The NEW Vanguard! Haunt Issue #6

Lady Luck is taken aback "Wait! I ... uh... guys?" she muttered into her throat mike wondering what to make of an opponent that didn't want to fight!

Haunt blasted away from the scene and towards Dr P's home. He could only imagine the damage his unwitting fried had caused by now, and winced when he remembered the death of the -albeit arrogant- superhero.

Waiting for the attack to come, he could only breathe a sigh of relief when it didn't. That presented the next problem. Lady Luck was following him, and doing a great job of keepin up! As luck would have it, she was faster than he was!

That meant he either had to lose her, and lose time in the process, or head straight for Dr P's house and put not only Dr P's identity in jeopardy, but his own! After all, Rush King was Dr P's best friend and it might not be a stretch of the imagination to connect the Haunt and Rush King together!

Another glance over the shoulder. Lady Luck was keeping her distance. If she lived up to her name, chances were he'd not lose her without a big dose of luck, and he expected that to go all her way! Decision time!

Lives are at stake even spending a few minutes to lose her or try to scare her away could result in the death of dozens of people, the Haunt decided. Let her follow him. Maybe she could even help putting together the antidote.

actions: turn off fog, moving too fast for it to keep up anyways.

Haunt swooped down and at his approach a skylight hatch swished open, one of several entrances to the old Victorian house that Dr P had provided for his friend, activated whenever a small transmitter on his belt told the house he was heading in at speed.

Swivelling in the air he landed in the expansive loft onto a trio of mattresses - ever Dr P's style, old skool with new! Turning, he heading for the hatch into the top floor of the house which popped open with a tug on a spring loaded door and paused.

Sure enough, floating at the skylight hatch, Lady Luck peeked in. "Hey! You! I mean... is this... um... this your house? I..." she fumbled with her belt and turned off her throat mike, pulling earpieces from her ears. "Uh... can I come in?"

Haunt simply dropped through the hatch onto the landing and sped down the stairs, time of the essence!

Stepping up to an innocuous looking door on one of the middle levels of the house he moved a picture on the wall aside to look into a retinal scanner.

The door swished aside - it was for show and at an inch thick constructed of an experimental impact absorbing plastic, it would slow down all but the most determined intruders. It has frustrated Haunt for a short time before he'd presented a mangled lump to Dr P who'd shrugged and made the door half an inch thicker.

He considered closing the door behind but Lady Luck had already followed him to the house. Just deal with that later. He needed to save his friend!

Lady Luck peered in. "Wow!"

Wow indeed. The floor had been converted into an open plan laboratory, one of several in the house but this was the largest. He moved to a computer and logged in. Putting the code book under a scanner he turned. "Praetorius. I need to turn the recipe you wrote into a serum."

His friends' voice, automated, answered. "Certainly R... Haunt. I take it the lady inn here, who scans as a superhuman, has been invited and does not need forcibly ejecting?"

"Proceed." rasped Haunt.

Recalling the hours spent trying to wrestle the artificial ectoplasm that formed up Dr P's 'Guard Dog' that would be used to eject intruders, and the endless changes and tweaks made to create a challenge for Haunt, he looked at Lady Luck. Her power doubtless would make a challenge but he figured if they were going to fight they'd have started by now.

"So, what do you need from me?" she asked.

"Praetorius, are there ingredients missing?"

"Indeed there are. Some of these are considered dangerous and illegal. I am listing the locations of places nearby where they may be obtained. One requires military clearance at the highest level." answered the computer.

"I'd have to go through proper channels." muttered Lady Luck. "I'm kind of one of the new kids on the block. I can get these other things on the list, but that? "

Haunt looked at the address. 10 Downing Street, home of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. A quantity of a precious metal rumoured to have come from a meteorite handed as a gift by an African dignitary. Where the criminals had gotten their ingredients from, he didn't know, but in order to counteract that serum, Dr P had determined this was a vital part. This might be tricky.

"I'll handle the PM's place," the Haunt rasps out, "you get the ingredients you can. And no, this isn't my place. It's the home of a retired scientist whose life I saved and helps me out in gratitude when I have problems of a scientific nature. Rather you didn't spread that fact around too much, it could easily get out into the criminal world or the press and his life would be in danger, once again, like it is now."

acting to try to make her believe this story.

