Masks: The Worst Generation (IC)

[Razade]

Issue One: Red Sky at Morning

Rain is not a rare affair in San Fransapporo, unplanned rain however is. So the storm that has rolled into the city and its environs is big news, questions lobbied at The Weather Report going unanswered. Talk on the street varies, some feeling that the Report has finally gotten around to their response to the meddling of five of the Worst Generation at the San Fransapporo Zoo four months ago. Others suspect more nefarious, and less petty, reasons from various weather themed villains to the absurd.

Whatever the reason the weekend is wet, windy and miserable. All the more so as the power in the Bay District finds itself off. The reason for this is more clear as crows circle the air and bodies shamble through the streets gnawing on powerlines. The Tenebrous Cabal, a well known cyber-arcanic cabal, is at it again in their attempts to create not just the perfect undead but new fresh life from inanimate flesh. The mission, as it is sent far and wide by the Guardians, is simple. Stop the undead horde from doing any more damage during the storm, restore power where you can and if possible...stop the Cabal.

The five of you receive the summons one way or another. Detail how that goes down. It is also midday and you're all teenagers with a weekend to kill. What is this weather and current villain attack interrupting?

[DreadPirateH]

Zodiac
Conditions: None
Potential: 0/5

It's Saturday, which means only one thing - pick-up basketball down at the park. The weather outside is frightful, but the blacktop is so delightful! A few of the regular guys decided to stay home, but enough showed up that they've got a game of 3-on-3 shirts-verus-skins going.

Drake's shorts are soaked and the water rolls down his back as he dribbles the ball at the half-court, staring down the shirt guarding him. He looks to the right at his fellow skin, Johnny Long, and shuffles a step in that direction. The guard takes the bait, just as Drake intended, and instead of passing to Johnny, he spins around and shoves the ball down the court to Sammy on the left. With Sammy in control of the ball, Johnny's 2-point lay-up is as good as guaranteed, and Drake whoops and hollers as the net goes swish. "Sven, my dude, can't be dropping your guard like that. Keep your eyes on your guy, right?"

Drake's coaching/gloating is interrupted as a murder of crows appear, and some shambling figures emerge from another street. "What the-?" And then Drake's phone goes off, the sound of a klaxon blaring squelching from his bag on the bench. It can only mean one thing. "Sorry dudes," he says, grinning as he reads the city-wide alert, courtesy of the Guardians' official app. "It's Dragon time."

[Mr. E]

Hive, the Transformed
Conditions: None
Potential: 0/5

The bedsprings creak as Sam leans back, gazing up at the ceiling. Nearby, a computer hums and whirrs, a blue cloud surrounding the battered lap-top. On the screen words spool pass, keys depressing themselves. Picking up a piece of paper with one hand, she rechecks the essay prompt, then returns to her typing. The greater significance of Gatsby's suicide continues to elude her, and the words spooling across the screen come to a halt. She sighs, breathes in, and then jerks suddenly as she alert sparks across her frame.

With another volley of creaks, Sam hurriedly rolls sideways, hitting the floor with a thud, then hauling herself up. With a grunt, she hurries down the stairs, mentally composing a text. Stepping out into the rain, she sprints down the sidewalk, setting an easy pace around the mid twenties.

Where's everyone at? Setting course for the Bay now. We got a plan yet?

[Sahe]

"Alex dear, please put that down, you too Luca. You know the rules, no phones at the dinner table", Anna said with a voice that didn't tolerate dissent. They were all sitting at the big table in the kitchen having lunch together. A rare thing considering that Chris often had to work and Alex and Jamie often just did their own thing.

Luca complied without a word, but Alex let out a sigh, "Chris'll be paged any second now anyway...somethings going down in the Bay District. I was just following the live stream." She held out the phone so they could all see and just with the right timing Chris' pager beeped causing the woman to curse under her breath, "looks like Alex is right, duty calls."

"Do you really have to go?", Anna asked her wife, "aren't zombies more in the jurisdiction of super heroes?"

"Yes honey, I'm on call duty and we still have to secure a perimeter, make sure that no stragglers escape, evacuate civilians and make sure they don't wander in the area. You know how this works.", Chris answered and gave Anna a kiss. "Ok, but be careful", Anna said as Chris took her gun and put on her jacket.

Alex had pulled out her phone again and was just reading Hive's message. So apparently they were on for this...of course they were on for this. She stood up, "Actually, Chris, can you give me a ride? This girl I like, Sam, just texted me and it's on the way." Ever since the incident at the zoo and they formed their little super group, Alex had pretended that she was having some sort of relationship with 'Sam', which was at least not a complete lie. But she couldn't tell them she was going down there doing super hero stuff. Anna and Chris hadn't been to happy with what happened at the zoo and where worried she might end up in legal trouble again. Chris let out a dry laugh, "damn, are you that desperate you run out during a zombie apocalypse to get some? But sure, get dressed hop in, why not? Where we like that at that age?", Chris directed the question at Anna, that went unanswered.

A few moments later Alex and Chris where on the road to the police station. "So Sam? You haven't told us much about her. You know her from school? Are you going to introduce us soon?", Chris asked and Alex had the feeling she was being interrogated. "Nope, met her at a cafe in town, we...have some things in common", Alex continued to tell half-truths, "You may meet her eventually she's a bit shy with meeting new people." Not the best answers and somehow Alex had a feeling Chris knew that Alex wasn't telling her the full story.

