In Dreams to Come 2 - Back to the Future

[Grim ranger]

"Well then, I would hate to keep this graduation on pause for too long, so if the criminals among you would be so kind as to march to one side and sit down against the wall? And please don't try to make a run for it, I would catch you. It would just irritate me somewhat" Summit asked remarkably politely, although his voice still rumbled as ever before addressing the crowd. "Please don't touch the guns they have left behind, as we would not want any accidents and I imagine the police would appreciate having their evidence remain unsullied. Thank you."

Waiting for the criminals to walk their way over to the side and checking in cursory manner none of them had retained their grip on the guns, Summit pressed his hand against the earthen wall, causing it to seemingly rush into his armor and disappear without a trace. This new application wasn't something he planned on doing often, tiring as it was, but it was definitely quite visually impressive. "As you were, ladies and gentlemen. Congratulations for your graduation" he noted to the students, giving them a humble nod before making his way over to the villains of the day.

"Now, please stop jamming the phones so calls can be made for your arrest. It is that or I wrap you into earthen coffins and haul you to station, and from what I have heard it can be a TERRIBLY unnerving experience, especially if you have fear of being buried alive."

[Born]

When the mysterious assailants disappeared, Eric took a long look around to make sure there were no more before dismissing his wall of vegetation. He glared with disdain at the devices he had managed to plunder from the attackers. So distasteful, using some horrible device resembling something from nature. To Eric's increasingly-plant-minded thoughts, it seemed an abomination. He didn't know for sure who it was that had attacked him, but there weren't many organizations that well-armed or bold enough to attack a hero in broad daylight.

He once again fumbled awkwardly with his phone to get into contact with the Hero Corps to report what had happened . His mother of all people had managed to add a quick-access icon for him. Getting someone to look at these horrifying devices was also a top priority.

When he got the chance, Mandragora also tried to contact Phoenix. Was she really back, or had even that been orchestrated by whoever it was that was trying to pull this off?

[Dorni]

Spectre put aside her shock and absorbed the briefing. Daimon's allies' lack of reaction indicated that all this was old information to them. Daimon was paranoid about secrecy, but he clearly had a high degree of trust in these allies to reveal so much. There was no way they were simple mercenaries.

Daimon was not and had never been prone to emotional outbursts. He'd always been calm and collected, and he'd done his best to drill that into her too. So to see his fury at the very institutions that guarded Illessia stunned her. He was being unguarded in a way that Spectre had never seen prior.

And the way he laid out the threat against Illessia... the situational analysis he laid out wasn't without logic.

But saying that he'd received information from his future self during the APEX meteor incident was a roundabout way of saying he'd gotten it during the final siege on the Ten Wolves, where Arcanis had died. It might explain some of Daimon's recklessness that night, but it didn't track with his goals. Arcanis' death and Tara gaining both the archmage's staff and Comody's APEX supply had been the worst disaster in the case. So he'd either been lying to the Overseer that Arcanis death had been an accident, or...

...or the information he'd received then had been incomplete. Fallible. If that information was incomplete, then his strategy for dealing with the Circle of Shared Dreams was probably also built on incomplete information. And besides, not every situation could be reduced to lives in a balance sheet.

"That's a lot to absorb," she answered at last. "And it still leaves us with a problem. My orders are to take you in for questioning. INSIDE has tremendous respect for you - they won't be convinced any threat you may pose is over until you're in custody. If I'm going to sell anything, you'll need to come with me." She didn't think it likely that he'd turn himself in, but he seemed to know her orders were to capture him. He couldn't be expecting one of his shape-shifting allies would take his place, could he? If so, then at minimum it gained her time. Time that Daimon would need to halt his killing spree, and time for her to follow up. And if not...

[Quellian-dyrae]

Round 4

Josh

"No."

Flashpoint spat blood, and it boiled to vapor as it hit the ground. The mighty war-axe Jarivadell wielded with Josh's sheer speed had done critical damage to the pyrokinetic speedster. By all rights, he should have fallen.

He did not. He was Flashpoint. He was in the top one percent of the top one percent of Dreamers on the entire planet. His blood spat and hissed in his wounds, burning, cauterizing them.

The blow had given even Flashpoint pause. He had to take a moment to gather himself, but he took the opportunity to speak.

"I can hardly believe I have been given the opportunity to say it, but you underestimate me, Miles. Oh, don't get me wrong. I understand it. I do. We are speedsters. We're used to everything being so easy, to being able to win before our opponents have even begun to fight."

Flashpoint settled into a low, ready stance, his fists raised in...an actual guard position. For what might have been the first time in his life, the arguably most powerful speedster on the planet wasn't just idly waiting for his enemy to get halfway through an attack before bothering to defend. He wasn't just charging in fists blazing and trusting his speed to resolve everything in his favor. He was looking at Josh in a way he might not have ever looked at anyone before - not even Brava Suldoon, not even Stalwart himself.

He was looking at Josh like he was an actual threat that he was going to have to take seriously to defeat.

"You don't get to defeat me that easily!"

Spoiler

Show

Flashpoint:
Free: Swap to Hasted Recovery.
Move: Staggered.
Standard: Recover from Staggered.
Free: Heal one point of Weaken.
End of Turn: Regenerate one Bruise. Recover one point of Weaken.

Josh is on turn.

Sheema

Majeste gave a petulant frown as Sheema declined to give her name. She was very subservient about it but even so Majeste had asked the question and who was she to decide what Majeste should or should not find important!

Sheema would actually start to feel a bit of a weird urge to say her name. Not quite the pounding impulse of a telepathic compulsion as...almost a sort of itch, a sense that not answering was wrong and she should fix it, as Majeste's subconscious desires began twisting reality. But before the power to fully manifest, Sheema turned the discussion to matters of business, and Majeste's attention was redirected elsewhere. "Hm. Yes. I see," she said with a slow nod. She didn't...honestly seem to have much of a sense about the value of what Sheema was offering, but apparently Sheema made it sound like something she should be interested in, because she then said, "Leave us!" with a wave of her hand. All the other goons and such just kinda arbitrarily vanished.

"So!" she said with a beaming smile. Suddenly the parking lot had become a high-rise office building with an extraordinary view (despite the fact that you were totally still at street level and definitely hadn't teleported...?) And you were all wearing business suits instead of party dresses now. You were now sitting at a long table, Majeste at the head. She steepled her fingers and said, "Let's talk business!"

Summit

There was a bit of grumbling, but the would-be thieves did as they were bid, even the leader. At your request for them to stop jamming the phones, the leader sighed, took a little device out of his pocket, and pushed a button on it. Javan checked his phone, gave you a thumbs up, and dialed the police.

Applause went up from both the audience and the stage. Nobody seemed...quite able to call for the ceremony to continue, though. Everyone seemed kinda shell-shocked. The police arrived after several minutes and began taking away the criminals and collecting some statements. It didn't take too long, maybe twenty minutes or so.

The principal went up to announce that given what had happened they would suspend the ceremony. The graduates were hastily handed their diplomas as they filed down from the stage, and the audience started exiting into the lobby so their children could join them when they got out.

