Ace, Punching Bag, Virginia

It should have been an easy day.

The first week of University beginning and summer was showing no sign of letting up.  Everything was hot and dry--even on the West coast.  Seagulls cried and circled overhead silhouetted by the deep blue sky, marred only by the rare cumulus clouds too far apart to be more than the memory of rain.

But all morning sirens had been going off.

This close to the hospital district, it wasn't a particularly unusual sound, but they were usually more distant, less distracting.

It wasn't until the power went out that things started to feel like maybe there was actually something going on.

The power flickered back on after a moment, and Kevin's telephone started ringing.

Cythi and Marie were off-site somewhere, but when Marcus called, he was so excited, he was almost breathless   "Turn to channel five! King Five News!"

There was yelling and too many sounds for the news cameras to pick up very much details.  There were crowds of people running all over the place.  It looked reminiscent of those end-of-the-world movies where people fled an impending tsunami or alien death-ray.

But as they watched, the camera panned down to a thing... a mountainous man-shaped thing that looked like he was made of actual living rocks... orange rocks!   It lifted a full-sized car like it was nothing and it into the air.

The camera panned to follow the arc of the VW Beetle as it narrowly missed another man, suspended in the air and wreathed in bright red flame.  It looked like the human torch just laughed, which enraged the rock thing even more!

"So far, it looks like the fight erupted out of the King County Courthouse.  These people--it looks there's just two of them--don't seem to be aware of the innocent bystanders.  We haven't seen a metahuman feud like this nearly ten years!  Neither of these two are known to us--"

But the broadcast was cut short as a gout of flame arced in the general direction of the helicopter.

The pilot deftly veered out of the way but lifted up and the camera lost it's view of the combatants.

"We're--We're pulling back to a safer distance.  Sheriff's department and Seattle PD are doing what they can to get people to safety.  A police advisory has been issued warning people to stay away from the King County Court area!"

on downtown, somewhere near the King County Courthouse--less than a dozen blocks away from the Piassa Square!
This message was last edited by the player at 04:23, Fri 25 Nov 2022.

Virginia was standing there working on mini tub of ice cream. Her spoon slowed down as she watched the news cast, a little confused.

"Hey, do we know any of those people? I don't recognize them. Is this live? Like right now??"

For the moment her mind was trying to make simple logic of what she saw. It had not dawned on her that there was a situation at hand.

Kevin was eating some leftover pizza when he was watching the news. He was so confused why the two were fighting and why they hadn’t just moved the fight somewhere remote. People were going to get hurt. He looked over at Stitches who looked back and nodded. They both ran to the armored car with Stitches’ medical bag and sped off toward the fight. Kevin was putting on his hero outfit with shiny silver pants and helmet to obscure his face. They arrived on scene and tried to take it all in.

Virginia continued to be confused. She watched Kevin and Stitches clamor out of the room and heard them fire up the armor car beginning to leave.

"Oh! Oh!" she said out loud and ran to the fridge, sticking her ice cream in the freezer. She tried to hurry but could not go with sticky fingers, that would be the worst. She took about thirty seconds to wash her hands and dry them off.

Then she put on her game face and turned fairy. Out of the base she flew at top speed!

Cameron sees the news report and gasped in shock, then her face went hard as the situation reminded her of when her parents were killed.  She quickly pulled on her outfit, a spandex, sleeveless bodysuit that hugged her body tightly, a pair of minimist running shoes and finished with a half mask/eye goggles that covered up the top of her face as she was floating out of her room and down the hallway to see who else had seen the broadcast.

She sees Virginia in her fairy form flying out the door and quickly catches up to the blonde. "I take it you saw the broadcast as well," she asked as the two were flying out of the base. "We better get there quickly, before anyone gets hurt. I can hit 500 mph, how about you?" She asked quickly, not sure of Virginia's top speed.

If she was faster, she would offer for Virginia to hang on as she speed up. If Virginia was faster, she would accept a speed boost or urge Virginia to go ahead.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:04, Sun 26 Feb 2023.

Virginia looks over with slight irritation at the top speed question.

"Yeah I don't know what is going on but it is cutting in on ice cream time. They better have a good excuse, else I am going to have to fairy the hatchet."

She stepped over and rode on Cameron.

Virginia's top speed is 120.

Marcus responded.  "I'm running searches on them.  Flying fire-guy and that... thing shouldn't be too hard to find.  I'll let you know when I get anything..."

It didn't take them long at all to get into the area.  Though a sizable crowd was scattering in the other direction.  A handful of uniforms--police, a couple of sheriffs and some correction or security guards--were erecting a barricade.   It actually seemed like they'd had some sort of protocol in place for this kind of thing.  Their goal was to create a perimeter around the courthouse buildings and a block or two in either direction to minimize the impact of the metahuman conflict.

But there were some elements that were too much of a concern.  A couple of cars had been overturned and it wasn't clear if there were people inside.


A heart-stopping sounds of an explosion and shattering glass along with the accompanying shock strike you all without warning, causing the ground to tremble and the air to fill with a thick oily grey-blue smoke that roiled ominously outward.

The flying man of flame hovered in the air, his expression too far off to ascertain, but his posture spoke of shock and surprise.  The thing he was fighting couldn't be seen through the smoke.  This was ground-zero for something.

A bomb.  At the federal courthouse.

The fleeing, panicked crowds and hopelessly jammed roads make you and the handful of uniforms the only first-responders available for the critically injured now.

Ace was stunned as the bomb went off and she was momentarily transported back to another explosion.  One where she was tossed out a window and that killed her parents.  Then her face turned hard, "That was a bomb!  I am going in!"  She called out to Virginia who was riding on her and Kevin down on the ground talking to Marcus.  She knew exactly how far the Court building was from her and she approached as fast as possible, looking for anyone in trouble!!  She would fly right past the flaming man as she looked for anyone in immediate danger.

