Defenders of Tomorrow IC

[Llyarden]

"Yeah, okay, I take everything back I said about her having...like, any redeeming features whatsoever," Damian snarled under his breath, as Miss Mighty vanished. He seemed almost too angry to notice the fact that he was now on fire for a few moments. "And I'm getting really sick of this," he added, as more laser shots flew.

Since the carbine-wielding girl was hiding behind the wall, however, he just flew at the bear instead, turning the talons on his wings into much larger, more serrated versions and trying to slice off some of the bear's tendrils.

Spoiler: OOC

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Move: Shapeshift to Winged Flight 5, Regeneration 10.
Standard: Charge Mister Bear with Rend at -2 for charging and Power Attacking for 5: (1d20+3)[19]. DC30 Toughness vs damage, and...it's probably immune to all the other stuff. Man, robots suck. Not in the fire thing any more though, so there's that.

Status: Royally ticked off, otherwise mostly fine. Luck 4/5.

[Zelphas]

Slapdash bites down a yell as the shrapnel bites into him, tearing through the junk in his suit to cut furrows in his body and setting fire to the elcetrical insulation wrapped around his torso. The wave of healing from Amy and her siblings extinguishes the fire and turns the furrows into scratches, but the electrical wiring in the suit seems to have been damaged by the blast; Slapdash feels the twisted metal encasing him strain and drag as he hauls himself closer to the giant mechanical bear. Reaching out with one excruciatingly heavy hand, he slaps his palm clumsily down onto the bear's torso... and activates the little device that used to be Miss Mighty's phone.

Spoiler: OOC

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Move Action: Dazed.

Standard Action: Shift to AS48.

Extra Effort: Use Mini-EMP on Mister Bear. (1d20+10)[11] On a hit, highest effect rank vs. DC (1d20+10)[13] Nullify on all Technological powers.

Status: Dazed this turn, Fatigued next turn.

[metakirb]

While buddy ball soaked up a lot of shrapnel, plenty still managed to get through to Suzie. She kicked her rocket boots into gear and repositioned herself to try and catch her breath.

Spoiler: Something something Suzie.

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Move to AO50
No longer Dazed.

[Dodgeson]

Caleb slammed in to hard in to Miss Mighty as she tried to flee across the city and whilst her glimmering sheathe of cosmic energy might make her easier to pick out against the night sky what it didn't seem to do was offer her much protection against the righteous angel, she plummeted to the ground, landing on the top of some poor soul's SUV, the impact crumpling the car's roof like it was tissue paper and setting of the vehicle's alarm blaring in her ear as she tried to shake off the force of the blow.

Back on the industrial estate her sister and her creations were faring far better against the rest of the Defenders. Damian's talons slashed clean through several of Mister Bear's mechanical tendrils and they trailed black fluid as they retracted back in to the mechanoid's body, still the damage appeared to be superficial at best. With the clack of metal on brickwork the featureless humanoid from the roof entered the fray, scaling down the wall like some kind of nightmarish spider and hurling itself at Damian and lashing out as it scuttled passed him in to the warehouse proper.

Mister Bear didn't even seem to notice Slapdash's attempt to shut it down as it lumbered towards Damian, swinging one of its enormous paws at the shapeshifter and trying to knock him right in to the inventor.

Watching her creation punch a hole in Trinity's shield and the heroes scatter in the wake of her incendiary Miss Mechanus couldn't help be clap her hands together and giggle in childish glee. "Ha ha!" She taunted, vanishing and reappearing in front of Amy "Your dumb magic is no match for my toys! Yah!" Her last yell was punctuated by her throwing her clenched fist at the angel, which wouldn't have been a problem if not for the heavy black gauntlet that appeared around it a split second before impact.

And while all this is going on the Miss Mechanus on the roof continued to spray Nadia with a hail of laser fire.

Spoiler: OOC

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Miss Mighty II
End of Turn: (1d20+10)[13] Fortitude to overcome Stun (DC22) Nope

The Ballerina
Move:Move to AS49
Standard (Move-by Action):Attack Damian with Frenzied Twirl (1d20+10)[14] DC25+Multiattack Toughness Save if that hits. The Ballerina is Deflected at 1d10+22 Miss
Move:Move to AJ50

Mister Bear
Move: Move to AS50
Standard: All-Out/Power Attack +5 Damian with Bear Hands (1d20+10)[23] DC30/25 Toughness Save vs Damage (DC25 SE)/Weaken Toughness & DC25 Strength/Dodge or be knocked in to Slapdash. If he fails the Strength/Dodge (1d20+10)[14] to hit Slapdash, DC30 Toughness Save if that hits. Hit Damien/Miss Slapdash

Miss Mechanus #6
Move: Teleport to BA52
Standard: Attack Amy with Kinetic Acceleration Gauntlets (1d20+12)[32] DC32 Toughness Save, DC27 Fortitude vs Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated & DC27 Strength/Dodge or been thrown in to Nadia. If she fails the Strength/Dodge (1d20+12)[28] to hit Nadia, DC27 Toughness Save if that hits (maybe?) Crit Amy/Hit Nadia

Miss Mechanus #2
Move:Nah
Standard: All-Out/Power Attack +2 at Nadia with Laser Carbine (1d20+8)[13] DC25+Multiattack Dodge Save vs Damage if that hits. Miss

Defenders are on turn!

[Quellian-dyrae]

Caleb felt the impact as Miss Mighty's fist connected with Amy, and a second one as she was slammed into Nadia. He felt both Amy's arms in his hands and Nadia's hands on his arms as Nadia caught and steadied Amy. The painful sensations were muted. Trinity's barrier had protected them, although Caleb could just as easily feel the vague sense of mental tension that was the angel's own strain. Absorbing both of those powerful impacts, plus keeping the fires at bay, were taxing him.

There was a non-trivial part of Caleb that wanted badly to fly back, but the fact was that his impact on the battle would only go so far, whereas here he could make a difference. He just had to trust that his sisters and their comrades would be able to handle the situation.

He could feel their hearts pounding as if they were in his own chest, although the emotions that came with them were different. Amy was scared. She was controlling it, keeping her head in the game, but she felt Trinity's strength flagging as clearly as he did. Nadia, though, her pounding heart carried with it a feeling of gleeful excitement. Nadia loved a challenge, loved taking risks.

