ABERRANT: WEIRDER STUFF SEASON TWO - EPISODE ONE - "WELCOME TO THE NEW AGE"

[Kia Mizuki]

"Oh no," Kia said sympathetically, "No, she's fine. She was scared too, but she's fine. She's like us, like you."

She had a lot of questions...why was he being forced to live in this sewer for one...but tried to stay focused on the most immediate ones. Digging into unpleasant things could wreck everything.

"My friends and I, we're going to stop the Crusher. Once we have...well there's more we can talk about then. For now, just...what's your name? Like I said, I'm Kia. This is Lilly."

[Abel Cross]

Abel watched as Jeane summoned greatsword of pure quantum energy,  and nodded, even as his own personal defense shield flared into life.   "Now that's an interesting power."  It was true, Alec had something similar, that served as the basis for the weapons he and Sean had made, but this was somehow different.   He'd revisit it after the coming battle.   He brought up his other shield, a movable wall of telekinetic force, so he could give Jeane some cover, and took hold of one of the cylindrical grips at his side, but he didn't light it up just yet, This would be the first time he used it in a real non-training situation, and he was glad the area was deserted.

"Stay on this side of the shield Jeane, until we know what exactly we're dealing with."  He wasn't as concerned with Proteus, knowing what his powers were, He was likely the one who would be hardest to hurt here.

Abel activates multitasking for the scene, and both versions of his forcefield, one for protecting himself, and the other to protect Jeane.    (7 and 5 successes respectively (+21B/L/A) and (+17 B/L)) 

[WS ST]

Spoiler

The boy takes another long swallow from the Dr Pepper bottle then opens a small bag of chips. He seems rather unconcerned about anything. "Kyle. Your pretty."

[Lilly Pryor]

 

"It's nice to meet you Kyle." Lilly said with a smile, having finally gotten a name from the boy, though her was slightly minimized due to the frown she was still holding back.

"You see thing, like our head talking? That is so cool. I can do things too, but nothing as cool as that." Lilly said as she pushed up the sleeve of her hoody to reveal her bare arm which then sprouted a coat of fur. "I can change my body and stuff." she said, offering her forearm to the boy to pet.

Lilly looked around, fighting even more to hold back the frown as she sniffled once. "Is that why are living down here? To hide from the Crusher?" she asked.

"The people in the car, or me and Kia, or maybe all of us together, are going to stop the Crusher. Especially if he is hurting or scaring people. The people in the car, they're our friends, and the girl is okay. She understands she startled you. She just thought you might be thirsty so she offered you some water. She is nice, like us." she said with a smile as she sat down.

"Those people though, in the car, they are our friends. We came all the way here, from Montana, and some even farther, just to look for you. We were worried about you, and wanted to make sure you were okay." Lilly said as she opened a bag of M&Ms, poured a few in her hand, and selected one with her other hand to pop in her mouth. "You see, there are not many like us," she said as she crunched on a M&M, "so we try to make friends with them and help them, make sure they are okay, give them a safe place to live if they want, help them learn to use their abilities better and all that. We help people"

Lilly held out her opened palm partially covered in M&Ms and held it out toward Kyle. "We were hoping that you might want to be our friend too." she said with a hopeful smile.

[WS ST]

Kyle never takes his eyes off Lilly's face but she feels a slight brush against her palm as the candies fly from her opened hand and float to the boy's open and waiting mouth. His eyes light up as he chews. "Whats ... Montana?" he asks around the mouthful of chocolate.

Sage, Proteus, and Jeane avoided being seen as they made their way onto the rocky shore  It wasn't much of a beach here the surf crashed onto the rocks sending spray which the wind carried onto them making their clothes damp. <Kia, what does this crusher look like and do we know where it is coming from?>  Sage asked over open guild chat.

