DeviousMe

"Mountain dragon." Kia corrected with a genial smile as Darren took the book, remaining somewhat crouched to keep at eye level with him, "Name's Kia, by the way."

She was about to ask what the boy meant with 'another', but when she noticed movement in the corner of her eye, seeing a certain one-horned dragon in the sky quickly let her put two and two together - especially with him carrying a water sort in his arms, and tossing glances characteristic of navigation in unknown terrain in all directions.

"Let me guess: you ran into Billy." she motioned toward the approaching duo, then gave a sagely nod, along with a sigh, "Why oh why am I not surprised...?"

((Hm, looks like this thread could use a kick.))

On a rather random street, a rather random man walked a rather random path, contemplating on the improbability of it all. From afar, he didn't look like much, of average stature and slim, almost skeletal build, though his garb may have caused him to stand out just a bit. After all, he wore a finely cut, jet-black tux, complemented by a snow-white shirt and cufflinks, his shoes carried the dark luster of black leather, and his oddly large top hat, of course in the same dark hue to mesh, sat just a tad crooked on his head.

Still, it wasn't until one got close that one really noticed the 'reaper' cloth that wrapped around his neck, not to mention the lower half of his head. Why was also not apparent until then, for though deathly pale, only proximity revealed the man's head was but a bleach-white skull.

This was Basil R. Jones, better known in Paragon City (and the Rogue Isles) as Gentleman Bones, an undead, self-declared necromancer and master of the dark arts, who at present fiddled with the black gloves that hid the fleshless bones that were his hands, having slipped a bit after needing to readjust his monocle just a few moments ago. Being a skeleton, he had no nose, which made the little devil though to keep on at times.

Needless to say, he hadn't expected to see a very odd-looking van mash the ground not far away at the stomp of his foot, upset at the ill-fitting glove. Jerking to attention, the monocle departed his left eye socket once again, the tiny dot of light inside just a little bigger than before, as was of course the other. Long story short, his 'eyes' snapped open wide...

The exclamation point popped into existence over Kia's head with the same blatant spontaneity as Darren and Sam, a hand shooting out to catch the falling boy even as her wings stiffened in reflex, expecting aerial loading. Of course, it didn't come to that, the house owner's reaction speed preempting her intervention.

"From the looks of it, I'd say he came here to talk to you about history." she remarked while she crouched to pick up the fallen book, offering it back to Darren, "Though that cut really doesn't look good..."

"Oh, you wanna spot me?" the reptilian returned with a toothy smile, genuinely amused as he presented empty hands to Blake, "Or d'ya think I can pull money outta my..."

The hand gesture became one of a raised index finger, "On second thought, you know what? I ain't gonna go there. An' yeh, the giant-wolf-thing. I let my guard down for one minute, an' next thing I know what's likely the only thing on this planet stupid enough to try an' eat me hauls me halfway across the city. Okay, seriously yalls, what's the last street sign ya passed? That's all I need, really. If ya could ju-"

The reptilian noted Blake looking at something behind and beside him, turning to find of all things a street sign.

"I'd say that wann' there before," he told the two, "but it prolly was an' I just went blind again. Anyway, I'll be right back. I'd appreciate if yalls stuck around, I got some questions about the wolf thing. It's right back there by the way, so if yalls wanna, I don't mind. I ain't eatin' that. Tastes horrible."

With that, the blood-coated reptilian vanished from one instant to another with the characteristic pop of air rushing into a suddenly appeared vacuum. He had teleported, and if his words were to be trusted, would soon be back...

Cool, heh.

"Bad?" Sarah couldn't help but smile at that, looking to Akemi while Sam handed her the thing, "Of course not. Pnevma spirits are some of the nicest people you could ever meet. Very shy, though."

The Tornado then returned her attention to the sphere, and upon that her eyes narrowed and she moved her face in closer.