And while there were a lot of tearful hugs and worried questions from parents, siblings, and friends, when Mariana found her way back to you guys, she kinda punched your arm and said, "Okay, I'll admit it, that was pretty cool."

Mandragora

The Hero Corps staffer manning the phones took your report down professionally. When you described the sort of tech they had attacked you with, he seemed a bit shocked. "Um...I mean, I could be wrong, but that kinda sounds like Dreamcatcher tech to me." You could hear in his voice that he was impressed. Dreamcatchers...they were basically the bogeymen of the Dreamer community. There were even some Heroes who had nightmares about them.

Thankfully, Phoenix picked up her phone on the second ring. "Hey. What's up?"

Spectre

"I can work with that. But obviously, if you just brought me in from what was supposed to be a routine interview with a survivor, it would prompt questions. You can leave here, report that Hobbs gave you information that might be a useful lead, and follow up on it. Meet me at the warehouse lot at MBC148. You can pick me up there."

It was straightforward tradecraft, the sort of narrative-building move that was second nature to spies like yourselves. But the tactical ramifications were clear. If you were committed to working with him, this was a perfectly reasonable setup. But it allowed Daimon to retain full control. That was to be expected from Daimon, so it was hard to say whether he set things up this way because he wasn't sure he could trust you, or just out of built-in habit. Either way, if you refused or tried to alter the plan without a very good reason, it would be a clear a sign of reticence as if you had said you weren't sure out loud.

Gestalt

((Get well soon man!))

[manwithaplan]

Josh chuckled.

"You gotta learn to keep up. Me, beating you..."

Lunging forth, he dragged his weapon along the frame of Flashpoint'a chest, letting it guide him between the ribs and through the lungs.

"It was prophesied years ago!"

His physical form devolved into a connected bunch of vibrating molecules, his cackling laughter becoming a symphonic nightmare as he mockingly leapt about the room.

Spoiler

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Standard Action: Aim.
Extra Effort Action: Attack with Pressure Point Surge, Power Attack 5. Attack (1d20+16)[29] for DC 21+Multiattack Fortitude against Progressive Impaired/Disabled/Incapacitated.

On a 26 or less, 10 Success Reroll (1d20+16)[21].
On a 32 or more, crit!

Move-By Action: Leap around the room a bit, finishing in the doorway.
Free Action: Go Insubstantial.

Status: Fatigued, Exhausted next round, Incorporeal.

[Starsign]

"Wow..." Sheema says quietly as the scene and world changes all around her. Reality warping on this level was nothing she could imagine. It's still the same area and place but the sheer change feels too great to be true. She's still not sure whether this is true reality warping or if this is the most devious, clever illusion in existence. That said, the unnatural temptation earlier to speak more resembles actual manipulation of the world and the people within it. If this didn't make Sheema a little nervous, nothing could.

Not letting her mind trail too far, Sheema responds to the gang member-turned-supervillain after giving a small nod to Cyra. "Ahem, indeed. You have no need of your gang anyway," Sheema begins, standing up both to gaze at the window outside... nevermind that it's pointing only to the weathered brick wall of the alley, and to take a look at her business suit. The quality and pristine nature are both unnaturally fitting. Most people can't find a suit in Adaros, much less own one. Though she cannot fathom why one would wear one; the suit is painfully stiff and tight, uncomfortable to wear, much less fight in. She actually would have preferred the dumb dress instead.

Because, let's face it, Sheema isn't devious enough to get Majeste to teleport and walk into SIDE prison herself. This was gonna end in a fight. And if she had commissioned some SIDE handcuffs, they would've disappeared when her outfit first changed. Hopefully Cyra can follow along with what is a rather improvised plan.

"So! Let me show you the best places to hit and how you can do it without skipping a beat. Could you please bring up a map, your majesty?" While Sheema could say very important things about Adaros' law enforcement and Hero Corps that she has absolutely no right to tell anyone, she was never here to use her info as a bargaining chip. Instead, asking for a map of Adaros gives Sheema a reason walk up next to Majeste to get a better look at the map and provide the best form of negotiation:

A very painful and crippling elbow strike to the villain's neck.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I think we're in a good enough spot to deal with Majeste now. Provided more rolls won't be needed, Sheema will use Crippling Blow on Majeste, Power Attack +5/-5. DC 28 Toughness vs Damage and DC 23 Fortitude vs Dazed+Impaired/Stunned+Disabled on hit: (1d20+9)[25]

And now to EE to do it again! (1d20+9)[29]

[Grim ranger]

Letting out bit of an awkward chuckle as his sister decided to pay him an unexpected compliment, Aquila did away with his armor and dusted his suit slightly. "Yeah, well... I have had practice as of late" he said modestly: considering what an absolute rollercoaster of surprises and life-or-death struggles his makeshift hero career had been before he'd gotten some actual training, such drills had felt downright relaxing sometimes. Of course, there were still situations of quite real and potent danger when it came to occupation of a hero, and he had to assuage his family's concerns quite often...but things were still looking up.

Of course, if some of those men had managed to hurt his sister or her class...well, there would have been blood, and damn the consequences. Thankfully, there had been no need to resort to such extremes this time around... but if someone would ever do something similar with more of a killing intent, he knew he might never recover from a failure, should he not be up to the task of protecting her. It was a sobering realization to say the least.

Pulling his sister into a hug, Aquila let out bit of a sigh but never lost his smile. "Not too shaken up I hope? This was supposed to be...well, less of a hostage situation. I think we could use ice cream, so how does that sound?"

[Born]

Eric handed over the strange devices to the Hero Corps scientists for them (and presumably also SIDE) to take a look at. He had wanted to get the horrid things away from him as soon as possible. At the same time, he was still rattled by the fact that the apparent Dreamcatchers had disguised themselves as members of the Hero Corps. As a result, he tried to be more observant than usual, keeping a close eye for unusual behaviors or shadows moving in the corner of his vision. In spite of how quickly he had scared away the assailants, their targeted weaponry still made him more on edge than usual.

When Erin answered the phone call, Eric began the conversation in a way that he felt very awkward doing, but he needed to know for sure that he was talking to Phoenix. "Sorry, but I need to be sure you are who I think you are. During the Disappearance, what were Harold Brace's (aka Warlock's) demands?" Mandragora asked. It made him nervous just to ask the question, and a little guilty for suspecting at all.

[DukeGod]

"Oh well, you know how this ilk are. Try as we might to eliminate them, it seems the cockroaches keep finding a way to make it through"

Well they were too spread out for lightning to reallly work now. That said, he calls upon Raptor Attack to hit them again with the lightning strike, before recalling the bird to his side and dismissing him, and trusting the Paradisian to fend off for himself, Gestalt flies to the top of the ACV where he'll be out of reach of its guns

And there, he begins to...flake, dropping a grey goo on the ACV that seems to cling and spread

Spoiler

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Right. QD, not sure if there was defenses I didn't roll last time, I think I did it all, please let me know if I missed anything. Nothing pending in my status line in the OOC either

Raptor Attack
Move: Nah
Standard: Hit again with Chain Shock, (1d20+11)[13], on hit Toughness vs DC 25. Contagious up to 5 feet

Gestalt
Trades Standard action for a Move action
Move: Flies towards the ACV, tries to land on top
Move 2: Change summons array, to the Nanobot Swarm

[Dorni]

That request had met far less resistance than she'd expected. That Daimon was willing to surrender himself... by any angle she considered it was a win. Taking Daimon into custody would meet her objective. It was possible that Daimon's new allies would continue his campaign, but by his own admission they would need to pause the campaign. It would buy a few weeks reprieve to dig for information on just who he'd allied with. Even if his newfound allies did resume the campaign, Daimon was clearly operating like a field commander - surely his loss would make their strike teams less effective.

