Masks: Junior Guardians

[seatyger]

Spoiler: Defend Arthropod

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http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=24259899&postcount=34

Add 1 Team to the pool

The shark-man is an imposing figure next to the normal-sized insect master. Not a fair fight, if you ask KC, and he isn't one to believe that this is something Arthropod has to do for himself. Especially against these monstrosities.

As the beast draws back for another punch, KC thrusts his arm into the crook of its elbow and, with all the strength and leverage he can muster, pulls his opponent off-balance, unable to strike.

"Let's keep this a fair fight, hmm?" he says through gritted teeth. To Arth, he adds, "I have him handled. Take our new friend and keep going. I'll catch up."

[Jumbus]

Foreigner weighed his options on one hand Facet might need some help if the Deep Sea Exhibit is too heavily guarded, the other two might need a tag in or go to find the bombs, which would be the most heroic but he also knew he doesn't know the first thing about bomb deactivation. "Arthropod you should head to the Tropical Oceans exhibit, you can probably find the bombs the fastest." Foreigner said over the comms "I'll come back up KC."

Foreigner turned to Maria turning off his comms, "You will probably need to back Arthropod up in case he gets into danger, big guns for big problems and all that. But I'll leave that up to you." Foreigner ran off to where he thought KC and Arthropod were at.

[Quagmire]

Arthropod

Spoiler: Labels&stuff

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Danger:+0
Freak: +3
Savior: +0
Superior: +2
Mundane: -2

Conditions:
Hopeless: -2 to Unleash
Insecure: -2 to Defend and Reject
Angry: -2 to Comfort and Pierce

Potential: 2/5

Arthropod looks as Kid Collier fights the second shark-person, grateful because the giant sharkman is no longer pummeling him but slightly jealous of KCs ability.

Thanks for the save, I guess putting one of the heavy hitters on stealth team was a good move.


Arthropod pulls the civilian up and starts to run down the halls. When he hears Foreigner on the comms, he replies. Will do, thanks for telling me.

When he gets far enough away from the fighting, he closes his eyes and clasps his hands together. As he does so, his bees fly in from behind him and start to spread out, searching for an exit and for the route to the tropical ocean exhibit. He doesn’t say anything to the civilian, not realizing that the sudden stop and insect swarms might be distressing.

If he finds an exit, he takes the woman in the wetsuit there before heading to the tropical oceans.

Spoiler: Moves Used

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Unleash your Powers (if needed to find an exit and where I’m going)
(2d6+1)[9]

[Awful]

Maria paused for a moment as Foreigner rapidly changed plans and intentions. As he settled on backing up Kid Collier, she nodded.
"Right. I'll head for the Antarctic bomb, then."
No way was she going to let harm come to the penguins, adorable little creatures that they were. She began running towards the exhibit, slipping into cover round each corridor or door before she would spring out, shotgun ready. She didn't have any of the supernatural toughness or armour of her companions - just grit and a whole lot of firepower.
"Arthropod. Let me know if you need help and I'll be right over! But I want to disable one of their bombs first."

[DaedalusMkV]

Team: 3

Pool Sharks: Kid Collier and Foreigner
Kid Collier's attempt to grapple his target is more than successful, and he's able to get a firm grip on the hammer-headed brute that had, previously, been manhandling Arthropod, giving the helmeted hero the opportunity to grab the employee and get away. The muscular mutant is able to match Kid Collier's strength but certainly not overpower him, and the situation briefly develops into a stalemate. The shark spits out what sounds like a couple of words, but it's certainly not English if it actually is in any language and not just gibberish noises.

Moments later, having used his ship for a brief hop over the exterior wall, Foreigner arrives to the area, in time to see his teammate wrestling with a huge, muscular figure while a pair of large black-and-white aquatic animals batter away at a second, slightly different humanoid in the water.


Under the Sea: Facet
You rush away from the entrance, pushing through a door and using your memory, along with helpful signs interspersed around the aquarium, to make your way to the Deep Seas exhibit in the lower levels of the east wing of the building. Surprisingly, nothing emerges to stop you as you run through the empty hallways of the aquarium, only fish to observe your passing. Once you enter the darkened halls of the exhibit, however, a familiar voice echoes through the area. Strangely, it doesn't seem to be coming over the PA system, instead apparently from somewhere deeper in the shadowed halls. "Velcome to ze dark depths. Ze abyzz is full of predators, hunting vith no need ov light. Can you zurvive ze black vaters, hmm?"