Kevin and Stitches arrived in the armored car. They parked and PB raced to where the cars were flipped over checking for survivors. Any that were found had the remains of the carefully carefully ripped out of the way to where he could picked them up and transport them to the other side of the barricade where Stitches was. “Officers, I will rescue the people in the flipped cars and bring them here. My associate here is a medical doctor.”

Stitches was all business as he raced out of the car with his heavily laden doctor bag to the edge of the barricade. He stopped in front of the officers as PB introduced him. “As he said gentlemen, I am a medical doctor and have brought supplies. I will need something soft or a table for the victims to lay on, so I can dress their wounds. If any of you have any sort of medical training you will assist me.”This was more of an order instead of a request. He got to work on the first injured person.

Virginia hopped off Ace and hovered in the air watching. She did not know who these people were or even what was going on. It was likely the orange rock man was currently obscured by the smoke. She flew into it to try and him.

Two of the police officers huddled behind one of the barricades.  the side of the face of one of them was covered in blood and dust.   "The green CR-V."  He called to Punching Bag.  The vehicle had been pushed up over the curb, against the only green-space in the immediate area.   It held a small glass one-storey building who's front had ben entirely demolished by the blast.  was on the driver's side, the engine still running, the windows shattered and a pool of iridescent liquid was pouring out around them.   "If that flaming guy gets too close..."

The human torch hovered in the air, his face contorted in shock and disbelief.

The Orange rock-thing stood centered, his own face oddly distorted and his eyes flashing a bright searing red.  "Aw, kid, what did you do?" he bawled, "There was people here!  Jesus!"

"Me?" The Torch shot back, and his eyes blazed yellow, fire within fire.   "Ben, Calm down.  That wasn't--"

But the Thing had hefted a chunk of concrete the same size as him and threw it effortlessly at the flaming man.

--

"It's worse than that!" One of the other guys said.  "Gas, water and sewage run under this road!"

In a matter of enormous good luck, despite the amount of property damage the two metas and the bomb did to the surround area, there weren't that many people in the blast radius.   Their fighting likely cleared the area out.

A cool wind blew through the area, teasing the smoke apart into smaller plumes from their respective sources, revealing four or five vehicles damaged--the CRV and a black sedan of some sort appeared to be overturned.  A rupture in the middle of the street was also smoking.  It looked like some of the city infrastructure might have been damaged.

One of the sheriffs reached over to his radio, and called his dispatch.  "Central this is Two-Fifteen.  If you're evacuating, you're going to want to go out 3rd Avenue.  These guys aren't letting up."

"Okay..." Marcus called out over the comms.  "I've got a potential match.  Elementals.  Fire-guy and Earth guy.  <i>The Human Torch and The Thing. Heh.  Original names.  There's supposed to be A Water-Guy and an Air-Girl.  Ah...  She was appearing in court for... indecent exposure?.  Seeing if I can get their profiles..."</i>

Whoops.  Kinda floundering here.  Ran out of time.  Will give a little more detail on the CRV tomorrow.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:01, Wed 08 Feb 2023.

As the smoke cleared Virginia pulled up. The rock person looked like someone she had seen before. A good guy. She could not be certain but decided to try communicating before doing anything that might exacerbate the situation. She hovered a bit close to his face hoping to distract him and obscure his vision a bit.

"Hey! Stop! What is going on here?" she pleaded.

Ace was trying to find the source of the explosion and see if anyone was in trouble, flying into the dust cloud.

Virginia

The Thing stopped momentarily, cocked his head to one side, then--almost agonizingly slowly--they focused on Vir4ginia's diminutive form hovering only a few feet away.

"Aw, Jeez."  he muttered under his breath.  "Look, lady... girl.  The hothead's all kinds of messed up.   He's not in his right mind.  You gotta get him away from here! He's dangerous!"

The Thing looked up at where the Human Torch dodged the enormous chunk of concrete.  The flying torch moved with speed and grace, and an alacrity that suggested he'd practiced these kinds of moves.  He was an expert in aerial tactics.  Probably on par with Ace.

"The kid.   The kid with the tentacles.  He did something. And Johnny just--He was always a hothead, but he ain't thinkin' straight."  Under all that orange shale-like rock, the Thing's eyes were blue.  Deep, sorrowful, and surprisingly, full of emotion.  Pleading.

Ace

From the air, there actually appeared to be three smoking craters.

The first blast must have been on the first floor of the King County Chinook building.  The marble and glass first floor was a mess of shattered glass and twisted steel.   The front end of the "Diva Espresso" bar that served the courthouse and corrections crowd was gutted, and there was movement inside, blanketed by a thick wall of smoke.  A trio--maybe more--were huddled behind some of the wreckage, obviously in fear of coming out while the metahumans fought in the streets.

The second blast--and the one that appeared to have done most of the damage, was right smack in the middle of the intersection between Jefferson St and 5th Ave.  Only a block from City hall and Police Headquarters!  The intersection itself was a large crater--twice the size of the other blasts.   The pavement was scorched black and cratered, the crater itself slowly filling with brackish brown water.  All the area inside the crater continued to give off smoke and ash.

The last blast was in a smoking crater in the green space besides James Street, across the street from the correction building.  It didn't look like much damage, though some of the small glass structure at the bottom of the hill had collapsed.  There were some floors underground with an open pit showing some parked cars below, but the blast didn't appear to have gone deep enough to affect them too badly.  That blast was probably more smoke and noise than anything else.

Punching Bag
Now that I've had a little time to collect my thoughts...

There were maybe a half dozen vehicles that had been blown off the street by the blasts.  The green Honda CRV was the most obvious one, rocking back and forth on it's driver's side.  The driver's side appeared to have taken the brunt of the blast and flipped the car over.  It had rolled to a stop at the foot of the Goat Hill Garage Park green-space, where an earlier blast looked like it had gone off.  The CRV had gasoline pooling around the vehicle. One of the injured policemen had indicated that there had been someone in the vehicle before the intersection blast went off.