And refusing posed a problem as well. Daimon had prepared for this encounter. It was certain that the allies he'd selected had powers that would provide them advantage over her own. It would still be hard to prevent her escape if she acted fast, but the odds of victory by combat seemed extremely long. Daimon's deal seemed like huge win compared to that option. That still left...

"That'll work for you, but what about them?" She nodded towards Daimon's allies on the stairwell. "How do I know they can be trusted?"

[Quellian-dyrae]

Round 5

Josh

Flashpoint answered Josh's chuckle with a smirk. "Is that so?"

He was ready this time. He may have been faster than Josh - in a global-scale footrace, insurmountably so - but on the scale of feet and inches, the difference of a few hundred Machs was relatively negligible. Even speedsters, even speedsters of their level, weren't entirely exempt from physical law. The simple fact was that Josh could - and did - get that axe to cross the distance to Flashpoint faster than Flashpoint could get his entire body outside of Josh's newly-lengthened reach.

Instead, he stepped into the blow, bringing up one arm to block the axe by the haft. At those speeds it was still a resounding impact, but nothing he couldn't take. "I've always heard that prophecy is an incredibly unreliable power."

Flashpoint gave a tight grin as Josh phased. Now, Flashpoint was taking Josh seriously, but to be fair, this was not a man who had ever needed to rely on tactical cunning to win his fights. Had he taken a real-time second to consider, he might have realized that Josh had placed him in a difficult situation. He could counter Josh's move by phasing as well, but that would cut down his defensive options. Or he could maintain a defensive footing and wait for Josh to drop his phasing to strike, but that would be ceding the tempo of the fight to his opponent. Neither option was really great, and a smart fighter would have looked for a better alternative.

...Or he might not have. Taking something more seriously doesn't change your mental capacity, and the simple fact was that Flashpoint had never been a particularly strategic fighter. Even playing to win, he tended to think linearly. Josh phased to avoid a physical attack. The correct counter is phasing as well to return the battle to an even field.

So Flashpoint's body grew blurry, the air around him wavering with heat as his molecules vibrated, the crimson light seeping through his dark garments glowing brighter, as he rushed at Josh and lashed out in what was less a flurry of blows and more a cloud of molecular plasma.

Spoiler

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Flashpoint:
Free: Swap to Speed Phase.
Move: Into Close range of Josh.
Standard: Flash Barrage at (1d20+12)[29]. On a hit, Toughness DC 27+Multiattack vs. Damage, Will DC 22 vs. Impaired+Vulnerable/Disabled+Defenseless/Incapacitated. Hit

Josh is on turn.

Sheema

...So!

Here's the...here's the thing about reality warping. See, full-scale reality warping, it causes reality to change according to your desires. You want things and they happen, more-or-less. Within whatever limitations your own mind puts on itself and your own supply of Spiritual Energy allows.

Now, I'm not saying that doesn't lead to certain native personal defense. First off, no Dreamer power comes free. Reality warping as potent as Majeste is capable of requires substantial Spiritual Energy, and someone like Majeste, who desires to be powerful, would be naturally physically reinforced by her powers, just because - especially in a world where superpowers are relatively common - the subconscious association of power and resistance to attack is generally going to be fairly strong. So yeah, certainly, just straight-up Majeste could generally expect to throw down with upper-level Dreamers and come out of it as well as any of them.

But even powerful Dreamers aren't invulnerable, and while their flesh and bones may be resistant to harm, their biology and anatomy are still fundamentally human. The trouble with trying to take out a Dreamer with your bare hands is really about landing the blow just right - making sure all the power goes exactly where it needs to go - and putting enough force behind the attack to do the job.

Sheema was one of the most skilled fighters on the planet, and while she may not have technically been as strong as a rhinoceros, she could give one a decent match. Raw Dreamer fortitude wasn't enough of a defense against her. And as for Majeste's reality-warping powers?

Well, the time between Sheema initiating her attack and the unsuspecting Majeste being knocked unconscious was actually faster than Majeste could even subconsciously desire not to be knocked unconscious.

"...Damn," Cyra said in mild disbelief. It wasn't that Cyra didn't know what Sheema was capable of, or anything. It was just, well...yeah.

Also it was a parking lot again. For those following along at home.

Summit

Mariana returned the hug with one arm, answering kinda flippantly, "Nah. I pretty much figured you would pull out some sort of crazy earth magic and bury the problem beneath half a mountain, or something. Biggest worry was that the auditorium wouldn't survive whatever you did, honestly." Summit could tell by the tone of her voice that while she wasn't exactly kidding, she was kinda putting on a braver face than was strictly accurate. She just didn't want to come off as scared when her brother had just trivially faced down a roomful of gunmen and cowed them into submission.

"Yes, well, it is rather fortunate we have a powerful Dreamer in the family. Although I cannot help but wonder why it is that we had to rely on your brother's personal powers rather than one of his fellow Heroes doing their job and handling the threat, ideally before it interrupted your graduation. Surely, a group this organized cannot be entirely new." ...Yeah Caius Brook wasn't exactly the biggest fan of Aquila's decision to join Hero Corps. This was actually kinda a "Good job, Son," coming from him - he was complaining about the other Heroes for a change.

"Hero Corps is rapid response, actually. It's their job to put a quick halt to threats in progress; investigating and arresting criminal groups like this before they can commit more crimes would actually be...well, I guess the regular police, since these guys weren't Dreamers." Javan, on the other hand, pretty much thought everything about Hero Corps was awesome and wasn't afraid who knew it. He'd totally have joined himself if his power were strong enough for it.

"Hmph. It hardly seemed to stop them during that whole Ten Wolves debacle this past summer. And I would say what we experienced in there qualified as a threat in progress."

"Well yeah but if nobody could report the threat the Heroes can't really be expected to roll up and stop it, now can they?"

(This was a fair argument, but only true as of recently. Not so long ago, Arcanis's divinations could have detected something like this before it happened. Indeed, it was not impossible that the reason this gang had made this attack was that the city of Adaros no longer had its archmage watching over it, detecting threats before they happened.)

Mandragora

Spoiler: OOC

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You know, I don't actually recall if anyone actually established Phoenix as remembering the alternate timeline. Gonna roll with it though.

"During the Dis-" Phoenix began to ask, only to halt as her mind kinda caught up with the question. When she spoke again, her voice was a bit low, wary. Phoenix...didn't really like talking about those weird four days, and her recollections of them weren't always super-clear, especially since her return to life. She kinda preferred to pretend it had all been a dream. "Um. You mean his original demands to return his daughter in exchange for the mayor, or his demands to let his goons go after we won? Wait, why do you need to verify who I am?
What's going on, Eric?"

