Project Tomorrow - A Reassembly Filler Arc

[Quellian-dyrae]

Using the first post for status tracking and other utility.

Quick Reference:

Character	D	P	T	F	W	Per	Ins	Init		Luck
Sarah	8	8	14	8	14	0	0	0	5	1/3
Ronin	10	10	12	11	11	11/17	11/15	16	5	2/3
Potence	10/6	10/6	12/16	10	12	0	0 (16)	16	4	1/4+0/1
Builder	9	9	13	13	9	10/15	10	12	4	0/3
Gethsemane	10	10	12	11	11	0	0	0	2	0/2

Current Status:

Map

Floating HP: 5.

Sarah: Normal, Fatigued as of next turn.
Ronin: Exhausted.
The Builder: Fatigued.
Gethsemane: 1 Bruise, Exhausted, Dazed+Impaired (F27, 3/5), Ritual Charged.
Katie: 2 Bruises (1/10), Dazed+Impaired (F27), +4 Toughness/-4 Defense.

Supergirl: 5 Bruises (Incurable), Fatigued.
Colossus: 1 Bruise (Incurable), Fatigued.

Magneto: 4 Bruises, -1 Toughness, -1 (1 PP) Stamina, Fatigued. Recover used.
Periodic: INCAPACITATED!
Burster: 4 Bruises, Staggered, AoA -5.
Singular: INCAPACITATED!
Moses Forst: INCAPACITATED!

Wolverine 1: 2 Bruises (Starsoul!Incurable).
Wolverine 2: Normal.

Spoiler: Downtime Actions

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After each episode, the PCs get to take some Downtime Actions to represent various things they're doing with Project Tomorrow and to otherwise prepare for Darkseid. All of these will boost the Readiness Meter. They also provide some general impact to the world, and certain bonuses or resources that can be tapped into during the final battle against Darkseid, to reflect how the different characters "weaponize" the positive ideals they have been spreading.

Downtime Actions are representing more than just the PC's own work. This is the strength of Project Tomorrow - it's a movement, and one that's starting with superheroes. A PC's Downtime Actions represent not just what they're doing, but an abstraction of what other heroes throughout the world are doing. So they can have fairly large-scale impacts.

When performing a Downtime Action, you roll a skill check against DC 20 (each Downtime Action lists skills that can be used; in addition, you can always use Expertise if you can define how you use one of your Expertise skills to achieve the goal). You may Routine these checks if you wish. If you fail, you make only limited progress, translating into a stacking +5 bonus on your next Downtime Action (the bonus resets once you succeed a Downtime Action). If you succeed, you increase the Readiness Meter by 0.5 per degree of success, make progress towards some setting-influencing goal, and gain a personal benefit for the final battle based on your degrees of success.

I'm scaling the Readiness Meter to a maximum of 300. The higher the Readiness Meter, the better your odds against Darkseid. I'm not going to give you specifics, but Readiness 150 is about what I'm considering the "target" - it should be an extremely difficult battle, but winnable. A Readiness of less than 150 is going to make victory very difficult to achieve, and a Readiness below 50 will probably be utterly unwinnable. On the flip side, if you can push far enough past Readiness 150, you might be able to make the battle somewhat easier.

Achieving certain objectives, making certain choices, and completing certain tasks in play can build towards Downtime Actions. At the end of the episode, the GM declares which Downtime Actions have a "boost" from the events in that episode. For example, if the group defeats a powerful villain, the Defeat Evil Downtime Action may get a boost. If the group talks down some enemies from a fight, the Spread Peace Downtime Action may get a boost. If the group completes a little side-task to help some scientist working on some world-changing technology, the Solve Problem Downtime Action may get a boost. And so on. Any checks made for boosted Downtime Actions get a +5 bonus. The boost only lasts for one set of Downtime Actions, after which boosts get reset and recalculated by the events of the next episode. Boosts should generally come from significant or difficult achievements, not merely from acting a certain way during the episode.

Defeat Evil: There will always be evil in the world. Thanks to you there's less of it. This action represents going out and bringing down the bad guys directly. Whether than means capturing supervillains, breaking up crime rings, exposing corrupt businesses and governments, whatever. This Downtime Action can use the Acrobatics, Athletics, Intimidation, Investigation, Perception, Stealth, Technology, or Vehicles skills. Alternately, you may use your Power Level directly.

For each two degrees of success, you can choose some significant, reasonably localized threat - a fairly standard supervillain (not a big name), a criminal gang, a corrupt police force, etc - that your efforts have led to the downfall of. For each five degrees of success you can choose a larger-scale threat that operates on the level of a small nation or a who region of a large nation. For each ten degrees of success, you can choose a major threat that operates on a the scale of a large nation or a group of neighboring smaller nations. For each twenty degrees of success, you can choose a massive threat that operates on a global scale.

In addition, your victories give you additional drive with which to challenge Darkseid. When the final battle begins, you gain one bonus Hero Point per five degrees of success you have achieved with this downtime action, which may only be spent for offensive purposes (rerolling an attack, negating fatigue for an extra action or power stunt, etc). You may spend these Hero Points on behalf of your allies if you wish, as with the Luck Control (Grant Effect) power.

Protect Innocence: You protect those in need from harm, the ultimate calling of the hero. This action represents classic defensive hero work, saving people from whatever threatens them. This could mean villains and criminals, or it could mean disasters, hazards, and even the struggles of life. Lives are saved as a direct result of this Downtime Action. This Downtime Action can use the Acrobatics, Athletics, Deception, Perception, Stealth, Technology, Treatment, or Vehicles skills. Alternately, you may use your Power Level directly.

Your efforts save lives. The sum total of lives you are responsible for saving is equal to the "weight" (one life per pound) of a Mass rank equal two-thirds your total degrees of success minus 5. So with 15 total degrees you've saved 1,600 lives, for example.

In addition, the goodwill of those you have saved will protect you in the final battle against Darkseid. When the final battle begins, you gain one bonus Hero Point per five degrees of success you have achieved with this downtime action, which may only be spent for defensive purposes (rerolling a resistance check, negating fatigue for Recovery, performing an Instant Counter, etc).

Spread Peace: You work to spread peace through the world, reducing the amount of conflict and violence and making neighbors - or even allies - out of enemies. This Downtime Action can use the Deception, Insight, Intimidation, or Persuasion skills.

For each five degrees of success, your efforts, and those of other heroes, can cause one of the following effects: Talk down two nations preparing for conflict, secure a temporary armistice (and peace talks) between two warring nations, produce an armistice in a civil war, improve an armistice to lasting peace, end a non-military conflict between two countries (such as a trade war), or end systematic violence against a people within one nation. For each twenty successes, you can accomplish one of those goals on a regional scale. Certain large and powerful nations, or extremely bitter conflicts, may count as regions rather than individual nations for this purpose, at GM discretion.

In addition, the world being moved towards peace will hamper Darkseid's attacks against you. You get a +1 bonus on active defense against Darkseid in the final battle per twenty degrees of success. You may expend one of these bonuses, losing it for the rest of the battle, to convert one attack by Darkseid into a miss for all targets. You may do this even for attacks that do not normally allow attack rolls.

Spread Love: You work to spread love through the world, bringing people together and reducing hatred and bigotry in various forms. This Downtime Action can use the Insight, Investigation, Perception, or Persuasion skills.

For each five degrees of success, your efforts, and those of other heroes, eradicate one form of systemic hatred, oppression, or subjugation throughout a nation; while isolated instances may still exist, it is no longer present on the large scale. For ten degrees of success, you may do so through a region, a large nation, or a religion. For twenty degrees of success, you do so on a more-or-less global scale.

In addition, the world being moved towards love will shield you from Darkseid's attacks. You get a +1 bonus on resistance checks against Darkseid in the final battle per twenty degrees of success. You may expend one of these bonuses, losing it for the rest of the battle, to choose one condition; all allies who have that condition immediately remove it (if you choose fatigue, everyone loses one level of fatigue; if you choose Bruises, everyone removes half their current Bruises, rounded up).

Spread Hope: You work to spread hope through the world, building up confidence in others that things are getting better. This Downtime Action can use the Acrobatics, Athletics, Insight, Intimidation, or Persuasion skills.

As hope builds, more people get involved in Project Tomorrow. You can spend degrees of success to add people and groups to those who are officially involved with Project Tomorrow. Adding a specific superhero costs 1 degree, a neutral super 2 degrees, a supervillain or major corporation or organization 3 degrees, a superhero team, global corporation or organization, or typical nation 5 degrees, a large nation 10 degrees.

In addition, hope is the ultimate weapon against Darkseid. You get a +1 bonus on effect DCs against Darkseid in the final battle per twenty degrees of success. You may expend one of these bonuses, losing it for the rest of the battle, to force Darkseid to reroll all resistance checks he makes against a single attack (your own or another's), taking the lower of the two rolls. He may not use GM Fiat to Improve these rolls. You may declare this after he has rolled.

Spread Joy: You work to spread joy through the world, making people happier, reducing suffering, and improving quality of life. This Downtime Action can use the Investigation, Persuasion, Technology, or Treatment skills.

For each five degrees of success, choose one region (a single large country or a group of smaller countries). The overall quality of life in that region improves markedly, going from bad to poor to average to good to great. You may affect the same region multiple times. For each fifteen degrees of success, you may affect an entire continent in this way. For each thirty degrees of success, the overall quality of life in more-or-less every nation on Earth improves by one step.

In addition, the reduction of suffering means Darkseid cannot use it as a shield. You get a +1 bonus on attack rolls against Darkseid in the final battle per twenty degrees of success. You may expend one of these bonuses, losing it for the rest of the battle, to receive a +10 bonus on one attack roll, or bestow it upon an ally.

Solve Problems: You work to solve some specific problem afflicting the world; hunger, homelessness, some type of disease, some environmental issue, etc. You can use any skill that the GM deems appropriate to your work.

For each two degrees of success, you solve a city-scale problem (this might mean all significant local problems for a city, a global problem within a city, or a specific problem that impacts roughly a city worth of people). For each five degrees of success, you solve problem at the scale of a small nation or part of a large nation. For each fifteen degrees of success, you solve a problem on the scale of a large nation or a group of smaller nations. For each twenty degrees of success, you solve a continent-scale problem. For each thirty degrees of success, you solve a global-scale problem.

The more problems Project Tomorrow solves, the better it does going forward. While this Downtime Action won't provide bonuses against Darkseid directly, it makes it easier to get other ones. Each two degrees of success on this Downtime Action adds one degree to another Downtime Action of your choice for purposes of calculating final battle bonuses. Further, all characters receive a +1 bonus on future Downtime Actions (except for Solve Problems actions) per ten total successes accumulated in this downtime action among all characters.

Spoiler: Downtime Goals

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General Bonus from Solve Problems Successes: +4

Spoiler: Sarah [0]

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Solve Problems: 25 Successes.

Spread Joy: 3 Successes.

Spoiler: Ronin [0]

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Defeat Evil: 21 Successes. 10 spent.
Hydra has been excised from North America.

Spread Hope: 12 Successes. 10 spent.
Genosha has joined Project Tomorrow.

Spoiler: Potence [0]

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Solve Problems: 9 Successes.
4 city-scale medical conditions eradicated.
1 small-nation-scale medical condition eradicated.

Spread Hope: 0+4 Successes.

Spoiler: Builder [0]

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Protect Innocent: 7 Successes (25 lives saved to date).

Spread Peace: 10 Successes.

Defeat Evil: 4 Successes. 2 Spent.
Criminal gang The Remainders (Gotham) defeated.

Spoiler: Thunderstruck [0]

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Spread Love: 21 Successes.

Spoiler: Gethsemane [2]

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Solve Problems: 18 Successes.
2008 Financial Crisis prevented for USA.

Defeat Evil: 6 Successes.
All demonic bankers cleared from three major cities.
All demonic bankers cleared from U.S. eastern seaboard.

READINESS METER: 80

Boosts Earned This Episode:
Protect Innocence.
Spread Peace.

[Quellian-dyrae]

It was a couple hours afternoon on Saturday. The day was bright, the sky was clear, and the fair was well underway.

Metropolis was just one of several cities hosting the Project Tomorrow Fair. There were another dozen throughout the United States, and nearly that many scattered throughout the rest of the world, in countries that had welcomed superheroicsamaritan activities. At first glance, the fairgrounds might look like any other, with people milling about various rides, attractions, and gloriously unhealthy food stands.

But most fairs weren't being run by superheroes.

I mean, sure, not exclusively. It wasn't like they had Batman handing out cotton candy or anything (do not think Katie didn't try). There were scores of volunteers involved too. But Project Tomorrow was about more than superheroes just rolling up and fixing whatever problems they deemed. It was meant to be as much a movement as a plan. And this was the first big step towards getting people involved in and excited about it.