A couple of late model four-door sedans looked like they'd been swept away by a giant hand, but they didn't look like they'd been occupied.  Another vehicle--a little red Toyota job had been thrown from the blast into the first floor of the Chinook building, trapping a handful of people in the Diva Espresso that had been in the corner.

They were hemmed in by the smoking wreckage.  It was unclear if there was fire as the smoke and intermittent lighting cast spooky shadows and horror-lighting over everything beyond the vehicle.

A couple of the uniforms were huddled behind makeshift road barricades, but the things were made of heavy-duty plastic and weren't going to provide much protection against blasts of that kind of intensity.  They weren't intended to.  They were simply intended to redirect traffic and guide people away from the fight between the Thing and the Human Torch.

But by the time the three of them--Punching Bag, Virginia and Ace had arrived on scene, there were already additional police piling out of the police headquarters a block away, and sirens could be heard nearby.  There were two fire stations and an emergency medical within ten blocks.  Presumably they had protocols for dealing with this kind of situation.

Okay, that's a bit more cohesive and detailed.  What do you all wanna do?

Ace sped over to the Diva Espresso, "Does anyone need immediate medical attention?  I can get you to the paramedics!" She called into the cafe as she floated in through the shattered wall as she looked at the people huddled behind the wreckage of the shop. "If you are alright, stay here and out of sight!  We are working to calm the situation down." She reassured the citizens inside the cafe.

OOC: looking to see if anyone needs immediate medical attention.  If no one does, she would fly to the second bomb blast and check it out.  If someone does, she will stabilize them enough for safe transport to paramedics.
Treatment roll:  00:53, Today: Ace rolled 12 using 1d20+4.  Treatment Roll.
Perception for any threats: 00:54, Today: Ace rolled 23 using 1d20+7.  Perception.

There wasn’t much Kevin could do about the gasoline pooling around the CR-V, but he could get the driver out. He righted the car and ripped the door off before gently taking the driver out and to Stitches on the other side of the barricade. The wrestler overheard what the Thing was saying and rushed over to join him and Virginia. “So will tiki torch up there turn off if I knock him out? That way we can get the situation under control and take this somewhere else.”

"Tentacles?" Virginia questioned out loud. She quickly buzzed out of Thing's line of sight and hovered next to his head watching the Human Torch too.

Seeing Kevin she pointed at the torch and said, "I think he has had some kind of mental attack. A boy with tentacles started this."

"Tentacles?" Marcus said over the comms. "Running that search now...  Hold on.  Nope.  Got a girl, too old...  what the hell?"  he grunted in frustration.  "This isn't helping.  Okay, your rock guy.  The Thing.   Apparently, he's got almost no sense of touch.  No sense of strength, and there's a serious case of stubbornness and anger-control issues.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:29, Wed 15 Feb 2023.

Punching Bag

The driver of the CR-V was a young man in a once-white shirt.   There was blood across his front, but it looked like spray from his face, rather than arterial bleeding from traumatic damage to his torso.   The airbag had deployed, but he'd still gone face-first into the bag, then the driver-s side window, when the vehicle rolled onto it's side.

When Punching Bag ripped the door off, the man was frantically trying to scrabble into the back-seat, but couldn't because his seat-belt was still on.  There was a child's car-seat in the back, rooted and facing rear.   The car-seat was empty.  A purple plastic Ursula figurine from the Little Mermaid, it's hair a frizzy halo of lavender excitement.


Marcus continued his analysis feed. "Yeah...  if you can get a good hit in on the kid, he's likely to be out of the picture.  Reports are unclear if he controls fire or becomes fire.  Short him on O2 and you'll take him out, too...I think."


--
OOC: Punching Bag... You'd actually recognize Ben Grimm as a wrestler from your own days in the Stormfront arenas.  Though he's grown much more rocky, more angular.  Play that however you want.   He's a lot less human-looking now.

While the Fantastic Four references are such an easy shorthand for appearances and power-levels, the backstory doesn't need to be the same.

This message was last edited by the player at 03:30, Wed 15 Feb 2023.

Perception for any threats: 00:54, Today: Ace rolled 23 using 1d20+7.  Perception.

Ace

There are maybe a dozen people in the remains of Diva Espresso.  The "back of house" area is crowded, and not immediately inaccessible.  One of the ones out front appears to be an off-duty or plain-clothes law-enforcement, as he appeared to have a firearm, but it was holstered and on his hip.   He was busy trying to build up rubble into some sort of blockade from what was going on outside.

He indicated that there was a mother and child in the back.  The mother had been knocked unconscious buy the explosion and he didn't know how bad it was.  She was breathing but not conscious.   Her child appeared uninjured, but was distressed and, apparently, asthmatic.  He was going to need attention soon.


Because Ace rolled so very well on the perception roll, you actually twig to something else in the scene...   The blast at Diva Espresso took out most of the frontage, but it also exposed much of the level immediately beneath the cafe. And there appeared to be some people moving below.  Other survivors, perhaps?

At least, that's what Ace thought... until she noticed the telltale bright orange of a prisoner's jumpsuit in the movement in the area beneath Diva Espresso.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:42, Wed 15 Feb 2023.

"Shit!" Ace hissed as she noticed the orange jump suited men below, she turned toward the officer as she pointed down at the fleeing men, "A jail break is in process!  Get word to the police! I will see if I can stop them!" 

She wondered if she should see to the mother and child first, but there were other people up here who could help them, no one else was in position to stop the escaping prisoners.

She flew down, twisting her way through the wreckage of the floor to come up upon the fleeing prisoners, zipping past them to get in front as she stopped, blocking their path forward as she hovered in the air!  "Surrender! Boys!"  She ordered them, ready to defend herself, "this escape route is closed!"

"Keep him busy." Virginia said to the big stone guy.

"And someone get some fire equipment in here closer! Water truck, extinguishers!" she shouted to no one in particular. "I am going to try and get him down here with us."

She shot off flying laterally from the scene.

OCC
Virginia is going to stay just above peoples heads and fly way off to the side of where the thing and the human torch are going at it. She hopes he will lose track of her. She is pretty small ya know. Then she is going to climb up above him, come over, and descend upon from behind with a dust attack.

