A New Chance

[geez3r]

The date is October 15, 2014, a Sunday. The time is 8:22AM, most of the world is just waking up, and getting ready for just another day filled with mundane concerns and problems, but ultimately just a normal day. But yesterday was the last normal day there was ever going to be; last night everything changed forever. Last night, a warehouse in the southern end of the city exploded and spraying chemicals all over the surrounding area. Hazmat teams were called in from all over to help in this disaster, expecting to have to help countless people harmed in the explosion and the chemicals, what greeted their eyes was far worse.

When they arrived at the scene, they did not see people, but rather they saw monsters, freaks and other perversions of nature. But as they looked closer, those that were further away from ground zero were generally less mutated, but at the same time, they were no longer human. Each and every one of the people affected the chemicals and gas all gained abilities, which were by pure definition, inhumanly possible.

A horrible realization came over the Hazmat teams, there could be countless people affected by the chemicals and bear no physical marks of their exposure, and yet they still posses inhuman abilities.

After coming to that realization, EVERYONE was notified, from the newspaper editor, to the mayor, and even the President himself. After all was said and done, the area was quarentined, guards posted all along the border.

Even as people are just waking up for the day, others are waking up a completely different being than they were the night before. Some use their abilities for good, others for ill, and others still for their own personal enjoyment. There is one thing however that is constant, everyone is hearing Melissa King’s voice all over the news:

“At approximately 11:43PM last night, Warehouse 112, which is owned and operated by Forthwind Shipping, exploded, spraying the surrounding area with chemicals and gases housed there. The area has been quarantined over the course of the night, and a clean up procedure has already started. However, the chemicals have had an unexpected effect on those close to ground zero. The people exposed have been mutated, and many of them are now exhibiting superhuman abilities. This may seem like something out of a sci-fi movie or comic book, but I assure you, this is no hoax, and there are people in our own very city that now have these amazing abilities. It is currently unclear if they are a threat to the public or not, as many of those affected may not even know they have these new abilities yet. The Mayor is urging the public to remain calm, and will hold a press conference later on this afternoon.

The Mayor is currently meeting with representatives from Forthwind Shipping, Balchem, as well as Dr. James T. Wilson of St. Paul's Medical Hospital to gain a clear picture of the situation. All parties have declined to comment on this issue as of yet. Those affected by the chemicals are urged to go to St. Paul’s to receive treatment, and many of the heavily mutated are there already. On a related note, Charles Forthwind, also donated $10 million of his own money to treating the people mutated by the explosion within hours of people being admitted to St. Paul’s. Those interested in donating to the hospital to aid in this time of crisis are to call: (555) 254 – 8326.

More on this story as it develops…”



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DM’s Notes

Spoiler

Show

Just because this takes place a few years in the future, don’t think that super technology is around every corner. Some “super tech” is around, but it is a VERY rare thing, which is only viewed behind locked doors with a lot of well armed guards.

I apologize if that came out darker than you thought it would, but I kind of hit a groove when I started writing and just kept going.

I now officially turn you loose on the world, good luck and enjoy.

[Wiz]

Dr. Harold Smith a.k.a. Pulse

Harold looks over the basement of his house, converted into his private lab. He ponders what has changed in his life as a result of this accident. Reaching for his clipboard, he is still startled when it flies to his hand. "Today, is going to be the first truly unusual day... but I have a feeling, things will get worse."

After throwing together some vintage clothing, til he has a look that is acceptable, he gathers up his pistols and ammunition. Then looks over the pieces of his glider. A bit of mental effort and the metal bends and folds, assembling itself to something like the image in his mind. He turns to his electronics table and assembles a rudimentary police scanner. He then turns it on and waits to hear what may be happening in the new world of mutations. While listening he looks over a small makeup kit he used in his last LARP, pulling out an oversized nose, he nods to himself. "That will do nicely under the scarf."

[PlasticSoldier]

Josh Snider AKA Legion

Being woken up at 8 A.M by a bump underneath the sheets which he presumed was his dog (Katie) was never a common occurrence for Josh. Since he didn’t have a “legal” job he could wait until 10 before starting to get his work done, but on this morning he felt very very awake “Well, now that I’m awake I can get on to doing nothing.” he mumbled while looking around for the remote. Unfortunately searching through the TV channels didn’t find much entertainment… Static Shock… Get-rich-quick…Han shoots first… before stopping at Eye Witness News “We’re standing here where a large explosion destroyed a chemical plant, right here in Rainsport more on the story as it develops… ” “ Eye witness News… he scoffed “ I was Eye witness News” leaving the TV on so that he can listen to it at his hearty breakfast of Magneto Metal-O’s with an extra portion of General Chowsa chicken after the reporters had finished some nonsense story his attention was immediately grabbed “Rainport Hospital is reporting that people exposed to the chemicals are developing, get this, Superpowers!! ” A smile spread across his face as he remembered where he was… “ Go web go! ” Nothing “ Form of Cthulhu! ” Nothing “ Flame on! ” Nothing, after continuing this for about 10 mins he finally gets around to super healing by making a small nick on his fingertip watching as the wounds close as fast as he move his knife, Sure it can heal a scratch but how about a… dog bite? quickly ripping off the blanket he was immediately startled by the presence of himself but it quickly faded into a giant ear-to-ear smile as he realized he had even more fantastic powers than healing “ WAKE UP CUTIE! ” shocking himself awake and then quickly calming himself down so he could explain to himself everything that had happened… After nicely fitting a plot recap into his monologue they began to wonder about how to resolve the originality issue “ Ok, I think I know how to find out who’s original, If our superpower is like that dude from X-Men 3 we should be able to absorb our clones and whoever isn’t absorbed is obviously the original… so touch.” After barely a millisecond of contact the clone disappeared, leaving behind only a slight electric tingle going up his arm bugging him slightly. So… time for some reinforcements… he thought as he stretched out his hand poofing into existence someone exactly like the earlier clone and a few seconds later a second one. “ So I trust we all know what we would do in this situation before hearing there thoughts on the matter Literally he would have been surprised by this if he hadn’t already found so much replying back in thought mode Ok here is our current plan
1. We all get in the car
2. You guys drop me off at the hospital in order to search for potential allies.
3. 3. You um… GORGES will be dropped off at Ceiling-Mart and look for anything that we could use to crack a safe and we’ll discuss which looks best..
4. You um… HOOVER will then go to that stereotypically average bank and take notes and make sketches of anything important.
Got it? Ok let’s go.


