A week later, all of you are in Manhattan, going about your life... It's about 10 am.

...Post what each of you is doing today, please... (you too, Twist)
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:22, Thu 02 June 2022.

Coming around the block, White Lynx turned on a dime and sped off. It was a little early to be out hero-ing, but it was important that she be seen on patrol. Her injuries had been too difficult to hide in her civilian identity, so she'd had to play them up instead. As far as the paper was concerned, Diana Clarke was projected to remain in recovery for another week. It wasn't great for her internship, but they were kind enough not to complain too much. White Lynx, on the other hand, was perfectly fine and could do ten laps around the borough before anyone had their morning coffee, all without breaking a sweat.

Wiping a bit of the liquid off of her forehead, Lynx conceded in her head that maybe 'without a sweat' was pushing it a little bit.

Gil Woods sat in class, trying his best to learn something. It was why he was in college, after all. And yet it was difficult to concentrate when he seemed more the center of attention than the professor was. And even she fawned over the super-hero in the class from time to time. It made Gil wonder if maybe he should have kept a secret identity when he decided to be a hero.

Scraps lay under his desk, by his feet, snoring lightly.

Cosmic Girl - or, as everybody else knew her, well-liked local girl Peggy Potter, perky schoolgirl, and star of her local football team's junior cheer squad - was doing what any other girl her age was doing. She was going to school!

Except, she wasn't.

She had followed the same routine for most of her life. She would get up, have breakfast with her parents - today eggs, bacon, maple pancakes, and an inadvisable quantity of coffee, which she could drink without any apparent side effects, as her super metabolism seemed to turn caffeine into an entirely benign compound - and then she would put on her school uniform, pick up her school bag, and head out to where the car was waiting. Everybody could see her being driven off to school.

She never arrived.

It was all a very complex ruse. Since her birth, she had been an assett of the government. The life of her family was an incredibly detailed sham. And every morning on a weekday, she would be ferried away from her home, and taken to an entirely unremarkable building, within which she would be subjected to tests, training, and... unfortunately... education.

Yes, she did not have to go to an actual school. But the tutors she had been assigned by the US Government were probably far more demanding than any high school Principal would ever expect.

And so there she sat, staring at her textbook, and wondering for the millionth time, why she would ever need to know the gross domestic product of the leading nations of the world.  She had been raised to fly about and shoot down supervillains. She seriously doubted any of them were going to pause to ask her the top five imports of West Germany before unleashing a horde of buzz-saw toting attack meringues, or whatever the crazy fool had hidden away.

Her tutor watched her impassively. He was an archetypal MiB type. Just once, she thought, it might have been nice to be a normal girl. But then, she would probably still have geography finals to pass. Maybe the biggest evil mastermind of all was whoever set the curriculum...

"That was 'Take This Hammer', from the album Odetta At The Gate Of Horn, here on WKCR... the original FM. I hope you've enjoyed your Bluesday Morning," drawled Sonaly into the microphone. "Taking you into the ten o'clock hour is the great John Lee Hooker, 'Boom Boom Boom'. Be sure to join me next week for another wake-up with the best of the blues." She lowered the needle onto the waiting record. "I'm your host, Sonaly Pelham, signing off. Be good, New York." Sonaly dialed the microphone volume to zero, leaned back in her chair, and exhaled. Decent show, she thought to herself. Decent show.

As she passes a radio at super-speed...

...Wait, what was that? It'd been very blurred by the Doppler effect, but... White Lynx races back a few blocks to the same spot.

Something on the radio... urgently asking all heroes to report immediately "to Fort Terry, on Plum Island, to respond to an emergency. If you cannot fly nor travel to an island quickly, please contact your nearest police station, and a helicopter will be sent to pick you up..."

---

A college staff member nervously comes in the door and makes a beeline for Gil. "Um, uh... the government has called and told us to tell you there's a problem on Plum Island. A huge emergency... happening right this second."

Oh no. Gil remembers what's on Plum Island-- the secret supervillain prison...

---

An announcement comes over the P.A. system. "Codename Cosmic Girl! Report to Plum Island, off the eastern tip of Long Island, immediately! You'll see the problem when you get there-- probably a little before you get there--!"

---

Sonaly's boss comes in at that moment and hands her a piece of paper. "Before you go, please read this announcement really quick-- it's from the government-- there's an emergency somewhere called Plum Island. Apparently they want us to announce it so they can get any superheroes they can get their hands on to go there fast-- they'll send a helicopter to any police station if heroes can't fly there on their own or anything..."
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:56, Sun 05 June 2022.

Sonaly muted the turntable and clicked the microphone on. "We interrupt your musical program for this breaking news: In response to a developing emergency on Plum Island, the government has issued an urgent call for super-powered individuals. Responders who cannot fly or travel to an island quickly, please contact your nearest police station and a helicopter will be sent to pick you up. Once again, in response to an emergency on Plum Island, the government has issued an urgent call for super-powered individuals. Thank you." She gradually restored the turn-table to its prior volume. "That concludes this news bulletin. You are listening to WKCR, the original FM. We return you now to your regularly scheduled program." Snapping the microphone off, she turned to her boss. "Sorry to go just as things get exciting, but I have a study meeting. Derek should be in before the record ends." Sonaly snagged her purse and was out the door before he could reply. "Byeeeeeeeeeee!"

Peggy looked up at her tutor. The man just raised his eyebrow, and jerked his head at the door. So she wasted no time. She jumped up and ran out, thanking whatever entity it was that saved her from another day of excrutiating tedium.

It did not take her long to change into her costume. She had practiced it so often that she could change at a speed that was quite remarkable, although the process did not look remotely graceful. She would work on that, when she had time. But not today.

A few minutes later, she was airborne. She zoomed across the treetops, watching Queens below her, moving too fast to really make out individual people going about their daily lives. Below, occasionally people would point up and stare. It was all part of the job.

It was a little over a hundred miles, as the crow flies, from central Manhattan to Plum Island. But in a straight line, flying without any obstructions other than the occasional alarmed pigeon or doomed bug, she made good time. Ever since she had manifested her aura, flying had become far more pleasant. Now bugs just zapped and fizzled when she ran into them, rather than accidentally getting caught in her throat. It happened. Being a superhero was not all glamour.

In the distance, she zipped past the Hamptons. Up ahead was... a problem.

Lynx stared at the radio as the warning ended and transitioned into some music. Maybe hero-ing this early wasn't actually an issue after all?

She wasn't entirely sure where this Fort Terry was, but if this was an emergency, then the speedster already in uniform was likely in the best position to respond. It was time to show Earth that she wasn't out for the count.

Legs sparking against the ground, Lynx took off. The fastest way to the island was to head there in a direct line, or as the humans seemed to like to say, "as the crow flies." Given that she wasn't capable of flight without an aircraft, she would instead go as the White Lynx ran, racing across the top of the water at super speed.

Along the way, she hummed the handful of words she'd heard before abandoning the radio.

"Boom, boom, boom, boom..."