Which is why their plan of action came from her.

~When in doubt,~ Nadia sent to them both, quietly, but with a subtle undercurrent of glee. ~Wipe 'em out! Caleb, make sure that if we go down, MM won't be getting up before we do! Amy, full attack! We're gonna hit these guys so hard they won't stand a chance against the rest of the team!~

~I...okay.~

Caleb swooped down on the fallen Miss Mighty, white light blazing around him. She wasn't unconscious, merely stunned. She'd recover quickly if he didn't drop her now. He did feel a little bad about the poor, helpless SUV. Fortunately, they had pretty good collateral damage insurance. He struck with a pair of hard punches, channeling a generic curse into the blow.

Amy and Nadia flared with their own opalescent auras and took off, Amy going for the remaining Mechabot and Nadia (making sure to skirt the edges of the fire) for Mister Bear, both of them striking with curse-charged punches. If the Mechabot took that hit, they'd strike again; otherwise, Nadia would then fly out to strike Miss Mechanus, while Amy swooped in to delve the bear another blow.

It was more effort than Trinity could really afford to spend at the moment, but right now the best way to mitigate the enemy's offense was to hit them as hard as they could.

Spoiler

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Move: Caleb into Close range of Miss Mighty, Amy into Close range of the Mechabot, Nadia into Close range of Mister Bear.

Free: Swap to and activate Decoordinate. Damage 10 (Multiattack) Linked Affliction 10 (Vulnerable/Disabled; Will; Multiattack, Limited Degree). The Affliction has the [Mystical] [Curse] descriptor, but foes with Absent Will can roll using the lowest of their defenses (still counts as Will for Immunity purposes though).

Standard: Attack Miss Mighty, the Mechabot, and Mister Bear, All Out Attack for 5, Multiattack for 3, Power Attack for 4. On a hit, Toughness DC 29 vs. Damage, Will DC 24 vs. Vulnerable/Disabled.
Miss Mighty (including +5 since I assume having fallen while stunned she's Prone): (1d20+13)[24].
Mechabot: Routine for 18.
Mister Bear: (1d20+8)[23].

Move-by Action: IF Mechabot is down, Amy into Close range of Mister Bear, Nadia into Close range of Miss Mechanus. Otherwise, ignore.

Extra Effort - Additional Standard Action: DO IT AGAIN!
Miss Mighty: (1d20+13)[19]. Intentionally miss if she's unconscious at this point (not likely, but who knows?).
Mister Bear: (1d20+8)[9] 28 (unless already Staggered, Incapacitated, or Disabled).
Miss Mechanus or Mechabot: Routine if the Mechabot and the original Routined attack hit. Otherwise, (1d20+8)[28].

Current Status: 5 Bruises, Fatigued, Exhausted as of next turn, -5 Defense this turn, Terrified of All Things Laser.

[Llyarden]

Caught a touch off-guard by the sheer weirdness of the girl giggling at them in the middle of the firefight, Damian didn't quite manage to brace himself in time against the bear-bot's massive paw and went flying off down the row of warehouses, ending up at the end of a newly-created long furrow in the concrete. On the plus side, it meant that the spider-bot didn't come close to hitting him, and his rapid progress through the air had put out all the fires as well. "Well, that was cute," he growled, and pushed himself back to his feet, swooping straight at the girl who seemed to be in charge of everything, swiping at her with a massive clawed hand before turning into a giant snake again and slithering back to wrap around the bear-bot.

Spoiler: OOC

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Move: Into melee with Miss Mechanus the possibly real.
Standard: Attack with Rend: (1d20+10)[27]. Maybe she won't be immune to all of it! DC25 Toughness vs damage, DC20 Will vs Dazed/Stunned.
Free: Switch to Constrictor.
Free: Elongate over to Mister Bear, going in a roundabout fashion to avoid the cloud if it's still there.
Extra Effort: Attack Mister Bear with Constrictor, Power Attacking for 5: (1d20+5)[6]. DC30 Toughness vs damage and DC25 Strength/Dodge vs grab on a hit.
End of Turn: Regenerates a bruise.
End of Turn: Mister Bear gets a DC25 Toughness save vs damage from Rend's SE.

Status: Fatigued next round, Luck 3/5

[Zelphas]

It seems that, in addition to the damage to the weight compensators in Slapdash's mech suit, a key component in power regulation was also torn apart by the blast. Since Slapdash had been directing power to his giant metal fist at the time of the attack (which was essentially just a souped-up weight compensator), the damage had had no effect on him... until he attempted to use the mini-EMP. The damaged power regulator, combined with the temporary wiring and un-tested draw from the mini-EMP, cascaded into a power overload centered on his right palm and forearm, leading to a sub-optimal chain reaction all along the wiring in the right side of Slapdash's power suit.

In short, when Slapdash tried to knock out Mister Bear's electricity, his right hand and arm exploded into dark purple flames.

Fortunately (or unfortunately) for Slapdash, this isn't the first time that he's caught on fire, even in the last few seconds. The fire in this case is much more severe, erupting out from the wiring underneath his suit and melting the plates of scrap around his arm, but he is able to control the pain enough to keep from passing out. The melting metal smothers the unnaturally-colored flames after a few seconds. Well, that's good, Slapdash comments dazedly to himself through a haze of pain. S'not easy to 'stop, drop, and roll' in a suit of rusty metal...

The metal cools rapidly, fusing his right arm into an awkward position, so Slapdash forgoes using the EMP for now. Lifting up his left arm, he fires off several blasts of purple-white light, looking to blast Mister Bear into oblivion from point-blank range.

Spoiler: OOC

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Move Action: Staggered.

Free Action: Swap to Cluster Bomb.

Standard Action:Cluster Bomb on Mister Bear. (1d20+10)[26] Damage DC 25+Multiattack on a hit. On a miss, Homing 1.

Extra Effort: Do it again! (1d20+10)[26] Damage DC 25+Multiattack on a hit. On a miss, Homing 1. If, by some miracle, Mister Bear is dropped by the first attack, this attack will be aimed at the Ballerina.

Status: 1 Bruise, Staggered, Fatigued (Exhausted next turn).

[metakirb]

Suzie shook off the aftereffects of the last attack and kicked her boots into high gear again.

Alright. Let's see how much tweaking these things need...