With a series of pops, even the dim lights of the exhibit here wink out. A small column of light emerges from the stairway behind you, where the lights remain on, but ahead of you is nothing but darkness. How do you proceed?

Tuxedo Birds: Maria
While Facet rushes into one wing and Foreigner turns around and leaves the way you came, you choose a third route, following the directions on the map you found in the direction of the Antarctic wing. It's a bit of a run, but your practice with Sophia paid dividends and you aren't even out of breath as you arrive on-sight, covering one last corner as you make your way to the slightly chilly area of the aquarium. You can see exhibits for birds, fish, and, of course, the black-and-white birds you were looking for. The bomb as well, sitting right in front of the exhibit as expected. Once again, the voice of Acula emerges from the speakers in the wall near you, though this time it seems to be limited to the area; you can't hear his voice echoing from behind you as before. "You have earned ze honour of fazing my mightiest minion, young voman. Emerging from ze icy depthz, ze mighty Megalodon!"

A pause for a moment, and then what sounds like a faint voice from the speakers, like someone is talking far from the microphone, before Acula speaks again. "Vhat do you mean, Oleg iz zick?" Another pause. "Yez, I know ze contracts. I wrote zem! He haz ze most powerful constitution in ze vorld! He should not zhust..." A pause again. "Oh. Yez. Zat vould do it. Vhy vould he..." An awkward pause ensues, but only for a moment. In the middle of the hallway in front of you, a shadowed form begins to coalesce, rising like smoke from the ground before coalescing into a hazy, vaguely humanoid shape directly between you an the bomb. The Demalion gazes at you with hateful, emberlike eyes from its smoky head.
"Found... You. I will feast..."

"Vhat? Ziz iz a ztrange phenomenon... Er, I mean, in place of ze Megalodon, you shall be crushed by my zhadow monzter!"

... Is Acula really taking credit for the Demalion in front of you? Either way, you'll need to deal with it before you can worry about the bomb.


Witty titles are hard: Arthropod
Rushing through the doors previously guarded by the shark-man that Kid Collier seems to have well in hand, the employee in the wetsuit follows after you without too much prompting. She doesn't stop moving, but does talk to you as you move. "Thank you so much for coming to help! I don't know how much help it'll be, but I did spot them carrying five of those canister things while they were coming in. They seemed to be speaking Russian, too. Which makes sense, given their leader's name. Um..."

She doesn't have much more time to give any more information, helpful or otherwise, since it's not far at all from your current position to your destination. Ahead of you is a large open area dominated by a massive cylindrical water tank, in which swims a huge array of marine life from fish to turtles and everything in between. You can spot a big metal canister with what might be a bomb attached to it resting atop the large ramp that spirals around the tank, which is probably what you're looking for. Unfortunately, you don't have a clear path to it. The tentacle creature in front of you looks like a huge, angry octopus, with many tentacles around a central body and a bulbous head on top, but certainly doesn't stand like one. Two pairs of tentacles form 'legs', while two more pairs make up 'arms', leaving the entire creature standing upright like a person, and... Yeah, it's definitely wearing a black and white tracksuit. There's absolutely no way to interpret it any differently. The creature laughs, a vaguely blubbery sound, and then says something in a foreign language, reaching down with one 'arm' to pick up what looks like a huge pipe, and then begins moving menacingly towards you.

Spoiler: OOC

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Okay, so some notes for this one:

Acula's dialogue in Facet and Maria's scenes is, for the first time, not audible to the other members of the team. It is confined to the areas those people are in.

Arthropod and Maria can see the bombs they were looking for. Facet wasn't able to do so, even before the lights went out.

Arthropod and Maria have obvious opponents facing them, between them and the bombs they're heading for. Facet hasn't identified any sort of threat, yet.

One shark-man currently remains in the scene with Kid Collier and Foreigner.

Hopefully I haven't missed anything here.

[Ramsus]

"I begrudgingly admit there is a sense of style and tone with this." Facet says into the darkness. She then lifts her arms out wide and tries to conjure several dozen orbs of bright energy and send spread them out through the area so she can see. While doing this she mentally notes that one of the things she needs to add to her suit is lights.

---

Unleash Your Powers: (2d6+1)[9]

[Jumbus]

Hopping out and onto his feet Foreigner scans the area and sees Kid Collier. Pointing out to him "while I like the whole one man show thing. That just so happens to be my thing." Foreigner immediately broke into a pose, and with a pose comes style, and with style comes light! "biSSHHAAAAAAA!" Foreigner sent strong light beams straight toward the shark wrestling KC.

