The Ultrahumans! Issue #2 Starring Miss Victory and Lionheart! "World under siege!"

LIONHEART

Wincing inwardly and realising his attempt to steamroller the goon had caused him to miss, Lionheart tries again, this time leaning more towards accuracy...

OOC Mind Blast 15 + 4D Accuracy (1D acrobatics) + Roll(6d12)+0: 12,8,5,12,5,10,+0 Total:24 DOUBLE (boom) plus Roll(2d12)+0: 1,1,+0 Total:2 ARRGGH crikey talk about highs and lows! Mind Blast has BURNED OUT and won't work again for another hour!

He took aim and... nothing happened! He seemed to have once again 'tripped' his power and felt the dull headache coming on that suggested he might have to do this the old fashioned way!

The lightning guy was flustered that he'd missed and he faced a speedster, but there was no light show this time, no 'energy lion' that came at him. Maybe it was all for show?

"I don't know who you are..." he crackled "But you can't dodge me forever!"

OOC Crit Blow Lightning 20 + accuracy 2d + Roll(4d12)+0: 2,4,8,3,+0 Total:12 (32) vs
OV26 + 1D acro + 2 range + crit blow 4 + Roll(3d12)+0: 9,1,5,+0 Total:14 (46)

"Damn!" hissed the Electrical man. "Will you just save us both some time and stand still, I'm on the clock here and... what did you do to the others?" he roared.

Lionheart scowled. His mask hid half of his face, not that he had much need for a secret ID but at some point he might want some privacy, or more likely ensure the privacy of others on the Ultrahumans team.

Assuming there was much of a team left after this!

OOC So, no Mind Blast, facing an opponent sheathed in Electricity! You still have the wires trailing from you which might go some way to discharging the energy but this guy is off the charts compared to your usual power station...

LIONHEART
MIND BLAST BURNED OUT
HP70

MISS VICTORY

Seeing the creature was adapting - or even evolving - to face her, she knew that she wouldn't have too long before this thing figured out to match or exceed her abilities, if the rest of what had happened suggested some of it's remarkable powers!

OOC Dex to 11, Str to 12, Body 23

Crit Blow AV11 + 2D M Arts (2D acro) + Roll(4d12)+0: 9,8,8,2,+0 Total:16 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 12,4,+0
Total:32 (43) vs
OV10 + 2D Acro (2D m Arts) + crit blow 4 + Roll(4d12)+0: 1,12,6,11,+0 Total:23 (37)
+3 (to 15) vs RV23 - Crit Blow 6 (RV17)=No damage!

With a solid sounding THUNK! Miss Victory landed a powerful blow... and it was like hitting a mountain! Her hand throbbed and she got an idea of what it must be like fighting her!

Worse was to come!

The creature morphed... shifted... changed form...

Suddenly she faced a simulacrum of herself, except this thing had no clothes on!

And weirdly (thankfully) no genitals or nipples! Still, it was unnerving, especially since it's eyes remained reptilian slits!

"Grrrrt! It's learnnnng! Jus whut I dun neeeeeed" it/she slurred...

It adopted a fighting stance like the one Miss Victory used... Then it rolled it's mouth and spoke again "Great! It's learning! Just what I don't need!" it said, matching Miss Victory's speech and accent perfectly!!!

Admin wrote:LIONHEART
MIND BLAST BURNED OUT
HP70

OOC: Hahaha well that keeps us humble we're not God!

Lionheart looked about, he wanted to avoid hitting the dude unless he had no choice the wires being the only way he might survive the massive backlash that was probably awaiting him if he came into contact with his electrified body. Looking about he sought anything he could use to improvise as a weapon.

OOC: OK my thought is I will do what Darth Vader did to Luke in the Empire strikes back, when he threw all sorts of debris at him, to keep him off balance and test his strength. I am thinking anything that isn't tied down, and maybe bits of wall, or structurally non-critical pillars, walls, or flooring I could rip up and throw at him, might help to smash him and keep him on the defensive. I'm trying to avoid direct hand to hand combat until or unless I've no other choice.

Sj

ooc: take 9 out of Body [makes 14 now] and place it in Strength and try again with Crit blow.

"Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickles Peppers," she says to the alien as she attempts to take it down. She wondered if it was just mimicking her or was it gaining intelligence too? If it was gaining Intelligence, maybe she could talk to it and make it surrender? Or would it use its Intelligence to reopen the portal and allowed more of its kind to invade Earth?