Gestalt

The power armored Defiant were ready this time, swooping in opposite directions away from Raptor Attack's bolt. Leonard regarded Gestalt skeptically for a moment, and decided he had about had his fill of this particular example of Ilessian hospitality. Shining white runes shone in a halo circling his head as his voice boomed with sudden power, "That. Is. ENOUGH!" That final word went crashing into the minds of all who could hear it, carrying with it the sheer knowledge of the diviner's fury in a blunt attack on his foes' minds.

Three of the Defiants' heads literally exploded.

Two of the others clapped their hands to their ears in time to block out the killing word, though, and the fourth somehow mustered the raw willpower to throw off the assault. The armored pair didn't seem more than mildly inconvenienced, and there was no discernible effect on the ACV.

It did rather establish Leonard as a priority threat, though - the three surviving Defiant rained fire on him, while one of the power armored Defiant charged the precog with a crushing blow. The second opened fire on Gestalt with its autoguns. The ACV, not aware of the true threat Gestalt had conjured, sprayed bullets at the both of them.

Spoiler

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Defiant:
Move: Various.
Standard: Attack Leonard with Explosive Shot. On a hit, Toughness DC 19 vs. Secondary Effect Damage.
(1d20+4)[20], (1d20+10)[14]. Miss
(1d20+4)[21], (1d20+10)[11]. Miss
(1d20+4)[23], (1d20+10)[12]. Miss, yay for Defense shifts

Armored 1:
Move: Into Close range of Leonard.
Standard: Attack Leonard with Crushing Blow at (1d20+6)[23]. On a hit, Toughness ((1d20+12)[22]) DC 25+Bruises/20 vs. Damage Linked Weaken Toughness, and Athletics or Acrobatics ((1d20+15)[30]) DC (1d20+10)[20] vs. Trip. Seriously these guys are way too lucky but fortunately for Leonard he is very dodgy.

Armored 2:
Move: Staggered.
Standard: Attack Gestalt with Autoguns at (1d20+6)[17]. On a hit, Toughness DC 25+Multiattack vs. Damage. Miss

ACV:
Move: Flying.
Standard: Attack Gestalt and Leonard with Incendiary Machine Gun, Multiattacking for 2. On a hit, Toughness DC 25 vs. Secondary Effect Damage.
Gestalt: (1d20+8)[10]. Miss
Leonard: (1d20+8)[26], (1d20+10)[20]. Bruised

Gestalt is on turn.

Spectre

It was funny how much you could say with silence, when you were talking to a person who knew your mind better than most and could read even minute expressions.

With little more than a few moments of patient waiting, silence could say that as any experienced operative knew, sometimes you couldn't afford the luxury of trust. Sometimes you were presented with an opportunity and you either had to take it if you wanted to see any gains (while preparing for and guarding against any possible betrayals) or forego it and deal with the consequences.

With the slightest turn of a head, silence could say that a leader was expecting his followers to act in accordance with his decisions, and was completely convinced that they would do so, whether due to bonds of personal loyalty or the importance of a shared cause, and any doubts that they might do otherwise must then be based not on mistrust of them, but mistrust of his capacity for leadership.

With but a blank stare, silence could ask if she honestly believed, honestly even considered possible, that Daimon would be working so closely with these people if he did not trust them to do their part. Clearly they were more than mere assets, not just pawns to be moved on the chessboard. So it begged the question what kind of team she thought he had put together, if not one that he - and by extension she - could trust?

...Daimon Aimes stayed silent.

[manwithaplan]

Their ethereal clash was brief - armed or not, Josh could not maintain blows with Flashpoint for long. There was a ghostly flash of light as he was struck, and Josh returned to the material plane. His legs crossed over each other as he stumbled back, his weapon flew from his hand and clattered somewhere on the floor in the next chamber. He appeared helpless.

Breathing heavily, he looked over both shoulders, and then back to the wraith-like Flashpoint. His eyes said despair and there was a wound on his cheek.

"How did you even find me here?"

Concealed by his hip, some of his fingers drew carefully into a gripping motion - the bonds of Jarivadell were more than merely physical.

Spoiler

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Spending a Hero Point to buy off Fatigue.

Standard Action: Ready an action to attack Flashpoint with Flurry of Blows when he becomes corporeal, Power Attack 5.

Status: Bruised, Fatigued.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Round 6

Josh

Flashpoint actually paused in his assault when Josh asked that question. Eh, he was intangible and Josh wasn't, he could afford it. His mask covered his mouth, but Josh could see the smirk in his eyes.

"No joke? Email," he answered, clearly amused.

"Someone sent me an anonymous email telling me where you would be, when you would be there, who you would be with...pretty much all of it. All honesty, my first thought was that it was a prank, but someone other than you trying to prank me is pretty much objectively ludicrous. Then I thought it might be a ploy from Stalwart to lure me out, but Stalwart...just isn't that smart."

"So I figured it was you trying to call me out or something. The email even had a line saying 'Watch out for traps,' which struck me as something you'd put in to be cheeky. And besides checking it out would only take a couple seconds anyway, so here we are. You're saying you didn't send the email, then?"

"Hm. Well, I guess that means there's someone out there who finds you as annoying as I do. Good to know."

And then Flashpoint was tangible again and lunging in for his next (few dozen) attack(s).

Spoiler

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Flashpoint:
Free: Talk.
Free: Swap to Dodge Anything. This ends his incorporeality and triggers Josh's Readied action.
Move: Meh.
Standard: Attack Josh with Flash Barrage at (1d20+12)[20]. On a hit, Toughness DC 27+Multiattack vs. Damage, Will DC 22+Multiattack vs. Impaired+Vulnerable/Disabled+Defenseless/Incapacitated. Miss

Josh is on turn.

[manwithaplan]

Jarivadell flew back to his hand. Josh jumped, turn, swung, a hit!

But his heart wasn't there for it. He stepped aside from Flashpoint's strike(s) with a thousand thoughts on his face.

"...What?"

"What are you talking about?!"

Then he came back in with his weapon, yelling and swinging. His composure was lost, and he came at his foe manically.

Spoiler

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Okay, this time I got him...

Standard Action: Flurry of Blows, All-Out Power Attack 5. Attack (1d20+16)[29] for DC 26+Multiattack Secondary Effect Damage, DC 21 Fortitude against Weaken Toughness.

Edit: Pending an Extra Effort depending on how he saves.

Status: Bruised, Fatigued.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Josh

On the one hand it was a wild, desperate attack. Josh was leaving himself glaringly open - a risk against any opponent, a potentially lethal one against a speedster of Flashpoint's level - in his manic assault.

On the other hand, there were few things more deadly than a speedster with an edged weapon and a wild swing.

