The incident with Flynn (Captain Liberty) and his grandson was kept out of the news, probably to discourage giving any other villains the idea of attacking the man's family...

But it leaves the heroes with disturbing knowledge...

Blackjack (at the very least) was planning to meet up with one or more other people on the 20th, just a couple of weeks away.

There is a theory that it could involve the Washington Irving High School...

What will the heroes do to find the exact location of the intended meeting, so as to have a second chance to catch Blackjack (and who knows whom else)?

(Possibilities include:
--asking people questions?
--investigating the school?

Which could involve:
--one or more new Insightful rolls?
--undercover work?)

Goodwill making a public appearance at the high school would be a minor publicity stunt event/photo op. He could use that to try to snoop out some connection to Blackjack....

(Hmmmm... make a Charming roll to set that up in advance. You'll get an extra +1 on that roll, if you want (because you're freakin' Goodwill, for goodness' sake, that's why).

Or, you can just drop by unannounced, without a roll...)

Goodwill would probably try to set it up in advance, rather than drop by unannounced. (In fact, he's probably done this sort of thing with other schools in the past... because he's freaking Goodwill, and he does that shit.)

Goodwill rolled 10 using 2d6+2 ((6,2)).

Finally, a Charming roll that WORKS.

Diana works for a newspaper, so she’d probably ask around her co-workers/superiors if anything interesting or notable had gone on there in the past days or weeks.

Additionally, Lynx would probably look over some maps to see if there was anything relevant to 40 or 19. Like a 19th street or something. And then go around the school and look around, possibly at the school or at some intersection of Irving Place and 19th street.

The school's principal is charmed by Goodwill's call, and thus is very interested in having Goodwill drop by (with or without Scraps, but he would be welcome "as long as he's properly housebroken").

It turns out that Washington Irving High School is, these days, a sort of technical high school-- it's for young women only, it turns out, and specializes in preparing them for the job market-- typing, bookkeeping, stenography, office management, bookbinding, commercial filing, printing, journalism, and especially nursing.

All Goodwill has to do now is show up...

Well, the sensible thing here for Cosmic Girl would be for her to go undercover in the school as a student. She's the right age and demographic.

And letting Scraps run loose in the school area for a few days might, MIGHT(?), lead to him sniffing something out.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:46, Wed 08 Apr 2020.

Should I begin...?

Goodwill came down from the sky slowly —this was a visit, not a battle— bathed in his customary golden glow. The light faded as he touched down. There was a photographer there already, a reminder that Goodwill's publicist was still doing her job.*

Setting down Scraps, Goodwill mounted the front steps of the school and reached for the front door.

---

* = Yes, a publicist. A necessary evil, but one whose customary percentage was also donated to charity, like all of Goodwill's proceeds.

It took very little effort to get Cosmos into the school - the authorities could pull strings, and she more than met the criteria. Good background, good results in previous schools, and she was the right demographic. She was also good at fitting in, and having been the popular cheerleader in school before, she knew how to play the game.

She also studied hard, and did her best to come across as a good student. She tried to make friends, and pick up all the gossip. It was hard to hide things in a school full of girls who were extremely bad at keeping secrets. If someone was up to something, word got around. If there was  room that was locked up, the girls would know. They knew which teachers were creepy, or up to no good, or - shock horror - having a fling!

Put simply, there was no force on the planet quite so good at getting their noses into the business of other people as a bunch of teenage girls. All Cosmic Girl had to do was play the part, be accepted, and start milking everyone for information. She adopted the role of Peggy Potter - Secret Agent! almost too eagerly. But even if she did not learn a lot about what the villains had planned, she would learn shorthand. So, her time was not completely wasted.

She greeted the day of Goodwill's visit with some anticipation. Hoefully she would get time to report properly, and his own investigations could help clarify exactly what was going on.

And she got to see Scraps again. She liked that crazy pooch!

19:56, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 3 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 1,1.  Charming Peggy Potter, snooping around the school... Oh. My. GOD!!!! I told you. Dice DESPISE me!!! That's just excrutiatingly bad!!!

Goodwill entered the building to no fanfare. It was a surprising but welcomed change of pace. He was popular, but his publicist made it seem even more so, in order to drive his popularity even higher. There was a British music group — the name escaped him at the moment — that was rumored to pay girls to scream in their audience. One girl screamed, they all screamed. Fortunately, his publicist wasn't quite that manipulative. But it was a little surprising that she hadn't arranged some sort of official greeting at the door.

(As he entered the building, he noted the address on the brick facade was 40 Irving Place. Was that the 40 from Blackjack's note?)

The administrative office was nearby, and clearly marked, thankfully. Goodwill went in and introduced himself.

"Hi," he said to the receptionist. "I'm Gil Woods."

(Welcome to the Snake Eyes Club. Other members include Scraps and White Lynx... possibly Goodwill, but the Dice Log results only reach back so far)

Not only does Cosmic Girl not find out anything that would help the investigation, she is humiliated when Becky Brennan hands her a soda that turns out to be all shaken up and it explodes all over Peggy's clothes in the lunchroom.

Gossip overheard afterwards in the ladies' room suggests that Becky thought Peggy was "too pretty" and "tried too hard to make everyone like her" and "thought she could waltz in here and be the new queen of the school instead of just the new girl."

 (Cosmic Girl will carry this shame for a while. She gets a -2 penalty to her next roll while out of uniform, or in uniform but in the presence of one or more other local teenage girls... but gets 1 new xp.)

Girls everywhere in the school start stopping what they're doing, jaws dropped, unless you count "making an effort to not faint nor scream in excitement" as doing something.

The receptionist also seems very impressed. "Go right in, Mr... Mr. Goodwill..."

(I'm gonna leave it to you: make either an Insightful roll or a Charming roll...)

Goodwill rolled 11 using 2d6+1 ((5,5)).

"Thank you," Goodwill said with an easy Aw shucks smile. It was weird when older women (which was most women, what with him being only 18) fawned over him, but he wasn't completely unaccustomed to it by now.

He rapped lightly on the principal's door with his knuckles and then entered.

Scraps trailed along with Goodwill, enthusiastically sniffing at everything as he went.


- rolled 8 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 2,5.  Enhances Senses to notice anything of note.

Peggy ran from the lunch room, and burst out into the corridor a few doors down from where Goodwill had made his entrance. She stood there, shaking with annoyance and humiliation, with brown fizzy soda dripping from her face onto her soaked clothes, and looking for all the world like a complete and utter pillock.

The laughter of her new schoolmates around her made it fairly clear that her attempts to go undercover had worked only too well. Nobody could possibly believe she was a superhero in this environment. She was playing the role of picked on new kid in the school to perfection.

It did absolutely nothing to help her investigations, of course, but the girls were absolutely falling for her being a dumb schoolkid.

White Lynx rolled 9 using 2d6 with rolls of 6,3.  Charming, but with a -1. Diana’s chatting with co-workers/superiors.

White Lynx rolled 6 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 2,3.  Insightful. For Lynx’s personal investigation.

The principal is charmed by Goodwill, and asks him to just let her know what she or the school can do for him.

---

Scraps gets a good sniff of the school, but doesn't smell either of the two odd persons who handled the note.

---

No one knew of anything like that, not even Old Clarence, the Local News editor. And if he didn't know, there probably wasn't anything like that.

Diana got out some maps and looked at the area around the school until she started to get a headache, but she didn't see anything useful.

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

But then Clarence walked up to her. "What's up, Diana? What're you looking for? Might another pair of eyes help...?"

Goodwill had a lie all ready. He was uncomfortable with it, but had practised it in the mirror until he could say it with regrettable ease. It was about touring local NYC schools, doing a little 'Don't do drugs; stay in school; community service; et cetera'. It was believable, for the most part.

He took a deep breath and threw it away in favor of the truth.

"This school has been suggested in the course of an investigation," he explained, staying vague but truthful. Vague was really all he had, anyway. "I honestly don't know what I'm looking for, but there may be a connection to a couple of escaped super-villains. I was hoping to get a good look around, meet some students and faculty, and see if anything shakes loose."

It is hardly possible that the principal could want to help more than she already does, but Goodwill's information alarms her somewhat. "Is there danger? Is there a villain in the school? I shouldn't send anyone home, should I? Is there anyone in particular you want to talk to...?" A pause... "...None of my girls are dating a supervillain, are they...?"

"Good gosh, I sure hope not!" Goodwill had barely entertained the notion of student involvement, much less student... involvement. "Let's call that our worst-case scenario, ma'am. And if a super-villain does show up here, my top priority is protecting the students by getting him out of the building, posthaste."

He took out the piece of paper he had folded up in his pocket. The police had confiscated the original, but Goodwill had jotted down the numbers just as Blackjack's note had originally read. He handed it to the principal.