"Get ahold of your super-team, whatever it is called, and have them either help gather ingredients or help restrain the doc from doing more damage to London. Lives have already been lost so time is of the essence. And tell them to be careful, he gets stronger the more damage he takes or absorbs."


ooc: Do I know if the PM is at Downing or is he making a public appearance somewhere? Depending on answer, first plan is shapeshift into the PM and just walk in and ask where we put the meteorite. Second plan is ooze in the cracks in the building and try to find it. Either way, fly close to Downing and look over the place unobserved.

Lady Luck considered the words "I'm one of the UKChampions, albeit a newer member, and I don't have that much say in the way things are done, but I'll see what I can get done. I respect what you've said about your friend, had some experience with that myself." she adds, with an edge of sadness to her voice.

Haunt knew the Prime Minister would have been evacuated to a safe location with the city under attack, as was usual in these cases. There would be staff at 10 Downing street however, and it may seem strange to turn up without a security entourage. In these days of superhumans possessing a wide range of powers along with amazing technology that could alter minds and appearances, dealing with security often became the role of superhumans suited to that purpose.

Haunt checked the lab, glanced at Lady Luck as she left, then locked the place up with his unique voiceprint and retina scan.

Time was of the essence!

==========

Getting to Westminster from Dr P's didn't take long.

Getting into Downing street would be tricky indeed. Armed police watched the place with it in lockdown and Haunt counted twenty he could see down on the street and on opposing rooftops. He had a choice. Attempt to bluff his way through the checkpoints on the street or sneak up to the house itself without being seen then knock on the door expecting to be let in. The back ways in were guarded too.

Another way in presented itself. The sewers would be guarded, as would the municipal supply routes (gas, electric, water) in pipework under the

street, but he might be able to use his incredible powers to manipulate himself through tiny pipework to appear in a sink or toilet.

Or he could simply land and persuade the guards that he needed something from the house! He almost chuckled at the prospect!

ooc: don't know why but I came up with a mental block on what to do. How large an area does my fog cover? I was thinking a city block but not sure about it.
Was thinking of using the fog to walk up unseen, okay, slither along the ground unseen and then just oozing through the keyhole but they probably have guards inside the door or cameras facing it. So that probably won't work.

Let's try the pipes into the sinks in the place and see if that works. Send up an eyestalk before oozing out to make sure the room is empty.

Haunt created fog to surround him and misdirect as several guards switched to infra red goggles and hand held devices - which Haunt expected to be sonar like equipment - whilst the man himself posed as a guard and walked in open view appearing to be checking out the fog.

Taking the opportunity to slink down a drain, he noted that a number of the sewers down here had heat sensors and possibly more besides. It took patience, incredible agility and flowing like an eel on ice to carefully circumvent the sensors. Even then he couldn't be sure he'd not been detected.

=========

No one said being a hero would be glamorous. Or sweet smelling.

Getting into the pipework was easy enough, but would need some repairs afterwards he figured. With such vast superhuman strength it was difficult to be delicate. Cringing at the pipe tied into a bow he slinked up the other end and and slooped into a sink in a bathroom. In. Except the door was locked and an alarm was going off. Great.

He could hear running footsteps, slamming doors and shouts as guards moved through the building. Haunt only had moments. The next door to be opened was this one by one of the guards in here and he had only seconds to act!

OOC Get out of this one and I'll move you forwards a bit. Won't all be plain sailing of course - this is the Prime Minister of Great Britains' residence after all, but I'd expect the White House to be even crazier in an era of superhuman abilities.

ooc: Well considering I remember reading a year or so back some guy climbing into the Queen's Bedroom window to talk with her for, what was it? Half hour? Hour? Before guards realized they had an intruder.

Okay let's get creative!!!!

The Haunt slips out of the sink and ...

[not sure which is easiest to do or how the bathroom is laid out, pick the one that is and we will go with it]

a. changes himself into a sink right next to the one he came out of, with connecting counter tops, extending over the other counter top to make it all white.
b. changes himself into a toilet stall with toilet next to the other toilet stall - using part of his body to ooze along as part of the baseboard and then changing the extending part into a stall wall.
c. changes himself into a toilet, if there is no stalls, next to the other toilet.