Kevin unbuckles the man then moves to remove the passenger door to check for the child that was missing in the seat. “I’m here to help. What is your child’s name? I’ll get both of you out of here.”

Punching Bag

"Cel... Celeste." the man looked around bleary-eyed and distant, a pretty clear sign of a concussion, likely head trauma.   Punching Bag had dealt with his share of concussions back in the day and knew it was no laughing matter.    He had to be careful getting the guy out of there, lest there was more serious injury to his neck or spine.

The guy tried to turn in Kevin's grasp, to look at the back-seat, and Kevin could feel him tense up.  "Where's my little girl?"  His grip on Kevin's shoulder tightened.  Ir wasn't enough to faze Punching Bag at all.  Certainly not enough to hurt him, even.  But he could feel the man's abject fear.

"Princesa!" he called out... but it was lost in the inchoate rage of the Thing's shout, behind Punching Bag.

More worrisome was the fact that there simply didn't appear to be a child in the vehicle at all..  The straps that should have held a child in the car-seat were undone. hanging loosely on either side.  It didn't look like it had been forcefully broken or as if there had been any struggle.


Punching Bag doesn't have the Treatment level to make an assessment of the guy's condition, so he doesn't have a great idea of the level of risk here.  But there's no doubt Punching Bag has the strength to get the guy out of the vehicle.  Does he have the finesse?

I think a straight Dexterity check at DC12 is called for here.    It's just a little above an average action, because the guy isn't cooperating a whole lot, as he seems to be frantically concerned about his child.  Write the success or failure as you see fit, and we'll move on...

Virginia

"Keep him busy." Virginia said to the big stone guy.

The thing gave Virginia a slightly confused look, then shrugged shook his head.  He looked up at the Human Torch and bellowed a roar of almost inchoate rage.


Control, on behalf of Virginia, rolled 16 using 1d20+6.  Insight on The Thing.
Virginia had the distinct feeling that the rock guy  wasn't so much angry as he was using his anger and his imposing form to act angry.  A subtle distinction, but she got the feeling he knew precisely what he was doing...  Perhaps he wasn't quite the out-of-control creature he seemed to be at the center of everything.  He was going to get crucified by the media for this.

Virginia shouted her directions to the emergency personnel, but there was rubble and police blockades in the way.  It would take some time for the the fire-engines to get nearby.


"And someone get some fire equipment in here closer! Water truck, extinguishers!" she shouted to no one in particular. "I am going to try and get him down here with us."
This is downtown.   There are definitely fire hydrants nearby!



I like it when there isn't any specific solution to get the desired results.  Seeing the players/characters work out a possibilities is awesome.

"she hopes he will lose track of her."
That calls for a Stealth Roll.  The Torch rolled, actually, really well for an opposed roll.  His notice was Notice(+18).  At this point, you only need to roll to ensure that you don't botch it with a natural dice roll of 1d20(+1).

Then she is going to climb up above him, come over, and descend upon from behind with a dust attack.
So, If you don't botch it, this'll be a surprise attack, and the stealth roll will give The Torch the Vulnerable condition for that attack, which halves his active defenses.

So... make the Stealth roll: 1d20 + Stealth(+20) vs DC18.
if successful, I'm assuming you're doing the Area Burst, which means you'll need to get within 30-feet of the Torch when you write it up...

Ace

Ace flew down to the exposed level beneath Diva Espresso, finding herself in a cement area with yellow stripes and arrows on the floor.  The upper level of a parkade!

As she zipped past thee men, she noted that there were half a dozen men in nondescript paramilitary gear.  Black and olive colors.  They seemed to have guns, but none of the weapons were drawn.  Except for one of the masked men in the front with what looked like an over-sized, blocky heavy pistol.

There were two people in orange surrounded by the commandoes.  One, a thick-set black man with dark glasses and a shaved head.  He had manacles on but he moved with a surety and calmness that utterly belied the situation.   Behind him was a woman, but her head was covered by what appeared to be a burlap sack.  She was also manacled, and appeared to be wearing blue nitrile or latex surgical gloves.  She showed not a single inch of exposed flesh.

"Surrender! Boys!"  Ace ordered them, ready to defend herself, "this escape route is closed!"

The three commandoes in the front took immediate defensive positions and the leader raised his blocky weapon to aim at Ace.

"It don't have to be this way."  He said, his voice a surprisingly pleasant baritone.  "There's lots of opportunity to be a hero up-top."

Your call.  If you wanna engage, then it's time for initiative.  If you wanna prolong the discussion or back off... it's your call. 
This message was last edited by the player at 05:42, Thu 23 Feb 2023.

Virgina buzzed about eight feet off the ground toward the east, just above people's heads. There had to be better things for the flaming man to concentrate on than her. After about seventy five yards she began ascending, the beginning of a large looping movement. Up and outward she went, the beginning of the move. The giant arc she followed gradually brought her around until she was coming back toward the human torch from behind and above. Every now and then she would glance down toward the thing. She had to make sure he was not throwing anything that might hit her.

A slight smirk grew on her face as she began to get close. Was it possible she could pull a move off on one of these world class personalities? She pushed the thought aside. It would probably be only luck if she did!

She dove toward the torch and shot a load of pixie dust!

20:55, Today: Virginia rolled 26 using 1d20+20.  Stealth roll.

20:41, Today: Virginia rolled 21 using 1d20+1.  roll to not botch it

“Sir sir! Stop squirming. I’ll help get her. Just stop mov…”The man then clocked the back of his head against Kevin’s forehead knocking him out. Kevin sighed and took the man to Stitches before searching the car and the surrounding area again. He needed to find this kid soon in order to help out the others.

12:58, Today: Punching Bag rolled 9 using 1d20.  DC 12 dex check.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:01, Sat 25 Feb 2023.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 32):

Ace frowned as she hovered in the air in front of the 6 armed men and 2 prisoners, "You are right, you can help me escort these two prisoners back to the police," she responded with an arched eyebrow. She was wearing a half mask with shaded eye goggles to protect her eyes in flight and help hide her identity.  She was wearing blue tight sleeveless bodysuit with thin soled running shoes.