Luckily the corner where Alex had said Sam lived nearby came up and she was saved, at least for a moment. Alex had picked this corner because the public mono-rail transport was just half a block away and would get her to the Bay District or at least, close enough.

As she left the car and walked through the rain to the station she pulled out her phone messaging the otthers.

On my way. My foster mom's on duty so I gotta watch out for that a bit.

[TheAeronaut]

Phantom Thief Z, the Delinquent
Conditions: None
Potential: 0/5

A smattering of people stand by, umbrellas in hand, idling as Reyna stands in the rain beckoning them in. Flipping a scarf around her neck she shifts in the rain. With a twist of her hand the scarf flies off seemingly bursting into flames and vanishing. It's partway into the routine and not much attention to be found which is... typical. "C'mon, give me something. Tricks are a dime a dozen but real magic is worth a pretty penny. How about a card trick? Something classic?

Reyna continues to wheedle and deal up until she gets the alert. "Ahh, duty calls! Goodbye for now, and for my next trick I will now disappear! Reyna teleports away as a single card floats down from where she once stood, slowly settling into a puddle, curling up and obscuring the image of a Queen of Diamonds.

B there soon! Don't get started w/o me ;)

[Kirjath]

Nuisance
Conditions: None

"Hey Duck, did you find the flashlight yet?"

Sarah rolled her eyes in the dark basement of her family pawn shop as she rooted through what could only be garbage they would never sell to anyone. The power had been out on their block all morning, and while she was happy to skip her usual Saturday routine of manning the front of the shop, it also meant she was now stuck rooting through old junk by the light of her flip phone looking for the one flashlight they owned.

"Nope." She called back up to her father. "How're the candles working out?"

"They're candles, sweetie. They make things scenic, not necessarily bright. I think they're lavender."

Sarah let out a small laugh despite herself, quickly stifling it before heading back upstairs. If her dad knew she occasionally found some of his jokes funny, he'd be making bad dad puns all afternoon. As she entered the front of the shop again, she stole a quick glance outside. It was perfect weather in San Fransapporo as far as she was concerned. The sky was a gorgeous gray, and the rain pelting the roof of the dark pawn shop made for a relaxing afternoon. Being outside would be a different matter, as the wind had already started to pick up, but Sarah couldn't wait for the chance to see what it felt like. The Weather Report didn't like messy weather for some reason, which made this a very rare day.

They'd probably say this was all our fault as well.

Suddenly, her phone vibrated. Sarah glanced at her old flip phone and let the light illuminate her face for a second. If it was just a text, she'd be fine, but group texts tended to freeze everything up for a few seconds. Sure enough, she started getting pictures of the messages from her team. That meant-

"Hey dad, I gotta go!" Sarah called as she ran upstairs towards her room. Her dad quickly reached the base of the stairs as she tripped up to the second floor with an "Umph!"

"I think you should stay home this time, Sarah." He said, his voice a little higher than usual. He was trying to play off his worrying again. "I'm not sure I want you fighting off a zombie horde."

Sarah paused before entering her room to change.

"You knew!? Comeon dad, what did we talk-wait, did you say zombie horde? That's awesome!"

She disappeared into her room and shut the door while her dad came up to the second floor.

"No, it's not; they're eating everything. This is serious!"

"I'm always serious! So, the Walking Dead, or 28 Days dead?"

Her dad sighed, a sure sign of defeat. "I think they just eat power lines."

"Cool!"

Sarah popped out again after a few moments, her suit donned and her oxygen mask hanging loosely around her neck. She pulled the hood of her suit up before giving her dad a quick hug.

"It'll be fine! Besides, isn't this thing like the best counter for zombies? I mean, they always get grabbed or bitten in movies and look!"

Sarah fixed her oxygen mask on and the suit sealed itself with a soft hiss. In an instant, she phased through the stairs and into the first floor. As Sarah stepped out into the storefront, the suit unsealed and let her breathe once again.

"Immune!"

"You can't do that forev-"

"See ya dad! I'll text you when we're done. The shop smells nice!"

Even almost out of earshot, she knew the sound of her dad sighing again in resignation. He'd give her an earful later, but for now she had a free afternoon. Hopefully the team won't have cleaned everything up by the time she got to them. Sarah quickly gathered up her crossbow from behind the store counter and fixed the extra ammo to her external pockets. With a dash, she was out the door. Texting and running was intensely dangerous, but she would manage somehow.

"I'm on my way too! I agree with Hive, where're we going and what're we doing?

[Razade]

Terrene, The GM
Pool: 1

By the time our intrepid heroes reach the Bay it is chaos. The streets are, thankfully, mostly clear of all but emergency services and the occasional police barricade but as the five of you scan the region from our vantage points it is more than clear why this is a job for people like you. While the power may be out across the area the zombies have shambled themselves into makeshift powerlines, energy running through cables running beneath their skin as they link and hook up arm and foot until a web of them coat the streets and buildings. All seem to lead to The Weekly Herald, the leading gossip rag of San Fransapporo and tallest building in the Bay. The bodies surge with electrical energy and any attempts by diligent civilians only end in them shocking themselves to injury.

With the power off the streets have begun to flood, automated pumps suctioning the water away from the waterline of the bay long since fried by salt water and eager zombie mouths. As the text said, the primary mission focuses on the horde and the collateral damage but getting the pumps working once more will certainly ease that job and potentially open up a path to the Weekly Herald where the Cabal is no doubt stationed.

What do you do?