Admin wrote:MISS VICTORY

Seeing the creature was adapting - or even evolving - to face her, she knew that she wouldn't have too long before this thing figured out to match or exceed her abilities, if the rest of what had happened suggested some of it's remarkable powers!

OOC Dex to 11, Str to 12, Body 23

Crit Blow AV11 + 2D M Arts (2D acro) + Roll(4d12)+0: 9,8,8,2,+0 Total:16 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 12,4,+0
Total:32 (43) vs
OV10 + 2D Acro (2D m Arts) + crit blow 4 + Roll(4d12)+0: 1,12,6,11,+0 Total:23 (37)
+3 (to 15) vs RV23 - Crit Blow 6 (RV17)=No damage!

With a solid sounding THUNK! Miss Victory landed a powerful blow... and it was like hitting a mountain! Her hand throbbed and she got an idea of what it must be like fighting her!

Worse was to come!

The creature morphed... shifted... changed form...

Suddenly she faced a simulacrum of herself, except this thing had no clothes on!

And weirdly (thankfully) no genitals or nipples! Still, it was unnerving, especially since it's eyes remained reptilian slits!

"Grrrrt! It's learnnnng! Jus whut I dun neeeeeed" it/she slurred...

It adopted a fighting stance like the one Miss Victory used... Then it rolled it's mouth and spoke again "Great! It's learning! Just what I don't need!" it said, matching Miss Victory's speech and accent perfectly!!!

LIONHEART

Tossing anything that wasn't tied down - chairs, computers, desks, paper, anything and everything basically - Lionheart distracted the electrical villain who at first seemed annoyed... then 'turned up the juice'. He glowed brighter and brighter and anything that struck him literally flashed, popped and spun away as a frazzled mess!

"Thhhhaaattt alllll yooouuuu gottttt?" he crackled!

Lionheart had to admit, the guy was VERY bright now, and the arcing electricity sparked out in every direction! Suddenly his body wasn't human shaped, it was a ball of sparking energy and smashing out at walls, the roof, floor, ceiling....

Rrrrrruuuuuuuuuummmmmbbbble!

Lionheart was out of the building in a flash and shouted for everyone to "GET BACK!"

There was a loud CRACK then.... THWOOOOM!!!

The bank exploded! Walls, ceilings, floors... smoke billowed outwards in every direction and he contained it as best he could with his telekinesis, whizzing about where required to move people out of the way of falling debris!

When the dust settled a few seconds later the bank was levelled! His danger sense told him... there was no danger from the place. Where had the electrical villain gone?

Admin wrote:LIONHEART


When the dust settled a few seconds later the bank was levelled! His danger sense told him... there was no danger from the place. Where had the electrical villain gone?

At first, he thought that with the villain gone and his buddies now captured perhaps this could be chalked up as a win. But then he thought of the paper they'd come for still locked in the vault below, let alone where the villain had gone. In his ball lightening state, one could only wonder if he was sufficiently intangible that he was unaffected by the debris and sought to use the distraction to escape.

Mindful that the paper was alongside the hostages his biggest concern right now, he put the thoughts of the villain aside. And got on with first making sure everyone who had been injured was stable and suitably cared for. Then, having explained what had happened to the police, he looked for a way to access the vault and finish the search the others had failed in. That the name was on paper meant it was one of a kind. It wasn't accessible on digital or on a remote server, this meant that paper was unique. That alone was its protection, and Lionheart meant it to stay that way. The people Nexus had around him had survived escape from a prison designed to withstand a nuclear bomb. The fact the bank collapsed would not stop them from coming back. So Lionheart, having already stopped the team retrieving it, had to now get it himself. He had to throw some kind of spanner in the works of Nexus and their plans.

OOC: OK so going to go look for that paper. And try and finish what was started here. I'm also aware that our Elector Arc ball lightening villain might still be around and even willing to jump me, if I get the paper before him or for him, as it were.

Sj

MISS VICTORY
Dex 12 Str 21 Body 14

The lizardman tipped its head to the side, listening, learning...

Miss Victory 'helped' it along with a jaw splitting punch!

OOC Av12 + 2D m arts (Acro 2D) + Roll(4d12)+0: 4,7,12,7,+0 Total:14 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 9,7,+0 Total:30 (42) vs
Ov12 + 2D Acro + Crit Blow 4 + Roll(4d12)+0: 11,10,8,1,+0 Total:21 (37) +3 (to 24) vs RV23 - 6 CB (Rv17)=7 RAPs

SMACK!

