Mutants & Masterminds: Heroes United - [Heroes United] Issue 2: Rising Stones

[z-Jael]

[OOC: Damage resolution post only]

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Jael lost her intense pounce position as she watched the water swirl around the concrete hill. Instead, a canine grin split her lips, revealing wicked teeth, some as long as a man's finger. It wouldn't have been funny if it hadn't been caused by an ally, or if she'd gotten wet. Also humorous – to her – was that she was only up here because she’d listened to soldier-boy, something that didn’t normally happen. All things considered, from her perch it was comedic gold.

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The exploding magnamen were another story. Jael’s amusement fled as hot shards of exploding stone-people slashed through the air. None of them penetrated her thick fur but it was still annoying.

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Rolls

Toughness save vs. DC 22 – Pass

Carver *rolls* 1d20: 7+15: 22

[Justin OOC]

What Stone soliders remained were mostly further out, about thirty in all, All of them continued towards the barricades set by the police and fire department, trying to break perimeter. There was another roar, and a second one of the creatures emerged from one of the buildings where the creatures had come up first. shattering most of the front face of it. It was about seventy yards away, and Immediately turned to where its comrade was beset. A torrent of flame shot towards where Magnum Opus and Paladin worked, unmoving. This creature was aware it seemed, and moved like a predator itself, after it spewed out the gout of flame, its mouth shut tightly. The first monster likewise shot flame from its mouth, directly at the building before it, eating away at the supports. It wasn't an aimed shot, so much as it opened its mouth and let it out...

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New Round begins, Scout is up, then Jael. Magnum Opus, the main target can choose to defend actively, which risks the building being damaged again, or take the hit and spare the building. The DC for the toughness save is 27

[Magnum Opus]

Magnum Opus steeled herself as the gout of flame washed over her...

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OOC

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1d20+12=20

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Failed by 7; takes a hit of damage and is dazed for a round.

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... and when it cleared, she looked a fair bit worse for wear, her flesh smoking. She wobbled unsteadily. But the building held.

[Scout]

"Mo!" Scout cried out after his new teammate had been scorched. "Damnit!" Things were going from bad to worse. The simple fact that the creature had attacked MO, who'd as of yet not taken any offense against it instead of him and his shield meant that he was going to need to hit this thing a lot harder in order to make a dent, much less get it to focus on him. It might work. Or it might not.

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This was no time for taking risks! Magnum Opus was hurt. She needed help before the creature finished her off...

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When Magnum Opus' vision cleared up, she saw a man standing before her with his back turned. Scout, stood facing the creature proud and tall, despite the lacerations from the explosive magma men, "Stay behind me. If it tries that again, I'll try and shunt the blast before it hits us. Maybe I can force most of the blast around us. You just concentrate on keeping those people safe. I've got your back!" He turned his head and smiled at her. There was a strange look in his eye that told her he truly believed what he'd said.

[z-Jael]

For a guy who knew how to give orders, Soldier-Boy didn’t know how to follow them. Jael sighed as the pressure of attack on creature number one went away, leaving her alone to fight it. Not alone exactly. Just not as part of a coordinated attack either.

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The attack had been solid, as far as plans go. Jael got her feet under her again and crouched, then pounced. She wasn’t able to jump the entire distance so her leap put her on the ground, chasing after the wave of water in a dash right up the monster’s knee. With a snarl, she lunge at its leg, right as it moved that foot. Her teeth snapped shut on nothing and she growled with frustration. Andery had wanted her to keep it on the down low, but she didn’t fight well on the down low. If things didn’t turn around, she’d take it on her way and Andery would just have to accept it.

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Roll

Attack Roll: total is 12

Carver *rolls* 1d20: 2+10: 12

[Javier Duncan]

The Paladin hovered a little closer to the damaged section of the building and heard some pings on his armor. He allowed himself to look around and noticed that the battlefield was much wetter, and much lacking in the lava warriors. He then saw MO take a shot from what appeared to be a new large monster and Scout come in to protect her.

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"Just a few more seconds and then I can try and distract one or both. There's got to be something we can do that'll drive 'em home."

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And with that said, the Paladin released the ice that he had created, its' job done. Then, he created, as best he was able to discern, a new section of the building to fit where the missing section was... well, missing. Just a few more seconds...

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Toughness check in the combat thread.

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Thematic action: looking around

Free action: talking

Free action: releasing created matter

Standard action: create matter

Free action: short internal monologue to build tension

[Doctor Northlight]

Rachael was focusing on the creature when Gatekeeper called out the "Incoming" over the team communicator. Instinctively Rachael holstered her blaster and ducked behind the outcropping of rocks she was hiding behind, protecting the bag full of medical equipment when suddenly the sound of Niagra Falls followed by what could only sound like cannon fire erupted for a few moments. She closed her eyes holding on to the bag feeling herself moving...

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Avoiding getting flushed... and failed

[Tommy OOC] 4:41 pm: Reflex roll

[Tommy OOC] 4:42 pm: err dodge roll

[Long6] 4:45 pm: nobody's been caught in it yet Rev

Tommy OOC *rolls* 1d20: 6+10: 16

[Tommy OOC] 4:46 pm: You had to say something...

[Tommy OOC] 4:46 pm: Can I take a fatigue for a re-roll?

[Long6] 4:46 pm: no

[Tommy OOC] 4:47 pm: Well then I fly out on my turn.

"WHAT THE HELL, GATEKEEPER!!!" Rachael glared as she turned towards the flow of the water. "Thankfully this wasn't some gate into a black hole, Still no thanks." Rachael muttered as her flight pack reconfigured for underwater use. She stopped her momentum, then rose out of the water, it wasn't long before she was hovering over the spot she was at. The creature had taken a shot to it's rear, seemed snow-disc girl had an idea... But again, Rachael was unsure what to do at this point and there was no safe cover where she was.

Conditions: None
Actions
Free: Bitch Gatekeeper out
Free: Switch to Hypercavitation Mode
Movement: Get to surface away from hole
Free Switch back to Flight
Movement: Fly out of water to reconnoiter

OOC Note

Next time, Justin, Don't say anything about no one getting hit by something until AFTER I roll.

