Tank couldn't dodge the attacks, and just tensed up for the hit. He'd been at the bottom of a dogpile before, and that was before he was anywhere near as strong or indestructible as he was now. If these 'hallucinations' were as strong as their real-life counterparts, he might be in trouble. But as they piled on, Tank began to get the feeling that they weren't quite the same as the real thing.

Prowess d8
Brains Plus Brawn d8
Godlike Durability d12
Combat Expert d8

vs. Hulk:
Tank rolled 7,7,6,7 using d8,d8,d12,d8 ((7,7,6,7)).
Total: 14

Tank barely felt that hit.

vs. Juggernaut:
Tank rolled 2,2,1,3 using d8,d8,d12,d8 ((2,2,1,3)).
Total: 5

...but he sure as hell felt that one. His ribs would be sore for a week.

vs. Carnage
Tank rolled 8,4,10,1 using d8,d8,d12,d8 ((8,4,10,1)).
Total: 18

... and was Carnage trying to bite him?

2 Opps rolled
3 PP remaining
This message was last edited by the player at 15:40, Mon 12 Sept 2022.

As she got within sight she picked out the details and began to stoop, angle changing as she picked out Wildside for her strike.  She didn't change back yet, but a Bald Eagle's talons are certainly capable of carnage enough.

d10 prowess, d8 shapeshifting, d8 combat, d8 distinction, d6 area familiarity

07:14, Today: Kate Messer rolled 9,7,1,5,2 using d10,d8,d8,d8,d6 with rolls of 9,7,1,5,2.  eagle attack! Total =16 effect d8 1d8 to doom pool 2 pp at end of action

Edit - woops forgot his stress

07:48, Today: Kate Messer rolled 12 using 1d12 with rolls of 12.  wildside stress.

New Total = 28 effect d8 1d8 to doom pool, spending 1 pp to keep a 3rd die, 1 pp at end of action.

This message was last edited by the player at 14:49, Tue 13 Sept 2022.

Storm grew tired of the Dragoness constant harassment.  She could no longer discount the winged mutant after the scolding dragon breath was enough to blister her skin without the fire touching her body.  Tank could deal with Wildside.  The Dragoness was hers:

"Nature I command you! Bring forth thunder and lightning!!!"

The skies above the National Mall turned darker and darker, the clouds swirling and steering under the command of the Mistress of the Storm.  The lightning that struck Dragoness would be the first of many, if she did not relent:

Prowess 1d8, Lightning Bolt 1d8, Weather Mastery 1d10, Combat Expert 1d8, Mistress of the Storm distinction 1d8, Dragoness Stress
1,5,9,8,7,4 using 1d8,1d8,1d10,1d8,1d8,1d6 with rolls of 1,5,9,8,7,4.  lightning bolt at Dragoness
Total 17 vs 16, effect die 1d10 (Dragoness gains 1d10 physical stress)

"I got them, Shiva"

Now that Cyclops could visualize each of the targets on the battlefield, he started taking them apart with laser precision from almost a mile away.  A quick optic blast connected with the winged Mutant flying high above.  Another one, aimed at Wildside, was intercepted by Feral.  The beastly mutant was there one moment, gone the next, carried away by the momentum of the impact hundreds of feet away.  Cyclops didn't spare the two idiots charging at Tank either; the four-armed man holding an assault rifle in each of his hands was brought to his knees, and his oddly looking friend has to drop to the ground and stay there to avoid losing his head.

The battle was almost nearly over.

Cyclops rolled 3,3,11,1,6,15 using 1d10,1d8,2d10,1d10,1d12,4d6 with rolls of 3,3,3,8,1,6,3,5,6,1.  optic blast - at everyone.  Total 14, effect 1d10 vs Dragoness, 1d12 vs Feral, 1d10 vs Forearm, 1d8 vs Reaper, 1d10 vs Wildside
Feral eliminated.  Dragoness stress stepped up to 1d12.  Forearm gains 1d10 Physical stress.

Tank's skin was supposed to be impervious.  Carnage taking a bite out of his flesh shouldn't have been possible, yet, the impossible was now happening. Tank felt excruciating pain when the creature took a chunk of his leg clean off and gorged itself on the warm blood splattering in all directions.  The needled-toothed maw of the creature widened to take yet another bite, this time from Tank's neck.

And then he was gone.

The devouring beast disappeared into thin air.

The weight pressing upon his neck was also lifted when the Hulk riding on top of him vanished out of sight.  As did the Juggernaut.

A quick look at his leg confirmed that there was nothing wrong with it.  No blood.  No torn flesh or exposed white bone.  The pain he was feeling was only in his mind.  Knowing that didn't help him much, however.  He still couldn't put his weight on a leg he knew to be perfectly alright, but felt like has gone through a woodchipper.


Wildside defeated.  Total 16 vs 28, effect die stepped beyond 1d12.
All manifestations are 'eliminated'.