[Mr. E]

Hive, the Transformed
Conditions: Afraid
Potential: 0/5

Standing on a park bench, Hive squints into the rain, feeling the panic settle into her chest. From the low hill Southside park tops, the whole Bay is laid out before her, making the scale of the problem clear. Staring at the 'bigness' of it all, she breathes shallowly, chest rising and falling. It takes her a few moments to realise that she is hyperventilating, despite having no lungs to breathe with.

Closing her eyes, Sam takes a slow shuddering gasp, then begins to compose a text. She hops off the park bench, reopening her eyes to survey the view with a more analytical gaze. Striding up to a street lamp, she tears the cover off the side, ramming her hand inside. Fingers wrap around the electrical cables, merging into network. With a whine, bulges rise from her shoulders, opening like twisted flowers.

I reckon I can at least start on fixing the power problem, if someone prevents the zombies from breaking any new stuff/getting to me. The glowing blue thing is my location.

The ever present hum grows and surges to a droning roar, as a cloud of blue specks belches from her shoulders, rising into the sky. The plume floats up, then begins to fan out, settling on power cables, thickening into worms of iridescent light. Splintered electrical fibres begin to weave and thrash, re-knitting themselves. The process is centred around the hill, but begins to spread outwards, shaping itself into an arrowhead heading towards the pumps.

Spoiler

Show

Right, going to make a start of repairing the network with my technopathy. Unleashing my Powers:

(2d6+3)[8]

Right, I don't want to end up with a power surges or anything, so I'm going to mark Afraid to avoid that.

[Sahe]

Alex was running through the rain as she had to leave the mono-rail a few stations early when it's power failed as well. She was now at the bay and needed to take a moment to take in what she was seeing. When had heard about zombies in the bay she had expected a full on zombie attack, but these were just building makeshift powerlines. Seemingly all of them leading to the Weekly Herald.

She checked her phone when a message came in and looked up to find the blue light and a few moments later she found Sam, already hooked up to a lamp post.

"These are the weirdest zombies I've ever seen", she said as a greeting, "I can fan out from here, try and break the zombie-power-line-thingies. I should be fine, can't be zapped after all." She typed a short message into her phone telling the others what she was gonna do and then took off again towards the first power-line of zombies she could find.

Without wasting much time, she charged at the line of zombies. There is a tingle of electricity harmlessly caressing Alex' body as she hits the line, barreling through them like a quarterback and sending zombie bodies flying left and right.

Spoiler: Cutting the Power

Show

What Alex wants to do is charge a line of zombies to disrupt the power connection.
Not sure if this is a Directly Engage or a Unleash, I'll roll for Unleash, because it has the smaller modifier.
(2d6+1)[10]

[DreadPirateH]

Zodiac
Conditions: None
Potential: 1/5

Drake appears on the horizon, golden scales shedding water as his long, snake-like body undulates through the air. From his vantage point in the sky, it isn't clear what exactly the zombies are doing, but it's plain to see it isn't good. Hive is down below, doing her nanobot thing, and there goes Alex playing Zombie Bowling. Drake grins, baring a massive set of fangs as Alex sends a group of them flying.

Slithering in the sky above the Bay area, Drake starts circling, his body making a ring as he scans the scene. He doesn't catch any sign of Reyna or Nuisance; they must not have arrived yet. Score one for the D-man! Flight beats teleport! He wants to rush down and join Alex in the zombie beat-down, but he makes one more pass before diving, just to make sure there isn't something more important to take care of.

Spoiler: Assess the Situation

Show

This should be pretty straightforward. Drake's got a good view of the situation from up in the sky.

Assess the situation - (2d6+1)[4]

I guess he was too focused on joining the fight. Marking potential.

[Kirjath]

Nuisance
Conditions: None

Sarah was out of breath by the time she'd run the several blocks necessary to get to the disaster area; the team definitely needed a better form of transportation. Naturally, as she stood doubled over with her hands on her knees, she'd been the last one to arrive. Still, the team was a sight to see: Alex was already breaking the ranks of the undead as Zodiac circled overhead, scales flashing in the rain. Phantom Thief was probably off somewhere causing problems for the zombies, and Sarah could only assume the distant blue light had something to do with Hive. Sarah once again pulled her phone out to see if there'd been updates from the team.

Yep, Hive was fixing things. That made it easier for Sarah to decide where to go next, and she started making her way towards her giant, robotic teammate. There was no way she could stay near Alex or Zodiac, as she just couldn't keep up with those two for a number of reasons, but Hive had requested help! Nuisance would prove herself useful one way or another.

It took only a few minutes to navigate the streets and keep away from the undead horde. Any time one of them got close, Sarah's suit would seal up and she would simply phase from the material world. In truth, the zombies unnerved her a bit. The problem sounded cool from a distance, but up close all she could think about were their gnashing teeth and what a horrible feeling it would be to get bitten by them. Were these the kind that infected you? She didn't want to take the chance. Instead, as she got closer to Hive's location, Sarah opted to simply move through the buildings rather than the streets themselves.

Finally, from her position on top of an external fire escape ladder, she called down to her teammate.

"I'm here Hive! I got your back!"

Sarah waved down at her enthusiastically. She wasn't at all worried that Hive couldn't handle things here, but it was better to be prepared. She pulled out a small clip of bolts and loaded them into the bottom of her crossbow. The internal springs slotted the first bolt, and Sarah quickly selected her concussion tips. An internal machine whirred for a second, and she leveled her crossbow at the street. If any zombie was foolish enough to step close and ruin this moment, Nuisance would make them pay.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Rolling to Defend: (2d6+3)[10]
Gonna add a team to the pool.