So along with the rides and attractions and food, there were signs displaying slogans and ideas and members of the Project. There were stands where volunteers could sign up. There was a little stadium where supers could display their powers before an audience, and if they were so inclined talk about how they might be able to use them to help with the Project. There was an auditorium where people could see prototypes of some of the devices that were in progress, or plans for things to be built, improved, or simply rolled out. There were heroes wandering about, greeting and chatting with people, maybe showing off their powers to those who asked, or taking some kids on flights over the fairground, or helping out people who needed it. Or just quietly providing security.

Music and chatter filled the air, punctuated occasionally with cries of excitement or delight. There was a vibrant energy to the fairgounds, although it wasn't entirely uncontested. If you listened closely and maybe had a bit of super-hearing, you could hear the angry chanting of the protesters gathered on the opposite side of the street from the fairgrounds. The mass of protesters was certainly dwarfed by the number of people attending and enjoying the fair, by probably something of the order of a couple thousand to a couple hundred...but to be fair, that was here in Metropolis, the home of the Misfits (not to mention Superman) and the birthplace of Project Tomorrow. Reports were that the gap was smaller in many other cities.

Project Tomorrow was making a strong start. But it still had a ways to go.

Spoiler

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Ya'll can decide what you're doing in the fair. Some possibilities were alluded to above, and feel free to make up your own!

For those keeping score at home, since Katie's biggest job in Project Tomorrow is basically organization, she's been basically flying back and forth between fairs making sure everything is running smoothly, helping out, and just generally being Katie before flying off to the next. So she stops in periodically but she's at a different fair right now. However, she is keeping Shared Awareness up, so you may all consider yourselves to have telepathic links running.

[CandyLaser]

The Saturn Foundation had quite a presence at the fair. Power was provided by Saturn Six-series generators - though really, they weren't generators at all, so much as small portals that tapped into distant stars. Saturn nanotech fabricators spun cotton candy from what seemed like nothing at all. And of course, there was the Hall of Tomorrow, showcasing the world as it could be (if it wasn't destroyed by Darkseid, gobbled up by Galactus, or trashed beyond repair by good old humans first).

Sarah herself was busy behind the scenes. She was the opposite of a people person, after all. Unobtrusive camera drones flitted about, and Sarah was monitoring them all, occasionally whispering instructions to her trusty underlings Travis and Eckels. They were her hands, moving about the fair, ensuring that all went according to plan.

Spoiler: OOC

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Hi, Travis and Eckels! You guys basically haven't been around since the very first arc.

[Starsign]

After everything which Rene has been through, today is an awfully calming day for the reptilian so far.

Not that it lets him relax, mind. Rene has worked at fairgrounds back when he was human and building and maintaining buildings there is backbreaking and very busy labor. There's a great difference between building an apartment and building a fairground ride. Even with a full team of builders, getting anything from a ferris wheel to a roller coaster up can be taxing, difficult and very punishing if even one beam or support has a loose screw. Back in the past, the human Rene would groan whenever he was tasked along with the company to help with constructing a fair?

However, as a reptilian, Rene couldn't ask for anything more!

By this point Rene's seriously tried being and acting like a superhero as a part of Project Tomorrow. He never liked actually fighting villains but he's had little hesitance in doing so now when there's civilians and innocent people in danger. By comparison, constructing a fair is a relaxing task for someone with super-building abilities. Technically they're more predatory abilities coming from the Totem yet Rene has found that they work for more mundane purposes; and that's just how he likes it. It's almost fitting, as the reptilian has been relatively calm since the events at the Peak, though the screams of tearing metal and the deathly sounds of the Peak and the skrull warship still linger hard in his mind.

The reptilian currently holds tightly onto the metal bars of a ferris wheel, using a thick wrench to tighten up several joints whose looseness had set off the ride's emergency brakes. His clawed feet and tail wraps around the bars way up high so that he doesn't risk slipping and falling. He attracted quite a scene from below as people watches the reptilian humanoid who had came in like a green blur up to the wheel. With his instinctual powers he finds the repairs taking all but a minute to fix in what would have taken a crew hours before he slithers back down to the ground again like a green blur. The greenish-yellow-scaled and hunched hero momentarily looks at the crowd with his super-suit, a thick, green-colored rubber spandex covering his body minus the head and limbs, tightly on him. He puts up a nervous, toothless smile. "Ride should be ready to go again," he tells the crowd before running off to the next part of his inevitably busy job.

A short time passes before the reptilian is at one of his other tasks at the fair: lost-and-found. His speed and slithery form lets him moves and weave between groups and streets to help find children who have been separated from their parents. This is a superheroic fair after all; Rene as a human would've been lost as hell if he came here. He minds the rush of people as he zips across the fair before finding a young, brown-haired girl sitting confusingly on a wooden bench. That should be her. "Excuse me?" Rene slithers gently towards the bench while trying to talk to her. "Are you Samantha? Your mom is worried. She's been looking for you since you two played over at that ring toss place." Rene got the details from her mother; now all he has to do is convince the young girl to come back to her parents. How hard could that be for a large reptilian creature?

[Zelphas]

"...Away from protesters; no need to add fuel to fire..."

A tall, stunningly beautiful woman strides through the crowds of the Project Tomorrow Fair, dressed in a purplish-blue 50s style cocktail dress that accentuates her scarlet skin and flowing waves of ebony hair. Curling, almost delicate horns emerge from either side of her forehead, shading from scarlet down to deep black as they curve around her ears and terminate at either side of her mouth. She mutters to herself constantly, her black-and-red eyes narrowed as she pensively clutches the long indigo staff in her right hand.

"...Showing off skills similar issues, technology no-go (how many channels on TV now?)..." she murmurs, skirting past a small group of schoolchildren and trying to ignore the stares coming from all around. Gethsemane had decided on putting on her demonic form in an attempt to be less conspicuous, reasoning that a more humanoid form would be better than her normal buglike, obviously alien shape. Fifty years away from humanity had made her forget that she had designed this form to be attractive to humans, and thus it garnered attention anyways.

Gethsemane sighs. "Should have taken that elective on Succubi... know how to be inconspicuous..."

[TheIronGolem]

Spider-Man's assailant pulls the trigger once more, and the gun spits one final burst. The webslinger ducks and weaves, superhuman reflexes working overtime to keep him out of the path of the chemical pellets cutting through the air. He dodges more of the shots than any human being has a right to expect, just as he's been doing all day.

But he's blind. Tired. Trapped in an enclosed space with little room to maneuver, and no cover at all. And his luck has finally run out. Bright yellow sunbursts erupt in a line across his slim frame as the pellets strike and shatter against it. Their chemical payload goes to work immediately, penetrating the symbiote's "skin". Spider-Man spins once with the impact, then collapses into a heap. The shooter lowers the gun, a satisfied smile spreading across her face. The crowd gathered around her cheers at her victory, some now finding the courage to hurl taunts at the fallen hero.

Suddenly, Spider-Man is back on his feet again. He turns his attention inward, listening to what the symbiote is telling him about the substance seeping into it. The wall-crawler turns toward the source of the attack, lifts a finger inquisitively and asks, "Lemon custard?"

The shooter, an eight-year-old girl, nods excitedly.

Spider-Man removes the blindfold from his face and points his fist at the shelves on the opposite side of the stage. A thin line of webbing snatches its target - a box roughly the size of a loaf of bread - and snaps back to bring it to his hand. Box in hand, Spider-Man leaps high into the air, twisting and somersaulting, then lands in front of the girl as casually as if he'd simply stepped off the stage like a normal person.

"Good choice!" he tells her, holding out the box. "That's my favorite. Trade you for the gun, Annie Oakley?"

He's not sure if she gets the reference, but she gladly makes the exchange. The box is emblazoned with a colorful logo bearing the phrase "NutriDots: Lemon Custard flavor!"

NutriDots...one of Stark Industries' contributions to Project Tomorrow. A cheap, nutritionally-dense food product that travels easily, can be made to taste like damn near anything, and has a shelf life that makes Twinkies look like a snow-cone in the Sahara. Or, as Spidey had put it, "Bertie Botts' Dippin Dots". He'd volunteered to be the subject of this silly carnival game ("Splat the Spider!") as a way of showcasing this advance in food technology. For a small fee, players receive a "gun" loaded with NutriDots of their selected flavor, and if they manage to nail a blindfolded Spider-Man with a shot, they receive a box for free. He puts on a good show, of course. But when the contestant is a little kid like that girl, Spider-Man plays to lose.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Spoiler: OOC

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Sorry for the delay guys. I'm gonna try to pay more attention and keep posts moving at least in the vicinity of weekly (or faster if we can manage that!)

Sarah

Everything was running smoothly at the fair. Unfortunately, that only seemed to be true of the fair, as a phone call came in from your PR director. "Miss Saturn, we have a bit of a situation here. I have the CEO of NetWork Robotics on the other line, and she has some...concerns about the safety and reliability of the generators. She's talking about replacing them with Stark generators. Can I patch you through?" While your PR director wasn't scientifically illiterate by any means - and was, in fact, very good at taking complex scientific principles and putting them in a format that a layperson could understand - Corinne Keys, though perhaps not a superhuman genius herself, was smart and savvy enough to be able to talk supertech, if not build it. Dumbing things down didn't work very well with her.

She was also a pretty important client. NetWork had half a dozen factories throughout the U.S. for developing high-end robotic platforms. They used quite a bit of energy, and losing their business would definitely have a detrimental impact on the Saturn Foundation's bottom line.

Spoiler

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Take a Hero Point for your Responsibility Complication.

Builder

Samantha turned to look at Rene as he spoke to her and...froze.

He only managed to get to "Are you Samantha?" before she screamed. Loud. Like, it-was-probably-a-good-thing-Jimmy-and-more-importantly-his-symbiote-was-halfway-across-the-fairgrounds loud.

The crowd nearby turned their attention to the scene. Some of them seemed to recognize the Builder. More of them didn't, but whatever anger or protective instincts they might have felt that could have driven them to intervene was at least temporarily held off by, you know, the sight of the giant lizard-man they'd be trying to intervene against.

Fortunately, the scream had caught the attention of one of the other heroes at the fair, who quickly swooped in to land between the young girl and builder. "What's going on he- oh. You."

Unfortunately, that particular hero happened to be Batwing. Who like most of the Bat-Family, wasn't exactly one of the Builder's biggest fans. Especially after that dust-up he had had with Killer Croc about a year and a half ago, shortly after he joined Batman's team. Let's just say that there's a reason he got his costume upgraded with some Richards tech.

Spoiler

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Take a Hero Point for your A Monster In Civilization and Watched By The Night Complications.

Gethsemane

Yeah you'd been attracting your share of stares since arriving. Also a fair number of blanches when the people staring noticed your horns, but that was probably keeping some of them from buggi- err, pesteri- I mean, bothering you. But as you walked through the fairgrounds talking to yourself, you might have noticed that even more eyes were turning your way, and they were looking less impressed or attracted than confused, uncertain, or scared.

You heard one youth not-quite-quietly-enough asking his parents, "Is she casting some sort of spell or something?" And evidently you weren't the only one to overhear him, as the people nearby suddenly started looking distinctly agitated.

Spoiler

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Take a Hero Point for your Knock-Off Communicator Complication.

Spider-Man

"I got him I got him!" the girl cheered to the applause of the crowd, and traded the gun for her prize.

But before you could hand it off to the next contestant, your cell phone rang. The crowd at the booth wore bemused looked, and at least a few of them looked like they were actively fighting back laughter. It was just...you don't expect a hero's cell phone to ring, you know? Probably least of all one dressed all in a scary black-and-white spider web costume.

(I wouldn't want to presume, but just going by general experience, I wouldn't be surprised if Jimmy's ringtone added to the amusement.)

Now, whether you let it go and checked the voicemail later, or picked it up, the resulting message would be the same. Because it was from Perry White, and like the one thing I know about Perry White is that when he's calling about a story, the person on the other line does not get a word in edgewise. "Jimmy! I need you to get down to the Project Tomorrow fair. Kim's still working on the Garden Failure story and Devin apparently ate too much of the wrong kind of junk food and isn't able to continue. Fortunately that won't be a problem for you, right! We need all the heroes we can get, and especially all of the Misfits! Use your connections if you have to, don't take no for an answer! And get some shots of the protesters too! We're presenting both sides of this story!"

...He could have at least acknowledged the fact that this was supposed to be your day off. I mean, sure, an apology from Perry White would absolutely have been too much to hope for, but at least some acknowledgement...

Spoiler

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Take a Hero Point for your Responsibility Complication.

Also I swear to God I was this close to having Frank Castle be the next person to take up the dotgun.

Ronin

It's all you man.

Spoiler: OOC

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For the record Thokk got a new job recently and told me he's going to be on hiatus for a time at least, so for now I'm operating on the assumption that Thunderstruck is at a different fair or something. Thokk if you want to jump back in feel free to do so at any time.

