Mutants & Masterminds: The Magisterium - [3.2] Qutb Qonstruction

[Dawn OOC]

Delhi – 7:30 a.m. local time

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Jaunt (hidden/ringer)

Lamia (ringer)

Mary (big show)

Dog (support)

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Invaders had come once again to the city of cities, though this time they came without the intention of conquest through blood. Instead, the idea behind Delhi’s conquest was through the hearts of the Indian people. The Qutb complex had an Islamic temple as well as the Qutub Minar, an iron pillar erected by various Muslim invaders. The minar had degraded, as had numerous other monuments in the complex.

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The area was the most visited site in India, having even more guests than the Taj Mahal. There were plenty of buildings and tombs in poor repair and there would be people around the area. The site hosted a major festival every year and while it wasn’t the right time of year for it, it still added to the number of people who would see the plan’s outcome.

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The plan here was for something a little different: Mary was going to be the focal point. Her ability to restore an important monument had been Lamia’s idea, one that David had liked. So their plan was slightly different than the others and one that would likely be far more satisfying to Mary than any other.

[z024]

They'd gone over a dozen different versions of the plan before settling of a final one. Lamia had been in favor of leveling the current mosque complex and replacing the twenty-seven Hindu and Jain temples that were there before the mosque, but Jaunt had rightly pointed out that that was going to piss off a lot of Muslims both in Delhi and around the world. Pissing people off wasn't the point of the New Delhi mission and Lamia reluctantly conceded the point - about destroying the mosque, at least.

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She used the device David had provided to her, and help from him to learn how to use it, to learn about the history of India since her last incursion to the subcontinent. Her final proposition was that Mary gather attention by restoring the ruins in the complex, while Lamia would work in the crowd, reminding them of the ancient temples that had been lost. Assuming no DEHA combatants showed up before Mary was done, she would then let the crowd (or be prompted by a request from a "local Hindi woman") to remake the old temples.

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The Qutub Complex area was large, with the Bhool Bhulayan Road to the southwest of the complex that bordered the southern edge of the Sanjay Van. it would take a relatively tiny space along the road itself to rebuild the ancient temples and provide New Delhi with a faithfully recreated piece of Hindi history destroyed by the Muslim invaders. She even provided Mary with detailed drawings and descriptions of the temples, gaining a enormous appreciation of "Wikipedia" as a reference resource, complete with pictures of the styles of stone work and statues of the gods and goddesses that had inhabited the temples. They would technically be trespassing on public land, but David seemed to rather like the idea that the Indian government would have to step in and effectively destroy restored history to take the temples down if they got that far.

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The group practiced and prepared for the handful of days between the inception of the plan and today. They researched the ruins, finding artist's renditions of what they would have looked like and matched that up with pictures of the ruins as they were today; then Mary would make miniature versions and the group would inspect them for flaws. Once she had the Qutb ruins down, they moved on to the temples. There were many of them, but they'd been fairly simple as structures, with the majority of complexity in the carvings on the stone, the alters, and the statues. Luckily, most of the carvings followed interlocking repeated patterns or were carvings of people and animals, things Mary was fairly familiar with. Still the days and evenings were quite filled, with Lamia also teaching Mary tidbits of Urdu as they worked on the models, and everyone had a touch of nerves when Tyrone portaled them to an empty copse of trees across the street from the Qutb Complex.

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The two women were dressed elegantly in the local styles, Lamia in a spring green lacy sari outfit and Mary in a more conservative, darker green ensemble. The elder mutant laid a hand on Mary's shoulder and smiled at her. "You are ready," she said confidently. "You will do well at this."

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Outfits

Lamia

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Mary

[Brian Lewis]

Brian had two separate contracts in India that he had to do. One was for the White Star Corp. and was prospecting for new veins of precious metals in the foothills of the Himalayas. The other was for an international non-profit that was drilling water wells for small and poor communities. Only one of the two was footing the bill for him to stay in the capital, and it was the one that was going to pay better. He fully intended to do both, but he figured that he could blow off the non-profit for a while while he paid his bills. Besides, they needed him more than he needed them, right? Besides, his first foray into prospecting had been water for the poor (of course, he was the poor one and the water was for his family's farm during a drought), so it wasn't something that he was alien to... just not what he would turn down a well paying job to do first.

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But all of that was next week and later. For the next few days he was 'deciding', and doing so on the White Star's dime. While he was here, he decided to 'take in' some of the 'scenery'. Hey, even blind people like to hear about the sights, right? So he set out in his pressed button-up shirt, sport coat, slacks and standard white cane to 'see' what there was to experience. He had several pockets that had decent amounts of local currency in them, each denomination folded differently to help in quick identification and to add to his front that he was completely blind.

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And so Brian headed out amongst the throng of people, seeing where the day would take him. As fate would have it, the day took him to the Qutb complex...

[SalmonMax]

Qutb was dizzying. The drills and videos and pictures did nothing to prepare Mary for the experience of being buried in people, with ancient stone rising up in weather-worn plinths and eroded arches all around. That, and the sheer audacity of what they intended, sped her heart and made her breath catch in her throat for a second. She was so desperately afraid. She wanted this so badly.

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She clutched at Lamia's words and held onto them. You are ready. She didn't feel ready, but it helped to hear it. It helped that it came from her. Mary gave the ancient mother a grateful look, the glanced around, seeking a spot that was open enough for what she had in mind.

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A handful of tourists and visitors had to pause as there was suddenly, in their path, a raised area made of finely carved stone, with frescoes similar to those of the rest of the stonework of Qutb. It looked like it belonged there, but it hadn't been there before.

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Then Mary, still fighting butterflies in her stomach that felt like killer whales, pushed through the crowd and climbed up onto the pedestal over the little stairs in the back. She stood now maybe three or four feet above head level. Not towering, but visible from a fair distance. She wasn't exactly in the center, because she'd had to pick a spot where the crowd had thinned. It was close enough though.

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She decided not to give a speech. The noise was already too great. And she was too scared...it wouldn't have force. Instead, Mary just took a deep breath to try to calm herself, closed her eyes, and slowly moved her hands up above her head in a fluid sort of gesture like a plant growing upwards.

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And Qutb was remade.