Were this most enemies, Flashpoint would have casually sidestepped before commencing a finishing attack from behind. But Josh was still too fast for that. Josh might not be able to move quite as fast as Flashpoint, but over the months that he had been harassing this foe in the past timeline, he had learned all of his moves - he didn't need even the microseconds of a speedster to think about how to react, which made a crucial difference on a battle of this scale. And Josh was still fast enough that Flashpoint couldn't move faster than he could turn, couldn't get his entire body out of the way faster than Josh could adjust the swing of his axe alone.

Flashpoint had to block rather than dodge, respond with disciplined guard rather than agile evasion. Objectively, this was only so much of a limitation; Flashpoint met Josh's strikes blow for blow with block after hasted block. He was fast enough to parry every swing Josh made.

But over the course of a second that contained a hundred strikes and parries, three factors proved telling. The first was the deadly edge and advantageous reach of Josh's weapon, preventing Flashpoint from meeting him head-on, forcing him to defend with more care to avoid losing the very arm he blocked with. The second was Flashpoint's injured hand; he had to favor it slightly, making his right side just a little more vulnerable.

And the third was that just as he had proven in the past, whatever advantage of speed he may have had, Flashpoint was the less skilled fighter than Josh. Flashpoint didn't notice these minor vulnerabilities, didn't see how they could be exploited.

Josh did.

And Flashpoint's guard broke.

Blood sprayed, blood so hot it evaporated to mist practically the second it left Flashpoint's body. Josh had scored two telling hits, leaving Flashpoint critically injured, reeling. The edge of Jarivadell, enchanted centuries ago by shamanic rite, opened wounds that would not quickly close. Blood continued to boil out of Flashpoint's wounds; even a Dreamer as powerful as he couldn't possibly last long in such a condition.

But he was not down.

Flashpoint had two options, and the barest fractions of an instant to choose. Josh was open. If he threw everything he had into his own full offensive, he might yet be able to overwhelm his opponent and take him down. This was his best opportunity to do it. The downside was that he might well collapse immediately afterwards. A draw here would mean that ultimate victory would come down to who recovered faster - and given the wicked wounds that axe created, Flashpoint could not be sure it would be him.

Or he could run. It would mean admitting defeat, but he could at least ensure he remained free. At the end of the day, that was what mattered most. Josh might give chase, of course, and Flashpoint likely couldn't run for long in his condition. But he had already tested Josh in a footrace, and the results had been clear.

So Flashpoint did not make a final, desperate, all out attack with maximum effort, in that critical instant.
"You may...be able...to beat me...Miles..." he growled out.

"...But you will never catch me!"

Flashpoint took off at a full sprint, passing straight through Josh as he phased again into intangibility and launching through the nearest wall before turning at a hard angle and beginning a wild, maze-like course across, above, and beneath the face of the planet, the evasive maneuvering that had confounded Stalwart and left him in the dust so many times over the past year. He may fall unconscious in seconds, but he planned to be very safely far from this island and Josh Miles by the time he did!

Josh had won the battle.

But if he wanted true victory, if he wanted to stop Flashpoint once and for all, it would take more than skill at arms.

In the end, it would come down to speed.

Spoiler

Show

Flashpoint and Josh are both at maximum Speed for their PL, and cannot improve their base rank further with Power Stunts.

Flashpoint has Speed 25. Against Josh, he operates three effective ranks lower due to Harry Flashpoint, for 22. He is Staggered, imposing a further -1 and limiting him to a single action. He uses both Extra Effort to boost that by 1, and ULTIMATE EFFORT to get a second action to move. He automatically succeeds the Athletics check to boost his speed by 1. This gives him a final effective Speed rank of 24.

Josh has Speed 21. At the start of his turn he becomes Fatigued, lowering it by 1. He automatically succeeds the Athletics check to boost his Speed by 1. This gives him a starting basic Speed rank of 21, before additional actions and resources.

Josh may allow Flashpoint to flee and take the martial victory. If he wishes to give chase, roll three Athletics checks, which Flashpoint opposes using Skill Mastery for 32 after -3 for Harry Flashpoint. You must succeed at least two of these checks to keep from losing Flashpoint during the round due to his mazelike maneuvering and frequent phasing through opaque objects. For each Speed rank you end up lower than him after accounting for all actions and resources, you must succeed a cumulative additional check (one additional for Speed 23, three additional for Speed 22, etc); if your Speed ends up higher than his, you may make a cumulative one additional check per rank higher. A check that succeeds by three degrees or more counts as two successes. A check that fails by three degrees or more not only fails, but increases the number of successes required by one. You may reroll or otherwise modify these checks following normal rules. After rolling, you may spend any remaining Harry Flashpoint successes to add +1 to any one of these checks per success spent, if desired.

If you succeed to keep up with Flashpoint, the Secondary Effects will be resolved, and if he somehow remains active initiative will be rolled again. You will get a +5 bonus on initiative per degree of success you have achieved on your checks.

If you are able to successfully keep up with (and defeat, if he doesn't drop from SEs) Flashpoint, you will earn two Hero Points for the victory rather than one.

[manwithaplan]

Josh closed his eyes and fell to his knees as Flashpoint fled. The heavy axe fell gracelessly to the floor.

For a second he was just there, trying to catch his breath. Then he carefully rolled over into a sitting position and went for his phone to send a couple texts.

To Spectre:

[Hey, we're friends, right? I've got a stalker, possibly prescient, almost got me killed. Can you get into an email account and trace someone?]

To Stalwart:

[Hey whens your birthday]

Then he flipped to his tracker app. A few more seconds and he got to his feet, but it was a ponderous ascension. Wiping the sweat from his brow, Josh dashed from the super-heated chamber, and once more worked the island in a grid format looking for Judy.

Spoiler

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Waiting 4 rounds.

Recover from Exhausted, searching the island.

[Starsign]

Well, that worked out.

Sheema bends down and picks the unconscious Majeste up from what is now a rocky, old wooden chair; all the wondrous buildings and party and everything she had created disappeared in an instant. Being back in her casual clothes, including nanosuit underneath, is a comfortable change of pace to the stylish-but-frilly dress and stiff business suit she had been 'given.' "Whew, all's well that ends well," the black-skinned Perallan says as she heaves the reality-warping criminal over her shoulders. Sheema looks over and gives Cyra a small smile. "I'm glad you came along. That would've been bad if it didn't work." She looks over at Majeste's unconscious head, hoping she doesn't wake up too quickly.

Several heavy stomps come from the entrance of the parking lot as Makhana appears with Galadhil tightly held between her heavy teeth. Normally she'd be light with items because her teeth can chomp down on Perallan trees; Galadhil, thankfully, is goddamn indestructible. "See, Makhana?" Sheema says with a perked up attitude as she walks over and takes back Galadhil. "Told you it'd all be fine." The large dire rhino acknowledges her partner's success with a nod, though clearly wanting for more. Sometimes a Perallan beast just wants to crack some skulls... beast skulls, that is.

Sheema looks around a bit as she puts Galadhil back on her back; her nanosuit having a convenient couple hooks to keep it in place. "Hey, Cyra you remember those staff, the terrified-looking people? We should look into those after we turn her," she bumps up her left shoulder carrying Majeste, "into SIDE. I don't like the idea of gang members keeping innocents kidnapped. Besides, I'm sure they'll understand if we just..."

