"Frenchie!!"

Damn it, they'd somehow found the lair! How?!

Moon Knight skidded as he turned, fighting against his momentum until he was racing back the way he came. Not only had they gotten into the lair, the Demogoblin had suckered him in the wrong direction! At top speed, he'd make it in five, maybe six minutes... but that was almost a lifetime in a crisis situation. Frenchie was as tough as they came, but could he last that long against symbiote creatures?

At least the wind was with him, letting him glide in short bursts to shorten the trip a bit and save some strength. Even still, he wasn't feeling very hopeful.

You bastards hurt Frenchie, and there will be VENGEANCE.

Looking up, to curse the rain and storm again, Domino noticed Moon Knight racing across the rooftops ... away from the directions he had been, chasing Demogoblin.

THIS piqued her curiosity ... and he looked like he was either being chased by the very devil itself, or running towards something equally important.
Maybe, just maybe, the apparent Fist Of Khonshu knew something that Domino didn't ... and needed to.

On instinct more than anything, the Femme Fatale gave chase in the hope of catching her Buddy.
Her Superhuman Reflexes gave her the best advantages she could swing for herself, and her Staff came in handy for the leaping and the jumping and so forth.

Carrion keeps a close eye on Daredevil as Spider-Man enters the rear of the truck, affording the heroes little time for any plans or preparation. Once Spider-Man is inside, the villain hits a switch to close the truck's rear gate. Without further ado, he begins driving off with the hero in tow, and in moments, he will leave Daredevil behind completely!

Daredevil's senses pick up the sound of Domino and Moon Knight nearby. But they seem to be going in the opposite direction of his protege, heading toward some new danger! He is faced with a choice: pursue Spidey alone, or try and join up with the others?
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:33, Tue 12 May 2020.

"I'll go with you, Carrion. Just let them go."

As Spider-Man makes his way into the back of the truck, he says one last thing to Daredevil without looking back.

"Daredevil. I'll go with him for now. The civilians are more important. Carnage and his twisted family are still out there. And who knows what Venom is up to? Take care of them. I'll be fine."

Daredevil is silent and motionless as Spider-Man goes away, not out of weakness but in focusing his senses to memorize every aspect of the vehicle that will allow him to track it. If the nearby innocent bystanders are accounted for, hands down he takes the option to aid his frequent partner who is in dire need -- he can catch up to the others later, and there are more of them to help each other. The horned hero can stay on the task with more precision without the distraction of others in the first place (even conscious of the fact that if he's wrong, lives could be in jeopardy).

Once the truck rounds a corner, Daredevil takes off, concentrating on the vehicle and catching up to it using short-cuts through buildings and across rooftops. He can follow Spider-Man's heartbeat for a while but the truck's stinking motor emissions are an even clearer beacon. When he gets a bead on the escaping vehicle, he can formulate the next step of the plan to get his partner out of there and take care of Carrion once and for all. "Hang in there, Spidey," Daredevil whispers, in case any kind of communication or prayer can break through.

I can make a roll to create an Asset to follow the truck or spend PP to make a Resource.

As the truck's lift gate closes behind him and everything goes dark, Spider-Man readies himself for anything. From glancing around, there doesn't appear to be anyone else inside the trailer, though. For the first time in what seems like ages, he's been given some space to relax-- ironic, given Carrion's intentions. Now might be a good time to take a look at his injuries and see what he can do about them.

Then, in the faint city light seeping in through the damaged truck exterior, the hero can see a glimmer of something in the far corner of the truck. A pair of narrowed eyes bore into him as a dark figure rises to its feet and a familiar voice growls in his direction:

"You mind your business, Parker, and we'll mind ours. We knew you didn't have what it took to save this city!"

@Daredevil Let's handle your tracking the truck as a Resource in this scene.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:19, Wed 13 May 2020.

Daredevil rushes across one rooftop then leaps to the next and the next after that, tuning his radar sense for the path in front of him, and keeping the truck on the streets beneath him. The truck makes it easy, with speeding, screeching tires, and the stink of emissions from an old motor for good measure. The distance becomes just too far to track Spider-Man's heartbeat, but the rest of the aspects of Carrion's means of escape make it a bright light in darkness. Tracking the thing is the easy part -- it could be extracting Spidey and putting down Carrion that could be the challenge. When the truck reveals itself once more on the open, nightly streets below, Daredevil smiles to himself as he starts to put together a plan, staying out of sight but pounding feet toward it.

Daredevil creates Bead on Spider-Man d8 Resource (from Covert Expert)
This message was last edited by the player at 01:26, Fri 15 May 2020.

