professeur Primat
Dark Star
Toxin
Duplicate 1
Ultima
Major Valor
Mind Controlees))

Blur suddenly points at something behind Doubletalk in apparent alarm. The hero shouts "Look out, a rabid wombat!" before unleashing another barrage of miscellanious items on Doubletalk. The sonic manipulator doesn't even blink at the obvious distraction as the debris hits everything in the area except him. Doubletalk's retaliation overloads the super-speeding heroes brain and he crumbles to the ground, unconscious.

Crimson Bolt seems to shake of the confusion in his mind. Without a word, the grim avenger raises his crossbow and takes aim at Doubletalk. The bolt flies true, its sharp tip digging into Doublethinks side, sending the villain staggering. The electricy arching from Zach dances around the armored form of Ultima, the cry of pain from the armored hero distorted by the armors systems.

Gravity Girl fails to drive away the voices in her head, mumbling to herself as Dark Star grapples with Major Valor. The paragon of Fort Garth shouts at his old friend, spittle flying, even as he overpowers him. "You serve your country and follow your orders Val! You do what you're told! I had my orders, the mission came first!" Despite the rage in the Major's voice he only manages to bruise the resilient Dark Star.

Toxin leaves the sabotaged devices he stole from the dozing simian before moving on. The thug fighting Crimson Bolt tries to feint his opponent, but the aid of the mind controlees is useless as the hero sees through the ruse and dodges the attack. Meanwhile the other thug takes a step back to re-evaluate the situation.

((Blur: unconscious
Doubletalk: staggered, bruised
Ultima: bruised, stunned
Dark Star: bruised, 7 points absorbed))

[Green Bean]

Doubletalk clutched at his side, reeling in pain. He turns to look at his tormentor. His eyes narrowed.

"You, my friend, are going to regret this."

Doubletalk called upon all of his vocal strength, focusing it in a single resonant sonic blast, concentrated fully on the masked archer. Still hurting from his injuries, he still managed to push a button on his device weakly.

((Sonic Blast on Crimson Bolt. I'll use Extra Effort to up its rank by 2))

[PsyBlade]

During his re-evaluation of the situation, Thug 2 notices Double-talk's plan. He decides to act as distraction for Double-Talk.

Once they've done their parts, Thug 1 decides pinning the cape might be easier.

Spoiler

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Two move actions by Thug 2. One to move, the other to Aid Another, every plus counts.

Thug 1 initiates a grapple attempt on the cape if he isn't out. If he's taken out, then Thug 1 will also refocus.

[RationalGoblin]

ZACH

ZACH merely stares at the at the armoured hero, recalibrates his systems for maxium accuracy, at the expense of defense, and blasts Ultima once more with electricity.

Spoiler

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ZACH uses All-Out Attack +4/-4 to easily hit Ultima with Electrical Control. I CAN do that, right?