[Starsign]

Well that sure didn't work out.

The relatively-gentle reptilian froze and then shuddered in horror as the young Samantha screamed at him. Rene was not exactly easy-to-approach over his rather large reptilian form and having a child freak out upon seeing him wasn't a surprise. That however did not stop her scream, rattling his reptilian ear sockets, from scaring him. Screaming in a crowd during a fair run by superhero was a heck of a good way to get attention and nothing good could come for Rene as a result. He only prayed that a reasonable superhero would come to help sort this out as he stayed still on his clawed hands and feet. If nothing else, slithering around allowed his size to seem smaller than if he stood right up.

His slithering pose, however, ended up making Batwing look much, much taller than him.

Rene let out a very quiet, "Oh god," as he saw the contempt Batfamily member approach. Of all the heroes who could've investigated this mess of Rene's making, there are few worse than Batwing. Perhaps maybe next to Batman himself, Rene did not want to interact with any hero more than this guy and his super-tech uniform. Sure, Nightwing and Batgirl could knock Rene down a peg with one hand tied behind their back, but at least they'll make a joke and pretend to have a good time. It's a very different story for the member who has a blatant tech-suit of steel and electronics beneath the tight black cloth covering his main body. The wing-style cape doesn't help with the linen edges appearing sharp enough to cut skin if touched; and those eyes, even if covered by that visor, give off that illuminating, creepy blue glow that can scare anyone who sees him in the dark. Rene can't really blame Batwing for getting those upgrades after what happened with Killer Croc... If only Batwing didn't hold Rene to similar contempt.

Still on his clawed hands and feet, Rene takes several slight paces back as Batwing stares down at him. The reptilian's claws dig gently into the concrete stone ground as he tries to speak. "Oh, Batwing. I'm sorry." His scaly, coarse voice is shaken from the hero's appearance.

Stop.

A voice in Rene's head freeze his body momentarily as he stops a slow retreat. Several shaky breaths come out of his mouth before he explains what happened. "I was just trying to help this girl. Her mom's looking for her and I just thought I could find her since I'm fast. I just wanted to ask her to come back." That's about all Rene has to say; Batwing's likely not looking to hear a drawn-out explanation, not that Rene is any good at those in the first place. Talking is still better than trying to run away, or worse, trying to start a conflict... at least Rene hopes so.

[TheIronGolem]

"Back in a bit, folks", Spider-Man says to the crowd. "Got a cat up a tree."

To the chorus of cynical groans and eye-rolls he replies, "Yeah, okay, I wouldn't buy that either", before web-swinging away.

He does retrieve something from a nearby tree, though: his camera. It may have come in an embarrassing way, but Jimmy doesn't need Spider-Sense to anticipate that the fair would bring a surprise assignment from Perry. And that's why he'd come prepared. The camera had been webbed to the tree in a spot just a bit too high for most people to notice, pointed at the Splat the Spider booth, and set to automatically take a picture every few seconds and send them to Jimmy's phone. He's not thrilled about the idea of putting himself further in the limelight as Spider-Man, but he did volunteer for this. Besides, there are always other heroes who can relieve him of excess attention. Changing to civilian clothes in an out-of-the-way corner, Jimmy goes off to find some.

The Builder is the first he spots. It isn't hard, given that we're talking about a giant lizard clinging to a Ferris wheel. What is hard is getting a clean shot of a speedster in action, even with a high-speed camera. But with a bit of patience Jimmy is able to get a decently-framed shot of Rene fixing the ride. He hopes that'll help lift the Builder's spirits; he'd been getting a strong impression that the reptilian had been getting frustrated lately with his increasing reputation as a superhero when he'd rather be doing more constructive things.

Pictures of Sarah Saturn, of course, are mandatory. It's pretty much her show, after all. He just snaps a few pics of her being authoritative and businesslike, not bothering to try to get her to be "photo op-y" like he might for your average corporate type. There's not enough Photoshop in the world to let her pull that off.

Pictures of Ronin, looking impossibly cool as he does whatever he does. Pictures of Potence, who is almost offensively photogenic despite being busy doing a dozen people's worth of work.

Several technically-proficient shots of Gethsemane as well...but between her currently-chosen form and the way people in the frame stare at her, Jimmy doubts the Planet will want to run any of them, because they give the appearance of being intended for a rather...different sort of publication.

After that, Jimmy moves on to the rather less pleasant task of covering the protestors. Some high-angle shots to give a decent feel for the size of the crowd (though he can't help throwing in similar shots of the much larger fair-going crowd). Some close-ups of individuals: some calm, others screaming. Lots of signs, of course, most of which employ proper spelling, but...for Pete's sake people, there's an "e" in "heroes"!

Spoiler: OOC

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QD: I didn't want to make assumptions about what other heroes are present, but Jimmy will be getting shots of any of them he can as well.

Everyone else: If you feel your character would be up for it, Jimmy is also taking statements.

[Zelphas]

Gethsemane pauses as she notes the agitation of the crowd, settling her wings slightly so that they don't flare out and agitate the crowd more. Smiling important to calm crowd, but not full grin; vestigal fangs will give wrong impression. Same with holding palms out; while usually gesture of supplication or lack of harm, in spellcasting context becomes threatening.

Carefully keeping her hands at her sides, Gethsemane curves her ebony lips in a slight, reassuring smile at the crowd. Keeping her movements slow and steady, she raises her left arm, allowing any sharp-eyed viewers to note the indigo ring on her middle finger as she raises a hand to her throat. Curling her fingers inwards, one black-laquered, slightly pointed fingernail flicks out to snap against the small rectangular box affixed just below her chin.

"Pardon me," she says soothingly, hoping that the translator has begun to work once more. Note: Familiarize self with technology--or become friends with Ms. Saturn. "Slight translator issue. No harm meant."

Spoiler: OOC

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Persuasion to soothe the crowd: (1d20+5)[16] (add 5 if Attractive applies)

[CandyLaser]

"Put her through," Sarah said, as she recalled what she knew about Ms. Keys and her relationship with Tony Stark. Really? she thought. How many times has his armor gone rogue, been stolen, or just exploded? Let's just deal with her concerns and get back to something more important.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Spoiler: OOC

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Reminder, my Marvel/DC Lore is low. If anyone has actually read about any canon NPC I introduce, do not hesitate to tell me some key elements of their personality. Otherwise I will go with my best guess/nearest understanding and I will probably get things wrong.

Builder

Batwing's mask stared impassively at you for a few moments, before sweeping over the crowd. "Everything's fine folks. He's with the Project," he said, with a distinct air of "nothing to see here" or perhaps more precisely "go away". It was a tone that the average person doesn't ignore, coming from somebody wearing one of those bat-themed costumes, and the crowd quickly moved on.

Batwing crouched down to the scared little girl, and said in a gentler voice than Rene had probably ever heard coming from a member of the Bat-Family, "Hey, you ever gone flying?" Samantha looked up in a bit of surprise and shook her head.

"Alright. Well, I'm gonna ask the big dumb lizard over there where your mom is, and then I'll fly you back over to her, okay? How's that sound?" You know...there were things you could do when you say something like that to take the insult out of it. You put a bit of laugh in your voice and some goofiness, to make it clear that you're just making dismissing the perceived threat to make the kid feel safer. Maybe throw in a bit of a smirk if you want it to come off as poking fun.

Batwing did not do those things.

Samantha wiped her eyes and nodded eagerly, a little smile even coming to her face. Not too many kids were gonna pass up getting flown somewhere by a superhero, is what I'm saying.

"Alright," Batwing said, giving her a little fist-bump, and then standing up and walking over to you.

"Oh stand up," he said, his voice dripping with disapproving contempt, as if he was talking to a misbehaving child. "Where's the girl's mom at?"

Spider-Man

There weren't any particular problems getting the pictures. And given the speed at which he worked, the Builder was probably done fixing the ride by this point if you wanted to go back around for a statement.

Spoiler: OOC

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Gonna just leave you open to go about that since you guys were discussing it OOC, since who am I to get in the way of two players RPing.

Gethsemane

Spoiler: OOC

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That's enough to shift them from Hostile to Unfriendly.

Evidently the words came out correctly this time, since several of the people looked relieved, though not necessarily relaxed. The crowd didn't quite disperse, and were still regarding you with suspicion. Evidently, they weren't sufficiently up to speed on extraterrestrial organizations to recognize the significance of a glowing purple ring, more's the pity (maybe if it had been green...)

And while it wouldn't quite be precise to say they were surrounding or blocking you...there were enough of them that they would present a bit of an obstacle to move through.

Finally, one woman asked the question that was on everyone's mind. "Who...are you? Are you some kind of, of, demon or something?" Evidently the significance of bat wings and horns was more widely known. "You realize this is a superhero fair, right?" Several people had their phones out now, although they were distinctly in a "get stuff to post on social media" position rather than a "call for help" position.

Sarah

"Thank you ma'am," the director said, and a moment later, "Hello Miss Saturn, thank you for taking the time to talk," Corinne Keys said. After the usual exchange of pleasantries, she started in. "I just have a few concerns about the function of the new generators. Now, I understand the overall process, but how are they kept stable exactly, particularly long-term? How close are the portals to the stars they are gathering energy from, and what protections are in place from various solar phenomena? I'm concerned about the possibility of something like a solar flare damaging electronics, to say nothing for what would happen if a coronal eruption reached the portal. I know your team said there are safeguards in place, but I'd like a better sense of exactly what they are and how they work."

Ronin

Spoiler: OOC

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I'mma take the the liberty of grabbing one idea you mentioned on Discord and rolling with it.

So, you were late. It was easy to tell you were late. You didn't even need to look at a clock to do it. No, you could tell not only that you were late, but also how late you were, just by the frequency of Kitty's text messages which were, themselves, telling you how late you were, if you wished to confirm it.

To be fair, though, it's not like you don't have a good reason for it. X-Force doesn't go out for no reason, after all. Taking out a group of Purifiers who kidnapped somebody is a good reason on its face. When that somebody is, according to X-Force's intel, a scientist who worked on the SPINners project - that is to say, a scientist who might have the ability to put together power-killing nanotech - yeah, it's fair to call that a priority.

Fortunately, it hadn't been hard to track them down, thanks in large part to Cable's technopathy. And once they had been tracked down, well, maybe one day your enemies would be smart enough to smash every mirror they owned before doing anything. But it was not this day. The battle itself hadn't been especially difficult, because you know, X-Force.

You were pretty much free to head on to the fair if you chose to, though, notwithstanding some snide remarks from your teammates (yeah they weren't exactly huge supporters of Project Tomorrow). The Purifiers were defeated, the scientist (while still tied to a chair and staring around in a bit of horror at all the blood and bodies - X-Force isn't exactly the very best at nonlethal combat) was safe, and-

"So, I'll be the one to say it. What are we going to do with this guy?" Psylocke asked. Her psionic sword was, it was worth noting, still in hand. It certainly wasn't the sort of question that would get asked in most superhero teams, but well...see above re: might have the ability to put together power-killing nanotech.

Spoiler: OOC

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Take a Hero Point for your Wolverine Syndrome Complication.

[Starsign]

Rene feels like he's been utterly reprimanded. In fairness, he did cause a minor panic, including his internal one, when he approached Samantha and caused her to scream. It was a giant mistake to think that he could just slither up to her, even slowly. At the same time, there is something demeaning about Batwing's words even when not addressed to the reptilian. "Big, dumb lizard"? That's the kind of thing you say about Killer Croc... preferably when Croc isn't in hearing distance. Rene isn't the smarted creature and certainly not the most sane; but he... he shouldn't be associated as just being a brute with muscle, should he?

The train of thought roars through his mind briefly; is he a brute? He's tall and athletically muscled for his size but he's never really been considered himself being something resembling overly dumb muscle. He's never really been known for his strength or his muscles or his intelligence... or lack of it for that matter. He's more been known for being a monster. Guess it all comes back to what he is.

Stand.

As if the beast in him is answering a challenge, Rene curls up from his slithering state, stretching his plated back out and standing at his hunched height; the pose makes him slightly, though not dramatically, bigger than the armored Batwing. A small, slightly comfortable rainforest feel rushes through his nose and scales despite the fair being an urban place of stone-and-iron all around. The greenish-yellow reptilian sure does seem a little out-of-place at the fair compared to many other heroes as his thick tail fidgets slightly on the stone ground; his clawed feet sink into the stone as if he's expecting to receive a punch in the face.

"She's over by the restaurant, the one with the blue-and-white stripped tent top. It's right next to the ring toss booth," Rene answers Batwing; the reptilian's many small teeth constantly exposing themselves as he speaks since his reptilian head lacks lips. "She's wearing a blue shirt and white long skirt. Sam should recognize her." It's a relatively simple answer and should be nothing more than a simple flight. The reptilian has to admit flying must be exciting for the young girl; most heroes don't generally offer it and Batwing certainly isn't one to usually give those to others.