[TheAeronaut]

Phantom Thief Z, the Delinquent
Conditions: None

Reyna teleports onto the scene, taking a moment to look around the chaos of the bay. She checks her phone nodding along as she looks at the chaos going at the bay and at the blue light coming from Hive. All the zombies reaching towards The Weekly Herald. Whoever was responsible for all the chaos probably wanted something in there for whatever reason. And Reyna certainly wasn't the type to let other people keep her out. With all the chaos going on, maybe it was time to cause a little more. Well well well. Let's see here. Some electric zombies and some bad business. Or is it normal business? I'm not so sure there's a difference any more.

Reyna strides forward towards the zombies. Focusing her power she sends out multiple illusionary clones towards the zombies. As she speaks she makes it so they seem to appear to speak as well. Yoohoo! Any brains in there? If not maybe I can offer some of my own. If you wouldn't mind shambling right over here.

Spoiler: "Are you watching closely?

Show

[roll0] Reyna is basically trying to play Three-card Monte with these fools tempting them in the hopes they'll go for her or a version of her. But she fails and is put under pressure. Gonna mark potential and the condition Afraid. Things are about to heat up.

[Razade]

Terrene, The GM
Pool: 2

Hive, Nuisance, Reyna, Alex

Your powers are exactly what the situation called for Hive, the pumps whirring and clanking to life before the water levels start to drop. It'll be a few hours before the roads are completely clear but you can mark getting those running (and thus allowing others to probably get the power back on) off your list of things to do. This however does nothing to dislodge or displace the zombie power lines though you find yourself not alone as Nuisance and Alex appear on the scene moments later and none too soon.

With the surge of power the zombie lines begin to pulse and far in the distance The Herald's lights burst on with an impressive light show punctuated by a stray bolt of lighting that hits its main lightning rod. These lights falter as Alex strikes one of the many zombie lines, bodies flying off and into various directions. Any strays that might retaliate as their brethren are kicked aside are suitably put down by cover fire from Nuisance.

This does not, however, help Phantom Thief who seems last on the scene. Even as the zombie line shatters, more bodies press in as a howl erupts through the air. Within moments the zombies have reformed themselves into a massive arm that swipes the road clean in a wave of cars, debris and zombies.

Drake

Arriving faster may not have its perks, the rain and wind and overall crap conditions in the air and on the ground make it hard to really spot anything other than the general bedlam beneath. Another thing to probably not crow over are the crows who descend upon you as you fly above the sky. Not typical crow behavior to be sure and the answer as to why they've singled you out becomes clear as out of the skies above you comes a Reaper like figure, flying upon a giant scythe. You've run into this one before, Rook they go by, though they weren't aligned with the Cabal at that point. Tell me about your first encounter with this ghastly figure and a reason they might have a dog in this particular fight?

Spoiler: Hive

Show

Pumps working! Way to go!

Spoiler: Alex

Show

So, you're more engaging a threat so I'd say go with Directly Engage. It's a 10+ either way I believe so take your two options. If you don't take resist/avoid then mark a condition but with Nuisance's 10 on their Defend, you're spared from any further issues.

Spoiler: Nuisance

Show

With a 10, you save Alex from further repercussion.

Spoiler: Drake

Show

Indeed. Rain, wind and zombies make it hard to see. Especially bad because you're not alone. Mark a Condition of your choosing as you're attacked. What do you do?

Spoiler: Phantom Thief

Show

You edited the roll or something because now I can't see it. Next time if you need to edit a roll just use the OOC thread if you forgot to add a number or something. Speaking of rolling, please roll to take a powerful blow as you're hit by a giant zombie arm.

[Mr. E]

With a sigh and a mechanical hiss, Sam wrenches her hand out of the bowels of the power system. Eyes snap open, and she bends over, resting her hands on her knees. Straightening up stiffly, she looks around, surveying the scene. Taking in the zombies, the lightning bolts, and her embattled crewmates, Hive flicks her eyes back and forth.

The zombies are conducting power, so they must have some kind of electrical component. And if they have electricity, then they're mine...

Sam extends her palms to the sky, sending out new orders to the swarm. A portion of the glowing cloud breaks off, descending down to swirl around the zombies attacking Reyna and Alex. Settling on their bodies, they begin to worm into the electronic systems, rewiring relays and overwriting programming.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

It was mentioned that the zombies are techno-zombies in the discord, which makes them something I can wrangle with my technopathy. Hive is going to try and hack some of the zombies, hopefully creating some havoc in their ranks and making them vulnerable to Alex and Reyna's attacks.

Unleash my powers: (2d6+3)[11]

[Sahe]

That went well, Alex thought when she stopped and looked at what little remained of the zombie line she had broken through, any remaining ones quickly being disposed of by crossbow bolts from Sarah who had taken a position on a roof. She looked up to her and gave her a thumps up before scanning the area for the next line to cut. A loud howl cut through the storm and then she saw it, zombies reforming themselves into a giant hand made of bodies, barreling down the street like a freight train sweeping aside anything in their path and right to Reyna. What the ****?, Alex thought but was already in motion.

With a scream in her lips, she leaped forward, in front of Reyna countering the gigantic zombie fist with her own to block it.

[DreadPirateH]

Zodiac
Conditions: Angry (-2 to comfort or support someone and pierce the mask)
Potential: 1/5

In San Fransapporo, reputation is important. It's not just about what you know and who you know, but also about who knows you. A popular hero can make piles of cash through endorsements and merchandise, and who doesn't want their action figure to be the hottest-selling toy of the holiday season? Drake practically salivates at the thought of debuting his hero card, but Grandfather was raining on that particular parade pretty hard.

