Michael Crofton, "Turnabout"'s page

Michael's body is exhausted; he collapsed in his dorm for a few hours.

Once he's rested, he decides to head out for the evening.

@Team: Anyone up for some grub? Or watching Sword of the Gods? My treat!

Anyone up for a triumphant celebration?

Michael opens his mouth to argue, then shuts it again. Probably better not to push it, I got what we needed. Still visibly angry, he replies to Mirror, "Her name is Solmira." He turns to his team and says "Let's go."

A few minutes after they leave, he pulls out his phone.
@Mirror: Forgot to say thank you. Sorry about that. We're all grateful for the help.

Michel's pleasure at being back in his own body is cut short by his mentor's glower. " Grounded? What for? Sure, we had that accident, but that's been dealt with, and literally no one got hurt. We even captured a villain! And saved hostages!". He pauses, meeting his mentor's glare. "I stand by what my team did today; I don't think many other teams would've fared as well as we did, under the circumstances. "

Provoke? Defend?: 2d6 - 1 ⇒ (4, 3) - 1 = 6
I feel like my +1 ongoing for getting the team in shape might apply here. Not sure if Provoke or Defend is more appropriate, but the modifier is the same.
For Defend, if the +1 bumps that to a 7-9, this feels like an "add a team to the pool", and exposing myself to danger by claiming responsibility and leadership for what happened.

Yup!

As far as I'm concerned, up to you; she's been in paranoid-recluse mode for years, but it's entirely possible you knew her before then, or she worked with Quickman more recently.

"Alright then," Michael/Solmira replies, and settles in.

Solmira's face looks nervous as Michael gazes at the apparatus. He looks at Mirror before taking a seat. "Before we get started, is there anything I can help with?"
A barely-noticable variation in the timing of the words marks this as one of the pre arranged signals Mirror and Turnabout have set up; he listens carefully for the expected reply.

Oof, I totally forgot about Tox. :P

"Alright, sounds like Mirror has an idea. We'll need to head out in about twenty minutes, no costumes." He smiles. " With any luck, we'll all be back in our own bodies soon. "

Solmira's body startles noticably as Michael realizes he's been caught. But when she doesn't say anything, he doesn't either. That'll be trouble later.

When Sorrel returns in Quentin's body, Michael offers a relieved wave.

"I'll see if Mirror's found anything yet. "

@Mirror: This is Michael; any luck with our predicament?

This is assuming we didn't just bump into Ricardo, since his last post has him also heading back.

Michael takes back his comm, and steps back from the group slightly. He taps in a few commands, trying not to draw the rest of the group's notice; a map pulls up, with a blinking indicator showing the location of KQ's communicator.

Yeah, I might have a backdoor to the locators on your comms. Feel free to notice if you want. I don't think I know OOC where the comm is, so next actions will depend on that.

Michael flies back to the group, rejoining as they head for the Institute. When he gets there, he asks "himself", "Hey, Michael - can I see your comm for a minute?"

Michael curses under his breath when he realizes his quarry has escaped. He waits for a few minutes, watching to make sure there's not another hostage crisis about to start. I could scan them... But I can't get myself in that much trouble. Can't get Solmira in that much trouble.

Unless something dramatic happens, Michael heads back to his team, pulling out Solmira's communicator.
@Team: Acerbic got away. You all ok? Katanonball in custody?

Michael beelines for the mall, pushing his control over Solmira's abilities as hard as he can to get there before Acerbic, and without drawing the villain's attention.

Unleash: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (1, 1) + 2 = 4

Well, I was hoping to get there and tap into mall security to keep tabs on him. Potential++!

Michael nods. Solmira should her density manipulation now, that should help her out. "Right. On it!" He turns and takes off in the direction Acerbic fled, taking to the air in an attempt to cut into the villain's head start.

How about an Unleash roll for both? If that's not ok, then definitely tend to the teammates instead.

Michael starts trying to shift the rubble, and some reflex of Solmira's body kicks in, lightening the pieces as he lifts them. He pauses, then tries to harness that to clear the rubble in moments instead of hours...

Unleash density/gravity manipulation: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 1) = 4

Ugh. Sorry, team!

KQ, in Tox's body, has been engaging Katanonball. They've traded blows a couple of times now.