[darksol-aeternium]

Cringing inwardly after the effects of his water-bombing, Gatekeeper felt utterly disgusted. He couldn't even say anything in his own defense. He'd thought it might be either good or bad, and this managed to be both at full intensity. Most of the lesser monsters were destroyed, and that bath clearly annoyed the huge creature, but the collateral damage almost washed away the team and showered a bunch of people with shrapnel. He alighted on a nearby building even as the doom wolf took a running pounce at the creatures leg. Since that didn't work the way I wanted it to, I'd better just try suppressive fire, he thought. And crouching behind a roof AC unit he lined up smaller spatial shockwave aimed at the creatures head just as the Doom Wolf was connecting.

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[spoilertag: OOC] Spatial Bursts are indirect attacks that startwherever I can see and apparently have no attack roll, all he gets is a Toughness Save DC 25 [/spoilertag]

[Justin OOC]

Jael's failure on the bite did put her in unique position. She could see the scales on the bottom of the beast were much smoother, and looked to be much thinner than it's dorsal carapace.

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The building held fast as Paladin finished rebuilding it. It wasn't perfect, but it would support the weight which was most important. Scout obviously settled in to Defend Danielle, but no attack came yet. The two monsters seemed to be gathering themselves to attack again, though, so this wouldn't last.

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Gatekeeper's attack impacted the monster's head, cracking the thick Carapace, but failing to put it down, indeed, it now looked up where the attack seemed to have come from, it's large mouth opening again, preparing the spew forth whatever it was that it destroyed the building with.

[Magnum Opus]

"I appreciate it, Scout..." Dust swirled around the feet of Magnum Opus as she rose into the air. "But I think Paladin's got it now. Now we just need to give it something new to hit..."

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OOC

Magnum Opus' to-hit roll. (1d20+8=10) ,,

Using Extra Effort for an extra standard action. Spending a Hero Point to do it without fatigue.

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Magnum Opus' second attack. (1d20+8=14)

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Both misses, I imagine.

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She sped off into the air, swinging once, and then twice, missing both times to the surprisingly swift giant's dodges.

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"Whoever's closest to the hole, if you got ideas on how to plug it, now'd be a good time to share..."

[Gabriel Stone]

The Earth was beautiful from orbit. The silence of space permitted him the opportunity to be away from everything for awhile. He watched as South America's coasts were bustling with activity, the plains of Africa were alive with animal cubs playing, predator chasing prey or great cats being lazy in the trees. Japan looked amazing in the bright neon lights while, as always, Russia looked really, really cold. Gabriel could see it all. The world and the people in it seemed to move on without him and that was alright with him. It was a peaceful for him and he was looking at something in person that could never properly be described. Gabe just closed his eyes and let himself float there in the comforting pull of Earth's orbit.

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Gabriel wasn't too thrilled when Aundrey Focht had come to his family's ranch and asked him to be a part of his little pet project. Hot headed and young, Gabe seemed insulted that he was given the offer. He didn't want to be a hero, the world didn't need heroes or super people fighting in the streets and making a mess of things. Maybe he was just young and didn't understand, or maybe he was just angry that he was given gifts but no direction so he lashed out at the first direction he was given. Either way, from there in space, Gabriel Stone could see it all... the peace, the love, the potential...and the pain, the misery and everything that went with it as people hurt people in the streets, turned on their neighbors and lied, cheated and stole. Could a guy like him every really make a difference?

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He twitched and perk his ears up as something flowed into his senses like a distant echo...

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"Mo!" Scout cried out after his new teammate had been scorched. "Damnit!"

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"WHAT THE HELL, GATEKEEPER!!! Thankfully this wasn't some gate into a black hole, Still no thanks."

"Whoever's closest to the hole, if you got ideas on how to plug it, now'd be a good time to share..."

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Gabriel was no hero, but his eyes snapped open nonetheless and without thinking he shot off towards the source of the conversation. The pull of the Earth caught him and like a comet he re-entered the atmosphere like a fiery bolt, the tell tale explosion of a sonic boom marking his arrival on an intercept course for the battle going on below him.

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It was chaos but he immediately saw where he was needed most: a group of basalt soldiers were heading right for a group of civilians while the heroes were distracted by the monster... thingie. Like a thunder bolt he smashed into the ground smack dab in the middle of the group of foot soldiers, sending them scattering in a concussive wave from the impact.

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What the hell am I doing? I shouldn't be here... this is a bad idea... He thought silently as the soldiers recovered. He looked over his shoulder at the civilians and something inside him tensed up. His muscles flexed his gut tightened and his brow furrowed. He didn't understand it, but his conscious did. These people needed him. No turning back now...

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"S'up." He gave one of the recovered foot soldiers a nod and then slammed his fist into the guy's chest, sending him soaring. In that moment they all opened fire on him, peppering him with projectiles but none of them pierced his impervious skin. Cool.

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Initiative: 10.

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Punching a random baddie.

Revenant *rolls* 1d20+8: 23 (Damage 12)

[Slither]

A meteor shaped like a man struck the Earth and sent a pack of the stone soldiers flying; meanwhile, high up on the side of the wall, Slither felt rather useless.

See, that's what we need: more human cannonballs, and a lot fewer wankers hanging about doing nothing, like me.

But then she noticed the dire wolf doing the tango with the first beastie.

Christ, it's taking on that one all by itself; but if I can confuse the bastard with my venom, maybe the Big Bad Wolf might have a better chance at getting a bite in.

After all, it did seem that that last time she tried it, it did have some effect; maybe she just needed to deliver a stronger dose.

Bracing herself for her return back into battle, Izzy ran down the wall, jumping the last few feet down to the pavement. She got within a few yards of the massive canine and gave it a sharp nod as she dropped down to one knee.

"Hullo! Pardon me for being late to the party; had to get my head straight."

The young Brit snapped her arms like a pair of whips and sent them shooting for the scaly creature's hide.

Let's hope this is a bit more impressive this time 'round.

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

[Heritage] 5:31 pm: Okay, that Slither's to hit roll for her Weaken attack

[Tommy OOC] 5:31 pm: When does Max act?

[Heritage] 5:31 pm: I think that hits one of the big guys, but I forget

[Long6] 5:32 pm: it hits again

DC 20 Will save vs Weaken fur der Beastie

[SalmonMax]

Behind her, Fulcrum could hear the rumbling, crashing noise of the other creature as it broke ground. Everyone had their hands full with just ONE of those things! The other would either come over and double-team everyone, or go rampaging around the city with no one to stop it.