"I am NOT putting this on my acting resume," the Haunt thinks to himself while changing form.

A female agent came in, dressed in a dark suit and looking all business with sunglasses on.

Notably her eyes seemed to shine through the darkened lenses and her eyes were glowing slightly. A super, then.

"This is Agent Echo. I'm in the toilet. What am I looking for?"

Haunt couldn't hear the exchange in her earpiece but she seemed confused, then turned to the row of mens urinals. "What? Someone entered here and changed into ... a urinal? What kind of super power is that?"

Haunt stifled a curse. Of course, even in here there were cameras and sensors for security. Part of the job, your every move monitored 24/7!

"Well, if you're sure..." muttered the agent. She moved to the first urinal, shouted "SURRENDER! THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING!"

Then she placed a hand on the side of the porcelain and it shattered into minuscule fragments!

Behind her the skirting board of the room seemed to swell somewhat before Haunt finished flowing along its length then under the door and out into the corridor. He adopted the same tactic to move along the corridor. Whoever was on the cameras would be looking for ... someone. At the moment he was part of the decor. How long that would fool them was ...

He heard the door crash through behind him. Not long then!

Just then the agent stopped and shouted "What? There's an intruder, you can't just..." With a curse she spun and ran down the corridor. Haunt wasn't sure what had happened but ... was that the floor shaking? Dr P? Possibly getting closer or big enough to shake the foundations of buildings in London!

The cameras were hidden, no way to find them and avoid them all. There would be other agents in here and Haunt realised he had to make a choice. Throw caution to the wind and reveal himself or try his best to remain hidden! The building was larger on the inside than it seemed on the outside, and he'd need to check a number of rooms before he found the right one. Time was running out!

"Hmmmm," thinking to himself, "walls usually are not solid. There are spaces between them for joints and struts and wiring and such Granted, these walls may be armored with a coating of plaster over them, but they should still have a small space in-between. Let's try drilling through the wall and get into those tiny cramped spaces and move through there, drilling eyeholes when I want to check a room."

"Last thing I want to do is get in a fight with these folks. They're doing their jobs and right well from what I can see. Now what I need to do is go down to the super-secret sub-basement area and look there. That's where they would hold something like what I'm looking for."

actions: drill small hole in baseboard and squeeze in-between and go down and look.

Leaving small holes in the walls Haunt tried his best to remain discrete and keep looking.

A number of times agents ran past, shouting into throat mikes about not having seen a white figure. Then the wall behind them would grow eyes, look about and ooze into a humanoid figure to move on.

Aware that time was of the essence Haunt stepped up the pace. Drilling another hole in the wall he looked about in what appeared to be a drawing room. A meteorite. Lump of space rock that would look out of place in the open. Time to check the basem...

Then he stopped and looked back.

There on the desk. A paperweight in the form of a glass cube with a small glowing red rock inside! That HAD to be it! He oozed through the hole and into the room. Other objects of interest were in here - paintings, statues, photographs of famous people and so on, but Haunt had little time for them.

Stretching a hand across the room he scooped up the paperweight. He'd have to go out through the door unless he fancied expanding the hole in the wall to fit this thing through (OOC about the size of a rubiks cube)

Haunt turned... to see an open doorway and a figure standing in the frame!



Haunt could have sworn he wasn't there a moment before! Superspeed or...

The man vanished and reappeared instantly across the room only a few metres away from Haunt. A teleporter!

"Put that down. Hands up. Move and you'll find out why I was employed as an assassin before I worked for DICE. I'm Lockon, and you my friend, are history!" he levelled the gun at Haunt!

"Um ... how am I supposed to put it down or put my hands up if you don't want me to move," the Haunt asks reasonably.  "And would you believe me if I told you I am taking this in order to save the lives of many people here in London from a man turned into a rampaging monster?"



ooc:  Just want to see what he says to that before figuring out what to do next.

"Smart arse eh? Tell you what Smart Arse, think I'll shoot first n ask questions later!"

OOC Initiative...

Lockon... wins (Superspeed...)

With a blue of a hand that reminded Haunt of Lionheart, the gun levelled at Haunts' head. "Put. The. Rock. Down. S l o w l y. Any moves and I ventilate you. The UKChampions are en route, but here, now, I'm in charge."