Sonaly headed to the roof of Carman Hall. She shrugged out of her street clothes, once there, and into her heroic attire all in one fluid motion. Stowing her street clothes in her purse, and her purse behind a maintenance panel a couple yards up the AM antenna, Sonaly swung into action. She cartwheeled east-northeast via the campus roofs, then across Morningside Park until she reached the NYPD 28th Precinct. Don't wanna scare the white folk, Sonaly reminds herself with a wry grin, so best I go to a Harlem precinct. Lightly touching down, she collected herself and dashed into the precinct. "Good morning, sergeant," she said to the person manning the duty officer's station. "I'm here in response to the call for superheroic assistance. Would you be so kind as to radio for a helicopter? Tell them to meet me at Locust Point in fifteen minutes, thanks!"

"Excuse me," Gil said to the professor and the rest of the class. "Gotta fly."

He didn't bother with the door. Getting to the nearest exist to the building was a bit of a maze if he followed the halls. So instead, he opened the fourth-story window and jumped out, flying away with Scraps in one arm and his books in the other. He was reasonably sure he knew where Plum Island was, so he didn't need to make an embarrassing stop for directions.

A little while later, after a few course corrections, he arrived in his familiar golden glow.

Amazingly, everyone arrives at almost the same time-- Cosmic Girl first, then Goodwill, then White Lynx and then Twist.

What they see when they get there is basically that someone appears to be trying to do a jailbreak.

Supervillains who've been in the newspapers are out in the open where they shouldn't be.

It's clear that governmental authorities have been trying to stop everything from getting out of control long enough for help to arrive. They've failed, and are seconds away from retreating.

One man is tossing around orange bolts of energy without breaking a sweat. He's got an red cape on, and some sort of symbol on his costume's chest, a yellow circle in the middle of a black triangle.

The guy is simultaneously holding off (and defeating) not only armed agents of the type that hang out with Agent Delancey-- and yeah, there he is right over there... but also villains that Goodwill recognizes as Tetsubo and Blackjack and The Cogster... and that guy that Goodwill and his colleagues stopped at the museum that one time, too.

Meanwhile, over behind a very large rock that's part of the landscape, Blue Dragon and The Impersonator are hiding and watching...

"Whose side is this guy on?" Goodwill wondered aloud. The guy in the cape was fighting government agents and the escapees? "Hey! You! Identify yourself!"

(Hmmmmm. Roll Charming, please, Lance...)

Cosmic Girl bobbed down. She was still airborne, but came close enough to Goodwill to hear the answer. And she took stock of the escapees. She looked right at Tetsubo and grimaced.

"Not this guy again. How many times do we have to put this bunch in prison before it sinks in that this is where they are meant to be?"

She drew two balls of cosmic fire to her hands and waited for the answer.

OOC: Can we get a brief word on the powers of the new faces at all? Cogster, Blue Dragon, and Impersonator are people we haven't met yet, I think? But if they've been locked up, presumably their powers are known. Or are these other heroes?
This message was last edited by the player at 18:41, Wed 08 June 2022.

Standing on one of the helicopter's landing skids, Twist scanned the area to get a better handle on the situation. "A score card would be useful here," she mutters to herself. "At least few of these boys made the news, thank god, or I wouldn't know who's who."

Lynx's eyes dart between the fighting and the two villains watching and waiting.

"Those two hiding over there..what do you all think they're doing? Are they unable to run or do they just not plan on leaving?"

She then stopped in her tracks for a moment and looked between the other heroes. "Oh, hello there, Cosmos and Goodwill. I heard that you all took care of Norwood. I'm glad that's all over for now. Sorry I couldn't be there."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:18, Wed 08 June 2022.

OOC: Twist is not currently in conversation range. Still a dozen yards overhead clinging to a helicopter.

(Blue Dragon and The Impersonator were kind of hushed up by the authorities. The Cogster made the news, though-- he's some sort of technology genius (just electronics, not biochemistry too like Norwood) who mostly does things with force fields.

I will add, though, that Blue Dragon and The Impersonator look like they're Cosmic Girl's age, more or less, so their youth, and the fact that they're currently hiding while watching, immediately make them seem less dangerous than the others...)

OOC: Apologies! I'll just remove that then.

Who's Lance?

(PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT. Someone in another game I run with a portrait that looks like yours!

I meant YOU!)
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:27, Sun 12 June 2022.

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

The guy blasts Tetsubo, knocking him back, and then he grabs Blackjack by the throat in mid-leap. "I am known as Captain Cosmos! Keeper of the balance between good and evil, order and chaos-- by smiting evil and chaos! Away, monster!" he adds as Blackjack's weird ribbon-like wrappings come to live and start trying to wind up the Captain's arm and go for his throat. The Captain tosses Blackjack a good 40 yards into a wall. "How dare you presume to do battle with a wielder of the Power Eternal!" The impact with the wall would have killed anyone human, but apparently Blackjack doesn't fit well into that category-- he gets up and shakes his head to try to clear it...

Let's see if all the practice pays off. Twist flung a hand toward the nearest guard tower and stepped off the landing skid. May attract a little attention along the way, but that's one hazard of the job. Taking a firm grip on the flagpole atop the tower, she converted her downward linear momentum into lateral angular momentum, to swing around and lightly touch down on the tower's roof. Hey hey, didn't suck, she told herself with a grin. You go, girl!

---

11:52, Today: Twist rolled 12 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 4,6.  Remain Undaunted (Acrobatics).

The new guy was impressive. He sounded a little bit unhinged, maybe... but he wouldn't be the first hero to be a touch delusional. As long as his intentions were good, though, Goodwill was prepared to forgive a little nuttiness. Hopefully, though, he was only a little nutty. He was fighting both sides, at the moment, so that remained to be seen.

Part of Goodwill wanted to hang back and see what Captain Cosmos could do. But it was probably safer for all concerned if he didn't. Instead of taking up the role of spectator, Goodwill flew over to where Captain Cosmos was and prepared to fight alongside him. Hopefully that would mean Delancy's agents would stop shooting at the Captain for the moment. If so, maybe the Captain would stop shooting at them, too.

"I'm Goodwill," he said, in case the Captain didn't know him from the many, many newspaper articles that had featured him. "Nice to meet you."

Cosmic Girl looked at Goodwill and shrugged. "He's nothing to do with me, I swear!" She had not heard of him, and he did seem a bit over the top. His diatribe was more like an evil villain than a hero, but hey, he was attacking the bad guys, so she wasn't going to look a gift horse in any orificies.

"He, on the other hand, is! Hey, Tiny! Come back for a rematch? I'm game!" and she shot upwards with a loud swoosh of cosmic energy! Once she was a fair distance up she paused, in that hang time that seems to last far longer than it should when at the peak of a high jump. Then she turned and dived back down, her cosmic eye beams blasting out at Tetsubo. Last time they met, he had said (and done) some pretty hurtful things to her, and she was not yet mature enough to brush that sort of thing off lightly. She was out for settling the score, and putting his oversized demonic butt right back in the slammer!

Down she came, and this time her aim was true!

VWOOORRRPPPP!!!!

OOC:

17:54, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 11 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 6,3.  PEWPEWPEW! Forceful attack against my old nemesis!

YES! Finally, my dice are being kind! Two moves to choose!

-> Hits hard, for +1 Stun
-> Avoid retaliation, for -1 Stun

Twist's acrobatics impress everyone who sees them.

(Twist, take +1 on your next roll. I don't think that roll was really needed, but you aced it so hard I'm giving you a little bonus this time.)




"Are you the local law enforcement for this planet? Because there is an imbalance in the Cosmic Balance in this building, and these evildoers are trying to stop me from investigating it!"