Not just the boots, but her gloves roared to life. She wobbled a little, getting used to the forces keeping her in place just off the ground, before propelling herself forward towards the ballerina.

And let's see how durable you are!

Just as she came into punch range, jets on the side of her gloves burst into life, sending Suzie sliding around to the side of the ballerina and launching a rocket powered punch at it's head.

Spoiler: Suzie Smash!

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Move to AJ49

[Rocket Smash] Damage 10 Linked to Weaken Toughness 10 (Toughess) [roll]1d20+10[/roll] (see OOC) to hit. DC25 Toughness damage and DC20 weaken toughness.

[Dodgeson]

Still trying to recover from her unfortunate trip to the ground Miss Mighty's disorganised mind was easy prey for Caleb's curses which in turn left her vulnerable to his punches, the criminal never had a chance to defend herself and she slipped in to unconsciousness, slumped against the poor innocent SUV that she'd dragged in to her spat with her sister. Amy and Nadia were hardly slouches either, the sisters smashed the robotic Miss Mechanus to pieces and pummeled Mister Bear in a flurry of coordinated blows, while the mechanical ursine was more advanced than the dolls they had fought their curses still played havoc with its systems.

Having not aged in a very long time Miss Mechanus had come to take certain things for granted, for example people did not hit little girls even when that little girl was pointing a gun at them, Damien was obviously not one of these people. His claws left a savage tear down the front of her dress, it was all Miss Mechanus could do to clutch at the cut and try to comprehend the situation, he'd hit her!

Slapdash's projectiles slammed in to Mister Bear at point blank range denting him but it was mostly superficial. Luckily for him he didn't have to worry about retaliation, letting out a bestial roar the bear's eyes turned red and he barrelled towards Damien swinging its claws wildly in his direction.

Back inside the warehouse the featureless humanoid nimbly dodged Suzie's rocket powered punch, leaping on to it arm blades it twirled around her and silently lashed out with its feet.

Spoiler: OOC

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The Ballerina
Move:Move to AI49
Standard:Attack Suzie with Frenzied Twirl [roll]1d20+10[roll] DC25+Multiattack if that hits. The Ballerina is Deflected at 1d10+24

Mister Bear
Move:Dazed
Standard:All Out Attack +5 Charge at Damian with Papa Bear Protocol (1d20+8)[15] DC25+Multiattack Toughness Save vs Damage with Secondary Effect & DC20+Multiattack Fortitude vs Impaired&Vulnerable/Stunned&Disabled/Incapacitated if that hits Miss
End of Turn:Recover from Disabled (DC29) (1d20+5)[13] Nope

Miss Mechanus #6
End of Turn:Recover from Vulnerable (DC29) (1d20+12)[23]. Recover from Stunned (DC20) (1d20+12)[32] Recover from Stunned

Defenders are on turn!

[Quellian-dyrae]

Damian's attack had disabled Miss Mechanus for the moment, and her robots were focusing on their allies. It blessedly gave the triplets a brief respite.

~Uh-oh,~ Amy sent, mainly to Caleb.

~We may be doomed,~ her brother agreed.

~...You know, I must admit to being a little annoyed here, my Hosts. That was a non-trivial exertion of energy back there, and I think it did its job splendidly. Miss Mighty is down, freeing Caleb to return here, and the enemy force here was unable to capitalize on our vulnerability. In your time of need I was here for you, as I always am, so to say you are doomed is rather-~

~No- Trinity, that's not what we mean!~

~We aren't talking about right now. Yes, that worked great, full points. But in the future, I mean...~

~We...actually expected we were probably going to get blasted unconscious right there.~

~All of us.~

~Yes. And we did not. So I hardly see-~

~Trinity...~

~Don't you get it?~

~Reality just turned out better than Nadia expected!~

"HAH!" Nadia called out, out-loud.

~I- Ohhh...~

"And WHAT!? I'm sorry, what were you saying? I couldn't hear you over the sound of your technology sucking! Think you can take on the Defenders of Tomorrow? Skippy got nothing for superheroes! Nothing! Alright guys, let's finish this! Suzie, Raggedy Anne and Teddy Ruxpin over here are vulnerable! Help us take them out and then we can crush that whatever-it-is easy! Just don't bunch up so it can hit us all at once!" Nadia was good at strategy when the strategy involved dispensing an unmitigated beat-down.

~...Alright, yes, we may be doomed.~

"Or actually go ahead and bunch up if you want! It doesn't really matter because we're unstoppable! WHOOOO!" Well, she was okay.

Nadia and Amy summoned up beams of brilliant light, sky blue and sunrise pink respectively. Amy rushed Mr. Bear from behind, thrusting hard for the base of the robots neck as if the light springing from her hands was a sword, while Nadia gripped her luminous blade in both hands and came down with a devastating overhead blow for Miss Mechanus' head, wielding the light energy like a cudgel. They timed their attacks so they'd coincide with their allies if they chose to attack the same targets, and then dart off to avoid presenting a single target for an area attack.

Meanwhile, Caleb swept the street quickly. If any civilians were eyeing the scene, he'd call out, "Stay inside and call the police! I'll be back!" Then he took off, flying back towards the battle at speed.

Spoiler

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Free: Swap to Coordinate Movements. Activate the Enhanced Flight portion only.

Move: Amy into AX52, Nadia holding position, Caleb flying Distance Rank 9 (since Exhausted) back towards the fight.

Standard: Attack with Smite, All Out Attack for 5, Multiattack for 2, -2 for Exhausted, as a Team Attack with the first allies who attack the relevant target. Roll includes +5 for Teamwork; if no ally successfully attacks that target, reduce by 5. Toughness DC 25 vs. Damage on a hit, or provides Team Attack bonus with a Toughness-resisted Damage effect of rank 15 or lower. Since Caleb is unable to contribute to the action, the Secondary Effect is lost.
Miss Mechanus: (1d20+16)[24].
Mister Bear: (1d20+16)[29].
I think given their current defensive penalties that should be enough to provide +5 Damage vs. Mr. Bear, but probably only +2 vs. Miss Mechanus.

Move-by Action: Amy into AX32, Nadia into BY44.

Current Status: 5 Bruises, Exhausted, -5 Defense this turn. Caleb Approach: DR 9/11.