Spoiler

y'all might want to consider bringing the new members of the them into guild chat

 

[Abel Cross]

Abel was looking around, his senses on high alert for anything, any change that heralded the coming threat, and he came to a decision.   <Lily, Kia, I'm going to bring in Charlie and Jeane, at least for now, so they can coordinate better for this fight.   I can't be shouting orders at them all the time,  and we all know how effective it is for us all to be on the same page.>

Instant communication was a major benefit for them, especially in a fight, so they could all stay on the same page.  To that end, Abel looked to Charlie and Jeane.   "I have something I can do that will allow us all to communicate flawlessly and instantly.  It will also allow you to contact the other Irregulars as needed too.  Effectively, I will be linking your minds to ours.   If you agree to this, great, I will proceed, but if not, so be it.  The choice is yours."  His voice was kept low, so that only they could hear him.  He'd initially considered saying it via telepathy, but he wanted them to choose if they wanted to do this.

[Jeane]

Attempting to not break their stealth while carrying a glowing, lightning-sparking great sword, Jeane couldn't help but snort in amusement.

"What happened to needing parental permission to try and join you? This sounds pretty definite to me," she whispered back with a grin, "Yeah. Hit me."

He, well, maybe someone else if they had come up with the idea over their mental live stream, thought she was good enough to be worth connecting her brain to. Happy butterflies danced in her thoughts at this validation, further pushing down any anxiety she was feeling. Jeane had a new Crew to impress, fledgling or no.

[Charlie Cole]

"I'd wondered about that." Proteus told Sage. "Well, I'm an Irregular, aren't I? Link me up." Proteus scooped up a stray pebble as they made their way over. Like he said, it was far too easy to have an array of usable substances at hand for transformation.

[Abel Cross]

Abel nodded, and with that he reached out to both of their minds.   Given his experience, it was relatively easy to connect the two of them to guild chat, and within a moment, they both heard him speak clearly within their heads, though his lips didn't move.   <Welcome to Guild Chat.   We ask that you not tell anyone outside of it about it, as it has proven to be very useful to us all.  You can of course form private links with anyone, or simply use this main channel to speak to everyone.>

It was a very odd sensation to hear him speak in their minds, but all the same they got the impression that that was all it was.  <We only share what we want to share through GC, and yes, you can shut the doors to the others if you wish, or even close your own door.  There's alot more to know of course, but for now, this should do.>

 

[Lilly Pryor]

"I am going to talk in my head to my friend to help warn them about the crusher, okay?" she said to the boy.

< Hey guys, we are trying to get some info about the crusher from the boy, but he either has a short attention span or is just not wanting to answer, so we do not have any additonal infor right now, but we will keep trying. If you think you might need some help, I can send one or more Vanguards. > she thought to Guild Chat, before adding, < And welcome Charlie and... Jeane, is it? I'm Lilly, but you probably know me as Vanguard. I am here with Kia. >

< Hi! > Kia thought in a cheerful greeting to the others.

< You probably know her as Chimera. Just letting you know, we only get in Guild Chat what you send. We cannot use it to read your thoughts, invade your mind or spy on you or anything. It's like a mental Teamchat server. It takes some getting used to, trust me, I know. You can also send images, impressions and other stuff too if you want. Oh! And so you know Jeane, he did not mean to hurt you yesterday. You just started him and he thought you might be the crusher. He even asked if you were okay. >

"Montana is another state, far from here. It is very pretty with lots of nice people. It is where we and our friends live and is very far away from the crusher. We even went to school there. We can take you there if you want, and get you nice place to stay and some clean clothes and new toys, if you would like. Would you like to come to Montana with us?" Lilly asked and poured some more M&Ms out onto her palm, offering Kyle some more.

[Jeane]

Television had lied to Jeane. There was something deeply odd about a voice by-passing her ears entirely with how keyed up she was with this mysterious crusher in the area. The blonde daredevil jerked straight up at the silent conversation in her head, nearly dropping her sword in the process. Then she grimaced and tried to push a 'hello' back. She didn't quite get it right.

The Irregulars got a raw stream of bubbling excitement and nervous determination interposed with stuttering, broken snatches of old scuffles, jumps, and tumbles, the younger girl gearing herself up for the fight by subconsciously reviewing every trick she knew and praying that it would be enough.

<...mN iT,> came back the first actual words over the link, distorted as they were by the subsiding emotional vomit straight from Jeane's head bereft of any filter.

