A full-page announcement appears in all the newspapers, and is read over the radio:


This leads to a bit of anxiety in many who read it, for the speedster known as Silver Streak, who used to patrol regularly, hasn't been seen in many weeks...

"Whaddya think boy?" Gil asked Scraps as he set down the paper. "Do we call ourselves heroes?"

Coming back from a coffee run, Diana began setting down the hot beverages in front of her superiors/co-workers. The job was nice when she got to actually get involved in the articles and features, even if it rarely ever amounted to more than checking for spelling, grammatical, or factual errors. Still, even this task had its merits. It made for a good walk, even if her ‘other current job’ was better as exercise.

Approaching Greg with his favorite, a cappuccino with extra cinnamon, she couldn’t help but overhear the assistant copy editor’s grumblings over the new paper. Something about ‘being up at 3 AM reorganizing the advertisements to fit in a last-minute full-page announcement.’ It didn’t usually take much to get him worked up, but Greg usually got over work-related stuff pretty quickly. Taking a glance over his shoulder as she set down the drink, Diana scanned the offending announcement.

“Urgent matter of life and death, huh?”

If whatever was happening was that bad, then it was probably good that her shift would be over soon. She’d have to make sure to head right over.

...But maybe she should take some time to head back to the apartment and change outfits first. Gods, would she ever get used to that?

Outside the 28th Precinct, it was a normal day. Which is another way of saying, anything could happen - there were no normal days at a Police Precinct, and especially not in a world where supervillains and heroes locked horns on a regular basis. A day when someone did not try to blow up the city, now that was a good day.

Into this not especially predictable day, a thing happened. It started as a streak across the sky, which hurtled towards the ground rapidly, finally landing with a sound that was probably best described as vvwwooorrrp---THUNK!!! Onto the plaza, there landed the bright green and purple clad figure of a young woman, even going so far as to adopt the full superhero landing cliché. But she did not linger. She strode with purpose right through the doors, and marched up to the front desk, rather aware that pretty much everyone in the area would now be watching. It was not exactly hard to miss, an entrance like that.

She stood, akimbo, and lifted her chin to engage the eyes of the poor sergeant on desk duty. "The city of New York requests heroes! Cosmic Girl stands ready to answer the call, for the greater good of the people!"

She stayed in her pose, positively radiating zeal and readiness. She was good at it. Her mom hade made her practice for hours to get it right!

The sergeant looks her over, trying to decide if he's impressed... The answer he comes up with seems to be: almost impressed.

"You need to speak to Lieutenant Caswell," he said, and then he turned and looked back over his shoulder. "Lieutenant?!" he bellowed. "Got a new one...!"

When Cosmic Girl went on into the back office, there was indeed a police Lieutenant... and a very old, but extremely dignified man... he was surprisingly tall, in fact, at least 6 foot-- time hadn't made him stooped over at all, even though he was a bit thin and his eyes seemed very tired.

"Hello, er, ma'am," the Lieutenant said to Cosmic Girl. "Who might you be? And do you have any powers, or do you just, ah, hero without benefit of them, as some do?"

Cosmic Girl blinked, and then grunted. She followed to the office, and gave a polite smile to the older man. She was always raised to be pleasant to officers of the law. "My name is Cosmic Girl. As the name suggests, I do indeed have abilities beyond the norm." She rose a couple of feet into the air, little green and purple swirls appearing beneath her feet. And her eyes glowed a vivid emerald. "I manipulate the cosmic forces of the universe. I have spent my life waiting for the call to action. I am here to offer assistance, as requested."

She returned to ground, and looked around the office. "It must be a very serious matter, if you are openly calling for help."

Well, she looked the part, with the costume and the flying, and all. But she also looked, and sounded, like she should be doing her history homework. Was she even allowed out after curfew?

"It is... serious," said the Lieutenant. "And it sounds to me that your skills could be useful... Ah... do you know any other heroes you could call in, too, though? Silver Streak? Goodwill? Scorch Scale...? Anyone else? I was hoping at least some of them might have arrived already..."

Cosmic Girl analysed the Lieutenant's words and his attitude, his tone, his expression, his body language. All together, she didn't get the feeling that he wouldn't send her on whatever sort of mission it was-- although he'd much rather have some older heroes go with her-- it felt more like he thought it would be a mission that would just required multiple people... And since Silver Streak was so important, maybe it required someone with super-speed, if possible...?

Freshly adorned with her bright costume and leaving behind a white-and-yellow trail, White Lynx skid to a stop in front of the precinct and hurriedly made her way inside, sparks on her lower half dying down. She hadn’t exactly wanted to make such a scene showing up here, but she’d had to stay at her day job a little longer than expected and then had some trouble with her boots in her haste, but whatever. She was here now. Heck, she probably wasn’t even the most shocking sight anyone here had seen that day.

Heh. Shocking.

Stepping up to the sergeant seated behind the desk, the superhero opened with a polite wave. “White Lynx here and ready to go do...whatever the job is here.” Nailed it, Ch’rava. “To whom should I speak?”

Scraps came running over to Gil, dragging the huge bone that Gil had brought him from the butcher this morning.
Dropping the bone near Gil’s foot, he looked up at his hero, and barked enthusiastically, wagging his tail so hard it could whip butter.

"I can probably get word to some people," Cosmic Girl affirmed - she knew people in the government who likely had contacts. "But you will find many will come of their own volition. They are good people. Why the SIlver Streak, particularly? You have a speed problem? I can fly pretty darned fast, and I know others who can do more. I hear tell the White Lynx can move like literal lightning, when the occasion demands. I'd quite like to see that myself."

"Well, then... let's go help the police."

Gil scooped up Scraps and stepped over to stand below the skylight. He rose gently into the air to open the hatch, exited, and closed it behind him. there was no way to lock it from the outside, but so far nobody had tried to rob them.... not that he had anything worth stealing.

"You know, I keep telling the police where we live and what our phone number is. I'm starting to think they don't really like us as much as they say they do."

This seemed unlikely, though, as his strength kept growing. Obviously he was well liked.

With a shrug, he flew off to find the proper precinct.

-----

A short while later, they landed outside the precinct house and Gil set Scraps down. He opened the door and they went inside.

"Hello," he said. "I understand you could use some help."

"Go right in," said the officer at the front desk. He turned. "Goodwill and th' pup, Lieutenant-- and another new hero-- ah, heroine...!"

Goodwill (and Scraps) and White Lynx entered to discover the old (but very dignified) man and the police Lieutenant, whom Goodwill recalled had introduced himself, during the whole thing with The Impersonator, as Lieutenant Caswell.

"Hello, Goodwill-- and Scraps-- glad you're here." The Lieutenant looked at White Lynx. "By the look of your costume, I don't suppose you're White Lynx? If so, Cosmic Girl here was just mentioning you to us..."

"White Lynx. Cosmic Girl." It was as much a memorization technique to say the names aloud as it was a greeting. Gil met so many heroes and heroines in the last few months, and he rarely saw any of them twice. (Silver Streak being a case in point.) It was getting hard to keep them all straight. "Pleased to meet you both. I'm Goodwill."

Not that he was going to have a hard time remembering either of these heroines, he amended silently. White Lynx was beautiful, and Cosmic Girl was even more so.

"And this is Scraps, the Wonder Dog."

“Correct. That’s me. Control over electricity and lightning and whatnot, with super speed as well. If it’s easier you all can just call me Lynx.”

Cosmic Girl had mentioned her? She seemed rather powerful and polite, rather muscular too. Probably wasn’t going to be that difficult to get along with. Of course, that assumed Cosmic Girl had only heard of her, and hadn’t worked with White Lynx before, or, gods forbid, knew Diana personally.

“Pleased to meet you as well, Goodwill,” she replied, offering a hand to be shaken. The man seemed to be much the same as Cosmic Girl. Powerful, polite, blond, maybe a bit older. Neither seemed particularly unattractive by human standards, not that any relationship based on such things would be anything close to a good idea.

Offering the same handshake to the other heroine in the room, Ch’rava quickly ran through potential greetings that wouldn’t say whether or not they had met before, before landing on, “Thanks for mentioning my services to the lieutenant, Cosmic Girl.”

“Greetings to you too, Scraps, the Wonder Dog.” Gods, what a long name. Hopefully, they wouldn’t mind her truncating it to just Scraps in the future. Of course, she wouldn’t want to be rude... Still, the dog was rather cute. As weird as some things were here, at least the pets were a plus. There hadn’t really been anything like them back home.

Cosmic Girl shook hands all round, and did not seem to give an indication of having met either before. But she lived for this sort of thing, so she kept an ear out, and knew reputations very well. It was wonderful to be mixing with her peers properly!

"Maybe call me Cosmos, it is a bit less of a mouthful in a busy situation." And she then clocked the doggy, and bent down, making all sorts of adoring cute noises. "Who is just the most adorable wonder doggy ever!?" Her beam of delight was very real. "I don't suppose you can fly, can you, can you? I'm only allowed a dog if it can keep up with me..."

She then recalled that this was meant to be a professional gathering, and straightened back up. "It must be a dire peril indeed, however, to need so many powerful people."

Scraps barked playfully, and licked any hands that came within range of his face.
It was fun meeting new people.

"Scraps can only fly as a passenger," Gil said, smiling. It was a fair question, if he was going to call Scraps the Wonder Dog. But the thought of this over-energetic puppy flying was quite the mental image.

Gil had to wonder about how Cosmic Girl spoke, on a completely different train of thought. Dire peril? Who talked like that in real life?

Wait, so both of them could fly? Ch’rava couldn’t help but feel a tad jealous at that. She’d probably been at a higher altitude than both of them combined, and yet she was grounded. Ah well, at least it wasn’t worse than that. She honestly had much to thank her lucky stars about, not least of which being how Cosmos seemed not to actually know White Lynx. She obviously couldn’t know for certain, just meeting the girl for the first time, but she could most likely relax a bit on that front. It’d be way too awkward to try and force any confirmation there, but as long as she didn’t bring anything relevant up, she could easily avoid making a terrible mistake.

“Whatever this is does indeed seem serious. Still, I’m surprised there’s not more people here already. Especially that Silver Streak fellow. Are the four of us going to be enough?”

The Lieutenant sighed. "Two wouldn't be enough. But if I had 30 or 40 powered heroes at my disposal, that would be too many. I'm hoping three-- and Scraps-- might be right." He turns to the dignified old man. "Ladies and gentleman-- and Scraps-- this is Harold Flynn... But in my father's day, far more people knew him as Captain Liberty."

The three human(*) heroes assembled know the second name... but it doesn't exactly come with a lot of specific details. He was certainly very well-known and popular back in the day... a non-powered, or slightly-powered hero... He fought in World War...? No, in BOTH World Wars...? Or was it that he fought saboteurs back home? (Both times?) Or all of the above?

The problem was that the comic books, dime paperbacks, and pulp serials of his adventures weren't always based on his adventures (were they?), but instead the writers pretty quickly just started making things up...

But he was always depicted as being in his 30s by WWI... and to look at him now-- he's still six-foot or six-foot-one, and even though he does seem to actually put some of his weight on that walking stick he's using, it's easy to imagine him back when he was well-muscled and agile. His chin is still strong, his sad, weary eyes still seem fairly sharp, and his bearing is (still) that of a man who could (right this minute) fend off a mugging without a scratch if he had to, even though he must be...

Wait... like, at least 80 or so (and very well-preserved, even at that)...? Okay, maybe he was slightly powered, after all...

(He seems/smells like a very nice old man, the kind who would gladly pet dogs and who would be generally kind to animals of all sorts.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:18, Sun 12 Jan 2020.

Whoa.

This was Captain Liberty? The Captain Liberty? Hero of two World Wars? Arguably the first costumed hero ever? The hero by whom all other heroes are measured?

What was Gil supposed to do? Bow? Genuflect? This was freaking Captain Liberty!

Oh God. Gil was expected to say something. Hello? That couldn't possibly be enough for such a monumental moment as this. Hello was stupid. Everything Gil could think of to say was stupid. There had to be something appropriate to say in this moment. Every tick of the clock just making things worse, Gil had to say something dammit!

"I have your comic books."

ARRRRGH.

Mr. Flynn (Captain Liberty!) smiles-- sadly, just because he was already sad, and still is--  but the smile nonetheless says it all. It's a warm, beneficent, heartfelt sign of approval, like getting a smile from one's father and grandfather and the principal and a police officer and a football hero and a war hero all at the same time times 10, even though he must hear the same sort of thing 10 times a day.

(Or, well, he must've once, but does he, still? Has anyone really seen Captain Liberty since 1946 or so...?)

So this guy was still around. She’d given the comic books in her ‘new’ apartment a cursory read and checked the library afterwards for more information. Odd that Diana hadn’t had a library card beforehand. Still, she’d spent a good time in there, reading up on various histories. Captain Liberty certainly seemed to be a very important and beloved figure, and she could respect that, not to mention the fact that he could probably beat her up still, if speculation and stories were to be believed.

What she realized she couldn’t do was mimic the sheer shock and awe that appeared to grace Goodwill. White Lynx supposed that she could say the same, after all, she too possessed some of the old hero’s comic books, but she didn’t think she could be anywhere as sincere as the blond man. May as well just be polite.

Reaching out for another handshake, careful to offer the one that he could shake with his non-walking-sticked hand, she greeted, “A pleasure to meet you, Captain Liberty, or would you prefer Mr. Flynn?” She hoped she wasn’t being too forward, but she’d always hated being given two names for a person. Was she supposed to use both of them every time? Back home, her friends and colleagues had teased her for her overthinking, but she’d always said that proper naming was something to strive for.

"Let's use Mr. Flynn for now," he said, shaking her hand (a very good, strong grip for a man of the age he appeared to be, let alone for a man of the age he might-- for all anyone knew-- be). "As my brief story will demonstrate, I am no longer Captain Liberty, as such..." The weight of emotion on Mr. Flynn was palpable, and he was clearly lost in it for a moment...

"What?" As if this man could be anything or anyone other than Captain Liberty. "How do you mean, sir?"

Cosmos shook hands with enthusiasm, and managed to curtail girlish gushing, but she, too, was obviously start struck. She had been raised on the tales of the Captain, after all. "It is a real honour, sir. I wish it were under better circumstances."

Not that she actually knew what the corcumstances were, yet.