The Lizard creature flew across the room to crash into a heap of servers!

With a growl and a snarl it started forward, then tipped it's head to one side... Then it leapt at Miss Victory!

OOC it has switched 9 points from body (it now has 7/14 Body) to Strength and attacks Miss Victory!

AV12 + 2D M Arts + Roll(4d12)+0: 6,6,9,6,+0 Total:12 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 4,9,+0 Total:25 (37) vs
OV12 + 2D Acro + Roll(4d12)+0: 2,10,9,9,+0 Total:18 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 4,5,+0 Total:27 (39) Missed!

A lizard fist punches through the stone wall where Miss V's head had been only moments before! She had to be careful! If this thing could match her abilities then a single punch from it might take her head off!!!

Let's try it again, same attack and everything. Nothing like fighting a mirrored copy of yourself. Guess I should do that move everything to Dex to get initiative and then back to the 12,21,14 combo when attacking.

Admin wrote:MISS VICTORY
Dex 12 Str 21 Body 14

The lizardman tipped its head to the side, listening, learning...

Miss Victory 'helped' it along with a jaw splitting punch!

OOC Av12 + 2D m arts (Acro 2D) + Roll(4d12)+0: 4,7,12,7,+0 Total:14 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 9,7,+0 Total:30 (42) vs
Ov12 + 2D Acro + Crit Blow 4 + Roll(4d12)+0: 11,10,8,1,+0 Total:21 (37) +3 (to 24) vs RV23 - 6 CB (Rv17)=7 RAPs

SMACK!

The Lizard creature flew across the room to crash into a heap of servers!

With a growl and a snarl it started forward, then tipped it's head to one side... Then it leapt at Miss Victory!

OOC it has switched 9 points from body (it now has 7/14 Body) to Strength and attacks Miss Victory!

AV12 + 2D M Arts + Roll(4d12)+0: 6,6,9,6,+0 Total:12 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 4,9,+0 Total:25 (37) vs
OV12 + 2D Acro + Roll(4d12)+0: 2,10,9,9,+0 Total:18 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 4,5,+0 Total:27 (39) Missed!

A lizard fist punches through the stone wall where Miss V's head had been only moments before! She had to be careful! If this thing could match her abilities then a single punch from it might take her head off!!!

LIONHEART

With superspeed, telekinesis, super strength, empathy (to sense emotions of anyone who may need help) and super senses the British hero could not only sift through the ruined bank but clear it into neat piles, nip off all the burst pipes and crimp any stray electrical wires, all in as short a time as a man who could almost move at the speed of light could manage!

The dazed cops blinked at the clearing smoke expecting to see devastation and a huge crate only to find neat piles of scooped rubble and a man stood in its midst dusting his hands off, the dust falling about him but never touching him because of his personal force field! Satisfied no one was in danger or in need of immediate help having quickly moved people aside where he needed to, Lionheart gave a salute to the cops who, open mouthed, gave the odd vague salute back, unsure of what they'd just witnessed!

Without further ado he punched through a fallen concrete wall and entered the dust covered vault.

The place was full of strewn papers - bonds, deeds, photographs, diaries... and lots of valuables. Watches, jewellery, cash, gold and other precious metals... the place was a mess!

Two thirds of the safe deposit boxes had been opened and tossed out. That still left more than a hundred to go through and they were locked/secure. Technically Lionheart would be breaking the law if he opened them up. As a law enforcer/former cop that rankled with him but if that piece of paper had some clue as to the whereabouts of Nexus or that Gauntlet he was after (which would unlock his power as possibly the, or at least one of, the most powerful beings on Earth) then it might be a price worth paying.

He could hear distant sirens as fire engines approached and knew he didn't have long before the emergency services started sifting through the place and asking questions...

Admin wrote:He could hear distant sirens as fire engines approached and knew he didn't have long before the emergency services started sifting through the place and asking questions...

He moved quickly, he wasn't actually stealing anything, just borrowing it. A technicality, but in a situation like this it was one that was worth making. In the time that the others realised that their first team had failed goodness knows what destruction a second team would cause. Not wanting to take any chances as government and meta-human responses started to ramp up resistance.

He moved as methodically as he could, seeking to open the locks with his considerable skills as a thief so that the contents remain intact, but the paper was located as quickly as his skills would allow. Once he had the paper, he wondered if it would be best shredded or destroyed. But that was an issue he could wait to settle, after this he had a meeting to still attend post haste.