Moving quickly, Domino manages to catch up to Moon Knight, intercepting him as he clears another rooftop. Standing before him in the rain, the mercenary appears ready to offer her assistance in whatever new mission he's taken up. She's heard a bit about this "Moon Knight" and his... unique reputation. Is the name he keeps yelling that of an ally, or is he just talking to himself, or his god or whatever? Domino knows she had better think of something to say fast before the guy decides she's in his way.

Next Action: Moon Knight
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:18, Fri 15 May 2020.

Huh. Moon Knight had thought the woman with the black circle on her eye was injured in some way, but she managed to catch up with him regardless. She might come in handy, if these symbiote creatures had indeed invaded the lair... although he supposed Frenchie didn't really indicate who was attacking. It could be just about anyone, he supposed. But no matter who it was, Frenchie needed help, and Moon Knight was going to give it.

But, like he'd thought, the woman might actually prove useful. He just needed to get her to follow him.

"Sorry," he said, sliding past her. "Can't play right now."

Smooth, Stephen said in his head. Should have let me do the talking.

Elsewhere, Tigra stirs, awakening on a nearby rooftop. Her head is spinning from the side-effects of the black pumpkin bomb. She gives a shake of her head to get the rain drops out of her hair, her skin soaking wet from the downpour.

Skin?

Somehow she's reverted to her human form. Slowly, it all comes back to her. Demogoblin... He had said something about children being in danger somewhere. No, there was another word he had used, as she was being carried away in the grip of his flying death-machine...

"Innocents."

She vaguely remembers how she got here. She'd snapped out of her vision just as they were passing by a children's hospital being overrun by more symbiote monsters and rioting citizens. She'd heard the screams as the monsters broke through the barricades, flooding into the building. She'd sensed the panic of the innocent civilians trapped inside.

Tigra had pounced on that moment to unleash a spell, breaking free of her bonds and preparing to rush to the aid of the innocent civilians. But before the monsters had advanced too far, Demogoblin himself had swooped in and taken the fight to them with a fiery barrage of pumpkin bombs! As Tigra had fallen to the roof, she must have passed out again, but now she was awake and back in fighting shape.

As Demogoblin walks out of the hospital, he can be seen leading a group of children to safety. He looks up to Tigra, his red goblin eyes strangely calm.

"Get these little ones to safety," he calls to her. "I'll forego your punishment for now."

Before Tigra can reply, the goblin boards his flying glider and takes off!
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:52, Sun 17 May 2020.

Domino hadn't been intending to stop the White knight from whatever crusade he was running towards ... or from? ... but she had hoped that he would at least slow down enough to tell her where the fire was.

"No time to rescue your friend either, huh?" she replied, as he pushed passed her.

- tap Milestone 'when you call out an ally, either for crossing the line or for not having the stomach to do what must be done'.
I understand I can do so once each scene, and this is a new scene, yes?

But as he seemed disinclined to explain himself, and she had to assume that something important had actually drawn him away from following the cat-sorcereress, she attempted to keep up with him ... in the hope that he might 'talk as they walk', so to speak.

"Wrong friend," Moon Knight said before leaping the twelve foot gap to the next building. At this point he assumed the woman would be following, so he just kept talking. "Had to pick one or the other."

He had voices in his head, but until they spawned other bodies he could only be in one place at a time, dammit. And Tigra could fight. And do magic, somehow. (He'd really need to find out where that came from, because she couldn't even control her physical form without a magic amulet last time they'd seen each other.) So she could probably defend herself a lot better than a double-amputee. Frenchie was pretty tough, but he couldn't run away if retreat was called for.

“Fair enough”, Domino replied, as she raced to keep up with the Olympic Grade athlete.
“I’ll tell you what, you throw me two clips of Incendiary when we’re done, and I’ll help you with this friend before I go on my way”, she called.
Domino had heard that the man behind that mask had been a soldier and a mercenary; so he no doubted had access to that sort of hardware, and would understand that kind of barter for her skills.

Tap Milestone ‘when you discuss payment for a deed’.

"Help me save my friend and you can raid my armory for whatever you like," Moon Knight said appreciatively. This one was a mercenary like himself, then. That was well. He knew how to deal with mercenaries. It was heroes that he failed to understand. And it was just as well that someone would put the guns and ammunition to good use; he didn't rely on them much, but he kept a good arsenal for emergencies. "Then we can go kill that flying goblin... thing."

Domino nodded, “... and the Symbiotic Freak.
And I’ll hold you to that agreement”.   She bloody well would, too.  Her choice from his armoury: Domino wasn’t going to turn that deal down.
And all she had to do to earn the prize was fuck up some folk who (probably) deserved it.

A smile of anticipation grew across her face as the two sped across the city.

After a few more minutes of travel, the odd pair of Domino and Moon Knight at last arrive. Their journey has brought them to Hell's Kitchen, where lies the empty warehouse building that Moon Knight operates out of. *Luckily, the site isn't far from Pennsylvania Plaza, where this all began mere hours ago. Thankfully, the riots have moved on, though the ground here is strewn with glass shards and debris.