Blushing in embarrassment, she tried again, message still Dopplering with emotional feedback. <hI. i'M jEaNe. GrEAt To MeEt YOu. yOU HAve No IDEA hoW cOOl tHis IS FoR mE. mEETING YOU thAT iS. NoT the unknown moNSTer, tHAT iS.>

[Kia Mizuki]

Kia's 'laughter' wasn't a 'ha ha ha' on the link, but her amusement shone through it like the sound a glass bell might make, clear and shivery and fresh.

<Guys, I don't think he really knows what the Crusher is. He said he 'saw' it in his head. Maybe like a psychic vision or something? Abel, his powers might be a little like yours!>

[WS ST]

KYLE"S HIDEOUT

A moment ago

Kyle ignored the M&Ms in Lilly's hand, instead picking up something else that he hadn't tried yet off the table. "I don't want to go anywhere. This is where I am." It was a granola bar, he took one bite and tossed it back on the table. "Crusher's here." He gets a screwed up look of concentration on his face as he stares back down the drain pipe they had come through. "There he won't be able to bother us now."

"I thought you said he..it was going after our friends." Kai said.

"It is now. He can't smell us but the girl is doing something and he can smell that."

ON THE SHORE

Present

Charlie was picking still picking up pebbles and rocks looking for the right one. Jeane was swinging her sword the blade almost as long as her, quantum lightning casting a red glow about the girl even in the light of day.

Abel watched her and felt strange he really wasn't all that much older than her probably a year at the most but she seemed so much like a kid...

BOOM!

The sound reminded him of Avenger taking off when she was not in the mood to hide her powers, which was pretty much always when she still had them. It took only a split second for him to locate the source. Something was arcing into the sky about 2 or 3 miles away. It's origin was probably near where Lilly and Kia were...

 

 

[Sean Cassidy]

UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK CITY

(the present)

Sean watched Pandora depart, a faint frown gracing her lips. Her superhuman abilities may not have been as blatant as the other Irregulars and many other Keys and in a direct confrontation she would be at a disadvantage, but her talents lay in other directions, which didn't mean they were lesser. To most, the technology and devices she was capable of developing may as well have been magic, and she was willing to share them. For the most part.

She wasn't bending over backwards trying to make people happy, she was trying to encourage them to invest bettering themselves and the world around them. People were more inclined to do so when they were happy and it was strengthened when it aligned with their own enlightened self-interest. Happiness was a convenient - and gratifying - byproduct.

Her eyes narrowed slightly, thinking of self-interest and Dr. Rashoud. Pandora urging her to consider the Doctor's suggestion was just making her dig in her heels against the idea. A... nodeoctomy, I suppose? A nodeoctomy seemed like an extreme measure as yet and she found it curious the Dr. Rashoud would suggest it so soon. Hmmm...

"Ms. Cassidy?"

"Yes?"

The UN page felt himself stiffen at the sound of that incredible voice and he swallowed when those piercing, enchanting turquoise eyes were leveled at him. Her small frown disappeared behind an expression of polite inquiry so smoothly he almost believed he had only imagined it. The woman known as Savant may have been a few years younger than himself, but she carried herself with such self-possession and her eyes held such knowing, that he felt half a boy.

"The Committee, it has reconvened and it ready for you."

"Excellent." About time. Sean flowed to her feet and smoothed her skirt and adjusted her suit jacket just so. "Thank you for informing me."

"If you will follow me?"

Sean flashed the page a brief smile and nodded for him to lead the way, though she knew it already. As they approached the audience chamber, with each step, the click of her heels grew more sonorous and poignant, her presence become more palpable and enthralling. The committee believed she was coming to address them purely on the matter of the Irregulars and their connection to the American government and military and ostensibly, it was. But she intended to make it more than that, laying groundwork and pulling threads for later events and goals. She had researched every member of the committee and spoke their languages fluently so she could address them individually and en mass most effectively.

The woman who strode pass the page into the audience chamber was something tangibly more than human even as she conveyed the sense that she was an exemplar of humanity. Her rich and melodious voice filled the room with resonant music without the need of the microphone on the lectern.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the Committee, thank-you for allowing me to speak with you today and this important matter..."