Michael/Sol and Tox/Sorrel are engaged with Acerbic (so, presumably, is Sol/Michael - your last post was assessing him, I think). This is apparently an attempt to extract revenge for their interrupting Quicksilver's affairs the night before.

Sorrel, in KQ's body, snuck in and rescued the hostages, and is now fleeing.

I'll hold off on posting until Solmira posts her next action.

Michael, reeling slightly, flies back, out of Acerbic's reach. Stop. Think. Solmira's eyes close. He said they're getting paid. And they just want those two. Why? They've basically nothing in common...though they were together yesterday, when...

He focuses on on Sorrel's body. Tox, Sorrel mentioned some kind of vision yesterday. Is that... Can you do that? See who sent these guys?

Aloud, he says "Do you really think we'd be foolish enough to bring you exactly what you asked for? What do you want those two for, anyway? "

Pierce the Mask: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 6) = 9

What do you intend to do?

Angry. Definitely angry.

Michael steps up his attack. "Too bad. I've got interest in stopping you!" he yells, Michael's intonations sounding off in Solmira's voice. He presses the assault, and as his discipline slips, everyone in the area starts to feel pent-up anger coming to the fore.

Directly Engage+Venting Frustration: 2d6 - 1 ⇒ (3, 4) - 1 = 6

It occurs to me that VF would be more mechanically useful if my mentor didn't deny Danger. Ah well, still clears Angry, at least for the moment!
Also, we should totally be spending some Team to bump at least one of these 6- rolls to a 7.

3 picks combined from the two rolls, so I'll take one of each option:
clear Afraid by immediately acting to prove them wrong
shift Danger up and Superior down
cancel their Influence and take +1 forward against them

"That was just to get your attention," Michael lies, before swooping down on the villain, fist outstretched.
Directly Engage, +1 forward: 2d6 ⇒ (6, 2) = 8

It's not the cleanest series of strikes he's ever made, but it's sufficient to draw Acerbic's focus away from his teammates.

Let's see how the resists go.

Reject -Danger: 2d6 ⇒ (6, 5) = 11
Reject -Savior: 2d6 ⇒ (2, 6) = 8

That's good. Whiffing on the -Danger one would've left me taken out :p follow-up coming soon!
Also, just noticed that I forgot to include the -2 for Afraid on my Directly Engage roll... Meaning I think that's the first negative result I've ever gotten in a PbtA game.

That whiff gives me enough Potential for an advance. Tempted to take the Bull's Punch Everyone, but gonna mull it over a little first.

The mimicry is one power at a time, and it has to directly affect Michael for it to kick in. Getting hit with something new replaces whatever he had previously.
Impossible fighting skills is mostly just being really good - Olympic-level reflexes and strength, combined with tons of training.
And yeah, the recklessness got downplayed some when Michael turned out to be the responsible one, plus it's just a hard mindset for me to embody :p That said...

Michael drops Quickardo off, and takes to the air, surveying the site quickly. Ugh. Hostages. I'm really tired of every two bit villain deciding taking hostages is the best way to deal with anything.

The moment he gets a clear shot at Acerbic, he swings his arms around, and tries to figure out how Solmira's light blasts work...

Directly Engage: 2d6 - 2 ⇒ (2, 1) - 2 = 1

Sounds great, Solmira!
Anything I should know about how your photokinesis works? Is it pretty much just a blaster?
Same for density control - can that do anything other than make someone float/slam them to the ground? What do you have to do to use it?

MichaelMira meets up with Sorrel/KQ, and (after a couple of false starts) they start flying towards the indicated coordinates at a decent clip.

@everyone: Alright, if Tox is out, Sorrel, meet me in the courtyard and I'll give you a lift out. KQ, can you get there?

I'd be willing to follow Sorrel{KQ} into the fray, or be captain again. As far as approach - meet up nearby, have Sorrel/KQ approach alone, and the rest of us jump in when it all goes horribly awry?

As far as my goal in the fight: keep the team from getting too badly embarrassed.

"Right, sorry." Michael stammers. Still can't get over how wrong it is to hear Sol's voice when I speak.

When the comm goes off, he stares for a moment and says aloud " I'm going to need a minute here."