She was delaying for time, hoping the officer above got word to the police and her teammates.  they really needed to setup short range radio communications, although being underground might have stopped that transmission anyway.  But she needed to give time for people above to start mobilize to help her, this was a bit more than she expected.  What comes with flying into a situation before properly evaluating it.

"The police know that you are here, I warned people before I came to slow you down," she sorta bluffed, "I don't have to take you all out, just delay you." She was eyeing the men and their weapons, ready to disarm the leader of his heavy pistol the moment it looked like he was getting ready to shot, trusting her enhanced reaction speeds.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:23, Sun 26 Feb 2023.

Punching Bag

Getting the man to Stitches and the one EMT who had been on-scene when they'd arrived was easy enough--easier than it would have been now that he was unconscious.   But the emergency personnel who'd actually been on-site or nearby when the blasts went off didn't recall seeing any children at all in the area.

it hadn't even been that busy, as the Thing and Human Torch had pretty much cleared the area before the blasts went off.  The car the man had been in had come down the Jefferson Street Hill, from the direction of the King County Correctional Administrative building parking lot as they were erecting the barricades.  The blasts went off before they could flag him and direct him out of the site.   But he'd been alone in the car, so far as they could tell.


So, there's the question... take it as that (that Celeste wasn't there and the driver was alone), or investigate further?  If you investigate further... how?

Virginia

You most certainly didn't botch. 
She dove toward the torch and shot a load of pixie dust!
Torch rolled 18 vs DC20, takes one degree, which confers the "Dusted" descriptor
Flying towards him is one Move action, dusting is another Move action.  Cylinder Weight


What I hope to do is sink him to the ground where he can be dealt with easier. I think the Cylinder Weight of Gravity is the power I want??
I see three in your array that would work.

Option A:
Move One Item: Move Object 10 would work.  You'd need to "grab" the Torch with the power.  That'll take a Standard Action.  He'll be able to resist as he's grappling with your power effect.  Once he's "grabbed" you can move him, but you can't do both at the same time...  and he can try to overcome the grapple in the next and subsequent rounds. You can also move to a safe distance to hit him with this... (225/450/900 feet)
Roll 1d20 + Move Object(10) vs DC18 to grab him... If successful, you'll dash him to the ground next turn

Option B:
Cylinder Move Stuff: Cylinder Area Move Object 7 will also work but if there's anything else in the area--including any of your excess pixie-dust, or a big chunk of concrete that The Thing has thrown, it'll all get the gravity kick.  We don't have selective in this, so you can't pick and choose. This is a Sustained Action, so if successful, you can keep the pressure on while you do other stuff. Also, same deal as the previous one, but it applies to everything in that area...  You can also move to a safe distance to hit him with this... (175/350/700 feet)
Roll 1d20 + Move Object(7) vs DC18 to grab him (and anything else in the cylinder)

Option C:
F: Cylinder Weight of Gravity: Concentration Cylinder Area Affliction 10 This is the Slow Crush option. It's definitely not a kill move.  Everything in a 30-foot radius is hit by the affliction.  The big difference here is that this is an immediate effect a concentration duration, so if you're doing this, you'll want to keep it going each combat-round, and that'll be your Standard Action until you let up.  You can move, but you can't do anything else as a Standard Action.  He can still resist, but it's not a grapple set-up...  Also, this is a Close-ranged attack.  Which means you need to be right there.... There's a risk, mostly if he should he see you, of you getting burnt.
Roll 1d20 + Move Object(10) vs DC17 to apply the the affliction


Ultimately, it's your call.  Anything you do will move the story forward.

Ace

The lead-man stopped as if considering, then sighed loudly, dramatically even.

"I don't know..."  he said, but it was with the sort of annoying smirk that said he had no intention of surrendering.

"Bertolt." the big black man said calmly.  "A second delay is unacceptable.  Deal with her, please.  Remember the agreement."

The lead-man's eyes didn't leave Ace.  "Yeah, no bloodshed.  I gotcha.  Look... miss...  It's nothing personal.  but I got a ferry to catch."

Did he say faerie??

She was eyeing the men and their weapons, ready to disarm the leader of his heavy pistol the moment it looked like he was getting ready to shot, trusting her enhanced reaction speeds.
The only one armed with a firearm in the entire group appears to be the guy in the lead.  His tactical gear seemed more composed of ceramic plates and foam or rubberized joints.  The others looked to be run-of-the-mill mooks and henchmen, from what she could see.  Standard infiltration gear: all black with probably kevlar chest and leg armor, but mostly unprotected.  There were some combat knives, but everything looked so shiny brand new, as if they'd just been outfitted.

While the lead-man addressed Ace, the others fanned out a little bit, the rear three fanning out in a triangle around the two prisoners.

The woman called out.  "Uh, hey. Guys?" she said, "I'm sorry to interrupt here, but is this going to be a macho showdown where you make a point of showing the lone hero just how much of a threat you are?  'Cause that's so cliche.  Maybe if you actually tell her what's going on, this won't have to end with a--"

But, as would be expected... the lead-guy raised his boxy pistol.  Ace could see a bluish light glistening from within the barrel...


--
Yup. Initiative call, please.




They actually weren't really well prepared for a firefight.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:01, Fri 03 Mar 2023.

Ace frowned as Bertolt was reminded no bloodshed, she didn't understand why the criminals would care about that.  But she wasn't given much time to figure out what that meant, let alone the woman's attempt to de-escalate the situation, because Bertolt was raising his weapon as a strange blue glow started emanating from it.

Everything slowed down as she moved, twisting as she surged forward moving to his side as she attempted to relieve Bertolt of his heavy pistol by striking at his wrist to knock the pistol out of his hand. "Ah ahhh, You might hurt someone with this!" And then zipping back out of his reach, hopefully with his pistol in hand.