A look above and over Batwing's shoulder lets Rene see Samantha again, happily waiting for Batwing. Now the reptilian isn't really in any position to ask Batwing something but there's something he has to tell the hero. "Please be careful taking her back," he warns. Rene is very clearly worried about the possibility that Batwing may end up slipping his grip and causing Samantha to fall. Batwing though is a hero and one who's been around much longer than Rene. Surely he should be fine giving a kid a ride, right?

...Sometimes Rene wonders whether his paranoia comes from his relative insanity.

[SuperCracker]

Buzz

Buzz Buzz

Late. Again. He could imagine the looks he’d be receiving. Ronin was advertised for the event and he wasn’t there yet. It had been Kitty’s idea: Crusader X: Sword Saint Legacy had premiered on Adult Swim recently and was now exposed to an American audience. This meant that interest in Ronin the Misfit was at an all-time high; and who better to be the face of a mutant from a normal home trying to make a difference? Well, so says Kitty anyway.

She was going to reach through the phone soon and hit him, judging by the frequency of the texting.

Funny how Fred was more worried about that than he was about the dead Purifier bodies lying about the room. Ronin was no stranger to killing – you don’t carry a sword to knock people out unless you’re Kenshin. That was turned up to 11 whenever he was working with X-Force. As Psylocke and Cable stared down the scientist, Ronin (dressed In a gray and black variation on his new digs) wiped the blood from his sword with a bit of cloth.

“He’s dangerous,” Fred started with a low voice. Practically speaking, the best option would be to kill the man and dump his body somewhere in the planar void. He had knowledge of technology that could harm mutantkind on the most fundamental level. But Ronin isn’t always practical. He’s principled. “But he’s still innocent.”

Fred walked up to the man, still tied up.

"Mutants saved your life today.” Ronin knelt and cut the zip-ties. He stood and sheathed the blade. He hadn’t waited for approval from anyone (even if he wasn’t the team leader). Murdering this man wasn’t up for debate and he’d fight anyone in this room over it. “Wipe the research.”

And if you do something… well… you know we can find you.

“I have to go,” he whispered to Betsy as he walked past. He looked at the mirror on his wrist and vanished.

Kitty had left a mirror sitting out near the X-Men space. The mirror glinted and Fred blinked into existence. A quick button press on his phone and his red/black/white color scheme re-emerged. Quietly and somewhat sheepishly he walked to join the others.

"Alright boss, put on a smile. It's time to meet your fellow nerds!"

[CandyLaser]

Sarah sent out messages to the drones drifting around the fair while she listened to Ms. Keys' sensible, but ill-informed, concerns. Thanks, in part, to her long association with Katie and the rest of the Misfits, she didn't reflexively assume that her tech and her plans were foolproof or that Keys didn't deserve an explanation. It would be going a bit too far to say that Sarah was polite in her reply, though.

"To be frank, Ms. Keys, it's not feasible for me to explain the full gamut of safety measures in this medium. As to your first question, though, you misunderstand both the nature and the position of the portals. I've placed them in the hearts of the relevant stars, far from the turbulent stellar atmospheres. What's more, I've ensured that none of these stars will be leaving the main sequence for at least a billion years, which guarantees a steady supply of power for much longer than I expect the human race to survive. The portals themselves are stable wormholes, formed of virtual matter created by direct manipulation of the Higgs field in order to create two-way Krasnikov tubes. If they were disrupted - which is extremely unlikely - the wormhole would simply collapse. In short, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. Will that be all?"

[Zelphas]

"Aware of fair's purpose," Gethsemane replies calmly, her hands still carefully placed at sides. "Is Green Lantern or other interstellar hero present at fair? They or member of Misfits can hopefully clear up concerns." She didn't like connecting herself to the Misfits, but it was better than turning this crowd into a mob against her for the moment.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Builder

Batwing's face mask just stared impassively at you for a few seconds after you told him to be careful. He didn't say anything and you couldn't see his face, but nonetheless the look still somehow projected a distinct air of "did he really just tell me that?" Then without another word, he turned and picked up Samantha, balancing her on his shoulder. "Alright kid, let's-"

Ronin

Psylocke gave you a wan look with just a bit of a smirk. "Don't go getting soft on me Ronin," she said, but it was more teasing than argumentative, and the blade did vanish from her hand.

"Oh right, your little fair thing is today, isn't it?" Cable said, with a merciless grin on his face. One that was mimicked by several other members of the X-Force. Fortunately, you had access to a mirror and fey teleportation magic, so you were gone before the roasting could begin.

You appeared within the little tent by the stadium where people were displaying their powers. Now, officially, this tent was for people to sign up to make a display, describe what they were going to do (so any necessary safety measures could be taken), maybe get some suggestions, and so on. But most of that was done at the booth in the entrance. The X-Men were mostly clustering further in. They were mostly providing advice and guidance to the people who were...less certain about making a public display of their powers. Which naturally included, but was far from limited to, mutants. There were plenty of reasons one might be struggling with one's superpowers, and while the public prejudice that mutants had to deal with was one of the most pervasive ones, it wasn't exclusive.

And no one, but no one, had more experience helping troubled people deal with overwhelming new superpowers than the X-Men.

That being said, Kitty was at the booth in the front, proudly sporting a Project Tomorrow t-shirt and cheerily helping people sign up for their turns in the stadium. As soon as you appeared, she strode towards you with the clear intent of dragging you over to help. After all, who better to attract more supers to showing off than the latest anime star? "You, sir, are la-"

Sarah

"I see, I see. Yes, that does make more sense," Keys replied professionally, although you'd swear there was almost a hint of disappointment in her voice. "That does alleviate most of my concerns. I do still have some questions I would like to get a better answer to on the subject of possible interactions between radiation and sensitive machi-"

Gethsemane

Possibly emboldened by the camera-phones pointing in her direction and your lack of aggression, the woman answered you reply with a frankly somewhat haughty, "And why would the Misfits invite a demon to-"

Everyone

...So as it turns out, Ronin wasn't late at all. He was right on time!

Screams went up as entire masses of people bore down on the fairground from all directions. Across the street, the protesters' chanting stuttered to silence as two groups in ratty street clothes and with a rather high collective tattoo-to-skin ratio came bearing down the street from opposite directions, moving in staggered formations as they approached at different speeds and in different ways - flying, jumping, running, teleporting, swinging, slithering, sliding, whatever. At first they seemed to be going for the protesters, but when they saw each other they started letting fly at one another instead, with a variety of energy blasts and invisible ripples of ranged powers from some while others raced ahead to leap into melee. On the far side of the fair, a unit of people in military-style camouflage gear were charging the fairgrounds at vehicle-level speed, but maintaining a tight and disciplined formation for all that, firing as they ran. From the east and west, two forces came swooping down on the fair from the air, one of them composed of people wearing what at a glance appeared to be Iron Man-style powered armor, while the others were surrounded in brightly-colored forcefields and projecting blasts of colorful light from their hands - no, more precisely, from the glowing rings on their hands. And all throughout the fair, several people in the crowds pulled out an eclectic assortment of oddball weapons and gadgets, brandishing them as people in the crowd began to panic and flee.

Someone had fielded a flipping small army to target the fairgrounds. It was a ludicrously overkill assault for taking out a peaceful festival...or just barely sufficient to present a meaningful threat to a fair being run by superheroes.

~Guys guys the San Francisco fair is under attack who's free?~ Katie sent over Shared Awareness.

...That may have had to be priority two.

...Actually, maybe call that three. Because as dangerous as a small army of mid-level supers was, they were not the only people attacking the Metropolis fairground.

Near the stadium, a fit, bald man with a longsword in hand and an intense focus in his eyes suddenly appeared amidst the crowd...actually, it almost seemed like he leaped out of one of the civilian's heads.

Through her office window, Sarah could see a woman in a sleek dark stealth suit suddenly appear from thin air. Extending from her hand was was seemed like a narrow oval that was somehow twisting the light passing through it upon itself...a portal in the shape of a blade.

Not far from Rene, there was a loud roar that sent people nearby scattering in panic, clearing the way to see...well, what looked like a humanoid tyrannosaurus (complete with an oversized head and comically small arms) striding unhurriedly his way.

Swinging through the fairground, Spider-Man would catch sight of a man in...well, frankly, if his costume and Batman's had had a lovechild, it would have probably looked a lot like the getup this guy was wearing, although maybe without quite so many pockets. Now, that sort of fashion statement wasn't really objectionable at a superhero-run fair. Stones and glass houses and all. But the knives he was holding as he looked down among the confused crowd certainly were...

"-oh, I guess we're starting." the woman who had been speaking to Gethsemane said as her form blurred and shifted, changing before the eyes (and the phones) of the crowd around them from that of a normal human woman to that of a skrull.

And from the sky above, in clear view from pretty much anywhere in the fairground, a blonde woman in a suit of midnight blue spandex with an insignia on the chest that looked...not entirely unlike a Kryptonian House emblem, and a long, bright gold cape, came floating down with an almost regal bearing...as brilliant red-gold light of solar fire began to blaze in her eyes.

Spoiler: Some infodumpy stuff

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Spoiler: Lastthought

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Spoiler: Well Informed or Expertise (Mutants, Genosha, or Supervillains) DC 25

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This mutant warrior combines potent telepathic powers with master-class swordsmanship, a powerset honestly not unlike what you might get from a cross between Ronin and Professor X. Able to use his telepathic powers to predict his foes' moves and disorient or distract them from his blade, or use aggressive melee attacks to keep their focus while he slips in with psionic attacks, he is a master at striking his foes' minds and bodies alike. A champion of Genosha with a fierce personal loyalty to Magneto, he has served as a warrior, spy, and assassin alike. He sees the X-Men and their ilk as traitors to the mutant race, and believes that mutants and humans are in a war which cannot be abated or prevented, but only won or lost.

Spoiler: Assessment DC 26

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PL 12.

Spoiler: DC 31

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Two-point Will shift.

Spoiler: DC 36

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All stats at PL. In addition, given the intensity of this foe's focus, you get the sense that it is possible for him to not only psychically reinforce his body (bringing his Fortitude up to PL), but also perfectly defend himself from any Will-based attack.

Spoiler: Vanish

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Spoiler: Well Informed or Expertise (Military or Supervillains) DC 25

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A former special forces operative who acquired her powers after exposure to extradimensional dark matter. Granted the metahuman power of Astral Stalking, she is able to conceal herself from the senses and teleport from place to place, a powerset that actually isn't all that far off of what you might get from a fusion of Sarah Saturn and Sue Storm. And by the way, the two things look exactly the same, making it difficult for foes to be able to tell if she's really gone, or simply turned invisible. She's worked for numerous shadowy government agencies, from the CIA and the NSA to SHIELD and AEGIS to the U.S. military, and even done a stint or two with the Suicide Squad. She is a fanatical patriot who will do anything in her power to benefit the United States - which by her standards mean, to move the country ever further on the path to total control of the planet. While her patriotic loyalty is unquestionable, in pursuit of her goals she is functionally morally bankrupt.

Spoiler: Assessment DC 25

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PL 12.

Spoiler: DC 30

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Two-point Defense shift.

Spoiler: DC 35

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All stats at PL.

Spoiler: Roarin'

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Spoiler: Well Informed or Expertise (Inhumans or Supervillains) DC 25

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This inhuman underwent a major transformation after terrigenesis, appearing as a cross between a human and a tyrannosaurus rex. In addition to substantial physical prowess, he was gifted with the inhuman power to generate a sonic roar that at maximum strength is rumored to be nearly an eighth as powerful as Black Bolt's inside voice! But while he might lack the raw power of the King of the Inhumans, he makes up for it with control. Not only can he, you know, speak without destroying things, but he can modulate the sonic frequencies of his power through his voice to achieve a variety of effects. He is something of a rebellious figure among the inhumans, and seeks to build his prestige and one day eventually rule himself.

Spoiler: Assessment DC 10

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PL 12.

Spoiler: DC 15

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Two-point Toughness shift.

Spoiler: DC 20

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All stats at PL.

Spoiler: Felltrade

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Spoiler: Well Informed or Expertise (Criminal or Supervillains) DC 25

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An ageless (though not fully immortal) assassin who throughout his long, long life has been trained by some of the most feared organizations to stalk the night, including both the Hand and the League of Assassins. While he possesses no flashy superpowers aside from his agelessness, his immunity to age has given him centuries to perfect his techniques and refine his tools, all while remaining in perfect physical shape. Clad all in black, he is stealthy, agile killer armed with deadly weapons inspired by the creatures of the night. Venomous knives, poison-spiked whips, blood-draining syringes, web grenades, and so on. His motivations and goals are eternally shrouded in mystery.

Spoiler: Assessment DC 10

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PL 12.