However, there are some supers who prefer to fly under the radar, persona incognita. Mystery and mystique can be powerful assets in the tightly-controlled officially-sanctioned super-powered underworld, and people who value discretion don't take kindly to having their name plastered in the headlines of the Weekly Herald. After all, knowledge is power, and the greatest advantage in any bid at supervillain dominance is that nobody sees it coming.

To this day, nobody actually knows Rook's motive for keeping secret, or really their motive for anything. They were a complete unknown until the day they intervened in that fight between Omega Man and Primus. Zodiac had been getting passed around White Rabbit's old gang of friends to play sidekick. Omega Man was one of Zodiac's favorites to tag along with. He didn't treat Drake like a kid or a burden and he brought Drake along for way cooler stuff than the same, boring neighborhood patrol carp that most of the others did. So Drake had a courtside seat when Omega Man's nemesis Primus decided to unveil his new superweapon. The superweapon was way more effective than anything else Primus had tried before and he had Omega Man on the ropes. Drake broke his own promise to his mom about staying out of the big-league fights, but Primus squashed him like he was a fly instead of a dragon.

Primus would have finished them both off, except for getting mobbed by crows at the last second which gave Omega Man just enough time to recover and save the day. Drake only caught a glimpse of their savior, a figure shrouded in a tattered cloak and riding sidesaddle on a flying scythe. Rook would have been a non-story, but Drake figured he had to give credit where credit was due and told the reporters everything. Somebody managed to scrounge up a grainy smartphone photo some civilian had managed to snap, and suddenly the identity of the Mystery Reaper was the city's biggest gossip scoop. Brenda Brannigan, the editor at the Weekly Herald's supers-centric gossip rag Hood Watch, made it her personal mission to uncover the truth about the Mystery Reaper. Her constant updates in her editor's column never amount to anything, but she always insists she's on to something big. She might even be right; a few months ago she received a much better photo of the Mystery Reaper with a message scrawled on the back: "Call me Rook." Brenda claims the photo was delivered by a crow.

Since then, Rook sightings have gone up tenfold, but information is still scant. So when Zodiac is mobbed by crows, he's shocked and confused. But, more than that, he's angry. What the carp?! Immediately, he lands on the nearest building, curling around and grabbing onto a metal comms tower. Furious, he shouts at the figure on the scythe. "Hey man, what gives?!"

Spoiler: Pierce the mask

Show

I'm not really sure about this one. This almost seems like just talking, but everything's got to be a Move, right? So I guess Drake is going to glare at Rook and try to interrogate them.


[ROLL=Pierce the mask]2d6+1-2[/ROLL]

[Kirjath]

Nuisance
Conditions: None

It turned out that Sarah's earlier idea had been the best one. She'd stayed away from the combat down below, letting her suit air out while she took potshots at roving zombies, and it had allowed her to catch her breath as well as earn a thumbs up from Alex. Kudos. From. Alex! Sarah let out a whoop of excitement that quickly turned into shock as the zombies counterattacked. It seemed they were less like a ravenous horde and more like a weird Voltron. She wasn't quite sure what to make of this new development, and wasted time thumbing through her weapon configurations in panic while waiting for some instructions from the team. They usually had some good ideas but...Alex was with Phantom Thief fighting off zombies, Hive was swarming everywhere, and Zodiac seemed preoccupied in the most mythical looking showdown as he got swarmed by ravens (a moment Sarah definitely immortalized with a crappy cellphone picture).

What was she supposed to do? What would the team need? What could she do?

Think, Sarah! There's gotta be some way to make yourself useful! You're part of the team, act like it!

Sarah scanned the horde from her vantage point, taking in the various obstacles and issues they were facing. There had to be something she could do, there just had to be.

Spoiler: Rollz

Show

Rolling Assess the Situation: (2d6)[8]
What here can I use to help out Zodiac?

[TheAeronaut]

Phantom Thief Z, the Delinquent
Conditions: Afraid (-2 to directly engage)
Potential: 1/5

Reyna stood still for a second, sure that the zombies would buy the gambit. There's no way they wouldn't, as dumb as they are. Right? Right? Then the zombie horde surged forward, mowing everything down. Reyna panics and tries to teleport out of danger or at least out of the worst of it.

Spoiler: Take a powerful blow

Show

(2d6+1)[11]

[Razade]

Terrene, The GM
Pool: 2

Drake and Nuisance

As the battle below rages, Rook seems mostly unmoved as they descend into view and the clutter of crows fade into the rain. "You don't want to get involved with this." comes the staticy, lo-fi whine of Rook. Probably the first time you, or anyone for that matter, has heard them speak. "Turn around flyboy, take your friends with you and let the rain wash this **** stain off the map. It'll be over soon. There's no glory to be had here, saving a rotting corpse." Rook makes no other moves now that you're "grounded", though the way they point the business end of their scythe at you seems to say that may not remain the case.

From your vantage point Nuisance you can see that Zodiac is having some trouble. You can also see just how precious and foolish flying around on a giant scythe in the middle of a thunderstorm is. Obviously getting rid of Rook would solve the problem quickly and you've got an array of long ranged weapons to do it. Or you could, as you're so very good at, just distract the would be villain and take the heat on yourself.