[OOC:
01:13, Today: Ace rolled 28 using 1d20+12.  Initiative +12.  That is a pretty damn high Initiative, so just going ahead and posting her action. ;)

Disam attack: Strike arm to knock pistol out of hand:
tohit: 01:25, Today: Ace rolled 21 using 1d20+14.  tohit Bertolt.
Damage roll vs strength to disarm:  01:26, Today: Ace rolled 21 using 1d20+6.  disarm effect.]

Virginia was successful as a wave of dust washed over the flaming man. With all the flickering, how would he even notice? She began to concentrate and see if she could bring him down.


I will go with Cylinder Weight of Gravity for now. For the moment he is unaware of me. I can try the others from a distance later if I must but I will try for the affliction steps while he is oblivious .
19:37, Today: Virginia rolled 23 using 1d20+10.  cylinder weight of gravity apply affliction to torch.

Kevin decided it might have been a ploy for the man to try and escape, so he decided there wasn’t a little girl there. Hearing there were criminals escaping underground, Kevin came to Ace’s aid and used his super speed to run down into the hole and punch the lead man in the back while trying to wrap his forearm around the man’s throat.

14:34, Today: Punching Bag rolled 20 using 1d20+8.  Wrestling style punch lead man.
14:34, Today: Punching Bag rolled 25 using 1d20+8.  Initiative .

Move: movement 10 to get him in the hole behind the lead man
Standard: Wrestling style punch with Fast Grab rolled 20 to hit. Toughness check 27 for damage. Resist 17 strength with strength or dodge to not be grabbed. DC 22 to escape grab if grabbed.

Ace & Punching Bag

Bertolt raised his pistol and Ace's reactions took over.   She moved quickly, into his firing range, caught her wrist in a simple lock and twisted sharply before his finger could squeeze the trigger.

Bertolt grunted in obvious pain, but he didn't yell out.   In fact, he let the weapon drop from his hand and rolled with the direction of her pressure.  Bertolt had obviously had combat training.  The others seemed momentarily stunned, though it was probably simply the effect of her adrenaline making the world seem to slow down.

Ace noticed a bunch of little details all at once, the flickering flourescence of the parkade lights, the row upon row of parked cars in their neat little stalls.  The pile of rubble collapsed behind the octet of escapees.  None of them appeared to be carrying explosives or incendiaries, though the size of such things these days didn't make that a foregone conclusion.  There was water streaming down the slight slope of the parkade, a sure indication that fire suppression system had likely been severed in one of the blasts.

And then Punching Bag had come up and slammed against Bertolt's back, moving so fast!  Bertolt was knocked off balance but quick enough, apparently, that as Punching Bag wrapped one arm around his throat, Bertolt shrugged and dropped out of Punching Bag's grasp before he could solidify his hold.

"Move, you idiots!"  Bertolt rasped out as he rolled away, trying to put some distance between him and Punching Bag.  He appeared to be reaching behind him--possibly for another weapon--but then the entire area was covered in thick white smoke that blocked almost everything from view...

Note: Ace now has Bertolt's gun--it's basically an over-sized taser.

If you want to find these guys, it'll take a perception check...

Ace, Direction, Distance and Time will certainly be an advantage once you actually find them in the smoke.  But not until then, I don't think.

This message was last updated by the player at 05:38, Sat 11 Mar 2023.

Ace & Punching Bag

I'm doing a little finangling with initiatives here because minions and large groups are meh...  For this round, the group-activity for the bad-guys needs to default to the slowest member of the group that's taking a united action... So Hooded Girl and Minions RR & RL are currently moving on 16 and Big Black and Minions FR & FL are moving on 12, the lowest initiative of their respective groups.

I will likely apply this to other groupings in the future... defaulting to the lowest initiative.  Not really sure I can see an application to PCs, but it might be something to look into down the road.

Here's the mechanical break-down.

28 Ace
    Move: No Move
    Standard: Disam attack: Strike arm to knock pistol out of hand:
        ToHit: 01:25, Today: Ace rolled 21 using 1d20+14
            Bertolt's Parry is DC18, so the attack succeeds!
        Damage roll vs strength to disarm:  01:26, Today: Ace rolled 21 using 1d20+6.
        disarm effect.
            Bertolt Rolled 19 to resist, so he was successfully disarmed
        "And then zipping back out of his reach, hopefully with his pistol in hand."
            The rules allow for you grabbing the disarmed weapon as a free action.
            So sure! The pistol is yours now.
    Move: No Move


25 Punching Bag
    Move: "Run Forest Run" (Speed 10)
        Zip!   Oh, please tell me there's like, flying debris and paper and stuff!
        That'd be awesome!
    Standard: Disam attack: Strike arm to knock pistol out of hand:
    Punching Bag rolled 20 using 1d20+8.  Wrestling style punch lead man.
    Wrestling style punch with Fast Grab rolled 20 to hit.
        Bertolt's Parry is DC18, so the attack succeeds!
    Toughness check 27 for damage.
        Bertolt rolled 25 to resist, so he is BRUISED
        Bertolt has a -1 circumstance penalty to further resistance checks against damage
    Punching Bag rolled 20 using 1d20+8.
    for initial punch being used for grab check as per Fast Grab
       Bertolt's Parry is DC18, so the grab attack was succesfully made
    Resist 17 strength with strength or dodge to not be grabbed.
        Bertolt rolled 21 to resist, so the grab attack was not successfully completed
        Bertolt broke out before the grab could be completed, I suppose?
    Move: No Move Action


20 Bertolt - Taser-shot Ace
    Move: Unable to move - Move precluded by higher initiative actions
    Standard: Planned Action (Fire upon Ace) unable to be completed
    Move: Put some distance between himself and Punching Bag - Seek cover in the parkade


17 Commando Rear -
     Appears to remain in place while the others scattered

20 Prisoner Hooded Girl - Moved by Minions RL & RR  (forced to 16)
18 Minion RR - grab Hooded girl (forced to 16)
16 Minion RL - grab Hooded girl
     Minion RR & RL grab the hooded girl and move behind a nearby parked car.

