Racoon City Heroes [IC]

[JNAProductions]

OOC Thread

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Marcy and Nathaniel have just finished a rousing game of some type of cards in Majesty's lab. Nathaniel is the victor, though both of you know it's just a game for fun. You take some time to clear the table, and head out, back into the sewers. You start your way through the maze of old tunnels and fetid garbage, when Nathaniel hears something. He motions for Marcy to move quietly, and creeps towards the sound. It sounds like... Singing?

Up above, Whisper and Steelheart are dropping off a mugger-they might not be officially registered Masks, but they've got at least enough clout to stop active muggings and deliver them to the good guys. The mugger is manacled, thanks to a pipe that was lying around and Steelheart's prodigious mechanical strength. He's ready to leave, when the cop who came out to get the criminal coughs expectantly. "The pipe?"
Lucky for him, his face is under a mechanical mask. But he does hold the mugger's hands while the cop gets a much less improvised set of handcuffs on him, and then bends the pipe enough to slip the mugger's hands out. With that little incident taken care of, the two of you start heading out, when you see something... Odd. Not harmful odd, just... Weird, even for you. There's a woman dancing on top of a manhole-and not a little dance either, full-on popping and locking.

[Inspector Valin]

Marcy looks to Nate, then back in the direction of the singing. Then back to Nate. Then back to the singing. Their lives haven't been normal for a while, but this goes almost beyond surreal. If her fellow crimefighter wasn't also aware of it, she'd have been inclined to write the whole thing off as a hallucination.

"You ever think we've been down here too long?" She opines at her old friend with a sigh. This could be an acoustic quirk. Or a monster. Or a particularly adventurous drunk. There was no way to tell how this was going to go. This was the sort of situation that, once upon a time, Marcy would've advised a cautious analytical approach for - a slow approach, careful listening and trying to make a judgement.

The young hero tightens her domino mask and checks the pockets of her voluminous greatcoat before stepping forward into the sewers, walking right towards the strange sound. They've spent quite enough time relaxing, and she's in no mood for delicacy. Unless Nate says something, she's quite ready to walk straight towards whatever this is - trusting in her new powers to protect her.

[Kaworu]

Nate wasn’t sure if coming all-front was the best idea, but he also didn’t want to argue with Marcy. So he just closed his eyes and focused his senses on the weird, unexpected singing. How many people there were? Were they heavy (he could tell as their movements would cause vibrations he would be able to detect)? Was there a faint scent of them in the air he could catch with his sensitive nose? Was there any other sound he could listen to and analyze?

He trusted that if they would be enemies, Marcy would be skillful enough to deal with them, but as yet they haven’t meet, he wanted to gather as much data as he could.

Spoiler

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I am rolling for Unleash Your Powers to use my ability Supernatural Senses.

ROLL:

(2d6-1)[5]

[2d6 - 1] [FREAK]

[JNAProductions]

Listening closely, Nate isn't able to make out more details from this distance. As you creep nearer and nearer, the singing takes more form, that of a pleasant alto voice. Unfortunately, with how dense and complex the tunnels are, you aren't fully sure how distant the singer is-they could be a few bends away, or an echoy mile.

[Inspector Valin]

Marcy grits her teeth, taking a second and letting Nate catch up before muttering to him. "We could be doing something more productive. We should be. But if this is something important..."

The young hero sighs. She takes a second to settle into a runner's stance, finding her center on the sewer path before ploughing straight ahead at a vastly greater speed. It's hard to even follow her legs moving - you can hear the rapid patter of feet, but to the eye Marcy almost seems to fly as she sprints towards the sound, arms raised, ready for whatever she might find.

Spoiler

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Super strength and speed! Marcy's not Directly Engaging The Threat because she's not sure there is a threat and isn't going to come in swinging fists, but distance and barriers shouldn't be much of an issue if she's willing to use her powers.

[Kaworu]

- It's worth checking, at last - was all Nathaniel told Marcy. Then, he started running after her. It was not possible for him to catch with Majestry, of course, but he could be as close as his own body could allow him - and he was pretty much in shape, it should be underlined.

[roko10]

David - uh, THE INDOMITABLE STEELHEART! - approaches the lady as confidently and as non-threateningly as he could, before talking to her. "Swood moves, dear citizen, I am very much impressed! I do have to say that you're currently dancing on top of a manhole, however, which can hinder public servants of the city! It might be perhaps a good idea to dance somewhere else, perhaps in a more crowded area so more citizens could appreciate your sweet dance!"

[JNAProductions]

Spoiler: OOC

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I am laughing SO HARD at that post. I love it. I love it so much.

The woman does not answer-her eyes are only half-open, flickering, like in a deep sleep.