"We obtained this clue a while back, and have determined that the note probably points to this school, on this day. The last three numbers correspond to today's date, and the forty probably refers to the building number. Is there a significance to the number nineteen that you can think of? Is there anything significant about room nineteen for example?"

“I’m not really sure, to be honest, Clarence. A friend showed me something, said it was somehow very important, and thought that it was related to this school,” Diana explained, pointing at Washington Irving, “or maybe just the area around it? On top of that, he also gave me some numbers, but I can’t seem to make any sense about them. I thought looking over a map might help, but I’m starting to feel sick just looking at all this and finding nothing. And thank you. If you’re not too busy, an extra pair of eyes would be very helpful. Lookin’ for the numbers 40 and 19.”

(11:40, Today: The Grandmaster rolled 6 using 2d6 ((5,1)).)

"...Um, no, I can't think of anything special... I'll take you to go and look in room 19, if you like..."

---

Clarence looks at the section of the map around the school. "Well... P.S. 40 and 19 aren't far from there..." He sketches out a triangle on the map. "Here, and here, see...? With Stuyvesant Square Park in the middle..."

A triangle made up of schools? Dang, that was pretty clever. She’d been thinking of the numbers as being additional info on top of the school name.

“Dang. Thank you very much, Clarence. I’m hoping this works for whatever my friend needed. Will have to deliver the good news soon!”

Clarence smiled. "Glad I could help, Diana... whatever the story is..."

"That would be great. Thank you." Goodwill wasn't even sure the school was the right place, still, but until the other numbers made sense he'd have to go with his best theory.

Room 19 is a typing class, with a lot of typewriters.

Everywhere that Goodwill goes throughout the school, there's a lot of sighing, smiling, dropped jaws, and slight, sudden, temporary clumsiness...

"It's growing increasingly clear to me that you run a super-villain-free academy," Goodwill said to the principal. He was both relieved and disappointed, knowing that he was wrong about this school. He was glad there weren't any super-villains running around the place, but then where the heck were they? "Could the numbers forty and nineteen have nothing to do with this place? Do they mean anything to you?"

(Sorry, we've already rolled for that. Maybe next week she might think of something, but today, no, she's too flustered.)

"No, not really, sorry...!"

With a stretch, Diana exited the building. She was done there for the day, so she was free to head back, suit up, and look into the park. She wanted to go and stake it out right now, but considering how bad things went the last time she ran into Blackjack and the others, she didn’t want to risk anything without heroes around. Other heroes. Because she was also one. What a weird feeling.

After a short while, Diana got back into her apartment, wincing upon seeing the pen laying on her tiny kitchen table. Why had Lewis given her a pen? He said it was just in case she needed a spare to take notes for a story or something. She had only come by to tell him about the ex-henchwoman she was recommending, but he’d seemed almost happy to see her! The man was nice, but why would a former employer care so much about how she was getting by or how her new job was going? He’d said before that he was proud she was trying to find her own feet in the world and that he hoped she’d come to visit sometime. The man was doting, verging on fatherly, and while Ch’rava would like to know more about Diana and Lewis, she knew that spending more time around him than she needed to would just be dangerous. She should’ve thrown out the pen too, but for some reason, it didn’t feel right. She could hardly touch the thing without feeling a pang of guilt.

In any case, she thought while changing into her costume, Shawna would probably be fine there. After all, they’d put in a good word for her with the police and explained her situation. Not only that, but Lewis had said, “A friend of yours is a friend of mine, Diana,” so she’d be in good hands, she was sure.

Firmly affixing her mask, Lynx set out towards the police station. She didn’t know where the others would be right now, so it made sense to relay her info to the authorities. That way, their investigation could be expedited and could even inform Cosmos, Goodwill, and Scraps if they saw them before her.

Scraps followed along with Goodwill and the Principal, sniffing and running and looking and playing.
He was often waylaid by girls wanting to pat him ... and, of course, he sacrificed himself for the greater good and allowed them to rub any part of him they wanted to.   There were, for sure, bits of him that he liked to have rubbed better than others ... and attempted to wriggle those places into the loving hands of his admirers.


His Super Senses working overtime to identify any threats that they might stumble upon:
-   rolled 9 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 5,3.

Peggy had decided to get cleaned up as soon as she could, but there was no denying it - she could wash her face well enough, but she needed a change of clothes. Her uniform was stained soda brown, and her hair was drenched. She tried as best she might to remedy this in the nearest bathroom, but she finally decided to give up and get back to work, and just eat up the humiliation.

So, she steeled herself, and stepped out into the corridor. And, consequently, almost right into the Principal. There was a moment of stepping to the side, back and forth, and a lot of apologies, and eventually, an outright stumble.

Peggy was a superb athlete. And she was acting like she barely knew how to walk. This was not going her way!

"Whoops! Sorry, miss," Goodwill said, sidestepping the girl. She seemed familiar, he thought, but didn't have the time to ponder how he might know her. "Careful there, Scraps."

Scraps was agile enough to avoid being stepped on, but warning him really warned the girl that the pup was there.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:15, Sun 19 Apr 2020.

Scraps recognised the Honey and Lavender lady from days (weeks?) earlier, and bounded over for a 'hello' lick and pat.

The officer on duty was glad to see White Lynx show up. "Not that there's any emergency," he said, "but we've all heard, around the different precincts, about how you were willing to impersonate Silver Streak and help save Captain Liberty's little boy. So if you ever need anything, let us know." The man paused. "There isn't an emergency, is there? We saw Goodwill and his dog flying into Washington Irving High School just a little while ago, but we called over, and he's just visiting... You know, a goodwill visit, like 'is name..." 

Peggy accepted the approach of the dog eagerly, and bent to give him a fussing. It helped distract from her fairly horrendous day so far. And she cooed at the dog as she did so. "Who is the best doggy ever? You are! That's right. Amazing. Wonderful... cosmic!"

She shot a sly wink in Goodwill's direction. Anyone noticing it might assume she was once again getting above herself and flirting... but she was sure he would get the real message.

“Oh, no, there’s not. Just got some information that might be relevant to the Breakneck, Blackjack, and Tetsubo situation. Wanted to share it with you all, Goodwill, Cosmos, and Scraps. The note we got, we already thought it was a meeting place and time, but I think we were wrong in assuming that it was inside of Washington Irving High School. Nearby, there’s also Public Schools 40 and 19! And taken together, the three form a triangle, with Stuyvesant State Park smack-dab in the middle. I think that’s where they’re going to meet! Well, probably.”

Letting her excitement cool down a bit, Lynx continued, “I should probably go and inform the others as well. Hopefully they won’t mind me borrowing Goodwill for a minute. Could you pass the info on to Cosmos if you see her?”

It felt odd, planning to just go out to the school in her hero attire. Like she was doing a poor job of laying low. But there wasn’t really any sense in waiting to tell the others about it.

"Sure will... Er... so... are... you... heroes going to handle it? Have a stakeout? Or will you be wanting police backup?"

His vibe suggests he's hoping White Lynx will say no, that the heroes will handle it...

Oh ho. So that was why she seemed so familiar, eh? This girl who appeared to have lost a fight with a bottle of soda was in fact the powerful Cosmic Girl?

"Scraps is a pretty awesome dog," he agreed. Scraps was happily sniffing and licking the girl like a long-lost friend. Goodwill had to admit, it was good to see her. "He thinks pretty highly of you, too, miss...?"

If he got a real name out of this, maybe he'd even be able to contact Cosmic Girl in case of future emergencies. Or just to keep in touch, if nothing else.

"Potter. Margaret...well, Peggy. Peggy Potter!" She rose and held her hand out enthusiastically. Using her real name had been necessary to get into the school - it would have taken far too long to set up some kind of fake identity. "It's just so amazing to meet you! Wonderful! Are you here on a case? is their a villain here?" her eyes grew wide, and then she blushed. "I am sorry, I am gushing at you, it's just i have never met a celebrity - a superhero - before!"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:44, Sun 26 Apr 2020.

“Well, considering that there’s no hostages, as far as we know, it certainly wouldn’t hurt to have some form of backup. Though it might still be better to have only a few people close to the scene so no one notices any interlopers. Would it be alright for there to be some officers a little ways away? We can signal you all to come in if things go sour and we lose any notion of stealth? Or at the very least, for a speedy arrest. Course, if you can’t spare anyone, I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

Great, he wanted them to do it alone. It wasn’t like she was looking forward to a rematch either!

"Well, I was worried about there possibly being a villain here," Goodwill said, shaking Peggy Potter's hand. He gestured to the principal, adding, "But your principal was kind enough to show me and Scraps around... and we can now say with reasonable certainty that there is not.

"That said, I'm having a hard time figuring out where a couple of very real super-villains are, even if I've got one place where they aren't."