[WS ST]

Norfolk, VA
In a Gourmet Burger Joint

On 4/4/2018 at 1:54 PM, Tease said:

Darrin's eyes were wide and glued that way in awe as Tease polished off her third cheeseburger.  Three cheeseburgers, three large fries, a strawberry shake, a chocolate shake, and a Diet Coke.  She looked at him, the sudden realization that she'd devoured nearly seven thousand calories in a single sitting.  Unlike the rest of the Irregualrs, Tease did not acquire their hyper enhanced stamina.  She couldn't go day or week without food and her QEH metabolism was off the charts.  On the plus side, it was so efficient she could eat whatever she wanted and barely have to work it off.  She looked from side to side, like maybe he was looking at someone else sitting exactly where she was sitting.  "What...?"

Darrin's open mouth closed as he thought of a polite way to say what was going through his mind. "I have just never seen anyone outside of a championship eating contest, eat like that, not to mention someone your size." He shook his head and raised a hand to forestall her inflamed comeback. "No I don't mean anything bad by it. It's just amazing.

Now like I was saying the studio isn't big, yet, but we have several properties that we have acquired that, with the right star, could be big, franchise big. I saw it zooming past on the road at 60. You have the look, exotic, beautiful, fit. As cliche as this sounds, I can make you a star if you  have have even a quarter of the acting ability as you do presence. And I'm betting you have more than a quarter."

He leans back taking a sip from his cup of coffee. "I know who you are."

[Marissa Jauntsen]

She narrowed her eyes, smirking as she sipped her Diet Coke.  She set the cup on her tray, leaving a maroon impression of her lipstick on the straw.

She was ready to 'whammy' him.  Have him start preeching alien doomsday gospel while she dipped out the entrance.  Still, his offer, were it a legit one, interested her.  "Do you now," she cooed.  "And just who am I?"

[WS ST]

WITH TEASE

"Okay, well I don't know Who you are," he scooted into the table and leaned over it, "but I'm a scout, I never forget a face. The hottest tickets in town these days are Courtney Adams, who is the fakest person in the universe but god she's... well you know. The other is Savant, who you probably know as Sean Cassidy, who is all that and more. And now you."

His eyes roam up and down there is desire and awe but Tease can tell he is trying to resists the base impulses she is bringing out by just being there.  "Look I have seen you in pictures with Adams when she was a cheerleader in bumfuck Montana. And more recently I have seen that same face, yours, in pictures the paparazzi catch of Savant. When I saw you on the side of the road, "He shakes his head in disbelief of his luck, "I put two and two together.You havn't been introduced to the world yet or you'd be in everyone's sights."

He sits back again picks up the coffee looks in the cup then sets it back down. "Tell me I'm wrong. I'd probably believe you. But I know I'm right. And I could see just by the way you were walking, the way you carry yourself. Adam's is a superstar or will be shortly, Cassidy could be one if she wanted.

But you? You can be a fucking super-nova."

[Marissa Jauntsen]

"Savant's a personal friend," Tease started.  Still distrustful of the guy because he'd already stated their company was small and hadn't taken off yet.  This eluded to the fact that she was being targeted by this guy as a means of rocketing their business to the forefront by having a key on their payroll.  "And you're right, she could be, but she's happy as long as people are paying attention to her.  Now, I could be a super star, in fact I could walk into any agency, anywhere, and be an instant success."  It was easy to be confident when with a single word she could make anyone do anything she asked.

She hadn't actually admitted to being a Key, yet, she enjoyed letting this guy guess.  "So, this is the part where you tell me you can make it happen for me, however, my question to you is: why?  Why do I, need you?  Sell me."

[Jeane]

ON THE SHORE

The second coolest thing about Jeane's powers, in her opinion, was the fact that she could skimp on warm ups and cool downs, and not feel it the next day. Still, good practice was good practice, so she stretched out the nonexistent kinks in her limbs, throwing out swings of her weapon to drive away the nervousness that just wouldn't go away. This was stupid. She'd been in fights, even the odd fight with weapons or four, not that her Dad knew the latter, thank God. So what if her first 'Key fight' had ended up with her buried under a tree in one glance from a scared ten-year-old? She was ready for *this one*, and she had everything to prove, and when this was over, she'd be out of here and off to the rest of her life. 

The abject failure that was her use of Guild Chat wasn't a sign that she couldn't handle this.