She gently rubs Makhana's hide just above her horn. The dire rhino gives off what can be described as a attempted smirk.

"...ask nicely."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Alright so first off, Sheema will hand in Majeste into SIDE like I assume is her duty with defeated supervillains.

Second off, Investigation! She needs to find those kidnapped staff. She'll also report this to the police so they can assist, at least however they can... Actually, since Sheema has nothing really in the form of Investigation, can she aid Cyra's roll if the latter has ranks in it?

[Born]

"Thank the Gods! I went to what I thought was you and me healing Treetop, but got ambushed by two people wielding these weird devices. The guy who took the call from me afterwards said it sounded like Dreamcatcher technology, if you can believe that. I needed to make sure that you were okay, and that you were you. I don't know if they were only targetting me or if they intend to use the disguise against anyone else." Mandragora wasn't exactly sure what to say, but he wanted to make sure that she knew someone was out there who had the ability and intention to use her guise for their own nefarious purposes.

Eric hadn't been able to figure out how they had been able to get him all the way out to a hospital while thinking he had been speaking to the real Phoenix the whole time. To be fair though, his dwindling knowledge of technology would make compromising his phone easier... and harder for him to notice.

[Grim ranger]

Huffing a bit at Mariana's flippant commentary, Aquila let out a long-suffering sigh. "Do I really look like someone who'd go that overboard with property damage? I am almost hurt my own sibling considers me some sort of dangerous lunatic" he said, holding her in a hug for a moment longer. If something HAD happened to her, there would have most likely been blood, he had to admit that much. His family meant a great deal to him, after all.

Somewhat disappointed that the point of contention between Javan and his father was sparking up again, Aquila raised his hands somewhat in placating gesture, trying to calm things down. "They couldn't have known under the circumstances. Can we just all appreciate the situation didn't turn worse? Heroes try the best they can, but there is always room for improvement too" he said, trying his best to at least get the two to drop their argument for the time being. "I will make sure to look into these people, though."

Clapping his hands a bit, he managed to summon up a proper smile. "But enough about that for a moment. Are there any plans for a party for the occasion that I've forgotten about? Work is a killer."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Would it be possible for Aquila to go visit some of the other elemental royals?

[DukeGod]

Even as the nanoswarm goes from liquid to a buzzing silver mist, Gestalt steps closer to entry hatch for the ACV, and lets the Feynmen infest the vehicles controls

He's not letting people get away today, so he readies himself to do a grab and takedown of the first Defiant that comes out

Spoiler

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Feynmen:
Attempt to Assume Direct Control of the ACV
(1d20+16)[18] Technology check
If there's the possibility of attacking wiht the ACV this turn, I will attempt to do so, here's a die just in case it happens
(1d20)[11]

Gestalt
Standard: Readies an action to Grab if someone tries to exit the ACV

[Quellian-dyrae]

Josh

Searching the island again, when you got back to where you had originally left Judy, she suddenly appeared from invisibility. Her clothes and hair were a bit singed around the edges and had a wild, ragged look, as if she had been caught in some sort of tremendous windstorm. "Josh! That crazy speedster guy from the past was here! He blew me halfway across Peral with some sort of fiery tornado thing!"

A few moments later, your phone chimed with a text from Stalwart. The fourth of Quadril. The Regional Commander of Hero Corps got enough random texts out of the blue from various Heroes that he had learned to just roll with it.

You got a second notification shortly thereafter. Oddly enough, this one was a Hero App message from Phoenix, rather than a text from Spectre. Mandragora was attacked, possible Dreamcatchers, intent unknown. Everyone check in.

Sheema

It didn't take too long for SIDE to arrive and take Majeste in, and then it was off to the search!

Fortunately the Search for the Missing Restaurant Staff didn't take long; turned out they had just been transported back into the restaurant (Cyra suggested checking it first in case there were clues; "...Well, that was easy," was what she said when they turned out to be there). Evidently Majeste had just sent everyone back where they belonged, or something? Who knows? Reality warping is weird. The restaurant staff did thank you profusely for the rescue, gratitude which included the offer of a free meal.

...As it happened, Kenta was already availing himself of the hospitality of the restaurant, sitting at a table when the two of you came in packing away food from three different plates in front of him. When he saw the two of you he gave a big goofy grin and kinda raised a hand to his head as if to brush his hair back. "So, the parking lot got all shimmery and I couldn't get in, so I decided to wait in here for you and when these guys all just appeared I figured everything went fine. ...Hungry?"

So all's well that ends well. Except for the part where as you were either heading out or sitting down to eat, whichever you chose, all three of your phones chimed with a Hero App message from Phoenix. Mandragora was attacked, possible Dreamcatchers, intent unknown. Everyone check in.

Mandragora

"I'm fine. I'll check with the others to see if there were any other attacks. Only two of them? Against you? And here I thought Dreamcatchers were supposed to be smart... Ahem. Get back to base to be safe. Dreamcatchers do have a tendency to hunt in packs, and to use guerilla and attrition tactics. Are the ones who attacked you down, or did they get away?"

Summit

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I would but honestly I'm aiming to move things to the next episode with my next post. He totally can during downtime and all of course, just not really something that I'll have the opportunity to play out on screen, and bad as my GM lag has been lately I honestly just don't have the creative energy available to do a side-scene. Sorry .

Mariana smirked at your response, but didn't press the matter. Your father answered your request with a dismissive wave, dropping the issue without conceding his position. Javan gave you a kinda sheepishly-apologetic smile. And here he had been supposed to be the moderating influence. Oops.

"Nothing too big, we're just going out to dinner. To that Mairen restaurant Mariana likes," your mother answered. "Javan you're welcome to join us of course," she added.

"Thanks Mrs. Brook, but nah I think I'm going to head home. Enough excitement for one day, and all."

...Speaking of work being a killer, your phone chimed with a notification. A Hero App message from Phoenix. Mandragora was attacked, possible Dreamcatchers, intent unknown. Everyone check in.

Gestalt

Unfortunately the deflective field around the ACV kept the nanites from actually making contact with the vehicle and infesting its systems. Leonard shouted another Power Word as he withdrew out of melee range, hammering the attackers with more of his divinatory power. The remaining goons provided supporting fire died messily while the power armored Defiant fired their autoguns at each of you Leonard while the other one collapsed bleeding from the helmet and the ACV loosed its plasma cannon at Leonard.

Meanwhile, your phone chimed with a notification.

Spoiler

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Leonard:
Move: Away from Armored 1.
Standard: Power Word. Enemies save the ACV all get Dodge DC 23 to negate, Will DC 28 vs. Damage. This carries a Secondary Effect but those who already have such on them will have it pushed to next round unless they pass the Dodge save.
Armored 1: Dodge: (1d20+6)[12]. Will: (1d20+8)[16]. Bruised and Staggered
Armored 2: Dodge: (1d20+6)[12]. Will: (1d20+5)[8]. DYING!
Defiant 2: Dodge: (1d20+4)[7]. Will: (1d20+4)[21]. KILLED!
Defiant 3: Dodge: (1d20+4)[8]. Will: (1d20+4)[23]. KILLED!
Defiant 5: Dodge: (1d20+4)[13]. Will: (1d20+4)[7]. KILLED!

