Iron Station Savage Masks IC

[big teej]

It's what bennies are for!

Nightgaunt braces himself and heaves on the silvery whatsit he's been handed.

Spoiler: OOC/Mechanics/Whatnot

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We're gonna Benny that and roll a 10 instead

[HIDA]

His shoulder protests strongly to the strain but his pulls when directed.

Spoiler: strength

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5

[PK-Leon]

Okay, that's not exactly what I pictured when he said he could open the door but this works too I guess...

Redline shrugs and falls into place, picking up one of the silver "ropes" and pulling back on it in concert with the team.

Spoiler: Strength

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4!

[InTheMachine]

Team
Polaris, Mercury, and a cockatrice form Zodiac stack beside left side of the door, then the West-side team’s collective strength slowly makes the door creak open.

“Holy ****,” Mercury breathes. After a moment, he says, “Come on around guys. I don’t see any movement.”

Around the corner of the door, there’s a large octagonal room. On the floor there’s a huge circular pentagram. The outer edge and intricacies are some kind of white chalk and at the center there’s a large impression that’s half full of congealing blood. There’s a single steel door on the opposite side of the room.

[HIDA]

"Let's take a look around." Goldheart says, Unsheathing his sword that emits a more suitable light source. He sees the blood pooling from the impression.

"And maybe don't touch anything. This Definitely looks like the place."

Spoiler: Looking for anything important.

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6

[big teej]

Putting Pedantry into Practice

Nightgaunt cradles his elbow and puts his hand to his chin and walks partway around the pentagram with a pensive "hmmmm..." doesn't stop when he reaches the wall, continuing up until he stands on the ceiling, looking down at the entire design.

Spoiler: OOC/Mechanics/Whatnot

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Benny'd Occult roll for a whopping 4

[InTheMachine]

Spoiler: Goldheart’s Notice

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The light from Goldheart’s sword bounces a little differently on one part of the floor near the door on the opposite side of the room. Closer inspection reveals a silvery tripwire in front of the door.

Spoiler: Nightgaunt’s Occult

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It looks like ritual may have been completed. The blood in the center is no longer fresh; it almost looks burned at the center. He recognizes one part of the circle that signifies what is being summoned, but the runes in that portion are warped beyond recognition.

[PK-Leon]

Around the corner of the door, there’s a large octagonal room. On the floor there’s a huge circular pentagram. The outer edge and intricacies are some kind of white chalk and at the center there’s a large impression that’s half full of congealing blood. There’s a single steel door on the opposite side of the room.

"So we go through the trouble of finding the place and crashing the party but it turns out nobody's home?" Redline says as he surveys the ritual chamber. "Night, you know more about these kinda things than any of us. Got any insight as to what's going on?"

He looks between Goldheart and Yuki, "Why guard the place if it's empty?"

[HIDA]

"Stop! Don't move! I Found a trip wire." Goldheart says, slowly checking his footing as he examines the length of the wire. "If the place is trapped why even have guards? Do any of your guys know how to disarm one of these things?" Goldheart asks, trying to find what it triggers.

Spoiler: Looking HARDER

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10

[big teej]

Typical Heroic Timing

"We're too late. For one." Nightgaunt answers Redline, pointing at the pool of blood. "Notice the blood isn't fresh, and it's... damaged, in the middle... if fluid could burn... I think it would look like that." He muses. "For Two. The summoning ritual was completed... but the runes are completely trashed, no idea what it could be... except a problem."

Nightgaunt sighs heavily, frustrated that they seem to be on a trend of 1 step behind... "For Three." He says to Goldheart and holds up one glinting claw.

[Nightengale14]

"I mean I could stabilize the ends of the wire so we could cut it and not worry about it. Probably." Blood Mary said, looking along the length of the wire. "As for the mess I could move the blood off the runes and see if any of them are legible underneath."

[InTheMachine]

Yuki hops into the air and hovers next to Nightgaunt, getting an aerial view of the circle. “Whatever they did summon, it was big,” she says to Nightgaunt. “The large triangle thing at the top signifies the seal for a greater demon. At least, that’s what I remember from what my grandfather taught me. And this square looking thing at the bottom is… some kind of binding rune?

Spoiler: Goldheart’s Notice

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The wire runs into a small hole in the concrete, just on the other side of the door.

“I can take care of the trip wire,” Mercury says, walking over to the trap. “It goes to the other side of the door.” He puts on finger very gently on the wire and it goes slack. “Easy enough. Seems like it was rigged to go off if the door opened too. Something must be in there.”

[PK-Leon]

Redline fingers along his jawline as he tries to process all of the information presented to him.

"So we've got a greater demon on the loose and more secrets hidden behind mystery door number two. If you guys are right then we should probably get going yeah? City isn't going to save itself." He says with a grin. "Let's figure out what's sealed behind the door and go from there."

[big teej]

Breaching!!!

"Yeah. Let's do this." Nightgaunt agrees enthusiastically and strides over to the door and crouches down above it, ready to spring in as soon as the door opens.