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It didn't happen all at once. The trials had shown that building the stone outward more slowly helped make sure the old merged correctly with new. Suddenly appearing matter often sheared away, or was weaker where it connected. As a result, it looked as if the old carvings were coming to life. The weight of the ages shuffled away in moments. Moss and lichens vanished. Cracks filled in. Rock lost to rain and erosion and vandalism and the unkind judgment of past generations grew out.

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Loose bricks expanded to fit neatly, and the streaks and damage of time faded...like someone with an invisible squeegee was cleaning them in a single sweeping gesture. Debris and detritus on the ground dwindled and vanished. It was like being stuck in a time-lapse movie of decay, in reverse.

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Like tree branches, the half-crumbled arches began to grow out, questing blindly in the air until they met the other halves and merged. Where necessary, walls reared up out of the ground according to the ancient floorplan...slowly enough for people to get out of the way.

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This was the easy part. The harder part by far was making the scrollwork and carvings. Mary's brain had mutated to store a truely titanic amount of information, but this was more than she'd ever tried before. It wasn't long before she had to leave the pedestal and move around, so she could see the part of the construction she was working on. Where she walked, rebirth followed in her footsteps, spreading in waves around the complex in her vicinity. It helped sometimes to actually touch the stonework...not to help her sense it, but just to feel that connection more viscerally.

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The bulbous spire of the tomb required her to sprout a pillar of rock that grew upwards under her feet, propelling her into the air alongside the building so she could see it more clearly. The grime and wear receded from where she stared, leaving pristine white in its wake.

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She came at last to the giant vertical tower of the mineret, fluted on the sides; intact but so worn and gritty and rough with time that it seemed fragile. Rather than simply smooth it out and restore it to its former appearance, Mary unmade it, from the top. It vanished slowly but surely as though being eaten by an invisible giant. When it was gone, and the crowds that had gathered, and were following her, began crying out, she raised her hands again, and the tower sprouted back where it had been...completely new. A recreation, precisely as the original had been but with all damage gone...as fresh and as new as if it had just been completed. As, in a way, it had been.

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On her pilgrimmage, the fear left Mary. As she walked through the complex, gardening stone, at first the concentration and focus required didn't allow for fear. Later though, near the end of her restoration tour, it felt different. So many people watching...but she didn't feel hate or fear or even the predatory avarice of scientists. She felt wonder and awe. She felt a miracle being born, and it was good. When Mary made another pedestal, and climbed up onto it to look at the throngs of people that had gathered, she had tears running down her face. The good kind of tears. She barely remembered what she'd been taught of Urdu.

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دوست, she said...in a terrible accent. ہم دوست.

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Friends. We are friends.

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"I'm sorry," she added then. "I don't really know...what to say." She waved a hand around at Qutb, at the giant edifice behind her. "This is to show you that we are here. And to show you even though we have been used and kept hidden, we don't have to be enemies. You've all been lied to...by people who have power, and want to use us to stay in power. We don't blame you for what they did. But we ARE here, and we won't be slaves any longer."

[Brian Lewis]

Brian was in the group of tourists that had to stop because a wall was suddenly in their way where no wall had previously been. The first thing that Brian did was look underground, to see where the walls were coming up from. He hadn't heard of any shows or demonstrations. It didn't take him long, however, to see quite clearly that these weren't trick walls or coming up from underground. This was new stone being formed...

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... but that was impossible. Stone didn't just appear out of thin air... but it was...

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Brian used his impossible sight, completely missing the irony, to track down the source of the impossibility. Brian quickly found her. It was a girl, younger than him, that was the source (or at least appeared to be the source) of the phenomenon. He quickly found himself close to the front of the group that was following her as she made her way around the complex, using his cane and his pretense of being blind forgotten as he was caught up in the display. He looked at her and her creation in every spectrum imaginable, macroscopically and microscopically. He looked for any sort of electromagnetic evidence of teleportation, incoming or outgoing signals, or illusions... Anything that would explain this as something more than matter creation ex nihilo... but he didn't find it.

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When she made her statement, he quickly and quietly asked around him, "What did she say?" He asked it in every language he knew, hoping that someone would know English, Spanish, Russian or Arabic. As she finished and he processed what she said, he just had one question that he couldn't help but blurt out. Looking straight at Mary, cane held forgotten at his side, he asked in a voice that was equal parts wonder, dismay, hope and despair, "Who are you?"

[SalmonMax]

Wow, Mary thought, taken aback. That was like...perfect. It's like he read the script.

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Now she could segue into part of the speech David had given her. It should have been comforting, but instead it felt a ltitle disappointing. She'd liked just talking to everyone. She felt a kind of...attachment to them forming, something she'd never felt before and couldn't explain.

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"We've been called a lot of things...we've been here since the beginning," she replied to Brian warmly. "A long time ago, we were called gods. Now, people call us 'mutants.' Each of the major governments in the world has a program that keeps us captive, or trains us to be weapons, or slaves. They keep these things secret, so they can use our power against each other, and sometimes against other people, without anyone knowing. And they keep us secret because if people knew what happened to us..."

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She shook her head, her expression crumpling a little with remembered pain and distress.

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"...it wouldn't be tolerated."

[Brian Lewis]

And with that statement, Brian's enthrallment was broken. The thought of the stuff she'd alluded to happening to him brought him back to reality. His defenses came up, and he quickly resumed the downward gaze and posture of a blind man. However, in his head, his vision wrapped completely around him. Time seemed to slow down, and he scanned the entire crowd and everyone that he could see for any signs of the mysterious people who would do unspeakable things to him if they found out.

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Brian tried to back away, out of the crowd and away from these people that spoke openly about people like him and governments and secret agencies that would hide people from the world for their own purposes. He tried to pay full attention to everybody in a 360 degree radius. The problem was that time seemed to slow down when his vision was like this, and so while he tried to have the uncertain walk of the blind, and he did use his cane, he moved with a grace that would've been remarkable for a normally sighted person.

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Gotta get away before anybody finds out. I'll head back to the hotel, pack, and head out to the field as quick as I can. I'll be miles and miles away by the time that anything breaks out... I hope...

[Jaunt]

From his perch a block away, high atop the Veecon Music & Entertainment building, Jaunt watched it all. No one was around him, no one was there for him to show off to, so he looked down and gave the whole a scene an expression that he felt was hardly worth the miracle he'd witnessed. Awestruck, he simply smiled and mumbled 'Damn girl. Nice job' and continued his observation of the grounds.