Haunt had never seen a weapon the likes of what faced him, but he had a strange feeling it would do more than simple 'ventilate' him!

OOC This guy is really, really fast. Probably accurate as well. However... Haunt is a tough cookie. He needs that rock, this guy is slowing him down... Over to you! Oh, and thanks for your patience David!

"Ah! Cheese Doodle," the Haunt mumbles out loud. "Guess I have no choice then." He starts to move his hand towards the desk with the cube, hoping the new guy would at least flicker his eyes to make sure he put it down. Then as he is setting it down ...

Aura of Fear directed at the entire room but not beyond.

"That's right. Set the rock down." cackles the guy with the gun.

"Right then. I have some restraints which you'll be putting... putting..." spluttered Lockon.

OOC Aura of fear 9 + Roll(2d10)+0: 3,3,+0 Total:15 (DOUBLE) plus Roll(2d10)+0: 1,10,+0 Total:26 vs TN 11+Int 7 (18) Success +4 EV. AoF 9 +4 (13) vs Mind 8 = 5 RAPs.

Haunt whirls around, theatrically flicking his cloak out and narrowing his eyes under his hat, tipped forward to cover most of his masked face in shadow. Truly menacing!

Lockon snarls... then his face changes and eyes go wide! A second later he spins on his heel and is gone! Not even a woooosh of air!

Haunt scoops up the rock and considers his choices. The place was in lock down, high alert and he'd been seen. He needed to get across London, and he'd made an enemy of a registered superhuman. Oh, and broken into 10 Downing Street. And stolen something from it. And his friend was trashing London. And had bitten a stupid superhero into two pieces. Before spitting some of him out.

It was a mess. The longer he delayed, the messier it would become...

"IF anyone is listening," the Haunt says out loud, assuming there is a mike somewhere recording this, "Ah'm only borrowin' this here rock to help stop the menace that is tearing up London, a good man turned into a monster by evildoers and this will help to turn him back to normal. Oh! And sorry about the damage Ah'm about to do!"

ooc: Put some Acting into that to make that quick speech a bit more effective.

actions: Turn self into a human rocket will a drill head and blast off, drilling and smashing through the floors until I am outside. Put HP into the drilling and smashing bit since I will have to go through armored floors and ceilings.


http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3hOUT4BwyIM/Tl7fOL1WjwI/AAAAAAAAGoo/gT3wrdAkEVs/s1600/Dial+H+for+Hero.jpg

Dial "H" for Hero heroes - Human Mole in lower left of picture and then turn legs into a rocket for flight is what I'm shooting for.

OOC Heh I loved that old Dial H for Heroes series. Characters created by readers and Chris & Vicky would dial Hero on those magical dials and be a hero for a while. Dialling OREH had a nasty side effect if I recall. They did some weird stuff with the characters (Vicky a Villain at some point?) and the series itself never quite seemed to be able to find a home. Did it first appear in Superboy? Anyway, I digress...

Oh, and Omni Arm 14 should do the trick.

OA 14 + Roll(2d10)+0: 5,8,+0 Total:13 (27) vs TN11 + OV 13 (24) = Success

Flying up, hands like miniature rotating drills, Haunt crashed through ceiling, then window and away, ignoring automated guns that sprayed bullets at him and pinged lead from his skin.

High Calibre they might be, but Haunt was tough enough to ignore the highest calibre of guns. That thing Lockon had was something else though. Something he suspected was proof against supers. Lucky he never got chance to use it. This time.

Clearly he'd not made a friend of the guy...

Haunt swooped through the canyons of streets aware that he might be being tracked or followed even. His fear power depended on his costume and his acting skill to summon up from inside him. Unlike his other powers he could never quite be sure how long the effect would last, so he had only a limited amount of time.

The rock in his hand felt weightless thanks to his super strength but he was sure it was heavier than it looked, despite it's small size. He hoped Lady Luck had gathered the remaining ingredients otherwise it would mean more time for his now monstrous friend to trash London... A glance in the direction of the river showed a pall of smoke and a distant roar of a crazed beast. Along with crashing noise, the sounds of blasting, wailing sirens and distant screams...

Arggh.

He poured on the speed.

