# Curtains Ch.04 - Shell Games



## Rybaer (May 21, 2006)

Ch.04 – Shell Games


Recap of Chapter 03 and bridge to Chapter 04.

Jorgi has gone completely MIA.  Witnesses placed him at a downtown restaurant on the same night that all the other events went down.  Word is that another flying metahuman attacked him on the street, telekinetically snatching his date and yelling things in Russian.  Both flew off and that was the last that anyone has seen of either.

Security footage from a nearby building and a witness’ camera phone snapshots are the only clues remaining.  Unfortunately, the quality of both was so poor as to be useless in trying to make an identification.

Fate has been trying to reconcile the possibility that he is the reincarnation of the ancient mage Sorcerer, one with an equally ancient and reincarnating nemesis known as Dracos.  A coven of witches, dedicated the preserving the Sorcerer’s lore against the day of his return, tracked him down to request his aid in the search for one of their missing members.  Using magic, he found the body of the missing girl as well as a vile entity that appeared to have been planted there by the man and “thing” that killed her.  If there is a connection to Dracos, this certainly seems to corroborate.

Sorcerer’s followers have since gone into hiding, along with their families.  Fate can get in touch with them if needed and they can do likewise with him.  In the meantime, Fate has been trying to expand his search for information on the history of Sorcerer/Dracos (scant) as well as track down the girl’s killers (cold trail). 

As part of a joint military/FBI operation, Granite was called in to fetch “terrorist” Abram Schott from his place of hiding in an old, abandoned mine.  The situation became considerably more complicated when he found the mine populated with mercenaries as well as powerful lizard men.  Schott met Granite and showed him a portal he’d created to the lizard men’s home world, explaining that he was trying to negotiate with them for power dampening technology that they’d developed for dealing with demons.  His purpose – to stop a powerful demon that a secretive organization had unwittingly set loose in our world.

Schott further explained that the demon was feeding on metahumans and had grown beyond the power of its summoners to control.  The summoners, purportedly, were also out to kill Abram and were likely behind the government’s attempt to capture him in the mine.  

Things went bad when one of the lizard men smelled the blood of another on Granite.  Fighting erupted and Schott closed the portal before more could get through.  The abrupt shutdown triggered an explosion that destroyed a portion of the mine and buried most of the bodies.  Abram survived and Granite chose to give his story the benefit of the doubt, leaving him to escape while telling the government agents that he believed Abram to have been caught in the blast. 

Lawrence also managed to have a pretty lousy day.  His father was kidnapped by thugs working for a group calling themselves the Archivists, held as leverage to force Lawrence to recover a stolen item – a pair of statuettes.  He broke into the residence where they were presumed to be held and met the owner, a Mr. Zimmer.

Mr. Zimmer listened to Lawrence’s sorry, but honest, tale.  For reasons of his own, he gave Lawrence the statuettes in exchange for a “favor” in return some day.  One of the statuettes was a perfect likeness of Steven Faturius; the other of an unknown man.  When Granite and Fate caught up to Lawrence before the exchange, Granite identified the unknown man as Abram Schott.

Following instructions, Lawrence brought the case to a park where it vanished.  His father was dropped off across town, largely unaware of what had happened to him throughout the day.

Over the next couple weeks, the group tried in vain to track down Jorgi.  He had vanished with scarcely a trace.  They also tried to find some evidence of the Archivists, Mr. Thorn’s kidnappers.  Again, they came up empty.  And efforts were made to learn more about Abram Schott:  brilliant, doctorates in Physics, Biochemistry, and Philosophy, worked briefly as a professor before changing careers to become a salesman at a car dealership, never married, and generally well-liked by those who know him.  Nothing in his history shed any light on why he was in the bottom of a mine building a portal to another world.


(more coming...)


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## Rybaer (May 23, 2006)

*Introducing Soundtrack*

June 17, 20:14
Dave's Steakhouse, Downtown Coast City


“Just give me the bottom line,” Ben said.  He looked across the table at the unreadable studio executive.  

“Very well,” the man said.  “We’ve listened to your demo tracks and, frankly, they’re pretty okay.”

Ben tried to match the movie executive’s poker face.  Belying his emotions, however, he could hear his own personal soundtrack introduce a few dissonant tones of frustration.  With a conscious effort, he forced his musical aura to blend back into the restaurant’s quiet muzak.

When Ben said nothing, the man continued on.  “There’s a good chance we can sign you for some freelance composing, probably a few small television show gigs, just to see how things work out.  The fact that you’re, well, a super, might be to your advantage in time.  At least for the novelty.  What we’ve heard so far, though, just doesn’t quite reach the critical levels needed to sustain a motion picture.”

Throughout the rest of dinner, Ben tried to placate himself.  He knew the market for major composers was a tough one to crack.  Even his super-powered advantages failed to provide the edge to push him to the inside.

As the plates were cleared, he noticed an abrupt change in his personal soundtrack.  The perpetual music that surrounded him would occasionally signal changes in his environment even before his conscious mind had become aware of them.  There was a building tension in tone and pitch.  Something was about to happen - something bad.

While the exec regaled Ben with an amusing anecdote about Danny Elfman’s early career, Ben was busy searching the other tables for signs of trouble.  Halfway across the room, a man forcefully stood from his table, knocking over his chair in the process.  He drew a pistol from his jacket and leveled it at the man sitting across from him – Big Bling, a local rap star that Ben recognized from his work in radio.

Big Bling held his hands up defensively, trying to placate the gunman who was going off about “respect.”  The rest of the patrons began to duck beneath tables or scramble for the exits.
On impulse, Ben decided to take it upon himself to try to diffuse the situation.  Using his ability to create sound, he generated the sound of a pistol cocking right behind the gunman’s head.  Then, in a menacing projected voice, he “whispered” into the guy’s ear.  

“Ever hear of the Invisible Man?”

The thug with the gun tensed up and nodded curtly. 

“Well, I’m the Invisible Man with the invisible gun,” Ben continued to project.  His own musical aura dramatically highlighted the tension in the room.  “If you do anything other than carefully place your piece on the table, I’ll put a bullet in the back of your head.”

Ben sensed another increase in the tension of his soundtrack.  Following its cues, he glanced across the room.  There he found another man coming from the direction of the restrooms who was drawing a handgun of his own and taking aim at the gunman.  Unsure of the newcomer’s intent (probably Big Bling’s bodyguard), Ben decided to act fast.  He projected a concussive blast of focused sonic energy at the second gunman.  The blast distorted the air in a column across the restaurant, sending napkins flying and glasses shattering.  It struck the man full in the chest, knocking him unconscious against a wall.

The first gunman flinched at the echoing boom from Ben’s blast.  He couldn’t seem to grasp what had just happened and clearly hadn’t realized Ben’s role in the attack.

“Gun on table,” Ben reminded him through the projected voice in his ear.  “Slowly.”

The man followed orders, placing his handgun on the table.  Big Bling, across the table, heaved a sigh of relief and wisely made no move for the gun sitting on the table.
After instructing the man to lie on the floor, Ben finally rose from his own seat.  He confidently strode over to Big Bling’s table and unloaded the gun.  Big Bling mouth full of gold-capped teeth grinned widely at him.

“You da guy responsible for all this?” he said.

“Something like that,” Ben said.

“Then I owe you some thanks,” Bling said.  “I knew this guy would be nothing but trouble.  Looks like he proved me right.  And don’t worry ‘bout putting my own protection on his ass.  He might have become trigger happy, so you probably saved him a world of trouble down the road.”

The cops arrived a few minutes later, cuffing the perp and taking statements.  After Ben’s rather lengthy statement, the movie studio exec cornered him again.

“You know, Mr. Harmon,” he said, “I heard the music you were making while that all went down.  That was real, intense.  It was amazing.  Much better than the demo you sent us earlier.  If you can figure out how to score music like that to order, then your future in the industry will be assured.  Give me a call when you figure it out.” 

Ben sighed.  The exec was right; his subconscious music always seemed to fit the situation better than anything he could consciously score.  

A young woman approached Ben moments after the exec departed.  “Excuse me,” she said, offering her hand.  “My name’s Sandra Poynter.  I run the Coast City Metahuman Rights organization.  That was quite an impressive and creative display of powers, there.  If you’re into that sort of thing…you know, hero work…then I think I should introduce you to an acquaintance of mine.”


(...more to come...)


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## Rybaer (May 25, 2006)

Ch.04 - Shell Games


June 23, 20:02
Approaching Gypsy Yard, Coast City

Kombat watched the sun setting over the Coast City skyline, marvelling at how it served only to accentuate the vibrance of the city compared with what he had known back in Russia.  Sure, things had improved as capitalism took root in the homeland, but it would take time to ever rival this American metropolis in beauty and affluence.

Mikalovich had gotten a four week headstart on him and only a chance viewing of a news clip had lead him to Coast City.  It seemed that Mikalovich had brushed with a local hero and portions had been caught on film - poorly, but it was good enough for Kombat to recognize him.  Several inquiries later, he'd found himself in the local field office of the FBI who'd taken the lead on the Jorgi Vadislav missing persons case.  That agent had recommended a meeting between Kombat and Jorgi's comrades to exchange information.

"This is the place," the agent said, pulling into a nearly vacant parking lot.  The building had the look of an abandoned warehouse, but with clear signs of recent upgrades.

The agent parked his government issued sedan and led Kombat around to a solid metal door.  There was neither a keyhole nor even a knob, only an electronic scanner of some sort.  The agent pressed a button beside the scanner.

"They should be in," he said.  "Hopefully they've got the doorbell working."


*****

June 23, 20:17
Headquarters, Gypsy Yard, Coast City

The headquarters building for the still unnamed Coast City super hero team had been installed at this location for a number of reasons.  For starters, it's location was close to the center of the city, yet far enough removed from high-trafficked areas to minimize any civilian casualties in the event of a potential attack.  Secondly, the real estate in this old industrial neighborhood was cheap.  And perhaps most importantly, the building had originally been built as a munitions depot in WWII - meaning it had very thick and highly reinforced concrete construction.  It was literally designed to withstand a direct bomb attack.  Somehow, it seemed a prudent choice.

The team's joint sponsors, the Department of Homeland Security and Aztechnologies, were still in the process of renovating the facility.  Enough had been done so far, though, to allow the team to begin to utilize it for meetings and such.  At this time of night, it was eerily quiet.

Werner Schwartzeit, CEO of Aztechnologies, had insisted that the interior be both practical and asthetic, distinguishing it from a typical government operation.  The private hall in which the group now met was one of the first rooms to get this treatment - white oak flooring, leather furniture, 60" plasma television, and a large kitchen in gleaming white and stainless steel.  Numerous plants and tasteful abstract paintings gave the room a sense of warmth and comfort.

Fate was the last to arrive, hurrying over from a speaking engagement on the opposite side of town.  Most of the team had already met Ben Harmon, Soundtrack, who had come recommended by Sandra Poynter of the CC Metahumans Rights organization.  Tonight was to have been the first full team meeting and strategy/tactics session at the new facility.  Earlier in the afternoon, however, Fate had received a phone call from the FBI.  Someone claimed to know the suspected perpetrator in Jorgi (and his girlfriend's) disappearance and was interested in exchanging information.

Ding-ding!

Presumably, that someone had just arrived.



[sblock=For Kombat]
ooc - It's pretty much up to you to fill in the backstory about why you're tracking this Mikalovich down.  Probably best to assume that you're reputation is clean enough that you'd be willing to speak to the American authorities about him.  You do know that the guy is both a powerful metahuman and an associate of the Russian mob.  The details aren't too important to the story, though I could potentially weave them back in somewhere down the line.
[/sblock]


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## Velmont (May 25, 2006)

Lawrence is on the computer. As he here the door ring, he shout. "Can someone answer?". He continue to write down his message.



> From: Unlawful@hotmail.com
> To: Yann1ck@hotmail.com
> Subject: You should see that...
> Body:
> ...


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## Keia (May 25, 2006)

*Fate (HP: 5), Sport Coat and tie ensemble*

Fate had barely remembered the location this evening, his mind was a flux with issues for the new team, his missing team member, thoughts on the Sorceror, and the threat that seemed to be behind several of the incidents so far, and finally on the troubled teens that he spoke with earlier that very evening.

Wearing a brown sport coat, beige mock turtleneck shirt, and dockers, Steven was just going over his meeting notes for their first team meeting . . . or at least the first one in which minutes were recorded and decisions would be made.  Running a hand through his salt and pepper hair, Steven was considering whether to add another topic for discussion when the buzzer sounded.  Steven looked at his phone, then his cell phone, then his office clock before realizing that it was the front door.  

Fate hopped up from the desk and hustled to answer the door, first checking the security feeds before opening the door.  Fate didn't know if they would eventually have support staff here or not, but it would make door and phone answering less of a chore.

Opening the door, Steven offered, "Good evening, sir.  May I help you?"


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## Rybaer (May 26, 2006)

(ooc - A portion of the HQ building is set aside as the "public" section, with a reception area, meeting room, and so on.  Most of the rest is isolated in a higher security area.  A full-time receptionist as well as a public liason are budgeted but have not been hired yet.  The team is allowed to handle the hiring, subject to the candidate passing an FBI background check...all of which will probably be handled "off camera".

The public section of HQ is the least finished at this point.  Kombat and the FBI agent have arrived at a side entrance.)


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## cuervo96 (May 27, 2006)

Ben sank back into a comfy chair, idly watching news on the television.  The others had been pretty friendly to him so far, but he'd sensed a bit of a tense undercurrent in their attitude.  From what he'd heard about their recent experiences and missing teammate, he could understand.

By force of will, he tried to keep his musical ambiance in check and dialed down to "quiet."  The tone was subtle, revealing a bit of boredom mixed with nerves at this first official team meeting since he joined on a probationary basis.

When the bell rang, Fate went to answer it.  Rather than tag along, Ben decided to fetch a drink, just for something to do while waiting on the meeting to get started.  He looked over to Lawrence, typing away at the computer, and to Thomas on the other side of the room.

"Hey, can I get either of you a drink?" he said.


