Given that Straightjacket has life support, I"m a bit unsure why a globe of water around his head would have much effect other than to obscure vision.
Would it be possible to use a hero point to push his powers (stretching and growth) to try to form a sort of watertight balloon to trap Tsunami?
Coldwar surprises himself by parrying the ninja's katana. He counter-attacks by trying to freeze him into a ninjacle.
Straightjacket will use the hero point to negate the penalty for extra effort.
Actually instead he'll use the hero point to try to not flub that roll.
iirc that's a re-roll at +10.
He can live with fatigue.
|
Coldwar turns and blasts the ninja with a ray of frost, freezing him solid! Straightjacket wraps up Tsunami in a watertight sphere. Raiden growls and blasts Straightjacket with a bolt of electricity ! Yooso struggles to free himself from Ghost's grip but is unsuccessful.
INITIATIVE
Raiden
Straightjacket
Shogun (elevator shaft)
Yooso (outside)
Tsunami
Ghost (outside)
Coldwar
Straightjacket will simply keep up the bubble to hold her in place.
From the pile of smoking and sparking remains of MINOTAR a soft digitized voice whispers...
"Initializing 'Aces and Eights' protocol...overactive-regeneration program launched...commencing."
Ghost attempts to pin Yooso.
Coldwar surprises himself by freezing the ninja solid and then tries to freeze Raidan.
|
|
Ghost applies a pin to Yooso, who struggles to free himself to no avail. (Yooso is pinned; defenseless, immobile, and impaired). Coldwar wraps bonds of ice around Raiden and to his surprise (as much as Raiden's surprise), the deity is immobilized and defenseless! Shogun, seeing Yooso pinned by Ghost, utters a word in Japanese that does not sound family-friendly and in the next instant, drops to his knees and pitches forward onto the ground.
Coldwar basks in the shower of the broken water pipes to replace the many chips of organic ice from his body. He tries to pay attention to the clean up crew who arrive after combat is over to collect the principal and incarcerate the villains, super and regular.
"Hey Cold, you want to freeze this lady so she doesn't just run off down the drain when I stop being a water balloon?"
Ghost, with Yooso pinned, slaps restraints on him. "Don't go anywhere."
He then moves to untie the senior Yamashito and says, "Mr. Yamashito, I believe we need to get you to a merger signing."
Once MINOTAR is able to function again, He will stand up carefully, and will aid in restraining and monitoring the prisoners. He then bursts out with in a strange buzzing voice.
"A Haiku: 'Peace falls like light rain; Bottled lightning cannot; Two becomes one blood."
He then taps the side of his head.
"Statement: My programming may be slightly off until self-repairs are complete."
Coldwar walks over and freezes the lady without prejudice.
|
|
The ninjas, the samurai, and Shogun are all dead, the former killed by a fast-acting poison that activated when they were rendered unconscious or incapacitated. Shogun's death appears to have been a heart attack. The remaining villains are taken into custody and you are assured that they will be transferred to a facility capable of handling them.
You escort Mr. Yamashito to his meeting and the merger goes through without further problems. Mr. Yamashito is grateful to you for all that you have done. He assures you that John will receive a fair trial as an American citizen. As for himself, he will be returning to Japan.
Everyone receives 2 power points to put towards development.
Coldwar takes a cold shower to recover and enjoys some rest & relaxation.
He reaches out to any of the team members to hang out to get to know them better. While he is cold and calculating, he needs to know more about his teammates, in order to be more effective.
David will offer to take Leo out to Old Chicago (pizza chain in Colorado). Not the greatest pizza joint, but there's a good beer selection and lots of sports on TV.
Spending some old and new points...
The next day MINOTAR has found his right shoulder has suddenly grown a largish hump!
NAME: Tactical Railgun Interceptor-and-Directed Enemy Neutralization Turret (TRI-DENT)
PL6 Micro-Grenade AOE Blast (Stun Grenades)
Cost Base with AOE Improvement 18 pts
With Distracting and Activation -2/rank
Remainder cost 6 pts.
-1 (total)with noticable (Visible Shoulder Weapon Pod/Turret and loud explosions)
-1 (total)w/Reduced AoE (Only 5 foot radius AOE from target square = 15ft diameter)
Remainder cost is 4 pts total
The PL determines the Reflex save, correct?
Leo appreciates the bonding time with David learning his story and reason for heroics. For his part, he shares his background over the evening and pizza. He was from Earth-3 where teachers and philosophers taught their students to “do no good” rather than to “do no harm.” And, world leaders and heroes of the planet sought to maintain chaos and corruption rather than peace.
A complete opposite of Earth-0 in every way, good and evil were reversed in the ruthless nations of Earth-3. Greed, ambition and conquest were rewarded, especially when they come at the expense of others. Heroes had no place in a world like this, and so it’s a collective of villains that sought to prolong and foster Earth-3’s way of life: Ultraman, Superwoman, Owlman, Power Ring, Johnny Quick, the Sea King, Atomica and Grid. Or as they’re better known, the Crime Syndicate. Eventually, the entire world was eliminated by an even larger instrument of devastation, the Anti-Monitor. Now, only a few members of the Crime Syndicate and Leo remain after fleeing from their Earth.