Spoiler: SURPRISE OEDIPUS

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Nightgaunt is going to spring into the door the second it's open and, if there are demons or villainous types (i.e. gatormen, black robed necromancers, panzer protnic, etc.) ATTACK THEM

Fighting roll! 7, 11 if we've got the drop on em
Damage: 13, or 17 +3 with a Raise

[HIDA]

"Maybe, but if the Ritual is finished, isn't there a chance its not here?" Goldheart asks. "Since I don't hear anything like a demon on the other side of the door. I don't think its just napping on the other side of the door. So let's pry it open and do a quick scan. If there's nothing we alert the winged ones and start a search."

[PK-Leon]

"Maybe, but if the Ritual is finished, isn't there a chance its not here?" Goldheart asks. "Since I don't hear anything like a demon on the other side of the door. I don't think its just napping on the other side of the door. So let's pry it open and do a quick scan. If there's nothing we alert the winged ones and start a search."

"Regardless whatever or wherever this thing is, I'm sure it's going be hard to miss.", Redline replies as he pulls his goggles over his eyes, ready to face off with whatever lay behind the door.

[InTheMachine]

Team
There’s a thick ka-chunk as Mercury unlocks the door from the outside. He looks around, making sure everyone’s ready before he throws open the door to allow Nightgaunt to dive through.

As soon as he jumps in, Nightgaunt sees the inside of the room is just a blank concrete box. There’s a filthy mattress in the corner where a unconscious woman with strawberry-blonde hair lays face down. She’s dressed in a ragged pair of jeans and a ripped t-shirt that used to be a bright sunny yellow, but was now dingy and stained. Her arms are manacled behind her, and her feet are bound with the same thick chains. There’s a large spot of a dark, sticky blood peeking through the hair in the back of her head. Several other less severe injuries like cuts and bruises are visible as well through the rips in her clothes.

[HIDA]

"Someone get her out of these manacles!" Goldheart says as he slides to her aid and attempts to heal the woman.

It has to work this time. Please.

Goldheart lays his hands over the woman and radiant waves echo from her in an attempt to stitch her wounds.

Spoiler: Healing

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8

[big teej]

Well That's Unexpected...

"I can probably do that." Nightgaunt mutters, taken aback by their findings and the state the woman's in. He scoots passed Goldheart and takes a grip on the manacles and carefully twists, making sure the torque is applied to the metal only, and not her tender, vulnerable joints.

Spoiler: Nightgaunt used Strength!

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and got a 10?

He looks over his shoulder at the rest of the group. "Someone get topside and call it in."

[InTheMachine]

Team
Nightgaunt carefully breaks the woman’s manacles, and golden waves surge through her from Goldheart’s powers. Her wounds slowly stitch together and bruises fade, but they don’t go away completely.

Polaris quickly volunteers to go topside and he jogs out of the ritual chamber back into the sewer.

After a minute of healing the woman blearily opens her eyes and then recoils away from the two heroes around her. She wraps her arms around her knees, pushing herself up against the wall.

Spoiler: Meanwhile

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High above the city streets a figure sits on the edge of the Innovatech Innovation Center, the tallest building in downtown. The dark-haired man is shirtless. Rune-like tattoos circle around his wrists, up his arms to his shoulders and down his back where they disappear into his jeans, continuing down his legs to his ankles. His bare feet dangle in the muggy night air, swinging almost cheerfully.

The man leans back and sighs in contentment as Miss Menagerie and Shrike land behind him. “The air here is so much better,” he says to her as he takes another deep breath. “You don’t feel like your lungs are gonna burn from the inside.”

Menagerie slides off her Griffin, heels clacking on the concrete. Her mount fades into a cloud of black smoke as she looks at the man’s back, her eyes going wide, and then sees the black tattoos. Her face falls, as she replies, “I see Julien just wanted to play a cruel joke. You’re not my brother anymore.”

“Oh, he’s still here, sweetheart” the man replies. He gets to his feet and turns on his heel, facing the villainess. “The frog didn’t lie. I can feel him desperately clawing at my subconscious, trying to take control. The ritual was rushed, so his soul wasn’t totally burned out to make room for me. If you had done your job correctly tonight, then the Heart Eaters could have finished collecting for my summoning, and I wouldn’t be having this… problem.”

“Poor, poor Matteo. He can see what I see and hear what I hear, ya know?” The man hops off the ledge and steps toward Menagerie. He very gently puts his hand at the crook of her shoulder, placing his thumb over the soft skin of her throat. She grimaces as he continues in a husky whisper, right in Menagerie’s ear, “He knows what I’m thinking too. He’s pleading with me right now not to crush your windpipe and toss you over the edge of this building.”

Though her knees tremble, Menagerie stands tall. “If you really can hear me, Matteo…I love you.”

The man smirks as his dark eyes flash red and the whites swirl into black. He tightens his grip on her neck. Menagerie grabs at his hand as he restricts her airflow, but he releases her just before she can lose consciousness. The villainess falls to her knees, gasping to get air back in her lungs.

“Now, you’re going to tell me everything that I need to know about this city. You’re going to tell me about the winged $&%#^*&$ patrolling the skies. And you’re going to tell me all about your big brother Matteo.” The man squats down so he’s eye to eye with Menagerie. “Are we on the same page, sweetheart?”