Defiant:
Move: Various.
Standard: Team Attack with Armored 1, Armored 2, and ACV (Power Attacking for 1) respectively.
(1d20+9)[21]
(1d20+9)[22]
(1d20+8)[13]

Armored:
Move: Nah/Staggered.
Standard: Autoguns, one at each of you. On a hit, Toughness DC 25+Multiattack+Team Attack vs. Damage.
Leonard: (1d20+8)[9]. Toughness: (1d20+9)[20]. HARD miss
Gestalt: (1d20+8)[19].

ACV:
Move: Nah.
Standard: Plasma Cannon on Leonard at (1d20+10)[18]. On a hit, Toughness ((1d20+12)[30]) effective DC 28+Team Attack/20 vs. Damage Linked Weaken Toughness. Miss

Gestalt is on turn.

Spectre

Spoiler

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Per Discord, moving on with Spectre accepting the offer.

Daimon nodded as you agreed. "Alright. Does two nighttime work for you for pickup?" he asked. There was a subtle but palpable diffusion of tension in the room, not so much from Daimon himself as the others. Nothing really...changed in their stances or expressions, but nonetheless to your astute perceptions a certain sense of readiness and danger seemed to leave them.

Also, you got a text from Josh.

[manwithaplan]

"Judy-"

Before he could even begin, Josh had to look to his phone. There was a pause; his eyes flickered back and forth at some incomprehensible rate as he considered a large number of possibilities at once. When he was done, he reached out with his arms to pick her up.

"Don't worry, the big guy's gone. But...there's some other guys right now as well. You should come with me for a little while."

Hero Corps Base

Zip.

"Hey Wallace." Josh carefully put Judy down beside himself, and immediately whipped his tracking phone out again.

"Someone tipped my location off to Flashpoint. In advance. I don't know what problem you've got, but I think I'm in it too."

[Starsign]

Today had been a pretty good day. It was a bit of a surprise to find the staff... exactly where they are supposed to be working at. Guess it's common for people with too much power to take what they want and then throw it away when they're done with it. Still, it's a better fate than what could have happened to the staff. Sheema made sure they're alright, safe, and not under any personal trauma or stress from it before getting ready for her meal.

...Oh, Makhana? She had to sit out next to the restaurant and whatever they could cook up won't exactly fill her gigantic stomach. Not that she minds. Adaros' trees are small and flimsy but they make up for it in flavor compared to Peral's gigantic bark.

And then Phoenix's text came in.

"Oh spirits," Sheema mutters quietly on the soft, plushy stool. She takes her phone out from an inside pocket of her nanotech armor and reads the text over. She's been a hero long enough to know that people don't use Hero App to say "Hi." A single look at the message turns Sheema's dark-skinned smile into a small frown. She looks over at Cyra and Kenta and gives them a warning. "We gotta get going soon; eat while you can." Sheema, thankfully, did not order much for her meal; a simple small steak and vegetables sprinkled with bean sprouts on top. It's very nice and tidy compared to Kenta's gigantic pile of food stacked uncomfortably on top of three plates. How does one end up with that great an appetite anyway?

She gives a quick text to Phoenix, stating, Task done today. No Dreamcatcher interference. What's Mandragora's condition? As procedure goes, don't ask for the hero's location unless you are a speedster or fast flier. That's a job for someone like Kenta who can fly and arrive as soon as possible.

And while waiting for more information, Sheema digs down into her food, absolutely making sure to get her fill before the three suddenly have to run off and catch up on Mandragora.

[Born]

"Unfortunately they got away. After I knocked one out and stole the devices they attacked me with, the remaining one teleported off with the unconscious one. I'm going to take the devices to headquarters for them to look at. Really strange urchin-like things. I'll keep a close eye out on the way over."

[Grim ranger]

Smiling a bit despite himself, Aquila went on to give Javan a fist bump as he stated his intention to go. "Don't be a stranger, man. I'll hang out with you soon once work lets up."

And he would too, if he'd get any choice in the matter...although a slight frown creased his face immediately after as he went on to read the message from Phoenix. Why did all the craziness ALWAYS have to happen during important moments of familial relationship maintenance? And today had started so well.

"...something has happened. Dad, I think you should call your security detail just in case and have dinner at home" he said, sighing a bit. "I don't think it should affect you all, but... someone important just got attacked, and I worry I might be drawing an attack here too by my presence. I suspect I have to go and take care of some work soon, just waiting for updates on the situation."

Looking definitely saddened at the prospect of missing dinner over such things, he went on to hug his sister again for good measure before starting to type out a message back to Phoenix.

Stopped apparently unrelated robbery. No threats so far. Should we gather up?

[DukeGod]

Well the notification on his phone was annoying. He wonders if he there's some "Do not disturb, mid-fight" routine that could be programmed

As it is, he has the Feynmen technopath the notification away, trusting an infinitesimal amout of their computation to answer it adequately

He returns to letting the Feynmen corrupt away the technology he's sitting on top of, leaving the hatch for last, and readying himself ready to grab anyone that comes out of it

Spoiler

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Okay, Scene 1, take 2

Feynmen
No Move
Attempt to Assume direct control again
(1d20+10)[27] on hit Fortitude or enemies creator Technology vs DC 20

Gestalt
No move
Ready action, Grab if someone leaves the ACV

[Quellian-dyrae]

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Alright. Not gonna lie. This episode kinda got away from me, particularly with the pacing at the end. I've been struggling these past couple weeks trying to figure out what the best way to resolve things is given that Gestalt's fight isn't quite over, Josh still has a bit of wrapup with Flashpoint, in theory there might be some sort of meat on the bone with Spectre picking up Daimon, and there is the whole revelation that several of you got attacked and what all that means. And the result of this handwringing is nearly another month between GM posts.

So, I'm just powering through and moving forward. MWaP and DG, do feel free to embellish on what I write here as suits you.

Also, everybody take a Hero Point and 2 4 Downtime Actions.

Phoenix messaged Sheema back that Mandragora was fine, and Aquila that there was no need to return to base. After all, it was Hero Corps; an odd Dreamcatcher attack was perhaps a modest concern, but not such a worry that it demanded all arms to call or anything.

Granted, when Josh arrived with word that he had been targeted - by Flashpoint no less - that did raise the overall level of concern.

The other Heroes all reported in that they were fine, no threats. Except...well, the Feynmen replied for Gestalt, and they replied that Gestalt was currently busy fighting off a Defiant attack, and would reply when he was less busy, thank you for your patience. So...yeah.

But, well, the Defiant were also kinda on their last legs. The ACV had good security measures, but still. It was basically down to just it and a single badly-hurt armored fighter. Now, these were the Defiant, they'd take those odds...but well let's just say that after the Feynmen's reply, if Gestalt and Leonard didn't bring them down shortly, the odds would get rather overwhelmingly longer for them in very short order.

So whatever force had tried to lash out at our heroes had been stymied. But even so, three simultaneous but independent attacks? On Gestalt, Mandragora, and Josh? That couldn't be a coincidence, could it...?