"Wait were being named after dams?" GORGES said as they got in there truck.
A smile slid across HOOVER face as the truck pulled out of the driveway "Dam straight." he said.


Summary:
Me and my two clones GORGES and HOOVER are going respectively to the St. Paul's Medical, to Ceiling-Mart, and Middlebrooke bank.

[Glawackus]

Andrew Sellars --alias-- Vox Populi

"What? No, ma'am...Kara? Can I call you Kara? Right. Kara, we're in the middle of switching over to a digital system," Andrew says into the phone, flicking through a Rolodex to find a publicity headshot of the reporter with her name and number listed,"and we're still trying to find Forthwind's records on what they were keeping in there." He listens for a moment and furrows his brow. "You bet your pretty little blonde head we've been trying to get to Forthwind and Balchem, but you know how these conglomerates are. I've got half a mind to go down there myself and yank Charlie Forthwind right out to Ground Zero to see what's going on here. You might recall this is what I warned everyone about--that City Hall hasn't been keeping up with the ti--Yes, that's exactly it! Oh, yes, the mayor and I are in close communication on the affair."

Andrew looks over to a massive stack of papers on his desk and thumbs through them. Battle plans, drafts of press releases, a few profanity-laced memorandi, and a few apologies for them. "Kara, I really don't know what to tell you about the people with...powers? Talents? There's been theories, of course--evolution catching up to humanity, that sort of thing. Right now, I'm trying to get the facts out, find out what effect this is going to have on Rainport, and keep fighting for the environment that makes this city so great. Of course I'd be willing to do an interview, but I don't know if I can do that before the press conference. Oh, afterwards, sure. Maybe dinner somewhere? The station's treat? Maybe fix me up with that cutie King. " Andrew laughs freely, although the expression on his face is more of a grimace as he looks out his office window to see St. Paul's on the horizon. "You too. I'll be in touch. Goodbye."

Sellars hangs up the phone and stands to walk to the window, feeling the weight of the gun--he'd brought it for the police raid on some wannabe mafiosos who'd been making a fortune handling illegal dumping for some chemical syndicate-- and the sleepless night he's spent at the office answering phones and letting "No comment." roll off his tongue. Something suddenly occurs to him, and he turns back towards his desk, pulling open a bottom drawer and removing a file folder marked Fleet Way Urban Renewal Project. I'd like to see them renew Fleet Way, he thinks, considering it was buried under one of Forthwind's expansions years ago.

Files flicker by as he leafs through the folder--blackmail material here, a skeleton buried there, notes on personality quirks and foibles dotting official, sanitized biographies. That's what I thought, he thinks, a smile already creasing his face.

Kara Valla-Roy
Story-hungry reporter willing to backstab anyone and everything to get a good yarn. Referred to as a 'leg-humping Pulitzer hound' in front of Mayor, several others at party in '11. Will probably never call, ever, after Mayor told her off publicly @ news conference re: south pen. reconstructions--too scared.

Andrew grins widely and drops the folder back into its drawer with a flourish. The reporter who hates my guts just ate right out of my hand, no strings attached, he thinks.

He opens his laptop screen, which he had closed just moments before the phone rang. A design for a campaign poster with a stylized picture of himself is there, above the words SELLARS IN '14. He smiles again, and types in MORE THAN WILLING TO TALK TO YOU.

"Send my calls to my phone," he tells the secretaries as he leaves the office a few moments later. "I'm going to the hospital, and then Forthwind."

[Xerxes Shadow]

"I do NOT want to go to the hospital, dammit!" said Joe Kobayashi, kicking at the cops. "I was NOWHERE NEAR the site of the accident last night!" As the cops tried to get him in the car, he suddenly went limp, throwing them off balance. He jumped back out of the vehicle. "I don't want to kill them, just rough them up a little," he thought. He dropped into a fighting stance, drawing on his martial arts training...

Summary: I'munna fight them cops. What I did immediately after the accident is in my character sheet.

[blennus]

“The Man”

As his body finally congealed into his sexy form he wondered what it was that had called him forth this time. He looked around and saw that his other self was surfing the Victoria’s Secret webpage. “Was I really such a looser until I woke up?” he wondered. But enough of that, he must make use of every second he was awake. The Dork could awaken at any moment. He needed to act fast. The last time he had awakened, he had barely made it back to the apartment from his visit with Angie his cousin. Fortunately she agreed to help him whole heartedly, and even went so far as to quit her job to work as his personal assistant. Thank goodness she was immune to his sexiness, since he could trust her to work for him without his powers being a distraction.
He quickly dialed her number humming along to his own theme music as he waited for her to answer. “Faunty is that you?” she answered.
“Don’t call me that! I am more than he ever was! Besides I cannot let it be known who I was. Please call me anything but that.”
“How ‘bout boss? I mean you do pay me to be your chauffer after all.”
“Fine, fine. Anyways this isn’t a social call. I need you to come pick me up in the limo and get me to City Hall. I’m going to try to appear at the press-conference, to let the world know of the true wonder of what has happened.”
“Ok boss. I’ll be there in a jiffy”
He quickly left his apartment by the back door, and snuck around the end of the chain link fence. He didn’t want anyone to associate him with Fauntleroy, so he had to be careful. He ran across the street to a small vacant lot where he paced about as he waited, hoping that he wouldn’t change back at an inopportune moment. EDIT:

If angie makes it through the quarantine, or if The Man's apartment is outside the quarantine line: As Angie pulled into the lot he heaved a sigh of relief. He seriously needed to get rid of his former self.

Otherwise: After a few minutes his cell phone rang.
“The roads are blocked. I can't get through what should I do?”
“Hmph. I guess I should've watched the news more carefully. Tell me where you are and I'll come to you”
“On the corner of Maple and 5th”
“Fine. Just stay in that general area. I'll come to you.”
He started moving towards Maple Street, hoping his form didn't change. He seriously needed to get rid of his former self.

Summary:
The Man is trying to head over to City Hall to get into the Press-Conference.

[The_Snark]

Judith

Judith awakens later than usual, as she can tell from the sunlight coming in through the cheap curtains over her bed. "Mmmmf..." She was hungry, too. And... urg, yes, she had a headache. She didn't think she'd drunk that much last night... Sleepily, she rolls over with her face into the pillow—and feels someone else there with her. There's an odd burst of wakefulness as she does.