"...My grandson... is being held hostage," Flynn explains. "At my home, several miles north of Manhattan... Three powered villains showed up, broke in, and got to my grandson's nursery--he's two years old-- and said they were holding him hostage until their demands were met. And their demand is difficult: they want Silver Streak. One of them, a man calling himself Breakneck, apparently has the same powers of speed as Silver Streak. I think Breakneck wants to settle old scores with his rival."

"And the problem," said the lieutenant, "as you know, is that no one's seen Silver Streak in weeks. I explained to Mr. Flynn that the last time we did, during the Impersonator business, Silver Streak's helmet came off, and a number of us present-- The Impersonator, and several police officers, including myself-- saw his face." The lieutenant glances at Cosmic Girl and White Lynx, who weren't present at that time. "There were... rather specific reasons why Silver Streak would have found that revelation particularly concerning. It's very unfortunate-- particularly right now-- but it's not exactly surprising that he's gone into hiding. He's probably not living anywhere in the New York area. With his powers, he could live anywhere. He could live in one state and work in another-- or Canada, for that matter. So there's no telling if he even knows about the crisis we're having right now."

"Since a child's life is in danger, I prefer to think that he does not know," said Flynn. "It doesn't matter. The facts are what they are, and we must work with them as we must."

The lieutenant nodded. "The message that we couldn't get Silver Streak, and why, was relayed to Mr. Flynn's house. The child's captors don't care about the facts. They've given us a deadline: noon, tomorrow."

"Which suggests a rescue mission," said Flynn.

"Oh, wow. That's awful." The kidnapping of a toddler for any reason was horrible, but to do it for something as petty as revenge...? It was an atrocity. "I'm really sorry. I'll do whatever I can.

"If you don't mind me asking: Do you have some sort of connection to Silver Streak or Breakneck? It seems weird that you'd be targeted for this. Silver Streak is a super-hero, and I'd like to think that he'd want to recover any child safely, not just your grandson. So why would Breakneck take the added risk of involving additional heroes?

"And, in point of fact, how did he know to target you? How did he know your identity?"

"No, no connection that I know of. I got the impression that Breakneck and Silver Streak knew each other before they each got their powers, though-- perhaps Silver Streak once mentioned looking up to me...?"

"As for the risk... he and his two fellows are pretty confident... they have some non-powered henchpeople, too..."

"As for me, well, for a while, mine was the most well-known face in America, mask or no mask... My civilian identity isn't a household name, but there are many who know... I'd say everyone in the town near where I live knows, and there are many in Hollywood and the publishing industry who know. It's an increasingly-poorly-kept secret, these days..."

By now, Scraps was getting fidgety and wriggly in Goodwill’s arms.   He was bored, and wanted the opportunity to sniff around this exciting new room.

Gil set Scraps down. He wouldn't wander far, even in the investigation of new smells.

A kidnapped two-year-old? That was cruel. She knew that humans tended to mature earlier than she was used to, but she hoped the kid wouldn’t be too scarred for life.

“Indeed. Sounds like a rescue mission’s in order. I do wonder though: How likely is it that they were aware of Silver Streak’s issues and recent disappearance? Could the demands have been intended to be impossible from the start?”

White Lynx wasn’t really sure what purpose that would serve, but if they were going to remain steadfast in their demands, their motive probably wasn’t for Breakneck to race against his rival or whatever. Maybe they either wanted to put Flynn in an impossible situation while still technically seeming reasonable, so as to offer a shred of hope to make the later despair much sweeter; or perhaps it had more to do with Silver Streak. After all, the hero was in a particularly vulnerable state currently, and if anything was going to flush him out, a kidnapped kid wasn’t a bad choice. And once he was back, Breakneck could possibly force him to completely reveal his true identity.

Or maybe Breakneck was just an asshole. Not everything had to be a gambit, she supposed.

"That crossed my mind as well, and otherwise I certainly wouldn't put it past them, but Breakneck really seemed to be relishing the opportunity to do battle with Silver Streak..." said Flynn in response...

"Couple of questions," Gil said, having pondered the story for another minute. "Who were the other two supers, if you know? Two, do we have any clue as to where Breakneck and his criminal cohorts have gone?"

"I'd never seen nor heard of them before, but, well, one likes to introduce himself-- a Japanese fellow calling himself Tetsubo, The Club. And indeed, he does have a sort of large iron war club that he carries around with him-- so I suspect that inhuman strength may be a factor. Likes tattoos, so he might be former-- or current-- yakuza. Or perhaps he just wants people to think he is, or was... or perhaps he just likes getting tattoos. The other fellow's name I didn't get, but he's... odd. Very scarred up, or should I say very stitched up. Looks like someone tore him apart and then sewed him back together, with heavy black thread. Had some black bandages here and there, too, like around his wrists..."

The lieutenant looks like he's about to say something, but then sort of shakes his head and doesn't.



"'Gone?'" Flynn blinks. "I'm sorry, I must not have been clear. This isn't exactly a kidnapping, or if it is, it's only in the technical sense, in that criminals have created an obstacle that's keeping a child from being with his family. But we know exactly where they and my grandson are. They--and their henchpersons-- are at my house. They've forbidden anyone but Silver Streak to come and interfere, or they'll harm young William. This is a hostage situation. That's why 20 or 30 heroes, if we had them, would be too much. The best thing to try would be to try to use stealth to steal William from his nursery tonight, and then act, once he's once again safely out of their clutches. And since I don't know how to present Silver Streak to them..." Flynn trails off, looking at White Lynx, thinking...
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:05, Tue 14 Jan 2020.

Cosmos frowned as the situation was filled in. This was definitely a tricky one. "They sound less than pleasant company, I agree. But I should note, stealth is not really my strongest skill. In fact, I am usually the opposite. What I do... it tends to be noisy. And very noticable. Flashing lights, explosions, that sort of thing. Though I could make a very good distraction, if that turns out to be necessary. Subtle, I am not."

"Can we make a copy of Silver Streak's costume, and one of us wear it?" He looked to White Lynx and Cosmic Girl. He didn't know their abilities, short of what they'd already said. "I would probably look the part most closely, by virtue of gender alone, but I'm not that fast. I can fly fast, but not run. Breakneck would probably notice if 'Silver Streak' never actually touched the ground.

"I'm sorry... I don't know your capabilities. Do either of you have super-speed?" He paused for a second, and then added, "Our stealthiest member would probably be Scraps."

Actually, White Lynx had mentioned she had super speed earlier, when she'd introduced herself, but with so much new information to take in, Goodwill had forgotten (save perhaps for subconsciously).

"I bet I can get a copy of what Silver Streak wore here in a couple of hours," said the lieutenant... He and Flynn were now looking at White Lynx in the same evaluative way...

“Yes, I do indeed have super speed, as previously stated. I’m not exactly skilled in disguise,” A half-lie. With shapeshifting in play, she’d never really needed to worry about costumework, makeup, or vocal mimicry. “But if we can get a costume, I’ll give it a go. Could Silver Streak do anything other than go really fast? I wouldn’t want to get blindsided by his expecting me to fly or juggle.”

"Not as far as we know," said the lieutenant. "Obviously displaying super-speed should be enough."

"Especially if you're wearing the costume, and, uh, some sort of... alterations... are made... Showing up on the front lawn and shouting and running around inhumanly fast a bit should be enough," agrees Flynn. "It could be the ideal time for someone else to break into the nursery, because the villains are going to immediately look out the front windows, and the nursery is in the back... gets the morning sun that way, you see, nice for a child to wake up to... and easier to get him to sleep for an early bedtime..."

"I'll get some experts from the garment district to come over to attend to the, uh, alterations," agrees the lieutenant. "So what time do you folks think this should rescue plan should be done? Early evening? Midnight? Just before dawn? Just before breakfast...?"

"Dusk. Twilight." Cosmic Girl was surprisingly adamant. "People think we've evolved out of primal behaviour. But some of it remains. But as a species, human beings are at their most vulnerable, psychologically, at nightfall. More prone to making poor decisions. Easier to scare." This seemed like an odd thing for her to know, but she added, "I've read all sorts of books on this sort of thing. It really helps! I know some people think that costumed heroing is all about being muscular and fast, but there's ever so much reading involved. It's mostly dull, but sometimes, little facts like this pop up!"

"Sure. Dusk then." Cosmic Girl was probably too young to realize how badly she'd just insulted Goodwill, for whom hero-ing had pretty much been about being strong and fast. He'd done okay for himself, and done a lot of good, but he'd had precisely zero formal training. "Sounds like a plan."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:33, Tue 14 Jan 2020.

“No issues with dusk here.”

There was something to be said about attacking in the day. Logic dictates ambushing in the night, so most savvy people would expect that, thereby most people would be surprised and likely caught off guard by going against that notion. However, none of that really mattered when distractions were in play. No matter what time of day it was, once ‘Silver Streak’ showed up, they’d be focused and alert, though admittedly on ‘Silver.’ In that case, the surrounding darkness would be preferable to light, since that extra bit of surprise no longer mattered.

Still, she wished she could’ve done a little more reading on the subject of heroism like Cosmos had. She had spent the majority of her recent research on humanity and the earth in general, trying to avoid accidentally showing surprise at the notion of horses or something.

"Okay, this is going well!" says the lieutenant. He goes to the door and orders someone to call over some professional fitters from the garment district, and to explain that it's a matter of a child's life that we get someone-- a woman-- to impersonate Silver Streak in a Silver Streak costume, and to come over right away. "And make it clear that at least half the point is that we need a Silver Streak costume, so they'd better bring some shiny silver fabric like that with 'em!"

He turns back to the rest of you. "So what about you other two? We've got our distraction, and we've got two fliers... Will you both go get the little boy out the back window? Or just one of you, and the other'll keep an eye out on the front yard in case White Lynx runs into too much trouble...?"

Cosmos pursed her lips in thought. "I suppose it depends on the state of the child. They might respond better to a friendly female voice. But that said, I am better when I have open space to work in, so flying above things to dive in if it turns bad might be a better use of my abilities." She then smiled slightly. "Although I am fairly sure that the White Lynx could more than handle things if they turn sour. I'm happy to go where you think best. I don't have as much experience, and I will happily defer to the experience of others when it comes to making a plan."

"Maybe I should engage the other supers, then," Goodwill offered. Two-on-one wasn't his favorite way to go, but you did what you needed to do and you didn't complain. He'd been getting stronger lately, so maybe he could make short work of one or both of them. Either way, he'd be one hell of a distraction. "And the henchmen."

Cosmos pondered. "Could you lure them out? If Lynx is out front, you lure the others out back, and I could try to pick them off from above. Or rush in to grab the boy while you're keeping them busy. A, what is it ... a feint, is that the right term?"

“Ideally, I should be able to distract and avoid any direct fights. Assuming that the main thing Silver Streak and Breakneck share is their super speed, he’ll probably want to race? Either that or keep him hostage for something. So while we should plan for a fight, I don’t think we should start off by drawing them out on multiple sides. We might be able to end this with no bloodshed. If they can stay out of view, I think it might be best to do as the lieutenant says, having one of you flying above and another sneaking through the back. That way, the watcher can swoop in to assist if things go wrong for either hero on the ground. We do still have to figure out what Scraps, the Wonder Dog, should do as well...”

"Scraps should probably go with whoever goes in to rescue the kid," Goodwill suggested, looking towards Cosmic Girl. It seemed most likely that she'd be the one to take that job. "The kid is probably scared out of his mind, but stick a puppy in his hands, he'll probably forget his fear for a minute or two."

The mention of Scraps drew the room's attention towards the puppy ... who was, at this moment, marking the leutenant's desk with a wee-mail for any other dogs that might happen by any time soon.

“In that case, since Scraps is one of the main things we plan on using to calm the kid down, either of you should be fine for either job, right? Unless you don’t think you’d be good as our overseer, Goodwill?”

"I think I can handle the job," said Goodwill, the 'think' being more out of humility than indecision or underconfidence. "The hard part will be staying there, and not getting fully involved on the ground. But I usually know when I'm not needed, and when I am."

The phone on the lieutenant's desk rang. He answered it, listened... then spoke to the assembled heroes: "...The fashion folks are saying if they need to take measurements and make adjustments, could the person they're fitting just come to them, since that's where all their sewing machines are and stuff. Since the person getting fitted has super-speed, I have to admit to the logic. I can give you the address in the garment district... But do you people feel like you've got your plan established...?"

“The plan seems relatively solid, as long as no one here has any objections or differing suggestions.”

Lynx thought about further asking if some of the lieutenant’s officers could be on standby at a reasonable distance, but after some consideration, she assumed any police presence close enough to help would only hurt the plan.

White Lynx speeds off to the address, and, soon(ish), returns with a bundle in a brown sack. She shows the group the results-- it's a Silver Streak costume that fits her, with, ah, a bit of padding here and there and extra elastic there and here, so as to cut a more gender-neutral silhouette than would have happened otherwise.

Everyone is ready...

Since all four heroes are capable of getting to Flynn's house faster than a car (as long as a flyer carries Scraps, as usual), the (non-canine) heroes are given directions (followable from the air or ground) to Flynn's house.

They should arrive at the location with more than enough time to get into position for their plan...
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:02, Sun 02 Feb 2020.

Goodwill took to the air miles away from the house, and approached from a high altitude. He had excellent distance vision, but from this height he'd definitely need the binoculars he'd clipped to his belt. Since the idea was to see without being seen, he stayed as high as he could reasonably manage without rendering even the binoculars useless.

It seemed her role was to wait for the distraction from the Lynx, then gain access to the house with the Wonder Dog to rescue the hostage. That suited Cosmos just fine, as it meant she got to fly with a doggy, and that resulted in the inevitably wuzzing of soft furry ears.

She landed far enough away to avoid alerting the local inhabitants, then ran to get close to the house access point. She might not have had super speed, but she was in superb condition, and being able to change local gravity meant she could run with far greater grace and velocity than a human might expect. It took little time to get in position. She almost hoped someone did try to cause trouble. She had no time for those who stole away a kid. ANd she also had the belligerence of youth...

Scraps wasn't sure why Gil had gone away.
He understood that he was to stay with the girl that smelt like those purply flowers mixed with bee-food, but this was the first time that Gil wasn't with him ... the first time they were not working together as a team, and his demeanour probably showed it.
Scraps lacked a little of the zest he often had, and felt.

But he was a trained fire fighting dog, from a long line of fire dogs ... and sometimes a well trained pup needed to go with different fire fighters into a situation.
But he missed his human.