Sj

MISS VICTORY

The creature shuddered and its skin seemed to 'shimmer'... What now?

This thing was getting tougher, smarter, strong as required!

OOC Av12 + 2D M Arts (2D Acro) + Roll(4d12)+0: 4,6,10,8,+0 Total:18 (30) vs
OV23 + 2D Acro (2D M Arts) + Crit Blow 4 + Roll(4d12)+0: 10,8,11,9,+0 Total:21 (48) Missed!

The other 'Miss Victory' rolled her neck. She looked down on her body and grinned again but with rows of razor sharp teeth!

Whatever abilities the heroine used this thing was able to copy them, and presumably could do so without needing any vita pills!

Indeed, the thing waved her on, and seemed to be enjoying itself!

OOC You win initiative. This thing is going to attack you next round!

LIONHEART

Moving at speed he applied his Thieving skills with his sheer speed and opened/checked out all of the safe deposit boxes using a piece of burnt out wire!

OOC AV26 + 5D Thief + Roll(7d12)+0: 10,12,11,4,4,7,2,+0 Total:8 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 5,4,+0 Total:17 (43) vs
OV10 + Multi 14 + Roll(2d12)+0: 10,5,+0 Total:15 (39) +3 (to 29) vs RV24=5 RAPs All safes opened!

Ignoring the personal stuff and valuables Lionheart got near to the end of the safe deposit boxes and ...

A piece of paper. A scrap really. It had a hand written message on it. "30th St. B752"

That was it. What did it mean?

Lionheart frowned, then figured he'd try his super brain to figure it out...

OOC Pow Res 10 into Int now 25 AV25 + Roll(2d12)+0: 5,9,+0 Total:14 (39) vs
OV10 + Roll(2d12)+0: Roll(2d12)+0: 8,6,+0 Total:14 (24) +5 (to 12 Will) vs RV10=2 RAPs

1) This refers to a locker somewhere.
2-3) Probably at a public place. Maybe a sports hall or... 30th St. Philadelphia has the 30th Street Station.

Let's try a mental blast, maybe it can only copy physical powers and stats

Keep Body as it is, pull the points from strength and then Dex, if that is needed.

Admin wrote:MISS VICTORY

The creature shuddered and its skin seemed to 'shimmer'... What now?

This thing was getting tougher, smarter, strong as required!

OOC Av12 + 2D M Arts (2D Acro) + Roll(4d12)+0: 4,6,10,8,+0 Total:18 (30) vs
OV23 + 2D Acro (2D M Arts) + Crit Blow 4 + Roll(4d12)+0: 10,8,11,9,+0 Total:21 (48) Missed!

The other 'Miss Victory' rolled her neck. She looked down on her body and grinned again but with rows of razor sharp teeth!

Whatever abilities the heroine used this thing was able to copy them, and presumably could do so without needing any vita pills!

Indeed, the thing waved her on, and seemed to be enjoying itself!

OOC You win initiative. This thing is going to attack you next round!

Admin wrote:1) This refers to a locker somewhere.
2-3) Probably at a public place. Maybe a sports hall or... 30th St. Philadelphia has the 30th Street Station. [/i] [/color]

Although this had been a side mission to the main event, it had turned out to be a whole lot more besides. Something that now that a lead had been found Lionheart didn't ignore it. The information was too precious to ignore, after the effort those who sought it had gone to.

Besides Philidelphia that was close to his final destination, right? Well he'd soon find out. 30th Street I'm coming for you. And with that, he was gone as if no one had been there at all, save the rubble and destruction.

Sj

MISS VICTORY
Dex 10 Str 6 Body 14

Mental Blast 21

OOC You can switch points about so I assume you may want to do so depending on how successful the blast is...

Mental Blast 21 + Accuracy 2D (Acrobatics 2D) + Roll(4d12)+0: 10,7,10,8,+0 Total:20 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0:
10,4,+0 Total:34 (55) vs
OV23 + 2D Acro + Roll(4d12)+0: 8,4,3,7,+0 Total:15 (38)
+6 (to 27) vs RV17=10 RAPs!

Finally!

Miss Victory saw the creature reel... then stagger... then fall backwards in a heap! It morphed, changing from her naked form to its natural green skinned lizard like state!