"Okay, that's just weird." she stood up straight again, scratching her neck, "If we were on the island right now, I'd swear this was a car's lift generator...but all cars here run on wheels and internal combustion engines...don't they?"

That got Kia's attention as well, for though she didn't really know anything about cars in general, she had seen under the hood of a human-made one once, and there definitely hadn't been anything magical in there. Ergo, this was really weird, and thus she also made her way over, finding a spot beside Mr. Winston and Akemi to get her own look at the thing while the others talked.

Of course, before she could add anything to the matter, there sounded another knock on the door, which now happened to be right behind her.

"I'll get it." she announced happily, grabbing the knob and opening the door while still in the process of speaking, "That should be the guys."

Of course, once she'd actually pulled the door fully open and turned to look at the young, history-book-wielding human there, her expression shifted from an expectant smirk to a curious regard.

"Well hey there." the mountain dragon greeted Darren warmly, though a moment later she already spotted the cut on his forehead and instinct took over, Kia reaching down to him, "Oh, that doesn't look good! Sir Winston, do you have any first-aid supplies...?"

The reptilian regarded Blake with that characteristic 'you're kidding me' glance; the sort that one performed with eyes narrowed and pupils at the side of eyesockets. Obviously, his disposition wasn't at all patient right now.

"I wasn't askin' that." his tone remained calm, however. Bad idea to scare away people one needed to answer a question, after all, "I know where my jacket's at. What I don't know 's where I'm at - which I need to ta jump."

"And whatcha mean, don't know no fuzzbucket?" he added with an inverse nod, "I can smell 'im all over yalls. Like a chemical lab. Oh, an' don't worry 'bout the blood. Most of it ain't mine..."

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Q: How excatly does the custom critter system work? Are we allowed to pick a number of powers from sets? Or are the critters forced to use the whole set?

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At this point, all signs point to 'whole' sets - i.e. powersets with some powers omitted due to AI issues.

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Q: Can we use more than just 2 sets? (Perhaps say, Having powers from Mind Control, Psi Blast, Mental Manipulation and Empathy?)

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Negative. Limited to 2, at least for now.

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Q: Is it limited by enemy rank? Say, a Minion wouldn't be able to have as my powers as a Boss would.

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Unknown, but chances are good.

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Q: Can we take a 'Normal' critter, (Like say a Council human) and give him diffrent powers/attacks?

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Negative. This was done to prevent animation/model conflicts.

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Q: Can we take one critter's powerset, and put it on another critter? (For example, give a Council human the Mook Hitman powers.)

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Negative. Same as above.

Would be nice to know when this 'next one' is for that purpose.

((Nah Khell, you're fine. Nothing expressly illogical or anything there, so it's all good. Oh and Dogma, I think it's safe to say 10 minutes have passed by now, so if you'd like to move Egregore again, I think it's reasonable to do so. ))

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Actually, it was quite possible to tell, for Teivos' guard was quite capable of perceiving the presence of cloaked entities; even the magical sort. Of course, not that this mattered much, for until the Sovereign gave an order to countermand his earlier directive, fire would be held. Fortunately for Archlich, this did not extend to fistfights, and thus the Lightning Blade was mobbed.

The interceptor spirit gone for Famine (and with that, Griffin), however found itself in a telekinetic grasp within moments, the griffin's reflexive reaction to this thing coming at him giving a certain cyborg who'd taken sniper position more than enough opportunity to take it out of the picture. Vlasta gave a satisfied nod, though not in Wolfgang's direction, knowing full well the cloaked Caldok was already on the move again.

"Fine, we make this quick then." he then told the nervous griffin with a thrown finger, knowing well he had to keep his guard up, "You're not Poseidon. But you know him. If you know him, do you know Player? Babe? What about me?"

"Yes, yes, no." the Tsaigon's direct, commanding, yet amicable tone had Griffin in a snap, though he shrugged sheepishly when he added, "But...it's not like I caught your name..."

