THE NEW VANGUARD! HAUNT Issue #8

OOC Just thinking on his weakness - he's gonna be scuppered in a spaceship isn't he? Not that he'll be on one soon but thinking about the contact with non natural occurring substances... if need be we can tweak the character once this encounter is over.

Steeplejack glanced about and saw the ton or so of earth in Iron ladies shattered apartment. With a grin he gestured and it flew at the pair of creatures in front of him!

OOC May as well attack with Earth Control, more powerful than a punch so Crit Blow reqd instead of Dev Attack... Devastating Attack is more useful when you are more or less guaranteed a Double roll or you have a massive advantage with Dexterity. You have three points on them, and Dev Attack would boost their dex up to 16 (from 8) so chances are you'd miss with a Devastating Attack. if you DID hit though, you'd pretty much flatten one in a shot.

Earth Control 13 + Roll(2d12)+0: 10,4,+0 Total: 27 vs
Dex 8 + Crit Blow 4 + Roll(2d12)+0: 4,7,+0 Total: 23

+3 Effect (Earth Control from 13 to 16) vs RV 12 -6 (Crit Blow) (6RV) = 10 damage

With a whirling Earth whirlwind around the creature he ripped at it and shredded with a thousand different high velocity strikes... And it stepped out of the Earth whirlwind, peppered with holes but still alive!

The pair of them attacked Steeplejack!

OOC team attack!

Dex 8 + Roll(2d12)+0: 12,10,+0 Total: 30 vs
Dex 11 - team Attack -2 + Roll(2d12)+0: 2,3,+0 Total:14

+6 Effect (to 21) vs Steeplejack (with Force Shield) 18 = 3 damage

Dex 8 + Roll(2d12)+0: 6,10,+0 Total:24 vs
Dex 11 - team Attack -2 + Roll(2d12)+0: 9,3,+0 Total:21

+2 Effect (to 17) vs Steeplejack (with Force Shield) 18 = no damage

Without Hero Points to soak up the damage Steep will have to take this. Body 6 (from 9) remaining.

Haunt/masked Tarzan/Super Strippogram sees his ally get raked with claws even through his formidable compacted Earth shield and winces as blood sprays from the wound. However he is far from down and certainly not out! Dare he lend a hand or will he stay the course and prevent the two from escaping?

OOC As you were with initiative. Steep, Haunt, Faceless. One Faceless is unharmed, the other is on 2 Body.

Admin wrote:OOC Just thinking on his weakness - he's gonna be scuppered in a spaceship isn't he? Not that he'll be on one soon but thinking about the contact with non natural occurring substances... if need be we can tweak the character once this encounter is over.

OOC As you were with initiative. Steep, Haunt, Faceless. One Faceless is unharmed, the other is on 2 Body.

OOC: I'll wait for Dave to chime in before I go, yes the disadvantage was back in the GH day an attempt to give him some sort of colour or something. A bit like the way Spiderman had his ole Parker luck etc. I wanted to tie his powers to the earth in that sense, but not so as to make it really unnecessarily difficult. Any thoughts in that direction would be helpful. What has surprised me is how powerful the whole earthmoving power thing is, where before it was just a bit of colour a nice way to tie in a force wall power, now it seems like a great way to move, attack everything. I'm super impressed with it.

Sj

"OK, one on one, I can get back in action without one getting away," the Masked Underdressed Man said as he shrank back to more normal human form. Albeit with Jackhammer HANDS!

Omni-arm attack, do whichever blow hurt the last time but with jackhammer hands instead of hammer hands.

DavidMcMahon wrote:"OK, one on one, I can get back in action without one getting away," the Masked Underdressed Man said as he shrank back to more normal human form.  Albeit with Jackhammer HANDS!

Omni-arm attack, do whichever blow hurt the last time but with jackhammer hands instead of hammer hands.

OOC: Steeplejack follows up with whatever is left after Tarzcan has a go ;-)

Sj

Haunt created a pair of drill arms (OOC same effect but obviously adds flavour to posts...) and pounds away at the injured creature...

