He raises one eyebrow.
"World domination? Hardly. I just want this City." He flicks his eyes over to Tessa. "My girlfriend. And you know the nice thing about her....she's been thinking she's running a scam on me. She..."
Suddenly her necklace sprouts a wire which extends to the ceiling, and dangles Tessa so that she has to stand on her tippy-toes.
"She got a psi damper to send messages to a very powerful new superbeing, and his friends. And she kept up her own psi shields very well so that Dr. Brain could not peep. And Mr. Little could not find out what she was doing. But..."
And he turns to Tessa with a smile.
"You see a psi can sense a damping field. And he can wonder what's up. And then I can drop a mickey in your drink and give you truth serum while you sleep. So I know about your plan to bring me down from the inside."
He turns back to you.
"No doubt dull and boring to you, Oni, but for one fact. Mechanoman is in love with her."
He looks out the glass window, and you see Mechanoman flying at ramming speed....
"I sent him a message as soon as it became apparent you were dangerous. All he has to do to win Tessa's hand is to save her from the Demon by killing him."
*I nods and reach for the tranq pistol on Mr Little's utility belt and start pelting Mr Big with it on the move, I figure with his size I will need to unload it on him. I do not want to have to worry about him, worry about him doing something to Tessa, and worry about Mechanoman all at the same time. If that doesn't take him down, I'm sure Mr Little has something in his belt to take care of muscle bound supers. He just seems prepared like that, I will dodge Mechanoman until Mr Big is down, with something on the belt, not looking to kill him. Once that happens*
*To Mechanoman*
"We will talk about your reckless actions once things settle down here. The police will be here soon, now help me with Tessa. We need to be careful with that necklace, if it was trapped to send out that wire, we need to know if there is another to strangle her or cut off her head, and how it is triggered. I hope it is triggered by something Mr Big did, and not time sensitive or by trying to remove it."
*I will use my thief skills to check it for traps and trigger devices without disturbing it*
Jhiaxus
Dart to his second chin. His hand is moving. Dart flies. His chair flips upside down, but you catch his calf. And then the floor rises, slams you to it, and a roar is in your ears.
You try to push to your feet, but you feel like you weigh nearly 2000 pounds.
Tessa sags, turning purple. Only her trembling legs keep her neck from snapping.
And Bahwooom. You hear a whistling noise from near Tessa.
The skyscrapers near you are getting strangely lower.
Mechanoman crashes through the glass.
"DEMON!" He screams at you with a loudspeaker to back up his natural volume.
He does not recognize you.
Second post....
But you do recognize....
That psi damping field...
And that your GM may have read a Fantastic Four issue where Dr. Doom sends the Baxter Building into space.
*Points to Tessa*
"Save her and leave, If you love her make her the priority and figure out who your enemy really is. I can take care of myself once you and your field are gone, lest I have to destroy another of your exosuits."
*I figure he has jets, and he isn't subject to gravity as long as he keeps them on, I'm figuring now, all he has to do is yank the one end from the ceiling and take her to safety. Before I go, I head over to Mr. Big and when Mechanoman saves Tessa and leaves, I will mindread him for his books. I'm betting they are here, and I will get them, haul his butt to the broken window and jump with him. My plan is once Mechanoman is away from me, I will attempt to learn a 8@7,8,9,10 Adjust Gravity and float with Mr.Big down to the ground. If that doesn't work will try my 4@10 TK Fly to do the same*
OOC: As a side note, as cool as it is to mimick the comics, considering there are people in the building, and you constantly throwing my main ability away, so that I can't do much, I hope you don't expect me to help them. I am not superman.
Jhiaxus
In this world, no one recognizes a super in a mask. The converse is true also. If you meet a super in a mask, you don't recognize him in his civilian role.
This is true for all indigs. You and Tessa and Clueless Mechanic Guy are the exceptions to this rule.
So, has Mechanoman met you in your civilian clothes and recognized you as Midnite because you told him?
Otherwise, you're a DEMON giving advice. And while its good advice, Mechanoman is bullheaded, and well, no one trusts demons for some reason.
You are correct that Mechanoman would not be subject to the g forces. Good point.
I will say that from your position on the floor, you see out the window Mr. Big's rocket throne descending down to the city below. When his chair flipped over, it ejected like a fighter pilot's through the floor. You've tagged him with two sleeptime darts (course he's HUGE and prepared, but still...). So your plan to mindread him is a null for now.
Right now, Mechanoman has not seen Tessa over in the corner.