[truemane]

Whisper smiled and shook her head as she watched as Steelheart approached the woman in his very.... unique.... way. As he engaged her (or rather, tried to), she used her telekinesis to lift herself into the air about twenty feet and check to see if there was anything else going on.

At the same time, she reached out telepathically to see if she could get a better sense of what was going on with the woman.

Spoiler

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Let me know if I should roll either Assess the Situation or Unleash my Powers.

[JNAProductions]

Whisper reaches out, mentally, and touches the woman's mind as she floats herself up. The surrounding area is clear-it's late, and this is some sewer maintenance plant, so no one much is about. In the woman's surface thoughts, you get about what you'd expect from someone in deep sleep-a bunch of strange dreams, thoughts about the day before, worries about the future, all mishmashed together in an incoherent jumble. But behind all that is a constant-a simple melody, playing endlessly, in every thought.

[truemane]

Whisper double tapped the communicator device pinned to her costume. "Steelheart," she said, "She thinks she's asleep. But there's some kind of musical signal influencing her thoughts. Can you scan for radio signals, or transmissions of any kind?"

She liked Steelheart, and they worked well together, but she was still getting the hang of what his suit could do and what it couldn't.

[roko10]

"I shall try to scan for radio waves now, Whisper!" Steelheart bombastically exclaimed, before saying "Hey Doddle, do you scan any radio waves in the area" in a far more subdued and sheepish manner. He's not sure how well the various extra and warranty-breaking features he had added on Doddle would work, but no time like the present to find out, right?

Spoiler: OOC

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Doddle being basically knockoff Siri, albeit one that's been modified by Steelheart to have more functions. Whether it works well or not, though, is another question; it's not exactly Jarvis considering it's running on a smartphone processor.

I'm guessing this qualifies as Unleash Your Powers, so
Freak:(2d6-1)[10]

[JNAProductions]

"Scanning... Scanning... Scanning..." Doddle says in Steelheart's helmet. It begins to list various radio stations that operate in Racoon City, but Steelheart quickly specifies for Doddle to search for unusual radio waves.

"Oh. Okay. Scanning... Scanning... Oddity detected!" Doddle adds, finishing the search. Steelheart is the only one to notice a shift in Doddle's tone. "Playing 'Tunes For The Dead', track eighteen."

Without saying a word, Steelheart smashes the manhole open as track eighteen's gentle melody bewitches him. The dancing woman falls in, with Whisper feeling a sudden spike of wakefulness and panic as the motion of the fall wakes her up. She lands hard, cutting off the mental link with the burst of pain. Steelheart starts to lower himself in, before he realizes Wait-this isn't right. He has just enough self-awareness to mute Doddle, and finds himself back in control of his own body.

The woman's screams are already growing fainter.

---

A decent distance below the surface, Majesty and Sewer Rat here a massive BANG! of a manhole being blasted open. The music doesn't stop, but they hear a deep, swarthy chuckle. "Ah, perfect!"

[Inspector Valin]

Marcy's pace only intensifies as the blast rings out. That did not sound good, and they couldn't take this slower. "Let's go!" Any remaining obstacles in her path are batted away or pounded down by a super strong fist as Majesty charges straight for the chuckling sound. Whatever was going on, it's already in motion. They need to go in hard and fast.

Spoiler

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(2d6+2)[8] Danger to Directly Engage A Threat.

[Kaworu]

Sewer Rat just followed his friend. He kinda did not know what to think of it all - it was happening all too fast, he hadn't had time to think - but just going after Majestry shouldn't be a bad choice, right?

[roko10]

The second David breaks out of the music's control, he immediately starts to panic over what he has done. "Oh no. NonononononoNO!" He turns towards Whisper, and in a very non-hammy way says "I'm going in! I have to save her!" before jumping into the manhole and running in the direction of the woman's screams.

[JNAProductions]

Majesty and Sewer Rat run ahead, and encounter a man in fine purple robes. He's tall, though not exceptionally so, and is humming and dancing along to an old record player. Dancing with him are gaunt, contorted bodies-barely any thinker than skeletons, but with just enough muscle to keep it going.

If either of you are up-to-date on Mask history, you'll recognize this as the Necrodancer-a mystical chemist who uses the power of song (and copious drugs) to make the dead rise. No one's quite sure how much is magic and how much is science of what he does, but at a minimum, he's lived far longer than he has any right to-he was in his 60s when he started in the Golden Age.

Spoiler: OOC

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Choose which option you'd like for Directly Engaging, and narrate accordingly.

---

Steelheart drops down, and crashes through an old walkway, leaving him thoroughly soaked in sewage. He ignores that, though, and focuses on the woman-she's being dragged away faster than the current has any right to be moving, and Steelheart can see small ripples of something tugging her along while swimming.