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Like Batman, he stoop atop, one leg roped up on the roof's edge, his purple coat flapped in the breeze when it had the opportunity, but for the most part is was a still day. A little less quiet, but still. Then he noticed it: a blind guy leaving the scene. Well, a blind guy who was able to weave in and out of crowds like he knew where everyone was. The cane tapping wasn't fooling him. He'd shared a few words with Mary then was out like a bolt, blind as a bat but gracefully swerving through the throngs of people gathering now to investigate what had just happened. Jaunt's bullshit detector hit 11.

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"Blind guy, talking with Mary. He's bolting." His fingers tapped across his smart phone as me mass texted everyone in his group. "Has mutant all over him. Possibly DEHA. Want me to say 'hi' before he warns the local Cell?"

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The could move, Jaunt had to hand it to him, but he wasn't hard to keep an eye on, not in his haste.

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Brian made it sound in his post that he wasn't being particularly stealthy and Jaunt has a +9 to perception (plus high ground), so if anyone wants Jaunt to engage him, he will.

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Although he's supposed to be low profile this mission, if the guy is DEHA, they already know he's a mutie so no harm done. It's obvious he's not a civ, so Jaunt's cover will remain intact.

[Brian Lewis]

Brian continued to scan everywhere and try to look at everyone. He tried to look at the edge of the crowd, the roads leading to the area, inside every van he saw, and... the skyline. If this was some sort of sting operation or if they really were planning on swooping in and capturing him along with everyone else, surely they'd have snipers or lookouts... and there he was. Granted, he didn't seem to have any binoculars or a rifle or anything, but he definitely appeared to be watching what was going on. He was even standing in a superhero-ish pose... but that just seemed slightly out of place in what Brian's mind clearly saw as a lookout.

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So, he'd finally found one of the people the girl had spoken about. Brian slowed to a stop and looked directly at the lookout. Time returned to normal and his field of vision narrowed until it zoomed in and he could see the man better than most people could see the person standing next to them. He did a quick search on and under his purple coat and in his pockets for guns or badges, but all the guy had of interest was a smartphone.

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The search concluded, Brian felt a little at ease. At least he had spotted one of them, and knew where he was. Now he just had to be on the lookout for others like him. And with that he let his vision zoom back out and expand around him once again. And once again time slowed, but this time Brian was more in control of himself, and actually acted the part of a blind man with a cane walking through a distracted crowd. "Excuse me. Pardon me. Excuse me. Sorry." he mummered in English as he uneasily picked his way through the crowd. All the while he kept an eye out for other people in purple coats or in vans filled with lots of electronic equipment.

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Stargaizer *rolls* 1d20: 19+17: 36

[jameson] 9:07 pm: hmm, all caught up with nowhere to post ...
[stargaizer] 9:07 pm: wow...
[jameson] 9:08 pm: heh
[jameson] 9:08 pm: nice roll
[Tommy OOC] 9:08 pm: DAYUM
[stargaizer] 9:08 pm: sorry, perception roll for Magi. Thanks for the witness Jameson. ,,

2 degrees of success on perception check to spot Jaunt

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Switched from Combat vision to Scopic vision to check out Jaunt. Used penetrates concealment to search for gun/badge, then went back to Combat vision, scanning for people that look out of place, and especially for people in coats like Jaunt's.

[Jaunt]

"Ah, crap..." Jaunt mumbled when Brian looked right at him. Blind or not that was a dead giveaway that someone knew you were there.

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He should have texted the others but he didn't have time or he'd lose the guy. His job was to keep a low profile, and what better way to do that than not be around the scene of the impending media circus. Sure, the blind guy probably had the power to melt his brain and a jacket full of mutant swamp gas grenades on him (oh, how Jaunt loved those!), but he was a valuable part in possibly tracking down where the DEHA might be hiding a cell of mutant 'slaves'.

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In that moment of decision Brian realized why the man wasn't carrying a gun, or a badge. He took three steps and *thoomp* he was gone. Then as Brian passed a few shops along the street he was suddenly greeted by the man from the rooftops. In an instant there was another body on the ground in the sea of people, he walked out casually from a shadowed alcove like he was exiting one of the shops and met Brian's stride shoulder to shoulder like in a spy flick, minus the part where there should be a gun in Brian's side and Jaunt having a terrible Austrian accent or something.

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"Just keep walking Broseph, I doubt a kung fu battle in the street will do either of us any good. I'm not looking to hurt anyone, so lets try and do this all civil n' stuff, cuz I wanna wrap all this up and get some grub, know what I'm saying?" With his hand on the small of Brian's back he stayed close, weaving through the people. If there was a cell in the area that meant two or three more mutants and that meant larger numbers for this grand army Lamia wanted to use to subjugate the masses, which he wasn't cool with, but he'd burn that bridge when he came to it. "So, I'll come out with it... where is your cell? Where are they holding the rest of you?"

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"You must be new." He added casually, to make the conversation a little easier to digest. "Dude, you don't ever stare right at the guy, it's a dead giveaway but mad props stickin' with the whole blind guy routine. The classics never die. No one ever suspects the handicap kid in the corner."

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Since Jaunt doesn't mean any harm and he's not initiating combat, Danger Sense wouldn't apply (just my reasoning). It is possible to sneak up on people with all around vision, you just have to be faster than they can see. While Jaunt doesn't know the guy can see all around him, he is quite adept at moving in close before people have time to consider options. Considering the busy streets (which is why Jaunt came out of an alcove, the angle plays tricks on the eyes) it would make it hard for either Brian or Jaunt to begin a lengthy chase scene which is what Jaunt's trying to capitalize on at the moment. I leave the rest to what the judges say.

[Brian Lewis]

Hey, that guy's coat looks just like... wait a minute, I checked that corner, where did he come from? Why is he following... how does he know about...? Brian thought as Jaunt walked up to him and started his spiel.

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Oh no, they know about me... what do I do? What do I do!?! Brian had no idea what Jaunt was talking about with a cell, but he had a moment of sheer, trapped animal panic. It was only a moment though as the years of playing the blind man came flooding back. Play dumb...