[Zelphas]

Somewhere in his mind, the part of him that isn't nearly insensate from pain and exhaustion or freaking out about the fact that his right arm has gone numb and cold notes that he might have gotten off lucky, here. All of the enemies seem to be ignoring him which, considering that he feels about a stiff breeze from falling over, is definitely a good thing. If he could just relax for a few moments, recoup his strength, maybe he could--

Another blast of purple-white orbs shoot out of the nozzle on his left arm, spiraling up into the night sky. The orbs disappear from sight from a moment before crashing down upon Mr. Bear's head and shoulders, combining with Amy's strike in an attempt to blow the bear's head clean off. Nap time, Mr. Bear, he thinks woozily.

Spoiler: OOC

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Move Action: Staggered.

Standard Action: Cluster Bomb on Mr. Bear, All-Out Power Attacking for 5, attempting to use Indirect for to catch Mr. Bear Vulnerable (which is a long shot, I admit). (1d20+8)[11] On a hit, Damage DC 35+Multiattack; on a miss, Homing 1 kicks in for next round.

Status: 1 Bruise, Staggered, Exhausted, -5 Active Defenses this round.

[metakirb]

Suzie jumped back from the Ballerina as it slashed at her, the forcefield soaking up most of it's attack. She'd started moving to join the group, but then Mister Bear went down, leaving just Miss Mechanus and The Ballerina to deal with. And honestly? Suzie wasn't really big on the idea of rocket punching the child. It might have been a sound tactical move, and said girl might have been armed to the teeth and trying to kill her, but right now? She still couldn't bring herself to rocket punch a child.

I'm sure you guys can deal with her, I'll keep this thing from getting in your way!

The thrusters on her boots flared up again and she started circling her opponent.

Okay, you dodged that one, but how about...

All of a sudden her circling ended as she dashed forwards, spinning a kick at her robotic opponent.

Spoiler: Suzieton Kick!

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Well, since I'm not actually moving I might as well....
Move action Feint at -5 for (1d20-5)[14]
[Rocket Kick] Damage 10 Linked to Move Object 10 (Reduced Range, Limited to Away) (1d20+10)[21] to hit The Ballerina.

[Llyarden]

Damian gave a derisive snort as he saw the presumably-real-Miss-Mechanus's shocked expression. "What, pain only fun when it happens to other people? Funny, that." Whether it was some lingering holdover from Dr Zero's brainwashing or just his own general uncaring nature, he clearly had no compunctions about hitting someone that looked like an eight-year-old girl - as he proceeded to demonstrate by coiling around her and squeezing, even though his snake-body was thicker than she was.

Spoiler: OOC

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Move: Nah.
Standard: Constrictor on Miss Mechanus, Power Attacking for 5: (1d20+5)[6] 21. DC32 (after Team Attack) Toughness vs damage and DC25 Strength/Dodge vs grab on a hit. ... Rerolled.
End of Turn: Regenerates a Bruise.
End of Turn: Miss Mechanus gets a DC20 Toughness save vs damage and a DC20 Fort save vs Impaired/Disabled.

Status: Fatigued, Luck 2/5

[Dodgeson]

Trevor's projectile punched through the mechanical bear's head and ricocheted through its body, wreaking havoc on its internal systems. Slowly its knees buckled and finally it slumped over on to the ground, the light dying in its eyes, to say that Miss Mechanus didn't take this well was an understatement.

"MISTER BEAR!" She shrieked, tears welling up in her eyes "He was my favourite!

She barely seemed to notice Damian's attack, popping free from his grip like a cork and vanishing in the air to appear next to Slapdash.

"Fine! I'm gonna break your stupid robot too!" Black gauntlets appeared once again on her arms and she swung her fists wildly at the inventor.

Deeper in to the warehouse the Ballerina ducked low underneath Suzie's rocket kick and wordlessly thrusted one of its arm blades towards her.

Spoiler: OOC

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Miss Mechanus
Move: Teleport to AR47
Standard: All-Out/ Power Attack +2 Slapdash with Kinetic Acceleration Gauntlets (1d20+12)[21] DC29 Toughness Save, DC24 Fortitude vs Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated & DC24 Strength or be thrown in to Damien. [roll1d20+12[/roll] DC29 Toughness if that hits. Hits/Misses
End of Turn: Recover from Vulnerable (DC29) (1d20+12)[13] Nope

The Ballerina
Move:Nah
Standard:Attack Suzie with Lethal Edge (1d20+10)[27] DC25 Parry Save vs Damage with Secondary Effect resisted by Fortitude if that hits Hits

Defenders are on turn!

[Quellian-dyrae]

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Actually, while the Interpose thing would be good to know for future reference, A) I have something to post now and might not have time later today and B) this is kinda more dramatic anyway. And I'm confident that Damian and Suzie can finish the job. So.

Amy's eyes narrowed dangerously when Slapdash went down.

In the normal sense, of the three siblings hosting the power of Trinity, you would figure Amy to be the one least to fear. It wasn't that she was less powerful than her brother and sister, by any means, but it was absolutely fair to say that in general, she was less dangerous than them. She always preferred using her powers to heal rather than harm, but even beyond that...her virtue was not Faith. She did not have the burning conviction that drove Caleb on, the utter certainty that she was right and that whatever may happen, if you just worked at it hard enough, things would turn out for the best in the end. It wasn't Hope. She did not have the unshakable confidence that allowed Nadia to wade into even the fiercest battles with a smile on her lips and a taunt on her tongue. Her capacity for battle, her will to fight, could be limited by her doubts and her fears. In that sense, she was absolutely the least dangerous of the three.

But.

There was a difference in how Amy wielded her powers offensively, compared to her siblings. Caleb overwhelmed his foes with such certainty that everything would turn out for the best that they ceased to take action. Nadia filled them with so much confidence that they no longer defended themselves effectively. It was the very thing that made them more dangerous than her, blown so far out of proportion that it turned into a crippling deficiency. But that wasn't how Amy's power worked. Amy weakened her foes by filling them with feelings of compassion towards herself and others, degrading their ability to fight not because their own loves were felt more strongly, but because they now felt it towards the people they wanted to hurt. It wasn't about pumping it so high that too much of a good thing applied; it was about redirecting it to detrimental purposes. Because that was the thing about Love. It could be turned against your own interests, absolutely. It could be turned to serve other ends. Love of the wrong things could be dangerous. Love twisted to fuel darker emotions could be deadly. But as a force in itself, a pure and positive measure, there was never too much of it. Where Love was true, there was no threshold where it ceased to be good. If Amy ever tried to directly overwhelm an enemy like her siblings did, she would only make them stronger.