Spoiler: Directly Engage

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(2d6-1)[6]

[seatyger]

KC smiles when he sees Foreigner hop down from his ship. "Oh, you're in for it, now," he tells his opponent as he maneuvers the beast-man around to expose his flank to Foreigner's light beam.

Spoiler: Helping Out Foreigner

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Spending 1 Team to assist Foreigner to Directly Engage the Enemy, turning that 6 into a 7.

[Jumbus]

Spoiler: Directly Engage

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Up to 7 as if there was any choice choosing to impress, surprise or frighten the opposition

Spoiler: Conditions

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Insecure sorry need to remember to keep posting that

Foreigner smiled even more as what was going to be a total miss turned into a complete hit. 'This whole team thing is kind of a sweet deal after all' Foreigner thought to himself.

[Quagmire]

Arthropod

Spoiler: Labels&stuff

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Danger:+0
Freak: +3
Savior: +0
Superior: +2
Mundane: -2

Conditions:
Hopeless: -2 to Unleash
Insecure: -2 to Defend and Reject
Angry: -2 to Comfort and Pierce

Potential: 2/5

Arthropod was pretty sure he couldn’t take this octopus-man in physical one-on-one combat, so he thought of another approach. All he needed to do was distract the octoperson and delay it. If these things shared any traits with their vampire master then they wouldn’t interrupt a dramatic speech. He didn’t have a teleprompter, but he could improvise something.

We’re not so different you and I. Some would even say that Arthropod and Cephalopod are two sides of the same coin. But, we are forced into battle once again. You may have tool use and more versatile limbs, but those are not the advantages that will decide this battle.

As Aryhropod gives his speech, the rest of his hive are crawling or flying across the room. They creep up the ramp and start detaching screws and supports.
The advantage that will win this conflict for the Arthropods, is cooperation.

He lunges, as if to begin fighting, but then rolls to the side of the room. As he does, one of the insects pulls out the last remaining screw to send the ramp crashing down onto the cephalopod. As he does so, Arthropod reaches up to where the bomb will land, hoping to catch it with his strength so he can begin defusing it.

Spoiler: Moves Used

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Dangerous Web:
(2d6+3)[8]
When you reveal a trap you’ve left for someone using your powers, roll + your mask’s Label. On a hit, your opponent trips into it, and you get an opening or opportunity against them. On a 10+, take +1 forward to pursuing
it. On a miss, the trap inadvertently leads to a dangerous escalation.

Goal is for the octoperson to remain trapped under the ramp for long enough to defuse the bomb

[Awful]

Maiden Maria's eyes widened as she skidded to a stop, but even as she did so she was already pulling the trigger. Shot made out of spiritual energy roared towards the Demalion as it rippled and billowed like smoke out of the way, the pellets of her scattergun gouging tiny holes out the edges of the shadowy monster. What was this one? Not anger. It wasn't frenzied enough for panic.
Grief, maybe. Sorrow? She could taste negativity blooming across her mind like an oil slick.

She fired again, a third time, and tossed the empty shotgun aside, juking aside from a shadowy tendril that plunged into the ground where she had stood. The area it hit had no hole, but was discoloured and stained, as if grief and hate had sunk into the very concrete-

Maria pulled an squat, square SMG from the ether of her soul and cut the tentacle in half with a burst of rounds. Shimmering brass bullet casings tumbled to the floor with musical chimes before dissolving into nothing. Nothing more than flesh wounds on it- she needed to damage it properly-

"That isn't one of your monsters, Acula! That's far more dangerous! Stop the bomb while I deal with this!" She called, ducking a shadowy claw as the creature lunged towards her, sliding under a bench and rolling away from another dozen umbral spears aiming at piercing her through, spraying rounds back towards the Demalion until the gun clicked empty. She chucked it at the Demalion, and it reared back at the gun smacked through its face. She conjured a frag grenade but dismissed it - couldn't risk it so close to the bomb.

Her heart pounded with exhilaration and adrenaline. Flipping back onto her feet, she summoned another SMG and grinned.
"I don't have time to play around with you, Demalion! I hope you're ready for obliteration!"

[DaedalusMkV]

Pool Sharks: Kid Collier and Foreigner
With his strong hold on the hammerheaded brute to begin with, Kid Collier has little difficulty pushing his foe directly into the (mis-aimed but no less potent) photon blast of Foreigner, which hits hard and bright, knocking him down. The shark twitches and briefly tries to struggle back to his feet, but in the end collapses to the ground with a 'oof' sound. Looks like he's down for the count, and the other one is pretty clearly in no shape to do anything to stop you. Looks like there's no more threats to deal with here. From inside the aquarium you can hear the faint echoes of gunfire.