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Brian came to a halting and unsure stop, letting Jaunt's hand on his back push him a little off balance. He turned somewhat in Jaunt's direction, looking a little away and down, like he wasn't sure exactly where he was. He pulled his glasses off, exposing covered over places where his eyes should've been as he spoke in a truly humble voice. "I'm sorry, sir. I think you may have me mistaken for someone else. It should be clear that I haven't been looking at anyone." He started to put his glasses back on, "I have heard that when I'm thinking about something I sometimes appear to be looking at someone or something. I assure you, it is completely coincidental, and I apologize if I disturbed you."

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The best lie is mostly truth... how could this poor person with no eyes possibly be the person your after bad government man who wants to make me a slave?

[Jaunt]

"Cool story bro, and I'mna let you finish, but..." He yanked the strangers arm and led him away and out of the crowds into a small side street that in the America's would have been referred to as an 'alley'. The side street was just large enough for a single car to move through and connected to the rear entrances of several businesses along the adjacent avenues, but was surprisingly clean.

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"We are men of action. Lies do not become us." Okay, so he totally stole that line from The Princess Bride, but he'd been waiting to use it for awhile. Besides, he sounded so cool saying it, that he just had to. "I watched you. You waded through a sea of people and held commentary with that girl. Like you knew, then proceeded to back off and get the hell out of dodge like you're on Interpol's top ten list of examples of who not to grow up to be. The grace with which you moved through that crowd, dude... you knew where everyone was then to ice this bad boy of a cake you stop, look up at me, then proceed to move with greater purpose."

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For a blind guy, you sure are paranoid. I mean c'mon, how many enemies can a blind dude get?" He walked around Brian, circling him like a proper interrogator would to intimidate the truth out of him. Jaunt's aim wasn't to intimidate though, he was confident enough in his claim. To Brian's credit he didn't look in any particular direction as Jaunt walked about him, he had no need since he could see his 'captor' clearly no matter what angle Jaunt stood at. Three sixty vision was kinda cool like that. "I've been at this awhile Matt Murdock, I know what to look for. That fine little damsel out there is my friend, and I plan on hittin' that eventually, so her safety is quite a concern to me. You looked like you had some purpose in your strides, so why don't you quit squatting on my sundae bro and tell me what's up."

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He stopped behind Brian and then the blind man heard the *thoomp* sound, like air being sucked into a vacuum a moment before it sealed shut, and was gone only to suddenly find himself face to face with Jaunt as he reappeared, eye level with the guy (give or take an inch or two) with little regard for Brian's person space. That closeness men get when one's about to start a fight. He went from behind him to in front of him instantly, without crossing the intervening space. It was obvious that his pursuer had...'abilities'. "So I'll try this a different way. Who are you and what's your angle in all this. I don't think you're DEHA, so what are you? Huh? Freelance? Underground?" He leaned in now officially going the intimidation route. "And don't lie to me."

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You'll notice I didn't roll any sort of intimidation check. Mostly because I don't feel it's important in this scene (unless Dawn feels it is, as a player I'm just voicing my point of view as the RPer). Brian can either spill his guts or not, it's not going to make a lick of difference since it's highly doubtful Jaunt would beat up a blind guy in an alleyway. No matter the result of the roll, it's more than likely he'd not follow through anyway. Besides, RP is more fun than rolling anyway. Brian doesn't know anything, but Jaunt doesn't know that and Jaunt isn't going to beat him up, but Brian doesn't know that.

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Oh, Matt Murdock is the secret identity of the comic book hero Daredevil. Jaunt's making a joke about his suspicions as to what Brian's abilities might be.

[Dawn OOC]

“Who is doing this?” The older woman in the crowd could have been Lamia’s mother. She spoke good if strongly accented English. “Who is doing this to you?”

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Mary didn’t get much of a chance to answer, for the crowd swelled with sound and fury – not at Mary, but at the people who hurt her. There were offers to protect her as the passion of the Hindi people rose like a storm. Then one woman offered her baby to Mary for a blessing and the floodgates of requests for aid and benefits from the devi.

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There were some, Lamia noted, who drifted to the backs of the crowd rather than surging to the front. People who seemed to be afraid that Suras walked the lands again.

[z024]

The text from Jaunt pulled a frown from Lamia, but she didn't have a chance to respond before the crowd surged around their new goddess. She would simply have to trust that the mercurial young man could take care of himself. His years of freedom spoke well to that ability.

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Lamia stepped forward towards Mary, and bowed deeply to her. "I will translate your words for you, if you would permit me the honor, holy one?" It was a humble request from a proper Indian woman, but Mary knew Lamia well enough by now to see the play in the offer and the order in the question. She nodded and her mother flowed to her side. Quietly she murmured to Mary, "It seems some know English, so I can only translate what you say if you speak loud enough to be heard. You are doing well."

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"What do I do now? The speech? The other temples?" Mary was whispering so low she was nearly inaudible.

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"देवी वह हमारे लिए एक और उपहार का कहना है कि," Lamia pitched her voice to carry through the crowd. "मंदिरों मस्जिद से पहले, एक बार यहाँ थे. वह फिर से देवताओं के इन घरों रीमेक होगी." She turned and bowed again to Mary, her lips barely moving as she instructed. "Explain the DEHA while we walk to the site." She kept herself bowed, waiting for Mary to take the lead towards the stretch of road and national park not far from Qutb that they had chosen for rebuilding the twenty-seven ancient temples that had been dismantled to build the Qutb complex and mosque when Muslim invaders became Muslim rulers during the centuries of Lamia's captivity.

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Translation

"The devi says that she has another gift for us," Lamia pitched her voice to carry through the crowd. "There were temples here once, before the mosque. She would remake these homes of the gods again."

[SalmonMax]

Right! Temple complex. DEHA. Temples and DEHA.

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Mary couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so good. Had she ever? Lamia said she was doing well! And all these people...looking at her like that. Seeing her create things and loving her for it! She felt giddy, like she wanted to just burst into giggles and run around hugging everyone.

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She suspected though, that Lamia wanted a bit more decorum. That was fine too.

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"Every government of every nation has a secret branch that exists to keep the existence of people like me a secret," Mary said. "A Department of Extra-Human Affairs. There are so many people like me, and we can do so many things...but that power is something that these secret programs want to control completely. So my brothers and sisters are kept like animals in cages. We're traded like livestock. We're used in every way you can imagine...for our power, for our bodies, for the thoughts in our heads."

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She took a deep breath. Just speaking these things, even though she'd already known them, was bumming her out all over again.

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"Your governments...the people who you vote for, the people who you pay taxes to...they are holding my people as slaves. Our suffering is so bad, they have to keep it a secret. You don't even know we're there."