The sonic boom  snapped Jeane out of her introspective exercise routine, bringing the crimson-sparking blade up to a guard position as she retreated to Sage's side as instructed. Her eyes darted around, and head twitched as she tried to find the source of the noise. She didn't *think* there was an air show today... <wHeRe Is HE? anYoNe SeE thaT?>

Spoiler

So I rolled Perception+Awareness on rolz.com...

8D10E7 => 3 | 10s: 1, ones: 2

 

[WS ST]

Kyle's Hideout

The sonic boom rattled the drainpipe and in Kyle's room, dust cascaded from the ceiling. On the surface windows shattered and some of the older wodden building took slight structural damage from the close poximity of the boom. "He's going after them now." Kyle said nonchalantly.

On The Shore

Abel was first to spot the figure at the top of the smokey arc. Robotic, fire from rockets burning from its legs the Figure looked to be about twice the size of a large man and as Abel focused in on it he shared what he saw through GC. Both Charlie and Jeane were a bit disoriented by that as they found the object with their own eyes and matched it to what they saw through Abel's.

It was a weird sensation.

Everyone in GC recognized the armor though there were some differences. 

Spoiler

 

[Kia Mizuki]

Kyle's Hideout

Kia looked at Lilly worriedly, then said, "We should go help them."

She got to her feet.

"Kyle, you'll be all right in here?"

<Guys, hang in there! Me and Lilly are coming to help!>

Even then though a little tickle of a thought was in the back of her head. A giant robot? Like the floating giant robot head Kyle had greeted them with? Like half the toys in his room here?

There wasn't nearly enough to go on, but...where HAD the 'Crusher' come from anyway? Something like that should have attracted attention if it had flown in from somewhere else.

[Charlie Cole]

Proteus clenched his fist around the pebble, crushing it to powder, but even as it did so, his flesh turned to rock, hardening and bulking into a moving, living statue. "Jeanne, Sage, step back. I can take the opening hits."

Spoiler

Activating Matter Chameleon.
Quantum: 5D10 = [8, 2, 5, 2, 8] = 25

2 sux for the Density Increase element of the power... Proteus gains:

• Additional 2 dice of damage on Brawl and Martial Arts attacks
• Attacks directed at him are at +1 difficulty to hit.
• Strength boosted to 5 and Mega Strength to 4
• The Durability and Hardbody enhancements
• +12 soak
• 5 extra “Bruised” health levels

QP: 27/30

 

[Abel Cross]

Abel actually chuckled as he recognized, at least in general the character before them, Even as he moved back to Give Proteus room to step forward, moving his own shield between him and where he anticipated the Crusher landing.  He quickly sent Kia and Lily their exact location so they could get there easily, though he figured it would be obvious in moments. Prepared to play defense, Abel instead reached out mentally, searching for the mind of the Crusher.    What he found worried him, and he relayed the information.    

<two minds, one human, one not.  The shielded mind is better shielded than even mine.  I suspect some sort of possession, as the minds are intertwined.>    He left off that he was going to try to break the hold in case someone was actually listening in, trusting his comrades to realize he was going that route.

[Jeane]

What? A videogame character? And judging by that hammer and his size, one that hit like a truck. Okay. Being super obvious as to where it's going, so that meant some sort of official response might be...

And then Proteus turned himself into the Thing's handsome brother, stepping up into the path of the crusher's arrival. "Woah. That's just cool," she called with a grin so wide it nearly split her face, "Knock him dead."

A very large part of her screamed to step up with him, held back by the tightest of mental reins and a desire to prove herself reliable. Let crusher try to get past Sage though, and she'd show him a chest full of great sword. 

[Lilly Pryor]

Kyle's Hideout

 

Lilly recieved the message from Abel, but did not respond. The thought worried her though. Hopefully they could help.

"I am going to go help them, but will stay here with you too. Okay?" she said as she focused

She focused for a moment, pulling in quantum energies, feeling every bit of bone, tissue, and fluid that comprised her body, every cell even and pushed the energy through. She could feel the new mind.. and yet her own mind and yet not... in the link as she looked over her shoulder and nodded to the he 'twin' standing behind her.