OOC: One time I had Mark take a train ride through a billion dead people. Starsong System has supertech and a trillion people. Some maniac unleashed a soft/bio virus that could corrupt computer defenses and kill people. It got a billion before the planetary defenses shut it down.
Mark thought about it, wondered if he could help, and decided that there was nothing he could do that others weren't doing better. He took it as evidence that evil still existed.
You're not Superman. YOu're Jhiaxus. You should do what Jhiaxus would do. Sometimes that means attending a funeral of innocent people you could not save.
However, in this case, this is a superhero world, and the only people in the Flying Penthouse of Doom are You, Tessa, and Mechanoman. The rest of the hotel stayed behind.
So basically, I need an answer to one question. And then I get to roll your persuasion vs. Mechanoman's bullheadedness. Ah, I also need to know how you are moving.
And hey, you're doing the Climatic Duel with the Force of Evil. YOu expect me to pull out all the stops, and give my guy a decent chance, don't you? I think having Mr. Big trick Mechanoman with a fake message 'from a friend' is brilliant.
How do you rise to your feet when you weigh 2000 pounds?
I can do nothing until Mechnoman leaves, so I assume I can point, say what I can say and if he still decides to womp on me, so be it, I'm not going to fight back if Tessa is about to die.
Jhiaxus
He crashes through the window, jerks you off the floor, with all his servos whining at the strain, and begans to squeeze you at the neck.
You make your speech, and he stares suspiciously at you.
Undecided, he mutters "Midnite?" with a tone of hatred and puzzlement, and then looks over at Tessa. You he decides to get out of the way. He's not sure who or what you are, but if you're out of the way, you're not a problem.
You go flying out the broken window and over the city. As soon as you drop out of his fifty foot sphere of +50 damp, and the rockets under the penthouse keep on flinging the penthouse up, you learn your flight skill. Below you, Mr. Big is descending to the city.
You see the penthouse begin to tip, and you see Mechanoman reach out to rescue Tessa. He touches the necklace.
Kzzzzzaaakkkkkkkk!
A lightning bolt leaps from the necklace to him. He falls, stiff, and crashes to the floor of the penthouse. His circuits have been fried, it seems.
Second post...
Severe bruising of the neck, and you've got a raspy voice ...healing factor is dealing with it.
Danger sense is complaining about some danger to you from the penthouse. Its not overly loud (of course, it does not register danger to Tessa which you have to regard as extreme.)
*Ow and sighs, well at least I am flying, so there is that*
*I fly up, and I am going to assume that the necklace was only intended to shock someone once with that kind of power, with the power sources of this time period and hold up Tessa and yank the end from the ceiling. I will on my way out grab Mechnoman by a leg or arm and labor myself toward the ground. If I find that I cannot take both of their weight, I will learn to Redirect Gravity 7@10, so that we come down slowly and softly. Assuming this all works, and Mr. Big has gotten away.*
*I don't have the desire nor the ability to really speak right now, so I am just going to sit wherever I land for awhile, assuming no one is close to death and just brood for awhile*
Jhiaxus
As you approach the penthouse, your danger sense gets louder.
With Mechanoman's circuits fried, his psi damper no longer works. You're able to get Tessa loose, and you hear her reciting over and over again until you do...
"I am strong like a tree. I am strong like a tree."
Then she falls into your arms, and passes out.
Your danger sense is shrilling.
You would have to learn Redirect Gravity to deal with his mass. And Tessa is unconscious from the strain of standing up, and nearly being throttled. Full speed out, and leave Mech behind? Continue with previous plan? New plan?
*I will continue with the old plan, I knew I would have to learn it or something else on the fly, I have faith I can save them both. I always have the option to learn a teleport if the reverse gravity does not work, but I think learning reverse gravity is well within my tolerances. So yes, I will have one arm holding/cradling Tessa, one arm to drag him with us out the window, and take our chances with this plan*
Jhiaxus
You twist the strands of gravity so that you and the others weigh but ten pounds, and grab Mechanoman by the foot, and leap from the flying penthouse .....
Thirty feet below it, Bawhooom!!
The penthouse explodes in a ball of fire that shreds its mass to very small bits, and swats you like a flyswatter with a fly. You tumble wildly toward the ground for several hundred feet until you pull it together, and stabilize.
You float down the last hundred feet, and land softly in the South Harbor Park. You check on Tessa, and she seems to be coming around. Mechanoman is still unconscious, and smelling faintly of burnt wires.