"'The hell!?" she exclaims, rolling out of her bed and getting to her feet—rolling into the wall and sitting up—what? The figure sitting on the bed looked like her—she could see someone standing over her who looked like she could be her twin—

Jude grimaces, clasping her hands to her head and slumping her face into both hands. "What..." She hears it twice, as if there are two separate echoes. "Ugh..."

Still dressed in rumpled jeans and coat from last night, she stumbles out the door into her living room/kitchen, opening the fridge mechanically. She can still see the wall of her bedroom, but without the odd double vision of everything she can start to think more clearly. What the hell... I can see both rooms. I'm in two places at once? She walks to her couch, crossing her own field of vision through the doorway; involuntarily, she shivers. Seeing herself from two points of view was too bizarre to handle right now. Mind working furiously, she tries to figure out what could possibly be going on. Dream, maybe? She tries pinching herself sharply, and feels two separate pinches. So... either she was still asleep, or it wasn't a dream or hallucination.

Numbly, she flips on the remote to her tiny TV in hopes it can provide some sort of distraction while she tries to work this out, in time to hear King's report. Surprisingly, the TV actually helps, and she listens avidly—in the other room, she also strains her ears to listen, completely unnecessarily. "One-twelve..." she mutters to herself, "that's near here, isn't it?" She's surprised to hear the second part of the sentence coming from the other room rather than from this one.

Finally, she gets up and walks out of the bedroom again, glancing up at herself from the couch. It was... bizarre, but not the nausea-inducing feeling it had been before. Okay, so... telepathic link with a twin sister?

Hah, yes, I don't have any long-lost sisters.

Are we—am I—are we different people? I can't tell the difference. She shivers. How would we even know? One of us didn't exist until today, or at least I only had one body. She walks to the kitchen corner and begins to toast some bread, pausing and getting out twice as many slices as usual. She felt hungry—or both of them did. Another shiver, and this time she watched herself shiver. If we are two different people, we're very closely linked.

It's one of the oddest breakfasts she's ever had. Both of her are hungrier than normal, but it doesn't distract her from thinking furiously as she eats. So... a quarantine. Are they keeping people from leaving, or just from coming in?

The first one of her to finish heads back into the bedroom, putting on some less rumpled clothes, and leaves the small apartment, glancing about the street curiously. I wonder what happened to the other people? The news would've said if it was all the same... She strolls casually north, wondering where the quarantine line is—it was likely that her flat was within the quarantine line.

Back in her apartment, she continues watching the news, flipping to other channels to see if anyone else had anything to say about this.

[Tar Palantir]

Simon Graves finished the renovations to his apartment shortly after 8. All of the electric lights had been broken, the bulbs smashed and the wires ripped out of the sockets. All of the windows had been sealed with several layers of duct tape to prevent even the slightest glimmer of sunlight from entering the darkened apartment. The light was his enemy now, far more so than ever before. Before it exposed him; now it murdered him.

He completed his work and turned on the news, carefully turning down the brightness on the television set so as not to harm his shadowy flesh. The news reports indicated that many of the more heavily mutated individuals were being taken to St. Paul's for treatment. A tempting target, but too dangerous so early on. He still had yet to fully explore all of his powers, and he had no idea of the capabilities of those within the hospital. They would have to wait.

Perhaps he should test his powers on those who had none, he considered. The mayor would undoubtedly be holding a conference at City Hall. One swipe of his deadly claws, and it would be over. But no, he scolded himself. It was broad daylight out and the mayor would likely be surrounded by the hated light.

He decided that he would do some scouting to try and discover any isolated individuals who had been mutated by the explosion. He exited through a window on the west side of the hallway, his body melding into the shadows as he stepped out of the window. He need not worry about being seen. Some of his first victims had been the entire population of his floor of the apartment building, giving him a small measure of privacy. There were only three, and none of them were social enough to be noticed for a few days at least. By then he would have plans for the future.

He traveled several blocks, disappearing into one shadow only to reappear across the street, his red eyes gleaming from the depths of the darkness. Few were out this early, and none noticed him. After a few minutes he came across something of interest. A black haired man wearing a trenchcoat and sporting a pair of japanese swords was fighting with a group of police. His stance showed that he was skilled in martial arts, and the obvious restraint of his actions showed that he was easily capable of defeating the cops. This merited investigation.

One of the cops had unluckily positioned himself just within the shadows of an alley coming off of the main street. As he jumped to the nearby shadows, the policeman shivered as he felt a chill pass down his spine. Concealing himself until the last second, the beastial creature that was once Simon Graves leapt from the shadows and drove his claws into the cop's back.

Summary: Sneak up behind one of the policemen and sneak attack from the shadows with claws.

Spoiler

Show

Hide - (1d20+27)[36]
Attack - (1d20+9)[14]
CritCheck - (1d20+9)[10]
Damage - (1d8+1)[5]
SneakAttack - (2d6)[9]

[geez3r]

I'll do this in parts:

Dr. Harold Smith a.k.a. Pulse

As you listen to the police scanner, the sound of chaos fills your ears. From what you can gather, many of the big, important people are all meeting with the Mayor trying to piece this whole mess together. There has also been a small out-break of petty crimes throughout the city, mostly people robbing the local convenience store or the like the wake of confusion. There have also been quite a large number of sitings of people with powers, but none of them have done anything bad yet. Most of the sitings amount to someone flying the air going "WOO-HOO!" or leaping tall buildings in a single bound. The most dangerous example you hear of is some guy who is reportedly on fire, flying about the city, occasionally launching a fireball high into the sky, kind of like fire works. You get the feeling that a lot of these people are testing their limits before they decide what to do.

EDIT: This part was written before the rest, so you in fact hear the officer's panicked voice (see bottom of post) crying out for aid.

Josh Snider AKA Legion
(12 players wasn't enough, no! Some of them had to go ahead and give themselves the ability to be in multiple places at once! )

1) St. Paul's - After you shove your way past reporters who are being denied entry, the full view of what really happened during the explosion. You arrive at the conclusion that being a nurse or doctor at this very moment is the singularly worst occupation you could possibly have on the face of the earth. After looking at some of the others who were caught in the blast, you realize you were incredibly lucky. What has happened to some of the people is beyond nightmarish, it defies all explanation as to how people could stand that has happened to them, both physically and mentally. They have erected a mini sub ward (at the far end of the hospital) for many of the people who can't quite control their abilities yet, as to prevent damage to the hospital itself. You also note a few people who have been changed doing their best to aid the nurses and doctors. It seems like everyone who is able is being put through a collection of tests to determine what exactly happened to the people affected, MRI's, blood samples, etc. are all being administered.