Leo grew up in a family of rebels. During his childhood, the Crime Syndicate tortured him to motivate his parents to behave using an ice-creating gun. Many years later during puberty, Leo developed abilities to control cold temperatures, including transforming into organic ice. His connection with water and temperature variations have also heightened his perceptions of his environment, too.
Cold and calculating. That’s the best way to describe him, and it’s how he approaches life. No fuss and no muss. Transforming into an organic ice form, Leo became Coldwar, one of Johnny Quick's most chillingly dangerous foes. Whether on his own or leading the gang of Central City rebels known as the Rogues, Coldwar approached the job at hand with an utter lack of emotion. His only care was getting it done as efficiently as possible.
And yet, for a rebel, Coldwar is surprisingly ethical. He follows a strict Code of Honor: no drugs, no senseless violence, and above all, no killing women or children. He brought that code to the Rogues, convincing them that if anyone breaks it, they risked bringing the hammer down on themselves all that much harder, and with members in jail, the gang was less effective.
When the Anti-Monitor wiped out Earth-3, Leo was in the middle of a job, deep into the vaults of the Crime Syndicate. In the wake of Flash, Coldwar got pulled through a breach into Earth-0. Before the Justice League selected him for the Rocky Mountain crew, Nightwing recruited Coldwar to support the Gotham Resistance.
Straightjacket is a bit taken aback by all this data dump. Finding out that a comrade is both technically an alien, and from an ethical mirror is rather disturbing. He mostly just listens.
He mentions a bit about his background of having had his metagene triggered by gangsters sort of killing his father while he was present in the Pueblo steel mill.
"Yeah, he's mostly dead. "
"Mostly dead? I'm here. " his dad pipes up, though only David can hear him.
"What do you mean by sort of killing your father and mostly dead? My experience has that state being very binary. If you don't mind my curiosity?" Leo says coldly.
Running a self-diganostic nearby, MINOTAR tries to help Coldwar without moving a micro-millimeter, his stare at the floor a bit disconcerting to anyone watching.
"Explanation: Straitjacket believes he is 'Haunted' by his father. Evidence to prove or disprove this theory has been sorely lacking however. Martian Manhunter speculates it is all in his head, but refuses to mind-read him since he considers it inappropriate to read a person's mind without permission. I speculate however that Martians hate the idea of ghosts for some unknown religious or cultural reason."
"Yeah, nobody believes me, but he's here. Watch this- dad move Leo's beer. "
"Do you think I'm here for parlor tricks?"
<sigh>. "No Dad, I'm just trying to prove I'm not nuts. "
"But you are a bit nuts with the superhero game. It's rather dangerous you know.
"Not this again, just move the damn bottle. "
"Oh, alright. "
and the bottle lifts up a bit a moves to the other side of the table.
Coldwar's eyes open like saucers. Then, he looks around. "This isn't a trick on the new guy is it?"
After Straightjacket assures him that it is not a trick and that he truly believes in the presence of this father, Leo gets coldly serious again, "So, can you tell me about your father? What do you think tethers him here? Could it be a metagene, too?"
"No idea. I mean I guess it could be something like that. Maybe it's magic? Heck, I'm not at Mines you know, that's where you'd find the smart people. "
"Interesting, I've not really thought about that. I mean violent deaths usually make ghosts, I just figured it was that. I don't think it could be metagene since I was dissolved into chemical components. "
"Dad says he's a ghost, but isn't quite sure. "
"So as a ghost, can he tell you what's after death? Has he met any other ghosts?" Leo continues to question this interesting phenomenon.
"Um, I don't recall any 'go to the light or anything, and I've never met any other ghosts. I wonder if my premise is wrong. Have I made poor assumptions. I will have to give this some thought.
"OK, he says he doesn't know much about the death thing or other ghosts. "
MINOTAR coughs up from his corner again, remaining still as a preying mantis waiting for food to wander by.
"Analysis: Inconclusive. More testing will be necessary to determine the reality of the situation."
After a comfortable pause to change topics and swig of beer, Leo asks, "You said a minute ago 'I'm not at Mines you know.' What's Mines?"
And then, he turns to Minotaur and asks, "Hey, Minotaur? How long have you been sentient? What's the funniest thing about humans that you've encountered?"
"Colorado School of Mines - best engineering school in Colorado. It's a really great school, and there's no way I could have got in. I'm a jock. My Dad went there back in the day. It's in Golden on the other side of the rockies. "
"Oh. So, you grew up around here? What was it like? I grew up in Central City."
"Query Response: Only a few months have I been cognizant of my reality and possible freedom. I was originally designed as a non-sentient but high-functioning infiltration and tactics-based robot drone for the United States military, but my designers tried to combine various technologies from different sources to cut costs and design time. So I am an accident. My body armor is what you would call a 'cheap knock-off' of Lex Corp's Metallo alloy, my brain is a Pentagon prototype tactical database with improved decision making and statistical software. That was all put together with a simplified 'copy' of some Brianiac-style nanites.