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"Until now."

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They were on the road now, that wound through a light woods away from Qutb. A long time ago, there'd been temples all around here. They'd been taken down...broken and the stones used to make the very complex she'd just restored. There was no trace of them on the surface now. Soil and trees covered anything that might have been here once, up.

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She sighed, not sure how to say what she was feeling. "I don't really want you to feel sorry for us. This isn't about that. You should be angry at what's happening, because...because they're not just talking OUR freedom. They're taking away everything YOU could have gained too! I'm just one...just ONE of all of us, and this is what I can do."

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A temple began rising from the earth, bricks and marble and inlays of lapis swirling into being from nothing, growing out of the ground. A tree too close was first pushed, then uprooted...and then it was gone entirely, giving plenty of space for the temple to finish its spawning.

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"Imagine what could have been, if we'd been free, if your people and mine had been friends all this time."

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"It's not too late for that. We can't go back and change anything, but we can move forward together."

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She threw out her hands and closed her eyes to focus on her sense of matter. There was a wave that spread out from her, invisible in and of itself, but sparking that strangely organic growth of buildings whereever it went. Trees whooshed out of existence, and boulders and everything that kept the ground from being flat, replaced by brand new tiles and soil to smooth the terrain. Elaborate Hindu-style shrines and fountains and holy structures that Mary had studied in books sprouted and unfolded like strange, beautiful flowers. Though she'd claimed there was no going back, the impression created was very much like time travel. As if the whole place had been wrenched out of history from thousands of years ago, and dropped right here into the present.

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"Today, we are called mutants, but what we are is people. We exist, and we need to be free. Like you. Please spread the word about us, and about the Department of Extra-Human Affairs. DEHA. They're secret, but they're big too. Once people know what to look for, they can't hide for long. Help me rebuild my people's future, like I've rebuilt your past."

,,

Her voice shook by the end of her speech, but not with fear. Later on she'd be surprised to find the passion in herself that she did...surprised that underneath her perpetual befuddlement was a river that had become a torrent, like hot water coursing under the surface of a frozen lake. She believed in this cause. She wanted them to believe in it too.

[Brian Lewis]

The jerk by his arm actually caught him off guard, and he turned off his sight (equivalent of closing his eyes) for a moment both from the shock and so that the stumble would be completely real. And while he could see Jaunt walking completely around him, he did keep an ear towards him most of the time as he walked, head cocked to show that he was listening intently.

,,

Whether it was Jaunt's intent to intimidate or not, Brian looked and acted genuinely afraid. And it was only partly an act. The more Jaunt tried to get information that Brian had no idea about, the heavier the shackles around his wrists and ankles felt. There was some genuine fear in his voice as he replied, and the cower wasn't completely fake. "Sir, I honestly have no idea what you're talking about. I assure I'm not this Matt guy you're looking for, my name's Brian. If you're after money or jewelery, take them..." And he started reaching into his pockets and rummaging around. Maybe this will convince him that he's followed the wrong guy... wonder how many blind people there are on the streets of New Delhi... Is this what I get for putting off that water well charity job? I didn't think my karma was that bad!

,,

The fact that Jaunt teleported in front of him wasn't lost on him, but he was already shaken enough, and having watched Mary recreate the temple followed closely by the information that there were bad people out to get him so that they could do unspeakable things to him had already maxed out his freak out meter for the day.

[Jaunt]

"What?" Jaunt looked at him puzzled then slapped him upside his head (gently), in the typical 'duh' fashion. "No, no... if this was a robbery broseph I'd have robbed you by now, we'd not be swappin' words."

,,

The guy was being adamant, despite the obvious truths and Jaunt was content to let him have his fantasy. He wasn't DEHA, or Jaunt would be running for his life right now the moment whoever was holding this guys leash realized who he was talking to. Capturing Jaunt, alive, was pretty much promotion level incentive. He sighed and with his hands on his waist paced around a bit in frustration. Short of lobbing a brick at this guys head, there was no way to get him to give up his secret. "Matt Murdock," He started. "It's this comic book guy's secret identity. Calls himself Daredevil. He's a blind guy, but he can see sounds, like radar."

,,

With that he started a casual stride to the mouth of the alley, a bit frustrated, but defeated. "I know a Magister when I see one. Special people with special powers, like me. I don't know what your game is bro, but believe it or not, I'm one of the good guys. So lie to me, lie to the world, hell, lie to yourself, I don't care. Have it your way Matty, I'll sleep tonight knowing I tried."

,,

He waved a hand behind him in a farewell. "I'm going to Cheri One, it's a coffee house not far from here. You have til I finish my lunch to find your balls and decide if you want anything I've said to make sense to you. I've been away from the others too long. Ball's in your court, Matty. The coffee's on me."

,,

Right in plain sight of Brian, Jaunt simply blinked out leaving him to see the tell tale jump scar that Jaunt left behind briefly. A wavering distortion of space about the size of a baseball that grew smaller and smaller until it was gone a few seconds later.

[Brian Lewis]

Brian deftly continued his blind man routine as he made his way over to a trashcan in the alleyway and used it as an impromptu seat. Coffee? He did say he was with the girl... He didn't have a gun or badge... It could still be a trap... He has powers too though... But some of the bad guys have powers, didn't that lady say?... but if he is with her, and you trust her... maybe I shouldn't trust her, I know nothing about her except she pulled a public stunt like she did...

Brian shook his head. He didn't know what to believe. He didn't know what to think or do. This could be a trap, his life could be over if he went... of course, it could be over already and he just didn't know it yet. Who knew? Brian sure didn't. He could see everything but the future.

Brian let his sight extend, searching out the coffee shop that the disappearing man talked about. Like he said, it wasn't far. Like he said, he appeared to be waiting at a table for two and had a menu. Still... Brian searched every person in that cafe for signs of guns, badges, handcuffs, grenades, wires, or anything else that he'd ever seen in any spy movie he'd ever seen. He checked the walls for cameras, microphones, or anything that looked out of place. For all his searching he found nothing.

Jaunt was about halfway finished with his meal by the time Brian had finished searching. He had to hurry if he wanted to catch this mysterious man before he disappeared again; if he did, it wouldn't be easy finding him, even for Brian.