Hive, Phantom, Alex

Like looking at a motherboard, you can see the pathways and lines within the zombie network Hive as you hack into their system. Small points of data collecting into something vast and terrible, a mind much like your own even if a little simple. That makes it easy to trick and even as Phantom Thief teleports to relative saftey, the massive hand starts to fray and fall apart. Other bits of the zombie power lines start to break and in the distance you all can see the lights within the Weekly Herald flicker and entire floors shut off. Whatever's going on in there, it's taken a good hit.

As you dash to where Phantom Thief was Alex, even with a quickly decaying giant zombie hand, you find yourself in the line of fire. The panels focus on you now, each a progressive display of how close the swiftly deflating mass of flesh is towards you. The final panel shows a single zombie, eyes ablaze with electrical energy, reaching out for your neck. What do you do?

Spoiler: Phantom

Show

So you picked Give Ground and with Alex's Defend roll it only made sense to put you within reach. Detail and roll a Provoke for me since that's the option you took for your second option.

Spoiler: Alex

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You're in the hot seat and about to be electro-strangled by a zombie. What do you do?

Spoiler: Hive

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The zombie threat isn't much of one now. With an 11 you have a clear path to wherever. What do you do?

Spoiler: Visiual Guide

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Rook: Best one I could find. You wouldn't believe how hard it was to look for a gender-neutral looking necromancer. I settled on this. Make it dinged up and battered and...close enough.

[Mr. E]

Hive, the Transformed
Conditions: Afraid
Potential: 0/5

Controlling this many bodies is hard. In someways, it's like riding a bicycle, if the bicycle is made up twenty smaller bicycles which are moving in different directions, which are made of rotting corpses and bio-mechanical interfaces, and actively want to kill her and her friends. Hive discards the metaphor, looking around the scene. Zodiac is arguing with someone, Phantom thief is, well, vanished like a phantom, and Alex is...

"S***."

Part of her knows that being protective is unreasonable. Alex is as strong as her, faster probably, and nearly as tough. But the other half, the part that doesn't care about being reasonable, is already acquiring targets and preparing a firing solution. With an electrical whine, a panel on the underside of her arm pops open, a long thin barrel descending down to point at the oncoming zombie. For a moment it hangs, tracking the leading creature, small sensors on the tip clicking and twisting, before there is a sudden crack. A steel flechette, the tip glowing blue, flings itself across the intervening space, aimed at the oncoming zombies head.

Spoiler: OOC

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This is a bad idea, but it seems like something Sam would do, so ehh, I'll roll with it. Going to directly engage a threat and try and nail that zombie before it gets to Alex.

(2d6)[8]

Since I'm at range, it seems appropriate to resist or evade it's blows.

[Kirjath]

Nuisance
Conditions: None

Sarah wasn't gonna lie, this was getting pretty cool. Not only was she getting to see the mysterious Rook that she'd spent more than one evening reading Reddit's new conspiracy theories about, but he was actually talking to them! All she'd seen of him before was that crappy cellphone photo, but his costume was way better in person. Sarah couldn't help but hop as the excitement overwhelmed her nerves. This mission was turning out to be the best Saturday she'd had since...well, ever. Maybe less than when the team agreed to let her tag along. Even so, her excitement sank as she realized Rook was threatening her team. More than that, he was trying to shoo them away, and that was just insulting. He must've been an adult, because that's all those supers ever did to Sarah when she tried to help. Perhaps it was time for Nuisance to showcase how she got that particular moniker.

With practiced motion, Sarah slid her hand down the side of her crossbow and thumbed the switch that changed her ammunition from concussion shots to flares. A small whirring sound arose as the internal cylinder rotated and armed her next bolt. She didn't want to make the guy fall off his rather dangerous looking flying broom, but she did want him to stop focusing on her teammate. After all, she didn't know how his, well, crow powers worked. Was it concentration based, or were they a fire-and-forget summon? Were they illusions, like Z used? It seemed like this would be her chance to find out. More than that, what was he even doing here? If his goal was to finish the fight, why attack the team?

"Hey Rook!" Sarah called out as she took aim and fired at him. The flare popped in the air near where he was sitting, blinding light emanating from the bolt as it sailed off into the sky. "If you'd maybe lend us a hand, you wouldn't have to wait for the rain to do this!"

Spoiler: Rollin'

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Acting on my earlier Assess roll for a neat +1 to Provoke Rook into losing focus on Zodiac and/or leaving us alone. (2d6+1)[8]

Edit: Sweet, I think that means the NPC gets to pick one though.

[Razade]

Terrene, The GM
Pool: 2

Hive, Alex, Phantom

As fast as lightning and as bright, the zombie aimed so perfectly for Alex's throat is gone and turned to ash. Nothing remains in the space as the shot races off into harmless light with only some steam lingering in the downpour to say it was there in the first place. That's mission part two taken care of them. Power is restored for the most part, anything else will take actual professionals who will be on the scene eventually. The zombies are no longer a threat, even the ones still draped alongside the Herald seem to be powered down and simple carrion.

You could go home now, pack it up. The Cabal is surely still up to something within the Herald but other powers are on their way. Even Rook, an unexpected sight, seems contained and non-hostile. Even as the flare shot by Nuisance races into the sky.

Nuisance, Drake

The flare works, the villain's head turning towards the light as they take evasive actions even though it brings them closer to Zodiac. "Always a harem around you eh, Zodiac?" the staticy voice pops and crackles as another swarm of crows fliters from within Rook's cape to descend on the Nuisance.