Eventually, Caleb's Faith would lead him to trust in the wrong thing. Eventually (or regularly, whatever), Nadia's Hope would lead her to get in over her head. But the power of Love knew no limits. Provoke Amy's fury, and the power of Love would just build and build until it could tear through anything in its path.

All of which was to say? It was a very bad idea to hurt Amy's friends!

Amy's sunrise-pink light flared up in an aura around her, shining brighter on her wings and brightest in her eyes, like two rising suns. She hurled herself at Miss Mechanus, shrieking a wordless warcry at the top of her lungs and coming in hard with a slash for her back with a brilliant pink...well. To call it a "sword" might have been disingenuous, or even a beam of light used to slash. No no. Trinity may have been running on fumes, but fueled by the power of Love, even the limited energy he had left to spend was charged, focused, and condensed into a beam that would burn through anything. The weapon in her hand was no mere sword of light. It was a freakin' lightsaber. It wasn't all destruction, though. Love remained a healing force, and there was enough of that in the blade that it would partially heal injuries inflicted, to ensure no mortal or permanent harm was done. But that wouldn't stop a solid hit from leaving a target thoroughly disabled.

The next moment, Nadia came flying in from behind Miss Mechanus, glowing not sky blue, but with the exact same brilliant pink light of her sister as she slashed her own lightsaber across the child-like super-scientist's back. And but a second after that, down dove Caleb, shining with the same bright light as he chopped down at her shoulder.

Because the other thing about Love?

It was strongest when shared.

Spoiler

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Extra Effort - Power Stunt off of Divine Magic.

Lucent Blade: Damage 8 (Alternate Resistance [Parry], Multiattack, Accurate, Improved Critical 2); Enhanced Flight (Wings) 3.

Move: Now at an effective speed of 12, all three move into Close range of Miss Mechanus.

Standard: Attack with Lucent Blade, All Out Attack for 5, Power Attack for 5, -2 for Exhausted, at (1d20+10)[20] 23, critting on 18+. On a hit, Parry DC 28+Multiattack vs. Damage.

Current Status: 5 Bruises, Exhausted, Unconscious as of next turn, -5 Defense this turn.

Notice: Trinity will Interpose a targeted attack on the next enemy turn, pretty much whatever it is, since I'm unconscious at the start of my next turn regardless. Prioritizing protecting Suzie since Damien regenerates.

Also, just to be safe, can I spend a PR Success and an Emergency Services Success to say the people in the area called the police and they apprehended the unconscious Miss Mighty?

[metakirb]

You think your blades are gonna keep working? BB's already reconfigured to guard against you more efficiently.

Suzie backed off a little, watching everything unfurl outside.

Dammit... I should have been out there helping him...

Wrestling with the possibility that she could have helped keep Slapdash on his feet had she followed Nadia's plan, in turn keeping trinity on their feet as well, she kicked her boots into overdrive, launching herself up towards the ceiling, flipping herself upside down, planting her feet firmly on the ceiling.

You're quick, but let's see you avoid this one!

She fired herself back down, spinning upright and slamming one rocket boot into the ground with a powerful shockwave, then following up with another shockwave as she brought the other boot down just as hard.

Spoiler: Suzie Smash!

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[Rocket Stomp] Damage 10 (Area:Cone)(Limited to Same Surface) Linked to Affliction 10 (Dazed/Stunned, Fort)(Area:Cone)(Limited Degree, Limited to Same Surface) on the Ballerina, DC20 then DC25/20 Toughness & DC20/15 Fortitude vs Dazed/Stunned

And then Extra Effort: [Rocket Stomp] Damage 10 (Area:Cone)(Limited to Same Surface) Linked to Affliction 10 (Dazed/Stunned, Fort)(Area:Cone)(Limited Degree, Limited to Same Surface) on the Ballerina, DC20 then DC25/20 Toughness & DC20/15 Fortitude vs Dazed/Stunned

Suzie Status: Two bruises and Fatigued.

[Llyarden]

As Slapdash got smashed towards him, Damian took advantage of the fact he was still a massive snake to gently catch the inventor in his coils and lower him safely to the ground. This occupied his time enough that by the time he looked back over at Miss Mechanus, the Springs triplets had already taken her down.

Considering the raw fury in Damian's eyes, this was probably a good thing for her.

As much as a much-needed way of getting rid of some of his aggression as any actual, like, tactical decision, Damian returned to normal size and sent tendrils lashing towards the one remaining conscious (so to speak) foe, trying to entangle it and drag it away from the others, where it wouldn't be able to hurt anyone else.

Spoiler: OOC

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Move: Reconfigure Shapeshift to Extra Limbs 5, Winged Flight 5, Regeneration 5.
Free: Switch to Constrictor and elongate over to the Ballerina.
Standard: Constrictor on the Ballerina: (1d20+10)[17]. DC25 Toughness vs damage and DC25 Strength/Dodge vs Grab on a hit.
Extra Effort: Do it again: (1d20+10)[29]. If the Ballerina was grabbed with the first attack, this will be an attempt to move it...I dunno, up into the air or something. Somewhere it can't easily slice anyone, anyway.

Status: Fatigued, Exhausted next round, 2/5 Luck.

[Dodgeson]

"That was for Mister Bear!" The pint-size genius shouted with glee as she sent Slapdash flying limply through the air, even if it was somewhat dampened by Damian managing to catch him. Still, her triumph was short lived when the Spring siblings rounded on her, Amy's shining blades in their hands. Miss Mechanus had put up a good fight, facing down an entire team of supers almost entirely on her own (and she lasted way longer than her sister. Take that!) but numbers weren't on her side and with her bodyguard down the fight was well truly turning against her.

The trio struck in unison, their lightsabers (!?) held back for a split second by Miss Mechanus's personal defenses until the skintight force field sparked and shattered. With a yell of pain Miss Mechanus fell in to unconsciousness, whisps of smoke floating off the ruined device concealed on her person.