"Vlastislav Teivos."

"Teivos...?" the griffin thought hard, eyes squinting a bit, then finally going wide with realization, Vlasta's earlier thrust finger returned with excited repetition, "Yeah, yeah, I know! They told me about you! You were the guy Alan threw out of the recording studio! Army Metal, right?!"

Teivos made a face. That...wasn't quite the way of recognition he'd expected. Still...well...oh, what the heck, for now it was...

"Good enough." he gave a nod as his expression returned to normal, "Next: you wanted to leave the hospital? No why right now, just yes or no."

"Yes." Griffin nodded curtly, motioning to War, "I was scared and he w-"

"That'll do." Teivos declared with the held-up palm of a black-gloved hand, and turned to the soldiers of his guard - well, whipped in their direction, to be more precise, for just then one came flying by his side at the head of a lightning bolt, courtesy of guess who. From the looks of it, he wasn't the only one either.

"Weapons free." Vlasta commanded, drawing his own pistol again, and just in time too, for from the sky came another pair of CPSR operatives. This time, however, they were greeted with arm-thick, continuous lances of sun-hot plasma fire.

At the same time, the Lightning Blade had been let off of, by now beaten down, and the last Kazbek-armored trooper to join the new formation aimed her rifle down at his head to carry out the execution...

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In the sky, another F-22 exploded when an interceptor spirit managed to do what its designation suggested. Part of a flight with predictable course, it had been an easy matter, unlike the relatively random hornet's nest further up. It even got a second, and its 'cousin' got another, but by then the rest were already past and locked on target.

Yinglong.

When the sorcerers they'd been following had vanished, it hadn't been difficult to guess where they'd be headed. Ergo, that was just the course this flight had set. It may have endangered them more, flying relatively straight like that, and indeed they'd lost a few, but now they fired, and their missiles came down. Considering the beating the dragon had already sustained, it was unlikely the sorcerers' healing spells carried enough potency to save her from this.

Of course, even if they did, the F-22s still had more missiles. Bombs too...

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Valerie got out of sight just in time too, for down the road already approached the main force the early Forward Battle Tanks had been the advance of. They were still far enough away not to notice her though, leaving her unbothered by the infantry-supported ULA MBTs rumbling across the loose gravel ground.

Still, the presence of that force cut off a direction to escape in, making the presently quickest way out of this sector the sewer system, an entry to which just happened to be in the alley beyond the corner she'd just rounded. Who knew, with any luck she may even have picked up some trace of the Egregore Device, and been able to follow him to the Kings Row district.

On the other hand, she may well have taken note of the fallen Burning Brawler instead, presently approached by Wolfgang Wolf in the cover of his thermo-optic cloak. The cyborg didn't know of Valerie's presence, having spotted only the descent of the VB officer after taking that shot at the interceptor spirit, and believing there to be no enemy presence where Burning had touched down...

Drago didn't resist. He couldn't. His body had gone on the offensive against the Venom nanobots, and though it was making precious little progress, the conflict brought about some serious stress. Couple that with large, armor-piercing slug having entered your body, and one got some fairly debilitating pain...

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"Understood." returned the Sky Commander, then looked to Cher'tak while removing the fingers from the side of his head again, "I am heading to join her. See if the prisoners know anything."

With that, the draconian spread his wings and bent his knees, then shot off the floor like a coiled spring, out the hole in the roof not a second later. Once he'd gained some altitude, he too set course to pursue the tumbling van...

Now the package had gotten the attention of Sarah and Kia as well, Johnny jumping on the shoulder of the Tornado as she rose to get a closer look at the thing, for he certainly wanted one too.

"That looks almost like a pnevma spirit." she remarked curiously, reaching out a hand in a requesting gesture, "May I...?"

Got me. The only characters I have whom the city knows murdered someone before becoming heroes were pardoned in exchange for information and helping the city afterward.