As Jaunt was finishing his meal, a blind man entered the establishment. He wore what had probably been a pressed button-up shirt this morning, already it showed the wrinkles of the day, sport coat folded over one arm, slacks, black sunglasses and a standard white cane. A waitress, seeing the white cane quickly came over to help him, and after some exchanged words lead him over to Jaunt's table. "Here?" the man asked as the waitress put his hand on the back of the chair.

"Yes," she replied in a thick accent. "Is there anything that I can get you?"

"Just a bottle of water right now. And could you check if you have any braille menus?"

"Certainly, sir." She replied and walked off.

After she'd left Brian faced Jaunt, still not looking exactly at him. "She already sounds like she's going to get a good tip. Sorry I'm late, I had a couple of things I needed to look into before I came." The fear that Jaunt had heard earlier was completely gone from his voice as he spoke. From the tone, it sounded like they'd been friends for years and were just having a friendly coffee to catch up. His next phrase had a slight ring of practice to it, like he'd been working on it during the entire walk over here. Apparently he was trying to be sly or covert or something and trying to talk in code or otherwise hide exactly what the topic of their conversation was. "So, you had some news you were going to tell me?"

[Jaunt]

"Bottled water? Seriously?" Jaunt shook his head shamefully while he polished off the remainder of his sandwich. "Indian coffee is said to be the finest shade grown coffee anywhere in the world. Which I'm inclined to agree, it's better than Brazilian coffee. More richer. That's news. How so? Because I'm sire you didn't know that." He cocked his head and smirked. "Why do I assume you didn't know that? Because you just walked into a coffee house and ordered bottled water. Christ dude, you're heartless... you're practically taking money right out of the pockets of all those poor Indian coffee growers who are busting their ass. Little coffee elves busting their ass in their fields chanting 'durka durka' just for you.... and you order water?"

,,

He took a sip of his coffee, savoring the aroma and flavor for a moment before glaring at Brian like he suddenly had horns and pitch fork in his hands. "Bastard."

,,

"Anyway," He changed topic suddenly, but continued to enjoy his coffee. "I'll tell you what isn't news: that you have super human abilities and you're being hunted by someone or a group of someones. Am I close?" He didn't wait for an answer and just pressed on. "I can tell you a great deal but you have to stop with the crap. Quit the pretending and don't lie to me, because I'll know and I'm perfectly content to let you remain in the dark on what's going and be on my my merry way. Because trust me, broseph, the next guys who find you won't be kind enough to buy you a coff- a bottled water." He shook his head disdainfully and mumbled. "Frickin' water... at a coffee house, for cryin' out loud."

,,

"So here's the rub: I'm special, like you. Like that girl who just did all that cool stuff out there and like my buddies who are watching her back while we have this sit down enjoying or fine blend of... oh, wait... you ordered water." Apparently he was never going to let it go. "I've been hunted ever since I escaped from a compound that was designed to contain people like us. They lock us away, finding ways to make use of our abilities for the sake of human kind, but keeping us as slaves in the process. And if they can't make use of you, well, they make a nice little home for you in a cell and keep you there til you expire or escape. So, I understand your caution, I do. I've been hunted now for over six years."

,,

He held up his cup to the server to inform her he was ready for another. "Man, I'mna have to piss like mad after this, but this stuff is so good." His finger jabbed into the table making a thumping sound. "And I better see some coffee go down that gullet before we leave or I'm telling all these people that you just use the blind guy routine as a way to lure small children into your van." Something told Brian he was serious... "I'm Jaunt, by the way. It's not my birth name, but it's my real name, for obvious reasons. I'm a teleporter, I can move distances without passing the space in between two points. It's kinda cool being able to circumvent the globe in a couple of minutes. So, what about you, blind man?"

[Brian Lewis]

There was a swirl of emotions going through Brian as he listened to Jaunt. Everything from excitement and elation at the new world that was open to him, to fear and dread at the new world that was open to him, to annoyance that was building to anger at Jaunt's attitude.

,,

So, trying to stifle his annoyance in order to not run his informant away, Brian replied, still not looking directly at him... for the sake of the rest of the patrons in the cafe. "First, Jaunt, I ordered what I am used to until I can get a menu to decide what I want to try, so give it a rest. Second, you're the first person to come after me, that I know of. Thirdly, magicians hate me..." Brian was interrupted by the waitress bringing Jaunt his cup number next and Brian his menu. They both thanked their waitress and were quickly relatively alone again.

,,

"So, as I was saying... ooh, this sounds good... magicians hate me, but prospectors love me. I can see pretty much everything, from the beating of your heart to the lunar landers on the moon, to the atomic structure of the sugar in that packet two tables over." Brian's fingers never stopped rubbing across the menu as he talked

,,

He let what he had said sink in a little before summing up. "So, I've lived thus far ignorant of a separate, secret, hidden world, and that world has apparently been ignorant of me. Until today, when both worlds have apparently been rocked by their convergence..." He let that hang for just a moment before adding, completely deadpan, "Would you mind waiving the waitress over here, I think I'm ready to order."

[Jaunt]

"Then order," Jaunt said casually. He held his hands up in a mock shrug as if to say he wasn't going to do it for him. "Hell, bro, it ain't like you can't see where the server is. How'd you flag down a server before we met? Hasn't been that long, broseph, I'm sure it'll come back to you."

,,

He waited for a second for Brian to take control of the situation and raise his hand for the server. "So, now you have me curious... how have you survived this long? I mean, blind people don't really venture out much, they learn the lay of the land and that's usually never more than a hundred yards or so, because they have to memorize things without sight. Here you are walking down unfamiliar roads like you've lived here your whole life. And I can tell you haven't because you haven't been here long enough to develop an accent."

,,

They're server approached, having taken a special interest in the table with the blind man. "Uh, he's ready," Jaunt flashed the lovely indian woman a smile and Brian could tell he was the 'charm the pants off them' sorta guy. "And if you could, I'd really like some galub jamun, please... did I say that right?"

,,

She laughed the laugh of a young lady slowly being smitten and Brian easily noticed that Jaunt messed the words up on purpose. "Gulab," She corrected him. "But you were very close."

,,

"Ah, well," He smirked and met her eyes and she bashfully looked away. "I'm learning, slowly but surely." He nodded to Brian and her attention went in the Brianwardly direction, but Jaunt kept speaking to her. "Yer up, Bry-Bry. Bry is going through a tough time right now, that whole self pleasuring urban legend thing they talk about... yeah. Turned out it wasn't a legend. Poor guy. I'm taking him out to get his mind, and hands, off things."