"I am afraid I don't know anything about that!" Peggy said, a little regretfully. "There's some girls here who are pretty villainous, but there's nothing super about them. As far as I know, the school is jus a school!"

And that gave her report. Nothing to report. It was a pretty rubbish report.

"I'll speak to my captain, but I'll bet he'll authorize some people to be not far from the park on standby, when the time comes.

So are you heading over to talk to Goodwill now..."

“Great, thank you. And yes, I’ll be heading over now. Apologies for taking up your time!”

And then she left the building and began running towards Washington Irving, leaving behind a cloud of sparky dust.

---

Skidding to a stop, Lynx stifled her electrified feet and headed to the entrance. Hopefully, the receptionist wouldn’t mind an unannounced visit, especially considering recent events and her business here.

“Hey, sorry, I don’t mean to be here long. Just need to share some important information with Goodwill and Scraps. Purely business stuff. Do you know where I could find them?”

"Er, they're here somewhere... let me call for them..." She turns to a PA system. "GOODWILL AND SCRAPS THE DOG, GOODWILL AND SCRAPS THE DOG, YOU HAVE ANOTHER HERO AT THE MAIN OFFICE HERE TO SEE YOU..." rings out throughout the rooms and hallways of the school...

"Oh!" That might be White Lynx, Goodwill guessed, being as how she had a little skin in this game, too. "I guess I ought to see to that."

"Thank you for your time today," he said, turning to the Principal and shaking her hand. "You've been extremely indulgent in what may have been a wild goose chase. Seeing how you've probably got better things to do by this point, why don't I just have Miss Potter here show me the way back to the front office?"

If it was Lynx, then anything she had to say, she ought to say to Goodwill and Cosmic Girl.

"Oh, I'd be happy to!" Cosmos gushed, clearly overjoyed to be able to spend time with the hero. Like pretty much every girl in the school who caught sight of him. It was a shame she had no plans to stay, as she would be able to rub faces in this situation afterwards. But she had discovered that normal girls in a school were utterly dreadful creatures, and would be glad to get back to her normal life.

" B A R K ! "  Scraps concurred, and began leaping and running and sniffing around.

Saying goodbye to the principal, Goodwill allowed Peggy Potter to 'lead' him and Scraps back to the main office.

Soon, the four heroes-- one of them undercover on her self-assigned plainclothes case-- are once again all in the same place.

"Um, if you need to use a conference room, there's one just down the hall, that the principal uses for meetings with parents," says the school secretary. "Miss Potter can show you where it is..."

“Thank you kindly,” Lynx said to the secretary. Turning back to the other heroes (and Miss Potter), she asked, “Do you happen to know where Cosmos is, Goodwill? I think I know where the meeting place might be, and I think she’d probably like to hear about it too.”

"I'm so happy to show you the way. Please, this way!" Miss Potter led the way to the conference room, and when she was sure they were out of earshot, she added more, very quietly.

"I am so glad you are here. I've been trying to find anything out that I can, but I am pretty sure the girls and staff here have no clue what is going on. Or they're very well schooled in keeping secrets. If there is any trickery going on here, any villainous plot, it has passed me by completely. I know spy work is not my forte, I am more about blowing things up..."

She plucked her COsmic Girl domino mask from her pocket, and held it up to her face, "Boo!"

"It's amazing how a little mask like that can change a person's entire identity," Goodwill commented, noticeably impressed as he was. "It's like that guy in the comic books, with the pair of glasses.

"Anyway, good to see you again, Lynx. What have you got for us?"

“Ah! I suppose it does, doesn’t it?” So Miss Potter was actually Cosmic Girl! Ch’rava was a little sad that she hadn’t pieced it together on her own, but decided to not let it bother her too much. Instead, she planned on filing the “comic book with the glasses guy” thing for later. She had no idea what Goodwill was talking about and wanted to check on Diana’s comic book collection to see if she had any with that character. Would certainly make it easier to chat with her “co-workers,” not to mention how she could keep herself from looking the fool for not knowing about something rather common.

“Well, I was asking around and someone pointed out that Public Schools 19 and 40 are roughly nearby this very school. Plus, if you draw a triangle with all three of them as points, Stuyvesant State Park is right in the center! I’m thinking that might be where the meeting is supposed to take place.”

"Oh, for Pete's sake." Goodwill looked to Cosmic Girl to see what her reaction was, but he was already convinced. "We should check the park, ASAP."

At the very least, Scraps would enjoy it. But a park was a much better place to confront villains than a school would be.

Peggy looked relieved. "So the reason I found nothing here, is there is nothing to find! That is a good thing, I thought I was just being useless!" She grinned. "Let me suit up. I'll meet you in the park, then?"

“In that case, I can just pop on over and wait for you all.” That ended up going pretty alright. Hopefully the stakeout would go as easily. “I’ll see y’all then!”

And then she was off...at a normal walking speed to the school’s exit. It wouldn’t be good to speed around inside a building as busy as this!

"Sure. Meet you at the park."

(To the park!)

Stuyvesant Square Park turns out to be two parks, side by side, one mirror-imaged from the other, on each side of 2nd Avenue, between east 15th and 17th Streets (and blocking/getting in the way of east 16th Street).

There's a nice smallish round reflecting pool in the middle of each park, and paved walkways, and lots of trees and bushes and flowers and statues and stuff.

(Scraps notes that that smell he smelled on the note that was being passed around is here, very faintly. Especially around the pool on the west side of 2nd Avenue. The person the smell belongs to hasn't been here for days, but Scraps is sure they were here, just long enough ago that their odd smell hasn't quite disappeared yet.)

Apparently, on the date in question, Blackjack is supposed to meet someone here... Probably at night, if Blackjack can't pass for a normal human, but we don't know enough about him to know if he can or not.

In any event, by Scraps' sniffing the air and barking, this must be the place...

Nothing to do now but come back and stake the place out (in disguise?) on the date in question...

The date in question arrives... what's the plan?

Stake it out? Perhaps with us split up from multiple safe distances and talking to each other over comms?

Goodwill might be disguisable, but Scraps wouldn't be. They might need to be doing a fly-over. Fortunately, nobody in New York City ever looks up.

Nothing happened on the date in question... for MOST of the day and evening...

...But just before 11 pm...


(Each of you roll Insightful, please. Scraps gets an extra +1.)

Goodwill rolled 5 using 2d6-1 ((2,4)).

OOC:
17:46, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 2 using 2d6-1 with rolls of 2,1.  Insightful!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Good job I was in unfirm, or I'd have rolled with a -2 modifier!

Please stop asking me to think, I don't do it very well!

White Lynx rolled 7 using 2d6 with rolls of 4,3.  Insightful with -1 Forward. To catch the whatever at the time.

- rolled 10 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 4,4.  Insight, as requested.

(Goodwill and Cosmic Girl each get 1 new xp and each take -1 forward.)

White Lynx notices a man in a hat and trenchcoat approaching the park from the west. There's nothing actually suspicious about the man, though... Well... he does seem to be slightly in a hurry...?


The wind is really swirling around tonight... Scraps smells the same smell he smelt on the note. It's that man in the hat. He's not the person who had had the note last, before Gil got it... But maybe the person who wrote the note, or delivered it (or both)...?

(Does Scraps, upon sniffing this information: bark, growl, whine, some combination, something else...?)

Cosmic Girl, once again returned to her proper superhero status and outfit, crouched on a rooftop opposite the park. As soon as word was given, she would swoop!!! Her total lack of success undercover - even if there was nothing to learn there - meant that she needed a boost to her confidence. And blowing a villain into the middle of next week was exactly what she needed right now.

Scraps froze, eyeing the oncoming individual.    And Goodwill knew what that meant; after all, it wasn't often that the puppy stayed quiet or still for more than a second.
But now, he was staring a trench-coated person, and a small whiney, growly kind of noise was beginning in Scraps' throat; more of curiosity than fear or anger.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:36, Wed 13 May 2020.

“Got a man west of the park. Hat, trenchcoat, and seems to be in a rush. Could be nothing, but we should probably keep an eye on him.”

"Scraps agrees: that's our guy," Goodwill replied into the radio. Flying as he was, he didn't bother to whisper. Instead he assumed that Lynx had her receiver on a low volume. "We're going to keep an eye on him."

Everyone avoids the behatted newcomer.

He enters the park's west half, and goes straight to the fountain and pool there.

Once there, he sits on the edge of the pool, waiting.

A little more time passes. The man just sits and waits.

He does seem a little twitchy. Impatience? Too much coffee earlier in the evening? Both?

He seems like the sort of guy who talks to himself a lot. Sometimes he'll make gestures with his hands, like he's practicing a speech or imagining a conversation with someone-- but really quickly.

Then, someone else approaches the park, from the north. He's also wearing a hat and long trenchcoat, except his are both black, as opposed to the other man's khaki-gray look...

Scraps' nose knows-- this person was at the house where the little boy was...