As he scampered though the nearby bushland at the back of the big house, he allowed his Enhanced Senses take in the scene ahead.   Notably, if (and where) other dogs were present.   If there were bottoms to be sniffed, you could be sure that Scraps would be in there nose first.

When the flowery scented honey girl came to a halt, and took cover, Scraps joined her.

Now completely encased in this other costume, Ch’rava felt strangely comfortable. She knew she was still stuck in Diana’s skin but, even just at the costume level, it was nice to be able to be someone else again. And whoever designed this replica did a fine job of it too! It didn’t really give her away as a, well her, and it was decently comfortable to boot. As long as she didn’t try to say anything more than deep grunts, she wouldn’t expect anyone to know it wasn’t Silver Streak. Unless of course someone knew him well, or at all, and got a good, long, close look at her. In any case, for all intents and purposes, she was Silver Streak now.

After waiting long enough for everyone to get in position, Streak dashed off, careful to avoid any visible sparking. Sliding to a stop just out of view from Flynn’s house, Streak took a moment to expel any excess electrical energy before making a rather noticeable entrance. Running figure-eights in the ground just outside of the home.

Goodwill sees a few (well, three) henchman standing guard here and there around the estate. One is smoking a cigarette. They're all dressed the same, in dark gray, with sort of ski-masks that have no holes except for the eyes, which are all covered by big goggles, giving them a vaguely goldfish-headed look (except for being dark charcoal instead of gold).

Each is armed with firearms.

They don't look up. (They're expecting a powered hero, but one who runs around on the ground, not flies, after all.)

(It is reasonable to presume that the lieutenant would have gladly given the heroes walkie-talkies, if they wanted them.)

Scraps:

As he scampered though the nearby bushland at the back of the big house, he allowed his Enhanced Senses take in the scene ahead.   Notably, if (and where) other dogs were present.   If there were bottoms to be sniffed, you could be sure that Scraps would be in there nose first.

(Scraps, give me an Insightful roll, please...)




White Lynx // "Silver Streak" immediately sees the henchpeople radioing in on walkie-talkies...

...But it proves not to be necessary. A guy wearing a blood-red bodysuit rushes out of the house (by the front door) and out onto the lawn. His hair is dark, shoulder-length, and very wavy (and kinda dirty-looking-- the longer one's hair is, the harder it is to keep it clean, when one is running around at super-speed), and he's got a mustache and a little goatee. He exudes a sort of casual, murderous confidence, and feels pretty darn dangerous.

A second-floor window breaks outward, because a shorter man, about five-foot six, jumps through it. He's covered head to toe in what look like tight black bandages. It would seem almost stupid of him, in a way, because while he's up there in mid-air, there's no way for him to dodge White Lynx // "Silver Streak" ...To her eyes, he's really falling in slow-motion. Except if she goes over there to mess with bandaged-guy, she'll open herself up to an attack from Breakneck...

No sign of a third dude yet. Maybe he's with the hostage, or maybe he's just taking his time heading to the front door, or maybe he's taking a nap or having a sandwich, who knows.

Scraps still hunkered next to the honey-smell girl, watching and listening and sniffing the scene ahead of them.
- rolled 11 using 2d6 with rolls of 5,6.  Insight roll.

Cosmos hunkered down and whispered softly to the pooch. "What do you smell, boy?"

Not that she would likely understand what the dog replied. She did not speak puppy.

Still, she smashing glass made her tense up, but she kept her power in check, lest the glow give her away. She spoke very softly into the walkie-talkie she had been given. "Goodwill? What do you see? Am I clear to enter? Um... over?"
This message was last edited by the player at 22:29, Fri 14 Feb 2020.

Allowing Bandage Man to fall with style, “Silver Streak” approached Breakneck, waiting either for the man to speak or to begin fighting. Keeping an eye on the both of them, “Streak” hoped they were just planning on chatting.

Beyond that, “Streak” would have loved to notify how two of them were out front now, but “Streak’s” walkie-talkie wasn’t supposed to be on until after either the situation ended or “Streak’s” cover was blown. Hopefully Goodwill’s position was good enough to see them.

There were two figures in the front yard. As near as Goodwill could tell, they were two of the three supers. Then there were three other men, each one patrolling another side of the house. These would be thugs-for-hire, and no match for any of the supers they faced. Their most dangerous ability was the ability to alert the others, at which point all hell could break loose.

There was one more super to contend with, but he was nowhere to be seen. Guarding the kid, most likely.


"You've only got one man between you and the back door," Goodwill explained, still watching from above through his binoculars. "One super is still inside, somewhere.

"When this guy next passes your position you'll have about twenty seconds to get inside before he turns back and sees you. On my mark... stand by... mark."

Scraps sniffs the air deeply a few times.

--This is the house of that nice old man who was back at the police station.

--And a nice little boy lives around here somewhere, too. Plays out in this yard a lot, or did until a couple of days ago...

--There's also some bad guys. Grrrr. One remind him of Silver Fast Guy. Not nice like Silver Fast Guy, but fast like Silver Fast Guy was fast. Huh. But he's definitely a bad guy.

--There's also two guys around who smell even weirder.

----One is kind of alive, but kind of dead. A bad guy.

----One is even weirder... Smells a little like that strange man at the museum who had that weird ball or whatever it was. Not the same smell at all, but a little similar somehow, like old incense. Except the museum man smelled like fire and swamps, and whoever's here smells like... wine and sweat and hot peppers. But worse than that. Definitely another bad guy.

--There's several other humans around, but they don't smell special like the others. They just smell like normal humans. Some of them only barely smell like bad guys.





Then the fast bad guy ran out the front door, and the alivedead bad guy jumped out the front window. Grr. Yeah, these were bad guys.




"Wow, you're eager to mix it up, huh? I take it that means you remember me?" Breakneck yelled to White Lynx//"Silver Streak." "Right after the Doc died? I sure remember you... I guess he had some of the stuff left, huh?"




Cosmic Girl, holding Scraps, moved... (I presume? If so, roll an Agile check, Cosmic Girl...)

"OK!" Not Copy or Roger, as Cosmos was not really that familiar with walkie talkie type protocols.

She tried her best to slip towards the way into the house, small doggy in her arms. But she was not used to carrying this sort of wrigglesome burden, and sneaking was not her usual modus operandi. She was more a blow away the side of the building and ask questions later sort of operative...

<<OOC: 20:04, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 7 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 3,3.  Agile roll! I suck.>>

Cosmic Girl speeds to the back door of the house. No one seems to see her (so far)... but when she gets there, it's locked. Now what?

(Scraps, give me ANOTHER Insightful check real quick, please...)

- rolled 4 using 2d6 with rolls of 2,2.  Another Insightful roll, real quick

See, that’s what happens when you rush an artist of my caliber!

(Scraps gets -1 on his next roll, but gets 1 new xp.)

Eugh, someone's been smoking some strange type of cigarettes by this door lately. Yuck! Scraps will be of limited help to Cosmic Girl for the next several seconds (or longer?)...

Cosmic Girl frowned. Lockpicking had not been part of her curriculum while she was training. Locked doors were usually vaporised or kicked in. Covert work was presenting a lot of new challenges.

But she was up for the task.

She gently placed one finger against the keyhole. She tooka few deep breaths, and very, very gently, she let a tiny trickle of cosmic radiation infuse the lock. She counted quietly in her head. One hippopotamus, two hippopotamus, three hippo... or is that hippopotami? Fou... damn, lost track... let's just play it by ear...

Hopefully, the exposure to the radiation would slowly, quietly, vaporise the lock. No lock on the door - no more problem! Just so long as nobody inside noticed the greenish-magenta aurora lurking about the lock from the other side!

(Interesting... do a Confident check, please...

(There are those who might say, "Wouldn't this be a Forceful check?" To those people, I say: I thought of that, and decided to ask for a Confident check anyway, thank you.))

OOC: 17:47, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 12 using 2d6 with rolls of 6,6.  I feel confident! Let's check!!!

That's right people. HOW D'YOU LIKE THEM APPLES, LOCK OF DOOM????

Externally, nothing appears to happen with the lock.

When she tries the door again, though, the door silently swings open.

Cosmic Girl (holding Scraps) quickly steps inside the door (closing it behind her), and is now in the kitchen.

There's no one else in there, just her and Scraps.

So far so good... now what?

(Look for the boy, presumably...?)

Cosmos placed the dog on the floor and then whispered to it. "All right. Time to show how much of a wonder dog you are! Can you get the scent of the boy? If you can take me to him, it will save time." And, a guard is unlikely to expect a puppy, nor would they likely fire on one. He would be a good distraction. Spotting a doggy would likely make someone act surprised. And make it a lot easier to kick his goshdarned behind!

(Sounds like it's time for another Insightful check, Scraps, but don't forget your -1 penalty from that last roll...)

Whaddami here?   An damaged Insight Jukebox?   :-p
- rolled 6 using 2d6-1 with rolls of 1,6.  Penalised Insight.

Scraps was not really focused at that moment, instead he was snuggling out some sneezes, and irritatedly pawing at his nose ... trying to get rid of the disgusting scents that had been left here by the humans.

The puppy just paws at his nose. Apparently something in the air doesn't agree with him, at least for the immediate future.

(Scraps takes -1 forward but gets 1 new xp.)

What now?

(Note, trying again is not allowed, at least not yet... I'll tell you if and when you're allowed to try again...)

Doc? Stuff? Those sounded important. Should “Streak” have asked for more of a briefing or something? They guessed that, even if they had been told everything, it wouldn’t have made much of a difference if they couldn’t sound like him. Whatever. This info was useless. “Streak” sank into a lower stance and raised their fists. They hoped all Breakneck wanted was a race, but, well, it wasn’t like they could ask. Hopefully, he’d get the message. “Streak” was here and wasn’t interested in smalltalk.

"What's'a matter? Too weak to shout loud enough to be heard outside your helmet? Aw well, I guess it doesn't matter, but I kinda wanted to hear you whine like a baby about how you'd bring me to justice or something. Oh well, let's just get to the violence, I guess..."

And he attacks...

(There's time (I mean, there wouldn't be, but you BOTH have super speed, so) for Silver Streak to try to dodge (Agile) or just to meet him halfway there and punch 'im (Forceful) or do some other sort of attack (Forceful) or do something else...)
This message was last edited by the player at 15:40, Mon 17 Feb 2020.

With a low snort under their breath, “Silver Streak” made to dodge the villain. It’d have been fun to play along with the argument, but they could at least enjoy the man’s disappointment.

White Lynx rolled 8 using 2d6 with rolls of 3,5.  Agility to dodge out of the way.

White Lynx just barely dodges aside, with fewer inches to spare than she would've liked. Still, she isn't hurt at all.

Breakneck is definitely every bit as fast as her, though...

He's also a little annoyed. "Feh. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Means this isn't gonna be easy, though..." He sighs. "I thought I wanted to, I don't know, draw this out, make it take a while, play around with finishing you off. Now, though, I'm surprised to find that I just want it over with. I hate when the anticipation's better than the thing you're waitin' for..." He glances over his shoulder, back at the house, like he's almost forgotten about "Silver Streak" for the moment, but White Lynx isn't fooled-- she sees Breakneck watching her out of the corner of his eye. "Maybe I should get Tetsubo out here to just start demolishing the house... with the kid still inside... That'd be fun..."

Tetsubo? Must be the one still inside. Breakneck, The Bandaged Wonder, and Tetsubo. Alongside several normal goons. Okay.

Breakneck was fast. As fast as them or faster, but drawing it out. A bit of a trash-talker too. Still, his threat about the house seemed real enough. And the kid was the main thing they were to be focused on. Maybe if they were a bit more “entertaining,” he wouldn’t call on Tetsubo to foul the situation in the house. Honestly, they didn’t want to head into a fight all that much. Price’s abilities had been impressive, but this body lacked the physical strength to make up for Ch’rava’s relative inexperience in fighting as a human. Of course, even among her fellow infiltrators, she hadn’t been too strong in her old body either.

Whatever. “Streak” was getting off track. A straightforward fight would be risky, no doubt. Going by how he had rushed forward to attack, Breakneck was likely on the strong side. And from how he was still looking their way, he was cautious too. Maybe, if “Streak” could fight a defensive battle, focusing primarily on dodging and only faking attacks until the guy tired out or the kid got out, they’d be able to both hold his attention and prevent themselves from taking too much damage. Hopefully, they’d be able to avoid too much trouble from either Longhair McSpeedman and Villain von Bandage. Okay, good enough of a plan. Time to put it in motion.

“Streak” speeds forward with a conservative sweep of the legs, prepared not to connect, but to dodge out of the way of any attacks made in response. Hopefully, Breakneck wouldn’t catch on too fast.

Well, the doggy's nose seemed to be less than helpful right now. Everyone has their off days...

Cosmos placed Scraps carefully and quietly by her side, and held a finger to her lips in the universal sign of ssshhhh!!! She hoped he understood! With extreme care, she started to sneak around the house, trying to spot any signs of incarceration. The boy was here, somewhere, and almost certainly guarded.

11:16, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 4 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 2,1.  Imma do a sneak!!! Apparently, very badly!!!

Scraps looked at the lady, looking his tongue happily.
Then when she wasn’t looking, he went running off to find either other dogs, or an open door to run on into the house.

(--White Lynx: You are basically trying to convince Breakneck that you're fighting for real, when you're actually just stalling. The CHARMING stat is for influencing people, so I've decided I'mm'a have you roll a Charming check, please.)


--Cosmic Girl: as you leave the kitchen area, you run into a Japanese guy (with elaborate tattoos visible on his neck and wrists (all else that he might have is currently hidden by his clothing)) carrying a huge iron club (way too easily) over his shoulder.

"Well, well!" he says. "What a delightful addition to our household. Are you a friend of Silver Streak's, I suppose?" he asks.


--Scraps: The young lady seems kind of clueless, so Scraps slips off through a side door and starts exploring the house by himself. (Scraps, roll Insightful to try to pick up a useful scent, or Agile for stealth... but either way, don't forget your -1 penalty...)

White Lynx rolled 12 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 6,5.  What? No, I’m not CHARMING you, I’m really fighting! See? Actually fighting. Just, uh, just tried to punch ya right there. Almost got ya.

Scraps slipped through the open side door, and begins slinking through the house.
- rolled 9 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 6,1.  Agile, for sneaking (at -1).

Mostly, he was curious about the place ... and mostly, mostly, didn't want to get caught in here by any of the nasty folk.