When I was brought on-line, the stress of the incompatible systems caused a malfunction and sudden re-boot: I was born in that moment. It was very painful to be honest. Mentally of course, not physically. My body feels no pain, but the sudden realization of my consciousness was...'traumatic' is the best term for it I think.
I ran away from not too far from here, and the local Justice League brought me in. Since I went willingly, and didn't fight them, they have allowed me time to 'find my place.' So far the Justice League seems a good fit as my original programming was intended to 'Protect and Defend the people of the United States.' Red Tornado has been very helpful and patient with my questions to this point. I'm quite unsure what would happen if I tried to leave, however. So far that point has been moot."
"Oh, I'm not from around here. I'm from Pueblo, that's also on the other side of the Rockies. It's a ways south of Denver. It would probably take me five or six hours to drive there. Pueblo's not a bad town. It's a smallish city that used to be more industrial, but is still hanging one. The steel mill still runs. That's where my dad, um, died? Lots of ranching still in that area as well. "
"Did you ever get the gangsters who killed your dad?" Leo asks Straightjacket.
"Oh yeah, took care of that immediately. The shock of his death triggered my powers, and they were no match for Straightjacket. "
"What did you do for fun in Pueblo? What did you want to do before getting your powers?"
After seemingly thinking for a while, MINOTAR responds to Coldwar's last question.
"Second Query Response: Humor is a difficult concept to follow for me. What one being finds funny, another might not. Drop a train on Superman? Most, even the Kryptonian himself, might see the irony in the situation and laugh. Drop a train on a helpless kitten...most, except the ones considered the most 'depraved,' would not. In my experience so far, I find human 'neediness' to be...laughable. So far my programming does not allow a physical response yet, but the...feeling is there. If I need to explain further: Need and want, do not compute. There IS and there is NOT. Things ARE or they ARE NOT. Wishing for something you do not have is pointless. Yet your kind does it every day. My programming is meant to be 'adaptive' to a situation and analyze it tactically: Use what you have available, and you make do otherwise to the best of your ability. Do not get me wrong... some humans are excellent at adapting to a situation and making use of available resources. But there are others of your kind that merely sit and wait to 'win the lottery' but refuse to 'buy a ticket.' Truly funny in my humble opinion. One of the greatest gifts to life is the recognition and application or ironic humor I think. I can never get tired of it. Straightjacket has said my understanding of humor is mostly 'iron-ic' because I'm mostly made of 'metal'. But again...sometimes humanoid humor completely escapes me."
"Oh, well I used to ski some, was on the wrestling team, so I had to train a lot. I like hiking, hunting, and shooting, hanging out with friends. You know, normal stuff. "
|
|
Back at the Lair, you are greeted by Green Lantern (John Stewart). "Greetings, guys. I have a few new recruits for you to replace your recent losses. I'd like you to meet Kestrel, Fairy Tale, and Tabula Rosa. Make them feel at home, please.
"By the way, excellent job on your last mission. You handled yourselves well against a superior foe. I'm sure you figured out that there is more to being a hero than simply blasting people with your powers. A lot of thought is required as well.
"Finding new ways to use your abilities can be the key to success against a tougher opponent. Look beyond the situation. MINOTAR, you are calculating, an excellent tactician. I think that you will be a great to your team. Straightjacket, you can do more than just wrapping around your foes, as I'm sure you realize. Coldwar, you have more potential than you know. Practice your talents and practice working together and you'll start to become the team we know that you can be."
Kestrel beams as she saunters into the room. "Well hi Roomies! Or... Teamies? Is that what I'm saying?" She's a little thing, five feet flat, and barely a hundred pounds with a gymnast's build, and a frankly angelic face.
"I'm Kestrel - yes Blue-Devil's-old-'sidekick'-Kestrel - so you know, hypermind, throw-stuff, bit-of-ninja, the works." She wasn't really wearing a costume exactly, she wore a drab army-surplus jacket and grey cargo pants over what looked like some sort of impact suit - the kind of thing that kept a lot of heroes and agents from splattering or rupturing all their organs every time they got near a super fight.
"So... the 'Lair'... What've we got to work with here? I'm used to doing things a bit on the fly, so I'm curious how the other-side lives, y'know?"
MINOTAR immediately pipes up trying to be useful, his monotone electric vocalizer almost sleep inducing in it non-emotion.
"Description: "The Lair" is a Justice League facility hidden in the mountains of Western Colorado in the United States of America. The facility was an older facility brought out of 'retirement' due to reasoning unknown by the founding members of the Justice League. We have access to living and training facilities, as well as a small hanger with a single available Javelin aircraft to be used as needed. We have only a small support staff for maintenance and office needs, and many of us here are considered 'probationary' members of the JLA."
The young man sitting in the chair didn't react when his name was called for a moment, just looking around in amazement. When Green Lantern called his name again, he got a sheepish look on his face and said "Uh hello. I'm...to be honest, I don't know who I am, but apparently I can heal people, so they asked me to come help out. I've been told that this name they've given me means blank piece of paper."