Inside the warehouse itself the ground splintered underneath Suzie's repeated angry stamping, the Ballerina was nimble but with nowhere safe to keep it's footing it could only give a last ditch attempt to avoid Damien's grasping tendrils and stumbled in to his grip. Held firm and with its mistress laid out on the floor, the faceless robot went limp in the shapeshifter's clutches.

((And the battle is over gang! Everybody take an HP and Zelphas feel free to get up whenevs.))

[Quellian-dyrae]

As Miss Mechanus fell, the lightsabers guttered and vanished from the siblings' hands. The pink light around Caleb and Nadia shifted back to their usual silver and blue...and faded further, the brilliant light around all three of them diminishing to their normal gentle glows, and growing fainter still, almost entirely extinguishing. Where normally it kinda looked like they were standing in otherwise-invisible spotlights, their radiance now was more like they were standing by nightlights.

Their wings, too, had simply vanished. There was a sort of buzzing numbness in their heads where Trinity's presence usually hovered at the edge of their conscious awareness. The power of Love may have been limitless, but it wasn't free. There wasn't a couple, family, or friend in the world that didn't know that no matter how much you may love someone, relationships still took effort. And that requirement was no less true when it came to channeling the raw Power of Friendship into freakin' lightsabers. Amy had poured everything Trinity had left to give into that attack, leaving him, for the time being at least, latent.

...And, frankly, a bit more than that. She stared blankly at the concerned faces of her brother and sister for a moment, and then her eyes fluttered closed, her head lolled back, and she passed the flip out.

Caleb and Nadia were quick to catch her. To say they "eased" her to the ground would probably be too generous, because frankly their legs were barely inclined to support themselves at the moment and they dropped almost as fast as she had been about to. But they cushioned her fall at least.

Once they were seated, they laid Amy down, resting her head on Nadia's lap, slumping against each other to keep tentatively in a more-or-less upright position. They had burned off a non-trivial amount of energy in their previous fights, for sure, but that one had taken everything they had.

(Between that and the night of drinking, Nadia was not looking forward to waking up tomorrow, oh no she was not).

Although neither of them were in much of a state to actually do anything, Nadia managed to let out a bleary, "Wooo..." It wasn't her normal enthusiastic all-caps-and-exclamations-mark woo, but she gave it the best she had in the moment, God bless her! "Yaiaaaaahhhhhh" the "yay" got turned into a huge yawn, but she continued undaunted, "go team...rock on...oooh." She slumped forward some with her eyes closing, until Caleb reached out to steady her. She blinked several times to convince her eyes to stay open. "Annnnnnd...nap time! Back to the base house. Beach...house...base...the place, with the beds. Genesis doesn't get drunk, he's the designated driver." She giggled a bit wildly, either giddy with fatigue or just delirious enough to think that was super funny.

"Is Slapdash alright?" Caleb called in Damian's general direction, making a solid effort at pretending he was still clear-headed and on the ball even if he couldn't quite muster the strength to move. He fumbled with his phone in what was supposed to be an action to send texts with the details and locations to the police, but after he spent several seconds staring uncomprehendingly at the security screen without remembering either his password or the fact that his phone had a finger scan unlock, he decided to leave that in more competent hands and slipped his phone back into his pocket a perfectly comfortable-looking spot on the ground beside him.

Spoiler: OOC

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Because they're definitely mechanically incapacitated, but this is more amusing than straight unconsciousness .

[Llyarden]

For a few moments, Damian's form seemed to ripple, looking somewhat as if he couldn't quite decide what to shapeshift into. The perceptive might have noticed that he looked like he was halfway between his normal appearance and the strange, monstrous form that had accompanied him in Riordan's mindscape - although since 'the perceptive' at this point probably consisted of Buddy Ball, this likely went unnoticed.

He eventually returned to normal (plus or minus a few tentacles that were still holding the blade-wielding robot) and glanced down to Slapdash, who was lying at his feet. This may or may not have been a convenient way to prevent the triplets seeing him quietly laughing at Nadia's woozy remarks. "First aid really ain't my thing," he admitted, in reply to Caleb, once he'd stopped chuckling, "but I think so?"

"And d'you wanna look at this thing or do science to it or whatever -" he waved the limp blade-bot vaguely in Suzie's direction "- or can I just wreck it?"

[metakirb]

Oh I'm totally bringing that back with us. I wanna see it's combat AI.

Suzie starts to move over to everyone else, wobbling back and forth a bit, her boots sparking and sputtering after the force she put into her last move.

ow... These are gonna need tuning up. Probably some shock absorbers next time... How's everyone holding up?

[Dodgeson]

"Do not worry Suzie! I will carry you! =D" Buddy Ball cheerfuly offered his creator, gently nudging against her to try and get her to hop on rather than continuing to use the potentially dangerous boots.

Still on alert from the giant robot attack earlier in the night, the police were quickly on the scene to take the unconscious mastermind in to custody and impound what remained of her toys (though they seemed perfectly okay with Suzie keeping the Ballerina, whilst there was probably a legal name for it it was safe to say that the concept of 'dibs' was alive and well in the superhuman community)

"Going out on a limb here but I'm guessing this has something to do with that girl and the SUV down town?" One of the officers asked, fiddling with some tiny hand cuffs. "If you could swing by the station for a statement about all this we'd really appreciate it."

"Yeah, so would he." Another of the officers joked, referring to the good samaritan who called in about Miss Mighty and his trashed car (luckily the SUV was owned by the company he worked for and would as such be covered by their insurance)

The trip back to the beach houses was uneventful and upon their return the team were greeted by the sight of a girl sleeping on their couch, her face was covered by Mystery's long cowl/cape combo but from the neck down she was wearing a purple dress and heels, clearly they'd not been the only ones who had had a 'busy' night...

((And that's a wrap! Everybody gets one pp and 3 downtime actions. Also if you have any spare HP now is the time to spend them!))

----

Tomorrow was known for many things, gorgeous weather being chief among them, today was not one of those days. A storm had moved in from nowhere twenty four hours ago, the likes of which the city hadn't seen in more than one hundred years, and it showed no signs of abating any time soon. Efforts had already begun to cordon off the more coastal parts of the city and bring the citizens further in land (Holly assured you that the beach house was perfectly safe) but some people had stubbornly refused to move whilst the empty streets made tempting targets for looters.

So in the face of howling gales, mountainous waves and rumbling black clouds pregnant with thunder what do the brave Defenders of Tomorrow do?!