"You go help them and I'll stay here." the sitting Lilly said to her double, who nodded in return.

"I'll be back. Well, I mean, I'll be here too, but I'll be back as well." the standing Lilly said, trying to explain and clarify to Kyle.

< We're be right there. > came the message from what was clearly, yet strangely, another Lilly in Guild Chat (at least strangely to Jeane and Charlie).

She then turned to Kia and asked, "Need a lift? They are a short jump away." as she held her hand out to her friend.

[WS ST]

Kyle's Hideout

Lilly turned to go back down the tunnels when she saw a shimmer across the Pipe. "You can't go if you go the Crusher will come back." Said the little boy.

Spoiler

The boy is glaring with his fists clenched and there is an obvious quantum glow shining from his eyes.

 

On the Shore

The figure reached apogee and started its decent rockets flaring. The Irregulars knew that the local military radars would have to have picked it up and would likely respond in short order.

As they moved they watched it come down some 20 yards off the shore with a huge splash and cloud of steam. almost immediately it exited the water in a short hop which brought it to the shore only a few yards from where Proteus waited prepared to face his first real test.

Spoiler

Now we are in Turns. on the shore at least. depending on what kia and lilly do they may be in turns as well.

The robot if it is a robot is heading straight at Proteus and looks like it is going to smack him with it's hammer.

Y'all have initiative.

 

[Kia Mizuki]

Kia knelt down again and offered a hand.

"Hey," she said soothingly. "It's okay. We're not going to leave you alone. You're going to be all right."

If Kyle doesn't take her hand, she reaches it out to touch his shoulder reassuringly.

Kia's going to use Quantum Imprint to copy his powers and see what he's got.

[Abel Cross]

Abel continued his own defensive preparations, but he focused his mind on severing the connections between the two minds.  if he could break them apart, then he could handle each of them individually. He reached out with the virtually undeniable power of his mind, seeking to shatter those bonds, hoping he could at least start to chip away at them.

  Abel's taking defensive physical actions, but using mental blast to attack the Crusher

12 successes rolled

 

[Jeane]

Jeane exhaled and shifted her guard higher, the tip of the crackling blade pointing at the crusher. Shuffling slowly to Sage's right, she kept the extension of his shield between her and the armored giant. Proteus could take him. And if not him, Sage and his mindtricks would. Her muscles tensed with readiness to counter a mammoth hammer blow, to swing a two-handed blow at the crusher if he switched targets all of a sudden. Classic dirty bluff, that one. Done it herself.

Part of her begged the steel giant to try, blue eyes drinking in the upcoming clash of armored Keys.

Spoiler

Saving an action for a Parry.

 

[Charlie Cole]

As the robot wound up, Proteus moved in, leaping forward with a speed that shocked Jeane - how could a stone guy move so fast? Apollo's training had imprinted on him, no panicking or fear. Proteus had been prepared for this moment, the first real battle as an Irregular. A rocky fist fist jabbed at the war-machine, driving it back, before Proteus caught it with a hook. The pounding sound testified to the strength Proteus was using, but he remained nimble, light on his feet for any counterattack.

Spoiler

Splitting three actions. 2 strikes and a dodge.
Multitasking activated, easily passes the Wits roll. Modifiers are -1, -2, -2.

Megas are last 3 dice.
Strike One: 8 sux
Strike Two: 10 sux
Dodge (If needed): 9 sux

Base Attack Damage (pre-soak): [20] + 9d10 + net sux.

QP: 26/30

 

[Lilly Pryor]

Kyle's Hideout

 

"Why? Why will he come back? What do you know about The Crusher?" the sitting Lilly asked.

"Kyle, you need to tell us what you know, so we can help. We're here to help. You know that, right?" the standing Lilly said.

< We are a little tired up at the moment. The kid is not wanting us to leave. We'll be there ASAP. > Lilly thought to the others on the beach.

[WS ST]

Kyle's Hideout

The boy jerks back when Kia reaches out to touch him.

Spoiler

kia needs to roll to see if she touched him and got the power off QL+Dex  his dodge is 3 sux

"Stay away or I'll hurt you!" Kyle shouted raising his fists

 

12 hours ago, Lilly "Vanguard" Pryor said:

"Why? Why will he come back? What do you know about The Crusher?" the sitting Lilly asked.