@everyone: Are we going? Meet at the garage?

Michael suppresses his instinct to help with the setup, instead trying to maintain an aloof indifference. Once Irenist gives the go-ahead, he nods, then focuses first on the closest dummy. He tries to focus first on simple concepts, trying to turn the dummy's receiver display red.

Unleash: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (2, 5) + 2 = 9

As the first few attempts seem to work well, Michael starts trying more complicated tasks, before an idea occurs... And he tries to link to of the training dummies to each other.

I'll take "unstable or temporary" for that please. How would this go horribly awry if I just tried to put everyone back?

Telepathy would be most useful, but...I don't want to trigger another broadcast. Still... Michael responds, in his best attempt at Solmira's detached manner. "Actually, can we focus on my telepathic abilities today? I'd rather not have a repeat of...that."

Michael wakes up early, and takes a few minutes to gather his bearings. Sleep for Solmira's people is...different.

Checking her desk, he finds Snowflake's note, and briefly considers following her (a brief flash of anger/self-recrimination goes through the minds of anyone nearby), before finding a copy of her schedule on her desk. Power development. With...

Taking a few minutes to practice Solmira's attitude, he heads out.

Sol: who teaches your power development class?

Civics? That was on my list, not Solmira's.

Michael stares at Solmira's question.

On the one hand, GM already doesn't trust Sol, and this isn't likely to improve that. On the other hand, if she finds out any other way, it'll be worse...

@Solmira{Michael}: We're going to have to tell somebody. I've got a mentor I'm supposed to meet, probably best to tell her. Head to 376 Innovation at 6:15, side door, enter 5273 on the keypad.
@Solmira{Michael}: And we should ask Quickman for help, but aside from that, I think we should try and keep it quiet. Hopefully we'll get this fixed soon.
@Sorrel{KQ}, @KQ{Tox}: I think Quentin's suggestion to ask his dad for help was our best bet.

Michael's got a training regimen at Mirror's hideout early in the morning, followed by courses in neobiology, physics, and Heroic Civics.

Michael{Solmira} heads out, moving towards where he thinks her room is. He's reaching for the communicator when it goes off.

Clothes? I think I can... flashes through his head, before he stumbles into the wall; actually thinking about the alien body he was in caused all the automatic, unconscious processes to just...stop being automatic. Anyone in the hallway would see "her" collapse against the wall, hyperventilating. Does breathing even help?!

It takes a few minutes for Michael to calm down, running through a meditative exercise until he stops thinking about respirat...the problem.

It's been a rather noticable delay when he manages to send Solmira a response: "Think I can manage. Thanks." followed by directions to his room.

Assuming nothing else happens...

Once he reaches Solmira's room, he sends another message. So, how are we going to get everyone back where they belong?

FYI, I may not be able to post until Monday.

I think the group-telepathy is down, but we should all have our communicators - that's how KQ started this whole mess anyway :p

"Yes, thank you, S...Michael. I do seem to be feeling better now." Turnmira replies. He turns to address Ms. Mulvaney. "I'll be sure to check in with Dr. Wellspring in the morning."

"Uhh... If we get split up, and you can't get to my room here, head to 376 Innovation Drive - the side door." Probably shouldn't have said that. Too late now.

As the footsteps get louder, Michael tries to assume a more natural looking pose in Solmira's body. It's...not very good. He does manage to levitate slightly, though there's a great deal more bounce when he moves than Solmira ever shows.

Marking Insecure.

Michael/Solmira focuses on SolMichael, remembering how it felt the last time he borrowed Solmira's powers. This is Michael. Stay away from Sorrel; if you touch him, you'll mirror his toxins, and we really don't need that right now. You should be able to use your telepathy, if you try. Umm.. Any idea how to put us back?

I'm assuming I can use Solmira's basic telepathy and flight passably - Michael's 'borrowed' those powers previously. Aside from that, I imagine there's going to be a whole lot of Unleash rolls in the near future :p

"... Is gunning for..." Michael/Solmira gets a few more words out before trailing off. (Michael's intonation sounds decidedly wrong in Solmira's voice.) He? glances around at the rest, eyes widening as he spots his body across the room. Over the link, a tumult of thoughts, mostly boiling down to what the hell?, pour out, accompanied by waves of confusion escalating towards panic.