You get the feeling that this probably isn't the best place to recruit allies, as many of the people are concentrating on trying to stay alive and/or are too freaked out to hold on a conversation for too long. However, you find a few diamonds in the rough:

It seems like one of the nurses was in the blast as well, and is now exhibiting super human speed, much to the relief of the other nurses. You see her basically being the go-to girl for most of the hospital. She reports to one of the main doctors, dashes off quicker than you can blink and is back in less than 5 minutes with the task already completed. Apparently however, she is still not quite used to moving so much, as she collapses (not literally) into one of the chairs by the main desk panting. When she finally stops you get a good look at her. She's only about 5'4" with brown hair in a bun, fair skin, and blue eyes. She looks to be about in her mid to late 20's. One of the nurses calls her "Jen".

The next one you see is a guy who has apparently blinking out of existence all morning and reappearing somewhere else. But now it appears that he's getting the hang of it, but he still occasionally disappears to another location. He appears to be in his low 20's, has blond hair, is wearing a blue polo, and tan khaki pants.

The final person you see now resembles a beacon of glowing blue light, in a human-esque form floating a few feet off the ground. Their eyes are glowing white with energy. This one is helping contain those who don't quite control their powers yet.

2) Ceiling Mart - You strike upon the outdoor aisle, which has a large number of multipurpose tools and swiss army knifes. If you believe that you could generate enough man power, there are a bunch of crowbars a few aisles down. At the other end of the store there is a section where you can order some guns and ammunition, but they keep none in stock as per store policy, there is quite a line at this section.

3) Middlebrooke bank -As you walk in, there are 4 teller booths opposite and parallel the door, all of which have a teller at the station. To you immediate right at the door, there is a slightly overweight guard siting next to the door, with a camera above his head on the wall, he does not have a gun on his person, but does have a night stick. There are 3, maybe 4 cameras in the area behind the tellers pointing towards the door and the waiting area, and another two pointing that the teller area itself. Off to the left and right are a collection of offices where people meet with bank officials to discuss loans the like. There is a door behind the teller booth marked "Authorized Personal Only" with a guard posted there as well, who is of similar build to the other one and armed in the same manner. When one of the tellers goes into the back room, you see a hallway with some more offices off to the left and right (presumably for bank executives), and a stair case going down at the end of the hall on the right, with a guard seated next to the door, apparently asleep. You cannot tell how well armed he is from this distance. The only way into the back room is from the teller booths.


Andrew Sellars --alias-- Vox Populi

When you arrive at the hospital, you see a scene quite similar to the one described above (mostly because I'm not writing out another one). Out of the crowd of doctors comes out a rather tired looking one. He's quite lean, has gray wispy hair where he hasn't already gone bald, he does however have an aura of respect and authority about him. When he reaches you he hold out his hand saying "Andrew Sellars I presume? You secretary phoned ahead to tell us you were coming. I'm Doctor Finneas Lyse, I'm in charge of this operation while Doctor Wilson is debriefing all the big wigs. I'm to give you a full tour and answer any questions you have." He pauses and then adds in an after though "...that we know the answer to anyway."


Joe Kobayashi

There is a total of 3 cops, when you go into a fighting stance, they also get ready and all place their hands on their guns instinctively. The one on the right draws his gun, but lowers it after a look from the center one, who appears to be in charge. The center one hold out his left hand and talks gently "Woah, woah there buddy. Calm down for a second and think. Please. Is this really what you want to be doing? We all just want to help you. You don't know what those chemicals did to you, nobody really knows what's going on, but the doctors down at the hospital are trying to figure it all out. If you're down at the hospital, you can get immediate treatment if anything goes wrong. Please, it's for your own safety, just come with us down to the hospital."

“The Man”

About half an hour goes by when City Hall appears outside you window. From what you can see, the press conference is going to be soon, as many of the microphones and cameras are already up, with many more still being set up. Even as you watch, more news stations and reporters start showing up. Just as you start wondering how long it'll be before the conference, some dorky intern gets up to the podium and says that the Mayor will be here in roughly 30 minutes.


Judith
*mumbles something about tired hands and large numbers of characters*

The double, or original, doesn't get too far on their walk. They only get about 2 blocks north before they reach the quarantine line. There are Police barricades across the road and 2 police squad cars blocking the road. A bit past them you can see the Hazmat teams dressed all in white, with gas masks that make them look a bit like aliens. There are 4 mobile unit vans that you see all plastered with the biological warning sign. Relief sweeps over you as you realize that you are just outside the quarantine area. As you approach the line, one of the cops says ""I'm sorry Miss, but you can't go any further, this is part of the quarantine area."


Simon Graves
*GAAHHHH* I had just hit the preview button thinking I was done, but I guess not *sigh*

As you creep out of the shadows, the officer and all gathered all oblivious to your presence. As your claw cuts into the officer's body, he lets out a pained gurgle as blood pours from his mouth. The two remaining officers turn and look in horror at what has befallen their friend. The one furtherest from you raises his gun and fires a few rounds into the alley way, all missing their mark, as the middle officer gets on his radio screaming "Some freak just got Larry, we need back up immediately! Send everyone you have! Officer Down! Repeat: Officer Down! Location: corner of 13th and 4th!" before firing some shots into the alley way as well, also missing their mark.

[Xerxes Shadow]

Noting the claws sprouting from a policeman's back, Joe decided it was best to look away. He was still used to fighting with his hands and not used to the sight of blood. Oddly enough, he now knew a bit more about what had been damaged in the attack...

Shaking himself, Joe deftly attacked the central policeman, being careful to hit nothing but places that would give him a headache in the morning.

SUMMARY: I attacked the central policeman. Woot.
ROLLS: 1d20+7=21; 1d20+7=24. If hit, damage is 1d6+5=7; 1d6+5=6. Note that I chose to attack twice with a -4 penalty on each, kind of dual-wielding with my hands.

[The_Snark]

Judith

Jude stops just short of the line, peering past it at the men in the suits. That was a lucky thing. Hate to be stuck in there... She wonders whether she ought to go to the hospital, if the cleanup crews were taking precautions like this. Probably just paranoia on their part, she decides.

"Is it really that dangerous?" she asks the cop, figuring he might know a little more than the news channels on the TV in her flat were saying right now. "I mean—what was the stuff in that warehouse? Does anyone know what happened?"

[Raven T.]