[HIDA]

Team
Nightgaunt carefully breaks the woman’s manacles, and golden waves surge through her from Goldheart’s powers. Her wounds slowly stitch together and bruises fade, but they don’t go away completely.

Polaris quickly volunteers to go topside and he jogs out of the ritual chamber back into the sewer.

After a minute of healing the woman blearily opens her eyes and then recoils away from the two heroes around her. She wraps her arms around her knees, pushing herself up against the wall.

"Whoa, whoa. It's ok. You're safe." Goldheart says, maintaining his distance. "We're not here to hurt you. We're looking for the guys who did this too you. How do you feel?"

Spoiler: Mechanics - GM

Show

My healing transfers wounds and or fatigue please let me know what I accomplished with my healing attempt.

[InTheMachine]

Team
The woman glances up, seeing Goldheart’s armor. “You-you’re not gators. Or frogs.” She lets out a shuddering breath and takes another, seeming to calm herself a bit. The woman looks young. She’s in her late teens, maybe early twenties. “I’m Aimee. Aimee Balinski. W-who are you guys?”

Spoiler: Goldheart’s Healing

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Goldheart transfers 1 Wound to himself.

[HIDA]

Team
The woman glances up, seeing Goldheart’s armor. “You-you’re not gators. Or frogs.” She lets out a shuddering breath and takes another, seeming to calm herself a bit. “I’m Aimee. Aimee Balinski. W-who are you guys?”

Spoiler: Goldheart’s Healing

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Goldheart transfers 1 Wound to himself.

"Oh Just a few Heroes trying to stop a catastrophe. I'm Goldheart. The one to my left is Nightgaunt. There's a few others but we should get you outta here and someplace safe before we go through the entire roster." Goldheart Jokes.

"You need help, Aimee?" Goldheart says, offering his hand to help her up.

[InTheMachine]

Team
Aimee eagerly takes Goldheart’s offered hand. She wobbles a bit once on her feet, but manages to stay standing. “If you guys are heroes… do you know Seraph?” she asks, rubbing her wrists where the manacles had been. “Also, did you find anyone else other than me? There was a guy in this room with me before the gators took him and… and then I don’t remember what happened. How long have I been down here? What’s the date today?”

[HIDA]

Team
Aimee eagerly takes Goldheart’s offered hand. She wobbles a bit once on her feet, but manages to stay standing. “If you guys are heroes… do you know Seraph?” she asks, rubbing her wrists where the manacles had been. “Also, did you find anyone else other than me? There was a guy in this room with me before the gators took him and… and then I don’t remember what happened. How long have I been down here? What’s the date today?”

Goldheart steadies her as she stands. "Yeah we know Seraph. But we didn't see anyone else Down here besides the Gators me and Zodiac Beat up. Do you know the guys name or what he looked like?" He asks shaking off his throbbing shoulder. "There were some missing persons but we only heard about it recently. Today is October 16th."

[InTheMachine]

Team
Aimee looks a little confused as Goldheart tells her the date. “It’s still the 16th? I haven’t even been here a whole day…” She thinks for a moment. “The guy was tall, with dark hair. He didn’t have any super distinctive features. I was only with him for a few minutes before one of the gators knocked me out.”

Using Goldheart to steady herself, she makes her way toward the exit of the her prison.

[HIDA]

Team
Aimee looks a little confused as Goldheart tells her the date. “It’s still the 16th? I haven’t even been here a whole day…” She thinks for a moment. “The guy was tall, with dark hair. He didn’t have any super distinctive features. I was only with him for a few minutes before one of the gators knocked me out.”

Using Goldheart to steady herself, she makes her way toward the exit of the her prison.

Goldheart looks back at Aimee. "How long do you think you've been here?"

[InTheMachine]

Team
Aimee thinks for a second, wincing as she rubs the back of her head. “If today’s still the 16th, I left work at BSJ at about 3 today, and… when I walking home some gators and a frogman grabbed me when I was getting ready to cross Kinley Bridge. They jumped out from the water and then dragged me under. I thought I was gonna drown… but then we came out of the water down here in sewer. They chained me up and threw me in here. I guess it just seems like forever when you’re in a dark room and you’re not sure if the gators are gonna decide to eat you or not.”

[big teej]

Wheels within Wheels

Nightgaunt quietly backs away from Aimee and Goldheart, trying to give the woman some space. He glances around the room one last time for anything the team might have missed in their rush to help the poor woman, then turns and makes his way back to the surface. If questioned, he will retort in a tired voice. "We need to figure out our next move."


Once above, he pulls his phone out to check for any response from the Night Parade or the Network about the demons loose in the city, whether they've answered him or not, he'll update them on what they've found and then take to a nearby rooftop, looking out over the city, lost in his thoughts.

Spoiler: Notice!

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Score! 10

[HIDA]

Once we're out of the sewers, Goldheart waits with Aimee until the Ambulance arrives and sees her off. Once she's gone, he turns to Zodiac.

"Thanks for all the Help Tonight. Who knows how long it would've taken or how many people would've gotten hurt if this dragged on."