Spoiler: DC 15

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4-point Attack and Defense shifts.

Spoiler

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All stats at PL.

Spoiler: Heavy Heart

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Spoiler: Well Informed or Expertise (Aliens or Supervillains) DC 25

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This Super-Skrull has acquired powers of Density Manipulation and Emotion Control, which dovetail nicely with her natural shapeshifting ability - between them, she could emulate a lot of the capabilities of, for example, both Gethsemane and the Martian Manhunter. Extremely versatile, she can change her appearance and proportions, augment her strength and durability, phase and fly, and induce all manner of emotional maladies in her enemies. She rejected the surrender of the rest of the Skrull and Kryptonian alliance after the Ten Second Invasion, believing it to be a weakness that would offer Darkseid the advantage. Only unquestioning faith in their gods and their cause can keep Darkseid's influence at bay, and that he was able to compel the invasion only proved that they should be doubling down on their dedication to the plan, not trying a new tack!

Spoiler: Assessment DC 28

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PL 12.

Spoiler: DC 33

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No tradeoffs.

Spoiler: DC 38

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All stats at PL.

Spoiler: Sunbound

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Spoiler: Well Informed or Expertise (Aliens or Supervillains) DC 25

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This kryptonian mage was a student of the Talisman herself. Though not quite as physically powerful as say a typical kryptonian warrior (due to having to burn off stored solar energy to power her spells), she uses the magic of Bindings to influence her own kryptonian link to the energies of the sun, as well as the mystical connections between the sun and ideals of heat, light, life, glory, power, and so on. She is a mighty battle-mage equally at home scouring her foes with solar fire and supporting her allies with potent healing and power-boosting spells. So yeah, you may as well consider her every bit as terrifying as a hypothetical fusion between Potence and Superman would be. When the Talisman summoned the power of the Phoenix Force into the kryptonians at the Peak, it caused something of a feedback loop (because the phoenix has a mystical connection to the sun, but got connected to her, who has a connection to the sun and to mystical connections with the sun which is connected back to her and...yeah). All that solar power flying around maaaayyyy have drove her a little insane. It's just barely possible that she thinks she is either the embodiment of the Phoenix Force, an avatar of Flamebird, a Champion who symbolically consumed a Phoenix Hecatomb, the Phoenix Totem, or all of the above, possibly depending on the time of day.

Spoiler: Assessment DC 10

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PL 12.

Spoiler: DC 15

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No tradeoffs inherently, but when putting her power behind her Kryptonian Super-Strength, she would have a four-point Toughness shift.

Spoiler: DC 20

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All stats at PL.

Spoiler: Mirror Mashup!

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So, here's what's up. This battle is kinda a mirror match. Like, the enemies aren't copies of you, but they're each inspired in large part by one of you (and another Marvel or DC canon character).

You are, of course, welcome to fight whoever you wish. However, if you play true to comic book form and do not target any matchups other than your own, or any PC whose matchup is still fighting, you will gain an additional Hero Point at the end of the battle. Further, if you do not target anyone but yourself and your matchup until yours is down, you will get a bonus Hero Point as soon as it goes down. Although be warned, Sunbound acts at random, and will not respect the sanctity of duels.

If a particular player does wish to solo its opponent, please respect their decision and do not try to help them unless they change their mind.

Spoiler: Unit Combat

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There's several heroes at the fair and they need something to fight too! The background battle is being resolved with unit combat rules. Most of this is just for explanation and can be ignored for people who don't care. I'll bold the stuff that might actually be important to you guys.

Basic Rules

Each unit has a unit combat bonus, and each round makes an attack against another unit by rolling using their bonus against a DC of 10 + the target unit's bonus. On a success, the target unit has its bonus reduced by one per degree of success. On a failure they cause no effect. A unit whose bonus is depleted entirely is no longer able to contribute to unit combat.

Some units may cause collateral damage. When they attack they make a second roll at a lower bonus, and if the first roll succeeds (if they actively want to cause collateral damage, or at least don't mind it) or fails (if they are trying to avoid causing collateral damage), then the second roll applies against a random Civilian Force. Heroic and Allied Forces may choose to take the degrees of collateral damage on themselves (they take the actual degrees inflicted, lowering their unit bonus appropriately, not the rolled attack itself).

Ya'll may choose to take degrees of effect from unit attacks on yourselves if you wish to, either for combatant or civilian forces. When doing so, roll a check using your highest defensive stat against DC 15 + 5 per degree taken, against a Damage effect. You may do this once per round and all degrees stack to one Damage result (i.e. you can't take three DC 20 effects, it'd have to be one DC 30), so I don't advise taking more than two or three degrees per round. Anyone who absorbs a total of three degrees of unit attacks over the course of the battle will gain an additional Hero Point for their self-sacrificing heroism. Anyone who absorbs a total of ten degrees will earn a second.

While you guys have your own foes to fight, you may contribute to unit combat if you wish (as may your enemies, if say they get annoyed with you ignoring them, or knock you out). Doing so is a standard action, and you roll your unit attacks using your PL minus 3 (so, +8 for you guys). If you have Takedown 2, you get +2 on your Unit Combat check. Alternately, you can get +2 per application of Area you have on an attack, but if it's not Selective, then each application of Area also means your attack causes collateral damage at +4, regardless of whether it succeeds or fails.

By default, unit damage represents members being hurt, knocked out, paralyzed, chased off, nullified, or otherwise simply rendered unable to contribute. Some forces, however, may have members killed from attacks. Heroic Forces are not subject to random casualty in the battle. Allied Forces may or may not be, depending on the Force. Civilian Forces are always subject to casualty by unit attacks and collateral damage (so be careful with non-selective area attacks!) Hostile Forces are subject to casualty from each other and from any force noted as potentially causing casualty; in such cases, one member is killed per degree of success on the attack.

Heroic Forces

Big Name Heroes: There's a few heavy-hitters at the fair. They aren't especially organized among themselves, but given their raw power they collectively roll for unit combat at +16.

X-Men: There's some mid-to-upper-level X-Men at the fair, and they work as a unit. Together, they collectively enter unit combat at +14.

General Heroes: There's also a pretty fair number of street-to-city-level heroes at the fair. They're not strictly organized but know how to work together, and collectively enter unit combat at +12.

Allied Forces

Volunteer Supers: While many of the supers who signed up to do volunteer work for Project Tomorrow don't want to use their power for combat, some are willing to enter the fray if necessary, and they'll all wield powers in their own defense if attacked. These guys tend to be more minor talents though, and are extremely unorganized and inexperienced. Nonetheless, taken as a whole, they can contribute to unit combat at +8. Their limited experience with their powers and utter lack of combat training means their attacks are capable of causing casualty. And while they try to avoid it as best they can, they will cause collateral damage at +2 on a failed attack. They are also potentially subject to casualty by enemy attack, with each degree of effect they take resulting in 1d3-1 deaths.

Local Law Enforcement: There is a local law enforcement presence on hand, mainly just keeping an eye on things. The Metropolis Police Department has seen some stuff, though, and they know their game. While they lack powers, their teamwork and tactics still allow them to enter unit combat at +6. Guns are lethal weapons and the police don't take the safety off if they aren't willing to kill - their attacks are capable of causing casualty. While guns are dangerous weapons to fire amidst panicking crowds, the police are well-trained, and cause collateral damage at -6 on a failed attack. They are also potentially subject to casualty by enemy attack, with each degree of effect they take resulting in 1d3 deaths.

SPINners: If the battle isn't over after seven combat rounds, a SPINner team will arrive to assist. These guys are individually nearly as powerful as some of the big-name heroes, and they come in numbers and are hyper-organized, allowing them to enter unit combat at +18. But you guys don't need their help, right?

Civilian Forces

Local Media: There's a significant media presence covering the fair. While journalists won't enter combat directly, they're hard-boiled and intrepid, allowing them to defend at +2. Their unit value is not degraded by enemy attack, but each effective point lost means the death of a journalist, reporter, or other member of the media.

Protesters: The protesters are sufficiently riled up and panicked that they may lash out randomly. Sheer weight of numbers allows them to enter unit combat at +2. Their unit value is not degraded by enemy attack, but each effective point lost means 1d4 protesters are killed and 1d12 more injured.

Civilians: The civilian fairgoers won't enter combat directly, and as mere civilians, they have a +0 bonus in unit combat. Their unit value is not degraded by enemy attack, but each effective point lost means 1d4 civilians are killed and 1d12 more injured.

Hostile Forces

X-Bones Mutant Gang: A large but rather scattered nation-wide gang of mutants, consisting heavily of young mutants whose parents were killed, imprisoned, or otherwise became unable or unwilling to raise them due to various conflicts between and among the X-Men, Hellfire Club, Brotherhood, Sentinels, Purifiers, etc. They're mostly mid-level, with a couple beefier ones scattered about. The forces arrayed here aren't the whole of the gang, but probably include members from several nearby chapters. They enter unit combat at +12, and cause collateral damage at +6 on a successful attack. They have a fierce vendetta against the...

Terrorgenesis Inhuman Gang: A nation-wide gang of Inhumans, many of them outcasts due to destructive, poorly-controlled, or use-impaired abilities. They're about equal in numbers to the X-Bones, with a somewhat more variable range of power. They balance out to +12 in unit combat, and cause collateral damage at +6 on a successful attack.

Battlesuit Mercenaries: Mercs in what looks like knock-off Stark tech, although anyone who's technologically savvy can tell pretty easily that the suits are way less advanced, and mainly just designed to look like Stark tech on the outside. Still, powered armor is powered armor, and these trained mercenaries fight in an organized unit. They enter unit combat at +10, and cause collateral damage at +4 on a successful attack.

Faux Lanterns: Several dudes are flying around surrounded in colorful forcefields and shooting brightly colored blasts of energy from rings on their fingers. Fortunately, the lack of energy constructs and the big honking power packs on their back (which also seem to be providing their flight) make it pretty clear that they're not actual Lantern Corps, they just got some technology that looks like it at a glance. Still, their weaponry is powerful enough to allow them to enter unit combat at +10, and their universal access to area blasts means they cause collateral damage at +8 on a successful attack.

Semi-Super Soldiers: What do you get when you trawl through the dishonorable discharges list, pick some names essentially at random, and put them in a lab with a bunch of chemicals and radioactive materials that may or may not have once been in the same room with Captain America for a few minutes? Well, mostly, you get John and Jane Does turning up in secluded alleys, but every so often you get a goon with near-superhuman physical aptitude, full military training, and breathtaking psychological issues. But put enough of them together and they can enter unit combat at +8, causing collateral damage at +4 on a successful attack.

Assorted Rogues: Just a bunch of D-list supervillains, angry-at-the-world metas, and combat-capable supers desperate for a buck to round out the carnage. They're mid-level at best and poorly organized, but between them threatening enough to enter unit combat at +8, causing collateral damage at +4 on a successful attack.

Spoiler: Initiative

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I'm rolling your initiatives individually against your matchup. If you beat your matchup you may take combat actions immediately in your next post (even against someone else). If you don't you may still feel free to post a reaction, approach, etc, but enemies will get a chance to act before you can resolve a combat action.

Ronin vs. Lastthought: (1d20+16)[34] vs. (1d20+12)[23].
Sarah vs. Vanish: (1d20)[11] vs. (1d20+15)[34].
Spidey vs. Felltrade: (1d20+26)[35] vs. (1d20+16)[33].
The Builder vs. Roarin': (1d20+2)[19] vs. (1d20+12)[22].
Gethsemane vs. Heavy Heart: (1d20)[7] vs. (1d20+12)[28].

Ronin and Spidey can resolve combat actions immediately. Everyone else may still post reactions/approaches/etc.

Shared Awareness is ON.

[Zelphas]

As the fair erupts into chaos and the particularly insistent crowd heckler reveals herself to be a villain, Gethsemane... sighs, flexing her fingers slightly. "Shouldn't have changed forms," she comments to the Skrull before her in a light, almost lecturing tone. "If not needed to unleash powers, could have tried to spin this as 'heroic crowdgoer takes down demoness trying to take advantage of chaos'. Kept your cover, advanced more plans later. Sloppy. Short-sighted."

Spoiler: OOC

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Gethsemane knows nothing about anything but magic and demons, really, so not much to do until my initiative's up; just thought I'd throw in a quick post anyways.

[CandyLaser]

"Forgive me, Ms. Keys. It appears supervillains are attacking. I'll send you some literature," Sarah said, calmly.

Then she hung up.

With a sigh, her business suit flickered away, while her other professional getup took its place. In the blink of an eye, she stepped through one of her own portals, heading out to meet the woman challenging her. "All right, let's make this quick. Do you want to tell me what you actually want, or or should we just start trying to kill each other?"

Spoiler: OOC

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Rolling well-informed: (1d20+21)[31].