(I've been busy all day; something short before bed to get the ball rolling.)

Alex
"Good morning, Rainport! It's 6:30am and another sunny day is on tap! Catching up on the headlines of the day, Forthwind Shipping has accepted responsibility for last night's excitement, citing improper storage and insufficient labeling. Their CEO is scheduled to meet with the Mayor today..."

A fleshy tentacle shut the alarm off. He wasn't sure if last night had really happened or not, but work waited for no man...least of all him. Many people in upper management feared his swift rise to his position of power, but times change. What took them years to achieve, he pulled off in months. Stretching, he meandered to the bathroom bleary eyed. It had felt like he hadn't gotten a wink of sleep. He closed the medicine chest, swinging the mirror back toward himself....

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

He began to hyperventilate. Was he hallucinating or...are those real? He ran his hands over the new additions to his body. Yes, they were real. Last night must have really happened. All right, what exactly happened to me? What can these things do? As if to answer his last question, the one on his left side reached over and fixed him a cup of coffee. I guess anything a normal hand can do. They must be functionally similar to the tails of New World monkeys. This should prove interesting, to say the least.

He decided to call off work sick. It wasn't hard; he had all his sick days left...and no one questioned it when someone in his position of power if they take a sick day. Let's go give this a try; who knows what else may have happened from that accident. The quarry should suffice; it's almost always abandoned. He showered quickly, finding it a sight bit more convenient to have two extra "hands" to juggle things.

Dressing posed a whole new set of problems. How would he keep people from seeing these...things?


As if on cue, the tentacles laid down against his back and down his leg some, blending in with the rest of him. Not bad...not bad at all. Looks like I should be able to keep a normal life with some care. Putting his martial robes on and gathering his weapons of choice, he headed for the subway terminal. Yes...not bad at all...

[blennus]

“The Man”

After hearing the intern speak, “The Man” quickly made a slight change of plans. As he was 30 minutes early, he decided to try to use this to his advantage. He gracefully exited his limo as though he was some famous movie star, and swaggered up to the intern. He began to make inquiries with as much of an air of authority he could muster as his theme song changed with his mood.
“Young man, I need to talk to your superior. Where are they?” he asked. “How can they possibly think to have a press conference about mutants without including one! That is no different than taxation without representation I say! You seem to be a reasonable sort. Surely you agree do you not?”

Summary
Get intern to lead me to whoever might be able to get me into the spotlight.

Spoiler

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Increase Intern's attitude
Dimplomacy: (1d20+27)[4](31)
Assuming no skill synergies. If bluff and intimidate are both synergies add another +4.

[Wiz]

Dr. Harold Smith a.k.a. Pulse

Dr. Smith applied the fake nose and dressed up, nodding to himself, in the mirror. Despite his height, he couldn't imagine anyone putting him and this getup together. To be absolutely sure, he applied some hair-darkening gel.

He glanced at the police scanner, "Thank god, nothing so far... maybe it will be nothing..." He crossed his fingers, then pulled out a pad of paper. "I have to call a few people soon. But not too soon. People are going to be collecting information and evidence, but I need to wait long enough for them to gain a substantial amount, but not too long so some superior puts a gag order on them that will make them too afraid to talk to me." He starts to jot down a name when a call comes from the police scanner...

"Some freak just got Larry, we need back up immediately! Send everyone you have! Officer Down! Repeat: Officer Down! Location: corner of 13th and 4th!" Several shots punctuate the end of that sentence.

Dr. Smith throws down his pad and curses, grabbing his hat. "I can tell that I'm going to be very pissed, very often, about being right about everything!" He puts his feet into the glider's stirrups and rides the oddly shaped wing into the air. He lets the wings fold up as he goes up the stairs and into his garage. He hits the garage door button and rides out into his back yard, then keeping to the shadows of the tall trees which flank the park behind his house, he rises slowly into the air, keeping an eye, and a feel, out for any observers. Living at the end of a fairly lonely cul-de-sac has always appealed to his sense of privacy, now he truly appreciates his prior choices.

Once he rises above the trees he initiates a final gimmick and lights a long-burning smokestick in the "engine" of the glider. He takes off, as quickly as he may, leaving a plume of smoke as he rides toward his second encounter with destiny. Once he clears the park, he finally does hear one or two voices shouting, "What's that?!?" He keeps his mind on what may lie ahead, realizing it could literally be ANYTHING!

As he approaches from the air, he looks down at the shadowy, and somehow macabre scene, and spots police and a man with a pair of swords. He draws his own pistols, scanning for anything else that might be out of the ordinary.

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spot check: [roll]1d20+14[/roll]

[Wiz]

Sorry for the second in a row post. I realized, that even though I added the spot check in an edit, the edit automatically made the roller go buggy. So, here's the roll.

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spot check: (1d20+14)[21]

[GnollLord]

Gabriel Teske

Beep, beep went the alarm. Gabriel rolled over and treid to hit the snooze butten. His hand mearly hit the table.
"Urrgh, 5 more minutes. Where is the stupid alarm?". He took a few more attempts to hit the snooze butten but with no sucess. Gabriel opened his eyes and it soon became clear that the alarm clock was not on the table, rather it was floating in the air
"What the hell?". The alarm cloak dropped to the ground. Suddenly Gabriel had a crazy idea. He focused on the alarm cloak. It began levitating. "This is the greatest thing ever". As Gabriel stopped controling it, the alarm clock flew into the wall and smashed. "Hmm, I may need to work on controling this"

Gabriel went into the living room. Tim, his roomate, was in there watching a news report about a chemical spill or something. Gabriel left the appartment and headed to work. As he was late me decided to take the shortcut through the warehouse disctrict. However as Gabriel gets near he sees that a quarantine area has been set up. Gabriel strides up to whoever seems to be in charge.
"Let me past"

[Raven T.]

Alex

Alex spent the better part of the morning in the quarry learning the extent of his new power. The stuff...whatever it really was...had made him more agile, more hearty, more able to learn, a better speaker, and, interestingly enough, more wise. Getting hit by mutating goop'll do that to ya. With the addition of the extra appendages, it lent to a more aggressive style of combat, each one of them able to hold a blade with the same strength as one of his normal hands. With practice, he became a whirling dervish of blades and chain links.

However, his mind always returned to the event. As nice as these abilities are, if it hadn't been for Forthwind's incompetence in handling the hazardous materials, he wouldn't be in this position. Thoughts of revenge bubbled up in the back of his head...taking over their company and dismantling it slowly...like flaying the skin off a child...