How will you proceed?


Light in the Darkness: Facet
With an effort of will, you conjure forth an array of brilliant orbs to light your way. Strangely, it seems like there's some sort of... Interference with them, perhaps as a result of something Acula did (some sort of freaky Vampire power?) or some other form of magical activity in the area. Instead of the brilliant, steady light you wanted to completely banish the darkness, you get an inconsistent, flickering effect not too far removed from a rave's strobe-light... Or the ominous faulty streetlight of a horror movie. You briefly spot a shadowy figure in the distance, two eyes glinting in the flickering magical light, before the shape simply disappears as the lights flash off and on again. Looks like you're not alone down here.

Interestingly, Acula doesn't comment on your display of power. Odd, considering how chatty he's been up to this point. What will you do next?


Tuxedo Birds: Maria
You get the better of your first exchange with the Demalion, no question about that, but you know it will take more than that to bring it down. The penguins seem to be either running around in a panic or cowering behind cover as a result of your firefight, and the walls are pocked with cracks and craters from missed shots. You're good enough not to hit the bomb, thankfully. Hopefully the Demalion isn't smart enough to think of targeting it instead of you.

A malevolent chuckle emerges from the speakers in response to your request. "Pleaze. You fire a few bulletz and expect me to be imprezzed with your enemy? I zee nozing zpecial here."

Meanwhile, the Demalion gathers itself for another attack, smoky form gathering into a central mass from which half a dozen clawed arms emerge, its eyes blazing with anger. "Fear... I must taste your fear..."

Spoiler: Mechanics

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You've done some damage to the Demalion, and now it's taken a much more threatening form. They're always at their most dangerous right before they go down.

Acula seems unimpressed by the entire situation, and thinks you're nothing special. Reject his Influence, or shift Danger down and Mundane up.

Octopod V. Arthropod
The octopus-man... Or whatever you want to call it, advances on you like a common street thug, rapping its heavy metal pipe against one tentacle-arm as it comes. You get the sense that if it had a human mouth, it would be leering menacingly at you in an attempt to look tough. It doesn't even seem to consider your insects a threat... Until the ramp structure comes down in a deafening metallic clatter, your tiny minions having done their subtle work. You catch the bomb... Which hits you hard enough to just about send you stumbling to the ground. Damn, that thing's heavy enough that even you have trouble carrying it. By the time you've recovered, the octopus has as well, pulling itself out from under the fresh pile of debris with an annoyed burbling sound. From the speakers comes Acula's grating voice. "Vhat? Anozer vun? Get him, Zprutnik! Recover ze bomb!"

On the plus side, the wetsuit-clad employee seems to have taken the opportunity to get away, and you're between the... What, Sprutnik? Isn't that a satellite? Regardless, there's a clear path from you to the door. The octopus isn't down for the count, but you definitely have a shot to run away... Though the heavy bomb is going to make that harder than you'd like. Maybe you should just try to find some way to disable it here and now? The octopus isn't finished, but you probably have a bit of time before he can get to you.

[seatyger]

"Nice shot," KC says to his teammate, dusting off his hands with satisfaction. "You sent our friendly, neighborhood beekeeper" -- that one might work...until he brings out his ants -- "to the Tropical Oceans exhibit? Let's see if we can catch up with them."

With that, KC heads off the way Arthropod and the employee went.

[Ramsus]

Frowning at not being able to find anything, Facet calls out over the coms, "Foreigner are you available? Something is messing with the light over here and it will be quite difficult for me to deactivate a bomb if I can't see what I'm doing."

[seatyger]

KC reaches the Tropical Oceans exhibit faster than he expects and skids to a stop as he happens upon the scene. He sees Arthropod lugging away the bomb near the far entrance to the room, and a creature picking itself up out of the remains of a ramp.

An octopus.

In a track suit.

"Seriously? Dr. Moreau wants his memes back," the blue-collar hero quips as he intercepts the octo-man before he's able to begin pursuing Arthropod. He holds up a hand to halt his quarry as he stands; then, without a word, he balls his right hand into a fist, making sure the octo-man understands what's about to happen next, and plants a powerful jab right between the eyes.

Spoiler: Fight the Good Fight

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Roll

KC is taking away its footing, sending it sprawling back into the debris pile.