Captain Cosmos notices Cosmic Girl blasting Tetsubo, and approves. "Is she with you? She smites evil fairly well for a local."

"We're more... civilian law enforcement volunteers," Goodwill tried to explain. This guy was from another planet? He certainly looked human enough, but shapeshifting aliens were a concept that Goodwill was already familiar with. Still, he could just be a human with a tenuous grip on reality. Given how powerful he obviously was, he'd need to be handled with kid gloves until his story could be substantiated. "What sort of imbalance...?"

Wait... The 'local law enforcement of this planet'? Did that mean this Captain Cosmos was another alien? Lynx supposed that made sense, given his name. She was sure that she appeared just as human as any of her compatriots, but even so, she had little intention of getting involved with what appeared to be some sort of space cop.

Even so, she couldn't just hang around! This was a dangerous situation and she needed to help out. With a flash of electricity, she zipped over near the two hiding behind the very large rock. Not too close, of course. Lynx still remembered that one robotic Norwood that blew up in her face, so she wasn't about to get up close and personal with anyone she didn't know. These two were hiding, but that didn't make them not dangerous.

"So, how's the rock over here, you two? Are you waiting for something in particular to happen or just trying to hold back until everything's over?"

"Seriously, Captain Cosmos?" Twist muttered under her breath. "Seems more like Major Disaster." The hero she recalled as Goodwill appeared to have matters in hand with regard to the extraterrestrial, the heroine she knew used the codename Cosmic Girl was taking on the big bruiser with the Asian name — Tubesock? Tubesteak? Oh hell. —  and the unfortunately-named White Lynx — If she were a sista, imagine she'd be Black Panther or some other goofy animal name. — was sounding out the cowardly duo. Blackjack was shaking off being tossed into the wall like a ragdoll, which left The Cogster unengaged. Footage from the evening news flashed through her mind. Some kinda technical brutha, think he uses force fields. She cartwheeled off the guard tower as was her peculiar stretchy idiom, and darted nimbly around the man with the intent to distract him from the retreating line of law-enforcement types. "Hi, you can call me Twist. You're first on my dance card today, you lucky thing! Shall we?"

---

14:06, Today: Twist rolled 9 using 2d6+3 with rolls of 2,4.  Hold Them Off (Drive Them Crazy) with +1 bonus. I will draw The Cogster away from the agents. Retaliation will be -1 Stun.

"Ugh, not another one. ...Although at least you're new. And attractive. But you can't hurt me, I don't expect... I am trying to-- say, hold still-- I-- blast it, what is it you want, anyway?"

The Cogster doesn't seem interested in engaging in fighting Twist, at least not for the moment-- he just seems to want her to stop distracting him... which is a wish he's not getting fulfilled-- he's totally distracted. Twist can lead him away from the action, if she wants...

Lead him away from the action Twist did, all the while turning on the charm. "Oh, sugar... surely you know what a woman with a bod like mine always wants." She flashed The Cogster a winning smile. "Why, nothin' short of your complete and unconditional surrender, darlin'!" Twist swirled around the outer surface of his force-field, covertly probing for a way through. If I can squeeze past, I can snatch away his power source or somethin', she thought to herself.

Cosmic Girl was not really paying attention to the commentary on her abilities. For once, her aim was true, and she was doing what she was best at: picking off targets on the ground, while zipping about like a demented woodpecker.

She could see that she had definitely socked Tetsubo, and that Blackjack was exposed after his impact with the wall. So she held her hands out as she zipped overhead, and sent a spray of bolts of cosmic energy at each of them. They were out in the open, she was given a very clean shot to both of them...

VVVWWWORRPPP!!!

OOC:

23:36, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 10 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 5,3.  Cosmic Girl tries to capitalise on her attack! Let's be Forceful!

Oh yes! Let's say +1 stun on each of them, multiple targets from Area of Effect attack!

The Cogster slowly wanders away from the battlefield near the hole in the side of the building-- but his field seems to be a dome, extending to the ground on all sides...

---

(Hmmmm... White Lynx, roll Charming.)

---

"I don't know for sure yet! Something that weakens the bounds of reality itself! A clear danger that must be destroyed, whatever it is! These miscreants attempt to bar my path!"


Captain Cosmos smirks slightly as Cosmic Girl tears up the villainous combatants. "Ho ho! Another good blast! Who is that youth, Corporal Goodwill?"

White Lynx rolled 10 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 3,6.  How do you do, fellow hyoo-mons? Charming.

I can try to overload his force-field, Twist thought to herself, but that may require more pressure than I can exert. An idea occurred to her then. Wait...the damn thing has to be air-permeable, or we couldn't hear one another! I'll need to make like a really large garbage bag, and see how this trash likes playing astronaut. Talk about spreading myself thin!

Corporal? Oh well.

"She's Cosmic Girl," Goodwill replied, noting, but not commenting on the similarities in their names. "She's... kind of amazing."

The young woman turns. "Oh! You're that speedster! Just what I need-- super-speed to get the heck out of here!" She reaches for White Lynx--

--But stops before she touches her. "But... I remember when I grabbed Silver Streak's powers, things got really bad for him-- by accident. He didn't deserve that-- I didn't mean to mess up his life. And here you are being so nice as to check on us... I'm'a let you keep your powers for now. You seem nice."

The young man looks at both women like he's thinking Huh, if it was me, I would'a just stole her powers, but I guess she has her reasons. "Yeah, that super-guy over there tore into the prison and most of us got out," he says to White Lynx. "Um, this doesn't count as me escaping-- I just had to get out in the open away from the fighting, okay? So don't tell the feds I tried to escape."




(Good role-playing, but what'cha gonna do now?)




"Eh? 'Cosmic Girl?' I know the names and assigned planets of every member of the Cosmic Corps, and she and this planet aren't even on the list! What gall, to pretend to be an officer of...!" He watches Cosmic Girl turn on a dime in mid-air to effortlessly dodge a chunk of masonry that Tetsubo throws at her. "...Still, I admit that she might make a very suitable recruit..."

Twist gradually increased her surface area to encompass the entirety of The Cogster's force-field dome, all while maintaining a steady line of flattery. "Force-field, huh? Did you invent that yourself? Wow, you must be so smart!" She knew attempting this was pushing her powers into unfamiliar territory, but it was the fastest thing she could think of short of sling-shotting the dude into a wall.

Nice? Lynx was really only doing her duty here. These two weren't doing anything yet and were more in danger than dangers themselves. It only made sense to treat them with some small manner of politeness, especially seeing as she herself was a bit of a phony.

But... grabbing powers? The young woman could do something like that, just from touching her? Being "nice" certainly saved her in this instance. Lynx had a lot of questions as to how something like that would work, like which abilities the woman could take. Would Lynx only lose her super speed or would her electrical powers go too? There were rather interlinked, she thought, but she didn't know how much. And, if that happened, would Lynx have to convince her to give those powers back? Or was there some way for her to expel a 'borrowed' power? And, if something like that happened, would those powers even return to Lynx? It wasn't like they were even hers to begin with...