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"Guys, stay on this one!" she called into the little microphone. "The other one's nearly here...I'm gonna see if I can slow it down!"

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And God's honest truth, that's what she meant at the moment she said it. She wheeled around and zipped off over the street, skidding around a corner and then...drifting to a halt.

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It was already halfway out, and just getting one of its back legs free. Another few seconds and it'd be getting some quality time with the heart of the Big Apple.

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Her fists clenched. Not in my town.

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But what to hit it with? The truck had barely dented the other one, and she didn't see anything bigger handy...

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Or maybe she was just thinking inside the box. Her stomach flipped nervously when an idea came to her. It wasn't a bad idea, but she'd never tried to lift anything that big before. But...it wasn't like a muscle exactly. It was just her will, her brain. Renata could still remember when she'd headed down to the trainyard and experimented to see how much she could lift. It always seemed like she'd hit the ceiling...but then she'd push just a little more, and there was more there. She'd only stopped when it started to hurt. It'd seemed like a good rule of thumb at the time.

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Boy, how times changed.

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As the creature crushed half of a deli as it fumbled its leg out, Fulcrum stood still, and her disc lowered to the cracked pavement. Her eyes fixed on the plated hide of the monster looming over her. The air went unnaturally quiet, even seeming to muffle the crunching of concrete and the snapping of rebar.

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Her mouth curved into a grimace. A snarl. This thing was heavy. She kept straining, adding more effort. Her muscles tensed up as well, from the concentration and sheer force of physical habit. She couldn't hear anything but her own heart now, even when it opened its mouth and blared a roar.

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Oh yeah, there was that nasty sliver of pain, like the tip of a knife just baaaaarely poking into her skin. Slowly going a little deeper each second she tried to go farther; to lift more.

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Dust began swirling in funny stop-and-go patterns around her, and the pebbles and chunks of debris started to bounce with a rhythmic pulse that echoed the ones in her head and in her chest. pum pum The noise was displaced air, ebbing to and fro away from her and towards her like a tide. pum pum Windows wobbled in the building behind her to it. A streetsign shook to its time.

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Shit it was starting to hurt pretty bad now. The knife was maybe half an inch in. It felt ice cold.

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PUM PUM

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The streetsign folded over backwards, and the windows near her shattered. The shards of glass didn't fall right though, guided along invisible lines of force that expanded and contracted, but kept them away from Fulcrum. An abandoned car scooted away from her, tires locked and not rolling but to no avail in keeping the vehicle still.

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The knife went in an inch, and Renata could barely see anymore, could barely remember what she wanted to do, when the giant armored beast roared again and just ripped its last foot out of the pit, taking a big chunk of blacktop with it and crushing an old 90's model pickup in the nearby parking lot. Then...it paused. It felt something amiss.

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It felt...lighter.

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PUM PUM

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The store beside it imploded, and three other cars by its foot were catapulted away to smash into a facing wall at the other side of the lot. The city was now wrecking itself, not even waiting for the beast. And that beast had problems of its own, as its callused, shelled and clawed feet slowly lifted off the ground. It struggled against something invisible, something untouchable. It incinerated what was left of the delicatessen. It writhed and roared and finally saw Renata standing there, staring at it. But too late, it was already rising out of reach...and its body was still recovering heat from its last blast.

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It was fortunate, because Fulcrum's brain was full of white noise and pain. There was only one thing to pull her through, and that was the sick, vicious knowledge that she had it. She could feel it...all of it...weighing down her mind, but in her grasp.

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She had seconds, maybe, before something gave. She'd felt something like this before, when she'd tried to run a marathon on a bet. Oh, she hadn't made it even a third of the way because she'd been a kid and had no idea how to conserve energy. But just before she'd finally given completely out, there'd been a reckless surge when it was like her body had just given up and gone all in for a second.

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The bricks behind her clattered to the ground as if they'd been held together by nothing more than paste and a little water. They cascaded all around Fulcrum in a red and brown flood of dust and rocks that somehow left a hollow space around where she was standing. The street she was standing on erupted in a wild riot of cracks, and a nearby manhole cover burst out of its socket and was knocked away through two windows to embed in a far wall.

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PUM..........PUM....

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And Fulcrum pushed.

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Still struggling in vain, the massive creature rose up over New York's Central Park, rapidly gaining speed as it rose in defiance of all physical law. It sailed in a ballistic arc that carried it over the warehouses and wharfs of the dock districts of the nearby bay...and dropped it into the water off shore with an explosion of steam and a tsunami that raced out in a ring from the point of impact.

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Fulcrum sagged and dropped to her knees. Even though she wasn't pushing anymore, the pain was still bright and hot in her head. That struck her as a really bad sign.

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"I...hope these things can't...swim," she said into her mic. Her lips and tongue felt numb to her, and her voice was a little slurred, like someone who'd just taken Novocaine.

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Goddamnit, Ren...what did you do?

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Okay, so worked a lot of this out in chat and PM with Long. Basically, Ren is using Extra Effort to stunt an AP from her TK. The AP is a heavy-lift TK which has a Side Effect attached to it and forgoes the Damage extra in exchange for being significantly higher power than her normal TK. The Side Effect Long imposed was a Weaken on her TK, which will last the remainder of this fight and probably some RP time afterwards before recovering. For this action, Ren had Power 21, which was enough to fling the beastie 4 miles into the New York Harbor or bay or whatever it's called over there.

So...that was the fresh new one. The wounded one is all you guys now. Ren's pretty much out of this one except to feebly bash at minions.

[Scout]

OOC

Applause! Your writing is great! Hell if I can think of a way to follow that act, but I'll try...

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As Scout chased after Mo, a flashback crossed his vision. For a few moments he was back in the desert. The moment passed, and the images cleared, but it left him feeling alone. The sound of bullets firing into concrete was replaced by molten pellets of rock pattering into the sides of buildings and trees. The sounds of airplanes and helicopters screaming overhead were replaced with the roaring of the creatures from below the earth's surface. At first he even thought there was a real artillery bombardment a short distance away. Then he realized it was just another hero come to turn away the molten threat. But these were things he was only dimly aware of.

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There was no mistaking it. This was a god damn war zone.