[Quagmire]

Arthropod

Spoiler: Labels&stuff

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Danger:+0
Freak: +3
Savior: +0
Superior: +2
Mundane: -2

Conditions:
Hopeless: -2 to Unleash
Insecure: -2 to Defend and Reject
Angry: -2 to Comfort and Pierce

Potential: 2/5

Arthropod did not expect the bomb to be that heavy, or for... Zprutnik... to free itself that fast. He had to get out of here, to somewhere he could defuse the bomb.

He hefts the bomb with his still-somewhat-superhuman strength and makes for the door, almost running into KC. His jaw drops as the other hero walks into the room, says a one liner, and immediately starts engaging the enemy. Arthropod wanted to be able to walk into a fight that confidently.

I’d say I owe you one, but I think I owe you like five now.

Arthropod looks away from the guy who just saved him from danger again and turns towards the bomb. He gave the team a quick update, hoping they were fading as well as he was.

Team, I’ve gotten one of the bombs. How are you all doing?

Arthropod pulls off a panel on the side of the bomb with his strength and sends in some insect scouts. A bomb is much more complicated than the door he defeated, but he had to get this right.

His eyes rolled up into his head as he looked through the insides of the bomb. He just had to find out how to disconnect the timer withought triggering the detonator.

Spoiler: Moves Used

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Unleash: (2d6+1)[6]

[Jumbus]

'Well this is disturbing... no this shakes me to my very core' Foreigner thought standing over his and KC's stage of victory but something far more important than mere success was staring him in the face. He was shaken to such an extent he didn't notice KC leave. Foreigner had actually done some study on aquatic lifeforms, one of the few subjects he had bothered to look up and this seemed impossible. Giving a quick search on his device, 'shark with abs' no results, 'can sharks have abs?' overwhelming no in response. Foreigner was in fact right sharks could not have abs its was just impossible, "so why... does this hideous shark... thing. Have better abs than MEEE!!!!" Overcome with frustration Foreigner threw ineffective after ineffective kicks into the shark mans abdomen only to achieve a sore foot.

"Foreigner are you available? Something is messing with the light over here and it will be quite difficult for me to deactivate a bomb if I can't see what I'm doing." Facet was calling for his help over the radio he better pick up quick. 'But wait Foreigner she left you and M4 without saying much' he thought to himself 'you can't come off too eager, play it cool.' Trying not to sounds out of breath from the earlier kicking Foreigner spoke up. "Yeah I could be there soon, we just finished up here anyway." Happy that he said that in the coolest way he could think of, he picked up a leisurely jog toward Facets location.

[seatyger]

Arthropod

...Arthropod pulls off a panel on the side of the bomb with his strength and sends in some insect scouts. A bomb is much more complicated than the door he defeated, but he had to get this right.

His eyes rolled up into his head as he looked through the insides of the bomb. He just had to find out how to disconnect the timer withought triggering the detonator.

KC leans in to get a better look at the part of the bomb he can see through the side panel. He recalls he and his father having to deal with something similar, and father explaining various techniques for disarming a bomb...all the while disarming the bomb.

Seeing something familiar in the makeup of this one, he says, "Tell your minions to forget about the timer; disconnect the detonator from the circuit, and the timer won't set it off."

Spoiler: Assisting Arthropod

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Spending 1 Team to assist Arthropod.

[Quagmire]

Arthropod

Spoiler: Labels&stuff

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Danger:+0
Freak: +3
Savior: +0
Superior: +2
Mundane: -2

Conditions:
Hopeless: -2 to Unleash
Insecure: -2 to Defend and Reject
Angry: -2 to Comfort and Pierce
Guilty: -2 to Provoke and Assess

Potential: 2/5

Arthropod struggles with the bomb, trying to understand electronics is hard when your consciousness is inside of four tiny brains at once. If they were just a bit smarter he could use pheromones to give them basic orders, but they are bugs so he has to do complex things like bomb defusing manually. The ticking of the timer certainly wasn’t helping.

Then KC explained which mechanism to remove, and Arthropod had one of his bugs bite through the detonator cable.

Thanks, I think that should do it. Although, calling them minions makes me sound a bit sinister.

Once the relief wears off, Arthropod gets somewhat quiet. He remembers that not too long ago he accidentally revealed something about KC that was supposed to be secret. He is accepting help from Kid Collier and acting all friendly while secretly having betrayed him. He frowns under his mask, still staring at the bomb.

Spoiler: Moves Used

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Marking guilty

[Awful]

Maria's eyes narrowed and her grin grew more savage.
"Nothing special...? Ha! Watch and learn, you silly strigoi!"