I'm in, sure!

Michael starts to reply to Quentin, and gets as far as "From what Sorrel said, Harbinger..." before Something bad happens.

Ah, a deception. I just thought I misremembered. In that case I think I like the original statement more, now - Michael probably does know it's bull and his attitude then fits.

Oof, reading comprehension fail on my part - I somehow missed "Solmira had traveling companions, and they died" from that post. Michael's response would have been... Not quite so casual.

Gonna have to pass, sadly - I can't even keep up with the games I'm already in. (P.s. sorry for the delay on my last post!) But I'll be reading along!

Michael offers a sympathetic look to Solmira, and nods at Tox's response.  "Hey, if life was supposed to be easy, we wouldn't need schools.  Or hospitals.  Or teams, for that matter."

"As for me...Ricardo's right, I am here by choice.  When I first found out I had powers, it was awesome, right?  Best thing ever when you're 10.  I came for the fun. If anyone had told me then how much work it would be, I might've skipped out, ended up like the Blockbusters or worse.  Now, though...it just feels good, what we do.  Try to do."

Michael relaxes somewhat after Tox says his piece. I can't really throw stones... Snowflake's on the loose, for similar reasons, and that's on me.

Michael nods at the rest. "My body reacts to neo-abled powers, and mimics them. It only works on bio, not tech, and only one thing at a time. And I have to be affected by something to mimic it. So if I ask you to hit me with a power, that's why."

====Earlier====

Shortly after the group splits up for the night, Solmira's communicator beeps. What happened with Snowflake? Did you get her to Dr. Coolridge?

Don't necessarily need to play this out for very long - if/how Solmira answers will affect Michael's attitude though.

====Group Meeting====

Michael snorts a little when he's referred to as the group's leader, and waves off Quentin's half-apology. "Didn't do so great at that yesterday."

He scans the room. I shouldn't push Ricardo right now. Quentin's fine. Solmira... He settles his gaze on Tox. "So...What exactly happened yesterday?"

Michael's going to want to track down Snowflake, but on his own. As a group, following up on "Harbinger is using dockside thugs" sounds like a good idea to me, could be persuaded otherwise.

Michael shows up, in a solid red t-shirt and jeans. "Hey.". He paces the room, seemingly unable to stand still. After a moment he asks "Anyone heard from Solmira?"

He killed someone? He's way too calm...but now's probably not the time to talk about that.

"I've definitely heard the rumors about that same "friend"...from more than one source." Michael confirms. "So if you think you saw that...I think you're probably right."

When asked about Maximus, Michael replies "Not too much, and mostly the truth. I said that Solmira engaged the villain, but that I didn't see who it was; the first part of that was true, anyway. The woman I brought here was apparently Snowflake's target, but I couldn't figure out what she could've done to make anyone want to kill her."

Fine with wrapping this one up, or closing it out in flashback as needed.

With Maximus distracted, and Sorrel approaching, Michael steers the woman over towards Kendra. "I'm fine, I wasn't at cheapside, and I don't know. Can you take [this woman] and help find her a room? She was attacked, and I think we should keep her here and safe for a couple of days. I need to talk to Ricardo - I'll catch up with you later."

He turns to Sorrel, and starts walking away from the crowd in general, and Maximus specifically. "Hey. Sorry I couldn't get there. Are you ok? What happened?"

"Hey, Quentin" Michael offers a wave. " You ok? How's....things?" Best not to draw Maximus' attention to anyone until I know what happened...

He tries to reassure the woman, making it seem like this is no big deal. "I'm not sure what happened, but he doesn't look badly hurt - and if something had gone badly wrong, Maximus wouldn't have had time for the escort. It'll probably be on the news later, though. "

Guilty for the shift, Afraid for the 7-9 Unleash.

Michael nods quietly, not trusting himself to speak at the moment.

By the time they arrive at the lobby, prolonged exposure to Maximus' aura means Michael takes in the scene, but waits for the adult hero before doing anything.

Oh yeah, forgot that I could mark a condition for a 7-9. I think Afraid makes the most sense there, basically getting a double dose of the aura. So I'll do that.