[Kaworu]

Sewer Rat wasn't putting a lot of thinking in what he did. He saw the Necrodancer, he rushed at him with his powerful blows. It was obvious to him that he was controling his victims due to his singing. But, if his throat could get clenched... no singing, no mind-puppets. Easy like that.

With this somehow consoling thought, he spread his arms, aiming at the enemy.

Spoiler

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DIRECTLY ENGAGING A THREAT:

(2d6)[10]

(Danger: 0)

EDIT: 10! Yay! :3

Okay, so I avoid his blows and I take something away from him - the ability to sing.

EDIT2: Okay, silly me ^^ Is his singing the source of the control, or the music player? Maybe I am aiming at the player instead?

Sorry, I got lost xD

[Inspector Valin]

Spoiler

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Nice Kaworu!

JNA remember - we're Trading Blows as well as the option, so the Necrodancer takes a condition and Marcy either takes one, or is set up to Take A Powerful Blow (Unless I choose to dodge). That choice is on you, GM.

For my part, I'd like to say Marcy makes a good impression. Necrodancer's weird, but he does things no one else can - that's impressive to Marcy and she'd like to know more about him. As such...

Majesty is, of course, right there with her friend. Moving in time with the beat, she ducks and swerves around the dancing zombies: coming close to the leader of the dancing zombies without missing a beat. "Nice to... meet an old pro." She gives the strange chemist a tip of the head, a bow of honest respect before lunging forward, ready to go blow for blow with the curious villain.

[JNAProductions]

Spoiler: OOC

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Majesty, Take A Powerful Blow.

It is the music in general that works with the minions, but since stopping him from singing would be something like tearing his vocal folds out, let's just hit the record player. :P

Majesty is the first one in, and she gives her compliment alongside an attempted pummeling. The Necrodancer weaves and bobs, just as in-time with the music, getting a touch roughed up in the process. "Dance, my minions!" he crows, and a half-dozen skeletal things leap at Majesty, tearing her away from the villain.

He turns to face her, preparing a gloat, when Sewer Rat drops in and punts the record player against a wall. It breaks, spilling some kind of toxic fluid onto the ground, and the music grinds to a halt. "You-" the Necrodancer starts, before eating a fist.

The minions haven't stopped their attacks on Majesty, but you can visibly see them working in a less coordinated fashion-without the music, they're a little sluggish, and a lot confused.

[Inspector Valin]

"Nice work, S. R!"

Marcy shares a grin with Nate before turning her attention back to the minions. She's tough, but there's a lot of them, coming at her at once. A few quick bars of motion have Majesty on the back foot, block after block as the group begin to encircle her. One of the dancers lunges forward, aiming right at her back...

And its clawed hands don't even manage to scrape her chitinous skin. Marcy swats the errant zombie away with a powerful backhand, batting it into another opponent as she starts to get back on the offensive.

Spoiler

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(2d6)[6] Take a Powerful Blow

[JNAProductions]

"You ruined my concert!" he shouts at Sewer Rat. "Control your minion, woman!" he adds to Majesty.

[Inspector Valin]

"My minion?" That turn of phrase got a chuckle from Majesty. After all, they started out more the other way around. Perhaps it was the scrap of humour, perhaps it was the prospect of conversation, but either way she raises a hand. "Give me a second, Rat?"

If her partner in crimefighting seems agreeable, Marcy turns back to the elderly villain with a raised eyebrow. "Necrodancer, what are you even doing down here? The sewers aren't known for their acoustics. We assumed you'd come down here to attack us, but if that isn't it..." she beckons, inviting the old guy to comment.

Spoiler

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(2d6)[9] Trying to Pierce the Mask on Necrodancer. Marcy's not sure what he's up to, and since he's a bit of an oddball, maybe a better understanding of the guy can help with that. He did attack them when they showed up, so he was probably up to no good in some way, but... he's an old guy wandering around the sewer alone. It's worth checking to make sure he is evil and not just a bit confused.

EDIT: So that's a success! 'What are you really planning?' seems like a good way to frame what Marcy wants to know.

[roko10]

"Halt, evildoer! In the name of justice, I'll stop you from going any further!" Steelheart sprints as fast as he can towards whatever is dragging the woman along, pushing his suit and himself to the limit to save her from its vile clutches.

Spoiler: Roll (Defend?)

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(2d6+3)[12]

EDIT: Phooey, that's a real good roll. I'll choose to add a Team to the pool.

[JNAProductions]

Steelheart rushes onwards, and smacks the weird, gross, emaciated corpse dragging the woman. The body shrieks, and tries to hit Steelheart to no effect, but it gives him enough leverage to shove it off the woman.

He lifts her from the sewage, eliciting a yelp of pain as his metallic gauntlet brushes her broken bones, but she's at least not in immediate danger. For the moment.