Oh, her blood was up now! She emptied her SMG towards the Demalion, but the evil spirit had concentrated itself too much; the low-calibre rounds weren't penetrating through enough. She cast it aside when it clicked rather than banged, and spread her arms out as it to receive the Demalion's charge. With flickers of green energy,circular metal objects began forming and clanking carelessly to the ground.

"Come on!" She called, and the Demalion came, skittering, leaping, a dozen shadowed tendrils gouging ugly stains of terror into the floors and halls. Maria waited, waited. The dread of its presence grew like a wave, promising to drown her in fear, fear, fear-

The Demalion leapt for her, and she burst into motion- three fast steps and she threw herself forwards, turning a tumble into a combat roll. The Demalion's talons found nothing but empty air where they had expected to rend her spirit. Behind it, M4 slid smoothly to her feet. Calmly, Maria formed a stubby-looking double-barrelled pistol in each hand. She pointed them in different directions, looked at the Demalion and winked.
"Bang!" she chirped and pulled the triggers.

Guided by her supernatural skill at arms, one shot cleanly cut through the detonator's wire on the bomb. The other struck a triggering fuze on the stack of landmines at the Demalions feet.

The blast roared upwards, wrapping the monster in spiritually-formed fire and shrapnel. The glass panels of the displays shattered at the sound as penguins squawked in distress and scattered wildly, the blast wave forcing the magical girl to stagger back a step.

She dismissively tossed the derringers aside, and used to working alone, entirely forgot about how a big explosion might sound to the rest of the team as she smiled smugly.
"How was that for something impressive, Dr Doofish?" she called exuberantly. She rolled her neck and placed her hands on her hips as she both waited for an answer and watched the patch of smoke that had previously been a monstrous spirit of sorrow to ensure it was dead.

Spoiler: OOC

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Rolled a 6 to resist the vamp's influence. Spending a team selfishly to bring that to +7.
Directly engage the demalion: rolled a 13
• take something from them
• impress, surprise, or frighten the opposition

[DaedalusMkV]

Team Pool: 0
Light in the Darkness: Facet and Foreigner
Facet waits for her teammate to arrive before proceeding, while Foreigner continues his meandering tour of the area, but eventually the two meet up. The darkness proves no match for Foreigner's brilliant light, and with the abyssal darkness banished the two proceed into the exhibit. It isn't long until you spot the bomb, tucked away in a corner hidden from the entrance to the exhibit. As you apprach, though, a black blade whips past Foreigner's face a few inches from his nose, striking the far wall with a clatter. You turn just in time to see a shadowed blur duck around the corner and out of sight, what looks like a curved sword held in one hand.

Moments later the only sign you aren't alone in the Aquarium's basement exhibit is the black throwing knife on the floor. You might have been tempted to pursue, but your balance is thrown off as the floor jumps briefly, a massive explosion rocking the building and sending unattended objects crashing to the floor.

One Bomb Down: Arthropod and Kid Collier
With Kid Collier playing defense, Arthropod has enough time to introduce some of his bugs to the bomb's electronics, their mandibles chewing a few crucial wires into submission. The timer winks out, and the threat seems to be past. Acula's voice thunders over the loudspeaker. "You dare to dizrezpect ze great Doctor Moraeu? Ze fazher of mad biology? Unacceptable!"

Out of nowhere, three more of the shark-men you saw outside burst through the door, each just a little bit different but no less burly. Meanwhile, the track-suited octapus springs back into action, less perturbed by being shoved aside by Kid Collier than you might hope. You are, at least for the moment, surrounded.

The entire structure rattles, and you can hear a massive explosion not far away.

Boom!: Maria
Your trap puts an end to the Demalion, ripping its smoky form to pieces that slowly evaporate into nothingness, faintly screaming in impotent fury. The blast sends shrapnel flying through the area, shattering all the display windows. Cold-weather birds squawk in distress and begin flying around the room, seeking an exit, as the blaswave rattles the entire building, a crack spreading through the concrete floor from the centre of the blast.

For all the havoc, your eyes are srawn to the bomb. Or, the cannister of gas that made up one part of it. A gleaming piece of shrapnel is lodged in it, baleful green gas slowly hissing out around it. As the ringing in your ears slowly fades, you hear no immediate response from Acula. Is it because you scared him into submission, or because you blew the room's speaker system to kingdom come? Hard to say. But you've definitely shut him up.

Of course, that ruptured cannister of gas is probably not a good sign. One of the penguins, braver than the rest, waddles up and starts to try to climb past the broken glass and out of its enclosure.