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What's a soldier do when you drop him into a warzone? He fights.

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Scout looked around at the devastation all around him. Absently, he ran one of his hands along the rim of the shield he carried. He held his breath.... His eyes narrowed. His jaw set.

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His fists clenched, Not in my town.

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Scout pulled the shield from his left arm and held it beneath his right. The tips of his fingers just barely grasped the edge. He leaned forward. His left leg flashed out and he dance forward a step. The arm that held his shield was extended out behind him. He wasn't holding it, so much as letting rest against his hand. The force of the spinning motion created as he brought his right leg forward, planted it, and whirled around kept the shield pressed against his fingers. His toes rotated on the shattered pavement and he released the shield like a discus with herculean effort. "OooRAH!"

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The throw was wildly inaccurate. But that was part of the plan. He'd concentrated more on maintaining his balance, and really putting some muscle behind this throw. He wouldn't be surprised if it missed...

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The shield ricocheted off a building, passed behind the broken section of the sky scraper that Paladin had patched up, and came sailing out the other side. It bounced off another building and came careening back into view. It was headed straight for the bony frill on the back of the monster's head...

[Justin OOC]

Andery Cringed at the damage the team was causing. Still the fighting was going better. Renata's Hail Mary of tossing the second creature into the Bay meant it got away, but at least it wouldn't be around to trouble them now. The First monster looked to be moving as if blind and Deaf, Slither's attacks having found purchase and stripped it of awareness of its surroundings. At the other end of the battlefield he quickly zoomed in on the young metahuman fighting the remaining basalt soldiers. He smiled. "I had hoped he'd come around. I never believed the auxillaries would get involved so fast, but perhaps it is best."

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He already made offers to the city to help rehabilitate the area once the battle was done, Which were quietly accepted. It was arranged through several intermidaries, and he smiled. There'd be no money coming in from this, but it was worth the cost in terms of experience gained for the team. "Next time they'll be a real team."

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Gabriel's attack utterly shattered the soldier he struck, these things were stronger than Men, but the young metahuman was stronger than them all combined..They would fall like Wheat before the Scythe before him.

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Scout's attack found purchase this time on a seam in the armor of the creature, getting a great bellow from it, which resulted in the blast from it's mouth destroying a large part of the street, and not the building it would have hit. Still, now it bled from a wound, and the blood was molten, liquifying stone where it fell.

Andery came online Over the headsets. "Get it out of the city, Treat it like a reactor...That Armor's like a Containment chamber on a reactor. It's been breached we may not have alot of time."

(Jael's up)

[z-Jael]

Andery’s word was law in Jael’s world, normally. He’d saved her from hell; he’d saved her from the fae. There were very few things she’d deny him or gainsay him on. He’d asked her, very specifically, not to use her birth form in public. He’d worried that it would cause a panic. His assessment in that area was probably accurate, she knew. Humans were predators who were prey animals, too. It created certain reactions in the lizard-brain, the part of humanity that still lived in a cave and craved sweets and fats. One of those reactions was panic; Jael had caused it often enough to know. When Andery has asked her to not use it, even in defense of the city, she’d understood why he’d asked. She’d intended to keep her word—right up until the point that she broke it.

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It was for the greater good. Humans, the people that Andery loved so much, were dying, and more could die in the next few minutes. With that in mind, Jael weighed her word in her head and found it lacking compared to the need of the moment. Whether or not Andery would agree didn’t matter. He’d be mad or he would understand. She’d deal with it—if it needed to be dealt with at all—then. Jael had many faults; hesitation to act upon a decided course was not one of them.

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Reaching back into herself, she found that part of her that had once been normal for her. Now that mystical muscle clenched when it was supposed to relax, and relaxed when it was supposed to tighten. The fae had ruined that for her. Now she clenched the muscle that should have been already tight, crushing her unto this small frame.

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Her body exploded outward, expanding in seconds. She went from an elephant-sized wolf to a fifty-foot monstrosity. It wasn’t just her size that caused a shiver of fear; it was the clear other-worldliness of the creature. Her massive form was midnight black and her silver eyes gleamed with an eldritch glow. She tilted her head back and opened her mouth wide, as if to howl. The great scaled throat was above her and she turned her increase in size into an attack. Her teeth closed around the neck in a fierce bite, shredding the softer skin and spraying molten blood on her face, neck and chest.

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Jael screamed around her bite, her teeth clenching harder around its throat. Her fur burned away as she clenched her eyes shut, trying to preserve her sight. It struggled against her and she reared up and twisted her head to the right; with a savage snap, she broke its neck. The monster dropped like a stone, while Jael bore down harder with her jaws, pinning it by its neck just in case it wasn’t done fighting. But there was no more movement in its body; she’d ripped open its throat in addition to breaking its neck and it was truly dead.

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Attack roll: 20 total - Hit

Carver *rolls* 1d20: 14+6: 20

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Justin said it failed the Toughness check and asked her to make a Toughness save vs DC 28.

Carver *rolls* 1d20: 18+16: 34 Pass.

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Justin declared it was dead and allowed me to do the honors.

[Javier Duncan]

There, that ought to hold it. The Paladin then spun around ready to join the fight proper, already formulating strategies based on the fact that they now had to get that giant lizard out of the area. When he saw what was left of it, he stopped dead in his tracks. Oh... my... he thought as he finally saw the humongous wolf creature/being rip out the throat of the remaining beast. He swallowed hard and then started to slowly hover towards it. He turned on his external mic as well as his earpiece when he spoke.

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"Oh... large... wolf..." he started, knowing that it was intelligent, could speak, and apparently could grow much larger than it originally was, but not knowing what to call it. He continued in an unsure, somewhat exaggerated 'diplomatic' tone "We thank you for your help in dispatching the threat to our city. But we have it on good authority that now that it's skin has been breached that it poses a possibly greater threat and needs to be moved out of the city. I plan on creating a containment shell around it for transport and didn't want to startle you..." Especially since you could step on me and probably end me without noticing...

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He waited for a moment or two to make sure that it didn't come after him next, and then a hollow shiny metallic oval shaped shell started to form around the remains of the beast, starting under the head and what's left of the neck and moving up and around the carcass.

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He then switched off his external mic so he was just talking to the team. "I've got this if the rest of you can stop what's left of the rock men. I can help if needed. Anybody know anything about our newcomers?"