The building itself is oddly quiet considering the nature of Frenchie's radio call for help. None of the alarm systems are going off, which must mean the enemy snuck inside somehow. Whatever happened, Frenchie didn't even have time to manually activate them, which must be why he radioed Moon Knight instead. The vigilantes know they had better be wary of the Active Alarm Systems which could let their enemies know they're coming.

There are a number of ways the two could proceed. The outside of the building has several Air Ducts which the two could travel through in order to sneak in from above. Moon Knight also knows of a secret basement entrance into the Freight Elevator that could allow them to surprise their enemies from below.

Of course, they could always take the direct approach, and storm in through the main entrance. But that could be suicide, even with the plentiful Warehouse Equipment lying around for them to use in the inevitable fight.

Next Roll: Moon Knight (Please choose Spidey or Tigra next)

*About 8 minutes' travel according to Google Maps.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:56, Tue 19 May 2020.

"Let's take the below-ground route," Moon Knight whispered to his new Buddy, Domino. He appreciated that she'd be able to handle herself if it came to a fight, as they were both mercenaries with a Dangerous Past. Frenchie's alarm systems would still be active, but with his Enhanced Reflexes and Enhanced Durability, the Covert Master had an excellent chance of running the gauntlet in one piece.

Moon Knight rolled 3,7,2,5,8 using d8,d8,d8,d8,d10 ((3,7,2,5,8)).

Total: 15
Effect die: d8

As a Covert Master with Superhuman Reflexes herself, and Domino assist Moon Knight with the Covert Intrusion?
Or does that require taking an action?

@Domino Yes, it would require an action. You could do it on your next turn if you choose.

Moon Knight makes his way to the secret underground entrance, with Domino not far behind. Clearly there is more going on here than appearances suggest. The whole thing smells of a trap, and if the mercenaries play their cards right, they may just get the jump on any enemies who lie in wait.

Doom Pool 1d10, 1d8
"Active Alarm Systems" d10 Scene Complication

18:10, Today: The Watcher rolled 7,6,4 using 1d10,1d10,1d8 ((7,6,4)). Moon Knight attempting to sneak into the building.

Total: 13
Effect: d8

Moon Knight succeeds in sneaking past the alarm systems on this turn.

Keeping an eye out for any sign of an ambush, Moon Knight makes his way to a hidden panel in the ground near a dumpster (What is it with the dumpsters tonight?). Sliding it to one side, he can see into the underground passageway beyond. This is the entrance that leads to the Freight Elevator, and eventually, to where Frenchie must be.

But far away from here, another ally is dealing with his own problems. If his injuries and concern for Carrion's hostage weren't enough to deal with, it seems Spider-Man has also been confronted with yet another unpleasant reunion. For sharing the cramped quarters of his makeshift prison is none other than Eddie Brock, also known as Venom!

Next Action: Spider-Man
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:31, Wed 20 May 2020.

Venom looks at Spider-Man with that familiar expression of contempt. It's almost a comforting sight on this dark, dangerous night.

"Relax, spider. We're not here to fight you... for now. Just to remind you of what's at stake."

He slams a fist against the metal wall of the trailer, pointing an accusatory finger at Spidey in the dim city light filtering in.

"We didn't expect you to fall so easily to that skinny punk, Carrion. Not when there are innocents out there that need protecting."

He doesn't seem to know anything about Carrion's hostage.

"Venom..."

The words seethe out of the usually friendly mouth of the wall-crawler. Although Spider-Man's face is entirely covered with his (some would say iconic) webbed mask, the large, white eyes that covers a large portion of his disguise seem to narrow with a look that is unmistakably a scowl.

Venom is one of my deadliest foes. I don't know what his motives are, or if they'll change at a moment's notice. For now, I'll have to keep my guard up until I can get out of him what he's up to.

"So you're working with Carrion and this demented Symbiote and his family, Brock? This really isn't my night."

Despite Venom's assurance, Spider-Man stands ready for an attack. His fists stay clenched, his legs apart, and his posture looking as if he could pounce in a fraction of a second.

"I'm not the only hero in New York, you know. I've got plenty of friends out there helping the innocent people. Carrion took a hostage, and I saw no other way to save them except to meet his demands...for now. I'm not going to let them get away with this rampant murder and chaos."

DEADLY FOES OF SPIDER-MAN
1 XP when you declare a villain as an old foe.

"Lots of friends out there, huh?" Venom snorts. "You mean like all those so-called 'heroes' that Carnage and his gang have been rounding up all over town?"

He gestures to the trailer walls and ceiling that serves as their temporary jail.

"A lot of other do-gooders have taken a ride on the Carnage-Mobile tonight, spider. What, did you think we were just taking a road trip or something?"