Not to mention possible 'powers' that she might not even consider in the same vein. Would Diana's fitness count as a power she could steal? Her sight? Her sense of smell? The woman looked human to her, so maybe 'powers' extended to any abilities considered outside of human capabilities. That might let someone keep most of their own, less-strange powers, but what about her shapeshifting as a Brin? That was just a natural part of her being, even though she'd lost access to it for now, but would it be recognized as a "power" to steal? And, if that happened, would she lose the form she was in? Or would she remain there, still stuck in Diana's form?

It was a curious train of thought, but Lynx doubted that she would be able to waste time asking her questions. Instead, she turned to the side as a way to somewhat signal that she wasn't intending on keeping them there.

"I suppose I should thank you then, miss," Lynx smiled kindly at the woman. If niceness had gotten her this far, it wouldn't hurt to stick with it. "Dealing with any power switcheroos right now would probably make this problem much harder to deal with! One question though, just in case I need to quickly carry you away from danger if this rock stops being a good hideout. Does that power happen automatically when you touch someone, or do you need to activate it?"

From there, she faced the both of them. "And, don't worry, you two. This looks like a very odd situation, so I see no reason to do anything to you right now. You're just surviving and no one can criticize you for wanting to stay out of danger. Now, are you two comfortable here, or would you like any help getting to a safer position? This is a nice rock, here, but some of these people can still get to you rather easily. As you've pointed out, miss, I am rather speedy, so I could do a lot to get you both out of harm's way. I suppose there's also the option to offer your own services in calming everyone down here, if you're alright with that, but I want to make it clear that I'm not expecting that of you. You didn't ask to be here, after all."

"Hey!" Goodwill said, a note of warning in his tone. "She's not pretending to be anything. We've never heard of you guys until five minutes ago, and you don't own the rights to the word 'cosmic'.

"Hold on...."

Goodwill picked up a chunk of rock and threw it at Tetsubo. He'd started talking to Cosmic Creep to make sure what side he was on, but Goodwill needed to be part of this fight.

Forceful, Attack Tetsubo:
Goodwill rolled 13 using 2d6+3 ((5,5)).
--Hit hard
--Avoid Retaliation

"Now, tell me more about this 'imbalance'."

Cosmic Girl was unaware of the conversartion going on, and it was just as well, as she would not have been especially happy with the implications. However, this did mean she could focus on the battle. She flew another strafing run, shooting more bolts from her hands, directly at Tetsubo. He was probably just as dangerous as Blackjack, but she could not let go the personal beef she had with the huge guy...

OOC:

17:58, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 11 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 4,5.  Another attack! Pew!

Effects:

Hit Hard for +1 Stun
Avoid retaliation.

"Yes, a force field. Yes, I invented it. Yes, I am. But... you are rather slowing me down... And... worse, you're blocking my view of the madman trying do destroy us, or whatever he's-- could you stop doing that, please...?!"

---

"Hm? Oh, no-- I actually have to concentrate. I mean it's really not hard, but I can't just do it accidentally. Never have so far, anyway."



"Oh, wow, I'm glad you asked," says the girl. "I've had a lot of time to think-- like, way too much, really-- and I've been thinking-- this guy let out the really dangerous nutjobs! No, wait, that's not what I've had too much time to think about. What I mean is-- this is scary! But I've been thinking that maybe if I prove that I'm not really a supervillainess, maybe they'll let me out, or at least take time off my sentence or something? So if that Captain Cosmos guy gets out of hand even worse... maybe I can help? And maybe the government would be nicer to me then? Put me in a regular prison with other gals I could talk to and stuff? Because some of these people are crazy." She turns to the young man next to her. "No offense."

He raises his index finger, lowers it, raises it again, lowers it. The girl's words have had an effect on him. "You know what, maybe she's being smart. Maybe I can get time off for good behavior, even though my power's pretty defensive. I'll stay here for now, in case I can help or something."

---

"I know not its nature! The closest thing I've ever felt with my Eternal Awareness was that time that the Voidists from Nebula 10 tried to open up a portal to an alternate universe! We lost two Corpsmen stopping that-- a true tragedy! Such a peril must not threaten our reality again! So... wilt thou aid my quest... or shall ye stand in my way?!"

---

Testubo goes down, and doesn't get back up. It looks like maybe he's not going to get back up anytime today. Might be faking, though-- better let Goodwill (or better yet, the new guy) check it out.

"Thank you, miss." That made things a little easier. Now she knew that trying to rescue the two from danger wouldn't be an automatic death sentence!



"Alright, so you're staying here for now. Good to know. Ideally, showing that you can help in a crisis like this would help with the government's view of you, but I can't say anything there for certain. If you need it though, I can vouch for the both of you. In my humble opinion, staying safe and not contributing to all the conflict around you is good behavior all on its own."

Lynx's eyes swept over the area. "As of right now, it looks like Tetsubo and The Cogster are pinned down or knocked out and Blackjack isn't doing too well either. Goodwill seems to be talking down Captain Cosmos, so hopefully, we won't need to fight him, but that might still be necessary. There's still that other, uh, guy over there." She pointed at the white-haired man. She wasn't entirely sure what his deal was, but his suit looked different from those of the agents and he didn't seem to be on their side, as it were. He hadn't done much once she and the others arrived, so perhaps it was better to leave him alone until he did something to threaten the people around him? "You know what? I'll be entirely honest here: I have no idea who that man is. He doesn't seem like an agent, so I'm guessing he was imprisoned here too. Do either of you know his deal? And, aside from that, might I ask you your names? or, I suppose, your 'super' names, if that's better. If I need to ask for your help in the middle of fighting, it'll be much easier than calling for 'Miss Power Borrower' and 'Mister Defensive Power Guy'!"

"Of course we'll help." Goodwill spend precisely no time in thinking that one over. A request for help was a request for help, even if it was from a guy who was either a little crazy and from outer space, or a lot crazy for thinking so. "Let's just get everything squared away out here, and then we'll go inside. Okay?"

That's it, sugar, keep on talking. Just keep getting riled up, Twist thought to herself. The sooner you use up enough of the oxygen in your little bubble, the sooner this will be over. She pouted coquettishly at The Cogster. "Oh, hon... you'd rather look at him than me? What's a girl gotta do to earn your undivided attention?"

---

12:23, Today: Twist rolled 7 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 4,2.  Talk Things Out.

Cosmic Girl was enjoying herself. Watching Tetsubo hit the ground was never going to get old. So satisfying! She turned and threw some bolts at Blackjack, but as usual her exuberence was rather high, and her skill suffered as a result. Sure, she threw some cosmic bolts... but her aim was, predictably, far from accurate.

OOC:

19:29, Today: Cosmic Girl rolled 6 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 1,3.  Let's shoot Blackjack! Yay!

Welp, I failed another attack. My dice have returned to normal. I'll be over here waiting for the inevitable horror to descend upon me.

"Oh sure, I'm The Impersonator, and this is Blue Dragon."

"Hey," nods Blue Dragon.

(I have decided that asking the question in Red above is pretty important-- give me an extra Charming roll, please, White Lynx (not so much to get cooperation but to try to help jog their memories about any important details they may have picked up))





"I... well... I..." He smiles. "Well, what is it you want from me, exactly...?"




Blackjack, surrounded by those black bandage-like tendrils of his, decides he's had enough of this, and he swiftly uses his animated bandage-things to climb up the side of the building's wall-- and to push him out toward Cosmic Girl.

He successfully punches her. Ow!

But her cosmic aura blasts him just as hard. Ow back at'cha!