[Doctor Northlight]

"Not off hand. But we also need to make sure that hole here is closed. I'll see what I can do where the guy from well... space dropped. Also... I think we should focus on removal, not containment. Gatekeeper should be able to teleport it into the shadow of the Moon. Now... I got someone to back up."

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Rachael Hovered up, then hit near her top speed, to assess the situation where Gabriel was at. Seeing he was slamming a few basalt-soldiers quite well, she decided to open up. "Incoming!"

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Free Action: Talked
Movement: Headed to Gabriel's location
Standard Action: Attacking a Basalt
Standard Shots Left: 2
Stun Shots Left: 5

Roll to attack a basalt soldier where Gabriel is

[Tommy OOC] 5:03 pm: Actaully I'll just back up Gabriel.

Tommy OOC *rolls* 1d20: 12+10: 22

[Jeremy] 5:17 pm: Y

[darksol-aeternium]

Gatekeeper stood up from behind the roof exhaust port to see the kaiju-sized wolf rip the throat out of one of the creatures, just as a second one went flying over to the bay in a ballistic arc. The plume of steam could be seen from the other side of the city. The water-tower failed to do more than merely annoy the first creature, so he guessed that being dunked in the bay would be similarly irritating and non-fatal. Fulcrum's slurred voice in the mic was another concern, he could see where she was slumped to her knees looking punch-drunk and weakened.

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The other monster can wait...I'd better move her now before they gang-up on her. He thought to himself as he took to the air again. Gesturing in her direction he opened a gate directly in front of her that allowed her to move immediately to the rooftop he'd been using as cover. He then took off towards the bay to deal with the second creature more permanently.

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"I got no way to close those holes without collapsing the whole city on it, so if anyone's got an idea I'm all ears. I'm going to space this guy boiling in the bay if he doesn't drown first, flag me down if you need anything" he said into the mic as he flew.

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[spoilertag: OOC] That gate will stay open for one action, just long enough for Fulcrum to move through it as a free action [/spoilertag]

[Magnum Opus]

"Fulcrum, excellent job... and you look tired, so be careful. Gatekeeper, I'd prefer you not kill it," said Magnum Opus, eyeballing the dead one with a frown. "I don't think they're sapient - they're more like trained attack dogs. It seems like such a shame to just put them down... and besides, think of everything we could learn from a living one.

,,

"As for the holes..." She landed at the lip of one, narrowing her eyes. "Slither, what did you find out? Northlight, Paladin, any ideas? And - " She waved at the newcomers. "And, I don't recognize the two new people. Hi there. I hope we don't have to fight now, since I've about had enough for one day."

,,

OOC

Magnum Opus is using her senses to look into the hole and see how best to close it. She has Analytical Eyesight and can see Infrared and Ultraviolet.

[SalmonMax]

"Tired," Fulcrum repeated as she practically flopped through the weird portal thing and caught herself on the raised side of the roof on the other end. "I wish. I'd take any kind of tired over this right now."

,,

There was good and bad. The good was that the disquieting numbness was fading...it felt a little like how her arm felt as it 'woke up' from being sat on for a few minutes. Tingly...a little sensitive, but otherwise normal. The bad news was the pain in her head was actually getting worse. More like a migraine though, and less like...what she'd been afraid of.

,,

Of course, the other bad news was that a wolf the size of Godzilla had appeared, and while Ren didn't think of herself as scaring easily...that hadn't stopped her from scrambling headlong through the portal rather than stay anywhere near it.

,,

"Look, unless that thing can breathe water, or swim, I don't think we'll be having any trouble with it. What I want to know is what's with that wolf?"

[Gabriel Stone]

Hardin, Montana...

,,

Megan tapped a few keys on her phone, chewing her gum loudly before leaping up and plopping comfortably onto the couch. She kicked her feet up on the coffee table and was already flipping channels while simultaneously reading her phone and replying to a text. Sighing out of boredom she looked up to the screen and couldn't help but tilt her head in shock.

,,

On every channel was seemed to be news coverage of the current situation unfolding in New York. Violent monsters of stone and lava had burrowed themselves up from the earth and had laid siege to the city. Now, battling the monsters, were a collection of super powered individuals and the news choppers were covering it all.

,,

"...it appears another has arrived on the scene! He fell out of the sky like a meteor and landed in the center of the rock men where he is battling them, keeping them away from the unprotected people! Someone needs to have the authorities get those people out of there!..."

,,

On the screen the camera zoomed in and there was Gabriel, his shirt shredded by the stone mens' projectiles but he didn't show any signs of being injured, just incredibly dirty from his impact, the dust, and the non stop punching of rock people. He swayed to the left, taking flight before swerving back around and punching one of the rock men so hard on the top of his head that it traveled through it's body and launched out what would be it's groin and shattered on the concrete. Three more leapt up and clung to him, punching and clawing at him while he pealed each off and, while still hovering, slammed each one down to the hard ground.

,,

Slack jawed, Megan's potato chip never made it to her mouth. Her brother was on T.V... flying... and beating up rock people. She managed to accomplish something that any loving sibling could do in a situation like this..."MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!! Gabriel's in New York fighting aliens!!!"

,,

She told on him.

,,

Within moments Connie, Gabe's mom was in the room watching with horror as stone monsters punched and slashed at her son and he fought valiantly for his life. "He said he was going into town to get feed for the horses... he is so grounded..." She stomped outside and stood on the porch for a moment, assessing the most easternly direction.

,,

"Uh, mom? You're not too surprised that he's flying and smashing rock with his fists..." Megan looked puzzled at her mother. "Am I not in the loop on something?

,,

"Megan, we'll have a talk later. Right now I need to ground your brother."

,,

"Mom, he's in New York." Megan protested.

,,

"He'll hear me." She grimaced, a mother's rage was nothing to mess with and in one bellow she let Gabriel have it. "Gabriel Sebastian Stone! You get back to this house this instant, you are GROUNDED!"

,,

Megan's phone was already blowing up with people from school texting her. Tomorrow was going to so weird.

,,

New York...

,,

Gabe dodged a clumsy left hook, grinning as he smashed another soldier to pieces. He had to admit that this was kind of fun, at least the most he'd had in a long time anyway. Finally he was using his powers, doing something other than corralling horses or lifting the tractor out of the mud. "That all you got guys? Really?" He taunted them as several rushed him. "There y'go, bring it on!"