Miss Victory breathed a sigh of relief. The shot had been really, really well placed and she dreaded to think what would have happened if the creature had learned how to mental blast! It's main ability seemed to be that of near instant evolution, able to copy and adapt to survive any situation...

Now though... what to do with the thing? Opening up the gate would allow billions more of those microscopic nasties in...

LIONHEART

With his slippery forcefield blunting the effects of air resistance and sonic booms (OOC I imagine it's similar to a diving beetle with a silvery bubble around it when it submerges. Might be a +1FC option to force field power.) the hero took to the sky then shot up, up and away.

His enhanced vision reduced distances of 1000 miles to half a mile or less and Philadelphia was a short hop away at nowhere near his top speed.

Swooping down he sighted the sprawling station and slowed, taking it in.

He couldn't use that vast speed in places where people were gathered, at least not easily. Still, he was a blur as he searched the place and found what he was looking for.

Using a telekinetic 'lock pick' moving tumblers with his mind he opened the the locker, ignoring the gasps of passers by who pointed and wondered who the masked mystery man was...

Some were reaching for phones...

Lionheart paused before he opened the locker...

OOC Formality this, AV26 + Roll(7d12)+0: 9,12,12,1,10,10,6,+0 Total:24 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 1,3,+0 Total:28 (54) vs
OV5 + Roll(2d12)+0: 8,7,+0 Total:15 (20) +8 (34) vs RV5=29 RAPs. Success and then some.

He'd burned out his mind blast AND several of his other abilities. He knew that his Danger Sense was one of those. His force field was up but he glanced about. Bystanders. Could there be a sting in the tail, yet?

Admin wrote:He'd burned out his mind blast AND several of his other abilities. He knew that his Danger Sense was one of those. His force field was up but he glanced about. Bystanders. Could there be a sting in the tail, yet?

Looking about, he quickly grabbed the lockers from all-around gently but forcefully removed people from where they were and built a wall of lockers and other items he could drag to prevent collateral damage. He shore hoped this was worth it. Some of the things he could move back after if no damage was done, but maybe not quite as they were.

But he'd come too far and if things were going to tip into their favour they had to get a win somehow.

OOC: OK so let's see if I can build a section around me to contain anything nasty that goes off. Shame Danger Sense is out. OH well with my force field on I will try to also prevent any explosion by bringing myself in real close to dampen it back toward the least dangerous space. I don't want to shout bomb and cause a worse panic, but I am trying to prevent creating too big a scene in case someone I don't want to seeing this and gets wind of it.

sj

Time to see if her husband could think of what to do with the creature. There was still the giant one that was leaping towards the city to deal with too. That one might have collapsed from not being able to adjust its breathing for Earth's atmosphere but that wasn't a sure thing. She had to find and stop it too.

Admin wrote:MISS VICTORY
Dex 10 Str 6 Body 14

Mental Blast 21

OOC You can switch points about so I assume you may want to do so depending on how successful the blast is...

Mental Blast 21 + Accuracy 2D (Acrobatics 2D) + Roll(4d12)+0: 10,7,10,8,+0 Total:20 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0:
10,4,+0 Total:34 (55) vs
OV23 + 2D Acro + Roll(4d12)+0: 8,4,3,7,+0 Total:15 (38)
+6 (to 27) vs RV17=10 RAPs!

Finally!

Miss Victory saw the creature reel... then stagger... then fall backwards in a heap! It morphed, changing from her naked form to its natural green skinned lizard like state!

Miss Victory breathed a sigh of relief. The shot had been really, really well placed and she dreaded to think what would have happened if the creature had learned how to mental blast! It's main ability seemed to be that of near instant evolution, able to copy and adapt to survive any situation...

Now though... what to do with the thing? Opening up the gate would allow billions more of those microscopic nasties in...

LIONHEART

Pushing people back with his telekinesis drew gasps and cries which raised the alarm to traffic cops who came running over with guns pulled! People started to move away and Lionheart explained he was an Ultrahuman and to keep people away from the area!

As the cops called it in he turned to the lockers and made all preparations that he could in case there was a bomb about to go off...

Throwing his psionic ability into his force field (via power reserve) he ignored the call of "Shouldn't we wait for the bomb squad?" and opened the locker...

It exploded!

Fire and fury rang out, sending other lockers scattering but Lionheart stood his ground, letting the bulk of the concussive force and energy strike him!