Scraps, again, responds to the approach in a similar manner as before; except instead of the curious whine about the other, this time he growls perceptibly.  The warning alerted Goodwill immediately to the immensity threat.

Scraps growling could only mean one thing: Tetsubo. (It could have been Blackjack or Breakneck, he supposed, but the puppy had only had close contact with Tetsubo, so he became the most likely by default.) This was about to get serious.

COsmic Girl whispered into her radio. "I see the guy. Just give the word, and I'll rain cosmic fire down upon him. Anyone who kidnaps children deserves no less. Any sign of who he plans to meet... no, wait. Got him. Well, he's nice and subtle. Who does he think he is, Humphrey Bogart? They might as well be wearing signs that say, over here, criminals talking!"

“Is he...preparing himself for a conversation? I’m thinking this is either a report of something that went wrong, or more likely, a deal being made. Or maybe he just wants to ask one of the others out after their meeting and is nervous about it. Or some other surprisingly innocuous event.”

Either way, part of her wanted to just jump in, knock the two out, and skedaddle out of there, since they were separate and all, but whatever they were meeting about was likely rather important crime business. Plus she was fairly certain this wasn’t everybody. She hadn’t clocked either of the present men as Blackjack, after all.

The two men meet right next to the fountain, and begin talking quietly.

Goodwill isn't sure, but actually, he starts to suspect that... the newer arrival doesn't seem like Tetsubo. Could it be Blackjack, able to pass for non-powered from a distance...?

True, Scraps didn't directly encounter Blackjack, but he smelled the note Blackjack had dropped, so...

"I think it's just the two of them," Goodwill said into the radio. "I say we take them down now."

“If you’re sure. It’s not like we have enhanced hearing or anything, so we can’t exactly hear them yet, How do you want to take them?”

"You go behind the one on the left, Cosmic Girl can drop in behind the one on the right, and I'll come down opposite the fountain to box them both in."

“Should we blindside then with an attack, or give them a chance to surrender?”

"One chance to surrender."

Scraps continued to watched the nearby area with his Enhanced Senses ...
          - rolled 4 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 2,1.  Enhanced Senses.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:29, Tue 19 May 2020.

"I am ready, just say the word. I am fairly sure we do not need to hear what they are saying to know that we don't want them to carry out their plan. People like these, they are NEVER doing anything good." She flexed her muscles and prepared for aerial assault.

Someone in some apartment nearby is cooking with the window open-- tons of garlic powder, tons of five kinds of peppers and six kinds of chili powders and lots of onions. Do they have no sense of taste?

Scraps sneezes.

One of the men sort of glances around, but with the noise from the fountain still going, they don't seem to manage to pinpoint the location of a puppy sneeze that's several dozen feet higher than one would expect it to be.

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

"On three," Goodwill said, taking charge. "One... two... three."

He dropped out of the sky, landing a few paces away from the pair of men, opposite the fountain. He let Scraps go after touchdown, letting the puppy drop at his feet.

"Surrender," he ordered.

Between the time Goodwill lands and the moment he starts speaking, the first man to arrive at the park drops some small objects into the fountain, like he expected this to happen.

The water of the fountain bubbles and explodes into various forms that leap out of the water. All are sort of blobby/gooey-looking, like Jello. Most have two legs that end in sort of elephant-foot-like cylinders. Most have two arms that end in sort of boxing-glove like big mitts. Most have large bumps between their shoulders where one might expect heads to be. All look strong.

--There's an orange one that's extra-big, about 9 feet tall.
--There's a small orange one that has six tentacles like an octopus (hexapus?) instead of arms or legs as such.
--There's a flying one, yellow, with sort of dragon wings growing out of where a person would have shoulderblades.
--There's a white one with ten thinner finger-like protrusions on the end of each arm.

The big one stomps toward Goodwill.

The small one... tentacles... toward Scraps.

The other two stay by the two men, as if standing guard. "So anyway..." the man who created these gelatinous menaces says, resuming his talk with Blackjack...
This message was last edited by the player at 20:44, Wed 20 May 2020.

Having zoomed toward the one on the left, White Lynx backed up slightly to get away from the strange gelatinous being. Well now, this was a bit of a problem. The new guy summoned them, so maybe taking him out would weaken them? Or maybe they didn’t even need him to do anything anymore. Either way, she hoped that having two beings of gelatinous/watery substance was a bad call on their part. After all, water conducts electricity.

Thrusting her palm out, Lynx sent sparks flying towards the two men and their odd bodyguards, hoping to keep them incapacitated long enough for Cosmic Girl to more permanently deal with them.

White Lynx rolled 9 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 1,6.  Hold Them Off! With Confident.
--They can’t attack anyone they weren’t already attacking

The now-familiar sound of vwwoorrrppp!!! rang out, and Cosmic Girl streaked out of the sky, letting rip with her rapid-fire cosmic blasts! There were plenty to choose from, but she was skilled at multi-target combat, and while she flew up above to make strafing runs, most of them would not be able to reach her to retaliate!

OOC: 14:31, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 7 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 2,4.  Attack the goopy things!

Roll made with the -1 forward penalty. Result: Hit Hard for +1 Stun. Using Area of Effect ability!
This message was last edited by the player at 13:35, Thu 21 May 2020.

"You get Blackjack and the other guy," Goodwill half-suggested/half-ordered. They weren't a team, and he wasn't in charge. It just seemed like the right thing to say. "Scraps and I will take care of the Jello Fellows."

Hoping this could be ended quickly, Goodwill stepped in and threw a haymaker at the big one.


Goodwill rolled 8 using 2d6+2 ((4,2)). (Includes -1 penalty)
--Hit hard
This message was last edited by the player at 17:30, Thu 21 May 2020.

The winged foe spreads its wings to protect the two men.

The white foe, on the other hand, moves forward to grab for White Lynx. It's not bothered by her sparks at all.

(10:39, Today: The Grandmaster rolled 4 using 2d6+1 ((1,2)).)

Fortunately, White Lynx is too fast for the white thing and its grabby hands... this time...

---

The three goo-monsters were hit by Cosmic Girl's energies, and seemed somewhat harmed.

The winged one, however, its wings already spread, seemed to enjoy soaking up her blasts. It turned from yellow to orange... then, it took off, flying over everyone's heads (well, everyone but Cosmic Girl, of course).

It touched its gooey brethren, each in turn... they seemed ready to fight anew...

The flying one turned back to yellow... then it came straight for Cosmic Girl...

---

The big one was rocked back by Goodwill's blow, but then it counterattacked.

(12:04, Today: The Grandmaster rolled 12 using 2d6+1 ((5,6)).

Goodwill takes 2 stress... and -1 forward.)

What the heck? Goodwill felt weaker... was this thing stealing his power somehow...?

(12:10, Today: The Grandmaster rolled 5 using 2d6+1 ((3,1)).)

It swung at him again... but missed, thank goodness...

Dang it! These things were specially designed to combat the four of them, weren't they? The big one didn't seem bothered by a punch, the flying one absorbed cosmic energy... the white one absorbed sparks... and Goodwill didn't even want to find out what the little one with the tentacles was designed to do to Scraps.

Gritting his teeth in frustration, he turned and kicked the hexapus, hoping to send it flying well away from his beloved puppy.



Goodwill rolled 12 using 2d6+2 ((6,4)). (includes -1 penalty)
--Hits hard
--Avoids retaliation

So the white one didn’t mind a bit of electricity, huh? Not to mention how her sparks seemed to end with them. She guessed the other man put something in them to prevent her from getting through them. Drat. In any case, Goodwill seemed to have a good idea. If certain members of this goo squad weren’t going to take any damage from certain members of their group, then there was no sense matching up with their respective goos. Lynx just hoped that it was only the yellow winged guy that could heal the others. If they all could, the four of them were in serious trouble.

Getting ready to fire more sparks, White Lynx aimed again, this time solely at the flying goober. Hopefully she could draw it away from Cosmos, possibly even keep it on the ground.

White Lynx rolled 7 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 4,1.  Looking to Hold Off a flying pile of goo. W/Confident.
--You draw them away from people you choose (Away from Cosmic Girl and, if possible, the sky)

The small blob goes flying into the bushes on the other side of the fountain.

The big one, however, is still ready for action.

(12:24, Today: The Grandmaster rolled 9 using 2d6+2 ((2,5)).

Goodwill takes two stress, and takes -2 forward... but he may attempt, if he wishes, to counter-attack for free, before he does anything else...)

WHAM, it tries to drive Goodwill through the sidewalk like a tent peg... and it's a pretty good try. Oww.

---

The flying blobby thing is distracted by White Lynx. It flies lower, and stops moving toward Cosmic Girl for the moment...

But this gives the white blob-man an opportunity...