,,

He fought them off one by one in a serious of moves that looked like they were all borrowed from video games. Anyone with any meritable combat skill could tell Gabriel was just making up his offense and defense as he went, relying on his invulnerability instead of actual tactical experience. Still, they couldn't argue his results as some stone men became clubs, others bats, and on one occasion he'd rolled the soldier behind his back like a staff or bizarre dance move to cast him in the direction of more attackers.

,,

"Incoming!" shouted someone flying up to him. She peppered the area with shots from some sort of pistol and blew back several of the soldiers as they rushed Gabe.

,,

"Thanks." He said calmly, slowly hovering up to where his rescuer was. "But really, I got this... these guys are pushovers, you guys look like you have more important things to worry about."

,,

...Gabriel Sebastian Stone! You get back to this house this instant, you are GROUNDED!... Gabe suddenly winced, like something had hit him in the gut, but he was already in trouble so what did it matter at this point. "Damn. My mom's calling me... I have to hurry. So, uh... you guys gonna close those holes or something? I'm kind of on limited time here... she is super pissed, I told her I was going to town for horse feed..."

[Doctor Northlight]

"Well I wagered that since I have a working communication line to the rest of my team... it being what it is, I could facilitate getting you in on what was going on and what we're doing. As you seem to be someone with powers as well, I wager getting you on the same page with us would be a help." She didn't know Gabriel was in on Mr. Focht's project, so she treated him as a useful good Samaritan.

,,

"And... sorry for your parent's sanction, perhaps I can speak to them after this, thanking them for raising such a good son."

,,

She looked about, seeing a clear spot where no bystanders were, she shoots a fire hydrant, breaching it and sending a riot-hose like stream of water, pushing back some of the non-exploding soldiers back away from any bystanders right into a nice and tight grouping. She turns back, looking where anyone is and shouts. "BY THE WAY! IF YOU'RE NOT THIS GUY MAKING GRAVEL OVER HERE, ME, OR SOMEONE ELSE PAID TO FIGHT THESE GUYS, GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" She said, pointing. The bystanders still stunned seeing the strong-man who seemingly dropped in from orbit took the hint and ran where Rachael pointed, to a safe evacuation point she saw coming over.

,,

She still had the first aid field kit slung over her shoulder. And realizing that she turned to Gabriel once again. "Seen any injured around here? In fact I can clear these things up in one fell swoop if you'd like, but you'll have to duck and cover your ears."

,,

"By the way, Name's Rachael. Seems that with no one here who cares, we can use first-names."

[Slither]

Izzy could only stare up in mute horror as the wolf got big; really big, and wrong. Where did all that mass come from? It was like someone turned on a faucet somewhere and more wolf poured out. What was the name of that crap author from the 30s, the one her ex-boyfriend Nigel was always prattling on about back at uni?

"Lovecraft," she murmured to herself. "Here's your Lovecraft for you, Nige."

The thing, the hideous wrong thing, tore out the throat of the dread beastie, and for a brief moment she felt sorry for it; such a savage, brutal death. But then Mo's voice in her ear brought her back to reality, or what passed for reality these days.

"As for the holes..." She landed at the lip of one, narrowing her eyes. "Slither, what did you find out? Northlight, Paladin, any ideas? And - " She waved at the newcomers. "And, I don't recognize the two new people. Hi there. I hope we don't have to fight now, since I've about had enough for one day."

Izzy pressed her earpiece to respond. "Slither here. I'm afraid I didn't get a very good look down before everything went tits up; I think it's a job for Paladin and Northlight, really." Her eyes trailed up to the full height of the former wolf. "In the plus column, we now seem to have the Dark God Cthulhu on our side, so it all sort of balances out, eh?"

[darksol-aeternium]

Gatekeeper was en route to the bay when Slither's message went across the coms. It was nice to know that the huge wolf creature was an ally, but he didn't really want to bother with something capable of slipping out of a dimensional cascade like it did. At least not until there was a more diplomatic setting to talk in. His flight out to the bay was cut sort by the smell of burning drywall, and smoke coming from some apartment building below. As it was already within the evacuated area, there were no people to be found, but the building might yet be saved.

,,

"Been meaning to try this trick," he thought as he opened a smallish hole into the building that allowed him to spy on the inside. The fire seemed to be leftover from whatever came up through the foundation of the building, and with a few moments of probing he found the exact point: a volcanic tunnel in the middle of the basement leftover from the creatures in their initial assault.

,,

"Well, water didn't work before, lets try something else." Scanning the immediate horizon he noted a construction site piled high with the gravel and sand used to fill in freshly dug foundations. There was a momentary consideration for the company whose materials these belonged to, but it passed with the thought, "they're gonna to have to fix this anyway..."

,,

Using the same technique he tried for the earlier watery disaster, he warped large masses of sand and gravel directly over the hole, checking every so often to see if it was filling in properly. He even grabed a few destroyed cars and let them drop down into the tunnel reasoning that "they were gonna get scrapped anyway." Eventually the basement was sealed, if rough, and he could see the fire department pulling up outside.

,,

Over the comlink he said, "There are more of those lava tunnels, you may want to check for burning buildings."

[Javier Duncan]

The heat resistant metallic 'egg' finally finished forming around the dead creature, complete with hand holds for the super strong fliers to grab a hold of and try to move it out of the middle of the city. The Paladin heard the chatter that was going on over the comlinks, and added his own comments. "I can create matter to fill the holes, but I think that at least some of us should go and scout out where those creatures came from. I, for one, would like to know what caused this and make sure that it's not going to happen again."

,,

And with that he went to the nearest hole (the one the water had gone down) and started making a dome over it (complete with door and warning signs). "This will cap off this one and keep civilians out and safe while we fill the other holes. Once the rest are filled, whoever wants to can go down with me and we'll see what's going on down below."

[Magnum Opus]

"Agreed, Paladin." Magnum Opus sized up the egg. "I'm going to haul this out to wherever the authorities want us to put it. As for the live one, or at least, the one that might be alive, can you or Doctor Northlight do me a favor and check on it?"