((Well, unless I know what it would do to a human who's not super, I'm not going to have any baseline to compare against, now am I? ))

((Hello? ))

"Perhaps." Arek retorted to Cassie, extending to her the remains of the head he'd found, "Perhaps not. I am unfamiliar with Terran technology. You are a roboticist, correct?"

Of course, even if the woman couldn't get anything relating to the van from the thing, that didn't mean the draconian was out of options. After all, the van did fly - and he didn't hold the designation of Sky Commander for nothing...

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"...nnnnnn..." Drago groaned in agony as the machine took off again, shakily trying to reach the injector again before they got airborne.

Sadly, he failed. Still, he didn't give up. He tried fervently to gather up enough focus to get some coherent words across his lips, "...sssseeeerrrr-rrr...."

Without the serum in that injector, the Venom was free to take its course, however. What would have been the effect on a normal human without superpowers...?

Damn, that's a slick move - no pun intended. Hmmm...dang, I already said that character had never been drawn before, so I can't use that again...oh! Did I mention he belongs to a friend of mine, and this friend has no artz whatsoever?

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Heh, I have to admit, 4 people in a Foo piece would be something to see. By all means, go for it. Heck, maybe even a hero vs. villain scene?

[/ QUOTE ]One more OUT of the virgins, not one more WITH them all!
That's just crazy orgy talk.

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What, ya got somethin' against orgies? I'd say something relating to crazy Amercians here, but you're in Canada...eh, what he heck, same continent, close enough. Plus it's even further north.

Well fine, heh. Here's hoping for getting my 3rd.

"What an appealing woman." Arek remarked sardonically, related voice perhaps a little lower than his already deep tone.

Noting with satisfaction that the captives were unharmed, at least as far as the explosions went, the draconian stretched his back and wings, then picked up his weapon again as well. He gave the force lance a single, curt shake, and it quickly telescoped back to its former shape, which the Sky Commander then returned to his belt, specifically to the loop alongside the second, collapsed one he still carried.

"I think the expression is 'I am going to feel that one in the morning'." he added with a press on his left shoulder by the opposite arm, "Come. Let us see what we can find..."

Heh, I have to admit, 4 people in a Foo piece would be something to see. By all means, go for it. Heck, maybe even a hero vs. villain scene?

I generally take enhancements the same as powers: they're just something the character can do for which there are a zillion possible explanations. Once in a long, long while I'll refer to them directly, though this is usually limited to procs, but generally I'll just put them into the character's concept. Example: assault rifle; burst is slotted with Achilles Heel -res proc. Explanation: the character carries corrosive ammo.

Regrettably for Blake, the reptilian didn't move away, instead plating the palm of a clawed hand against the brickwork of the closest wall (of course leaving a stain) to gain greater support while turning toward the heroes. With its other hand, the being wiped further blood off its teeth and lips, where the decidedly not lizard-like tongue hadn't quite gotten at it. Even more unusual, however, was what the reptilian did next.

He spoke.

"I'm cold an' wet, kid." he said with a tone quite uncharacteristic of his form, sounding much like just an average young man with a slight, barely discernable Texan accent, "Not deaf. Now, someone wanna spill where Cap'n Fuzzbucket got me to s'I can make m'self some coord'nates? I really need my jacket back. Frikken freezin' here..."

((You really should've described it as hovering earlier then. Besides, weren't you trying to tell me yesterday that there wasn't any sensible way to expect that this 'normal-looking' van could fly? I dunno about you, but if something hovers, most of them time it tends to be capable of flight by virtue of common sense. ))

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If anything she's wearing MORE than normal, with the tape and all.

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Exactly, heh.

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I would really like to see 2 more.

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Seconded, heh. Like was already said though, be careful. No overdoing it. I'd rather not get anything now than see a Foo burnt out on art for a while.

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I'm close to it myself. Only have three.

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Phh, quit being sad, I've got two - and one's still a work in progress.