=========

"Tracking target. Epsilon Team are in motion." said the operator in the darkened room. All around others stared at screens and related orders, instructions and directions to people on the other end of communication devices.

OOC Straight to Dr P's place?

Yep, no time to lose. Will probably have to fight a defensive action while Lady Luck mixes the ingredients or vice versa.

Aware of the ramifications of what he'd done - break into Ten Downing street and steal a prised possession of the Prime Minister, Haunt poured on what speed he could muster with his Manta Ray like white wings.

Soaring through the canyon of buildings through and across London, Haunt was increasingly aware of how saturated with cameras London was!

He was being tracked, but time was of the essence and wherever his friend was, Haunt knew he must be in pain, and fighting with every fibre of his being to quell the fury of the beast he'd been transformed into!

Finally getting to where the expensive old Victorian house was situated, Haunt soared in through the skylight to land in the loft and made his way downstairs to the lab. There, Lady Luck was carefully measuring chemicals and looking at hastily scribbled notes. Without looking up, she muttered "I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, but nothing has blown up. Yet. Did you get it?"

With a nod from Haunt she breathed a sigh of relief. "You are in the nick of time, as Luck would have it." she muttered. "This stuff is volatile, and keeping it from boiling whilst still being useful to our cause has had me watching and constantly adjusting the mixture and heat. I hope this works!"

Just then there was a heavy THUD! from upstairs, and a buzzer inside Haunts mask near his earpiece went off. The silent alarm. An unauthorised access. He glanced at Lady Luck, but from what he knew of her she had a power that somehow transcended mere physics and technology, hence why he'd not had something similar with her.

Lady Luck glanced up. "I've been told to stand down and my arguments have fallen on deaf ears. Whoever THAT is upstairs will be here for the both of us..."

Haunt glanced up, hearing heavy footsteps thud across the floor. There may have been more than one pair, but the first sounded pretty heavy set and purposeful!

"I need time!" shouted LL as she set up a drill and cutting apparatus, turning the meteor in her hands and glancing at the notes. "To fashion a lens from this thing. It's going to need cutting really thin, slicing intact enough to fire a laser through and ultra heat that solution... how do these scientist types come up with this stuff? Buy me time Ghost Man!!!"

"You will have that time," the Haunt intones in his ghost voice. He heads for the exit and up the stairs calling the mists around him as he leaves the room.

"Every little bit helps," he muttered to himself. "Now get ready King, It's Show Time!"

actions: While enveloped in the Fog, shapeshift into the Grim Reaper with Scythe. Then go meet our "guests". Time for talking seems to be over.

The 'grim reaper' marched from the loft up to the rooftop, trailing fog and looking extremely sinister!

He was confronted by a group of identical humanoids on the rooftop...



Haunt counted ten of them...

With a voice that sounded like a recording of some kind, one of the figures spoke up.

"WE ARE ROBOTIC OPERATIONAL ORDER KEEPERS. ROOK."

Another picked up immediately. "YOU ARE REQUIRED TO SURRENDER PEACEFULLY."

Yet another ..."YOUR STATUS AS A PREVIOUS LAW AND JUSTICE DEFENDER SHALL BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT WITH YOUR PUNISHMENT ALLOCATION."

"IN SOME CASES BEHAVIOURAL CORRECTION IS NOT POSSIBLE AND SO ABILITY NULLIFICATION AND INCARCERATION IS REQUIRED." said a ROOK on the left

One of the ROOK operatives at the back intoned.

"WE ARE THE 'POLICE' OF THE SUPERHUMAN 'POLICEMEN' AND WOMEN." add the third from the right.

"STAND DOWN. NOW." added the one in the middle.

"Ugh! Robots," the Haunt thinks to himself. "Bet the Aura of Fear won't work on them. Then again, since it is or a lot of it is sub-sonic, it might."

"How can my previous status as A PREVIOUS LAW AND JUSTICE DEFENDER SHALL BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT WITH YOUR PUNISHMENT ALLOCATION if I haven't yet been found guilty in a court of law," the Haunt asks in a reasonable tone as he prepares to fight. "And further, any laws I have broken have been done in order to stop the DESTRUCTION OF LONDON, YOU FOOLS! AID ME SAVING LONDON OR PREPARE TO BE FACED WITH TRUE JUSTICE!" [going into loud spooky angry Haunt voice there at the end]


OOC: doubt that they will be swayed but maybe whoever is monitoring them might be and will get them to stand down. Put some Acting into the speech and hope I get to talk some more.