---

"Why would I care about your little home down here? You're a subdweller who barely interacts with society," he says, seemingly oblivious to the offensiveness of his words. "I am working to bring back the proper way of life to society! Where men were men, women were women, people knew their places!"

Spoiler: What Is He Planning?

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From his words, and your general knowledge of him, you'd have to think he's trying to revert society. Not to the stone age or anything-but he's old. He's set in his ways. He remembers what life was like before heroes, before... Well, a lot of good progress. But he's a crochety old white man, and he thinks the old days were better, so he's trying to get those rose-tinted glasses working.

What exactly that has to do with him here in the sewers, though, you've got NO CLUE.

Spoiler: OOC Note On This

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I want this to be a fun game. That means that, if anyone here has real-life experience with racism, sexism, bigotry of any kind really, or just plain don't want that in this game for whatever reason, let me know.

The Necrodancer hasn't been so established that it'd be weird to retcon anything, so up front, let me know how real-world bad I can get.

[Inspector Valin]

"And you're doing that in Raccoon City?"

It's almost enough to get Majesty to double over laughing. The domino-masked daredevil has to stifle a chuckle all the same, as she waves a hand upward. "This place suffered unparalleled destruction, a death toll that still reaches into legend, rebuilding work that's still going to this day. And none of that was because people didn't know their place - it was because those in charge cut corners, ignored safety warnings and put profit over people's lives. None of that's some new change to the system - it's how power structures historically have always worked."

That thought does make Marcy look a touch bitter. She wouldn't have had that take on her city's past a few months ago. She takes a deep breath before returning her focus to the villain. "You've lived in this city a long time, Necrodancer. You were here back in the day. You have to have lost someone to The Incident, correct? A coworker, a friend, someone you just used to see on the street..."

Spoiler

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I don't want to make a move just yet - this is for continuing RP and banter, but I'm passing the spotlight here to Sewer Rat so Kaworu can get an action. If he doesn't want one, this can set up a move for Marcy with my next post.

[roko10]

Having caught the woman, David's first priority is to vehemently apologize to the woman for what he accidentally did. "Ma'am I'm so sorry I'll bring you to safety now I promise!"

Steelheart then looks for the nearest sewer exit; he's pretty sure he's far away from where he first entered the sewers, but maybe there's another manhole nearby that he can use to safely bring the woman to the surface and then call 911? Man, my allowance can't come any sooner, I really need the smartglasses, huh...

Spoiler: Assess The Situation

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(2d6)[2]

...Well, that was a miserable failure. At least I got potential out of it?

[Kaworu]

Sewer Rat just allowed Marcy to talk with the Necrodancer, crossing his arms and trying to look menacing. He wasn't sure if talking with this guy was the best option - personally, he would just like to hit him really hard - but maybe Majestry had something on her mind? Well, let's her work her magic - perhaps the villain will see some reason?

[Inspector Valin]

Marcy doesn't need much persuasion to keep talking. She's getting more passionate as she goes, her words coming from the heart. "This city is strange. Special. And it's special in part because we move on, even in the face of tragedy. We look to the past, we learn from it but if you just repeat what came before, cling to a vision of the old Raccoon City..."

She shares a sad chuckle with the Necrodancer, as she gestures around the sewer. "You end up where the wreckage of old Raccoon City did. Down here, with rubbish like me."

Spoiler

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Oh how I do love a flexible system

Directly Engaging the Threat - with words! Trying to persuade Necrodancer he's being wrong headed. Though I figure if this doesn't work, Necrodancer probably attacks Marcy on his way out. I might be going emotional, that doesn't stop him going physical. (2d6+2)[11]

Edit; Okay, woot! JNA, do you have a preference for what options I take here? IDK if you want Necrodancer to run while rattled or this potentially to be a social encounter Marcy and Nate might win - how you want the scene to play reflects what options I'd go for.

[JNAProductions]

Near the surface, the woman clings to Steelheart's suit. "Thank you," she says as Steelheart searches for a good way out. It wouldn't be too hard to make it back to where you came in-though while you could get the woman out with relative ease, the crumbled manhole area would make getting the mechsuit out rather difficult.

---

The Necrodancer shakes his head while Marcy talks. "You're wrong, wrong, wrong," he says, though he doesn't sound so sure. "If people knew their places, it wouldn't've had to be this way! If they did... I'd still have her..."

The gaunt minions have regrouped, but with a whistle and a quick tune, the Necrodancer calls them to heel. He looks distraught, confused, and a touch angry-but it's not directed at you, at least. He moves, humming to himself, towards the wreckage of the record player. "This was an antique, nowadays-I bought it in New York, in one of the first record shops. They make new ones, of course, but they're not the same. They don't have the history these do."