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## hero4hire (May 27, 2006)

Keia said:
			
		

> Fate hopped up from the desk and hustled to answer the door, first checking the security feeds before opening the door.  Fate didn't know if they would eventually have support staff here or not, but it would make door and phone answering less of a chore.
> 
> Opening the door, Steven offered, "Good evening, sir.  May I help you?"




A large man was at the door. Despite the warming weather he wore a heavy wool trenchcoat.
He replied in a heavy russian accent.
 "Da! I am needing your help in tracking a killer!"


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## Velmont (May 27, 2006)

"Yes" answers Lawrence to Ben. "Bring me some juice. Thanks"

He then go on teh net and start to browse to find all article on the team, to get a feedback on what teh public is thinking of them.


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## Rybaer (May 29, 2006)

"Good evening, Professor Fate," Agent Simmons says.  Fate has dealt with the lead investigator for Jorgi's case on several occasions over the last two weeks.  He seems competent enough.

"I'd like to introduce Ivan Danko," he says.  "He thinks he knows our suspect and I'm hoping that we can compare notes...since we're all more or less working on the same case, even if it's in an unofficial capacity."  Fate senses just a slight, concealed jab in this last statement.  The FBI is generally not keen on opening details of their investigations.  Higher up powers in Homeland Security, however, insisted on allowing Coast City's new super team to be "involved."

"Mr. Danko, this is Professor Fate, local super hero who has helped stop a couple of other super-powered menaces over the last few months."


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## Mimic (May 29, 2006)

cuervo96 said:
			
		

> "Hey, can I get either of you a drink?" he said.




"Yea, get me a beer." Thomas responds quitetly doing arm curls.


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## hero4hire (May 30, 2006)

Rybaer said:
			
		

> "Mr. Danko, this is Professor Fate, local super hero who has helped stop a couple of other super-powered menaces over the last few months."




The square-jawed Russian entered the building obviously having little time for pleasantries. "ПРИВЕТСТВЕННЫЙ. I am being sorry. We are having little time for being friends. The trail is...How do you say? Growing cold?"


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## Keia (May 30, 2006)

*Fate (HP: 5), Sport Coat and tie ensemble*

"Greetings, Mr. Danko,"  Fate offered.  He held the door wide as the Russian and the FBI agent entered the room.  "Good to see you again, Agent Simmons."

Fate closed the door behind them and escorted everyone to the meeting room.  "One moment, let me check with the others to see if they wish to attend this meeting."   

Instead of leaving the room, Fate sat down in one of the chairs.  Focusing mentally, Fate called out to Lawrence and the others.  _'Agent Simmons, the one handling the search for Jorgi, is here with a Russian gentleman who may have some useful information.  We are in the meeting room if you would like to attend.'_

Fate waited for the others to arrive before going any further.  If and when they arrived, Fate said,  "Yes, the trail is definitely cool.  You have some additional information, perhaps?  Anything that would be able to recover Jorgi would be good news."


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## Velmont (May 30, 2006)

After hearing Fate's message and seeing nothing new on the net about there team or Jorgi, Lawrence close the computer. 

"Ben, can you bring the drink in the meeting room?" says Lawrence loud enough so Ben can hear him. "Thomas, you come?" lawrence leads the way to the meeting room where he just got teh chance to see Kombat entering.

Lawrence enter and look at the Russian. The young man, not even major by the law, salute the FBI agent and Kombat. "Hi, my name is Lawrence Thorn... but the newpaper have give me the name of Tarentula. You can use the one who suit you."


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## Mimic (May 30, 2006)

Thomas waits until he gets his beer before heading into the meeting room, he grabs one of the chairs and spins it around so as he sits its facing backwards.

He takes a big swig of his beer before glancing over at the new guy giving him the once over.

"So why does the Ruskie think he can help us with our problem."


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## Rybaer (May 31, 2006)

The downstairs "public" meeting room has a large, polished wood table dominating the center of the room.  It can comfortably accomodate twelve at the table, and several dozen more could stand along the walls if needed.  The room is tastefully decorated in wood and earthtones, with indirect lighting and a couple paintings for accent.  

Agent Simmons spots a connection to the room's computer.  He takes out his laptop and plugs it into the room's projection system.  Within a minute, he has pulled up the few photos taken of Jorgi and his presumed assailant.  None are of good quality, either pulled from building security footage or taken by cell phone camera.  (This is all information the group has seen before.)

Agent Simmons makes sure everyone is seated.  "Mr. Danko, the floor is yours," he says.


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## hero4hire (Jun 1, 2006)

"Thank you Komrade Simmons." Danko stood and faced the group of heroes. "It is not I who is helping you but you who is helping me!"  He points to the image of the hitman. "This man is killer. He kill many peoples...Including my partner. He has many names. But we believe him to being called Mikalovich. He was nothing before getting his powers. After powers...He is...how you say...moving things with his mind??? Now he works for the Syndicate, they control Russian Mafia. Jorgi stole from them. Losing them much monies. The Syndicate sent Hitman to Coast City after Jorgi. I follow."Ivan leans on the table with to fists. "He kill my partner. He kill 2 other police. He kill 4 others. He will not stop."


OOC: I am writing Ivan's speech with him not knowing english very well. Read it with a heavy Russian accent in mind. If this is annoying anyone I can write his speech properly.   
Edit: Since I am a Numbskull I inserted name.


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## Keia (Jun 1, 2006)

*Fate (HP: 5), Sport Coat and tie ensemble*

Steven looked to the others, and introduced them to the Russian by their codenames before listening to the man go through his explanation.

"If his intention was to simply carry out a hit, would he have carried them off like that?"  Fate inquired.  "It would seem that, based on this new information, that perhaps our hitman wanted to recover the monies that were taken?"

Fate looked to the others for ideas and/or suggestions.


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## Rybaer (Jun 1, 2006)

hero4hire said:
			
		

> OOC2: Rybaer you never gave me a name of the Hitman so I am just going to refer to him as _Hitman._





ooc - It's in the little spoiler note I left for you in the third post of this thread.


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## Rybaer (Jun 1, 2006)

Keia said:
			
		

> "If his intention was to simply carry out a hit, would he have carried them off like that?"  Fate inquired.  "It would seem that, based on this new information, that perhaps our hitman wanted to recover the monies that were taken?"




"The statements we took from the witnesses do suggest that this Mikalovich was speaking to Jorgi after capturing the woman he was with," Agent Simmons says.  "Unfortunately, no witness understood Russian, so we don't know what was being said.  The accounts only say that the assailant was taking a threatening or taunting tone of voice.

"Mr. Danko, do you have any other details on what Jorgi did to upset this Syndicate?  You said that he stole something from them.  Was it money or just something of value?  I'm wondering if there was something he took that would need to be recovered, possibly something that could be used against the Syndicate in a legal proceedings."


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## Keia (Jun 1, 2006)

*Fate (HP: 5), Sport Coat and tie ensemble*

"I've asked before, Agent Simmons, and I guess I'll offer again,"  Steven smiled and offered.  "If I had the opportunity to spend some time with one of the witnesses while they were at that location - and if the witness cave their permission, I could look back in there mind and hear what was said in front of them.  With our Russian friend here, we could make better sense of the words, perhaps even including him in the conjuration if he was willing."


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## Rybaer (Jun 2, 2006)

"Well, you understand that most people are going to be really reluctant to let someone read their mind, even for a good cause," Agent Simmons says.  "I can try to speak with the witnesses again, to see if I can talk someone into volunteering, but there's no way we can force anyone to cooperate.  I'll get back to you by tomorrow afternoon on that one."

He scribbles a note to himself in his notepad.  He looks back up at Mr. Danko for a reply to his previous questions.



ooc - Is Steven taking any measures to protect his identity at the moment, such as wearing his mask?  Just wondering to what lengths he's going to maintain a secret identity.


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## Keia (Jun 2, 2006)

OOC: Not with team members, so Granite, Tarantula and Soundtrack know his identity and his desire to keep it secret.  For the meeting, Fate is likely wearing a simpler mask, with eyes revealed.


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## hero4hire (Jun 3, 2006)

> "Well, you understand that most people are going to be really reluctant to let someone read their mind, even for a good cause," Agent Simmons says. "I can try to speak with the witnesses again, to see if I can talk someone into volunteering, but there's no way we can force anyone to cooperate. I'll get back to you by tomorrow afternoon on that one."
> 
> He scribbles a note to himself in his notepad. He looks back up at Mr. Danko for a reply to his previous questions.




"Da! I am being sorry. My english is not so good. I am being told he is costing the Syndicate 3 million of your American Dollars." Ivan normally stoic facade breaks somewhat at hearing they have had trouble with witnesses. "It is crime no? Not helping Police? You tell me names of witnesses...I make them answer."


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## Rybaer (Jun 3, 2006)

hero4hire said:
			
		

> "Da! I am being sorry. My english is not so good. I am being told he is costing the Syndicate 3 million of your American Dollars." Ivan normally stoic facade breaks somewhat at hearing they have had trouble with witnesses. "It is crime no? Not helping Police? You tell me names of witnesses...I make them answer."




Agent Simmons looks up at Ivan with a dubious raised eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot divulge the witnesses' names to you," he says bluntly.  "And while it would be a crime for them to give false statements, forcing them to cooperate in something as ethically dubious as mind-reading is well outside the scope of U.S. laws.  I trust you will respect the local laws as well in your investigation.

"If someone is willing to participate in a mind reading of their own free will, then perhaps we can allow you to assist in translating any words they might remember."


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## hero4hire (Jun 3, 2006)

"Ah of course _Tovarisch_. I of course understand." _ I understand that I will do whatever it takes to find this killer._ Kombat finished silently.


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## Velmont (Jun 3, 2006)

"So Jorgi have stolen some mafia organization... why I don't liek the idea of going against an organization? Oh, yeah, because the last one I met kidnap my father and killed my friend. Can't they let us in peace so we fight teh abberation of the curtain instead?" Lawrence asks to no one, while he shake his head. "Just thinking aloud." he adds before he answer.


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## Mimic (Jun 7, 2006)

Thomas leans back in his chair taking another swig of beer. This wasn't his sort of thing, it was best to let the smart ones make the plans.


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## Rybaer (Jun 8, 2006)

(ooc - cuervo96 will be traveling most of the summer with minimal computer access, so I'll npc his character most of the time until he's back...just poor timing with the beginning of this game.  On the other hand, I'll also be traveling quite a bit this summer, so the game may run a little slow every now and then.  No major trips planned until mid-July, though.)


Agent Simmons looks like he's about to say something else, but is interrupted when four cell phones begin to beep simultaneously.  The two-way video-enabled, fully-encrypted phones provided to the team members are all ringing with the special tone designated for a local emergency.  This is the first time this system has been utilized.

As they flip open the phones, the image of a man in a police uniform is seen on the screen.  He looks a little uncomfortable, as if trying to figure out how to best frame himself in the camera.

"Oh, hey, that was quick," he says.  "Hmmm...it looks like you're all at the new HQ.  I guess we could just handle this through the teleconference rig there.  Hang on a sec."

The connection drops to the phones while one of the meeting room's large monitors flicks on.  The police officer is again visible, only in much better resolution this time.

"I hope I didn't interrupt anything too important, but we have a rapidly evolving situation that the captain felt you guys might be able to help out on," he says.  "Reports are coming in that the Sullivan and Veers Diamond Exchange is in the process of being robbed.  Two eye-witnesses have confirmed the presence of at least one flying metahuman in addition to half a dozen or more others on foot.

"Because of the high profile of the target and the metahuman presence, we're asking for your assistance.  The Diamond Exchange is on the 46th floor of the Watchtower.  That's only a mile from your location, so you should be able to reach it quickly.  Notify an officer on the scene when you arrive please.

"Any questions?  We don't have much more information at the moment."


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## cuervo96 (Jun 8, 2006)

Rybaer said:
			
		

> (ooc - cuervo96 will be traveling most of the summer with minimal computer access, so I'll npc his character most of the time until he's back...just poor timing with the beginning of this game.  On the other hand, I'll also be traveling quite a bit this summer, so the game may run a little slow every now and then.  No major trips planned until mid-July, though.)
> 
> 
> "I hope I didn't interrupt anything too important, but we have a rapidly evolving situation that the captain felt you guys might be able to help out on," he says.  "Reports are coming in that the Sullivan and Veers Diamond Exchange is in the process of being robbed.  Two eye-witnesses have confirmed the presence of at least one flying metahuman in addition to half a dozen or more others on foot.
> ...




With a sudden swelling of music, an instrumental score that carries elements of excitement, danger, and not a little bit of nervous fear, Soundtrack sits up a bit straighter in his seat.  He had zoned out a bit during the preceeding conversation, mostly because he didn't know the players and knew his role wouldn't be a decision making one in this process.  But now, here, was the time for action, and he was determined to prove himself to the others...and himself.

"What do we have in the way of a civilian presence?  What other businesses or shops or companies or whatever are on the nearby floors of the Watchtower?"


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## Velmont (Jun 8, 2006)

"Now, that's the kind of work I prefer. Who gives me a ride?" asks Lawrence but he is interrupt by Soundtrack. "We could discuss all that on the way with the cells, no?"


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## Keia (Jun 8, 2006)

Fate looked for a computer to pull up the information that Soundtrack requested, but remained silent, allowing the others to field their questions.


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## Rybaer (Jun 9, 2006)

cuervo96 said:
			
		

> "What do we have in the way of a civilian presence?  What other businesses or shops or companies or whatever are on the nearby floors of the Watchtower?"





The dispatch officer waffles for a minute, leafing through a stack of papers.

"Uh, you know, I don't seem to have that information handy," he says.  "We only think their target is the diamond exchange because it was their security alarm that went off.  I can try to dig up the infomation for you if you'd like, but it'll take a while.

Fate, meanwhile, has managed to quick boot one of the room's networked computers and effortlessly tracked down the Watchtower's directory on-line.  He does a quick scan through the list, memorizing the names of the businesses and their floor locations.  He also memorizes the crude map.  It appears that most of the businesses are white collar - lawyers, architects, consultants, financial, advertising agencies, and so on.  Many of the names are unfamiliar and/or non-descriptive.  Several of the upper floors appear to be residential.