IF this leads to combat, and if I get initiative, then I want to enlarge/stretch my scythe and do a mutli-attack [is that the right one I want, attack all of them at once] them all at once and I will have to put HP into the ability to hit. If I don't get imitative, then try using Stretching to absorb the damage they deal out to me.

OOC I'm still alive! Apologies for the delay, having a right old time trying to juggle stuff, and time to sit at a computer to type stuff out is tricky to arrange...  It will get better but while I'm in training it's gonna be patchy, unfortunately

"SURRENDER. THIS is YOUR LAST WARNING." intoned one of the ROOKs. They spread out in a circle around Haunt, yet still maintained distance.

Haunt threw his spooky voice into the mix, but as he figured these things effectively had no soul, simply a complex series of algorithms designed to create a kind of self awareness. Without emotion, morals, the ability to decide based on gut feeling, these things were simply automatons, albeit quite smart and powerful ones. Doubtless everything they saw and heard was being transmitted and/or recorded to be used as evidence... Resisting arrest? Well, they could get him on that one Haunt figured, but they'd have to get him first.

They looked to be in position.

Lady Luck needed more time! And Haunt's looked like it was about to run out!

Haunt sighed. A fight might be coming! Still, he added... "And further, any laws I have broken have been done in order to stop the DESTRUCTION OF LONDON, YOU FOOLS! AID ME SAVING LONDON OR PREPARE TO BE FACED WITH TRUE JUSTICE!"

OOC Aura of Fear... Works!

Whole bunch of dice rolling later...

Roll(2d10)+0:
3,10,+0
Total:13 1 RAP success

Roll(2d10)+0:
10,10,+0 plus Roll(2d10)+0: 1,5,+0 Total:6
Total:26 4 RAP success

Roll(2d10)+0:
3,8,+0
Total:11 NO RAPs FAIL

Roll(2d10)+0:
10,7,+0
Total:17 2 RAPS Success

Roll(2d10)+0:
3,4,+0
Total:7 NO RAPs FAIL

Roll(2d10)+0:
1,3,+0
Total:4 NO RAPs FAIL

Roll(2d10)+0:
7,9,+0
Total:16 2 RAPS Success

Roll(2d10)+0:
7,8,+0
Total:15 2 RAPS Success

Roll(2d10)+0:
6,10,+0
Total:16 2 RAPS Success

Roll(2d10)+0:
6,9,+0
Total:15 2 RAPS Success

All of a sudden SEVEN out of the ten ROOKs simply 'take off' and start flying in a different direction away from the site! These things WERE artificially intelligent and had deduced that self preservation was a better option! How long that would last was another thing, mind...

The three remaining ROOKs pile in with fists on Haunt!

OOC Effectively, Haunt won initiative and almost cleared the field with just one spooky performance! That was his Dice action (Attack) meaning the ROOKs get to reply...
Melee attack as a team...
Each going for a CRITICAL BLOW!

1st Rook:
Roll(2d10)+0: 8,7,+0 Total:15 + 10 Dex (25) vs TN11 + Dex 9 - Team Attack (-4) + Critical Blow (+4)= +5 HIT
+3 Effect (to 10 Str) vs RV13 -6 (Critical Blow)= 6 RAPs damage!

2nd Rook:
Roll(2d10)+0: 2,10,+0 Total:12+ 10 Dex (22) vs TN11 + Dex 9 - Team Attack (-4) + Critical Blow (+4)= +2 HIT
+2 Effect (to 10 Str) vs RV13 -6 (Critical Blow)= 5 RAPs damage!

3rd Rook:
Roll(2d10)+0: 3,7,+0 Total:10+ 10 Dex (20) vs TN11 + Dex 9 - Team Attack (-4) + Critical Blow (+4)= +0 HIT
10 Effect vs RV13 -6 (Critical Blow)= 3 RAPs damage!

This would normally (14 damage all in) be enough to take Haunt down so you'll probably want to absorb some of the damage. Each attack will have to be absorbed separately and it gets increasingly more expensive the more you absorb, so the cheapest options is a few points off each hit.