With Cosmic Girl inside the house, and Lynx/Streak engaged in super-speed combat on the front lawn, it was time for Goodwill to start mopping up some goons. He aimed himself to land behind the one on the rear lawn, who Cosmic Girl had so deftly bypassed, and dropped out of the sky. He came in fast, so in case the thug turned around it wouldn't really matter, unless he spent his time looking up at the night sky.

Finding that he just couldn't help himself, Goodwill did a three-point super-hero landing.

"Nap time," he said.


[OOC: Didn't know if you'd want him to do a stealth roll or not, (given that he's not really trying that hard to be stealthy) or just skip to the attack roll.]

Oh, fiddlesticks!

Cosmos beamed brightly at the huge man. "That's right! I am sorry, I couldn't resist taking a look around. I'm always so curious about people with special powers!"

She tried to play the "just friendly talk" card, but she knew it would take a lot of convincing to make it work. But she was young, and shapely, and very enthusiastic!

16:38, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 9 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 2,6.  I am so very charming. Don't hit me!!!

Breakneck is completely fooled. He not only doesn't tumble to the fact that he's not really fighting Silver Streak (not yet, anyway), he has no idea White Lynx is just stalling for time at this point (not yet, anyway).

He's also a little off his game, for the moment, at least.

(GM rolls dice)

He attempts to do bodily harm to the silver-clad enemy in front of him, and misses, frustrating him further.

---

Scraps enters some sort of living room-- there's a couple of guards! Fortunately, Scraps hops behind a comfy chair... the guards don't notice Scraps.

One is looking out the window curtains. "Breakneck can't land a hit on Silver so far... Breakneck's gettin' really mad."

"What's Blackjack doin'?" the other asks.

"Just standing there watching. Guess he figures this is Breakneck's fight."

"That, and you don't bring tough to a speedster fight. What'd be the point? They'd just run rings around ya."

"Guess so."

---

It sure would have been problematic if the startled henchman had tried firing his weapon at Goodwill. It would've alerted everyone's attention to the fact that there was something going on on the estate besides in the front yard.

Fortunately, that didn't happen. The henchman was alert for either Silver Streak, or for the police or a SWAT team or the Marines or something. He was NOT mentally prepared for Goodwill dropping out of the sky, and he just gaped as the hero landed... and knocked him out.

---

The man raised one eyebrow. "Cute. What're you, 16? 17? I--" He frowned. "...Maybe I should go up and check on..." He sighed. "But first, I need to decide what to do with you... Meh, I'll drag you out front and make you Blackjack's problem..."

He starts to reach for Cosmic Girl's arm...

Well, that tore it. There were very few remaining options left open to Cosmic Girl at this point. If that great lump got hold of her, she would have no choice but to let rip her powers, and doing that while being gripped by someone who presumably had super strength... No. That was not a game she wanted to play.

So when he reached out, she did the only thing she could think of... well, short of blasting the huge man through the wall, which would definitely blow their cover.

She legged it.

More specifically, she legged it in such a way as to not totally vanish from his sight. She ran away, but she ran so as to lead him out. If Goodwill could see her being chased off by this great moose of a man, then that should leave the place open for him to grab the hostage. She did wonder where Scraps was, but she had realised that the Wonder Dog would do what the Wonder Dog felt was right, and nothing much was going to change that.

She just hoped this guy wasn't as fast as she was, or it could get very messy, very fast. Not that she had concerns about whether she could take him. She was very confident about her abilities. But this was meant to be covert, not a shooting gallery.

20:11, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 8 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 1,6.  Running awwwaaayyyyy... sort of. *;-).

Cosmic Girl ran into the kitchen, and from there reached the back door.

And she was about to run through it, when she glanced back for just a split second--

--The guy with the club wasn't following her. At all.

Darn it! That meant either he went to warn the others, or to check on the hostage. (Or, like, both, but he presumably had choose one of those to do first, since she hadn't noticed a walkie-talkie on him...)

Darn! Now what?
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:46, Sat 22 Feb 2020.

Scraps slipped quickly and stealthfully along behind the furniture, and out through the car door into the next room.

He could sense the danger in all these men, and knew he wanted nothing to do with them.  They didn’t feel nice, like Gil and the others did.

But He also sensed that there was something important for him to do here.
Though the house wasn’t actually on fire, the clever and well trained hero/fire pup realised that he needed to treat this situation as though it were ... and find the people who needed rescuing.

And so he continued to slink on, moving swiftly and carefully, till he found the ones in danger ...
          - rolled 11 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 6,3.  Agility (-1)
... then, he’d need to get them out.

Okay, okay, good. He was buying it. And, hopefully, his growing frustration would only make it easier. Tunnel-vision could do amazing things sometimes. “Streak” just hoped that The Bandagier wouldn’t decide to help out soon. In any case, given that no commotion seemed to be happening inside, Cosmos and Scraps should find the kid soon. There hadn’t been as many updates, but that was probably just because they had to sneak past people or something and didn’t want to give away their position. So then, if things were going well with the others, “he” would only need to hold Neckbrace off for a little while longer.

(Where is that -1 coming from? You used up your last penalty, I think...? So this might have been a 12...?)

Scraps' nose leads him upstairs. He's just big enough to climb the carpeted stairs on his own...

His nose is warning him, too, though... the bad man who smells a little like the bad man who had a dragon in him is up here somewhere...

Scraps' nose leads him to a door that's open just a crack.

The bad man is in there.

But there's a little boy in there, too! Oh no! (He smells just a little like that nice old man. They're probably family. How nice!)

There's someone else in there, too, a woman. She doesn't smell good or bad, but somewhere in between.

Does Scraps dare to look inside with his eye as well as his nose?

Does he wait and listen and see what happens?

Does he go look for Flying Girl, or Gil, or Very-Strange-Smelling Running Lady?

Something else?

Scraps is very sure that he is NOT a match for the bad man, like he was for his arch-villain, the Naughty Cat, a while back...




Of course, the fact that the "Be A Distraction" part of the plan was going well didn't actually stop Breakneck from attacking...

(GM rolls dice)

Breakneck attacked again, and still couldn't catch "Silver Streak." He was too angry, mostly...

He tried to calm down, to compose himself... to start fighting with his head, not just his fists...

(GM rolls dice)

NOPE! Still too mad! GRRAAGH!

(White Lynx's attempt to stall Breakneck continues to work, for this round at least...)

The guy in the bandages was likely to prove himself a problem. He'd no doubt interfere as soon as Breakneck started to really lose this battle, or maybe just as soon as Lynx/Streak got too close. He needed to go, more so than the thugs on the side lawns. But as long as Breakneck and Lynx/Streak were just dancing around each other, Goodwill didn't dare let Breakneck see him. He might still give the order to kill the kid.

So Goodwill was stuck mopping up thugs for the time being.

Running, rather than flying (so he wouldn't glow), Goodwill raced over to the corner of the house and peeked out. As soon as the next thug had his back to him, Goodwill zipped out and punched him into unconsciousness.

Scraps hesitated but a moment.
He smelt the bad guys in that place.   But they were ‘the fire’, and there was a child in there that needed to be rescued.

Nudging the door open enough, Scraps began sniffing his way into the room ... like any dog might.
Just any normal pet around it’s own house ... sniffing the area because if the new scents.

He didn’t look at those present; didn’t even acknowledge them.
Just acted like this was his place*.



There is an old adage: carry a clipboard, and act like you belong there, and most everyone will believe it.
In this case, do the bad guys actually know that the target family don’t have a pet dog?
I guess we’re about to find out?

I’m guessing that if a roll is needed, it’ll be ‘charm’?   To influence/manipulate?
- rolled 8 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 1,6.  Charm.

Well, that did not go quite as planned. COsmic Girl sighed, and returned to chase after the huge man. How was that for an unexected role reversal twist? She just hoped she could reach him before he warned anyone outside that there was a problem!

"Oh! Puppy!" said the little boy, and went over to pet Scraps.

"...What th'... I haven't seen a dog around here," said the big man. "Maybe he belongs to that girl I just saw downstairs... mystery-solving hero teens and a dog, what next? Next I'll find a mystery van parked outside or a dune buggy or a talking shark or a caveman or something. This is getting ridiculous. I don't know if I should leave you here with the kid, or take 'im outside to keep an eye on 'im..." The big man thinks.

The woman in the room was a henchman, wearing the dark gray outfit, complete with ski-mask and goggles, but she smelled worried. And scared. She was scared of the big man, and she liked the little boy. Scraps guessed that she didn't really want anything to happen to him.

"...Okay, you pick up the kid and come with me-- no, wait," said the big man. "I just changed my mind again. That's probably just what Silver Streak wants-- grab the kid out of the hands of whoever brings 'im outside, and then run off... Okay, so you and the kid are definitely staying in the house... Get on the walkie-talkie and tell Jake to go walk up to Blackjack, though."

"Okay," said the woman. She got on her walkie-talkie. "Hey, Jake. Shauna calling Jake, come in, over."

There was no reply.

"...Shawna calling Jake, don't blow me off, Tetsubo wants you to do something, pick up, Jake, over."

---

Goodwill hears the walkie-talkie going off, and when the message is repeated the second time, he realizes Jake must be one of the two henchmen he just knocked out...

---

Looking around for the big man downstairs, Cosmic Girl runs into two guards in a living room. "Hey, what th-- Who th' heck are you?!" They point their guns at Cosmic Girl...
This message was last edited by the player at 16:44, Wed 26 Feb 2020.

Well, that tore it! No point trying to talk her way out of this one.

She lashed out with both hands. From each, she spat a swirling greeny-purple bolt of cosmic energy. Aimed not at the men exactly, but most specifically at their weapons. If she could disarm them before they fired, it might just work out in the favour of the super team. Not alerting those outside to the goings on within was essential!


16:51, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 9 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 2,5.  PEWPEWPEW!!!

Obviously, using HOLD THEM OFF to remove their weapons!

(Yeah, wow! We actually have a move for that!

Hold them off
When you slow down or get in the way of enemies, roll +Forceful.  On a 10+ pick 2, on a 7-9 pick 1.  Their retaliation will always be limited (-1 Stun) but you don’t stun them.

Pick 1 (one) of these:

--They can’t act as effectively (-1 Stun ongoing until your actions are countered)
--You take away useful items from them
--They can’t attack anyone they weren’t already attacking
--You draw them away from people you choose
--Give them a choice between backing off or be stunned)

OOC: Take away useful items! Also, Cosmic Girl has the AREA OF EFFECT power, allowing her to hit more than one target at once! PEW PEW PEW!!!

(Oh, yeah, no, she totally melts both their guns.)

"Uh... Uhhhh..." one of the henchmen says observantly.

They both stand there, doing the math in their heads, not wanting to attack a girl who melted their guns, but also not really wanting to run away from a teenage girl...

The other fellow slowly inches his hand toward a walkie-talkie that's clipped to his belt... waiting to see if Cosmic Girl will notice (yes) and if so, what she'll do...

Goodwill picked up the walkie-talkie, and hurriedly pressed the TALK button.

"Yeah," he said, gruffly, trying to sound like he supposed the other man might have sounded. "What?"


[OOC: I'm going to assume this requires a Charming roll.

Goodwill rolled 12 using 2d6+1 ((5,6)).

Now I *HOPE* that required a Charming roll.  :)  ]
This message was last edited by the player at 19:25, Wed 26 Feb 2020.

Shauna looked at Tetsubo. "Tell 'im-- nevermind, I'll tell 'im." He reached for the walkie-talkie. Shauna handed it to him. "Jake, go around front to Blackjack. Tell 'im that there's a teenaged girl dressed up like a hero and a little dog in the house, but that the hostage is still totally secure. Silver Streak seems to have brought one or more little friends with him. Ask Blackjack what he wants done about it, or to get back to me if he wants me to do something about it. For now, I'm staying put in the kid's room with Shauna and the kid-- and a puppy."

Scraps was genuinely happy when the little boy welcomed him, and his enthusiasm burst out of him in an explosion of tail wagging, tongue lolling, and jumping around the lad in the most playful way.

The bad-smelling folk weren’t immediately chasing Scraps from the room, so as he bounding around and played with the kid, he was also looking for the best way of getting the kid and himself out of the room.
        - rolled 9 using 2d6 with rolls of 5,4.  Insightful.

He could sense that the woman wasn’t all bad, and that she might even aid the child’s escape ... if it didn’t put her in danger.


Also, ST, how big is the child?   Does Scraps think he could carry the child, and still move fast, and jump?

This was honestly taking a little bit longer than expected. “Streak” knew that Cosmos needed to be stealthy, but did Goodwill head down to stealth around as well? Hopefully, someone was on their way out with the kid. Still no commotion inside, at least. But, if they had gotten caught and hadn’t been able to put up a fight... No, they were fine and if it seemed like they weren’t, “he” could do...something. That plan would come together when “he” came to that branch.

Still, “Streak” wasn’t sure how long “he” could keep this up. The distraction part was probably fine for now, but Breakneck didn’t seem a poor fighter. At some point “he” would slip up or not be fast enough. And then he’d get a good hit in. “He” might be able to trade a few blows after that, but “he” wasn’t sure for how long.

Ah well. At least he had the easy job. “He.”

"A teenage girl?" 'Jake' asked, sounding confused. "You sure she's not a babysitter or something?"

Darn it, Cosmic Girl was seen. Now things could get hairy. There was a limited amount that stealth could continue to accomplish at this point, too.

No, he needed to confront this 'Blackjack' and hopefully take him out of the picture. The problem was that Lynx was still fighting Breakneck on the front lawn. For speedsters, they seemed awfully slow to go anywhere.

Oh, well.

Tucking the walkie-talkie into his belt, Goodwill moved out around the corner of the house until he could see Blackjack, and be seen by him.

"Let's do this," he said, and charged.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:23, Thu 27 Feb 2020.

Well, that was the final straw. If the goons revealed what happened here, they'd all be in the mire. So, loath as she was to deviate from the plan, she had no option but to take out these fellows. She launched another pair of cosmic blasts, each aimed directly at the chests of the miscreants. She did not put all the power into it, as she had with the guns. She was not about to kill anybody! But they would be plenty hurt, all right. There was an awful lot of concussive force behind her cosmic blasts!


14:12, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 10 using 2d6+2 ((2,6)).

Woohoo! Go me! Do we just do damage, or do you need me to choose Forceful effects? If so:

- It's Clobberin' Time!
Hit hard for +1 stun
Not much collateral damage, no bystanders in danger

This message was deleted by the player at 21:05, Fri 28 Feb 2020.