Over the harbor, you see what looks like a pteradactyl flying out to sea. Ordinarily, you might investigate, but you're just too tired to go after it now.
The sounds of sirens are heard all over downtown as you sit on the shorebank of the harbor.
*Sighs and sits there, waiting for both of them to come around, trying to compose my thoughts, and rest and catch my breath.*
*Rubbing my neck still sore from being manhandled by a man in a exosuit*
*Speaking of which, going over to Mechanoman and using the utility belt to effect repairs, I figure with my advanced science, I can rerout systems so he at least can fly back to his factory and have limited movement.*
*Waiting for them both to come to*
Jhiaxus
You fry another circuit, but other than that, you get M partially functional. You're aware when he wakes up as suddenly you feel a static fill the air.
He sits up.
Looks at Tessa with an indecipherable glance, examines what you've done to his suit. He stands up. He turns to go. He turns back.
"Um, thanks."
He flies off.
"Wow, so eloquent." Tessa laughs with a wicked smile. "Come here, hero, I can thank you better." She pulls you down to kiss her.
*Shakes his head as he flies off*
"Unbelievable."
*Immediately forgets robot pants and gives Tessa a well deserved kiss*
"I'm so sorry, I didn't know he would have you in there, or I wouldn't have done my Devil act. Hopefully right now all the bosses and Lt's are heading to jail. Long story, but I collected a lot of books, fake and real. Between that, and trying to kill Blackjack and myself, and their other crimes, hopefully Mr Big will have a cash flow problem for awhile. I didn't know what I was going to do tonight when Blackjack put this plan into motion. It just kinda happened. Mr. Big thought I was a demon, so your necklace was meant to kill Mechnoman and you, after he killed me of course. We need to get the heroes together to make sure this doesn't happen again."
*Grins and looks her up and down in that dress*
"You do look fine in that dress, but we have to go to your apartment, and get your things before Mr Big has time to put the call out to his cronies, and men to secure it. We should also pay your bank a visit tomorrow and withdraw the funds. Mechanoman probably lost us Mr Big today, but I am not going to blame him, it does no good. I don't even dislike him anymore. The plan is get your stuff, get you to the apartment. You and I catch up, I want to know all about our time apart and what you did and learned. I really missed you, and I was tore up when I didn't know what was up with you and that man. I will tell you about the hell I went through. Oh, we have Silent now, he's my partner. He's a good boy, I think you two will get along well. I brought you presents from Hell, I think you will like them."
Jhiaxus
"I'm the one who's sorry. I trusted so much in my mental barriers, and the damper, that I did not think that a boss of bosses might be cunning beyond me." She thinks as you look at her in her dress. "Yes..." Playful slap. "We do need to get the heroes together. Maybe leave Mechanoman to the last tho'."
You rush to the apartment, and the guard has not heard of the changes, and so he's very polite to Tessa as he helps her 'move to a nicer apartment. J here is my bodyguard.' She points to you. The guard gives you a grin as if to say 'not hard duty at all, chum'.
As you leave, the guard comes chasing out after you, but you're well gone by that time.
In your place later, with Silent sniffing her toes, she falls into a couch.
"So tired. Its hard to lie, drains you of energy. So what did you want to know first, superhero?"
*Grinning as she gives me a playful slap*
"It was a good plan, sometimes the absence of something is the most glaring warning sign. I knew he knew what you two were up to, because it was what I would have done if that happened to me. I tried telling Mechnoman, but he was too enraged to see clearly. You were so set on it, I didn't have the heart to tear you from your path. I however never said I would stay out of it. I think I was fair in how I handled it. I didn't kill anyone, and I did some good. This result right here, is as much of a win as anyone can ask for, considering the situation.
The bad guys need to know we are united, that we are a Legion. So it is time, to gather everyone up and put an official face on what we do, and name ourselves. Mystery Men is good, but it doesn't inspire what we need it to inspire. I'm thinking Legion of Justice, so that the enemy won't know our numbers, and that our intentions are quite clear. It is something to go over."
================
*I go along with Tessa gathering what needs to be gathered, and rushing out when the jig is up, not even giving the other man a scowl as he leers at Tessa*
================
*Sits next to her on the couch, putting my arm around her*
"I hear you on that, this is Silent."
*I pet his head and scratch behind his ears*
"He is a ninja dog, he was mistreated in one of the Italian hideouts. I took him in, repaired his vocal cords, and teaching him how to fight. I often speak to him in his mind."