--

Josh would, at some point, have the opportunity to zip over to where his tracker had pinged Flashpoint's last location. Whether this was after other matters got resolved or, you know, somewhere between words or something I'll leave for him to decide. The location was actually somewhere in the Lastellan wilderness. The trace had vanished here, but well the area of bare, scorched but damp earth in what was otherwise a snowy forest kinda made it obvious where Flashpoint had gone - underground. In fact, it ended up being some sort of underground bunker, what a cursory examination would suggest might have once been used as some sort of...maybe a prison or something?

Spoiler: Expertise (The Reclaimers) DC 15 or (Dreamer Lore) DC 20

Show

...Actually, it's probably some old Reclaimer "rehabilitation center". There are rumors that there are some of them scattered around up here. This one was apparently either retired...or Flashpoint had just straight-up killed any Reclaimers or Repentant that had been living there and claimed it as his own. Kinda hard to say with him.

In any case, he found Flashpoint in a surprisingly tastefully decorated living room (with, if I may say, a rather sweet personal entertainment system). He was passed out on the floor from blood loss (the carpet around him was kinda smoldering from the initial contact with his burning blood, but the Lastellan chill kept it from getting too bad).

--

Spectre's pick up of Daimon, surprisingly enough, went off without a hitch. True to his word, he met up with her at the appointed place and time and turned himself in. The news of Daimon's arrest broke the next day.

Spoiler: Insight DC 30

Show

...Although Spectre couldn't help but feel like there was something significant about the fact that when he turned himself in, he was in his original form, rather than the form of Simon Candler.

--

Four days after his arrest, Phoenix called all of you for a briefing. Well, the five of you that are Heroes. Spectre was actually instructed by IN-SIDE to go the Hero Corps, after being given her own briefing on the subject.

"So. Sim- Daimon was brought in. SIDE has been interrogating him ever since. I doubt it will surprise any of you to hear it hasn't been easy, but they had a breakthrough today. Managed to get it through his skull that was he's been doing isn't actually, as he's been insisting, somehow to Ilessia's benefit."

"Anyway. Point is, they have him, but not the team he was working with. They got him to give them their location. Problem is, Daimon gave them a lot of information on SIDE's inner workings - their strategies, some security overrides, counter-tactics, things like that. Now, they got Daimon to tell them what sort of powers they're looking at, so they're not at a complete tactical disadvantage, but they're a pretty strong crew. Strong enough that if SIDE goes up against them, with the information they have...it could get pretty bloody."

"They know what we're capable of too. But, well, it's not like we're as dependent as SIDE is on their protocols and strategies. It's not some solo hero fight for sure, but from the information they've passed along, it's nothing a team of Heroes can't handle. SIDE sent Spectre to represent their interests, but otherwise the mission's ours. Ruining whatever's left of Daimon's crazy plan is something plenty of Heroes would jump at, but I figured given that he lied to you guys most of all of us, it was only fair that you got first dibs. Based on what SIDE's saying, the five of you plus Spectre should be plenty enough to handle these guys."

"So, of course, I figure I'd join in too, and if each of you wants to pick someone else, we could all just roll up and squash them with overwhelming force. I feel like that's appropriate, after all the work Daimon had put in to try and make us operate more like SIDE," she said with a smirk.

[Starsign]

Well that had been a bit alarming. Mandragora attacked? That's one thing. Josh ambushed by Flashpoint as well? Also bad. And then Gestalt under fire by Defiant? Sheema should've considered herself lucky that she wasn't attacked by mercenaries out of nowhere that day. Thankfully, the panic didn't last long as far as she saw. Celebrations were absolutely in order once everyone realized Flashpoint's finally back to where he belongs.

Sheema hadn't had time to work on her next novel. Much of her time involved helping out Hero Corps in overtime after the attempted prison break lost nearly half a dozen heroes. She didn't make the greatest manager; Phoenix handled a lot of the day-to-day routine that had once been done by Arcanis. Instead, much of Sheema's work was done on training, utilizing her experience in combat and, specifically, in stealth and movement to assist the other heroes when battle inevitably breaks out. She doesn't consider herself half bad, all things considered. Not that Makhana agreed. An ancient dire rhino has standards, huge standards, when it comes to the art of fighting. For all that the two trust each other, the rhino doesn't have much faith in a mere mortal training superpowered people.

...Never mind that Makhana's style of combat usually involved rampaging with her sheer strength and bulk.

---

So time came, time passed, and after recently helping a new recruit join Hero Corps, Sheema and Makhana found themselves being briefed on the big raid ahead. The anticipation leaves the dark-skinned princess slightly antsy while the dire rhino just gives a gruff nod. Neither of them, however, quite shared Phoenix's enthusiasm. "This sounds oddly familiar," Sheema not-so-quietly whispers to Makhana. The last time a regional commander came right to help directly assault a villain's base, he died. And while Phoenix can revive, presumably, the potential death of another regional commander is not a tragedy Hero Corps can stand to repeat. "Commander, with all due respect, wouldn't it be better to stay back for a bit and let us lead?" Sheema's not normally one to question her superior, though Sheema's also one who should know better than to do so. "This won't our usual 'bust in an' wreck shop,' operation," she continues, briefly adopting a poor attempt as an urban Adaros accent. "I think we should have someone watching from a distance before closing in to they can avoid or deal with any sort of trap we fall into."

Regardless of Phoenix's response, Sheema gives a small smile over to Gestalt, Josh and Mandragora in contrast to Makhana's... stoic impression. "So you three ready? No doubts? No fears?" Today is a big day for the three to confront whatever there is of their former friend's plan. Given what's at stake, it's always a good idea to make sure everyone's ready to go.

...Oh, and maybe bring along a partner like Phoenix suggested. Sheema will need a moment to think about that.

[manwithaplan]

Quickly taking a grinning photo of himself with the unconscious Flashpoint, Josh sent the picture and another message to Stalwart.

[Okay i can't keep him contained until then haha should I just bring him over now? Where do you want him?]

---

Josh blinked.

"Do we get to...talk to Simon, at some point?"

[Born]

Mandragora had been worried enough after he had been attacked, but Gestalt and Josh had been targeted, too? And to top it all off, a crew of (apparently very unlucky) criminals at a graduation ceremony! By now, Mandragora was used to crazy things happening, but the last time this many of them had been targeted individually, it had been the Ten Wolves behind it all.

Speaking of the Ten Wolves, he seemed to be getting through to them, though it was strange coming back to work with them after so long. Much to his glee, it Meri was to the point of being processed through the system to be released back into society. Eric's first day back to the facility had been rough, though. He was off-balance from everything that had been going on recently, and didn't really get any of the former thugs to listen to him. Once the issue of his absence was out of the way, though, things picked up again.

Simon had always taught Eric to be prepared for whatever came his way. Nonetheless, it still seemed wrong that the spy's new allies were now the Heroes' enemies. It raised so many questions about his motivations the whole time. Of all the things said and asked about the case recently, Mandragora thought Josh's question was one of the most relevant. "I would also like to hear what he has to say for himself. How much of it was him setting up for whatever grand design this is?"