,,

Without knowing that Brian could actually see her expression it went from pretty and cheerful to shocked and aghast.

,,

Jaunt is a bit of an ass with a mouth that doesn't stop running. He's hard to get used to. Keep in mind, these sorts of jokes are funny to him. I in no way expect them to funny to others.

[Dawn OOC]

In the Restaurant

An older man shoved through the doors and bee-lined for their table. He wasn’t looking at Jaunt or Brian; his eyes were on their waitress. The girl blinked and said, “Pita?” She was surprised but not alarmed by him, even when he grabbed her arm, speaking in rapid Hindi. Jaunt, who knew a smattering of words from all his travel, caught one of interest: bhay, or danger.

,,

As he started to draw her out of the restaurant, the man glanced at the table and caught sight of Jaunt. His eyes widened in fear; he pushed the waitress behind him and drew a gun from his jacket. “Jaunt hona idhar!” he shouted, pushing the woman toward the door and shouting, “Taani, door rehna!”

,,

Outside

The crowd shuddered and moved suddenly, like herd animals swinging wide to avoid a predator. The predator in his case was a woman. She was young and Indian, wearing a traditional sari and with her long hair swinging behind her. Her normalcy ended there, for she was partially transparent. The only solid thing about her was the silver collar around her neck.

,,

By her side walked a man so white and pale he might have been an albino; his coloring looked odd in the black sherwani, the long coat traditional to northern India. Cool blue eyes raked over the group before settling on Mary. A silver collar adorned his throat as well.

,,

The young mutant tensed, ready for an attack. Instead of striking at her, the two stopped a short distance from her. “She’s right,” the pale man said with a soft eastern Europe accent. “DEHA has taken us captive but today, I am free.” Reaching up, he grasped his collar and pulled. The explosive inside his collar detonated instantly from the ‘tampering’ and his head turned into a fine red mist.

,,

The crowd screamed and drew back as one. They didn’t flee; they looked to Mary for what to do. The woman flinched as his blood passed through her but simply folded her hands and bowed her head. She waited for the moment when DEHA would ignite her collar and end her life, too.

,,

At the edges of the crowd, a man on a bullhorn began to demand that the crowd disperse. From her position, Mary could see rapid responders in their familiar gear among them.

,,

Notes

Mary, take 1 HP because I denied you the opportunity to prevent Gumijas's death, even though Mary could have saved it.

,,

Everyone: initiatives. There will still be fighting.

[Brian Lewis]

Brian cocked his head and raised an eyebrow in Jaunt's general direction. His tone was sarcastic and familiar (except for an early stumble), "Really Ja..oe, that's what you're going with today?" He turned toward the waitress' voice, "I'm sorry ma'am. My friend here is an ass who doesn't know when to shutup." Oh my word! What is this guy thinking!?! Really!?! Maybe I was better off alone!

,,

He took a deep breath to cover his inner monologue, and was about to place his order when it hit the fan. He listened to everything that was going on, understood little to nothing, and once the commotion had moved temporarily towards the door asked Jaunt, "What's going on?" The sudden fear was evident in his voice.

,,

Brian expanded his sight and once again time slowed down. He was looking for a threat that had caused this uproar, and so, while waiting on Jaunt's response was the first to yell out, "Gun!" (though he didn't specify where the gun was, inexperienced as he was in life threatening situations)

,,

Switching from normal vision to combat vision.

,,

[stargaizer] 10:04 pm: Magi init
[Carver] 10:04 pm: Hey, SG
Stargaizer *rolls* 1d20: 10+1: 11
[stargaizer] 10:05 pm: well, it's not great, but at least it's average...
[Tommy OOC] 10:11 pm: Yeah.
[Tommy OOC] 10:11 pm: 11 is a decent number.

[Jaunt]

"For crying out loud... seriously?" Jaunt rolled his eye and looked more inconvenienced than anything else. Then he gave Brian a confused look and buried his face in his palm, massaging his temples finally with his thumb and middle finger. "I thought you were blind? No Oscar for you."

,,

Fearlessly he stood up, his palms out, and casually spoke to the guy waving the gun in his general direction. "Okay pal, look, I don't speak Hindi all that well, so if you know English, use it." Jaunt would really like the world to believe he was no hero when the fact was he had a chivalry streak a mile wide. "I can't let you take the little lady, she was just about to take our order. There's easier ways to get dates you know."

,,

Revenant *rolls* 1d20: 10+8: 18

,,

Jaunt's Initiative bonus is really +16. I only used +8 because he's trying not to be super human at the moment. I imagine someone moving at a +16 would be insanely fast. At a +8 he's like a Kung Fu Master (+4 Agi mod + Improved Initiative Advantage) but still believable for a human.

[SalmonMax]

Mary's mouth fell open in horror as the man, the mutant, committed suicide before her very eyes.

,,

"No!" she shouted, too late. "You don't...have to..." Her hand flew up over her mouth and tears welled up in her eyes.

,,

There was no time for mourning, but she looked at the other one, the one he'd been with. The woman.

,,

"We can get rid of the collars," she pleaded. "You don't have to die to be free!"

,,

Init time.

SalmonMax *rolls* 1d20: 16: 16

[z024]

Lamia painted her expression into one of surprise and horror, cleaving close to Mary as if seeking shelter from the young goddess. Inwardly, she mourned and honored the sacrifice the white-haired descendant of hers had made. The truth of Mary's words and of the DEHA's cruelty was forever imprinted on the minds of the humans there now because of his action. She slid her hand into the purse hanging from her shoulder, fumbling with the phone there until she had the 'panic button' pulled up and activated as David had shown her how to do. It sent a message to the phones of everyone that had come to India together - and to David, she was pretty sure - letting them know that DEHA had arrived in force.

,,

Mechanics

Malachite *rolls* 1d20: 13+5: 18

Hero Points: 1/1

Conditions: None

[Dawn OOC]

Inside the Restaurant

People had naturally reacted with fear when the gun had been pulled. Jaunt saw a variety of reactions, familiar to him after years of people watching in various scenarios. Most ducked under or behind something; some of them whipped out phones. He could hear a lot of buttons being pushed, probably dialing 108, the area’s emergency number. A little unnecessary, Jaunt thought after a quick glance at his phone to see the text from Lamia, given that DEHA is here.