*To Silent in his mind*
"This is Tessa, she is my girl, and she will be staying her with us from now on. She is to be protected."
*He is a good boy aren't ya*
=================
*Smiles*
"My story will be better with visual aids, be right back."
*I grab the extra phaser rifle, phaser pistol, comm badge, and my bowie knife and bring them back.*
"First the gifts, That is a Starfleet Phaser Rifle, Pistol and Comm badge. I got these for you, they probably won't work here, but they are yours, I disown them."
*Pauses and twirls the bowie knife in my hand*
"This is the knife that woman used to kill me. It belongs to PFC Liu Chang 2.03 Plutonian Expeditionary Force. I took it with me as punishment for her killing me with it, after I paused to find out what was going on and make peace. I was angry at first, but now, after thinking about it, I will talk to her first. There is no need to make another verser enemy, if I can help it. I hope you do the same as well.
Ok so when I died there, Odin sent me to the Iron Planes of Kharigen, one of the places where the final battle of the multiverse will take place. I arrived there with 4 women, all ones I knew from fiction from my first world. They were all heroic, so I think my mind was scanned and they were brought. I dunno, maybe Odin wanted to tempt me with beautiful women, but either way, I didn't touch them, save Power Girl, and that was to heal a wound before she became a zombie.
Long story short, we were went to protect two bases, the one we started at, and another in the distance. The Iron Planes hurt to walk on, so we didn't get much sleep at first. We fought and killed gremlins and took their aircar and laser cannon, that is in the garage out back. We found a survivor, joined up with him and marched. We fought headless zombies, and I asked for Odin's help. He sent me to a vision world, and I kinda impaled my eye into one of the branches of the World Tree. He must have approved of what actions I took, he gave that eye several powers over people and undead. The price I had to pay is that the Iris is now black.
We found the source of the headless zombies, it was a Iron Golem Stalin, one of the worst rulers in my world's history. He toyed with us, he killed Power Girl, eventually we got rid of his army, and I was looking for his heart. He was unable to be killed without it. Odin made me a deal in the fake god world. I was to fight a powerful enemy, honestly, and directly. I could have crushed the heart, but instead I tossed it back to Stalin, and I cleaved it and him in two with my axe. My axe is now a God Weapon, named Chainbreaker. She sings to me, often in rock songs to give me clues about situations. She is also much sharper than before, which means she is probably the most dangerous melee weapon anywhere in terms of getting hit with it. So we defeated the big bad guy, and I helped some of the other with their quest. The second test required one of us to die, so I volunteered, since I was a verser, and the others needed to stay behind. I glossed over a lot, but that was the jist. It was a week between the fake god world and here. I have been working on a lot of abilities both on the Iron Planes and here.
*pauses*
"I got here, and I felt two versers, I tracked the man down first, mentioned a strange woman. I then found you, at that fancy restaurant. I had just fought zombies, no shower, little sleep, had not shaved. I was denied entry. I was angry and annoyed, you were smiling and talking. I didn't know what to make of it or do. So I just did what I could, found out about the heroes here, and went out to just do something. No one told me of your plan, until Mechnoman attacked me, so it was a good week here of not knowing what was going on. I think you know the rest, but yes, you have been the only one on my mind here. I also kinda sorta neutered Dr. Brain mentally. I stole his powers, I haven't sorted through them yet, but he was too dangerous to leave as is."
*Shows her the rings on my necklace*
"Those are our wedding rings, I took them with me when I died from the dead gods world as a promise I need to fulfill. I think that is it. I'm sure it has been much longer for you, and for that I am sorry."
*Smiles*
"I want to know what my fiance has gone through, the new skills she learned, and how she became a superhero. I chuckled when I heard of Countessa. I know this place isn't much, but after the lavish tower we had, I was ok with simple for awhile.*
Jhiaxus
((OOC: I know it is a lot, so since we both know I opened the door for power stealing might as well let me know if it happened, or not, and what I got from him if it did happen))
OOC: Power stealing happened.
Tessa listens with an open mouth mostly, and pets Silent who seems quite anxious to climb into Tessa's lap.
Tessa smiles. "We both love you, Silent. Nothing's going to change except you have one more person to play fetch with and lick their face in the morning." At that Silent gives you a slobber lick on the arm as you get your face out of range to quick.
"I-I, yes, its been about three years for me. I spent my first world with snakes. As near as I could tell, there was no land, just layers of giant and sometimes small snakes going down and down. Given that the land was always moving, and you had to sleep..."