[Starsign]

The feeling of relief lasted for just a moment. Rene kept his clawed feet in the stone ground as he watched Batwing begin to take little Samantha home. Disaster was avoided and all Rene had to do now was get back to his construction job. He turned around and prepared to walk away.

Then the screams came.

Oh no, oh no oh no!

Armored figures swept in from above.

No, no, why today?!

And then a large humanoid t-rex comes stomping his way.

Oh goddamnit, NO!

Of all the days to deal with a massive superpowered riot, this was not the day for it. Rene's clawed hands slam into his head, holding the large plates on his top as if he was suffering from some sort of headache. His thick reptilian tail slams into the stone ground once as if in frustration. This was awful. He's never been used to a fight breaking out at the most inopportune times, though a superhero is expected to deal with it on a daily basis!

A part of the reptilian deeply hoped that there was another hero available to handle the t-rex; with so many civilians in danger, Rene had to focus on saving them. As he pays attention to Katie's shared awareness, of which he had mostly ignored to focus on construction, he sees that backup simply will not be coming. The others have their own villain to deal with, leaving Rene front-and-center to stop a humanoid t-rex. At least... at least this one doesn't have actual arms, right? Rene doesn't need to worry about getting grabbed; he just has to avoid getting bitten by that... oversized... head.

Suddenly Killer Croc's massive, overgrown stalagmite-like teeth doesn't seem so bad.

Rene yanks his head over to Batwing, who had been interrupted by the screams of the crowd, and shouts, "HURRY! Get her outta here!" His coarse, reptilian tone sounds like it creaks on a blackboard as he warned the other hero; it didn't occur to Rene that shouting makes his voice sound worse than it already is. Batwing better take the hint regardless; at least he can fly!

One heavy breath later and Rene faces his most pressing issue: the t-rex itself. The Totem-holding reptilian slithers slowly up to the villain as he hisses, "What the hell are you doing?!" The reptilian's voice has as much anger as it does panic and desperation. Panic is found notably in Rene's eyes as his irises twitches and jitters around in their slits; The flying mechs and Lantern-like enemies fire down from above; villainous rioters appearing throughout the shared awareness. He can't ignore them. Can't ignore them, can't ignore them, can't ignore them!

[TheIronGolem]

Honestly, Jimmy thinks bitterly as his Spider-Sense turns on the air-raid sirens in his head, the real surprise is that it took this long.

Spider-Man lets go of his web-line, dropping down to land airily just behind Felltrade.

"'Scuse me, Harpo Darks", he says. "I think your agent gave you the wrong address."

Without waiting for a response, Spider-Man takes a quick double-step to Felltrade's other side, bouncing heel-to-heel like a boxer as he taunts the man.

"See, this is the Project Tomorrow fair."

A showy, completely-unnecessary leap takes Spider-Man over his foe, landing him behind the assassin, whom he taps on the shoulder. Whether he can actually beat this guy he doesn't know. But he's utterly confident he can annoy the guy, perhaps even enough to take an ill-advised swing that he could take advantage of.

"The Splinter Cell cosplay convention is over at 8th and Main."

Spoiler: OOC

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Agile Feint vs. Felltrade: (1d20+15)[17]

[Quellian-dyrae]

Round 1

A vague sense of mental tension came through the Shared Awareness link. Evidently whoever was attacking the San Francisco fair had enough of a heavy-hitter with them to tag Katie with a Bruise through her recently-upgraded wards. Good on them. ~Sorry guys, have to drop the link for combat casting. Be safe!~ she sent, the feeling of connectedness fading from everyone's minds.

"I'll keep that in mind next time," the skrull said, in a sort of bemusedly good-natured yet subtly sarcastic voice, like an adult thanking a child for their advice. About...well, maybe two-thirds of the crowd that had gathered around Gethsemane were backing away with varying amounts of speed from "cautious withdrawal" to "full fledged panic". The rest...maybe backed up a few paces, but they seemed to be more interested in pointing and typing into their phones. Spoiler alert, "Skrull vs. Demon" was totally about to start trending.

The skrull rushed Gethsemane, her footfalls carving potholes into the ground as she altered the density of her musculature, coming at the demoness with a powerful right hook, her eyes shining with sky blue light. Although even if it hit, it wasn't like Gethsemane had anything to fear! She was a powerful demon, and an Indigo Lantern to boot! It would take far more than mere heightened strength to be a threat to her! Why, it was hardly worth bothering to defend against some mere skrull!

--

"I'm sorry wha-" and that call was over.

The teleporter shot Sarah a stern look as she appeared and asked what she wanted. "If you people could stop trying to cripple our country's strength, that would be great," she answered. "But since I don't expect it, sure, let's do the killing thing." The next instant, she was standing before Sarah, slashing at her with her portal blade. With all her experience with portals, Sarah would have no question that a weapon like that could slice through pretty much anything - a portal was effectively a hole in space, no matter could exist where it did, no matter how tough.

--

Batwing didn't hesitate. The Bat Family in general and he in particular may not have been Rene's greatest fans. Frankly, they weren't entirely convinced he was sane. But in this case, their thoughts followed the exact same path. Batwing took to the air, flying Samantha out of there. Kids' safety came first, no question, every time.

But as Rene approached the anthropomorphic tyrannosaur and hissed his demand...well, the answer he got might have come as a bit of a surprise. Because rather than roaring out some threat or challenge and lunging immediately to bite his head off, or anything like that, he spoke in a clear voice and with well-enunciated words and no evident hostility, although he was balanced on the balls of his feet, and there was a certain wary readiness to his stance. And...it was odd. The outside world seemed to almost...slow down as he spoke. It didn't fade out, quite, his voice didn't steal your attention or anything like that. But it allowed him to say much more in much less time, and gave you additional time to consider his words and reply. "Why, I am hoping to speak to you, of course! Granted, this is not the precise venue I might have otherwise chosen, but we all play the hands we are dealt, do we not? My name is Burkhard Hunter, although I have gone by the appellation of Roarin' in some circles. It was not my first choice, I admit, but what can I say, the name has grown on me. You are welcome to refer to me with either."

"Now, do not mistake me, I will not pretend that my goals are not aligned with those of these...fellows. And I am entirely aware that you stand with the organizers of this little event. So of course, we could act like the beasts that so many of them already see us as, but I would like to make you an alternative offer. I would deem my value to my side of this conflict as roughly equivalent to your value to your own. I will not play to either of our egos by speculating on who might be the stronger in a physical contest, but I think it would be fair to say that if it were to come to blows between us, neither of us could with any real certainty say that at the end of it we would be the one still standing to provide some greater contribution to our team's goals."

"As such, my suggestion is that we forego the matter entirely. Let's you and I retire to this lovely little cafe that I had the distinct pleasure of visiting last time I was in town, and we can settle our differences through civilized conversation, as gentlemen should." He swept his gaze over the field as the fighting and fleeing continued expanding, and though it was somewhat hard to tell with his inhuman features, he almost looked bemused as he did so. "I could present many good and rational reasons and persuasive incentives for doing so. But if I may be frank, I should honestly say that the mere irony would be sufficient."

--

The assassin didn't react at all.

Okay, honestly, that's not entirely fair. I mean, he did react. It was just...he didn't react to Spider-Man's efforts to distract him. At all. He didn't flinch. He didn't retort. He didn't display annoyance. He didn't even do that thing where the bad guy tries to show off how cool and unflappable they are by responding to antics with a cold stare.

No, he just whipped a dagger out and started stabbing. And not, like, fancy superhero knife-fighting style stabbing. Oh, don't get me wrong, he was ludicrously fast and well-coordinated. He absolutely could have done some awesome fancy knife-twirling stuntwork and still gotten in a perfectly respectable stabbing. But there was no effort wasted, no unnecessary movement. He just got in close and started stabbing with quick, short, rapid strikes.

Honestly, it would have been a deadly attack even if the knife hadn't been poisoned.

--

Fred's storm of swords filled the area, cutting down a couple D-list goons with knock-off costumes as afterthoughts or accidents. His primary target brought up his sword to parry, and the ring of steel on steel-

No, scratch that. Starsoul knew the ring of steel on steel. This was not the ring of steel on steel.

This was the ring of steel on iron.

The ring of steel on iron rang out over the area, but when the storm ended, a few drops of blood fell to the ground from a cut on the bald-headed mutant's cheek.

"I've been looking forward to this, traitor," he spat out, coming at Fred with what seemed to be a fairly straightforward thrust-high-and-slash routine with his sword. However, since Fred had scanned his powers previously, he would know that even no overt feeling of mental intrusion didn't necessarily mean this foe's telepathy wasn't at work. Channeling his power through his blade, his attacks could sever the target's conscious mind from its unconscious, decoupling conscious desire from reflex and muscle memory.

----

Up above the fair, Sunbound looked down on the battlefield with a quirky smile. She found her attention drawn to all the silly little humans who responded to an all-out super-powered brawl not by trying to flee, nor by trying to help, but by pointing their cameras and recording the whole thing. That was an interesting response.

Granted, drawing the attention of an insane kryptonian was not generally a good thing.

Particular when she miiiiight have forgotten to turn her heat vision off. It happens to the best of us.

Throughout the fair, well, yeah, there was definitely some panic. But it was controlled panic. Heroes of all stripes were running, flying, leaping, and teleporting to fend off the many and varied attackers, keep them back from civilians. In the front, the mutant and inhuman gangs brawled with each other, their fight spreading out to catch the protesters within. Bullets filled the air from super soldiers and trained police officers alike, and blasts of colored light rained from the sky. It was chaos, but it was chaos that was being attended to by the heroes of Project Tomorrow.

Spoiler

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Heavy Heart:
Free: Swap to Dense Muscles.
Move: Into Close range of Gethsemane.
Standard: Attack Gethsemane with Foolhardy Overconfidence enhanced by Dense Muscles at (1d20+12)[28]. On a hit, Toughness DC 27 vs. Damage, Will DC 22 vs. Vulnerable/Defenseless/Transformed [All defensive traits to 0] Affliction Linked to Weaken Toughness and Will. Hit

Vanish:
Move: Teleport into Close range of Sarah.
Standard: Attack Sarah with Portal Blade at (1d20+12)[22]. On a hit, Parry DC 27+Multiattack vs. Damage. Hit. No Multiattack.

Roarin':
Standard: Defend.
Free: Activate Let's Talk. Communication between he and Rene is Subtle and occurs at 100X normal speed.
Move: Attempt a Persuasion check (-5 for doing so as a move action) at (1d20+15)[30]. This has no mechanical effect since Rene's a PC, although if you wish to use it to inform your reaction you are welcome to do so.

Felltrade:
Free: Swap to Supreme Insight.
Move: Into Close range of Spider-Man.
Standard: Attack Spider-Man with Serpent's Fangs and Flurry of Blows at (1d20+16)[30]. On a hit, Toughness DC 23+Multiattack vs. Damage, Fortitude DC 18+Multiattack vs. Impaired+Vulnerable/Disabled+Defenseless. The Affliction carries a Secondary Effect. Hit with +2 Multiattack. DC becomes 25 and 20.

Lastthought:
Free: Swap to Mindwall.
Move: Into Close range on Ronin.
Standard: Attack Ronin with Psychic Disconnect enhanced by Magnekinetically-forged Iron Sword at (1d20+12)[26]. On a hit, Toughness DC 27 vs. Damage, Will DC (1d20+12)[30] vs. Nullify [Skill] descriptor powers. The Nullify is Simultaneous and Continuous, but it can be recovered from like an Affliction if you fail by one or two degrees, or at end of scene if you fail by three degrees. However, while you know about this effect from your prior power scan, it's Subtle and Insidious requiring appropriate power detection to detect, so Ronin will not be aware of the results of the Nullify in-character. Hit

Additionally, Lastthought is wielding an iron weapon. If you fail to resist the physical portion of any of his attacks (the Damage in this case), you suffer an additional degree of failure. Starsoul may Interpose against the physical portion for Ronin if desired (consider this Starsoul's choice, not Ronin's), but this is risky; it can be damaged as a normal weapon (1 degree Bruised, 2 degrees loses some functionality, 3 degrees destroyed; it doesn't suffer the increased degree of failure) if it does so despite its normal indestructibility, rolling Toughness at +11. If Ronin attempts to Disarm or Smash Lastthought's sword, Lastthought automatically performs the same action against Starsoul, resolving simultaneously. Starsoul remains indestructible against direct attack though, and won't suffer incidental damage from normal attacks and parries - this weakness is tied to the fey spirit of the Champion, making it a matter not just of iron, but also of sacrifice. Ronin, take a Hero Point for your Some Old Wives Tales Are True Complication.

Sunbound:
Move: Nah.
Standard: Attack Local Media with Sun Vision. Unit Combat attack with +2 for Takedown 2 (DC 12): (1d20+11)[20]. Two degrees

All PCs are on turn.