Venom's eyes narrow. "No... He's taking us back to their hideout. But that's OK, because we have a plan, and you're going to help us..."

As Daredevil pounds feet across the city's roofs in keeping up with the truck that is carting Spider-Man away, a thought flits back: Why was that crowd of people rioting? Was mind-control to blame? If so, by whom? But the notion in his mind shuts off when the moment comes for his body to act: The truck on the street below plows into a semi in an intersection, not enough to stop it but to slow enough that maybe it could be accessed from a lower building between here and there. Maybe. If the angles are just right and the jump doesn't over- or under-shoot and Carrion doesn't speed up suddenly or put on the brakes or -- So many variables he doesn't have the time for. This instant for action will only come once -- if there's any more to it then he's a dead hero. The city is an enormous smear of distractions for his senses, overwhelming sensation unless he concentrates, and so much pressing on him, have to get this just right --

Slam! An explosion of noise from inside the trailer, then another, sinister voice, not far from where Spidey must be, brings DD back into focus, and becomes a clear target for his senses. With that, he knows just where he needs to go. And so, not taking even another breath to think otherwise, he takes the leap from the building, waiting for his next thought to be that he made contact with landing on the top of the truck.

Venom's gaze flits to the ceiling as there is a light thump from above.

"Friend of yours, huh?" he says to Spider-Man. "Good. We'll need him. Now, listen up, spider, because we don't want to repeat ourselves."

Venom folds his arms and leans against the side of the truck. His symbiotic mask retracts so Parker can make out the details of his face in the dim light.

"Carnage and those other freaks hit the Life Foundation building a few hours ago. We-- the symbiote and I-- followed them there and got the jump on Kasady. We were about to take his head off when Shriek and Demogoblin showed up. Sonics and fire... It wasn't a fair fight."

His pride clearly wounded, he waves a hand as if not wanting to discuss the details.

"When we woke up, they had locked us in some kind of symbiote extraction machine. Carrion had used the damn thing on us... Split us apart!"

He shakes his head as if reliving the experience, before taking a breath and continuing on.

"We played dead. Listened as Carrion studied us. He said the symbiote had mutated our blood somehow. But he had no idea just what that meant. He thinks we're a sitting duck right now, and we'll let him keep on thinking that right until he takes us to where the others are."

He lifts his own arm, the symbiote peeled back to expose his bare flesh. Drawing a sharpened finger against his own skin, Eddie watches as blackish ooze drips from the wound.

"As you can see, spider, the Venom symbiote and Eddie Brock are still one! Even separated, the symbiote regenerates in our bloodstream. A perfect copy!"

He looks at Spider-Man, his expression already telling the hero what he is thinking.

"And if this mutation happened with us..." Brock continues. "Then the same must be true for Carnage. If removing his symbiote won't work, there's only one way to deal with him, spider..."

Venom dons his mask again, his white eyes narrowed into slits.

"No more games. As soon as we see Kasady, we kill him on the spot!"

In reply to The Watcher (msg # 125):

Demogoblin was asking Tigra something about children...wait- no, commanding her? Saving her?  No. Something else was going on.  She had to be careful.
Her head was pounding and she had her human hands again.
He’s letting me go. Am I in his debt now? What is he doing here and what was he planning on doing with me?

The crying and screaming children felt like a punch to the gut.
She rushed them all away from the chaos. “Follow me, little ones. I'll take you to safety.”
Tigra opened a portal, the den to the Sanctum Sanctorum on the other side, Wong looking up from his Chronicles of Narnia book, sitting in his cushy big red chair.
"Wong, can you get these children to safety, please? I don't know what's going on...I.. need you to take them and contact their guardians.”

Tigra found herself crying, a huge wave of emotion rushing over her, she remembered all the people she had failed. My Cat People...Oh, how it hurt to think of her first husband. Of Russ, her current husband so far away from her. And Domino - I hope she's okay, I can't believe I didn't put a protection spell on her. And was that Moon Knight who was helping them out?

"Tigra, you're the Sorceress Supreme. You'll know what to do," reassured Wong as the last of the children went through and the portal closed.

Tigra had a heavy heart. All she wanted  was to be back home, wrapped in a blanket, eating some waffles, and sipping on warm tea. She had no  idea of where she was or what was happening. Perhaps she ought to backtrack to her team, but right now it she was a wreck.

Tigra, crying, sat amongst the chaos, took a deep breath and tried to heal.
Solo d8
Mystical Legend (failing as one) d4
Mystic Master d10, converted to 2d8

16:53, Today: Tigra rolled 4,4,3,8 using d8,d4,d8,d8 for healing emotional damage.

Total: 12
Effect die: d8
No opportunities
PP: 1 + 1 from d4