22 Minion FR - grab Big Black to move to cover (forced to 12)
    Throw Smoke Grenade
19 Minion FL - grab Big Black to move to cover (forced to 12)
12 Prisoner Big Black - Moved by Minions FR & FL
     Minion FR & FL push the big black man further into the parkade.
     One of them throws a grenade towards Punching Bag

---

Smoke Grenade:
Enhanced Advantage: Hide in Plain Sight 1pt

Here's the bad guy's stealth ratings for your perception checks:

13 Minion FR     18 Minion RR      23 Bertolt
16 Minion FL     22 Minion RL      28 Rear Commando
18 Big Black     45 Hooded Girl

---

Additional Information:
Bertolt: Toughness 9, Parry 6 - If you wanna use it to calculate your own DCs...
This message was last updated by the player at 05:39, Mon 13 Mar 2023.

OOC: I’m sorry. I forgot to actually add the +10 base to the strength resistance check. Base is 10+ strength 17 (Due to Wrestling stance) for a total of 27. So I got him. My bad for the bad math.

“Ace fly up and out of the hole now!”
This message was last edited by the player at 11:57, Sat 11 Mar 2023.

"On it PB!" Ace called out as she streaked unerringly though the smoke toward the hole in the wall which Bertolt and his people came through, checking to see what is over there as she noticed where Big Black and his guards went and one of the guards covering the Hooded Lady cursed as he stubbed his toe, allowing Ace to fix him in space.

She would try to examine the hole they came out of to see if a quick glance could determine how they got through it and once PB does his burst, she would rush back into the fight if possible.

[OOC:Perception to detect mercs and escapees:
22:02, Today: Ace rolled 18 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 11.  Perception.]

she is moving toward where Bertlot and his troop came from, to get out of PB's burst range and see what happened over there.  Her main goal is to get out of PB's burst range.
22:09, Today: Ace rolled 15 using 1d20+2 with rolls of 13.  investigate the hole in wall.

Once the Burst happens, she would rush back if possible to where Big Black and his guards are.

Virginia

The Torch rolled adroitly in the air, bringing both fists together and a gout of flame erupted out to turn the cement into pure slag!   if Virginia hadn't been as fast as she was, she might've been caught by the blast.  This guy was obviously in his element in the air!

His barrel-roll, however, got him just close enough to do what she had to do.  She could feel the intense heat roiling under her, stripping her throat dry and threatening to melt her wings.  It was almost unbearable.   But Virginia called upon the quiet place that was the central expression of her power, and called upon the weight of the earth to call to the hothead.

He jerked forward and immediately dropped ten feet before shaking his head and looking around.    "What?"  he cried out.  "No! Not now! I'm doing it! Jesus! Come on!

His eyes smoldered yellow against his red-hot face... the flames seemed to coruscate around him, wrapping him in an embrace that was neither loving nor gentle.  And he cried out again.  "Must... push ... through..." Virginia was close enough to hear him pep-talking himself.  "for Sue..."

Below them, some sixty feet or so--and slowly getting closer, the Thing was ripping up pieces of concrete, his eyes sparkling red every now and again.  He seemed driven, like he was acting on years of built up animosity...


So... what now?

---

Virginia rolled 23 using 1d20+10.  cylinder weight of gravity apply affliction to torch.
It's an area-effect, so no attack roll was necessary.  The effect fills the area with a DC20 threshold (10 + Area Effect:10).


Oh... The Torch has a high Fortitude, but rolled pretty poorly overall...  Rolled Fortitude(14)...  Even with his Evasion 2, he only makes a Dodge(19).  It's not enough.  So, you got him, but only the first degree of the Affliction (making him Fatigued).

This power is a Concentration duration, which means you must concentrate and take up a whole Standard Action to maintain it.  You can take free actions and move actions, but no switching to a different array power without letting go of this one.
The Torch must make another resistance check each round.  So, he might get free of it, but he might tank it on the next round, and take degrees of the Affliction.  If you let up, the Fatigued condition is removed.  It lasts only so long as you're maintaining it.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:58, Tue 14 Mar 2023.

Punching Bag lost sight of everyone in the smoke, but he didn’t need eyes to clear the smoke or attack those hidden within it. He held his captive by the throat in one hand and brought his other fist slamming into the ground sending a burst of debris scattering in all directions around him battering those within the smoke.

OOC: hold onto leader with one hand via Improved Grab advantage and use Hammer Fist power to create a 30ft burst attack with a DC 22 Dodge to resist. Don’t know if bad guys get a penalty to dodge since they can’t see the attack coming because of the smoke. Don’t know if the attack scatters the smoke from the grenade.

Virginia was shocked to have splattered the human torch with pixie dust and it was working. She was also shocked by the heat coming off him. She maintained concentration but moved to a more nine-o-clock position, rather than a twelve-o-clock position, to avoid the heat rising directly off him.

Virginia tries to maintain the cylinder of gravity. She will rely on her stealth and hide in plain sight ability while staying as far at close-range as she can. If her wings are going to melt she will disengage.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:37, Fri 17 Mar 2023.