Spoiler: Unit Combat

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Big Name Heroes:
Attack Faux Lanterns (DC 20) at (1d20+16)[26]. Two degrees

X-Men:
Attack Assorted Rogues (DC 17) at (1d20+14)[33]. Four degrees

General Heroes:
Attack Battlesuit Mercenaries (DC 20) at (1d20+12)[14]. No effect

Volunteer Supers:
Attack Semi-Super Soldiers (DC 18) at (1d20+8)[12]. No effect
On a failure, they cause Collateral Damage to Civilians (DC 10) at (1d20+2)[17]. Two degrees

Local Law Enforcement:
Attack Semi-Super Soldiers (DC 18) at (1d20+6)[15]. No effect
On a failure, they cause Collateral Damage to Civilians (DC 10) at (1d20-6)[4]. No effect

Protesters:
Attack Terrorgenesis (DC 22) at (1d20+2)[5]. No effect

X-Bones:
Attack Terrorgenesis (DC 22) at (1d20+12)[28]. Two degrees
On a success, they cause Collateral Damage to Protesters (DC 12) at (1d20+6)[26]. Critical. Four degrees

Terrorgenesis:
Attack X-Bones (DC 22) at (1d20+12)[17]. No effect
On a success, they cause Collateral Damage to Protesters (DC 12) at (1d20+6)[17].

Battlesuit Mercenaries:
Attack General Heroes (DC 22) at (1d20+10)[25]. One degree
On a success, they cause Collateral Damage to Civilians (DC 10) at (1d20+4)[5]. No effect

Faux Lanterns:
Attack Big Name Heroes (DC 26) at (1d20+10)[29]. One degree
On a success, they cause Collateral Damage to Civilians (DC 10) at (1d20+8)[19]. Two degrees

Semi-Super Soldiers:
Attack Volunteer Supers (DC 18) at (1d20+8)[20]. One degree
On a success, they cause Collateral Damage to Local Media (DC 12) at (1d20+4)[8]. No effect

Assorted Rogues:
Attack X-Men (DC 24) at (1d20+7)[25]. One degree
On a success, they cause Collateral Damage to Civilians (DC 10) at (1d20+4)[13]. One degree

[SuperCracker]

Fred opened his mouth to voice an excuse when sh*t hit the fan in an epic way. Turns out, Fred wasn’t late at all. He was right on time. His eyebrows furrowed as he swept the crowd and took in the mass chaos. How to make people with powers look bad? Make it look like people with powers couldn’t help but brawl. Whoever orchestrated this had already gotten what they wanted – the pictures that would run Page 1 on the Bugle and the Planet. By engaging in the fight, Ronin was sure he was going to add fuel to that fire.

But no matter. The fight was on, time to end it quickly.

Ronin and the X-Men jumped into action. Fred squared off with a head-teleporting swordsman. True Sight revealed the warrior to be a mutant with psychic abilities. A sword psychic… something like Betsy.

“Dibs on the swordfighter,” Fred said to Kitty. He stepped forward towards the other mutant. With some distance between them, Ronin summoned his might. There was a pressure in the air as a great force of magic pushed at the limits of reality. The spiritual stuff of hope and honor and heroism surged through Ronin before warping reality with a blinding flash of light and a booming detonation. As the dust cleared, Fred stood in the same position, covered in blazing light and putting his otaku glory on full display. Super Saiya-jin 2.

With a flash of starmetal he drew his blade and cut through the air. The space in his fighting area filled with the light of thousands of phantom slashes. Every foe he could see was struck all at once. Fred slowly returned Starsoul to its sheath while he pushed his shades up onto the bridge of his nose with his index finger.

"Come get some, baldy!" Starsoul was always dependable for a good hype man.

[Starsign]

This is what they call a whiplash.

Rene had been all ready to hear a devastating roar, a mighty cry, and then fangs crunching down on his neck. Instead, he heard the deep, shockingly eloquent and pulse-pounding voice that comes from Roarin'. Now it's definitely one thing for looks to contrast greatly from personality; Rene's compassion and... lack of sanity offset his reptilian appearance. However it's still very shocking when the stomping t-rex actually offered to talk, rationally even. Rene couldn't recall a villain who came out and offered to talk things over... even if during a massive riot. There's something about the villain's voice that was explicitly honest as the sound went through Rene's ear holes. His thick tail calmed down and lay on the stone ground and his clawed hands and feet lightly let go of its pointless and anxious grip on the ground. In many ways, Roarin' was rather convincing in his honesty. It felt easy to trust the t-rex's words, though not himself and his actions; and it left Rene momentarily thinking.

"Oh." The small peep reeks gently out of his reptilian snout, hiding his sharp small teeth as he eases his pose. "You came out here... to talk to me?" The reptilian humanoid, more snake-like than the t-rex, slithers up on his two clawed feet as he thinks over the offer. "That's very... uh, generous of you." Rene really shouldn't be describing a villain as "generous" when they barge in and help cause a mass riot. He's almost glad Katie's shared awareness spell has been turned off.

His head slowly turns to look away as he continues, a bit nervous to keep talking to Roarin' directly after his offer. "I mean no villain has ever- OH ****!" The ear-piercing, hoarse and scaly screech comes out of Rene's now-maddened face as he looks to his right. Some of the protesters watching him since Batwing touched down are now caught in the crossfire. Mutants throw their crazy abilities at another superpowered gang as their attacks cause havoc around them. Fire, ice, fists, sonic attacks, bones, blood, blades, teeth ravage with the protesters caught in it!

Everything else around Rene disappears from his sight as his clawed hands and feet drive into the stone earth and charges over to the protesters he'd otherwise never dare approach. The reckless attacks and projectiles slow to a crawl as he dashes around like a low, green blur, moving protesters who are caught in the open and using his own body to block attacks thrown out. Let it never be said that a mutant's powers are ever weak as Rene suffers from a searing flame, a barrage of ice shards, powerhouse punches, and even a thin blade made of bone which is stabbed through the reptilian's neck when he pushed a young teenager out of the way; the stab just barely missed his windpipe... But it hurts, god it hurts...

Grow stronger from it.

His sharp teeth chatter with his shocked limbs. He uses his clawed hands to support himself as he backs up, finding the nearby area wrecked by the riot; he had just built several of those hours ago! However, like any good builder, one sees creation from destruction. The ruined attractions were built from steel, wood, cloth and all else that keeps small infrastructure sturdy. Where some see it as rubble, Rene sees it as materials. The pain from his body subsides as he gets to work. The protesters who had been moved aside now find a thick, albeit misshapen barrier of steel and wood surrounding them; cloth disguises the material holding the barrier together; they have the injured reptilian to thank as he looked back at them. "Okay, okay, you'll be safe here," he speaks in a hurry, and with some pain, almost as if he's trying to convince himself of the same thing. And before one protester tries swinging at him for being a monster, Rene dashes off to leave the protesters with their protective barrier... however long that will hold.

The whole experience didn't last long from Roarin's perspective. He saw Rene freak out, run away, and then return looking like a bunch of mutants had ganged up on him; his clawed hand covers the stab mark where blood is very clearly leaking from. "Ugh... I-I'm sorry but I can't leave." His rejection to Burkhard might, perhaps, be more understandable now than several moments ago. "There's too much... Too much. I have to help them." It feels like a strain to speak with how his neck is even as his regeneration starts closing the wound; how do powerhouses enjoy throwing themselves in front of attacks?! "But if you wanna go to that cafe... I can stop by when I'm done." Rene suspects this somehow isn't the counteroffer Roarin' wants to hear.

Spoiler: OOC

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Rene absorbs the 4 degrees from attacks made on the Protesters. He also uses Builder Instinct (aka his Create power) to make a barrier to protect the Protesters from being attacks deliberately or via collateral damage. Maximum range is 2000 cft and I... think has a DC 21 Toughness?

[CandyLaser]

It took some quick thinking, even by Sarah's standards, to reconfigure her shields to intercept and interfere with Vanish's portal blade. Happily, she'd used her own technology to do similar things in the past, and that experience proved invaluable now in ensuring that she escaped unharmed. Her defenses put Vanish's blade out of phase. "Best be careful with that. You might hurt someone." Sarah used the momentary reprieve this bought her to protect the people below. A network of portals appeared, diverting incoming attacks into safe vectors.

Sarah took flight, putting some distance between her and Vanish as she opened fire with her portal blaster. There was no reason to think that Vanish was particularly vulnerable to any of the environmental conditions Sarah could summon. So she went with one of her standbys - a crackling bolt of Jovian lightning, which arced out from Sarah's portal gun toward her target.

Spoiler: Rolls and Actions

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Let's try to fire back using Sarah's portal blaster. Polymath will be set to Favored Enemy, All-out Attack, and Improved Crit 3. Attack roll, using a full all-out attack and putting the FE bonus into attack: (1d20+15)[24]. If that hits it's a DC 29 Toughness save.

[Zelphas]

First rule of any predator who plans to live a long time: never underestimate another predator.

Gethsemane crushes down the sudden feelings of suicidal superiority almost as soon as they arise, using the power of Compassion to let the feelings run their course before fading away. The physical blow of the Skrull crashes into the side of her mouth, shattering her jaw and warping one entire side of her skull. Gethsemane is thrown, spinning, towards the crowd.

As she skids to a stop just inches away from a frightened onlooker, Gethsemane's hands shoot out, clapping over a home-made bomb that someone had lobbed into the air. The explosive ignites with a muted boom, and a curl of smoke escapes from her clenched fingers. She opens her hands; bits of ragged metal rain from her hands as she shakes them out.

Gethsemane paces back over to the Skrull, reaching up with one hand to her horribly mangled jaw. With a gruesome snap, she crunches her jaw back into place, the bones of jaw and skull fusing back together with a prolonged effort of will. "Emotion control," she notes lightly, feeling the contours of her bruised face for any missing spurs of bone. "Useful trick. Natural mutation, or learned spell?"

Spoiler: If Heavy Heart Passes Perception DC 20

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As Gethsemane speaks, a thin, delicate tail topped with a wicked spiked barb curls lightly out from the back of her dress, strikes several times at the Skrull, and disappears back under the dress once more.

Spoiler: OOC

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Move Action: Staggered.

Standard Action: Recover from Staggered.

Extra Effort: Attack Heavy Heart with Sting of Greed. (1d20+12)[24] On a hit, Fortitude DC 20 vs. Dazed/Stunned/Paralyzed, Will DC 20 vs. Weaken Toughness and Will. If Heavy Heart doesn't notice the attack, maybe she's Vulnerable?

Status: 1 Bruise (heals), Fatigued next turn.

[SuperCracker]

Lastthought parried Fred’s first attack. As the soul sword struck the villain’s weapon, Fred felt a bone-chilling cold pass across him. Cold iron. This fight just got much more deadly. Ronin instinctually knew that if he were to use Starsoul against this weapon, Starsoul could be truly damaged. Starsoul was his soul sword. It too shared some of his weaknesses.

Many of the goon enemies in the area decided that fighting civilians would probably be unwise when there’s a glowing mutant samurai slinging area of effect death every few seconds. They dogpiled on him, causing Ronin to duck, juke, and parry.

Fred almost didn’t see the psychic swordsman coming through the chaos. The villain came at Ronin with a standard, but very well-executed leading maneuver. Ronin’s right hand went down to Starsoul’s sheath. He grabbed it and quickly raised it up out of his belt. The cold iron blade bit into the sheath, inches from Fred’s neck. Fred kept the sheath out in his right hand. It would have to do.

“Boss, what are you doing?”

Ronin stepped forward and struck almost faster than the eye could see. While Lastthought was able to avoid damage, the mere attack itself had thrown him off-balance. Fred followed up with a powerful strike, swinging his glowing blade down at Lastthought. The force of the strike sundered the concrete for several yards ahead of the two.

Spoiler

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Fake-regenerate the Bruise I took last turn.

[TheIronGolem]

The world slows to molasses as the Spider-Sense takes over. But even so, it takes all of Spider-Man's concentration to avoid Felltrade's onslaught of efficient knifework. The webslinger takes step after step backwards, the assassin's relentless advance forcing him to give up ground as he protests.

"Whoa! Hey! No, I need that! It's where I keep all my best blood!"

Another nagging buzz from the symbiote sends Jimmy's eyes flickering off to one side for one all-too-short moment between knife thrusts. A bumper car, burning with blue-white fire from whatever explosion sent it sailing through the air...and about to land on two people. One of them he doesn't recognize - some young lady looking obliviously through one hell of a nice camera pointed in exactly the wrong direction. The other he does - a wiry geezer who looks like someone gathered up all the beef jerky they could find and used it to prop up a trenchcoat. Jimmy's actually a little star-struck here, because even Lois has been rumored to admit to looking up to this guy.