(12:28, Today: The Grandmaster rolled 8 using 2d6+1 ((3,4)). White Lynx takes 2 stress, but if she chooses to counter-attack the white thing next round, she may take +1 forward...)

The white blobby thing grabs White Lynx.

EWWWWWWWW. It's like being grabbed by a sentient glue stick.

She manages to tear herself away, but she's also kind of freaked out.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:05, Fri 22 May 2020.

Well, she isn't a genius, but Cosmic Girl is no fool. She's not going to shoot that flying dragon thing again, it seemed to LOVE that! Instead, she zipped across the air, and launched a blast of cosmic power right at that fellow in white who seemed to be in control of these blobby things!

OOC:
18:52, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 9 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 5,2.  Let's shoot the bad guys with a Forceful attack! Effect: +1 stun!

"Arrrgh!" Damn it, that hurt. That blobby whatever-it-is was strong. Goodwill retaliated with a punch of his own, still hoping that it wasn't as durable as he was.


Goodwill rolled 10 using 2d6+1 ((4,5)). (includes -2 penalty)
--Hit hard
--Avoid retaliation

(This is exactly what the flying one is meant to prevent, so I rolled for it, but gave it a big penalty because of White Lynx's efforts.

12:56, Today: The Grandmaster rolled 8 using 2d6-2 ((4,6)).)

The flying goo-man notices what Cosmic Girl is up to just in time, and it swoops toward its creator (the guy in gray) in order to protect him.

It sort of works. It accidentally knocks into Blackjack, who knocks into the other guy, and Blackjack takes Cosmic Girl's hit.

Annoyed, Blackjack smacks the yellow goo-man away from him. (Blackjack takes 2 stress. The yellow blobby thing takes 2 stress.)

"Stuff like that is gonna keep happening," growls Blackjack, forgetting to use the quiet voice he'd been using up until now. "Let me deal with these punks."

"No! Let the experiment continue! The data I gain is worth the harm otherwise done! Your mind does not race at the speed mine does! Now be quiet! I must observe what happens next!"

Goodwill struck well, not even leaving himself open to counter-attack.

The thing attacked him again anyway.

(16:24, Today: The Grandmaster rolled 9 using 2d6+2 ((6,1)).

Goodwill takes 2 new stress, but only takes -1 forward.)

POW. That hit wasn't as solid... the big blob-man seemed a little unsteady... Or was it that it felt a little softer than last time...? A little more firm...?

Of course, Goodwill didn't feel too great, himself...

“Oh gods...so gross...”

Finally out of the goo-monster’s grasp, Lynx turns back around to face it, frustrated. So it was just going to keep coming at her if she focused elsewhere? That was annoying. But that was also probably the point. Hearing the two villains bicker kinda cinched that anyways. It seemed Goo Man had a penchant for being annoying. Instead of punching out the white blob, White Lynx kind of wanted to shout at them to try and undermine Blackjack’s faith in this guy and get him to do...something. Maybe fight, stand down, flee, whatever. Just something to screw with their plans otherwise. But anything she could really say right now didn’t seem like it would have much power behind it, considering that the four globs were still going strong.

She guessed that meant they just had to take some of them down first. Careful to place herself between the white blob and the man controlling it, she began counter-attacking at the blob with a flurry of kicks and punches. Mostly though, this was an attempt at driving the globby substance away from the others. If it came forward anyways, as she hoped it would, it would take a decent, if small, beating.

White Lynx rolled 10 using 2d6+3 with rolls of 3,4.  It’s a Hold Them Off Counterattack! Features a +1 Forward.
--Give them a choice between backing off or be stunned
--They can’t act as effectively (-1 Stun ongoing until your actions are countered)

The white blob-man backs off. Great, it's not attacking... but she knows it will as soon as she does anything else... Now what?

Scraps could see his Human in trouble with the ‘big orange one that's extra-big’, and immediately jumped forward to protect Goodwill by snapping at the big globby-monster’s heels.

- rolled 9 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 3,4.  Hold ‘Em Off (-1).
‘You draw them away from people you choose’ ... draw it away from everyone else, by making it chase Scraps

Puppies had a way of not only getting a hold of people’s ankles and pulling them off balance, but also to frustrate that person so badly that they turn around and begin chasing the pup, wildly swinging kicks at it.

Well, that was useful. Okay, so she did not hit the person she wanted, but giving Blackjack a bloody nose was definitely not a bad consolation prize. So much so, that Cosmic Girl decided to give it another go! Still flying over the crowd, and with an eye out for that flying creation's mischief, she set out another staccato barrage of cosmic bolts from her hands, once again aiming the damage at the new villain, that guy in gray!

OOC:
00:57, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 13 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 5,6.  Forceful attack!

Holy baloney! She's back on form now she's doing what she does best! So, we get:

*Hits Hard for +1 Stun!
*Avoids most of the retaliation for -1 Stun!

Pewpewpew!!!

What was going on here? Goodwill had taken some super-beatings before, and had never felt quite like this. Was the creature draining his strength, his vitality?

Still, it was blobbier than it had been, so beating it seemed maybe within reach. And breaking things with his fists was definitely where Goodwill shone. So he hoped that the next hit would be all it took to put this thing down... because he might not have that many more left in him. He actually felt a little sick, even. And he didn't get sick.


Goodwill rolled 11 using 2d6+2 ((3,6)). (-1 penalty)
--Hit Hard
--Avoid retaliation

So her plan wasn’t quite working as well as she hoped... Right now, she was keeping the white blob away, but it wasn’t going after her anyway. She wondered how exactly all this worked. Were these blobs partially autonomous, or was the other man controlling all of them at once? Due to the “Blackjack getting hit” mishap, she assumed that the white and yellow ones were on some sort of standing order to bodyguard the guy that summoned them, but getting between them didn’t seem to do anything. She could maybe try a feint or something against the men, ready to smack the white blob. However, not only was it not the only one protecting them, but she also couldn’t be certain that it would work in the first place.

Lynx knew she wasn’t a great fighter in the first place and that this thing seemed capable of absorbing any of her sparks. The easy answer was to just ignore it and help one of the others. Teaming up against one would make things much easier, but would also leave one of them able to get her with ease. She had to focus on this one first. Lynx didn’t expect to win a straight fight and what she was doing right now was only stalling... What if she chased it away? Hmm, that could be possible if she were to slowly advance. Keep herself in the clear while getting closer. But that would leave her open to anyone else jumping in. Not to mention it wouldn’t get her very far quickly enough. And leading it away might not work either, since it would probably just go right back to defending the men. If she could just annoy them a bit, maybe she could make the man vindictive enough to have it go after her, but she doubted that would be as effective if she hadn’t actually hurt anyone yet. Maybe it was time to give fighting a go? Hopefully, she could catch it off-guard with a sharp kick!

White Lynx rolled 6 using 2d6-1 with rolls of 5,2.  It’s Clobbering Time, but bad.

The big blob-man, apparently annoyed, started chasing Scraps, trying to step on him.

(09:39, Today: The Grandmaster rolled 7 using 2d6 ((6,1)).)

A giant stump-like foot came down on the back half of Scraps...

It was like a big pail of Jello falling on him. It didn't literally hurt him-- he just wriggled right out of it. It did freak Scraps out, though.

(Scraps takes -1 forward.)

---

(09:45, Today: The Grandmaster rolled 5 using 2d6 ((1,4)).)

The flying blob-man tries to block again, but this time it is not in time.

(The guy in gray takes 3 stress.

(09:49, Today: The Grandmaster rolled 5 using 2d6+1 ((2,2)).)

Then, the flying creature attacks Cosmic Girl, but fails to catch her...

"Bah! I had thought that my Chemical Men would be up to the challenge of a flying teenager, however energetic! But I see that the experiment has, in that respect, failed. Blackjack, you have permission to help them."

"Sure," says Blackjack. He stomps and smashes the sidewalk, and then picks up a fist-sized piece of concrete, and prepares to chunk it at Cosmic Girl if she comes close enough again...

---

The big Chemical Man reels. It really seems damaged, somehow... It stumbles slowly back toward the fountain...

---

White Lynx's attack fails as the white Chemical Man grabs her... EWWWWWW, it's worse than last time! It's got both her wrists and-- and one of her feet is stuck in it, too...!

(White Lynx is stuck, but at least she takes 1 new xp.

How will White Lynx attempt to get free? Or will someone else try to help?)
This message was last edited by the player at 21:25, Thu 28 May 2020.

The blob-man was tumbling back into the fountain, nearly destroyed. But it came out of the fountain to begin with, so it couldn't be allowed to fall in... it might come back out refreshed and blobbier than ever! Goodwill needed to destroy the thing before it could fall in, hopefully by landing one last good punch...!


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


Smiling, he turned to Blackjack, whom he was practically right on top of already.

"Your turn," he said.