(Cosmic Girl and Blackjack each take 2 new Stress.)

He begins to fall...




"Yes..." The Captain looks upward at where Blackjack is falling. "Do you know that monster? Is there a special trick to stopping him? He seems quite durable..."

"Usually we just keep hitting him until he gives up."

"Mm, yes, good. In the Corps handbook we call that one 'Number Five.' Number Five it is, then."

And then he's gone, flying faster than Goodwill or even Cosmic Girl can fly, straight into Blackjack-- and through the wall. WHAM...

Oops. Now they're both in the prison. Sort of okay for Blackjack, who we wanted to keep from escaping-- problematic otherwise, especially if they break more walls and/or other stuff while they're in there...
This message was last updated by the player at 17:28, Mon 08 Aug 2022.

'Impersonator'? It certainly worked for her powers, but Ch'rava felt a small amount of dark humor at the irony. Here she was, all but impersonating a hero, and now there was a supposed villain with the same title. Maybe there would be something metaphoric to helping these two out or something? Whatever the case, it was the right thing to do.

"Well met, The Impersonator. Blue Dragon. Since you've already remarked that I am 'that speedster,' I suppose it might be unnecessary, but whatever the case, you can call me Lynx. Or 'White Lynx,' if we're being formal and all."

White Lynx rolled 10 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 6,3.  Something something, do you know what's up with this dragon guy? Charming.

In reply to The Grandmaster (msg # 51):

"This could be bad," said Goodwill, flying into the prison to follow the supposed alien cop.

"Oh, yeah, him. He's a little scary. He's got powers like that Scorch Scale guy-- y'know, fire-breathing-- but I don't think that's his real power. I think he just stole that power-set from someone else like Scorch Scale. I think his real power is doing magic. The Cogster and the Feds had all kinds of super-science stuff built into his cell so he couldn't do any-- I'd watch out for him now that he's loose."

---

(Goodwill, gimmee an Insightful roll, please... if you're still carrying Scraps (as opposed to if you put Scraps down and left 'im outside) add... a... +2 to it.)

(Even with Scraps, I tanked the roll.)

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

Oops. Goodwill was going too fast for Scrap's nose to pick up a scent (or to analyze and interpret it, anyway)-- Goodwill takes Blackjack's fist to the chin. The lighting is dim inside ("emergency lighting" conditions), and Goodwill hadn't adjusted yet to the change from having just been out in the sunlight, and Blackjack's bandages DO make him sort of blend in in the shadows, and Pow.

"Hear you died recently, boy scout," jeers Blackjack. "Hurts, don't it? Let me help you get used to it..."

(Goodwill takes 1 new stress.)

"Hmm. That might be difficult to handle. Do you know how he obtains other people's powers at all, Impersonator? I imagine it's probably part of some magical ability, but you're kind of the expert here! Plus, I imagine it's a little odd seeing someone with rather similar abilities to yours."

Cosmic Girl was punched, and knocked backwards in a flash of bright purple light. She shook her head to clear it, and saw Blackjack thumping Goodwill. Well, she was not going to put up with THAT sort of nonsense! She was not going to let anybody kill him for a SECOND time!

"Oh no you don't!" She yelled, and blasted a lethal dose of cosmic radiation from her eyes, ZAP!!!

OOC:

18:48, Tue 09 Aug: Cosmic Girl rolled 10 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 2,6.  One more clobberin' time on Blackjack!

Take that, you bandage-willing miscreant!!!

Effects:

Hit hard +1
Hit hard +1
This message was last edited by the player at 15:00, Mon 15 Aug 2022.

"I don't really need a lesson from the likes of you," Goodwill replied. "You know how this fight is going to go. You might as well give up."

To emphasize his point, he threw a punch right at Blackjack's leering grin, just as Cosmic Girl blasted him. The two together were a formidable combination.


Goodwill rolled 12 using 2d6+3 ((6,3)).
--Hit Hard
--Avoid Retaliation

Twist returned his smile and batted her eyelashes. "I already told you, sugar... nothin' short of your complete and unconditional surrender." She flitted her face back, forth, and all about The Cogster, never giving him a moment's peace if he tried to keep his eye on her. "Y'know... put this whole unfortunate business behind you and investigate Commander Cody's space anomaly with everyone else." She flashed her most winsome smile at the techno-villain. "Or I could let you go back to the lovely accommodations our government so graciously has provided you."

"You know... Hold that thought, Impersonator." Lynx watched as two of her fellow heroes blasted into the prison area after Blackjack and the confusing Captain Cosmos. A large part of her was practically elated that she didn't have to deal with that headache of a spaceman for now and wanted to just get a move on to dealing with the magical power thief, but... The Impersonator and Blue Dragon were okay for now, that Twist hero was taking care of the techie, and there were still many agents swarming the place. Without that Captain in the way, they were likely to be able to take charge of the situation decently and make things reasonably safe out here. And, while Goodwill could come back from the dead, there was no telling what could happen inside the prison proper. As much as she didn't want to get involved there, she had a job to do. "Stay safe! I'll tell the suits that you're not doing any harm and not to target you. Duty calls."

With a small salute and sparks flying around her feet, Lynx shot off, zipping over to a handful of agents to briefly inform them that The Impersonator and Blue Dragon were safe and taken care of. Shortly after making her report, she was off once again, bursting into the prison area.

(Twist, roll Charming again please.

White Lynx, roll Insightful for me real quick)

In reply to The Grandmaster (msg # 62):

16:40, Today: Twist rolled 10 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 4,5.  Talk Things Out. (She's such the charmer.)

In reply to The Grandmaster (msg # 62):

White Lynx rolled 9 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 2,6.  Look, the speedster's gonna be Insightful *real quick*! Insightful.

Wakka wakka. I'll be here all week.

--Goodwill and Cosmic Girl hit Blackjack hard.

He's still standing-- until White Lynx runs in.

She ALMOST runs INTO him-- ALMOST runs into him right when he's getting blasted by Cosmic Girl, in fact-- but White Lynx just barely manages to sort of turn it into a sort of clothesline move accidently-almost-looks-on-purpose.

Then he is knocked to the ground, on all fours, just trying to stay conscious. He's managing that so far, but just barely. He doesn't seem like he's about to fight back.

(White Lynx takes -1 toward her next roll, but that's way better than if she'd run into Blackjack WHILE he was getting energy-blasted.)

---

The Cogster is charmed. "I-- you-- but-- I... Me? Are-- ...are you inviting me to help...? Because-- well-- well, for you... I mean I do have a lot of theories about other dimensions, and I could actually be of great assistance if there's a-- and then for that matter, one never knows when a good force field could be very useful in such a situation..."

Cosmic Girl did not blast Blackjack into a huge crater in the floor. Instead, she turned and nodded to Goodwill. "You want to finish him off? I'd say it's your right, given everything he put you through." And then she looked to Captian Cosmos. "So what is going on, exactly? And what do we have to do to prevent it all getting a lot worse? I'm sure we could do it if we had to, but playing supervillain whack-a-mole with the inmates here is not really the way any of us expected to spend the day."

Twist sinuously slithered the force field's circumference. "Helping would certainly look great when you're up for parole," she said with a smile. "And if you're a big help, you might even earn a pardon. Not that they'll put much stock in the words of a black female vigilante, but I'd vouch for you."