"Kyle, you need to tell us what you know, so we can help. We're here to help. You know that, right?" the standing Lilly said.

The boy looks back and forth from one Lilly to the next then back at Kia. "Why couldn't you just stay and play I have toys why do you have to be bossy I don't like bossy!"

Both Kia and Lilly can feel it quantum energy building like the static electricity before a lightning storm.

On the Shoreline

The Crusher Charged out of the surf toward Charlie swinging the huge hammer back, then it staggered, shaking it's head, then Proteus was right there rocky fists flying. The blows landed sounding like thunder claps the blows drove it to its knees splinters of armor plating flying away amid a shower of sparks.

With a roar and flame spewing from the back of the hammer the crusher swung his weapon around and up at the same time standing up and pushing forward. Proteus twisted out of the rocket propelled hammers path with speed and agility belying his stony bulk.

At the same time Sage found himself suddenly under mental attack as well. His ploy had worked the two minds separated. One was machine, the other Human and driving at his shields with a mental force equal to his own!

 

[Lilly Pryor]

14 minutes ago, AWS ST said:

Kyle's Hideout

The boy jerks back when Kia reaches out to touch him.

"Stay away or I'll hurt you!" Kyle shouted raising his fists

"Kyle, that's not nice. We're nice to you. We just want to be your friends, and friends and help each other." Lilly said, still sitting on the ground, eye to eye with the boy as the standing Lilly moved over to put herself between Kyle and Kia.

"You must be afraid of the Crusher, or else you would not have done what you did to the girl. Is the Crusher hurting you? Looking for you? Is he bad? If he is, we can stop him and make you safe, but you need to tell us what you know." she asked as she tried to keep Kyle's focus on her 

"No one is leaving you. I'm right here." she reminded and then glanced at the table, looking over the mostly broken toys. 

"Friendship goes both ways though. I can play with you, even both of me, if you can talk while we play." Lilly offered as picked up another transformer from the table. The toy was missing an arm, which forced Lilly to hide a frown again at Kyle's living conditions again.

"Look, this one already has battle damage. He must have gotten hurt in battle, being brave and fighting for the other Autobots, his friends." she said, pointing out the missing arm.

"But you know, even brave Autobots still get scared. That's what makes someone brave, they keep going even though they are scared." Lilly explained as the other Lilly stepped closer to the table (still standing between Kyle and Kia, blocking his view of her).

"I bet you are brave." the other Lilly said as she looked for a Decepticon. "The Crusher, he scares you, doesn't he? Or else you would not have done what you did to the girl when you thought she was him." the other Lilly said as she picked a transformer and looked it over. "Can I be this one?" she asked.

Spoiler

 

Can I attempt a Rapport role and spend a Willpower on it?

If so...

5 sux (Willpower included)

 

 

[Abel Cross]

Undeterred by the battering his own defenses were taking he pressed onward, assaulting the mind coming after him.  with just an AI controlled armor to deal with he had faith Proteus and Jeane could handle things.  <I have separated the two minds, and am engaging the human mind.>  he shot off a quick update, and then scowled.  He wanted to protect their minds, but he knew the link being open between them all actually helped do so, so he didn't shut the doors, instead drawing upon them for more defensive power as he reached out again to the shielded mind.  He reached out once again, striking with the power of his mind.   Even as he struck, he knew this would be a battle of attrition, and hoped he would be able to  win out.

9 successes on mental blast 

[Jeane]

Fast. Jeane could barely follow Proteus's movements, the twin clangs and roar of crusher's wide miss more testament to the other Key's skill than her own eyes. She felt 11 again, the first time she had seen a Crew leap over an alleyway above her head. She needed to learn how to do that. She would learn how to do that if she had to run away from home to do it.

<so HE sWIngS A biG HamMEr, aND is SLowER thAN ProTEus. PErmISioN To hELp nOW?> the blonde daredevil queried over the link, distortion getting better but still bleeding over with impatient eagerness.

<Don't get hit.> comes Sage's reply.