Spoiler: Rook's Provoke

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They err, you gain a critical oppurtunity. Either you or Zodiac

Elsewhere

The panels snap into the Weekly Herald building, top floor. The few remaining hostages are huddled in what was once the broadcasting center of the Herald's morning gossip show/podcast. Cameras litter the stage and John Daily Booth sits tied to a chair, gagged and more than a little beaten up. Out the window a bright orange and red light races through the sky as lightning flashes and streaks the slate gray clouds. "So. That would explain the power surge" a robed individual drawls, one of many of the Cabal's henchthugs.

"Indeed. I suppose we best get on with this interview" a second voice issues from the darkened edges of the set before Arachne, one of the Cabal's chief "Necromancers" slithers out into view. "Now, Mr. Booth. If you'd begin?" The panels fade as a few more henchthugs remove the duct-tape over the hostage's mouth. The final panel of the page is simply a scream.

[DreadPirateH]

Zodiac
Conditions: Angry (-2 to comfort or support someone and pierce the mask)
Potential: 1/5

Zodiac growls at Rook, baring a mouthful of vicious fangs. But the moment Rook takes his (her?) attention off of him, Zodiac sees his chance. Nuisance with the assist! Launching himself off the tower like a giant spring, he flies straight for the Weekly Herald building. Zodiac didn't know what was going on in there, but there wasn't a snowball's chance he was going to lay down and let it happen. A quick feint up-court, Zodiac dives past the point guard! He's pushing for the basket with furious abandon, but the shot clock is counting down. Can he make it to the basket in time?

[Sahe]

A confused look around was Alex' reaction when the zombie lunging for her suddenly disintegrated into nothingness and her fist weakly whiffed through dust. She spotted Sam, standing a bit higher up the road with that cannon on her arm and rain pouring down on her. Like the goddamn Terminator or Predator and as if to make the scenery even better a lightning arced across the sky adding some dramatic lighting for a second. She didn't quite understand why Hive had helped her, she could deal with a single zombie, meanwhile there was some battle going on above where she wasn't much help. Sure she could try a shockwave, but those weren't exactly precision tools. So the next target was the Herald where all the zombie power lines had led.

Drake was already racing up ahead and Alex did her best to keep up.

[Kirjath]

Nuisance
Conditions: None

As the crows redirected from Zodiac and down towards her, Sarah immediately had regrets.

"Aaaah! Not the eyes!" She yelped, frantically trying to shield her face. Sarah wasn't terribly fond of birds in the first place, but a suit puncture could quite possibly spell the end for her in this fight. At almost the last moment, her fingers found the internal controls and her QT suit sealed itself with a hiss. In a blink, she phased out. Crows flapped and flew about, cawing and pecking, but Sarah remained seemingly unharmed. After a few moments, she had calmed down enough to try and face the malevolent aviculturist. She was somewhat surprised to notice that Zodiac had left her facing this particular villain alone.

"HEY! What gives!?" She called, waving a hand angrily at Rook. "I thought you were being all anti-hero and cool for a bit. What, were these your rainy-day dead?"

Screw this jerk, Sarah decided. Her fingers thumbed the ammo switch again and she aimed her (now phased) crossbow back up at Rook. Any shot she fired would remain phased for mere moments after it left the tunneling field her suit projected, but it would return to the, for lack of a better description, "material plane" soon enough. Even so, she hesitated to fire. Being attacked by crows seemed kinda like a super-powered warning shot or a comic book greeting, and Sarah was hesitant to escalate the situation. Rook was also still flying pretty high up, and she definitely didn't want to hurt the guy by knocking him off his broom; though that particular scenario seemed exceptionally unlikely given her gear and skill set.

"Just a warning shot." Sarah whispered, trying to calm her nerves and steady her arms. It was remarkably difficult to aim while black birds swarmed in her vision even if she knew they weren't hurting her. "Just a warning shot, please don't hit him. Just breathe..."

And she let another bolt fly.

"Why're you doing this?" She tried shouting over the cacophony of the birds. "We're just trying to help people, why would you stop us? I thought you were one of the cool guys!"

Spoiler: OOC

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Not sure if I need to make a roll here; if I do, I'll post it in the OOC thread as appropriate and retcon it into this post if necessary. Also, I think Zodiac used the critical opportunity to disengage and try to prioritize the news station (and that's fine).

EDIT: I'm gonna try to Pierce the Mask in the other thread.

[Mr. E]

Hive, the Transformed
Conditions: Afraid
Potential: 0/5

Hive lets out a totally unneeded breath as the zombie vaporises, then sucks it back in as a horde of crows descend on Sarah. The other hero ghosts in and out of focus as the birds swirl around, popping off shots and shouting in the direction of the sky. Sam, still standing on the hill, stops for a second, mentally changing gears. Her swarm rises from the destroyed zombies, coalescing into a shimmering figure.

The spectral representation of herself lifts into the sky, hovering in front of Rook, glaring at the necromancer. Her own body hums and clicks as she concentrates, reconfiguring itself.

"Yeah," her mirror-self says, the words echoing through the sky, amplified by her nano-bots, "I'd like to know why you're doing this as well. And then," Sam rumbles, as a glowing red dot appears on Rook's chest "I reckon you should take your own advice and leave."

Sam takes an experimental step forward, feeling the heavy weight on her shoulder shift to counter-balance. With a whine, the plasma launcher tracks her target, automatically correcting for the motion. A pair of steel struts emerge from her calves, drilling into the dirt for better support.