Reeling back from nearly taking a face full of Cosmos' energy blast alongside all of Blackjack's whole deal, Lynx took a moment to just center herself and watch. Blackjack was all but done now and would likely be taken care of by Goodwill in mere moments. They were talking to the spaceman. The only big dangers left unaccounted for were that odd power thief in the suit and The Cogster, but Twist was dealing with the latter of the two, so that was probably alright. The other guy hadn't seemed to be doing much, so hopefully things were otherwise good as well for now. Right now, Ch'rava desperately wanted to know what the odd Captain's deal was, but she was presently unwilling to speak to him. He appeared to be... less-than-flexible, and she didn't want to stick out in his mind for even a moment, lest he somehow realize who she truly was. With any luck, he was here for something else entirely and they could all go out to deal with the weird normal-human-suit-man.

"So," Goodwill said to Blackjack. "Do you want to surrender, or do you prefer to have me punch you unconscious?"

He was good with it either way, but he was still morally obligated to give Blackjack the chance to stand down on his own. But if Blackjack so much as flinched in a way Goodwill didn't like, he was getting a fist to the face.

"Surr... surrender..." Blackjack says with difficulty...




--But Captain Cosmos is already gone-- he's flown deeper inside the prison...

---

"Well then! That's good enough for me, my dear...! Shall we venture into the Dolorous Gard, then, as it were...? Well, back into it, in my case...?"
This message was last updated by the player at 21:13, Mon 03 Oct 2022.

"Stay down," Goodwill told Blackjack. "Guards will be along in a minute to escort you back to your cell. Or a cell, since you probably left yours in an unserviceable state."

He needed to follow Captain Cosmos, but he made sure that Blackjack knew he'd be keeping watch from a distance. Slowly, he flew further into the prison.

Carefully following Goodwill further in, Lynx asked the hero, "Hey, any idea what Captain Spaceman over there wants?"

"He said something about the 'Cosmic Balance'," Goodwill replied. "Which sounds more like a convenient excuse than a real reason, but there it is. Maybe he's the real deal.

"He claims to be an alien, and a member of some sort of corps. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that sort of thing, would you?"

Cosmic Girl joined her friends as they gave chase after the very peculiar Captain. "I am not entirely sure he is even sane. He is a very strange person. Half of me thinks he might be a prisoner who has got out and is living out some sort of delusion. But he is clearly powerful, so I hope I am wrong, as I am not sure what it would take to subdue him. Maybe we had best take him on face value. If he is right about cosmic imbalances, we really should help. It sounds pretty bad. Like, planet exploding bad!"

Dropping to a whisper just loud enough for Goodwill and Cosmic Girl to hear, Lynx replied. "There are plenty of various groups like that out there... But we tend to avoid them. I'm sorry, but while I'm sure we have some sort of record on this group, I myself don't know who this is and can't access our records."



"Assuming he also doesn't come from here... It might be paranoia, but I worry that he may very well be referring to me. No one's supposed to know what the Brin are doing here, after all."

"If he was referring to you, he wouldn't have attacked the prison," Goodwill pointed out. "He'd have gone looking for you."

Knowing that Captain Crazypants wasn't there for Lynx, though, wasn't the same as knowing what he was there for. They'd just have to follow the guy and make sure he didn't blow things up worse than they already were.

Cosmic Girl pursed her lips. "We'd best get after him." She peered out of the hole in the wall. "I've not seen her before," she remarked about Twist, "but we could use some more help. I'm not sure I want to go into a super-powered person prison where they might be out of their cells, not without as much backup as we can get."

She waved a hand, beckoning Twist and her Cogster cohort to join them. She called out. "Going in to sort this all out! You're welcome to join us!"

She gave a sly wink to Lynx. Whatever else happened, she would try to keep her friend's true identity a secret. Cosmos trusted the government implicitly, but it was not her place to put her friend into their clutches!

"Rather good points, both of you. I am likely worrying for nothing. Hopefully, the situation out there will be fine for a few moments. The only major-looking threat left appeared to be a odd man in a suit that The Impersonator said could steal abilities? With so many agents around, I'm sure the outdoor area will be fine."

Lynx returned with a crisp wink back at Cosmic Girl before raising her own hand to join her in waving over the hero-villain duo. More forces would be a good idea, particularly since The Cogster should at least be able to recognize parts of the facility, even if only his own cell.

The group of 4 heroes (and The Cogster) delve deeper into the prison... following the one trail of walls and doors that have been punched inward, not outward.

They come to a deep underground level that none of them have seen before.

In it, in a very round room, standing near the punched-in entrance, is Captain Cosmos.

In the middle of the room, floating in a sort of glass sphere, is a young woman (maybe 24 or so) with white hair and white clothing.

The glass sphere also contains a light green vapor.

Also, the young woman is glowing, pulsing with a very light-green light. The pulsations are slowly growing stronger.

"That," says Captain Cosmos, "is the problem. It looks like they've sedated her, but she shouldn't be in this dimension at all. She's been here too long. So the question is, what to do about it? Who is she? And does this planet have frequency-harmonic interocitors?"

Surprisingly, it was The Cogster who spoke up. "I don't know much about her," he says, "but I think I know more than these four vigilantes. Her name is Echo, and she's from another dimension. There was a vigilante-- don't remember her name-- who could become immaterial, intangible. She lost control of her power while attempting to stop a crime, and when the figurative smoke cleared, Echo was here instead. She talked about being from another world where I think all heroes were villains, and I presume vice-versa. I wish I could answer your second question as informatively-- this planet does not have frequency-harmonic interocitors at the moment, and I don't think I have time to build one..."

Cosmic Girl's aura cast an eerie greenish-purple glow as they made their way through the corridors of the prison, past the broken doors and debris of the Captain's passing. She kept alert, ready to blast down anybody who looked like causing trouble. The inmates, however, seemed to consider discretion to be the better part of valour, and had kept out of Captain Cosmos' path. Sensible decision.

As The Cogster spoke, she muttered to herself, "Not a vigilante, I'm a government-sanctioned agent. I've got paperwork." But this was neither the time nor the place to make an issue of it all. Instead, she floated closer to Echo, and peered into her sphere. "Is it safe to remove her? And does that mean she is from a version of Earth that is back to front? I don't like the idea of there being an evil version of me anywhere!" It was a valid concern. Cosmic Girl showed restraint, and was still able to level buildings as easily as swatting a fly. She had proven that all too graphically when they had been hunting down the malevolent Norwood. A version of her who actively revelled in destruction was a daunting prospect indeed. "And wouldn't that mean that there was another Echo here already?"

Lynx wasn't about to balk at being called a vigilante. The term was technically accurate, even if that was just a cover. She'd been doing the work of a vigilante for a while and there was no authority on the planet that would even be aware of her true purpose, other than that of the allies she'd already informed. For all intents and purposes, she was a vigilante.

Additionally, the concept of another world where heroes were villains and villains were heroes was quite interesting, particularly since it seemed to support some sort of binary idea of good and evil... What would that mean in her case? In truth, she was really only posing as a 'hero', instead working on behalf of the Brin Monarchy. Of course, she'd found 'heroing' to be... a worthwhile occupation. Yet, the Brin Monarchy was primarily interested in expanding and improving its society rather than the sort of 'good deeds' she and her fellow superheroes attempted on a daily basis. Would they remain unchanged in this alternate reality and would that mean that a Ch'rava not so different from her would have wound up posing as some sort of villain on the planet? Or would circumstances have already changed enough on Earth such that someone else would've been in the path of her ship? Would this other Ch'rava have even crashlanded?