Ace & Punching Bag

28 Ace
    Move: Move out of the parkade via the bomb-hole by the Cafe
    She would try to examine the hole they came out of to see if a quick
    glance could determine how they got through it and once PB does his burst,
    she would rush back into the fight if possible.
    Free Action: Not really an investigate situation.  Given her action it's
    more of a straight awareness or intelligence.   Investigation would require some
    time and effort put into it.   However, it might occur to Ace that in the three bomb
    blast areas, there was a lot of rubble and debris up on the surface.  The rubble
    in the parkade appeared to be from a wall collapse from the corner of the building,
    above.  Suggesting, perhaps, that the blasts didn't happen on the surface but below
    the surface... like... from the parkade level.
    Note: Waiting until after Punching-Bag's blast means that she's
    shifting her position in the Initiative.  I"m moving her from Init-28 to Init-24,
    so she's right after PB.   In this particular scenario, it's not going to have a
    drastic impact.
    Standard: Delayed Action



25 Punching Bag
OOC: hold onto leader with one hand via Improved Grab advantage and use Hammer
Fist power to create a 30ft burst attack with a DC 22 Dodge to resist. Don’t know if bad
guys get a penalty to dodge since they can’t see the attack coming because of the smoke.
Don’t know if the attack scatters the smoke from the grenade.
    Move: No Move
    Note that "Double Hammer-Fist" is an array item.  Using this means that PB
    dropped "Wrestling" and the Enhanced Strength +5 that goes with it.  Leaving alone
    the fact that "double hammer-fist" suggests that it should require two-hands, this
    does Area damage-5.
    Standard: Double Hammer-Fist Area Attack
    4 x Minions failed dodge, failed resistance, check, taken out.
    Bertolt, at ground-zero, does not get a dodge, fails toughness
    takes one degree (another bruise)
    Rear Guard makes dodge/cover, fails resistance, takes 1 degree 1 bruise
    Big Black fails dodge/cover, makes resistance, uninjured
    Hooded Girl: makes dodge/cover, makes resistance, uninjured
    Move: No Move


24 Ace
    Move: Move back into Parkade


20 Bertolt - Escape PB's grasp
    Move: Unable to move
    Standard: Attempting to Escape From Punching Bag's Grab
    Rolled 16 vs Punching Bag's Routine Grab DC18 - Bertolt Failed still in PB's hold.
    Move: Unable to Move


17 Commando Rear -
     Move: No Move
     Activate Hairy Green Tentacle Power (All-Out Area Ranged Trip)
     Rolled 22 for the attack - Trip action successful for both Ace
     and Punching Bag
     Ace & Punching Bag - Please Roll opposed Acrobatics
     or Athletics vs DC29
         Failure means you are knocked to the ground and take the Prone condition
         Success means you may attempt to trip or knock Rear Guard to the ground
         with another opposed Acrobatics/Athletics check (this one vs DC23)
           Failure means nothing happens.
           Success means you're able to trip/throw him to the ground


16 Minion RR - TAKEN OUT
16 Minion RL - TAKEN OUT

16 Prisoner Hooded Girl - Moved by Minions RL & RR  (forced to 16)
Actions Not visible

12 Minion FR - TAKEN OUT
12 Minion FL - TAKEN OUT

12 Prisoner Big Black
    Move: Run
    Standard: Move: Run!
    Move: Run!!

Punching Bag held onto Bertolt loosely, and slammed one first into the ground.

The entire area around him shook with the power of the blow, and various car alarms immediately went off, flooding the area with the sound of car alarms.  Debris went flying in all directions, splattering vehicles and infrastructure alike with chunks of cement.

The smoke swirled and thinned and the center but didn't really fade away.  Wisps of heavier smoke overlaid some and shapes and shadows were tantalizingly visible nearby.  There was a couple of choked cries from nearby (Enough to give Ace and PB a general direction).

It took a moment or two for the entire area to stop shaking, but there was the sound of debris falling in the distance.  crumbling and rolling;  Parts of the roof were caving in.

One voice called out, in calm, command.  "Get her to safety! Nothing else matters!"

A couple of feet away, between Punching bag and the bomb-blast hole through which they'd entered, the Rear Guard stood, apparently wrapped in a sort of thick, cocoon.  It unraveled around him, casting all sorts of fantastical shapes and figures in the smoke.  Then he screamed and those shadows streaked through the air towards Ace and PB, both.



Ace & Punching Bag - Please Roll opposed Acrobatics or Athletics vs DC29 to avoid being knocked to the ground via a Trip attack by a whole bunch of hairy green tentacles...  If you succeed in this resist, you can initiate your own opposed roll to try to knock Rear Guard (Hairy Green Tentacle Guy) to the ground.

And yes, Ace... by this point, you're in the parkade again so you are in range and flying doesn't negate this attack. I envision it like Ben Hargreeves from Umbrella Academy... a mass of tentacles erupting from his chest...

The smoke will fade away in another turn.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:58, Thu 20 Apr 2023.

Virginia

The Torch rolled poorly again.  This Time rolled 13 to Dodge.  20 minus 13 is 2 degrees, so he is now paralyzed.    You've succeeded at downing him.  He's conscious but so crushed under the weight of your cylinder of gravity that he can't move.

However...  As flames heat the surrounding atmosphere, the pull of gravity draws colder, denser air down to the base of the flame which increases oxygen levels.  Increased O2 levels makes the Torches's flames grow hotter!

Ace comes flying back into the parkade with something of an idea, but not enough time to really investigate the explosions.  As she flies into the smoke and dust, looking to reacquire the different criminals.  When a mass of tentacles comes flying at her, she rolls, doding a couple of the tentacles but then one grabs her leg and slams her to ground, but she manages to roll out of its grip as she is lying on the ground.

"Where are they!?" She called out as she was rolling away from tentacles.

OOC: and three terrible rolls!
00:22, Today: Ace rolled 18 using 1d20+12 with rolls of 6.  Dodge with Evasion.
00:23, Today: Ace rolled 19 using 1d20+10 with rolls of 9.  Acrobatics.
00:28, Today: Ace rolled 9 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 2.  Perception.

This message was last edited by the player at 05:30, Fri 21 Apr 2023.

"PUT HIM OUT! PUT HIM OUT!" Trina screamed! She held the human torch virtually helpless to the ground. However, he wasn't. He was hotter than a firecracker! She knew in mere moments she would have to break away from him.

Punching Bag got tripped up by the rear guard but got back up just as quick. He brought his fists down again to send a shockwave to hopefully knock out those he couldn’t see in the smoke.

OOC:
00:40, Today: Punching Bag rolled 27 using 1d20+20 with rolls of 7.  Athletics .
Move: failed against trip stood back up
Standard: Double Hammer Fist attack