[Ramsus]

"What?" Facet says in confusion as, as far as she's aware the bombs were all supposed to be chemical rather than highly explosive.
"Uh.... do you think you can guard my- protect me while I try and deal with this bomb?" Facet asks Foreigner, realizing as she spoke that he could possibly take "watch my back" in a literal and very unhelpful fashion.

[Quagmire]

Arthropod

Spoiler: Labels&stuff

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Danger:+0
Freak: +3
Savior: +0
Superior: +2
Mundane: -2

Conditions:
Hopeless: -2 to Unleash
Insecure: -2 to Defend and Reject
Angry: -2 to Comfort and Pierce
Guilty: -2 to Provoke and Assess

Potential: 2/5

Arthropod steps into fighting stance, stumbling when the explosion rocks the building. Just when one threat is dealt with, another emerges.

I’m not sure if we can fight our way out of this one. And whoever is near that explosion probably needs help too.

He tries to fight off the monsters surrounding him, and looks around the room for a way out. The sharkpeople have superior numbers and brawn, but there might be another way to get away and to the explosion.

Come on, this is looking like a clever plan type situation.

Spoiler: Moves Used

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Assess the Situation: (2d6)[9]
-how can I end this quickly

[Jumbus]

Foreigner was filled with pride and a sense of victory as he lit up the room with ease. This immediately drained as a blade nearly misses going through his head send him right down to his ass. He was still recovering from his daze when he responded to Facet. "This one seems tougher than this doctors other goons, and from the fact that I couldn't get a good look at him chances are hes also really ugly too. Either way I'll protect you the best I can." He stood back up turning in the direction the shadow was last seen and stood with the most confidence he could muster then waited.

[Ramsus]

Facet gives Foreigner a nod and says, "Thank you." before leaning down over the bomb and quickly throwing a defensive dome over herself. Then she begins to work on dismantling the bomb, trying her best to do so in a way she can keep its contents for study later.

---

Unleash your powers: (2d6+1)[12]

[seatyger]

Acula's voice thunders over the loudspeaker. "You dare to dizrezpect ze great Doctor Moraeu? Ze fazher of mad biology? Unacceptable!"

Unseen behind the cowl and goggles, KC raises an eyebrow. "The...literary character? O-kay..."

His confusion turns to concern as they're quickly surrounded. "'Track Suit's' a little tougher than I thought," he quips to Arthropod. "I think I'll see if he can take a second punch while you come up with that plan."

Some days, it seems, villains are all nails and he's the hammer...

Spoiler: Fight the Good Fight

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(2d6+2)[7]

Taking away his footing...again...by punching him right back into that pile of ruined platform.

Stepping into another powerful jab, KC puts the octopus-man back where he started. "And stay there!" he says for emphasis.

[Awful]

"Uh-oh," Maria muttered as noxious green gas began to billow out the cracked cylinder. Quickly, her various options flickered through her hands, being discarded just as fast as they appeared. None seemed suitable; conventional human weaponry was not, in truth, designed to stem to flow of gas from a broken tank.

She stepped forward, shooing away the nearest penguins, keeping a safe distance from the bomb.

Well, it was explosively dispersed - but the magical girl bet that it wasn't meant to survive direct exposure to extremely high temperatures. It's how they burned off gas from oil wells, right? The outflow of the gas stopped it going back into the well itself, and the poisonous gas emerging was burnt off into safer byproducts.

"Hey, guys? I might have slightly crackedthebombandgasisleaking," she finished in a rush, as if saying it faster wouldn't make it true. "B-but don't worry! I have a plan I call: White phosphorous saves the day!"

She took a few more steps back, then summoned a particular type of grenade, pulled the pin, and tossed it into the gas before diving behind a pillar.

There was a dull thoomp as the grenade went off, and three-thousand-degree fire briefly engulfed the growing cloud of mutagen.

...

It turned out white phosphorous did not, in fact, save the day.

[Quagmire]

Arthropod

Spoiler: Labels&stuff

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Danger:+0
Freak: +3
Savior: +0
Superior: +2
Mundane: -2

Conditions:
Hopeless: -2 to Unleash
Insecure: -2 to Defend and Reject
Angry: -2 to Comfort and Pierce
Guilty: -2 to Provoke and Assess

Potential: 2/5

Arthropod listens to Maria somewhat concerned. Up until he hears that her plan is white phosphorus. Then he is very concerned that his actual-friend is going to get blown up.

Don't worry about the gas, as soon as we get out of this we’ll be there to... wait, white phosphorus?