Still, this was not the time to get bogged down in ontological concerns. It was time to problem-solve. Captain Cosmos wasn't here for her in the slightest, so she could stand to let go of her paranoia. A little.

Lynx cleared her throat. "Perhaps that other vigilante was an alternate version of this Echo? That could explain why she disappeared when Echo appeared. And, if that's the situation we're in... Echo herself could be capable of swapping places with that vigilante again, could she not? Perhaps only if she were to 'lose control' in the same way or if she were to become stronger in some fashion, however. And that's assuming they were even actually alternate versions of each other in the first place, which I don't believe we have a way to confirm."

"Safe for whom?" asks The Cogster. "For us? I think so. That gas would seep down to the floor, and wouldn't knock us out for several minutes. Safe for Echo? I think so. But if you do, she'll wake up soon, and I don't know what mood she might be in..."



The Cogster opens his mouth to reply, but--



"Just the sort of thing I was about to say," says The Cogster. "I agree. Somewhere in-- in World-B, let's call it, if we want to think of ours as World A-- somewhere, there is a vigilante, who is presumably needing to return to our world right about now..."

"How exactly would we accomplish that?" Goodwill asked. The conversation was in danger of going completely over his head at this point, but he was still hanging on. Other worlds. Sure. "I don't even know what an interocitor is."

(Charming roll, please...)

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

"...I could tell you... what might work... but I would need a deal for full amnesty... or at least immediate probation. Please go and get Agent Delancey from outside."

Captain Cosmos flies over to Goodwill. "This situation is cosmically dangerous," he says quietly. "If the floating prisoner, Echo, is allowed to continue in this pulsating state too much longer, it might release an energy discharge that-- well, from what I noticed when I flew down here, I think this region is far too heavily-populated with innocent civilians for extended haggling. That large island off the coast nearby looked much too crowded to evacuate in a hurry."

Twist collectively queried Captain and Cogster: "This interocitor thingie... is it some sort of oscillator to harmonize different dimensional vibrations? Could its abilities be recreated by using any sort of device capable of producing the proper frequency? Because I'm basically a human rubberband. If you pluck me, do I not thrum?" She flung her arm across the room, plucked at her elastic appendage, and did in fact thrum.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:46, Mon 31 Oct 2022.

The Cogster looks very anxious suddenly. "No no, my dear-- that would be much too dangerous for you..."

Twist flashed her teeth at Cogster. "Danger is my middle name, hon."

"Uh, yeah," Goodwill agreed. He wasn't sure about letting the Cogster out of jail, but that could be Delancey's problem. "I'll go get him."

Sooner or later, he'd like to introduce himself to the new girl, but now was not the time. He lifted back up off the ground and in a bright golden glow he streaked back out of the prison.

Lynx was confused for a moment — wouldn't it make sense for the speedster to fetch the agent? But, she supposed, she understood. It wasn't like Delancey could travel back with her the same speed.

"At the very least, could getting Echo out of there stop the pulsating? I'm assuming that's probably a negatory, but if so, that could give us more time."

Twist replied to White Lynx. "I'm gonna guess waking her up would just hasten the process. If that's knockout gas in the orb with her, she's doing this in her sleep."

Lynx nodded. "It'd be nice and convenient if her being awake meant that she'd be able to stop the lightshow herself... But you're probably right. It could be too dangerous."

Cosmos frowned. She was still just a teenage girl with limited scientific knowledge. She'd cut up a frog, and made a crystal in a jar, but beyond that, she was just a kid. So this was all a bit over her head. "Would she know how she got here? Could she replicate it? I mean, if we let her out, and we need to get her somewhere away from people, I could pretty easily fly her out to sea or into a desert or something. But it might be better to have her just go off home." She tapped the sphere. "I could cut this open in a jiffy, I expect."

Twist again queried Captain and Cogster: "Assuming you have the means to detect this, is her pulsation changing frequency, increasing in output, or both?"

Outside, that one guy is causing a lot of trouble for Delancey and his agents-- he keeps breathing fire at them, yikes.

It looks like he's trying to get to a couple of teenagers over to the side-- The Impersonator and Blue Dragon. In fact, it looks like he's about to succeed...

---

"Yes, I think waking her up right now might only speed that up slightly," says The Cogster...




"The wavelength of her energy remains... roughly the same," says Captain Cosmos, squinting at Echo, "but what concerns me more is that it's slowly building..."
This message was last updated by the player at 16:13, Mon 31 Oct 2022.

Twist bobbed her head once. "So output is increasing and frequency is unchanging. We need the equivalent of a lightning rod, to ground out her power build-up."

"If we could somehow convert that energy to electricity, I could try to absorb some of it and then send it somewhere else, but that leaves us without a converter or a ground rod." Lynx shook her head. The idea was interesting, but the energy wasn't compatible. Besides, she still remembered the last time she'd tried something like this. "Care to share your bright idea yet, Cogstopher? Goodwill's already gone off to get the good agent and you're not gonna get a good deal if we're all dead."

The scene that greeted Goodwill outside was one of continued chaos. He had really thought that the authorities had the rest of the bad guys contained, but that one guy was still making a mess of things. In fact, it looked like he was about to char-broil Impersonator and Blue Dragon.

He didn't give a moment's consideration to the fact that they were criminals. Rather, Goodwill swooped in and did his best to clobber the nameless opponent with the bad breath.


Goodwill rolled 10 using 2d6+3 ((4,3)).
--Hit hard
--Avoid collateral damage (e.g., to Impersonator and B.D.)

Cosmic Girl studied the vapour in the sphere carefully. "It looks a bit like the energy I produce. Do you think it could be? If that were true, I doubt it would hurt me. I could fly her off somewhere where she can't do any harm? Or open the sphere without anybody else needing to stand too close. Captain?" She looked at him. "What do you think?"

WHAM. Goodwill hits the man hard.

It's not enough to put him down yet... He's apparently tougher than he looks. He breathes a stream of fire at Goodwill... but it's a hasty, sort of kneejerk reaction, and it misses... Fortunately, no other bystanders are hurt, either...

---

"You are brave to suggest it, but no, I do not think you would be safe. And if one of us needs to open that sphere, it shall be myself, when the time comes..."




"Not... quite yet, thank you... He only just left, let's give him a little time to return..."

"I suppose, if you're so willing to wait and risk this all going sideways, Cognog... That must mean you're either not too worried about her discharging anytime soon, or... your solution as to what "might" work is a quick one." Lynx scratched at the ridge of her nose through her domino mask. Odds were the man could have other reasons, like being too stubborn for his own good, but he seemed to respond more to an offer of reasoning. Of course, this could very well lead him to providing another alternative motive, but if she could get him talking more about his little idea... Well, perhaps he'd accidentally let something slip.

"I will certainly admit to an amount of anxiety, but your comments are quite insightful," says The Cogster. He does not take his eyes off of Echo's sphere.

"So, I still have no idea what to call you," Goodwill said to the man from the museum. "Maybe you can tell me your name before I put you back in your cell, just for the heck of it?"