OOC going for Critical Blow

Haunt Dex 10 + Roll(7d12)+0: 6,10,3,6,1,4,11,+0 Total:12 DOUBLE (tricky that. 21 or double 6...?) plus Roll(2d12)+0: 2,4,+0 Total: 18 DOH (28 total) vs
Faceless Dex 8 + Crit Blow 4 + Roll(2d12)+0: 9,6,+0 Total: 27

Hit (just) +1 EV

14EV +1 (15) vs RV12 - 6 (Crit Blow) = 9 damage. Injured Faceless is DOWN



Steeplejack delivers what he hopes will be the coup de grace to his opponent.

OOC Crit Blow again...

Dex 11 + Roll(5d12)+0: 8,9,2,10,3,+0 Total: 19 (30) vs

Dex 8 + Crit Blow 4 + Roll(2d12)+0: 12,2,+0 Total: 26

Hit +3 EV (to 12) vs RV12 - 6 (crit Blow) = 6 damage. Injured Faceless is DOWN

And like that, the fight is over. Water pours from the ceiling, the place is a total mess, small fires are burning, the alarm is making a strange gargling sound instead of its usual whine and screams can be heard from elsewhere in the building and downstairs at ground level where people are gathering. Distant sirens from Police, Fire and Ambulance can be heard.

The creatures are steaming puddles of goop. As the pair watch they are sizzling, drying up and leaving no trace of ever having been there! that solves any problem of them getting up again and causing any problems. There was still at least one more out there - the heroes saw Iron Lady put one down. She'd said 'old place'. Steeplejack figured that meant the old long abandoned/cordoned off base the Executive used back in the day....

"Iron Lady is probably long gone by now," Undressed Man says, looking out the hole in the wall or actually the no wall at all. "I do not see her or her opponents anywhere. I guess we should assume she won her fight?"

[going to assume a positive response to that.]

"So where is this meeting place she mentioned? I need to get home and get my gear before we meet up there or wherever it is you think we should meet up at. I wasn't ready for action because I was afraid that they would do some sort of full body scan or strip search in order for me to see D'Veeres."

He waits to see what Steeplejack suggests as a meeting place.

Admin wrote:The creatures are steaming puddles of goop. As the pair watch they are sizzling, drying up and leaving no trace of ever having been there! that solves any problem of them getting up again and causing any problems. There was still at least one more out there - the heroes saw Iron Lady put one down. She'd said 'old place'. Steeplejack figured that meant the old long abandoned/cordoned off base the Executive used back in the day....

"I dunno about you..." Steeplejack said to his new companion, giving him a once overlook that said he clearly did know, "...but I very much doubt we'll be taken seriously if we hand around and after this mess, we might even be charged. Come on I think I know where our Iron Lady will end up going."

And with that Steeplejack runs headlong out the window, sailing gracefully in like some diver, only to fire a long think almost invisible wire from some device mounted on his gloves, and then swung back to the nearest building that they first surveyed the explosion.

OOC: Ok make the best speed to the rendezvous point and see what we can find out from the dear IL

Sj

OOC Can't quite remember a time when four fights took place and the good guys won all four pretty much one shotting the bad guys. I didn't plan it that way - I go where the dice roll but it makes a nice change from the good guys waking up wondering where their teeth are!



The Tower was officially decommissioned as a base for the Government sanctioned superhero team 'The Executive' not long after the team disbanded in the mid noughties following the death and serious injuries of several of its members.

The street was cordoned off around it, a plaque was erected and people at first lay flowers, then forgot about it and moved on with their lives. Soon enough the graffiti artists moved in to make a mess of the first couple of floors on the outside before someone complained and the place was more securely fenced.

These days it's a monument to days gone by and there has been noise about selling it, demolishing it or converting it for use in some other way.

For now it's a sad sight. Most of the windows are put through and it's mostly a home for pigeons. A grim ending for what had been a shining beacon of hope for the capital and people of Britain.

Steeplejack waited for his new found ally on a flat rooftop overlooking the tower. He'd watched the place for around twenty minutes now after leaving the scene of the battle. Cops would be combing through the rubble and no doubt questions raised about what had happened. Let them ask. For now Steeplejack and his unconventional ally had left the scene and intended to make sure the recipient of their aid, Iron Lady, was still in one piece.