Scraps felt gooey and icky from the globulous gunk all over his hind quarters ... but he knew, in his little doggy brain, that he had to keep this thing's attention focused on him.   Keep it chasing him, and let Gil take care of the others in the meantime.

And so Scraps continued barking and cavorting and jumping around the creature's legs ... annoying it so much that it forgot about everything else.
- rolled 9 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 5,2.  cont 'Hold Em Off'.

Lynx was definitely in a jam now. She could barely move, with only one limb free. Even if she could kick the thing hard enough for it to hurt, such a gambit would likely just get her other leg stuck. But maybe she could drag herself, and the blob, over to a tree or something? Try to use said tree to scrape the offending mass of goo to unstick? She didn’t really have another option, did she?

Sticking out her free leg away from the sticky substance, Lynx began dragging the both of them away from the men and towards a nearby tree.

Would this be an Agility roll?

Highly enthused at her previous success, Cosmic Girl decided it was time to bring out the big guns! Still keeping an eye out for the flying monstrosity - and now for anything Blackjack might have to throw at her, to boot - she continued to zip about above the melee, trying to get a really good line of fire. And then it appeared! Wasting no time, she unleashed a blazing greeny-purple blast of cosmic doom from her eyes, aiming right at the chest of the Grey Guy!!!

FWOOSH!!!

OOC:

13:53, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 11 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 5,4.  Cosmic Eye Ray Clobberin' Time Forceful Attack - ACTIVATE!!!

Once again, a very satisfying zapping! So let's repeat the previous result!

> Hit Hard for +1 Stun
> Avoid Retaliation for -1 Stun
This message was last edited by the player at 12:56, Fri 29 May 2020.

White Lynx rolled 9 using 2d6-1 with rolls of 4,6.  Forceful. What a drag.

The big Chemical Man falls to the ground-- and fell apart, like Jello that had dried up and started cracking (is that even possible? No one has ever not eaten Jello long enough to find out how it ages). That one's done, unless maybe enough of its pieces get wet again.

Blackjack glares at Goodwill. "Yer on," he says, and he chunks the hunk of broken concrete he's holding at Goodwill's head.

(10:17, Today: Blackjack rolled 2 using 2d6 ((1,1)).)

He misses!

A tree cracks somewhere behind Goodwill as the concrete hits it. Poor tree.

---

Scraps barks at the dead Chemical Man! BARK! BARK! Stupid chemicals! He'll show them what for! He mocks them for being evil! Canine scorn suffuses the air!

(Scraps takes +1 forward.)

---

White Lynx gets free of the white Chemical Man by scraping him against a tree, but it's both difficult and icky.

(White Lynx is free again for the moment, but she takes -1 forward and takes 1 stress.)

---

Cosmic Girl doesn't fail to take advantage of Blackjack being distracted by Goodwill. With excellent aerial agility, Cosmic Girl blasts the guy who made the Chemical Men again. Sucks to be him.

(10:25, Today: The Grandmaster rolled 12 using 2d6+1 ((5,6)).)

However, the flying Chemical Man follows this up with a flying tackle-punch-with-both-fists of its own.

(Cosmic Girl takes 2 stress, and needs to make an Agility roll to stay airborne.)
This message was last edited by the player at 21:19, Sat 30 May 2020.

OOF!!!

Cosmic Girl took a hell of a punch, knocking her several yards across the airspace above the fight! And it hurt her ego as much as her body! But she had spent a lot of time practicing aerial combat, and with a twirl of her cape, she regained her balance!

16:39, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 12 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 6,5.  Agility roll, surviving the Flying Chemical Man! *tm*.

Nice! Not only does Cosmic Girl not hit the ground, she doesn't even hit the treetops!

The figurative ball's back in her metaphorical court...!

Perhaps a little overconfident, or perhaps she was a little rattled from that sucker punch... but when Cosmic Girl hurled another set of cosmic bolts at the guy in grey, they did not seem quite so stylishly handled. But she threw them anyway! She was going to try to take this guy down, whatever it took! But she was definitely rattled, give how sloppily she executed the manouvere!

OOC:

18:12, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 6 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 3,1.  Forceful Clobberin Time Once more!

Oh, nuts.

(Cosmic Girl gets 1 new xp.)

The flying yellow Chemical Man blocks all her cosmic bolts, and he turns orange.

Then he attacks her again.

(15:58, Today: The Grandmaster rolled 4 using 2d6+1 ((2,1)).)

He misses her by a hair. Yikes, that was so close, and it would've really hurt if it'd hit her...

Even though he missed, he quickly got back into position to block, in case she tried something like that again.

---

Meanwhile, uh-oh, from out of the bushes, here comes that hexapus Chemical Man (Chemical Hexapus?) again, crawling back from wherever Goodwill kicked it to... It makes a beeline hexapusline toward Scraps's position...

The need for snappy patter wasn't present in this fight. Blackjack just needed a beating. He'd tried to kidnap and murder a toddler, and nothing else he did or said was ever going to lighten the mood. Goodwill would engage in the typical sort of banter with Spite before he did with Blackjack.

Instead, he just punched the jerk.


Goodwill rolled 9 using 2d6+3 ((4,2))
--He hit hard
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:19, Sat 30 May 2020.

POW! Blackjack's head pops back for half a second. (Anyone else's head (okay, except Spite) would've come off.)

Then it's Blackjack's turn.

WHAM

(16:25, Today: Blackjack rolled 14 using 2d6+3 ((6,5)).

Goodwill takes 2 new stress...)

"Doc, he's as hard to kill as I am, give or take," Blackjack says to the other man. "Maybe we should go..."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:27, Sun 31 May 2020.

Things were not going terribly well on Lynx's end. Taking a quick glance at the rest of the park's clearing, she was glad to see that the others seemed to be doing better.

This was a real pickle though. If she tried to avoid the white mass of chemicals, it would take the opportunity to go after her. And if she tried to fight it, the darn thing would just trap her in goo. Well, at the very least, if this thing was fighting her, it wasn't getting in anyone else's way! Not to mention she'd managed to drag it off to a tree. Sure, they weren't that far away from the rest of the fighting, but she doubted that anyone was about to interrupt them.

There really wasn't anything to do but try again. Trying to avoid getting caught again, Lynx let out a flurry of punches at the white glob. With any luck, she could get it nicely pinned against the tree...

White Lynx rolled 7 using 2d6-2 with rolls of 3,6.  It's Clobbering Time with a -1 Forward. Wow. Didn't expect that to work.
--You avoid most of their retaliation (-1 Stun)

Flying above the fight, Cosmic Girl could hardly believe that the flying thingy had missed her! Luck was on her side, perhaps. But she did wonder how she could deal with it. It seemed to really love her cosmic rays, so shooting it was definitely not on the menu. And it sounded like Blackjack was going to run away. Again. They could not let these menaces escape. So, still trying to keep her distance from the yellow Chemical Man's aerial assault, she sent another handful of bolts out, still harrassing the man in grey - or "Doc" as he was now known. Aha! They needed to capture this one! Scientists were always good for clarifying the plot!

OOC:

00:21, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 7 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 3,2.  Another Forceful attempt at Clobberin' Time!

This time, we're going with... you guessed it! +1 Stun!

On one hand, it felt like it was hard to damage the gloopy thing. On the other hand, White Lynx felt like this course of action was the most successful she'd been so far... she definitely hurt it. She thought.

On the other hand, was it getting stickier/gloppier? EW.

(White Lynx damages the white Chemical Man some, but she also takes 1 new stress.)

---

(09:03, Today: The Grandmaster rolled 7 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 1,5.)

The "doc" was hit by one of Cosmic Girl's bolts... but so was the flying Chemical Man, turning Red.

As if infuriated by one getting past him, the flying Chemical Man attacked Cosmic Girl with gusto...

(12:28, Today: The Grandmaster rolled 10 using 2d6+1 ((6,3)).

Cosmic Girl takes two new stress.)

Ow! Sure, it hurt, but what was more annoying was how smoothly he moved back into position to block for his master again afterward!

"Bah, perhaps you are right, Blackjack," said the "doc." "If a good opening opens up soon, we shall take it. Otherwise, I shall be forced to retreat on my own..."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:32, Sun 31 May 2020.

So they were looking for a way out? Guess she had to pick up the pace! If she could just take this thing down, she could help make sure Blackjack and his physician don’t forget about their appointment...with jail! Gods, she couldn’t even say that sounded better in her head, could she?

No matter. It’s not like anyone could hear her thoughts. She should just focus on laying down the hurt on this chemical thing. She just hoped that she’d still be fine once that was over. It seemed like fighting this thing just hurt her the more she went at it. Not really that hard of a choice really. It felt like she was really doing something to it and she’d get hurt either way, so...

She let out another attack, not letting up despite how gross and sticky it felt.

White Lynx rolled 4 using 2d6-1 with rolls of 2,3.  Clobbering Time once again. Oof.