"Team" Cyclops fired another couple of blasts while he was talking, just to make sure the Dragoness won't be able to escape.  The only direction the winged Mutant would be heading is down

"We're done here.  Let Freedom Force wrap things up.  Shiva; get Jean. Blackwing; we're going to need an extraction at the Washington Monument" he stopped to correct himself "- the remains thereof"

In reply to Cyclops (msg # 117):

"Already got her!" Shiva replied, one of his arms formed a bubble around the unconscious hero. Although it was less a bubble and more of a full body stretcher. He was monitoring her vitals,  and had his medical kit at the ready if needed.

He made sure EMTs and Police where aware of the kids location, and proceeded to move them from the roof to the upper level of the building they where in. Trying to keep Six from constantly attempt to entertain them all was really annoying. For both him and the children in question.

Shiva also had to make sure to scan Colossus to check on weather he was ok. Were his injuries real or psychosomatic? Did Wildside's power actually knock him into a building or just convince the metal mutant to throw himself backwards into the building? It would require study needless to say. He would have to go collect the big Russian, assuming he would drill him loose of any rubble covering the hero.

He did contact Freedom Force however before the Blackbird came to pick them all up. "Nice working with you guys again! Feel free to call if you just wanna hang...or another city gets hit and you need backup. You all did a spectacular job, so you should all feel great about it!"

OOC-Stashing kids in safe place, heading for Colossus and bringing Jean along. Then taking both to meet up with Cyclops and pick up.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:01, Wed 14 Sept 2022.

Gwenyth is dumbstruck as a larger-than-life (in fact larger than most things!) copy of herself rises from the waters of the mall. Her eyes go wide as one of her worst acting memories comes to life seemingly to haunt her personally. She draws her rapier and points it at the illusion, trembling in a confused cocktail of fury, fear, and embarrassment. "N-no, that's against the rules!" she tells it. "You're not even real! I mean I guess illusions aren't real by definition but you're MORE not even real! You- Y-you... fictional... filly!" Okay, not one of her top tier insults, no. She'd like to see anyone else try trash-talking while looking right up their... own... assOHSHIT

d10 prowess + d4 approval + d12 reflexes + d6 swingline + d8 acrobatics
11:24, Today: Gwenyth Blake rolled 26 using 1d10+1d4+1d12+1d6+1d8 with rolls of 10,4,4,6,2.  Evade the ass!
+1 PP which promptly gets spent to keep an extra die. Total 20!

Gwenyth quickly swings away before she can be crushed by her own ass. And was that a civilian stuck to her stilettos?! "Oh- oh god! You- I- I am not this stupid! Stop making a mockery of me! Stop it stop it STOP IT!!!" Gwenyth tries to swing onto the nightmare to poke its eyes out with her sword like the weirdest and most vicious catfight ever, its illusionary nature momentarily forgotten in the need to wreak vengeance on her past.

The manifestation abruptly vanishes under her. "Wha-?" she manages to choke out before unceremoniously splashing into the reflecting pool face-first. Sploosh!
This message was last edited by the player at 16:38, Thu 15 Sept 2022.

In reply to Gwenyth Blake (msg # 119):

"Ummm...Gwenyth? I think ya got her. Don't worry, I got EMTs heading for the poor guy with the hurt leg." Came Shiva's voice over the commlink.

Shiva receives only petulant bubble noises in response. Maybe if she stays underwater a little while longer everyone will forget what they just saw and not ask about it.

It was too late to do anything for the man trampled by the Giant Gwenyth.  If his injury wasn't serious enough, falling, headfirst, into the ground when the 51-foot woman holding him fizzled out of his existence was the coup de grace.  At least he didn't suffer for long.

But as it turned out Jose was the only fatality that day (if you discount the four suicide bombers).  Miraculously, all the protesters made it out alive.  Some needing medical attention, but definitely alive, and that's not due to a lack of trying on behalf of the Mutant terrorists.

"STAND DOWN!!" Tank ordered, holding his badge high. His leg was killing him where 'Carnage' had bitten him, and if he had to chase anyone trying to flee the scene, he'd be plenty pissed off about it. "You are all under arrest!"

Kate roosted upon the fallen Wildside, checking to see he was still alive, if in sore need of attention, and that he wasn't going to somehow slip away in the after battle confusion.  After a few moments she realizes staying an Eagle probably isn't entirely necessary so steps off him and shifts back up, staying furry for now of course.  Modesty and secret identities both being considerations.  Also now she can talk.

And make sure wildside doesnt bleed out accidently.  As the cavalcade of emergency services slowly begin to permeate the area she looks around rather surprised to see so few bodies laying scattered about.  Hadn't more people been killed?  "Um, hey guys, how did we do?"  She asked over the coms.  "And um, are we going to be responsible for the monument?"

Seeing the giantess vanish, and believe it to actually be Gwenyth, Black Hole lands in distress, "Gwenyth! NOOOO!!!!"

The X-Men's ride was waiting for them by the time Cyclops arrived at the monument.   The Stealthy Blackbird was taken apart by Magneto a few months ago, and the replacement was nothing but a souped-up tiltrotor aircraft - painted black.

With Colossus freed from the rubble by a few precise optic blasts, the X-Men started boarding the aircraft, with Cyclops only stopping to give a short nod to Tank and Kate before going up the ramp.