Steeplejack looked about. He wasn't quite sure what manner of appearance he'd turn up in but there were no doubts to his motivation nor his capabilities.



OOC I am assuming Haunt doesn't want to sneak up on Steeplejack or do anything daft that will kick off a cliched hero vs hero battle... Any special approach to the tower? This is where Iron lady was referring to, but there's no sign of her from this point (half a mile away or so) or of any activity in the tower...

OOC I am assuming Haunt doesn't want to sneak up on Steeplejack or do anything daft that will kick off a cliched hero vs hero battle... Any special approach to the tower? This is where Iron lady was referring to, but there's no sign of her from this point (half a mile away or so) or of any activity in the tower...



Fog and Angel Wings, flying slow enough - once he gets in sight of the Tower - that he remains at the leading edge of the fog, so at least his chest, shoulders and head isn't covered by it.

"Howdy," the Haunt says to Steeplejack in his spooky voice that he has developed. "I'm the Haunt, a haunt of an American Old West bandit who was hanged for his many crimes and then given an opportunity to pay for my sins by coming back to Earth and fight for Justice with powers and abilities beyond those of Mortal Man."

"Leastwise, that's the story I give everyone I meet," he says in a normal voice as he lands near Steeplejack. "And I do my best to keep up that image. Helps scare the bad guys thinking that they are dealing with the supernatural.

He thins out the fog so it still somewhat obscures them but doesn't totally interfere with Steeplejack's normal vision but it does make it harder for anyone looking at them to determine who and what they are. Maybe just statues? Maybe air conditioner units? Guess it depends on how much they move around while talking.

\
ooc: And this is one of the things I missed about going solo all the time, the ability to just stop and converse with a fellow hero before moving into the action.

DavidMcMahon wrote:He thins out the fog so it still somewhat obscures them but doesn't totally interfere with Steeplejack's normal vision but it does make it harder for anyone looking at them to determine who and what they are.  Maybe just statues?  Maybe air conditioner units?  Guess it depends on how much they move around while talking.

OOC:  And this is one of the things I missed about going solo all the time, the ability to just stop and converse with a fellow hero before moving into the action.  

Steeplejack seemed somewhat unsure and defensive but soon relaxed when he realised who it was that was talking. "Well you are just full of surprises. The whole Supernatural angel is a good one, well at least to you do meet a real live ghost that is."

Gesturing to the now darkened tower, its remaining glass windows reflecting back the bright city lights like an odd-shaped mirror ball stood in the direction of his nod. "This was once where my team hung out. Like the team it's long since been disused, I'm pretty certain that this is what Iron Lady is referring to. Shall we go check it out, not sure if she is warming the place up for us, but it would be worth taking a long...even if its just for old times sake."

With that Steeplejack waited for Haunt to take the lead and he followed taking in the spectacle and spectacular of London streets aglow like molten rivers of light below.

OOC:Ok I am going to suggest that I deactivate any protocols that might still be active or activated, hopefully, though its a long time Sj's codes and whatnot will still work. And might as well go warm up the place kick some fires and stokes some tyres or something like that ;-) And carry on any banter that Haunt wants to interject as we go.

Sj

Steeplejack recalled his old Executive 'Bleeper' designed by Wandafar to do more than simply transmit messages.

Keyed to his DNA specifically, simply carrying it meant he was able to approach the tower with a relative feeling of safety. That was assuming the top floors which served as the HQ hadn't been completely stripped of stuff...

Haunt for his part 'fogged' the area up and wafted along on Angel like wings to hover up to the top most levels of the tower that Steeplejack indicated. The former Exec Hero swung on a line from a nearby church in a much practised move that saw him 'snap' from the line at it's greatest point of swing with the line swinger retracting and Steeplejack himself soaring through the air... He would go up, up... then snap the line out again and hold on while he retracted it in a different way that saw him tugged onto the top floor/landing pad of the tower.