(White Lynx takes 1 stress, and gets 1 xp, and she's trapped again...)

UGK. She didn't think she even hurt it, this time...

"Run away once, it's an escape," Goodwill said to Blackjack, cocking his fist for another blow. "Do it twice, you're nothing but a coward."

Maybe that would incline him to stay to the end of a fight.


Goodwill rolled 9 using 2d6+3 ((5,1)).
--Hit hard

Blackjack goes down, and stays down. Guess Cosmic Girl's hits were damaging him more than it showed.


(10:34, Today: This Guy rolled 7 using 2d6 ((4,3)).

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 leave anything important behind
--You don’t run into something worse
--You don’t get made a laughing-stock)

Seeing Blackjack go down, the man in gray pulls out a small device from an inner pocket of his coat, and pushes a button on it.

But a piece of paper falls out of his coat pocket as he does it. Even as he is pushing the button, he notices it, and bends down to grab it, but it is too late-- "DAMN--"

He is gone, disappeared. The piece of paper remains.

"Dang it!" Goodwill was furious that the unknown creep got away, especially as they still had three Jello-beasties to battle. He snatched up the piece of paper —again with the pieces of paper!— and stuffed it into his pocket. He then turned to help White Lynx, who seemed to be having the most trouble with her opponent. Gritting his teeth to keep from saying anything he'd regret, he grabbed at the tangle of tentacles and ripped.


Goodwill rolled 9 using 2d6+3 ((5,1)).
--avoid collateral damage (i.e., Lynx)

White Lynx isn't immediately freed, but it seemed to damage the white Chemical Man... So much so, that it was at a disadvantage at trying to defend itself from Goodwill...

(12:03, Today: The Grandmaster rolled 7 using 2d6-1 ((2,6)).

Goodwill takes 1 stress. Could'a been worse...)

“Thanks for the help there, Goodwill. This...thing? This thing is really getting on my nerves. Hold on just a second, I’ll try to get out again.”

And so she tugged away from the chemical form while continuing to scrape it against the tree, and...

White Lynx rolled 6 using 2d6-1 with rolls of 4,3.  Forceful. Trying to get outta the chemical man. Drat.

Amazingly, White Lynx just makes it worse.

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

It looked very much like Lynx was having a hard time with that blob person. Well, Cosmic Girl never left a comrade in trouble! She landed behind the thing, and gave it a full force blast of her eye beam - right up where the sun did not shine!

VWOORP!!!

OOC:


22:24, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 9 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 3,4.  Clobberin' Time - with an eye beam!

She hits hard for +1 Stun!
This message was last edited by the player at 21:25, Mon 01 June 2020.

The white Chemical Man seems nearly destroyed... except that then the flying one swoops down and touches it, and then it seems somewhat better.

But the flying one changes color from red, back to orange, back to yellow.

The flying Chemical Man heals its comrades, as long as it isn't kept busy. Healing reduces the flying one's "battery", but cosmic energy charges it up again. This is gonna take some thinking... or something.

"Trade with me," he called out to Cosmic Girl. "I'll take the flyer."

He flew up and hit the thing for all he was worth before it knew to dodge.



Goodwill rolled 10 using 2d6+3 ((3,4)).
--Hit Hard
--Avoid Collateral Damage

It looked like the theory was right. Cosmic Girl simply could not attack the flying thingy. But she was ideally positioned to let rip with another salvo of cosmic bolts into the damaged white chemical man, hopefully giving White Lynx an opening to finish it for good!

VWOORP!!!

She let rip once more!

OOC:

16:35, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 8 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 5,1.  Clobberin' Time!

Let's add +1 Stun to that!

Goodwill seems much better suited to defeating the flying one.

(16:02, Today: The Grandmaster rolled 5 using 2d6 ((3,2)).)

And indeed, it seemed a little at a loss when it came to hurting him.

---

And cosmic energy seems much better able to hurt the white one than regular assaults... but...

(16:03, Today: The Grandmaster rolled 11 using 2d6 ((5,6)).) Wow, lucky Chemical Man.

The white one dragged White Lynx over to the fountain with what must surely have been the last of its strength, and thrust one leg and one long arm into the water there... it started reforming, looking more healthy and solid...

"We need to keep them out of the fountain," Goodwill called out. Heaven forbid that the big one were to get splashed enough to reform, that would make the fight a whole lot more complicated. Someone could get killed. "Keep them dry!"

If only he had laser vision, like that bad article in the Post had suggested, that one time. That would make short work of these creatures. But, oh well. God had provided him a set of tools, and he'd make the best use of what he'd gotten. In this case, that meant a lot of punching.


Goodwill rolled 9 using 2d6+3 ((1,5)).
--Hit hard

Well this was embarrassing. Her struggling was only making it harder to help her and she wasn’t even heavy enough to prevent the darn thing from making its way to the fountain. This was happening far too often for her tastes. Still, she should just calm down and look around. This white hunk of gunk was disgusting, but she had to focus and take a look around. Maybe there was something sharp she’d missed that could help get it off her or something else of that nature.

White Lynx rolled 8 using 2d6 with rolls of 4,4.  Look Before You Leap w/ -1 Forward. A sticky situation.
--Where is something I can use to help?

Well, she was not going to get anywhere shooting a thing that was healing as fast as it was hurt. Fortunately, Cosmic Girl had a few ideas of her own how to deal with this situation. And, as it happened, she actually did have laser vision. Or a very close facsimile.

She looked into the water of the fountain where the blob was drawing the healing, and let rip with her cosmic eyes! She poured a full strength, and very protracted, blast into the water, hopefully turning it all into superheated steam, and maybe scalding the blood. At the very least, without the water, it would stop it healing itself!

OOC:

02:19, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 10 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 5,3.  Attack the fountain!!!

Not sure exactly how the various moves would apply to a fountain of water, but 2 x +1 Stun equivalent would be nice!

Goodwill pummeled the flying Chemical Man.

It was still flying, but one more attack ought to do it. It didn't seem as resilient to physical damage as the others.

But for now, it could still attack...

(09:43, Today: The Grandmaster rolled 6 using 2d6 ((2,4)).)

If it could hit him. But Goodwill could fly, too...

---

(White Lynx, I got nothing special. Go ahead and you tell me what you find that could be useful. (A nice big branch or something, maybe...? That's the best I've got))

---

Cosmic Girl blasts the water, vaporizing it. It seemed to hurt the white Chemical Man, too.

She even seemed to have melted the pipes feeding the fountain-- no more water would be coming out soon...

(10:08, Today: The Grandmaster rolled 8 using 2d6+1 ((6,1)).)

Since Goodwill and Cosmic Girl were flying, the white Chemical Man had no one else close enough to dole out punishment to but White Lynx. It tried, specifically, to cover her mouth and nose... But she was just barely able to keep it from doing that...

(White Lynx takes 2 new stress)

Oh gods, this was going poorly. She had to get this thing off! Lynx’s eyes darted around, trying desperately to find something that could help. There were some branches that looked promising, but were a little too far away. Blackjack’s unconscious frame was closer, but she couldn’t think of anything to do with him. But then...the pipes. Melted the way they were, the edges looked like they had just formed relatively sharp and jagged edges. That had to be her ticket. Thank you, Cosmic Girl! It was this, or probably die, considering just how hard this thing was squeezing her. Determination rising, Lynx limped over to the pipes, throwing the chemical man onto the pipe, hoping that the force would leave it impaled.

White Lynx rolled 7 using 2d6 with rolls of 2,5.  It’s Clobbering Time w/ +1 Forward, courtesy of Looking Before this Leap. Fingers crossed.
--You avoid most of their retaliation (-1 Stun)

Goodwill was getting his stride now. The aerial blobby-guy was almost down now. One more good punch ought to do it.

Meanwhile, it was a pity about the fountain. Still, better the fountain than any onlookers, right? Nobody knew how controlled these blobbos were. The one that tried to attack Scraps was still somewhere about...!


Goodwill rolled 11 using 2d6+3 ((3,5)).
--Hit Hard
--Avoid collateral damage

The flying Chemical Man just falls apart, chunks of yellow-brown foam-rubber falling harmlessly to the ground. Two down...

White Lynx manages to impale the white Chemical Man on an upturned damaged pipe in the now-dry fountain... but since he doesn't seem to have any internal organs (or if he does, they are not as we understand them), it only slows him down. He's still holding onto one of White Lynx's ankles with the end of one of his legs, and he's going to get up off the pipe in just a few more seconds...

Why was this thing so persistent?! If she could just get it off of her, she could get away, maybe help take down the one going after Scraps, but she was dead meat until then. For now, it was on the pipe, but it wouldn’t be for long. Hopefully, it being on the pipe would make it easier to detach. Plus, it was only on one of her ankles now! If she just pulled hard enough, she’d have to come free! Maybe. Could she use her super speed possibly? It was only one leg now, and it wasn’t just stuck on her, so... If she tried to channel energy into her leg...the chemical man would likely just absorb that energy. Whatever. Just pull, Ch’rava.