Spoiler: Moves Used

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None, just reacting

[Jumbus]

Looking back and seeing Facets protective dome Foreigner considered whether his protection had become redundant or not. Of course if her defence was covered like that, taking the offence seemed like the best plan. This thing was quick though and Foreigner didn't have much confidence he could tag him with a beam. If he could get a good like at whatever it was it might help.

Streching out his stance of confidence into an all out pose Foreigner attempted to quickly light up the room more to hopefully get a look before it could react.

Spoiler: Roll: Unleash Powers

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(2d6+1)[4]

Spoiler: Pose

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As he was about to blast it he got distracted by the radio. The attempt was a complete failure. "White fosfer... What? I don't have time for your science mumbo jumbo. Someone please translate.

[DaedalusMkV]

Team Pool: 0
Ninja Attack: Facet and Foreigner
Facet's shimmering barrier blocks off the corner the bomb rests in from all sides, a hopefully impenetrable dome that will keep her safe as she works. At the same time Foreigner moves to stand guard, taking up a position where he can watch both approaches and posing to create brilliant light from which no shadowy figure can hide. Then he gets distracted.

Facet's preparations work wonders. A pair of throwing blades clatter off her shield, causing no damage aside from a slight ripple. Foreigner doesn't prove nearly as lucky. By the time he realizes there is a threat, he's already under attack from a blackened carbon-steel sword, faintly curved edge gleaming wickedly in the bright light. His attacker is another of Acula's humanoid creatures, this one wearing a set of loose-fitting black robes, a hood and a mask that mostly conceals its form. What is visible is a pointed face with black skin covered in slight bumps, like gooseflesh, and a pair of grey-black eyes. A fin juts out from the figure's back, indicating that this too is based on some sort of marine life. That said, while the other shark-men you've encountered were hulking, muscular and not particularly quick, this one is blindingly quick and almost totally silent, attacking precisely and stealthily, giving Foreigner no chance to respond as its sword darts towards him.

Spoiler: OOC

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Facet's barrier seems to be proof against this enemy's attacks, at least for the moment. She can probably disarm the bomb in peace if she wants to.

Foreigner, on the other hand, is far from safe. Roll to Take a Powerful Blow as a result of the Ninja Shark Ninja's sneak attack.

A Clever Plan-type Situation: Arthropod and Kid Collier
Arthropod hangs back, assessing the situation, while Kid Collier continues to fight. A rapid exchange of blows is enough to send the tracksuited Octopus back into the pile of wreckage that used to be a ramp with a great deal of force, leaving the pipe-wielding mutant buried and probably pretty sore. He... She... It probably isn't going to be causing any more trouble for at least a little while. You're still outnumbered and outmatched, though, and Sprutnik managed to land some solid hits in the fighting. This might be a case where discretion is the better part of valour.

Acula's voice continues to resound from the room's speakers. "Fictional? Is zat vhat zey call him in zis country? Bah. I find it ridiculouz zat you vhould have trouble believing in his ztory, as you face my mighty creations. Ah, vell. You vill learn ze truth in time."

Spoiler: OOC

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Kid Collier manages to put down the octopus, but Takes a Powerful Blow doing it. That guy packs a punch, even if he is light enough to toss around.

Arthropod (How can we best end this quickly):
The shark-men are powerful, but not too bright or fast. You could probably just run away. If you distract them first, they won't be able to catch you any time soon. You already dealt with the bomb, so there's not much reason to stay here.

More Boom: Maria
As it would turn out, more explosions isn't always the solution to explosion-based problems. The incendiary blast, thankfully, doesn't cause an omnidirectional shockwave that would rapidly disperse small amounts of gas all through the room, as a conventional explosion would. It does, unfortunately, pretty much destroy the gas canister and send a jet of hot air blasting up into the ceiling, a cloud of gas along with it. Well, at least you and the penguins are safe. Unfortunately, the birds in a few of the other exhibits had taken to the air in search of safety, and find themselves engulfed by a cloud of expanding gas.

Within moments, as you saw in the video with the frog, effects begin to manifest. Wingspans grow, beaks sharpen to a razor's edge and mighty talons grow from feet that previously belonged to harmless-looking water birds. Not long after a flock of half a dozen aerial monsters circles the room menacingly. One of the birds looks down at you, and lets out a thundering *wark*. Then promptly lands and begins preening its wings.

Huh. You kind of expected those things to attack you on sight. They certainly look dangerous, but apparently they haven't been overcome by murderous instincts or anything. The aquarium probably won't be happy, but the mutant birds at least don't seem to be an immediate threat to the surrounding area. What's your next move?