With Haunt settling beside him he looked about. The place was grim. The elements had taken their toll. Someone at some point had taken pot shots at the tower with a gun of some kind though the windows were still intact. Birds nested, rubbish, debris and dust had gathered and pools of rainwater gathered where sections had bowed inwards. The place had been attacked, vandalised, left to be reclaimed by whatever passed for nature in the City of London.

There was a noise that had both Heroes starting but Steeplejacks Danger Sense registered no danger. He was about to say something when a door on the rooftop opened outwards and a limping, battle scarred Robotic form came into view. "Don't worry the defences are off. Government cut the power years ago but the generators Wandafar designed run into the Thames and generate electricity by tidal currents. Or they did. Must be clogged or the wiring rotten by now without maintenance. Or Wandy made a few short cuts as he was known to do." said Iron Lady.

She 'clomped' her way back into the reception area, a huge circular floor wide open plan room that used to be filled with screens and people who monitored them. Here the team would be briefed and make their plans before heading out to punch the latest group of bad people squarely in the mouth. Now the seats were torn and rotten, pools of water gathered everywhere and half the ceiling panels had fallen down. Pigeons cooed and roosted in the metal rafters and spools of wire dangled haphazardly. The only light was from Iron Ladys damaged armour, which looked like it had been dented, ripped up and generally put through a spin cycle on a washing machine filled with bricks.

She unclicked her helmet and twisted, lifting it clear with a HISS. "Knackered. Again." she tossed it to the long circular couch and it bounced off, clattering onto the floor. With a sigh she grunted in pain, wiped blood from her mouth and waggled what might be a loose tooth. Moving awkwardly she twisted, dragged a useless leg and flopped onto the couch, slapping a small fire that broke out on her wrist gauntlet. "Steeplejack. Who's your friend? I take it you're the oddball that swung in like Tarzan and helped me get out of what was left of my apartment. Any idea what those things were and what they were after? There's *something* going on out there and my name's come up on some sort of hit list I presume. I thought I was done with all this."

She was still a strikingly attractive woman though somewhat bruised and battered now. With another grunt she pulled several catches on her right leg armour and twisted a dial. The leg hissed and came away half way up her thigh. Inside sparked various shredded wires and circuits, and a glowing green liquid spilled out. "Huh. Muscle binding split. Need to sort that out if I'm going to be a target."

Haunt thought for a moment about the creatures they'd faced. He couldn't be sure, seeing as he'd not faced them in France but his instincts, gut feeling, keen detective mind told him that the ... 'Faceless' creatures they'd battled had been sent by ADVENT, the Alien invaders who'd been accepted by most Euro Governments rather than see their people obliterated. Britain and several others stood alone but they had a larger than usual number of superhumans - both good and bad - that had made it clear they would fight to keep the isle independent.

Iron Lady looked up again. "What? Never seen a woman pull her leg off before?" she chuckled. "I'm used to it by now. Prosthetics are superb these days. I'll mend, given time. How did you know to come and help me?"

Admin wrote:Steeplejack

Iron Lady looked up again. "What? Never seen a woman pull her leg off before?" she chuckled. "I'm used to it by now. Prosthetics are superb these days. I'll mend, given time. How did you know to come and help me?"

OOC: I wait for Dave/Haunt to chime in before responding as I think this is his show more than mine and the whole Advent thing he can put across far better than I/Sj can etc. Anyway, love the evocative writing, its so much fun being back 'in London' as a setting, I don't think I've been any kind of normal setting like this for a long, long time. I don't mind the exotic stuff but just me a bit of London. Loving it.

Sj

"Well, no, not really used to a lady pulling her leg off," The Haunt said dryly. "Name's the Haunt; only been around a couple of years, one of which was "enforced retirement". And those creatures are a gift from the Advent, you know, those friendly aliens that showed up to help us poor backwards people towards enlightenment, whether we want it or not."

He does seem a bit bitter when talking about them and can't seem to stop rubbing lightly on his cheek when he does so, as reminders of his year as their prisoner and test subject goes through his mind, as they gave him those scars.