,,

She opened a broad channel to everyone, Focht included. "As for the magma people that we took out without killing, everyone ought to round them up. I want to see if we can talk to them and figure out exactly why they invaded, how many more of them there are and how we can resolve this amicably. They're not video game enemies - they didn't blip in just to try and fight us, they had a purpose and a plan. I'll get on that if no one else is up to it once this has been put somewhere safely outside the city where we can retrieve it if necessary." She tested the hand-holds on the egg. "Seems solid. Scout, you're better at managing than I am, so divvy people up into people to help out emergency services and people to help round up and imprison the rock people and people to help seal up these holes while I'm hauling this out of the city - assuming people don't have their own preferences, of course."

,,

She hefted the 'egg' into the air, and took to the skies, holding it somewhat effortlessly. Then she reopened her comm channel - a private one, to Fulcrum. "That was impressive, Fulcrum. You could probably lift more with your brain than I could with my muscles. Didn't even hesitate. Well done. You feeling okay? You looked dead on your feet."

[SalmonMax]

Fulcrum rubbed her cheek and scowled to herself. Her head throbbed and her stomach rolled uneasily, but the worst seemed to be over. The rolling was more from the thick resentment that was welling up though. There was no way to know if MO was being sincere, but it felt like patronization. Lift more than MO? Yeah right.

,,

"Before I was dead on my ass. Now I'm dead on my feet," she said sourly. "So lets call that improvement."

,,

She peered over the top of the roof downward.

,,

"Left my sled though...not sure I'd trust myself to try to fly it right now anyway. Gatekeeper warped me onto, uh...can't see the address. I'm on a building. Couple blocks from where the one I threw came up. Gimme a second to find something to let myself down on, and I'll help out if I can. Where do you want me?"

[Doctor Northlight]

There seemed to not be enough time for talking, at least between Gabriel and Doc. Seeing an opportunity though, she sighed as she fiddled with some settings on some dial on her flight pack.

,,

"Okay, I'm heading back over... seems I'm being summoned by the rest of the team. We should try to reconnoiter at a central spot."

,,

Dodging fists and basalt weapons didn't make what she was doing easier, although what she wanted to do was becoming easier as the basalt soldiers were taking interest. She was sweating profusely at this point, she hadn't attempted something like this before and she was more worried on deafening her compatriot.

,,

"Okay new guy! COVER YOUR EARS!"

,,

She grinned. "Gonna hurt you more than it hurts me, blockheads!"

,,

The air was warped, spreading out from the gravitic field of her flight pack as a shockwave of compressed air made a sound not unlike a sonic boom, but far more nasty... this time was different though, it seemed that she managed to start the shockwave just a bit outside of herself and Gabriel. "Well, that's a suprise..."

,,

But the enemies were slammed off their feet, slamming into each other and breaking into multiple pieces in the process. Outside the sound of window glass falling unto the streets below for some 200 feet from the center of the shockwave, the buildings themselves were untouched.

,,

"Okay... mind your feet..."

,,

She sighed, starting to hover. "Okay, I gotta check on things with Paladin, There is a good number of us in Central Park, we're starting to arrange closing the emergence holes these damn things are coming out of."

,,

"Meet ya there."

,,

She flew off, but the effort of keeping from getting skewered took some out of her as she landed again where everyone else were set up.

,,

"Okay..." She said, opening her comlink again so anyone else not present could hear her. "...Is there any bloody reason we are keeping the other behemoth alive? We don't even know if all of this isn't under someone's control. This one is a goner in the egg, but I'd rather not have that thing in New York Harbor eating ferry boats!"

,,

"Space the both of them then we can dispose of the rock soldiers... didn't you try negotiating with them earlier, MO? Didn't they respond by going right to attack? No speech, no acknowledgement? Even a right bastard would at the very least laugh at your attempt of diplomacy."

,,

"I noticed that myself fighting them. These things are not intelligent. These behemoths were the best whoever is making these things got. Also if this was some sort of underground invasion there would be a lot more. The evidence is clear... someone is making rock... drones, for lack of a better term."

[z-Jael]

Seeing everyone milling around made Jael sigh. This was the sad part, the after-battle. The fighting was done and now it was down to the clean-up. Like after a party, only the parties that Jael had attended had been held by others, and many of them had people to clean up for them. She’d never hosted a party and had never been responsible for cleaning but now she guessed that was exactly what was going to happen. She had an image of lifting parts into garbage trucks like a good doggy, her tail wagging.

,,

Fuck that. Her black lips parted in a wolfish grin that was half-snarl. “I’m gonna check on the one in the bay!” she called out suddenly and spurred herself into motion. At the same time, she relaxed that muscle, sliding back into her smaller form. She was more agile and maneuverable in this form and just a touch faster. Before anyone could protest, she was galloping off at over two hundred miles an hour, on the hunt for the other monster.

,,

Hopefully, it would still be alive, and she could have another fight in her full-sized form. This one had been too short for her tastes.

[Slither]

Slither decided not to weigh in the ethical issues going back and forth on the comms; more than likely, she would just makes things worse. But she was also eager to help out the rest of her team.

"Right, so an update: Wolf is smaller again, but still very big, and she talks. And is a she." She looked around. "I'd be happy to start working with the first responders or talking to the bloody Yank press, but I'm also more than happy to drop down a hole for a look 'round, provided of course it's not still full of hot lava. Climbing being one of my specialties."

Her gaze fell up the many ruined buildings in the area. "Actually getting to civilians trapped in the rubble might be the best use of my abilities right now; if no one objects, I'm going to volunteer myself to the fire and rescue service."

[Doctor Northlight]

Rachael hands the first aid gear she borrowed over to Slither. "Gotcha." She opens her helmet, and massages her temples. "I think I'm getting a bit too overwhelmed here."

,,

She sits on a bench to clear her head. "Something we're missing here..."

,,

Then it dawned on her.

,,

"Who do we have watching the holes?!?" She exclaimed, over the comlink and to everyone there. "I have a theory, we need to check those holes for anything unusual or suspicious. Somehow someone made a factory to crank out this stuff or is generating these things through some means. Filling these up could seal away how it was done, and not watching could allow whoever is doing this to get away with the evidence."

,,

She sighed. "But there's nothing in science that I am aware of that can make sentient stone and lava. I'm at the limits of my skill. I'm not sure how much use I'd be with this."