In addition to personal vehicles, the team does have two brand new SUV's at its disposal (for official business) - waiting in the garage.  They're black, of course.


----------



## Keia (Jun 10, 2006)

*Fate (HP: 5), Sport Coat and tie ensemble*

Not wanting to embarass the officer, Fate kept the information he had determined to himself for the moment. With a few words of power, Fate changed fully into his uniform, then addressed the officer.  "That would be helpful, officer," Fate offered, "and any other information you may determine, feel free to contact us enroute."

Turning to the rest of his team, Fate offered, "So, who wants to drive one of the team's SUV's?"  Loooking to the Russian, Fate smiled and asked, "I don't believe this small amount of time will keep you from your investigation, good sir.  Would you like to come along and help out?  Who knows, the incident may be related."


----------



## hero4hire (Jun 10, 2006)

Keia said:
			
		

> Loooking to the Russian, Fate smiled and asked, "I don't believe this small amount of time will keep you from your investigation, good sir.  Would you like to come along and help out?  Who knows, the incident may be related."




Danko stood staring stone-faced at Fate for several moments. What, if anything he was thinking was inscutable. Finally he answered; "Da! You are helping me...So I am helping you!"


----------



## Rybaer (Jun 12, 2006)

The dispatch officer agrees to forward along any further information by cell phone.

“I’ll drive,” Soundtrack offers.  “Want to just take one or both?”  The SUV’s are plenty big to seat the team plus Danko.

The FBI agent looks a little dubious about Ivan tagging along with the team to situation.  “We can try to resume this line of discussion tomorrow,” he says, packing up his laptop.  “Good luck with your job tonight.  Mr. Danko.”  He nods politely at the Russian, then to the rest of the team before departing.


----------



## Velmont (Jun 12, 2006)

"I thought it should go faster with Granite ability to jump or Fate's ability to fly... but if we take a SUV, I suggest I drive. After all, I'm the best driver, I have the best reflexes. It's just I hope there is not too much traffic. At worst, Fate and Granite will go over it and analyze teh situation with the others. I'll got get the SUV, if you have something left to prepare, I'll be waiting for you at the door." on that Lawrence leaves the room to get a SUV.


----------



## Keia (Jun 12, 2006)

After Lawrence left, Fate offered, "This will give us a chance to familiarize ourselves with the situation and each of our capabilities.  I would suggest that we all ride together for that reason."


----------



## Rybaer (Jun 12, 2006)

Keia said:
			
		

> After Lawrence left, Fate offered, "This will give us a chance to familiarize ourselves with the situation and each of our capabilities.  I would suggest that we all ride together for that reason."





"Sounds fine," Soundtrack says to Fate.

"So, is the kid really that good, or does he have an overconfidence issue?" Soundtrack says.  His tone suggests that he's more amused than anything.  "For someone who's never seen me drive...well, I'm just sayin'...  Especially after just asking who would give him a ride."


----------



## Velmont (Jun 12, 2006)

[SBLOCK=OOC]







			
				Rybaer said:
			
		

> "Especially after just asking who would give him a ride."



Note fair! I didn't knew we had SUV at that time... anyway, I was more thinking using others movement power to reach it faster than a car could do. The 'ride' was just the general idea.[/SBLOCK]


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## Rybaer (Jun 12, 2006)

[sblock=OOC]


			
				Velmont said:
			
		

> Note fair! I didn't knew we had SUV at that time... anyway, I was more thinking using others movement power to reach it faster than a car could do. The 'ride' was just the general idea.




I know...just having fun at Lawrence's expense.  

I thought I'd mentioned the transportation in a previous description of the facilities, but I guess I didn't until after your first comment.  Must have just been my imagination.  Hope you didn't take it personally...I'm assuming that Soundtrack likes Lawrence well enough that he's just teasing behind his back.

[/sblock]


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## hero4hire (Jun 13, 2006)

Danko looked confused. "He has not been seeing my reflexes..."


----------



## Mimic (Jun 13, 2006)

"Well we could either stand here and talk about who has the better reflexes and bore the bad guys into surrendering or we could ya'know go out and beat up some people." Granite says as he finishes his beer and gets up from the chair.


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## hero4hire (Jun 14, 2006)

Mimic said:
			
		

> "Well we could either stand here and talk about who has the better reflexes and bore the bad guys into surrendering or we could ya'know go out and beat up some people." Granite says as he finishes his beer and gets up from the chair.





"You are leading the way then Comrade? I am most anxious to see American Superhero in action."


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## Rybaer (Jun 15, 2006)

The group piles into one of the black SUVs parked in the garage.  Lawrence takes the wheel and peels off.  The vehicles are equipped with tastefully hidden lights and sirens, like an unmarked police cruiser, which the CCPD has given approval to use when the group is dispatched to an emergency situation.  Soundtrack's aura hums along in the background, laying down a driving beat suitable for cruising at high speeds.

The sun has just set, leaving only a smear of red on the western horizon.  The SUV transitions from the old warehouse district into downtown.  The Watchtower building is clearly visible just a dozen more blocks ahead.  It appears that a police helicopter with spotlight has already begun to circle the building.

You wished to discuss tactics before arriving?


----------



## Keia (Jun 15, 2006)

*Prof. Fate, Unharmed, HP's: 5*

Professor Fate explained the details that he had gleaned from the computer about the building they were headed to . . . basic layout, occupants, stairs, etc.


----------



## hero4hire (Jun 15, 2006)

Keia said:
			
		

> Professor Fate explained the details that he had gleaned from the computer about the building they were headed to . . . basic layout, occupants, stairs, etc.




Danko listens to the info and looks at the floorplans provided. "Hmmm one flying. Six on foot. Robbing diamonds. They are needing getaway and are having hostages? I am having some, how you say, knowledge of tactics. If I am knowing your powers....I can help."

OOC: Attempting to use Master Plan. If you want to post me Fluffy details I will try to Post an actual plan. Or you can just leave it as crunch rolls. Let me know either way.


----------



## Rybaer (Jun 15, 2006)

hero4hire said:
			
		

> Danko listens to the info and looks at the floorplans provided. "Hmmm one flying. Six on foot. Robbing diamonds. They are needing getaway and are having hostages? I am having some, how you say, knowledge of tactics. If I am knowing your powers....I can help."





Soundtrack looks at Danko and then at Fate.  He wasn't quite sure how far they should trust the "guest", yet any tactical help could be useful.  He shrugs his shoulder a bit.

"I can generate and alter sounds," he says.  "That includes going up to deafening and physically damaging levels, if necessary."


----------



## Rybaer (Jun 15, 2006)

[sblock=OOC]


			
				hero4hire said:
			
		

> OOC: Attempting to use Master Plan. If you want to post me Fluffy details I will try to Post an actual plan. Or you can just leave it as crunch rolls. Let me know either way.




I'll get back to you on this after I can re-read the description in the book.  I seem to remember feeling it was pretty potent for a 1pt feat.  It might not be effective, or fully effective, unless you have a better grasp of the situation.  And the quality of your intel at this moment is dubious at best.

That said, if you can provide some fluff as to something, team-wise, that might possibly be effective in a given sitation, I'll be far more likely to approve the use of it.  I won't always expect it, though.
[/sblock]


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## Keia (Jun 15, 2006)

Fate smiled at the Russian, "Of course, we would appreciate any help you would like to provide, my friend.  As for powers, I'm something of a magician . . . not much but blasts of fire, intangibility, flight, and other things of that sort.  I've heard that you have some talents yourself, Mr. Danko . . . ."


----------



## Velmont (Jun 15, 2006)

"I can trun into a swarm of spiders... yeah, it is creepy. But I'm poisonous and I have better reflex than you can hope to have, and not only in swarm. It's eems that carry out even in my human form." tells Lawrence, driving like a taxi driver of manhattan.


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## hero4hire (Jun 16, 2006)

Rybaer said:
			
		

> [sblock=OOC]
> 
> 
> I'll get back to you on this after I can re-read the description in the book.  I seem to remember feeling it was pretty potent for a 1pt feat.  It might not be effective, or fully effective, unless you have a better grasp of the situation.  And the quality of your intel at this moment is dubious at best.
> ...




Danko goes on to explain he has a savantism when it comes to combat scenarios. He goes over the floorplans with everyone, pointing out arcs of fire opportunities, possible blindspots due to structural layout etc. He suggests Fate use his telepathy to determine locations of the robbers and gather intel when we get there. He also suggests Spyder would be useful for drawing fire initially. Turning to spiders at the last possible second to become immune to thier attacks. After Spyder draws thier initial fire Soundtrack Dazzles them to add to confusion and prevent thier communication with eachother. Fate can initially engage the flyer at range. Kombat can piggyback on Granite as he leaps into the biggest concentration of baddies and we wipe them up HTH. Soundtrack then moves to provide coverfire for Fate and Spyder cleans up any ground troops Granite and Kombat have failed to take out.


----------



## Velmont (Jun 16, 2006)

"Sorry to tell you that, but teh one who can take bullet without harm, it is Granite. I can dodge bullet but if I am hit, I can be hurt, just like you." correct Lawrence.


----------



## hero4hire (Jun 16, 2006)

Velmont said:
			
		

> "Sorry to tell you that, but teh one who can take bullet without harm, it is Granite. I can dodge bullet but if I am hit, I can be hurt, just like you." correct Lawrence.




OOC: Doesnt his his Alt Form have insubstantial?


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## Velmont (Jun 16, 2006)

[SBLOCK=OOC]







			
				hero4hire said:
			
		

> OOC: Doesnt his his Alt Form have insubstantial?



At rank 1, which doesn't give any immunity. Immunity to physical attack come at rank 2 and higher.
[/SBLOCK]


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## hero4hire (Jun 17, 2006)

Velmont said:
			
		

> [SBLOCK=OOC]
> At rank 1, which doesn't give any immunity. Immunity to physical attack come at rank 2 and higher.
> [/SBLOCK]




[SBLOCK=OOC] ooops I was going by the Swarm Alt Form in the book. I figured you would've gone for the recommended Insubstantial 2. Well scratch that part of the plan then. Ah well...[/sblock]


----------



## Velmont (Jun 17, 2006)

[SBLOCK=OOC]







			
				hero4hire said:
			
		

> [SBLOCK=OOC] ooops I was going by the Swarm Alt Form in the book. I figured you would've gone for the recommended Insubstantial 2. Well scratch that part of the plan then. Ah well...[/sblock]




Nope, because it didn't made sense to have teh same ability as air, when you are a swarm of spider. The limites of the liquid insubstancial is pretty close to what I figure for a swarm of spider, so I didn't bought more.[/SBLOCK]


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## Rybaer (Jun 20, 2006)

June 23, 21:03
Outside the Watchtower skyscraper, edge of downtown Coast City


Lawrence guides the team SUV up to a rough police perimeter that is trying to cut off traffic from the block immediately surrounding the Watchtower.  There are at least a dozen squad cars already on the scene and it sounds like more are on the way.  A police helicopter is circling overhead and a couple of local news vans are already getting set up.  Apparently word of a meta-human involved in a diamond heist can spread rather quickly.

As the team unloads into the street, an officer comes jogs over to meet them.  His name tag says SGT PERRY.

“Hey, I heard you guys were on your way,” he says.  “Probably a good thing, too.  Sounds like we’ve got at least one confirmed super in there.”

The officer hands over a blurry black and white photo on computer paper.  It looks like a still from a security camera feed, showing three hooded men in a hallway.

“The building security manager just gave us this,” he says.  “He said that one of these guys just pointed a bare hand at the camera and it suddenly stopped working…apparently right after this was taken.  I heard something about another witness seeing someone flying, but I haven’t confirmed that yet.  We do know for certain that they were on the 46th floor, which is entirely operated by the diamond exchange.  I’m trying to position men in the stairwells near there while building security is working to clear out any civilians.  Frankly, we don’t have enough men on the scene yet to properly secure the location.

“Any idea how you boys can best help us out?”


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## Velmont (Jun 20, 2006)

"Fate, let me scout the place, I'll then report the situation. I better do it alone, you are all too noisy, and I'm not only talking about soundtrack. Officier, you have a map of the building and the sewers around, it wouldn't hurt."

Once Fate gives an ok, Lawrence will transform into a spiderswarm. He will pass by the sewer to approach the building and getting in, after that, he will get up by the leevator up to the 46th floor.

At all time, he will try to stay hidden. He'll take 10 on all Sneak, Escape Artist and Disable Device. Before tryin to enter a room, he'll use his Tremor Sense to make sure no one is near the door and/or windows.


----------



## Rybaer (Jun 20, 2006)

Velmont said:
			
		

> "Fate, let me scout the place, I'll then report the situation. I better do it alone, you are all too noisy, and I'm not only talking about soundtrack. Officier, you have a map of the building and the sewers around, it wouldn't hurt."





"Sorry, but I don't have any of those maps," the officer says.  "The building security office, located on the first basement level, probably has something like that...at least for the building itself.  Not sure if even they would have sewer access maps.  Maybe the building facilities guys?"


----------



## Velmont (Jun 20, 2006)

"Well, I'll find a way in. There is not that much security that I can't pass through. What do you think of that?" asks Lawrence to his companions.


----------



## Keia (Jun 20, 2006)

*Fate (HP:5) In uniform, no active powers*

Fate scanned over the buiulding as well as glancing at the nearby buildings, their respective heights and proximity to each other.  After listening to Lawrence's idea, Fate replied, "The 46th floor . . . flight might be a better option.  Perhaps a quick flight up the outside of the building and breaking a window to get in . . . Soundtrack can dampen the noise.  From there you can explore and we'll be that much closer when you need us."


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## Velmont (Jun 20, 2006)

"Yes, but you forget the flyer. He might be around, The goal is to make sure they doesn't know we are here."


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## Rybaer (Jun 20, 2006)

Keia said:
			
		

> Fate scanned over the buiulding as well as glancing at the nearby buildings, their respective heights and proximity to each other.