OOC Bomb 14 + Roll(2d12)+0: 3,8,+0 Total:11 (25) vs
OV37 (Body 13 + Pow Res 15/Force Field 9 (Force Field now 24)) - taking one for the team (am sure there's another term for it but...) 4 + Roll(2d12)+0: 1,10,+0 Total:11 (44)=No damage.

Though he was stood in a crater and the lockers around were strewn all over, some smouldering, Lionheart was unharmed. The station itself had a hole in it now and it became clear that the booby trap had been set to take out the ENTIRE station and everyone in it had Lionheart not 'leapt' upon the blast!

Ignoring the cries and shouts/screams from those people only dozens of feet away Lionheart moved the metal wreckage aside and found... there.

Unharmed by the blast, a gauntlet.

Nexus' gauntlet.

MISS VICTORY

Though battered the heroine was triumphant and made her way back in through the cycling airlock - though a quicker way would have been to go through the holes in the wall and run round the building!

Careful to preserve her secret identity Clark Wylde stepped aside to address his wife and with a glance to make sure his scientist friend wasn't about, kissed her long and hard. "I thought... I know your abilities are... but..." he sighed. "One of these days I'll have to trust that you can take care of yourself, but you move in different circles... a different universe... to us mere mortals!"

Miss V explained about the creature and it's ability to evolve almost instantly!

"So, not only can it now breathe unaided, it can copy the abilities of anyone it faces and change it's form to mimic them too? This is fascinating! If only they could be persuaded, as a species, to help mankind! Perhaps there are some in that microscopic universe who would do that. Maybe an expedition of some kind..." he said, chin in hand and cogs whirring in that mighty brain of his...

"In the meantime if you can seal that roof up - there will be wood and plastic sheets in the garage I expect - I'll arrange to flood the lab with freon gas and freeze that thing. being reptilian in nature it's highly likely it is vulnerable to extremes of cold and we may be able to 'put it on ice'." he said. "I'll get my friend to help, take his mind off things. Goodness knows how we'll explain all this..."

=========

With her thumb hitting harder than any hammer Miss Victory pressed nails in and jury rigged repairs to seal the holes in the roof as best she could with boards and plastic sheets.

A thumbs up and the scientists hastily jury rigged gas pumped into the gate room...

Viewing through the portal Miss Victory saw the creature start to stir... and was about to enter when her husband hissed "wait..."

The creature cried out, arcing its back and its skin turned rapidly from green... to blue! Before anyone else could react it shattered, falling to the ground in frozen chunks!

"The creature can adapt to many things... but not extremes of cold it seems!" said Clark Wylde after they'd waited for the gas to disperse. All were dressed in think winter coats to protect from the cold, though Miss V felt it far less.

"If only..." muttered Johanson. "I had taken more precautions! More care, more time... I thought there was a way to cure disease, help humanity, elevate us to a new age... and instead I opened up our universe to a potential extinction level event!" he said, sobbing into his hands.

Clark Wylde took his wife aside. "That creature in the city must be suffering or dead by now, but you should check it out. What do you suggest I do about my friend?"

"Maybe give him a sedative and let him rest. Take him back to your HQ, Doc. I have to go see after that big lizard and then head out to try to meet up with the others to save the President."

She smiled.

"Someday, I will have to stop by your HQ and get a full physical. My powers seem to be ... not so much changing as gaining new ones. Maybe it was radiation from the atomic bomb I survived or something the prisoners did to me while they had me trapped. But someone like you would be best qualified to help me figure it all out."

"Got to go now. I'll leave a message at your 86th Floor HQ once this is all over to set something up."

With that, she bounds into the air and head after Godzilla Jr.

Admin wrote:Unharmed by the blast, a gauntlet.

Nexus' gauntlet.

Lionheart knew he was onto something and this proved it. It seemed somewhat elaborate but given how the Gauntlet was stolen and at the time useless unless reunited with its owner clearly there was a big plan in play here. But now finally a win for the heroes, at least as long as the glove remained with the heroes and not in the hands of anyone else. He was tempted to destroy it but imagined that had been tried. Besides, it had just survived a direct blast. So chances of simply getting rid of it that easy were unlikely. He did toy with the idea of tossing it into the sun...but he was an Ultrahuman and that meant he'd best report this directly to the others. Chain of command...although he was sorely tempted to just toss the thing.

A quick clean up of the site, well as best as one could despite the breakage and blast radius, and Lionheart took off he had a rendezvous with the rest of the team at the New York base and it wouldn't do to be late.