What the [expletive deleted]?! Where did that come from. But the thought didn't go away. All the people their foolishness destroyed...it made him sick. He spat on the ground, only to find that his spittle contained a more corrosive version of the self-same chemical that had cursed him as such.

There was more. With concentration, he could create both waves and walls of force, the latter completely impregnable. These tools...I must use them to exact vengeance on those who have put me in this position. As good as they are, I didn't want them. I didn't ask for them. I paid a hefty price to attain them. Woe betide anyone who stands in my way; I WILL have my revenge. Plans began formulating in his head. These schemes would take time, but they say revenge is a dish best served cold. He would have what he was owed...and he would do almost anything to get it.

[Emperor Demonking]

Michael awoke from the pile of barrels he'd found himself sleeping in, after that explosion. He wiped himself down. Standing up and phoning his private assistant, he was gobsmacked about what she said.
"Super powers really, I find that hard to believe. I was in the zone, I still am and I don't have any powers."
Micheal looked aound for an officer . If he sees one he'll ask if he's meant to go, even with the lack of powers.

[Glawackus]

Andrew/Vox Populi

"Right then, Doctor," Sellars says, shaking his hand. "Have you deduced what's causing these..."

Sellars trails off as the superfast nurse streaks by in a white blur. He keeps his expression neutral, but thinks Holy [beep]! to himself, and continues.

"Mutations? Changes? Are they reversible? And what about the warehouse...will there be any effects there? Some kind of fallout?" Sellars frowns. "I'm sorry to badger you, but I've got to get this information as soon as possible. I'm planning on visiting Forthwind sometime today, and the more information I have about all this, the better."

[PlasticSoldier]

Looks like our original plan isn't going to work.
Well then do you have a new plan

[No Eavesdropping]

[COLOR="Red"]Well I'l start with the equipment HOOVER can get the truck, and I think they're still some use to searching through St. Paul


"St. Paul"

I'll walk over to the teleporter's bed and making careful note to due it when the Super-nurse isn't nearby I'll steal those medical records that hospital's keep in a folder at the foot of the bed. If they don't have them there I'll walk out of the room and wander around the hospital until I see a map or a sign that tells me where Patient Records or Database or something similar is.


"Bank"

Casually waiting in line and going up to a teller I pull a handful of bills from my pocket made mostly of 1's and 5's I say "Hey can i get like a 20 for this?. While casually looking for small safes and those drawers that tellers take money out of. Then I'll leave and wait outside.

Edit: Do they have metal detectors?

"Ceiling-Mart"

Having his part least affected by the change in the plan, I'll go buy

1. 3 Identical wallets that look somewhat nice.
2. 3 Fake police badges that DON'Tsay fake in huge letters.
3. FBI esque glasses (think MIB)
4. 3 Pairs of Leather Gloves
5. Jason Mask
6. Black Paint
7. A 2*4
8. 50 ft of POLICE AREA DO NOT CROSS tape
9. Hispanic colored makeup
10. Pale colored makeup
11. 1 Gas mask

Then after paying for this I'll put it in the truck and go pick up the bank guy and we'll go drive around looking for a car that looks like This
except you know NOT a postal service one.

---

* post roll count doesn't match database

[Tar Palantir]

Simon Graves tingles with pleasure as his claws pierce the yielding flesh of the police officer. The bullets of the other two go wild, causing him to almost smile. He hisses, in a voice born of a thousand primal fears ingrained in the human psyche, "Flee, mortals, flee for your lives! Flee before the fury of the Reaper!" He raises one clawed hand, and from his clawed fingers emerge what appear to be living shadows, which wrap themselves around the nearest policeman, filling him with the terror of the darkness.

Simon then calls to the young man resisting arrest. He hisses, "Praytell, mortal, what powers do you boast, if any? For if none, then you may be the next to feel the cold embrace of death."

Spoiler

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Cause Fear on policeman, ranged touch attack, DC 18 Will save to resist.
RangedTouchAttack - (1d20+8)[18]

[Zimmia]

Raine

“Are you going to sleep all day?” a voice whispered in her ear.

Raine sat straight up in bed. “Who’s in my house?” she demanded but was met with silence.

‘It’s Sunday. I’m allowed to sleeeeep,” another voice replied to the first.

Raine whirled around toward the sound of the voice to find… nothing there. Shaking her head, she padded into the bathroom and turned on the shower. She stripped out of the clothes she had on from the previous night and stepped into the shower. ‘It must have been the remnants of a dream,’ she said to herself. She lathered the shampoo in her fingers and then started to wash her hair.

“Well, if you’re not going to get out of bed,” the first voice said. “You’ll just need to move over.”

“Right! That’s it!” Raine exclaimed as she jumped out of the shower, grabbed her robe and stalked back to the bedroom. “Wherever you are, you come out now!” she commanded. There was silence in the condo. She stood there a moment, hoping to catch some kind of movement but the only thing she caught was the shampoo running into her eyes. “Ow!” she exclaimed as she hurried to the sink to rinse her eyes and splashing them with cold water. She patted her face with a towel and was turning back to the bedroom when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror.

“What the…” she ventured as she absently put her fingers to her face. Somehow she was different. Not a radical change, but definitely pleasantly different. She moved back to her bedroom and stood in front of the full length mirror, letting her robe drop. The difference wasn’t only in her face she noted and she turned around.

“Not bad,” a new voice said with a leer. “Not bad at all.”

Giving a shriek of embarrassed fury Raine snatched up her robe and ran to close the drapes.

“No, no leave them… aw darn” the voice finished with disappointment as the curtains closed.

Raine flung herself on her bed and grabbed her favorite beanie, rocking back and forth and talking to herself. “No, no no,” she almost sang. “I am not going through this again,” and immersed herself in memory.

==

The summer of Raine’s sixteenth year had been a difficult one. She and a friend had been to dinner in the city and while on the way from the restaurant to the movie theater they had been held up. The man had held a knife to Raine’s throat and had threatened to kill them both. When the girls had given him everything of value, the man took off. Raine had immediately called her father and the police had caught the man soon after, with most of their stuff still in his possession.

Following the incident, Raine withdrew into herself. Counseling sessions brought minimal results. She began to hear voices, many of them. Some of them warned her that she was in constant danger, others soothingly telling her she was safe. Still others were frivolous and some were just plain silly. Her previous feeling of isolation and loneliness evaporated as Raine had this new constant company.