The Watchtower is a 58 story building.  On two sides, the tallest neighboring buildings aren't more than 12 stories each.  On the remaining sides are a 30 and 45 story tall building.  Assume that there is approximately 150' between the buildings, accounting for width of the streets and easement.


----------



## Keia (Jun 20, 2006)

*Fate (HP:5) In uniform, no active powers*

"While I concur that the flyer might be an issue, the time lost in your exploration and waiting for a response could give them the time they need to complete their plans or escape,"  Fate offered.  He looked to the others, seeing if anyone else had a suggestion.  If not, Fate was prepared to fly everyone up to the 46th floor . . . or at least the 44th floor - so that it would be less likely that they would be seen.


----------



## Velmont (Jun 20, 2006)

"Fine..."  tells Lawrence, not too found to go on the easiest and most obvious way.


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## hero4hire (Jun 21, 2006)

Kombat squints up at the building. "If they are looking out coming from the street will be seen. I am seeing blindspot however.."

OOC: Knowledge Tactics for Stealth roll to move forces.


----------



## Rybaer (Jun 21, 2006)

hero4hire said:
			
		

> OOC: Knowledge Tactics for Stealth roll to move forces.





Someone looking down from the 46th floor probably can't even see the street immediately around the building because of the steepness of the angle.  Add to that the smattering of trees, the confusion of the cops and news vans, and the people being hustled out of the building, the odds of being spotted and/or identified at street level are almost nil.  From the side of the building, you could fly straight up with no chance of being seen (at least from inside the building).

Now, if they posted a spotter(s) in an adjacent building or on ground level (both tactically smart moves in Kombat's mind), you've probably already been identified.  

edit:  So, automatic success against anyone high up in the Watchtower.  Likely have already failed against any other spotter.


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## Mimic (Jun 22, 2006)

Thomas gets out of the vehicle and he takes a quick scan of the area, searching for choke points, snipers and possible ambush areas, a habit he picked up in the army but still usefull none the less.

He listens as the others discuss what they should do and how they should do it. "Not to sound all mother hen but the longer we take the more entrenched they are going to be." He says as he shifts to his granite form.

ooc: Sorry for the dissapearing act, work and life has been very distracting of late.


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## Keia (Jun 22, 2006)

"So . . . then to summarize, they either haven't seen us yet, or have already spotted us, right?" Fate intrepretted.  "Then let's head right up . . . soundwave, cancel the sound of our entrance.  Granite, pop the glass when we get up there.  Gentleman, hold on until you climb into the window, you let go and I can't help you"

Fate looked ot Soundwave and Kombat, "Neither of you fly, correct?" Fate inquired.

After finding out if they can fly on their own, Fate extended his hands and uttered words of power.  Once those who couldn't fly on their own grasped them, Fate accelerated upward to the 46th floor.

OOC: Flight, Affects Others.  Probably 4 ranks of flight with affects others.  Using a HP to elim the fatigue.


----------



## Rybaer (Jun 22, 2006)

(ooc - Will be away from the computer until next Tuesday.  Feel free to decide how you want to approach...from above, below, or straight through the windows.  The windows are mirror-tinted and difficult to see through, even at night.  About 80% are dark, but there are enough lit ones that you could probably find a clear room to enter through if you wish.)


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## Rybaer (Jun 29, 2006)

Fate casts his spell, granting everyone the ability to fly, though with the admission that it won't last too long.  The group begins to ascend up the side of the building, staying close to the structure so as to make it difficult for anyone inside to see their approach.  Fate is silently counting the levels on their way up to make sure they go in where they intend.

"So, I can muffle the sound of us breaking through a window pretty well," Soundtrack says.  "Does someone want the honor of doing the window removal?"


(ooc - Apologies for the delay.  I'm back at a computer again for a couple weeks before I go on my next trip.  Please try to make a decision on which floor you'd actually like to break in to.)


----------



## Velmont (Jun 29, 2006)

"There, it should be fine. Thomas, after you." tells Lawrence, pointing at the 43th floor.


----------



## Rybaer (Jul 4, 2006)

Everyone hovers just outside the 43rd floor of the Watchtower.  Soundtrack tunes himself into the ambient sound and then creates the complex waves of destructive interference to make the immediate area go almost completely silent.  Granite pries his fingers into the frame of one of the windows and is able to quickly work the pane loose - without shattering it and sending dangerous shard raining onto the cops and bystanders below.  He rotates the glass and props it  against a wall on the room inside the building.

The room the group enters is a conference room, elegantely appointed and bearing a corporate logo on one wall.  No one recognizes the name, but it sounds like a law, advertising, or consulting type of place.  There is no one around and, once Soundtrack re-enables sound, it is quiet.

Outside the conference room is a hall linking a series of offices, smaller conference rooms, and a break room.  It is entirely vacant of people.  Laurence unlocks the reception lobby's main door and finds a foyer with elevators and a door marked stairway beyond.

"Well, stairs or elevator?" Soundtrack asks.


----------



## Velmont (Jul 4, 2006)

"Elevator, but we don't need to wait for a lift. I'll just go take a quick look to see if the way is clear. Wait for me a minute" Lawrence transform into a swarm of spider and try to squeeze into the elevator shaft and climb teh wall to reach the 46th. from there, he will squeeze again to try to see what is on the other side of the elevator door.


----------



## Rybaer (Jul 4, 2006)

The seal on the elevator doors is too tight for his swarm form to squeeze through.  There is a very tiny gap at the top of the doors, however, that is just wide enough to allow one spider through at a time.  The swarm seeps through, like a cloud of greasy smoke filmed in reverse.

Laurence scales the interior of the elevator shaft the three remaining floors and finds the same narrow gap at the top of the elevator's doors.  One spide pokes through and peers around the lobby.  There are two doors, one in either direction from the elevators.  The door on the left is unmarked.  The door to the right has the logo of the diamond exchange, and the door is cracked open.  A man garbed in black fatigues, complete with a black cap and dark sunglasses, is watching the lobby.  He's got a peculiar gun in his hands, about the size of a sub-machine gun, but of a design unlike anything he's seen before.

The man does not appear to notice Laurence's one spider peeking in through the gap.  Laurence does hear some other noise coming from somewhere in the distance on this level.  Power tools, perhaps?


----------



## Velmont (Jul 4, 2006)

Lawrence come back to the 43th floor. He then report what he has seen. "What do you think. They seems equiped with some prototype. It doesn't seem like normal goons of an organized crime."


----------



## Keia (Jul 5, 2006)

*Fate (HP:5) In uniform, no active powers*

"The weapons are likely of some design to give us some problems, so destroying them would be a priority," Fate offered.  "Did you notice if someone was also watching the stairs?"


----------



## Velmont (Jul 5, 2006)

"I've remark nothing else." answers Lawrence.

[SBLOCK=OOC]Did I saw the door to teh stair?

By the way, we have only 1 HP at the start of the adventure. It is up to Rybear to reward us with HP.[/SBLOCK]


----------



## Rybaer (Jul 5, 2006)

Velmont said:
			
		

> [SBLOCK=OOC]Did I saw the door to teh stair?
> 
> [/SBLOCK]




[sblock=OOC]

The man you saw would have a view of both the elevators (4 of them) as well as the stairwell door.  Fate knows, however, that there are four other stairwells throughout the building near each outside corner.  These are likely emergency exits (locked from the inside except at ground level).

Oh...and Fate has 4 ranks for luck, for 5 starting HP's.  He needs them, too, the way he chews through variations on his core spells.  

[/sblock]


----------



## hero4hire (Jul 6, 2006)

"If the are watching the entryways, maybe we can be making our own entryway. Through the floor?"


----------



## Mimic (Jul 7, 2006)

"That would be pretty noisy, in itself. I say we hit them fast, take out the guard before he can alert the others and the rest should fall together." Granite replies with a small shrug.


----------



## Keia (Jul 7, 2006)

*Fate (HP:5) In uniform, no active powers*

"Surprise would seem to be our ally at this point," Fate offered.  "If someone were good with locks and such, we could utilize one of the corner stairwells for our entrance, and attack from an unexpected angle, however."


----------



## hero4hire (Jul 7, 2006)

Keia said:
			
		

> "Surprise would seem to be our ally at this point," Fate offered.  "If someone were good with locks and such, we could utilize one of the corner stairwells for our entrance, and attack from an unexpected angle, however."





"I am being cop, not thief, but I am thinking I could делать неспособным...Disable? The Locks..."

The Russian in his accented english starts explaining a new battle-formation based on Granite spearheading the attack and blocking any initial gunfire.

OOC: HP for Beginner's Lock Disable Device. Still Tryng to sort out some sort of Master Plan.


----------



## Rybaer (Jul 9, 2006)

hero4hire said:
			
		

> "I am being cop, not thief, but I am thinking I could делать неспособным...Disable? The Locks..."
> 
> The Russian in his accented english starts explaining a new battle-formation based on Granite spearheading the attack and blocking any initial gunfire.
> 
> OOC: HP for Beginner's Lock Disable Device. Still Tryng to sort out some sort of Master Plan.




ooc - Lawrence is quite talented at lock picking (+14), so you might want to save your HP.  I figured he'd probably point this out, but I'll take the opportunity here to also bump this to push along the tactical discussion before moving in on the perps.


----------



## Velmont (Jul 9, 2006)

"If someone were good with lock? Fate, I am offenced!" he tells. He turns his attention to Kombat "I'll take care of it, it is my speciality." he takes out of his pocket his masterwork lockpicks (makes +16  ). "Here my suggestion. I sneak up to him and before he can react, I snare him in a web. I just devellop that talent and I got a good result on the few thugs I've arrested lately. Once the man is snare and can see anything, it would be an easy task for Granite to take rid of him. Soundtrack, duriong all that time, make sure if the man shout, no sound get out of his mouth or his gun. Fate, you could quickly sneak throught the wall to see what await us and... damn, I was about to tell that Jorgi could have taken a look at that prototype gun to see what it is suppose to do."


----------



## hero4hire (Jul 9, 2006)

"You can shoot webs? You are not telling Ivan this before." Danko replied to Tarantula.
He turns to Soundtrack. "You can становится влажным...uhhh Dampen? Sound as well? Beautiful..If I had Agents such as you in the Mother Russia....Well anyway, the timing should be precise. First webbing, then sound dampen. Then Big-Guy comes in and smashes when no one can hear. Meanwhile Fate can spy through ceiling as to not be noticed. I will be..how do you say? Back-up?"

OOC: Well this seems like an okay scenario. We can rationalize Master Plan bonuses by saying Kombat is giving signals as when to "go". But I could see the team not accepting the bonuses since he is so new to the team.

PS Yes I will save My HP.


----------



## Velmont (Jul 9, 2006)

"Shoot? No. I'll have to sneak near him to web him. I can transform into a swarm of little spider. Have you ever seen a spider that is able to shoot web over 5 feet distance?" correct Lawrence.


----------



## hero4hire (Jul 10, 2006)

Velmont said:
			
		

> "Shoot? No. I'll have to sneak near him to web him. I can transform into a swarm of little spider. Have you ever seen a spider that is able to shoot web over 5 feet distance?" correct Lawrence.




"Only in movie Comrade...Piotr Parker no???"  replied Ivan extending the pinky and pointer fingers of his left hand while depressing the middle and ring fingers into his palm. "Is still good plan of ours. Soundtrack and Granite will be waiting for your webbing."


----------



## Rybaer (Jul 18, 2006)

ooc - 

Sorry, I've been out of state for the last few days.  I'm also going on vacation Thursday for a week and a half.  A week after returning from that, I'll be out of town again for another week.  I may be able to post in between those trips, but it's just as likely that the game will have to idle until mid-August.  Thanks for bearing with me.  I've got so many cool ideas for this chapter that I really can't wait to get cranking on it.


----------



## Keia (Jul 19, 2006)

OOC: Works great for me . . . work is overloading me and I've likely got little time til after GenCon in August . . . I'll be here when you get back.

Keia


----------



## Velmont (Jul 19, 2006)

No prob with me either... I'll still be here, whenever it continue.


----------



## Rybaer (Aug 8, 2006)

ooc - Just wanted to let you know that I'm still traveling right now.  Rather than make a short post, I'll wait until I'm back home next week.  The action should kick in pretty quickly at that point.  Thanks for bearing with me.


----------



## Rybaer (Aug 18, 2006)

The group navigates around so that they are all waiting in a stairwell just behind the door leading to the guarded lobby.  Lawrence finagles the mechanism on the door so that it can be opened from inside the stairwell.  With that complete, he transforms into a swarm of spiders and slips underneath the door.

Lawrence's swarm form is usually quite visible.  By taking great care, however, he is able to slip along the edges of the door and between the ceiling tiles.  The guard, who seems mostly intent upon the elevators, doesn't see him coming.  In position, Lawrence drops onto the surprised guard.

Back in the stairwell, Soundtrack had been working hard to muffle his own natural soundtrack so as not to give away their position.  He's not sure if he actually hears Lawrence attack the guard or if it's a cue in his soundtrack, but he is certain when the moment arrives to throw the door open.  Reflexively, he cancels out the sound near the door across the lobby where the helpless guard is being neatly wrapped up in webbing by a thousand tiny spiders.  Silently, the guard in cinched up and dropped in spot.

Once he's sure that the guard can't move or speak, Soundtrack allows sound to return to the room.


(ooc - Thanks for bearing with my traveling this summer.  Now, back to the game!)


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## Velmont (Aug 18, 2006)

Once the man is entangled, Lawrence make sure to neutralize the guard for a time, and start to poison him, more than once, to make sure the poison will paralyze him before he transform back into his human form. "He won't bother us anymore." he whispers to the group.


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## Keia (Aug 19, 2006)

*Prof. Fate, Unharmed, HP's: 5*

Fate entered silently on the heels of the others.  He nodded his thanks and appreciation to Lawrence for a job well done, including Soundtrack in his non-verbal praise as well.  Mentally cueing up the floorplan, Fate motioned to the others, the likely point of more resistance and where the hostages could be.  He waited on Kombat to offer up the next task.