Jeane managed to cut off the mental squee of excitement from the link as she tore forward past Sage's barrier and into melee, bearing her teeth in a feral grin. The great sword flared with red lightning in a horizontal, one-handed swing. It's wielder tracked the hammer, prepared to drop into a combat roll away from the crusher, trying to follow Sage's one precondition to getting involved.

Spoiler

Splitting my action. 1st Action, attack. Saving second action  for a Dodge if needed (7+1 mega for that one).

Burning a Point of Will for an auto success (9/10 left)...

8D10E7 => 4 | ones: 1    = Normal Dice

1D10E7 => 1   = Mega Dice

So, seven successes to hit him and 7d10 Lethal + Successes for presoak damage, I think.

 

[Kia Mizuki]

Surprised by the vehemence of Kyle's outburst, and limited by her own desire not to grab him with too much strength, Kia was too slow to take hold of Kyle before he could scoot back, with all the speed of a wily little boy.

She settled back and didn't try again, not wanting to escalate things any more than she already had. Maybe he'd listen to Lilly.

Quantum Imprint (mega first): 10d10 40

Just 1 success on 10 dice, lol...ah well.

[Charlie Cole]

Proteus followed up Jeane's slash with a snap kick to the robotic figure, and then a heel kick to the back of the mechanical 'knee' the robot possessed. It was going to come down. Only a matter of time.

Spoiler

Once again, 3 actions, 2 strike, 1 dodge.

Multitasking (using mega to reduce difficulty): 1 sux
Heh. Barely made it.

Attack: 7 sux
Attack #2: 3 sux
Dodge: 6 sux

Base Attack Damage (pre-soak): [20] + 9d10 + net sux.

QP: 25/30

 

[WS ST]

Kyle's Hideout

Almost immediately Kyle seemed to forget all about everything else and his eyes lit up when Lilly said she would play with him. "That's Grimlock. He isn't an Autobot, he's the leader of the Dinobots." He said with a grin

Spoiler

His attention is totally on Lilly and the toys, Kia has been forgotten if you want to try again.

On the Shore

The Crusher  collapses to it's knees under the assault of Proteus and Jeane. The kicks sent more armor and pieces flying and Jeane's crimson quantum blade left a scar across the things chest which sparked with electricity.

Then flame and smoke erupted again as the automaton surged to its feet smashing into Proteus with a resounding boom. The Crusher wrapped it's metallic arms around the rocky hero as it's rockets forced him off his feet and tthe two behemoths flew up  the shore toward the Center.

Meanwhile, while this was occurring  Sage was in a struggle of a different kind. The mind that had been riding the Crusher had turned it's full and considerable attention toward the Irregular member. Red hot daggers of mental force drove into Sage's shields but they held barely fending then off even with the support of his multiple mental links.

Spoiler

Proteus needs to roll a soak. The crusher looks pretty messed up.  Sage takes no damage but everyone in guild chat is aware of the attack It is heroes turn again

 

[Abel Cross]

The strength of the mind's return fire, as it were was impressive.  Offensively it was far stronger than his own attacks, the latest of which he could feel skittering off the mental armor of whatever the hell it was he was fighting.   He was quite concerned with it getting into guild chat at this point, but he knew he had to press on, now that he had it's attention.

mental balst, 2 successes 

[Jeane]

"Oh no, you don't!" yelled Jeane as the crusher took off with the rocky hero. She kept an eye out for a convenient rocky ramp to get some air time as her sneakers pounded after the pair, great sword clutched in both hands before her like a lance. The blonde daredevil's ponytail trailed behind her, body engulfed in red sparks. One suitably impressive rock later, Jeane pushed off with both legs into the air, driving the sword at the crusher's back with all the force she could muster. This thing was *not* taking the fight into the fort proper. There might be people there. 

A little worry in the form of what the hell Sage might be dealing with was drowned out in her desire to end this fight NOW.

Spoiler

Okay, Spliting her action once. 1st action, Run into range of Crusher. 2nd action, stab Crusher.

Burning a point of will to get an auto success (8/10 left).

Normal Dice 7D10E7 => 4 | ones: 1, 10s: 1

Mega Dice 1D10E7 => 0

So 5 successes to hit, and 3 Auto + 4d10 + to hit successes in L damage assuming Jeane hits.