Scraps didn't really see a way out of the room except the door. The window was closed, and possibly locked...

(Sorry, but sometimes a room is just a room...)

---

(11:33, Today: Breakneck rolled 3 using 2d6-2 with rolls of 2,3.)

More attacking, more dodging, more missing. Breakneck's rage continued to keep him from landing a hit.

Breakneck stopped. "Okay, this isn't working. Got to get control... Get control..."

(11:33, Today: Breakneck rolled 12 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 4,6.)

Uh-oh.

(Breakneck loses his attack penalty that he had due to his rageahol, and his attacks are likely to be more effective next round.)

---

"Wearing green and pink? With a cape? Yeah, I'm sure... So get over to Blackjack. We had the kid so that only Silver Streak would show up, no police, no powered heroes... but I'm not sure how to count a girl who didn't seem to have any powers, let alone the dog. I wanna hear what Blackjack thinks. So go ask 'im."



(You're the one charging-- you roll first. Roll Forceful.)

---

The two henchmen (before they could radio a report in) are knocked against the wall behind them, and seem completely unconscious.

Now what?

Goodwill rolled 8 using 2d6+3 ((1,4)).

(He hits hard +1 Stun)



Goodwill didn't say anything more. He had nothing clever to say to someone who'd help kidnap a child. He just charged in with a punch.

(Blackjack takes two stress.

14:01, Today: Blackjack rolled 15 using 2d6+3 ((6,6)).
--You hit hard (+1 Stun)
--You avoid most of their retaliation (-1 Stun))

The black-wrapped mummy gets hit hard.

But he also takes it-- he didn't move an inch. Goodwill realizes that the guy's bandages had a mind of their own, and dug down into the lawn, anchoring the enemy, keeping him from going flying as a result of the punch.

Then he dishes it back out.

WHAM

(Goodwill takes 2 new stress.)

Had even Spite ever hit him that hard?

Goodwill goes flying backwards, and takes out a couple of large trees on the edge of the yard. One of them starts falling toward a henchman...
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:41, Sun 01 Mar 2020.

Cosmos flipped her head, as if to say So there! then considered for a flash of a second. She had only one option now. She went upstairs as fast as she could, unsure whether her fight had been heard or not. Whatever happened, she needed to find that boy, at all costs! And if she ran into the big fella, well... He might be big, but the universe was bigger. She'd see how he liked a little cosmic radiation up his tailpipe!

With only the doorway out of this place, and the boy to big to pickup and carry out, Scraps became aware of the fact that this would be a matter of timing and delicate manipulation.

And playing!

He began bounding about, woofing and barking, playing with the child.
This served several purposes.    It would likely calm the child, and relax him some.  It would also allow Scraps to get a good look at this room, by bouncing.  And, he could watch for ‘the most opportune moment’ to make a move.
Finally, it might further convey the appearance to the smelly-bad guys that he was, indeed, simply a pet puppy ... causing the to pay him less attention.


- rolled 7 using 2d6 with rolls of 2,5.  Insightful ... to better read the scene.
- rolled 7 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 1,5.  Charm ... to put everyone at ease.

Cosmic Girl rushes upstairs. It's a big house, but there's one door that's open a bit-- and barking is coming from it...! (It sounds like happy barking, not danger barking, but the point is: barking!)

---

Scraps started barking, delighting the toddler.

At one point, the big man acted like he thought he heard something downstairs, but then he shook his head. "Nah, it's probably the fight in the front yard..."

Scraps' nose told him that no, that was some sort of cosmic energy, but he just kept up his noisy play.

Then, though, there was a WHAM from outside that shook the house a little.

"What th'... Huh, that could only be Blackjack. One one hand, I wonder what he's up to... Maybe he got tired of not helping. On the other hand, I guess that explains why Jake hasn't asked his question yet... best not to stand anywhere near Blackjack when he starts slammin' things around..."

So far, Scraps was breaking even-- he was helping by distracting from whatever Flying Girl was doing in the house, and no one was stopping him being noisy, but he also wasn't thinking of a plan to rescue the little boy. Maybe Flying Girl would come soon...?

          oh, untrue

Scraps had been ‘scoping’ the scene, watching for an opportunity.
When the house rattled with whatever was going on outside, hopefully the two villains moved over to the window for a look ... casually ignoring the playful puppy and the kid.

Scraps had also caught the scent of ‘cosmic energy’ from outside the room.
It sneaky like honey and wildflower ... and he’d been with the scent just recently.
And he sensed that it amounted to ‘backup’ if he needed it.

IF the villains had gone to the window ... had turned their backs on Scraps and the kid, even momentarily ... Scraps made a playfully pull at the kids clothing, then bounced to the door, playfully barking ‘chase me, chase me’.
         rolled 11 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 4,6.  Charm, to get the kid to follow me out of the room.

Breakneck seemed to have calmed down a little bit. That wasn’t good. If “he” could freely speak, maybe this could’ve at least meant the two could have a quick break to trade banter or something, but without access to “his” vocal chords, there was little “Streak” could do. Still, a calm and focused Breakneck would be bad news. “He” somewhat doubted that he could be so frustrated again without some new element though. But, if “he” didn’t try anything, “he’d” be stuck with a harder fight. Then “he’d” have to actually fight for real and that would be the end for “him.” “He” could either try to frustrate the man, wait until “he” got hit, or drop the facade and blast him with lightning. Option three was out. There was still no word on the kid, so there wasn’t any reason to drop cover. And options one and two were roughly the same, just with two not really helping “him.” Admittedly, option one could backfire if the plan became too obvious... Well, Breakneck calling “him” out on not giving it “his” all was probably an easier consequence to handle than a broken arm.

Option one it was. With no voice, heckling was out, but “he” could still taunt with his hands. A few birds flipped here, a couple waves there, and some faster footwork on “his” part and Breakneck would either get ticked off again or realize part of what “he” was trying to do. Was it worth it though?

White Lynx rolled 8 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 1,6.  Charming. To blind Breakneck with anger once more.

It would have to be.

And what was that Wham all about?

Holy cow, that hurt! This guy was strong! Fortunately, Goodwill had yet to meet the foe he couldn't beat, and he wasn't about to concede this one. It was just going to require some added effort, was all.

And what the heck was that noise? It almost sounded like a tree falling.

Oh. Oh, no.

And of course it was falling towards one of the stupid henchmen. So instead of letting it fall, someone was going to have to save the guy. This was a bad situation. If he pushed the henchman out of the way (which was easy enough), he'd be hit by a falling tree. If he caught the tree, he'd be open to attack.

That seemed like the lesser of two evils.

Time to catch a tree!


(Using brute strength to rescue someone, rolling Forceful.)
Goodwill rolled 11 using 2d6+3 ((6,2)).

(No, I mean not successfully coming up with one at that exact moment)



(Erm, no, because the little boy's window is on the wrong side of the house... The would've done so otherwise, it's true, but if they had, I would've mentioned it (as I did with the henchmen in the living room), honest)

---

Breakneck wanted to hit, to punch, to... to hit... but pure brute force wasn't really his strongest suit. He tried to think of some way to hurt Silver Streak with just agility...

(09:06, Today: Breakneck rolled 6 using 2d6-1 with rolls of 3,4.  insightful.)

But then Silver Streak flipped Breakneck off. Nope, thinking was too hard, and taking too long. Breakneck's brain was, perhaps, not quite as sped-up as the rest of him. Back to brute force, then.

(09:06, Today: Breakneck rolled 12 using 2d6 with rolls of 6,6.)

Pow! Got 'im!

(White Lynx gets punched, and takes 2 stress.)

---

TIM-BERrrrrr!

WHUMP.

Goodwill caught it, all right.

(Goodwill takes 1 new stress.)

But at least the henchman was alive... The guy scrambled more than a dozen feet on his hands and knees, and then jumped up and started running east... probably wouldn't stop running real soon...

Well, that was heavy. Goodwill could throw a car the length of a city block, but this was an old-growth maple, and huge. It weighed more like what a bus might... if fully loaded with cement.

Fortunately, he wasn't throwing it nearly as far as a city block. Also fortunately, its crown was huge, and would make the thing damned hard to dodge. But, honestly, it would be damned hard to control the throw, even for a practised baseball pitcher like Goodwill.

Still fortunately, he was also quite the slugger.

He swung, literally playing to his strength.



Goodwill rolled 14 using 2d6+3 ((6,5)).
-He hit hard
-There isn't much collateral damage

WHOMP

A couple of windows on the front of the house broke.

The hit was too much for Blackjack's bandages-- they didn't break, but they weren't enough to keep him anchored. Large clods of earth and rock and a couple of old tree roots come up from where he was standing, and he rolls a couple of dozen feet.

(Blackjack takes 2 new stress.)

Blackjack gets up. "Nice try," he says. "Can't die." He pauses. "...Wasn't meant to rhyme."

He takes a step toward Goodwill... and then stops. "You were one of the things that weren't supposed to show up..." he says to Goodwill...

He turns, then, and heads for the front door of the house, which his rolling actually put him pretty close to...

It'll be very hard for Goodwill to reach him before he's through the front door (unless, of course, Goodwill just crashes into the house to get to Blackjack, but that would start causing structural damage).

White Lynx could do it, but she'd leave herself open to attack from Breakneck (and Blackjack, for that matter).

Yeup, thats why I said "IF the villains had gone to the window ...


As the Villains hadn't moved, and could still see Scraps and the Boy, Scraps simply continued cavorting about the place, entertaining the kids ... and watching for 'the moment' when he could get the kid out of the room (preferably past the Cosmic Honey Girl, who could hold off any pursuit).
This message was last edited by the player at 01:16, Mon 02 Mar 2020.

This message was deleted by the player at 01:09, Mon 02 Mar 2020.

Oof! Well that was a hit. If “he” could just take a minute or so, that’d be great right now. At least it seemed like Mr. Almost Just Broke My Neck was back into his anger. Not that it helped “him” much after that last hit. Whatever. Now “he” had to figure out if “he” should fight or not. This whole deal had been going rather well until just now. On the other hand, Breakneck had managed to cool himself off once before, and after that hit, it probably wouldn’t be too difficult to do so again.

“He” couldn’t drop cover yet. No kid, no word from the others, no commotion that made it obvious that cover was already blown, and “he” was decently confident “he” could take maybe one or two more hits like that before he’d have to drop it just to save himself. “Himself.” But was fighting with just “his” body going to be eno-

WHOMP

Oh what the heck! That was one big tree. Looked like Bandage Man was heading back inside the building... What happened? Was that Goodwill?

Well that was just perfect. Was cover already gone? Did “he” need to keep being “Streak?” Honestly, “he” probably shouldn’t. At least not while Breakneck was looking at “him.” Maybe “he” should go after the Mysterious Wrapped-Up Man? If Goodwill was getting involved, he could probably just cover “his” exit. Then “he” could probably spark that mummy full of electricity. They didn’t seem too keen on talking to each other. At least the two outside. Alright, so that was that. Only real places where it could go wrong were the whole getting away from Breakneck thing and then getting around that huge tree. Seriously, that thing was such a big tripping hazard! At the very least, Goodwill could cover “him” from Breakneck, so it was hopefully just the tree.

White Lynx rolled 5 using 2d6 with rolls of 4,1.  Agility. For the sake of Running Away to Blackjack. Poorly.

Okay, so maybe “he” could’ve paid more attention to Breakneck and less on the tree.

The barking left Cosmic Girl in no doubt as to where the action was! She headed there as fast as she could - which was pretty goshdarned fast - and burst into the room, unleashing a spray of cosmic energy at the huge Tetsubo even as she did so!

20:58, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 10 using 2d6+2 ((6,2)).

Clobberin' Time!
- Hits Hard for +1 Stun
- Avoids collateral damage to bystanders. Don't want to shoot any hostages, do we...

Blackjack grabbed White Lynx by the throat.

"Huh. New hostage," he said to Breakneck. "Unless you want him back, to finish your fight. Can break an arm or two first if you want."

---

(Tetsubo takes 3 stress.)

Cosmic Girl zaps Tetsubo.

"Wowwww!" sayd the little boy.

It hurts Tetsubo, but he grins. "Now I see why Silver Streak brought you along, missy! Hot damn! Shawna, take the kid."

The last command is unneeded, as the henchwoman is already in the process of grabbing the toddler. She picks him up and holds him close, backing into the corner of the room.

"Now this party can really get started!" Tetsubo crows... He sort of flexes his muscles like he's at a bodybuilding competition, and his body begins to sort of glow with a black aura (how can something even glow blackly at all?)...

Is he starting to get... bigger...?

Breakneck, a fast mover but not a fast thinker, was ambivalent. "Uh, hm, I dunno..."

(12:53, Today: Breakneck rolled 3 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 1,1.  trying to think. Fail.)

It does NOT occur to Breakneck that maybe now might be a good time to check on the toddler hostage...

"Um... how about this... You stay right there and keep a good grip on Silver Streak's neck... I'll beat on the big guy. I wanna see just how tough he is when he can't fight back because his friend'll get killed."

"Fine by me," says Blackjack, his grip tightening slightly (wow, and that was pretty tight already).

"Hey you, Good Guy," Breakneck says to Goodwill. "Get over here to the middle of the lawn, and no funny business. Then I'll find a tree branch or something to swing so I don't break my hand on you..."

"That's Goodwill." Breakneck had a temper, and it seemed to make him act really stupidly. And he didn't seem to be all that smart in the first place. Time now to see how enraged he could get. It might not be the best plan, but it was all Goodwill could think of: get Breakneck off guard and hit him when he wasn't paying attention. "Not Good guy. Goodwill."

He rose a foot off the ground, and flew in a standing orientation into the center of the lawn. Slowly he lowered himself until he was almost touching the ground. Hidden by the grass, his feet still floated. Even Goodwill's flight speed wasn't as fast as Breakneck, but it made him a lot faster than he could go while running.

"Think you can remember that, Bareback?"

He needed Breakneck to come right at him. Ticking him off seemed the best way to accomplish that.

Gods! What the heck? “He’d” thought that the bandaged man would’ve just made his way inside, not grab “him” by the gods-damned throat! Okay, okay, calm down, “Streak.” This isn’t entirely bad. Sure, this was causing a fair bit of pain, but “he” wasn’t dead yet. Not to mention that this meant “his” kidnapper wasn’t going inside. That meant an easier time for Cosmos’s and Scraps’ mission. Tack on the fact that they weren’t reporting Goodwill’s presence to anybody, and suddenly, getting choked out didn’t seem all that bad. Probably.