[Quellian-dyrae]

"To be perfectly honest, if I tried to give a statement now I'd probably get about half of it wrong and possibly fall asleep partway through," Caleb said, and while the lightness of his voice made it sound jesting, the drooping of his eyes made clear it was, if not entirely serious, still at least accurate. "I'll come by tomorrow to give a statement.
First thing."

"Doooonnnn't tell 'em first thing," Nadia warned him with a shake of both her hand and her head. "I mean, look, I don't know about you, but I'm planning to sleep until, like, at least ten tomorrow. And then it'll probably take another hour to deal with the hangover. And then we have a giant victory breakfast...brunch...whatever to make. And then we have to eat it. So realistically, you're not going to be getting there until, like, early afternoon at best."

"Or while you are taking your well-deserved rest, I can get up at a more reasonable hour, go give the statement, and be back by the time you and Amy are ready to start cooking."

"Oooohhh...I get it. I understand your whole...cunning plan thing! Your little...strategic...plot...whatever."

--

Each supporting Amy over one shoulder as they walked into the beach house, Caleb and Nadia stopped for a second (their brains were currently in no state to perform any activity so complex as walking and thinking simultaneously) as they saw Mystery lying on the couch. Looked at her, looked at each other, looked back at her.

"Huh."

And then they continued off to bed. The both of them were out like a light pretty much the moment their heads hit their pillows.

--

Caleb did sleep in a little bit, at least by his standards, but was still out bright and early the next morning to give a statement to the police, make sure Miss Mighty and Miss Mechanus had been processed without problem, track down the person whose poor, helpless SUV had valiantly given its life in the battle against Miss Mighty and, you know, apologize for that and do whatever needed to be done to make sure the insurance claim went through quickly. He got back just as his sisters were getting up, the both of them still rather bleary. Not without reason - that last attack had required tapping into some of their own energy to fully fuel, and Amy had definitely provided the lion's share. And Nadia, well, she had drunk quite a bit back at the club. Fortunately, he came back with some manner of unholy hybrid coffee/sugar concoctions in hand, so they forgave him for managing to be a functional human being before noon after the night they had had.

But once they had had their coffee, showered, and gotten their heads together, breakfast was totally a thing that was happening! Amy was at the grill making bacon, sausages, and her homemade garlic-onion hash browns; Nadia made pancakes and waffles and set out a counter-full of chopped fruits and various sweets to put on top of them; and Caleb stood at the stove with an array of meats, cheeses, and vegetables, a couple cartons of eggs, and an oversized skillet making omelets to order.

(The Springs siblings took their victory meals seriously. Especially now that they had a whole team they could cook for!)

--

Over the next several days, well, the triplets were staying busy. Aside from their jobs and general heroing, the TCPD had requested Caleb assist them with interviewing some suspects for a recent case, and Nadia was still going out every day to talk to the media, keep people informed about the Defenders, and make rather-poorly-veiled threats towards any criminals and villains who may have been having thoughts about trying anything in their city. It was fun! In the meanwhile, St. Ambrose had put out a request for substitute teachers, and Amy had answered the call. As shy as she was around strangers, it evidently didn't extend to kids.

One nice side effect of Nadia's media activities, though? Apparently people hearing that some of the Defenders of Tomorrow were social workers had prompted some amount of interest in the job. That seemed like something worth capitalizing on. One of the biggest problems with the industry was really that there just were not enough social workers. It was fine in their office, because their office had three angels on staff who could do the job of like a hundred regular people, but that wasn't a sustainable model on the large scale. But if they could use their growing fame to help some of the other offices in the city deal with their own staffing issues? That was a good first step to improving the industry throughout the city.

--

When the storm came, the triplets had hurried out, flying along streets nearest the danger zone and making their way gradually inward, helping people get to safety, trying to convince those who refused to evacuate not to take the risk, and just speeding the process along as best they could. ...And flying back every so often to get the really stubborn people to safety once it became clear just how serious the situation was. If they happened upon any looters, sure, they'd give them a quick talking-to and then get them to safety, because of course they would, but that wasn't really something they were actively aiming to do. End of the day, lives outweighed stuff.

[metakirb]

What do you mean you're out of sweets?!

I am sorry Suzie, but with the storm I haven't been able to resupply, and you haven't brushed your teeth yet today anyway! D=<

That's the least of our concerns here! How am I supposed to finish off this combat suit without any sweets?!

In the days since the incident with Miss Mechanus it had been nearly impossible to pry Suzie out of the lab. Inspiration had struck her pretty quickly after she'd begun dissecting the Ballerina robot, particularly it's swordlike appendages. Alas, with the storm in place it had been very difficult for her poor little robot buddy to go shopping to keep her fueled on sugar.

Should have made a wind break along the whole coast...

Suzie slumped back into a chair that BB barely managed to nudge into place behind her.

How am I supposed to work like this...? I guess I could ask Caleb to pick some up next time he's out...

The thought of other sources of sugar from anything other than sweets that were most likely still stocked outside of the lab had yet to occur to her.

[Zelphas]

Trevor spends the next several days either out of the beach house or in his own small corner of the workroom (having ceded most of the space to Suzie and her efforts to dissect the Ballerina), only leaving when driven to physical exhaustion or near-fainting from hunger. His forays out of the lab were spent tracking down and collecting bits of Invasion technology, his time in the lab spent tinkering and toying with the pieces, waiting for inspiration to strike. Throwing himself into a project had managed to distract him from thinking before.

Over time his routine slackens into a more normal pace, though he is still withdrawn and quiet.

---

Trevor drops his hand, letting the strange whirring device hang in the air above him. The device floats, impervious to the heavily gusting wind and torrential rain, mysterious lights blinking and glowing all over its roughly spheroid surface. Trevor, ignoring the wind and rain himself, watches the device for a few moments, his brow furrowed.

"Well," he says a moment later, sighing. "This thing has nothing to do with the weather, I guess." reaching up, Trevor plucks the device from the sky and stuffs it back into the bag at his side, awkwardly hanging nexted to the pile of twisted and rusty metal always on his back. "This storm is still probably not natural," he grumbles to himself as he heads to the small window just below the beach house roof, bending down to awkwardly swing himself inside. I'm not getting any inspiration to build something about it, though, so I can't do much.