"Yea, whatever" Forearm lifted all four of his arms over his head, all while giving Tank the stink-eye "Fucking traitors.  Can't you see - it's either us or them"

"Yeah, yeah," Tank replied. He took out a pair of handcuffs, then looked at Forearm. Four hands. One set of cuffs. Beyond that, Tank had some zip-ties. But none of them were going to work on a guy with any degree of super-strength. Freedom Force had yet to come up with a reasonable means of restraining super-villains. Tank put the cuffs back in his pocket. "Sit on the ground and don't move.

"You realize that the Friends of Humanity want a war with mutants, right? They were prepared to blow their own people up as an excuse to have it. Might just mean that you can't win."

"Pfff.  They are no more a threat to us than cockroaches.  If you and the X-Men weren't here we would have incinerated all of them, and it would have taken less time than this conversation we're having"

Nonetheless, he sat down on the wet grass and looked up at Tank

Shiva brought Jean on board the new Blackbird, limb Five acting as a bubble stretcher. "How come no one asked to get any work done on the plane? Between Dr McCoy and me we could have a better version up and running fairly quickly. Assuming I ever get any of the other of my thousands of projects done..." He said to the X-Men, while he sighed.

For now, his short term projects where a bit easier to finish. He had no doubt FoH would use video and cell phone footage of these events to try and smear FF and mutants in general. He would copy any cloud data he could get, and send that video off to FF's social media master Black Hole.

This data will help you guys when the anti-mutant news tries to smear you. Remember, you have the truth on your side, and the truth makes you look awesome BH! He sent to BH's commlink.

He will of course cross reference the various cell phones and texts in the days to come with the research he already did on the dark web terrorists planning to pull a stunt like this. He can start tracing the various phone messages of the bombers, as that data still existed even if the men and their phones did not. Not to mention one of those worthless dirtbags tried to blow up his own daughter along with himself and a bunch of other people. At least she was safe in police hands.

Of course BH would take credit when presenting the info to FF's superiors-but Shiva did not really care. As long as those bigots went to prison, he did not need the credit. Granted, he would like to shove another of his grim but accurate predictions into Dick Johnson's stupid face, but he would deal with the man in his own good time.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:30, Fri 16 Sept 2022.

Kate wandered over to 'forearm' and speaks up.  "Do you like things?  I'm just asking cause well, people make things."  Her voice starts rising a little as she goes on.  "Have you ever had to live alone in the wilderness?  I have!  It sucks.  Civilization is good.  People are good.  Frozen Pizza is good!  If there were no people then there would be no things."  There was a brief pause as she considered before finishing her rant over whatever he might try to interject.

"Unless you're Amish I guess.  If all us mutants were Amish I guess even if we won that war we could be happy.  Otherwise I think we're just going to be very sad we blew everybody who makes anything up."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:47, Fri 16 Sept 2022.

"You have to be alive to enjoy 'frozen pizzas', and they are not going to offer you that luxury.  You've seen the signs - "no more mutants".  It's either us or them, no other way about it"

Black Hole, having determined that Gwynneth is not dead, surveys the quiet battleground with a quiet satisfaction. But his mood turns to utter and obvious euphoria with Shiva's kind words.

The young mutant saunters over to Forearm, casually binding the terrorist in graviton handcuffs so heavy that even Tank would not be able to lift them.

"I think you missed the whole 'things' point.  Unless the what, one percent of mutants who can survive being shot are all super survivalists everybody dies and that's if we 'won'." The way her tone twists on 'things' and 'won' is true teenage art.  "You're almost as stupid as they are.  That's pretty impressive."

"So lets all go like lambs to the slaughter so humans can keep making 'things'?! Is that your solution?" Forearm scoffed at her

"You'll see: all Mutants will be part of the Mutant Liberation Front when they finally come for them.  You too. But by then it will be too late"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:15, Mon 19 Sept 2022.

The mission at Washington DC has been Freedom Force's most successful yet.  Minimal fatalities (only one, excluding the suicide bombers), and collateral damage contained to the Washington Monument, and one subway station.

But despite Freedom Force saving tens of thousands of people, apprehending most of the Mutant terrorists, and doing it without harming anyone, the media reported a distorted version of events:

Freedom Force were the ones who interfered with a peaceful rally.  They were the ones who 'murdered' four innocent protesters.  Sadistically toyed with thousands by hanging them hundreds of feet above the ground.  Deliberately destroyed the Washington Monument.
None of it was true, and proving it wasn't difficult.  The only problem was that no one was willing to listen to their side of the story.  J. Jonah Jameson's inflammatory 'Mutant Menace' headlines were selling his newspapers like hotcakes, and with anti-mutant sentiment at an all-time high a story about the Friends of Humanity planning a false flag operation sounded like a crazy conspiracy theory that would only ever grace the front pages of cheap supermarket tabloids.

It would take months before a congressional inquiry clears Freedom Force from any wrongdoing.  By that time, they would have a far more serious problem to contend with then defamation...