"In order to take over the wor ... er ... help bring peace and prosperity to our planet, they have figured out how to travel in time and are headed into our past to "remove" or "deflect" or "modify" the ancestors of those of us who stand in their way of conq ... of bringing peace and prosperity to us all."

Naw, he isn't bitter at all, is he?

"And we are hoping that you can help us go into the past to crush ... er ... reason reasonably with them so that they won't muck about with our timeline."

"A buddy of Steeplejack recommended you."

"A buddy of...? D'Veere? We didn't part on friendly terms but time's a healer." she said.

With gauntlets off she was pulling wires out of the top of her prosthetic leg as she spoke. She popped a panel in the side of her other thigh and a box slid out on a rack. It was a miniature tool kit and also contained a pair of folding glasses. "When my eyes started to go for reading I thought my body was telling me to quit this sort of thing." she muttered.

As she worked with practised ease to disassemble ruined components in the leg she reached into it and grunted, feeling about then reaching in with a small ratchet. As it clicked away in the depths of the leg she looked up. "Or another buddy?"

She narrowed her eyes. "You been talking to ... Bulldog? No. Vindex? Hmm, we were hardly buddies. Bad attitude that one. Thoth?" She paused, then looked up at the pair. "You spoke to Thoth?"

Haunt explained about Roberto Cortez (OOC see page 2 of this issue, it was a couple of weeks ago, just after xmas anyway) otherwise known as El Chupacabra. The man had an medallion given to him by his grandmother. The Piedra del Tiempo. Time stone.

"Huh." says Iron Lady as she got on back with the repairs. She grabbed a handful of something, started to pull, twisted, pulled some more and came out with a coiled length of green wire, several inches thick. "Do me a favour would you? One of you two must be able to bend steel bars and other strong man stuff. Twist that round itself whilst keeping it straight, would you?"

She pulled and more than ten foot of unspooled wires came from the leg!

"Cortez. Name's familiar. I can ask about. He was a nasty piece of work. Think he's in the nick now. Or was. Someone trashed a jail the other other year and he might have absconded, but in the disaster that was going on at the time it was pretty much forgotten. Giant monsters smashing London up. You'd have thought we'd all woken up in downtown Tokyo. Weirdest thing. I saw a snippet of the camera feed before it was cut. I swear the two breaking into the place looked like... Laurel and Hardy..."

OOC That would be Haunt and Yeoman in disguise...

She continued to work and added. "I've already got problems of my own, as you can tell. Happily retired, spend my days as one of the few who doesn't nod off in the House of Lords, run my businesses... keep my ear to the ground and tip off certain people or institutions... yeah. I still take an interest. The person you need to go see about Cortez, what he's doing and where he might be is at a place called... Oh let me write it down. She pulled a pen from the tool kit, scribbled, frowned and licked the tip. Another scribble... she grabbed a stray bit of paper, gave it a wipe and wrote down an address. That was in the roughest part of the East End of London. A ... carpet salesman?

She grinned. "Don't be fooled. Alfie might pose as a guy who flogs carpets but he's got fingers in LOTS of pies. Never drugs though, which is why I gave him a pass and turned a blind eye to some things. Alfie Rothman may be many things, scumbag, thief and scoundrel included, but he was always fair with me." As she spoke a twinkle in her eye suggested he may or not have been something more.

"Ah." she added as Haunt moved over with the twisted wires, now only a foot or so long and bunched almost as wide. "Put that in there and hold it whilst I lock it down. Lost some oil but it will get me home." A few minutes later the top was attached as well and the leg was going back together. "Alfie has ears to the ground in London, or did. He, like me, is too enamoured of 'the game' to step away completely. Tell him Toni owes him a favour. Or dinner. The favour might not mean much with me semi retired, but I owe you and I'll take one for the team." she added with a slight smile and twinkle in her eye.

Minutes later the leg was back on, gauntlets in place, helmet clipped back on and twisted with a slight hiss, and Iron Lady was ready to go. A few stamps and moving the leg about. It was stiff, twitched oddly and rather heavy footed - the dent in the floor saw to that - but would get her going. Her metallic voice rang out. "Thank you for your help gentlemen. You've found me once, and can do again if required. I'll help however I can but right now I want to get out of this, slip into a bath and enjoy a G&T. Then sleep for about four days. Good luck. Alfie will know where Cortez is, if anyone does."