She eases Silent off her lap, and eases up with speed and grace to stand on the back edge of the couch. Then she flips through the air to land on a wooden table which rocks under her feet, but she rides it out, and then reverses course and lands on the couch which creaks alarmingly under her landing. She then lands next to you. The table falls over.
"Quarter mile long snakes don't tip when you leap across a chasm from one to the other." Her cheeks are a bit red.
*smiles listening to her story, and yes getting out of face licking range of Silent*
"Ah so that's how you became the master acrobat I saw, makes sense now that you both told me, and showed me that ability. Hmm, what else should I mention, oh right, I figured since we had our metabolisms increased in Starsong, we weren't just normal humans anymore. With my defensive implants, I can take a huge amount of damage and shrug it off. I was able to run at the speed of a car, as well as being able to regenerate wounds very quickly. I'm sure there are more abilities to figure out, we can't fly with that, since we physically don't have wings, but other abilities should be available to us. After dealing with Mechanoman and having most of my abilities taken away in his presence, I am toying with the idea, that if we are going to work with him, our mental abilities won't work. There was an anime called Bleach, it started as a manga, and just came on as I versed out, but anyway, it had the notion of Reiryoku which is the potential energy the body has and Reiatsu, which is the physical exertion of that energy. They say the typical person running a marathon, ability to produce energy is about 2000 watts, and that is through the inefficient way our bodies work. With our metabolism we producing 3 times that. I think we can create techniques through martial arts that can harness Reiryoku, utilize it effectively, and release it as Reiatsu. In the anime, they are able to do things like empower their hand to hand and weapon strikes, launch missile attacks based on pure Reiatsu, absorb blows to limit damage, prevent people from striking them altogether by radiating it constantly, and flash step, which is like a small teleport. I have been relying on my mental abilities too much, and once they are not available to me, I can't do much. This last encounter with Mechnoman, convinced me, to be more well rounded with what I can do. I am sorry I interrupted you. What your next verse? I have a feeling that one has some interesting tales as well."
*smiles holding Tessa when she lands and petting Silent with my free hand, just enjoying talking to her*
Jhiaxus
"How would you teach your body to do this R and R thing? I can see generating a positive charge in an opponent, and a positive charge in yourself...that would be a kind of 'forcefield'...wouldn't stop a bullet or a laser..."
She furrows up her lip as she thinks. After a bit, she comes back to reality and delves into her memories.
"I think I spent six months there. And then I came to this wooded countryside, met some people who lived very pleasantly, which after my time alone I much needed. They had it such that the woods and the humans cooperated together. The woods dropped dead branches, and the humans cleaned things up for the woods.
I thought at first it was their religion, but I made the mistake one time of asking them. Ten hours later, my head was spinning, and I still didn't understand what they were talking about. But one point was very clear...the enchantments on the woods were Forest Magick.
So I sought out a trainer, and became an apprentice to this wonderful old man, Excelidus. I can grow tomatoes without blight or insect, cause a dead tree to fall, dissappear in the woods, waken sleeping trees (if the trees are more than merely trees), take the treesleep, and stand unbreaking like a tree. You saw me do the unbreaking stand when in the penthouse under gravity. The treesleep, which you use to heal deep wounds, or to try to learn to commune with tree spirits...well, if you do it wrong, you go too deep...which brings me to my next world."
*Smiles at her*
"Well your body is already a dynamo, a very inefficient one. The plan is to to use martial arts as a basis for honing the use of this energy. Yes if both opponents had equal Reiryoku and Reiatsu, it would act like opposite sides of a magnet, and repel both away. The likely hood of anyone having the same potential energy, training in it, and the ability to shape and use it is very minimal. It would stop/reduce the kinetic impact, so bullets would be affected, lasers, or pure energy likely not. I think my point is, if we work with Mechnoman, we can't use psionics period in his presence. Our bodies are capable of tremendous feats, especially after we were modified. We just have to think outside the box to figure out how to do those feats"
*I listen to her intently, nodding and smiling, and when she takes a pause*
"I was very impressed, even I wasn't able to get to my feat or move much with those G Forces, I am glad you met some nice people there, and learned those skills. I imagine the next world is where you learned your psionics, which in the areas you had, probably were better than mine. I also meant to ask about that staff in your incorporeal form, it reminds me of my axe, and that metal is probably very rare."
*Lets her continue*
Jhiaxus