---

(Hmmmmm. Roll Charming, Goodwill.

Note: I finally decided on a new name for This Guy, I'm happy)

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

The man pauses. "I am Anynnaug, son of Menw. It is I who ensnared Aegrim, the black dragon of Wyre."

---

(Pronunciation guide:

Anynnaug: An-in-aug (but fast, kind of running the first two together to almost be 1 syllable)

Menw: MEE-nu

Aegrim: A-grim

Wyre: WY-uh



I figured I'd have him tell you and attack if you blew the roll, or give you advantage on your next move if you aced it. Since neither happened, now you just know a villain's name, and the ball's just back in your court :\   )
This message was lightly edited by the player at 18:55, Tue 20 Dec 2022.

"Well, Anynnaug... do you want to surrender, or do I need to knock you unconscious? I don't favor violence when it's unnecessary, but I'm really open to all options at this point."

(New Charming roll buddy)

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

"I thank you kindly for your very polite offer. But..."

WHOOOOOOOOOSH. The guy breathes fire. At Goodwill. But even more at all the prison guards and Delancey's agents who're watching. It's quite the impressive area-of-effect attack.

A lot of them are able to get to cover, but one guy freezes for a split-second (and even when he recovers, he's not near any good cover).

Will Goodwill fly over there and take the extra hit for the guy, protecting him with (Goodwill's) own body? Or stay airborne and just brace himself for less damage? Or, hell, just fly through the flames and attack Anynnaug immediately?

(Note: whatever you do, Scraps will be okay.)

Goodwill didn't hesitate to put himself between the flame blast and the normal human who could not possibly survive it on his own. He flew into the path of the fire and braced himself.

(Goodwill takes 1 stress (yes, in spite of being tough).)

Ow. But the man in front of him is fully protected from the flames burning Goodwill's back. (Ow, that really was hot.)

But Goodwill also feels a small surge of energy from those present-- BOY do they like him a lot right now.

(Goodwill gets a +1 bonus toward his next roll... ball's in his court.)

The surge of emotion from the bystanders coursed through Goodwill's veins. He turned briefly over his shoulder to wave, then turned back and charged the guy with the barely pronounceable name. Still grinning, he threw a punch at the guy's jaw.

Goodwill rolled 8 using 2d6+3 ((4,1)).
--Avoid Collateral Damage

(Can I save that +1? Couldn't use it on this roll, which was already +3.)

(I meant to allow it to go over the normal +3 limit! (I guess I should have specified.)

However, that just makes your 8 a 9, so... nope, it's used up now)

Anynnaug is knocked to the ground.

Looking rather worried, Anynnaug looks up and tries a tight cone of flame just at Goodwill.

(Goodwill takes 1 stress (yes, even though he's tough).)

It is NOT REMOTELY enough to take Goodwill out of this particular fight.

From the ground, Anynnaug holds up a hand. "...You are a worthy opponent. Had I the sorts of useful tools on me now that I had when you and I encountered one another at the museum, I would fight on. For now, though, since those were all confiscated weeks ago, I'd be interested at this time in discussing your offer of surrender... if it's still on the table..."
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:20, Wed 11 Jan 2023.

Pausing for a second, Goodwill considered whether the guy was serious or playing him. But the surrender seemed genuine, so Goodwill nodded and accepted it graciously.

"I appreciate that you can see reason," he said. "Let's get you back to your cell, so I can go help save the world."

Agent Delancey and his men rush forward.

Someone puts what look like some sort of strange stone handcuffs/manacles on Anynnaug. "This should hold him, from what we've learned," says Delancey to Goodwill. "Anything I can help you with?" Delancey asks Goodwill.

Cosmic Girl looked around, ever vigilant for trouble, although the problem of the possible horrible explosion seemed to be the main issue. "So, the Echo in World B... how terrible is it going to be if she can't make it back? Do you think we need to go to that world and bring her back? Is that even possible for us?"

She flexed her fingers with a crackle of cosmic energy. "I'm game. Believe me, it is a better option than what I had planned for the day!" Risk eternal banishment to an alternate universe... or do a geography test. She knew which one she preferred!

"Well, sir... it turns out that there is some sort of cosmic crisis going on inside the prison." Goodwill felt a little silly for saying it, but it was what it was. Captain Cosmos had apparently been telling the truth. "It would help if we could get some information on the person literally at the center of it."

He went on to describe what he'd seen inside the prison. If Delancey could explain who this person was in the first place, it might be a big help.

"I'm afraid I couldn't say... but... something does need to be done... The way things are can't possibly last much longer..." says The Cogster...



"Ugh, this is about Subject 'Echo,' isn't it," says Delancey. "We don't really know or understand much... what is it you want to know?"

"Literally everything," Goodwill replied. 'Echo' was a major catastrophe in the making, if Captain Cosmos was to be believed. And he did seem to know what he was talking about. "Where she came from, how she got here, why she's in prison... and anything else you can think of."

"She's apparently from another universe, or timeline, dimension, whatever, where versions of the heroes here are villains-- not evil, necessarily, but definitely pulling crimes-- and where versions of villains here do heroic things. It was hard to interrogate her, because it was so hard to keep her from escaping. Apparently someone with magic cast a spell on her on the same day that her powered counterpart here tried to walk through The Cogster's force-field, and they switched... places. She's in here for theft, tried to rob a bank. Ah... I'm afraid that's about all I know?"

"Okay," Goodwill said to Delancey. "I think I get what's going on... as long as I don't think too hard about it. Now, here's the next big deal: Cogster has volunteered to help, but he wants a quid pro quo. You'd better come inside to negotiate with the guy."

"Yes, okay, let's go," says Delancey.

Inside, Echo has started to pulse faster...

Delancey, alarmed, agrees that if we can pull this off and get things under control again, The Cogster will have more freedoms again-- lots of books (subject to a review board), music (not a radio, but records), and so on. "Just... if you think you can fix this, fix it!" Delancey urges.

The Cogster sighs. "All right-- Delancey, stand back, over there. The rest of you, don't stand back, in case this doesn't work, or works in a way I don't anticipate. Here I go..."

The Cogster walks up to Echo and activates his forcefield, then turns it off. Then he walks closer to her and turns it on...

Something happens. There's a flash of-- green and then-- it's like everything goes reverse-negative, like a photographic negative, and-- there's a wind-- it's pulling you toward Echo and The Cogster-- and--

---

You are somewhere else.

Well, but wait, are you? Echo isn't here... but it's the same big room... But it looks different. The lights are all on, for one thing, unlike the room you just left...

Delancey is there, too.

...Why is he wearing a white suit instead of black? (Your vision is normal again, so what the heck?)

And he's also wearing... an eyepatch?!

"All of you, down on the floor!" Delancey(?) yells at you. "Surrender immediately and you won't be killed!"

There are lots of other agents (in white suits) with guns pointed at you.

The Cogster isn't here. Instead, there's a black-haired woman wearing a mask in a blue costume with the silhouette of a white rabbit on it. "All of you. Trust me. Run. Now. Fast as you can. I'll explain later."

She pushes a button on her glove-- and one wall explodes. Or... does it just sort of disintegrate, but with a really loud noise?

END OF CHAPTER TWELVE

(So do not post now, wait for Chapter Thirteen)
This message was last edited by the player at 19:36, Fri 10 Feb 2023.