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## Mimic (Aug 19, 2006)

Velmont said:
			
		

> Once the man is entangled, Lawrence make sure to neutralize the guard for a time, and start to poison him, more than once, to make sure the poison will paralyze him before he transform back into his human form. "He won't bother us anymore." he whispers to the group.




"Ya'know I have been in a lot of hot zones all over the world and I have seen some damn odd things, but that," he says pointing his thumb at the caccooned man. "Is down right creepy but you can't argue with results."


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## Velmont (Aug 19, 2006)

"Don't talk about creeping things... I just start to feel at ease with that myself. If it weren't for Gus, I..." Thomas can hear that some emotions stuck in the kid's throat. Lawrence quickly close his eyes and turn around, trying to hide his reaction. "Let's concentrate on that."


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## Mimic (Aug 19, 2006)

Velmont said:
			
		

> "Don't talk about creeping things... I just start to feel at ease with that myself. If it weren't for Gus, I..." Thomas can hear that some emotions stuck in the kid's throat. Lawrence quickly close his eyes and turn around, trying to hide his reaction. "Let's concentrate on that."




"Hey kid, don't let it bother you," Granite says laying a stony hand carefully on his shoulder. "Your looking at a guy that is made completely out of stone, how weird is that? You just can't let it get to you."  He tells the young man in a rare attempt at empathy.


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## Velmont (Aug 19, 2006)

"Yeah... But people are more scared of spider than stones..." he tells to himself as he slowly approach the door guarded by the man and try to listen to what behind it. "Soundtrack, please muffle your music..."


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## Rybaer (Aug 25, 2006)

The bound guard had been just inside the entrance to the diamond exchange.  The exchange's lobby is well-appointed with mahogany furniture and several pieces of modern art.  A receptionist's desk sits empty, as do the other assorted chairs in the waiting area.  Two doors are set in the wall opposite the main entrance, both cracked open and appearing to house conference rooms.  To the left, behind the receptionist's desk, is a solid wood door with a sign proclaiming "Employees Only."  This door is closed, though there is clearly noise coming from behind it...the high-pitched whine of power tools.

On closer inspection, it appears that this door's locking mechanism has already been defeated by brute force.  Someone didn't want to mess with the fingerprint scanner.  While the door is closed, the latch has clearly been damaged and it would probably swing wide open with just a push.


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## Velmont (Aug 25, 2006)

Lawrence make a sign to stay silent. He then move foward as quietly as possible and then listen more closely to what happening behind the door, before transforming into swarm form to take a look throught the holes.

[SBLOCK=OOC]+20 Sneak, +8 Notice[/SBLOCK]


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## Rybaer (Aug 27, 2006)

Lawrence listens at the door, but doesn't hear much more than he did before - a mixture of power tools (mostly saws on metal) with the addition of a crackling blowtorch.  It sounds like there is a little bit of talking going on, but it's too muffled under the other noises to make it out clearly.

He transforms back to swarm form and peers through the cracks of the door.  Just beyond the door is a large room filled with benches.  Each bench is covered with a variety of equipment, all very neat and clean.  Lawrence recognizes some as microscopes.  He suspects most of the rest are probably for studying and/or cutting and polishing gemstones.

Further back, the room veers to the left, making it "L"-shaped.  It is over here that all the activity seems to be taking place.  He can only see the back end of a guy standing on a ladder, doing something up near the ceiling.  The ceiling and walls flicker with blue-white light from a torch somewhere further back.  Whatever the man that Lawrence can see is working on is just out of sight around the bend.


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## Velmont (Aug 27, 2006)

The spiders crawl back to where his companion are and they transform back into Lawrence. "It seems they aren't here for the gems... they want what is on the upper floor. I see no hostage, but the room is shaped that I cannot clearly see all and what they are doing or if the only man I saw is alone or is a human."


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## hero4hire (Aug 27, 2006)

"It is almost being too easy, no?" the Russian interjected.

"Well we are not being help standing around. Shall we?" he asked with a slight bow to Granite as if to say _You first._


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## Mimic (Aug 27, 2006)

hero4hire said:
			
		

> "It is almost being too easy, no?" the Russian interjected.




"Yea, this has been way too easy. Either they aren't worried aobut us or they figure they have something that can take us out easy. Only one way to find out." Granite says with another shrug, he will get close to the door and take a swing at it. Might as well announce themselves properly.


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## Velmont (Aug 28, 2006)

"Calm down... I didn't saw everything, there might be more I cannot see. When I was cought stealing by my father, it was when we didn't saw the second alarm, a silent one. Too easy like you just said." tell Lawrence, thining if it would worth teh chance to go spy. He knows he is quite good at sneaking, but is he that good?


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## Keia (Aug 28, 2006)

*Fate (HP:5) In uniform, intangible, flight*

Fate concentrated and acivated his flight, then intangibility.  He was planning on entering the room from a different location so that ther would be an element of surprise . . . also, he could hope to cut off retreat in the oddly shaped room.

Even more importantly . . . there were hostages that needed his help and he needed to find them.

That said, he wasn't going to act unless Granite acted and the call to attack went out.  He hadn't suggested that and was waiting on the more military of the individuals to provide that advice.


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## Rybaer (Sep 2, 2006)

ooc - 

Just wanted to bump for a final plan.  There seems to be a split between the direct approach and performing some further scouting.  I'd rather not decide for you.

In the meantime, I'll shoot Cuervo an email and see if we can't get him back in this now that he's done touring for the summer.


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## Velmont (Sep 2, 2006)

"I suggest Fate could simply pass through wall to see first what there guys seek on teh floor over and then he just do teh way around a just look from a remote corner of form teh floor what I can see from here. Have you thought to learn how to turn yourself invisible?"


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## hero4hire (Sep 3, 2006)

Rybaer said:
			
		

> ooc -
> 
> Just wanted to bump for a final plan.  There seems to be a split between the direct approach and performing some further scouting.  I'd rather not decide for you.
> 
> In the meantime, I'll shoot Cuervo an email and see if we can't get him back in this now that he's done touring for the summer.





I am  for whichever gets the ball rolling again!


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## cuervo96 (Sep 5, 2006)

Velmont said:
			
		

> "I suggest Fate could simply pass through wall to see first what there guys seek on teh floor over and then he just do teh way around a just look from a remote corner of form teh floor what I can see from here. Have you thought to learn how to turn yourself invisible?"




Soundtrack quietly clears his throat and whispers, aiming his voice so that it is as loud as conversation to his companions, but inaudible to their enemies.

"Ummm...Professor, you have telepathy, right?  Well, if you float through a small corner of the floor, you can see them...and I'll do my best to amplify their conversation in your direction without them knowing it for you so you can relay what they're saying back to us.  Maybe that will give us some clue as to what they're after and who they are.  Maybe even station tarantula on the floor above us in swarm form so he doesn't set off any alarms, but can drop down on them through whatever hole they make if we're too late in stopping them.  More information is better than less and it's always good to have a back-up, right?"


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## Keia (Sep 6, 2006)

Fate listened to the various approaches and nodded his head.  "It would not hurt to take a quick look around," Fate agreed.  Once Soundtrack was ready, Fate uttered arcane words and turned intangible, ready to investigate the area ahead through the wall.


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## Mimic (Sep 6, 2006)

Granite lowers his arm as the others agree to the need for more scouting. "What ever, but you better hurry, the longer we stand out here the greater chance of us being discovered."


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## Rybaer (Sep 8, 2006)

ooc - Just a reminder that Fate cannot use Telepathy and Intangible at the same time...as mentioned as a suggestion earlier.

*****

With Soundtrack listening at the door, and trying to subtly enhance any sounds or conversation from the next room, Fate goes intangible.  He passes through a wall into a service area.  He guesses at where the room Lawrence described would turn to the left.  Floating up so as to be less noticable, he pokes his head through the wall and into the diamond exchange's back room.

What he finds is a large room, almost entirely filled with a walk-in safe the size of a small bus.  Several men appear to be using torches to cut through the heavy metal struts that support the safe's weight to the building's structure both above and below the safe.  It looks like they've already cut through most of them, at least on this side of the safe.

What really catches Fate's eye, however, is what is stuck to the safe at each corner.  Large slabs of a dark green waxy substance have been attached and each bears an arcane symbol imprinted in the mass.  Fate, through his recent studies, recognizes the importance of the seals - they are part of a strong ritual magic spell, and each seal helps augment and target the spell.  What spell, he can't be quite certain of yet.

Fate, as well as Soundtrack, hears a voice from behind the safe.  "How much longer?"  "Two minutes, tops."  "Good.  I expect the cops will try something foolish soon.  I'd rather not have to hurt anyone."

(Note - if Fate were to move fully into the room, it's very likely he'd be seen by one of the men on the near side of the safe.)


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## Keia (Sep 11, 2006)

*Fate*

Fate slipped back into the room with his comrades and quickly reported on what he'd seen.


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## hero4hire (Sep 12, 2006)

Keia said:
			
		

> Fate slipped back into the room with his comrades and quickly reported on what he'd seen.




"So there is being no hostage. We attack with element of surprise?"


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## Mimic (Sep 12, 2006)

hero4hire said:
			
		

> "So there is being no hostage. We attack with element of surprise?"




"Sounds like a plan to me."


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## Velmont (Sep 12, 2006)

Lawrence nods before he transform back into a swarm and start to walk on ceilling.


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## cuervo96 (Sep 12, 2006)

Soundtrack was feeling keyed up.  Here it was...his first real action as a super hero.  He tried his best to damnpen his musical field, but he had the feeling that he was not going to be successful; his excitement and terror were both running just to high.  As the music began its slow crescendo, he at least tried to monitor it for some signs of how the ensuing battle would go.

"When the fighting starts, I'll do my best to keep them in a cone of silence so that we can talk with each other and they will each be alone...I don't know how long I'll be able to keep it up, but I'll do what I can," he told the others, directing focused waves of sound directly at them to avoid detection, all the while trying desperately to keep his soundtrack on "mute."


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## Rybaer (Sep 16, 2006)

Fate briefly considered using his intangibility to hit them from behind, but soon realizes that Soundtrack's zone of silence might accidentally catch him and render him almost powerless.  He decides to line up behind the first wave.

Soundtrack muffles the sound on the door and Granite crashes through.  Granite clears most of the way through the large gemology lab and toward the corner around which the safe is located.  Lawrence, in swarm form, enters moments behind Granite, scurrying along the ceiling and walls.  Soundtrack makes one last effort to subdue the trumpet-like fanfare of his own aura, and then charges in alongside Danko.  Fate floats in last, using a little elevation to survey the scene.

At the front of the safe, which just is visible from this side of the room, a single man is kneeling on the floor, cutting away at the bottom of the safe with a torch.  Rounding the side of the safe is another man, dressed in a fine charcoal grey suit and wearing a fedora.  He looks up in surprise and holds his (empty) hands out in a gesture for the group to stop.  He's trying to say something, but it's lost in Soundtrack's area of silence.

Granite immediately recognizes the man in the Fedora as Abram Schott, the demon hunter he met in the bottom of an old coal mine only a few weeks back.  Fate is pretty certain that's who the man is as well, though he's going only by old photos that were dug up during the group's research on the guy.  Lawrence cannot identify him from his angle on the ceiling (hat's brim is blocking the way) and the other two probably don't know enough about him to make a connection to the group's previous activities.

Granite, the closest to Schott, can kinda read his lips to make out something along the lines of, "No, wait!"


*****

You still have a surprise round from here.
Initiative order:
Tarentula 22
Fate 18
Soundtrack 16
Granite 11
Kombat 6


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## Velmont (Sep 16, 2006)

Tarentula will go on the first man he can, and if he doesn't recognize him, will not even hesitate to snare him into a cocoon of web.


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## hero4hire (Sep 16, 2006)

Feeling the rush of adrenaline as he enters the room, the Russian executes a simple straight kick to the first opponent he sees.

OOC: I assume he Boosts right before he enters. Array is in Enhanced Attack/Defense


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## cuervo96 (Sep 19, 2006)

Soundtrack will using his assessment ability to see if his musical score gives him some hint about who will be the greatest mis-match for his powers.  He will start with an opening salvo of a sound blast at that person of automatic gunfire, hoping to both damage his opponent and make some sort of psychological attack as well.

(I don't know how to do your fancy OOC thing, but, Rybaer you said I still had a few points to play with...do I have an area attack?  It didn't seem like it...can I fashion an effective one from the points I have left?)


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## Rybaer (Sep 19, 2006)

cuervo96 said:
			
		

> (I don't know how to do your fancy OOC thing, but, Rybaer you said I still had a few points to play with...do I have an area attack?  It didn't seem like it...can I fashion an effective one from the points I have left?)





ooc - You do have an area attack already: Alternate: Sonic Control (Blast) 5 [Extra: Area 25’rad].  The only catch at the moment, however, is that you just layed down an area of superpowered silence over the bad guys...  You'll have to either drop that, or overcome your own power in order to affect anyone with your own sonic attacks.

And while you do have 1pp remaining to spend, I won't allow you to pick up a power in the middle of a scene.    You can use a hero point (you have 3 of them) to get a short-term alternate power of your Sonic control that you don't normally have.  For example, you could project a blast of sound so strong that you physically propel objects away from you.  This would cost a hero point to acquire Telekinesis as an alternate power of Sonic control, but as a one-shot deal.  As long as what you're trying to do fits with your character concept, I'm pretty accomodating.

Still waiting to get actions for Fate and Granite...the only two who know the man in the fedora...then we'll get actions resolved.


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## Mimic (Sep 19, 2006)

Rybaer said:
			
		

> Granite, the closest to Schott, can kinda read his lips to make out something along the lines of, "No, wait!"





_"Son of a..."_ Granite thinks to himself as he sees Schott.

"Whoa, whoa. Everyone hang on a minute. What the hell are you doing here?" He asks the man bluntly.


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## Rybaer (Sep 20, 2006)

Tarentula scurries across the ceiling toward the two visible men.  As he approaches, he also notices a few other guys further around behind the safe...all looking confused at the sudden unnatural silence that has smothered the area.  Tarentula drops like rain upon the closest man, dressed in what looks like a janitor's overalls.  The man (silently) drops the cutting torch and is almost immediately engulfed in a cocoon of spider webbing.