Sj

MISS VICTORY

The trail the giant lizard creature had left was easily to follow.

Flattened trees, smoking and ruined cars, smashed houses... People screaming and pointing, dazed and not sure what had just passed through.

It had grown larger too.

By the time Miss V saw it's enormous bulk in the distance she estimated it to be over 1000' high...

Gaping... the heroine sped across the fields and farms the creature had made a beeline through, noting the enormous footprints that it had left. When it rained they'd be small lakes!

Getting closer, she saw the thing was staggering, and the noise it made... that wheezing, as it's evolving lungs tried not only to adapt to oxygen but to get enough in to sustain it...

She was strong enough (she figured) to punch this thing out but ... at this size anything it fell on would be crushed, completely!

Leaping into the air she scanned about and her heart sank. It was staggering towards a small town where people could see the thing from a great distance... Even though it was struggling it would be there in just a few strides!

LIONHEART

Lionheart figured (correctly) that others had tried and failed to destroy the gauntlet. What was simply an old leather glove as might be worn by a cavalryman in the 1800s was much, much more. It was a link to an infinite number of gauntlets throughout time and space. Nexus was one of trillions, more versions of himself throughout different realities. When the gauntlet and the man were reconnected, they gain a fraction of the combined power, intelligence and abilities of all the other versions. A single version of the man was a low level superhuman. A thousand times more powerful? Mid level, but nothing Lionheart couldn't handle... A million? Ok things were serious then.

A billion? More?

Killing the man or destroying the gauntlet seemed the easiest way to resolve the issue of nexus. Both had been tried and triggered a series of events that saw him reincarnated (or at least swapped from another dimension) to fill the void, and the same happened to the gauntlet, save that they were together and powered up. Even without his danger sense Lionheart knew that destroying one or the other was a bad thing. Keeping them apart was the answer, and while that happened the threat of Nexus was nullified.

OOC Pow res 14 + Int 10 + Roll(2d12)+0: 6,9,+0 Total:15 (39) vs
OV10 + Roll(2d12)+0: 7,2,+0 Total:9 (19) +6 (to 13 Will) vs RV10=3 RAPs

1) Figured out it wasn't as easy as destroying the gauntlet or the man
2-3) deduced that keeping the two separate would nullify the threat. Not an ideal, or permanent solution but far better than taking on a single being that could (and had) beaten the entirety of the Ultrahumans even with it's most powerful members in the ranks, and every other hero they could call on! Separating the man from his gauntlet had been the answer to defeating him, then throwing him in the Ultramax prison. Now Nexus was free and 'out there' but Lionheart had the gauntlet. Which had been in the hands of the Ultrahumans even whilst he was a member and been stolen/hidden away thanks to Nexus' private network of criminal associates and other villains who saw a chance to rid the world of the Ultrahumans (and worry about what to do with Nexus later).

All of a sudden Lionheart realised the longer he had this thing, the more he would make a target of himself!

He figured all that out whilst cleaning up and ensuring people were safe as well as the site made secure as best that he could. Then he sped off towards New York, a dot in the sky!

=========

People pointed, gaped, stared as the superhuman vanished, a dot in the sky and a distant CRACK of supersonic flight signalling his passing.

A beat cop was among those who watched the hero go then he turned, calling out "that's all folks, move along. It's dangerous here. Move along!"

When people dispersed enough he moved away from the army of cops, fire fighters and emergency ambulance crew and crime scene investigators to make a phone call.

"Yeah. It's N8217. Code Red. One of the Ultrahumans has the gauntlet. I couldn't get to it in time! What was I supposed to do? This guy moves faster than a bullet! I'll find out more, but thought you should know. Spread the word. Nexus Ascendant!" he ended the call with a fist across his chest.

"Hammond!" called out a sergeant. "make calls on your own time and get those people back!"

"On it sarge." said the  cop who went back to crowd control...

OOC That's a wrap for Lionheart this issue. My next post will have Lionheart and Miss V back at the Ultrahumans HQ/Meeting in new York...

Admin wrote:OOC That's a wrap for Lionheart this issue. My next post will have Lionheart and Miss V back at the Ultrahumans HQ/Meeting in new York...

OOC: SO cool, the network of villains, reminds me of the days when Doc Ock had his henchmen to spy on things - only, Nexus is a Doomsday level baddie. And the Nexus Ascendant has overtones of hail Hydra etc. Loving it.

Sj