Haunt buckles under flurries of impeccably timed superhuman strength blows that would easily crumple steel or flatten a tank, but to his ultra human skin they feel as if he were a normal person having been struck repeatedly with a baseball bat! Painful and ultimately damaging, for sure, but for a short time he could endure it! he just hoped this trios' buddies weren't about to turn around and head back to join the party!

OOC Haunt wins initiative again...

ooc: Hope this job goes well for you with more "normal" hours instead of 50+ hours a week.

Let's spend HP to absorb 2 points of damage from the attack that did 3 RAPS. And 3 pts of damage from each of the other two. Not sure how much HP I have left after that. Oh, and did the Fog help at all in making me harder to hit or did they seem to ignore it?

actions: Multiarm multiattack. HP to hit.

"You were warned," the Haunt growls from his bank of Fog, "Now face the Justice of the Haunt!"

OOC Apologies for the delay. Again. (sigh).

You spend 15HP to reduce damage to 6 points leaving Haunt on Body: 7

HAUNT
HP 285
Body 7/13

Haunt rasps from within his swirling Fog, somewhat perturbed that these things could somehow 'see' through the fog he produced... Although... he wondered if they might be somehow using some other sense to 'see' him.

However, he'd been pleasantly surprised that these things were smart and self aware enough to have a strong sense of self preservation, enough that he could frighten them until they ran!

OOC Haunt's most effective attack is creating a weapon from his arms and using his incredible skill (world class ability) to attack with it. No need to chuck HP at it... in fact you can go for a critical blow because chances are you'll succeed, despite it harder to pull off.

Effectively you roll 7D10 and use the best two dice. Your 9 Dex is less than their dex of 10, and to hit all three that opposing dex is boosted to 14. Then a critical blow boosts it to 18, meaning you'd normally need a roll of 20 or more to hit. I'll eat my hair if you can't get a double with 7D10!

Roll(7d10)+0: 4,10,4,10,10,7,9,+0 Total:20. Yeah. That'll do it. DOUBLE, plus Roll(2d10)+0: 5,1,+0 Total:26 + Dex 9 (35) vs TN 11 + Dex 10 + 4 (Multi attack) + 4 (Critical Blow) (29). Hit +3 EFfect. 14 Str + 3 vs RV of 10 + 4 (multi attack) -6 (Critical Blow) ( = 9 Damage to each.

With a THWACK THWACK THWACK! The Haunt wallops all three ROOK operatives and sends them flying! All three are battered looking and seem to make an instant shared decision to fly off in different directions, dented, shorting/sparking forms glistening in the air as they are gone in moments!

Haunt looked about. All quiet for now.

He sprinted downstairs and came into the lab again.

"What was all the noise about?" asked Lady Luck, not looking up and pulling faces as she weighed up vials of liquids and muttered 'come on' just before her eyes glowed and she poured a measured amount into a beaker, swirled them round, and applied them to a boiling larger cup which had swirling mist boiling from it. "Well, if this works, it'll be a ..."

The steaming white smoke from the cup suddenly ceased and the red liquid change to blue. Then yellow. Green, purple, orange and finally black followed.

Lady Luck glanced at Haunt, then peered nervously at the cup, picking it up tentatively, sniffing at it and pulling a face. "Erm. it's done. I think. Oh." she glances at a page of notes on the table. "I think I've been reading that upside down. Erm. I think it's ok."

Haunt stepped up and looked at the cup. This vial of oily liquid was going to save his friend, and London, from the monsters' wrath?

Just then an alarm blared. Dr P had automated defences that would detect threats thanks to sensors placed and hidden by the Haunt on dozens of buildings and even the sewers. They'd somehow come back to life rather than being jammed as previously happened. He glanced at Lady Luck. Her power was potent indeed, even if it seemed she was something of a passenger rather than a pilot in the luck process.

Someone, probably the ROOKs or someone else, was heading back. And would be here in moments. Haunt could fight them off - hopefully - or head out of a side window and away before flying across London to find what had been his friend. Lady Luck seemed to guess what his choices were, and declared "It's ok. I'll... stall them. Hold them off or whatever. Go!"

OOC Head for the scene of devastation that he expects his friend to have left? Or stay and explain to someone else why he needed to be left unmolested?