Then one day, two weeks before the semester was to begin, Raine met the new Argentinean exchange student and they became very interested in each other. Raine could never pinpoint when the voices left, they just faded away, not to return.

In later years, Raine learned in psychology classes just how dangerous that episode could have potentially been. It’s been somewhere in the recesses of her memory ever since. Suddenly, it was front and center.

==

To try and take her mind off… well her mind, Raine picked up the remote to turn on the TV, catching Missy Kings report.

“Mutated,” she whispered in shock. With her own response cane dozens of voices echoing the word. “Mutated?!?”

“I was there when it happened,” she gasped referring to the explosion the previous night. "Does that mean I’m one of… them?"

As though her words let loose a floodgate, she began to hear a cacophony of voices. Most were strangers to her but she thought she recognized the voice of her neighbor among them. The voices all spoke at once, faster and faster until Raine tore at her pillow in frustration. “Shut up, Shut UP, SHUT UP!” she screeched and was more than a little surprised when the voices actually became silent; an uncomfortable silence that lasted almost a minute before the voices began to murmur again.

She buried her face in her pillow. “What is happening to me?” she sobbed.

((OOC: there's a decent amount of exposition that I'd like to do, hoepfully it'll fit in somehow))

[geez3r]

Joe Kobayashi/ The Reaper/ Pulse (eventually)

With the officer's attention understandably drawn by the monster that had just mauled one of his best friends, he doesn't see the man he was talking to peacefully a moment ago sneak attack him, and the blows land solidly. After giving you a look that plainly says "WTF!?" he collapses onto the ground with a thud. The third officer takes aim at you, but his hands are shaking so badly that he drops his gun. He backs away slowly and trips over the curb, he then puts more distance between the two "heroes" and himself sending in a description of the two of you over the radio as he flees.

Pulse can see some police cars off in the distance headed their way, but it looks like it could still be a minute or two before they arrive.

Judith

The officer that spoke to you earlier answers "We're honestly not quite sure how dangerous it is, but we'd rather be safe than sorry. As far as what happened, we haven't determined what caused the explosion yet. As for what the chemicals were, I couldn't tell you, but apparently, Balchem wasn't the only company to have stuff stored in the warehouse. I honestly don't know much more than that, it's just my job to keep people out. I probably wouldn't have even told you all this if I didn't see you come out of that building over there, I figure you got a right to know what happens in your own back yard. Ya know?"

blennus

As you dramatically exit your limo, a hush descends on the grounds as all gathered gape openly at you. You walk up to the podium where the intern is with no sound other than your theme song accompanying you. As you address the intern he seems really flustered, before squeaking "Follow me.". He leads you just inside City Hall where you vaguely recognize a few local politicians in the room, all conversing with one another, but a familiar hush descends upon the room when you enter with the intern.

The intern leads you to one particularly broad shouldered politician, who appears to be in his 70's with silvery hair and wrinkled skin. The intern says "Ummm... umm.. Mr. Secretary Sir ummm... Just now, umm this ... this... ummm... man pulled up in a limo. He says ... ummm he wants to talk... at the umm conference..." and he trails off even worse from there before the Vice Secretary Steps forward and extends his hand to you saying "I'm Secretary James Orwell. What can I do for you Mr...?"

Gabriel Teske

The police officer says "Sir no one expect the Hazmat teams are allowed through this area, even I can't go through there if I wanted to. To go around, go 3 blocks up, and then 6 blocks to the left." He points the directions he's talking about to better illustrate his point.

Michael Ross

As you stand up from the barrels you slept in and calmly pull out your phone and dial your assistant, you become vaguely aware of a few people in Hazmat suits standing dumbfounded looking at you. Even through their masks and uniforms, you can clearly see how confused they are. As you approach one of them to ask if you should go to the hospital, they kind of take an involuntary step backwards before weakly nodding and signaling you to follow them.

Andrew/Vox Populi

The Doctor smiles as the nurse goes whizzing by. "She's a real life saver that one. Well on to the matter at hand. We have simultaneous good and bad news on that regard. We have deduced that these mutations are not the result of any single chemical, but rather the mix of chemicals in the warehouse, and the effects of the explosion on those chemicals. We have also deduced that this new chemical, or mutagen actually decays at a very rapid rate. Within mere moments of being exposed to the atmosphere, it lost all of its mutagenic properties, and became as harmless as water. So the public at large is in no danger of a fallout.

However, because the mutagen decays so rapidly, it has been incredibly hard to obtain a sample of it. In each individual case, the mutagen bonds to the patient on a molecular level, but as the patient gets progressively further from the epicenter of the blast, they are affected by a slightly more decayed version of the mutagen. The only way we could obtain a "pure" sample was if someone was directly at the epicenter of the blast, but they would have surely been killed in the explosion.

Now, if all of that wasn't a problem, we've got corporate bureaucracy gumming up the works. You see, the chemicals that had been delivered to the warehouse, were delivered earlier on that day, so all the invoices were still on the warehouse, so to make sure everyone got what they payed for when they came to pick it up the following day, and invoices haven't even been logged into the system yet either. Forthwind's not to blame, they practically threw all their records at us in an effort to help us and nothing was there; either that or they covered their tracks very well. What's slowing us down is Balchem; they haven't released any information to us at all. They haven't even hinted as to what the chemicals could have been!" The doctor looks quite agitated when he starts mentioning Balchem.

Josh Snider AKA Legion

St. Paul's - You swipe the records quite easily. Most of the information is either illegible (rushed doctors have really bad handwriting) or is medical jargon that you don't understand. You do however gather that his name is Frank Viola, he lives in apartment 8C in a residential flat in the western section of the city, he has blood type AB+, he's covered under his Dad's insurance, is allergic to penecillian, has broken his left arm twice and finally up until about 7AM this morning, his skin was purple.

Bank - You see no small safes or metal detectors. There is draw underneath each station where the tellers put the money, but you can't get that great of a look how it works from your angle (an intentional design feature).

Ceiling Mart - Well, you can't find a fake police badge aisle in your local super store (who would have guessed?). You're not able to find a gas mask, a 2x4 and police tape in Ceiling Mart, but you've got an idea that you could find them at a Home Depo-esque store conveniently located right across the street.

Once your on the road, you drive around for a bit, and find a used car lot that has what you're looking for. It's black and one of the wheel wells is a little rusty, but it runs and it looks like it'll get the job done.



(((OOC: Looks good Zimmia. And as I side note, it took me 2 1/2 hours to write this mess. Yeesh. I need to learn to type faster.)))