OOC Anything you want to add before heading to Rothmans 'Carpet Emporium'?

"UM ... your home was kinda destroyed," The Haunt says hesitantly. "You have another place in town you can go to? Preferably one that few people as possible know you own it or live there? The Advent is still out there and you are still a target for them."

Admin wrote:OOC Anything you want to add before heading to Rothmans 'Carpet Emporium'?

Steeplejack nodded through the discussion, offered to help but saw Haunt was doing his best to make a good impression and let him.  He listened attentively, Rothman was new to him, but he knew the type.  He wasn't surprised Toni had contacts like that, they all did.  Price of doing business, if you want to stay ahead in this game.  

With her leg "reattached" and her armour functional, Steeplejack offered a hand.  "Toni, always a pleasure, we should grab a drink and talk about old times and catch up sometime." As his hand withdrew a card remained in Iron ladies hand.  A simple number written on it.

A Haunt asked about her safety, Steeplejack paused OOC:I'm sure I could have Sj put her up somewhere if she needed a place, and the card might well also have an address if need be.

"No don't get any fancy ideas, but a drink with an old friend, we that would be a treat." He winked cheekily, before turning to Haunt and nodded for them to go.

OOC:Ah the nostalgia great to have old characters like this pop-up, especially with my own coming once again to the fore.  Unless Dave wants to do anything else, I guess it's off to the East End of London.

Sj

think we covered it.
But ...


As we leave, the Haunt turns to Steeplejack.

"Forgot to ask but what powers or skills do you have," he asks, "it will help us coordinate better if we knew something of each other."

"I can stretch and change my shape which allows me some powers of its own, am super-strong, can create a fog which may prevent you from working in close with me if we are trying to obscure the bad guys' vision and I can generate an Aura of Fear that basically makes most crooks crap their pants and curl up in a ball and beg for mommy."

"Skill-wise, I can act with the best of them and have training as both a detective and thieving skills and with shapechange added in, am a master of disguise"

DavidMcMahon wrote:"UM ... your home was kinda destroyed," The Haunt says hesitantly.  "You have another place in town you can go to?  Preferably one that few people as possible know you own it or live there?  The Advent is still out there and you are still a target for them."

Iron Lady turns, her expressionless helmet glancing at the white clad hero. "Advent. The Aliens. Hmmm. I'll give D'Veere a call. He can clear the mess up at my apartment, and don't worry about me. I've got several places in London, amongst other places. For now though I think I'll hole up with a friend. He has a lab I can use. Bet he's watching bloody Eastenders."

She takes the card looks at it, then hands it back. "Memorised. And yeah, a drink sounds good. We can remember.. fallen friends, good times, catch up."

She turns to haunt. "If Advent are still after me, they better not look too hard - I'll be ready for them next time. The armour is getting much needed upgrades, and I'm coming out of retirement!"

With a nod to Steeplejack, tip of the head to Haunt she moved to the rooftop, looked up, then fired her jets and roared off into the night sky!

=========

The pair made their way across London, obscured by a moving cloud and arriving at the mean streets of the East End.

Here, few police dared to tread. Gangs ruled the streets, but there were still some old school gangsters that respected people, maintained a kind of code of honour and stopped all out war breaking out.

Rothmans Carpet Emporium was a large warehouse surrounded by a high barb wire fence. Several battered vans were parked up and around the back a brand new looking Bentley was parked up. Business in the world of Carpets must be looking up.

Somewhere in the warehouse a light was on but the windows on the wall level were all dark. A guard with a dog smoked and hopped about in the cold whilst the dog cocked a leg against a wall. The rooftop was lightly sloped and there were no skylights. Both heroes were superb Thieves (better to catch a thief, one might argue) and Steeplejack took that further - he was world class (OOC 11 Thief).