Spider-Man crouches down low, just barely fast enough to keep Felltrade's knife from going straight through his right eye. The crouch puts him in a position to launch himself high up and backwards in a slow-turn backflip. Upside down, at the peak of his arc, the webslinger fires two web-lines down at the flaming car before it can hit the two journalists, and yanks it back up towards himself like an airborne yo-yo player. He lets himself fall, passing the car on its way up, hits the ground feet-first. The car is still snared by the web-line in his hand, which he now snaps back, pulling the car down again - not straight down, but rather into an arc that smooths out into a path parallel to the ground...and straight towards Felltrade.

Spider-Man gives the two journalists a quick look. To make sure they're okay, of course. And if one of them who happens to be one of the heroes of the journalism world gives him a compliment or a hearty thank-you, he won't complain.

Instead, Ben Urich just grunts and says, "Little showy there, kid."

Spoiler: OOC

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Web Pull attack vs. Felltrade. Power Attack for +5, spending a HP on the attack roll. Result: (1d10+21)[29], DC 26 on hit

EDIT: No, wait, that's a 24. Forgot the Power Attack penalty.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Round 2

Roarin' looked briefly disappointed, and spent a moment in thought, before answering, "Ah, but that would cost an asset for my side without taking an equivalent exchange from yours. Untenable, I'm afraid."

"I understand the logic behind your decision. However, I would request that you offer me an opportunity to present an argument that you shall, I think, find persuasive. Your decision, of course, is quite rationally based on the notion that if you and I fight, while the results of our battle may be unknowable, you will remain able to protect others in the interim. My offer was based on mistaken assumptions, that only the end results of our conflict would be a matter of merit, rather than considering what you could accomplish during it. Thereby, any lives you might save during our fight would be sacrificed if you chose to leave."

"My argument, therefore,"

Oh, no...

"is that you may have made a similar miscalculation,"

You knew what was coming...

"for the question is not how many lives you can save,"

He was going to-!!

"but rather if you can save more than I can end!"

Some villains killed because it was necessary to accomplish their goals. Some villains killed because they enjoyed it. Some villains killed because they simply weren't cautious enough to avoid collateral damage.

And some villains killed because they did not see lives as having any intrinsic value other than as tools to use and resources to expend to get what they wanted.

And Roarin'? Roarin' was that last type.

The Inhuman let loose, a tyrannosaur roar that could be heard over the entire battlefield. No scream, no gun, no explosive blast, could overwhelm the sheer volume of Roarin's namesake. It was loud enough that over on the roof fighting Felltrade, a solid football field or so distant, Spider-Man's symbiote suit shivered.

Rene was subject to the full force of the sonic blast. But that was a matter of only limited concern. For the sound wave exploded outward just far enough to hit the recently-repaired ferris wheel, and send it toppling over.

And standing beneath it, nearly a score of civilians screamed in terror.

--

The bolt of lightning struck Vanish squarely, but she seemed to fade into translucency the moment it did. She didn't manage to fully mitigate the blast, but she clearly only took a bare fraction of its power.

But Sarah's aggressive blast had left her open, and that was a bad state to be in against a super-powered assassin.
"You're telling me to be careful?" Vanish retorted, as she attempted to teleport something out of Sarah's body that was way more useful inside her body.

--

Heavy Heart didn't notice the sting until it was too late. Although, uh, to be fair, she didn't seem to particularly notice it afterwards either. "Supertech, actually. Cybernetic brain chip," she answered convivially.

Spoiler: Insight or Deception DC 20

Show

Yeah she's totally lying.

"Now, unless I miss my guess, yours comes from that little trinket," she said with a glance at the Indigo Ring. "Indigo Tribe. I suppose that explains what a demon is doing pretending to be a superhero."

This time she didn't lash out with a punch, she just reached out to set a hand on your arm, a friendly gesture, as her eyes glowed with pink light. "Give it to me, won't you?"

--

Lastthought managed to parry the strike, but the force of the blow still rattled him, and knocked him back on his heels. He had to quick-step back a pace or two to recover his balance.

But nonetheless he lunged back in, coming in with a high thrust followed by a hard slash for the beck - or was it a rapid flurry of hewing strikes? One of the attacks had to be a psychic illusion, but which...?

Thing was, it wasn't all a feint - if the illusory attack hit, it might not cause physical damage, but it would bring a piercing psychic pain into Ronin's mind.

--

With shocking agility, Felltrade leaped up and threw himself into a corkscrewing spin as the car was thrown at him. He glided through the shattered windows with iron nerve, and came out without so much as a tear in his costume. And somehow, in the midst of that spinning leap-dodge, he managed to hurl a flurry of darts at Spider-Man's neck, wrists, and inner thighs with pinpoint accuracy. If they hit, the impact would depressurize the vampiric syringes, causing them to begin draining the hero's blood, before he pulled them back on the thin strands of spider-silk they were attached to, yanking them brutally free in hopes of leaving the hero to bleed out.

He landed on his feet in the exact same spot he had been before, to the millimeter. If someone hadn't watched him move, they might have thought the car had just passed through him.

--

Meanwhile, up in the air, Sunbound was giggling and shooting heat vision at pretty much anyone who was using a superpower and not wearing a costume. No doubt there was some deep strategic reason for this.

Spoiler

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Roarin':
Move: Attempt to Demoralize Rene at (1d20+15)[33]. Beat that with Insight or Will or you're Impaired one round. If you fail by four degrees you're Disabled instead.
Standard: Sonic Roar. 60' cone area. Dodge DC 22 for half, Toughness DC 27/21 vs. Damage, Strength DC 22/16 or get knocked back, and Fortitude DC 22/16 vs. Dazed+Impaired/Stunned+Disabled. The Affliction also carries a Secondary Effect if you fail the Dodge save for half. This also counts as a Unit Combat attack on the Civilian Force at (1d20+9)[13]. One Degree

Vanish:
Move: Nah.
Free: Swap to Astral Surprise. This power enhances all of Vanish's attacks against any opponent who is taking an active defense penalty!
Standard: Baleful Teleport on Sarah. Perception-range attack. Fortitude DC 27 vs. Damage. In addition, due to Astral Surprise, if you fail to beat DC 22, you also suffer an Impaired/Disabled Affliction.

Heavy Heart:
Move: Meh.
Free: Swap to Dense Body.
Standard: Attack Gethsemane with Unconditional Love at (1d20+12)[20]. On a hit, Will DC 22 vs. Cumulative, Secondary Effect Impaired/Compelled/Controlled.
Heavy Heart recognizes the Indigo Ring and is targeting it specifically. Take a Hero Point for the Complication. Miss due to the Defense bonus from Recover.

Lastthought:
Move: Dazed.
Standard: Attack Ronin with Dual Distraction at (1d20+12)[20], critting on 18+. This attack targets Will rather than Parry.
On a hit, Toughness DC 27 vs. Secondary Effect Iron Damage, Will DC 22 vs. Weaken Will. ...Ironically, that would have hit if he hadn't targeted Will.
End of turn: Recovers a point of Parry.

Felltrade:
Free: Swap to Supreme Acrobatics, Spider-Silk Whipcords, Vampiric Syringes, and Flurry of Blows.
Move: Not an inch.
Standard: Attack Spider-Man with Vampiric Syringes enhanced by Flurry of Blows at (1d20+16)[36]. On a hit, Toughness DC 23+Multiattack vs. Damage, Fortitude DC 18+Multiattack vs. Secondary Effect Weaken Stamina. Wow. Um, sorry man. Crit. Full Multiattack. Toughness becomes DC 33, Fortitude DC 28.

Sunbound:
Move: Nah she's just floatin'.
Standard: Attack the Volunteer Supers as a Unit Combat attack at (1d20+9)[14]. No effect! Go little supery dudes! These guys have what it takes to be heroes!

All PCs are on turn

Spoiler: Unit Combat

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Big Name Heroes:
Attack Faux Lanterns (DC 18) at (1d20+15)[18]. One degree

X-Men:
Attack X-Bones (DC 22) at (1d20+13)[20]. No effect

General Heroes:
Attack Battlesuit Mercenaries (DC 20) at (1d20+11)[15]. No effect

Volunteer Supers:
Attack Assorted Rogues (DC 13) at (1d20+7)[10]. No effect
On a failure, they cause Collateral Damage to Civilians (DC 10) at (1d20+2)[16]. ...Okay I may have spoken two soon. Two degrees.

Local Law Enforcement:
Attack Assorted Rogues (DC 13) at (1d20+6)[13]. One degree
On a failure, they cause Collateral Damage to Civilians (DC 10) at (1d20-6)[13]. Doesn't happen

Protesters:
Attack Terrorgenesis (DC 20) at (1d20+2)[10]. LOL

X-Bones:
Attack Terrorgenesis (DC 20) at (1d20+12)[27]. Two degrees
On a success, they cause Collateral Damage to Protesters (DC 12) at (1d20+6)[16]. Builder's Wall absorbs all degrees from this. Wall absorbs one degree

Terrorgenesis:
Attack X-Bones (DC 22) at (1d20+10)[22]. One degree
On a success, they cause Collateral Damage to Protesters (DC 12) at (1d20+6)[25]. Builder's Wall absorbs all degrees from this. Wall absorbs three degrees

Battlesuit Mercenaries:
Attack General Heroes (DC 21) at (1d20+10)[16]. No effect
On a success, they cause Collateral Damage to Civilians (DC 10) at (1d20+4)[24]. Fortunately doesn't happen

Faux Lanterns:
Attack Big Name Heroes (DC 25) at (1d20+8)[16]. No effect
On a success, they cause Collateral Damage to Local Media (DC 12) at (1d20+8)[25]. Doesn't happen

Semi-Super Soldiers:
Attack Volunteer Supers (DC 17) at (1d20+8)[12]. No effect
On a success, they cause Collateral Damage to Local Media (DC 12) at (1d20+4)[20]. Doesn't happen

Assorted Rogues:
Attack Local Police (DC 16) at (1d20+3)[12]. No effect
On a success, they cause Collateral Damage to Civilians (DC 10) at (1d20+4)[20]. Doesn't happen

[Starsign]

Rene's ears were ringing, painfully, horribly. He thought anything that the talking t-rex could do couldn't have been worse than tearing off one of the reptilian's limbs; and yet Rene had not realized the ways in which villains could creatively tear people apart.

He barely had time to react as he saw Roarin' rear up for a massive blast. The villain's threat was already demoralizing enough; he didn't need to actually act on it! Rene got only a few steps forward and a hoarse, "WAIT!" before the sonic shout came. It's apocalyptic cry erased all sense of sight and sound as the reptilian was utterly engulfed by it. His bones ached and quake as his ribs shattered from the blast. His clawed feet failed to hang on as he's launched from the stone ground. With a loss of senses, Rene flew helplessly into the air and toward the ferris wheel he had just finished fixing. The only measure of good luck to come out of it was that his body hit the already-collapsing ferris wheel with enough force to send it away from its original impact and into an empty area of tents and stone earth; the civilians were thankfully spared from an untimely death.

It did nothing, however, to quell the utter pain Rene feels as he hits the ground with a heap of metal on top of him. "Agh... Augh!" He groans in pain as he finds his reptilian head and snout partly-squished between the ground and a huge steel beam. Blood drops from his mouth and through his small fangs as internal bleeding takes a toll on his cold-blooded body. God, he just wants to get out but it's too painful to move. He wants to climb out of this but he's in so much pain. Even as he regenerates from his wounds, the pain and aching remains. He has to get out; he has to get back on his feet; but the pain is too much.

The pain, however, is nothing for a beast.

The reptilian's whimpering begins to cease as a desperate feeling washes over him. A part of his human mind recedes as his blood-covered teeth crush together. A constant voice speaks in his head, repeating, Break. Break. Break! as he hisses under his steel prison. His bestial mind begins rejecting the pain as his scaly arms push and bash at the steel of the ferris wheel. With great effort, Rene savagely tears apart his metal grave as he emerges from the wreckage. His blood leaks out of his hissing mouth as he looks out from where he was blasted from. He saw a familiar... detesting figure. And that bastard is coming right for him!

With a loud hiss, Rene climbs down from the wreckage in an instant and dashes out after Roarin'. The green-scaled reptilian is engulfed in his intolerance for what Roarin' did.

He'll kill them all.

The voice in Rene's head gives its judgement, cruel and raging as the reptilian dashes in with his speed and tries sinking his clawed hand into Roarin's stomach.

Stop him!

Spoiler: OOC

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Ho boy, so Rene took a beating last round. Given his wall is still up, he'll keep his array where it is. Actually, with Quellian's blessing, I'll be switching to Survival Instinct while keeping the wall up. For now, due to being Dazed, Rene will charge at Roarin' in order to attack him, taking the -2 penalty in addition to the -2 for being Impaired: (1d20+8)[13] DC 25 Toughness on hit.

Rene also regenerates a bruise at the end of a turn.