,,

“Hands up and lay on the floor!” The man shouted his order is acceptable English, though Jaunt could hear the clipped sound of British English in his voice.

,,

The girl tugged at his arm and said something in Hindi; the man quickly answered her and she started for the door. Whatever he’d said had made the Hindi-speakers in the crowd take another look at Jaunt, and it wasn’t a friendly look.

,,

Brian found himself blissfully ignored by pretty much everyone—for now.

,,

Initiative for this scene only

Jaunt - 18

Rapid Responders - 16

Parantapa - 13

Brian - 11

Taani - 11

Soldiers - 5

Crowd - 5

PC Required Rolls & Notes

Please include your first round of actions in your next post. Jaunt, if you get on the ground, you won’t be shot at.

,,

---

,,

Outside

The loudspeakers continued to order people to disperse, not that many obeyed the call. The crowd around Lamia and Mary had been worked up into a fury; wherever the two women looked, they saw angry faces. There was even anger on the expressions of the Sikh man, who took off his kurta, his long overcoat, to lay carefully over the fallen mutant’s headless body. His undershirt was stark white, save where the mutant’s blood had soaked through his dark blue outer tunic. When he straightened, he’d drawn his ceremonial kirpan (knife) as well, and looked ready to use it.

,,

“If you are going to remove the collar, please do so quickly,” the mutant told Mary. “If this does not work, remember my name is Saniya.” Then she bowed her head again, to wait for her fate.

,,

Initiatives for this scene only

Lamia - 18

Vayu - 17

Mary - 16

Rapid Responders - 16

Soldiers - 5

Crowd – 5 [

Full Initiatives for later

Jaunt - 18

Lamia - 18

Vayu - 17

Mary - 16

Rapid Responders - 16

Parantapa - 13

Brian - 11

Taani - 11

Soldiers - 5

Crowd – 5

'PC Required Rolls & Notes

Please include your first round of actions in your next post.

[Jaunt]

By now he'd had enough. He could understand the girl's father being a bit protective, even over protective, but he was at the end of his rope. What was wrong with people these days? Just barge in and start waving a gun in someone's face. Seriously?!

,,

Thankfully, the DEHA had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on training him in various forms of martial arts that he'd blended into his own style of teleportation combat. Sure, Jaunt refused to take a life, but all thanks to the DEHA, Jaunt knew over 400 ways to make someone wish they were dead. Tax dollars at work. (sideways winky face)

,,

He kept his hands out where the guy could see them, palms open showing no signs of hostility. "Look, you want to protect your daughter, I get it, but whatever you've heard, it's not true. I'm not a bad guy." The rest was a blur. Jaunt didn't have to teleport to move fast, Jaunt was nothing but speed, a bottomless font of energy. With top tier training and an inhuman advantage Jaunt's hand gripped the pistol and in one swift motion slid the slide back, ejecting the chambered bullet. With a twist of his wrist the man was forced to let go or suffer a broken finger.

,,

It all happened so fast that Jaunt had the magazine and both the ejected chambered rounds in the palm of his hand before the man realized that he'd been disarmed. Stunned, he looked to Jaunt just as Jaunt was handing him back his sidearm, grip first, minus the mag and two bullets which swiftly found their way into Jaunt's pocket. There was a compassionate tone in his voice, despite the man now knowing Jaunt could probably kill him at the drop of a coin. "I don't want any trouble. My friend and I just want to leave. Family is a blessing, sir. Go and be with yours, please."

,,

Standard Action -

Jaunt, disarm attempt.

Roll(1d20)+7: 16,+7 Total:23

,,

Parantapa, reflexive resistance to disarm

Roll(1d20)+1: 9,+1 Total:10

,,

Jaunt wins.

,,

No move action taken (I counted the 'charge' a 5 foot step considering the close confines of the shoppe.

Free Action - gaining control of the weapon and giving it back (I took some liberty here, since the book doesn't assume you'd just hand it back to them), dialogue.

[SalmonMax]

Mary swallowed hard. Saniya. It was a pretty name. It would be even worse to lose her, knowing it. The collars were devilish in their make...triggering at the first sign of trouble. Fast. She was 'one for two' on her previous attempts to get rid of them Not the best odds.

,,

She focused on the collar, letting awareness of it sift into her mind. It wasn't just an explosive device. It was several of them, each with its own entire triggering mechanism and bomb. Triggering one would trigger the others...but any one of them could do the job. Fading the entire thing at the same time, before any had time to go off...

,,

It wasn't easy, even for Mary.

,,

There was a heartstopping moment, when she realized that a trigger had been set off. A signal passed through wire at the speed of light, even as the mechanism that spawned it vanished.

,,

After it was over, Mary wasn't sure if she'd managed to stop it, or if it was sheer luck that the wire had vanished an instant before it carried the signal through. Her mind was fast, but not that fast...the process once started propgated on its own. Luck then. Saniya lived because of luck.

,,

But she lived.

,,

The collar evanesced and was gone, leaving the mutant without its constant threat. No bomb to destroy her at a finger's press. No drug to render her helpless and at the whim of her captors.

,,

Mary went to where Lamia stood, her eyes still on Saniya. "You have machines in you too, little radios. I can get rid of them as well, but..." she looked around quickly. "We should go. More will come."

,,

[salmonMax] 4:07 pm: Alright, Makin' Mary's roll. She will not try to preserve the collar...though it strikes me that she might be able to recreate one regardless...

Anyway. Perception!
SalmonMax *rolls* 1d20: 3+10: 13
[salmonMax] 4:07 pm: lol! Hero point!
[Lobby]: Abyss Phantasia has entered at 4:07 pm
SalmonMax *rolls* 1d20: 17+10: 27
[salmonMax] 4:07 pm: BETTER ,,

[salmonMax] 4:16 pm: And since I'm at it...here's a roll for the tracking implants in that mutant too.
SalmonMax *rolls* 1d20: 9+10: 19

[Brian Lewis]

Brian backed away from Jaunt. He made his way to the wall, towards the front of the shop. He tried to be as unobtrusive as he could and draw as little attention as he could.

,,

Once at the wall, he looked through the walls of the shop and searched for anybody that looked like they were officials coming to the scene.

,,

Move action: move

Standard action: search

,,

Still using combat vision