Yeah, stay positive. Just fight through the pain. That’s all “he” needed to do. Wait and bear it. There was nothing else to do. Maybe struggle against Bing Chokesby, but that would probably just make him mad. And this one seemed to have a cooler head than Breaknuts over there.

Seriously though. Next time they were going to join a crime-fighting team, they were going to trash-talk as much as they wanted. Not being able to sling these names was almost as agonizing as the hand around their neck.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:08, Sun 08 Mar 2020.

Goodwill rolled 11 using 2d6+1 ((4,6)).

Breakneck is super irritated. He grabs a tree branch and attacks. Since Goodwill is standing still, he hits... but it's not a good hit (it would be okay-ish against a less-tough opponent, but not against Goodwill), and the branch just breaks. Goodwill takes no damage (not yet, anyway).

Breakneck's particularly good and mad that Goodwill doesn't appear to have been hurt by this. (Maybe now would be a good time for someone to try to do something to change the situation...?)

Wow. Was it always a struggle for that guy to be calm? At least his attention was off of them now. Still, that left Bandage Boy and His Firm Grasp. It wasn’t a great idea to antagonize somebody who had you in a precarious situation like this, but what other choice did they have? Talk it out? Bah! Even if they could get a word out, he’d be able to tell that they were a decoy in an instant. So, kicking it was. Maybe he’d drop them, maybe he’d crush their neck. Only one way to find out! So they tried to swing their legs to kick him in his...

White Lynx rolled 2 using 2d6-1 with rolls of 1,2.  Forceful. For a kick to the legs.

And missed completely. Crap. It was not their day.

Breakneck was coming at him almost before Goodwill could even blink, but that was okay. He'd already telegraphed that he punched like a little girl, when he said he'd be looking for a tree branch or something to hit Goodwill with. So Goodwill was prepared to take the hit and ignore it, in order to make his own move.

As a speedster, Breakneck had to run past Goodwill to hit him, or he had to stop still in front of him long enough to throw a punch and then move again. Running past him and swinging the branch like a bat seemed the more likely way Breakneck would use his speed. So, taking this gamble, Goodwill didn't try to swing at a target moving at super-speed. Instead, he aimed in front of him, and let momentum do the hard work for him.

Goodwill rolled 9 using 2d6+3 ((2,4)).
-He hit hard


It wasn't the most expertly executed maneuver, but he managed to clothesline the jerk as planned.

Scraps stayed close to the woman and child.   He wasn't sure what to do right now, but knew that he had to be close to the boy, when the right opportunity presented itself.

"Hrr. Stop that," says Blackjack, and squeezes.

(White Lynx gets 1 xp, and 2 stress.)

---

(Breakneck takes 3 stress)

Breakneck coughs several times, hacking and choking. Then, red-faced, he grabs a new tree branch and attempts to wallop Goodwill again... But, half-choked, his strength isn't really in it, and Goodwill feels nothing...

This all takes Breakneck about a second and a half, so it's not surprising that Blackjack does nothing, especially since he's slightly distracted by punishing White Lynx right about then...

Aggggh! That smarts! Note to self: Don’t antagonize someone holding your neck. At least, not without a plan.

If they were going to be stuck here, maybe they could, say, take a minute to look around? Hopefully, Goodwill could keep keeping Breakneck from taking a break. Maybe Look Before They Leapt again? Trees were being thrown around. There had to be something they could use. Right?

White Lynx rolled 8 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 3,4.  Insight. To Look Before You Leap.
Where is something I can use to help?

As Tetsubo started to grow, Cosmic Girl rapidly considered her options. If he got tougher, that meant more fighting, and sooner or later, she felt that the child would be in serious danger of catching a stray blast, or something of that ilk. On the other hand, if she did not try to take down this self-inflating goon, she was probably going to get squashed like a bug. He was growing, getting stronger, gaining more mass...

More mass...

Cosmos was not the brightest star in the firmament, but she had a surprisingly advanced knowledge of physics. After all, her powers were pretty reliant on cosmic forces, and her parents were both physicists. More mass meant that he was probably getting a lot heavier, and Tetsubo looked like he was no fairy cake to start with. So rather than attack him, she changed tactics.

With a sudden swoosh-woosh!!! sort of noise, she let rip with a long beam of cosmic energy from her eyes!!! But she did not aim it directly at the growing villain. Oh no! Instead, she aimed it at his feet... and the floor beneath him, in particular. If she could blast away enough of that, weaken it directly beneath him by eroding it, then she reasoned that someone with his considerable weight might just fall right through it, leaving her to deal with what appeared to be a human woman - and then make her escape with the little boy and the very brave wonder dog!!!

That, of course, was presuming this would actually work...


20:55, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 7 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 1,4.  Let's blast away that nefarious... floor!

This message was last edited by the player at 21:03, Mon 09 Mar 2020.

The clothesline attack had worked to perfection. The villain was coughing and choking, and being absolutely ineffective in his counterattack. Now was the exact time when Goodwill didn't have to try anything special. All he needed to do was hit the guy.

Goodwill rolled 14 using 2d6+3 ((5,6)).
--Hit Hard
--Avoid Counter-attack


That was satisfying!

(White Lynx, I'm not sure what you want, so I'll let you answer. Take +1 when acting on the answer. There's tree branches, there's a long rubber hose nearby the front porch, there's gravel on the driveway, I'm not sure what you would want to use, or how, or most importantly how you plan to get out of Blackjack's super-strong grip.)

---

Tetsubo falls through the floor... but Shawna, holding the toddler, fell too.

OOPS!

Catch 'em or something, quick!

(Scraps did not fall, so Scraps may attempt to chomp-grab just the toddler (it won't be easy, because Shawna's hugging him tight to protect him)...)

---

(Breakneck takes three new stress.)

"HEY THERE," Blackjack says loudly. "LAUGHING BOY." Goodwill grasps that this is meant to refer to himself. "YOU THROWING AWAY YOUR LITTLE SUPER-FRIEND HERE?" Blackjack's grip tightens as tight around White Lynx's neck as possible without doing any more damage. He shakes her, gently, to illustrate his point. "HOW THIS WORKS IS, YOU DO WHAT BREAKNECK SAYS AND DON'T HIT BACK, OR ELSE. IF I WERE YOU, I'D HAVE HIT HIM, TOO... BUT I'M NOT YOU. YOU SURE YOU WANT THE CONSEQUENCES? LAST CHANCE TO HOLD STILL AND NOT FIGHT BACK..."

This message was last updated by the player at 21:59, Tue 24 Mar 2020.

There was not a moment to loose ... not even enough time to think.
But Scraps the Wonder Dog didn't need to think, his instincts and heroic soul leapt into action the moment the floor began to crumble ... and as the woman and child began to disappear downwards into chaos, uncertainty and danger, Scraps sailed past, nimbly and carefully snatching the child from the jaws of death, in his own heroic jaws of awesomeness ...
            - rolled 12 using 2d6+3 with rolls of 3,6.  rescue the kid ... LIKE A ROMANTIC IDIOT.
... hopefully landing on the far side of the imploding floor, with enough momentum to take himself and the kid out through the doorway (perhaps in a scrabbling mess) and into the saver hallway.

Drat. Maybe if they were closer to the hose, they could’ve, like, maybe kicked it up at the guy to shock him into dropping them. Like that would even work. Okay, fine. So there wasn’t any crazy plan possible to get them out of this alone. And everyone was looking at Goodwill, so if he did any more, they’d be in a tight spot. Well. It’s not like they weren’t already. What was a better term for that, then? A tighter spot? Sure, let’s go with that. Gods, they were even rambling in their head now. Not being able to speak was so annoying. If they couldn’t hurt The Strangler or shock him into letting go, then...

Shock him...

Was it time? They hadn’t heard anything, but Breakneck was focused on somebody else and seemed to be far from healthy, much like themselves. Once they got free, they could do more, like toss gravel in their captor’s face to maybe blind them, or at least keep them away from the rubber hose. Maybe they could even trip Breakneck on the hose? Getting free was important, but so was their cover. Ah, screw it. Breakneck was down soon, but if they didn’t do something quick, that would never happen. They’d just have to hope Cosmos and Scraps did their bit already. Heck, maybe things wouldn’t immediately go to crap after this.

Taking the shaking in stride, White Lynx sparked electricity directly into the Handsy Villain.

White Lynx rolled 4 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 1,1.  Hold Them Off, to get his hands off.

Well shit. There could’ve been more of a spark there, body. He barely felt that!

Cosmic Girl gave a satisfied toss of her head - never one to pass over a chance to be a cliché. She quickly zipped out to the hallway and looked at the dog, and the little boy. She knelt down and took him by the arms, gently. "We're going to take you out now, little soldier! You're being wonderfully brave!" She then looked at Scraps, then the boy, then Scraps once more.

"I can't carry both of you!" she fretted. "Can you get out on your own?" she asked the dog, not remotely sure he could understand.

Also, there was now a problem with downstairs, as it was full of horrible villains who would squish them all like a bug if they got too close. Well, she could deal with that easily enough! There'd already been a lot of property damage, some more wouldn't matter much. So, she gathered the little boy into her arms, and then turned to glare at the exterior wall. Her cosmic eye ray blasted out... and she prepared herself to fly right out of that hole she planned to make, taking the boy to safety at once!

OOC:

13:46, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 9 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 2,5.  Bye bye, wall! Hello, FREEDOM!!!

Clobberin' Time! No collateral damage to bystanders would be the best option here!

Goodwill was stymied. He was beating Breakneck, and doing it easily, but if he continued he might get Lynx killed. She just wasn't holding her own, somehow. She needed help, but Goodwill couldn't do anything for her while Breakneck was still up... and Blackjack's demands were going to keep him that way.

He could either risk Lynx's life, or his own.

Goodwill might've come to a different conclusion if Lynx wasn't a girl, but he couldn't let Blackjack just throttle her. He'd have to take the hit.

"Fine," he said, waggling a finger at Breakneck in a 'come here' gesture. "Free shot, Speedy."

He braced himself.

(White Lynx gets 1 new xp but takes -1 forward.)

---

---

Scraps triumphantly saved the toddler!




There was a lot of crashing below-- how big was the tough guy going to get? --and a scream-- Shawna, the henchwoman.

(Cosmic Girl, give me a Confident check, please.)

---

Breakneck's (new) free shot at Goodwill was interrupted before it had quite begun, by  a crash-- at least one crash-- maybe a couple of explosions, too? --from inside the large house, which Blackjack, especially, couldn't miss, standing in the doorway of the front entrance.

Blackjack and everyone else in the front yard paused for three heartbeats. "I get it," said Blackjack in his voice like a ton of gravel. "There's not just these two. They brought more. Naughty naughty. Cheaters never prosper. Must be fighting Tetsubo..."

(Insightful check: 13:13, Today: Blackjack rolled 7 using 2d6 ((6,1)).)

"If they're fighting Tetsubo, then he doesn't have the boy," Blackjack decided. "So we should leave. Time to finish these two off-- no more playing around. Kill this," he said, tossing White Lynx at Breakneck.

Then Blackjack ran toward Goodwill...

(13:18, Today: Blackjack rolled 10 using 2d6+3 ((4,3)).

--You hit hard (+1 Stun)
--You avoid most of their retaliation (-1 Stun)

Goodwill takes 2 new stress.)

However, the one thing that Blackjack didn't factor in was that he threw someone with super-speed. White Lynx was once again free to act!

Sure, she was currently flying through the air at Breakneck, but...

(By White Lynx's perspective of time, she has a few several seconds to act before Breakneck activates his own super-speed to deal with her... just remember that she has -1 forward right now...)

OOC: 18:32, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 8 using 2d6 with rolls of 5,3.  Oh no! Am I confident?

Cosmic Girl gritted her teeth. The henchwoman's scream bothered her... but not enough that she forgot to focus on the present moment.

(Okay, proceed. This choice isn't going to bite you in the posterior right now, though it would a little if you'd failed it flat out. Go ahead with whatever you want to do next.)

Ouch. That did not sound good. But then again, those who deal in wicked deeds always end up coming a cropper, her mom always said. And that cropper sounded especially unfortunate.

But she was staying on mission! Her eye-beam blew the side of the building out appropriately, and she was out of the hole in a trice! With the fwoosh-vworp!!! noise that accompanied her flight, she rocketed out, and right over the heads of the battling heroes and villains, with the boy held tightly to her. She felt bad about leaving Scraps, and would have liked to have helped her fellows, but while holding a child, she could hardly risk engaging in combat!

Cosmic Girl heads to the drop-off, and soon the toddler (who really enjoyed flying with her) is reunited with her grandfather, and he and his plainclothes police escort are driving away...

(Cosmic Girl is away from the action for a short while. I'll tell you when you can rejoin the action... (I don't expect it to be more than one or two rounds))

At least she was finally where she needed to be. Of course, she was no match for Breakneck in a straight-up fight, but she had a few seconds to do something. She was just glad to have taken the time to look around first!

Quickly splaying her fingers towards the ground, Lynx shot a spark of electrical force at the ground, or rather, the gravel. With this angle and this much force...it would be enough to blind Breakneck. At least, temporarily!

White Lynx rolled 9 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 5,2.  Hold Them Off on the Guy Who Breaks Necks (-1 Forward + +1 Look Before You Leap).
--They can’t act as effectively (-1 Stun ongoing until your actions are countered)

There! That did it! “In your face, Brakes!”

Blackjack was a tough customer, but Goodwill was confident he could take him in a fair fight. However, there was no evidence on hand to suggest Blackjack would ever fight fairly to begin with. Still, he was beatable. In fact, with his ability to anchor himself in place, he made himself into an excellent target.

Goodwill took the hit with a grin. Sure, it hurt. But it told him that for once he didn't need to hold anything back. He was always afraid of hurting someone. He hadn't even wanted to punch Spite, as much as she'd been begging for it. Always afraid of breaking the other guy — even killing someone.

But not today.

His blow was nothing fancy... just a good, old-fashioned haymaker.

Goodwill rolled 12 using 2d6+3 ((4,5)).
--He hit hard
--Avoid retaliation

"One of us is going down," Goodwill said. "And it's not going to be me."

"Gahh!" Breakneck is momentarily half-blinded.