Spoiler: OOC

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Alright, time to use one of my cool new moves, Be the Monster. Rolling + Freak: (2d6+3)[9]

- In that case, I'll scare someone I didn't intend to scare, and mark a condition. Poor Hive is killing it with the moves, but still marking loads of conditions as well.

[Razade]

Terrene, The GM
Pool: 2

Nuisance, Hive, Rook


Rook ducks and dodges the bolts all the same, not wanting to be caught by any surprises. The height, the wind and natural skill enough to keep them from harm. "No. Not my style. Zombies are passe." With no more arrows, Rook seems inclined to remain hovering though their attention still seems off towards the Herald and the quickly disappearing Zodiac. "Trying to keep you all from the building though that seems a failure. I wanted to play nice but..."

Any other words are cut off as Hive appears armed and ready, the whine of her weapon piercing through the downpour as the storm kicks up. "But it seems I came ill-prepared. I didn't expect Flyboy to bring so many other people. Do what you want. The money isn't worth tangling with that. You better watch out next time Ghost. I'll bring my A game." With that, Rook turns scythe and jets off just as quickly as they appeared. The high powered weaponry and super fight seems to have not had the full intended effect however, the quickly amassing emergancy crews keeping their fair distance not just from Hive but from the disaster area that is the Beach Front. Your allies have raced ahead as well. Do you try and sort this out or do you join up with your friends? What do you do?

Zodiac, Alex, The Cult et All

It's a bad time for the storm to surge but summon its worst it does and by the time the pair of you reach the Weekly Herald the world around you is a wall of hail filled water. The Herald, when you burst in, is as you expect. Disheavled and empty. Any civilians who didn't get out of dodge are more than likely hostage to the Cult. Zombies crawl along the walls much as they did outside, holes in the ceilings and floors indicate that this is where the power lines got their start. Emergency power is on, the place ill-lit other than the glow from the zombies circuitry though the TVs that fill hallways and workspaces all seem to be on. Where once they'd be cycling the 24 hour hysteria that is modern news coverage for eager reporters looking for the barest shred of a lead a different sort of story unfolds.

The panels shoot to a television as you find yourselves in the middle of a mock interview. John Daily Booth sits bloody, bruised and cowering as various cronies loom over him. The interview does not seem to be going well. Each question, mundane as most of them seem, earn dismissive rebuttals or half answers from the increasingly erratic Arachne. The storm howls outside, the interview obviously having been recorded while you made your way to the building. No more than five minutes ago by your guess. As the storm increases in intensity it's clear that Arachne's mental state devolves. The answers come more quickly as John Booth Daily, yellow journalist supreme, summons up the courage to finally ask a question with some impact.

"I think" he starts, stammering, "what everyone would like to know...is why. Why are you doing this? Villains have motives! Power, money, respect. The Warlords will never take responsibility for this. You know you're on your own so why? Why this made scheme?"

Arachne snaps, seizing the reporter and hauling him up to his feet. Her eyes are wild as the panels focus on them, watery and glazed. "Why" comes the words, scratchy and punctuated by a boom sound effect as the next panel reveals the reflection of a lightning strike in the Necromancer's eyes. "Because he is coming and this city is doomed." comes the following words. The panel stretches back to reveal the room empty of its hostages. Arachne lets Booth fall to his seat before slumping down into hers. "Not even this" she waves her hand about her "will save us. We only hope he is impressed. The perfect human. A gift before we are sent to the grave. We will drown with you but Lison will remain."

A rustling sounds off camera as another of the Cults cronies comes into screen. "We've incoming Madam Arachne. The dragon and another. Rook seems to have kept the others occupied. No sign of the wizard." Arachne only nods before standing languidly. "To the roof then. Lison awaits."

The feed then cuts out. The Cult knows you're here. You know where they are. What do you do?

[Sahe]

"****! Did she just ice him?", Alex said when the feed cut out. Not really a question she wanted an answer to. She turned to Drake: "We gotta get up on that roof before they're getting away. Yo Drake, carry me up there...and lets ruin their day! They won't expect an Alex Air Drop."

[Mr. E]

Hive, the Transformed
Conditions: Afraid, Guilty
Potential: 0/5

With a series of weary clicks and hums, Sam lets the cannon melt back into her torso, flowing seamlessly into steel flesh. She looks around slowly, taking in the scene. Of course everyone is scared of her. That was logical, rational even. She did just threaten a man with a plasma cannon, after all. If she went to them, tried to explain, that might make things better. Or she could just run - with her out of the way, they'd move in anyway. That'd be simpler.

Her decision made, Sam lurches forward, hammering down the hill as the rain beats down. Rivulets of water run across face, plastering her hair to the metal plates of her neck. With resigned speed, Hive sets course for the Weekly Herald, aiming to catch up with the rest of the team.

[DreadPirateH]

Zodiac
Conditions: Angry (-2 to comfort or support someone and pierce the mask)
Potential: 1/5

Zodiac roars at the screen, rending the television with a massive claw. At Alex's suggestion, he scoops her up and tosses her onto his back. With no time to lose, he launches himself back out, crashing through the doors and shooting up the side of the building. He doesn't even spare a look back to the others as he rushes headlong for the roof. The rain and hail pelt him as they ascend, bouncing off his scales and hitting Alex. The worsening storm makes for difficult flying, and gusts of unusually strong wind force him to grab onto the building at times and climb his way up.

Spoiler: OOC

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Hopefully clearing Angry with the destruction of the television and the giant hole where the doors used to be.