White Lynx rolled 9 using 2d6-1 with rolls of 5,5.  Forceful. To pull away from the Chemical Man on the pipe.

White Lynx pulls herself from the Chemical Man's grasp... but he pulls himself off of his pipe, pulls himself together, and comes after her, as he was apparently instructed to do...

(12:43, Today: The Grandmaster rolled 5 using 2d6 ((4,1)).)

No, it just takes him too long-- White Lynx backs out of his reach, this time...

...two to go.

Lynx seemed to be having trouble with the grabby one. It seemed to Goodwill that his next target ought to be that one, since the hexapus wasn't doing much of anything yet.

Hopefully catching the thing by surprise, Goodwill dropped out of the sky next to Lynx and decked the blobbo.


Goodwill rolled 7 using 2d6+3 ((3,1)).
--Avoid collateral damage (i.e., don't hit Lynx)

“Thank you...Thanks for the help there. I’m going to go...work on the other one...if I don’t collapse first...”

Moving away from the white chemical man, Lynx looked around for the hexapus.

The white Chemical Man might have been destroyed by Goodwill's attack if the fountain hadn't initially healed it some.

(10:27, Today: The Grandmaster rolled 8 using 2d6 with rolls of 2,6.)

The white Chemical Man tried to both attack Goodwill, and to get past him to get to White Lynx, at the same time. Neither was really successful-- it would have hurt a weaker opponent, but not Goodwill.

About all it did was slow him down.

(Goodwill gets a -1 to his next Forceful or Agile move, but takes no damage.)

---

White Lynx found Scraps squaring off with the hexapus. It would crawl toward him, and he would hop and scrabble away from it, and it would change direction and move toward him again, in a repeating cycle.

He would growl a little at it now and then, but other than that, he might have been playing with it for all White Lynx could tell.

Well that looked almost...adorable. She almost didn’t want to intrude. Maybe the chemical man took more out of her than she thought. She was feeling a bit tired. Taking a moment to take in her surroundings, Lynx felt good for once tonight. Goodwill and Cosmic Girl has managed to get between her and the white chemical man, Scraps seemed relatively fine with his charge, the other two were down for the count, and Blackjack was even out cold!

Standing guard for now and waiting for her breath to catch up to her, Lynx shouted out an encouraging “You don’t really need me to tell you this, but we’ve almost got it! They’re on the ropes! We’re going to win the day! Er...night!”

White Lynx rolled 12 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 5,5.  Inspire the Team, with inspiring words.
--No one got distracted and missed something important
--Everyone else on your team takes +1 Forward

Cosmic Girl knew that White Lynx was right. All it took was one more huge surge of power, and that hexapus thing was going to be so much goop! She vaulted up to be above it, and let rip with one might eye-blast right at the creature, a final super-blast to seal the deal!

OOC:

23:43, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 10 using 2d6+3 with rolls of 3,4.  Clobberin' Time with some +1 forward!

+1 Stun
Avoid collateral damage!

The hexapus quivers, obviously badly damaged... It starts to emit steam, or smoke... it's making a hissing noise which gets increasingly loud...

Aw, nuts! This thing was about to do something nasty, wasn't it?

"Stay back," he said to the others, mostly to Cosmic Girl who could also fly. He grabbed the hexapus and flew straight up to get it out of range of the park, and to protect the others from whatever was about to happen....



Hold them off!
Goodwill rolled 13 using 2d6+3 ((5,5)).
--They can’t attack anyone they weren’t already attacking
--You draw them away from people you choose

KA-BOOM

The hexapus exploded!

Goodwill's body, limp, plummets from the sky...

Honestly, it looks like he's going to hit the white Chemical Man that's lurching its way toward White Lynx...

Seeing Goodwill plummeting, the Super Pup (unable to do anything else) ran howling towards that spot where his human was going to land.
YES, he fully intended to be directly under Goodwill, to break Goodwill's fall.

Oh, no! Not on this girl's watch! Nobody was going to let that really dishy... er... really BRAVE Goodwill person fall to splat himself, his dog, and any nearby innocent bystanders!

Cosmic Girl launched herself skyward with a PHTOOM!!! noise! She caught the tumbing hero with not only accuracy and excellent timing, but she managed to do it with a twirl and swirl of her cape, to boot! And she carried him down to the ground carefully, making sure he was all right, and not dead, and other important things!

OOC:

00:21, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 13 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 6,6.  Romantic Idiot! Saving that Goodwill fella..

OH YEAH! THAT'S SOME GOD TIER ROMANTIC IDIOTING, RIGHT THERE!

Unfortunately, Cosmic Girl hadn't quite realized the force of the blast, nor reckoned that the blobby hexapus was filled with nasty micro-edged shrapnel. As she landed with Goodwill, she realized that his chest (oh god, were those his lungs?) looked more like ground hamburger than his usual rock-hard pecs. He was barely alive.

"Take care of Scraps," he gasped. "And tell... my mom... I'm_{... sorry."}


...and he died, there in her arms.

“Skrint.”

What was that? We’re those his insides?! They should’ve brought back-up. She should’ve insisted. For a moment, all Ch’rava could do was stare. Then she spotted that hfrenting bag of chemicals inching toward her. She couldn’t approach. She would have to back off. Now, of all times. No. She didn’t have to run away at least, even though every fiber of her being was screaming at her to. She just had to stay beyond its reach. Should be easy enough to do with her super speed. She could just speed away to make sure she was at a safe distance or put something between them. She’d be fine. Cosmos though...

Dashing over to the other side of the fountain and out of harms way, White Lynx shouted, “We’re not finished yet, Cosmic Girl! Same to you too, Scraps! We need to take that thing down, fast! Blast it with everything you have!”

Cosmic Girl looked at the dead Goodwill with an expression of horror and regret and disbelief. Her own outfit was smeared with blood. She wailed! "No! Goodwill - NO!" But he was gone. And there was naught that she could do about it. If only she had got to the hexapus first!

White Lynx broke through her horrified grief, and just before she hurled a bolt of fearsome power, she held back. "But... if I hit this one, doesn't it heal from Cosmic rays? If I attack it, it will only grow stronger!"

As White Lynx and Cosmic Grrl turn their attention to the remaining goo-monster, nothing could wrench Scraps’ attention from the still body of his soul-buddy.
Unable to completely comprehend what was happening before him ... why Gil was unmoving ... Scraps tried desperately to lick his human back into consciousness.

Soon enough, a confused, sad whine began to grow deep in his chest, and the manic energy wagging his hopeful tail faultered.

“You’ve hit it before, haven’t you? Each of them were keyed to one of us. This one’s got my number. You’re more than capable of sending it to the other side!”

Stopping to cough, Lynx looked down to investigate her body. She was in very poor shape, bloodied, bruised, one arm was mangled. Luckily her legs were fine enough to work properly. She couldn’t look at her head, but there were odd wet spots here and there and Ch’rava felt a bit on the woozy side. This, looking herself over, was a mistake. Adrenaline had been carrying her, but knowing how she was doing kinda hurt that a bit. Oh well, it’s not like she’d have been capable of more fighting anyway.

Cosmic Girl registered Scraps, and his little doggy whine of dismay. That was what tipped her over the edge. She leapt up a couple of feet and floated there. From her eyes, and her hands, and even her mouth, she poured forth a torrent of energy, and turned it all onto that remaining monstrous non-person!

OOC:

20:23, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 10 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 5,3.  Kill That Blobby Swine!!!

Let's hit it! +2 Stun!

The white Chemical Man, writhing, seems to boil away under Cosmic Girl's stellar assault until there is little left but bits of foam.

Cautiously moving around the fountain, Lynx rushed to Goodwill’s body. It was over, and while Blackjack was down for the count, it felt like they were the ones that lost. Still, she had noticed earlier that Goodwill had picked up the paper that the other man dropped. Carefully, she searched his pockets for the note. Maybe something could be done yet.

The paper turns out to be an envelope... On the back of the envelope, someone (guess whom) has scribbled very complex chemical formulae, with notes on the ways that certain molecular compounds should interact and react together...

The envelope itself is from a firm in New Jersey ("SciLabCo") that apparently sells expensive laboratory equipment... It's a reminder of payment due on a shipment (of a variety of stuff, but especially a lot of transistors)... Billing, specifically, a "Dr. Norwood."

The envelope is the kind with the see-through cellophane window. The piece of paper that went inside, with Dr. Norwood's mailing address, is gone. An itemized list of stuff being billed for that the letter refers to is also missing (maybe they were on the front and back of the same sheet?) Only the original letter itself remains.