[Gabriel Stone]

Gabriel suddenly felt ill. He could hear them talking as clear as day. Mo said something that almost turned him blue and as he hovered to where she was, near the giant egg container, she could easily tell something was bothering the stranger. She said 'kill', which meant those rock guys could have been alive and that wasn't Gabriel considered as he crashed into the earth like a super guy ready to beat up animated rock dudes. Rock wasn't alive... was it? It couldn't be, it was just... rock.

,,

His gut twisted and churned like a child caught red handed doing something really bad and had no escape plan. He was nauseous and felt like he really screwed up. He just wanted to help, not kill anyone or anything.

,,

"Uh, hi," he could barely talk. He came out like a bashful kid saying 'hi' to his teacher the first day of school. "I can see through stuff, but not in the dark. If someone goes down there with a light, I can follow them. Or scan around here, or something..." He shrugged, knowing he wasn't sounding very useful. "I dunno. Would that help?"

[Magnum Opus]

"Well, if you're up for it, emergency services could probably use a hand. There's probably a few remaining rock people out there too. You sound tired, though, Fulcrum. Only if you're up for it. It'll all be over soon... oh, hang on."

,,

Magnum Opus sized the young man up, and smiled, extending her hand to shake his. "Hi. I'm Magnum Opus. X-ray vision, eh?" She cocked an eyebrow. A teenager with x-ray vision. Lord, I hope the Dreamcoat's x-ray opaque because I know exactly what I would have done at his age. "That would come in very handy, actually. Hold on, I'm going to lend you this..."

,,

She plucked the earpiece out of her ear and spoke into the mic. "Everyone, I have the newcomer here. Say hi to him. He says he can see through solid matter as long as someone gives him a light and he'd like to explore those tunnels. Northlight, would you be able to help him out with that?" She held the earpiece out to Gabriel. "And I don't know if I caught your name...?"

[Gabriel Stone]

Uh, Gabr-," He slurred his speech a bit, like he wasn't sure of his own name. A thousand things ran through his mind, chief among them: 'do I need a super hero name to play?'. He was already well into his real name out of habit to turn back now so, "-riel." eventually slurred it's way out. "Uh, Gabe is fine though..."

Or you could just call me 'Stupid Rookie'... how's that? He chastised himself while slipping the mic over his ear. "Thanks." He offered with a smile. The kid seemed polite enough, just completely out of his element.

,,

"Uh, 'hi', everyone..." He said aloud into the mic so they could hear him. "I'm uh... Gabe."

[darksol-aeternium]

Finally reaching the bay, Gatekeeper could see where the creature must have landed. It was made all the more evident by the bubbles and steam rising from the middle of the bay. Opening a spy-point to the site of the crash showed a solid, mass, that still simmered with internal heat, not unlike freshly cooled lava. No trace of the actual monster could be found however, which was somewhat unnerving.

,,

Magnum Opus's voice came over the earpiece talking about a newcomer calling himself Gabe.

,,

Having no further business, he teleported back to the last place he'd seen Magnum Opus to find her and another young man standing there.

"Sup Gabe, welcome aboard!" he said nonchalantly. He offered a welcoming smile, but he was wearing a mask. "The Doc was mentioning something about looking into these lava tubes, but I know I'm not fireproof. You wouldn't happen to be that kind of invincible would you Magnum Opus? Or how about you Gabe, what're you bringing to the table? Oh, and that thing Fulcrum threw into the bay with her mind vanished completely...read into that what you will."

[Justin OOC]

Gatekeeper, the monster isn't there. There's utterly no trace of it at all, in the future, please ask me before just assuming anything like this

[Scout]

ooc

i'm back!!!

,,

Scout had jumped at the opportunity to help out by coordinating the efforts of the rescue teams. A few minutes passed without radio contact from him as he attempted to get the various entities to work together beaurocracy was something every soldier was familiar with, but none of them liked.

,,

Finally he appeared back on the scene. "Paladin, if you can create a rope system, to lower me down, I'll be happy to volunteer for spelunking duty. I borrowed a box of flares from our friends at the emergency services vehicles over there," Scout jerked a thumb over his shoulder.

,,

"Sorry, John-boy," Scout looked at Gabriel, "Might have to keep mama waiting for a few more minutes. That is, if you don't mind helping out uncle Sam."

,,

Scout had a big wide smile on his face. This team was coming together. They could use a little polish, but that would come with time.

[Gabriel Stone]

Gabe offered a shy smile towards Gatekeeper. "Well, I've never tried swimming in a volca-" Then Scout appeared with a winning charm and thumbs up attitude like he was pulled right off a World War II poster. These guys were too much. Too much color, too much super, too much... he didn't even know the word for it.

,,

"Um, we don't need to wait for the Paladin guy, dude." Gabe said to Scout. "If your uncle is trapped down there I can just as easily carry you down then to wait for some guy create some rope ladder system. I've got X-Ray vision, man, whether I'm up here or down there with you, it's all the same transparent, see-through world."

,,

He sighed a bit. Planning and tactics were not Gabe's strong suit and these seemed to take forever with the 'figure it out' portion of the process. "I mean, tell y'what, just gimme a flash light and I'll go take a look myself. It's no big deal, I'm already grounded, I'm sure my mom'll give me another hour or so to help out the clean up effort. Good cause n' all that. Might even help me get a week or two knocked off my time, so to speak. If I see your uncle, I'll make sure to bring him back, don't worry."

,,

Gabe didn't just swoop in though. He slowly hovered up around the tunnel entrance and peered around, making sure nothing else was going to come out at him. He still seemed to be waiting for that flashlight.

[SalmonMax]

...and a flashlight he got. It whirred in from around behind him and to the side, and hovered in front of him, waiting for him to reach out and grasp it. Not far off was Fulcrum, limping into view on what looked like a piece of crate, or maybe a cargo pallet. It was a far cry from her earlier zooming around...but she was managing to fly at least.

,,

"Hey," she greeted Gabe over his earpiece. Her mask covered her face, but it was pretty clear the 'new voice' belonged to the girl in the black leotard hovering in on a bunch of wood planks. Plus, Gabe could make out her actual voice too, muffled, but audible to his ears. "Be careful down there. God only knows what else they might have. See anything, get out."

,,

The little crinkling around her eyes suggested a sudden smile.

,,

"Don't be a hero, ok?"