Fate is trying to figure out what Schott's involvement could possibly imply.

Soundtrack's soundtrack immediately derails, going from bold brass fanfare to something akin to a record needle sliding wildly across the vinyl.  It immediately conveys to the entire group (except Tarentula who is in the zone of silence) that something is amiss and the situation is probably not shaping up into the anticipated battle.  (ooc - holding your attack based on changed circumstances)

Granite calls out to the others to hold up as he clearly recognizes the man in the suit.  Schott, however, is motioning that he can't hear anything.  Schott also looks a little surprised to see the guy next to him cocooned, though he doesn't act as if he finds Tarentula's proximity threatening.  Schott makes no move toward or away from the group.

Kombat feels his body rippling with supernatural power and reflexes.  It's all he can do to reign it in for the moment to figure out what is going on.  

*****

ooc - Everyone aside from Tarentula still can act in this round.  Because of the change in the soundtrack's precog and Granite's recognition of Schott, I'm assuming some of the proposed actions may want to be held.


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## hero4hire (Sep 20, 2006)

Danko's body visibly quakes a bit as he checks his attack. The consumate soldier he stands fast though his entire body is geared for attack. A thousand white hot pins and needles lance throughout his body lighting his nerve endings afire. The only balm would be to attack, but he holds...for now.


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## Keia (Sep 21, 2006)

Still intangible, Fate looked to Granite for confirmation.  "Granite, is this the hunter you spoke of before." Fate was rather confident that it was but wanted to be certain.  

OOC: Full defend.


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## Rybaer (Sep 23, 2006)

Keia said:
			
		

> Still intangible, Fate looked to Granite for confirmation.  "Granite, is this the hunter you spoke of before." Fate was rather confident that it was but wanted to be certain.




Granite nods in confirmation without letting his eyes leave Abram Schott, the self-proclaimed demon hunter he'd encountered in the abandoned coal mine a few weeks back.

Soundtrack, are you leaving the zone of silence up, or will you allow them to speak?

(ooc...just trying to move things along.)


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## Mimic (Sep 23, 2006)

ooc: Sorry for that, I didn't see the new post. I just got a promotion and haven't been able to check the boards as much.


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## cuervo96 (Sep 24, 2006)

Soundtrack will look to Granite and Fate here for a hint as to what to do; not knowing the players, he doesn't want to interfere in an unfamiliar game.  But if they seem to think that it' an acceptable course of action, he will try to drop the zone of silence around shott.  Should that fail, he will tell Granite to bring shott out of the zone of silence and work to maintain it on the rest of them.


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## Keia (Sep 25, 2006)

Fate nodded his head to Soundtracks thoughts. Opening the zone for Schott might be prudent, but they should be ready to close it just as quickly.  At the last moment Fate held up his hand to wait, and connected with Schott telepathically . . . if Schott wanted.

_"Mr. Schott, it is good to make your acquaintance . . . would you be so kind as to explain just what you are doing . . . and quickly, or we will needto shut this down,"_ Fate offered telepathically.

OOC: In terms of moving things along, can Fate include the members of his team in the telepathy (or I think they already were).


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## Rybaer (Sep 25, 2006)

(ooc – Fate has to drop Intangible in order to use Telepathy…the drawback of having so much flexibility in all those alternate powers.  For the sake of moving things along, I’ll assume he does this.  We can also assume that he allows the rest of the group to tune in.)

“Fate, I presume,” Schott says telepathically with a smile.  “Likewise, a pleasure to finally meet you.  I’m sure this looks bad on the surface, but I can assure you that my motives are unassailable.  The short explanation is that I’m trying to save the world.  The longer version depends on how much you know about the Lessier’s Binding Principle.”

The rest of Schott’s men, who’d been working behind the safe, come around to see what’s going on and why it’s suddenly silent.  Schott gestures for them to stay back and stand down.  Each is holding tools, nothing that would be terribly useful in a fight.

[sblock=OOC for Fate]
Knowledge: Arcane (18+13=31)
Lessier’s Binding Principle is a well established foundation for the crafting of magic circles in which demonic or extra-dimensional entities may be bound.  Magicians have relied on it for millennia when summoning or removing demons.  In short, the Principle states that the quality of a magic circle is directly proportional to both the purity of the mineral used in the circle as well as the hardness of the material.  For minor demons, a relatively pure chalk or graphite powder can often be sufficient.  With more powerful demons, something like quartz may be used.  Diamond has been theorized to be the most potent material possible, though Fate has never read of any instance in which it’s actually been used; no demon has justified the strength of the circle or cost of materials.

If Schott is genuine about hunting a demon and he thinks he needs a diamond-based circle of binding, it is no idle comment that he may very well be trying to save the world…or simply enslave the demon to do his own bidding.  Either way, Fate should be terrified by the type of demon that would require such restraints.
[/sblock]


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## Velmont (Sep 25, 2006)

The mass of spider stand still over his target who has been webbed. _"You know them Fate?"_ he tells over the telepathic link.

[SBLOCK=OOC]Tarentula ready an action, the first 'bad guy' who do a move against the group got webbed.[/SBLOCK]


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## Keia (Sep 26, 2006)

Fate relayed the information that Schott gave him to the others, and considered Schott for a moment.  _'So, you are saying that there a demon of such magnitude that you need a large quantity of diamond for the binding circle?  So much so that you are stealing from the diamond district here to save the world?'_ Fate thought.  He looked over the runes and augmentations to the safe and what was being done with it.


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## Velmont (Sep 26, 2006)

_"Demon? Ok... what I see, it is some expert robbers trying to get there hands on diamonds, and I know thief when I see them, as I have been one. So, if the situation is different that I shouldn't web and paralyze everyone here and give them to the police, explain it and a way I can understand it. Fate, don't forgot, there is suppose to be Supers around, they might just try to buy time to have reinforcement..."_ tells Tarentula over the Telepathic link, being more menacing toward the goon, but still holding his attack.


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## Rybaer (Sep 26, 2006)

Keia said:
			
		

> Fate relayed the information that Schott gave him to the others, and considered Schott for a moment.  _'So, you are saying that there a demon of such magnitude that you need a large quantity of diamond for the binding circle?  So much so that you are stealing from the diamond district here to save the world?'_ Fate thought.  He looked over the runes and augmentations to the safe and what was being done with it.




"Yes, that's what I'm saying," Schott says.  "Over the last few months I'm sure you've seen reports of people, supers in particular, who've had their very essence drained.  This demon was intentionally brought into this world by a bunch of amateurs who wanted it to do their bidding.  With each kill it has grown in strength, to the point now where it is beyond the summoners' ability to control it.  In all likelihood, it has already consumed them as well."

Fate glances at the rune imprints on the safe and quickly determines the intent.

[sblock=OOC for Fate]
Arcane Knowledge check (18+7=25)

The runes are in place as part of a ritual spell.  In this case, it appears that the arrangement is set to augment at transportation spell.  They're not there to counter weight, so Fate surmises that it was going to be teleported out.
[/sblock]


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## Keia (Sep 26, 2006)

*Fate (HP:5) In uniform, telepathy, flight*

"Yes . . . we've had the . . . displeasure of tangling with something similar," Fate offered the man.  "What exactly are you planning, Dr. Schott?  Am I to assume that time is of the essense here?"  

Looking to Tarantula, Fate nodded, "Yes, from photographs and research based on Granite's encounter with him, not personally."


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## Velmont (Sep 26, 2006)

"A picture? Granite, what is he talking about? What is that demon thing... wait a second, is it the black thing that kill our fungal doctor?" ask Tarentula, not liking the turn of the events.


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## Rybaer (Sep 26, 2006)

[sblock=OOC for Lawrence]
After what Fate says, Lawrence is able to recognize the man standing next to him.  One of the statuettes he "recovered" was of this guy, while the other was of Steven.
[/sblock]


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## Rybaer (Sep 26, 2006)

Keia said:
			
		

> "Yes . . . we've had the . . . displeasure of tangling with something similar," Fate offered the man.  "What exactly are you planning, Dr. Schott?  Am I to assume that time is of the essense here?"




Schott doesn't seem surprised to hear Fate's admission.

"I'm hoping for a simple bind and banish," he says, telepathically.  "Unfortunately, I doubt it'll be that simple.  I don't know how strong the demon is, what its full scope of powers are, or exactly where it's hiding.  I suspect that it's still in the region, based solely on the number of recent deaths...and the fact that there is still an ample food supply nearby."  He looks rather pointedly at the group as he makes this last comment.


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## Velmont (Sep 26, 2006)

_"Hey! Wait a second! The statuette... that guy was one of the statuette I was asked to... the one who Mr [INSERT]Name of the guy who Lawrence owe a service, and teh name have been lost in the big ENWorld Crash[/INSERT] had in his possession."_ tells Tarentula over his telepathic link.


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## Mimic (Sep 29, 2006)

Granite will stand there waiting, it was best to let Fate take charge, he was more suited for it.


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## cuervo96 (Sep 30, 2006)

OOC: not knowing how much of the back story Fate has told Soundtrack at this point, esp. about the coven and the two sorcerers and the statues and such, Soundtrack will wait suspiciously, ready to drop the silence around Schott at a moment's notice


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## Rybaer (Oct 3, 2006)

Soundtrack's music had faded into a quiet undertone, almost unnoticable.  Abruptly, however, it strikes a tense chord of rising intensity, warning everyone except Tarentula a split second early that something was about to happen.  (Soundtrack's Danger Sense works for everyone who can hear it...but Tarentula and the would-be thieves are in the area of silence.)

The dark windows along the far wall all explode inward, shards of laminate safety glass harmlessly showering everyone.  Immediately, the cool evening breeze brings in the sounds and smells of the Coast City downtown.  The open holes also allow in five darkly clad figures, each floating under his or her own power.  The newcomers have billowing cloaks with hoods pulled up.  Peeking out from under each hood is a heavy ebony mask in a highly stylized form of an animal, similar to ancient Egyptian art - owl, fox, crocodile, raven, and boar.

The man in the owl mask raises a gloved hand and utter silence descends upon the room, effectively snuffing Soundtrack's own ambiance and adding to his own area of silence.  The man in the fox mask, nearest to the safe, grabs two of Schott's companions and hurls them through the open windows to fall the 40+ stories to the street below.

*****


Okay, initiative is still the same, but this is a surprise round because of the newcomers' attack.  Soundtrack's ability keeps everyone except Tarentula, Schott, and Schott's men from being surprised, so you can all act this round.  Tarentula has his own danger sense, though, and can act normally.  Feel free to post potential actions, though if you're later in the round you're welcome to wait to see how things develop.  With this many participants, I suspect each combat round will take several posts on my part.

Kombat, this is round 4 of your Boost.

Initiative:
Owl 27 (done)
Fox 25 (done)
Tarentula 22 
Fate 18
Raven 17
Crocodile 16+
Soundtrack 16-
Granite 11
Schott/men 9
Kombat 6
Boar 5


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## Velmont (Oct 3, 2006)

[SBLOCK=OOC]Tarentula own danger sense havn't warned him? (Just to make sure you didn't forget he had it)[/SBLOCK]


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## Rybaer (Oct 3, 2006)

Velmont said:
			
		

> [SBLOCK=OOC]Tarentula own danger sense havn't warned him? (Just to make sure you didn't forget he had it)[/SBLOCK]




ooc - My bad.  I even looked and still missed it the first time.   :\   You'll need to specify what sense it's based on, too.  For this instance, you'll remain unsurprised.  Edited the above post to reflect this.


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## Velmont (Oct 3, 2006)

[SBLOCK=OOC]Damn, I thought I had specified it, but it is uncanny dodge that I payed more than once to have it toward my three mian sense: Hearing, Sight and Tremorsense... in that case, most likely it would be Tremorsense, but next PP award, i'll correct it and add Hearing and Sight...[/SBLOCK]


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## Rybaer (Oct 3, 2006)

Velmont said:
			
		

> [SBLOCK=OOC]Damn, I thought I had specified it, but it is uncanny dodge that I payed more than once to have it toward my three mian sense: Hearing, Sight and Tremorsense... in that case, most likely it would be Tremorsense, but next PP award, i'll correct it and add Hearing and Sight...[/SBLOCK]




[SBLOCK=OOC]
Okay, tremorsense works.  In this case, you'd have been caught by surprise then because of their approach by air.  I've already cleared you to act in the surprise round, so go ahead and post an action if you like.  We'll just keep it in mind for the future. [/sblock]


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## Velmont (Oct 3, 2006)

The spider sawrm quickly move and jump on Fox. The spiders try to find his way through the guy's clothing and try to bite him.

[SBLOCK=OOC]Attack: 19. If it hit, it is a Fortitude roll of DC 18 or lose 8 point of Strength, another roll in one minute.[/SBLOCK]


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## Rybaer (Oct 5, 2006)

The swarm quickly surrounds the Fox, piling on top of one another to reach where he floats a foot above the ground.  Frustratingly, his bites seem unable to connect.  When the Fox looks down at him, Lawrence senses something out of place...like the mask isn't looking directly at the swarm.

ooc - 19, miss.  (This goes for everyone...you don't have to make your own rolls.  And I'll make any saves or appropriate skill checks as circumstances warrant to move things along quicker.)

[sblock=OOC for Lawrence only]
Will save 18+2=20.  Lawrence is pretty sure that he just attacked an illusion or hologram of some sort.  Because the subjects are flying, his tremorsense isn't helping much at the moment.
[/sblock]


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## Velmont (Oct 5, 2006)

_"He is an illusion... but how???"_ can the others hears over the telepathic links, Tarentula, thinking out loud.


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## Rybaer (Oct 8, 2006)

ooc - Bump.  Last call for Keia before I take Fate's action to move things along.


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## hero4hire (Oct 10, 2006)

ooc







			
				hero4hire said:
			
		

> The next two weeks are going to be *very* hectic for me due to moving and job issues.
> 
> I am putting a temporary break on my game _The Great Iridium Con_ until the 23rd and if in any game I am in needs to be move along please do so.
> 
> I still may be able to post, but I would rather be safe and have the Games I am in not slowed down by accident.