OOC Int 9 + Roll(7d12)+0: 4,4,9,7,1,5,2,+0 Total:17 DOUBLE + Roll(2d12)+0: 3,6,+0 Total: 26 vs
OV6 + Roll(2d12)+0: 6,7,+0 Total:19

+4 EV (to 13) vs RV6= 7RAPs

"There." said Steeplejack. He pointed to the corner of the building. "He'll be round in a few minutes so we've got chance to get in AND the cameras are rotating so they'll be blind for 20 seconds or so. Piece of cake. Top window on the right. The upper one. Slightly ajar."

Haunt glanced at his ally. He was an expert Thief, trained and enhanced to superhuman levels by fabulous instincts and a keen desire to oppose people who used the same skills. He needed to be ... better... and he was. Steeplejack though? He was another level entirely.

==========

Less than a minute later the pair were in the warehouse avoiding creaking floorboards and moving into a corridor.

They were on the third floor and the rooms lining the walls were dark and empty. The room they'd entered contained offcuts of carpets stacked high to the ceiling. The centre of the floor had a large meeting room with lights on through blurred glass windows. Inside were a number of figures, speaking with muffled voices and a few were stood about. All told, probably 15 people. Strange to have a meeting about carpets near midnight.

Haunt tried a door opposite. Locked. Hmmm. His instincts suggested 'why lock this door but the other was unlocked'?

How would they play this? Crash through the windows, beat everyone up then threaten the information out of Alfie Rothman, or play it cool? He was, after all, Iron Ladies contact and possibly a friend.

DavidMcMahon wrote:think we covered it.
But ...
"Skill-wise, I can act with the best of them and have training as both a detective and thieving skills and with shapechange added in, am a master of disguise"

Steeplejack nodded impressed by the wide arrange of powers and suddenly the outlandish costumes and acting made sense. He stifled a grin saying, "What to say, I inherited my powers from the first Steeplejack, my Pappa, I climb walls, have an affinity for the earth - you've seen me manipulate it, a sixth sense of some sort - never fully got my head around it. I'm strong, though from what I've seen no were near your level, and well the whole line and swing thing. I have some skills with mechanics, and some martial arts and well I know a thing or two from being around a while."

Steeplejack had been operating on the down-low for so long, it felt strange to be working with someone else again. But then, maybe seeing Toni, the Iron Lady, made him long for the days when he could share the joys and sorrows with others. Haunt was an interesting character, but who wasn't in this trade. The next few days would prove interesting. Perhaps they could...

Later

Admin wrote:How would they play this? Crash through the windows, beat everyone up then threaten the information out of Alfie Rothman, or play it cool? He was, after all, Iron Ladies contact and possibly a friend.

Turning back to Haunt Steeplejack whispered, "What's your gut feeling here? Do we hit first and ask questions later or do we want to eves drop to see if they can give us a clue without having to dust our knuckles?"

Sj

"Normally, I would just walk in, with a fog bank hiding me and hit them with my Fear Aura and anyone conscious enough and still coherent enough to ask questions would generally tell me what I want to know," The Haunt replies. "But since this is a "friend" of Iron Lady, maybe a more peaceful less obvious approach would work? Besides I really get tired of the smell of soiled britches."

"And one day, after we save the world, I hope you will give me some martial arts lessons. I've lost my powers a time or two and am pretty helpless without them. So knowing how to actually punch and kick someone would come in handy, I think. And your swinging looks really cool! I got to see if I can copy those movements."

ooc: Actually I like the idea of number 4 first then follow up with number 3.

DavidMcMahon wrote:ooc:  Actually I like the idea of number 4 first then follow up with number 3.  

OOC: I like the way this boy rolls, so what he said, let's do it. One caveat I'd add is that I'd really like to know what this late-night chat is about. So I think if Haunt wants to take a look around (bear in mind the doggy and dog walking guard outside and the cameras) then I'd like to sneak in and eavesdrop. When Haunt comes crashing through the door, I can attack from above, and we can pincer them. What do you say, Dave?

Sj

Works for me. Using fog and directing a low level Fear at the dog if it starts sniffing towards me should keep them from finding me.