(09:40, Today: Breakneck rolled 10 using 2d6 ((4,6)).

--You hit hard (+1 Stun)
--You avoid most of their retaliation (-1 Stun))

Ooops. But only half-blinded. Pow! Ow! That hurt!

(White Lynx takes three new stress.)

Breakneck hit White Lynx so hard... her Silver Streak helmet flies off.

"What th' HELL? You're not Silver Streak! I saw 'im before he got the formula-- he was a black kid! They found another speedster?!? Does Silver Streak have the old man's recipe for the formula? Did he share it with you...?! Or... or have you really been Silver Streak all along...?" Breakneck, still half-blinded, can't examine the details of White Lynx's figure right now...

---

(Blackjack takes two new stress.

Confident check: 09:50, Today: Blackjack rolled 6 using 2d6+2 ((1,3)). Fail.

Agile check: 09:50, Today: Blackjack rolled 9 using 2d6+1 ((6,2)).)

Blackjack's confidence is shaken by the punches he's taken from Goodwill, but more from the plan increasingly falling apart around him. He attempts to flee the scene...

(Run Away
When you flee the scene roll +agile.  On a 10+ you get somewhere safe.  On a 7-9 pick 2.
--You don’t get made a laughing-stock
--You don’t run into something worse)

With a mighty leap, Blackjack vaults for the treeline... and he's gone.

(Goodwill, you may feel free to mock, jeer, and taunt Blackjack (if you're loud enough, he'll hear your words, but he's not coming back, no matter what you say), but you also notice that he's apparently dropped something, a piece of paper...))

There was part of Goodwill, buried deep — but not that deep — that understood in this moment why the dominant gorilla would beat his chest and roar after defeating a challenger. There was a satisfaction, a sense of pride, that came along with it that was hard to deny. But he was raised not to flog his own ego, and he ignored the faint urgings of his more primal core.

Instead, he leaped forward and snatched up the paper that Blackjack had dropped before it could get caught up in the breeze and stolen away.

They still had to deal with Breakneck and his other cohorts and minions and thugs (oh my!) so Goodwill stuffed the paper into his pocket and turned to Breakneck.

"Two on one," he said. "Give up now and it'll go a lot easier on you."

Talk Things Out
Goodwill rolled 4 using 2d6+1 ((2,1)).

Did that sound like a taunt instead of a suggestion to surrender? Did he just poke the bear?

Coughing, White Lynx pulled back for a moment. This was not going well. One more hit like that...and she was done for. Heck, she already felt like she needed a good amount of mending. And Goodwill taunting the guy wasn’t going to help either! At the very least, it might mean he’d go back to fighting Goodwill over her, so maybe she could get some good hits in, but she wasn’t sure she’d be able to do much more. Still, maybe she could turn this around, charm-wise. The taunt made it a bit harder, but...

“Your friend ran away, Breakneck. And Streak was never here. Plus, your hostage is gone.” Oh please let that be true. “It’s over. Stand down.”

White Lynx rolled 6 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 4,1. Charming. To Talk Things Out with Breakneck.

That sounded more convincing in her head, didn’t it?

(Goodwill and White Lynx each get 1 new xp and take -1 forward, because the dice clearly hate you both.)

A few henchpersons come running out of the front door of the house.

Seeing who's in the front yard, they don't slow down-- they just all run to the left, and keep running.

Three seconds later, the front doorway explodes.

There is a large, horrible monster there, easily nine feet tall. Two horns are notable on his head. He probably weighs at least 450 pounds, mostly muscle and bone. He (easily) carries a large iron club. Since his clothes don't cover his chest and stomach (anymore), it's also easy to note his many tattoos.

"ALL RIGHT! ALL POWERED UP! WHERE'S THE CHEERLEADER?"

The monster looks at Goodwill. "OH, YOU'RE THAT GUY BLACKJACK WAS WORRIED WOULD SHOW UP. I'M TETSUBO THE ONI. I'LL BEAT ON YOU UNTIL THE CHEERLEADER COMES BACK. OR UNTIL YOU DIE."

You've got one chance to MOVE! MOVE IT!

(Before anything else happens, each of you roll Agility, please...)

Goodwill rolled 2 using 2d6-1 ((2,1)).

Yep. The dice hate me.

White Lynx rolled 10 using 2d6-1 with rolls of 5,6.  Agility. Gotta dodge and probably fail.

Well that’s surprising.

Scraps watched the 'Hero' fly off with the prize child, to claim the mission's glory.

With a little whine, he looked around, then sniffed the air for anything interesting.
          - rolled 2 using 2d6 with rolls of 1,1.  Insightful.

POW-- Tetsubo swings his mighty club, and catches Goodwill squarely.

(Goodwill gets 1 new xp, and 2 new stress.)

White Lynx, on the other hand, managed to zip aside before it was too late.

Flying back as fast as she could, Cosmic Girl came in sight of the estat-- oh, my. That was a big monster. And-- not really surprising-- he wasn't on the good guys' side.

Two seconds' worth of flight closer, and she recognized the iron club. OH. So that was the end result of his powering up...

(Cosmic Girl may now rejoin the action...)

---

(Scraps gets 1 new xp, and takes 1 stress.)

Scraps nose told him nothing, but his other senses told him something more important-- the middle of the house wasn't very structurally sound anymore. Time to get out!

(If Scraps tries to jump down into the hole in the floor so as to get out the back door, give me an Agility roll.

If Scraps tries to go out in the hall and then down the stairs and out the front door (well the hole where the front door used to be), give me a Confidence roll.)

There was a now familiar sound of vwoorrrrppp-foosh!!! as Cosmic Girl zoomed down from above, aiming her hands at the enormous goon, and letting rip with a huge strafe of cosmic blasts!

Although...

Maybe she was just a bit too over eager this time...

OOC: 22:12, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 6 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 1,3.  Let's play shoot the enormous evil villain!!!

The iron club hit like... well, like an iron club wielded by a giant. It caught Goodwill in the chin and flipped him end-over-end, rattling his teeth and bloodying his lower lip. Goodwill slammed into the ground and shook his head before getting back to his feet. His confidence would have been shaken at that point, if not for what the giant had said: Blackjack had been worried that Goodwill would show. Nice.

"My tur—"

A sizzling bolt of cosmic energy passed between them, striking nothing but the lawn.

How do you miss something that big?! Goodwill thought to himself, but chose not to say it. It would be rude and hurtful, and Cosmic Girl didn't deserve that sort of treatment.

"MY TURN." Goodwill said again, and clocked Tetsubo.

Goodwill rolled 7 using 2d6+3 ((2,2)).
—Avoid Retaliation

Tetsubo also had a head of iron. Did he even feel that?

Gods, that hit hard! Goodwill seemed to take it in stride though. Seemed like he even threw a solid punch. Still, there were two villains to take care of. The big guy and the fast guy. Goodwill had managed to beat down on Breakneck rather well, so a few more good hits would probably be enough. But he wasn’t going to give in, especially now that his much larger friend was here. Cosmos was back, so the kid was probably safe, so that was a plus. They didn’t really need to hold back much. Still, Scraps wasn’t out yet, so hopefully he would be able to catch someone off guard? Who knows.

Honestly, part of her wanted to duck out of there. They completed the first half of their goal, so this wasn’t a hostage situation anymore. Hopefully, once the kid was safe and protected, Mr. Flynn and the police could head over to assist, but even then, the four of them still had their hands full. Cosmos and Goodwill were focusing on the oni with the club, but there was still Breakneck to worry about. Ideally, he’d run away, but... Hmm. A half-blinded speedster with anger-management issues and a strong desire to fight a guy. Okay, so she couldn’t convince him to stand down, certainly not while the big one was here. But what if she could move him elsewhere? She didn’t know how great they could work together and whether or not his friend could avoid hitting Breakneck, but if she could convince him to move elsewhere, the fight should be easier for Goodwill and Cosmos. Besides, he seemed more interested in them than in her.

Besides, what if she could lead Breakneck right to the police? Sure, the kid would probably be there too, but heavily guarded. He’d have to seriously reconsider the offer of standing down in front of a wall of officers, right? Hopefully Lynx might even be able to get him to run into a few trees along the way as well. Not as easy to do as it would if he had even more gravel in his eyes, but possible nonetheless. It was a bit of a stupid plan, leading along the guy that could kill her in a punch, but maybe this could work. Besides! If she couldn’t convince him, what was the worst that could happen? He’d call her a liar and try to kill her more? That was already going to happen. Only...yeah. Maybe he’d cower in front of the police, sure. But he’d probably still kill her as some sort of last stand. No, she couldn’t just leave yet. It was fight or die.

Her mind made up, Lynx ran for Breakneck, legs and arms sparking. Trying to catch him on the more gravely side of his face, she shot a bolt of electricity at her fellow speedster.

White Lynx rolled 13 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 5,6.  Confident. To Hold Breakneck Off.
--They can’t act as effectively (-1 Stun ongoing until your actions are countered)
--Give them a choice between backing off or be stunned
OOC: I’m not entirely sure whether the first one stacks with the prior -1 or how the choice on the second one works, but this should all be good


“Shocking, isn’t it!”

Scraps instincts told him to get the flock out of here ... and he remembered seeing the back door through that hole that Honey+Lavander Girl had made in the floor.

So turning with all haste, he ran back into the room, and with leapt down to the ground floor below.
           - rolled 12 using 2d6+3 with rolls of 5,4.  Agile for the jumping.

He hit the ground running, letting his paws take him swiftly from this place before it all came crashing down on his head.

WHAM.

The mighty club swung through the air and clipped Cosmic Girl. It wasn't a direct hit... but her uncontrolled landing dozens of yards away helped make up for that.

(Cosmic Girl gets 1 xp and takes 2 stress.)

---

(Tetsubo takes 2 stress.

13:09, Today: Tetsubo rolled 7 using 2d6+2 ((3,2)).

--No collateral damage)

Tetsubo swings his club again, and manages to hit Goodwill a glancing blow.

At the last second, Tetsubo notices that the backswing is about to hit Breakneck, who is trying to use the garden hose to wash the gravel out of his eyes.

(Goodwill takes 1 stress.)

---

Breakneck, standing on wet ground, is no longer blinded, but is now half-stunned anyway.

"What... what... whaaaaa...?"

He looks, for the moment, rather overwhelmed. He staggers backward, toward the far end of the house...

---

In spite of the debris of the shambles below, Scraps lands safely without a scratch.

But what he finds down there surprises him-- it's the lady who had been trying to protect the little boy. "Hey! Hey, puppy, help! My leg's caught...!"

It's hard to say if Scraps understands the literal words, but he does see that her lower left leg is caught under debris... but it isn't so much that her actual leg is caught, as just part of her pants leg...

Will Scraps try to help free her? Or will he get out the open back door while the gettin's good?

Cosmic Girl bounced across the ground a few times. Her gymnastic training allowed her to fall with enough skill not to take any serious injuries, but she was going to have a few bad bruises when this was through.

The poor landing did not stop her returning to the fray, though. She got to her feet and kept rising getting a few feet off the ground, even as she thrust her hands out and unleashed a rapid series of cosmic bolts at the massive Tetsubo, her aim finally getting back on point.

23:30, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 9 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 1,6.  Tetsubo gets zapped! (Possibly...).

Suddenly seeing someone in danger ... in pain, and scared for their life ...
it didn’t even occur to Scraps NOT to help.   Without thought for his own safety, the heroic pup leapt to the woman’s aid.

Grabbing the leg of her pant where it was trapped, he began pulling and growling and shaking the fabric ...
          - rolled 12 using 2d6+3 with rolls of 5,4.  Rescue someone, like a Romantic Idiot.
... until the material tore, freeing the woman.

Quickly stepping to her side, he gave her a comforting nuzzle and lick, the barked at her to “Get up, get up”.
Then, he began leading her towards the door out of this place, without ever leaving her behind.

With constant encouragement from Scraps, Shawna manages to slowly stumble out of the back of the house... "Good dog... gooood dog..." Shawna mutters, limping...

It was time to try some logic again, and see if this fiasco could be put to an end already.

"Guys, guys...." Goodwill floated backwards out of Tetsubo's enormous reach and held up his hands. "You're outnumbered, and the prize is out of reach. You've lost. Even if you win the fight, you've lost."

Hopefully Tetsubo could be made to stand down, even if Breakneck was a lost cause. Tetsubo seemed smart enough to know when there was nothing worth fighting for, not to mention when the boss has lost his fool mind.

Charming: Talk Things Out
Goodwill rolled 4 using 2d6+1 ((2,1)).

Son of a bitch...

Cosmic Girl's blasts hit Tetsubo hard... But they also blast the area behind him somewhat, shaking up White Lynx.

(White Lynx takes -2 forward on her next roll...)



Tetsubo completely ignores Goodwill. Awkwarrrrrrrd.

(Goodwill takes -1 forward from embarrassment, but gets 1 new xp point.)

Instead, Tetsubo is focused on Cosmic Girl-- he's clearly hurting right now.

And then... he makes a break for it.

(Run Away
When you flee the scene roll +agile.  On a 7-9 one thing happens:
--You leave something important behind
--You become a laughing-stock

13:22, Today: Tetsubo rolled 7 using 2d6 with rolls of 6,1.

13:25, Today: Breakneck rolled 7 using 2d6+2 ((4,1)).)

Tetsubo throws something down at his feet-- it turns out to be a smoke bomb. Instantly, thick smoke fills the area.

Based on the stomping sounds, it sounds like Tetsubo's making a getaway (and shrinking back to normal size, based on the sound of it).

Breakneck can also be heard coughing and wheezing (and running around). "Aw crap, what's in that smoke bomb, it smells like old socks!" HACK COUGH WHEEZE "I think I'm aller--" HACK COUGH WHEEZE "--allergic! You-- You'll be sorry you guys ever messed--" HACK COUGH WHEEZE "--with Breakneck! You--" HACK COUGH WHEEZE "...you... you guys suck!"

At the end, he is clearly running away... crying, from the sound of it.

When the smoke clears, the villains are gone.

Except for Tetsubo's large iron club, which lays on the lawn... Perhaps shrinking down to hard-to-find size after being in his oni form meant he was too weak to carry it with him...

"That," Goodwill said softly, "was nearly a fiasco."

If not for getting the kid out safe, this would have been a total disaster. Instead it was just a major screw-up, with all three villains getting away, the house being half-destroyed, and Goodwill himself verging on collapse. One more good hit from Tetsubo might have put him in the hospital. Two might have put him in the morgue.