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## Rybaer (Oct 15, 2006)

ooc - Apologies for things moving slowly.  Keia's been MIA from the boards for 10 days and I've had a really busy week, plus H4H's gonna be out another week.  Hopefully things will pick back up a little after that.  Still...moving along where we can...

*****


Fate has a tough decision to make - he has to drop the telepathic link in order to cast spells.  But with the silence going on, he needs telepathy to coordinate actions.  That he can't even cast spells in silence, he chooses to keep telepathy up for the moment while maintaining a defensive posture.

"Soundtrack!  Can you do something about this silence?"  Fate says over the telepathic link.

The person behind the Raven mask raises a hand and a curtain of utter darkness descends across the room.  On one side - Fate, Granite, Soundtrack and Combat; on the other - the vault, all the newcomers, Tarentula, Schott and his men.

For those who can see what's going on (Tarentula)...

Crocodile charges across the room and slams Schott into the door of the safe.  A moment later he has Schott wrapped in a sleeper hold, lifting him off the floor by the neck in the process.


ooc -
Soundtrack and Granite are up next.  Soundtrack - you can attempt to counteract the second layer of silence that was just dropped over you.  It'll be an opposed power check with a slight edge going to whichever of the two of has a higher level of Sonic Control/Obscure.  Alternatively, you can just take out the chap who's made it.  Until the silence is lifted, both you and Fate are going to have difficulty doing much with your powers.


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## cuervo96 (Oct 18, 2006)

Rybaer said:
			
		

> ooc - Apologies for things moving slowly.  Keia's been MIA from the boards for 10 days and I've had a really busy week, plus H4H's gonna be out another week.  Hopefully things will pick back up a little after that.  Still...moving along where we can...
> 
> *****
> 
> ...




Soundtrack can hear the urgency in Fate's voice, and tries to overpower his sound-dampening opponent.  He will try to do it in such a way that he amplifies the sounds around his opponent and deafens him in return if he is able to overpower his opponent's control.


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## Mimic (Oct 18, 2006)

Granite tenses as the wall implodes sending shrapnel everywhere, the silence and the darkness adding to the confusion but there was one thing he did know, no one deserved to die falling out of a 40 story building.

Granite rushes through the darkness jumping out the window that the two solders were just thrown out of in a desperate attempt to catch the men.


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## Velmont (Oct 19, 2006)

OOC: I am waiting to see what will happen, as things seems to go fast in that combat, and there can happen a lot of thing...


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## Rybaer (Oct 24, 2006)

ooc - Sorry about the slow posting.  Been a bit busy lately.

*****

Soundtrack can feel the overlapping standing waves of destructive interference permeating the air around him.  He struggles to disperse the effect, which seems to resist his efforts of its own accord.  Ultimately, however, he's able to squash the effect.  As if the mute button had just been turned off, the sound of the city outside and the crunching of feet on glass on the other side of the black barrier all return.  (Opposed power check roll:  15+8=23 vs 17, success)

Granite charges forward and passes through the black wall bisecting the room, finding that in has no more substance than air.  While the ebon masks reveal no emotion, the body language of the attackers suggests a bit of surprise as he goes running past them and leaps into the air.  Granite goes into a head-first dive, reducing his profile and maximizing the benefit of his high density form to gain on the flailing bodies of the falling men.  He manages to snatch one of them about halfway to the ground.  Catching the other might be a bit tricky.  (Dex check 7+3=10, success; let's hear it for comic-book physics  )

Out of view of everyone but Tarentula, Schott struggles against the iron grip of the Crocodile.  He's gasping for breath and completely unable to gain any leverage.  His men, those who haven't already been sent flying, try to retreat back behind the safe and away from the windows.  One holds a lit blow-torch out threateningly and another pulls out a claw hammer.  Neither acts very confident about their odds.

*****

Next up - Kombat.  Hero4hire said he'd be back around now, so I'll give him a chance to post.  Then I'll post Boar, Owl, and Fox.

cuervo96 - Countering the silence effect is a standard action.  If you want to set up a conditional deafen attack on the Owl should he try to Silence again, you can, but it'll have to wait until your next turn.  It's also not a standard ability of yours, so it'll require extra effort - either causing fatigue or requiring you to use a hero point.  You can wait until your next turn comes around to decide if circumstances still warrant it.


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## hero4hire (Oct 26, 2006)

Danko sized up the Boar. "Dressing as Big Pig silly, no?" he said before launcing himself at the Boar in an unorthadox handspring kick.

ooc; array in Enhanced Attack +8, Enhanced Defense +8


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## Rybaer (Nov 1, 2006)

Kombat, seeing how easily Granite passed through the black wall, aims himself in the direction of the Boar masked man and rushes through.  Again, the curtain has no substance and seems there only to block sight.  Boar turns toward Kombat just in time to twist aside and evade the brunt of the incoming handspring kick.  (Attack roll 5+8=13, miss)

Boar follows Kombat as the Russian rolls deftly to his feet.  He lashes out with a side-kick aimed at Kombat's head but misses wide and strikes the metal frame that moments ago housed the windows.  The frame bends nastily, the squeal of bending metal speaking for the annoyance of the man behind the mask.

Owl turns his attention to where Schott is struggling in Crocodile's neck lock.  He appears to do _something_, but just what it is isn't apparent to either Tarentula or Kombat.  Schott stops struggling and goes limp in Crocodile's arms.

Fox looks down at Tarentula's swarm.  Though his mask is unmovable, it appears that he's grinning.  He holds out a gloved hand and a small ball of fire forms in the palm.  This he drops into the spider swarm.  As it hits the floor, the flames spread out in a small area, though they don't seem to bother Fox.  Tarentula can feel the searing heat, but is nimble enough to spread out and evade the attack by moving up the wall.  (Reflex save 9+10=19, success, no damage from Area attack)



[sblock=OOC for everyone]
Couple notes.  First, my apologies for slow posting.  Just have a lot going on and this seems to slide more often than I care to admit.  I will keep plugging away, even if it's slow from time to time.  And on that note, I have a very busy November planned as I take the masochistic plunge into the NaNoWriMo contest.

Second, I've emailed Keia and he will be unable to continue playing with us at this time.  He's busy and his work has recently blocked access to the boards.  I'll "take care of his character" for a while, leaving things open-ended enough that he can return in the future if circumstances are more favorable.
[/sblock]

Kombat, this is round 5 of your Boost.

Initiative:
Owl 27 (done)
Fox 25 (done)
Tarentula 22
Fate 18
Raven 17
Crocodile 16+
Soundtrack 16-
Granite 11
Schott/men 9
Kombat 6
Boar 5


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## Velmont (Nov 1, 2006)

_You are next, flamethrower, but first..._ The swarm of spiders jump on the crocodile, and try to snare hi into web, so he can try to save Schott.


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## hero4hire (Nov 1, 2006)

OOC: I _think_ Kombat's attack goes to +10 IIRC. Too bad about Keia. His work doesn't seem to block his Groovygamers access though. So I guess he still is out there into M&M PbP. I will hold my post for action since I am so late in the round.


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## Rybaer (Nov 6, 2006)

hero4hire said:
			
		

> OOC: I _think_ Kombat's attack goes to +10 IIRC. Too bad about Keia. His work doesn't seem to block his Groovygamers access though. So I guess he still is out there into M&M PbP. I will hold my post for action since I am so late in the round.




ooc - Yes, you are correct.  I misread the character sheet.  Just for clarification, Kombat has a trade-off for Attack/Dmg of +2/-2 then?  In this attack, the extra +2 would have still missed, but barely.


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## Rybaer (Nov 6, 2006)

Tarentula skitters around the fire and comes up on the side of Crocodile.  The spiders easily swarm up and over his body, spinning a fine webbing over his robed outfit.  Crocodile grunts in annoyance but does not relinquish his hold on Schott.  (Attack roll 16+5=21, hit; Crocodile Ref save 14, entangled but not bound or blinded)

Fate follows Kombat and Granite and passes through the black visual barrier.  He sees that Tarentula is trying to assist Schott, so he turns his attention toward Owl and Raven.  Believing Owl to be the one who nullified sound, Fate conjures forth a blast of fire in his direction.  Owl is struck and moderately scorched, though his robes don't seem to catch fire.  (Attack roll 14+6=20, hit; Owl Dmg save 15, 1 wound)

Raven faces off against Fate.  A ray of blackness fires from the eyes of his mask, striking Fate square in the face.  A blackness spreads over his body until he is nothing more than a ghostly-transparent, dark shadow of his usual self.  (Fate Fort save 6+2=8, failure; GM decision to forego using a HP to reroll)

Crocodile squirms a bit under Tarentula's webbing, but he remains focused on applying his chokehold to Schott...who appears on the verge of losing consciousness.

* * * * * 

Soundtrack and Granite are up next.  Soundtrack, you're still behind the black wall and will have to move up to target anyone specifically.


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## hero4hire (Nov 9, 2006)

Rybaer said:
			
		

> ooc - Yes, you are correct.  I misread the character sheet.  Just for clarification, Kombat has a trade-off for Attack/Dmg of +2/-2 then?  In this attack, the extra +2 would have still missed, but barely.





OOC: Good question. I think I may have goofed when I made the character.

Tradeoffs do not have to be a "blanket" trade that effects all of the characters attacks. That is to say a PL 10 character could have a _+15 to hit +5 dmg_ punch and a _+5 to hit +15 dmg_ energy blast and still be legal. 

But it seems the Boost would make him +7dmg and the enhanced attack would be +10 to hit.

Since the Boost came first I believe Danko has to limit himself to a +9 to hit with a unarmed attack.

Character should probably be rewritten anyway...


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## Rybaer (Nov 9, 2006)

ooc - Just so long as we both know what you're character can do attack/damage-wise.


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## Mimic (Nov 9, 2006)

Granite trys to fall faster.


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## cuervo96 (Nov 10, 2006)

Rybaer said:
			
		

> Tarentula skitters around the fire and comes up on the side of Crocodile.  The spiders easily swarm up and over his body, spinning a fine webbing over his robed outfit.  Crocodile grunts in annoyance but does not relinquish his hold on Schott.  (Attack roll 16+5=21, hit; Crocodile Ref save 14, entangled but not bound or blinded)
> 
> Fate follows Kombat and Granite and passes through the black visual barrier.  He sees that Tarentula is trying to assist Schott, so he turns his attention toward Owl and Raven.  Believing Owl to be the one who nullified sound, Fate conjures forth a blast of fire in his direction.  Owl is struck and moderately scorched, though his robes don't seem to catch fire.  (Attack roll 14+6=20, hit; Owl Dmg save 15, 1 wound)
> 
> ...




Soundtrack, left alone on the otherside of the black curtain, decides to join the action.  He tries to circle around to where he thinks a good flanking position on his attackers may be and stick just a portion of his face through, hoping to avoid notice, then unleash a blast of directed sound at Owl.

OOC: Technically, he'd like to hit Raven, but he didn't see any of those attacks, right?


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## Rybaer (Nov 10, 2006)

Soundtrack pokes his head through the insubstantial wall of inky blackness over near the wall closest to the safe.  He immediately spots Owl and Raven, both standing in front of a now strange-looking Fate.  Having not seen the attack on Fate, Soundtrack can only trust that the spell-slinger is doing a version of his own intangible spell.  He focuses a coherent bean of sonic energy directly into the chest of Owl, sending him staggering backward.  (Attack roll 17+8=25, hit; Dmg save vs DC23 - 14, hit and stunned)

Granite pull the first of Schott's men tighter to his body to decrease his cross-section.  That's easy enough as the man instinctively clings to him for any hope of survival.  Granite steers with his arms just enough to grab hold of the second falling man about a hundred fifty feet before impact.  Unable to steer any further, Granite merely braces both men against the fast stop.  

The threesome slams into a parked television truck, tearing a hole through the roof, an array of communications gear, and through the floor before cracking the pavement underneath.  Granite, used to jumping and landing from these heights, is unharmed.  The two men, however, are both stunned and suffering from minor lacerations caused by the passage through the truck.  Fortuitously, Granite had spotted a nearby ambulance just before impact.

Back in the diamond exchange, the remainder of Schott's men have fled through an exit behind the safe.  Schott, meanwhile, is still struggling to breath in the iron grip of Crocodile.  His face is red and it looks like the fight is going out of him quickly.

*****

Kombat's up next, followed by lots of guys in animal masks.


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## hero4hire (Nov 10, 2006)

Kombat follows up his failed attack with a solid two-fisted smash that you usually only see in old Star Trek shows. Simple, brutish, but hopefully effective.

OOC: spend an HP to reroll attack if single digit


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## Rybaer (Nov 19, 2006)

Kombat brings his two-fisted smash down on the shoulder of Boar and feels it connect with a satisfying crunch.  There is a grunt of pain from the man behind the mast.  (Attack roll 16+9=25, hit; Dmg save 19 vs DC22, 1 hit)

Boar is able to shake off most of the blow quickly enough to retaliate in kind, using his heavy mask to head-butt Kombat in the face.  (Attack roll 21, hit; Dmg save roll 11+7=18, 1 hit)

Owl is still stunned from Soundtrack's attack.

Fox rounds the corner of the safe, following Tarentula.  "Tsk, tsk," he/she/it says in a childlike playful tone of voice.  "Don't be running away like that."  Fox extends and arm toward the Crocodile/Schott/Tarentula pile and a greasy orange gas billows up from the floor engulfing all three.  (Tarentula appears to be unaffected by whatever Fox is trying to do.  Schott, however, stops struggling altogether.)


*****

Tarentula is up next.

Kombat, this is round 4 of your Boost.

Initiative:
Owl 27 (done)
Fox 25 (done)
Tarentula 22
Fate 18
Raven 17
Crocodile 16+
Soundtrack 16-
Granite 11
Schott/men 9
Kombat 6
Boar 5


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## Velmont (Nov 19, 2006)

_Damned, that starts to be too much for me... Who is taking care of that Fox?_ thinks Tarentula. Trying to protect Shott as much as possible, the many spiders try to bite the crocodile, trying to poison him with his venom in hope to render him helpless.