Trevor is halfway down the enlarged staircase towards the workroom when he blinks and looks down at his sodden clothes. He sighs. Where is my head right now? He hurries off to his room before he can answer that question.

--

A few minutes later, in a new (dry) set of clothes, Trevor walks into the workroom. "Hey, uh, Suzie," he begins awkwardly. "Does this storm seem, um... natural to you? It came up out of nowhere, and, well, that doesn't really happen in Tomorrow... most of the time. Do you know of any way we can, uh, check to see if this storm is supposed to be happening right now?"

[metakirb]

Suzie barely looks up as Trevor asks his question, remaining slumped forward onto the workbench infront of her.

Trevooooorrrrr.... Have you got any sweets?

Yeah, Suzie's brain didn't function very well without fuel.

[Dodgeson]

Beach House

"Welcome to the beach house, my name is Buddy Ball it is a pleasure to meet you!" Suzie's forcefield projector spun happily around Trevor's newest acquisition, the alien orb remained enigmatically taciturn (there was in fact no evidence yet to suggest the device was even sentient) "Come on I will show you around! =D"

Floating to the door he turned to see his new 'friend' hadn't moved an inch.

"Oh I get it" He chirped, not discouraged in the slightest, "You are shy! Don't worry, I'll introduce you to Miss Amy, you'll fit right in! =D"

Of course this plan fell by the wayside when he spied Suzie slumped against the workbench and he swung in to action! Even if he did stay just out of Trevor's arms reach (he saw what happened to that phone! HE SAW!)

"I am sorry Mister Slapdash, Suzie is...um...it is like that cartoon with the sailor. =/"

Out in the Storm!

Trinity would not find themselves alone outside against the elements, more than once they would spy Mystery running across rooftops, lurking in alleyways and occasionally taking a picture of herself (the wind might have been dangerous but it made her cape look badass). There might not have been much she could do to help people evacuate but she certainly could make looters think twice.

"Hey guys! Crazy weather huh?!" The purple clad girl called out to the triplets, cupping her hands around her mouth to be heard over the sound of the howling gale "Any idea what's causing it?! That was really more Eliza's department!"

Before the angels had time to answer, the sound of a loud explosion pierced the air coming from the next street over.

"No rest for the wicked huh? Mystery asked rhetorically, taking a running leap and launching herself off of the building as she unhooked a grapple from her belt.

[Llyarden]

Damian looked at Mystery passed out on the sofa - and her unusual combination of clothing with a slightly bemused expression. After a few moments of opening and closing his mouth in a futile attempt to think of something useful to say, he eventually came up with "...er."

"Well, night," he added to no-one in particular. He stuck around the triplets briefly to make sure that Caleb and Nadia didn't pass out and/or drop Amy on the floor before they got back to their room, but otherwise headed to bed in what was possibly an even more taciturn mood than normal.

***

Nonetheless, he was up bright and early the next morning, seemingly as if nothing at all had happened the previous night (probably to the annoyance of, like, the entirety of the rest of the team).

Whatever events of the previous night had made him a little sullen were more than counteracted by the victory breakfast/brunch, in which he (once again) probably ate more than everyone else put together. "This," he remarked at one point during the meal with a wide grin, waving a sausage that he'd happened to be holding at the time around as if making an important point, "is the best part of winning."

***

Damian was out in the storm as well, his bat-like wings slightly larger than normal as he battled the roaring wings to fly to and fro, and large, pointed ears protruding from his head to help him locate anyone still in the supposedly-evacuated areas and help them evacuate if they needed the help. He didn't particularly bother to try to convince anyone to evacuate if they refused, though - partly because talking to people wasn't his thing, but mostly because if people were stupid enough to stick around in a storm like this then that was their prerogative.

He was somewhat less lenient towards any looters he happened across than the triplets had been; in his mind, getting told to leave your home sucked at the best of times. Getting told to leave your home, obeying the authorities, and generally being a good citizen - and then coming home to find that your good-citizen-ness had resulted in you losing valuable (both in terms of monetary and emotional worth) items sucked even more.

[Quellian-dyrae]

As Mystery went swinging through the streets, she'd find herself shadowed from above by the triplets. The explosion could have been something combustible getting struck by lightning or otherwise detonated by the storm somehow. Or it could have been intentional. Either way, while the Springs siblings didn't think Mystery would particularly need help in the latter case, there might be people in danger or in need of healing.

"Real crazy!" Nadia agreed.

"Causing it?" Caleb shouted back over the roaring wind and driving rain. "You think it's unnatural?" There wasn't really any doubt in his voice, just curiosity. On the one hand, storms happened. On the other hand, this was Tomorrow City, who knew what kind of crazy weather-manipulating supertech someone or another might have been playing with?

"Beats me if it is! I'm sure Trevor and Suzie are hard at work figuring it out though!"

[Dodgeson]

Out in the Storm!

"Totally! No way this natural!" Mystery hollered, her grapple launching her clean over the next building and bringing her down in a three point landing near the source of the explosion. "The brainiacs've got this!"

The street was almost abandoned save for a few cars on either side of the street, most people had wisely decided that moving in land until things calmed down was a smart decision. Almost everyone anyway, further down the street a trio of individuals stood clustered around a store front, its metal shutters were locked down tight but something had punched a jagged hole clean through them.

"Ha! I told you I could do it! This the bomb!" One of them boasted, the veins in his bulging biceps pulsing with a white light.

"No, what I said was I could do it without making all that damn noise!" Another yelled back at him, green ichor dripping from his mouth.

"Whatever! You're just jealous you look like a spaz!"

"Look what you've done you idiot!" The third one shouted, gesturing down the street to Mystery and Trinity, in contrast to his compatriots he would have looked completely unremarkable if he hadn't been floating five feet off the ground.

Elsewhere in the Storm!

Flying over one of Tomorrow's more affluent areas Damian's sensitive (I'm assuming) hearing would be assaulted by the sounds of shouting and the angry honking of car horns. Not too far away a tree had fallen down, blocking the road and traffic had begun to back up as more people tried to get to safety, understandably people were beginning to panic and tempers had started to fray.

Spoiler: Perception (DC20)

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Up on a nearby rooftop a squat four legged robot is silently watching the situation.

Spoiler: Insight (DC15)

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No wait, it's totally watching Damian.