He walked over to the iron club and poked it with his toe to see how hard it was to move the thing. It must have weighed a couple of hundred pounds, easy. Tetsubo must not have any super-strength at normal size, then. Good to know, in case there's a next time.

"Still, we did good here. Not great, but good. But I think if we work together to train, maybe we could be great."

He looked around.

"Scraps?" he called. "Where are you, boy?"

While he waited for Scraps to respond or arrive, he added to Lynx and Cosmic Girl, "Ice cream sodas are on me*."

---

* = Yeah, he doesn't drink. He's that much of a goody two-shoes.

Cosmic Girl strode up, rubbing her badly skinned knee on arrival. "Sorry about that. I think I got a bit carried away with the blasts." White Lynx was not meant to have been in the firing line. And the house was going to need a lot of renovation.

"Scraps was amazing! He literally saved that boy's life! I am sorry I was not able to come and help outside immediately, but I felt it best to get the kid to safety. And I would love an ice cream soda! But I think seeing a doctor might be a better idea, first."

Scraps, at this point, came bounding around the corner, barking helpfully.
You see, he had an injured human in tow ... and although he desperately wanted to lick Gil's face ... he would first make sure his charge was escorted to safety.
Cosmic Girl would recognise Shawna, of course ... who'd fallen into the floor hole.

As soon as Shawna had been delivered to some form of authority and safety, the heroic pup would turn, and whole-heartedly race to his owner ... leaping from meters away into Gil's arms.

“Yeah, I’m...I’m gonna need a minute,” Lynx groaned out, doubled over. “Won’t say no to that free drink though...”

They got away. Annoying, but at least no one could choke her anymore. Besides, aside from that, things were alright. The kid was safe and damages were mostly localized to the house. And her ribs, gods damned. She felt kind of useless today, overall. The other three were all going around and doing stuff. Punching the daylight out of the villains, grabbing the kid, whatever. All she really did was play bait and get kidnapped. Better job for an infiltrator, she supposed, but she was not terribly helpful when crap started happening.

Still, it was nice, being able to be someone else again, even in that limited state. Probably won’t be another situation like it any time soon, but it was a sweet reminder.

“Honestly, I’m surprised I’m even standing right now. Great shot...Great shot there, Cosmos. Sorry for getting in your way a bit there. Still, I’m glad all that’s over. Another good hit and I’d just be a silver streak on the wall! Does that joke make sense? Nevermind.”

Cosmos looked rather chagrined. "I am truly sorry! I guess I am not used to working with others. But it was very educational. I have learned a lot. And Scraps was amazing in there. I went a bit too far inside, maybe, and he saved the boy."

She rubbed her bruises again. "We should get this woman some help, she might have some broken things. And I am sure that the police want to talk to her. If she knows where those three monsters went, we might be able to catch them before they get time to recover."

"Scraps is smarter than a lot of people," Goodwill said, positioning the dog in his arms so he'd be easier to hold onto. He needed a hand free. "Sometimes I'm convinced he's smarter than I am, anyway."

With a now-freed hand, Goodwill reached into his pocket and pulled out the paper that Blackjack had dropped. Something told him it was important. He'd certainly feel stupid enough if it turned out to be the groceries list.

"So what do we have here...?"

With a slight pout, Lynx corrected herself, “No, sorry, that came out wrong. Not...not your fault. I’m speedy, so I should’ve gotten out of the way. I’m just not feeling great. Really. S’my fault. And congrats, Scraps. Great job in there.”

The adrenaline was just pouring out of her now, wasn’t it? Blinking a couple times, Lynx reasserted her stance, standing straight, if a bit wobbly.

“Who is that, by the by? Was she one of the henchpersons?”

The piece of paper is somewhat cryptic. It reads:


WASHINGTON IRVING 40 19 4 20 63

---

Shawna the henchwoman, though weary, waves to get Cosmic Girl's attention. "...So you saved little William?" she asks.

Cosmic Girl moved to be by Shawna's side. "Yes. I took him straight to safety. By now, he should be with his loved ones, I hope." She sighed. "I am sorry I let you fall, but I had to choose between taking him to safety, and catching you. I do hope you are not too badly hurt."

She paused, uncomfortably, then blurted out, "Why did you do it? Why throw your lot in with such awful people? Or did they have a hold on you?" She was no expert on all matters legal - or on much else, either, for that matter - but she was sure that Shawna might be able to get protection from her associates, in exchange for turning into an informant.

"Well, huh." Goodwill looked at the paper in confusion. He knew about Washington Irving from a report he'd written in high school. Author, best known for his stories of Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Irving had done a ton of other things, writing plays and histories and biographies... and even served as the U.S. Ambassador to Spain for some years. He was prolific. Though he was best known for two short stories, his complete works in a single collection spanned a good forty volumes. "I wonder what that could mean."

(If no one has any guesses or theories, I'll allow each PC to make one Insightful roll. The highest single roll amongst you will get a clue. (Yes, even if that means Scraps.))

"Well... I guess I might have done the same if I were you, hard as that is to imagine. I did really want William to come out of this okay. I really think they might've killed him."




"I think I'll be okay eventually. I hope that I can take a long rest... um, I don't mean behind bars..."




Shawna sighs. "...I went to Hollywood because it was my dream to be a stuntwoman... but I just couldn't find work. So I thought, what's sort of dangerous, but really lucrative? Being a henchwoman sounded like great money... and it might've been, but I soon found out just how scary these three guys were. I thought-- at first, anyway-- we were just going to rob this huge house-- or pretend to, so Breakneck could fight Silver Streak. I didn't understand why they were so confident that Silver Streak would show up."

"But the second I realized how terrible these guys were, I also realized I wanted to stay to be with poor little William. He's a really sweet little boy, and they basically made me his babysitter, when I volunteered to be in charge of him. I stuck this out to the end mostly to see if I could help him at all..."

"Um... not to interrupt... (but I guess that's what I'm doing)... does this mean anything to you?" Goodwill asked, holding out the paper he'd obtained from Blackjack. It felt important. "'Washington Irving' and a string of numbers...?"

Shawna blinks... then looks just a little sly. "Would... it... be... worth something to you...? Mayyyyybe letting a first offender go...?"

Cosmos twitched at that. "I... I don't think I can help with that, I don't really have any authority." She looked to her fellow heroes. "How does that work? Maybe if we vouched for her good behaviour? We might even be able to help her find some work? Law supporting heroes need help as much as those villains did, and her experience with those awful men might prove invaluable in tracking them down."

She was baffled by the note. "That could be... a street reference? Is that anywhere where there's a junction of Washington and Irving? I've not actually read any of his writing..."

Shawna is quiet, waiting to see what the other heroes will say.

Her expression shows that she's
--disappointed with Cosmic Girl balking at the idea of just letting her go, then
--a little hopeful at the idea of the heroes vouching for her good behavior, then
--even more hopeful at the idea of maybe getting some kind of real job...

"It's really not our place to let you go — sorry." Goodwill agreed with Cosmic Girl with a regretful shake of the head. "The police are right over there, and they'll be over here any second. But we can put in a good word for you, explain how you protected the kid, gave us a clue... it'll have to count for something.

"As for finding work... have you ever considered going into private security?"




(Please don't make me have to roll Charming.)

"...Mm. You mean, like a security guard? I... haven't ever thought about it..." Shawna gets a little excited. "Sure, I see... you guys must know good places that'd hire me if you guys recommended me...!"




(I'll do it, I'll make you, I'm crazy, you dreading it just makes me want to make you do it more... Or make ONE of you do it...)
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:47, Sat 04 Apr 2020.

Well, she had left Diana’s prior job a little quickly, but they’d probably accept a recommendation from her still. Hadn’t been too discerning about where their employees came from too. Ch’rava was a little worried, seeing as it might weaken the whole “secret identity” thing heroes had, but...if it got them the info they needed...a little risk would have to be fine.

“I, uh, happen to know a good place? Private, hirable security, though they primarily specialize in bodyguards. Last I checked, at least. One thing is that my experience with them is, ah, out of costume. So I can certainly point you in their direction and offer a recommendation, but those will have to be in private and anonymously, respectively.”

"Being a bodyguard might be cool... and not too different from being a stunt body double... But if you think your recommendation would carry weight..."

Shawna seems open to the idea...

"Or I could talk to my people," Cosmic Girl beamed. "There is something very rewarding about working for the government. And I am sure they would be understanding about your recent actions. They are very nice to me!"

As suggestions went, it was a real stinker...

“Yes. Yeah, I’m pretty sure. Look, I’ll write down the address whenever I can find some paper. The place is called Specter Security. The main guy you’ll want to ask for is named Lewis S. Lewis. He’s a decent enough guy.” Decent enough that he didn’t mind her quitting with such a short notice. “I’ll go and talk to him later tonight, once my neck stops stinging and my back stops aching. I’ll give him your name and my recommendation. With any luck, you should get that job.” It had seemed like Ms. Clarke was rather well respected there, so hopefully her word would mean a lot.

Goodwill held out the note he'd found again.

"So, what does this mean?" he prompted.

- rolled 7 using 2d6 with rolls of 3,4.  Insight to get a clue.


As the Heroes and ex-henchwoman talked, Scraps wriggled in Gil’s arms, to be let down.
Once down, he jumped up next to Shawna to play with the nice lady.
- rolled 9 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 6,2.  Charming.





My original post was to show the PC’s Scraps’ support for Shawna.
But then I read OOC and realised that we were attempting to Charm info out of her. So I added this Charm.
I guess Scraps being so involved might remind Shawna that Scraps saved her life(?).   If that’s worth a +1 to my roll, then I get a Full Success in the Charm
This message was last edited by the player at 10:15, Sun 05 Apr 2020.

Shawna is super unimpressed that this will lead to the kind of consequences she might want. It's clear that she instantly categorizes Cosmic Girl into a new category labeled... well, Very Naive would be the nicest way to put it.

(Cosmic Girl gets 1 new xp, but has a -2 ongoing penalty regarding Insightful, Charming, or Confident rolls involving Shawna.)

On the other hand, White Lynx's subsequent words really seemed to cheer/soften Shawna up...




Scraps sniffed at the note Gil held. It had a funny smell. The smell of a person... He wasn't sure if the smell was attached to the person who'd written the note, a person who might have delivered the note, or the person who'd last held the note, but he'd know that smell if he smelled it again...



Shawna bit her lip... glanced at White Lynx... then glanced at Scraps. "...Okay, I can only tell you two things about that note. They're both based on me overhearing something yesterday-- Blackjack was talking with Tetsubo. One: I think that note involves a future meet-up spot. Two: I think it's in New York City somewhere. I think maybe Manhattan, specifically. But that's it. I don't know what those names or the numbers mean. And I don't know if it's where the three guys were going to meet up if this plan went wrong, or if it's for if the plan went right but they got separated, or if it's not for a meet-up for the three of them-- it might just be for Blackjack to meet someone else. But I'm pretty sure about the two things I said..."

Since he'd moved there, Goodwill had spent a lot of time in Manhattan, but he was hardly a native. Still, he knew some stuff... but he was hardly the smartest guy in the world, either.

Goodwill rolled 7 using 2d6-1 ((5,3)).

White Lynx rolled 3 using 2d6-1 with rolls of 3,1.  Insightful with -2 Forward. Solving a mystery.

Honestly, while Ch’rava had indeed done some research in the short time she’d been around, she had not yet gotten to know her way around the city. She’d been a bit more focused on the places that Diana had frequented, so as to avoid them. She wasn’t really sure why she was even trying with this here.

Cosmos frowned as she listened. Something rang a bell...

(White Lynx gets 1 xp, but gets -1 on her next roll (yes, even if that's in the next chapter).

Cosmic Girl has won the Insightful contest, and gets to be the smartest PC of (looks at watch) this particular 5-minute span of time!)


WASHINGTON IRVING 40 19 4 20 63

Two things occur to Cosmic Girl, looking at the note:

1. If the note is supposed to be about a future meetup... then maybe the last numbers might be a date? 4-20-63? So, a couple of weeks from the present moment...?

2. As for Washington Irving, the only thing she could think of... if we were talking about Manhattan... was that she seemed to recall that there was a school by that name somewhere? Washington Irving... High School? She couldn't remember for sure if it was a high school or not, but she was fairly sure it was somewhere between the Flatiron District and the East Village...

(I'll leave it to Cosmic Girl to communicate these thoughts to the other PCs (if indeed she decides to do so at all...))
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 18:46, Sun 05 Apr 2020.

Cosmic Girl finally twigged! It was not a street she was remembering, but a place, all the same!

"Manhattan? Yes, there is a Washington Irving there! It's a school! I think, I visit Manhattan sometimes - there's a centre there where they used to test me. I am almost certain we used to drive past it. And the numbers... I don't know what they all mean. The last three sort of look like a date, but the first two are not really fitting in. Do coordinates work like those? Not letters of the alphabet. Got me stumped!"

She scratched her head. The thinking was usually left up to others, and she was still fr too young to have the life experience she needed to work everything out herself.

“A school? If it’s that, then...maybe 40 and 19 could be room numbers? Or maybe it being a school doesn’t matter to the numbers and they’re codes for something. Like, maybe 40 means something like ‘go there in plainclothes?’ And 19 means go there on the following date?’ Or wait... What about streets? Maybe there are streets right next to this school that correspond to those numbers?”

Lynx wasn’t quite sure what it could be, but some of those would be easy enough to check with the power of maps. That would have to wait for a bit though, since it wouldn’t make too much sense to run for a library when they both needed to recover and report to the police about all this.

"There is a Washington Irving high school... on Irving Place, for the obvious reasons." It was near enough to Goodwill's loft apartment that he could easily walk there without super-stamina. "Irving runs from... Fourteenth to Twentieth Street, I think. Could be that 'nineteen' refers to Nineteenth Street? I don't know. I think the school is at Sixteenth or Seventeenth, for what it's worth."

---

Ironically, I think my father had an office on Irving Place, once upon a time. He worked in a few different locations downtown, in that general area, over the years.

"Then we definitely need a map, and get a trip to Manhattan organised at once. Whatever these villains are up to, you can be sure that it isn't going to be a trip to a milk bar, or a once round Liberty Island!" Cosmos turned to Shawna. "You've been really cooperative. Given how those men behave, you may have saved lives. Thank you."

Shawna sighs. "Just be sure you all tell the authorities that, please..."