[Wiz]

Dr. Harold Smith a.k.a. Pulse

Pulse dives toward the scene pulling up til he is about 30' from the Reaper, about 20' in the air. Noting the bloody claws and the dark villain's last statement, there is little doubt in Pulse's mind who is the one who needs to be subdued first here. "You like cold, Reaper? How about some cold steel!" He fires his pistols, at the shadowy terror beneath him.

Spoiler

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Initiative (if needed): (1d20+4)[15]
Ranged Attack (nonlethal projectile @point blank range): (1d20+11)[18]
Ranged Attack (nonlethal projectile @pbr): (1d20+11)[19]

[Raven T.]

(OOC: We don't even have our powers for a full page worth of posts and the heroes and villains are already going at it? Impatient buggers, ain'tcha?)

Alex

Alex returned from the quarry in time to hear about this...press conference. Most everyone would be there, but he knew of a nice coffee shop he frequented that had free wi-fi. Ordering his usual (and placing a standing order to "keep it comin',") he sat down and opened his laptop, running searches through various databases and websites for background information on the chemical, the company that produced it, their business performance over the last three years, any OSHA or other violations, and, finally, tuning in for the live broadcast of the much vaulted press conference.

Patience. You got this far through perseverance and patience. It will take you the rest of the way. Sipping on his coffee, he continued to run searches, his screen cluttered with various open web pages.

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I'm going to run a Computer Use, Knowledge (Business) and (Current Events) check to see what I can find out about the background of this event.
Computer Use: (1d20+11)[20]
Knowledge (Business): (1d20+11)[20]
Knowledge (Current Events): (1d20+11)[27]

[PlasticSoldier]

Hey guys I swiped that guy's medical profile. So one of you should write this down.
On it.
His name's Frank Viola...
The New York Pitcher?
Doubt it but the rest of the profile says...

Original @ St. Paul:
Inventory: Nothing Important
I scribble Thanks for sharing on a blank part of the medical record before carefully putting the records back using the same precautions as when I stole them, and then I buy some snacks from the Hospital gift shop and walk over to where the press conference is.

Edit: On the way over I realize how dumb leaving the hospital was and I create and send back one of my clones who simply walks up to Super-Nurse and says "Hi, my name's Josh any way I can help.

2CLones @ Car dealer
Inventory:

Spoiler

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3 Identical wallets that look somewhat nice. FBI esque glasses (think MIB), 3 Pairs of Leather Gloves, Jason Mask, Black Paint, Hispanic colored makeup, Pale colored makeup

HOOVER walks up to the car checks the price tag and examines it while he waits for one of those Used Car Salesmen to come over. While Gorges tries to find where Voila's apartment is on a map in the glove compartment.

Summary: Original goes to conference, new clone volunteers at hospital, other clones check out black van.

[The_Snark]

Judith

"Sheez, do I know it. You'd think they'd have some sort of safety regulations about storing things like this near a residential district," she agrees. "I mean, explosives and some sort of weird chemicals?" She shakes her head, both here and in the apartment. Pretty typical for this part of the city, really; she had a feeling this sort of storage would never have flown in another of the city's districts. "You got any idea what the fallout radius was, or anything like that? I mean, should I be getting myself checked out? The hospitals are probably crowded as hell right now."

Back in her apartment, she glanced up from the TV. Probably there weren't any explosives, she reflected; even corporate management wasn't that stupid. It was more likely to have been an unforseen explosive reaction between chemicals; it was still idiotic to allow two untested chemicals contact, but that could've been an accident. She wondered if she should take both of herself in to the hospital, if she did end up going. Probably safest that way. And if I'm going to take precautions at all, might as well take it all the way through, she decided.

[blennus]

“The Man”

He takes the secretary’s hand and smiles as he says “I am simply, ‘The Man’.” He struck a dramatic Elvis like pose as he finished his sentence. As the music thundered in a crescendo he felt his body flare up in warmth; he could feel his sexiness radiate into the room. The people in the room began to stare at him in awe. His teeth perfect white teeth glisten in the light as he continues to smile, and continued slowly “Mr. Orwell, we are at the crossroads of humanity, and with this new mutant population comes new challenges and difficulties. I believe that the public is waiting for the Mayor’s speech with great anticipation. However do you not suppose that it is wise for a mutant to be chosen to speak to them? It is quiet likely that some, especially those with great powers, will perhaps look down up humans as being inferior, and they will be far more likely to listen to a fellow mutant. Especially at this crucial turning point in history, we need to take every precaution that mutant and humankind come together, and I believe that I can help you with this. I promise that if you give me time after the Mayor has spoken at the end of the press conference, that I will do everything in my awesome powers, to help us start out on the right foot.”

Summary:
Use Tractability Pheromones power and try to convince Mr. Orwell to give me some time to address the city after the Mayor has spoken. If I cannot activate my powers, OR everyone makes their save, I guess people aren't staring in awe so much as they are staring at a strange guy making an elvis pose

Spoiler

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Use Tractability Pheromones power: 4PP
Perform (Acting): (1d20+23)[6](29) (Just in case the activation DC is higher in this case. Otherwise I should make it automatically)
Diplomacy: (1d20+31)[15](46)

[Glawackus]

Andrew/Vox Populi

"Don't worry, Doctor. I'll take care of things."
Andrew whips out his phone, leaving the doctor to his work. "Office," he says clearly, letting the phone pick up his voice. "Yeah, it's me. Get me through to the mayor, please. The press conference is going to be soon. I'd like to touch base once more before we plunge into the breach."

Summary; Try and get in touch with the mayor, and head for the press conference.

[Tar Palantir]

The Reaper's eyes narrow at the approach of the flying mutant. He hisses in delight. "You seek to slay me, foolish mortal? You cannot kill me. I am the Reaper, he that walks unseen, for whom walls and windows prove no barrier, he that the very darkness embrasses as a mother would a child! No mortal man can slay me! If you are resolved to this course, I will be forced to leave. But be warned, you will spend the rest of your days looking over your shoulder, wondering when sweet death will claim you at last."

He then turns to the man in the trenchcoat. "As for you, I will return for you, whether you be friend or foe. For your sake, I hope you choose wisely." The Reaper then leaps into the shadows of the ally, disappearing from sight. He does not move for the present, but remains, silent and invisible, to observe what may transpire next.

Summary: Talk a lot, then Shadow Meld as a free action (3PP).