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## Mimic (Nov 25, 2006)

Granite quickly directs the men towards the ambulance before leaping back up towards the ongoing fight.


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## Rybaer (Nov 29, 2006)

ooc - Apologies for my absence.  I've been busy with work and trying to finish my NaNoWriMo entry, among other distractions.  Should be able to start posting again by this weekend.


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## Rybaer (Dec 3, 2006)

Tarentula swarms over Crocodile as Fox's orange gas attack begins to disperse.  This time, he is able to sink fangs through the black robe and find the softer flesh underneath.  Crocodile grunts in annoyance and Tarentula can tell that he's no visibly struggling to maintain his hold on the limp Schott.  (Attack 19+5=24, hit; Fort Save DC 23, fail, drained)

Fate struggles in his shadowy form but seems to be unable to move.  "Uh, I think I have a problem here," he thinks to the group by telepathy.

Raven fires another black beam at Fate.  As it strikes him, a black sphere surrounds and obscures the hero.  The sphere quickly shrinks to the size of a marble and floats toward Raven's outstretched hand.  The telepathic link among the group drops.

Crocodile maintains his hold around the neck of Schott while trying to swipe at the swarm biting his legs.  "I'm gonna squish you, pesky bugs."  His sluggish swings, however, are easy for Tarentula to avoid.  (Attack roll 9, miss)

Granite aims at the blown out windows far above and leaps with the force of an artillery cannon.  He hits the opening as planned, but crashes into the ceiling (harmlessly) to come back to a full stop.

Soundtrack is up.  (Technically, before Granite arrives, but that's just details at this point.)  Kombat can also go as it doesn't look like Schott or his men will be doing much any time soon.


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## hero4hire (Dec 4, 2006)

Kombat follows through and grabs his foe's head attempting to smash a knee into his face.

OOC: Attack agressive stance +2 hit -4 defense again if the roll is a single digit I will spend an HP for a reroll.


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## cuervo96 (Dec 11, 2006)

Rybaer said:
			
		

> Tarentula swarms over Crocodile as Fox's orange gas attack begins to disperse.  This time, he is able to sink fangs through the black robe and find the softer flesh underneath.  Crocodile grunts in annoyance and Tarentula can tell that he's no visibly struggling to maintain his hold on the limp Schott.  (Attack 19+5=24, hit; Fort Save DC 23, fail, drained)
> 
> Fate struggles in his shadowy form but seems to be unable to move.  "Uh, I think I have a problem here," he thinks to the group by telepathy.
> 
> ...




As Granite bounces off the ceiling, Soundtrack maneuvers to put Owl between himself and the hole in the wall.  Hoping to knock Owl out of the building, even if temporarily, he levels a blast at Owl, in the form of a scream of instructions to Granite.

"Granite, that raven guy has done something with Fate!  Keep him in the building and take him out of commission!"


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## Mimic (Dec 13, 2006)

cuervo96 said:
			
		

> "Granite, that raven guy has done something with Fate!  Keep him in the building and take him out of commission!"




Granite scans the area quickly, noting that Fate was indeed gone, before turning his attention towards the Raven man.

"Buddy, this just became the worst day of your life." He says growling as he charges towards the man swinging his fist as he goes.


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## Rybaer (Dec 15, 2006)

Soundtrack's scream of instructions can clearly be heard by everyone, probably including the pedestrians at street level some forty stories below.  Owl, however, is able to twist out of the focal path of the sonic energy.  Soundtrack's blast sends some shards of broken glass out the window, but little more.  (Attack roll 3+8=11, miss)

Granite puts his full body mass behind a punch that passes cleanly through Raven, trailing a fine black mist as it comes out the other side of his chest.  Granite nearly loses his balance from the unexpected lack of physical resistance.  The guy appears to have no more physical presence than smoke.  (Attack roll 14+7=21, hit; no damage)

Schott is unconscious and his men have completely cleared the scene now.

Kombat grabs Boar and brings his knee up into the man's masked face.  The mask is incredibly hard, leaving Kombat's knee bruised and the mask intact.  The grunt from the man behind the mask, however, suggests that a fair bit of force was transferred through to his face.  (Attack roll 16+9+2=27, hit; DC22 Tough save, failed, bruised)

Boar, with an impressive display of strength, pulls his head free from Kombat's grasp and snaps it up along Kombat's front side.  Kombat simultaneously pushes back a foot, his instincts just barely saving him from being disembowelled by the pair of long, razor-sharp tusks that have sprouted from Boar's mask.  (Attack roll 17, miss)

Owl, having just evaded Soundtrack's attack, rolls to a crouching position.  Owl tilts his head down ever so slightly while still facing Soundtrack.  A slight change in Soundtrack's soundtrack tips him off to what comes next.  Owl unleashes a screech of focused sound at the floor beneath Soundtrack, causing tile, wood, and masonry to crumble and fall away to the next level below.  Soundtrack, reacting to his own precognitive music, manages to dive clear of the hole before falling through.  (Precognition+Sense Motive+Evasion)

Fox chides Crocodile in his playful voice, "Are you going to stop playing with the spiders so we can get going?"  He reaches out a hand and touches Schott.  In a blink, Schott is no longer caught up in the Croc-grip/webbed/spider-swarm covered mass but is falling limply to the floor a few feet away.  "Do your thing, little birdie," he says, looking over his shoulder toward Raven.

*****

Tarentula is up next.

Kombat has 3 rounds remaining on Boost.

Initiative:
Owl 27 (done)
Fox 25 (done)
Tarentula 22
Fate 18
Raven 17
Crocodile 16+
Soundtrack 16-
Granite 11
Schott/men 9
Kombat 6
Boar 5


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## Velmont (Dec 15, 2006)

He need to get that guy out of ocmbat as quickly as possible, he continue to bite the crocodile, in hope he will get paralyzed soon and for good.


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## Rybaer (Jan 1, 2007)

Tarentula sinks his numerous fangs through Crocodile's skin and into his flesh again, injecting another dose of venom.  Crocodile groans loudly as he sinks to his knees.  It appears that he's having trouble holding up his own body weight.  (Attack roll 14+5=19, hit; DC18 Fort save, failed)

Fate is out of action and out of sight.

Raven shakes his head in sarcastic admonishment at Granite, as if taunting him to keep up with the futile punches through his smoke-like form.  Raven's attention shifts across the room, however, when Crocodile drops to his knees.

"Can't trust you with anything, can we?" Raven says in a hoarse whisper.  He points a finger at Crocodile and another black beam fires out.  Crocodile begins to fade into shadow.

Crocodile looks up, somewhat surprised.  With his strength drained and his body turning into shadow, Schott's unconscious body slips out of his grip.  To his advantage, though, Tarentula and the webbing also fall through his body to the floor.


Soundtrack/Granite/Kombat are up next.

Apologies for the slow gameplay.  I've been out of town for the holidays and then work imploded on me.  Should be able to get this moving again at the usual sedate pace...I hope.


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## Velmont (Jan 2, 2007)

OOC: No prob with me... this game have always been slow, but have always keep going, that's the important thing, and also that it has a good story 

If no one seems to take care of him until hsi next action, he will try to see if Schott is still alive and will try to reanimate him if possible, using an HP to do so if needed. If someone take an action against him, he will do something else, but I'll see after teh action have been describe.


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## cuervo96 (Jan 21, 2007)

OOC: Apologies as well, folks...end of the semeseter and all that....

Soundtrack is realizing that Raven seems to be the man to beat.  With few options available to him, he chooses "vaporize him" for the win and levels a beam of sound at Raven, hoping that what ever he's been able to do to Fate and the others will be reversed if he's taken out of the action.



			
				Rybaer said:
			
		

> Tarentula sinks his numerous fangs through Crocodile's skin and into his flesh again, injecting another dose of venom.  Crocodile groans loudly as he sinks to his knees.  It appears that he's having trouble holding up his own body weight.  (Attack roll 14+5=19, hit; DC18 Fort save, failed)
> 
> Fate is out of action and out of sight.
> 
> ...


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## Rybaer (Jan 29, 2007)

Soundtrack unleashes a brutal blast of coherent sonic energy at Raven.  The air distorts and ripples with the passage of the beam and it cuts cleanly through Raven's chest.  A small poof of black vapor emerges from his back, but he seems otherwise unfazed.  Across the street, a few windows are blasted out of the neighboring skyscraper.  (Attack roll 14+8=22, hit; no apparent effect)

Granite and Kombat are still up next.


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## hero4hire (Feb 1, 2007)

With his strength fading fast Kombat attempted to end things quickly.

OOC: Attack agressive stance +2 hit -4 defense again if the roll is a single digit I will spend an HP for a reroll.


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## Rybaer (Feb 5, 2007)

ooc - Bump for Granite.  To be updated soon.


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## Mimic (Feb 6, 2007)

With Raven being a non-combatant, as it were, Granite turns and focuses his attentions to one of the last remaining solid enemies.

ooc: Will attack Boar

ooc2: Sorry for the delay in posting


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## Rybaer (Feb 6, 2007)

Frustrated by his inability to affect Raven, Granite positions himself to help Kombat put the hurt on Boar.  He throws a punch, but Boar ducks just in time.  (Attack roll 5+7=12, miss)

Kombat takes advantage of the added distraction Granite provides and manages to land a solid blow to the side of Boar's head.  The masked marauder stumbles backward and collapses on the ground.  (Attack roll 19+9+2=30, hit; DC22 dmg save, failed badly, unconscious)

Boar spends the round lying on the ground, unconscious.

Owl turns toward Granite and Kombat, noting that they had just taken down Boar.  The air ripples in cone of sonic energy, buffeting the two heroes.  (Kombat - reflex save roll 4+8=12, fail; Fort save 14+8=22, fully resisted.  Granite - reflex save 16+3=19, half damage; Fort save 10+7=17, fully resisted.)  Owl then takes to the air, flying just outside the windows.

Fox shakes his head in disappointment and then weaves his way effortlessly through the combatants and rubble littering the diamond exchange's lab.  With a final tuck and roll between Granite and Kombat, he lays a hand on Boar and both vanish.

* * * * *

Tarentula is up next.

Kombat has 2 rounds remaining on Boost.

Initiative:
Owl 27 (done)
Fox 25 (done)
Tarentula 22
Fate 18 (missing)
Raven 17
Crocodile 16+ (intangible)
Soundtrack 16-
Granite 11
Schott/men 9 (unconscious/missing)
Kombat 6
Boar 5 (unconscious)


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## Velmont (Feb 7, 2007)

Lawrence will try to see if Schott is still alive and will try to reanimate him if his life seems in danger, using an HP to do so if needed, and reverting into human form if needed too.

If Lawrence thinks Schott will sruvive, he will instead try to attack Owl with his web.


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## Rybaer (Feb 15, 2007)

Tarentula swarms up and over the crumpled heap of Schott.  He's not entirely able to discern the man's condition, but he is able to determine that he's breathing reasonably well on his own.  (Untrained Medicine check 8+2=10, pretty sure he's not in life-threatening condition) - not enough time left to check on Schott and cross the room and perform a touch attack.

Raven performs the same action on the shadowy Crocodile that he used on Fate, shrinking him to a tiny orb of darkness which then disappears in his hand.  While doing so, Raven floats up and off the floor and drifts backward out the window.

Crocodile is out of action.

Soundtrack, Granite, and Kombat are up next.  Owl and Raven are both airborn, about 15-20 feet away from the skyscraper.  Fox (and Boar) are nowhere to be seen.


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## Velmont (Feb 24, 2007)

OOC: At least, he wills urvive... now, let's try to get back Fate.


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## cuervo96 (Mar 2, 2007)

Rybaer said:
			
		

> Tarentula swarms up and over the crumpled heap of Schott.  He's not entirely able to discern the man's condition, but he is able to determine that he's breathing reasonably well on his own.  (Untrained Medicine check 8+2=10, pretty sure he's not in life-threatening condition) - not enough time left to check on Schott and cross the room and perform a touch attack.
> 
> Raven performs the same action on the shadowy Crocodile that he used on Fate, shrinking him to a tiny orb of darkness which then disappears in his hand.  While doing so, Raven floats up and off the floor and drifts backward out the window.
> 
> ...




"Something's fishy here...."

Soundtrack looks at the spot where Fox and Boar recently disappeared.  He suspects that they may be hiding in plain sight, as they aren't "bird" forms, and it doesn't seem to make sense that they would disappear if they could just fly away.

"Quiet!  Stop moving...."

Soundtrack throws a "cone of amplification" over the area where Fox and Boar were last scene,  trying to cover as much of the room as possible, boosting the sounds as much as he can, listening to see if he can hear anything that may reveal their presence in the room, even a heartbeat.


OOC: If I can't do this as a power feat, I suppose I'll just try to blast Owl.


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## Rybaer (Mar 6, 2007)

cuervo96 said:
			
		

> Soundtrack throws a "cone of amplification" over the area where Fox and Boar were last scene,  trying to cover as much of the room as possible, boosting the sounds as much as he can, listening to see if he can hear anything that may reveal their presence in the room, even a heartbeat.
> 
> 
> OOC: If I can't do this as a power feat, I suppose I'll just try to blast Owl.





ooc - seems like something Soundtrack could reasonably accomplish with the powers he already has...


Soundtrack focuses his attention to the area of the room before him, particularly where Fox and Boar just vanished from sight.  He takes in all the sounds and creates a positive feedback loop, allowing them to be amplified for all to hear.  Everyone in the room can hear the tinkle of the occasional bit of glass falling from the window frames as well as the rubble falling loose from the hole in the floor.  Each other's breathing and shuffling feet are similarly amplified.  Of Fox and Boar, however, there is no sound.


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## Mimic (Mar 10, 2007)

Not being able to see Fox or Boar and knowing that he can't touch Raven, Granite turns his attention towards Owl.

Grabing something solid and large he heaves it at the retreating man.

"Tag, your it."


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## Rybaer (Apr 17, 2007)

Updating in OOC thread.


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